Chapter word count: ~550 words

A/N: I refuse to spell Maglor's Quenya father-names as Kanafinwë because that means 'chicken Finwë' in my native language and it hurts me to type that, so I use Canafinwë.

Also sorry, Maglor, your ficlet is the shortest of all.

Thanks to all who have reviewed so far! :)

Chapter II: Makalaurë

Canafinwë has to wait a few years longer for a mother-name than Maitimo did, for while Nerdanel realises early that his name must have something to do with his very early manifested love and talent for music, she is not certain exactly what the name should be. Simple names like eager singer or beautiful verse sound so prosaic, and a prosaic name will not do for her little minstrel who is fire-spirited in his own way and has a flair for drama and performance as well as music and poetry.

So Nerdanel decides to wait, for some special inspiration or at least the deeper understanding of her child that she knows years will bring.

The right name comes to her the first time his music makes her cry, which happens sooner than she would have expected.

Canafinwë is giving an impromptu home concert to his parents and his two brothers, his face scrunched up in concentration as he sits at his new harp in the airy, delicately decorated room that has quickly become known as 'Cáno's music room'. The harp is twice his size and the sight of it should be funny, but the music he creates with his nimble fingers and his strong voice is far from silly.

It is a sad song, the first very sad song Canafinwë's tutor has taught him. Its deep sorrow that still echoes with beauty should be incomprehensible for someone as young as Nerdanel and Fëanáro's second son, but somehow he seems to understand it and is able to convey it to his small audience. Even baby Turkafinwë listens quietly for once.

It feels like she can see the music, Nerdanel thinks, as strands of gold detaching themselves from the strings of Cáno's harp and twirling in the air, beautiful in their brilliance and sad in their transience, for they fade away just as her eye has begun to follow their twisting trail.

With a start she realises that there are tears flowing down her face; she doesn't wipe them away or try to stop them, for it is right that she should cry. Not all tears are evil, and it touches her heart that her child can do something this beautiful.

Canafinwë finishes his song and looks to his family for applause, but his face falls when he looks at his mother. He jumps down from his stool and runs to her.

'What is wrong, mother, why are you crying?' he asks, confused and alarmed, clinging to her knees. He is suddenly her little boy again instead of the masterful musician he was just a moment ago. Nerdanel lifts him to her lap – it takes some effort these days, but she is strong – and hugs him close.

'I am crying because your music was beautiful.' Cáno still looks hesitant. 'Do you remember how I told you a while ago that sometimes beauty makes you smile and sometimes it makes you cry? Well, these are good tears, my little Makalaurë.'

'Makalaurë?' he asks, testing the sound of the name on his tongue. Cleaver of gold. 'Makalaurë', he repeats with a smile. Then he sings his new name, first quietly and then louder, until the room echoes with his joyful voice and the air shimmers with a golden haze brighter than the light of Laurelin.

A/N: Nerdanel is called 'the wise' so I don't think it inappropriate that her thoughts echo Gandalf's wise words in The Lord of the Rings ('not all tears are evil').