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The Fellowship Of The Ring - Chapter 21 - The Breaking of the Fellowship

2010-08-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

Aragorn led them to the right arm of the River. Here upon its western
side under the shadow of Tol Brandir a green lawn ran down to the water from
the feet of Amon Hen. Behind it rose the first gentle slopes of the hill
clad with trees, and trees marched away westward along the curving shores of
the lake. A little spring fell tumbling down and fed the grass.
'Here we will rest tonight,' said Aragorn. `This is the lawn of Parth
Galen: a fair place in the summer days of old. Let us hope that no evil has
yet come here.'
They drew up their boats on the green banks, and beside them they made
their camp. They set a watch, but had no sight nor sound of their enemies.
If Gollum had contrived to follow them, he remained unseen and unheard.
Nonetheless as the night wore on Aragorn grew uneasy, tossing often in his
sleep and waking. In the small hours he got up and came to Frodo, whose turn
it was to watch.
`Why are you waking? ' asked Frodo. `It is not your watch.'
`I do not know,' answered Aragorn; `but a shadow and a threat has been
growing in my sleep. It would be well to draw your sword.'
`Why? ' said Frodo. `Are enemies at hand? '
`Let us see what Sting may show,' answered Aragorn.
Frodo then drew the elf-blade from its sheath. To his dismay the edges
gleamed dimly in the night. `Orcs! ' he said. `Not very near, and yet too
near, it seems.'
`I feared as much,' said Aragorn. `But maybe they are not on this side
of the River. The light of Sting is faint, and it may point to no more than
spies of Mordor roaming on the slopes of Amon Lhaw. I have never heard
before of Orcs upon Amon Hen. Yet who knows what may happen in these
evil
days, now that Minas Tirith no longer holds secure the passages of Anduin.
We must go warily tomorrow.'
The day came like fire and smoke. Low in the East there were black bars
of cloud like the fumes of a great burning. The rising sun lit them from
beneath with flames of murky red; but soon it climbed above them into a
clear sky. The summit of Tol Brandir was tipped with gold. Frodo looked out
eastward and gazed at the tall island. Its sides sprang sheer out of the
running water. High up above the tall cliffs were steep slopes upon which
trees climbed, mounting one head above another; and above them again were
grey faces of inaccessible rock, crowned by a great spire of stone. Many
birds were circling about it, but no sign of other living things could be
seen.
When they had eaten, Aragorn called the Company together. `The day has
come at last,' he said: 'the day of choice which we have long delayed. What
shall now become of our Company that has travelled so far in fellowship?
Shall we turn west with Boromir and go to the wars of Gondor; or turn east
to the Fear and Shadow; or shall we break our fellowship and go this way and
that as each may choose? Whatever we do must be done soon. We cannot
long
halt here. The enemy is on the eastern shore, we know; but I fear that the
Orcs may already be on this side of the water.'
There was a long silence in which no one spoke or moved.
'Well, Frodo,' said Aragorn at last. `I fear that the burden is laid
upon you. You are the Bearer appointed by the Council. Your own way you
alone can choose. In this matter I cannot advise you. I am not Gandalf, and
though I have tried to bear his part, I do not know what design or hope he
had for this hour, if indeed he had any. Most likely it seems that if he
were here now the choice would still wait on you. Such is your fate.'
Frodo did not answer at once. Then he spoke slowly. `I know that haste
is needed, yet I cannot choose. The burden is heavy. Give me an hour longer,
and I will speak. Let me be alone! '
Aragorn looked at him with kindly pity. `Very well, Frodo son of
Drogo,' he said. `You shall have an hour, and you shall be alone. We will
stay here for a while. But do not stray far or out of call.'
Frodo sat for a moment with his head bowed. Sam, who had been watching
his master with great concern, shook his head and muttered: 'Plain as a
pikestaff it is, but it's no good Sam Gamgee putting in his spoke just now.'
,
Presently Frodo got up and walked away; and Sam saw that while the
others restrained themselves and did not stare at him, the eyes of Boromir
followed Frodo intently, until he passed out of sight in the trees at the
foot of Amon Hen.
Wandering aimlessly at first in the wood, Frodo found that his feet
were leading him up towards the slopes of the hill. He came to a path, the
dwindling ruins of a road of long ago. In steep places stairs of stone had
been hewn, but now they were cracked and worn, and split by the roots of
trees. For some while he climbed, not caring which way he went, until he
came to a grassy place. Rowan-trees grew about it, and in the midst was a
wide flat stone. The little upland lawn was open upon the East and was
filled now with the early sunlight. Frodo halted and looked out over the
River, far below him, to Tol Brandir and the birds wheeling in the great
gulf of air between him and the untrodden isle. The voice of Rauros was a
mighty roaring mingled with a deep throbbing boom.
He sat down upon the stone and cupped his chin in his hands, staring
eastwards but seeing little with his eyes. All that had happened since Bilbo
left the Shire was passing through his mind, and he recalled and pondered
everything that he could remember of Gandalf's words. Time went on, and
still he was no nearer to a choice.
Suddenly he awoke from his thoughts: a strange feeling came to him that
something was behind him, that unfriendly eyes were upon him. He sprang up
and turned; but all that he saw to his surprise was Boromir, and his face
was smiling and kind.
`I was afraid for you, Frodo,' he said, coming forward. `If Aragorn is
right and Orcs are near, then none of us should wander alone, and you least
of all: so much depends on you. And my heart too is heavy. May I stay now
and talk for a while, since I have found you? It would comfort me. Where
there are so many, all speech becomes a debate without end. But two together
may perhaps find wisdom.'
`You are kind,' answered Frodo. 'But I do not think that any speech
will help me. For I know what I should do, but I am afraid of doing it,
Boromir: afraid.'
Boromir stood silent. Rauros roared endlessly on. The wind murmured in
the branches of the trees. Frodo shivered.
Suddenly Boromir came and sat beside him. `Are you sure that you do not
suffer needlessly? ' he said. `I wish to help you. You need counsel in your
hard choice. Will you not take mine? '
'I think I know already what counsel you would give, Boromir,' said
Frodo. 'And it would seem like wisdom but for the warning of my heart.'
`Warning? Warning against what? ' said Boromir sharply.
'Against delay. Against the way that seems easier. Against refusal of
the burden that is laid on me. Against-well, if it must be said, against
trust in the strength and truth of Men.'
`Yet that strength has long protected you far away in your little
country, though you knew it not.'
'I do not doubt the valour of your people. But the world is changing.
The walls of Minas Tirith may be strong, but they are not strong enough. If
they fail, what then? '
'We shall fall in battle valiantly. Yet there is still hope that they
will not fail.'
'No hope while the Ring lasts,' said Frodo.
'Ah! The Ring! ' said Boromir, his eyes lighting. 'The Ring! Is it not
a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt for so small a
thing? So small a thing! And I have seen it only for an instant in the House
of Elrond. Could I not have a sight of it again? '
Frodo looked up. His heart went suddenly cold. He caught the strange
gleam in Boromir's eyes, yet his face was still kind and friendly. 'It is
best that it should lie hidden,' he answered.
'As you wish. I care not,' said Boromir. 'Yet may I not even speak of
it? For you seem ever to think only of its power in the hands of the Enemy:
of its evil uses not of its good. The world is changing, you say. Minas
Tirith will fall, if the Ring lasts. But why? Certainly, if the Ring were
with the Enemy. But why, if it were with us? '
'Were you not at the Council? ' answered Frodo. `Because we cannot use
it, and what is done with it turns to evil.'
Boromir got up and walked about impatiently. 'So you go on,' he cried.
'Gandalf, Elrond -- all these folk have taught you to say so. For themselves
they may be right. These elves and half-elves and wizards, they would come
to grief perhaps. Yet often I doubt if they are wise and not merely timid.
But each to his own kind. True-hearted Men, they will not be corrupted. We
of Minas Tirith have been staunch through long years of trial. We do not
desire the power of wizard-lords, only strength to defend ourselves,
strength in a just cause. And behold! in our need chance brings to light the
-Ring of Power. It is a gift, I say; a gift to the foes of Mordor. It is mad
not to use it, to use the power of the Enemy against him. The fearless, the
ruthless, these alone will achieve victory. What could not a warrior do in
this hour, a great leader? What could not Aragorn do? Or if he refuses, why
not Boromir? The Ring would give me power of Command. How I would
drive the
hosts of Mordor, and all men would flock to my banner!'
Boromir strode up and down, speaking ever more loudly: Almost he seemed
to have forgotten Frodo, while his talk dwelt on walls and weapons, and the
mustering of men; and he drew plans for great alliances and glorious
victories to be; and he cast down Mordor, and became himself a mighty king,
benevolent and wise. Suddenly he stopped and waved his arms.
'And they tell us to throw it away!' he cried. `I do not say destroy
it. That might be well, if reason could show any hope of doing so. It does
not. The only plan that is proposed to us is that a halfling should walk
blindly into Mordor and offer the Enemy every chance of recapturing it for
himself. Folly!
'Surely you see it, my friend?' he said, turning now suddenly to Frodo
again. `You say that you are afraid. If it is so, the boldest should pardon
you. But is it not really your good sense that revolts?'
'No, I am afraid,' said Frodo. 'Simply afraid. But I am glad to have
heard you speak so fully. My mind is clearer now.'
`Then you will come to Minas Tirith? ' cried Boromir. His eyes were
shining and his face eager.
`You misunderstand me,' said Frodo.
'But you will come, at least for a while? ' Boromir persisted. 'My city
is not far now; and it is little further from there to Mordor than from
here. We have been long in the wilderness, and you need news of what the
Enemy is doing before you make a move. Come with me, Frodo,' he said.
`You
need rest before your venture. if go you must.' He laid his hand on the
hobbit's shoulder in friendly fashion; but Frodo felt the hand trembling
with suppressed excitement. He stepped quickly away, and eyed with alarm the
tall Man, nearly twice his height and many times his match in strength.
`Why are you so unfriendly? ' said Boromir. `I am a true man, neither
thief nor tracker. I need your Ring: that you know now; but I give you my
word that I do not desire to keep it. Will you not at least let me make
trial of my plan? Lend me the Ring! '
`No! no! ' cried Frodo. 'The Council laid it upon me to bear it.'
`It is by our own folly that the Enemy will defeat us,' cried Boromir.
`How it angers me! Fool! Obstinate fool! Running wilfully to death and
ruining our cause. If any mortals have claim to the Ring, it is the men of
N®menor, and not Halflings. It is not yours save by unhappy chance. It might
have been mine. It should be mine. Give it to me! '
Frodo did not answer, but moved away till the great flat stone stood
between them. `Come, come, my friend! ' said Boromir in a softer voice. 'Why
not get rid of it? Why not be free of your doubt and fear? You can lay the
blame on me, if you will. You can say that I was too strong and took it by
force. For I am too strong for you, halfling,' he cried; and suddenly he
sprang over the stone and leaped at Frodo. His fair and pleasant face was
hideously changed; a raging fire was in his eyes.
Frodo dodged aside and again put the stone between them. There was only
one thing he could do: trembling he pulled out the Ring upon its chain and
quickly slipped it on his finger, even as Boromir sprang at him again. The
Man gasped, stared for a moment amazed, and then ran wildly about, seeking
here and there among the rocks and trees.
'Miserable trickster!' he shouted. `Let me get my hands on you! Now I
see your mind. You will take the Ring to Sauron and sell us all. You have
only waited your chance to leave us in the lurch. Curse you and all
halflings to death and darkness! ' Then, catching his foot on a stone, he
fell sprawling and lay upon his face. For a while he was as still as if his
own curse had struck him down; then suddenly he wept.
He rose and passed his hand over his eyes, dashing away the tears.
'What have I said? ' he cried. `What have I done? Frodo, Frodo! ' he called.
'Come back! A madness took me, but it has passed. Come back! '
There was no answer. Frodo did not even hear his cries. He was already
far away, leaping blindly up the path to the hill-top. Terror and grief
shook him, seeing in his thought the mad fierce face of Boromir, and his
burning eyes.
Soon he came out alone on the summit of Amon Hen, and halted, gasping
for breath. He saw as through a mist a wide flat circle, paved with mighty
flags, and surrounded with a crumbling battlement; and in the middle, set
upon four carven pillars, was a high seat, reached by a stair of many steps.
Up he went and sat upon the ancient chair, feeling like a lost child that
had clambered upon the throne of mountain-kings.
At first he could see little. He seemed to be in a world of mist in
which there were only shadows: the Ring was upon him. Then here and there
the mist gave way and he saw many visions: small and clear as if they were
under his eyes upon a table, and yet remote. There was no sound, only bright
living images. The world seemed to have shrunk and fallen silent. He was
sitting upon the Seat of Seeing, on Amon Hen, the Hill of the Eye of the Men
of N®menor. Eastward he looked into wide uncharted lands, nameless plains,
and forests unexplored. Northward he looked, and the Great River lay like a
ribbon beneath him, and the Misty Mountains stood small and hard as broken
teeth. Westward he looked and saw the broad pastures of Rohan; and Orthanc,
the pinnacle of Isengard, like a black spike. Southward he looked, and below
his very feet the Great River curled like a toppling wave and plunged over
the falls of Rauros into a foaming pit; a glimmering rainbow played upon the
fume. And Ethir Anduin he saw, the mighty delta of the River, and myriads of
sea-birds whirling like a white dust in the sun, and beneath them a green
and silver sea, rippling in endless lines.
But everywhere he looked he saw the signs of war. The Misty Mountains
were crawling like anthills: orcs were issuing out of a thousand holes.
Under the boughs of Mirkwood there was deadly strife of Elves and Men and
fell beasts. The land of the Beornings was aflame; a cloud was over Moria;
smoke rose on the borders of Lurien.
Horsemen were galloping on the grass of Rohan; wolves poured from
Isengard. From the havens of Harad ships of war put out to sea; and out of
the East Men were moving endlessly: swordsmen, spearmen, bowmen upon
horses,
chariots of chieftains and laden wains. All the power of the Dark Lord was
in motion. Then turning south again he beheld Minas Tirith. Far away it
seemed. and beautiful: white-walled, many-towered, proud and fair upon its
mountain-seat; its battlements glittered with steel, and its turrets were
bright with many banners. Hope leaped in his heart. But against Minas Tirith
was set another fortress, greater and more strong. Thither, eastward,
unwilling his eye was drawn. It passed the ruined bridges of Osgiliath, the
grinning gates of Minas Morgul. and the haunted Mountains, and it looked
upon Gorgoroth, the valley of terror in the Land of Mordor. Darkness lay
there under the Sun. Fire glowed amid the smoke. Mount Doom was burning,
and
a great reek rising. Then at last his gaze was held: wall upon wall,
battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron,
gate of steel, tower of adamant, he saw it: Barad-dyr, Fortress of Sauron.
All hope left him.
And suddenly he felt the Eye. There was an eye in the Dark Tower that
did not sleep. He knew that it had become aware of his gaze. A fierce eager
will was there. It leaped towards him; almost like a finger he felt it,
searching for him. Very soon it would nail him down, know just exactly where
he was. Amon Lhaw it touched. It glanced upon Tol Brandir he threw himself
from the seat, crouching, covering his head with his grey hood.
He heard himself crying out: Never, never! Or was it: Verily I come, I
come to you? He could not tell. Then as a flash from some other point of
power there came to his mind another thought: Take it off! Take it off!
Fool, take it off! Take off the Ring!
The two powers strove in him. For a moment, perfectly balanced between
their piercing points, he writhed, tormented. Suddenly he was aware of
himself again. Frodo, neither the Voice nor the Eye: free to choose, and
with one remaining instant in which to do so. He took the Ring off his
finger. He was kneeling in clear sunlight before the high seat. A black
shadow seemed to pass like an arm above him; it missed Amon Hen and
groped
out west, and faded. Then all the sky was clean and blue and birds sang in
every tree.
Frodo rose to his feet. A great weariness was on him, but his will was
firm and his heart lighter. He spoke aloud to himself. `I will do now what I
must,' he said. 'This at least is plain: the evil of the Ring is already at
work even in the Company, and the Ring must leave them before it does more
harm. I will go alone. Some I cannot trust, and those I can trust are too
dear to me: poor old Sam, and Merry and Pippin. Strider, too: his heart
yearns for Minas Tirith, and he will be needed there, now Boromir has fallen
into evil. I will go alone. At once.'
He went quickly down the path and came back to the lawn where Boromir
had found him. Then he halted, listening. He thought he could hear cries and
calls from the woods near the shore below.
'They'll be hunting for me,' he said. `I wonder how long I have been
away. Hours, I should think.' He hesitated. 'What can I do? ' he muttered.
'I must go now or I shall never go. I shan't get a chance again. I hate
leaving them, and like this without any explanation. But surely they will
understand. Sam will. And what else can I do?'
Slowly he drew out the Ring and put it on once more. He vanished and
passed down the hill, less than a rustle of the wind.
The others remained long by the river-side. For some time they had been
silent, moving restlessly about; but now they were sitting in a circle, and
they were talking. Every now and again they made efforts to speak of other
things, of their long road and many adventures; they questioned Aragorn
concerning the realm of Gondor and its ancient history, and the remnants of
its great works that could still be seen in this strange border-land of the
Emyn Muil: the stone kings and the seats of Lhaw and Hen, and the great
Stair beside the falls of Rauros. But always their thoughts and words
strayed back to Frodo and the Ring. What would Frodo choose to do? Why
was
he hesitating?
`He is debating which course is the most desperate, I think,' said
Aragorn. 'And well he may. It is now more hopeless than ever for the Company
to go east, since we have been tracked by Gollum, and must fear that the
secret of our journey is already betrayed. But Minas Tirith is no nearer to
the Fire and the destruction of the Burden.
`We may remain there for a while and make a brave stand; but the Lord
Denethor and all his men cannot hope to do what even Elrond said was beyond
his power: either to keep the Burden secret. or to hold off the full might
of the Enemy when he comes to take it. Which way would any of us choose in
Frodo's place? I do not know. Now indeed we miss Gandalf most.'
'Grievous is our loss,' said Legolas. 'Yet we must needs make up our
minds without his aid. Why cannot we decide, and so help Frodo? Let us call
him back and then vote! I should vote for Minas Tirith.'
`And so should I,' said Gimli. 'We, of course, were only sent to help
the Bearer along the road, to go no further than we wished; and none of us
is under any oath or command to seek Mount Doom. Hard was my parting
from
Lothlurien. Yet I have come so far, and I say this: now we have reached the
last choice, it is clear to me that I cannot leave Frodo. I would choose
Minas Tirith, but if he does not, then I follow him.'
`And I too will go with him,' said Legolas. `It would be faithless now
to say farewell.'
'It would indeed be a betrayal, if we all left him,' said Aragorn. 'But
if he goes east, then all need not go with him; nor do I think that all
should. That venture is desperate: as much so for eight as for three or two,
or one alone. If you would let me choose, then I should appoint three
companions: Sam, who could not bear it otherwise; and Gimli; and myself.
Boromir will return to his own city, where his father and his people need
him; and with him the others should go, or at least Meriadoc and Peregrin,
if Legolas is not willing to leave us.'
`That won't do at all! ' cried Merry. 'We can't leave Frodo! Pippin and
I always intended to go wherever he went, and we still do. But we did not
realize what that would mean. It seemed different so far away, in the Shire
or in Rivendell. It would be mad and cruel to let Frodo go to Mordor. Why
can't we stop him?'
'We must stop him,' said Pippin. `And that is what he is worrying
about, I am sure. He knows we shan't agree to his going east. And he doesn't
like to ask anyone to go with him, poor old fellow. Imagine it: going off to
Mordor alone! ' Pippin shuddered. 'But the dear silly old hobbit, he ought
to know that he hasn't got to ask. He ought to know that if we can't stop
him, we shan't leave him.'
'Begging your pardon,' said Sam. 'I don't think you understand my
master at all. He isn't hesitating about which way to go. Of course not!
What's the good of Minas Tirith anyway? To him, I mean, begging your
pardon,
Master Boromir,' he added, and turned. It was then that they discovered that
Boromir, who at first had been sitting silent on the outside of the circle,
was no longer there.
`Now where's he got to? ' cried Sam, looking worried. 'He's been a bit
queer lately, to my mind. But anyway he's not in this business. He's off to
his home, as he always said; and no blame to him. But Mr. Frodo, he knows
he's got to find the Cracks of Doom, if he can. But he's afraid. Now it's
come to the point, he's just plain terrified. That's what his trouble is. Of
course he's had a bit of schooling, so to speak-we all have-since we left
home, or he'd be so terrified he'd just fling the Ring in the River and
bolt. But he's still too frightened to start. And he isn't worrying about us
either: whether we'll go along with him or no. He knows we mean to. That's
another thing that's bothering him. If he screws himself up to go, he'll
want to go alone. Mark my words! We're going to have trouble when he
comes
back. For he'll screw himself up all right, as sure as his name's Baggins.'
'I believe you speak more wisely than any of us, Sam,' said Aragorn.
`And what shall we do, if you prove right? '
'Stop him! Don't let him go! ' cried Pippin.
'I wonder? ' said Aragorn. `He is the Bearer, and the fate of the
Burden is on him. I do not think that it is our part to drive him one way or
the other. Nor do I think that we should succeed, if we tried. There are
other powers at work far stronger.'
`Well, I wish Frodo would "screw himself up" and come back. and let us
get it over,' said Pippin. `This waiting is horrible! Surely the time is up?
'
`Yes,' said Aragorn. 'The hour is long passed. The morning is wearing
away. We must call for him.'
At that moment Boromir reappeared. He came out from the trees and
walked towards them without speaking. His face looked grim and sad. He
paused as if counting those that were present, and then sat down aloof, with
his eyes on the ground.
`Where have you been, Boromir? ' asked Aragorn. `Have you seen Frodo? '
Boromir hesitated for a second. `Yes, and no,' he answered slowly.
`Yes: I found him some way up the hill, and I spoke to him. I urged him to
come to Minas Tirith and not to go east. I grew angry and he left me. He
vanished. I have never seen such a thing happen before. though I have heard
of it in tales. He must have put the Ring on. I could not find him again. I
thought he would return to you.'
'Is that all that you have to say? ' said Aragorn, looking hard and not
too kindly at Boromir.
`Yes,' he answered. `I will say no more yet.'
`This is bad!' cried Sam, jumping up. `I don't know what this Man has
been up to. Why should Mr. Frodo put the thing on? He didn't ought to have;
and if he has, goodness knows what may have happened!'
'But he wouldn't keep it on`' said Merry. `Not when he had escaped the
unwelcome visitor, like Bilbo used to.'
`But where did he go? Where is he? ' cried Pippin. 'He's been away ages
now.'
`How long is it since you saw Frodo last, Boromir? ' asked Aragorn.
`Half an hour, maybe,' he answered. `Or it might be an hour. I have
wandered for some time since. I do not know! I do not know! ' He put his
head in his hands, and sat as if bowed with grief.
`An hour since he vanished! ' shouted Sam. `We must try and find him at
once. Come on! '
`Wait a moment! ' cried Aragorn. `We must divide up into pairs, and
arrange-here, hold on! Wait! '
It was no good. They took no notice of him. Sam had dashed off first.
Merry and Pippin had followed, and were already disappearing westward into
the trees by the shore, shouting: Frodo! Frodo! in their clear, high
hobbit-voices. Legolas and Gimli were running. A sudden panic or madness
seemed to have fallen on the Company.
`We shall all be scattered and lost,' groaned Aragorn. `Boromir! I do
not know what part you have played in this mischief, but help now! Go after
those two young hobbits, and guard them at the least, even if you cannot
find Frodo. Come back to this spot, if you find him, or any traces of him. I
shall return soon.'
Aragorn sprang swiftly away and went in pursuit of Sam. Just as he
reached the little lawn among the rowans he overtook him, toiling uphill,
panting and calling, Frodo!
`Come with me, Sam! ' he said. `None of us should be alone. There is
mischief about. I feel it. I am going to the top, to the Seat of Amon Hen,
to see what may be seen. And look! It is as my heart guessed, Frodo went
this way. Follow me, and keep your eyes open! ' He sped up the path.
Sam did his best, but he could not keep up with Strider the Ranger, and
soon fell behind. He had not gone far before Aragorn was out of sight ahead.
Sam stopped and puffed. Suddenly he clapped his hand to his head.
`Whoa, Sam Gamgee! ' he said aloud. `Your legs are too short, so use
your head! Let me see now! Boromir isn't lying, that's not his way; but he
hasn't told us everything. Something scared Mr. Frodo badly. He screwed
himself up to the point, sudden. He made up his mind at last to go. Where
to? Off East. Not without Sam? Yes, without even his Sam. That's hard, cruel
hard.'
Sam passed his hand over his eyes, brushing away the tears. 'Steady,
Gamgee! ' he said. `Think, if you can! He can't fly across rivers, and he
can't jump waterfalls. He's got no gear. So he's got to get back to the
boats. Back to the boats! Back to the boats, Sam, like lightning! '
Sam turned and bolted back down the path. He fell and cut his knees. Up
he got and ran on. He came to the edge of the lawn of Parth Galen by the
shore, where the boats were drawn up out of the water. No one was there.
There seemed to be cries in the woods behind, but he did not heed them. He
stood gazing for a moment. stock-still, gaping. A boat was sliding down the
bank all by itself. With a shout Sam raced across the grass. The boat
slipped into the wat
128d
er.
`Coming, Mr. Frodo! Coming! ' called Sam, and flung himself from the
bank, clutching at the departing boat. He missed it by a yard. With a cry
and a splash he fell face downward into deep swift water. Gurgling he went
under, and the River closed over his curly head.
An exclamation of dismay came from the empty boat. A paddle swirled and
the boat put about. Frodo was just in time to grasp Sam by the hair as he
came up, bubbling and struggling. Fear was staring in his round brown eyes.
`Up you come, Sam my lad! ' said Frodo. `Now take my hand! '
`Save me, Mr. Frodo! ' gasped Sam. `I'm drownded. I can't see your
hand.'
`Here it is. Don't pinch, lad! I won't let you go. Tread water and
don't flounder, or you'll upset the boat. There now, get hold of the side,
and let me use the paddle! '
With a few strokes Frodo brought the boat back to the bank. and Sam was
able to scramble out, wet as a water-rat. Frodo took off the Ring and
stepped ashore again.
`Of all the confounded nuisances you are the worst, Sam! ' he said.
'Oh, Mr. Frodo, that's hard! ' said Sam shivering. `That's hard, trying
to go without me and all. If I hadn't a guessed right, where would you be
now? '
`Safely on my way.'
`Safely! ' said Sam. `All alone and without me to help you? I couldn't
have a borne it, it'd have been the death of me.'
'It would be the death of you to come with me, Sam,' said Frodo and I
could not have borne that.'
`Not as certain as being left behind,' said Sam.
`But I am going to Mordor.'
`I know that well enough, Mr. Frodo. Of course you are. And I'm coming
with you.'
`Now, Sam,' said Frodo, `don't hinder me! The others will be coming
back at any minute. If they catch me here. I shall have to argue and
explain, and I shall never have the heart or the chance to get off. But I
must go at once. It's the only way.'
`Of course it is,' answered Sam. 'But not alone. I'm coming too, or
neither of us isn't going. I'll knock holes in all the boats first.'
Frodo actually laughed. A sudden warmth and gladness touched his heart.
`Leave one! 'he said. `We'll need it. But you can't come like this without
your gear or food or anything.'
'Just hold on a moment, and I'll get my stuff!' cried Sam eagerly.
'It's all ready. I thought we should be off today.' He rushed to the camping
place, fished out his pack from the pile where Frodo had laid it when he
emptied the boat of his companions' goods grabbed a spare blanket, and some
extra packages of food, and ran back.
`So all my plan is spoilt! ' said Frodo. `It is no good trying to
escape you. But I'm glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad. Come along! It is
plain that we were meant to go together. We will go, and may the others find
a safe road! Strider will look after them. I don't suppose we shall see them
again.'
`Yet we may, Mr Frodo. We may,' said Sam.
So Frodo and Sam set off on the last stage of the Quest together. Frodo
paddled away from the shore, and the River bore them swiftly away. down the
western arm, and past the frowning cliffs of Tol Brandir. The roar of the
great falls drew nearer. Even with such help as Sam could give, it was hard
work to pass across the current at the southward end of the island and drive
the boat eastward towards the far shore.
At length they came to land again upon the southern slopes of Amon
Lhaw. There they found a shelving shore, and they drew the boat out, high
above the water, and hid it as well as they could behind a great boulder.
Then shouldering their burdens, they set off, seeking a path that would
bring them over the grey hills of the Emyn Muil, and down into the Land of
Shadow.
Here ends the first part of the history of the War of the Ring.
The second part is called THE TWO TOWERS, since the events recounted
in it are dominated by ORTHANC, the citadel of Saruman, and the fortress
of MINAS MORGUL that guards the secret entrance to Mordor; it tells of
the deeds and perils of all the members of the now sundered fellowship, until
the coming of the Great Darkness.
The third part tells of the last defence against the Shadow, and the
end of the mission of the Ring-bearer in THE RETURN OF THE KING.

The Fellowship Of The Ring - Chapter 20 - The Great River.

