Art by Fiona15351, words by Ermingarden. Originally posted on the Archive of Our Own here.
Lament for Halwen
The untitled Sindarin text known as the "Lament for Halwen" [1] survives in a single manuscript now preserved at the Library of Rivendell; stanzas 6 and 7 are also incorporated into a poetic account of the massacre at Sirion by Cadhron of Brithombar. [2] Although the text was almost certainly originally set to music, no musical notation has survived.
The author of the "Lament for Halwen" was most likely another member of Maedhros' forces who, like Halwen, turned aside and opposed the greater Fëanorian host at the Third Kinslaying. [3] The extensive praise for Himring’s crucial role in maintaining the Siege of Angband during the Long Peace strongly suggests a Fëanorian author, as favorable depictions of the Fëanorians were taboo among other Noldorin communities and the Sindar by the late First Age.
To Maedhros' halls a warrior came
From forested Ossiriand,
She told him Halwen was her name
And swore to fight at his command.
In battle fierce 'gainst Morgoth's might
Her oaken spear struck swift and sure;
She guarded Himring's stony height
And kept the stronghold’s gate secure.
The walls of Himring stood steadfast,
A bulwark firm against the Foe,
But it was overcome at last,
Its folk in exile forced to go.
The eldest son of Fëanor
From bitterness was stirred to wrath:
Recalling the dark oath he swore,
He led his host to Doriath.
No jewel was worth the blood spilt there;
But grief and rage drove Maedhros on,
And hunting Elwing, maiden fair,
He came at last to Sirion.
In Maedhros' path, upon the sward,
With oaken shaft in steady hand,
Stood Halwen, who had been his guard,
And sworn to fight at his command.
"You are forsworn!" he cried, full wroth,
And drove his sword into her side.
"Better by far to break my oath,"
"Than slay my kin," she said, and died.
If there is truth to ancient lore,
She lives now in the Blessed Land,
But she will wander nevermore
In forested Ossiriand.
[2] Following the destruction of Brithombar in F.A. 473, Cadhron fled to the Havens of Sirion, where he lived until the Havens were sacked by the Fëanorian forces. After the War of Wrath, Cadhron chose not to sail to Valinor and instead followed Gil-Galad to Lindon. He fell in battle with Sauron’s forces in S.A. 1399.
[3] Some scholars have speculated that Maglor Fëanorion – who is known to have harbored significant guilt about his part in the massacre at Sirion – may have written the “Lament for Halwen.”
See, e.g., Primula Underbank, “Possible Additions to the Maglorian Canon” (
Journal of First Age Studies, S.R. 1952/Fo.A. 550). But this is highly unlikely; although Maglor did write in Sindarin as well as Quenya, the “Lament for Halwen” does not display the elegance and technical sophistication characteristic of the
Noldolantë and other works in the established Maglorian canon.