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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 15, 2:00pm
Post #1 of 37
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TIME - February 15
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Today in Middle-earth
February 15, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Fellowship's stay in Lothlórien ends.
(not from the appendices)
..."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...'
...'...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 that cram....'
...'Indeed it is,' said Gimli. 'Why, it is better that the honey-cakes of the Beornings, and that is great praise... ...You are kindly hosts!'
...'All the same, we bid you spare the food,' they said. 'Eat a 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... ...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... ...a hood and cloak, made according to his size, of the light but warm silken stuff that the Galadrim 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 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... ...Leaf and branch, water and stone: they have the hue and beauty of all these things under the twilight of Lórien that we love; for we put the thought of all that we love into all that we make... ...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....'
......Three small grey boats had been made ready for the travellers... ...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 on the green-sward.
...'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... ...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!'"
[continued tomorrow]
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 16, 1:19pm
Post #2 of 37
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Today in Middle-earth
This is more Elf-giving on such a meaningful TIME that I'm drawing out to a second day :)
Continuing February 15, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Farewell to Lórien.
(from the appendices)
..."'We have drunk the cup of parting,' [Galadriel] 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 Galadrim now offer you in memory of Lothlórien.' 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... ...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 Andúril and the lineage of the sword.
...'The blade that is drawn from this sheath shall not be stained or broken even in defeat... ...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... '...This stone I gave to Celebrían 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... ...it seemed to them that many years of toil had fallen from his shoulders....
......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 Galadrim used... ...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... ...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... ...if you keep it and see your home again at last... ...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 Lórien....'
......Sam went red to the ears and muttered something inaudible, and 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... ...It is enough for me to have seen the Lady of the Galadrim, 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... ...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....'
...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... ...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... ...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... ...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... ...Gimli son of Glóin, 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 have prepared this.' She held up a small crystal phial; it glittered as she moved it... ...rays of white light sprang from her hand. 'In this phial... ...is caught the light of Eärendil'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....'
...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."
2. Gollum in hiding on the west bank observes the departure.
(from the appendices-no text)
...As the grey boats slipped away from shore, Aragorn suddenly turned and looked back at the bank, scanning the shoreline. He knew their departure had not gone unnoticed. As he returned to his paddle, he saw that Frodo was also looking back at the shore.
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 17, 3:08pm
Post #3 of 37
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Today in Middle-earth
February 17, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Gwaihir bears Gandalf to Lórien. (from the appendices)
["'Naked I was sent back… …And naked I lay upon the mountain-top… …I was alone, forgotten, without escape upon the hard horn of the world. There I lay staring upward, while the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life-age of the earth…']
...'…And so at the last Gwaihir the Windlord found me again, and he took me up and bore me away.
...'"Ever am I fated to be your burden, friend at need," I said.
...'"A burden you have been... ...but not so now. Light as a swan's feather in my claw you are. The Sun shines through you. Indeed I do not think you need me any more: were I to let you fall, you would float upon the wind."
...'"Do not let me fall!" I gasped, for I felt life in me again. "Bear me to Lothlórien!"'
...'"That indeed is the command of the Lady Galadriel who sent me to look for you..."
...'Thus it was that I came to Caras Galadon and found you but lately gone. I tarried there in the ageless time of that land where days bring healing not decay. Healing I found, and I was clothed in white....'"
2. The Fellowship faces the Great River.
(not from the appendices)
..."They started again before the day was broad... ...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 Lórien."
February 17, 3020 (S.R. 1420)
1. The Shire continues to recover from its hurts.
(not in the appendices-no text)
...Though the work of tearing down the brooding, dark buildings that had infested Hobbiton was complete, the frigid months of winter forced them to turn their attention to other needs. There was much to keep the hobbits busy while waiting out the cold season as they restored the interiors of homes and businesses marred by Sharkey's ruffians. Their work was certainly the most rewarding at the Green Dragon Inn. It took several weeks of finishing and polishing to undo the damage; but it wasn't until after testing the kegs of ale recovered from the tunnels of Michel Delving when it was unanimously agreed that The Dragon had been restored to its proper standard.
February 17, 2007
(beyond text and TIME)
A date that rocked our world when TORn's NEW message boards were born!! Sort of like the Hobbits renaming the restored "Bagshot Row" to "New Row", we moved into the "New Boards".
While it's been many years since we evolved into the New Boards we thrive in today, we still remember the elder days and long to walk in those fields once again.
We have been there and back again.
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(This post was edited by grammaboodawg on Feb 17, 3:10pm)
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 18, 1:52pm
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Today in Middle-earth
February 18, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
The Fellowship travel the Great River.
(not from the appendices)
..."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 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... ...Great trees passed by like ghosts, thrusting their twisted thirsty roots through the mist down into the water. It was dreary and cold."
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 19, 1:41pm
Post #5 of 37
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Today in Middle-earth
February 19, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Company makes its way down the River.
(not from the appendices)
..."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... ...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 hand so blasted all that region even Aragorn could not tell....
...'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....'
... ...Sam looked from bank to bank uneasily. The trees had seemed hostile before, as if they harbored 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."
2. Gandalf recovers in Lothlórien.
(from the appendices-no text)
... Severely weakened, Gandalf still reached out with his thoughts for Frodo and the Fellowship.
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 20, 1:37pm
Post #6 of 37
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Today in Middle-earth
February 20, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The days on the River pass slowly.
(not from the appendices)
..."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 beechwoods; 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... ...as if some restlessness or doubt consumed him, sometimes seizing a paddle and driving the boat close behind Aragorn's. Then Pippin... ...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."
February 20, 3020 (S.R. 1420)
1. The Shire rebuilds.
(not from the appendices)
..."The trees were the worst loss and damage, for at Sharkey's bidding they had been cut down recklessly far and wide over the Shire; and Sam grieved over this more than anything else... ...this hurt would take long to heal, and only his great-grandchildren, he thought, would see the Shire as it ought to be."
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 21, 1:10pm
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Today in Middle-earth
February 21, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. A clever waterman; slyer than a fox and slippery as a fissssshhhh.
(not from the appendices)
..."As dusk drew down on the fourth day, [Sam] 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... ...he sat up and rubbed his eyes; but when he looked again he could not see it anymore.
...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 Lothlórien.'
...'It wasn't funny that way, Mr. Frodo. It was queer. All wrong, if it wasn't a dream... ...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... ...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... ...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 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... ...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 Lórien. 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... ...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 Lórien would throw him off the scent again. The miserable creature must have been hiding in the woods by the Silverlode, watching us start off!'
...'...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 half-way towards morning, if nothing happens before then.'"
We have been there and back again.
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Feb 21, 9:39pm
Post #8 of 37
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*grins* It's once more time for...
[In reply to]
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The Psychoanalysis! 
"Good morning, Mr. Gamgee. Ah, yes, a little fidgety today are we? Nervous, a bit? That's quite understandable. Please, have seat on the couch over here. Now, just relax a bit, take a deep breath - that's it - and tell me what has been troubling you."
"Well, ma'm, I'm seeing eyes..."
"Eyes. Ah. Friendly eyes? Sinister eyes? Eyes glowing in the dark?"
"Well, no, it weren't quite dark, 'twas near dusk. I was in a boat..."
"Ah, Samwise, now we've discussed before this little problem you have with boats, haven't we? Anxiety attacks and paranoia - I believe we agreed, it would be best if you did not participate in water-related activities?"
"We did, ma'm but there weren't no getting around this. You see, our Fellowship, we had a bad setback, and them as was in charge said we'd best continue by river for a bit."
"An unfortunate situation, Samwise. I hope you have complained to your travel agent regarding this, and please scrutinize your touring company for dependability before making future arrangements. Do, continue."
"Well, I was sitting in the bow of the boat, looking back over everyone, just sort of gazing at the water..."
"Uh huh - not looking forward - obviously in denial of your situation, your unwillingness to face what lay ahead..."
"Um, no, ma'm, just a bit of queasiness from the motion, it was less if I didn't watch the coming swells. Anyway, I saw something, and at first I thought that I was dreaming, sort of drifting off, you know when you're half-asleep how your eyes can play tricks on you. But then I realized I was really was awake, and it weren't no trick of the eyes. I really was seeing it!"
"Seeing - 'it'? Seeing what, Samwise?"
"A log with eyes! They were two pale sort of points, shiny-like, on a hump at the near end of it. And this here log had feet, too, paddle-feet, like a swan's almost, only they seemed bigger, and kept dipping in and out of the water. And it was travelling down the river faster that the boats - it seemed as if it was slowly catching us up!"
"Hmm...and then?"
"Well, then, I sat up and rubbed my eyes, but by then I couldn't catch sight of it no more."
*writes in notebook: Hydrophobia causing paranoia and delusional reactions* "Now, now, Samwise, we both know that a log cannot have eyes or appendages, don't we?"
"But...but these were..."
"You've worked with logs all your life, you know that they are not smooth objects, they show all manner of imperfections. Could it not be, that the 'eyes' you saw were boles or branch-stumps?"
"Well..."
"And these 'feet' were produced by the motion of the current against branches at the lower end, causing them to dip in the water?"
"But..."
