Eä's Redemption by AaronAzrael  

Of Aulë and Yavanna (...x1 continuation)

When Aulë heard of Iluvatar's decision,
he threw away his hammer, relieved,
he thanked Eru for the admission
of the Dwarves he had conceived.

"I hope that Eru blesses my deed
and restores the parts that I did wrong."
Yet Iluvatar refused at all to fix
anything that Aulë's hand had done.

"As I have created all of the Ainur
in the very beginning of Light,
I accept to give a place to your
yearning in the world and ignite

the spark of the Imperishable Flame
in the hearts of your Created Race;
yet I won't correct their original shape,
they shall be according to your ways.

Yet one thing I refuse so firmly:
for them to awake before my Children;
your impatience I reject severely,
and you shall gradually wait until then.

It shall feel for quite a long time,
yet you shall not fall into temptation,
and when the moment turns in its prime,
I will wake them up in the Creation.

They shall be like your Children.
But that shall happen in an hour unknown;
after the awakening of Elves and Men -
and not before the Signs are shown.

At many times there will be quarrels
between My Kids and Yours; so be aware,
for they will differ in manners and morals,
so there will be fights and conflicts to bear."

Aulë humbled himself and hushed quietly,
patiently took the Dwarven Firstborns,
put them in secret places that varied entirely
and waited for a very long term.

And since they had to come into being
in the days of Melkor's mighty reign,
the Valar created them strong and enduring,
firm, stubborn and hasty; for they

would be hard-working and tough
in dire situations of hunger or physical lack,
in enmity and friendship showing rough
and hasty temper, yet a team and a pack.

They would live very long lives,
longer days attributed to them
compared to the mortal men years,
yet not immortal in this realm.

Elves would believe that upon their death
Dwarves would return in the soil itself,
yet the Dwarves had a legend instead
that they would be cared for well

by their Creator Aulë, or Mahal the Maker,
he would gather them in Mandos' Halls,
yet in separate strongholds of the Reaper,
then at the End Iluvatar would call

them forth and give them dignified place
among the Children of Creation,
and then, in the Finale of the Days,
the Seven Fathers, the Firstborn,

would re-appear in their midst,
and all the Dwarves would smile,
headed by their King, Durin the First,
greatest among all their tribes.

The Originator of the Drarwen kin
that would live in Khazad-dûm, or Dwarrowdelf,
the most ancient kingdom that there's been,
of glory, in the Mines of Moria's wealth.

This tribe would be the Dwarven folk
the Elves would have greatest bonds with,
of architectural achievements that provoke
awe, marvel and respect for those smiths.