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dernwyn
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Feb 25 2021, 5:10pm
Post #26 of 43
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Then it's time for him to go on an Adventure! 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 26 2021, 1:06pm
Post #28 of 43
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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. 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."
3. 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."
4. 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."
5. 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."
6. 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: /i] '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."
7. 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.'"
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 27 2021, 1:12pm
Post #29 of 43
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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-sod 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
Immortal
Feb 28 2021, 3:09pm
Post #30 of 43
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Today (and Tomorrow) in Middle-earth.
The Shire calendar has 30 days to each month. Because there's no 29th and 30th in OUR February, I'm going to post the events of February 29th with this February 28th post, and post the February 30th events with the March 1st post. Here goes!!!
February 28, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
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 dawn, 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."
Tomorrow 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... ...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...'
... ...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 is 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, 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!
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(This post was edited by grammaboodawg on Feb 28 2021, 3:11pm)
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grammaboodawg
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Mar 1 2021, 12:06pm
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TIME - February 30 and March 1
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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 post those events with this 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 they 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)
..."'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, 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. For a moment the grimy glass, through which he was peering. 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
(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."
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dernwyn
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Mar 1 2021, 1:24pm
Post #32 of 43
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"...in the garden of Elrond where none now walk..."
Like Lorien, Rivendell is now empty, a ghost of what it once was, the Hall of Fire is cold and quiet...they have all gone, all departed over Sea. What a sorrowful loss for Middle-earth. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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grammaboodawg
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Mar 2 2021, 11:51am
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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!' [Sméagol] 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)
..."...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."
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grammaboodawg
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Mar 3 2021, 1:13pm
Post #35 of 43
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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)
..."'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)
..."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."
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grammaboodawg
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Mar 4 2021, 11:50am
Post #36 of 43
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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!'"
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grammaboodawg
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Mar 5 2021, 12:00pm
Post #37 of 43
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Today in Middle-earth
March 5, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Théoden reaches Isengard at noon.
(from the appendices)
..."The king and all his company sat silent on their horses, marvelling, perceiving that the power of Saruman was overthrown; but how they could not guess. And now they turned their eyes towards the archway and the ruined gates. There they saw... ...a great rubble-heap; and suddenly they were aware of two small figures lying on it at their ease, grey-clad, hardly to be seen among the stones. There were bottles and bowls and platters laid beside them, as if they had just eaten well, and now rested from their labour. One seemed asleep, the other, with crossed legs and arms behind his head, leaned back against a broken rock and sent from his mouth long wisps and little rings of thin blue smoke.
...For a moment Théoden and Éomer and all his men stared at them in wonder. Amid all the wreck of Isengard this seemed to them the strangest sight. But before the king could speak, the small smoke-breathing figure became suddenly aware of them... ...He sprang to his feet. A young man he looked... ...though not much more than half a man in height... ...he was clad in a travel-stained cloak of the same hue and shape as the companions of Gandalf had worn when they rode to Edoras. He bowed very low, putting his hand upon his breast. Then, seeming not to observe the wizard and his friends, he turned to Éomer and the king.
...'Welcome, my lords, to Isengard... ...We are the door-wardens. Meriadoc, son of Saradoc is my name; and my companion, who, alas! is overcome with weariness'—here he gave the other a dig with his foot—'is Peregrin, son of Paladin, of the house of Took. Far in the North is our home. The Lord Saruman is within; but at the moment he is closeted with one Wormtongue, or, doubtless he would be here to welcome such honourable guests.'"
2. Parley with Saruman in Orthanc.
(from the appendices)
..."'Saruman, Saruman!' said Gandalf still laughing. 'Saruman, you missed your path in life. You should have been the king's jester and earned your bread, and stripes too, by mimicking his counsellors. Ah me!' he paused, getting the better of his mirth. 'Understand one another? I fear I am beyond your comprehension. But you, Saruman, I understand now too well...'"
..."'Saruman!' he cried... ...his voice grew in power and authority. 'Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey, whom you betrayed. I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death. You have no colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council.'
...He raised his hand, and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice. 'Saruman, your staff is broken.' There was a crack, and the staff split asunder in Saruman's hand... 'Go!' said Gandalf. With a cry Saruman fell back and crawled away."
3. Pippin steals the palantír.
(not in the appendices)
..."'You idiotic fool!' Pippin muttered to himself. 'You're going to get yourself into frightful trouble. Put it back quick!' But he found now that his knees quaked, and he did not dare to go near enough to the wizard to reach the bundle. 'I'll never get it back now without waking him... ...not till I'm a bit calmer. So I may as well have a look first….'
...At first the globe was dark, black as jet... ...moonlight gleaming on its surface... ...there came a faint glow and stir in the heart of it, and it held his eyes, so that now he could not look away. Soon all the inside seemed on fire; the ball was spinning, or the lights within were revolving. Suddenly the lights went out. He gave a gasp and struggled; but he remained bent, clasping the ball with both hands. Closer and closer he bent, and then became rigid; his lips moved soundlessly for a while... ...with a strangled cry he fell back and lay still.
...The cry was piercing. The guards lept down from the banks. All the camp was soon astir.
...'So this is the thief!' said Gandalf. Hastily he cast his cloak over the globe... '...But you, Pippin! This is a grievous turn to things!' He knelt by Pippin's body: the hobbit was lying on his back, rigid, with unseeing eyes staring up at the sky. 'The devilry! What mischief has he done--to himself, and to all of us?' The wizard's face was drawn and haggard…."
