Henneth Annûn Story Archive

A kiss on the hand may be quite Valinorean
But Silmarils are an Elf's best friend!
A kiss may be grand but won't fight the glamhoth
in Dorthonion, or help you at the Nirnaeth.
Men grow cold as dwarves grow old
And we all lose our charms in the end.
But square-cut or pear-shaped
These rocks don't lose their shape.
Silmarils are an Elf's best friend!

Sorry, couldn't help myself....

But shiny things -- gems and jewelry -- have often played a significant role in the history of Arda. They've inspired greed and wars, whether they've been natural, like the Arkenstone, or crafted, like the Nauglamír. They've brought healing and union: the Elessar, and the Ring of Barahir. And, of course, we all know the effect of the Silmarils and the One Ring....

This challenge is to write a piece focused on a canonical gem, item of jewelry or an item adorned with gems. Show us the power and meaning of gems in Arda. (Edit A clarification: the challenge is also open to stories about jewels not specifically mentioned by Tolkien but which can still be clearly tied to a canonical source, such as an anonymous "random" jewel in a large canonical hoard.)

Some of the things you might want to write about include: the Sceptre of Manwë, the Elendilmir, the Crown of Gondor, the banner of Aragorn, Morgoth's Crown, Narya, Nenya or Vilya, elven-brooches, the necklace of Girion, Glamdring, Orcrist, the sheaths of Andúril, Herugrim, Merry's sword and Pippin's sword, Smaug's hoard, Bilbo's mithril coat, and the cup of Thror.


Any takers?

Tanaqui and Elena Tiriel
Your Friendly Resource Geeks

 

(The filk is entirely Liz's fault. )

- Barbara

 

*squees*

*promotes*

*waves hand vigorously in the air*

Memememe! I'm in, I'm in!

Allie

 

*squees*
*promotes*

*very big grin* Thank you, Allie! Here's hoping your enthusiasm is contagious!

*waves hand vigorously in the air*
Memememe! I'm in, I'm in!

Cool! Congratulations on being the first!

- Barbara, still disavowing responsibility for Liz's filk....

 

Some of the things you might want to write about include: the Elendilmir, the Crown of Gondor, Morgoth's Crown, Narya, Nenya or Vilya, elven-brooches, the necklace of Girion, the sheath of Andúril, Glamdring, Orcrist, the sheaths of Herugrim, Merry's sword and Pippin's sword, Smaug's hoard, Bilbo's mithril coat, and the cup of Thror.

Hmm ... there's lots of tempting goodies there!  The rings of power - an elven brooch - Glamdring - Bilbo's coat of mail made for 'an elf prince'.  Some of these tie in with vague plot ideas already, some are generating plot bunnies as I type!

Count me in.

Jay

 

Hmm ... there's lots of tempting goodies there!

Great!

And I just added a new goodie to tempt you: the standard of Arwen -- you know, the one with all the mithril and jewels...

Count me in.

Ex-cell-ent! Can't wait to see what you write!

- Barbara

 

Question:

I have a certain set of jewels that appears in two of my stories so far... I'd like to try out something new for this, a medley of already written scenes with links to the long versions.

Is that allowed?

What do you think about that?

(I would, of course, explain it properly in the summary and a preface.)

Yours
Juno

(Or is original jewellery out of the question anyway?) 

 

I think original jewelry counts. Besides, who knows what jewelry Tolkien thought about but never wrote about. So go for it.

RiverOtter

 

I'm in. Celebrimbor has a thing or two he'd like to say. ;-) I would appreciate a long deadline, though. Six months bare minimum; a year would be better.

Marta
(who, btw, thinks Barbara protests too much about not being involved in the filk)

 

Can I not count or is that 5 victims  [coughs] I mean, takers?

 

Hi Juno

(Or is original jewellery out of the question anyway?)

I'm really sorry, but I did want this challenge to focus on canonical jewels only, as the challenge was conceived primarily to promote the Resources section and Resources entries.

I'm really very sorry that wasn't clear in my original post (and I'll be amending the post to indicate that).

Just to clarify: I'm happy with jewels not specifically mentioned by Tolkien that can still be clearly tied to a canonical source. For instance, I plan to write about the treasure of Nargothrond, and I believe Barbara is planning to write about an anonymous "random" jewel from Smaug's hoard.

