READ THIS PARAGRAPH!! (This is a new introduction that replaces the one originally published with this tale.)
These Elfling Interludes are supposed to be lighthearted tales. The following story, however, is somewhat angsty because it evokes images of a violent episode in LOTR, associating it with elflings instead of the original characters. I was going to move the story into a spot created specifically for it, but because I have so many separate postings I now hesitate to do so. I think I would like to avoid creating additional story headings if it can be avoided. So I am just going to tell people that there is an angsty element to this tale, and folks not in the mood for angst can skip the story.
Also, originally this tale was a bit of an experiment. PurpleHat had suggested that it is a bit jarring to use the Greek/Latin name Anomen (a + nomen) in a universe in which Elves generally go by Sindarin names. Initially I replied to him/her that I thought I have been using the name Anomen too long to change it now. Then I began to wonder whether the switch might be doable. As Elrond's foster-son, Legolas's name must mean 'no name', of course, or The Nameless One series no longer makes any sense. 'No name' in Sindarin could be rendered Aleneth (al + eneth). So as an experiment, I used the name Aleneth instead of Anomen and asked readers to tell me what they thought. There seemed a fair amount of sentiment in favor of keeping Anomen, and I prefer it myself. So I have now gone back through the tale and replaced 'Aleneth' with 'Anomen'. What I do plan to do is return to original The Nameless One and add a few lines to the story to explain how Legolas knew to use the elements 'a' + 'nomen'. Also, I like the suggestion by Lady Ambreanna that I use 'Aleneth' as a sort of 'nickname', along the lines of Aragorn/Estel/Strider. So in the future, I am going to look for places to work 'Aleneth' in as one of the pseudonyms that Legolas relies upon.
"What is it?" asked Elrohir, kneeling on the grass beside Elladan.
The two had been swimming near Rivendell when Elladan had suddenly ducked under the water and swum to the bottom of pond. When he resurfaced, he clutched something in his hand. He swam to the edge of the pond and climbed out and sat upon the grass at its edge. Then he opened his fist and studied whatever lay upon his palm. Curious, Elrohir drew near and tried to see what it was. "Why, it's nothing but a handful of mud," he exclaimed.
"No, it's not," retorted Elladan. "Look!" With his free hand the younger twin flicked away some of the dirt, and Elrohir saw the glint of gold. "Let me see," he demanded, reaching out his hand.
"You can see it upon my palm," said Elladan, reflexively making a fist.
"How can I see it if you have got your fingers curled about it?" demanded Elrohir
"I will open my hand, but you must promise not to grab it," warned Elladan.
"Don't you trust me?" Elrohir asked.
"No, I do not," Elladan replied matter-of-factly.
Elrohir tried to look indignant but couldn't really make a go of it. "Very well," he said. "I promise not to grab it."
Elladan opened his fist, and no sooner had he done so, than Elrohir reached for the shiny object that lay upon his palm. "You promised!" shouted Elladan, trying to draw back his hand.
"I said I wouldn't grab it, but I didn't say I wouldn't take it," said Elrohir, who had got his hand on Elladan's wrist. The two began to wrestle, and the shiny object fell into the grass as the two rolled about struggling with each other. Suddenly their combat was interrupted by the voice of their younger brother, Elrond's fosterling Anomen.
"You two had better leave off wrestling and tidy yourself, for it is almost time for the noon meal," he announced. "If you came here to bathe, your efforts have been wasted. You have mud on your limbs and grass in your hair."
The twins stopped wrestling at once. It would not do to present themselves in such a state at Elrond's table. They arose and turned toward the water. As they did so, Anomen noticed something shiny in the grass. "What is that?" he said, pointing. Instantly, Elladan spun about. "That's mine!" he cried.
"I didn't say it wasn't. I only asked what it was." Before Elladan could stop him, Anomen bent down and picked up the object, holding it up so that it was plain to see.
"A ring," Elrohir and Anomen said simultaneously.
"My ring," Elladan said emphatically.
Anomen stared at him, for he spoke in a tone Anomen was more accustomed to hearing from Elrohir.
"If it is your ring, then you have nothing to fear from me. I do not covet such a bauble."
