Comments

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This is great, very creative and I like it a lot! I especially like this passage:

Our words do not speak of them, but our bodies remember, and that is why my people have skin as dark as the earth and skies of our homelands, why the Fisher-folk are lithe and slender as the fish that they hunt and the Forest-folk are nimble and swift like deer, why the Crafty Ones are strong and high-grown as the mountains in which they delve for ores and the Fair Ones have skin and hair as pale as the stars to which they sing their praises. We are all Quendi, but we were not always in this place together.

Also really appreciate his reasoning here:

For the true story, ask the smiths. They have far more lore than just the knowledge of metals and stones. Maybe they will tell you - although they do not normally share their wisdom with the uninitiated.

as well-written as ever.

gosh, what a daring canon-attack ! i like the 'bee-dance' notion... i'm a bit of a dancer (6 years of ballet) but its really alien to me that i could communicate anything much other than my enthusiasm for the music. it makes your Elves (and the bees) feel stranger than ever. 

also, as one with part-neanderthal genes, i must agree with your premise of multiple origins and later convergence. very thought provoking ! good one :)

Aw, thank you! And I'm very glad you enjoyed my potentially heretic piece.

Heh, I normally write my Elves too human, so maybe this is a good occasion of rendering them a bit more Other. On the other hand, there are dancing traditions in which different body positions and gestures carry meaning, and even more modern styles like eurythmics that are meant to communicate messages, so I guess it's all human after all ;).

Amusingly, I didn't even think about RL precedents of convergence - I just felt like shaking up that silly Imin, Tata and Enel story up a bit. Neanderthal high-five!

I wasn't actually thinking of full-out communicating by dancing (in the way that bees do) - more like commemorating important events in dancing. Though presumably, there would have been gestures and motions for everyday use! But I'm glad you loved the ideas I played with in this fic. Thank you for commenting!

Thank you, Lyra, thanks a lot!!

I was wanting THIS for a long time now. Not only the counting story of Imin, Tata and Enel, but the whole mythical premise of Tolkien about "awakening" has always bothered me in a hundred ways, even if I perceive its lyrical beauty and I have enjoyed many marvelous fics where it is taken at its face value (and where its many fascinating consequences are shown).

At last, a scientifically verosimile tale of the origins of Elves! It could have been the record of an interviewing anthropologist. And is the knowledge of smiths a hint to paleonthology?

I love your stories for your excellent talent as writer, but I wanted to give support to your "heretic" view in this one. Science is cool!

And humble apologies if this review sounds strange, English is not in my mother tongue.

Thank you for your enthusiastic review! And if you hadn't told me that English isn't your native language, I wouldn't have noticed; it does not sound strange at all.

I'm so thrilled that you enjoyed this story so much. I quite like the "awakening" story for its lyrical beauty, as you aptly call it, but I've always assumed that it was more mythology than history, and this was a great chance to explore that idea further. The fact that you see parallels to anthropology and paleonthology is high praise indeed. I have indeed taken some inspiration from cultural anthropology, including the concept of smiths as people with liminal powers and knowledge, so I'm very glad it comes across convincingly.

Science is cool indeed, and I think it can beautifully be interwoven with Tolkien's mythological themes to enhance and enrich the Legendarium. Again, I'm very happy that you enjoyed this "heretic" version of Cuiviénen. Thank you so, so much for your lovely review!