Stories by The Writer
E-mail Author
Return to Fanfic Index

 New Fan Works  Old Fan Works  Zelda Series  Multimedia  Features  Interactive  Site Info

"Dagnir Umiana"


Dagnir Umiana

By: The Writer



Disclaimer: *in a bad accent that I leave it to you to find out which* Helo der. I dont oun Selda.

A. N. Hello there! I know it took me sometime, but now it’s done. I suppose some of you got to check out the improved and corrected Tales that I posted sometime ago. Well, this is it: the best idea (in my humble opinion, mind you) that has occurred to me. Why haven’t I found a single fic telling of the forging of the Master Sword? Good grief, the subject in up in the air and nobody bothers to grab it. But that’s going to change now. Yes, and I’m even going to add a little bit more of Elven-fashion to this one. Hopefully, my Sindarin will be much improved. ^_^

‘nuff rambling! Read and review if you please!
 

P. S. Sorry, but I had forgotten to tell you: in ‘Remembrance of old’, the last song (the one with the alternate verse) can be sung to The Beatles’ ‘Mother Nature’s Son’. Believe me, it’s a great song!

 

After spending a great day with his friend Link, Malon had returned to her home. And after telling his father of the happiest birthday she felt to have had, she went upstairs to her room and lay on her soft bed. Staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, she suddenly came across the thought of her father’s present. Why hadn’t he given anything to her? Assuring herself that he just didn’t have the time to buy her a present today, she tried to understand him having a lot of work to do. Although she kept telling herself this over and over, she still felt somewhat disappointed at him.

Heavy footsteps came from behind the old wooden door. Opening her eyes a bit, she saw her father entering the room and walking towards her, a proud smile on his hairy face. Not wanting to pretend being asleep, Malon slowly rose and sat on the bed staring in doubt at her father. “You don’t happen to have thought that I had forgotten your birthday, did you?” he asked with a chuckle. Her brows’ arch widened. “No” she replied. “I just thought that you had just been to busy to get it today. But it’s okay”

Smiling merrily, Talon opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a roll of parchment that seemed old; as old as the one Link had given to her earlier in the day. Feeling some renewed excitement, the young woman unrolled the parchment as soon as her father handed it to her and noticed the story’s title.

Dagnir Umiana: Hylia’s Master Sword.

‘The world is filled with the treasures that the ancient folk of the Hylia left behind as their waning grew with the count of the years. Jewels of magnificent beauty, artifacts of immense complexity, scrolls of immeasurable lore and arms of greatest craftsmanship. And although the world is old now, and the Hylia have all but vanished in these days of late, many relics still posses their ancient might with which they were filled: spells of different uses that only a few may recall, instruments that allow the sound of fair and beautiful music and blades that permit the vanquishing of great evils as the ones that were during the first ages of the world.

‘Among these last weapons of might that our longfathers wrought is chief the Turmegil, the Master Sword for the Hylia. The tale of this great blade, forged with the sole purpose of defeating evil, is sung in many long-lost, forgotten lays, such as the Elves would make. Yet, a small part of them has come to us Hylians of latter days.

‘Long ago, during the splendour of the Hylia, there was a smith who was the greatest of all in his craft. Mirylan was his name, and he was very well known in the high courts of the Hylian lords; for he made a great store of weapons and arms for them during the dreadful war with the Orcs. It is even said that none other than Romahil captain of the Sheikah went to battle bearing the knife Gorgorist; it being a special gift from the Hylia to the Sheikah for their aid. Great was the renown of Miradan in those days.

‘Many tales speak of Romahil Sword-arm, who crossed the Lost Woods and returned to the Mortal Lands of Middle-earth seeking relief for his sore heart. Yet, he was not the only being to have crossed the barrier that separates Hyrule from the rest of Arda and have come out alive. For a few songs of the Sindar tell of a famous Nandorin Elf that, not in accord with his folk’s custom, became great in the forging of things. Great was his skill, though his people never looked at it with good eyes, loving above all the things that are green and do not require the hand of any Elf not Man to grow. Miredhel he was named, and after he was vanished by his own kin he was called Edledhron, the Exile. In seeking for lands to dwell away from his forsaken folk, he came across the barrier of the Great Sea that shuns the entrance to Hyrule; and by unknown means he crossed it and stood in front of the Lost Woods’ eastern threshold, after many hardships in the great waters and the lands about.

