Oh! And if you have any questions about people or places that Tolkien wrote about... feel free to look them up in the Index of Names on my Tolkien page!
I.
A king there was in days of old:
ere Men yet walked upon the mould
his power was reared in cavern's shade,
his hand was over glen and glade.
His shields were shining as the moon,_____________5
his lances keen of steel were hewn,
of silver grey his crown was wrought,
the starlight in his banners caught;
and silver thrilled his trumpets long
beneath the stars in challenge strong;___________10
enchantment did his realm enfold,
where might and glory, wealth untold*,
he wielded from his ivory throne
in many-pillared halls of stone.
There beryl, pearl, and opal pale,_______________15
and metal wrought like fishes' mail,
buckler and corslet, axe and sword,
and gleaming spears were laid in hoard—
all these he had and loved them less
than a maiden once in Elfinesse;_________________20
for fairer than are born to Men
a daughter had he, Lúthien.
Such lissom limbs no more shall run
on the green earth beneath the sun;
so fair a maid no more shall be__________________25
from dawn to dusk, from sun to sea.
Her robe was blue as summer skies,
but grey as evening were her eyes;
'twas sewn with golden lilies fair,
but dark as shadow was her hair._________________30
Her feet were light as bird on wing,
her laughter lighter than the spring;
the slender willow, the bowing reed,
the fragrance of a flowering mead,
the light upon the leaves of trees,______________35
the voice of water, more than these
her beauty was and blissfulness,
her glory and loveliness;
and her the king more dear did prize_____________40
than hand or heart or light of eyes.
They dwelt amid Beleriand,
while Elfin power yet held the land,
in the woven woods of Doriath:
few ever thither found the path;_________________45
few ever dared the forest-eaves
to pass, or stir the listening leaves
with tongue of hounds a-hunting fleet,
with horse, or horn, or mortal feet.
To North there lay the Land of Dread,____________50
whence only evil pathways led
o'er hills of shadow bleak and cold
or Taur-na-Fuin's haunted hold*,
where Deadly Nightshade lurked and lay
and never came or moon or day;___________________55
to South the wide earth unexplored;
to West the ancient Ocean roared,
unsailed and shoreless, wide and wild;
to East in peaks of blue were piled
in silence folded, mist-enfurled*,
the mountains of the Outer World,________________60
beyond the tangled woodland shade,
thorn and thicket, grove and glade,
whose brooding boughs with magice hung
were ancient when the world was young.
There Thingol in the Thousand Caves,___________65
whose portals pale that river laves
Esgalduin that fairies call,
in many a tall and torchlit hall
a dark and hidden king did dwell,
lord of the forest and the fell;_________________70
and sharp his sword and high his helm,
the king of beech and oak and elm.
There Lúthien the lissom maid
would dance in dell and grassy glade,
and music merrily, thin and clear,_______________75
went down the ways, more fair than ear
of mortal Men at feast hath heard,
and fairer than the song of bird.
When leaves were long and grass was green
then Dairon with his fingers lean,_______________80
as daylight melted into shade,
a wandering music sweetly made,
enchanted fluting, warbling wild,
for love of Thingol's elfin child.
There bow was bent and shaft was sped,_________85
the fallow* deer as phantoms fled,
and horses proud with braided mane,
with shining bit and silver rein,
went fleeting by on moonlit night,
as swallows arrow-swift in flight;_______________90
a blowing and a sound of bells,
a hidden hunt in hollow dells.
There songs were made and things of gold,
and silver cups and jewels untold,
and the endless years of Faëry land______________95
rolled over far Beleriand,
until a day beneath the sun,
when many marvels were begun.
II.
(Tired of the poem and itching to know how it ends?
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Far in the North neath hills of stone
in caverns black there was a throne_____________100
by fires illumined underground,
that winds of ice with moaning sound
made flare and flicker in dark smoke;
the wavering bitter coils did choke
the sunless airs of dungeons deep_______________105
where evil things did crouch and creep.
There sat a king: no Elfin race
nor mortal blood, nor kindly grace
of earth or heaven might he own,
far older, stronger than the stone______________110
the world is built of, than the fire
that burns within more fierce and dire;
and thoughts profound were in his heart:
a gloomy power that dwelt apart.
Unconquerable spears of steel_________________115
were at his nod. No ruth* did feel
the legions of his marshalled hate,
on whom did wolf and raven wait;
and black the ravens sat and cried
upon their banners black, and wide______________120
was heard their hideous chanting dread
above the reek and trampled dead.
With fire and sword his ruin red
on all that would not bow the head
like lightning fell. The Northern land__________125
lay groaning neath his ghastly hand.
But still there lived in hiding cold
undaunted, Barahir the bold,
of land bereaved, of lordship shorn,
who once a prince of Men was born_______________130
and now an outlaw lurked and lay
in the hard heath and woodland grey,
and with him clung of faithful men
but Beren his son and other ten.
