𝙇𝙄𝘽𝙍𝘼𝙍𝙔

Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf’s cloak. He
wondered if he was awake or still sleeping, still in the swiftmoving dream in which he had been wrapped so long since
the great ride began. The dark world was rushing by and the
wind sang loudly in his ears. He could see nothing but the
wheeling stars, and away to his right vast shadows against
the sky where the mountains of the South marched past.
Sleepily he tried to reckon the times and stages of their
journey, but his memory was drowsy and uncertain.
There had been the first ride at terrible speed without a
halt, and then 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, tired but uneasy, dimly
aware of comings and goings and of men talking and Gandalf
giving orders. And then again riding, riding in the night. This
was the second, no, the third night since he had looked in the
Stone. And with that hideous memory he woke fully, and
shivered, and the noise of the wind became filled with menacing voices.
A light kindled in the sky, a blaze of yellow fire behind
dark barriers. Pippin cowered back, afraid for a moment,
wondering into what dreadful country Gandalf was bearing
him. He rubbed his eyes, and then he saw that it was the
moon rising above the eastern shadows, now almost at the
full. So the night was not yet old and for hours the dark
journey would go on. He stirred and spoke.
‘Where are we, Gandalf ?’ he asked.
978 the return of the king
‘In the realm of Gondor,’ the wizard answered. ‘The land
of Ano´rien is still passing by.’
There was a silence again for a while. Then, ‘What is that?’
cried Pippin suddenly, clutching at Gandalf’s cloak. ‘Look!
Fire, red fire! Are there dragons in this land? Look, there is
another!’
For answer Gandalf cried aloud to his horse. ‘On, Shadowfax! We must hasten. Time is short. See! The beacons
of Gondor are alight, calling for aid. War is kindled. See,
there is the fire on Amon Dıˆn, and flame on Eilenach; and
there they go speeding west: Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon,
Calenhad, and the Halifirien on the borders of Rohan.’
But Shadowfax paused in his stride, slowing to a walk, and
then he lifted up his head and neighed. And out of the darkness the answering neigh of other horses came; and presently
the thudding of hoofs was heard, and three riders swept up and
passed like flying ghosts in the moon and vanished into the
West. Then Shadowfax gathered himself together and sprang
away, and the night flowed over him like a roaring wind.
Pippin became drowsy again and paid little attention to
Gandalf telling him of the customs of Gondor, and how the
Lord of the City had beacons built on the tops of outlying
hills along both borders of the great range, and maintained
posts at these points where fresh horses were always in readiness to bear his errand-riders to Rohan in the North, or to
Belfalas in the South. ‘It is long since the beacons of the
North were lit,’ he said; ‘and in the ancient days of Gondor
they were not needed, for they had the Seven Stones.’ Pippin
stirred uneasily.
‘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 nonetheless
sleep crept over him. The last thing that he remembered
before he fell into deep dream was a glimpse of high white
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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.
Pippin woke to the sound of voices. Another day of hiding
and a night of journey had fleeted by. It was twilight: the cold
dawn was at hand again, and chill grey mists were about
them. Shadowfax stood steaming with sweat, but he held his
neck proudly and showed no sign of weariness. Many tall
men heavily cloaked stood beside him, and behind them in
the mist loomed a wall of stone. Partly ruinous it seemed, but
already before the night was passed the sound of hurried
labour could be heard: beat of hammers, clink of trowels, and
the creak of wheels. Torches and flares glowed dully here
and there in the fog. Gandalf was speaking to the men that
barred his way, and as he listened Pippin became aware that
he himself was being discussed.
‘Yea truly, we know you, Mithrandir,’ said the leader of
the men, ‘and you know the pass-words of the Seven Gates
and are free to go forward. But we do not know your companion. What is he? A dwarf out of the mountains in the
North? We wish for no strangers in the land at this time,
unless they be mighty men of arms in whose faith and help
we can trust.’
‘I will vouch for him before the seat of Denethor,’ said
Gandalf. ‘And as for valour, that cannot be computed by
stature. He has passed through more battles and perils than
you have, Ingold, though you be twice his height; and he
comes now from the storming of Isengard, of which we bear
tidings, and great weariness is on him, or I would wake him.
His name is Peregrin, a very valiant man.’
‘Man?’ said Ingold dubiously, and the others laughed.
‘Man!’ cried Pippin, now thoroughly roused. ‘Man! Indeed
not! I am a hobbit and no more valiant than I am a man, save
980 the return of the king
perhaps now and again by necessity. Do not let Gandalf
deceive you!’
‘Many a doer of great deeds might say no more,’ said
Ingold. ‘But what is a hobbit?’
‘A Halfling,’ answered Gandalf. ‘Nay, not the one that was
spoken of,’ he added seeing the wonder in the men’s faces.
‘Not he, yet one of his kindred.’
‘Yes, and one who journeyed with him,’ said Pippin. ‘And
Boromir of your City was with us, and he saved me in the
snows of the North, and at the last he was slain defending
me from many foes.’
‘Peace!’ said Gandalf. ‘The news of that grief should have
been told first to the father.’
‘It has been guessed already,’ said Ingold; ‘for there have
been strange portents here of late. But pass on now quickly!
For the Lord of Minas Tirith will be eager to see any that
bear the latest tidings of his son, be he man or——’
‘Hobbit,’ said Pippin. ‘Little service can I offer to your
lord, but what I can do, I would do, remembering Boromir
the brave.’
‘Fare you well!’ said Ingold; and the men made way for
Shadowfax, and he passed through a narrow gate in the
wall. ‘May you bring good counsel to Denethor in his need,
and to us all, Mithrandir!’ Ingold cried. ‘But you come with
tidings of grief and danger, as is your wont, they say.’
‘Because I come seldom but when my help is needed,’
answered Gandalf. ‘And as for counsel, to you I would say
that you are over-late in repairing the wall of the Pelennor.
Courage will now be your best defence against the storm
that is at hand – that and such hope as I bring. For not all
the tidings that I bring are evil. But leave your trowels and
sharpen your swords!’
‘The work will be finished ere evening,’ said Ingold. ‘This
is the last portion of the wall to be put in defence: the least
open to attack, for it looks towards our friends of Rohan. Do
you know aught of them? Will they answer the summons,
think you?’
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‘Yes, they will come. But they have fought many battles
at your back. This road and no road looks towards safety
any longer. Be vigilant! But for Gandalf Stormcrow you
would have seen a host of foes coming out of Ano´rien and
no Riders of Rohan. And you may yet. Fare you well, and
sleep not!’
Gandalf passed now into the wide land beyond the
Rammas Echor. So the men of Gondor called the out-wall
that they had built with great labour, after Ithilien fell under
the shadow of their Enemy. For ten leagues or more it ran
from the mountains’ feet and so back again, enclosing in its
fence the fields of the Pelennor: fair and fertile townlands on
the long slopes and terraces falling to the deep levels of the
Anduin. At its furthest point from the Great Gate of the City,
north-eastward, the wall was four leagues distant, and there
from a frowning bank it overlooked the long flats beside the
river, and men had made it high and strong; for at that point,
upon a walled causeway, the road came in from the fords
and bridges of Osgiliath and passed through a guarded gate
between embattled towers. At its nearest point the wall was
little more than one league from the City, and that was southeastward. There Anduin, going in a wide knee about the hills
of Emyn Arnen in South Ithilien, bent sharply west, and the
out-wall rose upon its very brink; and beneath it lay the quays
and landings of the Harlond for craft that came upstream
from the southern fiefs.
The townlands were rich, with wide tilth and many
orchards, and homesteads there were with oast and garner,
fold and byre, and many rills rippling through the green
from the highlands down to Anduin. Yet the herdsmen and
husbandmen that dwelt there were not many, and the most
part of the people of Gondor lived in the seven circles of
the City, or in the high vales of the mountain-borders, in
Lossarnach, or further south in fair Lebennin with its five
swift streams. There dwelt a hardy folk between the mountains and the sea. They were reckoned men of Gondor, yet
982 the return of the king
their blood was mingled, and there were short and swarthy
folk among them whose sires came more from the forgotten
men who housed in the shadow of the hills in the Dark Years
ere the coming of the kings. But beyond, in the great fief of
Belfalas, dwelt Prince Imrahil in his castle of Dol Amroth by
the sea, and he was of high blood, and his folk also, tall men
and proud with sea-grey eyes.
Now after Gandalf had ridden for some time the light of
day grew in the sky, and Pippin roused himself and looked
up. To his left lay a sea of mist, rising to a bleak shadow in
the East; but to his right great mountains reared their heads,
ranging from the West to a steep and sudden end, as if in the
making of the land the River had burst through a great
barrier, carving out a mighty valley to be a land of battle
and debate in times to come. And there where the White
Mountains of Ered Nimrais came to their end he saw, as
Gandalf had promised, the dark mass of Mount Mindolluin,
the deep purple shadows of its high glens, and its tall face
whitening in the rising day. And upon its out-thrust knee was
the Guarded City, with its seven walls of stone so strong and
old that it seemed to have been not builded but carven by
giants out of the bones of the earth.
Even as Pippin gazed in wonder the walls passed from
looming grey to white, blushing faintly in the dawn; 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, tall and fair and shapely, and its
pinnacle glittered as if it were wrought of crystals; and 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.
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‘Mithrandir! Mithrandir!’ men cried. ‘Now we know that
the storm is indeed nigh!’
‘It is upon you,’ said Gandalf. ‘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!’
Then 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
were seldom seen in their streets, save only those ridden by
the errand-riders of their lord. 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.
For the fashion of Minas Tirith was such that it was built
on seven levels, each delved into the hill, and about each was
set a wall, and in each wall was a gate. But the gates were not
set in a line: the Great Gate in the City Wall was at the east
point of the circuit, but the next faced half south, and the
third half north, and so to and fro upwards; so that the paved
way that climbed towards the Citadel turned first this way
and then that across the face of the hill. And each time that
it passed the line of the Great Gate it went through an arched
tunnel, piercing a vast pier of rock whose huge out-thrust
bulk divided in two all the circles of the City save the first.
For partly in the primeval shaping of the hill, partly by the
mighty craft and labour of old, there stood up from the rear
of the wide court behind the Gate a towering bastion of stone,
its edge sharp as a ship-keel facing east. Up it rose, even to
the level of the topmost circle, and there was crowned by a
battlement; so that those in the Citadel might, like mariners
in a mountainous ship, look from its peak sheer down upon
the Gate seven hundred feet below. The entrance to the
Citadel also looked eastward, but was delved in the heart of
the rock; thence a long lamp-lit slope ran up to the seventh
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gate. Thus men reached at last the High Court, and the Place
of the Fountain before the feet of the White Tower: tall and
shapely, fifty fathoms from its base to the pinnacle, where
the banner of the Stewards floated a thousand feet above the
plain.
A strong citadel it was indeed, and not to be taken by a
host of enemies, if there were any within that could hold
weapons; unless some foe could come behind and scale the
lower skirts of Mindolluin, and so come upon the narrow
shoulder that joined the Hill of Guard to the mountain mass.
But that shoulder, which rose to the height of the fifth wall,
was hedged with great ramparts right up to the precipice that
overhung its western end; and in that space stood the houses
and domed tombs of bygone kings and lords, for ever silent
between the mountain and the tower.
Pippin gazed in growing wonder at the great stone city,
vaster and more splendid than anything that he had dreamed
of; greater and stronger than Isengard, and far more beautiful.
Yet it was in truth falling year by year into decay; and already
it lacked half the men that could have dwelt at ease there. In
every street they passed some great house or court over whose
doors and arched gates were carved many fair letters of
strange and ancient shapes: names Pippin guessed of great
men and kindreds that had once dwelt there; and yet now
they were silent, and no footsteps rang on their wide pavements, nor voice was heard in their halls, nor any face looked
out from door or empty window.
At last they came out of shadow to the seventh gate, and
the warm sun that shone down beyond the river, as Frodo
walked in the glades of Ithilien, glowed here on the smooth
walls and rooted pillars, and the great arch with keystone
carven in the likeness of a crowned and kingly head. Gandalf
dismounted, for no horse was allowed in the Citadel, and
Shadowfax suffered himself to be led away at the soft word
of his master.
The Guards of the gate were robed in black, and their
minas tirith 985
helms were of strange shape, high-crowned, with long cheekguards close-fitting to the face, and above the cheek-guards
were set the white wings of sea-birds; but the helms gleamed
with a flame of silver, for they were indeed wrought of mithril,
heirlooms from the glory of old days. Upon the black surcoats
were embroidered in white a tree blossoming like snow beneath a silver crown and many-pointed stars. This was the
livery of the heirs of Elendil, and none wore it now in all
Gondor, save the Guards of the Citadel before the Court of
the Fountain where the White Tree once had grown.
Already it seemed that word of their coming had gone
before them; and at once they were admitted, silently, and
without question. Quickly Gandalf strode across the whitepaved court. A sweet fountain played there in the morning
sun, and a sward of bright green lay about it; but in the midst,
drooping over the pool, stood a dead tree, and the falling
drops dripped sadly from its barren and broken branches
back into the clear water.
Pippin glanced at it as he hurried after Gandalf. It looked
mournful, he thought, and he wondered why the dead tree
was left in this place where everything else was well tended.
Seven stars and seven stones and one white tree.
The words that Gandalf had murmured came back into
his mind. And then he found himself at the doors of the great
hall beneath the gleaming tower; and behind the wizard
he passed the tall silent door-wardens and entered the cool
echoing shadows of the house of stone.
They walked down a paved passage, long and empty, and
as they went Gandalf spoke softly to Pippin. ‘Be careful of
your words, Master Peregrin! This is no time for hobbit
pertness. The´oden is a kindly old man. Denethor is of another
sort, proud and subtle, a man of far greater lineage and
power, though he is not called a king. But he will speak most
to you, and question you much, since you can tell him of his
son Boromir. He loved him greatly: too much perhaps; and
the more so because they were unlike. But under cover of
986 the return of the king
this love he will think it easier to learn what he wishes from
you rather than from me. Do not tell him more than you
need, and leave quiet the matter of Frodo’s errand. I will deal
with that in due time. And say nothing about Aragorn either,
unless you must.’
‘Why not? What is wrong with Strider?’ Pippin whispered.
‘He meant to come here, didn’t he? And he’ll be arriving
soon himself, anyway.’
‘Maybe, maybe,’ said Gandalf. ‘Though if he comes,
it is likely to be in some way that no one expects, not
even Denethor. It will be better so. At least he should come
unheralded by us.’
Gandalf halted before a tall door of polished metal. ‘See,
Master Pippin, there is no time to instruct you now in the
history of Gondor; though it might have been better, if you
had learned something of it, when you were still birds-nesting
and playing truant in the woods of the Shire. Do as I bid! It
is scarcely wise when bringing the news of the death of his
heir to a mighty lord to speak over much of the coming of
one who will, if he comes, claim the kingship. Is that enough?’
‘Kingship?’ said Pippin amazed.
‘Yes,’ said Gandalf. ‘If you have walked all these days with
closed ears and mind asleep, wake up now!’ He knocked on
the door.
The door opened, but no one could be seen to open it.
Pippin looked into a great hall. It was lit by deep windows in
the wide aisles at either side, beyond the rows of tall pillars
that upheld the roof. Monoliths of black marble, they rose to
great capitals carved in many strange figures of beasts and
leaves; and far above in shadow the wide vaulting gleamed
with dull gold. The floor was of polished stone, whitegleaming, inset with flowing traceries of many colours. No
hangings nor storied webs, nor any things of woven stuff or
of wood, were to be seen in that long solemn hall; but between
the pillars there stood a silent company of tall images graven
in cold stone.
minas tirith 987
Suddenly Pippin was reminded of the hewn rocks of
Argonath, and awe fell on him, as he looked down that avenue
of kings long dead. At the far end upon a dais of many steps
was set a high throne under a canopy of marble shaped like
a crowned helm; behind it was carved upon the wall and set
with gems an image of a tree in flower. But the throne was
empty. At the foot of the dais, upon the lowest step which
was broad and deep, there was a stone chair, black and
unadorned, and on it sat an old man gazing at his lap. In his
hand was a white rod with a golden knob. He did not look
up. Solemnly they paced the long floor towards him, until
they stood three paces from his footstool. Then Gandalf
spoke.
‘Hail, Lord and Steward of Minas Tirith, Denethor son of
Ecthelion! I am come with counsel and tidings in this dark
hour.’
Then the old man looked up. Pippin saw his carven face
with its proud bones and skin like ivory, and the long curved
nose between the dark deep eyes; and he was reminded not
so much of Boromir as of Aragorn. ‘Dark indeed is the hour,’
said the old man, ‘and at such times you are wont to come,
Mithrandir. But though all the signs forebode that the doom
of Gondor is drawing nigh, less now to me is that darkness
than my own darkness. It has been told to me that you bring
with you one who saw my son die. Is this he?’
‘It is,’ said Gandalf. ‘One of the twain. The other is with
The´oden of Rohan and may come hereafter. Halflings they
are, as you see, yet this is not he of whom the omens spoke.’
‘Yet a Halfling still,’ said Denethor grimly, ‘and little love
do I bear the name, since those accursed words came to
trouble our counsels and drew away my son on the wild
errand to his death. My Boromir! Now we have need of you.
Faramir should have gone in his stead.’
‘He would have gone,’ said Gandalf. ‘Be not unjust in your
grief! Boromir claimed the errand and would not suffer any
other to have it. He was a masterful man, and one to take
what he desired. I journeyed far with him and learned much
988 the return of the king
of his mood. But you speak of his death. You have had news
of that ere we came?’
‘I have received this,’ said Denethor, and laying down his
rod he lifted from his lap the thing that he had been gazing
at. In each hand he held up one half of a great horn cloven
through the middle: a wild-ox horn bound with silver.
‘That is the horn that Boromir always wore!’ cried Pippin.
‘Verily,’ said Denethor. ‘And in my turn I bore it, and so
did each eldest son of our house, far back into the vanished
years before the failing of the kings, since Vorondil father of
Mardil hunted the wild kine of Araw in the far fields of Rhuˆn.
I heard it blowing dim upon the northern marches thirteen
days ago, and the River brought it to me, broken: it will wind
no more.’ He paused and there was a heavy silence. Suddenly
he turned his black glance upon Pippin. ‘What say you to
that, Halfling?’
‘Thirteen, thirteen days,’ faltered Pippin. ‘Yes, I think that
would be so. Yes, I stood beside him, as he blew the horn.
But no help came. Only more orcs.’
‘So,’ said Denethor, looking keenly at Pippin’s face. ‘You
were there? Tell me more! Why did no help come? And how
did you escape, and yet he did not, so mighty a man as he
was, and only orcs to withstand him?’
Pippin flushed and forgot his fear. ‘The mightiest man
may be slain by one arrow,’ he said; ‘and Boromir was pierced
by many. When last I saw him he sank beside a tree and
plucked a black-feathered shaft from his side. Then I
swooned and was made captive. I saw him no more, and
know no more. But I honour his memory, for he was very
valiant. He died to save us, my kinsman Meriadoc and
myself, waylaid in the woods by the soldiery of the Dark
Lord; and though he fell and failed, my gratitude is none
the less.’
Then Pippin looked the old man in the eye, for pride stirred
strangely within him, still stung by the scorn and suspicion
in that cold voice. ‘Little service, no doubt, will so great a
lord of Men think to find in a hobbit, a halfling from the
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northern Shire; yet such as it is, I will offer it, in payment of
my debt.’ Twitching aside his grey cloak, Pippin drew forth
his small sword and laid it at Denethor’s feet.
A pale smile, like a gleam of cold sun on a winter’s evening,
passed over the old man’s face; but he bent his head and held
out his hand, laying the shards of the horn aside. ‘Give me
the weapon!’ he said.
Pippin lifted it and presented the hilt to him. ‘Whence
came this?’ said Denethor. ‘Many, many years lie on it. Surely
this is a blade wrought by our own kindred in the North in
the deep past?’
‘It came out of the mounds that lie on the borders of my
country,’ said Pippin. ‘But only evil wights dwell there now,
and I will not willingly tell more of them.’
‘I see that strange tales are woven about you,’ said
Denethor, ‘and once again it is shown that looks may belie
the man – or the halfling. I accept your service. For you are
not daunted by words; and you have courteous speech,
strange though the sound of it may be to us in the South.
And we shall have need of all folk of courtesy, be they great
or small, in the days to come. Swear to me now!’
‘Take the hilt,’ said Gandalf, ‘and speak after the Lord, if
you are resolved on this.’
‘I am,’ said Pippin.
The old man laid the sword along his lap, and Pippin put
his hand to the hilt, and said slowly after Denethor:
‘Here do I swear fealty and service to Gondor, and to the
Lord and Steward of the realm, to speak and to be silent, to
do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in
peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth,
until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end.
So say I, Peregrin son of Paladin of the Shire of the Halflings.’
‘And this do I hear, Denethor son of Ecthelion, Lord of
Gondor, Steward of the High King, and I will not forget it,
nor fail to reward that which is given: fealty with love, valour
with honour, oath-breaking with vengeance.’ Then Pippin
received back his sword and put it in its sheath.
990 the return of the king
‘And now,’ said Denethor, ‘my first command to you:
speak and be not silent! Tell me your full tale, and see that
you recall all that you can of Boromir, my son. Sit now and
begin!’ As he spoke he struck a small silver gong that stood
near his footstool, and at once servants came forward. Pippin
saw then that they had been standing in alcoves on either
side of the door, unseen as he and Gandalf entered.
‘Bring wine and food and seats for the guests,’ said
Denethor, ‘and see that none trouble us for one hour.’
‘It is all that I have to spare, for there is much else to heed,’
he said to Gandalf. ‘Much of more import, it may seem, and
yet to me less pressing. But maybe we can speak again at the
end of the day.’
‘And earlier, it is to be hoped,’ said Gandalf. ‘For I have
not ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and fifty
leagues, with the speed of wind, only to bring you one small
warrior, however courteous. Is it naught to you that The´oden
has fought a great battle, and that Isengard is overthrown,
and that I have broken the staff of Saruman?’
‘It is much to me. But I know already sufficient of these
deeds for my own counsel against the menace of the East.’
He turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a
likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them,
almost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire, drawn from
eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame.
Denethor looked indeed much more like a great wizard
than Gandalf did, more kingly, beautiful, and powerful; and
older. Yet by a sense other than sight Pippin perceived that
Gandalf had the greater power and the deeper wisdom, and
a majesty that was veiled. And he was older, far older. ‘How
much older?’ he wondered, and then he thought how odd it
was that he had never thought about it before. Treebeard
had said something about wizards, but even then he had not
thought of Gandalf as one of them. What was Gandalf ? In
what far time and place did he come into the world, and
when would he leave it? And then his musings broke off, and
he saw that Denethor and Gandalf still looked each other in
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the eye, as if reading the other’s mind. But it was Denethor
who first withdrew his gaze.
‘Yea,’ he said; ‘for though the Stones be lost, they say, still
the lords of Gondor have keener sight than lesser men, and
many messages come to them. But sit now!’
Then men came bearing a chair and a low stool, and one
brought a salver with a silver flagon and cups, and white
cakes. Pippin sat down, but he could not take his eyes from
the old lord. Was it so, or had he only imagined it, that as he
spoke of the Stones a sudden gleam of his eye had glanced
upon Pippin’s face?
‘Now tell me your tale, my liege,’ said Denethor, half
kindly, half mockingly. ‘For the words of one whom my son
so befriended will be welcome indeed.’
Pippin never forgot that hour in the great hall under the
piercing eye of the Lord of Gondor, stabbed ever and anon
by his shrewd questions, and all the while conscious of
Gandalf at his side, watching and listening, and (so Pippin
felt) holding in check a rising wrath and impatience. When
the hour was over and Denethor again rang the gong, Pippin
felt worn out. ‘It cannot be more than nine o’clock,’ he
thought. ‘I could now eat three breakfasts on end.’
‘Lead the Lord Mithrandir to the housing prepared for
him,’ said Denethor, ‘and his companion may lodge with him
for the present, if he will. But be it known that I have now
sworn him to my service, and he shall be known as Peregrin
son of Paladin and taught the lesser pass-words. Send word
to the Captains that they shall wait on me here, as soon as
may be after the third hour has rung.
‘And you, my Lord Mithrandir, shall come too, as and
when you will. None shall hinder your coming to me at any
time, save only in my brief hours of sleep. Let your wrath at
an old man’s folly run off, and then return to my comfort!’
‘Folly?’ said Gandalf. ‘Nay, my lord, when you are a
dotard you will die. You can use even your grief as a cloak.
Do you think that I do not understand your purpose in
992 the return of the king
questioning for an hour one who knows the least, while I
sit by?’
‘If you understand it, then be content,’ returned Denethor.
‘Pride would be folly that disdained help and counsel at need;
but you deal out such gifts according to your own designs.
Yet the Lord of Gondor is not to be made the tool of other
men’s purposes, however worthy. And to him there is no
purpose higher in the world as it now stands than the good
of Gondor; and the rule of Gondor, my lord, is mine and no
other man’s, unless the king should come again.’
‘Unless the king should come again?’ said Gandalf. ‘Well,
my lord Steward, it is your task to keep some kingdom still
against that event, which few now look to see. In that task
you shall have all the aid that you are pleased to ask for. But
I will say this: the rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor
nor any other, great or small. But all worthy things that are
in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for
my part, I shall not wholly fail of my task, though Gondor
should perish, if anything passes through this night that can
still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come.
For I also am a steward. Did you not know?’ And with that
he turned and strode from the hall with Pippin running at
his side.
Gandalf did not look at Pippin or speak a word to him as
they went. Their guide brought them from the doors of the
hall, and then led them across the Court of the Fountain into
a lane between tall buildings of stone. After several turns they
came to a house close to the wall of the citadel upon the north
side, not far from the shoulder that linked the hill with the
mountain. Within, upon the first floor above the street, up a
wide carven stair, he showed them to a fair room, light and
airy, with goodly hangings of dull gold sheen unfigured. It
was sparely furnished, having but a small table, two chairs
and a bench; but at either side there were curtained alcoves
and well-clad beds within with vessels and basins for washing.
There were three high narrow windows that looked northward over the great curve of Anduin, still shrouded in mists,
minas tirith 993
towards the Emyn Muil and Rauros far away. Pippin had to
climb on the bench to look out over the deep stone sill.
‘Are you angry with me, Gandalf ?’ he said, as their guide
went out and closed the door. ‘I did the best I could.’
‘You did indeed!’ said Gandalf, laughing suddenly; and he
came and stood beside Pippin, putting his arm about the
hobbit’s shoulders, and gazing out of the window. Pippin
glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own,
for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in
the wizard’s face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow;
though as he looked more intently he perceived that under
all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a
kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.
‘Indeed you did your best,’ said the wizard; ‘and I hope
that it may be long before you find yourself in such a tight
corner again between two such terrible old men. Still the
Lord of Gondor learned more from you than you may have
guessed, Pippin. You could not hide the fact that Boromir
did not lead the Company from Moria, and that there was
one among you of high honour who was coming to Minas
Tirith; and that he had a famous sword. Men think much
about the stories of old days in Gondor; and Denethor has
given long thought to the rhyme and to the words Isildur’s
Bane, since Boromir went away.
‘He is not as other men of this time, Pippin, and whatever
be his descent from father to son, by some chance the blood
of Westernesse runs nearly true in him; as it does in his other
son, Faramir, and yet did not in Boromir whom he loved
best. He has long sight. He can perceive, if he bends his will
thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men, even
of those that dwell far off. It is difficult to deceive him, and
dangerous to try.
‘Remember that! For you are now sworn to his service. I
do not know what put it into your head, or your heart, to do
that. But it was well done. I did not hinder it, for generous
deed should not be checked by cold counsel. It touched his
heart, as well (may I say it) as pleasing his humour. And at
994 the return of the king
least you are free now to move about as you will in Minas
Tirith – when you are not on duty. For there is another side
to it. You are at his command; and he will not forget. Be
wary still!’
He fell silent and sighed. ‘Well, no need to brood on what
tomorrow may bring. For one thing, tomorrow will be certain
to bring worse than today, for many days to come. And there
is nothing more that I can do to help it. The board is set, and
the pieces are moving. One piece that I greatly desire to find
is Faramir, now the heir of Denethor. I do not think that he
is in the City; but I have had no time to gather news. I must
go, Pippin. I must go to this lords’ council and learn what I
can. But the Enemy has the move, and he is about to open
his full game. And pawns are likely to see as much of it as
any, Peregrin son of Paladin, soldier of Gondor. Sharpen
your blade!’
Gandalf went to the door, and there he turned. ‘I am in
haste, Pippin,’ he said. ‘Do me a favour when you go out.
Even before you rest, if you are not too weary. Go and find
Shadowfax and see how he is housed. These people are kindly
to beasts, for they are a good and wise folk, but they have
less skill with horses than some.’
With that Gandalf went out; and as he did so, there came
the note of a clear sweet bell ringing in a tower of the citadel.
Three strokes it rang, like silver in the air, and ceased: the
third hour from the rising of the sun.
After a minute Pippin went to the door and down the stair
and looked about the street. The sun was now shining warm
and bright, and the towers and tall houses cast long clear-cut
shadows westward. High in the blue air Mount Mindolluin
lifted its white helm and snowy cloak. Armed men went to
and fro in the ways of the City, as if going at the striking of
the hour to changes of post and duty.
‘Nine o’clock we’d call it in the Shire,’ said Pippin aloud
to himself. ‘Just the time for a nice breakfast by the open
window in spring sunshine. And how I should like breakfast!
minas tirith 995
Do these people ever have it, or is it over? And when do they
have dinner, and where?’
Presently he noticed a man, clad in black and white,
coming along the narrow street from the centre of the citadel
towards him. Pippin felt lonely and made up his mind to
speak as the man passed; but he had no need. The man came
straight up to him.
‘You are Peregrin the Halfling?’ he said. ‘I am told that
you have been sworn to the service of the Lord and of the
City. Welcome!’ He held out his hand and Pippin took it.
‘I am named Beregond son of Baranor. I have no duty
this morning, and I have been sent to you to teach you the
pass-words, and to tell you some of the many things that no
doubt you will wish to know. And for my part, I would learn
of you also. For never before have we seen a halfling in this
land and though we have heard rumour of them, little is said
of them in any tale that we know. Moreover you are a friend
of Mithrandir. Do you know him well?’
‘Well,’ said Pippin. ‘I have known of him all my short life,
as you might say; and lately I have travelled far with him. But
there is much to read in that book, and I cannot claim to
have seen more than a page or two. Yet perhaps I know him
as well as any but a few. Aragorn was the only one of our
Company, I think, who really knew him.’
‘Aragorn?’ said Beregond. ‘Who is he?’
‘Oh,’ stammered Pippin, ‘he was a man who went about
with us. I think he is in Rohan now.’
‘You have been in Rohan, I hear. There is much that I
would ask you of that land also; for we put much of what
little hope we have in its people. But I am forgetting my
errand, which was first to answer what you would ask. What
would you know, Master Peregrin?’
‘Er well,’ said Pippin, ‘if I may venture to say so, rather a
burning question in my mind at present is, well, what about
breakfast and all that? I mean, what are the meal-times, if
you understand me, and where is the dining-room, if there is
one? And the inns? I looked, but never a one could I see as
996 the return of the king
we rode up, though I had been borne up by the hope of a
draught of ale as soon as we came to the homes of wise and
courtly men.’
Beregond looked at him gravely. ‘An old campaigner,
I see,’ he said. ‘They say that men who go warring afield
look ever to the next hope of food and of drink; though I am
not a travelled man myself. Then you have not yet eaten
today?’
‘Well, yes, to speak in courtesy, yes,’ said Pippin. ‘But no
more than a cup of wine and a white cake or two by the
kindness of your lord; but he racked me for it with an hour
of questions, and that is hungry work.’
Beregond laughed. ‘At the table small men may do the
greater deeds, we say. But you have broken your fast as well
as any man in the Citadel, and with greater honour. This is
a fortress and a tower of guard and is now in posture of war.
We rise ere the Sun, and take a morsel in the grey light, and
go to our duties at the opening hour. But do not despair!’ He
laughed again, seeing the dismay in Pippin’s face. ‘Those
who have had heavy duty take somewhat to refresh their
strength in the mid-morning. Then there is the nuncheon, at
noon or after as duties allow; and men gather for the daymeal,
and such mirth as there still may be, about the hour of sunset.
‘Come! We will walk a little and then go find us some
refreshment, and eat and drink on the battlement, and survey
the fair morning.’
‘One moment!’ said Pippin blushing. ‘Greed, or hunger
by your courtesy, put it out of my mind. But Gandalf,
Mithrandir as you call him, asked me to see to his horse –
Shadowfax, a great steed of Rohan, and the apple of the
king’s eye, I am told, though he has given him to Mithrandir
for his services. I think his new master loves the beast better
than he loves many men, and if his good will is of any value
to this city, you will treat Shadowfax with all honour: with
greater kindness than you have treated this hobbit, if it is
possible.’
‘Hobbit?’ said Beregond.
minas tirith 997
‘That is what we call ourselves,’ said Pippin.
‘I am glad to learn it,’ said Beregond, ‘for now I may say
that strange accents do not mar fair speech, and hobbits are
a fair-spoken folk. But come! You shall make me acquainted
with this good horse. I love beasts, and we see them seldom
in this stony city; for my people came from the mountainvales, and before that from Ithilien. But fear not! The visit
shall be short, a mere call of courtesy, and we will go thence
to the butteries.’
Pippin found that Shadowfax had been well housed and
tended. For in the sixth circle, outside the walls of the citadel,
there were some fair stables where a few swift horses were
kept, hard by the lodgings of the errand-riders of the Lord:
messengers always ready to go at the urgent command of
Denethor or his chief captains. But now all the horses and
the riders were out and away.
Shadowfax whinnied as Pippin entered the stable and
turned his head. ‘Good morning!’ said Pippin. ‘Gandalf will
come as soon as he may. He is busy, but he sends greetings,
and I am to see that all is well with you; and you resting, I
hope, after your long labours.’
Shadowfax tossed his head and stamped. But he allowed
Beregond to handle his head gently and stroke his great
flanks.
‘He looks as if he were spoiling for a race, and not newly
come from a great journey,’ said Beregond. ‘How strong and
proud he is! Where is his harness? It should be rich and fair.’
‘None is rich and fair enough for him,’ said Pippin. ‘He
will have none. If he will consent to bear you, bear you he
does; and if not, well, no bit, bridle, whip, or thong will tame
him. Farewell, Shadowfax! Have patience. Battle is coming.’
Shadowfax lifted up his head and neighed, so that the
stable shook, and they covered their ears. Then they took
their leave, seeing that the manger was well filled.
‘And now for our manger,’ said Beregond, and he led
Pippin back to the citadel, and so to a door in the north side
998 the return of the king
of the great tower. There they went down a long cool stair
into a wide alley lit with lamps. There were hatches in the
walls at the side, and one of these was open.
‘This is the storehouse and buttery of my company of
the Guard,’ said Beregond. ‘Greetings, Targon!’ he called
through the hatch. ‘It is early yet, but here is a newcomer
that the Lord has taken into his service. He has ridden long
and far with a tight belt, and has had sore labour this morning,
and he is hungry. Give us what you have!’
They got there bread, and butter, and cheese and apples:
the last of the winter store, wrinkled but sound and sweet;
and a leather flagon of new-drawn ale, and wooden platters
and cups. They put all into a wicker basket and climbed back
into the sun; and Beregond brought Pippin to a place at the
east end of the great out-thrust battlement where there was
an embrasure in the walls with a stone seat beneath the sill.
From there they could look out on the morning over the
world.
They ate and drank; and they talked now of Gondor and
its ways and customs, now of the Shire and the strange countries that Pippin had seen. And ever as they talked Beregond
was more amazed, and looked with greater wonder at the
hobbit, swinging his short legs as he sat on the seat, or standing tiptoe upon it to peer over the sill at the lands below.
‘I will not hide from you, Master Peregrin,’ said Beregond,
‘that to us you look almost as one of our children, a lad of
nine summers or so; and yet you have endured perils and
seen marvels that few of our greybeards could boast of. I
thought it was the whim of our Lord to take him a noble
page, after the manner of the kings of old, they say. But I see
that it is not so, and you must pardon my foolishness.’
‘I do,’ said Pippin. ‘Though you are not far wrong. I am
still little more than a boy in the reckoning of my own people,
and it will be four years yet before I ‘‘come of age’’, as we
say in the Shire. But do not bother about me. Come and look
and tell me what I can see.’

---

minas tirith 999
The sun was now climbing, and the mists in the vale below
had been drawn up. The last of them were floating away, just
overhead, as wisps of white cloud borne on the stiffening
breeze from the East, that was now flapping and tugging the
flags and white standards of the citadel. Away down in the
valley-bottom, five leagues or so as the eye leaps, the Great
River could now be seen grey and glittering, coming out of
the north-west, and bending in a mighty sweep south and
west again, till it was lost to view in a haze and shimmer, far
beyond which lay the Sea fifty leagues away.
Pippin could see all the Pelennor laid out before him, dotted into the distance with farmsteads and little walls, barns
and byres, but nowhere could he see any kine or other beasts.
Many roads and tracks crossed the green fields, and there
was much coming and going: wains moving in lines towards
the Great Gate, and others passing out. Now and again a
horseman would ride up, and leap from the saddle and hasten
into the City. But most of the traffic went out along the chief
highway, and that turned south, and then bending swifter
than the River skirted the hills and passed soon from sight.
It was wide and well-paved, and along its eastern edge ran a
broad green riding-track, and beyond that a wall. On the ride
horsemen galloped to and fro, but all the street seemed to
be choked with great covered wains going south. But soon
Pippin saw that all was in fact well-ordered: the wains were
moving in three lines, one swifter drawn by horses; another
slower, great waggons with fair housings of many colours,
drawn by oxen; and along the west rim of the road many
smaller carts hauled by trudging men.
‘That is the road to the vales of Tumladen and Lossarnach,
and the mountain-villages, and then on to Lebennin,’ said
Beregond. ‘There go the last of the wains that bear away to
refuge the aged, the children, and the women that must go
with them. They must all be gone from the Gate and the
road clear for a league before noon: that was the order. It is
a sad necessity.’ He sighed. ‘Few, maybe, of those now sundered will meet again. And there were always too few children
1000 the return of the king
in this city; but now there are none – save some young lads
that will not depart, and may find some task to do: my own
son is one of them.’
They fell silent for a while. Pippin gazed anxiously eastward, as if at any moment he might see thousands of orcs
pouring over the fields. ‘What can I see there?’ he asked,
pointing down to the middle of the great curve of the Anduin.
‘Is that another city, or what is it?’
‘It was a city,’ said Beregond, ‘the chief city of Gondor, of
which this was only a fortress. For that is the ruin of Osgiliath
on either side of Anduin, which our enemies took and burned
long ago. Yet we won it back in the days of the youth of
Denethor: not to dwell in, but to hold as an outpost, and to
rebuild the bridge for the passage of our arms. And then
came the Fell Riders out of Minas Morgul.’
‘The Black Riders?’ said Pippin, opening his eyes, and they
were wide and dark with an old fear re-awakened.
‘Yes, they were black,’ said Beregond, ‘and I see that you
know something of them, though you have not spoken of
them in any of your tales.’
‘I know of them,’ said Pippin softly, ‘but I will not speak
of them now, so near, so near.’ He broke off and lifted his
eyes above the River, and it seemed to him that all he could
see was a vast and threatening shadow. Perhaps it was mountains looming on the verge of sight, their jagged edges softened by wellnigh twenty leagues of misty air; perhaps it was
but a cloud-wall, and beyond that again a yet deeper gloom.
But even as he looked it seemed to his eyes that the gloom
was growing and gathering, very slowly, slowly rising to
smother the regions of the sun.
‘So near to Mordor?’ said Beregond quietly. ‘Yes, there it
lies. We seldom name it; but we have dwelt ever in sight of
that shadow: sometimes it seems fainter and more distant;
sometimes nearer and darker. It is growing and darkening
now; and therefore our fear and disquiet grow too. And the
Fell Riders, less than a year ago they won back the crossings,
and many of our best men were slain. Boromir it was that
minas tirith 1001
drove the enemy at last back from this western shore, and we
hold still the near half of Osgiliath. For a little while. But we
await now a new onslaught there. Maybe the chief onslaught
of the war that comes.’
‘When?’ said Pippin. ‘Have you a guess? For I saw the
beacons two nights ago and the errand-riders; and Gandalf
said that it was a sign that war had begun. He seemed in a
desperate hurry. But now everything seems to have slowed
up again.’
‘Only because everything is now ready,’ said Beregond. ‘It
is but the deep breath before the plunge.’
‘But why were the beacons lit two nights ago?’
‘It is over-late to send for aid when you are already
besieged,’ answered Beregond. ‘But I do not know the counsel of the Lord and his captains. They have many ways of
gathering news. And the Lord Denethor is unlike other men:
he sees far. Some say that as he sits alone in his high chamber
in the Tower at night, and bends his thought this way and
that, he can read somewhat of the future; and that he will at
times search even the mind of the Enemy, wrestling with
him. And so it is that he is old, worn before his time. But
however that may be, my lord Faramir is abroad, beyond the
River on some perilous errand, and he may have sent tidings.
‘But if you would know what I think set the beacons ablaze,
it was the news that came that eve out of Lebennin. There is
a great fleet drawing near to the mouths of Anduin, manned
by the corsairs of Umbar in the South. They have long ceased
to fear the might of Gondor, and they have allied them with
the Enemy, and now make a heavy stroke in his cause. For
this attack will draw off much of the help that we looked to
have from Lebennin and Belfalas, where folk are hardy and
numerous. All the more do our thoughts go north to Rohan;
and the more glad are we for these tidings of victory that you
bring.
‘And yet’ – he paused and stood up, and looked round,
north, east, and south – ‘the doings at Isengard should warn
us that we are caught now in a great net and strategy. This
1002 the return of the king
is no longer a bickering at the fords, raiding from Ithilien and
from Ano´rien, ambushing and pillaging. This is a great war
long-planned, and we are but one piece in it, whatever pride
may say. Things move in the far East beyond the Inland Sea,
it is reported; and north in Mirkwood and beyond; and south
in Harad. And now all realms shall be put to the test, to stand,
or fall – under the Shadow.
‘Yet, Master Peregrin, we have this honour: ever we bear
the brunt of the chief hatred of the Dark Lord, for that hatred
comes down out of the depths of time and over the deeps of
the Sea. Here will the hammer-stroke fall hardest. And for
that reason Mithrandir came hither in such haste. For if we
fall, who shall stand? And, Master Peregrin, do you see any
hope that we shall stand?’
Pippin did not answer. He looked at the great walls, and
the towers and brave banners, and the sun in the high sky,
and then at the gathering gloom in the East; and he thought
of the long fingers of that Shadow: of the orcs in the woods
and the mountains, the treason of Isengard, the birds of evil
eye, and the Black Riders even in the lanes of the Shire – and
of the winged terror, the Nazguˆl. He shuddered, and hope
seemed to wither. And even at that moment the sun for a
second faltered and was obscured, as though a dark wing
had passed across it. Almost beyond hearing he thought
he caught, high and far up in the heavens, a cry: faint, but
heart-quelling, cruel and cold. He blanched and cowered
against the wall.
‘What was that?’ asked Beregond. ‘You also felt something?’
‘Yes,’ muttered Pippin. ‘It is the sign of our fall, and the
shadow of doom, a Fell Rider of the air.’
‘Yes, the shadow of doom,’ said Beregond. ‘I fear that
Minas Tirith shall fall. Night comes. The very warmth of my
blood seems stolen away.’
For a time they sat together with bowed heads and did not
speak. Then suddenly Pippin looked up and saw that the sun
minas tirith 1003
was still shining and the banners still streaming in the breeze.
He shook himself. ‘It is passed,’ he said. ‘No, my heart will
not yet despair. Gandalf fell and has returned and is with us.
We may stand, if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon
our knees.’
‘Rightly said!’ cried Beregond, rising and striding to and
fro. ‘Nay, though all things must come utterly to an end in
time, Gondor shall not perish yet. Not though the walls be
taken by a reckless foe that will build a hill of carrion before
them. There are still other fastnesses, and secret ways of
escape into the mountains. Hope and memory shall live still
in some hidden valley where the grass is green.’
‘All the same, I wish it was over for good or ill,’ said Pippin.
‘I am no warrior at all and dislike any thought of battle; but
waiting on the edge of one that I can’t escape is worst of all.
What a long day it seems already! I should be happier, if we
were not obliged to stand and watch, making no move, striking nowhere first. No stroke would have been struck in
Rohan, I think, but for Gandalf.’
‘Ah, there you lay your finger on the sore that many feel!’
said Beregond. ‘But things may change when Faramir returns. He is bold, more bold than many deem; for in these
days men are slow to believe that a captain can be wise and
learned in the scrolls of lore and song, as he is, and yet a man
of hardihood and swift judgement in the field. But such is
Faramir. Less reckless and eager than Boromir, but not less
resolute. Yet what indeed can he do? We cannot assault the
mountains of – of yonder realm. Our reach is shortened, and
we cannot strike till some foe comes within it. Then our hand
must be heavy!’ He smote the hilt of his sword.
Pippin looked at him: tall and proud and noble, as all the
men that he had yet seen in that land; and with a glitter
in his eye as he thought of the battle. ‘Alas! my own hand
feels as light as a feather,’ he thought, but he said nothing.
‘A pawn did Gandalf say? Perhaps; but on the wrong
chessboard.’

---

1004 the return of the king
So they talked until the sun reached its height, and suddenly the noon-bells were rung, and there was a stir in the
citadel; for all save the watchmen were going to their meal.
‘Will you come with me?’ said Beregond. ‘You may join
my mess for this day. I do not know to what company you
will be assigned; or the Lord may hold you at his own command. But you will be welcome. And it will be well to meet
as many men as you may, while there is yet time.’
‘I shall be glad to come,’ said Pippin. ‘I am lonely, to tell
you the truth. I left my best friend behind in Rohan, and I
have had no one to talk to or jest with. Perhaps I could really
join your company? Are you the captain? If so, you could
take me on, or speak for me?’
‘Nay, nay,’ Beregond laughed, ‘I am no captain. Neither
office nor rank nor lordship have I, being but a plain man of
arms of the Third Company of the Citadel. Yet, Master
Peregrin, to be only a man of arms of the Guard of the Tower
of Gondor is held worthy in the City, and such men have
honour in the land.’
‘Then it is far beyond me,’ said Pippin. ‘Take me back to
our room, and if Gandalf is not there, I will go where you
like – as your guest.’
Gandalf was not in the lodging and had sent no message;
so Pippin went with Beregond and was made known to the
men of the Third Company. And it seemed that Beregond
got as much honour from it as his guest, for Pippin was very
welcome. There had already been much talk in the citadel
about Mithrandir’s companion and his long closeting with
the Lord; and rumour declared that a Prince of the Halflings
had come out of the North to offer allegiance to Gondor and
five thousand swords. And some said that when the Riders
came from Rohan each would bring behind him a halfling
warrior, small maybe, but doughty.
Though Pippin had regretfully to destroy this hopeful tale,
he could not be rid of his new rank, only fitting, men thought,
to one befriended by Boromir and honoured by the Lord
minas tirith 1005
Denethor; and they thanked him for coming among them,
and hung on his words and stories of the outlands, and gave
him as much food and ale as he could wish. Indeed his only
trouble was to be ‘wary’ according to the counsel of Gandalf,
and not to let his tongue wag freely after the manner of a
hobbit among friends.
At length Beregond rose. ‘Farewell for this time!’ he said.
‘I have duty now till sundown, as have all the others here, I
think. But if you are lonely, as you say, maybe you would
like a merry guide about the City. My son would go with you
gladly. A good lad, I may say. If that pleases you, go down
to the lowest circle and ask for the Old Guesthouse in the
Rath Celerdain, the Lampwrights’ Street. You will find him
there with other lads that are remaining in the City. There
may be things worth seeing down at the Great Gate ere the
closing.’
He went out, and soon after all the others followed. The
day was still fine, though it was growing hazy, and it was hot
for March, even so far southwards. Pippin felt sleepy, but
the lodging seemed cheerless, and he decided to go down
and explore the City. He took a few morsels that he had saved
to Shadowfax, and they were graciously accepted, though the
horse seemed to have no lack. Then he walked on down
many winding ways.
People stared much as he passed. To his face men were
gravely courteous, saluting him after the manner of Gondor
with bowed head and hands upon the breast; but behind him
he heard many calls, as those out of doors cried to others
within to come and see the Prince of the Halflings, the companion of Mithrandir. Many used some other tongue than
the Common Speech, but it was not long before he learned
at least what was meant by Ernil i Pheriannath and knew that
his title had gone down before him into the City.
He came at last by arched streets and many fair alleys and
pavements to the lowest and widest circle, and there he was
directed to the Lampwrights’ Street, a broad way running
1006 the return of the king
towards the Great Gate. In it he found the Old Guesthouse,
a large building of grey weathered stone with two wings running back from the street, and between them a narrow greensward, behind which was the many-windowed house, fronted
along its whole width by a pillared porch and a flight of steps
down on to the grass. Boys were playing among the pillars,
the only children that Pippin had seen in Minas Tirith, and
he stopped to look at them. Presently one of them caught
sight of him, and with a shout he sprang across the grass and
came into the street, followed by several others. There he
stood in front of Pippin, looking him up and down.
‘Greetings!’ said the lad. ‘Where do you come from? You
are a stranger in the City.’
‘I was,’ said Pippin; ‘but they say I have become a man of
Gondor.’
‘Oh come!’ said the lad. ‘Then we are all men here. But
how old are you, and what is your name? I am ten years
already, and shall soon be five feet. I am taller than you. But
then my father is a Guard, one of the tallest. What is your
father?’
‘Which question shall I answer first?’ said Pippin. ‘My
father farms the lands round Whitwell near Tuckborough in
the Shire. I am nearly twenty-nine, so I pass you there; though
I am but four feet, and not likely to grow any more, save
sideways.’
‘Twenty-nine!’ said the lad and whistled. ‘Why, you are
quite old! As old as my uncle Iorlas. Still,’ he added hopefully,
‘I wager I could stand you on your head or lay you on your
back.’
‘Maybe you could, if I let you,’ said Pippin with a laugh.
‘And maybe I could do the same to you: we know some
wrestling tricks in my little country. Where, let me tell you, I
am considered uncommonly large and strong; and I have
never allowed anyone to stand me on my head. So if it came
to a trial and nothing else would serve, I might have to kill
you. For when you are older, you will learn that folk are not
always what they seem; and though you may have taken me
minas tirith 1007
for a soft stranger-lad and easy prey, let me warn you: I am
not, I am a halfling, hard, bold, and wicked!’ Pippin pulled
such a grim face that the boy stepped back a pace, but at
once he returned with clenched fists and the light of battle in
his eye.
‘No!’ Pippin laughed. ‘Don’t believe what strangers say of
themselves either! I am not a fighter. But it would be politer
in any case for the challenger to say who he is.’
The boy drew himself up proudly. ‘I am Bergil son of
Beregond of the Guards,’ he said.
‘So I thought,’ said Pippin, ‘for you look like your father.
I know him and he sent me to find you.’
‘Then why did you not say so at once?’ said Bergil, and
suddenly a look of dismay came over his face. ‘Do not tell
me that he has changed his mind, and will send me away
with the maidens! But no, the last wains have gone.’
‘His message is less bad than that, if not good,’ said Pippin.
‘He says that if you would prefer it to standing me on my
head, you might show me round the City for a while and
cheer my loneliness. I can tell you some tales of far countries
in return.’
Bergil clapped his hands, and laughed with relief. ‘All is
well,’ he cried. ‘Come then! We were soon going to the Gate
to look on. We will go now.’
‘What is happening there?’
‘The Captains of the Outlands are expected up the South
Road ere sundown. Come with us and you will see.’
Bergil proved a good comrade, the best company Pippin
had had since he parted from Merry, and soon they were
laughing and talking gaily as they went about the streets,
heedless of the many glances that men gave them. Before
long they found themselves in a throng going towards the
Great Gate. There Pippin went up much in the esteem of
Bergil, for when he spoke his name and the pass-word the
guard saluted him and let him pass through; and what was
more, he allowed him to take his companion with him.
1008 the return of the king
‘That is good!’ said Bergil. ‘We boys are no longer allowed
to pass the Gate without an elder. Now we shall see better.’
Beyond the Gate there was a crowd of men along the verge
of the road and of the great paved space into which all the
ways to Minas Tirith ran. All eyes were turned southwards,
and soon a murmur rose: ‘There is dust away there! They
are coming!’
Pippin and Bergil edged their way forward to the front of
the crowd, and waited. Horns sounded at some distance, and
the noise of cheering rolled towards them like a gathering
wind. Then there was a loud trumpet-blast, and all about
them people were shouting.
‘Forlong! Forlong!’ Pippin heard men calling. ‘What do
they say?’ he asked.
‘Forlong has come,’ Bergil answered; ‘old Forlong the Fat,
the Lord of Lossarnach. That is where my grandsire lives.
Hurrah! Here he is. Good old Forlong!’
Leading the line there came walking a big thick-limbed
horse, and on it sat a man of wide shoulders and huge girth,
but old and grey-bearded, yet mail-clad and black-helmed
and bearing a long heavy spear. Behind him marched proudly
a dusty line of men, well-armed and bearing great battle-axes;
grim-faced they were, and shorter and somewhat swarthier
than any men that Pippin had yet seen in Gondor.
‘Forlong!’ men shouted. ‘True heart, true friend! Forlong!’
But when the men of Lossarnach had passed they muttered:
‘So few! Two hundreds, what are they? We hoped for ten
times the number. That will be the new tidings of the black
fleet. They are sparing only a tithe of their strength. Still
every little is a gain.’
And so the companies came and were hailed and cheered
and passed through the Gate, men of the Outlands marching to defend the City of Gondor in a dark hour; but always
too few, always less than hope looked for or need asked.
The men of Ringlo´ Vale behind the son of their lord,
Dervorin striding on foot: three hundreds. From the uplands
minas tirith 1009
of Morthond, the great Blackroot Vale, tall Duinhir with his
sons, Duilin and Derufin, and five hundred bowmen. From
the Anfalas, the Langstrand far away, a long line of men of
many sorts, hunters and herdsmen and men of little villages,
scantily equipped save for the household of Golasgil their
lord. From Lamedon, a few grim hillmen without a captain.
Fisher-folk of the Ethir, some hundred or more spared from
the ships. Hirluin the Fair of the Green Hills from Pinnath
Gelin with three hundreds of gallant green-clad men. And
last and proudest, Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, kinsman
of the Lord, with gilded banners bearing his token of the Ship
and the Silver Swan, and a company of knights in full harness
riding grey horses; and behind them seven hundreds of men
at arms, tall as lords, grey-eyed, dark-haired, singing as they
came.
And that was all, less than three thousands full told. No
more would come. Their cries and the tramp of their feet
passed into the City and died away. The onlookers stood
silent for a while. Dust hung in the air, for the wind had died
and the evening was heavy. Already the closing hour was
drawing nigh, and the red sun had gone behind Mindolluin.
Shadow came down on the City.
Pippin looked up, and it seemed to him that the sky had
grown ashen-grey, as if a vast dust and smoke hung above
them, and light came dully through it. But in the West the
dying sun had set all the fume on fire, and now Mindolluin
stood black against a burning smoulder flecked with embers.
‘So ends a fair day in wrath!’ he said, forgetful of the lad at
his side.
‘So it will, if I have not returned before the sundown-bells,’
said Bergil. ‘Come! There goes the trumpet for the closing
of the Gate.’
Hand in hand they went back into the City, the last to
pass the Gate before it was shut; and as they reached the
Lampwrights’ Street all the bells in the towers tolled solemnly.
Lights sprang in many windows, and from the houses and
1010 the return of the king
wards of the men at arms along the walls there came the
sound of song.
‘Farewell for this time,’ said Bergil. ‘Take my greetings to
my father, and thank him for the company that he sent. Come
again soon, I beg. Almost I wish now that there was no war,
for we might have had some merry times. We might have
journeyed to Lossarnach, to my grandsire’s house; it is good
to be there in spring, the woods and fields are full of flowers.
But maybe we will go thither together yet. They will never
overcome our Lord, and my father is very valiant. Farewell
and return!’
They parted and Pippin hurried back towards the citadel.
It seemed a long way, and he grew hot and very hungry; and
night closed down swift and dark. Not a star pricked the sky.
He was late for the daymeal in the mess, and Beregond
greeted him gladly, and sat him at his side to hear news of
his son. After the meal Pippin stayed a while, and then took
his leave, for a strange gloom was on him, and now he desired
very much to see Gandalf again.
‘Can you find your way?’ said Beregond at the door of the
small hall, on the north side of the citadel, where they had
sat. ‘It is a black night, and all the blacker since orders came
that lights are to be dimmed within the City, and none are to
shine out from the walls. And I can give you news of another
order: you will be summoned to the Lord Denethor early
tomorrow. I fear you will not be for the Third Company.
Still we may hope to meet again. Farewell and sleep in peace!’
The lodging was dark, save for a little lantern set on the
table. Gandalf was not there. Gloom settled still more heavily
on Pippin. He climbed on the bench and tried to peer out of
a window, but it was like looking into a pool of ink. He got
down and closed the shutter and went to bed. For a while he
lay and listened for sounds of Gandalf’s return, and then he
fell into an uneasy sleep.
In the night he was wakened by a light, and he saw that
Gandalf had come and was pacing to and fro in the room
beyond the curtain of the alcove. There were candles on the
minas tirith 1011
table and rolls of parchment. He heard the wizard sigh, and
mutter: ‘When will Faramir return?’
‘Hullo!’ said Pippin, poking his head round the curtain. ‘I
thought you had forgotten all about me. I am glad to see you
back. It has been a long day.’
‘But the night will be too short,’ said Gandalf. ‘I have come
back here, for I must have a little peace, alone. You should
sleep, in a bed while you still may. At the sunrise I shall take
you to the Lord Denethor again. No, when the summons
comes, not at sunrise. The Darkness has begun. There will
be no dawn.’
Chapter 2
THE PASSING OF THE GREY COMPANY
Gandalf was gone, and the thudding hoofs of Shadowfax
were lost in the night, when Merry came back to Aragorn.
He had only a light bundle, for he had lost his pack at Parth
Galen, and all he had was a few useful things he had picked
up among the wreckage of Isengard. Hasufel was already
saddled. Legolas and Gimli with their horse stood close by.
‘So four of the Company still remain,’ said Aragorn. ‘We
will ride on together. But we shall not go alone, as I thought.
The king is now determined to set out at once. Since the
coming of the winged shadow, he desires to return to the hills
under cover of night.’
‘And then whither?’ said Legolas.
‘I cannot say yet,’ Aragorn answered. ‘As for the king, he
will go to the muster that he commanded at Edoras, four
nights from now. And there, I think, he will hear tidings of
war, and the Riders of Rohan will go down to Minas Tirith.
But for myself, and any that will go with me . . .’
‘I for one!’ cried Legolas. ‘And Gimli with him!’ said the
Dwarf.
‘Well, for myself,’ said Aragorn, ‘it is dark before me. I
must go down also to Minas Tirith, but I do not yet see the
road. An hour long prepared approaches.’
‘Don’t leave me behind!’ said Merry. ‘I have not been of
much use yet; but I don’t want to be laid aside, like baggage
to be called for when all is over. I don’t think the Riders will
want to be bothered with me now. Though, of course, the
king did say that I was to sit by him when he came to his
house and tell him all about the Shire.’
‘Yes,’ said Aragorn, ‘and your road lies with him, I think,
Merry. But do not look for mirth at the ending. It will be
the passing of the grey company 1013
long, I fear, ere The´oden sits at ease again in Meduseld.
Many hopes will wither in this bitter Spring.’
Soon all were ready to depart: twenty-four horses, with
Gimli behind Legolas, and Merry in front of Aragorn. Presently they were riding swiftly through the night. They had
not long passed the mounds at the Fords of Isen, when a
Rider galloped up from the rear of their line.
‘My lord,’ he said to the king, ‘there are horsemen behind
us. As we crossed the fords I thought that I heard them. Now
we are sure. They are overtaking us, riding hard.’
The´oden at once called a halt. The Riders turned about
and seized their spears. Aragorn dismounted and set Merry
on the ground, and drawing his sword he stood by the king’s
stirrup. E´ omer and his esquire rode back to the rear. Merry
felt more like unneeded baggage than ever, and he wondered,
if there was a fight, what he should do. Supposing the king’s
small escort was trapped and overcome, but he escaped into
the darkness – alone in the wild fields of Rohan with no idea
of where he was in all the endless miles? ‘No good!’ he
thought. He drew his sword and tightened his belt.
The sinking moon was obscured by a great sailing cloud,
but suddenly it rode out clear again. Then they all heard the
sound of hoofs, and at the same moment they saw dark
shapes coming swiftly on the path from the fords. The moonlight glinted here and there on the points of spears. The
number of the pursuers could not be told, but they seemed
no fewer than the king’s escort, at the least.
When they were some fifty paces off, E´ omer cried in a
loud voice: ‘Halt! Halt! Who rides in Rohan?’
The pursuers brought their steeds to a sudden stand. A
silence followed; and then 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.
1014 the return of the king
‘Rohan? Rohan did you say? That is a glad word. We seek
that land in haste from long afar.’
‘You have found it,’ said E´ omer. ‘When you crossed the
fords yonder you entered it. But it is the realm of The´oden
the King. None ride here save by his leave. Who are you?
And what is your haste?’
‘Halbarad Du´nadan, Ranger of the North I am,’ cried the
man. ‘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!’
Merry breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that this
was some last trick of Saruman’s, to waylay the king while he
had only a few men about him; but it seemed that there would
be no need to die in The´oden’s defence, not yet at any rate.
He sheathed his sword.
‘All is well,’ said Aragorn, turning back. ‘Here are some of
my own kin from the far land where I dwelt. But why they
come, and how many they be, Halbarad shall tell us.’
‘I have thirty withme,’ said Halbarad. ‘That is all of our kindred that could be gathered in haste; but the brethren Elladan
and Elrohir have ridden with us, desiring to go to the war.
We rode as swiftly as we might when your summons came.’
‘But I did not summon you,’ said Aragorn, ‘save only in
wish. My thoughts have often turned to you, and seldom
more than tonight; yet I have sent no word. But come! All
such matters must wait. You find us riding in haste and
danger. Ride with us now, if the king will give his leave.’
The´oden was indeed glad of the news. ‘It is well!’ he said.
‘If these kinsmen be in any way like to yourself, my lord
Aragorn, thirty such knights will be a strength that cannot be
counted by heads.’
Then the Riders set out again, and Aragorn for a while
rode with the Du´nedain; and when they had spoken of tidings
in the North and in the South, Elrohir said to him:
the passing of the grey company 1015
‘I bring word to you from my father: The days are short. If
thou art in haste, remember the Paths of the Dead.’
‘Always my days have seemed to me too short to achieve
my desire,’ answered Aragorn. ‘But great indeed will be my
haste ere I take that road.’
‘That will soon be seen,’ said Elrohir. ‘But let us speak no
more of these things upon the open road!’
And Aragorn said to Halbarad: ‘What is that that you bear,
kinsman?’ For he saw that instead of a spear he bore a tall
staff, as it were a standard, but it was close-furled in a black
cloth bound about with many thongs.
‘It is a gift that I bring you from the Lady of Rivendell,’
answered Halbarad. ‘She wrought it in secret, and long was
the making. But she also sends word to you: The days now
are short. Either our hope cometh, or all hope’s end. Therefore I
send thee what I have made for thee. Fare well, Elfstone!’
And Aragorn said: ‘Now I know what you bear. Bear it
still for me a while!’ And he turned and looked away to the
North under the great stars, and then he fell silent and spoke
no more while the night’s journey lasted.
The night was old and the East grey when they rode up at
last from Deeping-coomb and came back to the Hornburg.
There they were to lie and rest for a brief while and take
counsel.
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,’ said Gimli,
‘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 no 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. But it
1016 the return of the king
is now near to noon, and at that hour we eat, and then set
out again, I hear.’
Merry got up and yawned. His few hours’ sleep had not
been nearly enough; he was tired and rather dismal. He
missed Pippin, and felt that he was only a burden, while
everybody was making plans for speed in a business that he
did not fully understand. ‘Where is Aragorn?’ he asked.
‘In a high chamber of the Burg,’ said Legolas. ‘He has
neither rested nor slept, I think. He went thither some hours
ago, saying that he must take thought, and only his kinsman,
Halbarad, went with him; but some dark doubt or care sits
on him.’
‘They are a strange company, these newcomers,’ said
Gimli. ‘Stout men and lordly they are, and the Riders of
Rohan look almost as boys beside them; for they are grim
men of face, worn like weathered rocks for the most part,
even as Aragorn himself; and they are silent.’
‘But even as Aragorn they are courteous, if they break their
silence,’ said Legolas. ‘And have you marked the brethren
Elladan and Elrohir? Less sombre is their gear than the
others’, and they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords; and that
is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell.’
‘Why have they come? Have you heard?’ asked Merry.
He had now dressed, and he flung his grey cloak about his
shoulders; and the three passed out together towards the
ruined gate of the Burg.
‘They answered a summons, as you heard,’ said Gimli.
‘Word came to Rivendell, they say: Aragorn has need of his
kindred. Let the Du´nedain ride to him in Rohan! But whence
this message came they are now in doubt. Gandalf sent it, I
would guess.’
‘Nay, Galadriel,’ said Legolas. ‘Did she not speak through
Gandalf of the ride of the Grey Company from the North?’
‘Yes, you have it,’ said Gimli. ‘The Lady of the Wood! She
read many hearts and desires. Now why did not we wish for
some of our own kinsfolk, Legolas?’
Legolas stood before the gate and turned his bright eyes
the passing of the grey company 1017
away north and east, and his fair face was troubled. ‘I do not
think that any would come,’ he answered. ‘They have no
need to ride to war; war already marches on their own lands.’
For a while the three companions walked together, speaking of this and that turn of the battle, and they went down
from the broken gate, and passed the mounds of the fallen
on the greensward beside the road, until they stood on Helm’s
Dike and looked into the Coomb. The Death Down already
stood there, black and tall and stony, and the great trampling
and scoring of the grass by the Huorns could be plainly seen.
The Dunlendings and many men of the garrison of the Burg
were at work on the Dike or in the fields and about the
battered walls behind; yet all seemed strangely quiet: a weary
valley resting after a great storm. Soon they turned back and
went to the midday meal in the hall of the Burg.
The king was already there, and as soon as they entered
he called for Merry and had a seat set for him at his side. ‘It
is not as I would have it,’ said The´oden; ‘for this is little like
my fair house in Edoras. And your friend is gone, who should
also be here. But it may be long ere we sit, you and I, at the
high table in Meduseld; there will be no time for feasting
when I return thither. But come now! Eat and drink, and
let us speak together while we may. And then you shall ride
with me.’
‘May I?’ said Merry, surprised and delighted. ‘That would
be splendid!’ He had never felt more grateful for any kindness
in words. ‘I am afraid I am only in everybody’s way,’ he
stammered; ‘but I should like to do anything I could, you
know.’
‘I doubt it not,’ said the king. ‘I have had a good hill-pony
made ready for you. He will bear you as swift as any horse
by the roads that we shall take. For I will ride from the Burg
by mountain paths, not by the plain, and so come to Edoras
by way of Dunharrow where the Lady E´ owyn awaits me.
You shall be my esquire, if you will. Is there gear of war in
this place, E´ omer, that my sword-thain could use?’
1018 the return of the king
‘There are no great weapon-hoards here, lord,’ answered
E´ omer. ‘Maybe a light helm might be found to fit him; but
we have no mail or sword for one of his stature.’
‘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, The´oden King?’ he cried.
‘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!’ he said. ‘Take your sword and bear it unto good
fortune!’
‘As a father you shall be to me,’ said Merry.
‘For a little while,’ said The´oden.
They talked then together as they ate, until presently
E´ omer spoke. ‘It is near the hour that we set for our going,
lord,’ he said. ‘Shall I bid men sound the horns? But where
is Aragorn? His place is empty and he has not eaten.’
‘We will make ready to ride,’ said The´oden; ‘but let word
be sent to the Lord Aragorn that the hour is nigh.’
The king with his guard and Merry at his side passed
down from the gate of the Burg to where the Riders were
assembling on the green. Many were already mounted. It
would be a great company; for the king was leaving only a
small garrison in the Burg, and all who could be spared were
riding to the weapontake at Edoras. A thousand spears had
indeed already ridden away at night; but still there would be
some five hundred more to go with the king, for the most
part men from the fields and dales of Westfold.
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,
the passing of the grey company 1019
Aragorn’s own horse that they had brought from the North;
Roheryn was his name. There was no gleam of stone or gold,
nor any fair thing in all their gear and harness; nor did their
riders bear any badge or token, save only that each cloak was
pinned upon the left shoulder by a brooch of silver shaped
like a rayed star.
The king mounted his horse, Snowmane, and Merry sat
beside him on his pony: Stybba was his name. Presently
E´ omer 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. So much alike were
they, 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. Tell me, The´oden, you
ride now to Dunharrow, how long will it be ere you come
there?’
‘It is now a full hour past noon,’ said E´ omer. ‘Before the
night of the third day from now we should come to the Hold.
The Moon will then be two nights past his full, and the
muster that the king commanded will be held the day after.
More speed we cannot make, if the strength of Rohan is to
be gathered.’
Aragorn was silent for a moment. ‘Three days,’ he murmured, ‘and the muster of Rohan will only be begun. But I
see that it cannot now be hastened.’ He looked up, and it
seemed that he had made some decision; his face was less
troubled. ‘Then, 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
1020 the return of the king
will ride east by the swiftest way, and I will take the Paths of
the Dead.’
‘The Paths of the Dead!’ said The´oden, and trembled.
‘Why do you speak of them?’ E´ omer 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 The´oden, ‘their gate is in
Dunharrow; but no living man may pass it.’
‘Alas! Aragorn my friend!’ said E´ omer. ‘I had hoped that
we should ride to war together; but if you seek the Paths of
the Dead, then our parting is come, and 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, E´ omer, that in battle we may yet meet again,
though all the hosts of Mordor should stand between.’
‘You will do as you will, my lord Aragorn,’ said The´oden.
‘It is your doom, maybe, to tread strange paths that others
dare not. This parting grieves me, and my strength is lessened
by it; but now I must take the mountain-roads and delay no
longer. Farewell!’
‘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, I hope; but we shall not forget
you.’
‘Good-bye!’ said Merry. He could find no more to say. He
felt very small, and he was puzzled and depressed by all these
gloomy words. More than ever he missed the unquenchable
cheerfulness of Pippin. The Riders were ready, and their
horses were fidgeting; he wished they would start and get it
over.
Now The´oden spoke to E´ omer, and he lifted up his hand
and cried aloud, and with that word the Riders set forth.
They rode over the Dike and down the Coomb, and then,
turning swiftly eastwards, they took a path that skirted the
foothills for a mile or so, until bending south it passed back
among the hills and disappeared from view. Aragorn rode to
the passing of the grey company 1021
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 said. ‘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 Shire-folk,’ said
Halbarad. ‘Little do they know of our long labour for the
safekeeping of their borders, and 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.’
Together they went back into the Burg; yet for some time
Aragorn sat silent at the table in the hall, and the others
waited for him to speak. ‘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 in the grey
morning?’
‘A struggle somewhat grimmer for my part than the battle
of the Hornburg,’ answered Aragorn. ‘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 forget to whom you speak,’ said Aragorn sternly, and
his eyes glinted. ‘What do you fear that I should say to him?
Did I not openly proclaim my title before the doors of
Edoras? Nay, Gimli,’ he said in a softer voice, and 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, and I had both the right and the
strength to use it, or so I judged. 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. And he beheld me. Yes, Master Gimli,
1022 the return of the king
he saw me, but in other guise than you see me here. If that
will aid him, then I have done ill. But I do not think so. To
know that I lived and walked the earth was a blow to his
heart, I deem; for he knew it not till now. The eyes in Orthanc
did not see through the armour of The´oden; but Sauron has
not forgotten Isildur and the sword of Elendil. Now in the
very hour of his great designs the heir of Isildur and the
Sword are revealed; for I showed the blade re-forged to him.
He is not so mighty yet that he is above fear; nay, doubt ever
gnaws him.’
‘But he wields great dominion, nonetheless,’ said Gimli;
‘and now he will strike more swiftly.’
‘The hasty stroke goes oft astray,’ said Aragorn. ‘We must
press our Enemy, and no longer wait upon him for the move.
See my friends, when I had mastered the Stone, I learned
many things. A grave peril I saw coming unlooked-for upon
Gondor from the South that will draw off great strength from
the defence of Minas Tirith. If it is not countered swiftly, I
deem that the City will be lost ere ten days be gone.’
‘Then lost it must be,’ said Gimli. ‘For what help is there
to send thither, and how could it come there in time?’
‘I have no help to send, therefore I must go myself,’ said
Aragorn. ‘But there is only one way through the mountains
that will bring me to the coastlands before all is lost. That is
the Paths of the Dead.’
‘The Paths of the Dead!’ said Gimli. ‘It is a fell name; and
little to the liking to the Men of Rohan, as I saw. Can the
living use such a road and not perish? And even if you pass
that way, what will so few avail to counter the strokes of
Mordor?’
‘The living have never used that road since the coming of
the Rohirrim,’ said Aragorn, ‘for it is closed to them. But in
this dark hour the heir of Isildur may use it, if he dare. Listen!
This is the word that the sons of Elrond bring to me from
their father in Rivendell, wisest in lore: Bid Aragorn remember
the words of the seer, and the Paths of the Dead.’
‘And what may be the words of the seer?’ said Legolas.
the passing of the grey company 1023
‘Thus spoke Malbeth the Seer, in the days of Arvedui, last
king at Fornost,’ said Aragorn:
Over the land there lies a long shadow,
westward reaching wings of darkness.
The Tower trembles; to the tombs of kings
doom approaches. The Dead awaken;
for the hour is come for the oathbreakers:
at the Stone of Erech they shall stand again
and hear there a horn in the hills ringing.
Whose shall the horn be? Who shall call them
from the grey twilight, the forgotten people?
The heir of him to whom the oath they swore.
From the North shall he come, need shall drive him:
he shall pass the Door to the Paths of the Dead.
‘Dark ways, doubtless,’ said Gimli, ‘but no darker than
these staves are to me.’
‘If you would understand them better, then I bid you come
with me,’ said Aragorn; ‘for that way I now shall take. But I
do not go gladly; only need drives me. Therefore, only of
your free will would I have you come, for you will find both
toil and great fear, and maybe worse.’
‘I will go with you even on the Paths of the Dead, and to
whatever end they may lead,’ said Gimli.
‘I also will come,’ said Legolas, ‘for I do not fear the Dead.’
‘I hope that the forgotten people will not have forgotten
how to fight,’ said Gimli; ‘for otherwise I see not why we
should trouble them.’
‘That we shall know if ever we come to Erech,’ said
Aragorn. ‘But the oath that they broke was to fight against
Sauron, and they must fight therefore, if they are to fulfil it.
For at Erech there stands yet a black stone that was brought,
it was said, from Nu´menor by Isildur; and it was set upon a
hill, and upon it the King of the Mountains swore allegiance
to him in the beginning of the realm of Gondor. But when
Sauron returned and grew in might again, Isildur summoned
1024 the return of the king
the Men of the Mountains to fulfil their oath, and they would
not: for they had worshipped Sauron in the Dark Years.
‘Then Isildur said to their king: ‘‘Thou shalt be the last
king. And if the West prove mightier than thy Black Master,
this curse I lay upon thee and thy folk: to rest never until
your oath is fulfilled. For this war will last through years
uncounted, and you shall be summoned once again ere the
end.’’ And they fled before the wrath of Isildur, and did
not dare to go forth to war on Sauron’s part; and they hid
themselves in secret places in the mountains and had no
dealings with other men, but slowly dwindled in the barren
hills. And the terror of the Sleepless Dead lies about the Hill
of Erech and all places where that people lingered. But that
way I must go, since there are none living to help me.’
He stood up. ‘Come!’ he cried, and drew his sword, and it
flashed in the twilit hall of the Burg. ‘To the Stone of Erech!
I seek the Paths of the Dead. Come with me who will!’
Legolas and Gimli made no answer, but they rose and
followed Aragorn from the hall. On the green there waited,
still and silent, the hooded Rangers. Legolas and Gimli
mounted. Aragorn sprang upon Roheryn. Then Halbarad
lifted a great horn, and the blast of it echoed in Helm’s Deep:
and with that they leapt away, riding down the Coomb like
thunder, while all the men that were left on Dike or Burg
stared in amaze.
And while The´oden went by slow paths in the hills, the
Grey Company passed swiftly over the plain, and on the next
day in the afternoon they came to Edoras; and there they
halted only briefly, ere they passed up the valley, and so came
to Dunharrow as darkness fell.
The Lady E´ owyn greeted them and was glad of their
coming; for no mightier men had she seen than the Du´nedain
and the fair sons of Elrond; but on Aragorn most of all her
eyes rested. And when they sat at supper with her, they talked
together, and she heard of all that had passed since The´oden
rode away, concerning which only hasty tidings had yet
the passing of the grey company 1025
reached her; and when she heard of the battle in Helm’s Deep
and the great slaughter of their foes, and of the charge of
The´oden and his knights, then her eyes shone.
But at last she said: ‘Lords, you are weary and shall now
go to your beds with such ease as can be contrived in haste.
But tomorrow fairer housing shall be found for you.’
But Aragorn said: ‘Nay, lady, be not troubled for us! If we
may lie here tonight and break our fast tomorrow, it will be
enough. For I ride on an errand most urgent, and with the
first light of morning we must go.’
She smiled on him and said: ‘Then it was kindly done,
lord, to ride so many miles out of your way to bring tidings
to E´ owyn, and to speak with her in her exile.’
‘Indeed no man would count such a journey wasted,’ said
Aragorn; ‘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,’ said he, ‘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.’
Then she stared at him as one that is stricken, and her face
blanched, and for long she spoke no more, while all sat silent.
‘But, Aragorn,’ she said at last, ‘is it then your errand to seek
death? For that is all that you will find on that road. They do
not suffer the living to pass.’
‘They may suffer me to pass,’ said Aragorn; ‘but at the
least I will adventure it. No other road will serve.’
‘But this is madness,’ she said. ‘For here are men of renown
and prowess, whom you should not take into the shadows,
but should lead to war, where men are needed. I beg you to
remain and ride with my brother; for then all our hearts will
be gladdened, and our hope be the brighter.’
‘It is not madness, lady,’ he answered; ‘for I go on a path
1026 the return of the king
appointed. But those who follow me do so of their free will;
and if they wish now to remain and ride with the Rohirrim,
they may do so. But I shall take the Paths of the Dead, alone,
if needs be.’
Then they said no more, and they ate in silence; but her
eyes were ever upon Aragorn, and the others saw that she
was in great torment of mind. At length they arose, and took
their leave of the Lady, and thanked her for her care, and
went to their rest.
But as Aragorn came to the booth where he was to lodge
with Legolas and Gimli, and his companions had gone in,
there came the Lady E´ owyn after him and called to him. He
turned and saw her as a glimmer in the night, for she was
clad in white; but her eyes were on fire.
‘Aragorn,’ she said, ‘why will you go on this deadly road?’
‘Because I must,’ he said. ‘Only so can I see any hope of
doing my part in the war against Sauron. I do not choose
paths of peril, E´ owyn. Were I to go where my heart dwells,
far in the North I would now be wandering in the fair valley
of Rivendell.’
For a while she was silent, as if pondering what this might
mean. Then suddenly she laid her hand on his arm. ‘You are
a stern lord and resolute,’ she said; ‘and thus do men win
renown.’ She paused. ‘Lord,’ she said, ‘if you must go, then
let me ride in your following. For I am weary of skulking in
the hills, and wish to face peril and battle.’
‘Your duty is with your people,’ he answered.
‘Too often have I heard of duty,’ she cried. ‘But am I not
of the House of Eorl, a shieldmaiden and not a dry-nurse? I
have waited on faltering feet long enough. Since they falter
no longer, it seems, may I not now spend my life as I will?’
‘Few may do that with honour,’ he answered. ‘But as for
you, lady: did you not accept the charge to govern the people
until their lord’s return? If you had not been chosen, then
some marshal or captain would have been set in the same
place, and he could not ride away from his charge, were he
weary of it or no.’
the passing of the grey company 1027
‘Shall I always be chosen?’ she said bitterly. ‘Shall I always
be left behind when the Riders depart, to mind the house
while they win renown, and find food and beds when they
return?’
‘A time may come soon,’ said he, ‘when none will return.
Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none
shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of
your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because
they are unpraised.’
And she answered: ‘All your words are but to say: you are
a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men
have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned
in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of
the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and
wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.’
‘What do you fear, lady?’ he asked.
‘A cage,’ she said. ‘To stay behind bars, until use and old
age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone
beyond recall or desire.’
‘And yet you counselled me not to adventure on the road
that I had chosen, because it is perilous?’
‘So may one counsel another,’ she said. ‘Yet I do not bid
you flee from peril, but to ride to battle where your sword
may win renown and victory. I would not see a thing that is
high and excellent cast away needlessly.’
‘Nor would I,’ he said. ‘Therefore I say to you, lady: Stay!
For you have no errand to the South.’
‘Neither have those others who go with thee. They go only
because they would not be parted from thee – because they
love thee.’ Then she turned and vanished into the night.
When the light of day was come into the sky but the sun
was not yet risen above the high ridges in the East, Aragorn
made ready to depart. His company was all mounted, and he
was about to leap into the saddle, when the Lady E´ owyn
came to bid them farewell. She was clad as a Rider and girt
with a sword. In her hand she bore a cup, and she set it to
1028 the return of the king
her lips and drank a little, wishing them good speed; and then
she gave the cup to Aragorn, and he drank, and he said:
‘Farewell, Lady of Rohan! I drink to the fortunes of your
House, and of you, and of all your people. Say to your
brother: beyond the shadows we may meet again!’
Then it seemed to Gimli and Legolas who were nearby
that she wept, and in one so stern and proud that seemed the
more grievous. But she said: ‘Aragorn, wilt thou go?’
‘I will,’ he said.
‘Then wilt thou not let me ride with this company, as I
have asked?’
‘I will not, lady,’ he said. ‘For that I could not grant without
leave of the king and of your brother; and they will not return
until tomorrow. But I count now every hour, indeed every
minute. Farewell!’
Then she fell on her knees, saying: ‘I beg thee!’
‘Nay, lady,’ he said, and taking her by the hand he raised
her. Then he kissed her hand, and sprang into the saddle,
and rode away, and did not look back; and only those who
knew him well and were near to him saw the pain that he
bore.
But E´ owyn stood still as a figure carven in stone, her hands
clenched at her sides, and she watched them until they passed
into the shadows under the black Dwimorberg, the Haunted
Mountain, in which was the Door of the Dead. When they
were lost to view, she turned, stumbling as one that is blind,
and went back to her lodging. But none of her folk saw this
parting, for they hid themselves in fear and would not come
forth until the day was up, and the reckless strangers were
gone.
And some said: ‘They are Elvish wights. Let them go where
they belong, into the dark places, and never return. The times
are evil enough.’
The light was still grey as they rode, for the sun had not
yet climbed over the black ridges of the Haunted Mountain
before them. A dread fell on them, even as they passed
the passing of the grey company 1029
between the lines of ancient stones and so came to the
Dimholt. There under the gloom of black trees that not even
Legolas could long endure they found a hollow place opening
at the mountain’s root, and right in their path stood a single
mighty stone like a finger of doom.
‘My blood runs chill,’ said Gimli, but the others were silent,
and his voice fell dead on the dank fir-needles at his feet. The
horses would not pass the threatening stone, until the riders
dismounted and led them about. And so they came at last
deep into the glen; and there stood a sheer wall of rock, and
in the wall the Dark Door gaped before them like the mouth
of night. Signs and figures were carved above its wide arch
too dim to read, and fear flowed from it like a grey vapour.
The Company halted, and there was not a heart among
them that did not quail, unless it were the heart of Legolas
of the Elves, for whom the ghosts of Men have no terror.
‘This is an evil door,’ said Halbarad, ‘and my death lies
beyond it. I will dare to pass it nonetheless; but no horse will
enter.’
‘But we must go in, and therefore the horses must go too,’
said Aragorn. ‘For if ever we come through this darkness,
many leagues lie beyond, and every hour that is lost there
will bring the triumph of Sauron nearer. Follow me!’
Then Aragorn led the way, and such was the strength of
his will in that hour that all the Du´nedain and their horses
followed him. And indeed the love that the horses of the
Rangers bore for their riders was so great that they were
willing to face even the terror of the Door, if their masters’
hearts were steady as they walked beside them. But Arod, the
horse of Rohan, refused the way, and he stood sweating and
trembling in a fear that was grievous to see. Then 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!’ he said. ‘An Elf will go underground
1030 the return of the king
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
Glo´in’s son who had walked unafraid in many deep places of
the world.
Aragorn had brought torches from Dunharrow, and now
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; but 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:
most of all because 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, until Gimli saw a sight that he
was ever afterwards loth to recall. The road was wide, as far
as he could judge, but now the Company came suddenly into
a great empty space, and there were no longer any walls upon
either side. The dread was so heavy on him that he could
hardly walk. Away to the left something glittered in the gloom
as Aragorn’s torch drew near. Then Aragorn halted and went
to look what it might be.
‘Does he feel no fear?’ muttered the Dwarf. ‘In any other
cave Gimli Glo´in’s son would have been the first to run to
the gleam of gold. But not here! Let it lie!’
Nonetheless he drew near, and saw Aragorn kneeling,
while Elladan held aloft both torches. Before him were the
bones of a mighty man. He had been clad in mail, and still
his harness lay there whole; for the cavern’s air was as dry as
dust, and his hauberk was gilded. His belt was of gold and
garnets, and rich with gold was the helm upon his bony head
face downward on the floor. He had fallen near the far wall
of the cave, as now could be seen, and before him stood a
the passing of the grey company 1031
stony door closed fast: his finger-bones were still clawing at
the cracks. A notched and broken sword lay by him, as if he
had hewn at the rock in his last despair.
Aragorn did not touch him, but after gazing silently for a
while he rose and sighed. ‘Hither shall the flowers of simbelmyne¨ come never unto world’s end,’ he murmured. ‘Nine
mounds and seven there are now green with grass, and
through all the long years he has lain at the door that he could
not unlock. Whither does it lead? Why would he pass? None
shall ever know!
‘For that is not my errand!’ he cried, turning back and
speaking to the whispering darkness behind. ‘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. The others pressed on, but
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.
Suddenly he heard the tinkle of water, a sound hard and
clear as a stone falling into a dream of dark shadow. Light
grew, and lo! the Company passed through another gateway,
high-arched and broad, and a rill ran out beside them; and
beyond, going steeply down, was a road between sheer cliffs,
knife-edged against the sky far above. So deep and narrow
was that chasm that the sky was dark, and in it small stars
glinted. Yet as Gimli after learned it was still two hours ere
sunset of the day on which they had set out from Dunharrow;
1032 the return of the king
though for all that he could then tell it might have been
twilight in some later year, or in some other world.
The Company now mounted again, and Gimli returned to
Legolas. They rode in file, and evening came on and a deep
blue dusk; and still fear pursued them. Legolas turning to
speak to Gimli looked back and the Dwarf saw before his
face the glitter in the Elf’s bright eyes. Behind them rode
Elladan, last of the Company, but not the last of those that
took the downward road.
‘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.’
‘Yes, the Dead ride behind. They have been summoned,’
said Elladan.
The Company came at last out of the ravine, as suddenly
as if they had issued from a crack in a wall; and there lay the
uplands of a great vale before them, and the stream beside
them went down with a cold voice over many falls.
‘Where in Middle-earth are we?’ said Gimli; and Elladan
answered: ‘We have descended from the uprising of the
Morthond, the long chill river that flows at last to the sea that
washes the walls of Dol Amroth. You will not need to ask
hereafter how comes its name: Blackroot men call it.’
The Morthond Vale made a great bay that beat up against
the sheer southern faces of the mountains. Its steep slopes
were grass-grown; but all was grey in that hour, for the sun
had gone, and far below lights twinkled in the homes of Men.
The vale was rich and many folk dwelt there.
Then without turning Aragorn cried aloud so that all could
hear: ‘Friends, forget your weariness! Ride now, ride! We
must come to the Stone of Erech ere this day passes, and
long still is the way.’ So without looking back they rode the
mountain-fields, until they came to a bridge over the growing
torrent and found a road that went down into the land.
the passing of the grey company 1033
Lights went out in house and hamlet as they came, and
doors were shut, and folk that were afield cried in terror and
ran wild like hunted deer. Ever there rose the same cry in
the gathering night: ‘The King of the Dead! The King of the
Dead is come upon us!’
Bells were ringing far below, and all men fled before the
face of Aragorn; but the Grey Company in their haste rode
like hunters, until their horses were stumbling with weariness.
And thus, just ere midnight, and in a darkness as black as the
caverns in the mountains, they came at last to the Hill of
Erech.
Long had the terror of the Dead lain upon that hill and
upon the empty fields about it. For upon the top stood a
black stone, round as a great globe, the height of a man,
though its half was buried in the ground. Unearthly it looked,
as though it had fallen from the sky, as some believed; but
those who remembered still the lore of Westernesse told that
it had been brought out of the ruin of Nu´menor and there
set by Isildur at his landing. None of the people of the valley
dared to approach it, nor would they dwell near; for they said
that it was a trysting-place of the Shadow-men and there they
would gather in times of fear, thronging round the Stone and
whispering.
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, as if it was an echo in
deep caves far away. 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.’
1034 the return of the king
Then Aragorn said: ‘The hour is come at last. Now I go
to Pelargir upon Anduin, and ye shall come after me. And
when all this land is clean of the servants of Sauron, I will
hold the oath fulfilled, and ye shall have peace and depart for
ever. For I am Elessar, Isildur’s heir of Gondor.’
And with that he bade Halbarad unfurl the great standard
which he had brought; and behold! it was black, and if there
was any device upon it, it was hidden in the darkness. Then
there was silence, and not a whisper nor a sigh was heard
again all the long night. The Company camped beside the
Stone, but they slept little, because of the dread of the
Shadows that hedged them round.
But when the dawn came, cold and pale, Aragorn rose at
once, 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
Du´nedain of the North, and with them Gimli the Dwarf and
Legolas of the Elves.
They passed Tarlang’s Neck and came into Lamedon; and
the Shadow Host pressed behind and fear went on before
them, until they came to Calembel upon Ciril, and the sun
went down like blood behind Pinnath Gelin away in the West
behind them. 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.
Chapter 3
THE MUSTER OF ROHAN
Now all roads were running together to the East to meet the
coming of war and the onset of the Shadow. And even as
Pippin stood at the Great Gate of the City and saw the Prince
of Dol Amroth ride in with his banners, the King of Rohan
came down out of the hills.
Day was waning. In the last rays of the sun the Riders cast
long pointed shadows that went on before them. Darkness
had already crept beneath the murmuring fir-woods that
clothed the steep mountain-sides. The king rode now slowly
at the end of the day. Presently the path turned round a
huge bare shoulder of rock and plunged into the gloom of
soft-sighing trees. Down, down they went in a long winding
file. When at last they came to the bottom of the gorge they
found that evening had fallen in the deep places. The sun
was gone. Twilight lay upon the waterfalls.
All day far below them a leaping stream had run down
from the high pass behind, cleaving its narrow way between
pine-clad walls; and now through a stony gate it flowed out
and passed into a wider vale. The Riders followed it, and
suddenly Harrowdale lay before them, loud with the noise of
waters in the evening. There the white Snowbourn, joined
by the lesser stream, went rushing, fuming on the stones,
down to Edoras and the green hills and the plains. Away to
the right at the head of the great dale the mighty Starkhorn
loomed up above its vast buttresses swathed in cloud; but its
jagged peak, clothed in everlasting snow, gleamed far above
the world, blue-shadowed upon the East, red-stained by the
sunset in the West.
Merry looked out in wonder upon this strange country, of
which he had heard many tales upon their long road. It was
1036 the return of the king
a skyless world, in which his eye, through dim gulfs of shadowy air, saw only ever-mounting slopes, great walls of stone
behind great walls, and frowning precipices wreathed with
mist. He sat for a moment half dreaming, listening to the
noise of water, the whisper of dark trees, the crack of stone,
and the vast waiting silence that brooded behind all sound.
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, for though they had ridden slowly, they
had ridden with very little rest. Hour after hour for nearly
three weary days he had jogged up and down, over passes,
and through long dales, and across many streams. 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 The´oden, 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, especially on
this last day, 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.
All the same he had been lonely, and never more so than
now at the day’s end. He 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!’ he said to himself reproachfully. ‘And yet they are
the muster of rohan 1037
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.
‘Harrowdale at last!’ said E´ omer. ‘Our journey is almost at
an end.’ They halted. The paths out of the narrow gorge fell
steeply. Only a glimpse, as through a tall window, could be
seen of the great valley in the gloaming below. A single small
light could be seen twinkling by the river.
‘This journey is over, maybe,’ said The´oden, ‘but I have
far yet to go. Two nights ago the moon was full, and in the
morning I shall ride to Edoras to the gathering of the Mark.’
‘But if you would take my counsel,’ said E´ omer in a low
voice, ‘you would then return hither, until the war is over,
lost or won.’
The´oden smiled. ‘Nay, my son, for so I will call you, speak
not the soft words of Wormtongue in my old ears!’ He drew
himself up and looked back at the long line of his men fading
into the dusk behind. ‘Long years in the space of days it
seems since I rode west; but never will I lean on a staff again.
If the war is lost, what good will be my hiding in the hills?
And if it is won, what grief will it be, even if I fall, spending
my last strength? But we will leave this now. Tonight I will
lie in the Hold of Dunharrow. One evening of peace at least
is left us. Let us ride on!’
In the deepening dusk they came down into the valley.
Here the Snowbourn flowed near to the western walls of
the dale, and soon the path led them to a ford where the
shallow waters murmured loudly on the stones. The ford was
guarded. As the king approached many men sprang up out
of the shadow of the rocks; and when they saw the king they
cried with glad voices: ‘The´oden King! The´oden King! The
King of the Mark returns!’
Then one blew a long call on a horn. It echoed in the
valley. Other horns answered it, and lights shone out across
the river.
1038 the return of the king
And suddenly there rose a great chorus of trumpets from
high above, sounding from some hollow place, as it seemed,
that gathered their notes into one voice and sent it rolling and
beating on the walls of stone.
So the King of the Mark came back victorious out of the
West to Dunharrow beneath the feet of the White Mountains.
There he found the remaining strength of his people already
assembled; for as soon as his coming was known captains
rode to meet him at the ford, bearing messages from Gandalf.
Du´nhere, chieftain of the folk of Harrowdale, was at their
head.
‘At dawn three days ago, lord,’ he said, ‘Shadowfax came
like a wind out of the West to Edoras, and Gandalf brought
tidings of your victory to gladden our hearts. But he brought
also word from you to hasten the gathering of the Riders.
And then came the winged Shadow.’
‘The winged Shadow?’ said The´oden. ‘We saw it also, but
that was in the dead of night before Gandalf left us.’
‘Maybe, lord,’ said Du´nhere. ‘Yet the same, or another like
to it, a flying darkness in the shape of a monstrous bird,
passed over Edoras that morning, and all men were shaken
with fear. For it stooped upon Meduseld, and as it came low,
almost to the gable, there came a cry that stopped our hearts.
Then it was that Gandalf counselled us not to assemble in
the fields, but to meet you here in the valley under the mountains. And he bade us to kindle no more lights or fires than
barest need asked. So it has been done. Gandalf spoke with
great authority. We trust that it is as you would wish. Naught
has been seen in Harrowdale of these evil things.’
‘It is well,’ said The´oden. ‘I will ride now to the Hold, and
there before I go to rest I will meet the marshals and captains.
Let them come to me as soon as may be!’
The road now led eastward straight across the valley, which
was at that point little more than half a mile in width. Flats
and meads of rough grass, grey now in the falling night, lay
all about, but in front on the far side of the dale Merry saw a
the muster of rohan 1039
frowning wall, a last outlier of the great roots of the Starkhorn,
cloven by the river in ages past.
On all the level spaces there was great concourse of men.
Some thronged to the roadside, hailing the king and the riders
from the West with glad cries; but stretching away into the
distance behind there were ordered rows of tents and booths,
and lines of picketed horses, and great store of arms, and
piled spears bristling like thickets of new-planted trees. Now
all the great assembly was falling into shadow, and yet, though
the night-chill blew cold from the heights, no lanterns glowed,
no fires were lit. Watchmen heavily cloaked paced to and fro.
Merry wondered how many Riders there were. He could
not guess their number in the gathering gloom, but it looked
to him like a great army, many thousands strong. While he
was peering from side to side the king’s party came up under
the looming cliff on the eastern side of the valley; and there
suddenly the path began to climb, and Merry looked up in
amazement. He was on a road the like of which he had never
seen before, a great work of men’s hands in years beyond the
reach of song. Upwards it wound, coiling like a snake, boring
its way across the sheer slope of rock. Steep as a stair, it
looped backwards and forwards as it climbed. Up it horses
could walk, and wains could be slowly hauled; but no enemy
could come that way, except out of the air, if it was defended
from above. At each turn of the road there were great standing stones that had been carved in the likeness of men, huge
and clumsy-limbed, squatting cross-legged with their stumpy
arms folded on fat bellies. Some in the wearing of the years
had lost all features save the dark holes of their eyes that still
stared sadly at the passers-by. The Riders hardly glanced at
them. The Pu´kel-men they called them, and heeded them
little: no power or terror was left in them; but Merry gazed
at them with wonder and a feeling almost of pity, as they
loomed up mournfully in the dusk.
After a while he looked back and found that he had already
climbed some hundreds of feet above the valley, but still far
below he could dimly see a winding line of Riders crossing
1040 the return of the king
the ford and filing along the road towards the camp prepared
for them. Only the king and his guard were going up into the
Hold.
At last the king’s company came to a sharp brink, and the
climbing road passed into a cutting between walls of rock,
and so went up a short slope and out on to a wide upland.
The Firienfeld men called it, a green mountain-field of grass
and heath, high above the deep-delved courses of the Snowbourn, laid upon the lap of the great mountains behind: the
Starkhorn southwards, and northwards the saw-toothed mass
of I´rensaga, between which there faced the riders, the grim
black wall of the Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain rising
out of steep slopes of sombre pines. Dividing the upland into
two there marched a double line of unshaped standing stones
that dwindled into the dusk and vanished in the trees. Those
who dared to follow that road came soon to the black Dimholt
under Dwimorberg, and the menace of the pillar of stone,
and the yawning shadow of the forbidden door.
Such was the dark Dunharrow, the work of long-forgotten
men. Their name was lost and no song or legend remembered
it. For what purpose they had made this place, as a town or
secret temple or a tomb of kings, none in Rohan could say.
Here they laboured in the Dark Years, before ever a ship
came to the western shores, or Gondor of the Du´nedain was
built; and now they had vanished, and only the old Pu´kel-men
were left, still sitting at the turnings of the road.
Merry stared at the lines of marching stones: they were
worn and black; some were leaning, some were fallen, some
cracked or broken; they looked like rows of old and hungry
teeth. He wondered what they could be, and he hoped that
the king was not going to follow them into the darkness
beyond. Then he saw that there were clusters of tents and
booths on either side of the stony way; but these were not set
near the trees, and seemed rather to huddle away from them
towards the brink of the cliff. The greater number were on
the right, where the Firienfeld was wider; and on the left there
was a smaller camp, in the midst of which stood a tall pavilion.
the muster of rohan 1041
From this side a rider now came out to meet them, and they
turned from the road.
As they drew near Merry saw that the rider was a woman
with long braided hair gleaming in the twilight, yet she wore
a helm and was clad to the waist like a warrior and girded
with a sword.
‘Hail, Lord of the Mark!’ she cried. ‘My heart is glad at
your returning.’
‘And you, E´ owyn,’ said The´oden, ‘is all well with you?’
‘All is well,’ she answered; yet it seemed to Merry that her
voice belied her, and he would have thought that she had
been weeping, if that could be believed of one so stern of
face. ‘All is well. It was a weary road for the people to take,
torn suddenly from their homes. There were hard words, for
it is long since war has driven us from the green fields; but
there have been no evil deeds. All is now ordered, as you see.
And your lodging is prepared for you; for I have had full
tidings of you and knew the hour of your coming.’
‘So Aragorn has come then,’ said E´ omer. ‘Is he still here?’
‘No, he is gone,’ said E´ owyn turning away and looking at
the mountains dark against the East and South.
‘Whither did he go?’ asked E´ omer.
‘I do not know,’ she answered. ‘He came at night, and
rode away yestermorn, ere the Sun had climbed over the
mountain-tops. He is gone.’
‘You are grieved, daughter,’ said The´oden. ‘What has happened? Tell me, did he speak of that road?’ He pointed away
along the darkening lines of stones towards the Dwimorberg.
‘Of the Paths of the Dead?’
‘Yes, lord,’ said E´ owyn. ‘And he has passed into the
shadow from which none have returned. I could not dissuade
him. He is gone.’
‘Then our paths are sundered,’ said E´ omer. ‘He is lost. We
must ride without him, and our hope dwindles.’
Slowly they passed through the short heath and upland
grass, speaking no more, until they came to the king’s
1042 the return of the king
pavilion. There Merry found that everything was made ready,
and that he himself was not forgotten. A little tent had been
pitched for him beside the king’s lodging; and there he
sat alone, while men passed to and fro, going in to the king
and taking counsel with him. Night came on and the halfseen heads of the mountains westward were crowned with
stars, but the East was dark and blank. The marching stones
faded slowly from sight, but still beyond them, blacker than
the gloom, brooded the vast crouching shadow of the
Dwimorberg.
‘The Paths of the Dead,’ he 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. I wonder
what they are all talking about, and what the king means to
do. For I must go where he goes now.’
In the midst of these gloomy thoughts he suddenly remembered that he was very hungry, and he got up to go and
see if anyone else in this strange camp felt the same. But
at that very moment a trumpet sounded, and a man came
summoning him, the king’s esquire, to wait at the king’s
board.
In the inner part of the pavilion was a small space, curtained off with broidered hangings, and strewn with skins;
and there at a small table sat The´oden with E´ omer and
E´ owyn, and Du´nhere, lord of Harrowdale. Merry stood
beside the king’s stool and waited on him, till presently the
old man, coming out of deep thought, turned to him and
smiled.
‘Come, Master Meriadoc!’ he said. ‘You shall not stand.
You shall sit beside me, as long as I remain in my own lands,
and lighten my heart with tales.’
Room was made for the hobbit at the king’s left hand, but
no one called for any tale. There was indeed little speech,
the muster of rohan 1043
and they ate and drank for the most part in silence, until at
last, plucking up courage, Merry asked the question that was
tormenting him.
‘Twice now, lord, I have heard of the Paths of the Dead,’
he said. ‘What are they? And where has Strider, I mean the
Lord Aragorn, where has he gone?’
The king sighed, but no one answered, until at last E´ omer
spoke. ‘We do not know, and our hearts are heavy,’ he said.
‘But as for the Paths of the Dead, you have yourself walked
on their first steps. Nay, I speak no words of ill omen! The
road that we have climbed is the approach to the Door,
yonder in the Dimholt. But what lies beyond no man knows.’
‘No man knows,’ said The´oden: ‘yet ancient legend, now
seldom spoken, has somewhat to report. If these old tales
speak true that have come down from father to son in the
House of Eorl, then the Door under Dwimorberg leads to a
secret way that goes beneath the mountain to some forgotten
end. But none have ever ventured in to search its secrets,
since Baldor, son of Brego, passed the Door and was never
seen among men again. A rash vow he spoke, as he drained
the horn at that feast which Brego made to hallow new-built
Meduseld, and he came never to the high seat of which he
was the heir.
‘Folk say that Dead Men out of the Dark Years guard the
way and will suffer no living man to come to their hidden
halls; but at whiles they may themselves be seen passing out
of the door like shadows and down the stony road. Then the
people of Harrowdale shut fast their doors and shroud their
windows and are afraid. But the Dead come seldom forth
and only at times of great unquiet and coming death.’
‘Yet it is said in Harrowdale,’ said E´ owyn in a low voice,
‘that in the moonless nights but little while ago a great host
in strange array passed by. Whence they came none knew,
but they went up the stony road and vanished into the hill,
as if they went to keep a tryst.’
‘Then why has Aragorn gone that way?’ asked Merry.
‘Don’t you know anything that would explain it?’
1044 the return of the king
‘Unless he has spoken words to you as his friend that we
have not heard,’ said E´ omer, ‘none now in the land of the
living can tell his purpose.’
‘Greatly changed he seemed to me since I saw him first in
the king’s house,’ said E´ owyn: ‘grimmer, older. Fey I thought
him, and like one whom the Dead call.’
‘Maybe he was called,’ said The´oden; ‘and my heart tells
me that I shall not see him again. Yet he is a kingly man of
high destiny. And take comfort in this, daughter, since comfort you seem to need in your grief for this guest. It is said
that when the Eorlingas came out of the North and passed
at length up the Snowbourn, seeking strong places of refuge
in time of need, Brego and his son Baldor climbed the Stair
of the Hold and so came before the Door. On the threshold
sat an old man, aged beyond guess of years; tall and kingly
he had been, but now he was withered as an old stone. Indeed
for stone they took him, for he moved not, and he said no
word, until they sought to pass him by and enter. And then
a voice came out of him, as it were out of the ground, and to
their amaze it spoke in the western tongue: The way is shut.
‘Then they halted and looked at him and saw that he lived
still; but he did not look at them. The way is shut, his voice
said again. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead
keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut.
‘And when will that time be? said Baldor. But no answer did
he ever get. For the old man died in that hour and fell upon
his face; and no other tidings of the ancient dwellers in the
mountains have our folk ever learned. Yet maybe at last the
time foretold has come, and Aragorn may pass.’
‘But how shall a man discover whether that time be come
or no, save by daring the Door?’ said E´ omer. ‘And that way
I would not go though all the hosts of Mordor stood before
me, and I were alone and had no other refuge. Alas that a
fey mood should fall on a man so greathearted in this hour
of need! Are there not evil things enough abroad without
seeking them under the earth? War is at hand.’
He paused, for at that moment there was a noise outside,
the muster of rohan 1045
a man’s voice crying the name of The´oden, and the challenge
of the guard.
Presently the captain of the Guard thrust aside the curtain.
‘A man is here, lord,’ he said, ‘an errand-rider of Gondor.
He wishes to come before you at once.’
‘Let him come!’ said The´oden.
A tall man entered, and Merry choked back a cry; for a
moment it seemed to him that Boromir was alive again and
had returned. Then he saw that it was not so; the man was a
stranger, though as like to Boromir as if he were one of his
kin, tall and grey-eyed and proud. He was clad as a rider with
a cloak of dark green over a coat of fine mail; on the front of
his helm was wrought a small silver star. In his hand he bore
a single arrow, black-feathered and barbed with steel, but the
point was painted red.
He sank on one knee and presented the arrow to The´oden.
‘Hail, Lord of the Rohirrim, friend of Gondor!’ he said.
‘Hirgon I am, errand-rider of Denethor, who bring you this
token of war. Gondor is in great need. Often the Rohirrim
have aided us, but now the Lord Denethor asks for all your
strength and all your speed, lest Gondor fall at last.’
‘The Red Arrow!’ said The´oden, holding it, as one who
receives a summons long expected and yet dreadful when it
comes. His hand trembled. ‘The Red Arrow has not been
seen in the Mark in all my years! Has it indeed come to that?
And what does the Lord Denethor reckon that all my strength
and all my speed may be?’
‘That is best known to yourself, lord,’ said Hirgon. ‘But
ere long it may well come to pass that Minas Tirith is surrounded, and unless you have the strength to break a siege
of many powers, the Lord Denethor bids me say that he
judges that the strong arms of the Rohirrim would be better
within his walls than without.’
‘But he knows that we are a people who fight rather upon
horseback and in the open, and that we are also a scattered
people and time is needed for the gathering of our Riders. Is
1046 the return of the king
it not true, Hirgon, that the Lord of Minas Tirith knows more
than he sets in his message? For we are already at war, as
you may have seen, and you do not find us all unprepared.
Gandalf the Grey has been among us, and even now we are
mustering for battle in the East.’
‘What the Lord Denethor may know or guess of all these
things I cannot say,’ answered Hirgon. ‘But indeed our case
is desperate. My lord does not issue any command to you,
he begs you only to remember old friendship and oaths long
spoken, and for your own good to do all that you may. It is
reported to us that many kings have ridden in from the East
to the service of Mordor. From the North to the field of
Dagorlad there is skirmish and rumour of war. In the South
the Haradrim are moving, and fear has fallen on all our
coastlands, so that little help will come to us thence. Make
haste! For it is before the walls of Minas Tirith that the doom
of our time will be decided, and if the tide be not stemmed
there, then it will flow over all the fair fields of Rohan, and
even in this Hold among the hills there shall be no refuge.’
‘Dark tidings,’ said The´oden, ‘yet not all unguessed. But
say to Denethor that even if Rohan itself felt no peril, still we
would come to his aid. But we have suffered much loss in
our battles with Saruman the traitor, and we must still think
of our frontier to the north and east, as his own tidings make
clear. So great a power as the Dark Lord seems now to wield
might well contain us in battle before the City and yet strike
with great force across the River away beyond the Gate of
Kings.
‘But we will speak no longer counsels of prudence. We will
come. The weapontake was set for the morrow. When all is
ordered we will set out. Ten thousand spears I might have
sent riding over the plain to the dismay of your foes. It will
be less now, I fear; for I will not leave my strongholds all
unguarded. Yet six thousands at the least shall ride behind
me. For say to Denethor that in this hour the King of the
Mark himself will come down to the land of Gondor, though
maybe he will not ride back. But it is a long road, and man
the muster of rohan 1047
and beast must reach the end with strength to fight. A week
it may be from tomorrow’s morn ere you hear the cry of the
Sons of Eorl coming from the North.’
‘A week!’ said Hirgon. ‘If it must be so, it must. But you
are like to find only ruined walls in seven days from now,
unless other help unlooked-for comes. Still, you may at the
least disturb the Orcs and Swarthy Men from their feasting
in the White Tower.’
‘At the least we will do that,’ said The´oden. ‘But I myself
am new-come from battle and long journey, and I will now
go to rest. Tarry here this night. Then you shall look on the
muster of Rohan and ride away the gladder for the sight, and
the swifter for the rest. In the morning counsels are best, and
night changes many thoughts.’
With that the king stood up, and they all rose. ‘Go now
each to your rest,’ he said, ‘and sleep well. And you, Master
Meriadoc, I need no more tonight. But be ready to my call
as soon as the Sun is risen.’
‘I will be ready,’ said Merry, ‘even if you bid me ride with
you on the Paths of the Dead.’
‘Speak not words of omen!’ said the king. ‘For there may
be more roads than one that could bear that name. But I did
not say that I would bid you ride with me on any road. Good
night!’
‘I won’t be left behind, to be called for on return!’ said
Merry. ‘I won’t be left, I won’t.’ And repeating this over and
over again to himself he fell asleep at last in his tent.
He was wakened by a man shaking him. ‘Wake up, wake
up, Master Holbytla!’ he cried; and at length 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
1048 the return of the king
again, one would think under this cloud. But time does not
stand still, though the Sun be lost. Make haste!’
Flinging on some clothes, 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. No shape of cloud could be seen, unless it were far
away westward, where the furthest groping fingers of the
great gloom still crawled onwards and a little light leaked
through them. Overhead there hung a heavy roof, sombre
and featureless, and light seemed rather to be failing than
growing.
Merry saw many folk standing, looking up and muttering;
all their faces were grey and sad, and some were afraid. With
a sinking heart he made his way to the king. Hirgon the rider
of Gondor was there before him, and beside him stood now
another man, like him and dressed alike, but shorter and
broader. As Merry entered he was speaking to the king.
‘It comes from Mordor, lord,’ he said. ‘It began last night
at sunset. From the hills in the Eastfold of your realm I saw
it rise and creep across the sky, and all night as I rode it came
behind eating up the stars. Now the great cloud hangs over
all the land between here and the Mountains of Shadow; and
it is deepening. War has already begun.’
For a while the king sat silent. At last he spoke. ‘So we
come to it in the end,’ he said: ‘the great battle of our time,
in which many things shall pass away. But at least there is no
longer need for hiding. We will ride the straight way and the
open road and with all our speed. The muster shall begin at
once, and wait for none that tarry. Have you good store in
Minas Tirith? For if we must ride now in all haste, then we
must ride light, with but meal and water enough to last us
into battle.’
‘We have very great store long prepared,’ answered
Hirgon. ‘Ride now as light and as swift as you may!’
‘Then call the heralds, E´ omer,’ said The´oden. ‘Let the
Riders be marshalled!’
the muster of rohan 1049
E´ omer went out, and presently the trumpets rang in the
Hold and were answered by many others from below; but
their voices no longer sounded clear and brave as they had
seemed to Merry the night before. Dull they seemed and
harsh in the heavy air, braying ominously.
The king turned to Merry. ‘I am going to war, Master
Meriadoc,’ he said. ‘In a little while I shall take the road. I
release you from my service, but not from my friendship.
You shall abide here, and if you will, you shall serve the Lady
E´ owyn, who will govern the folk in my stead.’
‘But, but, lord,’ Merry stammered, ‘I offered you my
sword. I do not want to be parted from you like this, The´oden
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,’ said The´oden; ‘and
great though your heart be, you cannot ride on such beasts.’
‘Then tie me on to 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 wear my feet off and
arrive weeks too late.’
The´oden smiled. ‘Rather than that I would bear you with
me on Snowmane,’ he said. ‘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.’
Then E´ owyn rose up. ‘Come now, Meriadoc!’ she said. ‘I
will show you the gear that I have prepared for you.’ They
went out together. ‘This request only did Aragorn make to
me,’ said E´ owyn, as they passed among the tents, ‘that you
should be armed for battle. I have granted it, as I could. For
my heart tells me that you will need such gear ere the end.’
Now she led Merry to a booth among the lodges of the
king’s guard; and there an armourer brought out to her a
small helm, and a round shield, and other gear.
‘No mail have we to fit you,’ said E´ owyn, ‘nor any time
for the forging of such a hauberk; but here is also a stout
1050 the return of the king
jerkin of leather, a belt, and a knife. A sword you have.’
Merry bowed, and the lady showed him the shield, which
was like the shield that had been given to Gimli, and it bore
on it the device of the white horse. ‘Take all these things,’
she said, ‘and bear them to good fortune! Farewell now,
Master Meriadoc! Yet maybe we shall meet again, you
and I.’
So it was that amid a gathering gloom the King of the
Mark made ready to lead all his Riders on the eastward road.
Hearts were heavy and many quailed in the shadow. But they
were a stern people, loyal to their lord, and little weeping or
murmuring was heard, even in the camp in the Hold where
the exiles from Edoras were housed, women and children and
old men. Doom hung over them, but they faced it silently.
Two swift hours passed, and now the king sat upon his
white horse, glimmering in the half-light. Proud and tall he
seemed, though the hair that flowed beneath his high helm
was like snow; and many marvelled at him and took heart to
see him unbent and unafraid.
There on the wide flats beside the noisy river were marshalled in many companies well nigh five and fifty hundreds
of Riders fully armed, and many hundreds of other men with
spare horses lightly burdened. A single trumpet sounded.
The king raised his hand, and then silently the host of the
Mark began to move. Foremost went twelve of the king’s
household-men, Riders of renown. Then the king followed
with E´ omer on his right. He had said farewell to E´ owyn above
in the Hold, and the memory was grievous; but now he turned
his mind to the road that lay ahead. Behind him Merry rode
on Stybba with the errand riders of Gondor, and behind them
again twelve more of the king’s household. They passed down
the long ranks of waiting men with stern and unmoved faces.
But when they had come almost to the end of the line 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
the muster of rohan 1051
he shivered, for it came suddenly to him that it was the face
of one without hope who goes in search of death.
On down the grey road they went beside the Snowbourn
rushing on its stones; through the hamlets of Underharrow
and Upbourn, where many sad faces of women looked out
from dark doors; and so without horn or harp or music of
men’s voices the great ride into the East began with which
the songs of Rohan were busy for many long lives of men
thereafter.
From dark Dunharrow in the dim morning
with thane and captain rode Thengel’s son:
to Edoras he came, the ancient halls
of the Mark-wardens mist-enshrouded;
golden timbers were in gloom mantled.
Farewell he bade to his free people,
hearth and high-seat, and the hallowed places,
where long he had feasted ere the light faded.
Forth rode the king, fear behind him,
fate before him. Fealty kept he;
oaths he had taken, all fulfilled them.
Forth rode The´oden. Five nights and days
east and onward rode the Eorlingas
through Folde and Fenmarch and the Firienwood,
six thousand spears to Sunlending,
Mundburg the mighty under Mindolluin,
Sea-kings’ city in the South-kingdom
foe-beleaguered, fire-encircled.
Doom drove them on. Darkness took them,
horse and horseman; hoofbeats afar
sank into silence: so the songs tell us.
It was indeed in deepening gloom that the king came to
Edoras, although it was then but noon by the hour. There he
halted only a short while and strengthened his host by some
three score of Riders that came late to the weapontake. Now
having eaten he made ready to set out again, and he wished
1052 the return of the king
his esquire a kindly farewell. But Merry begged for the last
time not to be parted from him.
‘This is no journey for such steeds as Stybba, as I have
told you,’ said The´oden. ‘And in such a battle as we think to
make on the fields of Gondor what would you do, Master
Meriadoc, swordthain though you be, and greater of heart
than of stature?’
‘As for that, who can tell?’ answered Merry. ‘But why,
lord, did you receive me as swordthain, if not to stay by your
side? And I would not have it said of me in song only that I
was always left behind!’
‘I received you for your safe-keeping,’ answered The´oden;
‘and also to do as I might bid. None of my Riders can bear
you as burden. If the battle were before my gates, maybe
your deeds would be remembered by the minstrels; but it is
a hundred leagues and two to Mundburg where Denethor is
lord. I will say no more.’
Merry bowed and went away unhappily, and stared at the
lines of horsemen. Already the companies were preparing to
start: men were tightening girths, looking to saddles, caressing
their horses; some gazed uneasily at the lowering sky. 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. ‘I will bear
you before me, under my cloak until we are far afield, and
this darkness is yet darker. Such good will should not be
denied. Say no more to any man, but come!’
‘Thank you indeed!’ said Merry. ‘Thank you, sir, though
I do not know your name.’
‘Do you not?’ said the Rider softly. ‘Then call me
Dernhelm.’

---

the muster of rohan 1053
Thus it came to pass that when the king set out, before
Dernhelm sat Meriadoc the hobbit, and the great grey steed
Windfola made little of the burden; for Dernhelm was less in
weight than many men, though lithe and well-knit in frame.
On into the shadow they rode. In the willow-thickets where
Snowbourn flowed into Entwash, twelve leagues east of
Edoras, they camped that night. And then on again through
the Folde; and through the Fenmarch, where to their right
great oakwoods climbed on the skirts of the hills under the
shades of dark Halifirien by the borders of Gondor; but away
to their left the mists lay on the marshes fed by the mouths
of Entwash. And as they rode rumour came of war in the
North. Lone men, riding wild, brought word of foes assailing
their east-borders, of orc-hosts marching in the Wold of
Rohan.
‘Ride on! Ride on!’ cried E´ omer. ‘Too late now to turn
aside. The fens of Entwash must guard our flank. Haste now
we need. Ride on!’
And so King The´oden departed from his own realm, and
mile by mile the long road wound away, and the beacon hills
marched past: Calenhad, Min-Rimmon, Erelas, Nardol. But
their fires were quenched. All the lands were grey and still;
and ever the shadow deepened before them, and hope waned
in every heart.
Chapter 4
THE SIEGE OF GONDOR
Pippin was roused by Gandalf. Candles were lit in their
chamber, for only a dim twilight came through the windows;
the air was heavy as with approaching thunder.
‘What is the time?’ said Pippin yawning.
‘Past the second hour,’ said Gandalf. ‘Time to get up and
make yourself presentable. You are summoned to the Lord
of the City to learn your new duties.’
‘And will he provide breakfast?’
‘No! I have provided it: all that you will get till noon. Food
is now doled out by order.’
Pippin looked ruefully at the small loaf and (he thought)
very inadequate pat of butter which was set out for him,
beside a cup of thin milk. ‘Why did you bring me here?’ he
said.
‘You know quite well,’ said Gandalf. ‘To keep you out of
mischief; and if you do not like being here, you can remember
that you brought it on yourself.’ Pippin said no more.
Before long he was walking with Gandalf once more
down the cold corridor to the door of the Tower Hall. There
Denethor sat in a grey gloom, like an old patient spider,
Pippin thought; he did not seem to have moved since the day
before. He beckoned Gandalf to a seat, but Pippin was left
for a while standing unheeded. Presently the old man turned
to him:
‘Well, Master Peregrin, I hope that you used yesterday to
your profit, and to your liking? Though I fear that the board
is barer in this city than you could wish.’
Pippin had an uncomfortable feeling that most of what he
had said or done was somehow known to the Lord of the
the siege of gondor 1055
City, and much was guessed of what he thought as well. He
did not answer.
‘What would you do in my service?’
‘I thought, sir, that you would tell me my duties.’
‘I will, when I learn what you are fit for,’ said Denethor.
‘But that I shall learn soonest, maybe, if I keep you beside
me. The esquire of my chamber has begged leave to go to
the out-garrison, so you shall take his place for a while. You
shall wait on me, bear errands, and talk to me, if war and
council leave me any leisure. Can you sing?’
‘Yes,’ said Pippin. ‘Well, yes, well enough for my own
people. But we have no songs fit for great halls and evil times,
lord. We seldom sing of anything more terrible than wind or
rain. And most of my songs are about things that make us
laugh; or about food and drink, of course.’
‘And why should such songs be unfit for my halls, or for
such hours as these? We who have lived long under the
Shadow may surely listen to echoes from a land untroubled
by it? Then we may feel that our vigil was not fruitless,
though it may have been thankless.’
Pippin’s heart sank. He did not relish the idea of singing
any song of the Shire to the Lord of Minas Tirith, certainly
not the comic ones that he knew best; they were too, well,
rustic for such an occasion. He was however spared the ordeal
for the present. He was not commanded to sing. Denethor
turned to Gandalf, asking questions about the Rohirrim and
their policies, and the position of E´ omer, the king’s nephew.
Pippin marvelled at the amount that the Lord seemed to
know about a people that lived far away, though it must, he
thought, be many years since Denethor himself had ridden
abroad.
Presently Denethor waved to Pippin and dismissed him
again for a while. ‘Go to the armouries of the Citadel,’ he
said, ‘and get you there the livery and gear of the Tower. It
will be ready. It was commanded yesterday. Return when
you are clad!’
It was as he said; and Pippin soon found himself arrayed
1056 the return of the king
in strange garments, all of black and silver. He had a small
hauberk, its rings forged of steel, maybe, yet black as jet; and
a high-crowned helm with small raven-wings on either side,
set with a silver star in the centre of the circlet. Above the
mail was a short surcoat of black, but broidered on the breast
in silver with the token of the Tree. His old clothes were
folded and put away, but he was permitted to keep the grey
cloak of Lo´rien, though not to wear it when on duty. He
looked now, had he known it, verily Ernil i Pheriannath, the
Prince of the Halflings, that folk had called him; but he felt
uncomfortable. And the gloom began to weigh on his spirits.
It was dark and dim all day. From the sunless dawn until
evening the heavy shadow had deepened, and all hearts in
the City were oppressed. Far above a great cloud streamed
slowly westward from the Black Land, devouring light, borne
upon a wind of war; but below the air was still and breathless,
as if all the Vale of Anduin waited for the onset of a ruinous
storm.
About the eleventh hour, released at last for a while from
service, Pippin came out and went in search of food and
drink to cheer his heavy heart and make his task of waiting
more supportable. In the messes he met Beregond again, who
had just come from an errand over the Pelennor out to the
Guard-towers upon the Causeway. Together they strolled
out to the walls; for Pippin felt imprisoned indoors, and stifled
even in the lofty citadel. Now they sat side by side again in
the embrasure looking eastward, where they had eaten and
talked the day before.
It was the sunset-hour, but the great pall had now stretched
far into the West, and only as it sank at last into the Sea did
the Sun escape to send out a brief farewell gleam before the
night, even as Frodo saw it at the Cross-roads touching the
head of the fallen king. But to the fields of the Pelennor,
under the shadow of Mindolluin, there came no gleam: they
were brown and drear.
Already it seemed years to Pippin since he had sat there
the siege of gondor 1057
before, in some half-forgotten time when he had still been a
hobbit, a light-hearted wanderer touched little by the perils
he had passed through. Now he was one small soldier in a
city preparing for a great assault, clad in the proud but
sombre manner of the Tower of Guard.
In some other time and place Pippin might have been
pleased with his new array, but he knew now that he was
taking part in no play; he was in deadly earnest the servant
of a grim master in the greatest peril. The hauberk was
burdensome, and the helm weighed upon his head. His cloak
he had cast aside upon the seat. He turned his tired gaze
away from the darkling fields below and yawned, and then
he sighed.
‘You are weary of this day?’ said Beregond.
‘Yes,’ said Pippin, ‘very: tired out with idleness and waiting. I have kicked my heels at the door of my master’s
chamber for many slow hours, while he has debated with
Gandalf and the Prince and other great persons. And I’m not
used, Master Beregond, to waiting hungry on others while
they eat. It is a sore trial for a hobbit, that. No doubt you will
think I should feel the honour more deeply. But what is the
good of such honour? Indeed what is the good even of food
and drink under this creeping shadow? What does it mean?
The very air seems thick and brown! Do you often have such
glooms when the wind is in the East?’
‘Nay,’ said Beregond, ‘this is no weather of the world. This
is some device of his malice; some broil of fume from the
Mountain of Fire that he sends to darken hearts and counsel.
And so it doth indeed. I wish the Lord Faramir would return.
He would not be dismayed. But now, who knows if he will
ever come back across the River out of the Darkness?’
‘Yes,’ said Pippin, ‘Gandalf, too, is anxious. He was disappointed, I think, not to find Faramir here. And where has
he got to himself ? He left the Lord’s council before the noonmeal, and in no good mood either, I thought. Perhaps he has
some foreboding of bad news.’

---

1058 the return of the king
Suddenly as they talked they were stricken dumb, frozen
as it were to listening stones. Pippin cowered down with his
hands pressed to his ears; but Beregond, who had been looking out from the battlement as he spoke of Faramir, remained
there, stiffened, staring out with starting eyes. Pippin knew
the shuddering cry that he had heard: it was the same that he
had heard long ago in the Marish of the Shire, but now it
was grown in power and hatred, piercing the heart with a
poisonous despair.
At last Beregond spoke with an effort. ‘They have come!’
he said. ‘Take courage and look! There are fell things below.’
Reluctantly Pippin climbed on to the seat and looked out
over the wall. The Pelennor lay dim beneath him, fading
away to the scarce guessed line of the Great River. But now
wheeling swiftly across it, like shadows of untimely night, he
saw in the middle airs below him five birdlike forms, horrible
as carrion-fowl yet greater than eagles, cruel as death. Now
they swooped near, venturing almost within bowshot of the
walls, now they circled away.
‘Black Riders!’ muttered Pippin. ‘Black Riders of the
air! But see, Beregond!’ he cried. ‘They are looking for
something, surely? See how they wheel and swoop, always
down to that point over there! And can you see something moving on the ground? Dark little things. Yes, men on
horses: four or five. Ah! I cannot stand it! Gandalf! Gandalf
save us!’
Another long screech rose and fell, and he threw himself
back again from the wall, panting like a hunted animal. Faint
and seemingly remote through that shuddering cry he heard
winding up from below the sound of a trumpet ending on a
long high note.
‘Faramir! The Lord Faramir! It is his call!’ cried Beregond.
‘Brave heart! But how can he win to the Gate, if these foul
hell-hawks have other weapons than fear? But look! They
hold on. They will make the Gate. No! the horses are running
mad. Look! the men are thrown; they are running on foot.
No, one is still up, but he rides back to the others. That will
the siege of gondor 1059
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. At that moment 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 thought that 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; but it seemed to
Pippin that he raised his hand, and from it a shaft of white
light stabbed upwards. The Nazguˆl gave a long wailing cry
and swerved away; and with that the four others wavered,
and then rising 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.
Pippin watched, and he saw the horseman and the White
Rider meet and halt, waiting for those on foot. Men now
hurried out to them from the City; and soon they all passed
from sight under the outer walls, and he knew that they were
entering the Gate. Guessing that they would come at once
to the Tower and the Steward, he hurried to the entrance of
the citadel. There he was joined by many others who had
watched the race and the rescue from the high walls.
It was not long before a clamour was heard in the streets
leading up from the outer circles, and there was much cheering and crying of the names of Faramir and Mithrandir.
1060 the return of the king
Presently Pippin saw torches, and followed by a press of
people two horsemen riding slowly: one was in white but
shining no longer, pale in the twilight as if his fire was spent
or veiled; the other was dark and his head was bowed. They
dismounted, and as grooms took Shadowfax and the other
horse, they walked forward to the sentinel at the gate: Gandalf
steadily, his grey cloak flung back, and a fire still smouldering
in his eyes; the other, clad all in green, slowly, swaying a little
as a weary or a wounded man.
Pippin pressed forward as they passed under the lamp
beneath the gate-arch, and when he saw the pale face of
Faramir he caught his breath. It was the face of one who has
been assailed by a great fear or anguish, but has mastered it
and now is quiet. Proud and grave he stood for a moment as
he spoke to the guard, and Pippin gazing at him saw how
closely he resembled his brother Boromir – whom Pippin had
liked from the first, admiring the great man’s lordly but kindly
manner. Yet suddenly for Faramir his heart was strangely
moved with a feeling that he had not known before. Here
was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times
revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and
remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but
touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Elder Race. He
knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was
a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even
under the shadow of the black wings.
‘Faramir!’ he cried aloud with the others. ‘Faramir!’ And
Faramir, catching his strange voice among the clamour of the
men of the City, turned and looked down at him and was
amazed.
‘Whence come you?’ he said. ‘A halfling, and in the livery
of the Tower! Whence…?’
But with that Gandalf stepped to his side and spoke. ‘He
came with me from the land of the Halflings,’ he said.
‘He came with me. But let us not tarry here. There is much
to say and to do, and you are weary. He shall come with us.
Indeed he must, for if he does not forget his new duties more
the siege of gondor 1061
easily than I do, he must attend on his lord again within this
hour. Come, Pippin, follow us!’
So at length they came to the private chamber of the Lord
of the City. There deep seats were set about a brazier of
charcoal; and wine was brought; and there Pippin, hardly
noticed, stood behind the chair of Denethor and felt his
weariness little, so eagerly did he listen to all that was said.
When Faramir had taken white bread and drunk a draught
of wine, he sat upon a low chair at his father’s left hand.
Removed a little upon the other side sat Gandalf in a chair
of carven wood; and he seemed at first to be asleep. For at
the beginning Faramir spoke only of the errand upon which
he had been sent out ten days before, and he brought tidings
of Ithilien and of movements of the Enemy and his allies; and
he told of the fight on the road when the men of Harad and
their great beast were overthrown: a captain reporting to his
master such matters as had often been heard before, small
things of border-war that now seemed useless and petty,
shorn of their renown.
Then suddenly Faramir looked at Pippin. ‘But now we
come to strange matters,’ he said. ‘For this is not the first
halfling that I have seen walking out of northern legends into
the Southlands.’
At that Gandalf sat up and gripped the arms of his chair;
but he said nothing, and with a look stopped the exclamation
on Pippin’s lips. Denethor looked at their faces and nodded
his head, as though in sign that he had read much there
before it was spoken. Slowly, while the others sat silent and
still, Faramir told his tale, with his eyes for the most part on
Gandalf, though now and again his glance strayed to Pippin,
as if to refresh his memory of others that he had seen.
As his story was unfolded of his meeting with Frodo and
his servant and of the events at Henneth Annuˆn, Pippin
became aware that Gandalf’s hands were trembling as they
clutched the carven wood. White they seemed now and very
old, and as he looked at them, suddenly with a thrill of fear
1062 the return of the king
Pippin knew that Gandalf, Gandalf himself, was troubled,
even afraid. The air of the room was close and still. At last
when Faramir spoke of his parting with the travellers, and of
their resolve to go to Cirith Ungol, his voice fell, and he shook
his head and sighed. Then Gandalf sprang up.
‘Cirith Ungol? Morgul Vale?’ he 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, if they went straight south; and then they
would be still five leagues westward of the accursed Tower.
At swiftest they could not come there before today, and
maybe they have not come there yet. 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.’
Gandalf paced the floor. ‘The morning of two days ago,
nigh on three days of journey! How far is the place where
you parted?’
‘Some twenty-five leagues as a bird flies,’ answered
Faramir. ‘But 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. I hope that I have not done ill?’ He looked
at his father.
‘Ill?’ cried Denethor, and his eyes flashed suddenly. ‘Why
do you ask? The men were under your command. Or do you
ask for my judgement on all your deeds? Your bearing is
lowly in my presence, yet it is long now since you turned
from your own way at my counsel. See, you have spoken
skilfully, as ever; but I, have I not seen your eye fixed on
the siege of gondor 1063
Mithrandir, seeking whether you said well or too much? He
has long had your heart in his keeping.
‘My son, your father is old but not yet dotard. I can see
and hear, as was my wont; and little of what you have half
said or left unsaid is now hidden from me. I know the answer
to many riddles. Alas, alas for Boromir!’
‘If what I have done displeases you, my father,’ said
Faramir quietly, ‘I wish I had known your counsel before the
burden of so weighty a judgement was thrust on me.’
‘Would that have availed to change your judgement?’ said
Denethor. ‘You would still have done just so, I deem. I know
you well. Ever your desire is to appear lordly and generous
as a king of old, gracious, gentle. That may well befit one of
high race, if he sits in power and peace. But in desperate
hours gentleness may be repaid with death.’
‘So be it,’ said Faramir.
‘So be it!’ cried Denethor. ‘But not with your death only,
Lord Faramir: with the death also of your father, and of all
your people, whom it is your part to protect now that Boromir
is gone.’
‘Do you wish then,’ said Faramir, ‘that our places had been
exchanged?’
‘Yes, I wish that indeed,’ said Denethor. ‘For Boromir was
loyal to me and no wizard’s pupil. He would have remembered his father’s need, and would not have squandered
what fortune gave. He would have brought me a mighty gift.’
For a moment Faramir’s restraint gave way. ‘I would ask
you, my father, to remember why it was that I, not he, was
in Ithilien. On one occasion at least your counsel has prevailed, not long ago. It was the Lord of the City that gave the
errand to him.’
‘Stir not the bitterness in the cup that I mixed for myself,’
said Denethor. ‘Have I not tasted it now many nights upon
my tongue, foreboding that worse yet lay in the dregs? As
now indeed I find. Would it were not so! Would that this
thing had come to me!’
‘Comfort yourself!’ said Gandalf. ‘In no case would
1064 the return of the king
Boromir have brought it to you. He is dead, and died well;
may he sleep in peace! Yet you deceive yourself. He would
have stretched out his hand to this thing, and taking it he
would have fallen. He would have kept it for his own, and
when he returned you would not have known your son.’
The face of Denethor set hard and cold. ‘You found
Boromir less apt to your hand, did you not?’ he said softly.
‘But I who was his father say that he would have brought it
to me. You are wise, maybe, Mithrandir, yet with all your
subtleties you have not all wisdom. Counsels may be found
that are neither the webs of wizards nor the haste of fools. I
have in this matter more lore and wisdom than you deem.’
‘What then is your wisdom?’ said Gandalf.
‘Enough to perceive that there are two follies to avoid. To
use this thing is perilous. At this hour, to send it in the hands
of a witless halfling into the land of the Enemy himself, as
you have done, and this son of mine, that is madness.’
‘And the Lord Denethor what would he have done?’
‘Neither. But most surely not for any argument would he
have set this thing at a hazard beyond all but a fool’s hope,
risking our utter ruin, if the Enemy should recover what he
lost. Nay, it should have been kept, hidden, hidden dark and
deep. Not used, I say, unless at the uttermost end of need,
but set beyond his grasp, save by a victory so final that what
then befell would not trouble us, being dead.’
‘You think, as is your wont, my lord, of Gondor only,’ said
Gandalf. ‘Yet there are other men and other lives, and time
still to be. And for me, I pity even his slaves.’
‘And where will other men look for help, if Gondor falls?’
answered Denethor. ‘If I had this thing now in the deep vaults
of this citadel, we should not then shake with dread under
this gloom, fearing the worst, and our counsels would be
undisturbed. If you do not trust me to endure the test, you
do not know me yet.’
‘Nonetheless I do not trust you,’ said Gandalf. ‘Had I done
so, I could have sent this thing hither to your keeping and
spared myself and others much anguish. And now hearing
the siege of gondor 1065
you speak I trust you less, no more than Boromir. Nay, stay
your wrath! I do not trust myself in this, and I refused this
thing, even as a freely given gift. You are strong and can still
in some matters govern yourself, Denethor; yet if you had
received this thing, it would have overthrown you. Were it
buried beneath the roots of Mindolluin, still it would burn
your mind away, as the darkness grows, and the yet worse
things follow that soon shall come upon us.’
For a moment the eyes of Denethor glowed again as
he faced Gandalf, and Pippin felt once more the strain between their wills; but now almost it seemed as if their glances
were like blades from eye to eye, flickering as they fenced.
Pippin trembled fearing some dreadful stroke. But suddenly
Denethor relaxed and grew cold again. He shrugged his
shoulders.
‘If I had! If you had!’ he said. ‘Such words and ifs are vain.
It has gone into the Shadow, and only time will show what
doom awaits it, and us. The time will not be long. In what is
left, let all who fight the Enemy in their fashion be at one,
and keep hope while they may, and after hope still the hardihood to die free.’ He turned to Faramir. ‘What think you of
the garrison at Osgiliath?’
‘It is not strong,’ said Faramir. ‘I have sent the company
of Ithilien to strengthen it, as I have said.’
‘Not enough, I deem,’ said Denethor. ‘It is there that the
first blow will fall. They will have need of some stout captain
there.’
‘There and elsewhere in many places,’ said Faramir, and
sighed. ‘Alas for my brother, whom I too loved!’ He rose.
‘May I have your leave, father?’ And then he swayed and
leaned upon his father’s chair.
‘You are weary, I see,’ said Denethor. ‘You have ridden
fast and far, and under shadows of evil in the air, I am told.’
‘Let us not speak of that!’ said Faramir.
‘Then we will not,’ said Denethor. ‘Go now and rest as
you may. Tomorrow’s need will be sterner.’

