Silmarillion Writers' Guild

Here is the next chapter in the story of Curufin and Aredhel.

STORY TITLE: THE MARRING OF BLISS
CHAPTER TITLE: NARN I HIN CURUFIN (The Tale of the Children of Curufin)
RATING: 14A

WARNINGS: CHARACTER DEATHS.

SUMMARY: Curufin's children are born. The killing of Finwë, the destruction of the Trees, and the crossing of the Helcaraxë all take place during this time, although this story is not about them. This chapter ends with the death of Fëanor, yet it is not about him. Enough said. I cannot give any more information lest it be spoilers.



The Tale of The Children of Curufin


Curufin’s horse’s hooves clattered noisily over the cobblestone roads of the poorer part of Tirion where Poldanis dwelt. In fact, this section was named Mariant for one entered it by passing over a bridge that separated it from the fairer lands to the west. Curufin slowed his horse to a trot as he looked at the closely-spaced ramshackle houses for the one which might belong to Poldanis’s family. He knew that her father was a blacksmith and he thought that the house should be near or attached to the smithy, but he had not expected to see as many houses as this, built so closely together. Many of the people walking in the street turned their heads sharply to look in wonder at the son of Fëanor riding through their town who bore such a startling resemblance to his father.

He rode a fine stallion of solid black, its coat glistening in shades of shiny blue-black over its rippling muscles, and its mane and tail blowing and switching alternately in the breeze. It nickered and clattered its hooves restlessly as Curufin brought it to a halt. He peered at the house before him in the dark. The skies of Valinor had been darker than usual of late. The sign above the door read “Leotáno, Smiths”, although the building looked more like a dwelling than a smithy.

Curufin moved to enter but hesitated and knocked on the door first. “Hello?” he called out. “Is anyone here?”

He heard some shuffling coming from within and presently Poldanis appeared, holding a candle. She looked pale and ill but her sad little face suddenly brightened as she saw him in the candlelight. She was only eight months along and she had not seen Curufin at all since she had sent him the letter announcing her pregnancy.

“Poldanis, are you ill?” he cried, rushing toward her and taking her in his arms though he wanted to recoil from the sour smell of her.

“Not ill”, she replied. “Just expecting. I’ve been sick again, as I have all through this accursed pregnancy. While I relish the sight of you and to feel myself in your arms again is to feel the Bliss of Aman, I would caution you lest you get some of the smelly sick from my wretched clothes on your finery”.

“Poldanis”, he said with a sigh of regret. “What are we going to do?”

“I know that your Lady Aredhel is in the same condition as I”, she said, staring at him intently, the glint from her eyes like the luminous green of a cat’s in the candlelight.

“How did you know that?” he asked, startled by her statement. He had come expressly to tell her about Aredhel’s pregnancy.

“She and I are attending the same midwife at the healer’s house”, replied Poldanis. “And she has told me all about you and how excited she is, and how you and she are to be married right after the baby’s birth”.

“Oh, Poldanis, for the Valar’s sake!” he swore.

“Shh! You’ll wake up my Ada. You shouldn’t have come here”.

“But I wanted to see you”, he said.

“You can’t have both of us, you know”, she said with a touch of bitterness in her voice, yet her lips curved upwards in a pale smile.

He sighed deeply. “I am so sorry, Poldanis”, he said.

“I know you are. You are an honourable man”, she returned, her voice trembling. “That is one of the reasons why I love you”.

Curufin hung his handsomely braided dark head. “I wish I could say the same to you, Poldanis, but I cannot”, he said. She merely nodded to show him she understood and then set her jaw in a firm, brave line.

“I have come to ask you if you will please not tell Aredhel that your baby is mine also”, he said. “Please do not tell anyone, for that matter. I beg you. I promise you that I shall look after your child. Here”. He reached under his rich red cloak and pulled out a small pouch. “In this are enough coins and jewels to keep you both well cared-for for a long time. I will give you more when you need it. Just send word. Do you promise to keep my secret?”

Poldanis nodded. “Please go now”, she said, “before I start weeping. Because when I start to weep I shall not stop. I will keep your secret”.