4. Winged Nazgûl passes over the camp at Dol Baran; Gandalf sets out with Peregrin for Minas Tirith.
(from the appendices)
..."At that moment a shadow fell over them. The bright moonlight seemed to be suddenly cut off. Several of the Riders cried out, and crouched, holding their arms above their heads, as if to ward off a blow from above: a blind fear and a deadly cold fell on them….
...…Gandalf was gazing up, his arms out and downwards, stiff, his hands clenched. 'Nazgûl!' he cried. 'The messenger of Mordor. The storm is coming. The Nazgûl have crossed the River! Ride, ride! Wait not for the dawn! Let not the swift wait for the slow! Ride!'
...He sprang away, calling Shadowfax as he ran. Aragorn followed him. Going to Pippin, Gandalf picked him up in his arms. 'You shall come with me this time... ...Shadowfax shall show you his paces.' Then he ran to the place where he had slept. Shadowfax stood there already. Slinging the small bag which was all his luggage across his shoulders, the wizard leapt upon the horse's back. Aragorn lifted Pippin and set him in Gandalf's arms, wrapped in cloak and blanket.
...'Farewell! Follow fast..! ...Away, Shadowfax!'
...The great horse tossed his head. His flowing tail flicked in the moonlight. Then he leapt forward, spurning the earth, and was gone like the north wind from the mountains...."
..."'...Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of you inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?'
...'The names of all the stars, and of all living things, and the whole history of Middle-earth and Over-heaven and of the Sundering Seas,' laughed Pippin. 'Of course! What less?'"
5. Frodo hides in sight of the Morannon, and leaves at dusk.
(from the appendices)
..."'More Men going to Mordor,' Gollum said in a low voice. 'Dark faces. We have not seen Men like these before, no, Sméagol has not. They are fierce. They have black eyes, and long black hair, and gold rings in their ears; yes, lots of beautiful gold… …Not nice; very cruel wicked Men they look. Almost as bad as Orcs, and much bigger. Sméagol thinks they have come out of the South beyond the Great River's end... ...They have passed on to the Black Gate; but more may follow. Always more people coming to Mordor. One day all the peoples will be inside.'
...'Were there any oliphaunts?' asked Sam, forgetting his fear in his eagerness for news of strange places.
...'No, no oliphaunts. What are oliphaunts?' said Gollum.
...Sam stood up, putting his hands behind his back (as he always did when 'speaking poetry'), and began: 'Grey as a mouse, Big as a house, Nose like a snake, I make the earth shake...'"
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grammaboodawg
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Mar 6 2021, 3:02pm
Post #38 of 43
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Today in Middle-earth
March 6, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Aragorn overtaken by the Dúnedain in the early hours.
(from the appendices)
..."When they were some fifty paces off, Éomer cried in a loud voice: 'Halt! Halt! Who rides in Rohan?'
...The pursuers brought their steeds to a sudden stand. A silence followed... ...in the moonlight, a horseman could be seen dismounting and walking slowly forward. His hand showed white as he held it up, palm outward, in token of peace; but the king's men gripped their weapons. At ten paces the man stopped. He was tall, a dark standing shadow. Then his clear voice rang out.
...'Rohan! Rohan did you say? This is a glad word. We seek that land in haste from long afar.'
...'You have found it,' said Éomer... '...But it is the realm of Théoden the King. None ride here save by his leave. Who are you? And what is your haste?'
...'Halbarad Dúnadan, Ranger of the North I am... ...We seek one Aragorn son of Arathorn, and we heard that he was in Rohan.'
...'And you have found him also!' cried Aragorn. Giving his reins to Merry, he ran forward and embraced the newcomer. 'Halbarad!' he said. 'Of all joys this is the least expected!'"
2. Merry at Helm's Deep.
(not from the appendices)
..."Merry slept until he was roused by Legolas and Gimli. 'The Sun is high,' said Legolas. 'All others are up and doing. Come, Master Sluggard, and look at this place while you may!'
...'There was a battle here three nights ago... ...and here Legolas and I played a game that I won only by a single orc. Come and see how it was! And there are caves, Merry, caves of wonder! Shall we visit them, Legolas, do you think?'
...'Nay! There is not time,' said the Elf. 'Do not spoil the wonder with haste! I have given you my word to return hither with you, if a day of peace and freedom comes again.'"
3. Merry's moved to honour the King.
(not from the appendices)
..."'I have a sword,' said Merry, climbing from his seat, and drawing from its black sheath his small bright blade. Filled suddenly with love for this old man, he knelt on one knee and took his hand and kissed it. 'May I lay the sword of Meriadoc of the Shire on your lap, Théoden King...? ...Receive my service, if you will!'
...'Gladly will I take it,' said the king; and laying his long old hands upon the brown hair of the hobbit, he blessed him. 'Rise now, Meriadoc, esquire of Rohan of the household of Meduseld...! ...Take your sword and bear it unto good fortune!'
...'As a father you shall be to me,' said Merry.
...'For a little while,' said Théoden."
4. Théoden sets out from the Hornburg for Harrowdale. Aragorn sets out later.
(from the appendices)
..."A little apart the Rangers sat, silent, in an ordered company, armed with spear and bow and sword. They were clad in cloaks of dark grey, and their hoods were cast now over helm and head. Their horses were strong and of proud bearing, but rough-haired; and one stood there without a rider, Aragorn's own horse that they had brought from the North; Roheryn was his name…."