Elladan felt ashamed. It was true that Anomen was careful of his appearance, but this was only because the younger Elf liked to be clean and neat. Never had Anomen shown any interest in adornment for its own sake. Nor was he greedy, collecting objects merely because he desired to possess them.
Anomen proffered the ring to Elladan, but Elladan shook his head. "You hold it for me while I rinse off."
"You are not afraid that I will not return it?" Anomen said lightly, covering the fact that he was a little hurt over how brusquely Elladan had addressed him a moment earlier.
"No," said Elladan. "A ring would have no hold over you. Even should you find one compounded of diamond and mithril, you would seek out its owner and return it."
Elladan spoke with a solemnity beyond his years, and both Elrohir and Anomen were impressed. "Anomen, I have got a piece of quartz in my pouch," Elrohir said. "Will you hold it for me while I swim?"
"Of course," replied Anomen, "although I do not think anyone hereabouts would covet a bit of quartz."
"Just the same, you hold it for me," insisted Elrohir. He did not know why, but suddenly he wanted to show his brothers that he was no hoarder.
Anomen sat crosslegged upon the grass, humming and holding the quartz in one hand and the ring in the other. After a little while, he began to juggle the two objects, and then, to make the game more challenging, he added a pine cone. From the pond, Elladan and Elrohir began to laugh at Anomen's antics. By the time the twins climbed out of the water, all three elflings were happy and all unpleasantness forgotten.
When they returned to Rivendell, they went straight to the Dining Hall, arriving just in time to avoid a baleful glance from Erestor and a gentle but firm reprimand from their father. They attacked their food with the appetite one would expect of elflings who had spent the morning out of doors, which did earn them a baleful glance from Erestor. When they were finished, Elladan said, "Adar, may I speak."
"You may, my son. You have something you wish to ask me?"
"I mean to all assembled, Adar."
Elrond was surprised, and his eyebrows showed it, but he gave his permission. He raised his hand to quiet the assembly. Elladan arose and took the ring out of his pouch. He held it up for all to see.
"I found a gold ring in the bathing pond past the oak whose branch was struck by lighting two summers ago. If anyone lost a ring at that place, I should like to return it."
He sat down. Glorfindel spoke. "I lost a ring swimming in that pond only three days ago. If it is that ring, you will see a 'G' engraved inside the band. May I see it?"
Elladan held out the ring. "Ah, look," exclaimed Glorfindel. "It is the same."
The elflings crowded around. Yes, there was the tiny 'G'. Between juggling the ring and tussling over it, none of the elflings had noticed.
"Elladan, thank you for returning the ring," Glorfindel said, smiling at the elfling. "There are some who might have been tempted to keep it because of its beauty and value."
Elladan blushed a little because he had been tempted to keep it—that is, until Anomen's actions and words had driven such ungenerous thoughts from his mind. Now he was eager that his generosity not be tainted by deceit. "I did think about keeping it," he confessed, "but I changed my mind because Anomen did not desire to possess it. He seemed so—untouched—by it, and somehow his way seemed best. I do not know why it seemed so. Perhaps—perhaps I should have been uneasy in my mind if I had kept something that did not belong to me."
"The knowledge that one has not done right can trouble the mind," agreed Elrond. "Gold is heavy, but guilt is heavier."
Gandalf had been an interested observer of this entire exchange, and now he murmured something. "A gold ring may be a heavy burden to bear."
"What is that you say, Mithrandir?" asked Erestor.
"Indeed, Elrond is right. Gold is heavy, guilt is heavier, and the guilt of gold heavier still. I am glad that Anomen did not desire this ring, and I am glad that Elladan followed his example. Neither desired to possess this ring; therefore, neither was possessed by it."
"Mithrandir," protested Glorfindel, "you and Elrond are becoming altogether too sententious. I lost a ring, Elladan found it, and Elladan returned it. There's an end of it."
Gandalf dropped the matter. Over the next centuries, however, he was on occasion heard to say, "If you desire not to be possessed, desire not to possess." When he was asked to explain himself, he would always mutter, "Ring. Pond." Folk would always assume he was thinking of the time when Elladan returned a ring to Glorfindel. Whatever else he may have been thinking, Gandalf, being Gandalf, kept close to his chest.
