Tata and Tatië.

SV’s notes: the precursors of the Noldor among the Tatyar have busied themselves with improving their embroidery, textile dyeing, and metalwork techniques, as seen in Tata and Tatië’s clothing and adornments. They are wearing garments dyed in hues resembling those attained with indigo and elderberry - although I don’t know whether they had access to those plants specifically, or different species with similar properties. They have ornamented themselves with jewelry and crowns of electrum; the pale-gold or warm-silver sheen of this metal was highly prized for its resemblance to starlight, and Tata’s and Tatië’s crowns represent the most advanced smithcraft the Elves have performed to date, perfectly mimicking leaves, in the manner of the leafy crowns worn by Imin and Iminyë. Tata and Tatië are standing near the stream in which electrum was discovered.

Very Nerdy Subscript to the above Geeky Notes: I based the idea of the electrum-bearing stream on the Pactolus River, where electrum was obtained for Lydian coins approximately 2600 years ago. It probably would have been simpler to make Tata’s and Tatië’s jewelry silver, mention that they loved its pale shine, and forego the lengthier explanation of electrum - but my little backstories need to seem plausible to me (even though I’m describing Elves living in a mythical land that has neither sun nor moon, yet there are flora and fauna as we know them … 🤔). It’s plausible to me that Cuiviénen could have a greater biodiversity than the ecosystems that exist today, or that there were local plants that are unknown to us. But I cannot think of a simple way that the Elves at Cuiviénen could have had silver. Gold, in pure form or naturally alloyed with silver as electrum, can be found in rivers. But pure silver is rarely found in nature, occurring more frequently in mineral ores that must be mined, and I just don’t see the Elves engaging in mining at this point in their cultural development.

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