Riddles in the Dark of Exilian

[Ierne]

in the old tales-
she is the rising sun
she is the guardian of the place of life
she is the giver of gentle days and nights
but I know an old joke-
you cannot sit beneath her leaves without perishing

[Ierne]

IS THIS TOO HARD FOR YOU ALL or are you just not into riddles right now???

[Tusky]

Too hard for me, I'm afraid - I can't even think of a guess for any of the lines, really

[Glaurung]

Too hard for me too; the last line might suggest a tree of some sort, but I can't see how that fits with the rest.

[Jubal]

Some notes and a vague guess:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

in the old tales-
This suggests the whole thing is kind of referential, as does the old joke line... but I'm not sure I'm getting the reference.
she is the rising sun
Could be a flower, given the last line? A yellow one?
she is the guardian of the place of life
This just really confuses me.
she is the giver of gentle days and nights
A sign of spring or summer when the days and nights get gentler? Or something that can be used in making bedclothes, like cotton?
but I know an old joke-
you cannot sit beneath her leaves without perishing
So I'm thinking a plant of some kind. Presumably not a tree - a plant you need to perish to sit under is presumably a low growing one, such that you're only under it when you've been buried.

My initial guess is therefore a daisy: it gives gentle days and nights, in that you need to step on a certain number of them apocryphally to show that summer is here. You also famously are beneath them once dead, hence "pushing up daisies" which might be your old joke. And they do grow and have yellow stamens, which could be the rising sun. Not sure how they guard the place of life (unless somehow roped off with daisy chains), so I'm probably way off, but some guess is better than no guess

[Ierne]

oops! sorry for making one no one could get!
Jubal was close in getting a flower, but the answer is actually a blue lotus

In the old tales = Egyptian and Greek mythology
the rising sun= the Egyptians used the open blue lotus as a symbol for the rising sun
guardian of the place of life= blue lotus growing in the Nile, which the ancient Egyptians thought of as a place of magical life/ressureation, as well as a literal life source
gentle days and nights= a reference to the lotus eaters of Greek myth, the blue lotus has soporific properties
...and the joke is based around the idea that if you tried to sit under a water lily (of any kind) you'd drown

...I think I just proved I'm too much of an Egyptology nerd to function, oh well

[Jubal]

Yeah, that's awesome, but admittedly beyond my Egyptological capabilities (Oooh, we should have some Egyptian smiley options...)

Whose turn is it now, then?

[Glaurung]

Whose turn is it now, then?

Yours, I would say: you made the only thorough attempt at it, and you at least got a flower, even if it wasn't the right one.

[Ierne]

I agree, that was impressive!

(ooh and yes please to the Egyptian smileys )