The trumpet's tantara announced an arrival
Whom the grim lord greeted to his kingly court.
And courtiers crowded to meet the man
Sent to speak for the Fiery Land.
Among the rest
-- the Quendi came --
-- to greet their host's guest. --

He saw them and smiled, benignly bowed,
Wishing them well with velvet voice.
Annatar, he noted, his lord and liege,
Was friend to their folk since the Elder Age.
His thin lips smiled
-- as a cat's might that stalked --
-- A bird in the wild. --

Their talk soon turned by delicate degrees
To the mail to be made for the land's own lord.
That grim lord laughed and with braggart's boast
Said that they should be finest friends
Since both in their worth
-- worked to make him --
-- the strongest on earth.--

Their words wound on to meaningless matters
And soon they stopped when others arrived.
His evil eyes, though, caught Cordil's face
And scanned and studied each feature and fault
As if there he read
-- with gruesome pleasure --
-- ancient tales of dread. --