Of Circles and Cycles by Anérea

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Fanwork Notes

Inspired by a quilt titled Wheeling, Whirling, Removed from the Circles of the World, sewn by Lferion for Scribbles and Drabbles 2022. Please go have a look at her gorgeous work (and zoom in and around to enjoy the details that inspired this piece!) and give Lferion some appreciation!

Fanwork Information

Summary:

A thoughtful young girl of about eight, Andreth comes to live with Adanel and begins learning her lore...
(part of a W in very slow P series)

Major Characters: Andreth, Adanel

Major Relationships: Adanel & Andreth

Genre: Family, General

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings

This fanwork belongs to the series

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 308
Posted on 26 January 2025 Updated on 26 January 2025

This fanwork is a work in progress.

Of Circles and Cycles

"Of the Wise some were women, and they were greatly esteemed among Men, especially for their knowledge of the legends of ancient days. Andreth was a woman of the House of Beor, the sister of Bregor father of Barahir (whose son was Beren One-hand the renowned). She was wise in thought, and learned in the lore of Men and their histories; for which reason the Eldar called her Saelind, 'Wise-heart'. Another Wise-woman was Adanel, of the People of Marach, whose lore and traditions, and their language also, were different from those of the People of Beor. But Adanel was married to a kinsman of Andreth, Belemir of the House of Beor: he was grandsire of Emeldir, mother of Beren. In her youth Andreth had dwelt long in Belemir's house, and so had learned from Adanel much of the lore of the People of Marach, besides the lore of her own folk."

~ from "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth" in Morgoth's Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Read Of Circles and Cycles

During the days Andreth accompanied Adanel as she went about tending to those wounded during the raid, soon learning to apply honey and grease salve to burns and to bathe cuts with wine and lavender oil. It tore at her heart to tear her mother’s skilfully woven cloths into bandages — yarrow and woad being used now to ease pain and staunch bleeding rather than to infuse colour — but, young as she was, she understood the need.

In the evenings they sat around the communal fire while Adanel related old tales of their folk, passed from mother to daughter through the generations all the way back to the Time of Dreaming, the time when they'd entered the circles of Arda, a time when their people emerged from a unified whole into discrete individuals, when their spirits did not yet know of bodies that sickened or aged, and were only just learning of all the joys to be experienced under the Sun.

As she listened, Andreth carefully cut out the undamaged parts of her mother’s kirtle — a vibrant creation sewn from offcuts of the clothes she had become so renowned for making that even Elves admired her work, trading gems in exchange. Trimming the burned and ragged edges until she had a neat collection of colourful scraps, too small to be otherwise useful, night by night, as Adanel's lilting voice carried her to far away times and places, in an almost dreamlike state herself, Andreth started stitching a story of her own. 

She stitched in the story of her and her mother, how even though her clever mind and nimble fingers would never again make things of beauty, even though her warm and generous spirit was now gone from the circles of the world, she felt how their spirits remained entwined, encircling, enfolding, holding one another in love. 


Chapter End Notes

I have a few headcanons for this time and place and people:

The events in here take place around the year FA369. The folk of Bëor and of Marach (later the House of Hador) were both living in Estolad at this stage, a "green and fertile plain", the former in the northern parts and the latter in the south, although I imagine a fair bit of mingling took place, Adanel and Belemir being one example.

They're been a wandering people for generations since they left Hildórien, and I imagine many of their nomadic ways remain entrenched, even when they're a little more settled — particularly in the style of their abodes, which I envision as a kind of cross between yurts and teepees. I think they only start to become more settled and build more permanent wooden structures once they're living in Ladros and Hithlum, respectively.

I also imagine that they have a very communal lifestyle, with children growing up with a whole village of 'parents' and 'siblings', and many daily tasks are shared communally rather than duplicated within each household.

Although raids by Morgoth’s forces were rare in these parts at this time, I would imagine he was still sending out smaller bands of Orcs, testing the strength and defences of his opponents. (Which would have been the precursors of the infamous attack on the Folk of Haleth six years later.)

For those interested in some of the practical real-life lore which I've touched on here:

  • Lavendar essential oil is a wonderful wound healer with antimicrobial, astringent, analgesic properties among others. Putting a drop into a cut will staunch the bleeding and also alleviate the pain, and studies have shown that it speeds healing. (It also neutralises the venom of black widows and other spiders, although I'm not so sure about the spawn of Ungolient. I have had personal experiences in both wound treatment and spider bites and can vouch for its effectiveness.)
    Honey has antibacterial properties and has been used since ancient times to treat burns as well as wounds.
    Alcohol has long been used to sterilise wounds, with ancient Mesopotamian cultures as well as the Greeks recording the use of beer and/or wine to wash wounds.
    Yarrow has been used for thousands of years for its antiseptic, antimicrobial, astringent, and analgesic properties, as well as other medicinal uses. It is also used as a yellow dye.
    Woad is known for its blue dye colour, but it was also used to staunch bleeding and has antiseptic properties and many other medicinal uses.

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