Upon the Mouths of Sirion
When final Kinslaying was done,
When Fëanor's sons had rode away
And smoke and ruin claimed the day,
In haven-town a silence fell,
An eerie quiet in the dell
Where battle-noises there had raged
As elf on elf this war had waged.

Among the smoldering debris,
By now red-tinted lapping Sea
There many warriors wounded lay
Who'd fought on both sides in the fray;
But no one could their hurts attend:
All fled or killed before the end,
Yet little sound the Sea-wind bore:
All silenced by that horr'r of war.

There on the shore two soldiers lay:
One came with the attackers fey,
Gilthoron, following his lord,
Had struck the other with his sword
Who also now lay by his side
As slowly, endlessly, the tide
Now washed away the bloodstains red
From sand where kindred blood was shed.

Now Glorthon the defender brave
Could see Gilthoron's thirst so grave
That without water he would die
Before their rescuers could draw nigh;
But Glorthon knew that his own ill,
'Ere Sun had set, himself would kill
With or without the water he
Still bore, there lying by the Sea.

So Glorthon turned to Gilthoron
And stared into his features wan;
He roused his enemy with a touch
And did a deed of mercy such
As few have seen beneath the sky:
He said, "You need it more than I,"
And held to him the water-skin
With life-renewing drops within.

In gratitude and deep surprise
Gilthoron stared in Glorthon's eyes,
Then tentatively took the skin
And drank the water found within;
With stutt'ring voice he thanked the elf,
Now dying, wounded by himself,
And begged his pardon for the wrong
He'd done that day at Sirion.

But Glorthon died 'ere he could say
The words his deeds made plain that day:
So ever yet Gilthoron knew
He'd been forgiv'n by one he'd slew;
From that day, in repentant heart,
He turned away from bloodier part,
And ever was he grateful for
The elf who'd shown him mercy's door.


A/N: Sir Philip Sidney with a twist! Thanks to Mel for the original idea.

By the way, choosing two similar names for the elves was purposeful: they're not so different, after all, one was just in the wrong. But while I know that Gilthoron is Thorongil flipped around, please do not attach any significance to that. I simply needed a name with stress on the second syllable!

Blessings, my lovely readers! (and reviews?)