..."The king mounted his horse, Snowmane, and Merry sat beside him on his pony: Stybba... ...Presently Éomer came out from the gate, and with him was Aragorn and Halbarad bearing the great staff close-furled in black, and two tall men, neither young nor old... ...the sons of Elrond, that few could tell them apart: dark-haired, grey-eyed, and their faces elven-fair, clad alike in bright mail beneath cloaks of silver-grey. Behind them walked Legolas and Gimli. But Merry had eyes only for Aragorn, so startling was the change that he saw in him, as if in one night many years had fallen on his head. Grim was his face, grey-hued and weary.
...'I am troubled in mind, lord,' he said, standing by the king's horse. 'I have heard strange words, and I see new perils far off. I have laboured long in thought, and now I fear that I must change my purpose….' …He looked up, and it seemed that he had made some decision; his face was less troubled.... '...by your leave, lord, I must take new counsel for myself and my kindred. We must ride our own road, and no longer in secret. For me the time of stealth has passed. I will ride east by the swiftest way, and I will take the Paths of the Dead.'
...'The Paths of the Dead!' said Théoden, and trembled. 'Why do you speak of them?' Éomer turned and gazed at Aragorn, and it seemed to Merry that the faces of the Riders that sat within hearing turned pale at the words. 'If there be in truth such paths,' said Théoden, 'their gate is in Dunharrow; but no living man may pass it.'
...'Alas! Aragorn my friend!' said Éomer. 'I had hoped that we should ride to war together; but if you seek the Paths of the Dead... ...it is little likely that we shall ever meet again under the Sun.'
...'That road, I will take, nonetheless,' said Aragorn. 'But I say to you, Éomer, that in battle we may yet meet again, though all the hosts of Mordor should stand between.'"
5. The Fellowship breaks again.
(not from the appendices)
... 'Farewell, lord!' said Aragorn. 'Ride unto great renown! Farewell, Merry! I leave you in good hands, better than we hoped when we hunted the orcs to Fangorn. Legolas and Gimli will still hunt with me... ...but we shall not forget you.'
... 'Good-bye!' said Merry. He could find no more to say. He felt very small... ...he was puzzled and depressed by all these gloomy words. More than ever he missed the unquenchable cheerfulness of Pippin... ...the Riders set forth. They rode over the Dike and down the Coomb... ...Aragorn rode to the Dike and watched till the king's men were far down the Coomb. Then he turned to Halbarad.
... 'There go three that I love, and the smallest not the least... ...He knows not to what end he rides; yet if he knew, he still would go on.'
... 'A little people, but of great worth are the Shirefolk,' said Halbarad. 'Little do they know of our long labour for the safekeeping of their borders... ...yet I grudge it not.'
... 'And now our fates are woven together,' said Aragorn. 'And yet, alas! here we must part. Well, I must eat a little, and then we also must hasten away. Come, Legolas and Gimli! I must speak with you as I eat.'"
6. Aragorn claims his own.
(not from the appendices)
... "[Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn] went back into the Burg; yet for some time Aragorn sat silent at the table in the hall... '...Come!' said Legolas at last. 'Speak and be comforted, and shake off the shadow! What has happened since we came back to this grim place...?'
... 'A struggle somewhat grimmer for my part than the Battle of the Hornburg... ...I have looked in the Stone of Orthanc, my friends.'
... 'You have looked in that accursed stone of wizardry!' exclaimed Gimli with fear and astonishment in his face. Did you say aught to--him?' Even Gandalf feared that encounter.'
... 'You forgot to whom you speak,' said Aragorn sternly, and his eyes glinted. 'Did I not openly proclaim my title before the doors of Edoras? What do you fear that I should say to him? Nay, Gimli,' he said in a softer voice... ...the grimness left his face, and he looked like one who has laboured in sleepless pain for many nights. 'Nay, my friends, I am the lawful master of the Stone... ...I had both the right and the strength to use it... ...The right cannot be doubted. The strength was enough--barely.'
... He drew a deep breath. 'It was a bitter struggle, and the weariness is slow to pass. I spoke no word to him, and in the end I wrenched the Stone to my own will. That alone he will find hard to endure.'"
7. Pippin rides with Gandalf and comes to Edoras.
(not from the appendices)
..."…in the dawn he had seen a pale gleam of gold, and they had come to the silent town and the great empty house on the hill. And hardly had they reached its shelter when the winged shadow had passed over once again, and men wilted with fear. But Gandalf had spoken soft words to him, and he had slept in a corner... ...dimly aware of comings and goings and of men talking and Gandalf giving orders. And then again riding, riding in the night."
8. Frodo, Sam and Gollum approach the northern border of Ithilien.
(not from the appendices)
..."Frodo slept at times, deeply and peacefully, either trusting Gollum or too tired to trouble about him; but Sam found it difficult to do more than doze, even when Gollum was plainly fast asleep, whiffling and twitching in his secret dreams. Hunger, perhaps, more than mistrust kept him wakeful; he had begun to long for a good homely meal, 'something hot out of the pot.'"
There's room for a little more...
Remember our TORnsib White Gull? Here's her great response to today's TIME on March 6, 2010 looking at guidance during the Quest.
... "Merry, who, I think was portrayed as the cleverest and most intuitive of the hobbits other than Frodo, has the gentlest guidance. Pippin, probably the most clueless, has the most strict. And Frodo, who, it would seem, is the wisest, but most in need, has the least guidance. Sam has Frodo and that is all he wants, which for him, is enough. Save, perhaps, for his gaffer's instilled wisdom, which comes in very handy when needed. But, overall, there is the whole, subtle scheme of divine guidance, that uses all and empowers all."
