Mercan's Quest

Although the lyrics of this lay are not explicitly stated in The Naming, the story is described. Cadvan sings this lay in Ch. 7 "The Welcome Feast."

It is set in "the first years of the long kindgom of Lirion, when the Ice Witch yet troubled the world" (118). Mercan's love Tirian had been stolen by the Ice Witch's minions. He found her in the snow halls of the north and brought her home, but her heart had "become a splinter of ice, and she spoke no more." Mercan's heart broke. As she saw that he was dying, her heart melted with pity. She wept and when a tear fell on his face, his eyes opened and he was revived. "The frost melted in the land... and winter was broken."