Hello, this is my first Silmarillion story, inspired while I was in the woods of North Carolina. This is loosely related to my other story, We Are Unseen. Takes place about post-Bragollach just into the Fell Winter, once the Swarthy men began advancing from the east and south.
R&R!
Of Tauran and Romendil
As Tauran she is known by in this tale, for ever she was called 'Wanderer of the Forest' by those she met and by the folk of the Eldar. Her name of birth is long forgotten.
In those regions of the north where the Eldar and their wisdom flowed no more, the Elves were but figures in the stories. Whether they were held in terror or reverence varied greatly between tribes for the lies of Morgoth, and to what end none could understand.
The mother of Tauran was more noble of stature than her husband, having been a clanswoman of the people of Beor. Among her people she was a leader who fled from the woodlands that had become infested with Orcs as the potency of the Eldar waned. Tall and strong-willed, with dark hair and light eyes odd among her kin, she chose a husband of a more savage tribe than her own, and left her people. He was slight among his people, and full of humor. Though often thought to be crude, it is said that Carthrong laughed Feldra to the handfasting.
Though incepted with happiness, the marriage of Feldra and Carthrong grew loveless as their sole daughter grew to three years. Tauran she was named in secret by her mother, who held in dear memory the noble Eldar, though Carthrong hated the Elves and was jealous of their strength and beauty, and the name was never spoken aloud. Tauran, for Feldra marked in her young daughter the longing of the eaves of great forests and spaces, and the desire of solitude, which she graciously granted, much to the displeasure of her husband.
Carthrong was firm of will but not of hand who would prefer, rather than risk the perils of the road, to fortify a homestead, believing the malice of Orcs and swarthy men, near his kin, would slacken in time. With growing age, however, Carthrong came to be suspicious of all peoples, and would admit none to his land, no matter how wide or slim the amount he claimed. Weary of flight and fear, trapped within weak walls, Feldra resolved at last to spirit her daughter away into Ossiriand, for she feared death by Elvish woodcraft less than capture and rape by Morgoth's servants. But ere the two could reach the edge of Ered Luin, for Feldra was slowed by her young daughter and the unfamiliar land, they were found by Carthrong. Harsh words were spoken, and weapons were drawn, yet as Carthrong and Feldra prepared to slay each other, for she was as strong in arms as her husband, Tauran spoke of the coming of monsters. Knowing the strangeness of their child, for yet young she was gifted with a closeness to the land, Carthrong and Feldra put aside their hatred and fled over the mountains, just ahead pf the pack of Orcs.
Long they wandered, and grudgingly they shared their child. Far did Tauran wander from the vigilance of Carthrong and Feldra, enchanted by the changing land and shifting season. The snows were diminished the farther south they had gone. In the long winter, though, Feldra was taken ill and perished in the night. Tauran was away in a pine grove, and missed her mother for ever.
Review! This is a feeler-chapter, and this is heavily Silmarillion-style.