40.
But he danced like a wind out into the world.
He is gone, and the valley is empty and bare Where lonely I stand and lonely I stare.
Then suddenly out in the meadows beyond, Then back in the reeds by the shimmering pond, 45 Then afar from a copse where the mosses are thick A few little notes came trillaping quick.
I leapt o"er the stream and I sped from the glade, For Tinfang Warble it was that played; I must follow the hoot of his twilight flute
50.
Over reed, over rush, under branch, over root, And over dim fields, and through rustling gra.s.ses That murmur and nod as the old elf pa.s.ses, Over old hills and far away Where the harps of the Elvenfolk softly play.
Earlier readings: 12 "Twas a very quiet evening once in June- And I thought that stars had grown bright too soon- Cf. the prose text, p. 94: "The Noldoli say that [the stars] come out too soon if Tinfang Warble plays".
8 from the sh.o.r.es of the mere] by the fairies" mere 9 Elvenhome] emendation made on the text of the final version, replacing "Fairyland".
24 Till the stars came out, as it seemed, too soon.
Cf. the note to line 2.
256 They always come out when he warbles and plays, And they shine bright blue as long as he stays.
Cf. the prose text, p. 95: "or will he play beneath a goodly moon and the stars go bright and blue."
54 Elvenfolk] emendation made on the text of the final version, replacing "fairies".
The first part of this story of The Chaining of Melko came to have a very different form in later versions, where (The Silmarillion p. 35) it was during the sojourn of the Valar on the Isle of Almaren, under the light of the Two Lamps, that "the seeds that Yavanna had sown began swiftly to sprout and to burgeon, and there arose a mult.i.tude of growing things great and small, mosses and gra.s.ses and great ferns, and trees whose tops were crowned with cloud" and that "beasts came forth and dwelt in the gra.s.sy plains, or in the rivers and the lakes, or walked in the shadows of the woods". This was the Spring of Arda; but after the coming of Melkor and the delving of Utumno "green things fell sick and rotted, and rivers were choked with weeds and slime, and fens were made, rank and poisonous, the breeding place of flies; and forests grew dark and perilous, the haunts of fear; and beasts became monsters of horn and ivory and dyed the earth with blood". Then came the fall of the Lamps, and "thus ended the Spring of Arda" (p. 37). After the building of Valinor and the arising of the Two Trees "Middle-earth lay in a twilight beneath the stars" (p. 39), and Yavanna and Orom alone of the Valar returned there at times: "Yavanna would walk there in the shadows, grieving because the growth and promise of the Spring of Arda was stayed. And she set a sleep upon many things that had arisen in the Spring, so that they should not age, but should wait for a time of awakening that yet should be" (p. 47). "But already the oldest living things had arisen: in the seas the great weeds, and on earth the shadow of great trees; and in the valleys of the night-clad hills there were dark creatures old and strong."
In this earliest narrative, on the other hand, there is no mention of the beginning of growth during the time when the Lamps shone (see p. 69), and the first trees and low plants appeared under Yavanna"s spells in the twilight after their overthrow. Moreover in the last sentence of this tale "seeds were sown", in that time of "quiet dusk" while Melko was chained, "that waited only for the light to come". Thus in the early story Yavanna sows in the dark with a view (it seems) to growth and flowering in later days of sunlight, whereas in all the subsequent versions the G.o.ddess in the time of darkness sows no more, but rather lays a sleep on many things that had arisen beneath the light of the Lamps in the Spring of Arda. But both in the early tale and in The Silmarillion there is a suggestion that Yavanna foresees that light will come in the end to the Great Lands, to Middle-earth.
The conception of a flowing, liquid light in the airs of Earth is again very marked, and it seems that in the original idea the twilight ages of the world east of the sea were still illumined by the traces of this light ("Seldom now falls the shimmering rain as it was used, and there reigns a gloom lit with pale streaks", p. 98) as well as by the stars of Varda, even though "the G.o.ds have gathered so much of that light that had before flowed about the airs" (ibid.).
The renewed cosmic violence is conceivably the precursor of the great Battle of the Powers in the later mythology (The Silmarillion p. 51); but in this earliest tale Melko"s upheavals are the cause of the Valar"s visitation, whereas the Battle of the Powers, in which the shape of Middle-earth was changed, resulted from it. In The Silmarillion it was the discovery of the newly-awakened Elves by Orom that led the Valar to the a.s.sault on Utumno.
In its rich narrative detail, as in its "primitive" air, the tale told by Meril-i-Turinqi of the capture of Melko bears little relation to the later narrative; while the tone of the encounter at Utumna, and the treacherous shifts of the Valar to ensnare him, is foreign to it likewise. But some elements survived: the chain Angainor forged by Aul (if not the marvellous metal tilkal with its most uncharacteristically derived name), the wrestling of Tulkas with Melko, his imprisonment in Mandos for "three ages", and the idea that his fortress was not destroyed to its foundations. It emerges too that the clement and trustful character of Manw was early defined; while the reference to Mandos" seldom speaking is possibly a foreshadowing of his p.r.o.nouncing his judgements only at the bidding of Manw (see p. 90). The origin of nightingales in the domain of Lrien in Valinor is already present.
Lastly, it may seem from the account of the journey of the Valar in this tale that Hisilm (which survived without any further change as the Quenya name of Hithlum) was here a quite distinct region from the later Hithlum, since it is placed beyond the Mountains of Iron: in The Silmarillion the Mountains of Iron are said to have been reared by Melkor "as a fence to his citadel of Utumno": "they stood upon the borders of the regions of everlasting cold, in a great curve from east to west" (p. 118). But in fact the "Mountains of Iron" here correspond to the later "Mountains of Shadow" (Ered Wethrin). In an annotated list of names accompanying the tale of The Fall of Gondolin the name Dor Lmin is thus defined: Dor Lmin or the "Land of Shadow" was that region named of the Eldar Hisilm (and this means "Shadowy Twilights")...and it is so called by reason of the scanty sun which peeps little over the Iron Mountains to the east and south of it.
