34: Being the First Part of the Elves’ Tale:

The Meeting of Friends, the Death of Enemies

Warning: This chapter contains scenes of a battle between the Elves and the orcs and Dunlendings. While not overly graphic, the scenes are intense. Elves do not fight pretty.

****

"We came upon the campsite that Gilhael and the others had made just west and north of the ruined village," Thandir began without preamble. He gave Aragorn a bright smile. "Perhaps while you are here, Estel, Thengel might have you and Gilhael teach his warriors how to hide the evidence of their presence in the wilds more completely. I could have found that campsite blind, it was so obvious."

"But then, you’re an Elf, Thandir," Aragorn replied equably with his own bright smile. "And we all know that Elves are notorious for doing things blindly."

Gilhael snorted the ale he was downing and there were many in the hall who sat there blinking rapidly in disbelief at the interchange. Thandir walked towards Aragorn, his smile never leaving his face. Aragorn, for his part, just waited, not at all surprised when the Noldo grabbed the front of his tunic and lifted him easily to his feet. "Not so blindly, child, that I cannot see thy sally for what it is," the Elf said softly, though all in the hall heard.

"And what is that?" Aragorn asked just as softly.

But Thandir did not answer immediately. Instead, he glanced at Thengel. "Is he always so annoying, Thengel King?"

Thengel raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Mayhap no more so than thou’rt unto thine own lord methinks, Thandir of Imladris."

At that Thandir threw back his head and laughed, releasing Aragorn as he did. Elladan raised his goblet and saluted Thengel. "I can attest to that, Thengel King," he said with a light laugh. "Adar is always having Thandir before him to answer for one misdeed or another." His twin chuckled in agreement.

Thandir turned to the Elrondionnnath with a scowl. "Misdeeds often of your making, Little Ones," he retorted. "I remember well the two of you on a certain trip overmountain and the..."

Both sons of Elrond visibly cringed at that, much to the amazement of the onlookers, but then Aragorn actually chuckled, though he quickly wiped the look of glee off his face when all the Elves turned their immortal eyes upon him. Elladan stood up and gave his mortal brother a hard stare.

"How do you..."

Now Aragorn surreptitiously started backing away, but Thandir, though his eyes were on Elladan, reached out and grabbed Aragorn before he could move too far, forcing the young Man to stand his ground.

"Hm... well... er... when I was traveling with... um... Lords Elrond and Glorfindel last year... it... um... sort of slipped out."

"It sort of slipped out?" Elrohir echoed the words in disbelief, rising to stand beside his brother.

Aragorn nodded, wishing he’d kept quiet, but when Thandir mentioned the incident in question he couldn’t help but laugh at the memory of his adar and Glorfindel telling the tale. The twins stared at one another, silently communicating. No one else moved or made a sound, too enthralled by the drama being played out before them. Finally, Elrohir smiled evilly. "I’m going to kill him," he said softly.

"Who? Ada?" Elladan asked in confusion.

Elrohir shook his head. "Glorfindel."

"But only if I get to play," his twin replied with an equally evil smile.

"And why would you go after Glorfindel and not your adar?" Thandir asked out of curiosity, still keeping his hold on Aragorn, much to the young Man’s annoyance. "Lord Elrond I suspect is the one who told young Estel the tale, not Glorfindel."

"But Glorfindel is an easier target," Elrohir stated. "You know Ada is off-limits."

"I know no such thing, youngling," the scout retorted with a laugh that was echoed by Gilgirion and Celegrýn. "You are too young to remember the times Glorfindel and Erestor and your naneth harried your adar with their own brand of revenge whenever Elrond played a jest on them."

Now both twins stared at the older elf in disbelief. "Naneth?" Elladan asked, his expression unreadable. "Ada?" Elrohir asked at the same time, his own mien blank as well.

Thandir’s expression softened, becoming sad and wistful, his eyes darkening with pain that was so deep it was frightening to see and many of the Mortals had to look away. "Yes, your naneth," he finally said, speaking softly, "and your adar wasn’t so above it all that he did not play his own jests on others," he added, his eyes brightening as his humor was restored. "While your adar’s jests were rather subtle, he was nonetheless quite deadly in his execution of them."

Elrohir was shaking his head. "Rather hard to believe Ada...."

