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.For I say to you, Fëanor son of Finwë, these are to us as are the gems of the Noldor: the work of our hearts, whose like we shall not make again.'Thereupon Fëanor left him, and sat in dark thought beyond the walls of Alqualondë, until his host was assembled.When he judged that his strength was enough, he went to the Haven of the Swans and began to man the ships that were anchored there and to take them away by force.But the Teleri withstood him, and cast many of the Noldor into the sea.Then swords were drawn, and a bitter fight was fought upon the ships, and about the lamplit quays and piers of the Haven, and even upon the great arch of its gate.Thrice the people of Fëanor were driven back, and many were slain upon either side; but the vanguard of the Noldor were succoured by Fingon with the foremost of the host of Fingolfin, who coming up found a battle joined and their own kin falling, and rushed in before they knew rightly the cause of the quarrel; some thought indeed that the Teleri had sought to waylay the march of the Noldor at the bidding of the Valar.Thus at last the Teleri were overcome, and a great part of their mariners that dwelt in Alqualondë were wickedly slain.For the Noldor were become fierce and desperate, and the Teleri had less strength, and were armed for the most part but with slender bows.Then the Noldor drew away their white ships and manned their oars as best they might, and rowed them north along the coast.And Olwë called upon Ossë, but he came not, for it was not permitted by the Valar that the fight of the Noldor should be hindered by force.But Uinen wept for the mariners of the Teleri; and the sea rose in wrath against the slayers, so that many of the ships were wrecked and those in them drowned.Of the enslaving at Alqualondë more is told in that lament which is named Noldolantë, the Fall of the Noldor, that Maglor made ere he was lost.Nonetheless the greater part of the Noldor escaped, and when the storm was past they held on their course, some by ship and some by land; but the way was long and ever more evil as they went forward.After they had marched for a great while in the unmeasured night, they came at length to the northern confines of the Guarded Realm, upon the borders of the empty waste of Araman which were mountainous and cold.There they beheld suddenly a dark figure standing high upon a rock that looked down upon the shore.Some say that it was Mandos himself, and no lesser herald of Manwë.And they heard a loud voice, solemn and terrible, that bade them stand and give ear.Then all halted and stood still, and from end to end of the hosts of the Noldor the voice was heard speaking the curse and prophecy which is called the Prophecy of the North, and the Doom of the Noldor.Much it foretold in dark words, which the Noldor understood not until the woes indeed after befell them; but all heard the curse that was uttered upon those that would not stay nor seek the doom and pardon of the Valar.'Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the mountains.On the House of Fëanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East, and upon all that will follow them it shall be laid also.Their Oath shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue.To evil end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by treason of kin unto kin, and the fear of treason, shall this come to pass.The Dispossessed shall they be for ever.'Ye have spilled the blood of your kindred unrighteously and have stained the land of Aman.For blood ye shall render blood, and beyond Aman ye shall dwell in Death's shadow.For though Eru appointed to you to die not in Eä, and no sickness may assail you, yet slain ye may be, and slain ye shall be: by weapon and by torment and by grief; and your houseless spirits shall come then to Mandos.There long shall ye abide and yearn for your bodies, and find little pity though all whom ye have slain should entreat for you.And those that endure in Middle-earth and come not to Mandos shall grow weary of the world as with a great burden, and shall wane, and become as shadows of regret before the younger race that cometh after.The Valar have spoken.'Then many quailed; but Fëanor hardened his heart and said: 'We have sworn, and not lightly.This oath we will keep.We are threatened with many evils, and treason not least; but one thing is not said: that we shall suffer from cowardice, from cravens or the fear of cravens.Therefore I say that we will go on, and this doom I add: the deeds that we shall do shall be the matter of song until the last days of Arda
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