(crosspost)

[pilfered_words]

(Responding to this post about Elrond's "small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere" line)

Luthien. He’s talking about Luthien. The great armies of Elves and Men could not so much as contain Morgoth in the end, but Luthien and Beren manage to take a Silmaril from his crown.

 

You can say, “Luthien wasn’t one of the small people, she was half-Maia and a powerful magic-user,” and you will have a point, but Tolkien didn’t conceptualize it that way. Luthien wasn’t trained in arms, she had no army, nothing but her voice and Beren. And magic in Middle-Earth isn’t all that formalized, much of it appears to rely on the wielder’s conviction, not practice or inherent skill.

 

While we’re talking about Elven princesses who married Men, let’s not forget it was Idril who saved the remnant of Gondolin by preparing for the day it would fall. Does that count as a deed done by small hands? I don’t know, it’s kind of debatable. But it’s plausible as something that would have been on Elrond’s mind.

 

And, of course, Elwing and Eärendil could arguably be said to have won the War against Morgoth by getting the Valar to step in. Sailing into darkness with a treasure, stolen and taken from the Enemy and re-stolen and inherited, fleeing from their enemies, carrying a fool’s hope. Sound familiar?

(#I love the leaders of the great armies #but Tolkien sets them up to fail)