The moon peeked over the forest behind them as they rode relentlessly through the winter cold. Uialithil's cloak streamed behind her as the nippy chill cut at her ever-reddening nose; she could hear the troll behind her, and finally decided to bring Aiglos to a halt in the weak silvery light on the path.
"Creature!" she yelled. "Show yourself! What is it you want?"
The troll came up, lumbering as it did. "An elf-beast! Elfin hunter, why elfin runner?"
"Because you were chasing me," she said flatly. "I am in a rather big hurry. What can I do to be rid of you?"
The troll sat down on the grass, the noise vibrating through the ground. "Well, you a elf-archer, elf-fire-starter? Maybe you could catch me a rabbit- yes! STAB IT! They much too fast for dear old Gunt, for I was of litter a runt! Be you nice enough to hunt?" With these words, she noticed how small he actually was: only a few feet taller than an average elf of about 6 feet. But he was burly, and a frightening presence.
Uialithil sighed. "All right. Then you promise not to follow me?"
With his nod, he took her over to a small bit of forest and brush near the path. "Here they leap! Be quiet, lest they squeak, and alert their friends- surely that'll be your end!" he said in a whisper. She sighed and dismounted, stringing an arrow as she crept into the thick greenery. Gunt waited expectantly for a while, occassionally glancing hungrily at Aiglos. Before long she came out with a fistful of large, dead hares, holding them up by their long, velvety-soft ears.
Gunt smiled a hideous smile, his blackened teeth gleaming. "Thank you, thank you! I would offer a gift for you, but I have nothing worthy, nothing new! I shall stop following for now and find things for my own needs, but if you ever need help just call on me!"
"Thank you, troll, but-"
Her words were cut off when a huge spider, glossy black with uneven dark orange stripes on its spinnerets, reared above her; its thin spindly legs came down hard. She whipped around to see it had came out of the leaves she had just returned from, and then around again to see Gunt flee like a scared child the direction of the Trollshaw forest. She hissed and gritted her teeth, cursing herself for being unarmed: she only had a small hunting knife, but that would have to do. She plunged her blade into its stomach as far as she could go.
That did the trick. It screeched, a terrible sound, and toppled over onto its back. Aiglos came running over and with two swift movements, she had grabbed Elenmacil from its sheath and sunk it again into the creature's exposed and soft underbelly. It shivered, the screech fading, and all of its legs trembled. Then it stopped moving, bleeding heavily.
"Ai," Uialithil hissed. "an eight legged devil tried to smite me? Spiders do not venture this far north, It is of Shelob's kin, but that mistress of web is in the caves of Mordor as I speak." she glanced at it and shoved it over, its body limp and slightly, oddly, warm. "Eyes?" she whispered, as there was a pair of bright green human eyes were the spider eyes were supposed to be- cold, frozen, and lifeless. Then she heard a muffled sound, like a restrained call for help, and looked around to see a sack of silk lying over by a tree. She curiously went over and delicately cut the fine threads with her sword.
"Ahh, thank 'ee, missus!" came a hobbit's voice, and the hobbit in question crawled out on her stomach, her twin braids of reddish-brown hair wet with fresh web. "I t-thought for sure I'd be eaten! WHAM! Right down the old hatch I'd be, like Bilbo said he almost was, and- BY MY OLD GRANNY GAMGEE, YOUSE AN ELF!"
Uialithil smiled good-naturedly, rather amused by this odd turn of events. The startled hobbit looked to be in her late thirties, though she may have been younger. "Yes. And you're a hobbit. I know a few of your kind. What's your name?"
"Me? I'd be Iris-petal Gamgee, if you is an elf, which I thinks you are! Iris-petal Gamgee, at your service! You can say Iris though- I don't mind in the slightest!"
"You're chipper." Uialithil laughed.
"May I guess your name, missus?" Before Uialithil could answer, Iris had already began rattling off names. "Galadriel!" she said first, saying it "Gal-i-diel", then adding, "No, she's blonde! Aha- Tinuviel!" Again, she pronounced it "Tuna-ville". "No, she's dead....um... ummm..." she babbled.
"I'm Uialithil," she offered.
"U...ithis...ail? No!!! U-ithil-ale?! Um, no, no... yule-ithi-ding-dong-ally-do?! AHHH! I can't say it! All these elvish names!" said Iris, frustrated. "Only good old Frodo could say them right... ARRRRRGH!"
"You can say Iael. Spelled I-a-e-l, but said ale." smiled Uialithil. "You actually say my name yule-ith-il." she said, watching Iris struggle over the name, then saying, "The elves you mentioned I am related to though, Who told you those names?"
Iris's eyes brightened. "Bilbo, of course!" she smiled. "He told us all young hobbits tales before he left. Sam loved them best, he did- my brother old Sam Gamgee! Then it was me!"
"Ah, I see. Well, where are you going? Perhaps I can take you."
Iris's face fell. "Stuff's been going on in Hobbiton and the Shire since Sam left. Can you take me to Bree? I'm meeting a friend there later this week. I was gonna walk, but..." But Uialithil had already hoisted the hobbit behind her.
"Hold onto my waist!" she said. "Aiglos will not throw anyone off, if they be of friendly folk, but we will ride as the wind!"
Later they began to talk, and soon Iris's grumbling stomach interrupted them. The noise became louder after the initial sound, and Uialithil laughed and passed Iris some lembas. "Here," she said, but at the hobbit's confused expression, Uialithil added, "Ir's lembas! Elven waybread- much tastier than cram. Many an elvish thing, be it lembas, liquor, or a linnod, warm the heart, restore the strength, and heal the soul better than a month's rest!"
"A linnod?" Iris closed her eyes hard, then opened them again with a big smile. "That's an elvish song! Oh, oh- can you sing of the elves? Sam did love them!"
"And he still does, as he is alive and well- and perhaps I can," said Uialithil. She smiled and said,
O the firstborn children
that be elven-kin!
Dark as a starless night
as the clearest day be light!
Fair and of keen eyesight
agile as a bird, unrivalled in a fight
That, dear hobbit,
is what I cite!
Iris shook her head, evidently unimpressed by her impromptu rhyming. "No, no! Of the elves! I know WHAT they are, surely. Sam has told me everything. I wish to know who!"
"Ah. Who? Well, that be:
The greatest of elven-women is she of wood
Galadriel, Aiya Galadriel!
Fairer has none other in this land ever stood.
The half-elven lord that is under a city of waterfall mist
Elrond, O Elrond!
He may be the wisest of elf-men, as he is ageless.
Of fair hair, a crown of leaves, but a firm kingship
Thranduil, Ai Thranduil!
On his elk the Elvenking rides, without need of whip.
"Those are our leaders of Elvendom- of Lorien, Rivendell,, and Mirkwood. That is how you would say the city-names in your tongue. The song rings true, though it speaks a little too highly of the Elvenking in my opinion," she added a bit bitterly, but then smiled again. "Yet there are many more just as vailant in the elvish world!"
"Like you?" offered Iris. "Bilbo told us of a dark maiden who stood by Elrond's side when he went to- what was it again? Oh yes!- Rivendell. He had a long song he wrote, but he told us a few verses to remember you by, and they went:
Elf of night, she be twilight!
Eyes of seabright, calm as a sea under starlight.
Dressed in silk soft and fine! Elda-kind!
A perfect vision to find, drunk on moonshine!
"Not very noble, that last bit," laughed Uialithil.
Iris smiled. "But what he says is true! Never in my life would I have dreamt of meeting an elf!"
Translations
Here are the translations if not provided by the text:
Can be used as the female form of Eldar (elf).
