Hidden culture arts
Whatever Gandalf had done with her when he held her hand like that, Elia was not sure. But she found herself understanding Rohirric a lot better now and even that other language the King and his family spoke at times, Sindarin she believed it to be called, so maybe he had intended to help her come over the language barrier?
Yet the knowledge of being in a different world meant that Elia could stop fearing that she would be found by Tywin Lannister, at least for now. She still planned to get herself and her children back home to Dorne at some point, but until then, she could relax a little more.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
"You know, Elia, you uses very different patterns in your sewing than us," Éowyn commented one fine spring day in mid-March, only a few days before Aegon's second birthday which would be two days before the vernal equinox. Right now several women at the court had gathered together in a sewing circle, to keep their hands busy while also enjoying the fine weather outside.
"It is patterns I have inherited from my mother and other foremothers. It is embroidery, but some of them also are important symbols. For example, the flower I am making right now, is a a white water lily that is only found along the great river near our border."
It did hurt a little to recall how Ashara had loved to embroider those water lilies that had been found at Starfall, but Elia hoped that they would be able to meet again. Looking in the corner of her eye, the Dornish princess realized that Éowyn might need some form of inspiration since she had slowed down in her sewing. It seemed like Laywyn understood that as well, for she rose up from her place:
"Speaking about patterns, wait here for a few moments."
She soon arrived back with several embroideries in her arms.
"Those are all made by our mother Morwen and us four sisters when we was young. A few ones even by Elfhild."
Elia, who had been taught a few tricks by her female relatives, could spot hints of the creators' different personalities in the patterns and how they had made the various items.
"My mother Morwen was known for her grace, and she was fond of this diamond pattern in different colours because it can be shaped into a lot of symbols. Sunnwyn had a joyful personality, which is why she always aimed for bright colours to cheer people up."
Like her name, Mildwyn did not stand out that much in how she had sewn, but there was something peaceful about her works. And Théodwyn seemed to have the same skill as her now living daughter in the same age.
"I remember watching modur making those flowers on the arms of a new tunic for feder, for him to have at the feasts!" Éowyn said when she recognized a certain embroidery on a piece of linen. It seemed make her happy, to recall something nice.
"She found those smaller flowers easier to make into her signature in sewing than anything grand. Besides, we four sisters was told to make a unique design for each one, so our creations would not be mixed up by later generations."
There was a few items created by Elfhild as well. The late crown princess of Rohan had favored simple designs on what cloths she had embodied, because she sometimes did not have much energy and preferred quiet activities in addition to horseback riding, which had been spared all those years because there was very few other belongings of her that still remained after her death.
It was wonderful, Elia felt, to be part of a sewing circle again and simply focus on what you was intending to create on a piece of cloth. It was one of the things she missed under her time as Rhaegar's wife, since she had been struck on Dragonstone with a very small court for her position and no way of creating ground for the secret alliances women would do with each other if their husbands kept thinking that wars was the best way to deal with enemies.
No matter where you was, be it here in Arda or in Westeros, a lavishly embroidered cloth was far more prized than any currency. They showed the social strata and origins of the weaver, also telling of their character. Cloth with special meaning was prepared with great care, as well unique patterns passed down from one generation to another.
"Elia, will Rhaenys learn how to sew soon too?"
"Maybe to the summer, I want to ensure that she will not poke herself in the eye or somewhere else with the needle," she answered, and the other mothers agreed with her.
"You know...I have never understood the so called "logic" of girls who finds sewing boring or just plain refuses to learn this necessary skill," Elia spoke up later after finishing the last water lily, "I understand that it is not very fun, needle in and needle out, over and over, but I do not find that a legal excuse to not learn how to avoid a such bad sewing that the clothes does not keep together because the thread was either too loose or not sewn tightly enough to keep two pieces together, at least."
Several of the other women, who all had been familiar with at least one such girl either in their own youth or someone their daughters knew about, was quick to join in:
"Yeah! What do they think things will be for them if they do not learn? Their female relatives always being around to fix clothes for them, or the household maids if they are wealthy enough to have servants? That they will gain enough money to pay a tailor?"
"Or that we can actually sell a embroidered cloth to a tradesman and get money for it while being on a journey."
