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catching the sun - alto adige . . . | uwhe-arts

          The Gaurwaith, or “Wolf-men,” were a band of outlaws who plagued the woodmen of Brethil in the years after the Nírnaeth Arnœdiad. They were composed of outcasts mostly of the Edain, though as their numbers grew, Men of other houses joined their ranks. Their first leader was Forweg, a man once of the House of Hador, who had deserted the field of the Fifth Battle and fled south to live as an outlaw. He was a hard and cruel man, leading by fear rather than respect, and few men were bold enough even to stand at his side. His lieutenant was Andróg, a man who had been forced to flee from Dor-lómin for the murder of a woman, almost as harsh as Forweg himself.           When Túrin fled Doriath after causing the death of Saeros, he counted himself as an outlaw and took the name Neithan. When the Gaurwaith encountered him in the wilds near Brethil, they challenged him, and one outlaw shot an arrow his way. But the arrow missed, and Neithan slew the man then offered to fight the rest of the outlaws to prove himself. Ulrad, a friend of the fallen archer, stepped forth in anger, but when Neithan approached he gave way in fear. Andróg alone faced Neithan’s challenge, but seeing his strength and bravery instead suggested he join their group. Forweg acceded, allowing Neithan entry into their band, but the next spring he would come to rue that decision.           When one day Forweg and Andróg disappeared from the Gaurwaith’s camp, Neithan, irritated by the squalor of their hideout, went wandering into the woods. Suddenly he saw a young woman running through a hazel-thicket in fear, chased by two men. Neithan rushed to her defense, killing one of her pursuers, realizing too late that it was Forweg himself. Andróg then appeared, shocked at his captain’s death, but would not strike Neithan for the murder, knowing he would be beaten. The woman demanded Neithan kill her second pursuer, but he refused and sent her home. While Andróg buried Forweg, Neithan returned to the camp and reported his deeds, claiming leadership of the Gaurwaith. Some men wished to kill Neithan, but Andróg arrived to confirm his story and support his claim, and they were forced to accept Neithan as their captain.           Neithan led the Gaurwaith southward, stopping them from raiding the houses of Men and hunting only orcs. When a band of orcs passed nearby, several of the outlaws demanded to kill them and steal the fruits of their plundering. While Neithan thought this unwise, his men were hungry and he knew he was dangerously close to losing his command, so he ordered them all to stay put while he and the best tracker of the group, Orleg, scouted out their enemies; in Neithan’s absence, Andróg was left in charge.           Meanwhile, Beleg Cúthalion, the greatest of Doriath’s marchwardens, had long been searching for Túrin, whom he counted as a dear friend before his flight. Now at last he drew close to Túrin’s camp, and meeting the man Larnach and his daughter Thoriel, whom Túrin had saved from Forweg and Andróg, he learned of Túrin’s position among the Gaurwaith as their captain, Neithan. Beleg discovered the outlaws’ camp, and unwilling to fight the companions of his friend he allowed them to take him captive and tie him to a tree. Andróg questioned him ruthlessly and resolved to kill him, envying his great bow, but Algund, the eldest and wisest of the outlaws, stayed his hand.           Neithan and Orleg were absent for several days, for they had been discovered by the orcs and forced to flee. Orleg was slain by many arrows, and Neithan barely escaped with his life only by running in the direction opposite of his camp. It was a long journey back, and when he finally arrived it was to the shocking sight of Andróg and Ulrad preparing to press a flaming brand to Beleg’s skin in an attempt to torture him into giving them more information.           Horrified and enraged, Neithan freed Beleg and chastised his companions, ordering them to make a vow they would never again raise a hand against elves or Men. The reunion of Beleg and Túrin was one of great love, though Beleg’s petition for Túrin to return with him to Doriath was denied. In sorrow, Beleg returned to pass the tidings to King Thingol, though before long his heart was turned again to Túrin and he journeyed in search of the Gaurwaith once more.           While Beleg set out into the wild again, Neithan and his outlaws had found a more permanent settlement. As they traveled ever southward, the Gaurwaith discovered three dwarves carrying heavy sacks, and as their vow did not prevent them from attacking dwarves they swiftly moved to raid them. The oldest dwarf was captured, while the younger two fled with arrows at their backs. The captive was Mîm, a petty-dwarf who was an outcast in his own right, and in exchange for his life he was forced to lead the Gaurwaith to his secret halls in Amon Rûdh. Ulrad searched Mîm’s sack and, finding nothing, demanded why he had been so protective of an empty bag. Neithan, finding pity in his heart for the dwarf, upbraided Ulrad for speaking without thought, a gesture Mîm would not forget.           