Tag: nerdanel

curufinwefeanaro:

|| I’ve also been among those who mostly used to read Nerdanel as a very combative woman, and her relationship with Fëanor as one heated up by occasional arguments, somewhat following the concept that, if she was his wife, then she certainly had the ability to stand her ground against him (by consequence, being a rather fiery personality herself). The opposing vision of her character was that of a meek individual, because somehow if she wasn’t the former, then she naturally had to be subjugated to his will (which she certainly wasn’t, as per canon). If he’s proud, then clearly she’s humble, or just as proud herself. She’s either tame or a wild redhead (nevermind that she isn’t even an actual redhead, if you wanna be excessively canon-compliant). If he’s resolute, then she’s unassertive, or entirely willing to start a shouting match.

But the more I think about how to include her in my interpretation of events, independently of other people’s headcanons, the more the dichotomy baffles me.

The one line that says how she is “free of mind” is just as important as the one that states how she sought to understand minds and not dominate them. And I think that’s the key, really. She is Nerdanel the Wise not simply because of her piety when it comes to the Valar, and Aulë specifically, but because of this propensity to understanding. That’s likely fundamental also when it comes to Fëanor specifically.

Yes, she has enough strength of will to oppose him in a discussion (or, really, their estrangement would never have happened), yes, she can engage his creative and scholarly mind (”filled with the desire of knowledge” and all that jazz) — but I think one of the really important parts of the relationship is how good she is at understanding him. I don’t say it because I believe he especially needed someone to understand him (though, when it comes to some of his very unique life cirumstances, it might very well have been the case), I mean it more to underline that she seems to me a very discerning woman. Her core, I believe, is neither meekness (wisdom doesn’t mean that) nor a rebellious and proud nature; she doesn’t have to be his opposite or to mirror him to stand on equal ground.

The part in which Fëanor was never made to change his mind by force? That’s relevant, too. The part in which he listened to her? I mean, I don’t know you guys, but you don’t listen to or trust the opinion of someone who yells in your face or even scolds you to fulfill the sassy wife trope. Not to mention that this depiction of marriage as something costantly argumentative or as a relationship in which the wife “puts up with” her husband is frankly a demeaning stereotype. Nerdanel chose that for herself, it isn’t as if it somehow happened out of the blue and without full awareness of the character of the man she was marrying; that assumption is insulting to her intelligence. 

Anyway, Nerdanel musings. Sooner or later I might expand on this again.

gosh i love nerdanel