The Tale of the Twin Stars by Cirdan

Chapter 1

            Elrond knelt before Celebrian and said to her, "My heart has turned to you for some time now, and you have generously given your love to me as well.  I would like to ask you to stay with me, to wed with me and become the Lady of Rivendell.  But before you speak your answer, there must be truth between us.  I confess to you now that I have been bonded to another in the past.  But I beg patience from you once more!  Despite my first union, I still wish to wed with you, and my love for you is not diminished because of my love for another.  I hope that you will listen to this tale in full before you judge me.  Indeed, I have longed to tell it to you for some time now, but the pain is still very great, and it was difficult to muster the strength."

            Thirty years had passed since the end of the War of Wrath and the foundation of Mithlond, the Grey Havens, and unlike the Falas, the western shores of Beleriand, the Grey Havens were fully acknowledged to be part of a kingdom, the Kingdom of Lindon, the Land of Music.  Ereinion Gil-galad was recognized far and wide as the High King of all the Elves in Middle-earth, not just of the Noldor, and this was due in no small part to Cirdan's support.  There were some who refused to acknowledge Gil-galad's authority, and many of these had beseeched Elros or me to take the Kingship of the Sindar, for we were direct descendants of Elu Thingol, but both of us refused in deference to our fosterfathers Maedhros and Maglor, the Dispossessed.  By the thirty-first year of the Second Age, most of the disputes over the kingship had quieted.  Those who did not wish to follow Gil-galad simply did not, and Gil-galad was willing to recognize their autonomy.

            It was under this growing peace in the Second Age, then, that the Ekkuiquendi and Ranedain first appeared.  The invitation to sail to the Blessed Realm by the Straight Road was open to all the Eldar, and so it was not uncommon to see small bands of strangers come to the Grey Havens, where they sought out Cirdan the Shipwright (not Gil-galad) to gain passage to the West.  This band was slightly unusual in that there were both Elves and Men traveling together, and their speech was archaic and unfamiliar, though not wholly incomprehensible, for it resembled, in part, Falassian, the speech of the Falathrim.  Their oddity ensured that they were brought before Cirdan with all possible speed.

            Elros and I often attended these audiences in which Cirdan and Gil-galad met with those who either sought sanctuary in Lindon or passage to the West.  Cirdan invited us supposedly because we were the twin sons of Earendil the Blessed--the twin stars of Gil-estel, the Star of Hope--and our very presence bolstered the weary.  But my brother and I both suspected that he encouraged us to attend these audiences because he knew that we had not yet chosen whether to be accounted among Elves or Men.  Our birthparents had chosen to be accounted among the Elder Race, and we had been raised by Elves, and so many assumed prematurely that we would also choose the Fate of the Elves.  But through our fosterfathers, we had seen how immortal life could become a great weariness, and so we understood well the Gift of Man, the choice to go beyond the confines of Arda.  Perhaps only one as old as Cirdan could have guessed our minds in this matter.

            Elros and I found these meetings with the traveling bands endlessly fascinating.  At times, Cirdan would simply nod his head and grant the Elves passage to the Blessed Realm and invite them to rest in the Grey Havens until their ship was ready to depart.  At other times, Cirdan would advise the Elves to reconsider their decision, for Middle-earth was now free from the shadow of the Dark Lord, and invite them to stay in the Grey Havens and rest their weary bodies and spirits until they were ready to decide to leave the land of their birth forever or to tarry yet longer and remain in Middle-earth and aid in its healing.  Elros and I often silently guessed to each other during these audiences whether we thought Cirdan would send the travelers on their way or persuade them to stay in Middle-earth after hearing their full story.

            I must now stray from the story for a moment to explain one other thing.  When I say that Elros and I silently guessed to each other, I do not mean that he spoke to me in my mind.  Rather, we constantly heard each other’s thoughts.  Indeed, I have always seen through his eyes, heard with his ears, and known his thoughts, but not until Elros laid down his life did I realize this was unusual.  How was I to know differently?  I was born as one of the rare twins of the Eldalie.  I had never known how others perceived the world around them and did not know that feeling the world in double was not normal.  But more of this is difficult to explain, and the bond that I shared with Elros will become more apparent as the story continues.

            The leader of this band of Elves and Men was a female Elf of somewhat short stature, raven dark hair, and skin as pale as milk.  We were taken with her immediately, less because of her appearance than because of her role as the leader of Elves and Men.  She brought two companions with her, one to represent each race.  They rose when Cirdan entered.  Cirdan clasped hands with her, and if she was surprised by Cirdan’s aged appearance, she gave no outward signs.

            “I am Cirdan the Shipwright, Lord of the Grey Havens.  This is Gil-galad, High King of the Elves in Middle-earth.  And these two are Elros and Elrond, the Half-elven sons of Earendil the Blessed.”  She nodded to each of us in turn.

            “I am Elenna, daughter of Nuin and granddaughter of Ermon and Elmir,” she said.  Though I was skilled in lore, the names were unfamiliar to me.  She gestured to her Elven companion.  “This is Nurvo, kinsman of King Nurwe and Lord Tuvo.”  She gestured then to her Mannish companion.  “And this is Makil, descendant of Elmir.”

            “It seems that I am in the presence of great guests,” Cirdan said.  His eyes were keen as he looked to each of their faces.  “But you do not come seeking passage to the Blessed Realm.”  I would’ve wondered how Cirdan had known such a thing had I been older, but I was still young, and at that time, it seemed to me that the old Elf knew everything.  “Tell me then, what is it that you seek?”

            “When the time came, I was to go west and seek Nowe,” Elenna said.  “Now we have come as far west as we can go and still have not found him.  I hope that you might have knowledge of his whereabouts.”

            “You have found him,” Cirdan said.  “Long ago, by the Waters of Awakening, I was known by that name, though I am called Cirdan now.”  Elros and I started.  We knew Cirdan was old, but we had not known that he was born by the starlit meres of Cuivienen.  Gil-galad looked no less surprised.

            Elenna bit her bottom lip then, and it was several moments before she could compose herself to speak.  Still, she was better composed than her companions.

            At last, she said, “If you are Nowe, then I have grievous news to deliver to you.  The Water of Awakening is no more.  The last of its waters evaporated with the searing heat that swept the lands nearly thirty years ago.  To Koivie-neni there is no returning.”

            “No…”  Cirdan would have fallen to his knees if Gil-galad had not caught his swaying body.  “By Eru, please, no…”  He turned then in Gil-galad’s arms and wept into the young King’s shoulder.