House of the Wolfings: The William Morris Book that Inspired J. R. R. Tolkiena *s The Lord of the Rings by Michael W. Perry

but an hour of high-noon; so he turned
about and went into the Hall, and there found his shield and his
spear hanging in his sleeping place beside the hauberk he was wont
to wear; then he looked, as one striving with thought, at his empty
hauberk and his own body covered with the dwarf-wrought rings; nor
did his face change as he took his shield and his spear and turned
away. Then he went to the dais and there sat his foster-daughter
(as men deemed her) sitting amidst of it as yester-eve, and now
arrayed in a garment of fine white wool, on the breast whereof were
wrought in gold two beasts ramping up against a fire-altar whereon
a flame flickered; and on the skirts and the hems were other
devices, of wolves chasing deer, and men shooting with the bow; and
that garment was an ancient treasure; but she had a broad girdle of
gold and gems about her middle, and on her arms and neck she wore
great gold rings wrought delicately. By then there were few save
the Hall-Sun under the Roof, and they but the oldest of the women,
or a few very old men, and some who were ailing and might not go
abroad. But before her on the thwart table lay the Great War-horn
awaiting the coming of Thiodolf to give signal of departure.
    Then went Thiodolf to the Hall-Sun and
kissed and embraced her fondly, and she gave the horn into his
hands, and he went forth and up on to the Hill of Speech, and blew
thence a short blast on the horn, and then came all the Warriors
flocking to the Hill of Speech, each man stark in his harness,
alert and joyous.
    Then presently through the Man’s-door came
the Hall-Sun in that ancient garment, which fell straight and stiff
down to her ancles as she stepped lightly and slowly along, her
head crowned with a garland of eglantine. In her right hand also
she held a great torch of wax lighted, whose flame amidst the
bright sunlight looked like a wavering leaf of vermilion.
    The warriors saw her, and made a lane for
her, and she made her way through it up to the Hill of Speech, and
she went up to the top of it and stood there holding the lighted
candle in her hand, so that all might see it. Then suddenly was
there as great a silence as there may be on a forenoon of summer;
for even the thralls down in the meadow had noted what was toward,
and ceased their talking and shouting, for as far off as they were,
since they could see that the Hall-Sun stood on the Hill of Speech,
for the wood was dark behind her; so they knew the Farewell Flame
was lighted, and that the maiden would speak; and to all men her
speech was a boding of good or of ill.
    So she began in a sweet voice yet clear and
far-reaching:

    O Warriors of the Wolfings by the token of
the flame
    That here in my right hand flickers, come
aback to the House of the Name!
    For there yet burneth the Hall-Sun beneath
the Wolfing roof,
    And this flame is litten from it, nor as now
shall it fare aloof
    Till again it seeth the mighty and the men
to be gleaned from the fight.
    So wend ye as weird willeth and let your
hearts be light;
    For through your days of battle all the
deeds of our days shall be fair.
    To-morrow beginneth the haysel, as if every
carle were here;
    And who knoweth ere your returning but the
hook shall smite the corn?
    But the kine shall go down to the meadow as
their wont is every morn,
    And each eve shall come back to the byre;
and the mares and foals afield
    Shall ever be heeded duly; and all things
shall their increase yield.
    And if it shall befal us that hither cometh
a foe
    Here have we swains of the shepherds good
players with the bow,
    And old men battle-crafty whose might is
nowise spent,
    And women fell and fearless well wont to
tread the bent
    Amid the sheep and the oxen; and their hands
are hard with the spear
    And their arms are strong and stalwart the
battle shield to bear;
    And store of weapons have we and the mighty
walls of the stead;
    And the Roof shall abide you steadfast with
the Hall-Sun overhead.
    Lo here I quench this candle that is lit
from