Chapter 8
Looking down at his future King, Elrond suppressed a nervous laugh as the child sat on Celeborn's lap, completely unaware of what his future held and how he had just completely changed the political landscape of Middle Earth.
Elrond's musing was interrupted when, Thranduil, in a hesitant voice said, "We will need to discuss where the elflings will live. Who will teach Severus and Sirius how to fulfill their duties as lords of the Gondolindrium?"
Pausing for a moment, Thranduil allowed his words to sink in then, frowning as he continued saying, "That is just Sirius and Severus. Again, we will have to decide where Hadrian will live and who will teach him the duties of being High King of the Noldor. Who will teach him the duties of being High King of the Sindar and finally, who will teach him what being a Vanyar Elf means?" Groaning, Elrond collapsed into his seat to the shock of the very confused men and dwarves.
Slowly standing up, Glorfindel caught Elrond's attention as he began to say "I can teach Sirius and Severus how to be Lords of the Gondolindrum and between Lady Galadriel and Lord Elrond, we can teach young Hadrian how to be High King of the Noldor. King Thranduil and Lord Celeborn, while you each had your own realms to look after during the last High King of the Sindar's reign, you do know the basics and own the appropriate books and scrolls to cover everything else."
Feeling the weight lift off his shoulders, Elrond sighed in relief as Glorfindel averted a possible point of contention between the elven settlements. Thinking about the other point of contention, where the elflings would live, Elrond began listing the pros and cons of each of the four elven settlements. Even if the Grey havens were ruled by both Galadriel, Thranduil and himself, they were an elven settlement.
Slowly, an idea formed in his mind; one where the elflings would get the benefits of experiencing all the elven cultures and being exposed to both men and dwarves. Turning to Galadriel, Elrond projected his thoughts to her. A small nod indicating she agreed with his idea prompted Elrond to say "As for where they will live, they could spend twenty years in each of the elven settlements and learn from the elves there."
Smiling softly, Thranduil replied, "That is an acceptable solution to me. I would, however, like to suggest that the elflings spend the first 20 years in Imladris before coming to Greenwood and then going to Lothlorien." Tilting her head to the side in confusion, Galadriel asked, "Why the Greenwoods second?"
Inclining his head in respect, Thranduil replied "The elves in Imladris are typically Noldor and the elves in Lothlorien are mix of Noldor and Sindar, meaning that there are some similarities in their culture while Greenwood is a mix of Sindar elves, Silvan elves and wandering elves creating a very different culture from Imladris and Lothlorien. I would like to avoid giving the elflings a major culture shock in their late childhood."
Nodding in agreement, Elrond marveled at how well everyone was coming together to ensure that the elflings received the best care and grew up to be well-rounded elves. The only problem that remained was the fact that Hadrian would be considered the only Vanyar elf in middle earth. The Vanyar had never desired to explore Arda and were happy to remain in Valinor as they were most affected by the darkness that Melkor, followed by Sauron, allowed to seep into middle earth.
Looking up at Galadriel and Thranduil, Elrond said: "There is one thing that we have overlooked, Hadrian is approximately a third Vanyar elf and there are no elves to teach him about the culture and beliefs of the Vanyar."
Smiling sadly, Galadriel, in a soft thoughtful voice, replied, "My mother was a Vanyar elf and I remember some of the basic facts of their culture but if Hadrian ever truly wanted to learn about that part of him, he would have to sail to Valinor." Sighing, Elrond decided to come back to this problem at a later date.
Clearing his throat, the steward of Gondor, a middle-aged man named Cirion asked, "What is the difference between Vanyar, Noldor and Sindar elves?" Blinking in surprise, all the elves turned to look at Cirion with varying looks of disbelief and shock.
Seeing the man blush a deep red and the uncomfortable looks being passed between the men and dwarves, Elrond drew everyone's attention back to himself as he explained saying "There are four types of elf in Arda; Vanyar, Noldor, Sindar, and Silvan. This dates back to when the Valar first found the elves."
Pausing to ensure everyone was following what he was saying, Elrond was happy to see that everyone was listening eagerly. Continuing, Elrond thought back to when his father had taught him about the differences in elves and said, "Originally, there were three tribes of Elves. They did not have names. Together they lived in middle earth fearing the darkness, but one day the Valar found them and convinced them to come to Valinor with them. The first tribe followed the Valar eagerly and they became known as the Vanyar. Next, the second tribe followed the Valar and fell in love with exploring, they became known as the Noldor. The final tribe was split; half wanted to follow the Valar and half wanted to stay. So the half that followed the Valar became known as the Sindar while the half that stayed became known as Silvan elves."
Satisfied that everyone had a basic understanding of the different elves, the gathering began to discuss the practicalities of raising elflings and the time frame that they had to attack Dol Guldur. By the end of the day, everyone was satisfied with the decisions and were getting ready to ride back home and prepare for a major battle.