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Description

Here must be told of the custom that when a ship departed from Númenor over the Great Sea to Middle-earth a woman, most often of the captain's kin, should set upon the vessel's prow the Green Bough of Return; and that was cut from the tree oiolairë, that signifies 'Ever-summer', which the Eldar gave to the Númenóreans, saying that they set it upon their own ships in token of friendship with Ossë and Uinen. The leaves of that tree were evergreen, glossy and fragrant; and it throve upon sea-air.

I love this Númenórean custom; I love the sea and old-fashioned wooden ships; I love Tolkien's Númenórean carpet ornaments; and I felt like doing something simple and summery. That's the whole story behind this, really.

Description

Here must be told of the custom that when a ship departed from Númenor over the Great Sea to Middle-earth a woman, most often of the captain's kin, should set upon the vessel's prow the Green Bough of Return; and that was cut from the tree oiolairë, that signifies 'Ever-summer', which the Eldar gave to the Númenóreans, saying that they set it upon their own ships in token of friendship with Ossë and Uinen. The leaves of that tree were evergreen, glossy and fragrant; and it throve upon sea-air.

I love this Númenórean custom; I love the sea and old-fashioned wooden ships; I love Tolkien's Númenórean carpet ornaments; and I felt like doing something simple and summery. That's the whole story behind this, really.