B2MeM 2012: Hithlain by Himring

[hhimring]

B2MeM Challenge: I-18: rope-making (Talents and Skills); hill (Landscape)
Format: ficlet
Genre: general
Rating: General
Warnings: none
Characters: Galadriel, Celeborn
Pairings: Galadriel/Celeborn
Summary: A very long time before Master Samwise, hithlain rope already had its fans.

They depart from Doriath laden with gifts and supplies.

‘What is this?’, Artanis asks, picking up the coils of silvery-grey rope and weighing them in her hands. Soft, but strong, she thinks, liking the feel of it in her hands, the texture.

‘You are interested in rope?’, Celeborn asks in return. He should not have been surprised. She seems interested in anything and everything, this young Noldo.

‘My cousins in Alqualonde are skilled in all kinds of rope-making’, she answers. ‘Hawsers for their ships, painters for their boats... But I have not seen this material before.’

‘It is hithlain’, Celeborn tells her. ‘I could show you how it is made, if you were not about to leave...’

‘I will just have to come back then, won’t I?’, she says and smiles at him.

***

The silvery-grey rope slithers down the rock face, its final coil pooling at his feet.

His wife’s face appears up above, haloed in sunlit hair against blue sky.

‘Come on up’, she calls out cheerfully. ‘I can see Mirrormere from here!’

He shakes his head a little ruefully. ‘Noldo’, he grumbles to himself affectionately, takes firm hold of the rope and begins to climb.


Note on source material: First part based on the departure from Lorien in FOTR, second part more loosely on the descent from the Emyn Muil in TT. (Also, obviously, based on the Silmarillion.)

Comments

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

Artanis! I love Artanis-fic. Thank you for this, it's lovely, and a wonderful use of the prompt!

[hhimring]

Actually, it's my first Artanis-fic. I'm glad you like it!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

What a sweet glimpse into the early days of their courtship. :)

[hhimring]

Thank you! Sadly, there is a shadow in the background: those cousins in Alqualonde--or rather what might have happened to them and that Celeborn has no idea about all that yet.
I wondered whether I should introduce some rope-making Noldor instead. Then I decided that the shadow was there, whether I actually mentioned Alqualonde or not, so why try to dodge it?

[alasse-mirimiel.livejournal.com]

Noldo indeed. I liked the parallels with LotR, and for some reason I really like Celeborn in this.

[hhimring]

Thank you! Yes, I found myself liking Celeborn, too, as I wrote him. I never actually disliked him (except just a bit on a couple of occasions when I've seen his character used to demonstrate how much more noble and intrinsically good the Sindar are than the Noldor!). But I should write him more, I guess, I might well get to like him even better!

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Good one. I like the image of Galadriel clambering up rocks, since she does seem more than capable of it but we see her in state most of the time.

[hhimring]

We do. Nevertheless, even in the Third Age she comes across to me as someone still well capable of clambering up rocks!

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is how I know her *g*. Thanks for a lovely glimpse of them. Like your source material, very well chosen, and the prompts worked fine.

[hhimring]

Thank you very much! She sends her best regards and promises to drop by soon!

[mrowe.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is a lovely use of the rope-making prompt:-0

[hhimring]

I actually wrote the prompt myself. Only, when I put together the prompts for that card, I envisioned a hobbit fan writing about the rope-makers in Sam's family and the rope-walk in Tighfield.
As far as I know that hasn't happened, but maybe it has and I just haven't spotted it yet!

[aliana1.livejournal.com]

This is charming! I especially like the description of the rope, and the last line.

[hhimring]

Thank you! The description of the rope is meant to get across that Galadriel really appreciates it in much the way Sam does, even though she is an elf and a princess and all that. I'm glad that seems to have worked!

[foxrafer.livejournal.com]

I like how flirtatious she is; seeing them like this is a lot of fun.

[hhimring]

Happy to hear you enjoyed it! She is a lot younger here--and even in the Third Age you still feel she knows how to flirt!

[grey-wonderer.livejournal.com]

Awwwww, I love this!

[hhimring]

Thank you very much!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

This was most enjoyable!

[hhimring]

Happy to hear you enjoyed it. I am not often granted something this light-hearted and am grateful when it happens.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Very nicely done. I really like this. I love Galadriel and Celeborn a lot anyway, so you were kicking in an open door choosing to write about them. I also loved the parallel references the present one so happy and relaxed and the one from LotR so fraught with terrible tension and urgency.

[hhimring]

Thank you! I'm very glad those parallels work for you! It's the first time I've written Galadriel and Celeborn together (except for a very brief reference), although I do like them in FOTR, and I was quite surprised when it happened.

[starli-ght.livejournal.com]

Much love! Not only was it a wonderful use of the prompt, but a most delightful story, as well. And, adding to it that second layer of the rope and what Sam was having to use it makes the whole come together in such a unique way. Great work!

[hhimring]

I'm glad that works for you! I was hoping that the contrast with Sam would come across a kind of balancing and not just as an arbitrary choice.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

This is a wonderful duo. Great job!

- Erulisse (one L)

[hhimring]

Thank you!

[zdenka]

I like this cheerful picture of them together! It's rare to see Galadriel and Celeborn being playful.

[hhimring]

Thank you very much! There is an element of playfulness in her even in the fairly dire circumstances of the scenes in FOTR, isn't there? And I'm sure he appreciated that in her.

[havamahal.livejournal.com]

I couldn't help but smile at that 'Noldo' in the last line. Such a sweet and light-hearted ficlet - despite mentioning of Alqualondë. I'm really starting to like Celeborn and Galadriel, especially your version of them. Hope we'll see them in your skilful hands more often from now on. :)

[hhimring]

Thank you!
I would be nice if they visited me again, but as theirs was a surprise visit, I can do no more than leave the door open and hope!

[ladyelleth.livejournal.com]

Another ficlet that I thought I had reviewed and just found I hadn't - but this was still as enjoyable at the second read-through as it has been at the first. I love the affection between these two, there are way too many fics that have Celeborn as the whipped, submissive husband. Seeing them on equal footing is delightful, and refreshing.

[hhimring]

Thank you!
I think this grew out of my piece on Vana.
You might like this piece I recently read about Galadriel and Celeborn, though: http://hhimring.deviantart.com/favourites/45825909#/d4ne0s8

[elleth]

Coming back to this after years, I'm so struck by young(er) Galadriel's vivacity, and Celeborn's affectionate grumbling, it's such a vivid picture of either of their characters - and not hard to see how he fell in love with such a bright spirit. :D I loved the callback to Alqualondë, too - of course she'd know about ropes, even outside the matter of general interest!

[hhimring]

I'm very glad that this piece stood up so well to being revisited! You know what Sam says of Galadriel: as merry as any lass I ever saw with daisies in her hair in springtime! I tried to capture a bit of that merriness.
I think Galadriel would know quite a number of assorted bits of Falmarin lore!