Disclaimer: This Lay is a continuation and completion of the fragment written in JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The first canto is quoted directly from page 249 of The Fellowship of the Ring.
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Canto One: Gil-galad
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Gil-galad was an Elven-king.
Of him the harpers sadly sing:
The last whose realm was fair and free
Between the Mountains and the Sea.
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His sword was long, his lance was keen,
His shining helm afar was seen;
The countless stars of heaven's field
Were mirrored in his silver shield.
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But long ago he rode away,
And where he dwelleth none can say;
For into darkness fell his star
In Mordor where the shadows are.
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Canto Two: Sauron
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In the tower in the black land,
Wielding the Ring on a burning hand:
Sauron the accursed made his lair,
A being feared or hated everywhere.
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When Arda itself was caused to be,
Mairon sang in the chorus bright and free:
But far has he fallen since that day,
The horror he wrought none can fully say.
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When Numenor slid into the sea,
Many thought Sauron had ceased to be:
But a Maia is terribly hard to kill,
A dark cloud rose and fled until...
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Sauron strode through the Barad-dur,
Plotting war anew against Isildur:
Isildur did Minas Ithil flee,
Down the Anduin to the sea.
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Canto Three: A Last Alliance
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In Arnor Council the High Kings took,
A decision they made that Middle-earth shook:
Together they would go and bring a war,
To break Sauron's tower in dark Mordor.
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While neither alone could hold out long,
Against Sauron and his armies strong:
Together maybe men and elves
Could win a future for themselves.
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So out they went and gathered then,
All they could find of elves and men:
Dwarves and ents and eagles too,
All who were to freedom true.
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Across the Misty Mountains then,
Across rivers wide and marshy fen:
Armies ponderous made their way,
Heading to Mordor to Sauron slay.
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Canto Four: The War in Mordor
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Dark and drear was Mordor's sky,
ash and poison there did lie:
dark and drear was Mordor's land,
Twisted rock and barren sand.
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Orcs in uncounted hideous hordes,
Men - dark Numenorean lords:
armies bright in red and gold,
but their strength to evil sold.
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Men from south and from the east,
Trolls that would on people feast:
Beasts of horror grey and great,
And worst the Nazgul all do hate.
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Amdir, Oropher, and Anarion,
the list of dead went on and on:
Even if they won the war,
Lost were these to Middle-earth's shore.
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Gil-galad knew all this full well,
And he knew more he would not tell:
Even if the war was won,
The Age of Men would be begun.
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Too many elves had fallen here,
Loss too deep of ones held dear:
Victory now would mean the end,
Of much he had striven to defend.
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But better death than darkness win,
That nought be left but hate and sin:
In any case the spear was cast,
The time for choice long since had passed.
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A/N: There will be more...