On the little map given on p. 81 the line of peaks which I have marked f almost certainly represents these mountains, and the region to the north of them, marked g, is then Hisilm.
The ma.n.u.script continues, from the point where I have ended the text in this chapter, with no break; but this point is the end of a section in the mythological narrative (with a brief interruption by Eriol), and the remainder of Meril-i-Turinqi"s tale is reserved to the next chapter. Thus I make two tales of one.
V.
THE COMING OF THE ELVES AND THE MAKING OF KR.
I take this t.i.tle from the cover of the book (which adds also "How the Elves did fashion Gems"), for as I have already remarked the narrative continues without a new heading.
Then said Eriol: "Sad was the unchaining of Melko, methinks, even did it seem merciful and just-but how came the G.o.ds to do this thing?"
Then Meril1 continuing said: "Upon a time thereafter was the third period of Melko"s prisonment beneath the halls of Mandos come nearly to its ending. Manw sat upon the top of the mountain and gazed with his piercing eyes into the shades beyond Valinor, and hawks flew to him and from him bearing many great tidings, but Varda was singing a song and looking upon the plain of Valinor. Silpion was at that time glimmering and the roofs of Valmar below were black and silver beneath its rays; and Varda was joyous, but on a sudden Manw spake, saying: "Behold, there is a gleam of gold beneath the pine-trees, and the deepest gloaming of the world is full of a patter of feet. The Eldar have come, O Taniquetil!" Then Varda arose swiftly and stretched her arms out North and South, and unbraided her long hair, and lifted up the Song of the Valar, and Ilw was filled with the loveliness of her voice.
Then did she descend to Valmar and to the abode of Aul and he was making vessels of silver for Lrien. A bason filled with the radiance of Telimp2 was by his side, and this he used cunningly in his craft, but now Varda stood before him and said: "The Eldar have come!" and Aul flung down his hammer saying: "Then Ilvatar hath sent them at last," and the hammer striking some ingots of silver upon the floor did of its magic smite silver sparks to life, that flashed from his windows out into the heavens. Varda seeing this took of that radiance in the bason and mingled it with molten silver to make it more stable, and fared upon her wings of speed, and set stars about the firmament in very great profusion, so that the skies grew marvellously fair and their glory was doubled; and those stars that she then fashioned have a power of slumbers, for the silver of their bodies came of the treasury of Lrien and their radiance had lain in Telimp long time in his garden.
Some have said that the Seven Stars were set at that time by Varda to commemorate the coming of the Eldar, and that Morwinyon who blazes above the world"s edge in the west was dropped by her as she fared in great haste back to Valinor. Now this is indeed the true beginning of Morwinyon and his beauty, yet the Seven Stars were not set by Varda, being indeed the sparks from Aul"s forge whose brightness in the ancient heavens urged Varda to make their rivals; yet this did she never achieve.
But now even as Varda is engaged in this great work, behold, Orom p.r.i.c.ks over the plain, and drawing rein he shouts aloud so that all the ears in Valmar may hear him: "Tulielto! Tulielto! They have come-they have come!" Then he stands midway between the Two Trees and winds his horn, and the gates of Valmar are opened, and the Vali troop into the plain, for they guess that tidings of wonder have come into the world. Then spake Orom: "Behold the woods of the Great Lands, even in Palisor the midmost region where the pinewoods murmur unceasingly, are full of a strange noise. There did I wander, and lo! "twas as if folk arose betimes beneath the latest stars. There was a stir among the distant trees and words were spoken suddenly, and feet went to and fro. Then did I say what is this deed that Palrien my mother has wrought in secret, and I sought her out and questioned her, and she answered: "This is no work of mine, but the hand of one far greater did this. Ilvatar hath awakened his children at the last-ride home to Valinor and tell the G.o.ds that the Eldar have come indeed!""
Then shouted all the people of Valinor: "I Eldar tulier-the Eldar have come"-and it was not until that hour that the G.o.ds knew that their joy had contained a flaw, or that they had waited in hunger for its completion, but now they knew that the world had been an empty place beset with loneliness having no children for her own.
Now once more is council set and Manw sitteth before the G.o.ds there amid the Two Trees-and those had now borne light for four ages. Every one of the Vali fare thither, even Ulmo Vailimo in great haste from the Outer Seas, and his face is eager and glad.
On that day Manw released Melko from Angaino before the full time of his doom, but the manacles and the fetters of tilkal were not unloosed, and he bore them yet upon wrist and ankle. Great joy blindeth even the forewisdom of the G.o.ds. Last of all came Palrien Yavanna hasting from Palisor, and the Valar debated concerning the Eldar; but Melko sat at the feet of Tulkas and feigned a glad and humble cheer. At length it is the word of the G.o.ds that some of the new-come Eldar be bidden to Valinor, there to speak to Manw and his people, telling of their coming into the world and of the desires that it awakened in them.
Then does Nornor, whose feet flash invisibly for the greatness of their speed, hurtle from Valinor bearing the emba.s.sy of Manw, and he goes unstaying over both land and sea to Palisor. There he finds a place deep in a vale surrounded by pine-clad slopes; its floor is a pool of wide water and its roof the twilight set with Varda"s stars. There had Orom heard the awaking of the Eldar, and all songs name that place Koivi-neni or the Waters of Awakening.