---

1066 the return of the king
All now took leave of the Lord of the City and went to rest
while they still could. Outside there was a starless blackness
as Gandalf, with Pippin beside him bearing a small torch,
made his way to their lodging. They did not speak until they
were behind closed doors. Then at last Pippin took Gandalf’s
hand.
‘Tell me,’ he said, ‘is there any hope? For Frodo, I mean;
or at least mostly for Frodo.’
Gandalf put his hand on Pippin’s head. ‘There never was
much hope,’ he answered. ‘Just a fool’s hope, as I have been
told. And when I heard of Cirith Ungol——’ He broke off
and strode to the window, as if his eyes could pierce the night
in the East. ‘Cirith Ungol!’ he muttered. ‘Why that way, I
wonder?’ He turned. ‘Just now, Pippin, my heart almost failed
me, hearing that name. And yet in truth I believe that the
news that Faramir brings has some hope in it. For it seems
clear that our Enemy has opened his war at last and made
the first move while Frodo was still free. So now for many
days he will have his eye turned this way and that, away from
his own land. And yet, Pippin, I feel from afar his haste and
fear. He has begun sooner than he would. Something has
happened to stir him.’
Gandalf stood for a moment in thought. ‘Maybe,’ he muttered. ‘Maybe even your foolishness helped, my lad. Let me
see: some five days ago now he would discover that we had
thrown down Saruman, and had taken the Stone. Still what
of that? We could not use it to much purpose, or without his
knowing. Ah! I wonder. Aragorn? His time draws near. And
he is strong and stern underneath, Pippin; bold, determined,
able to take his own counsel and dare great risks at need.
That may be it. He may have used the Stone and shown
himself to the Enemy, challenging him, for this very purpose.
I wonder. Well, we shall not know the answer till the Riders
of Rohan come, if they do not come too late. There are evil
days ahead. To sleep while we may!’
‘But,’ said Pippin.
‘But what?’ said Gandalf. ‘Only one but will I allow tonight.’
the siege of gondor 1067
‘Gollum,’ said Pippin. ‘How on earth could they be going
about with him, even following him? And I could see that
Faramir did not like the place he was taking them to any
more than you do. What is wrong?’
‘I cannot answer that now,’ said Gandalf. ‘Yet my heart
guessed that Frodo and Gollum would meet before the end.
For good, or for evil. But of Cirith Ungol I will not speak
tonight. Treachery, treachery I fear; treachery of that miserable creature. But so it must be. Let us remember that a
traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not
intend. It can be so, sometimes. Good night!’
The next day came with a morning like a brown dusk, and
the hearts of men, lifted for a while by the return of Faramir,
sank low again. The winged Shadows were not seen again
that day, yet ever and anon, high above the city, a faint cry
would come, and many who heard it would stand stricken
with a passing dread, while the less stout-hearted quailed and
wept.
And now Faramir was gone again. ‘They give him no rest,’
some murmured. ‘The Lord drives his son too hard, and now
he must do the duty of two, for himself and for the one that
will not return.’ And ever men looked northward, asking:
‘Where are the Riders of Rohan?’
In truth Faramir did not go by his own choosing. But the
Lord of the City was master of his Council, and he was in
no mood that day to bow to others. Early in the morning the
Council had been summoned. There all the captains judged
that because of the threat in the South their force was too
weak to make any stroke of war on their own part, unless
perchance the Riders of Rohan yet should come. Meanwhile
they must man the walls and wait.
‘Yet,’ said Denethor, ‘we should not lightly abandon the
outer defences, the Rammas made with so great a labour.
And the Enemy must pay dearly for the crossing of the River.
That he cannot do, in force to assail the City, either north of
Cair Andros because of the marshes, or southwards towards
1068 the return of the king
Lebennin because of the breadth of the River, that needs
many boats. It is at Osgiliath that he will put his weight, as
before when Boromir denied him the passage.’
‘That was but a trial,’ said Faramir. ‘Today we may make
the Enemy pay ten times our loss at the passage and yet rue
the exchange. For he can afford to lose a host better than we
to lose a company. And the retreat of those that we put out
far afield will be perilous, if he wins across in force.’
‘And what of Cair Andros?’ said the Prince. ‘That, too,
must be held, if Osgiliath is defended. Let us not forget the
danger on our left. The Rohirrim may come, and they may
not. But Faramir has told us of great strength drawing ever
to the Black Gate. More than one host may issue from it, and
strike for more than one passage.’
‘Much must be risked in war,’ said Denethor. ‘Cair Andros
is manned, and no more can be sent so far. But I will not
yield the River and the Pelennor unfought – not if there is a
captain here who has still the courage to do his lord’s will.’
Then all were silent. But at length Faramir said: ‘I do not
oppose your will, sire. Since you are robbed of Boromir, I
will go and do what I can in his stead – if you command it.’
‘I do so,’ said Denethor.
‘Then farewell!’ said Faramir. ‘But if I should return, think
better of me!’
‘That depends on the manner of your return,’ said
Denethor.
Gandalf it was that last spoke to Faramir ere he rode east.
‘Do not throw your life away rashly or in bitterness,’ he said.
‘You will be needed here, for other things than war. Your
father loves you, Faramir, and will remember it ere the end.
Farewell!’
So now the Lord Faramir had gone forth again, and had
taken with him such strength of men as were willing to go
or could be spared. On the walls some gazed through the
gloom towards the ruined city, and they wondered what
chanced there, for nothing could be seen. And others, as
the siege of gondor 1069
ever, looked north and counted the leagues to The´oden in
Rohan. ‘Will he come? Will he remember our old alliance?’
they said.
‘Yes, he will come,’ said Gandalf, ‘even if he comes too
late. But think! At best the Red Arrow cannot have reached
him more than two days ago, and the miles are long from
Edoras.’
It was night again ere news came. A man rode in haste
from the fords, saying that a host had issued from Minas
Morgul and was already drawing nigh to Osgiliath; and it
had been joined by regiments from the South, Haradrim,
cruel and tall. ‘And we have learned,’ said the messenger,
‘that the Black Captain leads them once again, and the fear
of him has passed before him over the River.’
With those ill-boding words the third day closed since
Pippin came to Minas Tirith. Few went to rest, for small
hope had any now that even Faramir could hold the fords
for long.
The next day, though the darkness had reached its full and
grew no deeper, it weighed heavier on men’s hearts, and
a great dread was on them. Ill news came soon again. The
passage of Anduin was won by the Enemy. Faramir was
retreating to the wall of the Pelennor, rallying his men to the
Causeway Forts; but he was ten times outnumbered.
‘If he wins back at all across the Pelennor, his enemies will
be on his heels,’ said the messenger. ‘They have paid dear
for the crossing, but less dearly than we hoped. The plan
has been well laid. It is now seen that in secret they have
long been building floats and barges in great number in East
Osgiliath. They swarmed across like beetles. But it is the
Black Captain that defeats us. Few will stand and abide even
the rumour of his coming. His own folk quail at him, and
they would slay themselves at his bidding.’
‘Then I am needed there more than here,’ said Gandalf,
and rode off at once, and the glimmer of him faded soon
1070 the return of the king
from sight. And all that night Pippin alone and sleepless stood
upon the wall and gazed eastward.
The bells of day had scarcely rung out again, a mockery
in the unlightened dark, when far away he saw fires spring
up, across in the dim spaces where the walls of the Pelennor
stood. The watchmen cried aloud, and all men in the City
stood to arms. Now ever and anon there was a red flash, and
slowly through the heavy air dull rumbles could be heard.
‘They have taken the wall!’ men cried. ‘They are blasting
breaches in it. They are coming!’
‘Where is Faramir?’ cried Beregond in dismay. ‘Say not
that he has fallen!’
It was Gandalf that brought the first tidings. With a handful
of horsemen he came in the middle morning, riding as escort
to a line of wains. They were filled with wounded men, all
that could be saved from the wreck of the Causeway Forts.
At once he went to Denethor. The Lord of the City sat now
in a high chamber above the Hall of the White Tower with
Pippin at his side; and through the dim windows, north and
south and east, he bent his dark eyes, as if to pierce the
shadows of doom that ringed him round. Most to the North
he looked, and would pause at whiles to listen as if by some
ancient art his ears might hear the thunder of hoofs on the
plains far away.
‘Is Faramir come?’ he asked.
‘No,’ said Gandalf. ‘But he still lived when I left him. Yet
he is resolved to stay with the rearguard, lest the retreat over
the Pelennor become a rout. He may, perhaps, hold his men
together long enough, but I doubt it. He is pitted against a
foe too great. For one has come that I feared.’
‘Not – the Dark Lord?’ cried Pippin, forgetting his place
in his terror.
Denethor laughed bitterly. ‘Nay, not yet, Master Peregrin!
He will not come save only to triumph over me when all is
won. He uses others as his weapons. So do all great lords, if
they are wise, Master Halfling. Or why should I sit here in
the siege of gondor 1071
my tower and think, and watch, and wait, spending even my
sons? For I can still wield a brand.’
He stood up and cast open his long black cloak, and behold!
he was clad in mail beneath, and girt with a long sword,
great-hilted in a sheath of black and silver. ‘Thus have I
walked, and thus now for many years have I slept,’ he said,
‘lest with age the body should grow soft and timid.’
‘Yet now under the Lord of Barad-duˆr the most fell of
all his captains is already master of your outer walls,’ said
Gandalf. ‘King of Angmar long ago, Sorcerer, Ringwraith,
Lord of the Nazguˆl, a spear of terror in the hand of Sauron,
shadow of despair.’
‘Then, Mithrandir, you had a foe to match you,’ said
Denethor. ‘For myself, I have long known who is the chief
captain of the hosts of the Dark Tower. Is this all that you
have returned to say? Or can it be that you have withdrawn
because you are overmatched?’
Pippin trembled, fearing that Gandalf would be stung to
sudden wrath, but his fear was needless. ‘It might be so,’
Gandalf answered softly. ‘But our trial of strength is not yet
come. And if words spoken of old be true, not by the hand
of man shall he fall, and hidden from the Wise is the doom
that awaits him. However that may be, the Captain of Despair
does not press forward, yet. He rules rather according to the
wisdom that you have just spoken, from the rear, driving his
slaves in madness on before.
‘Nay, I came rather to guard the hurt men that can yet be
healed; for the Rammas is breached far and wide, and soon
the host of Morgul will enter in at many points. And I came
chiefly to say this. Soon there will be battle on the fields. A
sortie must be made ready. Let it be of mounted men. In
them lies our brief hope, for in one thing only is the enemy
still poorly provided: he has few horsemen.’
‘And we also have few. Now would the coming of Rohan
be in the nick of time,’ said Denethor.
‘We are likely to see other newcomers first,’ said Gandalf.
‘Fugitives from Cair Andros have already reached us. The
1072 the return of the king
isle has fallen. Another army is come from the Black Gate,
crossing from the north-east.’
‘Some have accused you, Mithrandir, of delighting to bear
ill news,’ said Denethor, ‘but to me this is no longer news: it
was known to me ere nightfall yesterday. As for the sortie, I
had already given thought to it. Let us go down.’
Time passed. At length watchers on the walls could see the
retreat of the out-companies. Small bands of weary and often
wounded men came first with little order; some were running
wildly as if pursued. Away to the eastward the distant fires
flickered, and now it seemed that here and there they crept
across the plain. Houses and barns were burning. Then from
many points little rivers of red flame came hurrying on, winding through the gloom, converging towards the line of the
broad road that led from the City-gate to Osgiliath.
‘The enemy,’ men murmured. ‘The dike is down. Here
they come pouring through the breaches! And they carry
torches, it seems. Where are our own folk?’
It drew now to evening by the hour, and the light was so
dim that even far-sighted men upon the Citadel could discern
little clearly out upon the fields, save only the burnings that
ever multiplied, and the lines of fire that grew in length and
speed. At last, less than a mile from the City, a more ordered
mass of men came into view, marching not running, still
holding together.
The watchers held their breath. ‘Faramir must be there,’
they said. ‘He can govern man and beast. He will make
it yet.’
Now the main retreat was scarcely two furlongs distant.
Out of the gloom behind a small company of horsemen galloped, all that was left of the rearguard. Once again they
turned at bay, facing the oncoming lines of fire. Then suddenly there was a tumult of fierce cries. Horsemen of the
enemy swept up. The lines of fire became flowing torrents,
file upon file of Orcs bearing flames, and wild Southron men
the siege of gondor 1073
with red banners, shouting with harsh tongues, surging up,
overtaking the retreat. And with a piercing cry out of the dim
sky fell the winged shadows, the Nazguˆl stooping to the kill.
The retreat became a rout. Already men were breaking
away, flying wild and witless here and there, flinging away
their weapons, crying out in fear, falling to the ground.
And then a trumpet rang from the Citadel, and Denethor
at last released the sortie. Drawn up within the shadow of the
Gate and under the looming walls outside they had waited
for his signal: all the mounted men that were left in the City.
Now they sprang forward, formed, quickened to a gallop,
and charged with a great shout. And from the walls an
answering shout went up; for foremost on the field rode the
swan-knights of Dol Amroth with their Prince and his blue
banner at their head.
‘Amroth for Gondor!’ they cried. ‘Amroth to Faramir!’
Like thunder they broke upon the enemy on either flank
of the retreat; but one rider outran them all, swift as the wind
in the grass: Shadowfax bore him, shining, unveiled once
more, a light starting from his upraised hand.
The Nazguˆl screeched and swept away, for their Captain
was not yet come to challenge the white fire of his foe. The
hosts of Morgul intent on their prey, taken at unawares in
wild career, broke, scattering like sparks in a gale. The outcompanies with a great cheer turned and smote their pursuers. Hunters became the hunted. The retreat became an
onslaught. The field was strewn with stricken orcs and men,
and a reek arose of torches cast away, sputtering out in
swirling smoke. The cavalry rode on.
But Denethor did not permit them to go far. Though the
enemy was checked, and for the moment driven back, great
forces were flowing in from the East. Again the trumpet rang,
sounding the retreat. The cavalry of Gondor halted. Behind
their screen the out-companies re-formed. Now steadily they
came marching back. They reached the Gate of the City
and entered, stepping proudly; and proudly the people of
the City looked on them and cried their praise, and yet they
1074 the return of the king
were troubled in heart. For the companies were grievously
reduced. Faramir had lost a third of his men. And where
was he?
Last of all he came. His men passed in. The mounted
knights returned, and at their rear the banner of Dol Amroth,
and the Prince. And in his arms before him on his horse he
bore the body of his kinsman, Faramir son of Denethor,
found upon the stricken field.
‘Faramir! Faramir!’ men cried, weeping in the streets. But
he did not answer, and they bore him away up the winding
road to the Citadel and his father. Even as the Nazguˆl had
swerved aside from the onset of the White Rider, there came
flying a deadly dart, and Faramir, as he held at bay a mounted
champion of Harad, had fallen to the earth. Only the charge
of Dol Amroth had saved him from the red southland swords
that would have hewed him as he lay.
The Prince Imrahil brought Faramir to the White Tower,
and he said: ‘Your son has returned, lord, after great deeds,’
and he told all that he had seen. But Denethor rose and
looked on the face of his son and was silent. Then he bade
them make a bed in the chamber and lay Faramir upon it
and depart. But he himself went up alone into the secret
room under the summit of the Tower; and many who looked
up thither at that time saw a pale light that gleamed and
flickered from the narrow windows for a while, and then
flashed and went out. And when Denethor descended again
he went to Faramir and sat beside him without speaking,
but the face of the Lord was grey, more deathlike than his
son’s.
So now at last the City was besieged, enclosed in a ring of
foes. The Rammas was broken, and all the Pelennor abandoned to the Enemy. The last word to come from outside
the walls was brought by men flying down the northward
road ere the Gate was shut. They were the remnant of the
guard that was kept at that point where the way from Ano´rien
and Rohan ran into the townlands. Ingold led them, the same
the siege of gondor 1075
who had admitted Gandalf and Pippin less than five days
before, while the sun still rose and there was hope in the
morning.
‘There is no news of the Rohirrim,’ he said. ‘Rohan will
not come now. Or if they come, it will not avail us. The new
host that we had tidings of has come first, from over the
River by way of Andros, it is said. They are strong: battalions
of Orcs of the Eye, and countless companies of Men of a
new sort that we have not met before. Not tall, but broad and
grim, bearded like dwarves, wielding great axes. Out of some
savage land in the wide East they come, we deem. They hold
the northward road; and many have passed on into Ano´rien.
The Rohirrim cannot come.’
The Gate was shut. All night watchmen on the walls heard
the rumour of the enemy that roamed outside, burning field
and tree, and hewing any man that they found abroad, living
or dead. The numbers that had already passed over the River
could not be guessed in the darkness, but when morning, or
its dim shadow, stole over the plain, it was seen that even
fear by night had scarcely over-counted them. The plain was
dark with their marching companies, and as far as eyes could
strain in the mirk there sprouted, like a foul fungus-growth,
all about the beleaguered city great camps of tents, black or
sombre red.
Busy as ants hurrying orcs were digging, digging lines of
deep trenches in a huge ring, just out of bowshot from the
walls; and as the trenches were made each was filled with fire,
though how it was kindled or fed, by art or devilry, none
could see. All day the labour went forward, while the men of
Minas Tirith looked on, unable to hinder it. And as each
length of trench was completed, they could see great wains
approaching; and soon yet more companies of the enemy
were swiftly setting up, each behind the cover of a trench,
great engines for the casting of missiles. There were none
upon the City walls large enough to reach so far or to stay
the work.
1076 the return of the king
At first men laughed and did not greatly fear such devices.
For the main wall of the City was of great height and marvellous thickness, built ere the power and craft of Nu´menor
waned in exile; and its outward face was like to the Tower of
Orthanc, hard and dark and smooth, unconquerable by steel
or fire, unbreakable except by some convulsion that would
rend the very earth on which it stood.
‘Nay,’ they said, ‘not if the Nameless One himself should
come, not even he could enter here while we yet live.’ But
some answered: ‘While we yet live? How long? He has a
weapon that has brought low many strong places since the
world began. Hunger. The roads are cut. Rohan will not
come.’
But the engines did not waste shot upon the indomitable
wall. It was no brigand or orc-chieftain that ordered the
assault upon the Lord of Mordor’s greatest foe. A power and
mind of malice guided it. As soon as the great catapults were
set, with many yells and the creaking of rope and winch, they
began to throw missiles marvellously high, so that they passed
right above the battlement and fell thudding within the first
circle of the City; and many of them by some secret art burst
into flame as they came toppling down.
Soon there was great peril of fire behind the wall, and all
who could be spared were busy quelling the flames that
sprang up in many places. Then among the greater casts
there fell another hail, less ruinous but more horrible. All
about the streets and lanes behind the Gate it tumbled down,
small round shot that did not burn. But when men ran to
learn what it might be, they cried aloud or wept. For the
enemy was flinging into the City all the heads of those who
had fallen fighting at Osgiliath, or on the Rammas, or in the
fields. They were grim to look on; for though some were
crushed and shapeless, and some had been cruelly hewn, yet
many had features that could be told, and it seemed that they
had died in pain; and all were branded with the foul token of
the Lidless Eye. But marred and dishonoured as they were,
it often chanced that thus a man would see again the face of
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someone that he had known, who had walked proudly once
in arms, or tilled the fields, or ridden in upon a holiday from
the green vales in the hills.
In vain men shook their fists at the pitiless foes that
swarmed before the Gate. Curses they heeded not, nor
understood the tongues of western men, crying with harsh
voices like beasts and carrion-birds. But soon there were few
left in Minas Tirith who had the heart to stand up and defy
the hosts of Mordor. For yet another weapon, swifter than
hunger, the Lord of the Dark Tower had: dread and despair.
The Nazguˆl came again, and as their Dark Lord now grew
and put forth his strength, so their voices, which uttered only
his will and his malice, were filled with evil and horror. Ever
they circled above the City, like vultures that expect their fill
of doomed men’s flesh. Out of sight and shot they flew, and
yet were ever present, and their deadly voices rent the air.
More unbearable they became, not less, at each new cry. At
length even the stout-hearted would fling themselves to the
ground as the hidden menace passed over them, or they
would stand, letting their weapons fall from nerveless hands
while into their minds a blackness came, and they thought
no more of war; but only of hiding and of crawling, and of
death.
During all this black day Faramir lay upon his bed in the
chamber of the White Tower, wandering in a desperate fever;
dying someone said, and soon ‘dying’ all men were saying
upon the walls and in the streets. And by him his father sat,
and said nothing, but watched, and gave no longer any heed
to the defence.
No hours so dark had Pippin known, not even in the
clutches of the Uruk-hai. It was his duty to wait upon the
Lord, and wait he did, forgotten it seemed, standing by
the door of the unlit chamber, mastering his own fears
as best he could. And as he watched, it seemed to him
that Denethor grew old before his eyes, as if something
had snapped in his proud will, and his stern mind was
1078 the return of the king
overthrown. Grief maybe had wrought it, and remorse. He
saw tears on that once tearless face, more unbearable than
wrath.
‘Do not weep, lord,’ he stammered. ‘Perhaps he will get
well. Have you asked Gandalf ?’
‘Comfort me not with wizards!’ said Denethor. ‘The
fool’s hope has failed. The Enemy has found it, and now his
power waxes; he sees our very thoughts, and all we do is
ruinous.
‘I sent my son forth, unthanked, unblessed, out into needless peril, and here he lies with poison in his veins. Nay, nay,
whatever may now betide in war, my line too is ending, even
the House of the Stewards has failed. Mean folk shall rule
the last remnant of the Kings of Men, lurking in the hills until
all are hounded out.’
Men came to the door crying for the Lord of the City.
‘Nay, I will not come down,’ he said. ‘I must stay beside my
son. He might still speak before the end. But that is near.
Follow whom you will, even the Grey Fool, though his hope
has failed. Here I stay.’
So it was that Gandalf took command of the last defence
of the City of Gondor. Wherever he came men’s hearts would
lift again, and the winged shadows pass from memory. Tirelessly he strode from Citadel to Gate, from north to south
about the wall; and with him went the Prince of Dol Amroth
in his shining mail. For he and his knights still held themselves
like lords in whom the race of Nu´menor ran true. Men that
saw them whispered saying: ‘Belike the old tales speak well;
there is Elvish blood in the veins of that folk, for the people
of Nimrodel dwelt in that land once long ago.’ And then
one would sing amid the gloom some staves of the Lay of
Nimrodel, or other songs of the Vale of Anduin out of
vanished years.
And yet – when they had gone, the shadows closed on
men again, and their hearts went cold, and the valour of
Gondor withered into ash. And so slowly they passed out
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of a dim day of fears into the darkness of a desperate
night. Fires now raged unchecked in the first circle of the
City, and the garrison upon the outer wall was already in
many places cut off from retreat. But the faithful who
remained there at their posts were few; most had fled beyond
the second gate.
Far behind the battle the River had been swiftly bridged,
and all day more force and gear of war had poured across.
Now at last in the middle night the assault was loosed. The
vanguard passed through the trenches of fire by many devious paths that had been left between them. On they came,
reckless of their loss as they approached, still bunched and
herded, within the range of bowmen on the wall. But indeed
there were too few now left there to do them great damage,
though the light of the fires showed up many a mark for
archers of such skill as Gondor once had boasted. Then
perceiving that the valour of the City was already beaten
down, the hidden Captain put forth his strength. Slowly the
great siege-towers built in Osgiliath rolled forward through
the dark.
Messengers came again to the chamber in the White
Tower, and Pippin let them enter, for they were urgent.
Denethor turned his head slowly from Faramir’s face, and
looked at them silently.
‘The first circle of the City is burning, lord,’ they said.
‘What are your commands? You are still the Lord and
Steward. Not all will follow Mithrandir. Men are flying from
the walls and leaving them unmanned.’
‘Why? Why do the fools fly?’ said Denethor. ‘Better to
burn sooner than late, for burn we must. Go back to your
bonfire! And I? I will go now to my pyre. To my pyre! No
tomb for Denethor and Faramir. No tomb! No long slow
sleep of death embalmed. We will burn like heathen kings
before ever a ship sailed hither from the West. The West has
failed. Go back and burn!’
1080 the return of the king
The messengers without bow or answer turned and fled.
Now Denethor stood up and released the fevered hand of
Faramir that he had held. ‘He is burning, already burning,’
he said sadly. ‘The house of his spirit crumbles.’ Then stepping softly towards Pippin he looked down at him.
‘Farewell!’ he said. ‘Farewell, Peregrin son of Paladin! Your
service has been short, and now it is drawing to an end. I
release you from the little that remains. Go now, and die in
what way seems best to you. And with whom you will, even
that friend whose folly brought you to this death. Send for
my servants and then go. Farewell!’
‘I will not say farewell, my lord,’ said Pippin kneeling. And
then suddenly hobbit-like once more, he stood up and looked
the old man in the eyes. ‘I will take your leave, sir,’ he said;
‘for I want to see Gandalf very much indeed. But he is no
fool; and I will not think of dying until he despairs of life.
But from my word and your service I do not wish to be
released while you live. And if they come at last to the Citadel,
I hope to be here and stand beside you and earn perhaps the
arms that you have given me.’
‘Do as you will, Master Halfling,’ said Denethor. ‘But my
life is broken. Send for my servants!’ He turned back to
Faramir.
Pippin left him and called for the servants, and they came:
six men of the household, strong and fair; yet they trembled
at the summons. But in a quiet voice Denethor bade them
lay warm coverlets on Faramir’s bed and take it up. And they
did so, and lifting up the bed they bore it from the chamber.
Slowly they paced to trouble the fevered man as little as might
be, and Denethor, now bending on a staff, followed them;
and last came Pippin.
Out from the White Tower they walked, as if to a funeral,
out into the darkness, where the overhanging cloud was lit
beneath with flickers of dull red. Softly they paced the great
courtyard, and at a word from Denethor halted beside the
Withered Tree.
the siege of gondor 1081
All was silent, save for the rumour of war in the City down
below, and they heard the water dripping sadly from the dead
branches into the dark pool. Then they went on through the
Citadel gate, where the sentinel stared at them in wonder and
dismay as they passed by. Turning westward they came at
length to a door in the rearward wall of the sixth circle. Fen
Hollen it was called, for it was kept ever shut save at times of
funeral, and only the Lord of the City might use that way, or
those who bore the token of the tombs and tended the houses
of the dead. Beyond it went a winding road that descended
in many curves down to the narrow land under the shadow
of Mindolluin’s precipice where stood the mansions of the
dead Kings and of their Stewards.
A porter sat in a little house beside the way, and with fear
in his eyes he came forth bearing a lantern in his hand. At
the Lord’s command he unlocked the door, and silently it
swung back; and they passed through, taking the lantern from
his hand. It was dark on the climbing road between ancient
walls and many-pillared balusters looming in the swaying
lantern-beam. Their slow feet echoed as they walked down,
down, until at last they came to the Silent Street, Rath Dı´nen,
between pale domes and empty halls and images of men long
dead; and they entered into the House of the Stewards and
set down their burden.
There Pippin, staring uneasily about him, saw that he
was in a wide vaulted chamber, draped as it were with the
great shadows that the little lantern threw upon its shrouded
walls. And dimly to be seen were many rows of tables, carved
of marble; and upon each table lay a sleeping form, hands
folded, head pillowed upon stone. But one table near at hand
stood broad and bare. Upon it at a sign from Denethor they
laid Faramir and his father side by side, and covered them
with one covering, and stood then with bowed heads as
mourners beside a bed of death. Then Denethor spoke in a
low voice.
‘Here we will wait,’ he said. ‘But send not for the embalmers. Bring us wood quick to burn, and lay it all about us,
1082 the return of the king
and beneath; and pour oil upon it. And when I bid you thrust
in a torch. Do this and speak no more to me. Farewell!’
‘By your leave, lord!’ said Pippin and turned and fled in
terror from the deathly house. ‘Poor Faramir!’ he thought.
‘I must find Gandalf. Poor Faramir! Quite likely he needs
medicine more than tears. Oh, where can I find Gandalf ? In
the thick of things, I suppose; and he will have no time to
spare for dying men or madmen.’
At the door he turned to one of the servants who had
remained on guard there. ‘Your master is not himself,’ he
said. ‘Go slow! Bring no fire to this place while Faramir lives!
Do nothing until Gandalf comes!’
‘Who is the master of Minas Tirith?’ the man answered.
‘The Lord Denethor or the Grey Wanderer?’
‘The Grey Wanderer or no one, it would seem,’ said
Pippin, and he sped back and up the winding way as swiftly
as his feet would carry him, past the astonished porter,
out through the door, and on, till he came near the gate of
the Citadel. The sentinel hailed him as he went by, and he
recognized the voice of Beregond.
‘Whither do you run, Master Peregrin?’ he cried.
‘To find Mithrandir,’ Pippin answered.
‘The Lord’s errands are urgent and should not be hindered
by me,’ said Beregond; ‘but tell me quickly, if you may: what
goes forward? Whither has my Lord gone? I have just come
on duty, but I heard that he passed towards the Closed Door,
and men were bearing Faramir before him.’
‘Yes,’ said Pippin, ‘to the Silent Street.’
Beregond bowed his head to hide his tears. ‘They said that
he was dying,’ he sighed, ‘and now he is dead.’
‘No,’ said Pippin, ‘not yet. And even now his death might
be prevented, I think. But the Lord of the City, Beregond,
has fallen before his city is taken. He is fey and dangerous.’
Quickly he told of Denethor’s strange words and deeds. ‘I
must find Gandalf at once.’
‘Then you must go down to the battle.’
‘I know. The Lord has given me leave. But, Beregond, if
the siege of gondor 1083
you can, do something to stop any dreadful thing happening.’
‘The Lord does not permit those who wear the black and
silver to leave their post for any cause, save at his own
command.’
‘Well, you must choose between orders and the life of
Faramir,’ said Pippin. ‘And as for orders, I think you have a
madman to deal with, not a lord. I must run. I will return if
I can.’
He ran on, down, down towards the outer city. Men flying
back from the burning passed him, and some seeing his livery
turned and shouted, but he paid no heed. At last he was
through the Second Gate, beyond which great fires leaped
up between the walls. Yet it seemed strangely silent. No noise
or shouts of battle or din of arms could be heard. Then
suddenly there was a dreadful cry and a great shock, and a
deep echoing boom. Forcing himself on against a gust of fear
and horror that shook him almost to his knees, Pippin turned
a corner opening on the wide place behind the City Gate. He
stopped dead. He had found Gandalf; but he shrank back,
cowering into a shadow.
Ever since the middle night the great assault had gone
on. The drums rolled. To the north and to the south company upon company of the enemy pressed to the walls. There
came great beasts, like moving houses in the red and fitful
light, the muˆmakil of the Harad dragging through the lanes
amid the fires huge towers and engines. Yet their Captain
cared not greatly what they did or how many might be
slain: their purpose was only to test the strength of the defence and to keep the men of Gondor busy in many places.
It was against the Gate that he would throw his heaviest
weight. Very strong it might be, wrought of steel and iron,
and guarded with towers and bastions of indomitable stone,
yet it was the key, the weakest point in all that high and
impenetrable wall.
The drums rolled louder. Fires leaped up. Great engines
crawled across the field; and in the midst was a huge ram,
1084 the return of the king
great as a forest-tree a hundred feet in length, swinging on
mighty chains. Long had it been forging in the dark smithies
of Mordor, and its hideous head, founded of black steel, was
shaped in the likeness of a ravening wolf; on it spells of ruin
lay. Grond they named it, in memory of the Hammer of the
Underworld of old. Great beasts drew it, orcs surrounded it,
and behind walked mountain-trolls to wield it.
But about the Gate resistance still was stout, and there the
knights of Dol Amroth and the hardiest of the garrison stood
at bay. Shot and dart fell thick; siege-towers crashed or blazed
suddenly like torches. All before the walls on either side of
the Gate the ground was choked with wreck and with bodies
of the slain; yet still driven as by a madness more and more
came up.
Grond crawled on. Upon its housing no fire would catch;
and though now and again some great beast that hauled it
would go mad and spread stamping ruin among the orcs
innumerable that guarded it, their bodies were cast aside from
its path and others took their place.
Grond crawled on. The drums rolled wildly. Over the hills
of slain a hideous shape appeared: a horseman, tall, hooded,
cloaked in black. Slowly, trampling the fallen, he rode forth,
heeding no longer any dart. He halted and held up a long
pale sword. And as he did so a great fear fell on all, defender
and foe alike; and the hands of men drooped to their sides,
and no bow sang. For a moment all was still.
The drums rolled and rattled. With a vast rush Grond
was hurled forward by huge hands. It reached the Gate. It
swung. A deep boom rumbled through the City like thunder
running in the clouds. But the doors of iron and posts of steel
withstood the stroke.
Then the Black Captain rose in his stirrups and cried aloud
in a dreadful voice, speaking in some forgotten tongue words
of power and terror to rend both heart and stone.
Thrice he cried. Thrice the great ram boomed. And suddenly upon the last stroke the Gate of Gondor broke. As if
stricken by some blasting spell it burst asunder: there was a
the siege of gondor 1085
flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven
fragments to the ground.
In rode the Lord of the Nazguˆl. A great black shape against
the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of
despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazguˆl, under the archway
that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his
face.
All save one. There waiting, silent and still in the space
before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon Shadowfax: Shadowfax
who alone among the free horses of the earth endured the
terror, unmoving, steadfast as a graven image in Rath Dı´nen.
‘You cannot enter here,’ said Gandalf, and the huge
shadow halted. ‘Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go
back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your
Master. Go!’
The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had
a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The
red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and
dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter.
‘Old fool!’ he said. ‘Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not
know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!’
And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down
the blade.
Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away
behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill
and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war,
welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the
shadows of death was coming with the dawn.
And as if in answer there came from far away another note.
Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin’s sides they dimly
echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had
come at last.
Chapter 5
THE RIDE OF THE ROHIRRIM
It was dark and Merry could see nothing as he lay on the
ground rolled in a blanket; yet though the night was airless
and windless, all about him hidden trees were sighing softly.
He lifted his head. Then he heard it again: a sound like faint
drums in the wooded hills and mountain-steps. The throb
would cease suddenly and then be taken up again at some
other point, now nearer, now further off. He wondered if the
watchmen had heard it.
He could not see them, but he knew that all round him
were the companies of the Rohirrim. He could smell the
horses in the dark, and could hear their shiftings and their
soft stamping on the needle-covered ground. The host was
bivouacked in the pine-woods that clustered about Eilenach
Beacon, a tall hill standing up from the long ridges of the
Dru´adan Forest that lay beside the great road in East Ano´rien.
Tired as he was Merry could not sleep. He had ridden now
for four days on end, and the ever-deepening gloom had
slowly weighed down his heart. He began to wonder why he
had been so eager to come, when he had been given every
excuse, even his lord’s command, to stay behind. He wondered, too, if the old King knew that he had been disobeyed
and was angry. Perhaps not. There seemed to be some understanding between Dernhelm and Elfhelm, the Marshal who
commanded the e´ored in which they were riding. He and all
his men ignored Merry and pretended not to hear if he spoke.
He might have been just another bag that Dernhelm was
carrying. Dernhelm was no comfort: he never spoke to anyone. Merry felt small, unwanted, and lonely. Now the time
was anxious, and the host was in peril. They were less than
a day’s ride from the out-walls of Minas Tirith that encircled
the ride of the rohirrim 1087
the townlands. Scouts had been sent ahead. Some had not
returned. Others hastening back had reported that the road
was held in force against them. A host of the enemy was
encamped upon it, three miles west of Amon Dıˆn, and some
strength of men was already thrusting along the road and was
no more than three leagues away. Orcs were roving in the
hills and woods along the roadside. The king and E´ omer held
council in the watches of the night.
Merry wanted somebody to talk to, and he thought of
Pippin. But that only increased his restlessness. Poor Pippin,
shut up in the great city of stone, lonely and afraid. Merry
wished he was a tall Rider like E´ omer and could blow a horn
or something and go galloping to his rescue. He sat up,
listening to the drums that were beating again, now nearer at
hand. Presently he heard voices speaking low, and he saw
dim half-shrouded lanterns passing through the trees. Men
nearby began to move uncertainly in the dark.
A tall figure loomed up and stumbled over him, cursing the
tree-roots. He recognized the voice of Elfhelm the Marshal.
‘I am not a tree-root, Sir,’ he said, ‘nor a bag, but a bruised
hobbit. The least you can do in amends is to tell me what is
afoot.’
‘Anything that can keep so in this devil’s mirk,’ answered
Elfhelm. ‘But my lord sends word that we must set ourselves
in readiness: orders may come for a sudden move.’
‘Is the enemy coming then?’ asked Merry anxiously. ‘Are
those their drums? I began to think I was imagining them, as
no one else seemed to take any notice of them.’
‘Nay, nay,’ said Elfhelm, ‘the enemy is on the road not in
the hills. You hear the Woses, the Wild Men of the Woods:
thus they talk together from afar. They still haunt Dru´adan
Forest, it is said. Remnants of an older time they be, living
few and secretly, wild and wary as the beasts. They go not
to war with Gondor or the Mark; but now they are troubled
by the darkness and the coming of the orcs: they fear lest the
Dark Years be returning, as seems likely enough. Let us be
thankful that they are not hunting us: for they use poisoned
1088 the return of the king
arrows, it is said, and they are woodcrafty beyond compare.
But they have offered their services to The´oden. Even now
one of their headmen is being taken to the king. Yonder go
the lights. So much I have heard but no more. And now I
must busy myself with my lord’s commands. Pack yourself
up, Master Bag!’ He vanished into the shadows.
Merry did not like this talk of wild men and poisoned
darts, but quite apart from that a great weight of dread was
on him. Waiting was unbearable. He longed to know what
was going to happen. He got up and soon was walking warily
in pursuit of the last lantern before it disappeared among the
trees.
Presently he came to an open space where a small tent had
been set up for the king under a great tree. A large lantern,
covered above, was hanging from a bough and cast a pale
circle of light below. There sat The´oden and E´ omer, and
before them on the ground sat a strange squat shape of a
man, gnarled as an old stone, and the hairs of his scanty
beard straggled on his lumpy chin like dry moss. He was
short-legged and fat-armed, thick and stumpy, and clad
only with grass about his waist. Merry felt that he had seen
him before somewhere, and suddenly he remembered the
Pu´kel-men of Dunharrow. Here was one of those old images
brought to life, or maybe a creature descended in true line
through endless years from the models used by the forgotten
craftsmen long ago.
There was a silence as Merry crept nearer, and then the
Wild Man began to speak, in answer to some question, it
seemed. His voice was deep and guttural, yet to Merry’s
surprise he spoke the Common Speech, though in a halting
fashion, and uncouth words were mingled with it.
‘No, father of Horse-men,’ he said, ‘we fight not. Hunt
only. Kill gorguˆn in woods, hate orc-folk. You hate gorguˆn
too. We help as we can. Wild Men have long ears and long
eyes; know all paths. Wild Men live here before Stone-houses;
before Tall Men come up out of Water.’
the ride of the rohirrim 1089
‘But our need is for aid in battle,’ said E´ omer. ‘How will
you and your folk help us?’
‘Bring news,’ said the Wild Man. ‘We look out from hills.
We climb big mountain and look down. Stone-city is shut.
Fire burns there outside; now inside too. You wish to come
there? Then you must be quick. But gorguˆn and men out of
far-away,’ he waved a short gnarled arm eastward, ‘sit on
horse-road. Very many, more than Horse-men.’
‘How do you know that?’ said E´ omer.
The old man’s flat face and dark eyes showed nothing, but
his voice was sullen with displeasure. ‘Wild Men are wild,
free, but not children,’ he answered. ‘I am great headman,
Ghaˆn-buri-Ghaˆn. I count many things: stars in sky, leaves
on trees, men in the dark. You have a score of scores counted
ten times and five. They have more. Big fight, and who will
win? And many more walk round walls of Stone-houses.’
‘Alas! he speaks all too shrewdly,’ said The´oden. ‘And our
scouts say that they have cast trenches and stakes across the
road. We cannot sweep them away in sudden onset.’
‘And yet we need great haste,’ said E´ omer. ‘Mundburg is
on fire!’
‘Let Ghaˆn-buri-Ghaˆn finish!’ said the Wild Man. ‘More
than one road he knows. He will lead you by road where no
pits are, no gorguˆn walk, only Wild Men and beasts. Many
paths were made when Stonehouse-folk were stronger. They
carved hills as hunters carve beast-flesh. Wild Men think they
ate stone for food. They went through Dru´adan to Rimmon
with great wains. They go no longer. Road is forgotten, but
not by Wild Men. Over hill and behind hill it lies still under
grass and tree, there behind Rimmon and down to Dıˆn, and
back at the end to Horse-men’s road. Wild Men will show
you that road. Then you will kill gorguˆn and drive away bad
dark with bright iron, and Wild Men can go back to sleep in
the wild woods.’
E´ omer and the king spoke together in their own tongue.
At length The´oden turned to the Wild Man. ‘We will receive
your offer,’ he said. ‘For though we leave a host of foes
1090 the return of the king
behind, what matter? If the Stone-city falls, then we shall
have no returning. If it is saved, then the orc-host itself will
be cut off. If you are faithful, Ghaˆn-buri-Ghaˆn, then we will
give you rich reward, and you shall have the friendship of the
Mark for ever.’
‘Dead men are not friends to living men, and give them no
gifts,’ said the Wild Man. ‘But if you live after the Darkness,
then leave Wild Men alone in the woods and do not hunt
them like beasts any more. Ghaˆn-buri-Ghaˆn will not lead you
into trap. He will go himself with father of Horse-men, and
if he leads you wrong, you will kill him.’
‘So be it!’ said The´oden.
‘How long will it take to pass by the enemy and come back
to the road?’ asked E´ omer. ‘We must go at foot-pace, if you
guide us; and I doubt not the way is narrow.’
‘Wild Men go quick on feet,’ said Ghaˆn. ‘Way is wide for
four horses in Stonewain Valley yonder,’ he waved his hand
southwards; ‘but narrow at beginning and at end. Wild Man
could walk from here to Dıˆn between sunrise and noon.’
‘Then we must allow at least seven hours for the leaders,’
said E´ omer; ‘but we must reckon rather on some ten hours
for all. Things unforeseen may hinder us, and if our host is
all strung out, it will be long ere it can be set in order when
we issue from the hills. What is the hour now?’
‘Who knows?’ said The´oden. ‘All is night now.’
‘It is all dark, but it is not all night,’ said Ghaˆn. ‘When Sun
comes we feel her, even when she is hidden. Already she climbs
over East-mountains. It is the opening of day in the sky-fields.’
‘Then we must set out as soon as may be,’ said E´ omer.
‘Even so we cannot hope to come to Gondor’s aid today.’
Merry waited to hear no more, but slipped away to get
ready for the summons to the march. This was the last stage
before the battle. It did not seem likely to him that many of
them would survive it. But he thought of Pippin and the
flames in Minas Tirith and thrust down his own dread.
All went well that day, and no sight or sound had they of
the ride of the rohirrim 1091
the enemy waiting to waylay them. The Wild Men had put
out a screen of wary hunters, so that no orc or roving spy
should learn of the movements in the hills. The light was
more dim than ever as they drew nearer to the beleaguered
city, and the Riders passed in long files like dark shadows of
men and horses. Each company was guided by a wild woodman; but old Ghaˆn walked beside the king. The start had
been slower than was hoped, for it had taken time for the
Riders, walking and leading their horses, to find paths over
the thickly wooded ridges behind their camp and down into
the hidden Stonewain Valley. It was late in the afternoon
when the leaders came to wide grey thickets stretching beyond the eastward side of Amon Dıˆn, and masking a great
gap in the line of hills that from Nardol to Dıˆn ran east and
west. Through the gap the forgotten wain-road long ago
had run down, back into the main horse-way from the City
through Ano´rien; but now for many lives of men trees
had had their way with it, and it had vanished, broken and
buried under the leaves of uncounted years. But the thickets
offered to the Riders their last hope of cover before they
went into open battle; for beyond them lay the road and the
plains of Anduin, while east and southwards the slopes were
bare and rocky, as the writhen hills gathered themselves
together and climbed up, bastion upon bastion, into the great
mass and shoulders of Mindolluin.
The leading company was halted, and as those behind filed
up out of the trough of the Stonewain Valley they spread out
and passed to camping-places under the grey trees. The king
summoned the captains to council. E´ omer sent out scouts to
spy upon the road; but old Ghaˆn shook his head.
‘No good to send Horse-men,’ he said. ‘Wild Men have
already seen all that can be seen in the bad air. They will
come soon and speak to me here.’
The captains came; and then out of the trees crept warily
other pu´kel-shapes so like old Ghaˆn that Merry could hardly
tell them apart. They spoke to Ghaˆn in a strange throaty
language.
1092 the return of the king
Presently Ghaˆn turned to the king. ‘Wild Men say many
things,’ he said. ‘First, be wary! Still many men in camp
beyond Dıˆn, an hour’s walk yonder,’ he waved his arm west
towards the black beacon. ‘But none to see between here and
Stone-folk’s new walls. Many busy there. Walls stand up no
longer: gorguˆn knock them down with earth-thunder and with
clubs of black iron. They are unwary and do not look about
them. They think their friends watch all roads!’ At that old
Ghaˆn made a curious gurgling noise, and it seemed that he
was laughing.
‘Good tidings!’ cried E´ omer. ‘Even in this gloom hope
gleams again. Our Enemy’s devices oft serve us in his despite.
The accursed darkness itself has been a cloak to us. And
now, lusting to destroy Gondor and throw it down stone
from stone, his orcs have taken away my greatest fear. The
out-wall could have been held long against us. Now we can
sweep through – if once we win so far.’
‘Once again I thank you, Ghaˆn-buri-Ghaˆn of the woods,’
said The´oden. ‘Good fortune go with you for tidings and for
guidance!’
‘Kill gorguˆn! Kill orc-folk! No other words please Wild
Men,’ answered Ghaˆn. ‘Drive away bad air and darkness
with bright iron!’
‘To do these things we have ridden far,’ said the king,
‘and we shall attempt them. But what we shall achieve only
tomorrow will show.’
Ghaˆn-buri-Ghaˆn squatted down and touched the earth
with his horny brow in token of farewell. Then he got up as
if to depart. But suddenly he stood looking up like some
startled woodland animal snuffling a strange air. A light came
in his eyes.
‘Wind is changing!’ he cried, and with that, in a twinkling
as it seemed, he and his fellows had vanished into the glooms,
never to be seen by any Rider of Rohan again. Not long after
far away eastward the faint drums throbbed again. Yet to no
heart in all the host came any fear that the Wild Men were
unfaithful, strange and unlovely though they might appear.
the ride of the rohirrim 1093
‘We need no further guidance,’ said Elfhelm; ‘for there are
riders in the host who have ridden down to Mundburg in
days of peace. I for one. When we come to the road it will
veer south, and there will lie before us still seven leagues ere
we reach the wall of the townlands. Along most of that way
there is much grass on either side of the road. On that stretch
the errand-riders of Gondor reckoned to make their greatest
speed. We may ride it swiftly and without great rumour.’
‘Then since we must look for fell deeds and the need of all
our strength,’ said E´ omer, ‘I counsel that we rest now, and
set out hence by night, and so time our going that we come
upon the fields when tomorrow is as light as it will be, or
when our lord gives the signal.’
To this the king assented, and the captains departed. But
soon Elfhelm returned. ‘The scouts have found naught to
report beyond the Grey Wood, lord,’ he said, ‘save two men
only: two dead men and two dead horses.’
‘Well?’ said E´ omer. ‘What of it?’
‘This, lord: they were errand-riders of Gondor; Hirgon
was one maybe. At least his hand still clasped the Red Arrow,
but his head was hewn off. And this also: it would seem by
the signs that they were fleeing westward when they fell. As I
read it, they found the enemy already on the out-wall, or
assailing it, when they returned – and that would be two
nights ago, if they used fresh horses from the posts, as is their
wont. They could not reach the City and turned back.’
‘Alas!’ said The´oden. ‘Then Denethor has heard no news
of our riding and will despair of our coming.’
‘Need brooks no delay, yet late is better than never,’ said
E´ omer. ‘And mayhap in this time shall the old saw be proved
truer than ever before since men spoke with mouth.’
It was night. On either side of the road the host of Rohan
was moving silently. Now the road passing about the skirts of
Mindolluin turned southward. Far away and almost straight
ahead there was a red glow under the black sky and the sides
of the great mountain loomed dark against it. They were
1094 the return of the king
drawing near the Rammas of the Pelennor; but the day was
not yet come.
The king rode in the midst of the leading company, his
household-men about him. Elfhelm’s e´ored came next; and
now Merry noticed that Dernhelm had left his place and in
the darkness was moving steadily forward, until at last he was
riding just in rear of the king’s guard. There came a check.
Merry heard voices in front speaking softly. Out-riders had
come back who had ventured forward almost to the wall.
They came to the king.
‘There are great fires, lord,’ said one. ‘The City is all set
about with flame, and the field is full of foes. But all seem
drawn off to the assault. As well as we could guess, there are
few left upon the out-wall, and they are heedless, busy in
destruction.’
‘Do you remember the Wild Man’s words, lord?’ said
another. ‘I live upon the open Wold in days of peace; Wı´dfara
is my name, and to me also the air brings messages. Already
the wind is turning. There comes a breath out of the South;
there is a sea-tang in it, faint though it be. The morning will
bring new things. Above the reek it will be dawn when you
pass the wall.’
‘If you speak truly, Wı´dfara, then may you live beyond this
day in years of blessedness!’ said The´oden. He turned to the
men of his household who were near, and he spoke now in a
clear voice so that many also of the riders of the first e´ored
heard him:
‘Now is the hour come, Riders of the Mark, sons of
Eorl! Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far
behind. Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory
that you reap there shall be your own for ever. Oaths ye have
taken: now fulfil them all, to lord and land and league of
friendship!’
Men clashed spear upon shield.
‘E´ omer, my son! You lead the first e´ored,’ said The´oden;
‘and it shall go behind the king’s banner in the centre.
Elfhelm, lead your company to the right when we pass the
the ride of the rohirrim 1095
wall. And Grimbold shall lead his towards the left. Let the
other companies behind follow these three that lead, as they
have chance. Strike wherever the enemy gathers. Other plans
we cannot make, for we know not yet how things stand upon
the field. Forth now, and fear no darkness!’
The leading company rode off as swiftly as they could,
for it was still deep dark, whatever change Wı´dfara might
forebode. Merry was riding behind Dernhelm, clutching with
the left hand while with the other he tried to loosen his sword
in its sheath. He felt now bitterly the truth of the old king’s
words: in such a battle what would you do, Meriadoc? Just this,’
he thought: ‘encumber a rider, and hope at best to stay in my
seat and not be pounded to death by galloping hoofs!’
It was no more than a league to where the out-walls had
stood. They soon reached them; too soon for Merry. Wild
cries broke out, and there was some clash of arms, but it was
brief. The orcs busy about the walls were few and amazed,
and they were quickly slain or driven off. Before the ruin of
the north-gate in the Rammas the king halted again. The first
e´ored drew up behind him and about him on either side.
Dernhelm kept close to the king, though Elfhelm’s company
was away on the right. Grimbold’s men turned aside and
passed round to a great gap in the wall further eastward.
Merry peered from behind Dernhelm’s back. Far away,
maybe ten miles or more, there was a great burning, but
between it and the Riders lines of fire blazed in a vast crescent,
at the nearest point less than a league distant. He could make
out little more on the dark plain, and as yet he neither saw any
hope of morning, nor felt any wind, changed or unchanged.
Now silently the host of Rohan moved forward into the
field of Gondor, pouring in slowly but steadily, like the rising
tide through breaches in a dike that men have thought secure.
But the mind and will of the Black Captain were bent wholly
on the falling city, and as yet no tidings came to him warning
that his designs held any flaw.
1096 the return of the king
After a while the king led his men away somewhat eastward, to come between the fires of the siege and the outer
fields. Still they were unchallenged, and still The´oden gave
no signal. At last he halted once again. The City was now
nearer. A smell of burning was in the air and a very shadow
of death. The horses were uneasy. But the king sat upon
Snowmane, motionless, gazing upon the agony of Minas
Tirith, as if stricken suddenly by anguish, or by dread. He
seemed to shrink down, cowed by age. Merry himself felt as
if a great weight of horror and doubt had settled on him. His
heart beat slowly. Time seemed poised in uncertainty. They
were too late! Too late was worse than never! Perhaps
The´oden would quail, bow his old head, turn, slink away to
hide in the hills.
Then suddenly Merry felt it at last, beyond doubt: a
change. Wind was in his face! Light was glimmering. Far, far
away, in the South the clouds could be dimly seen as remote
grey shapes, rolling up, drifting: morning lay beyond them.
But at that same moment there was a flash, as if lightning
had sprung from the earth beneath the City. For a searing
second it stood dazzling far off in black and white, its topmost
tower like a glittering needle; and then as the darkness closed
again there came rolling over the fields a great boom.
At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly
erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his
stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there
had ever heard a mortal man achieve before:
Arise, arise, Riders of The´oden!
Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
With that he seized a great horn from Guthla´f his bannerbearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder.
the ride of the rohirrim 1097
And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in
music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour
was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the
mountains.
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang
away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse
upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered
the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. E´ omer
rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his
speed, and the front of the first e´ored roared like a breaker
foaming to the shore, but The´oden could not be overtaken.
Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new
fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a
god of old, even as Orome¨ the Great in the battle of the Valar
when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered,
and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed
into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning
came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was
removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took
them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode
over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song,
and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them,
and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came
even to the City.
Chapter 6
THE BATTLE OF THE
PELENNOR FIELDS
But it was no orc-chieftain or brigand that led the assault
upon Gondor. The darkness was breaking too soon, before
the date that his Master had set for it: fortune had betrayed
him for the moment, and the world had turned against him;
victory was slipping from his grasp even as he stretched out
his hand to seize it. But his arm was long. He was still in
command, wielding great powers. King, Ringwraith, Lord of
the Nazguˆl, he had many weapons. He left the Gate and
vanished.
The´oden King of the Mark had reached the road from the
Gate to the River, and he turned towards the City that was
now less than a mile distant. He slackened his speed a little,
seeking new foes, and his knights came about him, and
Dernhelm was with them. Ahead nearer the walls Elfhelm’s
men were among the siege-engines, hewing, slaying, driving
their foes into the fire-pits. Well nigh all the northern half of
the Pelennor was overrun, and there camps were blazing,
orcs were flying towards the River like herds before the hunters; and the Rohirrim went hither and thither at their will.
But they had not yet overthrown the siege, nor won the Gate.
Many foes stood before it, and on the further half of the plain
were other hosts still unfought. Southward beyond the road
lay the main force of the Haradrim, and there their horsemen
were gathered about the standard of their chieftain. And he
looked out, and in the growing light he saw the banner of the
king, and that it was far ahead of the battle with few men
about it. Then he was filled with a red wrath and shouted
the battle of the pelennor fields 1099
aloud, and displaying his standard, black serpent upon scarlet, he came against the white horse and the green with great
press of men; and the drawing of the scimitars of the
Southrons was like a glitter of stars.
Then The´oden was aware of him, and would not wait for
his onset, but crying to Snowmane he charged headlong to
greet him. Great was the clash of their meeting. But the white
fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, and more skilled
was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were
they but they clove through the Southrons like a fire-bolt in
a forest. Right through the press drove The´oden Thengel’s
son, and his spear was shivered as he threw down their chieftain. Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard,
hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered.
Then all that was left unslain of their cavalry turned and fled
far away.
But lo! suddenly in the midst of the glory of the king his
golden shield was dimmed. The new morning was blotted
from the sky. Dark fell about him. Horses reared and
screamed. Men cast from the saddle lay grovelling on the
ground.
‘To me! To me!’ cried The´oden. ‘Up Eorlingas! Fear no
darkness!’ But Snowmane wild with terror stood up on high,
fighting with the air, and then with a great scream he crashed
upon his side: a black dart had pierced him. The king fell
beneath him.
The great shadow descended like a falling cloud. And
behold! it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all
other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather
did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between
horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world
maybe it was, whose kind, lingering in forgotten mountains
cold beneath the Moon, outstayed their day, and in hideous
eyrie bred this last untimely brood, apt to evil. And the Dark
Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew
beyond the measure of all other things that fly; and he gave
1100 the return of the king
it to his servant to be his steed. Down, down it came, and
then, folding its fingered webs, it gave a croaking cry, and
settled upon the body of Snowmane, digging in its claws,
stooping its long naked neck.
Upon it sat a shape, black-mantled, huge and threatening.
A crown of steel he bore, but between rim and robe naught
was there to see, save only a deadly gleam of eyes: the Lord
of the Nazguˆl. To the air he had returned, summoning his
steed ere the darkness failed, and now he was come again,
bringing ruin, turning hope to despair, and victory to death.
A great black mace he wielded.
But The´oden was not utterly forsaken. The knights of his
house lay slain about him, or else mastered by the madness
of their steeds were borne far away. Yet one stood there still:
Dernhelm the young, faithful beyond fear; and he wept, for
he had loved his lord as a father. Right through the charge
Merry had been borne unharmed behind him, until the
Shadow came; and then Windfola had thrown them in his
terror, and now ran wild upon the plain. Merry crawled on
all fours like a dazed beast, and such a horror was on him
that he was blind and sick.
‘King’s man! King’s man!’ his heart cried within him. ‘You
must stay by him. As a father you shall be to me, you said.’
But his will made no answer, and his body shook. He dared
not open his eyes or look up.
Then out of the blackness in his mind he thought that he
heard Dernhelm speaking; yet now the voice seemed strange,
recalling some other voice that he had known.
‘Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead
in peace!’
A cold voice answered: ‘Come not between the Nazguˆl
and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear
thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness,
where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind
be left naked to the Lidless Eye.’
A sword rang as it was drawn. ‘Do what you will; but I will
hinder it, if I may.’
the battle of the pelennor fields 1101
‘Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!’
Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It
seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like
the ring of steel. ‘But no living man am I! You look upon a
woman. E´ owyn I am, E´ omund’s daughter. You stand between
me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless!
For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.’
The winged creature screamed at her, but the Ringwraith
made no answer, and was silent, as if in sudden doubt. Very
amazement for a moment conquered Merry’s fear. He
opened his eyes and the blackness was lifted from them.
There some paces from him sat the great beast, and all
seemed dark about it, and above it loomed the Nazguˆl Lord
like a shadow of despair. A little to the left facing them stood
she whom he had called Dernhelm. But the helm of her
secrecy had fallen from her, and her bright hair, released
from its bonds, gleamed with pale gold upon her shoulders.
Her eyes grey as the sea were hard and fell, and yet tears
were on her cheek. A sword was in her hand, and she raised
her shield against the horror of her enemy’s eyes.
E´ owyn it was, and Dernhelm also. For into Merry’s mind
flashed the memory of the face that he saw at the riding from
Dunharrow: the face of one that goes seeking death, having
no hope. Pity filled his heart and great wonder, and suddenly
the slow-kindled courage of his race awoke. He clenched his
hand. She should not die, so fair, so desperate! At least she
should not die alone, unaided.
The face of their enemy was not turned towards him, but
still he hardly dared to move, dreading lest the deadly eyes
should fall on him. Slowly, slowly he began to crawl aside; but
the Black Captain, in doubt and malice intent upon the woman
before him, heeded him no more than a worm in the mud.
Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the
wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then
swiftly fell down upon E´ owyn, shrieking, striking with beak
and claw.
Still she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of
1102 the return of the king
kings, slender but as a steel-blade, fair yet terrible. A swift
stroke she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck
she clove asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings
outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow
passed away. A light fell about her, and her hair shone in the
sunrise.
Out of the wreck rose the Black Rider, tall and threatening,
towering above her. With a cry of hatred that stung the very
ears like venom he let fall his mace. Her shield was shivered
in many pieces, and her arm was broken; she stumbled to
her knees. He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered;
he raised his mace to kill.
But suddenly he too stumbled forward with a cry of bitter pain, and his stroke went wide, driving into the ground.
Merry’s sword had stabbed him from behind,shearing through
the black mantle, and passing up beneath the hauberk had
pierced the sinew behind his mighty knee.
‘E´ owyn! E´ owyn!’ cried Merry. Then tottering, struggling
up, with her last strength she drove her sword between crown
and mantle, as the great shoulders bowed before her. The
sword broke sparkling into many shards. The crown rolled
away with a clang. E´ owyn fell forward upon her fallen foe.
But lo! the mantle and hauberk were empty. Shapeless they lay
now on the ground, torn and tumbled; and a cry went up into
the shuddering air, and faded to a shrill wailing, passing with
the wind, a voice bodiless and thin that died, and was swallowed up, and was never heard again in that age of this world.
And there stood Meriadoc the hobbit in the midst of the
slain, blinking like an owl in the daylight, for tears blinded
him; and through a mist he looked on E´ owyn’s fair head, as
she lay and did not move; and he looked on the face of the
king, fallen in the midst of his glory. For Snowmane in his
agony had rolled away from him again; yet he was the bane
of his master.
Then Merry stooped and lifted his hand to kiss it, and lo!
the battle of the pelennor fields 1103
The´oden opened his eyes, and they were clear, and he spoke
in a quiet voice though laboured.
‘Farewell, Master Holbytla!’ he said. ‘My body is broken.
I go to my fathers. And even in their mighty company I shall
not now be ashamed. I felled the black serpent. A grim morn,
and a glad day, and a golden sunset!’
Merry could not speak, but wept anew. ‘Forgive me, lord,’
he said at last, ‘if I broke your command, and yet have done
no more in your service than to weep at our parting.’
The old king smiled. ‘Grieve not! It is forgiven. Great heart
will not be denied. Live now in blessedness; and when you
sit in peace with your pipe, think of me! For never now shall
I sit with you in Meduseld, as I promised, or listen to your
herb-lore.’ He closed his eyes, and Merry bowed beside him.
Presently he spoke again. ‘Where is E´ omer? For my eyes
darken, and I would see him ere I go. He must be king after
me. And I would send word to E´ owyn. She, she would not
have me leave her, and now I shall not see her again, dearer
than daughter.’
‘Lord, lord,’ began Merry brokenly, ‘she is——’; but at
that moment there was a great clamour, and all about them
horns and trumpets were blowing. Merry looked round: he
had forgotten the war, and all the world beside, and many
hours it seemed since the king rode to his fall, though in truth
it was only a little while. But now he saw that they were in
danger of being caught in the very midst of the great battle
that would soon be joined.
New forces of the enemy were hastening up the road from
the River; and from under the walls came the legions of
Morgul; and from the southward fields came footmen of
Harad with horsemen before them, and behind them rose the
huge backs of the muˆmakil with war-towers upon them. But
northward the white crest of E´ omer led the great front of the
Rohirrim which he had again gathered and marshalled; and
out of the City came all the strength of men that was in it,
and the silver swan of Dol Amroth was borne in the van,
driving the enemy from the Gate.
1104 the return of the king
For a moment the thought flitted through Merry’s mind:
‘Where is Gandalf ? Is he not here? Could he not have saved
the king and E´ owyn?’ But thereupon E´ omer rode up in haste,
and with him came the knights of the household that still
lived and had now mastered their horses. They looked in
wonder at the carcase of the fell beast that lay there; and their
steeds would not go near. But E´ omer leaped from the saddle,
and grief and dismay fell upon him as he came to the king’s
side and stood there in silence.
Then one of the knights took the king’s banner from
the hand of Guthla´f the banner-bearer who lay dead, and
he lifted it up. Slowly The´oden opened his eyes. Seeing the
banner he made a sign that it should be given to E´ omer.
‘Hail, King of the Mark!’ he said. ‘Ride now to victory! Bid
E´ owyn farewell!’ And so he died, and knew not that E´ owyn
lay near him. And those who stood by wept, crying: ‘The´oden
King! The´oden King!’
But E´ omer said to them:
Mourn not overmuch! Mighty was the fallen,
meet was his ending. When his mound is raised,
women then shall weep. War now calls us!
Yet he himself wept as he spoke. ‘Let his knights remain
here,’ he said, ‘and bear his body in honour from the field,
lest the battle ride over it! Yea, and all these other of the
king’s men that lie here.’ And he looked at the slain, recalling
their names. Then suddenly he beheld his sister E´ owyn as
she lay, and he knew her. He stood a moment as a man who
is pierced in the midst of a cry by an arrow through the heart;
and then his face went deathly white, and a cold fury rose in
him, so that all speech failed him for a while. A fey mood
took him.
‘E´ owyn, E´ owyn!’ he cried at last. ‘E´ owyn, how come you
here? What madness or devilry is this? Death, death, death!
Death take us all!’
Then without taking counsel or waiting for the approach
the battle of the pelennor fields 1105
of the men of the City, he spurred headlong back to the front
of the great host, and blew a horn, and cried aloud for the
onset. Over the field rang his clear voice calling: ‘Death! Ride,
ride to ruin and the world’s ending!’
And with that the host began to move. But the Rohirrim
sang no more. Death they cried with one voice loud and
terrible, and gathering speed like a great tide their battle swept
about their fallen king and passed, roaring away southwards.
And still Meriadoc the hobbit stood there blinking through
his tears, and no one spoke to him, indeed none seemed to
heed him. He brushed away the tears, and stooped to pick
up the green shield that E´ owyn had given him, and he slung
it at his back. Then he looked for his sword that he had let
fall; for even as he struck his blow his arm was numbed, and
now he could only use his left hand. And behold! there lay
his weapon, but the blade was smoking like a dry branch that
has been thrust in a fire; and as he watched it, it writhed and
withered and was consumed.
So passed the sword of the Barrow-downs, work of Westernesse. But glad would he have been to know its fate who
wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the
Du´nedain were young, and chief among their foes was the
dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king. No other blade,
not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt
that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the undead flesh, breaking
the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will.
Men now raised the king, and laying cloaks upon speartruncheons they made shift to bear him away towards the
City; and others lifted E´ owyn gently up and bore her after
him. But the men of the king’s household they could not yet
bring from the field; for seven of the king’s knights had fallen
there, and De´orwine their chief was among them. So they
laid them apart from their foes and the fell beast and set
spears about them. And afterwards when all was over men
returned and made a fire there and burned the carcase of the
1106 the return of the king
beast; but for Snowmane they dug a grave and set up a stone
upon which was carved in the tongues of Gondor and the
Mark:
Faithful servant yet master’s bane,
Lightfoot’s foal, swift Snowmane.
Green and long grew the grass on Snowmane’s Howe, but
ever black and bare was the ground where the beast was
burned.
Now slowly and sadly Merry walked beside the bearers,
and he gave no more heed to the battle. He was weary
and full of pain, and his limbs trembled as with a chill. A
great rain came out of the Sea, and it seemed that all
things wept for The´oden and E´ owyn, quenching the fires
in the City with grey tears. It was through a mist that presently he saw the van of the men of Gondor approaching.
Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, rode up and drew rein before
them.
‘What burden do you bear, Men of Rohan?’ he cried.
‘The´oden King,’ they answered. ‘He is dead. But E´ omer
King now rides in the battle: he with the white crest in the
wind.’
Then the prince went from his horse, and knelt by the bier
in honour of the king and his great onset; and he wept. And
rising he looked then on E´ owyn and was amazed. ‘Surely,
here is a woman?’ he said. ‘Have even the women of the
Rohirrim come to war in our need?’
‘Nay! One only,’ they answered. ‘The Lady E´ owyn is she,
sister of E´ omer; and we knew naught of her riding until this
hour, and greatly we rue it.’
Then the prince seeing her beauty, though her face was
pale and cold, touched her hand as he bent to look more
closely on her. ‘Men of Rohan!’ he cried. ‘Are there no leeches
among you? She is hurt, to the death maybe, but I deem that
she yet lives.’ And he held the bright-burnished vambrace
the battle of the pelennor fields 1107
that was upon his arm before her cold lips, and behold! a
little mist was laid on it hardly to be seen.
‘Haste now is needed,’ he said, and he sent one riding back
swiftly to the City to bring aid. But he bowing low to the
fallen, bade them farewell, and mounting rode away into
battle.
And now the fighting waxed furious on the fields of the
Pelennor; and the din of arms rose upon high, with the crying
of men and the neighing of horses. Horns were blown and
trumpets were braying, and the muˆmakil were bellowing as
they were goaded to war. Under the south walls of the City
the footmen of Gondor now drove against the legions of
Morgul that were still gathered there in strength. But the
horsemen rode eastward to the succour of E´ omer: Hu´rin the
Tall, Warden of the Keys, and the Lord of Lossarnach, and
Hirluin of the Green Hills, and Prince Imrahil the fair with
his knights all about him.
Not too soon came their aid to the Rohirrim; for fortune
had turned against E´ omer, and his fury had betrayed him.
The great wrath of his onset had utterly overthrown the front
of his enemies, and great wedges of his Riders had passed
clear through the ranks of the Southrons, discomfiting their
horsemen and riding their footmen to ruin. But wherever the
muˆmakil came there the horses would not go, but blenched
and swerved away; and the great monsters were unfought,
and stood like towers of defence, and the Haradrim rallied
about them. And if the Rohirrim at their onset were thrice
outnumbered by the Haradrim alone, soon their case became
worse; for new strength came now streaming to the field out
of Osgiliath. There they had been mustered for the sack of
the City and the rape of Gondor, waiting on the call of their
Captain. He now was destroyed; but Gothmog the lieutenant
of Morgul had flung them into the fray; Easterlings with axes,
and Variags of Khand, Southrons in scarlet, and out of Far
Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red
tongues. Some now hastened up behind the Rohirrim, others
1108 the return of the king
held westward to hold off the forces of Gondor and prevent
their joining with Rohan.
It was even as the day thus began to turn against Gondor
and their hope wavered that a new cry went up in the City,
it being then mid-morning, and a great wind blowing, and
the rain flying north, and the sun shining. In that clear air
watchmen on the walls saw afar a new sight of fear, and their
last hope left them.
For Anduin, from the bend at the Harlond, so flowed that
from the City men could look down it lengthwise for some
leagues, and the far-sighted could see any ships that approached. And looking thither they cried in dismay; for black
against the glittering stream they beheld a fleet borne up on
the wind: dromunds, and ships of great draught with many
oars, and with black sails bellying in the breeze.
‘The Corsairs of Umbar!’ men shouted. ‘The Corsairs
of Umbar! Look! The Corsairs of Umbar are coming! So
Belfalas is taken, and the Ethir, and Lebennin is gone. The
Corsairs are upon us! It is the last stroke of doom!’
And some without order, for none could be found to command them in the City, ran to the bells and tolled the alarm;
and some blew the trumpets sounding the retreat. ‘Back to
the walls!’ they cried. ‘Back to the walls! Come back to the
City before all are overwhelmed!’ But the wind that sped the
ships blew all their clamour away.
The Rohirrim indeed had no need of news or alarm. All
too well they could see for themselves the black sails. For
E´ omer was now scarcely a mile from the Harlond, and a
great press of his first foes was between him and the haven
there, while new foes came swirling behind, cutting him
off from the Prince. Now he looked to the River, and hope
died in his heart, and the wind that he had blessed he now
called accursed. But the hosts of Mordor were enheartened,
and filled with a new lust and fury they came yelling to the
onset.
Stern now was E´ omer’s mood, and his mind clear again.
He let blow the horns to rally all men to his banner that could
the battle of the pelennor fields 1109
come thither; for he thought to make a great shield-wall at
the last, and stand, and fight there on foot till all fell, and do
deeds of song on the fields of Pelennor, though no man
should be left in the West to remember the last King of the
Mark. So he rode to a green hillock and there set his banner,
and the White Horse ran rippling in the wind.
Out of doubt, out of dark to the day’s rising
I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing.
To hope’s end I rode and to heart’s breaking:
Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!
These staves he spoke, yet he laughed as he said them. For
once more lust of battle was on him; and he was still
unscathed, and he was young, and he was king: the lord of a
fell people. And lo! even as he laughed at despair he looked
out again on the black ships, and he lifted up his sword to
defy them.
And then wonder took him, and a great joy; and he cast
his sword up in the sunlight and sang as he caught it. And
all eyes followed his gaze, and behold! upon the foremost
ship a great standard broke, and the wind displayed it as she
turned towards the Harlond. There flowered a White Tree,
and that was for Gondor; but Seven Stars were about it, and
a high crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had
borne for years beyond count. And the stars flamed in the
sunlight, for they were wrought of gems by Arwen daughter
of Elrond; and the crown was bright in the morning, for it
was wrought of mithril and gold.
Thus came Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur’s heir,
out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the
Sea to the kingdom of Gondor; and the mirth of the Rohirrim
was a torrent of laughter and a flashing of swords, and the
joy and wonder of the City was a music of trumpets and a
ringing of bells. But the hosts of Mordor were seized with
bewilderment, and a great wizardry it seemed to them that
their own ships should be filled with their foes; and a black
1110 the return of the king
dread fell on them, knowing that the tides of fate had turned
against them and their doom was at hand.
East rode the knights of Dol Amroth driving the enemy
before them: troll-men and Variags and orcs that hated the
sunlight. South strode E´ omer and men fled before his face,
and they were caught between the hammer and the anvil. For
now men leaped from the ships to the quays of the Harlond
and swept north like a storm. There came Legolas, and Gimli
wielding his axe, and Halbarad with the standard, and Elladan
and Elrohir with stars on their brow, and the dour-handed
Du´nedain, Rangers of the North, leading a great valour of
the folk of Lebennin and Lamedon and the fiefs of the South.
But before all went Aragorn with the Flame of the West,
Andu´ril like a new fire kindled, Narsil re-forged as deadly as
of old; and upon his brow was the Star of Elendil.
And so at length E´ omer and Aragorn met in the midst of
the battle, and they leaned on their swords and looked on
one another and were glad.
‘Thus we meet again, though all the hosts of Mordor lay
between us,’ said Aragorn. ‘Did I not say so at the Hornburg?’
‘So you spoke,’ said E´ omer, ‘but hope oft deceives, and I
knew not then that you were a man foresighted. Yet twice
blessed is help unlooked for, and never was a meeting of
friends more joyful.’ And they clasped hand in hand. ‘Nor
indeed more timely,’ said E´ omer. ‘You come none too soon,
my friend. Much loss and sorrow has befallen us.’
‘Then let us avenge it, ere we speak of it!’ said Aragorn,
and they rode back to battle together.
Hard fighting and long labour they had still; for the
Southrons were bold men and grim, and fierce in despair;
and the Easterlings were strong and war-hardened and asked
for no quarter. And so in this place and that, by burned
homestead or barn, upon hillock or mound, under wall or on
field, still they gathered and rallied and fought until the day
wore away.
Then the Sun went at last behind Mindolluin and filled
the battle of the pelennor fields 1111
all the sky with a great burning, so that the hills and the
mountains were dyed as with blood; fire glowed in the River,
and the grass of the Pelennor lay red in the nightfall. And in
that hour the great Battle of the field of Gondor was over;
and not one living foe was left within the circuit of the
Rammas. All were slain save those who fled to die, or to
drown in the red foam of the River. Few ever came eastward
to Morgul or Mordor; and to the land of the Haradrim came
only a tale from far off: a rumour of the wrath and terror of
Gondor.
Aragorn and E´ omer and Imrahil rode back towards the
Gate of the City, and they were now weary beyond joy or
sorrow. These three were unscathed, for such was their fortune and the skill and might of their arms, and few indeed
had dared to abide them or look on their faces in the hour of
their wrath. But many others were hurt or maimed or dead
upon the field. The axes hewed Forlong as he fought alone
and unhorsed; and both Duilin of Morthond and his brother
were trampled to death when they assailed the muˆmakil, leading their bowmen close to shoot at the eyes of the monsters.
Neither Hirluin the fair would return to Pinnath Gelin, nor
Grimbold to Grimslade, nor Halbarad to the Northlands,
dour-handed Ranger. No few had fallen, renowned or nameless, captain or soldier; for it was a great battle and the full
count of it no tale has told. So long afterward a maker in
Rohan said in his song of the Mounds of Mundburg:
We heard of the horns in the hills ringing,
the swords shining in the South-kingdom.
Steeds went striding to the Stoningland
as wind in the morning. War was kindled.
There The´oden fell, Thengling mighty,
to his golden halls and green pastures
in the Northern fields never returning,
high lord of the host. Harding and Guthla´f,
Du´nhere and De´orwine, doughty Grimbold,
1112 the return of the king
Herefara and Herubrand, Horn and Fastred,
fought and fell there in a far country:
in the Mounds of Mundburg under mould they lie
with their league-fellows, lords of Gondor.
Neither Hirluin the Fair to the hills by the sea,
nor Forlong the old to the flowering vales
ever, to Arnach, to his own country
returned in triumph; nor the tall bowmen,
Derufin and Duilin, to their dark waters,
meres of Morthond under mountain-shadows.
Death in the morning and at day’s ending
lords took and lowly. Long now they sleep
under grass in Gondor by the Great River.
Grey now as tears, gleaming silver,
red then it rolled, roaring water:
foam dyed with blood flamed at sunset;
as beacons mountains burned at evening;
red fell the dew in Rammas Echor.
Chapter 7
THE PYRE OF DENETHOR
When the dark shadow at the Gate withdrew Gandalf still sat
motionless. But Pippin rose to his feet, as if a great weight
had been lifted from him; and he stood listening to the horns,
and it seemed to him that they would break his heart with
joy. And never in after years could he hear a horn blown in
the distance without tears starting in his eyes. But now suddenly his errand returned to his memory, and he ran forward.
At that moment Gandalf stirred and spoke to Shadowfax,
and was about to ride through the Gate.
‘Gandalf, Gandalf!’ cried Pippin, and Shadowfax halted.
‘What are you doing here?’ said Gandalf. ‘Is it not a law
in the City that those who wear the black and silver must stay
in the Citadel, unless their lord gives them leave?’
‘He has,’ said Pippin. ‘He sent me away. But I am frightened. Something terrible may happen up there. The Lord is
out of his mind, I think. I am afraid he will kill himself, and
kill Faramir too. Can’t you do something?’
Gandalf looked through the gaping Gate, and already on
the fields he heard the gathering sound of battle. He clenched
his hand. ‘I must go,’ he said. ‘The Black Rider is abroad,
and he will yet bring ruin on us. I have no time.’
‘But Faramir!’ cried Pippin. ‘He is not dead, and they will
burn him alive, if someone does not stop them.’
‘Burn him alive?’ said Gandalf. ‘What is this tale? Be
quick!’
‘Denethor has gone to the Tombs,’ said Pippin, ‘and he
has taken Faramir, and he says we are all to burn, and he will
not wait, and they are to make a pyre and burn him on it,
and Faramir as well. And he has sent men to fetch wood and
oil. And I have told Beregond, but I’m afraid he won’t dare
1114 the return of the king
to leave his post: he is on guard. And what can he do anyway?’ So Pippin poured out his tale, reaching up and touching Gandalf’s knee with trembling hands. ‘Can’t you save
Faramir?’
‘Maybe I can,’ said Gandalf; ‘but if I do, then others will
die, I fear. Well, I must come, since no other help can reach
him. But evil and sorrow will come of this. Even in the heart
of our stronghold the Enemy has power to strike us: for his
will it is that is at work.’
Then having made up his mind he acted swiftly; and
catching up Pippin and setting him before him, he turned
Shadowfax with a word. Up the climbing streets of Minas
Tirith they clattered, while the noise of war rose behind them.
Everywhere men were rising from their despair and dread,
seizing their weapons, crying one to another: ‘Rohan has
come!’ Captains were shouting, companies were mustering;
many already were marching down to the Gate.
They met the Prince Imrahil, and he called to them:
‘Whither now, Mithrandir? The Rohirrim are fighting on
the fields of Gondor! We must gather all the strength that
we can find.’
‘You will need every man and more,’ said Gandalf. ‘Make
all haste. I will come when I can. But I have an errand to
the Lord Denethor that will not wait. Take command in the
Lord’s absence!’
They passed on; and as they climbed and drew near to
the Citadel they felt the wind blowing in their faces, and
they caught the glimmer of morning far away, a light growing in the southern sky. But it brought little hope to them,
not knowing what evil lay before them, fearing to come too
late.
‘Darkness is passing,’ said Gandalf, ‘but it still lies heavy
on this City.’
At the gate of the Citadel they found no guard. ‘Then
Beregond has gone,’ said Pippin more hopefully. They
turned away and hastened along the road to the Closed Door.
the pyre of denethor 1115
It stood wide open, and the porter lay before it. He was slain
and his key had been taken.
‘Work of the Enemy!’ said Gandalf. ‘Such deeds he loves:
friend at war with friend; loyalty divided in confusion of
hearts.’ Now he dismounted and bade Shadowfax return to
his stable. ‘For, my friend,’ he said, ‘you and I should have
ridden to the fields long ago, but other matters delay me. Yet
come swiftly if I call!’
They passed the Door and walked on down the steep
winding road. Light was growing, and the tall columns and
carven figures beside the way went slowly by like grey ghosts.
Suddenly the silence was broken, and they heard below
them cries and the ringing of swords: such sounds as had not
been heard in the hallowed places since the building of the
City. At last they came to Rath Dı´nen and hastened towards
the House of the Stewards, looming in the twilight under its
great dome.
‘Stay! Stay!’ cried Gandalf, springing forward to the stone
stair before the door. ‘Stay this madness!’
For there were the servants of Denethor with swords and
torches in their hands; but alone in the porch upon the topmost step stood Beregond, clad in the black and silver of the
Guard; and he held the door against them. Two of them had
already fallen to his sword, staining the hallows with their
blood; and the others cursed him, calling him outlaw and
traitor to his master.
Even as Gandalf and Pippin ran forward, they heard from
within the house of the dead the voice of Denethor crying:
‘Haste, haste! Do as I have bidden! Slay me this renegade!
Or must I do so myself ?’ Thereupon the door which Beregond held shut with his left hand was wrenched open, and
there behind him stood the Lord of the City, tall and fell; a
light like flame was in his eyes, and he held a drawn sword.
But Gandalf sprang up the steps, and the men fell back
from him and covered their eyes; for his coming was like the
incoming of a white light into a dark place, and he came with
great anger. He lifted up his hand, and in the very stroke, the
1116 the return of the king
sword of Denethor flew up and left his grasp and fell behind
him in the shadows of the house; and Denethor stepped
backward before Gandalf as one amazed.
‘What is this, my lord?’ said the wizard. ‘The houses of the
dead are no places for the living. And why do men fight here
in the Hallows when there is war enough before the Gate?
Or has our Enemy come even to Rath Dı´nen?’
‘Since when has the Lord of Gondor been answerable
to thee?’ said Denethor. ‘Or may I not command my own
servants?’
‘You may,’ said Gandalf. ‘But others may contest your
will, when it is turned to madness and evil. Where is your
son, Faramir?’
‘He lies within,’ said Denethor, ‘burning, already burning. They have set a fire in his flesh. But soon all shall be
burned. The West has failed. It shall all go up in a great fire,
and all shall be ended. Ash! Ash and smoke blown away on
the wind!’
Then Gandalf seeing the madness that was on him feared
that he had already done some evil deed, and he thrust forward, with Beregond and Pippin behind him, while Denethor
gave back until he stood beside the table within. But there
they found Faramir, still dreaming in his fever, lying upon
the table. Wood was piled under it, and high all about it, and
all was drenched with oil, even the garments of Faramir and
the coverlets; but as yet no fire had been set to the fuel. Then
Gandalf revealed the strength that lay hid in him, even as the
light of his power was hidden under his grey mantle. He
leaped up on to the faggots, and raising the sick man lightly
he sprang down again, and bore him towards the door. But
as he did so Faramir moaned and called on his father in his
dream.
Denethor started as one waking from a trance, and the
flame died in his eyes, and he wept; and he said: ‘Do not take
my son from me! He calls for me.’
‘He calls,’ said Gandalf, ‘but you cannot come to him yet.
For he must seek healing on the threshold of death, and
the pyre of denethor 1117
maybe find it not. Whereas your part is to go out to the battle
of your City, where maybe death awaits you. This you know
in your heart.’
‘He will not wake again,’ said Denethor. ‘Battle is vain.
Why should we wish to live longer? Why should we not go
to death side by side?’
‘Authority is not given to you, Steward of Gondor, to order
the hour of your death,’ answered Gandalf. ‘And only the
heathen kings, under the domination of the Dark Power, did
thus, slaying themselves in pride and despair, murdering their
kin to ease their own death.’ Then passing through the door
he took Faramir from the deadly house and laid him on the
bier on which he had been brought, and which had now been
set in the porch. Denethor followed him, and stood trembling, looking with longing on the face of his son. And for
a moment, while all were silent and still, watching the Lord
in his throes, he wavered.
‘Come!’ said Gandalf. ‘We are needed. There is much that
you can yet do.’
Then suddenly Denethor laughed. He stood up tall and
proud again, and stepping swiftly back to the table he lifted
from it the pillow on which his head had lain. Then coming
to the doorway he drew aside the covering, and lo! he had
between his hands a palantı´r. And as he held it up, it seemed
to those that looked on that the globe began to glow with an
inner flame, so that the lean face of the Lord was lit as with
a red fire, and it seemed cut out of hard stone, sharp with
black shadows, noble, proud, and terrible. His eyes glittered.
‘Pride and despair!’ he cried. ‘Didst thou think that the
eyes of the White Tower were blind? Nay, I have seen more
than thou knowest, Grey Fool. For thy hope is but ignorance.
Go then and labour in healing! Go forth and fight! Vanity.
For a little space you may triumph on the field, for a day.
But against the Power that now arises there is no victory. To
this City only the first finger of its hand has yet been
stretched. All the East is moving. And even now the wind of
thy hope cheats thee and wafts up Anduin a fleet with black
1118 the return of the king
sails. The West has failed. It is time for all to depart who
would not be slaves.’
‘Such counsels will make the Enemy’s victory certain
indeed,’ said Gandalf.
‘Hope on then!’ laughed Denethor. ‘Do I not know thee,
Mithrandir? Thy hope is to rule in my stead, to stand behind
every throne, north, south, or west. I have read thy mind and
its policies. Do I not know that this halfling was commanded
by thee to keep silence? That he was brought hither to be a
spy within my very chamber? And yet in our speech together
I have learned the names and purpose of all thy companions.
So! With the left hand thou wouldst use me for a little while
as a shield against Mordor, and with the right bring up this
Ranger of the North to supplant me.
‘But I say to thee, Gandalf Mithrandir, I will not be thy
tool! I am Steward of the House of Ana´rion. I will not step
down to be the dotard chamberlain of an upstart. Even were
his claim proved to me, still he comes but of the line of
Isildur. I will not bow to such a one, last of a ragged house
long bereft of lordship and dignity.’
‘What then would you have,’ said Gandalf, ‘if your will
could have its way?’
‘I would have things as they were in all the days of my life,’
answered Denethor, ‘and in the days of my longfathers before
me: to be the Lord of this City in peace, and leave my chair
to a son after me, who would be his own master and no
wizard’s pupil. But if doom denies this to me, then I will have
naught: neither life diminished, nor love halved, nor honour
abated.’
‘To me it would not seem that a Steward who faithfully
surrenders his charge is diminished in love or in honour,’ said
Gandalf. ‘And at the least you shall not rob your son of his
choice while his death is still in doubt.’
At those words Denethor’s eyes flamed again, and taking
the Stone under his arm he drew a knife and strode towards
the bier. But Beregond sprang forward and set himself before
Faramir.
the pyre of denethor 1119
‘So!’ cried Denethor. ‘Thou hadst already stolen half my
son’s love. Now thou stealest the hearts of my knights also,
so that they rob me wholly of my son at the last. But in this
at least thou shalt not defy my will: to rule my own end.’
‘Come hither!’ he cried to his servants. ‘Come, if you are
not all recreant!’ Then two of them ran up the steps to him.
Swiftly he snatched a torch from the hand of one and sprang
back into the house. Before Gandalf could hinder him he
thrust the brand amid the fuel, and at once it crackled and
roared into flame.
Then Denethor leaped upon the table, and standing there
wreathed in fire and smoke he took up the staff of his stewardship that lay at his feet and broke it on his knee. Casting
the pieces into the blaze he bowed and laid himself on the
table, clasping the palantı´r with both hands upon his breast.
And it was said that ever after, if any man looked in that
Stone, unless he had a great strength of will to turn it to other
purpose, he saw only two aged hands withering in flame.
Gandalf in grief and horror turned his face away and closed
the door. For a while he stood in thought, silent upon
the threshold, while those outside heard the greedy roaring
of the fire within. And then Denethor gave a great cry,
and afterwards spoke no more, nor was ever again seen by
mortal men.
‘So passes Denethor, son of Ecthelion,’ said Gandalf. Then
he turned to Beregond and the Lord’s servants that stood
there aghast. ‘And so pass also the days of Gondor that you
have known; for good or evil they are ended. Ill deeds have
been done here; but let now all enmity that lies between you
be put away, for it was contrived by the Enemy and works
his will. You have been caught in a net of warring duties that
you did not weave. But think, you servants of the Lord,
blind in your obedience, that but for the treason of Beregond
Faramir, Captain of the White Tower, would now also be
burned.
‘Bear away from this unhappy place your comrades who
1120 the return of the king
have fallen. And we will bear Faramir, Steward of Gondor,
to a place where he can sleep in peace, or die if that be his
doom.’
Then Gandalf and Beregond taking up the bier bore it
away towards the Houses of Healing, while behind them
walked Pippin with downcast head. But the servants of the
Lord stood gazing as stricken men at the house of the dead;
and even as Gandalf came to the end of Rath Dı´nen there
was a great noise. Looking back they saw the dome of the
house crack and smokes issue forth; and then with a rush and
rumble of stone it fell in a flurry of fire; but still unabated the
flames danced and flickered among the ruins. Then in terror
the servants fled and followed Gandalf.
At length they came back to the Steward’s Door, and
Beregond looked with grief at the porter. ‘This deed I shall
ever rue,’ he said; ‘but a madness of haste was on me, and
he would not listen, but drew sword against me.’ Then taking
the key that he had wrested from the slain man he closed the
door and locked it. ‘This should now be given to the Lord
Faramir,’ he said.
‘The Prince of Dol Amroth is in command in the absence
of the Lord,’ said Gandalf; ‘but since he is not here, I must
take this on myself. I bid you keep the key and guard it, until
the City is set in order again.’
Now at last they passed into the high circles of the City,
and in the light of morning they went their way towards the
Houses of Healing; and these were fair houses set apart for
the care of those who were grievously sick, but now they were
prepared for the tending of men hurt in battle or dying. They
stood not far from the Citadel-gate, in the sixth circle, nigh
to its southward wall, and about them was a garden and a
greensward with trees, the only such place in the City. There
dwelt the few women that had been permitted to remain in
Minas Tirith, since they were skilled in healing or in the
service of the healers.
But even as Gandalf and his companions came carrying
the pyre of denethor 1121
the bier to the main door of the Houses, they heard a great
cry that went up from the field before the Gate and rising
shrill and piercing into the sky passed, and died away on the
wind. So terrible was the cry that for a moment all stood still,
and yet when it had passed, suddenly their hearts were lifted
up in such a hope as they had not known since the darkness
came out of the East; and it seemed to them that the light
grew clear and the sun broke through the clouds.
But Gandalf’s face was grave and sad, and bidding
Beregond and Pippin to take Faramir into the Houses of
Healing, he went up on to the walls nearby; and there like a
figure carven in white he stood in the new sun and looked
out. And he beheld with the sight that was given to him all that
had befallen; and when E´ omer rode out from the forefront of
his battle and stood beside those who lay upon the field, he
sighed, and he cast his cloak about him again, and went from
the walls. And Beregond and Pippin found him standing in
thought before the door of the Houses when they came out.
They looked at him, and for a while he was silent. At last
he spoke. ‘My friends,’ he said, ‘and all you people of this
city and of the Western lands! Things of great sorrow and
renown have come to pass. Shall we weep or be glad? Beyond
hope the Captain of our foes has been destroyed, and you
have heard the echo of his last despair. But he has not gone
without woe and bitter loss. And that I might have averted
but for the madness of Denethor. So long has the reach of
our Enemy become! Alas! but now I perceive how his will
was able to enter into the very heart of the City.
‘Though the Stewards deemed that it was a secret kept
only by themselves, long ago I guessed that here in the White
Tower, one at least of the Seven Seeing Stones was preserved.
In the days of his wisdom Denethor would not presume to
use it to challenge Sauron, knowing the limits of his own
strength. But his wisdom failed; and I fear that as the peril of
his realm grew he looked in the Stone and was deceived: far
too often, I guess, since Boromir departed. He was too great
1122 the return of the king
to be subdued to the will of the Dark Power, he saw nonetheless only those things which that Power permitted him to see.
The knowledge which he obtained was, doubtless, often of
service to him; yet the vision of the great might of Mordor
that was shown to him fed the despair of his heart until it
overthrew his mind.’
‘Now I understand what seemed so strange to me!’ said
Pippin, shuddering at his memories as he spoke. ‘The Lord
went away from the room where Faramir lay; and it was only
when he returned that I first thought he was changed, old
and broken.’
‘It was in the very hour that Faramir was brought to the
Tower that many of us saw a strange light in the topmost
chamber,’ said Beregond. ‘But we have seen that light before,
and it has long been rumoured in the City that the Lord
would at times wrestle in thought with his Enemy.’
‘Alas! then I have guessed rightly,’ said Gandalf. ‘Thus the
will of Sauron entered into Minas Tirith; and thus I have
been delayed here. And here I shall still be forced to remain,
for I shall soon have other charges, not Faramir only.
‘Now I must go down to meet those who come. I have
seen a sight upon the field that is very grievous to my heart,
and greater sorrow may yet come to pass. Come with me,
Pippin! But you, Beregond, should return to the Citadel and
tell the chief of the Guard there what has befallen. It will be
his duty, I fear, to withdraw you from the Guard; but say to
him that, if I may give him counsel, you should be sent to
the Houses of Healing, to be the guard and servant of your
captain, and to be at his side when he awakes – if that shall
ever be again. For by you he was saved from the fire. Go
now! I shall return soon.’
With that he turned away and went with Pippin down
towards the lower city. And even as they hastened on their
way the wind brought a grey rain, and all the fires sank, and
there arose a great smoke before them.
Chapter 8
THE HOUSES OF HEALING
A mist was in Merry’s eyes of tears and weariness when they
drew near the ruined Gate of Minas Tirith. He gave little
heed to the wreck and slaughter that lay about all. Fire and
smoke and stench was in the air; for many engines had been
burned or cast into the fire-pits, and many of the slain also,
while here and there lay many carcases of the great Southron
monsters, half-burned, or broken by stone-cast, or shot
through the eyes by the valiant archers of Morthond. The
flying rain had ceased for a time, and the sun gleamed up
above; but all the lower city was still wrapped in a smouldering reek.
Already men were labouring to clear a way through the
jetsam of battle; and now out from the Gate came some
bearing litters. Gently they laid E´ owyn upon soft pillows; but
the king’s body they covered with a great cloth of gold, and
they bore torches about him, and their flames, pale in the
sunlight, were fluttered by the wind.
So The´oden and E´ owyn came to the City of Gondor, and
all who saw them bared their heads and bowed; and they
passed through the ash and fume of the burned circle, and
went on and up along the streets of stone. To Merry the
ascent seemed agelong, a meaningless journey in a hateful
dream, going on and on to some dim ending that memory
cannot seize.
Slowly the lights of the torches in front of him flickered
and went out, and he was walking in a darkness; and he
thought: ‘This is a tunnel leading to a tomb; there we shall
stay for ever.’ But suddenly into his dream there fell a living
voice.
‘Well, Merry! Thank goodness I have found you!’
1124 the return of the king
He looked up and the mist before his eyes cleared a little.
There was Pippin! They were face to face in a narrow lane,
and but for themselves it was empty. He rubbed his eyes.
‘Where is the king?’ he said. ‘And E´ owyn?’ Then he
stumbled and sat down on a doorstep and began to weep
again.
‘They have gone up into the Citadel,’ said Pippin. ‘I think
you must have fallen asleep on your feet and taken the wrong
turning. When we found that you were not with them,
Gandalf sent me to look for you. Poor old Merry! How glad
I am to see you again! But you are worn out, and I won’t
bother you with any talk. But tell me, are you hurt, or
wounded?’
‘No,’ said Merry. ‘Well, no, I don’t think so. But I can’t
use my right arm, Pippin, not since I stabbed him. And my
sword burned all away like a piece of wood.’
Pippin’s face was anxious. ‘Well, you had better come with
me as quick as you can,’ he said. ‘I wish I could carry you.
You aren’t fit to walk any further. They shouldn’t have let
you walk at all; but you must forgive them. So many dreadful
things have happened in the City, Merry, that one poor
hobbit coming in from the battle is easily overlooked.’
‘It’s not always a misfortune being overlooked,’ said Merry.
‘I was overlooked just now by – no, no, I can’t speak of it.
Help me, Pippin! It’s all going dark again, and my arm is so
cold.’
‘Lean on me, Merry lad!’ said Pippin. ‘Come now! Foot
by foot. It’s not far.’
‘Are you going to bury me?’ said Merry.
‘No, indeed!’ said Pippin, trying to sound cheerful, though
his heart was wrung with fear and pity. ‘No, we are going to
the Houses of Healing.’
They turned out of the lane that ran between tall houses
and the outer wall of the fourth circle, and they regained the
main street climbing up to the Citadel. Step by step they
went, while Merry swayed and murmured as one in sleep.
the houses of healing 1125
‘I’ll never get him there,’ thought Pippin. ‘Is there no one
to help me? I can’t leave him here.’ Just then to his surprise a
boy came running up behind, and as he passed he recognized
Bergil Beregond’s son.
‘Hullo, Bergil!’ he called. ‘Where are you going? Glad to
see you again, and still alive!’
‘I am running errands for the Healers,’ said Bergil. ‘I cannot stay.’
‘Don’t!’ said Pippin. ‘But tell them up there that I have a
sick hobbit, a perian mind you, come from the battle-field. I
don’t think he can walk so far. If Mithrandir is there, he will
be glad of the message.’ Bergil ran on.
‘I’d better wait here,’ thought Pippin. So he let Merry sink
gently down on to the pavement in a patch of sunlight, and
then he sat down beside him, laying Merry’s head in his lap.
He felt his body and limbs gently, and took his friend’s hands
in his own. The right hand felt icy to the touch.
It was not long before Gandalf himself came in search of
them. He stooped over Merry and caressed his brow; then
he lifted him carefully. ‘He should have been borne in honour
into this city,’ he said. ‘He has well repaid my trust; for if
Elrond had not yielded to me, neither of you would have set
out; and then far more grievous would the evils of this day
have been.’ He sighed. ‘And yet here is another charge on
my hands, while all the time the battle hangs in the balance.’
So at last Faramir and E´ owyn and Meriadoc were laid in
beds in the Houses of Healing; and there they were tended
well. For though all lore was in these latter days fallen from
its fullness of old, the leechcraft of Gondor was still wise, and
skilled in the healing of wound and hurt, and all such sickness
as east of the Sea mortal men were subject to. Save old age
only. For that they had found no cure; and indeed the span
of their lives had now waned to little more than that of other
men, and those among them who passed the tale of five score
years with vigour were grown few, save in some houses of
purer blood. But now their art and knowledge were baffled;
1126 the return of the king
for there were many sick of a malady that would not be
healed; and they called it the Black Shadow, for it came from
the Nazguˆl. And those who were stricken with it fell slowly
into an ever deeper dream, and then passed to silence and a
deadly cold, and so died. And it seemed to the tenders of the
sick that on the Halfling and on the Lady of Rohan this
malady lay heavily. Still at whiles as the morning wore away
they would speak, murmuring in their dreams; and the
watchers listened to all that they said, hoping perhaps to learn
something that would help them to understand their hurts.
But soon they began to fall down into the darkness, and as
the sun turned west a grey shadow crept over their faces. But
Faramir burned with a fever that would not abate.
Gandalf went from one to the other full of care, and he
was told all that the watchers could hear. And so the day
passed, while the great battle outside went on with shifting
hopes and strange tidings; and still Gandalf waited and
watched and did not go forth; till at last the red sunset filled
all the sky, and the light through the windows fell on the grey
faces of the sick. Then it seemed to those who stood by that
in the glow the faces flushed softly as with health returning,
but it was only a mockery of hope.
Then an old wife, Ioreth, the eldest of the women who
served in that house, looking on the fair face of Faramir,
wept, for all the people loved him. And she said: ‘Alas! if he
should die. Would that there were kings in Gondor, as there
were once upon a time, they say! For it is said in old lore:
The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so the
rightful king could ever be known.’
And Gandalf, who stood by, said: ‘Men may long remember your words, Ioreth! For there is hope in them. Maybe a
king has indeed returned to Gondor; or have you not heard
the strange tidings that have come to the City?’
‘I have been too busy with this and that to heed all the
crying and shouting,’ she answered. ‘All I hope is that those
murdering devils do not come to this House and trouble the
sick.’
the houses of healing 1127
Then Gandalf went out in haste, and already the fire in
the sky was burning out, and the smouldering hills were
fading, while ash-grey evening crept over the fields.
Now as the sun went down Aragorn and E´ omer and
Imrahil drew near the City with their captains and knights;
and when they came before the Gate Aragorn said:
‘Behold the Sun setting in a great fire! It is a sign of the
end and fall of many things, and a change in the tides of the
world. But this City and realm has rested in the charge of
the Stewards for many long years, and I fear that if I enter it
unbidden, then doubt and debate may arise, which should
not be while this war is fought. I will not enter in, nor make
any claim, until it be seen whether we or Mordor shall prevail.
Men shall pitch my tents upon the field, and here I will await
the welcome of the Lord of the City.’
But E´ omer said: ‘Already you have raised the banner of
the Kings and displayed the tokens of Elendil’s House. Will
you suffer these to be challenged?’
‘No,’ said Aragorn. ‘But I deem the time unripe; and I have
no mind for strife except with our Enemy and his servants.’
And the Prince Imrahil said: ‘Your words, lord, are wise,
if one who is a kinsman of the Lord Denethor may counsel
you in this matter. He is strong-willed and proud, but old;
and his mood has been strange since his son was stricken
down. Yet I would not have you remain like a beggar at the
door.’
‘Not a beggar,’ said Aragorn. ‘Say a captain of the Rangers,
who are unused to cities and houses of stone.’ And he commanded that his banner should be furled; and he did off the
Star of the North Kingdom and gave it to the keeping of the
sons of Elrond.
Then the Prince Imrahil and E´ omer of Rohan left him and
passed through the City and the tumult of the people, and
mounted to the Citadel; and they came to the Hall of the
Tower, seeking the Steward. But they found his chair empty,
1128 the return of the king
and before the dais lay The´oden King of the Mark upon a
bed of state; and twelve torches stood about it, and twelve
guards, knights both of Rohan and Gondor. And the hangings of the bed were of green and white, but upon the king
was laid the great cloth of gold up to his breast, and upon
that his unsheathed sword, and at his feet his shield. The
light of the torches shimmered in his white hair like sun in
the spray of a fountain, but his face was fair and young, save
that a peace lay on it beyond the reach of youth; and it
seemed that he slept.
When they had stood silent for a time beside the king,
Imrahil said: ‘Where is the Steward? And where also is
Mithrandir?’
And one of the guards answered: ‘The Steward of Gondor
is in the Houses of Healing.’
But E´ omer said: ‘Where is the Lady E´ owyn, my sister; for
surely she should be lying beside the king, and in no less
honour? Where have they bestowed her?’
And Imrahil said: ‘But the Lady E´ owyn was yet living when
they bore her hither. Did you not know?’
Then hope unlooked-for came so suddenly to E´ omer’s
heart, and with it the bite of care and fear renewed, that he
said no more, but turned and went swiftly from the hall; and
the Prince followed him. And when they came forth evening
had fallen and many stars were in the sky. And there came
Gandalf on foot and with him one cloaked in grey; and they
met before the doors of the Houses of Healing. And they
greeted Gandalf and said: ‘We seek the Steward, and men
say that he is in this House. Has any hurt befallen him? And
the Lady E´ owyn, where is she?’
And Gandalf answered: ‘She lies within and is not dead,
but is near death. But the Lord Faramir was wounded by an
evil dart, as you have heard, and he is now the Steward; for
Denethor has departed, and his house is in ashes.’ And they
were filled with grief and wonder at the tale that he told.
But Imrahil said: ‘So victory is shorn of gladness, and it is
bitter bought, if both Gondor and Rohan are in one day
the houses of healing 1129
bereft of their lords. E´ omer rules the Rohirrim. Who shall
rule the City meanwhile? Shall we not send now for the Lord
Aragorn?’
And the cloaked man spoke and said: ‘He is come.’ And
they saw as he stepped into the light of the lantern by the
door that it was Aragorn, wrapped in the grey cloak of Lo´rien
above his mail, and bearing no other token than the green
stone of Galadriel. ‘I have come because Gandalf begs me to
do so,’ he said. ‘But for the present I am but the Captain of
the Du´nedain of Arnor; and the Lord of Dol Amroth shall
rule the City until Faramir awakes. But it is my counsel that
Gandalf should rule us all in the days that follow and in our
dealings with the Enemy.’ And they agreed upon that.
Then Gandalf said: ‘Let us not stay at the door, for the
time is urgent. Let us enter! For it is only in the coming of
Aragorn that any hope remains for the sick that lie in the
House. Thus spake Ioreth, wise-woman of Gondor: The
hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the
rightful king be known.’
Then Aragorn entered first and the others followed. And
there at the door were two guards in the livery of the Citadel:
one tall, but the other scarce the height of a boy; and when
he saw them he cried aloud in surprise and joy.
‘Strider! How splendid! Do you know, I guessed it was you
in the black ships. But they were all shouting corsairs and
wouldn’t listen to me. How did you do it?’
Aragorn laughed, and took the hobbit by the hand. ‘Well
met indeed!’ he said. ‘But there is not time yet for travellers’
tales.’
But Imrahil said to E´ omer: ‘Is it thus that we speak to our
kings? Yet maybe he will wear his crown in some other name!’
And Aragorn hearing him, turned and said: ‘Verily, for in
the high tongue of old I am Elessar, the Elfstone, and Envinyatar, the Renewer’: and he lifted from his breast the green
stone that lay there. ‘But Strider shall be the name of my
house, if that be ever established. In the high tongue it will
1130 the return of the king
not sound so ill, and Telcontar I will be and all the heirs of
my body.’
And with that they passed into the House; and as they
went towards the rooms where the sick were tended Gandalf
told of the deeds of E´ owyn and Meriadoc. ‘For,’ he said,
‘long have I stood by them, and at first they spoke much in
their dreaming, before they sank into the deadly darkness.
Also it is given to me to see many things far off.’
Aragorn went first to Faramir, and then to the Lady
E´ owyn, and last to Merry. When he had looked on the faces
of the sick and seen their hurts he sighed. ‘Here I must put
forth all such power and skill as is given to me,’ he said.
‘Would that Elrond were here, for he is the eldest of all our
race, and has the greater power.’
And E´ omer seeing that he was both sorrowful and weary
said: ‘First you must rest, surely, and at the least eat a little?’
But Aragorn answered: ‘Nay, for these three, and most
soon for Faramir, time is running out. All speed is needed.’
Then he called to Ioreth and he said: ‘You have store in
this House of the herbs of healing?’
‘Yes, lord,’ she answered; ‘but not enough, I reckon, for
all that will need them. But I am sure I do not know where
we shall find more; for all things are amiss in these dreadful
days, what with fires and burnings, and the lads that run
errands so few, and all the roads blocked. Why, it is days out
of count since ever a carrier came in from Lossarnach to the
market! But we do our best in this House with what we have,
as I am sure your lordship will know.’
‘I will judge that when I see,’ said Aragorn. ‘One thing also
is short, time for speech. Have you athelas?’
‘I do not know, I am sure, lord,’ she answered, ‘at least not
by that name. I will go and ask of the herb-master; he knows
all the old names.’
‘It is also called kingsfoil,’ said Aragorn; ‘and maybe you
know it by that name, for so the country-folk call it in these
latter days.’
‘Oh that!’ said Ioreth. ‘Well, if your lordship had named it
the houses of healing 1131
at first I could have told you. No, we have none of it, I am
sure. Why, I have never heard that it had any great virtue;
and indeed I have often said to my sisters when we came
upon it growing in the woods: ‘‘kingsfoil’’, I said, ‘‘’tis a
strange name, and I wonder why ’tis called so; for if I were a
king, I would have plants more bright in my garden’’. Still it
smells sweet when bruised, does it not? If sweet is the right
word: wholesome, maybe, is nearer.’
‘Wholesome verily,’ said Aragorn. ‘And now, dame, if you
love the Lord Faramir, run as quick as your tongue and get
me kingsfoil, if there is a leaf in the City.’
‘And if not,’ said Gandalf, ‘I will ride to Lossarnach with
Ioreth behind me, and she shall take me to the woods, but
not to her sisters. And Shadowfax shall show her the meaning
of haste.’
When Ioreth was gone, Aragorn bade the other women to
make water hot. Then he took Faramir’s hand in his, and laid
the other hand upon the sick man’s brow. It was drenched
with sweat; but Faramir did not move or make any sign, and
seemed hardly to breathe.
‘He is nearly spent,’ said Aragorn turning to Gandalf. ‘But
this comes not from the wound. See! that is healing. Had he
been smitten by some dart of the Nazguˆl, as you thought, he
would have died that night. This hurt was given by some
Southron arrow, I would guess. Who drew it forth? Was it
kept?’
‘I drew it forth,’ said Imrahil, ‘and staunched the wound.
But I did not keep the arrow, for we had much to do. It was,
as I remember, just such a dart as the Southrons use. Yet I
believed that it came from the Shadows above, for else his
fever and sickness were not to be understood; since the
wound was not deep or vital. How then do you read the
matter?’
‘Weariness, grief for his father’s mood, a wound, and over
all the Black Breath,’ said Aragorn. ‘He is a man of staunch
will, for already he had come close under the Shadow before
1132 the return of the king
ever he rode to battle on the out-walls. Slowly the dark must
have crept on him, even as he fought and strove to hold his
outpost. Would that I could have been here sooner!’
Thereupon the herb-master entered. ‘Your lordship asked
for kingsfoil, as the rustics name it,’ he said; ‘or athelas in
the noble tongue, or to those who know somewhat of the
Valinorean…’
‘I do so,’ said Aragorn, ‘and I care not whether you say
now ase¨a aranion or kingsfoil, so long as you have some.’
‘Your pardon lord!’ said the man. ‘I see you are a loremaster, not merely a captain of war. But alas! sir, we do not
keep this thing in the Houses of Healing, where only the
gravely hurt or sick are tended. For it has no virtue that we
know of, save perhaps to sweeten a fouled air, or to drive
away some passing heaviness. Unless, of course, you give
heed to rhymes of old days which women such as our good
Ioreth still repeat without understanding.
When the black breath blows
and death’s shadow grows
and all lights pass,
come athelas! come athelas!
Life to the dying
In the king’s hand lying!
It is but a doggrel, I fear, garbled in the memory of old wives.
Its meaning I leave to your judgement, if indeed it has any.
But old folk still use an infusion of the herb for headaches.’
‘Then in the name of the king, go and find some old man
of less lore and more wisdom who keeps some in his house!’
cried Gandalf.
Now Aragorn knelt beside Faramir, and held a hand upon
his brow. And those that watched felt that some great struggle
was going on. For Aragorn’s face grew grey with weariness;
and ever and anon he called the name of Faramir, but each
the houses of healing 1133
time more faintly to their hearing, as if Aragorn himself was
removed from them, and walked afar in some dark vale,
calling for one that was lost.
And at last Bergil came running in, and he bore six leaves
in a cloth. ‘It is kingsfoil, Sir,’ he said; ‘but not fresh, I fear.
It must have been culled two weeks ago at the least. I hope
it will serve, Sir?’ Then looking at Faramir he burst into
tears.
But Aragorn smiled. ‘It will serve,’ he said. ‘The worst is
now over. Stay and be comforted!’ Then taking two leaves,
he laid them on his hands and breathed on them, and then
he crushed them, and straightway a living freshness filled the
room, as if the air itself awoke and tingled, sparkling with joy.
And then he cast the leaves into the bowls of steaming water
that were brought to him, and at once all hearts were lightened. For the fragrance that came to each was like a memory
of dewy mornings of unshadowed sun in some land of which
the fair world in spring is itself but a fleeting memory. But
Aragorn stood up as one refreshed, and his eyes smiled as he
held a bowl before Faramir’s dreaming face.
‘Well now! Who would have believed it?’ said Ioreth to a
woman that stood beside her. ‘The weed is better than I
thought. It reminds me of the roses of Imloth Melui when
I was a lass, and no king could ask for better.’
Suddenly Faramir stirred, and he opened his eyes, and he
looked on Aragorn who bent over him; and a light of knowledge and love was kindled in his eyes, and he spoke softly.
‘My lord, you called me. I come. What does the king
command?’
‘Walk no more in the shadows, but awake!’ said Aragorn.
‘You are weary. Rest a while, and take food, and be ready
when I return.’
‘I will, lord,’ said Faramir. ‘For who would lie idle when
the king has returned?’
‘Farewell then for a while!’ said Aragorn. ‘I must go to
others who need me.’ And he left the chamber with Gandalf
and Imrahil; but Beregond and his son remained behind,
1134 the return of the king
unable to contain their joy. As he followed Gandalf and shut
the door Pippin heard Ioreth exclaim:
‘King! Did you hear that? What did I say? The hands of a
healer, I said.’ And soon the word had gone out from the
House that the king was indeed come among them, and after
war he brought healing; and the news ran through the City.
But Aragorn came to E´ owyn, and he said: ‘Here there is a
grievous hurt and a heavy blow. The arm that was broken
has been tended with due skill, and it will mend in time, if
she has the strength to live. It is the shield-arm that is maimed;
but the chief evil comes through the sword-arm. In that there
now seems no life, although it is unbroken.
‘Alas! For she was pitted against a foe beyond the strength
of her mind or body. And those who will take a weapon to
such an enemy must be sterner than steel, if the very shock
shall not destroy them. It was an evil doom that set her in his
path. For she is a fair maiden, fairest lady of a house of
queens. And yet I know not how I should speak of her. When
I first looked on her and perceived her unhappiness, it seemed
to me that I saw a white flower standing straight and proud,
shapely as a lily, and yet knew that it was hard, as if wrought
by elf-wrights out of steel. Or was it, maybe, a frost that had
turned its sap to ice, and so it stood, bitter-sweet, still fair to
see, but stricken, soon to fall and die? Her malady begins far
back before this day, does it not, E´ omer?’
‘I marvel that you should ask me, lord,’ he answered. ‘For
I hold you blameless in this matter, as in all else; yet I knew
not that E´ owyn, my sister, was touched by any frost, until
she first looked on you. Care and dread she had, and shared
with me, in the days of Wormtongue and the king’s bewitchment; and she tended the king in growing fear. But that did
not bring her to this pass!’
‘My friend,’ said Gandalf, ‘you had horses, and deeds of
arms, and the free fields; but she, born in the body of a maid,
had a spirit and courage at least the match of yours. Yet she
was doomed to wait upon an old man, whom she loved as a
the houses of healing 1135
father, and watch him falling into a mean dishonoured dotage; and her part seemed to her more ignoble than that of
the staff he leaned on.
‘Think you that Wormtongue had poison only for
The´oden’s ears? Dotard! What is the house of Eorl but a
thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their
brats roll on the floor among their dogs? Have you not heard
those words before? Saruman spoke them, the teacher of
Wormtongue. Though I do not doubt that Wormtongue at
home wrapped their meaning in terms more cunning. My
lord, if your sister’s love for you, and her will still bent to
her duty, had not restrained her lips, you might have heard
even such things as these escape them. But who knows what
she spoke to the darkness, alone, in the bitter watches of the
night, when all her life seemed shrinking, and the walls of her
bower closing in about her, a hutch to trammel some wild
thing in?’
Then E´ omer was silent, and looked on his sister, as if
pondering anew all the days of their past life together. But
Aragorn said: ‘I saw also what you saw, E´ omer. Few other
griefs amid the ill chances of this world have more bitterness
and shame for a man’s heart than to behold the love of a lady
so fair and brave that cannot be returned. Sorrow and pity
have followed me ever since I left her desperate in Dunharrow
and rode to the Paths of the Dead; and no fear upon that
way was so present as the fear for what might befall her. And
yet, E´ omer, I say to you that she loves you more truly than
me; for you she loves and knows; but in me she loves only a
shadow and a thought: a hope of glory and great deeds, and
lands far from the fields of Rohan.
‘I have, maybe, the power to heal her body, and to recall
her from the dark valley. But to what she will awake: hope,
or forgetfulness, or despair, I do not know. And if to despair,
then she will die, unless other healing comes which I cannot
bring. Alas! for her deeds have set her among the queens of
great renown.’
Then Aragorn stooped and looked in her face, and it was
1136 the return of the king
indeed white as a lily, cold as frost, and hard as graven stone.
But he bent and kissed her on the brow, and called her softly,
saying:
‘E´ owyn E´ omund’s daughter, awake! For your enemy has
passed away!’
She did not stir, but now she began again to breathe deeply,
so that her breast rose and fell beneath the white linen of the
sheet. Once more Aragorn bruised two leaves of athelas and
cast them into steaming water; and he laved her brow with
it, and her right arm lying cold and nerveless on the coverlet.
Then, whether Aragorn had indeed some forgotten power
of Westernesse, or whether it was but his words of the Lady
E´ owyn that wrought on them, as the sweet influence of the
herb stole about the chamber it seemed to those who stood
by that a keen wind blew through the window, and it bore
no scent, but was an air wholly fresh and clean and young,
as if it had not before been breathed by any living thing and
came new-made from snowy mountains high beneath a dome
of stars, or from shores of silver far away washed by seas of
foam.
‘Awake, E´ owyn, Lady of Rohan!’ said Aragorn again, and
he took her right hand in his and felt it warm with life
returning. ‘Awake! The shadow is gone and all darkness is
washed clean!’ Then he laid her hand in E´ omer’s and stepped
away. ‘Call her!’ he said, and he passed silently from the
chamber.
‘E´ owyn, E´ owyn!’ cried E´ omer amid his tears. But she
opened her eyes and said: ‘E´ omer! What joy is this? For they
said that you were slain. Nay, but that was only the dark
voices in my dream. How long have I been dreaming?’
‘Not long, my sister,’ said E´ omer. ‘But think no more
on it!’
‘I am strangely weary,’ she said. ‘I must rest a little. But
tell me, what of the Lord of the Mark? Alas! Do not tell me
that that was a dream; for I know that it was not. He is dead
as he foresaw.’
‘He is dead,’ said E´ omer, ‘but he bade me say farewell to
the houses of healing 1137
E´ owyn, dearer than daughter. He lies now in great honour in
the Citadel of Gondor.’
‘That is grievous,’ she said. ‘And yet it is good beyond all
that I dared hope in the dark days, when it seemed that the
House of Eorl was sunk in honour less than any shepherd’s
cot. And what of the king’s esquire, the Halfling? E´ omer, you
shall make him a knight of the Riddermark, for he is valiant!’
‘He lies nearby in this House, and I will go to him,’ said
Gandalf. ‘E´ omer shall stay here for a while. But do not speak
yet of war or woe, until you are made whole again. Great
gladness it is to see you wake again to health and hope, so
valiant a lady!’
‘To health?’ said E´ owyn. ‘It may be so. At least while there
is an empty saddle of some fallen Rider that I can fill, and
there are deeds to do. But to hope? I do not know.’
Gandalf and Pippin came to Merry’s room, and there they
found Aragorn standing by the bed. ‘Poor old Merry!’ cried
Pippin, and he ran to the bedside, for it seemed to him that
his friend looked worse and a greyness was in his face, as if
a weight of years of sorrow lay on him; and suddenly a fear
seized Pippin that Merry would die.
‘Do not be afraid,’ said Aragorn. ‘I came in time, and I
have called him back. He is weary now, and grieved, and he
has taken a hurt like the Lady E´ owyn, daring to smite that
deadly thing. But these evils can be amended, so strong and
gay a spirit is in him. His grief he will not forget; but it will
not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.’
Then Aragorn laid his hand on Merry’s head, and passing
his hand gently through the brown curls, he touched the
eyelids, and called him by name. And when the fragrance of
athelas stole through the room, like the scent of orchards, and
of heather in the sunshine full of bees, suddenly Merry awoke,
and he said:
‘I am hungry. What is the time?’
‘Past supper-time now,’ said Pippin; ‘though I daresay I
could bring you something, if they will let me.’
1138 the return of the king
‘They will indeed,’ said Gandalf. ‘And anything else that
this Rider of Rohan may desire, if it can be found in Minas
Tirith, where his name is in honour.’
‘Good!’ said Merry. ‘Then I would like supper first, and
after that a pipe.’ At that his face clouded. ‘No, not a pipe.
I don’t think I’ll smoke again.’
‘Why not?’ said Pippin.
‘Well,’ answered Merry slowly. ‘He is dead. It has brought
it all back to me. He said he was sorry he had never had a
chance of talking herb-lore with me. Almost the last thing he
ever said. I shan’t ever be able to smoke again without thinking of him, and that day, Pippin, when he rode up to Isengard
and was so polite.’
‘Smoke then, and think of him!’ said Aragorn. ‘For he was
a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he
rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning. Though your
service to him was brief, it should be a memory glad and
honourable to the end of your days.’
Merry smiled. ‘Well then,’ he said, ‘if Strider will provide
what is needed, I will smoke and think. I had some of
Saruman’s best in my pack, but what became of it in the
battle, I am sure I don’t know.’
‘Master Meriadoc,’ said Aragorn, ‘if you think that I have
passed through the mountains and the realm of Gondor
with fire and sword to bring herbs to a careless soldier who
throws away his gear, you are mistaken. If your pack has not
been found, then you must send for the herb-master of this
House. And he will tell you that he did not know that the
herb you desire had any virtues, but that it is called westmansweed by the vulgar, and galenas by the noble, and other
names in other tongues more learned, and after adding
a few half-forgotten rhymes that he does not understand, he
will regretfully inform you that there is none in the House,
and he will leave you to reflect on the history of tongues. And
so now must I. For I have not slept in such a bed as this,
since I rode from Dunharrow, nor eaten since the dark before
dawn.’
the houses of healing 1139
Merry seized his hand and kissed it. ‘I am frightfully sorry,’
he said. ‘Go at once! Ever since that night at Bree we have
been a nuisance to you. But it is the way of my people to use
light words at such times and say less than they mean. We
fear to say too much. It robs us of the right words when a
jest is out of place.’
‘I know that well, or I would not deal with you in the same
way,’ said Aragorn. ‘May the Shire live for ever unwithered!’
And kissing Merry he went out, and Gandalf went with him.
Pippin remained behind. ‘Was there ever anyone like him?’
he said. ‘Except Gandalf, of course. I think they must be
related. My dear ass, your pack is lying by your bed, and you
had it on your back when I met you. He saw it all the time,
of course. And anyway I have some stuff of my own. Come
on now! Longbottom Leaf it is. Fill up while I run and see
about some food. And then let’s be easy for a bit. Dear
me! We Tooks and Brandybucks, we can’t live long on the
heights.’
‘No,’ said Merry. ‘I can’t. Not yet, at any rate. But at least,
Pippin, we can now see them, and honour them. It is best to
love first what you are fitted to love, I suppose: you must
start somewhere and have some roots, and the soil of the
Shire is deep. Still there are things deeper and higher; and
not a gaffer could tend his garden in what he calls peace but
for them, whether he knows about them or not. I am glad
that I know about them, a little. But I don’t know why I am
talking like this. Where is that leaf ? And get my pipe out of
my pack, if it isn’t broken.’
Aragorn and Gandalf went now to the Warden of the
Houses of Healing, and they counselled him that Faramir
and E´ owyn should remain there and still be tended with care
for many days.
‘The Lady E´ owyn,’ said Aragorn, ‘will wish soon to rise
and depart; but she should not be permitted to do so, if you
can in any way restrain her, until at least ten days be passed.’
1140 the return of the king
‘As for Faramir,’ said Gandalf, ‘he must soon learn that
his father is dead. But the full tale of the madness of Denethor
should not be told to him, until he is quite healed and has
duties to do. See that Beregond and the perian who were
present do not speak to him of these things yet!’
‘And the other perian, Meriadoc, who is under my care,
what of him?’ said the Warden.
‘It is likely that he will be fit to arise tomorrow, for a short
while,’ said Aragorn. ‘Let him do so, if he wishes. He may
walk a little in the care of his friends.’
‘They are a remarkable race,’ said the Warden, nodding
his head. ‘Very tough in the fibre, I deem.’
At the doors of the Houses many were already gathered to
see Aragorn, and they followed after him; and when at last
he had supped, men came and prayed that he would heal their
kinsmen or their friends whose lives were in peril through hurt
or wound, or who lay under the Black Shadow. And Aragorn
arose and went out, and he sent for the sons of Elrond, and
together they laboured far into the night. And word went
through the City: ‘The King is come again indeed.’ And they
named him Elfstone, because of the green stone that he wore,
and so the name which it was foretold at his birth that he
should bear was chosen for him by his own people.
And when he could labour no more, he cast his cloak about
him, and slipped out of the City, and went to his tent just ere
dawn and slept for a little. And in the morning the banner of
Dol Amroth, a white ship like a swan upon blue water, floated
from the Tower, and men looked up and wondered if the
coming of the King had been but a dream.
Chapter 9
THE LAST DEBATE
The morning came after the day of battle, and it was fair
with light clouds and the wind turning westward. Legolas
and Gimli were early abroad, and they begged leave to go up
into the City; for they were eager to see Merry and Pippin.
‘It is good to learn that they are still alive,’ said Gimli; ‘for
they cost us great pains in our march over Rohan, and I
would not have such pains all wasted.’
Together the Elf and the Dwarf entered Minas Tirith, and
folk that saw them pass marvelled to see such companions;
for Legolas was fair of face beyond the measure of Men, and
he sang an elven-song in a clear voice as he walked in the
morning; but Gimli stalked beside him, stroking his beard
and staring about him.
‘There is some good stone-work here,’ he said as he looked
at the walls; ‘but also some that is less good, and the streets
could be better contrived. When Aragorn comes into his own,
I shall offer him the service of stonewrights of the Mountain,
and we will make this a town to be proud of.’
‘They need more gardens,’ said Legolas. ‘The houses are
dead, and there is too little here that grows and is glad. If
Aragorn comes into his own, the people of the Wood shall
bring him birds that sing and trees that do not die.’
At length they came to the Prince Imrahil, and Legolas
looked at him and bowed low; for he saw that here indeed
was one who had elven-blood in his veins. ‘Hail, lord!’ he said.
‘It is long since the people of Nimrodel left the woodlands of
Lo´rien, and yet still one may see that not all sailed from
Amroth’s haven west over water.’
‘So it is said in the lore of my land,’ said the Prince; ‘yet
1142 the return of the king
never has one of the fair folk been seen there for years beyond
count. And I marvel to see one here now in the midst of
sorrow and war. What do you seek?’
‘I am one of the Nine Companions who set out with
Mithrandir from Imladris,’ said Legolas; ‘and with this
Dwarf, my friend, I came with the Lord Aragorn. But now
we wish to see our friends, Meriadoc and Peregrin, who are
in your keeping, we are told.’
‘You will find them in the Houses of Healing, and I will
lead you thither,’ said Imrahil.
‘It will be enough if you send one to guide us, lord,’ said
Legolas. ‘For Aragorn sends this message to you. He does
not wish to enter the City again at this time. Yet there is need
for the captains to hold council at once, and he prays that
you and E´ omer of Rohan will come down to his tents, as
soon as may be. Mithrandir is already there.’
‘We will come,’ said Imrahil; and they parted with
courteous words.
‘That is a fair lord and a great captain of men,’ said
Legolas. ‘If Gondor has such men still in these days of fading,
great must have been its glory in the days of its rising.’
‘And doubtless the good stone-work is the older and was
wrought in the first building,’ said Gimli. ‘It is ever so with
the things that Men begin: there is a frost in Spring, or a
blight in Summer, and they fail of their promise.’
‘Yet seldom do they fail of their seed,’ said Legolas. ‘And
that will lie in the dust and rot to spring up again in times
and places unlooked-for. The deeds of Men will outlast us,
Gimli.’
‘And yet come to naught in the end but might-have-beens,
I guess,’ said the Dwarf.
‘To that the Elves know not the answer,’ said Legolas.
With that the servant of the Prince came and led them to
the Houses of Healing; and there they found their friends in
the garden, and their meeting was a merry one. For a while
they walked and talked, rejoicing for a brief space in peace
the last debate 1143
and rest under the morning high up in the windy circles of
the City. Then when Merry became weary, they went and
sat upon the wall with the greensward of the Houses of Healing behind them; and away southward before them was the
Anduin glittering in the sun, as it flowed away, out of the
sight even of Legolas, into the wide flats and green haze of
Lebennin and South Ithilien.
And now Legolas fell silent, while the others talked, and
he looked out against the sun, and as he gazed he saw white
sea-birds beating up the River.
‘Look!’ he cried. ‘Gulls! They are flying far inland. A
wonder they are to me and a trouble to my heart. Never in
all my life had I met them, until we came to Pelargir, and
there I heard them crying in the air as we rode to the battle
of the ships. Then I stood still, forgetting war in Middle-earth;
for their wailing voices spoke to me of the Sea. The Sea!
Alas! I have not yet beheld it. But deep in the hearts of all
my kindred lies the sea-longing, which it is perilous to stir.
Alas! for the gulls. No peace shall I have again under beech
or under elm.’
‘Say not so!’ said Gimli. ‘There are countless things still to
see in Middle-earth, and great works to do. But if all the fair
folk take to the Havens, it will be a duller world for those
who are doomed to stay.’
‘Dull and dreary indeed!’ said Merry. ‘You must not go to
the Havens, Legolas. There will always be some folk, big or
little, and even a few wise dwarves like Gimli, who need you.
At least I hope so. Though I feel somehow that the worst of
this war is still to come. How I wish it was all over, and well
over!’
‘Don’t be so gloomy!’ cried Pippin. ‘The Sun is shining,
and here we are together for a day or two at least. I want to
hear more about you all. Come, Gimli! You and Legolas have
mentioned your strange journey with Strider about a dozen
times already this morning. But you haven’t told me anything
about it.’
‘The Sun may shine here,’ said Gimli, ‘but there are
1144 the return of the king
memories of that road that I do not wish to recall out of the
darkness. Had I known what was before me, I think that not
for any friendship would I have taken the Paths of the Dead.’
‘The Paths of the Dead?’ said Pippin. ‘I heard Aragorn say
that, and I wondered what he could mean. Won’t you tell us
some more?’
‘Not willingly,’ said Gimli. ‘For upon that road I was put
to shame: Gimli Glo´in’s son, who had deemed himself more
tough than Men, and hardier under earth than any Elf. But
neither did I prove; and I was held to the road only by the
will of Aragorn.’
‘And by the love of him also,’ said Legolas. ‘For all those
who come to know him come to love him after their own
fashion, even the cold maiden of the Rohirrim. It was at early
morn of the day ere you came there, Merry, that we left
Dunharrow, and such a fear was on all the folk that none
would look on our going, save the Lady E´ owyn, who lies now
hurt in the House below. There was grief at that parting, and
I was grieved to behold it.’
‘Alas! I had heart only for myself,’ said Gimli. ‘Nay! I will
not speak of that journey.’
He fell silent; but Pippin and Merry were so eager for news
that at last Legolas said: ‘I will tell you enough for your peace;
for I felt not the horror, and I feared not the shadows of Men,
powerless and frail as I deemed them.’
Swiftly then he told of the haunted road under the mountains, and the dark tryst at Erech, and the great ride thence,
ninety leagues and three, to Pelargir on Anduin. ‘Four days
and nights, and on into a fifth, we rode from the Black Stone,’
he said. ‘And lo! in the darkness of Mordor my hope rose;
for in that gloom the Shadow Host seemed to grow stronger
and more terrible to look upon. Some I saw riding, some
striding, yet all moving with the same great speed. Silent they
were, but there was a gleam in their eyes. 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
the last debate 1145
are obedient to his will,’’ I thought. ‘‘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;
and on the third day we came to Linhir above the mouth of
Gilrain. And there men of Lamedon contested the fords with
fell folk of Umbar and Harad who had sailed up the river.
But defenders and foes alike gave up the battle and fled when
we came, crying out that the King of the Dead was upon
them. Only Angbor, Lord of Lamedon, had the heart to abide
us; and Aragorn bade him gather his folk and come behind,
if they dared, when the Grey Host had passed.
‘ ‘‘At Pelargir the Heir of Isildur will have need of you,’’
he said.
‘Thus we crossed over Gilrain, driving the allies of Mordor
in rout before us; and then we rested a while. But soon
Aragorn arose, saying: ‘‘Lo! already Minas Tirith is assailed.
I fear that it will fall ere we come to its aid.’’ So we mounted
again before night had passed and went on with all the speed
that our horses could endure over the plains of Lebennin.’
Legolas paused and sighed, and turning his eyes southward
softly he sang:
Silver flow the streams from Celos to Erui
In the green fields of Lebennin!
Tall grows the grass there. In the wind from the Sea
The white lilies sway,
And the golden bells are shaken of mallos and alfirin
In the green fields of Lebennin,
In the wind from the Sea!
‘Green are those fields in the songs of my people; but they
were dark then, grey wastes in the blackness before us. And
over the wide land, trampling unheeded the grass and the
flowers, we hunted our foes through a day and a night, until
we came at the bitter end to the Great River at last.
‘Then I thought in my heart that we drew near to the
1146 the return of the king
Sea; for wide was the water in the darkness, and sea-birds
innumerable cried on its shores. Alas for the wailing of the
gulls! Did not the Lady tell me to beware of them? And now
I cannot forget them.’
‘For my part I heeded them not,’ said Gimli; ‘for we came
then at last upon battle in earnest. There at Pelargir lay the
main fleet of Umbar, fifty great ships and smaller vessels
beyond count. Many of those that we pursued had reached
the havens before us, and brought their fear with them; and
some of the ships had put off, seeking to escape down the
River or to reach the far shore; and many of the smaller craft
were ablaze. But the Haradrim, being now driven to the
brink, turned at bay, and they were fierce in despair; and they
laughed when they looked on us, for they were a great army
still.
‘But Aragorn halted and cried with a great voice: ‘‘Now
come! By the Black Stone I call you!’’ And suddenly the
Shadow Host that had hung back at the last came up like a
grey tide, sweeping all away before it. Faint cries I heard, and
dim horns blowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices:
it was like the echo of some forgotten battle in the Dark Years
long ago. Pale swords were drawn; but I know not whether
their blades would still bite, for the Dead needed no longer
any weapon but fear. None would withstand them.
‘To every ship they came that was drawn up, and then
they passed over the water to those that were anchored; and
all the mariners were filled with a madness of terror and
leaped overboard, save the slaves chained to the oars. Reckless we rode among our fleeing foes, driving them like leaves,
until we came to the shore. And then to each of the great
ships that remained Aragorn sent one of the Du´nedain, and
they comforted the captives that were aboard, and bade them
put aside fear and be free.
‘Ere that dark day ended none of the enemy were left to
resist us; all were drowned, or were flying south in the hope
to find their own lands upon foot. Strange and wonderful I
thought it that the designs of Mordor should be overthrown
the last debate 1147
by such wraiths of fear and darkness. With its own weapons
was it worsted!’
‘Strange indeed,’ said Legolas. ‘In that hour I looked on
Aragorn and thought how great and terrible a Lord he might
have become in the strength of his will, had he taken the Ring
to himself. Not for naught does Mordor fear him. But nobler
is his spirit than the understanding of Sauron; for is he not
of the children of Lu´thien? Never shall that line fail, though
the years may lengthen beyond count.’
‘Beyond the eyes of the Dwarves are such foretellings,’ said
Gimli. ‘But mighty indeed was Aragorn that day. Lo! all the
black fleet was in his hands; and he chose the greatest ship
to be his own, and he went up into it. Then he let sound a
great concourse of trumpets taken from the enemy; and the
Shadow Host withdrew to the shore. There they stood silent,
hardly to be seen, save for a red gleam in their eyes that
caught the glare of the ships that were burning. And Aragorn
spoke in a loud voice to the Dead Men, crying:
‘ ‘‘Hear now the words of the Heir of Isildur! Your oath is
fulfilled. Go back and trouble not the valleys ever again!
Depart and be at rest!’’
‘And thereupon the King of the Dead stood out before the
host and broke his spear and cast it down. Then he bowed
low and turned away; and swiftly the whole grey host drew
off and vanished like a mist that is driven back by a sudden
wind; and it seemed to me that I awoke from a dream.
‘That night we rested while others laboured. For there were
many captives set free, and many slaves released who had
been folk of Gondor taken in raids; and soon also there was
a great gathering of men out of Lebennin and the Ethir, and
Angbor of Lamedon came up with all the horsemen that he
could muster. Now that the fear of the Dead was removed
they came to aid us and to look on the Heir of Isildur; for the
rumour of that name had run like fire in the dark.
‘And that is near the end of our tale. For during that
evening and night many ships were made ready and manned;
and in the morning the fleet set forth. Long past it now seems,
1148 the return of the king
yet it was but the morn of the day ere yesterday, the sixth
since we rode from Dunharrow. But still Aragorn was driven
by fear that time was too short.
‘ ‘‘It is forty leagues and two from Pelargir to the landings
at the Harlond,’’ he said. ‘‘Yet to the Harlond we must come
tomorrow or fail utterly.’’
‘The oars were now wielded by free men, and manfully
they laboured; yet slowly we passed up the Great River, for
we strove against its stream, and though that is not swift
down in the South, we had no help of wind. Heavy would
my heart have been, for all our victory at the havens, if
Legolas had not laughed suddenly.
‘ ‘‘Up with your beard, Durin’s son!’’ he said. ‘‘For thus is
it spoken: Oft hope is born, when all is forlorn.’’ But what hope
he saw from afar he would not tell. When night came it did
but deepen the darkness, and our hearts were hot, for away
in the North we saw a red glow under the cloud, and Aragorn
said: ‘‘Minas Tirith is burning.’’
‘But at midnight hope was indeed born anew. Sea-crafty
men of the Ethir gazing southward spoke of a change coming
with a fresh wind from the Sea. Long ere day the masted
ships hoisted sail, and our speed grew, until dawn whitened
the foam at our prows. And so it was, as you know, that we
came in the third hour of the morning with a fair wind and
the Sun unveiled, and we unfurled the great standard in
battle. It was a great day and a great hour, whatever may
come after.’
‘Follow what may, great deeds are not lessened in worth,’
said Legolas. ‘Great deed was the riding of the Paths of the
Dead, and great it shall remain, though none be left in
Gondor to sing of it in the days that are to come.’
‘And that may well befall,’ said Gimli. ‘For the faces of
Aragorn and Gandalf are grave. Much I wonder what counsels they are taking in the tents there below. For my part, like
Merry, I wish that with our victory the war was now over.
Yet whatever is still to do, I hope to have a part in it, for the
honour of the folk of the Lonely Mountain.’
the last debate 1149
‘And I for the folk of the Great Wood,’ said Legolas, ‘and
for the love of the Lord of the White Tree.’
Then the companions fell silent, but a while they sat there
in the high place, each busy with his own thoughts, while the
Captains debated.
When the Prince Imrahil had parted from Legolas and
Gimli, at once he sent for E´ omer; and he went down with
him from the City, and they came to the tents of Aragorn
that were set up on the field not far from the place where
King The´oden had fallen. And there they took counsel
together with Gandalf and Aragorn and the sons of Elrond.
‘My lords,’ said Gandalf, ‘listen to the words of the Steward
of Gondor before he died: You may triumph on the fields of
the Pelennor for a day, but against the Power that has now arisen
there is no victory. I do not bid you despair, as he did, but to
ponder the truth in these words.
‘The Stones of Seeing do not lie, and not even the Lord of
Barad-duˆr can make them do so. He can, maybe, by his will
choose what things shall be seen by weaker minds, or cause
them to mistake the meaning of what they see. Nonetheless
it cannot be doubted that when Denethor saw great forces
arrayed against him in Mordor, and more still being gathered,
he saw that which truly is.
‘Hardly has our strength sufficed to beat off the first great
assault. The next will be greater. This war then is without final hope, as Denethor perceived. Victory cannot be
achieved by arms, whether you sit here to endure siege after
siege, or march out to be overwhelmed beyond the River.
You have only a choice of evils; and prudence would counsel
you to strengthen such strong places as you have, and there
await the onset; for so shall the time before your end be made
a little longer.’
‘Then you would have us retreat to Minas Tirith, or Dol
Amroth, or to Dunharrow, and there sit like children on
sand-castles when the tide is flowing?’ said Imrahil.
‘That would be no new counsel,’ said Gandalf. ‘Have you
1150 the return of the king
not done this and little more in all the days of Denethor?
But no! I said this would be prudent. I do not counsel prudence. I said victory could not be achieved by arms. I still
hope for victory, but not by arms. For into the midst of all
these policies comes the Ring of Power, the foundation of
Barad-duˆr, and the hope of Sauron.
‘Concerning this thing, my lords, you now all know enough
for the understanding of our plight, and of Sauron’s. If he
regains it, your valour is vain, and his victory will be swift
and complete: so complete that none can foresee the end of
it while this world lasts. If it is destroyed, then he will fall;
and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising
ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that
was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or
begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed
for ever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself
in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so
a great evil of this world will be removed.
‘Other evils there are that may come; for Sauron is himself
but a servant or emissary. Yet it is not our part to master all
the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour
of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the
fields that we know, so that those who live after may have
clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours
to rule.
‘Now Sauron knows all this, and he knows that this precious thing which he lost has been found again; but he does
not yet know where it is, or so we hope. And therefore he is
now in great doubt. For if we have found this thing, there
are some among us with strength enough to wield it. That
too he knows. For do I not guess rightly, Aragorn, that you
have shown yourself to him in the Stone of Orthanc?’
‘I did so ere I rode from the Hornburg,’ answered Aragorn.
‘I deemed that the time was ripe, and that the Stone had
come to me for just such a purpose. It was then ten days
since the Ring-bearer went east from Rauros, and the Eye of
Sauron, I thought, should be drawn out from his own land.
the last debate 1151
Too seldom has he been challenged since he returned to his
Tower. Though if I had foreseen how swift would be his
onset in answer, maybe I should not have dared to show
myself. Bare time was given me to come to your aid.’
‘But how is this?’ asked E´ omer. ‘All is vain, you say, if he
has the Ring. Why should he think it not vain to assail us, if
we have it?’
‘He is not yet sure,’ said Gandalf, ‘and he has not built
up his power by waiting until his enemies are secure, as we
have done. Also we could not learn how to wield the full
power all in a day. Indeed it can be used only by one master
alone, not by many; and he will look for a time of strife, ere
one of the great among us makes himself master and puts
down the others. In that time the Ring might aid him, if he
were sudden.
‘He is watching. He sees much and hears much. His
Nazguˆl are still abroad. They passed over this field ere the
sunrise, though few of the weary and sleeping were aware of
them. He studies the signs: the Sword that robbed him of his
treasure re-made; the winds of fortune turning in our favour,
and the defeat unlooked-for of his first assault; the fall of his
great Captain.
‘His doubt will be growing, even as we speak here. His Eye
is now straining towards us, blind almost to all else that is
moving. So we must keep it. Therein lies all our hope. This,
then, is my counsel. We have not the Ring. In wisdom or
great folly it has been sent away to be destroyed, lest it destroy
us. Without it we cannot by force defeat his force. But we
must at all costs keep his Eye from his true peril. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give the
Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be.
‘As Aragorn has begun, so we must go on. We must
push Sauron to his last throw. We must call out his hidden
strength, so that he shall empty his land. We must march out
to meet him at once. We must make ourselves the bait, though
his jaws should close on us. He will take that bait, in hope
and in greed, for he will think that in such rashness he sees
1152 the return of the king
the pride of the new Ringlord: and he will say: ‘‘So! he pushes
out his neck too soon and too far. Let him come on, and
behold I will have him in a trap from which he cannot escape.
There I will crush him, and what he has taken in his insolence
shall be mine again for ever.’’
‘We must walk open-eyed into that trap, with courage, but
small hope for ourselves. For, my lords, it may well prove
that we ourselves shall perish utterly in a black battle far from
the living lands; so that even if Barad-duˆr be thrown down,
we shall not live to see a new age. But this, I deem, is our
duty. And better so than to perish nonetheless – as we surely
shall, if we sit here – and know as we die that no new age
shall be.’
They were silent for a while. At length Aragorn spoke. ‘As
I have begun, so I will go on. We come now to the very brink,
where hope and despair are akin. To waver is to fall. Let
none now reject the counsels of Gandalf, whose long labours
against Sauron come at last to their test. But for him all would
long ago have been lost. Nonetheless I do not yet claim to
command any man. Let others choose as they will.’
Then said Elrohir: ‘From the North we came with this
purpose, and from Elrond our father we brought this very
counsel. We will not turn back.’
‘As for myself,’ said E´ omer, ‘I have little knowledge of
these deep matters; but I need it not. This I know, and it is
enough, that as my friend Aragorn succoured me and my
people, so I will aid him when he calls. I will go.’
‘As for me,’ said Imrahil, ‘the Lord Aragorn I hold to be
my liege-lord, whether he claim it or no. His wish is to me a
command. I will go also. Yet for a while I stand in the place
of the Steward of Gondor, and it is mine to think first of its
people. To prudence some heed must still be given. For we
must prepare against all chances, good as well as evil. Now,
it may be that we shall triumph, and while there is any hope
of this, Gondor must be protected. I would not have us return
with victory to a City in ruins and a land ravaged behind us.
the last debate 1153
And yet we learn from the Rohirrim that there is an army
still unfought upon our northern flank.’
‘That is true,’ said Gandalf. ‘I do not counsel you to leave
the City all unmanned. Indeed the force that we lead east
need not be great enough for any assault in earnest upon
Mordor, so long as it be great enough to challenge battle.
And it must move soon. Therefore I ask the Captains: what
force could we muster and lead out in two days’ time at
the latest? And they must be hardy men that go willingly,
knowing their peril.’
‘All are weary, and very many have wounds light or grievous,’ said E´ omer, ‘and we have suffered much loss of our
horses, and that is ill to bear. If we must ride soon, then I
cannot hope to lead even two thousands, and yet leave as
many for the defence of the City.’
‘We have not only to reckon with those who fought on this
field,’ said Aragorn. ‘New strength is on the way from the
southern fiefs, now that the coasts have been rid. Four thousands I sent marching from Pelargir through Lossarnach two
days ago; and Angbor the fearless rides before them. If we
set out in two days more, they will draw nigh ere we depart.
Moreover many were bidden to follow me up the River in
any craft they could gather; and with this wind they will soon
be at hand, indeed several ships have already come to the
Harlond. I judge that we could lead out seven thousands of
horse and foot, and yet leave the City in better defence than
it was when the assault began.’
‘The Gate is destroyed,’ said Imrahil, ‘and where now is
the skill to rebuild it and set it up anew?’
‘In Erebor in the Kingdom of Da´in there is such skill,’ said
Aragorn; ‘and if all our hopes do not perish, then in time
I will send Gimli Glo´in’s son to ask for wrights of the
Mountain. But men are better than gates, and no gate will
endure against our Enemy if men desert it.’
This then was the end of the debate of the lords: that they
should set forth on the second morning from that day with
1154 the return of the king
seven thousands, if these might be found; and the great part
of this force should be on foot, because of the evil lands
into which they would go. Aragorn should find some two
thousands of those that he had gathered to him in the South;
but Imrahil should find three and a half thousands; and
E´ omer five hundreds of the Rohirrim who were unhorsed
but themselves warworthy, and he himself should lead five
hundreds of his best Riders on horse; and another company of five hundred horse there should be, among which
should ride the sons of Elrond with the Du´nedain and the
knights of Dol Amroth: all told six thousand foot and a
thousand horse. But the main strength of the Rohirrim that
remained horsed and able to fight, some three thousand
under the command of Elfhelm, should waylay the West
Road against the enemy that was in Ano´rien. And at once
swift riders were sent out to gather what news they could
northwards; and eastwards from Osgiliath and the road to
Minas Morgul.
And when they had reckoned up all their strength and
taken thought for the journeys they should make and
the roads they should choose, Imrahil suddenly laughed
aloud.
‘Surely,’ he cried, ‘this is the greatest jest in all the history
of Gondor: that we should ride with seven thousands, scarce
as many as the vanguard of its army in the days of its power,
to assail the mountains and the impenetrable gate of the Black
Land! So might a child threaten a mail-clad knight with a
bow of string and green willow! If the Dark Lord knows so
much as you say, Mithrandir, will he not rather smile than
fear, and with his little finger crush us like a fly that tries to
sting him?’
‘No, he will try to trap the fly and take the sting,’ said
Gandalf. ‘And there are names among us that are worth more
than a thousand mail-clad knights apiece. No, he will not
smile.’
‘Neither shall we,’ said Aragorn. ‘If this be jest, then it is
too bitter for laughter. Nay, it is the last move in a great
the last debate 1155
jeopardy, and for one side or the other it will bring the end
of the game.’ Then he drew Andu´ril and held it up glittering
in the sun. ‘You shall not be sheathed again until the last
battle is fought,’ he said.
Chapter 10
THE BLACK GATE OPENS
Two days later the army of the West was all assembled
on the Pelennor. The host of Orcs and Easterlings had
turned back out of Ano´rien, but harried and scattered by
the Rohirrim they had broken and fled with little fighting
towards Cair Andros; and with that threat destroyed and
new strength arriving out of the South the City was as well
manned as might be. Scouts reported that no enemies remained upon the roads east as far as the Cross-roads of the
Fallen King. All now was ready for the last throw.
Legolas and Gimli were to ride again together in the company of Aragorn and Gandalf, who went in the van with the
Du´nedain and the sons of Elrond. But Merry to his shame
was not to go with them.
‘You are not fit for such a journey,’ said Aragorn. ‘But do
not be ashamed. If you do no more in this war, you have
already earned great honour. Peregrin shall go and represent
the Shire-folk; and do not grudge him his chance of peril, for
though he has done as well as his fortune allowed him, he
has yet to match your deed. But in truth all now are in like
danger. Though it may be our part to find a bitter end before
the Gate of Mordor, if we do so, then you will come also to
a last stand, either here or wherever the black tide overtakes
you. Farewell!’
And so despondently Merry now stood and watched the
mustering of the army. Bergil was with him, and he also was
downcast; for his father was to march leading a company of
the Men of the City: he could not rejoin the Guard until his
case was judged. In that same company Pippin was also
to go, as a soldier of Gondor. Merry could see him not far
the black gate opens 1157
off, a small but upright figure among the tall men of Minas
Tirith.
At last the trumpets rang and the army began to move.
Troop by troop, and company by company, they wheeled
and went off eastward. And long after they had passed away
out of sight down the great road to the Causeway, Merry
stood there. The last glint of the morning sun on spear and
helm twinkled and was lost, and still he remained with bowed
head and heavy heart, feeling friendless and alone. Everyone
that he cared for had gone away into the gloom that hung
over the distant eastern sky; and little hope at all was left in
his heart that he would ever see any of them again.
As if recalled by his mood of despair, the pain in his arm
returned, and he felt weak and old, and the sunlight seemed
thin. He was roused by the touch of Bergil’s hand.
‘Come, Master Perian!’ said the lad. ‘You are still in pain,
I see. I will help you back to the Healers. But do not fear!
They will come back. The Men of Minas Tirith will never
be overcome. And now they have the Lord Elfstone, and
Beregond of the Guard too.’
Ere noon the army came to Osgiliath. There all the workers
and craftsmen that could be spared were busy. Some were
strengthening the ferries and boat-bridges that the enemy had
made and in part destroyed when they fled; some gathered
stores and booty; and others on the eastern side across the
River were throwing up hasty works of defence.
The vanguard passed on through the ruins of Old Gondor,
and over the wide River, and on up the long straight road
that in the high days had been made to run from the fair
Tower of the Sun to the tall Tower of the Moon, which now
was Minas Morgul in its accursed vale. Five miles beyond
Osgiliath they halted, ending their first day’s march.
But the horsemen pressed on and ere evening they came
to the Cross-roads and the great ring of trees, and all was
silent. No sign of any enemy had they seen, no cry or call
1158 the return of the king
had been heard, no shaft had sped from rock or thicket by
the way, yet ever as they went forward they felt the watchfulness of the land increase. Tree and stone, blade and leaf were
listening. The darkness had been dispelled, and far away
westward sunset was on the Vale of Anduin, and the white
peaks of the mountains blushed in the blue air; but a shadow
and a gloom brooded upon the Ephel Du´ath.
Then Aragorn set trumpeters at each of the four roads that
ran into the ring of trees, and they blew a great fanfare, and
the heralds cried aloud: ‘The Lords of Gondor have returned
and all this land that is theirs they take back.’ The hideous
orc-head that was set upon the carven figure was cast down
and broken in pieces, and the old king’s head was raised and
set in its place once more, still crowned with white and golden
flowers; and men laboured to wash and pare away all the foul
scrawls that orcs had put upon the stone.
Now in their debate some had counselled that Minas
Morgul should first be assailed, and if they might take it, it
should be utterly destroyed. ‘And, maybe,’ said Imrahil, ‘the
road that leads thence to the pass above will prove an easier
way of assault upon the Dark Lord than his northern gate.’
But against this Gandalf had spoken urgently, because of
the evil that dwelt in the valley, where the minds of living
men would turn to madness and horror, and because also of
the news that Faramir had brought. For if the Ring-bearer
had indeed attempted that way, then above all they should
not draw the Eye of Mordor thither. So the next day when
the main host came up, they set a strong guard upon the
Cross-roads to make some defence, if Mordor should send a
force over the Morgul Pass, or should bring more men up
from the South. For that guard they chose mostly archers
who knew the ways of Ithilien and would lie hid in the woods
and slopes about the meeting of the ways. But Gandalf and
Aragorn rode with the vanguard to the entrance of Morgul
Vale and looked on the evil city.
It was dark and lifeless; for the Orcs and lesser creatures
of Mordor that had dwelt there had been destroyed in battle,
the black gate opens 1159
and the Nazguˆl were abroad. Yet the air of the valley was
heavy with fear and enmity. Then they broke the evil bridge
and set red flames in the noisome fields and departed.
The day after, being the third day since they set out from
Minas Tirith, the army began its northward march along
the road. It was some hundred miles by that way from the
Cross-roads to the Morannon, and what might befall them
before they came so far none knew. They went openly but
heedfully, with mounted scouts before them on the road, and
others on foot upon either side, especially on the eastward
flank; for there lay dark thickets, and a tumbled land of rocky
ghylls and crags, behind which the long grim slopes of the
Ephel Du´ath clambered up. The weather of the world remained fair, and the wind held in the west, but nothing could
waft away the glooms and the sad mists that clung about
the Mountains of Shadow; and behind them at whiles great
smokes would arise and hover in the upper winds.
Ever and anon Gandalf let blow the trumpets, and the
heralds would cry: ‘The Lords of Gondor are come! Let all
leave this land or yield them up!’ But Imrahil said: ‘Say not
The Lords of Gondor. Say The King Elessar. For that is true,
even though he has not yet sat upon the throne; and it will
give the Enemy more thought, if the heralds use that name.’
And thereafter thrice a day the heralds proclaimed the coming
of the King Elessar. But none answered the challenge.
Nonetheless, though they marched in seeming peace, the
hearts of all the army, from the highest to the lowest, were
downcast, and with every mile that they went north foreboding of evil grew heavier on them. It was near the end of
the second day of their march from the Cross-roads that they
first met any offer of battle. For a strong force of Orcs and
Easterlings attempted to take their leading companies in an
ambush; and that was in the very place where Faramir had
waylaid the men of Harad, and the road went in a deep
cutting through an out-thrust of the eastward hills. But
the Captains of the West were well warned by their scouts,
1160 the return of the king
skilled men from Henneth Annuˆn led by Mablung; and so
the ambush was itself trapped. For horsemen went wide
about westward and came up on the flank of the enemy and
from behind, and they were destroyed or driven east into
the hills.
But the victory did little to enhearten the captains. ‘It is
but a feint,’ said Aragorn; ‘and its chief purpose, I deem, was
rather to draw us on by a false guess of our Enemy’s weakness
than to do us much hurt, yet.’ And from that evening onward
the Nazguˆl came and followed every move of the army. They
still flew high and out of sight of all save Legolas, and yet
their presence could be felt, as a deepening of shadow and a
dimming of the sun; and though the Ringwraiths did not yet
stoop low upon their foes and were silent, uttering no cry,
the dread of them could not be shaken off.
So time and the hopeless journey wore away. Upon the
fourth day from the Cross-roads and the sixth from Minas
Tirith they came at last to the end of the living lands, and
began to pass into the desolation that lay before the gates of
the Pass of Cirith Gorgor; and they could descry the marshes
and the desert that stretched north and west to the Emyn
Muil. So desolate were those places and so deep the horror
that lay on them that some of the host were unmanned, and
they could neither walk nor ride further north.
Aragorn looked at them, and there was pity in his eyes
rather than wrath; for these were young men from Rohan,
from Westfold far away, or husbandmen from Lossarnach,
and to them Mordor had been from childhood a name of
evil, and yet unreal, a legend that had no part in their simple
life; and now they walked like men in a hideous dream made
true, and they understood not this war nor why fate should
lead them to such a pass.
‘Go!’ said Aragorn. ‘But keep what honour you may, and
do not run! And there is a task which you may attempt and
so be not wholly shamed. Take your way south-west till you
come to Cair Andros, and if that is still held by enemies, as
the black gate opens 1161
I think, then re-take it, if you can; and hold it to the last in
defence of Gondor and Rohan!’
Then some being shamed by his mercy overcame their fear
and went on, and the others took new hope, hearing of a
manful deed within their measure that they could turn to,
and they departed. And so, since many men had already been
left at the Cross-roads, it was with less than six thousands
that the Captains of the West came at last to challenge the
Black Gate and the might of Mordor.
They advanced now slowly, expecting at every hour some
answer to their challenge, and they drew together, since it
was but waste of men to send out scouts or small parties from
the main host. At nightfall of the fifth day of the march from
Morgul Vale they made their last camp, and set fires about it
of such dead wood and heath as they could find. They passed
the hours of night in wakefulness and they were aware of
many things half-seen that walked and prowled all about
them, and they heard the howling of wolves. The wind had
died and all the air seemed still. They could see little, for
though it was cloudless and the waxing moon was four nights
old, there were smokes and fumes that rose out of the earth
and the white crescent was shrouded in the mists of Mordor.
It grew cold. As morning came the wind began to stir
again, but now it came from the North, and soon it freshened
to a rising breeze. All the night-walkers were gone, and the
land seemed empty. North amid their noisome pits lay the
first of the great heaps and hills of slag and broken rock and
blasted earth, the vomit of the maggot-folk of Mordor; but
south and now near loomed the great rampart of Cirith
Gorgor, and the Black Gate amidmost, and the two Towers
of the Teeth tall and dark upon either side. For in their last
march the Captains had turned away from the old road as it
bent east, and avoided the peril of the lurking hills, and so
now they were approaching the Morannon from the northwest, even as Frodo had done.