2010-08-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

Frodo was roused by Sam. He found that he was lying, well wrapped,
under tall grey-skinned trees in a quiet corner of the woodlands on the west
bank of the Great River, Anduin. He had slept the night away, and the grey
of morning was dim among the bare branches. Gimli was busy with a small fire
near at hand.
They started again before the day was broad. Not that most of the
Company were eager to hurry southwards: they were content that the decision,
which they must make at latest when they came to Rauros and the Tindrock
Isle, still lay some days ahead; and they let the River bear them on at its
own pace, having no desire to hasten towards the perils that lay beyond,
whichever course they took in the end. Aragorn let them drift with the
stream as they wished, husbanding their strength against weariness to come.
But he insisted that at least they should start early each day and journey
on far into the evening; for he felt in his heart that time was pressing,
and he feared that the Dark Lord had not been idle while they lingered in
Lurien.
Nonetheless they saw no sign of an enemy that day, nor the next. The
dull grey hours passed without event. As the third day of their voyage wore
on the lands changed slowly: the trees thinned and then failed altogether.
On the eastern bank to their left they saw long formless slopes stretching
up and away toward the sky; brown and withered they looked, as if fire had
passed over them, leaving no living blade of green: an unfriendly waste
without even a broken tree or a bold stone to relieve the emptiness. They
had come to the Brown Lands that lay, vast and desolate, between Southern
Mirkwood and the hills of the Emyn Muil. What pestilence or war or evil deed
of the Enemy had so blasted all that region even Aragorn could not tell.
Upon the west to their right the land was treeless also, but it was
flat, and in many places green with wide plains of grass. On this side of
the River they passed forests of great reeds, so tall that they shut out all
view to the west, as the little boats went rustling by along their
fluttering borders. Their dark withered plumes bent and tossed in the light
cold airs, hissing softly and sadly. Here and there through openings Frodo
could catch sudden glimpses of rolling meads, and far beyond them hills in
the sunset, and away on the edge of sight a dark line, where marched the
southernmost ranks of the Misty Mountains.
There was no sign of living moving things, save birds. Of these there
were many: small fowl whistling and piping in the reeds, but they were
seldom seen. Once or twice the travellers heard the rush and whine of
swan-wings, and looking up they saw a great phalanx streaming along the sky.
`Swans! ' said Sam. `And mighty big ones too! '
`Yes,' said Aragorn, 'and they are black swans.'
`How wide and empty and mournful all this country looks! ' said Frodo.
`I always imagined that as one journeyed south it got warmer and merrier,
until winter was left behind for ever.'
'But we have not journeyed far south yet,' answered Aragorn. `It is
still winter, and we are far from the sea. Here the world is cold until the
sudden spring, and we may yet have snow again. Far away down in the Bay of
Belfalas, to which Anduin runs, it is warm and merry, maybe, or would be but
for the Enemy. But here we are not above sixty leagues, I guess, south of
the Southfarthing away in your Shire, hundreds of long miles yonder. You are
looking now south-west across the north plains of the Riddermark, Rohan the
land of the Horse-lords. Ere long we shall come to the mouth of the Limlight
that runs down from Fangorn to join the Great River. That is the north
boundary of Rohan; and of old all that lay between Limlight and the White
Mountains belonged to the Rohirrim. It is a rich and pleasant land, and its
grass has no rival; but in these evil days folk do not dwell by the River or
ride often to its shores. Anduin is wide, yet the orcs can shoot their
arrows far across the stream; and of late, it is said, they have dared to
cross the water and raid the herds and studs of Rohan.'
Sam looked from bank to bank uneasily. The trees had seemed hostile
before, as if they harboured secret eyes and lurking dangers; now he wished
that the trees were still there. He felt that the Company was too naked,
afloat in little open boats in the midst of shelterless lands, and on a
river that was the frontier of war.
In the next day or two, as they went on, borne steadily southwards,
this feeling of insecurity grew on all the Company. For a whole day they
took to their paddles and hastened forward. The banks slid by. Soon the
River broadened and grew more shallow; long stony beaches lay upon the east,
and there were gravel-shoals in the water, so that careful steering was
needed. The Brown Lands rose into bleak wolds, over which flowed a chill air
from the East. On the other side the meads had become rolling downs of
withered grass amidst a land of fen and tussock. Frodo shivered, thinking of
the lawns and fountains, the clear sun and gentle rains of Lothlurien. There
was little speech and no laughter in any of the boats. Each member of the
Company was busy with his own thoughts.
The heart of Legolas was running under the stars of a summer night in
some northern glade amid the beech-woods; Gimli was fingering gold in his
mind, and wondering if it were fit to be wrought into the housing of the
Lady's gift. Merry and Pippin in the middle boat were ill at ease, for
Boromir sat muttering to himself, sometimes biting his nails, as if some
restlessness or doubt consumed him, sometimes seizing a paddle and driving
the boat close behind Aragorn's. Then Pippin, who sat in the bow looking
back, caught a queer gleam in his eye, as he peered forward gazing at Frodo.
Sam had long ago made up his mind that, though boats were maybe not as
dangerous as he had been brought up to believe, they were far more
uncomfortable than even he had imagined. He was cramped and miserable,
having nothing to do but stare at the winter-lands crawling by and the grey
water on either side of him. Even when the paddles were in use they did not
trust Sam with one.
As dusk drew down on the fourth day, he was looking back over the bowed
heads of Frodo and Aragorn and the following boats; he was drowsy and
longed
for camp and the feel of earth under his toes. Suddenly something caught his
sight: at first he stared at it listlessly, then he sat up and rubbed his
eyes; but when he looked again he could not see it any more.
That night they camped on a small eyot close to the western bank. Sam
lay rolled in blankets beside Frodo. `I had a funny dream an hour or two
before we stopped, Mr. Frodo,' he said. `Or maybe it wasn't a dream. Funny
it was anyway.'
`Well, what was it? ' said Frodo, knowing that Sam would not settle
down until he had told his tale, whatever it was. 'I haven't seen or thought
of anything to make me smile since we left Lothlurien.'
`It wasn't funny that way, Mr. Frodo. It was queer. All wrong, if it
wasn't a dream. And you had best hear it. It was like this: I saw a log with
eyes! '
`The log's all right,' said Frodo. `There are many in the River. But
leave out the eyes! '
`That I won't,' said Sam. ` 'Twas the eyes as made me sit up, so to
speak. I saw what I took to be a log floating along in the half-light behind
Gimli's boat; but I didn't give much heed to it. Then it seemed as if the
log was slowly catching us up. And that was peculiar, as you might say,
seeing as we were all floating on the stream together. Just then I saw the
eyes: two pale sort of points, shiny-like, on a hump at the near end of the
log. What's more, it wasn't a log, for it had paddle-feet, like a swan's
almost, only they seemed bigger, and kept dipping in and out of the water.
'That's when I sat right up and rubbed my eyes, meaning to give a
shout, if it was still there when I had rubbed the drowse out of my head.
For the whatever-it-was was coming along fast now and getting close behind
Gimli. But whether those two lamps spotted me moving and staring, or whether
I came to my senses, I don't know. When I looked again, it wasn't there. Yet
I think I caught a glimpse with the tail of-my eye, as the saying is, of
something dark shooting under the shadow of the bank. I couldn't see no more
eyes though.
`I said to myself: "dreaming again, Sam Gamgee," I said: and I said no
more just then. But I've been thinking since. and now I'm not so sure. What
do you make of it, Mr. Frodo? '
'I should make nothing of it but a log and the dusk and sleep in your
eyes Sam, said Frodo, if this was the first time that those eyes had been
seen. But it isn't. I saw them away back north before we reached Lurien. And
I saw a strange creature with eyes climbing to the flet that night. Haldir
saw it too. And do you remember the report of the Elves that went after the
orc-band? '
`Ah,' said Sam. `I do; and I remember more too. I don't like my
thoughts; but thinking of one thing and another, and Mr. Bilbo's stories and
all, I fancy I could put a name on the creature, at a guess. A nasty name.
Gollum, maybe? '
`Yes, that is what I have feared for some time,' said Frodo. `Ever
since the night on the flet. I suppose he was lurking in Moria, and picked
up our trail then; but I hoped that our stay in Lurien would throw him off
the scent again. The miserable creature must have been hiding in the woods
by the Silverlode, watching us start off! '
`That's about it,' said Sam. `And we'd better be a bit more watchful
ourselves, or we'll feel some nasty fingers round our necks one of these
nights, if we ever wake up to feel anything. And that's what I was leading
up to. No need to trouble Strider or the others tonight. I'll keep watch. I
can sleep tomorrow, being no more than luggage in a boat, as you might say.'
`I might,' said Frodo, `and I might say "luggage with eyes". You shall
watch; but only if you promise to wake me halfway towards morning, if
nothing happens before then.'
In the dead hours Frodo came out of a deep dark sleep to find Sam
shaking him. `It's a shame to wake you,' whispered Sam, `but that's what you
said. There's nothing to tell, or not much. I thought I heard some soft
plashing and a sniffing noise, a while back; but you hear a lot of such
queer sounds by a river at night.'
He lay down, and Frodo sat up, huddled in his blankets, and fought off
his sleep. Minutes or hours passed slowly, and nothing happened. Frodo was
just yielding to the temptation to lie down again when a dark shape, hardly
visible, floated close to one of the moored boats. A long whitish hand could
be dimly seen as it shot out and grabbed the gunwale; two pale lamplike eyes
shone coldly as they peered inside, and then they lifted and gazed up at
Frodo on the eyot. They were not more than a yard or two away, and Frodo
heard the soft hiss of intaken breath. He stood up, drawing Sting from its
sheath, and faced the eyes. Immediately their light was shut off. There was
another hiss and a splash, and the dark log-shape shot away downstream into
the night. Aragorn stirred in his sleep, turned over, and sat up`
'What is it? ' he whispered, springing up and coming to Frodo. `I felt
something in my sleep. Why have you drawn your sword? '
`Gollum,' answered Frodo. 'Or at least, so I guess.'
`Ah! ' said Aragorn. `So you know about our little footpad, do you? He
padded after us all through Moria and right down to Nimrodel. Since we took
to boats, he has been lying on a log and paddling with hands and feet. I
have tried to catch him once or twice at night; but he is slier than a fox,
and as slippery as a fish. I hoped the river-voyage would beat him, but he
is too clever a waterman.
`We shall have to try going faster tomorrow. You lie down now, and I
will keep watch for what is left of the night. I wish I could lay my hands
on the wretch. We might make him useful. But if I cannot, we shall have to
try and lose him. He is very dangerous. Quite apart from murder by night on
his own account, he may put any enemy that is about on our track.'
The night passed without Gollum showing so much as a shadow again.
After that the Company kept a sharp look-out, but they saw no more of Gollum
while the voyage lasted. If he was still following, he was very wary and
cunning. At Aragorn's bidding they paddled now for long spells, and the
banks went swiftly by. But they saw little of the country, for they
journeyed mostly by night and twilight, resting by day, and lying as hidden
as the land allowed. In this way the time passed without event until the
seventh day.
The weather was still grey and overcast, with wind from the East, but
as evening drew into night the sky away westward cleared, and pools of faint
light, yellow and pale green, opened under the grey shores of cloud. There
the white rind of the new Moon could be seen glimmering in the remote lakes.
Sam looked at it and puckered his brows.
The next day the country on either side began to change rapidly. The
banks began to rise and grow stony. Soon they were passing through a hilly
rocky land, and on both shores there were steep slopes buried in deep brakes
of thorn and sloe, tangled with brambles and creepers. Behind them stood low
crumbling cliffs, and chimneys of grey weathered stone dark with ivy; and
beyond these again there rose high ridges crowned with wind-writhen firs.
They were drawing near to the grey hill-country of the Emyn Muil, the
southern march of Wilderland.
There were many birds about the cliffs and the rock-chimneys, and all
day high in the air flocks of birds had been circling, black against the
pale sky. As they lay in their camp that day Aragorn watched the flights
doubtfully, wondering if Gollum had been doing some mischief and the news
of
their voyage was now moving in the wilderness. Later as the sun was setting,
and the Company was stirring and getting ready to start again, he descried a
dark spot against the fading light: a great bird high and far off, now
wheeling, now flying on slowly southwards.
'What is that, Legolas? ' he asked, pointing to the northern sky. 'Is
it, as I think. an eagle? '
'Yes.' said Legolas. `It is an eagle, a hunting eagle. I wonder what
that forebodes. It is far from the mountains.'
`We will not start until it is fully dark,' said Aragorn.
The eighth night of their journey came. It was silent and windless; the
grey east wind had passed away. The thin crescent of the Moon had fallen
early into the pale sunset, but the sky was clear above, and though far away
in the South there were great ranges of cloud that still shone faintly, in
the West stars glinted bright.
`Come! ' said Aragorn. `We will venture one more journey by night. We
are coming to reaches of the River that I do not know well: for I have never
journeyed by water in these parts before, not between here and the rapids of
Sarn Gebir. But if I am right in my reckoning, those are still many miles
ahead. Still there are dangerous places even before we come there: rocks and
stony eyots in the stream. We must keep a sharp watch and not try to paddle
swiftly.'
To Sam in the leading boat was given the task of watchman. He lay
forward peering into the gloom. The night grew dark, but the stars above
were strangely bright, and there was a glimmer On the face of the River. It
was close on midnight, and they had been drifting for some while. hardly
using the paddles, when suddenly Sam cried out. Only a few yards ahead dark
shapes loomed up in the stream and he heard the swirl of racing water. There
was a swift current which swung left, towards the eastern shore where the
channel was clear. As they were swept aside the travellers could see, now
very close, the pale foam of the River lashing against sharp rocks that were
thrust out far into the stream like a ridge of teeth. The boats were all
huddled together.
`Hoy there, Aragorn! ' shouted Boromir, as his boat bumped into the
leader. `This is madness! We cannot dare the Rapids by night! But no boat
can live in Sarn Gebir, be it night or day.'
`Back, back! ' cried Aragorn. 'Turn! Turn if you can! ' He drove his
paddle into the water, trying to hold the boat and bring it round.
'I am out of my reckoning,' he said to Frodo. 'I did not know that we
had come so far: Anduin flows faster than I thought. Sarn Gebir must be
close at hand already.'
With great efforts they checked the boats and slowly brought them
about; but at first they could make only small headway against the current,
and all the time they were carried nearer and nearer to the eastern bank.
Now dark and ominous it loomed up in the night.
'All together, paddle! ' shouted Boromir. 'Paddle! Or we shall be
driven on the shoals.' Even as he spoke Frodo felt the keel beneath him
grate upon stone.
At that moment there was a twang of bowstrings: several arrows whistled
over them, and some fell among them. One smote Frodo between the
shoulders
and he lurched forward with a cry, letting go his paddle: but the arrow fell
back. foiled by his hidden coat of mail. Another passed through Aragorn's
hood; and a third stood fast in the gunwale of the second boat, close by
Merry's hand. Sam thought he could glimpse black figures running to and fro
upon the long shingle-banks that lay under the eastern shore. They seemed
very near.
`Yrch!' said Legolas, falling into his own tongue.
`Orcs! ' cried Gimli.
`Gollum's doing, I'll be bound.' said Sam to Frodo. `And a nice place
to choose, too. The River seems set on taking us right into their arms! '
They all leaned forward straining at the paddles: even Sam took a hand.
Every moment they expected to feel the bite of black-feathered arrows. Many
whined overhead or struck the water nearby; but there were no more hits. It
was dark, but not too dark for the night-eyes of Orcs, and in the
star-glimmer they must have offered their cunning foes some mark, unless it
was that the grey cloaks Of Lurien and the grey timber of the elf-wrought
boats defeated the malice of the archers of Mordor.
Stroke by stroke they laboured on. In the darkness it was hard to be
sure that they were indeed moving at all; but slowly the swirl of the water
grew less, and the shadow of the eastern bank faded back into the night. At
last, as far as they could judge, they had reached the middle of the stream
again and had driven their boats back some distance above the jutting rocks.
Then half turning they thrust them with all their strength towards the
western shore. Under the shadow Of bushes leaning out over the water they
halted and drew breath.
Legolas laid down his paddle and took up the bow that he had brought
from Lurien. Then he sprang ashore and climbed a few paces up the bank.
Stringing the bow and fitting an arrow he turned, peering back over the
River into the darkness. Across the water there were shrill cries, but
nothing could be seen.
Frodo looked up at the Elf standing tall above him, as he gazed into
the night, seeking a mark to shoot at. His head was dark, crowned with sharp
white stars that glittered in the black pools of the sky behind. But now
rising and sailing up from the South the great clouds advanced, sending out
dark outriders into the starry fields. A sudden dread fell on the Company.
`Elbereth Gilthoniel!' sighed Legolas as he looked up. Even as he did
so, a dark shape, like a cloud and yet not a cloud, for it moved far more
swiftly, came out of the blackness in the South, and sped towards the
Company, blotting out all light as it approached. Soon it appeared as a
great winged creature, blacker than the pits in the night. Fierce voices
rose up to greet it from across the water. Frodo felt a sudden chill running
through him and clutching at his heart; there was a deadly cold, like the
memory of an old wound, in his shoulder. He crouched down, as if to hide.
Suddenly the great bow of Lurien sang. Shrill went the arrow from the
elven-string. Frodo looked up. Almost above him the winged shape swerved.
There was a harsh croaking scream, as it fell out of the air, vanishing down
into the gloom of the eastern shore. The sky was clean again. There was a
tumult of many voices far away, cursing and wailing in the darkness, and
then silence. Neither shaft nor cry came again from the east that night.
After a while Aragorn led the boats back upstream. They felt their way
along the water's edge for some distance, until they found a small shallow
bay. A few low trees grew there close to the water, and behind them rose a
steep rocky bank. Here the Company decided to stay and await the dawn: it
was useless to attempt to move further by night. They made no camp and lit
no fire, but lay huddled in the boats, moored close together.
'Praised be the bow of Galadriel, and the hand and eye of Legolas! '
said Gimli, as he munched a wafer of lembas. 'That was a mighty shot in the
dark, my friend!'
'But who can say what it hit?' said Legolas.
'I cannot,' said Gimli. `But I am glad that the shadow came no nearer.
I liked it not at all. Too much it reminded me of the shadow in Moria -- the
shadow of the Balrog,' he ended in a whisper.
'It was not a Balrog,' said Frodo, still shivering with the chill that
had come upon him. 'It was something colder. I think it was --' Then he
paused and fell silent.
'What do you think? ' asked Boromir eagerly, leaning from his boat, as
if he was trying to catch a glimpse of Frodo's face.
`I think -- No, I will not say,' answered Frodo. `Whatever it was, its
fall has dismayed our enemies.'
`So it seems,' said Aragorn. `Yet where they are, and how many, and
what they will do next, we do not know. This night we must all be sleepless!
Dark hides us now. But what the day will show who can tell? Have your
weapons close to hand! '
Sam sat tapping the hilt of his sword as if he were counting on his
fingers, and looking up at the sky. `It's very strange,' he murmured. `The
Moon's the same in the Shire and in Wilderland, or it ought to be. But
either it's out of its running, or I'm all wrong in my reckoning. You'll
remember, Mr. Frodo, the Moon was waning as we lay on the flet up in that
tree: a week from the full, I reckon. And we'd been a week on the way last
night, when up pops a New Moon as thin as a nail-paring, as if we had never
stayed no time in the Elvish country.
`Well, I can remember three nights there for certain, and I seem to
remember several more, but I would take my oath it was never a whole month.
Anyone would think that time did not count in there! '
`And perhaps that was the way of it,' said Frodo. `In that land, maybe,
we were in a time that has elsewhere long gone by. It was not, I think,
until Silverlode bore us back to Anduin that we returned to the time that
flows through mortal lands to the Great Sea. And I don't remember any moon,
either new or old, in Caras Galadhon: only stars by night and sun by day.'
Legolas stirred in his boat. `Nay, time does not tarry ever,' he said;
`but change and growth is not in all things and places alike. For the Elves
the world moves, and it moves both very swift and very slow. Swift, because
they themselves change little, and all else fleets by: it is a grief to
them. Slow, because they do not count the running years, not for themselves.
The passing seasons are but ripples ever repeated in the long long stream.
Yet beneath the Sun all things must wear to an end at last.'
`But the wearing is slow in Lurien,' said Frodo. `The power of the Lady
is on it. Rich are the hours, though short they seem, in Caras Galadhon,
where Galadriel wields the Elven-ring.'
'That should not have been said outside Lurien, not even to me,' said
Aragorn. `Speak no more of it! But so it is, Sam: in that land you lost your
count. There time flowed swiftly by us, as for the Elves. The old moon
passed, and a new moon waxed and waned in the world outside, while we
tarried there. And yestereve a new moon came again. Winter is nearly gone.
Time flows on to a spring of little hope.'
The night passed silently. No voice or call was heard again across the
water. The travellers huddled in their boats felt the changing of the
weather. The air grew warm and very still under the great moist clouds that
had floated up from the South and the distant seas. The rushing of the River
over the rocks of the rapids seemed to grow louder and closer. The twigs of
the trees above them began to drip.
When the day came the mood of the world about them had become soft and
sad. Slowly the dawn grew to a pale light, diffused and shadowless. There
was mist on the River, and white fog swathed the shore; the far bank could
not be seen.
`I can't abide fog,' said Sam; `but this seems to be a lucky one. Now
perhaps we can get away without those cursed goblins seeing us.'
`Perhaps so,' said Aragorn. `But it will be hard to find the path
unless the fog lifts a little later on. And we must find the path, if we are
to pass Sarn Gebir and come to the Emyn Muil.'
'I do not see why we should pass the Rapids or follow the River any
further,' said Boromir. `If the Emyn Muil lie before us, then we can abandon
these cockle-boats, and strike westward and southward, until we come to the
Entwash and cross into my own land.'
`We can, if we are making for Minas Tirith,' said Aragorn, `but that is
not yet agreed. And such a course may be more perilous than it sounds. The
vale of Entwash is flat and fenny, and fog is a deadly peril there for those
on foot and laden. I would not abandon our boats until we must. The River is
at least a path that cannot be missed.'
`But the Enemy holds the eastern bank,' objected Boromir. `And even if
you pass the Gates of Argonath and come unmolested to the Tindrock, what
will you do then? Leap down the Falls and land in the marshes? '
`No! ' answered Aragorn. `Say rather that we will bear our boats by the
ancient way to Rauros-foot, and there take to the water again. Do you not
know, Boromir, or do you choose to forget the North Stair, and the high seat
upon Amon Hen, that were made in the days of the great kings? I at least
have a mind to stand in that high place again, before I decide my further
course. There, maybe, we shall see some sign that will guide us.'
Boromir held out long against this choice; but when it became plain
that Frodo would follow Aragorn, wherever he went, he gave in. 'It is not
the way of the Men of Minas Tirith to desert their friends at need,' he
said, `and you will need my strength, if ever you are to reach the Tindrock.
To the tall isle I will go, but no further. There I shall turn to my home,
alone if my help has not earned the reward of any companionship.'
The day was now growing, and the fog had lifted a little. It was
decided that Aragorn and Legolas should at once go forward along the shore,
while the others remained by the boats. Aragorn hoped to find some way by
which they could carry both their boats and their baggage to the smoother
water beyond the Rapids.
`Boats of the Elves would not sink, maybe,' he said, `but that does not
say that we should come through Sarn Gebir alive. None have ever done so
yet. No road was made by the Men of Gondor in this region, for even in their
great days their realm did not reach up Anduin beyond the Emyn Muil; but
there is a portage-way somewhere on the western shore, if I can find it. It
cannot yet have perished; for light boats used to journey out of Wilderland
down to Osgiliath, and still did so until a few years ago, when the Orcs of
Mordor began to multiply.'
'Seldom in my life has any boat come out of the North, and the Orcs
prowl on the east-shore,' said Boromir. `If you go forward, peril will grow
with every mile, even if you find a path.'
`Peril lies ahead on every southward road,' answered Aragorn. `Wait for
us one day. If we do not return in that time, you will know that evil has
indeed befallen us. Then you must take a new leader and follow him as best
you can.'
It was with a heavy heart that Frodo saw Aragorn and Legolas climb the
steep bank and vanish into the mists; but his fears proved groundless. Only
two or three hours had passed, and it was barely mid-day, when the shadowy
shapes of the explorers appeared again.
`All is well,' said Aragorn, as he clambered down the bank. 'There is a
track, and it leads to a good landing that is still serviceable. The
distance is not great: the head of the Rapids is but half a mile below us,
and they are little more than a mile long. Not far beyond them the stream
becomes clear and smooth again, though it runs swiftly. Our hardest task
will be to get our boats and baggage to the old portage-way. We have found
it, but it lies well back from the water-side here, and runs under the lee
of a rock-wall, a furlong or more from the shore. We did not find where the
northward landing lies. If it still remains, we must have passed it
yesterday night. We might labour far upstream and yet miss it in the fog. I
fear we must leave the River now, and make for the portage-way as best we
can from here.'
`That would not be easy, even if we were all Men,' said Boromir.
`Yet such as we are we will try it,' said Aragorn.
'Aye, we will,' said Gimli. `The legs of Men will lag on a rough road,
while a Dwarf goes on, be the burden twice his own weight, Master Boromir! '
The task proved hard indeed, yet in the end it was done. The goods were
taken out of the boats and brought to the top of the bank, where there was a
level space. Then the boats were drawn out of the water and carried up. They
were far less heavy than any had expected. Of what tree growing in the
elvish country they were made not even Legolas knew; but the wood was
tough
and yet strangely light. Merry and Pippin alone could carry their boat with
ease along the flat. Nonetheless it needed the strength of the two Men to
lift and haul them over the ground that the Company now had to cross. It
sloped up away from the River, a tumbled waste of grey limestone-boulders,
with many hidden holes shrouded with weeds and bushes; there were thickets
of brambles, and sheer dells; and here and there boggy pools fed by waters
trickling from the terraces further inland.
One by one Boromir and Aragorn carried the boats, while the others
toiled and scrambled after them with the baggage. At last all was removed
and laid on the portage-way. Then with little further hindrance, save from
sprawling briars and many fallen stones, they moved forward all together.
Fog still hung in veils upon the crumbling rock-wall, and to their left mist
shrouded the River: they could hear it rushing and foaming over the sharp
shelves and stony teeth of Sarn Gebir, but they could not see it. Twice they
made the journey, before all was brought safe to the southern landing.
There the portage-way, turning back to the water-side, ran gently down
to the shallow edge of a little pool. It seemed to have been scooped in the
river-side, not by hand, but by the water swirling down from Sarn Gebir
against a low pier of rock that jutted out some way into the stream. Beyond
it the shore rose sheer into a grey cliff, and there was no further passage
for those on foot.
Already the short afternoon was past, and a dim cloudy dusk was closing
in. They sat beside the water listening to the confused rush and roar of the
Rapids hidden in the mist; they were tired and sleepy, and their hearts were
as gloomy as the dying day.
'Well, here we are, and here we must pass another night,' said Boromir.
`We need sleep, and even if Aragorn had a mind to pass the Gates of Argonath
by night, we are all too tired-except, no doubt, our sturdy dwarf.'
Gimli made no reply: he was nodding as he sat.
`Let us rest as much as we can now,' said Aragorn. `Tomorrow we must
journey by day again. Unless the weather changes once more and cheats us, we
shall have a good chance of slipping through, unseen by any eyes on the
eastern shore. But tonight two must watch together in turns: three hours off
and one on guard.'
Nothing happened that night worse than a brief drizzle of rain an hour
before dawn. As soon as it was fully light they started. Already the fog was
thinning. They kept as close as they could to the western side, and they
could see the dim shapes of the low cliffs rising ever higher, shadowy walls
with their feet in the hurrying river. In the mid-morning the clouds drew
down lower, and it began to rain heavily. They drew the skin-covers over
their boats to prevent them from being flooded, and drifted on: little could
be seen before them or about them through the grey falling curtains.
The rain, however, did not last long. Slowly the sky above grew
lighter, and then suddenly the clouds broke, and their draggled fringes
trailed away northward up the River. The fogs and mists were gone. Before
the travellers lay a wide ravine, with great rocky sides to which clung,
upon shelves and in narrow crevices, a few thrawn trees. The channel grew
narrower and the River swifter. Now they were speeding along with little
hope of stopping or turning, whatever they might meet ahead. Over them was a
lane of pale-blue sky, around them the dark overshadowed River, and before
them black, shutting out the sun, the hills of Emyn Muil, in which no
opening could be seen.
Frodo peering forward saw in the distance two great rocks approaching:
like great pinnacles or pillars of stone they seemed. Tall and sheer and
ominous they stood upon either side of the stream. A narrow gap appeared
between them, and the River swept the boats towards it.
`Behold the Argonath, the Pillars of the Kings! ' cried Aragorn. `We
shall pass them soon. Keep the boats in line, and as far apart as you can!
Hold the middle of the stream! '
As Frodo was borne towards them the great pillars rose like towers to
meet him. Giants they seemed to him, vast grey figures silent but
threatening. Then he saw that they were indeed shaped and fashioned: the
craft and power of old had wrought upon them, and still they preserved
through the suns and rains of forgotten years the mighty likenesses in which
they had been hewn. Upon great pedestals founded in the deep waters stood
two great kings of stone: still with blurred eyes and crannied brows they
frowned upon the North. The left hand of each was raised palm outwards in
gesture of warning; in each right hand there was an axe; upon each head
there was a crumbling helm and crown. Great power and majesty they still
wore, the silent wardens of a long-vanished kingdom. Awe and fear fell upon
Frodo, and he cowered down, shutting his eyes and not daring to look up as
the boat drew near. Even Boromir bowed his head as the boats whirled by.
frail and fleeting as little leaves, under the enduring shadow of the
sentinels of N®menor. So they passed into the dark chasm of the Gates.
Sheer rose the dreadful cliffs to unguessed heights on either side. Far
off was the dim sky. The black waters roared and echoed, and a wind screamed
over them. Frodo crouching over his knees heard Sam in front muttering and
groaning: `What a place! What a horrible place! Just let me get out of this
boat, and I'll never wet my toes in a puddle again, let alone a river! '
`Fear not! ' said a strange voice behind him. Frodo turned and saw
Strider, and yet not Strider; for the weatherworn Ranger was no longer
there. In the stern sat Aragorn son of Arathorn, proud and erect, guiding
the boat with skilful strokes; his hood was cast back, and his dark hair was
blowing in the wind, a light was in his eyes: a king returning from exile to
his own land.
'Fear not! ' he said. `Long have I desired to look upon the likenesses
of Isildur and Anbrion, my sires of old. Under their shadow Elessar, the
Elfstone son of Arathorn of the House of Valandil Isildur's son heir of
Elendil, has nought to dread! '
Then the light of his eyes faded, and he spoke to himself: `Would that
Gandalf were here! How my heart yearns for Minas Anor and the walls of my
own city! But whither now shall I go? '
The chasm was long and dark, and filled with the noise of wind and
rushing water and echoing stone. It bent somewhat towards the west so that
at first all was dark ahead; but soon Frodo saw a tall gap of light before
him, ever growing. Swiftly it drew near, and suddenly the boats shot
through, out into a wide clear light.
The sun, already long fallen from the noon, was shining in a windy sky.
The pent waters spread out into a long oval lake, pale Nen Hithoel, fenced
by steep grey hills whose sides were clad with trees, but their heads were
bare, cold-gleaming in the sunlight. At the far southern end rose three
peaks. The midmost stood somewhat forward from the others and sundered
from
them, an island in the waters, about which the flowing River flung pale
shimmering arms. Distant but deep there came up on the wind a roaring sound
like the roll of thunder heard far away.
`Behold Tol Brandir! ' said Aragorn, pointing south to the tall peak.
'Upon the left stands Amon Lhaw, and upon the right is Amon Hen the Hills of
Hearing and of Sight. In the days of the great kings there were high seats
upon them, and watch was kept there. But it is said that no foot of man or
beast has ever been set upon Tol Brandir. Ere the shade of night falls we
shall come to them. I hear the endless voice of Rauros calling.'
The Company rested now for a while, drifting south on the current that
flowed through the middle of the lake. They ate some food, and then they
took to their paddles and hastened on their way. The sides of the westward
hills fell into shadow, and the Sun grew round and red. Here and there a
misty star peered out. The three peaks loomed before them, darkling in the
twilight. Rauros was roaring with a great voice. Already night was laid on
the flowing waters when the travellers came at last under the shadow of the
hills.
The tenth day of their journey was over. Wilderland was behind them.
They could go no further without choice between the east-way and the west.
The last stage of the Quest was before them.

The Fellowship Of The Ring - Chapter 19 - Farewell to Lurien

2010-08-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

That night the Company was again summoned to the chamber of Celeborn,
and there the Lord and Lady greeted them with fair words. At length Celeborn
spoke of their departure.
`Now is the time,' he said, `when those who wish to continue the Quest
must harden their hearts to leave this land. Those who no longer wish to go
forward may remain here, for a while. But whether they stay or go, none can
be sure of peace. For we are come now to the edge of doom. Here those who
wish may await the oncoming of the hour till either the ways of the world
lie open again. or we summon them to the last need of Lurien. Then they may
return to their own lands, or else go to the long home of those that fall in
battle.'
There was a silence. `They all resolved to go forward,' said Galadriel
looking in their eyes.
`As for me,' said Boromir, `my way home lies onward and not back.'
`That is true,' said Celeborn, `but is all this Company going with you
to Minas Tirith? '
`We have not decided our course,' said Aragorn. 'Beyond Lothlurien I do
not know what Gandalf intended to do. Indeed I do not think that even he had
any clear purpose.'
`Maybe not,' said Celeborn, `yet when you leave this land, you can no
longer forget the Great River. As some of you know well, it cannot be
crossed by travellers with baggage between Lurien and Gondor, save by boat.
And are not the bridges of Osgiliath broken down and all the landings held
now by the Enemy?
`On which side will you journey? The way to Minas Tirith lies upon this
side, upon the west; but the straight road of the Quest lies east of the
River, upon the darker shore. Which shore will you now take? '
`If my advice is heeded, it will be the western shore, and the way to
Minas Tirith,' answered Boromir. `But I am not the leader of the Company.'
The others said nothing, and Aragorn looked doubtful and troubled.
`I see that you do not yet know what to do,' said Celeborn. `It is not
my part to choose for you; but I will help you as I may. There are some
among you who can handle boats: Legolas, whose folk know the swift Forest
River; and Boromir of Gondor; and Aragorn the traveller.'
`And one Hobbit! ' cried Merry. `Not all of us look on boats as wild
horses. My people live by the banks of the Brandywine.'
`That is well,' said Celeborn. `Then I will furnish your Company with
boats. They must be small and light, for if you go far by water, there are
places where you will be forced to carry them. You will come to the rapids
of Sarn Gebir, and maybe at last to the great falls of Rauros where the
River thunders down from Nen Hithoel; and there are other perils. Boats may
make your journey less toilsome for a while. Yet they will not give you
counsel: in the end you must leave them and the River, and turn west-or
east.'
Aragorn thanked Celeborn many times. The gift of boats comforted him
much, not least because there would now be no need to decide his course for
some days. The others, too, looked more hopeful. Whatever perils lay ahead,
it seemed better to float down the broad tide of Anduin to meet them than to
plod forward with bent backs. Only Sam was doubtful: he at any rate still
thought boats as bad as wild horses, or worse, and not all the dangers that
he had survived made him think better of them.
`All shall be prepared for you and await you at the haven before noon
tomorrow,' said Celeborn. 'I will send my people to you in the morning to
help you make ready for the journey. Now we will wish you all a fair night
and untroubled sleep.'
'Good night, my friends! ' said Galadriel. 'Sleep in peace! Do not
trouble your hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the
paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though
you do not see them. Good night! '
The Company now took their leave and returned to their pavilion.
Legolas went with them, for this was to be their last night in Lothlurien,
and in spite of the words of Galadriel they wished to take counsel together.
For a long time they debated what they should do, and how it would be
best to attempt the fulfilling of their purpose with the Ring: but they came
to no decision. It was plain that most of them desired to go first to Minas
Tirith, and to escape at least for a while from the terror of the Enemy.
They would have been willing to follow a leader over the River and into the
shadow of Mordor; but Frodo spoke no word, and Aragorn was still divided in
his mind.
His own plan, while Gandalf remained with them, had been to go with
Boromir, and with his sword help to deliver Gondor. For he believed that the
message of the dreams was a summons, and that the hour had come at last
when
the heir of Elendil should come forth and strive with Sauron for the
mastery. But in Moria the burden of Gandalf had been laid on him; and he
knew that he could not now forsake the Ring, if Frodo refused in the end to
go with Boromir. And yet what help could he or any of the Company give to
Frodo, save to walk blindly with him into the darkness?
`I shall go to Minas Tirith, alone if need be, for it is my duty,' said
Boromir; and after that he was silent for a while, sitting with his eyes
fixed on Frodo, as if he was trying to read the Halfling's thoughts. At
length he spoke again, softly, as if he was debating with himself. `If you
wish only to destroy the Ring,' he said, `then there is little use in war
and weapons; and the Men of Minas Tirith cannot help. But if you wish to
destroy the armed might of the Dark Lord, then it is folly to go without
force into his domain; and folly to throw away.' He paused suddenly, as if
he had become aware that he was speaking his thoughts aloud. `It would be
folly to throw lives away, I mean,' he ended. `It is a choice between
defending a strong place and walking openly into the arms of death. At
least, that is how I see it.'
Frodo caught something new and strange in Boromir's glance, and he
looked hard at him. Plainly Boromir's thought was different from his final
words. It would be folly to throw away: what? The Ring of Power? He had said
something like this at the Council, but then he had accepted the correction
of Elrond. Frodo looked at Aragorn, but he seemed deep in his own thought
and made no sign that he had heeded Boromir's words. And so their debate
ended. Merry and Pippin were already asleep, and Sam was nodding. The
night
was growing old.
In the morning, as they were beginning to pack their slender goods,
Elves that could speak their tongue came to them and brought them many gifts
of food and clothing for the journey. The food was mostly in the form of
very thin cakes, made of a meal that was baked a light brown on the outside,
and inside was the colour of cream. Gimli took up one of the cakes and
looked at it with a doubtful eye.
`Cram,' he said under his breath, as he broke off a crisp corner and
nibbled at it. His expression quickly changed, and he ate all the rest of
the cake with relish.
`No more, no more!' cried the Elves laughing. `You have eaten enough
already for a long day's march.'
`I thought it was only a kind of cram, such as the Dale-men make for
journeys in the wild,' said the Dwarf.
`So it is,' they answered. `But we call it lembas or waybread, and it
is more strengthening than any food made by Men, and it is more pleasant
than cram, by all accounts.'
`Indeed it is,' said Gimli. 'Why it is better than the honey-cakes of
the Beornings, and that is great praise, for the Beornings are the best
bakers that I know of; but they are none too willing to deal out their cakes
to travellers in these days. You are kindly hosts! '
'All the same, we bid you spare the food,' they said. 'Eat little at a
time, and only at need. For these things are given to serve you when all
else fails. The cakes will keep sweet for many many days, if they are
unbroken and left in their leaf-wrappings, as we have brought them. One will
keep a traveller on his feet for a day of long labour, even if he be one of
the tall Men of Minas Tirith.'
The Elves next unwrapped and gave to each of the Company the clothes
they had brought. For each they had provided a hood and cloak, made
according to his size, of the light but warm silken stuff that the Galadhrim
wove. It was hard to say of what colour they were: grey with the hue of
twilight under the trees they seemed to be; and yet if they were moved, or
set in another light, they were green as shadowed leaves, or brown as fallow
fields by night, dusk-silver as water under the stars. Each cloak was
fastened about the neck with a brooch like a green leaf veined with silver.
`Are these magic cloaks? ' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder.
`I do not know what you mean by that,' answered the leader of the
Elves. `They are fair garments, and the web is good, for it was made in this
land. They are elvish robes certainly, if that is what you mean. Leaf and
branch, water and stone: they have the hue and beauty of all these things
under the twilight of Lurien that we love; for we put the thought of all
that we love into all that we make. Yet they are garments, not armour, and
they will not turn shaft or blade. But they should serve you well: they are
light to wear, and warm enough or cool enough at need. And you will find
them a great aid in keeping out of the sight of unfriendly eyes, whether you
walk among the stones or the trees. You are indeed high in the favour of the
Lady! For she herself and her maidens wove this stuff; and never before have
we clad strangers in the garb of our own people.'
After their morning meal the Company said farewell to the lawn by the
fountain. Their hearts were heavy; for it was a fair place, and it had
become like home to them, though they could not count the days and nights
that they had passed there. As they stood for a moment looking at the white
water in the sunlight, Haldir came walking towards them over the green grass
of the glade. Frodo greeted him with delight.
'I have returned from the Northern Fences,' said the Elf, `and I am
sent now to be your guide again. The Dimrill Dale is full of vapour and
clouds of smoke, and the mountains are troubled. There are noises in the
deeps of the earth. If any of you had thought of returning northwards to
your homes, you would not have been able to pass that way. But come! Your
path now goes south.'
As they walked through Caras Galadhon the green ways were empty; but in
the trees above them many voices were murmuring and singing. They
themselves
went silently. At last Haldir led them down the southward slopes of the
hill, and they came again to the great gate hung with lamps, and to the
white bridge; and so they passed out and left the city of the Elves. Then
they turned away from the paved road and took a path that went off into a
deep thicket of mallorn-trees, and passed on, winding through rolling
woodlands of silver shadow, leading them ever down, southwards and
eastwards, towards the shores of the River.
They had gone some ten miles and noon was at hand when they came on a
high green wall. Passing through an opening they came suddenly out of the
trees. Before them lay a long lawn of shining grass, studded with golden
elanor that glinted in the sun. The lawn ran out into a narrow tongue
between bright margins: on the right and west the Silverlode flowed
glittering; on the left and east the Great River rolled its broad waters,
deep and dark. On the further shores the woodlands still marched on
southwards as far as the eye could see, but all the banks were bleak and
bare. No mallorn lifted its gold-hung boughs beyond the Land of Lurien.
On the bank of the Silverlode, at some distance up from the meeting of
the streams, there was a hythe of white stones and white wood. By it were
moored many boats and barges. Some were brightly painted, and shone with
silver and gold and green, but most were either white or grey. Three small
grey boats had been made ready for the travellers, and in these the Elves
stowed their goods. And they added also coils of rope, three to each boat.
Slender they looked, but strong, silken to the touch, grey of hue like the
elven-cloaks.
`What are these? ' asked Sam, handling one that lay upon the
greensward.
`Ropes indeed! ' answered an Elf from the boats. 'Never travel far
without a rope! And one that is long and strong and light. Such are these.
They may be a help in many needs.'
'You don't need to tell me that! ' said Sam. `I came without any and
I've been worried ever since. But I was wondering what these were made of,
knowing a bit about rope-making: it's in the family as you might say.'
`They are made of hithlain,' said the Elf, `but there is no time now to
instruct you in the art of their making. Had we known that this craft
delighted you, we could have taught you much. But now alas! unless you
should at some time return hither, you must be content with our gift. May it
serve you well! '
`Come! ' said Haldir. `All is now ready for you. Enter the boats! But
take care at first! '
'Heed the words! ' said the other Elves. 'These boats are light-built,
and they are crafty and unlike the boats of other folk. They will not sink,
lade them as you will; but they are wayward if mishandled. It would be wise
if you accustomed yourselves to stepping in and out, here where there is a
landing-place, before you set off downstream.'
The Company was arranged in this way: Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam were in
one boat; Boromir, Merry, and Pippin in another; and in the third were
Legolas and Gimli, who had now become fast friends. In this last boat most
of the goods and packs were stowed. The boats were moved and steered with
short-handled paddles that had broad leaf-shaped blades. When all was ready
Aragorn led them on a trial up the Silverlode. The current was swift and
they went forward slowly. Sam sat in the bows, clutching the sides, and
looking back wistfully to the shore. The sunlight glittering on the water
dazzled his eyes. As they passed beyond the green field of the Tongue, the
trees drew down to the river's brink. Here and there golden leaves tossed
and floated on the rippling stream. The air was very bright and still, and
there was a silence, except for the high distant song of larks.
They turned a sharp bend in the river, and there, sailing proudly down
the stream toward them, they saw a swan of great size. The water rippled on
either side of the white breast beneath its curving neck. Its beak shone
like burnished gold, and its eyes glinted like jet set in yellow stones; its
huge white wings were half lifted. A music came down the river as it drew
nearer; and suddenly they perceived that it was a ship, wrought and carved
with elven-skill in the likeness of a bird. Two elves clad in white steered
it with black paddles. In the midst of the vessel sat Celeborn, and behind
him stood Galadriel, tall and white; a circlet of golden flowers was in her
hair, and in her hand she held a harp, and she sang. Sad and sweet was the
sound of her voice in the cool clear air:
I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew:
Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.
Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea,
And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree.
Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone,
In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion.
There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years,
While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears.
O Lurien! The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day;
The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away.
O Lurien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore
And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor.
But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?
Aragorn stayed his boat as the Swan-ship drew alongside. The Lady ended
her song and greeted them. `We have come to bid you our last farewell,' she
said, `and to speed you with blessings from our land.'
`Though you have been our guests,' said Celeborn, `you have not yet
eaten with us, and we bid you, therefore, to a parting feast, here between
the flowing waters that will bear you far from Lurien.'
The Swan passed on slowly to the hythe, and they turned their boats and
followed it. There in the last end of Egladil upon the green grass the
parting feast was held; but Frodo ate and drank little, heeding only the
beauty of the Lady and her voice. She seemed no longer perilous or terrible,
nor filled with hidden power. Already she seemed to him, as by men of later
days Elves still at times are seen: present and yet remote, a living vision
of that which has already been left far behind by the flowing streams of
Time.
After they had eaten and drunk, sitting upon the grass, Celeborn spoke
to them again of their journey, and lifting his hand he pointed south to the
woods beyond the Tongue.
`As you go down the water,' he said, `you will find that the trees will
fail, and you will come to a barren country. There the River flows in stony
vale amid high moors, until at last after many leagues it comes to the tall
island of the Tindrock, that we call Tol Brandir. There it casts its arms
about the steep shores of the isle, and falls then with a great noise and
smoke over the cataracts of Rauros down into the Nindalf, the Wetwang as it
is called in your tongue. That is a wide region of sluggish fen where the
stream becomes tortuous and much divided. There the Entwash flows in by
many
mouths from the Forest of Fangorn in the west. About that stream, on this
side of the Great River, lies Rohan. On the further side are the bleak hills
of the Emyn Muil. The wind blows from the East there, for they look out over
the Dead Marshes and the Noman-lands to Cirith Gorgor and the black gates of
Mordor.
'Boromir, and any that go with him seeking Minas Tirith, will do well
to leave the Great River above Rauros and cross the Entwash before it finds
the marshes. Yet they should not go too far up that stream, nor risk
becoming entangled in the Forest of Fangorn. That is a strange land, and is
now little known. But Boromir and Aragorn doubtless do not need this
warning.'
'Indeed we have heard of Fangorn in Minas Tirith,' said Boromir. `But
what I have heard seems to me for the most part old wives' tales, such as we
tell to our children. All that lies north of Rohan is now to us so far away
that fancy can wander freely there. Of old Fangorn lay upon the borders of
our realm; but it is now many lives of men since any of us visited it, to
prove or disprove the legends that have come down from distant years.
`I have myself been at whiles in Rohan, but I have never crossed it
northwards. When I was sent out as a messenger, I passed through the Gap by
the skirts of the White Mountains, and crossed the Isen and the Greyflood
into Northerland. A long and wearisome journey. Four hundred leagues I
reckoned it, and it took me many months; for I lost my horse at Tharbad, at
the fording of the Greyflood. After that journey, and the road I have
trodden with this Company, I do not much doubt that I shall find a way
through Rohan, and Fangorn too, if need be.'
`Then I need say no more,' said Celeborn. 'But do not despise the lore
that has come down from distant years; for oft it may chance that old wives
keep in memory word of things that once were needful for the wise to know.'
Now Galadriel rose from the grass, and taking a cup from one of her
maidens she filled it with white mead and gave it to Celeborn.
'Now it is time to drink the cup of farewell,' she said. `Drink, Lord
of the Galadhrim! And let not your heart be sad though night must follow
noon, and already our evening draweth nigh.'
Then she brought the cup to each of the Company, and bade them drink
and farewell. But when they had drunk she commanded them to sit again on the
grass, and chairs were set for her and for Celeborn. Her maidens stood
silent about her, and a while she looked upon her guests. At last she spoke
again.
'We have drunk the cup of parting,' she said, `and the shadows fall
between us. But before you go, I have brought in my ship gifts which the
Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim now offer you in memory of Lothlurien.'
Then
she called to each in turn.
`Here is the gift of Celeborn and Galadriel to the leader of your
Company,' she said to Aragorn, and she gave him a sheath that had been made
to fit his sword. It was overlaid with a tracery of flowers and leaves
wrought of silver and gold, and on it were set in elven runes formed of many
gems the name And®ril and the lineage of the sword.
`The blade that is drawn from this sheath shall not be stained or
broken even in defeat,' she said. `But is there aught else that you desire
of me at our parting? For darkness will flow between us, and it may be that
we shall not meet again, unless it be far hence upon a road that has no
returning.'
And Aragorn answered: 'Lady, you know all my desire, and long held in
keeping the only treasure that I seek. Yet it is not yours to give me, even
if you would; and only through darkness shall I come to it.'
`Yet maybe this will lighten your heart,' said Galadriel; `for it was
left in my care to be given to you, should you pass through this land.' Then
she lifted from her lap a great stone of a clear green, set in a silver
brooch that was wrought in the likeness of an eagle with outspread wings;
and as she held it up the gem flashed like the sun shining through the
leaves of spring. `This stone I gave to Celebrnan my daughter, and she to
hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope. In this hour take the name
that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the house of Elendil! '
Then Aragorn took the stone and pinned the brooch upon his breast, and
those who saw him wondered; for they had not marked before how tall and
kingly he stood, and it seemed to them that many years of toil had fallen
from his shoulders. `For the gifts that you have given me I thank you,' he
said, 'O Lady of Lurien of whom were sprung Celebrnan and Arwen
Evenstar.
What praise could I say more? '
The Lady bowed her head, and she turned then to Boromir, and to him she
gave a belt of gold; and to Merry and Pippin she gave small silver belts,
each with a clasp wrought like a golden flower. To Legolas she gave a bow
such as the Galadhrim used, longer and stouter than the bows of Mirkwood,
and strung with a string of elf-hair. With it went a quiver of arrows.
`For you little gardener and lover of trees,' she said to Sam, `I have
only a small gift.' She put into his hand a little box of plain grey wood,
unadorned save for a single silver rune upon the lid. `Here is set G for
Galadriel,' she said; `but also it may stand for garden in your tongue. In
this box there is earth from my orchard, and such blessing as Galadriel has
still to bestow is upon it. It will not keep you on your road, nor defend
you against any peril; but if you keep it and see your home again at last,
then perhaps it may reward you. Though you should find all barren and laid
waste, there will be few gardens in Middle-earth that will bloom like your
garden, if you sprinkle this earth there. Then you may remember Galadriel,
and catch a glimpse far off of Lurien, that you have seen only in our
winter. For our spring and our summer are gone by, and they will never be
seen on earth again save in memory.'
Sam went red to the ears and muttered something inaudible, as he
clutched the box and bowed as well as he could.
`And what gift would a Dwarf ask of the Elves? ' said Galadriel turning
to Gimli.
`None, Lady,' answered Gimli. `It is enough for me to have seen the
Lady of the Galadhrim, and to have heard her gentle words.'
`Hear all ye Elves! ' she cried to those about her. `Let none say again
that Dwarves are grasping and ungracious! Yet surely, Gimli son of Gluin,
you desire something that I could give? Name it, I bid you! You shall not be
the only guest without a gift.'
`There is nothing, Lady Galadriel,' said Gimli, bowing low and
stammering. `Nothing, unless it might be-unless it is permitted to ask. nay,
to name a single strand of your hair, which surpasses the gold of the earth
as the stars surpass the gems of the mine. I do not ask for such a gift. But
you commanded me to name my desire.'
The Elves stirred and murmured with astonishment, and Celeborn gazed at
the Dwarf in wonder, but the Lady smiled. 'It is said that the skill of the
Dwarves is in their hands rather than in their tongues ' she said; `yet that
is not true of Gimli. For none have ever made to me a request so bold and
yet so courteous. And how shall I refuse, since I commanded him to speak?
But tell me, what would you do with such a gift? '
`Treasure it, Lady,' he answered, `in memory of your words to me at our
first meeting. And if ever I return to the smithies of my home, it shall be
set in imperishable crystal to be an heirloom of my house, and a pledge of
good will between the Mountain and the Wood until the end of days.'
Then the Lady unbraided one of her long tresses, and cut off three
golden hairs, and laid them in Gimli's hand. `These words shall go with the
gift,' she said. `I do not foretell, for all foretelling is now vain: on the
one hand lies darkness, and on the other only hope. But if hope should not
fail, then I say to you, Gimli son of Gluin, that your hands shall flow with
gold, and yet over you gold shall have no dominion.
`And you, Ring-bearer,' she said, turning to Frodo. `I come to you last
who are not last in my thoughts. For you I have prepared this.' She held up
a small crystal phial: it glittered as she moved it, and rays of white light
sprang from her hand. 'In this phial,' she said, `is caught the light of
Edrendil's star, set amid the waters of my fountain. It will shine still
brighter when night is about you. May it be a light to you in dark places,
when all other lights go out. Remember Galadriel and her Mirror! '
Frodo took the phial, and for a moment as it shone between them, he saw
her again standing like a queen, great and beautiful, but no longer
terrible. He bowed, but found no words to say.
Now the Lady arose, and Celeborn led them back to the hythe. A yellow
noon lay on the green land of the Tongue, and the water glittered with
silver. All at last was made ready. The Company took their places in the
boats as before. Crying farewell, the Elves of Lurien with long grey poles
thrust them out into the flowing stream, and the rippling waters bore them
slowly away. The travellers sat still without moving or speaking. On the
green bank near to the very point of the Tongue the Lady Galadriel stood
alone and silent. As they passed her they turned and their eyes watched her
slowly floating away from them. For so it seemed to them: Lurien was
slipping backward, like a bright ship masted with enchanted trees, sailing
on to forgotten shores, while they sat helpless upon the margin of the grey
and leafless world.
Even as they gazed, the Silverlode passed out into the currents of the
Great River, and their boats turned and began to speed southwards. Soon the
white form of the Lady was small and distant. She shone like a window of
glass upon a far hill in the westering sun, or as a remote lake seen from a
mountain: a crystal fallen in the lap of the land. Then it seemed to Frodo
that she lifted her arms in a final farewell, and far but piercing-clear on
the following wind came the sound of her voice singing. But now she sang in
the ancient tongue of the Elves beyond the Sea, and he did not understand
the words: fair was the music, but it did not comfort him.
Yet as is the way of Elvish words, they remained graven in his memory,
and long afterwards he interpreted them, as well as he could: the language
was that of Elven-song and spoke of things little known on Middle-earth.
Ai! lauril lantar lassi s®rinen,
Yjni ®nutiml ve rbmar aldaron!
Yjni ve lintl yuldar avbnier
mi oromardi lisse-miruvureva
And®nl pella, Vardo tellumar
nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni
umaryo airetbri-lnrinen.
Sn man i yulma nin enquantuva?
An sn Tintalll Varda Oiolosslo
ve fanyar mbryat Elentbri ortanl
ar ilyl tier undulbvl lumbull;
ar sindanuriello caita mornil
i falmalinnar imbl met, ar hnsil
unt®pa Calaciryo mnri oiall.
Si vanwa nb, Rumello vanwa, Valimar!
Nambril! Nai hiruvalyl Valimar.
Nai elyl hiruva. Nambril!
`Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind, long years numberless as
the wings of trees! The long years have passed like swift draughts of the
sweet mead in lofty halls beyond the West, beneath the blue vaults of Varda
wherein the stars tremble in the song of her voice, holy and queenly. Who
now shall refill the cup for me? For now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of
the Stars, from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds, and all
paths are drowned deep in shadow; and out of a grey country darkness lies on
the foaming waves between us, and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya for
ever. Now lost, lost to those from the East is Valimar! Farewell! Maybe thou
shalt find Valimar. Maybe even thou shalt find it. Farewell! ' Varda is the
name of that Lady whom the Elves in these lands of exile name Elbereth.
Suddenly the River swept round a bend, and the banks rose upon either
side, and the light of Lurien was hidden. To that fair land Frodo never came
again.
The travellers now turned their faces to the journey; the sun was
before them, and their eyes were dazzled, for all were filled with tears.
Gimli wept openly.
`I have looked the last upon that which was fairest,' he said to
Legolas his companion. `Henceforward I will call nothing fair, unless it be
her gift.' He put his hand to his breast.
`Tell me, Legolas, why did I come on this Quest? Little did I know
where the chief peril lay! Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we could not
foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger
that I feared, and it did not hold me back. But I would not have come, had I
known the danger of light and joy. Now I have taken my worst wound in this
parting, even if I were to go this night straight to the Dark Lord. Alas for
Gimli son of Gluin! '
`Nay! ' said Legolas. `Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world
in these after-days. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it
seems to those whose boat is on the running stream. But I count you blessed,
Gimli son of Gluin: for your loss you suffer of your own free will, and you
might have chosen otherwise. But you have not forsaken your companions,
and
the least reward that you shall have is that the memory of Lothlurien shall
remain ever clear and unstained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor
grow stale.'
`Maybe,' said Gimli; `and I thank you for your words. True words
doubtless; yet all such comfort is cold. Memory is not what the heart
desires. That is only a mirror, be it clear as Kheled-zvram. Or so says the
heart of Gimli the Dwarf. Elves may see things otherwise. Indeed I have
heard that for them memory is more like to the waking world than to a dream.
Not so for Dwarves.
'But let us talk no more of it. Look to the boat! She is too low in the
water with all this baggage, and the Great River is swift. I do not wish to
drown my grief in cold water.' He took up a paddle, and steered towards the
western bank, following Aragorn's boat ahead, which had already moved out of
the middle stream.
So the Company went on their long way, down the wide hurrying waters,
borne ever southwards. Bare woods stalked along either bank, and they could
not see any glimpse of the lands behind. The breeze died away and the River
flowed without a sound. No voice of bird broke the silence. The sun grew
misty as the day grew old, until it gleamed in a pale sky like a high white
pearl. Then it faded into the West, and dusk came early, followed by a grey
and starless night. Far into the dark quiet hours they floated on, guiding
their boats under the overhanging shadows of the western woods. Great trees
passed by like ghosts, thrusting their twisted thirsty roots through the
mist down into the water. It was dreary and cold. Frodo sat and listened to
the faint lap and gurgle of the River fretting among the tree-roots and
driftwood near the shore, until his head nodded and he fell into an uneasy
sleep.

