For some time after the completion of Gladhol Gelaidh, the inhabitants of this fair settlement affectionately referred to it as Nîr Gelaidh for the sound of crying babies became a familiar and ever present feature of the land. Not only were there the last babies conceived in Celos Galen, but there were the ones made in Nan Tathren, and lately a new crop created in celebration of the trees of the new home in Doriath.

More than once Haldir and his brethren of Lórien pondered and speculated how the population of Galadhrim in Lothlórien could possibly have dwindled as much as it had over the ages when THIS was what their folk had started out with in Doriath. The citizens of Menegroth seemed to have their own opinions about the population explosion as well, as Haldir heard every time he went there.

“Do your folk not understand restraint?”

“You are not in Cuiviénen anymore.”

“You do realize that you are safe now and do not have to repopulate a forest on your own, do you not?”

 “Do your folk not understand that there is a choice involved, and every encounter with one’s spouse need not leave one with reminders for ennin to come?”

Haldir, being a true son of the Galadhrim, simply responded to every comment with a grin and the occasional observation that the other folk of Doriath apparently did not know how to thoroughly celebrate their surroundings. No one would gainsay him, to his face, at least for it was known by many that he was the best swordsman in all of Doriath and his warriors were the ones who would be teaching the defenders of Doriath in the arts of strategy and defense.

Thingol did not yet trust Haldir enough to give him a position of authority in matters of defense, but he did consult with him regularly and gave him the task of mapping all of Doriath – once his children were old enough for him to be away.

The responsibilities of being adar to little ones all over again did not bother Haldir in the least for he was determined to enjoy his stay in Doriath and the peace of the land for as long as possible. Some of the tasks of mapping nearby terrain Haldir gave to his few warriors who did not have small children, using the opportunity to teach such skills to those who would learn them. A handful of ellyn from Doriath joined the warriors on these brief expeditions serving as guides and learning the skills the warriors would teach.

Although Mablung was the one in charge of all of the defenses, Haldir and his Lórien brethren enjoyed high status as the new instructors of all who would defend the kingdom.  Unfortunately this did not sit well with Mablung.

“Why must our ellyn always go all the way to Gladhol Gelaidh for training?” Mablung had asked during a recent meeting with Thingol, the princes, and Haldir to discuss matters of defense.

“Those who wish to learn have other skills and requirements on their time as well. They waste four whole turns of the stars just in travel to learn from your folk.”

Haldir glanced around the chamber at the expectant faces of the others in attendance who always seemed fascinated to sit back and watch the verbal combat between Haldir and Mablung.  Every meeting seemed to include some confrontation with Mablung and Haldir grew weary of it. However, he knew the king and princes valued calm responses from him, so he replied, “I have other obligations as well that require my attention.”

“I do not speak of children and your overabundance of them,” Mablung scoffed. “That was a choice you made and you should be wise enough to know that you must continue to serve your king in whatever capacity he requires of you. If the Galadhrim had learned some sort of restraint, then perhaps you folk of the trees would be farther along in your skill of hand and mind and your use of tools.”

Raising an eyebrow, Haldir glared at his attacker. Eru! And he thought the Noldor were arrogant and haughty? He had no idea the Sindar could be so arrogant and he had lived among them in Lórien for how many ennin?  After what he had seen since arriving in Doriath, he was strongly reconsidering the ill opinion of the Noldor which the Sindar of his time enjoyed. Quite frankly, he was rather glad that the Sindar were going to have served back to them by the Noldor what they had so haughtily dished out to the Galadhrim.

Then again, he further speculated, perhaps it was the natural way of things for the more advanced clan of elves to try to lord it over the one with lesser skill of hand and tool?  And considering how the Sindar were treating the Galadhrim, Haldir rather felt the Sindar deserved the lesson in humility they would get from the Noldor who were supremely arrogant and high and mighty in their opinions of themselves.  He made a mental note to discuss this new perspective on history and clan relations with his Lórien brethren when he returned to Gladhol Gelaidh.

Instead of voicing these indulgent thoughts, Haldir calmly clasped his hands on the table before him.  “I am serving my king as well as serving my chieftain. I was given to understand that the clans are allowed to continue under the governance of their chieftains, living as they always have so long as they give their allegiance to King Thingol and serve in whatever way he requires.  I have duties to my chieftain and to my own people as well in addition to training the folk of Doriath. I cannot attend to the needs of my family nor my folk if I am always here in Menegroth. And in truth, if you do not value family and the obligations of an adar to nurture his children then how can you expect allegiance to a chieftain, lord, or king when these ellyn are the edair of their folk in a very real sense?”

There were approving nods around the room as everyone turned to look at Mablung again. “In this grand picture of family which you have described, there are also times when family members must sacrifice for other members of the family or at least put the needs of the greater family before their own selfish indulgences. Likewise family members must accept that they are not always as important in the extended family as they would like to deem themselves to be in their own small part of the family.” 

Now Haldir had had enough. “My Lord Mablung” — he put extra emphasis on the title — “I have no delusions about my position in the greater community. I am a skilled craftsman and my craft happens to be in the arts of defense. I seek no other title nor recognition from anyone else in Doriath nor in Gladhol Gelaidh. I merely seek the respect of those around me and I believe I have earned it.” He paused, noting the approval in Thingol’s eyes.

“If anyone wishes to learn from me as an apprentice to my trade, he or she may come to me to learn just as any other apprentice to a trade would go to a master to learn. If the learner feels that the distance to travel is too great to be bothered with then that learner should reconsider the desire to be a warrior.