"Ah, but, you know him only as a great healer, youngling," Celegrýn chimed in with a gentle smile. "You never saw Elrond as Gil-galad’s Herald and Second-in-Command of the armies of the Elves during the Last Alliance. Your adar, for all that he has not lifted a sword for nearly three thousand years, is a cunning and consummate warrior in his own right. Never forget that."

Both sons of Elrond nodded, looking more introspective. Thandir, meanwhile, released his hold on Aragorn and cleared his throat. "Now, where was I... ah, yes," His eyes glinted with amusement as he glanced at Thengel. "Please forgive this little... er... interruption, Thengel King," he said with a bow. "I fear I allowed myself to be... um... sidetracked."

Thengel bowed his head graciously. "Not that it hasn’t been entertaining," he replied with a sardonic smile, "but we are more interested in hearing what happened in the Westmark than in the doings of the household of Imladris."

The reprimand, for such it was, was accepted by the Elves and Aragorn with good grace and bows to the king. Aragorn and the sons of Elrond resumed their seats while Thandir returned to the center of the hall to resume his narrative. "We avoided the village for the time being," he said, "preferring to see if we could follow Gilhael’s trail to the river. It wasn’t hard to find even after nearly a week. The Dunlendings’ trail followed the river only for a short while before returning to the village. We suspect they only followed Gilhael long enough to convince themselves that he was dead." He gave a look of disgust. "Fools!"

"But understandable under the circumstances," Thengel rejoined. "It would have been a reasonable assumption on their part that Tungolfród was dead and the Isen flows swift there below the Fords. They would not have been able to keep up with a body caught in the river’s current."

Thandir shrugged, not really caring. "At any rate," he continued, "we had a bigger problem than finding Gilhael’s body, if indeed he was even dead."

"And what problem was that?" Wídfara asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. He would have thought looking for Gilhael would be the Elves’ chief concern. It was, after all, why they had gone in the first place.

Before Thandir could answer though, Aragorn spoke. "The village, Wídfara," he stated simply. "Thandir couldn’t leave the threat of the orcs and Dunlendings holed up in the village unaddressed. It would have been foolish for them to do so."

"But three Elves?" the young Rohir retorted in disbelief.

"Five, actually," Elladan said then.

"Ah... I was wondering where you two came into this tale," Aragorn said with a nod, "though I fail to see how you come to be here at all, for when Gilhael and I were leaving Imladris to come to Rohan you were both planning to travel to Mithlond later in the autumn to see Círdan. I believe Lord Elrond had a mission for you."

Elladan nodded. "And we were halfway to Mithlond, but then...we both had the feeling we were needed... elsewhere."

"You abandoned your mission to Círdan to come here?" Aragorn asked in disbelief, looking between Thandir and the twins. Gilhael, he noticed, was making a point of not looking at any of them, but then Aragorn realized his cousin had already heard all this.

"Not exactly abandoned," Elrohir stated in a reasonable tone, "just... um... postponed."

"I truly want to be present when you explain that to Lord Elrond and Lord Círdan," Aragorn finally said with a wicked grin and was pleased to see the twins flinch slightly, though he doubted any of the Rohirrim noticed. Except, he amended to himself, possibly Thengel; he was beginning to suspect that little escaped the eye of Rohan’s king.

"Well, be that as it may," Thandir now interjected with an amused smile, "Celegrýn, Gilgirion and I were making plans to deal with the orcs and Dunlendings that we knew were still inside the ruins when these two" — he gave a nod towards Elladan and Elrohir — "showed up, large as life, as the saying goes...."

****

The three Elves had timed their arrival to where Gilhael and the Rohirric scouts had set up camp for just before dawn, knowing that those in the village would be less vigilant and these Elves, Thandir especially, had the ability to move unseen by Mortal eyes. The three of them grimaced. They could practically smell the orcs hiding nearby and their blood ran cold with fury barely contained. Thandir well remembered the Dagor Bragollach and he unconsciously fingered the long knife hanging from his belt as he stood guard with bow and arrow while Celegrýn and Gilgirion set up their campsite.

"When do you want to attack?" Gilgirion asked suddenly, eyeing his captain shrewdly, as he went about the task of making breakfast.

Thandir took the time to steal a glance at the younger Elf and smiled. "Are you so sure we should attack?" he asked even as he continued his vigilance.

Now Gilgirion snorted and Celegrýn grinned widely. "That’s a rhetorical question, I will assume?" Gilgirion asked without looking up from the fire.

