[This is a hypothetical meta-narrative I pursued for some time. It is no longer part of the actual story of Tinnurion. For the actual story I would refer to the Chronicle 'The Legacy of Nan Elmoth'.]
In 'A Fated Meeting in the Golden Wood' I wrote about how Tinnurion was apprehended by the border-wardens of Lorien and brought before the Lord and Lady of the Golden Wood. There are two remarks necessary to be made that clear up the conversation between Celeborn and Tinnurion.
First of all this is not the first time they met. In fact, Tinnurion knew Celeborn back in Beleriand, when he was a prince of Doriath. Tinnurion long called Celeborn's relative Thingol his king and though he left those woods to live with his mentor Eöl, turning mysterious and silent like his master, he never ceased to call Thingol the king of all Eldar and Celeborn a prince of the realm. In fact, Nan Elmoth was still part of Doriath and Eöl could only be its Lord because Thingol allowed it to be.
The second time Tinnurion met Celeborn was long after the fall of Beleriand, in Eregion. It is known that Celeborn and Galadriel founded the city of Ost-in-Edhil before the Gwaith-i-Mírdain were in charge of the city under Celebrimbor. Tinnurion and his friends were then too apprehended and brought before Celeborn. Tinnurion rather deviously mislead Celeborn to accept his entrance into the city on account of their shared heritage; namely them both being Sinda of Doriath who once called Thingol king. Celeborn granted him leave to enter and exit the city whenever he liked. In truth Tinnurion did not approve of Celeborn's relations with the Noldor and the presence of said people in the city unnerved him deeply. Nonetheless Tinnurion walked amongst them, though it were for the soul purpose of winning Hinneneth's heart.
Celeborn and Galadriel moved across the Hithaeglir and Celebrimbor of the Noldor became Lord of Eregion. This made Tinnurion's entrance into the city more difficult, for Celebrimbor knew well the hardship Eöl had caused his people and this made him distrust Tinnurion. Out of spite Tinnurion stole one of the lesser rings of power, Thangrîm, and took it with him deep into the Misty Mountains, where his mysterious friends resided at the time. He cared not for the ring nor its power and thus he gifted it to his dwarven friends as a sign of respect, and the dwarves were all too keen to learn of this new craft the elves possessed - though of course they never discovered the secret.
This eviction from Ost-in-Edhil caused Tinnurion to resentfully deny sanctuary to the survivors of the sack of Eregion, to all but his beloved Hinneneth. Hinneneth, however, could not leave her people, which left Tinnurion very bitter. With the doors of Durin closed to all and the War of the Elves and Sauron raging across Eriador, Tinnurion and his companions were once again forced to seek shelter elsewhere. Thus they crossed the mountains into the realm of Amdir, the Sinda who then reigned in the forest that later would become Lothlorien. Amdir too granted Tinnurion passage and Tinnurion moved across the river Anduin into the Greenwood of Old where they founded their dwelling. Eventhough Celeborn and Galadriel resided at Lorien at the time, he did not meet them again before the events as told in 'A Fated Meeting in the Golden Wood'.
After the war he travelled to Imladris to ask Hinneneth for her hand in marriage, but of course her father objected and Hinneneth could not be swayed by his sweet words. Tinnurion turned angry and in his resentful nature he cursed them, and even though that curse never had effect, it was enough for the elves of Rivendell to exile him from the vale. In the following years Tinnurion travelled a great deal in solitude, meeting only with his dwarven friends as far as the Blue Mountains. When finally his love turned once more to the stars and the pleasure of good company he decided to return to the Greenwood in search of his friends of old. In his travels he learned that Hinneneth had crossed the narrow sea with her beloved, and somehow that came as a relief to the dark elf. It is during this time that he meets Celeborn and Galadriel again in Lothlorien, a place he does not recognise anymore since last he was there.
Second, Celeborn and Galadriel's interest in Tinnurion's intentions are not wholly unfounded. 2941 is the year in which the White Council learned that the Necromancer in Mirkwood was none other than Sauron himself. By the time Tinnurion enters Lorien, Galadriel and Celeborn have not yet learned the true identity of the Necromancer, but they know that some evil is at work in the ruins of Dol Guldur. Tinnurion's arrival is therefore suspicious to Celeborn, because, while he knows better than to assume he is already tainted by evil - elves were not known to be corrupted unless they willingly sided with the enemy - he does fear that Tinnurion would be easily seduced by evil, simply because of his nature to carry grudges and his mysterious and silent demeanor. Galadriel knows what works inside Tinnurion's heart, which is why her interest in him is of a different kind. She is trying to see what made him so and whether it can be undone. When she invites him into her garden to look into the mirror, she hopes that he will understand that he is in a weak position and that he must take great care in the future to prevent great evil done to him and others.
The latter is true enough, for Tinnurion's visions suggest that evil could seduce him into becoming a pawn in Sauron's conquest of the north. If Tinnurion and by extension his handful of Fuinedhil were to fall to the shadow of Dol Guldur, they could be used to open the gates to the woodland realm and sow terror amongst their own kind like Maeglin and his followers had done to Gondolin. The mirror also showed him the face of Eöl whom he could not recognise from his own at start, suggesting that he is turning into his master which may end up disastrous for Middle-Earth. Not only his connections to the elves are strategically interesting, but also his relations with the dwarves could be used to terrible effect.
Overall I found it necessary to write this story as it gives Tinnurion a place in the grand scheme of things. It also allows for me as a writer to go interesting directions with him, without making it seem as if I'm altering the main story as written by Tolkien. By that I mean that obviously he will not be seduced to work evil in the north and obviously not all his visions will come true, otherwise that would work against the canon. But shaping the thought of what COULD have happened, I find, is interesting enough. I usually refrain from incorporating real Tolkien characters directly into the story of my characters, but with Tinnurion it only makes sense that he would encounter them. I like to believe that I am still staying rather humble in that respect, especially when you compare it to the epic quest story of lotro, which I would deem a lot more prone to creative freedom.
