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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 8, 1:16pm
Post #26 of 35
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Here's the 6th of a 7-part journey with Frodo and Sam relying on the elven rope on the cliffs of Emyn Muil… for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
The Taming of Sméagol: The Two Towers [Sam slowly slides down the cliff while Frodo holds the rope above]
... "It did not, however, turn out half as bad as he had expected. The rope seemed to give him confidence, though he shut his eyes more than once when he looked down between his feet. There was one awkward spot, where there was no ledge and the wall was sheer and even undercut… …there he slipped and swung out on the silver line. But Frodo lowered him slowly and steadily and it was over at last. His chief fear had been that the rope-length would give out while he was still high up, but there was still a good bight in Frodo's hands, when Sam came to the bottom and called up: 'I'm down!' His voice came up clearly from below, but Frodo could not see him; his grey elven-cloak had melted into the twilight.
... Frodo took rather more time to follow him. He had the rope about his waist and it was fast above, and he had shortened it so that it would pull him up before he reached the ground; still he did not want to risk a fall, and he had not quite Sam's faith in this slender grey line. He found two places… …where he had to trust wholly to it: smooth surfaces where there was no hold even for his strong hobbit fingers… …But at last he too was down.
... 'Well!' he cried. 'We've done it! We've escaped from the Emyn Muil! And now what next, I wonder? Maybe we shall soon be sighing for good hard rock under foot again.'
... But Sam did not answer: he was staring back up the cliff. 'Ninnyhammers!' he said. 'Noodles! My beautiful rope! There it is tied to a stump, and we're at the bottom. Just as nice a little stair for that slinking Gollum as we could leave. Better put up a signpost to say which way we've gone! I thought it seemed a bit too easy.'
... 'If you can think of any way we could have both used the rope and yet brought it down with us, then you can pass on to me ninnyhammer…'"
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 9, 1:41pm
Post #27 of 35
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Here is the last installment of a set of Book Spoilers lovingly packed away with Frodo and Sam's trust in the elven rope on the cliffs of Emyn Muil… for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
The Taming of Sméagol: The Two Towers ... "'If you can think of any way we could have both used the rope and yet brought it down with us, then you can pass on to me ninnyhammer, or any other name your Gaffer gave you,' said Frodo. 'Climb up and untie it and let yourself down, if you want to!'
... Sam scratched his head. 'No, I can't think how, begging your pardon… …But I don't like leaving it, and that's a fact.' He stroked the rope's end and shook it gently. 'It goes hard parting with anything I brought out of the elf-country. Made by Galadriel herself… …maybe. Galadriel,' he murmured, nodding his head mournfully. He looked up and gave one last pull to the rope as if in farewell.
... To the complete surprise of both the hobbits it came loose. Sam fell over, and the long grey coils slithered silently down on top of him. Frodo laughed. 'Who tied the rope..? …A good thing it held as long as it did! To think that I trusted all my weight to your knot!'
... Sam did not laugh. 'I may not be much good at climbing, Mr. Frodo,' he said in injured tones, 'but I do know something about rope and about knots. It's in the family, as you might say. Why, my grand-dad, and my uncle Andy after him, him that was the Gaffer's eldest brother, he had a rope-walk over by Tighfield… …And I put as fast a hitch over the stump as any one could have done, in the Shire or out of it.'
... 'Then the rope must have broken—frayed on the rock-edge…' …said Frodo.
... 'I bet it didn't!' said Sam in an even more injured voice. He stooped and examined the ends. 'Nor it hasn't neither. Not a strand!'
... 'Then I'm afraid it must have been the knot,' said Frodo.
... Sam shook his head and did not answer. He was passing the rope through his fingers thoughtfully. 'Have it your own way, Mr. Frodo,' he said at last, 'but I think the rope came off itself—when I called.' He coiled it up and stowed it lovingly in his pack.
... It certainly came,' said Frodo, 'and that's the chief thing.'"
