LOTR Drabble: The Smile That Wins
Jul. 14th, 2007 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
martasficTitle: The Smile That Wins
Summary: In the Houses of Healing, Faramir begins to fall in love.
Word Count: 150
Rating: General (nothing objectionable)
Timeline: Late Third Age (bookverse)
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He had asked everyone he met for tales of her. What brought her to Gondor? What family had she left behind? Why didn't she smile?
Hwithlaefdige her kinsmen named her, as frozen as winter's last frost, but Faramir disagreed. She was fire, summer's lightning. That thought frightened him. Fire destroyed, engulfed, left only blackened stone and charred flesh. He was but a man; he could not stand against, or with, the flame. How could he even approach her, this lady as white and pure as the Star-kindler herself?
Yet they walked together, and she spoke of her brother. A smile broke free before she could smother it, and her cheeks reddened. Her voice lightened, a blue spark shone through her icy eyes, and she laughed in spite of herself.
Ai, hlaefdige min! Faramir could not hide his smile. If his lady could smile, could she be mere man as well?
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ETA: My poetry (il)literacy is showing. Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
edoraslass for her private nudge on the correct author.
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A quick note on languages: hlaefdige min is Old English for "my lady", and "hwit" is OE for "white". I think I constructed White Lady correctly but am open to suggestions.
Summary: In the Houses of Healing, Faramir begins to fall in love.
Word Count: 150
Rating: General (nothing objectionable)
Timeline: Late Third Age (bookverse)
------
He had asked everyone he met for tales of her. What brought her to Gondor? What family had she left behind? Why didn't she smile?
Hwithlaefdige her kinsmen named her, as frozen as winter's last frost, but Faramir disagreed. She was fire, summer's lightning. That thought frightened him. Fire destroyed, engulfed, left only blackened stone and charred flesh. He was but a man; he could not stand against, or with, the flame. How could he even approach her, this lady as white and pure as the Star-kindler herself?
Yet they walked together, and she spoke of her brother. A smile broke free before she could smother it, and her cheeks reddened. Her voice lightened, a blue spark shone through her icy eyes, and she laughed in spite of herself.
Ai, hlaefdige min! Faramir could not hide his smile. If his lady could smile, could she be mere man as well?
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And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
("She Walks in Beauty Like the Night" by Lord Byron)
ETA: My poetry (il)literacy is showing. Thanks to
edoraslass for her private nudge on the correct author.-------
A quick note on languages: hlaefdige min is Old English for "my lady", and "hwit" is OE for "white". I think I constructed White Lady correctly but am open to suggestions.