I myself travelled among other settlements across many leagues to learn the skills and techniques which I possess, often living among my teachers for many years to learn what they would show me. I see nothing wrong with asking folk to travel for a mere two turns of the stars to learn from the only teachers who can impart the knowledge we possess.”

Mablung glared at Haldir, pounding the table with his fist in frustration, then turned to Thingol. “My King, How can I be expected to work with this backward fool when he-”

But the king silenced him with a wave of his hand. “I think Haldir has the right of it in the training of warriors,” Thingol declared. “And because this issue of potential warriors having to travel back and forth between Menegroth and Gladhol Gelaidh troubles you so much as you so frequently remind me, I believe we should try the methods of Haldir’s mentors.”

Exactly what methods of his mentors had he even mentioned? Haldir wondered.

But Thingol continued before he could ask. “I agree that a certain amount of dedication to a craft must be shown by those who would learn it and there is no better way to learn than by living among masters of a craft. Since it is an unfair burden separating edair from their babes and small children when they are most needed by their families, the warriors in training will go and live among the Galadhrim of Gladhol Gelaidh. I will inform Chieftain Damrod so he can have telain built to accommodate the new trainees.”

Haldir and Mablung both stared at Thingol, mouths agape.  Mablung recovered first. “My king, that is unfair to those who have other duties to attend to in addition to training to learn the arts of a warrior!”

“My king,” Haldir tried more diplomatically, “I am uncertain as to how Chieftain Damrod will receive the news of so many Sindar coming to live among us. He is settling in and accepting the ways of the other elves of Doriath, however, he does ask of those in Gladhol Gelaidh that they abide by the ways of the Galadhrim.”

“Haldir, I have every confidence that all of the people of my kingdom can live together peacefully and fully accept each other. In order to foster this, those who have lived under my rule for a longer time must learn the ways of and come to accept the newcomers. You have a great deal to offer those who would learn and I need for more of my folk to be skilled as you are skilled.”

Then Thingol turned to Mablung and sighed. “My friend and protector, you speak much of service and obligation and duty. Now I must ask you to oblige me and serve me with this duty. I need for you to learn what Haldir would teach. I want you to go to Gladhol Gelaidh and live among the Galadhrim alongside the new warriors. Learn what he can teach you, learn the language of the Galadhrim, and learn their ways of woodlore and fighting first hand. I will expect a report from each of you every few weeks detailing your progress.”

Haldir and Mablung exchanged angry glances then schooled their expressions to something more submissive and regarded Thingol coolly.

“As you wish,” they cordially replied in unison.

“Excellent,” Thingol said with a self satisfied smirk. “I look forward to news of your progress.”

 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“He is a great warrior – skilled far beyond anyone I have met among the folk of Doriath.”

“I do not disagree with that.”

The voices of Haldir’s two elder sons drifted down from the talan above him as Haldir paused on his climb up the ladder to listen.

“But why does he always give in to them in…in matters of… well, of everything? What is wrong with adar that he feels he must always capitulate to those lazy fools?”

“Taurion, you had best keep your voice down. You do not want any of the folk of Doriath to hear you,” Handir cautioned. “We are here on the good graces of King Thingol and we had best not insult his folk.”

 “What do I care if they hear me, brother? Let them be insulted!  They deserve it. I speak the tongue of a proper son of the forest, not that of those whiny fools. Very few of them have deigned to learn to speak our tongue. I am not ashamed of who and what I am like adar seems to be.”

“I do not think adar is ashamed. I think that he is trying his best to understand the Sindar and to help us all to fit in as subjects of this kingdom.”

“Subjects indeed!” Taurion scoffed.  “A few of our folk well-placed and I think we could show this kingdom who really deserves to rule.”

“You speak treason, Taurion and you had best stop it now,” Handir warned. “What if someone hears you? Do you really want to have to move our settlement yet again? Your son is still very small. Your full strength has not yet returned and what of the other families with newly born babes? Most of us ellyn are not as strong as we should be and will not be for years yet. I know I am not. You had best keep your teeth together and stop whining like some Sinda in a tree. You would be wiser to try to find a way to fit in here. We cannot defend our people as we should right now if our folk should be cast out. Do you not remember what the wolves did to the folk of the southern settlement?”

“Do not remind me of that atrocity! The memories still haunt my dreams.”

“I am glad they haunt you, Taurion. I hope they haunt you for a long time to come so you remember why we fled Celos Galen and why we need the safety that Doriath offers.”

Taurion sighed loudly. “Perhaps you are correct, little brother. I will try to keep silent when they are around, but I still hate the way those folk treat us. At least we are spared having them among us all the time. That would be unbearable.”

“Indeed it would,” Handir agreed. “Indeed it would.”

Struggling to wipe the self-satisfied smirk from his face, Haldir continued his climb up the ladder. Perhaps Thingol had the right of it when he said the Sindar and the Galadhrim needed to dwell more closely with one another to foster better understanding. And it finally gave Haldir a way of dealing with his overly arrogant and potentially treasonous son.

As he cleared the entryway, Haldir brightly called to his family, “Guess what? The Sindar are coming to live among us for their training. I wanted you to be the first to know.”

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Gladhol Gelaidh – laughing trees

Nîr Gelaidh – crying trees

Author's note: I am still struggling with writing time and the lack thereof and the ever present sick people.  After the holidays, I hope to get back to a regular posting schedule. I can hope, right?