Thandir shrugged, not willing to answer either yea or nay to that. Celegrýn was about to comment when they all stiffened. Thandir, who had been looking southeast towards the ruined village, now moved decisively to face northwest. The other two Elves flanked him, their bows strung and arrows nocked. They saw two riders at the Fords, some leagues away, though even they could not tell who the riders were at that distance. It was several minutes before they realized they were seeing two Elves heading unerringly towards them. Thandir had to consciously remember to close his mouth as the two sons of Elrond rode up, identical smiles on their faces.

"Mae govannen, Thandir, Celegrýn, Gilgirion," Elladan greeted them as the two leaped lightly off their steeds. "It’s been, what, nearly ten years since last we saw any of you?"

"Mae govannen, Elladan, Elrohir," Thandir returned their greeting, giving them both a warrior’s embrace. "Might I enquire as to what brings you to the borders of the lands of the Horselords?" he asked blandly.

"Yrch," Elrohir muttered darkly, staring southward.

The three Noldor gave the sons of their lord measuring looks. Thandir frowned. "How did you know..."

"We did not," Elladan said with a shake of his head, "until now. We only knew that we were needed somewhere in Rohan. Estel..."

"Is well," Thandir assured them. "He is in Helm’s Deep, but Gilhael had a run-in with what lurks in that village yonder. The last anyone saw of him he was heading for the river." He pointed to the southwest. Elladan and Elrohir narrowed their eyes.

"He has not been found?" Elrohir asked.

Thandir shook his head. "Nay. His tracks clearly lead to the river and then stop. We found traces of blood just at the riverbank. We think he was shot with at least one arrow, then fell into the river, for there are signs that he struggled for balance before falling in. Those chasing him apparently decided he was dead and did not follow."

"And you are not even now searching for Estel’s cousin, why?" Elrohir retorted somewhat accusingly.

Thandir merely smiled at the younger Elf. "As you said, ‘yrch’." He pointed to the ruined village. "Yrch a Gwathuirim."

"They still hide there, then," Elladan said.

"We were just deciding how to take them when you showed up," Celegrýn said without expression.

"And with your usual impeccable timing," Gilgirion added with a small smile, "as we were also just about to break our fast."

Elladan grinned. "Thought you’d never ask."

The three scouts laughed lightly at that and soon all but Thandir were sitting around the fire, sharing bowls of porridge and mugs of hot sweetened tea. Celegrýn and Gilgirion brought the Elrondionnath up to date while Thandir remained on guard, accepting only a mug of tea while chewing on some lembas.  When the twins had been apprised of all that had been happening in Rohan, they sat there in silent thought. Finally, Elrohir addressed Thandir. "What exactly did you do to Estel?"

Thandir turned to the younger son of Elrond with a surprised look. "What makes you think I did anything to him?"

"Thandir," Elrohir replied, "you are a Noldo of great power though you hide it behind a façade of being but a lowly scout for Imladris. But we know that Ada relies on you for more than just your tracking abilities and Daeradar and Daernaneth treat you with greater respect than a mere scout deserves, almost as if you were their equal. So, yes, I’m rather of the opinion that you stopped Estel with more than your winning personality and wit."

Thandir raised an eyebrow at the younger Elf’s tone. "I assure you, I did nothing to the lad that will affect him too adversely."

Neither twin spoke for a time. "That’s saying much yet not enough," Elladan finally stated, "but I suspect you will not be any more forthcoming with details than that."

Thandir shrugged, not really interested in continuing with the conversation. "When you see Estel you may judge for yourselves. At the moment, I am more interested in what to do with the enemy. We cannot search for Gilhael until we’ve neutralized the threat these have over the Westmark."

"Orcs and Dunlendings together," Elrohir remarked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"A strange marriage to say the least," Celegrýn allowed. "I fear there is more to it than we know."

"Perhaps," Thandir conceded, "but let us concentrate our attention on eliminating them and worry about why they are working together later."

To that the others agreed and while the day lengthened towards dusk they sifted through several ideas, abandoning most of them but holding off an opinion on one or two until they were satisfied that the plan they finally devised was the best option available.

"We will strike just before dawn then," Thandir summed up their plans. "Let us prepare ourselves then for the coming battle."

With that they spent the remainder of their time before setting off honing their blades and rechecking their bows and arrows. An hour before dawn they left the camp and made their way towards the village....

****

"So, five Elves against how many orcs and Dunlendings?" Thengel interrupted the narrative, staring at Thandir and the other Firstborn in disbelief.

