RAISING AN ELF-MAID
(Being a Comparative Analysis of Mortal and Elven Child Maturation)
Torech Besruth, Falathlorn, Lindon
40 Lairë in the Reckoning of Imladris
As a scholar and archivist, I find myself in a position to conduct a line of research based on this premise: how do maternity and child-rearing practices of both Elves and Mortals differ or concur?
With the birth of my sweet daughter, I am now enjoying a personal perspective regarding this endeavor; and I mean “enjoying” in the literal sense. Every day brings a joy and wonder regarding my life’s new order, as a wife and mother; something I had never allowed the slightest thought to disturb my sterile and barren existence. With this new regimen of living, I must apply my rational methods to correlate the data I have available.
(No, I shall not burn out that last passage, for it’s a reminder of just how far I’ve come; from the frigid librarian of ages past to the vibrant keeper of a family today…)
~~~~~
For the beginning of this new life, nothing had gone to plan. A cursory analysis of child-bearing lore, taken from midwives both Elvish and Mortal, indicated a pregnancy of a mixed-marriage baby should have taken anywhere from nine to twelve months’ duration; Bainiel was birthed little more than seven.
The act of Elvish childbirth is relatively painless, if uncomfortable, as opposed to Mortal childbirth, which is accompanied by pain to the point of agony for the mother. My own birthing experience was a mix of both. The rhythmic convulsions preceding the actual birth were vastly multiplied; the birth itself, where Bainiel appeared to the world, was fraught with much pain and required assistance and encouragement from others.
But one major difference marks the gap between Elvish and Mortal birth, and that is the connection of ósanwë between mother and infant. While I carried her, Bainiel’s infant mind touched mine with sensations and even with words. It was apparent she could hear sounds outside the womb, my own voice clearest of all – Cutch made a game of resting his head against my middle and speaking to Bainiel, so she might recognize her father’s voice.
During the passage from womb to world, Bainiel was terrified; I soothed her with my own thoughts, despite the pain I was enduring. Afterwards, when I held her and nursed her, her mind began to focus more as her eyes and ears came into play. As time passes and her vocabulary increases, she will still reach out with her mind to tell me what her words cannot.
~~~~~
Growth. The physical maturation of the child alongside the mental. In this, the observable differences are utterly discarded concerning Bainiel. Elf-children proceed quite differently from Man-children. By their first year, an Elfling can walk, talk, sing, even dance; Manlings might not achieve these feats until their second or even third year. But after that rapid burst of growth, the Elf-child slows; a Mortal child of five years, for example, will appear identical physically to an Elf-child of fifteen, though the Elf will display far more physical and mental prowess.
None of that has applied to Bainiel thus far. Her infant mind has been incredibly active, absorbing every possible stimulus and experience. In the less that four months since birth, my daughter has already mastered walking, running – and even swimming! Her words are multiplying exponentially and, while she cannot construct full conversations as of this writing, she can make herself understood with great alacrity. And when she and I will bond or cuddle through the course of the day, she reaches out through ósanwë and shares with me her wonder and delight at what greets her.
Case in point: while I observed Cutch and Bainiel at play in the waters recently, I overheard their conversation with shocked awe at how far my daughter has progressed. Cutch was clearly being patient where Bainiel was not, frustrated in her attempts to make her mind known.
“You chase the fish?” Cutch asked.
“Ai, lim,” Bainiel laughed, “F-f-issshhh! Ada, fisshhh!” And she swam wriggling through the water, mimicking a fish.
“And there’s a bird, see it? Bird?”
“Bird! Aew. Nana-aew? Where nana-aew?”
“Mommy-bird – oh! Windwalker! No, princess, I don’t see Windwalker.”
“Want see. Ada make?”
“Nana calls him, princess, not me. Maybe soon.”
Her little face scrunched, “S-sooon…?”
“Not now, later.”
“Ada make Nana call nana-aew s-s-soon?”
“Let’s go ask her!” And as they both headed back to the manor, I retreated inside.
~~~~~
I have made several observations and notes on Bainiel’s progress, as well as trying to find comparisons twixt Elf and Man that might help predict her next phase of development. But as observed, very little of the ordinary is applicable to my half-Elven daughter. Even the most reasoned speculation is rendered invalid regarding what awaits us as time moves forward.
But I would not miss this for all the gold in Erebor…
