A companion letter to my previous submission for this event: the protagonist Edhellos, shortly after, writes a letter to another addressee, her brother-in-law in Nargothrond, which she has recently left.
The prompts "Friendship" and "Alliance" are somewhere in there. There is more reference to recent trauma in this letter, but nothing detailed or graphic.
Lady Edhellos, late of Dorthonion, now of White Horn Tower, to Finrod, King of Nargothrond.
Of course I am not all right, Ingo. If I may say so, neither are you. I doubt anyone else is in Nargothrond just now, either, unless they are extraordinarily resilient or very lucky. My one regret, in leaving Nargothrond, is that I am not at your side supporting you, except I have to acknowledge that I was hardly capable of offering support while I was there. I will have to trust to the ever-reliable Edrahil instead.
Meanwhile, I am confident that my little tribe of survivors is beginning to do better here already. The tower is truly well built and appointed! It does you and those of your masons whose work it is credit, Ingo.
As for myself, I confess I do appreciate that I can take a decent walk along the headland when I am off duty without stumbling across an archer concealed in a bush at every step, as happened every time I tried to get a breath of fresh air outside your caves and walk in Talath Dirnen. Do not mistake me, I do approve of the vigilance of your guards. If recent events have shown us anything, it is the need for caution. I do not mean to neglect that lesson here.
Could I ask you whether in your dealings with Cirdan and the Falathrim you have encountered a Captain Feinnen? We are meant to cooperate along this area of the coast, he and I. On the one hand, he is obviously very competent and experienced, which is reassuring. On the other hand, I don’t find it easy to assess his attitude to our little Noldorin contingent, and towards me in particular. He clearly enjoys posing as a traditionalist who has not adjusted his ideas since before the rising of the Sun. I am sure Cirdan would not have chosen to station Feinnen here, if he were truly like that. But, so far, I cannot look behind that gruff jokey manner—would Feinnen adopt it if there were not some real prejudice lurking underneath? Time will tell. But if you have more insight, please drop me a hint.
You see I am immersed in the task I have taken on, not sitting dropping idle tears in the waves! Be well, you all. I do not mean to become a stranger and will visit when we have finished settling in and I feel things are running smoothly enough.
It would be overstating matters a bit to say this letter relates to exploration and new lands (as per the prompts for Day 2), but the author of the letter has just taken up a new post in a new location. She is Edhellos, the widow of Prince Angrod, recently a refugee from Dorthonion.
Edhellos, now Warden of White Horn Tower, to Cirdan, Lord of Eglarest and Brithombar.
Thank you again for all the gracious assistance you have lent us! I am happy to report that all is going well so far in this our new venture. Although the previous warden you had installed was evidently very glad to be away—I gather Carallim had greatly missed serving you on a ship, which is his true vocation, and being stuck in a tower staring out over the sea was a poor substitute for him—we found everything in Barad Nimras in extremely good working order and I trust we will succeed in keeping it so.
I have put up the naltalma apparatus in the pavilion on the viewing platform and turned the largest room on the floor below into my room of records. Your people are viewing these manifestations of Noldorin newfangledness with some scepticism. Captain Feinnen, in particular, may have something to say you about this, when you next meet. As the plan is for him to be stationed here regularly with me, when he is not patrolling the coast, I hope I can convince him that I am not more eccentric than he can tolerate!
I will write again soon, when we have settled in a little more. I wish to be useful to you, my friend, and not only by freeing up Carallim for other duties closer to his heart.
Edhellos
With thanks to Chestnut for the names of the two Falathrim characters.
Popular hairstyles and make up of the Teleri of Beleriand* and Aman (roughly mid First Age, pre-dagor bragollach) | Day Five: Culture & Diversity for @tolkiengenweek
*They aren't really Teleri at this point, but I used that name instead of Nelyar, since most started the great journey, they just didn't finish it; also the nandor are their own, second & third age posts.
North Sindar Lady: I wanted her hair to look similar to the Iathrim Lady, but more practical; she doesn't have the privilege of girdle. Since her people are regularly around the Ñoldor, the make up is vibrant in colour (more so than everyone else's), similar in style to the Teleri Lady, as it is a trend brought over from Aman. As a point of contrast she's got a fringe - an indication that her people regularly snip their hair for fun, a bit taboo among the Ñoldor (but not for long).
Laegrim Lady: I wanted the hair style to look the most severe, something you could make with only slight effort if you've already got the tools on hand. It has no free curls, complex ties or use of pomade. The make up is made with what you've got on hand; but in style it's influenced by the Ñoldor. Her big poof in the front of her head is another Ñoldor influence - it's very characteristic to some of their hairstyles.
