Faerin Gobennas Chapter 1: PROLOGUE, a lord of the rings fanfic

Title: "Faerin Gobennas"

Author: LegolasLover2003 aka Ashley

Category: Book - "Lord of the Rings"

Genre: Angst/Adventure

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to "The Lord of the Rings". I just adore it to pieces! Legede is a character of my own invention however. You may use him, but please ask permission to do so first.

NOTE: THIS IS ONLY THE PROLOGUE! There is more story to come, I promise. For more information and notes... check at the end of the story.

The 6th of the 30th of Summer of 2980 of the 3rd Age of Middle-earth

Engui en Nelchaenui ne Laer ne Tâd Neder Tolgaen en Nelui Andrann
(The Sixth of the Thirtieth of Summer of Two Nine Eighty of the Third Age of Middle-earth)

Despite the desire of the Silvan Elves to meddle as little as might be in the affairs of the Noldor and Sindar, or of any other peoples, Dwarves, Men, or Orcs, Oropher had the wisdom to foresee that peace would not return unless Sauron was overcome. He therefore assembled a great army of his now numerous people, and joining with the lesser army of Malgalad of Lorien he led the host of the Silvan Elves to battle. The Silvan Elves were hardy and valiant, but ill-equipped with armour or weapons in comparison with the Eldar of the West; also they were independent, and not disposed to place themselves under the supreme command of Gil-galad. Their losses were thus more grievous than they need have been, even in that terrible war. Malgalad and more than half his following perished in the great battle of the Dagorlad, being cut off from the main host and driven into the Dead Marshes. Oropher was slain in the first assault upon Mordor, rushing forward at the head of his most doughty warriors before Gil-galad had given the signal for the advance. Thranduil his son survived, but when the war ended and Sauron was slain (as it seemed) he led back home barely a third of the army that had marched to war.

Sighing, Legolas set the leather bound book down on a side table. The Elf's blue gaze was fixed on the numerous bookcases which held countless volumes of literature and lore from all over Middle-earth.

But this most recent edition had him a bit troubled, truth be told.

"Something bothering you, Legolas?"

A slight smile graced the prince's lips, but he did not turn his gaze from the library shelves. "Actually, Legede… something is." He paused, before turning in his chair to face the white haired Elf at his side. "Ada received this book as a gift from Elrond, correct?"

Nodding, Legede took a set in the chair beside the prince. "Aye. Lord Elrond assured your father that it was newly penned by one of Lothlorien's best historians. It was written for the purpose of being housed in your father's library, Legolas."

Legolas seemed to consider this for a few moments, before sighing again and shaking his head. "But what is written here… is not what is written in our own texts, Legede."

Caught off guard by this, the elder Elf rose one slender white eyebrow at the statement. "Legolas, surely you understand that… well… sometimes history gets a bit slanted by the statements of those who are tasked to record them."

"How so?" the prince asked, blue gaze fixed on the Captain of Mirkwood's Guard.

"Well…" Legede began, thinking over the matter for a moment. "What portion is it that you are finding fault with?"

Brightening a bit, Legolas picked up the book once more. He flipped through the newly bound pages until he found the last passage which he had read. "Here." The prince spoke, handing the book over to his friend.

Legede took the leather in his hands, reading over the lines in perfectly scripted Sindarin. After a few moments, the Elf frowned and glanced up at Legolas. "Let me guess… 'The Silvan Elves were hardy and valiant, but ill-equipped with armour or weapons in comparison with the Eldar of the West; also they were independent, and not disposed to place themselves under the supreme command of Gil-galad.' is the passage in question?"

Legolas nodded, "When I was little, father would tell me stories about the war. Obviously he tried to keep out the more harsh aspects… but he told me them nevertheless. He made it a point, Legede… of making it seem as if we had no fault." The prince sighed, running a hand through his long blond hair in frustration. "But it even said that my grandfather basically charged into battle before the call to arms. Father never told me such a thing. Our books of history never said such a thing either." Blue eyes narrowed as his gaze leveled with that of the Captain. "Legede… what did happen? You were there. I know you were. Please…"

With a snap, Legede closed the book and handed it back to the prince. "There are some things I would rather not discuss in regards to the war, Legolas. You of all people should know that."

"I need answers, Legede." The prince replied, setting the book down on the side table once more. "Were we so ill-equipped as this book says? Were we unready for this battle? Did our warriors die in vain?"

"Enough!"

Legolas jumped slightly, and even Legede seemed a bit startled to see the Elvenking himself standing in the doorway to the library.

Standing, Legede bowed to his sovereign. Legolas stood as well, turning to his father as if to ask the Lord of Mirkwood himself.

"This book of Elrond's is a waste. See that it is gotten rid of, Legede." Thranduil spoke, leveling both Elves with a rather dark and angry gaze, before continuing his way down the hall.

Breathing a slight sigh of relief, Legolas turned back to the elder Elf, only to see the Captain take the book in hand.

"Legede!"

"I am sorry, Legolas. However, your father has instructed this book destroyed. I will see to it."

