The tale of Celebrin of the house of Uial is not known in many stories or lays of great nobility, save one, this is known in the heart of the Sindar who remembers well the Sickle of Doriath and the Standard-bearer of the Lord Celeborn in the Second age of Ennor. Yet now few remain who know his tale, save he, who has lived for many eons of the lifetimes of men, the last of the house of Uial, who wanders the forests and ancient lands of Ennor, on paths well known to him.
The tale of the house of Uial
In the mist of Cuivienen
Awoke a noble Lord
Whose face saw the stars, undimmed
Before he saw the endless sea
Before he heard Sirion
And its mighty voice
In Cuivienen,
Where the earth-womb is.
His face shone bright
Against the nightshade of his hair
So that he looked as a star
Or rather countless stars
Rested upon the uncrowned tresses,
In the shimmering night.
Uial his kinsman named him
That was the house he would found
Not great in glory shining
Yet noble in humility
Hale in wisdom
Strong in Will and Love.
Dark yet bright as the twilight
His true name was Elorn
For he stood tall, and bent in honor
When the wind suited him to
Yet stood the test of many throngs,
And the stars were written in his face.
He lived beside the tides of Avernien
Kin to Cirdan shipwright of ancient fame
And loved the sea beneath the stars.
He sang songs to its never-ending music
And rolled his voice to it's depths.
There in peace he was content
To be caressed by Uinen
Yet doom unseen lay ahead for him.
There came a time to feast with Kin
In the halls of Thingol King
Menegroth, caves of unending beauty
Where sat Melian, Maia of twilight's beginning
Beside her Gray-Lord, and their starlit daughter, fair
Most beautiful of all the maids of the earth
Most loved, and cherished
By all the Eledhrim
So came Cirdan to Menegroth's halls
With his host in hand, Kin and friend
Elorn, lone of the house of Uial.
To dine with Thingol King
And Melian, queen of Doriath
The bright stars of Neldoreth
As the meal was ending, and laughter
Making forgotten long sundering.
And Teleri remained one
In those days before the Moon
Elorn beheld Tathiril of Doriath
Maidservant of Melian Queen.
Wine bearer for Luthien Daermeleth
And Daughter of the Cuivienen.
Her hair shone darkly before him
In its earthen hue, both golden and brown
In the firelight it gleamed, fiery brown
And love found him, and sundered him
From his beloved ever-moving sea.
From that day he left his kin
And dwelt as the woodland folk
Though seafarer at heart.
And she became enamored of his gray eyes
And Dark hair that mirrored the dark sky.
So that they became in their union
The marriage of earth and sky
Golden brown mingled with Silver nightshade
Wood met Sea, and they made music
Sung throughout the awakened woods.
Shell flute and wooden harp,
Deep-sea voice and lofty woodland song,
It came from the depths of the sea
To the heights of the mountains
And into the world of dreams.
So the eons passed into eons
The peace of the land was disturbed
And the girdle fenced Menegroth
From Ungoliant's passage
And Orc raid that burned and hacked
The beloved wood.
And shining Eldar kin from far in the west
Where the twin trees were not a mere song.
Where light burned unending
And the sea met its western end.
Eldamar, Valinor the blest
Realm of Melian long sundered.
Kindred with dreaded doom
Resting upon their eyes and visage
And unseen blood unwashed from their hands.
Yet fairer in look and manner,
Calaquendi they called themselves
Moriquendi they called the Eledhrim
And seed of sundering was sown in strong words
And proud tongues, though noble
Still deadly proud
Yet golden light came into Neldoreth
As the twilight ended with the coming of the sun
A golden light from Valinor fair
Lady of the Light, new wife of Celeborn
Prince of Neldoreth, most beloved
By the house of Uial.
Years passed into decades and the stars
Circled the sky for countless nights.
Fires blazed the woods of old
And war marred the earth undimmed before
Noldorin princes rose and fell, in battle.
And Sindar lost, were many and unsung.
Unsung by minstrels of the lighted people,
Yet the house of Uial, and Daeron the great
Did not forget the blood of the kindred slain
And songs were sung greatly in Thingol's hall
In Neldoreth, where he sat as king.
Thus years after the rising of the sun
Mortal men came to Beleriand fair
And fought in wars beside Eldarin kind.
Thus Beren Camlost came to Doriath doomed
And brought forth the jewel of Valinorean light
Conquering a feet, that no Noldor could match
With Luthien, Beloved of the Sindar,
Forged from Sindarin and Maiar loin.
Though she was lost beyond the fate of the Eldar
And Lost forever to they
Who loved her most, her people.
Dearly bought, and dearly kept
The Jewel sat in the hoard of Thingol king
Till a doomed man came,
Bearing treasure taken, from Nargothrond
Lost Kingdom of Noldorin friend, Finrod
Last to bring honor
To Noldorin blood, save Turgon the brave.
It was then that the Nauglamir,
Necklace of the Dwarves came into the land
And doom was written for Doriath that day,
Darkness lay about the land of Arda.
And the House of Uial came to live
In the heart of Neldoreth that was Doriath.