"And, Samwise, you know you are unfamiliar with the flow mechanisms of large bodies of water. Rivers contain eddies, and the shape of the river bottom produces changes in current. Your log could simply have been caught in a faster current."
"Well, maybe..."
"Now, now, what you saw was a log."
"But - but I still think I ought to keep a watch out for..."
*writes down prescription on pad* "Samwise, I do think we're dealing with an old problem here. Since you must travel further down this river, I'm giving you a mild sedative, and recommending that you take a sleep-inducing medication before bedtime. You do want to reach your journey's end well-rested, don't you?"
"Well, I do have to look after Mr. Frodo..."
"There, see, you need to concentrate on your duties. Fears and imaginings will draw your attention away from these, and cause you to be less effective. Try to enjoy the rest of your journey. Once you are away from the river, I'm sure everything will go much better."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Lissuin
Valinor
Feb 21, 11:27pm
Post #10 of 37
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(How do you come up with these things, woman? )
"flow mechanics"?! "paranoia and delusional reactions" ?! Pfffff! Sam was right!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD-KWNps8SM
(This was cut from the theatrical version evidently, but I've been watching the extended forever, so it is also in my mind.
And gramma, carry on! We are reading! Cheers!
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 22, 1:48pm
Post #11 of 37
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Today in Middle-earth
February 22, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Company tries to elude their tracker.
(not from the appendices)
..."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... ...I thought I heard some soft splashing and a sniffling noise, a while back; but you hear a lot of such queer sounds by a river a night.'
...He lay down, and Frodo sat up, huddled in his blankets, and fought off his sleep... ...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... ...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... ...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... ...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 have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 23, 2:07pm
Post #12 of 37
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Today in Middle-earth
February 23, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The boats are attacked at night near Sarn Gebir.
(from the appendices)
..."...the travellers could see... ...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...!'
...'...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 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... ...carried nearer and nearer to the eastern bank... ...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... ...Sam thought he could glimpse black figures running to and fro upon the long shingle-banks that lay under the eastern shore....
...'Yrch!' said Legolas, falling into his own tongue.
...'Orcs!' cried Gimli.... ...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.... ...the grey cloaks of Lórien 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... ...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 Lórien. 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… …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... ...like the memory of an old wound, in his shoulder. He crouched down, as if to hide.
...Suddenly the great bow of Lórien 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...."
I miss you Mom
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
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Feb 24, 2:43pm
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Today in Middle-earth
February 24, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Company's burden of choice is approaching.
(not from the appendices)
..."'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... ...we will bear our boats by the ancient way to Rauros-foot, and there take to the water again. 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... ...see some sign that will guide us....'"
..."...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... ...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... ...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... ...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!'
..."...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... ...Twice they made the journey, before all was brought safe to the southern landing...
...'...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."
2. Gandalf sets out from Lothlórien.
(not from the appendices-no text)
...Gandalf's recovery was remarkable, but his anxiety was mounting. He felt it was time to pursue the Fellowship and that their situation was dire.
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grammaboodawg
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Feb 25, 2:46pm
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Today in Middle-earth
February 25, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Company pass the Argonath and camp at Parth Galen.
(from the appendices)
..."'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... ...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... ...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... ...under the enduring shadow of the sentinels of Númenor. So they passed into the dark chasm of the Gates.....
......Frodo crouching over his knees hears 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... ...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 Anárion, 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 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.
...'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.... ...as the night wore on Aragorn grew uneasy, tossing often in his sleep and waking."
2. First Battle of the Fords of Isen.
(from the appendices) [I believe Éomer led this first Battle based on the following excerpts:]
...[Éomer after meeting the Hunters in the fields of Rohan] "'The East-mark is my charge, the ward of the Third Marshal...'
...'...But at this time our chief concern is with Saruman. He has claimed lordship over all this land, and there has been war between us for many months. He has taken Orcs into his service, and Wolf-riders, and evil Men, and he has closed the Gap against us, so that we are likely to be beset both east and west.'"
3. Théodred son of Théoden slain.
(from the appendices)
...[Wormtongue speaking to Théoden] "'...the bitter tidings came that Théodred your son was slain upon the West Marches: your right hand, Second Marshal of the Mark.'"
4. Gandalf sets out from Lorien and journeys south.
(not from the appendices)
..."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... ...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."
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(This post was edited by dernwyn on Feb 25, 10:50pm)
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grammaboodawg
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Feb 26, 6:22am
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Today in Middle-earth
February 26, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
The Breaking of the Fellowship.
1. Death of Boromir; his horn is heard in Minas Tirith.
(from the appendices)
..."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.... ...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... ...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, 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 water...."
... "'...I read the signs aright,' [Aragorn] said to himself. 'Frodo ran to the hill-top. I wonder what he saw there? But he returned by the same way, and went down the hill again.'
...Aragorn hesitated. He desired to go to the high seat himself, hoping to see there something that would guide him in his perplexities; but time was pressing. Suddenly he leaped forward, and ran to the summit, across the great flag-stones, and up the steps. Then sitting in the high seat he looked out....
......Even as he gazed, his quick ears caught sounds in the woodlands below, on the west side of the River. He stiffened. There were cries... ...to his horror, he could distinguish the harsh voices of Orcs. Then suddenly with a deep-throated call a great horn blew, and the blasts of it smote the hills and echoed in the hollows, rising in a mighty shout above the roaring of the falls.
... 'The horn of Boromir!' he cried. 'He is in need!' He sprang down the steps and away, leaping down the path. 'Alas! An ill fate is on me this day, and all that I do goes amiss. Where is Sam?'"
..."As he ran the cries came louder, but fainter now and desperately the horn was blowing. Fierce and shrill rose the yells of the Orcs, and suddenly the horn-calls ceased. Aragorn raced down the last slope, but before he could reach the hill's foot, the sounds died away; and as he turned to the left and ran towards them they retreated, until at last he could hear them no more. Drawing his bright sword and crying Elendil! Elendil! he crashed through the trees.
...A mile, maybe, from Parth Galen in a little glade not far from the lake he found Boromir. He was sitting with his back to a great tree, as if he was resting. But Aragorn saw that he was pierced with many black-feathered arrows; his sword was still in his hand, but it was broken near the hilts; this horn cloven in two was at his side. Many Orcs lay slain, piled all about him and at his feet.
... Aragorn knelt beside him. Boromir opened his eyes and strove to speak. At last slow words came. 'I tried to take the Ring from Frodo,' he said. 'I am sorry. I have paid.' His glance strayed to his fallen enemies; twenty at least lay there. 'They have gone: the Halflings: the Orcs have taken them. I think they are not dead. Orcs bound them.' He paused and his eyes closed wearily. After a moment he spoke again.
... 'Farewell, Aragorn! Go to Minas Tirith and save my people! I have failed.'"
...[Faramir speaking with Frodo in Ithilien] "'Five days ere I set out on this venture, eleven days ago at about this hour of the day, I heard the blowing of that horn: from the northward it seemed, but dim, as if it were but an echo in the mind. A boding of ill we thought it, my father and I, for no tidings had we heard of Boromir since he went away, and no watcher on our borders had seen him pass.'"
2. Frodo's ordeal on Amon Hen.
(not from the appendices)
... "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... ...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.... ...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."
3. Gandalf aids Frodo in his struggle on Amon Hen.
(not from the appendices)
... "'I sat in a high place, and I strove with the Dark Tower; and the Shadow passed. Then I was weary, very weary; and I walked long in dark thought.'"
4. Meriadoc and Peregrin captured.
(from the appendices)
... "...[Pippin] and Merry had run off into the woods. What had come over them? ...suddenly they had crashed right into a group of Orcs... ...and dozens of other goblins had sprung out of the trees. Merry and he had drawn their swords, but the Orcs did not wish to fight, and had tried only to lay hold of them, even when Merry had cut off several of their arms and hands...!
... ...Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight. He slew many of them and the rest fled. But they had not gone far on the way back when they were attacked again, by a hundred Orcs at least... ...and they shot a rain of arrows: always at Boromir. Boromir had blown his great horn till the woods rang, and at first the orcs had been dismayed and had drawn back; but when no answer but the echoes came, they had attacked more fiercely than ever. Pippin did not remember much more. His last memory was of Boromir leaning against a tree, plucking out an arrow; then darkness fell suddenly."
5. Frodo and Samwise enter the eastern Emyn Muil.
(from the appendices)
... "'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... ...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...'
......With a few strokes Frodo brought the boat back to the bank, and Sam was able to scramble out, wet as 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....'
...'...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....'
......So Frodo and Sam set off on the last stage of the Quest together. Frodo paddled away from the shore... ...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... ...and drive the boat eastward towards the far shore.
... At length they came to land again upon the southern slopes of Amon Lhaw.... ...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."
6. Aragorn sets out in pursuit of the Orcs at evening.
(from the appendices)
... "'No other folk make such a trampling,' said Legolas. 'It seems their delight to slash and beat down growing things that are not even in their way.'
... 'But they go with a great speed for all that,' said Aragorn, 'and they do not tire. And later we may have to search for our path in hard bare lands.'
... 'Well, after them!' said Gimli. 'Dwarves too can go swiftly, and they do not tire sooner than Orcs. But it will be a long chase: they have a long start.'
