Gil-galad, Star of Radiance by Cirdan

Chapter 1

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The remnants of the Havens of Sirion were few indeed. Many had been slain, and others had been captured by the sons of Feanor. It might have been for the better. There were already too many refugees dwelling upon the small Isle of Balar. Gil-galad watched as the survivors of the sacking of the Havens of Sirion disembarked from the ships with heavy heart. He overlooked their settlement until late into the night, and then he retired to his house with Cirdan.

"So the Silmaril and Elwing are lost and her sons taken captive by the sons of Feanor," Gil-galad said.

"Things are not always as they seem," Cirdan said. "If Elros and Elrond are indeed held by the remaining sons of Feanor, then that is most fortunate, for it means they are not dead."

"Do you really believe that the Havens were attacked by the armies of Morgoth?" Gil-galad asked. (1) "Or are you simply unwilling to acknowledge that there has been a Third Kinslaying?"

Cirdan sighed heavily. "I don't know what to believe anymore, Gil- galad. But do the sons of Feanor truly have so many troops remaining after the Dagor Nirnaeth and the ruin of Doriath? Can they possibly muster such strength?"

"You're too quick to blame Morgoth for all the wrongs of Arda."

"And you're too quick to blame the sons of Feanor."

Cirdan set a bowl of water before Gil-galad, and after he had washed his hands, Cirdan handed him the dry towel. Gil-galad shook his head. He would've argued that it was unnecessary for Cirdan to do such things-the towel had been within reach!-but he knew it was useless. Cirdan did such things out of love and courtesy, not because Gil-galad was the sovereign king. They then had a light dinner of truffle and scallop soup and steamed yam. Food would have to be rationed again. They had not anticipated the need to support still more people on the small island. Gil-galad only realized after eating the entire yam that there had not been a second one for Cirdan.

"You should've said something," Gil-galad said with wounded pride in voice.

Cirdan smiled slightly. "You're still young, Gil-galad. You need to keep up your strength."

Gil-galad could not deny that he'd been hungry but neither did he wish to eat Cirdan's share. He sulked and sipped his lemon-flavored water. The springs of the Isle of Balar had, of late, started tasting faintly foul, and lemon was used to mask the taste of what should otherwise have been clean and clear waters. Cirdan attributed this foulness to the might of Morgoth and said that Ulmo's powers were withdrawing from the land, but how the enemy could poison the very land of Arda was beyond Gil-galad. (2) Indeed, if such were the Dark Lord's powers, how could they hope to fight him? Gil-galad remained silent and thoughtful for many long moments.

"Cirdan, was it not said that 'the true hope of the Noldor lieth in the West and cometh from the Sea'?" (3)

"What's on your mind?" Cirdan asked.

"Let me take the White Ship," Gil-galad begged. "Let me try to sail West and beg mercy from the Valar. Perhaps if the King himself begs, there is a chance that they will listen."

Cirdan stiffened. "No."

"I would do it," Gil-galad said firmly though he was not surprised that Cirdan did not believe him. "I would bend my pride as no King before me has if it would save my people. Please, let me sail West!" Though he was the King of the Noldor, Cirdan was the Shipwright of the Elves. In a sense, all ships belonged to the Lord of the Falas, and Gil-galad did not feel it right to take one without Cirdan's permission. Gil-galad would certainly not be so foolish as to steal the ship of the Telerrim (4) and repeat the mistake of his ancestors, and besides, the White Ship had been wrought under Cirdan's tutelage.

"Please, Gil-galad, don't ask this of me," Cirdan said. His eyes seemed to cloud like a dreary fog over the coast.

"But I cannot stay here and watch my people suffer!" Gil-galad said. "I've watched you as Lord of your people, and you've raised me to be a good King. If our positions were reversed, if you were of Noldorin blood, wouldn't you seek the West in order to beg pardon from the Valar? I am a strong mariner; I will not lose my way. I will contest with Osse if I must and risk being devoured by the Sea, but I cannot just stay here and do nothing."

Cirdan looked then upon Gil-galad with great pride. "You are, indeed, the High King of the Eldar in Middle-earth." He rose and came to kneel before Gil-galad, and Gil-galad flushed.

"What are you doing?"

"My King, I have not told you all that I know."

"Cirdan, you don't have to kneel before me," Gil-galad said. "Rise and be seated."

Cirdan shook his head and remained kneeling. "You know that I received foresight from Lord Ulmo touching all matters of importance."

