Title: A Crown of Flowers
Fandom: The Silmarillion
Rating: K+
Length: 436 words
Content notes: N/A
Author notes: N/A
Summary: Three separate women made him crowns of flowers. All of them silver-haired, all of them far too young to die or go over the sea, while he was left behind. Celeborn is left with nothing but memories.



“Uncle, isn’t it so pretty?” Nimloth skipped closer to him as she spoke. “I think it’s even prettier than the jewels Uncle Elu has in his treasury, don’t you think so?”

“I do think so, darling,” Celeborn said, standing to lift her and spin her around. “And I think you’re prettier than all of his jewels, as well.”

Nimloth giggled. “Why does he wear those silly things, anyways? I think he’d look much better with flowers in his hair.”

“He used to wear flowers in his hair. Long before you wore born. Even before Melian and he married. I remember, some of the girls in camp would braid flowers crowns just like you do, and make all of us wear them.”

“Really?”

~

“Do you think he’d wear one if I made one?” Míriel looked across the camp at where Finwë was standing.

Celeborn laughed next to her. “I’m sure if you made him one, he’d wear it. He adores you, you know. And it’s not like he has any better crown to wear here, his people’s efforts to make him one aside. Besides, you need something to give him along with that robe you made him.”

Míriel blushed. “I haven’t even decided if I’m going to give it to him yet.”

“Oh yes, you won’t give it to him. You’ll just give to some other raven haired, tall elf that happens to be roaming around camp with us.”

Celeborn laughed even harder when Míriel hit him, and then when she tried to avoid the looks she had gathered for shrieking at him to be quiet about that – especially the looks from Finwë.

~

“Ada! Look at what I made you,” Celebrían slid to a stop in the grass in front of her father.

A brief flash of sadness flashed across his face, before he smiled. “A crown of flowers? You did an excellent
job with it! And in my favorite colors too.”

She smiled and nodded. “Nana helped me make it. She said they were your favorites, and that when she first saw you in Doriath you were wearing one. Who made that one for you?”

Celeborn swallowed hard. “Your cousin.”

“What happened to her, Ada? You never talk about her,” Celebrían said.

“She died,” Celeborn said shortly. “She was in the fall of Doriath, and she was killed in the caves trying to stay with her twin sons.”

“Queen Nimloth?” Celebrían said. “She’s the one who made you the crown of flowers?”

~

In his dreams, he always saw a flash of silver hair and a crown of flowers held out for him.