Medium Dawn Felagund of the Fountain

Marta asked for a story about the "spiritual themes of Tolkien's world. I don't mean like Christian symbolism, but rather what form spirituality and organized religion would take in the various cultures of Valinor/Middle-earth. So I would like to request an interaction between Celeborn and Galadriel on a spiritual theme."

This request was at once the opportunity to explore something new and to also discuss an area of Tolkien's mythology that is one of my favorites as a researcher. This is the first full-length story I've written about Celeborn and Galadriel, so the chance to develop characters for people who still feel rather awe-inspiring to me (on account of LotR) was a lot of fun, as well as a challenge. The opportunity to write a story about a spiritual theme was familiar and welcome: I have several unfinished research projects dealing with eschatology. "The Ghost in the Garden" considers one oft-ignored aspect of Elven afterlife as Tolkien saw it: the possibility of spirits lingering to "haunt" a particular place that they loved in life (HoMe 10, "Laws and Customs among the Eldar").

In this tale, Galadriel is frightened by something she discovers in Doriath. In an attempt to understand her experience, she is led to consider the irreconcilable differences between the Sindar and the Noldor.

This story is rated for Teens on SWG on account of containing adult themes (i.e., discussions of death, afterlife, and ghosts) and for some heterosexual content.