Now all the slopes of that valley and the bare margin of the lake, even the rugged fringes of the hills beyond, are filled with a concourse of folk who gaze in wonder at the stars, and some sing already with voices that are very beautiful. But Nornor stood upon a hill and was amazed for the beauty of that folk, and because he was a Vala they seemed to him marvellously small and delicate and their faces wistful and tender. Then did he speak in the great voice of the Valar and all those shining faces turned towards his voice.
"Behold O Eldali, desired are ye for all the age of twilight, and sought for throughout the ages of peace, and I come even from Manw Slimo Lord of the G.o.ds who abides upon Taniquetil in peace and wisdom to you who are the Children of Ilvatar, and these are the words he put into my mouth to speak: Let now some few of you come back with me-for am I not Nornor herald of the Valar-and enter Valinor and speak with him, that he may learn of your coming and of all your desires."
Great was the stir and wonder now about the waters of Koivi, and its end was that three of the Eldar came forward daring to go with Nornor, and these he bore now back to Valinor, and their names as the Elves of Kr have handed them on were Isil Inw, and Finw Nlem who was Turondo"s father, and Tinw Lint father of Tinviel-but the Noldoli call them Inwithiel, Golfinweg, and Tinwelint. Afterward they became very great among the Eldar, and the Teleri were those who followed Isil, but his kindred and descendants are that royal folk the Inwir of whose blood I am. Nolem was lord of the Noldoli, and of his son Turondo (or Turgon as they called him) are great tales told, but Tinw3 abode not long with his people, and yet "tis said lives still lord of the scattered Elves of Hisilm, dancing in its twilight places with Wendelin his spouse, a sprite come long long ago from the quiet gardens of Lrien; yet greatest of all the Elves did Isil Inw become, and folk reverence his mighty name to this day.
Behold now brought by Nornor the three Elves stood before the G.o.ds, and it was at that time the changing of the lights, and Silpion was waning but Laurelin was awakening to his greatest glory, even as Silmo emptied the urn of silver about the roots of the other Tree. Then those Elves were utterly dazed and astonied by the splendour of the light, whose eyes knew only the dusk and had yet seen no brighter things than Varda"s stars, but the beauty and majestic strength of the G.o.ds in conclave filled them with awe, and the roofs of Valmar blazing afar upon the plain made them tremble, and they bowed in reverence-but Manw said to them: "Rise, O Children of Ilvatar, for very glad are the G.o.ds of your coming! Tell us how ye came; how found ye the world; what seemeth it to you who are its first offspring, or with what desires doth it fill you."
But Nlem answering said: "Lo! Most mighty one, whence indeed come we! For meseems I awoke but now from a sleep eternally profound, whose vast dreams already are forgotten." And Tinw said thereto that his heart told him that he was new-come from illimitable regions, yet he might not recollect by what dark and strange paths he had been brought; and last spake Inw, who had been gazing upon Laurelin while the others spake, and he said: "Knowing neither whence I come nor by what ways nor yet whither I go, the world that we are in is but one great wonderment to me, and me-thinks I love it wholly, yet it fills me altogether with a desire for light."
Then Manw saw that Ilvatar had wiped from the minds of the Eldar all knowledge of the manner of their coming, and that the G.o.ds might not discover it; and he was filled with deep astonishment; but Yavanna who hearkened also caught her breath for the stab of the words of Inw, saying that he desired light. Then she looked upon Laurelin and her heart thought of the fruitful orchards in Valmar, and she whispered to Tuivna who sat beside her, gazing upon the tender grace of those Eldar; then those twain said to Manw: "Lo! the Earth and its shadows are no place for creatures so fair, whom only the heart and mind of Ilvatar have conceived. Fair are the pine-forests and the thickets, but they are full of unelfin spirits and Mandos" children walk abroad and va.s.sals of Melko lurk in strange places-and we ourselves would not be without the sight of this sweet folk. Their distant laughter has filtered to our ears from Palisor, and we would have it echo always about us in our halls and pleasaunces in Valmar. Let the Eldar dwell among us, and the well of our joy be filled from new springs that may not dry up."
Then arose a clamour among the G.o.ds and the most spake for Palrien and Vna, whereas Makar said that Valinor was builded for the Valar-"and already is it a rose-garden of fair ladies rather than an abode of men. Wherefore do ye desire to fill it with the children of the world?" In this Mess backed him, and Mandos and Fui were cold to the Eldar as to all else; yet was Varda vehement in support of Yavanna and Tuivna, and indeed her love for the Eldar has ever been the greatest of all the folk of Valinor; and Aul and Lrien, Orom and Nessa and Ulmo most mightily proclaimed their desire for the bidding of the Eldar to dwell among the G.o.ds. Wherefore, albeit Oss spake cautiously against it-belike out of that ever-smouldering jealousy and rebellion he felt against Ulmo-it was the voice of the council that the Eldar should be bidden, and the G.o.ds awaited but the judgement of Manw. Behold even Melko seeing where was the majority insinuated his guileful voice into the pleading, and has nonetheless since those days maligned the Valar, saying they did but summon the Eldar as to a prison out of covetice and jealousy of their beauty. Thus often did he lie to the Noldoli afterwards when he would stir their restlessness, adding beside all truth that he alone had withstood the general voice and spoken for the freedom of the Elves.
Maybe indeed had the G.o.ds decided otherwise the world had been a fairer place now and the Eldar a happier folk, but never would they have achieved such glory, knowledge, and beauty as they did of old, and still less would any of Melko"s redes have benefited them.
Now having hearkened to all that was said Manw gave judgement and was glad, for indeed his heart leaned of itself to the leading of the Eldar from the dusky world to the light of Valinor. Turning to the three Eldar he said: "Go ye back now to your kindreds and Nornor shall bring you swiftly there, even to Koivi-neni in Palisor. Behold, this is the word of Manw Slimo, and the voice of the Valar"s desire, that the people of the Eldali, the Children of Ilvatar, fare to Valinor, and there dwell in the splendour of Laurelin and the radiance of Silpion and know the happiness of the G.o.ds. An abode of surpa.s.sing beauty shall they possess, and the G.o.ds will aid them in its building."
