The Eastern Woman

The light of freedom

When Thranduil had finished with all the explanations, Haldir was upset.  He held in his hands the evenstar, the pendant that had belonged to Roswehn, the jewel that the King had removed from the woman's neck before cremation.  Keep it now.  It protected your mother, it will protect you too.

He would have liked to reject those revelations, but he couldn't do it.

The story of his mother, her horrible possession by the spirit of evil Queen Regan, her misadventure in the ancient realm of Arnor, the night-time vexation of the ghost that called himself Morgoth, and finally the revelation of the Wizard, Radagast the Brown, about that damn prophecy.  Everything his father had told him filled the young Elf's head.

The final blow was the description of his destiny as an instrument of destruction.  He himself would have become evil , and he would have been confronted by that mysterious man of the future, whose name was unknown.  The latter would have finally destroyed the Ancient King, the first, the most brilliant of all the Valar, who had chosen to rebel against Eru and become the greatest corruptor of the world.  Morgoth. 

"It is not possible ..." the Prince continued to say, afflicted.  "... maybe that sorcerer was wrong. Why me? What's so special about me? Nothing! Look at me ... nothing !!"  he shouted to his father.  They were still in the hall of the throne, but the Prince had come down from the seat.

Thranduil disagreed.  "You are a unique Elf in the world, Haldir. You have certainly noticed that you have a grace that other Elves do not have. Your extraordinary beauty is not a casual gift. Even Morgoth, when he still used the name Melkor, when he still lived in the Light, was  beautiful. The brightest of all the Valar. It is perfectly understandable why he is planning to incarnate into a creature like you. "

"But there is one thing I do not understand, father: if in the next few hours Sauron should win, this continent would be already doomed. This prophecy ... makes no sense."  objected the prince.  "... the final battle ... there would be no final battle, because this world would already be occupied by the creatures of Sauron... Orcs, Trolls, Goblins. How can we hypothesize the future, when we might not even  have it, a future? "

Thranduil understood his son's doubts.  He was right.  "The Dagor Dagorath was a prophecy of Mandos. The lord of our afterlife. But as with any prophecy, one must choose whether to believe in it or ignore it. It is a prediction, it is a divine message about what could happen in many millennia.  I have always refused to let myself go to assumptions about our destiny, it is important for me to live in the present.This is the reality for now. I, you, our people ... we are real.Your brother is real, he ... who is  fighting in the front line against Sauron. This is the real battle we are fighting these days. And you are right, we still don't know how it will end. And for this reason, I suggested you not to ask too much. Now you are upset,  and I understand it. I have instilled in you the terrible suspicion of becoming, in the remote future, the incarnation of that demon. And I curse myself, because I know that this thought will never leave you, and will not allow you to live peacefully. "

Haldir looked at his father.  "No, don't hate yourself. It would have been worse for me to live in doubt, asking myself day by day what is the mystery that surrounds me. Now I know. And even if now my life will never be the same again, I feel partly relieved."

Thranduil approached, and did something that for a very long time he had not even done with Legolas: he took his son in his arms, and held him close.  They remained silent, united in a long embrace.

"Haldir, if you only imagined how much your mother and I loved you ... You have been our joy for all these years. Our only great consolation, to the fact of being separated. The worst sorrow for two parents is knowing that  their sons and daughters are unhappy. Therefore, do not be afflicted. "