... 'Yes,' said Aragorn, 'we shall all need the endurance of Dwarves. But come! With hope or without hope we will follow the trail of our enemies... ...We will make such a chase as shall be accounted a marvel among the Three Kindreds: Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Forth the Three Hunters!'
... Like a deer he sprang away... ...On and on he led them, tireless and swift, now that his mind was at last made up. The woods about the lake they left behind. Long slopes they climbed, dark, hard-edged against the sky already red with sunset. Dusk came. They passed away, grey shadows in a stony land."
7. Éomer hears of the descent of the Orc-band from the Emyn Muil.
(from the appendices)
... "'Indeed in this riding north I went without the king's leave, for in my absence his house is left with little guard. But scouts warned me of the orc-host coming down out of the East Wall... and among them they reported that some bore the white badges of Saruman."
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grammaboodawg
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Feb 27, 1:37pm
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Today in Middle-earth
February 27, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Aragorn reaches the west-cliff at sunrise.
(from the appendices)
... "'Gondor! Gondor!' cried Aragorn. 'Would that I looked on you again in happier hour! Not yet does my road lie southward to your bright stream.
Gondor! Gondor, between the Mountains and the Sea!
West Wind blew there; the light upon the Silver Tree
Fell like bright rain in gardens of the Kings of old.
O proud walls! White towers! O winged crown and throne of gold!
O Gondor, Gondor! Shall Men behold the Silver Tree,
Or West Wind blow again between the Mountains and the Sea? ...Now let us go!' he said, drawing his eyes away from the South, and looking out west and north...
......The ridge upon which the companions stood went down steeply before their feet. Below it twenty fathoms or more, there was a wide and rugged shelf which ended suddenly in the brink of a sheer cliff: the East Wall of Rohan. So ended the Emyn Muil, and the green plains of the Rohirrim stretched away before them to the edge of sight....
... '...look! [said Aragorn] ...there is something moving over the plain!'
...'Many things,' said Legolas. 'It is a great company on foot; but I cannot say more, nor see what kind of folk they may be. They are many leagues away: twelve, I guess....'
...'...I think, nonetheless, that we no longer need any trail to tell us which way to go,' said Gimli. 'Let us find a path down to the fields as quick as may be.'
...'I doubt if you will find a path quicker than the one that the Orcs chose,' said Aragorn."
[league = 3 miles]
2. Éomer, against Théoden's orders, sets out from Eastfold about midnight to pursue the Orcs.
(from the appendices)
...'So suspecting what I most feared, a league between Orthanc and the Dark Tower, I led forth my éored, men of my own household'"
3. Merry and Pippin endure their captivity.
(not from the appendices)
..."...the whole company began to run with the long loping strides of Orcs. They kept no order, thrusting, jostling, and cursing; yet their speed was very great. Each hobbit had a guard of three. Pippin was far back in the line. He wondered how long he would be able to go on at this pace…
......Every now and again there came into [Pippin's] mind unbidden a vision of the keen face of Strider bending over a dark trail, and running, running behind. But what could even a Ranger see except a confused trail of orc-feet? His own little prints and Merry's were overwhelmed by the trampling of the iron-shod shoes before them and behind them and about them.
...They had gone only a mile or so from the cliff when the land sloped down into a wide shallow depression, where the ground was soft and wet... ...The dark shapes of the Orcs in front grew dim, and then were swallowed up.
...'Ai! Steady now!' shouted Uglúk from the rear.
...A sudden thought leaped into Pippin's mind, and he acted on it at once. He swerved aside to the right, and dived out of the reach of his clutching guard, headfirst into the mist; he landed sprawling on the grass.
...'Halt!' yelled Uglúk.
...There was for a moment turmoil and confusion. Pippin sprang up and ran. But the Orcs were after him. Some suddenly loomed up right in front of him.
...'No hope of escape!' thought Pippin. 'But there is a hope that I have left some of my own marks unspoilt on the wet ground.' He groped with his two tied hands at his throat, and unclasped the brooch of his cloak. Just as long arms and hard claws seized him, he let it fall. 'There I suppose it will lie until the end of time... ...I don't know why I did it. If the others have escaped, they've probably all gone with Frodo....'"
..."...Terrified Pippin lay still, though the pain at his wrists and ankles was growing, and the stones beneath him were boring into his back. To take his mind off himself he listened intently to all that he could hear... ...it seemed plain that something like a quarrel had begun, and was getting hotter..."
... "...[there was] the ringing clash of weapons being drawn. Cautiously Pippin rolled over, hoping to see what would happen. His guards had gone to join in the fray. In the twilight he saw a large black Orc, probably Uglúk, standing facing Grishnákh... ...Then suddenly, without warning, Uglúk sprang forwards, and with two swift strokes swept the heads off two of his opponents... ...[a] body fell right on top of Pippin, still clutching its long saw-edged knife...
... '...Now,' thought Pippin, 'if only it takes that ugly fellow a little while to get his troop under control, I've got a chance.' A gleam of hope had come to him. The edge of the black knife had snickered his arm, and then slid down to his wrist. He felt the blood trickling on to his hand, but he also felt the cold touch of steel against his skin.
... The Orcs were getting ready to march again, but some of the Northerners were still unwilling, and the Isengarders slew two more before the rest were cowed. There was much cursing and confusion. For the moment Pippin was unwatched. His legs were securely bound, but his arms were only tied about the wrists, and his hands were in front of him... ...He pushed the dead Orc to one side, then hardly daring to breathe, he drew the knot of the wrist-cord up and down against the blade of the knife. It was sharp and the dead hand held it fast. The cord was cut! Quickly Pippin took it in his fingers and knotted it again into a loose bracelet of two loops and slipped it over his hands. Then he lay very still...."
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
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Feb 28, 2:11pm
Post #17 of 37
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Today in Middle-earth
February 28, 3019 (S.R. 1419) FOR Non LEAP YEAR
1. Éomer overtakes the Orcs just outside Fangorn Forest.
(from the appendices)
..."'…we overtook the Orcs at nightfall two days ago, near to the borders of the Entwood. There we surrounded them, and gave battle yesterday at dawn. Fifteen of my men I lost, and twelve horses alas! For the orcs were greater in number than we counted on. Others joined them, coming out of the East across the Great River... ...And others, too, came out of the forest. Great Orcs, who also bore the White Hand of Isengard: that kind is stronger and more fell than all others.'"
2. The Hunters on the trail
(not from the appendices)
..."Stooping he [Aragorn] roused the Dwarf. 'Come! We must go... ...The scent is growing cold.'
...'But it is still dark,' said Gimli. 'Even Legolas on a hilltop could not see them till the Sun is up.'
...'I fear they have passed beyond my sight from hill or plain, under moon or sun,' said Legolas.
...Where sight fails the earth may bring us rumours,' said Aragorn. 'The land must groan under their hated feet.'
...He stretched himself upon the ground with his ear pressed against the turf. He lay there motionless, for so long a time that Gimli wondered if he had swooned or fallen asleep again.... ...At last he rose, and now his friends could see his face: it was pale and drawn, and his look was troubled.
...'The rumours of the earth is dim and confused,' he said. 'Nothing walks upon it for many miles about us. Faint and far are the feet of our enemies. But loud are the hoofs of the horses. It comes to my mind that I heard them, even as I lay on the ground in sleep, and they troubled my dreams: galloping, passing in the West. But now they are drawing ever further from us riding northward. I wonder what is happening in this land!'"
3. Merry, Pippin and Orcs.
(not from the appendices)
..."Evil dreams and evil waking were blended into a long tunnel of misery, with hope growing ever fainter behind. They ran, and they ran, striving to keep up the pace set by the Orcs, licked every now and again with a cruel thong cunningly handled...
...…The Isengarders seized Merry and Pippin again and slung them on their backs. Then the troop started off. Hour after hour they ran, pausing now and again only to sling the hobbits to fresh carriers….
...…Pippin was bruised and torn, his aching head was grated by the filthy jowl and hairy ear of the Orc that held him. Immediately in front were bowed backs, and tough thick legs going up and down, up and down, unresting, as if they were made of wire and horn, beating out the nightmare seconds of an endless time….
...…'Maggots!' jeered the Isengarders. 'You're cooked. The Whiteskins will catch you and eat you. They're coming!'
... A cry from Grishnákh showed that this was not mere jest. Horsemen, riding very swiftly had indeed been sighted: still far behind, but gaining on the Orcs…
... …The Isengarders began to run with a redoubled pace that astonished Pippin, a terrific spurt it seemed for the end of a race…. …The forest was dark and close. Already they had passed a few outlying trees…. …'They will make it yet. They will escape,' thought Pippin. And then he managed to twist his neck, so as to glance back with one eye over his shoulder. He saw that riders away eastward were already level with the Orcs, galloping over the plain. The sunset gilded their spears and helmets, and glinted in their pale flowing hair. They were hemming the Orcs in, preventing them from scattering, and driving them along the line of the river….
...'…how will they know that we are not Orcs?' he thought. 'I don't suppose they've ever heard of hobbits down here. I suppose I ought to be glad that the beastly Orcs look like being destroyed, but I would rather be saved myself….' …The eaves of the forest were very near, probably no more than three furlongs away, but they could go no further. The horsemen had encircled them. …
...'Put those Halflings down!' ordered Uglúk, taking no notice of Grishnákh. 'You, Lugdush, get two others and stand guard over them. They're not to be killed, unless the filthy Whiteskins break through. Understand? As long as I'm alive, I want 'em. But they're not to cry out, and they're not to be rescued. Bind their legs!'