Arriving in Amon Rûdh, Mîm first sought for the other dwarves, his two sons. Ibun, the elder, revealed that his younger brother Khîm had been slain by an arrow. In fury and grief, Mîm cursed Andróg, who had fired the arrow, that he would die from an arrow wound himself if he did not forswear his craft and break his bow. Sensing the power of his words, Andróg obeyed, but ever after there was hatred between them.           Neithan expressed regret for the loss of Mîm’s son, and this as well as the promise of gold should he come into wealth softened Mîm’s heart to the outlaw’s captain, though not his men. Having little choice but to allow the Gaurwaith to dwell in his halls, Mîm gave them entry to the Bar-en-Danwedh upon Amon Rûdh. Suspicious of their unwilling host, Andróg spied around his dwelling and discovered a secret stair to the summit of the hill, though he said nothing of it.           Aside from Neithan, the only member of the Gaurwaith who had any interest in Mîm was Blodren, an Easterling man whose father, Ban, had marched under the banner of Bór the Faithful in the Nírnaeth Arnœdiad. Ban had known dwarves in the east before he entered Beleriand, and knew a little of their tongue, which he passed to his son. Though Ban was slain in the battle, Blodren had survived and escaped the captivity of Morgoth before he had been taken to Angband, but the Edain despised him for the actions of Uldor the Accursed, not distinguishing between the two groups of Easterlings. Thus Blodren fell in with the Gaurwaith, who also held him in suspicion, and found a strange kinship with Mîm, a fellow outcast among outcasts.           When Beleg returned to the Gaurwaith, this time he gave to Túrin the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin, an heirloom of his House, and declared his intent to stay by Túrin’s side forever. Overjoyed to be reunited with his dearest companion, Túrin welcomed him gladly,  though he was distrusted by his men and by Mîm, who despised the Sindar who had once hunted his people for sport. Yet Túrin and Beleg were happy together in this time, finally realizing their mutual love and taking each other as husbands. With Beleg supporting Túrin, the Gaurwaith became a formidable rogue militia who fought against orcs: their territory grew, as did their numbers, and their lands became known as Dor-Cúarthol, the Land of the Bow and Helm.           In this time, emboldened by their victories, Andróg grew arrogant enough to take up the bow once more. As Mîm had declared, he was struck by a poisoned orc-arrow and would surely have died—had not Beleg, whom he had help captive and mistreated in the past, not healed him with his elven skills. Mîm’s hatred of them both only grew, though he yet fawned over Neithan, even though the interest Túrin had once shown in him had begun to wane.            But this would not be enough to save the Gaurwaith in the end, for the Curse of the Children of Húrin followed Túrin wheresoever he went, and as his dominion grew so did the malice of Morgoth. On one winter morn, Mîm and Ibun went out into the wild to gather roots and herbs and were taken captive by orcs. Pleading for his life, Mîm quickly offered up the location of the Gaurwaith, begging only that the Dread Helm be spared; he thought not of even Blodren, whose friendship had not wavered.            Mîm led the orcs to Amon Rûdh in the dark of night, and a fierce battle took place upon the top of Amon Rûdh. Every man was slain except for Túrin, who was captured; Mîm witnessed Blodren’s fall by an orc-arrow, but thought only of his revenge against Beleg, who had been bound and left alive on the hill’s peak for Mîm to kill him personally. But as Mîm’s knife was about to strike, Andróg crawled up the secret stair despite his mortal wounds and halted the blow. He chased Mîm away and cut through Beleg’s bonds, then died in the arms of the elf he once had tortured.           The only survivors of that bloody battle were Túrin, carried away captive by the orcs; Beleg, who chased after them to rescue his husband; Mîm, who fled into the night grieving the death of his final son, Ibun, who had been killed in the crossfire; and the youth Andvír, son of Andróg, whose father had sent him away at the first sign of trouble. Andvír eventually made his way to the Havens of Sirion, where as an old man he served as a source for Dírhaval’s epic poem about Túrin’s life, the Narn i Chîn Húrin.

"These are our moments we should try to remember. We hiked one of the tallest mountains in Algund / Lagundo in Italy (South Tyrol) and discovered places that were more than worth the climb."

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