Finrod's Song
He chanted a song of wizardry,Of piercing, opening, of treachery,Revealing, uncovering, betraying.Then sudden Felagund there swayingSang in answer a song of staying,Resisting, battling against power,Of secrets kept, strength like a tower,And trust unbroken, freedom, escape;Of changing and of shifting shapeOf snares eluded, broken traps,The prison opening, the chain that snaps.Backwards and forwards swayed their song.Reeling and foundering, as ever more strongThe chanting swelled, Felagund fought,And all the magic and might he broughtOf Elvenesse into his words.Softly in the gloom they heard the birdsSinging afar in Nargothrond,The sighing of the Sea beyond,Beyond the western world, on sand,On sand of pearls in Elvenland.Then the gloom gathered; darkness growingIn Valinor, the red blood flowingBeside the Sea, where the Noldor slewThe Foamriders, and stealing drewTheir white ships with their white sailsFrom lamplit havens. The wind wails,The wolf howls. The ravens flee.The ice mutters in the mouths of the Sea.The captives sad in Angband mourn.Thunder rumbles, the fires burn --And Finrod fell before the throne.