Born 327 years ago to Silvan parents Emerdir Baramaenas and Nathril
Fenandaimie was Amarelei, given the name "earthly dream" for the starlight in
her eyes and the birdsong in her childlike laughter. Raised as an only child in
the valleys of Imladris, she indeed became a daughter of the forests and fields,
her love for the animals and trees shining out through her eyes and her smile.
Hers was a merry childhood, in which many an hour was spent with Baramaenas and
his flock, or by Fenandaimie's side at the loom. Through her father, Amarelei
came to understand the birds and beasts of the valley. As she grew, so grew the
flock to know and respond to her touch and calming voice. Though she never
became a herder herself, the elleth is still often found in the company of
animals, for they make the best listeners to her innermost thoughts and dreams.
From her mother, Amarelei learned to appreciate the wondrous beauty all around
her in the hearts of the valley dwellers as well as in paintings and poetry.
Fenandaimie offered her daughter a glowing example of kindness, loyalty, and
servitude to the members of the House of Elrond and to any edhel or elleth she
encountered. Indeed empathy is a treasure most rare to the extent in which it
lives in her heart. Now and in years not far gone, her mother's teachings shine
out on Imladris through Amarelei's own eyes. A likeness of her mother in so many
ways, Amarelei joined the keepers of the grounds of The Last Homely House,
pledging herself to humble service of Master Elrond and his family and guests.
It was through her mother that Amarelei also gained an increased appreciation
for fine arts.
Yet as the sun rose on each new year of her life, its light never found the
young elf maiden happier than when wandering the forests along lakeshores and
the banks of the River Bruinen. Though the tune of her spirit's song has ever
been a well-fitting harmony with the melody of the forest, it was not until
Amarelei's 150th birthday that its claim on her heart was shared with Imladris.
This day of her life was marked by the gift of a finely crafted spear, a symbol
of her new and official commitment to the Guild of Foresters as Lhimbadhril o
Imladris.
Even more valuable to the young Amarelei than to be bestowed with a gift of such
beautiful simplicity was the friendship she found in reunited family within the
same season: her cousin Telelas, son of Baramaenas' brother Melagil, who until
then had dwelt in Lothlorien. In each year following Telelas' arrival to Valley
of Elrond from the Golden Wood, the two cousins have grown close in counsel,
together adventuring throughout the forests of Imladris in practice of their
skills as foresters and their bond as kin.
Though intimately she knew both trees of forest and stones of riverbed,
eventually Amarelei's thoughts by day and dreams by night floated to lands
beyond the sanctuary of Elrond's valley. An eager curiosity inherent in her
youth brought forth the maiden from her veil of reticence into the company of
the Heryn Arwen on her journey to Lothlorien.