Story [LOTR] "Derin Lim An-uirfalas" (one-shot)

Title: Derin Lim An-uirfalas
Author: DantanaSkywalker
Rating: G
Genre: romance, angst
Author's Notes: I wondered what Elrond told his wife about their daughter's decision to marry a human, and what their first words to each other were when he got to Valinor. I wrote this not long after the "Return Of The King" film, but it refers to things in the books.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in here, and they're not used with permission.


The grey ship docked on gleaming white shores under a bright sun. The passengers, comprised of Elves, two Hobbits, and one Maia, walked down to the beach. They stood for several moments with the pale sand under their feet, the cool wind on their skin. Green fields stretched before them into the distance.

Their party was met by a host of Eldar. A tall, slender elf-woman with flowing golden hair separated from the crowd and ran forward, crying, "Elrond!"

Elrond Peredhel caught Celebrían in his arms. He held her tight, closing his blue-grey eyes, breathing deep of her scent. For one who had been alive for thousands of years, a space of five hundred might have seemed trivial . . . unless it was the amount of time he had spent separated from his wife.

Celebrían drew back, her blue eyes sparkling. "Elrond, meleth nín. Anírnen anann adired i thîr lín."

He trailed his fingers down her cheek. "O, bess nín, melon le. Gerin 'lass dhaer garel lin."

Celebrían turned bright eyes to Celeborn and Galadriel as her parents approached. "Ada! Naneth!"

It was a joyful reunion, for the first few moments . . . until Celebrían realised her daughter was not present, nor her sons.

"Elrond . . . Where are our children?"

This was the moment he had been dreading most since he had given Arwen over to Aragorn.

"Our sons will sail, in time. They do not feel the pull of the sea as yet."

Her eyes saw much. "And Arwen?"

Elrond hesitated, glanced at Celeborn and Galadriel, at Gandalf, then back to the piercing eyes of Celebrían. He sighed.

"She has wed Aragorn, son of Arathorn, called Elessar and Tel-Contar. The King of . . . Men."

For one blinding moment, Celebrían felt grief at the loss of her child, but held hope that one day, long from now, she would see Arwen again. After all, had not Luthíen and Beren made the same choice, and after death reached Valinor, even for a time?

She didn't know if she would be able to let Arwen go again, if she ever saw her. She wanted to curse her daughter's choice. But looking into Elrond's eyes, she knew Arwen had known what she was doing. It had been no sudden whim.

Even knowing that . . . it did little to lessen the hurt.

Later, she stood on the beach, under the moonlight, her feet bare in the gossamer sand. A wind lifted her hair, turned silver in the pale light, and it flowed in streams behind her as she looked East, over a Sea she could never cross.

"Do not grieve for Undomiel, iell nin."

"How can I not? For five centuries, I have longed to see her again, and now I will not."

Galadriel placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Arwen's choice was not an easy one. She almost made the crossing. She was near Mithlond when a vision came to her. A vision of her child."

Celebrían turned, finally. "A child? How long is it since Arwen wed this Elessar?"

"Two years. The child has not been birthed yet, but it will not be long. Arwen told me they plan to name their son Eldarion."

"Eldarion," Celebrían echoed. "It is a good name."

Galadriel touched her child's brow. "It is difficult to accept, but if not for the choice of Arwen . . . the Doom of Men would have come. The Heir of Isildur would not have ascended the throne. The Enemy would not have been overthrown."

She let this sink in. Finally, Celebrían asked, "The Halflings . . . The younger is the Ringbearer, the one who destroyed the Ring and defeated Sauron?"

Her mother hesitated, then said, "It was through Frodo's actions that the Ring was destroyed.

Celebrían stared at her mother, then slowly no

 

This had a very powerful and believable tone to it. I liked your characterization of Elrond.

 

Thank you! Admittedly, the focus of this is on Celebrían, but I've always had a soft-spot for Elrond.


Dana

 

This is beautiful!! I never really thought about Arwen's mother, and I love this insight into her feelings.

