(no subject)
Fandom: Lord of the Rings (with a healthy dose of Silmarillion)
Pairing: Galadriel & Celeborn
Theme set: Gamma
Rating: PG/K+
Note: Themes not presented in order. Instead they're given chronologically, creating a very loose narrative.
Overwhelmed:
When Galadriel first arrived in Menegroth she had been overwhelmed by the beauty of its halls, and the look of awe that stole across her face uncannily mirrored Celeborn’s as he was overwhelmed by beauty of a different sort.
Fire:
The first thing that drew him to her was not the luster of her hair but the spark alit behind her eyes.
Music:
The first time they danced together was at Lúthien’s wedding, and they still stood hand in hand even after the song had ended.
Whisper:
“He thinks you’re pretty,” a three-year-old Dior had whispered to her, loud enough to make both of them blush.
Breathe:
Their first kiss had been hurried, a hasty afterthought to a pained goodbye, and in the aftermath Galadriel had to forcibly remind herself to breathe.
Formal:
They did not marry until they met again at Sirion, and as they stood in an unadorned field before what few of their loved ones were left to gather, in borrowed finery that didn’t quite fit and without the luxury of rings, the love shining in their eyes as they managed a few hasty but well spoken words proved that nothing else was needed.
Cover:
When the weight of his grief threatened to overwhelm him she covered his hands in hers, allowing him to feel just how much his pain was shared.
Laugh:
As he struggled to get comfortable on the couch, Celeborn realized that perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to laugh so hard at his new bride’s first serious attempt at needlework.
Fever:
Celeborn’s injuries from the battle of Sirion had been serious and he spent three nights lost in fevered dreams; the longest three nights of Galadriel’s life.
Hero:
Countless fell to Celeborn’s sword for the defense of Menegroth, and he slew countless more before the walls of Sirion; yet the songs of those dread battles that praised his valor and skill only sickened him, and he bitterly conceded that his wife had married a kinslayer after all.
Hurricane:
The storms that occasionally battered the coast of Balar brought surging seas and howling gales, yet the sound of the rain pelting the roof and the constant roll of thunder set the backdrop for some of their fondest intimate memories.
Body:
While Galadriel certainly hadn’t married for looks, there were times when she had to admit that there was a reason the gossipers had said so.
Silence:
Galadriel learned early on that her husband’s character is not conveyed by his words, and that his most revealing moments are when he does not speak at all.
Wings:
They did not learn until the War of Wrath what truly had become of Elwing after the fall of Sirion, and years of bearing the pain of her loss were instantly transmuted into tears of joy.
Red:
When they first beheld the Nîn-in-Eilph it was during the peak of autumn; flocks of swans were gathered, preparing for their annual southern pilgrimage, and the marshes were full of ripened cranberries; Celeborn was not surprised that his wife could not long endure the sight, or that her dreams that night were plagued with visions of Alqualondë.
Lock:
One of the first lessons Celebrían learned was not to knock when mommy and daddy locked their bedroom door.
Box:
When their daughter opened her presents on her twelfth begetting day she had been ecstatic about the bow; Galadriel, knowing well her husbands reasons, openly reached for his hand and shared his clandestine sadness.
Cold:
While she had shared something of crossing the Helcaraxë, there were nights when she would awaken suddenly, disoriented and shivering, and he would be reminded that she did not tell him everything.
Midnight:
Celeborn was fond of the moonless nights for they reminded him of the world as it was ere it first met the dawn, and on those nights Galadriel did not begrudge him his desire to walk beneath the stars.
Silk:
He loved to run his fingers through her hair-the most coveted strands of gilded silver silk on either side of the Sundering Seas, not for their luxurious feel but rather because he was the only one in Middle-Earth allowed to do so.
Candle:
Every night he was away at war she would sleep with a candle burning in the window, not because she feared the dark but more to prove that she still waited for him.
Sacred:
For one conducting an ongoing rebellion against the Valar, Celeborn always found his wife entirely too quick to defend them, and this was the source of some of their oldest and most bitter arguments.
Talent:
The gown Arwen wore to her coming of age celebration was exquisite and Celeborn marveled: he had no idea where Celebrían learned to embroider so well but it certainly hadn’t been from her mother.
Fall:
She loved Lothórien in springtime, he loved it in the fall, but they never forgot that they were merely different shades of the same trees.