He grasped her hand and squeezed it tightly. Then he turned to go. “Wait, Curufin!” she cried. “Just let me look at you one last time”.

“Poldanis”, he said with a smile. “We shall see each other again”.

“Shall we?” she said, staring at him with a strange look in her eyes. When he had gone she whispered, “Our child. Your child”.


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~



Poldanis went into labour first. Although her father knew of her pregnant state, he was too busy to attend when the birth was imminent, and her mother had passed on some years before, so she walked to the healer’s house alone. Once she was settled in a bed and the midwife had checked on her, she was left by herself in a small room. She looked around and saw that it was a pleasant enough room. The stone walls were washed with a pale yellow colour and lined with shelves containing clean cloths neatly folded, little apothecary jars containing different creams and salves, and long metal trays no doubt containing medical instruments. Poldanis did not want to look at those. A faintly medicinal smell, clean but vaguely disturbing hung in the air. Her water had broken in her bed at home, soaking the mattress. In a panic, she had run around the house, wringing her hands and waiting for the pain to start, but it hadn’t for several hours. When finally she felt the first contraction, it was only a mild, dull ache, similar to that of her monthly troubles. “This isn’t so bad”, she thought. “I can get through this”. When the pains began to increase in duration and decrease in the length of time between each one to about ten minutes, she put her things in a bag and left for the healer’s.

While she lay fairly comfortably in the bed there, feeling her contractions becoming uncomfortably strong, she heard the noise of several voices coming from the next room. Some people had just arrived. She recognized one of them as Aredhel’s.

“Now be careful with that case, Venisá”, Aredhel was saying to someone, no doubt a handmaiden. Poldanis thought she heard a male voice among the others. She strained to listen, wondering if it was Curufin’s but she did not think it was. She wondered if he would come later on to see Aredhel and be present for the childbirth, or if King Fingolfin would grace the healer’s house with his royal presence.

“Ooohh”, Poldanis grunted, and turned slightly onto her left side as another contraction rippled through her body. It felt better if she turned her body into the pain as it came, and gripped the side bar of the bed. It felt good to grip something. She wished it could be Curufin’s hand. Once the pain had passed, she listened again to the voices coming from Aredhel’s room.

“Help me into bed!” That was Aredhel.

“Ouch! That hurts! You’re so clumsy! Be careful to not hit me again with that thing!” Aredhel again.

“I am sorry, ma’am”. A handmaiden.

“Get me my bag! I want a sweet!” Aredhel.

“Yes, mum”. A different handmaiden.

“Please, Lady Aredhel, let me look between your legs”. The midwife.

“I had better leave”. The male voice.

The sound of a door banging open. “Aredhel! Darling! How are you holding up?” Aredhel’s mother, Queen Anairë.

The sound of sobbing. “Oh, Mother, I can’t stand how painful it is!”

“How far apart are your contractions, Lady Aredhel?” The midwife again.

“About half an hour”. Aredhel.

Poldanis snorted. “Half an hour? Is that all? Hers were about four min- Ow! Ow! Here comes another pain now and really strong – ah! Ahh! Ugh!” Poldanis gritted her teeth, clutched the bed rail and tried not to scream. Oh Gods! She was going to vomit! She leaned her head over the side and threw up onto the floor.

More voices. “Lady Aredhel, please –“The midwife sounded busy with Aredhel, but Poldanis needed her very, very badly right now! She needed to push! The baby was coming!

“Lady Aredhel, I really need to examine you if everyone could just please leave us for a moment?” The midwife sounded quite exasperated.

“Come on, everyone out”. The male voice again. He had returned. It could be one of Aredhel’s brothers. Most likely Turgon. A delivery room did not seem like the sort of place that Fingon would deign to frequent.

A few minutes later, silently and alone, and after a half dozen great, sweaty pushes, Poldanis gave birth to a healthy baby Elfling. It was a boy, with the same beautiful grey eyes and dark hair of his father.

About ten hours later, surrounded by her entire entourage who were all screaming and wailing as loudly as she was in order to keep her company, Aredhel also gave birth to a healthy baby boy.