"Yea, I know this," Gil-galad said. Gil-galad had first learned of this when Cirdan had sent Gelmir and Arminas forth to try to prevent the Fall of Nargothrond. The foresight had caused Cirdan much grief, for though he knew what was to pass, he was often still powerless to prevent its passing.

"You're right. You can sail West, and I think that you would even win in battle against the storms of Osse," Cirdan said. "By your father Fingon, you were named Ereinion, Scion of Kings. (5) His friend Maedhros named you Finellach, Flaming Star of Finwe. (6) I have always told you that your mother named you Gil-galad, Star of Radiance, but this is not true. (7) I gave you that name when you first came to dwell in the Falas, for I wished your true mother-name to be kept hidden from the ears of the Dark Lord."

"Why?"

"Because your mother-name has long been known in prophecy, and I feared that Morgoth would turn his attention to you if he knew it."

Gil-galad felt as if he was walking through a dream, and he followed the steps set before him and asked, "Then what is the name given to me by my mother?"

"Earendil."

Gil-galad started. "Earendil?"

Cirdan nodded. "The same as the father-name given to Earendil Ardamire. (8) I do not doubt that the name is prophetic, for I know the words spoken by Mandos long ago: 'When he that shall be called Earendil setteth foot upon the shores of Aman, ye shall remember my words. In that hour ye will not say that the Statute of Justice hath borne fruit only in death; the griefs that shall come ye shall weigh in the balance, and they shall not seem too heavy compared with the rising of the light when Valinor groweth dim.' (9) When you were given into my care, I thought that surely you were the one of whom Mandos spoke, and so I concealed your true mother- name lest the Dark Lord hear it and seek to slay you. I named you Gil- galad, for I believed that you would indeed be the starlight that rises after the dimming of Valinor."

"If you believe all this, if you know that I may well succeed and set food upon the shores of Aman, then why do you refuse my request to sail West?" Gil-galad asked.

"You were to be the last hope of the Elves, when all other hopes had failed. But I raised you myself by the foaming shores of Middle-earth, and I grew to love you greatly. If you took this path, you would be set as a star among the Heavens, and thus I named you Gil-galad. But if this came to pass, you would never again be permitted to set foot on land, and I could not bear to be parted from you. I foresaw that you could become a great Elven-king in Middle-earth if you were not as a star, and only by your strength and guidance would the Elves be permitted to stay and thrive in the land of their birth. I begged Lord Ulmo to find some other way, and thus he delivered the son of Tuor, Earendil, who came to the Havens of Sirion with the remnants of Gondolin. I would rather that he become the Star of Hope for our people, and I would keep the Star of Radiance here on Middle-earth if I could."

"But Earendil is lost, and the Havens of Sirion have been sacked!" Gil-galad said.

"Ulmo will find a way," Cirdan said confidently. "I believe that Earendil will reach Aman and that he will deliver the errand of the Two Kindreds. But I may be wrong in this. It may be that Earendil will be lost at Sea. I leave the judgment to you then, my King. If you set sail for Valinor, I will not hinder you. Indeed, I would beg leave to go with you. But I would rather that you stay and protect your people from the evil of Morgoth, which has pervaded all the lands of Middle-earth."

Gil-galad sighed. He rose and went to the window that looked out across the Sea. It seemed to him that he could see a glimmer of light ere it vanished into the West, and in his mind, as it dwindled in the distance, it looked like a great star of so great a brilliance that it seemed to cast a shadow of Gil-galad upon the ground where he stood. (10)

"I long to sail to the West and bring the aid of the Valar to Middle- earth. And to become a Star in the very Heavens. I do not deny that this fate appeals to me. In this way, I would be the High King of the Elves in Heaven and Earth, and I would bring hope to the weary with my Starlight." (11) Gil-galad sighed as he looked out with longing across the dark waves of the Sea. Then he turned his back to it and came to face Cirdan once more, and Gil-galad cast no shadow though the brilliant light of the stars shone upon him. "But I see also the wisdom of your way, Cirdan. I will stay in Middle-earth with those Elves who will follow me, and I will use my gifts of skill to order all the lands and heal their hurts." (12)

"Thank you, my King. I know that it is hard for you to endure this and that you would rather actively seek to bring aid to the peoples of Middle-earth. And though Earendil, son of Tuor, will be named Gil-estel, the Star of Hope, it is you, Gil-galad, who truly bring hope to the Elves of Middle-earth," Cirdan said with tearful voice. "As Lord Ulmo said to me, I will say to you: 'Abide now that time, for when it comes then will your work be of utmost worth, and it will be remembered in song for many ages after.'" (13)

Gil-galad nodded and accepted his fate, but he turned back again and stood forlorn looking out at the Sea. It seemed to him that he could see the fair and free realms of the Middle-earth that his father had before dreamt of, but foresight came to him, and he knew that he had forfeited the fulfillment of his greatest desire: to see the Blessed Realm.

