Chapter Text
Men awoke with the Sun, and we then knew only Eru Ilúvatar, and we loved him.
We were discovered first by Melkor, First among the Valar. He showed us that there were others above us who were not Ilúvatar, and told us how Ilúvatar had cruelly punished and betrayed Him for daring to stand apart from His brethren and sistren. So we no longer loved Eru Ilúvatar, and we paid tribute to Melkor.
Some of us left, then, calling Melkor a liar, and evil, and many other bad things, and went into the West, whence nothing good has come for us. The Avari and the Khazâd aided them in their flight. We called those who left traitors, and spat at their memory, for Melkor fed us and cared for us and made us His pets.
Then Melkor abandoned us, and set dragons to guard us, and the dragons were cruel and stole from us. But the Khazâd came to us, and taught us in secret how to forge weapons, that we might protect ourselves; and the Kinn-lai came to us, and taught us in secret how to write, that we might remember our past; and the Windan came to us, and taught us in secret how to make bows and arrows, that we might hunt; and the Kindi came to us, and taught us in secret how to make beautiful things, that we might have hope; and we saw that we had been wrong to speak against those who fled, and that we had been foolish to trust Melkor, to stay within His reach. But we were no longer helpless pets.
Still we knew we could not drive Him off, so we pretended to remain His loyal slaves, and there were those who yet served Him with love and foolish devotion in their hearts. But the secrets which the Khazâd and the Kinn-lai and the Windan and the Kindi had taught to us were only passed to those who were good and faithful and kind, and we were never betrayed, for betrayal would have spelled our end.
Then Melkor fell, and was gone from the world, and we were free. But we still did not love Eru Ilúvatar, for he had forsaken our friends the Khazâd and the Avari. For one thing only did we thank his Valar: in the very year in which Melkor went from the world, the Windan in their wanderings found and brought to us a tribe of hardy horses.
We took these horses and we bred them to be strong, and fast, and we made them in three kinds: one kind like to the Khazâd, which were short and stout and hardy, and could brave any weather or terrain; one kind like to us, which were fierce and brave and made for war; and one kind like to the Avari, which were sleek and swift and princely, and which could almost understand mortal speech.
So we forged weapons and made bows and wrote our histories and bred horses and everything we made was beautiful. The Kinn-lai we made as priests, worshipping the land, which had never betrayed us or been cruel beyond its nature. The Kindi we raised up as kings of arts and trade. The Khazâd made strongholds in the Red Mountains and we made them our allies. And the Windan we made as kings of war over us. This was in the beginning of the Second Age.