Once upon a time

Maeglin walked into the water to take the last traps, weirs and nets out. The cold water splashed against his ankles and for a moment he stopped and wondered, what creatures might be swimming out there in the sea that surrounded the Undying lands. Shaking his head over his thoughts, he carried the last trap out and looked at his quarry.

He quickly put an end to the caught fish's lives; and bound the lobsters claws fast, so that they could not get him. One was extraordinarily big and Maeglin considered to serve him as dinner that day. He put fish and lobsters into a jute bag and shouldered it. He picked up the leather bucket with clams that he earlier had dug out of the sand.
He climbed over the big driftwood. Suddenly his eyes caught a stone that the ocean must have washed ashore. It was shaped like a heart. Maeglin bent down and picked it up. He shoved it into the small pouch that was attached to his belt and smiled. It would make a nice gift.

From the meadow high above, he could hear a light voice arguing about washing hands and putting toys away. In the evenings he and Ireth were sitting in front of the fireplace. Often his bonded wife was sewing clothes for their children and he read to her. And on other evenings Ireth took out a book and read to Maeglin while he carved little animals for Glorfinniel or simple toys for Arandur.

That little golden haired elleth, that looked so different than her parents, had twisted him around her little finger with ease and Maeglin barely could deny any of her wishes. And soon he would take her Alqualonde, where she would meet his friends that were like a family to him.

"But I need them to play tomorrow! Nana, you just destroyed the kitchen!" Glorfinniel was howling in a high pitched tone that Ireth could never deal with. Maeglin smiled as he walked up the last few steps to their house. The small elleth had pushed her hands onto her hips and stood proud and strong in front of her mother, accusing her of having ruined her playfield.

Ireth's eyes narrowed at Glorfinniel who was going to throw another tantrum. Enervated she put Arandur on the ground, who instantly started to cry. The little ellon desperately raised his chubby arms into the air to be picked up again.
"If your naneth tells you to tidy up, you will have to do so, little one." Maeglin took his bag from his shoulder and kissed Ireth gently. When he wanted to lift his daughter to kiss her, the elleth screamed "No, ada! Let me go! You stink like fish!" She tried to wiggle herself out of his arms and pushed her hands against his broad chest. Nethertheless Maeglin kissed her before he put her back to the ground.

Arandur realized that he had a chance to be picked up again and crawled over to Maeglin. He got onto his knees and tried to pull himself up while holding on to his father's boots and breeches, but without proper success. The elf bent down and picked him up and the little elven child leaned his dark head instantly on his adar's cheek. Closing his eyes, Maeglin inhaled deep and smelled the still short hair of the elfling. He reached his hand out to his bag.
And while Maeglin took the little ellon with him inside of the house to sort his catch, Ireth got Glorfinniel to finally put her toy animals into a bucket and to carry them inside. Maeglin and Ireth both had agreed that all and everything was to be tidied up in the evening.

When Maeglin went outside to start smoking some of the fish and put others on sticks to dry them , Ireth chopped vegetables and lobster pieces to make a nice dinner for her family.

"Ada, can you tell me a story?" Glorfinniel was tucked in her bed. Her little hand held tight on to Maeglin's index finger. The great elf was sitting on her bed, which he had built next to his. Arandur still slept with them, since Ireth still nursed him.
"You want a short story, right?" Maeglin asked smiling, waiting for her complaint.
"No! A long one. Otherwise I will not sleep at all." The little elleth grabbed his finger even tighter for the case her father would try to escape.

Maeglin sighed, bent down and kissed her before he started to speak;

"Long, long time ago there was an elleth. She was most beautiful to look at. Her hair was like spun gold in the light and every elf in Middle Earth loved her very much. Her grand naneth gave her a little red hooded cloak. The elleth wore it every day and so it came that the elves all over the lands named her Carancollwen.

One day the grand naneth had been hurt by an orc and she laid in fever. They had sent the healers out who did their best to heal her poisoned wounds that the teeth of Morgoth's creature had caused her.

The nana of the little elleth said "Carancollwen, why do you not travel to see your grand naneth and bring her wine and lembas, so she can regain her strength?" And the elleth was more than happy to go and see her beloved grandmother. And so she set out with with a bottle of wine and lembas and walked all the way through dark and scary Nan Elmoth. Fear and danger followed her.

Suddenly a warg came along and looked at the elleth. She thought to slay the beast but the creature said with the sweetest voice it could produce "Oh, elleth do not harm me, because I am not mean at all. Where are you traveling so late in the season, all by yourself?"

Carancollwen was so surprised that the warg spoke her tongue, that she forgot to slay it instead answered "Oh, warg, that you wander lonely in these days yourself, I am going to see my grand naneth who lay sick."

And the stinking warg thought that the elleth would make a wonderful meal asked "Oh, sweet elleth were does your grandmother live? For I will run down the way and scare all danger from your path!"

The elleth was good hearted like all of our kind and did not hear the lie in the warg's words and so she told the mean creature, that the elder elleth was living deep down in Nan Elmoth, there were the three golden elms stood.
"Oh, elleth! Why do you not pick some of the flowers for your grand naneth. They would fill her heart with joy." The warg advised.

Carancollwen loved the idea to fill her grandmother's house with the scent of Niphredil and she strayed from her path, feeling safe, believing the warg.
But while she picked on Niphredil after the other, the warg ran to the dwelling of the elder elleth and knocked on the door.

"Who knocks on my old shattered door?" The elder elleth asked weakly from her bed. And the warg masqueraded it's voice and spoke "It is me, Carancollwen. Dearest naneth of my naneth. I bring wine and lembas!"

"Sweet Carancollwen, you fill my heart with joy. Come in and let me look at you."
And the warg pushed the door open and jumped into the room and dragged the elleth out of her bed AND swallowed her in one piece and ALIVE! Then it took some clothes of the elf and put them on and on it's head it wore the grand naneth's bonnet.
Carancollwen finally had enough white flowers and returned to her path to travel to her grand naneth. When the elleth arrived, she was surprised that the door was open and that her grand naneth had become really, really ugly.

Scared she said " Nana of my naneth, what big eyes you have."
And the dressed up warg said in a very weak voice " So I can see you better."
"Nana of my naneth, why do you have such mighty paws?"
And the warg answered "So, I can hold you better."
And the elleth called out in terror "But nana of my naneth why is your mouth so big?"

And the mean beast jumped out of the bed and swallowed the little elleth. Then it laid down again and fell fast asleep.

Not far away Oropher, the princeling, was hunting and he heard the snoring of the warg. He sneaked to the dwelling and saw the torn clothes and the big belly of the mean beast. Immediately he knew that harm had been done to the red cloaked elleth and her grand naneth. Oropher nearly despaired when he saw that they had been eaten alive!

He killed the warg and cut its belly open and the elleth and her grand nana climbed out of it. Unharmed!!! And the princeling fell in love with the elleth and asked her adar to let him have her as his wife. And her father agreed and Oropher became king and led Carancollwen home as his queen and the mother to King Thranduil."

Maeglin carefully pulled his finger out of his sleeping daughter's grip. He kissed her on her brow one more time. Closing the curtains to their bed room, he returned to his wife and his little son.