Chapter Two
Author's Notes: Merlassë's name came out of thin air. I have no idea what it may mean in Elvish, but for the purposes of this story, this name will not be in Elvish. Instead, I kind of think of it as a name in the language of the Ainur, meaning "the Singer", refering to my title. I hope you guys don't have any problems with that. So read and give some criticism! I'd like to know how i'm doing so far. Thanks!
"Thus it came to pass that of the Ainur some abode still with Ilúvatar beyond the confines of the World; but others, and among them many of the greatest and most fair, took the leave of Ilúvatar and descended into it. But this condition Ilúvatar made, or it is the necessity of their love, that their power should thenceforward be contained and bounded in the World, to be within it for ever, until it is complete, so that they are its life and it is theirs. And therefore they are named the Valar, the Powers of the World."
-- The Silmarillion: Ainulindalë, the Music of the Ainur
Through light and time and space I fell. The stars wheeled above my head, until they became one great body of glorious light, shining splendidly on me as I felt myself become somehow diminished.
I felt myself become bounded, as before I was boundless, unlimited. I had become bounded to this world, my power become its power, my life as its life. An irreversible process that cannot be undone, until all the ages of the world had played out, and the World is broken.
I must abide until the end.
Even as that thought came to me than it was done, and I saw before me, the great plains and forests of Arda. In a whirlwind of light and color the hand of Ilúvatar delivered me onto the earth that I was to abide in until the end of time.
I was set down on the shores of a vast sea extending far into the setting of the fiery isle of Arien. The white sandy beaches stretched out as far as I could see, while the shimmering waters stained crimson by the great light of Arien lapped gently at the land with a sigh. A shrieking brought my attention to the skies above me, a dazzling violet and orange. High above me I saw great white sea birds soaring magnificently in the impending twilight. A pungent sharp smell came to my nostrils, along with the heady perfume of a thousand flowers and the smell of the greens of the fertile earth. I breathed it all in, this perfume of the living, took it into my being until it became a part of me itself, forever joint to my consciousness.
All these sights and sounds overwhelmed my newfound senses, and I could not help but feel as if I had arrived in a blissful haven in the circles of time. It was beauty, surpassing all beauty I had ever seen before. I will never forget the splendor of the sea.
A sudden rushing and roaring of the waters brought my attention once again to the great sea before me, and I saw a majestic figure emerge from the deeps of the waters.
"Welcome to Arda, Merlassë, sister of Tulkas."
Even as he spoke, I recognized his voice from the times before time in the halls of Eru. He was Ulmo, friend to Manwë who ruled the Kingdom of Arda. I knew him well before he left the presence of Eru and descended into the little kingdom of Arda, as he called it. He has always been kind and friendly to me. Ulmo had always been one who shared my interest in the arts of music. He was a formidable singer and had been one of the key instruments Eru used in the Great Music that was sung so long ago it seems now.
"You have been expected." He said serenely. Above us the sky began to darken into the deepest violet, and the sea birds had quieted until all that can be heard was the slow murmuring of water.
"Oh?" I said in slight surprise. I had not anticipated to be expected by my kin in this beautiful and increasingly fascinating world. After all, I did not know that I would come at all until Eru had so suddenly declared it.
Ulmo nodded and smiled, holding out a hand to me.
"Come my lady Merlassë," He said as I placed my hand in his, "We shall bring you to your brother."
xXXx
We skimmed the dark waters of the great sea as we went speeding towards a place that was yet unknown to me. The purple of the sky above had darkened into the deepest blue as night time in Arda fell upon us. The stars of Varda shone brightly above, twinkling brilliantly as the eyes of Ilúvatar, shining with a clear light in the velvety night sky. Like a rushing wind, we flew onwards, gliding with the still waters of the sea beneath us, raising tiny ripples on its glassy surface as we passed.
A bubble of joy slowly rose within me. I was going to see Tulkas! In all our lifetimes, I have never been parted from my brother until that fateful day. And now he will be restored to me. I could not contain the feeling of joy that was threatening to overflow from my heart, the happiness that I felt was practically radiating like waves from me. I could see myself glowing with a lustrous light that was reflected in the surface of the dark waters beneath us.
My happiness was marked by Ulmo and he spoke to me as we continued sailing onwards to our destination.
