The Lay of the Nauglamír
In ancient days the dwarves did create,
Sparkling wonders so truly great,
In Nogrod they worked day and night,
On gems and jewels shining bright,
In forges hot but halls so cold,
To polish ruby, silver - gold.
Now there was a Noldor elf,
He asked the dwarves to build himself,
Halls in light of friendly bond,
He would call it Nargothrond,
Upon the dwarves he would bestow,
Jewels with ever fairest glow,
With these stones the dwarves did build,
A necklace fairer than e’er made,
Nauglamír was its granted name,
This splendid work increased their fame,
They gave it to the elven king,
Whose bards about the jewel did sing,
Nights grew darker as time passed,
These great halls so fair and vast,
Were raided by a dragon vile,
Whom threw the work upon his pile,
Of stolen gold and precious stones,
Amongst the elven victims’ bones,
The drake did die at hands of Túrin,
And the jewel found its way to Hurin,
Whom brought Thingol this work so fair,
And was enchanted by its glare,
Craving to fast on it the Silmaril,
And craft a work of astounding skill,
He looked to the dwarves for this,
And they did give a sigh of bliss,
At the sight of their own work gleam,
As if something from a dream,
And Thingol too was impressed,
This jewel was truly blessed,
But for this splendor they had built,
They had lost all sense of guilt,
As Thingol’s price they did demand,
The Nauglamír so fair and grand,
But Thingol would not have them take,
The nicest work of dwarven-make,
Instead he had them sent away,
Without a single form of pay,
These words did bring the dwarves to hate,
By axe and sword they sealed his fate,
And so the King fell to his knees,
And the necklace did they seize,
In their travel to their halls,
They yearned the safety of their walls,
But elves had caught them on the road,
Ere they reached their safe abode,
All were killed - they killed them all,
Only two prevent their fall,
The elves did take the precious work,
That day was gloomy - that day was murk,
Clad in blood and tears of fear,
That is how they did appear,
Before their lord in crimson cloak,
The noble king of Nogrod’s folk,
The dwarves did tell the entire tale,
And these words truly did not fail,
To have the dwarves raise their ire,
At this news so terrible and dire,
With an army clad in steel,
And a burning fighting zeal,
They marched upon the elven caves,
To send the traitors to their graves,
And with them take the Nauglamír,
With its gems so bright and clear,
And so too they took the rest,
Every jewel and gold and chest,
But along the river at the stony ford,
They were met by another elf horde,
The dwarves fought long and bravely,
But in the end it ended gravely,
There they met their early doom,
For the king no proper burial tomb,
And the treasure - that was lost,
Woe the lives this jewel cost,
Perhaps one day we’ll find once more,
This wondrous item of days of yore.
Nyr
The Book of Rhymes