... The last part of the order was carried out mercilessly. But Pippin found that for the first time he was close to Merry. The Orcs were making a great deal of noise… …and the hobbits managed to whisper together for a while.'
... 'I don't think much of this,' said Merry. 'I feel nearly done in. Don't think I could crawl away far, even if I was free.'
... 'Lembas!' whispered Pippin. 'Lembas: I've got some. Have you? I don't think they've taken anything but our swords…'
...…Pippin and Merry sat up. Their guards, Isengarders, had gone with Uglúk. But if the hobbits had any thought of escape, it was soon dashed. A long hairy arm took each of them by the neck and drew them close together. Dimly they were aware of Grishnákh's great head and hideous face between them; his foul breath was on their cheeks. He began to paw them… …Pippin shuddered as hard cold fingers groped down his back…. …The thought came suddenly into Pippin's mind, as if caught direct from the urgent thought of his enemy: 'Grishnákh knows about the Ring! He's looking for it, while Uglúk is busy: he probably wants it for himself…'
...'...I don't think you will find it that way,' he whispered. 'It isn't easy to find.'
...'Find it?' said Grishnákh: his fingers stopped crawling and gripped Pippin's shoulder. 'Find what? What are you talking about, little one?'
...For a moment Pippin was silent. Then suddenly in the darkness he made a noise in his throat: gollum, gollum. 'Nothing, my precious....'"
[furlong = .125 miles or 220 yards]
4. Frodo and Sam make their way into Emyn Muil.
(not from the appendices)
..."…they had almost lost count of the hours during which they had climbed and laboured among the barren slopes and stones of the Emyn Muil, sometimes retracing their steps because they could find no way forward, sometimes discovering that they had wandered in a circle back to where they had been hours before."
We have been there and back again.
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(This post was edited by grammaboodawg on Feb 28, 2:17pm)
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 29, 3:04pm
Post #18 of 37
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TIME - February 29 LEAP YEAR! and an ANNIVERSARY!
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Today in Middle-earth
February 29, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Meriadoc and Pippin escape and meet Treebeard.
(from the appendices)
..."'We have watched too long,' said Merry. 'There's Uglúk! I don't want to meet him again.' The hobbits turned and fled deep into the shadows of the wood….
...'... it is all very dim, and stuffy, in here,' said Pippin... ...I can't imagine what spring would look like here, if it ever comes... ...then they became aware of a yellow light that had appeared, some way further on into the wood: shafts of sunlight seemed suddenly to have pierced the forest-roof.
... 'Hullo!' said Merry. 'The Sun must have run into a cloud while we've been under these trees, and now she has run out again; or else she has climbed high enough to look down through some opening. It isn't far—let's go and investigate...!'
... ...there was something like a stair: natural perhaps, and made by the weathering and splitting of the rock, for it was rough and uneven. High up, almost level with the tops of forest-trees, there was a shelf under a cliff. Nothing grew there but a few grasses and weeds at its edge, and one old stump of a tree with only two bent branches left: it looked almost like the figure of some gnarled old man, standing there, blinking in the morning-light....
... '...The wind's changing,' said Merry. 'It's turned east again. It feels cool up here.'
... 'Yes,' said Pippin; 'I'm afraid this is only a passing gleam, and it will all go grey again. What a pity! This shaggy old forest looked so different in the sunlight. I almost felt I liked the place.'
..."'Almost felt you liked the Forest! That's good! That's uncommonly kind of you,' said a strange voice. 'Turn round and let me have a look at your faces. I almost feel that I dislike you both, but do not let us be hasty. Turn round!' A large knob-knuckled hand was laid on each of their shoulders, and they were twisted round, gently but irresistibly; then two great arms lifted them up….
...'...Hrum, Hoom,' murmured the voice, a deep voice like a very deep woodwind instrument. 'Very odd indeed! Do not be hasty, that is my motto. But if I had seen you, before I heard your voices—I liked them: nice little voices; they reminded me of something I cannot remember—if I had seen you before I heard you, I should have just trodden on you, taking you for little Orcs, and found out my mistake afterwards. Very odd you are, indeed. Root and twig, very odd!'"
2. The Rohirrim attack at sunrise and destroy the orcs.
(from the appendices)
..."…Uglúk was overtaken and brought to bay at the very edge of Fangorn. There he was slain at last by Éomer, the Third Marshal of Rohan, who dismounted and fought him sword to sword. And over the wide fields the keen-eyed Riders hunted down the few Orcs that had escaped and still had strength to fly."
3. The Hunters continue their pursuit.
(not from the appendices)
..."As before Legolas was first afoot, if indeed he had ever slept. 'Awake! Awake!' he cried. 'It is a red dawn. Strange things await us by the eaves of the forest. Good or evil, I do not know; but we are called. Awake!'"
4. Frodo descends from the Emyn Muil and meets Gollum.
(from the appendices)
..."'Well, master, we're in a fix and no mistake,' said Sam Gamgee. He stood despondently with hunched shoulders beside Frodo, and peered out with puckered eyes into the gloom.
... It was the third evening since they had fled from the Company… …they had almost lost count of the hours during which they had climbed and laboured among the barren slopes and stones of the Emyn Muil, sometimes retracing their steps because they could find no way forward… …discovering that they had wandered in a circle back to where they had been hours before... ...The hobbits stood now on the brink of a tall cliff, bare and bleak...
... "... they did not notice that for several miles they had been going slowly but steadily downhill... ...a great grey cliff loomed before them, cut sheer down as if by a knife stroke. They could go no further forwards...
... '…We had better try a way back southwards along the line of the cliff, I think' said Sam. 'We might find some nook there, or even a cave or something.'
... 'I suppose so,' said Frodo. 'I'm tired, and I don't think I can scramble among stones much longer tonight—though I grudge the delay. I wish there was a clear path in front of us: then I'd go on till my legs gave way.'
...They did not find the going any easier at the broken feet of the Emyn Muil...
... '...Well!' said Frodo, standing up and drawing his cloak more closely round him. 'You sleep for a bit Sam and take my blanket. I'll walk up and down on sentry for a while.' Suddenly he stiffened, and stooping he gripped Sam by the arm. 'What's that?' he whispered. 'Look over there on the cliff!'
... "Sam looked and breathed in sharply through his teeth... '...It's that Gollum... ...Look at him! Like a nasty crawling spider on a wall.'"
5. Gollum is captured by Frodo and Sam.
(not from the appendices)
..."Down the face of a precipice, sheer and almost smooth it seemed in the pale moonlight, a small black shape was moving with its thin limbs splayed out... ...And it was coming down head first...
... ...the cliff was slightly undercut, and even gollum could not find a hold of any kind... ...suddenly with a shrill whistling shriek he fell. As he did so, he curled his legs and arms up round him, like a spider whose descending thread is snapped....
... ...Sam was out of his hiding in a flash and crossed the space between him and the cliff-foot in a couple of leaps. Before Gollum could get up, he was on top of him. But he found Gollum more than he bargained for, even taken like that, suddenly, off his guard after a fall...
... ...Things would have gone ill with Sam, if he had been alone. But Frodo sprang up, and drew Sting from its sheath. With his left hand he drew back Gollum's head by its thin lank hair, stretching its long neck, and forcing his pale venomous eyes to stare up at the sky.
... 'Let go! Gollum,' he said. 'This is Sting. You have seen it before once upon a time. Let go, or you'll feel it this time! I'll cut your throat.'
... Gollum collapsed and went as loose as wet string... ...grovelling on the stones whimpering.
... 'Don't hurt us! Don't let them hurt us, precious!'"
6. Faramir sees the funeral boat of Boromir.
(from the appendices)
..."'I sat at night by the waters of Anduin... ...watching the ever-moving stream; and the sad reeds were rustling. So do we ever watch the shore nigh Osgiliath, which our enemies now partly hold, and issue from it to harry our lands. But that night all the world slept at the midnight hour. Then I saw, glimmering grey, a small boat of a strange fashion with a high prow, and there was none to row or steer it.
...'An awe fell on me, for a pale light was round it. But I rose and went to the bank, and began to walk out into the stream, for I was drawn towards it... ...the boat turned towards me, and stayed its pace, and floated slowly by within my hand's reach, yet I durst not handle it. It waded deep, as if it were heavily burdened, and it seemed to me as it passed under my gaze that it was almost filled with clear water, from which came the light; and lapped in the water a warrior lay asleep.
...'A broken sword was on his knee. I saw many wounds on him. It was Boromir, my brother, dead. I knew his gear, his sword, his beloved face. One thing only I missed: his horn.... ... Boromir I cried. Where is thy horn? Whither goest thou? O Boromir! But he was gone. The boat turned into the stream and passed glimmering on into the night. Dreamlike it was, and yet no dream, for there was no waking. And I do not doubt that he is dead and has passed down the River to the Sea.'"
February 29, 2024 – 20-year Anniversary of RotK's Oscar Sweep!!!