Thandir turned to the other Firstborn. "How many did we count?"

"Two dozen Dunlendings and two score orcs, or thereabouts," Elrohir answered negligently and the other Elves nodded in agreement. Among the Mortals, only Aragorn and Gilhael evinced any nonchalance.

"Thirteen to one?" Wídfara asked in awe. "You fought with thirteen to one odds?"

"Only if you count the Dunlendings," Celegrýn answered with obvious disdain. "They were of little account. The orcs, however, were a different matter, but then we’ve all had many, many centuries experience fighting them."

"Some of us longer than others," Thandir said with a grim smile. "The first time I killed an orc was shortly after the First Rising of Anor when we finally reached the Hither shores and Fingolfin led us unto the very gates of Angband."

"Only one orc?" Aragorn asked teasingly, unable to resist and wishing to lighten the pall that had settled over the hall with the Elves’ talk.

Thandir stared at him for a moment before he laughed. "Nay, though it being the first time I’d ever seen any, one was more than enough."

"So, what happened?" Aragorn asked, taking a sip of his ale and stretching his long legs to make himself more comfortable.

Thandir smiled wryly. "Well, it’s rather difficult for five people, even if they are Elves, to actually surround a village, however ruined, but we managed...."

****

There was no moon that night for which the Elves were thankful and being Elves they saw perfectly well under starlight, so they had no trouble navigating their way towards the village. As they had planned, Elladan, Elrohir and Celegrýn moved south to approach the village from that direction while Thandir and Gilgirion continued eastward to come from the north. They timed their approach so that each was in their designated position well before sunrise. They meant to finish their grisly task before Anor rose.

Thandir nodded to Gilgirion when the Elf stopped at the northwest corner of the village while he continued on. The plan was for them to enter the ruins from different directions, silently finding the hiding places of the Dunlendings first and dealing with them before going after the orcs. Of course, they all knew that as soon as they made their moves, their plan would be obsolete; long experience had taught them that the first thing to be thrown out in any battle was the plan that put the battle into motion in the first place.

Still, they were rather confident that they would be able to deal with the situation with a minimum of fuss. "Not even enough to muss my hair," Elladan quipped and the others snickered, well aware how fastidious the ellon was about his appearance at all times.

There had been little or no movement within the village all that day, but each of the Elves had taken turns to scout the area and memorize where every fallen beam and gutted building lay and watched where the Mortals went. Of the orcs there was no sign but they could smell them and one or two had to forcibly hold themselves back from attacking the village right then and there. Elladan and Elrohir especially had both returned from their scouting trips with eyes wild with fury and Thandir had to actually hold Elrohir tightly in his arms and whisper an invocation in Quenya over and over again until the ellon came back to himself. It had been some time since either Elrondion had had that particular half-crazed look in their eyes and Thandir silently grieved to see it there again. He, himself, had long reconciled himself to what had happened. The last decade with his children in Lórien and speaking with Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel had helped. He would never be whole, not until his beloved Eluwen was released from Mandos and he was once again with her. He did not enjoy the prospect of returning to Aman, even if no further than Tol Eressëa, but it would be the only way of ever seeing his wife again, and so he was resigned to that fate, though that day was many years away as Mortals reckoned it.

In the meantime, the Elves were moving into position. Thandir glanced negligently at the stars, automatically gauging the hour by their positions. It was time. He move soundlessly and nearly invisibly, like mist through the dark, easily avoiding the fallen debris that littered the ground, aiming for his first target, a low building near the edge of the village that had once been a byre but now housed some of the Dunlendings. There was a lone sentry making his rounds on this side of the village; he never made it to his next post. Thandir left the body where it dropped and continued towards the byre.

He was almost at the door when shouting from the southwest where Elladan should have been rang through the night. The Elf smiled grimly and with the ease of long practice strung his bow and had an arrow nocked before the door of the byre flew open and several Dunlendings poured out. Two of them were dead before any of them knew what was happening. The other three rushed at Thandir almost at once. The Noldo drew out his long knives and made quick work of killing the others.

Commotion and shouting and the screams of the dying alerted Thandir to the necessity of reaching the feasthall. The Gwathuirim were not the problem; the yrch were. He was fortunate, for there were no Men to stay or delay him and he was soon at the feasthall where he was joined by Elrohir. By this time, the orcs had roused enough to start pouring out of the doors to join in the battle.