‘Thus, not for the first time an Elf came to Hyrule ere the Dreadful War; and he found the land as fair as many of the places that are in the rest of the world. The alliance with the Fair Folk had not been forgotten at all by the Hylia, and Miredhel was welcomed and honoured at the hall of the Lord of the Hylia, and his skills were very much welcomed as well. As one might expect, Mirylan and Miredhel met in more than a single occasion, and they were glad; and their previous work was surpassed in many ways as they shared their knowledge with each other.

‘Mirylan had a sister that shared also great renown in Hyrule, although not by her craft in the forge. She was named with the gracious name of Aerlinwen, and her fame came from the beauty of her voice and songs. Under the halls of the lords of the Hylia she would often be called to sing many a time, though she preferred the green boughs hanging above her and the soft grass beneath her feet; she had a great love for Nayru’s beings that did not have a thinking mind of their own. Her songs, of which only a few have come to us out of the old days, were said to carry at times the sorrow of the Hylia during the wards, the joy of the end of the wars, and her desire to find true love ere time claimed her life.

‘It chanced on a fateful evening in the forges of Mirylan that his sister was dwelling for a time with him. And out of surprise and joy came Miredhel to visit his friend and to share more lore with him. Thus he beheld for the first time with his own eyes Aerlinwen of the fair voice, and she thought of her to be as fair as her songs. Aerlinwen, also, saw for the first time the friend of whom her brother had spoken so gladly, and she beheld too the fairness of the Firstborn that are not to come to Hyrule anymore. And within the warm abiding of the greatest smith of the Hylia, an Elf and a Hylian maiden met; and they were greatly rejoiced.

‘Afterwards, Aerlinwen and Miredhel walked under the stars each time the Moon was not full; and Miredhel, being of the Fair Folk, taught many things to Aerlinwen that made her music even more beautiful than before. In turn, she shared with him the fact of her love for plants and trees, and he was filled with the greatest joy an Elf can feel. Together, the Elf and Hylian maiden wrought one of the greatest loves that have existed amidst and within the realm of Hyrule.

‘But there was a shadow that hindered their utter happiness under the sky.

‘For although she desired more than anything to be espoused with him, he would not yield to her (and his own) wishes for a long time. And one night, when her hurt was too much, she spoke to Miredhel in these words:

‘“Why will you not yield to your love for me? Or is it that my heart lies and that yours has bent away from mine already? For I perceive your own desire to wed me and be glad; yet something holds you back against your will. What might that be? Have you grown tired of the lands about?”

‘“Miredhel felt his heart as heavy as his forging-hammer at the sound of these words, and for the first time he felt the necessary confidence to tell her of his great fear.

‘“You know that you are the most precious being over the world to me,” he said in reply, and a tear fell from her eyes. “Your heart, therefore, does not lie to you. But why will I not wed you, Aerlinwen of the fair voice, you ask? Because of your gift of mortality that you Hylia posses, just as men do. For many years I would dwell hither in bliss with you. Yet, when at last death comes for you, what shall I do in my grief? How shall I find relief for it? How shall I abide in the world bereft of my loving wife? Nay! My heart could not withstand it!”

“But you desire to live forever,” said Aerlinwen tenderly. “If you do, you must accept your doom: to endure great grieves and sorrows, but also to enjoy great bliss and happiness.”

“Nay,” replied Miredhel to her surprise. “If I would live without you, then I say nay: I do not want to live forever. But since I cannot return my life from the One I would rather be apart from you than to have to lose you”

“Why?” she said. “Why would you forsake your kin and gifts? Great and many are these that you received for the sake of your race. Would you forsake that for the love of a maiden of alien race?”

“Fairest Aerlinwen,” he said looking into her eyes with the Elven light of his own, “If I find not love, if the maiden I love is to be taken away from me, if I am to remain alone in Arda, why would I want to die not? If anyone of my kin is to live with that, who wants to live forever? Fairest Aerlinwen, who waits forever anyway?”

‘Aerlinwen made no answer to that, but her heart was torn; and Miredhel knew so.

