Third
He met them under the eaves of the wood. One had a head of beautiful, red hair, unlike any he’d seen before. The other’s hair was dark, less strange. Yet strangers they were in this land.
‘Well met. I am Bredele.’ As the host, he thought it proper to introduce himself first.
’Beech – a suitable name for one such as you,’ the red-haired said.
Bredele smiled, happy that this stranger could see it, too.
‘I am Nelyafinwë,’ the stranger said.
‘Ne-ly-a-fin-wë’. Bredele pronounced the name slowly and carefully, tasting each syllable. It was a strange name, edgy and unrestful, yet it seemed hesitant to leave his mouth.
‘What does your name mean?’ he asked, curious to learn more of his new acquaintance.
A muscle bunched on the Elf’s jaw, hard and tight. Bredele watched, confused, while the other spoke in measured words, as if expecting problems.
Why this should be so, Bredele could not understand. The name's meaning did not seem strange at all. Imin, Tata and Enel were names once, good enough to the first of their kind, and Bredele descended from Enel, the ‘third Elf’.
Nay, Bredele thought, there is nothing wrong with the name ‘Third Finwë’.
***