Meanwhile, in the East of the Midworld, another conflict hung in the balance. The Stonegiants gathered themselves into a fighting force, led by the three mighty ones, Blundubâl, Blamingûl, and Mivgâ. They delivered a challenge to King Olverúno, the ruler of the Entellári of Ailindâl, because they believed that he had sent a spy into the land of the Giants in order to enable the Entellári to take it from them. In their turn, a party of the Entellári, who had heard the rumours about the capture of their brothers and sisters by the Stonegiants, defied King Olverúno’s advice to remain calm and peaceable, and took ship to the Midworld in order to march against the Stonegiants.
Never before had so many Gangri been gathered together in one place. Never had any Doitherân been clothed in armour or carried shield, spear, and sword. The earth shook as they marched.
It was a much smaller party of Entellári that marched to meet them. They bore only their staves of power. These had never been tested against weapons and armour of steel. Their footfall was light, but their valour was no less than that of the Gangri.
The two warbands met on the plains of Arkallumis. Heralds stepped forward on either side. The herald of the Stonegiants was Mivgâ, who spoke thus:
‘We the Kapangangri are assembled here to defy you, the Entellári of Ailindâl, who seek to gain the rule and lordship of the Northlands, which belong to the Gangri and Kabadri alone, by sending a spy among us to discover our power.’
To this the herald of the Entellári, who was called Feripoklus, replied:
‘And we the Entellári of Ailindâl come to challenge you, the Kapangangri of the Northlands, for the capture and imprisoning of our fellow Entellári as they journeyed peacefully through Thrâyeldim.’
Then each herald utterly repudiated the other’s claim. But as neither would accept the other’s assertion, they retired, proclaiming that the dispute would be settled by force of arms.
The Stonegiant warriors were drawn up in a solid square. With a shout that shook the earth, and acting as one being, they launched a great volley of spears, which rose up into the air and then began to descend on the Entellári. But they, raising their staves, called out a strong rune in response. The spears fell short of their front rank and stuck fast like a thicket in the earth. And indeed, they took root instantly and began to sprout leaves and branches, and rapidly a tall thick hedge grew up between the two warbands. That thicket stands there to this day, and is called Hrethlet Gangri, the Giants’ Grove, or sometimes Hrethlet Thorgus, Battle Wood.
The Stonegiants, enraged that they had been separated from their enemies by a trick, cried aloud and clashed their weapons together. They split into two parties, each of which hastened round either end of the thicket. Just as the army of Stonegiants was about to fall upon the Entellári from both flanks, a great shadow darkened the place of battle, accompanied by the sound of the beating of many great wings. The Melainë — Doitherúna in bird form — had come, and they swooped to the ground to separate the two warbands. Then spoke out their leader, Kerorkîn Melainen the Mighty, in a sharp and commanding voice that could be clearly heard above the clashing of swords on shields.
‘Doitherúna! Nyandri all! This is madness! Your quarrels are foolish and baseless! We, the Melainë, fly up and down the length and breadth of Thrâyeldim. We have watched the journeys of the Entelláwë and the Entelláyë, the one party going this way and the other going that — and doing so for no good reason! We have seen that all are safe and none has been waylaid.
‘And we have seen the one you Gangri believe to be a spy: he is indeed mighty in runelore, but he is the servant of the Lord Dreygan, chief of the Frostgiants, and his powers are directed only to the furthering of his master’s petty pursuits.
‘But an evil that you know not we have seen, and it is grievous: the Fellgiants have passed through the cold Northlands with the fire of the Deep, and they have destroyed all the Frostgiants save Dreygan himself. For the moment his servant has foiled their attack on Dreygan’s castle, but unless he can flee south to some sanctuary, they will undo Dreygan too.
‘Moreover, it is rumoured that the Fellgiants intend to take the whole of the Northlands into their power, and assert their rule over all Gangri and Kabdath. They have sent a part of their force to seize Kapgar Kûm beneath Mount Hogunoth and take it as their stronghold. If you Kapagangri do not act quickly, you are like to find yourselves dispossessed.’
At this news, the mood of the warbands changed abruptly. The Stonegiants ceased to look grimly on the Entellári. Instead they gathered around their chieftains in earnest speech. They swiftly resolved to return immediately to their homeland, and to garrison the fortress of Kapgar Kûm. They begged the Melainë to fly to Dreygan and bid him retreat to Kapgar Kûm, where perchance a cold cavern might be found for him to dwell in. Then without further words, they turned and marched westward. For their part, the Entellári abandoned their campaign. As they returned towards Ailindâl, King Olverúno sent messages to them. By the mouth of his speedy messenger Tiratas, he said:
‘You have acted arrogantly and come nigh to shedding blood in Thrâyeldim. I forbid you at this time to return home to Ailindâl, and, to atone for your rashness, I command you instead to journey south to the Greenmarch that separates the northlands from the southlands. There you shall sojourn and you shall guard it from the passage of the Fellgiants, lest in their war-mood they plunder the defenceless Hyûvandri.’
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