AN: So i will try to keep this short and sweet since the chapter already is so long. I have been absent for some time now but i have been reading all of your lovly reviews and honestly, it gives me plenty of motivation to keep this story going! But i do have a favour to ask, if any of you are interested in helping any way you can with this story, just let me know in the comments below. I do have a rough idea of where i want to take this story but i am always open for new ones, let me know if you have any suggestions! Happy reading and happy easter!
Chapter 9
"I should probably summarise these five Valar as you don't know the first thing about them. All of their abilities were necessary for the creation of all you see around you. Aulë for example was called Aulë the smith and he helped shape the world and create the substances of which it was composed of. It is he who created the dwarves. The ring, however were forged by the smiths of Aulë and not the Valar himself, although he blessed the ring's carnelian surface to be beyond sturdy and to never rust or scar. Meanwhile, his wife Yavanna the Queen of the earth, who is often called the giver of fruits as she was responsible for all the growing things. The mighty Ents were created by Eru on her behalf as she feared her beloved trees might risk being cut down by the ever growing population of the dwarves. Yavanna blessed the ring with the essence of growth and the blooming of earthly organisms. It is said that she plucked the rays from the newly created sun and made the ring lustre with warmth. Heat that came in the form of protection and comfort."
He suddenly switched over to the documents and read aloud.
"Nienna, The lady of mercy brought forth the beginnings of grief and sorrow into the world. She watered the world with her tears and as such, helped with the creation of the sun and the moon. Her gift to the ring came in the form of emotional assaults. Of grief, pity and sorrow. Although in the wake of what might be seen as a curse, came that of the endurance of the spirit, wisdom and compassion." He looked at her and met her eyes. "So if you ever find yourself crying over things you wouldn't normally shed tears over, you know what is to blame."
She didn't know what to say to that, too busy taking everything in and so he continued.
"Irmo Lórien is the brother of Nienna and husband of Este. He is the master of dreams, visions and illusions. Together with his wife, they changed the mind of the high Valar Varda, as she had intended for the sun and the moon to be ever aloft. It is on their behalf that the sun sets in time for the night to take its place. Lothlórien, the home of Lady Galadriel is named after him. His gift to the ring was the ability to unmask illusions and the fore sight of both visions and dreams. His Wife Estë is responsible for the healing of the hurt and weary, in both body and soul. She is best known for tending to the body of queen Miriel -the deceased wife of an elven high king called Finwe. She saw so that her body never decomposed of withered. She blessed the ring with the healing of wounds and the relief of bodily pain."
After a while, Sigrid opened her mouth, her mind spinning with questions upon questions. A headache blossomed at the center of her brain.
"Why would they create the ring in the first place? I mean, i doubt it was for fun."
"All that i know is that it served as a price to be won as they held some sort of competition or tournament for the first elves in Valinor. It is recorded that the one who won the ring was called Langion. The ring stayed in his family for centuries until his last living descendant -whose name was Aldon Raundion- passed the ring onto my father Oropher who later lost it, way back before he founded the woodland realm."
"Lost it... did he forget where he put it?"
Thranduil wanted to facepalm at her dimwittedness. "No it was most likely stolen."
She nodded, fair enough.
"But what about all those blessings and gifts? I mean is it not a bit too much, wouldn't it make someone a bit overpowered and even so, i certainly haven't seen any of these gifts in practice yet," she said, briefly looking down at the red trinket.
"The only thing the ring have been proven to do so far is to see through minor illusions and have often unclear visions. Rarely has it been able to heal wounds and when it has, the wounds certainly hadn't been any major ones. This was the case before you showed up, now it has proved itself to have some more tricks."
"Tricks?"
Thranduil heaved a sigh. Did he really have to spell it out for her?
"Well not only has it been able to see through my glamour" -he gestured to his face- "which is a rather sturdy work of illusion, but it also gives away heat and that heat can hurt people when it feels threatened. So there you have Yavanna's gift from the sun, a promise of warmth and protection but you also have Estë's gift of numbing the pain of bodily wounds."
