The Lays of Beleriand (30 page)

'No blade nor chain his limbs shall mar'

the king then swore. 'He wanders far, 955

and news, mayhap, he hath for me,

and words I have for him, maybe! '

Now Thingol bade them all depart

save Dairon, whom he called: 'What art,

what wizardry of Northern mist 960

hath this illcomer brought us? List!

Tonight go thou by secret path,

who knowest all wide Doriath,

and watch that Luthien - daughter mine,

what madness doth thy heart entwine, 965

what web from Morgoth's dreadful halls

hath caught thy feet and thee enthralls! -

that she bid not this Beren flee

back whence he came. I would him see!

Take with thee woodland archers wise. 970

Let naught beguile your hearts or eyes! '

Thus Dairon heavyhearted did,

and the woods were filled with watchers hid;

yet needless, for Luthien that night

led Beren by the golden light 975

of mounting moon unto the shore

and bridge before her father's door;

and the white light silent looked within

the waiting portals yawning dim.

Downward with gentle hand she led 980

through corridors of carven dread

whose turns were lit by lanterns hung

or flames from torches that were flung

on dragons hewn in the cold stone

with jewelled eyes and teeth of bone. 985

Then sudden, deep beneath the earth

the silences with silver mirth

were shaken and the rocks were ringing,

the birds of Melian were singing;

and wide the ways of shadow spread 990

as into arched halls she led

Beren in wonder. There a light

like day immortal and like night

of stars unclouded, shone and gleamed.

A vault of topless trees it seemed, 995

whose trunks of carven stone there stood

like towers of an enchanted wood

in magic fast for ever bound,

bearing a roof whose branches wound

in endless tracery of green 1000

lit by some leaf-emprisoned sheen

of moon and sun, and wrought of gems,

and each leaf hung on golden stems.

Lo! there amid immortal flowers

the nightingales in shining bowers 1005

sang o'er the head of Melian,

while water for ever dripped and ran

from fountains in the rocky floor.

There Thingol sat. His crown he wore

of green and silver, and round his chair 1010

a host in gleaming armour fair.

Then Beren looked upon the king

and stood amazed; and swift a ring

of elvish weapons hemmed him round.

Then Beren looked upon the ground, 1015

for Melian's gaze had sought his face,

and dazed there drooped he in that place,

and when the king spake deep and slow:

'Who art thou stumblest hither? Know

that none unbidden seek this throne 1020

and ever leave these halls of stone! '

no word he answered, filled with dread.

But Luthien answered in his stead:

'Behold, my father, one who came

pursued by hatred like a flame! 1025

Lo! Beren son of Barahir!

What need hath he thy wrath to fear,

foe of our foes, without a friend,

whose knees to Morgoth do not bend?'

'Let Beren answer! ' Thingol said. 1030

'What wouldst thou here? What hither led

thy wandering feet, 0 mortal wild?

How hast thou Luthien beguiled

or darest thus to walk this wood

unasked, in secret? Reason good 1035

'twere best declare now if thou may,

or never again see light of day! '

Then Beren looked in Luthien's eyes

and saw a light of starry skies,

and thence was slowly drawn his gaze 1040

to Melian's face. As from a maze

of wonder dumb he woke; his heart

the bonds of awe there burst apart

and filled with the fearless pride of old;

in his glance now gleamed an anger cold. 1045

'My feet hath fate, 0 king,' he said,

'here over the mountains bleeding led,

and what I sought not I have found,

and love it is hath here me bound.

Thy dearest treasure I desire; 1050

nor rocks nor steel nor Morgoth's fire

nor all the power of Elfinesse

shall keep that gem I would possess.

For fairer than are born to Men

A daughter hast thou, Luthien.' 1055

Silence then fell upon the hall;

like graven stone there stood they all,

save one who cast her eyes aground,

and one who laughed with bitter sound.

Dairon the piper leant there pale 1060

against a pillar. His fingers frail

there touched a flute that whispered not;

his eyes were dark; his heart was hot.

'Death is the guerdon thou hast earned,

0 baseborn mortal, who hast learned 1065

in Morgoth's realm to spy and lurk

like Orcs that do his evil work! '

'Death! ' echoed Dairon fierce and low,

but Luthien trembling gasped in woe.

'And death,'said Thingol, 'thou shouldst taste, 1070

had I not sworn an oath in haste

that blade nor chain thy flesh should mar.

Yet captive bound by never a bar,

unchained, unfettered, shalt thou be

in lightless labyrinth endlessly 1075

that coils about my halls profound

by magic bewildered and enwound;

there wandering in hopelessness

thou shalt learn the power of Elfinesse!'

'That may not be! ' Lo! Beren spake, 1080

and through the king's words coldly brake.

'What are thy mazes but a chain

wherein the captive blind is slain?

Twist not thy oaths, 0 elvish king,

like faithless Morgoth! By this ring - 1085

the token of a lasting bond

that Felagund of Nargothrond

once swore in love to Barahir,

who sheltered him with shield and spear

and saved him from pursuing foe 1090

on Northern battlefields long ago -

death thou canst give unearned to me,

but names I will not take from thee

of baseborn, spy, or Morgoth's thrall!

Are these the ways of Thingol's hall? ' 1095

Proud are the words, and all there turned

to see the jewels green that burned

in Beren's ring. These Gnomes had set

as eyes of serpents twined that met

beneath a golden crown of flowers, 1100

that one upholds and one devours:

the badge that Finrod made of yore

and Felagund his son now bore.