Memory:
Sometimes he would walk at night beneath the trees, singing old songs long forgotten in Middle-Earth; her heart ached for him then, for Tirion the Fair still stood in splendor in Elvenhome yet all he had of Menegroth was memory.
Ring:
Though he knew without question that she loved him, in his darkest dreams he feared that she loved Nenya more.
View:
Her husband had always argued against her use of Nenya, believing that in the end it would shape more sorrow than joy, and in her darkest thoughts she’d wondered if his fear was little more than misplaced anger.
Talk:
Those who complained that she spoke too much were also the ones who believed her husband spoke too little, and Galadriel laughed at their naiveté.
Ice:
Many thought that his resolve was such that he never showed his anger, but this was hardly the truth; he simply never raised his voice, and Galadriel found his frozen tones far more effective anyway.
Temptation:
Celeborn barely slept for the duration of the Fellowship’s stay in Lothlórien, but that was well for neither did Galadriel.
Eclipse:
Many underestimate him simply because he’s Galadriel’s husband; only the very wise could tell you that that is the cardinal reason why you shouldn’t.
Hope:
Aragorn had often heard the Firstborn compare him to his forefather Elendil, but Celeborn believed he took after Dior most and Galadriel agreed with him.
Dance:
Even amidst the unprecedented regalia that was Aragorn and Arwen’s royal wedding, when the Lord and Lady of Lórien took to the dance floor everyone stilled and all eyes turned to watch them.
Drink:
Celeborn had never pitied a dwarf so much as when his wife chose to seat herself at Gimli’s table during their granddaughter’s wedding feast and ask him if he’d had the chance to brew some of that fine Dwarven ale in time for the celebrations.
Gravity:
The years between Sauron’s defeat and when Galadriel finally sailed were easily the hardest; she said she stayed because there was work yet to be done, he knew she stayed because she would not break his heart to salvage her own.
World:
She wanted to give him the world; all he had to do was sacrifice one in return.
Highway:
Lórien to the Redhorn Gate had been an easy trek, but the final crossing of Eregion had dredged up old feelings of sadness and regret; it was harder than expected to say goodbye to Rivendell, and then to forsake Lindon for the Havens; when they reached the quayside though there was no turning back, and only then did it truly register that she was actually leaving-and more importantly, that he was not going with her.
Promise:
“I will sail-not yet, as there is much left to be done in Middle-Earth, but one day I will follow you-I promise.”
Wait:
“If you promise that you will follow, I will promise to wait for you.”
Farewells:
Too many times they were forced to say goodbye under threat of never seeing the other alive again, yet when at last they parted as she sailed the fear had been replaced by regret, but the longing still remained.
Mask:
He stood upon the far cliff with his grandsons, watching with his customary stoicism as the hobbits made their teary farewells before the ship set sail, and there were none now left who could see through it.
Strength:
When she arrived in Tirion without her husband many whispered that he had not the strength to follow her; very few realized that it was she who lacked the strength to stay behind.
Dream:
Even when separated they were not truly apart, for each night they found each other on the paths of Elven dreams and stayed sometimes long after the time for waking had passed.
Search:
It was a sad irony that, after so many years of allowing her thoughts to drift into the west, once she finally returned to Elvenhome her thoughts strayed ever eastward, and her eyes fell often upon the sea’s horizon.
Unknown:
As the timeless years stretched on in Valinor, wondering gave way to doubt that Celeborn would keep his promise; it was Celebrían who argued loudest against these rumors as for her part Galadriel ignored the whispered debates, and kept a candle burning in her window.
Journey:
Whan at last he took that final journey, it was not because he had grown weary of Middle-Earth; more accurately, he had grown weary of sleeping alone.
Run:
When his ship landed and she saw him exit to the quay she wanted nothing more that to pick up her skirts and fly into his arms, but her mother’s hand upon her arm reminded her that their daughter should be the first to greet him.
Forgotten:
It is said that when Celeborn sailed the last memory of the elder days in Middle-Earth went with him; Galadriel knows that fact is both a part of why he wished to stay and why he finally decided to leave.
Forever:
When Celeborn finally met his wife’s parents some six thousand years after they were married, he mused that perhaps the only detriment to being bound to Galadriel forever was that he now had High King Arafinwë as a father-in-law, forever.
Lies:
As they stood together on their balcony in Tirion she asked if he was happy; it was the only time she ever asked it, and the only time he ever lied.
