AN: Galadhrim is a name for the elves of Lothlórien. They are related to Legolas's people, and speak the same language—Nandorin, or Silvan. They are of the Teleri kindred of the Elves, unlike the elves of Rivendell, who are Noldor.
Camp was packed up hurried the next morning. Everyone wanted to reach Lothlórien and see its heralded beauty.
Katie was to ride first that morning, and Húnvel gave her a boost up. When all the train was ready, they moved forward and approached the mallorn-trees at the border.
They had not been in the woods ten minutes before there was the sound of elven voices, and Galadhrim dressed in shadowy-grey stepped out of the trees all around them. They had approached utterly silently, and even the elves of Rivendell had not heard them until they made themselves known.
The line halted as joyful greetings were exchanged. Looking up to the front of the train, Katie could see Arwen speaking animatedly with one of the Lórien elves. She probably knew him, Katie realized. Arwen had lived in Lórien for quite a long time.
The Galadhrim looked quite a bit like Legolas's people—blond, with light eyes. They were merry and beautiful people, and some of them sang snatches of song in their fantastic voices. Katie remembered someone telling her once that Silvan Elves had the greatest voices of all the elf kindreds, and sometimes called themselves Lindar—the singers.
Soon the train began to move again as the Galadhrim escorted them down the road through the forest. The Galadhrim all looked quite friendly, but they spoke among themselves in Silvan Elvish, and there was almost no conversation between them and the elves of Rivendell. Katie assumed the Galadhrim didn't speak any language but their own, like some of the elves in Mirkwood, and that the Nandorin was different enough from Sindarin that they and the Noldor couldn't understand one another.
She also noticed that she was getting quite a few funny looks. The Galadhrim obviously thought it strange that this young human was riding with the elves of Rivendell.
Maybe they think I'm one of the Dúnedain, gone to stay with Elrond, Katie thought.
One of the Lórien elves walking near herself and Lithorniel's family addressed Katie kindly, with a teasing smile. Katie, with her very limited grasp of Nandorin, thought he had made some comment about the "human child"—an appellation she had received many times from the elves of Mirkwood.
Gathering one of the very few phrases she knew of Nandorin, Katie replied, "It is a pleasure to meet you!"
The elf gaped at her a moment, then went off in a peal of laughter and called some comment to one of his friends. Turning back to Katie, he said something else to her, but she could only laugh and shake her head. "I'm sorry; I don't speak Nandorin!" she answered him. Not put off, he laughed along with her.
They halted again not long after, and began to ford the stream.
"The Celebrant flows much deeper and stronger farther south," Glawar told Katie. "We must cross to the northeast bank now if we wish to come to Caras Galadhon."
Once they were successfully across the Celebrant, Glawar turned to Katie again. "We are now in what they call the Naith of Lórien. I have heard them say the Fellowship passed through Lórien, as Lord Elrond had hoped. I wonder how the Galadhrim reacted to Gimli? They are not fond of Dwarves."
"Gimli?" spoke up the young elf who had address Katie earlier. "Gimli naug?"
When Glawar agreed, the elf began to laugh. Through halting Sindarin, he managed to convey to Glawar that his name was Rúmil, and that his brother Haldir had guided the Company through Lórien. Katie could only follow a little of what was said, and soon lost the thread completely.
Glawar began to laugh heartily at something Rúmil said, and turned to Katie. "He says his brother told him about leading the Fellowship through the Wood. According to their law, Gimli was to be blindfolded once he had entered the Naith, but at first refused. He relented only when Aragorn said they should all be blindfolded, even Legolas! Apparently, Legolas was none too pleased."
Katie began to laugh. "I'll have to tease him about that when I see him!"
Glawar translated this to Rúmil. "You know Legolas of Mirkwood, then?" Rúmil asked through Glawar.
"Yes; he's a friend of mine. I spent a few months in Mirkwood a year ago, which is how I know a few words of Nandorin."
A year ago. Had it really been that long? She had been in Middle-earth for more than an entire year. It was the longest stay she had had here so far. And oddly, she hardly felt homesick. Whether it was the beauty of Middle-earth itself, or her good friends here, or the company of the elves, or the Hope that she had gained, Katie couldn't have said. But it was true. She felt at this moment, riding with the elves under the trees of Lórien, that she could have stayed here forever and been quite content.
She was brought out of her thoughts again by Glawar. "Rúmil says that all but Legolas and perhaps Aragorn would have been blindfolded farther on in Egladil, anyway."