The Fellowship Of The Ring - Chapter 18 - The Mirror of Galadriel

2010-08-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

The sun was sinking behind the mountains, and the shadows were
deepening in the woods, when they went on again. Their paths now went into
thickets where the dusk had already gathered. Night came beneath the trees
as they walked, and the Elves uncovered their silver lamps.
Suddenly they came out into the open again and found themselves under a
pale evening sky pricked by a few early stars. There was a wide treeless
space before them, running in a great circle and bending away on either
hand. Beyond it was a deep fosse lost in soft shadow, but the grass upon its
brink was green, as if it glowed still in memory of the sun that had gone.
Upon the further side there rose to a great height a green wall encircling a
green hill thronged with mallorn-trees taller than any they had yet seen in
all the land. Their height could not be guessed, but they stood up in the
twilight like living towers. In their, many-tiered branches and amid their
ever-moving leaves countless lights were gleaming, green and gold and
silver. Haldir turned towards the Company.
`Welcome to Caras Galadhon! ' he said. 'Here is the city of the
Galadhrim where dwell the Lord Celeborn and Galadriel the Lady of Lurien.
But we cannot enter here, for the gates do not look northward. We must go
round to the southern side, and the way is not short, for the city is
great.'
There was a road paved with white stone running on the outer brink of
the fosse. Along this they went westward, with the city ever climbing up
like a green cloud upon their left; and as the night deepened more lights
sprang forth, until all the hill seemed afire with stars. They came at last
to a white bridge, and crossing found the great gates of the city: they
faced south-west, set between the ends of the encircling wall that here
overlapped, and they were tall and strong, and hung with many lamps.
Haldir knocked and spoke, and the gates opened soundlessly; but of
guards Frodo could see no sign. The travellers passed within, and the gates
shut behind them. They were in a deep lane between the ends of the wall, and
passing quickly through it they entered the City of the Trees. No folk could
they see, nor hear any feet upon the paths; but there were many voices,
about them, and in the air above. Far away up on the hill they could hear
the sound of singing falling from on high like soft rain upon leaves.
They went along many paths and climbed many stairs, until they came to
the high places and saw before them amid a wide lawn a fountain shimmering.
It was lit by silver lamps that swung from the boughs of trees, and it fell
into a basin of silver, from which a white stream spilled. Upon the south
side of the lawn there stood the mightiest of all the trees; its great
smooth bole gleamed like grey silk, and up it towered, until its first
branches, far above, opened their huge limbs under shadowy clouds of leaves.
Beside it a broad white ladder stood, and at its foot three Elves were
seated. They sprang up as the travellers approached, and Frodo saw that they
were tall and clad in grey mail, and from their shoulders hung long white
cloaks.
'Here dwell Celeborn and Galadriel,' said Haldir. `It is their wish
that you should ascend and speak with them.'
One of the Elf-wardens then blew a clear note on a small horn, and it
was answered three times from far above. `I will go first,' said Haldir.
'Let Frodo come next and with him Legolas. The others may follow as they
wish. It is a long climb for those that are not accustomed to such stairs,
but you may rest upon the way.'
As he climbed slowly up Frodo passed many flets: some on one side, some
on another, and some set about the bole of the tree, so that the ladder
passed through them. At a great height above the ground he came to a wide
talan, like the deck of a great ship. On it was built a house, so large that
almost it would have served for a hall of Men upon the earth. He entered
behind Haldir, and found that he was in a chamber of oval shape, in the
midst of which grew the trunk of the great mallorn, now tapering towards its
crown, and yet making still a pillar of wide girth.
The chamber was filled with a soft light; its walls were green and
silver and its roof of gold. Many Elves were seated there. On two chairs
beneath the bole of the tree and canopied by a living bough there sat, side
by side, Celeborn and Galadriel. They stood up to greet their guests, after
the manner of Elves, even those who were accounted mighty kings. Very tall
they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave and
beautiful. They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of
deep gold, and the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright;
but no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their
eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the
wells of deep memory.
Haldir led Frodo before them, and the Lord welcomed him in his own
tongue. The Lady Galadriel said no word but looked long upon his face.
`Sit now beside my chair, Frodo of the Shire! ' said Celeborn. `When
all have come we will speak together.'
Each of the companions he greeted courteously by name as they entered.
`Welcome Aragorn son of Arathorn! ' he said. `It is eight and thirty years
of the world outside since you came to this land; and those years lie heavy
on you. But the end is near, for good or ill. Here lay aside your burden for
a while! '
'Welcome son of Thranduil! Too seldom do my kindred journey hither from
the North.'
`Welcome Gimli son of Gluin! It is long indeed since we saw one of
Durin's folk in Caras Galadhon. But today we have broken our long law. May
it be a sign that though the world is now dark better days are at hand, and
that friendship shall be renewed between our peoples.' Gimli bowed low.
When all the guests were seated before his chair the Lord looked at
them again. 'Here there are eight,' he said. `Nine were to set out: so said
the messages. But maybe there has been some change of counsel that we have
not heard. Elrond is far away, and darkness gathers between us, and all this
year the shadows have grown longer.'
`Nay, there was no change of counsel,' said the Lady Galadriel speaking
for the first time. Her voice was clear and musical, but deeper than woman's
wont. `Gandalf the Grey set out with the Company, but he did not pass the
borders of this land. Now tell us where he is; for I much desired to speak
with him again. But I cannot see him from afar, unless he comes within the
fences of Lothlurien: a grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet and
of his mind are hidden from me.'
'Alas! ' said Aragorn. `Gandalf the Grey fell into shadow. He remained
in Moria and did not escape.'
At these words all the Elves in the hall cried aloud in grief and
amazement. `These are evil tidings,' said Celeborn, `the most evil that have
been spoken here in long years full of grievous deeds.' He turned to Haldir.
`Why has nothing of this been told to me before? ' he asked in the
Elven-tongue.
'We have not spoken to Haldir of our deeds or our purpose,' said
Legolas. `At first we were weary and danger was too close behind and
afterwards we almost forgot our grief for a time, as we walked in gladness
on the fair paths of Lurien.'
`Yet our grief is great and our loss cannot be mended,' said Frodo.
'Gandalf was our guide, and he led us through Moria; and when our escape
seemed beyond hope he saved us, and he fell.'
'Tell us now the full tale! ' said Celeborn:
Then Aragorn recounted all that had happened upon the pass of
Caradhras, and in the days that followed; and he spoke of Balin and his
book, and the fight in the Chamber of Mazarbul, and the fire, and the narrow
bridge, and the coming of the Terror. 'An evil of the Ancient World it
seemed, such as I have never seen before,' said Aragorn. `It was both a
shadow and a flame, strong and terrible.'
'It was a Balrog of Morgoth,' said Legolas; `of all elf-banes the most
deadly, save the One who sits in the Dark Tower.'
`Indeed I saw upon the bridge that which haunts our darkest dreams l
saw Durin's Bane,' said Gimli in a low voice, and dread was in his eyes.
'Alas! ' said Celeborn. `We long have feared that under Caradhras a
terror slept. But had I known that the Dwarves had stirred up this evil in
Moria again, l would have forbidden you to pass the northern borders, you
and all that went with you. And if it were possible, one would say that at
the last Gandalf fell from wisdom into folly, going needlessly into the net
of Moria.'
`He would be rash indeed that said that thing,' said Galadriel gravely.
`Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. Those that followed him
knew not his mind and cannot report his full purpose. But however it may be
with the guide, the followers are blameless. Do not repent of your welcome
to the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long and far from Lothlurien, who
of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and would not
wish
to look upon their ancient home, though it had become an abode of dragons?
'Dark is the water of Kheled-zvram, and cold are the springs of
Kibil-nvla, and fair were the many-pillared halls of Khazad-dym in Elder
Days before the fall of mighty kings beneath the stone.' She looked upon
Gimli, who sat glowering and sad, and she smiled. And the Dwarf, hearing the
names given in his own ancient tongue, looked up and met her eyes; and it
seemed to him that he looked suddenly into the heart of an enemy and saw
there love and understanding. Wonder came into his face, and then he smiled
in answer.
He rose clumsily and bowed in dwarf-fashion, saying: `Yet more fair is
the living land of Lurien, and the Lady Galadriel is above all the jewels
that lie beneath the earth! '
There was a silence. At length Celeborn spoke again. `I did not know
that your plight was so evil,' he said. `Let Gimli forget my harsh words: I
spoke in the trouble of my heart. I will do what I can to aid you, each
according to his wish and need, but especially that one of the little folk
who bears the burden.'
'Your quest is known to us,' said Galadriel, looking at Frodo. `But we
will not here speak of it more openly. Yet not in vain will it prove, maybe,
that you came to this land seeking aid, as Gandalf himself plainly purposed.
For the Lord of the Galadhrim is accounted the wisest of the Elves of
Middle-earth, and a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings. He has dwelt
in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years
uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the
mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long
defeat.
'I it was who first summoned the White Council. And if my designs had
not gone amiss, it would have been governed by Gandalf the Grey, and then
mayhap things would have gone otherwise. But even now there is hope left. I
will not give you counsel, saying do this, or do that. For not in doing or
contriving, nor in choosing between this course and another, can I avail;
but only in knowing what was and is, and in part also what shall be. But
this I will say to you: your Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray
but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while
all the Company is true.'
And with that word she held them with her eyes, and in silence looked
searchingly at each of them in turn. None save Legolas and Aragorn could
long endure her glance. Sam quickly blushed and hung his head.
At length the Lady Galadriel released them from her eyes, and she
smiled. `Do not let your hearts be troubled,' she said. 'Tonight you shall
sleep in peace.' Then they sighed and felt suddenly weary, as those who have
been questioned long and deeply, though no words had been spoken openly.
`Go now! ' said Celeborn. `You are worn with sorrow and much toil. Even
if your Quest did not concern us closely, you should have refuge in this
City, until you were healed and refreshed. Now you shall rest, and we will
not speak of your further road for a while.'
That night the Company slept upon the ground, much to the satisfaction
of the hobbits. The Elves spread for them a pavilion among the trees near
the fountain, and in it they laid soft couches; then speaking words of peace
with fair elvish voices they left them. For a little while the travellers
talked of their night before in the tree-tops, and of their day's journey,
and of the Lord and Lady; for they had not yet the heart to look further
back.
`What did you blush for, Sam? ' said Pippin. `You soon broke down.
Anyone would have thought you had a guilty conscience. I hope it was nothing
worse than a wicked plot to steal one of my blankets.'
`I never thought no such thing,' answered Sam, in no mood for jest. 'If
you want to know, I felt as if I hadn't got nothing on, and I didn't like
it. She seemed to be looking inside me and asking me what I would do if she
gave me the chance of flying back home to the Shire to a nice little hole
with-with a bit of garden of my own.'
`That's funny,' said Merry. 'Almost exactly what I felt myself; only,
only well, I don't think I'II say any more,' he ended lamely.
All of them, it seemed, had fared alike: each had felt that he was
offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something
that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had
only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against
Sauron to others.
`And it seemed to me, too,' said Gimli, `that my choice would remain
secret and known only to myself.'
'To me it seemed exceedingly strange,' said Boromir. `Maybe it was only
a test, and she thought to read our thoughts for her own good purpose; but
almost I should have said that she was tempting us, and offering what she
pretended to have the power to give. It need not be said that I refused to
listen. The Men of Minas Tirith are true to their word.' But what he thought
that the Lady had offered him Boromir did not tell.
And as for Frodo, he would not speak, though Boromir pressed him with
questions. `She held you long in her gaze, Ring-bearer,' he said.
`Yes,' said Frodo; `but whatever came into my mind then I will keep
there.'
`Well, have a care! ' said Boromir. `I do not feel too sure of this
Elvish Lady and her purposes.'
`Speak no evil of the Lady Galadriel! ' said Aragorn sternly. 'You know
not what you say. There is in her and in this land no evil, unless a man
bring it hither himself. Then let him beware! But tonight I shall sleep
without fear for the first time since I left Rivendell. And may I sleep
deep, and forget for a while my grief! I am weary in body and in heart.' He
cast himself down upon his couch and fell at once into a long sleep.
The others soon did the same, and no sound or dream disturbed their
slumber. When they woke they found that the light of day was broad upon the
lawn before the pavilion. and the fountain rose and fell glittering in the
sun.
They remained some days in Lothlurien, so far as they could tell or
remember. All the while that they dwelt there the sun shone clear, save for
a gentle rain that fell at times, and passed away leaving all things fresh
and clean. The air was cool and soft, as if it were early spring, yet they
felt about them the deep and thoughtful quiet of winter. It seemed to them
that they did little but eat and drink and rest, and walk among the trees;
and it was enough.
They had not seen the Lord and Lady again, and they had little speech
with the Elven-folk; for few of these knew or would use the Westron tongue.
Haldir had bidden them farewell and gone back again to the fences of the
North, where great watch was now kept since the tidings of Moria that the
Company had brought. Legolas was away much among the Galadhrim, and
after
the first night he did not sleep with the other companions, though he
returned to eat and talk with them. Often he took Gimli with him when he
went abroad in the land, and the others wondered at this change.
Now as the companions sat or walked together they spoke of Gandalf, and
all that each had known and seen of him came clear before their minds. As
they were healed of hurt and weariness of body the grief of their loss grew
more keen. Often they heard nearby Elvish voices singing, and knew that they
were making songs of lamentation for his fall, for they caught his name
among the sweet sad words that they could not understand.
Mithrandir, Mithrandir sang the Elves, O Pilgrim Grey! For so they
loved to call him. But if Legolas was with the Company, he would not
interpret the songs for them, saying that he had not the skill, and that for
him the grief was still too near, a matter for tears and not yet for song.
It was Frodo who first put something of his sorrow into halting words.
He was seldom moved to make song or rhyme; even in Rivendell he had
listened
and had not sung himself, though his memory was stored with many things that
others had made before him. But now as he sat beside the fountain in Lurien
and heard about him the voices of the Elves, his thought took shape in a
song that seemed fair to him; yet when he tried to repeat it to Sam only
snatches remained, faded as a handful of withered leaves.
When evening in the Shire was grey
his footsteps on the Hill were heard;
before the dawn he went away
on journey long without a word.
From Wilderland to Western shore,
from northern waste to southern hill,
through dragon-lair and hidden door
and darkling woods he walked at will.
With Dwarf and Hobbit, Elves and Men,
with mortal and immortal folk,
with bird on bough and beast in den,
in their own secret tongues he spoke.
A deadly sword, a healing hand,
a back that bent beneath its load;
a trumpet-voice, a burning brand,
a weary pilgrim on the road.
A lord of wisdom throned he sat,
swift in anger, quick to laugh;
an old man in a battered hat
who leaned upon a thorny staff.
He stood upon the bridge alone
and Fire and Shadow both defied;
his staff was broken on the stone,
in Khazad-dym his wisdom died.
`Why, you'll be beating Mr. Bilbo next! ' said Sam.
'No, I am afraid not,' said Frodo. 'But that is the best I can do yet.'
'Well, Mr. Frodo, if you do have another go, I hope you'll say a word
about his fireworks,' said Sam. `Something like this:
The finest rockets ever seen:
they burst in stars of blue and green,
or after thunder golden showers
came falling like a rain of flowers.
Though that doesn't do them justice by a long road.'
`No, I'll leave that to you, Sam. Or perhaps to Bilbo. But-well. I
can't talk of it any more. I can't bear to think of bringing the news to
him.'
One evening Frodo and Sam were walking together in the cool twilight.
Both of them felt restless again. On Frodo suddenly the shadow of parting
had fallen: he knew somehow that the time was very near when he must leave
Lothlurien.
`What do you think of Elves now, Sam? ' he said. `I asked you the same
question once before-it seems a very long while ago; but you have seen more
of them since then.'
'I have indeed! ' said Sam. 'And I reckon there's Elves and Elves.
They're all elvish enough, but they're not all the same. Now these folk
aren't wanderers or homeless, and seem a bit nearer to the likes of us: they
seem to belong here, more even than Hobbits do in the Shire. Whether they've
made the land, or the land's made them, it's hard to say, if you take my
meaning. It's wonderfully quiet here. Nothing seems to be going on, and
nobody seems to want it to. If there's any magic about, it's right down
deep, where I can't lay my hands on it, in a manner of speaking.'
'You can see and feel it everywhere,' said Frodo.
'Well,' said Sam, 'you can't see nobody working it. No fireworks like
poor Gandalf used to show. I wonder we don't see nothing of the Lord and
Lady in all these days. I fancy now that she could do some wonderful things,
if she had a mind. I'd dearly love to see some Elf-magic, Mr. Frodo! '
'I wouldn't,' said Frodo. `I am content. And I don't miss Gandalf's
fireworks, but his bushy eyebrows, and his quick temper, and his voice.'
`You're right,' said Sam. `And don't think I'm finding fault. I've
often wanted to see a bit of magic like what it tells of in old tales, but
I've never heard of a better land than this. It's like being at home and on
a holiday at the same time, if you understand me. I don't want to leave. All
the same, I'm beginning to feel that if we've got to go on, then we'd best
get it over.
'It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish, as my
old gaffer used to say. And I don't reckon that these folk can do much more
to help us, magic or no. It's when we leave this land that we shall miss
Gandalf worse, I'm thinking.'
'I am afraid that's only too true, Sam,' said Frodo. `Yet I hope very
much that before we leave we shall see the Lady of the Elves again.'
Even as he spoke, they saw, as if she came in answer to their words,
the Lady Galadriel approaching. Tall and white and fair she walked beneath
the trees. She spoke no word, but beckoned to them.
Turning aside, she led them toward the southern slopes of the hill of
Caras Galadhon, and passing through a high green hedge they came into an
enclosed garden. No trees grew there, and it lay open to the sky. The
evening star had risen and was shining with white fire above the western
woods. Down a long flight of steps the Lady went into a deep green hollow,
through which ran murmuring the silver stream that issued from the fountain
on the hill. At the bottom, upon a low pedestal carved like a branching
tree, stood a basin of silver. wide and shallow, and beside it stood a
silver ewer.
With water from the stream Galadriel filled the basin to the brim, and
breathed on it, and when the water was still again she spoke. `Here is the
Mirror of Galadriel,' she said. 'I have brought you here so that you may
look in it, if you will.'
The air was very still, and the dell was dark, and the Elf-lady beside
him was tall and pale. 'What shall we look for, and what shall we see? '
asked Frodo, filled with awe.
`Many things I can command the Mirror to reveal,' she answered, `and to
some I can show what they desire to see. But the Mirror will also show
things unbidden, and those are often stranger and more profitable than
things which we wish to behold. What you will see, if you leave the Mirror
free to work, I cannot tell. For it shows things that were, and things that
are, things that yet may be. But which it is that he sees, even the wisest
cannot always tell. Do you wish to look? '
Frodo did not answer.
`And you? ' she said, turning to Sam. 'For this is what your folk would
call magic. I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean;
and they seem also to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy. But
this, if you will, is the magic of Galadriel. Did you not say that you
wished to see Elf-magic? '
'I did,' said Sam, trembling a little between fear and curiosity. `I'll
have a peep, Lady, if you're willing.'
`And I'd not mind a glimpse of what's going on at home,' he said in an
aside to Frodo. 'It seems a terrible long time that I've been away. But
there, like as not I'll only see the stars, or something that I won't
understand.'
'Like as not,' said the Lady with a gentle laugh. `But come, you shall
look and see what you may. Do not touch the water! '
Sam climbed up on the foot of the pedestal and leaned over the basin.
The water looked hard and dark. Stars were reflected in it.
`There's only stars, as I thought,' he said. Then he gave a low gasp,
for the stars went out. As if a dark veil had been withdrawn, the Mirror
grew grey, and then clear. There was sun shining, and the branches of trees
were waving and tossing in the wind. But before Sam could make up his mind
what it was that he saw, the light faded; and now he thought he saw Frodo
with a pale face lying fast asleep under a great dark cliff. Then he seemed
to see himself going along a dim passage, and climbing an endless winding
stair. It came to him suddenly that he was looking urgently for something,
but what it was he did not know. Like a dream the vision shifted and went
back, and he saw the trees again. But this time they were not so close, and
he could see what was going on: they were not waving in the wind, they were
falling, crashing to the ground.
`Hi!' cried Sam in an outraged voice. 'There's that Ted Sandyman
a-cutting down trees as he shouldn't. They didn't ought to be felled: it's
that avenue beyond the Mill that shades the road to Bywater. I wish I could
get at Ted, and I'd fell him!'
But now Sam noticed that the Old Mill had vanished, and a large
red-brick building was being put up where it had stood. Lots of folk were
busily at work. There was a tall red chimney nearby. Black smoke seemed to
cloud the surface of the Mirror.
'There's some devilry at work in the Shire,' he said. 'Elrond knew what
he was about when he wanted to send Mr. Merry back.' Then suddenly Sam
gave
a cry and sprang away. 'I can't stay here,' he said wildly. `I must go home.
They've dug up Bagshot Row, and there's the poor old gaffer going down the
Hill with his bits of things on a barrow. I must go home! '
'You cannot go home alone,' said the Lady. 'You did not wish to go home
without your master before you looked in the Mirror, and yet you knew that
evil things might well be happening in the Shire. Remember that the Mirror
shows many things, and not all have yet come to pass. Some never come to be,
unless those that behold the visions turn aside from their path to prevent
them. The Mirror is dangerous as a guide of deeds.'
Sam sat on the ground and put his head in his hands. `I wish I had
never come here, and I don't want to see no more magic,' he said and fell
silent. After a moment he spoke again thickly, as if struggling with tears.
`No, I'll go home by the long road with Mr. Frodo, or not at all,' he said.
`But I hope I do get back some day. If what I've seen turns out true,
somebody's going to catch it hot! '
`Do you now wish to look, Frodo? ' said the Lady Galadriel. `You did
not wish to see Elf-magic and were content.'
`Do you advise me to look? ' asked Frodo.
'No,' she said. `I do not counsel you one way or the other. I am not a
counsellor. You may learn something, and whether what you see be fair or
evil, that may be profitable, and yet it may not. Seeing is both good and
perilous. Yet I think, Frodo, that you have courage and wisdom enough for
the venture, or I would not have brought you here. Do as you will! '
`I will look,' said Frodo, and he climbed on the pedestal and bent over
the dark water. At once the Mirror cleared and he saw a twilit land.
Mountains loomed dark in the distance against a pale sky. A long grey road
wound back out of sight. Far away a figure came slowly down the road, faint
and small at first, but growing larger and clearer as it approached.
Suddenly Frodo realized that it reminded him of Gandalf. He almost called
aloud the wizard's name, and then he saw that the figure was clothed not in
grey but in white, in a white that shone faintly in the dusk; and in its
hand there was a white staff. The head was so bowed that he could see no
face, and presently the figure turned aside round a bend in the road and
went out of the Mirror's view. Doubt came into Frodo's mind: was this a
vision of Gandalf on one of his many lonely journeys long ago, or was it
Saruman?
The vision now changed. Brief and small but very vivid he caught a
glimpse of Bilbo walking restlessly about his room. The table was littered
with disordered papers; rain was beating on the windows.
Then there was a pause, and after it many swift scenes followed that
Frodo in some way knew to be parts of a great history in which he had become
involved. The mist cleared and he saw a sight which he had never seen before
but knew at once: the Sea. Darkness fell. The sea rose and raged in a great
storm. Then he saw against the Sun, sinking blood-red into a wrack of
clouds, the black outline of a tall ship with torn sails riding up out of
the West. Then a wide river flowing through a populous city. Then a white
fortress with seven towers. And then again a ship with black sails, but now
it was morning again, and the water rippled with light, and a banner bearing
the emblem of a white tree shone in the sun. A smoke as of fire and battle
arose, and again the sun went down in a burning red that faded into a grey
mist; and into the mist a small ship passed away, twinkling with lights. It
vanished, and Frodo sighed and prepared to draw away.
But suddenly the Mirror went altogether dark, as dark as if a hole had
opened in the world of sight, and Frodo looked into emptiness. In the black
abyss there appeared a single Eye that slowly grew. until it filled nearly
all the Mirror. So terrible was it that Frodo stood rooted, unable to cry
out or to withdraw his gaze. The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself
glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its
pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing.
Then the Eye began to rove, searching this way and that; and Frodo knew
with certainty and horror that among the many things that it sought he
himself was one. But he also knew that it could not see him-not yet, not
unless he willed it. The Ring that hung upon its chain about his neck grew
heavy, heavier than a great stone, and his head was dragged downwards. The
Mirror seemed to be growing hot and curls of steam were rising from the
water. He was slipping forward.
`Do not touch the water!' said the Lady Galadriel softly. The vision
faded, and Frodo found that he was looking at the cool stars twinkling in
the silver basin. He stepped back shaking all over and looked at the Lady.
`I know what it was that you last saw,' she said; `for that is also in
my mind. Do not be afraid! But do not think that only by singing amid the
trees, nor even by the slender arrows of elven-bows, is this land of
Lothlurien maintained and defended against its Enemy. I say to you, Frodo,
that even as I speak to you, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or
all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my
thought. But still the door is closed! '
She lifted up her white arms, and spread out her hands towards the East
in a gesture of rejection and denial. Edrendil, the Evening Star, most
beloved of the Elves, shone clear above. So bright was it that the figure of
the Elven-lady cast a dim shadow on the ground. Its rays glanced upon a ring
about her finger; it glittered like polished gold overlaid with silver
light, and a white stone in it twinkled as if the Even-star had come down to
rest upon her hand. Frodo gazed at the ring with awe; for suddenly it seemed
to him that he understood.
`Yes,' she said, divining his thought, `it is not permitted to speak of
it, and Elrond could not do so. But it cannot be hidden from the
Ring-bearer, and one who has seen the Eye. Verily it is in the land of
Lurien upon the finger of Galadriel that one of the Three remains. This is
Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper.
`He suspects, but he does not know -- not yet. Do you not see now
wherefore your coming is to us as the footstep of Doom? For if you fail,
then we are laid bare to the Enemy. Yet if you succeed, then our power is
diminished, and Lothlurien will fade, and the tides of Time will sweep it
away. We must depart into the West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell and
cave, slowly to forget and to be forgotten.'
Frodo bent his head. `And what do you wish? ' he said at last.
`That what should be shall be,' she answered. `The love of the Elves
for their land and their works is deeper than the deeps of the Sea, and
their regret is undying and cannot ever wholly be assuaged. Yet they will
cast all away rather than submit to Sauron: for they know him now. For the
fate of Lothlurien you are not answerable but only for the doing of your own
task. Yet I could wish, were it of any avail, that the One Ring had never
been wrought, or had remained for ever lost.'
'You are wise and fearless and fair, Lady Galadriel,' said Frodo. `I
will give you the One Ring, if you ask for it. It is too great a matter for
me.'
Galadriel laughed with a sudden clear laugh. `Wise the Lady Galadriel
may be,' she said, `yet here she has met her match in courtesy. Gently are
you revenged for my testing of your heart at our first meeting. You begin to
see with a keen eye. I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask
what you offer. For many long years I had pondered what I might do, should
the Great Ring come into my hands, and behold! it was brought within my
grasp. The evil that was devised long ago works on in many ways, whether
Sauron himself stands or falls. Would not that have been a noble deed to set
to the credit of his Ring, if I had taken it by force or fear from my guest?
`And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place
of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but
beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the
Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the
Lightning!
Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair! '
She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a
great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood
before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond
enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light
faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender
elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.
'I pass the test,' she said. `I will diminish, and go into the West and
remain Galadriel.'
They stood for a long while in silence. At length the Lady spoke again.
`Let us return! ' she said. `In the morning you must depart for now we have
chosen, and the tides of fate are flowing.'
`I would ask one thing before we go,' said Frodo, `a thing which I
often meant to ask Gandalf in Rivendell. I am permitted to wear the One
Ring: why cannot I see all the others and know the thoughts of those that
wear them? '
`You have not tried,' she said. `Only thrice have you set the Ring upon
your finger since you knew what you possessed. Do not try! It would destroy
you. Did not Gandalf tell you that the rings give power according to the
measure of each possessor? Before you could use that power you would need
to
become far stronger, and to train your will to the domination of others. Yet
even so, as Ring-bearer and as one that has borne it on finger and seen that
which is hidden, your sight is grown keener. You have perceived my thought
more clearly than many that are accounted wise. You saw the Eye of him that
holds the Seven and the Nine. And did you not see and recognize the ring
upon my finger? Did you see my ring? ' she asked turning again to Sam.
'No, Lady,' he answered. `To tell you the truth, I wondered what you
were talking about. I saw a star through your finger. But if you'll pardon
my speaking out, I think my master was right. I wish you'd take his Ring.
You'd put things to rights. You'd stop them digging up the gaffer and
turning him adrift. You'd make some folk pay for their dirty work.'
`I would,' she said. `That is how it would begin. But it would not stop
with that, alas! We will not speak more of it. Let us go!'