Thereto answered Inw: "Fain are we indeed of thy bidding, and who of the Eldali that have already longed for the beauty of the stars will stay or rest till his eyes have feasted on the blessed light of Valinor!" Thereafter Nornor guided those Elves back to the bare margins of Koivi-neni, and standing upon a boulder Inw spake the emba.s.sy to all those hosts of the Eldali that Ilvatar waked first upon the Earth, and all such as heard his words were filled with desire to see the faces of the G.o.ds.
When Nornor returning told the Valar that the Elves were indeed coming and that Ilvatar had set already a great mult.i.tude upon the Earth, the G.o.ds made mighty preparation. Behold Aul gathers his tools and stuffs and Yavanna and Tuivna wander about the plain even to the foothills of the mountains and the bare coasts of the Shadowy Seas, seeking them a home and an abiding-place; but Orom goeth straightway out of Valinor into the forests whose every darkling glade he knew and every dim path had traversed, for he purposed to guide the troops of the Eldar from Palisor over all the wide lands west till they came to the confines of the Great Sea.
To those dark sh.o.r.es fared Ulmo, and strange was the roaring of the unlit sea in those most ancient days upon that rocky coast that bore still the scars of the tumultuous wrath of Melko. Falman-Oss was little pleased to see Ulmo in the Great Seas, for Ulmo had taken that island whereon Oss himself had drawn the G.o.ds to Arvalin, saving them from the rising waters when Ringi! and Helkar thawed beneath their blazing lamps. That was many ages past in the days when the G.o.ds were new-come strangers in the world, and during all that time the island had floated darkly in the Shadowy Seas, desolate save when Oss climbed its beaches on his journeys in the deeps; but now Ulmo had come upon his secret island and harnessed thereto a host of the greatest fish, and amidmost was Uin the mightiest and most ancient of whales; and he bid these put forth their strength, and they drew the island mightily to the very sh.o.r.es of the Great Lands, even to the coast of Hisilm northward of the Iron Mountains whither all the deepest shades withdrew when the Sun first arose.
Now Ulmo stands there and there comes a glint in the woods that marched even down to the sea-foam in those quiet days, and behold! he hears the footsteps of the Teleri crackle in the forest, and Inw is at their head beside the stirrup of Orom. Grievous had been their march, and dark and difficult the way through Hisilm the land of shade, despite the skill and power of Orom. Indeed long after the joy of Valinor had washed its memory faint the Elves sang still sadly of it, and told tales of many of their folk whom they said and say were lost in those old forests and ever wandered there in sorrow. Still were they there long after when Men were shut in Hisilm by Melko, and still do they dance there when Men have wandered far over the lighter places of the Earth. Hisilm did Men name Aryador, and the Lost Elves did they call the Shadow Folk, and feared them.
Nonetheless the most of the great companies of the Teleri came now to the beaches and climbed therefrom upon the island that Ulmo had brought. Ulmo counselled them that they wait not for the other kindreds, and though at first they will not yield, weeping at the thought, at last are they persuaded, and straightway are drawn with utmost speed beyond the Shadowy Seas and the wide bay of Arvalin to the strands of Valinor. There does the distant beauty of the trees shining down the opening in the hills enchant their hearts, and yet do they stand gazing back across the waters they have pa.s.sed, for they know not where those other kindreds of their folk may be, and not even the loveliness of Valinor do they desire without them.
Then leaving them silent and wondering on the sh.o.r.e Ulmo draws back that great island-car to the rocks of Hisilm, and behold, warmed by the distant gleam of Laurelin that lit upon its western edge as it lay in the Bay of Fary, new and more tender trees begin to grow upon it, and the green of herbage is seen upon its slopes.
Now Oss raises his head above the waves in wrath, deeming himself slighted that his aid was not sought in the ferrying of the Elves, but his own island taken unasked. Fast does he follow in Ulmo"s wake and yet is left far behind, for Ulmo set the might of the Valar in Uin and the whales. Upon the cliffs there stand already the Noldoli in anguish, thinking themselves deserted in the gloom, and Nleme Finw who had led them thither hard upon the rear of the Teleri went among them enheartening them. Full of travail their journey too had been, for the world is wide and nigh half across it had they come from most distant Palisor, and in those days neither sun shone nor moon gleamed, and pathways were there none be it of Elves or of Men. Orom too was far ahead riding before the Teleri upon the march and was now gone back into the lands. There the Solosimpi were astray in the forests stretching deep behind, and his horn wound faintly in the ears of those upon the sh.o.r.e, from whence that Vala sought them up and down the dark vales of Hisilm.
Therefore now coming Ulmo thinks to draw the Noldoli swiftly to the strand of Valinor, returning once again for those others when Orom shall have led them to the coast. This does he, and Falman beholds that second ferrying from afar and spumes in rage, but great is the joy of the Teleri and Noldoli upon that sh.o.r.e where the lights are those of late summer afternoons for the distant glow of Lindeloks. There may I leave them for a while and tell of the strange happenings that befell the Solosimpi by reason of Oss"s wrath, and of the first dwelling upon Tol Eressa.
