Exclusive: Interviews With The Kin And Friends Of Beren Barahirion!
Rian, daughter of Belegund:
- I don't know if there is much I can tell you. He is my cousin of a sort but I was five years old when I last saw him, and what can a child know of a man? He was kind. He paid attention to us when we demanded it — that is already a lot. I —
it sounds stupid, but I remember I saw a mouse run right past me in the barn once, and I was terrified, and he came over and started telling me about animals and what they behave like and what they eat and — I think I wasn't ever afraid of mice anymore after that.
- Was? He's alive. I believe the songs — or what else could I believe? The world is one, after all.
Lady Morwen of Dor-Lómin:
- Do you remember Dorthonion, Lady?
- Twelve. I chose to remember —after. Beren was one of my father's cousins. He was older. We talked once or twice.
- What do you think about your cousin's deeds?
- If half of it is true, then it is certainly more story than one would expect of a lifetime.
- You don't know if it's true?
- Songs are flighty things. My cousin wouldn't like me to say it but it's so. I doubt he's alive. If he was, I'd think he'd have come here.
Irnion son of Lischir and brother to Radhruin:
He taught me swordfighting at one point. He wasn't a half-bad teacher, I think — certainly he was skilled and he could make you understand what you were doing. I liked it... You know, I wanted to stay with my brother, but they said I was too young. I was fourteen — Hathaldir was sixteen. I guess I would have died if I had, but sometimes I still regret I didn't have the choice — not that I'm naive enough to think that sort of life is glorious outside tales —but it's a noble one.
Arthondir son of Eredhir:
It is odd to think that of all my childhood friends it's mostly myself left as the only person to remember them. Beren was always — different. Deeper, somehow. He wouldn't always join on our games... he spent so much time helping his great-aunt, the Wisewoman that we sometimes laughed at him — but when he did... somehow he made them better — more real. And he was the one person who could talk us out of trouble when we got into it — it was never his fault, really, but he never said so.
I remember, for example, the one time we — beat with sticks on Old Arasbor's barn gate, because we were pretending to be the deceased High King and his army arriving in Middle Earth, and Old Arasbor obviously came out in a fury to ask us what we were thinking. And then someone of course has to say — well, we're pretending the barn is Angband, and he's not flattered by the implication — and Beren just talked him down then, said his was the largest and most imposing all round and that's why we chose it — which was true, and Old Arasbor laughs and tells us to run off and that he would give Beren some pastry if his wife had baked any.
And then later, when I broke my hip — it never really healed well, that's why I'm here and not dead, I suppose — he was the person who kept visiting me, even though we weren't the closest of friends. I don't know, he was like that — I'm not saying he couldn't be thoughtless like all children, but he was oddly perceptive of other people.
I think that if any of us were to get into this sort of story it would have to be him — but I'm still surprised at the entirety of it. Everyone, I suppose, is.
