Freeing the Three: Fan-fic

[Gorthaur the Cruel]

Bear with me on this one.

If there was a way to free the Three elven-rings from the One, how would you write it? Which characters would you assign a key role on this endeavor and what lore would you use to justify the possibility of undoing Sauron's spell over the Three?

[Nogrod]

The One Ring was made by Sauron and he was a Maia, so nothing less than a Maia would do, I guess - unless there was a new Fëanor somewhere in the West.

From the LotR it's quite easy to see Gandalf would not be up to the task. The way he is able to defeat his enemy of the same level is trough other means than championing on might and power.

And clearly the LotR states Saruman was not up to the task.

Valar I think could intervene, but as a good catholic I think master Tolkien let it to more frail hands to undo it - and that's kind of the beef of the matter.

But if you wish to entertain a scenario where somehow the elven rings are freed from the spell of Sauron I'm afraid you'd need a deus ex machina, a divine intervention (Valar or Eru himself), or the advent of a greatest elven smith ever into the ME...

It doesn't seem likely any characters of the ME would be up to the task as Tolkien's universe looks like the good old "fall from paradise" myth where every generation is weaker and farther from God(s) than the previous one.


Maybe Tom Bombadil? But how to get him interested in such an undertaking?

[Gorthaur the Cruel]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

The One Ring was made by Sauron and he was a Maia, so nothing less than a Maia would do, I guess - unless there was a new Fëanor somewhere in the West.

From the LotR it's quite easy to see Gandalf would not be up to the task. The way he is able to defeat his enemy of the same level is trough other means than championing on might and power.

And clearly the LotR states Saruman was not up to the task.

Valar I think could intervene, but as a good catholic I think master Tolkien let it to more frail hands to undo it - and that's kind of the beef of the matter.

But if you wish to entertain a scenario where somehow the elven rings are freed from the spell of Sauron I'm afraid you'd need a deus ex machina, a divine intervention (Valar or Eru himself), or the advent of a greatest elven smith ever into the ME...

It doesn't seem likely any characters of the ME would be up to the task as Tolkien's universe looks like the good old "fall from paradise" myth where every generation is weaker and farther from God(s) than the previous one.


Maybe Tom Bombadil? But how to get him interested in such an undertaking?

Good points, Nogrod. I completely agree. I'm gonna try a stab at this.

The story would have to be remade for this scenario to play out, and this is my rough take on it:

The fellowship leave Lorien after being equipped by the Lord and Lady with gifts from their land. But as they travel further down Anduin, they are ambushed by armies from Dol Guldur rallied by the dreadful Ring-Wraiths. Angmar succesfully retrieves the One while preparing to kill the fellowship. But he and his fellow wraiths are repelled by the star-glass' light. They retreat to Mordor (Khamul returning to Dol Guldor to resume command) to hand over the One to Sauron while Legolas, Aragorn, and Boromir in hot pursuit of eight. The hobbits run for Fangorn, demoralized.

From afar, Galadriel watches everything that transpired from her Mirror. In her desperation, she commands her Mirror for visions of the past, to the time where Celebrimbor forged the Three. She learned all that she can from this vision. Next, she commands the Mirror to show her Sauron's creation of the One. As the vision progresses, her mirror starts to steam and bubble, but she fights her hardest to stabilize the waters enough for her to learn Sauron's secrets. After much struggle, the water from the mirror bubbles until everything evaporates. Galadriel falls to the ground, exhausted from scrying.

She collects herself and ponders her vision of Celebrimbor and Sauron and the secrets she uncovered of the forging of the rings. But what can she do? Sauron's binding of the rings was absolute, and her own magicks cannot rival against the mightiest servant of Morgoth. Gandalf was gone, but even if he was not, little could he do in these matters, for he was not so learned in ring-lore and his allegiance was ever to the Valar who sent him. And Elrond was far away. There was no time to take counsel. If the one reaches Sauron, it would be the end.

It seems as if the only solution was to depart for the havens as speedily as possible. Galadriel sighs and looks at the evening sky, with Earendil's light illuminating her glade. She had passed the test and rejected the Great Ring one night earlier. But was it all in vain? She rejected supreme power only for it to be returned to great evil, she thought. There must be something she could do. But what?

She fills her silver ewer with water from the stream and into the basin once again and invokes the Mirror. She leaves the Mirror to work freely. She sees miscellaneous visions but none to her direct benefit. After a time, the visions ceased reflecting only the light of Earendil. She gazed blankly at the evenstar's reflection until a hopeful thought finally struck her.

She commanded the Mirror once more to show the far past, as far as the years of the Two Trees. There she discovers the secrets of the making of the Silmarils. Of course! The other two are lost deep beneath the earth and the sea, far from Galadriel's grasp. But Earendil's... perhaps there is some way to obtain it. But the Valar, how would they think of this act? They will surely ban her for what she is about to do.

But why the Silmaril of Earendil? Well, Galadriel remembered the powerful, holy blessing that Varda, the kindler, had bestowed upon the jewels of Feanor. She intends to harness Varda's holy blessing to purify her ring and cause a spiritual rebirth upon Nenya to break Sauron's bind over it. But she must convince Earendil first to yield her the Silmaril.

