When the awesome day of great thunder came
And the sound of trumpets shook the sky
They say that Beleriand was all ablaze
And that tongues of fire flew up high
And the white host of Valinor went east
Beauty and terror together Marched
To the battle of long-delayed revenge
And by furious flames the land was parched
They say that the Earth trembled under their feet
In the hour of reckoning and war
And their weapons cast a strong blinding sheen
And the furtive darkness they pierced and tore
Assailed by fear
And strange doubt he quailed
In front of what he could not behold
And in despair
Launched the last assault
From the infernal lairs
Of his deep stronghold
From the chasms and hellish pits
Of the fell foe that ever sits
On the hard throne of tyranny
Deadliest horror of history
Dismal flashes and burning hail
Wrecking raiders that scourge and flail
Dreadful clashes that wring the sky
In the last effort to defy
From the oceans of immense space
Where the day and the night embrace
Sweeping wild winds of victory
Irresistible symphony
In the hour of flaming truth
In the battle of wrath and ruth
The star-vessel lit up the air
At the summit of heaven's stair
Fiery spirits in birdlike form
Warring eagles against the storm
Towering struggle until the end
Iron talons that tear and rend
See Ancalagon's last onslaught
But with Earendil Fate's hand fought
And the black heinous flame grew higher
Until fire was killed by fire
Floundering
Elation
Collapse
Triumph
When by the hands of justice
The Silmarils were freed
Shining pure and unsullied
Each like a radiant bead
Feanor's sons did not yield
Anguished and yet strong-willed
Weary and still unbending
With ancient hardness filled
Hearing the herald's message
Refusing to give in
Defying the supreme will
Victims of their own sin
Each of them seized a bright gem
Neither could bear the pain
With the blind slaves of murder
The gems could not remain
One in the fires of deep earth
One in the unfathomed sea
One in the airs of heaven
Voyaging high and free
One in the fires of deep earth
One in the unfathomed sea
One in the airs of heaven
Voyaging high and free
They shall not come together
While the great Powers reign
Unless the world is broken
And Earth is made again
