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b2mem2012-03-11 11:45 am
engarian.livejournal.com) wrote in b2mem2012-03-11 11:45 am
B-7 Erulisse - A Blade of Sun and Moon
B2MeM Challenge: B-7 Landscape – Cliffs, Botany – Sage, Artifacts & Weapons - Narsil
Format: Fictlet
Genre: Drama
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: Telchar
Pairings: None
Summary: Telchar has received a commission for a sword. What goes into making such a weapon? We watch while he makes the blade that will separate Sauron’s ring from his body and speculate about the sword’s long history.
A Blade of Sun and Moon
Sparks were flying upwards, the coals glowed brightly red and his hammer was ringing on the anvil. Telchar was in his element. His assistants were manning the bellows and the regular whoosh was a rhythmic counterpoint to his hammer meeting the newly-formed blade. He had been working with star-metal, metal that had fallen from the starry skies onto the earth. When the star metal was mixed with a secret formulation of steel, a weapon could be made that would have no peer.
He moved in a time-honored sequence: fire to anvil to water and back. He teased the metal, folding and forging it to accept its new shape. Finally after days of work it had taken on the appearance of a sword and was ready for the next step.
Sharpening his gravers, he began carefully saying the words of power while engraving the blade and the pommel. He had imbued the steel with powers that would allow the blade to glow red in daylight and silver during the night, therefore he named the sword ‘Narsil’. Now he carved the Sun and Moon, and the word ‘Narsil’ between them. These properties were now being locked into the blade by both the engravings and by the words he was speaking.
Carrying the carved and shaped blade over to the grinder, he began the rocking motion with his foot that drove the wheel. Holding the blade against the rough stone, sparks flew as he began grinding the edges sharp, carefully watching so as not to overheat the blade. He moved from one wheel to another, and then another, each one placing a finer and sharper edge on the weapon.
Then, with his whetstone in hand, he began the final edgework. He caressed the edges with the stone as a lover caresses the body lying next to him. Each stroke brought the sword closer to completion. Finally, taking leather and finely twisted mithril wire, he carefully wrapped the hilt; then tested the blade by cutting through a falling piece of fine silk. It was almost ready.
For the final step, he took a sage bundle from his shelf and climbed the stairs to the cliff top. Emerging from the entrance that the dwarves guarded on top of their domain, he made his way to a specific stone that was called the Stone of Mahal. Reverentially placing the sword across the stone and lighting the sage bundle, he wove the pungent smoke around both stone and weapon in a complex pattern while praying to Mahal to bless the blade. The sword was now complete and ready to be given to the red-haired Elven lord.
A/N Although the sword Narsil is mentioned as having been Elendil’s sword carried against Sauron, its history says it is made by Telchar in the First Age. So how did a Dwarven-made sword make it to Númenor? I speculate here that the sword came to Maedhros who then gave it to Elros who carried it to Númenor where its history got a bit murky, but finally it ended up with the family of Elendil.
Format: Fictlet
Genre: Drama
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: Telchar
Pairings: None
Summary: Telchar has received a commission for a sword. What goes into making such a weapon? We watch while he makes the blade that will separate Sauron’s ring from his body and speculate about the sword’s long history.
A Blade of Sun and Moon
Sparks were flying upwards, the coals glowed brightly red and his hammer was ringing on the anvil. Telchar was in his element. His assistants were manning the bellows and the regular whoosh was a rhythmic counterpoint to his hammer meeting the newly-formed blade. He had been working with star-metal, metal that had fallen from the starry skies onto the earth. When the star metal was mixed with a secret formulation of steel, a weapon could be made that would have no peer.
He moved in a time-honored sequence: fire to anvil to water and back. He teased the metal, folding and forging it to accept its new shape. Finally after days of work it had taken on the appearance of a sword and was ready for the next step.
Sharpening his gravers, he began carefully saying the words of power while engraving the blade and the pommel. He had imbued the steel with powers that would allow the blade to glow red in daylight and silver during the night, therefore he named the sword ‘Narsil’. Now he carved the Sun and Moon, and the word ‘Narsil’ between them. These properties were now being locked into the blade by both the engravings and by the words he was speaking.
Carrying the carved and shaped blade over to the grinder, he began the rocking motion with his foot that drove the wheel. Holding the blade against the rough stone, sparks flew as he began grinding the edges sharp, carefully watching so as not to overheat the blade. He moved from one wheel to another, and then another, each one placing a finer and sharper edge on the weapon.
Then, with his whetstone in hand, he began the final edgework. He caressed the edges with the stone as a lover caresses the body lying next to him. Each stroke brought the sword closer to completion. Finally, taking leather and finely twisted mithril wire, he carefully wrapped the hilt; then tested the blade by cutting through a falling piece of fine silk. It was almost ready.
For the final step, he took a sage bundle from his shelf and climbed the stairs to the cliff top. Emerging from the entrance that the dwarves guarded on top of their domain, he made his way to a specific stone that was called the Stone of Mahal. Reverentially placing the sword across the stone and lighting the sage bundle, he wove the pungent smoke around both stone and weapon in a complex pattern while praying to Mahal to bless the blade. The sword was now complete and ready to be given to the red-haired Elven lord.
A/N Although the sword Narsil is mentioned as having been Elendil’s sword carried against Sauron, its history says it is made by Telchar in the First Age. So how did a Dwarven-made sword make it to Númenor? I speculate here that the sword came to Maedhros who then gave it to Elros who carried it to Númenor where its history got a bit murky, but finally it ended up with the family of Elendil.