Losing precious time, Galadriel summons Gwaihir and commands him to fetch Earendil from the heavens. The windlord obeys without delay. But having read her intentions, Manwe and Varda commanded Landroval to fetch Gandalf and to bring him to Lorien to stop Galadriel's plans, for Gandalf had come back to life, lying in a trance atop Zirakzigil.

Earendil's bright ship lands at the banks of the Tongue, illuminating the forest of Lorien. Haldir greets him and leads him to the glade of Galadriel. There, Galadriel recounts the tale of the failed quest and her desire to possess the Silmaril to ammend it. Earendil is suspicious of her motives, judging correctly that this was against the Valar's will. Galadriel implores further that circumstances would be more dire if Sauron recovers the One and any intervention from the Valar would cause grievous harm to Middle-Earth. Earendil remembers the suffering of the elves and the War of Wrath and almost yields to Galadriel's wishes, but strengthening his resolve, he refuses for fear that aiding her would invoke the ire of the Valar unto himself. Galadriel made one last attempt. An offer she made to Earendil, that if he surrendered the Silmaril to her, with the powers it would afford her, she would be able to locate the two lost Silmarils. And she would give these to Earendil, so Earendil can offer them to the Valar as a peace-offering and for his sake as well.

Earendil finally surrenders the Silmaril. Galadriel begins a ritual, and using the wealth of knowledge she had learned from Melian, she creates a spell of purifying while harnessing the power of Varda's blessing. Only the power of a Vala is sufficient enough to undo Sauron's hold.

In the form of a bright light, Varda's blessing descends upon Nenya and breaks its connection to the One. No longer will Sauron be able to control her even if he wore the One. And should the One be destroyed, Nenya will survive now. But Sauron could still peer into her thoughts for it was his lore that brought forth the Three's making. Even Varda' blessing could not undo this.

Thus, Galadriel resolved to unlock the Silmaril. Earendil watched in amazement as Galadriel succeeds, thanks to her scrying of the past. She gathers the blended lights of the Silmaril and she imbues the light upon Nenya's gem, so that the blended lights of the Trees thereafter rested and housed within the adamant.

Complete rebirth of Nenya is achieved. With this accomplished, Galadriel can now shield her thoughts from Sauron.
If Sauron tries to look into her mind, what he will see is the burning, blended lights of the Trees, a vision that blocks Galadriel's thoughts from him, and a light so radiant that it burns his mind's eye, one he cannot endure.

But this was not the only boon from Nenya's imprisoning of the Silmaril's light within its gem. It also enhanced Galadriel's spiritual potency to the point where she was now as powerful as both Ilmarë and Uinen, and can now directly command Light and Water as part of her newfound powers.
All the Galadhrim and Earendil bowed before Galadriel, for her transformation and ascension to new heights of power will deliver them from Sauron's evil.

Meanwhile, Landroval reaches Gandalf, who wakes from his trance as the great eagle delivers the urgent message from Manwe and Varda concerning Galadriel's ascension to power and Sauron's inevitable recovery of the One. Gandalf commands Landroval to bear him to Rivendell, so he can assess the situation with Elrond.

With the wraiths nearing Mordor, the hosts of Dol Guldor abandon their orignal plan to attack Lorien, having witnessed from afar, the dreaded descent of Vingilot upon the Golden Wood. Doubt took them and fear drove them to evacuate Dol Guldor and retreat to Mordor. After shortly basking in her glory, Galadriel tries her new powers without delay. She summons the full might of Anduin to deluge the fortress of Dol Guldor and all its hosts perished before they could escape, save for Khamul on his winged beast. Galadriel's flood travelled North and destroyed the spawns of Shelob as well, so that Mirkwood was utterly cleansed.

Back at Rivendell, Elrond is troubled by the news. Has Galadriel become the enemy? He and Gandalf must make for Lorien and confront the Lady before it is too late. Gandalf the White and Elrond prepare themselves for Galadriel.

Meanwhile, Khamul catches up with Angmar and the Nazgul on his winged beast. Angmar and his host halted. The Nine are reunited in the Dead Marshes.

"A Silmaril burns bright in the Golden Wood. And our power in Dol Guldor is broken," said Khamul.

-----------To Be Continued------------

Whew! That was long. I apologize for the wrong grammar and bad english. Tell me what you guys think.

[Mnemosyne]

Maybe this belongs on the Fan Fiction site, or at least N&N, instead of the Books Forum which is usually reserved for academic arguments? I know a lot of Books threads deal with speculation, but if we're allowed to start posting fan fiction here, I will be one of the first slugs out of that can of worms and you will regret it!

P.S. I should add that this scenario has already been looked at, at least in brief, in another fan fic. In this version the explanation was merely that the idea of the Three fading once the One was gone was merely another one of Saruman's lies (as in the Council the idea of the Three fading is actually one of two competing theories). This obviously doesn't achieve what you're trying to here, but it is relevant and shows that maybe (especially if you're going AU anyway) you wouldn't need to expend herculean Epic Effort. It can be found here.

[Gorthaur the Cruel]

Here here! Can a mod move this post to N&N? Thanksees in advance.