Arwen and Elrond ascended last, and were greeted warmly by their hosts, who hugged and kissed their granddaughter delightedly. Chairs were produced for all their guests, and then Elrond asked Celeborn to tell him all that had passed in Lórien since their last communication. Elrond's household listened closely as Celeborn told of the coming of the Fellowship to the Golden Wood. They exclaimed in dismay at the death of Mithrandir, then in wonder at his resurrection.
"He left our woods for Fangorn in late February," Celeborn concluded. "We cannot tell you more of the Fellowship, though we know they must have succeeded."
Galadriel then took up the tale. "On the eleventh of March, our borders were assaulted by orcs out of Dol Guldor, and we drove them back. They attacked again four days later, and a third time a week after that. Grievous harm was done to our fair woods on the borders, but the assaults were driven back through the valour of our people and the power that dwells here."
"On the twenty-fifth, we felt that great relief from the dark, and our enemies could stand before us no more," Celeborn continued. "On the twenty-eighth we took a host of Lórien over Anduin in many boats. There we took Dol Guldor, and the Lady of the Wood threw down its walls and laid bare its pits. The forest has been cleansed.
"In the north also there has been war and evil, and Thranduil was invaded and beset. But he also fought off his attackers, and we met upon the day of the New Year in the midst of the forest. Mirkwood has been cleansed of that darkness in the south, and renamed Eryn Lasgalen. Thranduil has taken all the northern region as far as the mountains that rise in the forest for his realm, and all of the southern wood below the narrows has been named East Lórien. All the wide forest between we gave to the Beornings and the Woodmen. I believe in the Greenwood, for so it is again, our kindred will remain untroubled."
"But you are weary from your long journey," Galadriel concluded kindly. "Come! Enjoy the hospitality of Caras Galadhon."
000
And enjoy it they did. Katie felt she had never spent a more wonderful week in her life.
"It truly is like Arda Unmarred," Erestor commented, referring to the Athrabeth. A swell of joy rose up in Katie's heart.
"That means Arda Remade will be even more beautiful," she whispered.
They were walking alone together around the City of the Elves, and having a good long talk.
"Have you decided what your purpose is in Middle-earth on this excursion?" Erestor asked her finally.
"Yes," Katie answered positively. "It was to see these times, and to learn from them. Which means," she added, turning to face him, "that I will be returning to my own time soon."
Erestor nodded gravely. "I had a feeling that was coming." He stood silent a moment, and then added, "And when you return, for I am sure you shall, we will be gone—Lord Elrond, and Lady Galadriel, and Mithrandir, and many of the Elves."
"I know," Katie said quietly and sadly. "I must make my goodbyes now. So…" She stepped a little closer. "Erestor, I want to thank you for everything you have done for me. You have been a wonderful tutor and an even better friend, and without your tutelage, I think I would never have come to the joy I am now surrounded in. Le hannon o guren, mellon-nín."
Erestor gave her a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Sa 'ell nîn. Raid gîn celin a melthin," he concluded.
000
Katie and Erestor had finished their walk and were just about to rejoin the others when Galadriel suddenly appeared before them and greeted them warmly. They returned her greeting, Erestor saluting her and the Elven fashion and Katie giving her a deep curtsey. When they had exchanged a few pleasantries, Galadriel turned to Katie.
"I would have a word with you, if I may?" Katie agreed, and Erestor took his leave of them. "Come, let us sit over here," Galadriel suggested in her tenor voice, and they took a seat on a white stone bench nearby.
Katie felt she should be intimidated by Galadriel, the Lady of the Wood, but she really wasn't. Galadriel had that skill which Elrond and his children shared, of making the people around them feel welcomed and respected, even while producing honor and respect for themselves in their interlocutors. Katie had heard Elrond called "as kind as summer", and the saying held true for his mother-in-law, as well.
Oh, but she was beautiful. Beautiful and awe-inspiring. Perhaps she wasn't as beautiful as Arwen, but it was a difficult distinction to make. And she was quite a bit taller than her granddaughter! Galadriel would have towered over Katie's tall friend Dana by a good five inches, while Arwen was more the height of an average human woman. But kindness and charity flowed from the Lady of Lórien, and you knew that although she might look down at you, she was not looking down on you.
"I understand you are become quite close to my grandsons," Galadriel said, and Katie nodded. "They described you to me as their gwathel vuin and gwathel bain."
Katie smiled and dropped her head, blushing. That they had called her "beloved sister" was complimentary enough, but that they had also called her pretty surprised and pleased her. After all, she was not an elven beauty. She wondered for one moment which twin had called her what.