It looked like he wasn't done talking but as he brought up all things the ring had done for her Sigrid remembered her incident in the woods, when she was ambushed.
"It healed my wounds too actually," she chipped in before the opportunity passed her.
"What? When?" he demanded, his thick eyebrows creased themselves in a rather critical way.
"Um after the ambush, i know i ripped open my hands on bushes and thorns as i escaped but when i looked them over afterwards, not even a scar could be seen."
"Why didn't you tell me this? he asked her, noticeable irked.
"Nevermind that, i don't actually know why. Do you think i can use the other gifts as well? Can i learn how to coax them out of hiding?"
"That may come in due time, you should focus on exercising control over the more apparent abilities first. I did tell you that you will learn here how to dispel illusions and what not, if you behave i might take it up with Lord Elrond at dinner."
Her lips thinned a bit as she started to bite her lip, unconsciously. The only answer he got was a tight nod, she believed she was rather well behaved, at least as well behaved she could be against someone like him. It was strange how he could be so frightening but intriguing enough for her to lower her guard. She felt a false sense of security with him at times like this, when he wasn't particularly riled up.
Sigrid had to be mindful of the fact that he was still the same elf that had practically ambushed her in her sleep. Still, she couldn't help herself, as she wanted to know more of the Valar and their Maiar. She wanted to hear more of Arda's creation and of Eru Ilúvatar.
"Can you tell me more of the Valar and the Maia? Which ones make up the Aratar and do all of them live in Valinor or do some of them live here in Middle earth? Where even is Valinor?"
She hoped it wasn't too much to ask, seeing as she had to stop herself from rambling on. A bit surprisingly, he actually went along with it. He fluently wove her a tale with words that seemed to come alive as he spoke them. Effortlessly, he could put pictures in her head with his detailed descriptions. Not too much but not too little as her attention never swayed. He told her of the remaining Valars he hadn't touched on before, beginning with those of the Aratar, and later on moved on to some of their outstanding Maiar.
He told her of the king of the Valar, their leader Manwë Súlimo. He is the ruler of the skies and controls the wind. Due to that, he is often called the wind-king. His wife, the queen of the Valar, is called Varda Elentari who is the lady of stars. She is beloved by the elves who call her Elbereth. Together they were the highest of the Valar and the first two members of the Aratar. Both Manwë and Varda resides in a mansion called Ilmarin. It is seated upon the peak of Taniquetil which is the highest mountain in all of Arda, located in Valinor.
Their Maia included Eönwë the banner-bearer of Manwë and Ilmarë the handmaiden of Varda, they are regarded as the chiefs of the Maiar. Another prominent Maia of both Varda and Manwë is Olórin or Gandalf the grey as he is know on middle earth. He was sent to middle earth together with five other Maiars to form the order known as the Istari. Sigrid had wanted him to elaborate on the Istari but he never did and she didn't want to interrupt him either.
Second after Varda (in the line of the Aratar) came Ulmo, the king of the sea. Ulmo was the only Valar known not to have taken up residence in Valinor for he would much rather dwell beneath the waves of Vaiya in his palace called Ulmonan. Ulmo had a many Maiars but one of the most notable was Uinien, the lady of the sea. She was a lover of all sea creatures and it is said that her hair spread throughout the waters, floating around on their surfaces. She is the wife to Osse, another one of Ulmo's Maia. Osse often had a habit of spurring up the waves only for his more stable wife to calm them, and in turn himself.
Then there was Yavanna, Queen of the earth, and after her, Aulë the smith. A great Maia of Yavanna was Aiwendil allthough he is better known as Radagast the brown as he is one of the Istari that roam the lands of middle earth. Curumo, who is a Maia of Aulë, also belongs to the Istari and he is known as Saruman the white.
Thereafter came Námo who is also called Mandos. The doomsman of the Valar. He is the keeper of the dead as his task is to judge the souls of the dead elves as they all travel to his domain upon their demise. He dwells in a place called the Halls of Mandos. He is also responsible for passing out judgement in Eru's name directly under Manwë. After Namo came his younger sister Nienna for both he and Irmo were both her elder brothers, with Námo being the oldest of the three and Nienna being the youngest.
