"Ainulindale VIII" by E. F. Guillén (Anubis1000)

    And it came to pass that Ilúvatar called together all the Ainur and declared to them a mighty theme, unfolding to them things greater and more wonderful than he had yet revealed; and the glory of its beginning and the splendour of its end amazed the Ainur....

    Then Ilúvatar said to them: 'Of the theme that I have declared to you, I will now that ye make in harmony together a Great Music. And since I have kindled you with the Flame Imperishable, ye shall show forth your powers in adorning this theme, each with his own thoughts and devices, if he will. But I will sit and hearken, and be glad that through you great beauty has been wakened into song.'

    Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs, and like unto countless choirs singing with words, began to fashion the theme of Ilúvatar to a great music; and a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the heights, and the places of the dwelling of Ilúvatar were filled to overflowing, and the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void. Never since have the Ainur made any music like to this music, though it has been said that a greater still shall be made before Ilúvatar by the choirs of the Ainur and the Children of Ilúvatar after the end of days. Then the themes of Ilúvatar shall be played aright, and take Being in the moment of their utterance, for all shall then understand fully his intent in their part, and each shall know the comprehension of each, and Ilúvatar shall give to their thoughts the secret fire, being well pleased.

- The Silmarillion, 'Ainulindalë'

Out of thought and time I strayed in the Timeless Halls, but I was not alone; for though I found myself discarnate and senseless -- naught but an ëala in the Deeps of Time -- all around me I could hear the voices of the Ayanûz... the Great Music of Ilúvatar expanding out into the Void. And immersed in the wondrous harmony woven of its endless interchanging melodies, I floated in rapt amazement as the flawless Music swelled... but all of a sudden it was disturbed and the voices of the Ainur faltered, then ceased.

All at once new theme began, and I hearkened that it was like and yet unlike the former, and it gathered power and had glorious new beauty; but alas, once more discord arose in uproar within the sublime song. And so for the third time it ceased and began anew: now it seemed at first soft and sweet, a mere rippling of gentle sounds in delicate melodies; but again it seemed that there were two musics progressing at one time, and each was utterly at variance with the other.

The halls of Ilúvatar shook, and then with one mighty chord -- deeper than the Abyss, higher than the Firmament -- and the Music ended.

I awoke today in a clean soft-pillowed bed, my eyes bedazzled by the bright rays of the morning Sun which had been playing over my sleeping eyelids moments before, while within my mind resounded the fading Music of my dream. Her golden light beamed in through an open window and, to my astonishment, it was accompanied by a mild Spring breeze in which a cerulean butterfly danced against a clear azure sky. And indeed I knew it to be Spring, for I could feel it in my very enda ... the long, slow pulse of life as the great heartbeat of the season courses through the green veins of Middle-earth.

 But how could this be? My last waking memory was that of lying beneath the stars of Varda Elentári nigh Dolenor's cataract, whilst contemplating the past several enquier of the Gollor's instruction in what he names in ancient Noldorin, 'Angol', that is Deep Lore. But that had been during the last winter frosts of Hrívë!

   "Masse nán?" I asked aloud, and a high clear voice beside me cried out, "A! Na vedui!" Something familiar stirred in the depths of my memory, and I knew well that voice; and lo! there beside me sat my merry young Laiquendë friend, Gladion, laughing with delight.
    "Gwannas lû and, Aldaquen!" So saying, he leapt to his feet, grasped my hand in both of his and kissed it, and then darted off down the hallway. 'Aldaquen' he called me? For a moment I lay confused, but then all of a sudden I recalled that this was the epessë with which I had been bestowed by the Telelli of Dorwinion, and I laughed aloud.

Looking about me, I gradually recognised my surroundings and I realised that I was lying once more in my familiar bed within the House of Healing! I lay back upon the downy pillows and watched the helter-skelter dance of the bright butterfly against the vault of heaven; and, for the briefest of moments, it kindled a spark of long forgotten memory.
   "Luinë," I murmured.

Gladion had, naturally, set out forthwith to summon Ioriston to my bedside, and from the Lambengolmo I learned all that had befallen me:

It was indeed during the last winter frosts (upon the last Valanya of Hrívë, to be precise) that Dolenor had found me sprawled senseless, as though in death, beside the pool nigh his secluded home. My journal lay beside me, and so he deems that I swooned ere writing my next account herein (for long had I neglected my writing practice, forbidden as I am to commit the secret knowledge of Angol to writing.) Suspecting that I had succumbed to the rigour of his lessons, Dolenor had for two days applied his considerable arts to restoring my wits... but alas, to no avail. For no sign of Shadow nor Darkness could the Gollor find; nor indeed any cause -- Seen or Unseen -- for my mysterious malady. And so it was that he had my inert hröa removed to the House of Healing.

And so for long weeks have I lain here under the careful leechcraft of the nestandor. The asta of Coirë has passed, as have the festival days of Mettarë and Yestarë; and now in these bright days of late Tuilë the new season of Lairë awaits its time in Endórë. Alas, this is far later than I had hoped to depart Dorwinion and make towards Eriador...

Forbidden by the nestandor to rise from my bed, I sat up and leaned forward to look eastwards through the open window; eastwards towards Rhûn and the imperishable flame of the morning Sun, ere she rode up into the skies over the Hithaeglir to light my path into the West.