Scions of the Third Age

Elanor woke the next morning to the sound of a raging thunderstorm outside the inn. Sighing dispiritedly, she lay there for sometime trying to figure out how she was going to pass the time cooped up in the lodging filled solely with adults.

Belatedly she remembered Nildë and looked to see if the puppy was under the covers, but the little dog was gone. Again, she sighed loudly and was greeted with the blithe voice of her father.

“Now what’s all that groaning about in there?” he asked as he popped his head through the adjoining doorway. "You sound as if you had the weight of the world upon your shoulders!”

Sitting up, Elanor tried to smile, “Good morning, Papa. I’m sorry to complain, but I heard the rain outside and don’t know what I’m going to do for fun here.”

“Oh, I think you’ll find plenty to do once you go downstairs, lass. Get up and get dressed and I’ll take you to get some breakfast.”

Suddenly the pretty halfling heard her stomach growl and quickly hopped out of bed to get her day started. Again, she remembered about the puppy and asked her father, “What happened to Nildë? Did Lady Aibreán come get her?”

“I took the puppy to go out this morning and returned her then to her mistress. Don’t forget, my girl, that the animal belongs to someone else…”

“I won’t, Papa,” she answered. “It was very nice of the lady to let me play with her dog. I can tell she’s very fond of Nildë. Do you think they’re downstairs still?”

“Perhaps,” he replied. “But we won’t know until you get dressed, sleepyhead. Now let’s go!”


Half an hour later, Elanor was escorted downstairs by her father to enter the common room of the inn where breakfast was being served. Conversation was animated though perhaps a trifle muted owing to the early hour.

The hobbit lass quickly found Meriadoc and Peregrine across the room in jolly discourse with a smallish woman whose hair shined with bright coppery glints and a willowy dark-haired one as well. Samwise headed in that direction as his friends waved them over and Elanor then noticed Aibreán at another table with a much taller woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes to match. Tanner was also present, standing next to their table in close conversation with a sandy haired man whose gaze often darted down at the trim woman beside him.

Nildë bounded over to greet Elanor with a friendly bark, but immediately returned to her mistress after receiving the halfling’s pat on the head, the lure of Aibreán’s half-eaten breakfast too great to pass up. Both Aibreán and Tanner gave them a friendly wave then went back to their conversations when Samwise propelled Elanor on to the other table.

“Good morning, Elli!” greeted Peregrine affably. “Hop on up here next to me and we’ll get Tisbé to come take your order.”

Before the hobbit gentleman’s words were out of his mouth, an energetic woman bobbed out to their table with two cups of a fresh, fruity beverage for her and her father.

“Well, there you are, sweeting!” Lady Tisbé greeted her. “The place has been a-buzz all morning, waiting to meet you!” The lady had bright, sunny hair to match her ready smile.

Elanor blushed, but managed to say, “Thank you, ma’am! I’m eager to meet you all too…”

“How hungry are you this morning, my dear? My cook can fix anything your heart desires.”

Unsure about how to answer, she looked to her father who nodded encouragingly. Then Meriadoc leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, Elli. They serve second breakfast here if you don’t get enough to eat. Queenie knows her patrons quite well!”

A little more settled after that, Elanor placed her order with the lively woman who just as quickly disappeared back into the kitchen as she had arrived at the table.

As they waited for the food, Samwise’s friends introduced their companions, Tarfalathwen who had the shiny reddish hair and the darker lady named Megawen. Both women chatted animatedly and spent the time filling the group in on the different members of their company.

The hobbit lass discovered that Aibreán and Tanner were rangers from Ithilien, as was the couple with them. The woman, Saelind, was a healer and the man was Padraig. He was fairly new to their fellowship, so they did not know much about him themselves as yet. Although Elanor would swear as the two women giggled quietly, one mentioned something about “knees.” Samwise quickly changed the subject before his daughter got too curious.

Across the chamber the girl noticed two women with their heads close together over a table in the corner booth, one smooth and golden, the other curly and black. The dusky one had a quill and was scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment while the fairer one was reading over a different sheet and making muted comments from time to time.

“Who are those ladies over there?” she asked curiously.

Megawen glanced over where Elanor was looking and answered, “Oh, that’s Novedhelion and Riyallyn. They’re working on the tale of King Éomer and Queen Lothíriel. If you want to know anything about Rohan and its people, those are the two to ask.”

“Have you met them, Uncle Merry?” the girl asked the Holdwine of the Shire.

“Indeed I have, lass,” he replied. “Once you’ve eaten your meal I’ll take you over there and introduce you. It would be good for you to get a little history lesson from them before you meet Éomer and Lothíriel in Evendim.”

Elanor was not sure she liked the sound of “history lesson,” but as Meriadoc was prone to teasing she decided to reserve judgment until after she met the two Rohirrim women.

There were several other women roaming the common room as well and Tarfalathwen explained that they were all loyal friends and called themselves the Shieldmaidens of Rohan.

Most had been raised among the horse people, but as the Reunited Kingdoms settled into a new order some of the women migrated to other parts of Middle-earth. Aibreán and Saelind went to Ithilien with Éowyn while Queenie and her closest friends answered to Gondor and the North Kingdom. Regardless of their new homes, all the sisters of the fellowship followed the same code and worked only for the mutual good of all Free Peoples.

Looking at all the women in the hall with renewed respect, Elanor quietly reflected how wonderful it must be to have such a strong purpose in life and to feel confident in pursuing it. Thoughts of the Shieldmaidens stayed with her throughout her whole life.


As the storm threatened to pummel Fornost throughout the rest of the day, Meriadoc renewed his offer of introducing Elanor to the two bards of Rohan. With nothing else to occupy her time, the hobbit lass felt she may as well learn about the King and Queen of the Mark.

She was never so glad to listen to a history lesson in her entire life!

Both women were eager to share the story of their handsome and virile king and his spirited beauty of a wife. Novedhelion did most of the telling, her dark curls bobbing excitedly during the particularly thrilling portions of the tale. The tall blonde watched her friend with tolerant affection for her enthusiasm, making a quiet dry remark here and there to fill in the rousing account.

Listening with rapt attention, Elanor heard the romantic description of the meeting of the princess from Dol Amroth and the new Rohirrim king. From her flight from an unwanted betrothed to traveling with Éomer’s Rohirrim band to a battle with orcs and other harrowing incidents during the War of the Ring to the duplicity and eventual exposure of her treacherous fiancé’s misdeeds, the hobbit lass waited with breathless anticipation for the next exciting adventure. By the time Novedhelion and Riyallyn told of the pair’s impassioned handfasting on a wind-swept beach in the South, Elanor was craving to hear more.

Ready to oblige, the eager bard suddenly realized that the further domestic adventures of the Rohirrim royals might still be a little too much of a grown-up tale for the youngling before her.

“So they rode off into the sunset together and live happily in the Golden Hall of Meduseld,” Novedhelion ended lamely.

Elanor was not to be so easily put off, “Why do I have a feeling, my lady, that you’ve left the best part out?”

Riyallyn laughed at her friend, “Hard to put one over on this one!”

“Please tell me…” asked the halfling girl.

Meriadoc cleared his throat and stepped in, “Elli, I think we’ve taken up enough of the obliging ladies’ time for now.”

Disappointed, the lass asked him, “Will you tell me the rest of the tale, Uncle Merry?”

Brief disconcertion crossed the Holdwine’s face. His own children were still quite young and it would be some years before he had to explain such adult ideas as marriage and childbearing. “Perhaps later,” he evaded and then thought to himself, “Much later…”


-end of Chapter Four-