The lady of mercy resides within the Halls of Nienna, in the far western point of Valinor near the halls of Mandos. The halls of Nienna has several large windows that would look out beyond the shrouded night. There she would sit in her chair and stare at the dark waves at the brim of the unknown, mourning for the suffering of life. Later on came Oromë, the last of the Aratar. He is responsible for the hunt and is therefore called the great rider as well as the huntsman of the Valar.
Thus, they all made up the Aratar, the eight greatest of the Valar who lived on a continent called Aman that lies to the far west. Valinor, the undying lands which only the elves, the firstborns had access to. After all, -he had said to her- Men are set to inherit middle earth, as Eru's second born. In due time but not too quickly, the elves will all feel the need to depart and sail west.
The remaining Valar, those not of the Aratar are still important, though they weren't the greatest. There was Nessa the swift, sister of Oromë and wife of the Valar Tulkas, who was the champion of the Valar, often called the wrestler. There was Vána the ever young, wife of Oromë and little sister of Yavanna. Last of them were Vairë, wife or Namo and weaver of Arda's history. Her storied webs and woven tapestries clothed the halls of Mandos where she lived.
Sigrid looked like she was in a mesmerised and almost dream-like state as he spoke. Though, her quietness gave off an attentive impression, as she surely was. He could go on with the story forever almost but he was hesitant of what he should include or not. He didn't even want to bring up the first dark lord Morgoth and the reigning second: Sauron, the whole reason for the arrival of the Istari.
For some reason, he felt that she needed to read up on that herself and he in general felt too troubled to speak of it. It brought back the looming threat of the dark lord, the great eye. It reminded him of the fact of his return and it left him feeling sick with disgust and age-old rage. As she eventually asked him about the Istari and why she herself as a mortal could not go to Valinor, he raised his eyebrow and rose from his seat.
"I'll tell the librarians of what you seek of and they will hand you a book or two on the subject, i'm quite certain that there are some in Westron here. I have other things to do."
With that he took his leave and all he could hear was a faint "Thank you" as the doors to the library closed behind him. After informing the two librarians, he went on his way. Thranduil knew that he needed to find Galadriel as she was the only one here, fully capable of sensing the Valars presence and thus confirming the lore of the ring. After all, it had its perks, being born and bred in Valinor, the land of the gods.
...
She didn't want to start on the book just yet, she knew she needed to write to her family. The thick, leather-clad book was heavy as she pushed it to the side and rose up in search of some paper. The table already had a bottle of ink with a feather-pen in it so papyrus scrolls was the only thing she needed. The two elves only came in to hand her the book and later on seemed to go up in smoke. Well, they had to be around here somewhere but she sure as hell couldn't see them.
"Hello...?" she hesitantly bit out, stepping around the table and further into the library.
They had to hide somewhere amongst the bookshelves... for some reason. With that in mind and with no answer to her call, she ventured away from her place by the table. It took some time but she eventually found some small shelves with unused rolls of paper. Taking two of the scrolls she went back to her table and went to work. Of course, she soon noticed that she couldn't write anything about Thranduil and the... strange way the ring seemed to gravitate towards him.
She figured that she should focus on reassuring the reader above all. So she went on to tell Da of how attentive and polite the elves were, of how beautiful Rivendell was and how good the food was. Anything to paint a picture of normality, a cheerful reassurance. Half-heartedly, she explained that the elves still hadn't figured out what to do about her ring but nothing was for certain yet. Sigrid addressed the fact of the ring's origins and the nature of its abilities.
However, she was quick to stress that it would be more fitting to tell them the details in person. She should be back in no more than half a week or so... although she left out the fact that she was unsure whether or not she would be going back to Erebor or if she would be taken directly to the woodland realm. She didn't want to worry her family about such troubles. She ended her letter with questions about their wellbeing, about Tilda and how the construction of both Dale and Erebor were faring.