Fear falls upon them in that old darkness, and beguiled by the fair music of the fay Wendelin, as other tales set forth more fully elsewhere, their leader Tinw Linto was lost, and long they sought him, but it was in vain, and he came never again among them.4 When therefore they heard the horn of Orom ringing in the forest great was their joy, and gathering to its sound soon are they led to the cliffs, and hear the murmur of the sunless sea. Long time they waited there, for Oss cast storms and shadows about the return of Ulmo, so that he drove by devious ways, and his great fish faltered in their going; yet at the last do they too climb upon that island and are drawn towards Valinor; and one Ellu they chose in place of Tinw, and he has ever since been named the Lord of the Solosimpi.5 Behold now less than half the distance have they traversed, and the Twilit Isles float still far aloof, when Oss and nen waylay them in the western waters of the Great Sea ere yet the mists of the Shadowy Seas are reached. Then Oss seizes that island in his great hand, and all the great strength of Uin may scarcely drag it onward, for at swimming and in deeds of bodily strength in the water none of the Valar, not even Ulmo"s self, is Oss"s match, and indeed Ulmo was not at hand, for he was far ahead piloting the great craft in the glooms that Oss had gathered, leading it onward with the music of his conches. Now ere he can return Oss with nen"s aid had brought the isle to a stand, and was anchoring it even to the sea-bottom with giant ropes of those leather-weeds and polyps that in those dark days had grown already in slow centuries to unimagined girth about the pillars of his deep-sea house. Thereto as Ulmo urges the whales to put forth all their strength and himself aids with all his G.o.dlike power, Oss piles rocks and boulders of huge ma.s.s that Melko"s ancient wrath had strewn about the seafloor, and builds these as a column beneath the island.
Vainly doth Ulmo trumpet and Uin with the flukes of his unmeasured tail lash the seas to wrath, for thither Oss now brings every kind of deep sea creature that buildeth itself a house and dwelling of stony sh.e.l.l; and these he planted about the base of the island: corals there were of every kind and barnacles and sponges like stone. Nonetheless for a very great while did that struggle endure, until at length Ulmo returned to Valmar in wrath and dismay. There did he warn the other Valar that the Solosimpi may not yet be brought thither, for that the isle has grown fast in the most lonely waters of the world.
There stands that island yet-indeed thou knowest it, for it is called "the Lonely Isle"-and no land may be seen for many leagues" sail from its cliffs, for the Twilit Isles upon the bosom of the Shadowy Seas are deep in the dim West, and the Magic Isles lie backward in the East.
Now therefore do the G.o.ds bid the Elves build a dwelling, and Aul aided them in that, but Ulmo fares back to the Lonely Island, and lo! it stands now upon a pillar of rock upon the seas" floor, and Oss fares about it in a foam of business anchoring all the scattered islands of his domain fast to the ocean-bed. Hence came the first dwelling of the Solosimpi on the Lonely Island, and the deeper sundering of that folk from the others both in speech and customs; for know that all these great deeds of the past that make but a small tale now were not lightly achieved and in a moment of time, but rather would very many men have grown and died betwixt the binding of the Islands and the making of the Ships.
Twice now had that isle of their dwelling caught the gleam of the glorious Trees of Valinor, and so was it already fairer and more fertile and more full of sweet plants and gra.s.ses than the other places of all the world beside where great light had not been seen; indeed the Solosimpi say that birches grew there already, and many reeds, and turf there was upon the western slopes. There too were many caverns, and there was a stretching sh.o.r.eland of white sand about the feet of black and purple cliffs, and here was the dwelling even in those deepest days of the Solosimpi.
There Ulmo sate upon a headland and spake to them words of comfort and of the deepest wisdom; and all sea-lore he told them, and they hearkened; and music he taught them, and they made slender pipes of sh.e.l.ls. By reason of that labour of Oss there are no strands so strewn with marvellous sh.e.l.ls as were the white beaches and the sheltered coves of Tol Eressa, and the Solosimpi dwelt much in caves, and adorned them with those sea-treasures, and the sound of their wistful piping might be heard for many a long day come faintly down the winds.
Then Falman-Oss"s heart melted towards them and he would have released them, save for the new joy and pride he had that their beauty dwelt thus amidmost of his realm, so that their pipes gave perpetual pleasure to his ear, and Uinen6 and the Oarni and all the spirits of the waves were enamoured of them.
So danced the Solosimpi upon the waves" brink, and the love of the sea and rocky coasts entered in their hearts, even though they gazed in longing towards the happy sh.o.r.es whither long ago the Teleri and Noldoli had been borne.
Now these after a season took hope and their sorrow grew less bitter, learning how their kindred dwelt in no unkindly land, and Ulmo had them under his care and guardianship. Wherefore they heeded now the G.o.ds" desire and turned to the building of their home; and Aul taught them very much lore and skill, and Manw also. Now Manw loved more the Teleri, and from him and from mar did they learn deeper of the craft of song and poesy than all the Elves beside; but the Noldoli were beloved most by Aul, and they learned much of his science, till their hearts became unquiet for the l.u.s.t of more knowing, but they grew to great wisdom and to great subtlety of skill.
Behold there is a low place in that ring of mountains that guards Valinor, and there the shining of the Trees steals through from the plain beyond and gilds the dark waters of the bay of Arvalin,7 but a great beach of finest sand, golden in the blaze of Laurelin, white in the light of Silpion, runs inland there, where in the trouble of the ancient seas a shadowy arm of water had groped in toward Valinor, but now there is only a slender water fringed with white. At the head of this long creek there stands a lonely hill which gazes at the loftier mountains. Now all the walls of that inlet of the seas are luxuriant with a marvellous vigour of fair trees, but the hill is covered only with a deep turf, and harebells grow atop of it ringing softly in the gentle breath of Slimo.