"I am most pleased to see that all they said of you was true," Galadriel said with a bright smile. "I am sorry that I will not see you again after you have returned to your time, for I shall sail. I am particularly grieved that I will not have the pleasure of meeting your grandmother! From Elladan and Elrohir's description, I think I would love her."
"I think she would love you, too," Katie said truthfully, imagining the pure and Unmarred Lady of the Golden Wood laughing together with the joyous Remade Lady of the Red Hat Society.
Galadriel gave a low chuckle and rose, Katie following suit. "Perhaps we shall speak more on the journey. I wish you joy and success in all that you do," she blessed her, and disappeared into the shade of the mellyrn as swiftly and silently as she had appeared.
000
They left Lothlórien six days later. Galadriel and Celeborn had joined the riding. Katie was sorry to leave the beautiful woods behind, but excited to be moving on to the next part of the journey.
They were to cross back over the Celebrant and then head south over the Limlight, through the Wold. They would pass close to Fangorn heading southeast and into West Emnet. From there they would likely travel to Edoras, then down the road through the Eastfold, across the Merin Stream, into Anórien, and finally to Minas Tirith. It is was estimated they would reach that city well before mid-July. Katie had obtained all of this information from Erestor, who had a map with him.
Katie rode or walked beside Erestor often, sometimes talking and sometimes in silence. She was well-acquainted with quite a few members of Elrond's household, and talked to them all many times as the journey passed.
One fine morning she was chatting with Erestor about the history of Lord Elrond's family, and she remembered the fact that Elrond was sometimes called Elvellon, just as she was.
"I think of him as an elf, and his children too," she admitted to Erestor.
"Many do, as he is our elven-lord," her friend agreed. "But he and his children are really neither elf nor human, but half-elven. And that is something else entirely."
"They seem like elves to me," Katie asserted. "They have the same beauty, the same joyfulness and elven light in their eyes… Eternal youth, immortal life, a super-human speed and strength. What difference is there between them and you?"
Erestor laughed at how she had summed up all of Elvendom in a few phrases. "There is their stature, for one thing. They are not built quite as elves, being somewhat broader across the shoulders. And Arwen, although tall by human standards, is not as tall as many elven women. And though their hearing and sight are quite keen, it is not as sharp as that of an elf. They cannot see and hear things at such a distance as we can."
Katie nodded slowly. She had noticed their differing statures, but hadn't realized that their senses weren't quite as sharp as elves'. "So they're human, but not human, and elven, but not elven. A mixture of the two, but something else entirely."
Erestor smiled. "Exactly. Not less than human, nor less than elven, but more. They would be called noble among both Elves and Men."
"Much as you are," a low female voice spoke from behind them, and Katie turned in surprise to see Galadriel smiling at her. With two long strides, she caught up to the two of them. "You are human, and yet not human, Elvellon. And yet it makes you not less than human, but more." Galadriel's gaze was penetrating. "Though you are still a normal woman, I think you are higher even than the first Men, before they fell into shadow," she said, dropping her voice. "A woman still, and yet already a Woman Remade, even as Arda will be Remade, as my eldest brother believed when he spoke with Andreth."
Katie had to work hard to keep her jaw from dropping. "Your eldest brother…" she whispered, putting the pieces together. "Finrod."
Of course. Finrod Felagund was the eldest son of Finarfin. Galadriel was Finarfin's youngest child. That meant Finrod and Aegnor were Galadriel's older brothers! The wise-woman Andreth had almost been Galadriel's sister-in-law… And hence Elladan and Elrohir's great aunt. It made her head spin to think of it.
Galadriel chuckled at the look on Katie's face, and moved on to speak with someone else. Once she was engaged in another conversation, Erestor turned to Katie with a look of surprise mixed with amusement on his face. "You have been highly honored by the great Lady of the Wood," he said reverently.
"Did you tell her we had studied the Athrabeth?" Katie asked, still in shock.
"No, I think that must have been the twins," Erestor answered, amused. "But I believe she probably sensed your true status without any help. You are indeed something more than human, mellon-nín."
"But human still, Erestor," Katie replied with a joyful laugh.
TBC
AN: The little "recent events" lecture comes pretty much directly from Appendix B in Return of the King. New Year's Day on the Elves' calendar was April 6th, if you're curious. The little recent events lecture comes pretty much directly from Appendix B in . New Year's Day on the Elves' calendar was April 6th, if you're curious.
Eryn Lasgalen—The Wood of Greenleaves
Le hannon o guren, mellon-nín—Thank you from my heart
Sa 'ell nîn—It is my joy
Raid gîn celin a melthin—May your ways be green and golden (I really like that one!)