Carefully -as to not mess up her work- she blew on the ink and put it on to the side to dry. Now she could finally read the book. And read it she did, it coaxed her interest little by little, page after page. She read about the creation of the dwarves and she only skimmed through the pages about the first war between the elves, the infamous kin-slaying. It was all terribly complicated but at least she could put together a brief summary. One part that really interested her were the different kinds of elves. Sylvan, Sindar, Vanyar, Noldor, Falmari and the Avari. Their differences were like a complex net but at least she got the hang of it.
The vanyar were the rarest of the elves, they were the first ones to awake and the very first to step foot in Valinor. These elves never left the lands of the gods, if the couldn't help it. Their hair were golden, skin fair and their banners white and to this day they are considered as the most pure of the Eldar. Ingwe was their king and he is recognised as the high king of all elves in Arda.
Then there were the Noldor, the high elves that would follow King Finwe. These elves are often called the deep elves or those with knowledge. Just like the Vanyar, they too were of the high elves who lived in Valinor. They were great in their craftsmanship and built many famous artifacts throughout Arda's history. Many of them were servants of Aulë the smith and they were only matched in their skill by the dwarves. They stood tall with dark, red or even silver hair paired with white skin. After the years of the trees, they would spread across middle earth and take part in many big wars.
Another branch of elves are called the Teleri. The Teleri came forth from both the Vanyar and the Noldor and they split into many groups, depending on which ones made it to the land of the gods. The Teleri elves that made it to Valinor (for now at least) were called the Falmari, otherwise known as the sea elves. They were the latest and largest group to reach the shores of Aman. The Falmari tarried behind on the shores of middle earth, searching for their lost king Elwë (later known as Thingol).
The Maia Ossë kept them company while they waited and thus became their friend. He convinced his lord Ulmo to ancor an island by the edge of Aman and in due time, the sea elves built their capital there. Overtime, the Falmari began to adore the sea and eventually they learned how to build their own ships and thus could finally sail to the mainland of Valinor. The sizeable group of the Teleri that began their journey to Valinor but stopped or departed along the way are split into two separate groups depending on their location.
The Sindar elves are the elves that split up from the Falmari are stayed behind on the shores of middle earth to look for their lost leader Elwë. Eventually Elwë returned to his people and the reason for his disappearance was due to him meeting his future wife in the woods. It had been Melian, a maia of Vána and Estë, who had enchanted him for years in the forests of Nan Elmoth and once they emerged together as married, Elwë took the name of Thingol and gathered up his remaining elves to form the kingdom of Doriath.
The Sylvan elves were the first lot that departed from the Teleri long before they split into Sindar and Falmari. They left the company and lingered behind in the woods of east Beleriand. Sindar elves are considered more Noble than Sylvan ones. These elves are called the woodelves and green-elves. Together, they formed the Silvan kingdom of the woodland realm, located in the greenwood the great (now called Mirkwood) The ruling family of that kingdom are of Sindarin descent from the ancient kingdom of Doriath.
Now that was interesting, king Thranduil was a Sindar elf, she guessed she really shouldn't be surprised at that notion. She was about to go back to the register in order to find the pages that detailed the fate of Doriath and its subjects but halted in her motion. She hadn't read about the Avari yet. So another group of the Teleri were called the Avari, otherwise known as the dark elves. Perhaps the saddest of the bunch. They were the ones that refused the invitation to the holy land for they were scared of the Valars might. It is speculated that the evil Ainur and Vala Morgoth manipulated them into this mindset.
They stayed behind and did not begin any journey and because of that, they are not counted amongst the eldar. Most of them journeyed east but those that stayed behind eventually became kin to the Sylvan elves. All though it would take time for them to be completely accepted into their midst and thus, many of the Avari stayed isolated and alone in deep woods and caves. Those that traveled east and presumably those that isolated themselves in the woods, were probably captured by Morgoth and turned into the first orcs. Either that or they joined him willingly. Not many pureblooded Avaris are left to this day and few are those who really integrated and joined the other elves.
