Elfpunzel

In all of Lothlorien, none had a sweeter voice than Glorfindel. His singing could lure the birds, his only friends, to the tall tree that was his prison. He never knew that anything was amiss, for it seemed to him that Lady Galadriel kept him safe from others and wanted only the best for him.

All were forbidden to climb the great tree, except the Lady herself. Because there were no doors and no stairs, she had to enter through a window, and she used Glorfindel’s own hair to climb up. Each time she wished to pay him a visit, she would bellow up into the branches, “Glorfindel, Glorfindel, let down your hair, so that I may climb without a stair!” She was quite proud of having come up with that quaint little rhyme herself, but the truth of it was, she shouldn’t have been proud at all for what she was doing.

When Glorfindel heard her screeching below, he would loop his long braid around a hook near the only window and toss his hair to the ground like a rope of golden hithlain. Galadriel would then climb up his plaited golden locks until she reached the top of the tree. His hair was so long, it reached the ground and then some.

One day, while singing to the birds and brushing his beautiful golden hair, Glorfindel heard the familiar call to him, but the voice was much deeper. Thinking perhaps that Galadriel had a very bad cold (for it was not the best for an elleth of her age to go about climbing up people’s braids into trees with no jacket on), Glorfindel dutifully looped his braid over the hook and dropped it to the ground. When the one who called came over the windowsill, Glorfindel gasped! This was not his dear adoring Lady Galadriel, but some strange creature indeed! He was ebon-tressed and lightly muscled, a horse rider from the looks of him, and intelligent to have learned the secret of getting into the tree. Glorfindel had never seen such a thing before and said so.

“I am an ellon, like you,” laughed the newcomer in a very friendly way. “I have been in these woods three days as an emissary of Lord Elrond in hopes of securing a trade agreement between our two realms. I serve as his chief advisor and dog walker- but enough about me. I have seen you in this towering cage from afar- what is your name and why are you kept here under such dreadful conditions?”

“My name is Glorfindel,” answered he, “and I do not think the conditions so terrible. Lady Nana Galadriel brings me water and lembas every day and places fresh straw in the corner for me. In the summer, she even allows me to go about up here naked while I sing to the birds.”

The ellon’s brow rose upon hearing such a tale, but no surprise did he show at the name of Galadriel, witch of the woods. “Water and lembas are the very basic of all foods, dear Glorfindel.”

“Come again?” asked Glorfindel.

“I said, water and-“

Glorfindel shook his head. “No, the last part,” he cooed, batting his eyelashes prettily.

The ellon bit his lip. This poor ellon truly needed to get out more, especially with other males. “Dear Glorfindel?” he said, nearly as a guess. Glorfindel sighed.

“Please always call me that,” spoke Glorfindel after his initial swoon. “No one ever has been so nice before- oh, but Lady Nana should return soon! How happy she will be when I introduce you to her.”

“No! That is...” The ellon smiled politely. “Glorfindel, do you realize that you are a prisoner here?”

“A what? I don’t know that word,” he said with a frown.

“You are being kept here against your will. You are not allowed to leave,” explained the elf.

With a confused look, Glorfindel asked, “Why would I wish to leave?”

“Well... so that you may do whatever you would like to do,” the ellon said. “There are so many things to do and see, and so many other foods besides lembas and water.”

“Such as?” questioned Glorfindel with a furrowed brow.

“Such as... cheesecake,” said the ellon, grasping for something. “Cheesecake is a dessert- something you eat after you eat a meal. But not after breakfast, though, cheesecake itself can be breakfast under the right circumstances,” he mused.

“What does cheesecake taste like?” Glorfindel was quite intrigued now.

Giving thought to this, the ellon finally answered, “It’s very soft and smooth, and it melts in your mouth. It’s creamy and sweet, but not too sweet. It’s like... sex as a dessert.”

Glorfindel’s head tilted to the other side. “Sex?” he questioned.

“Oh, you poor thing, she never told you about that...” Over the next half-hour, the ellon elaborated, while Glorfindel’s eyes grew wider and wider.

“I want to try cheesecake,” Glorfindel said decidedly. “And sex. Do you think that Lady Nana would help me and let me try those things?”

“No,” answered the ellon without pause. A sad look crossed Glorfindel’s face. “But,” continued the elf, “I would be more than happy to let you try cheesecake. And sex.”

“Really?” asked Glorfindel with excitement. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” He raced to the window, nearly tripping over his braid, and winced. “I forgot. I’ve no way to get down!” he said, and began to cry.

“There, there,” comforted the ellon, embracing him gently and rubbing his back. “I have an idea. I see a pile of yarn and knitting needles in the corner, aye?”

“Yes, when Lady Nana visits, she sits and knits as she talks to me,” confirmed Glorfindel with a sniffle.

The elf nodded. “Here is what I shall do. Each day of the negotiations, I shall visit you and bring a skein of yarn. At night, you will braid it together as you do with your hair. During the day it can be hidden under her knitting when she visits in the afternoon, and at dusk after she has left but before she comes to tuck you in for bed, I shall come here to get it. Soon, we shall have a rope long enough for you to climb down, too.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” said Glorfindel in delight, cuddling against his rescuer. “But you must leave soon, for she is due to come,” he insisted, detangling himself from the dark-haired ellon. Before securing his hair and dropping the braid to the ground, he asked, “What is your name, m’lord, that I may call you my dear in kind?”

With a contented smile, the ellon answered, “I am Erestor, dear Glorfindel.”