I have never added some sort of note before the chapter, but I am going to this time. All of the elven words are actually taken from a dictionary I found online and downloaded. Someone actually created a Sindarin-English dictionary. So, my grammar may be incorrect, but the meanings of the words written are more or less true to what I have written in the text.
Secondly, thank you to all of you who have reviewed this story… I hope it is living up to your expectations… if not, tell me!
-Sarah
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As they were walking through the brush toward the trail, just outside of Long Cleeve, Diamond heard a strange noise coming from her left side. She turned back toward the other lasses with a puzzled look on her face.
"What is it Di?"
"Did you hear something?" Rosie and Estella trembled as they looked at each other. They looked at Diamond and shook their heads.
"Diamond, what did you hear?"
"It must have been nothing." They continued on for some time until they came to a dirt path in the forest. "We're here." Rosie and Estella looked around like they were expecting something else. But they quickly acclimated to the sight before them. A train of elves were coming toward them, led by a tall golden-haired elven man who approached Diamond with a smile.
"My lady cousin, Diamond Grenthumb. Bain perianheryn. You look like your mother, Mîrwen."
"Glorfindel! I would like you to meet Miss Estella Bolger and Miss Rose Cotton. They are new-found friends of mine, and in our short acquaintance, I have come to cherish them. Mellyn thenid." Glorfindel bowed to the young lasses, leaving them in awe. Rosie was taken by their beautiful speech.
"Diamond, if you don't mind, what are those words you're saying?"
"Yes, and why does he call you Mîrwen?"
"We are speaking Sindarin, the tongue of my kin. He called me a beautiful hobbit lass. I described you as true friends. And Mîrwen is my elven name. It means 'jewel'." The lasses blushed at Diamond's description of them. And they curtseyed to the elves standing before them.
"Mîrwen, I don't have anything new to tell you myself. Just be patient. Elrond asked me not to tell you anything."
"So, there is something to tell? Something else had happened? There is news?"
"Yes, Diamond, there is news. But I will not tell you tonight. I am escorting these elves to the coast and will return. If at that time you have still heard nothing, then I will tell you. Derian lû, Mîrwen. I will bid you goodnight. Merilien Cotton and Uirebiel Bolger, I hope that we shall meet again." With that, the elves rode on down the trail toward the west.
"So, Diamond, if you don't mind, would you please tell us what your cousin said just now?"
"He gave you elven names, very suitable elven names, actually. Meril is Sindarin for 'rose', so he called Rosie Merilien. And, well, uireb means 'eternal'. He gave Estella the name Uirebiel." The young lasses beamed at their new names and the honor they had received from an elf who was obviously noble.
As the lasses made their way back to Long Cleeve, a rustle was heard in the brush. Rosie gasped in shock as Diamond quickly pulled out a short elven blade, small enough to be an elf's dagger but long enough to be a hobbit's sword.
"Diamond, are you sure you know how to use that thing? Do we really need it? Everything seemed fine on the way."
"Estella, one can learn many things by reading between the lines. Something about the way Glorfindel spoke tells me that something is going to happen soon."