The Fellowship Of The Ring - Chapter 17 - Lothlurien

2010-08-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

'Alas! I Fear we cannot stay here longer,' said Aragorn. He looked
towards the mountains and held up his sword. `Farewell, Gandalf! ' he cried.
'Did I not say to you: if you pass the doors of Moria, beware? Alas that I
spoke true! What hope have we without you? '
He turned to the Company. `We must do without hope,' he said. `At least
we may yet be avenged. Let us gird ourselves and weep no more! Come! We
have
a long road, and much to do.'
They rose and looked about them. Northward the dale ran up into a glen
of shadows between two great arms of the mountains, above which three white
peaks were shining: Celebdil, Fanuidhol, Caradhras. the Mountains of Moria.
At the head of the glen a torrent flowed like a white lace over an endless
ladder of short falls, and a mist of foam hung in the air about the
mountains' feet.
`Yonder is the Dimrill Stair,' said Aragorn, pointing to the falls.
'Down the deep-cloven way that climbs beside the torrent we should have
come, if fortune had been kinder.'
`Or Caradhras less cruel,' said Gimli. `There he stands smiling in the
sun! ' He shook his fist at the furthest of the snow-capped peaks and turned
away.
To the east the outflung arm of the mountains marched to a sudden end,
and far lands could be descried beyond them, wide and vague. To the south
the Misty Mountains receded endlessly as far as sight could reach. Less than
a mile away, and a little below them, for they still stood high up on the
west side of the dale, there lay a mere. It was long and oval, shaped like a
great spear-head thrust deep into the northern glen; but its southern end
was beyond the shadows under the sunlit sky. Yet its waters were dark: a
deep blue like clear evening sky seen from a lamp-lit room. Its face was
still and unruffled. About it lay a smooth sward, shelving down on all sides
to its bare unbroken rim.
`There lies the Mirrormere, deep Kheled-zvram! ' said Gimli sadly. `I
remember that he said: "May you have joy of the sight! But we cannot linger
there." Now long shall I journey ere I have joy again. It is I that must
hasten away, and he that must remain.'
The Company now went down the road from the Gates. It was rough and
broken, fading to a winding track between heather and whin that thrust amid
the cracking stones. But still it could be seen that once long ago a great
paved way had wound upwards from the lowlands of the Dwarf-kingdom.
In
places there were ruined works of stone beside the path, and mounds of green
topped with slender birches, or fir-trees sighing in the wind. An eastward
bend led them hard by the sward of Mirrormere, and there not far from the
roadside stood a single column broken at the top.
'That is Durin's Stone! ' cried Gimli. `I cannot pass without turning
aside for a moment to look at the wonder of the dale! '
`Be swift then! ' said Aragorn, looking back towards the Gates. `The
Sun sinks early. The Orcs will not, maybe, come out till after dusk, but we
must be far away before nightfall. The Moon is almost spent, and it will be
dark tonight.'
'Come with me, Frodo! ' cried the dwarf, springing from the road. `I
would not have you go without seeing Kheled-zvram.' He ran down the long
green slope. Frodo followed slowly, drawn by the still blue water in spite
of hurt and weariness; Sam came up behind.
Beside the standing stone Gimli halted and looked up. It was cracked
and weather-worn, and the faint runes upon its side could not be read. `This
pillar marks the spot where Durin first looked in the Mirrormere,' said the
dwarf. 'Let us look ourselves once, ere we go!'
They stooped over the dark water. At first they could see nothing. Then
slowly they saw the forms of the encircling mountains mirrored in a profound
blue, and the peaks were like plumes of white flame above them; beyond there
was a space of sky. There like jewels sunk in the deep shone glinting stars,
though sunlight was in the sky above. Of their own stooping forms no shadow
could be seen.
'O Kheled-zvram fair and wonderful! ' said Gimli. `There lies the Crown
of Durin till he wakes. Farewell! ' He bowed, and turned away, and hastened
back up the green-sward to the road again.
`What did you see? ' said Pippin to Sam, but Sam was too deep in
thought to answer.
The road now turned south and went quickly downwards, running out from
between the arms of the dale. Some way below the mere they came on a deep
well of water, clear as crystal, from which a freshet fell over a stone lip
and ran glistening and gurgling down a steep rocky channel.
'Here is the spring from which the Silverlode rises.' said Gimli. `Do
not drink of it! It is icy cold.'
'Soon it becomes a swift river, and it gathers water from many other
mountain-streams,' said Aragorn. `Our road leads beside it for many miles.
For I shall take you by the road that Gandalf chose, and first I hope to
come to the woods where the Silverlode flows into the Great River-out
yonder.' They looked as he pointed, and before them they could see the
stream leaping down to the trough of the valley, and then running on and
away into the lower lands, until it was lost in a golden haze.
`There lie the woods of Lothlurien! ' said Legolas. `That is the
fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees
of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. Not
till the spring comes and the new green opens do they fall, and then the
boughs are laden with yellow flowers; and the floor of the wood is golden,
and golden is the roof, and its pillars are of silver, for the bark of the
trees is smooth and grey. So still our songs in Mirkwood say. My heart would
be glad if I were beneath the eaves of that wood, and it were springtime! '
`My heart will be glad, even in the winter,' said Aragorn. 'But it lies
many miles away. Let us hasten! '
For some time Frodo and Sam managed to keep up with the others; but
Aragorn was leading them at a great pace, and after a while they lagged
behind. They had eaten nothing since the early morning. Sam's cut was
burning like fire, and his head felt light. In spite of the shining sun the
wind seemed chill after the warm darkness of Moria. He shivered. Frodo felt
every step more painful and he gasped for breath.
At last Legolas turned, and seeing them now far behind, he spoke to
Aragorn. The others halted, and Aragorn ran back, calling to Boromir to come
with him.
'I am sorry, Frodo! ' he cried, full of concern. `So much has happened
this day and we have such need of haste, that I have forgotten that you were
hurt; and Sam too. You should have spoken. We have done nothing to ease
you,
as we ought, though all the orcs of Moria were after us. Come now! A little
further on there is a place where we can rest for a little. There I will do
what I can for you. Come, Boromir! We will carry them.'
Soon afterwards they came upon another stream that ran down from the
west, and joined its bubbling water with the hurrying Silverlode. Together
they plunged over a fall of green-hued stone, and foamed down into a dell.
About it stood fir-trees, short and bent, and its sides were steep and
clothed with harts-tongue and shrubs of whortle-berry. At the bottom there
was a level space through which the stream flowed noisily over shining
pebbles. Here they rested. It was now nearly three hours after noon, and
they had come only a few miles from the Gates. Already the sun was
westering.
While Gimli and the two younger hobbits kindled a fire of brush- and
fir-wood, and drew water, Aragorn tended Sam and Frodo. Sam's wound was
not
deep, but it looked ugly, and Aragorn's face was grave as he examined it.
After a moment he looked up with relief.
'Good luck, Sam! ' he said. 'Many have received worse than this in
payment for the slaying of their first orc. The cut is not poisoned, as the
wounds of orc-blades too often are. It should heal well when I have tended
it. Bathe it when Gimli has heated water.'
He opened his pouch and drew out some withered leaves. `They are dry
and some of their virtue has one, he said, but here I have still some of the
leaves of athelas that I gathered near Weathertop. Crush one in the water,
and wash the wound clean, and I will bind it. Now it is your turn. Frodo! '
'I am all right,' said Frodo, reluctant to have his garments touched.
`AII I needed was some food and a little rest.'
`No! ' said Aragorn. `We must have a look and see what the hammer and
the anvil have done to you. I still marvel that you are alive at all.'
Gently he stripped off Frodo's old jacket and worn tunic, and gave a gasp of
wonder. Then he laughed. The silver corslet shimmered before his eyes like
the light upon a rippling sea. Carefully he took it off and held it up, and
the gems on it glittered like stars. and the sound of the shaken rings was
like the tinkle of rain in a pool.
`Look, my friends!' he called. `Here's a pretty hobbit-skin to wrap an
elven-princeling in! If it were known that hobbits had such hides, all the
hunters of Middle-earth would be riding to the Shire.'
`And all the arrows of all the hunters in the world would be in vain,'
said Gimli, gazing at the mail in wonder. `It is a mithril-coat. Mithril! I
have never seen or heard tell of one so fair. Is this the coat that Gandalf
spoke of? Then he undervalued it. But it was well given! '
`I have often wondered what you and Bilbo were doing, so close in his
little room,' said Merry. 'Bless the old hobbit! I love him more than ever.
I hope we get a chance of telling him about it! '
There was a dark and blackened bruise on Frodo's right side and breast.
Under the mail there was a shirt of soft leather, but at one point the rings
had been driven through it into the flesh. Frodo's left side also was scored
and bruised where he had been hurled against the wall. While the others set
the food ready. Aragorn bathed the hurts with water in which athelas was
steeped. The pungent fragrance filled the dell, and all those who stooped
over the steaming water felt refreshed and strengthened. Soon Frodo felt the
pain leave him, and his breath grew easy: though he was stiff and sore to
the touch for many days. Aragorn bound some soft pads of cloth at his side.
`The mail is marvellously light,' he said. `Put it on again, if you can
bear it. My heart is glad to know that you have such a coat. Do not lay it
aside, even in sleep, unless fortune brings you where you are safe for a
while; and that will seldom chance while your quest lasts.'
When they had eaten, the Company got ready to go on. They put out the
fire and hid all traces of it. Then climbing out of the dell they took to
the road again. They had not gone far before the sun sank behind the
westward heights and great shadows crept down the mountain-sides. Dusk
veiled their feet, and mist rose in the hollows. Away in the east the
evening light lay pale upon the dim lands of distant plain and wood. Sam and
Frodo now feeling eased and greatly refreshed were able to go at a fair
pace, and with only one brief halt Aragorn led the Company on for nearly
three more hours.
It was dark. Deep night had fallen. There were many clear stars, hut
the fast-waning moon would not be seen till late. Gimli and Frodo were at
the rear, walking softly and not speaking, listening for any sound upon the
road behind. At length Gimli broke the silence.
'Not a sound but the wind,' he said. `There are no goblins near, or my
ears are made of wood. It is to be hoped that the Orcs will be content with
driving us from Moria. And maybe that was all their purpose, and they had
nothing else to do with us-with the Ring. Though Orcs will often pursue foes
for many leagues into the plain, if they have a fallen captain to avenge.'
Frodo did not answer. He looked at Sting, and the blade was dull. Yet
he had heard something, or thought he had. As soon as the shadows had fallen
about them and the road behind was dim, he had heard again the quick patter
of feet. Even now he heard it. He turned swiftly. There were two tiny gleams
of light behind, or for a moment he thought he saw them, but at once they
slipped aside and vanished.
`What is it? ' said the dwarf.
`I don't know.' answered Frodo. 'I thought I heard feet, and I thought
I saw a light-like eyes. I have thought so often, since we first entered
Moria.'
Gimli halted and stooped to the ground. 'I hear nothing but the
night-speech of plant and stone,' he said. 'Come! Let us hurry! The others
are out of sight.'
The night-wind blew chill up the valley to meet them. Before them a
wide grey shadow loomed, and they heard an endless rustle of leaves like
poplars in the breeze.
`Lothlurien! ' cried Legolas. 'Lothlurien! We have come to the eaves of
the Golden Wood. Alas that it is winter! '
Under the night the trees stood tall before them, arched over the road
and stream that ran suddenly beneath their spreading boughs. In the dim
light of the stars their stems were grey, and their quivering leaves a hint
of fallow gold.
'Lothlurien! ' said Aragorn. 'Glad I am to hear again the wind in the
trees! We are still little more than five leagues from the Gates, but we can
go no further. Here let us hope that the virtue of the Elves will keep us
tonight from the peril that comes behind.'
`If Elves indeed still dwell here in the darkening world,' said Gimli.
'It is long since any of my own folk journeyed hither back to the land
whence we wandered in ages long ago,' said Legolas, 'but we hear that Lurien
is not yet deserted, for there is a secret power here that holds evil from
the land. Nevertheless its folk are seldom seen, and maybe they dwell now
deep in the woods and far from the northern border.'
'Indeed deep in the wood they dwell,' said Aragorn, and sighed as if
some memory stirred in him. `We must fend for ourselves tonight. We will go
forward a short way, until the trees are all about us, and then we will turn
aside from the path and seek a place to rest in.'
He stepped forward; but Boromir stood irresolute and did not follow.
'Is there no other way? ' he said.
`What other fairer way would you desire? ' said Aragorn.
`A plain road, though it led through a hedge of swords,' said Boromir.
`By strange paths has this Company been led, and so far to evil fortune.
Against my will we passed under the shades of Moria, to our loss. And now we
must enter the Golden Wood, you say. But of that perilous land we have heard
in Gondor, and it is said that few come out who once go in; and of that few
none have escaped unscathed.'
`Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you will speak
the truth said Aragorn. But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of
those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlurien. Believe what you
will, there is no other way for us -- unless you would go back to
Moria-gate, or scale the pathless mountains, or swim the Great River all
alone.'
`Then lead on! ' said Boromir. `But it is perilous.'
`Perilous indeed,' said Aragorn, 'fair and perilous; but only evil need
fear it, or those who bring some evil with them. Follow me! '
They had gone little more than a mile into the forest when they came
upon another stream flowing down swiftly from the tree-clad slopes that
climbed back westward towards the mountains. They heard it splashing over a
fall away among the shadows on their right. Its dark hurrying waters ran
across the path before them, and joined the Silverlode in a swirl of dim
pools among the roots of trees.
`Here is Nimrodel! ' said Legolas. 'Of this stream the Silvan Elves
made many songs long ago, and still we sing them in the North, remembering
the rainbow on its falls, and the golden flowers that floated in its foam.
All is dark now and the Bridge of Nimrodel is broken down. I will bathe my
feet, for it is said that the water is healing to the weary.' He went
forward and climbed down the deep-cloven bank and stepped into the stream.
`Follow me!' he cried. 'The water is not deep. Let us wade across! On
the further bank we can rest. and the sound of the falling water may bring
us sleep and forgetfulness of grief.'
One by one they climbed down and followed Legolas. For a moment Frodo
stood near the brink and let the water flow over his tired feet. It was cold
but its touch was clean, and as he went on and it mounted to his knees, he
felt that the stain of travel and all weariness was washed from his limbs.
When all the Company had crossed, they sat and rested and ate a little
food; and Legolas told them tales of Lothlurien that the Elves of Mirkwood
still kept in their hearts, of sunlight and starlight upon the meadows by
the Great River before the world was grey.
At length a silence fell, and they heard the music of the waterfall
running sweetly in the shadows. Almost Frodo fancied that he could hear a
voice singing, mingled with the sound of the water.
`Do you hear the voice of Nimrodel? ' asked Legolas. 'I will sing you a
song of the maiden Nimrodel, who bore the same name as the stream beside
which she lived lung ago. It is a fair song in our woodland tongue; but this
is how it runs in the Westron Speech, as some in Rivendell now sing it.' In
a soft voice hardly to be heard amid the rustle of the leaves above them he
began:
An Elven-maid there was of old,
A shining star by day:
Her mantle white was hemmed with gold,
Her shoes of silver-grey.
A star was bound upon her brows,
A light was on her hair
As sun upon the golden boughs
In Lurien the fair.
Her hair was long, her limbs were white,
And fair she was and free;
And in the wind she went as light
As leaf of linden-tree.
Beside the falls of Nimrodel,
By water clear and cool,
Her voice as falling silver fell
Into the shining pool.
Where now she wanders none can tell,
In sunlight or in shade;
For lost of yore was Nimrodel
And in the mountains strayed.
The elven-ship in haven grey
Beneath the mountain-lee
Awaited her for many a day
Beside the roaring sea.
A wind by night in Northern lands
Arose, and loud it cried,
And drove the ship from elven-strands
Across the streaming tide.
When dawn came dim the land was lost,
The mountains sinking grey
Beyond the heaving waves that tossed
Their plumes of blinding spray.
Amroth beheld the fading shore
Now low beyond the swell,
And cursed the faithless ship that bore
Him far from Nimrodel.
Of old he was an Elven-king,
A lord of tree and glen,
When golden were the boughs in spring
In fair Lothlurien.
From helm to sea they saw him leap,
As arrow from the string,
And dive into the water deep,
As mew upon the wing.
The wind was in his flowing hair,
The foam about him shone;
Afar they saw him strong and fair
Go riding like a swan.
But from the West has come no word,
And on the Hither Shore
No tidings Elven-folk have heard
Of Amroth evermore.
The voice of Legolas faltered, and the song ceased. 'I cannot sing any
more,' he said. 'That is but a part, for I have forgotten much. It is long
and sad, for it tells how sorrow came upon Lothlurien, Lurien of the
Blossom, when the Dwarves awakened evil in the mountains.'
`But the Dwarves did not make the evil,' said Gimli.
`I said not so; yet evil came,' answered Legolas sadly. `Then many of
the Elves of Nimrodel's kindred left their dwellings and departed and she
was lost far in the South, in the passes of the White Mountains; and she
came not to the ship where Amroth her lover waited for her. But in the
spring when the wind is in the new leaves the echo of her voice may still be
heard by the falls that bear her name. And when the wind is in the South the
voice of Amroth comes up from the sea; for Nimrodel flows into Silverlode,
that Elves call Celebrant, and Celebrant into Anduin the Great. and Anduin
flows into the Bay of Belfalas whence the Elves of Lurien set sail. But
neither Nimrodel nor Amroth ever came back.
'It is told that she had a house built in the branches of a tree that
grew near the falls; for that was the custom of the Elves of Lurien, to
dwell in the trees, and maybe it is so still. Therefore they were called the
Galadhrim, the Tree-people. Deep in their forest the trees are very great.
The people of the woods did not delve in the ground like Dwarves, nor build
strong places of stone before the Shadow came.'
`And even in these latter days dwelling in the trees might be thought
safer than sitting on the ground,' said Gimli. He looked across the stream
to the road that led back to Dimrill Dale, and then up into the roof of dark
boughs above.
`Your words bring good counsel, Gimli,' said Aragorn. `We cannot build
a house, but tonight we will do as the Galadhrim and seek refuge in the
tree-tops, if we can. We have sat here beside the road already longer than
was wise.'
The Company now turned aside from the path, and went into the shadow of
the deeper woods, westward along the mountain-stream away from
Silverlode.
Not far from the falls of Nimrodel they found a cluster of trees, some of
which overhung the stream. Their great grey trunks were of mighty girth, but
their height could not be guessed.
`I will climb up,' said Legolas. `I am at home among trees, by root or
bough, though these trees are of a kind strange to me, save as a name in
song. Mellyrn they are called, and are those that bear the yellow blossom,
but I have never climbed in one. I will see now what is their shape and way
of growth.'
`Whatever it may be,' said Pippin, `they will be marvellous trees
indeed if they can offer any rest at night, except to birds. I cannot sleep
on a perch! '
'Then dig a hole in the ground,' said Legolas, `if that is more after
the fashion of your kind. But you must dig swift and deep, if you wish to
hide from Orcs.' He sprang lightly up from the ground and caught a branch
that grew from the trunk high above his head. But even as he swung there for
a moment, a voice spoke suddenly from the tree-shadows above him.
`Daro!' it said in commanding tone, and Legolas dropped back to earth
in surprise and fear. He shrank against the bole of the tree.
'Stand still! ' he whispered to the others. `Do not move or speak! '
There was a sound of soft laughter over their heads, and then another
clear voice spoke in an elven-tongue. Frodo could understand little of what
was said, for the speech that the Silvan folk east of the mountains used
among themselves was unlike that of the West. Legolas looked up and
answered
in the same language.*
`Who are they, and what do they say? ' asked Merry.
`They're Elves,' said Sam. `Can't you hear their voices? '
`Yes, they are Elves,' said Legolas; `and they say that you breathe so
loud that they could shoot you in the dark.' Sam hastily put his hand over
his mouth. 'But they say also that you need have no fear. They have been
aware of us for a long while. They heard my voice across the Nimrodel, and
knew that I was one of their Northern kindred, and therefore they did not
hinder our crossing; and afterwards they heard my song. Now they bid me
climb up with Frodo; for they seem to have had some tidings of him and of
our journey. The others they ask to wait a little and to keep watch at the
foot of the tree, until they have decided what is to be done.'
Out of the shadows a ladder was let down: it was made of rope,
silver-grey and glimmering in the dark, and though it looked slender it
proved strong enough to bear many men. Legolas ran lightly up, and Frodo
followed slowly; behind came Sam trying not to breathe loudly. The branches
of the mallorn-tree grew out nearly straight from the trunk, and then swept
upward; but near the top the main stem divided into a crown of many boughs,
and among these they found that there had been built a wooden platform, or
flet as such things were called in those days: the Elves called it a talan.
It was reached by a round hole in the centre through which the ladder
passed.
When Frodo came at last up on to the flet he found Legolas seated with
three other Elves. They were clad in shadowy-grey, and could not be seen
among the tree-stems, unless they moved suddenly. They stood up, and one of
them uncovered a small lamp that gave out a slender silver beam. He held it
up, looking at Frodo's face, and Sam's. Then he shut off the light again,
and spoke words of welcome in his elven-tongue. Frodo spoke haltingly in
return.
`Welcome!' the Elf then said again in the Common Language, speaking
slowly. 'We seldom use any tongue but our own; for we dwell now in the heart
of the forest, and do not willingly have dealings with any other folk. Even
our own kindred in the North are sundered from us. But there are some of us
still who go abroad for the gathering of news and the watching of our
enemies, and they speak the languages of other lands. I am one. Haldir is my
name. My brothers, R®mil and Orophin, speak little of your tongue.
`But we have heard rumours of your coming, for the messengers of Elrond
passed by Lurien on their way home up the Dimrill Stair. We had not heard of
hobbits, or halflings, for many a long year, and did not know that any yet
dwelt in Middle-earth. You do not look evil! And since you come with an Elf
of our kindred, we are willing to befriend you, as Elrond asked; though it
is not our custom to lead strangers through our land. But you must stay here
tonight. How many are you? '
`Eight,' said Legolas. `Myself, four hobbits; and two men, one of whom,
Aragorn, is an Elf-friend of the folk of Westernesse.'
`The name of Aragorn son of Arathorn is known in Lurien,' said Haldir,
`and he has the favour of the Lady. All then is well. But you have yet
spoken only of seven.'
`The eighth is a dwarf,' said Legolas.
`A dwarf! ' said Haldir. `That is not well. We have not had dealings
with the Dwarves since the Dark Days. They are not permitted in our land. I
cannot allow him to pass.'
`But he is from the Lonely Mountain, one of Dbin's trusty people, and
friendly to Elrond,' said Frodo. `Elrond himself chose him to be one of our
companions, and he has been brave and faithful.'
The Elves spoke together in soft voices, and questioned Legolas in
their own tongue. 'Very good,' said Haldir at last. `We will do this, though
it is against our liking. If Aragorn and Legolas will guard him, and answer
for him, he shall pass; but he must go blindfold through Lothlurien.
`But now we must debate no longer. Your folk must not remain on the
ground. We have been keeping watch on the rivers, ever since we saw a great
troop of Orcs going north toward Moria, along the skirts of the mountains,
many days ago. Wolves are howling on the wood's borders. If you have indeed
come from Moria, the peril cannot be far behind. Tomorrow early you must go
on.
'The four hobbits shall climb up here and stay with us-we do not fear
them! There is another talan in the next tree. There the others must take
refuge. You, Legolas, must answer to us for them. Call us, if anything is
amiss! And have an eye on that dwarf!'
Legolas at once went down the ladder to take Haldir's message; and soon
afterwards Merry and Pippin clambered up on to the high flet. They were out
of breath and seemed rather scared.
`There!' said Merry panting. `We have lugged up your blankets as well
as our own. Strider has hidden all the rest of the baggage in a deep drift
of leaves.'
`You had no need of your burdens,' said Haldir. `It is cold in the
tree-tops in winter, though the wind tonight is in the South; but we have
food and drink to give you that will drive away the night-chill, and we have
skins and cloaks to spare.'
The hobbits accepted this second (and far better) supper very gladly.
Then they wrapped themselves warmly, not only in the fur-cloaks of the
Elves, but in their own blankets as well, and tried to go to sleep. But
weary as they were only Sam found that easy to do. Hobbits do not like
heights, and do not sleep upstairs, even when they have any stairs. The flet
was not at all to their liking as a bedroom. It had no walls. not even a
rail; only on one side was there a light plaited screen, which could be
moved and fixed in different places according to the wind.
Pippin went on talking for a while. `I hope, if I do go to sleep in
this bed-loft, that I shan't roll off,' he said.
`Once I do get to sleep,' said Sam, 'i shall go on sleeping, whether I
roll off or no. And the less said, the sooner I'll drop off, if you take my
meaning.'
Frodo lay for some time awake, and looked up at the stars glinting
through the pale roof of quivering leaves. Sam was snoring at his side long
before he himself closed his eyes. He could dimly see the grey forms of two
elves sitting motionless with their arms about their knees, speaking in
whispers. The other had gone down to take up his watch on one of the lower
branches. At last lulled by the wind in the boughs above, and the sweet
murmur of the falls of Nimrodel below, Frodo fell asleep with the song of
Legolas running in his mind.
Late in the night he awoke. The other hobbits were asleep. The Elves
were gone. The sickle Moon was gleaming dimly among the leaves. The wind
was
still. A little way off he heard a harsh laugh and the tread of many feet on
the ground below. There was a ring of metal. The sounds died slowly away,
and seemed to go southward, on into the wood.
A head appeared suddenly through the hole in the flet. Frodo sat up in
alarm and saw that it was a grey-hooded Elf. He looked towards the hobbits.
`What is it? ' said Frodo.
`Yrch!' said the Elf in a hissing whisper, and cast on to the flet the
rope-ladder rolled up.
'Orcs! ' said Frodo. `What are they doing? ' But the Elf had gone.
There were no more sounds. Even the leaves were silent, and the very
falls seemed to be hushed. Frodo sat and shivered in his wraps. He was
thankful that they had not been caught on the ground; but he felt that the
trees offered little protection, except concealment. Orcs were as keen as
hounds on a scent, it was said, but they could also climb. He drew out
Sting: it flashed and glittered like a blue flame and then slowly faded
again and grew dull. In spite of the fading of his sword the feeling of
immediate danger did not leave Frodo, rather it grew stronger. He got up and
crawled to the opening and peered down. He was almost certain that he could
hear stealthy movements at the tree's foot far below.
Not Elves; for the woodland folk were altogether noiseless in their
movements. Then he heard faintly a sound like sniffing: and something seemed
to be scrabbling on the bark of the tree-trunk. He stared down into the
dark, holding his breath.
Something was now climbing slowly, and its breath came like a soft
hissing through closed teeth. Then coming up, close to the stem, Frodo saw
two pale eyes. They stopped and gazed upward unwinking. Suddenly they
turned
away, and a shadowy figure slipped round the trunk of the tree and vanished.
Immediately afterwards Haldir came climbing swiftly up through the
branches. `There was something in this tree that I have never seen before,'
he said. `It was not an orc. It fled as soon as I touched the tree-stem. It
seemed to be wary, and to have some skill in trees, or I might have thought
that it was one of you hobbits.
'I did not shoot, for I dared not arouse any cries: we cannot risk
battle. A strong company of Orcs has passed. They crossed the Nimrodel-curse
their foul feet in its clean water!-and went on down the old road beside the
river. They seemed to pick up some scent, and they searched the ground for a
while near the place where you halted. The three of us could not challenge a
hundred, so we went ahead and spoke with feigned voices, leading them on
into the wood.
`Orophin has now gone in haste back to our dwellings to warn our
people. None of the Orcs will ever return out of Lurien. And there will be
many Elves hidden on the northern border before another night falls. But you
must take the road south as soon as it is fully light.'
Day came pale from the East. As the light grew it filtered through the
yellow leaves of the mallorn, and it seemed to the hobbits that the early
sun of a cool summer's morning was shining. Pale-blue sky peeped among the
moving branches. Looking through an opening on the south side of the flet
Frodo saw all the valley of the Silverlode lying like a sea of fallow gold
tossing gently in the breeze.
The morning was still young and cold when the Company set out again,
guided now by Haldir and his brother R®mil. `Farewell, sweet Nimrodel! '
cried Legolas. Frodo looked back and caught a gleam of white foam among
the
grey tree-stems. `Farewell,' he said. It seemed to him that he would never
hear again a running water so beautiful, for ever blending its innumerable
notes in an endless changeful music.
They went back to the path that still went on along the west side of
the Silverlode, and for some way they followed it southward. There were the
prints of orc-feet in the earth. But soon Haldir turned aside into the trees
and halted on the bank of the river under their shadows.
`There is one of my people yonder across the stream,' he said `though
you may not see him.' He gave a call like the low whistle of a bird, and out
of a thicket of young trees an Elf stepped, clad in grey, but with his hood
thrown back; his hair glinted like gold in the morning sun. Haldir skilfully
cast over the stream a coil of grey rope, and he caught it and bound the end
about a tree near the bank.
`Celebrant is already a strong stream here, as you see,' said Haldir
'and it runs both swift and deep, and is very cold. We do not set foot in it
so far north, unless we must. But in these days of watchfulness we do not
make bridges. This is how we cross! Follow me!' He made his end of the rope
fast about another tree, and then ran lightly along it, over the river and
back again, as if he were on a road.
`I can walk this path,' said Legolas; `but the others have not this
skill. Must they swim?'
`No!' said Haldir. `We have two more ropes. We will fasten them above
the other, one shoulder-high, and another half-high, and holding these the
strangers should be able to cross with care.'
When this slender bridge had been made, the Company passed over, some
cautiously and slowly, others more easily. Of the hobbits Pippin proved the
best for he was sure-footed, and he walked over quickly, holding only with
one hand; but he kept his eyes on the bank ahead and did not look down. Sam
shuffled along, clutching hard, and looking down into the pale eddying water
as if it was a chasm in the mountains.
He breathed with relief when he was safely across. `Live and learn! as
my gaffer used to say. Though he was thinking of gardening, not of roosting
like a bird, nor of trying to walk like a spider. Not even my uncle Andy
ever did a trick like that! '
When at length all the Company was gathered on the east bank of the
Silverlode, the Elves untied the ropes and coiled two of them. R®mil, who
had remained on the other side, drew back the last one, slung it on his
shoulder, and with a wave of his hand went away, back to Nimrodel to keep
watch.
`Now, friends,' said Haldir, `you have entered the Naith of Lurien or
the Gore, as you would say, for it is the land that lies like a spear-head
between the arms of Silverlode and Anduin the Great. We allow no strangers
to spy out the secrets of the Naith. Few indeed are permitted even to set
foot there.
`As was agreed, I shall here blindfold the eyes of Gimli the Dwarf. The
other may walk free for a while, until we come nearer to our dwellings, down
in Egladil, in the Angle between the waters.'
This was not at all to the liking of Gimli. `The agreement was made
without my consent,' he said. `I will not walk blindfold, like a beggar or a
prisoner. And I am no spy. My folk have never had dealings with any of the
servants of the Enemy. Neither have we done harm to the Elves. I am no more
likely to betray you than Legolas, or any other of my companions.'
'I do not doubt you,' said Haldir. 'Yet this is our law. I am not the
master of the law, and cannot set it aside. I have done much in letting you
set foot over Celebrant.'
Gimli was obstinate. He planted his feet firmly apart, and laid his
hand upon the haft of his axe. 'I will go forward free,' he said, 'or I will
go back and seek my own land, where I am known to be true of word, though I
perish alone in the wilderness.'
`You cannot go back,' said Haldir sternly. 'Now you have come thus far,
you must be brought before the Lord and the Lady. They shall judge you, to
hold you or to give you leave, as they will. You cannot cross the rivers
again, and behind you there are now secret sentinels that you cannot pass.
You would be slain before you saw them.'
Gimli drew his axe from his belt. Haldir and his companion bent their
bows. 'A plague on Dwarves and their stiff necks! ' said Legolas.
'Come!' said Aragorn. `If I am still to lead this Company, you must do
as I bid. It is hard upon the Dwarf to be thus singled out. We will all be
blindfold, even Legolas. That will be best, though it will make the journey
slow and dull.'
Gimli laughed suddenly. `A merry troop of fools we shall look! Will
Haldir lead us all on a string, like many blind beggars with one dog? But I
will be content, if only Legolas here shares my blindness.'
`I am an Elf and a kinsman here,' said Legolas, becoming angry in his
turn.
`Now let us cry: "a plague on the stiff necks of Elves!"' said Aragorn.
`But the Company shall all fare alike. Come, bind our eyes Haldir! '
`I shall claim full amends for every fall and stubbed toe, if you do
not lead us well,' said Gimli as they bound a cloth about his eyes.
'You will have no claim,' said Haldir. `I shall lead you well, and the
paths are smooth and straight.'
`Alas for the folly of these days! ' said Legolas. 'Here all are
enemies of the one Enemy, and yet I must walk blind, while the sun is merry
in the woodland under leaves of gold! '
`Folly it may seem,' said Haldir. 'Indeed in nothing is the power of
the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all
those who still oppose him. Yet so little faith and trust do we find now in
the world beyond Lothlurien, unless maybe in Rivendell, that we dare not by
our own trust endanger our land. We live now upon an island amid many
perils, and our hands are more often upon the bowstring than upon the harp.
`The rivers long defended us, but they are a sure guard no more for the
Shadow has crept northward all about us. Some speak of departing, yet for
that it already seems too late. The mountains to the west are growing evil;
to the east the lands are waste, and full of Sauron's creatures; and it is
rumoured that we cannot now safely pass southward through Rohan, and the
mouths of the Great River are watched by the Enemy. Even if we could come
to
the shores of the Sea, we should find no longer any shelter there. It is
said that there are still havens of. the High Elves, but they are far north
and west, beyond the land of the Halflings. But where that may be, though
the Lord and Lady may know, I do not.'
`You ought at least to guess, since you have seen us,' said Merry.
`There are Elf-havens west of my land, the Shire where Hobbits live.'
`Happy folk are Hobbits to dwell near the shores of the sea! ' said
Haldir. 'It is long indeed since any of my folk have looked on it, yet still
we remember it in song. Tell me of these havens as we walk.'
`I cannot,' said Merry. `I have never seen them. I have never been out
of my own land before. And if I had known what the world outside was like. I
don't think I should have had the heart to leave it.'
`Not even to see fair Lothlurien? ' said Haldir. 'The world is indeed
full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much
that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it
grows perhaps the greater.
`Some there are among us who sing that the Shadow will draw back and
peace shall come again. Yet I do not believe that the world about us will
ever again be as it was of old, or the light of the Sun as it was aforetime.
For the Elves, I fear, it will prove at best a truce, in which they may pass
to the Sea unhindered and leave the Middle-earth for ever. Alas for
Lothlurien that I love! It would be a poor life in a land where no mallorn
grew. But if there are mallorn-trees beyond the Great Sea, none have
reported it.'
As they spoke thus, the Company filed slowly along the paths in the
wood, led by Haldir, while the other Elf walked behind. They felt the ground
beneath their feet smooth and soft, and after a while they walked more
freely, without fear of hurt or fall. Being deprived of sight, Frodo found
his hearing and other senses sharpened. He could smell the trees and the
trodden grass. He could hear many different notes in the rustle of the
leaves overhead, the river murmuring away on his right, and the thin clear
voices of birds in the sky. He felt the sun upon his face and hands when
they passed through an open glade.
As soon as he set foot upon the far bank of Silverlode a strange
feeling had come upon him, and it deepened as he walked on into the Naith:
it seemed to him that he had stepped over a bridge of time into a corner of
the Elder Days, and was -now walking in a world that was no more. In
Rivendell there was memory of ancient things; in Lurien the ancient things
still lived on in the waking world. Evil had been seen and heard there,
sorrow had been known; the Elves feared and distrusted the world outside:
wolves were howling on the wood's borders: but on the land of Lurien no
shadow lay.
All that day the Company marched on, until they felt the cool evening
come and heard the early night-wind whispering among many leaves. Then
they
rested and slept without fear upon the ground; for their guides would not
permit them to unbind their eyes, and they could not climb. In the morning
they went on again, walking without haste. At noon they halted, and Frodo
was aware that they had passed out under the shining Sun. Suddenly he heard
the sound of many voices all around him.
A marching host of Elves had come up silently: they were hastening
toward the northern borders to guard against any attack from Moria; and they
brought news, some of which Haldir reported. The marauding orcs had been
waylaid and almost all destroyed; the remnant had fled westward towards the
mountains, and were being pursued. A strange creature also had been seen,
running with bent back and with hands near the ground, like a beast and yet
not of beast-shape. It had eluded capture, and they had not shot it, not
knowing whether it was good or ill, and it had vanished down the Silverlode
southward.
`Also,' said Haldir, `they bring me a message from the Lord and Lady of
the Galadhrim. You are all to walk free, even the dwarf Gimli. It seems that
the Lady knows who and what is each member of your Company. New
messages
have come from Rivendell perhaps.'
He removed the bandage first from Gimli's eyes. 'Your pardon! ' he
said, bowing low. `Look on us now with friendly eyes! Look and be glad, for
you are the first dwarf to behold the trees of the Naith of Lurien since
Durin's Day! '
When his eyes were in turn uncovered, Frodo looked up and caught his
breath. They were standing in an open space. To the left stood a great
mound, covered with a sward of grass as green as Spring-time in the Elder
Days. Upon it, as a double crown, grew two circles of trees: the outer had
bark of snowy white, and were leafless but beautiful in their shapely
nakedness; the inner were mallorn-trees of great height, still arrayed in
pale gold. High amid the branches of a towering tree that stood in the
centre of all there gleamed a white flet. At the feet of the trees, and all
about the green hillsides the grass was studded with small golden flowers
shaped like stars. Among them, nodding on slender stalks, were other
flowers, white and palest green: they glimmered as a mist amid the rich hue
of the grass. Over all the sky was blue, and the sun of afternoon glowed
upon the hill and cast long green shadows beneath the trees.
'Behold! You are come to Cerin Amroth,' said Haldir. `For this is the
heart of the ancient realm as it was long ago, and here is the mound of
Amroth, where in happier days his high house was built. Here ever bloom the
winter flowers in the unfading grass: the yellow elanor, and the pale
niphredil. Here we will stay awhile, and come to the city of the Galadhrim
at dusk.'
The others cast themselves down upon the fragrant grass, but Frodo
stood awhile still lost in wonder. It seemed to him that he had stepped
through a high window that looked on a vanished world. A light was upon it
for which his language had no name. All that he saw was shapely, but the
shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first conceived and
drawn at the uncovering of his eyes, and ancient as if they had endured for
ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green,
but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first
perceived them and made for them names new and wonderful. In winter here
no
heart could mourn for summer or for spring. No blemish or sickness or
deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of
Lurien there was no stain.
He turned and saw that Sam was now standing beside him, looking round
with a puzzled expression, and rubbing his eyes as if he was not sure that
he was awake. `It's sunlight and bright day, right enough,' he said. `I
thought that Elves were all for moon and stars: but this is more elvish than
anything I ever heard tell of. I feel as if I was inside a song. if you take
my meaning.'
Haldir looked at them, and he seemed indeed to take the meaning of both
thought and word. He smiled. `You feel the power of the Lady of the
Galadhrim,' he said. `Would it please you to climb with me up Cerin Amroth?
'
They followed him as he stepped lightly up the grass-clad slopes.
Though he walked and breathed, and about him living leaves and flowers were
stirred by the same cool wind as fanned his face, Frodo felt that he was in
a timeless land that did not fade or change or fall into forgetfulness. When
he had gone and passed again into the outer world, still Frodo the wanderer
from the Shire would walk there, upon the grass among elanor and niphredil
in fair Lothlurien.
They entered the circle of white trees. As they did so the South Wind
blew upon Cerin Amroth and sighed among the branches. Frodo stood still,
hearing far off_ great seas upon beaches that had long ago been washed away,
and sea-birds crying whose race had perished from the earth.
Haldir had gone on and was now climbing to the high flet. As Frodo
prepared to follow him, he laid his hand upon the tree beside the ladder:
never before had he been so suddenly and so keenly aware of the feel and
texture of a tree's skin and of the life within it. He felt a delight in
wood and the touch of it, neither as forester nor as carpenter; it was the
delight of the living tree itself.
As he stepped out at last upon the lofty platform, Haldir took his hand
and turned him toward the South. `Look this way first! ' he said.
Frodo looked and saw, still at some distance, a hill of many mighty
trees, or a city of green towers: which it was he could not tell. Out of it,
it seemed to him that the power and light came that held all the land in
sway. He longed suddenly to fly like a bird to rest in the green city. Then
he looked eastward and saw all the land of Lurien running down to the pale
gleam of Anduin, the Great River. He lifted his eyes across the river and
all the light went out, and he was back again in the world he knew. Beyond
the river the land appeared flat and empty, formless and vague, until far
away it rose again like a wall, dark and drear. The sun that lay on
Lothlurien had no power to enlighten the shadow of that distant height.
`There lies the fastness of Southern Mirkwood,' said Haldir. `It is
clad in a forest of dark fir, where the trees strive one against another and
their branches rot and wither. In the midst upon a stony height stands Dol
Guldur, where long the hidden Enemy had his dwelling. We fear that now it is
inhabited again, and with power sevenfold. A black cloud lies often over it
of late. In this high place you may see the two powers that are opposed one
to another; and ever they strive now in thought, but whereas the light
perceives the very heart of the darkness, its own secret has not been
discovered. Not yet.' He turned and climbed swiftly down, and they followed
him.
At the hill's foot Frodo found Aragorn, standing still and silent as a
tree; but in his hand was a small golden bloom of elanor, and a light was in
his eyes. He was wrapped in some fair memory: and as Frodo looked at him he
knew that he beheld things as they once had been in this same place. For the
grim years were removed from the face of Aragorn, and he seemed clothed in
white, a young lord tall and fair; and he spoke words in the Elvish tongue
to one whom Frodo could not see. Arwen vanimelda, nambril! he said, and then
he drew a breath, and returning out of his thought he looked at Frodo and
smiled.
`Here is the heart of Elvendom on earth,' he said, `and here my heart
dwells ever, unless there be a light beyond the dark roads that we still
must tread, you and I. Come with me! ' And taking Frodo's hand in his, he
left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as living man.

