Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday – a weekly feature from The Broke and the Bookish, now hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl. Expect a new top ten list every week!
| Top Ten… Doomed Romances of Fantasyland |
Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday! This week it’s a love freebie in honour of valentines day so, to get you all in the spirit, I bring to you the Top Ten… Doomed Romances of Fantasyland!
| 1. |
Túrin Turambar + Niënor Níniel
from The Silmarillion + The Children of Húrin
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Without giving away any spoilers to one of Tolkien’s many great tragedies, there is one glaringly obvious reason these two star crossed lovers should never have got their heavenly bodies entangled. Amnesia can be a bitch.
| 2. |
Beren + Lúthien
from The Silmarillion + Beren and Lúthien
by J.R.R. Tolkien
While this may be the only ‘happy ending’ The Silmarillion has to offer, the tale of Beren and Lúthien, which sees a man fall in love with an elvish woman, takes pleasing the in-laws to a whole new level. With more shapeshifting, limb-lopping and blood-letting than you can shake a silmaril at, its a good job this elf maiden had a beautiful voice.
| 3. |
Aredhel + Eöl
from The Silmarillion
by J.R.R. Tolkien
When your spouse traps you in a forest and stops you from seeing any of your friends or family you know life has taken a turn for the worse. But hey, at least you didn’t try and escape with your small child and get fatally wounded in the process… Though on the grand scale of things death is probably the least of your worries.
| 4. |
Harry Dresden and Susan Rodriguez
from The Dresden Files
by Jim Butcher
If Harry Dresden and Susan Rodriguez can teach us anything with their dramatically flawed relationship it’s that being honest with your love interest is probably the best course of action. Harry and Susan however did not take this advice which lead to an escalating series of lies, dangerous encounters and eventual vampirism… things couldn’t get any worse, could they?
| 5. |
Albus Dumbledore + Gellert Grindelwald
from Harry Potter
by J.K. Rowling
Albus Dumbledore’s fancy for dark wizards and muggle suppression in his youth was bound to end in disaster from the start. After a chain of events instigated by his lover all but destroys his family, his interpersonal relationships took a sudden turn for the worse. But hey, love excluded, he didn’t do too badly afterwards.
| 6. |
Severus Snape + Lily Potter
from Harry Potter
by J.K. Rowling
The spurned love of Severus Snape by Lily Potter, which was escalated by her not-at-all-spurned love for infamous bully James Potter, lead to his eventual joining of He Who Should Not Be Named, her untimely death, and a somewhat short lifetime of secretive babysitting.
Cersei + Jaime Lannister
from A Song of Ice and Fire
by George R. R. Martin
This one really doesn’t need any description, explanation or sorry conclusions. Suffice to say that having an incestuous affair with your twin is probably not the best idea you’ve ever had.
| 8. |
Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish + The Tully Sisters
from A Song of Ice and Fire
If love makes you go crazy then Petry “Littlefinger” Baelish may be the perfect example. Spurned by his childhood sweetheart, Littlefinger’s unrequited love caused him to instigate a civil war just to get her back. After this plan fails abysmally he settles for the runner-up, which leads to a series of deaths, murders and general mayhem thereafter.
| 9. |
Lyra Belacqua + Will Parry
from His Dark Materials
by Philip Pullman
After spending almost an entire two books together, Lyra and Will’s blossoming relationship is cut woefully short when neither of them is capable of living in the others world. I guess some things just aren’t meant to be.
| 10. |
Lord Asriel + Marisa Coulter
from His Dark Materials
by Philip Pullman
After a steamy affair results in the birth of a certain compass wielding little girl, a sequence of murder, abandonment and child cruelty ensues. But it wasn’t all so bad; their tragic end, for once, made all the difference.
What are your favourite doomed literary romances? If you would like to join in with Top Ten Tuesday, head on over to The Broke and the Bookish and sign up!
Books by Proxy 
I was a fan of Harry & Susan and was sad it turned out the way it did!
I never liked Murphy so the hints and teases & tension between her and Harry don’t do anything for me, unfortunately. I only read 6 Dresden novels and don’t know whether they end up together at some point… Or if it will be teased until forever 😀 How far are you?
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I don’t dislike Murphy but I like her and Harry as working partners not partner partners! I’m up to book 13, Ghost Story now! Only a few to go!!! 😮
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Hahahaha, “doomed romances”, I love it! And oof, the one between Harry and Susan still makes me feel so bad for him. Especially since that love scene between them was written so well.
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I know! Changes really got me – poor Harry…. poor Susan!!! Definitely a relationship which escalated in the wrong direction!
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Ooh I love this one! Cersei and Jaime *nods* yikes! And I haven’t read The children of Hurin yet, but nice to see the Tolkien picks!
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I was tempted to use all Tolkien picks! The Silmarillion is a dictionary of doomed relationships – though none could be written more beautifully than Tolkien does it 😀
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I think Proxy has it… I simply couldn’t think of a doomed relationship that really counts other than the ones you had mentioned:) Well done for a really good selection!
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Ah doomed romances – Proxy, I love your take on the Love Freebie! Lyra and Will has got to be one of my favourite doomed loves too. I would also pick Roland and Susan from Stephen King’s epic Dark Tower series.
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Haha thank you! 😀 I’ve never read the Dark Tower, though I always wanted to give it a try!
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