"Snowdrops" by Himring

[hhimring]

Title: Snowdrops
Author Name: Himring
Prompt: flowers peeking above the snow (Seasons of Middle-earth: Spring)
Summary: Valacar, prince of Gondor, is sent to Rhovanion to learn the ways of his father’s allies and falls in love with Vidumavi, the daughter of his host
Rating: PG
Warnings: none (except for a bit of geekishness)
Author's Notes: Simultaneously written for the current challenge at lotr_community. The requirements were that the story should contain no dialogue and that one of the characters should point at something.


He is still only learning her language.
When he arrived in Rhovanion—a dutiful son willing to do his best for his father and for Gondor—he knew these people had their own language, of course. But somehow he nevertheless expected the court to speak Westron, especially around him, the Gondorian prince. It was only one of many misconceptions.  Already, now, he could teach his father a thing or two about his allies of Rhovanion.
After the initial shock, he gradually found out that she could speak Westron after all, more fluently than he had believed.  But by that time, he was grateful for the language barrier that had made him mute. There is no telling what he might have blurted out in those early days, desperate to impress her, if they had been conversing freely in Westron—promises of ropes of pearls, boasts of palaces by the sea…
Now he thinks that would only have put her off.  He gained her friendship because he was feeling lost among strangers and homesick and she wanted to put him at his ease, not by the high repute of Gondor’s royal line. His northern princess—but he dare not call her his yet!—is gracious, but far too proud to curry favour.
And still they have spoken nothing at all that was not fit to have been overheard by any man living! Cooped up in winter quarters together—so much more closely than in Osgiliath where winter is more a thing of seeping moisture and long draughty hallways than ice storms and deep snow drifts—there was no space for any private conversation. In that crowded gloom, he feels it was only her bright presence that kept him from grabbing a horse, any horse, from the stables and trying to escape southwards, foolhardy and ill-mannered as that would have been.
But now it is early spring in Rhovanion’s glades and, outwardly silent, he walks the forest paths beside his Wood Maid. In his mind, he is rehearsing the words he has learnt of her language. For when he proposes, it will not be in Westron. Westron, he has learnt, is the language of commerce and politics in Rhovanion, but anything that engages the heart and emotions is discussed in Rhovanin. If he asks her to marry him in Westron, he fears, he would only sound as if he was proposing a political alliance. If he wishes to offer her his love, it must be done in Rhovanin.
(And when, in later years, lore masters engage in discourse on the beauty of the Elvish languages before King Valacar and swear noble sentiments only sound truly lofty in Quenya, Valacar will nod politely and not contradict them—but in his heart, he will know that the words I love you have their full meaning for him only in a single language—and it is neither Quenya nor Sindarin.)
But he is not ready yet, cannot say what he wishes to say in her language eloquently enough: Without you, I will be more lonely and homesick in Gondor than I ever was in Rhovanion.
She touches his elbow and he starts. She smiles at him and points, directing his attention to a bunch of snowdrops peeking out of a patch of snow.

***

He is really rather good-looking. She was inclined to resent this at first. He is the prince of mighty Gondor, descendant of a line of heroes and lore masters—it did not seem entirely fair that he should have the looks as well!
But over the past months, she has watched him prove himself and, especially during the winter, when she could observe his behaviour almost constantly. Spend the winter with a stranger and, come spring, he will be either your enemy or your friend—that is what they say in Rhovanion.  Valacar is brave and skilled in the manner of the warriors of Gondor—he is also unfailingly courteous even when he is miserable and utterly bewildered and does not withhold gratitude for favours shown, however small, by Gondorian standards, they may be.
She touches his elbow to show him the snowdrops growing by the path. His serious face lights up with delight, both at her brief touch and at the sight of that little bunch of white flowers.  And she knows then that, when eventually he proposes, however long it takes him to gather his courage, whatever language he does it in, she will accept.

A/N: "Wood Maid" is the literal meaning of the name Vidumavi. We don't actually know what the language of Rhovanion was called. It seems to have been similar to but more archaic than the language of Rohan and incomprehensible to speakers of Westron, although ultimately related. I have called it Rhovanin.

Comments

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed--Valacar and Vidumavi, when was the last time I read a fic about them? (Ever?) But they do have a real story. It's a very sweet story. I needed to read something nice and human. I've been miserable all day. Not all cultural differences have to end in misery. Now I probably will remember their names the next time I see them.

[hhimring]

Thank you very much, Oshun! I'm so glad you liked this..
Sadly, the Professor arranged for some misery for these two as well: she dies considerably earlier than him and then there is the Kinstrife, although mainly after Valacar's death.
But I refuse to let their courtship be overshadowed by this! I really do not think they can be blamed for the Kinstrife; that blame rests squarely at the door of those who started it.
Also, I didn't create the Vidumavi and Valacar character tags on this community. When you click on them, you will find a dribble poem about them by Dreamflower and a drabble by Starli_ght.
That said, there is certainly not a lot of fic about Vidumavi. I was talking about her with Zdenka and we agreed there should be more. I wrote this. I hope Zdenka will write some, too, one day.