Pairing: Galadriel & Celeborn
Theme set: Gamma
Rating: PG/K+
Note: Themes not presented in order. Instead they're given chronologically, creating a very loose narrative.
Overwhelmed:
When Galadriel first arrived in Menegroth she had been overwhelmed by the beauty of its halls, and the look of awe that stole across her face uncannily mirrored Celeborn’s as he was overwhelmed by beauty of a different sort.
Fire:
The first thing that drew him to her was not the luster of her hair but the spark alit behind her eyes.
Music:
The first time they danced together was at Lúthien’s wedding, and they still stood hand in hand even after the song had ended.
Whisper:
“He thinks you’re pretty,” a three-year-old Dior had whispered to her, loud enough to make both of them blush.
Breathe:
Their first kiss had been hurried, a hasty afterthought to a pained goodbye, and in the aftermath Galadriel had to forcibly remind herself to breathe.
Formal:
They did not marry until they met again at Sirion, and as they stood in an unadorned field before what few of their loved ones were left to gather, in borrowed finery that didn’t quite fit and without the luxury of rings, the love shining in their eyes as they managed a few hasty but well spoken words proved that nothing else was needed.
Cover:
When the weight of his grief threatened to overwhelm him she covered his hands in hers, allowing him to feel just how much his pain was shared.
Laugh:
As he struggled to get comfortable on the couch, Celeborn realized that perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to laugh so hard at his new bride’s first serious attempt at needlework.
Fever:
Celeborn’s injuries from the battle of Sirion had been serious and he spent three nights lost in fevered dreams; the longest three nights of Galadriel’s life.
Hero:
Countless fell to Celeborn’s sword for the defense of Menegroth, and he slew countless more before the walls of Sirion; yet the songs of those dread battles that praised his valor and skill only sickened him, and he bitterly conceded that his wife had married a kinslayer after all.
Hurricane:
The storms that occasionally battered the coast of Balar brought surging seas and howling gales, yet the sound of the rain pelting the roof and the constant roll of thunder set the backdrop for some of their fondest intimate memories.
Body:
While Galadriel certainly hadn’t married for looks, there were times when she had to admit that there was a reason the gossipers had said so.
Silence:
Galadriel learned early on that her husband’s character is not conveyed by his words, and that his most revealing moments are when he does not speak at all.
Wings:
They did not learn until the War of Wrath what truly had become of Elwing after the fall of Sirion, and years of bearing the pain of her loss were instantly transmuted into tears of joy.
Red:
When they first beheld the Nîn-in-Eilph it was during the peak of autumn; flocks of swans were gathered, preparing for their annual southern pilgrimage, and the marshes were full of ripened cranberries; Celeborn was not surprised that his wife could not long endure the sight, or that her dreams that night were plagued with visions of Alqualondë.
Lock:
One of the first lessons Celebrían learned was not to knock when mommy and daddy locked their bedroom door.
Box:
When their daughter opened her presents on her twelfth begetting day she had been ecstatic about the bow; Galadriel, knowing well her husbands reasons, openly reached for his hand and shared his clandestine sadness.
Cold:
While she had shared something of crossing the Helcaraxë, there were nights when she would awaken suddenly, disoriented and shivering, and he would be reminded that she did not tell him everything.
Midnight:
Celeborn was fond of the moonless nights for they reminded him of the world as it was ere it first met the dawn, and on those nights Galadriel did not begrudge him his desire to walk beneath the stars.
Silk:
He loved to run his fingers through her hair-the most coveted strands of gilded silver silk on either side of the Sundering Seas, not for their luxurious feel but rather because he was the only one in Middle-Earth allowed to do so.
Candle:
Every night he was away at war she would sleep with a candle burning in the window, not because she feared the dark but more to prove that she still waited for him.
Sacred:
For one conducting an ongoing rebellion against the Valar, Celeborn always found his wife entirely too quick to defend them, and this was the source of some of their oldest and most bitter arguments.
Talent:
The gown Arwen wore to her coming of age celebration was exquisite and Celeborn marveled: he had no idea where Celebrían learned to embroider so well but it certainly hadn’t been from her mother.
Fall:
She loved Lothórien in springtime, he loved it in the fall, but they never forgot that they were merely different shades of the same trees.
