Varda by hennethgalad

Chapter 1

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Ingwë loved the Light, more than he loved his family, more than he loved all who lived, more than he loved his own life. When the Hunter had come to summon them to meet those who had crafted the world, and above all the stars, he had wished to have the others follow him with all the intensity of his passionate spirit. He could not comprehend their doubt and fear, nor grasp why they did not share his love of the glorious stars. For all agreed on the beauty and joy of the lights in the heavens, but to his dismay they did not share his consuming need to find the source of such beauty and power.

And after the hard and draining struggle to lead the drifting Elves to the great Sea, and finally, at last, to Valinor, and into the Light, even then, many had turned away from the Valar, some turning away, it seemed to the heart of Ingwë, from the Light itself. They hesitated yet, hiding beyond the mountains, skulking in the shadows on the shores of the dark sea, though he too rejoiced to see at times the stars of old from the quays of Alqualondë.

The voices of the Valar had stunned him, he had felt as the new-hatched bird, the shell shattered, loosed into the world under the vastness of the sky. The visions brought to him in the exaltation of the storm of their Song had lit within him with a joy that would shine until he, and the world, should fade. And in the Music, of which mere glimpses were granted to him, jewels of melody in the vast symphony of Eä, he understood a little of the mercy of Varda, and the truth of the fashioning of her brilliant stars.

For in the Song of Nienna he perceived the Void, in which Arda moves, a glinting speck of Light amidst the unfathomable black depths and the endless darkness of naught. A horror and terror had seized him, he would have fallen had his very fear not locked his frozen limbs.

But the Light was within him, the World was around him, and the shield of Varda held back the dread emptiness of the Void, while her Song spread the Music out into the endless, dead silence of nothing. His frail Elven heart clung to the Light of the stars as a child to the hand of a parent, and with fear at his back and love driving him forwards, he stepped towards the Valar, alone among the Firstborn.

But their power was as a sheer cliff, or crushing load, and he stood, his mind and spirit open, as the fell majesty of Eru Ilùvatar shone through the Song, as the stars shine through the darkness. His spirit turned to Varda, and it seemed to him that she would smile upon him, a tender smile to soothe his fearful heart. Her Lights, made ready for the Awakening of the Eldar, would outlast them, the terror of the Void was kept from them for all time, the Kindler would shelter them behind the strong Walls of the World.

And it seemed to Ingwë that the Light grew, strengthening and weaving a foundation and a dwelling place for the spirits within, while the Void became the thing both tiny and remote. The Song of Nienna rose in harmony with Varda until the Kindler fell silent, and at last Ingwë felt the longing of the Valar for those who had remained with Eru, beyond Eä, whom the Valar had left behind; and their endless regret at their parting from Ilùvatar. And like a single note of crushing power, he felt their own longing for that which is Beyond. The dwelling place of Nienna, whose windows face outward from the Walls of the World, would grant to all a glimpse of the truth of the Void, and turning thence, let each one know the joy of Light, set in stars for the love of all by Varda Elentári.