Here was the place that those fair Elves bethought them to dwell, and the G.o.ds named that hill Kr by reason of its roundness and its smoothness. Thither did Aul bring all the dust of magic metals that his great works had made and gathered, and he piled it about the foot of that hill, and most of this dust was of gold, and a sand of gold stretched away from the feet of Kr out into the distance where the Two Trees blossomed. Upon the hill-top the Elves built fair abodes of shining white-of marbles and stones quarried from the Mountains of Valinor that glistened wondrously,8 silver and gold and a substance of great hardness and white lucency that they contrived of sh.e.l.ls melted in the dew of Silpion, and white streets there were bordered with dark trees that wound with graceful turns or climbed with flights of delicate stairs up from the plain of Valinor to topmost Kr; and all those shining houses clomb each shoulder higher than the others till the house of Inw was reached that was the uppermost, and had a slender silver tower shooting skyward like a needle, and a white lamp of piercing ray was set therein that shone upon the shadows of the bay, but every window of the city on the hill of Kr looked out toward the sea.
Fountains there were of great beauty and frailty and roofs and pinnacles of bright gla.s.s and amber that was made by Palrien and Ulmo, and trees stood thick on the white walls and terraces, and their golden fruit shone richly.
Now at the building of Kr the G.o.ds gave to Inw and to Nlem a shoot each of either of those glorious trees, and they grew to very small and slender elfin trees, but blossomed both eternally without abating, and those of the courts of Inw were the fairest, and about them the Teleri sang songs of happiness, but others singing also fared up and down the marble flights and the wistful voices of the Noldoli were heard about the courts and chambers; but yet the Solosimpi dwelt far off amid the sea and made windy music on their pipes of sh.e.l.l.
Now is Oss very fain of those Solosimpi, the sh.o.r.eland pipers, and if Ulmo be not nigh he sits upon a reef at sea and many of the Oarni are by him, and hearkens to their voice and watches their flitting dances on this sh.o.r.e, but to Valmar he dare not fare again for the power of Ulmo in the councils of the Valar and.......... the wrath of that mighty one at the anchoring of the islands.
Indeed war had been but held off by the G.o.ds, who desired peace and would not suffer Ulmo to gather the folk of the Valar and a.s.sail Oss and rend the islands from their new roots. Therefore does Oss sometimes ride the foams out into the bay of Arvalin9 and gaze upon the glory on the hills, and he longs for the light and happiness upon the plain, but most for the song of birds and the swift movement of their wings into the clear air, grown weary of his silver and dark fish silent and strange amid the deep waters.
But on a day some birds came flying high from the gardens of Yavanna, and some were white and some black and some both black and white; and being dazed among the shadows they had not where to settle, and Oss coaxed them, and they settled about his mighty shoulders, and he taught them to swim and gave them great strength of wing, for of such strength of shoulder he had more than any [?other] being and was the greatest of swimmers; and he poured fishy oils upon their feathers that they might bear the waters, and he fed them on small fish.
Then did he turn away to his own seas, and they swam about him or fared above him on low wing crying and piping; and he showed them dwellings on the Twilit Isles and even about the cliffs of Tol Eressa, and the manner of diving and of spearing fish they learned there, and their voices became harsh for the rugged places of their life far from the soft regions of Valinor or wailing for the music of the Solosimpi and sighing of the sea. And now have all that great folk of gulls and seamews and petrels come into their kingdom; and puffins are there, and eider-duck, and cormorants, and gannets, and rock-doves, and the cliffs are full of a chattering and a smell of fish, and great conclaves are held upon their ledges, or among spits and reefs among the waters. But the proudest of all these birds were the swans, and these Oss let dwell in Tol Eressa, [?flying] along its coasts or paddling inland up its streams; and he set them there as a gift and joy to the Solosimpi. But when Ulmo heard of these new deeds he was ill-pleased for the havoc wrought amid the fishes wherewith he had filled the waters with the aid of Palrien.
Now do the Solosimpi take great joy of [?their] birds, new creatures to them, and of swans, and behold upon the lakes of Tol Eressa already they fare on rafts of fallen timber, and some harness thereto swans and speed across the waters; but the more hardy dare out upon the sea and the gulls draw them, and when Ulmo saw that he was very glad. For lo! the Teleri and Noldoli complain much to Manw of the separation of the Solosimpi, and the G.o.ds desire them to be drawn to Valinor; but Ulmo cannot yet think of any device save by help of Oss and the Oarni, and will not be humbled to this. But now does he fare home in haste to Aul, and those twain got them speedily to Tol Eressa, and Orom was with them, and there is the first hewing of trees that was done in the world outside Valinor. Now does Aul of the sawn wood of pine and oak make great vessels like to the bodies of swans, and these he covers with the bark of silver birches, or...... with gathered feathers of the oily plumage of Oss"s birds, and they are nailed and [?st.u.r.dily] riveted and fastened with silver, and he carves prows for them like the upheld necks of swans, but they are hollow and have no feet; and by cords of great strength and slimness are gulls and petrels harnessed to them, for they were tame to the hands of the Solosimpi, because their hearts were so turned by Oss.
Now are the beaches upon the western sh.o.r.es of Tol Eressa, even at Fala.s.s Nma (Western Surf), thronged with that people of the Elves, and drawn up there is a very great host indeed of those swanships, and the cry of the gulls above them is unceasing. But the Solosimpi arise in great numbers and climb into the hollow bodies of these new things of Aul"s skill, and more of their kin fare ever to the sh.o.r.es, marching to the sound of innumerable pipes and flutes.
Now all are embarked and the gulls fare mightily into the twilit sky, but Aul and Orom are in the foremost galley and the mightiest, and seven hundred gulls are harnessed thereto and it gleams with silver and white feathers, and has a beak of gold and eyes of jet and amber. But Ulmo fares at the rear in his fishy car and trumpets loudly for the discomfiture of Oss and the rescue of the Sh.o.r.eland Elves.
But Oss seeing how these birds have been to his undoing is very downcast, yet for the presence of those three G.o.ds and indeed for his love of the Solosimpi that had grown by now very great he molested not their white fleet, and they came thus over the grey leagues of the ocean, through the dim sounds, and the mists of the Shadowy Seas, even to the first dark waters of the bay of Arvalin.
