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The Lost Kin of the Elf-Friends
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Elros set down his knife, and the brothers raised their palms and stood up, as a few more cloaked figures emerged from the cover of the trees. Elrond was wondering if any of the other elves had followed them, fearing they might have sore need of their help at any moment. It would do no good to reach for his sword.
For several long moments they all stood there in silence, each party wondering what to make of the other. The hunting party looked quite unnerving in their dark cloaks in the dim gray light of early dawn, and Elros lost his patience.
"Declare yourselves, strangers!" he called. "If you seek to detain us, then have done with it!"
At last the hunter's bow lowered. "We should ask the same of you, stranger," came a curious voice from under the cloak's hood. "What business do you have in interfering with our hunt?"
"Please, sir," pleaded Elrond. "We meant no offense. My brother and I came across your hunt only by curiosity at the sound of the baying dogs. We stand over your kill now only because we sought to end its suffering, for the shot was not fatal. We need not come to blows. We will leave you to it and be on our way."
"Give us your names first," answered the hunter.
"We are the sons of Eärendil, Keeper of the Silmaril the Nroth Star!" Elros jumped in proudly. "Eärendil son of Tuor, of the house of Hador, and our mother Elwing is the granddaughter of Beren, of the house of Bëor."
The hunter was silent for a moment, and the mysterious cloaked figures turned toward each other. At last they pulled back their hoods. The brothers now discovered to their surprise that the leader was a woman, very tall and strongly built, her alto voice matching well the dark gold hair tied back from a sharp-angled face and commanding gaze. The leader gave a whistle, and the dogs retreated and sat calm by her side. Then she pulled something from a pocket, and handed the beasts their rewards. All the while she kept her gaze on the strangers.
"Well, sons of Eärendil," she said, "then perhaps you remember the fates of his forefathers, the children of Galdor?"
A test, Elrond guessed, but he knew the answer well. "Tuor's father Huor fell in the Battle of Many Tears," he replied. "Huor's brother Húrin was captured from that battle, and held captive on the peaks of Thangorodrim, tormented and cursed by Morgoth personally. Húrin and his family died in despair from the long and sad workings of their curse, unwittingly ensnaring many elves and mortals into their tragic fates also."
The lady's face softened, and she looked at them thoughtfully for a few moments. "Spoken as one who might have known them and heard their stories first hand."
"Not first hand," Elrond replied. "But we are called half-elven by our folk, because of the grandsires we have who were mortal and their spouses who were elf. We have dwelt a long time with our elf kin by the shores of the gulf west of here, where those long-lived folk have taught us much in the lore of our people."
"Then you are in luck, as we mortals like to say," she replied. "For you have now found the last remnant of the folk of those houses. I am Baleth, and I lead what remains in the western lands of the folk of Hador. My father and his brothers fell in the Great Battle years ago. I was his only heir."
Elros smiled in wide-eyed wonder. "You are well named, Strong-Lady," he said. "Might others of your people be found nearby?"
The lady looked sidelong at him with a smirk, and she snickered. "That they might," she said casually. "Come along then, half-elves! And have a care for the mortals among your kin."
And so they followed the hunting party back through the northern end of the woods until they reached the site of a small encampment of tents that others were in the process of tearing down and packing away. Nearby stood a pair of donkeys waiting to make their next trip. Tied to them was a large cart, already laden with a few other slain boars, and here the hunters set down their kill. The tents were packed into bags hung from the backs of the beasts. Then off they went, marching alongside the cart as it lumbered along, until they turned onto an ancient road. This they followed east over the gentle hills of lowland fields toward the crossing of a large brown river.
Their new friends told them much as they walked, of how their warriors had sent them to wait beyond mountains and across the river, where there were settlements of long lost kin, when they went off to the great battle. The women held down the fort, trained and ready to defend their homes and families as they waited for their husbands and sons to return. Some of the younger ones did indeed return, but many of their leaders and other elders did not. Since then those young warriors had grown up, but they were few, and it was the mothers who were obliged to teach their sons such activities traditional to the men such as hunting and building. Thus did they teach their daughters as well, and nowadays the hunting parties included many of each. They didn't often come this far west, but they had a tradition of coming out to these woods to catch the provisions for their midsummer feast. Elrond asked them about any news of trouble in their lands.
