The Braided Stream
The children of Éorl have no need for books; their history surrounds them like air, like water. With their mother's milk they begin to learn their people's memory in story and song, rhythm and pattern and detail. As they grow they observe, hear, mark, learn, and inwardly digest: past, present, and future a braided stream, endlessly flowing through and around them.
Others may call them uncultured, unlettered; yet the Éorlingas wonder at those who keep their history locked away in books, instead of breathing it anew each day, fresh as the scent of grass after rain, the color of sky.
For the "History" challenge. Inspired by Alex_quine's incredibly vivid short story, Invisible Ink. The phrase "hear, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" is from the Episcopal Prayer Book.