1. It was a Sunday. 
February 29, 2004 - A Happy LEAP Year Day!!!
1. Peter Jackson's Return of the King conquers the Academy Awards with a clean sweep of 11 Oscars!
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Mar 1, 12:31pm
Post #19 of 37
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TODAY (and YESTERDAY) IN MIDDLE-EARTH
This is the only place where you'll find a February 30th day of events! The Shire calendar has 30 days to each month. Because there's no 30th in OUR February, I'm going to combine those events with today's March 1st post. Here goes!!!
February 30, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Entmoot begins.
(from the appendices)
..."'Hoo, ho! Good morning, Merry and Pippin!' he boomed, when he saw them. 'You sleep long. I have been many a hundred strides already today. Now we will have a drink, and go to Entmoot.'
...'He poured them out two full bowls from a stone jar... ...The taste was not the same as it had been the night before: it was earthier and richer, more sustaining and food-like... ...the hobbits drank, sitting on the edge of the bed, and nibbling small pieces of elf-cake....
...'...Where is Entmoot?' Pippin ventured to ask.
...'Hoo, eh? Entmoot?' said Treebeard, turning round. 'It is not a place, it is a gathering of Ents—which does not often happen nowadays....'"
... "...Several Ents had already arrived. More were coming in down the other paths, and some were now following Treebeard... ...Altogether there were about two dozen standing on the wide grassy floor of the dingle, and as many more were marching in.
... At first Merry and Pippin were struck chiefly by the variety that they saw...
... ...As soon as the whole company was assembled, standing in a wide circle round Treebeard, a curious and unintelligible conversation began. The Ents began to murmur slowly: first one joined and then another, until they were all chanting together..."
2. Éomer returning to Edoras meets Aragorn.
(from the appendices)
... "Aragorn stood up, and called in a loud voice: 'What news from the North, Riders of Rohan?'
... With astonishing speed and skill [the riders] checked their steeds, wheeled, and came charging round. Soon the three companions found themselves in a ring of horsemen... ...Then one rode forward, a tall man, taller than all the rest...
... '...Who are you, and what are you doing in this land?' said the Rider, using the Common Speech of the West, in manner and tone like to the speech of Boromir, Man of Gondor.
... 'I am called Strider,' answered Aragorn. 'I came out of the North. I am hunting Orcs...'
... '…At first I thought that you yourselves were Orcs,' he said; 'but now I see that it is not so. Indeed you know little of Orcs, if you go hunting them in this fashion... ...You would have changed from hunters to prey, if ever you had overtaken them. But there is something strange about you, Strider.' He bent his clear bright eyes again upon the Ranger. 'That is no name for a Man that you give. And strange too is your raiment... ...Are you elvish folk?'
... 'No,' said Aragorn. 'One only of us is an Elf, Legolas from the Woodland Realm in distant Mirkwood. But we have passed through Lothlórien, and the gifts and favour of the Lady go with us.'
... The Rider looked at them with renewed wonder, but his eyes hardened. 'Then there is a Lady in the Golden Wood, as old tales tell!' he said. 'Few escape her nets, they say. These are strange days! But if you have her favour, then you also are net-weavers and sorcerers, maybe.' He turned a cold glance suddenly upon Legolas and Gimli. 'Why do you not speak, silent ones?' he demanded.
...Gimli rose and planted his feet firmly apart: his hand gripped the handle of his axe, and his dark eyes flashed. 'Give me your name, horse-master, and I will give you mine...
...'...As for that,' said the Rider, staring down at the Dwarf, 'the stranger should declare himself first. Yet I am named Éomer son of Éomund, and am called the Third Marshal of Riddermark.'
...'Then Éomer son of Éomund, Third Marshal of Riddermark, let Gimli the Dwarf Glóin's son warn you against foolish words. You speak evil of that which is fair beyond the reach of your thought, and only little wit can excuse you.'
...Éomer 's eyes blazed, and the Men of Rohan murmured angrily, and closed in... '...I would cut off your head, beard and all, Master Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground,' said Éomer.
...'He stands not alone,' said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow with hands that moved quicker than sight. You would die before your stroke fell….'"
3. Frodo and Sam follow their new guide.
(not from the appendices)
..."So tired was Frodo that his head fell forward on his breast and he slept... ...Gollum seemed no longer to have any fears. He curled up and went quickly to sleep, quite unconcerned. Presently his breath was hissing softly through his clenched teeth, but he lay still as stone. After a while, fearing that he would drop off himself if he sat listening to his two companions breathing, Sam got up and gently prodded Gollum. His hands uncurled and twitched, but he made no other movement. Sam bent down and said "fissh" close to his ear, but there was no response, not even a catch in Gollum's breathing…."
...[Sam to Frodo:] "'This waybread keeps you on your legs in a wonderful way, though it doesn't satisfy the innards proper, as you might say: not to my feeling anyhow meaning no disrespect to them as made it.... ...I reckon we've got enough to last, say, three weeks or so, and that with a tight belt and a light tooth, mind you. We've been a bit free with it so far.'
...'I don't know how long we shall take to—to finish,' said Frodo. 'We were miserably delayed in the hills. But Samwise Gamgee, my dear hobbit—indeed, Sam my dearest hobbit, friend of friends—I do not think we need give thought to what comes after that. To "do the job" as you put it—what hope is there that we ever shall? And if we do, who knows what will come of that? If the One goes into the Fire, and we are at hand... ...are we ever likely to need bread again? I think not. If we can nurse our limbs to bring us to Mount Doom, that is all we can do. More than I can, I begin to feel.'
...Sam nodded silently. He took his master's hand and bent over it. He did not kiss it, though his tears fell on it. Then he turned away, drew his sleeve over his nose, and got up, and stamped about, trying to whistle, and saying between the efforts: 'Where's that dratted creature?'"
4. Saruman checks on his plan.
(not from the appendices)
...[Gandalf] "'Isengard cannot fight Mordor, unless Saruman first obtains the Ring. That he will never do now. He does not yet know his peril. There is much that he does not know. He was so eager to lay his hands on his prey that he could not wait at home, and he came forth to meet and to spy on his messengers. But he came too late, for once, and the battle was over and beyond his help before he reached these parts. He did not remain here long…. …He believes that the horsemen slew and burned all upon the field of battle; but he does not know whether the Orcs were bringing any prisoners or not. And he does not know of the quarrel between his servants and the Orcs of Mordor; nor does he know of the Winged Messenger…. …Saruman does not know of this new shape in which the Ringwraiths have been clad. His thought is ever on the Ring. Was it present in the battle? Was it found? What if Théoden, Lord of the Mark, should come by it and learn of its power? That is the danger that he sees, and he has fled back to Isengard to double and treble his assault on Rohan.'"
TODAY IN MIDDLE-EARTH - March 1
March 1, 2931
1. Birth of Aragorn II (Elessar)
(not from the appendices)
..."And it happened that when Arathorn and Gilraen had been married only one year, Arador was taken by hill-trolls in the Coldfells north of Rivendell and was slain; and Arathorn became Chieftain of the Dúnedain. The next year Gilraen bore him a son, and he was called Aragorn."
March 1, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Frodo begins the passage of the Dead Marshes at dawn.
(from the appendices)
..."At last Sam could bear it no longer. 'What's all this, Gollum?' he said in a whisper. 'These lights? They're all round us now. Are we trapped? Who are they?'
...Gollum looked up. A dark water was before him, and he was crawling on the ground, this way and that, doubtful of the way. 'Yes, they are all round us... ...The tricksy lights. Candles of corpses, yes, yes. Don't you heed them! Don't look! Don't follow them! Where's the master?'
...Sam looked back and found that Frodo had lagged again. He could not see him. He went some paces back into the darkness, not daring to move far, or to call in more than a hoarse whisper. Suddenly he stumbled against Frodo, who was standing lost in thought, looking at the pale lights. His hands hung stiff at his sides; water and slime were dripping from them.
...'Come, Mr. Frodo... ...Don't look at them! Gollum says we mustn't. Let's keep up with him and get out of this cursed place as quick as we can—if we can!'
...'All right,' said Frodo, as if returning out of a dream. 'I'm coming. Go on!'
...Hurrying forward again, Sam tripped, catching his foot in some old root or tussock. He fell and came heavily on his hands, which sank deep into sticky ooze, so that his face was brought close to the surface of the dark mere. There was a faint hiss, a noisome smell went up, the lights flickered and danced and swirled... ...Wrenching his hands out of the bog, he sprang back with a cry. 'There are dead things, dead faces in the water,' he said with horror. 'Dead faces!'
...Gollum laughed. 'The Dead Marshes, yes, yes: that is their name... ...You should not look in when the candles are lit.''"
2. Entmoot continues.
(from the appendices)
..."…they did not go far from his (Quickbeam's) 'house.' Most of the time they sat silent under the shelter of the bank; for the wind was colder, and the clouds closer and greyer; there was little sunshine, and in the distance the voices of the Ents at the Moot still rose and fell, sometimes loud and strong, sometimes low and sad, sometimes quickening, sometimes slow and solemn as a dirge."
3. The Hunters find signs of Merry and Pippin.
(not from the appendices)
..."'This is good tidings,' said Aragorn. 'Yet the marks are two days old. And it seems that at this point the hobbits left the water-side.'
