And whereas he saith, that in his youth it
was waste, this also goeth with my knowledge thereof. For once was
it peopled, and then was waste, and now again is it peopled.'
'Tell us then more of the folk thereof,' said the Alderman; 'are they
many?'
'Nay,' said Face-of-god, 'they are not. How might they be many,
dwelling in that narrow Vale amid the wastes? But they are valiant,
both men and women, and strong and well-liking. Once they dwelt in a
fair dale called Silver-dale, the name whereof will be to you as a
name in a lay; and there were they wealthy and happy. Then fell upon
them this murderous Folk, whom they call the Dusky Men; and they
fought and were overcome, and many of them were slain, and many
enthralled, and the remnant of them escaped through the passes of the
mountains and came back to dwell in Shadowy Vale, where their
forefathers had dwelt long and long ago; and this overthrow befell
them ten years agone. But now their old foemen have broken out from
Silver-dale and have taken to scouring the wood seeking prey; so they
fall upon these Dusky Men as occasion serves, and slay them without
pity, as if they were adders or evil dragons; and indeed they be
worse.
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