Sanur's Lament

Of the many songs and legends surrounding the Sons of Nanalon, perhaps none is quite so ubiquitous to even the most unlearned of the Ambori as Sanur’s Lament or Sanur’s Funeral Song, of which there are countless dialectal and regional variations. The narrative frame of the song is introduced in the first three stanzas, which tell of Sanur’s burial of his brothers in the tomb of the Stone-kings after their battle with the hunters of Orkon. But the song itself is a model incantation or prayer, in which Sanur entreats three elemental forces—the winds, the mountains, and the rivers—the souls of the mighty dead and the Silver Gates themselves to open and receive the souls of the two brothers. The final stanza of the prayer appeals to Nankeinela himself to not forget the names of the fallen—nor to let their fame die when “this world of tears” ends.

Although in the frame narrative, the prayer is sung by a single mourner, in practice each of the invocations are divided among the attendees, usually the family, friends, or brothers-in-arms of the fallen. As with all Amborian religious ceremonies, the funeral rite was presided over by a priestess of the Sacred Well. I have included the text of Sanur’s Funeral Song here as the invocations might be divided for a typical funeral. Occasionally, although by no means often, the lyrics of each invocation could be changed to more specifically match the life’s story of the fallen.

Although Sanur’s Lament is by no means the only such lament used in Amborian culture, it may be considered as representative of the genre. The purpose of such laments was threefold: To eulogize the fallen, allowing the mourners to make peace with those they had lost; to mediate a peace between nature (and the after-world) and the fallen; to ensure the memory of the fame of the deeds of the fallen, the only certain immortality for a people who have not read the Law of the World that Shall Be.

The Ceremony

Priestess (prelude):

Sanur mighty, famed for warfare

Laid his brothers in a barrow,

Laid them there amid the Stone-kings,

Laid them there on heaps of treasure

Long ago, with many sorrows.

Sanur lay them clad in mail-shirts,

Set bright rings upon their fingers.

There the treasures of the barrow

Sanur gave into their keeping

In the hall of ancient Stone-kings.

There beneath the ancient shining

Stars which long ago did glimmer

Sanur lay his mighty brothers:

Bold Setela, famed for hunting;

Teithbor, hardy battle-lion.

Sanur sang this song above them:

First Mourner (Invocation of the Winds):

“Heark ye winds, blowing coldly,

Hear this Son of Sky and Water:

Do not harm, if you should meet them,

Mighty sons of Sad Nanalon.

“Let them pass through howling wastelands—

Let them find the endless stairway

Leading down to where, forgotten,

Ancient heroes wait for judgment.

Do not drive their spirits cruelly.

“Not forgotten are these heroes.

Ever we their names remember

Who this world of tears and sorrow

Fill with songs of mighty conquests.

Spread their fame, ye ancient storm-gales.

Second Mourner (Invocation of the Mountains):

“Hark ye mountains, proud and ancient!

Stand as witness to their valor,

Who in constancy and friendship

Well upheld the name of Sencan,

Well deserved a hero’s burial.

“Do not hinder, mighty mountains,

Do not bar the way their spirits

Take to find the endless Chasm

Where the souls of dead men wander

Waiting for the Day of Judgment.

“Stand as monument, O mountains,

To the might of Sencan’s offspring:

These two sons of Old Nanalon

Bitter Fate has claimed unbidden.

Let their names be long remembered.

Third Mourner (Invocation of the Rivers):

“Hark ye rivers, wide and flowing,

Do not bar their passage o’er you.

These great-hearted men of valor

Bear the friendship of all waters.

Rather bear their fame undying.

“Bear to Southlands, hot and sun-scorched,

Where the high and craggy mountains

Darkly loom o’er ancient monarchs

Lying silent under granite.

Tell the ancient kings their valor.

“Bear it Westward, mighty rivers,

To the lands of ancient giants

Tall and lovely, proud and cruel,

Tell them of the might of mankind,

Of these sons of sky and water.

Fourth Mourner (Invocation of the Righteous Dead):

“Hark, ye dead! For now among you

Great souls dwell and bring you honor,

Great souls swell the waiting legions,

Waiting for the day of judgment:

Mighty Teithbor, Bold Setela.

“May the One who all things judges

Find them worthy, rest to enter:

They who never slew a kinsman,

Never struck in needless anger,

Always honored ancient fathers.

“Testify, O ancient fathers

How these sons of sad Nanalon

For the honor of their father—

For the throne of Holy Sencan—

Went to war, and fell in darkness.

“Long they languished under mountains.

Long they suffered wordless torments.

Testify, O ancient fathers,

Witness bear to what they suffered.

Let them find in death a solace.

Fifth Mourner (Invocation of the Gates of Silver):

“Hark! Ye mighty gates of silver!

Ye who stand and bar the stairway

Which from gloom and twilight leads up—

Up to where the righteous heroes

Dwell beside the holy poets.

“Open wide and let them enter,

Those who now lay with the Stone-kings.

They have kept the ancient promise,

They fulfilled the oaths completely,

Never turned from death or duty.

“Open wide and let them enter

So that in the World of Starlight

Men may rightly speak of justice,

Rightly praise the blood of heroes

Shed for love of kin and country.

All Mourners:

“Now ye storm-gales, coldly blowing,

Now ye mountains, proud and ancient,

Now ye rivers, widely flowing,

Now ye dead and ancient fathers,

Now ye gates of shining silver,

“All ye hear my song of sorrow.

Do not let these mighty warriors,

Sons of kings and sky and water,

Ever go down into darkness.

Let their names endure forever.

Priestess (Invocation of Nankeinela and ending):

“Nankeinala, Mighty Maker,

You who gave unto our fathers

Land and lordship, sky and water,

Evermore their names remember,

Though this world of tears shall end.”

So sang Sanur, mighty-hearted,

Then they closed the Hall of Stone-kings;

Then they sealed the ancient barrow,

Laid those princes down in splendor.

Sanur wept, and sang no longer.

As the last stanza is sung, the grave is closed, and the rite ended.

There are many variations of such laments in use among the Ambori: laments for deaths in childbirth (rare among the Ambori, and considered particularly tragic), laments for death in old age, and laments for death by plague. But this lament, used particularly to honor those who fall in battle, gives some sense of the general form.