A thought struck Katie. "Will they want to blindfold me when we get that far?" she asked anxiously.
Glawar asked Rúmil, who shook his head. "In truth, questions were asked about you when you entered the Wood, but Lord Elrond and the Lady Arwen herself vouched for you, speaking of you in the warmest terms. And Arwen's word here is nearly as great as that of Celeborn or Galadriel herself. You need not be blindfolded."
Katie thanked him gratefully, and resolved to thank Elrond and Arwen as well when she got the chance.
000
The journey through Lórien was one of wonder for Katie. She felt, even more than in Rivendell, as if she were journeying back in time to something only ever spoken of in myth. It was a joy to her, and yet a sorrow too, for she knew that the Elves would soon be leaving Middle-earth forever, and the fabled magic of Lothlórien would fade into the mists of time. Perhaps this very wood had been in Elrohir's mind when he had despair in the lost beauty of the world—the domain of his grandmother, Lady of Lórien.
They made camp that night in the midst of the forest, and by noon the next day they reached Cerin Amroth.
It was a wonder to behold—a great hill covered in green grass, gold and white flowers waving in the breeze. An outer circle of white-barked trees and an inner of silver-barked mellyrn crowned the hill beneath the blue sky. Katie could almost believe that this had been conceived and drawn artfully in the mind of the Creator, transposed exactly onto this place in Middle-earth. It was as if no corruption of Melkor had touched it with a blackened finger. The purity of Lothlórien made it perfect in loveliness and wonder.
It was not too far from Cerin Amroth to the city of Caras Galadhon, and the train, moving leisurely, reached the city in mid-afternoon.
It was a hill set with massive mallorn-trees and encircled by a green wall. The gate was on the southern side, so they walked westward on the road paved in white stone which ran about the city. Finally, they crossed a white bridge and reached the tall, strong gates, which opened at a word from one of their Galadhrim guides.
Once inside the city they dismounted, and elves came forward to care for their horses. Katie looked around in interest. The city was built of houses on platforms set at many levels in the trees. Fully half the city appeared to be out-of-doors, with lamps hanging from branches, and many stairs and benches of stone set into the natural contour of the land. Katie saw far fewer elves than she had expected to, but heard many voices whose owners she could not place in the trees around her.
"We are to appear before the Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn in the middle of the city," Glawar said reverently, ushering Katie and Húnvel forward.
Their guides led them along many paths and many stairs until they came to the height of the hill. There was a wide lawn with a fountain falling into a basin of silver, and a massive mallorn tree that towered far up into the sky.
By the tree was a broad, white ladder, and Katie had a bit of a scare when she saw the first elves of Elrond's party climbing up it. It rose far up into the trees, and Katie wondered how on earth she was going to climb it with a skirt.
That was soon answered. The ellith of Elrond's party all kilted up their skirts into their belts, and Katie followed suit. When it was her turn, she took a deep breath and started up the ladder. She was halfway up before she realized exactly how high she was, and became aware of the fact that she really wasn't scared of the heights at all.
She and the elves above and below her on the ladder passed many platforms in the trees on either side, and the ladder even passed up through some of them. Katie found she wasn't so much apprehensive of this as excited. She had always fancied tree houses! It reminded her of the old movie of Swiss Family Robinson.
Finally they reached their destination—a great house built on a wide platform high up on the bole of the tree. If Katie had wondered how they were all going to fit up in a tree, she wondered no longer. The house was fully as large as Elrond's Great Hall, or larger. The room inside was oval-shaped, and the trunk of the huge silver tree grew right up through the middle of it, like a silver pillar.
Húnvel gave her a hand as she came up through the floor and steadied her as she found her bearing. She unkilted her skirt and took a good look around her.
The walls of the chamber were green and silver, and its roof was gold. There were many elves there, and all had risen to greet their guests, after the Elven custom. Two in particular caught Katie's eye, standing as they were before the bole of the tree in the very center of the chamber. The canopy over their chairs was a living bough. But it was the elves themselves that held Katie's attention. This must be Celeborn and Galadriel.
Both of them were extremely tall—Katie estimated that Galadriel was about six-foot-four—and very beautiful. They were dressed all in white, and Celeborn's hair was silver and Galadriel's deep gold. Celeborn was greeting many of the his guests by name, one-by-one. In a pause, he caught her looking at him and smiled kindly.
"Welcome, Katelyn Elvellon," he said gravely. "My grandsons have told me of you."
Katie blushed a little and managed a curtsey. In her very best Sindarin, she replied, "Gîl síla erin lû e-govaded vîn."
