Gil-Galad heard his friend enter and without looking up from his papers,
asked, "How fares my aunt, Lord Elendil?"
Elendil, still a bit distracted, replied, "She spoke of ancient oaths, Enreinion."
Hearing his friend's unusual tone, Gil-Galad glanced up with a quizzical expression. He noted a sword now at Elendil's side. Looking harder, recognition struck him. He had not seen it in three thousand years but he knew it, just from the hilt.
Gil-Galad spoke, deep reverence in his voice, "Finrod's sword... Narsil. I thought it lost in Tol-Gaurhoth"
Elendil was pulled from his reverie. He returned the quizzical expression and said, "You speak as though you were there." He shook his head and waved off the explanation his friend started to give. "The longevity of your race is always a surprise to us. The things we can only read about from a history tome, you experienced. I am old by the measure of my kind but your aunt is my senior by an AGE!"
Gil-Galad chuckled, "She is of me as well, my friend."
Gil-Galad gestured to the sword and asked solemnly, "May I?"
Elendil drew the sword from its scabbard. He offered it to the King, hilt first, and said, "Of course."
Gil-Galad somberly grasped the hilt and felt the need for vengeance emanate from the weapon. He held it up and as he studied it a long moment. He quietly spoke, "I was there when he threw down his crown and cursed us. My father forbade me to go. And I have lived with the shame since."
He carefully returned Narsil to Elendil. He stared at the sword as Elendil held it up and let it reflect the light flowing in from the window. The sword seemed to exult in the rays of the setting sun and they both felt the anticipation radiate from the ancient weapon.
Gil-Galad spoke as one who knew and hated his enemy; and as one who looked at the instrument of that enemy's doom. "It wants vengeance, revenge for taking Felagund, it's master, revenge for taking what was brightest in the world...as do I,"
Elendil added with finality, "It wants a reckoning."
Notes: Enreinion: Gil-Galad Professor Tolkien was unsure about Gil-Galad's parentage. In the Silmarillion, Christopher has Fingon as his father, but in the HoME, the Professor has it as Orodreth.
Elendil, still a bit distracted, replied, "She spoke of ancient oaths, Enreinion."
Hearing his friend's unusual tone, Gil-Galad glanced up with a quizzical expression. He noted a sword now at Elendil's side. Looking harder, recognition struck him. He had not seen it in three thousand years but he knew it, just from the hilt.
Gil-Galad spoke, deep reverence in his voice, "Finrod's sword... Narsil. I thought it lost in Tol-Gaurhoth"
Elendil was pulled from his reverie. He returned the quizzical expression and said, "You speak as though you were there." He shook his head and waved off the explanation his friend started to give. "The longevity of your race is always a surprise to us. The things we can only read about from a history tome, you experienced. I am old by the measure of my kind but your aunt is my senior by an AGE!"
Gil-Galad chuckled, "She is of me as well, my friend."
Gil-Galad gestured to the sword and asked solemnly, "May I?"
Elendil drew the sword from its scabbard. He offered it to the King, hilt first, and said, "Of course."
Gil-Galad somberly grasped the hilt and felt the need for vengeance emanate from the weapon. He held it up and as he studied it a long moment. He quietly spoke, "I was there when he threw down his crown and cursed us. My father forbade me to go. And I have lived with the shame since."
He carefully returned Narsil to Elendil. He stared at the sword as Elendil held it up and let it reflect the light flowing in from the window. The sword seemed to exult in the rays of the setting sun and they both felt the anticipation radiate from the ancient weapon.
Gil-Galad spoke as one who knew and hated his enemy; and as one who looked at the instrument of that enemy's doom. "It wants vengeance, revenge for taking Felagund, it's master, revenge for taking what was brightest in the world...as do I,"
Elendil added with finality, "It wants a reckoning."
Notes: Enreinion: Gil-Galad Professor Tolkien was unsure about Gil-Galad's parentage. In the Silmarillion, Christopher has Fingon as his father, but in the HoME, the Professor has it as Orodreth.