---

1162 the return of the king
The two vast iron doors of the Black Gate under its frowning arch were fast closed. Upon the battlement nothing could
be seen. All was silent but watchful. They were come to the
last end of their folly, and stood forlorn and chill in the grey
light of early day before towers and walls which their army
could not assault with hope, not even if it had brought thither
engines of great power, and the Enemy had no more force
than would suffice for the manning of the gate and wall alone.
Yet they knew that all the hills and rocks about the Morannon
were filled with hidden foes, and the shadowy defile beyond
was bored and tunnelled by teeming broods of evil things. And
as they stood they saw all the Nazguˆl gathered together, hovering above the Towers of the Teeth like vultures; and they knew
that they were watched. But still the Enemy made no sign.
No choice was left them but to play their part to its end.
Therefore Aragorn now set the host in such array as could
best be contrived; and they were drawn up on two great hills
of blasted stone and earth that orcs had piled in years of
labour. Before them towards Mordor lay like a moat a great
mire of reeking mud and foul-smelling pools. When all was
ordered, the Captains rode forth towards the Black Gate with
a great guard of horsemen and the banner and heralds and
trumpeters. There was Gandalf as chief herald, and Aragorn
with the sons of Elrond, and E´ omer of Rohan, and Imrahil;
and Legolas and Gimli and Peregrin were bidden to go also,
so that all the enemies of Mordor should have a witness.
They came within cry of the Morannon, and unfurled the
banner, and blew upon their trumpets; and the heralds stood
out and sent their voices up over the battlement of Mordor.
‘Come forth!’ they cried. ‘Let the Lord of the Black Land
come forth! Justice shall be done upon him. For wrongfully
he has made war upon Gondor and wrested its lands. Therefore the King of Gondor demands that he should atone for
his evils, and depart then for ever. Come forth!’
There was a long silence, and from wall and gate no cry
or sound was heard in answer. But Sauron had already laid
his plans, and he had a mind first to play these mice cruelly
the black gate opens 1163
before he struck to kill. So it was that, even as the Captains
were about to turn away, the silence was broken suddenly.
There came a long rolling of great drums like thunder in the
mountains, and then a braying of horns that shook the very
stones and stunned men’s ears. And thereupon the door of
the Black Gate was thrown open with a great clang, and out
of it there came an embassy from the Dark Tower.
At its head there rode a tall and evil shape, mounted upon
a black horse, if horse it was; for it was huge and hideous,
and its face was a frightful mask, more like a skull than a
living head, and in the sockets of its eyes and in its nostrils
there burned a flame. The rider was robed all in black, and
black was his lofty helm; yet this was no Ringwraith but a
living man. The Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-duˆr he
was, and his name is remembered in no tale; for he himself
had forgotten it, and he said: ‘I am the Mouth of Sauron.’
But it is told that he was a renegade, who came of the race
of those that are named the Black Nu´meno´reans; for they
established their dwellings in Middle-earth during the years
of Sauron’s domination, and they worshipped him, being
enamoured of evil knowledge. And he entered the service of
the Dark Tower when it first rose again, and because of his
cunning he grew ever higher in the Lord’s favour; and he
learned great sorcery, and knew much of the mind of Sauron;
and he was more cruel than any orc.
He it was that now rode out, and with him came only a
small company of black-harnessed soldiery, and a single
banner, black but bearing on it in red the Evil Eye. Now
halting a few paces before the Captains of the West he looked
them up and down and laughed.
‘Is there anyone in this rout with authority to treat with
me?’ he asked. ‘Or indeed with wit to understand me? Not
thou at least!’ he mocked, turning to Aragorn with scorn. ‘It
needs more to make a king than a piece of Elvish glass, or a
rabble such as this. Why, any brigand of the hills can show
as good a following!’
Aragorn said naught in answer, but he took the other’s eye
1164 the return of the king
and held it, and for a moment they strove thus; but soon,
though Aragorn did not stir nor move hand to weapon, the
other quailed and gave back as if menaced with a blow. ‘I am
a herald and ambassador, and may not be assailed!’ he cried.
‘Where such laws hold,’ said Gandalf, ‘it is also the custom
for ambassadors to use less insolence. But no one has threatened you. You have naught to fear from us, until your errand
is done. But unless your master has come to new wisdom,
then with all his servants you will be in great peril.’
‘So!’ said the Messenger. ‘Then thou art the spokesman,
old greybeard? Have we not heard of thee at whiles, and of
thy wanderings, ever hatching plots and mischief at a safe
distance? But this time thou hast stuck out thy nose too far,
Master Gandalf; and thou shalt see what comes to him who
sets his foolish webs before the feet of Sauron the Great. I
have tokens that I was bidden to show to thee – to thee in
especial, if thou shouldst dare to come.’ He signed to one of
his guards, and he came forward bearing a bundle swathed
in black cloths.
The Messenger put these aside, and there to the wonder
and dismay of all the Captains he held up first the short
sword that Sam had carried, and next a grey cloak with an
elven-brooch, and last the coat of mithril-mail that Frodo had
worn wrapped in his tattered garments. A blackness came
before their eyes, and it seemed to them in a moment of
silence that the world stood still, but their hearts were dead
and their last hope gone. Pippin who stood behind Prince
Imrahil sprang forward with a cry of grief.
‘Silence!’ said Gandalf sternly, thrusting him back; but the
Messenger laughed aloud.
‘So you have yet another of these imps with you!’ he cried.
‘What use you find in them I cannot guess; but to send them
as spies into Mordor is beyond even your accustomed folly.
Still, I thank him, for it is plain that this brat at least has seen
these tokens before, and it would be vain for you to deny
them now.’
‘I do not wish to deny them,’ said Gandalf. ‘Indeed, I know
the black gate opens 1165
them all and all their history, and despite your scorn, foul
Mouth of Sauron, you cannot say as much. But why do you
bring them here?’
‘Dwarf-coat, elf-cloak, blade of the downfallen West, and
spy from the little rat-land of the Shire – nay, do not start!
We know it well – here are the marks of a conspiracy. Now,
maybe he that bore these things was a creature that you would
not grieve to lose, and maybe otherwise: one dear to you,
perhaps? If so, take swift counsel with what little wit is left to
you. For Sauron does not love spies, and what his fate shall
be depends now on your choice.’
No one answered him; but he saw their faces grey with
fear and the horror in their eyes, and he laughed again, for it
seemed to him that his sport went well. ‘Good, good!’ he
said. ‘He was dear to you, I see. Or else his errand was one
that you did not wish to fail? It has. And now he shall endure
the slow torment of years, as long and slow as our arts in the
Great Tower can contrive, and never be released, unless
maybe when he is changed and broken, so that he may come
to you, and you shall see what you have done. This shall
surely be unless you accept my Lord’s terms.’
‘Name the terms,’ said Gandalf steadily, but those nearby
saw the anguish in his face, and now he seemed an old and
wizened man, crushed, defeated at last. They did not doubt
that he would accept.
‘These are the terms,’ said the Messenger, and smiled
as he eyed them one by one. ‘The rabble of Gondor and
its deluded allies shall withdraw at once beyond the Anduin,
first taking oaths never again to assail Sauron the Great in
arms, open or secret. All lands east of the Anduin shall be
Sauron’s for ever, solely. West of the Anduin as far as the
Misty Mountains and the Gap of Rohan shall be tributary
to Mordor, and men there shall bear no weapons, but shall
have leave to govern their own affairs. But they shall help to
rebuild Isengard which they have wantonly destroyed, and
that shall be Sauron’s, and there his lieutenant shall dwell:
not Saruman, but one more worthy of trust.’
1166 the return of the king
Looking in the Messenger’s eyes they read his thought. He
was to be that lieutenant, and gather all that remained of the
West under his sway; he would be their tyrant and they his
slaves.
But Gandalf said: ‘This is much to demand for the delivery
of one servant: that your Master should receive in exchange
what he must else fight many a war to gain! Or has the field
of Gondor destroyed his hope in war, so that he falls to
haggling? And if indeed we rated this prisoner so high, what
surety have we that Sauron, the Base Master of Treachery,
will keep his part? Where is this prisoner? Let him be brought
forth and yielded to us, and then we will consider these
demands.’
It seemed then to Gandalf, intent, watching him as a man
engaged in fencing with a deadly foe, that for the taking of a
breath the Messenger was at a loss; yet swiftly he laughed
again.
‘Do not bandy words in your insolence with the Mouth of
Sauron!’ he cried. ‘Surety you crave! Sauron gives none. If
you sue for his clemency you must first do his bidding. These
are his terms. Take them or leave them!’
‘These we will take!’ said Gandalf suddenly. He cast aside
his cloak and a white light shone forth like a sword in that
black place. Before his upraised hand the foul Messenger
recoiled, and Gandalf coming seized and took from him the
tokens: coat, cloak, and sword. ‘These we will take in memory
of our friend,’ he cried. ‘But as for your terms, we reject them
utterly. Get you gone, for your embassy is over and death is
near to you. We did not come here to waste words in treating
with Sauron, faithless and accursed; still less with one of his
slaves. Begone!’
Then the Messenger of Mordor laughed no more. His face
was twisted with amazement and anger to the likeness of
some wild beast that, as it crouches on its prey, is smitten on
the muzzle with a stinging rod. Rage filled him and his mouth
slavered, and shapeless sounds of fury came strangling from
his throat. But he looked at the fell faces of the Captains and
the black gate opens 1167
their deadly eyes, and fear overcame his wrath. He gave a
great cry, and turned, leaped upon his steed, and with his
company galloped madly back to Cirith Gorgor. But as they
went his soldiers blew their horns in signal long arranged;
and even before they came to the gate Sauron sprang his
trap.
Drums rolled and fires leaped up. The great doors of the
Black Gate swung back wide. Out of it streamed a great host
as swiftly as swirling waters when a sluice is lifted.
The Captains mounted again and rode back, and from
the host of Mordor there went up a jeering yell. Dust rose
smothering the air, as from nearby there marched up an army
of Easterlings that had waited for the signal in the shadows
of Ered Lithui beyond the further Tower. Down from the
hills on either side of the Morannon poured Orcs innumerable. The men of the West were trapped, and soon, all about
the grey mounds where they stood, forces ten times and more
than ten times their match would ring them in a sea
of enemies. Sauron had taken the proffered bait in jaws of
steel.
Little time was left to Aragorn for the ordering of his battle.
Upon the one hill he stood with Gandalf, and there fair and
desperate was raised the banner of the Tree and Stars. Upon
the other hill hard by stood the banners of Rohan and Dol
Amroth, White Horse and Silver Swan. And about each hill
a ring was made facing all ways, bristling with spear and
sword. But in the front towards Mordor where the first bitter
assault would come there stood the sons of Elrond on the left
with the Du´nedain about them, and on the right the Prince
Imrahil with the men of Dol Amroth tall and fair, and picked
men of the Tower of Guard.
The wind blew, and the trumpets sang, and arrows whined;
but the sun now climbing towards the South was veiled in the
reeks of Mordor, and through a threatening haze it gleamed,
remote, a sullen red, as if it were the ending of the day, or
the end maybe of all the world of light. And out of the
1168 the return of the king
gathering mirk the Nazguˆl came with their cold voices crying
words of death; and then all hope was quenched.
Pippin had bowed crushed with horror when he heard
Gandalf reject the terms and doom Frodo to the torment of
the Tower; but he had mastered himself, and now he stood
beside Beregond in the front rank of Gondor with Imrahil’s
men. For it seemed best to him to die soon and leave the
bitter story of his life, since all was in ruin.
‘I wish Merry was here,’ he heard himself saying, and quick
thoughts raced through his mind, even as he watched the
enemy come charging to the assault. ‘Well, well, now at any
rate I understand poor Denethor a little better. We might die
together, Merry and I, and since die we must, why not? Well,
as he is not here, I hope he’ll find an easier end. But now I
must do my best.’
He drew his sword and looked at it, and the intertwining
shapes of red and gold; and the flowing characters of
Nu´menor glinted like fire upon the blade. ‘This was made
for just such an hour,’ he thought. ‘If only I could smite that
foul Messenger with it, then almost I should draw level with
old Merry. Well, I’ll smite some of this beastly brood before
the end. I wish I could see cool sunlight and green grass
again!’
Then even as he thought these things the first assault
crashed into them. The orcs hindered by the mires that lay
before the hills halted and poured their arrows into the
defending ranks. But through them there came striding up,
roaring like beasts, a great company of hill-trolls out of Gorgoroth. Taller and broader than Men they were, and they
were clad only in close-fitting mesh of horny scales, or maybe
that was their hideous hide; but they bore round bucklers
huge and black and wielded heavy hammers in their knotted
hands. Reckless they sprang into the pools and waded across,
bellowing as they came. Like a storm they broke upon the
line of the men of Gondor, and beat upon helm and head,
and arm and shield, as smiths hewing the hot bending iron.
the black gate opens 1169
At Pippin’s side Beregond was stunned and overborne, and
he fell; and the great troll-chief that smote him down bent
over him, reaching out a clutching claw; for these fell creatures would bite the throats of those that they threw down.
Then Pippin stabbed upwards, and the written blade of
Westernesse pierced through the hide and went deep into the
vitals of the troll, and his black blood came gushing out. He
toppled forward and came crashing down like a falling rock,
burying those beneath him. Blackness and stench and crushing pain came upon Pippin, and his mind fell away into a
great darkness.
‘So it ends as I guessed it would,’ his thought said, even as
it fluttered away; and it laughed a little within him ere it fled,
almost gay it seemed to be casting off at last all doubt and care
and fear. And then even as it winged away into forgetfulness it
heard voices, and they seemed to be crying in some forgotten
world far above:
‘The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming!’
For one moment more Pippin’s thought hovered. ‘Bilbo!’
it said. ‘But no! That came in his tale, long long ago. This is
my tale, and it is ended now. Good-bye!’ And his thought
fled far away and his eyes saw no more.
BOOK SIX
.
Chapter 1
THE TOWER OF CIRITH UNGOL
Sam roused himself painfully from the ground. For a moment
he wondered where he was, and then all the misery and
despair returned to him. He was in the deep dark outside the
under-gate of the orcs’ stronghold; its brazen doors were
shut. He must have fallen stunned when he hurled himself
against them; but how long he had lain there he did not know.
Then he had been on fire, desperate and furious; now he was
shivering and cold. He crept to the doors and pressed his
ears against them.
Far within he could hear faintly the voices of orcs clamouring, but soon they stopped or passed out of hearing, and
all was still. His head ached and his eyes saw phantom lights
in the darkness, but he struggled to steady himself and think.
It was clear at any rate that he had no hope of getting into
the orc-hold by that gate; he might wait there for days before
it was opened, and he could not wait: time was desperately
precious. He no longer had any doubt about his duty: he
must rescue his master or perish in the attempt.
‘The perishing is more likely, and will be a lot easier anyway,’ he said grimly to himself, as he sheathed Sting and
turned from the brazen doors. Slowly he groped his way
back in the dark along the tunnel, not daring to use the
elven-light; and as he went he tried to fit together the events
since Frodo and he had left the Cross-roads. He wondered
what the time was. Somewhere between one day and the
next, he supposed; but even of the days he had quite lost
count. He was in a land of darkness where the days of the
world seemed forgotten, and where all who entered were
forgotten too.
‘I wonder if they think of us at all,’ he said, ‘and what is
1174 the return of the king
happening to them all away there.’ He waved his hand
vaguely in the air before him; but he was in fact now facing
southwards, as he came back to Shelob’s tunnel, not west.
Out westward in the world it was drawing to noon upon the
fourteenth day of March in the Shire-reckoning, and even
now Aragorn was leading the black fleet from Pelargir, and
Merry was riding with the Rohirrim down the Stonewain
Valley, while in Minas Tirith flames were rising and Pippin
watched the madness growing in the eyes of Denethor. Yet
amid all their cares and fear the thoughts of their friends
turned constantly to Frodo and Sam. They were not forgotten. But they were far beyond aid, and no thought could yet
bring any help to Samwise Hamfast’s son; he was utterly
alone.
He came back at last to the stone door of the orc-passage,
and still unable to discover the catch or bolt that held it, he
scrambled over as before and dropped softly to the ground.
Then he made his way stealthily to the outlet of Shelob’s
tunnel, where the rags of her great web were still blowing and
swaying in the cold airs. For cold they seemed to Sam after
the noisome darkness behind; but the breath of them revived
him. He crept cautiously out.
All was ominously quiet. The light was no more than that
of dusk at a dark day’s end. The vast vapours that arose in
Mordor and went streaming westward passed low overhead,
a great welter of cloud and smoke now lit again beneath with
a sullen glow of red.
Sam looked up towards the orc-tower, and suddenly from
its narrow windows lights stared out like small red eyes. He
wondered if they were some signal. His fear of the orcs,
forgotten for a while in his wrath and desperation, now
returned. As far as he could see, there was only one possible
course for him to take: he must go on and try to find the
main entrance to the dreadful tower; but his knees felt weak,
and he found that he was trembling. Drawing his eyes down
from the tower and the horns of the Cleft before him, he
the tower of cirith ungol 1175
forced his unwilling feet to obey him, and slowly, listening
with all his ears, peering into the dense shadows of the rocks
beside the way, he retraced his steps, past the place where
Frodo fell, and still the stench of Shelob lingered, and then
on and up, until he stood again in the very cleft where he had
put on the Ring and seen Shagrat’s company go by.
There he halted and sat down. For the moment he could
drive himself no further. He felt that if once he went beyond
the crown of the pass and took one step veritably down into
the land of Mordor, that step would be irrevocable. He could
never come back. Without any clear purpose he drew out the
Ring and put it on again. Immediately he felt the great burden
of its weight, and felt afresh, but now more strong and urgent
than ever, the malice of the Eye of Mordor, searching, trying
to pierce the shadows that it had made for its own defence,
but which now hindered it in its unquiet and doubt.
As before, Sam found that his hearing was sharpened, but
that to his sight the things of this world seemed thin and
vague. The rocky walls of the path were pale, as if seen
through a mist, but still at a distance he heard the bubbling
of Shelob in her misery; and harsh and clear, and very close
it seemed, he heard cries and the clash of metal. He sprang
to his feet, and pressed himself against the wall beside the
road. He was glad of the Ring, for here was yet another
company of orcs on the march. Or so at first he thought.
Then suddenly he realized that it was not so, his hearing
had deceived him: the orc-cries came from the tower, whose
topmost horn was now right above him, on the left hand of
the Cleft.
Sam shuddered and tried to force himself to move. There
was plainly some devilry going on. Perhaps in spite of all
orders the cruelty of the orcs had mastered them, and they
were tormenting Frodo, or even savagely hacking him to
pieces. He listened; and as he did so a gleam of hope came
to him. There could not be much doubt: there was fighting
in the tower, the orcs must be at war among themselves,
Shagrat and Gorbag had come to blows. Faint as was the
1176 the return of the king
hope that his guess brought him, it was enough to rouse him.
There might be just a chance. His love for Frodo rose above
all other thoughts, and forgetting his peril he cried aloud:
‘I’m coming, Mr. Frodo!’
He ran forward to the climbing path, and over it. At once
the road turned left and plunged steeply down. Sam had
crossed into Mordor.
He took off the Ring, moved it may be by some deep
premonition of danger, though to himself he thought only
that he wished to see more clearly. ‘Better have a look at the
worst,’ he muttered. ‘No good blundering about in a fog!’
Hard and cruel and bitter was the land that met his gaze.
Before his feet the highest ridge of the Ephel Du´ath fell
steeply in great cliffs down into a dark trough, on the further
side of which there rose another ridge, much lower, its edge
notched and jagged with crags like fangs that stood out black
against the red light behind them: it was the grim Morgai,
the inner ring of the fences of the land. Far beyond it, but
almost straight ahead, across a wide lake of darkness dotted
with tiny fires, there was a great burning glow; and from it
rose in huge columns a swirling smoke, dusty red at the roots,
black above where it merged into the billowing canopy that
roofed in all the accursed land.
Sam was looking at Orodruin, the Mountain of Fire. Ever
and anon the furnaces far below its ashen cone would grow
hot and with a great surging and throbbing pour forth rivers
of molten rock from chasms in its sides. Some would flow
blazing towards Barad-duˆr down great channels; some would
wind their way into the stony plain, until they cooled and lay
like twisted dragon-shapes vomited from the tormented earth.
In such an hour of labour Sam beheld Mount Doom, and
the light of it, cut off by the high screen of the Ephel Du´ath
from those who climbed up the path from the West, now
glared against the stark rock faces, so that they seemed to be
drenched with blood.
In that dreadful light Sam stood aghast, for now, looking
the tower of cirith ungol 1177
to his left, he could see the Tower of Cirith Ungol in all its
strength. The horn that he had seen from the other side was
only its topmost turret. Its eastern face stood up in three great
tiers from a shelf in the mountain-wall far below; its back was
to a great cliff behind, from which it jutted out in pointed
bastions, one above the other, diminishing as they rose, with
sheer sides of cunning masonry that looked north-east and
south-east. About the lowest tier, two hundred feet below
where Sam now stood, there was a battlemented wall enclosing a narrow court. Its gate, upon the near south-eastern side,
opened on a broad road, the outer parapet of which ran upon
the brink of a precipice, until it turned southward and went
winding down into the darkness to join the road that came
over the Morgul Pass. Then on it went through a jagged rift
in the Morgai out into the valley of Gorgoroth and away to
Barad-duˆr. The narrow upper way on which Sam stood leapt
swiftly down by stair and steep path to meet the main road
under the frowning walls close to the Tower-gate.
As he gazed at it suddenly Sam understood, almost with a
shock, that this stronghold had been built not to keep enemies
out of Mordor, but to keep them in. It was indeed one of the
works of Gondor long ago, an eastern outpost of the defences
of Ithilien, made when, after the Last Alliance, Men of
Westernesse kept watch on the evil land of Sauron where his
creatures still lurked. But as with Narchost and Carchost, the
Towers of the Teeth, so here too the vigilance had failed,
and treachery had yielded up the Tower to the Lord of the
Ringwraiths, and now for long years it had been held by evil
things. Since his return to Mordor, Sauron had found it useful;
for he had few servants but many slaves of fear, and still its
chief purpose as of old was to prevent escape from Mordor.
Though if an enemy were so rash as to try to enter that land
secretly, then it was also a last unsleeping guard against any
that might pass the vigilance of Morgul and of Shelob.
Only too clearly Sam saw how hopeless it would be for
him to creep down under those many-eyed walls and pass
the watchful gate. And even if he did so, he could not go far
1178 the return of the king
on the guarded road beyond: not even the black shadows,
lying deep where the red glow could not reach, would shield
him long from the night-eyed orcs. But desperate as that road
might be, his task was now far worse: not to avoid the gate
and escape, but to enter it, alone.
His thought turned to the Ring, but there was no comfort
there, only dread and danger. No sooner had he come in
sight of Mount Doom, burning far away, than he was aware
of a change in his burden. As it drew near the great furnaces
where, in the deeps of time, it had been shaped and forged,
the Ring’s power grew, and it became more fell, untameable
save by some mighty will. As Sam stood there, even though
the Ring was not on him but hanging by its chain about his
neck, he felt himself enlarged, as if he were robed in a huge
distorted shadow of himself, a vast and ominous threat halted
upon the walls of Mordor. He felt that he had from now on
only two choices: to forbear the Ring, though it would torment him; or to claim it, and challenge the Power that sat in
its dark hold beyond the valley of shadows. Already the Ring
tempted him, gnawing at his will and reason. Wild fantasies
arose in his mind; and he saw Samwise the Strong, Hero of
the Age, striding with a flaming sword across the darkened
land, and armies flocking to his call as he marched to the
overthrow of Barad-duˆr. And then all the clouds rolled away,
and the white sun shone, and at his command the vale of
Gorgoroth became a garden of flowers and trees and brought
forth fruit. He had only to put on the Ring and claim it for
his own, and all this could be.
In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped
most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still
unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of
his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden,
even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him. The
one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due,
not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not
the hands of others to command.
the tower of cirith ungol 1179
‘And anyway all these notions are only a trick,’ he said to
himself. ‘He’d spot me and cow me, before I could so much
as shout out. He’d spot me, pretty quick, if I put the Ring on
now, in Mordor. Well, all I can say is: things look as hopeless
as a frost in Spring. Just when being invisible would be really
useful, I can’t use the Ring! And if ever I get any further, it’s
going to be nothing but a drag and a burden every step. So
what’s to be done?’
He was not really in any doubt. He knew that he must go
down to the gate and not linger any more. With a shrug of
his shoulders, as if to shake off the shadow and dismiss the
phantoms, he began slowly to descend. With each step he
seemed to diminish. He had not gone far before he had
shrunk again to a very small and frightened hobbit. He was
now passing under the very walls of the Tower, and the cries
and sounds of fighting could be heard with his unaided ears.
At the moment the noise seemed to be coming from the court
behind the outer wall.
Sam was about half way down the path when out of the
dark gateway into the red glow there came two orcs running.
They did not turn towards him. They were making for the
main road; but even as they ran they stumbled and fell to the
ground and lay still. Sam had seen no arrows, but he guessed
that the orcs had been shot down by others on the battlements
or hidden in the shadow of the gate. He went on, hugging
the wall on his left. One look upward had shown him that
there was no hope of climbing it. The stone-work rose thirty
feet, without a crack or ledge, to overhanging courses like
inverted steps. The gate was the only way.
He crept on; and as he went he wondered how many orcs
lived in the Tower with Shagrat, and how many Gorbag
had, and what they were quarrelling about, if that was what
was happening. Shagrat’s company had seemed to be about
forty, and Gorbag’s more than twice as large; but of course
Shagrat’s patrol had only been a part of his garrison. Almost
certainly they were quarrelling about Frodo, and the spoil.
1180 the return of the king
For a second Sam halted, for suddenly things seemed clear
to him, almost as if he had seen them with his eyes. The
mithril coat! Of course, Frodo was wearing it, and they would
find it. And from what Sam had heard Gorbag would covet
it. But the orders of the Dark Tower were at present Frodo’s
only protection, and if they were set aside, Frodo might be
killed out of hand at any moment.
‘Come on, you miserable sluggard!’ Sam cried to himself.
‘Now for it!’ He drew Sting and ran towards the open gate.
But just as he was about to pass under its great arch he felt
a shock: as if he had run into some web like Shelob’s, only
invisible. He could see no obstacle, but something too strong
for his will to overcome barred the way. He looked about,
and then within the shadow of the gate he saw the Two
Watchers.
They were like great figures seated upon thrones. Each had
three joined bodies, and three heads facing outward, and
inward, and across the gateway. The heads had vulture-faces,
and on their great knees were laid clawlike hands. They
seemed to be carved out of huge blocks of stone, immovable,
and yet they were aware: some dreadful spirit of evil vigilance
abode in them. They knew an enemy. Visible or invisible
none could pass unheeded. They would forbid his entry, or
his escape.
Hardening his will Sam thrust forward once again, and
halted with a jerk, staggering as if from a blow upon his breast
and head. Then greatly daring, because he could think of
nothing else to do, answering a sudden thought that came to
him, he drew slowly out the phial of Galadriel and held it up.
Its white light quickened swiftly, and the shadows under the
dark arch fled. The monstrous Watchers sat there cold and
still, revealed in all their hideous shape. For a moment Sam
caught a glitter in the black stones of their eyes, the very
malice of which made him quail; but slowly he felt their will
waver and crumble into fear.
He sprang past them; but even as he did so, thrusting the
phial back into his bosom, he was aware, as plainly as if a bar
the tower of cirith ungol 1181
of steel had snapped to behind him, that their vigilance was
renewed. And from those evil heads there came a high shrill
cry that echoed in the towering walls before him. Far up
above, like an answering signal, a harsh bell clanged a single
stroke.
‘That’s done it!’ said Sam. ‘Now I’ve rung the front-door
bell! Well, come on somebody!’ he cried. ‘Tell Captain
Shagrat that the great Elf-warrior has called, with his elfsword too!’
There was no answer. Sam strode forward. Sting glittered
blue in his hand. The courtyard lay in deep shadow, but he
could see that the pavement was strewn with bodies. Right
at his feet were two orc-archers with knives sticking in their
backs. Beyond lay many more shapes; some singly as they
had been hewn down or shot; others in pairs, still grappling
one another, dead in the very throes of stabbing, throttling,
biting. The stones were slippery with dark blood.
Two liveries Sam noticed, one marked by the Red Eye, the
other by a Moon disfigured with a ghastly face of death; but
he did not stop to look more closely. Across the court a great
door at the foot of the Tower stood half open, and a red light
came through; a large orc lay dead upon the threshold. Sam
sprang over the body and went in; and then he peered about
at a loss.
A wide and echoing passage led back from the door
towards the mountain-side. It was dimly lit with torches flaring in brackets on the walls, but its distant end was lost in
gloom. Many doors and openings could be seen on this side
and that; but it was empty save for two or three more bodies
sprawling on the floor. From what he had heard of the captains’ talk Sam knew that, dead or alive, Frodo would most
likely be found in a chamber high up in the turret far above;
but he might search for a day before he found the way.
‘It’ll be near the back, I guess,’ Sam muttered. ‘The whole
Tower climbs backwards-like. And anyway I’d better follow
these lights.’
1182 the return of the king
He advanced down the passage, but slowly now, each step
more reluctant. Terror was beginning to grip him again.
There was no sound save the rap of his feet, which seemed
to grow to an echoing noise, like the slapping of great hands
upon the stones. The dead bodies; the emptiness; the dank
black walls that in the torchlight seemed to drip with blood;
the fear of sudden death lurking in doorway or shadow; and
behind all his mind the waiting watchful malice at the gate:
it was almost more than he could screw himself to face. He
would have welcomed a fight – with not too many enemies
at a time – rather than this hideous brooding uncertainty. He
forced himself to think of Frodo, lying bound or in pain or
dead somewhere in this dreadful place. He went on.
He had passed beyond the torchlight, almost to a great
arched door at the end of the passage, the inner side of the
under-gate, as he rightly guessed, when there came from high
above a dreadful choking shriek. He stopped short. Then he
heard feet coming. Someone was running in great haste down
an echoing stairway overhead.
His will was too weak and slow to restrain his hand. It
dragged at the chain and clutched the Ring. But Sam did not
put it on; for even as he clasped it to his breast, an orc came
clattering down. Leaping out of a dark opening at the right,
it ran towards him. It was no more than six paces from him
when, lifting its head, it saw him; and Sam could hear its
gasping breath and see the glare in its bloodshot eyes. It
stopped short aghast. For what it saw was not a small frightened hobbit trying to hold a steady sword: it saw a great
silent shape, cloaked in a grey shadow, looming against the
wavering light behind; in one hand it held a sword, the very
light of which was a bitter pain, the other was clutched at its
breast, but held concealed some nameless menace of power
and doom.
For a moment the orc crouched, and then with a hideous
yelp of fear it turned and fled back as it had come. Never
was any dog more heartened when its enemy turned tail than
Sam at this unexpected flight. With a shout he gave chase.
the tower of cirith ungol 1183
‘Yes! The Elf-warrior is loose!’ he cried. ‘I’m coming. Just
you show me the way up, or I’ll skin you!’
But the orc was in its own haunts, nimble and well-fed.
Sam was a stranger, hungry and weary. The stairs were high
and steep and winding. Sam’s breath began to come in gasps.
The orc had soon passed out of sight, and now only faintly
could be heard the slapping of its feet as it went on and up.
Every now and again it gave a yell, and the echo ran along
the walls. But slowly all sound of it died away.
Sam plodded on. He felt that he was on the right road, and
his spirits had risen a good deal. He thrust the Ring away
and tightened his belt. ‘Well, well!’ he said. ‘If only they all
take such a dislike to me and my Sting, this may turn out
better than I hoped. And anyway it looks as if Shagrat,
Gorbag, and company have done nearly all my job for me.
Except for that little frightened rat, I do believe there’s
nobody left alive in the place!’
And with that he stopped, brought up hard, as if he had
hit his head against the stone wall. The full meaning of what
he had said struck him like a blow. Nobody left alive! Whose
had been that horrible dying shriek? ‘Frodo, Frodo! Master!’
he cried half sobbing. ‘If they’ve killed you, what shall I do?
Well, I’m coming at last, right to the top, to see what I must.’
Up, up he went. It was dark save for an occasional torch
flaring at a turn, or beside some opening that led into the
higher levels of the Tower. Sam tried to count the steps, but
after two hundred he lost his reckoning. He was moving
quietly now; for he thought that he could hear the sound
of voices talking, still some way above. More than one rat
remained alive it seemed.
All at once, when he felt that he could pump out no more
breath, nor force his knees to bend again, the stair ended. He
stood still. The voices were now loud and near. Sam peered
about. He had climbed right to the flat roof of the third and
highest tier of the Tower: an open space, about twenty yards
across, with a low parapet. There the stair was covered by a
1184 the return of the king
small domed chamber in the midst of the roof, with low doors
facing east and west. Eastward Sam could see the plain of
Mordor vast and dark below, and the burning mountain far
away. A fresh turmoil was surging in its deep wells, and the
rivers of fire blazed so fiercely that even at this distance of
many miles the light of them lit the tower-top with a red
glare. Westward the view was blocked by the base of the great
turret that stood at the back of this upper court and reared
its horn high above the crest of the encircling hills. Light
gleamed in a window-slit. Its door was not ten yards from
where Sam stood. It was open but dark, and from just within
its shadow the voices came.
At first Sam did not listen; he took a pace out of the
eastward door and looked about. At once he saw that up here
the fighting had been fiercest. All the court was choked with
dead orcs, or their severed and scattered heads and limbs.
The place stank of death. A snarl followed by a blow and a
cry sent him darting back into hiding. An orc-voice rose in
anger, and he knew it again at once, harsh, brutal, cold. It
was Shagrat speaking, Captain of the Tower.
‘You won’t go again, you say? Curse you, Snaga, you little
maggot! If you think I’m so damaged that it’s safe to flout
me, you’re mistaken. Come here, and I’ll squeeze your eyes
out, like I did to Radbug just now. And when some new lads
come, I’ll deal with you: I’ll send you to Shelob.’
‘They won’t come, not before you’re dead anyway,’
answered Snaga surlily. ‘I’ve told you twice that Gorbag’s
swine got to the gate first, and none of ours got out. Lagduf
and Muzgash ran through, but they were shot. I saw it from
a window, I tell you. And they were the last.’
‘Then you must go. I must stay here anyway. But I’m hurt.
The Black Pits take that filthy rebel Gorbag!’ Shagrat’s voice
trailed off into a string of foul names and curses. ‘I gave
him better than I got, but he knifed me, the dung, before I
throttled him. You must go, or I’ll eat you. News must get
through to Lugbu´rz, or we’ll both be for the Black Pits. Yes,
you too. You won’t escape by skulking here.’
the tower of cirith ungol 1185
‘I’m not going down those stairs again,’ growled Snaga,
‘be you captain or no. Nar! Keep your hands off your knife,
or I’ll put an arrow in your guts. You won’t be a captain long
when They hear about all these goings-on. I’ve fought for
the Tower against those stinking Morgul-rats, but a nice mess
you two precious captains have made of things, fighting over
the swag.’
‘That’s enough from you,’ snarled Shagrat. ‘I had my
orders. It was Gorbag started it, trying to pinch that pretty
shirt.’
‘Well, you put his back up, being so high and mighty. And
he had more sense than you anyway. He told you more than
once that the most dangerous of these spies was still loose,
and you wouldn’t listen. And you won’t listen now. Gorbag
was right, I tell you. There’s a great fighter about, one of
those bloody-handed Elves, or one of the filthy tarks.* He’s
coming here, I tell you. You heard the bell. He’s got past the
Watchers, and that’s tark’s work. He’s on the stairs. And until
he’s off them, I’m not going down. Not if you were a Nazguˆl,
I wouldn’t.’
‘So that’s it, is it?’ yelled Shagrat. ‘You’ll do this, and you’ll
not do that? And when he does come, you’ll bolt and leave
me? No, you won’t! I’ll put red maggot-holes in your belly
first.’
Out of the turret-door the smaller orc came flying. Behind
him came Shagrat, a large orc with long arms that, as he ran
crouching, reached to the ground. But one arm hung limp
and seemed to be bleeding; the other hugged a large black
bundle. In the red glare Sam, cowering behind the stair-door,
caught a glimpse of his evil face as it passed: it was scored
as if by rending claws and smeared with blood; slaver dripped from its protruding fangs; the mouth snarled like an
animal.
As far as Sam could see, Shagrat hunted Snaga round
the roof, until ducking and eluding him the smaller orc with

• See Appendix F, 1487.
  1186 the return of the king
  a yelp darted back into the turret and disappeared. Then
  Shagrat halted. Out of the eastward door Sam could see
  him now by the parapet, panting, his left claw clenching
  and unclenching feebly. He put the bundle on the floor and
  with his right claw drew out a long red knife and spat on it.
  Going to the parapet he leaned over, looking down into the
  outer court far below. Twice he shouted but no answer
  came.
  Suddenly, as Shagrat was stooped over the battlement, his
  back to the roof-top, Sam to his amazement saw that one of
  the sprawling bodies was moving. It was crawling. It put out
  a claw and clutched the bundle. It staggered up. In its other
  hand it held a broad-headed spear with a short broken haft.
  It was poised for a stabbing thrust. But at that very moment
  a hiss escaped its teeth, a gasp of pain or hate. Quick as a
  snake Shagrat slipped aside, twisted round, and drove his
  knife into his enemy’s throat.
  ‘Got you, Gorbag!’ he cried. ‘Not quite dead, eh? Well, I’ll
  finish my job now.’ He sprang on to the fallen body, and
  stamped and trampled it in his fury, stooping now and again
  to stab and slash it with his knife. Satisfied at last, he threw
  back his head and let out a horrible gurgling yell of triumph.
  Then he licked his knife, and put it between his teeth, and
  catching up the bundle he came loping towards the near door
  of the stairs.
  Sam had no time to think. He might have slipped out of
  the other door, but hardly without being seen; and he could
  not have played hide-and-seek with this hideous orc for long.
  He did what was probably the best thing he could have done.
  He sprang out to meet Shagrat with a shout. He was no
  longer holding the Ring, but it was there, a hidden power, a
  cowing menace to the slaves of Mordor; and in his hand was
  Sting, and its light smote the eyes of the orc like the glitter of
  cruel stars in the terrible elf-countries, the dream of which
  was a cold fear to all his kind. And Shagrat could not both
  fight and keep hold of his treasure. He stopped, growling,
  baring his fangs. Then once more, orc-fashion, he leapt aside,
  the tower of cirith ungol 1187
  and as Sam sprang at him, using the heavy bundle as both
  shield and weapon, he thrust it hard into his enemy’s face.
  Sam staggered, and before he could recover, Shagrat darted
  past and down the stairs.
  Sam ran after him, cursing, but he did not go far. Soon
  the thought of Frodo returned to him, and he remembered
  that the other orc had gone back into the turret. Here was
  another dreadful choice, and he had no time to ponder it. If
  Shagrat got away, he would soon get help and come back.
  But if Sam pursued him, the other orc might do some horrible
  deed up there. And anyway Sam might miss Shagrat or be
  killed by him. He turned quickly and ran back up the stairs.
  ‘Wrong again, I expect,’ he sighed. ‘But it’s my job to go
  right up to the top first, whatever happens afterwards.’
  Away below Shagrat went leaping down the stairs and out
  over the court and through the gate, bearing his precious
  burden. If Sam could have seen him and known the grief that
  his escape would bring, he might have quailed. But now his
  mind was set on the last stage of his search. He came cautiously to the turret-door and stepped inside. It opened into
  darkness. But soon his staring eyes were aware of a dim light
  at his right hand. It came from an opening that led to another
  stairway, dark and narrow: it appeared to go winding up the
  turret along the inside of its round outer wall. A torch was
  glimmering from somewhere up above.
  Softly Sam began to climb. He came to the guttering torch,
  fixed above a door on his left that faced a window-slit looking
  out westward: one of the red eyes that he and Frodo had seen
  from down below by the tunnel’s mouth. Quickly Sam passed
  the door and hurried on to the second storey, dreading at
  any moment to be attacked and to feel throttling fingers seize
  his throat from behind. He came next to a window looking
  east and another torch above the door to a passage through
  the middle of the turret. The door was open, the passage
  dark save for the glimmer of the torch and the red glare from
  outside filtering through the window-slit. But here the stair
  stopped and climbed no further. Sam crept into the passage.
  1188 the return of the king
  On either side there was a low door; both were closed and
  locked. There was no sound at all.
  ‘A dead end,’ muttered Sam; ‘and after all my climb! This
  can’t be the top of the tower. But what can I do now?’
  He ran back to the lower storey and tried the door. It would
  not move. He ran up again, and sweat began to trickle down
  his face. He felt that even minutes were precious, but one by
  one they escaped; and he could do nothing. He cared no
  longer for Shagrat or Snaga or any other orc that was ever
  spawned. He longed only for his master, for one sight of his
  face or one touch of his hand.
  At last, weary and feeling finally defeated, he sat on a step
  below the level of the passage-floor and bowed his head into
  his hands. It was quiet, horribly quiet. The torch, that was
  already burning low when he arrived, sputtered and went
  out; and he felt the darkness cover him like a tide. And then
  softly, to his own surprise, there at the vain end of his long
  journey and his grief, moved by what thought in his heart he
  could not tell, Sam began to sing.
  His voice sounded thin and quavering in the cold dark
  tower: the voice of a forlorn and weary hobbit that no listening orc could possibly mistake for the clear song of an Elvenlord. He murmured old childish tunes out of the Shire, and
  snatches of Mr. Bilbo’s rhymes that came into his mind like
  fleeting glimpses of the country of his home. And then suddenly new strength rose in him, and his voice rang out, while
  words of his own came unbidden to fit the simple tune.
  In western lands beneath the Sun
  the flowers may rise in Spring,
  the trees may bud, the waters run,
  the merry finches sing.
  Or there maybe ’tis cloudless night
  and swaying beeches bear
  the Elven-stars as jewels white
  amid their branching hair.
  the tower of cirith ungol 1189
  Though here at journey’s end I lie
  in darkness buried deep,
  beyond all towers strong and high,
  beyond all mountains steep,
  above all shadows rides the Sun
  and Stars for ever dwell:
  I will not say the Day is done,
  nor bid the Stars farewell.
  ‘Beyond all towers strong and high,’ he began again, and
  then he stopped short. He thought that he had heard a faint
  voice answering him. But now he could hear nothing. Yes,
  he could hear something, but not a voice. Footsteps were
  approaching. Now a door was being opened quietly in the
  passage above; the hinges creaked. Sam crouched down
  listening. The door closed with a dull thud; and then a snarling orc-voice rang out.
  ‘Ho la! You up there, you dunghill rat! Stop your squeaking, or I’ll come and deal with you. D’you hear?’
  There was no answer.
  ‘All right,’ growled Snaga. ‘But I’ll come and have a look
  at you all the same, and see what you’re up to.’
  The hinges creaked again, and Sam, now peering over the
  corner of the passage-threshold, saw a flicker of light in an
  open doorway, and the dim shape of an orc coming out. He
  seemed to be carrying a ladder. Suddenly the answer dawned
  on Sam: the topmost chamber was reached by a trap-door in
  the roof of the passage. Snaga thrust the ladder upwards,
  steadied it, and then clambered out of sight. Sam heard a
  bolt drawn back. Then he heard the hideous voice speaking
  again.
  ‘You lie quiet, or you’ll pay for it! You’ve not got long to
  live in peace, I guess; but if you don’t want the fun to begin
  right now, keep your trap shut, see? There’s a reminder for
  you!’ There was a sound like the crack of a whip.
  At that rage blazed in Sam’s heart to a sudden fury. He
  sprang up, ran, and went up the ladder like a cat. His head
  1190 the return of the king
  came out in the middle of the floor of a large round chamber.
  A red lamp hung from its roof; the westward window-slit
  was high and dark. Something was lying on the floor by
  the wall under the window, but over it a black orc-shape
  was straddled. It raised a whip a second time, but the blow
  never fell.
  With a cry Sam leapt across the floor, Sting in hand. The
  orc wheeled round, but before it could make a move Sam
  slashed its whip-hand from its arm. Howling with pain and
  fear but desperate the orc charged head-down at him. Sam’s
  next blow went wide, and thrown off his balance he fell
  backwards, clutching at the orc as it stumbled over him.
  Before he could scramble up he heard a cry and a thud. The
  orc in its wild haste had tripped on the ladder-head and fallen
  through the open trap-door. Sam gave no more thought to
  it. He ran to the figure huddled on the floor. It was Frodo.
  He was naked, lying as if in a swoon on a heap of filthy
  rags: his arm was flung up, shielding his head, and across his
  side there ran an ugly whip-weal.
  ‘Frodo! Mr. Frodo, my dear!’ cried Sam, tears almost
  blinding him. ‘It’s Sam, I’ve come!’ He half lifted his master
  and hugged him to his breast. Frodo opened his eyes.
  ‘Am I still dreaming?’ he muttered. ‘But the other dreams
  were horrible.’
  ‘You’re not dreaming at all, Master,’ said Sam. ‘It’s real.
  It’s me. I’ve come.’
  ‘I can hardly believe it,’ said Frodo, clutching him. ‘There
  was an orc with a whip, and then it turns into Sam! Then I
  wasn’t dreaming after all when I heard that singing down
  below, and I tried to answer? Was it you?’
  ‘It was indeed, Mr. Frodo. I’d given up hope, almost. I
  couldn’t find you.’
  ‘Well, you have now, Sam, dear Sam,’ said Frodo, and he
  lay back in Sam’s gentle arms, closing his eyes, like a child at
  rest when night-fears are driven away by some loved voice
  or hand.
  the tower of cirith ungol 1191
  Sam felt that he could sit like that in endless happiness;
  but it was not allowed. It was not enough for him to find his
  master, he had still to try and save him. He kissed Frodo’s
  forehead. ‘Come! Wake up, Mr. Frodo!’ he said, trying to
  sound as cheerful as he had when he drew back the curtains
  at Bag End on a summer’s morning.
  Frodo sighed and sat up. ‘Where are we? How did I get
  here?’ he asked.
  ‘There’s no time for tales till we get somewhere else, Mr.
  Frodo,’ said Sam. ‘But you’re in the top of that tower you
  and me saw from away down by the tunnel before the orcs
  got you. How long ago that was I don’t know. More than a
  day, I guess.’
  ‘Only that?’ said Frodo. ‘It seems weeks. You must tell me
  all about it, if we get a chance. Something hit me, didn’t it?
  And I fell into darkness and foul dreams, and woke and found
  that waking was worse. Orcs were all round me. I think they
  had just been pouring some horrible burning drink down my
  throat. My head grew clear, but I was aching and weary.
  They stripped me of everything; and then two great brutes
  came and questioned me, questioned me until I thought I
  should go mad, standing over me, gloating, fingering their
  knives. I’ll never forget their claws and eyes.’
  ‘You won’t, if you talk about them, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam.
  ‘And if we don’t want to see them again, the sooner we get
  going the better. Can you walk?’
  ‘Yes, I can walk,’ said Frodo, getting up slowly. ‘I am not
  hurt, Sam. Only I feel very tired, and I’ve a pain here.’ He
  put his hand to the back of his neck above his left shoulder.
  He stood up, and it looked to Sam as if he was clothed in
  flame: his naked skin was scarlet in the light of the lamp
  above. Twice he paced across the floor.
  ‘That’s better!’ he said, his spirits rising a little. ‘I didn’t
  dare to move when I was left alone, or one of the guards came.
  Until the yelling and fighting began. The two big brutes: they
  quarrelled, I think. Over me and my things. I lay here terrified. And then all went deadly quiet, and that was worse.’
  1192 the return of the king
  ‘Yes, they quarrelled, seemingly,’ said Sam. ‘There must
  have been a couple of hundred of the dirty creatures in this
  place. A bit of a tall order for Sam Gamgee, as you might
  say. But they’ve done all the killing of themselves. That’s
  lucky, but it’s too long to make a song about, till we’re out of
  here. Now what’s to be done? You can’t go walking in the
  Black Land in naught but your skin, Mr. Frodo.’
  ‘They’ve taken everything, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘Everything
  I had. Do you understand? Everything!’ He cowered on the
  floor again with bowed head, as his own words brought home
  to him the fullness of the disaster, and despair overwhelmed
  him. ‘The quest has failed, Sam. Even if we get out of here,
  we can’t escape. Only Elves can escape. Away, away out of
  Middle-earth, far away over the Sea. If even that is wide
  enough to keep the Shadow out.’
  ‘No, not everything, Mr. Frodo. And it hasn’t failed, not
  yet. I took it, Mr. Frodo, begging your pardon. And I’ve kept
  it safe. It’s round my neck now, and a terrible burden it is,
  too.’ Sam fumbled for the Ring and its chain. ‘But I suppose
  you must take it back.’ Now it had come to it, Sam felt
  reluctant to give up the Ring and burden his master with it
  again.
  ‘You’ve got it?’ gasped Frodo. ‘You’ve got it here? Sam,
  you’re a marvel!’ Then quickly and strangely his tone
  changed. ‘Give it to me!’ he cried, standing up, holding out
  a trembling hand. ‘Give it me at once! You can’t have it!’
  ‘All right, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam, rather startled. ‘Here it
  is!’ Slowly he drew the Ring out and passed the chain over
  his head. ‘But you’re in the land of Mordor now, sir; and
  when you get out, you’ll see the Fiery Mountain and all.
  You’ll find the Ring very dangerous now, and very hard to
  bear. If it’s too hard a job, I could share it with you, maybe?’
  ‘No, no!’ cried Frodo, snatching the Ring and chain from
  Sam’s hands. ‘No you won’t, you thief!’ He panted, staring
  at Sam with eyes wide with fear and enmity. Then suddenly,
  clasping the Ring in one clenched fist, he stood aghast. A
  mist seemed to clear from his eyes, and he passed a hand
  the tower of cirith ungol 1193
  over his aching brow. The hideous vision had seemed so real
  to him, half bemused as he was still with wound and fear.
  Sam had changed before his very eyes into an orc again,
  leering and pawing at his treasure, a foul little creature with
  greedy eyes and slobbering mouth. But now the vision had
  passed. There was Sam kneeling before him, his face wrung
  with pain, as if he had been stabbed in the heart; tears welled
  from his eyes.
  ‘O Sam!’ cried Frodo. ‘What have I said? What have I
  done? Forgive me! After all you have done. It is the horrible
  power of the Ring. I wish it had never, never, been found.
  But don’t mind me, Sam. I must carry the burden to the end.
  It can’t be altered. You can’t come between me and this
  doom.’
  ‘That’s all right, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam, rubbing his sleeve
  across his eyes. ‘I understand. But I can still help, can’t I?
  I’ve got to get you out of here. At once, see! But first you
  want some clothes and gear, and then some food. The clothes
  will be the easiest part. As we’re in Mordor, we’d best dress
  up Mordor-fashion; and anyway there isn’t no choice. It’ll
  have to be orc-stuff for you, Mr. Frodo, I’m afraid. And for
  me too. If we go together, we’d best match. Now put this
  round you!’
  Sam unclasped his grey cloak and cast it about Frodo’s
  shoulders. Then unslinging his pack he laid it on the floor.
  He drew Sting from its sheath. Hardly a flicker was to be
  seen upon its blade. ‘I was forgetting this, Mr. Frodo,’ he
  said. ‘No, they didn’t get everything! You lent me Sting, if
  you remember, and the Lady’s glass. I’ve got them both still.
  But lend them to me a little longer, Mr. Frodo. I must go
  and see what I can find. You stay here. Walk about a bit and
  ease your legs. I shan’t be long. I shan’t have to go far.’
  ‘Take care, Sam!’ said Frodo. ‘And be quick! There may
  be orcs still alive, lurking in wait.’
  ‘I’ve got to chance it,’ said Sam. He stepped to the trapdoor and slipped down the ladder. In a minute his head
  reappeared. He threw a long knife on the floor.
  1194 the return of the king
  ‘There’s something that might be useful,’ he said. ‘He’s
  dead: the one that whipped you. Broke his neck, it seems, in
  his hurry. Now you draw up the ladder, if you can, Mr.
  Frodo; and don’t you let it down till you hear me call the
  pass-word. Elbereth I’ll call. What the Elves say. No orc would
  say that.’
  Frodo sat for a while and shivered, dreadful fears chasing
  one another through his mind. Then he got up, drew the
  grey elven-cloak about him, and to keep his mind occupied,
  began to walk to and fro, prying and peering into every corner
  of his prison.
  It was not very long, though fear made it seem an hour at
  least, before he heard Sam’s voice calling softly from below:
  Elbereth, Elbereth. Frodo let down the light ladder. Up came
  Sam, puffing, heaving a great bundle on his head. He let it
  fall with a thud.
  ‘Quick now, Mr. Frodo!’ he said. ‘I’ve had a bit of a search
  to find anything small enough for the likes of us. We’ll have
  to make do. But we must hurry. I’ve met nothing alive, and
  I’ve seen nothing, but I’m not easy. I think this place is being
  watched. I can’t explain it, but well: it feels to me as if one of
  those foul flying Riders was about, up in the blackness where
  he can’t be seen.’
  He opened the bundle. Frodo looked in disgust at the
  contents, but there was nothing for it: he had to put the things
  on, or go naked. There were long hairy breeches of some
  unclean beast-fell, and a tunic of dirty leather. He drew them
  on. Over the tunic went a coat of stout ring-mail, short for a
  full-sized orc, too long for Frodo and heavy. About it he
  clasped a belt, at which there hung a short sheath holding
  a broad-bladed stabbing-sword. Sam had brought several
  orc-helmets. One of them fitted Frodo well enough, a black
  cap with iron rim, and iron hoops covered with leather upon
  which the Evil Eye was painted in red above the beaklike
  nose-guard.
  ‘The Morgul-stuff, Gorbag’s gear, was a better fit and
  the tower of cirith ungol 1195
  better made,’ said Sam; ‘but it wouldn’t do, I guess, to go
  carrying his tokens into Mordor, not after this business here.
  Well, there you are, Mr. Frodo. A perfect little orc, if I may
  make so bold – at least you would be, if we could cover
  your face with a mask, give you longer arms, and make you
  bow-legged. This will hide some of the tell-tales.’ He put a
  large black cloak round Frodo’s shoulders. ‘Now you’re
  ready! You can pick up a shield as we go.’
  ‘What about you, Sam?’ said Frodo. ‘Aren’t we going to
  match?’
  ‘Well, Mr. Frodo, I’ve been thinking,’ said Sam. ‘I’d best
  not leave any of my stuff behind, and we can’t destroy it.
  And I can’t wear orc-mail over all my clothes, can I? I’ll just
  have to cover up.’
  He knelt down and carefully folded his elven-cloak. It went
  into a surprisingly small roll. This he put into his pack that
  lay on the floor. Standing up, he slung it behind his back, put
  an orc-helm on his head, and cast another black cloak about
  his shoulders. ‘There!’ he said. ‘Now we match, near enough.
  And now we must be off!’
  ‘I can’t go all the way at a run, Sam,’ said Frodo with a
  wry smile. ‘I hope you’ve made inquiries about inns along
  the road? Or have you forgotten about food and drink?’
  ‘Save me, but so I had!’ said Sam. He whistled in dismay.
  ‘Bless me, Mr. Frodo, but you’ve gone and made me that
  hungry and thirsty! I don’t know when drop or morsel last
  passed my lips. I’d forgotten it, trying to find you. But let me
  think! Last time I looked I’d got about enough of that waybread, and of what Captain Faramir gave us, to keep me on
  my legs for a couple of weeks at a pinch. But if there’s a drop
  left in my bottle, there’s no more. That’s not going to be
  enough for two, nohow. Don’t orcs eat, and don’t they drink?
  Or do they just live on foul air and poison?’
  ‘No, they eat and drink, Sam. The Shadow that bred them
  can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its
  own. I don’t think it gave life to the orcs, it only ruined them
  and twisted them; and if they are to live at all, they have to
  1196 the return of the king
  live like other living creatures. Foul waters and foul meats
  they’ll take, if they can get no better, but not poison. They’ve
  fed me, and so I’m better off than you. There must be food
  and water somewhere in this place.’
  ‘But there’s no time to look for them,’ said Sam.
  ‘Well, things are a bit better than you think,’ said Frodo. ‘I
  have had a bit of luck while you were away. Indeed they did
  not take everything. I’ve found my food-bag among some
  rags on the floor. They’ve rummaged it, of course. But I
  guess they disliked the very look and smell of the lembas,
  worse than Gollum did. It’s scattered about and some of it is
  trampled and broken, but I’ve gathered it together. It’s not
  far short of what you’ve got. But they’ve taken Faramir’s
  food, and they’ve slashed up my water-bottle.’
  ‘Well, there’s no more to be said,’ said Sam. ‘We’ve got
  enough to start on. But the water’s going to be a bad business.
  But come, Mr. Frodo! Off we go, or a whole lake of it won’t
  do us any good!’
  ‘Not till you’ve had a mouthful, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘I won’t
  budge. Here, take this elven-cake, and drink that last drop in
  your bottle! The whole thing is quite hopeless, so it’s no good
  worrying about tomorrow. It probably won’t come.’
  At last they started. Down the ladder they climbed, and
  then Sam took it and laid it in the passage beside the huddled
  body of the fallen orc. The stair was dark, but on the roof-top
  the glare of the Mountain could still be seen, though it was
  dying down now to a sullen red. They picked up two shields
  to complete their disguise and then went on.
  Down the great stairway they plodded. The high chamber
  of the turret behind, where they had met again, seemed
  almost homely: they were out in the open again now, and
  terror ran along the walls. All might be dead in the Tower of
  Cirith Ungol, but it was steeped in fear and evil still.
  At length they came to the door upon the outer court, and
  they halted. Even from where they stood they felt the malice
  of the Watchers beating on them, black silent shapes on either
  the tower of cirith ungol 1197
  side of the gate through which the glare of Mordor dimly
  showed. As they threaded their way among the hideous
  bodies of the orcs each step became more difficult. Before
  they even reached the archway they were brought to a stand.
  To move an inch further was a pain and weariness to will
  and limb.
  Frodo had no strength for such a battle. He sank to the
  ground. ‘I can’t go on, Sam,’ he murmured. ‘I’m going to
  faint. I don’t know what’s come over me.’
  ‘I do, Mr. Frodo. Hold up now! It’s the gate. There’s some
  devilry there. But I got through, and I’m going to get out. It
  can’t be more dangerous than before. Now for it!’
  Sam drew out the elven-glass of Galadriel again. As if to
  do honour to his hardihood, and to grace with splendour his
  faithful brown hobbit-hand that had done such deeds, the
  phial blazed forth suddenly, so that all the shadowy court was
  lit with a dazzling radiance like lightning; but it remained
  steady and did not pass.
  ‘Gilthoniel, A Elbereth!’ Sam cried. For, why he did not
  know, his thought sprang back suddenly to the Elves in the
  Shire, and the song that drove away the Black Rider in
  the trees.
  ‘Aiya elenion ancalima!’ cried Frodo once again behind
  him.
  The will of the Watchers was broken with a suddenness
  like the snapping of a cord, and Frodo and Sam stumbled
  forward. Then they ran. Through the gate and past the great
  seated figures with their glittering eyes. There was a crack.
  The keystone of the arch crashed almost on their heels, and
  the wall above crumbled, and fell in ruin. Only by a hair did
  they escape. A bell clanged; and from the Watchers there
  went up a high and dreadful wail. Far up above in the darkness it was answered. Out of the black sky there came dropping like a bolt a winged shape, rending the clouds with a
  ghastly shriek.
  Chapter 2
  THE LAND OF SHADOW
  Sam had just wits enough left to thrust the phial back into
  his breast. ‘Run, Mr. Frodo!’ he cried. ‘No, not that way!
  There’s a sheer drop over the wall. Follow me!’
  Down the road from the gate they fled. In fifty paces, with
  a swift bend round a jutting bastion of the cliff, it took them
  out of sight from the Tower. They had escaped for the
  moment. Cowering back against the rock they drew breath,
  and then they clutched at their hearts. Perching now on the
  wall beside the ruined gate the Nazguˆl sent out its deadly
  cries. All the cliffs echoed.
  In terror they stumbled on. Soon the road bent sharply
  eastward again and exposed them for a dreadful moment to
  view from the Tower. As they flitted across they glanced back
  and saw the great black shape upon the battlement; then they
  plunged down between high rock-walls in a cutting that fell
  steeply to join the Morgul-road. They came to the waymeeting. There was still no sign of orcs, nor of an answer to
  the cry of the Nazguˆl; but they knew that the silence would
  not last long. At any moment now the hunt would begin.
  ‘This won’t do, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘If we were real orcs, we
  ought to be dashing back to the Tower, not running away.
  The first enemy we meet will know us. We must get off this
  road somehow.’
  ‘But we can’t,’ said Sam, ‘not without wings.’
  The eastern faces of the Ephel Du´ath were sheer, falling
  in cliff and precipice to the black trough that lay between
  them and the inner ridge. A short way beyond the waymeeting, after another steep incline, a flying bridge of stone
  leapt over the chasm and bore the road across into the
  the land of shadow 1199
  tumbled slopes and glens of the Morgai. With a desperate
  spurt Frodo and Sam dashed along the bridge; but they had
  hardly reached its further end when they heard the hue and
  cry begin. Away behind them, now high above on the mountain-side, loomed the Tower of Cirith Ungol, its stones glowing dully. Suddenly its harsh bell clanged again, and then
  broke into a shattering peal. Horns sounded. And now from
  beyond the bridge-end came answering cries. Down in the
  dark trough, cut off from the dying glare of Orodruin, Frodo
  and Sam could not see ahead, but already they heard the
  tramp of iron-shod feet, and upon the road there rang the
  swift clatter of hoofs.
  ‘Quick, Sam! Over we go!’ cried Frodo. They scrambled
  on to the low parapet of the bridge. Fortunately there was no
  longer any dreadful drop into the gulf, for the slopes of the
  Morgai had already risen almost to the level of the road; but
  it was too dark for them to guess the depth of the fall.
  ‘Well, here goes, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam. ‘Good-bye!’
  He let go. Frodo followed. And even as they fell they heard
  the rush of horsemen sweeping over the bridge and the rattle
  of orc-feet running up behind. But Sam would have laughed,
  if he had dared. Half fearing a breaking plunge down on to
  unseen rocks the hobbits landed, in a drop of no more than
  a dozen feet, with a thud and a crunch into the last thing that
  they had expected: a tangle of thorny bushes. There Sam lay
  still, softly sucking a scratched hand.
  When the sound of hoof and foot had passed he ventured
  a whisper. ‘Bless me, Mr. Frodo, but I didn’t know as anything grew in Mordor! But if I had a’known, this is just what
  I’d have looked for. These thorns must be a foot long by the
  feel of them; they’ve stuck through everything I’ve got on.
  Wish I’d a’put that mailshirt on!’
  ‘Orc-mail doesn’t keep these thorns out,’ said Frodo. ‘Not
  even a leather jerkin is any good.’
  They had a struggle to get out of the thicket. The thorns
  and briars were as tough as wire and as clinging as claws.
  1200 the return of the king
  Their cloaks were rent and tattered before they broke free
  at last.
  ‘Now down we go, Sam,’ Frodo whispered. ‘Down into
  the valley quick, and then turn northward, as soon as ever
  we can.’
  Day was coming again in the world outside, and far beyond
  the glooms of Mordor the Sun was climbing over the eastern
  rim of Middle-earth; but here all was still dark as night. The
  Mountain smouldered and its fires went out. The glare faded
  from the cliffs. The easterly wind that had been blowing ever
  since they left Ithilien now seemed dead. Slowly and painfully
  they clambered down, groping, stumbling, scrambling among
  rock and briar and dead wood in the blind shadows, down
  and down until they could go no further.
  At length they stopped, and sat side by side, their backs
  against a boulder. Both were sweating. ‘If Shagrat himself was to offer me a glass of water, I’d shake his hand,’
  said Sam.
  ‘Don’t say such things!’ said Frodo. ‘It only makes it
  worse.’ Then he stretched himself out, dizzy and weary, and
  he spoke no more for a while. At last with a struggle he got
  up again. To his amazement he found that Sam was asleep.
  ‘Wake up, Sam!’ he said. ‘Come on! It’s time we made
  another effort.’
  Sam scrambled to his feet. ‘Well I never!’ he said. ‘I
  must have dropped off. It’s a long time, Mr. Frodo, since
  I had a proper sleep, and my eyes just closed down on
  their own.’
  Frodo now led the way, northward as near as he could
  guess, among the stones and boulders lying thick at the
  bottom of the great ravine. But presently he stopped again.
  ‘It’s no good, Sam,’ he said. ‘I can’t manage it. This mailshirt, I mean. Not in my present state. Even my mithril-coat
  seemed heavy when I was tired. This is far heavier. And
  what’s the use of it? We shan’t win through by fighting.’
  ‘But we may have some to do,’ said Sam. ‘And there’s
  the land of shadow 1201
  knives and stray arrows. That Gollum isn’t dead, for one
  thing. I don’t like to think of you with naught but a bit of
  leather between you and a stab in the dark.’
  ‘Look here, Sam dear lad,’ said Frodo: ‘I am tired, weary,
  I haven’t a hope left. But I have to go on trying to get to the
  Mountain, as long as I can move. The Ring is enough. This
  extra weight is killing me. It must go. But don’t think I’m
  ungrateful. I hate to think of the foul work you must have
  had among the bodies to find it for me.’
  ‘Don’t talk about it, Mr. Frodo. Bless you! I’d carry you
  on my back, if I could. Let it go then!’
  Frodo laid aside his cloak and took off the orc-mail and
  flung it away. He shivered a little. ‘What I really need is
  something warm,’ he said. ‘It’s gone cold, or else I’ve caught
  a chill.’
  ‘You can have my cloak, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam. He unslung
  his pack and took out the elven-cloak. ‘How’s this, Mr.
  Frodo?’ he said. ‘You wrap that orc-rag close round you, and
  put the belt outside it. Then this can go over all. It don’t look
  quite orc-fashion, but it’ll keep you warmer; and I daresay
  it’ll keep you from harm better than any other gear. It was
  made by the Lady.’
  Frodo took the cloak and fastened the brooch. ‘That’s
  better!’ he said. ‘I feel much lighter. I can go on now. But
  this blind dark seems to be getting into my heart. As I lay
  in prison, Sam, I tried to remember the Brandywine, and
  Woody End, and The Water running through the mill at
  Hobbiton. But I can’t see them now.’
  ‘There now, Mr. Frodo, it’s you that’s talking of water this
  time!’ said Sam. ‘If only the Lady could see us or hear us, I’d
  say to her: ‘‘Your Ladyship, all we want is light and water:
  just clean water and plain daylight, better than any jewels,
  begging your pardon.’’ But it’s a long way to Lo´rien.’ Sam
  sighed and waved his hand towards the heights of the Ephel
  Du´ath, now only to be guessed as a deeper blackness against
  the black sky.

---

1202 the return of the king
They started off again. They had not gone far when Frodo
paused. ‘There’s a Black Rider over us,’ he said. ‘I can feel
it. We had better keep still for a while.’
Crouched under a great boulder they sat facing back westward and did not speak for some time. Then Frodo breathed
a sigh of relief. ‘It’s passed,’ he said. They stood up, and then
they both stared in wonder. Away to their left, southward,
against a sky that was turning grey, the peaks and high ridges
of the great range began to appear dark and black, visible
shapes. Light was growing behind them. Slowly it crept
towards the North. There was battle far above in the high
spaces of the air. The billowing clouds of Mordor were being
driven back, their edges tattering as a wind out of the living
world came up and swept the fumes and smokes towards the
dark land of their home. Under the lifting skirts of the dreary
canopy dim light leaked into Mordor like pale morning
through the grimed window of a prison.
‘Look at it, Mr. Frodo!’ said Sam. ‘Look at it! The wind’s
changed. Something’s happening. He’s not having it all his
own way. His darkness is breaking up out in the world there.
I wish I could see what is going on!’
It was the morning of the fifteenth of March, and over the
Vale of Anduin the Sun was rising above the eastern shadow,
and the south-west wind was blowing. The´oden lay dying on
the Pelennor Fields.
As Frodo and Sam stood and gazed, the rim of light spread
all along the line of the Ephel Du´ath, and then they saw a
shape, moving at a great speed out of the West, at first only
a black speck against the glimmering strip above the mountain-tops, but growing, until it plunged like a bolt into the
dark canopy and passed high above them. As it went it sent
out a long shrill cry, the voice of a Nazguˆl; but this cry no
longer held any terror for them: it was a cry of woe and
dismay, ill tidings for the Dark Tower. The Lord of the
Ringwraiths had met his doom.
‘What did I tell you? Something’s happening!’ cried Sam.
‘ ‘‘The war’s going well,’’ said Shagrat; but Gorbag he wasn’t
the land of shadow 1203
so sure. And he was right there too. Things are looking up,
Mr. Frodo. Haven’t you got some hope now?’
‘Well no, not much, Sam,’ Frodo sighed. ‘That’s away
beyond the mountains. We’re going east not west. And I’m
so tired. And the Ring is so heavy, Sam. And I begin to see
it in my mind all the time, like a great wheel of fire.’
Sam’s quick spirits sank again at once. He looked at his
master anxiously, and he took his hand. ‘Come, Mr. Frodo!’
he said. ‘I’ve got one thing I wanted: a bit of light. Enough
to help us, and yet I guess it’s dangerous too. Try a bit
further, and then we’ll lie close and have a rest. But take a
morsel to eat now, a bit of the Elves’ food; it may hearten
you.’
Sharing a wafer of lembas, and munching it as best they
could with their parched mouths, Frodo and Sam plodded
on. The light, though no more than a grey dusk, was now
enough for them to see that they were deep in the valley
between the mountains. It sloped up gently northward, and
at its bottom went the bed of a now dry and withered stream.
Beyond its stony course they saw a beaten path that wound
its way under the feet of the westward cliffs. Had they known,
they could have reached it quicker, for it was a track that left
the main Morgul-road at the western bridge-end and went
down by a long stair cut in the rock to the valley’s bottom. It
was used by patrols or by messengers going swiftly to lesser
posts and strongholds north-away, between Cirith Ungol and
the narrows of Isenmouthe, the iron jaws of Carach Angren.
It was perilous for the hobbits to use such a path, but they
needed speed, and Frodo felt that he could not face the toil
of scrambling among the boulders or in the trackless glens of
the Morgai. And he judged that northward was, maybe, the
way that their hunters would least expect them to take. The
road east to the plain, or the pass back westward, those they
would first search most thoroughly. Only when he was well
north of the Tower did he mean to turn and seek for some
way to take him east, east on the last desperate stage of his
1204 the return of the king
journey. So now they crossed the stony bed and took to the
orc-path, and for some time they marched along it. The cliffs
at their left were overhung, and they could not be seen from
above; but the path made many bends, and at each bend they
gripped their sword-hilts and went forward cautiously.
The light grew no stronger, for Orodruin was still belching
forth a great fume that, beaten upwards by the opposing airs,
mounted higher and higher, until it reached a region above
the wind and spread in an immeasurable roof, whose central
pillar rose out of the shadows beyond their view. They had
trudged for more than an hour when they heard a sound
that brought them to a halt. Unbelievable, but unmistakable.
Water trickling. Out of a gully on the left, so sharp and narrow
that it looked as if the black cliff had been cloven by some
huge axe, water came dripping down: the last remains, maybe, of some sweet rain gathered from sunlit seas, but ill-fated
to fall at last upon the walls of the Black Land and wander fruitless down into the dust. Here it came out of the rock in a
little falling streamlet, and flowed across the path, and turning
south ran away swiftly to be lost among the dead stones.
Sam sprang towards it. ‘If ever I see the Lady again, I will
tell her!’ he cried. ‘Light and now water!’ Then he stopped.
‘Let me drink first, Mr. Frodo,’ he said.
‘All right, but there’s room enough for two.’
‘I didn’t mean that,’ said Sam. ‘I mean: if it’s poisonous,
or something that will show its badness quick, well, better me
than you, master, if you understand me.’
‘I do. But I think we’ll trust our luck together, Sam; or our
blessing. Still, be careful now, if it’s very cold!’
The water was cool but not icy, and it had an unpleasant
taste, at once bitter and oily, or so they would have said at
home. Here it seemed beyond all praise, and beyond fear or
prudence. They drank their fill, and Sam replenished his
water-bottle. After that Frodo felt easier, and they went on
for several miles, until the broadening of the road and the
beginnings of a rough wall along its edge warned them that
they were drawing near to another orc-hold.
the land of shadow 1205
‘This is where we turn aside, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘And we
must turn east.’ He sighed as he looked at the gloomy ridges
across the valley. ‘I have just about enough strength left to
find some hole away up there. And then I must rest a little.’
The river-bed was now some way below the path. They
scrambled down to it, and began to cross it. To their surprise
they came upon dark pools fed by threads of water trickling
down from some source higher up the valley. Upon its outer
marges under the westward mountains Mordor was a dying
land, but it was not yet dead. And here things still grew,
harsh, twisted, bitter, struggling for life. In the glens of the
Morgai on the other side of the valley low scrubby trees
lurked and clung, coarse grey grass-tussocks fought with the
stones, and withered mosses crawled on them; and everywhere great writhing, tangled brambles sprawled. Some had
long stabbing thorns, some hooked barbs that rent like knives.
The sullen shrivelled leaves of a past year hung on them,
grating and rattling in the sad airs, but their maggot-ridden
buds were only just opening. Flies, dun or grey, or black,
marked like orcs with a red eye-shaped blotch, buzzed and
stung; and above the briar-thickets clouds of hungry midges
danced and reeled.
‘Orc-gear’s no good,’ said Sam waving his arms. ‘I wish
I’d got an orc’s hide!’
At last Frodo could go no further. They had climbed up a
narrow shelving ravine, but they still had a long way to go
before they could even come in sight of the last craggy ridge.
‘I must rest now, Sam, and sleep if I can,’ said Frodo. He
looked about, but there seemed nowhere even for an animal
to crawl into in this dismal country. At length, tired out, they
slunk under a curtain of brambles that hung down like a mat
over a low rock-face.
There they sat and made such a meal as they could. Keeping back the precious lembas for the evil days ahead, they ate
the half of what remained in Sam’s bag of Faramir’s provision: some dried fruit, and a small slip of cured meat; and
1206 the return of the king
they sipped some water. They had drunk again from the
pools in the valley, but they were very thirsty again. There
was a bitter tang in the air of Mordor that dried the mouth.
When Sam thought of water even his hopeful spirit quailed.
Beyond the Morgai there was the dreadful plain of Gorgoroth
to cross.
‘Now you go to sleep first, Mr. Frodo,’ he said. ‘It’s getting
dark again. I reckon this day is nearly over.’
Frodo sighed and was asleep almost before the words were
spoken. Sam struggled with his own weariness, and he took
Frodo’s hand; and there he sat silent till deep night fell. Then
at last, to keep himself awake, he crawled from the hidingplace and looked out. The land seemed full of creaking and
cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or
of foot. Far above the Ephel Du´ath in the West the night-sky
was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloudwrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a
white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his
heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope
returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought
pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and
passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond
its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather
than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a
moment, his own fate, and even his master’s, ceased to
trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid
himself by Frodo’s side, and putting away all fear he cast
himself into a deep untroubled sleep.
They woke together, hand in hand. Sam was almost fresh,
ready for another day; but Frodo sighed. His sleep had been
uneasy, full of dreams of fire, and waking brought him no
comfort. Still his sleep had not been without all healing virtue:
he was stronger, more able to bear his burden one stage
further. They did not know the time, nor how long they had
slept; but after a morsel of food and a sip of water they went
on up the ravine, until it ended in a sharp slope of screes
the land of shadow 1207
and sliding stones. There the last living things gave up their
struggle; the tops of the Morgai were grassless, bare, jagged,
barren as a slate.
After much wandering and search they found a way that
they could climb, and with a last hundred feet of clawing
scramble they were up. They came to a cleft between two
dark crags, and passing through found themselves on the
very edge of the last fence of Mordor. Below them, at the
bottom of a fall of some fifteen hundred feet, lay the inner
plain stretching away into a formless gloom beyond their
sight. The wind of the world blew now from the West, and
the great clouds were lifted high, floating away eastward; but
still only a grey light came to the dreary fields of Gorgoroth.
There smokes trailed on the ground and lurked in hollows,
and fumes leaked from fissures in the earth.
Still far away, forty miles at least, they saw Mount Doom,
its feet founded in ashen ruin, its huge cone rising to a great
height, where its reeking head was swathed in cloud. Its fires
were now dimmed, and it stood in smouldering slumber, as
threatening and dangerous as a sleeping beast. Behind it there
hung a vast shadow, ominous as a thunder-cloud, the veils
of Barad-duˆr that was reared far away upon a long spur
of the Ashen Mountains thrust down from the North. The
Dark Power was deep in thought, and the Eye turned inward,
pondering tidings of doubt and danger: a bright sword, and
a stern and kingly face it saw, and for a while it gave little
thought to other things; and all its great stronghold, gate
on gate, and tower on tower, was wrapped in a brooding
gloom.
Frodo and Sam gazed out in mingled loathing and wonder
on this hateful land. Between them and the smoking mountain, and about it north and south, all seemed ruinous and
dead, a desert burned and choked. They wondered how the
Lord of this realm maintained and fed his slaves and his
armies. Yet armies he had. As far as their eyes could reach,
along the skirts of the Morgai and away southward, there
were camps, some of tents, some ordered like small towns.
1208 the return of the king
One of the largest of these was right below them. Barely a
mile out into the plain it clustered like some huge nest of
insects, with straight dreary streets of huts and long low drab
buildings. About it the ground was busy with folk going
to and fro; a wide road ran from it south-east to join the
Morgul-way, and along it many lines of small black shapes
were hurrying.
‘I don’t like the look of things at all,’ said Sam. ‘Pretty
hopeless, I call it – saving that where there’s such a lot of folk
there must be wells or water, not to mention food. And these
are Men not Orcs, or my eyes are all wrong.’
Neither he nor Frodo knew anything of the great slaveworked fields away south in this wide realm, beyond the
fumes of the Mountain by the dark sad waters of Lake
Nu´rnen; nor of the great roads that ran away east and south
to tributary lands, from which the soldiers of the Tower
brought long waggon-trains of goods and booty and fresh
slaves. Here in the northward regions were the mines and
forges, and the musterings of long-planned war; and here the
Dark Power, moving its armies like pieces on the board, was
gathering them together. Its first moves, the first feelers of its
strength, had been checked upon its western line, southward
and northward. For the moment it withdrew them, and
brought up new forces, massing them about Cirith Gorgor
for an avenging stroke. And if it had also been its purpose to
defend the Mountain against all approach, it could scarcely
have done more.
‘Well!’ Sam went on. ‘Whatever they have to eat and drink,
we can’t get it. There’s no way down that I can see. And we
couldn’t cross all that open country crawling with enemies,
even if we did get down.’
‘Still we shall have to try,’ said Frodo. ‘It’s no worse than
I expected. I never hoped to get across. I can’t see any hope
of it now. But I’ve still got to do the best I can. At present
that is to avoid being captured as long as possible. So we
must still go northwards, I think, and see what it is like where
the open plain is narrower.’
the land of shadow 1209
‘I guess what it’ll be like,’ said Sam. ‘Where it’s narrower
the Orcs and Men will just be packed closer. You’ll see,
Mr. Frodo.’
‘I dare say I shall, if we ever get so far,’ said Frodo and
turned away.
They soon found that it was impossible to make their way
along the crest of the Morgai, or anywhere along its higher
levels, pathless as they were and scored with deep ghylls. In
the end they were forced to go back down the ravine that
they had climbed and seek for a way along the valley. It was
rough going, for they dared not cross over to the path on the
westward side. After a mile or more they saw, huddled in a
hollow at the cliff’s foot, the orc-hold that they had guessed
was near at hand: a wall and a cluster of stone huts set about
the dark mouth of a cave. There was no movement to be
seen, but the hobbits crept by cautiously, keeping as much
as they could to the thorn-brakes that grew thickly at this
point along both sides of the old water-course.
They went two or three miles further, and the orc-hold
was hidden from sight behind them; but they had hardly
begun to breathe more freely again when harsh and loud they
heard orc-voices. Quickly they slunk out of sight behind a
brown and stunted bush. The voices drew nearer. Presently
two orcs came into view. One was clad in ragged brown and
was armed with a bow of horn; it was of a small breed,
black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a
tracker of some kind. The other was a big fighting-orc, like
those of Shagrat’s company, bearing the token of the Eye.
He also had a bow at his back and carried a short broadheaded spear. As usual they were quarrelling, and being of
different breeds they used the Common Speech after their
fashion.
Hardly twenty paces from where the hobbits lurked the
small orc stopped. ‘Nar!’ it snarled. ‘I’m going home.’ It
pointed across the valley to the orc-hold. ‘No good wearing
my nose out on stones any more. There’s not a trace left, I
1210 the return of the king
say. I’ve lost the scent through giving way to you. It went up
into the hills, not along the valley, I tell you.’
‘Not much use are you, you little snufflers?’ said the big
orc. ‘I reckon eyes are better than your snotty noses.’
‘Then what have you seen with them?’ snarled the other.
‘Garn! You don’t even know what you’re looking for.’
‘Whose blame’s that?’ said the soldier. ‘Not mine. That
comes from Higher Up. First they say it’s a great Elf in bright
armour, then it’s a sort of small dwarf-man, then it must be
a pack of rebel Uruk-hai; or maybe it’s all the lot together.’
‘Ar!’ said the tracker. ‘They’ve lost their heads, that’s what
it is. And some of the bosses are going to lose their skins too,
I guess, if what I hear is true: Tower raided and all, and
hundreds of your lads done in, and prisoner got away. If
that’s the way you fighters go on, small wonder there’s bad
news from the battles.’
‘Who says there’s bad news?’ shouted the soldier.
‘Ar! Who says there isn’t?’
‘That’s cursed rebel-talk, and I’ll stick you, if you don’t
shut it down, see?’
‘All right, all right!’ said the tracker. ‘I’ll say no more and
go on thinking. But what’s the black sneak got to do with it
all? That gobbler with the flapping hands?’
‘I don’t know. Nothing, maybe. But he’s up to no good,
nosing around, I’ll wager. Curse him! No sooner had he
slipped us and run off than word came he’s wanted alive,
wanted quick.’
‘Well, I hope they get him and put him through it,’ growled
the tracker. ‘He messed up the scent back there, pinching
that cast-off mail-shirt that he found, and paddling all round
the place before I could get there.’
‘It saved his life anyhow,’ said the soldier. ‘Why, before I
knew he was wanted I shot him, as neat as neat, at fifty paces
right in the back; but he ran on.’
‘Garn! You missed him,’ said the tracker. ‘First you shoot
wild, then you run too slow, and then you send for the poor
trackers. I’ve had enough of you.’ He loped off.
the land of shadow 1211
‘You come back,’ shouted the soldier, ‘or I’ll report you!’
‘Who to? Not to your precious Shagrat. He won’t be
captain any more.’
‘I’ll give your name and number to the Nazguˆl,’ said the
soldier lowering his voice to a hiss. ‘One of them’s in charge
at the Tower now.’
The other halted, and his voice was full of fear and rage.
‘You cursed peaching sneakthief!’ he yelled. ‘You can’t do
your job, and you can’t even stick by your own folk. Go to
your filthy Shriekers, and may they freeze the flesh off you!
If the enemy doesn’t get them first. They’ve done in Number
One, I’ve heard, and I hope it’s true!’
The big orc, spear in hand, leapt after him. But the tracker,
springing behind a stone, put an arrow in his eye as he ran
up, and he fell with a crash. The other ran off across the
valley and disappeared.
For a while the hobbits sat in silence. At length Sam stirred.
‘Well, I call that neat as neat,’ he said. ‘If this nice friendliness
would spread about in Mordor, half our trouble would be
over.’
‘Quietly, Sam,’ Frodo whispered. ‘There may be others
about. We have evidently had a very narrow escape, and the
hunt was hotter on our tracks than we guessed. But that is
the spirit of Mordor, Sam; and it has spread to every corner
of it. Orcs have always behaved like that, or so all tales say,
when they are on their own. But you can’t get much hope
out of it. They hate us far more, altogether and all the time.
If those two had seen us, they would have dropped all their
quarrel until we were dead.’
There was another long silence. Sam broke it again, but
with a whisper this time. ‘Did you hear what they said about
that gobbler, Mr. Frodo? I told you Gollum wasn’t dead yet,
didn’t I?’
‘Yes, I remember. And I wondered how you knew,’ said
Frodo. ‘Well, come now! I think we had better not move out
from here again, until it has gone quite dark. So you shall tell
1212 the return of the king
me how you know, and all about what happened. If you can
do it quietly.’
‘I’ll try,’ said Sam, ‘but when I think of that Stinker I get
so hot I could shout.’
There the hobbits sat under the cover of the thorny bush,
while the drear light of Mordor faded slowly into a deep and
starless night; and Sam spoke into Frodo’s ear all that he
could find words for of Gollum’s treacherous attack, the
horror of Shelob, and his own adventures with the orcs.
When he had finished, Frodo said nothing but took Sam’s
hand and pressed it. At length he stirred.
‘Well, I suppose we must be going on again,’ he said. ‘I
wonder how long it will be before we really are caught and
all the toiling and the slinking will be over, and in vain.’ He
stood up. ‘It’s dark, and we cannot use the Lady’s glass. Keep
it safe for me, Sam. I have nowhere to keep it now, except in
my hand, and I shall need both hands in the blind night. But
Sting I give to you. I have got an orc-blade, but I do not think
it will be my part to strike any blow again.’
It was difficult and dangerous moving in the night in the
pathless land; but slowly and with much stumbling the two
hobbits toiled on hour by hour northward along the eastern
edge of the stony valley. When a grey light crept back over
the western heights, long after day had opened in the lands
beyond, they went into hiding again and slept a little, turn by
turn. In his times of waking Sam was busy with thoughts of
food. At last when Frodo roused himself and spoke of eating
and making ready for yet another effort, he asked the question
that was troubling him most.
‘Begging your pardon, Mr. Frodo,’ he said, ‘but have you
any notion how far there is still to go?’
‘No, not any clear notion, Sam,’ Frodo answered. ‘In
Rivendell before I set out I was shown a map of Mordor that
was made before the Enemy came back here; but I only
remember it vaguely. I remember clearest that there was a
place in the north where the western range and the northern
the land of shadow 1213
range send out spurs that nearly meet. That must be twenty
leagues at least from the bridge back by the Tower. It might
be a good point at which to cross. But of course, if we get
there, we shall be further than we were from the Mountain,
sixty miles from it, I should think. I guess that we have gone
about twelve leagues north from the bridge now. Even if all
goes well, I could hardly reach the Mountain in a week. I am
afraid, Sam, that the burden will get very heavy, and I shall
go still slower as we get nearer.’
Sam sighed. ‘That’s just as I feared,’ he said. ‘Well, to say
nothing of water, we’ve got to eat less, Mr. Frodo, or else
move a bit quicker, at any rate while we’re still in this valley.
One more bite and all the food’s ended, save the Elves’
waybread.’
‘I’ll try and be a bit quicker, Sam,’ said Frodo, drawing a
deep breath. ‘Come on then! Let’s start another march!’
It was not yet quite dark again. They plodded along, on
into the night. The hours passed in a weary stumbling trudge
with a few brief halts. At the first hint of grey light under the
skirts of the canopy of shadow they hid themselves again in
a dark hollow under an overhanging stone.
Slowly the light grew, until it was clearer than it yet had
been. A strong wind from the West was now driving the
fumes of Mordor from the upper airs. Before long the hobbits
could make out the shape of the land for some miles about
them. The trough between the mountains and the Morgai
had steadily dwindled as it climbed upwards, and the inner
ridge was now no more than a shelf in the steep faces of the
Ephel Du´ath; but to the east it fell as sheerly as ever down
into Gorgoroth. Ahead the water-course came to an end in
broken steps of rock; for out from the main range there
sprang a high barren spur, thrusting eastward like a wall.
To meet it there stretched out from the grey and misty
northern range of Ered Lithui a long jutting arm; and between the ends there was a narrow gap: Carach Angren, the
Isenmouthe, beyond which lay the deep dale of Uduˆn. In
1214 the return of the king
that dale behind the Morannon were the tunnels and deep
armouries that the servants of Mordor had made for the
defence of the Black Gate of their land; and there now their
Lord was gathering in haste great forces to meet the onslaught
of the Captains of the West. Upon the out-thrust spurs forts
and towers were built, and watch-fires burned; and all across
the gap an earth-wall had been raised, and a deep trench
delved that could be crossed only by a single bridge.
A few miles north, high up in the angle where the western
spur branched away from the main range, stood the old castle
of Durthang, now one of the many orc-holds that clustered
about the dale of Uduˆn. A road, already visible in the growing
light, came winding down from it, until only a mile or two
from where the hobbits lay it turned east and ran along a
shelf cut in the side of the spur, and so went down into the
plain, and on to the Isenmouthe.
To the hobbits as they looked out it seemed that all their
journey north had been useless. The plain to their right was
dim and smoky, and they could see there neither camps nor
troops moving; but all that region was under the vigilance of
the forts of Carach Angren.
‘We have come to a dead end, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘If we go
on, we shall only come up to that orc-tower, but the only
road to take is that road that comes down from it – unless
we go back. We can’t climb up westward, or climb down
eastward.’
‘Then we must take the road, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam. ‘We
must take it and chance our luck, if there is any luck in
Mordor. We might as well give ourselves up as wander about
any more, or try to go back. Our food won’t last. We’ve got
to make a dash for it!’
‘All right, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘Lead me! As long as you’ve
got any hope left. Mine is gone. But I can’t dash, Sam. I’ll
just plod along after you.’
‘Before you start any more plodding, you need sleep and
food, Mr. Frodo. Come and take what you can get of them!’
He gave Frodo water and an additional wafer of the way-
the land of shadow 1215
bread, and he made a pillow of his cloak for his master’s
head. Frodo was too weary to debate the matter, and Sam
did not tell him that he had drunk the last drop of their water,
and eaten Sam’s share of the food as well as his own. When
Frodo was asleep Sam bent over him and listened to his
breathing and scanned his face. It was lined and thin, and yet
in sleep it looked content and unafraid. ‘Well, here goes,
Master!’ Sam muttered to himself. ‘I’ll have to leave you for
a bit and trust to luck. Water we must have, or we’ll get no
further.’
Sam crept out, and flitting from stone to stone with more
than hobbit-care, he went down to the water-course, and
then followed it for some way as it climbed north, until he
came to the rock-steps where long ago, no doubt, its spring
had come gushing down in a little waterfall. All now seemed
dry and silent; but refusing to despair Sam stooped and
listened, and to his delight he caught the sound of trickling.
Clambering a few steps up he found a tiny stream of dark
water that came out from the hill-side and filled a little bare
pool, from which again it spilled, and vanished then under
the barren stones.
Sam tasted the water, and it seemed good enough. Then
he drank deeply, refilled the bottle, and turned to go back.
At that moment he caught a glimpse of a black form or
shadow flitting among the rocks away near Frodo’s hidingplace. Biting back a cry, he leapt down from the spring and
ran, jumping from stone to stone. It was a wary creature,
difficult to see, but Sam had little doubt about it: he longed
to get his hands on its neck. But it heard him coming and
slipped quickly away. Sam thought he saw a last fleeting
glimpse of it, peering back over the edge of the eastward
precipice, before it ducked and disappeared.
‘Well, luck did not let me down,’ muttered Sam, ‘but that
was a near thing! Isn’t it enough to have orcs by the thousand
without that stinking villain coming nosing round? I wish he
had been shot!’ He sat down by Frodo and did not rouse
him; but he did not dare to go to sleep himself. At last when
1216 the return of the king
he felt his eyes closing and knew that his struggle to keep
awake could not go on much longer, he wakened Frodo
gently.
‘That Gollum’s about again, I’m afraid, Mr. Frodo,’ he
said. ‘Leastways, if it wasn’t him, then there’s two of him. I
went away to find some water and spied him nosing round
just as I turned back. I reckon it isn’t safe for us both to sleep
together, and begging your pardon, but I can’t hold up my
lids much longer.’
‘Bless you, Sam!’ said Frodo. ‘Lie down and take your
proper turn! But I’d rather have Gollum than orcs. At any
rate he won’t give us away to them – not unless he’s caught
himself.’
‘But he might do a bit of robbery and murder on his own,’
growled Sam. ‘Keep your eyes open, Mr. Frodo! There’s a
bottle full of water. Drink up. We can fill it again when we
go on.’ With that Sam plunged into sleep.
Light was fading again when he woke. Frodo sat propped
against the rock behind, but he had fallen asleep. The waterbottle was empty. There was no sign of Gollum.
Mordor-dark had returned, and the watch-fires on the
heights burned fierce and red, when the hobbits set out again
on the most dangerous stage of all their journey. They went
first to the little spring, and then climbing warily up they
came to the road at the point where it swung east towards
the Isenmouthe twenty miles away. It was not a broad road,
and it had no wall or parapet along the edge, and as it ran on
the sheer drop from its brink became deeper and deeper. The
hobbits could hear no movements, and after listening for a
while they set off eastward at a steady pace.
After doing some twelve miles, they halted. A short way
back the road had bent a little northward and the stretch that
they had passed over was now screened from sight. This
proved disastrous. They rested for some minutes and then
went on; but they had not taken many steps when suddenly
in the stillness of the night they heard the sound that all along
the land of shadow 1217
they had secretly dreaded: the noise of marching feet. It was
still some way behind them, but looking back they could see
the twinkle of torches coming round the bend less than a mile
away, and they were moving fast: too fast for Frodo to escape
by flight along the road ahead.
‘I feared it, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘We’ve trusted to luck, and
it has failed us. We’re trapped.’ He looked wildly up at the
frowning wall, where the road-builders of old had cut the
rock sheer for many fathoms above their heads. He ran to
the other side and looked over the brink into a dark pit of
gloom. ‘We’re trapped at last!’ he said. He sank to the ground
beneath the wall of rock and bowed his head.
‘Seems so,’ said Sam. ‘Well, we can but wait and see.’ And
with that he sat down beside Frodo under the shadow of the
cliff.
They did not have to wait long. The orcs were going at a
great pace. Those in the foremost files bore torches. On they
came, red flames in the dark, swiftly growing. Now Sam too
bowed his head, hoping that it would hide his face when the
torches reached them; and he set their shields before their
knees to hide their feet.
‘If only they are in a hurry and will let a couple of tired
soldiers alone and pass on!’ he thought.
And so it seemed that they would. The leading orcs came
loping along, panting, holding their heads down. They were
a gang of the smaller breeds being driven unwilling to their
Dark Lord’s wars; all they cared for was to get the march
over and escape the whip. Beside them, running up and down
the line, went two of the large fierce uruks, cracking lashes
and shouting. File after file passed, and the tell-tale torchlight
was already some way ahead. Sam held his breath. Now more
than half the line had gone by. Then suddenly one of the
slave-drivers spied the two figures by the road-side. He
flicked a whip at them and yelled: ‘Hi, you! Get up!’ They did
not answer, and with a shout he halted the whole company.
‘Come on, you slugs!’ he cried. ‘This is no time for slouching.’ He took a step towards them, and even in the gloom he
1218 the return of the king
recognized the devices on their shields. ‘Deserting, eh?’ he
snarled. ‘Or thinking of it? All your folk should have been
inside Uduˆn before yesterday evening. You know that. Up
you get and fall in, or I’ll have your numbers and report you.’
They struggled to their feet, and keeping bent, limping like
footsore soldiers, they shuffled back towards the rear of the
line. ‘No, not at the rear!’ the slave-driver shouted. ‘Three
files up. And stay there, or you’ll know it, when I come down
the line!’ He sent his long whip-lash cracking over their heads;
then with another crack and a yell he started the company
off again at a brisk trot.
It was hard enough for poor Sam, tired as he was; but for
Frodo it was a torment, and soon a nightmare. He set his teeth
and tried to stop his mind from thinking, and he struggled on.
The stench of the sweating orcs about him was stifling, and
he began to gasp with thirst. On, on they went, and he bent
all his will to draw his breath and to make his legs keep going;
and yet to what evil end he toiled and endured he did not
dare to think. There was no hope of falling out unseen. Now
and again the orc-driver fell back and jeered at them.
‘There now!’ he laughed, flicking at their legs. ‘Where
there’s a whip there’s a will, my slugs. Hold up! I’d give you
a nice freshener now, only you’ll get as much lash as your
skins will carry when you come in late to your camp. Do you
good. Don’t you know we’re at war?’
They had gone some miles, and the road was at last running down a long slope into the plain, when Frodo’s strength
began to give out and his will wavered. He lurched and
stumbled. Desperately Sam tried to help him and hold him
up, though he felt that he could himself hardly stay the pace
much longer. At any moment now he knew that the end
would come: his master would faint or fall, and all would be
discovered, and their bitter efforts be in vain. ‘I’ll have that
big slave-driving devil anyway,’ he thought.
Then just as he was putting his hand to the hilt of his
sword, there came an unexpected relief. They were out on
the land of shadow 1219
the plain now and drawing near the entrance to Uduˆn. Some
way in front of it, before the gate at the bridge-end, the road
from the west converged with others coming from the south,
and from Barad-duˆr. Along all the roads troops were moving;
for the Captains of the West were advancing and the Dark
Lord was speeding his forces north. So it chanced that several
companies came together at the road-meeting, in the dark
beyond the light of the watch-fires on the wall. At once there
was great jostling and cursing as each troop tried to get first
to the gate and the ending of their march. Though the drivers
yelled and plied their whips, scuffles broke out and some
blades were drawn. A troop of heavy-armed uruks from
Barad-duˆr charged into the Durthang line and threw them
into confusion.
Dazed as he was with pain and weariness, Sam woke up,
grasped quickly at his chance, and threw himself to the
ground, dragging Frodo down with him. Orcs fell over them,
snarling and cursing. Slowly on hand and knee the hobbits
crawled away out of the turmoil, until at last unnoticed they
dropped over the further edge of the road. It had a high kerb
by which troop-leaders could guide themselves in black night
or fog, and it was banked up some feet above the level of the
open land.
They lay still for a while. It was too dark to seek for cover,
if indeed there was any to find; but Sam felt that they ought
at least to get further away from the highways and out of the
range of torchlight.
‘Come on, Mr. Frodo!’ he whispered. ‘One more crawl,
and then you can lie still.’
With a last despairing effort Frodo raised himself on his
hands, and struggled on for maybe twenty yards. Then he
pitched down into a shallow pit that opened unexpectedly
before them, and there he lay like a dead thing.
Chapter 3
MOUNT DOOM
Sam put his ragged orc-cloak under his master’s head, and
covered them both with the grey robe of Lo´rien; and as he
did so his thoughts went out to that fair land, and to the
Elves, and he hoped that the cloth woven by their hands
might have some virtue to keep them hidden beyond all hope
in this wilderness of fear. He heard the scuffling and cries die
down as the troops passed on through the Isenmouthe. It
seemed that in the confusion and the mingling of many companies of various kinds they had not been missed, not yet at
any rate.
Sam took a sip of water, but pressed Frodo to drink, and
when his master had recovered a little he gave him a whole
wafer of their precious waybread and made him eat it. Then,
too worn out even to feel much fear, they stretched themselves out. They slept a little in uneasy fits; for their sweat
grew chill on them, and the hard stones bit them, and they
shivered. Out of the north from the Black Gate through
Cirith Gorgor there flowed whispering along the ground a
thin cold air.
In the morning a grey light came again, for in the high
regions the West Wind still blew, but down on the stones
behind the fences of the Black Land the air seemed almost
dead, chill and yet stifling. Sam looked up out of the hollow.
The land all about was dreary, flat and drab-hued. On the
roads nearby nothing was moving now; but Sam feared the
watchful eyes on the wall of the Isenmouthe, no more than a
furlong away northward. South-eastward, far off like a dark
standing shadow, loomed the Mountain. Smokes were pouring from it, and while those that rose into the upper air trailed
away eastward, great rolling clouds floated down its sides and
mount doom 1221
spread over the land. A few miles to the north-east the foothills of the Ashen Mountains stood like sombre grey ghosts,
behind which the misty northern heights rose like a line of
distant cloud hardly darker than the lowering sky.
Sam tried to guess the distances and to decide what way
they ought to take. ‘It looks every step of fifty miles,’ he
muttered gloomily, staring at the threatening mountain, ‘and
that’ll take a week, if it takes a day, with Mr. Frodo as he is.’
He shook his head, and as he worked things out, slowly a
new dark thought grew in his mind. Never for long had hope
died in his staunch heart, and always until now he had taken
some thought for their return. But the bitter truth came home
to him at last: at best their provision would take them to their
goal; and when the task was done, there they would come to
an end, alone, houseless, foodless in the midst of a terrible
desert. There could be no return.
‘So that was the job I felt I had to do when I started,’
thought Sam: ‘to help Mr. Frodo to the last step and then
die with him? Well, if that is the job then I must do it. But I
would dearly like to see Bywater again, and Rosie Cotton and
her brothers, and the Gaffer and Marigold and all. I can’t
think somehow that Gandalf would have sent Mr. Frodo
on this errand, if there hadn’t a’ been any hope of his ever
coming back at all. Things all went wrong when he went
down in Moria. I wish he hadn’t. He would have done
something.’
But even as hope died in Sam, or seemed to die, it was
turned to a new strength. Sam’s plain hobbit-face grew stern,
almost grim, as the will hardened in him, and he felt through
all his limbs a thrill, as if he was turning into some creature
of stone and steel that neither despair nor weariness nor
endless barren miles could subdue.
With a new sense of responsibility he brought his eyes back
to the ground near at hand, studying the next move. As the
light grew a little he saw to his surprise that what from a
distance had seemed wide and featureless flats were in fact
all broken and tumbled. Indeed the whole surface of the
1222 the return of the king
plains of Gorgoroth was pocked with great holes, as if, while
it was still a waste of soft mud, it had been smitten with a
shower of bolts and huge slingstones. The largest of these
holes were rimmed with ridges of broken rock, and broad
fissures ran out from them in all directions. It was a land in
which it would be possible to creep from hiding to hiding,
unseen by all but the most watchful eyes: possible at least for
one who was strong and had no need for speed. For the
hungry and worn, who had far to go before life failed, it had
an evil look.
Thinking of all these things Sam went back to his master.
He had no need to rouse him. Frodo was lying on his back
with eyes open, staring at the cloudy sky. ‘Well, Mr. Frodo,’
said Sam, ‘I’ve been having a look round and thinking a bit.
There’s nothing on the roads, and we’d best be getting away
while there’s a chance. Can you manage it?’
‘I can manage it,’ said Frodo. ‘I must.’
Once more they started, crawling from hollow to hollow,
flitting behind such cover as they could find, but moving
always in a slant towards the foothills of the northern range.
But as they went the most easterly of the roads followed
them, until it ran off, hugging the skirts of the mountains,
away into a wall of black shadow far ahead. Neither man nor
orc now moved along its flat grey stretches; for the Dark
Lord had almost completed the movement of his forces, and
even in the fastness of his own realm he sought the secrecy
of night, fearing the winds of the world that had turned
against him, tearing aside his veils, and troubled with tidings
of bold spies that had passed through his fences.
The hobbits had gone a few weary miles when they halted.
Frodo seemed nearly spent. Sam saw that he could not
go much further in this fashion, crawling, stooping, now
picking a doubtful way very slowly, now hurrying at a
stumbling run.
‘I’m going back on to the road while the light lasts, Mr.
Frodo,’ he said. ‘Trust to luck again! It nearly failed us last
mount doom 1223
time, but it didn’t quite. A steady pace for a few more miles,
and then a rest.’
He was taking a far greater risk than he knew; but Frodo
was too much occupied with his burden and with the struggle
in his mind to debate, and almost too hopeless to care. They
climbed on to the causeway and trudged along, down the
hard cruel road that led to the Dark Tower itself. But their
luck held, and for the rest of that day they met no living or
moving thing; and when night fell they vanished into the
darkness of Mordor. All the land now brooded as at the
coming of a great storm: for the Captains of the West had
passed the Cross-roads and set flames in the deadly fields of
Imlad Morgul.
So the desperate journey went on, as the Ring went south
and the banners of the kings rode north. For the hobbits each
day, each mile, was more bitter than the one before, as their
strength lessened and the land became more evil. They met
no enemies by day. At times by night, as they cowered or
drowsed uneasily in some hiding beside the road, they heard
cries and the noise of many feet or the swift passing of some
cruelly ridden steed. But far worse than all such perils was
the ever-approaching threat that beat upon them as they
went: the dreadful menace of the Power that waited, brooding
in deep thought and sleepless malice behind the dark veil
about its Throne. Nearer and nearer it drew, looming blacker,
like the oncoming of a wall of night at the last end of the
world.
There came at last a dreadful nightfall; and even as the
Captains of the West drew near to the end of the living lands,
the two wanderers came to an hour of blank despair. Four
days had passed since they had escaped from the orcs, but
the time lay behind them like an ever-darkening dream. All
this last day Frodo had not spoken, but had walked halfbowed, often stumbling, as if his eyes no longer saw the way
before his feet. Sam guessed that among all their pains he
bore the worst, the growing weight of the Ring, a burden on
the body and a torment to his mind. Anxiously Sam had
1224 the return of the king
noted how his master’s left hand would often be raised as if
to ward off a blow, or to screen his shrinking eyes from a
dreadful Eye that sought to look in them. And sometimes his
right hand would creep to his breast, clutching, and then
slowly, as the will recovered mastery, it would be withdrawn.
Now as the blackness of night returned Frodo sat, his head
between his knees, his arms hanging wearily to the ground
where his hands lay feebly twitching. Sam watched him, till
night covered them both and hid them from one another. He
could no longer find any words to say; and he turned to his
own dark thoughts. As for himself, though weary and under
a shadow of fear, he still had some strength left. The lembas
had a virtue without which they would long ago have lain
down to die. It did not satisfy desire, and at times Sam’s
mind was filled with the memories of food, and the longing
for simple bread and meats. And yet this waybread of the
Elves had a potency that increased as travellers relied on it
alone and did not mingle it with other foods. It fed the will,
and it gave strength to endure, and to master sinew and limb
beyond the measure of mortal kind. But now a new decision
must be made. They could not follow this road any longer;
for it went on eastward into the great Shadow, but the Mountain now loomed upon their right, almost due south, and they
must turn towards it. Yet still before it there stretched a wide
region of fuming, barren, ash-ridden land.
‘Water, water!’ muttered Sam. He had stinted himself, and
in his parched mouth his tongue seemed thick and swollen;
but for all his care they now had very little left, perhaps half
his bottle, and maybe there were still days to go. All would
long ago have been spent, if they had not dared to follow the
orc-road. For at long intervals on that highway cisterns had
been built for the use of troops sent in haste through the
waterless regions. In one Sam had found some water left,
stale, muddied by the orcs, but still sufficient for their desperate case. Yet that was now a day ago. There was no hope
of any more.
At last wearied with his cares Sam drowsed, leaving the
mount doom 1225
morrow till it came; he could do no more. Dream and waking
mingled uneasily. He saw lights like gloating eyes, and dark
creeping shapes, and he heard noises as of wild beasts or the
dreadful cries of tortured things; and he would start up to
find the world all dark and only empty blackness all about
him. Once only, as he stood and stared wildly round, did it
seem that, though now awake, he could still see pale lights
like eyes; but soon they flickered and vanished.
The hateful night passed slowly and reluctantly. Such daylight as followed was dim; for here as the Mountain drew
near the air was ever mirky, while out from the Dark Tower
there crept the veils of Shadow that Sauron wove about himself. Frodo was lying on his back not moving. Sam stood
beside him, reluctant to speak, and yet knowing that the word
now lay with him: he must set his master’s will to work
for another effort. At length, stooping and caressing Frodo’s
brow, he spoke in his ear.
‘Wake up, Master!’ he said. ‘Time for another start.’
As if roused by a sudden bell, Frodo rose quickly, and
stood up and looked away southwards; but when his eyes
beheld the Mountain and the desert he quailed again.
‘I can’t manage it, Sam,’ he said. ‘It is such a weight to
carry, such a weight.’
Sam knew before he spoke, that it was vain, and that such
words might do more harm than good, but in his pity he
could not keep silent. ‘Then let me carry it a bit for you,
Master,’ he said. ‘You know I would, and gladly, as long as
I have any strength.’
A wild light came into Frodo’s eyes. ‘Stand away! Don’t
touch me!’ he cried. ‘It is mine, I say. Be off!’ His hand
strayed to his sword-hilt. But then quickly his voice changed.
‘No, no, Sam,’ he said sadly. ‘But you must understand. It is
my burden, and no one else can bear it. It is too late now,
Sam dear. You can’t help me in that way again. I am almost
in its power now. I could not give it up, and if you tried to
take it I should go mad.’
1226 the return of the king
Sam nodded. ‘I understand,’ he said. ‘But I’ve been thinking, Mr. Frodo, there’s other things we might do without.
Why not lighten the load a bit? We’re going that way now,
as straight as we can make it.’ He pointed to the Mountain.
‘It’s no good taking anything we’re not sure to need.’
Frodo looked again towards the Mountain. ‘No,’ he said,
‘we shan’t need much on that road. And at its end nothing.’
Picking up his orc-shield he flung it away and threw his
helmet after it. Then pulling off the grey cloak he undid the
heavy belt and let it fall to the ground, and the sheathed
sword with it. The shreds of the black cloak he tore off and
scattered.
‘There, I’ll be an orc no more,’ he cried, ‘and I’ll bear no
weapon, fair or foul. Let them take me, if they will!’
Sam did likewise, and put aside his orc-gear; and he took
out all the things in his pack. Somehow each of them had
become dear to him, if only because he had borne them
so far with so much toil. Hardest of all it was to part with
his cooking-gear. Tears welled in his eyes at the thought of
casting it away.
‘Do you remember that bit of rabbit, Mr. Frodo?’ he said.
‘And our place under the warm bank in Captain Faramir’s
country, the day I saw an oliphaunt?’
‘No, I am afraid not, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘At least, I know
that such things happened, but I cannot see them. No taste
of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of
tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to
me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between
me and the wheel of fire. I begin to see it even with my
waking eyes, and all else fades.’
Sam went to him and kissed his hand. ‘Then the sooner
we’re rid of it, the sooner to rest,’ he said haltingly, finding
no better words to say. ‘Talking won’t mend nothing,’ he
muttered to himself, as he gathered up all the things that they
had chosen to cast away. He was not willing to leave them
lying open in the wilderness for any eyes to see. ‘Stinker
picked up that orc-shirt, seemingly, and he isn’t going to add
mount doom 1227
a sword to it. His hands are bad enough when empty. And
he isn’t going to mess with my pans!’ With that he carried all
the gear away to one of the many gaping fissures that scored
the land and threw them in. The clatter of his precious pans
as they fell down into the dark was like a death-knell to his
heart.
He came back to Frodo, and then of his elven-rope he cut
a short piece to serve his master as a girdle and bind the grey
cloak close about his waist. The rest he carefully coiled and
put back in his pack. Beside that he kept only the remnants
of their waybread and the water-bottle, and Sting still hanging
by his belt; and hidden away in a pocket of his tunic next his
breast the phial of Galadriel and the little box that she gave
him for his own.
Now at last they turned their faces to the Mountain and
set out, thinking no more of concealment, bending their
weariness and failing wills only to the one task of going on.
In the dimness of its dreary day few things even in that land
of vigilance could have espied them, save from close at hand.
Of all the slaves of the Dark Lord, only the Nazguˆl could have
warned him of the peril that crept, small but indomitable, into
the very heart of his guarded realm. But the Nazguˆl and their
black wings were abroad on other errand: they were gathered
far away, shadowing the march of the Captains of the West,
and thither the thought of the Dark Tower was turned.
That day it seemed to Sam that his master had found some
new strength, more than could be explained by the small
lightening of the load that he had to carry. In the first marches
they went further and faster than he had hoped. The land
was rough and hostile, and yet they made much progress,
and ever the Mountain drew nearer. But as the day wore on
and all too soon the dim light began to fail, Frodo stooped
again, and began to stagger, as if the renewed effort had
squandered his remaining strength.
At their last halt he sank down and said: ‘I’m thirsty, Sam,’
and did not speak again. Sam gave him a mouthful of water;
1228 the return of the king
only one more mouthful remained. He went without himself;
and now as once more the night of Mordor closed over them,
through all his thoughts there came the memory of water;
and every brook or stream or fount that he had ever seen,
under green willow-shades or twinkling in the sun, danced
and rippled for his torment behind the blindness of his eyes.
He felt the cool mud about his toes as he paddled in the Pool
at Bywater with Jolly Cotton and Tom and Nibs, and their
sister Rosie. ‘But that was years ago,’ he sighed, ‘and far
away. The way back, if there is one, goes past the Mountain.’
He could not sleep and he held a debate with himself.
‘Well, come now, we’ve done better than you hoped,’ he said
sturdily. ‘Began well anyway. I reckon we crossed half the
distance before we stopped. One more day will do it.’ And
then he paused.
‘Don’t be a fool, Sam Gamgee,’ came an answer in his
own voice. ‘He won’t go another day like that, if he moves at
all. And you can’t go on much longer giving him all the water
and most of the food.’
‘I can go on a good way though, and I will.’
‘Where to?’
‘To the Mountain, of course.’
‘But what then, Sam Gamgee, what then? When you get
there, what are you going to do? He won’t be able to do
anything for himself.’
To his dismay Sam realized that he had not got an answer
to this. He had no clear idea at all. Frodo had not spoken
much to him of his errand, and Sam only knew vaguely that
the Ring had somehow to be put into the fire. ‘The Cracks
of Doom,’ he muttered, the old name rising to his mind.
‘Well, if Master knows how to find them, I don’t.’
‘There you are!’ came the answer. ‘It’s all quite useless. He
said so himself. You are the fool, going on hoping and toiling.
You could have lain down and gone to sleep together days
ago, if you hadn’t been so dogged. But you’ll die just the
same, or worse. You might just as well lie down now and
give it up. You’ll never get to the top anyway.’
mount doom 1229
‘I’ll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind,’
said Sam. ‘And I’ll carry Mr. Frodo up myself, if it breaks
my back and heart. So stop arguing!’
At that moment Sam felt a tremor in the ground beneath
him, and he heard or sensed a deep remote rumble as of
thunder imprisoned under the earth. There was a brief red
flame that flickered under the clouds and died away. The
Mountain too slept uneasily.
The last stage of their journey to Orodruin came, and it
was a torment greater than Sam had ever thought that he
could bear. He was in pain, and so parched that he could no
longer swallow even a mouthful of food. It remained dark, not
only because of the smokes of the Mountain: there seemed
to be a storm coming up, and away to the south-east there
was a shimmer of lightnings under the black skies. Worst of
all, the air was full of fumes; breathing was painful and difficult, and a dizziness came on them, so that they staggered
and often fell. And yet their wills did not yield, and they
struggled on.
The Mountain crept up ever nearer, until, if they lifted
their heavy heads, it filled all their sight, looming vast before
them: a huge mass of ash and slag and burned stone, out of
which a sheer-sided cone was raised into the clouds. Before
the daylong dusk ended and true night came again they had
crawled and stumbled to its very feet.
With a gasp Frodo cast himself on the ground. Sam sat by
him. To his surprise he felt tired but lighter, and his head
seemed clear again. No more debates disturbed his mind. He
knew all the arguments of despair and would not listen to
them. His will was set, and only death would break it. He
felt no longer either desire or need of sleep, but rather of
watchfulness. He knew that all the hazards and perils were
now drawing together to a point: the next day would be a
day of doom, the day of final effort or disaster, the last gasp.
But when would it come? The night seemed endless and
timeless, minute after minute falling dead and adding up to
1230 the return of the king
no passing hour, bringing no change. Sam began to wonder
if a second darkness had begun and no day would ever
reappear. At last he groped for Frodo’s hand. It was cold and
trembling. His master was shivering.
‘I didn’t ought to have left my blanket behind,’ muttered
Sam; and lying down he tried to comfort Frodo with his arms
and body. Then sleep took him, and the dim light of the last
day of their quest found them side by side. The wind had
fallen the day before as it shifted from the West, and now it
came from the North and began to rise; and slowly the light
of the unseen Sun filtered down into the shadows where the
hobbits lay.
‘Now for it! Now for the last gasp!’ said Sam as he struggled
to his feet. He bent over Frodo, rousing him gently. Frodo
groaned; but with a great effort of will he staggered up; and
then he fell upon his knees again. He raised his eyes with
difficulty to the dark slopes of Mount Doom towering above
him, and then pitifully he began to crawl forward on his
hands.
Sam looked at him and wept in his heart, but no tears came
to his dry and stinging eyes. ‘I said I’d carry him, if it broke
my back,’ he muttered, ‘and I will!’
‘Come, Mr. Frodo!’ he cried. ‘I can’t carry it for you, but
I can carry you and it as well. So up you get! Come on, Mr.
Frodo dear! Sam will give you a ride. Just tell him where to
go, and he’ll go.’
As Frodo clung upon his back, arms loosely about his neck,
legs clasped firmly under his arms, Sam staggered to his feet;
and then to his amazement he felt the burden light. He had
feared that he would have barely strength to lift his master
alone, and beyond that he had expected to share in the dreadful dragging weight of the accursed Ring. But it was not so.
Whether because Frodo was so worn by his long pains,
wound of knife, and venomous sting, and sorrow, fear, and
homeless wandering, or because some gift of final strength
was given to him, Sam lifted Frodo with no more difficulty
mount doom 1231
than if he were carrying a hobbit-child pig-a-back in some
romp on the lawns or hayfields of the Shire. He took a deep
breath and started off.
They had reached the Mountain’s foot on its northern side,
and a little to the westward; there its long grey slopes, though
broken, were not sheer. Frodo did not speak, and so Sam
struggled on as best he could, having no guidance but the
will to climb as high as might be before his strength gave out
and his will broke. On he toiled, up and up, turning this way
and that to lessen the slope, often stumbling forward, and at
the last crawling like a snail with a heavy burden on its back.
When his will could drive him no further, and his limbs gave
way, he stopped and laid his master gently down.
Frodo opened his eyes and drew a breath. It was easier to
breathe up here above the reeks that coiled and drifted down
below. ‘Thank you, Sam,’ he said in a cracked whisper. ‘How
far is there to go?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Sam, ‘because I don’t know where
we’re going.’
He looked back, and then he looked up; and he was amazed
to see how far his last effort had brought him. The Mountain
standing ominous and alone had looked taller than it was.
Sam saw now that it was less lofty than the high passes of the
Ephel Du´ath which he and Frodo had scaled. The confused
and tumbled shoulders of its great base rose for maybe three
thousand feet above the plain, and above them was reared
half as high again its tall central cone, like a vast oast or
chimney capped with a jagged crater. But already Sam was
more than half way up the base, and the plain of Gorgoroth
was dim below him, wrapped in fume and shadow. As he
looked up he would have given a shout, if his parched throat
had allowed him; for amid the rugged humps and shoulders
above him he saw plainly a path or road. It climbed like a
rising girdle from the west and wound snakelike about the
Mountain, until before it went round out of view it reached
the foot of the cone upon its eastern side.
1232 the return of the king
Sam could not see the course immediately above him,
where it was lowest, for a steep slope went up from where he
stood; but he guessed that if he could only struggle on just a
little way further up, they would strike this path. A gleam of
hope returned to him. They might conquer the Mountain
yet. ‘Why, it might have been put there a-purpose!’ he said
to himself. ‘If it wasn’t there, I’d have to say I was beaten in
the end.’
The path was not put there for the purposes of Sam. He
did not know it, but he was looking at Sauron’s Road from
Barad-duˆr to the Sammath Naur, the Chambers of Fire. Out
from the Dark Tower’s huge western gate it came over a
deep abyss by a vast bridge of iron, and then passing into the
plain it ran for a league between two smoking chasms, and
so reached a long sloping causeway that led up on to the
Mountain’s eastern side. Thence, turning and encircling all
its wide girth from south to north, it climbed at last, high in
the upper cone, but still far from the reeking summit, to a
dark entrance that gazed back east straight to the Window of
the Eye in Sauron’s shadow-mantled fortress. Often blocked
or destroyed by the tumults of the Mountain’s furnaces,
always that road was repaired and cleared again by the
labours of countless orcs.
Sam drew a deep breath. There was a path, but how he
was to get up the slope to it he did not know. First he must
ease his aching back. He lay flat beside Frodo for a while.
Neither spoke. Slowly the light grew. Suddenly a sense of
urgency which he did not understand came to Sam. It was
almost as if he had been called: ‘Now, now, or it will be too
late!’ He braced himself and got up. Frodo also seemed to
have felt the call. He struggled to his knees.
‘I’ll crawl, Sam,’ he gasped.
So foot by foot, like small grey insects, they crept up the
slope. They came to the path and found that it was broad,
paved with broken rubble and beaten ash. Frodo clambered
on to it, and then moved as if by some compulsion he turned
slowly to face the East. Far off the shadows of Sauron hung;
mount doom 1233
but torn by some gust of wind out of the world, or else moved
by some great disquiet within, the mantling clouds swirled,
and for a moment drew aside; and then he saw, rising black,
blacker and darker than the vast shades amid which it stood,
the cruel pinnacles and iron crown of the topmost tower
of Barad-duˆr. One moment only it stared out, but as from
some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye; and then
the shadows were furled again and the terrible vision was
removed. The Eye was not turned to them: it was gazing
north to where the Captains of the West stood at bay, and
thither all its malice was now bent, as the Power moved to
strike its deadly blow; but Frodo at that dreadful glimpse fell
as one stricken mortally. His hand sought the chain about
his neck.
Sam knelt by him. Faint, almost inaudibly, he heard Frodo
whispering: ‘Help me, Sam! Help me, Sam! Hold my hand!
I can’t stop it.’ Sam took his master’s hands and laid them
together, palm to palm, and kissed them; and then he held
them gently between his own. The thought came suddenly
to him: ‘He’s spotted us! It’s all up, or it soon will be. Now,
Sam Gamgee, this is the end of ends.’
Again he lifted Frodo and drew his hands down to his own
breast, letting his master’s legs dangle. Then he bowed his
head and struggled off along the climbing road. It was not as
easy a way to take as it had looked at first. By fortune the
fires that had poured forth in the great turmoils when Sam
stood upon Cirith Ungol had flowed down mainly on the
southern and western slopes, and the road on this side was
not blocked. Yet in many places it had crumbled away or was
crossed by gaping rents. After climbing eastward for some
time it bent back upon itself at a sharp angle and went westward for a space. There at the bend it was cut deep through
a crag of old weathered stone once long ago vomited from
the Mountain’s furnaces. Panting under his load Sam turned
the bend; and even as he did so, out of the corner of his eye,
he had a glimpse of something falling from the crag, like a
1234 the return of the king
small piece of black stone that had toppled off as he passed.
A sudden weight smote him and he crashed forward, tearing the backs of his hands that still clasped his master’s. Then
he knew what had happened, for above him as he lay he
heard a hated voice.
‘Wicked masster!’ it hissed. ‘Wicked masster cheats us;
cheats Sme´agol, gollum. He musstn’t go that way. He
musstn’t hurt Preciouss. Give it to Sme´agol, yess, give it to
us! Give it to uss!’
With a violent heave Sam rose up. At once he drew his
sword; but he could do nothing. Gollum and Frodo were
locked together. Gollum was tearing at his master, trying to
get at the chain and the Ring. This was probably the only
thing that could have roused the dying embers of Frodo’s
heart and will: an attack, an attempt to wrest his treasure
from him by force. He fought back with a sudden fury that
amazed Sam, and Gollum also. Even so things might have
gone far otherwise, if Gollum himself had remained unchanged; but whatever dreadful paths, lonely and hungry and
waterless, he had trodden, driven by a devouring desire and
a terrible fear, they had left grievous marks on him. He was a
lean, starved, haggard thing, all bones and tight-drawn sallow
skin. A wild light flamed in his eyes, but his malice was no
longer matched by his old griping strength. Frodo flung him
off and rose up quivering.
‘Down, down!’ he gasped, clutching his hand to his breast,
so that beneath the cover of his leather shirt he clasped the
Ring. ‘Down, you creeping thing, and out of my path! Your
time is at an end. You cannot betray me or slay me now.’
Then suddenly, as before under the eaves of the Emyn
Muil, Sam saw these two rivals with other vision. A crouching
shape, scarcely more than the shadow of a living thing, a
creature now wholly ruined and defeated, yet filled with a
hideous lust and rage; and before it stood stern, untouchable
now by pity, a figure robed in white, but at its breast it held
a wheel of fire. Out of the fire there spoke a commanding
voice.
mount doom 1235
‘Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever
again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom.’
The crouching shape backed away, terror in its blinking
eyes, and yet at the same time insatiable desire.
Then the vision passed and Sam saw Frodo standing, hand
on breast, his breath coming in great gasps, and Gollum at
his feet, resting on his knees with his wide-splayed hands
upon the ground.
‘Look out!’ cried Sam. ‘He’ll spring!’ He stepped forward,
brandishing his sword. ‘Quick, Master!’ he gasped. ‘Go on!
Go on! No time to lose. I’ll deal with him. Go on!’
Frodo looked at him as if at one now far away. ‘Yes, I must
go on,’ he said. ‘Farewell, Sam! This is the end at last. On
Mount Doom doom shall fall. Farewell!’ He turned and went
on, walking slowly but erect, up the climbing path.
‘Now!’ said Sam. ‘At last I can deal with you!’ He leaped
forward with drawn blade ready for battle. But Gollum did
not spring. He fell flat upon the ground and whimpered.
‘Don’t kill us,’ he wept. ‘Don’t hurt us with nassty cruel
steel! Let us live, yes, live just a little longer. Lost lost! We’re
lost. And when Precious goes we’ll die, yes, die into the dust.’
He clawed up the ashes of the path with his long fleshless
fingers. ‘Dusst!’ he hissed.
Sam’s hand wavered. His mind was hot with wrath and
the memory of evil. It would be just to slay this treacherous,
murderous creature, just and many times deserved; and also
it seemed the only safe thing to do. But deep in his heart
there was something that restrained him: he could not strike
this thing lying in the dust, forlorn, ruinous, utterly wretched.
He himself, though only for a little while, had borne the Ring,
and now dimly he guessed the agony of Gollum’s shrivelled
mind and body, enslaved to that Ring, unable to find peace
or relief ever in life again. But Sam had no words to express
what he felt.
‘Oh, curse you, you stinking thing!’ he said. ‘Go away!
Be off! I don’t trust you, not as far as I could kick you;
1236 the return of the king
but be off. Or I shall hurt you, yes, with nasty cruel steel.’
Gollum got up on all fours, and backed away for several
paces, and then he turned, and as Sam aimed a kick at him
he fled away down the path. Sam gave no more heed to him.
He suddenly remembered his master. He looked up the path
and could not see him. As fast as he could he trudged up the
road. If he had looked back, he might have seen not far below
Gollum turn again, and then with a wild light of madness
glaring in his eyes come, swiftly but warily, creeping on
behind, a slinking shadow among the stones.
The path climbed on. Soon it bent again and with a last
eastward course passed in a cutting along the face of the cone
and came to the dark door in the Mountain’s side, the door
of the Sammath Naur. Far away now rising towards the South
the sun, piercing the smokes and haze, burned ominous, a
dull bleared disc of red; but all Mordor lay about the Mountain like a dead land, silent, shadow-folded, waiting for some
dreadful stroke.
Sam came to the gaping mouth and peered in. It was dark
and hot, and a deep rumbling shook the air. ‘Frodo! Master!’
he called. There was no answer. For a moment he stood, his
heart beating with wild fears, and then he plunged in. A
shadow followed him.
At first he could see nothing. In his great need he drew out
once more the phial of Galadriel, but it was pale and cold in
his trembling hand and threw no light into that stifling dark.
He was come to the heart of the realm of Sauron and the
forges of his ancient might, greatest in Middle-earth; all other
powers were here subdued. Fearfully he took a few uncertain
steps in the dark, and then all at once there came a flash of
red that leaped upward, and smote the high black roof. Then
Sam saw that he was in a long cave or tunnel that bored into
the Mountain’s smoking cone. But only a short way ahead
its floor and the walls on either side were cloven by a great
fissure, out of which the red glare came, now leaping up, now
dying down into darkness; and all the while far below there
mount doom 1237
was a rumour and a trouble as of great engines throbbing
and labouring.
The light sprang up again, and there on the brink of the
chasm, at the very Crack of Doom, stood Frodo, black against
the glare, tense, erect, but still as if he had been turned to
stone.
‘Master!’ cried Sam.
Then Frodo stirred and spoke with a clear voice, indeed
with a voice clearer and more powerful than Sam had ever
heard him use, and it rose above the throb and turmoil of
Mount Doom, ringing in the roof and walls.
‘I have come,’ he said. ‘But I do not choose now to do
what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!’
And suddenly, as he set it on his finger, he vanished from
Sam’s sight. Sam gasped, but he had no chance to cry out,
for at that moment many things happened.
Something struck Sam violently in the back, his legs were
knocked from under him and he was flung aside, striking his
head against the stony floor, as a dark shape sprang over him.
He lay still and for a moment all went black.
And far away, as Frodo put on the Ring and claimed it for
his own, even in Sammath Naur the very heart of his realm,
the Power in Barad-duˆr was shaken, and the Tower trembled
from its foundations to its proud and bitter crown. The Dark
Lord was suddenly aware of him, and his Eye piercing all
shadows looked across the plain to the door that he had made;
and the magnitude of his own folly was revealed to him in a
blinding flash, and all the devices of his enemies were at last
laid bare. Then his wrath blazed in consuming flame, but his
fear rose like a vast black smoke to choke him. For he knew
his deadly peril and the thread upon which his doom now
hung.
From all his policies and webs of fear and treachery, from
all his stratagems and wars his mind shook free; and throughout his realm a tremor ran, his slaves quailed, and his armies
halted, and his captains suddenly steerless, bereft of will,
wavered and despaired. For they were forgotten. The whole
1238 the return of the king
mind and purpose of the Power that wielded them was now
bent with overwhelming force upon the Mountain. At his
summons, wheeling with a rending cry, in a last desperate
race there flew, faster than the winds, the Nazguˆl, the Ringwraiths, and with a storm of wings they hurtled southwards
to Mount Doom.
Sam got up. He was dazed, and blood streaming from his
head dripped in his eyes. He groped forward, and then he
saw a strange and terrible thing. Gollum on the edge of the
abyss was fighting like a mad thing with an unseen foe. To
and fro he swayed, now so near the brink that almost he
tumbled in, now dragging back, falling to the ground, rising,
and falling again. And all the while he hissed but spoke no
words.
The fires below awoke in anger, the red light blazed, and
all the cavern was filled with a great glare and heat. Suddenly
Sam saw Gollum’s long hands draw upwards to his mouth;
his white fangs gleamed, and then snapped as they bit. Frodo
gave a cry, and there he was, fallen upon his knees at the
chasm’s edge. But Gollum, dancing like a mad thing, held
aloft the ring, a finger still thrust within its circle. It shone
now as if verily it was wrought of living fire.
‘Precious, precious, precious!’ Gollum cried. ‘My Precious!
O my Precious!’ And with that, even as his eyes were lifted
up to gloat on his prize, he stepped too far, toppled, wavered
for a moment on the brink, and then with a shriek he fell.
Out of the depths came his last wail Precious, and he was
gone.
There was a roar and a great confusion of noise. Fires
leaped up and licked the roof. The throbbing grew to a great
tumult, and the Mountain shook. Sam ran to Frodo and
picked him up and carried him out to the door. And there
upon the dark threshold of the Sammath Naur, high above
the plains of Mordor, such wonder and terror came on him
that he stood still forgetting all else, and gazed as one turned
to stone.
mount doom 1239
A brief vision he had of swirling cloud, and in the midst
of it towers and battlements, tall as hills, founded upon a
mighty mountain-throne above immeasurable pits; great
courts and dungeons, eyeless prisons sheer as cliffs, and
gaping gates of steel and adamant: and then all passed.
Towers fell and mountains slid; walls crumbled and melted,
crashing down; vast spires of smoke and spouting steams
went billowing up, up, until they toppled like an overwhelming wave, and its wild crest curled and came foaming down
upon the land. And then at last over the miles between there
came a rumble, rising to a deafening crash and roar; the earth
shook, the plain heaved and cracked, and Orodruin reeled.
Fire belched from its riven summit. The skies burst into
thunder seared with lightning. Down like lashing whips fell a
torrent of black rain. And into the heart of the storm, with a
cry that pierced all other sounds, tearing the clouds asunder,
the Nazguˆl came, shooting like flaming bolts, as caught in
the fiery ruin of hill and sky they crackled, withered, and
went out.
‘Well, this is the end, Sam Gamgee,’ said a voice by his
side. And there was Frodo, pale and worn, and yet himself
again; and in his eyes there was peace now, neither strain of
will, nor madness, nor any fear. His burden was taken away.
There was the dear master of the sweet days in the Shire.
‘Master!’ cried Sam, and fell upon his knees. In all that
ruin of the world for the moment he felt only joy, great joy.
The burden was gone. His master had been saved; he was
himself again, he was free. And then Sam caught sight of the
maimed and bleeding hand.
‘Your poor hand!’ he said. ‘And I have nothing to bind it
with, or comfort it. I would have spared him a whole hand
of mine rather. But he’s gone now beyond recall, gone for
ever.’
‘Yes,’ said Frodo. ‘But do you remember Gandalf’s words:
Even Gollum may have something yet to do? But for him, Sam,
I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have
1240 the return of the king
been in vain, even at the bitter end. So let us forgive him!
For the Quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you
are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.’
Chapter 4
THE FIELD OF CORMALLEN
All about the hills the hosts of Mordor raged. The Captains
of the West were foundering in a gathering sea. The sun
gleamed red, and under the wings of the Nazguˆl the shadows
of death fell dark upon the earth. Aragorn stood beneath his
banner, silent and stern, as one lost in thought of things long
past or far away; but his eyes gleamed like stars that shine
the brighter as the night deepens. Upon the hill-top stood
Gandalf, and he was white and cold and no shadow fell on
him. The onslaught of Mordor broke like a wave on the
beleaguered hills, voices roaring like a tide amid the wreck
and crash of arms.
As if to his eyes some sudden vision had been given,
Gandalf stirred; and he turned, looking back north where the
skies were pale and clear. Then he lifted up his hands and
cried in a loud voice ringing above the din: The Eagles
are coming! And many voices answered crying: The Eagles are
coming! The Eagles are coming! The hosts of Mordor looked
up and wondered what this sign might mean.
There came Gwaihir the Windlord, and Landroval his
brother, greatest of all the Eagles of the North, mightiest of
the descendants of old Thorondor, who built his eyries in the
inaccessible peaks of the Encircling Mountains when Middleearth was young. Behind them in long swift lines came all
their vassals from the northern mountains, speeding on a
gathering wind. Straight down upon the Nazguˆl they bore,
stooping suddenly out of the high airs, and the rush of their
wide wings as they passed over was like a gale.
But the Nazguˆl turned and fled, and vanished into
Mordor’s shadows, hearing a sudden terrible call out of the
Dark Tower; and even at that moment all the hosts of Mordor
1242 the return of the king
trembled, doubt clutched their hearts, their laughter failed,
their hands shook and their limbs were loosed. The Power
that drove them on and filled them with hate and fury was
wavering, its will was removed from them; and now looking
in the eyes of their enemies they saw a deadly light and were
afraid.
Then all the Captains of the West cried aloud, for their
hearts were filled with a new hope in the midst of darkness.
Out from the beleaguered hills knights of Gondor, Riders
of Rohan, Du´nedain of the North, close-serried companies,
drove against their wavering foes, piercing the press with the
thrust of bitter spears. But Gandalf lifted up his arms and
called once more in a clear voice:
‘Stand, Men of the West! Stand and wait! This is the hour
of doom.’
And even as he spoke the earth rocked beneath their feet.
Then rising swiftly up, far above the Towers of the Black
Gate, high above the mountains, a vast soaring darkness
sprang into the sky, flickering with fire. The earth groaned
and quaked. The Towers of the Teeth swayed, tottered, and
fell down; the mighty rampart crumbled; the Black Gate was
hurled in ruin; and from far away, now dim, now growing,
now mounting to the clouds, there came a drumming rumble,
a roar, a long echoing roll of ruinous noise.
‘The realm of Sauron is ended!’ said Gandalf. ‘The Ringbearer has fulfilled his Quest.’ And as the Captains gazed
south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black
against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow,
impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards
them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even
as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all
blown away, and passed; and then a hush fell.
The Captains bowed their heads; and when they looked
up again, behold! their enemies were flying and the power of
the field of cormallen 1243
Mordor was scattering like dust in the wind. As when
death smites the swollen brooding thing that inhabits their
crawling hill and holds them all in sway, ants will wander
witless and purposeless and then feebly die, so the creatures
of Sauron, orc or troll or beast spell-enslaved, ran hither
and thither mindless; and some slew themselves, or cast
themselves in pits, or fled wailing back to hide in holes
and dark lightless places far from hope. But the Men of
Rhuˆn and of Harad, Easterling and Southron, saw the ruin
of their war and the great majesty and glory of the Captains
of the West. And those that were deepest and longest in evil
servitude, hating the West, and yet were men proud and bold,
in their turn now gathered themselves for a last stand of
desperate battle. But the most part fled eastward as they
could; and some cast their weapons down and sued for
mercy.
Then Gandalf, leaving all such matters of battle and command to Aragorn and the other lords, stood upon the hill-top
and called; and down to him came the great eagle, Gwaihir
the Windlord, and stood before him.
‘Twice you have borne me, Gwaihir my friend,’ said
Gandalf. ‘Thrice shall pay for all, if you are willing. You will
not find me a burden much greater than when you bore me
from Zirakzigil, where my old life burned away.’
‘I would bear you,’ answered Gwaihir, ‘whither you will,
even were you made of stone.’
‘Then come, and let your brother go with us, and some
other of your folk who is most swift! For we have need of
speed greater than any wind, outmatching the wings of the
Nazguˆl.’
‘The North Wind blows, but we shall outfly it,’ said
Gwaihir. And he lifted up Gandalf and sped away south, and
with him went Landroval, and Meneldor young and swift.
And they passed over Uduˆn and Gorgoroth and saw all the
land in ruin and tumult beneath them, and before them
Mount Doom blazing, pouring out its fire.