"I’ll take the twenty on the left," Thandir shouted at Elrohir who was closer to the western door than he.

"Save some for Elladan else he’s going to be mightily vexed," Elrohir shot back even as he raised his sword and waded into battle with a cry of "Tôl acharn!"

Thandir followed that up with his own battle cry, one heard among the Edain just before the Nirnaeth Arnediad: "Lacho calad! Drego morn!"

By now the eastern sky was turning grey, so it was easier for them to see to kill. The orcs, on the other hand, became more desperate and ferocious, knowing that they were fighting against the sun. They were doomed, for the fell light that shone from the eyes of the two Elves was terrible to behold. The one or two Dunlendings that had so far survived the slaughter saw the same fell light in the eyes of the other three Elves methodically making their way towards the feasthall and quailed. Some even threw down their weapons but the Elves showed them no mercy. They had decided when making their plans that in this instance those who allied themselves with orcs were no better than orcs. Elladan and Elrohir had been initially reluctant to countenance it, but they were outnumbered by three who remembered well the misplaced trust in and the treachery of the Easterlings at the Nirnaeth and the debacle that had followed. They were not about to make the same mistake where the Gwathuirim were concerned.

And so the Dunlendings died under the merciless regard of the five Firstborn and the orcs fared no better. By the time Anor rose above the Ephel Dúath far in the east, the only sound in the ruined village of Æsctun was that of the Elves’ heavy breathing. They stood there before the doors of the feasthall, bloodstained, though they themselves were uninjured save for the usual nicks and cuts that occurred during any swordfight. They stood nearly knee-deep in the bodies of orcs and Dunlendings. Celegrýn and Gilgirion were already calmly cleaning their knives and retrieving arrows. Thandir took a moment to clean his own knives then went to the Elrondionnath, who stood there, swords in their hands, eyes blank with fury that was turning cold as the battle-rage slowly left them. He took them, one at a time, into his embrace.

"Atholo nan galad," he whispered into their ears. "Ú-lathro i-vorn."

Slowly, hesitantly, the two younger Elves came to themselves, looking both shamed and confused. "It’s over, mellyn nîn," Thandir said softly. "Go, clean your swords. We still have work to do."

"Wh-what work?" Elrohir whispered.

"We need to burn the bodies," Thandir said baldly.

The sun was rising halfway towards noon when they finished their grisly work of piling the bodies inside the feasthall, then setting it afire. They were at the river cleaning off the blood from their bodies when the roof of the hall fell in.

Far to the north, there where the ancient Númenóreans had built a tower, eyes both curious and hateful saw the black smoke rising in the south and wondered.

****

All words are Sindarin.

Elrondionnath: Class plural, literally meaning, "All the sons of Elrond". As Elrond only has two sons that is the total number within the class.

Mithlond: The Grey Havens.

Yrch: Plural of orch: Orc.

Yrch a Gwathuirim: Orcs and Dunlendings, literally "Shadowy people".

Daeradar: Grandfather.

Daernaneth: Grandmother.

Tôl acharn!: ‘Vengeance comes!’ Húrin’s exclamation [see The Wars of the Jewels, ‘The Wanderings of Húrin’, HoME 11].

Lacho calad! Drego morn!: ‘Flame light! Flee darkness!’, the battle-cry of the Edain among the House of Hador. [see Unfinished Tales, ‘Narn iHîn Húrin’].

Atholo nan galad. Ú-lathro i-vorn: ‘Return to the light. Heed not the darkness.’

Historical Notes:

‘But as the host of Fingolfin marched into Mithrim the Sun rose flaming in the West; and Fingolfin unfurled his blue and silver banners, and blew his horns....At the uprising of the great light the servants of Morgoth fled into Angband, and Fingolfin passed unopposed through the fastness of Dor Daedeloth while his foes hid beneath the earth. Then the Elves smote upon the gates of Angband, and the challenge of their trumpets shook the towers of Thangorodrim....’ [The Silmarillion, Chapter 13, ‘Of the Return of the Noldor’]

The Dagor Bragollach or Battle of Sudden Flame occurred 6,527 years earlier in First Age 455.

The Nirnaeth Arnediad or Battle of Unnumbered Tears occurred 6,511 years earlier in First Age 471.

Thandir’s wife, Eluwen died in Third Age 2509 in the same attack by orcs in which the twins’ mother was captured and tortured.