Sigrid pushed Doriath to back of her mind as her head spun webs of new questions... The orcs were once elves? How is that even possible and who in the wide world is Morgoth? She knew she had come across that name before in the kin-slaying, but now, it seemed more relevant to actually look it up. For some reason, her mouth was dry like sand dunes and a lump formed in the pit of her stomach. Going back to the register, she searched for the pages on Morgoth and as she found them, she almost wished she'd remained blissfully ignorant.
Why didn't Thranduil tell her about this? Doriath laid now forgotten as she read about the forsaken Valar and just what part he had played in the history of Arda. The first dark lord, master of Sauron and the one responsible for the orcs, dragons and giant spiders of the world. The one who shaped Mordor and all the evils within it, everything that existed in her old storybooks from when she was but a child. The stories that used to give her nightmares, nightmares she never told anyone about.
Those childhood fears and fantasies came back to her as she read of Morgoth's existence and the library around her seemed to dim down, as if the shadows started to climb up over the walls, growing larger and larger. Word by word and sentence by sentence, her discomfort grew until she had to close the book in favour of staring into the gentle candle light. The candle had almost burned down and she felt like she had to leave soon. To return above ground and feel the sun on her face.
...
Lady Galadriel stood tall on one of the trademark Rivendell balconies, braiding some elleth's hair. Upon further inspection, It turned out to be Arwen Undómiel, the Evenstar of her people, Elrond's spawn and the granddaughter of Galadriel. Of course, the lady of light already knew of his presence, although the dark-haired elleth was not as observant as she was keen on rambling on about the latest happenings in Dale. The last time he had seen her, she had been a mere child, tripping over her skirts to chase after her two older brothers. Both Elladan and Elrohir were away at a hunting trip so it would explain their absence at this time.
"I never took King Thranduil as someone overly generous but maybe i was wrong..." the elleth's words faded away as Galadriel bent down to her shoulder and whispered something in her ear, probably informing her of his arrival.
He briefly wondered how much the young elf knew of the messy business that surrounded his visit to Rivendell.
"To what do we owe the pleasure of your company, King Thranduil?" Galadriel's voice cut out like a calm breeze as she bid her granddaughter to stand up.
Arwen mumbled out a greeting at his entrance and curtsied, hiding her face in her locks. Maybe she was embarrassed over the fact that he had seemingly heard of her talks. He gave her mere nod in response before directing his attention to the lady of light.
"I came to exchange words with you my lady. In private if i may."
She nodded easily and squeezed Arwen's shoulder. "We will catch up later child, get back to your weaving now," she said and thus the elleth gave a tight nod and a small smile, slightly bowing one last time in his directing before taking her leave.
She was probably relieved at being excused. They both stood now by the stone railings, observing the waterfall and rivers below.
"So what did you want to speak about?" she asked looking into his eyes, a tad bit unearthly.
He broke their eye contact, not being too keen on her looking into his head, although she probably didn't even need eye contact for such a thing.
"I want you to tell me if you sensed something from the ring... Tell me, are those legends true?" he said, focusing his gaze on some spot right above her head.
She was quiet for a while, her blue eyes looked to be far away yet present at the same time.
"So you doubt the writings?"
He did not know what to say to that, so he stayed quiet, his face stoney. She almost sighed.
"They are true, at least to some extend. I could clearly sense the Valars influence, Nienna being the most apparent one but it was rather difficult to pinpoint the other ones, but not impossible. Most of their blessings and abilities are still hidden... though they are indeed present. Nevertheless, Nienna seems to be more influential than the others."
"Alright then," Thranduil heaved out, he could already feel a headache coming. "We will stay here for at most a week. I hope you will have enough time to be more sure of your stance."
"You are free to leave whenever you want, King Thranduil. Sigrid is actually the one that would have to stay," Galadriel told him with a pleasant smile that seemed to scream "What's your intentions?".
"The ring is rightfully mine and i prefer to keep my belongings close. Truth to be told, I don't see any hope of Sigrid and ring being separated at this point and maybe that's for the best. After all, the ring seems to thrive on her finger."
Her mouth stood slightly ajar as she took in his words and the meaning behind them. What could almost be called a frown, then marred her face and her eyes narrowed into the shapes of almonds.