---

1244 the return of the king
‘I am glad that you are here with me,’ said Frodo. ‘Here at
the end of all things, Sam.’
‘Yes, I am with you, Master,’ said Sam, laying Frodo’s
wounded hand gently to his breast. ‘And you’re with me.
And the journey’s finished. But after coming all that way I
don’t want to give up yet. It’s not like me, somehow, if you
understand.’
‘Maybe not, Sam,’ said Frodo; ‘but it’s like things are in
the world. Hopes fail. An end comes. We have only a little
time to wait now. We are lost in ruin and downfall, and there
is no escape.’
‘Well, Master, we could at least go further from this
dangerous place here, from this Crack of Doom, if that’s its
name. Now couldn’t we? Come, Mr. Frodo, let’s go down
the path at any rate!’
‘Very well, Sam. If you wish to go, I’ll come,’ said Frodo;
and they rose and went slowly down the winding road; and
even as they passed towards the Mountain’s quaking feet, a
great smoke and steam belched from the Sammath Naur,
and the side of the cone was riven open, and a huge fiery
vomit rolled in slow thunderous cascade down the eastern
mountain-side.
Frodo and Sam could go no further. Their last strength of
mind and body was swiftly ebbing. They had reached a low
ashen hill piled at the Mountain’s foot; but from it there was
no more escape. It was an island now, not long to endure,
amid the torment of Orodruin. All about it the earth gaped,
and from deep rifts and pits smoke and fumes leaped up.
Behind them the Mountain was convulsed. Great rents
opened in its side. Slow rivers of fire came down the long
slopes towards them. Soon they would be engulfed. A rain
of hot ash was falling.
They stood now; and Sam still holding his master’s hand
caressed it. He sighed. ‘What a tale we have been in, Mr.
Frodo, haven’t we?’ he said. ‘I wish I could hear it told! Do
you think they’ll say: Now comes the story of Nine-fingered
Frodo and the Ring of Doom? And then everyone will hush,
the field of cormallen 1245
like we did, when in Rivendell they told us the tale of Beren
One-hand and the Great Jewel. I wish I could hear it! And I
wonder how it will go on after our part.’
But even while he spoke so, to keep fear away until the
very last, his eyes still strayed north, north into the eye of the
wind, to where the sky far off was clear, as the cold blast,
rising to a gale, drove back the darkness and the ruin of the
clouds.
And so it was that Gwaihir saw them with his keen farseeing eyes, as down the wild wind he came, and daring the
great peril of the skies he circled in the air: two small dark
figures, forlorn, hand in hand upon a little hill, while the
world shook under them, and gasped, and rivers of fire drew
near. And even as he espied them and came swooping down,
he saw them fall, worn out, or choked with fumes and heat,
or stricken down by despair at last, hiding their eyes from
death.
Side by side they lay; and down swept Gwaihir, and down
came Landroval and Meneldor the swift; and in a dream, not
knowing what fate had befallen them, the wanderers were
lifted up and borne far away out of the darkness and the fire.
When Sam awoke, he found that he was lying on some
soft bed, but over him gently swayed wide beechen boughs,
and through their young leaves sunlight glimmered, green
and gold. All the air was full of a sweet mingled scent.
He remembered that smell: the fragrance of Ithilien. ‘Bless
me!’ he mused. ‘How long have I been asleep?’ For the scent
had borne him back to the day when he had lit his little fire
under the sunny bank; and for the moment all else between
was out of waking memory. He stretched and drew a deep
breath. ‘Why, what a dream I’ve had!’ he muttered. ‘I am
glad to wake!’ He sat up and then he saw that Frodo was
lying beside him, and slept peacefully, one hand behind his
head, and the other resting upon the coverlet. It was the right
hand, and the third finger was missing.
1246 the return of the king
Full memory flooded back, and Sam cried aloud: ‘It wasn’t
a dream! Then where are we?’
And a voice spoke softly behind him: ‘In the land of
Ithilien, and in the keeping of the King; and he awaits you.’
With that Gandalf stood before him, robed in white, his
beard now gleaming like pure snow in the twinkling of the
leafy sunlight. ‘Well, Master Samwise, how do you feel?’
he said.
But Sam lay back, and stared with open mouth, and for a
moment, between bewilderment and great joy, he could not
answer. At last he gasped: ‘Gandalf! I thought you were dead!
But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going
to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?’
‘A great Shadow has departed,’ said Gandalf, and then he
laughed, and the sound was like music, or like water in a
parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam
that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment,
for days upon days without count. It fell upon his ears like
the echo of all the joys he had ever known. But he himself
burst into tears. Then, as a sweet rain will pass down a wind
of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears
ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang
from his bed.
‘How do I feel?’ he cried. ‘Well, I don’t know how
to say it. I feel, I feel’ – he waved his arms in the air – ‘I
feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and
like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!’
He stopped and he turned towards his master. ‘But how’s
Mr. Frodo?’ he said. ‘Isn’t it a shame about his poor
hand? But I hope he’s all right otherwise. He’s had a cruel
time.’
‘Yes, I am all right otherwise,’ said Frodo, sitting up and
laughing in his turn. ‘I fell asleep again waiting for you, Sam,
you sleepy-head. I was awake early this morning, and now it
must be nearly noon.’
‘Noon?’ said Sam, trying to calculate. ‘Noon of what
day?’
the field of cormallen 1247
‘The fourteenth of the New Year,’ said Gandalf; ‘or if you
like, the eighth day of April in the Shire-reckoning.* But
in Gondor the New Year will always now begin upon the
twenty-fifth of March when Sauron fell, and when you were
brought out of the fire to the King. He has tended you, and
now he awaits you. You shall eat and drink with him. When
you are ready I will lead you to him.’
‘The King?’ said Sam. ‘What king, and who is he?’
‘The King of Gondor and Lord of the Western Lands,’
said Gandalf; ‘and he has taken back all his ancient realm.
He will ride soon to his crowning, but he waits for you.’
‘What shall we wear?’ said Sam; for all he could see was
the old and tattered clothes that they had journeyed in, lying
folded on the ground beside their beds.
‘The clothes that you wore on your way to Mordor,’ said
Gandalf. ‘Even the orc-rags that you bore in the black land,
Frodo, shall be preserved. No silks and linens, nor any
armour or heraldry could be more honourable. But later I
will find some other clothes, perhaps.’
Then he held out his hands to them, and they saw that one
shone with light. ‘What have you got there?’ Frodo cried.
‘Can it be——?’
‘Yes, I have brought your two treasures. They were found
on Sam when you were rescued, the Lady Galadriel’s gifts:
your glass, Frodo, and your box, Sam. You will be glad to
have these safe again.’
When they were washed and clad, and had eaten a light
meal, the Hobbits followed Gandalf. They stepped out of the
beech-grove in which they had lain, and passed on to a long
green lawn, glowing in sunshine, bordered by stately darkleaved trees laden with scarlet blossom. Behind them they
could hear the sound of falling water, and a stream ran down
before them between flowering banks, until it came to a
greenwood at the lawn’s foot and passed then on under an

• There were thirty days in March (or Rethe) in the Shire calendar.
  1248 the return of the king
  archway of trees, through which they saw the shimmer of
  water far away.
  As they came to the opening in the wood, they were surprised to see knights in bright mail and tall guards in silver
  and black standing there, who greeted them with honour
  and bowed before them. And then one blew a long trumpet,
  and they went on through the aisle of trees beside the singing stream. So they came to a wide green land, and beyond
  it was a broad river in a silver haze, out of which rose a
  long wooded isle, and many ships lay by its shores. But
  on the field where they now stood a great host was drawn
  up, in ranks and companies glittering in the sun. And as the
  Hobbits approached swords were unsheathed, and spears
  were shaken, and horns and trumpets sang, and men cried
  with many voices and in many tongues:
  ‘Long live the Halflings! Praise them with great praise!
  Cuio i Pheriain anann! Aglar’ni Pheriannath!
  Praise them with great praise, Frodo and Samwise!
  Daur a Berhael, Conin en Annuˆn! Eglerio!
  Praise them!
  Eglerio!
  A laita te, laita te! Andave laituvalmet!
  Praise them!
  Cormacolindor, a laita ta´rienna!
  Praise them! The Ring-bearers, praise them with great
  praise!’
  And so the red blood blushing in their faces and their eyes
  shining with wonder, Frodo and Sam went forward and saw
  that amidst the clamorous host were set three high-seats built
  of green turves. Behind the seat upon the right floated, white
  on green, a great horse running free; upon the left was a
  banner, silver upon blue, a ship swan-prowed faring on the
  sea; but behind the highest throne in the midst of all a great
  standard was spread in the breeze, and there a white tree
  flowered upon a sable field beneath a shining crown and
  the field of cormallen 1249
  seven glittering stars. On the throne sat a mail-clad man, a
  great sword was laid across his knees, but he wore no helm.
  As they drew near he rose. And then they knew him, changed
  as he was, so high and glad of face, kingly, lord of Men,
  dark-haired with eyes of grey.
  Frodo ran to meet him, and Sam followed close behind.
  ‘Well, if this isn’t the crown of all!’ he said. ‘Strider, or I’m
  still asleep!’
  ‘Yes, Sam, Strider,’ said Aragorn. ‘It is a long way, is it
  not, from Bree, where you did not like the look of me? A
  long way for us all, but yours has been the darkest road.’
  And then to Sam’s surprise and utter confusion he bowed
  his knee before them; and taking them by the hand, Frodo
  upon his right and Sam upon his left, he led them to the
  throne, and setting them upon it, he turned to the men and
  captains who stood by and spoke, so that his voice rang over
  all the host, crying:
  ‘Praise them with great praise!’
  And when the glad shout had swelled up and died away
  again, to Sam’s final and complete satisfaction and pure joy,
  a minstrel of Gondor stood forth, and knelt, and begged leave
  to sing. And behold! he said:
  ‘Lo! lords and knights and men of valour unashamed,
  kings and princes, and fair people of Gondor, and Riders of
  Rohan, and ye sons of Elrond, and Du´nedain of the North,
  and Elf and Dwarf, and greathearts of the Shire, and all free
  folk of the West, now listen to my lay. For I will sing to you
  of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom.’
  And when Sam heard that he laughed aloud for sheer
  delight, and he stood up and cried: ‘O great glory and
  splendour! And all my wishes have come true!’ And then
  he wept.
  And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of
  their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel
  rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he
  sang to them, now in the elven-tongue, now in the speech
  of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words,
  1250 the return of the king
  overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in
  thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together
  and tears are the very wine of blessedness.
  And at the last, as the Sun fell from the noon and the
  shadows of the trees lengthened, he ended. ‘Praise them
  with great praise!’ he said and knelt. And then Aragorn
  stood up, and all the host arose, and they passed to pavilions
  made ready, to eat and drink and make merry while the day
  lasted.
  Frodo and Sam were led apart and brought to a tent, and
  there their old raiment was taken off, but folded and set
  aside with honour; and clean linen was given to them. Then
  Gandalf came and in his arms, to the wonder of Frodo, he
  bore the sword and the elven-cloak and the mithril-coat that
  had been taken from him in Mordor. For Sam he brought a
  coat of gilded mail, and his elven-cloak all healed of the soils
  and hurts that it had suffered; and then he laid before them
  two swords.
  ‘I do not wish for any sword,’ said Frodo.
  ‘Tonight at least you should wear one,’ said Gandalf.
  Then Frodo took the small sword that had belonged to
  Sam, and had been laid at his side in Cirith Ungol. ‘Sting I
  gave to you Sam,’ he said.
  ‘No, master! Mr. Bilbo gave it to you, and it goes with
  his silver coat; he would not wish anyone else to wear it
  now.’
  Frodo gave way; and Gandalf, as if he were their esquire,
  knelt and girt the sword-belts about them, and then rising he
  set circlets of silver upon their heads. And when they were
  arrayed they went to the great feast; and they sat at the King’s
  table with Gandalf, and King E´ omer of Rohan, and the
  Prince Imrahil and all the chief captains; and there also were
  Gimli and Legolas.
  But when, after the Standing Silence, wine was brought
  there came in two esquires to serve the kings; or so they
  seemed to be: one was clad in the silver and sable of the
  the field of cormallen 1251
  Guards of Minas Tirith, and the other in white and green.
  But Sam wondered what such young boys were doing in an
  army of mighty men. Then suddenly as they drew near and
  he could see them plainly, he exclaimed:
  ‘Why, look Mr. Frodo! Look here! Well, if it isn’t Pippin.
  Mr. Peregrin Took I should say, and Mr. Merry! How they
  have grown! Bless me! But I can see there’s more tales to tell
  than ours.’
  ‘There are indeed,’ said Pippin turning towards him. ‘And
  we’ll begin telling them, as soon as this feast is ended. In the
  meantime you can try Gandalf. He’s not so close as he used
  to be, though he laughs now more than he talks. For the
  present Merry and I are busy. We are knights of the City and
  of the Mark, as I hope you observe.’
  At last the glad day ended; and when the Sun was gone
  and the round Moon rode slowly above the mists of Anduin
  and flickered through the fluttering leaves, Frodo and Sam
  sat under the whispering trees amid the fragrance of fair
  Ithilien; and they talked deep into the night with Merry and
  Pippin and Gandalf, and after a while Legolas and Gimli
  joined them. There Frodo and Sam learned much of all that
  had happened to the Company after their fellowship was
  broken on the evil day at Parth Galen by Rauros Falls; and
  still there was always more to ask and more to tell.
  Orcs, and talking trees, and leagues of grass, and galloping riders, and glittering caves, and white towers and golden
  halls, and battles, and tall ships sailing, all these passed before
  Sam’s mind until he felt bewildered. But amidst all these
  wonders he returned always to his astonishment at the size
  of Merry and Pippin; and he made them stand back to back
  with Frodo and himself. He scratched his head. ‘Can’t understand it at your age!’ he said. ‘But there it is: you’re three
  inches taller than you ought to be, or I’m a dwarf.’
  ‘That you certainly are not,’ said Gimli. ‘But what did I
  say? Mortals cannot go drinking ent-draughts and expect no
  more to come of them than of a pot of beer.’
  1252 the return of the king
  ‘Ent-draughts?’ said Sam. ‘There you go about Ents again;
  but what they are beats me. Why, it will take weeks before
  we get all these things sized up!’
  ‘Weeks indeed,’ said Pippin. ‘And then Frodo will have to
  be locked up in a tower in Minas Tirith and write it all down.
  Otherwise he will forget half of it, and poor old Bilbo will be
  dreadfully disappointed.’
  At length Gandalf rose. ‘The hands of the King are hands
  of healing, dear friends,’ he said. ‘But you went to the very
  brink of death ere he recalled you, putting forth all his power,
  and sent you into the sweet forgetfulness of sleep. And though
  you have indeed slept long and blessedly, still it is now time
  to sleep again.’
  ‘And not only Sam and Frodo here,’ said Gimli, ‘but you
  too, Pippin. I love you, if only because of the pains you have
  cost me, which I shall never forget. Nor shall I forget finding
  you on the hill of the last battle. But for Gimli the Dwarf you
  would have been lost then. But at least I know now the look
  of a hobbit’s foot, though it be all that can be seen under a
  heap of bodies. And when I heaved that great carcase off
  you, I made sure you were dead. I could have torn out my
  beard. And it is only a day yet since you were first up and
  abroad again. To bed now you go. And so shall I.’
  ‘And I,’ said Legolas, ‘shall walk in the woods of this fair
  land, which is rest enough. In days to come, if my Elven-lord
  allows, some of our folk shall remove hither; and when we
  come it shall be blessed, for a while. For a while: a month, a
  life, a hundred years of Men. But Anduin is near, and Anduin
  leads down to the Sea. To the Sea!
  To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying,
  The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying.
  West, west away, the round sun is falling.
  Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling,
  The voices of my people that have gone before me?
  I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me;
  the field of cormallen 1253
  For our days are ending and our years failing.
  I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.
  Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling,
  Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling,
  In Eresse¨a, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,
  Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever!’
  And so singing Legolas went away down the hill.
  Then the others also departed, and Frodo and Sam went
  to their beds and slept. And in the morning they rose again
  in hope and peace; and they spent many days in Ithilien. For
  the Field of Cormallen, where the host was now encamped,
  was near to Henneth Annuˆn, and the stream that flowed from
  its falls could be heard in the night as it rushed down through
  its rocky gate, and passed through the flowery meads into the
  tides of Anduin by the Isle of Cair Andros. The hobbits
  wandered here and there visiting again the places that they
  had passed before; and Sam hoped always in some shadow
  of the woods or secret glade to catch, maybe, a glimpse of
  the great Oliphaunt. And when he learned that at the siege
  of Gondor there had been a great number of these beasts but
  that they were all destroyed, he thought it a sad loss.
  ‘Well, one can’t be everywhere at once, I suppose,’ he said.
  ‘But I missed a lot, seemingly.’
  In the meanwhile the host made ready for the return to
  Minas Tirith. The weary rested and the hurt were healed.
  For some had laboured and fought much with the remnants
  of the Easterlings and Southrons, until all were subdued.
  And, latest of all, those returned who had passed into Mordor
  and destroyed the fortresses in the north of the land.
  But at the last when the month of May was drawing near
  the Captains of the West set out again; and they went aboard
  ship with all their men, and they sailed from Cair Andros
  down Anduin to Osgiliath; and there they remained for one
  day; and the day after they came to the green fields of the
  1254 the return of the king
  Pelennor and saw again the white towers under tall Mindolluin, the City of the Men of Gondor, last memory of Westernesse, that had passed through the darkness and fire to a new
  day.
  And there in the midst of the fields they set up their pavilions and awaited the morning; for it was the Eve of May,
  and the King would enter his gates with the rising of the Sun.
  Chapter 5
  THE STEWARD AND THE K ING
  Over the city of Gondor doubt and great dread had hung.
  Fair weather and clear sun had seemed but a mockery to men
  whose days held little hope, and who looked each morning
  for news of doom. Their lord was dead and burned, dead lay
  the King of Rohan in their citadel, and the new king that had
  come to them in the night was gone again to a war with
  powers too dark and terrible for any might or valour to conquer. And no news came. After the host left Morgul Vale and
  took the northward road beneath the shadow of the mountains no messenger had returned nor any rumour of what
  was passing in the brooding East.
  When the Captains were but two days gone, the Lady
  E´ owyn bade the women who tended her to bring her raiment,
  and she would not be gainsaid, but rose; and when they had
  clothed her and set her arm in a sling of linen, she went to
  the Warden of the Houses of Healing.
  ‘Sir,’ she said, ‘I am in great unrest, and I cannot lie longer
  in sloth.’
  ‘Lady,’ he answered, ‘you are not yet healed, and I was
  commanded to tend you with especial care. You should not
  have risen from your bed for seven days yet, or so I was
  bidden. I beg you to go back.’
  ‘I am healed,’ she said, ‘healed at least in body, save my
  left arm only, and that is at ease. But I shall sicken anew, if
  there is naught that I can do. Are there no tidings of war?
  The women can tell me nothing.’
  ‘There are no tidings,’ said the Warden, ‘save that the
  Lords have ridden to Morgul Vale; and men say that the new
  captain out of the North is their chief. A great lord is that,
  and a healer; and it is a thing passing strange to me that the
  1256 the return of the king
  healing hand should also wield the sword. It is not thus in
  Gondor now, though once it was so, if old tales be true. But
  for long years we healers have only sought to patch the rents
  made by the men of swords. Though we should still have
  enough to do without them: the world is full enough of hurts
  and mischances without wars to multiply them.’
  ‘It needs but one foe to breed a war, not two, Master
  Warden,’ answered E´ owyn. ‘And those who have not swords
  can still die upon them. Would you have the folk of Gondor
  gather you herbs only, when the Dark Lord gathers armies?
  And it is not always good to be healed in body. Nor is it always
  evil to die in battle, even in bitter pain. Were I permitted, in
  this dark hour I would choose the latter.’
  The Warden looked at her. Tall she stood there, her eyes
  bright in her white face, her right hand clenched as she turned
  and gazed out of his window that opened to the East. He
  sighed and shook his head. After a pause she turned to him
  again.
  ‘Is there no deed to do?’ she said. ‘Who commands in this
  City?’
  ‘I do not rightly know,’ he answered. ‘Such things are not
  my care. There is a marshal over the Riders of Rohan; and
  the Lord Hu´rin, I am told, commands the men of Gondor.
  But the Lord Faramir is by right the Steward of the City.’
  ‘Where can I find him?’
  ‘In this house, lady. He was sorely hurt, but is now set
  again on the way to health. But I do not know——’
  ‘Will you not bring me to him? Then you will know.’
  The Lord Faramir was walking alone in the garden of
  the Houses of Healing, and the sunlight warmed him, and
  he felt life run new in his veins; but his heart was heavy,
  and he looked out over the walls eastward. And coming, the
  Warden spoke his name, and he turned and saw the Lady
  E´ owyn of Rohan; and he was moved with pity, for he saw
  that she was hurt, and his clear sight perceived her sorrow
  and unrest.
  the steward and the king 1257
  ‘My lord,’ said the Warden, ‘here is the Lady E´ owyn of
  Rohan. She rode with the king and was sorely hurt, and
  dwells now in my keeping. But she is not content, and she
  wishes to speak to the Steward of the City.’
  ‘Do not misunderstand him, lord,’ said E´ owyn. ‘It is not
  lack of care that grieves me. No houses could be fairer, for
  those who desire to be healed. But I cannot lie in sloth, idle,
  caged. I looked for death in battle. But I have not died, and
  battle still goes on.’
  At a sign from Faramir, the Warden bowed and departed.
  ‘What would you have me do, lady?’ said Faramir. ‘I also am
  a prisoner of the healers.’ He looked at her, and being a man
  whom pity deeply stirred, it seemed to him that her loveliness
  amid her grief would pierce his heart. And she looked at him
  and saw the grave tenderness in his eyes, and yet knew, for
  she was bred among men of war, that here was one whom
  no Rider of the Mark would outmatch in battle.
  ‘What do you wish?’ he said again. ‘If it lies in my power,
  I will do it.’
  ‘I would have you command this Warden, and bid him let
  me go,’ she said; but though her words were still proud, her
  heart faltered, and for the first time she doubted herself. She
  guessed that this tall man, both stern and gentle, might think
  her merely wayward, like a child that has not the firmness of
  mind to go on with a dull task to the end.
  ‘I myself am in the Warden’s keeping,’ answered Faramir.
  ‘Nor have I yet taken up my authority in the City. But had I
  done so, I should still listen to his counsel, and should not
  cross his will in matters of his craft, unless in some great
  need.’
  ‘But I do not desire healing,’ she said. ‘I wish to ride to
  war like my brother E´ omer, or better like The´oden the king,
  for he died and has both honour and peace.’
  ‘It is too late, lady, to follow the Captains, even if you had
  the strength,’ said Faramir. ‘But death in battle may come to
  us all yet, willing or unwilling. You will be better prepared to
  face it in your own manner, if while there is still time you do
  1258 the return of the king
  as the Healer commanded. You and I, we must endure with
  patience the hours of waiting.’
  She did not answer, but as he looked at her it seemed to
  him that something in her softened, as though a bitter frost
  were yielding at the first faint presage of spring. A tear sprang
  in her eye and fell down her cheek, like a glistening rain-drop.
  Her proud head drooped a little. Then quietly, more as if
  speaking to herself than to him: ‘But the healers would have
  me lie abed seven days yet,’ she said. ‘And my window does
  not look eastward.’ Her voice was now that of a maiden
  young and sad.
  Faramir smiled, though his heart was filled with pity. ‘Your
  window does not look eastward?’ he said. ‘That can be
  amended. In this I will command the Warden. If you will stay
  in this house in our care, lady, and take your rest, then you
  shall walk in this garden in the sun, as you will; and you shall
  look east, whither all our hopes have gone. And here you will
  find me, walking and waiting, and also looking east. It would
  ease my care, if you would speak to me, or walk at whiles
  with me.’
  Then she raised her head and looked him in the eyes again;
  and a colour came in her pale face. ‘How should I ease your
  care, my lord?’ she said. ‘And I do not desire the speech of
  living men.’
  ‘Would you have my plain answer?’ he said.
  ‘I would.’
  ‘Then, E´ owyn of Rohan, I say to you that you are beautiful.
  In the valleys of our hills there are flowers fair and bright,
  and maidens fairer still; but neither flower nor lady have I
  seen till now in Gondor so lovely, and so sorrowful. It may
  be that only a few days are left ere darkness falls upon our
  world, and when it comes I hope to face it steadily; but it
  would ease my heart, if while the Sun yet shines, I could see
  you still. For you and I have both passed under the wings of
  the Shadow, and the same hand drew us back.’
  ‘Alas, not me, lord!’ she said. ‘Shadow lies on me still. Look
  not to me for healing! I am a shieldmaiden and my hand is
  the steward and the king 1259
  ungentle. But I thank you for this at least, that I need not
  keep to my chamber. I will walk abroad by the grace of the
  Steward of the City.’ And she did him a courtesy and walked
  back to the house. But Faramir for a long while walked alone
  in the garden, and his glance now strayed rather to the house
  than to the eastward walls.
  When he returned to his chamber he called for the Warden,
  and heard all that he could tell of the Lady of Rohan.
  ‘But I doubt not, lord,’ said the Warden, ‘that you would
  learn more from the Halfling that is with us; for he was in
  the riding of the king, and with the Lady at the end, they
  say.’
  And so Merry was sent to Faramir, and while that day
  lasted they talked long together, and Faramir learned much,
  more even than Merry put into words; and he thought that
  he understood now something of the grief and unrest of
  E´ owyn of Rohan. And in the fair evening Faramir and Merry
  walked in the garden, but she did not come.
  But in the morning, as Faramir came from the Houses, he
  saw her, as she stood upon the walls; and she was clad all in
  white, and gleamed in the sun. And he called to her, and she
  came down, and they walked on the grass or sat under a
  green tree together, now in silence, now in speech. And each
  day after they did likewise. And the Warden looking from his
  window was glad in heart, for he was a healer, and his care
  was lightened; and certain it was that, heavy as was the dread
  and foreboding of those days upon the hearts of men, still
  these two of his charges prospered and grew daily in strength.
  And so the fifth day came since the Lady E´ owyn went first
  to Faramir; and they stood now together once more upon the
  walls of the City and looked out. No tidings had yet come,
  and all hearts were darkened. The weather, too, was bright
  no longer. It was cold. A wind that had sprung up in the
  night was blowing now keenly from the North, and it was
  rising; but the lands about looked grey and drear.
  They were clad in warm raiment and heavy cloaks, and
  1260 the return of the king
  over all the Lady E´ owyn wore a great blue mantle of the
  colour of deep summer-night, and it was set with silver stars
  about hem and throat. Faramir had sent for this robe and
  had wrapped it about her; and he thought that she looked
  fair and queenly indeed as she stood there at his side. The
  mantle was wrought for his mother, Finduilas of Amroth,
  who died untimely, and was to him but a memory of loveliness in far days and of his first grief; and her robe seemed to
  him raiment fitting for the beauty and sadness of E´ owyn.
  But she now shivered beneath the starry mantle, and she
  looked northward, above the grey hither lands, into the eye
  of the cold wind where far away the sky was hard and clear.
  ‘What do you look for, E´ owyn?’ said Faramir.
  ‘Does not the Black Gate lie yonder?’ said she. ‘And must
  he not now be come thither? It is seven days since he rode
  away.’
  ‘Seven days,’ said Faramir. ‘But think not ill of me, if I say
  to you: they have brought me both a joy and a pain that I
  never thought to know. Joy to see you; but pain, because now
  the fear and doubt of this evil time are grown dark indeed.
  E´ owyn, I would not have this world end now, or lose so soon
  what I have found.’
  ‘Lose what you have found, lord?’ she answered; but she
  looked at him gravely and her eyes were kind. ‘I know not
  what in these days you have found that you could lose. But
  come, my friend, let us not speak of it! Let us not speak at
  all! I stand upon some dreadful brink, and it is utterly dark
  in the abyss before my feet, but whether there is any light
  behind me I cannot tell. For I cannot turn yet. I wait for some
  stroke of doom.’
  ‘Yes, we wait for the stroke of doom,’ said Faramir. And
  they said no more; and it seemed to them as they stood upon
  the wall that the wind died, and the light failed, and the Sun
  was bleared, and all sounds in the City or in the lands about
  were hushed: neither wind, nor voice, nor bird-call, nor rustle
  of leaf, nor their own breath could be heard; the very beating
  of their hearts was stilled. Time halted.
  the steward and the king 1261
  And as they stood so, their hands met and clasped, though
  they did not know it. And still they waited for they knew not
  what. Then presently it seemed to them that above the ridges
  of the distant mountains another vast mountain of darkness
  rose, towering up like a wave that should engulf the world,
  and about it lightnings flickered; and then a tremor ran
  through the earth, and they felt the walls of the City quiver.
  A sound like a sigh went up from all the lands about them;
  and their hearts beat suddenly again.
  ‘It reminds me of Nu´menor,’ said Faramir, and wondered
  to hear himself speak.
  ‘Of Nu´menor?’ said E´ owyn.
  ‘Yes,’ said Faramir, ‘of the land of Westernesse that foundered, and of the great dark wave climbing over the green
  lands and above the hills, and coming on, darkness unescapable. I often dream of it.’
  ‘Then you think that the Darkness is coming?’ said E´ owyn.
  ‘Darkness Unescapable?’ And suddenly she drew close to
  him.
  ‘No,’ said Faramir, looking into her face. ‘It was but a
  picture in the mind. I do not know what is happening. The
  reason of my waking mind tells me that great evil has befallen
  and we stand at the end of days. But my heart says nay; and
  all my limbs are light, and a hope and joy are come to me
  that no reason can deny. E´ owyn, E´ owyn, White Lady of
  Rohan, in this hour I do not believe that any darkness will
  endure!’ And he stooped and kissed her brow.
  And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and
  a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden,
  streamed out mingling in the air. And the Shadow departed,
  and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped forth; and the
  waters of Anduin shone like silver, and in all the houses of
  the City men sang for the joy that welled up in their hearts
  from what source they could not tell.
  And before the Sun had fallen far from the noon out of
  the East there came a great Eagle flying, and he bore tidings
  beyond hope from the Lords of the West, crying:
  1262 the return of the king
  Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor,
  for the Realm of Sauron is ended for ever,
  and the Dark Tower is thrown down.
  Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard,
  for your watch hath not been in vain,
  and the Black Gate is broken,
  and your King hath passed through,
  and he is victorious.
  Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West,
  for your King shall come again,
  and he shall dwell among you
  all the days of your life.
  And the Tree that was withered shall be renewed,
  and he shall plant it in the high places,
  and the City shall be blessed.
  Sing all ye people!
  And the people sang in all the ways of the City.
  The days that followed were golden, and Spring and Summer joined and made revel together in the fields of Gondor.
  And tidings now came by swift riders from Cair Andros of
  all that was done, and the City made ready for the coming of
  the King. Merry was summoned and rode away with the
  wains that took store of goods to Osgiliath and thence by ship
  to Cair Andros; but Faramir did not go, for now being healed
  he took upon him his authority and the Stewardship, although
  it was only for a little while, and his duty was to prepare for
  one who should replace him.
  And E´ owyn did not go, though her brother sent word
  begging her to come to the field of Cormallen. And Faramir
  wondered at this, but he saw her seldom, being busy with
  many matters; and she dwelt still in the Houses of Healing
  the steward and the king 1263
  and walked alone in the garden, and her face grew pale again,
  and it seemed that in all the City she only was ailing and
  sorrowful. And the Warden of the Houses was troubled, and
  he spoke to Faramir.
  Then Faramir came and sought her, and once more they
  stood on the walls together; and he said to her: ‘E´ owyn, why
  do you tarry here, and do not go to the rejoicing in Cormallen
  beyond Cair Andros, where your brother awaits you?’
  And she said: ‘Do you not know?’
  But he answered: ‘Two reasons there may be, but which
  is true, I do not know.’
  And she said: ‘I do not wish to play at riddles. Speak
  plainer!’
  ‘Then if you will have it so, lady,’ he said: ‘you do not go,
  because only your brother called for you, and to look on the
  Lord Aragorn, Elendil’s heir, in his triumph would now bring
  you no joy. Or because I do not go, and you desire still to be
  near me. And maybe for both these reasons, and you yourself
  cannot choose between them. E´ owyn, do you not love me,
  or will you not?’
  ‘I wished to be loved by another,’ she answered. ‘But I
  desire no man’s pity.’
  ‘That I know,’ he said. ‘You desired to have the love of
  the Lord Aragorn. Because he was high and puissant, and
  you wished to have renown and glory and to be lifted far
  above the mean things that crawl on the earth. And as a great
  captain may to a young soldier he seemed to you admirable.
  For so he is, a lord among men, the greatest that now is. But
  when he gave you only understanding and pity, then you
  desired to have nothing, unless a brave death in battle. Look
  at me, E´ owyn!’
  And E´ owyn looked at Faramir long and steadily; and
  Faramir said: ‘Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle
  heart, E´ owyn! But I do not offer you my pity. For you are a
  lady high and valiant and have yourself won renown that
  shall not be forgotten; and you are a lady beautiful, I deem,
  beyond even the words of the elven-tongue to tell. And I
  1264 the return of the king
  love you. Once I pitied your sorrow. But now, were you
  sorrowless, without fear or any lack, were you the blissful
  Queen of Gondor, still I would love you. E´ owyn, do you not
  love me?’
  Then the heart of E´ owyn changed, or else at last she understood it. And suddenly her winter passed, and the sun shone
  on her.
  ‘I stand in Minas Anor, the Tower of the Sun,’ she said;
  ‘and behold! the Shadow has departed! I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy
  only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all
  things that grow and are not barren.’ And again she looked
  at Faramir. ‘No longer do I desire to be a queen,’ she said.
  Then Faramir laughed merrily. ‘That is well,’ he said; ‘for
  I am not a king. Yet I will wed with the White Lady of Rohan,
  if it be her will. And if she will, then let us cross the River
  and in happier days let us dwell in fair Ithilien and there make
  a garden. All things will grow with joy there, if the White
  Lady comes.’
  ‘Then must I leave my own people, man of Gondor?’ she
  said. ‘And would you have your proud folk say of you:
  ‘‘There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the
  North! Was there no woman of the race of Nu´menor to
  choose?’’ ’
  ‘I would,’ said Faramir. And he took her in his arms and
  kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they
  stood high upon the walls in the sight of many. And many
  indeed saw them and the light that shone about them as they
  came down from the walls and went hand in hand to the
  Houses of Healing.
  And to the Warden of the Houses Faramir said: ‘Here is
  the Lady E´ owyn of Rohan, and now she is healed.’
  And the Warden said: ‘Then I release her from my charge
  and bid her farewell, and may she suffer never hurt nor
  sickness again. I commend her to the care of the Steward of
  the City, until her brother returns.’
  But E´ owyn said: ‘Yet now that I have leave to depart, I
  the steward and the king 1265
  would remain. For this House has become to me of all dwellings the most blessed.’ And she remained there until King
  E´ omer came.
  All things were now made ready in the City; and there was
  great concourse of people, for the tidings had gone out into
  all parts of Gondor, from Min-Rimmon even to Pinnath
  Gelin and the far coasts of the sea; and all that could come
  to the City made haste to come. And the City was filled again
  with women and fair children that returned to their homes
  laden with flowers; and from Dol Amroth came the harpers
  that harped most skilfully in all the land; and there were
  players upon viols and upon flutes and upon horns of silver,
  and clear-voiced singers from the vales of Lebennin.
  At last an evening came when from the walls the pavilions
  could be seen upon the field, and all night lights were burning
  as men watched for the dawn. And when the sun rose in the
  clear morning above the mountains in the East, upon which
  shadows lay no more, then all the bells rang, and all the
  banners broke and flowed in the wind; and upon the White
  Tower of the citadel the standard of the Stewards, bright
  argent like snow in the sun, bearing no charge nor device,
  was raised over Gondor for the last time.
  Now the Captains of the West led their host towards the
  City, and folk saw them advance in line upon line, flashing
  and glinting in the sunrise and rippling like silver. And so
  they came before the Gateway and halted a furlong from the
  walls. As yet no gates had been set up again, but a barrier
  was laid across the entrance to the City, and there stood men
  at arms in silver and black with long swords drawn. Before
  the barrier stood Faramir the Steward, and Hu´rin Warden of
  the Keys, and other captains of Gondor, and the Lady E´ owyn
  of Rohan with Elfhelm the Marshal and many knights of the
  Mark; and upon either side of the Gate was a great press
  of fair people in raiment of many colours and garlands of
  flowers.
  So now there was a wide space before the walls of Minas
  1266 the return of the king
  Tirith, and it was hemmed in upon all sides by the knights
  and the soldiers of Gondor and of Rohan, and by the people
  of the City and of all parts of the land. A hush fell upon all
  as out from the host stepped the Du´nedain in silver and grey;
  and before them came walking slow the Lord Aragorn. He
  was clad in black mail girt with silver, and he wore a long
  mantle of pure white clasped at the throat with a great jewel
  of green that shone from afar; but his head was bare save for
  a star upon his forehead bound by a slender fillet of silver.
  With him were E´ omer of Rohan, and the Prince Imrahil, and
  Gandalf robed all in white, and four small figures that many
  men marvelled to see.
  ‘Nay, cousin! they are not boys,’ said Ioreth to her kinswoman from Imloth Melui, who stood beside her. ‘Those are
  Periain, out of the far country of the Halflings, where they
  are princes of great fame, it is said. I should know, for I had
  one to tend in the Houses. They are small, but they are
  valiant. Why, cousin, one of them went with only his esquire
  into the Black Country and fought with the Dark Lord all by
  himself, and set fire to his Tower, if you can believe it. At
  least that is the tale in the City. That will be the one that
  walks with our Elfstone. They are dear friends, I hear. Now
  he is a marvel, the Lord Elfstone: not too soft in his speech,
  mind you, but he has a golden heart, as the saying is; and he
  has the healing hands. ‘‘The hands of the king are the hands
  of a healer’’, I said; and that was how it was all discovered.
  And Mithrandir, he said to me: ‘‘Ioreth, men will long
  remember your words’’, and——’
  But Ioreth was not permitted to continue the instruction
  of her kinswoman from the country, for a single trumpet
  rang, and a dead silence followed. Then forth from the Gate
  went Faramir with Hu´rin of the Keys, and no others, save
  that behind them walked four men in the high helms and
  armour of the Citadel, and they bore a great casket of black
  lebethron bound with silver.
  Faramir met Aragorn in the midst of those there assembled,
  and he knelt, and said: ‘The last Steward of Gondor begs
  the steward and the king 1267
  leave to surrender his office.’ And he held out a white rod;
  but Aragorn took the rod and gave it back, saying: ‘That
  office is not ended, and it shall be thine and thy heirs’ as long
  as my line shall last. Do now thy office!’
  Then Faramir stood up and spoke in a clear voice: ‘Men
  of Gondor, hear now the Steward of this Realm! Behold! one
  has come to claim the kingship again at last. Here is Aragorn
  son of Arathorn, chieftain of the Du´nedain of Arnor, Captain
  of the Host of the West, bearer of the Star of the North,
  wielder of the Sword Reforged, victorious in battle, whose
  hands bring healing, the Elfstone, Elessar of the line of
  Valandil, Isildur’s son, Elendil’s son of Nu´menor. Shall he be
  king and enter into the City and dwell there?’
  And all the host and all the people cried yea with one voice.
  And Ioreth said to her kinswoman: ‘This is just a ceremony
  such as we have in the City, cousin; for he has already
  entered, as I was telling you; and he said to me——’ And
  then again she was obliged to silence, for Faramir spoke
  again.
  ‘Men of Gondor, the loremasters tell that it was the custom
  of old that the king should receive the crown from his father
  ere he died; or if that might not be, that he should go alone
  and take it from the hands of his father in the tomb where he
  was laid. But since things must now be done otherwise, using
  the authority of the Steward, I have today brought hither
  from Rath Dı´nen the crown of Ea¨rnur the last king, whose
  days passed in the time of our longfathers of old.’
  Then the guards stepped forward, and Faramir opened the
  casket, and he held up an ancient crown. It was shaped like
  the helms of the Guards of the Citadel, save that it was loftier,
  and it was all white, and the wings at either side were wrought
  of pearl and silver in the likeness of the wings of a sea-bird,
  for it was the emblem of kings who came over the Sea; and
  seven gems of adamant were set in the circlet, and upon its
  summit was set a single jewel the light of which went up like
  a flame.
  Then Aragorn took the crown and held it up and said:
  1268 the return of the king
  Et Ea¨rello Endorenna utu´lien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar
  tenn’ Ambar-metta!
  And those were the words that Elendil spoke when he came
  up out of the Sea on the wings of the wind: ‘Out of the Great
  Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and
  my heirs, unto the ending of the world.’
  Then to the wonder of many Aragorn did not put the
  crown upon his head, but gave it back to Faramir, and said:
  ‘By the labour and valour of many I have come into my
  inheritance. In token of this I would have the Ring-bearer
  bring the crown to me, and let Mithrandir set it upon my
  head, if he will; for he has been the mover of all that has been
  accomplished, and this is his victory.’
  Then Frodo came forward and took the crown from
  Faramir and bore it to Gandalf; and Aragorn knelt, and
  Gandalf set the White Crown upon his head, and said:
  ‘Now come the days of the King, and may they be blessed
  while the thrones of the Valar endure!’
  But when Aragorn arose all that beheld him gazed in
  silence, for it seemed to them that he was revealed to them
  now for the first time. Tall as the sea-kings of old, he stood
  above all that were near; ancient of days he seemed and yet
  in the flower of manhood; and wisdom sat upon his brow,
  and strength and healing were in his hands, and a light was
  about him. And then Faramir cried:
  ‘Behold the King!’
  And in that moment all the trumpets were blown, and
  the King Elessar went forth and came to the barrier, and
  Hu´rin of the Keys thrust it back; and amid the music of
  harp and of viol and of flute and the singing of clear voices
  the King passed through the flower-laden streets, and came
  to the Citadel, and entered in; and the banner of the Tree
  and the Stars was unfurled upon the topmost tower, and
  the reign of King Elessar began, of which many songs have
  told.
  In his time the City was made more fair than it had ever
  been, even in the days of its first glory; and it was filled with
  the steward and the king 1269
  trees and with fountains, and its gates were wrought of mithril
  and steel, and its streets were paved with white marble; and
  the Folk of the Mountain laboured in it, and the Folk of the
  Wood rejoiced to come there; and all was healed and made
  good, and the houses were filled with men and women and
  the laughter of children, and no window was blind nor any
  courtyard empty; and after the ending of the Third Age of
  the world into the new age it preserved the memory and the
  glory of the years that were gone.
  In the days that followed his crowning the King sat on
  his throne in the Hall of the Kings and pronounced his judgements. And embassies came from many lands and peoples,
  from the East and the South, and from the borders of
  Mirkwood, and from Dunland in the west. And the King
  pardoned the Easterlings that had given themselves up, and
  sent them away free, and he made peace with the peoples of
  Harad; and the slaves of Mordor he released and gave to
  them all the lands about Lake Nu´rnen to be their own. And
  there were brought before him many to receive his praise and
  reward for their valour; and last the captain of the Guard
  brought to him Beregond to be judged.
  And the King said to Beregond: ‘Beregond, by your sword
  blood was spilled in the Hallows, where that is forbidden.
  Also you left your post without leave of Lord or of Captain.
  For these things, of old, death was the penalty. Now therefore
  I must pronounce your doom.
  ‘All penalty is remitted for your valour in battle, and still
  more because all that you did was for the love of the
  Lord Faramir. Nonetheless you must leave the Guard of
  the Citadel, and you must go forth from the City of Minas
  Tirith.’
  Then the blood left Beregond’s face, and he was stricken
  to the heart and bowed his head. But the King said:
  ‘So it must be, for you are appointed to the White Company, the Guard of Faramir, Prince of Ithilien, and you shall
  be its captain and dwell in Emyn Arnen in honour and peace,
  1270 the return of the king
  and in the service of him for whom you risked all, to save
  him from death.’
  And then Beregond, perceiving the mercy and justice of the
  King, was glad, and kneeling kissed his hand, and departed in
  joy and content. And Aragorn gave to Faramir Ithilien to be
  his princedom, and bade him dwell in the hills of Emyn
  Arnen within sight of the City.
  ‘For,’ said he, ‘Minas Ithil in Morgul Vale shall be utterly
  destroyed, and though it may in time to come be made clean,
  no man may dwell there for many long years.’
  And last of all Aragorn greeted E´ omer of Rohan, and they
  embraced, and Aragorn said: ‘Between us there can be no
  word of giving or taking, nor of reward; for we are brethren.
  In happy hour did Eorl ride from the North, and never has
  any league of peoples been more blessed, so that neither has
  ever failed the other, nor shall fail. Now, as you know, we
  have laid The´oden the Renowned in a tomb in the Hallows,
  and there he shall lie for ever among the Kings of Gondor, if
  you will. Or if you desire it, we will come to Rohan and bring
  him back to rest with his own people.’
  And E´ omer answered: ‘Since the day when you rose before
  me out of the green grass of the downs I have loved you, and
  that love shall not fail. But now I must depart for a while to
  my own realm, where there is much to heal and set in order.
  But as for the Fallen, when all is made ready we will return
  for him; but here let him sleep a while.’
  And E´ owyn said to Faramir: ‘Now I must go back to my
  own land and look on it once again, and help my brother in
  his labour; but when one whom I long loved as father is laid
  at last to rest, I will return.’
  So the glad days passed; and on the eighth day of May the
  Riders of Rohan made ready, and rode off by the North-way,
  and with them went the sons of Elrond. All the road was
  lined with people to do them honour and praise them, from
  the Gate of the City to the walls of the Pelennor. Then all
  others that dwelt afar went back to their homes rejoicing; but
  the steward and the king 1271
  in the City there was labour of many willing hands to rebuild
  and renew and to remove all the scars of war and the memory
  of the darkness.
  The hobbits still remained in Minas Tirith, with Legolas
  and Gimli; for Aragorn was loth for the fellowship to be
  dissolved. ‘At last all such things must end,’ he said, ‘but I
  would have you wait a little while longer: for the end of the
  deeds that you have shared in has not yet come. A day draws
  near that I have looked for in all the years of my manhood,
  and when it comes I would have my friends beside me.’ But
  of that day he would say no more.
  In those days the Companions of the Ring dwelt together
  in a fair house with Gandalf, and they went to and fro as they
  wished. And Frodo said to Gandalf: ‘Do you know what this
  day is that Aragorn speaks of ? For we are happy here, and I
  don’t wish to go; but the days are running away, and Bilbo
  is waiting; and the Shire is my home.’
  ‘As for Bilbo,’ said Gandalf, ‘he is waiting for the same
  day, and he knows what keeps you. And as for the passing
  of the days, it is now only May and high summer is not yet
  in; and though all things may seem changed, as if an age of
  the world had gone by, yet to the trees and the grass it is less
  than a year since you set out.’
  ‘Pippin,’ said Frodo, ‘didn’t you say that Gandalf was less
  close than of old? He was weary of his labours then, I think.
  Now he is recovering.’
  And Gandalf said: ‘Many folk like to know beforehand
  what is to be set on the table; but those who have laboured
  to prepare the feast like to keep their secret; for wonder makes
  the words of praise louder. And Aragorn himself waits for a
  sign.’
  There came a day when Gandalf could not be found, and
  the Companions wondered what was going forward. But
  Gandalf took Aragorn out from the City by night, and he
  brought him to the southern feet of Mount Mindolluin; and
  there they found a path made in ages past that few now dared
  1272 the return of the king
  to tread. For it led up on to the mountain to a high hallow
  where only the kings had been wont to go. And they went up
  by steep ways, until they came to a high field below the
  snows that clad the lofty peaks, and it looked down over the
  precipice that stood behind the City. And standing there they
  surveyed the lands, for the morning was come; and they saw
  the towers of the City far below them like white pencils
  touched by the sunlight, and all the Vale of Anduin was like
  a garden, and the Mountains of Shadow were veiled in a
  golden mist. Upon the one side their sight reached to the
  grey Emyn Muil, and the glint of Rauros was like a star
  twinkling far off; and upon the other side they saw the River
  like a ribbon laid down to Pelargir, and beyond that was a
  light on the hem of the sky that spoke of the Sea.
  And Gandalf said: ‘This is your realm, and the heart of the
  greater realm that shall be. The Third Age of the world is
  ended, and the new age is begun; and it is your task to order
  its beginning and to preserve what may be preserved. For
  though much has been saved, much must now pass away;
  and the power of the Three Rings also is ended. And all the
  lands that you see, and those that lie round about them, shall
  be dwellings of Men. For the time comes of the Dominion
  of Men, and the Elder Kindred shall fade or depart.’
  ‘I know it well, dear friend,’ said Aragorn; ‘but I would still
  have your counsel.’
  ‘Not for long now,’ said Gandalf. ‘The Third Age was my
  age. I was the Enemy of Sauron; and my work is finished. I
  shall go soon. The burden must lie now upon you and your
  kindred.’
  ‘But I shall die,’ said Aragorn. ‘For I am a mortal man, and
  though being what I am and of the race of the West
  unmingled, I shall have life far longer than other men, yet
  that is but a little while; and when those who are now in the
  wombs of women are born and have grown old, I too shall
  grow old. And who then shall govern Gondor and those who
  look to this City as to their queen, if my desire be not granted?
  The Tree in the Court of the Fountain is still withered and
  the steward and the king 1273
  barren. When shall I see a sign that it will ever be otherwise?’
  ‘Turn your face from the green world, and look where all
  seems barren and cold!’ said Gandalf.
  Then Aragorn turned, and there was a stony slope behind
  him running down from the skirts of the snow; and as he
  looked he was aware that alone there in the waste a growing
  thing stood. And he climbed to it, and saw that out of the
  very edge of the snow there sprang a sapling tree no more
  than three foot high. Already it had put forth young leaves
  long and shapely, dark above and silver beneath, and upon
  its slender crown it bore one small cluster of flowers whose
  white petals shone like the sunlit snow.
  Then Aragorn cried: ‘Ye´! utu´vienyes! I have found it! Lo!
  here is a scion of the Eldest of Trees! But how comes it here?
  For it is not itself yet seven years old.’
  And Gandalf coming looked at it, and said: ‘Verily this is
  a sapling of the line of Nimloth the fair; and that was a
  seedling of Galathilion, and that a fruit of Telperion of many
  names, Eldest of Trees. Who shall say how it comes here in
  the appointed hour? But this is an ancient hallow, and ere
  the kings failed or the Tree withered in the court, a fruit must
  have been set here. For it is said that, though the fruit of the
  Tree comes seldom to ripeness, yet the life within may then
  lie sleeping through many long years, and none can foretell
  the time in which it will awake. Remember this. For if ever a
  fruit ripens, it should be planted, lest the line die out of the
  world. Here it has lain hidden on the mountain, even as the
  race of Elendil lay hidden in the wastes of the North. Yet
  the line of Nimloth is older far than your line, King Elessar.’
  Then Aragorn laid his hand gently to the sapling, and lo!
  it seemed to hold only lightly to the earth, and it was removed
  without hurt; and Aragorn bore it back to the Citadel. Then
  the withered tree was uprooted, but with reverence; and they
  did not burn it, but laid it to rest in the silence of Rath
  Dı´nen. And Aragorn planted the new tree in the court by the
  fountain, and swiftly and gladly it began to grow; and when
  the month of June entered in it was laden with blossom.
  1274 the return of the king
  ‘The sign has been given,’ said Aragorn, ‘and the day is
  not far off.’ And he set watchmen upon the walls.
  It was the day before Midsummer when messengers came
  from Amon Dıˆn to the City, and they said that there was a
  riding of fair folk out of the North, and they drew near now
  to the walls of the Pelennor. And the King said: ‘At last they
  have come. Let all the City be made ready!’
  Upon the very Eve of Midsummer, when the sky was
  blue as sapphire and white stars opened in the East, but the
  West was still golden, and the air was cool and fragrant, the
  riders came down the North-way to the gates of Minas Tirith.
  First rode Elrohir and Elladan with a banner of silver, and
  then came Glorfindel and Erestor and all the household of
  Rivendell, and after them came the Lady Galadriel and
  Celeborn, Lord of Lothlo´rien, riding upon white steeds and
  with them many fair folk of their land, grey-cloaked with
  white gems in their hair; and last came Master Elrond, mighty
  among Elves and Men, bearing the sceptre of Annu´minas,
  and beside him upon a grey palfrey rode Arwen his daughter,
  Evenstar of her people.
  And Frodo when he saw her come glimmering in the
  evening, with stars on her brow and a sweet fragrance about
  her, was moved with great wonder, and he said to Gandalf:
  ‘At last I understand why we have waited! This is the ending.
  Now not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be
  beautiful and blessed and all its fear pass away!’
  Then the King welcomed his guests, and they alighted;
  and Elrond surrendered the sceptre, and laid the hand of his
  daughter in the hand of the King, and together they went up
  into the High City, and all the stars flowered in the sky. And
  Aragorn the King Elessar wedded Arwen Undo´miel in the
  City of the Kings upon the day of Midsummer, and the tale
  of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfilment.
  Chapter 6
  MANY PARTINGS
  When the days of rejoicing were over at last the Companions
  thought of returning to their own homes. And Frodo went to
  the King as he was sitting with the Queen Arwen by the
  fountain, and she sang a song of Valinor, while the Tree grew
  and blossomed. They welcomed Frodo and rose to greet him;
  and Aragorn said:
  ‘I know what you have come to say, Frodo: you wish to
  return to your own home. Well, dearest friend, the tree grows
  best in the land of its sires; but for you in all the lands of the
  West there will ever be a welcome. And though your people
  have had little fame in the legends of the great, they will now
  have more renown than many wide realms that are no more.’
  ‘It is true that I wish to go back to the Shire,’ said Frodo.
  ‘But first I must go to Rivendell. For if there could be anything wanting in a time so blessed, I missed Bilbo; and I was
  grieved when among all the household of Elrond I saw that
  he was not come.’
  ‘Do you wonder at that, Ring-bearer?’ said Arwen. ‘For
  you know the power of that thing which is now destroyed;
  and all that was done by that power is now passing away. But
  your kinsman possessed this thing longer than you. He is
  ancient in years now, according to his kind; and he awaits
  you, for he will not again make any long journey save one.’
  ‘Then I beg leave to depart soon,’ said Frodo.
  ‘In seven days we will go,’ said Aragorn. ‘For we shall ride
  with you far on the road, even as far as the country of Rohan.
  In three days now E´ omer will return hither to bear The´oden
  back to rest in the Mark, and we shall ride with him to honour
  the fallen. But now before you go I will confirm the words
  that Faramir spoke to you, and you are made free for ever of
  1276 the return of the king
  the realm of Gondor; and all your companions likewise. And
  if there were any gifts that I could give to match with your
  deeds you should have them; but whatever you desire you
  shall take with you, and you shall ride in honour and arrayed
  as princes of the land.’
  But the Queen Arwen said: ‘A gift I will give you. For I
  am the daughter of Elrond. I shall not go with him now when
  he departs to the Havens; for mine is the choice of Lu´thien,
  and as she so have I chosen, both the sweet and the bitter.
  But in my stead you shall go, Ring-bearer, when the time
  comes, and if you then desire it. If your hurts grieve you still
  and the memory of your burden is heavy, then you may pass
  into the West, until all your wounds and weariness are healed.
  But wear this now in memory of Elfstone and Evenstar with
  whom your life has been woven!’
  And she took a white gem like a star that lay upon her
  breast hanging upon a silver chain, and she set the chain
  about Frodo’s neck. ‘When the memory of the fear and the
  darkness troubles you,’ she said, ‘this will bring you aid.’
  In three days, as the King had said, E´ omer of Rohan came
  riding to the City, and with him came an e´ored of the fairest
  knights of the Mark. He was welcomed; and when they sat
  all at table in Merethrond, the Great Hall of Feasts, he beheld
  the beauty of the ladies that he saw and was filled with great
  wonder. And before he went to his rest he sent for Gimli the
  Dwarf, and he said to him: ‘Gimli Glo´in’s son, have you your
  axe ready?’
  ‘Nay, lord,’ said Gimli, ‘but I can speedily fetch it, if there
  be need.’
  ‘You shall judge,’ said E´ omer. ‘For there are certain rash
  words concerning the Lady in the Golden Wood that lie still
  between us. And now I have seen her with my eyes.’
  ‘Well, lord,’ said Gimli, ‘and what say you now?’
  ‘Alas!’ said E´ omer. ‘I will not say that she is the fairest lady
  that lives.’
  ‘Then I must go for my axe,’ said Gimli.
  many partings 1277
  ‘But first I will plead this excuse,’ said E´ omer. ‘Had I seen
  her in other company, I would have said all that you could
  wish. But now I will put Queen Arwen Evenstar first, and I
  am ready to do battle on my own part with any who deny
  me. Shall I call for my sword?’
  Then Gimli bowed low. ‘Nay, you are excused for my
  part, lord,’ he said. ‘You have chosen the Evening; but my
  love is given to the Morning. And my heart forebodes that
  soon it will pass away for ever.’
  At last the day of departure came, and a great and fair
  company made ready to ride north from the City. Then the
  kings of Gondor and Rohan went to the Hallows and they
  came to the tombs in Rath Dı´nen, and they bore away King
  The´oden upon a golden bier, and passed through the City in
  silence. Then they laid the bier upon a great wain with Riders
  of Rohan all about it and his banner borne before; and Merry
  being The´oden’s esquire rode upon the wain and kept the
  arms of the king.
  For the other Companions steeds were furnished according
  to their stature; and Frodo and Samwise rode at Aragorn’s
  side, and Gandalf rode upon Shadowfax, and Pippin rode
  with the knights of Gondor; and Legolas and Gimli as ever
  rode together upon Arod.
  In that riding went also Queen Arwen, and Celeborn and
  Galadriel with their folk, and Elrond and his sons; and the
  princes of Dol Amroth and of Ithilien, and many captains
  and knights. Never had any king of the Mark such company
  upon the road as went with The´oden Thengel’s son to the
  land of his home.
  Without haste and at peace they passed into Ano´rien, and
  they came to the Grey Wood under Amon Dıˆn; and there
  they heard a sound as of drums beating in the hills, though
  no living thing could be seen. Then Aragorn let the trumpets
  be blown; and heralds cried:
  ‘Behold, the King Elessar is come! The Forest of Dru´adan
  he gives to Ghaˆn-buri-Ghaˆn and to his folk, to be their own
  1278 the return of the king
  for ever; and hereafter let no man enter it without their leave!’
  Then the drums rolled loudly, and were silent.
  At length after fifteen days of journey the wain of King
  The´oden passed through the green fields of Rohan and came
  to Edoras; and there they all rested. The Golden Hall was
  arrayed with fair hangings and it was filled with light, and
  there was held the highest feast that it had known since the
  days of its building. For after three days the Men of the Mark
  prepared the funeral of The´oden; and he was laid in a house
  of stone with his arms and many other fair things that he had
  possessed, and over him was raised a great mound, covered
  with green turves of grass and of white evermind. And now
  there were eight mounds on the east-side of the Barrowfield.
  Then the Riders of the King’s House upon white horses
  rode round about the barrow and sang together a song of
  The´oden Thengel’s son that Gle´owine his minstrel made,
  and he made no other song after. The slow voices of the
  Riders stirred the hearts even of those who did not know the
  speech of that people; but the words of the song brought a
  light to the eyes of the folk of the Mark as they heard again
  afar the thunder of the hooves of the North and the voice of
  Eorl crying above the battle upon the Field of Celebrant; and
  the tale of the kings rolled on, and the horn of Helm was loud
  in the mountains, until the Darkness came and King The´oden
  arose and rode through the Shadow to the fire, and died in
  splendour, even as the Sun, returning beyond hope, gleamed
  upon Mindolluin in the morning.
  Out of doubt, out of dark, to the day’s rising
  he rode singing in the sun, sword unsheathing.
  Hope he rekindled, and in hope ended;
  over death, over dread, over doom lifted
  out of loss, out of life, unto long glory.
  But Merry stood at the foot of the green mound, and he
  wept, and when the song was ended he arose and cried:
  many partings 1279
  ‘The´oden King, The´oden King! Farewell! As a father you
  were to me, for a little while. Farewell!’
  When the burial was over and the weeping of women was
  stilled, and The´oden was left at last alone in his barrow, then
  folk gathered to the Golden Hall for the great feast and put
  away sorrow; for The´oden had lived to full years and ended
  in honour no less than the greatest of his sires. And when the
  time came that in the custom of the Mark they should drink
  to the memory of the kings, E´ owyn Lady of Rohan came
  forth, golden as the sun and white as snow, and she bore a
  filled cup to E´ omer.
  Then a minstrel and loremaster stood up and named all
  the names of the Lords of the Mark in their order: Eorl the
  Young; and Brego builder of the Hall; and Aldor brother of
  Baldor the hapless; and Fre´a, and Fre´awine, and Goldwine,
  and De´or, and Gram; and Helm who lay hid in Helm’s Deep
  when the Mark was overrun; and so ended the nine mounds
  of the west-side, for in that time the line was broken, and
  after came the mounds of the east-side: Fre´ala´f, Helm’s sisterson, and Le´ofa, and Walda, and Folca, and Folcwine, and
  Fengel, and Thengel, and The´oden the latest. And when
  The´oden was named E´ omer drained the cup. Then E´ owyn
  bade those that served to fill the cups, and all there assembled
  rose and drank to the new king, crying: ‘Hail, E´ omer, King
  of the Mark!’
  At the last when the feast drew to an end E´ omer arose and
  said: ‘Now this is the funeral feast of The´oden the King; but
  I will speak ere we go of tidings of joy, for he would not
  grudge that I should do so, since he was ever a father to
  E´ owyn my sister. Hear then all my guests, fair folk of many
  realms, such as have never before been gathered in this hall!
  Faramir, Steward of Gondor, and Prince of Ithilien, asks that
  E´ owyn Lady of Rohan should be his wife, and she grants
  it full willing. Therefore they shall be trothplighted before
  you all.’
  And Faramir and E´ owyn stood forth and set hand in hand;
  1280 the return of the king
  and all there drank to them and were glad. ‘Thus,’ said
  E´ omer, ‘is the friendship of the Mark and of Gondor bound
  with a new bond, and the more do I rejoice.’
  ‘No niggard are you, E´ omer,’ said Aragorn, ‘to give thus
  to Gondor the fairest thing in your realm!’
  Then E´ owyn looked in the eyes of Aragorn, and she said:
  ‘Wish me joy, my liege-lord and healer!’
  And he answered: ‘I have wished thee joy ever since first I
  saw thee. It heals my heart to see thee now in bliss.’
  When the feast was over, those who were to go took leave
  of King E´ omer. Aragorn and his knights, and the people of
  Lo´rien and of Rivendell, made ready to ride; but Faramir
  and Imrahil remained at Edoras; and Arwen Evenstar remained also, and she said farewell to her brethren. None saw
  her last meeting with Elrond her father, for they went
  up into the hills and there spoke long together, and bitter
  was their parting that should endure beyond the ends of the
  world.
  At the last before the guests set out E´ omer and E´ owyn
  came to Merry, and they said: ‘Farewell now, Meriadoc of
  the Shire and Holdwine of the Mark! Ride to good fortune,
  and ride back soon to our welcome!’
  And E´ omer said: ‘Kings of old would have laden you with
  gifts that a wain could not bear for your deeds upon the fields
  of Mundburg; and yet you will take naught, you say, but the
  arms that were given to you. This I suffer, for indeed I have
  no gift that is worthy; but my sister begs you to receive this
  small thing, as a memorial of Dernhelm and of the horns of
  the Mark at the coming of the morning.’
  Then E´ owyn gave to Merry an ancient horn, small but
  cunningly wrought all of fair silver with a baldric of green;
  and wrights had engraven upon it swift horsemen riding in a
  line that wound about it from the tip to the mouth; and there
  were set runes of great virtue.
  ‘This is an heirloom of our house,’ said E´ owyn. ‘It was
  made by the Dwarves, and came from the hoard of Scatha
  many partings 1281
  the Worm. Eorl the Young brought it from the North. He
  that blows it at need shall set fear in the hearts of his enemies
  and joy in the hearts of his friends, and they shall hear him
  and come to him.’
  Then Merry took the horn, for it could not be refused, and
  he kissed E´ owyn’s hand; and they embraced him, and so they
  parted for that time.
  Now the guests were ready, and they drank the stirrup-cup,
  and with great praise and friendship they departed, and came
  at length to Helm’s Deep, and there they rested two days.
  Then Legolas repaid his promise to Gimli and went with him
  to the Glittering Caves; and when they returned he was silent,
  and would say only that Gimli alone could find fit words to
  speak of them. ‘And never before has a Dwarf claimed a
  victory over an Elf in a contest of words,’ said he. ‘Now
  therefore let us go to Fangorn and set the score right!’
  From Deeping-coomb they rode to Isengard, and saw how
  the Ents had busied themselves. All the stone-circle had been
  thrown down and removed, and the land within was made
  into a garden filled with orchards and trees, and a stream
  ran through it; but in the midst of all there was a lake of
  clear water, and out of it the Tower of Orthanc rose still,
  tall and impregnable, and its black rock was mirrored in the
  pool.
  For a while the travellers sat where once the old gates of
  Isengard had stood, and there were now two tall trees like
  sentinels at the beginning of a green-bordered path that ran
  towards Orthanc; and they looked in wonder at the work that
  had been done, but no living thing could they see far or near.
  But presently they heard a voice calling hoom-hom, hoom-hom;
  and there came Treebeard striding down the path to greet
  them with Quickbeam at his side.
  ‘Welcome to the Treegarth of Orthanc!’ he said. ‘I knew
  that you were coming, but I was at work up the valley; there
  is much still to be done. But you have not been idle either
  away in the south and the east, I hear; and all that I hear is
  1282 the return of the king
  good, very good.’ Then Treebeard praised all their deeds, of
  which he seemed to have full knowledge; and at last he
  stopped and looked long at Gandalf.
  ‘Well, come now!’ he said. ‘You have proved mightiest,
  and all your labours have gone well. Where now would you
  be going? And why do you come here?’
  ‘To see how your work goes, my friend,’ said Gandalf,
  ‘and to thank you for your aid in all that has been achieved.’
  ‘Hoom, well, that is fair enough,’ said Treebeard; ‘for to be
  sure Ents have played their part. And not only in dealing with
  that, hoom, that accursed tree-slayer that dwelt here. For there
  was a great inrush of those, bura´rum, those evileyed-blackhanded -bowlegged-flinthearted-clawfingered – foulbelliedblood-thirsty, morimaite-sincahonda, hoom, well, since you are
  hasty folk and their full name is as long as years of torment,
  those vermin of orcs; and they came over the River and down
  from the North and all round the wood of Laurelindo´renan,
  which they could not get into, thanks to the Great ones who
  are here.’ He bowed to the Lord and Lady of Lo´rien.
  ‘And these same foul creatures were more than surprised
  to meet us out on the Wold, for they had not heard of us
  before; though that might be said also of better folk. And not
  many will remember us, for not many escaped us alive, and
  the River had most of those. But it was well for you, for if
  they had not met us, then the king of the grassland would
  not have ridden far, and if he had there would have been no
  home to return to.’
  ‘We know it well,’ said Aragorn, ‘and never shall it be
  forgotten in Minas Tirith or in Edoras.’
  ‘Never is too long a word even for me,’ said Treebeard.
  ‘Not while your kingdoms last, you mean; but they will have
  to last long indeed to seem long to Ents.’
  ‘The New Age begins,’ said Gandalf, ‘and in this age it
  may well prove that the kingdoms of Men shall outlast you,
  Fangorn my friend. But now come tell me: what of the task
  that I set you? How is Saruman? Is he not weary of Orthanc
  many partings 1283
  yet? For I do not suppose that he will think you have
  improved the view from his windows.’
  Treebeard gave Gandalf a long look, almost a cunning
  look, Merry thought. ‘Ah!’ he said. ‘I thought you would
  come to that. Weary of Orthanc? Very weary at last; but not
  so weary of his tower as he was weary of my voice. Hoom! I
  gave him some long tales, or at least what might be thought
  long in your speech.’
  ‘Then why did he stay to listen? Did you go into Orthanc?’
  asked Gandalf.
  ‘Hoom, no, not into Orthanc!’ said Treebeard. ‘But he came
  to his window and listened, because he could not get news
  in any other way, and though he hated the news, he was
  greedy to have it; and I saw that he heard it all. But I added
  a great many things to the news that it was good for him to
  think of. He grew very weary. He always was hasty. That was
  his ruin.’
  ‘I observe, my good Fangorn,’ said Gandalf, ‘that with
  great care you say dwelt, was, grew. What about is? Is he
  dead?’
  ‘No, not dead, so far as I know,’ said Treebeard. ‘But he
  is gone. Yes, he is gone seven days. I let him go. There
  was little left of him when he crawled out, and as for that
  worm-creature of his, he was like a pale shadow. Now do
  not tell me, Gandalf, that I promised to keep him safe; for
  I know it. But things have changed since then. And I kept
  him until he was safe, safe from doing any more harm. You
  should know that above all I hate the caging of live things,
  and I will not keep even such creatures as these caged beyond great need. A snake without fangs may crawl where
  he will.’
  ‘You may be right,’ said Gandalf; ‘but this snake had still
  one tooth left, I think. He had the poison of his voice, and I
  guess that he persuaded you, even you Treebeard, knowing
  the soft spot in your heart. Well, he is gone, and there is no
  more to be said. But the Tower of Orthanc now goes back
  1284 the return of the king
  to the King, to whom it belongs. Though maybe he will not
  need it.’
  ‘That will be seen later,’ said Aragorn. ‘But I will give to
  Ents all this valley to do with as they will, so long as they
  keep a watch upon Orthanc and see that none enter it without
  my leave.’
  ‘It is locked,’ said Treebeard. ‘I made Saruman lock it and
  give me the keys. Quickbeam has them.’
  Quickbeam bowed like a tree bending in the wind and
  handed to Aragorn two great black keys of intricate shape,
  joined by a ring of steel. ‘Now I thank you once more,’ said
  Aragorn, ‘and I bid you farewell. May your forest grow again
  in peace. When this valley is filled there is room and to spare
  west of the mountains, where once you walked long ago.’
  Treebeard’s face became sad. ‘Forests may grow,’ he said.
  ‘Woods may spread. But not Ents. There are no Entings.’
  ‘Yet maybe there is now more hope in your search,’ said
  Aragorn. ‘Lands will lie open to you eastward that have long
  been closed.’
  But Treebeard shook his head and said: ‘It is far to go.
  And there are too many Men there in these days. But I am
  forgetting my manners! Will you stay here and rest a while?
  And maybe there are some that would be pleased to pass
  through Fangorn Forest and so shorten their road home?’ He
  looked at Celeborn and Galadriel.
  But all save Legolas said that they must now take their
  leave and depart either south or west. ‘Come, Gimli!’ said
  Legolas. ‘Now by Fangorn’s leave I will visit the deep places
  of the Entwood and see such trees as are nowhere else to be
  found in Middle-earth. You shall come with me and keep
  your word; and thus we will journey on together to our own
  lands in Mirkwood and beyond.’ To this Gimli agreed,
  though with no great delight, it seemed.
  ‘Here then at last comes the ending of the Fellowship of
  the Ring,’ said Aragorn. ‘Yet I hope that ere long you will
  return to my land with the help that you promised.’
  ‘We will come, if our own lords allow it,’ said Gimli. ‘Well,
  many partings 1285
  farewell, my hobbits! You should come safe to your own
  homes now, and I shall not be kept awake for fear of your
  peril. We will send word when we may, and some of us may
  yet meet at times; but I fear that we shall not all be gathered
  together ever again.’
  Then Treebeard said farewell to each of them in turn, and
  he bowed three times slowly and with great reverence to
  Celeborn and Galadriel. ‘It is long, long since we met by
  stock or by stone, A vanimar, vanima´lion nostari!’ he said. ‘It
  is sad that we should meet only thus at the ending. For the
  world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth,
  and I smell it in the air. I do not think we shall meet again.’
  And Celeborn said: ‘I do not know, Eldest.’ But Galadriel
  said: ‘Not in Middle-earth, nor until the lands that lie under
  the wave are lifted up again. Then in the willow-meads of
  Tasarinan we may meet in the Spring. Farewell!’
  Last of all Merry and Pippin said good-bye to the old Ent,
  and he grew gayer as he looked at them. ‘Well, my merry
  folk,’ he said, ‘will you drink another draught with me before
  you go?’
  ‘Indeed we will,’ they said, and he took them aside into the
  shade of one of the trees, and there they saw that a great
  stone jar had been set. And Treebeard filled three bowls, and
  they drank; and they saw his strange eyes looking at them
  over the rim of his bowl. ‘Take care, take care!’ he said. ‘For
  you have already grown since I saw you last.’ And they
  laughed and drained their bowls.
  ‘Well, good-bye!’ he said. ‘And don’t forget that if you hear
  any news of the Entwives in your land, you will send word
  to me.’ Then he waved his great hands to all the company
  and went off into the trees.
  The travellers now rode with more speed, and they made
  their way towards the Gap of Rohan; and Aragorn took leave
  of them at last close to that very place where Pippin had
  looked into the Stone of Orthanc. The Hobbits were grieved
  1286 the return of the king
  at this parting; for Aragorn had never failed them and he had
  been their guide through many perils.
  ‘I wish we could have a Stone that we could see all our
  friends in,’ said Pippin, ‘and that we could speak to them
  from far away!’
  ‘Only one now remains that you could use,’ answered
  Aragorn; ‘for you would not wish to see what the Stone of
  Minas Tirith would show you. But the Palantı´r of Orthanc
  the King will keep, to see what is passing in his realm, and
  what his servants are doing. For do not forget, Peregrin Took,
  that you are a knight of Gondor, and I do not release you
  from your service. You are going now on leave, but I may
  recall you. And remember, dear friends of the Shire, that my
  realm lies also in the North, and I shall come there one day.’
  Then Aragorn took leave of Celeborn and Galadriel; and
  the Lady said to him: ‘Elfstone, through darkness you have
  come to your hope, and have now all your desire. Use well
  the days!’
  But Celeborn said: ‘Kinsman, farewell! May your doom be
  other than mine, and your treasure remain with you to the
  end!’
  With that they parted, and it was then the time of sunset;
  and when after a while they turned and looked back, they
  saw the King of the West sitting upon his horse with his
  knights about him; and the falling Sun shone upon them and
  made all their harness to gleam like red gold, and the white
  mantle of Aragorn was turned to a flame. Then Aragorn took
  the green stone and held it up, and there came a green fire
  from his hand.
  Soon the dwindling company, following the Isen, turned
  west and rode through the Gap into the waste lands beyond,
  and then they turned northwards, and passed over the
  borders of Dunland. The Dunlendings fled and hid themselves, for they were afraid of Elvish folk, though few indeed
  ever came to their country; but the travellers did not heed
  them, for they were still a great company and were well
  many partings 1287
  provided with all that they needed; and they went on their
  way at their leisure, setting up their tents when they would.
  On the sixth day since their parting from the King they
  journeyed through a wood climbing down from the hills at
  the feet of the Misty Mountains that now marched on their
  right hand. As they came out again into the open country at
  sundown they overtook an old man leaning on a staff, and
  he was clothed in rags of grey or dirty white, and at his heels
  went another beggar, slouching and whining.
  ‘Well Saruman!’ said Gandalf. ‘Where are you going?’
  ‘What is that to you?’ he answered. ‘Will you still order my
  goings, and are you not content with my ruin?’
  ‘You know the answers,’ said Gandalf: ‘no and no. But in
  any case the time of my labours now draws to an end. The
  King has taken on the burden. If you had waited at Orthanc,
  you would have seen him, and he would have shown you
  wisdom and mercy.’
  ‘Then all the more reason to have left sooner,’ said
  Saruman; ‘for I desire neither of him. Indeed if you wish for
  an answer to your first question, I am seeking a way out of
  his realm.’
  ‘Then once more you are going the wrong way,’ said
  Gandalf, ‘and I see no hope in your journey. But will you
  scorn our help? For we offer it to you.’
  ‘To me?’ said Saruman. ‘Nay, pray do not smile at me! I
  prefer your frowns. And as for the Lady here, I do not trust
  her: she always hated me, and schemed for your part. I do
  not doubt that she has brought you this way to have the
  pleasure of gloating over my poverty. Had I been warned of
  your pursuit, I would have denied you the pleasure.’
  ‘Saruman,’ said Galadriel, ‘we have other errands and other
  cares that seem to us more urgent than hunting for you. Say
  rather that you are overtaken by good fortune; for now you
  have a last chance.’
  ‘If it be truly the last, I am glad,’ said Saruman; ‘for I shall
  be spared the trouble of refusing it again. All my hopes are
  ruined, but I would not share yours. If you have any.’
  1288 the return of the king
  For a moment his eyes kindled. ‘Go!’ he said. ‘I did not
  spend long study on these matters for naught. You have
  doomed yourselves, and you know it. And it will afford me
  some comfort as I wander to think that you pulled down your
  own house when you destroyed mine. And now, what ship
  will bear you back across so wide a sea?’ he mocked. ‘It will
  be a grey ship, and full of ghosts.’ He laughed, but his voice
  was cracked and hideous.
  ‘Get up, you idiot!’ he shouted to the other beggar, who
  had sat down on the ground; and he struck him with his staff.
  ‘Turn about! If these fine folk are going our way, then we
  will take another. Get on, or I’ll give you no crust for your
  supper!’
  The beggar turned and slouched past whimpering: ‘Poor
  old Grı´ma! Poor old Grı´ma! Always beaten and cursed. How
  I hate him! I wish I could leave him!’
  ‘Then leave him!’ said Gandalf.
  But Wormtongue only shot a glance of his bleared eyes full
  of terror at Gandalf, and then shuffled quickly past behind
  Saruman. As the wretched pair passed by the company they
  came to the hobbits, and Saruman stopped and stared at
  them; but they looked at him with pity.
  ‘So you have come to gloat too, have you, my urchins?’ he
  said. ‘You don’t care what a beggar lacks, do you? For you
  have all you want, food and fine clothes, and the best weed
  for your pipes. Oh yes, I know! I know where it comes from.
  You would not give a pipeful to a beggar, would you?’
  ‘I would, if I had any,’ said Frodo.
  ‘You can have what I have got left,’ said Merry, ‘if you will
  wait a moment.’ He got down and searched in the bag at his
  saddle. Then he handed to Saruman a leather pouch. ‘Take
  what there is,’ he said. ‘You are welcome to it; it came from
  the flotsam of Isengard.’
  ‘Mine, mine, yes and dearly bought!’ cried Saruman,
  clutching at the pouch. ‘This is only a repayment in token;
  for you took more, I’ll be bound. Still, a beggar must be
  grateful, if a thief returns him even a morsel of his own. Well,
  many partings 1289
  it will serve you right when you come home, if you find things
  less good in the Southfarthing than you would like. Long
  may your land be short of leaf!’
  ‘Thank you!’ said Merry. ‘In that case I will have my pouch
  back, which is not yours and has journeyed far with me.
  Wrap the weed in a rag of your own.’
  ‘One thief deserves another,’ said Saruman, and turned his
  back on Merry, and kicked Wormtongue, and went away
  towards the wood.
  ‘Well, I like that!’ said Pippin. ‘Thief indeed! What of our
  claim for waylaying, wounding, and orc-dragging us through
  Rohan?’
  ‘Ah!’ said Sam. ‘And bought he said. How, I wonder?
  And I didn’t like the sound of what he said about the Southfarthing. It’s time we got back.’
  ‘I’m sure it is,’ said Frodo. ‘But we can’t go any quicker, if
  we are to see Bilbo. I am going to Rivendell first, whatever
  happens.’
  ‘Yes, I think you had better do that,’ said Gandalf. ‘But
  alas for Saruman! I fear nothing more can be made of him.
  He has withered altogether. All the same, I am not sure that
  Treebeard is right: I fancy he could do some mischief still in
  a small mean way.’
  Next day they went on into northern Dunland, where no
  men now dwelt, though it was a green and pleasant country.
  September came in with golden days and silver nights, and
  they rode at ease until they reached the Swanfleet river, and
  found the old ford, east of the falls where it went down
  suddenly into the lowlands. Far to the west in a haze lay
  the meres and eyots through which it wound its way to the
  Greyflood: there countless swans housed in a land of reeds.
  So they passed into Eregion, and at last a fair morning
  dawned, shimmering above gleaming mists; and looking from
  their camp on a low hill the travellers saw away in the east
  the Sun catching three peaks that thrust up into the sky
  through floating clouds: Caradhras, Celebdil, and Fanuidhol.
  They were near to the Gates of Moria.
  1290 the return of the king
  Here now for seven days they tarried, for the time was at
  hand for another parting which they were loth to make. Soon
  Celeborn and Galadriel and their folk would turn eastward,
  and so pass by the Redhorn Gate and down the Dimrill
  Stair to the Silverlode and to their own country. They had
  journeyed thus far by the west-ways, for they had much to
  speak of with Elrond and with Gandalf, and here they lingered still in converse with their friends. Often long after the
  hobbits were wrapped in sleep they would sit together under
  the stars, recalling the ages that were gone and all their joys
  and labours in the world, or holding council, concerning the
  days to come. If any wanderer had chanced to pass, little
  would he have seen or heard, and it would have seemed to
  him only that he saw grey figures, carved in stone, memorials
  of forgotten things now lost in unpeopled lands. For they did
  not move or speak with mouth, looking from mind to mind;
  and only their shining eyes stirred and kindled as their
  thoughts went to and fro.
  But at length all was said, and they parted again for a while,
  until it was time for the Three Rings to pass away. Quickly
  fading into the stones and the shadows the grey-cloaked
  people of Lo´rien rode towards the mountains; and those who
  were going to Rivendell sat on the hill and watched, until
  there came out of the gathering mist a flash; and then they
  saw no more. Frodo knew that Galadriel had held aloft her
  ring in token of farewell.
  Sam turned away and sighed: ‘I wish I was going back to
  Lo´rien!’
  At last one evening they came over the high moors, suddenly as to travellers it always seemed, to the brink of the
  deep valley of Rivendell and saw far below the lamps shining
  in Elrond’s house. And they went down and crossed the
  bridge and came to the doors, and all the house was filled
  with light and song for joy at Elrond’s homecoming.
  First of all, before they had eaten or washed or even
  shed their cloaks, the hobbits went in search of Bilbo. They
  found him all alone in his little room. It was littered with
  many partings 1291
  papers and pens and pencils; but Bilbo was sitting in a chair
  before a small bright fire. He looked very old, but peaceful,
  and sleepy.
  He opened his eyes and looked up as they came in. ‘Hullo,
  hullo!’ he said. ‘So you’ve come back? And tomorrow’s my
  birthday, too. How clever of you! Do you know, I shall be
  one hundred and twenty-nine? And in one year more, if I am
  spared, I shall equal the Old Took. I should like to beat him;
  but we shall see.’
  After the celebration of Bilbo’s birthday the four hobbits
  stayed in Rivendell for some days, and they sat much with
  their old friend, who spent most of his time now in his room,
  except at meals. For these he was still very punctual as a rule,
  and he seldom failed to wake up in time for them. Sitting
  round the fire they told him in turn all that they could remember of their journeys and adventures. At first he pretended to
  take some notes; but he often fell asleep; and when he woke
  he would say: ‘How splendid! How wonderful! But where
  were we?’ Then they went on with the story from the point
  where he had begun to nod.
  The only part that seemed really to rouse him and hold his
  attention was the account of the crowning and marriage of
  Aragorn. ‘I was invited to the wedding, of course,’ he said.
  ‘And I have waited for it long enough. But somehow, when
  it came to it, I found I had so much to do here; and packing
  is such a bother.’
  When nearly a fortnight had passed Frodo looked out of
  his window and saw that there had been a frost in the night,
  and the cobwebs were like white nets. Then suddenly he knew
  that he must go, and say good-bye to Bilbo. The weather was
  still calm and fair, after one of the most lovely summers that
  people could remember; but October had come, and it must
  break soon and begin to rain and blow again. And there was
  still a very long way to go. Yet it was not really the thought
  of the weather that stirred him. He had a feeling that it was
  1292 the return of the king
  time he went back to the Shire. Sam shared it. Only the night
  before he had said:
  ‘Well, Mr. Frodo, we’ve been far and seen a deal, and yet
  I don’t think we’ve found a better place than this. There’s
  something of everything here, if you understand me: the Shire
  and the Golden Wood and Gondor and kings’ houses and
  inns and meadows and mountains all mixed. And yet, somehow, I feel we ought to be going soon. I’m worried about my
  gaffer, to tell you the truth.’
  ‘Yes, something of everything, Sam, except the Sea,’ Frodo
  had answered; and he repeated it now to himself: ‘Except
  the Sea.’
  That day Frodo spoke to Elrond, and it was agreed that
  they should leave the next morning. To their delight Gandalf
  said: ‘I think I shall come too. At least as far as Bree. I want
  to see Butterbur.’
  In the evening they went to say good-bye to Bilbo. ‘Well,
  if you must go, you must,’ he said. ‘I am sorry. I shall miss
  you. It is nice just to know that you are about the place. But
  I am getting very sleepy.’ Then he gave Frodo his mithril-coat
  and Sting, forgetting that he had already done so; and he
  gave him also three books of lore that he had made at various
  times, written in his spidery hand, and labelled on their red
  backs: Translations from the Elvish, by B.B.
  To Sam he gave a little bag of gold. ‘Almost the last drop
  of the Smaug vintage,’ he said. ‘May come in useful, if you
  think of getting married, Sam.’ Sam blushed.
  ‘I have nothing much to give to you young fellows,’ he said
  to Merry and Pippin, ‘except good advice.’ And when he had
  given them a fair sample of this, he added a last item in
  Shire-fashion: ‘Don’t let your heads get too big for your hats!
  But if you don’t finish growing up soon, you are going to
  find hats and clothes expensive.’
  ‘But if you want to beat the Old Took,’ said Pippin, ‘I
  don’t see why we shouldn’t try and beat the Bullroarer.’
  Bilbo laughed, and he produced out of a pocket two beautiful pipes with pearl mouth-pieces and bound with fine-
  many partings 1293
  wrought silver. ‘Think of me when you smoke them!’ he said.
  ‘The Elves made them for me, but I don’t smoke now.’ And
  then suddenly he nodded and went to sleep for a little; and
  when he woke up again he said: ‘Now where were we? Yes,
  of course, giving presents. Which reminds me: what’s become
  of my ring, Frodo, that you took away?’
  ‘I have lost it, Bilbo dear,’ said Frodo. ‘I got rid of it, you
  know.’
  ‘What a pity!’ said Bilbo. ‘I should have liked to see it again.
  But no, how silly of me! That’s what you went for, wasn’t it:
  to get rid of it? But it is all so confusing, for such a lot of
  other things seem to have got mixed up with it: Aragorn’s
  affairs, and the White Council, and Gondor, and the Horsemen, and Southrons, and oliphaunts – did you really see one,
  Sam? – and caves and towers and golden trees, and goodness
  knows what besides.
  ‘I evidently came back by much too straight a road from
  my trip. I think Gandalf might have shown me round a bit.
  But then the auction would have been over before I got back,
  and I should have had even more trouble than I did. Anyway
  it’s too late now; and really I think it’s much more comfortable
  to sit here and hear about it all. The fire’s very cosy here,
  and the food’s very good, and there are Elves when you want
  them. What more could one want?
  The Road goes ever on and on
  Out from the door where it began.
  Now far ahead the Road has gone,
  Let others follow it who can!
  Let them a journey new begin,
  But I at last with weary feet
  Will turn towards the lighted inn,
  My evening-rest and sleep to meet.’
  And as Bilbo murmured the last words his head dropped
  on his chest and he slept soundly.
  1294 the return of the king
  The evening deepened in the room, and the firelight
  burned brighter; and they looked at Bilbo as he slept and saw
  that his face was smiling. For some time they sat in silence;
  and then Sam looking round at the room and the shadows
  flickering on the walls, said softly:
  ‘I don’t think, Mr. Frodo, that he’s done much writing
  while we’ve been away. He won’t ever write our story now.’
  At that Bilbo opened an eye, almost as if he had heard.
  Then he roused himself. ‘You see, I am getting so sleepy,’ he
  said. ‘And when I have time to write, I only really like writing
  poetry. I wonder, Frodo my dear fellow, if you would very
  much mind tidying things up a bit before you go? Collect all
  my notes and papers, and my diary too, and take them with
  you, if you will. You see, I haven’t much time for the selection
  and the arrangement and all that. Get Sam to help, and when
  you’ve knocked things into shape, come back, and I’ll run
  over it. I won’t be too critical.’
  ‘Of course I’ll do it!’ said Frodo. ‘And of course I’ll come
  back soon: it won’t be dangerous any more. There is a real
  king now, and he will soon put the roads in order.’
  ‘Thank you, my dear fellow!’ said Bilbo. ‘That really is a
  very great relief to my mind.’ And with that he fell asleep
  again.
  The next day Gandalf and the hobbits took leave of Bilbo
  in his room, for it was cold out of doors; and then they said
  farewell to Elrond and all his household.
  As Frodo stood upon the threshold, Elrond wished him a
  fair journey, and blessed him, and he said:
  ‘I think, Frodo, that maybe you will not need to come back,
  unless you come very soon. For about this time of the year,
  when the leaves are gold before they fall, look for Bilbo in
  the woods of the Shire. I shall be with him.’
  These words no one else heard, and Frodo kept them to
  himself.
  Chapter 7
  HOMEWARD BOUND
  At last the hobbits had their faces turned towards home. They
  were eager now to see the Shire again; but at first they rode
  only slowly, for Frodo had been ill at ease. When they came
  to the Ford of Bruinen, he had halted, and seemed loth to
  ride into the stream; and they noted that for a while his eyes
  appeared not to see them or things about him. All that day
  he was silent. It was the sixth of October.
  ‘Are you in pain, Frodo?’ said Gandalf quietly as he rode
  by Frodo’s side.
  ‘Well, yes I am,’ said Frodo. ‘It is my shoulder. The wound
  aches, and the memory of darkness is heavy on me. It was a
  year ago today.’
  ‘Alas! there are some wounds that cannot be wholly cured,’
  said Gandalf.
  ‘I fear it may be so with mine,’ said Frodo. ‘There is no
  real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not
  seem the same; for I shall not be the same. I am wounded
  with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. Where shall
  I find rest?’
  Gandalf did not answer.
  By the end of the next day the pain and unease had passed,
  and Frodo was merry again, as merry as if he did not remember the blackness of the day before. After that the journey
  went well, and the days went quickly by; for they rode at
  leisure, and often they lingered in the fair woodlands where
  the leaves were red and yellow in the autumn sun. At length
  they came to Weathertop; and it was then drawing towards
  evening and the shadow of the hill lay dark on the road. Then
  Frodo begged them to hasten, and he would not look towards
  1296 the return of the king
  the hill, but rode through its shadow with head bowed and
  cloak drawn close about him. That night the weather
  changed, and a wind came from the West laden with rain,
  and it blew loud and chill, and the yellow leaves whirled like
  birds in the air. When they came to the Chetwood already
  the boughs were almost bare, and a great curtain of rain
  veiled Bree-hill from their sight.
  So it was that near the end of a wild and wet evening in
  the last days of October the five travellers rode up the climbing road and came to the South-gate of Bree. It was locked
  fast; and the rain blew in their faces, and in the darkening
  sky low clouds went hurrying by, and their hearts sank a little,
  for they had expected more welcome.
  When they had called many times, at last the Gate-keeper
  came out, and they saw that he carried a great cudgel. He
  looked at them with fear and suspicion; but when he saw that
  Gandalf was there, and that his companions were hobbits, in
  spite of their strange gear, then he brightened and wished
  them welcome.
  ‘Come in!’ he said, unlocking the gate. ‘We won’t stay for
  news out here in the cold and the wet, a ruffianly evening.
  But old Barley will no doubt give you a welcome at The Pony,
  and there you’ll hear all there is to hear.’
  ‘And there you’ll hear later all that we say, and more,’
  laughed Gandalf. ‘How is Harry?’
  The Gate-keeper scowled. ‘Gone,’ he said. ‘But you’d best
  ask Barliman. Good evening!’
  ‘Good evening to you!’ they said, and passed through;
  and then they noticed that behind the hedge at the roadside a long low hut had been built, and a number of men
  had come out and were staring at them over the fence. When
  they came to Bill Ferny’s house they saw that the hedge
  there was tattered and unkempt, and the windows were all
  boarded up.
  ‘Do you think you killed him with that apple, Sam?’ said
  Pippin.
  ‘I’m not so hopeful, Mr. Pippin,’ said Sam. ‘But I’d like to
  homeward bound 1297
  know what became of that poor pony. He’s been on my mind
  many a time, and the wolves howling and all.’
  At last they came to The Prancing Pony, and that at least
  looked outwardly unchanged; and there were lights behind
  the red curtains in the lower windows. They rang the bell,
  and Nob came to the door, and opened it a crack and peeped
  through; and when he saw them standing under the lamp he
  gave a cry of surprise.
  ‘Mr. Butterbur! Master!’ he shouted. ‘They’ve come back!’
  ‘Oh have they? I’ll learn them,’ came Butterbur’s voice,
  and out he came with a rush, and he had a club in his hand.
  But when he saw who they were he stopped short, and the
  black scowl on his face changed to wonder and delight.
  ‘Nob, you woolly-pated ninny!’ he cried. ‘Can’t you give
  old friends their names? You shouldn’t go scaring me like
  that, with times as they are. Well, well! And where have you
  come from? I never expected to see any of you folk again,
  and that’s a fact: going off into the Wild with that Strider,
  and all those Black Men about. But I’m right glad to see
  you, and none more than Gandalf. Come in! Come in! The
  same rooms as before? They’re free. Indeed most rooms are
  empty these days, as I’ll not hide from you, for you’ll find it
  out soon enough. And I’ll see what can be done about supper,
  as soon as may be; but I’m short-handed at present. Hey,
  Nob you slowcoach! Tell Bob! Ah, but there I’m forgetting,
  Bob’s gone: goes home to his folk at nightfall now. Well, take
  the guests’ ponies to the stables, Nob! And you’ll be taking
  your horse to his stable yourself, Gandalf, I don’t doubt. A
  fine beast, as I said when I first set eyes on him. Well, come
  in! Make yourselves at home!’
  Mr. Butterbur had at any rate not changed his manner
  of talking, and still seemed to live in his old breathless
  bustle. And yet there was hardly anybody about, and all
  was quiet; from the Common Room there came a low murmur of no more than two or three voices. And seen closer in
  the light of two candles that he lit and carried before them
  1298 the return of the king
  the landlord’s face looked rather wrinkled and careworn.
  He led them down the passage to the parlour that they had
  used on that strange night more than a year ago; and they
  followed him, a little disquieted, for it seemed plain to them
  that old Barliman was putting a brave face on some trouble.
  Things were not what they had been. But they said nothing,
  and waited.
  As they expected Mr. Butterbur came to the parlour after
  supper to see if all had been to their liking. As indeed it had:
  no change for the worse had yet come upon the beer or the
  victuals at The Pony, at any rate. ‘Now I won’t make so
  bold as to suggest you should come to the Common Room
  tonight,’ said Butterbur. ‘You’ll be tired; and there isn’t many
  folk there this evening, anyway. But if you could spare me
  half an hour before you go to your beds, I would dearly like
  to have some talk with you, quiet-like by ourselves.’
  ‘That is just what we should like, too,’ said Gandalf. ‘We
  are not tired. We have been taking things easy. We were wet,
  cold and hungry, but all that you have cured. Come, sit down!
  And if you have any pipe-weed, we’ll bless you.’
  ‘Well, if you’d called for anything else, I’d have been happier,’ said Butterbur. ‘That’s just a thing that we’re short of,
  seeing how we’ve only got what we grow ourselves, and that’s
  not enough. There’s none to be had from the Shire these
  days. But I’ll do what I can.’
  When he came back he brought them enough to last them
  for a day or two, a wad of uncut leaf. ‘Southlinch,’ he said,
  ‘and the best we have; but not the match of Southfarthing,
  as I’ve always said, though I’m all for Bree in most matters,
  begging your pardon.’
  They put him in a large chair by the wood-fire, and
  Gandalf sat on the other side of the hearth, and the hobbits
  in low chairs between them; and then they talked for many
  times half an hour, and exchanged all such news as Mr.
  Butterbur wished to hear or give. Most of the things which
  they had to tell were a mere wonder and bewilderment to
  their host, and far beyond his vision; and they brought forth
  homeward bound 1299
  few comments other than: ‘You don’t say,’ often repeated in
  defiance of the evidence of Mr. Butterbur’s own ears. ‘You
  don’t say, Mr. Baggins, or is it Mr. Underhill? I’m getting so
  mixed up. You don’t say, Master Gandalf! Well I never!
  Who’d have thought it in our times!’
  But he did say much on his own account. Things were
  far from well, he would say. Business was not even fair, it
  was downright bad. ‘No one comes nigh Bree now from
  Outside,’ he said. ‘And the inside folks, they stay at home
  mostly and keep their doors barred. It all comes of those
  newcomers and gangrels that began coming up the Greenway
  last year, as you may remember; but more came later. Some
  were just poor bodies running away from trouble; but most
  were bad men, full o’ thievery and mischief. And there was
  trouble right here in Bree, bad trouble. Why, we had a real
  set-to, and there were some folk killed, killed dead! If you’ll
  believe me.’
  ‘I will indeed,’ said Gandalf. ‘How many?’
  ‘Three and two,’ said Butterbur, referring to the big folk
  and the little. ‘There was poor Mat Heathertoes, and Rowlie
  Appledore, and little Tom Pickthorn from over the Hill; and
  Willie Banks from up-away, and one of the Underhills from
  Staddle: all good fellows, and they’re missed. And Harry
  Goatleaf that used to be on the West-gate, and that Bill Ferny,
  they came in on the strangers’ side, and they’ve gone off with
  them; and it’s my belief they let them in. On the night of the
  fight, I mean. And that was after we showed them the gates
  and pushed them out: before the year’s end, that was; and
  the fight was early in the New Year, after the heavy snow
  we had.
  ‘And now they’re gone for robbers and live outside, hiding
  in the woods beyond Archet, and out in the wilds north-away.
  It’s like a bit of the bad old times tales tell of, I say. It isn’t
  safe on the road and nobody goes far, and folk lock up early.
  We have to keep watchers all round the fence and put a lot
  of men on the gates at nights.’
  ‘Well, no one troubled us,’ said Pippin, ‘and we came along
  1300 the return of the king
  slowly, and kept no watch. We thought we’d left all trouble
  behind us.’
  ‘Ah, that you haven’t, Master, more’s the pity,’ said
  Butterbur. ‘But it’s no wonder they left you alone. They
  wouldn’t go for armed folk, with swords and helmets and
  shields and all. Make them think twice, that would. And I
  must say it put me aback a bit when I saw you.’
  Then the hobbits suddenly realized that people had looked
  at them with amazement not out of surprise at their return
  so much as in wonder at their gear. They themselves had
  become so used to warfare and to riding in well-arrayed
  companies that they had quite forgotten that the bright mail
  peeping from under their cloaks, and the helms of Gondor
  and the Mark, and the fair devices on their shields, would
  seem outlandish in their own country. And Gandalf, too, was
  now riding on his tall grey horse, all clad in white with a
  great mantle of blue and silver over all, and the long sword
  Glamdring at his side.
  Gandalf laughed. ‘Well, well,’ he said, ‘if they are afraid of
  just five of us, then we have met worse enemies on our travels.
  But at any rate they will give you peace at night while we
  stay.’
  ‘How long will that be?’ said Butterbur. ‘I’ll not deny we
  should be glad to have you about for a bit. You see, we’re
  not used to such troubles; and the Rangers have all gone
  away, folk tell me. I don’t think we’ve rightly understood till
  now what they did for us. For there’s been worse than robbers
  about. Wolves were howling round the fences last winter.
  And there’s dark shapes in the woods, dreadful things that
  it makes the blood run cold to think of. It’s been very
  disturbing, if you understand me.’
  ‘I expect it has,’ said Gandalf. ‘Nearly all lands have been
  disturbed these days, very disturbed. But cheer up, Barliman!
  You have been on the edge of very great troubles, and I am
  only glad to hear that you have not been deeper in. But better
  times are coming. Maybe, better than any you remember.
  The Rangers have returned. We came back with them. And
  homeward bound 1301
  there is a king again, Barliman. He will soon be turning his
  mind this way.
  ‘Then the Greenway will be opened again, and his messengers will come north, and there will be comings and goings,
  and the evil things will be driven out of the waste-lands.
  Indeed the waste in time will be waste no longer, and there
  will be people and fields where once there was wilderness.’
  Mr. Butterbur shook his head. ‘If there’s a few decent
  respectable folk on the roads, that won’t do no harm,’ he said.
  ‘But we don’t want no more rabble and ruffians. And we don’t
  want no outsiders at Bree, nor near Bree at all. We want to
  be let alone. I don’t want a whole crowd o’ strangers camping
  here and settling there and tearing up the wild country.’
  ‘You will be let alone, Barliman,’ said Gandalf. ‘There is
  room enough for realms between Isen and Greyflood, or
  along the shore-lands south of the Brandywine, without anyone living within many days’ ride of Bree. And many folk
  used to dwell away north, a hundred miles or more from
  here, at the far end of the Greenway: on the North Downs
  or by Lake Evendim.’
  ‘Up away by Deadmen’s Dike?’ said Butterbur, looking
  even more dubious. ‘That’s haunted land, they say. None
  but a robber would go there.’
  ‘The Rangers go there,’ said Gandalf. ‘Deadmen’s Dike,
  you say. So it has been called for long years; but its right
  name, Barliman, is Fornost Erain, Norbury of the Kings.
  And the King will come there again one day; and then you’ll
  have some fair folk riding through.’
  ‘Well, that sounds more hopeful, I’ll allow,’ said Butterbur.
  ‘And it will be good for business, no doubt. So long as he
  lets Bree alone.’
  ‘He will,’ said Gandalf. ‘He knows it and loves it.’
  ‘Does he now?’ said Butterbur looking puzzled. ‘Though
  I’m sure I don’t know why he should, sitting in his big chair
  up in his great castle, hundreds of miles away. And drinking
  wine out of a golden cup, I shouldn’t wonder. What’s The
  Pony to him, or mugs o’ beer? Not but what my beer’s good,
  1302 the return of the king
  Gandalf. It’s been uncommon good, since you came in the
  autumn of last year and put a good word on it. And that’s
  been a comfort in trouble, I will say.’
  ‘Ah!’ said Sam. ‘But he says your beer is always good.’
  ‘He says?’
  ‘Of course he does. He’s Strider. The chief of the Rangers.
  Haven’t you got that into your head yet?’
  It went in at last, and Butterbur’s face was a study in
  wonder. The eyes in his broad face grew round, and his
  mouth opened wide, and he gasped. ‘Strider!’ he exclaimed
  when he got back his breath. ‘Him with a crown and all and
  a golden cup! Well, what are we coming to?’
  ‘Better times, for Bree at any rate,’ said Gandalf.
  ‘I hope so, I’m sure,’ said Butterbur. ‘Well, this has been
  the nicest chat I’ve had in a month of Mondays. And I’ll not
  deny that I’ll sleep easier tonight and with a lighter heart.
  You’ve given me a powerful lot to think over, but I’ll put that
  off until tomorrow. I’m for bed, and I’ve no doubt you’ll be
  glad of your beds too. Hey, Nob!’ he called, going to the
  door. ‘Nob, you slowcoach!’
  ‘Nob!’ he said to himself, slapping his forehead. ‘Now what
  does that remind me of ?’
  ‘Not another letter you’ve forgotten, I hope, Mr.
  Butterbur?’ said Merry.
  ‘Now, now, Mr. Brandybuck, don’t go reminding me of
  that! But there, you’ve broken my thought. Now where was
  I? Nob, stables, ah! that was it. I’ve something that belongs
  to you. If you recollect Bill Ferny and the horsethieving: his
  pony as you bought, well, it’s here. Come back all of itself, it
  did. But where it had been to you know better than me. It
  was as shaggy as an old dog and as lean as a clothes-rail, but
  it was alive. Nob’s looked after it.’
  ‘What! My Bill?’ cried Sam. ‘Well, I was born lucky, whatever my gaffer may say. There’s another wish come true!
  Where is he?’ Sam would not go to bed until he had visited
  Bill in his stable.