‘Many were the great works that Miredhel and Mirylan did during the time of their friendship, and it ever grew over the years, although a shadow loomed over it in the days after her final words with Aerlinwen. She it is said to have brought hope and slight joy to those for whom she sang in the days of the Great Evils that besotted Hyrule afterwards; and often she would be found singing among those who had been affected by the plague of the last days of the Warg invasion. Yet, her songs carried no more the hope of love but the sadness of bitter parting, and those that listened to her felt their hearts overcome by pity as well as hope. Out of the old days of the realm, there comes one of the songs that Aerlinwen sang for the ill, and that she sang ever thinking of Miredhel:

Is there a time for lying under

The stars that shine as gems?

Is there a time for lying under

The sun that lightens stems?

Would there be hope to ever find love

Amongst the mortal lands?

Would there be hope to ever find love

Within the grassy strands?

Here she comes, clad in her tears.

Here she comes, to shed her tears.

Is there some hope for him to come back

To know that she yet weeps?

Is there some hope for him to come back

To find the love she keeps?

Is there a wish for blissful dwelling

Amongst the Hylian fields?

Is there a wish for blissful dwelling

With love that does not yields?

There he goes, fear shunning him.

There he goes, fear haunting him.

‘And though she sang a great more songs of which this is but a shadow, few have reached us Hylians of later days.

‘When the Great Evil of the Orc invasion came to Hyrule, the ill were already tended and hale, the Wargs were scattered and the brave were numerous. Thus, the goblins did not find a deserted land bereft of people, but rather a realm that was strong and mighty. But though they were defeated utterly in the end, the Fell Creatures made great evils that the Hylia found hard to amend: towns were burned, waters were fouled and people were slain. Indeed, these Orcs proved to be the greatest of all evils; and they wrought one of the vilest deeds that is remembered among Hylia and Elves.

‘For there came to pass that Aerlinwen was once singing in a safe part of the wood to the north of ancient Hyrule Castle, and many Hylia, youths and maidens, were gathered with her; and their music was a delight to listen for all about them. But a small band of Orcs came from the south-east, slunk into the wood, slew the guards and stepped into the haven. And there they slew also the youths and took the maidens to their encampment far to the south, and they enslaved them. And the ladies went through terrible torments. Many guards became aware of this and pursued the goblins, but could not catch them.

‘When the lord of the Hylia learned about this, great grief and great wrath came to him. And he immediately sent his best soldiers along with a band of the most cunning of the Daeridhrim, the Sheikah, to find the Orc-hold and free the captured Hylian-maidens. Afterwards, he called for Mirylan the smith and told him about the grievous news; and the smith felt doom smite him as he learned of his sister’s fate. With great haste he caught up with the soldiers and went with them, and it is said that a great store of weapons of the finest in his armory were made ready for them. But although the great aid he had given to them he felt his heart hopelessly sunken.

‘As a strange coincidence of fate, Miredhel was not on his Hylia-friend’s house by the time the company passed along, but rather he was wandering in the fields nigh; and he saw their coming from far away to the south and asked them about their quest. Greatest of all dismays was his when Mirylan had told him about Aerlinwen’s capture and the deed of the Orcs; but he at once took a sword from a nearby guard, sheathed it as his own and made ready as if for war. So they went on, until they reached foul bivouac the Orcs had set up for the season; and Miredhel wanted to rush to battle and slay all the possible goblins. But his friend held him from committing this madness and told him to slink away with the Sheikah and free the Hylian women while the soldiers and himself distracted the Orcs. Agreeing, though in fear of not seeing his friend again, the Elf parted with the Daeridhrim and entered the encampment. Meanwhile, Mirylan and the soldiers rang a war call to the Orcs and at once retreated to the nearby grooves. There they held on for a long time with hope that the maidens would be rescued.

‘But in a sudden twist of fate, the Orcs were aware of them and they at once cruelly slew their prisoners, and Aerlinwen of the fair voice they impaled to a stake and left her hanging grotesquely. And in her dying moments, after Miredhel and the Sheikah had ridden their surroundings of Orc-guards, she spoke to him and said: “Farewell, Elven-one. Thus, I shall not to live forever.” And she passed away.

‘ After the Hylia, the Daeridhrim and the Elf had returned to the Castle, one of the only maidens that died days after her rescue spoke of the hideous acts they were forced to commit and the terrible torments that they had suffered from the Orcs. And she said that because Aerlinwen had attempted to tend her in her suffering, the goblins had tormented her even more evilly, and her voice was ruined forever hence. Miredhel cried and wept in his fury and anger, but Mirylan did not utter a sound and his tears were not as seen as his friend’s.

