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Day 18 of SWG 30-Day Character Study. My character is Mairon | Sauron | Annatar.

If you wonder where prompts 16 and 17 are, no worry, they will appear later. I did this prompt out of order in the hope of achieving a fan art stamp for this challenge on SWG site! Those stamps are pretty addictive, and today's the last day of the Jubilee challenge.

Today's prompt: Fan Art/Fancast/Fanmix. Create fan art of your character.

I did! I was inspired to draw Mairon in his terrifying First Age form: Gorthaur, the Lieutenant of Morgoth.

You can find the fan art on the SWG site!

Day 14 of SWG 30-Day Character Study. My character is Mairon | Sauron | Annatar.

Today's prompt: Big Ideas, Part One. Create a visual representation of the big ideas you've learned about your character. This can be a quick list in a notebook, a series of sticky notes, or a graphical representation … or whatever you want to make or imagine!

I took an easy route and wrote down some ideas in my Silm fic inspiration notebook.

( Notebook image under the cut )

Day 11 of SWG 30-Day Character Study. My character is Mairon | Sauron | Annatar.

Today's prompt: Drop Everything and Read, Part Two. Take at least a half-hour to read meta and scholarship written about your character.

My chosen reading was this paper:

Bourquein, Cameron (2024) "The Nameless Enemy: How Do You Solve a Problem Like “Mairon”?," Journal
of Tolkien Research: Vol. 20: Iss. 2, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol20/iss2/3

I wanted to return to the previous theme of Sauron's original name from an academic view after writing my own musings down in the last prompt. As a casual Tolkien fan, I don't often read academic papers, but this paper was hugely interesting and thought-provoking, especially as I had just faced the question myself in a very fannish way.

I strongly recommend you to read the article yourself, but I want to point out the part of it which I found the most interesting: that the writer introduces several ways how Sauron is severed from his origins as Mairon, which thus becomes "a most marginal name", only found in an obscure comment by Tolkien, and is actively deleted in the histories in-universe.

I find it fascinating that in the fandom context, the fandom has happily adopted the name Mairon: this is how he's called in many fics and fan arts and headcanons. (Just like here in this blog.) I think this shows the marginal and transformative nature of fandom and certain fandom activities like fanfic writing.

I also found a list (by the author of the previous paper) of Tolkien scholarship related to Sauron, which I have now bookmarked: A Sauron Bibliography (Part 1).

Day 9 of SWG 30-Day Character Study. My character is Mairon | Sauron | Annatar.

Today's prompt: Weak Points, Part One. Think about at least three shortcomings of your character - things they are bad at, mistakes they make, bad habits… Write a scene in which their failings play a pivotal role.

This area is something Mairon is, unfortunately, very good at, and this is also what makes him such an interesting character. We're also heavily in the headcanon territory again.

1. Mairon is overconfident. This sometimes causes him to make crucial mistakes that lead to his defeat, like in the battle against Huan, or in the end of his scheming in Númenor. Somewhat linked, vanity is one of his personal traits and he seeks admiration of others in a way that may be seen excessive.

2. Mairon thinks that end justifies the means. He is ready to hurt others – and even himself – to achieve his goal. This is what happened with the One Ring, I think. Mairon also has difficulties in seeing things from others' perspective. It sometimes comes as a surprise to him that not everyone has the same priorities/goals as he has. My headcanon is that this way of seeing things is not unique to Mairon, but it is how the Ainur in general see the incarnates. However, in Mairon, who spends a lot of time among the peoples of Middle-earth, and who also has a defective moral compass, this way of thinking leads to even more bad decisions.

3. Mairon is possessive. I think this characteristic is transferred to the One Ring as well. In Eregion, this part of his character is in shadow as he turns it psychologically around and calls himself the gift-giver. However, his relationship with Celebrimbor can be seen as a very possessive one.

Unfortunately, I don't currently have time to write a drabble for this prompt – even though this is a great prompt that would deserve a drabble - but I may return later with part 9 b and write a little something about his failings.

Day 7 of SWG 30-Day Character Study. My character is Mairon | Sauron | Annatar.

Today's prompt: Affiliations, Part One. Think about an important relationship your character has to another character in your verse. Spend at least a half-hour exploring that relationship in any way you choose.

