As this particular story needs more background info than my other one-shots, I decided not to add them as an additional chapter. Instead of the usual footnotes, I gathered them under different headers.
Time:
The year of the Battle upon Dagorlad is given in canon. The only thing I have changed was making a short break between the death of Amdír (and/or Malgalad) and the last assault against Barad-dûr in which both Gil-galad and Elendil were slain and Sauron destroyed (at least temporarily). A really short break of a few hours, assuming that the Elven armies needed to regroup after the army of Lórien had been reduced to a half.
Malgalad (the canonical one):
“Malgalad of Lórien occurs nowhere else, and is not said here to be the father of Amroth. On the other hand, Amdír father of Amroth is twice (UT, pp. 252 and 255) said to have been slain in the Battle of Dagorlad, and it seems therefore that Malgalad can be simply equated with Amdír.” (UT, p. 271.)
So says Christopher Tolkien. When I was looking for a father for Haldir, I wanted someone important enough, yet still not royalty, so I simply separated Malgalad from Amdír, made him a different person, and had the King of Lórien slain in an earlier encounter with the enemy.
Haldir’s family background:
Parts of it have already appeared in my ongoing serial “Innocence”, but here now are the details. Please keep in mind that nothing that follows is canon, save the names of Haldir’s brothers.
Malgalad, Haldir’s father, was a Nandorin fugitive of Doriath, where he had some modest status as a nephew of Saeros. After the Fall of Doriath, he fled to Lindon with Amdír, the son of Celeborn’s brother, Galathil. This particular kinship isn’t a canon fact. I made Amdír the brother of Nimloth to make his position as the King of Lórinand more plausible. Malgalad married a Silvan woman named Gwenethlin – not a canon character, either.
Haldir was born in 629 Second Age, while his parents still dwelt in Lindon, for Malgalad was chosen to be the tutor and personal guardian of Amdír. It was common opinion that Haldir became more worldly than his brothers because he did not spend his entire life in Lothlórien. In this particular fic (and some of my other earlier stories), I use an older, discarded name for him – Hathaldir – to distinguish between older stories and LOTR-based ones.
His parents moved to Lórinand when Prince Amdír reached maturity (in 756 Second Age, 6 years after the foundation of Eregion).
Amdír, born and raised in Doriath, had a strong dislike towards the Noldor and did not want to live in Gil-galad’s court. So, just like his kinsman Oropher, he decided to dwell with the Silvan folk. Oropher went to the Greenwood and Amdír to Lórinand. And just like Oropher, he disliked Galadriel and Celeborn’s rule over the Wandering Companies of the Nandor Elves and their intrusion into Eregion.
In Lórinand as in the Greenwood, the Silvan Elves had no Kings or chieftains, though they willingly followed the counsel of their wise women who ruled them to their best abilities. Amdír married one of these greatly honoured women, establishing his rule over the Silvan folk through marriage. Amroth was their only child.
Rúmil, here called Rhimbron as in some of the HoME-books in earlier stories, was born in 1285 Second Age, in Lórinand.
Orophin, or Orfin, was a relatively late child, born in 1732 Second Age, after Sauron had been driven out of Eriador (1701 S.A.). Their baby sister, Fimbrethil was born shortly before their father perished in war. She later married a Nandor Elf from near Edhellond and moved to the South.
Haldir’s first wife was killed not long after their wedding. During the Last Alliance, he met Fíriel, Elrond’s chief healer – a widowed Noldorin woman considerably older than him. They fell in love, eventually, and married in the early Third Age. As the Laws and Customs of the Eldar in Valinor do not allow remarriage, they both chose to remain in Middle-earth and eventually fade from this world, and Haldir’s brothers followed suit.
There were rumours that Malgalad did not actually die in the Battle upon Dagorlad, but was captured and turned into some hideous monster by Sauron’s remaining minions. Though Gwenethlin adamantly denied this possibility, these rumours led to the decline of their authority in Lórinand, and after Amroth’s death Hathaldir had no other choice than to accept the post of the Marchwarden of the Golden Wood, while under Amroth’s rule he had been the young King’s chief advisor and the Captain of his Guard.
Since Haldir supported Amdír’s claim to Lórinand’s throne, he was not particularly beloved by Galadriel, though Celeborn appreciated his loyalty and bravery.