Under the Curse (2018 Edition)
Mithril Awards 2003 - Best Silmarillion Finalist
Mithril Awards 2003 - Best Silmarillion Runner-up (voters' choice)
Mourn all that was marred and broken in Arda, and seek comfort in your grief.
[Original] Finch
[Translation] Ecthelion
[Rating] Fingon/Maedhros; same-sex romance; rated R to be on the safe side.
[Author's Note by Finch]
The characters and setting belong to Tolkien. The plot, of course, does not, and it may well make the original author turn over in his grave once more.
[Translator's Note by Ecthelion]
Unless otherwise noted, all annotations are by the author.
The translation of Fingon's dream in Chapter Six drew on Darkmage's translation at Tirion upon Tuna. My thanks to them. I would also like to thank Isil of Tirion upon Tuna for their valuable feedback on the translation!
Theme:
I laughed, I could say I wish you all the best. It seemed like Zhai Xiong was really drunk.
After reading the entire article, I really wanted to write something, but I had this impulse, but I couldn't find the right words to describe the shock and touch this article brought, especially when the theme it repeatedly sang, especially a certain line in the last chapter, silently but heavily hit my heart as a Catholic who dare not use the word piety to describe myself. I believe this is a theme of love, hope and redemption. God who has eternity also has justice, even if we can't understand it for a moment. Maybe everyone is guilty, but everyone can eventually obtain forgiveness and peace by repenting and loving, as long as you are willing. At that time, when we truly understand all this, we will also truly realize that we are actually born free. As Baldwin IV said to Balian in "Kingdom of Heaven": "None of us can choose our end. The king's order may not be violated, and the father's order may not be carried away, but remember, even when the king or those with powerful hands are forcing you, your soul will still remain. It's autonomous. When you stand before God, you can't say, 'I was ordered to do this by others' or 'I didn't realize it in my conscience at the time.' This is not enough." The two protagonists in the story have been confused by this question repeatedly, but they have both found the answer. We may have all been lost for the same reason. When I first read Tuo Lao's original work, I was deeply afraid of the fate of the children of the world in his works - I was afraid of the unknown end of short life, and also afraid of the exhaustion and decline of eternal life. Compared with the great Creator, we are all too small. Life and death have such a heavy weight that it is doubtful whether we can bear it. Ordinary people like me still have such deep tremors. Those elves who are destined to be unable to escape within the limitations of the world, those immortals who have experienced the vicissitudes of time, joys and sorrows, will they have stronger feelings and heavier thoughts when they face their fate? Fortunately, the Creator has given His children the most powerful weapon - love. I believe that the author is not just describing the private love between Fingon and Maedhros that challenges worldly ethics. That is not enough for all the thinking shown in this story. What runs through this story is a love for all living things, for the world in which our protagonists live, and certainly in which we, the readers, live. For children of the world, the love we are most familiar with often comes to you in the form of a partner or a lover, igniting the unquenchable flame in your heart. But its meaning is much more than that. Sometimes it shows up in shocking and unexpected ways, which seems to violate family relationships, or make the world look at you with suspicion, but this is by no means all. Selfless love, this great love that transcends ordinary emotions, exists in the heart of every living being. It is the purest fire of light. All warm or deep words are not enough to describe its greatness. Only when all living beings seek because of love can they be saved by love. Love can defeat fear, giving us the courage and strength to walk out of the darkness, take off the shackles of the soul, and turn the nothingness of despair into sacred eternity. At the end of the story, Fingon found his freedom, and Maedhros also found it. The fetters of love did not bind them, but gave them the strength to face the truth and move towards eternity. Who can describe the joy one feels when reading this ending? I firmly believe that the author is full of such love for the characters and world he writes. Not only do we read the two distinctive and unforgettable Noldor elves in the article, but we can also read ourselves in this story. I would like to thank the author for creating such a profound and moving story; I would also like to express my special thanks to the translator for his hard work and selfless sharing. Without this beautiful and equally profound and powerful translation, I might have missed this wonderful story. I do not understand the translator's personal attitudes and views on religion. If my discussion from a Christian perspective offends you, then I hereby ask for forgiveness and express my deep apologies. Finally, for the joy and touching brought by this story, I would like to express my gratitude again in the name of an ordinary reader and wish its author and translator my best wishes. I hope these beautiful feelings will always be with you.
After much thought, I decided to leave a comment below one of my favorite FM posts. This is the first time I have seen such a well-written metaphysical concept of the destruction and reshaping of Arda. How many times must Mr. Finch have gone through Tolkien's letters and home?
Fen Xiong said that his wife did not cross the sea with the large army, and he suddenly thought of a wild man Fen Xiong==F and M's wild union turned into a show of affection, hahahahaha, it is obvious that F and M are in a sadomasochistic relationship, but I really want to laugh, being interrupted by my biological father and so on
=_=There are so many English names, so sad... Thank you for the hard work of translating.
I couldn't agree more... I have always hated Tanmei, and the ones I can't stand the most are Maedhros and Fingon. But these two people liked each other very much, so they still came in. I shed tears after reading it T T Thank you for the translation! I went to fanfiction to look for finch
It seems that this article is about Little Bear being a bit of a scumbag... It's so rare orz