Tales of the Falathrim by Cirdan

Chapter 3: Curufinwe and Istarnië

Do you children never sleep? Well, you may wish to hear more tales, but I have other duties to attend to. No amount of pleading will move me this time. Even short tales take time to tell.

There is one.

Very well, I will tell you a tale of the Noldor, and this too has become a tale of the Falathrim in time. When the Noldor first arrived at Middle-earth, the people of Lord Cirdan were the most friendly to them. It is odd coincidence, for the Eglain, the Forsaken People, are the closest to the Teleri that were unjustly slain at Alqualonde. In fact, our people still retain that old name Teleri, though it is now said as Telir or Telerrim. It is for the friendship between the exiled Noldor and the Telerrim, then, that Maglor first coined the phrase: "love grew after between them, as little might be thought." In aftertimes, it was adapted from Maglor's song of the friendship between our peoples to the tale of Maedhros and Maglor and their sons Elros and Elrond. Though the sons of Feanor held East Beleriand, Maglor was often sent forth from his realm by Maedhros in order to foster good relations between the Elves of Beleriand and the exiled Noldor. Maglor was particularly suited to this task because he had great mastery of languages and was very fair of voice so could sing with the Grey Elves. His ambassadorial journeys also brought him to the Falas. In one such visit, he told this tale to Lord Cirdan.

When Feanor was young, he often visited Aule the Smith, for Feanor's skills were very great, and he quickly learned all that he could from the smiths of Tirion. It was in the House of Aule that Feanor met Aulendil, who is better known as Mahtan. Feanor also met Mahtan's daughter, who was a skilled metalsmith like her father and much older than Feanor. Yes, Nerdanel, but you are jumping to the end of the story.

Nerdanel was then known as Istarnië. She had long worked in the forge of her father, and the wielding of the hammer and tempering of metals had made her strong so that her arms were more muscular than most men. And she was homely as few elves are, dark-skinned and angular-faced. Caranthir inherited her dark skin, but he was still handsome because he had the finely chiseled cheekbones and striking eyes of his father. Her red hair was bequeathed to three of her sons. It made Maedhros the most unique and attractive elf in Beleriand (named before even the silver-haired relatives of Elu Thingol or the golden children of Finarfin), and Amrod and Amras were considered the cutest and sweetest-faced Noldor because of the way their short red hair framed their youthful faces and enhanced their large grey eyes. However, Istarnië's own red hair was two shade too light and matched badly with her dark skin and only added to her unloveliness. Before Feanor came to Mahtan's forge, she had already lived for a long time and was comfortable with her appearance. She'd long ceased her search for a husband and had instead come to find love and satisfaction in works of her hands.

But then Istarnië met Feanor. He was made the mightiest in all parts of body and mind, in valor, in endurance, in beauty, in understanding, in skill, in strength and in subtlety alike. He was friend to all the smiths of Mahtan's forge, and he was kind and attentive to Istarnië in a way that awakened the dreams of her girlish childhood. She told herself that he sought friendship and was tender to her because she was the daughter of Mahtan, but still, wisdom cannot overcome love, and she developed feelings for him despite the fact that she knew their union to be an unlikely one. He was the King's masterful son, and she was a smith's unlovely daughter. Thus, Istarnië came to love Feanor freely and unpossessively, for she had already given him up in her heart to another, whoever that lucky, beautiful woman would be when the handsome youth at last reached full stature of body. Feanor and Istarnië spent many hours together, and these times Istarnië cherished as the closest she would ever come to a romantic relationship.

One day when they were together (Maglor never said what converse they had been holding), Feanor teased Istarnië by calling her "Nerdanel," which means "manly man-maiden." Though Feanor had given her the epesse Nerdanel in fondness, such a reminder of her lack of feminine beauty made Istarnië cry, for she wished then, as she had not for years since childhood, to be desirable and comely so that Feanor would love her. When, at last, Feanor perceived her mind and understood the source of her sudden outburst, he took her in his arms and told her that he loved her. He was still early in his youth, but he was very mature, and his oratory abilities were such that he could express his love skillfully and be believed. Indeed, though Istarnië had at that moment been lacking in self-confidence, he rekindled it in her by telling her that, in his eyes, she was very beautiful, for she was gentle-hearted and wise and skilled with her hands, which were much to his liking and strong as few other women's hands were.

Istarnië Nerdanel then leaned her head against Feanor's chest and confessed aloud her love for him. In that confession, with confidence borne of their restored closeness, she called him "Feanaro." It was then the first time that any had called him by his mother-name, for none wished to remind the youth of the loss of his mother Miriel. He smiled at that, and his eyes were piercingly bright and filled with joy. He asked that she call him Feanaro henceforth, for though he had long been the skilled Finwe as indicated by his father-name Curufinwe, it was not until he met her that the secret fire was kindled within him, and at last, he felt it right to take up his mother-name Feanaro, Spirit of Fire. I doubt that this was entirely true, for Feanor was masterful and skilled in words and with his hands even before their love, but such a declaration of love with flowery words is moving even for me as a mere minstrel retelling their tale, and I can only imagine how Istarnië must have felt. Istarnië said that she no longer minded the name Nerdanel, for Feanor had said it with fondness and not with maliciousness, and she has been known by that name ever since. As you know, Feanor and Nerdanel were later wedded, and from their great love, seven sons were born, and the histories record none that surpass them.

And that is the first tale of the union of Curufinwe and Istarnië, later known as Feanor and Nerdanel. But more tales of them you will not hear tonight.

Chapter End Notes

Nerdanel was originally named Istarnië, but that name was rejected (X. 273). I was very fortunate in coming across this fact because I'd been thinking up of lots of bad Quenya names for Nerdanel. The Eglain retaining the old name Teleri, in later Sindarin form Telir or Telerrim (XII. 385). Maglor's coined phrase refers to his fostering of Elros and Elrond and is from the Silmarillion, p. 306. Mahtan is an Aulendil or Aulendur, a servant of Aule (XII. 365), but I've also made Aulendil one of his names. Maedhros, Amrod and Amras had Nerdanel's reddish hair (XII. 353). And Feanor was renowned as the father of seven sons, and the histories record none that surpassed him (X. 210).