Nerding it up: Illustrating my Lord of the Rings fanfic sequel from 2002
It’s no secret that I’m a massive Tolkien nerd, so in honor of The Hobbit coming out this week I thought I’d do a quick sketch of a ridiculous/terrible fanfic project I wrote ten years ago that was meant to function as a sequel to The Lord of the Rings.
The Setting: Set about 100 years into the 4th Age, most of the story takes place far East of the Sea of Rhûn. The main antagonists are a contingent of “dark” Elves (Avari) who had become corrupted and seduced into service by The Giver, a former Wizard who refused to accept that the time of magic was ended. The heroes are various Eastern and Southern characters attempting to bring order to their kingdoms, much as Aragorn had united Gondor and Arnor.
Characters
- Míriel Greenblade - Found in the wreckage of a ship in Umbar and raised in Gondor as a Ranger, Míriel discovers, after being stationed in the abandoned Orthanc, that the staff found alongside her as a child belonged to a Wizard named Pallando the Blue. In hopes to discover her origins, she sets off to track the Wizard down.
- Primrose Took - “Prim” is a Hobbit of the Shire whose occupation is to make and sell maps of all the world, a product no self-respecting Hobbit would actually need. Having reached the limits of her knowledge without traveling anywhere, Prim offers her services in navigating the Eastern kingdoms, so long as Míriel takes her on a “proper adventure.”
- Pallando the Blue - Left powerless and without his memory in the far East, Pallando wandered Rhûn for decades until he is found by Míriel and Prim. He now remembers enough to recall that he was attempting to restore Míriel’s family to the Easterling throne, and that he was waylaid by “troubles caused by an old friend.”
- Glorfindel - Balrog slayer and hero of countless wars, Glorfindel is the last High Elf left on Middle Earth, refusing to ever sail to the West. He now wanders far into the East, slaying monsters and treading where civilizations of Men dare not.
- The Giver - Once known as the Alatar the Blue, he was, like Gandalf and the other Wizards, tasked with undermining Sauron. He and Pallando were successful in stirring up trouble in the East and South of Middle-Earth, but Alatar became obsessed with the notion of removing Evil entirely from the world, turning Middle-Earth into an untainted utopia like Aman. He achieved this through absorbing Darkness and dread directly into his being, which has turned him into a walking shadow. He has since conquered all the lands of the East with his army of corrupted Avari, wild Elves who he has seduced into his service to fight off the “coming of mighty Men into the East.”
- Bungo and Zip - Bungo is a deranged Hobbit, self-described as an “Expert Hero and Dragon Slayer.” He rides atop the Hill Troll “Zip,” whom he claims to have “tamed into utmost goodness.” Bungo is not very helpful.
There you go. And no, no one will ever see the full story ever, because I set it on fire and shot it into space.
madcat-world
