Verse 1 (Aulë) I shaped them in silence, in stone and in fire, With hammer and chisel, with secret desire. I longed for the Children that Eru foretold, So I fashioned my own from the silver and gold. Their hearts I have carved, their voices I seek, But they are but shadows, silent and weak. But Eru looked down from the heavens above, And spoke to the smith of both judgment and love: “You cannot give life, though mighty your hand— But I see your sorrow, I understand.” Aulë repented, laid down his pride, And lo! The Dwarves were given life inside. Maker and Giver, together they stand, Shaping the earth and the green-growing land. Stone and leaf, root and ore, Each must cherish the other more. Verse 3 (Yavanna) Then Yavanna wept for the things that she made, For forests and grasses would wither, afraid. “The Dwarves will delve deep, and the axes will fall, And none will be left to answer my call!” She went to Manwë on Taniquetil’s height, And pleaded for mercy, for balance and right. Verse 4 (Manwë/Yavanna) And Manwë, in thought, heard Ilúvatar's will: “There shall walk the Shepherds on forest and hill. Ents shall awaken, both mighty and wise, To guard the green woods under starlit skies. And Eagles shall fly, far-seeing and fair, To watch from the mountains and rule the air.” Maker and Giver, together they stand, Shaping the earth and the green-growing land. Stone and leaf, root and ore, Each must cherish the other more. Bridge (Narrator) So balance was made in Arda’s first days, By wisdom and mercy, by sorrow and praise. For hands that create must love what they mold, Both mountains of iron and forests of gold. Maker and Giver, together they stand, Shaping the earth and the green-growing land. Stone and leaf, root and ore, Each must cherish the other more.
