Celebration of Spring 1

These last few days, the young Estel, then aged 17, had noticed a strange agitation in the city of his foster father, Lord Elrond. He had tried to interrogate him, but the elf always seemed busy. His answer was almost always « I don't have time ». The young man was very frustrated.

Many visitors from Greenwood and Lothlorien came every day. They had to setup tents in the gardens to accommodate everyone.

One morning, the young man saw that his best friend, Legolas, Prince of Greenwood, had arrive too. His cheeks were reddened by the cold, although the buds were first to appear. Spring came slowly, but the good weather was still far away. When the Prince saw his friend, he smiled even more and ran towards him.

« Hello ! How are you ?

The man smiled to him :

- Fine, thank you, although I am a little outdated these days. Your visit was not announced ! Is your arrival related to that of all the other elves of Arda here?

Legolas looked at his friend with surprise:

- What ? You do not know what is going on? Has Lord Elrond not explained it to you ?

- I have not had the opportunity to ask him about it. He is overwhelmed with all the arrivals ! You, tell me !

- I'm going to my tent, come with me, I'll explain it to you on the way!
- In your tent? Why, mellon nin, you know that you have a permanent room here!
- No ! Not this time ». The elf smiled mysteriously.

They headed towards the gardens which were filled with many large white tents. The different cities were separated, and large flags, with the colors of each cities were planted at the entrances of the tents. When Legolas entered the largest of the Greenwood tent, nobody held the entrance open for the Prince, which surprised and saddened his human friend. However, the Prince was acclaimed when he had completely entered the tent, so Estel was reassured: it was not due to a sudden lack of popularity.
Smiling widely, Legolas greeted everyone with a exaggerated bow. Estel could not believe his eyes. It seemed that all the elves had become insane.

Legolas reached his bunk. He laid down his bow and knives, and put over his shirt a kind of sleeveless green tunic. Estel noticed that all elves this tent were wearing the same bit. He sighed and went to join Legolas, who was exchanging pleasantries with another elf.

« Well my friend, will you explain me this mystery ?
Legolas looked at him and invited him to sit on the edge of the bed. He took a deep breath and began:
- This year there is a nernetha !

All the elves in the tent cheered at that statement. Legolas laughed too and told his stunned friend:
- This is a very old tradition. It takes place every twenty years.
- And what is it exactly?
- We are celebrating the arrival of spring with games between cities. Each city sends its champions and they fight among themselves. We crown the champion of each event and then the winning city hosts the next games.

- And what are these games?
- These are various events to celebrate the arrival of sunny days. You'll see, it starts tomorrow and lasts all day. I'm going to rest, I'll defend the colors of Greenwood in an event ».

All the elves of the tent stood up and applauded. Estel raised his eyebrows, and aware that he would not obtain more information this evening, left his friend. He seriously doubted that the Prince could rest in such a mood, and the cries that escaped from the tent after a few seconds did not belie his first compression. He retired to his room with a sigh, both annoyed and amused at the childish behavior of the elves he had first encountered. It was now very eager for tomorrow.

At daybreak, the city was in an indescribable state. Elves were running all over and calling each other. Still sleepy, Estel looked up at the sun and tried to decide the hour. It was very early. Yawning, he dressed to go observe all excitement. He found himself caught in a whirlwind of pointed ears. He was unable to find his friend in the multitude of elves dressed in bright colors. Discouraged, he reached the podium, where Elrond, Galadriel and Thranduil waited, were holding an animated conversation. None of them took notice of him. So he sat on a chair a little apart, and just waited for something to begin.

He didn't wait for long. Soon, the clarions were resonating. Elves quickly gathered under the podium. Three distinct groups were formed. Estel had seen yesterday that Greenwood elves were dressed in green. He could see now that the elves of Lothlorien wore yellow, and those of Fondcombe, blue. Around these three groups, a lot of elves without bib had amassed. "Probably spectators", thought the young man. He smiled, noticing that even if these fans were not participants, they were still wearing the colors of their city. Some had even woven ribbons of color in their hair.

Suddenly, silence fell. All faces were turned to the lord of the place, which had advanced on the platform. He bowed briefly to greet the crowd.
"Dear friends, thank you for being here so many to attend this event. He paused and with a little smile, and continued: We had won at the last gathering's events.

The elves of Imladris applauded these words. The silence fell on its own. The Lord of the Last Homely House made no attempt to restore calm. Finally, the silence was of himself and Lord Elrond continued:
- We will not delay further, we have a long day before us! I therefore declare this nernetha open and we will immediately begin the first event !

