Golden Days by Lyra

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Fanwork Notes

I'm starting to loose track of characters and my gentle readers may have the same problem, so here is a probably not comprehensive list.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

In the House of Mahtan
Nerdanel, a young craftswoman of the Noldor
Mahtan, a master smith and sculptor, her father
Istarnië, a master scribe and scholar, her mother
Erenwen, an apprentice scribe, their middle daughter
Sarnië, their youngest daughter
Alcarincë son of Alcaráco, an apprentice sculptor
Sailatulco son of Veurotulco, an apprentice sculptor
Helyanwë son of Ristando, an apprentice smith
Lindanolvion son of Lindanolvë, an apprentice smith
Roitariel daughter of Tanárion, an apprentice scribe
Lisanto son of Tanárion, an apprentice scribe

In the City of Tirion
Aimíriel, a master sculptress
Palatáro, a master smith, her husband
Nieninquë, her younger sister
Númiel daughter of Númaitë, an apprentice bookbinder
Arinseldë daughter of Númaitë, her younger sister
Ataralassë daughter of Hallantar, an apprentice potter
Lanyalossë daughter of Nusírilo, an apprentice weaver and seamstress
Carnissiel daughter of Carnildo, an apprentice weaver, her best friend
Númaitë, a master bookbinder
Nusírilo, a master tailor
Carnildo, a master sculptor
Wilwarindë, a master weaver, his wife
Cermion, apprentice to Master Carnildo
Timosanwë, apprentice to Master Carnildo
Tanárion, a master scribe
Ercoirë, a master sculptor
Yánanto, a master sculptor
Quantuvar, a master sculptor

In the Royal House of the Noldor
Finwë, King of the Noldor
Indis of the Vanyar, Queen of the Noldor, his second wife
Fëanáro, Crown Prince of the Noldor, an apprentice smith
Findis, Princess of the Noldor, an apprentice poet
Nolofinwë, Prince of the Noldor, an apprentice scholar
Írimë, Princess of the Noldor
Wintillo, a servant
Quessincë, a master scribe and scholar
Parmandil, an apprentice scribe
Alcaráco, a master sculptor

In the Quarry of Alastondo
Lótoreo, a master quarrier
Ravië, a horticulturist

In the Fields of Yavanna
Sirillë, a farmer
Umbas, a farmer
Elwendo, a farmer

In the City of Alqualondë
Volabrandë, a sculptress

Others
Aulë, Lord of Stone and Ore, a god
Yavanna, Lady of Plants and Beasts, a goddess


A big thank you to Whitewave for nominating this for the MEFAs, to Elleth for the banner, and to everyone who read and voted!

The Tirion Mothers Against Oath-Taking Public Service Award

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Nerdanel recounts the development of her relationship with Fëanor - from their first proper meeting to married life. A fantasy of manners, pride, prejudice, love and craftsmanship.

Major Characters: Aulë, Írimë, Fëanor, Findis, Fingolfin, Finwë, Indis, Mahtan, Nerdanel, Original Character(s), Yavanna

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: Romance

Challenges:

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Sexual Content (Mild)
Chapters: 23 Word Count: 93, 601
Posted on 25 January 2009 Updated on 26 June 2016

This fanwork is a work in progress.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

I meant to be much further along with the story at this point - but somehow things that appear as brief keywords on my plot outline turn into full chapters in the execution. O.ó I am beginning to suspect that this will end up much, much longer than planned.

Chapter 5

Plot is finally on track again. Yay.

Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8

My goodness! It's an update! And once again the story refuses to behave as planned. Oh well.

Chapter 9

Another update! And we are still not moving from the spot. Instead, we're having dinner. Oh well, what can you do?

Chapter 10

Holy crap, I can't believe I haven't worked on this story in almost two years! That's disgraceful. Have a new chapter.

Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13

Nerdanel is clueless, and I seem to be on a roll. I hope it lasts!

Chapter 14
Chapter 15

Wow, two years again? And all I have to show is this ridiculously short chapter. Oh well. Let's hope the words will come more easily for the next chapters...

