Friends of Nimrodel: Tapestry of Dreams

[Nurumaiel]

Liornung cast his eyes over their company as they sat for their lunch, and he smiled in deep fondness. Rarely had he met such interesting personalities, such kind and open personalities. At least kind. Argeleafa was not open to them. Not yet. And they could all sing, too. A trace of smugness crept into his smile then. All of the company had sung at least once... except Nethwador. In truth he had never heard Nethwador even speak. Liornung had made friends more or less with all the members of the company except Nethwador. He had half-ignored the boy. It was difficult to make friends with him, though. He was fond of Bellyn and Amroth, but of the others he was suspicious.

But it was no matter. Liornung had been in the company of the suspicious before.

He drew forth his fiddle from his pack and smiled at Bellyn, who was sitting close to him. She looked up into his face and returned the smile, the expression on her face half-questioning as she wondered if he would sing again. Liornung gestured to Argeleafa; shyly she came to him. Liornung smiled smugly again. This was the way he was meant to be... seated upon the grass with people gathered about him, looking earnestly up into his face and hoping for some show of his music. He set his fiddle on his knee and held it as one might hold a lute. "Well, lassies, have you ever heard a fiddle played in such a manner as this?" His fingers sought out the strings and placed themselves upon them. The bow lay untouched on the ground beside him. He ran the nails of his right hand down over the four strings of the fiddle. "See, I can play like a lute, only it brings a more careless, airy, childish sound. Listen." He began strumming an amusing little tune and soon began to sing.

"Oh there's an old man upon the road
panting under his weary load!
Mamma, mamma, mamma dear,
let the old man come in here.
La-dee-dally, mamma dear,
let the old man come in here."

"Oh there's a poor dog in the evening late.
By his thinness I fancy he hasn't ate.
Mamma, mamma, mamma dear,
let the poor dog come in here.
La-dee-dally, mamma dear,
let the poor dog come in here."

He stopped and was delighted with the laughter of the two girls. "It's an old song I used to sing when I was a child," he said, "and some children of Rohan sing it even now. It's very long and about all the unfortunate people the boy in the song sees. It begins with the old man in the morning and ends with the dog in the evening. Out of the goodness of her heart the mother lets them come in and at the end the house is full. I'll sing you the whole song someday, but I cannot now. It is very long and it has been many years since I last sang it. I would have to bring it back to my memory."

Ædegard, not too far away, was chuckling over the song and Liornung heard. He looked over the rest of the company to see if any others had enjoyed his song, and his eyes fell on Nethwador, who had been listening intently and gazing at Bellyn. He suddenly felt an urge to befriend this lad. He had a nephew who he fancied would someday be a bard, and he enjoyed teaching him in his spare time. Perhaps Nethwador would enjoy learning the art of the fiddle. Gesturing, he called softly, "Mellon... Nethwador! Come here and sit with us and I will teach you to play the fiddle."

[mark12_30]

Nethwador jumped up and his dark brown eyes flew open wide. The whites of his eyes shone against his tanned skin, and he drew away at first. Then he paused.

Taitheneb spoke. "He offers to teach you music."

Eagerness grew, wrestling with a deep-rooted wariness. His eyes darted from Liornung to Taitheneb, and back, and then to lady Bella. She sat still, watching.

Liornung beckoned with his hand. "He's just as wild has he was before we got to Lorien."

"No," whispered Bella. "Not quite."

Taitheneb spoke again. "Liornung will teach you music, if you will learn it from him."

Nethwador took one cautious step towards the three sitting on the grass, and another, eyes flicking often between Taitheneb and Liornung. His every muscle was taut.

"Pig? Feh. He's more like a wolf, " muttered Ædegard.

Nethwador inched steadily closer, and Liornung hummed a few more verses to pass the time. Finally Nethwador stood five feet away, and halted, eyes darting between Liornung and Bella.

They were all startled to hear Amroth's voice ring out. "If they hurt you, I will beat them myself. Sit down, and hold the viol as gently as you would hold a bird."

