When I heard the Noldo exiles from Gondolin weave the story of Maeglin and Eöl in their songs of lament so many centuries ago, they suggested their corruption by Morgoth. Yet I know very well who Eöl and his son Maeglin were, and they did not adhere to the Darkness of Morgoth. Eöl often spoke of the Noldor as being responsible for the return of the Dark Lord, for bringing war to Beleriand when all was peaceful. I agreed with my master and I still do today. The Noldor are guilty of crimes far worse than the appropriation of a runaway son and wife. They are far worse than Maeglin's double treachery even. Yet I would lie if I didn't say I mourn the thought that Maeglin was seduced by Morgoth to commit a crime so heinous, so vile that it meant the downfall of so many. But then I also remember the wise words of my master, who said that the deeds of the Noldor would be answered in time. The Noldor are a cursed people and they will remain so until the day they cross the narrow sea. The Noldor will not see it as such today. In their songs the Darkness that came to Gondolin was not self-inflicted, but solely attributed to the coming of Eöl and Maeglin.
If they were to know of our existence, they would look at us through those happenings and they would deem us tainted and capable of dark deeds. I would not be surprised if they even imagined us worshipping Morgoth or his lackey Sauron. The lies they would spread just to keep them from facing the truth, the truth that it was the Noldor themselves who caused their people's suffering. They have forgotten the days when 'darkness' was a peaceful word, when it did not instill fear into the hearts of Elves but put them at ease. Darkness was just another word for the night, the perpetual dark blanket that lay over Middle Earth before the sun and moon were created. The stars were ever visible and were the only light reflected in the waters.
Colours through their uncommon nature in the absence of all-encompassing light still retained their unique ability to marvel the eye of the beholder. Waters were like seams of silver through the dark, the peaks of the mountains shone like diamonds in the distance, our eyes could see the things as they truly were. This is the darkness to which my master was devoted. This is the darkness that he loved so dearly and missed so greatly. With the coming of Morgoth and the Noldor, a large burning eye appeared at the sky and it lit up the world, laying bare so much colour that they have lost its distinct uniqueness. The sun made everything pale and regular as it burns a hole in the sky and blinds the light of the stars. We do not shun the sun for the same reasons the servants of Morgoth do, who have seemingly appropriated darkness as an evil tool for their evil deeds. Darkness is our long lost ally and the Fuinedhil have not forgotten it.
We call ourselves Fuinedhil, or Elves of Night or Gloomelves because the night is the closest thing we have to the days of yore when our world was young, and it is during the night that we like to toil. We do not shun the moon like we do the sun. The moon has a beauty that we have come to appreciate in its own right. The moon bathes the world in a faint white-blue light reminiscent of the light of the stars. It does not blind our eyes and it does not force the stars into hiding. For these reasons we love the moon which we consider the last great creation of the Valar.
The darkness that is said to have housed in Eöl's heart is nothing more than a love for things as they were and a hatred for things as they came to be. When he went looking for his wife and son, I saw hatred in his eyes, yes, but he felt betrayed by the people he loved most. In Gondolin he refused to recognise the laws of the Noldor that bade him to stay in the city, first and foremost because he didn't want to, but also because he couldn't. Gondolin with its white walls was built to shine under the sun. Eöl could never have lived there and the Noldor would never have understood. On another note, sometimes his craftiness is considered a reflection of the craftiness of Morgoth or Sauron. That is a vile thing to say. It was a craftiness he shared with the Dwarves, which he cultivated because of them. And were the dwarves not called into this world by the craftiest of them all?
Many of the Eldar did not understand Eöl. Though he was of Elu Thingol's kin, he was so much more. His realm in Nan Elmoth was perhaps not as great as Doriath or Gondolin, but it was a marvelous realm nonetheless, with beautiful halls lit with star-like lamps and full of love and song and crafting. The forest was what I believe the Edain would call 'magical', with marvelous trees whose branches formed beautiful walls and chandeliers of their own, and open glades with high grass where you could gaze at the stars whilst the leaves whistled a tune through a wind softly blowing.
Steamey on Deviantart
Nan Elmoth harboured many creatures small and large and sometimes they made noises of their own that echoed from bark to bark forming a song. During twilight the fireflies would fly in great number through the forest and they would light a path before them like a flying torch in the night. Moths and butterflies built their nests close to our realm and when the time came the younglings would break through their little houses and fly through our halls on their way to the glowing flowers spread across the forest floor.
LadyoftheFlower DeviantArt
There were dark pools so pure and peaceful like the Pool of Gladuial where Eöl kept his smithy, and small streams that ran through the woods and reflected what little light could find its way through the top of the trees. In this forest dreams truly became reality and death and pain had no place here. Nan Elmoth was not just a dark realm, it was the greatest realm and Eöl was its Lord.
