Cross Fics and Trope Subversion/Commentary

Spoilers for The Silmarillion, ASOIAF theories, etc.

TW: Discussion of abduction and rape.

One of the things I'm finding fascinating about reading this JRRT/GRRM crossover is how it addresses the tropes and commonalities from one work to the other. Many of these are to be expected of course. Tolkien laid a lot of the foundation for fantasy. Many people drew inspiration from his work, including Martin. Martin has talked extensively about Tolkien and certain frustrations he has with what the man did. There are many elements of the older man's work that Martin tried to subvert or, at least, swerve around. 

One of these tropes is the 'orphaned child conceived in abduction/rape." In Tolkien's work, Aredhel, only daughter of Fingolfin, only one of two female grandchildren of Finwe, is a dark-haired and independent character who leaves her safe city and is abducted by Eol. Eol weaves magic around her to keep her from finding her way out of his lands. They have a son and he forbids her from seeking out her family or even speaking her own language. Eventually, she and their son escape. She goes back to her brother's city. Eol follows and demands they return. When he finds that he isn't allowed to leave, he tries to kill their son. Aredhel steps in front of the weapon and dies. Eol is thrown from the walls of the city. Years later, their son betrays them to Morgoth and the city is destroyed. 

Martin does some subversion to this trope. Lyanna Stark is the only daughter of her generation. She has dark hair and is independent. She is abducted by the Crown Prince. This is basically the backdrop for Robert's Rebellion.  This starts a war. Of course, this is also the backdrop for the Trojan War. Women being kidnapped is a big literary device. Sigh. 

Anyway, the major theory (that actually plays out as true in the show) is that Jon is Lyanna's son. She and Rhaegar are actually in love and they marry. She dies due to childbirth complications. Instead of being the biggest traitor in the history of his people, Jon will probably turn out to be the hero. 

But this is the neat thing about the cross fic. Celegorm is the first person to find out the truth about Jon's parents. Howland Reed even suggests that perhaps it wasn't an abduction. Maybe they were in love. 

Celegorm and Aredhel were very close friends. He mourns her death, the manner of it, and has an intense hatred for the man who did it. In this reality, he knew Lyanna for several years before she was taken. To him, she basically WAS Aredhel and to have her ripped from his life in the same way his cousin was in his last life just almost breaks him. 

When he finds out that Jon is Rhaegar's son, he isn't in awe or relieved or happy about it. He's horrified.....because even if Lyanna thought she loved Rhaegar, it was still a fucked up situation. She was far younger than he was. He was married. Everything was done in this shady way. She stilled died horribly. 

From Celegorm's perspective, this repeat of history, even with subtle changes, is no better than what happened before. He chooses NOT to tell Jon the truth. He tells Jon that his mother was amazing and a great hunter and a great rider. He tells Jon her name was Aredhel, because, to him, it's basically true.