"As if running around with a sword and claiming that she will be a female warrior, is more important than sewing for a girl! Honestly, just look at what we all have done right now! Surely the cloth are made more beautiful with the designs, despite how long it might take to finish!"
"I always enjoy surprising my husband with something I have made with my own sewing, he loves to see how I can mend a tear in his clothes and make a nice design with the sewing thread to cover up where the tear originally happened. I even intend to give my children something special for their weddings, even if it is just something small."
Éowyn listened with great focus on what the adult women said. Sure, she did not always find sewing funny either, but she could understand why it was so important for a girl to know how to make clothes. Not to mention, the mental image of her relatives dressed in rags, with no way of mending the clothes, was not pleasant.
"I might have chosen to become a ranger, but I always kept a piece of cloth, some embroidery threads and a few needles in a pocket bag in my belt. It is my way of relaxing, and I could always sell finished pieces to a good tradesman on the markets of Minas Tirith if I needed to buy something to replace something of my weapons that had been ruined by long use. Even Éowyn is very skilled with the needle for her age," Laywyn added in when most of the ladies had gotten a chance to say what they thought of such tomboys. Her sister-daughter smiled in pride over the praise.
"Modur said that even if I might not enjoy sewing, I might want to make a personal gift for my future husband one day as a sign of that we will marry and why not something I have embroidered with my own hands?"
Everyone agreed that Théodwyn had been right about that. The exchange of personal gifts was often something that happened between a betrothed couple, as a sign of their feelings for each other.
"How are it with embroidery in your homeland, Elia? Are sewing also important in Dorne?"
Elia realized that this was a perfect chance for telling more of Dorne without revealing that she actually belonged to a different world.
"It is one of our basic goods in trade, as well fruits, spices and horses…"
That got their attention for sure. Since Rohan was famous for their horses, Elia understood that it was the best way of starting some form of talk.
"Is that why you are so good at riding?! Did you have your own horse when growing up?" Éowyn asked, forgetting all about the sewing in her lap now when there was something new to talk about.
"What kind of horses? Those tall, slender breeds found further south, right? I saw a few on a far-away market once when my Brothor was still Prince of Rohan and we had been visiting our maternal cousins for a few months. They had to almost force us away from that side of the market," Laywyn smirked at the memory, recalling how her youngest sister had tried over and over again to get herself free from the unlucky nursemaid who was assigned to make sure she didn't get lost, showing a lot of strength and determination for a five-year-old.
"Um...yes, they are of a different breed than the horses here in Rohan…"
And with that, their conversation went in a very different direction.
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In another part of Edoras, Éomer and Théodred kept themselves busy with something else. The Prince of Rohan checked over his saddle to see if the leather had becoming worn out somewhere, while his younger cousin was braiding together something from several long yarn threads whose starting points he had tied to a stirrup, which he held out from his body with one foot.
"What are you doing?" Rhaenys asked as she showed up behind a corner of the stable building where they was. Aegon was still taking a nap, and Balerion also in the same bed inside their room in Meduseld.
"Training on doing what to become a betrothal gift for my eventual wife. This is only the start of it, I am thinking of several braids like this one, sewn together in order to make a nice belt for her where she can have her embroidery needles and other things that can be put in a small purse."
Éomer knew that even if his design for a betrothal gift might change as he got older, it was always good to test out a idea already now so he could have several choices for the gift, as well seeing his own development in creating that gift.
"Betot?"
Théodred chuckled at how it sounded when Rhaenys tried to pronounce the word correctly. She was very good at speaking Rohirric despite having only been here for little over nine months, even if she did slip into her mother's native language at times too.
"You are a little too young for that kind of talk, Rhaenys, but yes, Éomer is making a gift that will take a long time to do."
As he saw a chance to let the girl help out, Rhaenys got the task of pulling as hard as she could on the stirrup leather so Théodred could get a better view and also listen to any strange sound.
"Yeah, I think the leather is a little worn on the left stirrup leather, I thought it was a odd sound yesterday when I moved around in the saddle while riding. Best to let the saddler have a look as well, it would not do if it breaks in the middle of making Silvermoon galop in high speed and I could fall off if I loses my balance because of it."
