[Recorded a time ago, and drawn forth when the Scribes were coming to understand something of the tribal background of Lars Ghar-Rider (and Kzin-Friend??); the tale itself is old, of course--ancient!--and as such there is no "right" way of telling it, as the telling, or singing as the case may be, changes with every iteration and generation. Only that the story is always the same, however the details get moved for this or that purpose in the telling ...
This particular version is the one sung by Kynes, shaman of the Fremen tribe, who is encamped alongside Lars on the land of the iqtadar Tolwan just west and south of Cothon. Kynes it was who called for adventurers to seek an ancient artefact of the Fremen some months ago, appearing perhaps as some kind of prophet or messenger from the wilderness. And to those who might listen, he would sing to them of the Voice, or the Voice of Ardha, or of the Red Forest; of the trials of Oskold and his love for Thirdr, whose names are known to descendants of those who dwelt in Tusr al Qadim as Uskalid and Deyr.
As it is said, Oskold (or Uskalid) was one of the "First Men", great warriors who strode the land when gods and demons still battled in the heavens--when the giant warriors with lances of light walked, and death was their provenance!--and he fell in love with a chashkeri-woman, Thirdr (or Deyr al Sikhay), who was of the forest, but who through love for Oskold came to pity men and sought to give them refuge from destruction. Some say she is a spirit of the Toxic Jungles east of Misr, but the Fremen hold a different interpretation of the Red Forest, as may be seen in this version of the tale.
One must remember that the Scribes here have merely transcribed a translation of an ancient song, as sung by Kynes by the firelight of his camp under the swiftly racing stars of the nighted sky on the banks of the Garden River's delta. The headlands rise to the west, while the candle- and fire-lit windows of Cothon and Gadeed to the east provide steady light compared to the quick courses of the stars. A cool air breathes off the churning river delta; the lanterns of lightermen on the river add their own motion to the night. The voice of Kynes rises above the night-sounds of the rivershore--the susurrating leaves of the trees who lean over the dark waters, the sounds of distant carousing in the tower of the iqtadar, and the occasional splash of a fish or ninenyelu in the waters. The shaman's voice is strong like the wind of the strange desert from whence he's come--a desert bordered by crisscrossing canals--and he aids his performance only with the constant tapping of his staff held in the one hand, and the occasional flourish of the tambour in his other hand to mark the special stresses.
Alas! The verse is an unmetered translation; the special cadences of the Freemen song, marked by staff and tambour in the changing nightwinds--a strange visitor in a strange land--go unremarked in this version. But the simple meaning of the song is retained, assured of both by Lars and by Kynes himself. So listen as you will ... and remember that the soughing trees and drifting waters of the Garden Delta are themselves strange night-sounds to a song that came from a desert of dry winds, blowing sand, edged in by foreign cuttings of water. And somewhere in their depths a forest ... Red and Weird ... ]
Oskold ong Thirdr ("Uskalid wa Deyr al Sikhay")
The First Men were carried to this world by the Gods. Some say because they had forgotten the Gods' ways, and needed a new beginning.
They were warriors, bold and tall, and they strode all like giants, and lightning was in their hands, and their eyes were invincible.
But as the Gods warred above, so the First Men warred below, and what was before was forgotten, and the world that was here was broken.
Oskold (called Uskalid in old Tsurr) was a Hero in these wars.
He served the Khorzahnyakub, and it was Oskold who vanquished the Demons of Mazanderan.
But the skies were broken.
And the forests were made strange.
And the folk of the First Men were also broken and made strange--Klackon, Kzin, Alkari, and the others.
Many went astray in this confusion.
The Gods were called, but they were gone.
The Demons were called, but they were broken.
The folk cried out, and Oskold answered, and he went into the forest strange.
It was a red place, and his mind was bent there, in that red hour.
He battled beasts: the Landru and the Zakharob, both sro and aqaa, and even Shai-Hulud.
But his victories made him sick, and he lay down in a glade beside a sea and slept, and as he slept, the beautiful Thirdr (called Deyr in old Tsurr) came to him.
Was she a chashkeri? Some say her copper hair made her so, and some say her epithet means that faerie-thing of the waters.*
Yet, she pitied Oskold, and she went to him, and she healed his sick by singing to him the Voice.
So she taught him to live with and not against the world;
So she taught him to wear skin, and not armor;
So she taught him again to build, and hunt, and use, but never to corrupt;
(So she taught him to heed the Voice, and not reject it)**
So they were wed, flesh to flesh, and Oskold had sway over the red forest, even as Thirdr was given sway over the folk.
And they came forth, and many were glad, but there were others whose dark hearts wished still to build with zort in opposition to the Voice.
But Oskold scattered them, and Thirdr sowed deep seeds, and the folk grew great with the red forest.
And when two hundred years*** had passed, Oskold was taken to the House of the First Coming and laid there.
And when Thirdr went thereafter, she also was taken, and laid beside Oskold.
So the Heroes have always been lain.
And the red forest leans over it, and Shai-Hulud circles it, and in the hour of need (when the Voice calls)**** they will rise and reclaim their Kingdom.
*a chashkeri is a "water-sprite", and there is dispute as to whether this character Thirdr/Deyr is supposed to be sprite or human
**there is hot dispute among chanters as to whether this line/idea is a later interpolation, or original
***likewise, there is dispute as to the year meant here--some traditions maintain the twelve-month lunar year, others argue for the full solar year of three lunars, plus an intercalary "month"
****another dispute; more particularly, the idea of the world-Voice is maintained by some nomadic tribes, but rejected by others
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