Kintsugi in Andunie by Himring

Kintsugi in Andunie

You might possibly want a warning for indications of a bit of internalized cultural cringe.

‘Please, you really do not need to bother with this, Your Elfinness!’ said the merchant’s wife anxiously, although a moment ago she had been so upset by the breakage. ‘The pot does have sentimental value as a family heirloom, but in your eyes the workmanship must appear so primitive…’

‘From Ladros, House of Beor, probably from a workshop in the time of Bregor,’ said the elf from Tol Eressea, smiling slightly at her new title of Elfinness, ‘in its own way as great a rarity as the sword of Thingol and the axe of Tuor that are displayed in the palace of your king, this pot.’

Carefully, she picked up the pieces.

‘There is nothing wrong with the craftmanship: simple but elegant. And it is a clean break. I will happily mend it for you! And, if you wish, I will mend it in such a way that you will not be able to see it was ever broken. But if you will follow my advice, I would prefer not to do it like that. I think it would be more respectful of such a venerable object not to disguise the mending or erase its history…’

‘Whatever you say, Elfinness,’ said the merchant’s wife, clearly overwhelmed.

Cemnare, formerly of the Havens, before that of Tol Sirion, and long ago a student of Nerdanel, set about fixing the break. The family almost valued the evidence of genuine elvish mending more than the original heirloom. But that, too, changed over the ages…

Chapter End Notes

This part is is fixed-length (250 words in MS Word); the epilogue is not.

.Cemnare's name means "potter" in Quenya.