many a great tale has my father made to me aforetime of thy splendour and glory , wherefore , albeit i am no renegade thrall , i do desire nothing so much as to serve thee in what small manner i may , '' and beren said therewith that he was a great trapper of small animals and a snarer of birds , and had become lost in the hills in these pursuits until after much wandering he had come into strange lands , and even had not the orcs seized him he would indeed have had no other rede of safety but to approach the majesty of ainu melko and beg him to grant him some humble office -- as a winner of meats for his table perchance .