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~



Curufin was awakened from his sleep by a hand shaking him roughly by the shoulder. “Wake up! Quickly! Wake up!” cried the voice of Celegorm close to his face. Curufin could hear also the whine of Huan, who was at his master’s side. His eyelids flew open and he saw that it was dark. Pitch-black dark. Darker than anything he had ever seen before.

“Turko!” he cried. “Why is it so dark? I can’t see anything!”

“The twins have gone to find some candles”, said Celegorm. “Kurvo, listen to me. A messenger has come. Melkor has murdered grandfather and stolen the Silmarils and has destroyed the Trees of Light. Atar has gone to see Manwë. He was away from Formenos when it happened”.

“What?!!” exclaimed Curufin.

“Grandfather Finwë is dead. Atar will need us. He will be summoning us to arms no doubt. Come on! Get dressed! We must leave as soon as we are all ready and make for Uncle Nolofinwë’s court”.

When all of Fëanor’s sons were ready they rode as quickly as they could to Túna, to be at their father’s side. They swore the Oath that they promised never to break, and after much quarreling with and among their relatives, they prepared to leave Valinor.



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~



Curufin and Aredhel did not have chance to become officially wed because of the great turmoil that had arisen among the Elves of Valinor. There had never appeared to be a good time for a wedding since the baby’s birth. Aredhel was not at all happy about that, nor was Curufin, though they both understood why their marriage must be delayed. Once times became peaceful they would wed. Now Aredhel found herself making the long trek with her father’s company of Elves to the north and Middle-earth. Fëanor and all of his sons had gone ahead. Huan also followed with Aredhel. In his haste to leave Celegorm had forgotten to take his faithful hound with him.

Aredhel held her baby close to her bosom beneath her cloak. He was wrapped in blankets and furs, and was strapped into a sling that she wore around her neck so that her arms could be free if she needed to use them. As she walked she looked around at the other Elves in their company. There were a great number of them, she thought. One in particular she noticed coming up behind them. Another woman with a babe in her arms, but alone, walking apart from the rest. Could it be? “Oh, no”, she thought. “It couldn’t be!” Aredhel waited until the woman caught up to her. “Poldanis!” She cried. “Is it really you?”

“Yes, it’s me”, Poldanis replied meekly, looking up at Aredhel.

“Is your husband not with you?” Aredhel asked her. Many months ago, when Poldanis had tired of hearing Aredhel talk on and on about how wonderful Curufin was, she had told her that she was married to a silversmith.

“Really?” Aredhel had asked. “That’s just like Curufin! What is his name?”

“Telperinquar”, Poldanis had replied, making up the name on the spot.

“Silver hand. That is a beautiful name”, Aredhel had said. “Oh my, I would love to name my child that. Would you mind if I did?”

Poldanis had shaken her head no, that she didn’t mind. Now she was upset because she would have liked to have named her baby that as well. Feeling that the name Telperinquar had been taken away from her, Poldanis had not yet named her son. She blinked and looked at Aredhel. “Er – no – my husband is not coming with us to Middle-earth”, she said.

“Oh, you poor thing. You will miss him”, said Aredhel sympathetically. “Come with us, then. Stay close to me. We will look after you, won’t we, Huan?”

Huan whimpered in agreement and wagged his tail.

During the long trek, Poldanis’s arms became very tired from carrying the baby for so long without rest. “Here”, Aredhel had offered, “You can use my contraption to hold the baby. It will let your arms rest a while. We shall share it on the march”. Then she unhooked the sling from her shoulder and fastened it around Poldanis’s to put the baby in.

Poldanis was overwhelmed by Aredhel’s generosity. “You are too kind”, she had said.

“Nonsense”, said Aredhel. “I am not going to do nothing to help you and watch you suffer”.

“If you only knew”, thought Poldanis.



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~



After the terrible discovery of the kinslaying and the burning of the ships, Fingolfin’s host of Elves were all stunned and upset by the double tragedies, but they nevertheless pushed on across the Helcaraxë. It was Poldanis’s turn to use the sling to carry her baby as they set out. Aredhel shouted through the wind as she fastened him in, “We shall trade back at the halfway point”, and Poldanis nodded.