Your idea does sounds very interesting -- and I hope you will still write it -- but I don't feel comfortable with it as part of the challenge unless your "original jewelry" can be tied to a canonical source.

I hope that's all clear, and I apologise for any misunderstandings.

Cheers, Liz

 

The Muse spoke to me last night... so, I'm definitely in!

- Barbara, who will be channeling the Dark in a more literal sense this time....

(The Secretary has Instructed me to Ignore Marta and Continue to Disavow All Knowledge of Liz's filk....)

 

And I believe that definitely makes five: Allie, Jay, Marta, Elena Tiriel and Tanaqui.

Marta asked for a long deadline, and six months or a year would be fine by me.

Cheers, Liz
(PS: Allie - thanks for the promo at your LJ!)

 

As my story is likely to refer to it, I've just added a first pass at the resource library entry for the Nauglamír. Something I've been meaning to do for, oh, only nearly a year...

Cheers, Liz

 

Oh, my jewelery can be tied to canonical sources alright - it's the beryll that Glorfindel leaves on the bridge across Mitheithel and what happens with it.

But in my story Aragorn allows my Tenth Walker to keep the beryll and it is eventually set by Gimli and becomes an heirloom of the kingdom of Rohan.

But I do understand your concern to keep this Challenge away from AUs to promote Resources. So I'm out.

As a matter of fact I don't really have time for it anyway. It just seemed interesting and I like helping interesting Challenges to beceome "live".

No offence taken.

Yours
JunoMagic

 

*mutters*

Yeah, I guess I'm in too... *glare in Allie's general direction & plaintive gaze at muses*

-Tárion

 

Okay! Five takers! Am ready to open this one. So this will be called 'Canonical Jewels', right? Can someone give me a suitable deadline? Marta suggested six months. So is that fine with everyone?

 

Six months is fine with me.

-Tárion

 

Hi Narwen

Barbara and I would like the challenge to be called "Silmarils are an Elf's best friend" and we'd like a deadline of 9 months.

Please use the original post as the challenge prompt. I will e-mail you a copy shortly with the HTML mark-up for all the links (Barbara and I are just adding a couple more for the new entries we've done) as that should make your life easier.

Thanks!

Cheers, Liz

 

*mutters*

Yeah, I guess I'm in too... *glare in Allie's general direction & plaintive gaze at muses*

What...?

Me?

Huh?

Why am I getting glares?

I'm confused.

I didn't fling anything....

It's all Barbara and Liz's faults!

*points accusing finger*

They flung it!

Don't be hatin' the messenger!


Allie

 

It's all Barbara and Liz's faults!
*points accusing finger*

Mostly Liz's......

- Barbara, who does not write filks

 

It's all Barbara and Liz's faults!
*points accusing finger*

Mostly Liz's......

Hmmph. I don't exactly remember you being reticent when we were concocting this one, Barbara. Although I do have to take full blame for the terrible filk. (You were the one who insisted I post it, though.)

Liz, who wonders how long it will be before she can inveigle Barbara into writing a filk....

 

Hmmph. I don't exactly remember you being reticent when we were concocting this one, Barbara. Although I do have to take full blame for the terrible filk. (You were the one who insisted I post it, though.)

Oh, I take full credit for egging you on, Liz.....

- Barbara

 

I think it's more than safe to say you're more than a messenger!  Things are much easier to ignore when you're not viciously nudged!

And don't worry, Barbara & Liz get the blame too!

-Tárion

 

What kind of Feanatic would I be to turn this one down?

Absolutely, positively count me in!

Dawn Felagund

 

Woo-hoo. Great to have you on board, Tárion and Dawn!

Narwen, I think I sent you a copy of the prompt with all the mark-up last night, but I did it through the HASA e-mail facility, so I can't be 100 per cent sure. (I might have sent it to some random person by accident ... ) Anyway, if you didn't get it, or you can't use it, let me know and I'll work out an alternative route.

Cheers, Liz

 

Hi Narwen or Allie!

Well, my Muse Has Spoken, so I have a finished (except for the requisite three days of tweaking, of course...) drabble, Claws, to add to the challenge.

Will you be able to put the challenge up soon?

- Barbara

 

Write and tell me about the shinies!

Allie

 

Thanks, Allie!

Cheers, Liz

 

Thanks, Allie!

- Barbara, still blaming Liz....

 

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