The Preamble
Under starlight, under cedar,
High upon the highest hilltop
On the shores of ancient waters
Orusena found the Serpent,
Found the last and dying Stone-king.
There, a spring from unseen caverns
Babbled, heedless of the danger.
First of all the many waters—
First and eldest, cold and purest—
There the cool, unfertile dust-heap
First was riven, when the footstep
Of the One whose music made it
Pierced the world, brought forth all waters.
Water—blood of Earth and Children
Changes dust to living soil,
Carries grace of Heaven’s rulers
To the blooming plains and valleys.
On the shores of ancient waters
Orusena found the Serpent,
Found the last and dying Stone-king.
There, a spring from unseen caverns
Babbled, heedless of the danger.
First of all the many waters—
First and eldest, cold and purest—
There the cool, unfertile dust-heap
First was riven, when the footstep
Of the One whose music made it
Pierced the world, brought forth all waters.
Water—blood of Earth and Children
Changes dust to living soil,
Carries grace of Heaven’s rulers
To the blooming plains and valleys.
The Last of the Stone Kings
The first of waters Orusena
Found were guarded by the Serpent.
She had poisoned last of Stone-kings
With a venom born of hatred
For the lands which look on Heaven.
“All the lands which look on Heaven—
All who, greedy, drink the Starlight—
Long denied to Serpent people
Soon shall taste of bitter waters,
Shall be born to Death’s dark kingdom.
“Born into Death’s dark kingdom
All the world shall know our power.
Then the Starlight on the water
None shall know but Serpent-people—
None shall read the doom of Heaven.”
“I have read the doom of Heaven,”
So the last of Stone-kings dying
Said unto the crafty serpent
There beside the ancient waters—
He the last of all his people.
“I, the last of all my people,
I have readthe writ of Heaven.
It does not spell the rise of Serpents.
Ancient peoples all are ending:
Serpents, Stone-kings, Folk of Starland.
“Serpents, Stone-kings, Folk of Starland—
Shattered too the realm of giants.
Now new peoples rise to conquer—
People born of Sky and Water,
Kin of him with brazen spear-tip.
“The sons of him with brazen spear-tip
Will wed the folk of ancient Starland.
Their children, born of Sky and Water
Will keep the oaths which I will teach them.
I am _____ last of Stone-kings.”
Here, and elsewhere, when the name of the last of Stone-kings would be spoken, an Acolyte rings the gong twice with the hammer. If no Acolyte is serving with the Priestess, the Priestess rings the net twice against the lip of the Well.
“Perish _____, last of Stone-kings!”
Spoke the Serpent, long and yellow,
Coiled ‘round the knees of cypress.
Orusena, knowing nothing,
Struck with point of deadly spearshaft.
Struck with point of deadly spearshaft
Knowing not the feud of peoples—
Serpent-folk against the Stone-kings—
But he heard the doom the Stone-king
Read amid the Stars of Heaven.
“Writ amid the Stars of Heaven
The Rise of Orusena’s offspring—
One star shining like a diamond
Flaming out amid the darkness
Hated by the Hosts of Orkon.”
The Threat of the Serpent
Orusena’s spear-shaft quivered,
Sparks flew from the Serpent’s armor.
The point was turned, the brass was blunted,
For Serpent’s hides are hard as iron.
The Serpent’s hide was hard as iron,
Her eyes were burning with desire.
“Never shall the Serpent-people
Bow the knee, go back to darkness—
Not before the Water’s Children.”
Then she struck the Water’s Child,
Struck at mighty Orusena.
Far that warrior led his people—
Far, through many snares and perils—
None so lethal as the Serpent.
None so lethal as the Serpent—
She bore venom, old and hateful,
Brewed in caverns deep and lightless
Where never have the lights of Heaven
Shone—until the world is ended.
Orusena, skilled in combats,
Shrank in horror at the venom—
No coward was the Children’s father,
Sire of swanfoot Alyeitalya,
But he faced no common foeman.
"Lord, you face no common foeman!”
So Hasanyah, Swanfoot’s mother,
Cried to him beside the waters.
There the venom flowed most swiftly—
Swiftly Stone-king reached his hand in.
Swift, the Stone-king put his hand in,
Caught the poison, cured the waters.
Orusena leaped up swiftly,
Thrust again the brazen spearshaft!
Up the sparks flew, like an anvil.
Up the sparks flew, like an anvil
Stricken by the heavy hammer
Of the crafty-minded blacksmith.
