Admittedly, pieces and remnants of the story of Naryunos are in the game, and about one person seems to understand the whole story.
We've already mentioned her start, how she saw humans, how she never aged and had a hard time coping with the concept of death, and we mentioned the castle made of gold. Now comes the part that people of Trula have misinterpreted as the heroic rescue of the one-horned angelic woman.
Over the years, the only thing that kept her happy was visiting the world of humans. She shared her locks of hair with the people who needed it. She bought all sorts of books with even smaller locks of her hair, and became incredibly knowledgeable. She even saved a few sailors, and gave them locks of her hair. She seemed to be incredibly happy, and willing to share her hair to those that deserved them.
One day, one man saw the generosity of Naryunos. He saw her wings, her long hair, the horn upon her head, and the clothes made of gold. Something about her fascinated him.
"Hello, miss," the man asked, "could you tell me your name?”
She looked at him, seeing how he longed for her. At first, she thought he was another person who thought she was rich in wealth. "All right… what do you want?"
"I would like your name," the man repeated.
"Oh," she responded. "…it’s Naryunos. What’s yours?"
"Sigurd," the man answered. Then and there, he asked her to go out with him.
She didn’t understand why. "Um… can’t I just give you some of my hair now and be done with it?"
"You don’t have to give me anything," Sigurd explained. "I just wanted to see you."
“See me? What do you mean ‘see me’?”
“Naryunos…” Sigurd explained, “I think you are beautiful.”
The nymph assumed again, “I know. My gold dress is attractive.”
“No… not the gold dress… you. YOU are beautiful. Would you meet me later?"
She never knew a feeling like the one she received. Nobody referred to herself as a beautiful person except her parents. She didn’t want to know what happened if she refused. "Yes… Sigurd."
So, in the afternoon, they went out together on a large, grassy field, just Sigurd and Naryunos. He brought her a bouquet for the moment, though the she didn’t understand why.
"Where did you get that dress?" he asked her.
"OH!” Naryunos seemed a little embarrassed. "Well, I made this dress myself, out of my own hair. It does blend in, I admit."
Sigurd asked politely, "Perhaps, maybe sometime, I could buy you some clothing?"
"Why bother?" Naryunos said sadly. "I have all the gold in the world. I could buy all I ever wanted. Nothing's greater than gold.”
Sigurd looked at her and assured her, "You are."
That didn't reassure Naryunos. "That's because I always have hair of gold that never stops growing."
"No, that's not why," he tried to clarify. "I love you. To me, you are the greatest person in the world. Naryunos, you are greater than gold. It's not because you have gold hair, but because I think you're beautiful, and I want to see you again."
Her heart skipped a beat, as the stories have said. "Oh," she realized, "I thought you were like all the other men. I thought you wanted my hair of gold."
"You are worth more than any amount of gold, Naryunos," Sigurd told her, and kissed her. Something about her changed that day. She felt something.
As she returned to the castle every night, she noticed that it was quiet. It seemed too quiet. In order to keep herself entertained, she sang a song of love. It was a wondrous song, and written in the ancient tongue. However, no matter how much she sang it, it wasn’t the same without Sigurd to hear it.
She knew what she had to do. She met Sigurd again, and sang to him her song of love. To him, it was her declaration of true love. When he told her this, without a thought, she kissed him then and there. Similarly, without a thought, Sigurd asked her, "Would you, Naryunos, have me as your husband?"
Naryunos was in shock for only a moment. She had heard of marriage in books, but never experienced it.
"Please…" Sigurd promised, "Every day of your life, you would see me, and I would love you with all my body and soul. So, Naryunos… would you marry me?"
She couldn't say no.
The two of them lived long lives together in the golden castle. She remained forever beautiful, and age slowly but surely grew upon Sigurd. For her, even though she had lived a long time, her life with Sigurd felt like an eternity, which soon turned into a wondrous dream with time.
…however, two sad truths struck her. They had been sleeping together for years, and they never had children. Every moment she was with him, she was more than happy to have his children, but she was sterile. Secondly, like the blacksmith before him, he would die eventually. The wrinkles upon his face had shown, and his hair was growing white and disappearing from the top of his head.
So, one day, she took Sigurd out of the castle, raised the castle of gold out of the ground, and tried to fly away. However, as Sigurd woke up to see her castle fly into space, he pleaded with the woman he loved. “Naryunos? Where are you going?” he called out.
Her eyes were filled with tears. "I’m leaving the world of humans. I know I love you, and I love being with you, and sleeping with you, and doing everything with you, but I can’t bear to think that you would one day disappear from my life forever. I can’t live with you any longer."
"Why not, Naryunos? Don’t you love me?"
It almost broke her heart to answer. "As much as I love you, we could never live together. We come from different worlds. Yours is the world of humans, and mine is the world of immortals. Sigurd, I love you with all my heart, and if you were an immortal, I would love to spend eternity with you, but... Your love is the most valuable thing I’ve ever had, more valuable than gold."
“…but, I love you, too, Naryunos,” Sigurd explained to her.
The angelic woman was wrought with emotions. She stared down at the aging man she married. Something tugged at her heartstrings.
"Sigurd, my love," Naryunos whispered to him, "Sing my song. Keep me within your heart. Do this, and I promise, you shall see me again." She sighed for a moment, and said again, “I understand the fate of mortality. I wish I could have seen our children. So please, though you may die, keep the memory of me alive.”
So he did. All he had to remember her by was a lock of her hair of gold, a song he sang every day of his life, the memories of years gone by, and the touch of her lips upon his. As she promised, she always appeared for him and loved him until he was unable to sing her song.
When Sigurd died, she made many treasures to place by his grave from her very hair of gold. However, a day after they were placed on Sigurd’s grave, they were stolen. So, in memory of him, she made one last treasure. It was made from her hair and Sigurd’s armor and bodily remains. As such, Naryunos treated the sword as the closest thing to her child, and kept it out of human reach.
As far as anyone knew, she left the world of humans, now knowing what love truly was.
Some things might have been altered from the original story to protect the innocent. There was one bit about how Sigurd had to sing the song at the place where her castle was, but that's going to be inaccurate. Also, it's up for debate whether or not fairies and dragons can even have children together. It's not possible in Sierr, and nobody's seen a fairy in Trula.
As for the treasures, well, that's hard to explain as well.
It's just a story. Or is it?
0 comments