THE YEARS OF THE TREES:

Sildanie was born in the bliss of Valinor before the Years of the Sun unto Erenor and Lorenïve.  Lorenïve was a Lady of the Vanyar, a people fairest among those who awoke at Cuivenen, beloved of Manwë Sulimo, and first to come into the uttermost West.  Among the Noldor was named Erenor, who was tall and proud as were the people of Finwë.  Even in the youth of the Eldar, Erenor glimpsed Lorenïve, of the kin of Indis, and thought her to be fairest; a fire was kindled in his heart, and indeed a slow spark began in Lorenïve’s.  Thus it was that as the host of Ingwë first drove Westward at the summons of the Valar, Erenor was eager to follow as near as the Host of Finwë might be persuaded to go.   Into Valinor the Firstborn came at last, many having fallen asunder as is elsewhere told; it was there that a love grew between Lorenïve and Erenor.  In the years that were still long and loath to be counted, a daughter was brought into Valinor with a cry of happiness, the first and only child of Lorenïve and Erenor before the Doom of the Noldor would be pronounced upon their very family.  By her father she was called Sildanie, for it was her mother’s tears of joy that christened the child’s brow when she came into the world.  Lorenïve gave unto her daughter the name Cäleyesta; but she did not utter the name aloud when it was given, and it was seldom spoken thereafter beyond the quiet company of mother and daughter.

The days of Sildanie’s youth were joyful, and the light of Aman shone ever brightly in her eyes.  Such was her love and awe for the hallowed lands of the Valar and Eldalië that she roamed often in reverent silence, taking what knowledge she could from company found.  Her greatest love, however, came to her in the Great Court of Aulë, where she spent uncounted years in the tutelage of Aulë and those near to him.  Thus Sildanie came to surpass her father’s skill in smithying at an early age, a fact that only fueled Erenor’s pride in the skill of the Noldor, for indeed Sildanie took more after her father in her passion for craft.   Just as the fruits of that passion hung in the very halls of the Valar as twinkling jewels wrought in tribute, so did they hang from the belts of the Noldor who later sought to leave Valinor in arms, as fell swords gleaming in the dying light of the memory of the Two Trees.

In Fëanor did Sildanie see great skill and inspiration, and thus he had her respect, as the works of his hands indeed commanded the awe of many.  Though she did not love any of Finwë’s sons more than the next, the eldest shared her devotion to crafting works of unequalled beauty, which perhaps opened her ears more to the sway of his fateful words spoken from the summit of Túna. 

In the time of Melkor’s confinement in Valmar, Lorenïve was unmoved by his efforts to win the trust of the Eldar, but saw in her husband – and indeed, her daughter – the desire to learn of the wealth of secret knowledge and skill that Melkor promised.  She saw, also, a shadow of his corruption that lay in the deep pools of Fëanor’s spirit, and thus was wary of the fire behind the words of the son of Finwë ere they were even spoken.

Words of anger, pride, and vengeance fell upon many who hearkened unto the power of Fëanor, however, and in their madness were they unwilling to heed the pronouncement of their doom.  Sildanie, drawn by tales spun of the threads of new lands, and of new crafts to be learned and perfected, stood among those amazed at Fëanor’s call to depart over the seas.  In the torchlight, Lorenïve saw in the faces of her husband and daughter that they would not be persuaded to stay, and was saddened.  So it was that Erenor and Sildanie passed out of the West and were sundered ever after from Lorenïve.

Much is written elsewhere of the First Kinslaying that followed at Alqualondë, and Sildanie’s grief in the years of the Banishment of the Noldor was not untouched by the memory of the blood shed upon those pearly, bejeweled shores.  As the hosts of Fëanor and Fingolfin hefted their gleaming swords against the Teleri, Sildanie found herself upswept in the fell winds of fury that enveloped her kinsmen.  In this fateful hour, the stars shone upon her blade held high, the finest of her making in both Valinor and later in Middle Earth.  But before its edge came down upon the Teleri, Sildanie became aware of the power that stirred from this craft of her pride and mastery, fueled by the bonfires of her ire in the face of opposition.  A startling fear at what she had nearly done then stirred her from her stride, and as her hands quaked, the sword was emptied of its power, and fell and was shattered upon the shores as if they were made of unforgiving stone.