"Your brother misses you a great deal as well, my lady." He said to me with a slight smile. "He speaks of you constantly."
"Is he well?" I asked, suddenly anxious. I knew somewhat of the wars that were fought against Melkor the betrayer and I knew of his great power. Melkor ever has been one of the most powerful of the Ainur and rivaled his brother Manwë, who was given lordship over these lands. He has also been one of strange temperament and spent much of his time alone in the great void. Even in his days before the beginning of the world his presence had disturbed me greatly. The leering smiles he gave me when he stood before the throne of Eru shook me to the very core of my being. He was not one to be crossed, this I knew more deeply than any of my kin.
"He is very well Merlassë." He said gently, aware of my anxiousness. I have never been one good at hiding my feelings. "He has done great deeds of renown among us in our war against Melkor. If it was not for him, the dwellings of the children of Ilúvatar would never have been completed, and Melkor would have succeeded in his campaign against Eru." He continued, "We are much indebted to your brother."
I smiled again at the thought of my lively brother who had always been quick to come to the aid of a friend in need.
"He would do no less when he heard of your need, my friend." I said to Ulmo. "It is in his very nature."
Ulmo nodded knowingly, but at the mention of the children of Ilúvatar, I grew curious of these new beings that had so captured the attentions of my brother and my other kin.
"Tell me of the children of Ilúvatar." I said to him, but as I voiced my question, we saw a twinkling city of lights approaching swiftly on the horizon before us.
"You will soon see them for yourself." He replied and at that we swept into the star-lit city and landed on soft earth beneath the roots of a lofty mountain that soared up to dizzying heights above us. I saw a great golden gate standing proudly in the distance to the left of us, and before us, my kin sat beneath the roots of the mighty mountain. One of their number rose and started towards me. His golden hair shone in the light of Isil.
"Little sister." He said smiling widely, as I flew into his arms.
"I
have missed you horribly." I murmured into his ear as he held me in
his familiar embrace.
"As I have, dearest sister." He replied
as we parted.
Ulmo stood smiling serenely a distance away. My
brother turned to address him. "It has been a while since we had
the grace of your presence my friend." He said. Ulmo only nodded.
"You have brought me the dearest one I hold in this world and the
next." He continued on, a little more softly, "and for that I
give you my deepest thanks."
At this, Ulmo spoke again in his
deep voice. "For that you must thank Eru above," He said, "and
your devoted sister, who would forsake all else just to see your face
again." He gave a slight bow to me.
While he was speaking,
a second figure rose from the ring of seats and made a welcoming
gesture towards me.
"You are greatly welcome here, Singer of
Eru." Said the figure dressed in heavy sapphire and silver robes.
He spoke with an authoritative voice. I knew him then to be Manwë,
brother of Melkor, and ruler of all the lands of Arda within the
circles of the earth.
I bowed deeply as he walked towards me and raised me up to meet him. Beside him stood a noble lady in silvery white robes that shone as brightly as the stars in the heavens above. Varda, wife of Manwë, who made the stars, she must be. She smiled kindly at me. In our days together in the halls of Ilúvatar, we had been great friends, though I had always been a bit cowed by the imposing presence she had.
"We are
gladdened by your presence dearest Merlassë." She said, taking
my hands in hers in a gesture of friendship. "Your brother has
talked of naught else since he arrived."
I gave a little laugh
and looked lovingly at my brother, who smiled widely back at me.
"Go with him," she said giving me a little nudge, "You have much to talk about." I gave her a grateful smile and went to my brother. He put his arms around my shoulder and turned us away from the ring of seated figures beneath the mountain.
"We have much to speak of indeed, little sister." He whispered conspiringly as we wandered off into the splendid lands that he and our kin shaped with their own hands.
xXXx
In the
days that followed, I learned much of the history of Arda since its
beginnings. How the traitor Melkor sought to oppose my kin in all
their works and how he had nearly succeeded if not for the valour of
my beloved brother. I heard of the coming of the first born of
Ilúvatar, the Quendi, and how they came to live in Valinor,
the name my brother called these beautiful lands beyond the seas. He
spoke then of the making of the two trees of Valinor by Yavanna, and
how Melkor had poisoned them and stolen away with him the jewels
which imprisoned its light of the two trees with them. He described
to me the rebellion of the Quendi and their resulting exile to the
lands of Middle Earth, on whose shores I had stood when I met Ulmo.
