The Tale of the Twin Stars by Cirdan

Chapter 2

            None of us had ever seen Cirdan utterly without control.  Gil-galad, Elros, and I looked one to another and then back at Cirdan, who had now lost the power of speech and sobbed without hope of cessation.  I must shamefully admit that we were somewhat embarrassed by Cirdan’s outburst.  At the time, we didn’t understand fully what was happening.

            After several long moments, when it became apparent that Cirdan would not recover, Gil-galad cleared his throat uncomfortably and said to us, “Elros, Elrond, why don’t you show Elenna and her companions to the guest quarters?  She and her host are free to stay here in the Grey Havens until we have heard word as to whether or not they’ll be granted passage to the Blessed Realm.”

            We were quick to take to this task, for it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable to be in the presence of a weeping old man.  We had begun to see faint images of the Water of Awakenings, broken visions summoned by the sound of Cirdan’s wracking sobs.

            It was pleasant to lead Lady Elenna to the guest quarters of Mithlond.  Because of the nature of the havens as a departure point to the Blessed Realms, it was not at all uncommon to have hundreds of guests at a time, and the guest quarters of the town were always bustling with life.  The streetlamps were decorated with banners bearing the emblem of the High King.  The fountains were no less elaborate than those in the center of the city.  And flowers of all kinds and colors decorated the sides of the stone paths.  Cirdan had long ago decided that the guests of the Grey Havens were in need of healing and thus had need to be surrounded by beauty and reminders of the loveliness of Middle-earth.

            Elenna was no less fair than the simple beauty of Mithlond.  She was shorter than most Elves, but that did not lend to her an air of weakness or frailty.  Her eyes were as entrancing as the foam-crested waves of the sea.  Her face was more angular than most, but her small, sharp features only made her seem more noble.

            Elrond blinked back the tears from his eyes.  “I’m sorry.  As I said, it’s difficult for me, and I can see that it’s no less difficult for you.”  He was still kneeling before Celebrian, and now he took her hand and kissed it.  Celebrian tried to smile despite her hurt feelings, but her attempt only made Elrond feel guiltier.  He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, and this time his tears were for Celebrian, not for the past.  “I’m sorry, Celebrian.  Perhaps it’s best if I tell the story with all possible speed rather than draw this out for both of us.”

            As you’ve already guessed, Elros and I quickly fell in love with Elenna.  There was something of her strength and beauty that struck us immediately, and our appreciation for her only deepened as we became better acquainted with her.  We stayed and spoke with her while her companions brought the rest of their people to the guesthouses assigned to them.

            Cirdan had said that Elenna’s people did not seek passage to the Blessed Realm, though Gil-galad had assumed that was their reason for coming to Mithlond.  We knew that the Men in her company could not sail West, but what of the Elves?  We asked why Cirdan had guessed that they came not for the Blessed Realm.  Also, she had said that her Mannish companion was descended from Elmir, and it had not escaped our notice that she was said to be the granddaughter of Ermon and Elmir.  We wanted to ask if this was the same Elmir, though we had barely begun to hope that it was so, but she answered the second question in her response to the first.

            The Elves of her company called themselves the Ekkuiquendi, and their ancestors had rejected the summons of the Valar long ago in order to protect Cuivienen from the dark forces of Morgoth, though they knew not their enemy by that name.  Because of this, they were considered Avari, and the invitation of the Valar was not open to their descendants.  Many of the Avari had eventually left the shores of Cuivienen, and some had even entered Beleriand before it was destroyed in the War of Wrath, but these Ekkuiquendi and their descendants continued to dwell only by the birthplace of the Elves and protected it, for it was long ago believed by the leaders of the Elves that their kind would last only so long as the waters lasted.

            One such Elf was Nuin, and he sometimes ventured far in order to scout for enemies that sought the birthplace of the Elves.  In one such time, Nuin found Men in Murmenalda, the Vale of Sleep.  Lord Tuvo, kinsman to King Morwe, perceived with his foresight that Men were awaiting the coming of light, though he did not know it would come in the form of the Sun, and he commanded Nuin not to disturb the Second Children of Iluvatar.  For many years, Nuin returned to the Vale of Sleep to watch Men as they slept, for he loved them even as Orome had loved the Elves at first sight.  At last, unable to restrain himself, Nuin awakened two Men, Ermon and Elmir, and they are the only two Men to have seen the world before the rising of the Sun.

            Nuin taught Ermon, Elmir, and their people to speak, and for this, he is called the Father of Speech.  I said before that these Men were later called the Ranedain, the Wandering Men.  The Edain properly refer only to those descended from the Three Houses that first came into Beleriand:  the House of Beor, the House of Haleth, and the House of Hador.  However, Elenna declared that Beor, the vassal of Finrod Felagund, was descended from Ermon’s lineage, and so it may not be incorrect to call them the Ranedain.

            The Ranedain swore fealty to Nuin, and they prospered under the instruction of these Dark Elves, or rather, these Elves of Cuivienen.  In time, the son of Ermon wedded the daughter of Elmir, and that granddaughter later came to wed Nuin.  It was unheard of for an Elf to marry one of the short-lived Aftercomers, for the eldest of Men had already begun to show signs of aging, but Nuin was in love and cared not for the brevity of their union.  From their marriage, Elenna was born, first of the Half-elves.  In the Battle of Palisor, the Battle of Pinewoods, when Men and Dwarves were led by the servants of Morgoth to fight the Elves, only these Houses of Ermon and Elmir fought beside the Elves and remained true.  Nuin was slain in that battle, and thereafter, Elenna took the leadership of the Elves of Cuivienen and the Men of the Houses of Ermon and Elmir.

            As you can surmise, Elros and I were taken aback to discover another Half-elf.  It had never occurred to us that there were any others beside those descended from Beren and Luthien or Tuor and Idril.  It might seem overly simple that we should love Elenna all the more for her lineage, but it meant a great deal to us, for only one of both kindreds could understand the struggle for identity that plagued us.  Indeed, it is no surprise to us that Earendil and Elwing would have come to love each other.

            After the last waters of Cuivienen were destroyed by the fires that ravaged the land during the end of the First Age, Elenna’s people set out to tell this news to Nowe, for that was what she had long ago been taught to do if this should ever happen.  Indeed, it is even as the Elves of Cuivienen had suspected, and many already felt the weariness of Middle-earth pressuring them to sail West.  Now that their errand was completed, Elenna knew not what to do with her people.  She thought perhaps to simply settle and dwell in the Grey Havens if Cirdan would give them leave to do so.  They had nowhere else to go.  Of course, when Cirdan recovered from the news of Cuivienen’s demise, he accepted them into his town as distant kinsmen.

            Elros and I sought Elenna out often thereafter, and many times, we did nothing more than exchange stories of our peoples, especially those Elves and Men in our lineages.  Yet in the telling of these tales of our great ancestors, who were but legends to everyone else, love bloomed between us.