Although the movie depicted Elrond and his family as elves, and that's how many of us think of them, they're really not. It's possible they didn't even have pointed ears! Although Aragorn compared Arwen to Lúthien the first time he saw her, he apparently then assumed she was human or more like a human, because when he's surprised at how old she is, even though she looks his age (twenty), "Then Aragorn was abashed, for he saw the elven-light in her eyes and the wisdom of many days". Elrond was "mighty among both Elves and Men", so it's posited that he may have been a bit bigger than Hugo Weaving's version. And even the twins get described as "two tall men, neither young nor old." They don't see the wraith high above them when Legolas does, and are not included as elves at the entrance to the Paths of the Dead: "there was not a heart among them that did not quail, unless it were the heart of Legolas of the Elves, for whom the ghosts of Men have no terror." Tolkien always categorizes them separately from both Elves and Men.
I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I've been drowning in homework for the past week. Wrote 32 pages (twelve point, double-spaced) for one class alone! 18 pages of that was fiction, and the rest nonfiction. Not to mention the stats test and the Arthurian literature midterm... Now I have an ed psych research paper to work on! Joy joy…
Tara: Congrats for being the 300th reviewer! What would you like for a prize? Within reason of course—even to the halving of my kingdom!. :) No twins just yet! If you want to know when you'll see them, check the timeline in Appendix B of RotK.
Alateriel567: Agreed, the chapter was really short, especially after you take out the descriptions (most of which were pirated straight from Tolkien anyway! Bad Ashley!). Oh, and it's "otherwise". lol I would try and translate "Nerual", but I'm far too tired and overworked from all that homework. :)
FallenTruth: The reason it's so accurate to your mental picture is because I stole it from Tolkien! lol Thanks!
IwishChan: Yeah, I seem to remember yelling at the book when I reached that typo. I mean, if you're describing one of the two hottest characters in Middle-earth, the least you can do is spell his name right! lol I actually enjoyed the SATs themselves (yes, I know I'm a freak) but the PSSAs are of the devil. They're the Pennsylvania State something somethings. And they freaking sucked. Junior year PSSA, you have to write three long and boring essays. And I got a 20th percentile on my persuasive! My English teacher laughed out loud when I told her that, and said it had to be a mistake. Turns out, the mistake was hiring whoever it was who graded my paper! She gave me that score because, and I quote, "she failed to persuade me". That's not even part of the criteria! So they made me retake it because you have to get a certain score to graduate. The second time around they gave me a 99. But yes, enough grouching from me. :) I heard the new SATs are easier. Darn them.
ElvenRyder: Nope, no hints!
EresseElrondiel: You're 305! Congrats! lol I'm not telling you anything. You'll have to wait and find out. I'd like to see that Elrohir flag!
Princess Siara: I think you're right about the leggings, especially since Silvan Elves rode bareback, even the females, and it would be pretty hard to ride bareback sidesaddle! So they probably rode astride, and so would need leggings. Go ahead and call an elf a guy. Oh man, it sounds like Hitchhiker's Guide! "Zaphod… He's just this guy, you know?"
contia mirian: Do you really think if (I repeat, if) Ilúvatar let Katie and somebody in Middle-earth fall in love, he would then snatch Katie away from him?
theycallmemary: Yes, you didn't really see much of the actual wood of Lórien in the movie, except for that one wideshot in the extended edition. Yes, everything is much simpler with pants. I'm glad women here don't wear skirts all the time anymore. It'd be a pain. I guess you could say Húnvel and Katie are traveling buddies, although they're really just part of the group. Rúmil made a comment to his friends, something along the line of, "This human speaks Nandorin!" I think he then asked her how she knew the language. According to the timeline, the Escort of Arwen only spends a week in Lórien, unfortunately. Gotta get to Minas Tirith!
Thalion: Yep, 310 exactly! That's just what I did—summarized Tolkien. Very perceptive! lol Here's your update! Many thanks!
Laer4572: Thanks! Hope Haldir likes his vacation. Send me a postcard!
Darkened Dreams: Well, didn't update soon… —laughs nervously— Yep, I get good ideas at very strange times. I worked out some plot points on the sequel during ed psych today! As for dreams, I had an awesome one about Harry Potter last night…
Megara: Yep, a bit unelven, but they probably wore leggings under their skirts, and I'm sure they did it gracefully! Did you want an explanation of kilting? It means they pulled the edges of their skirts up and tucked them into their belts to make them shorter.
Please review!