Ambarussa: twin problems

Rachel

Rachel

New Member
Hi guys! I've been listening to the SilmFilm podcasts for quite a while, but I'm kinda new to the whole forum thing (and I missed last week's episode...), so the issue I'm about to bring up may have already been discussed. If this has already been discussed, I apologize!

So, as you all are probably aware, in an earlier (unpublished) version of the Silmarillion, one of the twins (I'm pretty sure it was Amrod, but I could be mistaken) is killed off long before the kinslaying at Sirion. In the earlier draft, he dies an accidental death at Losgar, when Feanor orders the burning of the ships. Amrod supposedly gets trapped on one of the ships and....burns with them???? Whereas in the published Silmarillion, both twins survive until the 3rd kinslaying.

So my question is: which version does everybody prefer, and why? Which version do we think should be used in SilmFilm?

I personally prefer the unpublished version of Amrod's death, because I think there's value in its tragic irony: the first casualty among the sons of Feanor is Feanor's own doing. Thematically speaking, I think it helps to set the tone for the rest of the series, and foreshadows the long slow decline into what becomes a really terrible situation for the Noldor (and everybody around them).

In any case, I'd really love to hear people's thoughts on this!

(It's possible that I'm asking this question waaaayyyy too far in advance, and I apologize if that's the case. I think the burning of the ships at Losgar will occur sometime during Season 3, no?)
 
Glad you're on board! Yes, this topic has come up and people (MithLuin, as I recall) have been reasoning along the lines you are proposing. I can't recall where this was discussed though.
It's a question that will have to be resolved relatively soon. Personally I can live with either versions but choosing storylines that add tragedy is always worth considering, I think. So I lean towards Amrod dying accidentally at Losgar.
 
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Hi Rachel!

Yes, the version of the story where one of the twins dies at Losgar appears in "the Shibboleth of Fëanor" in History of Middle Earth vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle Earth. This is where we get all of the father and mother names (in Quenya and Sindarin) for the house of Finwë. As part of that, when the twins are given the chance to choose what they will be called, they both choose 'Ambarussa'. So, when Tolkien wrote the scene where one twin has snuck back onto the ship, the other twin says "Where is my brother Ambarussa?" and that is how his death in the fire is discovered. It was a later version, not fully written, and not included in the published Silmarillion.

For readers, the burning of the ships is a really horrific scene, and drives home (even more than the Kinslaying) that Fëanor is unhinged and not making reasonable decisions. For viewers of a TV show, the Kinslaying will likely be quite horrific, and just burning the ships may seem bad, but not *as* bad. Having Fëanor accidentally-but-maybe-on-purpose kill one of his sons would certainly ramp up the drama and make the viewers remember that scene with the same horror that readers do.

Also, we will then have 'one twin alone' for the rest of the show. We will have seasons and seasons with Ambarussa...without his twin. There is potential there. Yes, yes, J. K. Rowling did that. She killed off one of the Weasley twins in the final battle. But. We did not really have to see the survivor live on alone except in the epilogue.

So, in short, this decision has not been made yet, but I am with you on the value of using this version of the story.
 
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