Work Text:
Gimli closed his eyes and set about combing, beard and hair.
Seven strokes of the comb for the seven tribes of the Dwarves.
Seven more strokes for the seven lives of Durin the Deathless.
Fourteen strokes, for the fourteen who had secured Erebor.
O Kheled-zâram fair and wonderful.
Ten stars in the constellation ‘Durin’s crown’ till he wakes, ten strands in the braid that marked him as a Longbeard,
Durin’s folk, tied with a leather thong of Durin blue.
In this way, reciting the remembrances of his people, he completed his prayers, and braiding, which were one in the same.