A gramma observation: Gandalf identifies/announces himself to Saruman as Gandalf the White the same way Saruman identified/announced himself to Gandalf as Saruman of Many Colours.
March 6, 2015
... There was a contest at the academic library where I (gramma) worked. The entrants could display one of the new books added to the collection either in character or as a display. I grabbed Gandalf's hat and chose The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Official Movie Guide by Brian Sibley. Gandalf won first place!
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(This post was edited by grammaboodawg on Mar 6 2021, 3:06pm)
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dernwyn
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Mar 6 2021, 3:30pm
Post #39 of 43
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LOL, gramma, I did a double-take with that book "display", it works perfectly!
White Gull's observation was spot on. Guidance was given as it was needed, or required, and fit the receiver perfectly. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Mar 7 2021, 3:46pm
Post #40 of 43
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Today in Middle-earth
March 7, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The hobbits pass into the fair land of Ithilien.
(not from the appendices)
..."The early daylight was only just creeping down into the shadows under the trees, but he saw his master's face very clearly, and his hands... ...lying at rest on the ground beside him. He was reminded suddenly of Frodo as he had lain, asleep in the house of Elrond, after his deadly wound... ...Sam had noticed that at times a light seemed to be shining faintly within; but now the light was even clearer and stronger. Frodo's face was peaceful, the marks of fear and care had left it; but it looked... ...old and beautiful, as if the chiselling of the shaping years was now revealed in many fine lines that had before been hidden, though the identity of the face was not changed. Not that Sam Gamgee put it that way to himself. He shook his head, as if finding words useless, and murmured: 'I love him. He's like that, and sometimes it shines through, somehow. But I love him, whether or no....'
...'...Sméagol always helps,' he said. 'He has brought rabbits, nice rabbits. But master has gone to sleep, and perhaps Sam wants to sleep. Doesn't want rabbits now? Sméagol tries to help, but he can't catch things all in a minute.'
...Sam, however, had no objection to rabbit at all, and said so....
......Gollum set the pans down, and then suddenly saw what Sam was doing. He gave a thin hissing shriek, and seemed to be both frightened and angry. 'Ach! Sss—no!' he cried. 'No! Silly hobbits, foolish, yes foolish! They mustn't do it!'
...'Mustn't do what?' asked Sam in surprise.
...'Not make the nassty red tongues... ...Fire, fire! It's dangerous, yes it is. It burns, it kills. And it will bring enemies, yes it will.'
...'I don't think so,' said Sam. 'Don't see why it should, if you don't put wet stuff on it and make a smother. But if it does, it does. I'm going to risk it... ...I'm going to stew these coneys.'
...'Stew the rabbits!' squealed Gollum in dismay. 'Spoil beautiful meat Sméagol saved for you, poor hungry Sméagol. What for! What for, silly hobbit? They are young , they are tender, they are nice. Eat them, eat them!' He clawed at the nearest rabbit, already skinned and lying by the fire.
...'Now, now!' said Sam. 'Each to his own fashion. Our bread chokes you, and raw coney chokes me. If you give me a coney, the coney's mine... ...to cook, if I have a mind. And I have. You needn't watch me. Go and catch another and eat it as you fancy---somewhere private and out o' my sight. Then you won't see the fire, and I shan't see you, and we'll both be the happier.'"
2. One of Sam's dreams comes true!
(not from the appendices)
..."To his astonishment and terror, and lasting delight, Sam saw a vast shape crash out of the trees and come careering down the slope. Big as a house, much bigger than a house, it looked to him... ...Fear and wonder maybe, enlarged him in the hobbit's eyes, but the Mûmak of Harad was indeed a beast of vast bulk, and the like of him does not walk now in Middle-earth... ...On he came, straight towards the watchers, and then swerved aside in the nick of time, passing only a few yards away, rocking the ground beneath their feet: his great legs like trees, enormous sail-like ears spread out, long snout upraised like a huge serpent about to strike, his small red eyes raging. His upturned hornlike tusks were bound with bands of gold and dripped with blood....
......On the great beast thundered, blundering in blind wrath through pool and thicket. Arrows skipped and snapped harmlessly about the triple hide of his flanks. Men of both sides fled before him, but many he overtook and crushed to the ground. Soon he was lost to view, still trumpeting and stamping far away....
......Sam drew a deep breath. 'An Oliphaunt it was!' he said. 'So there are Oliphaunts, and I have seen one. What a life! But no one at home will ever believe me.'"
3. Frodo taken by Faramir to Henneth Annûn.
(from the appendices)
..."'Are the riddling words known to you that Boromir brought to Rivendell?' Frodo replied. 'Seek for the Sword that was Broken, in Imladris it Dwells.'
...'The words are known indeed,' said Faramir in astonishment. 'It is some token of your truth that you also know them.'
...'Aragorn whom I have named is the bearer of the Sword that was Broken,' said Frodo. 'And we are the Halflings that the rhyme spoke of….'"
..."Frodo had felt himself trembling as the first shock of fear passed. Now a great weariness came down on him like a cloud. He could dissemble and resist no longer.
...'I was going to find a way into Mordor,' he said faintly. 'I was going to Gorgoroth. I must find the Mountain of Fire and cast the thing into the gulf of Doom. Gandalf said so. I do not think I shall ever get there.'
...Faramir stared at him... ...in grave astonishment. Then suddenly he caught him as he swayed, and lifting him gently, carried him to the bed and laid him there, and covered him warmly. At once he fell into a deep sleep.
...Another bed was set beside him for his servant. Sam hesitated for a moment, then bowing very low: 'Good night, Captain, my lord... ...You took the chance, sir.'
