A Trail of Things Lost by Nitheliniel

Chapter 7: Epilogue

The bards later omit the fact that many Noldor from Fingolfin’s host appeared to speak and sing with a pronounced lisp. It wore off in the hardships of their lives in Beleriand, chipped away in skirmishes and battles with the enemy, and finally vanished within the indigenous Sindarin. But in her heart, Galadriel always holds dear the memory of thousands of voices joining in her spite of Feanor.

The bards not only omit, they also add.

Early on in their stay in Doriath, when she is not yet but almost Galadriel, Daeron, the King’s head minstrel, approaches them, eager for first-hand information on their great journey. His ballad of the Crossing of the Helcaraxë, written in honour of Finarfins’ children, is well appreciated and applauded greatly by Thingol’s court, but the so-honoured like it little. They never tell him, though, how awkward they feel during the performance and no one but Melian notices their white faces and the touches shared in comfort.

Since she avoids hearing the ballad when possible, it comes to a great surprise when she notices how in the ages it has been sung, the time of their crossing has lengthened to years. How, even by the grace of the Valar – which at that time they decidedly had not had – they were supposed to have survived for so long, is beyond her comprehension. She settles on the explanation at hand, that between two different measuring systems for time, the measure either got lost or time had expanded. From then on, she relishes in the performances of the ballad and guessing which period of time a minstrel will insert becomes a dear habit of Celeborn and her. To their amusement, it tends to grow. She never corrects them.