And he introduced me to his wife, whom he wedded at the feast of the
Spring of Arda, before Melkor had wrought his ruin upon Middle Earth.
Nessa, she was called, the sister of Oromë and the lover of
dance.
"Your name is ever on the lips of your brother." She
had said smiling when Tulkas introduced me to his lithe and
lightfooted wife.
But most wondrous of all the wonders of Valinor were the first born children of Eru, whom I loved. I found the Quendi to be most fascinating and intriguing. Beings that were like to us, but yet not so! Hours on end I would watch them in their exquisite cities of light and allure as I remained unclad of my bodily form, unseen to their eyes.
When I had arrived in Valinor, I had taken a form to myself, like all my other kin, which could be seen by the eyes of the Quendi. My brother had helped me shape it, making it as like to my temperament and character as it could be. I became visible to the eyes of the Quendi as a thin woman, dark of hair and wan of face. Yet little did the Quendi see of that form, if at all, for I did not take it to myself often. As yet I was unaccustomed to the giving myself visible form - I had never had need to when I dwelt in the halls of Ilúvatar.
I spent my days in the company of my brother and his wife, marvelling at the beauty of Arda and admiring its every leaf and pebble. I was in love with this little kingdom. And most of all, I revered its magnificent shores and the shining waters that reflected in it the ever-changing colors of the skies.
And then one day as I walked alone on
the jewelled shores of Valinor, Ulmo came to me again.
I did not
see him again after the night at the Máhanaxar, the Ring of
Doom, before the great golden gates of Valmar, the city of the Valar.
"Lady," he said to me as I stopped to greet him. "I
come to ask you of something."
"Ask me of what, my friend?"
I asked him.
"I would ask your leave to take you back to the
lands of Middle Earth." He replied. I looked at him curiously, yet
I regarded his request with interest. Although the lands of Aman were
surpassing in beauty to anything I had ever seen, I longed again to
have a glimpse of the lush green forested lands I had seen when Eru
set me upon its shores. My brother had the company of his wife with
him and did not need me around him all the time. I was ready to
explore the rest of Arda.
"Is that to your liking, my lady?" Ulmo said again, stirring me from my thoughts. I smiled at him.
"Very much so, my friend, very much so."
xXXx
The next day, I took leave from my brother and Manwë and made my way with Ulmo back across the vast ocean that we crossed the night of my arrival on Arda. Ulmo, as I learnt from my brother soon after my arrival in Valinor, was the Lord of the Waters. All the waters of Arda was his domain, and they were very great. Ulmo loved all the lands of Arda dearly and this offer to take me to see the at last the lands of Middle Earth did not surprise me in the least.
We soared low over the oceans like to the sea birds as we sped back to the shores of Middle Earth, where I had first set foot in Arda. The rising sun was to our back, casting our long shadows on the water.
"I will leave you at the shores of Middle Earth."
Said Ulmo, as we saw the approaching strip of gold of the sandy
beaches. "You may continue on to wherever your heart desires from
there."
I smile at my friend. "I would never love any other
place more than where your music meets the earth." I replied,
"Wherever your waters sing, I will be."
He smiled kindly back
at me. "I shall be wherever the waters of Middle Earth run." He
said to me, "There you will find me if you seek my company."
I
nodded at him. "Then you may find I will seek it often." I
answered.
He gave me a knowing smile.
"And I will welcome you with joy, Merlassë, Singer of the Water."
I took my leave from my cherished friend on the shores of golden sand that extended to our north and south as far as the eye can see. I watched as he disappeared back beneath the frothy foam of the radiant seas that shone fearsomely in the lights of the newly risen sun, leaving no more than a tiny wave on its rippling surface.
And then I was alone.
It was then I took to me, my earthly form. I became as like to one of the women of the Quendi, clothed in the palest blue, like the springs of the waters that flow from the holy mountain of the Valar. I bound myself to my bodily form, and became diminished in my powers and might. I was like one of the children of Ilúvatar, to walk among them as one of their own.