...'Did I so?' said Faramir.
...'Yes sir, and showed your quality: the very highest.'
...Faramir smiled. 'A pert servant, master Samwise. But nay: the praise of the praiseworthy is above all rewards. Yet there was naught in this to praise. I had no lure or desire to do other than I have done.'
...'Ah well, sir... ...you said my master had an elvish air; and that was good and true. But I can say this: you have an air too, sir, that reminds me of, of--well, Gandalf, of wizards.'
...'Maybe,' said Faramir. 'Maybe you discern from far away the air of Númenor. Good night!'"
4. The Forbidden Pool
(not from the appendices)
..."Faramir and Frodo looked down... ...Presently Frodo was aware of a small dark thing on the near bank, but even as he looked at it, it dived and vanished just beyond the boil and bubble of the fall, cleaving the black water as neatly as an arrow or an edgewise stone.
...Faramir turned to the man at his side. 'Now what would you say that it is, Anborn? A squirrel, or a kingfisher? Are there black kingfishers in the night-pools of Mirkwood?'
...'Tis not a bird, whatever else it be,' answered Anborn... ...What is it at? Seeking a way up behind the Curtain to our hidings? It seems we are discovered at last. I have my bow here, and I have posted other archers... ...We wait only for your command to shoot, Captain.'
...'Shall we shoot?' said Faramir, turning quickly to Frodo.
...Frodo did not answer for a moment. Then 'No!' he said. 'No! I beg you not to.' If Sam had dared, he would have said 'Yes," quicker and louder. He could not see, but he guessed well enough from their words what they were looking at.
...'You know, then, what this thing is?' said Faramir... '...tell me why it should be spared. In all our words together you have not once spoken of your gangrel companion, and I let him be for the time.... ...But now he has done worse trespass... ...he has dared to come to Henneth Annûn, and his life is forfeit.... ...Does he think that men sleep without watch all night? Why does he so?'
...'There are two answers, I think,' said Frodo. 'For one thing, he knows little of Men, and sly though he is, your refuge is so hidden that perhaps he does not know that Men are concealed here. For another, I think he is allured here by a mastering desire, stronger than his caution.'
...'He is lured here, you say?' said Faramir in a low voice. 'Can he, does he then know of your burden?'
...'Indeed yes. He bore it himself for many years.'
...'He bore it?' said Faramir, breathing sharply in his wonder.... '...What then does the creature seek?'
...'Fish,' said Frodo. 'Look!'
...They peered down at the dark pool. A little black head appeared at the far end of the basin, just out of the deep shadow of the rocks. There was a brief silver glint... ...then with marvellous agility a froglike figure climbed out of the water and up the bank. At once it sat down and began to gnaw at the small silver thing that glittered as it turned..."
5. Aragorn comes to Dunharrow at nightfall.
(from the appendices)
..."The Lady Éowyn greeted them and was glad of their coming; for no mightier men had she seen than the Dúnedain and the fair sons of Elrond; but on Aragorn most of all her eyes rested…."
..."...She smiled on him and said: '...it was kindly done, lord, to ride so many miles out of your way to bring tidings to Éowyn, and to speak with her in her exile.'
...'Indeed no man would count such a journey wasted... ...and yet, Lady, I could not have come hither, if it were not that the road which I must take leads me to Dunharrow.'
...And she answered as one that likes not what is said: 'Then, lord, you are astray; for out of Harrowdale no road runs east or south; and you had best return as you came.'
...'Nay, lady... ...I am not astray; for I walked in this land ere you were born to grace it. There is a road out of this valley, and that road I shall take. Tomorrow I shall ride by the Paths of the Dead.'"
6. Shadowfax carries Pippin and Gandalf to the next realm.
(not from the appendices)
..."'…On Shadowfax! We must hasten. Time is short. See! The beacons of Gondor are alight, calling for aid. War is kindled….'"
...'...Sleep again, and do not be afraid!' said Gandalf. 'For you are not going like Frodo to Mordor, but to Minas Tirith, and there you will be as safe as you can be anywhere in these days. If Gondor falls, or the Ring is taken, then the Shire will be no refuge.'
...'You do not comfort me,' said Pippin, but... ...sleep crept over him. The last thing that he remembered before he fell into deep dream was a glimpse of high white peaks, glimmering like floating isles above the clouds as they caught the light of the westering moon. He wondered where Frodo was, and if he was already in Mordor, or if he was dead; and he did not know that Frodo from far away looked on that same moon as it set beyond Gondor ere the coming of the day."
[Do you think Gandalf kept slipping Pippin into sleep by some spell to keep him quiet? I mean, he'd been through quite an ordeal, fersher… but nearly two full days of sleep while Merry was up and about! Seems sort of fissssssshy to me…..]
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grammaboodawg
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Mar 8 2021, 1:21pm
Post #41 of 43
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Today in Middle-earth
March 8, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Aragorn takes the 'Paths of the Dead' at daybreak.
(from the appendices)
..."...Arod, the horse of Rohan, refused the way, and he stood sweating and trembling in a fear that was grievous to see... ...Legolas laid his hands on his eyes and sang some words that went soft in the gloom, until he suffered himself to be led, and Legolas passed in. And there stood Gimli the Dwarf left all alone. His knees shook, and he was wroth with himself. 'Here is a thing unheard of...! ...An Elf will go underground and a Dwarf dare not!' With that he plunged in. But it seemed to him that he dragged his feet like lead over the threshold; and at once a blindness came upon him, even upon Gimli Glóin's son who had walked unafraid in many deep places of the world.