---

homeward bound 1303
The travellers stayed in Bree all the next day, and Mr.
Butterbur could not complain of his business next evening at
any rate. Curiosity overcame all fears, and his house was
crowded. For a while out of politeness the hobbits visited the
Common Room in the evening and answered a good many
questions. Bree memories being retentive, Frodo was asked
many times if he had written his book.
‘Not yet,’ he answered. ‘I am going home now to put my
notes in order.’ He promised to deal with the amazing events
at Bree, and so give a bit of interest to a book that appeared
likely to treat mostly of the remote and less important affairs
‘away south’.
Then one of the younger folk called for a song. But at that
a hush fell, and he was frowned down, and the call was not
repeated. Evidently there was no wish for any uncanny events
in the Common Room again.
No trouble by day, nor any sound by night, disturbed the
peace of Bree while the travellers remained there; but the
next morning they got up early, for as the weather was still
rainy they wished to reach the Shire before night, and it was
a long ride. The Bree folk were all out to see them off, and
were in merrier mood than they had been for a year; and
those who had not seen the strangers in all their gear before
gaped with wonder at them: at Gandalf with his white beard,
and the light that seemed to gleam from him, as if his blue
mantle was only a cloud over sunshine; and at the four
hobbits like riders upon errantry out of almost forgotten tales.
Even those who had laughed at all the talk about the King
began to think there might be some truth in it.
‘Well, good luck on your road, and good luck to your
homecoming!’ said Mr. Butterbur. ‘I should have warned
you before that all’s not well in the Shire neither, if what
we hear is true. Funny goings on, they say. But one thing
drives out another, and I was full of my own troubles. But if
I may be so bold, you’ve come back changed from your
travels, and you look now like folk as can deal with troubles
out of hand. I don’t doubt you’ll soon set all to rights. Good
1304 the return of the king
luck to you! And the oftener you come back the better I’ll be
pleased.’
They wished him farewell and rode away, and passed
through the West-gate and on towards the Shire. Bill the
pony was with them, and as before he had a good deal of
baggage, but he trotted along beside Sam and seemed well
content.
‘I wonder what old Barliman was hinting at,’ said Frodo.
‘I can guess some of it,’ said Sam gloomily. ‘What I saw in
the Mirror: trees cut down and all, and my old gaffer turned
out of the Row. I ought to have hurried back quicker.’
‘And something’s wrong with the Southfarthing evidently,’
said Merry. ‘There’s a general shortage of pipe-weed.’
‘Whatever it is,’ said Pippin, ‘Lotho will be at the bottom
of it: you can be sure of that.’
‘Deep in, but not at the bottom,’ said Gandalf. ‘You have
forgotten Saruman. He began to take an interest in the Shire
before Mordor did.’
‘Well, we’ve got you with us,’ said Merry, ‘so things will
soon be cleared up.’
‘I am with you at present,’ said Gandalf, ‘but soon I shall
not be. I am not coming to the Shire. You must settle its
affairs yourselves; that is what you have been trained for. Do
you not yet understand? My time is over: it is no longer my
task to set things to rights, nor to help folk to do so. And as
for you, my dear friends, you will need no help. You are
grown up now. Grown indeed very high; among the great
you are, and I have no longer any fear at all for any of you.
‘But if you would know, I am turning aside soon. I am
going to have a long talk with Bombadil: such a talk as I have
not had in all my time. He is a moss-gatherer, and I have
been a stone doomed to rolling. But my rolling days are
ending, and now we shall have much to say to one another.’
In a little while they came to the point on the East Road
where they had taken leave of Bombadil; and they hoped and
homeward bound 1305
half expected to see him standing there to greet them as they
went by. But there was no sign of him; and there was a grey
mist on the Barrow-downs southwards, and a deep veil over
the Old Forest far away.
They halted and Frodo looked south wistfully. ‘I should
dearly like to see the old fellow again,’ he said. ‘I wonder how
he is getting on?’
‘As well as ever, you may be sure,’ said Gandalf. ‘Quite
untroubled; and I should guess, not much interested in anything that we have done or seen, unless perhaps in our visits
to the Ents. There may be a time later for you to go and see
him. But if I were you, I should press on now for home, or
you will not come to the Brandywine Bridge before the gates
are locked.’
‘But there aren’t any gates,’ said Merry, ‘not on the Road;
you know that quite well. There’s the Buckland Gate, of
course; but they’ll let me through that at any time.’
‘There weren’t any gates, you mean,’ said Gandalf. ‘I think
you will find some now. And you might have more trouble
even at the Buckland Gate than you think. But you’ll manage
all right. Good-bye, dear friends! Not for the last time, not
yet. Good-bye!’
He turned Shadowfax off the Road, and the great horse
leaped the green dike that here ran beside it; and then at a
cry from Gandalf he was gone, racing towards the Barrowdowns like a wind from the North.
‘Well here we are, just the four of us that started out
together,’ said Merry. ‘We have left all the rest behind, one
after another. It seems almost like a dream that has slowly
faded.’
‘Not to me,’ said Frodo. ‘To me it feels more like falling
asleep again.’
Chapter 8
THE SCOURING OF THE SHIRE
It was after nightfall when, wet and tired, the travellers came
at last to the Brandywine, and they found the way barred. At
either end of the Bridge there was a great spiked gate; and
on the further side of the river they could see that some new
houses had been built: two-storeyed with narrow straightsided windows, bare and dimly lit, all very gloomy and unShirelike.
They hammered on the outer gate and called, but there
was at first no answer; and then to their surprise someone
blew a horn, and the lights in the windows went out. A voice
shouted in the dark:
‘Who’s that? Be off! You can’t come in. Can’t you read
the notice: No admittance between sundown and sunrise?’
‘Of course we can’t read the notice in the dark,’ Sam
shouted back. ‘And if hobbits of the Shire are to be kept out
in the wet on a night like this, I’ll tear down your notice when
I find it.’
At that a window slammed, and a crowd of hobbits with
lanterns poured out of the house on the left. They opened
the further gate, and some came over the bridge. When they
saw the travellers they seemed frightened.
‘Come along!’ said Merry, recognizing one of the hobbits.
‘If you don’t know me, Hob Hayward, you ought to. I am
Merry Brandybuck, and I should like to know what all this is
about, and what a Bucklander like you is doing here. You
used to be on the Hay Gate.’
‘Bless me! It’s Master Merry, to be sure, and all dressed
up for fighting!’ said old Hob. ‘Why, they said you was dead!
Lost in the Old Forest by all accounts. I’m pleased to see you
alive after all!’
the scouring of the shire 1307
‘Then stop gaping at me through the bars, and open the
gate!’ said Merry.
‘I’m sorry, Master Merry, but we have orders.’
‘Whose orders?’
‘The Chief’s up at Bag End.’
‘Chief ? Chief ? Do you mean Mr. Lotho?’ said Frodo.
‘I suppose so, Mr. Baggins; but we have to say just ‘‘the
Chief’’ nowadays.’
‘Do you indeed!’ said Frodo. ‘Well, I am glad he has
dropped the Baggins at any rate. But it is evidently high time
that the family dealt with him and put him in his place.’
A hush fell on the hobbits beyond the gate. ‘It won’t do
no good talking that way,’ said one. ‘He’ll get to hear of it.
And if you make so much noise, you’ll wake the Chief’s Big
Man.’
‘We shall wake him up in a way that will surprise him,’
said Merry. ‘If you mean that your precious Chief has been
hiring ruffians out of the wild, then we’ve not come back too
soon.’ He sprang from his pony, and seeing the notice in the
light of the lanterns, he tore it down and threw it over the
gate. The hobbits backed away and made no move to open
it. ‘Come on, Pippin!’ said Merry. ‘Two is enough.’
Merry and Pippin climbed the gate, and the hobbits
fled. Another horn sounded. Out of the bigger house on the
right a large heavy figure appeared against a light in the
doorway.
‘What’s all this,’ he snarled as he came forward. ‘Gatebreaking? You clear out, or I’ll break your filthy little necks!’
Then he stopped, for he had caught the gleam of swords.
‘Bill Ferny,’ said Merry, ‘if you don’t open that gate in ten
seconds, you’ll regret it. I shall set steel to you, if you don’t
obey. And when you have opened the gates you will go
through them and never return. You are a ruffian and a
highway-robber.’
Bill Ferny flinched and shuffled to the gate and unlocked
it. ‘Give me the key!’ said Merry. But the ruffian flung it at
his head and then darted out into the darkness. As he passed
1308 the return of the king
the ponies one of them let fly with his heels and just caught
him as he ran. He went off with a yelp into the night and was
never heard of again.
‘Neat work, Bill,’ said Sam, meaning the pony.
‘So much for your Big Man,’ said Merry. ‘We’ll see
the Chief later. In the meantime we want a lodging for the
night, and as you seem to have pulled down the Bridge
Inn and built this dismal place instead, you’ll have to put
us up.’
‘I am sorry, Mr. Merry,’ said Hob, ‘but it isn’t allowed.’
‘What isn’t allowed?’
‘Taking in folk off-hand like, and eating extra food, and all
that,’ said Hob.
‘What’s the matter with the place?’ said Merry. ‘Has it
been a bad year, or what? I thought it had been a fine summer
and harvest.’
‘Well no, the year’s been good enough,’ said Hob. ‘We
grows a lot of food, but we don’t rightly know what becomes
of it. It’s all these ‘‘gatherers’’ and ‘‘sharers’’, I reckon, going
round counting and measuring and taking off to storage.
They do more gathering than sharing, and we never see most
of the stuff again.’
‘Oh come!’ said Pippin yawning. ‘This is all too tiresome
for me tonight. We’ve got food in our bags. Just give us a
room to lie down in. It’ll be better than many places I have
seen.’
The hobbits at the gate still seemed ill at ease, evidently
some rule or other was being broken; but there was no gainsaying four such masterful travellers, all armed, and two of
them uncommonly large and strong-looking. Frodo ordered
the gates to be locked again. There was some sense at any
rate in keeping a guard, while ruffians were still about. Then
the four companions went into the hobbit guard-house and
made themselves as comfortable as they could. It was a bare
and ugly place, with a mean little grate that would not allow
a good fire. In the upper rooms were little rows of hard beds,
the scouring of the shire 1309
and on every wall there was a notice and a list of Rules.
Pippin tore them down. There was no beer and very little
food, but with what the travellers brought and shared out
they all made a fair meal; and Pippin broke Rule 4 by putting
most of next day’s allowance of wood on the fire.
‘Well now, what about a smoke, while you tell us what has
been happening in the Shire?’ he said.
‘There isn’t no pipe-weed now,’ said Hob; ‘at least only
for the Chief’s men. All the stocks seem to have gone. We
do hear that waggon-loads of it went away down the old road
out of the Southfarthing, over Sarn Ford way. That would
be the end o’ last year, after you left. But it had been going
away quietly before that, in a small way. That Lotho——’
‘Now you shut up, Hob Hayward!’ cried several of the
others. ‘You know talk o’ that sort isn’t allowed. The Chief
will hear of it, and we’ll all be in trouble.’
‘He wouldn’t hear naught, if some of you here weren’t
sneaks,’ rejoined Hob hotly.
‘All right, all right!’ said Sam. ‘That’s quite enough. I don’t
want to hear no more. No welcome, no beer, no smoke, and
a lot of rules and orc-talk instead. I hoped to have a rest, but
I can see there’s work and trouble ahead. Let’s sleep and
forget it till morning!’
The new ‘Chief’ evidently had means of getting news. It
was a good forty miles from the Bridge to Bag End, but
someone made the journey in a hurry. So Frodo and his
friends soon discovered.
They had not made any definite plans, but had vaguely
thought of going down to Crickhollow together first, and
resting there a bit. But now, seeing what things were like,
they decided to go straight to Hobbiton. So the next day they
set out along the Road and jogged along steadily. The wind
had dropped but the sky was grey. The land looked rather
sad and forlorn; but it was after all the first of November and
the fag-end of autumn. Still there seemed an unusual amount
of burning going on, and smoke rose from many points round
1310 the return of the king
about. A great cloud of it was going up far away in the
direction of the Woody End.
As evening fell they were drawing near to Frogmorton, a
village right on the Road, about twenty-two miles from the
Bridge. There they meant to stay the night; The Floating Log
at Frogmorton was a good inn. But as they came to the east
end of the village they met a barrier with a large board saying
no road; and behind it stood a large band of Shirriffs with
staves in their hands and feathers in their caps, looking both
important and rather scared.
‘What’s all this?’ said Frodo, feeling inclined to laugh.
‘This is what it is, Mr. Baggins,’ said the leader of the
Shirriffs, a two-feather hobbit: ‘You’re arrested for Gatebreaking, and Tearing up of Rules, and Assaulting Gatekeepers, and Trespassing, and Sleeping in Shire-buildings
without Leave, and Bribing Guards with Food.’
‘And what else?’ said Frodo.
‘That’ll do to go on with,’ said the Shirriff-leader.
‘I can add some more, if you’d like it,’ said Sam. ‘Calling
your Chief Names, Wishing to punch his Pimply Face, and
Thinking you Shirriffs look a lot of Tom-fools.’
‘There now, Mister, that’ll do. It’s the Chief’s orders that
you’re to come along quiet. We’re going to take you to
Bywater and hand you over to the Chief’s Men; and when
he deals with your case you can have your say. But if you
don’t want to stay in the Lockholes any longer than you need,
I should cut the say short, if I was you.’
To the discomfiture of the Shirriffs Frodo and his companions all roared with laughter. ‘Don’t be absurd!’ said
Frodo. ‘I am going where I please, and in my own time. I
happen to be going to Bag End on business, but if you insist
on going too, well that is your affair.’
‘Very well, Mr. Baggins,’ said the leader, pushing the
barrier aside. ‘But don’t forget I’ve arrested you.’
‘I won’t,’ said Frodo. ‘Never. But I may forgive you. Now
I am not going any further today, so if you’ll kindly escort
me to The Floating Log, I’ll be obliged.’
the scouring of the shire 1311
‘I can’t do that, Mr. Baggins. The inn’s closed. There’s a
Shirriff-house at the far end of the village. I’ll take you there.’
‘All right,’ said Frodo. ‘Go on and we’ll follow.’
Sam had been looking the Shirriffs up and down and
had spotted one that he knew. ‘Hey, come here Robin
Smallburrow!’ he called. ‘I want a word with you.’
With a sheepish glance at his leader, who looked wrathful
but did not dare to interfere, Shirriff Smallburrow fell back
and walked beside Sam, who got down off his pony.
‘Look here, Cock-robin!’ said Sam. ‘You’re Hobbiton-bred
and ought to have more sense, coming a-waylaying Mr.
Frodo and all. And what’s all this about the inn being closed?’
‘They’re all closed,’ said Robin. ‘The Chief doesn’t hold
with beer. Leastways that is how it started. But now I reckon
it’s his Men that has it all. And he doesn’t hold with folk
moving about; so if they will or they must, then they has to
go to the Shirriff-house and explain their business.’
‘You ought to be ashamed of yourself having anything to
do with such nonsense,’ said Sam. ‘You used to like the inside
of an inn better than the outside yourself. You were always
popping in, on duty or off.’
‘And so I would be still, Sam, if I could. But don’t be hard
on me. What can I do? You know how I went for a Shirriff
seven years ago, before any of this began. Gave me a chance
of walking round the country and seeing folk, and hearing
the news, and knowing where the good beer was. But now
it’s different.’
‘But you can give it up, stop Shirriffing, if it has stopped
being a respectable job,’ said Sam.
‘We’re not allowed to,’ said Robin.
‘If I hear not allowed much oftener,’ said Sam, ‘I’m going
to get angry.’
‘Can’t say as I’d be sorry to see it,’ said Robin lowering his
voice. ‘If we all got angry together something might be done.
But it’s these Men, Sam, the Chief’s Men. He sends them
round everywhere, and if any of us small folk stand up for
1312 the return of the king
our rights, they drag him off to the Lockholes. They took
old Flourdumpling, old Will Whitfoot the Mayor, first, and
they’ve taken a lot more. Lately it’s been getting worse. Often
they beat ’em now.’
‘Then why do you do their work for them?’ said Sam
angrily. ‘Who sent you to Frogmorton?’
‘No one did. We stay here in the big Shirriff-house. We’re
the First Eastfarthing Troop now. There’s hundreds of Shirriffs all told, and they want more, with all these new rules.
Most of them are in it against their will, but not all. Even in
the Shire there are some as like minding other folk’s business
and talking big. And there’s worse than that: there’s a few as
do spy-work for the Chief and his Men.’
‘Ah! So that’s how you had news of us, is it?’
‘That’s right. We aren’t allowed to send by it now, but they
use the old Quick Post service, and keep special runners at
different points. One came in from Whitfurrows last night
with a ‘‘secret message’’, and another took it on from here.
And a message came back this afternoon saying you was to
be arrested and taken to Bywater, not direct to the Lockholes.
The Chief wants to see you at once, evidently.’
‘He won’t be so eager when Mr. Frodo has finished with
him,’ said Sam.
The Shirriff-house at Frogmorton was as bad as the
Bridge-house. It had only one storey, but it had the same
narrow windows, and it was built of ugly pale bricks, badly
laid. Inside it was damp and cheerless, and supper was served
on a long bare table that had not been scrubbed for weeks.
The food deserved no better setting. The travellers were glad
to leave the place. It was about eighteen miles to Bywater,
and they set off at ten o’clock in the morning. They would
have started earlier, only the delay so plainly annoyed the
Shirriff-leader. The west wind had shifted northward and it
was turning colder, but the rain was gone.
It was rather a comic cavalcade that left the village, though
the few folk that came out to stare at the ‘get-up’ of the
the scouring of the shire 1313
travellers did not seem quite sure whether laughing was
allowed. A dozen Shirriffs had been told off as escort to the
‘prisoners’; but Merry made them march in front, while
Frodo and his friends rode behind. Merry, Pippin, and Sam
sat at their ease laughing and talking and singing, while the
Shirriffs stumped along trying to look stern and important.
Frodo, however, was silent and looked rather sad and
thoughtful.
The last person they passed was a sturdy old gaffer clipping
a hedge. ‘Hullo, hullo!’ he jeered. ‘Now who’s arrested who?’
Two of the Shirriffs immediately left the party and went
towards him. ‘Leader!’ said Merry. ‘Order your fellows back
to their places at once, if you don’t want me to deal with
them!’
The two hobbits at a sharp word from the leader came
back sulkily. ‘Now get on!’ said Merry, and after that the
travellers saw to it that their ponies’ pace was quick enough
to push the Shirriffs along as fast as they could go. The sun
came out, and in spite of the chilly wind they were soon
puffing and sweating.
At the Three-Farthing Stone they gave it up. They had
done nearly fourteen miles with only one rest at noon. It was
now three o’clock. They were hungry and very footsore and
they could not stand the pace.
‘Well, come along in your own time!’ said Merry. ‘We are
going on.’
‘Good-bye, Cock-robin!’ said Sam. ‘I’ll wait for you outside The Green Dragon, if you haven’t forgotten where that
is. Don’t dawdle on the way!’
‘You’re breaking arrest, that’s what you’re doing,’ said the
leader ruefully, ‘and I can’t be answerable.’
‘We shall break a good many things yet, and not ask you
to answer,’ said Pippin. ‘Good luck to you!’
The travellers trotted on, and as the sun began to sink
towards the White Downs far away on the western horizon
they came to Bywater by its wide pool; and there they had
1314 the return of the king
their first really painful shock. This was Frodo and Sam’s
own country, and they found out now that they cared about
it more than any other place in the world. Many of the houses
that they had known were missing. Some seemed to have
been burned down. The pleasant row of old hobbit-holes in
the bank on the north side of the Pool were deserted, and
their little gardens that used to run down bright to the water’s
edge were rank with weeds. Worse, there was a whole line of
the ugly new houses all along Pool Side, where the Hobbiton
Road ran close to the bank. An avenue of trees had stood
there. They were all gone. And looking with dismay up the
road towards Bag End they saw a tall chimney of brick in the
distance. It was pouring out black smoke into the evening air.
Sam was beside himself. ‘I’m going right on, Mr. Frodo!’
he cried. ‘I’m going to see what’s up. I want to find my
gaffer.’
‘We ought to find out first what we’re in for, Sam,’ said
Merry. ‘I guess that the ‘‘Chief’’ will have a gang of ruffians
handy. We had better find someone who will tell us how
things are round here.’
But in the village of Bywater all the houses and holes were
shut, and no one greeted them. They wondered at this, but
they soon discovered the reason of it. When they reached
The Green Dragon, the last house on the Hobbiton side, now
lifeless and with broken windows, they were disturbed to
see half a dozen large ill-favoured Men lounging against the
inn-wall; they were squint-eyed and sallow-faced.
‘Like that friend of Bill Ferny’s at Bree,’ said Sam.
‘Like many that I saw at Isengard,’ muttered Merry.
The ruffians had clubs in their hands and horns by their
belts, but they had no other weapons, as far as could be seen.
As the travellers rode up they left the wall and walked into
the road, blocking the way.
‘Where d’you think you’re going?’ said one, the largest and
most evil-looking of the crew. ‘There’s no road for you any
further. And where are those precious Shirriffs?’
the scouring of the shire 1315
‘Coming along nicely,’ said Merry. ‘A little footsore, perhaps. We promised to wait for them here.’
‘Garn, what did I say?’ said the ruffian to his mates. ‘I told
Sharkey it was no good trusting those little fools. Some of
our chaps ought to have been sent.’
‘And what difference would that have made, pray?’ said
Merry. ‘We are not used to footpads in this country, but we
know how to deal with them.’
‘Footpads, eh?’ said the man. ‘So that’s your tone, is it?
Change it, or we’ll change it for you. You little folk are getting
too uppish. Don’t you trust too much in the Boss’s kind
heart. Sharkey’s come now, and he’ll do what Sharkey says.’
‘And what may that be?’ said Frodo quietly.
‘This country wants waking up and setting to rights,’ said
the ruffian, ‘and Sharkey’s going to do it; and make it hard,
if you drive him to it. You need a bigger Boss. And you’ll get
one before the year is out, if there’s any more trouble. Then
you’ll learn a thing or two, you little rat-folk.’
‘Indeed. I am glad to hear of your plans,’ said Frodo. ‘I am
on my way to call on Mr. Lotho, and he may be interested
to hear of them too.’
The ruffian laughed. ‘Lotho! He knows all right. Don’t you
worry. He’ll do what Sharkey says. Because if a Boss gives
trouble, we can change him. See? And if little folks try to
push in where they’re not wanted, we can put them out of
mischief. See?’
‘Yes, I see,’ said Frodo. ‘For one thing, I see that you’re
behind the times and the news here. Much has happened
since you left the South. Your day is over, and all other
ruffians’. The Dark Tower has fallen, and there is a King in
Gondor. And Isengard has been destroyed, and your precious
master is a beggar in the wilderness. I passed him on the
road. The King’s messengers will ride up the Greenway now,
not bullies from Isengard.’
The man stared at him and smiled. ‘A beggar in the wilderness!’ he mocked. ‘Oh, is he indeed? Swagger it, swagger it,
my little cock-a-whoop. But that won’t stop us living in this
1316 the return of the king
fat little country where you have lazed long enough. And’ –
he snapped his fingers in Frodo’s face – ‘King’s messengers!
That for them! When I see one, I’ll take notice, perhaps.’
This was too much for Pippin. His thoughts went back to
the Field of Cormallen, and here was a squint-eyed rascal
calling the Ring-bearer ‘little cock-a-whoop’. He cast back
his cloak, flashed out his sword, and the silver and sable of
Gondor gleamed on him as he rode forward.
‘I am a messenger of the King,’ he said. ‘You are speaking
to the King’s friend, and one of the most renowned in all the
lands of the West. You are a ruffian and a fool. Down on
your knees in the road and ask pardon, or I will set this troll’s
bane in you!’
The sword glinted in the westering sun. Merry and Sam
drew their swords also and rode up to support Pippin; but
Frodo did not move. The ruffians gave back. Scaring Breeland peasants, and bullying bewildered hobbits, had been
their work. Fearless hobbits with bright swords and grim
faces were a great surprise. And there was a note in the voices
of these newcomers that they had not heard before. It chilled
them with fear.
‘Go!’ said Merry. ‘If you trouble this village again, you will
regret it.’ The three hobbits came on, and then the ruffians
turned and fled, running away up the Hobbiton Road; but
they blew their horns as they ran.
‘Well, we’ve come back none too soon,’ said Merry.
‘Not a day too soon. Perhaps too late, at any rate to save
Lotho,’ said Frodo. ‘Miserable fool, but I am sorry for him.’
‘Save Lotho? Whatever do you mean?’ said Pippin.
‘Destroy him, I should say.’
‘I don’t think you quite understand things, Pippin,’ said
Frodo. ‘Lotho never meant things to come to this pass. He
has been a wicked fool, but he’s caught now. The ruffians
are on top, gathering, robbing and bullying, and running or
ruining things as they like, in his name. And not in his name
even for much longer. He’s a prisoner in Bag End now, I
expect, and very frightened. We ought to try and rescue him.’
the scouring of the shire 1317
‘Well I am staggered!’ said Pippin. ‘Of all the ends to our
journey that is the very last I should have thought of: to have
to fight half-orcs and ruffians in the Shire itself – to rescue
Lotho Pimple!’
‘Fight?’ said Frodo. ‘Well, I suppose it may come to that.
But remember: there is to be no slaying of hobbits, not even
if they have gone over to the other side. Really gone over,
I mean; not just obeying ruffians’ orders because they are
frightened. No hobbit has ever killed another on purpose in
the Shire, and it is not to begin now. And nobody is to be
killed at all, if it can be helped. Keep your tempers and hold
your hands to the last possible moment!’
‘But if there are many of these ruffians,’ said Merry, ‘it will
certainly mean fighting. You won’t rescue Lotho, or the
Shire, just by being shocked and sad, my dear Frodo.’
‘No,’ said Pippin. ‘It won’t be so easy scaring them a
second time. They were taken by surprise. You heard that
horn-blowing? Evidently there are other ruffians near at
hand. They’ll be much bolder when there’s more of them
together. We ought to think of taking cover somewhere for
the night. After all we’re only four, even if we are armed.’
‘I’ve an idea,’ said Sam. ‘Let’s go to old Tom Cotton’s
down South Lane! He always was a stout fellow. And he has
a lot of lads that were all friends of mine.’
‘No!’ said Merry. ‘It’s no good ‘‘getting under cover’’. That
is just what people have been doing, and just what these
ruffians like. They will simply come down on us in force,
corner us, and then drive us out, or burn us in. No, we have
got to do something at once.’
‘Do what?’ said Pippin.
‘Raise the Shire!’ said Merry. ‘Now! Wake all our people!
They hate all this, you can see: all of them except perhaps
one or two rascals, and a few fools that want to be important,
but don’t at all understand what is really going on. But Shirefolk have been so comfortable so long they don’t know what
to do. They just want a match, though, and they’ll go up in
fire. The Chief’s Men must know that. They’ll try to stamp
1318 the return of the king
on us and put us out quick. We’ve only got a very short time.
‘Sam, you can make a dash for Cotton’s farm, if you like.
He’s the chief person round here, and the sturdiest. Come
on! I am going to blow the horn of Rohan, and give them all
some music they have never heard before.’
They rode back to the middle of the village. There Sam
turned aside and galloped off down the lane that led south
to Cotton’s. He had not gone far when he heard a sudden
clear horn-call go up ringing into the sky. Far over hill and
field it echoed; and so compelling was that call that Sam
himself almost turned and dashed back. His pony reared and
neighed.
‘On, lad! On!’ he cried. ‘We’ll be going back soon.’
Then he heard Merry change the note, and up went the
Horn-cry of Buckland, shaking the air.
Awake! Awake! Fear, Fire, Foes! Awake!
Fire, Foes! Awake!
Behind him Sam heard a hubbub of voices and a great din
and slamming of doors. In front of him lights sprang out in
the gloaming; dogs barked; feet came running. Before he got
to the lane’s end there was Farmer Cotton with three of his
lads, Young Tom, Jolly, and Nick, hurrying towards him.
They had axes in their hands, and barred the way.
‘Nay! It’s not one of them ruffians,’ Sam heard the farmer
say. ‘It’s a hobbit by the size of it, but all dressed up queer.
Hey!’ he cried. ‘Who are you, and what’s all this to-do?’
‘It’s Sam, Sam Gamgee. I’ve come back.’
Farmer Cotton came up close and stared at him in the
twilight. ‘Well!’ he exclaimed. ‘The voice is right, and your
face is no worse than it was, Sam. But I should a’ passed
you in the street in that gear. You’ve been in foreign parts,
seemingly. We feared you were dead.’
‘That I ain’t!’ said Sam. ‘Nor Mr. Frodo. He’s here and
his friends. And that’s the to-do. They’re raising the Shire.
the scouring of the shire 1319
We’re going to clear out these ruffians, and their Chief too.
We’re starting now.’
‘Good, good!’ cried Farmer Cotton. ‘So it’s begun at last!
I’ve been itching for trouble all this year, but folks wouldn’t
help. And I’ve had the wife and Rosie to think of. These
ruffians don’t stick at nothing. But come on now, lads!
Bywater is up! We must be in it!’
‘What about Mrs. Cotton and Rosie?’ said Sam. ‘It isn’t
safe yet for them to be left all alone.’
‘My Nibs is with them. But you can go and help him, if
you have a mind,’ said Farmer Cotton with a grin. Then he
and his sons ran off towards the village.
Sam hurried to the house. By the large round door at the
top of the steps from the wide yard stood Mrs. Cotton and
Rosie, and Nibs in front of them grasping a hay-fork.
‘It’s me!’ shouted Sam as he trotted up. ‘Sam Gamgee! So
don’t try prodding me, Nibs. Anyway, I’ve a mail-shirt on
me.’
He jumped down from his pony and went up the steps.
They stared at him in silence. ‘Good evening, Mrs. Cotton!’
he said. ‘Hullo, Rosie!’
‘Hullo, Sam!’ said Rosie. ‘Where’ve you been? They said
you were dead; but I’ve been expecting you since the spring.
You haven’t hurried, have you?’
‘Perhaps not,’ said Sam abashed. ‘But I’m hurrying now.
We’re setting about the ruffians, and I’ve got to get back to
Mr. Frodo. But I thought I’d have a look and see how Mrs.
Cotton was keeping, and you, Rosie.’
‘We’re keeping nicely, thank you,’ said Mrs. Cotton. ‘Or
should be, if it weren’t for these thieving ruffians.’
‘Well, be off with you!’ said Rosie. ‘If you’ve been looking
after Mr. Frodo all this while, what d’you want to leave him
for, as soon as things look dangerous?’
This was too much for Sam. It needed a week’s answer, or
none. He turned away and mounted his pony. But as he
started off, Rosie ran down the steps.
‘I think you look fine, Sam,’ she said. ‘Go on now! But
1320 the return of the king
take care of yourself, and come straight back as soon as you
have settled the ruffians!’
When Sam got back he found the whole village roused.
Already, apart from many younger lads, more than a hundred
sturdy hobbits were assembled with axes, and heavy hammers,
and long knives, and stout staves; and a few had hunting-bows.
More were still coming in from outlying farms.
Some of the village-folk had lit a large fire, just to enliven
things, and also because it was one of the things forbidden
by the Chief. It burned bright as night came on. Others at
Merry’s orders were setting up barriers across the road at
each end of the village. When the Shirriffs came up to the
lower one they were dumbfounded; but as soon as they saw
how things were, most of them took off their feathers and
joined in the revolt. The others slunk away.
Sam found Frodo and his friends by the fire talking to old
Tom Cotton, while an admiring crowd of Bywater folk stood
round and stared.
‘Well, what’s the next move?’ said Farmer Cotton.
‘I can’t say,’ said Frodo, ‘until I know more. How many of
these ruffians are there?’
‘That’s hard to tell,’ said Cotton. ‘They moves about and
comes and goes. There’s sometimes fifty of them in their
sheds up Hobbiton way; but they go out from there roving
round, thieving or ‘‘gathering’’ as they call it. Still there’s
seldom less than a score round the Boss, as they names him.
He’s at Bag End, or was; but he don’t go outside the grounds
now. No one’s seen him at all, in fact, for a week or two; but
the Men don’t let no one go near.’
‘Hobbiton’s not their only place, is it?’ said Pippin.
‘No, more’s the pity,’ said Cotton. ‘There’s a good few
down south in Longbottom and by Sarn Ford, I hear; and
some more lurking in the Woody End; and they’ve sheds at
Waymeet. And then there’s the Lockholes, as they call ’em:
the old storage-tunnels at Michel Delving that they’ve made
into prisons for those as stand up to them. Still I reckon
the scouring of the shire 1321
there’s not above three hundred of them in the Shire all told,
and maybe less. We can master them, if we stick together.’
‘Have they got any weapons?’ asked Merry.
‘Whips, knives, and clubs, enough for their dirty work:
that’s all they’ve showed so far,’ said Cotton. ‘But I dare say
they’ve got other gear, if it comes to fighting. Some have
bows, anyway. They’ve shot one or two of our folk.’
‘There you are, Frodo!’ said Merry. ‘I knew we should
have to fight. Well, they started the killing.’
‘Not exactly,’ said Cotton. ‘Leastways not the shooting.
Tooks started that. You see, your dad, Mr. Peregrin, he’s
never had no truck with this Lotho, not from the beginning:
said that if anyone was going to play the chief at this time of
day, it would be the right Thain of the Shire and no upstart.
And when Lotho sent his Men they got no change out of
him. Tooks are lucky, they’ve got those deep holes in the
Green Hills, the Great Smials and all, and the ruffians can’t
come at ’em; and they won’t let the ruffians come on their
land. If they do, Tooks hunt ’em. Tooks shot three for
prowling and robbing. After that the ruffians turned nastier.
And they keep a pretty close watch on Tookland. No one
gets in nor out of it now.’
‘Good for the Tooks!’ cried Pippin. ‘But someone is going
to get in again, now. I am off to the Smials. Anyone coming
with me to Tuckborough?’
Pippin rode off with half a dozen lads on ponies. ‘See you
soon!’ he cried. ‘It’s only fourteen miles or so over the fields.
I’ll bring you back an army of Tooks in the morning.’ Merry
blew a horn-call after them as they rode off into the gathering
night. The people cheered.
‘All the same,’ said Frodo to all those who stood near, ‘I
wish for no killing; not even of the ruffians, unless it must be
done, to prevent them from hurting hobbits.’
‘All right!’ said Merry. ‘But we shall be having a visit from
the Hobbiton gang any time now, I think. They won’t come
just to talk things over. We’ll try to deal with them neatly,
but we must be prepared for the worst. Now I’ve got a plan.’
1322 the return of the king
‘Very good,’ said Frodo. ‘You make the arrangements.’
Just then some hobbits, who had been sent out towards
Hobbiton, came running in. ‘They’re coming!’ they said. ‘A
score or more. But two have gone off west across country.’
‘To Waymeet, that’ll be,’ said Cotton, ‘to fetch more of
the gang. Well, it’s fifteen mile each way. We needn’t trouble
about them just yet.’
Merry hurried off to give orders. Farmer Cotton cleared
the street, sending everyone indoors, except the older hobbits
who had weapons of some sort. They had not long to wait.
Soon they could hear loud voices, and then the tramping of
heavy feet. Presently a whole squad of the ruffians came
down the road. They saw the barrier and laughed. They did
not imagine that there was anything in this little land that
would stand up to twenty of their kind together.
The hobbits opened the barrier and stood aside. ‘Thank
you!’ the Men jeered. ‘Now run home to bed before you’re
whipped.’ Then they marched along the street shouting: ‘Put
those lights out! Get indoors and stay there! Or we’ll take
fifty of you to the Lockholes for a year. Get in! The Boss is
losing his temper.’
No one paid any heed to their orders; but as the ruffians
passed, they closed in quietly behind and followed them.
When the Men reached the fire there was Farmer Cotton
standing all alone warming his hands.
‘Who are you, and what d’you think you’re doing?’ said
the ruffian-leader.
Farmer Cotton looked at him slowly. ‘I was just going to
ask you that,’ he said. ‘This isn’t your country, and you’re
not wanted.’
‘Well, you’re wanted anyhow,’ said the leader. ‘We want
you. Take him lads! Lockholes for him, and give him something to keep him quiet!’
The Men took one step forward and stopped short. There
rose a roar of voices all round them, and suddenly they were
aware that Farmer Cotton was not all alone. They were surrounded. In the dark on the edge of the firelight stood a ring
the scouring of the shire 1323
of hobbits that had crept up out of the shadows. There was
nearly two hundred of them, all holding some weapon.
Merry stepped forward. ‘We have met before,’ he said to
the leader, ‘and I warned you not to come back here. I warn
you again: you are standing in the light and you are covered
by archers. If you lay a finger on this farmer, or on anyone
else, you will be shot at once. Lay down any weapons that
you have!’
The leader looked round. He was trapped. But he was not
scared, not now with a score of his fellows to back him. He
knew too little of hobbits to understand his peril. Foolishly
he decided to fight. It would be easy to break out.
‘At ’em, lads!’ he cried. ‘Let ’em have it!’
With a long knife in his left hand and a club in the other
he made a rush at the ring, trying to burst out back towards
Hobbiton. He aimed a savage blow at Merry who stood in
his way. He fell dead with four arrows in him.
That was enough for the others. They gave in. Their
weapons were taken from them, and they were roped
together, and marched off to an empty hut that they had built
themselves, and there they were tied hand and foot, and
locked up under guard. The dead leader was dragged off and
buried.
‘Seems almost too easy after all, don’t it?’ said Cotton. ‘I
said we could master them. But we needed a call. You came
back in the nick o’ time, Mr. Merry.’
‘There’s more to be done still,’ said Merry. ‘If you’re right
in your reckoning, we haven’t dealt with a tithe of them yet.
But it’s dark now. I think the next stroke must wait until
morning. Then we must call on the Chief.’
‘Why not now?’ said Sam. ‘It’s not much more than six
o’clock. And I want to see my gaffer. D’you know what’s
come of him, Mr. Cotton?’
‘He’s not too well, and not too bad, Sam,’ said the farmer.
‘They dug up Bagshot Row, and that was a sad blow to him.
He’s in one of them new houses that the Chief’s Men used
to build while they still did any work other than burning and
1324 the return of the king
thieving: not above a mile from the end of Bywater. But he
comes around to me, when he gets a chance, and I see he’s
better fed than some of the poor bodies. All against The Rules,
of course. I’d have had him with me, but that wasn’t allowed.’
‘Thank’ee indeed, Mr. Cotton, and I’ll never forget it,’ said
Sam. ‘But I want to see him. That Boss and that Sharkey, as
they spoke of, they might do a mischief up there before the
morning.’
‘All right, Sam,’ said Cotton. ‘Choose a lad or two, and
go and fetch him to my house. You’ll not have need to go
near the old Hobbiton village over Water. My Jolly here will
show you.’
Sam went off. Merry arranged for look-outs round the
village and guards at the barriers during the night. Then
he and Frodo went off with Farmer Cotton. They sat with
the family in the warm kitchen, and the Cottons asked a few
polite questions about their travels, but hardly listened to the
answers: they were far more concerned with events in the
Shire.
‘It all began with Pimple, as we call him,’ said Farmer
Cotton; ‘and it began as soon as you’d gone off, Mr. Frodo.
He’d funny ideas, had Pimple. Seems he wanted to own
everything himself, and then order other folk about. It soon
came out that he already did own a sight more than was good
for him; and he was always grabbing more, though where he
got the money was a mystery: mills and malt-houses and
inns, and farms, and leaf-plantations. He’d already bought
Sandyman’s mill before he came to Bag End, seemingly.
‘Of course he started with a lot of property in the Southfarthing which he had from his dad; and it seems he’d been
selling a lot o’ the best leaf, and sending it away quietly for a
year or two. But at the end o’ last year he began sending
away loads of stuff, not only leaf. Things began to get short,
and winter coming on, too. Folk got angry, but he had his
answer. A lot of Men, ruffians mostly, came with great waggons, some to carry off the goods south-away, and others to
the scouring of the shire 1325
stay. And more came. And before we knew where we were
they were planted here and there all over the Shire, and were
felling trees and digging and building themselves sheds and
houses just as they liked. At first goods and damage was paid
for by Pimple; but soon they began lording it around and
taking what they wanted.
‘Then there was a bit of trouble, but not enough. Old Will
the Mayor set off for Bag End to protest, but he never got
there. Ruffians laid hands on him and took and locked him
up in a hole in Michel Delving, and there he is now. And
after that, it would be soon after New Year, there wasn’t no
more Mayor, and Pimple called himself Chief Shirriff, or just
Chief, and did as he liked; and if anyone got ‘‘uppish’’ as
they called it, they followed Will. So things went from bad to
worse. There wasn’t no smoke left, save for the Men; and
the Chief didn’t hold with beer, save for his Men, and closed
all the inns; and everything except Rules got shorter and
shorter, unless one could hide a bit of one’s own when the
ruffians went round gathering stuff up ‘‘for fair distribution’’:
which meant they got it and we didn’t, except for the leavings
which you could have at the Shirriff-houses, if you could
stomach them. All very bad. But since Sharkey came it’s been
plain ruination.’
‘Who is this Sharkey?’ said Merry. ‘I heard one of the
ruffians speak of him.’
‘The biggest ruffian o’ the lot, seemingly,’ answered
Cotton. ‘It was about last harvest, end o’ September maybe,
that we first heard of him. We’ve never seen him, but he’s
up at Bag End; and he’s the real Chief now, I guess. All the
ruffians do what he says; and what he says is mostly: hack,
burn, and ruin; and now it’s come to killing. There’s no
longer even any bad sense in it. They cut down trees and let
’em lie, they burn houses and build no more.
‘Take Sandyman’s mill now. Pimple knocked it down
almost as soon as he came to Bag End. Then he brought in
a lot o’ dirty-looking Men to build a bigger one and fill it full
o’ wheels and outlandish contraptions. Only that fool Ted
1326 the return of the king
was pleased by that, and he works there cleaning wheels for
the Men, where his dad was the Miller and his own master.
Pimple’s idea was to grind more and faster, or so he said.
He’s got other mills like it. But you’ve got to have grist before
you can grind; and there was no more for the new mill to do
than for the old. But since Sharkey came they don’t grind no
more corn at all. They’re always a-hammering and a-letting
out a smoke and a stench, and there isn’t no peace even at
night in Hobbiton. And they pour out filth a purpose; they’ve
fouled all the lower Water, and it’s getting down into Brandywine. If they want to make the Shire into a desert, they’re
going the right way about it. I don’t believe that fool of a
Pimple’s behind all this. It’s Sharkey, I say.’
‘That’s right!’ put in Young Tom. ‘Why, they even took
Pimple’s old ma, that Lobelia, and he was fond of her, if no
one else was. Some of the Hobbiton folk, they saw it. She
comes down the lane with her old umberella. Some of the
ruffians were going up with a big cart.
‘ ‘‘Where be you a-going?’’ says she.
‘ ‘‘To Bag End,’’ says they.
‘ ‘‘What for?’’ says she.
‘ ‘‘To put up some sheds for Sharkey,’’ says they.
‘ ‘‘Who said you could?’’ says she.
‘ ‘‘Sharkey,’’ says they. ‘‘So get out o’ the road, old
hagling!’’
‘ ‘‘I’ll give you Sharkey, you dirty thieving ruffians!’’ says
she, and ups with her umberella and goes for the leader, near
twice her size. So they took her. Dragged her off to the
Lockholes, at her age too. They’ve took others we miss more,
but there’s no denying she showed more spirit than most.’
Into the middle of this talk came Sam, bursting in with his
gaffer. Old Gamgee did not look much older, but he was a
little deafer.
‘Good evening, Mr. Baggins!’ he said. ‘Glad indeed I am
to see you safe back. But I’ve a bone to pick with you, in a
manner o’ speaking, if I may make so bold. You didn’t never
the scouring of the shire 1327
ought to have a’ sold Bag End, as I always said. That’s what
started all the mischief. And while you’ve been trapessing in
foreign parts, chasing Black Men up mountains from what
my Sam says, though what for he don’t make clear, they’ve
been and dug up Bagshot Row and ruined my taters!’
‘I am very sorry, Mr. Gamgee,’ said Frodo. ‘But now I’ve
come back, I’ll do my best to make amends.’
‘Well, you can’t say fairer than that,’ said the Gaffer. ‘Mr.
Frodo Baggins is a real gentlehobbit, I always have said, whatever you may think of some others of the name, begging your
pardon. And I hope my Sam’s behaved hisself and given
satisfaction?’
‘Perfect satisfaction, Mr. Gamgee,’ said Frodo. ‘Indeed, if
you will believe it, he’s now one of the most famous people
in all the lands, and they are making songs about his deeds
from here to the Sea and beyond the Great River.’ Sam
blushed, but he looked gratefully at Frodo, for Rosie’s eyes
were shining and she was smiling at him.
‘It takes a lot o’ believing,’ said the Gaffer, ‘though I can
see he’s been mixing in strange company. What’s come of
his weskit? I don’t hold with wearing ironmongery, whether
it wears well or no.’
Farmer Cotton’s household and all his guests were up early
next morning. Nothing had been heard in the night, but more
trouble would certainly come before the day was old. ‘Seems
as if none o’ the ruffians were left up at Bag End,’ said
Cotton; ‘but the gang from Waymeet will be along any time
now.’
After breakfast a messenger from the Tookland rode in.
He was in high spirits. ‘The Thain has raised all our country,’
he said, ‘and the news is going like fire all ways. The ruffians
that were watching our land have fled off south, those that
escaped alive. The Thain has gone after them, to hold off the
big gang down that way; but he’s sent Mr. Peregrin back with
all the other folk he can spare.’
The next news was less good. Merry, who had been out
1328 the return of the king
all night, came riding in about ten o’clock. ‘There’s a big
band about four miles away,’ he said. ‘They’re coming along
the road from Waymeet, but a good many stray ruffians have
joined up with them. There must be close on a hundred of
them; and they’re fire-raising as they come. Curse them!’
‘Ah! This lot won’t stay to talk, they’ll kill, if they can,’ said
Farmer Cotton. ‘If Tooks don’t come sooner, we’d best get
behind cover and shoot without arguing. There’s got to be
some fighting before this is settled, Mr. Frodo.’
The Tooks did come sooner. Before long they marched
in, a hundred strong, from Tuckborough and the Green Hills
with Pippin at their head. Merry now had enough sturdy
hobbitry to deal with the ruffians. Scouts reported that they
were keeping close together. They knew that the countryside
had risen against them, and plainly meant to deal with the
rebellion ruthlessly, at its centre in Bywater. But however
grim they might be, they seemed to have no leader among
them who understood warfare. They came on without any
precautions. Merry laid his plans quickly.
The ruffians came tramping along the East Road, and
without halting turned up the Bywater Road, which ran for
some way sloping up between high banks with low hedges
on top. Round a bend, about a furlong from the main road,
they met a stout barrier of old farm-carts upturned. That
halted them. At the same moment they became aware that
the hedges on both sides, just above their heads, were all
lined with hobbits. Behind them other hobbits now pushed
out some more waggons that had been hidden in a field,
and so blocked the way back. A voice spoke to them from
above.
‘Well, you have walked into a trap,’ said Merry. ‘Your
fellows from Hobbiton did the same, and one is dead and the
rest are prisoners. Lay down your weapons! Then go back
twenty paces and sit down. Any who try to break out will be
shot.’
But the ruffians could not now be cowed so easily. A few
the scouring of the shire 1329
of them obeyed, but were immediately set on by their fellows.
A score or more broke back and charged the waggons. Six
were shot, but the remainder burst out, killing two hobbits,
and then scattering across country in the direction of the
Woody End. Two more fell as they ran. Merry blew a loud
horn-call, and there were answering calls from a distance.
‘They won’t get far,’ said Pippin. ‘All that country is alive
with our hunters now.’
Behind, the trapped Men in the lane, still about four score,
tried to climb the barrier and the banks, and the hobbits were
obliged to shoot many of them or hew them with axes. But
many of the strongest and most desperate got out on the west
side, and attacked their enemies fiercely, being now more
bent on killing than escaping. Several hobbits fell, and the
rest were wavering, when Merry and Pippin, who were on
the east side, came across and charged the ruffians. Merry
himself slew the leader, a great squint-eyed brute like a huge
orc. Then he drew his forces off, encircling the last remnant
of the Men in a wide ring of archers.
At last all was over. Nearly seventy of the ruffians lay dead
on the field, and a dozen were prisoners. Nineteen hobbits
were killed, and some thirty were wounded. The dead ruffians
were laden on waggons and hauled off to an old sand-pit
nearby and there buried: in the Battle Pit, as it was afterwards
called. The fallen hobbits were laid together in a grave on the
hill-side, where later a great stone was set up with a garden
about it. So ended the Battle of Bywater, 1419, the last battle
fought in the Shire, and the only battle since the Greenfields,
1147, away up in the Northfarthing. In consequence, though
it happily cost very few lives, it has a chapter to itself in the
Red Book, and the names of all those who took part were
made into a Roll, and learned by heart by Shire-historians.
The very considerable rise in the fame and fortune of the
Cottons dates from this time; but at the top of the Roll in
all accounts stand the names of Captains Meriadoc and
Peregrin.

---

1330 the return of the king
Frodo had been in the battle, but he had not drawn sword,
and his chief part had been to prevent the hobbits in their
wrath at their losses, from slaying those of their enemies who
threw down their weapons. When the fighting was over, and
the later labours were ordered, Merry, Pippin, and Sam
joined him, and they rode back with the Cottons. They ate a
late midday meal, and then Frodo said with a sigh: ‘Well, I
suppose it is time now that we dealt with the ‘‘Chief’’.’
‘Yes indeed; the sooner the better,’ said Merry. ‘And don’t
be too gentle! He’s responsible for bringing in these ruffians,
and for all the evil they have done.’
Farmer Cotton collected an escort of some two dozen
sturdy hobbits. ‘For it’s only a guess that there is no ruffians
left at Bag End,’ he said. ‘We don’t know.’ Then they set out
on foot. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin led the way.
It was one of the saddest hours in their lives. The great
chimney rose up before them; and as they drew near the old
village across the Water, through rows of new mean houses
along each side of the road, they saw the new mill in all its
frowning and dirty ugliness: a great brick building straddling
the stream, which it fouled with a steaming and stinking
outflow. All along the Bywater Road every tree had been
felled.
As they crossed the bridge and looked up the Hill they
gasped. Even Sam’s vision in the Mirror had not prepared
him for what they saw. The Old Grange on the west side had
been knocked down, and its place taken by rows of tarred
sheds. All the chestnuts were gone. The banks and hedgerows
were broken. Great waggons were standing in disorder in a
field beaten bare of grass. Bagshot Row was a yawning sand
and gravel quarry. Bag End up beyond could not be seen for
a clutter of large huts.
‘They’ve cut it down!’ cried Sam. ‘They’ve cut down the
Party Tree!’ He pointed to where the tree had stood under
which Bilbo had made his Farewell Speech. It was lying
lopped and dead in the field. As if this was the last straw Sam
burst into tears.
the scouring of the shire 1331
A laugh put an end to them. There was a surly hobbit
lounging over the low wall of the mill-yard. He was grimyfaced and black-handed. ‘Don’t ’ee like it, Sam?’ he sneered.
‘But you always was soft. I thought you’d gone off in one o’
them ships you used to prattle about, sailing, sailing. What
d’you want to come back for? We’ve work to do in the Shire
now.’
‘So I see,’ said Sam. ‘No time for washing, but time for
wall-propping. But see here, Master Sandyman, I’ve a score
to pay in this village, and don’t you make it any longer with
your jeering, or you’ll foot a bill too big for your purse.’
Ted Sandyman spat over the wall. ‘Garn!’ he said. ‘You
can’t touch me. I’m a friend o’ the Boss’s. But he’ll touch
you all right, if I have any more of your mouth.’
‘Don’t waste any more words on the fool, Sam!’ said Frodo.
‘I hope there are not many more hobbits that have become
like this. It would be a worse trouble than all the damage the
Men have done.’
‘You are dirty and insolent, Sandyman,’ said Merry. ‘And
also very much out of your reckoning. We are just going up
the Hill to remove your precious Boss. We have dealt with
his Men.’
Ted gaped, for at that moment he first caught sight of the
escort that at a sign from Merry now marched over the
bridge. Dashing back into the mill he ran out with a horn and
blew it loudly.
‘Save your breath!’ laughed Merry. ‘I’ve a better.’ Then
lifting up his silver horn he winded it, and its clear call rang
over the Hill; and out of the holes and sheds and shabby
houses of Hobbiton the hobbits answered, and came pouring
out, and with cheers and loud cries they followed the company up the road to Bag End.
At the top of the lane the party halted, and Frodo and his
friends went on; and they came at last to the once beloved
place. The garden was full of huts and sheds, some so near
the old westward windows that they cut off all their light.
There were piles of refuse everywhere. The door was scarred;
1332 the return of the king
the bell-chain was dangling loose, and the bell would not
ring. Knocking brought no answer. At length they pushed
and the door yielded. They went in. The place stank and was
full of filth and disorder: it did not appear to have been used
for some time.
‘Where is that miserable Lotho hiding?’ said Merry. They
had searched every room and found no living thing save rats
and mice. ‘Shall we turn on the others to search the sheds?’
‘This is worse than Mordor!’ said Sam. ‘Much worse in a
way. It comes home to you, as they say; because it is home,
and you remember it before it was all ruined.’
‘Yes, this is Mordor,’ said Frodo. ‘Just one of its works.
Saruman was doing its work all the time, even when he
thought he was working for himself. And the same with those
that Saruman tricked, like Lotho.’
Merry looked round in dismay and disgust. ‘Let’s get out!’
he said. ‘If I had known all the mischief he had caused, I
should have stuffed my pouch down Saruman’s throat.’
‘No doubt, no doubt! But you did not, and so I am able to
welcome you home.’ There standing at the door was
Saruman himself, looking well-fed and well-pleased; his eyes
gleamed with malice and amusement.
A sudden light broke on Frodo. ‘Sharkey!’ he cried.
Saruman laughed. ‘So you have heard the name, have you?
All my people used to call me that in Isengard, I believe. A
sign of affection, possibly.* But evidently you did not expect
to see me here.’
‘I did not,’ said Frodo. ‘But I might have guessed. A little
mischief in a mean way: Gandalf warned me that you were
still capable of it.’
‘Quite capable,’ said Saruman, ‘and more than a little. You
made me laugh, you hobbit-lordlings, riding along with all
those great people, so secure and so pleased with your little
selves. You thought you had done very well out of it all, and

• It was probably Orkish in origin: sharkuˆ, ‘old man’.
  the scouring of the shire 1333
  could now just amble back and have a nice quiet time in the
  country. Saruman’s home could be all wrecked, and he could
  be turned out, but no one could touch yours. Oh no! Gandalf
  would look after your affairs.’
  Saruman laughed again. ‘Not he! When his tools have done
  their task he drops them. But you must go dangling after
  him, dawdling and talking, and riding round twice as far as
  you needed. ‘‘Well,’’ thought I, ‘‘if they’re such fools, I will
  get ahead of them and teach them a lesson. One ill turn
  deserves another.’’ It would have been a sharper lesson, if
  only you had given me a little more time and more Men. Still
  I have already done much that you will find it hard to mend
  or undo in your lives. And it will be pleasant to think of that
  and set it against my injuries.’
  ‘Well, if that is what you find pleasure in,’ said Frodo, ‘I
  pity you. It will be a pleasure of memory only, I fear. Go at
  once and never return!’
  The hobbits of the villages had seen Saruman come out of
  one of the huts, and at once they came crowding up to the
  door of Bag End. When they heard Frodo’s command, they
  murmured angrily:
  ‘Don’t let him go! Kill him! He’s a villain and a murderer.
  Kill him!’
  Saruman looked round at their hostile faces and smiled.
  ‘Kill him!’ he mocked. ‘Kill him, if you think there are enough
  of you, my brave hobbits!’ He drew himself up and stared at
  them darkly with his black eyes. ‘But do not think that when
  I lost all my goods I lost all my power! Whoever strikes me
  shall be accursed. And if my blood stains the Shire, it shall
  wither and never again be healed.’
  The hobbits recoiled. But Frodo said: ‘Do not believe him!
  He has lost all power, save his voice that can still daunt you
  and deceive you, if you let it. But I will not have him slain. It
  is useless to meet revenge with revenge: it will heal nothing.
  Go, Saruman, by the speediest way!’
  ‘Worm! Worm!’ Saruman called; and out of a nearby hut
  came Wormtongue, crawling, almost like a dog. ‘To the road
  1334 the return of the king
  again, Worm!’ said Saruman. ‘These fine fellows and lordlings are turning us adrift again. Come along!’
  Saruman turned to go, and Wormtongue shuffled after
  him. But even as Saruman passed close to Frodo a knife
  flashed in his hand, and he stabbed swiftly. The blade turned
  on the hidden mail-coat and snapped. A dozen hobbits, led
  by Sam, leaped forward with a cry and flung the villain to
  the ground. Sam drew his sword.
  ‘No, Sam!’ said Frodo. ‘Do not kill him even now. For he
  has not hurt me. And in any case I do not wish him to be
  slain in this evil mood. He was great once, of a noble kind
  that we should not dare to raise our hands against. He is
  fallen, and his cure is beyond us; but I would still spare him,
  in the hope that he may find it.’
  Saruman rose to his feet, and stared at Frodo. There was
  a strange look in his eyes of mingled wonder and respect and
  hatred. ‘You have grown, Halfling,’ he said. ‘Yes, you have
  grown very much. You are wise, and cruel. You have robbed
  my revenge of sweetness, and now I must go hence in bitterness, in debt to your mercy. I hate it and you! Well, I go and
  I will trouble you no more. But do not expect me to wish you
  health and long life. You will have neither. But that is not my
  doing. I merely foretell.’
  He walked away, and the hobbits made a lane for him to
  pass; but their knuckles whitened as they gripped on their weapons. Wormtongue hesitated, and then followed his master.
  ‘Wormtongue!’ called Frodo. ‘You need not follow him. I
  know of no evil you have done to me. You can have rest and
  food here for a while, until you are stronger and can go your
  own ways.’
  Wormtongue halted and looked back at him, half prepared
  to stay. Saruman turned. ‘No evil?’ he cackled. ‘Oh no! Even
  when he sneaks out at night it is only to look at the stars. But
  did I hear someone ask where poor Lotho is hiding? You
  know, don’t you, Worm? Will you tell them?’
  Wormtongue cowered down and whimpered: ‘No, no!’
  ‘Then I will,’ said Saruman. ‘Worm killed your Chief, poor
  the scouring of the shire 1335
  little fellow, your nice little Boss. Didn’t you, Worm? Stabbed
  him in his sleep, I believe. Buried him, I hope; though Worm
  has been very hungry lately. No, Worm is not really nice.
  You had better leave him to me.’
  A look of wild hatred came into Wormtongue’s red eyes.
  ‘You told me to; you made me do it,’ he hissed.
  Saruman laughed. ‘You do what Sharkey says, always,
  don’t you, Worm? Well, now he says: follow!’ He kicked
  Wormtongue in the face as he grovelled, and turned and
  made off. But at that something snapped: suddenly Wormtongue rose up, drawing a hidden knife, and then with a snarl
  like a dog he sprang on Saruman’s back, jerked his head back,
  cut his throat, and with a yell ran off down the lane. Before
  Frodo could recover or speak a word, three hobbit-bows
  twanged and Wormtongue fell dead.
  To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of
  Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great
  height like smoke from a fire, as a pale shrouded figure it
  loomed over the Hill. For a moment it wavered, looking to
  the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent
  away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing.
  Frodo looked down at the body with pity and horror, for
  as he looked it seemed that long years of death were suddenly
  revealed in it, and it shrank, and the shrivelled face became
  rags of skin upon a hideous skull. Lifting up the skirt of the
  dirty cloak that sprawled beside it, he covered it over, and
  turned away.
  ‘And that’s the end of that,’ said Sam. ‘A nasty end, and I
  wish I needn’t have seen it; but it’s a good riddance.’
  ‘And the very last end of the War, I hope,’ said Merry.
  ‘I hope so,’ said Frodo and sighed. ‘The very last stroke. But
  to think that it should fall here, at the very door of Bag End!
  Among all my hopes and fears at least I never expected that.’
  ‘I shan’t call it the end, till we’ve cleared up the mess,’ said
  Sam gloomily. ‘And that’ll take a lot of time and work.’
  Chapter 9
  THE GREY HAVENS
  The clearing up certainly needed a lot of work, but it took
  less time than Sam had feared. The day after the battle Frodo
  rode to Michel Delving and released the prisoners from the
  Lockholes. One of the first that they found was poor Fredegar
  Bolger, Fatty no longer. He had been taken when the ruffians
  smoked out a band of rebels that he led from their hidings
  up in the Brockenbores by the hills of Scary.
  ‘You would have done better to come with us after all,
  poor old Fredegar!’ said Pippin, as they carried him out too
  weak to walk.
  He opened an eye and tried gallantly to smile. ‘Who’s this
  young giant with the loud voice?’ he whispered. ‘Not little
  Pippin! What’s your size in hats now?’
  Then there was Lobelia. Poor thing, she looked very old
  and thin when they rescued her from a dark and narrow cell.
  She insisted on hobbling out on her own feet; and she had
  such a welcome, and there was such clapping and cheering
  when she appeared, leaning on Frodo’s arm but still clutching
  her umbrella, that she was quite touched, and drove away in
  tears. She had never in her life been popular before. But she
  was crushed by the news of Lotho’s murder, and she would
  not return to Bag End. She gave it back to Frodo, and went
  to her own people, the Bracegirdles of Hardbottle.
  When the poor creature died next spring – she was after
  all more than a hundred years old – Frodo was surprised and
  much moved: she had left all that remained of her money
  and of Lotho’s for him to use in helping hobbits made homeless by the troubles. So that feud was ended.
  Old Will Whitfoot had been in the Lockholes longer than
  any, and though he had perhaps been treated less harshly
  the grey havens 1337
  than some, he needed a lot of feeding up before he could
  look the part of Mayor; so Frodo agreed to act as his Deputy,
  until Mr. Whitfoot was in shape again. The only thing that
  he did as Deputy Mayor was to reduce the Shirriffs to their
  proper functions and numbers. The task of hunting out the
  last remnant of the ruffians was left to Merry and Pippin,
  and it was soon done. The southern gangs, after hearing the
  news of the Battle of Bywater, fled out of the land and offered
  little resistance to the Thain. Before the Year’s End the few
  survivors were rounded up in the woods, and those that
  surrendered were shown to the borders.
  Meanwhile the labour of repair went on apace, and Sam
  was kept very busy. Hobbits can work like bees when the
  mood and the need comes on them. Now there were thousands of willing hands of all ages, from the small but nimble
  ones of the hobbit lads and lasses to the well-worn and horny
  ones of the gaffers and gammers. Before Yule not a brick was
  left standing of the new Shirriff-houses or of anything that
  had been built by ‘Sharkey’s Men’; but the bricks were used
  to repair many an old hole, to make it snugger and drier.
  Great stores of goods and food, and beer, were found that
  had been hidden away by the ruffians in sheds and barns
  and deserted holes, and especially in the tunnels at Michel
  Delving and in the old quarries at Scary; so that there was a
  great deal better cheer that Yule than anyone had hoped for.
  One of the first things done in Hobbiton, before even the
  removal of the new mill, was the clearing of the Hill and Bag
  End, and the restoration of Bagshot Row. The front of the
  new sand-pit was all levelled and made into a large sheltered
  garden, and new holes were dug in the southward face, back
  into the Hill, and they were lined with brick. The Gaffer was
  restored to Number Three; and he said often and did not
  care who heard it:
  ‘It’s an ill wind as blows nobody no good, as I always say.
  And All’s well as ends Better!’
  There was some discussion of the name that the new row
  should be given. Battle Gardens was thought of, or Better
  1338 the return of the king
  Smials. But after a while in sensible hobbit-fashion it was just
  called New Row. It was a purely Bywater joke to refer to it as
  Sharkey’s End.
  The trees were the worst loss and damage, for at Sharkey’s
  bidding they had been cut down recklessly far and wide over
  the Shire; and Sam grieved over this more than anything else.
  For one thing, this hurt would take long to heal, and only his
  great-grandchildren, he thought, would see the Shire as it
  ought to be.
  Then suddenly one day, for he had been too busy for
  weeks to give a thought to his adventures, he remembered
  the gift of Galadriel. He brought the box out and showed it
  to the other Travellers (for so they were now called by everyone), and asked their advice.
  ‘I wondered when you would think of it,’ said Frodo.
  ‘Open it!’
  Inside it was filled with a grey dust, soft and fine, in the
  middle of which was a seed, like a small nut with a silver
  shale. ‘What can I do with this?’ said Sam.
  ‘Throw it in the air on a breezy day and let it do its work!’
  said Pippin.
  ‘On what?’ said Sam.
  ‘Choose one spot as a nursery, and see what happens to
  the plants there,’ said Merry.
  ‘But I’m sure the Lady would not like me to keep it all for
  my own garden, now so many folk have suffered,’ said Sam.
  ‘Use all the wits and knowledge you have of your own,
  Sam,’ said Frodo, ‘and then use the gift to help your work
  and better it. And use it sparingly. There is not much here,
  and I expect every grain has a value.’
  So Sam planted saplings in all the places where specially
  beautiful or beloved trees had been destroyed, and he put a
  grain of the precious dust in the soil at the root of each. He
  went up and down the Shire in this labour; but if he paid
  special attention to Hobbiton and Bywater no one blamed
  him. And at the end he found that he still had a little of the
  the grey havens 1339
  dust left; so he went to the Three-Farthing Stone, which is
  as near the centre of the Shire as no matter, and cast it in the
  air with his blessing. The little silver nut he planted in the
  Party Field where the tree had once been; and he wondered
  what would come of it. All through the winter he remained
  as patient as he could, and tried to restrain himself from
  going round constantly to see if anything was happening.
  Spring surpassed his wildest hopes. His trees began to
  sprout and grow, as if time was in a hurry and wished to
  make one year do for twenty. In the Party Field a beautiful
  young sapling leaped up: it had silver bark and long leaves
  and burst into golden flowers in April. It was indeed a mallorn,
  and it was the wonder of the neighbourhood. In after years,
  as it grew in grace and beauty, it was known far and wide
  and people would come long journeys to see it: the only
  mallorn west of the Mountains and east of the Sea, and one
  of the finest in the world.
  Altogether 1420 in the Shire was a marvellous year. Not
  only was there wonderful sunshine and delicious rain, in
  due times and perfect measure, but there seemed something
  more: an air of richness and growth, and a gleam of a beauty
  beyond that of mortal summers that flicker and pass upon
  this Middle-earth. All the children born or begotten in that
  year, and there were many, were fair to see and strong, and
  most of them had a rich golden hair that had before been
  rare among hobbits. The fruit was so plentiful that young
  hobbits very nearly bathed in strawberries and cream; and
  later they sat on the lawns under the plum-trees and ate, until
  they had made piles of stones like small pyramids or the
  heaped skulls of a conqueror, and then they moved on. And
  no one was ill, and everyone was pleased, except those who
  had to mow the grass.
  In the Southfarthing the vines were laden, and the yield of
  ‘leaf’ was astonishing; and everywhere there was so much
  corn that at Harvest every barn was stuffed. The Northfarthing barley was so fine that the beer of 1420 malt was long
  1340 the return of the king
  remembered and became a byword. Indeed a generation later
  one might hear an old gaffer in an inn, after a good pint of
  well-earned ale, put down his mug with a sigh: ‘Ah! that was
  proper fourteen-twenty, that was!’
  Sam stayed at first at the Cottons’ with Frodo; but when
  the New Row was ready he went with the Gaffer. In addition
  to all his other labours he was busy directing the cleaning up
  and restoring of Bag End; but he was often away in the Shire
  on his forestry work. So he was not at home in early March
  and did not know that Frodo had been ill. On the thirteenth
  of that month Farmer Cotton found Frodo lying on his bed;
  he was clutching a white gem that hung on a chain about his
  neck and he seemed half in a dream.
  ‘It is gone for ever,’ he said, ‘and now all is dark and
  empty.’
  But the fit passed, and when Sam got back on the twentyfifth, Frodo had recovered, and he said nothing about himself.
  In the meanwhile Bag End had been set in order, and Merry
  and Pippin came over from Crickhollow bringing back all the
  old furniture and gear, so that the old hole soon looked very
  much as it always had done.
  When all was at last ready Frodo said: ‘When are you going
  to move in and join me, Sam?’
  Sam looked a bit awkward.
  ‘There is no need to come yet, if you don’t want to,’ said
  Frodo. ‘But you know the Gaffer is close at hand, and he will
  be very well looked after by Widow Rumble.’
  ‘It’s not that, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam, and he went very red.
  ‘Well, what is it?’
  ‘It’s Rosie, Rose Cotton,’ said Sam. ‘It seems she didn’t
  like my going abroad at all, poor lass; but as I hadn’t spoken,
  she couldn’t say so. And I didn’t speak, because I had a job
  to do first. But now I have spoken, and she says: ‘‘Well,
  you’ve wasted a year, so why wait longer?’’ ‘‘Wasted?’’ I says.
  ‘‘I wouldn’t call it that.’’ Still I see what she means. I feel torn
  in two, as you might say.’
  the grey havens 1341
  ‘I see,’ said Frodo: ‘you want to get married, and yet you
  want to live with me in Bag End too? But my dear Sam, how
  easy! Get married as soon as you can, and then move in with
  Rosie. There’s room enough in Bag End for as big a family
  as you could wish for.’
  And so it was settled. Sam Gamgee married Rose Cotton
  in the spring of 1420 (which was also famous for its weddings), and they came and lived at Bag End. And if Sam
  thought himself lucky, Frodo knew that he was more lucky
  himself; for there was not a hobbit in the Shire that was
  looked after with such care. When the labours of repair had
  all been planned and set going he took to a quiet life, writing
  a great deal and going through all his notes. He resigned the
  office of Deputy Mayor at the Free Fair that Midsummer,
  and dear old Will Whitfoot had another seven years of presiding at Banquets.
  Merry and Pippin lived together for some time at Crickhollow, and there was much coming and going between
  Buckland and Bag End. The two young Travellers cut a great
  dash in the Shire with their songs and their tales and their
  finery, and their wonderful parties. ‘Lordly’ folk called them,
  meaning nothing but good; for it warmed all hearts to see
  them go riding by with their mail-shirts so bright and their
  shields so splendid, laughing and singing songs of far away;
  and if they were now large and magnificent, they were unchanged otherwise, unless they were indeed more fairspoken
  and more jovial and full of merriment than ever before.
  Frodo and Sam, however, went back to ordinary attire,
  except that when there was need they both wore long grey
  cloaks, finely woven and clasped at the throat with beautiful
  brooches; and Mr. Frodo wore always a white jewel on a
  chain that he often would finger.
  All things now went well, with hope always of becoming
  still better; and Sam was as busy and as full of delight as even
  a hobbit could wish. Nothing for him marred that whole
  year, except for some vague anxiety about his master. Frodo
  1342 the return of the king
  dropped quietly out of all the doings of the Shire, and Sam
  was pained to notice how little honour he had in his own
  country. Few people knew or wanted to know about his deeds
  and adventures; their admiration and respect were given
  mostly to Mr. Meriadoc and Mr. Peregrin and (if Sam had
  known it) to himself. Also in the autumn there appeared a
  shadow of old troubles.
  One evening Sam came into the study and found his master
  looking very strange. He was very pale and his eyes seemed
  to see things far away.
  ‘What’s the matter, Mr. Frodo?’ said Sam.
  ‘I am wounded,’ he answered, ‘wounded; it will never really
  heal.’
  But then he got up, and the turn seemed to pass, and he
  was quite himself the next day. It was not until afterwards
  that Sam recalled that the date was October the sixth. Two
  years before on that day it was dark in the dell under
  Weathertop.
  Time went on, and 1421 came in. Frodo was ill again in
  March, but with a great effort he concealed it, for Sam had
  other things to think about. The first of Sam and Rosie’s
  children was born on the twenty-fifth of March, a date that
  Sam noted.
  ‘Well, Mr. Frodo,’ he said. ‘I’m in a bit of a fix. Rose and
  me had settled to call him Frodo, with your leave; but it’s not
  him, it’s her. Though as pretty a maidchild as anyone could
  hope for, taking after Rose more than me, luckily. So we
  don’t know what to do.’
  ‘Well, Sam,’ said Frodo, ‘what’s wrong with the old customs? Choose a flower name like Rose. Half the maidchildren
  in the Shire are called by such names, and what could be
  better?’
  ‘I suppose you’re right, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam. ‘I’ve heard
  some beautiful names on my travels, but I suppose they’re a
  bit too grand for daily wear and tear, as you might say. The
  Gaffer, he says: ‘‘Make it short, and then you won’t have to
  the grey havens 1343
  cut it short before you can use it.’’ But if it’s to be a flowername, then I don’t trouble about the length: it must be a
  beautiful flower, because, you see, I think she is very beautiful, and is going to be beautifuller still.’
  Frodo thought for a moment. ‘Well, Sam, what about
  elanor, the sun-star, you remember the little golden flower in
  the grass of Lothlo´rien?’
  ‘You’re right again, Mr. Frodo!’ said Sam delighted.
  ‘That’s what I wanted.’
  Little Elanor was nearly six months old, and 1421 had
  passed to its autumn, when Frodo called Sam into the study.
  ‘It will be Bilbo’s Birthday on Thursday, Sam,’ he said.
  ‘And he will pass the Old Took. He will be a hundred and
  thirty-one!’
  ‘So he will!’ said Sam. ‘He’s a marvel!’
  ‘Well, Sam,’ said Frodo, ‘I want you to see Rose and find
  out if she can spare you, so that you and I can go off together.
  You can’t go far or for a long time now, of course,’ he said a
  little wistfully.
  ‘Well, not very well, Mr. Frodo.’
  ‘Of course not. But never mind. You can see me on my
  way. Tell Rose that you won’t be away very long, not more
  than a fortnight; and you’ll come back quite safe.’
  ‘I wish I could go all the way with you to Rivendell, Mr.
  Frodo, and see Mr. Bilbo,’ said Sam. ‘And yet the only place
  I really want to be in is here. I am that torn in two.’
  ‘Poor Sam! It will feel like that, I am afraid,’ said Frodo.
  ‘But you will be healed. You were meant to be solid and
  whole, and you will be.’
  In the next day or two Frodo went through his papers and
  his writings with Sam, and he handed over his keys. There
  was a big book with plain red leather covers; its tall pages
  were now almost filled. At the beginning there were many
  leaves covered with Bilbo’s thin wandering hand; but most
  of it was written in Frodo’s firm flowing script. It was divided
  1344 the return of the king
  into chapters but Chapter 80 was unfinished, and after that
  were some blank leaves. The title page had many titles on it,
  crossed out one after another, so:
  My Diary. My Unexpected Journey. There and Back Again.
  And What Happened After.
  Adventures of Five Hobbits. The Tale of the Great Ring, compiled by Bilbo Baggins from his own observations and the
  accounts of his friends. What we did in the War of the Ring.
  Here Bilbo’s hand ended and Frodo had written:
  the downfall
  of the
  lord of the rings
  and the
  return of the king
  (as seen by the Little People; being the memoirs of Bilbo
  and Frodo of the Shire, supplemented by the accounts of
  their friends and the learning of the Wise.)
  Together with extracts from Books of Lore translated by
  Bilbo in Rivendell.
  ‘Why, you have nearly finished it, Mr. Frodo!’ Sam
  exclaimed. ‘Well, you have kept at it, I must say.’
  ‘I have quite finished, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘The last pages
  are for you.’
  On September the twenty-first they set out together, Frodo
  on the pony that had borne him all the way from Minas
  Tirith, and was now called Strider; and Sam on his beloved
  Bill. It was a fair golden morning, and Sam did not ask where
  they were going: he thought he could guess.
  They took the Stock Road over the hills and went towards
  the Woody End, and they let their ponies walk at their leisure.
  the grey havens 1345
  They camped in the Green Hills, and on September the
  twenty-second they rode gently down into the beginning of
  the trees as afternoon was wearing away.
  ‘If that isn’t the very tree you hid behind when the Black
  Rider first showed up, Mr. Frodo!’ said Sam pointing to the
  left. ‘It seems like a dream now.’
  It was evening, and the stars were glimmering in the eastern
  sky as they passed the ruined oak and turned and went on
  down the hill between the hazel-thickets. Sam was silent,
  deep in his memories. Presently he became aware that Frodo
  was singing softly to himself, singing the old walking-song,
  but the words were not quite the same.
  Still round the corner there may wait
  A new road or a secret gate;
  And though I oft have passed them by,
  A day will come at last when I
  Shall take the hidden paths that run
  West of the Moon, East of the Sun.
  And as if in answer, from down below, coming up the road
  out of the valley, voices sang:
  A! Elbereth Gilthoniel!
  silivren penna mı´riel
  o menel aglar elenath,
  Gilthoniel, A! Elbereth!
  We still remember, we who dwell
  In this far land beneath the trees
  The starlight on the Western Seas.
  Frodo and Sam halted and sat silent in the soft shadows,
  until they saw a shimmer as the travellers came towards them.
  There was Gildor and many fair Elven folk; and there to
  Sam’s wonder rode Elrond and Galadriel. Elrond wore a
  mantle of grey and had a star upon his forehead, and a silver
  1346 the return of the king
  harp was in his hand, and upon his finger was a ring of gold
  with a great blue stone, Vilya, mightiest of the Three. But
  Galadriel sat upon a white palfrey and was robed all in glimmering white, like clouds about the Moon; for she herself
  seemed to shine with a soft light. On her finger was Nenya,
  the ring wrought of mithril, that bore a single white stone
  flickering like a frosty star. Riding slowly behind on a small
  grey pony, and seeming to nod in his sleep, was Bilbo himself.
  Elrond greeted them gravely and graciously, and Galadriel
  smiled upon them. ‘Well, Master Samwise,’ she said. ‘I hear
  and see that you have used my gift well. The Shire shall now
  be more than ever blessed and beloved.’ Sam bowed, but
  found nothing to say. He had forgotten how beautiful the
  Lady was.
  Then Bilbo woke up and opened his eyes. ‘Hullo, Frodo!’
  he said. ‘Well, I have passed the Old Took today! So that’s
  settled. And now I think I am quite ready to go on another
  journey. Are you coming?’
  ‘Yes, I am coming,’ said Frodo. ‘The Ring-bearers should
  go together.’
  ‘Where are you going, Master?’ cried Sam, though at last
  he understood what was happening.
  ‘To the Havens, Sam,’ said Frodo.
  ‘And I can’t come.’
  ‘No, Sam. Not yet anyway, not further than the Havens.
  Though you too were a Ring-bearer, if only for a little while.
  Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot
  be always torn in two. You will have to be one and whole,
  for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and
  to do.’
  ‘But,’ said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, ‘I thought
  you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years,
  after all you have done.’
  ‘So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt,
  Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not
  for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger:
  some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may
  the grey havens 1347
  keep them. But you are my heir: all that I had and might have
  had I leave to you. And also you have Rose, and Elanor;
  and Frodo-lad will come, and Rosie-lass, and Merry, and
  Goldilocks, and Pippin; and perhaps more that I cannot see.
  Your hands and your wits will be needed everywhere. You
  will be the Mayor, of course, as long as you want to be, and
  the most famous gardener in history; and you will read things
  out of the Red Book, and keep alive the memory of the age
  that is gone, so that people will remember the Great Danger
  and so love their beloved land all the more. And that will
  keep you as busy and as happy as anyone can be, as long as
  your part of the Story goes on.
  ‘Come now, ride with me!’
  Then Elrond and Galadriel rode on; for the Third Age was
  over, and the Days of the Rings were passed, and an end was
  come of the story and song of those times. With them went
  many Elves of the High Kindred who would no longer stay
  in Middle-earth; and among them, filled with a sadness that
  was yet blessed and without bitterness, rode Sam, and Frodo,
  and Bilbo, and the Elves delighted to honour them.
  Though they rode through the midst of the Shire all the
  evening and all the night, none saw them pass, save the wild
  creatures; or here and there some wanderer in the dark who
  saw a swift shimmer under the trees, or a light and shadow
  flowing through the grass as the Moon went westward. And
  when they had passed from the Shire, going about the south
  skirts of the White Downs, they came to the Far Downs, and
  to the Towers, and looked on the distant Sea; and so they
  rode down at last to Mithlond, to the Grey Havens in the
  long firth of Lune.
  As they came to the gates Cı´rdan the Shipwright came
  forth to greet them. Very tall he was, and his beard was long,
  and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars;
  and he looked at them and bowed, and said: ‘All is now
  ready.’
  Then Cı´rdan led them to the Havens, and there was a
  1348 the return of the king
  white ship lying, and upon the quay beside a great grey horse
  stood a figure robed all in white awaiting them. As he turned
  and came towards them Frodo saw that Gandalf now wore
  openly on his hand the Third Ring, Narya the Great, and the
  stone upon it was red as fire. Then those who were to go
  were glad, for they knew that Gandalf also would take ship
  with them.
  But Sam was now sorrowful at heart, and it seemed to him
  that if the parting would be bitter, more grievous still would
  be the long road home alone. But even as they stood there,
  and the Elves were going aboard, and all was being made
  ready to depart, up rode Merry and Pippin in great haste.
  And amid his tears Pippin laughed.
  ‘You tried to give us the slip once before and failed, Frodo,’
  he said. ‘This time you have nearly succeeded, but you have
  failed again. It was not Sam, though, that gave you away this
  time, but Gandalf himself!’
  ‘Yes,’ said Gandalf; ‘for it will be better to ride back three
  together than one alone. Well, here at last, dear friends, on
  the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in
  Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for
  not all tears are an evil.’
  Then Frodo kissed Merry and Pippin, and last of all Sam,
  and went aboard; and the sails were drawn up, and the wind
  blew, and slowly the ship slipped away down the long grey
  firth; and the light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore
  glimmered and was lost. And the ship went out into the High
  Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of
  rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard
  the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it
  seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil,
  the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled
  back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far
  green country under a swift sunrise.
  But to Sam the evening deepened to darkness as he stood
  at the Haven; and as he looked at the grey sea he saw only a
  shadow on the waters that was soon lost in the West. There
  the grey havens 1349
  still he stood far into the night, hearing only the sigh and
  murmur of the waves on the shores of Middle-earth, and the
  sound of them sank deep into his heart. Beside him stood
  Merry and Pippin, and they were silent.
  At last the three companions turned away, and never again
  looking back they rode slowly homewards; and they spoke no
  word to one another until they came back to the Shire, but
  each had great comfort in his friends on the long grey road.
  At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road,
  and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland; and already
  they were singing again as they went. But Sam turned to
  Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending
  once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and
  fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was
  expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair,
  and put little Elanor upon his lap.
  He drew a deep breath. ‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.
  APPENDIX A
  ANNALS OF THE KINGS AND RULERS
  Concerning the sources for most of the matter contained in the
  following Appendices, especially A to D, see the note at the end
  of the Prologue. The section A III, Durin’s Folk, was probably
  derived from Gimli the Dwarf, who maintained his friendship
  with Peregrin and Meriadoc and met them again many times in
  Gondor and Rohan.
  The legends, histories, and lore to be found in the sources are
  very extensive. Only selections from them, in most places much
  abridged, are here presented. Their principal purpose is to illustrate the War of the Ring and its origins, and to fill up some of
  the gaps in the main story. The ancient legends of the First Age,
  in which Bilbo’s chief interest lay, are very briefly referred to,
  since they concern the ancestry of Elrond and the Nu´meno´rean
  kings and chieftains. Actual extracts from longer annals and tales
  are placed within quotation marks. Insertions of later date are
  enclosed in brackets. Notes within quotation marks are found in
  the sources. Others are editorial.1
  The dates given are those of the Third Age, unless they are
  marked S.A. (Second Age) or F.A. (Fourth Age). The Third
  Age was held to have ended when the Three Rings passed away
  in September 3021, but for the purposes of records in Gondor
  F.A.1 began on March 25, 3021. On the equation of the dating
  of Gondor and Shire Reckoning see Vol. I p. 6 and III pp. 1463–

1. In lists the dates following the names of kings and rulers are
   the dates of their deaths, if only one date is given. The sign †
   indicates a premature death, in battle or otherwise, though an
   annal of the event is not always included.
   1 A few references are given by page to this edition of The Lord of the
   Rings, and to the hardback 4th (reset 4th edition (1995)) edition of The
   Hobbit.
   1352 the return of the king
   I
   THE NU´ MENO´ REAN KINGS
   (i)
   nu´ menor
   Fe¨anor was the greatest of the Eldar in arts and lore, but also the
   proudest and most selfwilled. He wrought the Three Jewels, the
   Silmarilli, and filled them with the radiance of the Two Trees,
   Telperion and Laurelin,1 that gave light to the land of the Valar.
   The Jewels were coveted by Morgoth the Enemy, who stole them
   and, after destroying the Trees, took them to Middle-earth, and
   guarded them in his great fortress of Thangorodrim.2 Against
   the will of the Valar Fe¨anor forsook the Blessed Realm and went
   in exile to Middle-earth, leading with him a great part of his
   people; for in his pride he purposed to recover the Jewels from
   Morgoth by force. Thereafter followed the hopeless war of the
   Eldar and the Edain against Thangorodrim, in which they were
   at last utterly defeated. The Edain (Atani) were three peoples of
   Men who, coming first to the West of Middle-earth and the
   shores of the Great Sea, became allies of the Eldar against the
   Enemy.
   There were three unions of the Eldar and the Edain: Lu´thien
   and Beren; Idril and Tuor; Arwen and Aragorn. By the last the
   long-sundered branches of the Half-elven were reunited and
   their line was restored.
   Lu´thien Tinu´viel was the daughter of King Thingol Greycloak of Doriath in the First Age, but her mother was Melian of
   the people of the Valar. Beren was the son of Barahir of the First
   House of the Edain. Together they wrested a silmaril from the
   Iron Crown of Morgoth.3 Lu´thien became mortal and was lost
   to Elven-kind. Dior was her son. Elwing was his daughter and
   had in her keeping the silmaril.
   Idril Celebrindal was the daughter of Turgon, king of the
   1 Cf. pp. 318; 781; 1273: no likeness remained in Middle-earth of
   Laurelin the Golden. 2 p. 316; p. 932. 3 p. 253; p. 932.
   appendix a 1353
   hidden city of Gondolin.1 Tuor was the son of Huor of the
   House of Hador, the Third House of the Edain and the most
   renowned in the wars with Morgoth. Ea¨rendil the Mariner was
   their son.
   Ea¨rendil wedded Elwing, and with the power of the silmaril
   passed the Shadows2 and came to the Uttermost West, and
   speaking as ambassador of both Elves and Men obtained the
   help by which Morgoth was overthrown. Ea¨rendil was not permitted to return to mortal lands, and his ship bearing the silmaril
   was set to sail in the heavens as a star, and a sign of hope to the
   dwellers in Middle-earth oppressed by the Great Enemy or his
   servants.3 The silmarilli alone preserved the ancient light of the
   Two Trees of Valinor before Morgoth poisoned them; but the
   other two were lost at the end of the First Age. Of these things
   the full tale, and much else concerning Elves and Men, is told
   in The Silmarillion.
   The sons of Ea¨rendil were Elros and Elrond, the Peredhil or
   Half-elven. In them alone the line of the heroic chieftains of the
   Edain in the First Age was preserved; and after the fall of Gilgalad4 the lineage of the High-elven Kings was also in Middleearth only represented by their descendants.
   At the end of the First Age the Valar gave to the Half-elven
   an irrevocable choice to which kindred they would belong.
   Elrond chose to be of Elven-kind, and became a master of wisdom. To him therefore was granted the same grace as to those
   of the High Elves that still lingered in Middle-earth: that when
   weary at last of the mortal lands they could take ship from the
   Grey Havens and pass into the Uttermost West; and this grace
   continued after the change of the world. But to the children of
   Elrond a choice was also appointed: to pass with him from the
   circles of the world; or if they remained to become mortal and
   die in Middle-earth. For Elrond, therefore, all chances of the
   War of the Ring were fraught with sorrow.5
   1 The Hobbit, p. 49; The Lord of the Rings, p. 412. 2 pp. 304–8. 3 pp. 470–4; pp. 932, 942; pp. 1197, 1206. 4 pp. 68, 242–3. 5 See pp. 1276, 1280.
   1354 the return of the king
   Elros chose to be of Man-kind and remain with the Edain; but
   a great life-span was granted to him many times that of lesser
   men.
   As a reward for their sufferings in the cause against Morgoth,
   the Valar, the Guardians of the World, granted to the Edain a
   land to dwell in, removed from the dangers of Middle-earth.
   Most of them, therefore, set sail over Sea, and guided by the
   Star of Ea¨rendil came to the great Isle of Elenna, westernmost
   of all Mortal lands. There they founded the realm of Nu´menor.
   There was a tall mountain in the midst of the land, the Meneltarma, and from its summit the farsighted could descry the white
   tower of the Haven of the Eldar in Eresse¨a. Thence the Eldar
   came to the Edain and enriched them with knowledge and many
   gifts; but one command had been laid upon the Nu´meno´reans,
   the ‘Ban of the Valar’: they were forbidden to sail west out of
   sight of their own shores or to attempt to set foot on the Undying
   Lands. For though a long span of life had been granted to them,
   in the beginning thrice that of lesser Men, they must remain
   mortal, since the Valar were not permitted to take from them
   the Gift of Men (or the Doom of Men, as it was afterwards
   called).
   Elros was the first King of Nu´menor, and was afterwards
   known by the High-elven name Tar-Minyatur. His descendants
   were long-lived but mortal. Later when they became powerful
   they begrudged the choice of their forefather, desiring the
   immortality within the life of the world that was the fate of the
   Eldar, and murmuring against the Ban. In this way began their
   rebellion which, under the evil teaching of Sauron, brought about
   the Downfall of Nu´menor and the ruin of the ancient world, as
   is told in the Akallabeˆth.
   These are the names of the Kings and Queens of Nu´menor: Elros
   Tar-Minyatur, Vardamir, Tar-Amandil, Tar-Elendil, TarMeneldur, Tar-Aldarion, Tar-Ancalime¨ (the first Ruling
   Queen), Tar-Ana´rion, Tar-Su´rion, Tar-Telperie¨n (the second
   Queen), Tar-Minastir, Tar-Ciryatan, Tar-Atanamir the Great,
   Tar-Ancalimon, Tar-Telemmaite¨, Tar-Vanimelde¨ (the third
   Queen), Tar-Alcarin, Tar-Calmacil, Tar-Ardamin.
   appendix a 1355
   After Ardamin the Kings took the sceptre in names of
   the Nu´meno´rean (or Aduˆnaic) tongue: Ar-Aduˆnakhoˆr, ArZimrathoˆn, Ar-Sakalthoˆr, Ar-Gimilzoˆr, Ar-Inziladuˆn. Inziladuˆn
   repented of the ways of the Kings and changed his name to
   Tar-Palantir ‘The Farsighted’. His daughter should have been
   the fourth Queen, Tar-Mı´riel, but the King’s nephew usurped
   the sceptre and became Ar-Pharazoˆn the Golden, last King
   of the Nu´meno´reans.
   In the days of Tar-Elendil the first ships of the Nu´meno´reans
   came back to Middle-earth. His elder child was a daughter,
   Silmarie¨n. Her son was Valandil, first of the Lords of Andu´nie¨
   in the west of the land, renowned for their friendship with the
   Eldar. From him were descended Amandil, the last lord, and his
   son Elendil the Tall.
   The sixth King left only one child, a daughter. She became the
   first Queen; for it was then made a law of the royal house that
   the eldest child of the King, whether man or woman, should
   receive the sceptre.
   The realm of Nu´menor endured to the end of the Second Age
   and increased ever in power and splendour; and until half the
   Age had passed the Nu´meno´reans grew also in wisdom and joy.
   The first sign of the shadow that was to fall upon them appeared
   in the days of Tar-Minastir, eleventh King. He it was that
   sent a great force to the aid of Gil-galad. He loved the Eldar
   but envied them. The Nu´meno´reans had now become great
   mariners, exploring all the seas eastward, and they began to
   yearn for the West and the forbidden waters; and the more joyful
   was their life, the more they began to long for the immortality
   of the Eldar.
   Moreover, after Minastir the Kings became greedy of wealth
   and power. At first the Nu´meno´reans had come to Middle-earth
   as teachers and friends of lesser Men afflicted by Sauron; but
   now their havens became fortresses, holding wide coastlands
   in subjection. Atanamir and his successors levied heavy tribute,
   and the ships of the Nu´meno´reans returned laden with spoil.
   It was Tar-Atanamir who first spoke openly against the Ban
   and declared that the life of the Eldar was his by right. Thus the
   1356 the return of the king
   shadow deepened, and the thought of death darkened the hearts
   of the people. Then the Nu´meno´reans became divided: on the
   one hand were the Kings and those who followed them, and
   were estranged from the Eldar and the Valar; on the other were
   the few who called themselves the Faithful. They lived mostly in
   the west of the land.
   The Kings and their followers little by little abandoned the
   use of the Eldarin tongues; and at last the twentieth King took
   his royal name, in Nu´meno´rean form, calling himself ArAduˆnakhoˆr, ‘Lord of the West’. This seemed ill-omened to the
   Faithful, for hitherto they had given that title only to one of the
   Valar, or to the Elder King himself.1 And indeed Ar-Aduˆnakhoˆr
   began to persecute the Faithful and punished those who used the
   Elven-tongues openly; and the Eldar came no more to Nu´menor.
   The power and wealth of the Nu´meno´reans nonetheless continued to increase; but their years lessened as their fear of death
   grew, and their joy departed. Tar-Palantir attempted to amend
   the evil; but it was too late, and there was rebellion and strife in
   Nu´menor. When he died, his nephew, leader of the rebellion,
   seized the sceptre, and became King Ar-Pharazoˆn. Ar-Pharazoˆn
   the Golden was the proudest and most powerful of all the Kings,
   and no less than the kingship of the world was his desire.
   He resolved to challenge Sauron the Great for the supremacy
   in Middle-earth, and at length he himself set sail with a great
   navy, and he landed at Umbar. So great was the might and
   splendour of the Nu´meno´reans that Sauron’s own servants
   deserted him; and Sauron humbled himself, doing homage, and
   craving pardon. Then Ar-Pharazoˆn in the folly of his pride
   carried him back as a prisoner to Nu´menor. It was not long
   before he had bewitched the King and was master of his counsel;
   and soon he had turned the hearts of all the Nu´meno´reans,
   except the remnant of the Faithful, back towards the darkness.
   And Sauron lied to the King, declaring that everlasting life
   would be his who possessed the Undying Lands, and that the
   Ban was imposed only to prevent the Kings of Men from surpassing the Valar. ‘But great Kings take what is their right,’ he
   said.
   1 p. 306.
   appendix a 1357
   At length Ar-Pharazoˆn listened to this counsel, for he felt the
   waning of his days and was besotted by the fear of Death. He
   prepared then the greatest armament that the world had seen,
   and when all was ready he sounded his trumpets and set sail;
   and he broke the Ban of the Valar, going up with war to wrest
   everlasting life from the Lords of the West. But when ArPharazoˆn set foot upon the shores of Aman the Blessed, the
   Valar laid down their Guardianship and called upon the One,
   and the world was changed. Nu´menor was thrown down and
   swallowed in the Sea, and the Undying Lands were removed
   for ever from the circles of the world. So ended the glory of
   Nu´menor.
   The last leaders of the Faithful, Elendil and his sons, escaped
   from the Downfall with nine ships, bearing a seedling of Nimloth, and the Seven Seeing-stones (gifts of the Eldar to their
   House);1 and they were borne on the wind of a great storm and
   cast upon the shores of Middle-earth. There they established
   in the North-west the Nu´meno´rean realms in exile, Arnor and
   Gondor.2 Elendil was the High King and dwelt in the North at
   Annu´minas; and the rule in the South was committed to his
   sons, Isildur and Ana´rion. They founded there Osgiliath,
   between Minas Ithil and Minas Anor,3 not far from the confines
   of Mordor. For this good at least they believed had come out of
   ruin, that Sauron also had perished.
   But it was not so. Sauron was indeed caught in the wreck of
   Nu´menor, so that the bodily form in which he long had walked
   perished; but he fled back to Middle-earth, a spirit of hatred
   borne upon a dark wind. He was unable ever again to assume a
   form that seemed fair to men, but became black and hideous,
   and his power thereafter was through terror alone. He re-entered
   Mordor, and hid there for a time in silence. But his anger was
   great when he learned that Elendil, whom he most hated, had
   escaped him, and was now ordering a realm upon his borders.
   Therefore, after a time he made war upon the Exiles, before
   they should take root. Orodruin burst once more into flame, and
   1 p. 779; p. 1273. 2 p. 316. 3 p. 318.
   1358 the return of the king
   was named anew in Gondor Amon Amarth, Mount Doom. But
   Sauron struck too soon, before his own power was rebuilt,
   whereas the power of Gil-galad had increased in his absence;
   and in the Last Alliance that was made against him Sauron was
   overthrown and the One Ring was taken from him.1 So ended
   the Second Age.
   (ii)
   the realms in exile
   The Northern Line
   Heirs of Isildur
   Arnor. Elendil †S.A. 3441, Isildur †2, Valandil 249,
   2 Eldacar
   339, Arantar 435, Tarcil 515, Tarondor 602, Valandur †652,
   Elendur 777, Ea¨rendur 861.
   Arthedain. Amlaith of Fornost3 (eldest son of Ea¨rendur) 946,
   Beleg 1029, Mallor 1110, Celepharn 1191, Celebrindor 1272,
   Malvegil 1349,
   4 Argeleb I †1356, Arveleg I 1409, Araphor
   1589, Argeleb II 1670, Arvegil 1743, Arveleg II 1813, Araval
   1891, Araphant 1964, Arvedui Last-king †1975. End of the
   North-kingdom.
   Chieftains. Aranarth (elder son of Arvedui) 2106, Arahael 2177,
   Aranuir 2247, Aravir 2319, Aragorn I †2327, Araglas 2455,
   Arahad I 2523, Aragost 2588, Aravorn 2654, Arahad II 2719,
   Arassuil 2784, Arathorn I †2848, Argonui 2912, Arador
   †2930, Arathorn II †2933, Aragorn II F.A. 120.
   The Southern Line
   Heirs of Ana´rion
   Kings of Gondor. Elendil, (Isildur and) Ana´rion †S.A. 3440,
   Meneldil son of Ana´rion 158, Cemendur 238, Ea¨rendil 324,
   1 p. 317. 2 He was the fourth son of Isildur, born in Imladris. His brothers were
   slain in the Gladden Fields. 3 After Ea¨rendur the Kings no longer took names in High-elven form. 4 After Malvegil, the Kings at Fornost again claimed lordship over
   the whole of Arnor, and took names with the prefix ar(a) in token of this.
   appendix a 1359
   Anardil 411, Ostoher 492, Ro´mendacil I (Tarostar) †541,
   Turambar 667, Atanatar I 748, Siriondil 830. Here followed
   the four ‘Ship-kings’:
   Tarannon Falastur 913. He was the first childless king, and
   was succeeded by the son of his brother Tarciryan. Ea¨rnil
   I†936, Ciryandil †1015, Hyarmendacil I (Ciryaher) 1149.
   Gondor now reached the height of its power.
   Atanatar II Alcarin ‘the Glorious’ 1226, Narmacil I 1294.
   He was the second childless king and was succeeded by his
   younger brother. Calmacil 1304, Minalcar (regent 1240–
   1304), crowned as Ro´mendacil II 1304, died 1366, Valacar
2. In his time the first disaster of Gondor began, the
   Kin-strife.
   Eldacar son of Valacar (at first called Vinitharya) deposed
3. Castamir the Usurper †1447. Eldacar restored, died
   1490.
   Aldamir (second son of Eldacar) †1540, Hyarmendacil II
   (Vinyarion) 1621, Minardil †1634, Telemnar †1636. Telemnar and all his children perished in the plague; he was succeeded by his nephew, the son of Minastan, second son of
   Minardil. Tarondor 1798, Telumehtar Umbardacil 1850,
   Narmacil II †1856, Calimehtar 1936, Ondoher †1944.
   Ondoher and his two sons were slain in battle. After a year
   in 1945 the crown was given to the victorious general Ea¨rnil,
   a descendant of Telumehtar Umbardacil. Ea¨rnil II 2043, Ea¨rnur †2050. Here the line of the Kings came to an end, until
   it was restored by Elessar Telcontar in 3019. The realm was
   then ruled by the Stewards.
   Stewards of Gondor. The House of Hu´rin: Pelendur 1998. He
   ruled for a year after the fall of Ondoher, and advised Gondor
   to reject Arvedui’s claim to the crown. Vorondil the Hunter
   2029.
   1 Mardil Voronwe¨ ‘the Steadfast’, the first of the Ruling
   Stewards. His successors ceased to use High-elven names.
   1 See p. 988. The wild white kine that were still to be found near the
   Sea of Rhuˆn were said in legend to be descended from the Kine of
   Araw, the huntsman of the Valar, who alone of the Valar came often to
   Middle-earth in the Elder Days. Orome¨ is the High-elven form of his
   name (p. 1097).
   1360 the return of the king
   Ruling Stewards. Mardil 2080, Eradan 2116, Herion 2148, Belegorn 2204, Hu´rin I 2244, Tu´rin I 2278, Hador 2395, Barahir
   2412, Dior 2435, Denethor I 2477, Boromir 2489, Cirion
4. In his time the Rohirrim came to Calenardhon.
   Hallas 2605, Hu´rin II 2628, Belecthor I 2655, Orodreth
   2685, Ecthelion I 2698, Egalmoth 2743, Beren 2763, Beregond 2811, Belecthor II 2872, Thorondir 2882, Tu´rin II 2914,
   Turgon 2953, Ecthelion II 2984, Denethor II. He was the last
   of the Ruling Stewards, and was followed by his second son
   Faramir, Lord of Emyn Arnen, Steward to King Elessar,
   F.A. 82.
   (iii)
   eriador, arnor, and the heirs of isildur
   ‘Eriador was of old the name of all the lands between the Misty
   Mountains and the Blue; in the South it was bounded by the
   Greyflood and the Glanduin that flows into it above Tharbad.
   ‘At its greatest Arnor included all Eriador, except the regions
   beyond the Lune, and the lands east of Greyflood and Loudwater, in which lay Rivendell and Hollin. Beyond the Lune was
   Elvish country, green and quiet, where no Men went; but
   Dwarves dwelt, and still dwell, in the east side of the Blue
   Mountains, especially in those parts south of the Gulf of Lune,
   where they have mines that are still in use. For this reason they
   were accustomed to pass east along the Great Road, as they had
   done for long years before we came to the Shire. At the Grey
   Havens dwelt Cı´rdan the Shipwright, and some say he dwells
   there still, until the Last Ship sets sail into the West. In the
   days of the Kings most of the High Elves that still lingered in
   Middle-earth dwelt with Cı´rdan or in the seaward lands of Lindon. If any now remain they are few.’
   The North-kingdom and the Du´nedain
   After Elendil and Isildur there were eight High Kings of Arnor.
   After Ea¨rendur, owing to dissensions among his sons their realm
   was divided into three: Arthedain, Rhudaur, and Cardolan.
   Arthedain was in the North-west and included the land between
   Brandywine and Lune, and also the land north of the Great
   appendix a 1361
   Road as far as the Weather Hills. Rhudaur was in the North-east
   and lay between the Ettenmoors, the Weather Hills, and the
   Misty Mountains, but included also the Angle between the
   Hoarwell and the Loudwater. Cardolan was in the South, its
   bounds being the Brandywine, the Greyflood, and the Great
   Road.
   In Arthedain the line of Isildur was maintained and endured,
   but the line soon perished in Cardolan and Rhudaur. There was
   often strife between the kingdoms, which hastened the waning
   of the Du´nedain. The chief matter of debate was the possession
   of the Weather Hills and the land westward towards Bree. Both
   Rhudaur and Cardolan desired to possess Amon Suˆl
   (Weathertop), which stood on the borders of their realms; for
   the Tower of Amon Suˆl held the chief Palantı´r of the North, and
   the other two were both in the keeping of Arthedain.
   ‘It was in the beginning of the reign of Malvegil of Arthedain
   that evil came to Arnor. For at that time the realm of Angmar
   arose in the North beyond the Ettenmoors. Its lands lay on both
   sides of the Mountains, and there were gathered many evil men,
   and Orcs, and other fell creatures. [The lord of that land was
   known as the Witch-king, but it was not known until later that
   he was indeed the chief of the Ringwraiths, who came north with
   the purpose of destroying the Du´nedain in Arnor, seeing hope
   in their disunion, while Gondor was strong.]’
   In the days of Argeleb son of Malvegil, since no descendants
   of Isildur remained in the other kingdoms, the kings of Arthedain
   again claimed the lordship of all Arnor. The claim was resisted
   by Rhudaur. There the Du´nedain were few, and power had been
   seized by an evil lord of the Hillmen, who was in secret league
   with Angmar. Argeleb therefore fortified the Weather Hills;1 but
   he was slain in battle with Rhudaur and Angmar.
   Arveleg son of Argeleb, with the help of Cardolan and Lindon,
   drove back his enemies from the Hills; and for many years
   Arthedain and Cardolan held in force a frontier along the
   Weather Hills, the Great Road, and the lower Hoarwell. It is said
   that at this time Rivendell was besieged.
   1 p. 242.
   1362 the return of the king
   A great host came out of Angmar in 1409, and crossing the
   river entered Cardolan and surrounded Weathertop. The Du´nedain were defeated and Arveleg was slain. The Tower of Amon
   Suˆl was burned and razed; but the palantı´r was saved and carried
   back in retreat to Fornost. Rhudaur was occupied by evil Men
   subject to Angmar,1 and the Du´nedain that remained there were
   slain or fled west. Cardolan was ravaged. Araphor son of Arveleg
   was not yet full-grown, but he was valiant, and with aid from
   Cı´rdan he repelled the enemy from Fornost and the North
   Downs. A remnant of the faithful among the Du´nedain of Cardolan also held out in Tyrn Gorthad (the Barrow-downs), or
   took refuge in the Forest behind.
   It is said that Angmar was for a time subdued by the Elvenfolk
   coming from Lindon; and from Rivendell, for Elrond brought
   help over the Mountains out of Lo´rien. It was at this time that
   the Stoors that had dwelt in the Angle (between Hoarwell and
   Loudwater) fled west and south, because of the wars, and the
   dread of Angmar, and because the land and clime of Eriador,
   especially in the east, worsened and became unfriendly. Some
   returned to Wilderland, and dwelt beside the Gladden, becoming
   a riverside people of fishers.
   In the days of Argeleb II the plague came into Eriador from
   the South-east, and most of the people of Cardolan perished,
   especially in Minhiriath. The Hobbits and all other peoples suffered greatly, but the plague lessened as it passed northwards,
   and the northern parts of Arthedain were little affected. It was
   at this time that an end came of the Du´nedain of Cardolan, and
   evil spirits out of Angmar and Rhudaur entered into the deserted
   mounds and dwelt there.
   ‘It is said that the mounds of Tyrn Gorthad, as the Barrowdowns were called of old, are very ancient, and that many were
   built in the days of the old world of the First Age by the forefathers of the Edain, before they crossed the Blue Mountains
   into Beleriand, of which Lindon is all that now remains. Those
   hills were therefore revered by the Du´nedain after their return;
   and there many of their lords and kings were buried. [Some say
   1 p. 263.
   appendix a 1363
   that the mound in which the Ring-bearer was imprisoned had
   been the grave of the last prince of Cardolan, who fell in the war
   of 1409.]’
   ‘In 1974 the power of Angmar arose again, and the Witch-king
   came down upon Arthedain before winter was ended. He captured Fornost, and drove most of the remaining Du´nedain over
   the Lune; among them were the sons of the king. But King
   Arvedui held out upon the North Downs until the last, and then
   fled north with some of his guard; and they escaped by the
   swiftness of their horses.
   ‘For a while Arvedui hid in the tunnels of the old dwarf-mines
   near the far end of the Mountains, but he was driven at last by
   hunger to seek the help of the Lossoth, the Snowmen of Forochel.1 Some of these he found in camp by the seashore; but
   they did not help the king willingly, for he had nothing to offer
   them, save a few jewels which they did not value; and they were
   afraid of the Witch-king, who (they said) could make frost or
   thaw at his will. But partly out of pity for the gaunt king and his
   men, and partly out of fear of their weapons, they gave them a
   little food and built for them snow-huts. There Arvedui was
   forced to wait, hoping for help from the south; for his horses
   had perished.
   ‘When Cı´rdan heard from Aranarth son of Arvedui of the
   king’s flight to the north, he at once sent a ship to Forochel to
   seek for him. The ship came there at last after many days,
   because of contrary winds, and the mariners saw from afar the
   little fire of drift-wood which the lost men contrived to keep
   alight. But the winter was long in loosing its grip that year; and
   1 These are a strange, unfriendly people, remnant of the Forodwaith,
   Men of far-off days, accustomed to the bitter colds of the realm of
   Morgoth. Indeed those colds linger still in that region, though they lie
   hardly more than a hundred leagues north of the Shire. The Lossoth
   house in the snow, and it is said that they can run on the ice with
   bones on their feet, and have carts without wheels. They live mostly,
   inaccessible to their enemies, on the great Cape of Forochel that shuts
   off to the north-west the immense bay of that name; but they often camp
   on the south shores of the bay at the feet of the Mountains.
   1364 the return of the king
   though it was then March, the ice was only beginning to break,
   and lay far out from the shore.
   ‘When the Snowmen saw the ship they were amazed and
   afraid, for they had seen no such ship on the sea within their
   memories; but they had become now more friendly, and they
   drew the king and those that survived of his company out over
   the ice in their sliding carts, as far as they dared. In this way a
   boat from the ship was able to reach them.
   ‘But the Snowmen were uneasy: for they said that they smelled
   danger in the wind. And the chief of the Lossoth said to Arvedui:
   ‘‘Do not mount on this sea-monster! If they have them, let the
   seamen bring us food and other things that we need, and you
   may stay here till the Witch-king goes home. For in summer his
   power wanes; but now his breath is deadly, and his cold arm is
   long.’’
   ‘But Arvedui did not take his counsel. He thanked him, and
   at parting gave him his ring, saying: ‘‘This is a thing of worth
   beyond your reckoning. For its ancientry alone. It has no power,
   save the esteem in which those hold it who love my house. It will
   not help you, but if ever you are in need, my kin will ransom it
   with great store of all that you desire.’’1
   ‘Yet the counsel of the Lossoth was good, by chance or by
   foresight; for the ship had not reached the open sea when a great
   storm of wind arose, and came with blinding snow out of the
   North; and it drove the ship back upon the ice and piled ice up
   against it. Even the mariners of Cı´rdan were helpless, and in the
   night the ice crushed the hull, and the ship foundered. So perished Arvedui Last-king, and with him the palantı´ri were buried
   in the sea.2 It was long afterwards that news of the shipwreck of
   Forochel was learned from the Snowmen.’
   1 In this way the ring of the House of Isildur was saved; for it was
   afterwards ransomed by the Du´nedain. It is said that it was none other
   than the ring which Felagund of Nargothrond gave to Barahir, and Beren
   recovered at great peril. 2 These were the Stones of Annu´minas and Amon Suˆl. The only
   Stone left in the North was the one in the Tower on Emyn Beraid that
   looks towards the Gulf of Lune. That was guarded by the Elves, and
   though we never knew it, it remained there, until Cı´rdan put it aboard
   Elrond’s ship when he left (pp. 59, 142). But we are told that it was
   appendix a 1365
   The Shire-folk survived, though war swept over them and
   most of them fled into hiding. To the help of the king they sent
   some archers who never returned; and others went also to the
   battle in which Angmar was overthrown (of which more is said
   in the annals of the South). Afterwards in the peace that followed
   the Shire-folk ruled themselves and prospered. They chose a
   Thain to take the place of the King, and were content; though
   for a long time many still looked for the return of the King. But
   at last that hope was forgotten, and remained only in the saying
   When the King comes back, used of some good that could not be
   achieved, or of some evil that could not be amended. The first
   Shire-thain was one Bucca of the Marish, from whom the
   Oldbucks claimed descent. He became Thain in 379 of our
   reckoning (1979).
   After Arvedui the North-kingdom ended, for the Du´nedain were
   now few and all the peoples of Eriador diminished. Yet the line
   of the kings was continued by the Chieftains of the Du´nedain,
   of whom Aranarth son of Arvedui was the first. Arahael his son
   was fostered in Rivendell, and so were all the sons of the chieftains after him; and there also were kept the heirlooms of their
   house: the ring of Barahir, the shards of Narsil, the star of Elendil,
   and the sceptre of Annu´minas.1
   unlike the others and not in accord with them; it looked only to the Sea.
   Elendil set it there so that he could look back with ‘straight sight’ and
   see Eresse¨a in the vanished West; but the bent seas below covered
   Nu´menor for ever.
   1 The sceptre was the chief mark of royalty in Nu´menor, the King
   tells us; and that was also so in Arnor, whose kings wore no crown, but
   bore a single white gem, the Elendilmir, Star of Elendil, bound on their
   brows with a silver fillet (p. 191; pp. 1110, 1127, 1267). In speaking of
   a crown (pp. 222, 322) Bilbo no doubt referred to Gondor; he seems to
   have become well acquainted with matters concerning Aragorn’s line.
   The sceptre of Nu´menor is said to have perished with Ar-Pharazoˆn.
   That of Annu´minas was the silver rod of the Lords of Andu´nie¨, and
   is now perhaps the most ancient work of Men’s hands preserved in
   Middle-earth. It was already more than five thousand years old when
   Elrond surrendered it to Aragorn (p. 1274). The crown of Gondor was
   derived from the form of a Nu´meno´rean war-helm. In the beginning it
   1366 the return of the king
   ‘When the kingdom ended the Du´nedain passed into the
   shadows and became a secret and wandering people, and their
   deeds and labours were seldom sung or recorded. Little now is
   remembered of them since Elrond departed. Although even
   before the Watchful Peace ended evil things again began to
   attack Eriador or to invade it secretly, the Chieftains for the most
   part lived out their long lives. Aragorn I, it is said, was slain by
   wolves, which ever after remained a peril in Eriador, and are not
   yet ended. In the days of Arahad I the Orcs, who had, as later
   appeared, long been secretly occupying strongholds in the Misty
   Mountains, so as to bar all the passes into Eriador, suddenly
   revealed themselves. In 2509 Celebrı´an wife of Elrond was journeying to Lo´rien when she was waylaid in the Redhorn Pass,
   and her escort being scattered by the sudden assault of the Orcs,
   she was seized and carried off. She was pursued and rescued by
   Elladan and Elrohir, but not before she had suffered torment
   and had received a poisoned wound.1 She was brought back to
   Imladris, and though healed in body by Elrond, lost all delight
   in Middle-earth, and the next year went to the Havens and
   passed over Sea. And later in the days of Arassuil, Orcs, multiplying again in the Misty Mountains, began to ravage the lands,
   and the Du´nedain and the sons of Elrond fought with them. It
   was at this time that a large band came so far west as to enter
   the Shire, and were driven off by Bandobras Took.’2
   There were fifteen Chieftains, before the sixteenth and last
   was born, Aragorn II, who became again King of both Gondor
   and Arnor. ‘Our King, we call him; and when he comes north
   to his house in Annu´minas restored and stays for a while by
   Lake Evendim, then everyone in the Shire is glad. But he does
   not enter this land and binds himself by the law that he has
   made, that none of the Big People shall pass its borders. But he
   was indeed a plain helm; and it is said to have been the one that Isildur
   wore in the Battle of Dagorlad (for the helm of Ana´rion was crushed by
   the stone-cast from Barad-duˆr that slew him). But in the days of Atanatar
   Alcarin this was replaced by the jewelled helm that was used in the
   crowning of Aragorn. 1 p. 295. 2 p. 7; p. 1329.
   appendix a 1367
   rides often with many fair people to the Great Bridge, and there
   he welcomes his friends, and any others who wish to see him;
   and some ride away with him and stay in his house as long as
   they have a mind. Thain Peregrin has been there many times;
   and so has Master Samwise the Mayor. His daughter Elanor the
   Fair is one of the maids of Queen Evenstar.’
   It was the pride and wonder of the Northern Line that, though
   their power departed and their people dwindled, through all the
   many generations the succession was unbroken from father to
   son. Also, though the length of lives of the Du´nedain grew ever
   less in Middle-earth, after the ending of their kings the waning
   was swifter in Gondor; and many of the Chieftains of the North
   still lived to twice the age of Men, and far beyond the days of
   even the oldest amongst us. Aragorn indeed lived to be two
   hundred and ten years old, longer than any of his line since King
   Arvegil; but in Aragorn Elessar the dignity of the kings of old
   was renewed.
   (iv)
   gondor and the heirs of ana´ rion
   There were thirty-one kings in Gondor after Ana´rion who was
   slain before the Barad-duˆr. Though war never ceased on their
   borders, for more than a thousand years the Du´nedain of the
   South grew in wealth and power by land and sea, until the reign
   of Atanatar II, who was called Alcarin, the Glorious. Yet the
   signs of decay had then already appeared; for the high men of
   the South married late, and their children were few. The first
   childless king was Falastur, and the second Narmacil I, the son
   of Atanatar Alcarin.
   It was Ostoher the seventh king who rebuilt Minas Anor, where
   afterwards the kings dwelt in summer rather than in Osgiliath.
   In his time Gondor was first attacked by wild men out of the
   East. But Tarostar, his son, defeated them and drove them
   out, and took the name of Ro´mendacil ‘East-victor’. He was,
   however, later slain in battle with fresh hordes of Easterlings.
   Turambar his son avenged him, and won much territory
   eastwards.
   1368 the return of the king
   With Tarannon, the twelfth king, began the line of the Shipkings, who built navies and extended the sway of Gondor along
   the coasts west and south of the Mouths of Anduin. To commemorate his victories as Captain of the Hosts, Tarannon took
   the crown in the name of Falastur ‘Lord of the Coasts’.
   Ea¨rnil I, his nephew, who succeeded him, repaired the ancient
   haven of Pelargir, and built a great navy. He laid siege by sea
   and land to Umbar, and took it, and it became a great harbour
   and fortress of the power of Gondor.1 But Ea¨rnil did not long
   survive his triumph. He was lost with many ships and men in a
   great storm off Umbar. Ciryandil his son continued the building
   of ships; but the Men of the Harad, led by the lords that had
   been driven from Umbar, came up with great power against that
   stronghold, and Ciryandil fell in battle in Haradwaith.
   For many years Umbar was invested, but could not be taken
   because of the sea-power of Gondor. Ciryaher son of Ciryandil
   bided his time, and at last when he had gathered strength he
   came down from the north by sea and by land, and crossing the
   River Harnen his armies utterly defeated the Men of the Harad,
   and their kings were compelled to acknowledge the overlordship
   of Gondor (1050). Ciryaher then took the name of Hyarmendacil
   ‘South-victor’.
   The might of Hyarmendacil no enemy dared to contest during
   the remainder of his long reign. He was king for one hundred
   and thirty-four years, the longest reign but one of all the Line of
   Ana´rion. In his day Gondor reached the summit of its power.
   The realm then extended north to the field of Celebrant and the
   southern eaves of Mirkwood; west to the Greyflood; east to the
   inland Sea of Rhuˆn; south to the River Harnen, and thence along
   the coast to the peninsula and haven of Umbar. The Men of the
   Vales of Anduin acknowledged its authority; and the kings of the
   Harad did homage to Gondor, and their sons lived as hostages in
   1 The great cape and land-locked firth of Umbar had been
   Nu´meno´rean land since days of old; but it was a stronghold of the King’s
   Men, who were afterwards called the Black Nu´meno´reans, corrupted by
   Sauron, and who hated above all the followers of Elendil. After the fall
   of Sauron their race swiftly dwindled or became merged with the Men
   of Middle-earth, but they inherited without lessening their hatred of
   Gondor. Umbar, therefore, was only taken at great cost.
   appendix a 1369
   the court of its King. Mordor was desolate, but was watched
   over by great fortresses that guarded the passes.
   So ended the line of the Ship-kings. Atanatar Alcarin son of
   Hyarmendacil lived in great splendour, so that men said precious
   stones are pebbles in Gondor for children to play with. But Atanatar
   loved ease and did nothing to maintain the power that he had
   inherited, and his two sons were of like temper. The waning of
   Gondor had already begun before he died, and was doubtless
   observed by its enemies. The watch upon Mordor was neglected.
   Nonetheless it was not until the days of Valacar that the first
   great evil came upon Gondor: the civil war of the Kin-strife, in
   which great loss and ruin was caused and never fully repaired.
   Minalcar, son of Calmacil, was a man of great vigour, and in
   1240 Narmacil, to rid himself of all cares, made him Regent of
   the realm. From that time onwards he governed Gondor in the
   name of the kings until he succeeded his father. His chief concern
   was with the Northmen.
   These had increased greatly in the peace brought by the power
   of Gondor. The kings showed them favour, since they were the
   nearest in kin of lesser Men to the Du´nedain (being for the most
   part descendants of those peoples from whom the Edain of old
   had come); and they gave them wide lands beyond Anduin south
   of Greenwood the Great, to be a defence against men of the East.
   For in the past the attacks of the Easterlings had come mostly over
   the plain between the Inland Sea and the Ash Mountains.
   In the days of Narmacil I their attacks began again, though at
   first with little force; but it was learned by the regent that the
   Northmen did not always remain true to Gondor, and some
   would join forces with the Easterlings, either out of greed for
   spoil, or in the furtherance of feuds among their princes. Minalcar therefore in 1248 led out a great force, and between Rhovanion and the Inland Sea he defeated a large army of the
   Easterlings and destroyed all their camps and settlements east of
   the Sea. He then took the name of Ro´mendacil.
   On his return Ro´mendacil fortified the west shore of Anduin
   as far as the inflow of the Limlight, and forbade any stranger to
   pass down the River beyond the Emyn Muil. He it was that built
   the pillars of the Argonath at the entrance to Nen Hithoel. But
   1370 the return of the king
   since he needed men, and desired to strengthen the bond
   between Gondor and the Northmen, he took many of them into
   his service and gave to some high rank in his armies.
   Ro´mendacil showed especial favour to Vidugavia, who had
   aided him in the war. He called himself King of Rhovanion, and
   was indeed the most powerful of the Northern princes, though
   his own realm lay between Greenwood and the River Celduin.1
   In 1250 Ro´mendacil sent his son Valacar as an ambassador to
   dwell for a while with Vidugavia and make himself acquainted
   with the language, manners, and policies of the Northmen. But
   Valacar far exceeded his father’s designs. He grew to love the
   Northern lands and people, and he married Vidumavi, daughter
   of Vidugavia. It was some years before he returned. From this
   marriage came later the war of the Kin-strife.
   ‘For the high men of Gondor already looked askance at the
   Northmen among them; and it was a thing unheard of before
   that the heir of the crown, or any son of the King, should wed
   one of lesser and alien race. There was already rebellion in the
   southern provinces when King Valacar grew old. His queen had
   been a fair and noble lady, but short-lived according to the fate
   of lesser Men, and the Du´nedain feared that her descendants
   would prove the same and fall from the majesty of the Kings of
   Men. Also they were unwilling to accept as lord her son, who
   though he was now called Eldacar, had been born in an alien
   country and was named in his youth Vinitharya, a name of his
   mother’s people.
   ‘Therefore when Eldacar succeeded his father there was war
   in Gondor. But Eldacar did not prove easy to thrust from his
   heritage. To the lineage of Gondor he added the fearless spirit
   of the Northmen. He was handsome and valiant, and showed
   no sign of ageing more swiftly than his father. When the confederates led by descendants of the kings rose against him, he
   opposed them to the end of his strength. At last he was besieged
   in Osgiliath, and held it long, until hunger and the greater forces
   of the rebels drove him out, leaving the city in flames. In that
   siege and burning the Tower of the Dome of Osgiliath was
   destroyed, and the palantı´r was lost in the waters.
   1 The River Running.
   appendix a 1371
   ‘But Eldacar eluded his enemies, and came to the North, to
   his kinsfolk in Rhovanion. Many gathered to him there, both of
   the Northmen in the service of Gondor, and of the Du´nedain of
   the northern parts of the realm. For many of the latter had
   learned to esteem him, and many more came to hate his usurper.
   This was Castamir, grandson of Calimehtar, younger brother of
   Ro´mendacil II. He was not only one of those nearest by blood
   to the crown, but he had the greatest following of all the rebels; for
   he was the Captain of Ships, and was supported by the people of
   the coasts and of the great havens of Pelargir and Umbar.
   ‘Castamir had not long sat upon the throne before he proved
   himself haughty and ungenerous. He was a cruel man, as he had
   first shown in the taking of Osgiliath. He caused Ornendil son
   of Eldacar, who was captured, to be put to death; and the slaughter and destruction done in the city at his bidding far exceeded
   the needs of war. This was remembered in Minas Anor and in
   Ithilien; and there love for Castamir was further lessened when
   it became seen that he cared little for the land, and thought only
   of the fleets, and purposed to remove the king’s seat to Pelargir.
   ‘Thus he had been king only ten years, when Eldacar, seeing
   his time, came with a great army out of the north, and folk
   flocked to him from Calenardhon and Ano´rien and Ithilien.
   There was a great battle in Lebennin at the Crossings of Erui,
   in which much of the best blood in Gondor was shed. Eldacar
   himself slew Castamir in combat, and so was avenged for Ornendil; but Castamir’s sons escaped, and with others of their kin
   and many people of the fleets they held out long at Pelargir.
   ‘When they had gathered there all the force that they could
   (for Eldacar had no ships to beset them by sea) they sailed away,
   and established themselves at Umbar. There they made a refuge
   for all the enemies of the king, and a lordship independent of his
   crown. Umbar remained at war with Gondor for many lives of
   men, a threat to its coastlands and to all traffic on the sea. It was
   never again completely subdued until the days of Elessar; and
   the region of South Gondor became a debatable land between
   the Corsairs and the Kings.’
   ‘The loss of Umbar was grievous to Gondor, not only because
   the realm was diminished in the south and its hold upon the
   1372 the return of the king
   Men of the Harad was loosened, but because it was there that
   Ar-Pharazoˆn the Golden, last King of Nu´menor, had landed and
   humbled the might of Sauron. Though great evil had come after,
   even the followers of Elendil remembered with pride the coming
   of the great host of Ar-Pharazoˆn out of the deeps of the Sea;
   and on the highest hill of the headland above the Haven they
   had set a great white pillar as a monument. It was crowned with
   a globe of crystal that took the rays of the Sun and of the Moon
   and shone like a bright star that could be seen in clear weather
   even on the coasts of Gondor or far out upon the western sea.
   So it stood, until after the second arising of Sauron, which now
   approached, Umbar fell under the domination of his servants,
   and the memorial of his humiliation was thrown down.’
   After the return of Eldacar the blood of the kingly house and
   other houses of the Du´nedain became more mingled with that
   of lesser Men. For many of the great had been slain in the
   Kin-strife; while Eldacar showed favour to the Northmen, by
   whose help he had regained the crown, and the people of Gondor
   were replenished by great numbers that came from Rhovanion.
   This mingling did not at first hasten the waning of the Du´nedain, as had been feared; but the waning still proceeded, little by
   little, as it had before. For no doubt it was due above all to
   Middle-earth itself, and to the slow withdrawing of the gifts of
   the Nu´meno´reans after the downfall of the Land of the Star.
   Eldacar lived to his two hundred and thirty-fifth year, and was
   king for fifty-eight years, of which ten were spent in exile.
   The second and greatest evil came upon Gondor in the reign of
   Telemnar, the twenty-sixth king, whose father Minardil, son of
   Eldacar, was slain at Pelargir by the Corsairs of Umbar. (They
   were led by Angamaite¨ and Sangahyando, the great-grandsons
   of Castamir.) Soon after a deadly plague came with dark winds
   out of the East. The King and all his children died, and great
   numbers of the people of Gondor, especially those that lived in
   Osgiliath. Then for weariness and fewness of men the watch on
   the borders of Mordor ceased and the fortresses that guarded
   the passes were unmanned.
   Later it was noted that these things happened even as the
   appendix a 1373
   Shadow grew deep in Greenwood, and many evil things reappeared, signs of the arising of Sauron. It is true that the
   enemies of Gondor also suffered, or they might have overwhelmed it in its weakness; but Sauron could wait, and it may
   well be that the opening of Mordor was what he chiefly desired.
   When King Telemnar died the White Tree of Minas Anor
   also withered and died. But Tarondor, his nephew, who succeeded him, replanted a seedling in the citadel. He it was who
   removed the King’s house permanently to Minas Anor, for Osgiliath was now partly deserted, and began to fall into ruin. Few
   of those who had fled from the plague into Ithilien or to the
   western dales were willing to return.
   Tarondor, coming young to the throne, had the longest reign
   of all the Kings of Gondor; but he could achieve little more than
   the reordering of his realm within, and the slow nursing of its
   strength. But Telumehtar his son, remembering the death of
   Minardil, and being troubled by the insolence of the Corsairs,
   who raided his coasts even as far as the Anfalas, gathered his
   forces and in 1810 took Umbar by storm. In that war the last
   descendants of Castamir perished, and Umbar was again held
   for a while by the kings. Telumehtar added to his name the title
   Umbardacil. But in the new evils that soon befell Gondor Umbar
   was again lost, and fell into the hands of the Men of the Harad.
   The third evil was the invasion of the Wainriders, which sapped
   the waning strength of Gondor in wars that lasted for almost a
   hundred years. The Wainriders were a people, or a confederacy
   of many peoples, that came from the East; but they were stronger
   and better armed than any that had appeared before. They journeyed in great wains, and their chieftains fought in chariots.
   Stirred up, as was afterwards seen, by the emissaries of Sauron,
   they made a sudden assault upon Gondor, and King Narmacil
   II was slain in battle with them beyond Anduin in 1856. The
   people of eastern and southern Rhovanion were enslaved; and
   the frontiers of Gondor were for that time withdrawn to the
   Anduin and the Emyn Muil. [At this time it is thought that the
   Ringwraiths re-entered Mordor.]
   Calimehtar, son of Narmacil II, helped by a revolt in Rhovanion, avenged his father with a great victory over the Easterlings
   1374 the return of the king
   upon Dagorlad in 1899, and for a while the peril was averted. It
   was in the reign of Araphant in the North and of Ondoher son
   of Calimehtar in the South that the two kingdoms again took
   counsel together after long silence and estrangement. For at last
   they perceived that some single power and will was directing the
   assault from many quarters upon the survivors of Nu´menor. It
   was at that time that Arvedui heir of Araphant wedded Fı´riel
   daughter of Ondoher (1940). But neither kingdom was able to
   send help to the other; for Angmar renewed its attack upon
   Arthedain at the same time as the Wainriders reappeared in great
   force.
   Many of the Wainriders now passed south of Mordor and
   made alliance with men of Khand and of Near Harad; and in
   this great assault from north and south, Gondor came near to
   destruction. In 1944 King Ondoher and both his sons, Artamir
   and Faramir, fell in battle north of the Morannon, and the enemy
   poured into Ithilien. But Ea¨rnil, Captain of the Southern Army,
   won a great victory in South Ithilien and destroyed the army of
   Harad that had crossed the River Poros. Hastening north, he
   gathered to him all that he could of the retreating Northern Army
   and came up against the main camp of the Wainriders, while
   they were feasting and revelling, believing that Gondor was overthrown and that nothing remained but to take the spoil. Ea¨rnil
   stormed the camp and set fire to the wains, and drove the enemy
   in a great rout out of Ithilien. A great part of those who fled
   before him perished in the Dead Marshes.
   ‘On the death of Ondoher and his sons, Arvedui of the Northkingdom claimed the crown of Gondor, as the direct descendant
   of Isildur, and as the husband of Fı´riel, only surviving child of
   Ondoher. The claim was rejected. In this Pelendur, the Steward
   of King Ondoher, played the chief part.
   ‘The Council of Gondor answered: ‘‘The crown and royalty
   of Gondor belongs solely to the heirs of Meneldil, son of Ana´-
   rion, to whom Isildur relinquished this realm. In Gondor this
   heritage is reckoned through the sons only; and we have not
   heard that the law is otherwise in Arnor.’’
   ‘To this Arvedui replied: ‘‘Elendil had two sons, of whom
   Isildur was the elder and the heir of his father. We have heard
   appendix a 1375
   that the name of Elendil stands to this day at the head of the
   line of the Kings of Gondor, since he was accounted the high
   king of all lands of the Du´nedain. While Elendil still lived, the
   conjoint rule in the South was committed to his sons; but when
   Elendil fell, Isildur departed to take up the high kingship of his
   father, and committed the rule in the South in like manner to
   the son of his brother. He did not relinquish his royalty in
   Gondor, nor intend that the realm of Elendil should be divided
   for ever.
   ‘ ‘‘Moreover, in Nu´menor of old the sceptre descended to the
   eldest child of the king, whether man or woman. It is true that
   the law has not been observed in the lands of exile ever troubled
   by war; but such was the law of our people, to which we now
   refer, seeing that the sons of Ondoher died childless.’’1
   ‘To this Gondor made no answer. The crown was claimed by
   Ea¨rnil, the victorious captain; and it was granted to him with the
   approval of all the Du´nedain in Gondor, since he was of the
   royal house. He was the son of Siriondil, son of Calimmacil, son
   of Arciryas brother of Narmacil II. Arvedui did not press his
   claim; for he had neither the power nor the will to oppose the
   choice of the Du´nedain of Gondor; yet the claim was never
   forgotten by his descendants even when their kingship had
   passed away. For the time was now drawing near when the
   North-kingdom would come to an end.
   ‘Arvedui was indeed the last king, as his name signifies. It is
   said that this name was given to him at his birth by Malbeth the
   Seer, who said to his father: ‘‘Arvedui you shall call him, for he
   will be the last in Arthedain. Though a choice will come to the
   Du´nedain, and if they take the one that seems less hopeful, then
   your son will change his name and become king of a great realm.
   If not, then much sorrow and many lives of men shall pass, until
   the Du´nedain arise and are united again.’’
   1 That law was made in Nu´menor (as we have learned from the King)
   when Tar-Aldarion, the sixth king, left only one child, a daughter. She
   became the first Ruling Queen, Tar-Ancalime¨. But the law was otherwise
   before her time. Tar-Elendil, the fourth king, was succeeded by his son
   Tar-Meneldur, though his daughter Silmarie¨n was the elder. It was,
   however, from Silmarie¨n that Elendil was descended.
   1376 the return of the king
   ‘In Gondor also one king only followed Ea¨rnil. It may be that
   if the crown and the sceptre had been united, then the kingship
   would have been maintained and much evil averted. But Ea¨rnil
   was a wise man, and not arrogant, even if, as to most men in
   Gondor, the realm in Arthedain seemed a small thing, for all the
   lineage of its lords.
   ‘He sent messages to Arvedui announcing that he received the
   crown of Gondor, according to the laws and the needs of the
   South-kingdom, ‘‘but I do not forget the royalty of Arnor, nor
   deny our kinship, nor wish that the realms of Elendil should be
   estranged. I will send to your aid when you have need, so far as
   I am able.’’
   ‘It was, however, long before Ea¨rnil felt himself sufficiently
   secure to do as he promised. King Araphant continued with
   dwindling strength to hold off the assaults of Angmar, and
   Arvedui when he succeeded did likewise; but at last in the
   autumn of 1973 messages came to Gondor that Arthedain was
   in great straits, and that the Witch-king was preparing a last
   stroke against it. Then Ea¨rnil sent his son Ea¨rnur north with a
   fleet, as swiftly as he could, and with as great strength as he
   could spare. Too late. Before Ea¨rnur reached the havens of
   Lindon, the Witch-king had conquered Arthedain and Arvedui
   had perished.
   ‘But when Ea¨rnur came to the Grey Havens there was joy
   and great wonder among both Elves and Men. So great in
   draught and so many were his ships that they could scarcely
   find harbourage, though both the Harlond and the Forlond also
   were filled; and from them descended an army of power, with
   munition and provision for a war of great kings. Or so it seemed
   to the people of the North, though this was but a small sendingforce of the whole might of Gondor. Most of all, the horses
   were praised, for many of them came from the Vales of Anduin
   and with them were riders tall and fair, and proud princes of
   Rhovanion.
   ‘Then Cı´rdan summoned all who would come to him, from
   Lindon or Arnor, and when all was ready the host crossed the
   Lune and marched north to challenge the Witch-king of Angmar.
   He was now dwelling, it is said, in Fornost, which he had filled
   with evil folk, usurping the house and rule of the kings. In his
   appendix a 1377
   pride he did not await the onset of his enemies in his stronghold,
   but went out to meet them, thinking to sweep them, as others
   before, into the Lune.
   ‘But the Host of the West came down on him out of the Hills
   of Evendim, and there was a great battle on the plain between
   Nenuial and the North Downs. The forces of Angmar were
   already giving way and retreating towards Fornost when the
   main body of the horsemen that had passed round the hills came
   down from the north and scattered them in a great rout. Then
   the Witch-king, with all that he could gather from the wreck,
   fled northwards, seeking his own land of Angmar. Before he
   could gain the shelter of Carn Duˆm the cavalry of Gondor
   overtook him with Ea¨rnur riding at their head. At the same time
   a force under Glorfindel the Elf-lord came up out of Rivendell.
   Then so utterly was Angmar defeated that not a man nor an orc
   of that realm remained west of the Mountains.
   ‘But it is said that when all was lost suddenly the Witch-king
   himself appeared, black-robed and black-masked upon a black
   horse. Fear fell upon all who beheld him; but he singled out
   the Captain of Gondor for the fullness of his hatred, and
   with a terrible cry he rode straight upon him. Ea¨rnur would
   have withstood him; but his horse could not endure that
   onset, and it swerved and bore him far away before he could
   master it.
   ‘Then the Witch-king laughed, and none that heard it ever
   forgot the horror of that cry. But Glorfindel rode up then on his
   white horse, and in the midst of his laughter the Witch-king
   turned to flight and passed into the shadows. For night came
   down on the battlefield, and he was lost, and none saw whither
   he went.
   ‘Ea¨rnur now rode back, but Glorfindel, looking into the gathering dark, said: ‘‘Do not pursue him! He will not return to this
   land. Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will
   he fall.’’ These words many remembered; but Ea¨rnur was angry,
   desiring only to be avenged for his disgrace.
   ‘So ended the evil realm of Angmar; and so did Ea¨rnur, Captain of Gondor, earn the chief hatred of the Witch-king; but
   many years were still to pass before that was revealed.’

