#also i dont know why rumpelstiltskin is caranthir now

[tilions]

The Gold Spinning Gnome

Ok bear with me here. This is a Rumpelstiltskin-esque spin on the story of Caranthir and Haleth. It's basically how I would imagine it being told in a Rohirric/Laketownish/Breelandish/Shire Household in the third age. And in what better way than a fairy tale?

I'm not in a very concentrated mood at the moment, so the translation (I have written this thing in German first) might read a little bit... weird. I hope you enjoy it regardless.

Once upon a time, long ago, in the kingdom of the faries, there lived a prince of the gnomes. Of all his many brothers, he was the richest and wealthiest, for he was a skilful trader and maintained good contacts with the dwarf kings of old. However, he was not particularly popular with the other inhabitants of the fairy kingdom, nor among those of his own kin, for he was neither fair of face nor did he have a good character. He was greedy, solitary and easily angered, and on top of that his face was always red, which is why he was called Prince Redface.

So it was that still many, many years ago the first human children came over the mountains from the dark east into the fairy kingdom. Their leader, a man named Haldad, was killed in an attack by goblins and with him many of their men. Now it was up to his daughter, Haleth to lead the people on to a new home. Haleth was a beautiful and proud woman, wise and skilled in battle. None of her men, however strong, could hold a candle to her in a fight and it is said that her personal guards consisted only of women whom she had handpicked.

On their way through the fairy realm, Haleth and her people passed through the lands of Prince Redface, who gave them a princely welcome and invited them to a banquet in his castle. This was not at all like him, for normally Prince Redface detested sharing his wealth with others and spending even a thaler on the smallest comforts, preferring to hoard his gold and jewels. But Prince Redface had his eye on Haleth and was quite enchanted by her beauty and strength.

He offered to take her and her people into his country and promised them a life in which they would want for nothing.

Haleth, however, did not trust the prince's friendly and promising words, for she could read other intentions in his eyes and in his presence she felt uneasy.

It was said that Prince Redface only gave away some of his money when he saw a woman in need and he could help her - but the prince did not do this out of goodwill or charity. He always demanded a price from the woman for his help: She would have to give up what was dearest to her, once she had gotten her half of the bargain.

Similar legends had also reached Haleth's people and they warned Haleth about the dubious intentions of her host, even asking her to leave these lands as soon as possible and not to get involved with the gnome.

When the Prince Redface repeated his offer on the day after the banquet, Haleth asked him:

"And what do you wish in return, Prince?"

"Your company here at my side, Lady Haleth," Prince Redface replied charmingly, a little of the red disappearing from his face, "I am lonely, but you are easy to talk to. That is all I ask, and your people would want for nothing."

Then Haleth asked for time to think, which the prince gladly granted, and she returned to her people. That night, in all secrecy, they set out and disappeared from the prince's castle and across the vast plains to the west, for for Haleth to keep the prince company would have meant giving up what was dearest to her, her freedom.

When the prince found out that Haleth and her people were gone, he pronounced a curse on her, that she would never find love or bear children, that her own line would end with her.

And so it came to pass, for when Haleth finally came to the end of her life and was old and grey, she had never found a partner to love dearly, nor had she brought any children of her own into the world. Yet her life had been fulfilled. Her people now lived in a land of birch forests and their clan grew and prospered without the assistance of a greedy prince, and her brother's son would become the leader of her people after her death.

Haleth got off a lot easier with her fate than other women to whom Prince Redface offered his help and who also accepted it. Oh, no, he did not deceive them, they always got what they were promised, because despite his faults, he was an honest man and kept his word. But if he did not get what he had asked for in return and what he had been promised, he became very displeased because of the deception. It was said that those women disappeared, without a trace and never to be seen again, and that Prince Redface spun gold from their hair high up in his castle to add to his mountain of riches. But the mistress Haleth, it is said, he never pursued, for even if he was angry with her and never forgave her disappearance, she had made no bargain with him and promised him nothing... besides, it is said that he really loved her.

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