His anger was chilled, but little less,

and dark thoughts Thingol did possess, 1105

though Melian the pale leant to his side

and whispered: '0 king, forgo thy pride!

Such is my counsel. Not by thee

shall Beren be slain, for far and free

from these deep halls his fate doth lead, 1110

yet wound with thine. 0 king, take heed! '

But Thingol looked on Luthien.

'Fairest of Elves! Unhappy Men,

children of little lords and kings

mortal and frail, these fading things, 1115

shall they then look with love on thee?'

his heart within him thought. 'I see

thy ring,' he said, '0 mighty man!

But to win the child of Melian

a father's deeds shall not avail, 1120

nor thy proud words at which I quail.

A treasure dear I too desire,

but rocks and steel and Morgoth's fire

from all the powers of Elfinesse

do keep the jewel I would possess. 1125

Yet bonds like these I hear thee say

affright thee not. Now go thy way!

Bring me one shining Silmaril

from Morgoth's crown, then if she will,

may Luthien set her hand in thine; 1130

then shalt thou have this jewel of mine.'

Then Thingol's warriors loud and long

they laughed; for wide renown in song

had Feanor's gems o'er land and sea,

the peerless Silmarils; and three 1135

alone he made and kindled slow

in the land of the Valar long ago,

and there in Tun of their own light

they shone like marvellous stars at night,

in the great.Gnomish hoards of Tun, 1140

while Glingal flowered and Belthil's bloom

yet lit the land beyond the shore

where the Shadowy Seas' last surges roar,

ere Morgoth stole them and the Gnomes

seeking their glory left their homes, 1145

ere sorrows fell on Elves and Men,

ere Beren was or Luthien,

ere Feanor's sons in madness swore

their dreadful oath. But now no more

their beauty was seen, save shining clear 1150

in Morgoth's dungeons vast and drear.

His iron crown they must adorn,

and gleam above Orcs and slaves forlorn,

treasured in Hell above all wealth,

more than his eyes; and might nor stealth 1155

could touch them, or even gaze too long

upon their magic. Throng on throng

of Orcs with reddened scimitars

encircled him, and mighty bars

and everlasting gates and walls, 1160

who wore them now amidst his thralls.

Then Beren laughed more loud than they

in bitterness, and thus did say:

'For little price do elven-kings

their daughters sell - for gems and rings 1165

and things of gold! If such thy will,

thy bidding I will now fulfill.

On Beren son of Barahir

thou hast not looked the last, I fear.

Farewell, Tinuviel, starlit maiden! 1170

Ere the pale winter pass snowladen,

I will return, not thee to buy

with any jewel in Elfinesse,

but to find my love in loveliness,

a flower that grows beneath the sky.' 1175

Bowing before Melian and the king

he turned, and thrust aside the ring

of guards about him, and was gone,

and his footsteps faded one by one

in the dark corridors. 'A guileful oath 1180

thou sworest, father! Thou hast both

to blade and chain his flesh now doomed

in Morgoth's dungeons deep entombed,'

said Luthien, and welling tears

sprang in her eyes, and hideous fears 1185

clutched at her heart. All looked away,

and later remembered the sad day

whereafter Luthien no more sang.

Then clear in the silence the cold words rang of Melian: 'Counsel cunning-wise, 1190

O king! ' she said. 'Yet if mine eyes

lose not their power, 'twere well for thee

that Beren failed his errantry.

Well for thee, but for thy child

a dark doom and a wandering wild.' 1195

'I sell not to Men those whom I love'

said Thingol, 'whom all things above

I cherish; and if hope there were

that Beren should ever living fare

to the Thousand Caves once more, I swear 1200

he should not ever have seen the air

or light of heaven's stars again.'

But Melian smiled, and there was pain

as of far knowledge in her eyes;

for such is the sorrow of the wise. 1205

NOTES.

The opening of this Canto is extant in two typescripts (to line 863), the second version being substantially expanded; it was the first of them that C. S. Lewis received - indeed, it is clear that the rewriting was in part due to his criticism.

758-863. The rough drafts for this portion of the Lay (much briefer than the later text here printed) were written on the backs of booksellers' invoices dated 31 December 1925 and 2 February 1926.

761. In this Canto elvish rather than elfin is found already in A, but still elfin in both texts at 1164 (emended in B to elven-).

elven- 799 occurs in a line found only in the later rewriting, B(2).

762-73. These lines are not in A; the B(1) version, severely criticised by C. S. Lewis, is given with his commentary, p. 326.

781-841. A: and the bare woods nor moved nor sighed.

Yet ever after when star or moon

shone clear or misty then came she soon

just after day before the eve

and found him, nor his side did leave 5

until night waned and starlight ceased

and day came pale o'er the pathless east.

And there in far Broseliand

he learned the touches of her hand;

his feet grew swift as unseen airs, 10

his laughter soft, and far his cares,

his voice like those in Doriath

that wander where there runs no path.

Thus days of golden spring did rise

while Dairon watched with fiery eyes 15

The spelling Broseliand with s has now entered the A-text.

B(1) is as A, except that between lines 7 and 8 above were inserted ten lines that my father retained in the much longer B(2) text, 818 - 27 (Then trembling-veiled, &c.) 805. Broseliand B (2), emended to Beleriand.

849-51. These verses are an emendation to B (2)', with Beleriand thus written. For the B(1) version criticised by C. S. Lewis and the B(2) version before emendation see Lewis's commentary, p. 327,

89I, 904. Tavros was emended in B to Tauros, but this seems to have been a much later change. The rough workings here had first the name (Ormain >) Ormaid, then Tavros.