The Statute of the Music of Love
by Cirdan
Maglor came home to Formenos with tears streaming down his eyes. His brothers
would not have known that he'd finally returned if the servants hadn't been
watching him closely. Maedhros was taller than his brother, and so he had some
difficulties reaching him under the western stairwell. Maglor paid no attention
to his brother. He sat in the dark with his head buried in his hands and hummed
an empty tune of longing. At that, Maedhros grew afraid, for Maglor was
emotional and often fell prey to the sorrowful themes of Arda Marred. At such
times, he wearied of life and longed for release from the labor of living. But
the sharp moments of despair would eventually pass, and his brothers could do
little but encourage him to endure until the passing of that shadow upon his
heart.
Maedhros put an arm about his brother's shoulders. "Cano, where have you
been?"
"I have been in love."
---
Feanor was banished from Tirion, but he was not restricted from going to Valmar.
He rode to the very doorsteps of the white and blue marble halls of Manwe. The
Manir and the Suruli, the sylphs of the airs and of the winds, stopped Feanor
and would not suffer him to enter the house of Manwe, for they feared that he
purposed to do evil in vengeance for his exile from Tirion. His eyes seemed to
pierce their very minds with his gaze.
"Enough, Spirit of Fire. You need not make yourself heard in such a
way," said the herald of Manwe. "If you have business with the King of
Arda, speak now, and I will relay your message."
"My business is with Manwe Sulimo, not with you," Feanor said.
"Nevertheless, you will declare your business to me or not at all,"
said Eonwe. "You are not to be trusted, servant of Melkor, and I will not
allow you in the presence of my lord." Feanor's eyes flashed like
lightning, and he seemed about to draw his sword.
"Stop, before the peace in Valinor is broken once more," said Olorin
in a sharp tone. He stepped forward from amidst the Manir. "Eonwe, you need
not speak to the Prince of the Noldor in that manner."
Before Olorin could chide Feanor as well, Feanor dropped to one knee. "I
beg mercy for my son."
"Though they joined you in exile, your sons are not themselves banished
from Tirion," said Eonwe.
Feanor ignored him and continued to speak to Olorin. "You have learned pity
from Nienna, and I ask you now to take pity on Macalaure. He is fading fast. I
cannot speak of this matter before others, for it is not simply a matter of the
Eldar. I beg you to speak to Manwe on my behalf so that he may grant me
audience."
"Fading you say?" Olorin's brow furrowed. "That should not be,
not here in Valinor."
"And yet it is happening," Feanor said. "I know the signs."
Olorin did not stay to question further. Feanor's tone made it clear that the
situation was, indeed, grave. Eonwe distrustfully guarded Feanor but did not say
anything. Soon, Feanor was admitted to the presence of Manwe and Varda.
Feanor skipped all formalities and prostrated himself before the thrones of
Manwe and Varda. "My second son, Canafinwe Macalaure, is in love, and I beg
that you sanction his union or he will pass on as my mother did."
"If the one he loves is unwilling, then there is nothing that we can
do," Varda said gently. "It is not our place to interfere in these
matters of the Eldar."
"These circumstances are unique," said Feanor. "The one he loves
does return his love, but that is not enough. Macalaure loves the Ainu
Omar-Amillo.
---
The Lord of the Seas led the ships of the Falmari back to Alqualonde lest they
be lured into the whirlpool by the voice of Amillo. Osse warned Olwe not to
allow any ships to leave the harbor and told him to stop his people by force if
necessary. The young mariners would be particularly susceptible to Amillo's
calls. Then Osse went to the heart of the whirlpool, where Salmar-Noldorin was
with his twin brother.
"What is the news, Salmar?" Osse asked.
"Amillo has fallen in love with an Elda," Salmar said. His harp and
lyre were left untended, and the music of his voice was unsteady. "I
questioned him further. I thought, surely he speaks of the love that we all feel
for the Firstborn Children of Iluvatar. That is not so. He wishes to associate
with this Elda in the manner of spouses."
"As spouses?" Osse repeated incredulously. It was not possible. The
Maiar and the Eldar did not come together in such a manner, for the Maiar were
spirits from beyond Arda whereas the existence of the Eldar was tied to Arda.
Salmar nodded. "He met the second son of Feanor again after the breach in
the peace of Valinor. Macalaure had changed. From that time hence, he has
learned the music of Arda Marred. They sang together, and the music that they
together crafted was unlike any that had been heard before. From that, they fell
in love, or so says Amillo."
