| A king there was in days of old: |
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| ere Men yet walked upon the mould |
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| his power was reared in caverns' shade, |
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| his hand was over glen and glade. |
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| Of leaves his crown, his mantle green, | (5) |
| his silver lances long and keen; |
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| the starlight in his shield was caught, |
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| ere moon was made or sun was wrought. |
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| In after-days, when to the shore |
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| of Middle-earth from Valinor | (10) |
| the Elven-hosts in might returned, |
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| and banners flew and beacons burned, |
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| when kings of Eldamar went by |
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| in strength of war, beneath the sky |
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| then still his silver trumpets blew | (15) |
| when sun was young and moon was new. |
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| Afar then in Beleriand, |
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| in Doriath's beleaguered land, |
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| King Thingol sat on guarded throne |
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| in many-pillared halls of stone: | (20) |
| there beryl, pearl, and opal pale, |
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| and metal wrought like fishes' mail, |
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| buckler and corslet, axe and sword, |
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| and gleaming spears were laid in hoard: |
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| all these he had and counted small, | (25) |
| for dearer than all wealth in hall, |
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| and fairer than are born to Men, |
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| a daughter had he, Lúthien. |
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| Such lissom limbs no more shall run |
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| on the green earth beneath the sun; | (30) |
| so fair a maid no more shall be |
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| from dawn to dusk, from sun to sea. |
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| Her robe was blue as summer skies, |
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| but grey as evening were her eyes; |
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| her mantle sewn with lilies fair, | (35) |
| but dark as shadow was her hair. |
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| Her feet were swift as bird on wing, |
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| her laughter merry as the spring; |
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| the slender willow, the bowing reed, |
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| the fragrance of a flowering mead, | (40) |
| the light upon the leaves of trees, |
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| the voice of water, more than these |
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| her beauty was and blissfulness, |
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| her glory and her loveliness. |
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| She dwelt in the enchanted land | (45) |
| while elven-might yet held in hand |
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| the woven woods of Doriath: |
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| none ever thither found the path |
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| unbidden, none the forest-eaves |
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| dared pass, or stir the listening leaves. | (50) |
| To North there lay a land of dread, |
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| Dungortheb where all ways were dead |
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| in hills of shadow bleak and cold; |
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| beyond was Deadly Nightshade's hold |
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| in Taur-nu-Fuin's fastness grim, | (55) |
| where sun was sick and moon was dim. |
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| To South the wide earth unexplored; |
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| to West the ancient Ocean roared, |
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| unsailed and shoreless, wide and wild; |
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| to East in peaks of blue were piled, | (60) |
| in silence folded, mist-enfurled, |
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| the mountains of the outer world. |
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| Thus Thingol in his dolven hall |
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| amid the Thousand Cavers tall |
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| of Menegroth as king abode: | (65) |
| to him there led no mortal road. |
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| Beside him sat his deathless queen, |
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| fair Melian, and wove unseen |
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| nets of enchantment round his throne, |
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| and spells were laid on tree and stone: | (70) |
| sharp was his sword and high his helm, |
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| the king of beech and oak and elm. |
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| When grass was green and leaves were long, |
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| when finch and mavis sang their song, |
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| there under bough and under sun | (75) |
| in shadow and in light would run |
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| fair Lúthien the elven-maid, |
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| dancing in dell and grassy glade. |
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| When sky was clear and stars were keen, |
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| then Daeron with his fingers lean, | (80) |
| as daylight melted into eve, |
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| a trembling music sweet would weave |
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| of flutes of silver, thin and clear |
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| for Lúthien, the maiden dear. |
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| There mirth there was and voices bright; | (85) |
| there eve was peace and morn was light; |
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| there jewel gleamed and silver wan |
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| and gold on graceful fingers shone, |
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| and elanor and niphredil |
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| bloomed in the grass unfading still, | (90) |
| while the endless years of Elven-land |
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| rolled over far Beleriand, |
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| until a day of doom befell, |
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| as still the elven-harpers tell. |