The Seventh Journal Entry - Market Day



~Elenya, Coirë 43~

Naneth has come to visit me in Celondim! She knew of the upcoming market and so she brought her paintings with her! There are always many who admire her brushwork and particular way of bringing scenes to life, evoking emotions from deep within. She had brought three with her this time. One was of the land of the periannath. She loves going there to see all the green hills. Another was of the pink blossoming trees found all over Ered Luin. There aren’t many yet, but they are just starting to blossom from their buds with the first signs of spring. And the last one she brought was of the docks at Mithlond, looking out to the sea. I always like the ones Naneth paints of home. There’s a particular feeling to them that I cannot put into words. Anyone who has Mithlond for their home would understand.

She laid them all out nicely for the market, but everyone soon became preoccupied with admiring hir Gwinglaer’s reading lamp! It was a functional and decorative thing, light, yet sturdy. Hir Gwinglaer said that he commissioned it for Master Havold, a dwarf. I had to leave the market early to finish delivering my letters for the day, but Naneth told me later that Master Havold came after I left! To think that I missed a chance to meet another dwarf! I am sorely disappointed. Yet, Naneth said that Master Havold intended to return to the market next month with minerals from the mountains with which Naneth could make new paints. I wonder what lovely pigments will result! Naneth also told me that Master Havold binds books and will bring them to the next market, too. I think I should like a book of dwarvish make. I can write my journal entries in it if I run out of pages here, or I can keep a record of letters I need to deliver so I don’t forget. I am already anticipating the next market and hope I can meet another dwarf. The ones I’ve met so far are so pleasant.

When Naneth came home from the market in the evening, she told me that she was so inspired by hir Gwinglaer’s work that she will insist that he craft lanterns for the walk up to our door at home. Being an artist at heart, she really can’t help herself after seeing craftsmanship that strikes her fancy. Naneth immediately sat down and began sketching the designs that she hopes hir Gwinglaer will inlay with silver over the lantern glass. So far, she has a design of ships sailing across waves toward the harbor…another one of elves playing instruments beneath the pink trees of Ered Luin…and another of dwarves and elves trading gems…I wonder how many lanterns she intends asking hir Gwinglaer to make.