Memory:
Sometimes he would walk at night beneath the trees, singing old songs long forgotten in Middle-Earth; her heart ached for him then, for Tirion the Fair still stood in splendor in Elvenhome yet all he had of Menegroth was memory.
Ring:
Though he knew without question that she loved him, in his darkest dreams he feared that she loved Nenya more.
View:
Her husband had always argued against her use of Nenya, believing that in the end it would shape more sorrow than joy, and in her darkest thoughts she’d wondered if his fear was little more than misplaced anger.
Talk:
Those who complained that she spoke too much were also the ones who believed her husband spoke too little, and Galadriel laughed at their naiveté.
Ice:
Many thought that his resolve was such that he never showed his anger, but this was hardly the truth; he simply never raised his voice, and Galadriel found his frozen tones far more effective anyway.
Temptation:
Celeborn barely slept for the duration of the Fellowship’s stay in Lothlórien, but that was well for neither did Galadriel.
Eclipse:
Many underestimate him simply because he’s Galadriel’s husband; only the very wise could tell you that that is the cardinal reason why you shouldn’t.
Hope:
Aragorn had often heard the Firstborn compare him to his forefather Elendil, but Celeborn believed he took after Dior most and Galadriel agreed with him.
Dance:
Even amidst the unprecedented regalia that was Aragorn and Arwen’s royal wedding, when the Lord and Lady of Lórien took to the dance floor everyone stilled and all eyes turned to watch them.
Drink:
Celeborn had never pitied a dwarf so much as when his wife chose to seat herself at Gimli’s table during their granddaughter’s wedding feast and ask him if he’d had the chance to brew some of that fine Dwarven ale in time for the celebrations.
Gravity:
The years between Sauron’s defeat and when Galadriel finally sailed were easily the hardest; she said she stayed because there was work yet to be done, he knew she stayed because she would not break his heart to salvage her own.
World:
She wanted to give him the world; all he had to do was sacrifice one in return.
Highway:
Lórien to the Redhorn Gate had been an easy trek, but the final crossing of Eregion had dredged up old feelings of sadness and regret; it was harder than expected to say goodbye to Rivendell, and then to forsake Lindon for the Havens; when they reached the quayside though there was no turning back, and only then did it truly register that she was actually leaving-and more importantly, that he was not going with her.
Promise:
“I will sail-not yet, as there is much left to be done in Middle-Earth, but one day I will follow you-I promise.”
Wait:
“If you promise that you will follow, I will promise to wait for you.”
Farewells:
Too many times they were forced to say goodbye under threat of never seeing the other alive again, yet when at last they parted as she sailed the fear had been replaced by regret, but the longing still remained.
Mask:
He stood upon the far cliff with his grandsons, watching with his customary stoicism as the hobbits made their teary farewells before the ship set sail, and there were none now left who could see through it.
Strength:
When she arrived in Tirion without her husband many whispered that he had not the strength to follow her; very few realized that it was she who lacked the strength to stay behind.
Dream:
Even when separated they were not truly apart, for each night they found each other on the paths of Elven dreams and stayed sometimes long after the time for waking had passed.
Search:
It was a sad irony that, after so many years of allowing her thoughts to drift into the west, once she finally returned to Elvenhome her thoughts strayed ever eastward, and her eyes fell often upon the sea’s horizon.
Unknown:
As the timeless years stretched on in Valinor, wondering gave way to doubt that Celeborn would keep his promise; it was Celebrían who argued loudest against these rumors as for her part Galadriel ignored the whispered debates, and kept a candle burning in her window.
Journey:
Whan at last he took that final journey, it was not because he had grown weary of Middle-Earth; more accurately, he had grown weary of sleeping alone.
Run:
When his ship landed and she saw him exit to the quay she wanted nothing more that to pick up her skirts and fly into his arms, but her mother’s hand upon her arm reminded her that their daughter should be the first to greet him.
Forgotten:
It is said that when Celeborn sailed the last memory of the elder days in Middle-Earth went with him; Galadriel knows that fact is both a part of why he wished to stay and why he finally decided to leave.
Forever:
When Celeborn finally met his wife’s parents some six thousand years after they were married, he mused that perhaps the only detriment to being bound to Galadriel forever was that he now had High King Arafinwë as a father-in-law, forever.
Lies:
As they stood together on their balcony in Tirion she asked if he was happy; it was the only time she ever asked it, and the only time he ever lied.