‘Then, after having recovered his wit, Miredhel went forth from his house without a farewell and was not seen for many a day, and Mirylan grew concerned by his friend. And amidst the war that raged about him he sought him everywhere he might have knowledge of, but he did not find him; and long was the time of his despair, for to the death of his sister and the exile of his friend the dread of war was added. And there even came the day when his village was assaulted by Orcs, and he it was who led the survivors back to Ancient Hyrule Castle. Afterwards, his despair increased and a feeling of loneliness overcame his fear of wandering once more in the fields. He forsook his forge for a time and went forth again, into danger and toil, in the search for his long-lost friend. Far and wide, and nigh and near he looked; but he found naught and none. Then, after three years of wanders, he had almost given up hope. But a strange reek of smoke caught his eye one day, as he wandered near Death Mountain’s trail. Following this, he came across a wide cavern that none had seen before; and he did not know why, but his hope was rekindled anew and he entered the cave with wonder at what he might find. And his heart was high, as high as mortal hearts can be, when he saw what there was in the cavern.

‘For out of the shadows of the cave, a single fire was kindled amid the center. And when he approached it he saw the glowing fires in a hearth, and many tools and many blades lay scattered about the place. And he heard a voice coming from an unknown place:

‘“You have done well in finding my secret refuge, dear friend, and I would welcome you but for my ever feeling of despair. Why sought you me?”

‘Mirylan was filled with joy, for he had heard the voice of his friend Miredhel Edledhron, the Elven-smith of the Nandor. And he spoke to him.

‘“Where have you been, friend of old?’ he said. “Long has been the time of my wanderings, and I find you none too soon. Why have you forsaken the memory of Aerlinwen by marching into exile forth from my house? Do you think that escaping from your past is the answer to your riddle of despair?

‘Miredhel was pierced by these words, for indeed he had been wondering of late about his life as Edledhron of Nandor and of his loneliness; and he replied to his friend: “I cannot tell of how you came to know about my grieves. But, indeed, I do wonder about my life. And I do not know what shall become of it. How shall I find relief without Aerlinwen? Although you be my most trusted friend, will you fill the gap that she left devoid?

‘“I would not,” replied Mirylan. “But none shall, either. So I say to you: come with me! Come back to my house that is your house! Leave it behind! Miredhel, you have to leave it behind; all that you hate, all that you wept for, all that you swore vengeance unto, all that you keep in your sadness. You have to leave it behind!

‘“I cannot,” said Miredhel, and he bowed his head. But he was looking at something near his forge. And Mirylan saw, thus, a mighty sword that was being forged in the fires of Death Mountain. Its blade was still red-hot, and its handle was blue and decorated with the Triforce mark of Hyrule; and the sword seemed to give off power. Mirylan stared at it for long, until he knew the sword. And he asked to his friend why had he reforged the sword that himself had given him many a year ago when they met.

““Because I cannot leave behind my sore, as you tell me to,” answered the Elf, and cold was his stare. “Therefore, I shall forge this blade for it to be the last Orc’s bane that I shall wright. For I shall march into war with the Orcs and fight till they are no more or till I fall pierced by their foul spears. Once, there was in my lands a man that wielded Mormegil, a Black Sword; and there shall be now an Elf who shall wield a Black Sword. Gorgrist I name it, for it shall prove to be the utmost terror for the goblins.

‘“So you will use one of my own works to fulfill your oath of vengeance and find even more grief,” said Mirylan gravely, and Miredhel rose his head and gazed at his friend. “Do you realize that you betray the memory of Aerlinwen by swearing to bring such an evil sword to the world in the name of justice? Do you think that she would be proud of your deeds should she see you now? Indeed, I think not. I would rather think that she would try and tell you to let go your grieves, just as I have.

‘Then Miredhel was angry and said harsh words in answer to his friend.

‘“How dare you say unto me that I betray her memory? Have you become witless in my absence so that you know no longer what you say? Begone if such are your words! Comfort me not with words of pity or insult but with aid in my task. But I say to you, Mirylan the Hylian-smith, you speak in words that no mortal can understand, in your own folly. I shall rid this land and every land of Orcs while I live in the name of her memory. Begone if you think not this is wise!”

‘Mirylan fell silent and spoke not to his friend, and Miredhel felt not at the time the hurt that his words had caused to the Hylian. Therefore, he took his hammer and continued with the forging of Gorgrist, the Terror-cleaver, and was not at peace.