No spear forged in open southlands
The Serpent’s hide could pierce or shatter.
The Serpent arched its back and vented,
Spewing poison on the Greensward.
“Seven days, and I will end this;
When my venom slays the Stone-king,
Then I come to claim the Waters.”
The Serpent left the running waters—
Waters where the world’s first waking
Sprung when stepped the feet of Maker.
In that day the mighty Stone-kings
Loomed above the world like giants.
Lying like a fallen giant
Last of Stone-kings took the venom
Which the Serpent’s jaws had spewed out.
“All this hurt upon this Kwaodran
I will bear, so you may conquer.”
“You will bear so we may conquer?
How, when might of brazen spear-tip
Cannot pierce the Serpent’s armor,
Hard scales fashioned, close as fish-scales?”
This the plea of Orusena.
He heard the plea of Orusena,
Last of Stone-kings, full of venom,
Eldest king of elder people—
Those who kept the oaths of Heaven
Which the land made in the first days.
He heard the plea of Orusena,
Said aloud these staves in answer:
“Look, your queen has found a weapon
Which the runes of deadly Serpent
Cannot turn, like baser metals.”
“No base metal,” said Hasanyah,
“Is the weapon I have forged you.
With the prayers of all your people,
And the love I freely give you,
You will slay the Serpent Woman.”
He looked upon her, Orusena,
On the queenly, fair, Hasanyah.
In her hands, like gem of amber
She held a scale which from the Serpent
Had fallen in the bitter conflict.
Fallen from a bitter conflict,
Like a leaf the storm has shaken
From the bough of mighty oak tree
The brazen scale glittered, yellow,
In the hands of Fair Hasanyah.
From the hands of Fair Hasanyah
Orusena took the snake-scale—
Took it, and for seven mornings
Forged anew his deadly spear-head
While dying lay the last of Stone-kings.
While dying lay the last of Stone-kings
Fair Hasanyah stood beside him.
She learned from him the names of waters,
How the heavens shone with diamonds
In the days before the South was darkened.
In the days before the South was darkened,
Long before the hosts of Orkon
Waged long war upon the children
The Stone-kings tended eldest waters—
Kept the oaths of Earth and Heaven.
“This the oath of Earth and Heaven,”
So the Stone-king told Hasanyah,
“Water holds the shape of Starlight—
Starlight, which the World remembers—
Memory keeps the Song from dying.
“Memory keeps that Song from dying
Which the Maker sang aforetime,
On the day when first the Heavens
Sang for joy, to know their beauty,
Seeing the bounding Ram beneath them.
“We keep the oaths of Earth and Heaven—
Water keeps the shape of Starlight.
Water, Starlight, Earth and Heaven,
Keep them pure, keep back the shadows,
Hungry things consumed with hatred.
“Hungry things consumed with hatred
Seek to know what I have taught you,
Guard these secrets, do not write them,
In such books as men have written.
Stone-kings’ books are ever-guarded.”
Caught the poison, cured the waters.
Orusena leaped up swiftly,
Thrust again the brazen spearshaft!
Up the sparks flew, like an anvil.
Up the sparks flew, like an anvil
Stricken by the heavy hammer
Of the crafty-minded blacksmith.
No spear forged in open southlands
The Serpent’s hide could pierce or shatter.
The Serpent arched its back and vented,
Spewing poison on the Greensward.
“Seven days, and I will end this;
When my venom slays the Stone-king,
Then I come to claim the Waters.”
The Oath of the Stone Kings
The Serpent left the running waters—
Waters where the world’s first waking
Sprung when stepped the feet of Maker.
In that day the mighty Stone-kings
Loomed above the world like giants.
Lying like a fallen giant
Last of Stone-kings took the venom
Which the Serpent’s jaws had spewed out.
“All this hurt upon this Kwaodran
I will bear, so you may conquer.”
“You will bear so we may conquer?
How, when might of brazen spear-tip
Cannot pierce the Serpent’s armor,
Hard scales fashioned, close as fish-scales?”
This the plea of Orusena.
He heard the plea of Orusena,
Last of Stone-kings, full of venom,
Eldest king of elder people—
Those who kept the oaths of Heaven
Which the land made in the first days.
He heard the plea of Orusena,
Said aloud these staves in answer:
“Look, your queen has found a weapon
Which the runes of deadly Serpent
Cannot turn, like baser metals.”
