Magic on Middle Earth in the DH AU More Generally
Magic on Middle Earth in the DH AU More Generally:
My thoughts on magic in my AU version of Middle Earth are derived partly from my observations and memories of book canon, and, to a lesser and more selective extent, movie canon. I also came up with additional abilities/nuances which 1) work for me for plot purposes, 2) make sense to me, and 3) are interesting to me.
Mostly I've left out individual examples, both canon characters and original characters. In terms of canon characters, a lot of what I came up with comes from Galadriel, Elrond, Glorfindel, Thranduil/Legolas, and Ivorwen (Aragorn's grandmother). In terms of original characters (and/or canon characters I've modified enough that they also fall into this category for purposes of magic), I draw from my depictions of Finduilas, Faramir, Ivorwen, and Faramir's children (mainly Mithiriel). I have also been inspired by African Daisy’s and Kaylee’s depictions of Thranduil and their original characters (mainly Felith and her family) in their AU Greenwood.
Both elven and human magic tends to run more strongly through female descendants than male descendants, although that is not always the case. This is less true with respect to the 'hybrid' elven/human/Maiarin magic possessed by the descendants of Luthien (see Elrond as an example).
Elven magic and human magic can also develop in someone whose family had shown no signs of it in the past.
A note on magic and neurodiversity and magic and PTSD: Often but not always, magic tends to be stronger in those person's who are neurodiverse (such as on the Bipolar Spectrum or Autism Spectrum). Trauma and overcoming trauma can make inborn magical abilities stronger, so it is not uncommon for strong users of magic (of one form of magic or of many), such as Galadriel and Faramir, to have (or have had) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or to be PTSD survivors).
And, of course, no matter how powerful a magic user is, they can always be defeated by someone less powerful who is cleverer, quicker, or more resilient. Sometimes magic is a disadvantage even, because it keeps the person from thinking of the full variety of answers to their problem.
See also description of Elrond's magic in chapter 1 of "Out of Time" (once posted).
Effects of overuse of magic (pressing yourself up to or beyond the limits of your own current capabilities):
Weakness, loss of consciousness, lingering fatigue and weakness, slow healing, increased appetite/thirst, and sometimes headache (but not usually headaches as sharply painful or long lasting as the throbbing, pounding headaches that Theli gets from using his abilities).
Elven magic:
Elven magic includes: mind magic (mind speech, sharing thoughts and images silently with others, protection from intrusion by other minds), prophecy/foresight, control over their home environment, and compulsion.
Mind magic alone any elf can develop, if they grow old enough and have a strong enough will. Some elves are born with a greater potential for it, and some of those will develop the ability earlier.
For prophecy/foresight, control over their home environment, and compulsion, I think that an elf has to have an inborn potential in order to develop those skills. Normally, the abilities do not develop until the elf reaches complete physical maturity at 100 years of age. Often, the potential will remain latent (and impossible to train or control) until the elf is several thousand years old. (In canon, Glorfindel in the First Age did not seem to have the gift of prophecy, but by the Third Age, he did).
'Control over their physical environment' would be similar to Galadriel's ability to protect Lothlorien, Elrond's powers being greater in Imladris, and Thranduil having the cooperation of the uncontaminated trees of the Greenwood. Elves with this power are also able to hear messages from the water/trees/earth/wind. Humans with the human corollary of this power generally are not able to hear messages like this.
It could be argued that Galadriel and Elrond are only able to do everything they can do because of their Rings, Nenya and Vilya. I don't think that that is the case. I view the rings as essentially augmenting their powers. What they can do is the same, they just have more power to do it with (in addition to the canon powers of the Rings). I see them as being able to interweave the rings' powers with their own magics, but as paying a price for doing so.
See also blood magic as used in elven magic from what Rithoril tells Luthavar in "Not My Home," available here () (gen and d)
Human Magic:
Human magic includes: Prophecy/foresight, control over their home environment, protection from intrusion by other minds, and (more rarely and mostly not until the Fourth age or at earliest the late Third Age) an ability to more directly affect with what 'is' and what 'is destined to be.' I came up with that last ability in part because I recall Tolkien having indicated something along the lines of Men having the most ability to impact their destinies and innovate. But mostly I just thought it would be fun to write about.
For my stories about human magic users, see Mithiriel in ‘A Few Minutes’ and 'Burning Mad,' which are the anthology ‘Tales of the Telcontars’ for the Discipline series.
How much of human magic comes from Elros Tar-Minyatur and his heritage from Luthien is unclear. I think being of Elros' line increases the native likelihood of developing useful powers, but I don't think that it's the only factor. However, only Men of Elros' line have some of the elven power of mind speech.
Human magic generally involves some type of sacrifice, more so than elven magic. For 'good' magic users, this means sacrificing a great deal of energy and focus, and sometimes a little of their own blood to make a spell or working stronger. For 'bad' magic users (or ‘blood magic’ users), they make unwilling sacrifices to increase their power, such as sacrificing other living, thinking beings, or at the very least hurting them and taking their blood against their will.
In terms of 'control over their home environment,' I think that humans who live somewhere a long time and love that place and its people also develop an increased affinity for their environment and an ability to use that to their advantage, beyond the advantages of simply 'knowing' the land.
The more generations this relationship endures for, the greater the connection between the people and the land. For instance, if Imrahil of Dol Amroth wants the tide to pick up, it sometimes (but not always) will. If Aragorn wants it to rain in Armor (then later also Gondor), it sometimes (but not always) will. If Faramir wants his rangers to go unseen in the forests of Ithilien, they are more likely to go unseen. It isn't something that 'always' works, it's more like rigging the deck a little. Not enough that someone would necessarily 'notice' that you are cheating, but enough to make you more likely to win over the long run.
