Berion's Song by Himring

Berion's Song

Berion is a recurring original character of mine and features as protagonist in Above the Clouds as well as as minor or background character in a number of other stories, especially in some stories in my series Gloom, Doom and Maedhros.

My king dwelt in a northern land.

A tower among mountains green

was his, and on the eastern hand

long leagues of grassy plain were seen,

westwards a shore of silver sand,

the mist-wreathed forest-boughs between.

As through the northern summer night

the sunlight softly slipped away,

the orc and the uncanny wight

stole forth beneath the branches grey;

but when the king came and the light,

they fled away at break of day!

How oft I watched beneath the moon

my king gaze out over wood and lawn

or ride singing a merry tune,

until, his brand for battle drawn,

he fell, come a midsummer dawn.

Who sees now if the mountains green

still cradle castle-ruins grey?

Who sees now if the boughs between

the lake-shore gleams each desolate day?

Above the slain, the grass is green.

They trod his banner in the clay!

Chapter End Notes

I also submitted this piece for tolkienocweek on Tumblr  in a post including some further background details on Berion.

Andrew Lang originally published his poem with four stanzas, but in later publications dropped the third stanza so that the poem has only three stanzas. Elgar's lyrics are based on the original version and include all four stanzas. (Apparently Andrew Lang at first planned wanted to withhold consent to Elgar's use of the lyrics  entirely and only agreed later on.)