"That's ridiculous. He loves the music, not the Elda." But then Osse
paused, for he remembered despairing on the shores of Beleriand when he'd felt
slighted by Ulmo. He recalled the soft song of comfort from the Child of
Iluvatar that resonated with the third theme of the Music of Arda. It was deep
and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from
which its beauty chiefly came. Osse had never given much thought to his
relationship with Falmandil, but now he began to wonder if it mimicked the
relationship between spouses. Yet it could not, could it? They were both men,
and he was wedded to Uinen. "Besides, they're both men. The union of
spouses occurs between a man and a woman."
"I do not seek a relationship in order to procreate." Amillo's voice
was not one of unmatched beauty. It was rough, perhaps from sobbing, and seemed
incomplete. He raised his head for the first time since Osse had come. "I
wish only to associate with this Elda. These forms that we have chosen are but
raiment for our spirits. I would be willing to change to a female form for
Macalaure. I would do anything to be with him."
Osse looked at Amillo in wonder, for he had never given or sacrificed anything
for Falmandil. "Do you truly love this Elda so much?" Amillo nodded.
Osse opened his mouth to speak but words of protest would not come out. At last,
Osse said, "I will do what I can to aid your cause then."
---
Thorondor, the great eagle of Manwe, came to the whirlpool as herald since Eonwe
could not traverse the waters. "Amillo, you have been summoned to appear
before the Valar in the Ring of Doom."
"What of Macalaure?" Amillo asked.
"He has also been summoned," said Thorondor.
"Very well. I will come."
---
Manwe spoke to the Valar, saying: "The right nature for an Elda is to wed
another of his kind and to beget children. Yet here we have a situation most
strange, one that can perhaps only arise from Arda Marred. Omar-Amillo, Lord of
Music, wishes to wed with Canafinwe Macalaure, second son of Curufinwe Feanaro.
Shall the Valar grant them this grace?"
"A Maia wed with an Elda? That is unheard of!" cried Tulkas.
"Not entirely," said Feanor, for he had come to debate on behalf of
his son. "I have heard that my father's friend, Elwe Thindikollo, wedded
Melian the Maia, servant of Yavanna."
"That fate was appointed to them before the beginning of Time," said
Nessa.
"How do you know that this was not also fated to be so?" challenged
Feanor.
"If it were to be, I think that your son would have been born as a
daughter, or that Amillo would have long ago chosen a female form rather than a
male one," said Yavanna. "If they wished to associate in the manner
that you and Aule associate, we would have no quarrel. But they claim that they
wish to be wed."
"That is so, Lady Yavanna," Maglor said softly. "It is not enough
for our love to simply be."
"Before the world was created, the Ainur sang their musics. Yet when all
was finished, Iluvatar said, 'Ea!' Thus we were able to behold our musics. It
was not enough that the music had been made. Iluvatar chose to shape our musics
in the world of Arda," Amillo said. "Love unfulfilled is like the
music of the Ainur before Iluvatar breathed life into the world. Is it not more
beautiful than we could ever have imagined? It is as the snowflakes and rain
unpredicted by the music of Ulmo, Lord of Waters. And the Children of Iluvatar
are not of our musics, but if love such as this should flourish between one of
us and one of them, then is that not also the design of the Father of All?"
"You claim that this is the design of Iluvatar, yet I instead perceive that
this is the works of the Shadow that first marred Arda," said Yavanna.
"Macalaure is not at fault, but his very nature has been corrupted by
Melkor, and so he has sought other than what was intended for him: an Elven
wife. If we allow this union, are we not perpetuating this marring?"
"How can it be evil and marred if it comes of love?" thundered Osse.
"Love is itself pure and untouched by evil, that is true," said Ulmo,
"but the union of two beings in love is not necessarily free from evil. I
do not question the goodness of their love, for I believe that it is real and
not imagined from illusion or lust. I do, however, question the wisdom of
allowing them to come together as if they were man and wife. Why is this
necessary for their love to be complete?"
"So says one who is unattached," said Aule. "I mean no disrespect
to the Lord of Waters, but he has not yet known the joys of marriage. Did the
youngest of us, Tulkas and Nessa, not come together in joy and find yet greater
love through their physical union? And did it not allow them to more deeply
explore the Music of Arda, of which they had but a part? Through such unions, we
may explore aspects of the Music outside of ourselves, and that is surely the
greatest pleasure of marriage."
"And who better to want such a thing than the Lord of Music?" added
Salmar. "My brother has ever sang beneath Telperion and Laurelin, yet not
until now have I realized that his songs were lacking. I may be content in the
deep waters or by the side of Lord Ulmo, but if Amillo finds greater joy in the
company of an Elda, then I see not why it should be withheld from him."
"Yet their marriage can never bring children into this world. It seems to
me a thing unnatural," said Este the Gentle.
"I would gladly take the guise of a woman if it would allow me to be with
Macalaure," said Amillo.
