An Enquiry into the Matter of Gilmith of Dol Amroth by Elleth

Chapter 1

Somewhat inspired by Cinaed's brilliant Close in Friendship": Homosocial Relationships in the First Age, though obviously in format more than topic. Since canon doesn't offer a great deal of insight into what happened to Mithrellas and Nimrodel (and none at all into what happened to Gilmith), all of this is wildly fictional, and a lot of it was shamelessly borrowed from my own 'verse for these two, in particular Searching and Searching and Running, but I hope it makes sense standing on its own.

... it seems virtually certain, then, that my mother's disappearance is linked to her passionate devotion to Nimrodel of Lindórinand and the resumption of her search after the coming of the survivors of the Lost Company to Dol Amroth late in the year T.A. 2004 under Gilthaith sister of Amroth of Lothlórien. Although significant estrangement had come to pass between them, finding my mother alive against better knowledge and as the wife of Imrazôr of Dol Amroth, my father, when she had never previously expressed interest in men (or, for lack of exposure, Men), they reported Amroth's unquiet in the Bay of Belfalas and its coming upriver along the Anduin (which did not end until an unspecified time in the spring of T.A. 2005) as the cause for travelling to the coast and taking ship.

I cannot imagine what it must be like, being haunted by a relative whose fate

[The manuscript becomes illegible afterwards and ends soon after, with marks showing that subsequent writing was erased.]

Although Gilmith's investigations continued with extensive travels, both to the archives of Minas Tirith (2025-6 T.A.) that hold much of interest regarding the history of Edhellond and the conflicting stories of its establishment if not about Mithrellas herself, and to Lothlórien (2028 T.A.) to question the Lady Galadriel as well as such protagonists who had parts in Mithrellas' story and might shed light on her character, Gilmith seems to have removed further observations regarding her mother's fate, while later pages have simply been lost.

No indication exists that they were ever put into print, as no record with the print-setters of Dol Amroth could be found showing that Gilmith required their services for memoirs or historical documents. A manuscript may yet be extant in the library of Dol Amroth, but the collection is unusually extensive and has become disordered under such lords who did not much care for lore and history, foremost among them Galador, the brother of Gilmith, who embraced the mortality derived from his mixed heritage to such degrees that he rejected his elvish heritage completely, and indeed in his concern for her well-being seems to have attempted to discourage his sister from her endeavour as much as his authority as head of the family permitted him, especially after the year 2050 T.A. when he formally succeeded his father as the Prince of Dol Amroth and took on the Adûnaic name of Bârtârik. If a search is to be attempted, it must be done with care. (Graciously, the Elves of Ithilien under Lord Legolas have granted us help in every need in the preservation of precious, but fragile, documents that will undoubtedly be found, whether or not they are pertinent to the question at hand.)

Some, like Findegil, the King's Writer, have surmised that Galador may have destroyed his sister's work after her own unexplained disappearance, motivated either by grief or anger, and ascribe the survival of the extant parts of the manuscript to chance. I find this unlikely. Galador was recorded, in official chronicles of Dol Amroth, the day-books of his wife, Lothíriel I of Dol Amroth (2035 T.A. - 2129 T.A.), my ancestor and namesake, and their children Gwaeleth (2060 T.A. - 2203 T.A.) and Narâkûr (2062 T.A. - lost at sea in 2176 T.A.), as well as folk-tales of Belfalas such as The Elfish [sic] Prince or The Oyster-Wife's Luck as a fair and gentle ruler whose charitable efforts toward the poor not only continued but exceeded the traditions instituted by his grandmother Zôrzirân (1934 T.A. - 2018 T.A.).

If not located in Dol Amroth, Gilmith's missing documents may have become lost or damaged on her journeys, or she took part with her. However, as it was of historical interest to the Elves as well, a recreation of Gilmith's conversations with the Lady Galadriel as well as one Uirithil, former handmaiden of Nimrodel and friend of Mithrellas who was unwilling to forsake Lothlórien, was brought to Imladris with the Lady Celebrían, and to Gondor to become part of the Royal Collection at the ascension to the throne of Queen Evenstar. The oral traditions among the Nandor and Sindar as well as the fabled, infallible memory of the Elves must serve as sufficient sources in this case.

I remain indebted to Queen Evenstar for allowing me to quote relevant excerpts from the text.