...Aragorn had brought torches from Dunharrow... ...he went ahead bearing one aloft; and Elladan with another went at the rear, and Gimli, stumbling behind, strove to overtake him. He could see nothing but the dim flame of the torches... ...if the company halted, there seemed an endless whisper of voices all about him, a murmur of words in no tongue that he had ever heard before.
...Nothing assailed the company nor withstood their passage, and yet steadily fear grew on the Dwarf as he went on... ...he knew now that there could be no turning back; all the paths behind were thronged by an unseen host that followed in the dark.
...So time unreckoned passed...
......turning back and speaking to the whispering darkness behind ...[Aragorn] cried... 'Keep your hoards and your secrets hidden in the Accursed Years! Speed only we ask. Let us pass, and then come! I summon you to the Stone of Erech!'
...There was no answer, unless it were an utter silence more dreadful than the whispers before; and then a chill blast came in which the torches flickered and went out, and could not be rekindled. Of the time that followed, one hour or many, Gimli remembered little... ...he was ever hindmost, pursued by a groping horror that seemed always just about to seize him; and a rumour came after him like the shadow-sound of many feet. He stumbled on until he was crawling like a beast on the ground and felt that he could endure no more: he must either find an ending and escape or run back in madness to meet the following fear...
...'The Dead are following,' said Legolas. 'I see shapes of Men and of horses, and pale banners like shreds of cloud, and spears like winter-thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.'"
2. Aragorn reaches Erech at midnight.
(from the appendices)
..."To that Stone the Company came and halted in the dead of night. Then Elrohir gave to Aragorn a silver horn, and he blew upon it; and it seemed to those that stood near that they heard a sound of answering horns... ...No other sound they heard, and yet they were aware of a great host gathered all about the hill on which they stood; and a chill wind like the breath of ghosts came down from the mountains. But Aragorn dismounted, and standing by the Stone he cried in a great voice:
...'Oathbreakers, why have ye come?'
...And a voice was heard out of the night that answered him, as if from far away:
...'To fulfil our oath and have peace.'"
3. Frodo leaves Henneth Annûn.
(from the appendices)
..."The hobbits' packs were brought to them (a little heavier than they had been), and also two stout staves of polished wood, shod with iron, and with carven heads through which ran plaited leathern thongs.
...'I have no fitting gifts to give you at our parting,' said Faramir; 'but take these staves. They may be of service to those who walk or climb in the wild... ...though these have been cut down to your height and newly shod. They are made of the fair tree lebethron, beloved of the woodwrights of Gondor, and a virtue has been set upon them of finding and returning. May that virtue not wholly fall under the Shadow into which you go!'
...The hobbits bowed low. 'Most gracious host,' said Frodo, 'it was said to me by Elrond Halfelven that I should find friendship upon the way, secret and unlooked for. Certainly I looked for no such friendship as you have shown. To have found it turns evil to great good...'
......He embraced the hobbits then, after the manner of his people, stooping, and placing his hands upon their shoulders, and kissing their foreheads. 'Go with the good will of all good men!' he said.
...They bowed to the ground. Then he turned and without looking back he left them and went to his two guards that stood at a little distance away. They marvelled to see with what speed these greenclad men now moved, vanishing almost in the twinkling of an eye. The forest where Faramir had stood seemed empty and drear, as if a dream had passed."
4. Merry and the Rohirrim make their way to Dunharrow.
(not from the appendices)
..."He loved mountains, or he had loved the thought of them marching on the edge of stories brought from far away; but now he was borne down by the insupportable weight of Middle-earth. He longed to shut out the immensity in a quiet room by a fire.
...He was very tired... ...they had ridden with very little rest. Hour after hour for nearly three weary days... ...Sometimes where the way was broader he had ridden at the king's side, not noticing that many of the Riders smiled to see the two together: the hobbit on his little shaggy grey pony, and the Lord of Rohan on his great white horse. Then he had talked to Théoden, telling him about his home and the doings of the Shire-folk, or listening in turn to tales of the Mark and its mighty men of old. But most of the time... ...Merry had ridden by himself just behind the king, saying nothing, and trying to understand the slow sonorous speech of Rohan that he heard the men behind him using. It was a language in which there seemed to be many words that he knew, though spoken more richly and strongly than in the Shire, yet he could not piece the words together. At times some Rider would lift up his clear voice in stirring song, and Merry felt his heart leap, though he did not know what it was about."
5. Shadowfax flies across the fields of Gondor fast approaching Minas Tirith.
(not from the appendices)
... "Pippin had a strange feeling: he and Gandalf were still as stone, seated upon the statue of a running horse, while the world rolled away beneath his feet with a great noise of wind."
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grammaboodawg
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Mar 9 2021, 12:26pm
Post #42 of 43
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Today in Middle-earth
March 9, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Gandalf reaches Minas Tirith.
(from the appendices)
..."...and suddenly the sun climbed over the eastern shadow and sent forth a shaft that smote the face of the City. Then Pippin cried aloud, for the Tower of Ecthelion, standing high within the topmost wall, shone out against the sky, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver... ...white banners broke and fluttered from the battlements in the morning breeze, and high and far he heard a clear ringing as of silver trumpets.
...So Gandalf and Peregrin rode to the Great Gate of the Men of Gondor at the rising of the sun, and its iron doors rolled back before them.
...'Mithrandir! Mithrandir!' men cried. 'Now we know that the storm is indeed nigh!'