 

Aww, this was so cool!!

I loved the Elvish, it added a lot of emotion.

Great job!!

 

I don't even know if she's mentioned in LOTR, I can't recall 100%. (I'll just have to go back and reread, won't I? ) But she always kind of fascinated me, because her story is such a tragic one.

Thanks! I have others, but . . . well, the only one I'd consider posting is this LOTR/Princess Diaries crossover . . . Really, don't ask.


Dana

 

Please post that crossover. Please?

I didn't even know Arwen's mother was still alive. Then again, I know next to nothing about LOTR apart from the movies, so Galadriel being Arwen's grandmother was a nice surprise as well.

Happy ending, but still sad that she didn't know she'd never see her daughter again.

 

Awww, beautifully done!


I'm trying to remember where I found it, but there was a comic about Elrond reuniting with Celebrian and asking about her children. After Elrond tells her that Arwen chose to remain mortal, Galadriel buts in with "she gets that from YOUR side of the family, you know."

 

Really? I've considered it, but it's very dear to me and I'd hate it if jerks ripped it apart.

Yes, Celebrian is still alive. She used to divide her time between her mother's place and her husband's, spending a couple decades in each. One time, when she was travelling either to or from Lorien on her own, she was attacked by orcs and kidnapped and held by them for an indeterminate amount of time, during which they, IIRC, raped her repeatedly. Elrond, their sons Elrohir and Elladan, Galadriel, and some elves from Lorien went in and busted her out, but she was so shaken up by this that she had to leave Middle Earth and sail to Valinor.

That's probably one of the reasons that Elrond was so fired up to have her sail with him, because he had no way to let Celebrian know what their daughter was doing.

Thank you!

That sounds hilarious. If you find it, please let me know!


Dana

 

Wonderful, wonderful story. I like how it integrates successfully elements of both book- and movieverse.

The ending is perfectly Elvish: bittersweet.

Love the Sindarin- I'm trying to learn the language myself, so trying to see if I could recognize anything was fun. Sad to say, just the pronouns.

I've often thought about how Celebrían would react to finding that Arwen wouldn't come, expecially since they most likely seperated thinking she would sail. (Of course, there's always the possibility of foresight having informed them otherwise.) Elrond's my favorite character, but I don't think I could pull this story off right now.

As another poster asked, Celebrían is mentioned once in FotR when Galadriel gives Aragorn the Elfstone of the house of Elendil while he's in Lothlórien and thrice in the Appendices of RotK (her marriage, her attack on her way to Lothlórien, and her departure).

 

I'm a huge fan of both movies and books, for different reasons. The only thing in this that's really movie-verse is Celeborn sailing with Galadriel, because he didn't in the books. That's one thing that I think is an improvement over the books, because I think he should have gone with her.

Considering that Aragorn was born some 410 years after Celebrian left, I doubt there was much in the way of foresight involved there. Even if Galadriel knew, it's not like she could pick up the phone and call Valinor.


Dana

 

Yes, well, that's what I get for reviewing far too late at night. You're quite right.

 

It's okay.

 

That was a great read, and surprisingly, something I've never really thought about - I knew Celebrian was Arwen's mother, but never really thought about it more than that.

I would say its possible that foresight allowed her to suspect she would not see Arwen, as it is possible to see well into the future, but very unlikely.

Also, nice job on the Elvish - I used to know more, but have let it slip, so that Mae Govannen and Namarie is about my extent now.

 

Lovely piece. There was great characterization of Elrond and Celebrian, and I loved the description of Valinor (really had a magical, otherworldly feel to it) and the Elvish used. Nice touch!

Tab

 

Wonderful work, Dana. I've always wondered what Elrond would have said to Celebrian, and you've presented it in an extremely believable way. I, too, love how you've incorporated Sindarin. Adds that final nice touch.

 

BEAUTIFUL

My first venture out of SW fandom and I stumble on such a wonderful, heartfelt vig.