Legolas shook his head, reaching out and grabbing Legede by the wrist. "Father said it needed to be 'gotten rid of'." The prince reasoned. "Let me get rid of it. I promise. It will never grace this kingdom again."

With a sigh, Legede conceded, handing the book over to the prince. "And what will you do with it?"

Legolas smiled, "Give it as a present to Estel, of course."

FAERIN GOBENNAS

Ghosts of History

SINDARIN TRANSLATIONS:

Engui en Nelchaenui ne Laer ne Tâd Neder Tolgaen en Nelui Andrann o Ennor. = The Sixth of the Thirtieth of Summer of Two Nine Eighty of the Third Age of Middle-earth.
Ada = Father
Faerin Gobennas = Ghosts of History

TRANSLATION NOTES:

- Faer (or Fae) meaning "Spirit" was changed to Faerin to make "Spirit" into "Spirits". Faerin was changed to the plural using the Defective Singulars rule for plurals found in David Salo's book (see Texts Used below for more). Ael (pool) follows this same rule. It goes from Ael (pool) to Aelin (pools). Ael was the only word I could find an example of that had the "ae" combination, ending and beginning with a consonant, and without any other vowels in the word, which is why I used it as a model.
- For lack of a better word, I traded Spirit with Ghost to mean basically the same thing.

DATES & NUMBERS NOTES:

All of the Information in this section was collected from David Salo's book and the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings.

SINDARIN DATE: 29th of June / 36th of Laer

The date for Midsummer (on our calendar) is June 21st. For the Sindarin calendar however, it appears to be on June 29th. What I did to get the date from the Sindarin calendar, was thus…
Half of Rhîw (Winter) is 36 days (Rhîw is 72 days long). Half of Rhîw would start on January 1st of our calendar. After 36 days, (on our calendar) we're at February 5th.
Echuir (Stirring) is 54 days long. After 54 days (on our calendar) we're at March 31st.
Ethuil (Spring) is 54 days long. After 54 days (on our calendar) we're at May 24th.
Laer (Summer) is 72 days long. Midsummer is the middle of summer, so half of Laer would be 36 days. After 36 days (on our calendar) we're at June 29th, thus putting the Sindarin Midsummer on our calendar date of June 29th, and thus making the Sindarin Midsummer date of… the 36th of Laer.

NUMBERS: 36th

Nelchaen seems to mean "30". Neledh means "3" and thus the rest can be seen to be the attached "10" portion (though it doesn't mean "10").
Nelui seems to mean "3rd" (or Nail), and so the 'lui' ending can be seen to be the attached "rd" portion.
Thus, to get 30th, I merged the two into one word of "Nelchaenui" to mean "30th".
Eneg seems to mean 6.
Engui seems to mean 6th (or Enecthui).
So, to get 36th, I put the two numbers together in the fashion of forming…
Engui en Nelchaenui = The 6th of the 30th.
I went even further than that in setting up the date by structuring it in such as way as…
Engui en Nelchaenui ne Laer ne Tâd Neder Tolgaen en Nelui Andrann.
The above sentence would read (from my understanding)…
The Sixth of the Thirtieth of Summer of Two Nine Eighty of the Third Age.
The 6th of the 30th of Summer of 2980 of the 3rd Age.

GENERAL NOTES:

- This was JUST a prologue. The story will be about 3 or 4 chapters in length, I think. It was originally going to be for the June "Teitho" contest but I did not finish it in time. I have part of the next chapter already finished, but felt that breaking it up into dates would be fun!
- All Sindarin script in my original draft (which will not appear when read online on FF dot Net) was typed up with the help of the TengScribe program, and a Mode that I input from notes out of David Salo's book and Ruth S. Noel's book (see Texts Used below for more).
- The dates and numbers and such could very well be wrong. I don't claim to know any more than what I've looked up in my books (see Texts Used below for more). So don't kill me if something's off, whether in the numbers and dates or in my use of spoken Sindarin as a whole.
- Italicized portion at the beginning of this story was from page 270-271 of "The Unfinished Tales" (see Texts Used below for more). This was the portion meant to have come from the book which Elrond gifted to Thranduil (and that Legolas was reading).
- Legede is an Original Character and he belongs to me. You can use him if you want to in a story, but you have to get my permission first. Thanks!

TEXTS USED:

Noel, Ruth S. The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth: A Complete Guide to All Fourteen of the Languages Tolkien Invented. 1980. ISBN: 0-395-29130-5.
Salo, David. A Gateway to Sindarin: A Grammar of An Elvish Language from J.R.'s Lord of the Rings. 2004. ISBN: 0-87480-800-6.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. 1994. ISBN: 0-618-26025-0.
Tolkien, J.R.R. Unfinished Tales: The Lost Lore of Middle-earth. 1980. ISBN: 0-345-35711-6.

PROGRAMS USED: (All can be found online)

Tengscribe
Tecindo Tengwaiva – The Tengwar Scribe
Version 1.1.0
Copyrith 1998-1999 Måns Björkman

Sindarin Font
Typeface Name: Tengwar Sindarin
File Size: 53 KB
Copyright 1998 Daniel Steven Smith