Know then that the Lonely Island is upon the confines of the Great Sea. Now that Great Sea or the Western Water is beyond the westernmost limits of the Great Lands, and in it are many lands and islands ere beyond their anchorage you reach the Magic Isles, and beyond these still lies Tol Eressa. But beyond Tol Eressa is the misty wall and those great sea glooms beneath which lie the Shadowy Seas, and thereon float the Twilit Isles whither only pierced at clearest times the faintest twinkle of the far gleam of Silpion. But in the westernmost of these stood the Tower of Pearl built in after days and much sung in song; but the Twilit Isles are held the first of the Outer Lands, which are these and Arvalin and Valinor, and Tol Eressa is held neither of the Outer Lands or of the Great Lands where Men after roamed. But the farthest sh.o.r.e of those Shadowy Seas is Arvalin or Erumni to the far south, but more northerly do they lap the very coasts of Eldamar, and here are they broader to one faring west. Beyond Arvalin tower those huge Mountains of Valinor which are in a great ring bending slowly west, but the Shadowy Seas make a vast bay to the north of Arvalin running right up to the black feet of the mountains, so that here they border upon the waters and not upon the lands, and there at the bay"s innermost stands Taniquetil, glorious to behold, loftiest of all mountains clad in purest snow, looking across Arvalin half south and half north across that mighty Bay of Fary, and so beyond the Shadowy Seas themselves, even so that all the sails upon the sunlit waters of the Great Sea in after days (when the G.o.ds had made that lamp) and all the throngs about the western havens of the Lands of Men could be seen from its summit; and yet is that distance counted only in unimagined leagues.
But now comes that strange fleet nigh these regions and eager eyes look out. There stands Taniquetil and he is purple and dark of one side with gloom of Arvalin and of the Shadowy Seas, and lit in glory of the other by reason of the light of the Trees of Valinor. Now where the seas lapped those sh.o.r.es of old their waves long ere their breaking were suddenly lit by Laurelin were it day or by Silpion were it night, and the shadows of the world ceased almost abruptly and the waves laughed. But an opening in the mountains on those sh.o.r.es let through a glimpse of Valinor, and there stood the hill of Kr, and the white sand runs up the creek to meet it, but its feet are in green water, and behind the sand of gold fares away farther than eye can guess, and indeed beyond Valinor who has heard or seen anything save Ulmo, yet of a certainty here spread the dark waters of the Outer Seas: tideless are they and very cool, and so thin that no boat can float upon their bosom, and few fish swim beneath their depths.
But now upon the hill of Kr is a running and a joyous concourse, and all the people of the Teleri and Noldoli fare out of the gates and wait to welcome the coming of the fleet upon the sh.o.r.e. And now those ships leave the shadows and now are caught in the bright gleam about the inner bay, and now are they beached high and the Solosimpi dance and pipe, and mingle with the singing of the Teleri and the Noldoli"s faint music.
Far behind lay Tol Eressa in silence and its woods and sh.o.r.es were still, for nearly all that host of sea-birds had flown after the Eldar and wailed now about the sh.o.r.es of Eldamar: but Oss dwelt in despondency and his silver halls in Valmar abode long empty, for he came no nearer to them for a great while than the shadow"s edge, whither came the wailing of his sea-birds far away.
Now the Solosimpi abode not much in Kr but had strange dwellings among the sh.o.r.eland rocks, and Ulmo came and sat among them as aforetime in Tol Eressa, and that was his time of greatest mirth and gentleness, and all his lore and love of music he poured out to them, and they drank it eagerly. Musics did they make and weave catching threads of sound whispered by waters in caverns or by wave-tops brushed by gentle winds; and these they twined with the wail of gulls and the echoes of their own sweet voices in the places of their home. But the Teleri and Inwir gathered [?harvest] of poesy and song, and were oftenest among the G.o.ds, dancing in the skiey halls of Manw for the joy of Varda of the Stars, or filling the streets and courts of Valmar with the strange loveliness of their pomps and revelry; for Orom and for Nessa they danced upon green swards, and the glades of Valinor knew them as they flitted among the gold-lit trees, and Palrien was very merry for the sight of them. Often were the Noldoli with them and made much music for the mult.i.tude of their harps and viols was very sweet, and Salmar loved them; but their greatest delight was in the courts of Aul, or in their own dear homes in Kr, fashioning many beautiful things and weaving many stories. With paintings and broidered hangings and carvings of great delicacy they filled all their city, and even did Valmar grow more fair beneath their skilful hands.
Now is to tell how the Solosimpi fared often about the near seas in their swanships, or drawn by the birds, or paddling themselves with great oars that they had made to the likeness of the webs of swan or duck; and they dredged the sea-beds and won wealth of the slim sh.e.l.ls of those magic waters and uncounted store of pearls of a most pure and starry l.u.s.tre: and these were both their glory and delight and the envy of the other Eldar who longed for them to shine in the adornment of the city of Kr.
