Silûnakánti continued on his way far down the Throndir river. He paused only at the outlet of Lake Nassolin to bring from the shore a great log, on which he could more comfortably float downstream. That served him very well for many hundreds of miles, until he came into the frozen regions of the far north, where winter still held sway: snow lay on all the land around and ice covered the river. Then it became unbearably cold. He waded ashore through the floes of ice choking the river, which was now many miles wide as it approached the northern sea. He was no longer concerned that Melyúnas should detect where he was, for he knew that he would not easily reach him there. His clothes were frozen on his body but yet, to his surprise, he was not inwardly cold. He trudged through the snow towards the shelter of some nearby pine trees, for the wind was bitter, and there he sat, wondering when the cold would overcome him. And then he remembered the Talyoran, for whose sake he had taken this wild journey, still in a wallet next to his breast, and the thought came to him that it was that which defended him from the cold.
Suddenly there came the beating of great wings, and Silûnakánti heard a throaty cry in the air above him. The mighty Kerorkîn Melainen, greatest of the Doitherúna in bird form, came circling down to him.
‘Ho, Silûnakánti, so it is you here in the northern waste! What brings you here? And I marvel what brought me, too, for I felt a force that drew me far out of my path in the air, as I was going home to Zorthin.’
‘O Kerorkîn, question me not, for I am likely to perish from the frost. Tell me quickly, is there any lord that lives near, in whose house I can find shelter?’
‘You have had good fortune in your wanderings, O Silûnakánti, for only a few steps from here, as a Ganga goes, is the dwelling of Dreygan the Icesmith, greatest of Frostgiants. He is not a great friend of the Entellári, but I doubt not that he will take you in and shelter you. But you will not find fire or food to suit you there, for they say that ice is his only meat!’
‘I care not, if only I can find a warmer lodging than here. I pray you, show me the way!’
So Kerorkîn flew slowly before him across the snow-covered lands. Beyond the woods, Silûnakánti saw what seemed to be an ice-covered hill rising from the snowy landscape. Kerorkîn said:
‘Behold Firungráda, the abode of Dreygan the Frostgiant, O Silûnakánti. And here is where I shall strive to sever myself from the strange force that draws me to you, and return to Zorthin.’
With that, Kerorkîn Melainen turned in his flight and sped away to the south. Silûnakánti drew near to the hill and saw that it was in truth a castle, whether covered in ice or fashioned from ice, he could not tell. There was a great white gateway, hung with icicles, but without gates, so he entered in and found himself in a white courtyard. Plucking up courage, he called out:
‘Ho there, my lord Dreygan, greatest of the Frostgiants! I, Silûnakánti of the Entellári, am come.’
Then out from the dark recesses of the castle came the tall figure of Dreygan, his hair and beard stiff with white frost, and in his right hand the great hammer Gantâr. He drew his bristling brows together when he caught sight of Silûnakánti, but he also stopped short in mid stride as if something impeded him. Even as the giant appeared, Silûnakánti noticed a slight lessening of the cold in the air, and drops of water appearing on the icicles all around. Then said Dreygan:
‘Ai! Fôafáma! I espy an Entelláwa! And what brings you here, where the Entellári are not at home? And what power do you bear about you, that casts unwelcome warmth upon us? There is some plot afoot, and I must know the truth of it.’
And he raised Gantâr in a menacing way, though he seemed unable to take a step forward. A look of concern passed over his rugged countenance as there came the sound of a slow dripping of water. Silûnakánti replied:
‘My lord Dreygan, no net is laid at the feet of the Frostgiants, and no mist is cast over your eyes. I am a fugitive from my people, and I seek a new master. I would enter your service to do your bidding. And that which I bear about me is the child of the stars: it is warm by its own nature. It has many virtues, but I place them at your service. One thing I reserve to myself, and that is the possession of this treasure, that I may warm my flesh and blood, and not perish with the cold.’
‘Can you cast the greater runes? Can you chant the binding charms? Can you drum the rimes of the Deep? For I shall have dealings with the Hawk-headed Ones and with the great Coldworm, the ice dragon of the northlands.’
‘I can cast the runes and chant the charms. And I can drum the rimes of the Deep, but you must give me thirty ells of dragonhide to fashion the Drum of the Deep. And you must give me a chamber in the rocks where I may warm myself and do no harm to the icy walls of Firungráda.’
‘I will give you your chamber and your thirty ells of dragonhide. And you shall cast the runes, and chant the charms and drum the rimes, to make the Hawk-headed ones obey me and the great Coldworm tame. And no longer shall you be Silûnakánti. That is no name for a northdweller. I name you Slungandi, Drumster of the Deep.’
And so Slungandi, Drumster of the Deep, became the servant of Dreygan the Frostgiant.
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