Haldir ... Adaron Lorien

[scottishlass]

Well, those who know me noticed that I do not read nor write LOTR fanfiction, because The Lord Of The Rings is something sacred to me. Some have the Quran, others have the Bible, for me it is The Lord Of The Rings and The Silmarillion. I never thought I'd actually write a LOTR piece, but here is one (and definitely the last) and as it belongs to the film rather than the books, I think I can get away with it. J.R.R., wherever you are, I'm sorry for my poor prose.


He stared at the starless sky, his gaze bringing across the ultimate doubt, the ultimate disbelief that this was the end. So many things flitted through his mind. Centuries upon centuries rose up in his mind's eyes, Elves long forgotten, men long dead. They came forth in this one instant where Haldir of Lothlorien met his untimely death.

He thought he was immortal, doubly so as he had prepared himself to sail to the West one day. Perhaps the next day, perhaps the next year, perhaps the next millennia, depending on the world of Man. But that would never be. The pain was welcome, showing him thus he was still alive. Disbelieving and amazed, Haldir stared into the starless sky, not even Elbereth showing her lovely light to lead away a great Elf and friend.

"Haldir!" the voice of man was tinny in his ears, leagues away. "HALDIR!" another strong voice made weak by death' dark shroud reached the Elves ears and then rough yet gentle hands reached out to him, drew him in, held him.

"Lye nuquernuva sen e dagor lye gurthuva," the Elfish tongue was sleek, of Mirkwood origin and Haldir tried to look at the face of the Silvan Elf that eerily shone in the dark of night. But his Elvish blood was spilled, his immortality flowing away from him. With a sigh he tried to clasp the hand of Man, that held him gently in this last moment between life and death.

"Namaarie, Adaron," Aragorn whispered, his voice rough from the battle cries, and husky from the sheer sadness of losing a brother in arms. With Legolas at his site, both mourned the passing of a great Elf.
The mortally wounded Elf heaved a last sigh, with Elbereth' name escaping his lips as he slipped away into the dark oblivion. His strong Elvish blood spilled on the walls of Helm's Deep and washed away by the relentless rain.


It is strange that LOTR never sounds or feels like Tolkien when I watch it in German. Finally tonight I watched TTT in English and yes, there it was, it felt and sounded like Tolkien and not like some poor Fantasy rip-off. Dubbing sucks.

Comments

[elfnut.livejournal.com]

OMG Una ... I have to tell I was at first shocked (almost disgusted) when I saw Haldir die in TTT. But your piece made me see it in another light entirely.
Great writing, lovely Goddess!!!
In my humble tribute to Tolkien through my LOTR fic I always saw the elves (my favorite subject THE elf)as otherworldly creatures, who saw upon humans and their mortality like we look at some other of the beings of nature: wonderful, amazing, but below ourselves.

Legolas learned, through his friendship to Aragorn and Gimli, to understand and respect other races. And conflicted with his own immortality and his elvish-ness.

I love the way you wrote Haldir's death. Thank you!

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

It was some sort of shock, I agree, but for the development of the story it was important to see such a sacrifice, especially with someone like Haldir. Remember how Tolkien described the Elven dead in the book, you can't describe it like this in the movie, ppl won't know if they are elves or man (other than doing closeup on their ears or doing a voice over). So it had to be shown through Elvish eyes, that the Elves once more honour the old pact between Elves and Man and give the ultimate sacrifice, their immortal lives. Who better than a Lorien Elf to portray this? And who better than Haldir, who is a Galadhrim, the guardian of the Lorien forest, probably closely related to Galadriel herself?
Peter Jackson did well in using him to show that the old pact is still intact.

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

I have forgotten something :)

I never saw the Elves as otherworldly beings. Yes, magic (or the use of science so it appears as magic) was part of them, but Tolkien's Elves IMHO never had anything to do with what we know through Celtic tradition as elves. That is what I like about the German translation, we have Elfen (the traditional ones) and we have Tolkien's Elben. I rather see them like the Tuatha De Danann, a race of pre-human with natural powers that only can be find few and far between in the blood of Man.
And that the Elves removed themselves from Middle-Earth is not so much their own fault but that of Man. The Elves always honoured their brothers in arms, Elrond fought alongside Isildur in the dawn of time. I think there was more interaction between Elves and Man in former times until Man themselves - through jealousy (because of the longevity of the Elves) as well their zest to be in charge - drove the Elves into hiding and later out of Middle-Earth and to the Undying lands.
Through their immortality, the Elves saw the foolishness of Man's actions, and that is why they thought they were beneath them. But I think the Elves are beyond that kind of thinking, Man on the other hand ... oh well let's say we both know how mankind reacts to being different :)