Here follows the account of Uirithil, formerly maid of Nimrodel and now the Weaver of the Lady's Garments of Lothlórien:

"What remains in my mind most of all is Mithrellas' love for Nimrodel. We were not close - I had come into Nimrodel's service not long before she left, but we spoke often, and Mithrellas seemed to consider me a confidante especially when it came to the matter of Nimrodel and her growing love for Amroth. I do not think it's exaggerated to say that she was heartbroken; I know that she and Nimrodel had been lovers in all senses of the word before the coming of the Sindar into Lórien - Lindórinand - and Amroth gradually came to usurp her place. What I always found admirable about her - she never let it deter her, or end her love for Nimrodel even in her anger. If the Nandor had had formalized bonding rituals as the Dúnedhil do, I would not hesitate to call them married."

[...]

"In fact, it was not only Amroth's unquiet voice that came up Anduin. He was the first to make himself known of the Lost Company, no doubt, and he lingered near the waterfalls of Nimrodel's name, but after the Lost Company had gone there was a night of storm from the sea… that must have been… shortly before… yes, shortly before the mellyrn's flower-shedding, in late winter, perhaps early spring. You know that, of course, but transcribe it for posterity. At any rate, we had a tremendous storm sweeping out of the south, and I heard Nimrodel's voice in that - many people here did - and not the voice of a dead woman, but one very much alive. The sorrow on Lórien was lifted that day - I was not the only one who heard it. It… very much told Nimrodel's story, though the wind tore it apart and there was much in it that she was struggling to remember, why she stayed by the river Gilrain for so long and what she did - but Amroth's wailing quieted afterwards, down to an echo that lives on in the water much as Nimrodel's voice does. I think he passed on, accepting that he had lost her.

And you tell me, who do you think made all that possible, Nimrodel's remembrance and her decision? Mithrellas, of course. I can't say what happened to them - but I do know that Gilmith sent out search parties for her mother far and wide as soon as she was old enough to understand the situation from the letter she had been left by Mithrellas - she was no older than ten, perhaps twelve years then, she told me when she came here in search of her mother, but she never found true confirmation, and if her father knew where she had gone, he took that secret into his grave with him."

It seems, from this, that Gilmith's enquiries into her mother's ultimate fate remained fruitless beyond this point. The complicated textual situation does little to facilitate understanding, either, nor was the letter that Uirithil claims existed ever found; likely it was lost with Gilmith's other documents.

However, it is possible that Gilmith found sufficient emotional conclusion of her own. Whether Nimrodel took ship with Mithrellas at last, or they went wandering out of history and into myth as so many of the Eldar have done, Gilmith herself vanished by ship, leaving few other traces, in the year 2058 T.A., after years spent rejecting, unlike her brother and twin, her mortal side, unwilling to accept that she would pass away at last, and refusing all mortal suitors, reportedly even the hand of King Eärnur of Gondor at his coronation in 2043 T.A.. As a woman of Númenorean descent myself, Faithful though my ancestors were, I dare not pass judgment on her in this.

One final remark remains to be made. King Elessar's peace treaty with the Haradrim and the gradual rapprochement of the tribes with Gondor and Rohan have brought a wealth of folk-tales, especially from the seafaring nations along the coast that have grown the most friendly with us. One very curious story told in various forms by the mariners of these tribes agrees on the following: There is a ship in the middle of the sea along the route of the northern trade winds into the western lands that were raised with the World Made Round. The ship, it is agreed on, is of northern make, and bears a white swan-ship on blue water on its sail.

I had, during the last diplomatic meeting, the chance to show several illustrations of Dol Amroth's royal emblems over time and changing style to some of the tale-tellers (who are almost exclusively women) and found there to be unanimous agreement that the Nandorin-influenced harmonic, natural style that became predominant after the coming of Mithrellas was what described in the tale. As with the Elves, the oral tradition of the different Haradrim tribes must be trusted for verification here, but I am convinced by their identification.

Most intriguing about this lost ship, however, is the fact that all tales describe it either as wholly enveloped in water (but not sunken below the surface), or wholly enveloped in white, watery hair. It is considered an uncanny place and to my knowledge no one has attempted to set foot on it, so that final verification of Gilmith's ultimate fate, if this is her ship (it is likely, as no other royal ship out of Dol Amroth is recorded as lost between the coming of Mithrellas and Gilmith's disappearance) and the possible discovery of her documents, if still extant in highly damaging conditions as those of Belegaer, remains impossible. My best guess is that Gilmith attempted to sail into the west after her mother and Nimrodel, much as Eärendil did in the old tales, seeking Idril and Tuor, and fell prey to her own mortality failing to allow her to steer the Straight Road into the Old West. Perhaps she came close and was not permitted to enter it by the Lady Uinen, Her name be blessed, and was instead taken among Her host as is rumored of many who met their end at sea.

- Excerpt from the private journals of Lothíriel Princess of Dol Amroth, Cynewith Queen of the Riddermark