2010 HASA Birthday Stories
Elena Tiriel's 2010 Birthday Gifts!: 7. Ask questions of the stars — Tanaqui
Ask questions of the stars
by Tanaqui
"You have made much study since last I visited." Firendil fingered the star charts, dense overwritten with careful annotations, that lay spread across the table next to the spyglass.
"Yes! And I have questions!" Írimon stepped up beside the elf, his brow furrowed, and pulled a leather-bound journal towards him. "Are the stars fixed to the heaven's dome, or do they move freely? Are the brighter stars fixed closer, or do they burn more fiercely than those that seem fainter to us? Do the—? "
"By the Valar!" Firendil held up his hands in exasperation. "Can you not just... enjoy them?"
***
Írimon is the childhood name of Tar-Meneldur, fifth King of Númenor:
"His 'right name' was Írimon; he took his title Meneldur from his love of star-lore."
Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 3, The Line of Elros, Kings of Númenor
"Meneldur... was enamoured of the stars and the heavens. All that he could gather of the lore of the Eldar and Edain concerning Eä and the deeps that lay about the Kingdom of Arda he studied, and his chief delight was in the watching of the stars. He built a tower in the Forostar... from which by night he would survey the heavens and observe all the movements of the light of the firmament."
Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 2, Aldarion and Erendis