Yet small as was their hunted band______________135
still fell and fearless was each hand,
and strong deeds they wrought yet oft,
and loved the woods, whose ways more soft
them seemed than thralls of that black throne
to live and languish in halls of stone._________140
King Morgoth still pursued them sore
with men and dogs, and wolf and boar
with spells of madness filled he sent
to slay them as in the woods they went;
yet nought hurt them for many years,____________145
until, in brief to tell what tears
have oft bewailed in ages gone,
nor ever tears enough, was done
a deed unhappy; unaware
their feet were caught in Morgoth's snare.______150
Gorlim it was, who wearying
of toil and flight and harrying,
one night by chance did turn his feet
o'er the dark fields by stealth to meet
with hidden friend within a dale,_______________155
and found a homestead looming pale
against the misty stars, all dark
save one small window, whence a spark
of fitful candle strayed without.
Therein he peeped, and filled with doubt________160
he saw, as in a dreaming deep
when longing cheats the heart in sleep,
his wife beside a dying fire
lament him lost; her thin attire
and greying hair and paling cheek_______________165
of tears and loneliness did speak.
'A! fair and gentle Eilinel,
whom I had thought in darkling hell
long since emprisoned! Ere I fled
I deemed I saw thee slain and dead______________170
upon that night of sudden fear
when all I lost that I held dear':
thus thought his heavy heart amazed
outside in darkness as he gazed.
But ere he dared to call her name,______________175
or ask how she escaped and came
to this far vale beneath the hills,
he heard a cry beneath the hills!
There hooted near a hunting owl
with boding voice. He heard the howl____________180
of the wild wolves that followed him
and dogged his feet through shadows dim.
Him unrelenting, well he knew,
the hunt of Morgoth did pursue.
Lest Eilinel with him they slay_________________185
without a word he turned away,
and like a wild thing winding led
his devious ways o'er stony bed
of stream, ad over quaking fen,
until far from the homes of men_________________190
he lay beside his fellows few
in a secret place; and darkness grew,
and waned, and still he watched unsleeping,
and saw the dismal dawn come creeping
in dank heavens above gloomy trees._____________195
A sickness held his sould for ease,
and hope, and even thraldom's chain
if he might find his wife again.
But all he thought twixt love of lord
and hatred for the king abhorred________________200
and anguish for fair Eilinel
who drooped alone, what tale shall tell?
Yet at last, when many days
of brooding did his mind amaze,
he found the servants of the king,______________205
and bade them to their master bring
a rebel who forgiveness sought,
if haply forgiveness might be bought
with tidings of Barahir the bold,
and where his hidings and his hold*_____________210
might best be found by night of day.
And thus sad Gorlim, led away
unto those hark deep-dolven* halls,
before the knees of Morgoth falls,
and puts his trust in that cruel heart__________215
wherein no truth had ever part.
Quoth Morgoth: 'Eilinel the fair
thou shalt most surely find, and there
where she doth dwell and wait for thee
together shall ye ever be,_____________________220
and sundered shall ye sigh no more.
This guerdon* shall he have that bore
these tidings sweet, O traitor dear!
For Eilinel she dwells not here,
but in the shades of death doth roam____________225
widowed of husband and of home—
a wraith of that which might have been,
me thinks it is that thou hast seen!
Now shalt thou throught eh gates of pain
the land thou askest grimly gain;_______________230
thou shalt to the moonless mists of hell
descend and seek they Eilinel.'
Thus Gorlim died a bitter death
and cursed himself with dying breath,
and Barahir was caught and slain,_______________235
and all good deeds were made in vain.
But Morgoth's guile forever failed,
nor wholly o'er his foes prevailed,
and some were ever that still fought
unmaking that which malice wrought._____________240
Thus men believed that Morgoth made
the fiendish phantom that betrayed
the soul of Gorlim, and so brought
the lingering hope forlorn to nought
that lived amid the lonely wood;________________245
yet Beren had by fortune good
long hunted far afield that day,
and benighted in strange places lay
far from his fellows. In his sleep
he felt a dreadful darkness creep_______________250
upon his heart, and thought the trees
were bare and bent in mournful breeze;
no leaves they had, but ravens dark
sat thick as leaves on bough and bark,
and croaked, and as they croaked each neb*______255
let fall a gout of blood; a web
unseen entwined him hand and limb,
until worn out, upon the rim
of stagnant pool he lay and shivered.
There saw he that a shadow quivered_____________260
far out upon the water wan*,
and grew to a faint form thereon
that glided o'er the silent lake,
and coming slowly, softly spake
and sadly said: 'Lo! Gorlim here,_______________265
traitor betrayed, now stands! Nor fear,
but haste! For Morgoth's fingers close
upon thy father's throat. He knows
your secret tryst, your hidden lair',
and all the evil he laid bare___________________270
that he had done and Morgoth wrought.
Then Beren waking swiftly sought
his sword and bow, and sped like wind
that cuts with knives the branches thinned
of autumn trees. At last he came,_______________275
his heart afire with burning flame,
where Barahir his father lay;
he came too late. At dawn of day
he found the homes of hunted men,
a wooded island in the fen,____________________280
and birds rose up in sudden cloud—
no fen-fowl were they crying loud.
