An Ambassador's credit and influence depend wholly upon his character, and as this was above the temptations of the profits annexed to his position of power, it put him in a condition to give rather than to receive. Parnard never forgot a kind word, or help kindly given. And he was never taken to hatching intrigues, having no real understanding of the machinations of courtly life, and seemed to have no interests in anything but good company and keeping in the good graces of Lord Anglachelm. While it is true that some people have treated the Ambassador of Vanimar as an untutored wine-guzzling wretch, who somehow wormed his way into the honour of his master's House, it was very seldom that the Ambassador of Vanimar stooped to meannesses, as so many of his elders and self-proclaimed betters have.
That the apparent trifling services of an impoverished and unlettered elf from a vast darkened forest, with nothing to offer but his dedication and tenacity, were valued by such an ancient and wise lord as Anglachelm, so much that he gave Parnard a measure of power and influence, was never wholly understood by anyone. This point, after being long debated by the elves of the Valley, was at length given up. Many considered his conduct, and thought that Parnard was so far from doing any sort of service, that he was adjudged harmless. We may count this among the errors of the Elves, who are in the habit of judging folk based on blood-ties, birthright and kinship, and much of what was related came from prejudiced persons who are very ill informed of the people and circumstances they pretend to know about.
This simple Wood-elf was not acquainted with the language and customs of the Noldor; he knew nothing about trials, although he had experienced his share of them; and he was personally familiar with public condemnations. When he was raised up, and given the dark red robes of his position, Parnard instantly set about educating himself, and was left to go at liberty about the Valley: but never once did he leave it without command or purpose, knowing full well what the place of an Ambassador was.
At one time, he addressed himself to the lords of the Naugrim in their lofty halls; at another, he regularly gave an aspiring young musician several sums of money, until he thought the musician was not taking proper care of the interests of Bar-en-Vanimar, and instead of remitting the sum of money to him as usual, the Ambassador sent a letter, in the form of friendly advice, and suggested that he give up such an expensive hobby. And at the urging of Lord Veryacano, who insisted that the elves should mobilize at once, and deliver their silvan cousins from their very dangerous neighbor to the east, Parnard set about requisitioning supplies, and restoring neglected treaties with trading partners.
It was his desire that his people might not be continually pressed and forced to hide in the remotest corner of Mirkwood from their foes, and Parnard wished for nothing so much as to furnish the army with the very best weapons and armours available. The Noldor were ever ready for war; indeed, Parnard thought that it was an art to them, and that they loved nothing more than to exercise their artifice. The wood-elf wished to be called into the field, but not out of any love for battle (for he was no great warrior) or love of his homeland, but out of hatred against the Shadow, and from his naturally restless disposition. He thought he had forever lost his ties to the Greenwood, and was very little inclined to return there and look upon the people he knew in his youth, thinking they would not remember him very favorably, and he was not the same person they knew, before he was obliged to quit that place.
If anything makes folk more sensible, it is realizing how easily fortune and luck are responsible for greatness in life, and not one's birthright or innate ability. But when driven to acknowledge facts, some folk will ever be endeavoring to alter circumstances and motives, in order to attribute all success to themselves.