"So you're meaning to take Sigrid with you to the woodland realm? Away from her family and soon her own kingdom?"
He could tell that a layer of thin contempt discreetly coated her words.
"Well, at some point you have to ask yourself if you are even comfortable with a relic of the Valar themselves, in the hands of a pair of fishermen that don't know the first thing about the Valar's magic. Something as astounding and unique as the ring, should be kept in hands of those who know what they are dealing with. Should any... abnormalities happen with ring whilst it rests in Sigrids grasp, the only people who could hope to assist her or even understand the situation, would be of the Eldar," he monotonously explained, turning his back to her as a sign of the finality of their conversation.
It was bold of him, seeing as though he may be a king, Lady Galadriel was still one of the oldest and definitively the wisest elf east of Aman. She is a high elf of both the Noldor and Vanyar. Youngest daughter of the current high king of the Noldor, Finarfin and Thranduil knew that logically speaking he did stand below her in status. Thus, he turned and gave her a pleasant smile, a fake politeness, a charade he was practically born with.
"I hate to take up your time with your granddaughter, i take it that you don't see each other too often yes?"
She gave him a false smile, agreeing with the act.
"That is correct, it's been quite a while since i got to sit down and speak with her in a heart-to-heart manner."
"I certainly won't stand in the way for that. I surely hope you will get the same opportunity with your grandsons as well. I heard they are away at a hunting trip at the moment?" he inquired politely enough, considering the fact that small talk wasn't his speciality, he was doing pretty well.
"Yes, their trip will probably last for at least a few more days. Nevertheless, i will be here for them when they return," Galadriel answered matching his politeness with that of her own.
"Well then, i won't take up too much of your time. I will take my leave now," he addressed as he started to turn around.
Lady Galadriel gave him a smile in return as the sun caught the light of her hair, making it shimmer into pure gold. It wasn't exactly fake this time but it still did not reach her all-knowing eyes. "Will you return to Sigrid now? It might be unwise to leave her alone here in Rivendell. After all, if she decides to wander off somewhere, she will surely get lost."
"I'll keep an eye on her," was all he said as he started to take his leave.
"Thranduil," her voice halted his steps. "I hope you realise, that if anything... indecent were to happen to Sigrid, now that she is in your care, I would have to get involved."
His lips thinned a bit at that, was she threatening him? He briefly wondered what her definition of indecent was...
"Of course, i would have done the same," he promptly said, a tad bit icy as he walked away.
It seemed that even something as small as to share a few words with the lady of light, had to be complicated. When he returned to the library, Sigrid was nowhere to be found. The librarians were just as clueless and they kept on talking over each other in a vain hope that somehow they were not to blame.
"She's a child of man, sire! You know how impulsive they can be, certainly when they are so young, i'm sure she mustn't have gotten far," the elleth said in one breath, clutching her skirt nervously.
"Besides, We never actually knew that we would have to watch over her..." the male elf said as well, standing by the elleth's shoulder.
They were obviously siblings. Maybe twins since he could hardly tell them apart if one of them hadn't been wearing a dress. He gave them one last stare as he stepped over to the table where he'd previously left Sigrid. The book he had left her with laid still wide open on the table. As he noticed the contents of the page she was on, he could feel another headache forming. The Chapter was named "The orgins of Melkor and the rise of Morgoth".
By just skimming over parts of text, he could establish that it went in-depth on who he had been and what he had created, the chaos he had sprung forth from. Of course she would find this information. He should have told her about this himself when he had the chance. Now, who knows how she may view the world, after all... he thought of her as an easily frightened bird, prone to letting her emotions control her. Obviously, with the influence of the ring, specifically Nienna's influence, such reactions were not to be unexpected.
He would have to locate her right away, lest she would like to be a caged bird in the future. He left the two useless librarians in a controlled fit of rage. He didn't actually know where to start but obviously Sigrid would try to retrace their steps back to the gardens. She would probably get lost on the way of course. Suddenly an idea came to mind, couldn't he just will the ring to steer her back to him? Or maybe he could at least make use of it to locate her... Either way it was worth a try.