Version #2 of What Happened out in the Training Fields (for later reference)
Reads together with Chapter 2, 'The Grain of Truth' and Chapter 4, 'Under Scrutiny' :D
(Please restrain me PHYSICALLY for writing the entire lay of 'The Wooden Spoone(…)'. PLEASE).
ON THE LAY OF 'THE WOODEN SPOONE' AND OTHER FABLES
a general correction by Laurefindil of the Golden Flower
This is an attempt to dissipate the various – and at times, quite unflattering – rumours, surrounding the antagonism between Salgant, Lord of the Harp, and Tyelcano, Counsellor of the King.
For the sake of accuracy, it must be admitted that I, Captain Laurefindil of the Golden Flower, Captain of King Turukáno's Guards and Marshal of his Armies cannot claim to be entirely objective and impartial in this matter, due to both my newfound friendship with the Counsellor and my oftentimes roused desire to see Lord Salgant educated with the proverbial Wooden Pike.
Now that my standpoint is clarified, the trustworthiness attributed to my Account – or lack thereof – falls to the personal judgement of the Reader.
~ § ~ § ~ § ~
It must be said that my intentions, at the beginning, have been purely selfless.
This, of course, begs for the confession that most of the time, my intentions are not quite as selfless as others tend to believe. Still, I can claim with utter sincerity that when I approached Tyelcano of Himring after a council meeting ere four months now, it was out of sympathy; for I knew that he had travelled far, lost friends, and had absolutely no desire to sit there all morning and endure our scrutiny. And yet he did; either by the command of our King, or – as I suspected – out of pure courtesy; for the folk of Ondolindë still have to witness the King giving him orders. At that time, Tyelcano did not yet hold any position in the Council; he had merely been invited as a guest of honour.
So I came upon the Counsellor and inquired if he would come, and spar with my dearest and most pretentious friend, Ecthelion and myself the next morning.
Upon request, pleading, or even the slightest mention of anything related, Ecthelion recounts the events of that morning with great enthusiasm and greater exaggerations, some of which I feel obliged to respectfully specify.
The following things, we know for a FACT:
One: it was a bright, clear morning, two or three weeks ere the Gates of Summer.
Two: I fought Ecthelion at first. He had a sword and I a spear – usually, we would start our sparring match the other way around –, and Tyelcano would watch us with the eyes of a master-at-arms.
Three: Ecthelion and Tyelcano fought valiantly against each other, and Ecthelion was declared winner.
Four: Salgant of the Harp had been thoroughly humiliated at Tyelcano's hands shortly afterwards.
All of the above is true. My dear Ecthelion is known to boast, but not to lie.
HOWEVER,
A healthy amount of embellishing, one could argue, is necessary if we seek to tell a gripping story. Still, I am obliged to offer some corrections; for over the last few months, Tyelcano has become a dear friend to me, and I do not want anyone to nurture false ideas about his personality. The Tyelcano in Ecthelion's account is ill-tempered, wrathful and full of scorn, for the story is more entertaining to tell if he appears to be so; in truth, however, he is none of these things, and the Reader must be assured that his treatment of Salgant was more than just, and even less that what many would have deemed justified.
It must also be said, that certain vivid-looking details of Ecthelion's account have made their way into the story as a result of a long night's merrymaking, at one point of which Ecthelion decided that he would make a detailed account on Salgant's humiliation. By the time said decision was made, we have all been in our cups; and as it is often the case after such quarrels, we all had brilliant ideas on how the conflict could have been most wittily and daringly resolved.
It happened thus that the apparent final account of the events, so often told by Ecthelion, is a result of the abovementioned night – consequently, I am quite grieved to tell you that we are not entirely sure which of those Smart and Ingenious Details truly happened, and which are the products of our wishful thinking.
Nevertheless, the Reader finds my attempt at separating truth from potential falsities below.
On preludes: Salgant has been quite hostile to Tyelcano from the moment they met, and he did his utmost to overlook and belittle him – to the point that he was sharply rebuked by King Turukáno himself. His insults, however, were directed at Tyelcano himself at that time, and not Nelyafinwë; which is why I believe they went without retaliation. Salgant even went as far as to antagonize the other counsellor, Lómion against Tyelcano before they could even meet; although Lómion has long since realized this, their relationship remains strained to this day. In the light of these events, we could say that whatever happened on the training fields was well-earned – and, less objectively, quite delightful to watch.
On the Sword, Switched to Quill-jab: I believe it truly happened. The source of my suspicion lies in the fact that the lay of the Wooden Spoone, Thieved Straight from the Kichene (the musical play authored by Anardil of Gondolin, performed several times in the Inn to the Blind Guardian with unparalleled success) explicitly mentions this exchange; and to my best knowledge, the first script had been finished before Ecthelion decided to grace us with his own account of the events. Likewise, it is quite possible that Anardil witnessed the events himself, as mentioned in Ecthelion's account.
Anardil's take on Sword, Switched to Quill goes as follows:
HARP
I must confess: 'tis great surprise
that lore-masters find their demise
out in the fields: with blade in hand
not knowing what fate shall portend
to those who fight with wicked steel:
for bitter death to them is near!
STAR
Thy marvel's for naught: for it is seen
at times, when fate it necessary deem
that softer hands should weapons wield
and quills should no longer be shield.
HARP
Pity enough, that some of those hands
would not later make their amends.
STAR
If sword-hilt or quill it stroke
the same is true: hands cannot talk!
…as seen above, the exchange, caught in the frames of poetry as it is, is remarkably similar to Ecthelion's description, which, I think, is a sign of authenticity.
On "So does the fox protect the rabbits; so does the owl protect the mice!": Personally, I do not think that Salgant himself could have come up with such a gripping remark on the spot – either him or Ecthelion could be remembering the tale Princess Idril told us about the Sly Fox on the evening of Tarnin Austa.
On Salgant's teeth: Tyelcano is far too elegant and suave to have deliberately knocked out any of them. That said, the Training Grounds must be full of lost teeth, all of which could be attributed to Salgant with a hint of imagination.
On me being the voice of reason in the debate, and Ecthelion not wanting to interfere: My friend is too kind. None of us wanted to interfere.
On Tyelcano's limp: I believe that Ecthelion only imagined it. He knew that our friend was still stiff from his previous injuries, and Tyelcano did tell him that his leg felt weak. I think that in his Account, Ecthelion unknowingly sought to emphasize the superiority of Tyelcano's cause by making him appear injured – especially since in Anardil's theatrical rendition, the Chorus dedicates four stanzas to STAR's Valiant Stride to the Kichene, where he would retrieve the Spoone he would later triumph with.
Lastly, I must mention that Tyelcano's swordsmanship is so remarkable that there is no possible literary rendition that could exaggerate it. I am not sure I could defeat him with a sword myself, and – boastful as that might sound – that is saying much. And one thing is for sure: he DID defeat Salgant with an old training sword in less than five minutes, and that sword was, in fact, made of wood.
To be quite honest, that fact alone excuses all the fuss and gossip around his person.