But those of the Noldoli whom Aul had most deeply taught laboured in secret unceasingly, and of Aul they had wealth of metals and of stones and marbles, and of the leave of the Valar much store too was granted to them of the radiance of Kulullin and of Telimp held in hidden bowls. Starlight they had of Varda and strands of the bluest ilw Manw gave them; water of the most limpid pools in that creek of Kr, and crystal drops from all the sparkling founts in the courts of Valmar. Dews did they gather in the woods of Orom, and flower-petals of all hues and honeys in Yavanna"s gardens, and they chased the beams of Laurelin and Silpion amongst the leaves. But when all this wealth of fair and radiant things was gathered, they got of the Solosimpi many sh.e.l.ls white and pink, and purest foam, and lastly some few pearls. These pearls were their model, and the lore of Aul and the magic of the Valar were their tools, and all the most lovely things of the substance of the Earth the matters of their craft-and therefrom did the Noldoli with great labour invent and fashion the first gems. Crystals did they make of the waters of the springs shot with the lights of Silpion; amber and chrysoprase and topaz glowed beneath their hands, and garnets and rubies they wrought, making their gla.s.sy substance as Aul had taught them but dyeing them with the juices of roses and red flowers, and to each they gave a heart of fire. Emeralds some made of the water of the creek of Kr and glints among the gra.s.sy glades of Valinor, and sapphires did they fashion in great profusion, [?tingeing] them with the airs of Manw amethysts there were and moonstones, beryls and onyx, agates of blended marbles and many lesser stones, and their hearts were very glad, nor were they content with a few, but made them jewels in immeasurable number till all the fair substances were well nigh exhausted and the great piles of those gems might not be concealed but blazed in the light like beds of brilliant flowers. Then took they those pearls that had and some of wellnigh all their jewels and made a new gem of a milky pallor shot with gleams like echoes of all other stones, and this they thought very fair, and they were opals; but still some laboured on, and of starlight and the purest water-drops, of the dew of Silpion, and the thinnest air, they made diamonds, and challenged any to make fairer.
Then arose Fanor of the Noldoli and fared to the Solosimpi and begged a great pearl, and he got moreover an urn full of the most luminous phosphor-light gathered of foam in dark places, and with these he came home, and he took all the other gems and did gather their glint by the light of white lamps and silver candles, and he took the sheen of pearls and the faint half-colours of opals, and he [?bathed] them in phosph.o.r.escence and the radiant dew of Silpion, and but a single tiny drop of the light of Laurelin did he let fall therein, and giving all those magic lights a body to dwell in of such perfect gla.s.s as he alone could make nor even Aul compa.s.s, so great was the slender dexterity of the fingers of Fanor, he made a jewel-and it shone of its own.........10 radiance in the uttermost dark; and he set it therein and sat a very long while and gazed at its beauty. Then he made two more, and had no more stuffs: and he fetched the others to behold his handiwork, and they were utterly amazed, and those jewels he called Silmarilli, or as we say the name in the speech of the Noldoli today Silubrilthin.11 Wherefore though the Solosimpi held ever that none of the gems of the Noldoli, not even that majestic shimmer of diamonds, overpa.s.sed their tender pearls, yet have all held who ever saw them that the Silmarils of Fanor were the most beautiful jewels that ever shone or [?glowed].
Now Kr is lit with this wealth of gems and sparkles most marvellously, and all the kindred of the Eldali are made rich in their loveliness by the generosity of the Noldoli, and the G.o.ds" desire of their beauty is sated to the full. Sapphires in great [?wonder] were given to Manw and his raiment was crusted with them, and Orom had a belt of emeralds, but Yavanna loved all the gems, and Aul"s delight was in diamonds and amethysts. Melko alone was given none of them, for that he had not expiated his many crimes, and he l.u.s.ted after them exceedingly, yet said nought, feigning to hold them of lesser worth than metals.
But now all the kindred of the Eldali has found its greatest bliss, and the majesty and glory of the G.o.ds and their home is augmented to the greatest splendour that the world has seen, and the Trees shone on Valinor, and Valinor gave back their light in a thousand scintillations of splintered colours; but the Great Lands were still and dark and very lonesome, and Oss sat without the precincts and saw the moongleam of Silpion twinkle on the pebbles of diamonds and of crystals which the Gnomes cast in prodigality about the margin of the seas, and the gla.s.sy fragments splintered in their labouring glittered about the seaward face of Kr; but the pools amid the dark rocks were filled with jewels, and the Solosimpi whose robes were sewn with pearls danced about them, and that was the fairest of all sh.o.r.es, and the music of the waters about those silver strands was beyond all sounds enchanting.
These were the rocks of Eldamar, and I saw them long ago, for Inw was my grandsire"s sire12; and [?even] he was the eldest of the Elves and had lived yet in majesty had he not perished in that march into the world, but Ingil his son went long ago back to Valinor and is with Manw. And I am also akin to the sh.o.r.eland dancers, and these things that I tell you I know they are true; and the magic and the wonder of the Bay of Fary is such that none who have seen it as it was then can speak without a catch of the breath and a sinking of the voice."
Then Meril the Queen ceased her long tale, but Eriol said nought, gazing at the long radiance of the westering sun gleaming through the apple boles, and dreaming of Fary. At length said Meril: "Fare now home, for the afternoon has waned, and the telling of the tale has set a weight of desire in my heart and in thine. But be in patience and bide yet ere ye seek fellowship with that sad kindred of the Island Elves."
But Eriol said: "Even now I know not and it pa.s.ses my heart to guess how all that loveliness came to fading, or the Elves might be prevailed to depart from Eldamar."
But Meril said: "Nay, I have lengthened the tale too much for love of those days, and many great things lie between the making of the gems and the coming back to Tol Eressa: but these things many know as well as I, and Lindo or Rmil of Mar Vanwa Tyalieva would tell them more skilfully than I." Then did she and Eriol fare back to the house of flowers, and Eriol took his leave ere the western face of Ingil"s tower was yet grown grey with dusk.
NOTES.
1 The ma.n.u.script has Vair, but this can only be a slip.
2 The occurrence of the name Telimp here, and again later in the tale, as also in that of The Sun and Moon, is curious; in the tale of The Coming of the Valar and the Building of Valinor the name was changed at its first appearance from Telimp (Silindrin) to Silindrin, and at subsequent occurrences Silindrin was written from the first (p. 79).
3 The ma.n.u.script has Linw here, and again below; see under Tinw Linto in "Changes made to names" at the end of these notes.