...'Then what shall we do now?' said Gimli. 'We cannot pursue them through the whole fastness of Fangorn. We have come ill supplied. If we do not find them soon, we shall be of no use to them, except to sit down beside them and show our friendship by starving together.'
...'If that is indeed all we can do, then we must do that,' said Aragorn. 'Let us go on.'
...They came at length to the steep abrupt end of Treebeard's Hill, and looked up at the rock-wall with its rough steps leading to the high shelf....'
...'...Let us go up and look about us!' said Legolas. 'I still feel my breath short. I should like to taste a freer air for a while.'
...The companions climbed up. Aragorn came last, moving slowly: he was scanning the steps and ledges closely.
...'I am almost sure that the hobbits have been up here,' he said. 'But there are other marks, very strange marks, which I do not understand.'"
4. Aragorn meets Gandalf the White.
(from the appendices)
..."'...here we are—and nicely caught in the net,' said Legolas. 'Look!'
...'Look at what?' said Gimli.
...'There in the trees.'
...'Where? I have not elf-eyes.'
...'Hush! Speak more softly! Look!' said Legolas pointing. 'Down in the wood, back in the way that we have just come... ...Cannot you see him, passing from tree to tree?'
...'I see, I see now!' hissed Gimli. 'Look, Aragorn! Did I not warn you? There is the old man. All in dirty grey rags: that is why I could not see him at first.'
...Aragorn looked and beheld a bent figure moving slowly... ...It looked like an old beggar-man, walking wearily, leaning on a rough staff. His head was bowed, and he did not look towards them. In other lands they would have greeted him with kind words; but now they stood silent, each feeling a strange expectancy: something was approaching that held a hidden power—or menace.
...Gimli gazed with wide eyes for a while, as step by step the figure drew nearer. Then suddenly, unable to contain himself longer, he burst out: 'Your bow, Legolas! Bend it! Get ready! It is Saruman. Do not let him speak, or put a spell upon us! Shoot first!'
...Legolas took his bow and bent it, slowly and as if some other will resisted him... ...Aragorn stood silent; his face was watchful and intent.
...'Why are you waiting? What is the matter with you?' said Gimli in a hissing whisper.
...'Legolas is right,' said Aragorn quietly. 'We may not shoot an old man so, at unawares and unchallenged, whatever fear or doubt be on us. Watch and wait!'
...At that moment the old man quickened his pace and came with surprising speed to the foot of the rock-wall. Then suddenly he looked up, while they stood motionless looking down. There was no sound.
...They could not see his face... ...above the hood he wore a wide-brimmed hat, so that all his features were overshadowed, except for the end of his nose and his grey beard. Yet it seemed to Aragorn that he caught the gleam of eyes keen and bright from within the shadow of the hooded brows.
...'Well met, I say again!' said the old man, coming towards them. When he was a few feet away, he stood, stooping over his staff, with his head thrust forward, peering at them from under his hood. 'And what may you be doing in these parts? An Elf, a Man, and a Dwarf, all clad in elvish fashion. No doubt there is a tale worth hearing behind it all....'
...'...Might we know your name, and then hear what it is that you have to say to us?' said Aragorn. 'The morning passes, and we have an errand that will not wait.'
...'As for what I wished to say, I have said it: What may you be doing, and what tale can you tell of yourselves? As for my name!' He broke off, laughing long and softly. Aragorn felt a shudder run through him at the sound, a strange cold thrill; and yet it was not fear or terror that he felt: rather it was like the sudden bite of a keen air, or the slap of a cold rain that wakes an uneasy sleeper…."
5. They set out for Edoras.
(from the appendices)
...'...Come, Aragorn son of Arathorn!' he said. 'Do not regret your choice in the valley of the Emyn Muil, nor call it a vain pursuit. You chose amid doubts the path that seemed right: the choice was just, and it has been rewarded. For so we have met in time, who otherwise might have met too late. But the quest of your companions is over. Your next journey is marked by your given word. You must go to Edoras and seek out Théoden in his hall. For you are needed.'"
6. Faramir leaves Minas Tirith on an errand to Ithilien.
(from the appendices)
..."'It is close on ten leagues hence to the east-shore of Anduin,' said Mablung, 'and we seldom come so far afield. But we have a new errand on this journey: we come to ambush the Men of Harad. Curse them!…'"
..."...One of their regiments is due by our reckoning to pass by, some time ere noon—up on the road above, where it passes through the cloven way. The road may pass, but they shall not! Not while Faramir is Captain. He leads now in all perilous ventures. But his life is charmed, or fate spares him for some other end.'"
[league = 3 miles]
March 1, 1541
1. The passing of King Elessar at the age of 210.
(not FROM the appendices—but IN the appendices)
..."'Lady Undómiel,' said Aragorn, 'the hour is indeed hard, yet it was made even in that day when we met under the white birches in the garden of Elrond where none now walk. And on the hill of Cerin Amroth when we forsook both the Shadow and the Twilight this doom we accepted. Take counsel with yourself, beloved, and ask whether you would indeed have me wait until I wither and fall from my high seat unmanned and witless... ...I am the last of the Númenóreans and the latest King of the Elder Days; and to me has been given not only a span thrice that of Men of Middle-earth, but also the grace to go at my will, and give back the gift. Now, therefore, I will sleep.
...'I speak no comfort to you, for there is no comfort for such pain within the circles of the world. The uttermost choice is before you, to repent and go to the Havens and bear away into the West the memory of our days together that shall there be evergreen but never more than memory; or else to abide the Doom of Men.'
...'Nay, dear lord,' she said, 'that choice is long over. There is now no ship that would bear me hence, and I must indeed abide the Doom of Men... ...But I say to you, King of the Númenóreans, not till now have I understood the tale of your people and their fall. As wicked fools I scorned them, but I pity them at last. For if this is indeed, as the Eldar say, the gift of the One to Men, it is bitter to receive.'
...'So it seems," he said. 'But let us not be overthrown in the final test, who of old renounced the Shadow and the Ring. In sorrow we must go, but not in despair.... ...We are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory. Farewell!'
...'Estel, Estel!' she cried, and with that even as he took her hand and kissed it, he fell into sleep. Then a great beauty was revealed in him, so that all who after came there looked on him in wonder; for they saw that the grace of his youth, and the valour of his manhood, and the wisdom and majesty of his age were blended together. And long there he lay, an image of the splendour of the Kings of Men in glory undimmed before the breaking of the world."
Arwen Undomiel passed away as a mortal woman one year after the death of Elessar at the age of 2,901
We have been there and back again.
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Mar 1, 1:30pm
Post #20 of 37
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depiction of Arwen at the death of Aragorn that I have ever seen: one of the visualizations that PJ & Co. staged absolutely perfectly!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Mar 2, 2:06pm
Post #22 of 37
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Today in Middle-earth.
March 2, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Frodo comes to the end of the Marshes.
(from the appendices)
..."At last they came to the end of the black mere... ...at length they reached firmer ground again. Gollum hissed and whispered to himself, but it appeared that he was pleased: in some mysterious way, by some blended sense of feel, and smell, and uncanny memory for shapes in the dark, he seemed to know just where he was again, and to be sure of his road ahead.
...'Now on we go!' he said. 'Nice hobbits! Brave hobbits! Very very weary, of course; so we are, my precious, all of us. But we must take master away from the wicked lights, yes, yes, we must.' With these words he started off again, almost at a trot, down what appeared to be a long lane between high reeds, and they stumbled after him..."
2. Gandalf comes to Edoras and heals Théoden.
(from the appendices)
..."'I greet you,' [Théoden] said, 'and maybe you look for welcome. But truth to tell your welcome is doubtful here, Master Gandalf. You have ever been a herald of woe. Troubles follow you like crows, and ever the oftener the worse. I will not deceive you: when I heard that Shadowfax had come back riderless, I rejoiced at the return of the horse, but still more at the lack of the rider; and when Éomer brought the tiding that you had gone at last to your long home, I did not mourn. But... ...Here you come again! And with you come evils worse than before... ...Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow? Tell me that....'
...'...You speak justly, lord,' said the pale man sitting upon the steps of the dais. 'Why indeed should we welcome you, Master Stormcrow? Láthspell I name you, Ill-news; and ill news is an ill guest they say.' He laughed grimly...
...'...You are held wise, my friend Wormtongue, and are doubtless a great support to your master,' answered Gandalf in a soft voice. 'Yet in two ways may a man come with evil tidings. He may be a worker of evil; or he may be such as leaves well alone, and comes only to bring aid in time of need....'
...'...The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden son of Thengel,' said Gandalf.
...'...Seldom has any lord of Rohan received three such guests. Weapons they have laid at your doors that are worth many a mortal man, even the mightiest. Grey is their raiment, for the Elves clad them, and thus they have passed through the shadow of great perils to your hall....' ...then suddenly he changed. Casting his tattered cloak aside, he stood up and leaned no longer on his staff; and he spoke in a clear cold voice.
...'The wise speak only of what they know, Gríma son of Gálmód. A witless worm you have become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.'
...He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night... ...Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.