Nethwador looked toward Amroth. The tautness left his body and the fear left his eyes. Straightening, he nodded, and stepped forward, and sat down crosslegged between Liornung and Bella. He looked from his face to hers, and then at the ground.

[Imladris]

A splash awoke Gwyllion from her deep sleep. A fish maybe? A great fish with bugging eyes, white flesh, and cruel, jagged teeth? She shuddered. Or could it be something worse? And if it was something worse, was it better to roll over and go to sleep, thus presenting an easy target if it happened to be hungry, or to go and face it straight on, with an imaginary sword in hand?

She struggled to her feet and stumbled forward as her legs loosened. Soft, white mists curled from the swamp, and it reeked with a foul smell. Clouds of blood sucking winged insects scuttled away and the chirping of the frogs wavered, and then faded.

She shivered, hoping that her presence had cowed them to silence. But...birds did not silence themselves within forests when she appeared.

Splash

She tried to laugh. 'Twas nothing. Hopefully. Probably not. No, it could not be nothing. Did fish live in swamps anyway? She could not remember.

Something black slithered through the scraggling weeds. A snake...an innocent harmless snake. Snakes were nasty creatures. They crushed their prey and stuck their forked tongues out at you. She moved her foot away.

The black thing lunged at her, curling itself about her ankle, dragging her foot into the murky water. Gwyllion screamed as she glimpsed the massive, shimmering black head of a monstrous brute.

Her skin burned and she felt her muscles relax, whispering, like a lover, of sleep and relaxation. It was useless to struggle....struggling could not help her...

[Nurumaiel]

Liornung regarded Amroth gravely and gave the slightest nod of his head. "Thank you, Lord Amroth," he said, and turned to Nethwador. Gently and slowly he took Nethwador's hands and placed the fiddle in them, as though he were using the utmost care to give a child some candy, a child that was frightened and did not know he meant good. And just as gently and slowly he guided Nethwador's hands to hold the fiddle. "Now put it to your shoulder," he said softly, "or rather so it is more between your shoulder and your throat. Hold it with the left hand as this; you will have balance of your fiddle as well as being able to play the notes on the strings with ease. Put your chin here." Liornung taught him with great patience, but he was surprised to see that Nethwador understood perfectly and acted to his instructions with remarkable swiftness.

Liornung gestured to Bellyn, who gave him the bow, and he placed it in Nethwador's right hand. "Now hold it like this," he said, "and try not to touch the hairs with your fingers. Now run the bow gently over this string here, at this spot." Nethwador did as he was instructed and while the note was clear and distinct the sound was rather scratchy. Liornung nodded approval but Nethwador looked confused. "It's all right, lad," said Liornung. "You cannot expect it to sound wonderful the first time. In time you will produce as clear and fine a note as I, if not more so. And now let me show you how to play these other notes...." Some time passed as he did this and as Nethwador practiced, and then at last Liornung nodded. "Now you will play those notes again and again in that order while Bella sings," he said. "You will not be playing the tune of her song, but you will provide a lovely accompaniment."

"Which song is it you wish me to sing?" questioned Bella.

"The one you sung before," Liornung replied. "It ran thus..."

"Hark where the night is falling,
Hark hear the pipes a-calling!
Loudly and proudly calling down through the glen....

"And so on. Will you sing it?"

She nodded, and Liornung spoke to Nethwador once again. "Play the notes in the order I showed you as an introduction. After you play them once continue on, but after that first time through Bellyn will begin to sing. Now..." Nethwador glanced at Bellyn and then began. The sound was still scratchy at some times, and wispy at the others, but the noise was sweet to Liornung's ears. He had taught many young people how to play the fiddle but every time it was a joy. When Nethwador played the notes the first time round and then continued on as Bellyn began to sing. All of the company fell silent to listen, and when Bellyn's voice ceased to sing Nethwador played the notes twice again before letting the last note dwindle away. Tears were openly in Argeleafa's eyes, and there was a suspicious glint in Liornung's own eyes. He ducked his head and ran a hand across his face, and when he looked up his eyes were dry. He smiled and said one word. "Beautiful."