"That seems to me even more unnatural," Orome said with a twitch of
his dark eyebrow. "If we allow you to do such a thing, then I believe that,
as Yavanna has said, we would be further perpetuating the marring."
"Then allow their union as they are," Feanor said. "It will do no
harm to either of them, save that their marriage would be a barren one. You say
that their love may be a mark of the marring of the world, yet perhaps their
music together can aid in the healing of Arda. Before the Shadow of Melkor
touched the Noldor, these two were innocent and untouched by love of this
manner. They have sung together before to the glory of the Two Trees. Yet, it
was not until after the Marrer's actions were revealed in the eruption of
violence in Aman that these two came to love each other as man and wife. It
seems to me that their music has found new depth and beauty, and perhaps in
their union, they may find healing for the Marred Music that flows in all things
in Arda."
"We may pity their plight, yet if this union comes to pass, I perceive that
still further grief will come of it," said Nienna. "Iluvatar appointed
the Elves to live undying in Arda, yet Amillo came from beyond Arda. In time,
they will be parting, and that parting may be a greater sorrow than the sorrow
that will come of our forbidding their union."
"The tale may be sorrowful in the end, but does that mean it should not
be?" said Vaire. "I am the weaver of the stories of Arda, and, though
we have brought the Eldar here to Aman to dwell in peace and safety, already I
have had to weave one story of woe. Is that not so, son of Finwe?"
"Yay, it is so," said Feanor.
"And yet, it was in the nature of Finwe to desire children and thus to wish
to wed another. Amillo's nature calls out to him to unite with this Elda, and
Macalaure's nature also begs him be with Amillo. It seems to me one of
consensual love, and such love should not be denied. Indeed, it is all the more
pertinent if Macalaure should die from grief at not being with his love and if
Amillo should choose to depart Arda before his time because of our unwillingness
to allow the full fruition of their love," said Vaire.
There was a long silence, but at length Manwe spoke again. "I was appointed
by Iluvatar to be the High King of Arda, yet it was not given to me to rule the
wills of others. Indeed, that is the very desire of Melkor that has corrupted
him to evil. Therefore I cannot command either Amillo or Macalaure to withhold
their love for each other.
"I was also commanded to rule all that dwells in Arda, and while Amillo the
Ainu dwells in incarnate form in Valinor, he must also be subjected to my laws.
But there is yet no law that forbids the marriage of two men. It was not
necessary, for such a love had never arisen. I do not choose to now create such
a law for the express purpose of preventing the union of two who are so deeply
in love. If Varda had chosen a male form, would I have not associated with her
because of her physical being? I think not, for our love goes beyond that of the
body, and I perceive that this is also true for the Lord of Music and for
Macalaure the great singer.
"But this matter I now commit to Namo the Judge. Let him speak last!"
Then Namo Mandos spoke, saying, "All that I have heard I have considered.
It is our part to rule Arda and to counsel the Children of Iluvatar or to
command them in things committed to our authority. But our authority does not
extend to matters of the heart, even moreso for one of our own, for is Amillo
not of the Ainur also? Yay. And though I may seem cold and unrelenting in my
judgments, even my heart has been moved by love, for I am fortunate enough to be
espoused to Vaire the Weaver.
"In this matter, I cannot judge, and so I will accept the decision of
Manwe. But to this will I add: it may be that Amillo and Macalaure will find the
end bitter, but that will not lessen the love that they will have shared
together. In their place, I think I would also choose to love rather than not,
for one moment with Vaire is worth more than an eternity without her. When the
Light of Valinor has dimmed, Amillo will sing for the Two Trees, and, when that
Light arises once more, then shall Macalaure share in that song. Though they may
be separated by the Sea, and though they will, in the end, be separated beyond
the very confines of Arda, the winds will blend their music even as the Light of
the Two Trees now blend in silver and gold, then the griefs that shall come ye
shall weigh in the balance, and they shall not seem too heavy compared with the
Music that is their love."
"So be it!" said Manwe.
Therefore the Statute of the Music of Love, as it came to be known, was
proclaimed, and the wedding of Amillo and Macalaure was a joyous occasion
celebrated throughout Valinor. And even the banishment of Feanor from Tirion did
not mar their marriage, for their union took place on the very slopes of
Taniquetil, and Manwe himself placed the hand of Macalaure into the hand of
Amillo and blessed their love in the name of Iluvatar.
---
Note: What? Tolkien said that Maglor was wedded (XI. 318). He never said that
Maglor married a woman. So there! Omar-Amillo comes from the Book of Lost Tales
I and was originally a Vala. In this fic, I made Amillo a Maia like his brother
Salmar, who didn't get cut from the later tales.