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Master-Singer Lindril of the Grey Havens
[Physical Description]
[History]
[Persona]
[Name]
[Culture]
Father: Dinlach
House: Lorealc (Gold-Swan)
Species: Quende (Elf)
Birthplace: Mithlond
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Mother: Narwen
Age: 4934
Sub-species: Silvan
Residence: Mithlond
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Title: Hirlin a Erui-Olthron (Master Bard and Chief Artist)
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She is tall and white and slender--no, thin: thin to the point of almost painful fragility, accentuated
by the faint scar that runs across her throat. Nothing superfluous remains, for she seems worn down to
the barest essentials of breath and bone and sublimely pale luminous skin, and behind the tawny gold of
her eyes her fea burns as bright and clear as crystal, threatening to consume her form with light. Her
hair is an endless ebon torch, and her every movement a step in some private dance, but her voice, when
she sings or speaks, steals all notice of eyes or hair or any other thing but the sweet, low music that
spills from her lips.
To see a picture of Lindril, click
here.
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It was by some strange fate that the families of Narwen (fire-maiden), a dancer, and Dinlach
(silent flame), a harper, both Laiquendi and survivors of Ossiriand, met again under the boughs of
Greenwood the Great, and it was there that the two courted each other and were wed. The Eryn Galen
was their home for many a long year, but childlessness left their lives pale, and the matters of
Ennor held but a slight and ever waning interest for them. One by one the last of their kin had set
out for Lindon and the Havens that were called Mithlond, there to be borne across the shining expanse
of the Western Sea by Cirdan's white-sailed swanships to Eldamar which beckoned to them--even to
Narwen and Dinlach did it beckon. And so they too left the Greenwood, and came at last to a great city
of stone and song, the Grey Havens, upon the Gulf of Lhun.
But, arriving in that place, they found that the music of the waters recalled to them the great
torrential paean of the river Gelion where they had made their first home; in this reflection of times
past the present shone with new promise, new hope. There was little urgency to make the journey West,
and they instead threw themselves once more into living, into dancing and talking and eating and
breathing until one summer in 1523 S.A., when the gardens were lush with Yavanna's glowing green,
the blackberries heavy and purple on the branch, the air pregnant with the salt of the sea and the
dense under-scent of the wild campilosse flowers, a child at last was born to them: a girl possessed of
her mother's golden eyes and moon-white complexion, and her father's ebon tresses and nimble harpist's
fingers.
Dinlach named the child Nardinu (fire-spark), but her mother called her in the Nandorin tongue
Lindril (singing brilliance), and this was the name she answered to. Indeed, her brilliance in music
grew quickly, and her love of words increased with it, until her parents sought for her the tutelage
of the master bard Sulamath of the Laiquendi. Her proficiency at the harp, flute, tangolindo, and many
other instruments soon waxed considerable. Yet it was the sweetness of her voice that brought her
acclaim above any other talent she had, and her skills were very much in demand at Mithlond's festivals
and ship-christenings, especially for one so young. But youth slipped away in a scatter of years like
the falling leaves, and time took its toll upon the weariness of Lindril's parents. They sailed
West, finally, with much sadness and yet with great joy, for though they left their daughter behind,
their kin awaited them on the farthest shore.
Lindril, too, left Mithlond at that
time, taking to travelling, and for a time she called herself Rauninn (errant heart) and did not
acknowledge her former identity, nor the city that was her home. But she could not stay away from the
sea for any great length of time; for in her youth she had heard once the horns of Ulmo, the Ulumuri,
calling their plaintive cry across the waves, and she was forever bound inextricably to the sea and its
purposes. So she returned from her wandering and took back the name Lindril, and in time became the
Erui-Olthron of the Grey Havens, the head of the Artists' Guild, and a master bard in her own right.
Her love of language moved her to learn the High-Elven tongue, which she studied under the guidance of
the Istyara Arhuine and the Randir Amrodd.
Then, on a journey of scholarly intent, on her
way to visit the Beornings and thus improve her scant knowledge of Eothrik and Atliduk, she was waylaid
by a pack of wolves in the Misty Mountains, and suffered a blow to her very being--the wolves' teeth
cut open her throat; in healing, she remained mute, and though she heard much of the Beornings' speech
as she lay in their infirmary, having been rescued by Captain Porle of that people, her voice would not
make sound enough to speak it. And so she once again reviled the name Lindril, and was instead called
Naerdhin (woeful silence), until it came about that her dear friend Arhuine came to her aid, enlisting
also the healing powers of the Enyd in Fangorn. Slowly her voice began to return, and at the 3018 Bardic
Congress in Lorien the poem she recited won her the title of Liratar Cantanoro, High Singer of the Four
Elven Realms.
She is 4939 this year.
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Long she has lived, and those years have not passed without leaving their mark upon her soul; yet,
she is as glad-hearted and youthful in her manner as ever--perhaps more, for having drunk so deeply
from Time's bittersweet cup.
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Lindril, which means "Singing Brilliance", is a highly speculative Nandorin name formed of
Lind, "singer/singing" and ril(l), "brilliance" (a conjecture based on the Quenya
and Sindarin forms). The Quenya form is Linderillė.
As for the Sindarin form, it is exactly the same, and is in fact more reliable a construction,
composed of lind "song/singing" (cf. Gondolin) and ril, "brilliance". The
-ND- in lind would normally become -NN-, but remains unchanged before
-R-. An alternative Sindarin form with an extremely similar meaning would be
Lendril, the first element, lend, meaning "tuneful/sweet". The word lend is
related closely to the Q. word linda, meaning "fair" (especially, fair-sounding).
Lindril's family, Laegil (Green-Elves) who survived the destruction of Ossiriand, kept
knowledge of the old Nandorin tongue alive despite the overwhelming use of Sindarin. Lindril is
one of the few remaining Silvan elves with some scant ability to speak Nandorin. Her mother gave
her the Nandorin name Lindril, which is also valid in Sindarin. Lendril was a
childhood nickname.
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Lindril belongs to the
Mithlondhrim
culture. Mithlond, or the Grey Havens, is on the Gulf of Lhun that leads to
the Western Sea, also known as the Great Sea. This puts Mithlond almost at
the westernmost border of Middle-Earth. Mithlond is famous for its white
swan-ships, and is a very sea-oriented culture, with special respect for
Ulmo, Vala of the Sea, and the two Maiar which are his vassals: Ossė and
Uinen. Mithlond is the port from which ships set sail to the Undying Lands.
On Elendor, this aspect of Mithlond is not emphasized, because the culture
is so small. It is a restricted culture, taking only players who have proved
themselves as good RPers. The Mithlondhrim on Elendor do not spend most of
their time in Mithlond, but are thought of as the "exceptional" citizens of
the seaport-city, wandering Middle-Earth and interacting with its various
cultures rather than staying in Mithlond and taking part in the local life.
Mithlond also has a rich artistic element to its culture. Elves are
well-known as lovers of
song
and verse, and Lindril, as a Mithlondhrim
minstrel, is very involved in Mithlond's creative side.
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