A poem read to Estarfin by his father:
The light vanished, faded from view,
And rumours spread from lips anew,
Was this the price our Lord must pay?
Exiled in the dark astray,
The blackness raced across the land,
Black skies, black trees and blackened sand,
Alone we waited for the end,
Without a hope without a friend,
Yet direst deed was still to come,
Such wickedness it left us numb,
Who would believe such hate could be,
In that fair land east of the sea.
Clear Noldor voices tailed away,
The bravest of us could not stay,
A fog of deadly choking fear,
Drove all away who would draw near,
He stood at last his prize in sight,
Formenos quailed before his might,
One alone stood with sword in hand,
Most gallant of all in the land,
The High King fell before the door,
Such violence against nature’s law,
Spirits were rent we mourned aghast,
For joy and innocence were past,
The first blood spilled in Valinor,
Would mar that land for ever more,
Long recalled by the bard that sings,
The theft of those majestic things,
What once was safe had been despoiled,
And caught him not although they toiled,
The treasures to his breast did clasp,
The Silmarils within his grasp.
The King was dead, long live the King,
And though we loved him few did sing,
For Fëanor was full of grief,
The crown did bring him scant relief,
Finwë was gone, we dwelt in dark,
We thought then that we could embark,
Back over sea to Middle Earth,
Naysayers asked what was it worth?
Our hearts did break upon that day,
And though some wished that we could stay,
Fëanor marched to Tirion,
We armed ourselves then we were gone.
With blazing torches in our hands,
We cried aloud with our demands,
Of what had happened to the light,
And what had caused such dreadful night,
Fëanor spoke then of Melkor,
His voice harsh with deepest rancour,
Who were these mighty beings then?
They cannot bring us light again,
They could not bring their own to heel,
His freedom they could not repeal,
His clear voice stirred all from despair,
His words were those few else would dare,
He raised his sword and spoke his Oath,
Destined and doomed he made us both,
We turned and followed our High King,
Away from all who wished to cling,
To darkened home and bloodied floor,
To dwell in fear for ever more,
We turned our backs on what we knew,
We all knew what we had to do.
A herald tried to halt us then,
Spoke words of warning but again,
Our King with fire within his heart,
Bade him gone so we could depart,
We marched towards the eastern sea,
All of us longing to be free,
Our hearts were hot with recent grief,
P'raps widest sea would bring relief.
Yet standing in our way at last,
Teleri before water vast,
We asked them once then drew our blades,
The blood it fell then in cascades,
They were no match for Noldor steel,
We cut a wound that could not heal,
Just distant kin maybe, but still,
We did not go there just to kill,
They forced our hand just for some ships,
Their curses spoken with dead lips,
Why did they bring doom on themselves?
Stained red the ships of the Sea-Elves,
We took the Swan-Ships from cold hands,
Departing for those distant lands,
Then Mandos sought to keep us there,
Spoke words of doom, we did not care,
Our hearts were set upon the sea,
We cared not for his jealousy,
We sailed away across the sea,
Against the storm till we did see,
The shore of a familiar land,
Finally ‘twas Beleriand,
We broke the ships upon the sands,
And set to them some burning brands.
It seems that songs of that far shore,
The darkening of Valinor,
Are sang now only in despair,
And rarely by those who were there,
For we beheld the best and worst,
Our High King some dared to call cursed,
We were correct and they were wrong,
The Valar weak the Noldor strong,
The Trees had died, struck down by him,
The stars were overhead but dim,
We stood alone ‘gainst darkest foe,
We supped a cup brimming with woe,
We bled and laboured, set for war,
We would bring peace for ever more,
And finally, we would restore,
The gems that our King did adore.
