And now Melyúnas put into action his plans of vengeance. From his lair Ombros, beneath the northern mountains, he sent forth rumours. The Hyilavúna heard that the trusted servant of their Lord and Lady, Silûnakánti, had stolen a secret jewel of great power to use against his own people from under the protection of the Giants of the North. One of the tribes of the Gangri, the Fellgiants, heard that the greatest of another tribe, Dreygan the Frostgiant, had taken into his service a worker of dark spells with the purpose of gaining the mastery over the land of the Giants. And the third tribe of the Gangri, the Stonegiants, heard that the Entellári had sent a spy into the land of the Gangri to prepare the way for their warriors to conquer it.
All through the lands of the Gangri there were preparations for war. The Stonegiants gathered in force against the pretended threat of the Entellári in the east, while the Fellgiants prepared to march into the far North to overthrow Dreygan and the Frostgiants. The Kabdath of Hlund, the smiths of the Midworld, were constantly busy, forging swords, spears, helmets, and armour. At first they became wealthy beyond imagining, for they were paid in every commodity or foodstuff that they should ask in return for the weapons they made. But later, as the tides of war swept around the mountain outpost of Hlund, they were hard put to survive.
And more wondrously, a madness fomented by Melyúnas infected the noble hearts of the Entellári. For the Talyoran was in truth more than merely a fair jewel in the household of Tithiánë. It was the mightiest heirloom of the Hyilavúna, being a third part of the great star jewel that was shattered in the First Strife. King Olverúno’s lords had counselled that Melyúnas should be permitted to have it on loan. Queen Tithiánë was displeased that he had heeded their advice. But the King was displeased that the Queen had sent Silûnakánti, his favourite servant, to recover the Talyoran, for he perceived that he had fallen under its spell and turned away from the Entellári. But the Queen maintained that Silûnakánti had belonged to her household ever since the time when his fostering among the Silúna came to an end.
And so an estrangement arose between Queen Tithiánë and King Olverúno. The high ladies of the Queen’s court murmured against the lords of the King’s council. In support of them, the Entelláynë, the womenfolk of Féo Êlesti, turned their backs on the Entelláwnë. The Queen and the Entelláynë departed from Ailindâl, where it was the custom of all the Entellári to spend the spring and summer. They journeyed to Féo Êlesti, the western land where the Entellári liked to pass the autumn and winter. There Tithiánë kept her court.
And so it was that, for many lives of men, all the Entelláynë dwelt in Féo Êlesti with Queen Tithiánë, and all the Entelláwnë in Ailindâl with King Olverúno.
That is why in after days it was sung among the Hyûvandri:
Fálê Atánya, vityo-riglasom
Taneg gidhik faiwegarnadu
Ko-vitvâne paitna ravin te-vaidrá,
Ko-lonkutaphtu fáledo seydâ
Vadhrusu yithwamet ko-dáyeni
Nívai imma sidhikaileváne.
Im Dayeráwiê, ye ko-koryat-ailimul
Ku-gunn-te gwanna, tyaldâ rúni ravin
Te k’olve, yarve, hyûdûváne pened
Indulte dále dagna ravin, arla-kaiul.
High Queen, under the crown of stars
Where thou sittest in the halls of evening,
Beyond thy glittering paths that we behold
Hang your lamp of hope on high
Pledge of harbour to thy people
And to us who voyage asunder.
And thou, O King, who from thy eastern tower
Swayest wide regions, wield above the trees
Thy bright sceptre, pure, breath-giving,
Glimpsed even hence, beyond the grey mountains.
Next Melyúnas spread a rumour in Ailindâl that the Stonegiants had captured certain Entellári on their way across the Midworld, and angry voices were raised, urging King Olverúno to put forth his might against the Stonegiants.
And in the east of Berugwanna, the Green Region of the south where the Hyilavúna had been wont to wander, there dwelt a tribe of the Hyûvandri who had heeded the whispers of Melyúnas at their first entering the Midworld. They were not content to live tranquilly among the other Hyûvandri. They desired powers that others did not have, knowledge that was hidden, understanding of the secrets of the elements. They refused to settle down by the quiet waters of the mighty river Berusilwa or in the wooded hills on either side. They travelled on into the north until they came to the Grey River of the north-east, the Haldossilu, and followed its course upstream to the very eaves of the dark forest of Nanôr. And there they found a great yew tree, and by it they settled. They were called the Valkari, and the name of the Lady who ruled over them was Murnag ta-Valka.
Then Melyúnas perceived that the hearts of the Valkari were ready for him, and he came to them and taught their great ones the deep secret runes and rimes. There were five over the Valkari: Murungyaldi the terrible, Masláryë ta-Valka, Nabbolô, Vombarth, and chief of all, Murnag ta-Valka. On these Melyúnas bestowed the gift of an agelong life, like to his own, yet it would be fading and withering at the end. And he exhorted them to labour until they could exercise the faculty of darksight, of which he himself was a master.
Murnag looked on the beauty of Melyúnas, and besought him to tarry with them, and he embraced her. And after he had departed to Ombros again, she bore twin sons and named them Prámiz and Groiznath. And they were very fair to behold, like their father. And when they had grown to manhood, and had been instructed by their mother, Groiznath looked to the earth and sought out what was beneath the earth and in the waters beneath the ground; while Prámiz looked to the heavens, and beheld the stars with envy, and he sought some way to obtain the fire of the stars. And they became known as the Thrâkúna, the half ones; for they were partly Doitherán and partly Hyûvanka.
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