then were counsels of many a kind spoken upon that hill-top , and men feared to go openly against the dragon by day or by night or whether he waked or slept , and seeing their dread turambar gave them a rede , and it was taken , and these were his words : `` well have ye said , 0 huntsmen of the woods , that not by day or by night shall men hope to take a dragon of melko unawares , and behold this one hath made a waste about him , and the earth is beaten flat so that none may creep near and be hidden .