"Not since before the war," Baleth told them. "Since the battle ended it has been quite peaceful. But we remain vigilant - it has been several years but we still fear to let down our guard."
"That is wise," said Elrond. "For while Morgoth was vanquished, certainly many of his servants and creatures still remain. They may grow to trouble the world again, sooner or later."
They reached the river by late afternoon, where there were several large rafts, with the biggest one for the beasts to ride with their burdens. At last they all had crossed, and shortly enough they came to another stretch of tall downs. These were empty of people, though held in reverence by the mortals who lived across the road nearby. There the brothers saw to their wonder a scattering of many huts set around a great longhouse, and many mortal folk busying about their day. Baleth's folk lived closest to the road, and the remnants of the people of Bëor lived in a settlement beyond them to the north. Those folk kept a lord, but generally deferred to the leadership of her folk the Hadorim, who were more numerous. A short way east, they informed the brothers, was an ancient village whose folk believed themselves to be descended from the very first men who woke at the far edge of the world ages ago. Good and evil came and went, the inhabitants would say, wars would start and end, but their village remained, weathering the storms of time like the great hill at whose foot they lived. "They call themselves the Breelanders," Baleth told them. "They keep mostly to themselves, but we trade with them. They would be good people to know if you wish to keep up with news of the world. For though they are small and rustic they receive many travelers who pass through from other lands."
They were hosted that night for dinner and rest in the longhouse where Baleth lived with some of her relatives. Meanwhile the rest of the hunting party had got to work butchering the catch for cooking, and all the next day they were at work tending to the roast, while the hearth wives and children took care of the starches and greens and sweets, and by midday others were returning from a trip to the river with a large catch of fish to contribute to the feast. For it was midsummer's day, and the festivities were getting underway. The brothers came across a field in which there were many games of sport in progress. They watched Baleth herself swing a grand hammer onto a large rock which flew to pieces.
Elrond laughed. "Impressive!" he said to his brother, "I have never seen such strength of arms in a maiden."
Elros was smiling, and sighed. "Impressive indeed."
Then some men playing a strange game together on a wide field called them to join. Elrond's smile left his face as fear rose in him. He had never seen such a game; most games of sport that elves enjoyed were contests in running and jumping and rowing and swimming; the only activities with high contact between opponents were games of practice in combat such as wrestling and fencing. This game involved teams of young men ferociously crashing into and grappling with each other in their struggle over a ball. He looked over at his brother shaking his head with a pleading look in his eyes, but Elros smiled grandly with excitement. "Come, brother! We mustn't offend our hosts!" he said. Clasping Elrond by the arm he took off running toward them. An hour later both brothers limped off the field covered in many mild injuries, to the great amusement of the onlookers and other players, with Elros far more entertained by the outcome than his brother.
And so that night they enjoyed the great feast, and remained with the folk of Baleth for a good while. Elros found that he felt quite at home among them, making many friends quickly. For they saw that he excelled in many things, from skills in athletics and combat, to building and crafting of tools and weapons, to wisdom in the field and ordering of defenses. Elrond shared what knowledge and skill he could in lore and wisdom and healing, but after several weeks he had begun to grow homesick for the sights of the gulf and his friends and kin in the twin cities. His brother on the other hand was reluctant to return.
Elrond thought about the split in their feelings. "Well then, brother," he said to Elros, "perhaps it is best that you stay. It will be good for one of us at least to be among the folk of our mortal kin." He glanced over at the Lady Baleth, and back at his brother. "All seem to love you. Perhaps you will come to lead them. Or co-lead them," he said.
Elros looked at his brother, and he smiled, catching his meaning. "Yes, I think such a course would have the approval of Lady Galadriel in her wisdom," he said. But amid the highness of heart that he had found among his new friends, he also now felt the sadness of mortals rise in him also. For with some foresight he perceived this moment as the start of an ending, a longer parting that would eventually come to pass.
Elrond continued. "But my heart is still by the waters with our other people," he said, "and there I must return." And so the brothers embraced, and then at last they parted, and Elrond headed back to the havens alone.