Wicked Smart
Disclaimer: I don't own Middle-Earth or anyone in it.
Seeing as Idril was probably the most intelligent female character Tolkien ever invented, I figured that she needed to be able to tell her version of things. Please note that this story is based solely on what I've read in The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and The Book of Lost Tales, so some of it is bound to be a bit inaccurate.
Also note that all the dialogue in this story is quite modern-sounding and not at all Tolkienesque, and I'm sorry if that offends you.
Chapter 1: A Short Prologue
"I am me"
-Ashlee Simpson
I hate, hate, hateall the stories I read in the history books about Gondolin and everything that happened with it. Why? Because they never get it right. No one seems to have the faintest idea about what really happened or who anyone who was involved was really like.
Well, okay, you're thinking. So what makes you different from anyone else, sister? What makes you such an expert on the hidden city of Gondolin all of a sudden?
Easy: Because my father was the king of said hidden city of Gondolin. So yeah, I'm going to be kind of an expert, since I was directly involved in the whole thing. My name is Idril (DON'T call me Celebrindal. I hate that name and I always will), and according to the legends, I am beautiful, psychic, and possibly crazy.
Why anyone would say I'm crazy is a mystery to me, seeing as I'm one of the sanest people I know, so I won't even discuss that. Psychic? Probably not. I'm just more perceptive than most people (too bad no one ever listens to me). As for being beautiful, I guess I kind of am. My hair is a nice color— this really bright gold that I inherited from my mother's side of the family—and I have dark brown eyes that I inherited from my dad. I have nice feet, a good figure, and good teeth, and no real visible flaws, so if that's beautiful, I suppose I'm beautiful. Believe me, there are times when I wish I wasn't. Normal-looking girls seem to cause a lot less trouble.
Back when I was a teenager, I wasn't pretty at all (and I mean at all) and as a result, Dad didn't like me and most people ignored me. After all, I was a disappointment. Only children are supposed to be boys, since only boys can inherit titles. Noldorin princesses are supposed to be perfect, which I was anything but. I loved books and playing ball with the boys my age, making me not Dad's ideal daughter. Therefore, I was neglected.
Lucky for me, I had Aunt Aredhel, Dad's sister. She made sure that I had some sort of parental affection, and was a better mother to me than my own mother had been (actually, I don't know how good my real mother was to me. She died when I was six). Thanks to Aunt Aredhel, my love of knowledge, and my friends, I ended up being a lot tougher and more intelligent than girls are supposed to be.
Dad blamed this on my lack of a female role model, since Mom died when I was little. Aunt Aredhel said that I had her as a female role model and what was wrong with a girl being strong and smart anyway. I said that I'd do what I wanted, and that Dad was just an old coot. Everyone else said that I was gorgeous, and said that I was turning out to be just like my mother.
My early life was crappy, in short.
This is the story of the rest of it.
Oh, and one more note: The quote-at-the-beginning-of-each-chapter-thing is an idea I got from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.
