Library: Duck and Valar

How Ducks Gained Their Wit Now Mortals you shall here of a time before Man. Yes, it was even before the Dwarf race had been awakened in their glorious mountains. It was a time when the world was freshly formed and only the Elves, the Valar, and the Maiar strode upon the lands. In this time many advancements in skill and magic were devised by these great races; one of the most sublime works of their arts was in nature. The elegant duck was to be improved upon by Aulë. It came to be in this time that Aulë devised many glorious works of skill and magic. In time he would be the one to craft the Silmarillion, but for now he practiced his talents on more mundane creations. With his powers he wove veins of minerals from he earth, and he braided the knowledge of art and contemplation into the songs of the Elves. Here was a being for which talent was a treasure, and he wanted it to flourish in the fresh young world. Sometimes Aulë would go strolling and see what skills he could enrich in the world. When he witnessed the ignorant multitude of the ants he called them close. ?Listen to me throng of the Earth. You must cease this scrambling about the great forest and dwell within castles of the land.? With the ants of the world watching, Aulë transformed himself into an ant, and proceeded to build them the greatest underground realm to exist at this time. With the orcs and dwarves still unheard of in this land, only the blind mole would contend for this realm. Aulë imparted the knowledge of aphid ranching and complex quantum-physics upon the ants. They even had a great ant physicist by the name of click'whirr'click'bzz. He won many wars and advanced his people's hold upon the land, but that tale occurs during the dominion of man. It shall be saved for another day. Strolling through the land, Aulë found endless delight in teaching skill and talent to the beasts. To the fat-tailed beaver he taught construction and crochet. The spider he taught weaving and fashion. Unfortunately most of the spiders favourite colours are in a different spectrum than the Elf eye can see, so much beauty has been lost to the world. Then to the squirrel he taught a complex rationing system and scrabble. He saved many a squirrel from insanity during long winters. Then one day, upon his stroll, Aulë did see a goofy duck in a pond. He'd just been chatting with the Elves about how the land wasn't light enough for anybody to see. This being before the Silmarils would light the lands. In the pond he found a duck bumping into logs and rocks and turtles. With the sky so dark, and no infravision, this poor creature was stumbling around blind. It would gobble at things randomly, more often than not getting a mouthful of sand. Aulë was moved to pity for this poor bird. As of yet, the world was too dark for this poor beast. So Aulë looked into his heart and realized what was lacking. He called out to the waters. He sang to them of this bird which combined the air and the sea. He sang of the the elegant duck, happy in its little pond. And upon the second verse Ulmo joined the refrain. Ulmo sang of the birds good sense and its strong plumage. Ulmo sang of the wit of migration and the light of the intellect. As the song faded in the air, the duck shook it's feathers and looked about the pond. He looked at Aulë and Ulmo, nodded his head and spoke 'demoni on pomoni'. Thus, two of the greatest Valar acted to give the lowly duck the spark of wit. There are many tales of great ducks during the wars with Melkor. Many were slain, and the tales are sung by Elves to this very day.

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Library: Duck and Valar