Chewing The Fat by Grundy

Chapter 1

Elrond looked at his dwarven tutor in some surprise.

Now that he and Elros had gained sufficient fluency in Khuzdul, Maedhros and Makalaurë had deemed it wise for them to sit lessons with some of the dwarves their own age. It was, they said, not only a compliment to their hosts, but a good way to learn things they might not otherwise have come across.

Today’s lesson, for instance, covered birds and animals found east of the Ered Luin, which young dwarves who ventured out of Tumunzahar to trade or in search of raw materials not found in their own mountains might encounter and should thus recognize.

The little mouse in the picture on the chalkboard rail was quite charming, and not much like the sort of mice it had been important to keep out of the storerooms in Amon Ereb.

But he had surely either misheard or mistaken a word.

And his confusion must have shown, for the tutor looked at him expectantly.

“You had a question, young Elrond?”

The tutor was not in the habit of using titles, which was a devout relief seeing as the dwarves were somewhat more restrictive in who counted as ‘prince’ than the elves were. (The actual princes of Návarot were either grown-ups already or little kids.) His students were all ‘young so and so’ to Akraghâl, regardless of their rank.

“I do not think I understood properly, Teacher,” Elrond said.

Akraghâl made the hand gesture that meant he should go on.

“I understood the name of the animal to be ‘fat domouse’,” Elrond continued. “But the picture does not look at all fat. The mouse is hardly bigger than the nut he holds.”

Akraghâl laughed.

“I am greatly disappointed, my young scholars – young Elrond has asked a question many of you were thinking, but not brave enough to voice!”

His look toward several of the dwarven youngesters was reproachful.

“You left it to one who is still learning our tongue to ask the obvious, allowing him to think the error was in his understanding, not in the name itself!”

There were several abashed looks, which Elrond thought a bit unfair. He and Elros have been welcomed as companions and treated as one of the group, a new experience for both of them. They’ve never had what Akraghâl termed peers before, only Glinwen.

“But if ‘fat’ is indeed part of the name, what is the reason for the name?” Elros spoke up.

Akraghâl smiled.

“Another good question! The Men on the sunrise side of the mountains gave the name, and we took it into Khuzdul as it was told to us,” he explained. “This dormouse may be slim, but Men consider these mice a delicacy when they are fattened on nuts. So regardless of the state of any particular mouse, they call this kind of mouse ‘fat dormouse’.”

Several of the young dwarves looked as skeptical as Elrond felt.

“It would take many mice, however fat, to make a meal for us, nevermind for Men!” Zirak snorted. “They must trap huge numbers of them in the autumn.”

“A good observation, young Zirak,” Akraghâl agreed. “But in fact, they do not trap them – the mice are raised expressly for eating, and live very comfortable lives until their appointed end. I have seen this with my own eyes when I was among them with our traders.”

There were a few mutters of how strange Men were – mutters Elrond was in no position to disagree with, for he had only a few memories of them from Sirion.

“Did you ever eat one of these mice?” Lóni asked.

From the looks of his classmates, Elrond suspected Lóni was another person asking a question everyone had been thinking.

“Only one, out of politeness,” Akraghâl told his curious students. “The taste was not bad, mind you – quite the opposite. I could see why the Men think as they do! But mice are not proper meat for eating. It was acceptable to try a bit as a guest to avoid offending, but it would not do for us to emulate Men and begin raising mice for the table.”

Elros made a rather expressive face.

“I’m glad we don’t eat mice,” he said. “Why not eat bugs while we’re at it?”

That drew laughter from many of their classmates, and even Akraghâl chuckled.

“The Men we trade with claim some of their kind further to the south do just that, young Elros!” he replied. “But that is a story for a different lesson – we must get back to matter at hand today, that being animals found nearer to us. This next picture shows the work of an animal we are quite fond of, for he is also a builder, though in wood rather than stone! Who can tell me its name?”