---

1378 the return of the king
It was thus in the reign of King Ea¨rnil, as later became clear,
that the Witch-king escaping from the North came to Mordor,
and there gathered the other Ringwraiths, of whom he was the
chief. But it was not until 2000 that they issued from Mordor by
the Pass of Cirith Ungol and laid siege to Minas Ithil. This they
took in 2002, and captured the palantı´r of the tower. They were
not expelled while the Third Age lasted; and Minas Ithil became
a place of fear, and was renamed Minas Morgul. Many of the
people that still remained in Ithilien deserted it.
‘Ea¨rnur was a man like his father in valour, but not in wisdom.
He was a man of strong body and hot mood; but he would take
no wife, for his only pleasure was in fighting, or in the exercise
of arms. His prowess was such that none in Gondor could stand
against him in those weapon-sports in which he delighted, seeming rather a champion than a captain or king, and retaining his
vigour and skill to a later age than was then usual.’
When Ea¨rnur received the crown in 2043 the King of Minas
Morgul challenged him to single combat, taunting him that he
had not dared to stand before him in battle in the North. For
that time Mardil the Steward restrained the wrath of the king.
Minas Anor, which had become the chief city of the realm since
the days of King Telemnar, and the residence of the kings, was
now renamed Minas Tirith, as the city ever on guard against the
evil of Morgul.
Ea¨rnur had held the crown only seven years when the Lord
of Morgul repeated his challenge, taunting the king that to the
faint heart of his youth he had now added the weakness of age.
Then Mardil could no longer restrain him, and he rode with a
small escort of knights to the gate of Minas Morgul. None of
that riding were ever heard of again. It was believed in Gondor
that the faithless enemy had trapped the king, and that he had
died in torment in Minas Morgul; but since there were no witnesses of his death, Mardil the Good Steward ruled Gondor in
his name for many years.
Now the descendants of the kings had become few. Their
numbers had been greatly diminished in the Kin-strife; whereas
since that time the kings had become jealous and watchful of
those near akin. Often those on whom suspicion fell had fled to
appendix a 1379
Umbar and there joined the rebels; while others had renounced
their lineage and taken wives not of Nu´meno´rean blood.
So it was that no claimant to the crown could be found who
was of pure blood, or whose claim all would allow; and all feared
the memory of the Kin-strife, knowing that if any such dissension
arose again, then Gondor would perish. Therefore, though the
years lengthened, the Steward continued to rule Gondor, and
the crown of Elendil lay in the lap of King Ea¨rnil in the Houses
of the Dead, where Ea¨rnur had left it.
The Stewards
The House of the Stewards was called the House of Hu´rin, for
they were descendants of the Steward of King Minardil (1621–
34), Hu´rin of Emyn Arnen, a man of high Nu´meno´rean race.
After his day the kings had always chosen their stewards from
among his descendants; and after the days of Pelendur the Stewardship became hereditary as a kingship, from father to son or
nearest kin.
Each new Steward indeed took office with the oath ‘to hold
rod and rule in the name of the king, until he shall return’. But
these soon became words of ritual little heeded, for the Stewards
exercised all the power of the kings. Yet many in Gondor still
believed that a king would indeed return in some time to come;
and some remembered the ancient line of the North, which it
was rumoured still lived on in the shadows. But against such
thoughts the Ruling Stewards hardened their hearts.
Nonetheless the Stewards never sat on the ancient throne;
and they wore no crown, and held no sceptre. They bore a
white rod only as the token of their office; and their banner
was white without charge; but the royal banner had been sable,
upon which was displayed a white tree in blossom beneath
seven stars.
After Mardil Voronwe¨, who was reckoned the first of the line,
there followed twenty-four Ruling Stewards of Gondor, until the
time of Denethor II, the twenty-sixth and last. At first they had
quiet, for those were the days of the Watchful Peace, during
which Sauron withdrew before the power of the White Council
1380 the return of the king
and the Ringwraiths remained hidden in Morgul Vale. But from
the time of Denethor I, there was never full peace again, and
even when Gondor had no great or open war its borders were
under constant threat.
In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of
great strength, first appeared out of Mordor, and in 2475 they
swept across Ithilien and took Osgiliath. Boromir son of
Denethor (after whom Boromir of the Nine Walkers was later
named) defeated them and regained Ithilien; but Osgiliath was
finally ruined, and its great stone-bridge was broken. No people
dwelt there afterwards. Boromir was a great captain, and even
the Witch-king feared him. He was noble and fair of face, a man
strong in body and in will, but he received a Morgul-wound in
that war which shortened his days, and he became shrunken
with pain and died twelve years after his father.
After him began the long rule of Cirion. He was watchful and
wary, but the reach of Gondor had grown short, and he could
do little more than defend his borders, while his enemies (or the
power that moved them) prepared strokes against him that he
could not hinder. The Corsairs harried his coasts, but it was in
the north that his chief peril lay. In the wide lands of Rhovanion,
between Mirkwood and the River Running, a fierce people now
dwelt, wholly under the shadow of Dol Guldur. Often they made
raids through the forest, until the vale of Anduin south of the
Gladden was largely deserted. These Balchoth were constantly
increased by others of like kind that came in from the east,
whereas the people of Calenardhon had dwindled. Cirion was
hard put to it to hold the line of the Anduin.
‘Foreseeing the storm, Cirion sent north for aid, but over-late;
for in that year (2510) the Balchoth, having built many great
boats and rafts on the east shores of Anduin, swarmed over the
River and swept away the defenders. An army marching up from
the south was cut off and driven north over the Limlight, and
there it was suddenly attacked by a horde of Orcs from the
Mountains and pressed towards the Anduin. Then out of the
North there came help beyond hope, and the horns of the Rohirrim were first heard in Gondor. Eorl the Young came with his
riders and swept away the enemy, and pursued the Balchoth to
the death over the fields of Calenardhon. Cirion granted to Eorl
appendix a 1381
that land to dwell in, and he swore to Cirion the Oath of Eorl,
of friendship at need or at call to the Lords of Gondor.’
In the days of Beren, the nineteenth Steward, an even greater
peril came upon Gondor. Three great fleets, long prepared,
came up from Umbar and the Harad, and assailed the coasts of
Gondor in great force; and the enemy made many landings, even
as far north as the mouth of the Isen. At the same time the
Rohirrim were assailed from the west and the east, and their land
was overrun, and they were driven into the dales of the White
Mountains. In that year (2758) the Long Winter began with cold
and great snows out of the North and the East which lasted for
almost five months. Helm of Rohan and both his sons perished
in that war; and there was misery and death in Eriador and in
Rohan. But in Gondor south of the mountains things were less
evil, and before spring came Beregond son of Beren had overcome the invaders. At once he sent aid to Rohan. He was the
greatest captain that had arisen in Gondor since Boromir; and
when he succeeded his father (2763) Gondor began to recover
its strength. But Rohan was slower to be healed of the hurts that
it had received. It was for this reason that Beren welcomed
Saruman, and gave to him the keys of Orthanc; and from that
year on (2759) Saruman dwelt in Isengard.
It was in the days of Beregond that the War of the Dwarves and
Orcs was fought in the Misty Mountains (2793–9), of which only
rumour came south, until the Orcs fleeing from Nanduhirion
attempted to cross Rohan and establish themselves in the White
Mountains. There was fighting for many years in the dales before
that danger was ended.
When Belecthor II, the twenty-first Steward, died, the White
Tree died also in Minas Tirith; but it was left standing ‘until the
King returns’, for no seedling could be found.
In the days of Tu´rin II the enemies of Gondor began to move
again; for Sauron was grown again to power and the day of his
arising was drawing near. All but the hardiest of its people
deserted Ithilien and removed west over Anduin, for the land
was infested by Mordor-orcs. It was Tu´rin that built secret refuges for his soldiers in Ithilien, of which Henneth Annuˆn was
1382 the return of the king
the longest guarded and manned. He also fortified again the isle
of Cair Andros1 to defend Ano´rien. But his chief peril lay in the
south, where the Haradrim had occupied South Gondor, and
there was much fighting along the Poros. When Ithilien was
invaded in great strength, King Folcwine of Rohan fulfilled the
Oath of Eorl and repaid his debt for the aid brought by Beregond,
sending many men to Gondor. With their aid Tu´rin won a
victory at the crossing of the Poros; but the sons of Folcwine
both fell in the battle. The Riders buried them after the fashion
of their people, and they were laid in one mound, for they were
twin brothers. Long it stood, Haudh in Gwanuˆr, high upon the
shore of the river, and the enemies of Gondor feared to pass it.
Turgon followed Tu´rin, but of his time it is chiefly
remembered that two years ere his death, Sauron arose again,
and declared himself openly; and he re-entered Mordor long
prepared for him. Then the Barad-duˆr was raised once more,
and Mount Doom burst into flame, and the last of the folk of
Ithilien fled far away. When Turgon died Saruman took Isengard
for his own, and fortified it.
‘Ecthelion II, son of Turgon, was a man of wisdom. With what
power was left to him he began to strengthen his realm against
the assault of Mordor. He encouraged all men of worth from
near or far to enter his service, and to those who proved trustworthy he gave rank and reward. In much that he did he had
the aid and advice of a great captain whom he loved above all.
Thorongil men called him in Gondor, the Eagle of the Star, for
he was swift and keen-eyed, and wore a silver star upon his
cloak; but no one knew his true name nor in what land he was
born. He came to Ecthelion from Rohan, where he had served
the King Thengel, but he was not one of the Rohirrim. He was
a great leader of men, by land or by sea, but he departed into
the shadows whence he came, before the days of Ecthelion were
ended.
‘Thorongil often counselled Ecthelion that the strength of the
1 This name means ‘Ship of Long-foam’; for the isle was shaped like
a great ship, with a high prow pointing north, against which the white
foam of Anduin broke on sharp rocks.
appendix a 1383
rebels in Umbar was a great peril to Gondor, and a threat to the
fiefs of the south that would prove deadly, if Sauron moved to
open war. At last he got leave of the Steward and gathered a
small fleet, and he came to Umbar unlooked for by night, and
there burned a great part of the ships of the Corsairs. He himself
overthrew the Captain of the Haven in battle upon the quays,
and then he withdrew his fleet with small loss. But when they
came back to Pelargir, to men’s grief and wonder, he would not
return to Minas Tirith, where great honour awaited him.
‘He sent a message of farewell to Ecthelion, saying: ‘‘Other
tasks now call me, lord, and much time and many perils must
pass, ere I come again to Gondor, if that be my fate.’’ Though
none could guess what those tasks might be, nor what summons
he had received, it was known whither he went. For he took
boat and crossed over Anduin, and there he said farewell to his
companions and went on alone; and when he was last seen his
face was towards the Mountains of Shadow.
‘There was dismay in the City at the departure of Thorongil,
and to all men it seemed a great loss, unless it were to Denethor,
the son of Ecthelion, a man now ripe for the Stewardship, to
which after four years he succeeded on the death of his father.
‘Denethor II was a proud man, tall, valiant, and more kingly
than any man that had appeared in Gondor for many lives of
men; and he was wise also, and far-sighted, and learned in lore.
Indeed he was as like to Thorongil as to one of nearest kin, and
yet was ever placed second to the stranger in the hearts of men
and the esteem of his father. At the time many thought that
Thorongil had departed before his rival became his master;
though indeed Thorongil had never himself vied with Denethor,
nor held himself higher than the servant of his father. And in
one matter only were their counsels to the Steward at variance:
Thorongil often warned Ecthelion not to put trust in Saruman
the White in Isengard, but to welcome rather Gandalf the Grey.
But there was little love between Denethor and Gandalf; and
after the days of Ecthelion there was less welcome for the Grey
Pilgrim in Minas Tirith. Therefore later, when all was made
clear, many believed that Denethor, who was subtle in mind
and looked further and deeper than other men of his day, had
1384 the return of the king
discovered who this stranger Thorongil in truth was, and suspected that he and Mithrandir designed to supplant him.
‘When Denethor became Steward (2984) he proved a masterful
lord, holding the rule of all things in his own hand. He said little.
He listened to counsel, and then followed his own mind. He had
married late (2976), taking as wife Finduilas, daughter of Adrahil
of Dol Amroth. She was a lady of great beauty and gentle heart,
but before twelve years had passed she died. Denethor loved
her, in his fashion, more dearly than any other, unless it were
the elder of the sons that she bore him. But it seemed to men
that she withered in the guarded city, as a flower of the seaward
vales set upon a barren rock. The shadow in the east filled her
with horror, and she turned her eyes ever south to the sea that
she missed.
‘After her death Denethor became more grim and silent than
before, and would sit long alone in his tower deep in thought,
foreseeing that the assault of Mordor would come in his time. It
was afterwards believed that needing knowledge, but being
proud, and trusting in his own strength of will, he dared to look
in the palantı´r of the White Tower. None of the Stewards had
dared to do this, nor even the kings Ea¨rnil and Ea¨rnur, after
the fall of Minas Ithil when the palantı´r of Isildur came into the
hands of the Enemy; for the Stone of Minas Tirith was the
palantı´r of Ana´rion, most close in accord with the one that
Sauron possessed.
‘In this way Denethor gained his great knowledge of things
that passed in his realm, and far beyond his borders, at which
men marvelled; but he bought the knowledge dearly, being aged
before his time by his contest with the will of Sauron. Thus
pride increased in Denethor together with despair, until he saw
in all the deeds of that time only a single combat between the
Lord of the White Tower and the Lord of the Barad-duˆr, and
mistrusted all others who resisted Sauron, unless they served
himself alone.
‘So time drew on to the War of the Ring, and the sons of
Denethor grew to manhood. Boromir, five years the elder,
beloved by his father, was like him in face and pride, but in little
else. Rather he was a man after the sort of King Ea¨rnur of old,
appendix a 1385
taking no wife and delighting chiefly in arms; fearless and strong,
but caring little for lore, save the tales of old battles. Faramir the
younger was like him in looks but otherwise in mind. He read
the hearts of men as shrewdly as his father, but what he read
moved him sooner to pity than to scorn. He was gentle in bearing, and a lover of lore and of music, and therefore by many in
those days his courage was judged less than his brother’s. But it
was not so, except that he did not seek glory in danger without
a purpose. He welcomed Gandalf at such times as he came to
the City, and he learned what he could from his wisdom; and in
this as in many other matters he displeased his father.
‘Yet between the brothers there was great love, and had been
since childhood, when Boromir was the helper and protector of
Faramir. No jealousy or rivalry had arisen between them since,
for their father’s favour or for the praise of men. It did not seem
possible to Faramir that anyone in Gondor could rival Boromir,
heir of Denethor, Captain of the White Tower; and of like mind
was Boromir. Yet it proved otherwise at the test. But of all that
befell these three in the War of the Ring much is said elsewhere.
And after the War the days of the Ruling Stewards came to an
end; for the heir of Isildur and Ana´rion returned and the kingship
was renewed, and the standard of the White Tree flew once
more from the Tower of Ecthelion.’
(v)
here follows a part of the tale
of aragorn and arwen
‘Arador was the grandfather of the King. His son Arathorn
sought in marriage Gilraen the Fair, daughter of Dı´rhael, who
was himself a descendant of Aranarth. To this marriage Dı´rhael
was opposed; for Gilraen was young and had not reached the
age at which the women of the Du´nedain were accustomed to
marry.
‘ ‘‘Moreover,’’ he said, ‘‘Arathorn is a stern man of full age,
and will be chieftain sooner than men looked for; yet my heart
forebodes that he will be short-lived.’’
‘But Ivorwen, his wife, who was also foresighted, answered:
1386 the return of the king
‘‘The more need of haste! The days are darkening before the
storm, and great things are to come. If these two wed now, hope
may be born for our people; but if they delay, it will not come
while this age lasts.’’
‘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 Du´nedain. The next year Gilraen bore him a
son, and he was called Aragorn. But Aragorn was only two years
old when Arathorn went riding against the Orcs with the sons of
Elrond, and he was slain by an orc-arrow that pierced his eye;
and so he proved indeed short-lived for one of his race, being
but sixty years old when he fell.
‘Then Aragorn, being now the Heir of Isildur, was taken with
his mother to dwell in the house of Elrond; and Elrond took the
place of his father and came to love him as a son of his own. But
he was called Estel, that is ‘‘Hope’’, and his true name and
lineage were kept secret at the bidding of Elrond; for the Wise
then knew that the Enemy was seeking to discover the Heir of
Isildur, if any remained upon earth.
‘But when Estel was only twenty years of age, it chanced that
he returned to Rivendell after great deeds in the company of the
sons of Elrond; and Elrond looked at him and was pleased, for
he saw that he was fair and noble and was early come to manhood, though he would yet become greater in body and in mind.
That day therefore Elrond called him by his true name, and told
him who he was and whose son; and he delivered to him the
heirlooms of his house.
‘ ‘‘Here is the ring of Barahir,’’ he said, ‘‘the token of our
kinship from afar; and here also are the shards of Narsil. With
these you may yet do great deeds; for I foretell that the span of
your life shall be greater than the measure of Men, unless evil
befalls you or you fail at the test. But the test will be hard and
long. The Sceptre of Annu´minas I withhold, for you have yet to
earn it.’’
‘The next day at the hour of sunset Aragorn walked alone in
the woods, and his heart was high within him; and he sang, for
he was full of hope and the world was fair. And suddenly even
as he sang he saw a maiden walking on a greensward among the
appendix a 1387
white stems of the birches; and he halted amazed, thinking that
he had strayed into a dream, or else that he had received the gift
of the Elf-minstrels, who can make the things of which they sing
appear before the eyes of those that listen.
‘For Aragorn had been singing a part of the Lay of Lu´thien
which tells of the meeting of Lu´thien and Beren in the forest of
Neldoreth. And behold! there Lu´thien walked before his eyes in
Rivendell, clad in a mantle of silver and blue, fair as the twilight
in Elven-home; her dark hair strayed in a sudden wind, and her
brows were bound with gems like stars.
‘For a moment Aragorn gazed in silence, but fearing that she
would pass away and never be seen again, he called to her crying,
Tinu´viel, Tinu´viel! even as Beren had done in the Elder Days
long ago.
‘Then the maiden turned to him and smiled, and she said:
‘‘Who are you? And why do you call me by that name?’’
‘And he answered: ‘‘Because I believed you to be indeed
Lu´thien Tinu´viel, of whom I was singing. But if you are not she,
then you walk in her likeness.’’
‘ ‘‘So many have said,’’ she answered gravely. ‘‘Yet her name
is not mine. Though maybe my doom will be not unlike hers.
But who are you?’’
‘ ‘‘Estel I was called,’’ he said; ‘‘but I am Aragorn, Arathorn’s
son, Isildur’s Heir, Lord of the Du´nedain’’; yet even in the saying
he felt that this high lineage, in which his heart had rejoiced, was
now of little worth, and as nothing compared to her dignity and
loveliness.
‘But she laughed merrily and said: ‘‘Then we are akin from
afar. For I am Arwen Elrond’s daughter, and am named also
Undo´miel.’’
‘ ‘‘Often is it seen,’’ said Aragorn, ‘‘that in dangerous days men
hide their chief treasure. Yet I marvel at Elrond and your brothers;
for though I have dwelt in this house from childhood, I have heard
no word of you. How comes it that we have never met before?
Surely your father has not kept you locked in his hoard?’’
‘ ‘‘No,’’ she said, and looked up at the Mountains that rose in
the east. ‘‘I have dwelt for a time in the land of my mother’s kin,
in far Lothlo´rien. I have but lately returned to visit my father
again. It is many years since I walked in Imladris.’’
1388 the return of the king
‘Then Aragorn wondered, for she had seemed of no greater
age than he, who had lived yet no more than a score of years
in Middle-earth. But Arwen looked in his eyes and said: ‘‘Do
not wonder! For the children of Elrond have the life of the
Eldar.’’
‘Then Aragorn was abashed, for he saw the elven-light in her
eyes and the wisdom of many days; yet from that hour he loved
Arwen Undo´miel daughter of Elrond.
‘In the days that followed Aragorn fell silent, and his mother
perceived that some strange thing had befallen him; and at last
he yielded to her questions and told her of the meeting in the
twilight of the trees.
‘ ‘‘My son,’’ said Gilraen, ‘‘your aim is high, even for the
descendant of many kings. For this lady is the noblest and fairest
that now walks the earth. And it is not fit that mortal should wed
with the Elf-kin.’’
‘ ‘‘Yet we have some part in that kinship,’’ said Aragorn, ‘‘if
the tale of my forefathers is true that I have learned.’’
‘ ‘‘It is true,’’ said Gilraen, ‘‘but that was long ago and in
another age of this world, before our race was diminished.
Therefore I am afraid; for without the good will of Master Elrond
the Heirs of Isildur will soon come to an end. But I do not think
that you will have the good will of Elrond in this matter.’’
‘ ‘‘Then bitter will my days be, and I will walk in the wild
alone,’’ said Aragorn.
‘ ‘‘That will indeed be your fate,’’ said Gilraen; but though she
had in a measure the foresight of her people, she said no more
to him of her foreboding, nor did she speak to anyone of what
her son had told her.
‘But Elrond saw many things and read many hearts. One day,
therefore, before the fall of the year he called Aragorn to his
chamber, and he said: ‘‘Aragorn, Arathorn’s son, Lord of the
Du´nedain, listen to me! A great doom awaits you, either to rise
above the height of all your fathers since the days of Elendil, or
to fall into darkness with all that is left of your kin. Many years
of trial lie before you. You shall neither have wife, nor bind any
woman to you in troth, until your time comes and you are found
worthy of it.’’
appendix a 1389
‘Then Aragorn was troubled, and he said: ‘‘Can it be that my
mother has spoken of this?’’
‘ ‘‘No indeed,’’ said Elrond. ‘‘Your own eyes have betrayed
you. But I do not speak of my daughter alone. You shall be
betrothed to no man’s child as yet. But as for Arwen the Fair,
Lady of Imladris and of Lo´rien, Evenstar of her people, she is
of lineage greater than yours, and she has lived in the world
already so long that to her you are but as a yearling shoot beside
a young birch of many summers. She is too far above you. And
so, I think, it may well seem to her. But even if it were not so, and
her heart turned towards you, I should still be grieved because of
the doom that is laid on us.’’
‘ ‘‘What is that doom?’’ said Aragorn.
‘ ‘‘That so long as I abide here, she shall live with the youth of
the Eldar,’’ answered Elrond, ‘‘and when I depart, she shall go
with me, if she so chooses.’’
‘ ‘‘I see,’’ said Aragorn, ‘‘that I have turned my eyes to a
treasure no less dear than the treasure of Thingol that Beren
once desired. Such is my fate.’’ Then suddenly the foresight of
his kindred came to him, and he said: ‘‘But lo! Master Elrond,
the years of your abiding run short at last, and the choice must
soon be laid on your children, to part either with you or with
Middle-earth.’’
‘ ‘‘Truly,’’ said Elrond. ‘‘Soon, as we account it, though many
years of Men must still pass. But there will be no choice before
Arwen, my beloved, unless you, Aragorn, Arathorn’s son, come
between us and bring one of us, you or me, to a bitter parting
beyond the end of the world. You do not know yet what you
desire of me.’’ He sighed, and after a while, looking gravely upon
the young man, he said again: ‘‘The years will bring what they
will. We will speak no more of this until many have passed. The
days darken, and much evil is to come.’’
‘Then Aragorn took leave lovingly of Elrond; and the next day
he said farewell to his mother, and to the house of Elrond, and
to Arwen, and he went out into the wild. For nearly thirty years
he laboured in the cause against Sauron; and he became a friend
of Gandalf the Wise, from whom he gained much wisdom. With
him he made many perilous journeys, but as the years wore on
1390 the return of the king
he went more often alone. His ways were hard and long, and he
became somewhat grim to look upon, unless he chanced to smile;
and yet he seemed to Men worthy of honour, as a king that is in
exile, when he did not hide his true shape. For he went in many
guises, and won renown under many names. He rode in the host
of the Rohirrim, and fought for the Lord of Gondor by land and
by sea; and then in the hour of victory he passed out of the
knowledge of Men of the West, and went alone far into the East
and deep into the South, exploring the hearts of Men, both evil
and good, and uncovering the plots and devices of the servants
of Sauron.
‘Thus he became at last the most hardy of living Men, skilled
in their crafts and lore, and was yet more than they; for he was
elven-wise, and there was a light in his eyes that when they were
kindled few could endure. His face was sad and stern because
of the doom that was laid on him, and yet hope dwelt ever in
the depths of his heart, from which mirth would arise at times
like a spring from the rock.
‘It came to pass that when Aragorn was nine and forty years of
age he returned from perils on the dark confines of Mordor,
where Sauron now dwelt again and was busy with evil. He was
weary and he wished to go back to Rivendell and rest there for
a while ere he journeyed into the far countries; and on his way
he came to the borders of Lo´rien and was admitted to the hidden
land by the Lady Galadriel.
‘He did not know it, but Arwen Undo´miel was also there,
dwelling again for a time with the kin of her mother. She was
little changed, for the mortal years had passed her by; yet her
face was more grave, and her laughter now seldom was heard.
But Aragorn was grown to full stature of body and mind, and
Galadriel bade him cast aside his wayworn raiment, and she
clothed him in silver and white, with a cloak of elven-grey and a
bright gem on his brow. Then more than any king of Men he
appeared, and seemed rather an Elf-lord from the Isles of the
West. And thus it was that Arwen first beheld him again after
their long parting; and as he came walking towards her under
the trees of Caras Galadhon laden with flowers of gold, her
choice was made and her doom appointed.
appendix a 1391
‘Then for a season they wandered together in the glades of
Lothlo´rien, until it was time for him to depart. And on the
evening of Midsummer Aragorn, Arathorn’s son, and Arwen
daughter of Elrond went to the fair hill, Cerin Amroth, in the
midst of the land, and they walked unshod on the undying grass
with elanor and niphredil about their feet. And there upon that
hill they looked east to the Shadow and west to the Twilight, and
they plighted their troth and were glad.
‘And Arwen said: ‘‘Dark is the Shadow, and yet my heart
rejoices; for you, Estel, shall be among the great whose valour
will destroy it.’’
‘But Aragorn answered: ‘‘Alas! I cannot foresee it, and how it
may come to pass is hidden from me. Yet with your hope I will
hope. And the Shadow I utterly reject. But neither, lady, is the
Twilight for me; for I am mortal, and if you will cleave to me,
Evenstar, then the Twilight you must also renounce.’’
‘And she stood then as still as a white tree, looking into the
West, and at last she said: ‘‘I will cleave to you, Du´nadan, and
turn from the Twilight. Yet there lies the land of my people and
the long home of all my kin.’’ She loved her father dearly.
‘When Elrond learned the choice of his daughter, he was silent,
though his heart was grieved and found the doom long feared
none the easier to endure. But when Aragorn came again to
Rivendell he called him to him, and he said:
‘ ‘‘My son, years come when hope will fade, and beyond them
little is clear to me. And now a shadow lies between us. Maybe,
it has been appointed so, that by my loss the kingship of Men
may be restored. Therefore, though I love you, I say to you:
Arwen Undo´miel shall not diminish her life’s grace for less cause.
She shall not be the bride of any Man less than the King of both
Gondor and Arnor. To me then even our victory can bring only
sorrow and parting – but to you hope of joy for a while. Alas,
my son! I fear that to Arwen the Doom of Men may seem hard
at the ending.’’
‘So it stood afterwards between Elrond and Aragorn, and they
spoke no more of this matter; but Aragorn went forth again to
danger and toil. And while the world darkened and fear fell on
Middle-earth, as the power of Sauron grew and the Barad-duˆr
1392 the return of the king
rose ever taller and stronger, Arwen remained in Rivendell, and
when Aragorn was abroad, from afar she watched over him in
thought; and in hope she made for him a great and kingly standard, such as only one might display who claimed the lordship
of the Nu´meno´reans and the inheritance of Elendil.
‘After a few years Gilraen took leave of Elrond and returned
to her own people in Eriador, and lived alone; and she seldom
saw her son again, for he spent many years in far countries. But
on a time, when Aragorn had returned to the North, he came to
her, and she said to him before he went:
‘ ‘‘This is our last parting, Estel, my son. I am aged by care,
even as one of lesser Men; and now that it draws near I cannot
face the darkness of our time that gathers upon Middle-earth. I
shall leave it soon.’’
‘Aragorn tried to comfort her, saying: ‘‘Yet there may be a
light beyond the darkness; and if so, I would have you see it and
be glad.’’
‘But she answered only with this linnod:
O´ nen i-Estel Edain, u´-chebin estel anim,1
and Aragorn went away heavy of heart. Gilraen died before the
next spring.
‘Thus the years drew on to the War of the Ring; of which
more is told elsewhere: how the means unforeseen was revealed
whereby Sauron might be overthrown, and how hope beyond
hope was fulfilled. And it came to pass that in the hour of defeat
Aragorn came up from the sea and unfurled the standard of
Arwen in the battle of the Fields of Pelennor, and in that day he
was first hailed as king. And at last when all was done he entered
into the inheritance of his fathers and received the crown of
Gondor and sceptre of Arnor; and at Midsummer in the year of
the Fall of Sauron he took the hand of Arwen Undo´miel, and
they were wedded in the city of the Kings.
‘The Third Age ended thus in victory and hope; and yet
grievous among the sorrows of that Age was the parting of
Elrond and Arwen, for they were sundered by the Sea and by a
doom beyond the end of the world. When the Great Ring was
1 ‘I gave Hope to the Du´nedain, I have kept no hope for myself.’
appendix a 1393
unmade and the Three were shorn of their power, then Elrond
grew weary at last and forsook Middle-earth, never to return.
But Arwen became as a mortal woman, and yet it was not her
lot to die until all that she had gained was lost.
‘As Queen of Elves and Men she dwelt with Aragorn for
six-score years in great glory and bliss; yet at last he felt the
approach of old age and knew that the span of his life-days was
drawing to an end, long though it had been. Then Aragorn said
to Arwen:
‘ ‘‘At last, Lady Evenstar, fairest in this world, and most
beloved, my world is fading. Lo! we have gathered, and we have
spent, and now the time of payment draws near.’’
‘Arwen knew well what he intended, and long had foreseen it;
nonetheless she was overborne by her grief. ‘‘Would you then,
lord, before your time leave your people that live by your word?’’
she said.
‘ ‘‘Not before my time,’’ he answered. ‘‘For if I will not go
now, then I must soon go perforce. And Eldarion our son is a
man full-ripe for kingship.’’
‘Then going to the House of the Kings in the Silent Street,
Aragorn laid him down on the long bed that had been prepared
for him. There he said farewell to Eldarion, and gave into his
hands the winged crown of Gondor and the sceptre of Arnor;
and then all left him save Arwen, and she stood alone by his bed.
And for all her wisdom and lineage she could not forbear to
plead with him to stay yet for a while. She was not yet weary of
her days, and thus she tasted the bitterness of the mortality that
she had taken upon her.
‘ ‘‘Lady Undo´miel,’’ 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. Nay,
lady, I am the last of the Nu´meno´reans 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.
1394 the return of the king
‘ ‘‘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, whether I will or I nill: the loss and the
silence. But I say to you, King of the Nu´meno´reans, 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 at the
final test, who of old renounced the Shadow and the Ring. In
sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! 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.
‘But Arwen went forth from the House, and the light of her eyes
was quenched, and it seemed to her people that she had become
cold and grey as nightfall in winter that comes without a star. Then
she said farewell to Eldarion, and to her daughters, and to all whom
she had loved; and she went out from the city of Minas Tirith and
passed away to the land of Lo´rien, and dwelt there alone under
the fading trees until winter came. Galadriel had passed away and
Celeborn also was gone, and the land was silent.
‘There at last when the mallorn-leaves were falling, but spring
had not yet come,1 she laid herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth;
1 p. 435.
appendix a 1395
and there is her green grave, until the world is changed, and all
the days of her life are utterly forgotten by men that come after,
and elanor and niphredil bloom no more east of the Sea.
‘Here ends this tale, as it has come to us from the South; and
with the passing of Evenstar no more is said in this book of the
days of old.’
II
THE HOUSE OF EORL
‘Eorl the Young was lord of the Men of E´ othe´od. That land lay
near the sources of Anduin, between the furthest ranges of the
Misty Mountains and the northernmost parts of Mirkwood. The
E´ othe´od had moved to those regions in the days of King Ea¨rnil
II from lands in the vales of Anduin between the Carrock and
the Gladden, and they were in origin close akin to the Beornings
and the men of the west-eaves of the forest. The forefathers of
Eorl claimed descent from kings of Rhovanion, whose realm lay
beyond Mirkwood before the invasions of the Wainriders, and
thus they accounted themselves kinsmen of the kings of Gondor
descended from Eldacar. They loved best the plains, and
delighted in horses and in all feats of horsemanship, but there
were many men in the middle vales of Anduin in those days,
and moreover the shadow of Dol Guldur was lengthening; when
therefore they heard of the overthrow of the Witch-king, they
sought more room in the North, and drove away the remnants
of the people of Angmar on the east side of the Mountains. But
in the days of Le´od, father of Eorl, they had grown to be a
numerous people and were again somewhat straitened in the
land of their home.
‘In the two thousand five hundred and tenth year of the Third
Age a new peril threatened Gondor. A great host of wild men
from the North-east swept over Rhovanion and coming down
out of the Brown Lands crossed the Anduin on rafts. At the same
time by chance or design the Orcs (who at that time before their
war with the Dwarves were in great strength) made a descent from
the Mountains. The invaders overran Calenardhon, and Cirion,
Steward of Gondor, sent north for help; for there had been long
1396 the return of the king
friendship between the Men of Anduin’s Vale and the people of
Gondor. But in the valley of the River men were now few and
scattered, and slow to render such aid as they could. At last
tidings came to Eorl of the need of Gondor, and late though it
seemed, he set out with a great host of riders.
‘Thus he came to the battle of the Field of Celebrant, for that
was the name of the green land that lay between Silverlode
and Limlight. There the northern army of Gondor was in peril.
Defeated in the Wold and cut off from the south, it had been
driven across the Limlight, and was then suddenly assailed by
the Orc-host that pressed it towards the Anduin. All hope was
lost when, unlooked for, the Riders came out of the North and
broke upon the rear of the enemy. Then the fortunes of battle
were reversed, and the enemy was driven with slaughter over
Limlight. Eorl led his men in pursuit, and so great was the fear
that went before the horsemen of the North that the invaders of
the Wold were also thrown into panic, and the Riders hunted
them over the plains of Calenardhon.’
The people of that region had become few since the Plague,
and most of those that remained had been slaughtered by the
savage Easterlings. Cirion, therefore, in reward for his aid, gave
Calenardhon between Anduin and Isen to Eorl and his people;
and they sent north for their wives and children and their goods
and settled in that land. They named it anew the Mark of the
Riders, and they called themselves the Eorlingas; but in Gondor
their land was called Rohan, and its people the Rohirrim (that
is, the Horse-lords). Thus Eorl became the first King of the
Mark, and he chose for his dwelling a green hill before the feet
of the White Mountains that were the south-wall of his land.
There the Rohirrim lived afterwards as free men under their own
kings and laws, but in perpetual alliance with Gondor.
‘Many lords and warriors, and many fair and valiant women, are
named in the songs of Rohan that still remember the North.
Frumgar, they say, was the name of the chieftain who led his
people to E´ othe´od. Of his son, Fram, they tell that he slew
Scatha, the great dragon of Ered Mithrin, and the land had peace
from the long-worms afterwards. Thus Fram won great wealth,
but was at feud with the Dwarves, who claimed the hoard of
appendix a 1397
Scatha. Fram would not yield them a penny, and sent to them
instead the teeth of Scatha made into a necklace, saying: ‘‘Jewels
such as these you will not match in your treasuries, for they are
hard to come by.’’ Some say that the Dwarves slew Fram for
this insult. There was no great love between E´ othe´od and the
Dwarves.
‘Le´od was the name of Eorl’s father. He was a tamer of wild
horses; for there were many at that time in the land. He captured
a white foal and it grew quickly to a horse strong, and fair, and
proud. No man could tame it. When Le´od dared to mount it, it
bore him away, and at last threw him, and Le´od’s head struck a
rock, and so he died. He was then only two and forty years old,
and his son a youth of sixteen.
‘Eorl vowed that he would avenge his father. He hunted long
for the horse, and at last he caught sight of him; and his companions expected that he would try to come within bowshot and
kill him. But when they drew near, Eorl stood up and called in
a loud voice: ‘‘Come hither, Mansbane, and get a new name!’’
To their wonder the horse looked towards Eorl, and came and
stood before him, and Eorl said: ‘‘Felaro´f I name you. You loved
your freedom, and I do not blame you for that. But now you
owe me a great weregild, and you shall surrender your freedom
to me until your life’s end.’’
‘Then Eorl mounted him, and Felaro´f submitted; and Eorl
rode him home without bit or bridle; and he rode him in like
fashion ever after. The horse understood all that men said,
though he would allow no man but Eorl to mount him. It was
upon Felaro´f that Eorl rode to the Field of Celebrant; for that
horse proved as long-lived as Men, and so were his descendants.
These were the mearas, who would bear no one but the King of
the Mark or his sons, until the time of Shadowfax. Men said of
them that Be´ma (whom the Eldar call Orome¨) must have
brought their sire from West over Sea.
‘Of the Kings of the Mark between Eorl and The´oden most is
said of Helm Hammerhand. He was a grim man of great
strength. There was at that time a man named Freca, who
claimed descent from King Fre´awine, though he had, men said,
much Dunlendish blood, and was dark-haired. He grew rich and
1398 the return of the king
powerful, having wide lands on either side of the Adorn.1 Near
its source he made himself a stronghold and paid little heed to
the king. Helm mistrusted him, but called him to his councils;
and he came when it pleased him.
‘To one of these councils Freca rode with many men, and he
asked the hand of Helm’s daughter for his son Wulf. But Helm
said: ‘‘You have grown big since you were last here; but it is
mostly fat, I guess’’; and men laughed at that, for Freca was wide
in the belt.
‘Then Freca fell in a rage and reviled the king, and said this
at the last: ‘‘Old kings that refuse a proffered staff may fall on
their knees.’’ Helm answered: ‘‘Come! The marriage of your son
is a trifle. Let Helm and Freca deal with it later. Meanwhile the
king and his council have matters of moment to consider.’’
‘When the council was over, Helm stood up and laid his great
hand on Freca’s shoulder, saying: ‘‘The king does not permit
brawls in his house, but men are freer outside’’; and he forced
Freca to walk before him out from Edoras into the field. To
Freca’s men that came up he said: ‘‘Be off ! We need no hearers.
We are going to speak of a private matter alone. Go and talk to
my men!’’ And they looked and saw that the king’s men and his
friends far outnumbered them, and they drew back.
‘ ‘‘Now, Dunlending,’’ said the king, ‘‘you have only Helm to
deal with, alone and unarmed. But you have said much already,
and it is my turn to speak. Freca, your folly has grown with your
belly. You talk of a staff ! If Helm dislikes a crooked staff that
is thrust on him, he breaks it. So!’’ With that he smote Freca
such a blow with his fist that he fell back stunned, and died soon
after.
‘Helm then proclaimed Freca’s son and near kin the king’s
enemies; and they fled, for at once Helm sent many men riding
to the west marches.’
Four years later (2758) great troubles came to Rohan, and no
help could be sent from Gondor, for three fleets of the Corsairs
attacked it and there was war on all its coasts. At the same time
Rohan was again invaded from the East, and the Dunlendings
1 It flows into Isen from the west of Ered Nimrais.
appendix a 1399
seeing their chance came over the Isen and down from Isengard.
It was soon known that Wulf was their leader. They were in
great force, for they were joined by enemies of Gondor that
landed in the mouths of Lefnui and Isen.
The Rohirrim were defeated and their land was overrun; and
those who were not slain or enslaved fled to the dales of the
mountains. Helm was driven back with great loss from the Crossings of Isen and took refuge in the Hornburg and the ravine
behind (which was after known as Helm’s Deep). There he was
besieged. Wulf took Edoras and sat in Meduseld and called
himself king. There Haleth Helm’s son fell, last of all, defending
the doors.
‘Soon afterwards the Long Winter began, and Rohan lay
under snow for nearly five months (November to March, 2758–
9). Both the Rohirrim and their foes suffered grievously in the
cold, and in the dearth that lasted longer. In Helm’s Deep there
was a great hunger after Yule; and being in despair, against the
king’s counsel, Ha´ma his younger son led men out on a sortie
and foray, but they were lost in the snow. Helm grew fierce and
gaunt for famine and grief; and the dread of him alone was worth
many men in the defence of the Burg. He would go out by
himself, clad in white, and stalk like a snow-troll into the camps
of his enemies, and slay many men with his hands. It was believed
that if he bore no weapon no weapon would bite on him. The
Dunlendings said that if he could find no food he ate men. That
tale lasted long in Dunland. Helm had a great horn, and soon it
was marked that before he sallied forth he would blow a blast
upon it that echoed in the Deep; and then so great a fear fell on
his enemies that instead of gathering to take him or kill him they
fled away down the Coomb.
‘One night men heard the horn blowing, but Helm did not
return. In the morning there came a sun-gleam, the first for long
days, and they saw a white figure standing still on the Dike,
alone, for none of the Dunlendings dared come near. There
stood Helm, dead as a stone, but his knees were unbent. Yet
men said that the horn was still heard at times in the Deep and
the wraith of Helm would walk among the foes of Rohan and
kill men with fear.
‘Soon after the winter broke. Then Fre´ala´f, son of Hild, Helm’s
1400 the return of the king
sister, came down out of Dunharrow, to which many had fled;
and with a small company of desperate men he surprised Wulf
in Meduseld and slew him, and regained Edoras. There were
great floods after the snows, and the vale of Entwash became a
vast fen. The Eastern invaders perished or withdrew; and there
came help at last from Gondor, by the roads both east and
west of the mountains. Before the year (2759) was ended the
Dunlendings were driven out, even from Isengard; and then
Fre´ala´f became king.
‘Helm was brought from the Hornburg and laid in the ninth
mound. Ever after the white simbelmyne¨ grew there most thickly,
so that the mound seemed to be snow-clad. When Fre´ala´f died
a new line of mounds was begun.’
The Rohirrim were grievously reduced by war and dearth and
loss of cattle and horses; and it was well that no great danger
threatened them again for many years, for it was not until
the time of King Folcwine that they recovered their former
strength.
It was at the crowning of Fre´ala´f that Saruman appeared,
bringing gifts, and speaking great praise of the valour of the
Rohirrim. All thought him a welcome guest. Soon after he took
up his abode in Isengard. For this, Beren, Steward of Gondor,
gave him leave, for Gondor still claimed Isengard as a fortress of
its realm, and not part of Rohan. Beren also gave into Saruman’s
keeping the keys of Orthanc. That tower no enemy had been
able to harm or to enter.
In this way Saruman began to behave as a lord of Men; for at
first he held Isengard as a lieutenant of the Steward and warden
of the tower. But Fre´ala´f was as glad as Beren to have this so,
and to know that Isengard was in the hands of a strong friend.
A friend he long seemed, and maybe in the beginning he was
one in truth. Though afterwards there was little doubt in men’s
minds that Saruman went to Isengard in hope to find the Stone
still there, and with the purpose of building up a power of his
own. Certainly after the last White Council (2953) his designs
towards Rohan, though he hid them, were evil. He then took
Isengard for his own and began to make it a place of guarded
strength and fear, as though to rival the Barad-duˆr. His friends
appendix a 1401
and servants he drew then from all who hated Gondor and
Rohan, whether Men or other creatures more evil.
THE KINGS OF THE MARK
First Line
Year1
2485–2545 1. Eorl the Young. He was so named because he
succeeded his father in youth and remained yellowhaired and ruddy to the end of his days. These
were shortened by a renewed attack of the
Easterlings. Eorl fell in battle in the Wold, and the
first mound was raised. Felaro´f was laid there also.
2512–70 2. Brego. He drove the enemy out of the Wold,
and Rohan was not attacked again for many years.
In 2569 he completed the great hall of Meduseld.
At the feast his son Baldor vowed that he would
tread ‘the Paths of the Dead’ and did not return.2
Brego died of grief the next year.
2544–2645 3. Aldor the Old. He was Brego’s second son. He
became known as the Old, since he lived to a great
age, and was king for 75 years. In his time the
Rohirrim increased, and drove out or subdued the
last of the Dunlendish people that lingered east of
Isen. Harrowdale and other mountain-valleys were
settled. Of the next three kings little is said, for
Rohan had peace and prospered in their time.
2570–26594. Fre´a. Eldest son, but fourth child of Aldor; he
was already old when he became king.
2594–2680 5. Fre´awine.
2619–99 6. Goldwine.
2644–2718 7. De´or. In his time the Dunlendings raided often
over the Isen. In 2710 they occupied the deserted
ring of Isengard, and could not be dislodged.
1 The dates are given according to the reckoning of Gondor (Third
Age). Those in the margin are of birth and death. 2 pp. 1030, 1043.
1402 the return of the king
2668–2741 8. Gram.
2691–27599. Helm Hammerhand. At the end of his reign
Rohan suffered great loss, by invasion and the
Long Winter. Helm and his sons Haleth and Ha´ma
perished. Fre´ala´f, Helm’s sister’s son, became
king.
Second Line
2726–2798 10. Fre´ala´f Hildeson. In his time Saruman came to
Isengard, from which the Dunlendings had been
driven. The Rohirrim at first profited by his friendship in the days of dearth and weakness that
followed.
2752–2842 11. Brytta. He was called by his people Le´ofa, for
he was loved by all; he was openhanded and a help
to all the needy. In his time there was war with
Orcs that, driven from the North, sought refuges
in the White Mountains.1 When he died it was
thought that they had all been hunted out; but it
was not so.
2780–2851 12. Walda. He was king only nine years. He was
slain with all his companions when they were
trapped by Orcs, as they rode by mountain-paths
from Dunharrow.
2804–64 13. Folca. He was a great hunter, but he vowed
to chase no wild beast while there was an Orc left
in Rohan. When the last orc-hold was found
and destroyed, he went to hunt the great boar
of Everholt in the Firien Wood. He slew the
boar but died of the tusk-wounds that it gave
him.
2830–2903 14. Folcwine. When he became king the Rohirrim
had recovered their strength. He reconquered the
west-march (between Adorn and Isen) that Dunlendings had occupied. Rohan had received great
help from Gondor in the evil days. When, therefore, he heard that the Haradrim were assailing
1 p. 1381.
appendix a 1403
Gondor with great strength, he sent many men to
the help of the Steward. He wished to lead them
himself, but was dissuaded, and his twin sons
Folcred and Fastred (born 2858) went in his stead.
They fell side by side in battle in Ithilien (2885).
Tu´rin II of Gondor sent to Folcwine a rich weregild of gold.
2870–2953 15. Fengel. He was the third son and fourth child
of Folcwine. He is not remembered with praise.
He was greedy of food and of gold, and at strife
with his marshals, and with his children. Thengel,
his third child and only son, left Rohan when he
came to manhood and lived long in Gondor, and
won honour in the service of Turgon.
2905–80 16. Thengel. He took no wife until late, but in 2943
he wedded Morwen of Lossarnach in Gondor,
though she was seventeen years the younger. She
bore him three children in Gondor, of whom
The´oden, the second, was his only son. When
Fengel died the Rohirrim recalled him, and he
returned unwillingly. But he proved a good and
wise king; though the speech of Gondor was used
in his house, and not all men thought that good.
Morwen bore him two more daughters in Rohan;
and the last, The´odwyn, was the fairest, though
she came late (2963), the child of his age. Her
brother loved her dearly.
It was soon after Thengel’s return that Saruman
declared himself Lord of Isengard and began to
give trouble to Rohan, encroaching on its borders
and supporting its enemies.
2948–301917. The´oden. He is called The´oden Ednew in the
lore of Rohan, for he fell into a decline under the
spells of Saruman, but was healed by Gandalf, and
in the last year of his life arose and led his men to
victory at the Hornburg, and soon after to the
Fields of Pelennor, the greatest battle of the Age.
He fell before the gates of Mundburg. For a while
he rested in the land of his birth, among the dead
1404 the return of the king
Kings of Gondor, but was brought back and laid
in the eighth mound of his line at Edoras. Then a
new line was begun.
Third Line
In 2989 The´odwyn married E´ omund of Eastfold, the chief Marshal of the Mark. Her son E´ omer was born in 2991, and her
daughter E´ owyn in 2995. At that time Sauron had arisen again,
and the shadow of Mordor reached out to Rohan. Orcs began
to raid in the eastern regions and slay or steal horses. Others also
came down from the Misty Mountains, many being great uruks
in the service of Saruman, though it was long before that was
suspected. E´ omund’s chief charge lay in the east marches; and
he was a great lover of horses and hater of Orcs. If news came
of a raid he would often ride against them in hot anger, unwarily
and with few men. Thus it came about that he was slain in 3002;
for he pursued a small band to the borders of the Emyn Muil,
and was there surprised by a strong force that lay in wait in the
rocks.
Not long after The´odwyn took sick and died to the great grief
of the king. Her children he took into his house, calling them
son and daughter. He had only one child of his own, The´odred
his son, then twenty-four years old; for the queen Elfhild had
died in childbirth, and The´oden did not wed again. E´ omer and
E´ owyn grew up at Edoras and saw the dark shadow fall on the
halls of The´oden. E´ omer was like his fathers before him; but
E´ owyn was slender and tall, with a grace and pride that came to
her out of the South from Morwen of Lossarnach, whom the
Rohirrim had called Steelsheen.
2991–F.A. 63 (3084) E´ omer E´ adig. When still young he
became a Marshal of the Mark (3017) and was
given his father’s charge in the east marches. In
the War of the Ring The´odred fell in battle with
Saruman at the Crossings of Isen. Therefore before
he died on the Fields of the Pelennor The´oden
named E´ omer his heir and called him king. In that
day E´ owyn also won renown, for she fought in that
appendix a 1405
battle, riding in disguise; and was known after in
the Mark as the Lady of the Shield-arm.1
E´ omer became a great king, and being young
when he succeeded The´oden he reigned for sixtyfive years, longer than all their kings before him
save Aldor the Old. In the War of the Ring he made
the friendship of King Elessar, and of Imrahil of
Dol Amroth; and he rode often to Gondor. In the
last year of the Third Age he wedded Lothı´riel,
daughter of Imrahil. Their son Elfwine the Fair
ruled after him.
In E´ omer’s day in the Mark men had peace who wished for
it, and the people increased both in the dales and the plains, and
their horses multiplied. In Gondor the King Elessar now ruled,
and in Arnor also. In all the lands of those realms of old he was
king, save in Rohan only; for he renewed to E´ omer the gift of
Cirion, and E´ omer took again the Oath of Eorl. Often he fulfilled
it. For though Sauron had passed, the hatreds and evils that he
bred had not died, and the King of the West had many enemies
to subdue before the White Tree could grow in peace. And
wherever King Elessar went with war King E´ omer went with
him; and beyond the Sea of Rhuˆn and on the far fields of the
South the thunder of the cavalry of the Mark was heard, and
the White Horse upon Green flew in many winds until E´ omer
grew old.
1 For her shield-arm was broken by the mace of the Witch-king; but
he was brought to nothing, and thus the words of Glorfindel long before
to King Ea¨rnur were fulfilled, that the Witch-king would not fall by the
hand of man. For it is said in the songs of the Mark that in this deed
E´ owyn had the aid of The´oden’s esquire, and that he also was not a
Man but a Halfling out of a far country, though E´ omer gave him honour
in the Mark and the name of Holdwine.
[This Holdwine was none other than Meriadoc the Magnificent who
was Master of Buckland.]
1406 the return of the king
III
DURIN’S FOLK
Concerning the beginning of the Dwarves strange tales are told
both by the Eldar and by the Dwarves themselves; but since
these things lie far back beyond our days little is said of them
here. Durin is the name that the Dwarves used for the eldest of
the Seven Fathers of their race, and the ancestor of all the kings
of the Longbeards.1 He slept alone, until in the deeps of time
and the awakening of that people he came to Azanulbizar, and
in the caves above Kheled-zaˆram in the east of the Misty Mountains he made his dwelling, where afterwards were the Mines of
Moria renowned in song.
There he lived so long that he was known far and wide as
Durin the Deathless. Yet in the end he died before the Elder
Days had passed, and his tomb was in Khazad-duˆm; but his line
never failed, and five times an heir was born in his House so like
to his Forefather that he received the name of Durin. He was
indeed held by the Dwarves to be the Deathless that returned;
for they have many strange tales and beliefs concerning themselves and their fate in the world.
After the end of the First Age the power and wealth of Khazadduˆm was much increased; for it was enriched by many people
and much lore and craft when the ancient cities of Nogrod and
Belegost in the Blue Mountains were ruined at the breaking of
Thangorodrim. The power of Moria endured throughout the
Dark Years and the dominion of Sauron, for though Eregion
was destroyed and the gates of Moria were shut, the halls of
Khazad-duˆm were too deep and strong and filled with a people
too numerous and valiant for Sauron to conquer from without.
Thus its wealth remained long unravished, though its people
began to dwindle.
It came to pass that in the middle of the Third Age Durin
was again its king, being the sixth of that name. The power of
Sauron, servant of Morgoth, was then again growing in the
world, though the Shadow in the Forest that looked towards
1 The Hobbit, p. 50.
appendix a 1407
Moria was not yet known for what it was. All evil things were
stirring. The Dwarves delved deep at that time, seeking beneath
Barazinbar for mithril, the metal beyond price that was becoming
yearly ever harder to win.1 Thus they roused from sleep2 a thing
of terror that, flying from Thangorodrim, had lain hidden at
the foundations of the earth since the coming of the Host of the
West: a Balrog of Morgoth. Durin was slain by it, and the year
after Na´in I, his son; and then the glory of Moria passed, and its
people were destroyed or fled far away.
Most of those that escaped made their way into the North, and
Thra´in I, Na´in’s son, came to Erebor, the Lonely Mountain,
near the eastern eaves of Mirkwood, and there he began new
works, and became King under the Mountain. In Erebor he
found the great jewel, the Arkenstone, Heart of the Mountain.3
But Thorin I his son removed and went into the far North
to the Grey Mountains, where most of Durin’s folk were now
gathering; for those mountains were rich and little explored. But
there were dragons in the wastes beyond; and after many years
they became strong again and multiplied, and they made war on
the Dwarves, and plundered their works. At last Da´in I, together
with Fro´r his second son, was slain at the doors of his hall by a
great cold-drake.
Not long after most of Durin’s Folk abandoned the Grey
Mountains. Gro´r, Da´in’s son, went away with many followers
to the Iron Hills; but Thro´r, Da´in’s heir, with Borin his father’s
brother and the remainder of the people returned to Erebor. To
the Great Hall of Thra´in, Thro´r brought back the Arkenstone,
and he and his folk prospered and became rich, and they had
the friendship of all Men that dwelt near. For they made not
only things of wonder and beauty but weapons and armour of
great worth; and there was great traffic of ore between them and
their kin in the Iron Hills. Thus the Northmen who lived between
Celduin (River Running) and Carnen (Redwater) became
1 p. 413. 2 Or released from prison; it may well be that it had already been
awakened by the malice of Sauron. 3 The Hobbit, pp. 207–8.
1408 the return of the king
strong and drove back all enemies from the East; and the
Dwarves lived in plenty, and there was feasting and song in the
Halls of Erebor.1
So the rumour of the wealth of Erebor spread abroad and
reached the ears of the dragons, and at last Smaug the Golden,
greatest of the dragons of his day, arose and without warning
came against King Thro´r and descended on the Mountain in
flames. It was not long before all that realm was destroyed, and
the town of Dale nearby was ruined and deserted; but Smaug
entered into the Great Hall and lay there upon a bed of gold.
From the sack and the burning many of Thro´r’s kin escaped;
and last of all from the halls by a secret door came Thro´r himself
and his son Thra´in II. They went away south with their family2
into long and homeless wandering. With them went also a small
company of their kinsmen and faithful followers.
Years afterwards Thro´r, now old, poor, and desperate, gave to
his son Thra´in the one great treasure he still possessed, the last
of the Seven Rings, and then he went away with one old companion only, called Na´r. Of the Ring he said to Thra´in at their
parting:
‘This may prove the foundation of new fortune for you yet,
though that seems unlikely. But it needs gold to breed gold.’
‘Surely you do not think of returning to Erebor?’ said Thra´in.
‘Not at my age,’ said Thro´r. ‘Our vengeance on Smaug I
bequeath to you and your sons. But I am tired of poverty and
the scorn of Men. I go to see what I can find.’ He did not say
where.
He was a little crazed perhaps with age and misfortune and
long brooding on the splendour of Moria in his forefathers’ days;
or the Ring, it may be, was turning to evil now that its master
was awake, driving him to folly and destruction. From Dunland,
1 The Hobbit, p. 22. 2 Among whom were the children of Thra´in II: Thorin (Oakenshield),
Frerin, and Dı´s. Thorin was then a youngster in the reckoning of the
Dwarves. It was afterwards learned that more of the Folk under the
Mountain had escaped than was at first hoped; but most of these went
to the Iron Hills.
appendix a 1409
where he was then dwelling, he went north with Na´r, and they
crossed the Redhorn Pass and came down into Azanulbizar.
When Thro´r came to Moria the Gate was open. Na´r begged
him to beware, but he took no heed of him, and walked proudly
in as an heir that returns. But he did not come back. Na´r stayed
nearby for many days in hiding. One day he heard a loud shout
and the blare of a horn, and a body was flung out on the steps.
Fearing that it was Thro´r, he began to creep near, but there
came a voice from within the gate:
‘Come on, beardling! We can see you. But there is no need to
be afraid today. We need you as a messenger.’
Then Na´r came up, and found that it was indeed the body of
Thro´r, but the head was severed and lay face downwards. As he
knelt there, he heard orc-laughter in the shadows, and the voice
said:
‘If beggars will not wait at the door, but sneak in to try thieving,
that is what we do to them. If any of your people poke their foul
beards in here again, they will fare the same. Go and tell them
so! But if his family wish to know who is now king here, the
name is written on his face. I wrote it! I killed him! I am the
master!’
Then Na´r turned the head and saw branded on the brow in
dwarf-runes so that he could read it the name azog. That name
was branded in his heart and in the hearts of all the Dwarves
afterwards. Na´r stooped to take the head, but the voice of Azog1
said:
‘Drop it! Be off ! Here’s your fee, beggar-beard.’ A small bag
struck him. It held a few coins of little worth.
Weeping, Na´r fled down the Silverlode; but he looked back
once and saw that Orcs had come from the gate and were hacking
up the body and flinging the pieces to the black crows.
Such was the tale that Na´r brought back to Thra´in; and when
he had wept and torn his beard he fell silent. Seven days he sat
and said no word. Then he stood up and said: ‘This cannot be
borne!’ That was the beginning of the War of the Dwarves and
1 Azog was the father of Bolg; see The Hobbit, p. 24.
1410 the return of the king
the Orcs, which was long and deadly, and fought for the most
part in deep places beneath the earth.
Thra´in at once sent messengers bearing the tale, north, east,
and west; but it was three years before the Dwarves had mustered
their strength. Durin’s Folk gathered all their host, and they were
joined by great forces sent from the Houses of other Fathers; for
this dishonour to the heir of the Eldest of their race filled them
with wrath. When all was ready they assailed and sacked one by
one all the strongholds of the Orcs that they could find from
Gundabad to the Gladden. Both sides were pitiless, and there
was death and cruel deeds by dark and by light. But the Dwarves
had the victory through their strength, and their matchless
weapons, and the fire of their anger, as they hunted for Azog in
every den under mountain.
At last all the Orcs that fled before them were gathered inMoria,
and the Dwarf-host in pursuit came to Azanulbizar. That was a
great vale that lay between the arms of the mountains about the
lake of Kheled-zaˆram and had been of old part of the kingdom
of Khazad-duˆm. When the Dwarves saw the gate of their ancient
mansions upon the hill-side they sent up a great shout like thunder in the valley. But a great host of foes was arrayed on the
slopes above them, and out of the gates poured a multitude of
Orcs that had been held back by Azog for the last need.
At first fortune was against the Dwarves; for it was a dark day
of winter without sun, and the Orcs did not waver, and they
outnumbered their enemies, and had the higher ground. So began
the Battle of Azanulbizar (or Nanduhirion in the Elvish tongue),
at the memory of which the Orcs still shudder and the Dwarves
weep. The first assault of the vanguard led by Thra´in was thrown
back with loss, and Thra´in was driven into a wood of great trees
that then still grew not far from Kheled-zaˆram. There Frerin his
son fell, and Fundin his kinsman, and many others, and both
Thra´in and Thorin were wounded.1 Elsewhere the battle swayed
to and fro with great slaughter, until at last the people of the Iron
1 It is said that Thorin’s shield was cloven and he cast it away and he
hewed off with his axe a branch of an oak and held it in his left hand to
ward off the strokes of his foes, or to wield as a club. In this way he got
his name.
appendix a 1411
Hills turned the day. Coming late and fresh to the field the mailed
warriors of Na´in, Gro´r’s son, drove through the Orcs to the very
threshold of Moria, crying ‘Azog! Azog!’ as they hewed down with
their mattocks all who stood in their way.
Then Na´in stood before the Gate and cried with a great voice:
‘Azog! If you are in come out! Or is the play in the valley too
rough?’
Thereupon Azog came forth, and he was a great Orc with a
huge iron-clad head, and yet agile and strong. With him came
many like him, the fighters of his guard, and as they engaged
Na´in’s company he turned to Na´in, and said:
‘What? Yet another beggar at my doors? Must I brand you
too?’ With that he rushed at Na´in and they fought. But Na´in
was half blind with rage, and also very weary with battle, whereas
Azog was fresh and fell and full of guile. Soon Na´in made a
great stroke with all his strength that remained, but Azog darted
aside and kicked Na´in’s leg, so that the mattock splintered on
the stone where he had stood, but Na´in stumbled forward. Then
Azog with a swift swing hewed his neck. His mail-collar withstood the edge, but so heavy was the blow that Na´in’s neck was
broken and he fell.
Then Azog laughed, and he lifted up his head to let forth a
great yell of triumph; but the cry died in his throat. For he saw
that all his host in the valley was in a rout, and the Dwarves went
this way and that slaying as they would, and those that could
escape from them were flying south, shrieking as they ran. And
hard by all the soldiers of his guard lay dead. He turned and fled
back towards the Gate.
Up the steps after him leaped a Dwarf with a red axe. It was
Da´in Ironfoot, Na´in’s son. Right before the doors he caught
Azog, and there he slew him, and hewed off his head. That was
held a great feat, for Da´in was then only a stripling in the reckoning of the Dwarves. But long life and many battles lay before
him, until old but unbowed he fell at last in the War of the Ring.
Yet hardy and full of wrath as he was, it is said that when he
came down from the Gate he looked grey in the face, as one
who has felt great fear.
When at last the battle was won the Dwarves that were left
1412 the return of the king
gathered in Azanulbizar. They took the head of Azog and thrust
into its mouth the purse of small money, and then they set it on
a stake. But no feast nor song was there that night; for their dead
were beyond the count of grief. Barely half of their number, it is
said, could still stand or had hope of healing.
None the less in the morning Thra´in stood before them. He had
one eye blinded beyond cure, and he was halt with a leg-wound;
but he said: ‘Good! We have the victory. Khazad-duˆm is ours!’
But they answered: ‘Durin’s Heir you may be, but even with
one eye you should see clearer. We fought this war for vengeance, and vengeance we have taken. But it is not sweet. If this
is victory, then our hands are too small to hold it.’
And those who were not of Durin’s Folk said also: ‘Khazadduˆm was not our Fathers’ house. What is it to us, unless a hope
of treasure? But now, if we must go without the rewards and the
weregilds that are owed to us, the sooner we return to our own
lands the better pleased we shall be.’
Then Thra´in turned to Da´in, and said: ‘But surely my own
kin will not desert me?’ ‘No,’ said Da´in. ‘You are the father of
our Folk, and we have bled for you, and will again. But we will
not enter Khazad-duˆm. You will not enter Khazad-duˆm. Only I
have looked through the shadow of the Gate. Beyond the shadow
it waits for you still: Durin’s Bane. The world must change and
some other power than ours must come before Durin’s Folk
walk again in Moria.’
So it was that after Azanulbizar the Dwarves dispersed again.
But first with great labour they stripped all their dead, so that
Orcs should not come and win there a store of weapons and
mail. It is said that every Dwarf that went from that battlefield
was bowed under a heavy burden. Then they built many pyres
and burned all the bodies of their kin. There was a great felling
of trees in the valley, which remained bare ever after, and the
reek of the burning was seen in Lo´rien.1
1 Such dealings with their dead seemed grievous to the Dwarves, for
it was against their use; but to make such tombs as they were accustomed
to build (since they will lay their dead only in stone not in earth) would
have taken many years. To fire therefore they turned, rather than leave
their kin to beast or bird or carrion-orc. But those who fell in Azanulbizar
appendix a 1413
When the dreadful fires were in ashes the allies went away to
their own countries, and Da´in Ironfoot led his father’s people
back to the Iron Hills. Then standing by the great stake, Thra´in
said to Thorin Oakenshield: ‘Some would think this head dearly
bought! At least we have given our kingdom for it. Will you
come with me back to the anvil? Or will you beg your bread at
proud doors?’
‘To the anvil,’ answered Thorin. ‘The hammer will at least
keep the arms strong, until they can wield sharper tools again.’
So Thra´in and Thorin with what remained of their following
(among whom were Balin and Glo´in) returned to Dunland, and
soon afterwards they removed and wandered in Eriador, until at
last they made a home in exile in the east of the Ered Luin
beyond the Lune. Of iron were most of the things that they
forged in those days, but they prospered after a fashion, and
their numbers slowly increased.1 But, as Thro´r had said, the
Ring needed gold to breed gold, and of that or any other precious
metal they had little or none.
Of this Ring something may be said here. It was believed by the
Dwarves of Durin’s Folk to be the first of the Seven that was
forged; and they say that it was given to the King of Khazadduˆm, Durin III, by the Elven-smiths themselves and not by
Sauron, though doubtless his evil power was on it, since he had
aided in the forging of all the Seven. But the possessors of the
Ring did not display it or speak of it, and they seldom surrendered it until near death, so that others did not know for certain
where it was bestowed. Some thought that it had remained in
Khazad-duˆm, in the secret tombs of the kings, if they had not
been discovered and plundered; but among the kindred of
Durin’s Heir it was believed (wrongly) that Thro´r had worn it
when he rashly returned there. What then had become of it they
did not know. It was not found on the body of Azog.2
were honoured in memory, and to this day a Dwarf will say proudly of
one of his sires: ‘he was a burned Dwarf ’, and that is enough. 1 They had very few women-folk. Dı´s Thra´in’s daughter was there.
She was the mother of Fı´li and Kı´li, who were born in the Ered Luin.
Thorin had no wife. 2 p. 349.
1414 the return of the king
None the less it may well be, as the Dwarves now believe,
that Sauron by his arts had discovered who had this Ring, the
last to remain free, and that the singular misfortunes of the heirs
of Durin were largely due to his malice. For the Dwarves had
proved untameable by this means. The only power over them
that the Rings wielded was to inflame their hearts with a greed
of gold and precious things, so that if they lacked them all other
good things seemed profitless, and they were filled with wrath
and desire for vengeance on all who deprived them. But they
were made from their beginning of a kind to resist most steadfastly any domination. Though they could be slain or broken,
they could not be reduced to shadows enslaved to another
will; and for the same reason their lives were not affected by
any Ring, to live either longer or shorter because of it. All the
more did Sauron hate the possessors and desire to dispossess
them.
It was therefore perhaps partly by the malice of the Ring that
Thra´in after some years became restless and discontented. The
lust for gold was ever in his mind. At last, when he could endure
it no longer, he turned his thoughts to Erebor, and resolved to
go back there. He said nothing to Thorin of what was in his
heart; but with Balin and Dwalin and a few others, he arose and
said farewell and departed.
Little is known of what happened to him afterwards. It would
now seem that as soon as he was abroad with few companions
he was hunted by the emissaries of Sauron. Wolves pursued
him, Orcs waylaid him, evil birds shadowed his path, and the
more he strove to go north the more misfortunes opposed him.
There came a dark night when he and his companions were
wandering in the land beyond Anduin, and they were driven by
a black rain to take shelter under the eaves of Mirkwood. In the
morning he was gone from the camp, and his companions called
him in vain. They searched for him many days, until at last
giving up hope they departed and came at length back to Thorin.
Only long after was it learned that Thra´in had been taken alive
and brought to the pits of Dol Guldur. There he was tormented
and the Ring taken from him, and there at last he died.
So Thorin Oakenshield became the Heir of Durin, but an heir
appendix a 1415
without hope. When Thra´in was lost he was ninety-five, a great
dwarf of proud bearing; but he seemed content to remain in
Eriador. There he laboured long, and trafficked, and gained such
wealth as he could; and his people were increased by many of
the wandering Folk of Durin who heard of his dwelling in the
west and came to him. Now they had fair halls in the mountains,
and store of goods, and their days did not seem so hard, though
in their songs they spoke ever of the Lonely Mountain far
away.
The years lengthened. The embers in the heart of Thorin
grew hot again, as he brooded on the wrongs of his House and
the vengeance upon the Dragon that he had inherited. He
thought of weapons and armies and alliances, as his great hammer rang in his forge; but the armies were dispersed and the
alliances broken and the axes of his people were few; and a great
anger without hope burned him as he smote the red iron on the
anvil.
But at last there came about by chance a meeting between Gandalf and Thorin that changed all the fortunes of the House of
Durin, and led to other and greater ends beside. On a time1
Thorin, returning west from a journey, stayed at Bree for the
night. There Gandalf was also. He was on his way to the Shire,
which he had not visited for some twenty years. He was weary,
and thought to rest there for a while.
Among many cares he was troubled in mind by the perilous
state of the North; because he knew then already that Sauron
was plotting war, and intended, as soon as he felt strong enough,
to attack Rivendell. But to resist any attempt from the East
to regain the lands of Angmar and the northern passes in the
mountains there were now only the Dwarves of the Iron Hills.
And beyond them lay the desolation of the Dragon. The Dragon
Sauron might use with terrible effect. How then could the end
of Smaug be achieved?
It was even as Gandalf sat and pondered this that Thorin
stood before him, and said: ‘Master Gandalf, I know you only
by sight, but now I should be glad to speak with you. For you
1 March 15, 2941.
1416 the return of the king
have often come into my thoughts of late, as if I were bidden to
seek you. Indeed I should have done so, if I had known where
to find you.’
Gandalf looked at him with wonder. ‘That is strange, Thorin
Oakenshield,’ he said. ‘For I have thought of you also; and
though I am on my way to the Shire, it was in my mind that is
the way also to your halls.’
‘Call them so, if you will,’ said Thorin. ‘They are only poor
lodgings in exile. But you would be welcome there, if you would
come. For they say that you are wise and know more than any
other of what goes on in the world; and I have much on my
mind and would be glad of your counsel.’
‘I will come,’ said Gandalf; ‘for I guess that we share one
trouble at least. The Dragon of Erebor is on my mind, and I do
not think that he will be forgotten by the grandson of Thro´r.’
The story is told elsewhere of what came of that meeting: of the
strange plan that Gandalf made for the help of Thorin, and how
Thorin and his companions set out from the Shire on the quest
of the Lonely Mountain that came to great ends unforeseen.
Here only those things are recalled that directly concern Durin’s
Folk.
The Dragon was slain by Bard of Esgaroth, but there was
battle in Dale. For the Orcs came down upon Erebor as soon as
they heard of the return of the Dwarves; and they were led by
Bolg, son of that Azog whom Da´in slew in his youth. In that first
Battle of Dale, Thorin Oakenshield was mortally wounded; and
he died and was laid in a tomb under the Mountain with the
Arkenstone upon his breast. There fell also Fı´li and Kı´li, his
sister-sons. But Da´in Ironfoot, his cousin, who came from the
Iron Hills to his aid and was also his rightful heir, became then
King Da´in II, and the Kingdom under the Mountain was
restored, even as Gandalf had desired. Da´in proved a great and
wise king, and the Dwarves prospered and grew strong again in
his day.
In the late summer of that same year (2941) Gandalf had at
last prevailed upon Saruman and the White Council to attack
Dol Guldur, and Sauron retreated and went to Mordor, there
to be secure, as he thought, from all his enemies. So it was
appendix a 1417
that when the War came at last the main assault was turned
southwards; yet even so with his far-stretched right hand Sauron
might have done great evil in the North, if King Da´in and King
Brand had not stood in his path. Even as Gandalf said afterwards
to Frodo and Gimli, when they dwelt together for a time in
Minas Tirith. Not long before news had come to Gondor of
events far away.
‘I grieved at the fall of Thorin,’ said Gandalf; ‘and now we
hear that Da´in has fallen, fighting in Dale again, even while we
fought here. I should call that a heavy loss, if it was not a wonder
rather that in his great age he could still wield his axe as mightily
as they say that he did, standing over the body of King Brand
before the Gate of Erebor until the darkness fell.
‘Yet things might have gone far otherwise and far worse. When
you think of the great Battle of the Pelennor, do not forget the
battles in Dale and the valour of Durin’s Folk. Think of what
might have been. Dragon-fire and savage swords in Eriador,
night in Rivendell. There might be no Queen in Gondor. We
might now hope to return from the victory here only to ruin
and ash. But that has been averted – because I met Thorin
Oakenshield one evening on the edge of spring in Bree. A
chance-meeting, as we say in Middle-earth.’
Dı´s was the daughter of Thra´in II. She is the only dwarf-woman
named in these histories. It was said by Gimli that there are few
dwarf-women, probably no more than a third of the whole
people. They seldom walk abroad except at great need. They
are in voice and appearance, and in garb if they must go on a
journey, so like to the dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of other
peoples cannot tell them apart. This has given rise to the foolish
opinion among Men that there are no dwarf-women, and that
the Dwarves ‘grow out of stone’.
It is because of the fewness of women among them that the
kind of the Dwarves increases slowly, and is in peril when they
have no secure dwellings. For Dwarves take only one wife or
husband each in their lives, and are jealous, as in all matters of
their rights. The number of dwarf-men that marry is actually
less than one-third. For not all the women take husbands: some
desire none; some desire one that they cannot get, and so will
1418 the return of the king
appendix a 1419
have no other. As for the men, very many also do not desire
marriage, being engrossed in their crafts.
Gimli Glo´in’s son is renowned, for he was one of the Nine
Walkers that set out with the Ring; and he remained in the
company of King Elessar throughout the War. He was named
Elf-friend because of the great love that grew between him and
Legolas, son of King Thranduil, and because of his reverence
for the Lady Galadriel.
After the fall of Sauron, Gimli brought south a part of the
Dwarf-folk of Erebor, and he became Lord of the Glittering
Caves. He and his people did great works in Gondor and Rohan.
For Minas Tirith they forged gates of mithril and steel to replace
those broken by the Witch-king. Legolas his friend also brought
south Elves out of Greenwood, and they dwelt in Ithilien, and it
became once again the fairest country in all the westlands.
But when King Elessar gave up his life Legolas followed at last
the desire of his heart and sailed over Sea.
Here follows one of the last notes in the Red Book
We have heard tell that Legolas took Gimli Glo´in’s son with him
because of their great friendship, greater than any that has been
between Elf and Dwarf. If this is true, then it is strange indeed:
that a Dwarf should be willing to leave Middle-earth for any
love, or that the Eldar should receive him, or that the Lords of
the West should permit it. But it is said that Gimli went also out
of desire to see again the beauty of Galadriel; and it may be that
she, being mighty among the Eldar, obtained this grace for him.
More cannot be said of this matter.
APPENDIX B
THE TALE OF YEARS
(chronology of the westlands)
The First Age ended with the Great Battle, in which the Host of
Valinor broke Thangorodrim1 and overthrew Morgoth. Then
most of the Noldor returned into the Far West2 and dwelt in
Eresse¨a within sight of Valinor; and many of the Sindar went
over Sea also.
The Second Age ended with the first overthrow of Sauron,
servant of Morgoth, and the taking of the One Ring.
The Third Age came to its end in the War of the Ring; but the
Fourth Age was not held to have begun until Master Elrond
departed, and the time was come for the dominion of Men and
the decline of all other ‘speaking-peoples’ in Middle-earth.3
In the Fourth Age the earlier ages were often called the Elder
Days; but that name was properly given only to the days before
the casting out of Morgoth. The histories of that time are not
recorded here.
The Second Age
These were the dark years for Men of Middle-earth, but the
years of the glory of Nu´menor. Of events in Middle-earth the
records are few and brief, and their dates are often uncertain.
In the beginning of this age many of the High Elves still
remained. Most of these dwelt in Lindon west of the Ered Luin;
but before the building of the Barad-duˆr many of the Sindar
passed eastward, and some established realms in the forests far
away, where their people were mostly Silvan Elves. Thranduil,
king in the north of Greenwood the Great, was one of these. In
1 p. 316. 2 p. 779, The Hobbit, p. 151. 3 p. 1272.
appendix b 1421
Lindon north of the Lune dwelt Gil-galad, last heir of the kings
of the Noldor in exile. He was acknowledged as High King of
the Elves of the West. In Lindon south of the Lune dwelt for a
time Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol; his wife was Galadriel,
greatest of Elven women. She was sister of Finrod Felagund,
Friend-of-Men, once king of Nargothrond, who gave his life to
save Beren son of Barahir.
Later some of the Noldor went to Eregion, upon the west of
the Misty Mountains, and near to the West-gate of Moria. This
they did because they learned that mithril had been discovered
in Moria.1 The Noldor were great craftsmen and less unfriendly
to the Dwarves than the Sindar; but the friendship that grew up
between the people of Durin and the Elven-smiths of Eregion
was the closest that there has ever been between the two races.
Celebrimbor was Lord of Eregion and the greatest of their craftsmen; he was descended from Fe¨anor.
Year
1 Foundation of the Grey Havens, and of Lindon.
32 The Edain reach Nu´menor.
c. 40 Many Dwarves leaving their old cities in Ered Luin go
to Moria and swell its numbers.
442 Death of Elros Tar-Minyatur.
c. 500 Sauron begins to stir again in Middle-earth.
521 Birth in Nu´menor of Silmarie¨n.
600 The first ships of the Nu´meno´reans appear off the
coasts.
750 Eregion founded by the Noldor.
c. 1000 Sauron, alarmed by the growing power of the
Nu´meno´reans, chooses Mordor as a land to make into a
stronghold. He begins the building of Barad-duˆr.
1075 Tar-Ancalime¨ becomes the first Ruling Queen of
Nu´menor.
1200 Sauron endeavours to seduce the Eldar. Gil-galad
refuses to treat with him; but the smiths of Eregion are
won over. The Nu´meno´reans begin to make permanent havens.
1 p. 413.
1422 the return of the king
c. 1500 The Elven-smiths instructed by Sauron reach the
height of their skill. They begin the forging of the Rings
of Power.
c. 1590 The Three Rings are completed in Eregion.
c. 1600 Sauron forges the One Ring in Orodruin. He completes the Barad-duˆr. Celebrimbor perceives the
designs of Sauron.
1693 War of the Elves and Sauron begins. The Three Rings
are hidden.
1695 Sauron’s forces invade Eriador. Gil-galad sends Elrond
to Eregion.
1697 Eregion laid waste. Death of Celebrimbor. The gates
of Moria are shut. Elrond retreats with remnant of the
Noldor and founds the refuge of Imladris.
1699 Sauron overruns Eriador.
1700 Tar-Minastir sends a great navy from Nu´menor to
Lindon. Sauron is defeated.
1701 Sauron is driven out of Eriador. The Westlands have
peace for a long while.
c. 1800 From about this time onward the Nu´meno´reans begin
to establish dominions on the coasts. Sauron extends his
power eastwards. The shadow falls on Nu´menor.
2251 Death of Tar-Atanamir. Tar-Ancalimon takes the
sceptre. Rebellion and division of the Nu´meno´reans
begins. About this time the Nazguˆl or Ringwraiths,
slaves of the Nine Rings, first appear.
2280 Umbar is made into a great fortress of Nu´menor.
2350 Pelargir is built. It becomes the chief haven of the
Faithful Nu´meno´reans.
2899 Ar-Aduˆnakhoˆr takes the sceptre.
3175 Repentance of Tar-Palantir. Civil war in Nu´menor.
3255 Ar-Pharazoˆn the Golden seizes the sceptre.
3261 Ar-Pharazoˆn sets sail and lands at Umbar.
3262 Sauron is taken as prisoner to Nu´menor; 3262–3310
Sauron seduces theKing and corrupts theNu´meno´reans.
3310 Ar-Pharazoˆn begins the building of the Great
Armament.
3319 Ar-Pharazoˆn assails Valinor. Downfall of Nu´menor.
Elendil and his sons escape.
appendix b 1423
3320 Foundations of the Realms in Exile: Arnor and
Gondor. The Stones are divided (p. 780). Sauron
returns to Mordor.
3429 Sauron attacks Gondor, takes Minas Ithil and burns
the White Tree. Isildur escapes down Anduin and goes
to Elendil in the North. Ana´rion defends Minas Anor
and Osgiliath.
3430 The Last Alliance of Elves and Men is formed.
3431 Gil-galad and Elendil march east to Imladris.
3434 The host of the Alliance crosses the Misty Mountains.
Battle of Dagorlad and defeat of Sauron. Siege of
Barad-duˆr begins.
3440 Ana´rion slain.
3441 Sauron overthrown by Elendil and Gil-galad, who perish. Isildur takes the One Ring. Sauron passes away
and the Ringwraiths go into the shadows. The Second
Age ends.
The Third Age
These were the fading years of the Eldar. For long they were at
peace, wielding the Three Rings while Sauron slept and the One
Ring was lost; but they attempted nothing new, living in memory
of the past. The Dwarves hid themselves in deep places,
guarding their hoards; but when evil began to stir again and
dragons reappeared, one by one their ancient treasures were
plundered, and they became a wandering people. Moria for long
remained secure, but its numbers dwindled until many of its vast
mansions became dark and empty. The wisdom and the life-span
of the Nu´meno´reans also waned as they became mingled with
lesser Men.
When maybe a thousand years had passed, and the first
shadow had fallen on Greenwood the Great, the Istari or Wizards
appeared in Middle-earth. It was afterwards said that they came
out of the Far West and were messengers sent to contest the
power of Sauron, and to unite all those who had the will to resist
him; but they were forbidden to match his power with power,
or to seek to dominate Elves or Men by force and fear.
They came therefore in the shape of Men, though they were
1424 the return of the king
never young and aged only slowly, and they had many powers
of mind and hand. They revealed their true names to few,1 but
used such names as were given to them. The two highest of this
order (of whom it is said there were five) were called by the
Eldar Curunı´r, ‘the Man of Skill’, and Mithrandir, ‘the Grey
Pilgrim’, but by Men in the North Saruman and Gandalf. Curunı´r journeyed often into the East, but dwelt at last in Isengard.
Mithrandir was closest in friendship with the Eldar, and wandered mostly in the West, and never made for himself any lasting
abode.
Throughout the Third Age the guardianship of the Three
Rings was known only to those who possessed them. But at the
end it became known that they had been held at first by the three
greatest of the Eldar: Gil-galad, Galadriel and Cı´rdan. Gil-galad
before he died gave his ring to Elrond; Cı´rdan later surrendered
his to Mithrandir. For Cı´rdan saw further and deeper than any
other in Middle-earth, and he welcomed Mithrandir at the Grey
Havens, knowing whence he came and whither he would return.
‘Take this ring, Master,’ he said, ‘for your labours will be
heavy; but it will support you in the weariness that you have
taken upon yourself. For this is the Ring of Fire, and with it you
may rekindle hearts in a world that grows chill. But as for me,
my heart is with the Sea, and I will dwell by the grey shores until
the last ship sails. I will await you.’
Year
2 Isildur plants a seedling of the White Tree in Minas
Anor. He delivers the South-kingdom to Meneldil.
Disaster of the Gladden Fields; Isildur and his three
elder sons are slain.
3 Ohtar brings the shards of Narsil to Imladris.
10 Valandil becomes King of Arnor.
109 Elrond weds Celebrı´an, daughter of Celeborn.
130 Birth of Elladan and Elrohir, sons of Elrond.
241 Birth of Arwen Undo´miel.
420 King Ostoher rebuilds Minas Anor.
490 First invasion of Easterlings.
1 p. 876.
appendix b 1425
500 Ro´mendacil I defeats the Easterlings.
541 Ro´mendacil slain in battle.
830 Falastur begins the line of the Ship-kings of Gondor.
861 Death of Ea¨rendur, and division of Arnor.
933 King Ea¨rnil I takes Umbar, which becomes a fortress
of Gondor.
936 Ea¨rnil lost at sea.
1015 King Ciryandil slain in the siege of Umbar.
1050 Hyarmendacil conquers the Harad. Gondor reaches
the height of its power. About this time a shadow falls
on Greenwood, and men begin to call it Mirkwood.
The Periannath are first mentioned in records, with
the coming of the Harfoots to Eriador.
c. 1100 The Wise (the Istari and the chief Eldar) discover that
an evil power has made a stronghold at Dol Guldur. It
is thought to be one of the Nazguˆl.
1149 Reign of Atanatar Alcarin begins.
c. 1150 The Fallohides enter Eriador. The Stoors come over
the Redhorn Pass and move to the Angle, or to
Dunland.
c. 1300 Evil things begin to multiply again. Orcs increase in
the Misty Mountains and attack the Dwarves. The
Nazguˆl reappear. The chief of these comes north to
Angmar. The Periannath migrate westward; many
settle at Bree.
1356 King Argeleb I slain in battle with Rhudaur. About
this time the Stoors leave the Angle, and some return
to Wilderland.
1409 The Witch-king of Angmar invades Arnor. King
Arveleg I slain. Fornost and Tyrn Gorthad are
defended. The Tower of Amon Suˆl destroyed.
1432 King Valacar of Gondor dies, and the civil war of the
Kin-strife begins.
1437 Burning of Osgiliath and loss of the palantı´r. Eldacar
flees to Rhovanion; his son Ornendil is murdered.
1447 Eldacar returns and drives out the usurper Castamir.
Battle of the Crossings of Erui. Siege of Pelargir.
1448 Rebels escape and seize Umbar.
1426 the return of the king
1540 King Aldamir slain in war with the Harad and Corsairs of Umbar.
1551 Hyarmendacil II defeats the Men of Harad.
1601 Many Periannath migrate from Bree, and are granted
land beyond Baranduin by Argeleb II.
c. 1630 They are joined by Stoors coming up from Dunland.
1634 The Corsairs ravage Pelargir and slay King Minardil.
1636 The Great Plague devastates Gondor. Death of King
Telemnar and his children. The White Tree dies in
Minas Anor. The plague spreads north and west, and
many parts of Eriador become desolate. Beyond the
Baranduin the Periannath survive, but suffer great
loss.
1640 King Tarondor removes the King’s House to Minas
Anor, and plants a seedling of the White Tree. Osgiliath begins to fall into ruin. Mordor is left unguarded.
1810 King Telumehtar Umbardacil retakes Umbar and
drives out the Corsairs.
1851 The attacks of the Wainriders upon Gondor begin.
1856 Gondor loses its eastern territories, and Narmacil II
falls in battle.
1899 King Calimehtar defeats the Wainriders on Dagorlad.
1900 Calimehtar builds the White Tower in Minas Anor.
1940 Gondor and Arnor renew communications and form
an alliance. Arvedui weds Fı´riel daughter of Ondoher
of Gondor.
1944 Ondoher falls in battle. Ea¨rnil defeats the enemy in
South Ithilien. He then wins the Battle of the Camp,
and drives Wainriders into the Dead Marshes.
Arvedui claims the crown of Gondor.
1945 Ea¨rnil II receives the crown.
1974 End of the North-kingdom. The Witch-king overruns
Arthedain and takes Fornost.
1975 Arvedui drowned in the Bay of Forochel. The palantı´ri of Annu´minas and Amon Suˆl are lost. Ea¨rnur
brings a fleet to Lindon. The Witch-king defeated at
the Battle of Fornost, and pursued to the Ettenmoors.
He vanishes from the North.
1976 Aranarth takes the title of Chieftain of the Du´nedain.
appendix b 1427
The heirlooms of Arnor are given into the keeping of
Elrond.
1977 Frumgar leads the E´ othe´od into the North.
1979 Bucca of the Marish becomes first Thain of the Shire.
1980 The Witch-king comes to Mordor and there gathers
the Nazguˆl. A Balrog appears in Moria, and slays
Durin VI.
1981 Na´in I slain. The Dwarves flee from Moria. Many of
the Silvan Elves of Lo´rien flee south. Amroth and
Nimrodel are lost.
1999 Thra´in I comes to Erebor and founds a dwarfkingdom ‘under the Mountain’.
2000 The Nazguˆl issue from Mordor and besiege Minas
Ithil.
2002 Fall of Minas Ithil, afterwards known as Minas Morgul. The palantı´r is captured.
2043 Ea¨rnur becomes King of Gondor. He is challenged
by the Witch-king.
2050 The challenge is renewed. Ea¨rnur rides to Minas Morgul and is lost.Mardil becomes the first Ruling Steward.
2060 The power of Dol Guldur grows. The Wise fear that
it may be Sauron taking shape again.
2063 Gandalf goes to Dol Guldur. Sauron retreats and
hides in the East. The Watchful Peace begins. The
Nazguˆl remain quiet in Minas Morgul.
2210 Thorin I leaves Erebor, and goes north to the Grey
Mountains, where most of the remnants of Durin’s
Folk are now gathering.
2340 Isumbras I becomes thirteenth Thain, and first of the
Took line. The Oldbucks occupy the Buckland.
2460 The Watchful Peace ends. Sauron returns with
increased strength to Dol Guldur.
2463 The White Council is formed. About this time De´agol
the Stoor finds the One Ring, and is murdered by
Sme´agol.
2470 About this time Sme´agol-Gollum hides in the Misty
Mountains.
2475 Attack on Gondor renewed. Osgiliath finally ruined,
and its stone-bridge broken.
1428 the return of the king
c. 2480 Orcs begin to make secret strongholds in the Misty
Mountains so as to bar all the passes into Eriador.
Sauron begins to people Moria with his creatures.
2509 Celebrı´an, journeying to Lo´rien, is waylaid in the
Redhorn Pass, and receives a poisoned wound.
2510 Celebrı´an departs over Sea. Orcs and Easterlings
overrun Calenardhon. Eorl the Young wins the victory of the Field of Celebrant. The Rohirrim settle in
Calenardhon.
2545 Eorl falls in battle in the Wold.
2569 Brego son of Eorl completes the Golden Hall.
2570 Baldor son of Brego enters the Forbidden Door and
is lost. About this time Dragons reappear in the far
North and begin to afflict the Dwarves.
2589 Da´in I slain by a Dragon.
2590 Thro´r returns to Erebor. Gro´r his brother goes to the
Iron Hills.
c. 2670 Tobold plants ‘pipe-weed’ in the Southfarthing.
2683 Isengrim II becomes tenth Thain and begins the excavation of Great Smials.
2698 Ecthelion I rebuilds the White Tower in Minas Tirith.
2740 Orcs renew their invasions of Eriador.
2747 Bandobras Took defeats an Orc-band in the Northfarthing.
2758 Rohan attacked from west and east and overrun.
Gondor attacked by fleets of the Corsairs. Helm of
Rohan takes refuge in Helm’s Deep. Wulf seizes
Edoras. 2758–9: The Long Winter follows. Great suffering and loss of life in Eriador and Rohan. Gandalf
comes to the aid of the Shire-folk.
2759 Death of Helm. Fre´ala´f drives out Wulf, and begins
second line of Kings of the Mark. Saruman takes up
his abode in Isengard.
2770 Smaug the Dragon descends on Erebor. Dale destroyed. Thro´r escapes with Thra´in II and Thorin II.
2790 Thro´r slain by an Orc in Moria. The Dwarves gather
for a war of vengeance. Birth of Gerontius, later
known as the Old Took.
2793 The War of the Dwarves and Orcs begins.
appendix b 1429
2799 Battle of Nanduhirion before the East-gate of Moria.
Da´in Ironfoot returns to the Iron Hills. Thra´in II and
his son Thorin wander westwards. They settle in the
South of Ered Luin beyond the Shire (2802).
2800–64 Orcs from the North trouble Rohan. King Walda
slain by them (2861).
2841 Thra´in II sets out to revisit Erebor, but is pursued by
the servants of Sauron.
2845 Thra´in the Dwarf is imprisoned in Dol Guldur; the
last of the Seven Rings is taken from him.
2850 Gandalf again enters Dol Guldur, and discovers that
its master is indeed Sauron, who is gathering all the
Rings and seeking for news of the One, and of Isildur’s Heir. He finds Thra´in and receives the key of
Erebor. Thra´in dies in Dol Guldur.
2851 The White Council meets. Gandalf urges an attack
on Dol Guldur. Saruman overrules him.1 Saruman
begins to search near the Gladden Fields.
2872 Belecthor II of Gondor dies. The White Tree dies,
and no seedling can be found. The Dead Tree is left
standing.
2885 Stirred up by emissaries of Sauron the Haradrim
cross the Poros and attack Gondor. The sons of
Folcwine of Rohan are slain in the service of Gondor.
2890 Bilbo born in the Shire.
2901 Most of the remaining inhabitants of Ithilien desert it
owing to the attacks of Uruks of Mordor. The secret
refuge of Henneth Annuˆn is built.
2907 Birth of Gilraen mother of Aragorn II.
2911 The Fell Winter. The Baranduin and other rivers
are frozen. White Wolves invade Eriador from the
North.
2912 Great floods devastate Enedwaith and Minhiriath.
Tharbad is ruined and deserted.
2920 Death of the Old Took.
1 It afterwards became clear that Saruman had then begun to desire
to possess the One Ring himself, and he hoped that it might reveal itself,
seeking its master, if Sauron were let be for a time.
1430 the return of the king
2929 Arathorn son of Arador of the Du´nedain weds
Gilraen.
2930 Arador slain by Trolls. Birth of Denethor II son of
Ecthelion II in Minas Tirith.
2931 Aragorn son of Arathorn II born on March 1st.
2933 Arathorn II slain. Gilraen takes Aragorn to Imladris.
Elrond receives him as foster-son and gives him the
name Estel (Hope); his ancestry is concealed.
2939 Saruman discovers that Sauron’s servants are searching the Anduin near Gladden Fields, and that Sauron
therefore has learned of Isildur’s end. He is alarmed,
but says nothing to the Council.
2941 Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf visit Bilbo in the
Shire. Bilbo meets Sme´agol-Gollum and finds the
Ring. The White Council meets; Saruman agrees to
an attack on Dol Guldur, since he now wishes to prevent Sauron from searching the River. Sauron having
made his plans abandons Dol Guldur. The Battle of
the Five Armies in Dale. Death of Thorin II. Bard of
Esgaroth slays Smaug. Da´in of the Iron Hills becomes
King under the Mountain (Da´in II).
2942 Bilbo returns to the Shire with the Ring. Sauron
returns in secret to Mordor.
2944 Bard rebuilds Dale and becomes King. Gollum leaves
the Mountains and begins his search for the ‘thief ’ of
the Ring.
2948 The´oden son of Thengel, King of Rohan, born.
2949 Gandalf and Balin visit Bilbo in the Shire.
2950 Finduilas, daughter of Adrahil of Dol Amroth, born.
2951 Sauron declares himself openly and gathers power
in Mordor. He begins the rebuilding of Barad-duˆr.
Gollum turns towards Mordor. Sauron sends three
of the Nazguˆl to reoccupy Dol Guldur.
Elrond reveals to ‘Estel’ his true name and ancestry,
and delivers to him the shards of Narsil. Arwen, newly
returned from Lo´rien, meets Aragorn in the woods
of Imladris. Aragorn goes out into the Wild.
2953 Last meeting of the White Council. They debate the
Rings. Saruman feigns that he has discovered that
appendix b 1431
the One Ring has passed down Anduin to the Sea.
Saruman withdraws to Isengard, which he takes as
his own, and fortifies it. Being jealous and afraid of
Gandalf he sets spies to watch all his movements; and
notes his interest in the Shire. He soon begins to keep
agents in Bree and the Southfarthing.
2954 Mount Doom bursts into flame again. The last
inhabitants of Ithilien flee over Anduin.
2956 Aragorn meets Gandalf and their friendship begins.
2957–80 Aragorn undertakes his great journeys and errantries.
As Thorongil he serves in disguise both Thengel of
Rohan and Ecthelion II of Gondor.
2968 Birth of Frodo.
2976 Denethor weds Finduilas of Dol Amroth.
2977 Bain son of Bard becomes King of Dale.
2978 Birth of Boromir son of Denethor II.
2980 Aragorn enters Lo´rien, and there meets again Arwen
Undo´miel. Aragorn gives her the ring of Barahir, and
they plight their troth upon the hill of Cerin Amroth.
About this time Gollum reaches the confines of
Mordor and becomes acquainted with Shelob.
The´oden becomes King of Rohan. Birth of Samwise.
2983 Faramir son of Denethor born.
2984 Death of Ecthelion II. Denethor II becomes Steward
of Gondor.
2988 Finduilas dies young.
2989 Balin leaves Erebor and enters Moria.
2991 E´ omer E´ omund’s son born in Rohan.
2994 Balin perishes, and the dwarf-colony is destroyed.
2995 E´ owyn sister of E´ omer born.
c. 3000 The shadow of Mordor lengthens. Saruman dares to
use the palantı´r of Orthanc, but becomes ensnared by
Sauron, who has the Ithil-stone. He becomes a traitor
to the Council. His spies report that the Shire is being
closely guarded by the Rangers.
3001 Bilbo’s farewell feast. Gandalf suspects his ring to be
the One Ring. The guard on the Shire is doubled.
Gandalf seeks for news of Gollum and calls on the
help of Aragorn.
1432 the return of the king
3002 Bilbo becomes a guest of Elrond, and settles in Rivendell.
3004 Gandalf visits Frodo in the Shire, and does so at
intervals during the next four years.
3007 Brand son of Bain becomes King in Dale. Death of
Gilraen.
3008 In the autumn Gandalf pays his last visit to Frodo.
3009 Gandalf and Aragorn renew their hunt for Gollum at
intervals during the next eight years, searching in the
vales of Anduin, Mirkwood, and Rhovanion to the
confines of Mordor. At some time during these years
Gollum himself ventured into Mordor, and was captured by Sauron. Elrond sends for Arwen, and she
returns to Imladris; the Mountains and all lands eastward are becoming dangerous.
3017 Gollum is released from Mordor. He is taken by Aragorn in the Dead Marshes, and brought to Thranduil
in Mirkwood. Gandalf visits Minas Tirith and reads
the scroll of Isildur.
the great years
3018
April
12 Gandalf reaches Hobbiton.
June
20 Sauron attacks Osgiliath. About the same time Thranduil
is attacked, and Gollum escapes.
Mid-year’s Day Gandalf meets Radagast.
July
4 Boromir sets out from Minas Tirith.
10 Gandalf imprisoned in Orthanc.
appendix b 1433
August
All trace of Gollum is lost. It is thought that at about
this time, being hunted both by the Elves and Sauron’s
servants, he took refuge in Moria; but when he had at
last discovered the way to the West-gate he could not
get out.
September
18 Gandalf escapes from Orthanc in the early hours. The
Black Riders cross the Fords of Isen.
19 Gandalf comes to Edoras as a beggar, and is refused
admittance.
20 Gandalf gains entrance to Edoras. The´oden commands
him to go: ‘Take any horse, only be gone ere tomorrow
is old!’
21 Gandalf meets Shadowfax, but the horse will not allow
him to come near. He follows Shadowfax far over the
fields.
22 The Black Riders reach Sarn Ford at evening; they drive
off the guard of Rangers. Gandalf overtakes Shadowfax.
23 Four Riders enter the Shire before dawn. The others
pursue the Rangers eastward, and then return to watch
the Greenway. A Black Rider comes to Hobbiton at
nightfall. Frodo leaves Bag End. Gandalf having tamed
Shadowfax rides from Rohan.
24 Gandalf crosses the Isen.
26 The Old Forest. Frodo comes to Bombadil.
27 Gandalf crosses Greyflood. Second night with
Bombadil.
28 The Hobbits captured by a Barrow-wight. Gandalf
reaches Sarn Ford.
29 Frodo reaches Bree at night. Gandalf visits the Gaffer.
30 Crickhollow and the Inn at Bree are raided in the early
hours. Frodo leaves Bree. Gandalf comes to Crickhollow,
and reaches Bree at night.
1434 the return of the king
October
1 Gandalf leaves Bree.
3 He is attacked at night on Weathertop.
6 The camp under Weathertop attacked at night. Frodo
wounded.
9 Glorfindel leaves Rivendell.
11 He drives the Riders off the Bridge of Mitheithel.
13 Frodo crosses the Bridge.
18 Glorfindel finds Frodo at dusk. Gandalf reaches Rivendell.
20 Escape across the Ford of Bruinen.
24 Frodo recovers and wakes. Boromir arrives in Rivendell
at night.
25 Council of Elrond.
December
25 The Company of the Ring leaves Rivendell at dusk.
3019
January
8 The Company reach Hollin.
11, 12 Snow on Caradhras.
13 Attack by Wolves in the early hours. The Company
reaches West-gate of Moria at nightfall. Gollum begins
to trail the Ring-bearer.
14 Night in Hall Twenty-one.
15 The Bridge of Khazad-duˆm, and fall of Gandalf. The
Company reaches Nimrodel late at night.
17 The Company comes to Caras Galadhon at evening.
23 Gandalf pursues the Balrog to the peak of Zirakzigil.
25 He casts down the Balrog, and passes away. His body
lies on the peak.
February
15 The Mirror of Galadriel. Gandalf returns to life, and lies
in a trance.
appendix b 1435
16 Farewell to Lo´rien. Gollum in hiding on the west bank
observes the departure.
17 Gwaihir bears Gandalf to Lo´rien.
23 The boats are attacked at night near Sarn Gebir.
25 The Company pass the Argonath and camp at Parth
Galen. First Battle of the Fords of Isen; The´odred son
of The´oden slain.
26 Breaking of the Fellowship. Death of Boromir; his horn is
heard in Minas Tirith. Meriadoc and Peregrin captured.
Frodo and Samwise enter the eastern Emyn Muil. Aragorn sets out in pursuit of the Orcs at evening. E´ omer
hears of the descent of the Orc-band from Emyn Muil.
27 Aragorn reaches the west-cliff at sunrise. E´ omer against
The´oden’s orders sets out from Eastfold about midnight
to pursue the Orcs.
28 E´ omer overtakes the Orcs just outside Fangorn Forest.
29 Meriadoc and Pippin escape and meet Treebeard. The
Rohirrim attack at sunrise and destroy the Orcs. Frodo
descends from the Emyn Muil and meets Gollum. Faramir sees the funeral boat of Boromir.
30 Entmoot begins. E´ omer returning to Edoras meets
Aragorn.
March
1 Frodo begins the passage of the Dead Marshes at dawn.
Entmoot continues. Aragorn meets Gandalf the White.
They set out for Edoras. Faramir leaves Minas Tirith on
an errand to Ithilien.
2 Frodo comes to the end of the Marshes. Gandalf comes
to Edoras and heals The´oden. The Rohirrim ride west
against Saruman. Second Battle of Fords of Isen. Erkenbrand defeated. Entmoot ends in afternoon. The Ents
march on Isengard and reach it at night.
3 The´oden retreats to Helm’s Deep. Battle of the Hornburg begins. Ents complete the destruction of Isengard.
4 The´oden and Gandalf set out from Helm’s Deep for
Isengard. Frodo reaches the slag-mounds on the edge of
the Desolation of the Morannon.
1436 the return of the king
5 The´oden reaches Isengard at noon. Parley with Saruman
in Orthanc. Winged Nazguˆl passes over the camp at Dol
Baran. Gandalf sets out with Peregrin for Minas Tirith.
Frodo hides in sight of the Morannon, and leaves at dusk.
6 Aragorn overtaken by the Du´nedain in the early hours.
The´oden sets out from the Hornburg for Harrowdale.
Aragorn sets out later.
7 Frodo taken by Faramir to Henneth Annuˆn. Aragorn
comes to Dunharrow at nightfall.
8 Aragorn takes the ‘Paths of the Dead’ at daybreak; he
reaches Erech at midnight. Frodo leaves Henneth
Annuˆn.
9 Gandalf reaches Minas Tirith. Faramir leaves Henneth
Annuˆn. Aragorn sets out from Erech and comes to
Calembel. At dusk Frodo reaches the Morgul-road.
The´oden comes to Dunharrow. Darkness begins to flow
out of Mordor.
10 The Dawnless Day. The Muster of Rohan: the Rohirrim
ride from Harrowdale. Faramir rescued by Gandalf outside the gates of the City. Aragorn crosses Ringlo´. An
army from the Morannon takes Cair Andros and passes
into Ano´rien. Frodo passes the Cross-roads, and sees the
Morgul-host set forth.
11 Gollum visits Shelob, but seeing Frodo asleep nearly
repents. Denethor sends Faramir to Osgiliath. Aragorn
reaches Linhir and crosses into Lebennin. Eastern Rohan
is invaded from the north. First assault on Lo´rien.
12 Gollum leads Frodo into Shelob’s lair. Faramir retreats
to the Causeway Forts. The´oden camps under MinRimmon. Aragorn drives the enemy towards Pelargir.
The Ents defeat the invaders of Rohan.
13 Frodo captured by the Orcs of Cirith Ungol. The
Pelennor is overrun. Faramir is wounded. Aragorn
reaches Pelargir and captures the fleet. The´oden in Dru´-
adan Forest.
14 Samwise finds Frodo in the Tower. Minas Tirith is
besieged. The Rohirrim led by the Wild Men come to
the Grey Wood.
15 In the early hours the Witch-king breaks the Gates of
appendix b 1437
the City. Denethor burns himself on a pyre. The horns
of the Rohirrim are heard at cockcrow. Battle of the
Pelennor. The´oden is slain. Aragorn raises the standard
of Arwen. Frodo and Samwise escape and begin their
journey north along the Morgai. Battle under the trees
in Mirkwood; Thranduil repels the forces of Dol Guldur.
Second assault on Lo´rien.
16 Debate of the commanders. Frodo from the Morgai
looks out over the camp to Mount Doom.
17 Battle of Dale. King Brand and King Da´in Ironfoot fall.
Many Dwarves and Men take refuge in Erebor and are
besieged. Shagrat brings Frodo’s cloak, mail-shirt, and
sword to Barad-duˆr.
18 The Host of the West marches from Minas Tirith. Frodo
comes in sight of the Isenmouthe; he is overtaken by
Orcs on the road from Durthang to Uduˆn.
19 The Host comes to Morgul Vale. Frodo and Samwise
escape and begin their journey along the road to the
Barad-duˆr.
22 The dreadful nightfall. Frodo and Samwise leave the
road and turn south to Mount Doom. Third assault on
Lo´rien.
23 The Host passes out of Ithilien. Aragorn dismisses the
faint-hearted. Frodo and Samwise cast away their arms
and gear.
24 Frodo and Samwise make their last journey to the feet
of Mount Doom. The Host camps in the Desolation of
the Morannon.
25 The Host is surrounded on the Slag-hills. Frodo and
Samwise reach the Sammath Naur. Gollum seizes the
Ring and falls in the Cracks of Doom. Downfall of
Barad-duˆr and passing of Sauron.
After the fall of the Dark Tower and the passing of Sauron the
Shadow was lifted from the hearts of all who opposed him, but
fear and despair fell upon his servants and allies. Three times
Lo´rien had been assailed from Dol Guldur, but besides the valour of the elven people of that land, the power that dwelt there
was too great for any to overcome, unless Sauron had come
1438 the return of the king
there himself. Though grievous harm was done to the fair woods
on the borders, the assaults were driven back; and when the
Shadow passed, Celeborn came forth and led the host of Lo´rien
over Anduin in many boats. They took Dol Guldur, and Galadriel threw down its walls and laid bare its pits, and the forest was
cleansed.
In the North also there had been war and evil. The realm of
Thranduil was invaded, and there was long battle under the trees
and great ruin of fire; but in the end Thranduil had the victory.
And on the day of the New Year of the Elves, Celeborn and
Thranduil met in the midst of the forest; and they renamed
Mirkwood Eryn Lasgalen, The Wood of Greenleaves. Thranduil
took all the northern region as far as the mountains that rise in
the forest for his realm; and Celeborn took all the southern wood
below the Narrows, and named it East Lo´rien; all the wide forest
between was given to the Beornings and the Woodmen. But
after the passing of Galadriel in a few years Celeborn grew weary
of his realm and went to Imladris to dwell with the sons of
Elrond. In the Greenwood the Silvan Elves remained untroubled,
but in Lo´rien there lingered sadly only a few of its former people,
and there was no longer light or song in Caras Galadhon.
At the same time as the great armies besieged Minas Tirith a
host of the allies of Sauron that had long threatened the borders
of King Brand crossed the River Carnen, and Brand was driven
back to Dale. There he had the aid of the Dwarves of Erebor;
and there was a great battle at the Mountain’s feet. It lasted three
days, but in the end both King Brand and King Da´in Ironfoot
were slain, and the Easterlings had the victory. But they could
not take the Gate, and many, both Dwarves and Men, took
refuge in Erebor, and there withstood a siege.
When news came of the great victories in the South, then
Sauron’s northern army was filled with dismay; and the besieged
came forth and routed them, and the remnant fled into the East
and troubled Dale no more. Then Bard II, Brand’s son, became
King in Dale, and Thorin III Stonehelm, Da´in’s son, became
King under the Mountain. They sent their ambassadors to the
crowning of King Elessar; and their realms remained ever after,
appendix b 1439
as long as they lasted, in friendship with Gondor; and they were
under the crown and protection of the King of the West.
the chief days from the fall of barad-duˆ r
to the end of the third age 1
3019
S.R. 1419
March 27. Bard II and Thorin III Stonehelm drive the enemy
from Dale.

