Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that come down to us from the
darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid weeping there is
joy and under the shadow of death light that endures. And of these
histories most fair still in the ears of the Elves is the tale of Beren
and Lúthien. Of their lives was made the Lay of Leithian,
Release from Bondage, which is the longest save one of the songs
concerning the world of old. Here follows their tale and what remains
of the Lay.