That same night, when Mirylan had left, the Elf had almost finished his work with the evil blade. He was all but spent after much work and thought; and for a moment he fell into a sleep that is not common amongst the Elves. And in his dream he saw green fields and wide, and there was a huge space about him that had no visible end; its horizon bent away into a blurred line with the sky. And amidst the field, after having wandered about for the day, and the night had come, he would see a great tree. He would approach to it to lie down under its shade for the night. But beautiful music would issue from the stem, and he would be overwhelmed by its fairness; and amidst the sound he would fall to his knees and weep sorrowfully, There not being any comfort for him.

‘For under the boughs of the great tree, Aerlinwen would be sitting, and her voice again sang with the most beautiful music of Hyrule.

When the cold of winter falls

Starless night will cover day

In the veiling of the sun

We will walk in bitter rain

But in dreams

I can hear your name

And in dreams

We will meet again

When the seas and mountains fall

And we come to end of days

In the dark I hear a call

Calling me there

I will go there

And back a again.

‘And Miredhel would approach to Aerlinwen, and though he would know it was only a dream he would sit beside her and they would speak together for a long time, until the sun would rise in his dreams. And then she would bid him farewell and bliss.

‘The Elf woke suddenly and the night still hung over him. And out of regret for having lost again his beloved, having shunned his dearest friend away and having almost finished an evil blade he sank into the deepest sorrow again, and bitter and numerous were his tears. He walked again towards the forge and he beheld the sword of evil and wept yet again. And over the red blade that just awaited to be cooled fell many an Elven tear that quenched the heat of wrath and hate that Miredhel had bestowed upon the weapon. And thus the blade lost its evil will and hatred, though it never lost its hate for evil itself. When his sore grief had passed, Miredhel looked at the sword and behold! It was white as the veil of the moon, and soft light seemed to flow from it.

‘By fate, Mirylan came back at that same time to try and take his friend away from his madness again. And so it was that Dagnir Umiana, Evil’s Bane was revealed before him for the first time, and he was glad that his fellow smith had turned away from his path of evil and had regained his goodness. And thus spoke Miredhel:

‘“The blade that you gave to me as a token of our friendship long ago has been made to vanquish evil from the world. I no longer desire death and revenge, but peace and justice. Aerlinwen of the fair voice her self showed me my wronging, and I shall rue deeply forever of it. Therefore, since my heart has been stained with evil wishes, I am not worthy of wielding Dagnir Umiana. One that has a pure heart may claim it to be a lent gift from the Elves to the Hylia in the ages to come. But none shall touch or use this blade while this age is here. It shall remain locked and safe, away from the hands of the unpure.

‘“I shall honour thy word and not claim it mine anew as I intended,” said Mirylan. “But wherefore should be called a Bane? What name give you to the blade that only the pure-hearted may hold?”

‘Miredhel stood in thought for a while, but he then smiled and took the sword in his hands for the last time in the world’s existence, held it aloft and cried: Elé! Turmegil utúlië Hyrule, Dagnir Umiana o Hylia!

And his words long were carried by the wind.


 

A. N. Translation: ‘Behold! The Master Sword has come to Hyrule, Evil’s Bane of the Hylia’. Pretty good, huh?

Please, leave your comments on this story. Please, really leave your comments on this story. It took me only three afternoons (and not the whole afternoons) to write it, but I think it is pretty much an effort to come up with phrases and names in Elvish. For the record: Miredhel means ‘Jewel-Elf’, Mirylan means ‘Jewel-Hylian’ and Aerlinwen means ‘Song-lady’; and all three are mine this time! Thanks to Snowsilver to drew a picture of Miredhel while forging the Master Sword. I’m sorry, Snow: I don’t have a website, so would you mind posting it on yours? I’m terribly sorry I didn’t tell you this before; it just slipped off my mind. Thanks in advance.

Hey! Maybe I could accept some ideas for new tales! So go ahead, dear readers, tell me of a particular idea you might have and I’ll see if it can be fitted to the fic. See ya! Namarie!

P. S. The first song is all mine, though you can sing it to U2’s ‘Miss Sarajevo’. The second song is from ‘LotR: The Fellowship of the Rings’ soundtrack and its called ‘In dreams’. If you get a chance to listen to it, do it. I assure you won’t be disappointed.