what if the reason Elwing lives in this tower all by herself on the edge of Valinor is to cover the fact that she does not in fact spend all her time in said tower
because after she learns how to reliably turn herself into a bird, she goes often on long flights across Aman, and then across the sea, sleeping even on the water, maybe, until she comes at last to Numenor.
And then… it depends. See, either:
and she flies over it, circles, sees her son. but she is bound to never again walk in mortal lands. she returns again and again over the years; watches him live and grow and marry, the building of a kingdom, his children, safe. but she never lands until one day, five centuries later, when she sits on the chest of the child lying in state, separated from her forever
or, alternatively
Elwing is, in this, a rules lawyer. If the Valar had meant to ban her from ever seeing her children, they could very well have picked a better verb than that. She honours the spirit of it for a little while, but then… there is a tower, and there is Elros, and then there is Elwing, balanced on the edge, feet tucked under her, heart in her throat, and–he recognises her. (The bird thing is pretty unmistakable.)
(and then, every so often when she’s made her excuses very well and no one is expecting to see her for months, she heads east again, and finds the other one.)
Tag: elwing
Elwing! This changed a lot from the original sketch, but I think I really like it? No silmaril anymore, though. Sorry about that! In other news, I have developed a fervent distaste for feathers and water, and I certainly don’t plan on drawing either again any time soon.
The Shade of Atalantë
Her ghost came in with the tide
And the trails of her wedding shawl
Were weeds and a wet white winding sheet
Of a bride more fair than them all.
The great grey wave scored the heavens
And pulled down a star in its curl;
The lords of the land ought tremble
When the sea gives up its pearl.
The water wed many such wives;
Great queens who when sunken, bore wings;
Judgment lies in the bright silver knives
Of their eyes fixed accusing at kings.
The highest of hands drowned the mighty
When Man sought out what was banned;
But the lords of the land ought tremble
When she walks on the quicksilver strand.