28. Celeborn crosses Anduin; destruction of Dol Guldur
    begun.
    April 6. Meeting of Celeborn and Thranduil.
29. The Ring-bearers are honoured on the Field of
    Cormallen.
    May 1. Crowning of King Elessar; Elrond and Arwen set out
    from Rivendell.
    8.E´ omer and E´ owyn depart for Rohan with the sons of
    Elrond.
30. Elrond and Arwen come to Lo´rien.
31. The escort of Arwen leaves Lo´rien.
    June 14. The sons of Elrond meet the escort and bring Arwen
    to Edoras.
32. They set out for Gondor.
33. King Elessar finds the sapling of the White Tree.
    1 Lithe. Arwen comes to the City.
    Mid-year’s Day. Wedding of Elessar and Arwen.
    July 18.E´ omer returns to Minas Tirith.
34. The funeral escort of King The´oden sets out.
    August 7. The escort comes to Edoras.
35. Funeral of King The´oden.
36. The guests take leave of King E´ omer.
37. Treebeard releases Saruman.
38. They come to Helm’s Deep.
39. They come to Isengard; they take leave of the King of
    the West at sunset.
    1 Months and days are given according to the Shire Calendar.
    1440 the return of the king
40. They overtake Saruman; Saruman turns towards the
    Shire.
    September 6. They halt in sight of the Mountains of Moria.
41. Celeborn and Galadriel depart, the others set out for
    Rivendell.
42. They return to Rivendell.
43. The hundred and twenty-ninth birthday of Bilbo.
    Saruman comes to the Shire.
    October 5. Gandalf and the Hobbits leave Rivendell.
44. They cross the Ford of Bruinen; Frodo feels the first
    return of pain.
45. They reach Bree at nightfall.
46. They leave Bree. The ‘Travellers’ come to the Brandywine Bridge at dark.
    November 1. They are arrested at Frogmorton.
47. They come to Bywater and rouse the Shire-folk.
48. Battle of Bywater, and Passing of Saruman. End of the
    War of the Ring.
    3020
    S.R. 1420: The Great Year of Plenty
    March 13. Frodo is taken ill (on the anniversary of his poisoning by Shelob).
    April 6. The mallorn flowers in the Party Field.
    May 1. Samwise marries Rose.
    Mid-year’s Day. Frodo resigns office of mayor, and Will Whitfoot is restored.
    September 22. Bilbo’s hundred and thirtieth birthday.
    October 6. Frodo is again ill.
    3021
    S.R. 1421: The Last of the Third Age
    March 13. Frodo is again ill.
49. Birth of Elanor the Fair,1 daughter of Samwise. On this
    1 She became known as ‘the Fair’ because of her beauty; many said
    that she looked more like an elf-maid than a hobbit. She had golden hair,
    which had been very rare in the Shire; but two others of Samwise’s
    daughters were also golden-haired, and so were many of the children
    born at this time.
    appendix b 1441
    day the Fourth Age began in the reckoning of Gondor.
    September 21. Frodo and Samwise set out from Hobbiton.
50. They meet the Last Riding of the Keepers of the
    Rings in Woody End.
51. They come to the Grey Havens. Frodo and Bilbo
    depart over Sea with the Three Keepers. The end of the
    Third Age.
    October 6. Samwise returns to Bag End.
    LATER EVENTS CONCERNING
    THE MEMBERS OF THE FELLOWSHIP
    OF THE RING
    s.r.
    1422 With the beginning of this year the Fourth Age began
    in the count of years in the Shire; but the numbers of
    the years of Shire Reckoning were continued.
    1427 Will Whitfoot resigns. Samwise is elected Mayor of
    the Shire. Peregrin Took marries Diamond of Long
    Cleeve. King Elessar issues an edict that Men are not
    to enter the Shire, and he makes it a Free Land under
    the protection of the Northern Sceptre.
    1430 Faramir, son of Peregrin, born.
    1431 Goldilocks, daughter of Samwise, born.
    1432 Meriadoc, called the Magnificent, becomes Master of
    Buckland. Great gifts are sent to him by King E´ omer
    and the Lady E´ owyn of Ithilien.
    1434 Peregrin becomes the Took and Thain. King Elessar
    makes the Thain, the Master, and the Mayor Counsellors of the North-kingdom. Master Samwise is elected
    Mayor for the second time.
    1436 King Elessar rides north, and dwells for a while by
    Lake Evendim. He comes to the Brandywine Bridge,
    and there greets his friends. He gives the Star of the
    Du´nedain to Master Samwise, and Elanor is made a
    maid of honour to Queen Arwen.
    1441 Master Samwise becomes Mayor for the third time.
    1442 Master Samwise and his wife and Elanor ride to
    1442 the return of the king
    Gondor and stay there for a year. Master Tolman
    Cotton acts as deputy Mayor.
    1448 Master Samwise becomes Mayor for the fourth time.
    1451 Elanor the Fair marries Fastred of Greenholm on the
    Far Downs.
    1452 The Westmarch, from the Far Downs to the Tower
    Hills (Emyn Beraid),1 is added to the Shire by the gift
    of the King. Many hobbits remove to it.
    1454 Elfstan Fairbairn, son of Fastred and Elanor, is born.
    1455 Master Samwise becomes Mayor for the fifth time.
    1462 Master Samwise becomes Mayor for the sixth time.
    At his request the Thain makes Fastred Warden of
    Westmarch. Fastred and Elanor make their dwelling at
    Undertowers on the Tower Hills, where their descendants, the Fairbairns of the Towers, dwelt for many
    generations.
    1463 Faramir Took marries Goldilocks, daughter of
    Samwise.
    1469 Master Samwise becomes Mayor for the seventh and
    last time, being in 1476, at the end of his office, ninetysix years old.
    1482 Death of Mistress Rose, wife of Master Samwise, on
    Mid-year’s Day. On September 22 Master Samwise
    rides out from Bag End. He comes to the Tower Hills,
    and is last seen by Elanor, to whom he gives the Red
    Book afterwards kept by the Fairbairns. Among them
    the tradition is handed down from Elanor that Samwise
    passed the Towers, and went to the Grey Havens, and
    passed over Sea, last of the Ring-bearers.
    1484 In the spring of the year a message came from Rohan
    to Buckland that King E´ omer wished to see Master
    Holdwine once again. Meriadoc was then old (102)
    but still hale. He took counsel with his friend the
    Thain, and soon after they handed over their goods
    and offices to their sons and rode away over the Sarn
    Ford, and they were not seen again in the Shire. It was
    heard after that Master Meriadoc came to Edoras and
    1 p. 9; p. 1364, note 2.
    appendix b 1443
    was with King E´ omer before he died in that autumn.
    Then he and Thain Peregrin went to Gondor and
    passed what short years were left to them in that realm,
    until they died and were laid in Rath Dı´nen among the
    great of Gondor.
    1541 In this year1 on March 1st came at last the Passing
    of King Elessar. It is said that the beds of Meriadoc
    and Peregrin were set beside the bed of the great king.
    Then Legolas built a grey ship in Ithilien, and sailed
    down Anduin and so over Sea; and with him, it is said,
    went Gimli the Dwarf. And when that ship passed an
    end was come in Middle-earth of the Fellowship of the
    Ring.
    1 Fourth Age (Gondor) 120.
    APPENDIX C
    FAMILY TREES
    The names given in these Trees are only a selection from many.
    Most of them are either guests at Bilbo’s Farewell Party, or their
    direct ancestors. The guests at the Party are underlined. A few
    other names of persons concerned in the events recounted are
    also given. In addition some genealogical information is provided
    concerning Samwise the founder of the family of Gardner, later
    famous and influential.
    The figures after the names are those of birth (and death
    where that is recorded). All dates are given according to the
    Shire-reckoning, calculated from the crossing of the Brandywine
    by the brothers Marcho and Blanco in the Year 1 of the Shire
    (Third Age 1601).
    BOLGER OF BUDGEFORD
    Gundolpho Bolger
    1131–1230
    =Alfrida of the Yale
    Rudolph
    1178
    =Cora Goodbody
    Gundahad
    1180
    Gundahar
    1174–1275
    =Dina Diggle
    Adalgar
    1215–1314
    Rudigar
    1255–1348
    =Belba Baggins
    Rudibert
    1260
    =Amethyst Hornblower
    Ruby
    1264
    =Fosco Baggins
    Adalbert
    1301–1397
    Gerda Boffin
    [Drogo]
    [FRODO] Filibert
    1342–1443
    =Poppy Chubb-Baggins
    Herugar
    1295–1390
    =Jessamine Boffin
    Odovacar
    1336–1431
    =Rosamunda Took
    Fredegar
    1380
    Estella=[MERIADOC]
    Adaldrida
    1218
    =Marmadoc Brandybuck
    Fastolph
    1210
    =Pansy Baggins
    (various
    descendants)
    Gundabald
    1222
    =Salvia Brandybuck
    Theobald
    1261
    =Nina Lightfoot
    Wilibald
    1304–1400
    =Prisca Baggins
    Heribald
    1351
    Wilimar
    1347
    Nora
    1360
    1385
    BOFFIN OF THE YALE
    Buffo Boffin
    =Ivy Goodenough
    Bosco
    1167–1258
    Otto the Fat
    1212–1300
    Lavender Grubb
    (sister of Laura = Mungo Baggins)
    Hugo
    1254–1345
    =Donnamira Took
    Jago
    1294–1386
    Jessamine
    1297
    =Herugar Bolger
    [Fredegar]
    Vigo
    1337–1430
    Folco
    1378
    Uffo
    1257
    =Sapphira Brockhouse
    Gruffo
    1300–1399
    Gerda
    1304–1404
    =Adalbert Bolger
    q.v.
    Griffo
    1346
    =Daisy Baggins
    Tosto
    1388
    Rollo
    1260
    =Druda Burrows
    (various
    descendants)
    Primrose
    1265
    =Blanco Bracegirdle
    [Lobelia]
    1318–1420
    =Otho S-Baggins
    [Lotho S-B.]
    [Bruno Bracegirdle]
    1313–1410
    [Hugo Bracegirdle]
    1350
    [Hilda]
    1354
    [=Seredic Brandybuck]
    [BILBO]
    [FRODO]
    Basso
    1169
    reputed to have ‘gone to sea’ in 1195
    Briffo
    1170
    (removed to Bree 1210)
    Berylla
    1172
    =Balbo Baggins
    [Mungo] [Largo]
    APPENDIX D
    SHIRE CALENDAR
    FOR USE IN ALL YEARS
    Every year began on the first day of the week, Saturday, and
    ended on the last day of the week, Friday. The Mid-year’s Day,
    and in Leap-years the Overlithe, had no weekday name. The
    1452 the return of the king
    Lithe before Mid-year’s Day was called 1 Lithe, and the one
    after was called 2 Lithe. The Yule at the end of the year was 1
    Yule, and that at the beginning was 2 Yule. The Overlithe was
    a day of special holiday, but it did not occur in any of the years
    important to the history of the Great Ring. It occurred in 1420,
    the year of the famous harvest and wonderful summer, and the
    merrymaking in that year is said to have been the greatest in
    memory or record.
    THE CALENDARS
    The Calendar in the Shire differed in several features from ours.
    The year no doubt was of the same length,1 for long ago as those
    times are now reckoned in years and lives of men, they were not
    very remote according to the memory of the Earth. It is recorded
    by the Hobbits that they had no ‘week’ when they were still a
    wandering people, and though they had ‘months’, governed
    more or less by the Moon, their keeping of dates and calculations
    of time were vague and inaccurate. In the west-lands of Eriador,
    when they had begun to settle down, they adopted the Kings’
    Reckoning of the Du´nedain, which was ultimately of Eldarin
    origin; but the Hobbits of the Shire introduced several minor
    alterations. This calendar, or ‘Shire Reckoning’ as it was called,
    was eventually adopted also in Bree, except for the Shire usage
    of counting as Year 1 the year of the colonization of the Shire.
    It is often difficult to discover from old tales and traditions
    precise information about things which people knew well and
    took for granted in their own day (such as the names of letters,
    or of the days of the week, or the names and lengths of months).
    But owing to their general interest in genealogy, and to the
    interest in ancient history which the learned amongst them
    developed after the War of the Ring, the Shire-hobbits seem to
    have concerned themselves a good deal with dates; and they
    even drew up complicated tables showing the relations of their
    own system with others. I am not skilled in these matters, and
    may have made many errors; but at any rate the chronology of
    1 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.
    appendix d 1453
    the crucial years S.R. 1418, 1419 is so carefully set out in the
    Red Book that there cannot be much doubt about days and times
    at that point.
    It seems clear that the Eldar in Middle-earth, who had, as Samwise remarked, more time at their disposal, reckoned in long
    periods, and the Quenya word ye´n, often translated ‘year’
    (p. 492), really means 144 of our years. The Eldar preferred to
    reckon in sixes and twelves as far as possible. A ‘day’ of the sun
    they called re´ and reckoned from sunset to sunset. The ye´n
    contained 52,596 days. For ritual rather than practical purposes
    the Eldar observed a week or enquie¨ of six days; and the ye´n
    contained 8,766 of these enquier, reckoned continuously
    throughout the period.
    In Middle-earth the Eldar also observed a short period or solar
    year, called a coranar or ‘sun-round’ when considered more or
    less astronomically, but usually called loa ‘growth’ (especially in
    the north-western lands) when the seasonal changes in vegetation were primarily considered, as was usual with the Elves generally. The loa was broken up into periods that might be regarded
    either as long months or short seasons. These no doubt varied
    in different regions; but the Hobbits only provide information
    concerning the Calendar of Imladris. In that calendar there were
    six of these ‘seasons’, of which the Quenya names were tuile¨,
    laire¨, ya´vie¨, quelle¨, hrı´ve¨, coire¨, which may be translated ‘spring,
    summer, autumn, fading, winter, stirring’. The Sindarin names
    were ethuil, laer, iavas, firith, rhıˆw, echuir. ‘Fading’ was also called
    lasse-lanta ‘leaf-fall’, or in Sindarin narbeleth ‘sun-waning’.
    Laire¨ and hrı´ve¨ each contained 72 days, and the remainder 54
    each. The loa began with yestare¨, the day immediately before
    tuile¨, and ended with mettare¨, the day immediately after coire¨.
    Between ya´vie¨ and quelle¨ were inserted three enderi or ‘middledays’. This provided a year of 365 days which was supplemented
    by doubling the enderi (adding 3 days) in every twelfth year.
    How any resulting inaccuracy was dealt with is uncertain. If
    the year was then of the same length as now, the ye´n would have
    been more than a day too long. That there was an inaccuracy is
    shown by a note in the Calendars of the Red Book to the effect
    that in the ‘Reckoning of Rivendell’ the last year of every third
    1454 the return of the king
    ye´n was shortened by three days: the doubling of the three enderi
    due in that year was omitted; ‘but that has not happened in our
    time’. Of the adjustment of any remaining inaccuracy there is
    no record.
    The Nu´meno´reans altered these arrangements. They divided the
    loa into shorter periods of more regular length; and they adhered
    to the custom of beginning the year in mid-winter, which had
    been used by Men of the North-west from whom they were
    derived in the First Age. Later they also made their week one of
    7 days, and they reckoned the day from sunrise (out of the
    eastern sea) to sunrise.
    The Nu´meno´rean system, as used in Nu´menor, and in Arnor
    and Gondor until the end of the kings, was called Kings’ Reckoning. The normal year had 365 days. It was divided into twelve
    astar or months, of which ten had 30 days and two had 31. The
    long astar were those on either side of the Mid-year, approximately our June and July. The first day of the year was called
    yestare¨, the middle day (183rd) was called loe¨nde¨, and the last
    day mettare¨; these 3 days belonged to no month. In every fourth
    year, except the last of a century (haranye¨), two enderi or ‘middledays’ were substituted for the loe¨nde¨.
    In Nu´menor calculation started with S.A. 1. The Deficit caused
    by deducting 1 day from the last year of a century was not
    adjusted until the last year of a millennium, leaving a millennial
    deficit of 4 hours, 46 minutes, 40 seconds. This addition was
    made in Nu´menor in S.A. 1000, 2000, 3000. After the Downfall
    in S.A. 3319 the system was maintained by the exiles, but it was
    much dislocated by the beginning of the Third Age with a new
    numeration: S.A. 3442 became T.A. 1. By making T.A. 4 a leap
    year instead of T.A. 3 (S.A. 3444) 1 more short year of only 365
    days was intruded causing a deficit of 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46
    seconds. The millennial additions were made 441 years late: in
    T.A. 1000 (S.A. 4441) and 2000 (S.A. 5441). To reduce the
    errors so caused, and the accumulation of the millennial deficits,
    Mardil the Steward issued a revised calendar to take effect in
    T.A. 2060, after a special addition of 2 days to 2059 (S.A.
    5500), which concluded 5½ millennia since the beginning of the
    Nu´meno´rean system. But this still left about 8 hours deficit.
    appendix d 1455
    Hador to 2360 added 1 day though this deficiency had not quite
    reached that amount. After that no more adjustments were made.
    (In T.A. 3000 with the threat of imminent war such matters
    were neglected.) By the end of the Third Age, after 660 more
    years, the Deficit had not yet amounted to 1 day.
    The Revised Calendar introduced by Mardil was called Stewards’ Reckoning and was adopted eventually by most of the users
    of the Westron language, except the Hobbits. The months were
    all of 30 days, and 2 days outside the months were introduced:
    1 between the third and fourth months (March, April), and 1
    between the ninth and tenth (September, October). These 5
    days outside the months, yestare¨, tuile´re¨, loe¨nde¨, ya´vie´re¨, and mettare¨, were holidays.
    The Hobbits were conservative and continued to use a form of
    Kings’ Reckoning adapted to fit their own customs. Their months
    were all equal and had 30 days each; but they had 3 Summerdays,
    called in the Shire the Lithe or the Lithedays, between June and
    July. The last day of the year and the first of the next year were
    called the Yuledays. The Yuledays and the Lithedays remained
    outside the months, so that January 1 was the second and not
    the first day of the year. Every fourth year, except in the last
    year of the century,1 there were four Lithedays. The Lithedays
    and the Yuledays were the chief holidays and times of feasting.
    The additional Litheday was added after Mid-year’s Day, and
    so the 184th day of the Leap-years was called Overlithe and was
    a day of special merrymaking. In full Yuletide was six days long,
    including the last three and first three days of each year.
    The Shire-folk introduced one small innovation of their own
    (eventually also adopted in Bree), which they called Shirereform. They found the shifting of the weekday names in relation
    to dates from year to year untidy and inconvenient. So in the
    time of Isengrim II they arranged that the odd day which put
    the succession out, should have no weekday name. After that
    Mid-year’s Day (and the Overlithe) was known only by its name
    1 In the Shire, in which Year 1 corresponded with T.A. 1601. In Bree
    in which Year 1 corresponded with T.A. 1300 it was the first year of the
    century.
    1456 the return of the king
    and belonged to no week (p. 222). In consequence of this reform
    the year always began on the First Day of the week and ended
    on the Last Day; and the same date in any one year had the
    same weekday name in all other years, so that Shire-folk no
    longer bothered to put the weekday in their letters or diaries.1
    They found this quite convenient at home, but not so convenient
    if they ever travelled further than Bree.
    In the above notes, as in the narrative, I have used our modern
    names for both months and weekdays, though of course neither
    the Eldar nor the Du´nedain nor the Hobbits actually did so.
    Translation of the Westron names seemed to be essential to
    avoid confusion, while the seasonal implications of our names
    are more or less the same, at any rate in the Shire. It appears,
    however, that Mid-year’s Day was intended to correspond as
    nearly as possible to the summer solstice. In that case the Shire
    dates were actually in advance of ours by some ten days, and
    our New Year’s Day corresponded more or less to the Shire
    January 9.
    In the Westron the Quenya names of the months were usually
    retained as the Latin names are now widely used in alien languages. They were: Narvinye¨, Ne´nime¨, Su´lime¨, Vı´resse¨, Lo´tesse¨,
    Na´rie¨, Cermie¨, U´ rime¨, Yavannie¨, Narquelie¨, Hı´sime¨, Ringare¨. The
    Sindarin names (used only by the Du´nedain) were: Narwain,
    Nı´nui, Gwaeron, Gwirith, Lothron, No´rui, Cerveth, U´ rui, Ivanneth,
    Narbeleth, Hithui, Girithron.
    In this nomenclature the Hobbits, however, both of the Shire
    and of Bree, diverged from the Westron usage, and adhered to
    old-fashioned local names of their own, which they seem to have
    picked up in antiquity from the Men of the vales of Anduin; at
    any rate similar names were found in Dale and Rohan (cf. the
    notes on the languages, pp. 1488–9, 1493–1500). The meanings
    of these names, devised by Men, had as a rule long been for1 It will be noted if one glances at a Shire Calendar, that the only
    weekday on which no month began was Friday. It thus became a jesting
    idiom in the Shire to speak of ‘on Friday the first’ when referring to a
    day that did not exist, or to a day on which very unlikely events such as
    the flying of pigs or (in the Shire) the walking of trees might occur. In
    full the expression was ‘on Friday the first of Summerfilth’.
    appendix d 1457
    gotten by the Hobbits, even in cases where they had originally
    known what their significance was; and the forms of the names
    were much obscured in consequence: math, for instance, at the
    end of some of them is a reduction of month.
    The Shire names are set out in the Calendar. It may be noted
    that Solmath was usually pronounced, and sometimes written,
    Somath; Thrimidge was often written Thrimich (archaically Thrimilch); and Blotmath was pronounced Blodmath or Blommath. In
    Bree the names differed, being Frery, Solmath, Rethe, Chithing,
    Thrimidge, Lithe, The Summerdays, Mede, Wedmath, Harvestmath, Wintring, Blooting, and Yulemath. Frery, Chithing and
    Yulemath were also used in the Eastfarthing.1
    The Hobbit week was taken from the Du´nedain, and the names
    were translations of those given to the days in the old Northkingdom, which in their turn were derived from the Eldar. The
    six-day week of the Eldar had days dedicated to, or named after,
    the Stars, the Sun, the Moon, the Two Trees, the Heavens, and
    the Valar or Powers, in that order, the last day being the chief
    day of the week. Their names in Quenya were Elenya, Anarya,
    Isilya, Aldu´ya, Menelya, Valanya (or Ta´rion); the Sindarin names
    were Orgilion, Oranor, Orithil, Orgaladhad, Ormenel, Orbelain (or
    Rodyn).
    The Nu´meno´reans retained the dedications and order, but
    altered the fourth day to Alde¨a (Orgaladh) with reference to the
    White Tree only, of which Nimloth that grew in the King’s Court
    in Nu´menor was believed to be a descendant. Also desiring a
    seventh day, and being great mariners, they inserted a ‘Sea-day’,
    Ea¨renya (Oraearon), after the Heavens’ Day.
    The Hobbits took over this arrangement, but the meanings of
    their translated names were soon forgotten, or no longer attended
    to, and the forms were much reduced, especially in everyday
    pronunciation. The first translation of the Nu´meno´rean names
    1 It was a jest in Bree to speak of ‘Winterfilth in the (muddy) Shire’,
    but according to the Shire-folk Wintring was a Bree alteration of the
    older name, which had originally referred to the filling or completion of
    the year before Winter, and descended from times before the full adoption of Kings’ Reckoning when their new year began after harvest.
    1458 the return of the king
    was probably made two thousand years or more before the end
    of the Third Age, when the week of the Du´nedain (the feature
    of their reckoning earliest adopted by alien peoples) was taken
    up by Men in the North. As with their names of months, the
    Hobbits adhered to these translations, although elsewhere in the
    Westron area the Quenya names were used.
    Not many ancient documents were preserved in the Shire. At
    the end of the Third Age far the most notable survival was
    Yellowskin, or the Yearbook of Tuckborough.1 Its earliest entries
    seem to have begun at least nine hundred years before Frodo’s
    time; and many are cited in the Red Book annals and genealogies.
    In these the weekday names appear in archaic forms, of which
    the following are the oldest: (1) Sterrendei,(2) Sunnendei,(3)
    Monendei,(4) Trewesdei,(5) Hevenesdei,(6) Meresdei,(7) Hihdei.
    In the language of the time of the War of the Ring these had
    become Sterday, Sunday, Monday, Trewsday, Hevensday (or
    Hensday), Mersday, Highday.
    I have translated these names also into our own names, naturally beginning with Sunday and Monday, which occur in the
    Shire week with the same names as ours, and re-naming the
    others in order. It must be noted, however, that the associations
    of the names were quite different in the Shire. The last day of
    the week, Friday (Highday), was the chief day, and one of holiday (after noon) and evening feasts. Saturday thus corresponds
    more nearly to our Monday, and Thursday to our Saturday.2
    A few other names may be mentioned that have a reference to
    time, though not used in precise reckonings. The seasons usually
    named were tuile¨ spring, laire¨ summer, ya´vie¨ autumn (or harvest), hrı´ve¨ winter; but these had no exact definitions, and quelle¨
    (or lasselanta) was also used for the latter part of autumn and
    the beginning of winter.
    The Eldar paid special attention to the ‘twilight’ (in the northerly regions), chiefly as the times of star-fading and star-opening.
    1 Recording births, marriages, and deaths in the Took families, as
    well as matters, such as land-sales, and various Shire events. 2 I have therefore in Bilbo’s song (pp. 207–9) used Saturday and
    Sunday instead of Thursday and Friday.
    appendix d 1459
    They had many names for these periods, of which the most
    usual were tindo´me¨ and undo´me¨; the former most often referred
    to the time near dawn, and undo´me¨ to the evening. The Sindarin
    name was uial, which could be defined as minuial and aduial.
    These were often called in the Shire morrowdim and evendim.
    Cf. Lake Evendim as a translation of Nenuial.
    The Shire Reckoning and dates are the only ones of importance
    for the narrative of the War of the Ring. All the days, months,
    and dates are in the Red Book translated into Shire terms, or
    equated with them in notes. The months and days, therefore,
    throughout The Lord of the Rings refer to the Shire Calendar.
    The only points in which the differences between this and our
    calendar are important to the story at the crucial period, the end
    of 3018 and the beginning of 3019 (S.R. 1418, 1419), are these:
    October 1418 has only 30 days, January 1 is the second day of
    1419, and February has 30 days; so that March 25, the date of
    the downfall of the Barad-duˆr, would correspond to our March
    27, if our years began at the same seasonal point. The date was,
    however, March 25 in both Kings’ and Stewards’ Reckoning.
    The New Reckoning was begun in the restored Kingdom in
    T.A. 3019. It represented a return to Kings’ Reckoning adapted
    to fit a spring-beginning as in the Eldarin loa.
    1
    In the New Reckoning the year began on March 25 old style,
    in commemoration of the fall of Sauron and the deeds of the
    Ring-bearers. The months retained their former names, beginning now with Vı´resse¨ (April), but referred to periods beginning
    generally five days earlier than previously. All the months had
    30 days. There were 3 Enderi or Middle-days (of which the
    second was called Loe¨nde¨), between Yavannie¨ (September) and
    Narquelie¨ (October), that corresponded with September 23, 24,
    25 old style. But in honour of Frodo Yavannie¨ 30, which corresponded with former September 22, his birthday, was made a
    festival, and the leap-year was provided for by doubling this
    feast, called Cormare¨ or Ringday.
    1 Though actually the yestare¨ of New Reckoning occurred earlier than
    in the Calendar of Imladris, in which it corresponded more or less with
    Shire April 6.
    1460 the return of the king
    The Fourth Age was held to have begun with the departure
    of Master Elrond, which took place in September 3021; but for
    purposes of record in the Kingdom Fourth Age 1 was the year
    that began according to the New Reckoning in March 25, 3021,
    old style.
    This reckoning was in the course of the reign of King Elessar
    adopted in all his lands except the Shire, where the old calendar
    was retained and Shire Reckoning was continued. Fourth Age 1
    was thus called 1422; and in so far as the Hobbits took any
    account of the change of Age, they maintained that it began with
    2 Yule 1422, and not in the previous March.
    There is no record of the Shire-folk commemorating either
    March 25 or September 22; but in the Westfarthing, especially
    in the country round Hobbiton Hill, there grew up a custom of
    making holiday and dancing in the Party Field, when weather
    permitted, on April 6. Some said that it was old Sam Gardner’s
    birthday, some that it was the day on which the Golden Tree
    first flowered in 1420, and some that it was the Elves’ New Year.
    In the Buckland the Horn of the Mark was blown at sundown
    every November 2 and bonfires and feastings followed.1
    1 Anniversary of its first blowing in the Shire in 3019.
    APPENDIX E
    Writing and Spelling
    I
    PRONUNCIATION OF WORDS AND NAMES
    The Westron or Common Speech has been entirely translated
    into English equivalents. All Hobbit names and special words
    are intended to be pronounced accordingly: for example, Bolger
    has g as in bulge, and mathom rhymes with fathom.
    In transcribing the ancient scripts I have tried to represent the
    original sounds (so far as they can be determined) with fair
    accuracy, and at the same time to produce words and names
    that do not look uncouth in modern letters. The High-elven
    Quenya has been spelt as much like Latin as its sounds allowed.
    For this reason c has been preferred to k in both Eldarin languages.
    The following points may be observed by those who are interested in such details.
    consonants
    C has always the value of k even before e and i: celeb ‘silver’
    should be pronounced as keleb.
    CH is only used to represent the sound heard in bach (in German or Welsh), not that in English church. Except at the
    end of words and before t this sound was weakened to h
    in the speech of Gondor, and that change has been recognized in a few names, such as Rohan, Rohirrim.(Imrahil is
    a Nu´meno´rean name.)
    DH represents the voiced (soft) th of English these clothes. It is
    usually related to d, as in S. galadh ‘tree’ compared with
    Q. alda; but is sometimes derived from n+r, as in Caradhras
    ‘Redhorn’ from caran-rass.
    1462 the return of the king
    F represents f, except at the end of words, where it is used
    to represent the sound of v (as in English of): Nindalf,
    Fladrif.
    G has only the sound of g in give, get: gil ‘star’, in Gildor,
    Gilraen, Osgiliath, begins as in English gild.
    H standing alone with no other consonant has the sound of
    h in house, behold. The Quenya combination ht has the
    sound of cht, as in German echt, acht: e.g. in the name
    Telumehtar ‘Orion’.1 See also CH, DH, L, R, TH, W, Y.
    I initially before another vowel has the consonantal sound
    of y in you, yore in Sindarin only: as in Ioreth, Iarwain.
    See Y.
    K is used in names drawn from other than Elvish languages,
    with the same value as c; kh thus represents the same sound
    as ch in Orkish Grishna´kh, or Aduˆnaic (Nu´meno´rean)
    Aduˆnakhoˆr. On Dwarvish (Khuzdul) see note below.
    L represents more or less the sound of English initial l, as in
    let. It was, however, to some degree ‘palatalized’ between
    e, i and a consonant, or finally after e, i. (The Eldar would
    probably have transcribed English bell, fill as beol, fiol.) LH
    represents this sound when voiceless (usually derived from
    initial sl-). In (archaic) Quenya this is written hl, but was
    in the Third Age usually pronounced as l.
    NG represents ng in finger, except finally where it was sounded
    as in English sing. The latter sound also occurred initially
    in Quenya, but has been transcribed n (as in Noldo),
    according to the pronunciation of the Third Age.
    PH has the same sound as f. It is used (a) where the f-sound
    occurs at the end of a word, as in alph ‘swan’; (b) where
    the f-sound is related to or derived from a p, as in i-Pheriannath ‘the Halflings’ (perian); (c) in the middle of a few
    words where it represents a long ff (from pp) as in Ephel
    ‘outer fence’; and (d) in Aduˆnaic and Westron, as in ArPharazoˆn (pharaz ‘gold’).
    QU has been used for cw, a combination very frequent in
    Quenya, though it did not occur in Sindarin.
    R represents a trilled r in all positions; the sound was not lost
    1 Usually called in Sindarin Menelvagor (p. 107), Q. Menelmacar.
    appendix e 1463
    before consonants (as in English part). The Orcs, and
    some Dwarves, are said to have used a back or uvular r,a
    sound which the Eldar found distasteful. RH represents a
    voiceless r (usually derived from older initial sr-). It was
    written hr in Quenya. Cf. L.
    S is always voiceless, as in English so, geese; the z-sound
    did not occur in contemporary Quenya or Sindarin. SH,
    occurring in Westron, Dwarvish and Orkish, represents
    sounds similar to sh in English.
    TH represents the voiceless th of English in thin cloth. This had
    become s in spoken Quenya, though still written with a
    different letter; as in Q. Isil, S. Ithil, ‘Moon’.
    TY represents a sound probably similar to the t in English
    tune. It was derived mainly from c or t+y. The sound of
    English ch, which was frequent in Westron, was usually
    substituted for it by speakers of that language. Cf. HY
    under Y.
    V has the sound of English v, but is not used finally. See F.
    W has the sound of English w. HW is a voiceless w, as in
    English white (in northern pronunciation). It was not an
    uncommon initial sound in Quenya, though examples
    seem not to occur in this book. Both v and w are used in
    the transcription of Quenya, in spite of the assimilation of
    its spelling to Latin, since the two sounds, distinct in origin,
    both occurred in the language.
    Y is used in Quenya for the consonant y, as in English you.
    In Sindarin y is a vowel (see below). HY has the same
    relation to y as HW to w, and represents a sound like that
    often heard in English hew, huge; h in Quenya eht, iht
    had the same sound. The sound of English sh, which was
    common in Westron, was often substituted by speakers of
    that language. Cf. TY above. HY was usually derived from
    sy- and khy-; in both cases related Sindarin words show
    initial h, as in Q. Hyarmen ‘south’, S. Harad.
    Note that consonants written twice, as tt, ll, ss, nn, represent
    long, ‘double’ consonants. At the end of words of more than one
    syllable these were usually shortened: as in Rohan from Rochann
    (archaic Rochand).
    1464 the return of the king
    In Sindarin the combinations ng, nd, mb, which were specially
    favoured in the Eldarin languages at an earlier stage, suffered
    various changes. mb became m in all cases, but still counted as a
    long consonant for purposes of stress (see below), and is thus
    written mm in cases where otherwise the stress might be in
    doubt.1 ng remained unchanged except initially and finally where
    it became the simple nasal (as in English sing). nd became nn
    usually, as Ennor ‘Middle-earth’, Q. Endo´re; but remained nd at
    the end of fully accented monosyllables such as thond ‘root’ (cf.
    Morthond ‘Blackroot’), and also before r, as Andros ‘long-foam’.
    This nd is also seen in some ancient names derived from an
    older period, such as Nargothrond, Gondolin, Beleriand. In the
    Third Age final nd in long words had become n from nn, as in
    Ithilien, Rohan, Ano´rien.
    vowels
    For vowels the letters i, e, a, o, u are used, and (in Sindarin only)
    y. As far as can be determined the sounds represented by these
    letters (other than y) were of normal kind, though doubtless
    many local varieties escape detection.2 That is, the sounds were
    approximately those represented by i, e, a, o, u in English
    machine, were, father, for, brute, irrespective of quantity.
    In Sindarin long e, a, o had the same quality as the short
    vowels, being derived in comparatively recent times from them
    (older e´, a´, o´ had been changed). In Quenya long e´ and o´ were,
    when correctly2 pronounced, as by the Eldar, tenser and ‘closer’
    than the short vowels.
    1 As in galadhremmin ennorath (p. 309) ‘tree-woven lands of
    Middle-earth’. Remmirath (p. 107) contains rem ‘mesh’, Q. rembe,+ mıˆr
    ‘jewel’. 2 A fairly widespread pronunciation of long e´ and o´ as ei and ou, more
    or less as in English say no, both in Westron and in the renderings of
    Quenya names by Westron speakers, is shown by spellings such as ei,
    ou (or their equivalents in contemporary scripts). But such pronunciations were regarded as incorrect or rustic. They were naturally usual
    in the Shire. Those therefore who pronounce ye´ni u´no´time ‘long-years
    innumerable’, as is natural in English (sc. more or less as yainy oonoatimy)
    will err little more than Bilbo, Meriadoc, or Peregrin. Frodo is said to
    have shown great ‘skill with foreign sounds’.
    appendix e 1465
    Sindarin alone among contemporary languages possessed the
    ‘modified’ or fronted u, more or less as u in French lune. It
    was partly a modification of o and u, partly derived from older
    diphthongs eu, iu. For this sound y has been used (as in ancient
    English): as in lyˆg ‘snake’, Q. leuca, or emyn pl. of amon ‘hill’. In
    Gondor this y was usually pronounced like i.
    Long vowels are usually marked with the ‘acute accent’, as in
    some varieties of Fe¨anorian script. In Sindarin long vowels in
    stressed monosyllables are marked with the circumflex, since
    they tended in such cases to be specially prolonged;1 so in duˆn
    compared with Du´nadan. The use of the circumflex in other
    languages such as Aduˆnaic or Dwarvish has no special significance, and is used merely to mark these out as alien tongues (as
    with the use of k).
    Final e is never mute or a mere sign of length as in English. To
    mark this final e it is often (but not consistently) written e¨.
    The groups er, ir, ur (finally or before a consonant) are not
    intended to be pronounced as in English fern, fir, fur, but rather
    as English air, eer, oor.
    In Quenya ui, oi, ai and iu, eu, au are diphthongs (that is, pronounced in one syllable). All other pairs of vowels are dissyllabic.
    This is often dictated by writing e¨a (Ea¨), e¨o, oe¨.
    In Sindarin the diphthongs are written ae, ai, ei, oe, ui, and au.
    Other combinations are not diphthongal. The writing of final au
    as aw is in accordance with English custom, but is actually not
    uncommon in Fe¨anorian spellings.
    All these diphthongs2 were ‘falling’ diphthongs, that is stressed
    on the first element, and composed of the simple vowels run
    together. Thus ai, ei, oi, ui are intended to be pronounced
    respectively as the vowels in English rye (not ray), grey, boy,
    1 So also in Annuˆn ‘sunset’, Amruˆn ‘sunrise’, under the influence of
    the related duˆn ‘west’, and rhuˆn ‘east’. 2 Originally. But iu in Quenya was in the Third Age usually pronounced as a rising diphthong as yu in English yule.
    1466 the return of the king
    ruin; and au (aw) as in loud, how and not as in laud, haw.
    There is nothing in English closely corresponding to ae, oe,
    eu; ae and oe may be pronounced as ai, oi.
    stress
    The position of the ‘accent’ or stress is not marked, since in the
    Eldarin languages concerned its place is determined by the form
    of the word. In words of two syllables it falls in practically all
    cases on the first syllable. In longer words it falls on the last
    syllable but one, where that contains a long vowel, a diphthong,
    or a vowel followed by two (or more) consonants. Where the
    last syllable but one contains (as often) a short vowel followed
    by only one (or no) consonant, the stress falls on the syllable
    before it, the third from the end. Words of the last form are
    favoured in the Eldarin languages, especially Quenya.
    In the following examples the stressed vowel is marked by a
    capital letter: isIldur, Orome, erEsse¨a, fE¨ anor, ancAlima, elentA´ri,
    dEnethor, periAnnath, ecthElion, pelArgir, silIvren. Words of the
    type elentA´ri ‘star-queen’ seldom occur in Quenya where the
    vowel is e´, a´, o´, unless (as in this case) they are compounds; they
    are commoner with the vowels ´ı, u´, as andU´ ne ‘sunset, west’.
    They do not occur in Sindarin except in compounds. Note that
    Sindarin dh, th, ch are single consonants and represent single
    letters in the original scripts.
    note
    In names drawn from other languages than Eldarin the same
    values for the letters are intended, where not specially described
    above, except in the case of Dwarvish. In Dwarvish, which did
    not possess the sounds represented above by th and ch (kh), th
    and kh are aspirates, that is t or k followed by an h, more or less
    as in backhand, outhouse.
    Where z occurs the sound intended is that of English z. gh in
    the Black Speech and Orkish represents a ‘back spirant’ (related
    to g as dh to d): as in ghaˆsh and agh.
    The ‘outer’ or Mannish names of the Dwarves have been
    given Northern forms, but the letter-values are those described.
    appendix e 1467
    So also in the case of the personal and place-names of Rohan
    (where they have not been modernized), except that here e´a and
    e´o are diphthongs, which may be represented by the ea of English
    bear, and the eo of Theobald; y is the modified u. The modernized
    forms are easily recognized and are intended to be pronounced
    as in English. They are mostly place-names: as Dunharrow (for
    Du´nharg), except Shadowfax and Wormtongue.
    II
    WRITING
    The scripts and letters used in the Third Age were all ultimately
    of Eldarin origin, and already at that time of great antiquity.
    They had reached the stage of full alphabetic development, but
    older modes in which only the consonants were denoted by full
    letters were still in use.
    The alphabets were of two main, and in origin independent,
    kinds: the Tengwar or Tıˆw, here translated as ‘letters’; and the
    Certar or Cirth, translated as ‘runes’. The Tengwar were devised
    for writing with brush or pen, and the squared forms of inscriptions were in their case derivative from the written forms. The
    Certar were devised and mostly used only for scratched or incised
    inscriptions.
    The Tengwar were the more ancient; for they had been
    developed by the Noldor, the kindred of the Eldar most skilled
    in such matters, long before their exile. The oldest Eldarin letters,
    the Tengwar of Ru´mil, were not used in Middle-earth. The later
    letters, the Tengwar of Fe¨anor, were largely a new invention,
    though they owed something to the letters of Ru´mil. They were
    brought to Middle-earth by the exiled Noldor, and so became
    known to the Edain and Nu´meno´reans. In the Third Age their
    use had spread over much the same area as that in which the
    Common Speech was known.
    The Cirth were devised first in Beleriand by the Sindar, and
    were long used only for inscribing names and brief memorials
    upon wood or stone. To that origin they owe their angular
    shapes, very similar to the runes of our times, though they differed from these in details and were wholly different in arrange-
    1468 the return of the king
    ment. The Cirth in their older and simpler form spread eastward
    in the Second Age, and became known to many peoples, to Men
    and Dwarves, and even to Orcs, all of whom altered them to suit
    their purposes and according to their skill or lack of it. One such
    simple form was still used by the Men of Dale, and a similar one
    by the Rohirrim.
    But in Beleriand, before the end of the First Age, the Cirth,
    partly under the influence of the Tengwar of the Noldor, were
    rearranged and further developed. Their richest and most
    ordered form was known as the Alphabet of Daeron, since in
    Elvish tradition it was said to have been devised by Daeron, the
    minstrel and loremaster of King Thingol of Doriath. Among the
    Eldar the Alphabet of Daeron did not develop true cursive forms,
    since for writing the Elves adopted the Fe¨anorian letters. The
    Elves of the West indeed for the most part gave up the use of runes
    altogether. In the country of Eregion, however, the Alphabet of
    Daeron was maintained in use and passed thence to Moria, where
    it became the alphabet most favoured by the Dwarves. It remained
    ever after in use among them and passed with them to the North.
    Hence in later times it was often called Angerthas Moria or the
    Long Rune-rows of Moria. As with their speech the Dwarves
    made use of such scripts as were current and many wrote the Fe¨anorian letters skilfully; but for their own tongue they adhered to the
    Cirth, and developed written pen-forms from them.
    (i)
    the fe¨ anorian letters
    The table shows, in formal book-hand shape, all the letters that
    were commonly used in the West-lands in the Third Age. The
    arrangement is the one most usual at the time, and the one in
    which the letters were then usually recited by name.
    This script was not in origin an ‘alphabet’: that is, a haphazard
    series of letters, each with an independent value of its own,
    recited in a traditional order that has no reference either to their
    shapes or to their functions.1 It was, rather, a system of conson1 The only relation in our alphabet that would have appeared intelligible to the Eldar is that between P and B; and their separation from one
    another, and from F, M, V, would have seemed to them absurd.
    appendix e 1469
    THE TENGWAR
    antal signs, of similar shapes and style, which could be adapted at
    choice or convenience to represent the consonants of languages
    observed (or devised) by the Eldar. None of the letters had in
    itself a fixed value; but certain relations between them were
    gradually recognized.
    The system contained twenty-four primary letters, 1–24,
    arranged in four te´mar (series), each of which had six tyeller
    1470 the return of the king
    (grades). There were also ‘additional letters’, of which 25–36 are
    examples. Of these 27 and 29 are the only strictly independent
    letters; the remainder are modifications of other letters. There
    was also a number of tehtar (signs) of varied uses. These do not
    appear in the table.1
    The primary letters were each formed of a telco (stem) and a
    lu´va (bow). The forms seen in 1–4 were regarded as normal.
    The stem could be raised, as in 9–16; or reduced, as in 17–24.
    The bow could be open, as in Series I and III; or closed, as in II
    and IV; and in either case it could be doubled, as e.g. in 5–8.
    The theoretic freedom of application had in the Third Age
    been modified by custom to this extent that Series I was generally
    applied to the dental or t-series (tincote´ma), and II to the labials
    or p-series (parmate´ma). The application of Series III and IV
    varied according to the requirements of different languages.
    In languages like the Westron, which made much use of consonants2 such as our ch, j, sh, Series III was usually applied to
    these; in which case Series IV was applied to the normal k-series
    (calmate´ma). In Quenya, which possessed besides the calmate´ma
    both a palatal series (tyelpete´ma) and a labialized series (quessete´ma), the palatals were represented by a Fe¨anorian diacritic
    denoting ‘following y’ (usually two underposed dots), while
    Series IV was a kw-series.
    Within these general applications the following relations were
    also commonly observed. The normal letters, Grade 1, were
    applied to the ‘voiceless stops’: t, p, k, etc. The doubling of the
    bow indicated the addition of ‘voice’: thus if 1, 2, 3, 4=t, p, ch,
    k (or t, p, k, kw) then 5, 6, 7, 8=d, b, j, g (or d, b, g, gw). The
    raising of the stem indicated the opening of the consonant to a
    ‘spirant’: thus assuming the above values for Grade 1, Grade 3
    1 Many of them appear in the examples on the title-page, and in the
    inscription on p. 66, transcribed on p. 331. They were mainly used to
    express vowel-sounds, in Quenya usually regarded as modifications of
    the accompanying consonant; or to express more briefly some of the
    most frequent consonant combinations. 2 The representation of the sounds here is the same as that employed
    in transcription and described above, except that here ch represents the
    ch in English church; j represents the sound of English j, and zh the sound
    heard in azure and occasion.
    appendix e 1471
    (9–12)=th, f, sh, ch (or th, f, kh, khw/hw), and Grade 4 (13–16)=
    dh, v, zh, gh (or dh, v, gh, ghw/w).
    The original Fe¨anorian system also possessed a grade with
    extended stems, both above and below the line. These usually
    represented aspirated consonants (e.g. t+h, p+h, k+h), but might
    represent other consonantal variations required. They were not
    needed in the languages of the Third Age that used this script;
    but the extended forms were much used as variants (more clearly
    distinguished from Grade 1) of Grades 3 and 4.
    Grade 5 (17–20) was usually applied to the nasal consonants:
    thus 17 and 18 were the most common signs for n and m.
    According to the principle observed above, Grade 6 should then
    have represented the voiceless nasals; but since such sounds
    (exemplified by Welsh nh or ancient English hn) were of very
    rare occurrence in the languages concerned, Grade 6 (21–24)
    was most often used for the weakest or ‘semi-vocalic’ consonants
    of each series. It consisted of the smallest and simplest shapes
    among the primary letters. Thus 21 was often used for a weak
    (untrilled) r, originally occurring in Quenya and regarded in the
    system of that language as the weakest consonant of the tincote´ma; 22 was widely used for w; where Series III was used as a
    palatal series 23 was commonly used as consonantal y.
    1
    Since some of the consonants of Grade 4 tended to become
    weaker in pronunciation, and to approach or to merge with those
    of Grade 6 (as described above), many of the latter ceased to have
    a clear function in the Eldarin languages; and it was from these
    letters that the letters expressing vowels were largely derived.
    note
    The standard spelling of Quenya diverged from the applications
    of the letters above described. Grade 2 was used for nd, mb, ng,
    ngw, all of which were frequent, since b, g, gw only appeared in
    these combinations, while for rd, ld the special letters 26, 28 were
    1 The inscription on the West-gate of Moria gives an example of a
    mode, used for the spelling of Sindarin, in which Grade 6 represented
    the simple nasals, but Grade 5 represented the double or long nasals
    much used in Sindarin: 17=nn, but 21=n.
    1472 the return of the king
    used. (For lv, not for lw, many speakers, especially Elves, used lb:
    this was written with 27+6, since lmb could not occur.) Similarly,
    Grade 4 was used for the extremely frequent combinations nt,
    mp, nk, nqu, since Quenya did not possess dh, gh, ghw, and for
    v used letter 22. See the Quenya letter-names pp. 1474–5.
    The additional letters. No. 27 was universally used for l. No. 25
    (in origin a modification of 21) was used for ‘full’ trilled r. Nos.
    26, 28 were modifications of these. They were frequently used
    for voiceless r (rh) and l (lh) respectively. But in Quenya they
    were used for rd and ld. 29 represented s, and 31 (with doubled
    curl) z in those languages that required it. The inverted forms,
    30 and 32, though available for use as separate signs, were mostly
    used as mere variants of 29 and 31, according to the convenience
    of writing, e.g. they were much used when accompanied by
    superimposed tehtar.
    No. 33 was in origin a variation representing some (weaker)
    variety of 11; its most frequent use in the Third Age was h. 34
    was mostly used (if at all) for voiceless w (hw). 35 and 36 were,
    when used as consonants, mostly applied to y and w respectively.
    The vowels were in many modes represented by tehtar, usually set
    above a consonantal letter. In languages such as Quenya, in which
    most words ended in a vowel, the tehta was placed above the preceding consonant; in those such as Sindarin, in which most words
    ended in a consonant, it was placed above the following consonant. When there was no consonant present in the required position, the tehta was placed above the ‘short carrier’, of which a
    common form was like an undotted i. The actual tehtar used in
    different languages for vowel-signs were numerous. The commonest, usually applied to (varieties of ) e, i, a, o, u, are exhibited
    in the examples given. The three dots, most usual in formal writing
    for a, were variously written in quicker styles, a form like a circumflex being often employed.1 The single dot and the ‘acute
    1 In Quenya in which a was very frequent, its vowel sign was often
    omitted altogether. Thus for calma ‘lamp’ clm could be written. This
    would naturally read as calma, since cl was not in Quenya a possible
    initial combination, and m never occurred finally. A possible reading was
    calama, but no such word existed.
    appendix e 1473
    accent’ were frequently used for i and e (but in some modes for
    e and i). The curls were used for o and u. In the Ring-inscription
    the curl open to the right is used for u; but on the title-page this
    stands for o, and the curl open to the left for u. The curl to the
    right was favoured, and the application depended on the language concerned: in the Black Speech o was rare.
    Long vowels were usually represented by placing the tehta on
    the ‘long carrier’, of which a common form was like an undotted
    j. But for the same purpose the tehtar could be doubled. This
    was, however, only frequently done with the curls, and sometimes with the ‘accent’. Two dots was more often used as a sign
    for following y.
    The West-gate inscription illustrates a mode of ‘full writing’
    with the vowels represented by separate letters. All the vocalic
    letters used in Sindarin are shown. The use of No. 30 as a sign
    for vocalic y may be noted; also the expression of diphthongs by
    placing the tehta for following y above the vowel-letter. The sign
    for following w (required for the expression of au, aw) was in
    this mode the u-curl or a modification of it ~. But the diphthongs
    were often written out in full, as in the transcription. In this
    mode length of vowel was usually indicated by the ‘acute accent’,
    called in that case andaith ‘long mark’.
    There were beside the tehtar already mentioned a number
    of others, chiefly used to abbreviate the writing, especially by
    expressing frequent consonant combinations without writing
    them out in full. Among these, a bar (or a sign like a Spanish
    tilde) placed above a consonant was often used to indicate that
    it was preceded by the nasal of the same series (as in nt, mp, or
    nk); a similar sign placed below was, however, mainly used to
    show that the consonant was long or doubled. A downward hook
    attached to the bow (as in hobbits, the last word on the title-page)
    was used to indicate a following s, especially in the combinations
    ts, ps, ks (x), that were favoured in Quenya.
    There was of course no ‘mode’ for the representation of English.
    One adequate phonetically could be devised from the Fe¨anorian
    system. The brief example on the title-page does not attempt to
    exhibit this. It is rather an example of what a man of Gondor
    might have produced, hesitating between the values of the letters
    1474 the return of the king
    familiar in his ‘mode’ and the traditional spelling of English. It
    may be noted that a dot below (one of the uses of which was
    to represent weak obscured vowels) is here employed in the
    representation of unstressed and, but is also used in here for silent
    final e; the, of, and of the are expressed by abbreviations (extended
    dh, extended v, and the latter with an under-stroke).
    The names of the letters. In all modes each letter and sign had a
    name; but these names were devised to fit or describe the phonetic uses in each particular mode. It was, however, often felt
    desirable, especially in describing the uses of the letters in other
    modes, to have a name for each letter in itself as a shape. For
    this purpose the Quenya ‘full names’ were commonly employed,
    even where they referred to uses peculiar to Quenya. Each ‘full
    name’ was an actual word in Quenya that contained the letter in
    question. Where possible it was the first sound of the word; but
    where the sound or the combination expressed did not occur
    initially it followed immediately after an initial vowel. The names
    of the letters in the table were (1) tinco metal, parma book, calma
    lamp, quesse feather; (2) ando gate, umbar fate, anga iron, ungwe
    spider’s web; (3) thu´le (su´le) spirit, formen north, harma treasure
    (or aha rage), hwesta breeze; (4) anto mouth, ampa hook, anca
    jaws, unque a hollow; (5) nu´men west, malta gold, noldo (older
    ngoldo) one of the kindred of the Noldor, nwalme (older ngwalme)
    torment; (6) o´re heart (inner mind), vala angelic power, anna
    gift, vilya air, sky (older wilya); ro´men east, arda region, lambe
    tongue, alda tree; silme starlight, silme nuquerna (s reversed), a´re
    sunlight (or esse name), a´re nuquerna; hyarmen south, hwesta
    sindarinwa, yanta bridge, u´re heat. Where there are variants this
    is due to the names being given before certain changes affected
    Quenya as spoken by the Exiles. Thus No. 11 was called harma
    when it represented the spirant ch in all positions, but when this
    sound became breath h initially1 (though remaining medially)
    1 For breath h Quenya originally used a simple raised stem without
    bow, called halla ‘tall’. This could be placed before a consonant to
    indicate that it was unvoiced and breathed; voiceless r and l were usually
    so expressed and are transcribed hr, hl. Later 33 was used for independent h, and the value of hy (its older value) was represented by adding
    the tehta for following y.
    appendix e 1475
    the name aha was devised. a´re was originally a´ze, but when this
    z became merged with 21, the sign was in Quenya used for the
    very frequent ss of that language, and the name esse was given
    to it. hwesta sindarinwa or ‘Grey-elven hw’ was so called because
    in Quenya 12 had the sound of hw, and distinct signs for chw
    and hw were not required. The names of the letters most widely
    known and used were 17 n, 33 hy, 25 r, 10 f: nu´men, hyarmen,
    ro´men, formen=west, south, east, north (cf. Sindarin duˆn or
    annuˆn, harad, rhuˆn or amruˆn, forod). These letters commonly
    indicated the points W, S, E, N even in languages that used quite
    different terms. They were, in the West-lands, named in this
    order, beginning with and facing west; hyarmen and formen
    indeed meant left-hand region and right-hand region (the opposite to the arrangement in many Mannish languages).
    (ii)
    the cirth
    The Certhas Daeron was originally devised to represent the
    sounds of Sindarin only. The oldest cirth were Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6; 8,
    9, 12; 18, 19, 22; 29, 31; 35, 36; 39, 42, 46, 50; and a certh
    varying between 13 and 15. The assignment of values was unsystematic. Nos. 39, 42, 46, 50 were vowels and remained so in all
    later developments. Nos. 13, 15 were used for h or s, according
    as 35 was used for s or h. This tendency to hesitate in the
    assignment of values for s and h continued in later arrangements.
    In those characters that consisted of a ‘stem’ and a ‘branch’, 1–
    31, the attachment of the branch was, if on one side only, usually
    made on the right side. The reverse was not infrequent, but had
    no phonetic significance.
    The extension and elaboration of this certhas was called in its
    older form the Angerthas Daeron, since the additions to the old
    cirth and their reorganization was attributed to Daeron. The
    principal additions, however, the introductions of two new series,
    13–17, and 23–28, were actually most probably inventions of the
    Noldor of Eregion, since they were used for the representation of
    sounds not found in Sindarin.
    In the rearrangement of the Angerthas the following principles
    are observable (evidently inspired by the Fe¨anorian system): (1)
    1476 the return of the king
    adding a stroke to a branch added ‘voice’; (2) reversing the certh
    indicated opening to a ‘spirant’; (3) placing the branch on both
    sides of the stem added voice and nasality. These principles were
    regularly carried out, except in one point. For (archaic) Sindarin
    a sign for a spirant m (or nasal v) was required, and since this
    could best be provided by a reversal of the sign for m, the
    reversible No. 6 was given the value m, but No. 5 was given the
    value hw.
    No. 36, the theoretic value of which was z, was used, in spelling Sindarin or Quenya, for ss: cf. Fe¨anorian 31. No. 39 was
    used for either i or y (consonant); 34, 35 were used indifferently
    for s; and 38 was used for the frequent sequence nd, though it
    was not clearly related in shape to the dentals.
    In the Table of Values those on the left are, when separated by
    ——, the values of the older Angerthas. Those on the right are
    the values of the Dwarvish Angerthas Moria.
    1 The Dwarves of
    Moria, as can be seen, introduced a number of unsystematic
    changes in value, as well as certain new cirth: 37, 40, 41, 53, 55,
52. The dislocation in values was due mainly to two causes: (1)
    the alteration in the values of 34, 35, 54 respectively to h, ’ (the
    clear or glottal beginning of a word with an initial vowel that
    appeared in Khuzdul), and s;(2) the abandonment of the Nos.
    14, 16 for which the Dwarves substituted 29, 30. The consequent
    use of 12 for r, the invention of 53 for n (and its confusion with
    22); the use of 17 as z, to go with 54 in its value s, and the
    consequent use of 36 as n and the new certh 37 for ng may also
    be observed. The new 55, 56 were in origin a halved form of 46,
    and were used for vowels like those heard in English butter, which
    were frequent in Dwarvish and in the Westron. When weak or
    evanescent they were often reduced to a mere stroke without a
    stem. This Angerthas Moria is represented in the tombinscription.
    The Dwarves of Erebor used a further modification of this
    system, known as the mode of Erebor, and exemplified in the
    1 Those in ( ) are values only found in Elvish use; * marks cirth only
    used by Dwarves.
    appendix e 1477
    Book of Mazarbul. Its chief characteristics were: the use of 43
    as z; of 17 as ks (x); and the invention of two new cirth, 57, 58
    for ps and ts. They also reintroduced 14, 16 for the values j, zh;
    but used 29, 30 for g, gh, or as mere variants of 19, 21. These
    peculiarities are not included in the table, except for the special
    Ereborian cirth, 57, 58.
    the angerthas
    the angerthas
    Values
    APPENDIX F
    I
    THE LANGUAGES AND PEOPLES OF
    THE THIRD AGE
    The language represented in this history by English was the
    Westron or ‘Common Speech’ of the West-lands of Middle-earth
    in the Third Age. In the course of that age it had become the
    native language of nearly all the speaking-peoples (save the
    Elves) who dwelt within the bounds of the old kingdoms of
    Arnor and Gondor; that is along all the coasts from Umbar
    northward to the Bay of Forochel, and inland as far as the Misty
    Mountains and the Ephel Du´ath. It had also spread north up
    the Anduin, occupying the lands west of the River and east of
    the mountains as far as the Gladden Fields.
    At the time of the War of the Ring at the end of the age these
    were still its bounds as a native tongue, though large parts of
    Eriador were now deserted, and few Men dwelt on the shores of
    the Anduin between the Gladden and Rauros.
    A few of the ancient Wild Men still lurked in the Dru´adan
    Forest in Ano´rien; and in the hills of Dunland a remnant lingered
    of an old people, the former inhabitants of much of Gondor.
    These clung to their own languages; while in the plains of Rohan
    there dwelt now a Northern people, the Rohirrim, who had come
    into that land some five hundred years earlier. But the Westron
    was used as a second language of intercourse by all those who
    still retained a speech of their own, even by the Elves, not only
    in Arnor and Gondor but throughout the vales of Anduin, and
    eastward to the further eaves of Mirkwood. Even among the
    Wild Men and the Dunlendings who shunned other folk there
    were some that could speak it, though brokenly.
    appendix f 1481
    OF THE ELVES
    The Elves far back in the Elder Days became divided into two
    main branches: the West-elves (the Eldar) and the East-elves.
    Of the latter kind were most of the Elven-folk of Mirkwood and
    Lo´rien; but their languages do not appear in this history, in
    which all the Elvish names and words are of Eldarin form.1
    Of the Eldarin tongues two are found in this book: the Highelven or Quenya, and the Grey-elven or Sindarin. The Highelven was an ancient tongue of Eldamar beyond the Sea, the first
    to be recorded in writing. It was no longer a birth-tongue, but
    had become, as it were, an ‘Elven-latin’, still used for ceremony,
    and for high matters of lore and song, by the High Elves, who
    had returned in exile to Middle-earth at the end of the First
    Age.
    The Grey-elven was in origin akin to Quenya; for it was the
    language of those Eldar who, coming to the shores of Middleearth, had not passed over the Sea but had lingered on the coasts
    in the country of Beleriand. There Thingol Greycloak of Doriath
    was their king, and in the long twilight their tongue had changed
    with the changefulness of mortal lands and had become far
    estranged from the speech of the Eldar from beyond the Sea.
    The Exiles, dwelling among the more numerous Grey-elves,
    had adopted the Sindarin for daily use; and hence it was the
    tongue of all those Elves and Elf-lords that appear in this history.
    For these were all of Eldarin race, even where the folk that they
    ruled were of the lesser kindreds. Noblest of all was the Lady
    Galadriel of the royal house of Finarfin and sister of Finrod
    Felagund, King of Nargothrond. In the hearts of the Exiles the
    yearning for the Sea was an unquiet never to be stilled; in the
    hearts of the Grey-elves it slumbered, but once awakened it
    could not be appeased.
    1 In Lo´rien at this period Sindarin was spoken, though with an
    ‘accent’, since most of its folk were of Silvan origin. This ‘accent’ and
    his own limited acquaintance with Sindarin misled Frodo (as is pointed
    out in The Thain’s Book by a commentator of Gondor). All the Elvish
    words cited in Book Two chs 6, 7, 8 are in fact Sindarin, and so are
    most of the names of places and persons. But Lo´rien, Caras Galadhon,
    Amroth, Nimrodel are probably of Silvan origin, adapted to Sindarin.
    1482 the return of the king
    of men
    The Westron was a Mannish speech, though enriched and softened under Elvish influence. It was in origin the language of
    those whom the Eldar called the Atani or Edain, ‘Fathers of
    Men’, being especially the people of the Three Houses of the
    Elf-friends who came west into Beleriand in the First Age, and
    aided the Eldar in the War of the Great Jewels against the Dark
    Power of the North.
    After the overthrow of the Dark Power, in which Beleriand
    was for the most part drowned or broken, it was granted as a
    reward to the Elf-friends that they also, as the Eldar, might pass
    west over Sea. But since the Undying Realm was forbidden to
    them, a great isle was set apart for them, most westerly of all
    mortal lands. The name of that isle was Nu´menor (Westernesse).
    Most of the Elf-friends, therefore, departed and dwelt in
    Nu´menor, and there they became great and powerful, mariners
    of renown and lords of many ships. They were fair of face and
    tall, and the span of their lives was thrice that of the Men of
    Middle-earth. These were the Nu´meno´reans, the Kings of Men,
    whom the Elves called the Du´nedain.
    The Du´nedain alone of all races of Men knew and spoke an
    Elvish tongue; for their forefathers had learned the Sindarin
    tongue, and this they handed on to their children as a matter of
    lore, changing little with the passing of the years. And their men
    of wisdom learned also the High-elven Quenya and esteemed it
    above all other tongues, and in it they made names for many
    places of fame and reverence, and for many men of royalty and
    great renown.1
    But the native speech of the Nu´meno´reans remained for the
    most part their ancestral Mannish tongue, the Aduˆnaic, and to
    this in the latter days of their pride their kings and lords returned,
    1 Quenya, for example, are the names Nu´menor (or in full Nu´meno´re),
    and Elendil, Isildur, and Ana´rion, and all the royal names of Gondor,
    including Elessar ‘Elfstone’. Most of the names of the other men and
    women of the Du´nedain, such as Aragorn, Denethor, Gilraen are of Sindarin form, being often the names of Elves or Men remembered in the
    songs and histories of the First Age (as Beren, Hu´rin). Some few are of
    mixed forms, as Boromir.
    appendix f 1483
    abandoning the Elven-speech, save only those few that held still
    to their ancient friendship with the Eldar. In the years of their
    power the Nu´meno´reans had maintained many forts and havens
    upon the western coasts of Middle-earth for the help of their
    ships; and one of the chief of these was at Pelargir near the
    Mouths of Anduin. There Aduˆnaic was spoken, and mingled
    with many words of the languages of lesser men it became a
    Common Speech that spread thence along the coasts among all
    that had dealings with Westernesse.
    After the Downfall of Nu´menor, Elendil led the survivors of
    the Elf-friends back to the North-western shores of Middleearth. There many already dwelt who were in whole or part of
    Nu´meno´rean blood; but few of them remembered the Elvish
    speech. All told the Du´nedain were thus from the beginning far
    fewer in number than the lesser men among whom they dwelt
    and whom they ruled, being lords of long life and great power
    and wisdom. They used therefore the Common Speech in their
    dealing with other folk and in the government of their wide
    realms; but they enlarged the language and enriched it with many
    words drawn from elven-tongues.
    In the days of the Nu´meno´rean kings this ennobled Westron
    speech spread far and wide, even among their enemies; and it
    became used more and more by the Du´nedain themselves, so
    that at the time of the War of the Ring the elven-tongue was
    known to only a small part of the peoples of Gondor, and spoken
    daily by fewer. These dwelt mostly in Minas Tirith and the
    townlands adjacent, and in the land of the tributary princes of
    Dol Amroth. Yet the names of nearly all places and persons in
    the realm of Gondor were of Elvish form and meaning. A few
    were of forgotten origin, and descended doubtless from the days
    before the ships of the Nu´meno´reans sailed the Sea; among
    these were Umbar, Arnach and Erech; and the mountain-names
    Eilenach and Rimmon. Forlong was also a name of the same sort.
    Most of the Men of the northern regions of the West-lands
    were descended from the Edain of the First Age, or from their
    close kin. Their languages were, therefore, related to the Aduˆnaic, and some still preserved a likeness to the Common Speech.
    Of this kind were the peoples of the upper vales of Anduin: the
    Beornings, and the Woodmen of Western Mirkwood; and
    1484 the return of the king
    further north and east the Men of the Long Lake and of Dale.
    From the lands between the Gladden and the Carrock came the
    folk that were known in Gondor as the Rohirrim, Masters of
    Horses. They still spoke their ancestral tongue, and gave new
    names in it to nearly all the places in their new country; and they
    called themselves the Eorlings, or the Men of the Riddermark.
    But the lords of that people used the Common Speech freely,
    and spoke it nobly after the manner of their allies in Gondor; for
    in Gondor whence it came the Westron kept still a more gracious
    and antique style.
    Wholly alien was the speech of the Wild Men of Dru´adan
    Forest. Alien, too, or only remotely akin, was the language of the
    Dunlendings. These were a remnant of the peoples that had
    dwelt in the vales of the White Mountains in ages past. The
    Dead Men of Dunharrow were of their kin. But in the Dark
    Years others had removed to the southern dales of the Misty
    Mountains; and thence some had passed into the empty lands
    as far north as the Barrow-downs. From them came the Men of
    Bree; but long before these had become subjects of the North
    Kingdom of Arnor and had taken up the Westron tongue. Only
    in Dunland did Men of this race hold to their old speech and
    manners: a secret folk, unfriendly to the Du´nedain, hating the
    Rohirrim.
    Of their language nothing appears in this book, save the name
    Forgoil which they gave to the Rohirrim (meaning Strawheads,
    it is said). Dunland and Dunlending are the names that the Rohirrim gave to them, because they were swarthy and dark-haired;
    there is thus no connexion between the word dunn in these
    names and the Grey-elven word Duˆn ‘west’.
    of hobbits
    The Hobbits of the Shire and of Bree had at this time, for
    probably a thousand years, adopted the Common Speech. They
    used it in their own manner freely and carelessly; though the
    more learned among them had still at their command a more
    formal language when occasion required.
    There is no record of any language peculiar to Hobbits. In
    ancient days they seem always to have used the languages of
    appendix f 1485
    Men near whom, or among whom, they lived. Thus they quickly
    adopted the Common Speech after they entered Eriador, and
    by the time of their settlement at Bree they had already begun
    to forget their former tongue. This was evidently a Mannish
    language of the upper Anduin, akin to that of the Rohirrim;
    though the southern Stoors appear to have adopted a language
    related to Dunlendish before they came north to the Shire.1
    Of these things in the time of Frodo there were still some
    traces left in local words and names, many of which closely
    resembled those found in Dale or in Rohan. Most notable were
    the names of days, months, and seasons; several other words of
    the same sort (such as mathom and smial) were also still in
    common use, while more were preserved in the place-names of
    Bree and the Shire. The personal names of the Hobbits were
    also peculiar and many had come down from ancient days.
    Hobbit was the name usually applied by the Shire-folk to all
    their kind. Men called them Halflings and the Elves Periannath.
    The origin of the word hobbit was by most forgotten. It seems,
    however, to have been at first a name given to the Harfoots by
    the Fallohides and Stoors, and to be a worn-down form of a
    word preserved more fully in Rohan: holbytla ‘hole-builder’.
    of other races
    Ents. The most ancient people surviving in the Third Age were
    the Onodrim or Enyd. Ent was the form of their name in the
    language of Rohan. They were known to the Eldar in ancient
    days, and to the Eldar indeed the Ents ascribed not their own
    language but the desire for speech. The language that they had
    made was unlike all others: slow, sonorous, agglomerated, repetitive, indeed long-winded; formed of a multiplicity of vowelshades and distinctions of tone and quality which even the
    lore-masters of the Eldar had not attempted to represent in writing. They used it only among themselves; but they had no need
    to keep it secret, for no others could learn it.
    1 The Stoors of the Angle, who returned to Wilderland, had already
    adopted the Common Speech; but De´agol and Sme´agol are names in the
    Mannish language of the region near the Gladden.
    1486 the return of the king
    Ents were, however, themselves skilled in tongues, learning
    them swiftly and never forgetting them. But they preferred the
    languages of the Eldar, and loved best the ancient High-elven
    tongue. The strange words and names that the Hobbits record
    as used by Treebeard and other Ents are thus Elvish, or fragments of Elf-speech strung together in Ent-fashion.1 Some are
    Quenya: as Taurelilo´me¨a-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaure¨a Lo´me¨anor,
    which may be rendered ‘Forestmanyshadowed-deepvalleyblack
    Deepvalleyforested Gloomyland’, and by which Treebeard
    meant, more or less: ‘there is a black shadow in the deep dales
    of the forest’. Some are Sindarin: as Fangorn ‘beard-(of )-tree’,
    or Fimbrethil ‘slender-beech’.
    Orcs and the Black Speech. Orc is the form of the name that other
    races had for this foul people as it was in the language of Rohan.
    In Sindarin it was orch. Related, no doubt, was the word uruk of
    the Black Speech, though this was applied as a rule only to
    the great soldier-orcs that at this time issued from Mordor and
    Isengard. The lesser kinds were called, especially by the Urukhai, snaga ‘slave’.
    The Orcs were first bred by the Dark Power of the North in
    the Elder Days. It is said that they had no language of their own,
    but took what they could of other tongues and perverted it to
    their own liking; yet they made only brutal jargons, scarcely
    sufficient even for their own needs, unless it were for curses and
    abuse. And these creatures, being filled with malice, hating even
    their own kind, quickly developed as many barbarous dialects as
    there were groups or settlements of their race, so that their Orkish
    speech was of little use to them in intercourse between different
    tribes.
    So it was that in the Third Age Orcs used for communication
    between breed and breed the Westron tongue; and many indeed
    of the older tribes, such as those that still lingered in the North
    1 Except where the Hobbits seem to have made some attempts to
    represent shorter murmurs and calls made by the Ents; a-lalla-lallarumba-kamanda-lindor-buru´me also is not Elvish, and is the only extant
    (probably very inaccurate) attempt to represent a fragment of actual
    Entish.
    appendix f 1487
    and in the Misty Mountains, had long used the Westron as their
    native language, though in such a fashion as to make it hardly
    less unlovely than Orkish. In this jargon tark, ‘man of Gondor’,
    was a debased form of tarkil, a Quenya word used in Westron
    for one of Nu´meno´rean descent; see p. 1185.
    It is said that the Black Speech was devised by Sauron in the
    Dark Years, and that he had desired to make it the language of
    all those that served him, but he failed in that purpose. From the
    Black Speech, however, were derived many of the words that
    were in the Third Age wide-spread among the Orcs, such as
    ghaˆsh ‘fire’, but after the first overthrow of Sauron this language
    in its ancient form was forgotten by all but the Nazguˆl. When
    Sauron arose again, it became once more the language of Baradduˆr and of the captains of Mordor. The inscription on the Ring
    was in the ancient Black Speech, while the curse of the Mordororc on p. 579 was in the more debased form used by the soldiers
    of the Dark Tower, of whom Grishna´kh was the captain. Sharkuˆ
    in that tongue means old man.
    Trolls. Troll has been used to translate the Sindarin Torog. In
    their beginning far back in the twilight of the Elder Days, these
    were creatures of dull and lumpish nature and had no more
    language than beasts. But Sauron had made use of them, teaching them what little they could learn and increasing their wits
    with wickedness. Trolls therefore took such language as they
    could master from the Orcs; and in the Westlands the Stonetrolls spoke a debased form of the Common Speech.
    But at the end of the Third Age a troll-race not before seen
    appeared in southern Mirkwood and in the mountain borders of
    Mordor. Olog-hai they were called in the Black Speech. That
    Sauron bred them none doubted, though from what stock was
    not known. Some held that they were not Trolls but giant Orcs;
    but the Olog-hai were in fashion of body and mind quite unlike
    even the largest of Orc-kind, whom they far surpassed in size
    and power. Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their
    master: a fell race, strong, agile, fierce and cunning, but harder
    than stone. Unlike the older race of the Twilight they could
    endure the Sun, so long as the will of Sauron held sway over
    1488 the return of the king
    them. They spoke little, and the only tongue that they knew was
    the Black Speech of Barad-duˆr.
    Dwarves. The Dwarves are a race apart. Of their strange beginning, and why they are both like and unlike Elves and Men, the
    Silmarillion tells; but of this tale the lesser Elves of Middle-earth
    had no knowledge, while the tales of later Men are confused with
    memories of other races.
    They are a tough, thrawn race for the most part, secretive,
    laborious, retentive of the memory of injuries (and of benefits),
    lovers of stone, of gems, of things that take shape under the
    hands of the craftsman rather than things that live by their own
    life. But they are not evil by nature, and few ever served the
    Enemy of free will, whatever the tales of Men may have alleged.
    For Men of old lusted after their wealth and the work of their
    hands, and there has been enmity between the races.
    But in the Third Age close friendship still was found in many
    places between Men and Dwarves; and it was according to the
    nature of the Dwarves that, travelling and labouring and trading
    about the lands, as they did after the destruction of their ancient
    mansions, they should use the languages of Men among whom
    they dwelt. Yet in secret (a secret which unlike the Elves, they
    did not willingly unlock, even to their friends) they used their
    own strange tongue, changed little by the years; for it had become
    a tongue of lore rather than a cradle-speech, and they tended it
    and guarded it as a treasure of the past. Few of other race have
    succeeded in learning it. In this history it appears only in such
    place-names as Gimli revealed to his companions; and in the
    battle-cry which he uttered in the siege of the Hornburg. That
    at least was not secret, and had been heard on many a field since
    the world was young. Baruk Khazaˆd! Khazaˆd ai-meˆnu! ‘Axes of
    the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!’
    Gimli’s own name, however, and the names of all his kin, are
    of Northern (Mannish) origin. Their own secret and ‘inner’
    names, their true names, the Dwarves have never revealed to
    anyone of alien race. Not even on their tombs do they inscribe
    them.
    appendix f 1489
    II
    ON TRANSLATION
    In presenting the matter of the Red Book, as a history for people
    of today to read, the whole of the linguistic setting has been
    translated as far as possible into terms of our own times. Only
    the languages alien to the Common Speech have been left in
    their original form; but these appear mainly in the names of
    persons and places.
    The Common Speech, as the language of the Hobbits and
    their narratives, has inevitably been turned into modern English.
    In the process the difference between the varieties observable in
    the use of the Westron has been lessened. Some attempt has
    been made to represent varieties by variations in the kind of
    English used; but the divergence between the pronunciation and
    idiom of the Shire and the Westron tongue in the mouths of the
    Elves or of the high men of Gondor was greater than has been
    shown in this book. Hobbits indeed spoke for the most part a
    rustic dialect, whereas in Gondor and Rohan a more antique
    language was used, more formal and more terse.
    One point in the divergence may here be noted, since, though
    important, it has proved impossible to represent. The Westron
    tongue made in the pronouns of the second person (and often
    also in those of the third) a distinction, independent of number,
    between ‘familiar’ and ‘deferential’ forms. It was, however, one
    of the peculiarities of Shire-usage that the deferential forms had
    gone out of colloquial use. They lingered only among the villagers, especially of the Westfarthing, who used them as endearments. This was one of the things referred to when people of
    Gondor spoke of the strangeness of Hobbit-speech. Peregrin
    Took, for instance, in his first few days in Minas Tirith used the
    familiar for people of all ranks, including the Lord Denethor
    himself. This may have amused the aged Steward, but it must
    have astonished his servants. No doubt this free use of the
    familiar forms helped to spread the popular rumour that Peregrin
    was a person of very high rank in his own country.1
    1 In one or two places an attempt has been made to hint at these
    distinctions by an inconsistent use of thou. Since this pronoun is now
    unusual and archaic it is employed mainly to represent the use of
    1490 the return of the king
    It will be noticed that Hobbits such as Frodo, and other
    persons such as Gandalf and Aragorn, do not always use the
    same style. This is intentional. The more learned and able among
    the Hobbits had some knowledge of ‘book-language’, as it was
    termed in the Shire; and they were quick to note and adopt the
    style of those whom they met. It was in any case natural for
    much-travelled folk to speak more or less after the manner of
    those among whom they found themselves, especially in the case
    of men who, like Aragorn, were often at pains to conceal their
    origin and their business. Yet in those days all the enemies of
    the Enemy revered what was ancient, in language no less than
    in other matters, and they took pleasure in it according to their
    knowledge. The Eldar, being above all skilled in words, had the
    command of many styles, though they spoke most naturally in a
    manner nearest to their own speech, one even more antique than
    that of Gondor. The Dwarves, too, spoke with skill, readily
    adapting themselves to their company, though their utterance
    seemed to some rather harsh and guttural. But Orcs and Trolls
    spoke as they would, without love of words or things; and their
    language was actually more degraded and filthy than I have
    shown it. I do not suppose that any will wish for a closer rendering, though models are easy to find. Much the same sort of talk
    can still be heard among the orc-minded; dreary and repetitive
    with hatred and contempt, too long removed from good to retain
    even verbal vigour, save in the ears of those to whom only the
    squalid sounds strong.
    Translation of this kind is, of course, usual because inevitable
    in any narrative dealing with the past. It seldom proceeds any
    further. But I have gone beyond it. I have also translated all
    Westron names according to their senses. When English names
    or titles appear in this book it is an indication that names in the
    Common Speech were current at the time, beside, or instead of,
    those in alien (usually Elvish) languages.
    The Westron names were as a rule translations of older names:
    ceremonious language; but a change from you to thou, thee is sometimes
    meant to show, there being no other means of doing this, a significant
    change from the deferential, or between men and women normal, forms
    to the familiar.
    appendix f 1491
    as Rivendell, Hoarwell, Silverlode, Langstrand, The Enemy, the
    Dark Tower. Some differed in meaning: as Mount Doom for
    Orodruin ‘burning mountain’, or Mirkwood for Taur e-Ndaedelos
    ‘forest of the great fear’. A few were alterations of Elvish names:
    as Lune and Brandywine derived from Lhuˆn and Baranduin.
    This procedure perhaps needs some defence. It seemed to me
    that to present all the names in their original forms would obscure
    an essential feature of the times as perceived by the Hobbits
    (whose point of view I was mainly concerned to preserve): the
    contrast between a wide-spread language, to them as ordinary
    and habitual as English is to us, and the living remains of far
    older and more reverend tongues. All names if merely transcribed would seem to modern readers equally remote: for
    instance, if the Elvish name Imladris and the Westron translation
    Karningul had both been left unchanged. But to refer to Rivendell as Imladris was as if one now was to speak of Winchester as
    Camelot, except that the identity was certain, while in Rivendell
    there still dwelt a lord of renown far older than Arthur would
    be, were he still king at Winchester today.
    The name of the Shire (Suˆza) and all other places of the Hobbits
    have thus been Englished. This was seldom difficult, since such
    names were commonly made up of elements similar to those used
    in our simpler English place-names; either words still current like
    hill or field; or a little worn down like ton beside town. But some
    were derived, as already noted, from old hobbit-words no longer
    in use, and these have been represented by similar English things,
    such as wich, or bottle ‘dwelling’, or michel ‘great’.
    In the case of persons, however, Hobbit-names in the Shire
    and in Bree were for those days peculiar, notably in the habit
    that had grown up, some centuries before this time, of having
    inherited names for families. Most of these surnames had obvious meanings (in the current language being derived from jesting
    nicknames, or from place-names, or – especially in Bree – from
    the names of plants and trees). Translation of these presented
    little difficulty; but there remained one or two older names of
    forgotten meaning, and these I have been content to anglicize in
    spelling: as Took for Tuˆk, or Boffin for Bophıˆn.
    I have treated Hobbit first-names, as far as possible, in the
    same way. To their maid-children Hobbits commonly gave the
    1492 the return of the king
    names of flowers or jewels. To their man-children they usually
    gave names that had no meaning at all in their daily language;
    and some of their women’s names were similar. Of this kind are
    Bilbo, Bungo, Polo, Lotho, Tanta, Nina, and so on. There are
    many inevitable but accidental resemblances to names we now
    have or know: for instance Otho, Odo, Drogo, Dora, Cora, and
    the like. These names I have retained, though I have usually
    anglicized them by altering their endings, since in Hobbit-names
    a was a masculine ending, and o and e were feminine.
    In some old families, especially those of Fallohide origin such
    as the Tooks and the Bolgers, it was, however, the custom to
    give high-sounding first-names. Since most of these seem to
    have been drawn from legends of the past, of Men as well as of
    Hobbits, and many while now meaningless to Hobbits closely
    resembled the names of Men in the Vale of Anduin, or in Dale,
    or in the Mark, I have turned them into those old names, largely
    of Frankish and Gothic origin, that are still used by us or are
    met in our histories. I have thus at any rate preserved the often
    comic contrast between the first-names and surnames, of which
    the Hobbits themselves were well aware. Names of classical
    origin have rarely been used; for the nearest equivalents to Latin
    and Greek in Shire-lore were the Elvish tongues, and these the
    Hobbits seldom used in nomenclature. Few of them at any time
    knew the ‘languages of the kings’, as they called them.
    The names of the Bucklanders were different from those of
    the rest of the Shire. The folk of the Marish and their offshoot
    across the Brandywine were in many ways peculiar, as has been
    told. It was from the former language of the southern Stoors, no
    doubt, that they inherited many of their very odd names. These
    I have usually left unaltered, for if queer now, they were queer
    in their own day. They had a style that we should perhaps feel
    vaguely to be ‘Celtic’.
    Since the survival of traces of the older language of the Stoors
    and the Bree-men resembled the survival of Celtic elements in
    England, I have sometimes imitated the latter in my translation.
    Thus Bree, Combe (Coomb), Archet, and Chetwood are modelled on relics of British nomenclature, chosen according to
    sense: bree ‘hill’ chet ‘wood’. But only one personal name has
    been altered in this way. Meriadoc was chosen to fit the fact that
    appendix f 1493
    this character’s shortened name, Kali, meant in the Westron
    ‘jolly, gay’, though it was actually an abbreviation of the now
    unmeaning Buckland name Kalimac.
    I have not used names of Hebraic or similar origin in my
    transpositions. Nothing in Hobbit-names corresponds to this
    element in our names. Short names such as Sam, Tom, Tim,
    Mat were common as abbreviations of actual Hobbit-names, such
    as Tomba, Tolma, Matta, and the like. But Sam and his father
    Ham were really called Ban and Ran. These were shortenings of
    Banazıˆr and Ranugad, originally nicknames, meaning ‘halfwise,
    simple’ and ‘stay-at-home’; but being words that had fallen out
    of colloquial use they remained as traditional names in certain
    families. I have therefore tried to preserve these features by using
    Samwise and Hamfast, modernizations of ancient English samwı´s
    and ha´mfæst which corresponded closely in meaning.
    Having gone so far in my attempt to modernize and make
    familiar the language and names of Hobbits, I found myself
    involved in a further process. The Mannish languages that were
    related to the Westron should, it seemed to me, be turned into
    forms related to English. The language of Rohan I have accordingly made to resemble ancient English, since it was related both
    (more distantly) to the Common Speech, and (very closely) to
    the former tongue of the northern Hobbits, and was in comparison with the Westron archaic. In the Red Book it is noted in
    several places that when Hobbits heard the speech of Rohan
    they recognized many words and felt the language to be akin to
    their own, so that it seemed absurd to leave the recorded names
    and words of the Rohirrim in a wholly alien style.
    In several cases I have modernized the forms and spellings of
    place-names in Rohan: as in Dunharrow or Snowbourn; but I have
    not been consistent, for I have followed the Hobbits. They altered
    the names that they heard in the same way, if they were made of
    elements that they recognized, or if they resembled place-names
    in the Shire; but many they left alone, as I have done, for instance,
    in Edoras ‘the courts’. For the same reasons a few personal names
    have also been modernized, as Shadowfax and Wormtongue.1
    1 This linguistic procedure does not imply that the Rohirrim closely
    resembled the ancient English otherwise, in culture or art, in weapons
    1494 the return of the king
    This assimilation also provided a convenient way of representing the peculiar local hobbit-words that were of northern
    origin. They have been given the forms that lost English words
    might well have had, if they had come down to our day. Thus
    mathom is meant to recall ancient English ma´thm, and so to
    represent the relationship of the actual Hobbit kast to R. kastu.
    Similarly smial (or smile) ‘burrow’ is a likely form for a descendant of smygel, and represents well the relationship of Hobbit traˆn
    to R. trahan. Sme´agol and De´agol are equivalents made up in the
    same way for the names Trahald ‘burrowing, worming in’, and
    Nahald ‘secret’ in the Northern tongues.
    The still more northerly language of Dale is in this book seen
    only in the names of the Dwarves that came from that region
    and so used the language of the Men there, taking their ‘outer’
    names in that tongue. It may be observed that in this book as in
    The Hobbit the form dwarves is used, although the dictionaries
    tell us that the plural of dwarf is dwarfs. It should be dwarrows
    (or dwerrows), if singular and plural had each gone its own way
    down the years, as have man and men, or goose and geese. But we
    no longer speak of a dwarf as often as we do of a man, or even
    of a goose, and memories have not been fresh enough among
    Men to keep hold of a special plural for a race now abandoned
    to folk-tales, where at least a shadow of truth is preserved, or at
    last to nonsense-stories in which they have become mere figures
    of fun. But in the Third Age something of their old character
    and power is still glimpsed, if already a little dimmed; these are
    the descendants of the Naugrim of the Elder Days, in whose
    hearts still burns the ancient fire of Aule¨ the Smith, and the
    embers smoulder of their long grudge against the Elves; and in
    whose hands still lives the skill in work of stone that none have
    surpassed.
    It is to mark this that I have ventured to use the form dwarves,
    and remove them a little, perhaps, from the sillier tales of these
    latter days. Dwarrows would have been better; but I have used
    or modes of warfare, except in a general way due to their circumstances:
    a simpler and more primitive people living in contact with a higher and
    more venerable culture, and occupying lands that had once been part of
    its domain.
    appendix f 1495
    that form only in the name Dwarrowdelf, to represent the name
    of Moria in the Common Speech: Phurunargian. For that meant
    ‘Dwarf-delving’ and yet was already a word of antique form. But
    Moria is an Elvish name, and given without love; for the Eldar,
    though they might at need, in their bitter wars with the Dark
    Power and his servants, contrive fortresses underground, were
    not dwellers in such places of choice. They were lovers of the
    green earth and the lights of heaven; and Moria in their tongue
    means the Black Chasm. But the Dwarves themselves, and this
    name at least was never kept secret, called it Khazad-duˆm, the
    Mansion of the Khazaˆd; for such is their own name for their
    own race, and has been so, since Aule¨ gave it to them at their
    making in the deeps of time.
    Elves has been used to translate both Quendi, ‘the speakers’,
    the High-elven name of all their kind, and Eldar, the name of
    the Three Kindreds that sought for the Undying Realm and
    came there at the beginning of Days (save the Sindar only). This
    old word was indeed the only one available, and was once fitted
    to apply to such memories of this people as Men preserved, or
    to the makings of Men’s minds not wholly dissimilar. But it has
    been diminished, and to many it may now suggest fancies either
    pretty or silly, as unlike to the Quendi of old as are butterflies to
    the swift falcon – not that any of the Quendi ever possessed
    wings of the body, as unnatural to them as to Men. They were
    a race high and beautiful, the older Children of the world, and
    among them the Eldar were as kings, who now are gone: the
    People of the Great Journey, the People of the Stars. They were
    tall, fair of skin and grey-eyed, though their locks were dark, save
    in the golden house of Finarfin;1 and their voices had more
    melodies than any mortal voice that now is heard. They were
    valiant, but the history of those that returned to Middle-earth in
    exile was grievous; and though it was in far-off days crossed by
    the fate of the Fathers, their fate is not that of Men. Their
    dominion passed long ago, and they dwell now beyond the circles
    of the world, and do not return.
    1 [These words describing characters of face and hair in fact applied
    only to the Noldor: see The Book of Lost Tales, Part One, p. 44.]
    1496 the return of the king
    Note on three names: Hobbit, Gamgee, and Brandywine.
    Hobbit is an invention. In the Westron the word used, when this people
    was referred to at all, was banakil ‘halfling’. But at this date the folk of the
    Shire and of Bree used the word kuduk, which was not found elsewhere.
    Meriadoc, however, actually records that the King of Rohan used the
    word kuˆd-duˆkan ‘hole-dweller’. Since, as has been noted, the Hobbits
    had once spoken a language closely related to that of the Rohirrim, it
    seems likely that kuduk was a worn-down form of kuˆd-duˆkan. The latter
    I have translated, for reasons explained, by holbytla; and hobbit provides
    a word that might well be a worn-down form of holbytla, if that name
    had occurred in our own ancient language.
    Gamgee. According to family tradition, set out in the Red Book, the
    surname Galbasi, or in reduced form Galpsi, came from the village of
    Galabas, popularly supposed to be derived from galab- ‘game’ and an
    old element bas-, more or less equivalent to our wick, wich. Gamwich
    (pronounced Gammidge) seemed therefore a very fair rendering. However, in reducing Gammidgy to Gamgee, to represent Galpsi, no reference
    was intended to the connexion of Samwise with the family of Cotton,
    though a jest of that kind would have been hobbit-like enough, had there
    been any warrant in their language.
    Cotton, in fact, represents Hlothran, a fairly common village-name in
    the Shire, derived from hloth, ‘a two-roomed dwelling or hole’, and
    ran(u) a small group of such dwellings on a hill-side. As a surname it
    may be an alteration of hlothram(a) ‘cottager’. Hlothram, which I have
    rendered Cotman, was the name of Farmer Cotton’s grandfather.
    Brandywine. The hobbit-names of this river were alterations of the Elvish
    Baranduin (accented on and), derived from baran ‘golden brown’ and
    duin ‘(large) river’. Of Baranduin Brandywine seemed a natural corruption in modern times. Actually the older hobbit-name was Branda-nıˆn
    ‘border-water’, which would have been more closely rendered by Marchbourn; but by a jest that had become habitual, referring again to its
    colour, at this time the river was usually called Bralda-hıˆm ‘heady ale’.
    It must be observed, however, that when the Oldbucks (Zaragamba)
    changed their name to Brandybuck (Brandagamba), the first element
    meant ‘borderland’, and Marchbuck would have been nearer. Only a
    very bold hobbit would have ventured to call the Master of Buckland
    Braldagamba in his hearing.
    INDEX
    Compiled by Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond
    This list has been compiled independent of that prepared by
    Nancy Smith and revised by J.R.R. Tolkien for the second edition (1965) of The Lord of the Rings and augmented in later
    printings; but for the final result reference has been made to the
    earlier index in order to resolve questions of content and to
    preserve Tolkien’s occasional added notes and ‘translations’
    [here indicated within square brackets]. We have also referred
    to the index that Tolkien himself began to prepare during 1954,
    but which he left unfinished after dealing only with place-names.
    He had intended, as he said in his original foreword to The Lord
    of the Rings, to provide ‘an index of names and strange words
    with some explanations’; but it soon became clear that such a
    work would be too long and costly, easily a short volume unto
    itself. (Tolkien’s manuscript list of place-names informed his
    son Christopher’s indexes in The Silmarillion and Unfinished
    Tales, and is referred to also in the present authors’ The Lord of
    the Rings: A Reader’s Companion.)
    Readers have long complained that the original index is too
    brief and fragmented for serious use. In the present work
    citations are given more comprehensively for names of persons,
    places, and things, and unusual (invented) words, mentioned or
    alluded to in the text (i.e. excluding the maps); and there is a
    single main sequence of entries, now preceded by a list of poems
    and songs by first line and a list of poems and phrases in languages other than English (Common Speech). Nonetheless,
    although this new index is greatly enlarged compared with its
    predecessor, some constraints on its length were necessary so
    that it might fit comfortably after the Appendices. Thus it has
    not been possible to index separately or to cross-reference every
    variation of every name in The Lord of the Rings (of which there
    are thousands), and we have had to be particularly selective
    The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which
    it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of
    your e-book reader.
    Ere iron was found or was hewn
    709
    Faithful servant yet master’s
    bane 1106
    Farewell we call to hearth and
    hall! 138–9
    From dark Dunharrow in the
    dim morning 1051
    Get out, you old Wight! Vanish
    in the sunlight! 186
    Gil-galad was an Elven-king
    242
    Gondor! Gondor, between the
    Mountains and the Sea!
    549
    Grey as a mouse 844–5
    Hey! Come derry dol! Hop
    along, my hearties! 160
    Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol!
    My darling! 156
    Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong
    dillo! 156
    1498 the return of the king
    when indexing Appendices D through F, concentrating on those
    names or terms that feature in the main text, and when subdividing entries by aspect.
    Primary entry elements have been chosen usually according
    to predominance in The Lord of the Rings, but sometimes based
    on familiarity or ease of reference: thus (for instance) predominant Nazguˆl rather than Ringwraiths or even less frequent Black
    Riders, and predominant and familiar Treebeard rather than Fangorn, with cross-references from (as they seem to us) the most
    important alternate terms. Names of bays, bridges, fords, gates,
    towers, vales, etc. including ‘Bay’, ‘Bridge’, etc. are entered usually under the principal element, e.g. Belfalas, Bay of rather than
    Bay of Belfalas. Names of battles and mountains are entered
    directly, e.g. Battle of Bywater, Mount Doom. With one exception
    (Rose Cotton), married female hobbits are indexed under the
    husband’s surname, with selective cross-references from maiden
    names.
    I. Poems and Songs
    A Elbereth Gilthoniel 309
    A Elbereth Gilthoniel (another
    poem) 954
    A! Elbereth Gilthoniel! 1345
    Ai! laurie¨ lantar lassi su´rinen! 492
    Alive without breath 811
    All that is gold does not glitter
    222, 322
    Arise, arise, Riders of The´oden!
    1096
    Arise now, arise, Riders of
    The´oden! 675
    Cold be hand and heart and
    bone 184
    Cold hard lands, The 810–11
    Ea¨rendil was a mariner 304–8
    Elven-maid there was of old, An
    442–3
    Ents the earthborn, old as
    mountains 765
    Out of doubt, out of dark to the
    day’s rising 1109
    Out of doubt, out of dark, to the
    day’s rising 1278
    Over the land there lies a long
    shadow 1023
    Road goes ever on and on, The
    (three poems) 46–7, 96,
    1293
    Seek for the Sword that was
    broken 320
    Silver flow the streams from
    Celos to Erui 1145
    Sing hey! for the bath at close of
    day 132
    Sing now, ye people of the
    Tower of Anor 1262
    Snow-white! Snow-white! O
    Lady clear! 104
    Still round the corner there may
    wait 1345
    Tall ships and tall kings 779
    There is an inn, a merry old inn
    207–9
    Three Rings for the Elven-kings
    under the sky 66
    Through Rohan over fen and
    field where the long grass
    grows 543–4
    To Isengard! Though Isengard
    be ringed and barred with
    doors of stone 632
    To the Sea, to the Sea! The
    white gulls are crying
    1252–3
    Tom’s country ends here: he
    will not pass the borders
    193
    Troll sat alone on his seat of
    stone 270–1
    Upon the hearth the fire is red
    101–2
    index 1499
    Hey! now! Come hoy now!
    Whither do you wander?
    188
    Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go
    118
    Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom
    Bombadillo! 175, 185
    Hop along, my little friends, up
    the Withywindle! 158
    I had an errand there: gathering
    water-lilies 165
    I sang of leaves, of leaves of
    gold, and leaves of gold
    there grew 485
    I sit beside the fire and think
    362–3
    In Dwimordene, in Lo´rien 671
    In the willow-meads of
    Tasarinan I walked in the
    Spring 610–11
    In western lands beneath the
    Sun 1188–9
    Learn now the lore of Living
    Creatures! 604–5
    Leaves were long, the grass was
    green, The 250–2
    Legolas Greenleaf long under
    tree 656
    Long live the Halflings! Praise
    them with great praise! 1248
    Mourn not overmuch! Mighty
    was the fallen 1104
    Now let the song begin! Let us
    sing together 160
    O Orofarne¨, Lassemista,
    Carnimı´rie¨! 630
    O slender as a willow-wand! O
    clearer than clear water! 162
    O! Wanderers in the shadowed
    land 147
    Old Tom Bombadil is a merry
    fellow 162, 185
    Ai na vedui Du´nadan! Mae
    govannen! 273
    Aiya Ea¨rendil Elenion Ancalima!
    942
    Aiyaelenion ancalima! 1197
    Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen!
    … 400
    Arwen vanimelda, nama´rie¨! 458
    Ash nazg durbatuluˆk… 331
    Baruk Khazaˆd! Khazaˆd ai-meˆnu!
    697, 1488
    Conin en Annuˆn! Eglerio! 1248
    Cormacolindor, a laita ta´rienna!
    1248
    Cuio i Pheriain anann! Aglar’ni
    Pheriannath! 1248
    Daur a Berhael, Conin en
    Annuˆn! Eglerio! 1248
    Elen sı´la lu´menn’ omentielvo
    105
    Ennyn Durin Aran Moria 398
    Ernil i Pheriannath 1005
    Et Ea¨rello Endorenna utu´lien . . .
    1268
    Ferthu The´oden ha´l! 682
    Galadhremmin ennorath 1464
    (cf. 309)
    Gilthoniel, A Elbereth! 954,
    1197
    Khazaˆd ai-meˆnu! 697
    Laurelindo´renan lindelorendor
    malinorne´lion ornemalin
    608
    Naur an edraith ammen! 378,
    389
    Naur dan i ngaurhoth! 389
    Noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth!
    278
    O Orofarne¨, Lassemista,
    Carnimı´rie¨! 630, 631
    O´ nen i-Estel Edain, u´-chebin
    estel anim 1392
    1500 the return of the king
    Wake now my merry lads! Wake
    and hear me calling! 187
    We come, we come with horn
    and drum: ta-runa runa
    runa rom! 631
    We come, we come with roll of
    drum: ta-runda runda
    runda rom! 631
    We heard of the horns in the
    hills ringing 1111–12
    When evening in the Shire was
    grey 467–8
    When spring unfolds the
    beechen leaf, and sap is in
    the bough 621–2
    When the black breath blows
    1132
    When winter first begins to bite
    355
    Where now are the Du´nedain,
    Elessar, Elessar? 656
    Where now the horse and the
    rider? Where is the horn
    that was blowing? 656
    World was young, the
    mountains green, The
    411–13
    II. Poems and Phrases in
    Languages Other Than
    Common Speech
    A Elbereth Gilthoniel . . .
    (variants) 309, 954
    A! Elbereth Gilthoniel! . . .
    1345
    A laita te, laita te! Andava
    laituvalmet! 1248
    A-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamandalind-or-buru´me¨ 606
    Ai! laurie¨ lantar lassi su´rinen . . .
    492
    Amon Dıˆn (Dıˆn) 978, 1087,
    1089, 1090, 1091, 1274,
    1277
    Amon Hen (Hill of Sight, Hill of
    the Eye) 508, 513, 515–16,
    517, 521–2, 524, 528, 544,
    836, 841; seat on (Seat of
    Seeing) 522, 524, 528, 544
    Amon Lhaw (Hill of Hearing)
    513, 515–16, 523, 524, 531;
    seat on 524
    Amon Suˆl see Weathertop
    Amroth 443, 1427; name 1481;
    Amroth’s haven 443, 1140;
    mound of see Cerin
    Amroth; see also Dol
    Amroth
    Anardil 1359
    Ana´rion 316, 318, 328, 512, 780,
    875, 886, 1357, 1358, 1366,
    1367, 1374, 1384, 1385,
    1423; heirs, House of
    (Southern Line) 875, 1118,
    1358, 1368; name 1482
    Anborn 882, 895–900 passim,
    901
    Ancalagon the Black 80
    Ancient World 463
    Anduin (Great River, the River,
    River of Gondor) 4, 11, 69,
    76, 316, 318, 319, 325–6,
    330, 334, 349, 357, 366,
    369, 435, 440, 441, 444,
    453, 458, 478–514 passim,
    537, 540–6 passim, 547,
    548–9, 553, 558, 567, 569,
    572, 581, 588, 598, 620,
    641, 649–50, 735, 787, 788,
    805, 835, 837–8, 839, 844,
    847, 861, 862, 865, 871,
    872, 894, 912, 925, 981,
    988, 992–3, 999, 1000,
    index 1501
    Taurelilo´me¨a-tumbalemorna
    Tumbaletaure¨a Lo´me¨anor
    609, 1486
    Uglu´k u bagronk sha pushdug
    Saruman-glob bu´bhosh skai
    579
    Westu The´oden ha´l! 676
    Ye´! utu´vienyes! 1273
    III. Persons, Places, and Things
    Accursed Years 1031
    Adorn 1398, 1402
    Adrahil 1384, 1430
    Aduˆnaic 1355, 1356, 1462, 1465,
    1482
    Aduˆnakhoˆr 1462
    Aeglos [Icicle], Spear of Gilgalad 316
    Aglarond see Glittering Caves of
    Aglarond
    Akallabeˆth 1354
    Aldalo´me¨ 611
    Aldamir 1359, 1425
    Aldor the Old 1279, 1401, 1405
    Alfirin 1145
    Alphabets see Writing and
    spelling
    Aman (Blessed Realm, Undying
    Lands, Undying Realm,
    Uttermost West, the West,
    Western Shore, Land
    beyond the Sea, etc.) 59,
    171, 288, 318, 445, 475,
    476, 876, 886, 1253, 1276,
    1348, 1352, 1354, 1357,
    1360, 1394, 1397, 1420,
    1423, 1482, 1495; see also
    Eresse¨a; Valimar; Valinor
    Amandil 1355
    Ambaro´na 611
    Amlaith 1358
    Angle, between Hoarwell and
    Loudwater 1361, 1362,
    1425
    Angle, in Lothlo´rien 452
    Angmar 6, 190, 242, 263, 1086,
    1105, 1362, 1363, 1374,
    1376, 1377, 1395, 1415;
    Lord of see Witch-king
    Angrenost see Isengard
    Ann-thennath 252
    Annu´minas 318, 780, 1357,
    1364, 1365, 1426; palantı´r
    of 779–80, 1364; sceptre of
    (sceptre of Arnor) 1274,
    1365, 1386, 1392
    Anor, flame of 430
    Anor-stone see Palantı´r
    Ano´rien (Sunlending) 978, 981,
    1002, 1051, 1075, 1091,
    1154, 1156, 1277, 1374,
    1382, 1436, 1464, 1482;
    East Ano´rien 1086
    Appledore, surname 203
    Appledore, Rowlie 1299
    Ar-Aduˆnakhor ‘Lord of the
    West’ 1355, 1356, 1422
    Ar-Gimilzoˆr 1355
    Ar-Inziladuˆn see Tar-Palantir
    Ar-Pharazoˆn ‘the Golden’ 1355,
    1356–7, 1365, 1372, 1422,
    1462
    Ar-Sakalthoˆr 1355
    Ar-Zimrathoˆn 1355
    Arador 1358, 1386, 1429
    Araglas 1358
    Aragorn I 1358, 1366
    Aragorn II, son of Arathorn II
    (Strider, heir of Elendil and
    Isildur, Captain, Chieftain,
    Lord of the Du´nedain of
    Arnor, Captain of the Host
    of the West, chief of the
    1502 the return of the king
    Anduin – cont.
    1001, 1034, 1046, 1057,
    1058, 1062, 1067, 1068,
    1075, 1079, 1091, 1098,
    1103, 1107–12, 1117–18,
    1143–9 passim, 1153, 1157,
    1165, 1252, 1253, 1264,
    1272, 1282, 1327, 1369–74,
    1381, 1380, 1382, 1395,
    1414, 1423, 1431, 1439,
    1443, 1480, 1483; mouths,
    delta of (Ethir [outflow]
    Anduin) 316, 378, 517, 522,
    540, 861, 1009, 1108, 1148,
    1369, 1483; sources of 1395
    Anduin, Vale(s) of [lowlands
    watered by Anduin from
    Lo´rien to the Ethir; the
    ‘lower vales’ south of
    Rauros; north of Lo´rien
    were the ‘upper vales’] 4,
    795–6, 1056, 1078, 1158,
    1202, 1272, 1369, 1376,
    1380, 1395, 1396, 1432,
    1443, 1480, 1483, 1492;
    Men of Anduin’s Vale 1396
    Andu´nie¨, Lords of 1355, 1365
    Andu´ril (Flame of the West, the
    Sword, the Sword
    Reforged) 360, 363, 422,
    424, 488, 564, 569, 644–5,
    666–7, 696, 698, 700, 701,
    993, 1022, 1110, 1150,
    1155, 1207, 1267; see also
    Narsil
    Anfalas see Langstrand
    Angamaite¨ 1372
    Angband 253
    Angbor, Lord of Lamedon 1145,
    1147, 1153
    Angerthas Daeron 1475–9
    Angerthas Moria 1468, 1476–9
    1266, 1276, 1286;
    Envinyatar, the Renewer
    1129; Estel 1386, 1387,
    1391, 1394, 1430;
    Longshanks 236; Strider
    [used in Bree and by his
    hobbit-companions]
    frequently, especially
    205–307; Stick-at-naught
    Strider 236; Telcontar 1130;
    Thorongil [eagle of star]
    1383, 1384, 1431; Wingfoot
    567; as healer 259–60,
    436–7, 710, 1126, 1129–40,
    1247, 1252, 1255–6, 1266,
    1267; names 1482; of the
    children of Lu´thien 1147;
    one of the Three Hunters
    546, 643; his standard
    wrought by Arwen 1015,
    1019, 1034, 1109, 1110,
    1127, 1148, 1162, 1167,
    1241, 1248–9, 1268, 1392,
    1385, 1436
    Aragost 1358
    Arahad I 1358, 1366
    Arahad II 1358
    Arahael 1358, 1365
    Aranarth 1358, 1363, 1365,
    1385, 1426
    Arantar 1358
    Aranuir 1358
    Araphant 1358, 1374, 1376
    Araphor 1358, 1362
    Arassuil 1358
    Arathorn I 1358
    Arathorn II 1358, 1385–6, 1430;
    see also Aragorn II, son of
    Arathorn II
    Araval 1358
    Aravir 1358
    Aravorn 1358
    index 1503
    Rangers, King of the
    Nu´meno´reans, King of
    Gondor and the Western
    Lands, Lord of the White
    Tree, etc.) 19, 20, 77,
    204–5, 210–78 passim,
    286–90 passim, 296, 303,
    308, 309, 312, 321, 322,
    333, 327, 330, 332, 341–2,
    343, 355, 356, 359–519
    passim, 537–77 passim, 578,
    579, 585, 590, 628,
    636–714 passim, 720,
    730–50 passim, 753, 762,
    763, 768, 775, 776, 777,
    778, 782–3, 840, 841, 860,
    867, 875, 885, 888, 926,
    985, 986, 987, 989, 995,
    1012–34 passim, 1036–42
    passim, 1049, 1060, 1066,
    1109–11, 1118, 1127–67
    passim, 1174, 1241, 1243,
    1247–54 passim, 1262–87
    passim, 1291–4 passim,
    1302, 1315, 1352, 1358,
    1365–6, 1375, 1385–95
    passim, 1404, 1405, 1418,
    1419, 1429–43 passim,
    1450, 1457, 1490; (the)
    Du´nadan 273, 301, 303,
    308, 323, 564, 1391; Elessar
    [name given to Aragorn in
    Lo´rien and adopted by him
    as King] 20, 488, 512, 564,
    656, 1034, 1109, 1129,
    1159, 1267, 1268, 1273,
    1277, 1359, 1367, 1405,
    1418, 1419, 1439, 1441,
    1443, 1450, 1460, 1482 see
    also Elfstone following;
    Elessar Telcontar 1359;
    Elfstone 1015, 1140, 1157,
    Arvedui ‘Last-king’ 5, 1023,
    1358, 1359, 1363–5,
    1374–6, 1426
    Arvegil 1358, 1367
    Arveleg I 1358, 1361, 1425
    Arveleg II 1358
    Arwen (Lady, the Lady of
    Rivendell, etc.) 296, 299,
    303, 309, 458, 489, 1015,
    1109, 1274, 1275–82
    passim, 1286, 1352,
    1387–95 passim, 1417,
    1424, 1431, 1432, 1436,
    1441; Evenstar 296, 489,
    1274, 1277, 1367, 1391,
    1395; Queen Arwen 1276,
    1277; 1441; Queen of Elves
    and Men 1393; Undo´miel
    [cf. Undo´me¨ ] 296, 1274,
    1387, 1390, 1391, 1424,
    1431; recalled, alluded to by
    Aragorn 253, 263–4, 364,
    458, 488, 1028; gift to
    Frodo (passage into the
    West) 1276; gift to Frodo
    (white gem) 1276, 1338,
    1341; standard she wrought
    for Aragorn see Aragorn II
    Ase¨a aranion see Athelas
    Asfaloth 273, 278–81 passim,
    289, 290
    Ashen (Ash) Mountains see Ered
    Lithui
    Atanatar I 1359
    Atanatar II Alcarin ‘the
    Glorious’ 1359, 1367, 1369
    Atani see Edain
    Athelas (ase¨a aranion, kingsfoil)
    [a healing herb] 259–60,
    437, 1130–9 passim
    Aule¨ the Smith 1494
    Avernien 304
    1504 the return of the king
    Araw see Orome¨
    Archet 195, 219, 235, 237, 238,
    1299; name 1492
    Arciryas 1375
    Argeleb I 1358, 1361, 1425
    Argeleb II 5, 1358, 1362, 1425
    Argonath (Pillars of the Kings,
    Gate of Kings, Gates of
    Gondor, the Gates,
    sentinels of Nu´menor) 319,
    349, 508, 510, 511–12, 522,
    524, 553, 564, 919, 987,
    1046, 1369, 1435
    Argonui 1358
    Arkenstone 1407, 1416
    Army of the West see Host of
    the West
    Arnach see Lossarnach
    Arnor (North Kingdom,
    Northern Kingdom,
    Northlands, etc.) 5, 6, 242,
    263, 316, 318, 329, 734,
    780–1, 1105, 1111, 1129,
    1267, 1286, 1357–69 passim,
    1374, 1375, 1376, 1392,
    1393, 1407, 1422, 1423,
    1424, 1441, 1454; Realm in
    Exile 1358, 1422; calendar of
    1454, 1458; High Kings of
    1358, 1360–1; language of
    1358, 1360–9, 1393, 1422,
    1425, 1441, 1480, 1484;
    palantı´r of 1425; sceptre of
    see Annu´minas; Star of the
    North Kingdom see
    Elendilmir
    Arod 571, 576, 577, 636, 658–9,
    660, 664, 731, 1012, 1029,
    1277
    Artamir 1374
    Arthedain 1360, 1361, 1362,
    1375, 1426
    birthday-parties, 17, 28,
    30–40, 46, 48–9, 55–6, 85,
    88–9, 206, 355, 1291, 1343,
    1346; book, diary see Red
    Book of Westmarch
    Baggins, Bingo 49, 1445
    Baggins, Bungo 1445, 1448
    Baggins, Camellia ne´e Sackville
    1445
    Baggins, Chica ne´e Chubb 1445
    Baggins, Dora 48, 1445
    Baggins, Drogo 29–30, 48,
    1445, 1446, 1449; see also
    Baggins, Frodo, son of
    Drogo
    Baggins, Dudo 1445
    Baggins, Fosco 1445, 1446
    Baggins, Frodo, son of Drogo
    (Ring-bearer, Mr.
    Underhill, the Halfling, etc.)
    3, 17, 18, 19, 20, 28–9, 30,
    36, 39–530 passim, 538,
    537, 539, 545, 554, 573,
    578, 586, 590, 628, 638,
    647–8, 674, 744, 787–971
    passim, 978, 979, 984, 1036,
    1042, 1056, 1061, 1066,
    1067, 1161, 1164, 1168,
    1173, 1174, 1175, 1176,
    1180, 1182, 1183, 1187,
    1190–1253 passim, 1266,
    1268, 1271, 1274, 1275,
    1277, 1290–1349 passim,
    1363, 1417, 1431–41
    passim, 1457–63 passim,
    1459, 1490; and story of the
    Ring of Doom (Frodo of
    the Nine Fingers) 1244–5,
    1249
    Baggins, Gilly ne´e Brownlock
    1445
    Baggins, Largo 1445, 1447
    index 1505
    Azanulbizar see Dimrill Dale;
    Battle of Nanduhirion
    (Azanulbizar)
    Azog 1409–14 passim, 1416
    Bag End 18, 27, 28–62 passim,
    82–92 passim, 97, 99, 129,
    131, 135, 137, 219, 222,
    240, 342, 355, 414, 915,
    1191, 1307, 1309, 1310,
    1314, 1316, 1320, 1324,
    1325, 1326, 1327, 1330–41
    passim, 1349, 1433, 1441
    Baggins family 12, 37, 38, 39,
    48–9, 64, 362, 1445; name
    78
    Baggins, Angelica 49, 1445
    Baggins, Balbo 1445, 1447
    Baggins, Belladonna ne´e Took
    1445, 1448
    Baggins, Berylla ne´e Boffin 1445,
    1447
    Baggins, Bilbo 1–9 passim,
    14–20 passim, 27–65
    passim, 71–89 passim,
    96–101 passim, 105, 106,
    108, 123, 124, 131–8
    passim, 173, 183, 206, 207,
    221, 243, 269, 272, 292–3,
    297–310 passim, 311–14
    passim, 322, 324–5, 330,
    345, 351–5 passim, 356,
    360–3, 364, 366, 375, 377,
    414, 418, 427, 437, 468–9,
    473, 499, 517, 527, 601,
    803, 811, 827, 837, 888,
    952, 957, 958, 1169, 1188,
    1250, 1252, 1271, 1274,
    1289–94, 1330, 1343, 1344,
    1346, 1347, 1351, 1429,
    1430, 1431, 1440, 1445,
    1447, 1464; birthday,
    317, 326, 327, 329, 359,
    386, 463, 523, 538, 581,
    588, 592, 646, 648, 724,
    735, 760, 769, 775, 780,
    781, 782, 788, 829, 832,
    841, 842, 859, 862, 946,
    966–71 passim, 1077, 1140,
    1150, 1151, 1152, 1176,
    1177, 1178, 1180, 1202,
    1207, 1219, 1223, 1225,
    1232, 1233, 1237, 1241–2,
    1262, 1266, 1315, 1366,
    1384, 1391–2, 1400, 1420,
    1421, 1422, 1423, 1437,
    1459, 1487, 1488; hosts of
    see Sauron; name (Dark
    Tower) 1491; sometimes
    used as a synonym for
    Sauron
    Barahir, father of Beren 252,
    1352, 1364; see also Beren,
    son of Barahir; Ring of
    Barahir
    Barahir, grandson of Faramir 20
    Barahir, steward 1360
    Baranduin see Brandywine
    Barazinbar (Baraz) see
    Caradhras
    Bard of Esgaroth (Bard the
    Bowman) 298, 1416, 1430,
    1431
    Bard II of Dale 1438
    Bardings see Dale: Men of
    Barrow-downs (Downlands)
    149, 150, 160, 170, 171,
    175, 177–91 passim, 214,
    234, 342, 575, 1105, 1305,
    1362, 1484; Tyrn Gorthad
    1362, 1425; north-gate of
    181
    Barrowfield 662, 1031, 1278,
    1400, 1403
    1506 the return of the king
    Baggins, Laura ne´e Grubb 1445,
    1447
    Baggins, Longo 1445
    Baggins, Mimosa ne´e Bunce 1445
    Baggins, Mungo 1445, 1447
    Baggins, Polo 1445
    Baggins, Ponto, the elder 1445
    Baggins, Ponto, the younger
    1445
    Baggins, Porto 1445
    Baggins, Posco 1445
    Baggins, Primula ne´e
    Brandybuck 29, 1445, 1448,
    1449
    Baggins, Ruby ne´e Bolger 1445,
    1446
    Baggins, Tanta ne´e Hornblower
    1445
    Bagshot Row 28, 34, 49, 90, 91,
    99, 472, 852, 1304, 1323,
    1327, 1330, 1337
    Bain, son of Bard, King of Dale
    298, 1432
    Balchoth 1380, 1395–6
    Baldor 1043, 1279, 1401, 1428
    Balin, son of Fundin 298–9,
    301, 313, 349, 386, 415,