Iathrim Lady: I wanted to make her look the most culturally "pure" - not a real thing, but something that might have been believed. I like the fanon that Sindar have mostly loose hair, but only to a point; so I gave that to the Iathrim, who for the most part can afford loose hair. The similarities in hairstyles between her and the North Sindarin & Falathrim lady I think is pretty evident. The make up is similar to her sisters on the coasts far and near. Her brows are finely painted and that's one hundred percent an Amanyar trend brought over - the Falathrim & Teleri lady have it too.
Falathrim Lady: Círdan's people are one of the first to encounter the exiled Ñoldor, as such they got to have a hot iron curler; before that cold curling methods were the norm, but they can be messy as seen on the Iathrim Lady. They took their new method of curling to new heights, setting a trend for tidy, but fun hairstyles; they got their curlers, from the sons of Fëanor, not their host, but the lords themselves - both Caranthir and Curufin curl their hair regularly, they didn't leave Valinor without either the schematics or one curler each. The make up is the same shade as her sister across the sea, because I found it cute.
Teleri Lady: By design her look is the most foreign with only a few points of similarities. She has no curls of any kind - the ones on her tiny fringe are done with pomade or a substance of similar properties. She's got a headband stitched with pearls, obviously. The rest of her hairstyle is a style shared with the Ñoldor, but without the tiny combs of gold and jade, or the small bejewelled hairpins, or big bejewelled hair pins or ... ; you get the picture. Her make up is similar to the Sindar, but less focus is put on the eyes, then on other parts of her face.
Some other stuff under the cut
I want to make a companion piece of the Ñoldor in Beleriand & Aman; to show how their culture was influenced and show their own individual different trends, but it won't be soon. Honestly I think most of the Ñoldor were conservative with their culture for a long time, because they missed home or thought themselves better - but also their language got banned and subsequently lost part of their heritage (elves name themselves, quendi - those who speak; the sheer gall to ban a language, COH might have softened me a bit towards Thingol, but this I will always mark down as big black sign) I also wouldn't react well, actually I'd riot .
Nut trees of Beleriand
Edible berries of Beleriand
more on my ecology masterlist and beleriand tag
There are hundreds of species of plants, both herbacious and woody that have leaves edible to elves and humans in Beleriand. For this list I'm primarily focusing on species that are also edible to humans because, as I've talked about on my poisonous plant posts, toxicity risks differ between elves and humans. These are all wild grown species however many are cultivated in their natural habitat or grown in gardens and other agricultural settings as well.
Bog Myrtle, also known as sweet willow grows in Dorthonion around Tarn Aeulin. It's leaves are edible and, due to their sweetly resinous scent, are also used as a natural repellent to biting insects by the Bëorians who in turn learned these from the Avarin elves. The leaves can be eaten raw but are more commonly used in tea.
Salt spearbrush grows in arid conditions in Himald and north of Beleriand as well as various locations east of the Ered Luin. The Noldorin hosts of Himlad use it as salads and garnishes, often alongside pheasants and other game bird, especially when wild spinach is scare in the drier areas in the northern and eastern edges.
Glasswort grows in coastal Beleriand in saltmarshes and often as a result has a salty taste. It's gathered by the Falathrim and used in broths to flavor it. It also appears in Falathrim poetry, espeially written after the destruction of the Havens of Falas. Sea beet grows on the western coast of Beleriand where its leaves are eaten with fish.
Sow thistle is another one of the most common leafy vegetable in eastern Beleriand. It's gathered by the green elves
Dandelion leaves are one of the most common leaf vegetables in western Beleriand, harvested commonly by both Noldorin and Silvan elves who occasionally eat them but also use them to feed sheep and other animals.
Tansy is used in Hithlum, specifially Dor-lómin as a yellow dye, as part of the beekeeping process as a smoker, and in juices and salads, often served with sheeps milk cheese.
In Doriath, Brethil and Nargothrond, brooklime, common verbana, stinging nettles and various species of trillium are all used as teas
While I continue to post elven words of the day, I thought I’d try to go back to earlier words for world building inspiration! This is just a fun activity for me so I don’t know how many I’ll do but if there are any words you’d like to see let me know!
First word, lanca in the Telerin language meaning “sharp edges, (of geography, not tools), sudden end”
The same word appears in Quenya with the same meaning and in Sindarin there is the word lanc meaning the same.
