THE SHEILDMAIDEN'S SONG
Composed by the Lady Ithilorn of Mirkwood, based on the account of her brother Legolas
Translated into the English of the Seventh Age by Irony-chan


Proud Edoras with its wooden wall
Stands high atop the hill
Beyond it loom the mountains tall
Before it all the praries crawl
And there stands too the Golden Hall
Where Rohan's king will sit until
The lands of men shall fall

And in the hall of Théoden King
In shining Meduseld
A maid like winter without spring
With eyes that saw no cheerful thing
And cared not what the day might bring
In Edoras the maiden dwelled
Her soul a-wandering

Her hair shone bright like palest gold
Her eyes were thunder-gray
Her face was lovely to behold
She stood there fair and proud and cold
A maid of secrets never told
Of joyless day on joyless day
Till all the world was old

For in her heart she longed to feel
The thrill of battle's height;
The ring of steel hitting steel
Echoing like thunder's peal
While men the fate of nations seal
Such she dreamed in deeps of night
And longed to see made real

But when at last arrived the day
The Rohan went to war
The soldiers set out on their way
Beneath a sky all hung with gray
But bid the maiden still to stay
Secure behind the wooden door
And far from the affray

And so she fetched her father's sword
And stole her brother's helm
She took a horse and climbed aboard
To join the men who rode toward
Where Gondor faced the Orkish horde
That came to crush the ancient realm
By order of their lord

The soldiers rode a day and night
By light of moon and sun
Past valley low and mountain height
And when they reached the tower white
They found amassed the Dark Lord's might
The war already had begun
They rushed to join the fight

The maiden's sword was swift and true
Her strong heart did not tire
Orcs and wicked men she slew
While all around her arrows flew
Her eyes of dim and faded blue
Were brimming now with eager fire
A-burning bright and new

But even as her heart took wing
The maiden stayed her arm
And saw she then the Nazgûl King
The Dark Lord Sauron's blackest thing
His voice like deathly bells did ring:
"No man alive can do me harm!
"It is thy doom I bring!"

Yet she, in mail all arrayed
Looked in his baleful eye
And answered, "I am not afraid
"Of pain or death, or such a shade
"No word from thee shall halt my blade
"For see - no man alive am I
"Thou lookst upon a maid!"

So with these words her sword she raised
And fell upon the king
Black fire all around her blazed
The men in awe and wonder gazed
Standing silent and amazed
No man alive could slay the thing
But she fought it as if crazed

The battle halted all around
Like time had come apart
The ringwraith king, with darkness crowned
Just laughed and laughed, an awful sound
'Til with her sword the maiden found
The monster's black and withered heart
His screaming shook the ground

Thunder split the smoky sky
The field burned, blood-red
As every ear and every eye
There heard and saw the wraithking die
And from the hordes went up the cry
"The Nazgûl lord! The king is dead!
"We're beaten - we must fly!"

They found the maid upon the plain
As still and cold as death
And yet did ghosts of life remain
Though dulled by darkness and by pain
Her blood still flowed through every vein
And still the maiden's lips drew breath
Unmoving, but not slain

But though physicians plied their art
The maiden did not wake
Each beating of her valiant heart
Came slower, and in every part
Her skin grew cold, 'til they lost heart
Her life, it seemed, could not but break
Her soul not but depart

Then Gondor's King came to her bed
And with his healing words
The maiden slowly stirred her head
Her pale cheeks turned rosy red
She opened up her eyes and said
"I'll have no more of war and swords
"I wish for peace instead."

From that day forth she turned her gaze
From bloodshed and from strife
She sought to learn a healer's ways
To lighten hearts and spirits raise
Her heart found cause anew to blaze:
The steward's son took her to wife
And they lived long, happy days