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 10, 3:13pm
Post #28 of 35
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This is the 1st of 4 Book Spoilers to put us back where we last left the Fellowship in Lothlórien. The survivors have been resting since their arrival on January 17th, but let's revisit their first encounter with Celeborn and Galadriel... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From The Mirror of Galadriel: The Fellowship of the Ring ..."'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... ...that you came to this land seeking aid, as Gandalf himself plainly purposed. For the Lord of the Galadrim 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... ...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 be gone otherwise. But even now there is hope left. I will not give you counsel... ...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...
......the Lady Galadriel released them from her eyes, and she smiled. 'Do not let your hearts be troubled... ...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….'
... …They remained some days in Lothlorien, so far as they could tell or remember.…"
We have been there and back again.
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(This post was edited by grammaboodawg on Feb 10, 3:14pm)
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 11, 2:21pm
Post #29 of 35
(2216 views)
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This is 2nd of 4 Book Spoilers to prep and not short-change this very important TIME for the Fellowship... for our moment of Tolkien-zen.
From the Mirror of Galadriel: The Fellowship of the Ring ..."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 Lothlórien.
...'What do you think of Elves now, Sam..? ...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... ...you can't see nobody working it. No fireworks like poor old 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... ...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... ...Yet I hope very much that before we leave we shall see the Lady of the Elves again.'"
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 12, 1:42pm
Post #30 of 35
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Here's the 3rd of 4 Book Spoilers that leads us to an important day coming up on the 14th... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From the Mirror of Galadriel: The Fellowship of the Ring ..."Even as [Frodo] 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....
......she led them toward the southern slopes of the hill of Caras Galadon, and passing through a high green hedge they came into an enclosed garden.... ...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... ...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... ...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, and 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... ...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... ...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... ...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.'"
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 13, 12:51pm
Post #31 of 35
(1997 views)
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Here's the 4th Book Spoiler that brings us back to what is going on with Frodo and Sam in Lothlorien as we return there ourselves tomorrow... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From the Mirror of Galadriel: The Fellowship of the Ring ..."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.' ...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... ...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... ...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... ...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... ...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!'"
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 14, 11:56am
Post #32 of 35
(1889 views)
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Today in Middle-earth
February 14, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Mirror of Galadriel.
(from the appendices)
[Frodo and Sam are in Lothlorien standing at the Mirror with Galadriel]
..."'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... ...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 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... ...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....
...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... ...Then he saw... ...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... ...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... ...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... ...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. Eärendil, the Evening Star, most beloved of the Elves, shone clear above... ...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... ...in the land of Lórien 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 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 Lothlórien 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 caves, slowly to forget and to be forgotten...
...'...And what do you want?' 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 Lothlórien 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... ...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...
...'...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 Mountains! 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 illumined her alone and left all else dark...
...'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West and remain Galadriel.'"
2. Gandalf returns to life, and lies in a trance.
(from the appendices)
..."'Naked I was sent back—for a brief time, until my task was done. And naked I lay upon the mountain-top. The tower behind was crumbled into dust, the window gone; the ruined stair was choked with burned and broken stone. I was alone, forgotten, without escape upon the hard horn of the world... ...I lay staring upward, while the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life-age of the earth. Faint to my ears came the gathered rumour of all lands: the springing and the dying, the song and the weeping, and the slow everlasting groan of over-burdened stone....'"
We have been there and back again.
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(This post was edited by grammaboodawg on Feb 14, 11:57am)
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Feb 15, 9:46pm
Post #34 of 35
(1785 views)
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And further, a bit from the LotR Wiki: Earendil bore a Silmaril, so the Phial also contained the light of the Two Trees!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 16, 1:17pm
Post #35 of 35
(1743 views)
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Incredible! The power of that light!!! THANK YOU!
Geez I love this story! It just keeps growing!
We have been there and back again.
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It's time for some BS!
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