and pondered all his deeds. And he cried upon Finduilas to bring him counsel; for he knew not whether he would do now more ill to go to Doriath to seek his kin, or to forsake them for ever and seek death in battle.
And even as he sat there Mablung with a company of Grey-elves came over the Crossings of Teiglin, and he knew T?rin, and hailed him, and was glad indeed to find him yet living; for he had learned of the coming forth of Glaurung and that his path led to Brethil, and also he had heard report that the Black Sword of Nargothrond now dwelt there. Therefore he came to give warning to T?rin, and help if need be; but T?rin said: 'You come too late. The Dragon is dead.'
Then they marvelled, and gave him great praise; but he cared nothing for it, and said: 'This only I ask: give me news of my kin, for in Dor-l?min I learned that they had gone to the Hidden Kingdom.'
Then Mablung was dismayed, but needs must tell to T?rin how Morwen was lost, and Nienor cast into a spell of dumb forgetfulness, and how she escaped them upon the borders of Doriath and fled northwards. Then at last T?rin knew that doom had overtaken him, and that he had slain Brandir unjustly; so that the words of Glaurung were fulfilled in him. And he laughed as one fey, crying: 'This is a bitter jest indeed!' But he bade Mablung go, and return to Doriath, with curses upon it. 'And a curse too upon your errand!' he cried. 'This only was wanting. Now comes the night.'
Then he fled from them like the wind, and they were amazed, wondering what madness had seized him; and they followed after him. But T?rin far out-ran them; and he came to Cabed-en-Aras, and heard the roaring of the water, and saw that all the leaves fell sere from the trees, as though winter had come. There he drew forth his sword, that now alone remained to him of all his possessions, and he said: 'Hail Gurthang! No lord or loyalty dost thou know, save the hand that wieldeth thee. From no blood wilt thou shrink. Wilt thou therefore take T?rin Turambar, wilt thou slay me swiftly?'
And from the blade rang a cold voice in answer: 'Yea, I will drink thy blood gladly, that so I may forget the blood of Beleg my master, and the blood of Brandir slain unjustly. I will slay thee swiftly.'
Then T?rin set the hilts upon the ground, and cast himself upon the point of Gurthang, and the black blade took his life. But Mablung and the Elves came and looked on the shape of Glaurung lying dead, and upon the body of T?rin, and they grieved; and when Men of Brethil came thither, and they learned the reasons of T?rin's madness and death, they were aghast; and Mablung said bitterly: 'I also have been meshed in the doom of the Children of H?rin, and thus with my tidings have slain one that I loved.'
Then they lifted up T?rin, and found that Gurthang had broken asunder. But Elves and Men gathered there great store of wood, and they made a mighty burning, and the Dragon was consumed to ashes. T?rin they laid in a high mound where he had fallen, and the shards of Gurthang were laid beside him. And when all was done, the Elves sang a lament for the Children of H?rin, and a great grey stone was set upon the mound, and thereon was carven in runes of Doriath:
T?RIN TURAMBAR DAGNIR GLAURUNGA
and beneath they wrote also:
NIENOR N1NIEL
But she was not there, nor was it ever known whither the cold waters of Teiglin had taken her.
The Silmarillion
Chapter 22
Of the Ruin of Doriath
So ended the tale of T?rin Turambar; but Morgoth did not sleep nor rest from evil, and his dealings with the house of Hador were not yet ended. Against them his malice was unsated, though H?rin was under his eye, and Morwen wandered distraught in the wild.
Unhappy was the lot of H?rin; for all that Morgoth knew of the working of his malice H?rin knew also, but lies were mingled with the truth, and aught that was good was hidden or distorted. In all ways Morgoth sought most to cast an evil light on those things that Thingol and Melian had done, for he hated them, and feared them. When therefore he judged the time to be