...'It is upon you... ...I have ridden on its wings. Let me pass! I must come to your Lord Denethor while his stewardship lasts. Whatever betide, you have come to the end of the Gondor that you have known. Let me pass!'
...The men fell back before the command of his voice and questioned him no further, though they gazed in wonder at the hobbit that sat before him and at the horse that bore him. For the people of the City used horses very little... ...And they said: 'Surely that is one of the great steeds of the King of Rohan? Maybe the Rohirrim will come soon to strengthen us.' But Shadowfax walked proudly up the long winding road."
2. Faramir leaves Henneth Annûn.
(from the appendices)
..."…I could not come more swiftly. Yestereve I lay at Cair Andros, the long isle in the River northward which we hold in defence; and horses are kept on the hither bank. As the dark drew on I knew that haste was needed, so I rode thence with three others that could also be horsed. The rest of my company I sent south to strengthen the garrison at the fords of Osgiliath.'"
3. Aragorn sets out from Erech and comes to Calembel.
(from the appendices)
..."But when the dawn came, cold and pale, Aragorn rose in haste, and he led the Company forth upon the journey of greatest haste and weariness that any among them had known, save he alone, and only his will held them to go on. No other mortal Men could have endured it, none but the Dúnedain of the North, and with them Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas of the Elves."
4. At dusk Frodo reaches the Morgul-road.
(from the appendices)
..."There it seemed to Frodo that he descried far off, floating as it were on a shadowy sea, the high dim tops and broken pinnacles of old towers forlorn and dark.
...He turned to Gollum. 'Do you know where we are?' he said.
...'Yes, Master. Dangerous places. This is the road from the Tower of the Moon, Master, down to the ruined city by the shores of the River. The ruined city, yes, very nasty place, full of enemies.... ...Hobbits have come a long way out of the path. Must go east now, away up there.' He waved his skinny arm towards the darkling mountains. 'And we can't use this road. Oh no! Cruel peoples come this way, down from the Tower.'"
5. Théoden comes to Dunharrow.
(from the appendices)
..."All the same he had been lonely, and never more so than now at the day's end. Merry wondered where in all this strange world Pippin had got to; and what would become of Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli. Then suddenly like a cold touch on his heart he thought of Frodo and Sam. 'I am forgetting them...! ...And yet they are more important than all the rest of us. And I came to help them; but now they must be hundreds of miles away if they are still alive.' He shivered...."
..."'...The Paths of the Dead,' Merry muttered to himself. 'The Paths of the Dead? What does all this mean? They have all left me now. They have all gone to some doom; Gandalf and Pippin to war in the East; and Sam and Frodo to Mordor; and Strider and Legolas and Gimli to the Paths of the Dead. But my turn will come soon enough, I suppose.'"
6. Darkness begins to flow out of Mordor.
(from the appendices)
..."There they lay for a while, too tired yet to eat; and peering out through the holes in the covert they watched for the slow growth of day.
...But no day came, only a dead brown twilight. In the East there was a dull red glare under the lowering cloud; it was not the red of dawn."
...[Faramir to Gandalf:] "'Cirith Ungol? Morgul Vale?' [Gandalf] said. 'The time, Faramir, the time? When did you part with them? When would they reach that accursed valley?
...'I parted with them in the morning two days ago,' said Faramir. 'It is fifteen leagues thence to the vale of the Morgulduin... ...then they would be still five leagues westward of the accursed Tower. At swiftest they could not come there before today... ...Indeed I see what you fear. But the darkness is not due to their venture. It began yestereve, and all Ithilien was under shadow last night. It is clear to me that the Enemy has long planned an assault on us, and its hour had already been determined before ever the travellers left my keeping.'"
[league = 3 miles]
March 9, 2000
The first picture of cast members in costume is published in Vanity Fair. The shot shows the four hobbits on set in Hobbiton.
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grammaboodawg
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Mar 10 2021, 12:45pm
Post #43 of 43
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Today in Middle-earth
March 10, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Dawnless Day.
(from the appendices)
...[Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli:] "The township and the fords of Ciril they found deserted, for many men had gone away to war, and all that were left fled to the hills at the rumour of the coming of the King of the Dead. But the next day there came no dawn, and the Grey Company passed on into the darkness of the Storm of Mordor and were lost to mortal sight; but the Dead followed them."
2. The muster of Rohan: the Rohirrim ride from Harrowdale.
(from the appendices)
..."'Wake up, wake up, Master Holbytla...!' ...Merry came out of deep dreams and sat up with a start. It still seemed very dark, he thought.
...'What is the matter?' he asked.
...'The king calls for you.'
...'But the Sun has not risen, yet,' said Merry.
...'No, and will not rise today, Master Holbytla. Nor ever again, one would think under this cloud. But time does not stand still, though the Sun be lost. Make haste...!'
......Merry looked outside. The world was darkling. The very air seemed brown, and all things about were black and grey and shadowless; there was a great stillness...."
..."...The King turned to Merry. 'I am going to war, Master Meriadoc... ...In a little while I shall take the road.. I release you from my service, but not from my friendship...'
...'...But, but, lord,' Merry stammered, 'I offered you my sword. I do not want to be parted from you like this, Théoden King. And as all my friends have gone to the battle, I should be ashamed to stay behind.'
...'But we ride on horses tall and swift... ...and great though your heart be you cannot ride on such beasts.'
...'Then tie me onto the back of one, or let me hang on a stirrup, or something,' said Merry. 'It is a long way to run; but run I shall, if I cannot ride, even if I were my feet off and arrive weeks too late.'
