Nerwen the Green and the Search for the Entwives #wattys2019

Chapter I: Nerwen's Garden

I am a big fan of JRR Tolkien's works, the first of them, The Lord of the Rings, I read at 16, and re-read innumerable times. Later came The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Book of Lost Tales, Sons of Húrin, and other ones.

Like all fans passionate about a work, I fantasied thousands times to be part of it, and so I created an alter ego of myself, Nerwen the Green, great friend and colleague to Gandalf the Grey, and also a disciple of the Valië Yavanna Kementári, the Queen of Earth.

With the arrival of the first movie of the cinematographic trilogy The Hobbit I got finally the right inspiration to write a fan fiction narrating Nerwen's adventures. I tried to stay as much as possible true to the geography and nomenclature of the Tolkienian universe, and also to the plot already established by the Oxfordian Professor – I won't alter any storyline of his – however, the spirit in which I write it is much more modern and "daring" than Tolkien's. Therefore, don't expect his romantic nineteenth-century discretion in the representation of sentimental situations: the characters I describe – mine or borrowed – are definitely more "carnal", be they Valar, Maiar, Elves, Dwarves or Humans. Therefore, no Valar or Maiar like sexless angels, but instead much more alike to the Olympic or Norse gods, with their passions, virtues and flaws; and no Elves so transcendent to look preternatural, but made of blood and flesh precisely like Dwarves and Humans, immensely wise if you want, but fallible, and amiable or annoying exactly like all other inhabitants of Middle-earth.

For the experts of the Tolkienian universe, the detailed descriptions I give about backgrounds, environments and characters could sound useless and pedantic, but I want the story to be enjoyable also to those who know little or nothing about the Professor's works.

The mature rating is indispensable, as I narrate in detail also love situations, exactly like all the other ones, because I think that love – included its physical expression – is the most beautiful thing in the world and therefore there's no reason to feel ashamed. Anyway, my characters don't have sex, but make love, or at the most, they have sex with feeling; therefore this kind of scenes can be described, if anything, as erotic, and not at all as pornographic.

Finally, please note that English is not my mother language, so I ask you to be patient with my mistakes and oddities; any correction by English native speakers is very welcome.

Good, now you've been warned! XD If you're still willing to explore the twists and turns of my story, I welcome you. In this case, elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo (*).

Lady Angel

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(*) A star shines upon the hour of our encounter. (Quenya tongue, from "The Lord of the Rings")

OOO

Chapter I: Nerwen's Garden

Nerwen Laiheri, the Lady of the Green, bent over a basil plant and caressed gently its scented leaves.

"Bravo, little brother", she praised it, "Grow and spread your fragrance everywhere."

Nerwen's vast garden was the richest and luxuriant of all Valinor, and often its inhabitants – Valar, Maiar and Eldar – came here looking for plants in order to decorate their parks and to enrich the taste of their food. Thanks to her ability and to the special gift Yavanna Kementári granted her, Nerwen could grow in her garden all the plants of Arda, from the mosses and lichens of the subarctic climates to the succulent plants of the deserts, from the northern conifers to the equatorial palm trees. A profusion of flowers, trees, shrubs, herbs of all genres and types flourished on her wide land, in a cheerful mixture of colours and scents offering joy to the hearts of those who looked at them. Such was the beauty of this place, comparable only to the Gardens of Lórien, that many came here even only to take a stroll and fill their eyes with these incomparable colours and their nostrils with these delicious aromas.