Losgael put the final stitches to the tapestry she had been working on for the last months, putting forth her skill to depict the tale of Themodir and Manadhlaer. Time had become more sparse since she had joined the ranks of the Hammer, but she had returned to this work whenever she could. She carefully smoothed the fabric, and looked at the work of her hands.
The tapestry was framed by a border of intricate patterns made from silver thread, interspersed with small images from the Lay of Leithian, as well as tiny birds. There were swans that stood for Themodir and Manadhlaer both, a skylark for Norliriel, who sang to him, and a grey dove for Losgael herself.
At the margins, there were stylised depictions of Gondolin, fair with its high white towers, and Alqualondë, the haven of the Falmari, with its shimmering walls of pearls. In between, the tale unfolded.
It started with a dance. Losgael smiled. Themodir moved with surpassing grace, his hair - finest silver thread - flying around his head as he turned, and thus beheld Manadhlaer for the first time.
Losgael blushed, only noticing now that she had given a little of Meluilindele's lovestruck expression to the couple, though they were still clearly recognisable as themselves.
The next image had Themodir reach out his hand to ask Manadhlaer for a dance. In the border, Beren gazed upon Lúthien with wonder.
Following this, a great portion of the tapestry was dedicated to Themodir's faithful service to the Order of Hammer, though ever and anon, there was Manadhlaer, playing her flute or tending the wounded. Losgael had not wished for her tapestry to evoke too much grief, so Themodir's captivity in Angmar was merely hinted at, although his rescue at the hands of Belethoriel and his companions - among them Dolthafaer, who was now the Arrow Lord - was given the appropriate amount of room.
The oath-taking that bound Manadhlaer to Bar-en-Vanimar was depicted as its importance deserved. Garbed in their hauberks, Manadhlaer and Norliriel knelt before Lord Anglachelm, with Themodir himself and Lady Danel standing witness for them.
Then, there came Themodir's last journey this side of the sea. He knelt before his lady, kissing her hand as he bade her farewell, renewing his promise to marry her. As chaste as their touches were, such was the intimacy of this scene that Losgael had barely dared to depict it; even now, her breath caught within her throat. In the border, Lúthien remained behind to wait in sorrow and dread while Beren set forth to hunt Carcharoth, greatest of werewolves.
The heights of the Hithaeglir loomed, rendered in the whitest thread Losgael had been able to find. Themodir fought valiantly; a multitude of goblins were crushed by Namarra, his noble warhammer, before he was overcome.
He was borne from the darkness of the goblin warrens, the poisoned wound that would claim his life upon his strong chest, and carried home through the snow. In the border, Tinúviel sang.
At last, there was the wedding. This, too, Losgael had depicted in a gentle manner, mindful of the future viewers' grief. Themodir looked peaceful; one could hardly tell that his body had been ravaged by the cruel poison. Manadhlaer, her silver hair artfully woven into a braid, shone with heart-piercing beauty made all the keener by her love and sorrow. Lord Anglachelm gazed upon his childhood friend with great tenderness as he grasped their hands to join them.
Likewise, Losgael had refrained from showing Norliriel's great weariness. Instead, the healer seemed fair in her grief, like a statue of Nienna, her tears made of tiny stitched-on crystals that shimmered as if they were truly water. Lady Danel looked solemn, like the watchful guardian she had been on the journey home, her hair shining in bright coppery hues.
The final image showed a look into the hoped-for future. In bright Valinor, there stood Themodir, renewed and alive. He grasped the hand of Manadhlaer. She wore a most beautiful dress that resembled the sea-foam, and her hair, now regrown, fell freely down her back in waves of bright silver.
Losgael smiled.