Celeborn smiled more widely and inclined his head courteously before turning and speaking to the next arrival.
Húnvel squeezed Katie's arm comfortingly. "Good job," he whispered. She shot him a grateful look.
TBC
AN
Gimli naug?: Gimli the dwarf?
Gîl síla erin lû e-govaded vîn:A star shines on the hour of our meeting
Weird place to end a chapter, I know, but it was onto four pages already, with no sign of stopping anytime soon, so…
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update! I've been up to my neck in homework, some of which is fiction writing… I've got it under control now, but it still needs a lot of work, so my chapters may be slower getting out than usual. And this sequel is taking more chapters than I thought it would! Katie simply couldn't go through Lothlórien without pages of description and reaction. Let me know if I'm shorting you guys on any aspect of the narrative!
IwishChan: I have that book! It's very helpful, no? Only thing is, they miss some facts I find rather interesting and connect aspects of the book to things I'm sure Tolkien never even thought about, such as Buddhism…
FallenTruth: Oh, "the lurgy" is cooties! You could've just said so! lol I think very few girls around here haven't at some point sung, "Circle, circle, dot, dot, now I got my cootie shot!" The Northerner/Southerner thing sounds like Orlando and Sean Bean calling each other "Northern Nasty" and "Southern Softy"! lol I like your impression of bad time jumps. I have definitely read stuff that sounded like that. —shudders— Thanks!
Princess Siara: I agree; I think my tone changed a little. But then, as you said, they're not doing their normal activities (eg sitting or walking around Rivendell whilst chatting). Thank you for the stuffed llama! —huggles stuffed llama— I actually have a little tiny llama doll from Guatemala sitting around at home someplace… Katie has pretty basic elven women's clothing—a one-piece dress with wide, long sleeves and a belt worn around the hips (mentioned in this chapter because of the whole kilting up thing. I wondered whilst writing this, did Tolkien ever consider how difficult it would be to climb a ladder in a dress? Especially if somebody below looked up? Especially considering I don't think people in the middle ages wore underwear? Bad idea. Anyway. I like how the movie handled that better—with the pretty circular staircase.) The Glance should be cleared up in time (and I'm still shocked people don't get it… Honestly, I keep worrying that I'm making it too clear what's going on, and people are like, What's going on? Help! It's great. I don't mean that disparagingly; I rather enjoy it! Am I going on in parentheses too much? Sorry, shall try to stop now…) In canon, Lindir is mentioned a grand total of once in Many Meetings (FotR) when Bilbo chants his song. Lindir asks to hear it again, and teases him, saying it's difficult for elves to tell the difference between the poetic work of two mortals, comparing mortals to sheep. Where do I get my ideas? Well, I generally have great ideas at weird times, like while I'm trying to go to sleep, or while I'm in the shower (that happened last night—oops! Parentheses!), or while I'm supposed to be paying attention in class. :) Wow, that was a long reply, wasn't it? Darned parentheses!
ElvenRyder: You'll just have to wait and find out! C'mon, hunt out the clues! They're not that hard to find!
Kalen61589: Yep, one more sequel is planned! I won't rule out any sequels after that, but I haven't planned any. Thanks! I thought the elves were a little intimidating in the movie, too. I mean, Elrond is really imposing and almost scary, whereas Tolkien described him as "as kind as summer"! Of course, he was also "mighty among elves and men", which implies he didn't look very elvish but was a little bigger, and he and Arwen may actually not have had pointed ears, because Tolkien describes them as looking human… Yeah, lots of stuff to consider.
Laer4572: Turns out I may not need Haldir after all! You can take him to Aruba, just take a cell phone so I can call if I need him!
Contia Mirian: I don't know; you'll just have to wait and find out! I know, I'm infuriating. You know you love me. :) I'm afraid I don't listen to Tim McGraw, so I don't know what song you're talking about!
Darkened Dreams: I hear ya on the singing thing. I sing all the time as I walk to class, but I always stop when I spot somebody headed my direction. Oh man, PSATs! Those things are blechy. I actually liked taking the SATs tho… I know, I'm a nerd. :) It's the PSSAs I really hated… but that's another story.
Ravens Destiny: lol Dorwinion. It's the wine that the elves of Mirkwood are so fond of in The Hobbit. Yes, isn't Húnvel cute? —huggles Húnvel, who looks vaguely disturbed—
Thanks also to Tara, Fk306 and Megara!
Next person to review will be number three hundred, and a new record for me! Please review! Love ya all!