The winds and sleet that they faced were brutally cold and the sleet soon turned into a blizzard of white blinding snow. Aredhel and Poldanis lost sight of each other, as there were many Elves who slipped and fell through the ice into the freezing sea waters and were lost. Poldanis was inching her way across the slippery ice while trying vainly to look around for Aredhel and Huan. She could not see more than a few inches ahead of her, and now an icy wind was blowing, whipping her hood from her head and her cloak from around her body. She stopped and tried to pull it closer around herself and the baby.

Suddenly she felt the ice crack beneath her feet and while struggling to maintain her balance, she plunged into the water. Clinging onto the jagged edge of the hole in the ice and trying to keep the baby dry by setting him in the sling on top of the ice, Poldanis screamed for help as loud as she could as she held on.

Through the whistling wind, none could hear her save Huan. He was still traveling by Aredhel’s side, and when he heard Poldanis’s nearby shrieks he pulled and tugged at Aredhel’s clothing. “What is it, Huan?” she tried to ask him through the wailing wind. Pellets of ice stung her face and she could hardly open her eyes. “Is it Poldanis? Have you found her?” Huan barked and jumped around, and she followed him to where Poldanis lay in the freezing water, still clinging to the edge of the ice. Aredhel looked down at her in horror.

“Oh, thank Eru you have found us”, she said through chattering teeth. “Here, please take my baby”. And she handed him to Aredhel. “Please promise me that you will get him through this journey safely”.

“Don’t be silly, Poldanis”, said Aredhel, holding Poldanis’s baby close to her own breast in one arm while balancing Telperinquar in the other. “You can take care of him yourself when we get you out of there. Huan will pull you out. Come on”.

“No, Aredhel”, said Poldanis. “My body is frozen. I am numb and I feel that my spirit is leaving it”.

“No. No! Don’t be ridiculous! Huan! Grab hold of the sling and pull her out!”

Huan did as he was told and clutched the sling in his teeth. He pulled with all his might and Poldanis started to slide up onto the ice. Aredhel could see that her face was deathly pale and her lips were blue. Their eyes locked for a brief moment. “Goodbye, Aredhel”, Poldanis said softly. “Will you give my baby to Curufin? It is his also”. Then the sling came loose and she fell back into the water without a splash or any more sound.

“No! Poldanis! Nooooo!!!” Aredhel screamed in despair. “No! She is not lost! She cannot be gone!” She began to weep with terror and great sorrow for her friend. It had not yet registered in her mind what Poldanis had told her.

Huan whimpered as he held the empty sling dangling in his mouth. Soon Aredhel realized she must stop crying, pull herself together and start moving before she lost the babies too. She laid the babies down on top of the ice then and took the sling from Huan. As she was fastening it around her neck, a great gust of wind blew across the ice and a great crack appeared beneath Aredhel’s knees. Just managing to grab one of the babies to her chest, Aredhel scrambled up onto the sturdy ice. The other infant slid off of the edge and plunged down into the sea and was lost.

Screaming and crying in anguish, Aredhel fastened the one baby into the sling and tied it around Huan’s neck, the baby hanging beneath him, nestled into the warmth between his front legs. She then scrambled to the edge of the crack and looked down into the dark depths of the water but could see nothing. The other child was gone. Then Huan nudged her to go and she stood, and grasping the fur on the back of Huan’s neck, he guided her safely across to the other side.



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~



When Aredhel came finally upon Curufin, he and his brothers were bent over the burned and broken body of their father. He was dead. When Curufin turned and saw Aredhel approach, holding her baby with Huan by her side, he looked at her with terrible eyes filled with grief and guilt and the memory of the horrible crimes he had committed. He was covered in the blood of his kin and he was changed forever.

With trembling hands and eyes almost as terrible as Curufin’s from grief, anger and the feeling of being betrayed, Aredhel stretched out her arms that held Poldanis’s baby. “Here is your other son”, she whispered. “His name – is Telperinquar also”.

Curufin gazed upon Aredhel with a stricken look of horror on his face. Then he looked down into the bright grey eyes of his son.