In time, Gil-galad came forth from the Isle of Balar and returned at last to Beleriand to aid in the War of Wrath against Morgoth. And after the defeat of the Dark Lord, when Ingil, the High King of all the Elves (14), crowned Gil-galad as High King of all the Elves of Middle-earth, it is said that Gil-galad uttered these words: "Out of the Great Sea to Middle- earth I am come. In this place I will abide unto the ending of the world." (15) But of his heirs, he spoke no word, and it is after said that, though he loved Middle-earth, he desire no heir to inherit the sorrow that was to be the fate of the First Children of Iluvatar.

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Chapter End Notes

(1) The raid on the Havens of Sirion appears in the early outlines, though that was an act of Melko's, not of the Feanorians. (HoME II, p. 269)

(2) HoME X talks about Morgoth's evil being pervasive throughout all the land. The withdrawing of Ulmo's powers is from UT, p. 29.

(3) Silmarillion, Ch. 15.

(4) Cirdan's people retained the old name Teleri, the later Sindarin form being Telir or Telerrim. (HoME XII, p. 385)

(5) I actually like the name Ereinion. Ereinion, who was after named Gil- galad, as son of Fingon comes from S. Ch. 18.

(6) I'm also fond of the name Finellach and think it's good for Gil-galad to retain the "fin" from Finwe in his name. It's mentioned in HoME XII, p. 351. Of course, he's also said to be of the House of Finarfin, but I've here kept him in Fingon's lineage. Besides, in those notes, there's nothing saying how Gil-galad would've been descended from Finarfin, though we know he might've been Finrod or Orodreth's son at various times. Of course, being a Maedhros fan, the credit for naming Gil-galad Finellach goes to him.

Earonn also uses Finellach as Gil-galad in her story, Narn Gil Galad ("). It's also available in German, Die 'Narn Gil Galad' ().

(7) In HoME XII, p. 350, it outright states: "Their mother was a Sindarin lady of the North. She called her son Gil-galad." Such things can be taken as true all the way up until characters contradict them and explain where the errors of history lie. Also, his name is often attributed to his bright mail, helm, and shield. I'm sure it's what most Elves think. A name can always have more than one meaning and apparent origin. Just look at Elessar as Aragorn's name.

(8) Earendil being named Earendil by his father and Ardamire by his mother is in HoME XII. 348.

(9) The final words of Mandos in the argument about the Statute of Finwe and Miriel, HoME X, p. 247. This was heard by all the Valar, and Cirdan is here assuming that Morgoth might somehow also have heard the words of Mandos. Thus, Morgoth would be on the lookout for someone named Earendil.

(10) Gil-galad's vision is an echo of Cirdan's in HoME XII, p. 386.

(11) An echo of Galadriel's test when offered the One Ring by Frodo. As Gil-galad was already tested, when the time came, he was able to defeat Sauron, take the Ring, and give it to Isildur. (HoME VI) Of course, he didn't know that Isildur wouldn't be able to destroy it.

(12) This is rephrased of Ulmo's thoughts from S. Ch. 3. There was much discussion among the Valar as to whether or not the Elves should be brought to Aman, thus delivering the Quendi from the shadow of Melkor but also separating them from Middle-earth. In the Book of Lost Tale I (HoME I), it's said that the Kings of the Elves accepted the invitation of the Valar because they had not yet reached their full wisdom, implying that going to Valinor was, in some ways, not a wise decision. Here, of course, Gil-galad is showing himself to be the wisest of the Kings of the Elves. Even more than being a Maedhros fan, I'm a fanatical fan and devoted follower of Gil- galad.

(13) HoME XII, p. 386.

(14) Ingwe was ever held the High King of all the Elves (S. Ch. 5). However, in this version of the tale, Ingwe was slain in the War of Wrath (HoME IV?; it happened in one of the early version of the Silmarillion). His eldest son Ingil then became High King of all the Elves after him.

(15) Aragorn's words at his coronation in RotK.