The Silmarillion goes Shakespeare.
Did anyone ever realize how great an Elizabethan drama the history of the House of Feanor would make? So there's our main character, Feanor. He's the son of the High King. His mother died and his father married another. He has two half-brothers he doesn't get along with. When his father is murdered he rebels against the gods and he and his seven sons pursue the murderer across the sea. His half-brothers follow (makes for a great sub-plot!). Since with his rebel-act he acted against the natural chain of being the world goes down into chaos. Feanor dies in battle.
Okay, from now on it gets a little harder. Since our main character is dead, we would have to speed things up a little. There are two options for an ending:
1. The genuine Elizabethan ending:
One of the main character's sons goes to bargain with the murderer of his grandfather but is captured. He is rescued by his cousin and later gives up any rights to the crown. The elder half-brother becomes High King; the chain of being is thus re-established. Big reconciliation scene at the end. Every one's happy. (Think King Oedipus... okay, so that's far older than any Elizabethan drama, but I can think of no better example; and then, it would make a great Greek tragedy, too.)
This one would stay quite true to the Elizabethan concept of the world. However I would prefer this one:
2. The angsty! tragic! ending:
Fine, the elder half-brother still becomes High King (chain of events see above...). But Feanor's sons continue to pursue the murderer of their grandfather. They die one by one, until only a single one remains. In the last scene, Maglor holds a touching soliloquy by the shores of the Western sea. Every one else is dead. (Yes, just like Hamlet. Or he could go mad and get a "King Lear on the heath" scene...)
The problem with this one is that the chain of being is not re-established and thus it contradicts the Elizabethan concept of the world a little. But well, let's send the Valar to clean things up and then someone vaguely related to Feanor can take up the crown. See, it still works! :-D
So, truthfully I left out the Silmarils and the oath, but I thought it would work best as a simple tragedy of vengeance.*is somehow greatly amused by this*
By the way, if anyone who reads this knows about a book or essay that deals with the adaptation of Shakespeare's soliloquies into movies (especially Hamlet's "To be or not to be") the Unsung Heroine swears solemnly to build you a shrine and worship you until the end of her existance. Yes. :-)
Caranthir: I'll just go and get some tea to calm you down, hmm?
Okay, from now on it gets a little harder. Since our main character is dead, we would have to speed things up a little. There are two options for an ending:
1. The genuine Elizabethan ending:
One of the main character's sons goes to bargain with the murderer of his grandfather but is captured. He is rescued by his cousin and later gives up any rights to the crown. The elder half-brother becomes High King; the chain of being is thus re-established. Big reconciliation scene at the end. Every one's happy. (Think King Oedipus... okay, so that's far older than any Elizabethan drama, but I can think of no better example; and then, it would make a great Greek tragedy, too.)
This one would stay quite true to the Elizabethan concept of the world. However I would prefer this one:
2. The angsty! tragic! ending:
Fine, the elder half-brother still becomes High King (chain of events see above...). But Feanor's sons continue to pursue the murderer of their grandfather. They die one by one, until only a single one remains. In the last scene, Maglor holds a touching soliloquy by the shores of the Western sea. Every one else is dead. (Yes, just like Hamlet. Or he could go mad and get a "King Lear on the heath" scene...)
The problem with this one is that the chain of being is not re-established and thus it contradicts the Elizabethan concept of the world a little. But well, let's send the Valar to clean things up and then someone vaguely related to Feanor can take up the crown. See, it still works! :-D
So, truthfully I left out the Silmarils and the oath, but I thought it would work best as a simple tragedy of vengeance.*is somehow greatly amused by this*
By the way, if anyone who reads this knows about a book or essay that deals with the adaptation of Shakespeare's soliloquies into movies (especially Hamlet's "To be or not to be") the Unsung Heroine swears solemnly to build you a shrine and worship you until the end of her existance. Yes. :-)
Caranthir: I'll just go and get some tea to calm you down, hmm?