Nope, you are definitely not reading too much into it. The apple girl is Terentaule, who is Curufinwe's wife in my Felakverse. This story actually fits in that verse perfectly; it was written to do so. Probably my best treatment of Terentaule so far comes in "By the Light of Roses," but I won't recommend that one to you since it's slash. She also appears in The Gift.
Raises a good question, did the action of Fëanaro determine that Curufinwë would end up the way he did, or was it the actions of his family in response to that action?
I'd say it's a variety of factors and impossible to pin the evolution of Curufinwe's character--or any of them, for that matter--on any one influence. For example, it is in his nature, I think, to be creative and curious and like to work with his hands. After four sons without an eager pupil in forgecraft, I think this endeared him to Feanaro. We have one testament that Curufinwe was Feanaro's favorite (I, personally, have my doubts to the actual veracity of this, though I've no doubt that it appeared that way), so I count this as close to canon as canon can be. :) But then, you have the events of the Years of the Trees and the First Age, the same traumas that affected all of the Noldor and the Feanorians particularly: Finwe's death, the theft of the Silmarils, the Darkening of Valinor, and so on. You've read the book. ;) I've no doubt that some of these things--namely the destruction or theft of beautiful things--struck Curufin in a way that it might not, say, Amrod or Caranthir. And his wife left him to stay in Aman; what did that do to him at an already difficult time? His beloved father was murdered not long after. There's a confluence of a lot factors, and we get the Curufin who sent Finrod to his death, schemed to overtake Nargothrond, and aided in kidnapping (and tried to force marriage upon) Luthien.
I am showing my background in clinical psych again, I know. :)
But in my own version of the events, Curufin wasn't particularly well-liked by the rest of his brothers, so as you point out, that shaped him too. And that was caused because he appeared to be the favorite of his father. I hate to keep pointing to more and more stories that expand on the ideas of what you've already read, but Essecarme deals with this. (When you consider how many stories I've written, it's scary that I've only begun to scratch the surface!)
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rosecarmine
Re: Making me like Curufinwe
Date: 2008-02-05 10:41 pm (UTC)Raises a good question, did the action of Fëanaro determine that Curufinwë would end up the way he did, or was it the actions of his family in response to that action?
I'd say it's a variety of factors and impossible to pin the evolution of Curufinwe's character--or any of them, for that matter--on any one influence. For example, it is in his nature, I think, to be creative and curious and like to work with his hands. After four sons without an eager pupil in forgecraft, I think this endeared him to Feanaro. We have one testament that Curufinwe was Feanaro's favorite (I, personally, have my doubts to the actual veracity of this, though I've no doubt that it appeared that way), so I count this as close to canon as canon can be. :) But then, you have the events of the Years of the Trees and the First Age, the same traumas that affected all of the Noldor and the Feanorians particularly: Finwe's death, the theft of the Silmarils, the Darkening of Valinor, and so on. You've read the book. ;) I've no doubt that some of these things--namely the destruction or theft of beautiful things--struck Curufin in a way that it might not, say, Amrod or Caranthir. And his wife left him to stay in Aman; what did that do to him at an already difficult time? His beloved father was murdered not long after. There's a confluence of a lot factors, and we get the Curufin who sent Finrod to his death, schemed to overtake Nargothrond, and aided in kidnapping (and tried to force marriage upon) Luthien.
I am showing my background in clinical psych again, I know. :)
But in my own version of the events, Curufin wasn't particularly well-liked by the rest of his brothers, so as you point out, that shaped him too. And that was caused because he appeared to be the favorite of his father. I hate to keep pointing to more and more stories that expand on the ideas of what you've already read, but Essecarme deals with this. (When you consider how many stories I've written, it's scary that I've only begun to scratch the surface!)