A Sense of History: Straight Road
The next in a series of articles about ships passing to and from the West, Simon uses "The Fall of Númenor" to attempt to arrive at Tolkien's reading of the exordium to "Beowulf."
West of Cuiviénen, in starlight. Image prompt: seven cedar waxwings on a bare branch, one looking backward.
The tall larches covering the flanks of the Ered Luin were currently bare, which made it easier for the birds to sit on the branches as they watched a thing they had never seen before. An enormous shining group of tall slender creatures on two feet were walking through the valley and down the loud river leading away from the mountains.
One bird turned to follow a movement off to her flank, where some of the creatures had broken off from the group. As her flock watched the Teleri move westward, she watched the Nandor seek a new home southward.