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“The others fear that you will be offended by Bilbo’s poem,” Glorfindel said as he stopped beside Elrond's chair
“Many would be,” Elrond said, but he smiled as he continued to watch Bilbo recite his poem in the Hall of Fire.
Glorfindel shook his head, before he sat in the next seat. “I told them you are not, though I do not think they believe me. It is a heavy thing to change the past, and they think Bilbo tries to.”
Elrond hummed briefly in thought before he spoke again, “And what do you think?”
“Bilbo Baggins is a very brave Hobbit, but there is no power in this world that can change what has happened,” Glorfindel said.
“In this I think Bilbo may be the wiser of us,” Elrond said. “I cannot change my father’s fate, nor my mother’s, nor may I pluck Maedhros back from the lava nor have I found Maglor upon the shores. Nor can Bilbo’s song change the past, but it gives others joy to see it performed.”
“It is not what happened,” Glorfindel said, but it was clear he argued not because he believed it mattered, but because he believed someone had to point out that fact before others came and made it more forcefully.
“No,” Elrond said. “But it still gives them hope.”
Glorfindel laughed lightly. “Was not Estel enough?”
Elrond laughed too, and his eyes sought his sons. “You should hear the plans for how my sons wish the poem performed if Estel should reclaim Gondor’s throne, for they see the similarities in how my father is described. They already have costumes prepared for background actors to perform the actions, and I know they have taken Thingol’s crown for it.”
Glorfindel laughed again at that. “Shall I remind them that your father was from Gondolin, and that Thingol’s crown was last worn as a sign of rulership by Thingol himself?”
Elrond shook his head, still laughing. “Galadriel has already tried that when they were children playing at being king, and they only took that as more reason to use it as a costume piece. I do not think Thingol himself could convince them to lay aside their plans, and Celeborn has already said that he will not try.”
Across the room, Bilbo continued to recite his poem, even as Glorfindel began to jest of what else the twins could take for their performance, from Turgon's scepter to Maglor's jewelry to the last of the wine from Menegroth.
“Nay, do not give them more ideas,” Elrond cried at last, laughter in his voice beyond what many had heard for years. “If they take all of those, what peace Gondor gains will not be for long. They will bring every elf still in the Halls back to haunt them.”