“Ceremony

I will tell you something about stories,

[he said]

They aren’t just entertainment.

Don’t be fooled.

They are all we have, you see,

all we have to fight off

illness and death.

You don’t have anything

if you don’t have the stories.

Their evil is mighty

but it can’t stand up to our stories.

So they try to destroy the stories

let the stories be confused or forgotten.

They would like that

They would be happy

Because we would be defenseless then.

He rubbed his belly.

I keep them here

[he said]

Here, put your hand on it

See, it is moving.

There is life here

for the people.

And in the belly of this story

the rituals and the ceremony

are still growing.”

-Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony-

Chapter 11: Gilthoniel and Dreams

Legolas was reclining against a tree somewhere along the southern borders of his father’s kingdom, resting for a moment. The incursion of spiders had multiplied twofold and roaming bands of increasingly aggressive orcs amplified their assaults on the elven patrols. He held the little arrow that Lotórie had made for him loosely in his hands. The air around him was humid, clinging heavily to every inch of his body. He raised his hands to wipe the mixture of sweat and moisture that had gathered on his brow, aware that he was being eyed intensely. He opened one eye lazily and looked upon Aní who was sitting and leaning on a tree next to him.

“Tis miserable the weight of this weather,” Legolas thought aloud.

“The dankness and darkness of these woods is imposing enough, and yet I sense fowl eyes are spying us from a distance,” Aní replied dryly.

“Yes, I feel them too, but we have managed to kill enough of those fowl beasts, that they are licking their wounds, and looking upon us with a vengeance they know they cannot wager for they are too broken, for now.” Legolas now had both eyes open as he gazed disgustedly in the direction of the unseen eyes.

Legolas continued, “But I must remind myself that although I have been surrounded by fowl beasts, there is beauty in this world that leads me on this destructive path,” Legolas sighed. He looked at the little arrow in has hands and clutched it tightly, “How I hate to kill, but how I need to kill. This fate leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.”

“Ortheritham sain ,” Aní replied flatly.

“I hope we can defeat the darkness that snakes itself into our very midst. And I hope that one day I will not have to bloody my sword or loose my arrow upon any enemy,” Legolas murmured darkly.

Another elf listened quietly from where she sat. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she gathered in the conversation. “And one day may this world be such place where we can freely love without the cloud of evil hindering our attempts, hir nîn ,” the elf added thoughtfully.

Aní turned towards the elf, “Turwen, your words cause my heart to ache for in them is too much truth. Might there be a lucky elf who holds *your* heart?”

The master trainer and object of Faelon’s affections blushed slightly at Aní’s last comment, and chose her words carefully. “I fear that the darkness of these times leads me to safely assume that love is not granted easily, and so I can only dare imagine of such a time. If there is such an elf, I would rather hold that safe where it will not cause heartache if tragedy were to--,“ her voice trailed off.

Aní sighed, “But if we dare not take a chance to freely love, even during the darkest of times, then are we not surrendering too much? If love finds me I will claim it and rejoice in its beauty, even if it is fated to be but for a moment in eternity.”

Legolas smiled slightly and playfully added, “But fear not my dear Aní, love will not find you here, as you are dirtied and your hair unbecoming for an elf.”

Aní snorted, “Oh yes, let’s see where is my brush, my companion even in the thickest of battles, which I sneak out when I think no one is watching me, to brush my golden locks.”

“I do not,” Legolas hissed quietly.

Turwen wryly added, “Legolas, your vision this eve would most surprise many of Mirkwood’s fairest maidens for I am positive they are unaccustomed to seeing you in such a disheveled state. Truly even I have never seen you hair in such *state*.”

The elves laughed in unison, consciously maintaining their voices hushed. They cast knowing glances at one another, taking in their companions’ unkempt appearances. The myth that elves always appeared perfect and pristine was a running joke amongst them, something that wide-eyed mortal maidens dreamt up. Although their appearance never approached the uncouthness of mortals in the same state, they nevertheless were confronted with the realities of life on patrol.

Several elven warriors were positioned around the small camp of elves stationed in the darker parts of Mirkwood. Legolas announced quietly, “Make ready for bed. We have an early start for what will prove to be a difficult day.” Elves all around unrolled their sleeping mats and arranged themselves for the short sleep that awaited them.

Legolas looked up instinctively towards the sky and frowned when his eyes met the night above, void of stars, shrouded in the foggy darkness. “Let us hope our dreams will bless us with the glory of goliath .”

“Losto mae ,” Aní replied. “And may Elbereth cast her net of celevon upon are dreams.”

Indeed the light of Varda shone in the dreams of the elves this eve, providing them solace in the darkness that surrounded them, with details of lovers, friends, and things unknown.

***

And they ran underneath the rain, chasing all that was hard to find, like children running after dreams that are soon discouraged. This night underneath Isil’s light which captured all the memories that faded with the light of Anar, two souls forgot for a night all that their lives meant, trapped by a magic unseen. The trees swayed in the night skies, leaves shimmered and the light of Eärendil in the western horizon was beheld as if on Arda itself. Rain gently fell from the sky, the stars shedding tears for all that was fading, for beauty, for love, for life, that soon would diminish with the dawn of a new day, the glory of minuial .

