On the Cithriel Fragments
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By Asher of Yew
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The Cithriel fragments, as they are commonly known, represent the oldest known link with the ancient world.  They are thought to be from vases kept in the faerie stronghold of Cithriel, so called "verse-pots" created by master potters and inscribed by the great, nameless poets of the ancient age.  These pots have been referred to throughout history, though no complete examples have ever been found.  These verse fragments represent the only known record of the language of the faerie people.
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That we know anything at all about these pots is nothing short of remarkable.  Though their shape must forever remain a mystery, their translation is possible only because of the surviving translation into Primal Elvish, the language of the elves before the partition.  A remarkable work, it contains the text of the fragments, the Primal Elvish translation, and above the faerie text, phonetic pronunciations of the faerie words.
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The poems themselves are difficult to translate, because so little is known of the Faerie language, and because it is completely distinct from Primal Elvish.  The language is highly musical, with the words that are known seeming to flow together like notes on a staff.  But due to the dearth of knowledge about Faerie, the translations themselves have become as important as the poems themselves, starting points for new translations into modern languages.
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The poems differ from the epic poem "Tel and Floridel" in that the latter exists only in translation, in the language of the mountain elves.  Whatever original "Tel and Floridel" was taken from, whether Primal Elvish, oral performances, or some other form, is not known.
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The translations presented here are faithful to the metre and rhyme patterns of the original text.  The first fragment represents a kind of keening for what is lost, and is presented in its original, formal style, heavily trochaic.  The second fragment presents a problem: it starts off in a trochaic form, seemingly poetic in the classical style, then quickly veers into free verse.  It is uncertain what "Eka" represents -- an exclamation? a person? -- and debate surrounding this word is ongoing.  In deference to the lack of any kind of conclusion to this discussion, I use the original Faerie word. 
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I
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As the winter wicked wanders %b
through the fierce and fading wild, %b
larch and beech are felled by woodsmen, %b
keening like a dying child.
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Where now lie our ancient forests, %b
fragrant in the midnight rain? %b
Taken now by elf and giant, %b
seized for timber, felled and slain.
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II
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Eka, king of bloody heavens! %b
Eka, lord of distant stars! %b
Eka, unholy watery thane! %b
Eka, you iron-handed prince! %b
Eka!  Your eyes are embers!  Your voice is death!  Your hide is stone! 