“No base metal,” said Hasanyah,
“Is the weapon I have forged you.
With the prayers of all your people,
And the love I freely give you,
You will slay the Serpent Woman.”
He looked upon her, Orusena,
On the queenly, fair, Hasanyah.
In her hands, like gem of amber
She held a scale which from the Serpent
Had fallen in the bitter conflict.
Fallen from a bitter conflict,
Like a leaf the storm has shaken
From the bough of mighty oak tree
The brazen scale glittered, yellow,
In the hands of Fair Hasanyah.
From the hands of Fair Hasanyah
Orusena took the snake-scale—
Took it, and for seven mornings
Forged anew his deadly spear-head
While dying lay the last of Stone-kings.
While dying lay the last of Stone-kings
Fair Hasanyah stood beside him.
She learned from him the names of waters,
How the heavens shone with diamonds
In the days before the South was darkened.
In the days before the South was darkened,
Long before the hosts of Orkon
Waged long war upon the children
The Stone-kings tended eldest waters—
Kept the oaths of Earth and Heaven.
“This the oath of Earth and Heaven,”
So the Stone-king told Hasanyah,
“Water holds the shape of Starlight—
Starlight, which the World remembers—
Memory keeps the Song from dying.
“Memory keeps that Song from dying
Which the Maker sang aforetime,
On the day when first the Heavens
Sang for joy, to know their beauty,
Seeing the bounding Ram beneath them.
“We keep the oaths of Earth and Heaven—
Water keeps the shape of Starlight.
Water, Starlight, Earth and Heaven,
Keep them pure, keep back the shadows,
Hungry things consumed with hatred.
“Hungry things consumed with hatred
Seek to know what I have taught you,
Guard these secrets, do not write them,
In such books as men have written.
Stone-kings’ books are ever-guarded.”
The Slaying of the Serpent
Orusena raised a spear-shaft---
Raised it when the vile Serpent
Came again, after the Stone-king
In a mighty tomb of granite
Lay, beneath the Stars forgotten.
Orusena took the spear-shaft,
Tipped with bronze, the Serpent’s garment,
Thrust above the shining waters,
While the Serpent jeered and mocked him.
The Serpent’s jaws were filled with poison.
So the Serpent jeered and mocked him:
“Race of Stone-kings, mighty, ancient,
Could not stand against our venom.
They have all forsaken Starlight,
All lie now entombed in darkness.
“All lie now entombed in darkness—
All will follow, kin of mankind,
Till the whole world, cold and lifeless,
Hear no more the Song of Maker,
And the seas forget the Starlight.”
But Orusena’s spear-tip quivered,
Quivered, pierced the Serpent’s armor.
The deadly wound a yellow venom
Spewed, and withered verdant hillside.
The Serpent screamed and, dying, cursed him.
But the Serpent’s curse by death was broken;
The Serpent’s armor was her downfall.
And there beside the first of waters
Fair Hasanyah sang her office,
Kept the oaths the Stone-king taught her.
Orusena, first of fathers,
Slew the Serpent, cleansed the waters,
Kept the Oaths the Stone-king taught him
When he led the Water’s Children
To the high and holy hilltop.
Raised it when the vile Serpent
Came again, after the Stone-king
In a mighty tomb of granite
Lay, beneath the Stars forgotten.
Orusena took the spear-shaft,
Tipped with bronze, the Serpent’s garment,
Thrust above the shining waters,
While the Serpent jeered and mocked him.
The Serpent’s jaws were filled with poison.
So the Serpent jeered and mocked him:
“Race of Stone-kings, mighty, ancient,
Could not stand against our venom.
They have all forsaken Starlight,
All lie now entombed in darkness.
“All lie now entombed in darkness—
All will follow, kin of mankind,
Till the whole world, cold and lifeless,
Hear no more the Song of Maker,
And the seas forget the Starlight.”
But Orusena’s spear-tip quivered,
Quivered, pierced the Serpent’s armor.
The deadly wound a yellow venom
Spewed, and withered verdant hillside.
The Serpent screamed and, dying, cursed him.
But the Serpent’s curse by death was broken;
The Serpent’s armor was her downfall.
And there beside the first of waters
Fair Hasanyah sang her office,
Kept the oaths the Stone-king taught her.
Orusena, first of fathers,
Slew the Serpent, cleansed the waters,
Kept the Oaths the Stone-king taught him
When he led the Water’s Children
To the high and holy hilltop.
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