The Fellowship Of The Ring - Chapter 16 - The Bridge of Khazad-dym

2010-08-28T07:23:00.001-07:00

The Company of the Ring stood silent beside the tomb of Balin. Frodo
thought of Bilbo and his long friendship with the dwarf, and of Balin's
visit to the Shire long ago. In that dusty chamber in the mountains it
seemed a thousand years ago and on the other side of the world.
At length they stirred and looked up, and began to search for anything
that would give them tidings of Balin's fate, or show what had become of his
folk. There was another smaller door on the other side of the chamber, under
the shaft. By both the doors they could now see that many bones were lying,
and among them were broken swords and axe-heads, and cloven shields and
helms. Some of the swords were crooked: orc-scimitars with blackened blades.
There were many recesses cut in the rock of the walls, and in them were
large iron-bound chests of wood. All had been broken and plundered; but
beside the shattered lid of one there lay the remains of a book. It had been
slashed and stabbed and partly burned, and it was so stained with black and
other dark marks like old blood that little of it could be read. Gandalf
lifted it carefully, but the leaves crackled and broke as he laid it on the
slab. He pored over it for some time without speaking. Frodo and Gimli
standing at his side could see, as he gingerly turned the leaves, that they
were written by many different hands, in runes, both of Moria and of Dale,
and here and there in Elvish script.
At last Gandalf looked up. 'It seems to be a record of the fortunes of
Balin's folk,' he said. `I guess that it began with their coming to Dimrill
Dale nigh on thirty years ago: the pages seem to have numbers referring to
the years after their arrival. The top page is marked one -- three, so at
least two are missing from the beginning. Listen to this!
'We drove out orcs from the great gate and guard -- I think; the next
word is blurred and burned; probably room -- we slew many in the bright -- I
think -- sun in the dale. Flui was killed by an arrow. He slew the great.
Then there is a blur followed by Flui under grass near Mirror mere. The next
line or two I cannot read. Then comes We have taken the twentyfirst hall of
North end to dwell in. There is I cannot read what. A shaft is mentioned.
Then Balin has set up his seat in the Chamber of Mazarbul.'
'The Chamber of Records,' said Gimli. `I guess that is where we now
stand.'
`Well, I can read no more for a long way,' said Gandalf, 'except the
word gold, and Durin's Axe and something helm. Then Balin is now lord of
Moria. That seems to end a chapter. After some stars another hand begins,
and I can see we found truesilver, and later the word wellforged and then
something, I have it! mithril; and the last two lines Uin to seek for the
upper armouries of Third Deep, something go westwards, a blur, to Hollin
gate.'
Gandalf paused and set a few leaves aside. 'There are several pages of
the same sort, rather hastily written and much damaged, he said; `but I can
make little of them in this light. Now there must be a number of leaves
missing, because they begin to be numbered five, the fifth year of the
colony, I suppose. Let me see! No, they are too cut and stained; I cannot
read them. We might do better in the sunlight. Wait! Here is something: a
large bold hand using an Elvish script.'
'That would be Ori's hand,' said Gimli, looking over the wizard's arm.
`He could write well and speedily, and often used the Elvish characters.'
`I fear he had ill tidings to record in a fair hand,' said Gandalf.
'The first clear word is sorrow, but the rest of the line is lost, unless it
ends in estre. Yes, it must be yestre followed by day being the tenth of
novembre Balin lord of Moria fell in Dimrill Dale. He went alone to look in
Mirror mere. an orc shot him from behind a stone. we slew the orc, hut many
more ... up from east up the Silverlode. The remainder of the page is so
blurred that I can hardly make anything out, but I think I can read we have
barred the gates, and then can hold them long if, and then perhaps horrible
and suffer. Poor Balin! He seems to have kept the title that he took for
less than five years. I wonder what happened afterwards; but there is no
time to puzzle out the last few pages. Here is the last page of all.' He
paused and sighed.
`It is grim reading,' he said. 'I fear their end was cruel. Listen! We
cannot get out. We cannot get out. They have taken the Bridge and second
hall. Frbr and Luni and Nbli fell there. Then there are four lines smeared
so that I can only read went 5 days ago. The last lines run the pool is up
to the wall at Westgate. The Watcher in the Water took Uin. We cannot get
out. The end comes, and then drums, drums in the deep. I wonder what that
means. The last thing written is in a trailing scrawl of elf-letters: they
are coming. There is nothing more.' Gandalf paused and stood in silent
thought.
A sudden dread and a horror of the chamber fell on the Company. `We
cannot get out,' muttered Gimli. 'It was well for us that the pool had sunk
a little, and that the Watcher was sleeping down at the southern end.'
Gandalf raised his head and looked round. `They seem to have made a
last stand by both doors,' he said; 'but there were not many left by that
time. So ended the attempt to retake Moria! It was valiant but foolish. The
time is not come yet. Now, I fear, we must say farewell to Balin son of
Fundin. Here he must lie in the halls of his fathers. We will take this
book, the Book of Mazarbul, and look at it more closely later. You had
better keep it, Gimli, and take it back to Dbin, if you get a chance. It
will interest him, though it will grieve him deeply. Come, let us go! The
morning is passing.'
'Which way shall we go? ' asked Boromir.
'Back to the hall,' answered Gandalf. 'But our visit to this room has
not been in vain. I now know where we are. This must be, as Gimli says, the
Chamber of Mazarbul; and the hall must be the twenty-first of the North-end.
Therefore we should leave by the eastern arch of the hall, and bear right
and south, and go downwards. The Twenty-first Hall should be on the Seventh
Level, that is six above the level of the Gates. Come now! Back to the hall!
'
Gandalf had hardly spoken these words, when there came a great noise: a
rolling Boom that seemed to come from depths far below, and to tremble in
the stone at their feet. They sprang towards the door in alarm. Doom, doom
it rolled again, as if huge hands were turning the very caverns of Moria
into a vast drum. Then there came an echoing blast: a great horn was blown
in the hall, and answering horns and harsh cries were heard further off.
There was a hurrying sound of many feet.
`They are coming! ' cried Legolas.
'We cannot get out,' said Gimli.
`Trapped! ' cried Gandalf. `Why did I delay? Here we are, caught, just
as they were before. But I was not here then. We will see what ----'
Doom, doom came the drum-beat and the walls shook.
'Slam the doors and wedge them! ' shouted Aragorn. 'And keep your packs
on as long as you can: we may get a chance to cut our way out yet.'
`No! ' said Gandalf. 'We must not get shut in. Keep the east door ajar!
We will go that way, if we get a chance.'
Another harsh horn-call and shrill cries rang out. Feet were coming
down the corridor. There was a ring and clatter as the Company drew their
swords. Glamdring shone with a pale light, and Sting glinted at the edges.
Boromir set his shoulder against the western door.
`Wait a moment! Do not close it yet! ' said Gandalf. He sprang forward
to Boromir's side and drew himself up to his full height.
'Who comes hither to disturb the rest of Balin Lord of Moria? ' he
cried in a loud voice.
There was a rush of hoarse laughter, like the fall of sliding stones
into a pit; amid the clamour a deep voice was raised in command. Doom,
boom,
doom went the drums in the deep.
With a quick movement Gandalf stepped before the narrow opening of the
door and thrust forward his staff: There was a dazzling flash that lit the
chamber and the passage outside. For an instant the wizard looked out.
Arrows whined and whistled down the corridor as he sprang back.
'There are Orcs, very many of them,' he said. `And some are large and
evil: black Uruks of Mordor. For the moment they are hanging back, but there
is something else there. A great cave-troll, I think, or more than one.
There is no hope of escape that way.'
'And no hope at all, if they come at the other door as well,' said
Boromir.
'There is no sound outside here yet,' said Aragorn, who was standing by
the eastern door listening. `The passage on this side plunges straight down
a stair: it plainly does not lead back towards the hall. But it is no good
flying blindly this way with the pursuit just behind. We cannot block the
door. Its key is gone and the lock is broken, and it opens inwards. We must
do something to delay the enemy first. We will make them fear the Chamber of
Mazarbul!' he said grimly feeling the edge of his sword, And®ril.
Heavy feet were heard in the corridor. Boromir flung himself against
the door and heaved it to; then he wedged it with broken sword-blades and
splinters of wood. The Company retreated to the other side of the chamber.
But they had no chance to fly yet. There was a blow on the door that made it
quiver; and then it began to grind slowly open, driving back the wedges. A
huge arm and shoulder, with a dark skin of greenish scales, was thrust
through the widening gap. Then a great, flat, toeless foot was forced
through below. There was a dead silence outside.
Boromir leaped forward and hewed at the arm with all his might; but his
sword rang, glanced aside, and fell from his shaken hand. The blade was
notched.
Suddenly, and to his own surprise, Frodo felt a hot wrath blaze up in
his heart. `The Shire! ' he cried, and springing beside Boromir, he stooped,
and stabbed with Sting at the hideous foot. There was a bellow, and the foot
jerked back, nearly wrenching Sting from Frodo's arm. Black drops dripped
from the blade and smoked on the floor. Boromir hurled himself against the
door and slammed it again.
`One for the Shire! ' cried Aragorn. `The hobbit's bite is deep! You
have a good blade, Frodo son of Drogo! '
There was a crash on the door, followed by crash after crash. Rams and
hammers were beating against it. It cracked and staggered back, and the
opening grew suddenly wide. Arrows came whistling in, but struck the
northern wall, and fell harmlessly to the floor. There was a horn-blast and
a rush of feet, and orcs one after another leaped into the chamber.
How many there were the Company could not count. The affray was sharp,
but the orcs were dismayed by the fierceness of the defence. Legolas shot
two through the throat. Gimli hewed the legs from under another that had
sprung up on Balin's tomb. Boromir and Aragorn slew many. When thirteen
had
fallen the rest fled shrieking. leaving the defenders unharmed, except for
Sam who had a scratch along the scalp. A quick duck had saved him; and he
had felled his orc: a sturdy thrust with his Barrow-blade. A fire was
smouldering in his brown eyes that would have made Ted Sandyman step
backwards, if he had seen it.
`Now is the time! ' cried Gandalf. `Let us go, before the troll
returns!'
But even as they retreated, and before Pippin and Merry had reached the
stair outside, a huge orc-chieftain, almost man-high, clad in black mail
from head to foot, leaped into the chamber; behind him his followers
clustered in the doorway. His broad flat face was swart, his eyes were like
coals, and his tongue was red; he wielded a great spear. With a thrust of
his huge hide shield he turned Boromir's sword and bore him backwards,
throwing him to the ground. Diving under Aragorn's blow with the speed of a
striking snake he charged into the Company and thrust with his spear
straight at Frodo. The blow caught him on the right side, and Frodo was
hurled against the wall and pinned. Sam, with a cry, hacked at the
spear-shaft, and it broke. But even as the orc flung down the truncheon and
swept out his scimitar, And®ril came down upon his helm. There was a flash
like flame and the helm burst asunder. The orc fell with cloven head. His
followers fled howling, as Boromir and Aragorn sprang at them.
Doom, doom went the drums in the deep. The great voice rolled out
again.
'Now! ' shouted Gandalf. 'Now is the last chance. Run for it! '
Aragorn picked up Frodo where he lay by the wall and made for the
stair, pushing Merry and Pippin in front of him. The others followed; but
Gimli had to be dragged away by Legolas: in spite of the peril he lingered
by Balin's tomb with his head bowed. Boromir hauled the eastern door to,
grinding upon its hinges: it had great iron rings on either side, but could
not be fastened.
'I am all right,' gasped Frodo. `I can walk. Put me down! '
Aragorn nearly dropped him in his amazement. 'I thought you were dead!
' he cried.
'Not yet! ' said Gandalf. 'But there is time for wonder. Off you go,
all of you, down the stairs! Wait a few minutes for me at the bottom, but if
I do not come soon, go on! Go quickly and choose paths leading right and
downwards.'
'We cannot leave you to hold the door alone! ' said Aragorn.
`Do as I say! ' said Gandalf fiercely. `Swords are no more use here.
Go!'
The passage was lit by no shaft and was utterly dark. They groped their
way down a long flight of steps, and then looked back; but they could see
nothing, except high above them the faint glimmer of the wizard's staff. He
seemed to be still standing on guard by the closed door. Frodo breathed
heavily and leaned against Sam, who put his arms about him. They stood
peering up the stairs into the darkness. Frodo thought he could hear the
voice of Gandalf above, muttering words that ran down the sloping roof with
a sighing echo. He could not catch what was said. The walls seemed to be
trembling. Every now and again the drum-beats throbbed and rolled: doom,
doom.
Suddenly at the top of the stair there was a stab of white light. Then
there was a dull rumble and a heavy thud. The drum-beats broke out wildly:
doom-boom, doom-boom, and then stopped. Gandalf came flying down the
steps
and fell to the ground in the midst of the Company.
`Well, well! That's over! ' said the wizard struggling to his feet. `I
have done all that I could. But I have met my match, and have nearly been
destroyed. But don't stand here! Go on! You will have to do without light
for a while: I am rather shaken. Go on! Go on! Where are you, Gimli? Come
ahead with me! Keep close behind, all of you!'
They stumbled after him wondering what had happened. Doom, doom
went
the drum-beats again: they now sounded muffled and far away, but they were
following. There was no other sound of pursuit, neither tramp of feet, nor
any voice. Gandalf took no turns, right or left, for the passage seemed to
be going in the direction that he desired. Every now and again it descended
a flight of steps, fifty or more, to a lower level. At the moment that was
their chief danger; for in the dark they could not see a descent, until they
came on it, and put their feet out into emptiness. Gandalf felt the ground
with his staff like a blind man.
At the end of an hour they had gone a mile, or maybe a little more, and
had descended many flights of stairs. There was still no sound of pursuit.
Almost they began to hope that they would escape. At the bottom of the
seventh flight Gandalf halted.
`It is getting hot! ' he gasped. `We ought to be down at least to the
level of the Gates now. Soon I think we should look for a left-hand turn to
take us east. I hope it is not far. I am very weary. I must rest here a
moment, even if all the orcs ever spawned are after us.'
Gimli took his arm and helped him down to a seat on the step. `What
happened away up there at the door? ' he asked. `Did you meet the beater of
the drums? '
'I do not know,' answered Gandalf. `But I found myself suddenly faced
by something that I have not met before. I could think of nothing to do but
to try and put a shutting-spell on the door. I know many; but to do things
of that kind rightly requires time, and even then the door can be broken by
strength.
`As I stood there I could hear orc-voices on the other side: at any
moment I thought they would burst it open. I could not hear what was said;
they seemed to be talking in their own hideous language. All I caught was
ghvsh; that is "fire". Then something came into the chamber -- I felt it
through the door, and the orcs themselves were afraid and fell silent. It
laid hold of the iron ring, and then it perceived me and my spell.
'What it was I cannot guess, but I have never felt such a challenge.
The counter-spell was terrible. It nearly broke me. For an instant the door
left my control and began to open! I had to speak a word of Command. That
proved too great a strain. The door burst in pieces. Something dark as a
cloud was blocking out all the light inside, and I was thrown backwards down
the stairs. All the wall gave way, and the roof of the chamber as well, I
think.
`I am afraid Balin is buried deep, and maybe something else is buried
there too. I cannot say. But at least the passage behind us was completely
blocked. Ah! I have never felt so spent, but it is passing. And now what
about you, Frodo? There was not time to say so, but I have never been more
delighted in my life than when you spoke. I feared that it was a brave but
dead hobbit that Aragorn was carrying.'
`What about me? ' said Frodo. 'I am alive, and whole I think. I am
bruised and in pain, but it is not too bad.'
`Well,' said Aragorn, `I can only say that hobbits are made of a stuff
so tough that I have never met the like of it. Had I known, I would have
spoken softer in the Inn at Bree! That spear-thrust would have skewered a
wild boar! '
'Well, it did not skewer me, I am glad to say,' said Frodo; `though I
feel as if I had been caught between a hammer and an anvil.' He said no
more. He found breathing painful.
'You take after Bilbo,' said Gandalf. `There is more about you than
meets the eye, as I said of him long ago.' Frodo wondered if the remark
meant more than it said.
They now went on again. Before long Gimli spoke. He had keen eyes in
the dark. `I think,' he said, `that there is a light ahead. But it is not
daylight. It is red. What can it be? '
`Ghvsh!' muttered Gandalf. `I wonder if that is what they meant: that
the lower levels are on fire? Still, we can only go on.'
Soon the light became unmistakable, and could be seen by all. It was
flickering and glowing on the walls away down the passage before them. They
could now see their way: in front the road sloped down swiftly, and some way
ahead there stood a low archway; through it the glowing light came. The air
became very hot.
When they came to the arch Gandalf went through, signing to them to
wait. As he stood just beyond the opening they saw his face lit by a red
glow. Quickly he stepped back.
`There is some new devilry here,' he said, 'devised for our welcome no
doubt. But I know now where we are: we have reached the First Deep, the
level immediately below the Gates. This is the Second Hall of Old Moria; and
the Gates are near: away beyond the eastern end, on the left, not more than
a quarter of a mile. Across the Bridge, up a broad stair, along a wide road
through the First Hall, and out! But come and look! '
They peered out. Before them was another cavernous hall. It was loftier
and far longer than the one in which they had slept. They were near its
eastern end; westward it ran away into darkness. Down the centre stalked a
double line of towering pillars. They were carved like boles of mighty trees
whose boughs upheld the roof with a branching tracery of stone. Their stems
were smooth and black, but a red glow was darkly mirrored in their sides.
Right across the floor, close to the feet of two huge pillars a great
fissure had opened. Out of it a fierce red light came, and now and again
flames licked at the brink and curled about the bases of the columns. Wisps
of dark smoke wavered in the hot air.
'If we had come by the main road down from the upper halls, we should
have been trapped here,' said Gandalf. `Let us hope that the fire now lies
between us and pursuit. Come! There is no time to lose.'
Even as he spoke they heard again the pursuing drum-beat: Doom, doom,
doom. Away beyond the shadows at the western end of the hall there came
cries and horn-calls. Doom, doom: the pillars seemed to tremble and the
flames to quiver.
`Now for the last race! ' said Gandalf. 'If the sun is shining outside
we may still escape. After me! '
He turned left and sped across the smooth floor of the hall. The
distance was greater than it had looked. As they ran they heard the beat and
echo of many hurrying feet behind. A shrill yell went up: they had been
seen. There was a ring and clash of steel. An arrow whistled over Frodo's
head.
Boromir laughed. `They did not expect this,' he said. `The fire has cut
them off. We are on the wrong side! '
`Look ahead! ' called Gandalf. `The Bridge is near. It is dangerous and
narrow.'
Suddenly Frodo saw before him a black chasm. At the end of the hall the
floor vanished and fell to an unknown depth. The outer door could only be
reached by a slender bridge of stone, without kerb or rail, that spanned the
chasm with one curving spring of fifty feet. It was an ancient defence of
the Dwarves against any enemy that might capture the First Hall and the
outer passages. They could only pass across it in single file. At the brink
Gandalf halted and the others came up in a pack behind.
'Lead the way, Gimli! ' he said. 'Pippin and Merry next. Straight on
and up the stair beyond the door! '
Arrows fell among them. One struck Frodo and sprang back. Another
pierced Gandalf's hat and stuck there like a black feather. Frodo looked
behind. Beyond the fire he saw swarming black figures: there seemed to be
hundreds of orcs. They brandished spears and scimitars which shone red as
blood in the firelight. Doom, doom rolled the drum-beats, growing louder and
louder, doom, doom.
Legolas turned and set an arrow to the string, though it was a long
shot for his small bow. He drew, but his hand fell, and the arrow slipped to
the ground. He gave a cry of dismay and fear. Two great trolls appeared;
they bore great slabs of stone, and flung them down to serve as gangways
over the fire. But it was not the trolls that had filled the Elf with
terror. The ranks of the orcs had opened, and they crowded away, as if they
themselves were afraid. Something was coming up behind them. What it was
could not be seen: it was like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a
dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to
be in it and to go before it.
It came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as if a cloud had
bent over it. Then with a rush it leaped across the fissure. The flames
roared up to greet it, and wreathed about it; and a black smoke swirled in
the air. Its streaming mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand
was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it held a whip of
many thongs.
'Ai! ai! ' wailed Legolas. 'A Balrog! A Balrog is come! '
Gimli stared with wide eyes. `Durin's Bane! ' he cried, and letting his
axe fall he covered his face.
'A Balrog,' muttered Gandalf. `Now I understand.' He faltered and
leaned heavily on his staff. `What an evil fortune! And I am already weary.'
The dark figure streaming with fire raced towards them. The orcs yelled
and poured over the stone gangways. Then Boromir raised his horn and blew.
Loud the challenge rang and bellowed, like the shout of many throats under
the cavernous roof. For a moment the orcs quailed and the fiery shadow
halted. Then the echoes died as suddenly as a flame blown out by a dark
wind, and the enemy advanced again.
'Over the bridge!' cried Gandalf, recalling his strength. `Fly! This is
a foe beyond any of you. I must hold the narrow way. Fly! ' Aragorn and
Boromir did not heed the command, but still held their ground, side by side,
behind Gandalf at the far end of the bridge. The others halted just within
the doorway at the hall's end, and turned, unable to leave their leader to
face the enemy alone.
The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span,
leaning on the staff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring
gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow
about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the whip, and the thongs
whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm.
`You cannot pass,' he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence
fell. `I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You
cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udyn. Go back to the
Shadow! You cannot pass.'
The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the
darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and suddenly it
drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to
wall; but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering in the gloom; he seemed
small, and altogether alone: grey and bent, like a wizened tree before the
onset of a storm.
From out of the shadow a red sword leaped flaming.
Glamdring glittered white in answer.
There was a ringing clash and a stab of white fire. The Balrog fell
back and its sword flew up in molten fragments. The wizard swayed on the
bridge, stepped back a pace, and then again stood still.
'You cannot pass! ' he said.
With a bound the Balrog leaped full upon the bridge. Its whip whirled
and hissed.
'He cannot stand alone! ' cried Aragorn suddenly and ran back along the
bridge. 'Elendil!' he shouted. 'I am with you, Gandalf! '
`Gondor! ' cried Boromir and leaped after him.
At that moment Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the
bridge before him. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand. A
blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The bridge cracked. Right at the
Balrog's feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood crashed into the
gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like a tongue of rock
thrust out into emptiness.
With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged
down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip, and the thongs
lashed and curled about the wizard's knees, dragging him to the brink. He
staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss.
'Fly, you fools! ' he cried, and was gone.
The fires went out, and blank darkness fell. The Company stood rooted
with horror staring into the pit. Even as Aragorn and Boromir came flying
back, the rest of the bridge cracked and fell. With a cry Aragorn roused
them.
'Come! I will lead you now! ' he called. 'We must obey his last
command. Follow me! '
They stumbled wildly up the great stairs beyond the door. Aragorn
leading, Boromir at the rear. At the top was a wide echoing passage. Along
this they fled. Frodo heard Sam at his side weeping, and then he found that
he himself was weeping as he ran. Doom, doom, doom the drum-beats rolled
behind, mournful now and slow; doom!
They ran on. The light grew before them; great shafts pierced the roof.
They ran swifter. They passed into a hall, bright with daylight from its
high windows in the east. They fled across it. Through its huge broken doors
they passed, and suddenly before them the Great Gates opened, an arch of
blazing light.
There was a guard of orcs crouching in the shadows behind the great
door posts towering on either side, but the gates were shattered and cast
down. Aragorn smote to the ground the captain that stood in his path, and
the rest fled in terror of his wrath. The Company swept past them and took
no heed of them. Out of the Gates they ran and sprang down the huge and
age-worn steps, the threshold of Moria.
Thus, at last, they came beyond hope under the sky and felt the wind on
their faces.
They did not halt until they were out of bowshot from the walls.
Dimrill Dale lay about them. The shadow of the Misty Mountains lay upon it,
but eastwards there was a golden light on the land. It was but one hour
after noon. The sun was shining; the clouds were white and high.
They looked back. Dark yawned the archway of the Gates under the
mountain-shadow. Faint and far beneath the earth rolled the slow drum-beats:
doom. A thin black smoke trailed out. Nothing else was to be seen; the dale
all around was empty. Doom. Grief at last wholly overcame them, and they
wept long: some standing and silent, some cast upon the ground. Doom, doom.
The drum-beats faded.

The Fellowship Of The Ring - Chapter 15 - The Ring Goes South

2010-08-28T07:21:00.001-07:00

Later that day the hobbits held a meeting of their own in Bilbo's room.
Merry and Pippin were indignant when they heard that Sam had crept into the
Council, and had been chosen as Frodo's companion.
`It's most unfair,' said Pippin. `Instead of throwing him out, and
clapping him in chains, Elrond goes and rewards him for his cheek!'
`Rewards!' said Frodo. 'I can't imagine a more severe punishment. You
are not thinking what you are saying: condemned to go on this hopeless
journey, a reward? Yesterday I dreamed that my task was done, and I could
rest here, a long while, perhaps for good.'
'I don't wonder,' said Merry, 'and I wish you could. But we are envying
Sam, not you. If you have to go, then it will be a punishment for any of us
to be left behind, even in Rivendell. We have come a long way with you and
been through some stiff times. We want to go on.'
`That's what I meant,' said Pippin. `We hobbits ought to stick
together, and we will. I shall go, unless they chain me up. There must be
someone with intelligence in the party.'
'Then you certainly will not be chosen, Peregrin Took!' said Gandalf,
looking in through the window, which was near the ground. `But you are all
worrying yourselves unnecessarily. Nothing is decided yet.'
`Nothing decided!' cried Pippin. 'Then what were you all doing? You
were shut up for hours.'
"Talking,' said Bilbo. `There was a deal of talk, and everyone had an
eye-opener. Even old Gandalf. I think Legolas's bit of news about Gollum
caught even him on the hop, though he passed it off.'
`You were wrong,' said Gandalf. 'You were inattentive. I had already
heard of it from Gwaihir. If you want to know, the only real eye-openers, as
you put it, were you and Frodo; and I was the only one that was not
surprised.'
`Well, anyway,' said Bilbo, 'nothing was decided beyond choosing poor
Frodo and Sam. I was afraid all the time that it might come to that, if I
was let off. But if you ask me, Elrond will send out a fair number, when the
reports come in. Have they started yet, Gandalf?'
'Yes,' said the wizard. `Some of the scouts have been sent out already.
More will go tomorrow. Elrond is sending Elves, and they will get in touch
with the Rangers, and maybe with Thranduil's folk in Mirkwood. And
Aragorn
has gone with Elrond's sons. We shall have to scour the lands all round for
many long leagues before any move is made. So cheer up, Frodo! You will
probably make quite a long stay here.'
'Ah!' said Sam gloomily. 'We'll just wait long enough for winter to
come.'
'That can't be helped,' said Bilbo. 'It's your fault partly, Frodo my
lad: insisting on waiting for my birthday. A funny way of honouring it, I
can't help thinking. Not the day I should have chosen for letting the S.-B.s
into Bag End. But there it is: you can't wait now fill spring; and you can't
go till the reports come back.
When winter first begins to bite
and stones crack in the frosty night,
when pools are black and trees are bare,
'tis evil in the Wild to fare.
But that I am afraid will be just your luck.'
'I am afraid it will,' said Gandalf. 'We can't start until we have
found out about the Riders.'
`I thought they were all destroyed in the flood,' said Merry.
'You cannot destroy Ringwraiths like that,' said Gandalf. `The power of
their master is in them, and they stand or fall by him. We hope that they
were all unhorsed and unmasked, and so made for a while less dangerous; but
we must find out for certain. In the meantime you should try and forget your
troubles, Frodo. I do not know if I can do anything to help you; but I will
whisper this in your ears. Someone said that intelligence would be needed in
the party. He was right. I think I shall come with you.'
So great was Frodo's delight at this announcement that Gandalf left the
window-sill, where he had been sitting, and took off his hat and bowed. 'I
only said I think I shall come. Do not count on anything yet. In this matter
Elrond will have much to say, and your friend the Strider. Which reminds me,
I want to see Elrond. I must be off.'
`How long do you think I shall have here?' said Frodo to Bilbo when
Gandalf had gone.
`Oh, I don't know. I can't count days in Rivendell,' said Bilbo. 'But
quite long, I should think. We can have many a good talk. What about helping
me with my book, and making a start on the next? Have you thought of an
ending?'
'Yes, several, and all are dark and unpleasant,' said Frodo.
'Oh, that won't do!' said Bilbo. `Books ought to have good endings. How
would this do: and they all settled down and lived together happily ever
after?'
`It will do well, if it ever comes to that,' said Frodo.
'Ah!' said Sam. 'And where will they live? That's what I often wonder.'
For a while the hobbits continued to talk and think of the past journey
and of the perils that lay ahead; but such was the virtue of the land of
Rivendell that soon all fear and anxiety was lifted from their minds. The
future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over
the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with
each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word
and song.
So the days slipped away, as each morning dawned bright and fair, and
each evening followed cool and clear. But autumn was waning fast; slowly the
golden light faded to pale silver, and the lingering leaves fell from the
naked trees. A wind began to blow chill from the Misty Mountains to the
east. The Hunter's Moon waxed round in the night sky, and put to flight all
the lesser stars. But low in the South one star shone red. Every night, as
the Moon waned again, it shone brighter and brighter. Frodo could see it
from his window, deep in the heavens burning like a watchful eye that glared
above the trees on the brink of the valley.
The hobbits had been nearly two months in the House of Elrond, and
November had gone by with the last shreds of autumn, and December was
passing, when the scouts began to return. Some had gone north beyond the
springs of the Hoarwell into the Ettenmoors; and others had gone west, and
with the help of Aragorn and the Rangers had searched the lands far down the
Greyflood, as far as Tharbad, where the old North Road crossed the river by
a ruined town. Many had gone east and south; and some of these had crossed
the Mountains and entered Mirkwood, while others had climbed the pass at the
source of the Gladden River, and had come down into Wilderland and over the
Gladden Fields and so at length had reached the old home of Radagast at
Rhosgobel. Radagast was not there; and they had returned over the high pass
that was called the Dimrill Stair. The sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir,
were the last to return; they had made a great journey, passing down the
Silverlode into a strange country, but of their errand they would not speak
to any save to Elrond.
In no region had the messengers discovered any signs or tidings of the
Riders or other servants of the Enemy. Even from the Eagles of the Misty
Mountains they had learned no fresh news. Nothing had been seen or heard of
Gollum; but the wild wolves were still gathering, and were hunting again far
up the Great River. Three of the black horses had been found at once drowned
in the flooded Ford. On the rocks of the rapids below it searchers
discovered the bodies of five more, and also a long black cloak, slashed and
tattered. Of the Black Riders no other trace was to be seen, and nowhere was
their presence to be felt. It seemed that they had vanished from the North.
'Eight out of the Nine are accounted for at least,' said Gandalf. 'It
is rash to be too sure, yet I think that we may hope now that the
Ringwraiths were scattered, and have been obliged to return as best they
could to their Master in Mordor, empty and shapeless.
`If that is so, it will be some time before they can begin the hunt
again. Of course the Enemy has other servants, but they will have to journey
all the way to the borders of Rivendell before they can pick up our trail.
And if we are careful that will be hard to find. But we must delay no
longer.'
Elrond summoned the hobbits to him. He looked gravely at Frodo. 'The
time has come,' he said. `If the Ring is to set out, it must go soon. But
those who go with it must not count on their errand being aided by war or
force. They must pass into the domain of the Enemy far from aid. Do you
still hold to your word, Frodo, that you will be the Ring-bearer?'
'I do,' said Frodo. `I will go with Sam.'
`Then I cannot help you much, not even with counsel,' said Elrond. `I
can foresee very little of your road; and how your task is to be achieved I
do not know. The Shadow has crept now to the feet of the Mountains, and
draws nigh even to the borders of Greyflood; and under the Shadow all is
dark to me. You will meet many foes, some open, and some disguised; and
you
may find friends upon your way when you least look for it. I will send out
messages, such as I can contrive, to those whom I know in the wide world;
but so perilous are the lands now become that some may well miscarry, or
come no quicker than you yourself.
`And I will choose you companions to go with you, as far as they will
or fortune allows. The number must be few, since your hope is in speed and
secrecy. Had I a host of Elves in armour of the Elder Days, it would avail
little, save to arouse the power of Mordor.
`The Company of the Ring shall be Nine; and the Nine Walkers shall be
set against the Nine Riders that are evil. With you and your faithful
servant, Gandalf will go; for this shall be his great task, and maybe the
end of his labours.
`For the rest, they shall represent the other Free Peoples of the
World: Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Legolas shall be for the Elves; and Gimli
son of Gluin for the Dwarves. They are willing to go at least to the passes
of the Mountains, and maybe beyond. For men you shall have Aragorn son of
Arathorn, for the Ring of Isildur concerns him closely.'
`Strider!' said Frodo.
'Yes,' he said with a smile. `I ask leave once again to be your
companion, Frodo.'
`I would have begged you to come,' said Frodo, 'only I thought you were
going to Minas Tirith with Boromir.'
`I am,' said Aragorn. `And the Sword-that-was-Broken shall be reforged
ere I set out to war. But your road and our road lie together for many
hundreds of miles. Therefore Boromir will also be in the Company. He is a
valiant man.'
'There remain two more to be found,' said Elrond. "These I will
consider. Of my household I may find some that it seems good to me to send.'
`But that will leave no place for us!' cried Pippin in dismay. `We
don't want to be left behind. We want to go with Frodo.'
`That is because you do not understand and cannot imagine what lies
ahead,' said Elrond.
`Neither does Frodo,' said Gandalf, unexpectedly supporting Pippin.
'Nor do any of us see clearly. It is true that if these hobbits understood
the danger, they would not dare to go. But they would still wish to go, or
wish that they dared, and be shamed and unhappy. I think, Elrond, that in
this matter it would be well to trust rather to their friendship than to
great wisdom. Even if you chose for us an elf-lord, such as Glorfindel, he
could not storm the Dark Tower, nor open the road to the Fire by the power
that is in him.'
`You speak gravely,' said Elrond, `but I am in doubt. The Shire, I
forebode, is not free now from peril; and these two I had thought to send
back there as messengers, to do what they could, according to the fashion of
their country, to warn the people of their danger. In any case, I judge that
the younger of these two, Peregrin Took, should remain. My heart is against
his going.'
`Then, Master Elrond, you will have to lock me in prison, or send me
home tied in a sack,' said Pippin. `For otherwise I shall follow the
Company.'
`Let it be so then. You shall go,' said Elrond, and he sighed. 'Now the
tale of Nine is filled. In seven days the Company must depart.'
The Sword of Elendil was forged anew by Elvish smiths, and on its blade
was traced a device of seven stars set between the crescent Moon and the
rayed Sun, and about them was written many runes; for Aragorn son of
Arathorn was going to war upon the marches of Mordor. Very bright was that
sword when it was made whole again; the light of the sun shone redly in it,
and the light of the moon shone cold, and its edge was hard and keen. And
Aragorn gave it a new name and called it And®ril, Flame of the West.
Aragorn and Gandalf walked together or sat speaking of their road and
the perils they would meet; and they pondered the storied and figured maps
and books of lore that were in the house of Elrond. Sometimes Frodo was with
them; but he was content to lean on their guidance, and he spent as much
time as he could with Bilbo.
In those last days the hobbits sat together in the evening in the Hall
of Fire, and there among many tales they heard told in full the lay of Beren
and L®thien and the winning of the Great Jewel; but in the day, while Merry
and Pippin were out and about, Frodo and Sam were to be found with Bilbo in
his own small room. Then Bilbo would read passages from his book (which
still seemed very incomplete). or scraps of his verses, or would take notes
of Frodo's adventures.