She slowed and came to a field open to the glory of the stars above and let the rain gently caress her hot skin. He gazed upon her from the forest edge that surrounded the field, his hands placed on the golden skins of the trees, and from within him rose a song in praise of Elentári (1):

“Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear!
O Queen beyond the Western Seas!
O Light to us that wander here
Amid the world of woven trees!
Gilthoniel! O Elbereth!

Clear are thy eyes and bright thy breath!
Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to the
In a far land beyond the Sea.

O stars that in the Sunless Year
With shining hand by her were sown,
In windy fields now bright and clear
We see your silver blossom blown!

O
Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees,
Thy starlight on the

She allowed his voice to caress her senses, and she looked out into the night sky, spotted with the clouds that spilt rain, to gaze upon the stars. And she looked upon the stars, breathing in their beauty, imagining that he must be made from the same light.

As his voice softly waned with the ending of the song, he glanced up towards the sky studying the same stars Araswen looked upon.

“Tell me more of Varda,” Araswen breathed softly.

He approached her and stood next to her gazing at the stars. “Varda, Queen of the Valar, oh Elbereth,” he proclaimed, “with great love she collected the dew of Telperion’s green and silver leaves and from his waters created the stars that cloak the night skies. As the great swordsman Menelvagor appeared, followed by the blue fire of Helliun in the sky, the eyes of the first children opened from their birthing sleep, and they beheld above them, first of all things, the stars of Varda.” (3)

“Menelvagor, I have heard stories that call him Long Sash, and that he shines from the heavens as a reminder of the stories of the many journeys of long ago,” she whispered into the night. “Tell me more of your stories, when first your kind glimpsed the stars,” she exclaimed. (4)

His gaze was locked on the celestial beings that crowned the night sky, and he continued his account of the skies, “And the Eldar cried out Behold the elenath ! Such was the beauty and glory the Firstborn first gazed upon. Tonight, I dream that my eyes drink in such visions, both in heaven and earth, and that if only for a moment the newness of uial is born once again.” He fixed his eyes upon the maiden, and allowed an affectionate smile to grace his lips.

She tore her gaze from the stars above, caught by his lyrical words. “You do not speak of me, for I am kin to the earth, my feet firmly rooted in her womb.”

“Do you not see what I do? Surely from those deer-like eyes, you must see how your raiment is resplendent with the deepness of Arda, and reflected in your eyes, like still waters, shine the brilliance of the elenath?”

She took her hand and let it linger about the long locks of his hair, “And the light of Isil is bound in you, shimmering from the very depths of *you*. Great is the wisdom of this world which has allowed me to rejoice this night in your company. Your words fill me with beauty, something I believed I could not ever know again.”

The rain turned to mist, and the moonlight caught the particles, creating reflections of moon that shone like thousands of dim stars suspended low in the air. The two kindred spirits stood silently amidst the earthen stars, and surveyed the skies gifted to them on this eve.

***

And with minuial , the light of the stars faded. Elves were quietly readying themselves to depart back towards their haven in Mirkwood, pondering the visions that had been gifted to them during their sleep.

Aní approached his uncle as the patrol departed north towards, Thranduil’s palace. “My heart feels lighter, and my feet quicker, thanks to the dreams that accompanied me this past night.”

Legolas nodded his head, “My soul too feels lighter, as if the stars I gazed upon in my dreams lifted some of the heaviness from my heart.”

“I too gazed upon stars, the light of Eärendil was bright, and there was another whom I could not clearly perceive,” Aní paused, and stared ahead of him as if lost in a mystery.

Legolas sighed, “then we have shared our dreams, for I was accompanied by a maiden, but never did I *see* her. I was only able to gaze into her eyes, and they are ones I know not.”

“I too did not have a chance to fully know this maiden, but I did see her hair, it was long and very dark, so dark it seemed to join with the night. I did not gaze upon her eyes, but her presence was comforting.”

Legolas laughed, “Then let us be glad that an unknown maiden came to grant us a reprieve from our duties, if only for a moment.”

Aní slapped Legolas on the shoulder, “Too short of a moment if you ask me. I wanted to bathe in the light of those stars for an eternity, but alas, shadow awaits.”

Legolas chided, “Careful what you wish for, my dear nephew, for one night you will happen upon a fallen star and be granted your desire.” Legolas then hummed the melody of Êl a Edhel , glancing mischievously at Aní.

***

(1) Elentári means star queen, known also as Elbereth, who is Varda, Lady of the Stars, Star Kindler, Queen of the Valar.

(2) From Fellowship of the Ring, pp. 88-89.

(3) Menelvagor (S) Menelmacar (Q)- Swordsmen of the Heavens, is arguably the constellation Orion and Helliun is the star Sirius. See “The Astronomy of Middle Earth” and The Silmarillion.

Western Seas."(2)