For instance, an army invading Gondor will have to deal not just with Gondor's human defenders and its natural obstacles (such as rivers), but if the rulers of that land exercise their influence, they can help the land itself resist. The rivers will flow just a hair faster when the invaders try to cross, the rocks underneath their feet will shift, roots will trip them, they'll find every deep part of a marsh and every bramble in the forest, etc. For more on this, see chapter 2 of “Cat-Swiping Paw Mad.”
Humans can increase this effect by appeal to a Vala or Maia with some power over that part of the natural world, such as on water by praying to Ulmo, and in the forest by praying to Yavanna.
Sauron has the same type of influence in Mordor, only more so, which is part of what made the War of the Last Alliance so hard for the Allied armies.
Imrazor of Dol Amroth and his family introduce an element of voluntary blood magic to this process, by annually shedding a few drops of blood onto the earth or water while they pray to Eru to bless their land and people, and that type of thing.
Dwarven and Hobbit Magic:
I haven't thought enough about these topics.
I imagine that dwarven magic has something to do with rocks. Dwarves can hear rocks and caverns sing, including being able to hear the voices and feel the presences of their ancestors who have lived in and been interred in the cave realm they are living in. Dwarves can interact with this song by singing back to it.
Because rock is impervious to most substances (albeit not running water), it is difficult for outside forces (such as Sauron's power/evil) to influence dwarves.
Hobbit magic would be practical magic. It would focus on life, growing things and food and such. Because that focus is so alien to magics of control and pain such as those practiced by Sauron, their magic/spirits could have more natural resistance to evil.
Melian's magic:
We know that Melian protected the elves of Doriath from Morgoth and his lieutenant and their supporters with 'Melian's Girdle,' also sometimes called the 'Veil of Melian.' I believe that Melian was a Maia who served Yavanna. I've also given her a subsidiary backstory where she also served Ulmo, although not to the extent that she served Yavanna.
I see Melian's powers as including the power to 'hide' or 'veil' and protect the place where the people she loves live, including the ability to use the waters (rivers, creeks) of Doriath to help 'set' that protection, since running water carries a blessing well and is inimical to Sauron's creatures.
I'm not going to go into my thoughts on Maiarin magic/abilities more generally, in part because it seems to have been somewhat more developed by Tolkien's canon, and in part because I'm just not that interested at this point (outside of Melian and her descendants).
The line of Luthien hybrid magic:
I think that Elrond and Theli and the other part-elven descendants of Dior (focusing only on the 'elven' descendants for now) inherited both potentialities for human magic and elven magic. The mixture of the two, along with the Maiarin blood from Melian, results in a type of 'hybrid vigor' when it comes to magic.
From their human side, they also inherited a propensity to grow fast, heal more slowly, and be susceptible to certain virulent human diseases.
There are peculiarities to the magic of the line of Luthien. Most of her descendants have both, or at least some, of the following gifts, at least to some degree:
1) An affinity for clean, running water. They can always find it, sometimes some of them can make it spring out of the ground (not from nowhere, but from a place where water already flows under the ground). Some of them (like Elrond) can make creeks and rivers flow faster or slower. The particularly dedicated healers (Elrond, Theli, Elladan) learn to use this power with respect to blood flow. Blood is mostly water, it 'flows' as it is recirculated in the body, and they can eventually learn to slow or quicken the speed at which blood flows, throughout the whole body or with respect to a specific place (limb, extremity, organ). It usually takes centuries for them to learn how to do this, though, because making a mistake with it or doing it clumsily is a great way to kill someone by accident. Elrond and his descendants in particular also have an additional affinity for water due to Ulmo's partiality for them and their forebearers.
2) An affinity for going unseen when they wish to. The most powerful of them (Elrond, Elurin/Eldun) can use this power to 'veil' or 'hide' the place where they and their people live from people who desire to harm them, or just from anyone they want to keep out. They are not as capable or powerful at this as Melian. Melian protected an entire large kingdom. Elrond protects a city, and it is one that is particularly easy to hide because of the physical location he picked for the Eregion exiles to hide, where he later founded Imladris. Elurin/Eldun protects a dozen or so villages, but his 'veil' can be pierced by someone very determined, or by someone who has power of their own (or power loaned to them by their master, such as a lieutenant of Sauron's).
Theli and also Arwen have the potential for this, but it is a power that would not normally develop until they were thousands of years old. Elrond realizes that with respect to Arwen, and doesn't do more than teach her the theories behind using the power responsibly. Eldun/Elurin hadn't had the benefit of the same training that Elrond had had from Galadriel and also the Maiar and Amaneldi during the War of Wrath. Eldun/Elurin was entirely self-taught, and like some other mature adults, he did not remember how old he was when he became capable of learning how to do the things he had the potential to do. Because of that, he saw the potential for this power in Theli, and tried to make Theli learn to use it before the power was actually available to Theli to 'use.'
By Dagor Dagorath, Theli can use this power to help hide himself and his fellow aviators from the Enemy aerial forces. Even after they are noticed, he can make it harder for the Enemy to accurately target them, particularly Men who serve the Enemy.
This 'hiding in plain sight' or 'going unseen when they wish to' power does not work very well for Luthien's descendants when the person they are trying to hide from is also one of Luthien's descendants. On the other hand, if more than one of them or a whole group of them are all focused on keeping their party undetected, they are more likely to be able to go unseen. The ability has a cumulative effect, to some extent. See chapters 2 and 3 of “Cat-Swiping Paw Mad” for more about this.
Elurin/Eldun and Elured/Eldun came up with the following rhyme to explain their abilities to their children and grandchildren, because they weren't going to explain their real ancestry.
"We grow fast, but we heal slow,
We can go unseen when we wish it so,
We can make the waters rise and flow."