Chapter 16

Nerdanel finally finishes her work for Finwë's family. What a relief.

Chapter 17

Aaand it's time for Nerdanel's exam to start... not yet.

Chapter 18

Nerdanel finally gets to take her exam.

Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21

This chapter just kept on getting longer and longer, so I decided to split it.

Chapter 22

I really have no excuse for this. It's like the "Twilight" chapter. I'm so sorry. The Elves made me do it.

Chapter 23

In which Elves spit out watermelon seeds. They're clearly only human.

Comments

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Loved their interaction here, Feanaro clearly knows how he affects her and enjoys her company very much.  So many lovely lines here:  the lighting of the fire, their dirty faces, etc.  She is clearly his equal and I think he appreciates that, can't wait to see which of them will confess their feelings first.

Feanaro has actually confessed his feelings during the ball - "I find you endlessly fascinating" etc. - Nerdanel just didn't think he was being sincere. In turn, I suspect he now doesn't fully realise how he affects her: After all, she's doing her best not to let it show. So he's just laying it on more thickly and making things even harder for her. Nerdanel still doesn't realise that yes, he can and he does genuinely love her. Alas! ;)

Very clever goreshadowing for the silmarils, the rebellion, and even their future marriage, poor Nerdanel suffering from "unrequited" love.  Wish she could read minds. Found myself wondering how Finwe  will react to his  son's views about the Valar since  Finwe does strike me as a patriarchal, conservative  figure that prefers to uphold the status quo.

Both of them are suffering from unrequited love. I'm not sure how much longer!

Finwe is going to ignore anything he hears about his son's views about the Valar. As you have observed, he's very happy with the status quo; at the same time, he is extremely fond of his firstborn. The two must be reconciled at any cost. So if anything negative reaches his ears, he is not going to hear it.

Loving how things are progressing so far with F&N, the oracle melons scene is one of my favorites for  this  story.  Poor Nerdanel still not connecting two and two together, why else would he single her out?  He must have devoted some time observing her hands to be able to come up with a very good fit. 

Oh good, I was afraid that the oracle melons would be a bit too blunt! At the same time, it was so much fun. Sometimes I just need to indulge myself. ;) I think she would have made the connection - there were some moments during their night out in the woods when she was entertaining the idea that they might fit quite well together - if he hadn't thoughtlessly said that she looked horrible. He didn't mean anything by it, just observing what she was aware of herself, but she's taken it a lot more seriously, in a "back off, I'm too pretty for you" kind of way. So now she's convinced that whenever he says or does something nice, he's mocking her.

He used her flint and steel, so that's probably giving him a good starting point. And of course, he's had plenty of occasions to observe her hands - at the table, at work and, not least of all, while dancing... :)

First of all, thank you for writing this story. it's so beautifully written, with a lot of vivid worldbuilding about how it should be the life in Aman (I love the description of the harvest season, the contest of Nerdanel and the master sculptor, the exams she took, etc etc), and the relationship between Feanor and Nerdanel is very intriguing. they've a lot of chemistry, and Nerdanel felt real, i love how she has her little flaws and her 'spots' (her unsureness, her being susceptible and not trusting Feanor at first, etc) that made her feel even more real. and Feanor is so charming and fascinating, and it's easy to understand why Nerdanel fell for him. He feels real too in his struggling for finding a place into the world of Aman, a peaceful world but that riks too easily to be shaken, especially by a genial mind like the one of Feanor. I really thank you for this story, I guess it's easily become one of my favorites!

Wow, thank YOU for your enthusiastic review! Reading it brought a huge smile to my face. I'm so happy to hear that you find the worldbuilding convincing, and that the characters feel real to you, genius and flaws and all! And of course I'm thrilled that the chemistry between Feanor and Nerdanel works for you, too. I think they're both too smart for their own good, but they both have their blind spots, too, and I'm glad this came across for you. Again, thank you for taking the time to write such a lovely comment, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story!