On the morning of the last day Frodo was alone with Bilbo, and the old
hobbit pulled out from under his bed a wooden box. He lifted the lid and
fumbled inside.
'Here is your sword,' he said. 'But it was broken, you know. I took it
to keep it safe but I've forgotten to ask if the smiths could mend it. No
time now.. So I thought, perhaps, you would care to have this, don't you
know?'
He took from the box a small sword in an old shabby leathern scabbard.
Then he drew it, and its polished and well-tended blade glittered suddenly,
cold and bright. 'This is Sting,' he said, and thrust it with little effort
deep into a wooden beam. `Take it, if you like. I shan't want it again, I
expect.'
Frodo accepted it gratefully.
'Also there is this!' said Bilbo, bringing out a parcel which seemed to
be rather heavy for its size. He unwound several folds of old cloth, and
held up a small shirt of mail. It was close-woven of many rings, as supple
almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit
silver, and was studded with white gems. With it was a belt of pearl and
crystal.
'It's a pretty thing, isn't it?' said Bilbo, moving it in the light.
`And useful. It is my dwarf-mail that Thorin gave me. I got it back from
Michel Delving before I started, and packed it with my luggage: I brought
all the mementoes of my Journey away with me, except the Ring. But I did not
expect to use this, and I don't need it now, except to look at sometimes.
You hardly feel any weight when you put it on.'
`I should look -- well, I don't think I should look right in it,' said
Frodo.
`Just what I said myself,' said Bilbo. 'But never mind about looks. You
can wear it under your outer clothes. Come on! You must share this secret
with me. Don't tell anybody else! But I should feel happier if I knew you
were wearing it. I have a fancy it would turn even the knives of the Black
Riders,' he ended in a low voice.
`Very well, I will take it,' said Frodo. Bilbo put it on him, and
fastened Sting upon the glittering belt; and then Frodo put over the top his
old weather-stained breeches, tunic, and jacket.
'Just a plain hobbit you look,' said Bilbo. 'But there is more about
you now than appears on the surface. Good luck to you!' He turned away and
looked out of the window, trying to hum a tune.
'I cannot thank you as I should, Bilbo, for this, and for all our past
kindnesses,' said Frodo.
'Don't try!' said the old hobbit, turning round and slapping him on the
back. `Ow!' he cried. `You are too hard now to slap! But there you are:
Hobbits must stick together, and especially Bagginses. All I ask in return
is: take as much care of yourself as you can. and bring back all the news
you can, and any old songs and tales you can come by. I'll do my best to
finish my book before you return. I should like to write the second book, if
I am spared.' He broke off and turned to the window again, singing softly.
I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago,
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.
It was a cold grey day near the end of December. The East Wind was
streaming through the bare branches of the trees, and seething in the dark
pines on the hills. Ragged clouds were hurrying overhead, dark and low. As
the cheerless shadows of the early evening began to fall the Company made
ready to set out. They were to start at dusk, for Elrond counselled them to
journey under cover of night as often as they could, until they were far
from Rivendell.
`You should fear the many eyes of the servants of Sauron,' he said. 'I
do not doubt that news of the discomfiture of the Riders has already reached
him, and he will be filled with wrath. Soon now his spies on foot and wing
will be abroad in the northern lands. Even of the sky above you must beware
as you go on your way.'
The Company took little gear of war, for their hope was in secrecy not
in battle. Aragorn had And®ril but no other weapon, and he went forth clad
only in rusty green and brown. as a Ranger of the wilderness. Boromir had a
long sword, in fashion like And®ril but of less lineage and he bore also a
shield and his war-horn.
'Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys of the hills,' he said, `and
then let all the foes of Gondor flee!' Putting it to his lips he blew a
blast, and the echoes leapt from rock to rock, and all that heard that voice
in Rivendell sprang to their feet.
Slow should you be to wind that horn again, Boromir, said Elrond.
'until you stand once more on the borders of your land, and dire need is on
you.'
`Maybe,' said Boromir. 'But always I have let my horn cry at setting
forth, and though thereafter we may walk in the shadows, I will not go forth
as a thief in the night.'
Gimli the dwarf alone wore openly a short shirt of steel-rings, for
dwarves make light of burdens; and in his belt was a broad-bladed axe.
Legolas had a bow and a quiver, and at his belt a long white knife. The
younger hobbits wore the swords that they had taken from the barrow; but
Frodo took only Sting; and his mail-coat, as Bilbo wished, remained hidden.
Gandalf bore his staff, but girt at his side was the elven-sword Glamdring,
the mate of Orcrist that lay now upon the breast of Thorin under the Lonely
Mountain.
All were well furnished by Elrond with thick warm clothes, and they had
jackets and cloaks lined with fur. Spare food and clothes and blankets and
other needs were laden on a pony, none other than the poor beast that they
had brought from Bree.
?he stay in Rivendell had worked a great wonder of change on him: he
was glossy and seemed to have the vigour of youth. It was Sam who had
insisted on choosing him, declaring that Bill (as he called him) would pine,
if he did not come.
`That animal can nearly talk,' he said, `and would talk, if he stayed
here much longer. He gave me a look as plain as Mr. Pippin could speak it:
if you don't let me go with you, Sam, I'll follow on my own.' So Bill was
going as the beast of burden, yet he was the only member of the Company that
did not seem depressed.
Their farewells had been said in the great hall by the fire, and they
were only waiting now for Gandalf, who had not yet come out of the house. A
gleam of firelight came from the open doors, and soft lights were glowing in
many windows. Bilbo huddled in a cloak stood silent on the doorstep beside
Frodo. Aragorn sat with his head bowed to his knees; only Elrond knew fully
what this hour meant to him. The others could be seen as grey shapes in the
darkness.
Sam was standing by the pony, sucking his teeth, and staring moodily
into the gloom where the river roared stonily below; his desire for
adventure was at its lowest ebb.
`Bill, my lad,' he said, `you oughtn't to have took up with us. You
could have stayed here and et the best hay till the new grass comes.' Bill
swished his tail and said nothing.
Sam eased the pack on his shoulders, and went over anxiously in his
mind all the things that he had stowed in it, wondering if he had forgotten
anything: his chief treasure, his cooking gear; and the little box of salt
that he always carried and refilled when he could; a good supply of
pipe-weed (but not near enough, I'll warrant); flint and tinder; woollen
hose: linen; various small belongings of his master's that Frodo had
forgotten and Sam had stowed to bring them out in triumph when they were
called for. He went through them all.
'Rope!' he muttered. `No rope! And only last night you said to
yourself: "Sam, what about a bit of rope? You'll want it, if you haven't got
it:" Well, I'll want it. I can't get it now.'
At that moment Elrond came out with Gandalf, and he called the Company
to him. 'This is my last word,' he said in a low voice. 'The Ring-bearer is
setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom. On him alone is any charge laid:
neither to cast away the Ring, nor to deliver it to any servant of the Enemy
nor indeed to let any handle it, save members of the Company and the
Council, and only then in gravest need. The others go with him as free
companions, to help him on his way. You may tarry, or come back, or turn
aside into other paths, as chance allows. The further you go, the less easy
will it be to withdraw; yet no oath or bond is laid on you to go further
than you will. For you do not yet know the strength of your hearts, and you
cannot foresee what each may meet upon the road.'
`Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens,' said Gimli.
'Maybe,' said Elrond, `but let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has
not seen the nightfall.'
'Yet sworn word may strengthen quaking heart,' said Gimli.
`Or break it,' said Elrond. `Look not too far ahead! But go now with
good hearts! Farewell, and may the blessing of Elves and Men and all Free
Folk go with you. May the stars shine upon your faces!'
'Good . . . good luck!' cried Bilbo, stuttering with the cold. 'I don't
suppose you will be able to keep a diary, Frodo my lad, but I shall expect a
full account when you get back. And don't be too long! Farewell!'
Many others of Elrond's household stood in the shadows and watched them
go, bidding them farewell with soft voices. There was no laughter, and no
song or music. At last they turned away and faded silently into the dusk.
They crossed the bridge and wound slowly up the long steep paths that
led out of the cloven vale of Rivendell; and they came at length to the high
moor where the wind hissed through the heather. Then with one glance at the
Last Homely House twinkling below them they strode away far into the night.
At the Ford of Bruinen they left the Road and turning southwards went
on by narrow paths among the folded lands. Their purpose was to hold this
course west of the Mountains for many miles and days. The country was
much
rougher and more barren than in the green vale of the Great River in
Wilderland on the other side of the range, and their going would be slow;
but they hoped in this way to escape the notice of unfriendly eyes. The
spies of Sauron had hitherto seldom been seen in this empty country, and the
paths were little known except to the people of Rivendell.
Gandalf walked in front, and with him went Aragorn, who knew this land
even in the dark. The others were in file behind, and Legolas whose eyes
were keen was the rearguard. The first part of their journey was hard and
dreary, and Frodo remembered little of it, save the wind. For many sunless
days an icy blast came from the Mountains in the east, and no garment seemed
able to keep out its searching fingers. Though the Company was well clad,
they seldom felt warm, either moving or at rest. They slept uneasily during
the middle of the day, in some hollow of the land, or hidden under the
tangled thorn-bushes that grew in thickets in many places. In the late
afternoon they were roused by the watch, and took their chief meal: cold and
cheerless as a rule, for they could seldom risk the lighting of a fire. In
the evening they went on again, always as nearly southward as they could
find a way.
At first it seemed to the hobbits that although they walked and
stumbled until they were weary, they were creeping forward like snails, and
getting nowhere. Each day the land looked much the same as it had the day
before. Yet steadily the mountains were drawing nearer. South of Rivendell
they rose ever higher, and bent westwards; and about the feet of the main
range there was tumbled an ever wider land of bleak hills, and deep valleys
filled with turbulent waters. Paths were few and winding, and led them often
only to the edge of some sheer fall, or down into treacherous swamps.
They had been a fortnight on the way when the weather changed. The wind
suddenly fell and then veered round to the south. The swift-flowing clouds
lifted and melted away, and the sun came out, pale and bright. There came a
cold clear dawn at the end of a long stumbling night-march. The travellers
reached a low ridge crowned with ancient holly-trees whose grey-green trunks
seemed to have been built out of the very stone of the hills. Their dark
leaves shone and their berries glowed red in the light of the rising sun.
Away in the south Frodo could see the dim shapes of lofty mountains
that seemed now to stand across the path that the Company was taking. At the
left of this high range rose three peaks; the tallest and nearest stood up
like a tooth tipped with snow; its great, bare, northern precipice was still
largely in the shadow, but where the sunlight slanted upon it, it glowed
red.
Gandalf stood at Frodo's side and looked out under his hand. `We have
done well,' he said. `We have reached the borders of the country that Men
call Hollin; many Elves lived here in happier days, when Eregion was its
name. Five-and-forty leagues as the crow flies we have come, though many
long miles further our feet have walked. The land and the weather will be
milder now, but perhaps all the more dangerous.'
`Dangerous or not, a real sunrise is mighty welcome,' said Frodo,
throwing back his hood and letting the morning light fall on his face.
'But the mountains are ahead of us,' said Pippin. `We must have turned
eastwards in the night.'
'No,' said Gandalf. 'But you see further ahead in the clear light.
Beyond those peaks the range bends round south-west. There are many maps
in
Elrond's house, but I suppose you never thought to look at them?'
`Yes I did, sometimes,' said Pippin, `but I don't remember them. Frodo
has a better head for that sort of thing.'
`I need no map,' said Gimli, who had come up with Legolas, and was
gazing out before him with a strange light in his deep eyes. `There is the
land where our fathers worked of old, and we have wrought the image of those
mountains into many works of metal and of stone, and into many songs and
tales. They stand tall in our dreams: Baraz, Zirak, Shathyr.
`Only once before have I seen them from afar in waking life, but I know
them and their names, for under them lies Khazad-dym, the Dwarrowdelf, that
is now called the Black Pit, Moria in the Elvish tongue. Yonder stands
Barazinbar, the Redhorn, cruel Caradhras; and beyond him are Silvertine and
Cloudyhead: Celebdil the White, and Fanuidhol the Grey, that we call
Zirak-zigil and Bundushathyr.
`There the Misty Mountains divide, and between their arms lies the
deep-shadowed valley which we cannot forget: Azanulbizar, the Dimrill Dale,
which the Elves call Nanduhirion.'
`It is for the Dimrill Dale that we are making,' said Gandalf. `If we
climb the pass that is called the Redhorn Gate, under the far side of
Caradhras, we shall come down by the Dimrill Stair into the deep vale of the
Dwarves. There lies the Mirrormere, and there the River Silverlode rises in
its icy springs.'
`Dark is the water of Kheled-zvram,' said Gimli, `and cold are the
springs of Kibil-nvla. My heart trembles at the thought that I may see them
soon.'
`May you have joy of the sight, my good dwarf l' said Gandalf. 'But
whatever you may do, we at least cannot stay in that valley. We must go down
the Silverlode into the secret woods, and so to the Great River, and then
--'
He paused.
'Yes, and where then?' asked Merry.
'To the end of the journey -- in the end,' said Gandalf. 'We cannot
look too far ahead. Let us be glad that the first stage is safely over. I
think we will rest here, not only today but tonight as well. There is a
wholesome air about Hollin. Much evil must befall a country before it wholly
forgets the Elves, if once they dwelt there.'
'That is true,' said Legolas. `But the Elves of this land were of a
race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not
now remember them: Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us,
fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are
gone. They sought the Havens long ago.'
That morning they lit a fire in a deep hollow shrouded by great bushes
of holly, and their supper-breakfast was merrier than it had been since they
set out. They did not hurry to bed afterwards, for they expected to have all
the night to sleep in, and they did not mean to go on again until the
evening of the next day. Only Aragorn was silent and restless. After a while
he left the Company and wandered on to the ridge; there he stood in the
shadow of a tree, looking out southwards and westwards, with his head posed
as if he was listening. Then he returned to the brink of the dell and looked
down at the others laughing and talking.
`What is the matter, Strider?' Merry called up. 'What are you looking
for? Do you miss the East Wind?'
'No indeed,' he answered. `But I miss something. I have been in the
country of Hollin in many seasons. No folk dwell here now, but many other
creatures live here at all times, especially birds. Yet now all things but
you are silent. I can feel it. There is no sound for miles about us, and
your voices seem to make the ground echo. I do not understand it.'
Gandalf looked up with sudden interest. `But what do you guess is the
reason?' he asked. `Is there more in it than surprise at seeing four
hobbits, not to mention the rest of us, where people are so seldom seen or
heard?'
`I hope that is it,' answered Aragorn. `But I have a sense of
watchfulness, and of fear, that I have never had here before.'
"Then we must be more careful,' said Gandalf. 'If you bring a Ranger
with you, it is well to pay attention to him, especially if the Ranger is
Aragorn. We must stop talking aloud, rest quietly, and set the watch.'
It was Sam's turn that day to take the first watch, but Aragorn joined
him. The others fell asleep. Then the silence grew until even Sam felt it.
The breathing of the sleepers could be plainly heard. The swish of the
pony's tail and the occasional movements of his feet became loud noises. Sam
could hear his own joints creaking, if he stirred. Dead silence was around
him, and over all hung a clear blue sky, as the Sun rode up from the East.
Away in the South a dark patch appeared, and grew, and drove north like
flying smoke in the wind.
`What's that, Strider? It don't look like a cloud,' said Sam in a
whisper to Aragorn. He made no answer, he was gazing intently at the sky;
but before long Sam could see for himself what was approaching. Flocks of
birds, flying at great speed, were wheeling and circling, and traversing all
the land as if they were searching for something; and they were steadily
drawing nearer.
`Lie flat and still!' hissed Aragorn, pulling Sam down into the shade
of a holly-bush; for a whole regiment of birds had broken away suddenly from
the main host, and came, flying low, straight towards the ridge. Sam thought
they were a kind of crow of large size. As they passed overhead, in so dense
a throng that their shadow followed them darkly over the ground below, one
harsh croak was heard.
Not until they had dwindled into the distance, north and west, and the
sky was again clear would Aragorn rise. Then he sprang up and went and
wakened Gandalf.
`Regiments of black crows are flying over all the land between the
Mountains and the Greyflood,' he said, `and they have passed over Hollin.
They are not natives here; they are crebain out of Fangorn and Dunland. I do
not know what they are about: possibly there is some trouble away south from
which they are fleeing; but I think they are spying out the land. I have
also glimpsed many hawks flying high up in the sky. I think we ought to move
again this evening. Hollin is no longer wholesome for us: it is being
watched.'
`And in that case so is the Redhorn Gate,' said Gandalf; `and how we
can get over that without being seen, I cannot imagine. But we will think of
that when we must. As for moving as soon as it is dark, I am afraid that you
are right.'
`Luckily our fire made little smoke, and had burned low before the
crebain came,' said Aragorn. `It must be put out and not lit again.'
`Well if that isn't a plague and a nuisance!' said Pippin. The news: no
fire, and a move again by night, had been broken to him, as soon as he woke
in the late afternoon. 'All because of a pack of crows! I had looked forward
to a real good meal tonight: something hot.'
`Well, you can go on looking forward,' said Gandalf. `There may be many
unexpected feasts ahead for you. For myself I should like a pipe to smoke in
comfort, and warmer feet. However, we are certain of one thing at any rate:
it will get warmer as we get south.'
'Too warm, I shouldn't wonder,' muttered Sam to Frodo. 'But I'm
beginning to think it's time we got a sight of that Fiery Mountain and saw
the end of the Road, so to speak. I thought at first that this here Redhorn,
or whatever its name is, might be it, till Gimli spoke his piece. A fair
jaw-cracker dwarf-language must be!' Maps conveyed nothing to Sam's mind,
and all distances in these strange lands seemed so vast that he was quite
out of his reckoning.
All that day the Company remained in hiding. The dark birds passed over
now and again; but as the westering Sun grew red they disappeared
southwards. At dusk the Company set out, and turning now half east they
steered their course towards Caradhras, which far away still glowed faintly
red in the last light of the vanished Sun. One by one white stars sprang
forth as the sky faded.
Guided by Aragorn they struck a good path. It looked to Frodo like the
remains of an ancient road, that had once been broad and well planned, from
Hollin to the mountain-pass. The Moon, now at the full, rose over the
mountains, and cast a pale light in which the shadows of stones were black.
Many of them looked to have been worked by hands, though now they lay
tumbled and ruinous in a bleak, barren land.
It was the cold chill hour before the first stir of dawn, and the moon
was low. Frodo looked up at the sky. Suddenly he saw or felt a shadow pass
over the high stars, as if for a moment they faded and then flashed out
again. He shivered.
`Did you see anything pass over?' he whispered to Gandalf, who was just
ahead.
`No, but I felt it, whatever it was,' he answered. `It may be nothing,
only a wisp of thin cloud.'
`It was moving fast then,' muttered Aragorn, `and not with the wind.'
Nothing further happened that night. The next morning dawned even
brighter than before. But the air was chill again; already the wind was
turning back towards the east. For two more nights they marched on, climbing
steadily but ever more slowly as their road wound up into the hills, and the
mountains towered up, nearer and nearer. On the third morning Caradhras rose
before them, a mighty peak, tipped with snow like silver, but with sheer
naked sides, dull red as if stained with blood.
There was a black look in the sky, and the sun was wan. The wind had
gone now round to the north-east. Gandalf snuffed the air and looked back.
`Winter deepens behind us,' he said quietly to Aragorn. 'The heights
away north are whiter than they were; snow is lying far down their
shoulders. Tonight we shall be on our way high up towards the Redhorn Gate.
We may well be seen by watchers on that narrow path, and waylaid by some
evil; but the weather may prove a more deadly enemy than any. What do you
think of your course now, Aragorn?'
Frodo overheard these words, and understood that Gandalf and Aragorn
were continuing some debate that had begun long before. He listened
anxiously.
'I think no good of our course from beginning to end, as you know well,
Gandalf,' answered Aragorn. `And perils known and unknown will grow as we
go
on. But we must go on; and it is no good our delaying the passage of the
mountains. Further south there are no passes, till one comes to the Gap of
Rohan. I do not trust that way since your news of Saruman. Who knows
which
side now the marshals of the Horse-lords serve?'
'Who knows indeed!' said Gandalf. `But there is another way, and not by
the pass of Caradhras: the dark and secret way that we have spoken of.'
'But let us not speak of it again! Not yet. Say nothing to the others I
beg, not until it is plain that there is no other way.'
'We must decide before we go further,' answered Gandalf.
'Then let us weigh the matter in our minds, while the others rest and
sleep,' said Aragorn.
In the late afternoon, while the others were finishing their breakfast,
Gandalf and Aragorn went aside together and stood looking at Caradhras. Its
sides were now dark and sullen, and its head was in grey cloud. Frodo
watched them, wondering which way the debate would go. When they returned
to
the Company Gandalf spoke, and then he knew that it had been decided to face
the weather and the high pass. He was relieved. He could not guess what was
the other dark and secret way, but the very mention of it had seemed to fill
Aragorn with dismay, and Frodo was glad that it had been abandoned.
`From signs that we have seen lately,' said Gandalf, 'I fear that the
Redhorn Gate may be watched; and also I have doubts of the weather that is
coming up behind. Snow may come. We must go with all the speed that we
can.
Even so it will take us more than two marches before we reach the top of the
pass. Dark will come early this evening. We must leave as soon as you can
get ready.'
'I will add a word of advice, if I may,' said Boromir. 'I was born
under the shadow of the White Mountains and know something of journeys
in
the high places. We shall meet bitter cold, if no worse, before we come down
on the other side. It will not help us to keep so secret that we are frozen
to death. When we leave here, where there are still a few trees and bushes,
each of us should carry a faggot of wood, as large as he can bear.'
'And Bill could take a bit more, couldn't you lad?' said Sam. The pony
looked at him mournfully.
'Very well,' said Gandalf. `But we must not use the wood -- not unless
it is a choice between fire and death.'
The Company set out again with good speed at first; but soon their way
became steep and difficult. The twisting and climbing road had in many
places almost disappeared, and was blocked with many fallen stones. The
night grew deadly dark under great clouds. A bitter wind swirled among the
rocks. By midnight they had climbed to the knees of the great mountains. The
narrow path now wound under a sheer wall of cliffs to the left, above which
the grim flanks of Caradhras towered up invisible in the gloom; on the right
was a gulf of darkness where the land fell suddenly into a deep ravine.
Laboriously they climbed a sharp slope and halted for a moment at the
top. Frodo felt a soft touch on his face. He put out his arm and saw the dim
white flakes of snow settling on his sleeve.
They went on. But before long the snow was falling fast, filling all
the air, and swirling into Frodo's eyes. The dark bent shapes of Gandalf and
Aragorn only a pace or two ahead could hardly be seen.
'I don't like this at all,' panted Sam just behind. 'Snow's all right
on a fine morning, but I like to be in bed while it's falling. I wish this
lot would go off to Hobbiton! Folk might welcome it there.' Except on the
high moors of the Northfarthing a heavy fall was rare in the Shire, and was
regarded as a pleasant event and a chance for fun. No living hobbit (save
Bilbo) could remember the Fell Winter of 1311, when the white wolves
invaded
the Shire over the frozen Brandywine.
Gandalf halted. Snow was thick on his hood and shoulders; it was
already ankle-deep about his boots.
"This is what I feared,' he said. `What do you say now, Aragorn?'
'That I feared it too,' Aragorn answered, `but less than other things.
I knew the risk of snow, though it seldom falls heavily so far south, save
high up in the mountains. But we are not high yet; we are still far down,
where the paths are usually open all the winter.'
'I wonder if this is a contrivance of the Enemy,' said Boromir. "They
say in my land that he can govern the storms in the Mountains of Shadow that
stand upon the borders of Mordor. He has strange powers and many allies.'
'His arm has grown long indeed,' said Gimli, `if he can draw snow down
from the North to trouble us here three hundred leagues away.'
'His arm has grown long,' said Gandalf.
While they were halted, the wind died down, and the snow slackened
until it almost ceased. They tramped on again. But they had not gone more
than a furlong when the storm returned with fresh fury. The wind whistled
and the snow became a blinding blizzard. Soon even Boromir found it hard to
keep going. The hobbits, bent nearly double, toiled along behind the taller
folk, but it was plain that they could not go much further, if the snow
continued. Frodo's feet felt like lead. Pippin was dragging behind. Even
Gimli, as stout as any dwarf could be, was grumbling as he trudged.
The Company halted suddenly, as if they had come to an agreement
without any words being spoken. They heard eerie noises in the darkness
round them. It may have been only a trick of the wind in the cracks and
gullies of the rocky wall, but the sounds were those of shrill cries, and
wild howls of laughter. Stones began to fall from the mountain-side,
whistling over their heads, or crashing on the path beside them. Every now
and again they heard a dull rumble, as a great boulder rolled down from
hidden heights above.
`We cannot go further tonight,' said Boromir. `Let those call it the
wind who will; there are fell voices on the air; and these stones are aimed
at us.'
`I do call it the wind,' said Aragorn. `But that does not make what you
say untrue. There are many evil and unfriendly things in the world that have
little love for those that go on two legs, and yet are not in league with
Sauron, but have purposes of their own. Some have been in this world longer
than he.'
'Caradhras was called the Cruel, and had an ill name, said Gimli, `long
years ago, when rumour of Sauron had not been heard in these lands.'
`It matters little who is the enemy, if we cannot beat off his attack;
said Gandalf.
'But what can we do?' cried Pippin miserably. He was leaning on Merry
and Frodo, and he was shivering.
`Either stop where we are, or go back,' said Gandalf. 'It is no good
going on. Only a little higher, if I remember rightly, this path leaves the
cliff and runs into a wide shallow trough at the bottom of a long hard
slope. We should have no shelter there from snow, or stones -- or anything
else.'
`And it is no good going back while the storm holds,' said Aragorn. `We
have passed no place on the way up that offered more shelter than this
cliff-wall we are under now.'
`Shelter!' muttered Sam. `If this is shelter, then one wall and no roof
make a house.'
The Company now gathered together as close to the cliff as they could.
It faced southwards, and near the bottom it leaned out a little, so that
they hoped it would give them some protection from the northerly wind and
from the falling stones. But eddying blasts swirled round them from every
side, and the snow flowed down in ever denser clouds.
They huddled together with their backs to the wall. Bill the pony stood
patiently but dejectedly in front of the hobbits, and screened them a
little; but before long the drifting snow was above his hocks, and it went
on mounting. If they had had no larger companions the hobbits would soon
have been entirely buried.
A great sleepiness came over Frodo; he felt himself sinking fast into a
warm and hazy dream. He thought a fire was heating his toes, and out of the
shadows on the other side of the hearth he heard Bilbo's voice speaking. I
don't think much of your diary, he said. Snowstorms on January the twelfth:
there was no need to come back to report that!
But I wanted rest and sleep, Bilbo, Frodo answered with an effort, when
he felt himself shaken, and he came back painfully to wakefulness. Boromir
had lifted him off the ground out of a nest of snow.
`This will be the death of the halflings, Gandalf,' said Boromir. `It
is useless to sit here until the snow goes over our heads. We must do
something to save ourselves.'
`Give them this,' said Gandalf, searching in his pack and drawing out a
leathern flask. `Just a mouthful each -- for all of us. It is very precious.
It is miruvor, the cordial of Imladris. Elrond gave it to me at our parting.
Pass it round!'
As soon as Frodo had swallowed a little of the warm and fragrant liquor
he felt a new strength of heart, and the heavy drowsiness left his limbs.
The others also revived and found fresh hope and vigour. But the snow did
not relent. It whirled about them thicker than ever, and the wind blew
louder.
'What do you say to fire?' asked Boromir suddenly. 'The choice seems
near now between fire and death, Gandalf. Doubtless we shall be hidden from
all unfriendly eyes when the snow has covered us, but that will not help
us.'
'You may make a fire, if you can,' answered Gandalf. 'If there are any
watchers that can endure this storm, then they can see us, fire or no.' But
though they had brought wood and kindlings by the advice of Boromir, it
passed the skill of Elf or even Dwarf to strike a flame that would hold amid
the swirling wind or catch in the wet fuel. At last reluctantly Gandalf
himself took a hand. Picking up a faggot he held it aloft for a moment, and
then with a word of command, naur an edraith ammen! he thrust the end of his
staff into the midst of it. At once a great spout of green and blue flame
sprang out, and the wood flared and sputtered.
`If there are any to see, then I at least am revealed to them,' he
said. 'I have written Gandalf is here in signs that all can read from
Rivendell to the mouths of Anduin.'
But the Company cared no longer for watchers or unfriendly eyes. Their
hearts were rejoiced to see the light of the fire. The wood burned merrily;
and though all round it the snow hissed, and pools of slush crept under
their feet, they warmed their hands gladly at the blaze. There they stood,
stooping in a circle round the little dancing and blowing flames. A red
light was on their tired and anxious faces; behind them the night was like a
black wall.
But the wood was burning fast, and the snow still fell.
The fire burned low. and the last faggot was thrown on.
The night is getting old,' said Aragorn. "The dawn is not far off.'
`If any dawn can pierce these clouds,' said Gimli.
Boromir stepped out of the circle and stared up into the blackness.
'The snow is growing less,' he said, `and the wind is quieter.'
Frodo gazed wearily at the flakes still falling out of the dark to be
revealed white for a moment in the light of the dying fire; but for a long
time he could see no sign of their slackening. Then suddenly, as sleep was
beginning to creep over him again, he was aware that the wind had indeed
fallen, and the flakes were becoming larger and fewer. Very slowly a dim
light began to grow. At last the snow stopped altogether.
As the light grew stronger it showed a silent shrouded world. Below
their refuge were white humps and domes and shapeless deeps beneath which
the path that they had trodden was altogether lost; but the heights above
were hidden in great clouds still heavy with the threat of snow.
Gimli looked up and shook his head. `Caradhras has not forgiven us.' he
said. `He has more snow yet to fling at us, if we go on. The sooner we go
back and down the better.'
To this all agreed, but their retreat was now difficult. It might well
prove impossible. Only a few paces from the ashes of their fire the snow lay
many feet deep, higher than the heads of the hobbits; in places it had been
scooped and piled by the wind into great drifts against the cliff.
`If Gandalf would go before us with a bright flame, he might melt a
path for you,' said Legolas. The storm had troubled him little, and he alone
of the Company remained still light of heart.
`If Elves could fly over mountains, they might fetch the Sun to save
us,' answered Gandalf. `But I must have something to work on. I cannot burn
snow.'
`Well,' said Boromir, `when heads are at a loss bodies must serve, as
we say in my country. The strongest of us must seek a way. See! Though all
is now snow-clad, our path, as we came up, turned about that shoulder of
rock down yonder. It was there that the snow first began to burden us. If we
could reach that point, maybe it would prove easier beyond. It is no more
than a furlong off, I guess.'
`Then let us force a path thither, you and I!' said Aragorn.
Aragorn was the tallest of the Company, but Boromir, little less in
height, was broader and heavier in build. He led the way, and Aragorn
followed him. Slowly they moved off, and were soon toiling heavily. In
places the snow was breast-high, and often Boromir seemed to bc swimming
or
burrowing with his great arms rather than walking.
Legolas watched them for a while with a smile upon his lips, and then
he turned to the others. `The strongest must seek a way, say you? But I say:
let a ploughman plough, but choose an otter for swimming, and for running
light over grass and leaf or over snow-an Elf.'
With that he sprang forth nimbly, and then Frodo noticed as if for the
first time, though he had long known it, that the Elf had no boots, but wore
only light shoes, as he always did, and his feet made little imprint in the
snow.
'Farewell!' he said to Gandalf. `I go to find the Sun!' Then swift as a
runner over firm sand he shot away, and quickly overtaking the toiling men,
with a wave of his hand he passed them, and sped into the distance, and
vanished round the rocky turn.
The others waited huddled together, watching until Boromir and Aragorn
dwindled into black specks in the whiteness. At length they too passed from
sight. The time dragged on. The clouds lowered, and now a few flakes of snow
came curling down again.
An hour, maybe, went by, though it seemed far longer, and then at last
they saw Legolas coming back. At the same time Boromir and Aragorn
reappeared round the bend far behind him and came labouring up the slope.
`Well,' cried Legolas as he ran up, `I have not brought the Sun. She is
walking in the blue fields of the South, and a little wreath of snow on this
Redhorn hillock troubles her not at all. But I have brought back a gleam of
good hope for those who are doomed to go on feet. There is the greatest
wind-drift of all just beyond the turn, and there our Strong Men were almost
buried. They despaired, until I returned and told them that the drift was
little wider than a wall. And on the other side the snow suddenly grows
less, while further down it is no more than a white coverlet to cool a
hobbit's toes.'
`Ah, it is as I said,' growled Gimli. 'It was no ordinary storm. It is
the ill will of Caradhras. He does not love Elves and Dwarves, and that
drift was laid to cut off our escape.'
'But happily your Caradhras has forgotten that you have Men with you,'
said Boromir, who came up at that moment. `And doughty Men too, if I may
say
it; though lesser men with spades might have served you better. Still, we
have thrust a lane through the drift; and for that all here may be grateful
who cannot run as light as Elves.'
`But how are we to get down there, even if you have cut through the
drift?' said Pippin, voicing the thought of all the hobbits.
'Have hope!' said Boromir. 'I am weary, but I still have some strength
left, and Aragorn too. We will bear the little folk. The others no doubt
will make shift to tread the path behind us. Come, Master Peregrin! I will
begin with you.'
He lifted up the hobbit. 'Cling to my back! I shall need my arms' he
said and strode forward. Aragorn with Merry came behind. Pippin marvelled at
his strength, seeing the passage that he had already forced with no other
tool than his great limbs. Even now, burdened as he was, he was widening the
track for those who followed, thrusting the snow aside as he went.
They came at length to the great drift. It was flung across the
mountain-path like a sheer and sudden wall, and its crest, sharp as if
shaped with knives, reared up more than twice the height of Boromir; but
through the middle a passage had been beaten, rising and falling like a
bridge. On the far side Merry and Pippin were set down, and there they
waited with Legolas for the rest of the Company to arrive.
After a while Boromir returned carrying Sam. Behind in the narrow but
now well-trodden track came Gandalf, leading Bill with Gimli perched among
the baggage. Last came Aragorn carrying Frodo. They passed through the lane;
but hardly had Frodo touched the ground when with a deep rumble there rolled
down a fall of stones and slithering snow. The spray of it half blinded the
Company as they crouched against the cliff, and when the air cleared again
they saw that the path was blocked behind them.
`Enough, enough!' cried Gimli. 'We are departing as quickly as we may!'
And indeed with that last stroke the malice of the mountain seemed to be
expended, as if Caradhras was satisfied that the invaders had been beaten
off and would not dare to return. The threat of snow lifted; the clouds
began to break and the light grew broader.
As Legolas had reported, they found that the snow became steadily more
shallow as they went down, so that even the hobbits could trudge along. Soon
they all stood once more on the flat shelf at the head of the steep slope
where they had felt the first flakes of snow the night before.
The morning was now far advanced. From the high place they looked back
westwards over the lower lands. Far away in the tumble of country that lay
at the foot of the mountain was the dell from which they had started to
climb the pass.
Frodo's legs ached. He was chilled to the bone and hungry; and his head
was dizzy as he thought of the long and painful march downhill. Black specks
swam before his eyes. He rubbed them, but the black specks remained. In the
distance below him, but still high above the lower foothills, dark dots were
circling in the air.
`The birds again!' said Aragorn, pointing down.
'That cannot be helped now,' said Gandalf. `Whether they are good or
evil, or have nothing to do with us at all, we must go down at once. Not
even on the knees of Caradhras will we wait for another night-fall!'
A cold wind flowed down behind them, as they turned their backs on the
Redhorn Gate, and stumbled wearily down the slope. Caradhras had defeated
them.

