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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Thu, 3:34pm
Post #1 of 5
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TIME - July 10
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Today in Middle-earth
July 10, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Gandalf imprisoned in Orthanc
(from the appendices)
..." '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..."
...' "...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… …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... "…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… …here you will stay, Gandalf the Grey… …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… …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…
...'...He came and laid his long hand on my arm... he whispered. "... 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... ...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..."
...'…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... ...I stood alone on an island in the clouds; and I had not chance of escape…' "
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Fri, 1:42pm
Post #2 of 5
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This is the first part of a 2-part Book Spoiler that looks at the role of the Stewards of Gondor... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From Appendix A: The Stewards: Return of the King ... "The House of the Stewards was called the House of Húrin... ...descendants of the Steward of King Minardil (1621-34), Húrin of Emyn Arnen, a man of high Númenórean race. After his day the kings had always chosen their stewards from among his descendants; and... ...the Stewardship became hereditary as a kingship, from father to son or nearest kin.
... Each new Steward indeed took office with the oath 'to hold rod and rule in the name of the king, until he shall return.' But these soon became words of ritual little heeded, for the Stewards exercised all the power of the kings. Yet many in Gondor still believed that a king would indeed return... ...and some remembered the ancient line of the North, which it was rumoured still lived on in the shadows. But against such thoughts the Ruling Stewards hardened their hearts.
... Nonetheless the Stewards never sat on the ancient throne... ...wore no crown, and held no sceptre. They bore a white rod only as the token of their office; and their banner was white without charge; but the royal banner had been sable, upon which was displayed a white tree in blossom beneath seven stars.
... After Mardil Voronwë, who was reckoned the first of the line there followed twenty-four Ruling Stewards of Gondor, until the time of Denethor II, the twenty-sixth and last. At first they had quiet, for those were the days of the Watchful Peace... ...Sauron withdrew before the power of the White Council and the Ringwraiths remained hidden in Morgul Vale. But from the time of Denethor I, there was never full peace again, and even when Gondor had no great or open war its borders were under constant threat."
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Sat, 2:45pm
Post #3 of 5
(6901 views)
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This is the second part of a 2-part Book Spoiler that looks at the role of the Stewards of Gondor... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From Appendix A: The Stewards: Return of the King ..."'In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor... ...they swept across Ithilien and took Osgiliath. Boromir son of Denethor (after whom Boromir of the Nine Walkers was later named) defeated them and regained Ithilien... ...Osgiliath was finally ruined, and its great stone-bridge was broken. No people dwelt there afterwards. Boromir was a great captain, and even the Witch-king feared him. He was noble and fair of face, a man strong in body and in will, but he received a Morgul-wound in that war which shortened his days, and he became shrunken with pain and died twelve year after his father.
... After him began the long rule of Cirion. He was watchful and wary, but the reach of Gondor had grown short, and he could do little more than defend his borders, while his enemies... ...prepared strokes against him that he could not hinder. The Corsairs harried his coasts, but it was in the north that his chief peril lay.
...In the wide lands of Rhovanion, between Mirkwood and the River Running, a fierce people now dwelt, wholly under the shadow of Dol Guldur. Often they made raids through the forest, until the vale of Anduin south of the Gladden was largely deserted... ...Cirion was hard put to it to hold the line of the Anduin.
... 'Foreseeing the storm, Cirion sent north for aid, but over-late; for... ...the Balchoth, having built many great boats and rafts on the east shores of Anduin, swarmed over the River and swept away the defenders. An army marching up from the south was cut off and driven north over the Limlight, and there it was suddenly attacked by a horde of Orcs from the Mountains and pressed towards the Anduin. Then out of the North there came help beyond hope, and the horns of the Rohirrim were first heard in Gondor. Eorl the Young came with his riders and swept away the enemy, and pursued the Balchoth to the death over the fields of Calenardhon. Cirion granted to Eorl that land to dwell in, and he swore to Cirion the Oath of Eorl, of friendship at need or at call to the Lords of Gondor.'"
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Sun, 1:39pm
Post #4 of 5
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Today in Middle-earth
July 13, 2941 (S.R. 1341) [Mid-July]
1. The Company endures the Mountains.
(determined from text - referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."Long days after they had climbed out of the valley and left the Last Homely House miles behind, they were still going up and up... ...It was a hard path and a dangerous path, a crooked way and a lonely and a long. Now they could look back over the lands they had left, laid out behind them far below. Far, far away in the West, where things were blue and faint, Bilbo knew there lay his own country of safe and comfortable things, and his little hobbit-hole. He shivered. It was getting bitter cold up here, and the wind came shrill among the rocks. Boulders, too, at times came galloping down the mountain-sides… …and passed among them (which was lucky), or over their heads (which was alarming). The nights were comfortless and chill, and they did not dare to sing or talk too loud, for the echoes were uncanny, and the silence seemed to dislike being broken—except by the noise of water and the wail of wind and the crack of stone."
July 13, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Gandalf is held prisoner atop Orthanc.
(not from the appendices)
..."...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.'"
We have been there and back again.
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Meneldor
Doriath
Sun, 2:07pm
Post #5 of 5
(3275 views)
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Today in Middle-earth
July 13, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Gandalf is held prisoner atop Orthanc.
(not from the appendices) I was pierced with cold,
What is the elevation of Orthanc? It never occurred to me before that Gandalf was cold in July. Is Orthanc all that high up in the mountains?
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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