Even the most experienced riders could get in trouble sometimes, everyone knew that.
"Rhaenys, can you hold out the stirrup for me in the same way as you did from the saddle? I need this to be a little longer before it is done."
She was happy to be helpful, and Théodred knew that his cousin would know how to deal with the situation if Rhaenys got unset for some reason. Promising to be back soon, he went with his riding saddle in his arms to where the saddler would have his workshop.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
By now, Aegon had woken up from his nap and currently was staring at one of the huge tapestries hanging from the walls of Meduseld. It happened to be a tapestry of Eorl the Young as he rode on his famed horse Felaróf, and for the toddler, he could almost imagine horse and rider as if they was actually moving for real.
"Ah, you found something to look at, I see."
King Théoden had spotted the boy, silently staring at the tapestry without making any sounds, after talking with Gandalf about what happened in the north of Middle-Earth.
"King?" Aegon asked, pointing at Eorl since it was the central image of the tapestry, with a few other symbols of his reign in the four corners.
"Aye. My ancestor, the first King of Rohan. To think that there is fifteen generations between him and myself...a long time indeed. Théodred is going to be the eighteenth King when it is time for him to take over the crown."
Of course Aegon was too little to understand that about history, but he liked to hear Théoden talk about how Eorl had founded Rohan almost five hundred years ago.
"More stowes?"
That was a request Théoden smiled at, and he picked up Aegon in his arms to carry the boy around to see other trapesties of the other Kings of Rohan.
Back outside, Laywyn happened to meet Théodred on his way back from the saddler.
"Fathu! Good that you came, I was about to tell feder something important, and you might like it as well: I will try harder to at last find myself with a betrothed to hopefully be my wife in time for the five hundred anniversary of Rohan being founded by Eorl the Young. Surely that would be a good time,
four more years, and a deadline of it? I know that a wedding would have been preferable, but a betrothal would be good too, right?"
Having worried about her nephew and his previous lack of success on the marriage market, Laywyn could see a good idea about it. If the current Prince of Rohan could show up a future wife at a such important celebration, it would be a good sign for the House of Eorl.
"Yes! Go and tell him, right away! And use this coming Midsummer celebration here in Edoras to actually socialize with the unmarried ladies of suitable age, you can not choose one random and then finding out that your choice of wife is going to be a huge mistake!"
She pushed her nephew towards the stone stairs leading up to Meduseld. Théoden needed to know what his son had decided, and the royal court would need to make plans for the midsummer celebration soon anyway.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
That same evening as she had some moments for herself after putting her children to bed, Elia found herself looking at the tapestries of the former Kings of Rohan as well. A part of her wished to show them for her father, knowing how he loved research about older history. Oberyn had often joked about their father, as a third son that was unlikely to inherit anything big with a lot of siblings and their children ahead of him in the succession to House Jordayne, would have chosen to be a historian and travelling across all the Seven Kingdoms except the Iron Islands, to search for old legends and stories to write down in a big book, if he had not been married to the ruling Princess of Dorne.
"Father would love those, with how he so often was seen sitting down at a window and writing down oral legends so they would be known for later generations as well…"
Rohan would have been seen as a treasure chest by Ihsan, with their oral traditions of songs and stories passed down from one generation to next, and Elia could really imagine him and King Théoden getting along very well as they compared their cultures and home countries.
Culture was a word with many meanings. Two countries could have similar language, cultures and customs, yet at some point there would be some form of difference as well. Rohan was nothing like Westeros, but Elia refused to deny that in some odd way, it felt like a safe place starting to feel a little bit like home.
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Author note:
I imagine that the sand steeds in Dorne are likely similar in built to Arabian horses, since logically there would be some differences between them and the horses of Rohan
According to George R. R. Martin, Dorne is partially inspired by Wales, Spain, and Palestine. So I plans to make the Common Tongue of Westeros sound like Spanish in Dorne in contrast to Rohirric which Tolkien based on Old English from the Anglo-Saxon period in England.
Rohan as a Kingdom was founded in Third Age year 2510 by Eorl the Young, so with the current year in-story being Third Age 3006, it is nearly 500 years since the founding of Rohan