...In the gloom they heard the hiss of Wormtongue's voice: 'Did I not counsel you, lord, to forbid his staff...?' ...There was a flash as if lightning had cloven the roof....
...'Now Théoden son of Thengel, will you hearken to me?' said Gandalf.... '...Not all is dark. Take courage, Lord of the Mark; for better help you will not find.... ...I bid you come out before your doors and look abroad. Too long have you sat in shadows and trusted to twisted tales and crooked promptings....'"
..."'...Now, lord,' said Gandalf, 'look out upon your land. Breathe the free air again!'
...From the porch upon the top of the high terrace they could see beyond the stream the green fields of Rohan fading into distant grey….
...'It is not so dark here,' said Théoden.
...'No,' said Gandalf. 'Nor does age lie so heavily on your shoulders as some would have you think. Cast aside your prop.'
...From the king's hand the black staff fell clattering on the stones. He drew himself up, slowly, as a man that is stiff from long bending over some dull toil....
...'...Dark have been my dreams of late,' he said, 'but I feel as one new-awakened. I would now that you had come before, Gandalf. For I fear that already you have come too late... ...What is to be done?'
...'Much,' said Gandalf. 'But first send for Éomer. Do I not guess rightly that you hold him prisoner, by the counsel of Gríma, of him that all save you name the Wormtongue?'"
3. The Rohirrim ride west against Saruman.
(from the appendices)
..."'Nay, lord,' said Aragorn. 'There is no rest yet for the weary. The men of Rohan must ride forth today, and we will ride with them, axe, sword, and bow. We did not bring them to rest against your wall, Lord of the Mark. And I promised Éomer that my sword and his should be drawn together….'"
...[Théoden to Gandalf:] "'Once again you have come in time. I would give you a gift ere we go, at your own choosing. You have only to name aught that is mine. I reserve now only my sword!'
...'Whether I came in time or not is yet to be seen... ...But as for your gift, lord, I will chose one that will fit my need: swift and sure. Give me Shadowfax! He was only lent before, if loan we may call it. But now I shall ride him into great hazard, setting silver against black: I would not risk anything that is not my own. And already there is a bond of love between us.'"
4. Second Battle of Fords of Isen. Erkenbrand defeated.
(from the appendices)
...[A lone rider, Ceorl, slowly rode back toward Theoden's vanguard on the western plain] "In the last red glow… …came, a weary man with dinted helm and cloven shield. Slowly he climbed from his horse and stood there a while gasping. At length he spoke. "Is Eomer here…? …Things have gone evilly since Théodred fell. We were driven back... ...over the Isen with great loss; many perished at the crossing. Then at night fresh forces came over the river against our camp. All Isengard must be emptied; and Saruman has armed the wild hillmen... ...We were overmastered. The shieldwall was broken. Erkenbrand of Westfold has drawn off those men he could gather towards his fastness in Helm's Deep. The rest are scattered.'"
5. Entmoot ends in afternoon. The Ents march on Isengard and reach it at night.
(from the appendices)
..."Bregalad was standing up erect and tense, looking back northwards towards Derndingle.
...Then with a crash came a great ringing shout: ra-hoom-rah! The trees quivered and bent as if a gust had struck them... ...then a matching music began like solemn drums, and above the rolling beats and booms there welled voices singing high and strong.
......We come, we come with roll of drum: ta-runda runda runda rom!
...The Ents were coming….'
...Bregalad, his eyes shining, swung into the line beside Treebeard. The old Ent now took the hobbits back, and set them on his shoulders again, and so they rode proudly at the head of the singing company... ...they had expected something to happen eventually, they were amazed at the change that had come over the Ents. It seemed now as sudden as the bursting of a flood that had long been held back by a dike.
...'The Ents made up their minds rather quickly, after all, didn't they?' Pippin ventured to say after some time, when for a moment the singing paused, and only the beating of hands and feet was heard.
...'Quickly?' said Treebeard. 'Hoom! Yes... ...Indeed I have not seen them roused like this for many an age. We Ents do not like being roused; and we never are roused unless it is clear to us that our trees and our lives are in great danger."
.
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Mar 3, 2:24am
Post #23 of 37
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Here's a Book Spoiler expanding "#4. Second Battle of Fords of Isen & Erkenbrand defeated" that shows how Gandalf felt a need to ride away from Théoden's vanguard... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From Helms's Deep: The Two Towers
..."At dawn the horns sounded, and within an hour they took the road again…
......Gandalf dropped back to where Legolas rode beside Éomer. 'You have the keen eyes of your fair kindred, Legolas… …Tell me, can you see anything away yonder towards Isengard?'
... 'Many miles lie between' said Legolas, gazing thither and shading his eyes with his long hand. 'I can see a darkness. There are shapes moving in it, great shapes far away upon the bank of the river… …what they are I cannot tell. It is not mist or cloud that defeats my eyes: there is a veiling shadow that some power lays upon the land, and it marches slowly down stream. It is as if the twilight under endless trees were flowing downwards from the hills.'
... 'And behind us comes a very storm of Mordor,' said Gandalf. 'It will be a black night.'
... As the second day of their riding drew on... ...the dark clouds began to overtake them… …In the last red glow men in the vanguard saw a black speck, a horseman riding back towards them....
... He came, a weary man with dinted helm and cloven shield… …At length he spoke.... '…We were overmastered.... ...Erkenbrand of Westfold has drawn off those men he could gather towards his fastness in Helm's Deep. The rest are scattered....'
... 'Where is Éomer? Tell him there is no hope ahead. He should return to Edoras before the wolves of Isengard come there.'
... Théoden had sat silent, hidden from the man's sight… …now he urged his horse forward. 'Come... ...Ceorl!' he said. 'I am here. The last host of the Eorlingas has ridden forth. It will not return without battle.'
... The man's face lighten with joy and wonder. He drew himself up. Then he knelt, offering his notched sword to the king. 'Command me, lord!' he cried. 'And pardon me! I thought---'
... 'You thought I remained in Meduseld bent like an old tree under winter snow. So it was when you rode to war. But a west wind had shaken the boughs... ...Give this man a fresh horse! Let us ride to the help of Erkenbrand!'
... While Théoden was speaking, Gandalf rode a short way ahead, and he sat there alone, gazing north to Isengard and west to the setting sun. Now he came back.
... 'Ride, Théoden... ...Ride to Helm's Deep! Go not to the Fords of Isen, and do not tarry in the plain! I must leave you a while. Shadowfax must bear me now on a swift errand.' Turning to Aragorn and Éomer... ...he cried: 'Keep well the Lord of the Mark, till I return. Await me at Helm's Gate! Farewell!'
... He spoke a word to Shadowfax, and like an arrow from the bow the great horse sprang away. Even as they looked he was gone: a flash of silver in the sunset...."
..."...The host turned away now from the road to the Fords of Isen and bent their course southward….
... ...There in the Hornburg at Helm's Gate Erkenbrand, master of Westfold on the borders of the Mark, now dwelt. As the days darkened with threat of war, being wise, he had repaired the wall and made the fastness strong.
... The Riders were still in the low valley before the mouth of the Coomb, when cries and hornblasts were heard from their scouts that went in front... ...Swiftly a scout rode back and reported that wolf-riders were abroad in the valley, and that a host of Orcs and wild men were hurrying southward from the Fords of Isen and seemed to be making for Helm's Deep.
... 'We have found many of our folk lying slain as they fled thither... ...And we have met scattered companies, going this way and that, leaderless. What has become of Erkenbrand none seem to know. It is likely that he will be overtaken ere he can reach Helm's Gate, if he has not already perished.'
... 'Has aught been seen of Gandalf?' asked Théoden.
... 'Yes, lord. Many have seen an old man in white upon a horse, passing hither and thither over the plains like wind in the grass... ...It is said that he went away ere nightfall towards Isengard....'
... [Théoden said] '...we have no better choice than to go on, as Gandalf said, to Helm's Gate, whether Erkenbrand be there or no....'"
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Mar 3, 2:18pm
Post #24 of 37
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Today in Middle-earth
March 3, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Théoden retreats to Helm's Deep.
(from the appendices)
..."The rumour of war grew behind them. Now they could hear... ...the sound of harsh singing. They had climbed far up into the Deeping Coomb when they looked back. Then they saw torches, countless points of fiery light upon the black fields behind... ...Here and there a larger blaze leapt up.
...'It is a great host and follows us hard,' said Aragorn.
...'They bring fire,' said Théoden, 'and they are burning as they come, rick, cot, and tree. This was a rich vale and had many homesteads. Alas for my folk...!'
...[Aragorn] '...It grieves me to fly before them.'
...'We need not fly much further,' said Éomer. 'Not far ahead now lies Helm's Dike, an ancient trench and rampart scored across the Coomb, two furlongs below Helm's Gate. There we can turn and give battle.'"
[furlong = .125 miles or 220 yards]
2. Battle of the Hornburg begins.
(from the appendices)
..."Arrows thick as the rain came whistling over the battlements, and fell clinking and glancing on the stones. Some found a mark. The assault on Helm's Deep had begun, but no sound or challenge was heard within; no answering arrows came.
...The assailing hosts halted, foiled by the silent menace of rock and wall.... ...the Orcs screamed, waving spear and sword, and shooting a cloud of arrows at any that stood revealed upon the battlements; and the men of the Mark amazed looked out….