The last words were covered by cheers, but evidently, the public had understood what to do. It had amassed around a round places a little further along. The participants came forward. To the great surprise of Estel, the champions of Fondcombe were Elrond and Erestor. They put on a bib, and take place in the circle. Estel was quite eager to see what this first test was.

Each champion were placed facing a mound covered with a tarpaulin. An elf dressed in red, therefore neutral, scoot at the center of the three piles and began a countdown. At zero, each team pulled the sheet to find a huge box of ... vegetables.

Estel's eyes widened. Vegetables? What will they do? The referee gave no all explanation. The elves had to know the rules perfectly, if that tradition was as old as Legolas said. For a second, he thought about asking someone around him, but upon seeing the level of excitement of all those around him, he would understand upon seeing the rules by himself, . It includes the rules itself !

Moreover, it did not seem difficult. He tried his best to get closer to his father and Erestor. They were busy gathering vegetables in a pile. It seemed totally surreal to Estel to see the concentration with which Lord Elrond was trying to place a cauliflower between two potatoes. He didn't seem as concentrated when he was stitching Legolas and himself on their return from a hunt gone awry.

A movement of the crowd make him step back in spite of himself. The elves around him spoke with excitement of the second trial that would begin shortly. He therefore let the flow of the crowd carry him and found himself in front of three looms. Arwen, Galadriel and an elf called Eressië were sitting and waiting for the start of their ordeal. Arwen sent him a smile when she saw him, before turning to fix the referee and avoid missing a single second of the competition. Again, an elf dressed in red started the countdown. At zero, the three elves began to weave, to the applause of the crowd. More and more amazed, Estel threw an eye on the thread, and realized that it was of very poor quality. With a little more attention, he noticed that in any case, the three women were not striving for quality. It was very surprising.

Again, the excited whispers and a movement of the crowd forced him to move. He suddenly found himself in front of three elves, warriors, including Haldir, who all held an arrow in their hand. Estel lifted an eyebrow, thinking that perhaps this time, the test would make more sense to him.
But to his biggest surprise ever, just before the 'zero' of the referee, the 3 warriors laid the arrow on their noses, and the signal, they removed hands from the shaft. Estel looked with amazement the three fierce warriors squirm, in an attempt to balance the arrow on their nose.

He startled when a hand fell on his shoulder. He turned his head and found himself face to Legolas, who gave him a big smile.
- Would you come? In half an hour it will be my turn!
Estel remembered when his friend told him that he was participating in an event, as well. He asked, while fearing the answer :

- And where is the place of your, hum, event?
- Where rest are the pyramids of vegetables! "

Legolas was suddenly led away by other elves dressed in the colors of Greenwood. He sent a smile of apology to his friend before being taken away.
As for Estel, he was still under the shock of hearing his friend, usually so serious, say the word "pyramid of vegetables."

Once he had recovered from his shock, he headed slowly toward those pyramids. Elrond's and Erestor's was the highest, but as he did not know the rules, Estel could not be sure that it was significant.
The referee announced the end of the event and the participants stepped away from their respective pyramids. The elf dressed in red inspected each lot and declared Elrond and Erestor winners. Applause marked the first point of the game, for Imladris.

The referee announced the start of the fourth test trial. Legolas and two elves took placed at the beginning of a long runway. They seemed to have no accessories. Maybe this test would be more ... classical ?
But when the referee gave the signal, Estel knew that the words "vegetable pyramid" in the mouth of his friend had not been a sufficiently heavy test for him.

Under his disbelieving eyes, he saw the three elves remove each one of their shoe. And with concentration, the elves began to throw it away as hard as they could. Estel was stunned with surprise. Had he really just seen his best friend, this great warrior, throw his shoe in front of him ? In public?

Greenwood elves suddenly burst into applause. The referee smiled and said in a theatrical tone
"And Legolas, from Greenwood, is the winner for the third consecutive celebration!"
Applause became stronger. Legolas greeted the crowd, one hand on his heart, and a big smile hung on his lips.

The other two referees heralded the end of the other tests. Galadriel won the wearing race, Haldir the game of balance.

And so, the city of Lothlorien had won so the nernetha, this time.

The hysterical crowd massed around Lord Elrond, who was back on the podium.
"You all know, the city Lothlorien is the victorious this time! We therefore pass on the spring scarf.
Celeborn approached to the Lord Elrond, who placed it on his shoulders a beautiful pale green scarf, embroidered with small pink flowers. The style was a bit cheesy, not at all majestic as might be expected of an elvish garment. But Celeborn seemed very happy to receive such a present. He greeted the crowd with ceremony and announced:
- We will meet again in twenty years, at Lothlorien! "