I passed through the great forests and woods of Beleriand alone, in awe of its greatest beauty. I walked the wide open plains of waving grass, with the cerulean dome of the sky far above me. But ever I came back to the shores of the great sea, and sought the company of my friend Ulmo, as I did in all the rivers and creeks I passed on my journey. The music of the water called to me as the fountains in the halls of Ilúvatar, and always I was drawn back to its shores.
It was on one such occasion that brought me back to the golden shores of Beleriand, near nightfall on a warm summer's night. The salty sea breeze blowing from the furthest West, bringing the scents of Valinor teasing around my dark hair, as I stood looking towards the home of my kin in the distance.
And there, on the shores of Beleriand, I sang my song to the Sea.
Nigh twenty years of the sun has passed since the Noldor left the bliss of Aman to exile in Beleriand. Long hardships they had endured, crossing the grinding ice of the Helcaraxë after the betrayal of the sons of Fëanor. The shadow of the Kinslaying dogging their every steps. And now, Glorfindel dwelt in house of Turgon in Nevrast by the shores of Beleriand, closest than all their kin to the shores of Aman in the distant West.
On the spaceous terrace of his chambers in Turgon's palace looking out towards the fiery sunset, Glorfindel sighed.
Who would have guessed that he would have left the peace of Valinor to come to wage a hopeless war upon the mightiest of the Ainur? For hopeless indeed was their cause.
Giving another long sigh, Glorfindel left the sunlight-bathed terrace, brushing past the loose white draperies that blew gently in the summer breeze. He paced in front of a recliner in his chambers, restless in his thoughts.
Yestereve, Turgon had summoned him to his council chambers and told him of his secret plans to build a hidden city deep within the encircling mountains west of Dorthonion. While Glorfindel agreed with his lord's plans to build a safe refuge from Angband, he had his doubts in the secrecy of the proceedings. Building a city to house the entire population of Nevrast in secret was no mean feat. Not to mention how were they going to move the entire household in secrecy? It was next to impossible!
Shaking his head, Glorfindel stopped pacing and looked out the open windows to the shining waters stained crimson by the setting sun. In his heart, Glorfindel did not want to leave the shores of Nevrast in Beleriand. It was the last comfort he had, far from his home of Tirion in Valinor. Suddenly feeling confined by the stone walls of his chamber, Glorfindel left his rooms in the halls of Vinyamar by the sea, and descended down the long stone flights until he reached the great doors of rising arches that led onto the white sandy beaches of Nevrast.
Strolling along the shore, Glorfindel felt all his cares drop from his shoulders like a heavy stone. The lights of the halls of Vinyamar twinkled in the distance, with the lamp-lit quays of the white elven ships that seem to shiver in the cool night breeze. The sky had turned a deep blue and the stars of Varda shone clearly in the night sky. Glorfindel smiled, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath of the heady perfume of the sea. He listened as to the quiet whisper of the water as it ebbed and flowed near his feet. The sound of the tide had always seemed to carry the faint resonance of an ethereal song to him. It is said that the Song of Creation that was sung by the choirs of the Ainur could still be heard in the waters of Arda. Nevertheless, it had always given great comfort to the Noldo, and its presence had always lulled him to sleep each night.
But as Glorfindel listened to the sound of the water, a whisper of another ethereal song drifted to his ears on the lazy summer breeze, echoing along the empty beaches until it seem to wrap around him like delicate tendrils of the wind . It was a song like none that he had ever heard before. Glorfindel opened his eyes and looked searchingly for the source of the unearthly song that touched him to the very core of his being.
And then he saw it, a pale figure in the distance. A slender figure that stood on a lone rock jutting out to sea like a figurehead of a mighty ship. Long, dark hair blew from a white face in the wind that teased about a dress made of a material that was of the palest blue, so delicate that it floated behind the pallid figure like the sails of an elven boat.
Glorfindel's breath caught in his throat. That song could not have been sung by any of the children of Ilúvatar. But Glorfindel could not think of any of the Valier that would grace the shores of Beleriand. Not after the rebellion of the Noldor. In any case, the figure was slightly commanded none of the fiercesomeness any of great powers.
The airy figure that stood wanly in the distance with her song of otherworldly beauty could only be one of the Maiar.
One summer eve's
By Neptune's shores
I stood my cares to ease.
When an airy tune
So softly rang,
Came drifting on the breeze.
Oh fairest goddess,
Tell me please
If the morrow will bring the dawn.