And the earth and sky rejoiced
For a son was born to them
Yet in war and haste
They named him Celebrin
So that all would know his house
By the light of his face
It was in these times of bittersweet joy
That Thingol the beloved king
Was slain by Dwarvish axe. For greed
Though revenged the jewel that wrought the death
Left Doriath, yet so too did the protection
Of Melian, Last queen of Neldoreth and Doriath.
And all songs were sung of woe and mourning.
Thus in sorrow, the youth grew
And scarce did Elorn see his son reach youth
That the cursed jewel returned
To the hands of Dior King
Heir of Thingol Cruelly Slain.
Thus was the doom of the Noldor full-wrought
For t'was not the forces of Morgoth
That assailed Doriath the Sorrow-laden
But kindred from across the sea.
Such was the day
The very sunrise gleamed red as blood
And the woods sung not their song
And Eldar came to kill Eldar
Noldorin doomed, came to the destruction of Doriath
Yet valiantly did the Teleri fight
Though in vain, for the Noldor were great
In means of war, and treachery
Celeborn fought beside his wife, Galadriel
Gold and Silver shone against the dark host
And so to did Elorn, first of the house of Uial
Wielding his sword, Lin-gladaear.
As the very forest burned in warfare
He became fey and left his wife and child
In the care of the other maidens of Melian.
And so left to his doom
Cursing they who destroyed his home.
Though death took him swift
It took him cruelly, hewn by kindred sword.
His headless body lay upon the grass
Before the door of Menegroth,
In full sight of the woman he left his people for.
The love of all his long years
Saw then the love of countless eons
Disgraced and hewn as an animal
By animals cruel and evil, kin-slayers
And she ran,
Tathiril, daughter of Cuivienen
Wife of the twilight,
Mother of last of the house of Uial
To the man she loved for eons passed
And the great prince called for her
Tathiril! Tathiril! Come inside
He cried, yet she heeded not his call.
Thus Celeborn overtook her
Who was now fey and cared not for her own safety
She entered assailed Menegroth, covered in blood
Wielding the song of the woods and the sea.
And she kissed her child dearly, and when asked
Whether she would stay with her only child
She spoke with broken songless voice,
I will not give my child a ghost for a mother
And she left to meet her doom
There she stood with sword in hand
Beside the body of Dior slain
Defending in vain the throne of Doriath.
And she cried out curses to the kin slayers.
And she hewed many a betrayer,
Yet her fey, songless voice was silenced
By three accursed arrows
Strewn into her heart.
The end of so valiant a woman
Was seen by her own child
Who ran to his mother in his fear.
Here Celebrin, last of the house of Uial
Embraced his fallen mother, and she weeps his tears.
And there she died, last of the great maidens of Melian
Earthen hair dried with blood, shone no more
Save in the hair of her child.
And the youth Celebrin took up his father's sword
And the fire in his sea gray eyes shone forth as two bright stars.
And beside them a scarlet tear ran from his eye
A cut not by enemy arrow or sword
But a cut, by the jewel worn on the neck
Of his mother valiant
Broken and made jagged by the arrows
That pierced her agonizing heart.
Like that deep blue gem his inner eye shone
And around his glare, white of the brilliant twilight
And his sword shone icy blue
And his deep woodland clothing stained
In honorable sacrifice.
And the hair of sky and earth
Shone as the coming of the storm
And the burning of embers into flame
Brown and dark
Yet filled with light imperishable
It was in this way that the fey child ran into battle
To the aid of the last prince of Doriath
Yet none of the kin slayers
Would dare touch a youth so young
Even one who had naught to live for in the entire world.
And many lay slain before his feet
And he fought till his bones grew tired
And his soul fought on,
Though the body of his youth began to die out.
Conflicted so between body and soul
He fell in tears and agony
Though a swoon took him long
He awoke far from the ashes of his mother
Or the buried body of his father.
The scent of the sea awoke him
And the memories of what his young eyes had seen
Plagued his dreams, and his hands
Still covered in the blood of his accursed kin
It was in the safety of Cirdan's harbor
That he mended
And for many battles and ages after he fought
Until there were no more to fight.
And the scars he took with him
Healed in all his long years of sorrow
Yet one remained, called by some the sickle of Doriath
That which brought remorse to kin slayer's hearts
Memories of the lonely child
Drenched in his mothers valiant blood
And the sickle remains upon his cheek
, a deep scarlet tear upon his face
Thus he lives, wandering
Searching for a home amongst his failing kin
Torn between the sea and the wood
He remains thus
Last of the house of Uial
Yet the tale does not end there, for Celebrin the child who bears the Sickle of Doriath, lived on, in the care of Cirdan, kinsman to his father Elorn. And short years passed before another would come into his life. After the fall of Gondolin refugees from the city flocked to the care of the shipwright. And it was then that Celebrin met a child who came from the city, an orphan as he was, his name was Alphindil, a child of Sindar and Noldorin loins, not much younger than he was. In their united sorrow they became great friends, for none knew the horrors of their misted hearts, it is years after Beleriand fell into the ocean, and Cirdan rules in Mithlond that this tale is wrought.