Prologue

This tale started out as one thing and ended up being something else entirely, primarily because Estel barged in where he was least expected and sort of took over. Sigh...

Anyway, this story takes place in T.A. 2955-56. In the Tale of Years and in the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, Tolkien tells us that in 2956, when Aragorn was twenty-five years old, he met Gandalf and the two became fast friends, but nowhere does Tolkien tell us where and under what circumstances. The following year (2957) we are told that Aragorn begins his 23-year epic journey among the peoples of Rohan, Gondor and elsewhere.

These two seemingly unrelated events — Aragorn’s meeting with Gandalf, and his decision to journey throughout Middle-earth in disguise — cannot be coincidental to my mind, and thus, this story.

A quick glance at the chapter titles should clue you in to the fact that this story is told somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but if anyone objects to my portrayal of Aragorn, please keep in mind that there is over sixty years difference between the young Dúnadan in this story and the mysterious Ranger we first meet on a September evening in Bree.

Because one of the main characters is Elrond, and fascinated as I am by "elvish medicine", I have incorporated some thoughts on herbal medicines as I imagined it was practiced among the elves at this time. I have used as my main source on herbal medicines John Lust’s The Herb Book, Bantam Books, 1976. My criteria for selecting the particular herbs and plants mentioned in the story are as follows: 1) the plant had to be native to Europe, especially northern Europe; 2) at least one of it’s names (many plants have several common names) or the literal meaning of the plant name could be rendered easily into Sindarin; and 3) the plant did what it was supposed to do medically (more or less). Those who are true herbalists might object to some of my selections, but I trust you will allow for the potency of elvish powers to bring about the most efficacious results from these herbs.

At any rate, when I mention an herb for the first time if it is being used medically, I give it the Sindarin name, but then (usually) thereafter refer to it by it’s English name for ease of writing and reading.

The story title, Tâd Edhel a Firion, means "Two Elves and a Mortal" (yes, the Middle-earth equivalent of the "road story"). Sindarin, like it’s Welsh counterpart usually does not pluralize nouns following the numbers two through ten.

A note on the use of ‘Man’: When capitalized, this means "Human, one of the Edain". When not capitalized, it refers to someone who is a male, regardless of species.

A note on the use of the calendar: I have generally used the calendar as given in Appendix D but incorporating the Imladris Calendar of six "seasons". The names of the months and days of the weeks are in Sindarin, since the Dúnedain, and presumably the elves, used the Sindarin names, rather than the Quenya names, as was the practice elsewhere in Middle-earth. I have not attempted to determine how the calendar is related to our own, taking the calendar at face value.

The PG-13 rating is due to mild language and some intense, but not graphic, battle scenes and their aftermath, as well as certain adult themes, also not graphically portrayed.

Many thanks to my beta-mom, Alassiel, for giving me a lot of encouragement and some very good advice as I was writing this story.