The Fellowship Of The Ring - Chapter 14 - The Council of Elrond.

2010-08-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

Next day Frodo woke early, feeling refreshed and well. He walked along
the terraces above the loud-flowing Bruinen and watched the pale, cool sun
rise above the far mountains, and shine down. Slanting through the thin
silver mist; the dew upon the yellow leaves was glimmering, and the woven
nets of gossamer twinkled on every bush. Sam walked beside him, saying
nothing. but sniffing the air, and looking every now and again with wonder
in his eyes at the great heights in the East. The snow was white upon their
peaks.
On a seat cut in the stone beside a turn in the path they came upon
Gandalf and Bilbo deep in talk. `Hullo! Good morning!' said Bilbo. `Feel
ready for the great council?'
`I feel ready for anything,' answered Frodo. `But most of all I should
like to go walking today and explore the valley. I should like to get into
those pine-woods up there.' He pointed away far up the side of Rivendell to
the north.
'You may have a chance later,' said Gandalf. `But we cannot make any
plans yet. There is much to hear and decide today.'
Suddenly as they were talking a single clear bell rang out. `That is
the warning bell for the Council of Elrond,' cried Gandalf. `Come along now!
Both you and Bilbo are wanted.'
Frodo and Bilbo followed the wizard quickly along the winding path back
to the house; behind them, uninvited and for the moment forgotten, trotted
Sam.
Gandalf led them to the porch where Frodo had found his friends the
evening before. The light of the clear autumn morning was now glowing in the
valley. The noise of bubbling waters came up from the foaming river-bed.
Birds were singing, and a wholesome peace lay on the land. To Frodo his
dangerous flight, and the rumours of the darkness growing in the world
outside, already seemed only the memories of a troubled dream; but the faces
that were turned to meet them as they entered were grave.
Elrond was there, and several others were seated in silence about him.
Frodo saw Glorfindel and Gluin; and in a corner alone Strider was sitting,
clad in his old travel-worn clothes again. Elrond drew Frodo to a seat by
his side, and presented him to the company, saying:
'Here, my friends is the hobbit, Frodo son of Drogo. Few have ever come
hither through greater peril or on an errand more urgent.'
He then pointed out and named those whom Frodo had not met before.
There was a younger dwarf at Gluin's side: his son Gimli. Beside Glorfindel
there were several other counsellors of Elrond's household, of whom Erestor
was the chief; and with him was Galdor, an Elf from the Grey Havens who had
come on an errand from Cnrdan the Shipwright. There was also a strange Elf
clad in green and brown, Legolas, a messenger from his father, Thranduil,
the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood. And seated a little apart was a
tall man with a fair and noble face, dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and
stern of glance.
He was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback; and indeed
though his garments were rich, and his cloak was lined with fur, they were
stained with long travel. He had a collar of silver in which a single white
stone was set; his locks were shorn about his shoulders. On a baldric he
wore a great horn tipped with silver that now was laid upon his knees. He
gazed at Frodo and Bilbo with sudden wonder.
`Here,' said Elrond, turning to Gandalf, `is Boromir, a man from the
South. He arrived in the grey morning, and seeks for counsel. I have bidden
him to be present, for here his questions will be answered.'
Not all that was spoken and debated in the Council need now be told.
Much was said of events in the world outside, especially in the South, and
in the wide lands east of the Mountains. Of these things Frodo had already
heard many rumours; but the tale of Gluin was new to him, and when the dwarf
spoke he listened attentively. It appeared that amid the splendour of their
works of hand the hearts of the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain were
troubled.
`It is now many years ago,' said Gluin, `that a shadow of disquiet fell
upon our people. Whence it came we did not at first perceive. Words began to
be whispered in secret-: it was said that we were hemmed in a narrow place,
and that greater wealth and splendour would be found in a wider world. Some
spoke of Moria: the mighty works of our fathers that are called in our own
tongue Khazad-dym; and they declared that now at last we had the power and
numbers to return.'
Gluin sighed. `Moria! Moria! Wonder of the Northern world! Too deep we
delved there, and woke the nameless fear. Long have its vast mansions lain
empty since the children of Durin fled. But now we spoke of it again with
longing, and yet with dread; for no dwarf has dared to pass the doors of
Khazad-dym for many lives of kings, save Thrur only, and he perished. At
last, however, Balin listened to the whispers, and resolved to go; and
though Dbin did not give leave willingly, he took with him Ori and Uin and
many of our folk, and they went away south.
"That was nigh on thirty years ago. For a while we had news and it
seemed good: messages reported that Moria had been entered and a great work
begun there. Then there was silence, and no word has ever come from Moria
since.
"Then about a year ago a messenger came to Dbin, but not from
Moria-from Mordor: a horseman in the night, who called Dbin to his gate. The
Lord Sauron the Great, so he said, wished for our friendship. Rings he would
give for it, such as he gave of old. And he asked urgently concerning
hobbits, of what kind they were, and where they dwelt. "For Sauron knows,"
said he, "that one of these was known to you on a time."
'At this we were greatly troubled, and we gave no answer. And then his
fell voice was lowered, and he would have sweetened it if he could. "As a
small token only of your friendship Sauron asks this," he said: "that you
should find this thief," such was his word, "and get from him, willing or
no, a little ring, the least of rings, that once he stole. It is but a
trifle that Sauron fancies, and an earnest of your good will. Find it, and
three rings that the Dwarf sires possessed of old shall be returned to you,
and the realm of Moria shall be yours for ever. Find only news of the thief,
whether he still lives and where, and you shall have great reward and
lasting friendship from the Lord. Refuse, and things will not seem so well.
Do you refuse?"
'At that his breath came like the hiss of snakes, and all who stood by
shuddered, but Dbin said: "I say neither yea nor nay. I must consider this
message and what it means under its fair cloak."
' "Consider well, but not too long," said he.
` "The time of my thought is my own to spend," answered Dbin.
' "For the present," said he, and rode into the darkness.
'Heavy have the hearts of our chieftains been since that night. We
needed not the fell voice of the messenger to warn us that his words held
both menace and deceit; for we knew already that the power that has
re-entered Mordor has not changed, and ever it betrayed us of old. Twice the
messenger has returned, and has gone unanswered. The third and last time, so
he says, is soon to come, before the ending of the year.
'And so I have been sent at last by Dbin to warn Bilbo that he is
sought by the Enemy, and to learn, if may be, why he desires this ring, this
least of rings. Also we crave the advice of Elrond. For the Shadow grows and
draws nearer. We discover that messengers have come also to King Brand in
Dale, and that he is afraid. We fear that he may yield. Already war is
gathering on his eastern borders. If we make no answer, the Enemy may move
Men of his rule to assail King Brand, and Dbin also.'
`You have done well to come,' said Elrond. `You will hear today all
that you need in order to understand the purposes of the Enemy. There is
naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it. But
you do not stand alone. You will learn that your trouble is but part of the
trouble of all the western world. The Ring! What shall we do with the Ring,
the least of rings, the trifle that Sauron fancies? That is the doom that we
must deem.
`That is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called, I say.
though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have
come and are here met, in this very nick of time, by chance as it may seem.
Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit
here, and none others, must now find counsel for the peril of the world.
`Now, therefore, things shall be openly spoken that have been hidden
from all but a few until this day. And first, so that all may understand
what is the peril, the Tale of the Ring shall be told from the beginning
even to this present. And I will begin that tale, though others shall end
it.'
Then all listened while Elrond in his clear voice spoke of Sauron and
the Rings of Power, and their forging in the Second Age of the world long
ago. A part of his tale was known to some there, but the full tale to none,
and many eyes were turned t= Elrond in fear and wonder as he told of the
Elven-smiths of Eregion and their friendship with Moria, and their eagerness
for knowledge, by which Sauron ensnared them. For in that time he was not
yet evil to behold, and they received his aid and grew mighty in craft,
whereas he learned all their secrets, and betrayed them, and forged secretly
in the Mountain of Fire the One Ring to be their master. But Celebrimbor was
aware of him, and hid the Three which he had made; and there was war, and
the land was laid waste, and the gate of Moria was shut.
Then through all the years that followed he traced the Ring; but since
that history is elsewhere recounted, even as Elrond himself set it down in
his books of lore, it is not here recalled. For it is a long tale, full of
deeds great and terrible, and briefly though Elrond spoke, the sun rode up
the sky, and the morning was passing ere he ceased.
Of N®menor he spoke, its glory and its fall, and the return of the
Kings of Men to Middle-earth out of the deeps of the Sea, borne upon the
wings of storm. Then Elendil the Tall and his mighty sons, Isildur and
Anbrion, became great lords; and the North-realm they made in Arnor, and the
South-realm in Gondor above the mouths of Anduin. But Sauron of Mordor
assailed them, and they made the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and the
hosts of Gil-galad and Elendil were mustered in Arnor.
Thereupon Elrond paused a while and sighed. `I remember well the
splendour of their banners,' he said. `It recalled to me the glory of the
Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains
were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was
broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not
so.'
`You remember?' said Frodo, speaking his thought aloud in his
astonishment. `But I thought,' he stammered as Elrond turned towards him, 'I
thought that the fall of Gil-galad was a long age ago.'
'So it was indeed,' answered Elrond gravely. `But my memory reaches
back even to the Elder Days. Edrendil was my sire, who was born in Gondolin
before its fall; and my mother was Elwing, daughter of Dior, son of L®thien
of Doriath. I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many
defeats, and many fruitless victories.
`I was the herald of Gil-galad and marched with his host. I was at the
Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, where we had the
mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and
Narsil, none could withstand. I beheld the last combat on the slopes of
Orodruin, where Gil-galad died, and Elendil fell, and Narsil broke beneath
him; but Sauron himself was overthrown, and Isildur cut the Ring from his
hand with the hilt-shard of his father's sword, and took it for his own.'
At this the stranger, Boromir, broke in. `So that is what became of the
Ring!' he cried. `If ever such a tale was told in the South, it has long
been forgotten. I have heard of the Great Ring of him that we do not name;
but we believed that it perished from the world in the ruin of his first
realm. Isildur took it! That is tidings indeed.'
`Alas! yes,' said Elrond. `Isildur took it, as should not have been. It
should have been cast then into Orodruin's fire nigh at hand where it was
made. But few marked what Isildur did. He alone stood by his father in that
last mortal contest; and by Gil-galad only Cnrdan stood, and I. But Isildur
would not listen to our counsel.
' "This I will have as weregild for my father, and my brother," he
said; and therefore whether we would or no, he took it to treasure it. But
soon he was betrayed by it to his death; and so it is named in the North
Isildur's Bane. Yet death maybe was better than what else might have
befallen him.
'Only to the North did these tidings come, and only to a few. Small
wonder it is that you have not heard them, Boromir. From the ruin of the
Gladden Fields, where Isildur perished, three men only came ever back over
the mountains after long wandering. One of these was Ohtar, the esquire of
Isildur, who bore the shards of the sword of Elendil; and he brought them to
Valandil, the heir of Isildur, who being but a child had remained here in
Rivendell. But Narsil was broken and its light extinguished, and it has not
yet been forged again.
`Fruitless did I call the victory of the Last Alliance? Not wholly so,
yet it did not achieve its end. Sauron was diminished, but not destroyed.
His Ring was lost but not unmade. The Dark Tower was broken, but its
foundations were not removed; for they were made with the power of the Ring,
and while it remains they will endure. Many Elves and many mighty Men,
and
many of their friends. had perished in the war. Anbrion was slain, and
Isildur was slain; and Gil-galad and Elendil were no more. Never again shall
there be any such league of Elves and Men; for Men multiply and the
Firstborn decrease, and the two kindreds are estranged. And ever since that
day the race of N®menor has decayed, and the span of their years has
lessened.
'In the North after the war and the slaughter of the Gladden Fields the
Men of Westernesse were diminished, and their city of Ann®minas beside
Lake
Evendim fell into ruin; and the heirs of Valandil removed and dwelt at
Fornost on the high North Downs, and that now too is desolate. Men call it
Deadmen's Dike, and they fear to tread there. For the folk of Arnor
dwindled, and their foes devoured them, and their lordship passed, leaving
only green mounds in the grassy hills.
'In the South the realm of Gondor long endured; and for a while its
splendour grew, recalling somewhat of the might of N®menor, ere it fell.
High towers that people built, and strong places. and havens of many ships;
and the winged crown of the Kings of Men was held in awe by folk of many
tongues. Their chief city was Osgiliath, Citadel of the Stars. through the
midst of which the River flowed. And Minas Ithil they built, Tower of the
Rising Moon, eastward upon a shoulder of the Mountains of Shadow; and
westward at the feet of the White Mountains Minas Anor they made, Tower of
the Setting Sun. There in the courts of the King grew a white tree, from the
seed of that tree which Isildur brought over the deep waters, and the seed
of that tree before came from Eressla, and before that out of the Uttermost
West in the Day before days when the world was young.
`But in the wearing of the swift years of Middle-earth the line of
Meneldil son of Anbrion failed, and the Tree withered, and the blood of the
N®menoreans became mingled with that of lesser men. Then the watch upon
the
walls of Mordor slept, and dark things crept back to Gorgoroth. And on a
time evil things came forth, and they took Minas Ithil and abode in it, and
they made it into a place of dread; and it is called Minas Morgul, the Tower
of Sorcery. Then Minas Anor was named anew Minas Tirith, the Tower of
Guard;
and these two cities were ever at war, but Osgiliath which lay between was
deserted and in its ruins shadows walked.
'So it has been for many lives of men. But the Lords of Minas Tirith
still fight on, defying our enemies, keeping the passage of the River from
Argonath to the Sea. And now that part of the tale that I shall tell is
drawn to its close. For in the days of Isildur the Ruling Ring passed out of
all knowledge, and the Three were released from its dominion. But now in
this latter day they are in peril once more, for to our sorrow the One has
been found. Others shall speak of its finding, for in that I played small
part.'
He ceased, but at once Boromir stood up, tall and proud, before them.
Give me leave, Master Elrond, said he, first to say more of Gondor; for
verily from the land of Gondor I am come. And it would be well for all to
know what passes there. For few, I deem, know of our deeds, and therefore
guess little of their peril, if we should fail at last.
`Believe not that in the land of Gondor the blood of N®menor is spent,
nor all its pride and dignity forgotten. By our valour the wild folk of the
East are still restrained, and the terror of Morgul kept at bay; and thus
alone are peace and freedom maintained in the lands behind us, bulwark of
the West. But if the passages of the River should be won, what then?
`Yet that hour, maybe, is not now far away. The Nameless Enemy has
arisen again. Smoke rises once more from Orodruin that we call Mount
Doom.
The power of the Black Land grows and we are hard beset. When the
Enemy
returned our folk were driven from Ithilien, our fair domain east of the
River, though we kept a foothold there and strength of arms. But this very
year, in the days of June, sudden war came upon us out of Mordor, and we
were swept away. We were outnumbered, for Mordor has allied itself with the
Easterlings and the cruel Haradrim; but it was not by numbers that we were
defeated. A power was there that we have not felt before.
`Some said that it could be seen, like a great black horseman, a dark
shadow under the moon. Wherever he came a madness filled our foes, but fear
fell on our boldest, so that horse and man gave way and fled. Only a remnant
of our eastern force came back, destroying the last bridge that still stood
amid the ruins of Osgiliath.
'I was in the company that held the bridge, until it was cast down
behind us. Four only were saved by swimming: my brother and myself and
two
others. But still we fight on, holding all the west shores of Anduin; and
those who shelter behind us give us praise, if ever they hear our name: much
praise but little help. Only from Rohan now will any men ride to us when we
call.
`In this evil hour I have come on an errand over many dangerous leagues
to Elrond: a hundred and ten days I have journeyed all alone. But I do not
seek allies in war. The might of Elrond is in wisdom not in weapons, it is
said. I come to ask for counsel and the unravelling of hard words. For on
the eve of the sudden assault a dream came to my brother in a troubled
sleep; and afterwards a like dream came oft to him again, and once to me.
'In that dream I thought the eastern sky grew dark and there was a
growing thunder, but in the West a pale light lingered, and out of it I
heard a voice, remote but clear, crying:
Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur's Bane shall waken,
And the Halfling forth shall stand.
Of these words we could understand little, and we spoke to our father,
Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor. This only would
he say, that Imladris was of old the name among the Elves of a far northern
dale, where Elrond the Halfelven dwelt, greatest of lore-masters. Therefore
my brother, seeing how desperate was our need, was eager to heed the dream
and seek for Imladris; but since the way was full of doubt and danger, I
took the journey upon myself. Loth was my father to give me leave, and long
have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which
many had heard, but few knew where it lay.'
'And here in the house of Elrond more shall be made clear to you' said
Aragorn, standing up. He cast his sword upon the table that stood before
Elrond, and the blade was in two pieces. `Here is the Sword that was
Broken!' he said.
`And who are you, and what have you to do with Minas Tirith?' asked
Boromir, looking in wonder at the lean face of the Ranger and his
weather-stained cloak.
`He is Aragorn son of Arathorn,' said Elrond; `and he is descended
through many fathers from Isildur Elendil's son of Minas Ithil. He is the
Chief of the D®nedain in the North, and few are now left of that folk.'
`Then it belongs to you, and not to me at all!' cried Frodo in
amazement, springing to his feet, as if he expected the Ring to be demanded
at once.
'It does not belong to either of us,' said Aragorn; `but it has been
ordained that you should hold it for a while.'
'Bring out the Ring, Frodo!' said Gandalf solemnly. `The time has come.
Hold it up, and then Boromir will understand the remainder of his riddle.'
There was a hush, and all turned their eyes on Frodo. He was shaken by
a sudden shame and fear; and he felt a great reluctance to reveal the Ring,
and a loathing of its touch. He wished he was far away. The Ring gleamed and
flickered as he held it up before them in his trembling hand.
'Behold Isildur's Bane!' said Elrond.
Boromir's eyes glinted as he gazed at the golden thing. `The Halfling!'
he muttered. `Is then the doom of Minas Tirith come at last? But why then
should we seek a broken sword?'
'The words were not the doom of Minas Tirith,' said Aragorn. `But doom
and great deeds are indeed at hand. For the Sword that was Broken is the
Sword of Elendil that broke beneath him when he fell. It has been treasured
by his heirs when all other heirlooms were lost; for it was spoken of old
among us that it should be made again when the Ring, Isildur's Bane, was
found. Now you have seen the sword that you have sought, what would you
ask?
Do you wish for the House of Elendil to return to the Land of Gondor?'
`I was not sent to beg any boon, but to seek only the meaning of a
riddle,' answered Boromir proudly. `Yet we are hard pressed, and the Sword
of Elendil would be a help beyond our hope-if such a thing could indeed
return out of the shadows of the past.' He looked again at Aragorn, and
doubt was in his eyes.
Frodo felt Bilbo stir impatiently at his side. Evidently he was annoyed
on his friend's behalf. Standing suddenly up he burst out:
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken:
The crownless again shall be king.
`Not very good perhaps, but to the point -- if you need more beyond the
word of Elrond. If that was worth a journey of a hundred and ten days to
hear, you had best listen to it.' He sat down with a snort.
`I made that up myself,' he whispered to Frodo, `for the D®nadan, a
long time ago when he first told me about himself. I almost wish that my
adventures were not over, and that I could go with him when his day comes.'
Aragorn smiled at him; then he turned to Boromir again. `For my part I
forgive your doubt,' he said. 'Little do I resemble the figures of Elendil
and Isildur as they stand carven in their majesty in the halls of Denethor.
I am but the heir of Isildur, not Isildur himself. I have had a hard life
and a long; and the leagues that lie between here and Gondor are a small
part in the count of my journeys. I have crossed many mountains and many
rivers, and trodden many plains, even into the far countries of Rhyn and
Harad where the stars are strange.
'But my home, such as I have, is in the North. For here the heirs of
Valandil have ever dwelt in long line unbroken from father unto son for many
generations. Our days have darkened, and we have dwindled; but ever the
Sword has passed to a new keeper. And this I will say to you, Boromir, ere I
end. Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters--but hunters ever of
the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many places, not in Mordor
only.
`If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played another
part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls and bright swords do
not stay. You know little of the lands beyond your bounds. Peace and
freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear
would have destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless
hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What roads would any
dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of
simple men at night, if the D®nedain were asleep, or were all gone into the
grave?
`And yet less thanks have we than you. Travellers scowl at us, and
countrymen give us scornful names. "Strider" I am to one fat man who lives
within a day's march of foes that would freeze his heart or lay his little
town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly. Yet we would not have it
otherwise. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be,
and we must be secret to keep them so. That has been the task of my kindred,
while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown.
`But now the world is changing once again. A new hour comes. Isildur's
Bane is found. Battle is at hand. The Sword shall be reforged. I will come
to Minas Tirith.'
`Isildur's Bane is found, you say,' said Boromir. `I have seen a bright
ring in the Halfling's hand; but Isildur perished ere this age of the world
began, they say. How do the Wise know that this ring is his? And how has it
passed down the years, until it is brought hither by so strange a
messenger?'
`That shall be told,' said Elrond.
`But not yet, I beg, Master!' said Bilbo. `Already the Sun is climbing
to noon, and I feel the need of something to strengthen me.'
`I had not named you,' said Elrond smiling. `But I do so now. Come!
Tell us your tale. And if you have not yet cast your story into verse, you
may tell it in plain words. The briefer, the sooner shall you be refreshed.'
`Very well,' said Bilbo. `I will do as you bid. But I will now tell the
true story, and if some here have heard me tell it otherwise' -- he looked
sidelong at Gluin -- `I ask them to forget it and forgive me. I only wished
to claim the treasure as my very own in those days, and to be rid of the
name of thief that was put on me. But perhaps I understand things a little
better now. Anyway, this is what happened.'
To some there Bilbo's tale was wholly new, and they listened with
amazement while the old hobbit, actually not at all displeased, recounted
his adventure with Gollum, at full length. He did not omit a single riddle.
He would have given also an account of his party and disappearance from the
Shire, if he had been allowed; but Elrond raised his hand.
'Well told, my friend,' he said, `but that is enough at this time. For
the moment it suffices to know that the Ring passed to Frodo, your heir. Let
him now speak!'
Then, less willingly than Bilbo, Frodo told of all his dealings with
the Ring from the day that it passed into his keeping. Every step of his
journey from Hobbiton to the Ford of Bruinen was questioned and considered,
and everything that he could recall concerning the Black Riders was
examined. At last he sat down again.
`Not bad,' Bilbo said to him. `You would have made a good story of it,
if they hadn't kept on interrupting. I tried to make a few notes, but we
shall have to go over it all again together some time, if I am to write it
up. There are whole chapters of stuff before you ever got here!'
`Yes, it made quite a long tale,' answered Frodo. 'But the story still
does not seem complete to me. I still want to know a good deal, especially
about Gandalf.'
Galdor of the Havens, who sat near by, overheard him. `You speak for me
also,' he cried, and turning to Elrond he said: `The Wise may have good
reason to believe that the halfling's trove is indeed the Great Ring of long
debate, unlikely though that may seem to those who know less. But may we not
hear the proofs? And I would ask this also. What of Saruman? He is learned
in the lore of the Rings, yet he is not among us. What is his counsel-if he
knows the things that we have heard?'
`The questions that you ask, Galdor, are bound together,' said Elrond.
`I had not overlooked them, and they shall be answered. But these things it
is the part of Gandalf to make clear; and I call upon him last, for it is
the place of honour, and in all this matter he has been the chief.'
`Some, Galdor,' said Gandalf, `would think the tidings of Gluin, and
the pursuit of Frodo, proof enough that the halfling's trove is a thing of
great worth to the Enemy. Yet it is a ring. What then? The Nine the Nazgyl
keep. The Seven are taken or destroyed.' At this Gluin stirred, but did not
speak. `The Three we know of. What then is this one that he desires so much?
'There is indeed a wide waste of time between the River and the
Mountain, between the loss and the finding. But the gap in the knowledge of
the Wise has been filled at last. Yet too slowly. For the Enemy has been
close behind, closer even than I feared. And well is it that not until this
year, this very summer, as it seems, did he learn the full truth.
'Some here will remember that many years ago I myself dared to pass the
doors of the Necromancer in Dol Guldur, and secretly explored his ways, and
found thus that our fears were true: he was none other than Sauron, our
Enemy of old, at length taking shape and power again. Some, too, will
remember also that Saruman dissuaded us from open deeds against him, and
for
long we watched him only. Yet at last, as his shadow grew, Saruman yielded,
and the Council put forth its strength and drove the evil out of Mirkwood
and that was in the very year of the finding of this Ring: a strange chance,
if chance it was.
`But we were too late, as Elrond foresaw. Sauron also had watched us,
and had long prepared against our stroke, governing Mordor from afar through
Minas Morgul, where his Nine servants dwelt, until all was ready. Then he
gave way before us, but only feigned to flee, and soon after came to the
Dark Tower and openly declared himself. Then for the last time the Council
met; for now we learned that he was seeking ever more eagerly for the One.
We feared then that he had some news of it that we knew nothing of. But
Saruman said nay, and repeated what he had said to us before: that the One
would never again be found in Middle-earth.
` "At the worst," said he, "our Enemy knows that we have it not and
that it still is lost. But what was lost may yet be found, he thinks. Fear
not! His hope will cheat him. Have I not earnestly studied this matter? Into
Anduin the Great it fell; and long ago, while Sauron slept, it was rolled
down the River to the Sea. There let it lie until the End."'
Gandalf fell silent, gazing eastward from the porch to the far peaks of
the Misty Mountains, at whose great roots the peril of the world had so long
lain hidden. He sighed.
`There I was at fault,' he said. `I was lulled by the words of Saruman
the Wise; but I should have sought for the truth sooner, and our peril would
now be less.'
`We were all at fault,' said Elrond, `and but for your vigilance the
Darkness, maybe, would already be upon us. But say on!'
`From the first my heart misgave me, against all reason that I knew,'
said Gandalf, `and I desired to know how this thing came to Gollum, and how
long he had possessed it. So I set a watch for him, guessing that he would
ere long come forth from his darkness to seek for his treasure. He came, but
he escaped and was not found. And then alas! I let the matter rest, watching
and waiting only, as we have too often done.
`Time passed with many cares, until my doubts were awakened again to
sudden fear. Whence came the hobbit's ring? What, if my fear was true,
should be done with it? Those things I must decide. But I spoke yet of my
dread to none, knowing the peril of an untimely whisper, if it went astray.
In all the long wars with the Dark Tower treason has ever been our greatest
foe.
'That was seventeen years ago. Soon I became aware that spies of many
sorts, even beasts and birds, were gathered round the Shire, and my fear
grew. I called for the help of the D®nedain, and their watch was doubled;
and I opened my heart to Aragorn, the heir of Isildur.'
`And I,' said Aragorn, `counselled that we should hunt for Gollum. too
late though it may seem. And since it seemed fit that Isildur's heir should
labour to repair Isildur's fault, I went with Gandalf on the long and
hopeless search.'
Then Gandalf told how they had explored the whole length of Wilderland,
down even to the Mountains of Shadow and the fences of Mordor. `There we
had
rumour of him, and we guess that he dwelt there long in the dark hills; but
we never found him, and at last I despaired. And then in my despair I
thought again of a test that might make the finding of Gollum unneeded. The
ring itself might tell if it were the One. The memory of words at the
Council came back to me: words of Saruman, half-heeded at the time. I heard
them now clearly in my heart.
` "The Nine, the Seven, and the Three," he said, "had each their proper
gem. Not so the One. It was round and unadorned, as it were one of the
lesser rings; but its maker set marks upon it that the skilled, maybe, could
still see and read."
`What those marks were he had not said. Who now would know? The
maker.
And Saruman? But great though his lore may be, it must have a source. What
hand save Sauron's ever held this thing, ere it was lost? The hand of
Isildur alone.
`With that thought, I forsook the chase, and passed swiftly to Gondor.
In former days the members of my order had been well received there, but
Saruman most of all. Often he had been for long the guest of the Lords of
the City. Less welcome did the Lord Denethor show me then than of old, and
grudgingly he permitted me to search among his hoarded scrolls and books.
' "If indeed you look only, as you say, for records of ancient days,
and the beginnings of the City, read on! " he said. "For to me what was is
less dark than what is to come, and that is my care. But unless you have
more skill even than Saruman, who has studied here long, you will find
naught that is not well known to me, who am master of the lore of this
City."
`So said Denethor. And yet there lie in his hoards many records that
few now can read, even of the lore-masters, for their scripts and tongues
have become dark to later men. And Boromir, there lies in Minas Tirith
still, unread, I guess, by any save Saruman and myself since the kings
failed, a scroll that Isildur made himself. For Isildur did not march away
straight from the war in Mordor, as some have told the tale.'
'Some in the North, maybe,' Boromir broke in. 'All know in Gondor that
he went first to Minas Anor and dwelt a while with his nephew Meneldil,
instructing him, before he committed to him the rule of the South Kingdom.
In that time he planted there the last sapling of the White Tree in memory
of his brother.'
`But in that time also he made this scroll,' said Gandalf; `and that is
not remembered in Gondor, it would seem. For this scroll concerns the Ring,
and thus wrote Isildur therein:
The Great Ring shall go now to be an heirloom of the North Kingdom; but
records of it shall be left in Gondor, where also dwell the heirs of
Elendil, lest a time come when the memory of these great matters shall grow
dim.
`And after these words Isildur described the Ring, such as he found it.
It was hot when I first took it, hot as a glede, and my hand was
scorched, so that I doubt if ever again I shall be free of the pain of it.
Yet even as I write it is cooled, and it seemeth to shrink, though it loseth
neither its beauty nor its shape. Already the writing upon it, which at
first was as clear as red flame, fadeth and is now only barely to be read.
It is fashioned in an elven-script of Eregion, for they have no letters in
Mordor for such subtle work; but the language is unknown to me. I deem it to
be a tongue of the Black Land, since it is foul and uncouth. What evil it
saith I do not know; but I trace here a copy of it, lest it fade beyond
recall. The Ring misseth, maybe, the heat of Sauron's hand, which was black
and yet burned like fire, and so Gil-galad was destroyed; and maybe were the
gold made hot again, the writing would be refreshed. gut for my part I will
risk no hurt to this thing: of all the works of Sauron the only fair. It is
precious to me, though I buy it with great pain.
'When I read these words, my quest was ended. For the traced writing
was indeed as Isildur guessed, in the tongue of Mordor and the servants of
the Tower. And what was said therein was already known. For in the day that
Sauron first put on the One, Celebrimbor, maker of the Three, was aware of
him, and from afar he heard him speak these words, and so his evil purposes
were revealed.
`At once I took my leave of Denethor, but even as I went northwards,
messages came to me out of Lurien that Aragorn had passed that way, and that
he had found the creature called Gollum. Therefore I went first to meet him
and hear his tale. Into what deadly perils he had gone alone I dared not
guess.'
`There is little need to tell of them,' said Aragorn. `If a man must
needs walk in sight of the Black Gate, or tread the deadly flowers of Morgul
Vale, then perils he will have. I, too, despaired at last, and I began my
homeward journey. And then, by fortune, I came suddenly on what I sought:
the marks of soft feet beside a muddy pool. But now the trail was fresh and
swift, and it led not to Mordor but away. Along the skirts of the Dead
Marshes I followed it, and then I had him. Lurking by a stagnant mere,
peering in the water as the dark eve fell, I caught him, Gollum. He was
covered with green slime. He will never love me, I fear; for he bit me, and
I was not gentle. Nothing more did I ever get from his mouth than the marks
of his teeth. I deemed it the worst part of all my journey, the road back,
watching him day and night, making him walk before me with a halter on his
neck, gagged, until he was tamed by lack of drink and food, driving him ever
towards Mirkwood. I brought him there at last and gave him to the Elves, for
we had agreed that this should be done; and I was glad to be rid of his
company, for he stank. For my part I hope never to look upon him again; but
Gandalf came and endured long speech with him.'
`Yes, long and weary,' said Gandalf, `but not without profit. For one
thing, the tale he told of his loss agreed with that which Bilbo has now
told openly for the first time; but that mattered little, since I had
already guessed it. But I learned then first that Gollum's ring came out of
the Great River nigh to the Gladden Fields. And I learned also that he had
possessed it long. Many lives of his small kind. The power of the ring had
lengthened his years far beyond their span; but that power only the Great
Rings wield.
`And if that is not proof enough, Galdor, there is the other test that
I spoke of. Upon this very ring which you have here seen held aloft, round
and unadorned, the letters that Isildur reported may still be read, if one
has the strength of will to set the golden thing in the fire a while. That I
have done, and this I have read:
Ash nazg durbatulyk, ush nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulyk agh
burzum-ishi krimpatul.'
The change in the wizard's voice was astounding. Suddenly it became
menacing, powerful, harsh as stone. A shadow seemed to pass over the high
sun, and the porch for a moment grew dark. All trembled, and the Elves
stopped their ears.
`Never before has any voice dared to utter the words of that tongue in
Imladris, Gandalf the Grey,' said Elrond, as the shadow passed and the
company breathed once more.
`And let us hope that none will ever speak it here again,' answered
Gandalf. `Nonetheless I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond. For if that
tongue is not soon to be heard in every corner of the West, then let all put
doubt aside that this thing is indeed what the Wise have declared: the
treasure of the Enemy, fraught with all his malice; and in it lies a great
part of his strength of old. Out of the Black Years come the words that the
Smiths of Eregion heard, and knew that they had been betrayed:
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring
them all and in the Darkness bind them.
`Know also, my friends, that I learned more yet from Gollum. He was
loth to speak and his tale was unclear, but it is beyond all doubt that he
went to Mordor, and there all that he knew was forced from him. Thus the
Enemy knows now that the One is found, that it was long in the Shire; and
since his servants have pursued it almost to our door, he soon will know,
already he may know, even as I speak, that we have it here.'
All sat silent for a while, until at length Boromir spoke. `He is a
small thing, you say, this Gollum? Small, but great in mischief. What became
of him? To what doom did you put him?'
'He is in prison, but no worse,' said Aragorn. `He had suffered much.
There is no doubt that he was tormented, and the fear of Sauron lies black
on his heart. Still I for one am glad that he is safely kept by the watchful
Elves of Mirkwood. His malice is great and gives him a strength hardly to be
believed in one so lean and withered. He could work much mischief still, if
he were free. And I do not doubt that he was allowed to leave Mordor on some
evil errand.'
`Alas! alas!' cried Legolas, and in his fair elvish face there was
great distress. `The tidings that I was sent to bring must now be told. They
are not good, but only here have I learned how evil they may seem to this
company. Smjagol, who is now called Gollum, has escaped.'
'Escaped?' cried Aragorn. 'That is ill news indeed. We shall all rue it
bitterly, I fear. How came the folk of Thranduil to fail in their trust?'
`Not through lack of watchfulness,' said Legolas; `but perhaps through
over-kindliness. And we fear that the prisoner had aid from others, and that
more is known of our doings than we could wish. We guarded this creature day
and night, at Gandalf's bidding, much though we wearied of the task. But
Gandalf bade us hope still for his cure, and we had not the heart to keep
him ever in dungeons under the earth, where he would fall back into his old
black thoughts.'
'You were less tender to me,' said Gluin with a flash of his eyes as
old memories were stirred of his imprisonment in the deep places of the
Elven-king's halls.
'Now come!' said Gandalf. `Pray do not interrupt, my good Gluin. That
was a regrettable misunderstanding, long set right. If all the grievances
that stand between Elves and Dwarves are to be brought up here, we may as
well abandon this Council.'
Gluin rose and bowed, and Legolas continued. 'In the days of fair
weather we led Gollum through the woods; and there was a high tree standing
alone far from the others which he liked to climb. Often we let him mount up
to the highest branches, until he felt the free wind; but we set a guard at
the tree's foot. One day he refused to come down, and the guards had no mind
to climb after him: he had learned the trick of clinging to boughs with his
feet as well as with his hands; so they sat by the tree far into the night.
'It was that very night of summer, yet moonless and starless, that Orcs
came on us at unawares. We drove them off after some time; they were many
and fierce, but they came from over the mountains, and were unused to the
woods. When the battle was over, we found that Gollum was gone, and his
guards were slain or taken. It then seemed plain to us that the attack had
been made for his rescue, and that he knew of it beforehand. How that was
contrived we cannot guess; but Gollum is cunning, and the spies of the Enemy
are many. The dark things that were driven out in the year of the Dragon's
fall have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place,
save where our realm is maintained.
`We have failed to recapture Gollum. We came on his trail among those
of many Orcs, and it plunged deep into the Forest, going south. But ere long
it escaped our skill, and we dared not continue the hunt; for we were
drawing nigh to Dol Guldur, and that is still a very evil place; we do not
go that way.'
`Well, well, he is gone,' said Gandalf. 'We have no time to seek for
him again. He must do what he will. But he may play a part yet that neither
he nor Sauron have foreseen.
'And now I will answer Galdor's other questions. What of Saruman? What
are his counsels to us in this need? This tale I must tell in full, for only
Elrond has heard it yet, and that in brief, but it will bear on all that we
must resolve. It is the last chapter in the Tale of the Ring, so far as it
has yet gone.
'At the end of June I was in the Shire, but a cloud of anxiety was on
my mind, and I rode to the southern borders of the little land; for I had a
foreboding of some danger, still hidden from me but drawing near. There
messages reached me telling me of war and defeat in Gondor, and when I heard
of the Black Shadow a chill smote my heart. But I found nothing save a few
fugitives from the South; yet it seemed to me that on them sat a fear of
which they would not speak. I turned then east and north and journeyed along
the Greenway; and not far from Bree I came upon a traveller sitting on a
bank beside the road with his grazing horse beside him. It was Radagast the
Brown, who at one time dwelt at Rhosgobel, near the borders of Mirkwood.
He
is one of my order, but I had not seen him for many a year.
` "Gandalf! " he cried. "I was seeking you. But I am a stranger in
these parts. All I knew was that you might be found in a wild region with
the uncouth name of Shire."
' "Your information was correct," I said. "But do not put it that way,
if you meet any of the inhabitants. You are near the borders of the Shire
now. And what do you want with me? It must be pressing. You were never a
traveller, unless driven by great need."
' "I have an urgent errand," he said. "My news is evil." Then he looked
about him, as if the hedges might have ears. "Nazgyl," he whispered. "The
Nine are abroad again. They have crossed the River secretly and are moving
westward. They have taken the guise of riders in black."
'I knew then what I had dreaded without knowing it.
` "The enemy must have some great need or purpose," said Radagast; "but
what it is that makes him look to these distant and desolate parts, I cannot
guess."
` "What do you mean? " said I.
` "I have been told that wherever they go the Riders ask for news of a
land called Shire."
' "The Shire," I said; but my heart sank. For even the Wise might fear
to withstand the Nine, when they are gathered together under their fell
chieftain. A great king and sorcerer he was of old, and now he wields a
deadly fear. "Who told you, and who sent you? " I asked.
' "Saruman the White," answered Radagast. "And he told me to say that
if you feel the need, he will help; but you must seek his aid at once, or it
will be too late."
'And that message brought me hope. For Saruman the White is the
greatest of my order. Radagast is, of course, a worthy Wizard, a master of
shapes and changes of hue; and he has much lore of herbs and beasts, and
birds are especially his friends. But Saruman has long studied the arts of
the Enemy himself, and thus we have often been able to forestall him. It was
by the devices of Saruman that we drove him from Dol Guldur. It might be
that he had found some weapons that would drive back the Nine.
' "I will go to Saruman," I said.
' "Then you must go now," said Radagast; "for I have wasted time in
looking for you, and the days are running short. I was told to find you
before Midsummer, and that is now here. Even if you set out from this spot,
you will hardly reach him before the Nine discover the land that they seek.
I myself shall turn back at once." And with that he mounted and would have
ridden straight off.
` "Stay a moment! " I said. "We shall need your help, and the help of
all things that will give it. Send out messages to all the beasts and birds
that are your friends. Tell them to bring news of anything that bears on
this matter to Saruman and Gandalf. Let messages be sent to Orthanc."
` "I will do that," he said, and rode off as if the Nine were after
him.
`I could not follow him then and there. I had ridden very far already
that day, and I was as weary as my horse; and I needed to consider matters.
I stayed the night in Bree, and decided that I had no time to return to the
Shire. Never did I make a greater mistake!
`However, I wrote a message to Frodo, and trusted to my friend the
innkeeper to send it to him. I rode away at dawn; and I came at long last to
the dwelling of Saruman. That is far south in Isengard, in the end of the
Misty Mountains, not far from the Gap of Rohan. And Boromir will tell you
that that is a great open vale that lies between the Misty Mountains and the
northmost foothills of Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains of his home. But
Isengard is a circle of sheer rocks that enclose a valley as with a wall,
and in the midst of that valley is a tower of stone called Orthanc. It was
not made by Saruman, but by the Men of N®menor long ago; and it is very tall
and has many secrets; yet it looks not to be a work of craft. It cannot be
reached save by passing the circle of Isengard; and in that circle there is
only one gate.
'Late one evening I came to the gate, like a great arch in the wall of
rock; and it was strongly guarded. But the keepers of the gate were on the
watch for me and told me that Saruman awaited me. I rode under the arch, and
the gate closed silently behind me, and suddenly I was afraid, though I knew
no reason for it.
'But I rode to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stair of Saruman
and there he met me and led me up to his high chamber. He wore a ring on his
finger.
` "So you have come, Gandalf," he said to me gravely; but in his eyes
there seemed to be a white light, as if a cold laughter was in his heart.
` "Yes, I have come," I said. "I have come for your aid, Saruman the
White." And that title seemed to anger him.
' "Have you indeed, Gandalf the Grey! " he scoffed. "For aid? It has
seldom been heard of that Gandalf the Grey sought for aid, one so cunning
and so wise, wandering about the lands, and concerning himself in every
business, whether it belongs to him or not."
'I looked at him and wondered. "But if I am not deceived," said I,
"things are now moving which will require the union of all our strength."
' "That may be so," he said, "but the thought is late in coming to you.
How long. I wonder, have you concealed from me, the head of the Council, a
matter of greatest import? What brings you now from your lurking-place in
the Shire? "
' "The Nine have come forth again," I answered. "They have crossed the
River. So Radagast said to me."
` "Radagast the Brown! " laughed Saruman, and he no longer concealed
his scorn. "Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool!
Yet he had just the wit to play the part that I set him. For you have come,
and that was all the purpose of my message. And here you will stay, Gandalf
the Grey, and rest from journeys. For I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman
Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours! "
'I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not
so, but were woven of all colours. and if he moved they shimmered and
changed hue so that the eye was bewildered.
' "I liked white better," I said.
' "White! " he sneered. "It serves as a beginning. White cloth may be
dyed. The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken."
' "In which case it is no longer white," said I. "And he that breaks a
thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom."
' "You need not speak to me as to one of the fools that you take for
friends," said he. "I have not brought you hither to be instructed by you,
but to give you a choice."
'He drew himself up then and began to declaim, as if he were making a
speech long rehearsed. "The Elder Days are gone. The Middle Days are
passing. The Younger Days are beginning. The time of the Elves is over, but
our time is at hand: the world of Men, which we must rule. But we must have
power, power to order all things as we will, for that good which only the
Wise can see.
' "And listen, Gandalf, my old friend and helper! " he said, coming
near and speaking now in a softer voice. "I said we, for we it may be, if
you will join with me. A new Power is rising. Against it the old allies and
policies will not avail us at all. There is no hope left in Elves or dying
N®menor. This then is one choice before you. before us. We may join with
that Power. It would be wise, Gandalf. There is hope that way. Its victory
is at hand; and there will be rich reward for those that aided it. As the
Power grows, its proved friends will also grow; and the Wise, such as you
and I, may with patience come at last to direct its courses, to control it.
We can bide our time, we can keep our thoughts in our hearts, deploring
maybe evils done by the way, but approving the high and ultimate purpose:
Knowledge, Rule, Order; all the things that we have so far striven in vain
to accomplish, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends.
There need not be, there would not be, any real change in our designs, only
in our means."
' "Saruman," I said, "I have heard speeches of this kind before, but
only in the mouths of emissaries sent from Mordor to deceive the ignorant. I
cannot think that you brought me so far only to weary my ears."
'He looked at me sidelong, and paused a while considering. "Well, I see
that this wise course does not commend itself to you," he said. "Not yet?
Not if some better way can be contrived? "
`He came and laid his long hand on my arm. "And why not, Gandalf? " he
whispered. "Why not? The Ruling Ring? If we could command that, then the
Power would pass to us. That is in truth why I brought you here. For I have
many eyes in my service, and I believe that you know where this precious
thing now lies. Is it not so? Or why do the Nine ask for the Shire, and what
is your business there? " As he said this a lust which he could not conceal
shone suddenly in his eyes.
' "Saruman," I said, standing away from him, "only one hand at a time
can wield the One, and you know that well, so do not trouble to say we! But
I would not give it, nay, I would not give even news of it to you, now that
I learn your mind. You were head of the Council, but you have unmasked
yourself at last. Well, the choices are, it seems, to submit to Sauron, or
to yourself. I will take neither. Have you others to offer? "
'He was cold now and perilous. "Yes," he said. "I did not expect you to
show wisdom, even in your own behalf; but I gave you the chance of aiding me
willingly. and so saving yourself much trouble and pain. The third choice is
to stay here, until the end."
' "Until what end? "
' "Until you reveal to me where the One may be found. I may find means
to persuade you. Or until it is found in your despite, and the Ruler has
time to turn to lighter matters: to devise, say, a fitting reward for the
hindrance and insolence of Gandalf the Grey."
' "That may not prove to be one of the lighter matters," said I. He
laughed at me, for my words were empty, and he knew it.
`They took me and they set me alone on the pinnacle of Orthanc, in the
place where Saruman was accustomed to watch the stars. There is no descent
save by a narrow stair of many thousand steps, and the valley below seems
far away. I looked on it and saw that, whereas it had once been green and
fair, it was now filled with pits and forges. Wolves and orcs were housed in
Isengard, for Saruman was mustering a great force on his own account, in
rivalry of Sauron and not in his service yet. Over all his works a dark
smoke hung and wrapped itself about the sides of Orthanc. I stood alone on
an island in the clouds; and I had no chance of escape, and my days were
bitter. I was pierced with cold, and I had but little room in which to pace
to and fro, brooding on the coming of the Riders to the North.
`That the Nine had indeed arisen I felt assured, apart from the words
of Saruman which might be lies. Long ere I came to Isengard I had heard
tidings by the way that could not be mistaken. Fear was ever in my heart for
my friends in the Shire; but still I had some hope. I hoped that Frodo had
set forth at once, as my letter had urged, and that he had reached Rivendell
before the deadly pursuit began. And both my fear and my hope proved
ill-founded. For my hope was founded on a fat man in Bree; and my fear was
founded on the cunning of Sauron. But fat men who sell ale have many calls
to answer; and the power of Sauron is still less than fear makes it. But in
the circle of Isengard, trapped and alone, it was not easy to think that the
hunters before whom all have fled or fallen would falter in the Shire far
away.'
`I saw you!' cried Frodo. `You were walking backwards and forwards. The
moon shone in your hair.'
Gandalf paused astonished and looked at him. 'It was only a dream' said
Frodo, `but it suddenly came back to me. I had quite forgotten it. It came
some time ago; after I left the Shire, I think.'
`Then it was late in coming,' said Gandalf, 'as you will see. I was in
an evil plight. And those who know me will agree that I have seldom been in
such need, and do not bear such misfortune well. Gandalf the Grey caught
like a fly in a spider's treacherous web! Yet even the most subtle spiders
may leave a weak thread.
`At first I feared, as Saruman no doubt intended, that Radagast had
also fallen. Yet I had caught no hint of anything wrong in his voice or in
his eye at our meeting. If I had, I should never have gone to Isengard, or I
should have gone more warily. So Saruman guessed, and he had concealed his
mind and deceived his messenger. It would have been useless in any case to
try and win over the honest Radagast to treachery. He sought me in good
faith, and so persuaded me.
`That was the undoing of Saruman's plot. For Radagast knew no reason
why he should not do as I asked; and he rode away towards Mirkwood where
he
had many friends of old. And the Eagles of the Mountains went far and wide,
and they saw many things: the gathering of wolves and the mustering of Orcs;
and the Nine Riders going hither and thither in the lands; and they heard
news of the escape of Gollum. And they sent a messenger to bring these
tidings to me.
`So it was that when summer waned, there came a night of moon, and
Gwaihir the Windlord, swiftest of the Great Eagles, came unlooked-for to
Orthanc; and he found me standing on the pinnacle. Then I spoke to him and
he bore me away, before Saruman was aware. I was far from Isengard, ere the
wolves and orcs issued from the gate to pursue me.
` "How far can you bear me? " I said to Gwaihir.
` "Many leagues," said he, "but not to the ends of the earth. I was
sent to bear tidings not burdens."
` "Then I must have a steed on land," I said, "and a steed surpassingly
swift, for I have never had such need of haste before."
` "Then I will bear you to Edoras, where the Lord of Rohan sits in his
halls," he said; "for that is not very far off." And I was glad, for in the
Riddermark of Rohan the Rohirrim, the Horse-lords, dwell, and there are no
horses like those that are bred in that great vale between the Misty
Mountains and the White.
` "Are the Men of Rohan still to be trusted, do you think? " I said to
Gwaihir, for the treason of Saruman had shaken my faith.
` "They pay a tribute of horses," he answered, "and send many yearly to
Mordor, or so it is said; but they are not yet under the yoke. But if
Saruman has become evil, as you say, then their doom cannot be long
delayed."
`He set me down in the land of Rohan ere dawn; and now I have
lengthened my tale over long. The rest must be more brief. In Rohan I found
evil already at work: the lies of Saruman; and the king of the land would
not listen to my warnings. He bade me take a horse and be gone; and I chose
one much to my liking. but little to his. I took the best horse in his land,
and I have never seen the like of him.'
'Then he must be a noble beast indeed,' said Aragorn; 'and it grieves
me more than many tidings that might seem worse to learn that Sauron levies
such tribute. It was not so when last I was in that land.'
`Nor is it now, I will swear,' said Boromir. `It is a lie that comes
from the Enemy. I know the Men of Rohan; true and valiant, our allies,
dwelling still in the lands that we gave them long ago.'
`The shadow of Mordor lies on distant lands,' answered Aragorn.
'Saruman has fallen under it. Rohan is beset. Who knows what you will find
there, if ever you return?'
`Not this at least.' said Boromir, 'that they will buy their lives with
horses. They love their horses next to their kin. And not without reason,
for the horses of the Riddermark come from the fields of the North, far from
the Shadow. and their race, as that of their masters, is descended from the
free days of old.'
'True indeed!' said Gandalf. `And there is one among them that might
have been foaled in the morning of the world. The horses of the Nine cannot
vie with him; tireless, swift as the flowing wind. Shadowfax they called
him. By day his coat glistens like silver; and by night it is like a shade,
and he passes unseen. Light is his footfall! Never before had any man
mounted him, but I took him and I tamed him, and so speedily he bore me that
I reached the Shire when Frodo was on the Barrow-downs, though I set out
from Rohan only when he set out from Hobbiton.
'But fear grew in me as I rode. Ever as I came north I heard tidings of
the Riders, and though I gained on them day by day, they were ever before
me. They had divided their forces, I learned: some remained on the eastern
borders, not far from the Greenway. and some invaded the Shire from the
south. I came to Hobbiton and Frodo had gone; but I had words with old
Gamgee. Many words and few to the point. He had much to say about the
shortcomings of the new owners of Bag End.
` "I can't abide changes," said he, "not at my time of life, and least
of all changes for the worst." "Changes for the worst," he repeated many
times.
' "Worst is a bad word," I said to him, "and I hope you do not live to
see it." But amidst his talk I gathered at last that Frodo had left Hobbiton
less than a week before, and that a black horseman had come to the Hill the
same evening. Then I rode on in fear. I came to Buckland and found it in
uproar, as busy as a hive of ants that has been stirred with a stick. I came
to the house at Crickhollow, and it was broken open and empty; but on the
threshold there lay a cloak that had been Frodo's. Then for a while hope
left me, and I did not wait to gather news, or I might have been comforted;
but I rode on the trail of the Riders. It was hard to follow, for it went
many ways, and I was at a loss. But it seemed to me that one or two had
ridden towards Bree; and that way I went, for I thought of words that might
be said to the innkeeper.
' "Butterbur they call him," thought I. "If this delay was his fault, I
will melt all the butter in him. I will roast the old fool over a slow
fire." He expected no less, and when he saw my face he fell down flat and
began to melt on the spot.'
`What did you do to him?' cried Frodo in alarm. 'He was really very
kind to us and did all that he could.'
Gandalf laughed. 'Don't be afraid!' he said. `I did not bite, and I
barked very little. So overjoyed was I by the news that I got out of him,
when he stopped quaking, that I embraced the old fellow. How it happened I
could not then guess, but I learned that you had been in Bree the night
before, and had gone off that morning with Strider.
` "Strider! " I cried, shouting for joy.
` "Yes, sir, I am afraid so, sir," said Butterbur, mistaking me. "He
got at them, in spite of all that I could do, and they took up with him.
They behaved very queer all the time they were here: wilful, you might say."
` "Ass! Fool! Thrice worthy and beloved Barliman! " said I. "It's the
best news I have had since midsummer: it's worth a gold piece at the least.
May your beer be laid under an enchantment of surpassing excellence for
seven years! " said I. "Now I can take a night's rest, the first since I
have forgotten when."
`So I stayed there that night, wondering much what had become of the
Riders; for only of two had there yet been any news in Bree, it seemed. But
in the night we heard more. Five at least came from the west, and they threw
down the gates and passed through Bree like a howling wind; and the
Bree-folk are still shivering and expecting the end of the world. I got up
before dawn and went after them.
'I do not know, but it seems clear to me that this is what happened.
Their Captain remained in secret away south of Bree, while two rode ahead
through the village, and four more invaded the Shire. But when these were
foiled in Bree and at Crickhollow, they returned to their Captain with
tidings, and so left the Road unguarded for a while, except by their spies.
The Captain then sent some eastward straight across country, and he himself
with the rest rode along the Road in great wrath.
'I galloped to Weathertop like a gale, and I reached it before sundown
on my second day from Bree-and they were there before me. They drew
away
from me, for they felt the coming of my anger and they dared not face it
while the Sun was in the sky. But they closed round at night, and I was
besieged on the hill-top, in the old ring of Amon Syl. I was hard put to it
indeed: such light and flame cannot have been seen on Weathertop since the
war-beacons of old.
`At sunrise I escaped and fled towards the north. I could not hope to
do more. It was impossible to find you, Frodo, in the wilderness, and it
would have been folly to try with all the Nine at my heels. So I had to
trust to Aragorn. But I hoped to draw some of them off, and yet reach
Rivendell ahead of you and send out help. Four Riders did indeed follow me,
but they turned back after a while and made for the Ford, it seems. That
helped a little, for there were only five, not nine, when your camp was
attacked.
'I reached here at last by a long hard road, up the Hoarwell and
through the Ettenmoors, and down from the north. It took me nearly fourteen
days from Weathertop, for I could not ride among the rocks of the
troll-fells, and Shadowfax departed. I sent him back to his master; but a
great friendship has grown between us, and if I have need he will come at my
call. But so it was that I came to Rivendell only three days before the
Ring, and news of its peril had already been brought here-which proved well
indeed.
`And that, Frodo, is the end of my account. May Elrond and the others
forgive the length of it. But such a thing has not happened before, that
Gandalf broke tryst and did not come when he promised. An account to the
Ring-bearer of so strange an event was required, I think.
'Well, the Tale is now told, from first to last. Here we all are, and
here is the Ring. But we have not yet come any nearer to our purpose. What
shall we do with it?'
There was silence. At last Elrond spoke again.
`This is grievous news concerning Saruman,' he said; `for we trusted
him and he is deep in all our counsels. It is perilous to study too deeply
the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill. But such falls and betrayals,
alas, have happened before. Of the tales that we have heard this day the
tale of Frodo was most strange to me. I have known few hobbits, save Bilbo
here; and it seems to me that he is perhaps not so alone and singular as I
had thought him. The world has changed much since I last was on the
westward
roads.
`The Barrow-wights we know by many names; and of the Old Forest
many
tales have been told: all that now remains is but an outlier of its northern
march. Time was when a squirrel could go from tree to tree from what is now
the Shire to Dunland west of Isengard. In those lands I journeyed once, and
many things wild and strange I knew. But I had forgotten Bombadil, if indeed
this is still the same that walked the woods and hills long ago, and even
then was older than the old. That was not then his name. Iarwain Ben-adar we
called him, oldest and fatherless. But many another name he has since been
given by other folk: Forn by the Dwarves, Orald by Northern Men, and other
names beside. He is a strange creature, but maybe I should have summoned
him
to our Council.'
`He would not have come,' said Gandalf.
`Could we not still send messages to him and obtain his help?' asked
Erestor. `It seems that he has a power even over the Ring.'
`No, I should not put it so,' said Gandalf. `Say rather that the Ring
has no power over him. He is his own master. But he cannot alter the Ring
itself, nor break its power over others. And now he is withdrawn into a
little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can see them,
waiting perhaps for a change of days, and he will not step beyond them.'
`But within those bounds nothing seems to dismay him,' said Erestor.
`Would he not take the Ring and keep it there, for ever harmless?'
`No,' said Gandalf, `not willingly. He might do so, if all the free
folk of the world begged him, but he would not understand the need. And if
he were given the Ring, he would soon forget it, or most likely throw it
away. Such things have no hold on his mind. He would be a most unsafe
guardian; and that alone is answer enough.'
`But in any case,' said Glorfindel, `to send the Ring to him would only
postpone the day of evil. He is far away. We could not now take it back to
him, unguessed, unmarked by any spy. And even if we could, soon or late the
Lord of the Rings would learn of its hiding place and would bend all his
power towards it. Could that power be defied by Bombadil alone? I think not.
I think that in the end, if all else is conquered, Bombadil will fall, Last
as he was First; and then Night will come.'
`I know little of Iarwain save the name,' said Galdor; `but Glorfindel,
I think, is right. Power to defy our Enemy is not in him, unless such power
is in the earth itself. And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy
the very hills. What power still remains lies with us, here in Imladris, or
with Cirdan at the Havens, or in Lurien. But have they the strength, have we
here the strength to withstand the Enemy, the coming of Sauron at the last,
when all else is overthrown?'
`I have not the strength,' said Elrond; `neither have they.'
`Then if the Ring cannot be kept from him for ever by strength' said
Glorfindel, `two things only remain for us to attempt: to send it over the
Sea, or to destroy it.'
`But Gandalf has revealed to us that we cannot destroy it by any craft
that we here possess,' said Elrond. `And they who dwell beyond the Sea would
not receive it: for good or ill it belongs to Middle-earth; it is for us who
still dwell here to deal with it.'
'Then, said Glorfindel, 'let us cast it into the deeps, and so make the
lies of Saruman come true. For it is clear now that even at the Council his
feet were already on a crooked path. He knew that the Ring was not lost for
ever, but wished us to think so; for he began to lust for it for himself.
Yet oft in lies truth is hidden: in the Sea it would be safe.'
`Not safe for ever,' said Gandalf. `There are many things in the deep
waters; and seas and lands may change. And it is not our part here to take
thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age
of the world. We should seek a final end of this menace, even if we do not
hope to make one.'
'And that we shall not find on the roads to the Sea,' said Galdor. 'If
the return to Iarwain be thought too dangerous, then flight to the S‚a is
now fraught with gravest peril. My heart tells me that Sauron will expect us
to take the western way, when he learns what has befallen. He soon will. The
Nine have been unhorsed indeed but that is but a respite, ere they find new
steeds and swifter. Only the waning might of Gondor stands now between him
and a march in power along the coasts into the North; and if he comes,
assailing the White Towers and the Havens, hereafter the Elves may have no
escape from the lengthening shadows of Middle-earth.'
'Long yet will that march be delayed,' said Boromir. 'Gondor wanes, you
say. But Gondor stands, and even the end of its strength is still very
strong.'
'And yet its vigilance can no longer keep back the Nine,' said Galdor.
'And other roads he may find that Gondor does not guard.'
'Then,' said Erestor, `there are but two courses, as Glorfindel already
has declared: to hide the Ring for ever; or to unmake it. But both are
beyond our power. Who will read this riddle for us?'
'None here can do so,' said Elrond gravely. `At least none can foretell
what will come to pass, if we take this road or that. But it seems to me now
clear which is the road that we must take. The westward road seems easiest.
Therefore it must be shunned. It will be watched. Too often the Elves have
fled that way. Now at this last we must take a hard road, a road unforeseen.
There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril-to Mordor. We must
send the Ring to the Fire.'
Silence fell again. Frodo, even in that fair house, looking out upon a
sunlit valley filled with the noise of clear waters, felt a dead darkness in
his heart. Boromir stirred, and Frodo looked at him. He was fingering his
great horn and frowning. At length he spoke.
'I do not understand all this,' he said. `Saruman is a traitor, but did
he not have a glimpse of wisdom? Why do you speak ever of hiding and
destroying? Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our
hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of
the Free may surely defeat the Enemy. That is what he most fears, I deem.
'The Men of Gondor are valiant, and they will never submit; but they
may be beaten down. Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon. Let the
Ring be your weapon, if it has such power as you say. Take it and go forth
to victory!'
'Alas, no,' said Elrond. 'We cannot use the Ruling Ring. That we now
know too well. It belongs to Sauron and was made by him alone, and is
altogether evil. Its strength, Boromir, is too great for anyone to wield at
will, save only those who have already a great power of their own. But for
them it holds an even deadlier peril. The very desire of it corrupts the
heart. Consider Saruman. If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow
the Lord of Mordor, using his own arts, he would then set himself on
Sauron's throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear. And that is another
reason why the Ring should be destroyed: as long as it is in the world it
will be a danger even to the Wise. For nothing is evil in the beginning.
Even Sauron was not so. I fear to take the Ring to hide it. I will not take
the Ring to wield it.'
`Nor I,' said Gandalf.
Boromir looked at them doubtfully, but he bowed his head. `So be it,'
he said. `Then in Gondor we must trust to such weapons as we have. And at
the least, while the Wise ones guard this Ring, we will fight on. Mayhap the
Sword-that-was-Broken may still stem the tide -- if the hand that wields it
has inherited not an heirloom only, but the sinews of the Kings of Men.'
`Who can tell?' said Aragorn. `But we will put it to the test one day.'
`May the day not be too long delayed,' said Boromir. 'For though I do
not ask for aid, we need it. It would comfort us to know that others fought
also with all the means that they have.'
`Then be comforted,' said Elrond. `For there are other powers and
realms that you know not, and they are hidden from you. Anduin the Great
flows past many shores, ere it comes to Argonath and the Gates of Gondor.'
'Still it might be well for all,' said Gluin the Dwarf, 'if all these
strengths were joined, and the powers of each were used in league. Other
rings there may be, less treacherous, that might be used in our need. The
Seven are lost to us -- if Balin has not found the ring of Thrur which was
the last; naught has been heard of it since Thrur perished in Moria. Indeed
I may now reveal that it was partly in hope to find that ring that Balin
went away.'
`Balin will find no ring in Moria,' said Gandalf. `Thrur gave it to
Thrbin his son, but not Thrbin to Thorin. It was taken with torment from
Thrbin in the dungeons of Dol Guldur. I came too late.'
'Ah, alas!' cried Gluin. 'When will the day come of our revenge? But
still there are the Three. What of the Three Rings of the Elves? Very mighty
Rings, it is said. Do not the Elf-lords keep them? Yet they too were made by
the Dark Lord long ago. Are they idle? I see Elf-lords here. Will they not
say?'
The Elves returned no answer. `Did you not hear me, Gluin?' said
Elrond. `The Three were not made by Sauron, nor did he ever touch them. But
of them it is not permitted to speak. So much only in this' hour of doubt I
may now say. They are not idle. But they were not made as weapons of war or
conquest: that is not their power. Those who made them did not desire
strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and
healing, to preserve all things unstained. These things the Elves of
Middle-earth have in some measure gained, though with sorrow. But all that
has been wrought by those who wield the Three will turn to their undoing,
and their minds and hearts will become revealed to Sauron, if he regains the
One. It would be better if the Three had never been. That is his purpose.'
`But what then would happen, if the Ruling Ring were destroyed as you
counsel?' asked Gluin.
'We know not for certain,' answered Elrond sadly. `Some hope that the
Three Rings, which Sauron has never touched, would then become free, and
their rulers might heal the hurts of the world that he has wrought. But
maybe when the One has gone, the Three will fail, and many fair things will
fade and be forgotten. That is my belief.'
`Yet all the Elves are willing to endure this chance,' said Glorfindel
'if by it the power of Sauron may be broken, and the fear of his dominion be
taken away for ever.'
'Thus we return once more to the destroying of the Ring,' said Erestor,
`and yet we come no nearer. What strength have we for the finding of the
Fire in which it was made? That is the path of despair. Of folly I would
say, if the long wisdom of Elrond did not forbid me.'
'Despair, or folly?' said Gandalf. `It is not despair, for despair is
only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to
recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as
folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our
cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy! For he is very wise, and weighs
all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure
that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into
his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having
the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall put him out of
reckoning.'
'At least for a while,' said Elrond. `The road must be trod, but it
will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon
it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong.
Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small
hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.'
'Very well, very well, Master Elrond!' said Bilbo suddenly. 'Say no
more! It is plain enough what you are pointing at. Bilbo the silly hobbit
started this affair, and Bilbo had better finish it, or himself. I was very
comfortable here, and getting on with my book. If you want to know, I am
just writing an ending for it. I had thought of putting: and he lived
happily ever afterwards to the end of his days. It is a good ending, and
none the worse for having been used before. Now I shall have to alter that:
it does not look like coming true; and anyway there will evidently have to
be several more chapters, if I live to write them. It is a frightful
nuisance. When ought I to start?
' Boromir looked in surprise at Bilbo, but the laughter died on his
lips when he saw that all the others regarded the old hobbit with grave
respect. Only Gluin smiled, but his smile came from old memories.
`Of course, my dear Bilbo,' said Gandalf. `If you had really started
this affair, you might be expected to finish it. But you know well enough
now that starting is too great a claim for any, and that only a small part
is played in great deeds by any hero. You need not bow! Though the word was
meant, and we do not doubt that under jest you are making a valiant offer.
But one beyond your strength, Bilbo. You cannot take this thing back. It has
passed on. If you need my advice any longer, I should say that your part is
ended, unless as a recorder. Finish your book, and leave the ending
unaltered! There is still hope for it. But get ready to write a sequel, when
they come back.'
Bilbo laughed. `I have never known you give me pleasant advice before.'
he said. `As all your unpleasant advice has been good, I wonder if this
advice is not bad. Still, I don't suppose I have the strength or luck left
to deal with the Ring. It has grown, and I have not. But tell me: what do
you mean by they?'
`The messengers who are sent with the Ring.'
`Exactly! And who are they to be? That seems to me what this Council
has to decide, and all that it has to decide. Elves may thrive on speech
alone, and Dwarves endure great weariness; but I am only an old hobbit, and
I miss my meal at noon. Can't you think of some names now? Or put it off
till after dinner?'
No one answered. The noon-bell rang. Still no one spoke. Frodo glanced
at all the faces, but they were not turned to him. All the Council sat with
downcast eyes, as if in deep thought. A great dread fell on him, as if he
was awaiting the pronouncement of some doom that he had long foreseen and
vainly hoped might after all never be spoken. An overwhelming longing to
rest and remain at peace by Bilbo's side in Rivendell filled all his heart.
At last with an effort he spoke, and wondered to hear his own words, as if
some other will was using his small voice.
`I will take the Ring,' he said, `though I do not know the way.'
Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him, and Frodo felt his heart
pierced by the sudden keenness of the glance. `If I understand aright all
that I have heard,' he said, `I think that this task is appointed for you,
Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no one will. This is the hour of
the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers
and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or,
if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has
struck?
`But it is a heavy burden. So heavy that none could lay it on another.
I do not lay it on you. But if you take it freely, I will say that your
choice is right; and though all the mighty elf-friends of old, Hador, and
H®rin, and T®rin, and Beren himself were assembled together your seat
should
be among them.'
`But you won't send him off alone surely, Master?' cried Sam, unable to
contain himself any longer, and jumping up from the corner where he had been
quietly sitting on the floor.
`No indeed!' said Elrond, turning towards him with a smile. `You at
least shall go with him. It is hardly possible to separate you from him,
even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.'
Sam sat down, blushing and muttering. `A nice pickle we have landed
ourselves in, Mr. Frodo!' he said, shaking his head.

