In the Time of Preparation, the Hyilavúna searched out and destroyed as many of the ancient serpents and monsters as they could find, that they might not ravage the homes of the Hyûvandri when they had settled in the Midworld. But Melyúnas made sure that not every one was found. And thus Firungwáfi the cold gangworm survived in the icy Northlands, and Kermandwáfi the fiery wingworm lived on in the distant south, and the serpents of Ravini Gwasdâl that affrighted the Lost Tribe, and thereby, in the end, caused the first defeat of Melyúnas, and others that have not been recorded. Likewise the terrible Karank lived on in the waters of the Midworld. And Melyúnas preserved the life of a fierce and foul monster with wings and great jaws and teeth, whose stench made bystanders choke and retch. His name was Hugturágis, and he housed in the far northwest, where he lived contentedly on the abundant birds and creatures of the sea; and though he had not the agelong life of a Doitherán, his life indeed spanned three ages of the Midworld.
Melyúnas summoned his son Prámiz and bade him seek for the starfire of the Entellári, which, he said, the people of Féo Êlesti in the West keep jealously to themselves, when it should be brought to the Midworld and used to benefit its inhabitants. By this he meant that it should be used to bring doyetheregus, age-long life, which was the prerogative of the Doitherúna, to certain Hyûvanka who, through their wisdom, merited that gift.
I bid you steal, Prámiz, the starfire bright
From Féo Êlesti, Entelláka land:
On Mount Galambos that light is locked.
In a year scarcely could you scale its peak,
But Hugturágis can reach that height!
Go, tame that beast with tasty pieces
Of the pungent plant purûfrédhi.
So Prámiz travelled to the far northwest of the Midworld. There is a grey wood of great extent at the mountains’ feet, whose name is Haldoreth. There alone among the twisted trees grows the foul fungus purûfrédhi. In covered baskets he gathered the stinking growths. Then he journeyed on by night towards the seacoast where the lair of Hugturágis lay. No tale tells how Prámiz won over the foul beast with purûfrédhi, nor how he bridled and saddled him, nor how he rode the flying monster to the peak of Mount Galambos.
Now for many hundreds of years the Êlesti loved to climb to the top of the hills and mountains to admire the stars. They were sometimes called Vidinarvandri, Lovers of the Stars. And most of all they loved the shooting stars, the tiravidni. And when a star fell to earth, they sought it out, and by their arts, they distilled starfire, vidivóya, from it. On Galambos the Êlesti began to build an earth-bound star to be a lamp to the Midworld when the Entellári no longer went about among the Hyûvandri. Its name was to be Lonkut-Aphtu, the Lamp of Hope. From landorúya wood, that never rots, and tilvagil, lightest of cables, they constructed a mighty tree, the Aphturúya, that reached high above the peak of Galambos, and they swung from its topmost branches a cradle in which the starfire was to be housed. The roots of the tree were six shafts fixed in the rock of the mountain, rising up and twining together to form a tall column from which the branches spread, hundreds of feet in the air. The vats of starfire were placed around them, ready for the delicate work of mounting the starfire on high. That is how things stood on the night when Hugturágis came beating his huge wings, bearing Prámiz the thief of starfire.
The Féo Êlesti kept no guards on Galambos, for they had no reason to fear attack or theft, but there were Entellári there, admiring the Aphturúya or watching the stars. Then, all of a sudden, they heard a hideous screeching roar, the beating of huge wings, and they smelt a stench so powerful that their stomachs turned and some of them fell swooning to the ground. None knew what had befallen or had the presence of wit to try to challenge the rider, even if the terror of the monster had not prevented their approach.
Prámiz had come bearing a great stone crock full of naphtha and a stone ladle. He walked with confidence to the nearest vat of starfire. He took his ladle and dipped. But he had not reckoned with the volatility of starfire, for, as he disturbed it, it leapt up and enveloped his head. He bellowed with pain as his hair was burnt away and his skin was singed. His scalp became like leather and no hair grew there again. But Prámiz was a doughty being, half Hyûvanka, but also half Entelláka, and far more resilient than an ordinary mortal. When the pain died down, he renewed his efforts. He succeeded in extracting a mudrîn of starfire, enough for many purposes, and embedded it under the naphtha in the crock.
Then he took his seat once more on the back of the monster, urged him forth, and they took to the air, leaving behind them the noxious stench as the only evidence of their presence among the startled Entellári.
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