Mairon's relationship to Melkor was probably the most important relationship in his life, changing his whole life and the future that awaited him. I wrote a 100-word drabble about their relationship after some musing about the nature of it. I don't necessarily see it as a romantic one.

Here's the drabble: To Not Appear Weak.

Day 6 of SWG 30-Day Character Study. My character is Mairon | Sauron | Annatar.

Today's prompt: Artistic Licenses. Take at least ten minutes to peruse fan art about your character. Think about which fan artists best capture how you imagine your character and why. Think about how your character's appearance does (or does not) support other aspects of their traits and history.
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With Mairon, there is no lack of fan art about him. I even found the online Silmarillion fandom (in 2020) only because I was searching online fan art about Sauron in Númenor at that time, so he was my "gateway drug".

This is a good point to insert "always has been" meme. That was me, stepping into the Silm fandom.

For this prompt, I searched my tumblr blog for #mairon tag. I mostly reblog fan art, and there's a lot of it about Mairon. He's my second most used tag after #silmarillion. This tag leaves out Rings of Power inspired fan art, but it's a pretty extensive collection anyway.

(I had no patience to go through all of it.)

I love how every fandom artist has their own style of drawing Mairon, and the art pieces are so inspirational and diverse! The only art style about him I don't care very much is that where he's pictured in LotR-style full-armoured giant (boring), or as a fiery eyeball (unless it's a humorous take). Some artists put details like eye-motifs, third eye, associations to fire or to forge in art about him and I find these details fascinating. He's often pictured seductive, and somewhat androgynous (oh yes), but also sometimes as stressed and tired and an overworked little Maia. Naturally, many art pieces about him are dark and may contain darker themes, but on the other hand, there are many cosy artworks that picture him in nice and comfortable situations – mostly with either Melkor & the Angband crew, or with Celebrimbor.

If I should choose only one art piece that pictures how I see Mairon, I would probably choose this one by Krabat. I think it shows well his Maia-nature and his natural curiosity, and why he was called the Admirable.

Day 4 of SWG 30-Day Character Study. My character is Mairon | Sauron | Annatar.

Today's prompt: Home Sweet Home, Part One. Think about a geographical location where your character lived. Learn more about what life in that location might have been like: the climate, topography, seasonal changes, flora and fauna, or anything else related to that physical location.

Mairon has lived in many different geographical locations in different times, and I must admit choosing between them for this prompt was not easy (because I was surely not going to write about all of them - this is a relaxed challenge). Should I take Almaren, the paradise of perpetual light in the Spring of Arda? Perhaps the fiery underground world of Utumno, or the northern volcanic world of Angband? Or perhaps the land of Mordor that Sauron created on his own, defying the laws of nature and geography while doing that?

This is a challenge given by Silmarillion Writers' Guild and I'm a Silmarillion writer, so I decided to leave Mordor out, as fascinating as that land is (I might return to it later during this challenge, though, who knows). This brings me back to Angband, which is fascinating in its own way. As my prompt fill, I concentrate on the topography and the climate of Angband.

Angband was situated in the northwestern part of Middle-earth, below and on the south slopes of the Iron Mountains. Over the fortress, the triple peaks of Thangorodrim were the most prominent mark of the area. Southwards from Angband lay the green grassy plain of Ard-galen that later became a wasteland after an ecocatastrophe at the beginning of Dagor Bragollach when it was hit by rivers of flame and poisonous gases. After this, the plain was called Anfauglith (Land of Gasping Dust). On the other side of the Iron Mountains, north from Angband were the regions of everlasting cold and Dor Daedeloth (on both sides of the mountains). The Iron Mountains were impossible to climb, but there must have been underground routes to the north-side of the mountain range through Angband's cavernous tunnels. It was unclear how close the shores of the great sea were, but I like the headcanon that the Angband inhabitants had an open passage to the sea in the north. The area around Angband had a prominent volcanic activity and Thangorodrim consisted of three active volcanic mountains. The area also suffered from earthquakes.

The climate there was cold, but how cold exactly depended on the distance of the area to the sea. I think the sea was far enough away so that Angband would have got a continental climate with cold winters and extreme seasonal changes (which sounds indeed something Melkor would have preferred). Perhaps there was even a subarctic climate north of Angband. One theory is that Melkor, as a Vala, might also have powers to affect the severity of the climate, even though the proximity of the (north) sea had otherwise made the winters milder.

