Act II, Part VII: The Days of Eryn Galen
In the forest of Eryn Galen, Tinnurion and his companions lived on the hunt and on the gathering of fruit and things that grow in the earth. Of that there was plenty, and so the hunger they had suffered for longer than any mortal could hold was now sated with every passing day. Much they stored in their home, so that come winter they need not fear falling short of provisions. This allowed them to indulge in chores and meetings and events of all kind for which they had found no time before.
Every moon they shared in tales of their ancient home and of Eöl their master and much they wrote down so that they could recount it. The altar upon which the statue of Eöl stood looming served as a place of deep thought and long tales, and candles dimly lit it whenever they met. There stood also a long table made by their own hands and here they feasted and drank a brew of their own making.
For in the brewing of things they became more skilled than any; catering to their desire to become master brewers, they brewed ale and nourishing soup and medicinal draughts and in the darkest hours of the night they took to brewing poison and all manner of strange elixirs. And the memory of Eöl’s craftsmanship gave them longing to discover his secrets and many nights did they work together to uncover them. But Galvorn they remembered how to make, and of that metal they forged armour of their own, and in all matters they were content.
The first moon of autumn they held a great feast in honour of Eöl, calling it Aur Eöl, and they revered him like the Eldar revere the Valar, revelling in spirits and fine words sung and told. And not far from their home they would gather at an open glade in the forest to gaze at the stars and sing songs of lament.
This glade they came to call the Howling Hollow in their tongue. Of their tongue should be said that it retained much of Sindarin, but in their time of wandering and solitude they had made it their own so that in speech it resembled it less than in writing.
It was during this time that a great host of Men and Elves passed through the land to contend with Sauron; the Last Alliance of Men and Elves. Many of the Silvan Elves of Eryn Galen joined under their lordship Oropher, and many of them did not return after the seven-year siege, not even the king himself. Thus it passed that, when the war was won, the remaining Silvan Elves abandoned Amon Lanc, led by Thranduil, and moved northward to the Mountains. Because of this, Tinnurion and his companions were in need of a more demanding secrecy, and thus they grew thorned thickets about their house and held a daily watch. Yet only time would tell if they could remain there undisturbed.