The Fellowship Of The Ring - Chapter 13 - Many Meetings.

2010-08-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

Frodo woke and found himself lying in bed. At first he thought that he
had slept late, after a long unpleasant dream that still hovered on the edge
of memory. Or perhaps he had been ill? But the ceiling looked strange; it
was flat, and it had dark beams richly carved. He lay a little while longer
looking at patches of sunlight on the wall, and listening to the sound of a
waterfall.
`Where am I, and what is the time?' he said aloud to the ceiling. 'In
the House of Elrond, and it is ten o'clock in the morning.' said a voice.
`It is the morning of October the twenty-fourth, if you want to know.'
`Gandalf!' cried Frodo, sitting up. There was the old wizard, sitting
in a chair by the open window.
`Yes,' he said, `I am here. And you are lucky to be here, too, after
all the absurd things you have done since you left home.' Frodo lay down
again. He felt too comfortable and peaceful to argue, and in any case he did
not think he would get the better of an argument. He was fully awake now,
and the memory of his journey was returning: the disastrous `short cut'
through the Old Forest the `accident' at The Prancing Pony; and his madness
in putting on the Ring in the dell under Weathertop. While he was thinking
of all these things and trying in vain to bring his memory down to his
arriving in Rivendell, there was a long silence, broken only by the soft
puffs of Gandalf's pipe, as he blew white smoke-rings out of the window.
'Where's Sam?' Frodo asked at length. 'And are the others all right?'
'Yes, they are all safe and sound,' answered Gandalf. `Sam was here
until I sent him off to get some rest, about half an hour ago.'
`What happened at the Ford?' said Frodo. `It all seemed so dim somehow;
and it still does.'
'Yes, it would. You were beginning to fade,' answered Gandalf. 'The
wound was overcoming you at last. A few more hours and you would have
been
beyond our aid. But you have some strength in you, my dear hobbit! As you
showed in the Barrow. That was touch and go: perhaps the most dangerous
moment of all. I wish you could have held out at Weathertop.'
'You seem to know a great deal already,' said Frodo. `I have not spoken
to the others about the Barrow. At first it was too horrible; and afterwards
there were other things to think about. How do you know about it?'
'You have talked long in your sleep, Frodo,' said Gandalf gently, 'and
it has not been hard for me to read your mind and memory. Do not worry!
Though I said "absurd" just now, I did not mean it. I think well of you-and
of the others. It is no small feat to have come so far, and through such
dangers, still bearing the Ring.'
'We should never have done it without Strider,' said Frodo. `But we
needed you. I did not know what to do without you.'
'I was delayed,' said Gandalf, `and that nearly proved our ruin. And
yet I am not sure; it may have been better so.'
'I wish you would tell me what happened!'
'All in good time! You are not supposed to talk or worry about anything
today, by Elrond's orders.'
`But talking would stop me thinking and wondering, which are quite as
tiring,' said Frodo. 'I am wide awake now, and I remember so many things
that want explaining. Why were you delayed? You ought to tell me that at
least.'
'You will soon hear all you wish to know,' said Gandalf. 'We shall have
a Council, as soon as you are well enough. At the moment I will only say
that I was held captive.'
'You?' cried Frodo.
'Yes, I, Gandalf the Grey,' said the wizard solemnly. 'There are many
powers in the world, for good or for evil. Some are greater than I am.
Against some I have not yet been measured. But my time is coming. The
Morgul-lord and his Black Riders have come forth. War is preparing!'
`Then you knew of the Riders already-before I met them?'
'Yes, I knew of them. Indeed I spoke of them once to you; for the Black
Riders are the Ringwraiths, the Nine Servants of the Lord of the Rings. But
I did not know that they had arisen again or I should have fled with you at
once. I heard news of them only after I left you in June; but that story
must wait. For the moment we have been saved from disaster, by Aragorn.'
'Yes,' said Frodo, `it was Strider that saved us. Yet I was afraid of
him at first. Sam never quite trusted him. I think, not at any rate until we
met Glorfindel.'
Gandalf smiled. `I have heard all about Sam,' he said. 'He has no more
doubts now.'
'I am glad,' said Frodo. 'For I have become very fond of Strider. Well,
fond is not the right word. I mean he is dear to me; though he is strange,
and grim at times. In fact, he reminds me often of you. I didn't know that
any of the Big People were like that. I thought, well, that they were just
big, and rather stupid: kind and stupid like Butterbur; or stupid and wicked
like Bill Ferny. But then we don't know much about Men in the Shire, except
perhaps the Breelanders.'
`You don't know much even about them, if you think old Barliman is
stupid,' said Gandalf. 'He is wise enough on his own ground. He thinks less
than he talks, and slower; yet he can see through a brick wall in time (as
they say in Bree). But there are few left in Middle-earth like Aragorn son
of Arathorn. The race of the Kings from over the Sea is nearly at an end. It
may be that this War of the Ring will be their last adventure.'
'Do you really mean that Strider is one of the people of the old
Kings?' said Frodo in wonder. `I thought they had all vanished long ago. I
thought he was only a Ranger.'
'Only a Ranger!' cried Gandalf. `My dear Frodo, that is just what the
Rangers are: the last remnant in the North of the great people, the Men of
the West. They have helped me before; and I shall need their help in the
days to come; for we have reached Rivendell, but the Ring is not yet at
rest.'
'I suppose not,' said Frodo. 'But so far my only thought has been to
get here; and I hope I shan't have to go any further. It is very pleasant
just to rest. I have had a month of exile and adventure, and I find that has
been as much as I want.'
He fell silent and shut his eyes. After a while he spoke again. 'I have
been reckoning,' he said, `and I can't bring the total up to October the
twenty-fourth. It ought to be the twenty-first. We must have reached the
Ford by the twentieth.'
'You have talked and reckoned more than is good for you,' said Gandalf.
`How do the side and shoulder feel now?'
'I don't know.' Frodo answered. 'They don't feel at all: which is an
improvement, but'--he made an effort--'I can move my arm again a little.
Yes, it is coming back to life. It is not cold,' he added, touching his left
hand with his right.
`Good!' said Gandalf. `It is mending fast. You will soon be sound
again. Elrond has cured you: he has tended you for days, ever since you were
brought in.'
'Days?' said Frodo.
`Well, four nights and three days, to be exact. The Elves brought you
from this where you lost count. We have been terribly anxious, and Sam has
hardly left your side, day or night, except to run messages. Elrond is a
master of healing, but the weapons of our Enemy are deadly. To tell you the
truth, I had very little hope; for I suspected that there was some fragment
of the blade still in the closed wound. But it could not be found until last
night. Then Elrond removed a splinter. It was deeply buried. and it was
working inwards.'
Frodo shuddered, remembering the cruel knife with notched blade that
had vanished in Strider's hands. `Don't be alarmed!' said Gandalf. `It is
gone now. It has been melted. And it seems that Hobbits fade very
reluctantly. I have known strong warriors of the Big People who would
quickly have been overcome by that splinter, which you bore for seventeen
days.'
`What would they have done to me?' asked Frodo. `What were the Riders
trying to do?'
'They tried to pierce your heart with a Morgul-knife which remains in
the wound. If they had succeeded, you would have become like they are, only
weaker and under their command. You would have became a wraith under
the
dominion of the Dark Lord; and he would have tormented you for trying to
keep his Ring, if any greater torment were possible than being robbed of it
and seeing it on his hand.'
'Thank goodness I did not realize the horrible danger!' said Frodo
faintly. I was mortally afraid, of course; but if I had known more, I should
not have dared even to move. It is a marvel that I escaped!'
'Yes, fortune or fate have helped you,' said Gandalf, `not to mention
courage. For your heart was not touched, and only your shoulder was pierced;
and that was because you resisted to the last. But it was a terribly narrow
shave, so to speak. You were in gravest peril while you wore the Ring, for
then you were half in the wraith-world yourself, and they might have seized
you. You could see them, and they could see you.'
`I know,' said Frodo. `They were terrible to behold! But why could we
all see their horses?'
`Because they are real horses; just as the black robes are real robes
that they wear to give shape to their nothingness when they have dealings
with the living.'
`Then why do these black horses endure such riders? All other animals
are terrified when they draw near, even the elf-horse of Glorfindel. The
dogs howl and the geese scream at them.'
`Because these horses are born and bred to the service of the Dark Lord
in Mordor. Not all his servants and chattels are wraiths! There are orcs and
trolls, there are wargs and werewolves; and there have been and still are
many Men, warriors and kings, that walk alive under the Sun, and yet are
under his sway. And their number is growing daily.'
`What about Rivendell and the Elves? Is Rivendell safe?'
`Yes, at present, until all else is conquered. The Elves may fear the
Dark Lord, and they may fly before him, but never again will they listen to
him or serve him. And here in Rivendell there live still some of his chief
foes: the Elven-wise, lords of the Eldar from beyond the furthest seas. They
do not fear the Ringwraiths, for those who have dwelt in the Blessed Realm
live at once in both worlds, and against both the Seen and the Unseen they
have great power.'
'I thought that I saw a white figure that shone and did not grow dim
like the others. Was that Glorfindel then?'
'Yes, you saw him for a moment as he is upon the other side: one of the
mighty of the Firstborn. He is an Elf-lord of a house of princes. Indeed
there is a power in Rivendell to withstand the might of Mordor, for a while:
and elsewhere other powers still dwell. There is power, too, of another kind
in the Shire. But all such places will soon become islands under siege, if
things go on as they are going. The Dark Lord is putting forth all his
strength.
`Still,' he said, standing suddenly up and sticking out his chin. while
his beard went stiff and straight like bristling wire, `we must keep up our
courage. You will soon be well, if I do not talk you to death. You are in
Rivendell, and you need not worry about anything for the present.'
'I haven't any courage to keep up,' said Frodo, `but I am not worried
at the moment. Just give me news of my friends, and tell me the end of the
affair at the Ford, as I keep on asking, and I shall be content for the
present. After that I shall have another sleep, I think; but I shan't be
able to close my eyes until you have finished the story for me.'
Gandalf moved his chair to the bedside, and took a good look at Frodo.
The colour had come back to his face, and his eyes were clear, and fully
awake and aware. He was smiling, and there seemed to be little wrong with
him. But to the wizard's eye there was a faint change just a hint as it were
of transparency, about him, and especially about the left hand that lay
outside upon the coverlet.
`Still that must be expected,' said Gandalf to himself. `He is not half
through yet, and to what he will come in the end not even Elrond can
foretell. Not to evil, I think. He may become like a glass filled with a
clear light for eyes to see that can.'
`You look splendid,' he said aloud. `I will risk a brief tale without
consulting Elrond. But quite brief, mind you, and then you must sleep again.
This is what happened, as far as I can gather. The Riders made straight for
you, as soon as you fled. They did not need the guidance of their horses any
longer: you had become visible to them, being already on the threshold of
their world. And also the Ring drew them. Your friends sprang aside, off the
road, or they would have been ridden down. They knew that nothing could save
you, if the white horse could not. The Riders were too swift to overtake,
and too many to oppose. On foot even Glorfindel and Aragorn together could
not with stand all the Nine at once.
`When the Ringwraiths swept by, your friends ran up behind. Close to
the Ford there is a small hollow beside the road masked by a few stunted
trees. There they hastily kindled fire; for Glorfindel knew that a flood
would come down, if the Riders tried to cross, and then he would have to
deal with any that were left on his side of the river. The moment the flood
appeared, he rushed out, followed by Aragorn and the. others with flaming
brands. Caught between fire and water, and seeing an Elf-lord revealed in
his wrath, they were dismayed, and their horses were stricken with madness.
Three were carried away by the first assault of the flood; the others were
now hurled into the water by their horses and overwhelmed.'
'And is that the end of the Black Riders?' asked Frodo.
'No,' said Gandalf. 'Their horses must have perished, and without them
they are crippled. But the Ringwraiths themselves cannot be so easily
destroyed. However, there is nothing more to fear from them at present. Your
friends crossed after the flood had passed; and they found you lying on your
face at the top of the bank, with a broken sword under you. The horse was
standing guard beside you. You were pale and cold, and they feared that you
were dead, or worse. Elrond's folk met them, carrying you slowly towards
Rivendell.'
`Who made the flood?' asked Frodo.
'Elrond commanded it,' answered Gandalf. `The river of this valley is
under his power, and it will rise in anger when he has great need to bar the
Ford. As soon as the captain of the Ringwraiths rode into the water the
flood was released. If I may say so, I added a few touches of my own: you
may not have noticed, but some of the waves took the form of great white
horses with shining white riders; and there were many rolling and grinding
boulders. For a moment I was afraid that we had let loose too fierce a
wrath, and the flood would get out of hand and wash you all away. There is
great vigour in the waters that come down from the snows of the Misty
Mountains.'
`Yes, it all comes back to me now,' said Frodo: 'the tremendous
roaring. I thought I was drowning, with my friends and enemies and all. But
now we are safe!'
Gandalf looked quickly at Frodo, but he had shut his eyes. 'Yes, you
are all safe for the present. Soon there will be feasting and merrymaking to
celebrate the victory at the Ford of Bruinen, and you will all be there in
places of honour.'
'Splendid!' said Frodo. `It is wonderful that Elrond, and Glorfindel
and such great lords, not to mention Strider, should take so much trouble
and show me so much kindness.'
`Well, there are many reasons why they should,' said Gandalf, smiling.
`I am one good reason. The Ring is another: you are the Ring-bearer. And you
are the heir of Bilbo, the Ring-finder.'
`Dear Bilbo!' said Frodo sleepily. `I wonder where he is. I wish he was
here and could hear all about it. It would have made him laugh, The cow
jumped over the Moon! And the poor old troll!' With that he fell fast
asleep.
Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea. That house
was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, `a perfect house, whether you like food
or sleep, or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or
a pleasant mixture of them all'. Merely to be there was a cure for
weariness, fear, and sadness.
As the evening drew on, Frodo woke up again, and he found that he no
longer felt in need of rest or sleep, but had a mind for food and drink, and
probably for singing and story-telling afterwards. He got out of bed and
discovered that his arm was already nearly as useful again as it ever had
been. He found laid ready clean garments of green cloth that fitted him
excellently. Looking in a mirror he was startled to see a much thinner
reflection of himself than he remembered: it looked remarkably like the
young nephew of Bilbo who used to go tramping with his uncle in the Shire;
but the eyes looked out at him thoughtfully.
`Yes, you have seen a thing or two since you last peeped out of a
looking-glass,' he said to his reflection. 'But now for a merry meeting!'
He stretched out his arms and whistled a tune.
At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Sam came in. He ran
to Frodo and took his left hand, awkwardly and shyly. He stroked it gently
and then he blushed and turned hastily away.
`Hullo, Sam!' said Frodo.
`It's warm!' said Sam. `Meaning your hand, Mr. Frodo. It has felt so
cold through the long nights. But glory and trumpets!' he cried, turning
round again with shining eyes and dancing on the floor. 'It's fine to see
you up and yourself again, sir! Gandalf asked me to come and see if you were
ready to come down, and I thought he was joking.'
'I am ready,' said Frodo. 'Let's go and look for the rest of the
party!'
`I can take you to them, sir,' said Sam. `It's a big house this, and
very peculiar. Always a bit more to discover, and no knowing what you'll
find round a corner. And Elves, sir! Elves here, and Elves there! Some like
kings, terrible and splendid; and some as merry as children. And the music
and the singing-not that I have had the time or the heart for much listening
since we got here. But I'm getting to know some of the ways of the place.'
'I know what you have been doing, Sam,' said Frodo, taking his arm.
'But you shall be merry tonight, and listen to your heart's content. Come
on, guide me round the corners!'
Sam led him along several passages and down many steps and out into a
high garden above the steep bank of the river. He found his friends sitting
in a porch on the side of the house looking east. Shadows had fallen in the
valley below, but there was still a light on the faces of the mountains far
above. The air was warm. The sound of running and falling water was loud,
and the evening was filled with a faint scent of trees and flowers, as if
summer still lingered in Elrond's gardens.
`Hurray!' cried Pippin, springing up. `Here is our noble cousin! Make
way for Frodo, Lord of the Ring!'
'Hush!' said Gandalf from the shadows at the back of the porch. `Evil
things do not come into this valley; but all the same we should not name
them. The Lord of the Ring is not Frodo, but the master of the Dark Tower of
Mordor, whose power is again stretching out over the world! We are sitting
in a fortress. Outside it is getting dark.'
`Gandalf has been saying many cheerful things like that,' said Pippin.
`He thinks I need keeping in order. But it seems impossible, somehow, to
feel gloomy or depressed in this place. I feel I could sing, if I knew the
right song for the occasion.'
`I feel like singing myself,' laughed Frodo. `Though at the moment I
feel more like eating and drinking!'
`That will soon be cured,' said Pippin. `You have shown your usual
cunning in getting up just in time for a meal.'
`More than meal! A feast!' said Merry. `As soon as Gandalf reported
that you were recovered, the preparations began.' He had hardly finished
speaking when they were summoned to the hall by the ringing of many bells.
The hall of Elrond's house was filled with folk: Elves for the most
part, though there were a few guests of other sorts. Elrond, as was his
custom, sat in a great chair at the end of the long table upon the dais; and
next to him on the one side sat Glorfindel, on the other side sat Gandalf.
Frodo looked at them in wonder, for he had never before seen Elrond, of
whom so many tales spoke; and as they sat upon his right hand and his left,
Glorfindel, and even Gandalf, whom he thought he knew so well, were
revealed
as lords of dignity and power. Gandalf was shorter in stature than the other
two; but his long white hair, his sweeping silver beard, and his broad
shoulders, made him look like some wise king of ancient legend. In his aged
face under great snowy brows his dark eyes were set like coals that could
leap suddenly into fire.
Glorfindel was tall and straight; his hair was of shining gold, his
face fair and young and fearless and full of joy; his eyes were bright and
keen, and his voice like music; on his brow sat wisdom, and in his hand was
strength.
The face of Elrond was ageless, neither old nor young, though in it was
written the memory of many things both glad and sorrowful. His hair was dark
as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his
eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of
stars. Venerable he seemed as a king crowned with many winters, and yet hale
as a tried warrior in the fulness of his strength. He was the Lord of
Rivendell and mighty among both Elves and Men.
In the middle of the table, against the woven cloths upon the wall,
there was a chair under a canopy, and there sat a lady fair to look upon,
and so like was she in form of womanhood to Elrond that Frodo guessed that
she was one of his close kindred. Young she was and yet not so. The braids
of her dark hair were touched by no frost, her white arms and clear face
were flawless and smooth, and the light of stars was in her bright eyes,
grey as a cloudless night; yet queenly she looked, and thought and knowledge
were in her glance, as of one who has known many things that the years
bring. Above her brow her head was covered with a cap of silver lace netted
with small gems, glittering white; but her soft grey raiment had no ornament
save a girdle of leaves wrought in silver.
So it was that Frodo saw her whom few mortals had yet seen; Arwen,
daughter of Elrond, in whom it was said that the likeness of L®thien had
come on earth again; and she was called Undumiel, for she was the Evenstar
of her people. Long she had been in the land of her mother's kin, in Lurien
beyond the mountains, and was but lately returned to Rivendell to her
father's house. But her brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, were out upon
errantry: for they rode often far afield with the Rangers of the North,
forgetting never their mother's torment in the dens of the orcs.
Such loveliness in living thing Frodo had never seen before nor
imagined in his mind; and he was both surprised and abashed to find that he
had a seat at Elrond's table among all these folk so high and fair. Though
he had a suitable chair, and was raised upon several cushions, he felt very
small, and rather out of place; but that feeling quickly passed. The feast
was merry and the food all that his hunger could desire. It was some time
before he looked about him again or even turned to his neighbours.
He looked first for his friends. Sam had begged to be allowed to wait
on his master, but had been told that for this time he was a guest of
honour. Frodo could see him now, sitting with Pippin and Merry at the upper
end of one of the side-tables close to the dais. He could see no sign of
Strider.
Next to Frodo on his right sat a dwarf of important appearance, richly
dressed. His beard, very long and forked, was white, nearly as white as the
snow-white cloth of his garments. He wore a silver belt, and round his neck
hung a chain of silver and diamonds. Frodo stopped eating to look at him.
'Welcome and well met!' said the dwarf, turning towards him. Then he
actually rose from his seat and bowed. `Gluin at your service,' he said, and
bowed still lower.
'Frodo Baggins at your service and your family's,' said Frodo
correctly, rising in surprise and scattering his cushions. 'Am I right in
guessing that you are the Gluin, one of the twelve companions of the great
Thorin Oakenshield?'
`Quite right,' answered the dwarf, gathering up the cushions and
courteously assisting Frodo back into his seat. 'And I do not ask, for I
have already been told that you are the kinsman and adopted heir of our
friend Bilbo the renowned. Allow me to congratulate you on your recovery.'
`Thank you very much,' said Frodo.
'You have had some very strange adventures, I hear,' said Gluin. 'I
wonder greatly what brings four hobbits on so long a journey. Nothing like
it has happened since Bilbo came with us. But perhaps I should not inquire
too closely, since Elrond and Gandalf do not seem disposed to talk of this?'
'I think we will not speak of it, at least not yet,' said Frodo
politely.
He guessed that even in Elrond's house the matter of the Ring was not
one for casual talk; and in any case he wished to forget his troubles for a
time. 'But I am equally curious,' he added, `to learn what brings so
important a dwarf so far from the Lonely Mountain.'
Gluin looked at him. 'If you have not heard, I think we will not speak
yet of that either. Master Elrond will summon us all ere long, I believe,
and then we shall all hear many things. But there is much else that may be
told.'
Throughout the rest of the meal they talked together, but Frodo
listened more than he spoke; for the news of the Shire, apart from the Ring,
seemed small and far-away and unimportant. while Gluin had much to tell of
events in the northern regions of Wilderland. Frodo learned that Grimbeorn
the Old, son of Beorn, was now the lord of many sturdy men, and to their
land between the Mountains and Mirkwood neither orc nor wolf dared to go.
'lndeed,' said Gluin, `if it were not for the Beornings, the passage
from Dale to Rivendell would long ago have become impossible. They are
valiant men and keep open the High Pass and the Ford of Carrock. But their
tolls are high,' he added with a shake of his head; `and like Beorn of old
they are not over fond of dwarves. Still, they are trusty, and that is much
in these days. Nowhere are there any men so friendly to us as the Men of
Dale. They are good folk, the Bardings. The grandson of Bard the Bowman
rules them, Brand son of Bain son of Bard. He is a strong king. and his
realm now reaches far south and east of Esgaroth.'
'And what of your own people?' asked Frodo.
`There is much to tell, good and bad,' said Gluin; 'yet it is mostly
good: we have so far been fortunate, though we do not escape the shadow of
these times. If you really wish to hear of us, I will tell you tidings
gladly. But stop me when you are weary! Dwarves' tongues run on when
speaking of their handiwork, they say.'
And with that Gluin embarked on a long account of the doings of the
Dwarf-kingdom. He was delighted to have found so polite a listener; for
Frodo showed no sign of weariness and made no attempt to change the subject,
though actually he soon got rather lost among the strange names of people
and places that he had never heard of before. He was interested, however, to
hear that Dbin was still King under the Mountain, and was now old (having
passed his two hundred and fiftieth year), venerable, and fabulously rich.
Of the ten companions who had survived the Battle of Five Armies seven were
still with him: Dwalin, Gluin, Dori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur. Bombur
was now so fat that he could not move himself from his couch to his chair at
table, and it took six young dwarves to lift him.
'And what has become of Balin and Ori and Uin?' asked Frodo.
A shadow passed over Gluin's face. `We do not know,' he answered. 'It
is largely on account of Balin that I have come to ask the advice of those
that dwell in Rivendell. But tonight let us speak of merrier things!'
Gluin began then to talk of the works of his people, telling Frodo
about their great labours in Dale and under the Mountain. 'We have done
well,' he said. `But in metalwork we cannot rival our fathers, many of
whose. secrets are lost. We make good armour and keen swords, but we cannot
again make mail or blade to match those that were made before the dragon
came. Only in mining and building have we surpassed the old days. You should
see the waterways of Dale, Frodo, and the fountains, and the pools! You
should see the stone-paved roads of many colours! And the halls and
cavernous streets under the earth with arches carved like trees; and the
terraces and towers upon the Mountain's sides! Then you would see that we
have not been idle.'
'I will come and see them, if ever I can,' said Frodo. 'How surprised
Bilbo would have been to see all the changes in the Desolation of Smaug!'
Gluin looked at Frodo and smiled. 'You were very fond of Bilbo were you
not?' he asked.
`Yes,' answered Frodo. 'I would rather see him than all the towers and
palaces in the world.'
At length the feast came to an end. Elrond and Arwen rose and went down
the hall, and the company followed them in due order. The doors were thrown
open, and they went across a wide passage and through other doors, and came
into a further hall. In it were no tables, but a bright fire was burning in
a great hearth between the carven pillars upon either side.
Frodo found himself walking with Gandalf. `This is the Hall of Fire'
said the wizard. `Here you will hear many songs and tales-if you can keep
awake. But except on high days it usually stands empty and quiet, and people
come here who wish for peace, and thought. There is always a fire here, all
the year round, but there is little other light.'
As Elrond entered and went towards the seat prepared for him, elvish
minstrels began to make sweet music. Slowly the hall filled, and Frodo
looked with delight upon the many fair faces that were gathered together;
the golden firelight played upon them and shimmered in their hair. Suddenly
he noticed, not far from the further end of the fire, a small dark figure
seated on a stool with his back propped against a pillar. Beside him on the
ground was a drinking-cup and some bread. Frodo wondered whether he was
ill
(if people were ever ill in Rivendell), and had been unable to come to the
feast. His head seemed sunk in sleep on his breast, and a fold of his dark
cloak was drawn over his face.
Elrond went forward and stood beside the silent figure. 'Awake little
master. he said, with a smile. Then, turning to Frodo, he beckoned to him.
'Now at last the hour has come that you have wished for, Frodo,' he said.
`Here is a friend that you have long missed.'
The dark figure raised its head and uncovered its face.
`Bilbo!' cried Frodo with sudden recognition, and he sprang forward.
`Hullo, Frodo my lad!' said Bilbo. `So you have got here at last. I
hoped you would manage it. Well, well! So all this feasting is in your
honour, I hear. I hope you enjoyed yourself?'
'Why weren't you there?' cried Frodo. `And why haven't I been allowed
to see you before?'
`Because you were asleep. I have seen a good deal of you. I have sat by
your side with Sam each day. But as for the feast` I don't go in for such
things much now. And I had something else to do.'
`What were you doing?'
`Why, sitting and thinking. I do a lot of that nowadays, and this is
the best place to do it in, as a rule. Wake up, indeed!' he said, cocking an
eye at Elrond. There was a bright twinkle in it and no sign of sleepiness
that Frodo could see. `Wake up! I was not asleep. Master Elrond. If you want
to know, you have all come out from your feast too soon, and you have
disturbed me-in the middle of making up a song. I was stuck over a line or
two, and was thinking about them; but now I don't suppose I shall ever get
them right. There will be such a deal of singing that the ideas will be
driven clean out of my head. I shall have to get my friend the D®nadan to
help me. Where is he?'
Elrond laughed. `He shall be found,' he said. `Then you two shall go
into a corner and finish your task, and we will hear it and judge it before
we end our merrymaking.' Messengers were sent to find Bilbo's friend, though
none knew where he was, or why he had not been present at the feast.
In the meanwhile Frodo and Bilbo sat side by side, and Sam came quickly
and placed himself near them. They talked together in soft voices, oblivious
of the mirth and music in the hall about them. Bilbo had not much to say of
himself. When he had left Hobbiton he had wandered off aimlessly, along the
Road or in the country on either side; but somehow he had steered all the
time towards Rivendell. `I got here without much adventure,' he said, `and
after a rest I went on with the dwarves to Dale: my last journey. I shan't
travel again. Old Balin had gone away. Then I came back here, and here I
have been. I have done this and that. I have written some more of my book.
And, of course, I make up a few songs. They sing them occasionally: just to
please me, I think; for, of course, they aren't really good enough for
Rivendell. And I listen and I think. Time doesn't seem to pass here: it just
is. A remarkable place altogether.
`I hear all kinds of news, from over the Mountains, and out of the
South, but hardly anything from the Shire. I heard about the Ring, of
course. Gandalf has been here often. Not that he has told me a great deal,
he has become closer than ever these last few years. The D®nadan has told me
more. Fancy that ring of mine causing such a disturbance! It is a pity that
Gandalf did not find out more sooner. I could have brought the thing here
myself long ago without so much trouble. I have thought several times of
going back to Hobbiton for it; but I am getting old, and they would not let
me: Gandalf and Elrond, I mean. They seemed to think that the Enemy was
looking high and low for me, and would make mincemeat of me, if he caught
me
tottering about in the Wild.
'And Gandalf said: "The Ring has passed on, Bilbo. It would do no good
to you or to others, if you tried to meddle with it again." Odd sort of
remark, just like Gandalf. But he said he was looking after you, so I let
things be. I am frightfully glad to see you safe and sound.' He paused and
looked at Frodo doubtfully.
`Have you got it here?' he asked in a whisper. `I can't help feeling
curious, you know, after all I've heard. I should very much like just to
peep at it again.'
`Yes, I've got it,' answered Frodo, feeling a strange reluctance. `It
looks just the same as ever it did.'
`Well, I should just like to see it for a moment,' said Bilbo.
When he had dressed, Frodo found that while he slept the Ring had been
hung about his neck on a new chain, light but strong. Slowly he drew it out.
Bilbo put out his hand. But Frodo quickly drew back the Ring. To his
distress and amazement he found that he was no longer looking at Bilbo; a
shadow seemed to have fallen between them, and through it he found himself
eyeing a little wrinkled creature with a hungry face and bony groping hands.
He felt a desire to strike him.
The music and singing round them seemed to falter and a silence fell.
Bilbo looked quickly at Frodo's face and passed his hand across his eyes. `I
understand now,' he said. `Put it away! I am sorry: sorry you have come in
for this burden: sorry about everything. Don't adventures ever have an end?
I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story. Well, it can't
be helped. I wonder if it's any good trying to finish my book? But don't
let's worry about it now-let's have some real News! Tell me all about the
Shire!'
Frodo hid the Ring away, and the shadow passed leaving hardly a shred
of memory. The light and music of Rivendell was about him again. Bilbo
smiled and laughed happily. Every item of news from the Shire that Frodo
could tell-aided and corrected now and again by Sam-was of the greatest
interest to him, from the felling of the least tree to the pranks of the
smallest child in Hobbiton. They were so deep in the doings of the Four
Farthings that they did not notice the arrival of a man clad in dark green
cloth. For many minutes he stood looking down at them with a smile.
Suddenly Bilbo looked up. 'Ah, there you are at last, D®nadan!' he
cried.
`Strider!' said Frodo. `You seem to have a lot of names.'
`Well, Strider is one that I haven't heard before, anyway,' said Bilbo.
`What do you call him that for?'
`They call me that in Bree,' said Strider laughing, 'and that is how I
was introduced to him.'
`And why do you call him D®nadan?' asked Frodo.
`The D®nadan,' said Bilbo. `He is often called that here. But I thought
you knew enough Elvish at least to know d®n-udan: Man of the West,
N®menorean. But this is not the time for lessons!' He turned to Strider.
`Where have you been, my friend? Why weren't you at the feast? The Lady
Arwen was there.'
Strider looked down at Bilbo gravely. `I know,' he said. 'But often I
must put mirth aside. Elladan and Elrohir have returned out of the Wild
unlooked-for, and they had tidings that I wished to hear at once.'
`Well, my dear fellow,' said Bilbo, `now you've heard the news, can't
you spare me a moment? I want your help in something urgent. Elrond says
this song of mine is to be finished before the end of the evening, and I am
stuck. Let's go off into a corner and polish it up!'
Strider smiled. `Come then!' he said. `Let me hear it!'
Frodo was left to himself for a while. for Sam had fallen asleep. He
was alone and felt rather forlorn` although all about him the folk of
Rivendell were gathered. But those near him were silent, intent upon the
music of the voices and the instruments. and they gave no heed to anything
else. Frodo began to listen.
At first the beauty of the melodies and of the interwoven words in
elven-tongues, even though he understood them little` held him in a spell,
as soon as he began to attend to them. Almost it seemed that the words took
shape, and visions of far lands and bright things that he had never yet
imagined opened out before him; and the firelit hall became like a golden
mist above seas of foam that sighed upon the margins of the world. Then the
enchantment became more and more dreamlike, until he felt that an endless
river of swelling gold and silver was flowing over him, too multitudinous
for its pattern to be comprehended; it became part of the throbbing air
about him, and it drenched and drowned him. Swiftly he sank under its
shining weight into a deep realm of sleep.
There he wandered long in a dream of music that turned into running
water, and then suddenly into a voice. It seemed to be the voice of Bilbo
chanting verses. Faint at first and then clearer ran the words.
Edrendil was a mariner
that tarried in Arvernien;
he built a boat of timber felled
in Nimbrethil to journey in;
her sails he wove of silver fair,
of silver were her lanterns made,
her prow was fashioned like a swan,
and light upon her banners laid.
In panoply of ancient kings,
in chain‚d rings he armoured him;
his shining shield was scored with runes
to ward all wounds and harm from him;
his bow was made of dragon-horn,
his arrows shorn of ebony,
of silver was his habergeon,
his scabbard of chalcedony;
his sword of steel was valiant,
of adamant his helmet tall,
an eagle-plume upon his crest,
upon his breast an emerald.
Beneath the Moon and under star
he wandered far from northern strands,
bewildered on enchanted ways
beyond the days of mortal lands.
From gnashing of the Narrow Ice
where shadow lies on frozen hills,
from nether heats and burning waste
he turned in haste, and roving still
on starless waters far astray
at last he came to Night of Naught,
and passed, and never sight he saw
of shining shore nor light he sought.
The winds of wrath came driving him,
and blindly in the foam he fled
from west to east and errandless,
unheralded he homeward sped.
There flying Elwing came to him,
and flame was in the darkness lit;
more bright than light of diamond
the fire upon her carcanet.
The Silmaril she bound on him
and crowned him with the living light
and dauntless then with burning brow
he turned his prow; and in the night
from Otherworld beyond the Sea
there strong and free a storm arose,
a wind of power in Tarmenel;
by paths that seldom mortal goes
his boat it bore with biting breath
as might of death across the grey
and long-forsaken seas distressed:
from east to west he passed away.
Through Evernight he back was borne
on black and roaring waves that ran
o'er leagues unlit and foundered shores
that drowned before the Days began,
until he heard on strands of pearl
when ends the world the music long,
where ever foaming billows roll
the yellow gold and jewels wan.
He saw the Mountain silent rise
where twilight lies upon the knees
of Valinor, and Eldamar
beheld afar beyond the seas.
A wanderer escaped from night
to haven white he came at last,
to Elvenhome the green and fair
where keen the air, where pale as glass
beneath the Hill of Ilmarin
a-glimmer in a valley sheer
the lamplit towers of Tirion
are mirrored on the Shadowmere.
He tarried there from errantry,
and melodies they taught to him,
and sages old him marvels told,
and harps of gold they brought to him.
They clothed him then in elven-white,
and seven lights before him sent,
as through the Calacirian
to hidden land forlorn he went.
He came unto the timeless halls
where shining fall the countless years,
and endless reigns the Elder King
in Ilmarin on Mountain sheer;
and words unheard were spoken then
of folk of Men and Elven-kin,
beyond the world were visions showed
forbid to those that dwell therein.
A ship then new they built for him
of mithril and of elven-glass
with shining prow; no shaven oar
nor sail she bore on silver mast:
the Silmaril as lantern light
and banner bright with living flame
to gleam thereon by Elbereth
herself was set, who thither came
and wings immortal made for him,
and laid on him undying doom,
to sail the shoreless skies and come
behind the Sun and light of Moon.
From Evereven's lofty hills
where softly silver fountains fall
his wings him bore, a wandering light,
beyond the mighty Mountain Wall.
From World's End then he turned away
and yearned again to find afar
his home through shadows journeying,
and burning as an island star
on high above the mists he came,
a distant flame before the Sun,
a wonder ere the waking dawn
where grey the Norland waters run.
And over Middle-earth he passed
and heard at last the weeping sore
of women and of elven-maids
in Elder Days, in years of yore.
gut on him mighty doom was laid,
till Moon should fade, an orb‚d star
to pass, and tarry never more
on Hither Shores where mortals are;
for ever still a herald on
an errand that should never rest
to bear his shining lamp afar,
the Flammifer of Westernesse.
The chanting ceased. Frodo opened his eyes and saw that Bilbo was
seated on his stool in a circle of listeners, who were smiling and
applauding.
`Now we had better have it again,' said an Elf.
Bilbo got up and bowed. `I am flattered, Lindir,' he said. 'But it
would be too tiring to repeat it all.'
'Not too tiring for you,' the Elves answered laughing. 'You know you
are never tired of reciting your own verses. But really we cannot answer
your question at one hearing!'
`What!' cried Bilbo. 'You can't tell which parts were mine, and which
were the D®nadan's?'
'It is not easy for us to tell the difference between two mortals' said
the Elf.
'Nonsense, Lindir,' snorted Bilbo. 'If you can't distinguish between a
Man and a Hobbit, your judgement is poorer than I imagined. They're as
different as peas and apples.'
'Maybe. To sheep other sheep no doubt appear different,' laughed
Lindir. `Or to shepherds. But Mortals have not been our study. We have other
business.'
'I won't argue with you,' said Bilbo. 'I am sleepy after so much music
and singing. I'll leave you to guess, if you want to.'
He got up and came towards Frodo. 'Well, that's over,' he said in a low
voice. `It went off better than I expected. I don't often get asked for a
second hearing. What did you think of it?'
`I am not going to try and guess,' said Frodo smiling.
`You needn't,' said Bilbo. `As a matter of fact it was all mine. Except
that Aragorn insisted on my putting in a green stone. He seemed to think it
important. I don't know why. Otherwise he obviously thought the whole thing
rather above my head, and he said that if I had the cheek to make verses
about Edrendil in the house of Elrond, it was my affair. I suppose he was
right.'
'I don't know,' said Frodo. `It seemed to me to fit somehow, though I
can't explain. I was half asleep when you began, and it seemed to follow on
from something that I was dreaming about. I didn't understand that it was
really you speaking until near the end.'
`It is difficult to keep awake here, until you get used to it;' said
Bilbo. 'Not that hobbits would ever acquire quite the elvish appetite for
music and poetry and tales. They seem to like them as much as food, or more.
They will be going on for a long time yet. What do you say to slipping off
for some more quiet talk?'
`Can we?' said Frodo.
`Of course. This is merrymaking not business. Come and go as you like,
as long as you don't make a noise.'
They got up and withdrew quietly into the shadows, and made for the
doors. Sam they left behind, fast asleep still with a smile on his face. In
spite of his delight in Bilbo's company Frodo felt a tug of regret as they
passed out of the Hall of Fire. Even as they stepped over the threshold a
single clear voice rose in song.
A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
silivren penna mnriel
o menel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-dnriel
o galadhremmin ennorath,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
nef aear, sn nef aearon!
Frodo halted for a moment, looking back. Elrond was in his chair and
the fire was on his face like summer-light upon the trees. Near him sat the
Lady Arwen. To his surprise Frodo saw that Aragorn stood beside her; his
dark cloak was thrown back, and he seemed to be clad in elven-mail, and a
star shone on his breast. They spoke together, and then suddenly it seemed
to Frodo that Arwen turned towards him, and the light of her eyes fell on
him from afar and pierced his heart.
He stood still enchanted, while the sweet syllables of the elvish song
fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody. `It is a song to
Elbereth,' said Bilbo. `They will sing that, and other songs of the Blessed
Realm, many times tonight. Come on!'
He led Frodo back to his own little room. It opened on to the gar dens
and looked south across the ravine of the Bruinen. There they sat for some
while, looking through the window at the bright stars above the
steep-climbing woods, and talking softly. They spoke no more of the small
news of the Shire far away, nor of the dark shadows and perils that
encompassed them, but of the fair things they had seen in the world
together, of the Elves, of the stars, of trees, and the gentle fall of the
bright year in the woods.
At last there came a knock on the door. `Begging your pardon,' said
Sam, putting in his head, `but I was just wondering if you would be wanting
anything.'
`And begging yours, Sam Gamgee,' replied Bilbo. `I guess you mean that
it is time your master went to bed.'
`Well, sir, there is a Council early tomorrow, I hear and he only got
up today for the first time.'
`Quite right, Sam,' laughed Bilbo. `You can trot off and tell Gandalf
that he has gone to bed. Good night, Frodo! Bless me, but it has been good
to see you again! There are no folk like hobbits after all for a real good
talk. I am getting very old, and I began to wonder if I should ever live to
see your chapters of our story. Good night! I'll take a walk, I think, and
look at the stars of Elbereth in the garden. Sleep well!'