Here did Sildanie begin to doubt the eldest son of Finwë, and she wondered at her choice to follow him in the face of such consequences.  She chose not to return with Finarfin, however, for as great as was her doubt, her shame was greater still.  Her tears upon the shores of Alqualondë were bitter indeed, for she saw that she would never again return to the land so beloved to her.  It was not until she saw the fires of Fëanor’s treachery burning the horizon like a bitter, frightful sunrise, that the tears dried upon Sildanie’s face.  She wept no more through the hardships of the journey beyond the Helcaraxë; such was Sildanie’s desire renewed to come to Middle Earth, for she saw that her father Erenor had gone with the Host of Fëanor.

THE FIRST AGE:

The Host of Fingolfin, hardened by their passage over the Grinding Ice, came into Middle Earth with the first rising of the moon, and Isil silvered their trumpets.  Among them Sildanie came at last to Hithlum, where the reunion between father and daughter was bittersweet.  As slow as Sildanie was to judge the followers of Fëanor, for indeed she shared the beginnings of their folly, a distance wider than Lake Helevorn came to grow between Erenor and his daughter, though they loved each other still.  Though Fëanor by then had passed to the Halls of Mandos, Erenor followed Curufin and Celegorm thereafter, and never again was to see his daughter.

Sildanie stayed rather in the company of Fingolfin, her love and fealty pledged ever after to the line of the High King.  She held a special affection for Fingon for his part in bridging the rift between the followings of the Noldor, however, a cause that touched upon the wounds of her heart and spoke to memories all too near.  But rather than pledging herself to one alone, she went often between Fingolfin and his sons in friendship and counsel, filling their halls with all the fair things of her crafting.  In Hithlum Sildanie also came into the companionship of the Sindar, who delighted in the teachings she so readily offered them.  They came to call her Mirinthel in time, meaning “treasure-crowned sister”, a name she kept ever after.

Mirinthel kept also the company of Men in those years, who had crossed into Beleriand to dwell in Estolad.  She went among them in friendship under the banner of Fingolfin at times, and there were those of these Men who chose to return with her to enter the houses of Lords.  One of these, whom Mirinthel called by the name Aurdil, was of the people of Malach Aradan given leave to dwell in Hithlum.  In a time insignificant in the years to come, Aurdil grew tormented, for his thought of Mirinthel’s beauty and wisdom had conquered him, and it was greater than his thought for their differences.  Thus he went in haste to Fingolfin’s court and spoke the feelings that were hot in his heart before her; but Mirinthel’s own heart was hardened against the Man, for already had Morgoth’s whisperings set a rift between the Eldar and the Edain, though in these years they were not yet estranged.  As Mirinthel scorned Aurdil for the affections she thought rash and foolhardy, he named her cold, for neither understood the lot of the other.  In her frustration, Mirinthel went from Hithlum for a time.  Aurdil was later lost in the flames that consumed Dorthonion, though Mirinthel knew not his fate, and wondered little.

Many darker moments are told of this fleeting age, however, when Mirinthel took to arms beside Fingolfin and his sons.  When the Siege of Angband ended in a blaze of smoke and fire, Fingolfin had been lost against all counsel to leave his guard, many of the Noldor were made thralls in the bowels of Morgoth’s keep, and the Edain in Dorthonion had burned even as the evergreens still did.  Most of the Sindar in Mirinthel’s following were slain or had forsaken the wars of the Noldor, and thus it was that Mirinthel went nearly alone and with a profound sadness upon her heart to Fingon, who then bid her to follow Ereinion upon the road to the Havens, that his company might be made of those held dear to the King. 

There upon the shores she stood until Maedhros gathered what strength he could of the Noldor, Dwarves, and Men of Hithlum to his banner.  By the time Beleriand was arrayed for war at last, Mirinthel had rejoined Fingon with the hosts of the Falathrim.  But in that battle of Unnumbered Tears, not even the unveiling of Gondolin brought joy enough to lessen the torment of what was to come.  On the fifth day of that Fifth Battle fell Fingon the High King of the Noldor, and but a few years later after Mirinthel followed him to Gondolin, Turgon too was lost.

In those few years before Turgon’s fall, the barring of the doors of Gondolin had troubled Mirinthel, who had always taken to her own paths over Beleriand.  Thus it was that the misgivings of Idril Celebrindal brought her to Mirinthel, who knew of Idril's preparations and helped as she could.  Though she did not share Turgon’s heart in remaining behind as the white city fell, Mirinthel stayed near to him until his tower crumbled to white ash and dust around him.  It was then that she escaped to the Havens by Idril’s hidden way, delivering all those she could gather from the rubble, and bringing word to Ereinion of his father’s demise.  Solemn was the hour in which Gil-galad was crowned the High King of the Noldor and it was by his side that Mirinthel stood while the Host of the Valar rushed over Beleriand ere it fell beneath the waves.

