Chapter Text
Iúleth Naeriel was born ninety years before the Sun set on its first voyage across the sky. As the daughter of an accomplished master smith, she knew from childhood which path she would take once she would be able to choose her craft. Showing an uncanny talent and the drive to strive for perfection, she was taken as an apprentice by Eöl Moriquendi once she became of age. It was during her apprentice years that she honed her talent and was eventually allowed to forge weapons from the black metal Galvorn. Her first item was a sword, Mornith, that would rarely leave her side in the Ages to come.
As a member of the envoys from Nan Elmoth to Doriath, she met Oropher and later a very young Thranduil. It was there, in the Hidden Kingdom that she first heard of the kinslaying at the Alqualondë and the burning of the ships. These events put the foundation for her future distrust when it came to dealings with the Noldor.
When Aredhel Ar-Feiniel became lady of Nan Elmoth, Naeriel was unsure, feeling a foreboding of bad things to come. Still, she shook it aside and turned her attention to her craft. By then she was already considered a master smith and was seen in the forge from sunrise to sunset. Her hands crafted jewels of unfathomable beauty and weapons that held few rivals. With one of these jewels, a necklace given as a gift to the newly born Maeglin, she broke the ice between her and Aredhel, albeit only for a short time.
Soon disaster followed. Aredhel took Maeglin and left Nan Elmoth for Gondolin with her husband following after her. Fearing for the safety of the one who taught her almost all she knew about her craft and whom she considered a second father, Naeriel set after him in secret. She arrived two days after Eöl only to be captured by Glorfindel and brought in front of Turgon. It was there she learned that Maeglin had betrayed his father, Aredhel had died and Eöl had been slain by the Noldor. Faced with a choice between imprisonment in a cell or freedom anywhere in Gondolin, but not further than its gates, Naeriel had not the stomach to accept living among those who had sentenced Eöl to death. She chose imprisonment, although the cell was changed with a set of elegant quarters after several days at the request of Maeglin.
Still, a prison remains a prison, and for a century Naeriel was held in Gondolin until the city’s location was betrayed and the forces of Morgoth brought ruin upon it. In the heat of the battle the past was cast aside and Naeriel fought alongside the Noldor, keeping the children of Gondolin safe and guiding them down the secret passage. She remained with the other refugees from Gondolin for several days to recover from her wounds, but left as soon as possibly, embarking on a journey to return to Nan Elmoth.
On her way back home, Naeriel came across a contingent of elves fleeing from Nan Elmoth. In horror she listened to the recount of the death of Thingol, the two sackings of Doriath and the several orc attacks that ravaged her home. The only blessing in their recount was the fact that her father was still alive and had led some of their people to a safe place at the Mouths of Sirion. Naeriel joined them and was reunited with her father after a century. She found herself living in a community where all had forgotten about their heritage, united only by grief and loss.
The following years passed rapidly, bringing even more grief in their wake. Naeriel was witness to the third Kinslaying and her hate of the Noldor grew even more. The dwellings of the elves were all destroyed by Morgoth. The last survivors of Beleriand fled to the Isle of Balar. The time for battle came when the Host of the Valar arrived in Beleriand. Naeriel and Camaenor took up arms and fought alongside the hosts of the Eldar, Dwarrows and Edain. The War of Wrath as it would later be called, brought down Morgoth’s reign, but also claimed the lives of many, including most of the former inhabitants of Nan Elmoth and even Camaenor himself.
Beleriand sunk under the waters… Many of the surviving elves chose to sail across the Sea into the West. Naeriel found herself alone, a refugee in Lindon.