Tianwen·Magweth Pengolodh

Faded families of fishermen, wine sellers in town from the mountains, and sailors and sergeants of all ranks.The last group of people did not bring their children, but they asked to write down the names of the biological children they had never met.Those who could not read repeated the name aloud until they were so immersed in the memory that they took away the paper with the name written on it as a talisman.The gossip of Pengolod and Alfwine in Sindarin also pleases customers.The two copyists had a hard time keeping serious as the two women dragged their children out - one woman said to the other: "Not only did we buy the name, but we heard them speak all that Elvish for free! Yes , it’s a good deal.”

Pengolod had the hearing of an elf, sharper than that of a mortal, Alfwine, so only he heard what another woman said next on the street outside: "A member of the beautiful race lives in a A crippled family born with varus feet, who would have imagined that! I've always heard that they hate ugly things."

He was glad to hear the other woman retort, "That's a nasty thing to say--what can he do about it, what's wrong with him? Besides, when have you entertained a beautiful race at home, huh? Since the Great War, come to see Your prettiest man is..." The bickering gradually faded away.Alfwine had turned his attention to a sailor who claimed to have twins at home, words he hadn't heard a bit.

Seizing the few quiet moments, the two of them together managed to draw as many pages of diary as Alfwine's work alone in a day.The port bell rang to signal dinner time, and Alfwine bolted the door and drew the curtains.He leaned wearily against the door, shook his head, and said in an apologetic tone again: "The store is usually cooler than this."

Pengolod raised his hand: "Excuse me! I don't know at all... ah..."

Alfwine braced himself and walked through the shop.Pengolod had the impression in the morning that Alfwine showed little sign of lameness in his shop, and it turned out that he had been like this all day, but it became apparent at a distance up.He noticed that Alfwine was using a cane for a walk in the yard.As Pengolod watched, the memory haunted him again, for his adjusted gait was so similar to that of Rumir an epoch ago.But he doesn't look very much like Rumir in other ways.Having seen the residents of Romenna come to visit in such a continuous stream throughout the day, Pengolod came to the conclusion that although Alfwine has a foot problem, he is actually quite popular.

"You look pensive. What are you thinking about?" Alfwine asked.

"I'm thinking maybe my immediate attraction to you is because you remind me of my teacher from long ago. Only, of course, you're more popular."

Alfwine sighed: "Yes, but your former teacher Rumir possessed courage. And the only chance for me to show courage is when Sauron comes to the seaside of Númenor. Four years ago, the herald mobilized When recruiting soldiers for the Great War, I went. At that time, Tom was not my apprentice, and the apprentice I was training at the time went with me. He was a good boy and was accepted. Of course, Kiryatan's The sergeant major turned me down. With so many veterans around and their stories, it doesn't make sense to say 'I could have gone too'."

Pengolod thought it over before asking his next question.He didn't tremble with the ominous premonition, so he asked, "Do you know what happened to your former apprentice during the Great War?"

Alfwine was a little happier when he heard that, and stroked his mustache: "He managed to write me a letter. At that time, they only had the parchment they saved. After fighting for King Gil-Galad, he He was sent to garrison in Linton, because he could speak Sindarin, and his military rank was quite high. I never received a letter from his family, which means that he came back alive from the war." Alfwine raised his voice , "Ah Tang, come here! You worked hard today, we made a lot of money. Tell me, how about buying some barbecue from the tavern?" Ah Tang happily accepted the task and went to buy food .

After he sprinted out, Alfwine limped to his seat and said, "The Great War has completely changed our lives."

"I notice you all say 'the Great War.' Is there no other name?" Pengolod asked. "We elves have names for every battle: 'Battle of Lyndon,' 'Eriador was defeated.' ', 'Imladris Relief'. But I leave it to historians of other races to name the whole war."

Alfwinai leaned back on the cushioned work chair and tapped his fingers on the wood for a while: "I've never thought about it. There's no other name for it, it's just 'The Great War'. Maybe, maybe..." He mused, then went on, "This is the only war we've ever fought."

Indeed; it was so real that most of the Númenoreans Pengolod encountered did not realize it.For this reason, he respected Alfwine even more. "Your people have performed extremely well. Without your brave and strong warriors, we would probably be wiped out." Pengolod said.It wasn't until those words came out of his mouth that he realized how much guilt he had brought to himself.

"That said, was the battle worth it? It makes me happy. I saw what it did to us here, to home. You see, Romenna bore the brunt of it. Tar-Minastir It is here that the fleets and armies of the city are assembled. We say that more men go to battle or sail in Romena than anywhere else on the island. We merchants profit—I have written many letters and many wills. But to For many people, some of their sons died, some came back a different person, and some are still serving."

Pengolod thought of the women he had seen, and asked, "What about their daughter?"

Alfwine smiled appreciatively: "You really are a wise person for asking that! A woman's temper has changed Romenna even more. The merchant's daughters have become stern-tempered, shrewd and capable—"

"Women do become like this in wartime," Pengolods said.

"...or grow resentful of the other women who came to Romenna to wait for their men to return. There are more widows than ever before, even sailors' wives."

Pengolod nodded while maintaining his listening posture.Now he understood why time itself was divided in the memory of the Romenna by the Great War.They talked about the past, either "before the war" or "after the war".He pondered: "The fate of many people must have changed because of this..."

Alfwine said something unexpected: "I've heard the story of my grandfather. He remembers when word spread all over Lindon that Sauron had returned. His real father was from Romenna, but, "Alfwine cleared his throat, "My great-grandfather did not marry my great-grandmother. My grandfather tried every means to persuade the crew and boarded a big ship to get here, but he looked at it according to the standards of Númenor. , don’t live long. He said it’s better to be poor and lowly in peacetime than rich in wartime, because then you might lose all your wealth.”

"Perhaps you have inherited your wisdom from him," said Pengolod.

"Wisdom? What wisdom? I'll show you how wise I am; we'll toast all wise men." Alfwine opened a locked cabinet and took out a bottle of spiced mead , plus two exquisite porcelain cups.They toasted and laughed, and each drank the mead.

Pengolod shook his head, and began to say: "What a good wine! It reminds me of..." Before he could finish, Ah Tang came in through the back door leading to the yard.He held a loaf of bread under his arm, and still held the plate, but it was now full of delicious food.The shop was too busy at noon, and they didn't have time to pay attention to the pie seller, so they couldn't wait to eat dinner at this moment.

After Alfwine and Tom went to bed, Pengolod also went back to his room, but he didn't sleep.He was still energized by last night's elf sleep.He thought, it would be great if every day was as busy as today.He can use the night time to write down the elf knowledge he promised to Alfwine.

Pengolod descended the stairs with a movement beyond the reach of any mortal, without making a sound.The faint moonlight that came in through the windows at the back of the shop was enough for his keen eyes to find ink, pens, and stacks of second-rate reed papyrus.Tomorrow he will settle the question of who pays for the paper.Elves can do many things with twilight, but detailed writing is not one of them.Pengolod lit a small candle, purposely placing it in a candle shade.He thought about it, and began to write what he thought Alfwine would be interested in—a short essay on the naming customs of the different peoples of the elves.It is one of a series of texts to be studied by the advanced students of Rambeyingam, and is entitled "The Kundi and the Eldar."

Pengolod had just written the first page and set it aside when the stairs creaked in an even but clumsy rhythm.After a while, Tom's disproportionately large feet were poked out, followed by the thin calves and bony knees under the nightgown.Ah Tang crossed his arms on his chest, looking half asleep, but when he saw Pengolod working, he woke up a bit: "Good evening, my lord."

"I hope I didn't wake you up?" Pengolod asked.