[mark12_30]

Nethwador sat quite still, holding the viol under his chin, yet gently as if holding a bird. His eyes flicked toward Amroth, and then toward Taitheneb, who had been translating with osanwe for Nethwador the entire lesson. Then he looked toward lady Bella, who had handed him the bow. She smiled, nervously.

Slowly, as if Bella were a bird that might fly away, he lowered the bow and offered it to her. She glanced at Liornung, who nodded, and Bella accepted it.

She was surprised when the fiddle followed the bow, and began to protest. But moving slowly and gently, Nethwador shifted til he knelt beside her, and guided the fiddle til it rested under her chin. Liornung laughed, and then shot a suspicious glance at Taitheneb; but Taitheneb looked surprised too; it was Amroth who seemed to take no notice.

Nethwador was indeed treating Bella as gently as if she were a bird... a tiny, delicate bird. Liornung watched closely but did not intervene while Nethwador repeated his own lesson to Bella, and she learned the same notes.

[mark12_30]

Deep in her dreams Mellonin heard a scream, and she moaned. Not more torment! Drowning... another drowning dream. She heard gurgling noises, and struggled to wake, to escape the dream, to breathe again. She sat up gasping for breath.

But the screams had not stopped, nor the splashing. She struggled to her feet barely in time to see Gwyllion disappear beneath the water.

[Nurumaiel]

Liornung gazed in complete awe as Nethwador gently instructed Bellyn. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and it was plain to see the joy the boy felt in teaching the Lady Bellyn. He had never ventured to move so close to her before, and know he knelt right beside her. She seemed tense at his nearness but was slowly becoming absorbed in her lesson.

It was a beautiful picture the two made... both were like little birds, more than a little afraid of each other. If either one made a sudden move the other would flit away in panic. But both were acting very quiet and gentle and soft, so as not to frighten the other. Liornung found he could not think of anything to say to encourage the two in their lesson, so he merely fell back quietly to sit beside Argeleafa, who had moved closer to Ædegard to ask him what he had thought of the song.

He would sit and wait. He would not intervene on the lesson but would see how it played out. He did not wish to disturb the two little birds. It was too fair a sight.

[Aylwen Dreamsong]

Bellyn did not dare move with haste, and only moved when Nethwador instructed her to do so. The notes did not come out clear, and Bellyn almost felt embarrassed when the scratchy, rought notes flowed out into the air. The notes came out slow and steady as Nethwador guided Bellyn's hand that held the bow. Bellyn did not learn as quickly as the dark boy had, and this flustered the Gondorian girl, for she could feel all the eyes of her companions on her and Nethwador.

She practiced the notes Nethwador had taught her slowly, and the boy nodded as she recited the sounds. If she made a mistake, she searched valiantly for the right note, using only her ears until Nethwador would kindly and timidly step in to rearrange her left hand on the fingerboard. Bellyn did not understand the music that came out of the little fiddle, for she did not understand music as Liornung did. She did not know how the music came out of the wooden thing, and why the notes sounded so well together. Yet somehow the music sounded lovely and felt wonderful in her hands instead of within her own voice.

Nethwador gestured his hands for Bellyn to pick up speed in the little tune, and gradually Bellyn played the same tune Nethwador had. Her version just sounded a bit more screeching and, to Bellyn, less pleasing to hear. When Bellyn had played the tune a few times over, she slowly pulled the fiddle from its resting place between her chin and shoulder. She looked to Nethwador and smiled happily, pleased that she could actually pull a tune out of something so complicated and also appreciative of her teacher.

"Now, if only we had two of these," Bellyn examined the viol with a great grin on her face. "Would that not be wondrous? It would sound lovely and harmonious, I imagine, having two playing the tune. Liornung and Nethwador could play..." Bellyn paused, looking away from Nethwador and the fiddle for just a moment. "...and Argeleafa could sing! It would lighten our hearts and lift our spirits, certainly."