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Celeborn's Lady in Nargothorond

Summary:

A brief recounting of Galadriel and Celeborn's adventures in her brother Finrod's kingdom of Nargothorond, during the First Age.

Notes:

A/N 1: Please note that this story takes place in the version of this Desperate Hours LOTR AU where there are absolutely no corporal punishment elements in any of the stories. If you would like this story in the version of this series which does have corporal punishment elements, that story can be found here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/331096/chapters/103843620

Quotes:

"[Galadriel] was proud, strong, and selfwilled, as were all the descendants of Finwë save Finarfin; and like her brother Finrod, of all her kin the nearest to her heart, she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage. Yet deeper still there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit of the Vanyar, and a reverence for the Valar that she could not forget. From her earliest years she had a marvellous gift of insight into the minds of others, but judged them with mercy and understanding, and she withheld her goodwill from none save only Fëanor. In him she perceived a darkness that she hated and feared, though she did not perceive that the shadow of the same evil had fallen upon the minds of all the Noldor, and upon her own." – J.R.R. Tolkien

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

In Nargothorond:

In Nargothrond, Celeborn and Galadriel faced many battles, for Morgoth's minions swarmed thick and hard around Finrod's kingdom. They fought side by side so often that Celeborn forgot that he disapproved of ellith fighting, and Galadriel overcame resenting her husband for being the better warrior. They guarded one another's backs, her awareness of the flow of the possible futures stretching into his mind, and his sword covering her off side.

"Little sister, it seems that you have met your match,” teased Finrod, “Your husband bids you stay back for your arrows go too wide for these foes, and you do as he says." Finrod was the eldest of Galadriel's brothers, and now the King of Nargothorond. He was Galadriel's King as much as their Uncle Elu was Celeborn's King.

Galadriel made a face, for still she did not like to hear it described as such. But then Celeborn kissed her, and she decided that it did not matter so much how it was described. He loved her, and she loved him. And they fought side-by-side. He was the better warrior, well and good. She was better than him at many things, too, and he never tried to take them away from her. For her to fail to give Celeborn equal courtesy would be a failure of fairness and love on her part, and Galadriel had learned to be greater than that.

Celeborn, for his part, was grateful beyond words that Galadriel most often listened to him in the field. For his wife had no fear for herself. Galadriel would fight, and fight, and fight, no matter the odds. Her foes could give her pain and take her life, but they could never intimidate her, never wound her spirit. She would not let them. But it made her hard, and fearless. Too fearless for his taste, for he wanted her to live.

The Edain; or, Aegnor & Andreth:

In Nargothrond they met the Edain. Galadriel was there when her closest-in-age brother Aegnor fell in love with a human woman, Andreth. Andreth to Galadriel was beautiful, a shining, brilliant spirit, for all she was human and different. Galadriel told her brother to choose love, as Melian had once bade Galadriel.

Aegnor didn't take his sister's advice. In a mere handful of decades, Andreth died and Aegnor was left to mourn forever. Galadriel learned from Aegnor and Andreth's torment that it was better for an elf to choose love, for there would be pain either way. At least, if Aegnor had married Andreth, he would have had a few decades of joy with her, instead of only an eternity of loneliness and sorrow.

 

A Fox's Tale:

For all they were not in Nargothrond very long, not in comparison to the time they spent in Doriath, they had many adventures in Finrod's kingdom. And some of them even had humorous moments.

One night, when they were camped in the woods after tracking a wounded stag late into the moonlight, a fox with one black ear came trotting up to their fire and yipped demandingly for their attention.

"Does he have the frothing sickness, that he approaches us so boldly?" Finrod's squire inquired worriedly.

"I think not," noted an Edain tracker who had joined them for the hunt, "He seems more like he's become some human's companion. Some who live by themselves in the forest make friends of inquisitive, friendly creatures such as foxlings."

"Curious," one of Finrod's many companions marveled, as the King admired the fox's bright copper fur and shining eyes. Then Aran Finrod's expressive features stilled, as he noted the worry in the fox's continued yips for attention, the anxiety in its walking back and forth between their fire and the tree-line, and the appealing, pleading look in its dark eyes.

"Wake my sister and her husband-my-new-brother," Finrod commanded, with a grin, for Galadriel did not like to be awoken during the night.

His squire did as commanded, and then Finrod's eyes narrowed. For it was one thing to love your younger brother-by-law, and it was quite another to be presented with evidence that he was sleeping with your sister!

"He wants you to follow him," Galadriel said shortly, standing near the fire wearing nothing but Celeborn's tunic. She was glassy-eyed, her tone short because she was still half-asleep. That was all that saved her from Finrod's temper, which he buried in annoyance.

"Thank you ever so much, sister-dear," Finrod drawled, "But that much we could have divined for ourselves."

Starting to get annoyed herself, Galadriel threw up her hands and snapped at her brother, "You brought me here from my warm blankets to ask me what the fox wanted. That's what the fox wants. Let's go, shall we?"

 

"Go?" Finrod asked, bemused, as Galadriel pulled on leggings (Celeborn's) and boots (her own). "Because...a FOX...wants us to?" Finrod asked.

 

"He says that it is very important, a matter of life and death," Galadriel explained to her brother and the other hunters, as she accepted a warm cloak from one of her handmaidens.

 

"Unnatural elleth," Finrod muttered under his breath, as he waved a hand for his squire to help him buckle his sword onto his belt. His sister might annoy him, but there was no way in Arda that Finrod would let her and his young brother-by-law gallivant off into the woods by themselves.

 

"That's my wife you're talking about," Celeborn objected mildly, fixing the King with a reproachful look. Celeborn was unafraid of the ellon he viewed as an older brother.

 

Finrod, although taken aback, nodded after a moment. His sister had chosen well in her husband.

 

And Galadriel chose well in causing their party to follow the fox. For the fox's friend, an elven hunter who had fallen into a sink hole and would have died there without their aid, became later the father of an elleth called Rille, or Rilly. Rille married Elissed, the only son of Elboron, who had been born Elured of Doriath. Elissed and Rille in turn gave birth to Emlyn, who married Carys, and their three sons were Haldir, Orophin, and Rumil.

Notes:

The first parts of this story are posted only in the discipline version of this AU for now, since I haven’t had a chance to revise them to exclude any corporal punishment elements. But the chapters are all discrete and can be read on their own, and I believe that out of all 20 chapters only chapter 11 (Flaws II), chapter 15 (Role Reversal), and Chapter 16 (Trust), have even a mention of spanking. So, if you want to check out the story anyway, it is available here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/331096/chapters/534289