“I’ll
never forget that sight,” said the old man. “I was but a small boy then,
rowing in my father’s dinghy past the White Cliffs where there are many treacherous
rocks. I heard a strange noise in the distance, and stopped rowing.”
“Around the curve in the cliff shore came a beautiful
Elven ship under full sail, and with a full complement of rowers as well.
It was they who were singing, a lovely wild song. The steerswoman was singing
a descant. Around the ship were many of their kayak canoes, with one or two
in each. They darted between the deadly rocks, laughing with excitement,
and circled round their ship. The surf crashed against her bows.”
“I do not know the errand that ship was on. It was travelling
swiftly, yet not the most speedy I have seen them. They took no notice of
me. I never saw them again after they rounded the point. Being too young
to read, I do not even know the name of that ship, but I’ll never forget
it.”
Andor the Man, the last being to see the ill-fated ship Swansail, singing
Dolphin Cloud (a song of Sea Travel) on its mission to relieve the beleaguered
army at Karait. It disappeared en route and no one knows what became of it.
It has vanished without a trace.
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