THE SECOND AGE:

The Havens at Mithlond were a fair and beloved home to Mirinthel in the first part of the Second Age, where her troubled spirit found still waters in the company of Fingon’s only son.  At Gil-galad’s side did she remain, her feet forsaking travel for as long as they ever had, and ever would again, until the founding of Eregion. It was then that she begged Gil-galad’s leave for a time, for indeed the promise of filling the empty lands with the beauty of her smithying stirred in her a passion deep and restless.  She went often between Ost-in-Edhil and Mithlond, however, though the tidings she brought back to the High King were not always as fair as her dreams of jeweled halls once Sauron had come among the Elves in fair guise.

It was not until late that Mirinthel saw in Annatar’s manner the reflections of treachery, for indeed his words of making Middle Earth fair touched upon ancient hopes that had been all but buried by the grief of the ruin of Beleriand.  But in her journeys back and forth between Eregion and Lindon, she saw that Gil-galad and Elrond were troubled, and thereafter were their fears imprinted upon Mirinthel’s view of the Lord of Gifts.  Ripples of uncertainty began to disturb the still waters of the memory of her father’s prideful fall.  With the past thus pressed upon her mind, Mirinthel denied Annatar of her trust.  She was yet uncertain of who he was, however, and was ashamed of her past misjudgments on matters all too near; thus it was that she kept her resolve in secret, a folly born of pride that she would ever regret.

When Sauron was at last revealed, and as his fury had begun to spread like wildfire over the whole of Eregion, Mirinthel lifted her sword without thought or care for what was to become of it.  A dreadful rage had come upon her, as had happened only once before at Alqualondë, and such was her anger that many of those who beheld it were afraid.  It was not until she knelt in the ruin of Ost-in-Edhil that the folly of her silence was fully realized.  Then came Mirinthel’s tears, washing the blood of her kindred into the earth, and carrying away the dust of the ruined greatness of the Eldar in Eregion.

Upon the wasted battlefield that Eregion had become, where war gave way to hopeless flight, Mirinthel came at last to Elrond’s side, and with him fled towards the mountains.  There she aided the founding of Imladris in whatever ways she could, seeing that behind the ravine walls of this hidden home would much promise be preserved in the face of darkness.  But before the tapestries of history might be woven with threads of hope, they must again to be dyed with the blood and tears of thousands.

Among the ranks of Elves and Men of the Last Alliance sent marching from Imladris to the Black Gates, Mirinthel stood in shining mail.  Her company went between those of Gil-galad and his Herald Elrond, and she was at its fore.  A fight worthy of stories and songs Mirinthel fought, only to come to the side of Gil-galad after he fell to the blackened ground, and the Kingship of the Noldor in Middle Earth had passed. 

Hope dawned upon her sadness, however, in returning to Imladris with Elrond after the Dark Lord’s downfall.  Though all the shadows of the world were not yet chased into their pits, there to become memories of suffering past, Mirinthel’s hurts at last began to ease as she labored beside the folk of Elrond, making the Haven of Imladris a work of beauty and light to shine as a secret star among the ruined lands and dark, looming mountains.

THE THIRD AGE:

Even now does Mirinthel remain in Arda, spending the greater part of her years in the vale of Elrond’s founding.  At times, though, she passes out of the valley on errands around this Middle Earth she still holds dear, often carrying tidings of different lands to Elrond upon her return.  For her part in past and present, she is named an Ambassador in the Istfariath, though it is a title that has been spoken less often now than ever before as the Elves pass into the west and isolation settles upon those who remain.

It is an even more ancient love, however that binds Mirinthel to Imladris and keeps her from fading with her kindred.  Diminished though all crafts may be by the ages that have past, and the distance put between the Noldor and Aman, Mirinthel ever seeks to further the skill of her hands.  She is held in high esteem among the Hirdain of Imladris, her talents in weaponsmithing and jewelsmithing shared as widely as they may be. 

Most of the Sindar who followed her that yet remain in Middle Earth – and indeed there are very few – are pledged to Nos Forodren.  By their affections, and those of their lord, is Mirinthel counted as an ally to this house in Imladris.  It is told also that she still holds the sigil of her mother’s house in Valinor close to her, but does not speak its name aloud in any company.