[tehta.livejournal.com]

This was fun. With the two POVs, you really manage to convey that they are both good (and competent) people who deserve each other, which makes this very satisfying. And the thoughts on the uses of different languages are very interesting.

[hhimring]

Thank you! I'm glad the two POVs worked!
The language bit is, of course, where the geekishness comes in. I seem to be a bit recalcitrant--my stories are not all dialogue-driven, although they do often tend to be, but the moment I'm actually forbidden to use dialogue, I start thinking about language!

[tanis2014.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhhh ... you made me cry with the beauty of this. What a fabulous job you did of conveying emotion here without the aid of dialogue and what an awesome use of the prompt! I know neither of these individuals, but you sucked me right in with Valacar's homesickness and his observations of his love and her language. Loved loved LOVED the sidebar note in parenthesis as to Valcar's private thoughts years later when he's told only Quenya or Sindarin can fully express emotions.

And you end in on the perfect note. This was a gorgeous little piece!

[hhimring]

I'm really glad you enjoyed this so much!
And I'm happy that little aside on the Elvish languages worked for you.
The two characters are rather obscure, although quite canonical. But I think their story is interesting and well worth a look.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Different cultures, languages, customs, historical views - wow, it's just like home! Might be why this spoke so strongly to me. I love your young prince, he is so well-meaning and courteous, determined to manage his stay properly and not be an embarrassment to his family or people. He absolutely deserves the lady of his heart. And he has such a good incentive to hone up his language skills. She's wise and lovely, and like most women knows how the tale will unwind long before her future husband makes even the first hesitant mood. Lovely romance :)

[hhimring]

Thank you! I'm so glad this spoke to you.
As you know, it's a little unusual for me--the kind of story that I would probably only venture to write for B2MeM.
So I'm really glad these characters came across as believable and likable!

[with-rainfall.livejournal.com]

The linguistic associations for Valacar were laid out beautifully here, particularly his hesitancy in speaking Rhovanin and his idea that Westron would have been hasty and distant.

[hhimring]

Thank you! I'm glad Valacar's thoughts on Rhovanin and his attitude to it seem convincing!

[zopyrus.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this! This is a love story I've never thought about, but you make both POVs incredibly sympathetic--I love their different priorities, the way Valacar intellectualizes the importance of using the correct language, and the way Vidumavi cares about different things entirely.

[hhimring]

Thank you very much!
Yes, Valacar intellectualizes the importance of using Rhovanin, but I wouldn't say perhaps that Vidumavi cares about different things entirely--it's just that in recognizing the underlying intention, she is less concerned about how it manifests itself.

[astris-eldalie.livejournal.com]

This was great. I love that you took two more obscure characters and really gave them life here – and explored it through the question of language, no less. And this was really beautiful, too. (Not to mention well-timed – I've been rereading the Appendices, and just got through the part with this story!)

[hhimring]

Thank you!
I'm glad to hear that my story about Valacar and Vidumavi came at the right time for you!

[suzll.livejournal.com]

I loved seeing both of these together--it fits so well, and I loved the bits with the language.

[hhimring]

Thank you!
I'm glad this worked well. It was a bit of an experiment!

[kittotter.livejournal.com]

I like the consideration you put into the language of Rhovanion. It drives this story so, it could be listed as a character!

[hhimring]

Thank you!
I'm very interested in language, as you can probably tell, so I invested some of my own geekishness in Valacar.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Cultural differences and language barriers--I love this sort of thing (language teacher here). :-) So I loved the concept of this story and you did a great job using it to characterize these two. Loved it!

[hhimring]

Thank you!
I've done a bit of language teaching myself and I've also switched languages and countries myself, so in that sense it was a bit of "write what you know"!

[zdenka]

And finally I get to read this! I enjoyed this story very much. I'm pleased to see something written about Vidumavi, of course, but I also liked how you convey their characters in a brief space and the development of their courtship.

I especially liked this line:

but in his heart, he will know that the words I love you have their full meaning for him only in a single language—and it is neither Quenya nor Sindarin.)

Because indeed, language has the meaning that people give it.

[hhimring]

Thank you!
Yes, I think so.
Although I love the sound of languages as much as anyone, it is what is said in them and what that means to people that really gives them life.

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

This was just lovely, really. I've always loved this romance and think it deserves more examination than we've given it (myself included!), and I love the way you get beyond both of them just being reprsentatives of their respective cultures. It was deep and beautiful and peaceful in a lovely way.

[hhimring]

Thank you very much, Marta! I'm very glad that the way I wrote their characters works for you and I'm happy you found it a peaceful story and enjoyed it!