The raven and the carrion-crow
sat in the alders all a-row;
one croaked: 'Ha! Beren comes too late',________285
and answered all: 'Too late! Too late!
There Beren buried his father's bones,
and piled a heap of boulder-stones,
and cursed the name of Morgoth thrice,
but wept not, for his heart was ice.____________290
Then over fen and field and mountain
he followed, till beside a fountain
upgushing hot from fires below
he found the slayers and his foe,
the murderous soldiers of the king.____________295
And one there laughed, and showed a ring
he took from Barahir's dead hand.
'This ring in far Beleriand,
now mark ye, mates,' he said, 'was wrought.
It's like with gold could not be bought,________300
for this same Barahir slew,
this robber fool, they say, did do
a deed of service long ago
for Felagund. It may be so;
for Morgoth bade me bring it back,______________305
and yet, methinks, he has no lack
of weightier treasure in his hoard.
Such greed befits not such a lord,
and I am minded to declare
the hand of Barahir was bare!'__________________310
Yet as he spake an arrow sped;
with riven heart he crumpled dead.
Thus Morgoth loved that his own foe
should in his service deal the blow
that punished the breaking of his word._________315
But Morgoth laughed not when he heard
that Beren like a wolf alone
sprang madly from behind a stone
amid that camp beside the well,
and seized the ring, and ere the yell___________320
of wrath and rage had left their throat
had fled his foes. His gleaming coat
was made of rings of steel no shaft
could pierce, a web* of dwarvish craft;
and he was lost in rock and thorn,______________325
for in charméd hour was Beren born;
their hungry hunting never learned
the way his fearless feet had turned.
As fearless Beren was renowned,
as man mmost hardy upon ground__________________330
while Barahir yet lived and fought;
but sorrow now his soul had wrought
to dark despair, and robbed his life
of sweetness, that he longed for knife,
or shaft, or sword, to end his pain,____________335
and dreaded only thraldom's chain.
Danger he sought and death pursued,
and thus escaped the fate he wooed,
and deeds of breathless wonder dared
whose whispered glory widely fared,_____________340
and softly songs were sung at eve
of marvels he did once achieve
alone, beleaguered, lost at night
by mist or moon, or neath the light
of the broad eye of day. The woods______________345
that northward looked with bitter feuds
he filled and death for Morgoth's folk;
his comrades were the beech and oak,
who failed him not, and many things
with fur and fell and feathered wings;__________350
and many spirits, that in stone
in mountains old and wastes alone,
do dwell and wander, were his friends.
Yet seldom well an outlaw ends,
and Morgoth was a king more strong______________355
than all the world has since in song
recorded, and his wisdom wide
slow and surely who him defied
did hem and hedge. Thus at the last
must Beren flee the forest fast*________________360
and lands he loved where lay his sire
by reeds bewailed beneath the mire.
Beneath a heap of mossy stones
now crumble those once mighty bones,
but Beren flees the friendless North____________365
one autumn night, and creeps him forth;
the leaguer of his watchful foes
he passes--silently he goes.
No more his hidden bowstring sings,
no more his shaven arrow wings,_________________370
no more his hunted head doth lie
upon the heath beneath the sky.
The moon that looked amid the mist
upon the pines, the wind that hissed
among the heather and the fern__________________375
found him no more. The stars that burn
about the North with silver fire
in frosty airs, the Burning Briar
that Men did name in days long gone,
were set behind his back, and shone_____________380
o'er land and lake and darkened hill,
forsaken fen and mountain rill.
HIs face was South from the Land of Dread,
whence only evil pathways led,
and only the feet of men most bold______________385
might cross the Shadowy Mountains cold.
Their northern slopes were filled with woe,
with evil and with mortal foe;
their southern faces mounted sheer
in rocky pinnacle and pier,_____________________390
whose roots were woven with deceit
and washed with waters bitter-sweet.
There magic lurked in gulf and glen,
for far away beyond the ken
of searching eyes, unless it were_______________395
from dizzy tower that pricked the air
where only eagles lived and cried,
might grey and gleaming be descried
Beleriand, Beleriand,
the borders of the faëry land.__________________400
Don't worry folks! More is coming soon!
*Thanks to the Glossary of Obsolete, Archaic, and Rare
Words and Meanings found at the back of this book,
the words with an asterix are defined here:
dolven: (also in dark(ly)-, deep-dolven) delved, dug; line 213
enfurled: enveloped, swathed (in something twisted or folded); line 59
fallow: golden brown; line 86 (A distinct word from fallow of ground.)
fast: fixedly, unmovingly; secure against attack, line 360
guerdon: recompense; line 222
hold: fastness, stronghold, line 52; refuge, line 210
neb: beak, bill, line 255, 570
ruth: pity, compassion, line 116
untold: uncounted, line 12
wan: dark, line 261
web: used of ring-mail, line 324
The Lays of Beleriand The History of Middle-earth is published by Ballantine Books. Copyright © 1985 by Frank Richard Williamson and Christopher Reuel Tolkien as Executers of the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.
