Like a Moth to a Flame by oshun

Prologue

“. . . the Perilous Realm is perilous. Those who have travelled to it . . . know they will not be allowed to stay there, but when they come back, they are overwhelmed by a sense of loss.” --Tolkien, Tales from the Perilous Realm.

“Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals, for the most part governed by the impulse of passion.” --Alexander Hamilton.

King Finwë was no mathematician, but Carnistir had recently written a short, nearly lyrical piece, about the art of geometry relating to the theory of the elastic stability of arches which intrigued him greatly. It had irritated half of his architects and builders and was praised to the skies by the other half. Finwë, as an amateur with a head for numbers and engineering, found it amusing and entertaining. No reason, in his opinion, why mathematics must be dull. Quiet, sullen Carnistir was apparently a clever writer. He laughed to think that there had been no consensus about the article—quite the contrary, Carnistir was either a genius or an arrogant upstart. His brother Curufinwë had grunted dismissively when he’d asked him about it—that reaction could easily have indicated sibling jealousy. Not everything Carnistir proposed to scholars in the past had ever been easily accepted. But there was no doubt in his doting grandfather’s mind that his contributions relating to geometry would in time be considered a worthy part of not only the history of architecture, but significant to the study of mathematics.

Finwë had already invited Arafinwë’s eldest, Findaráto, to accompany him for a short visit to Alqualondë, along with a few of Tirion’s best builders, in response to a request by Olwë for suggestions on the construction of Alqualondë’s first public library. Bringing Findaráto had occurred to him instantly because Arafinwë’s eldest loved talking about construction and, of course, knew Alqualondë and its court well. After reading the comments upon Carnistir’s article, he decided to invite him also. In his considered opinion, the two half-cousins did not spend enough time together. Their grandfather thought that, despite their obvious superficial differences, they might be surprised to find they had a lot in common.

Chapter End Notes

Notes:

First the Names:

Quenya - Sindarin

Aikanáro - Aegnor
Angaráto - Angrod
Arafinwë – Finarfin
Findaráto/Ingo - Finrod Felagund
Findekáno/Finno - Fingon
haru – grandfather
Maitimo/ Nelyo - Maedhros
Ñoldóran – nickname Olwë uses for Finwë
Nolofinwë - Fingolfin
Tyelkormo - Celegorm
yonya - son

Recently, I have not stolen as much from Dawn Felagund’s Another Man’s Cage as I did in my early years of writing the Finwëans, but in this story I return to my roots again. It was Dawn’s invention that Caranthir had an excess of the telepathic communication of thoughts (sanwe-latya, "thought-opening" in Quenya or osanwe-kenta in Sindarin) available to many of the Eldar, along with the additional gift or curse of foresight.

Lastly, I have no pretentions to knowing how to read tarot cards; the raw information on the meaning of the tarot cards I was given for inspiration was taken from the following website: http://www.keen.com/articles/tarot/king-of-swords-tarot-card.