......Then at last an answer came: a storm of arrows met them, and a hail of stones... ...[Orcs] wavered, broke, and fled back; and then charged again, broke and charged again; and each time, like the incoming sea….
......Éomer and Aragorn stood together on the Deeping Wall. They heard the roar of voices and the thudding of the rams; and then in a sudden flash of light they beheld the peril of the gates.
...'Come!' said Aragorn. 'This is the hour when we draw swords together!'
...Running like fire, they sped along the wall, and up the steps, and passed into the outer court upon the Rock….
...'Two!' said Gimli, patting his axe. He had returned to his place on the wall.
...'Two?' said Legolas. 'I have done better, though now I must grope for spent arrows; all mine are gone. Yet I make my tale twenty at the least. But that is only a few leaves in a forest.'"
3. Ents complete the destruction of Isengard.
(from the appendices)
...[Pippin recounts] "'At dusk Treebeard came back to the gate. He was humming and booming to himself, and seemed pleased. He stood and stretched his great arms and legs and breathed deep. I asked him if he was tired.
...'"Tired..? ...tired? Well no, not tired, but stiff. I need a good draught of Entwash. We have worked hard; we have done more stone-cracking and earth-gnawing today than we have done in many a long year before... ...When night falls do not linger near this gate or in the old tunnel! Water may come through—and it will be foul water for a while, until all the filth of Saruman is washed away. Then Isen can run clean again.' He began to pull down a bit more of the wall, in a leisurely sort of way, just to amuse himself….'"
..."...It must have been about midnight when the Ents broke the dams and poured all the gathered waters through a gap in the northern wall, down into Isengard....'
...'...We took refuge in that guardroom over there; and we had rather a fright. The lake began to overflow and pour out through the old tunnel, and the water was rapidly rising up the steps. We thought we were going to get caught like Orcs in a hole; but we found a winding stair at the back of the store-room that brought us out on top of the arch. It was a squeeze to get out, as the passages had been cracked and half blocked with fallen stone near the top. There we sat high up above the floods and watched the drowning of Isengard."
4. Frodo and Sam hide from the terror in the sky.
(not from the appendices)
..."The marshes were at an end, dying away into dead peats and wide flats of dry cracked mud… …While the grey light lasted, they cowered under a black stone like worms, shrinking, lest the winged terror should pass and spy them with its cruel eyes. The remainder of that journey was a shadow of growing fear in which memory could find nothing to rest upon."
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Mar 4, 2:33pm
Post #25 of 37
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Today in Middle-earth
March 4, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Aragorn faces the enemy as the new day dawns.
(not from the appendices)
..."At last Aragorn stood above the great gates, heedless of the darts of the enemy. As he looked forth he saw the eastern sky grow pale. Then he raised his empty hand, palm outward in token of parley.
...The Orcs yelled and jeered. 'Come down! Come down!' they cried. 'If you wish to speak to us, come down! Bring out your king! We are the fighting Uruk-hai.... ...Bring out your skulking king!'
...'The king stays or comes at his own will,' said Aragorn.
...'Then what are you doing here?' they answered. 'Why do you look out? Do you wish to see the greatness of our army? We are the fighting Uruk-hai.'
...'I looked out to see the dawn,' said Aragorn..
...'What of the dawn...? ...We are the Uruk-hai: we do not stop the fight for night or day, for fair weather or for storm. We come to kill, by sun or moon. What of the dawn?'
...'None knows what the new day shall bring him... ...Get you gone, ere it turn to your evil.'
...'Get down or we will shoot you from the wall... ...This is no parley. You have nothing to say.'
...'I have still this to say,' answered Aragorn. 'No enemy has yet taken the Hornburg. Depart, or not one of you will be spared. Not one will be left alive to take back tidings to the North. You do not know your peril.'
...So great a power and royalty was revealed in Aragorn, as he stood there alone above the ruined gates before the host of his enemies, that many of the wild men paused, and looked back over their shoulders to the valley, and some looked up doubtfully at the sky. But the Orcs laughed with loud voices; and a hail of darts and arrows whistled over the wall, as Aragorn leaped down.
...There was a roar and a blast of fire. The archway of the gate above which he had stood a moment before crumbled and crashed in smoke and dust. The barricade was scattered as if by a thunderbolt."
2. The charge of the Riders.
(not from the appendices)
..."...sudden and terrible, from the tower above, the sound of the great horn of Helm rang out.
...All that heard that sound trembled. Many of the Orcs cast themselves on their faces and covered their ears with their claws... ...from the Deep the echoes came, blast upon blast, as if on every cliff and hill a mighty herald stood. But on the walls men looked up, listening with wonder; for the echoes did not die. Ever the hornblasts wound on among the hills... ...they answered one to another, blowing fierce and free.
...'Helm! Helm!' the Riders shouted. 'Helm is arisen and comes back to war. Helm for Théoden King!'
...And with that shout the king came. His horse was white as snow, golden was his shield, and his spear was long. At his right hand was Aragorn, Elendil's heir, behind him rode the lords of the House of Eorl the Young. Light sprang in the sky....
...'Forth Eorlingas!' With a cry and a great noise they charged. Down from the gates they roared, over the causeway they swept, and they drove through the hosts of Isengard as a wind among grass. Behind them from the Deep... ...poured all the men that were left upon the Rock. And ever the sound of blowing horns echoed in the hills."
3. Gandalf returns.
(not from the appendices)
..."There suddenly upon a ridge appeared a rider, clad in white, shining in the rising sun. Over the low hills the horns were sounding. Behind him, hastening down the long slopes, were a thousand men on foot; their swords were in their hands. Amid them strode a man tall and strong. His shield was red. As he came to the valley's brink, he set to his lips a great black horn and blew a ringing blast.
...'Erkenbrand!' the Riders shouted. 'Erkenbrand!'
...'Behold the White Rider!' cried Aragorn. 'Gandalf is come again...!'
......The hosts of Isengard roared, swaying this way and that, turning from fear to fear. Again the horn sounded from the tower. Down through the breach of the Dike charged the king's company. Down from the hills leaped Erkenbrand, lord of Westfold. Down leaped Shadowfax, like a deer that runs surefooted in the mountains. The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness. The wild men fell on their faces before him... ...Orcs reeled and screamed and cast aside both sword and spear... ...Wailing they passed under the waiting shadow of the trees; and from that shadow none ever came again."
4. Théoden and Gandalf set out from Helm's Deep for Isengard.
(from the appendices)
..."You move me, Gimli,' said Legolas. 'I have never heard you speak like this before. Almost you make me regret that I have not seen these caves. Come! Let us make this bargain--if we both return safe out of the perils... ...we will journey for a while together. You shall visit Fangorn with me, and then I will come with you to see Helm's Deep.'
...'That would not be the way of return that I should choose,' said Gimli. 'But I will endure Fangorn, if I have your promise to come back to the caves and share their wonder with me.'
...'You have my promise,' said Legolas. 'But alas! Now we must leave behind both cave and wood for a while. See! We are coming to the end of the trees...."
..."…At last the company passed through the trees... ...where the road from Helm's Deep branched, going one way east to Edoras, and the other north to the Fords of Isen. As they rode from under the eaves of the wood, Legolas halted and looked back with regret. Then he gave a sudden cry.
...'There are eyes! Eyes looking out from the shadows of the boughs! I never saw such eyes before!'
...The others, surprised by his cry, halted and turned; but Legolas started to ride back.
...'No, no!' cried Gimli. 'Do as you please in your madness, but let me first get down from this horse! I wish to see no eyes!'"
5. Frodo reaches the slag-mounds on the edge of the Desolation of the Morannon.
(from the appendices)
..."They had come to the desolation that lay before Mordor: the lasting monument to the dark labour of its slaves that should endure when all their purposes were made void; a land defiled, diseased beyond all healing—unless the Great Sea should enter in and wash it with oblivion. 'I feel sick,' said Sam. Frodo did not speak…."
..."...Suddenly Sam woke up thinking that he heard his master calling. It was evening. Frodo could not have called, for he had fallen asleep, and had slid down nearly to the bottom of the pit. Gollum was by him. For a moment Sam thought that he was trying to rouse Frodo... ...it was not so. Gollum was talking to himself. Sméagol was holding a debate with some other thought that used the same voice but made it squeak and hiss. A pale light and a green light alternated in his eyes as he spoke.…"
..."...Sam had lain still, fascinated by this debate, but watching every move that Gollum made from under his half-closed eye-lids. To his simple mind ordinary hunger, the desire to eat hobbits, had seemed the chief danger in Gollum. He realized now that it was not so: Gollum was feeling the terrible call of the Ring. The Dark Lord was He, of course; but Sam wondered who She was…"
6. Merry and Pippin try to stay high and dry.
(not from the appendices)
..."'There was a noise in the night like a wind coming up the valley. I think the Ents and Huorns that had been away came back then; but where they have all gone to now, I don't know. It was... ...morning when we climbed down and looked around again, and nobody was about. And that is about all there is to tell. It seems almost peaceful now after all the turmoil. And safer too, somehow, since Gandalf came back. I could sleep!'"
We have been there and back again.
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Oh my giddy aunt!
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