World building thoughts:
-The Teleri mark the edges of maps depicting the known sea with ghostly images of mountains; these differ markedly from topographical indications of real mountains which have firmer lines and more consistent shapes
-There are Telerin folktales of elven ships that encounter eerie storms upon straying too far from the shore in the early days before the destruction of the trees and the first kinslaying. After these events, they evolve into tales of specifically Noldorin ships that veer off course due to the confusion of the first kinslaying and encounter terrifying obstacles at mysterious world boundaries
-Cliffs and chasms in Falathrim cartography are indicated with a symbol that doubled as an abbreviated form of the Beleriand Sindarin version of this word (lanc)
-Given similar words, it is likely this one remained the same or very similar in different dialects of Beleriand Sindarin including Ilkorin, Falathrim, North Sindarin and others
I was so so lucky enough to go on a whale watch (I saw basking sharks too!!!!!!) a couple weeks ago so I wanted to do some world building for Beleriand. I have some on Valinor here and as always I always wish to elaborate especially on some of my thoughts on Turgon, Ulmo and the appearance of whales in dreams
Fox related world building
Polar whales are endemic to the waters south of the Helcaraxë and are the most rarely seen by the elves of Beleriand. They have a somewhat shadowed reputation with the northern Sindar and Avarin elves.
Narwhals likewise are only seen from the Helcaraxë. Records of them entered the writings of Noldor hosts who came to Beleriand, occasionally appearing in art and in nightmares. Beluga whales were seen once or twice and were named ghost whales by the host of Fingolfin.
Turgon commissioned paintings of whales he had seen upon one of the inner palace walls, as part of a tribute to Ulmo. Species of immense, mysterious whales appear in his dreams until his death. Indeed, lore about the significance of whales and dolphins in elven dreams is widespread in both Beleriand and Valinor with many attaching prophetic importance to some kinds of imagery.
Dolphins are the most common cetacean seen from the coasts of Beleriand. Common dolphins, striped dolphins, bottle nose dolphins, and false killer whales are the most commonly seen. Elves of the Falathrim as well as the Sindar of Nevrast and Avarin groups in southwestern coastal Beleriand take great joy in these sightings.
Harbor porpoises lived near the havens of Sirion and became a symbol of escape and freedom among the refugees there. They often followed the boats of Eärendil and other sailors.
There are also several species of river dolphin, likely species that do not exist in today’s world. I’ve always enjoyed the idea of at least one species living in the sanctuary of Nan Tathren, known only from the earliest songs of elves of Beleriand, with many believing them to be myths.
There is an Avarin folktale of an elf Prince or maiden coming across a beached dolphin and aiding it. In some versions the dolphin is in actuality a disguised or trapped Maia of Ulmo.
Baleen whales are rarely seen from the coast of Beleriand however several species are observed and recorded by Falathrim sailors and occasionally those staying upon Barad Nimras. Indeed there is a history of extensive records of marine mammals and their behavior in both the Havens of the Falas and upon Barad Nimras. Fin whales, common minke whales, and most rarely, grey whales have been recorded.
Given Ulmo’s genuine presence in Beleriand and its waters, it can be difficult to distinguish between mythology and folklore involving marine mammals and phenomena, and Ulmo’s existence. That being said, while Ulmo does manifest through marine mammals, there are differences in mythology regarding the ocean between the various coastal populations.
This is just a random little collection of thoughts! More about each group can be found through their tags! Please feel free to ask for locations or cultures and I’ll write some spring headcanons for them!
Beleriand is full of old growth forests and in the springtime, the forest floors are blanketed in crocus, bluebells, snowdrops, wild garlic. Common meadowfoam, globe thistle, lavender and buttercup grow in spring in Nevrast, parts of Ossiriand and other milder regions of Beleriand.
In the region of Nargothrond, the tending of the orchards starts in early spring though they are maintained throughout the year. Although apples and pears will not grow until later, the trees begin to bloom early and the spring festival in Nargothrond is harkened by crowns of apple blossoms, sugared pansies on soft breads and games in the orchards and over the Talath Dirnen. Indeed although some sugar is traded for from over the Ered Luin, some is made from apple. I have a lot of thoughts about the Telerin influences in Nargothrond’s culture (more in the Nargothrond tag!) and this is part of it!
In several Avarin cultures, primarily in southern Beleriand, the word for spring is related to the words for sound or renewal of sound. This refers to the music of returning birds, awakening frogs, spring rain and wind storms, and melting creeks that often accompany the return of spring
In Dorthonion, a ceremony is held in the early spring to commemorate the people and animals who died in the winter. This is usually held around the time that the spring births of their goats, sheep, alpacas and rabbits occur. The Bëorian tradition dates back to their journey over the Ered Luin and was lost after the Bragollach when such a devastating number of people and nearly all animals died and the displaced survivors did not have the means or access to the old locations to continue the tradition.
The Falathrim chart seasonal changes (among other things) by the stars, even before the rising of the sun and moon. They have some of the most detailed calendars of elven peoples in Beleriand during the first age.
Frogs especially tree frogs represent spring for the green elves of Ossiriand and elsewhere in Eastern Beleriand.
The Sindar of Hithlum and Nevrast harvest magnolia blossoms in the spring and use them in teas and seasonings as well as in traditional medicine. These customs were taught to the folk of Marach and maintained for many years after.
