Natural History of Middle-earth: A Tour by Himring

Singing and Sewing

Valinor, Years of the Trees

Characters; Indis and Miriel

For a series of image prompts, including a print showing seven cedar waxwings (link: The birds of California)

Read Singing and Sewing

Indis cleared her voice a little, Miriel’s gaze attentive on her face. But as soon as Indis began singing, Miriel’s needle began moving at a speed bewildering to the eye. Indis stopped, disconcerted, and the needle stopped, too, after a moment.

‘Go on,’ said Miriel, with a bright, encouraging smile. ‘I am listening! You had stopped at seven birds sitting…’

Indis resumed, and once again Miriel’s needle flew over the cloth.

‘Look,’ she said, when Indis’s song had ended.

And there it all was, what Indis had seen and sung of: flights of birds, butterflies, grasshoppers, flowers in the fields!

A Warning in the Sky

Aman, Darkening of Valinor
Characters: Ilmare and Varda

The image prompt showed the Northern Lights, after art by M. Raebel (link: Northern Lights)

Read A Warning in the Sky

‘Ilmare,’ said Varda sternly. ‘What did I say about not communicating with the Exiles in Araman?’

‘But I didn’t talk to them!’ Ilmare protested.

‘No communication, I said! That includes writing! Even if you used light, rather than pen and ink. We really have to toe the party line, here, you know!’ Varda paused. ‘Whether we like it or not... Although I have to say your method was quite ingenious and I will file it away for later use. Anyway, I doubt they will heed your warning.’

‘I did use Sarati,’ Ilmare went on defending herself, ‘rather than Feanorian letters.’

A Deadly Fleet

Vingilot, Late First Age

Characters: Earendil and the three mariners who accompanied him on his last voyage: Erellont, Falathar, Aerandir

The image prompt showed several examples of the Portuguese Man of War, a kind of jellyfish, also known as bluebottle. (link: The Portugese Man of War)

Read A Deadly Fleet

‘Have the Valar sent out a fleet against us?’ asked Falathar in alarm.

‘No,’ said Erellont, ‘look, they are closer than you think. That means they must be smaller.’

‘Smaller, but maybe not less dangerous?’ said Falathar.

‘They do rather look like helmets, don’t they? As if a host of Oarni were approaching us underwater, with just their crests sticking out?’ Aerandir commented. He sounded far too detached, Falathar thought, who was scanning the waves for evidence of weapons.

‘We are not close enough to Valinor to warrant an attack,’ said Earendil, almost regretfully ‘These are just animals, I think.’

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Chapter End Notes

Oarni are a kind of water spirits associated with Osse.

Receding Waters

Eriador, Lake Evendim, Fourth Age

Character: Aragorn

The image prompt was a photo by bunn of a place called New Quay. It showed weathered and overgrown bits of masonry amid very green grass and trees on low hills nearby. 

Read Receding Waters

Here, records still kept at Rivendell said, there had once been a quay, before the waters of the lake changed. Aragorn imagined Elendil setting sail out onto Nenuial, when the quay was new, with Isildur, maybe even Galadriel and Celeborn in a swan ship, early in the Second Age. They would have to resist the temptation to try and put back everything back as it once had been; it was impossible and not even to be desired.

Green lapped against old stone work and the foot of the gentle hills like water. He sat on the grass and made plans.

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Chapter End Notes

Nenuial is the elvish equivalent of Evendim.

The site is Annuminas, former capital of Arnor, just before its restoration by Aragorn.

Far Harad and a Lot of Mud

South of Umbar, Third Age

Characters: Beruthiel and one of her cats

The image prompt showed the Bommi Fish, also called mudskipper. (link: The Bommi Fish)

Read Far Harad and a Lot of Mud

Beruthiel could not suppress a yelp when the fish jumped into the air. She did her best to recover her queenly dignity, although in this patch of swamp there was nobody there to see. But she owed it to her ancestors to maintain composure, even as a shipwrecked exile. Even in a place so far south that the fish jumped and skipped, instead of swimming as ordinary northern fish would.

Well, maybe ordinariness was overrated!

The white cat batted at one of the mudskippers.

‘Bad cat’, she said automatically—even though the fish’s expression reminded her rather of her ex-husband’s…