Amras Today

Please remind me, if you’d be so kind,

Never to explain things to a Fëanorian.

Ever.

Well, Maedhros has a brain, I suppose,

Or at least the semblance of one

Under all that fire-red hair,

And Maglor’s not that bad either,

Even if he does sing too many

Slow-sad-melancholy songs.

The rest of them have

Attitude problems

As tall as Amon Uilos,

And then some. 

Which, by the way, is not just blasphemy, or smart words.

Reporting a battle-plan

Is not fun, even at the

Best of times.

And reporting one

To Fëanor’s son

(Which wasn’t meant to rhyme.

Really.)

Is just about as satisfying

As bashing your head against a wall,

Or dunking it in that thing Celebrimbor calls a ‘fountain’

That looks more like an oven.

And please don’t tell him I said that.

The point?

Well, I did think that

He was acting

Rather oddly.

High-hat-proud-superior,

Even more so than usual.

Which is saying a lot.

And even though I grovelled a lot,

Saying “Lord Amrod”,

And sometimes “Sire”,

He didn’t seem

To be overly pleased.

Still, Fëanor’s sons

Rarely are.

It’s those attitudes,

Did I mention they were taller than Taniquetil?

I left as quickly as

I possibly could.

He’d been even more

Disagreeable than usual.

Maldathar’d know why.

I asked him.

He looked long-hard-squinty-eyed at me,

Smiled wide-mirthless smile,

‘You remember the Kinslaying?’

Fool. Of course I remembered the

Kinslaying.

Did Fëanor remember his Silmarils?

‘Amras got left behind

On one of the ships they were burning –‘

Yes, yes, I know all that.

Why was he acting so oddly?

‘Remember the tales? How Amras didn’t

Want to go to Mandos,

And shared a body with his brother

The Lord Amrod, that is.’

What of it?

‘Well, the reason your Amrod was

Acting so odd

Is because

He’s Amras today.’

Sweet Cuivenien!

Note: In a discarded version of the Kinslaying at Alqualonde, Amras was left behind on a burning ship. Though he died, he didn’t wish to go to Mandos and face the consequences of the Oath – he instead shared a body with Amras. Hence this poem.