...Théoden smiled. 'Rather than that I would bear you with me on Snowmane... ...But at the least you shall ride with me to Edoras and look on Meduseld; for that way I shall go. So far Stybba can bear you: the great race will not begin till we reach the plains.'
......They passed down the long ranks of waiting men with stern and unmoved faces... ...one looked up glancing keenly at the hobbit. A young man, Merry thought as he returned the glance, less in height and girth than most. He caught the glint of clear grey eyes; and then he shivered, for it came suddenly to him that it was the face of one without hope who goes in search of death....
......Unnoticed a Rider came up and spoke softly in the hobbit's ear.
...'Where will wants not, a way opens, so we say, ' he whispered; 'and so I have found myself.' Merry looked up and saw that it was the young Rider whom he had noticed in the morning. 'You wish to go whither the Lord of the Mark goes: I see it in your face.'
...'I do,' said Merry.
...'Then you shall go with me,' said the Rider."
3. Faramir rescued by Gandalf outside the gates of the City.
(from the appendices)
...[Beregond:] "'Look! The men are thrown; they are running on foot. No, one is still up, but he rides back to the others. That will be the Captain: he can master both beasts and men. Ah! there one of the foul things is stooping on him. Help! help! Will no one go out to him? Faramir!'
...With that Beregond sprang away and ran off into the gloom. Ashamed of his terror, while Beregond of the Guard thought first of the captain whom he loved, Pippin got up and peered out... ...he caught a flash of white and silver coming from the North, like a small star down on the dusky fields. It moved with the speed of an arrow and grew as it came, converging swiftly with the flight of the four men towards the Gate. It seemed to Pippin that a pale light was spread about it and the heavy shadows gave way before it; and then as it drew near... ...he heard, like an echo in the walls, a great voice calling.
...'Gandalf!' he cried. 'Gandalf! He always turns up when things are darkest. Go on! Go on, White Rider! Gandalf, Gandalf!' he shouted wildly, like an onlooker at a great race urging on a runner who is far beyond encouragement.
...But now the dark swooping shadows were aware of the newcomer. One wheeled towards him... ...he raised his hand, and from it a shaft of white light stabbed upwards. The Nazgûl gave a long wailing cry and swerved away; and with that the four others wavered... ...in swift spirals they passed away eastward vanishing into the lowering cloud above; and down on the Pelennor it seemed for a while less dark."
4. Aragorn crosses Ringlo.
(from the appendices)
...[A brief reference by Legolas talking to Merry & Pippin:] "'In the Uplands of Lamedon they overtook our horses, and swept round us, and would have passed us by, if Aragorn had not forbidden them. At his command they fell back. "Even the shades of Men are obedient to his will... ...They may serve his needs yet!" One day of light we rode, and then came the day without dawn, and still we rode on, and Ciril and Ringlo we crossed...'"
5. An army from the Morannon takes Cair Andros and passes into Anórien.
(from the appendices)
...[A brief reference by Faramir to Denethor and Gandalf:] "'But the darkness is not due to their venture. It began yestereve, and all Ithilien was under shadow last night... ...As the dark drew on I knew that haste was needed, so I rode thence with three others that could also be horsed. The rest of my company I sent south to strengthen the garrison at the fords of Osgiliath.'"
6. Frodo passes the Cross-roads, and sees the Morgul-host set forth.
(from the appendices)
..."Standing there for a moment filled with dread Frodo became aware that a light was shining; he saw it glowing on Sam's face beside him... ...There, far away, beyond sad Gondor now overwhelmed in shade, the Sun was sinking, finding at last the hem of the great slow-rolling pall of cloud, and falling in an ominous fire towards the yet unsullied Sea. The brief glow fell upon a huge sitting figure, still and solemn as the great stone kings of Argonath... ...Suddenly, caught by the level beams, Frodo saw the old king's head: it was lying rolled away by the roadside. 'Look, Sam!' he cried, startled into speech. 'Look! The king has got a crown again...!' ...about the high stern forehead there was a coronal of silver and gold. A trailing plant with flowers like small white stars had bound itself across the brows as if in reverence for the fallen king... '...They cannot conquer forever!' said Frodo..."
..."A Rider, all black, save that on his hooded head he had a helm like a crown that flickered with a perilous light... ...Frodo's staring eyes followed him, unable to wink or to withdraw. Surely there was the Lord of the Nine Riders... ...the haggard king whose cold hand had smitten down the Ring-bearer with his deadly knife. The old wound throbbed with pain and a great chill spread towards Frodo's heart. Even as these thoughts pierced him with dread and held him bound as with a spell, the Rider halted suddenly... ...and behind him all the host stood still. There was a pause, a dead silence. Maybe it was the Ring that called to the Wraith-lord, and for a moment he was troubled, sensing some other power within his valley. This way and that turned the dark head helmed and crowned with fear, sweeping the shadows with its unseen eyes. Frodo waited, like a bird at the approach of a snake, unable to move....
..."...Frodo stirred. And suddenly his heart went out to Faramir. 'The storm has burst at last,' he thought. 'This great array of spears and swords is going to Osgiliath. Will Faramir get across in time...? ...And who can now hold the fords when the King of the Nine Riders comes? And other armies will come. I am too late. All is lost. I tarried on the way... ...Even if my errand is performed, no one will ever know. There will be no one I can tell. It will be in vain.' Overcome with weakness he wept. And still the host of Morgul crossed the bridge."
March 10, 2007
...Last day of Old Boards activity/accessibility (April 26, 1999 – March 10, 2007) *sigh* So many stories. So many pies, flames and mods of the up and down kind :)
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