Angband's geography feels, interestingly, a lot like that of Iceland of our world, but the climate could have been more like that of Siberia.

Sources used
1. Tolkien Gateway wiki
2. Karen Wynn Fonstad: The Atlas of Tolkien's Middle-earth

Day 2 of SWG 30-Day Character Study. My character is Mairon | Sauron | Annatar.

Today's prompt: Down Memory Lane, Part One. Think about your character’s childhood (or the early days of their existence if they had no childhood). What was the environment and daily life of their formative years like? Did they have siblings? What was their relationship to their family like? Who were their friends? What made them feel sad/angry/frightened? What made them feel content/excited/happy? Who were their teachers?
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As a Maia, Mairon was not born, but Eru made him of his thought before the creation of Arda together with other Ainur. It is not said that the Ainur had a childhood, but I imagine that Mairon had certain child-like traits in the beginning, and he developed like a child who later becomes a teenager and then a young adult during his early days of existence.

In the beginning, Mairon was a Maia of Aulë. I imagine that the Maiar choose the Vala that attracts them most, and Aulë, the master of all crafts who delights in works of skill [Valaquenta] was certainly an attractive master to someone like Mairon. Mairon lived in Aulë's Halls in Almaren, the first dwelling place of the Ainur in Middle-earth, and he worked in Aulë's forges and workshops and learned much both practical and theoretical knowledge from Aulë, whom I see both as a father-figure and a teacher to Mairon.

My headcanon is that the Valar name their Maiar, and thus, Mairon (The Admirable, Precious) is a name Aulë gave to him. For me, it tells about the affection and admiration Aulë had towards his most promising Maia. Later, when Mairon left him, it must have been a great shock to Aulë, and he must have felt betrayed.

Aulë's spouse is Yavanna, and I think she was also present during Mairon's early days, like a mother-figure, but perhaps even more as a teacher. Yavanna knew everything about growing things, mostly plants but also animals, and she was known to be a shape-shifter. I have the headcanon that Mairon learned his shape-shifting skills from Yavanna, and her knowledge about all living things together with Aulë's knowledge about the mineral realm gave Mairon a good background education about how Arda worked - and perhaps also gave him ideas how to perfect it.

Mairon had Maia-siblings, Maiar who lived with his master Aulë, and I think he knew some of Yavanna's Maiar as well. We know only a handful Maiar by name, but I suspect that Curumo (Saruman) and Aiwendil (Radagast) were sent to Middle-earth to oppose Sauron partially because they knew him from before: Curumo as Aulë's Maia, and Aiwendil as Yavanna's. I'm pretty sure that Mairon and Curumo never got along. Curumo may have envied Mairon who seemed to be "the golden boy" of Aulë's Halls. I think that Aiwendil didn't have such problems with him, and they might have even been friends at first - I can imagine them playing together, perhaps shapeshifting to various animals in Yavanna's gardens.

Outside Aulë's Halls, Eönwë was definitely Mairon's friend. When they meet in the aftermath of the War of Wrath, it's clearly a meeting of two people who once were friends. Mairon can change himself into winged creatures, so perhaps they enjoyed flying together over Almaren. Ilmarë might have sometimes joined them, too.

Mairon was never really sad, and seldom frightened, but he was easily frustrated and became often angry if things didn't go as he wanted. He was a perfectionist from an early age on, demanding a lot of himself - and of others as well. I think he was happiest when he managed to forget his perfectionist traits for a while, like when he shapeshifted into an animal, or concentrated in the process of creating instead of the end result (which never fully satisfied him, especially when he was young and still learning). His main teacher was Aulë, and he learned everything he could from him, but it was not enough, and Mairon, thirsty for knowledge, started (unconsciously at first) to look for another teacher. But that's a story for another day of this character study.

I haven't been active here, but I can feel my fandom interest coming back, and perhaps I can write also here some of my fandom plans for 2024.

• I want to update Lightbearer. I guess I have some trouble with that fic, I haven't update in since April and I still have a serious writer's block. I have begun writing the next chapter, though.
• I want to write a gothic-inspired fic about Maedhros in Angband.
• I want to write some Curufin/Celegorm.
• I want to do the Silvergifting week again.
• I want to update my Tyelpë in Mordor fic.

Hmmm, many of those are rather dark prompts.