    418, 421, 423, 424, 426,
    463, 1413, 1414, 1418,
    1430, 1431; tomb of
    416–17, 418, 423
    Balrog (Durin’s Bane, elf-bane)
    413, 426, 427, 429–31, 463,
    654, 505, 885, 1407, 1412,
    1427, 1434
    Bamfurlong 119
    Banks, surname 203
    Banks, Willie 1299
    Barad-duˆr (Dark Tower,
    Fortress of Sauron,
    Lugbu´rz, Great Tower, the
    Tower, etc.) 57, 67, 294,
    Battle of the Peak, i.e. Celebdil
    655
    Battle of the Pelennor Fields
    1068, 1069–79, 1083–4,
    1093–1112, 1149, 1156,
    1392, 1403–5, 1436
    Battle Plain see Dagorlad
    Battles of the Fords of Isen
    687–8, 718–20, 1435
    Beacon hills, beacons 978, 979,
    1001, 1053
    Beechbone 741
    Belecthor I 1360
    Belecthor II 1360, 1381, 1429
    Beleg 1358
    Belegorn 1360
    Belegost 1406
    Beleriand (Northern Lands,
    Norland) 252, 307, 398,
    945, 1362, 1464, 1476–8,
    1482
    Belfalas 978, 982, 1001, 1108
    Belfalas, Bay of 444, 496
    Be´ma see Orome¨
    Beorn 297–8
    Beornings 298, 481, 522, 560,
    1395, 1438; honey cakes of
    481; land of 522; language
    of 1483
    Beregond, son of Baranor
    (Beregond of the Guard)
    994–1004, 1005, 1056,
    1057, 1058, 1059, 1060,
    1082, 1113–14, 1115–22
    passim, 1133–4, 1140, 1157,
    1169, 1269–70; see also
    Bergil, son of Beregond
    Beregond, steward 1360, 1381
    Beren, son of Barahir (Beren
    One-hand) 250–3, 353,
    360, 932, 946, 953, 1352,
    1364, 1387, 1389, 1421;
    index 1507
    Barrows (mounds) 170–1, 175,
    182–8, 242, 989, 1362–3;
    barrow in which Frodo is
    imprisoned 183–7, 189,
    255, 286, 941, 957, 1363;
    knives from see Swords; of
    the kings of Rohan see
    Barrowfield; see also Mound
    of the Riders
    Barrow-wight(s) (Wights) 171,
    175, 183–7, 189, 242, 345,
    989, 1433
    Battle Gardens 1337
    Battle of Azanulbizar see Battle
    of Nanduhirion
    Battle of Bywater 1328–9, 1337,
    1440; Roll of 1329
    Battle of Dagorlad (Great
    Battle) 316, 817, 877, 1366,
    1420, 1423
    Battle of Dale, 2941 Third Age
    see Battle of Five Armies
    Battle of Dale, 3019 Third Age
    1438
    Battle of Five Armies (of Dale)
    14, 62, 298, 386, 1418, 1430
    Battle of Fornost 1376, 1425,
    1426
    Battle of Greenfields 7, 1329
    Battle of Nanduhirion
    (Azanulbizar) 1410, 1418,
    1428
    Battle of the Camp 1374, 1426
    Battle of the Crossings of Erui
    1371, 1425
    Battle of the Field of Gondor see
    Battle of the Pelennor Fields
    Battle of the Field of Celebrant
    668, 886, 1278, 1396, 1397,
    1428
    Battle of the Hornburg 692–707,
    1435
    Blackroot see Morthond
    Blanco 5, 1444
    Blessed Realm see Aman
    Blue Mountains (Ered Luin,
    Mountains of Lune) 5, 57,
    242, 610, 1360, 1362, 1406,
    1413, 1420, 1421
    Bob 200, 209, 233, 234, 1297
    Boffin family 9, 37, 38, 40, 48,
    51, 64, 1447; name 1491
    Boffin, Basso 1447
    Boffin, Bosco 1447
    Boffin, Briffo 1447
    Boffin, Buffo 1447
    Boffin, Daisy ne´e Baggins 1445,
    1447
    Boffin, Donnamira ne´e Took
    1447, 1448
    Boffin, Druda ne´e Burrows 1447
    Boffin, Folco 56, 88, 89, 1447
    Boffin, Griffo 1445, 1447
    Boffin, Gruffo 1447
    Boffin, Hugo 1447, 1448
    Boffin, Ivy ne´e Goodenough
    1447
    Boffin, Jago 1447
    Boffin, Lavender ne´e Grubb
    1447
    Boffin, Mr. 58
    Boffin, Otto ‘the Fat’ 1447
    Boffin, Rollo 1447
    Boffin, Sapphira ne´e Brockhouse
    1447
    Boffin, Tosto 1447
    Boffin, Uffo 1447
    Boffin, Vigo 1447
    Bofur 298, 1418
    Bolg 1416, 1418
    Bolger family 37, 38, 40, 48, 51,
    64, 1446; name 1460;
    names in 1492
    Bolger, Adalbert 1446, 1447
    1508 the return of the king
    Beren – cont.
    name 1482; Beren and
    Lu´thien, lay of 360
    Beren, steward 1360, 1381, 1400
    Bergil, son of Beregond
    1007–10, 1125, 1133, 1156
    Beru´thiel, Queen, cats of 405
    Beryl, an elf-stone 262
    Better Smials 1337–8
    Bifur 298, 1418
    Big Folk, Big People see Men
    Bill, pony 234–5, 236, 243, 260,
    267, 268, 365, 370, 374,
    377, 382, 388, 393, 394,
    395–6, 400, 402, 407, 1297,
    1302, 1304, 1308, 1344
    Birds, as spies 240, 370–2,
    382–3, 537, 715, 1002
    Birthday, Bilbo and Frodo’s see
    Baggins, Bilbo
    Black Breath (Black Shadow)
    227, 334, 1126, 1131, 1132,
    1140
    Black Captain see Witch-king
    Black Country see Mordor
    Black fleet (black sails, black
    ships) 1109, 1117–18, 1129,
    1143–7, 1174
    Black Gate(s) of Mordor see
    Morannon
    Black Land see Mordor
    Black Nu´meno´reans see
    Nu´meno´reans
    Black One (Black Hand) see
    Sauron
    Black Riders see Nazguˆl
    Black Shadow see Black Breath
    Black Speech (language of
    Mordor) 66, 331, 1466,
    1473, 1486–7
    Black Stone see Stone of Erech
    Black Years 67, 331
    Bolger, Wilimar 1446
    Bombadil, Tom 156–75 passim,
    176–9, 185–93 passim, 199,
    214, 234, 280, 345, 614,
    941–2, 1304, 1348, 1433;
    Forn 345; Iarwain Ben-adar
    345, 346, 347, 1462; Orald
    345; Eldest (oldest) 172,
    345; house of (under hill)
    156, 159–60, 161–4, 178,
    185, 1348
    Bombur 298, 1418
    Bonfire Glade 145, 146–7
    Book of Mazarbul 419–22, 463,
    1477
    Books of Lore, at Rivendell 1344
    Borgil 107
    Borin 1407, 1418
    Boromir, son of Denethor II
    (Captain, High Warden of
    the White Tower, of the
    Nine Walkers, etc.) 312,
    317, 321, 322, 323, 324,
    328, 332, 336, 341–2, 348,
    349, 351, 363–531 passim,
    537–9 passim, 542–4, 546,
    552, 560, 561, 564, 566,
    567, 575, 578–9, 639–40,
    647, 674, 735, 744, 859,
    860, 866–71 passim, 872,
    873, 875, 876, 877, 878,
    885, 887, 889, 890, 980,
    985, 987, 988, 990, 1000–1,
    1003, 1004–5, 1045,
    1060–8, 1121, 1381, 1384,
    1434, 1435; name 1482;
    horn of see Horn of Boromir
    Boromir, steward 1360, 1380,
    1381
    Bounders 13, 59
    Bracegirdle family 37, 38, 40,
    64, 1336
    index 1509
    Bolger, Adalgar 1446
    Bolger, Alfrida 1446
    Bolger, Amethyst ne´e
    Hornblower 1446
    Bolger, Belba ne´e Baggins 1445,
    1446
    Bolger, Cora ne´e Goodbody
    1446
    Bolger, Dina ne´e Diggle 1446
    Bolger, Fastolph 1445, 1446
    Bolger, Filibert 1445, 1446
    Bolger, Fredegar ‘Fatty’ 56, 88,
    89–90, 130–42 passim, 231,
    1336, 1446, 1447, 1448
    Bolger, Gerda ne´e Boffin 1446,
    1447
    Bolger, Gundabald 1445, 1446
    Bolger, Gundahad 1446
    Bolger, Gundahar 1446
    Bolger, Gundolpho 1446
    Bolger, Heribald 1446
    Bolger, Herugar 1446, 1447
    Bolger, Jessamine ne´e Boffin
    1446, 1447
    Bolger, Nina ne´e Lightfoot 1446
    Bolger, Nora 1446
    Bolger, Odovacar 1446, 1448
    Bolger, Pansy ne´e Baggins 1445,
    1446
    Bolger, Poppy ne´e ChubbBaggins 1445, 1446
    Bolger, Prisca ne´e Baggins 1445,
    1446
    Bolger, Rosamunda ne´e Took
    1446, 1448
    Bolger, Rudibert 1446
    Bolger, Rudigar 1445, 1446
    Bolger, Rudolph 1446
    Bolger, Salvia ne´e Brandybuck
    1446, 1449
    Bolger, Theobald 1446
    Bolger, Wilibald 1445, 1446
    Brandybuck, Madoc
    ‘Proudneck’ 1449
    Brandybuck, Malva ne´e
    Headstrong 1449
    Brandybuck, Marmadas 1449
    Brandybuck, Marmadoc
    ‘Masterful’ 1446, 1449
    Brandybuck, Marroc 1449
    Brandybuck, Melilot 38, 1449
    Brandybuck, Menegilda ne´e
    Goold 1449
    Brandybuck, Mentha 1449
    Brandybuck, Meriadoc ‘Merry’,
    son of Saradoc 2, 10, 20,
    50, 51, 56, 57, 88, 94,
    120–203 passim, 211, 221,
    226–76 passim, 285–6, 290,
    291, 292, 294, 295, 296,
    311, 354–531 passim, 539,
    569, 573. 578, 582–652,
    726–52 passim, 760–73
    passim, 778, 861, 987, 988,
    1004, 1007, 1012–53
    passim, 1086–90 passim,
    1094–5, 1096 passim,
    1123–6, 1130, 1137–40
    passim, 1156, 1157, 1168,
    1174, 1251, 1259, 1262,
    1277, 1278–9, 1280–1,
    1283, 1285–1349 passim,
    1347, 1351, 1405, 1435,
    1441, 1442–3, 1445, 1446,
    1448, 1449, 1464, 1492–3;
    Holdwine of the Mark
    1280–1, 1405, 1441;
    Meriadoc ‘the Magnificent’
    1405, 1449; Master of
    Buckland 1405, 1442; horn
    of see Horn of the Mark;
    name 1492–3
    Brandybuck, Merimac 1449
    Brandybuck, Merimas 1449
    1510 the return of the king
    Bracegirdle, Blanco 1447
    Bracegirdle, Bruno 1447
    Bracegirdle, Hugo 49, 1447
    Bracegirdle, Primrose ne´e Boffin
    1447
    Brand, son of Bain, King of
    Dale 298, 314–15, 1417,
    1432, 1437, 1438
    Brandy Hall 9, 19, 20, 29, 121,
    128, 129, 130, 131
    Brandybuck family 9, 29, 30, 37,
    38, 40, 51, 52, 87, 119, 123,
    128, 129, 131, 140, 231,
    1139, 1449; name 1496;
    inquisitiveness of 771;
    Master of the Hall (Master
    of Buckland), i.e. head of
    the family 4, 10, 129,
    140
    Brandybuck, Adaldrida ne´e
    Bolger 1446, 1449
    Brandybuck, Amaranth 1449
    Brandybuck, Berilac 1449
    Brandybuck, Celandine 1449
    Brandybuck, Dinodas 1449
    Brandybuck, Doderic 1449
    Brandybuck, Dodinas 1449
    Brandybuck, Esmeralda ne´e
    Took 40, 1448, 1449
    Brandybuck, Estella ne´e Bolger
    1446, 1448, 1449
    Brandybuck, Gorbadoc
    ‘Broadbelt’ 29–30, 1448,
    1449
    Brandybuck, Gorbulas 1449
    Brandybuck, Gormadoc
    ‘Deepdelver’ 1449
    Brandybuck, Hanna ne´e
    Goldworthy 1449
    Brandybuck, Hilda ne´e
    Bracegirdle 1447, 1449
    Brandybuck, Ilberic 1449
    195–205 passim; language,
    dialect of 203, 1484–5;
    names in 1492–3; placenames in 1485; South-gate
    of 197, 227, 237, 1296,
    1299; West-gate of 197,
    198, 227, 1304; ‘strange as
    news from Bree’ 845
    Bree-hill 237, 1296, 1299
    Bregalad see Quickbeam
    Brego, son of Eorl 673, 1043–4,
    1279, 1401, 1428
    Bridgefields 141
    Brockenbores 1336
    Brockhouse family 37, 38, 40;
    name 203
    Brown Lands 495, 497, 598,
    620, 1395
    Bruinen (Loudwater) 4, 245,
    262, 264, 265, 277, 292,
    310, 311
    Bruinen, Ford of (Ford of
    Rivendell) 245, 262, 264,
    265, 272, 277–9, 286, 288,
    290, 291, 325, 344, 357,
    366, 1295, 1360, 1361,
    1362, 1434, 1440
    Brytta see Le´ofa
    Bucca of the Marish 1365, 1426
    Buck Hill 128, 130
    Buckland (Bucklanders) 8, 12,
    29, 30, 87, 88, 91, 92, 100,
    109, 120, 122, 124, 129–31,
    196, 198, 225, 231–2, 343,
    1306, 1341, 1349, 1427,
    1442, 1460, 1496; names
    1493; Gate of (Buckland
    Gate, Hay Gate, Northgate) 140, 231, 1305, 1306;
    horn-call, horn-cry of
    230–1, 1318; Master of see
    Brandybuck family
    index 1511
    Brandybuck, Mirabella ne´e Took
    1448, 1449
    Brandybuck, Orgulas 1449
    Brandybuck, Rorimac
    ‘Goldfather’, ‘Old Rory’ 40,
    49, 1449
    Brandybuck, Sadoc 1449
    Brandybuck, Saradas 1449
    Brandybuck, Saradoc
    ‘Scattergold’ 726, 1448,
    1449
    Brandybuck, Seredic 1449
    Brandywine (Baranduin) 6, 8,
    29, 30, 56, 96, 109, 116,
    118, 121, 128–9, 130, 149,
    158, 196, 206, 225, 231,
    274, 375, 479, 1201, 1301,
    1306, 1326, 1361, 1426,
    1429, 1440, 1496; name
    1491, 1496; valley of 177
    Brandywine Bridge (Bridge of
    Stonebows, Great Bridge)
    5, 6, 32, 88, 93, 115, 129,
    139, 140, 179, 196, 1305,
    1306, 1309, 1310, 1312,
    1367, 1440, 1441; bridgehouse 1311, 1312; Bridge
    Inn 1310–11
    Bree (Bree-land, Bree-folk,
    Breelanders) 5, 11, 20,
    195–216 passim, 224–36
    passim, 237, 238, 240, 241,
    287, 303, 334, 335, 340,
    343–4, 364, 427, 733, 738,
    1139, 1292, 1301–5 passim,
    1314, 1361, 1415, 1417,
    1425, 1431, 1433, 1440,
    1455; calendar of 1452,
    1456; Gate-keeper 1296;
    Hobbits of (Little Folk) 11,
    195–206 passim, 210, 1299;
    Men of (Big Folk) 193,
    Calembel 1034, 1436
    Calenardhon (later Rohan) 886,
    1360, 1371, 1395–6,
    1380–1, 1428
    Calendars 20–1, 1451–60
    Calenhad 978, 1053
    Calimehtar, brother of
    Ro´mendacil II 1371
    Calimehtar, son of Narmacil II
    1359, 1374, 1375, 1426
    Calimmacil 1375
    Calmacil 1359, 1369
    Captain of the Haven at Umbar
    1393
    Captains of the West 1149,
    1153, 1159–67 passim,
    1214, 1219, 1223, 1227,
    1233, 1241, 1242, 1253–4,
    1255, 1257
    Carach Angren see Isenmouthe
    Caradhras the Cruel
    (Barazinbar, Baraz,
    Redhorn) 368–9, 371–85
    passim, 388, 413, 433, 464,
    467, 885, 1289, 1407, 1434,
    1461; pass of see Redhorn
    Gate
    Caras Galadhon (City of the
    Galadhrim, City of the
    Trees) 464, 467, 470–2,
    483, 506, 615, 656, 1390,
    1434, 1438; name 1481
    Carchost see Towers of the
    Teeth
    Cardolan 1360–3
    Carl, son of Cottar 1450
    Carn Duˆm 187, 190, 1377
    Carnen (Redwater) 1407, 1438
    Carnimı´rie¨ 630, 631
    Carrock 1395, 1484; Ford of 298
    Castamir the Usurper 1359,
    1371, 1372, 1425
    1512 the return of the king
    Bucklebury 20, 89, 91, 99, 112,
    118, 129, 130, 139, 159–60
    Bucklebury Ferry (the Ferry) 89,
    93, 115–27 passim, 93,
    128–9
    Budgeford 141, 1446
    Bullroarer see Took, Bandobras
    Bumpkin 188
    Bundushathuˆr (Shathuˆr)
    [Cloudy-head] see
    Fanuidhol
    Burrows family 37, 38, 40
    Burrows, Asphodel ne´e
    Brandybuck 1449
    Burrows, Milo 49, 1445, 1449
    Burrows, Minto 1445
    Burrows, Moro 1445
    Burrows, Mosco 1445
    Burrows, Myrtle 1445
    Burrows, Peony ne´e Baggins
    1445, 1449
    Burrows, Rufus 1449
    Butterbur family 11
    Butterbur, Barliman (Barley)
    193, 199–227 passim, 232–6
    passim, 287, 323, 335, 340,
    343, 1292, 1296–1304
    passim
    Bywater 28, 29, 32, 33, 35, 36,
    52, 58, 93, 472, 1221,
    1312–14 passim, 1328–9,
    1337, 1338, 1440; Pool at
    1228, 1313–14; see also
    Battle of Bywater
    Bywater Road 22, 1328–9
    Cair Andros (Andros) 1062,
    1067–8, 1071–2, 1156,
    1160–1, 1253, 1262, 1263,
    1382, 1436
    Calacirya [ravine of light] 306,
    492
    Chamber of Mazarbul [Records]
    419–32 passim, 463
    Chambers of Fire see Sammath
    Naur
    Chetwood 5, 195, 238, 241,
    1296; name 1492
    Chief, the see Sackville-Baggins,
    Lotho
    Chief ’s Men see Ruffians
    Chubb family 37, 38, 40
    Chubb-Baggins, Falco 1445
    Cı´rdan the Shipwright 312, 317,
    346, 1347, 1360–4 passim,
    1424
    Ciril 1034, 1145; fords of 1034
    Cirion 886, 1360, 1380–1, 1395,
    1405
    Cirith Gorgor (Haunted Pass)
    486, 830, 835, 1160, 1161,
    1167, 1208, 1220
    Cirith Ungol [Pass of the
    Spider] (High Pass,
    Nameless Pass) 841–3
    passim, 904, 905, 929, 930,
    946, 959–60, 1062, 1066,
    1203, 1233, 1250, 1378,
    1436; Cleft of 946, 959–60,
    1174–5; tower of 930, 934,
    948, 959, 963, 970,
    1174–97 passim, 1203,
    1206, 1210, 1211, 1436; see
    also Straight Stair; Winding
    Stair
    Cirth see Runes
    Ciryandil 1359, 1368
    Citadel of Gondor (High City)
    983, 984–5, 994, 995, 996,
    997–8, 1010, 1055–6, 1059,
    1064, 1073, 1074, 1072,
    1078, 1080, 1081, 1114,
    1120, 1122, 1124, 1127,
    1137, 1255, 1266, 1267,
    index 1513
    Causeway 981, 1056, 1157;
    Forts of (Guard-towers)
    981, 1056, 1069, 1070, 1436
    Cave-troll 422
    Celduin see River Running
    Celebdil the White (Silvertine,
    Zirakzigil, Zirak) 368, 433,
    654–5, 1243, 1289, 1434
    Celeborn the Wise (Lord of
    Lothlo´rien, Lord of the
    Galadhrim, etc.) 21, 455,
    459–67 passim, 478, 479,
    485–92 passim, 575, 608,
    1274, 1277, 1282, 1284,
    1285, 1286, 1289–90, 1394,
    1421, 1424, 1438, 1439,
    1440, 1437 one of the Great
    Ones 1285
    Celebrant, river (Silverlode,
    Kibil-naˆla) [silver-course]
    357, 369, 420, 435, 441,
    444, 450–2, 455, 463,
    485, 491, 499, 506, 1396,
    1409
    Celebrant, Field of [plain
    between Silverlode and
    Limlight] 1368, 1396; see
    also Battle of the Field of
    Celebrant
    Celebrı´an 296, 488, 1366, 1424,
    1428
    Celebrimbor 315, 329, 398, 1422
    Celebrindor 1358
    Celepharn 1358
    Celos 1145
    Cemendur 1358
    Ceorl 688
    Cerin Amroth 456–8, 1391,
    1393, 1394–5, 1431
    Certar see Cirth
    Certhas Daeron see Daeron’s
    Runes
    Ring (Companions) 1271,
    1277, 1276; Fellowship 19,
    516, 873, 876, 1271, 1348,
    1435; Fellowship of the
    Ring 1284, 1441–3; Nine
    Companions 1142 Nine
    Walkers 359, 878, 1380,
    1419
    Cormallen, Field of 1241–54
    passim, 1262, 1263, 1316,
    1439
    Corsairs of Umbar 1001, 1108,
    1371, 1372, 1373, 1380,
    1381, 1383, 1398–9, 1426
    Cotman, son of Cottar 1450
    Cotman family 1496
    Cottar, ancestor of Cottons 1450
    Cotton family 1340–1; name
    1496
    Cotton, Bowman ‘Nick’ 1221,
    1318, 1450
    Cotton, Carl ‘Nibs’ 1221, 1228,
    1319, 1450
    Cotton, Holman ‘Long Hom’
    1450
    Cotton, Lily ne´e Brown 1319,
    1450
    Cotton, Marigold ne´e Gamgee
    1450
    Cotton, Rose ‘Rosie’ (later Rose
    Gamgee) 1221, 1228, 1319,
    1327, 1340–1, 1342, 1347,
    1349, 1440, 1442, 1450
    Cotton, Tolman ‘Tom’, the
    elder 1221, 1228, 1317–28
    passim, 1450
    Cotton, Tolman ‘Tom’, the
    younger 1318, 1326, 1442,
    1450
    Cotton, Wilcome ‘Jolly’ 1221,
    1228, 1318, 1324, 1450
    Cotton, Wilcome ‘Will’ 1450
    1514 the return of the king
    Citadel of Gondor – cont.
    1274; Citadel-gate 983–4,
    1058–9, 1082, 1114–15,
    1120; Court (Place) of the
    Fountain 984, 985, 992,
    1272–3; Guards of see
    Guards of the Citadel; Hall
    of the Kings (of the Tower,
    Tower Hall) 323, 985,
    1054, 1070, 1127–8, 1267;
    High Court 984; see also
    White Tower
    Citadel of the Stars see Osgiliath
    City, the see usually Minas Tirith
    City of the Galadhrim (City of
    the Trees) see Caras
    Galadhon
    Closed Door see Fen Hollen
    Cloudyhead see Fanuidhol
    Coldfells 1386
    Combe 195, 235, 237; name
    1492
    Command, word of 426
    Common Speech (Common
    Language, Common
    Tongue, Westron, etc.) 5,
    66, 252, 441–3, 446, 458,
    467, 561, 579, 662, 666,
    861, 1005, 1088, 1209–30,
    1249, 1455–60 passim,
    1464, 1467, 1480–95
    passim; names in 1490–1
    Company of the Ring (Ring’s
    Company) 359, 360,
    364–467 passim, 478–87
    passim, 492–518 passim,
    524, 525, 528, 538, 539,
    545–6, 567, 646, 647, 648,
    681, 742, 787, 788, 795,
    867, 868, 872, 874–5, 885,
    993, 995, 1012, 1251, 1434,
    1435; Companions of the
    Dagorlad (Battle Plain) 788,
    817, 877, 1046, 1373, 1423;
    see also Battle of Dagorlad
    Da´in I 1407, 1416, 1428
    Da´in II ‘Ironfoot’ 298, 313–14,
    447, 1153, 1411–13, 1416,
    1417, 1418, 1428, 1430,
    1437, 1438
    Dale 14, 35, 38, 76, 298, 299,
    301, 314, 418, 483, 560,
    1408, 1416, 1417, 1431,
    1432, 1437, 1438, 1468,
    1484, 1492; calendar of
    1456–7; language of 1485,
    1494; Men of (Bardings)
    298, 481, 560, 1484; see also
    Battle of Dale; Battle of
    Five Armies
    Damrod 861, 862, 863, 834,
    873, 874, 879, 880
    Dark Days 447
    Dark Door see Door of the Dead
    Dark Lord see Sauron
    Dark Power see Sauron
    Dark Power (of the North) see
    Morgoth
    Dark Tower see Barad-duˆr
    Dark Years 560, 946, 982, 1024,
    1040, 1043, 1087, 1146,
    1406, 1484, 1487
    Darkness (of Mordor, of the
    Storm of Mordor) 327, 886,
    916–19, 1011, 1035, 1048,
    1050, 1051, 1057, 1062,
    1070, 1090, 1144, 1147,
    1436; Darkness
    Unescapable 1261;
    Dawnless Day 1436
    Days of Dearth 6
    Dead, the (Dead Men of
    Dunharrow, forgotten
    people, Grey Host, Shadow
    index 1515
    Council, of Denethor 1067–8
    Council of Elrond (the Council)
    17, 286, 310, 311–53, 354,
    365, 481, 516, 519, 520,
    614, 867, 877, 957, 962,
    1434
    Council of the Wise see White
    Council
    Court of the Fountain see
    Citadel of Gondor
    Crack(s) of Doom (Fire of
    Doom, the Fire, gulf of
    Doom) 80, 81, 86, 348,
    350, 523, 526, 815, 852,
    891, 957, 1228, 1235, 1237,
    1244, 1437; see also
    Sammath Naur
    Cram 481
    Crebain 371; see also Birds, as
    spies
    Crickhollow 87, 89, 113, 130–3,
    140, 141, 154, 230, 231,
    343, 344, 1309, 1340, 1341,
    1433
    Cross-roads (of the Fallen King)
    837, 848, 915, 916–19,
    1056, 1156–61 passim,
    1173, 1223, 1436
    Crown of Gondor (Silver
    Crown, White Crown,
    winged crown, crown of
    Elendil) 318, 549, 878,
    1267–8, 1365–6, 1379,
    1393
    Crows see Birds, as spies
    Curtain, the see Henneth Annuˆn
    Curunı´r see Saruman
    Daeron 1468
    Daeron’s Runes (Certhas
    Daeron) 416–17, 1468,
    1475
    1054–83 passim, 1093,
    1113, 1114, 115–20,
    1121–2, 1127, 1128, 1140,
    1149–50, 1168, 1174, 1257,
    1360, 1379, 1383–5, 1429,
    1431, 1436; name 1482
    De´or 1279, 1401
    De´orwine 1105, 1111
    Derndingle 624, 631
    Dernhelm see E´ owyn
    Derufin 1009, 1112
    Dervorin 1008
    Desolation of Smaug 299
    Desolation of the Morannon
    1437
    Dimholt 1029, 1040, 1043
    Dimrill Dale (Azanulbizar,
    Nanduhirion) 369, 404,
    415, 418–20, 432, 444, 483,
    1381, 1406–13 passim; see
    also Battle of Nanduhirion
    Dimrill Gate see Moria
    Dimrill Stair 369, 433, 446, 1290
    Dior, steward 1360
    Dior, Thingol’s heir 253, 316,
    1352
    Dı´rhael 1385
    Dı´s 1408, 1413, 1418
    Dol Amroth 982, 1032, 1149,
    1265, 1384, 1483; banner of
    1009, 1073, 1074, 1103,
    1140, 1167, 1248–9; men of
    1167, 1168; swan-knights of
    1073, 1074, 1084, 1110,
    1154; silver swan, emblem
    1103, 1167; white ship and
    silver swan, emblems 1009;
    [combined as ship with
    swan-shaped prow] 1140,
    1248–9; see also Adrahil;
    Finduilas; Imrahil, Prince of
    Dol Amroth; Lothı´riel
    1516 the return of the king
    Dead – cont.
    Host, Sleepless Dead, etc.)
    656, 1020, 1022, 1023,
    1025–34, 1042, 1144–8,
    1484; King of 1033, 1034,
    1145, 1147; Men of the
    Mountains 1024;
    Oathbreakers 1023, 1033–4;
    see also Door of the Dead;
    Paths of the Dead
    Dead City see Minas Morgul
    Dead Marshes 330, 486, 787,
    795, 798, 808, 810, 817–23,
    829, 840, 871, 898, 916,
    1160, 1374, 1426, 1432,
    1435; Mere of Dead Faces
    820–1, 825
    Deadmen’s Dike see Fornost
    De´agol 69–70, 73, 74–5; name
    1485, 1494
    Death Down 721, 1017
    Deeping Wall (the Wall)
    688–702 passim
    Deeping-coomb (the Coomb)
    690, 691, 697, 706, 712,
    715, 716, 718, 721, 779,
    783, 1015, 1017, 1020–1,
    1024, 1399
    Deeping-stream 689, 699, 701,
    708, 712
    Denethor I 1360, 1380
    Denethor II, son of Ecthelion II
    (Lord and Steward of
    Gondor, Minas Tirith, the
    City, the Tower of Guard,
    the White Tower, Steward
    of the High King, etc.) 321,
    323, 328, 330, 538, 542,
    564, 666, 783, 860, 861–2,
    869, 872, 873, 876, 903,
    979, 980, 985–1003 passim,
    1010, 1011, 1045–6,
    who joined Aragorn in the
    South 5, 6, 7, 8–9, 11, 195,
    197, 205, 238, 245, 247,
    288, 296, 321, 323, 327,
    355, 357, 696, 780, 1264,
    1300–1, 1360–9 passim,
    1386, 1429, 1433; those of
    the North who joined
    Aragorn in the South 557,
    1014–34 passim, 1105,
    1110, 1146, 1154, 1156,
    1167, 1242, 1266, 1436;
    Chieftains of the Du´nedain
    1367, 1386; Du´nedain of
    Cardolan 1361, 1362;
    Du´nedain of Gondor (of
    the South, of Ithilien,
    Rangers) 858–9, 861, 862,
    863, 864, 865, 874, 881–4,
    887, 1040, 1369–77 passim;
    calendar of see Kings’
    Reckoning; see also
    Nu´meno´reans; Star of the
    Du´nedain
    Dunharrow (Hold) 677, 683,
    703, 768, 1017, 1019, 1024,
    1025, 1030, 1031–2,
    1037–51 passim, 1088,
    1101, 1135, 1138, 1144,
    1148, 1149, 1400, 1402,
    1436, 1467, 1484; name
    1493; Stair of the Hold
    1044
    Dunharrow, Dead Men of see
    Dead, the
    Du´nhere 1038, 1042, 1111
    Dunland 4, 345, 371, 688, 711,
    1269, 1286, 1289, 1399,
    1408–9, 1413, 1425, 1480;
    language of 700, 1484; men
    of see Dunlendings; name
    1484; Dunland fells 695
    index 1517
    Dol Baran 769, 1435
    Dol Guldur 326, 333, 335, 349,
    386, 458, 842, 947, 1380,
    1395, 1414, 1416, 1425,
    1427, 1429, 1430, 1437,
    1439
    Dome of Stars see Osgiliath
    Dominion of Men 1272, 1420
    Doom, Mount see Mount Doom
    Doom of Men see Gift of Men
    Door of the Dead (Dark Door,
    Door to the Paths of the
    Dead, Door, Forbidden
    Door) 1023, 1028, 1029,
    1043, 1428; see also Dead,
    the; Paths of the Dead
    Dori 298, 1418
    Doriath (Kingdom of Thingol)
    263, 316, 946, 1352, 1468,
    1481; Elvenhome 251
    Dorthonion (Orod-na-Thoˆn) 611
    Downlands see Barrow-downs
    Downs (in Rohan) 555–60
    passim, 569, 582, 1270
    Dragons 31, 58, 67, 80, 82, 84,
    114, 119, 136, 395, 468,
    978, 1396, 1407, 1423,
    1428; see also Ancalagon the
    Black; Scatha the Worm;
    Smaug
    Dru´adan Forest 1086, 1089,
    1277–8, 1436, 1480, 1484
    Drums, in Moria 421–32 passim;
    of the Wild Men (Woses)
    1086, 1087, 1092, 1277
    Duilin 1009, 1111
    Duinhir 1009
    Du´nedain (Men of the West) in
    Second Age and Third Age
    1482–5; in Third Age: of
    Arnor (of the North,
    Rangers), excluding those
    1494–5; Durin’s Folk
    (people, children, race) 313,
    412, 461, 654, 714, 1351,
    1407–15, 1427; Khazaˆd
    697, 698; Longbeards 1406;
    Naugrim 1494; Seven
    Fathers of 1406; in The
    Hobbit 14, 18, 52, 269, 272,
    297; dwarf-doors, gates 396,
    397, 398, 399; Dwarf-kings,
    lords, sires 67, 68, 314 see
    also names of individual
    kings, e.g. Durin; dwarves
    vs. dwarfs 1494–5; language
    of (Dwarvish, Khuzdul)
    372, 400, 416–17, 699,
    1462, 1476–7, 1488–95;
    names 1465, 1488, 1494–5;
    relationship with Elves
    352–3, 395; writing 1467–8,
    1475–9
    Dwarves of Erebor (Folk of, or
    under the Mountain) 298,
    313, 1269, 1407–8, 1419,
    1438, 1476–7; see also
    Erebor
    Dwarves of Moria 313, 413,
    1418, 1476; see also Moria
    Dwarves of the Iron Hills 1416
    Dwarvish see Dwarves: language
    of
    Dwimmerlaik [in Rohan, work
    of necromancy, spectre; cf.
    dwimmer-crafty 568] 1100
    Dwimorberg, the Haunted
    Mountain 1028, 1040–4
    passim; see also Door of the
    Dead; Paths of the Dead
    Dwimordene see Lothlo´rien
    Eagles 340, 357, 386, 488, 502,
    550, 646, 1169, 1241, 1261;
    1518 the return of the king
    Dunlendings (Men of Dunland,
    Dunlendish people, wild
    hillmen and herdfolk) 688,
    695, 696, 697, 698, 700,
    707, 711, 1017, 1286,
    1397–1402 passim, 1484,
    1485; name 1484
    Durin I, ‘the Deathless’ 411–13,
    714, 1406, 1410, 1418;
    emblem of [seven stars
    above a crown and anvil,
    had eight rays, represented
    the Plough] 397, 1109;
    heirs, House of 1406, 1413,
    1414, 1418, 1421
    Durin III ; Doors of see Moria
    1413
    Durin VI 1406–7, 1418, 1427
    Durin VII & Last 1418
    Durin’s Axe 419
    Durin’s Bane see Balrog
    Durin’s Bridge see Moria
    Durin’s Crown 411, 435
    Durin’s Day 412, 455
    Durin’s Folk, race see Dwarves
    Durin’s Stone 434
    Durin’s Tower 654
    Durthang 1214, 1219, 1437
    Dwalin 298, 1414, 1418
    Dwarrowdelf see Moria
    Dwarves 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 34, 35,
    46, 57, 72, 80, 195, 197, 201,
    202, 203, 212, 249, 296–7,
    298, 301, 333, 349, 359, 369,
    381, 386–7, 396, 397–8,
    411, 413, 417, 428, 443, 444,
    447, 463, 468, 490, 493, 546,
    557, 570, 604, 654, 684, 697,
    699, 713, 804, 876, 953,
    1147, 1280–1360, 1395,
    1396–7, 1406–19 passim,
    1421, 1423, 1488, 1490,
    also Denethor II, son of
    Ecthelion II
    Edain (Atani, Fathers of the
    Nu´meno´reans) 887, 888,
    1352–4, 1369, 1421, 1467,
    1482, 1483; Three Houses
    of Men (of Elf-friends) 887;
    First House of 1352; Third
    House of 1353; forefathers
    of 1362; unions of Eldar
    and Edain 1352; see also
    Nu´meno´reans
    Edoras 341, 571, 653, 663–5
    passim, 666, 678, 682, 686,
    703, 710, 716, 719, 726,
    768, 783, 1012, 1017, 1018,
    1024, 1037, 1038, 1050,
    1051, 1053, 1069, 1280,
    1282, 1396–1405 passim,
    1428, 1433–8 passim,
    1442–3; name 1493; see also
    Meduseld
    Egalmoth 1360
    Eilenach 978, 1086; name 1483
    Elanor, flower 456, 457, 458,
    483, 485, 1343, 1391, 1395
    Elbereth (Gilthoniel) 104, 111,
    256, 258, 280, 307, 309,
    492, 504, 954, 1194, 1197,
    1345; Varda, the Kindler,
    the Queen of Stars 492
    [Elbereth, star-queen;
    Queen of the Stars
    (Elenta´ri); Gilthoniel (=
    Tintalle¨), star-kindler: title
    only found following her
    name; called (in Quenya)
    Varda, the exalted]
    Eldacar, of Anor 1358
    Eldacar, of Gondor (Vinitharya)
    1359, 1370, 1371, 1372,
    1395, 1425
    index 1519
    see also Gwaihir the
    Windlord; Landroval;
    Meneldor
    Ea¨rendil, king of Gondor 1360
    Ea¨rendil the Mariner 253,
    304–8, 316, 932, 942, 1353;
    the star 470, 474, 474–5,
    1353, 1354; the Flammifer
    of Westernesse 308
    Ea¨rendur 1358, 1360, 1424
    Ea¨rnil I 1359, 1368, 1425
    Ea¨rnil II 1359, 1374, 1375–6,
    1378, 1379, 1384, 1426
    Ea¨rnur 875, 886, 1267, 1376–9,
    1384, 1405, 1427
    East, far (Eastlands) 836, 999
    East Dales, of Rohan 711
    East-gate, of Moria see Moria
    East Lo´rien 1438
    East March, of the Shire 12
    East Wall see Emyn Muil
    East-West Road (East Road,
    Old Road, the Road, etc.)
    57, 87, 88, 93, 110, 140,
    149, 175, 180, 191–7
    passim, 214, 225, 226, 237,
    237–79 passim, 301, 344,
    366, 1305, 1309, 1310,
    1328, 1349; Great Road
    1360, 1361
    Eastemnet 555, 659
    Easterlings (folk of the East)
    319, 522, 886, 1107, 1110,
    1159, 1167, 1243, 1253,
    1269, 1369, 1373, 1396,
    1400, 1424, 1427, 1438
    Eastfarthing 8, 12, 93, 115, 141,
    196, 278, 1457
    Eastfold 1048, 1435
    Ecthelion I 1360, 1428, 1466
    Ecthelion II (Lord of Gondor)
    1360, 1383, 1390, 1429; see
    of Westernesse (the tall) 11,
    21, 68, 74, 242, 263,
    316–23 passim, 329, 480,
    488, 513, 564, 567, 568,
    666, 667, 780, 782, 838,
    867, 886, 985, 1263, 1268,
    1355–60 passim, 1365,
    1368, 1372, 1374, 1388,
    1392, 1423, 1482; crown of
    see Crown of Gondor;
    Elendil’s Stone see Palantı´r;
    emblems of [Seven Stars of
    Elendil and his captains,
    had five rays, originally
    represented the single stars
    on the banners of each of
    seven ships (of 9) that bore
    a palantı´r; in Gondor the
    seven stars were set about a
    white-flowered tree, over
    which the Kings set a
    winged crown] 360, 779,
    985, 1109, 1127, 1249,
    1268, 1379; heirs, House,
    line of 263, 322, 488, 875,
    1127, 1273, see also Aragorn
    II; livery of the heirs of 985;
    name 1482; name used as
    battle-cry 431, 538, 701;
    realms of 1375; star of see
    Elendilmir; sword of see
    Narsil
    Elendilmir (Star of Elendil, Star
    of the North Kingdom, Star
    of the North) [of diamond,
    had five rays, represented
    the Star of Ea¨rendil] 191,
    1110, 1127, 1266, 1267,
    1365
    Elendur 1358
    Elenna, Isle of see Nu´menor
    Elessar (Aragorn) see Aragorn II
    1520 the return of the king
    Eldamar (Ever-eve, Evereven)
    306, 307, 485, 779, 1481
    Eldar (High Elves, of the High
    Kindred, West-elves),
    unless specifically or clearly
    Noldor 9, 105, 290, 397,
    453, 1347, 1352–8 passim,
    1388, 1389, 1394, 1397,
    1406, 1419, 1420–4 passim,
    1453, 1456, 1457, 1458–9,
    1464, 1466–7, 1468,
    1481–7 passim, 1461,
    1494–5; People of the Great
    Journey 1495; People of the
    Stars 1495; Noldor (Elves
    of the West, the Elven-wise,
    Lords of the Eldar, Exiles)
    [followers of Fe¨anor] 105,
    252, 290, 369, 779, 1352,
    1420, 1421, 1465, 1466,
    1476, 1481, 1482, 1495;
    kings of 1420–1, see also
    Elves of Eregion; Sindar
    (Grey-elves) 1420, 1421,
    1464, 1482, 1495; tree, as
    emblem 397, 398; unions of
    Eldar and Edain 1352;
    Eldar and ‘twilight’ 1111
    Eldarin languages see Elvish
    languages
    Eldarion 1393, 1394
    Elder Days 3, 20, 21, 195, 249,
    307, 316, 337, 358, 397,
    404, 412, 454, 456, 463,
    575, 652, 887, 1359, 1387,
    1393, 1406, 1420, 1481,
    1486, 1487,1494
    Elder Kindred, People, Race see
    Elves
    Elder King (Manwe¨) 306
    Eldest of Trees see Telperion
    Elendil [elf-friend or star-lover]
    518, 525, 573, 575, 579,
    614, 740, 780, 853, 867,
    888, 909, 926, 954, 962,
    1012, 1015, 1016, 1019,
    1024, 1125, 1127, 1130,
    1140, 1149, 1152, 1154,
    1156, 1162, 1167, 1249,
    1270, 1274, 1275, 1277,
    1280, 1290, 1292, 1294,
    1345, 1346, 1347, 1351,
    1353, 1365, 1366, 1386–93
    passim, 1420, 1422, 1424,
    1426, 1430, 1431, 1438,
    1439, 1441, 1460; Council
    of see Council of Elrond;
    house of see Rivendell;
    household of 312, 360, 366,
    1274, 1275, 1294; sons of
    see Elladan; Elrohir
    Elros Tar-Minyatur 1353, 1354,
    1421
    Elven Door see Moria
    Elven-cloaks, folk, etc. see Elves
    Elven-king’s halls, Mirkwood
    332, 713
    Elven-rings see Rings of Power
    Elven-river see Esgalduin
    Elven-smiths, in First Age 404;
    of Eregion 61, 315, 331,
    1413, 1421; at Rivendell
    360, 361
    Elven-tongue(s) see Elvish
    languages
    Elven-way, from Hollin 393, 395
    Elvendom [Elvish world, mode
    of being]
    Elvenhome 306, 884, 888, 1253,
    1387; see also Doriath
    Elves (Firstborn, Elder Kindred,
    Elder People, Elder Race,
    Elvish or Elven folk, kin,
    etc.) 2–9 passim, 31, 57, 59,
    index 1521
    Elessar (Elfstone, jewel) 305,
    308, 488, 1129, 1163, 1266,
    1286
    Elf-country see Lothlo´rien
    Elf-friend, epithet applied to
    Aragorn 447; Beren 353;
    Elendil 250; Frodo 106,
    111, 162, 353; Hador 353,
    887; Hu´rin 353; Tu´rin 353;
    Elf-friends of Nu´menor
    1482; Three Houses of the
    Elf-friends 1482
    Elf-kin, lords, magic, etc. see
    Elves
    Elf-towers see White Towers
    Elfhelm 719, 1086, 1087, 1093,
    1094, 1098, 1304
    Elfhild 1404
    Elfstone see Aragorn II; Elessar
    ( jewel)
    Elfwine the Fair 1405
    Elladan, son of Elrond 21, 296,
    303, 355, 357, 1014, 1016,
    1019, 1022, 1024, 1032,
    1110, 1127, 1140, 1149,
    1154, 1156, 1162, 1167,
    1249, 1270, 1274, 1277,
    1353, 1366, 1386, 1387,
    1424, 1438, 1439
    Elrohir, son of Elrond 21, 296,
    303, 355, 357, 1014, 1016,
    1019, 1022, 1024, 1033,
    1110, 1127, 1140, 1149,
    1152, 1154, 1156, 1162,
    1167, 1249, 1270, 1274,
    1277, 1353, 1366, 1386,
    1387, 1424, 1439
    Elrond the Halfelven (Lord of
    Rivendell) 21, 86, 222, 250,
    253, 264, 274, 285–366
    passim, 378, 388, 396, 446,
    462, 472, 475, 481, 493,
    languages of see Elvish
    languages; Elven-lore 66,
    888; Elf-magic 469, 471,
    472; and memory 493; and
    moonlight, sunlight 457;
    names 1481; New Year
    1460; relationship with
    Dwarves 332–3, 395; riding
    elf-fashion 571, 778; rope
    made by 484, 794–8,
    806–7, 1227; sea-longing of
    1143; seasons of 1453;
    Elvish sight 555, 559, 687;
    Elvish sleep and dreams
    557; ability to run over
    snow 380; Elven-song 310,
    491; experience of time 506,
    1453; Wandering
    Companies 111; writing see
    Elvish writing; see also Eldar
    (High Elves); Elves of
    Eregion; Elves of
    Lothlo´rien; Elves of
    Mirkwood; Silvan Elves
    (Wood-elves); Last Alliance
    of Elves and Men
    Elves of Eregion 368, 369, 395,
    1421, 1422, 1475; see also
    Elven-smiths
    Elves of Lothlo´rien 444, 491;
    Galadhrim (Tree-people)
    444, 456, 457, 459, 463,
    464, 467, 482, 487, 488,
    489; Silvan Elves of Lo´rien
    1427; City of the Galadhrim
    see Caras Galadhon
    Elves of Mirkwood (Northern
    Elves, Folk of the Wood)
    330, 332, 355, 441, 445,
    1269
    Elvish country see Lindon;
    Lothlo´rien
    1522 the return of the king
    Elves – cont.
    68, 72, 78, 84, 86, 96,
    103–13 passim, 117, 138,
    171, 172, 190, 195, 225,
    243, 249, 252, 261, 273,
    288–95 passim, 304, 310,
    316, 317, 321, 331, 337,
    347–55 passim, 358, 366,
    369, 378, 380, 386, 395,
    414, 439, 444, 449–55,
    459–69 passim, 475, 481–86
    passim, 490, 499, 522, 546,
    562, 570, 575, 598, 604,
    605, 608, 615, 616, 619,
    620, 633, 651, 667, 670,
    713, 743, 800, 804, 806,
    820, 852, 859, 876, 879,
    885, 887, 888, 897, 906,
    943, 944, 946, 953, 954,
    1142, 1185, 1192, 1194,
    1197, 1220, 1224, 1272,
    1286, 1293, 1345, 1352,
    1360, 1364, 1376, 1423,
    1432, 1438, 1494; Elves as
    name of Quendi 1495; Fair
    Folk 59, 86, 105, 1143;
    boats of 483–6, 493–515
    passim, 529–31, 541–5
    passim, 871, 872; brooches
    made by 482, 551, 569, 586,
    597, 735, 871, 1164, 1201,
    1341; cloaks, robes of 482,
    484, 503, 542, 551, 555,
    595, 638, 643, 671, 726,
    817, 842, 871, 925, 948,
    956, 1056, 1129, 1165,
    1193, 1194, 1201, 1220,
    1226, 1227, 1250, 1341,
    1437; calendar of 1452–60
    passim; Elf-kings 66, 250;
    Elf-lords 67, 253, 350; Elfminstrels 300, 1387;
    Ent-house(s) 613, 628, 629, 631
    Entish see Ents: language of
    Entmoot (Moot) 623, 626–32,
    736, 1453
    Ents 575, 603, 604, 609, 614–35
    passim, 652, 717, 728,
    730–49 passim, 752, 763–6
    passim, 1252, 1281–5
    passim, 1305, 1436, 1485–6;
    Onodrim (Enyd) 575, 651,
    1485; shepherds of the trees
    609, 650, 717; Entings 623,
    630, 1284; Entmaidens 619;
    Entwives 614, 620, 630,
    634, 765, 1285; language of
    (Entish) 604, 615, 621, 623,
    626, 633, 1485–6;
    remembered in song or tales
    for children 620–2, 651,
    717; Shadow of the Wood
    756
    Entwade 565, 570
    Entwash 486, 547, 555–9
    passim, 567, 587, 594, 597,
    609–13 passim, 639, 659,
    661, 742, 872, 1053, 1400;
    vale of 507, 551
    Entwood see Fangorn Forest
    E´ omer, son of E´ omund (E´ omer
    E´ adig, Third Marshal of
    Riddermark or the Mark,
    later King E´ omer, King of
    the Mark) 561–71 passim,
    576, 599, 664, 669–702
    passim, 708, 710, 718, 719,
    726, 753, 756, 777, 1013,
    1014, 1018–20, 1028, 1037,
    1041–45 passim, 1048,
    1049, 1053, 1055, 1087–97
    passim, 1104–11 passim,
    1121, 1127, 1128, 1129,
    1134, 1135, 1136, 1142,
    index 1523
    Elvish languages (Elven, Elvish
    language, speech, tongue),
    general or unspecified and
    uncertain 20, 108, 400, 605,
    620, 621, 633, 1462, 1468,
    1481, 1483, 1489, 1490;
    Eldarin languages (Quenya
    and Sindarin) 1356, 1461–8
    passim, 1471, 1481–2, 1486,
    1495; Silvan (woodland)
    tongue, accent 441, 445,
    1481; see also Quenya
    (High-elven); Sindarin
    (Grey-elven); Valinorean
    Elvish writing (lettering, script)
    66, 329, 400, 419, 420;
    Fe¨anorian letters (script)
    1465, 1468, 1471, 1473,
    1475–6; mode of Beleriand
    398; see also Runes;
    Tengwar
    Elwing the White 253, 305, 316,
    1352
    Emyn Arnen 981, 1269
    Emyn Beraid see Tower Hills
    Emyn Muil 486, 495, 501, 507,
    508, 511, 524, 531, 547,
    550, 555, 556, 646, 649,
    652, 660, 735, 787–809,
    850, 875, 947, 993, 1160,
    1234, 1272, 1369, 1373,
    1404, 1435; East Wall of
    Rohan [the western cliffs of
    Emyn Muil] 561, 568
    Emyn Uial see Evendim, Hills of
    Encircling Mountains 948
    End, the 326
    Endless Stair 654
    Enedwaith 1429
    Enemy, the see Morgoth; Sauron
    Ent-draughts 613, 623, 732, 748,
    1252, 1285
    1050–1, 1052, 1086,
    1095–101 passim, 1280;
    Lady of the Shield-arm
    1405
    Ephel Du´ath (Mountains of
    Shadow, Shadowy
    Mountains, Haunted
    Mountains, fences, walls of
    Mordor) 318, 327, 395, 523,
    824, 831, 835, 837, 839, 847,
    848, 850, 862, 905, 912, 914,
    920, 929, 938, 947, 955,
    1000, 1048, 1158, 1159,
    1176, 1178, 1198, 1201,
    1202, 1206, 1213, 1231,
    1272, 1383, 1480
    Eradan 1360
    Erebor (Lonely Mountain, site
    of Dwarf-kingdom) 14, 35,
    97, 297, 298, 313, 364, 447,
    490, 682, 1141, 1148, 1153,
    1269, 1284, 1407, 1408,
    1414–17 passim, 1427,
    1428, 1431, 1437, 1438,
    1476; Folk of see Dwarves
    of Erebor; gate of 1417,
    1438; Great Hall of 1407;
    key of 1429; Kingdom of
    Da´in 1407; Kings under the
    Mountain 14
    Erech 1023, 1144, 1436; name
    1483; Hill of 1023, 1033;
    Stone of see Stone of Erech
    Ered Lithui (Ashen Mountains)
    817, 824, 831, 835, 1167,
    1207, 1213, 1221, 1369;
    mountain-walls of Mordor
    817, 824
    Ered Luin see Blue Mountains
    Ered Mithrin 1396
    Ered Nimrais see White
    Mountains
    1524 the return of the king
    E´ omer – cont.
    1151–5 passim, 1162, 1250,
    1257, 1262, 1263, 1264,
    1265, 1274–80 passim,
    1404–5, 1431, 1435, 1439,
    1442, 1443
    E´ omund 570, 1404; see also
    E´ omer, son of E´ omund;
    E´ owyn, daughter of
    E´ omund
    E´ ored [a troop of Riders of
    Rohan] 565, 568, 1086,
    1094, 1095, 1097, 1276
    Eorl the Young (lord of the Men
    of the E´ othe´od, King of the
    Mark) 560, 566, 568, 663,
    668, 673, 700, 717, 1270,
    1278, 1279, 1281, 1381,
    1395–7, 1401, 1405, 1428;
    House of [dynasty] 678,
    682, 683, 755, 757, 1027,
    1028, 1043, 1135; house of
    [hall] 783; house of [both],
    i.e. hall and dynasty 757,
    1135; lords of the House of
    see The´oden: household of;
    Oath of 1381, 1382, 1405;
    Sons of Eorl (Eorlingas) see
    Rohirrim
    E´ othain 565, 571
    E´ othe´od 1395, 1396, 1426
    E´ owyn, daughter of E´ omund
    (Lady of Rohan, later of
    Ithilien, the White Lady of
    Rohan) 669, 672, 679–85
    passim, 1017, 1024–7, 1041,
    1042–4, 1049, 1050,
    1100–7 passim, 1123–39
    passim, 1144, 1255–65
    passim, 1270, 1279, 1286,
    1404, 1431, 1439, 1441;
    disguised as Dernhelm
    1301, 1366, 1377, 1441,
    1459
    Evenstar see Arwen
    Ever-eve (Evereven) see Eldamar
    Everholt, great boar of 1402
    Evermind see Simbelmyne¨
    Evernight 306
    Everwhite, Mount see Oiolosse¨
    Exiles see Elves: Noldor;
    Nu´meno´reans
    Express train, as analogy 36
    Eye, the (of Barad-duˆr, of
    Mordor, of Sauron, Great
    Eye, Lidless Eye, Red Eye,
    etc.) 474, 475, 477, 523,
    581, 588, 651, 735, 769,
    789, 817, 824, 826, 839,
    966, 1150, 1151, 1158,
    1175, 1224, 1232, 1237;
    Red Eye (Evil Eye, the
    Eye), as emblem 541, 588,
    1075, 1163, 1181, 1194,
    1209; sometimes used as a
    synonym for Sauron
    Faces, so called by Gollum, see
    Moon; Sun
    Fair Folk see Elves
    Fairbairn, Elfstan 1442
    Fairbairns of Westmarch (of the
    Towers) 19, 1442, 1450
    Faithful, the see Nu´meno´reans
    Falastur 1367, 1424
    Fall of Gil-galad, The 243
    Fallohides 4, 8, 1425, 1485;
    names 1492
    Fang, Farmer Maggot’s dog 120,
    121
    Fangorn, the Ent see Treebeard
    Fangorn Forest (Entwood) 371,
    486, 496, 547, 556, 557,
    558, 568, 569, 572–6
    index 1525
    Eregion (Hollin) 61, 315, 329,
    331, 368–72 passim, 393,
    395, 397, 1289, 1360, 1406,
    1421, 1434, 1468, 1475;
    elven-script of 329; Elves of
    see Elves: of Eregion; road
    from, to Moria 391, 392,
    395; see also Elven-smiths
    Erelas 978, 1053
    Eresse¨a 318, 1253, 1365, 1420,
    1466; Isles of the West
    1390; Lost Isle 1253; Haven
    of the Eldar in 1354
    Erestor 312, 346, 348, 350, 1274
    Eriador 3, 4, 20, 227, 1360,
    1362, 1366, 1381, 1392,
    1413, 1415, 1417, 1422–8
    passim, 1452, 1480, 1485
    Erkenbrand, lord of Westfold
    690, 692, 706, 708, 711,
    719, 1435
    Erling, son of Holman ‘the
    greenhanded’ 1450
    Errand-riders of Gondor 978,
    983, 997, 1001, 1045, 1050,
    1093
    Erui 1145; Crossings of 1371,
    1425; see also Battle of the
    Crossings of Erui
    Esgalduin (Elven-river) 250, 253
    Esgaroth (Long Lake) 39, 76,
    289, 1416, 1430, 1484;
    language of 1483–4; Men of
    1484
    Ethir Anduin see Anduin:
    mouths of
    Ettendales 265
    Ettenmoors 261, 344, 357, 1361,
    1426
    Evendim, Hills of (Emyn Uial)
    1377
    Evendim, Lake (Nenuial) 318,
    1421, 1465, 1467; letters see
    Elvish writing; Star of the
    House of Fe¨anor [of silver,
    had eight rays] 397; see also
    Eldar
    Felagund see Finrod Felagund
    Felaro´f (Mansbane) 663, 1397,
    1401
    Fell Winter 231, 375, 1429
    Fellowship of the Ring
    (Fellowship) see Company
    of the Ring
    Fen Hollen (Closed Door, the
    Steward’s Door) 1081,
    1082, 1114, 1120
    Fengel 1279, 1403
    Fenmarch 1051, 1053
    Ferny, surname 203
    Ferny, Bill (Chief ’s Big Man)
    210, 215, 216, 227, 234,
    236–7, 238, 287, 1296,
    1299, 1302, 1307, 1314
    Ferry see Bucklebury Ferry
    Ferry lane 126, 128
    Fı´li 1413, 1416, 1418
    Fimbrethil (Wandlimb) [Slimbirch] 619, 634; name 1486
    Finarfin 1481, 1495
    Findegil, King’s writer 20
    Finduilas of Dol Amroth 1260,
    1384, 1430, 1431
    Finglas see Leaflock
    Finrod Felagund (Friend-ofMen) 1364, 1421, 1481;
    House of 105
    Fire- (Fiery) Mountain see
    Mount Doom
    Firefoot 684
    Fireworks 32–3, 35–6, 468, 469
    Fı´riel 1374, 1426
    Firien Wood (Firienwood) 1051,
    1402; alluded to 1053
    1526 the return of the king
    Fangorn Forest – cont.
    passim, 586–99 passim,
    600–51, 657, 713, 715, 721,
    730, 735, 736, 764, 767,
    1020, 1281, 1284, 1435;
    name (Fangorn) 1486; East
    End 610
    Fanuidhol the Grey
    (Bundushathuˆr, Shathuˆr,
    Cloudyhead) 368, 433,
    1289
    Far Downs 5, 6, 1347, 1442, 1450
    Faramir, son of Denethor
    (Captain of Gondor, of the
    White Tower, Lord, later
    Steward of Gondor, of the
    City, etc.) 20, 320, 321,
    859–911 passim, 925, 926,
    931, 945, 950, 987, 993,
    1001, 1003, 1011, 1057–83
    passim, 1113, 1116–22,
    1125–33 passim, 1139,
    1158, 1159, 1195, 1205,
    1226, 1256–70 passim,
    1275–80 passim, 1385,
    1431, 1435, 1436; Lord of
    Emyn Arnen 1360; Prince
    of Ithilien 1269, 1277, 1279
    Faramir, son of Ondoher 1374
    Farin 1418
    Farthings 12, 129, 303; see also
    Eastfarthing; Northfarthing;
    Southfarthing; Westfarthing
    Fastred, killed in Battle of the
    Pelennor Fields 1112
    Fastred, of Greenholm 1442,
    1450
    Fastred, son of Folcwine 1382,
    1403, 1429
    Fatty Lumpkin 188, 189, 191,
    234
    Fe¨anor 397, 779, 781, 1352,
    Fra´r 420
    Fre´a 1279, 1401
    Fre´ala´f Hildeson 1279, 1399,
    1400, 1428
    Fre´awine 1279, 1397, 1401
    Freca 1397, 1398
    Free Fair 13, 1341
    Free Peoples (of the World, Free
    Folk) 345, 359, 366, 604,
    1249
    Frerin 1408, 1410, 1418
    Frogmorton 1310, 1312, 1440
    Fro´r 1407, 1418
    Frumgar 1396
    Fundin 1410; see also Balin, son
    of Fundin
    Gaffer, the see Gamgee, Hamfast
    Galadhrim see Elves of
    Lothlo´rien
    Galadriel (Lady of Lo´rien, of
    Lothlo´rien, of the Elves, of
    the Galadhrim, of the
    Golden Wood, of the
    Wood, the Lady, Elvish
    Lady, etc.) 21, 447, 452–93
    passim, 505, 506, 554, 555,
    562, 569, 570, 571–2, 614,
    647, 656, 666, 671, 684,
    740, 797, 871, 888–9, 926,
    932, 942, 954, 956, 958,
    1014, 1129, 1146, 1180,
    1193, 1197, 1201, 1204,
    1212, 1227, 1236, 1247,
    1274, 1276, 1277, 1282,
    1285, 1286, 1287, 1289,
    1338, 1345, 1346, 1347,
    1348, 1390, 1394, 1419,
    1421, 1424, 1438, 1440,
    1481; Lady that dies not
    872; Mistress of Magic 872;
    Queen Galadriel 714;
    index 1527
    Firienfeld 1040
    First Age 1351, 1352, 1362,
    1406, 1420, 1454, 1468,
    1482, 1483
    Firstborn see Elves
    Fish and chips 856
    Fladrif see Skinbark
    Flet (talan) 446, 447, 448, 449,
    456, 461, 499, 506
    Floating Log, The 1310–11
    Flo´i 419
    Flourdumpling see Whitfoot,
    Will
    Folca 1279, 1402
    Folcred 1403
    Folcwine 1279, 1382, 1400,
    1402, 1429
    Folde 1051, 1053
    Folklands 12
    Forbidden Door see Door of the
    Dead
    Forest River 479
    Forlond see Grey Havens
    Forlong the Fat, Lord of
    Lossarnach 1008, 1107,
    1111; name 1483
    Fornost (Fornost Erain,
    Norbury of the Kings,
    Deadmen’s Dike, northcity) 5, 6, 12, 318, 1023,
    1301, 1362, 1363, 1376,
    1426; last battle at see Battle
    of Fornost
    Forochel 1363; see also Lossoth
    Forochel, Bay of 1462, 1480
    Forochel, Cape of 1363
    Forodwaith 1363
    Forsaken Inn, The 245
    Fourth Age 19, 1351, 1420,
    1441, 1460
    Fox, thinking 94
    Fram 1396, 1397
    Gamgee, Halfred, son of
    Hamfast 1450
    Gamgee, Hamfast (the Gaffer,
    Old Gamgee) 28–31, 49,
    83, 91, 99–100, 342, 470,
    472, 477, 794, 798, 814,
    815, 832, 860, 889, 916,
    1221, 1304, 1323, 1326–7,
    1337, 1340, 1342, 1433,
    1450; Ranugad (Ran) 1493;
    name 1493; and potatoes
    (taters) 29, 31, 855, 1327
    Gamgee, Hamfast, son of
    Samwise 1450
    Gamgee, Hamson 1450
    Gamgee, Hobson ‘Roper’ 798,
    1450
    Gamgee, Marigold 1221, 1450
    Gamgee, May 1450
    Gamgee, Merry 1347, 1450
    Gamgee, Pippin 1347, 1450
    Gamgee, Primrose 1450
    Gamgee, Robin 1450
    Gamgee, Rose, daughter of
    Samwise 1347, 1450
    Gamgee, Rose, wife of Samwise
    see Cotton, Rose
    Gamgee, Ruby 1450
    Gamgee, Samwise (Sam,
    Hamfast’s Son, Master
    Samwise, Sam Gardner,
    etc.) 17, 20, 28, 31, 58–60
    passim, 65, 77, 81–280
    passim, 285, 286, 293–6
    passim, 300, 303, 309, 310,
    311, 353–531 passim, 537,
    539, 545, 571, 614, 628,
    639, 646, 744, 770,
    787–971 passim, 1036,
    1042, 1061–2, 1067, 1164,
    1172–240 passim, 1244–53
    passim, 1266, 1271, 1277,
    1528 the return of the king
    Galadriel – cont.
    Sorceress of the Golden
    Wood 670; White Lady
    888; gift of sheath for
    Andu´ril to Aragorn 488,
    667; gift of belt to Boromir
    489, 542, 871; gift of hair to
    Gimli 489–90, 493, 497,
    657; gift of bow and arrows
    to Legolas 489, 504, 649,
    666; gift of belts to Merry
    and Pippin 489; gift of box
    to Sam 489, 1127, 1247,
    1338–9, 1346; magic of
    471; Mirror of see Mirror of
    Galadriel; Phial of see Phial
    of Galadriel
    Galathilion [the Tree of the
    High Elves, which was
    derived from the elder of
    the Two Trees of the Valar,
    Telperion and Laurelin]
    1273
    Galdor 312, 325, 330, 333, 346,
    347
    Galenas see Pipe-weed
    Gamgee family 90, 1450, 1496;
    name 1496
    Gamgee, Bell ne´e Goodchild
    1450
    Gamgee, Bilbo 1450
    Gamgee, Daisy, daughter of
    Hamfast 1450
    Gamgee, Daisy, daughter of
    Samwise 1450
    Gamgee, Elanor 1343, 1347,
    1349, 1367, 1440, 1441,
    1450
    Gamgee, Frodo 1347, 1450
    Gamgee, Halfast 58, 59, 1450
    Gamgee, Halfred, of Overhill
    1450
    1148–59 passim, 1162–68
    passim, 1221, 1239–47
    passim, 1266, 1268, 1271–2,
    1277, 1282–3, 1287–305
    passim, 1332, 1348, 1383–4,
    1389, 1403, 1415–7,
    1424–36 passim, 1440,
    1490; Grey Fool 1078,
    1117; Inca´nus, Olo´rin,
    Tharkuˆn 876; Lathspell
    669; Stormcrow 669, 981;
    voice of 523, 645
    Gap of Rohan 336, 373, 385,
    487, 568, 627, 659, 718,
    887, 1165, 1286
    Gardner family 1444, 1450
    Gardner, Frodo 1450
    Gardner, Holfast 1450
    Gate of Kings see Argonath
    Gate of Mordor see Morannon
    Gate-stream see Sirannon
    Gates of Gondor see Argonath
    Ghaˆn-buri-Ghaˆn (Wild Man)
    1087–93, 1094, 1277
    Ghaˆsh 427
    Gift of Men (Doom of Men)
    1354, 1391, 1394
    Gildor Inglorion 105–111
    passim, 138, 173, 225, 770,
    1345, 1462
    Gil-galad 68, 242–3, 249–50,
    316, 317, 329, 1353, 1355,
    1420–4 passim
    Gilthoniel see Elbereth
    Gilraen 1385–92 passim, 1429,
    1430, 1432, 1462; name
    1482
    Gilrain 1145
    Gimli, son of Glo´in (Durin’s
    son) 312, 359, 364–528
    passim, 539–77 passim,
    636–718 passim, 726–7,
    index 1529
    1285–349 passim, 1369,
    1431–44 passim, 1448,
    1450, 1453, 1460, 1496;
    Banazıˆr 1493; Berhael 1248;
    name 1493
    Gamgee, Tolman ‘Tom’ 1450
    Gamling the Old 692, 693, 699,
    700, 702, 708
    Gammidge, Hob ‘the Roper’,
    ‘Old Gammidgy’ 1450
    Gammidge, Rowan 1450
    Gamwich 1450
    Gamwich, Wiseman 1450
    Gandalf the Grey (Mithrandir,
    Greyhame, Grey Pilgrim,
    Grey Wanderer, Gandalf
    the White, the Wise, White
    Rider, Leader of the
    Company, etc.) 11, 14, 17,
    31–3 passim, 41–7 passim,
    52–91 passim, 97, 98, 100,
    109, 110, 111, 135, 137–43
    passim, 173–4, 183, 184,
    198, 217–28 passim, 240,
    243–8 passim, 250, 255,
    258, 260, 269–74 passim,
    285–302 passim, 310, 311,
    321–56 passim, 358–437
    passim, 462–80 passim, 513,
    516, 517, 525, 538, 541,
    566, 568, 573, 579, 590,
    606–7, 614, 641–90 passim,
    703–30 passim, 734, 739,
    743, 744, 746–84 passim,
    803, 837, 842, 846, 876–7,
    885, 888, 891, 896–7, 898,
    906, 917, 926, 957, 978–96
    passim, 1001–4 passim,
    1010, 1011, 1016, 1021,
    1038, 1042, 1046, 1054–85
    passim, 1104, 1113–25
    passim, 1128–42 passim,
    Golden Hall (Golden House) see
    Meduseld
    Golden Perch, The 115, 121
    Golden Tree see Laurelin
    Golden Wood see Lothlo´rien
    Goldwine 1279, 1401
    Gollum (Sme´agol, Slinker,
    Stinker, etc.) 14–17 passim,
    44, 45, 63, 69–79 passim,
    324, 327–33 passim, 340,
    354, 357, 406, 410, 414,
    439, 449, 456, 497–501
    passim, 514, 525, 593, 594,
    789, 800–57 passim, 863,
    879, 882, 895–951 passim,
    957, 966–7, 1067, 1196,
    1201, 1210, 1211, 1225,
    1226, 1228, 1234–8 passim,
    1427–47 passim; Sme´agolGollum debate 826–8
    Gondolin 316, 412, 464, 1353,
    1464
    Gondor (South-kingdom, South,
    Southlands, etc.) 5, 11, 20,
    21, 313–24 passim, 328,
    334, 347, 363, 385, 431,
    440, 478, 480, 508, 516,
    529, 540, 542, 549, 560,
    561, 564, 567, 575, 617,
    619, 660, 666, 669, 674,
    682, 689, 734, 780, 796,
    831, 836, 850, 859, 862,
    870, 872, 875, 877, 886–7,
    894, 903, 904, 905, 909,
    912, 919, 931, 953, 978–94
    passim, 998–1008 passim,
    1022, 1023, 1040, 1045,
    1048, 1050, 1052, 1053,
    1061, 1064, 1073, 1078,
    1087, 1090, 1095, 1108–12
    passim, 1119, 1125, 1128,
    1138, 1142, 1148, 1152,
    1530 the return of the king
    Gimli – cont.
    730–4 passim, 746, 750–5
    passim, 762, 763, 764, 879,
    1012, 1015–1054 passim,
    1036, 1042, 1050, 1110,
    1141–9 passim, 1153, 1156,
    1162, 1250, 1251, 1252,
    1271, 1277, 1281, 1284,
    1351, 1413–19 passim,
    1443, 1488; Lockbearer
    657; one of the Three
    Hunters 546, 640
    Gladden Fields 69, 317, 330,
    357, 1429, 1430; Disaster of
    69, 317, 1358, 1424
    Gladden River 357, 1362, 1380,
    1395, 1410, 1480, 1484,
    1485; sources of 357
    Glamdring 364, 404, 421, 430,
    667, 1300
    Glanduin 1360
    Gle´owine 1278
    Glittering Caves of Aglarond
    713–14, 783, 1015, 1251,
    1281; Lord of see Gimli
    Glo´in, son of Gro´in 297–9, 312,
    313, 324, 325, 332, 349,
    350, 1413, 1418; see also
    Gimli, son of Glo´in
    Glo´in, son of Thorin I 1418
    Glorfindel (Elf-lord) 273–80
    passim, 287–95 passim, 312,
    346, 347, 348, 349, 359,
    1274, 1377, 1405, 1434
    Goatleaf, surname 203
    Goatleaf, Harry 197–8, 215,
    227, 1296, 1299
    Goblins see Orcs
    Golasgil 1009
    Goldberry (River-daughter) 156,
    158, 160–5, 168, 169,
    172–3, 176–7, 189, 193
    Goodbody family 37, 38, 40,
    1445
    Goodbody, Lily (Baggins)
    1445
    Goodbody, Togo 1445
    Gorbag 960–70 passim, 1175,
    1179, 1183, 1194, 1202
    Gore see Naith of Lo´rien
    Gorgoroth 318, 523, 831, 839,
    891, 923, 929, 1168, 1177,
    1178, 1206, 1207, 1213,
    1222, 1231, 1243
    Gothmog 1107
    Gram 1279, 1402
    Grange, Old 1330
    Great, the 3, 353
    Great Armament 1422
    Great Battle, at end of First Age
    1420
    Great Bridge see Brandywine
    Bridge
    Great Danger 1347
    Great Darkness, of Morgoth
    609, 610, 616, 633
    Great Enemy see Morgoth
    Great Gate of the City see Minas
    Tirith
    Great Gate(s) see Moria
    Great Jewel see Silmaril(s)
    Great Lands see Middle-earth
    Great River see Anduin
    Great Ships, Nu´meno´rean 615
    Great Siege 967
    Great Signal 923–4, 966
    Great Smials (Great Place of the
    Tooks) 9, 19, 21, 600, 1321,
    1428, 1448
    Great Wars [against Morgoth
    and Sauron]
    Great Years 1432–8
    Green Dragon, The 58, 86, 193,
    1313, 1314
    index 1531
    1154, 1156, 1159, 1161,
    1162, 1168, 1177, 1242,
    1254, 1256, 1265, 1272,
    1276, 1279, 1292, 1293,
    1300, 1315, 1351, 1357–61
    passim, 1365–85 passim,
    1390, 1395–405 passim,
    1417, 1422–31 passim,
    1438–43 passim, 1480,
    1484, 1487; Realm in Exile
    1358, 1422; Stoningland
    1111; names 1482, 1483;
    calendar, reckoning of 1351,
    1401, 1452; City of Gondor
    see Minas Tirith; Council of
    1374; Crown of see Crown
    of Gondor; Errand-riders
    see Errand-riders of
    Gondor; Fields of see
    Pelennor; Kings, Ship-kings
    of 775, 1359, 1395, 1424;
    language of 1106, 1403,
    1461, 1465, 1489, 1490;
    Lords of see Stewards; Men
    of (folk, people, race, etc.)
    11, 348, 508, 567, 571, 831,
    836, 874, 887–8, 890, 981,
    1083, 1089, 1106, 1107,
    1148, 1165, 1242, 1249,
    1256, 1264, 1265, 1266,
    1277; Minstrel of 1249;
    Northern Army of 1374,
    1396; palantı´r of 780;
    southern fiefs 981, 1110;
    tombs of see Hallows;
    wardens of Gondor upon the
    West (at Orthanc) 724;
    writing in 1473–4; Eastborders 567; North March
    873; South Gondor 1371; see
    also Ano´rien; Beacon hills;
    Ithilien; Minas Tirith; etc.
    Grimslade 1111
    Grip 120, 121, 122
    Grishna´kh 581–2, 587–96
    passim, 638, 639, 735, 1462,
    1487
    Gro´in 1418
    Grond, battering-ram 1083–4
    Grond, Hammer of the
    Underworld, Morgoth’s
    mace 1084
    Gro´r 1407, 1411, 1418, 1428
    Grubb family 37, 38, 40
    Grubb, Laura 37
    Guards of the Citadel (of Minas
    Tirith) 985, 998, 1004,
    1006, 1010, 1045, 1122,
    1156, 1248, 1266–9 passim;
    livery of 985, 1055, 1060,
    1113, 1115, 1129, 1248,
    1250–1, 1316
    Guarded City see Minas Tirith
    Guardians see Valar
    Gundabad 1410
    Guthla´f 1096, 1104, 1111
    Gu´thwine (E´ omer’s sword)
    696
    Gwaihir the Windlord 340–1,
    355, 646, 655, 1241–5
    passim,
    Gwathlo´ see Greyflood
    Hador, steward 1360, 1455
    Hador the Goldenhaired, the
    Elf-friend 353, 887; House
    of Hador 1353
    Halbarad 1014–21 passim, 1024,
    1029, 1034, 1110, 1111
    Haldir 446–62 passim, 467,
    483–4, 499, 795
    Haleth Helm’s son 1399, 1402
    Half-elven (Peredhil) 519, 1353;
    see also Elrond the Halfelven
    1532 the return of the king
    Green Hills (Green Hill
    Country), of the Shire 93,
    1321, 1328, 1345
    Green Hills, of Gondor see
    Pinnath Gelin
    Greenhand, Halfred 1450
    Greenhand, Holman 1450
    Greenway (North Road) 11,
    197, 201, 203–4, 215, 334,
    342, 357, 1299, 1301, 1315,
    1433; Greenway-crossing
    197
    Greenwood the Great see
    Mirkwood
    Grey Company 656, 1016, 1024,
    1028–34 passim
    Grey-elven see Sindarin
    Grey-elves see Eldar
    Grey Host see Dead, the
    Grey Havens 9, 21, 57, 59, 312,
    325, 346, 369, 453, 1143,
    1276, 1346, 1347, 1353,
    1360, 1366, 1376, 1394,
    1421, 1424, 1441, 1442;
    Forlond 1376; Harlond
    1376; Mithlond 780, 1347
    Grey Mountains 1407, 1427,
    1436
    Grey Pilgrim see Gandalf
    Grey Wood 1093, 1277
    Greyflood (Gwathlo´) 262, 357,
    358, 371, 487, 1289, 1301,
    1360, 1361, 1368, 1433
    Grı´ma, son of Ga´lmo´d see
    Wormtongue
    Grimbeorn the Old 297
    Grimbold [a marshal
    distinguished in battles at
    the Fords of Isen,
    commanded the Left-wing
    and fell in the battle of
    Pelennor] 719, 1095, 1111
    Southron 863–4; Swarthy
    Men 1047; Swertings 845,
    865
    Hardbottle 1336
    Harding, of Rohan 1111
    Harding of the Hill 1450
    Harfoots 4, 8, 1425, 1485
    Harlond see Grey Havens
    Harlond, harbour of Minas
    Tirith 981, 1108, 1110,
    1148, 1153
    Harnen 1368
    Harrowdale 1025, 1035, 1037,
    1042, 1401, 1436
    Hasufel 371, 572, 576, 636, 658,
    660, 664, 684, 703, 730,
    1012
    Haudh in Gwanuˆr 1382
    Haunted Mountain see
    Dwimorberg
    Haunted Pass see Cirith Gorgor
    Havens see Grey Havens
    Hay Gate see Buckland
    Haysend 129, 149
    Hayward, Hob 1308, 1309
    Healers see Houses of Healing
    Heathertoes, surname 203
    Heathertoes, Mat 1299
    Hedge see High Hay
    Helm ‘Hammerhand’ 629, 705,
    1279, 1381, 1397–402
    passim, 1428; horn of 703,
    705, 1278
    Helm’s Deep (the Deep)
    686–710 passim, 738, 756,
    768, 777, 783, 1024, 1025,
    1279, 1281, 1399, 1428,
    1435, 1439; caverns of see
    Glittering Caves of
    Aglarond; see also Deepingcoomb; Deeping Stream;
    Deeping Wall
    index 1533
    Halflings see Hobbits
    Halflings, country of see Shire
    Halifirien 978, 1053
    Hall of Fire see Rivendell
    Hall of the Kings (of the Tower)
    see Citadel of Gondor
    Hallas 1360
    Hallow, on Mount Mindolluin
    1272
    Hallows, in Minas Tirith 1115,
    1269; see also House of the
    Kings; House of the
    Stewards
    Ha´ma, captain of the King’s
    Guard 666, 667, 671–7
    passim, 683, 689, 712,
    757
    Ha´ma, Helm’s son 1399, 1402
    Hamfast of Gamwich 1450
    Hammer of the Underworld see
    Grond
    Harad (South) 323, 862, 864,
    1002, 1061, 1083, 1381,
    1425, 1463; Haradwaith
    1381; Sunlands 845; havens
    of 522; kingdoms of, in the
    Far South 862; kings of
    1368; men of see Haradrim
    Haradrim (folk, men, peoples of
    Harad) 319, 862, 886, 1046,
    1061, 1069, 1098, 1107,
    1111, 1145, 1146, 1159,
    1243, 1269, 1368, 1372,
    1373, 1374, 1382, 1402,
    1425, 1429; champion of
    1074; chieftain (the black
    serpent) 1099, 1102; men
    like half-trolls from Far
    Harad 1107; Men of Near
    Harad 1374; Southrons 862,
    863, 882, 1099, 1107, 1110,
    1131, 1253, 1293; dead
    Hirgon 1045, 1046, 1047, 1048,
    1093
    Hirluin the Fair 1009, 1107,
    1112
    Hither Shore(s) see Middle-earth
    Hithlain [mist-thread] 484
    Hoarwell (Mitheithel) 4, 261,
    272, 344, 357, 1361, 1362,
    1434; name 1491; Bridge of
    Mitheithel see Last Bridge
    Hobbit, The 1, 14–16, 1494
    Hobbiton 8, 28–37, 55, 87, 89,
    93, 94, 99, 100, 123, 134,
    219, 301, 303, 325, 342–3,
    467–8, 375, 614, 793, 1201,
    1309, 1311, 1314, 1320–31
    passim, 1337, 1338, 1432,
    1441, 1445, 1460; folk of
    1326
    Hobbiton Road 1314
    Hobbits (Little Folk, Little
    People) 1–42 passim, 48–58
    passim, 63, 64, 69–72
    passim, 82, 87, 90, 92, 94,
    120, 123, 124, 140, 141,
    171, 345, 387, 565, 605,
    625, 639, 727, 765, 996–7,
    1308–41 passim, 1362,
    1452, 1486; Halflings 446,
    453, 520, 565, 580, 591,
    861, 873, 890, 987, 1060,
    1266, 1485; Holbytla(n)
    727, 1013, 1485, 1496;
    Periain, Periannath (sing.
    Perian) 20, 1005, 1056,
    1125, 1140, 1157, 1266,
    1425, 1426; and
    architecture, craft of
    building 8, 9; and boats,
    water 8, 29, 128, 479;
    calendar of see Shire
    Reckoning; character,
    1534 the return of the king
    Helm’s Dike (the Dike) 689, 691,
    692, 707, 708, 711, 712, 721,
    1017, 1020, 1024, 1399
    Helm’s Gate (the Gate) 688,
    691, 692, 707, 708, 711
    Helmingas see Westfold: men of
    Hending, son of Holman ‘the
    greenhanded’ 1450
    Henneth Annuˆn, Window of the
    Sunset (Window-curtain,
    Curtain) 881, 893–6 passim,
    909, 911, 1061, 1160, 1253,
    1381, 1429, 1436
    Herblore of the Shire 10, 20
    Herefara 1112
    Herion 1360
    Herubrand 1112
    Herugrim (The´oden’s sword)
    675, 676, 677
    Hidden Land see Lothlo´rien
    High City see Citadel of Gondor
    High Court see Citadel of
    Gondor
    High-elven see Quenya
    High Elves see Eldar: Noldor
    High Hay (Hedge) 129, 139,
    143, 144, 145
    High Pass see Cirith Ungol
    High Pass, in Misty Mountains
    228
    Hild 1399
    Hill, the (Hobbiton Hill) 27, 28,
    32, 33, 52, 60, 90, 92, 99,
    123, 342, 467, 472, 1330,
    1331, 1335, 1337, 1460
    Hill of Hearing see Amon Lhaw
    Hill of the Eye, of Sight see
    Amon Hen
    Hill Road 90, 1331
    Hill-trolls see Trolls
    Hillmen see Dunlendings;
    Rhudaur
    Hornblower, Tobold (Tobold
    the Old, Old Toby) 10–11,
    728
    Hornburg (the Burg) 689–704
    passim, 711, 712, 757,
    1015–24 passim, 1110,
    1150, 1399, 1400, 1436,
    1488; Hornburg-gates 695;
    see also Battle of the
    Hornburg
    Hornrock (Rock) 689, 696–705
    passim
    Horse-men’s road 1089
    Host of the West, against Witchking 1377
    Host of the West, army from
    Valinor at end of First Age
    1407
    Host of the West (army of
    the West, Men of the
    West), against Sauron
    1437
    Host of Valinor 1420
    Hound of Sauron see Wolves
    House of Hu´rin see Stewards
    House of the Kings (Houses of
    the Dead) 1269, 1379,
    1393, 1394
    House of the Stewards, tombs
    1078, 1081, 1113
    Houses of Healing 1120–44
    passim, 1255, 1256, 1259,
    1262, 1264, 1266; Healers
    1120, 1125, 1126, 1157,
    1255, 1256, 1258; herbmaster of 1130, 1133, 1136;
    Warden of 1139–40,
    1255–6, 1257, 1258, 1259,
    1263, 1264
    Houses of the Dead see House of
    the Kings
    Hundred-weight Feast 55
    index 1535
    appearance 1–4; education,
    lore 1, 3, 5, 8, 13, 19, 20,
    21, 64, 779; passion for
    family history 28, 728; food
    and drink 2, 34–40, 55,
    133, 730–1, etc.; dislike of
    heights 448; Hobbitry-inarms 12; language of 2, 4, 5,
    1464, 1484, 1489, 1490;
    legends, stories of 727–8,
    995; and mushrooms 133;
    names of race 1462, 1496;
    names of Hobbits 1461,
    1484–5, 1491–2, 1496;
    custom of presents 2, 7, 35;
    smoking 10–11, 728,
    733–4, see also Pipe-weed;
    toughness of 7, 288–9,
    426–7; writing (letters,
    script) 5; see also Bree;
    Fallowhides; Harfoots;
    Mathom; Shire, the; Stoors;
    etc.
    Holbytla(n) see Hobbits
    Hold see Dunharrow
    Hollin see Eregion
    Hollin gate see Moria
    Holman ‘the greenhanded’ 28,
    30, 1450
    Horn, Rider of Rohan 1112
    Horn-call, cry of Buckland see
    Buckland
    Horn of Boromir 363, 430, 537,
    538, 542, 543, 871, 872,
    887, 988, 1435
    Horn of the Mark, given to
    Meriadoc 1280, 1318, 1329,
    1331, 1460
    Hornblower family 37, 38, 40,
    64
    Hornblower pipe-weed
    brandmarks 733, 749
    Inland Sea see Nu´rnen; Rhuˆn,
    Sea of
    Ioreth 1126, 1129, 1130, 1133,
    1134, 1266, 1462
    Iorlas 1006
    I
    ´rensaga 1040
    Iron Crown 932, 1352
    Iron Hills 1407, 1408, 1410–11,
    1413, 1428, 1430
    Isen 385, 687, 718, 719, 720,
    742, 749, 1286, 1301, 1396,
    1398, 1399, 1402, 1433
    Isen, Fords (Crossings) of 686,
    688, 690, 711, 715–20
    passim, 738, 756, 778, 1013,
    1399, 1404, 1433; mouths
    of 1381; see also Battles of
    the Fords of Isen
    Isengard 166, 336, 339, 385,
    522, 541, 547, 553, 568,
    569, 581, 588, 592, 599,
    614–18 passim, 627, 628,
    632, 633, 634, 639, 649,
    652, 659, 676, 681, 687,
    688, 690, 694, 698, 703,
    705, 709, 715, 720–50, 759,
    767, 769, 776, 777, 780,
    782, 841, 979, 990, 1001,
    1012, 1165, 1281, 1288,
    1314, 1315, 1332, 1381,
    1383, 1399–403 passim,
    1428, 1430, 1435, 1439,
    1486; Angrenost 616;
    creatures of 700; emblem of
    (white hand) 568, 581, 585,
    617, 695, 722; gates of 715,
    722; Lord of see Saruman;
    Ring (circle) of 340, 723–4;
    Isengarders see Orcs; see also
    Orthanc; White Hand;
    Wizard’s Vale
    Isengrim II 1428, 1455
    1536 the return of the king
    Hunter’s Moon 357
    Huor 1353
    Huorns 635, 706–12 passim,
    716, 720, 721, 736–46
    passim, 752; darkness of
    686–7
    Hu´rin, of the First Age 353;
    name 1482
    Hu´rin I, steward 1360
    Hu´rin II, steward 1360
    Hu´rin of Emyn Arnen, steward
    1360, 1379; House of see
    Stewards
    Hu´rin the Tall, Warden of the
    Keys 1107, 1256, 1265,
    1266
    Hyarmendacil ‘South-victor’
    (Ciryaher) 1359, 1368,
    1369, 1425
    Hyarmendacil II (Vinyarion)
    1359, 1425
    Iarwain Ben-adar see Bombadil,
    Tom
    Idril Celebrindal 1352
    Ilmarin 306, 485
    Imlad Morgul see Morgul Vale
    Imladris see Rivendell
    Imloth Melui 1133, 1266
    Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth
    (the Prince, Lord of Dol
    Amroth) 982, 1009, 1035,
    1057, 1068, 1073, 1074,
    1078, 1106–1114 passim,
    1120, 1127–1133 passim,
    1141, 1142, 1149, 1152–3,
    1154, 1158, 1162, 1164,
    1167, 1250, 1266, 1127,
    1280, 1405, 1461; name
    1461
    Inca´nus see Gandalf
    Ingold 980, 1074
    Kibil-naˆla see Celebrant
    Kı´li 1413, 1416, 1418
    King of Angmar see Witch-king
    King of the Dead see Dead, the
    King of the Mark (Rohan) see
    E´ omer; The´oden; etc.
    King of the Mountains 1023
    King’s Court, Nu´menor 1457
    King’s Men (Black
    Nu´meno´reans) see
    Nu´meno´reans
    King’s messengers 1315
    King’s Writer see Findegil
    Kings see under names of places,
    e.g. Gondor, and names of
    individual kings, e.g.
    The´oden
    Kings of Men see Nu´meno´reans
    Kings under the Mountain 14;
    see also Erebor
    Kings’ Reckoning 1452–60
    passim
    Kingsfoil see Athelas
    Kin-strife 1361, 1369, 1370,
    1378, 1425
    Lady of Lothlo´rien (of the
    Golden Wood, etc.) see
    Galadriel
    Lady of Rivendell see Arwen
    Lagduf 1184
    Lake Town see Esgaroth
    Lamedon 1009, 1034, 1110,
    1144, 1145; Lord of see
    Angbor
    Lampwright’s Street (Rath
    Celerdain) 1005–6,
    1009–10
    Land of Shadow see Mordor
    Landroval 1243, 1245
    Langstrand (Anfalas) 385, 1009,
    1373, 1491; name 1491
    index 1537
    Isenmouthe (Carach Angren)
    1203, 1213, 1216, 1220,
    1437
    Isildur, son of Elendil 68, 73, 74,
    316–24 passim, 327, 329,
    359, 513, 564, 838, 866,
    867, 877, 886, 925, 1022,
    1024, 1034, 1145, 1147,
    1267, 1357, 1358, 1360,
    1364, 1374, 1386, 1387,
    1423, 1424, 1430, 1466,
    1482; heirs, House of
    (Northern Line) 1118,
    1358, 1360, 1364, 1429, see
    also Aragorn II, Valandil;
    name 1482; scroll of 328–9,
    1432
    Isildur’s Bane see Ring, the
    Istari see Wizards
    Ithil-stone see Palantı´r
    Ithildin [starmoon] 397, 414
    Ithilien 319, 849, 859, 861, 878,
    881, 883, 905, 910, 920,
    981, 984, 997, 1002, 1061,
    1062, 1065, 1158, 1177,
    1245, 1251, 1253, 1264,
    1269, 1371, 1373, 1374,
    1378–82 passim, 1403,
    1419, 1429, 1431, 1435,
    1437, 1441, 1443, 1464; see
    also South Ithilien
    Ivorwen 1385
    Ivy Bush, The 28, 86
    Jewels, Three see Silmarils
    Khand 1107, 1374
    Khazaˆd see Dwarves
    Khazad-duˆm see Moria
    Kheled-zaˆram see Mirrormere
    Khuzdul see Dwarves: language
    of
    Lembas (waybread) [len-bas
    ‘way-bread’] 481, 482, 555,
    591, 596, 597, 601, 638,
    732, 788, 812–13, 852, 931,
    1196, 1203, 1205, 1206,
    1214–15, 1224, 1227
    Le´od 1395, 1397
    Le´ofa (Brytta) 1279, 1402
    Libraries 19–20, 328, 360, 1458
    Lidless Eye see Eye, the
    Lightfoot 1106
    Limlight 1369, 1380, 1396
    Lindir 308
    Lindon (Elvish country) 1360,
    1362–3, 1376, 1420, 1421,
    1422, 1426
    Linhir 1145, 1436
    Lithe 13, 1451, 1452, 1455–6
    Lithlad 831
    Little folk, people see Hobbits
    Lockholes 1310, 1312, 1320,
    1322, 1326, 1336
    Lonely Mountain see Erebor
    Long Cleeve 1441, 1448
    Long Lake see Esgaroth
    Long Winter 6, 1381, 1399,
    1402, 1428
    Longbeards see Dwarves
    Longbottom 10, 11, 728, 1320
    Longbottom Leaf 11, 733, 1139
    Longholes, surname 203
    Lo´ni 420
    Lord of Barad-duˆr see Sauron
    Lord of Minas Tirith see
    Denethor II; Stewards
    Lord of the Mark (Rohan) see
    E´ omer; The´oden
    Lord of the Nazguˆl see Witchking
    Lord of the Ring see Sauron
    Lords of the City see Stewards
    Lo´rien see Lothlo´rien
    1538 the return of the king
    Languages, of Middle-earth
    399–400, 1480–96; see also
    language(s) under names of
    peoples, e.g. Dwarves, and
    names of individual languages
    or language groups, e.g.
    Aduˆnaic; Elvish languages
    Lassemista 630
    Last Alliance of Elves and Men
    242, 316, 317, 1177, 1358,
    1423
    Last Bridge (Bridge of
    Mitheithel) 262, 263, 274,
    1434
    Last Homely House see
    Rivendell
    Last Mountain see Methedras
    Last Ship 1360
    Last Shore see Aman
    Laurelin (Golden Tree) 485, 779,
    842, 1352; one of the Two
    Trees of Valinor 1352, 1353
    Laurelindo´renan see Lothlo´rien
    Leaf see Pipe-weed
    Leaflock (Finglas) 618
    Lebennin 385, 981, 999, 1001,
    1068, 1108, 1110, 1143,
    1145, 1147, 1265, 1371,
    1436
    Lebethron 909, 1266
    Lefnui 1399
    Legolas Greenleaf 312, 332, 354,
    359, 364–527 passim,
    539–77 passim, 636–718
    passim, 726–53 passim, 763,
    764, 860, 1012, 1013–34
    passim, 1036, 1042, 1110,
    1141–9 passim, 1156, 1160,
    1162, 1250–3 passim, 1271,
    1277, 1281, 1284, 1419,
    1443; one of the Three
    Hunters 546, 640
    Lune, Firth of 1347
    Lune, Gulf of 780, 1360,
    1364
    Lune, Mountains of see Blue
    Mountains
    Lu´thien Tinu´viel [Tinu´viel =
    nightingale] 250–3 passim,
    280, 296, 316, 360, 946,
    1147, 1276, 1352, 1387; lay
    of Beren and Lu´thien (Lay
    of Lu´thien) 360, 1387
    Mablung 861, 862, 864, 874,
    879, 880, 1160
    Maggot family 120, 125, 133
    Maggot, Farmer 119–27, 130,
    133, 134, 173
    Maggot, Mrs. 121, 125, 127, 133
    Malbeth the Seer 1023, 1375
    Mallor 1358
    Mallorn (Golden Tree, pl.
    mellyrn) 435, 444–5, 454,
    456, 458, 483, 637–8, 1339,
    1394, 1440
    Mallos 1145
    Malvegil 1358, 1361
    Man in the Moon 207–9
    Mannish languages see Men:
    languages of
    Manwe¨ (Elder King) 306
    Maps, mentioned 360, 368, 372,
    1212
    Marcho 5, 1444
    Mardil Voronwe¨ ‘the Steadfast’
    875, 988, 1359, 1378, 1379,
    1427, 1454, 1455
    Marish 8, 115, 116, 120, 128,
    133, 793, 1058, 1426, 1449,
    1492; names in 1492
    Mark, the see Rohan
    Master of Buckland, of the Hall
    see Brandybuck family
    index 1539
    Lossarnach (Arnach) 981, 999,
    1008, 1107, 1130, 1131,
    1153, 1160, 1403, 1404,
    1483
    Lossoth (Snowmen of Forochel)
    1363, 1364
    Lothı´riel 1405
    Lothlo´rien (Lo´rien, Golden
    Wood, Elf-country, Elvish
    country, etc.) 296, 330, 346,
    386, 439–94 passim, 495–9
    passim, 504, 505, 506–7,
    510, 522, 525, 541, 551–2,
    562, 567, 570, 608–9, 610,
    614, 637, 655, 666, 671,
    770, 794, 817, 872, 873,
    879, 884, 885, 888, 889,
    942, 958, 1056, 1129, 1141,
    1201, 1220, 1274, 1280,
    1282, 1290, 1292, 1343,
    1360, 1362, 1389, 1394,
    1412, 1427, 1430, 1431,
    1434, 1437–8 passim, 1418;
    Dreamflower 608;
    Dwimordene [Vale of
    Illusion, name in Rohan for
    Lo´rien] 671; Egladil 452,
    486; Laurelindo´renan
    (Land of the Valley of
    Singing Gold) 608, 872,
    1282; Elves of (Galadhrim)
    see Elves: of Lothlo´rien;
    name 1481; time in 466,
    506–7, 655–6; see also East
    Lo´rien; Naith of Lo´rien;
    Northern Fences
    Loudwater see Bruinen
    Lugbu´rz see Barad-duˆr
    Lugdush 584, 591
    Lune (Lhuˆn), river 5, 1360,
    1361, 1363, 1413, 1420,
    1491; name 1491
    of 1272, 1420; fail but seed
    springs up 1142; languages
    of 399–400, 417, 633, 1482,
    1483, 1484, 1488, 1489,
    1492, 1494, 1495; see also
    Aduˆnaic, Common Speech;
    names of 1482, 1490–1; see
    also Dunlendings; Gift of
    Men; Haradrim; Last
    Alliance of Elves and Men;
    Nu´meno´reans; Rohirrim;
    and names of places inhabited
    by Men, e.g. Gondor
    Men of the Mountains see Dead,
    the
    Men of the Twilight see
    Rohirrim
    Meneldil 318, 328, 1358, 1374,
    1424
    Meneldor 1243, 1245
    Meneltarma 1354
    Menelvagor (Telumehtar,
    Orion) 107, 1462
    Mere of Dead Faces see Dead
    Marshes
    Merethrond, the Great Hall of
    Feasts
    Methedras (Last Mountain)
    558, 611, 612, 627
    Michel Delving 7, 8, 30, 204,
    206, 361, 414, 1320, 1325,
    1336; mathom-house of 7,
    18, 414; Mayor of see
    Whitfoot, Will
    Middle-earth (middle world,
    mortal lands, etc.) 3, 7, 9,
    21, 57, 104, 195, 250, 259,
    287, 307, 316, 326, 347,
    350, 400, 437, 446, 454,
    464, 489, 492, 651, 713,
    717, 740, 758, 777, 782,
    887, 888, 894, 933, 943,
    1540 the return of the king
    Mathom 7, 21, 49, 1461, 1485,
    1494
    Mathom-house (museum) 7, 18,
    414
    Mauhu´r 595, 596
    Mazarbul, Book of see Book of
    Mazarbul
    Mazarbul, Chamber of see
    Chamber of Mazarbul
    Mearas 566, 658, 664, 1397
    Meduseld (Golden Hall, house
    of Eorl) 568, 570–1, 653,
    658, 661–83, 688, 708, 719,
    757, 783, 1013, 1017, 1038,
    1043, 1049, 1103, 1111,
    1135, 1278, 1279, 1395,
    1396, 1398
    Melian 1352
    Mellon [friend] 398, 401
    Men (Big Folk, Big People,
    Mortal Men) 1–9 passim,
    66, 67–8, 99, 108, 122, 133,
    157, 172, 190, 195, 196–7,
    203, 204, 249, 253, 287–8,
    289, 298, 307, 314, 316,
    336, 359, 366, 368, 381,
    386, 417, 461, 468, 509,
    518, 519, 522, 557, 560,
    570, 575, 590, 603, 604,
    608, 615, 616, 619, 620,
    662, 671, 697, 711, 713,
    717, 719, 721, 731, 738,
    740, 748–9, 756, 780, 804,
    844, 849, 864, 871, 875,
    883–91 passim, 896, 898,
    906, 910, 912, 946, 1075,
    1142, 1208, 1282, 1367,
    1370, 1376, 1393, 1407,
    1420, 1423, 1425, 1438,
    1441, 1482, 1483, 1484;
    alphabets of 1488; calendar
    of 1452–3, 1456; dominion
    1062, 1069, 1154, 1157,
    1177, 1378, 1427; host(s),
    legions of (Morgul-host,
    etc.) 925, 926, 1073, 1107,
    1111, 1184, 1436; King of
    see Witch-king; see also
    earlier name Minas Ithil
    Minas Tirith, Tower of Guard
    (the City, Stone-city, etc.)
    20, 319–22 passim, 328,
    359, 466, 478–9 passim,
    482, 487, 507, 508, 516,
    518, 519–26 passim, 538,
    542, 544, 548, 566, 567,
    647, 648, 674, 717, 783,
    796, 860, 862, 867, 873–8
    passim, 885, 887, 903, 906,
    978, 983–4, 994, 955,
    1001–11, 1022, 1046, 1048,
    1055, 1056, 1057, 1059,
    1060, 1069–97 passim,
    1105–11 passim, 1113–29
    passim, 1138–48 passim,
    1153, 1157, 1160, 1174,
    1251–76 passim, 1282,
    1381, 1383, 1384, 1394,
    1417, 1428–38 passim,
    1483, 1489; Guarded City
    983–4; Mundburg
    [guardian-fortress] 664,
    663, 1051, 1052, 1089–90,
    1111–12, 1280; Seven
    Gates 979; see also earlier
    name Minas Anor; Captains
    of 991; Gate of (Great
    Gate, Gate of Gondor) 981,
    982, 983, 999, 1005–10
    passim, 1035, 1058, 1059,
    1072–9 passim, 1083, 1084,
    1085, 1098, 1103, 1111,
    1113, 1116, 1123, 1127,
    1153, 1265, 1270, 1436;
    index 1541
    1032, 1036, 1143, 1163,
    1192, 1200, 1236, 1241,
    1268, 1284, 1339, 1347,
    1348, 1352–9 passim, 1368,
    1372, 1388, 1391, 1393,
    1417–24 passim, 1443,
    1453, 1464, 1467, 1482,
    1483; Great Lands 885;
    Hither Shore(s) 307, 443,
    485; name 1464; solar year
    in 1453; West of 400, 1352
    Middle Peoples see Rohirrim
    Midgewater Marshes 237, 238–9
    Midsummer 13, 1271, 1274,
    1391
    Mid-year’s Day 1451, 1455–6
    Mill, in Hobbiton 472, 1324,
    1325–6, 1330–1, 1337
    Minalcar see Ro´mendacil II
    Minardil 1359, 1373, 1379, 1426
    Minas Anor, Tower of the
    (Setting) Sun 318, 319, 328,
    780, 878, 1157, 1262, 1264,
    1357, 1367, 1373, 1378,
    1423, 1424, 1426; Anorstone (palantı´r) 1426;
    King’s House 1426; see also
    later name Minas Tirith
    Minas Ithil, Tower of the
    (Rising) Moon
    (Moontower) 318, 321, 780,
    838–9, 885, 904, 905, 912,
    920–1, 1157, 1270, 1357,
    1378, 1384, 1423, 1427;
    Ithil-stone (palantı´r) see
    Palantı´r; see also later name
    Minas Morgul
    Minas Morgul, Tower of
    Sorcery (Dead City,
    accursed tower) 318, 326,
    523, 780, 904, 905, 906,
    920–7 passim, 965, 1000,
    also East Lo´rien; see also
    Woodmen
    Mirror of Galadriel 470–4,
    475–6, 956, 1330, 1434
    Mirrormere (Kheled-zaˆram)
    369, 411, 413, 415, 419,
    420, 434, 435, 463, 493,
    714, 1406, 1410
    Miruvor 378, 384, 403–4
    Misty Mountains (Mountains of
    Mist) 3, 14, 69, 71, 177,
    195, 216, 242, 244, 249,
    261, 267, 292, 298, 299,
    301, 313, 326–7, 336, 341,
    357, 359, 360, 366–74
    passim, 386, 387, 390–1,
    393, 403, 432, 433, 443,
    455, 464, 496, 522, 540,
    558, 574, 585, 589, 597,
    619, 651, 686, 720, 1165,
    1287, 1360, 1361, 1366,
    1380, 1381, 1387, 1395,
    1404, 1406, 1421, 1423,
    1425, 1427, 1432, 1480,
    1484, 1487
    Mitheithel see Hoarwell
    Mithlond see Grey Havens
    Mithrandir see Gandalf
    Mithril [truesilver] 413–14, 419,
    985, 1407, 1419; Moriasilver 414; mithril coat
    (mail) 361–2, 414, 437,
    957, 1164, 1180, 1200,
    1250, 1292, 1437
    Moon (Ithil) 894; and livery of
    Minas Morgul 1019, 1181;
    and Shire calendar 1452;
    new after Lothlo´rien 501,
    502, 506–7; White Face, so
    called by Gollum 805, 823,
    898, 899
    Morannon [black gate] (the
    1542 the return of the king
    Minas Tirith – cont.
    Lord(s) of see Stewards;
    men of the City (of the
    Tower of Guard) 466, 480,
    482, 508, 1156, 1157, 1167;
    mounds of 1111–12;
    palantı´r of (Anor-stone) see
    Palantı´r; Second Gate of
    1083; see also Citadel of
    Gondor; House of the
    Kings; House of the
    Stewards; Houses of
    Healing; Lampwright’s
    Street (Rath Celerdain);
    Rath Dı´nen (Silent Street)
    Minastan 1359
    Mindolluin see Mount
    Mindolluin
    Mines of Moria see Moria
    Minhiriath 1362, 1429
    Min-Rimmon (Rimmon) 978,
    1053, 1083, 1265, 1436,
    1483; name 1483
    Mirkwood (Great Wood, Wood,
    etc.) 4, 57, 62, 67, 69, 73,
    75, 76, 97, 298, 312, 326,
    330, 332, 333, 340, 355,
    357, 435–6, 441, 490, 522,
    562, 601, 615, 619, 640,
    662, 694, 713–14, 764, 882,
    895, 947, 1002, 1269, 1284,
    1368, 1380, 1395, 1407,
    1414, 1425, 1432, 1437,
    1483, 1491; Eryn Lasgalen
    1438; Greenwood the Great
    3, 1369, 1370, 1373, 1419,
    1423, 1425, 1438; Taur eNdaedelos 1491; Elvenking’s halls in 322, 713–14;
    Narrows 1438; Northern
    Mirkwood 312; Southern
    Mirkwood 458, 45–6, see
    1486, 1487; allies of 1144,
    see also names of allies, e.g.
    Haradrim; captains of 1486;
    gates of see Morannon;
    host(s) of 1020, 1044, 1077,
    1097, 1190–10, 1167, 1241;
    language of see Black
    Speech; slaves of 1064,
    1269; walls of see Ephel
    Du´ath, Ered Lithui; see also
    Darkness; Nazguˆl; Orcs;
    Shadow
    Morgai 1176, 1177, 1199,
    1203–7, 1209, 1437
    Morgoth (Dark Power of the
    North, Darkness in the
    North, the Great Enemy,
    the Shadow) [evil Vala,
    prime Enemy] 253, 463,
    619–20, 633, 1195, 1352,
    1353, 1361, 1363, 1406,
    1407, 1420, 1482, 1486,
    1495; servant of see Sauron
    Morgul-knife 256, 259, 266,
    275, 289, 1294
    Morgul-lord see Witch-king
    Morgul Pass 1158, 1177
    Morgul-road (Morgul-way)
    1198, 1203, 1208, 1436
    Morgul-spells 320
    Morgul Vale (Imlad Morgul
    [Imlad = deep valley], Valley
    of Living Death, Valley of
    the Wraiths, etc.) 330, 908,
    912, 915, 920, 929, 931,
    938, 942, 947, 960, 1062,
    1157, 1158, 1161, 1255,
    1270, 1380, 1437
    Morgulduin 912, 921, 922–3
    Moria (Mines of Moria,
    Khazad-duˆm, the Black Pit,
    Dwarf-kingdom, halls of
    index 1543
    Black Gate(s) of Mordor,
    Sauron’s gate) 316, 330,
    486, 809, 817, 821, 824,
    825, 829–30 passim, 831–5,
    839–40, 844, 846, 847, 852,
    903, 904, 908, 918, 1068,
    1072, 1156–69 passim,
    1214, 1220, 1242, 1260,
    1374, 1436
    Mordor (Black Country, Black
    Land, Dark Country, Land
    of Shadow, Nameless Land,
    etc.) 57, 66, 67, 77, 192,
    220, 230, 243, 253, 279–80,
    294, 313–18 passim, 323,
    327–32 passim, 338, 342,
    348, 358, 360, 375, 422,
    480, 486, 504, 508, 515,
    519, 520, 523, 526, 530,
    531, 540, 545, 553, 563,
    567, 589, 599, 615, 648,
    649, 651, 667, 674, 687,
    724, 757, 759, 760, 763,
    769, 776, 783, 788, 789,
    809, 817, 821–7 passim,
    830–5 passim, 840–6
    passim, 851, 869, 891, 903,
    908, 912, 919, 925, 930,
    955, 959, 978, 1000, 1020,
    1042, 1046, 1048, 1056,
    1065, 1076, 1084, 1110,
    1122, 1127, 1144, 1146–7,
    1149, 1153, 1154, 1158–67
    passim, 1174–9 passim,
    1184, 1186, 1192, 1193,
    1197, 1198–1219 passim,
    1220, 1223, 1238, 1241,
    1242, 1247, 1250, 1253,
    1266, 1304, 1332, 1357,
    1369, 1372, 1373, 1378,
    1380, 1381, 1382, 1391,
    1404, 1421–32 passim,
    Moria, Mountains of 439, 1439;
    see also Caradhras; Celebdil;
    Fanuidhol
    Moria-silver see Mithril
    Morthond (Blackroot) 1009,
    1032, 1111, 1464; archers of
    1123; uplands of 1009
    Morthond Vale (Blackroot Vale)
    1009, 1032; men of 1032–3
    Morwen ‘Steelsheen’ 1403, 1404
    Mound of the Riders 719–20,
    778, 1013
    Mounds see Barrows
    Mount Doom (Orodruin, Amon
    Amarth, Mountain of Fire,
    etc.) 80, 81, 316, 317, 319,
    365, 372, 523, 525, 816,
    842, 891, 1057, 1176, 1178,
    1184, 1192, 1196, 1199,
    1201, 1207, 1208, 1213,
    1220, 1225–40, 1243, 1244,
    1357–8, 1422, 1431, 1437,
    1491; name (Orodruin)
    1491; see also Crack(s) of
    Doom; Sammath Naur
    Mount Everwhite see Oiolosse¨
    Mount Fang see Orthanc
    Mount Mindolluin (Mindolluin)
    783, 894, 982, 984, 994,
    1009, 1056, 1065, 1081,
    1085, 1091, 1093, 1110–11,
    1254, 1271–2, 1278
    Mountain and the Wood see
    Erebor and Lothlo´rien [or
    Dwarves and Elves generally]
    Mountain Wall (= Pelo´ri) 307
    Mountains of Gondor see White
    Mountains
    Mountains of Lune see Blue
    Mountains
    Mountains of Moria see Moria,
    Mountains of
    1544 the return of the king
    Moria – cont.
    Durin, etc.) 313, 314, 315,
    349, 368, 385, 386, 387,
    391, 393, 395, 404–17
    passim, 419, 433–40 passim,
    447, 455, 462, 463, 467,
    468, 480, 499, 505, 522,
    566, 567, 581, 614, 654,
    697, 715, 733, 743, 841,
    860, 867, 876, 885, 993,
    1221, 1406–13 passim,
    1418, 1421, 1422, 1423,
    1426–32 passim, 1439,
    1468, 1495; Dwarrowdelf
    368, 411, 1495; bridge of
    (Bridge of Khazad-duˆm,
    Durin’s Bridge) 420,
    427–32, 463, 468, 654,
    1434; doors of (Doors of
    Durin, Elven Door, Hollin
    gate, West-gate) [west
    entrance to Moria, made by
    dwarves but controlled by
    spell of Celebrimbor]
    386–417 passim, 420, 1421,
    1433, 1434, 1471, 1473;
    First Deep 427; First Hall
    427, 428; Great Gates
    (Dimrill Gate, East-gate)
    387, 410, 415, 418
    Moria – cont. 419, 420, 421, 427,
    433, 436, 438–9, 440, 1289,
    1409, 1412, 1427; Lord of
    395; name 1495; North-end
    (Twenty-first hall) 419,
    421; Second Hall 427–8;
    Seventh Level of 421; Third
    deep, upper armouries 419;
    Walls of 392–5; see also
    Book of Mazarbul;
    Chamber of Mazarbul;
    Dwarves of Moria
    Narsil (sword that was broken,
    sword of Elendil) [red and
    white flame] 224–5, 316,
    317, 321, 322, 323, 349,
    359, 360, 564, 570, 667,
    696, 860, 867, 885, 1022,
    1110, 1386, 1424, 1430;
    reforged 359–60, see also
    Andu´ril
    Narvi 398
    Narya (the Third Ring, the Ring
    of Fire) 1348, 1424
    Naugrim see Dwarves
    Nazguˆl (Ringwraiths, Black
    Riders, Fell Riders, Black
    Men, the Nine, Nine
    Riders, Nine Lords,
    Messengers of Mordor,
    Winged Messenger,
    Shriekers, etc.) 67–8,
    98–101, 103–4, 105,
    109–27 passim, 134, 139,
    140, 166, 174, 192, 199,
    214–20 passim, 225, 226,
    230, 231, 240, 247, 248,
    254–264 passim, 273–81
    passim, 287–92 passim, 318,
    325, 334–48 passim, 355–6,
    358, 359, 360, 361, 363,
    384, 581, 588, 615, 649–50,
    653, 738, 777, 778, 782,
    796, 827–30 passim, 843,
    905, 920, 965, 966, 977,
    1000, 1002, 1058, 1059,
    1061, 1071, 1073, 1074,
    1077, 1126, 1131, 1151,
    1159–62 passim, 1185,
    1194, 1197, 1198, 1202,
    1211, 1227, 1241–8 passim,
    1297, 1327, 1345, 1373,
    1377, 1378, 1380, 1422–7
    passim, 1435; cry of 792–3,
    index 1545
    Mountains of Shadow see Ephel
    Du´ath
    Mountains of Terror (= Ered
    Gorgoroth) 253, 946
    Mouth of Sauron (Lieutenant of
    the Tower, Messenger)
    1163–7 passim
    Mugwort, surname 203
    Mugwort, Mr. 211
    Muˆmak (pl. muˆmakil) see
    Oliphaunt
    Mundburg see Minas Tirith
    Muzgash 1184
    Na´in, father of Da´in II 1411,
    1418
    Na´in I 1407, 1418, 1427
    Na´in II 1418
    Naith of Lo´rien (Tongue, Gore)
    451, 455, 485, 486, 491
    Na´li 420
    Nameless Enemy, One see
    Sauron
    Nameless Land see Mordor
    Nameless Pass see Cirith Ungol
    Nameless, gnawing things 654
    Nan Curunı´r (Wizard’s Vale,
    Valley of Saruman) 635,
    687, 720, 722–3, 736–7,
    745, 769
    Nan-tasarion see Tasarinan
    Nanduhirion see Dimrill Dale
    Na´r 1409
    Narchost see Towers of the
    Teeth
    Nardol 978, 1053, 1091
    Nargothrond 412, 464, 1364,
    1421, 1464, 1481
    Narmacil I 1359, 1367, 1369
    Narmacil II 1359, 1373–4, 1375,
    1426
    Narrow Ice (= Helcaraxe¨) 305
    Nine Walkers (Nine
    Companions) see Company
    of the Ring
    Niphredil 456, 457, 1391, 1395
    Noakes 29, 30
    Nob 200, 201, 217, 219, 221,
    226, 227, 228, 233, 235–6,
    1297, 1302
    Nogrod
    Noldor see Eldar
    Noman-lands 486, 825
    Norbury see Fornost
    Nori 298, 1418
    North, the (Northerland, etc.)
    11, 197, 259, 288, 317, 323,
    328, 347, 442, 487, 564,
    713, 886, 978; palantı´r of
    1361, 1362, 1364; see also
    names of lands in the North
    of Middle-earth, e.g.
    Beleriand
    North Downs 318, 1301, 1362,
    1363, 1377
    North-gate see Buckland
    North Kingdom (Northern
    Kingdom) see Arnor
    North Moors 58–9
    North Road see Greenway
    North Stair see Stair, the, by
    Rauros
    North-tooks of Long Cleeve
    1448
    Northern Fences, of Lothlo´rien
    483
    Northfarthing 12, 58, 375, 848,
    1329, 1339–40; see also
    Battle of Greenfields
    Northmen 1369, 1370, 1407–8
    North-way see West Road
    Nu´menor (Westernesse), island
    realm 5, 21, 68, 253, 308,
    316, 318, 779, 884, 885–6,
    1546 the return of the king
    Nazguˆl– cont.
    795, 823, 1002, 1058–9,
    1197, 1198, 1202, 1211; city
    of see Minas Morgul;
    darkness of see Black
    Breath; Lord of see Witchking; mounted on winged
    creatures 504–5, 581, 777,
    782, 823, 843, 1058, 1059,
    1061, 1131, 1194, 1197,
    1198–9, 1227, 1241–2,
    1243, 1433, 1435; senses of
    99, 248, 289–90, 823
    Necromancer see Sauron
    Neekerbreekers 239
    Neldoreth (Taur-na-neldor)
    253, 610, 1387
    Nen Hithoel 479, 513, 1369
    Nenuial see Evendim, Lake
    Nenya (the Ring of Adamant)
    475, 476, 506, 1346
    New Age 1282
    New Reckoning 1459–60
    New Row 1338
    New Year 1247; of the Elves
    1438, 1460
    Nicotiana see Pipe-weed
    Night of Naught 305
    Nimbrethil 304
    Nimloth see White Tree
    Nimrodel, elf 441–4 passim,
    1427, 1481; Lay of 1078;
    name 1481; people of 1078,
    1141
    Nimrodel, river 441, 442, 445,
    448, 450, 451, 500, 1434
    Nimrodel, Bridge of 441
    Nimrodel, falls of 442, 448
    Nindalf (Wetwang) 486, 1462
    Nine (Nine Riders, Nine
    Servants) see Nazguˆl
    Nine Rings see Rings of Power
    Orthanc; Seat of Seeing;
    Swords, from barrow
    Nu´rnen, Lake (inland sea) 831,
    1208, 1269
    Oath of Eorl see Eorl the Young:
    Oath of
    Oathbreakers see Dead, the
    Ohtar 317, 1424
    O´ in, son of Glo´in 1418
    O´ in, son of Gro´in 298, 313, 420,
    1418
    Oiolosse¨ (Mount Everwhite) 492
    Old Forest 29, 129, 134, 140,
    141, 144–60 passim, 168,
    170, 178, 192, 198, 231,
    285, 345, 609, 614, 1305,
    1306, 1433; see also Bonfire
    Glade
    Old Grange 1330
    Old Guesthouse 1005
    Old man at Door of the Dead
    1044–5
    Old Man Willow see Willow, Old
    Man
    Old Road see East-West Road
    Old Toby 11
    Old Winyards 49, 89
    Old Words and Names in the
    Shire 21
    Old World, North-west of 3
    Oldbuck family 12, 128–9, 1365,
    1427, 1449, 1496; see also
    Brandybuck family
    Oldbuck, Gorhendad 128–9,
    1449
    Oliphaunt (muˆmak) 864, 865,
    882, 1061, 1083, 1103,
    1107, 1111, 1226, 1253,
    1293
    Olog-hai see Trolls
    Olo´rin see Gandalf
    index 1547
    888, 1023, 1033, 1078,
    1136, 1261, 1354–7, 1365,
    1366, 1372, 1420, 1421,
    1422, 1423, 1482; Elenna,
    Isle of 1354; Land of the
    Star 1372; calendar of see
    Kings’ Reckoning; Downfall
    of (Akallabeˆth) 316, 1354,
    1454, 1483; Kings and
    Queens of 253, 1354–7,
    1374–5, 1393–4; King’s
    Court 1457; languages of
    1482–3, see also Aduˆnaic;
    men of see Nu´meno´reans;
    name 1482; Seeing Stones
    of see Palantı´r
    Nu´meno´reans, of the island
    realm (Men of the Sea) 11,
    620, 633, 887, 1375, 1467,
    1482; the Faithful (Exiles)
    1356, 1357–8, 1422; Black
    Nu´meno´reans (King’s
    Men) 1163, 1368;
    Nu´meno´reans who became
    Nazguˆl 905; in Middleearth after the Downfall
    (Kings of Men, Men of race
    or blood of Nu´menor,
    Westernesse, etc.) 5, 68,
    303, 316, 318, 336, 349,
    447, 520, 522, 647, 838,
    861, 875, 878, 884, 885–6,
    1060, 1078, 1177, 1264,
    1374, 1375, 1379, 1487, see
    also Du´nedain; Fathers of
    see Edain; Rulers (Kings,
    Chieftains) of the Realms in
    Exile 194, 287, 1267,
    1356–7, 1368, 1392; works
    of Nu´meno´reans, of
    Westernesse specifically
    mentioned see Minas Tirith;
    1243, 1251, 1381, 1486;
    Uruks of Mordor 422, 423,
    965, 1217, 1380, 1486; Orcs
    of Saruman 340, 341,
    615–19 passim, 630, 633,
    649, 681, 689–713 passim,
    719, 721, 730–46 passim,
    768; Uruk-hai (Isengarders,
    with device of White Hand)
    540–1, 549, 553, 569,
    578–99 passim, 704, 1289,
    1486; alphabets of 1468;
    half-orcs 738; languages of
    579–80, 1462, 1466,
    1486–7, 1490; made in
    mockery of Elves 633;
    poisoned blades of 437; and
    sunlight 429, 434, 552; see
    also names of individual orcs,
    e.g. Grishna´kh
    Ori 298, 313, 419, 1418
    Orkish see Orcs: languages of
    Ornendil 1371, 1425
    Orod-na-Thoˆn see Dorthonion
    Orodreth 1360
    Orodruin see Mount Doom
    Orofarne¨ 630
    Orome¨ (Araw, Be´ma) [a Vala]
    1097, 1359, 1397, 1466;
    wild kine of Araw 988,
    1359
    Orophin 446, 447, 450
    Orthanc (Cunning Mind,
    Mount Fang) 166, 335, 336,
    339, 341, 566, 568, 617,
    627, 724, 725, 728, 733,
    741–57 passim, 759–66
    passim, 775, 776–7, 778,
    780, 781, 782, 841, 1021,
    1076, 1281–4, 1433, 1435;
    devilry of (blasting fire)
    701, 703; key(s) of 760,
    1548 the return of the king
    Ondoher 1359, 1374, 1375, 1426
    One, the (= Eru, Ilu´vatar) 1357,
    1394
    One Ring see Ring, the
    Onodrim see Ents
    Orcrist 364
    Orcs (gorguˆn, yrch) 7, 72, 75,
    78, 333, 386, 403, 404, 413,
    422, 445, 447, 515, 518,
    537, 538, 540, 541, 542,
    544–56 passim, 559–77
    passim, 578–99 passim, 604,
    606, 626, 637–8, 768, 844,
    859, 953, 988, 1002, 1020,
    1209–12, 1251, 1282, 1361,
    1386, 1427, 1436; goblins
    236, 439, 540, 578, 738; of
    Cirith Ungol, Minas
    Morgul 965, 970–1,
    1173–84 passim, 1189–97
    passim, 1436; from
    Durthang 1214–19, 1437;
    of Moria, Misty Mountains
    14, 17, 57, 69, 296, 386,
    419, 421–2, 429–30, 423–4,
    426, 429, 430, 432, 445,
    447, 455, 497, 522, 582,
    583, 584, 585, 586, 587,
    882, 1366, 1381, 1395,
    1409–16 passim, 1486; of
    Mordor (Sauron, Orcs of
    the Eye, Enemy) 290,
    503–4, 508–9, 568, 581,
    589–95 passim, 649, 788,
    804, 808–10, 817, 820–1,
    832, 833, 839, 851, 859,
    869, 919, 934, 939, 947,
    948, 970, 1047, 1075, 1077,
    1076, 1087–92 passim,
    1095, 1098, 1110, 1156,
    1158–9, 1167, 1205,
    1208–11, 1214–19 passim,
    Gondor 780; of Minas Ithil
    (of Isildur; Ithil-stone) 780,
    1119, 1121, 1378, 1384,
    1427, 1431; of Minas Tirith
    (of Ana´rion, Minas Anor;
    Anor-stone) 780, 1117,
    1119, 1121, 1286, 1384; of
    the North 1361, 1364; of
    Orthanc (Orthanc-stone)
    761–2, 763, 770–84 passim,
    841, 1150, 1286, 1400,
    1431; of Osgiliath 780,
    1370, 1425; of the Tower
    Hills (Elendil’s Stone) 780,
    1364; stones of Nu´menor
    907, 909
    Parth Galen 515, 529, 538,
    542–6 passim, 860, 1012,
    1251, 1435
    Party Field 34, 42, 47, 1339,
    1460
    Party Tree 34, 36, 1330
    Paths of the Dead 656, 1015,
    1020, 1022, 1023, 1024,
    1025, 1026, 1041, 1042,
    1043, 1047, 1109, 1135,
    1144, 1148, 1401, 1436; see
    also Dead, the; Door of the
    Dead
    Pelargir 1034, 1144–9 passim,
    1153, 1174, 1272, 1368,
    1371, 1372, 1383, 1422,
    1425, 1436, 1483
    Pelendur 1359, 1374, 1379
    Pelennor [fenced land]
    (Pelennor Fields, Fields of
    the Pelennor, Field of
    Gondor) 980, 981, 999,
    1056, 1058, 1059, 1069,
    1070, 1074, 1094, 1095,
    1098, 1107, 1109, 1111,
    1149, 1156, 1202, 1254,
    index 1549
    765, 1381, 1400; Treegarth
    of 1281
    Orthanc-stone see Palantı´r
    Osgiliath (Citadel of the Stars)
    318, 319, 508, 523, 542,
    780, 837, 848, 870, 885,
    918, 925–6, 1000, 1001,
    1062, 1065, 1068, 1069,
    1072, 1076, 1079, 1107,
    1157, 1253, 1262, 1357,
    1367, 1370, 1371, 1372,
    1373, 1380, 1423, 1425,
    1432, 1436, 1462; bridges of
    478, 981; Dome of Stars
    780; fords of 981; palantı´r
    of see Palantı´r; Tower of the
    Dome of Osgiliath 1370;
    East Osgiliath 1069
    Ossir, Seven Rivers of 610
    Ossiriand 610
    Ostoher 1367, 1424
    Otherworld 305
    Outlands 1008–9; Captains of
    1007
    Outside, from whence the Dark
    Lord came 172
    Outside (Outsiders), relative to
    Bree or the Shire 13, 196,
    202, 1299
    Over-heaven 782
    Overhill 58
    Overlithe 1451, 1455
    Palantı´r [far-seer, pl. palantı´ri]
    (Seeing-stones, Seven
    Stones) 779–84, 907, 978,
    985, 991, 1119, 1149, 1357,
    1422; Seven Stones 978,
    985, 991, 1357; of Amon
    Suˆl 780, 1361, 1364, 1426;
    of Annu´minas 780, 1364,
    1426; of Arnor 1425; of
    Proudfoot, Bodo 1445
    Proudfoot, Linda ne´e Baggins
    1445
    Proudfoot, Odo 40, 51, 1445
    Proudfoot, Olo 1445
    Proudfoot, Sancho 51, 1445
    Puddifoot family 120
    Pu´kel-men 1039, 1040, 1088
    Quendi (Elves) 1495
    Quenya (High-elven, Ancient
    Speech, Ancient Tongue,
    noble tongue, etc.) 105–6,
    111, 492, 1129–30, 1358,
    1359, 1453, 1456–77
    passim, 1480, 1481, 1486,
    1495
    Quest 80, 86, 351, 438, 464,
    465, 478, 493, 514, 530,
    538, 554, 878, 885, 961–2,
    1192, 1230, 1239–40, 1242;
    of Bilbo and Thorin, i.e. of
    Erebor 14, 17, 1414; of
    Mount Doom 365
    Quickbeam (Bregalad) 629, 728,
    736, 740–1, 1281, 1284
    Radagast the Brown 334, 335,
    337, 340, 357, 1432
    Radbug 1184
    Rammas Echor (Rammas) 981,
    982, 984, 1067–8, 1076,
    1086–7, 1094, 1095, 1111,
    1112, 1270, 1274
    Rangers see Du´nedain
    Rath Celerdain see Lampwrights’
    Street
    Rath Dı´nen (Silent Street) 984,
    1081, 1082, 1085, 1115,
    1116, 1120, 1267, 1273,
    1277, 1393, 1443
    Rauros (Falls, cataracts of
    1550 the return of the king
    Pelennor – cont.
    1392, 1436; wall of see
    Rammas Echor; see also
    Battle of the Pelennor Fields
    Pennies 33, 234
    People of the Great Journey see
    Eldar
    People of the Star see Eldar
    Peredhil see Half-elven
    Peregrin, son of Paladin see
    Took, Peregrin
    Periain see Hobbits
    Phial of Galadriel (star-glass,
    Lady’s glass) 490–1, 554,
    925, 932, 942–4, 948, 954,
    956, 959, 1173, 1180, 1193,
    1197, 1212, 1227, 1236,
    1247, 1434
    Pickthorn, Tom 1299
    Pinnath Gelin [green ridges]
    1009, 1034, 1107, 1111,
    1265
    Pipe-weed (leaf ) 10–11, 728,
    1138; Nicotiana 10; (sweet)
    galenas 11, 1138;
    westmansweed 1138; see
    also varieties of pipe-weed,
    e.g. Longbottom Leaf
    Plague 6, 1362, 1373, 1396,
    1426
    Plough, the see Sickle, the
    Ponies see names of individual
    ponies, e.g. Bill
    Poros 1374, 1382, 1429; crossing
    of 1382
    Postmaster, in Shire 13
    Prancing Pony, The (the Inn of
    Bree) 11, 193, 195–212
    passim, 220, 221, 222, 427,
    1296, 1298, 1301–2, 1433
    Precious see Ring, the
    Proudfoot family 37, 38, 40
    Riders of Rohan see Rohirrim
    Rimmon see Min-Rimmon
    Ring, the (One Ring, the One,
    Great Ring, Ring of Power,
    Ruling Ring, Master-ring,
    Ring of the Enemy, etc.)
    15–18, 41–7, 52, 61–86
    passim, 98, 103, 136–7, 138,
    174, 184, 206, 210–11, 222,
    224, 231, 248, 255, 256,
    257, 285–94 passim, 297,
    301–2, 313–33 passim, 338,
    345–52 passim, 358, 359,
    361, 365, 384, 385, 387,
    406, 414, 439, 474, 475,
    476, 477, 518–31 passim,
    538, 593, 639, 646–9
    passim, 652, 807, 815, 824,
    828, 834, 869, 878, 885,
    889, 890, 905, 924–5
    passim, 932, 960–3 passim,
    978, 1064, 1078, 1147,
    1150, 1151–2, 1175–9
    passim, 1182, 1186, 1192,
    1193, 1201, 1202, 1223–39
    passim, 1275, 1293, 1340,
    1344, 1357, 1392–3, 1394,
    1419, 1420, 1421, 1422,
    1423, 1427–32 passim,
    1439, 1452; Isildur’s Bane
    317, 320, 322, 324, 860,
    866, 874, 875, 877, 993;
    Ring of Isildur 68–9, 324,
    328–9, 359; called Precious
    by Gollum (and in referring
    to him by Frodo and Sam),
    Bilbo, and Isildur 15–16,
    44, 74–5, 329, 801, 802,
    803, 805, 807, 815, 820,
    821, 827–35 passim, 837,
    841, 898–902 passim, 934,
    947, 1234, 1235, 1238;
    index 1551
    Rauros) 479, 486, 495,
    507–8, 513–14, 517, 518,
    522, 524, 537, 540, 542,
    543–4, 860, 867, 872, 885,
    993, 1150, 1253, 1272, 1480
    Reckoning of Rivendell see
    Rivendell: calendar of
    Reckoning of Years 20–1
    Red Arrow 1045, 1069, 1093
    Red Book of the Periannath 20
    Red Book of Westmarch (Bilbo
    Baggins’ book, diary) 1, 2,
    10, 17, 18, 19, 41, 52, 137,
    301, 351, 352, 356, 360,
    597, 1294, 1329, 1343–4,
    1347, 1419, 1442, 1450,
    1453, 1458, 1489, 1493,
    1496
    Red star in the South 357
    Redhorn see Caradhras
    Redhorn Gate (Redhorn Pass)
    357, 369, 371, 373, 374,
    383, 384, 1291, 1366, 1409,
    1425, 1428
    Remmirath, the Netted Stars
    107
    Reunited (restored) Kingdom
    19, 1459
    Rhosgobel 334, 357
    Rhovanion 1371–80 passim,
    1064, 1425, 1432; kings of
    1395
    Rhudaur 263, 1360, 1361, 1362,
    1425; Hillmen of 1361; men
    of 263
    Rhuˆn 323, 988; men of 1243
    Rhuˆn, Sea of (Inland Sea) 323,
    988, 1002, 1359, 1368,
    1369, 1405
    Rhymes of Lore 779
    Riddermark see Rohan
    Riddle-game 15–16, 75
    526, 573, 590, 597, 614,
    647, 646, 658, 733, 770,
    780, 850, 853, 860, 867,
    884, 954, 963, 1022, 1026,
    1142, 1212, 1245, 1274,
    1275, 1280, 1289–94
    passim, 1343, 1344, 1358,
    1360, 1365, 1377, 1386,
    1387, 1389, 1390, 1391,
    1415, 1417, 1422, 1424,
    1430–40 passim, 1491;
    calendar of (Reckoning of
    Rivendell) 1453–5, 1459;
    name 1491; Hall of Fire
    301, 360, 364, 954
    River Running (Celduin) 1370,
    1380, 1407–8
    River-daughter see Goldberry
    River-woman 156
    Road, as idea 46–7, 96–7, 372
    Roads see names of roads, e.g.
    East-West Road
    Rohan (Riddermark [Riddenamearc, land of the knights],
    the Mark, etc.) 20–1, 320,
    341, 342, 453, 486, 496–7,
    522, 545–51 passim, 555,
    561–72 passim, 590, 598,
    617, 627, 637, 639, 648–53
    passim, 658, 659, 661, 662,
    663, 664, 670–6 passim,
    680–5 passim, 696, 698,
    700, 703, 710, 736, 738,
    742, 748, 749, 753, 769,
    782, 796, 872, 879, 887,
    978, 980–1, 983, 996, 1001,
    1003, 1004, 1013–14, 1016,
    1029, 1036, 1040, 1046,
    1047, 1051, 1053, 1069,
    1074, 1075, 1085, 1090,
    1111, 1114, 1128, 1136,
    1142, 1255, 1270, 1276,
    1552 the return of the king
    Ring, the – cont.
    inscription (fire-writing) 66,
    807, 1473, 1487; War of see
    War of the Ring
    Ring, Company (Companions)
    of the see Company of the
    Ring
    Ring of Barahir 1364, 1386,
    1431
    Ring-verse v, 66; see also Ring,
    the: inscription
    Rings of Power (Great Rings,
    Elven-rings) 61, 63, 73, 74,
    77–8, 315, 325, 329, 733,
    905, 1150, 1346; lesser rings
    61; Three Rings (of Elves)
    66, 67, 68, 78, 315, 325,
    328, 329, 350, 475–7, 1272,
    1290, 1351, 1393, 1422,
    1423, 1424, 1441 see also
    Narya, Nenya, Vilya; Seven
    Rings (of Dwarves) 66, 67,
    78, 325, 328, 349, 477,
    1408, 1473; Thro´r’s Ring
    1408, 1413, 1414, 1418;
    Nine Rings (of Mortal
    Men) 66, 67, 78, 325, 328,
    477; see also Elven-smiths:
    of Eregion
    Ringlo´ 1145, 1436
    Ringlo´ Vale
    Ringwraiths see Nazguˆl
    Rivendell (Imladris, house of
    Elrond, Last Homely
    House) 4, 19, 21, 86, 105,
    109, 138, 217, 222, 225,
    232, 233, 245, 251, 253,
    261–2, 274, 275, 277, 279,
    285–310 passim, 317, 320,
    344, 354–69 passim, 378,
    384, 396, 405, 406, 441,
    454, 453, 466, 467, 476,
    887, 981, 983, 1004,
    1012–28 passim, 1035–41
    passim, 1045, 1049, 1050,
    1051, 1052, 1055, 1066,
    1067, 1068, 1069, 1075,
    1086, 1091–7 passim,
    1104–9 passim, 1128, 1129,
    1137, 1144, 1153, 1154,
    1155, 1174, 1242, 1249,
    1255, 1257, 1265, 1266,
    1270, 1276, 1277, 1278,
    1360, 1381, 1380, 1382,
    1390, 1396–1405 passim,
    1428, 1435, 1436, 1480,
    1484, 1493; Eorlingas
    (Eorlings) 675, 677, 683,
    685, 688, 705, 1044, 1051,
    1099, 1396, 1484; Forgoil,
    Strawheads 700, 1484;
    horse-boys (horsebreeders)
    583, 587, 592; Horsemen
    (Horse-men, Horse-lords)
    341, 373, 496, 555, 637,
    649, 663–4, 738, 1089–90,
    1091, 1293; Middle
    Peoples, Men of the
    Twilight 887; Northmen
    1099; robbers of the North
    700; Sons of Eorl 567,
    1047, 1094; Whiteskins
    (night-eyes) 587–91 passim;
    calendar of 1456; horns of
    598, 687, 705, 706, 1085,
    1096–7, 1105, 1107, 1111,
    1278, 1280–1, 1380,
    1399–1400, 1436; language
    of 21, 662–3, 724, 887,
    1484, 1485, 1493, 1496;
    name 1461; writing 1468
    Ro´mendacil I ‘East-victor’
    (Tarostar) 1359, 1367,
    1369–70, 1424
    index 1553
    1277, 1278, 1279, 1289,
    1300, 1318, 1351, 1381,
    1382, 1396–1406 passim,
    1419, 1428–43 passim,
    1456, 1461, 1463, 1464,
    1480, 1484, 1485, 1489;
    barrows, mounds of see
    Barrowfield; East-mark 567;
    East Wall of 550, 568; West
    Marches 669; emblem of
    (white horse, great horse
    running free usually upon
    green) 1050, 1097, 1099,
    1109, 1167, 1405; horses of,
    characteristics 341, 571,
    590, 1049; horses of, theft
    or tribute 341, 560–1, 566,
    1404; kings, lords of (Markwardens) 564, 1051, 1278,
    1400–05, 1428; name 1461,
    1463; names in 1464;
    Riders, men of see
    Rohirrim; see also East
    Dales; Eastfold; Gap of
    Rohan; Helm’s Deep;
    Westfold; Wold of Rohan;
    etc.
    Roheryn 1019, 1024
    Rohirrim (Riders, men of
    Rohan, Riders, host, knights
    of the Mark, Riders of
    The´oden, etc.) [Rider: in
    Rohan (ridda), a Knight of
    the king’s trained cavalry]
    21, 341, 385, 497, 547, 548,
    549, 555, 559, 560, 561,
    566, 570, 574, 576, 589–99
    passim, 614–15, 649, 661,
    662, 675, 676, 684, 687–99
    passim, 705–7 passim, 718,
    719, 724, 753, 755, 756,
    757, 767, 777, 796, 886,
    Sammath Naur (Chambers of
    Fire) 1232, 1236, 1237,
    1238, 1244, 1437; see also
    Crack(s) of Doom
    Sandheaver, surname 203
    Sandyman the Miller 30, 51, 58,
    1325–6
    Sandyman, Ted 58–9, 84, 423,
    472, 1325–6, 1331
    Sangahyando 1372
    Sarn Ford 225, 1309, 1320,
    1433, 1442
    Sarn Gebir 479, 502, 503, 507,
    508, 510, 1434; portage-way
    508–10
    Saruman (Saruman the White,
    Saruman the Wise, etc.)
    63–4, 76, 325, 326–8,
    333–42 passim, 345, 347,
    348–9, 385, 473, 541, 556,
    566, 568, 569, 574–6, 581,
    594, 615, 616, 617, 627,
    633–4, 636–52 passim, 664,
    676, 679, 680, 681, 686,
    688, 690, 691, 700, 701,
    709, 710, 711, 712, 715,
    719–29 passim, 730, 731,
    733, 738–66 passim, 770,
    773–82 passim, 841, 990,
    1021, 1046, 1066, 1135,
    1138, 1165, 1282, 1284,
    1287, 1288, 1289, 1304,
    1332–5, 1382, 1383,
    1400–05 passim, 1416,
    1424, 1428, 1429, 1430,
    1431, 1435, 1439, 1440;
    Curunı´r 1424; Saruman of
    Many Colours 337;
    Saruman Ring-maker 337;
    Sharkey 1315, 1325, 1326,
    1332, 1337, 1338; tree-killer
    740; voice of (power of
    1554 the return of the king
    Ro´mendacil II (Minalcar) 1359,
    1371, 1373
    Roper, Andwise ‘Andy’ 798,
    1450
    Roper, Anson 1450
    Rose, daughter of Holman ‘the
    greenhanded’ 1450
    Ruffians (Chief ’s Men,
    Sharkey’s Men) 1314–30
    passim, 1336, 1337
    Rules, the, ancient law 12
    Rules, imposed by Lotho 1309,
    1324, 1325
    Rumble, Widow 1340
    Ru´mil 446, 450, 451, 1467
    Runes 32, 222, 244–5, 272, 304,
    360, 412, 416–17, 418, 434,
    488, 489, 540, 541, 668,
    851, 1280, 1409, 1467–8;
    Cirth 1467, 1468, 1475–9;
    see also Angerthas Daeron;
    Angerthas Moria; Daeron’s
    Runes
    Running River see River
    Running
    Rushey 129
    Rushlight, surname 203
    Sackville-Baggins family (the S.-
    B.s) 27, 30, 37, 39, 40–1,
    49, 87, 89–90, 135, 137–8,
    342, 355
    Sackville-Baggins, Lobelia ne´e
    Bracegirdle 37, 49–53
    passim, 87, 90, 1326, 1445,
    1447, 1327
    Sackville-Baggins, Lotho (the Boss,
    the Chief, Pimple) 87, 89, 90,
    750, 1304, 1307–27 passim,
    1330–5 passim, 1445, 1447
    Sackville-Baggins, Otho 37,
    50–1, 53, 87, 1445, 1447
    1217, 1219, 1222, 1223,
    1227, 1232, 1233, 1236,
    1237, 1247, 1256, 1262,
    1266, 1272, 1354, 1355,
    1356, 1368, 1372, 1373,
    1381–5 passim, 1389, 1390,
    1391–2, 1404, 1405, 1406,
    1413, 1414, 1415, 1416–17,
    1421, 1422, 1423, 1427,
    1429, 1430, 1431, 1432,
    1437, 1438, 1459, 1487,
    1490, 1495; Necromancer
    326; servant of Morgoth
    1420; name 1491; servants,
    hosts of 289, 313–14,
    873–4, 1034, 1071, 1077,
    see also Nazguˆl, Orcs; Lord
    of the Ring 294; shadow of
    1241–2; slaves of 1227;
    throne of 1223; see also
    Barad-duˆr; Eye, the;
    Shadow
    Sauron’s Road 1232, 1233
    Scary 1336, 1337
    Scatha the Worm 1279–80,
    1396–7; hoard of 1396–7
    Sea, the 3, 5, 9, 11, 59, 104, 105,
    142, 169, 171, 184, 242,
    262, 287, 293, 305, 306,
    316, 319, 326, 347, 384,
    443, 444, 453, 454, 473,
    475, 476, 485–6, 496, 507,
    508–9, 522, 542, 543, 549,
    550, 610, 615, 620, 633,
    656, 659, 663, 725, 779,
    825, 850, 871, 886, 888,
    919, 982, 999, 1002, 1032,
    1052–3, 1056, 1088, 1097,
    1106, 1109, 1112, 1125,
    1143, 1145, 1148, 1192,
    1204, 1265, 1267, 1272,
    1288, 1292, 1327, 1339,
    index 1555
    persuasion) 740, 752,
    753–62, 1282–3, 1333; host
    of see Orcs; Men, in service
    of Saruman 568; treason of
    Isengard 1001–2; see also
    Isengard; Orthanc; White
    Hand
    Sauron (Dark Lord, Enemy,
    Black One, Black Hand,
    Black Master, Base Master
    of Treachery, Dark Power,
    dark hands of the East,
    Nameless One, etc.) 21, 57,
    61–9 passim, 77–82 passim,
    109, 136, 172, 184, 190,
    223, 224, 225–6, 248, 253,
    266, 274, 288–91 passim,
    294, 302, 313–14 passim,
    323, 325, 326, 329–33
    passim, 334–7 passim,
    346–51 passim, 358, 363,
    365, 375, 376, 385, 386,
    389, 452, 453, 458, 465,
    471–7 passim, 495, 496,
    519–24 passim, 556, 560,
    563, 564, 566, 621, 633,
    646, 648, 649, 651, 653,
    669, 717, 735, 757, 763,
    773–7 passim, 779, 780,
    788, 795, 807 817, 823–43
    passim, 848, 851, 861, 862,
    867–73 passim, 877, 885–8
    passim, 889, 925, 929, 933,
    934, 937, 946, 948, 961,
    965, 968, 971, 981, 988,
    994, 1001, 1022, 1023–4,
    1026, 1046, 1061–71
    passim, 1074, 1076, 1077,
    1078, 1092, 1098, 1099,
    1117–22 passim, 1127,
    1129, 1147–67 passim,
    1177, 1178, 1207, 1214,
    1073, 1085, 1113, 1114,
    1131, 1277, 1297, 1300,
    1305, 1397, 1433, 1467,
    1493; name 1493
    Shadowmere 306
    Shadows 1353
    Shadowy Mountains see Ephel
    Du´ath
    Shagrat (Captain of the Tower)
    964–71, 1175, 1179–88
    passim, 1200, 1202, 1209,
    1211, 1437
    Sharkey see Saruman
    Sharkey’s End 1338
    Sharkuˆ 1332, 1487
    Sharp-ears 188
    Shathuˆr see Fanuidhol
    Shelob (She, her Ladyship, the
    Watcher) 828, 841, 905,
    938–55 passim, 960, 963–71
    passim, 1174, 1175, 1177,
    1180, 1184, 1212, 1431,
    1436, 1440; lair of (Torech
    Ungol) 840–1, 928, 930,
    938–51, 962, 963 passim,
    1174–5, 1187, 1436
    Ship, as emblem see Dol Amroth
    Ship-kings 1268, 1424
    Shire, the (country, land of the
    Halflings) 2–14 passim, 18,
    19, 20–1 passim, 27–145
    passim, 173, 183, 190–207
    passim, 216, 217, 218, 219,
    222, 223, 225–6, 231, 241,
    246, 265, 276, 287, 290,
    293, 297, 301, 302, 310,
    324, 331–42 passim, 344,
    345, 353, 360, 375, 414,
    418, 423, 427, 453, 457,
    467, 469, 472, 506, 517,
    526, 614, 728, 750, 765,
    793, 798, 842, 845, 850,
    1556 the return of the king
    Sea – cont.
    1347, 1354–7, 1364–72
    passim, 1382, 1390, 1392,
    1395, 1419, 1420, 1424,
    1428, 1430, 1441, 1442,
    1443, 1454, 1482, 1483;
    Great Sea 104, 105, 195,
    454, 506, 542, 725, 825,
    1268, 1352; Sundering Seas
    252, 253, 485, 782; Western
    Seas 104, 412, 1345
    Seat of Hearing see Amon Lhaw
    Seat of Seeing see Amon Hen
    Second Age 21, 315, 1351, 1355,
    1358, 1420–3, 1468
    Secret Fire 430
    Seeing-stones see Palantı´r
    Seen and the Unseen 290
    Seven Rings see Rings of Power
    Seven Stars see Elendil: emblems
    of
    Seven Stones see Palantı´r
    Shadow, the, i.e. the recurring
    and growing power of evil,
    especially of Sauron 67–8,
    77, 220, 314, 342, 358, 445,
    453, 454, 516, 646, 788,
    909, 1002, 1035, 1055,
    1065, 1092, 1206, 1224,
    1246, 1258, 1261, 1278,
    1373, 1391, 1393, 1394,
    1406, 1422, 1437; sometimes
    used as a synonym for
    Sauron or Mordor; see also
    Morgoth
    Shadow Host see Dead, the
    Shadowfax 342, 344, 566, 590,
    658, 659, 660, 664, 669,
    681, 684, 685, 688, 707,
    709, 719, 778, 783, 978,
    979, 983, 984, 994, 996,
    997, 1005–12, 1038, 1060,
    1247, 1351, 1441, 1444,
    1451–3, 1455–60
    Shirriff-houses 1311, 1312,
    1325, 1337
    Shirriffs 13, 1310–15 passim,
    1320, 1325, 1337; First
    Shirriff 13
    Sickle, the (Plough, Great Bear)
    228
    Siege of Barad-duˆr 1423
    Silent Street see Rath Dı´nen
    Silent Watchers 840, 926, 839
    Silmarie¨n 1355, 1375
    Silmaril(s) ( Jewels, Great Jewel)
    253, 305, 307, 360, 932,
    942, 1245, 1352, 1353
    Silmarillion, The 1353, 1488
    Silvan Elves (Silvan folk, Woodelves, East-elves) 76, 78,
    369, 441–9, 1420, 1427,
    1438, 1481; language of
    441, 445; see also names of
    Silvan Elves, e.g. Haldir
    Silver Tree see Telperion; White
    Tree
    Silverlode see Celebrant
    Silvertine see Celebdil
    Simbelmyne¨ (Evermind) 662,
    1031, 1400
    Sindar see Eldar
    Sindarin (Grey-elven) 368–9,
    398–9, 400, 442, 446, 724,
    861, 1453, 1459–66 passim
    1471–5, 1481–7
    Sirannon (Gate-stream) 392,
    393; see also Stair Falls
    Siriondil 1359, 1375
    Skinbark (Fladrif ) 618, 630,
    1462
    Slag-hills 1161, 1437
    Smallburrow, Robin 1311–12,
    1313
    index 1557
    860, 944, 954, 978, 986,
    989, 994, 998, 1002, 1006,
    1012, 1018, 1036, 1055,
    1058, 1139, 1156, 1165,
    1188, 1197, 1231, 1239,
    1249, 1275, 1280, 1286,
    1291–1349 passim, 1360–67
    passim, 1415, 1416,
    1426–33 passim, 1439–43
    passim, 1452, 1489; calendar
    of see Shire Reckoning;
    clocks in 856; holidays in
    13, 1341, 1459–94;
    Marches of 12; Messenger
    Service 13; name 1491;
    ordering of 12–13; personal
    names in 1491–3; placenames in 1485, 1491,
    1493–4; Postmaster 13;
    Quick Post Service 1312;
    records in 19–21, 1458;
    settlement of 4, 5; Shirefashion, advice 1292; Shirefolk, Shire-hobbits 21, 196,
    197, 205, 226, 253, 353,
    469, 1021, 1036, 1156,
    1317, 1365, 1428, 1440,
    etc.; Shire-historians 1329;
    Shire-moot 12; Shiremuster 12; Watch 13; ‘sure
    as Shiretalk’ 845; see also
    Buckland; Bywater;
    Eastfarthing; Farthings;
    Green Hills; Hobbiton;
    Hobbits; North Moors;
    Northfarthing;
    Southfarthing; ThreeFarthing Stone; Tookland;
    Westfarthing; Westmarch;
    etc.
    Shire Reckoning (Shirereckoning) 6, 10, 734, 1174,
    Southfarthing leaf 750
    Southlinch 1298
    Southrons see Haradrim
    Southward Road, in Ithilien
    903–4, 918
    Spear of Gil-galad see Aeglos
    Springle-ring 38
    Staddle 195, 196, 203, 235, 237,
    1299
    Staffs, gift of Faramir 908–9,
    950, 956
    Stair, the, by Moria 394–5, 392,
    393
    Stair, the, by Rauros (North
    Stair) 508, 524
    Stair Falls 392
    Stairs, the, of Cirith Ungol see
    Straight Stair; Winding
    Stair
    Standing Silence 884, 1250
    Standing stones 179, 180
    Star of Elendil see Elendilmir
    Star of the Du´nedain 1019,
    1382, 1441
    Starkhorn 661, 1035, 1039,
    1040
    Stars, as emblems see Arnor;
    Durin; Elendil; Fe¨anor
    Stewards of Gondor (Ruling
    Stewards, Rulers of the
    City, Lord of the City, of
    Gondor, etc.) [Steward of
    the High King (title of
    rulers of Gondor)] 328,
    700, 875, 886, 989, 1078,
    1081, 1112, 1121, 1127–8,
    1152, 1158, 1159, 1359–60,
    1379–85; see also names of
    individual Stewards, e.g.
    Denethor II; banner of 984,
    1265, 1379; see also House
    of the Stewards
    1558 the return of the king
    Smaug the Golden (the Dragon)
    14, 18, 299, 333, 1292,
    1408, 1415, 1416, 1428,
    1430; firework 36
    Sme´agol see Gollum
    Smial(s) 8, 9, 1338, 1485, 1494;
    see also names of individual
    smials, e.g. Brandy Hall
    Smiths see Elven-smiths
    Snaga [slave] 587, 1184–6,
    1188, 1189–90, 1486
    Snowbourn 661, 662, 1035,
    1037, 1040, 1044, 1051,
    1053, 1493; name 1493
    Snowmane 684, 687–8, 703,
    1019, 1049, 1096, 1097,
    1099–1100, 1106
    Snowmane’s Howe 1106
    Snowmen of Forochel see
    Lossoth
    Sorcerer King of Angmar see
    Witch-king
    South, the, relative to
    inhabitants of the North
    201, 203–4, 301, 334;
    strangers from, at Bree 201,
    203–4, 210, 215–16, 235,
    1314, see also Southerner,
    squint-eyed; see also
    Belfalas; Dol Amroth;
    Gondor; Harad; etc.
    South Ithilien 981, 1143, 1374,
    1426
    South Lane 1317
    South Road 1007
    Southern Star 11
    Southerner, squint-eyed 204,
    210, 215–16, 227, 1314
    Southfarthing 10, 12, 49, 99,
    496, 1288, 1298, 1304,
    1309, 1324, 1339, 1428,
    1431
    Swan-ship 485, 486
    Swanfleet river 1289
    Swans, black 498
    Swertings (Swarthy Men) see
    Haradrim
    Swish-tail 188
    Sword that was broken see Narsil
    Swords see names of individual
    swords, e.g. Sting; from
    barrow 191, 255–6, 257,
    278, 361, 422–3, 538, 591,
    941, 943–4, 1017–18, 1095,
    1101, 1105, 1165, 1169,
    1249, 1250, 1437; melts
    1105
    Talan see Flet
    Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, The
    20, 1385–95
    Tale of Years, The 21, 1420–43
    Taniquetil (the Mountain) 306
    Tar-Alcarin 1354
    Tar-Aldarion 1354, 1375
    Tar-Amandil 1354, 1355
    Tar-Ana´rion 1354
    Tar-Ancalime¨ 1345, 1375, 1421
    Tar-Ancalimon 1354, 1422
    Tar-Ardamin 1354–5
    Tar-Atanamir 1354, 1355–6,
    1422
    Tar-Calmacil 1422
    Tar-Ciryatam 1422
    Tar-Elendil 1355, 1354, 1375
    Tar-Meneldur 1354, 1375
    Tar-Minastir 1354, 1355, 1422
    Tar-Minyatur see Elros TarMinyatur
    Tar-Mı´riel 1355
    Tar-Palantir ‘The Farsighted’
    (Ar-Inziladuˆn) 1355, 1356,
    1422
    Tar-Su´rion 1354
    index 1559
    Stewards’ Reckoning 1454–5,
    1459
    Sting (Elvish knife), sword 15,
    18, 41, 361, 364, 404, 421,
    423, 439, 449, 500, 515,
    802, 859, 945, 950, 951,
    953, 956, 962, 963, 969–70,
    971, 1173, 1180, 1183,
    1186, 1190, 1193, 1212,
    1227, 1250, 1292
    Stock 93, 100, 117, 120, 127,
    129
    Stock-brook 117
    Stock Road 1344
    Stone of Erech (Black Stone) [a
    tryst-stone (symbol of
    Isildur’s overlordship)]
    1023, 1024, 1031–4 passim,
    1144, 1146; see also Erech
    Stone-trolls see Trolls
    Stonebows, Bridge of 5–6; see
    also Brandywine Bridge
    Stones of Seeing see Palantı´r
    Stonewain Valley 1090, 1091,
    1174
    Stoors 4, 8, 69, 1362, 1425,
    1426, 1485, 1492; language
    of 1485; names 1492–3
    Straight Stair 841, 927, 928, 966,
    967
    Strider see Aragorn II
    Strider, pony 1344
    Stybba 1019, 1049, 1052
    Summerfilth 1456
    Sun, called Yellow Face by
    Gollum 812, 838, 846, 852,
    863, 899
    Sundering Seas see Sea, the
    Sunlending see Ano´rien
    Sunless Year 104
    Swan, as emblem see Dol
    Amroth
    The´oden, son of Thengel (King,
    Lord of the Mark, Lord of
    Rohan, Lord of the
    Rohirrim, Horsemaster,
    Father of Horse-men,
    The´oden Ednew, etc.) 341,
    563–71 passim, 650, 653,
    658, 661–93 passim, 700–12
    passim, 717–21 passim,
    726–9 passim, 746–9
    passim, 767, 776, 783, 983,
    987, 990, 996, 1013–20
    passim, 1022, 1024–5
    passim, 1035–63 passim,
    1055, 1086–1106 passim,
    1111, 1121, 1128, 1134–8
    passim, 1149, 1202, 1255,
    1270, 1277–80 passim,
    1397, 1403–4, 1430, 1431,
    1433, 1435–6; household of
    (lords of the House of Eorl,
    of the Golden House) 688,
    692, 705, 708, 1017, 1050,
    1094, 1104, 1105
    The´odred 669, 683, 687, 756,
    1404, 1435
    The´odwyn 1403, 1404
    Thingol Grey-cloak 252, 253,
    1352, 1421, 1468, 1481
    Third Age 1, 3, 14, 19, 21, 324,
    1269, 1272, 1347, 1351,
    1378, 1395, 1401, 1405,
    1420, 1423–43, 1458;
    beginning of 1467
    Thistlewool, surname 203
    Thorin I 1408, 1418, 1427
    Thorin II ‘Oakenshield’ 14, 297,
    349, 364, 361, 414,
    1408–18 passim, 1428,
    1430
    Thorin III ‘Stonehelm’ 1418,
    1438, 1439
    1560 the return of the king
    Tar-Telemmaite¨ 1354
    Tar-Telperie¨n 1354
    Tar-Vanimelde¨ 1354
    Tarannon Falastur ‘Lord of the
    Coasts’ 1359, 1367
    Tarcil 1358
    Tarciryan 1359
    Targon 998
    Tark(s) 1185, 1487
    Tarlang’s Neck 1034
    Tarmenel 305
    Tarondor 1359, 1373, 1426
    Tarostar see Ro´mendacil I
    Tasarinan (Nan-tasarion [Vale
    of Willows]) 610, 1285
    Taters (potatoes) 29, 31, 855,
    856, 1327
    Taur-na-neldor see Neldoreth
    Taur-nu-Fuin 252–3
    Tauremornalo´me¨ 611
    Teeth of Mordor see Towers of
    the Teeth
    Telchar 667
    Telcontar see Aragorn II
    Telemnar 1359, 1373, 1426
    Telperion (Silver Tree, White
    Tree, Eldest of Trees) 779,
    842, 1273, 1352; one of the
    Two Trees of Valinor 1352,
    1353
    Telumehtar Umbardacil 1359,
    1373, 1426
    Tengwar 32, 66, 1463–9
    Thain [chieftain] 6, 12–13, 1426
    Thain’s Book 20, 1481
    Thangorodrim 932, 1352, 1407,
    1421
    Tharbad 4, 357, 487, 1360, 1429
    Tharkuˆn see Gandalf
    Thengel 670, 755, 1382, 1403;
    see also The´oden, son of
    Thengel
    Took family 4, 12–13, 37, 38–9,
    40, 48, 196, 600–1, 771,
    1139, 1321, 1327–8, 1448,
    1458, 1491; names 1491; see
    also Great Smials; Tookland
    Took, Adalgrim 1448
    Took, Adamanta ne´e Chubb
    1448
    Took, Adelard 48, 1448
    Took, Bandobras ‘Bullroarer’ 2,
    7, 388, 1292, 1366, 1428,
    1448
    Took, Diamond, of Long Cleeve
    1441, 1448
    Took, Eglantine ne´e Banks 1448
    Took, Everard 38, 1448
    Took, Faramir 1442, 1450, 1448
    Took, Ferdibrand 1448
    Took, Ferdinand 1448
    Took, Ferumbras (II) 1448
    Took, Ferumbras (III) 1448
    Took, Flambard 1448
    Took, Fortinbras (I) 1448
    Took, Fortinbras (II) 1448
    Took, Gerontius ‘the Old Took’
    28, 29, 56, 600–1, 1292,
    1343, 1346, 1428, 1429,
    1448
    Took, Goldilocks ne´e Gamgee
    1347, 1441, 1448, 1450
    Took, Hildibrand 1448
    Took, Hildifons 1448
    Took, Hildigard 1448
    Took, Hildigrim 1445, 1448
    Took, Isembard 1448
    Took, Isembold 1448
    Took, Isengar 1448
    Took, Isengrim (II) 11, 13, 1448
    Took, Isengrim (III) 2, 1448
    Took, Isumbras (I) 1427
    Took, Isumbras (III) 2, 1448
    Took, Isumbras (IV) 1448
    index 1561
    Thorondir 1360
    Thorondor 1241
    Thorongil see Aragorn II
    Thra´in I 1407, 1418, 1427
    Thra´in II, son of Thro´r (Durin’s
    Heir) 349, 387, 1408–18
    passim, 1428
    Thranduil 312, 332, 355, 461,
    1419, 1420, 1432, 1437,
    1438
    Three-Farthing Stone 1313,
    1339
    Three Houses of Men (the Elffriends) see Edain
    Three Hunters (Aragorn, Gimli,
    Legolas) 546, 643
    Three Kindreds 546, 1495
    Three Rings see Rings of Power
    Thrihyrne 687, 689, 779
    Throne, of Gondor (throne of
    gold) 549, 987, 1268
    Thro´r 313, 349, 387, 1407,
    1408–9, 1413, 1418, 1428;
    ring of 349
    Tighfield 798, 1450
    Tim, in troll song 270
    Tindrock see Tol Brandir
    Tinu´viel see Lu´thien
    Tirion 306, 485, 781
    Tobacco see Pipe-weed
    Tol Brandir (Tindrock) 486,
    495, 508, 513, 515–17
    passim, 523, 531, 542, 554,
    567, 573, 823, 872
    Tom, in troll song 270–1
    Tom Bombadil see Bombadil,
    Tom
    Tombs see Barrows; Hallows;
    House of the Kings; House
    of the Stewards
    Tongue see Naith of Lo´rien
    Took, The 13
    Tower Hall see Citadel of
    Gondor
    Tower Hills (Emyn Beraid) 9,
    103, 780, 1364, 1442, 1450;
    palantı´r of 780, 1364; see
    also White Towers
    Tower of Ecthelion see White
    Tower, of Minas Tirith
    Tower of Sorcery see Minas
    Morgul
    Tower of the (Rising) Moon see
    Minas Ithil
    Tower of the (Setting) Sun see
    Minas Anor
    Towers of the Teeth (Carchost
    and Narchost, Teeth of
    Mordor) 830, 847, 1161,
    1177, 1242
    Town Hole 204
    Translations from the Elvish 20,
    1292
    Tree, the see White Tree
    Tree-men 58–9
    Tree of the High Elves 397, 398
    Tree-people see Elves of
    Lothlo´rien (Galadhrim)
    Treebeard 601–35 passim, 650,
    651, 652, 726, 728, 729,
    731, 732, 736, 737, 738,
    739, 741–2, 743–4, 747,
    748, 749, 751, 763, 764–5,
    766, 767, 990, 1281–4,
    1285, 1289, 1435, 1439,
    1486; Fangorn 604, 618,
    651, 729, 1281, 1282, 1283;
    name 604; Eldest 1285;
    oldest living thing 651, 729
    Treebeard’s Hill 602–7, 641–4
    Trees, Two see Laurelin;
    Telperion
    Trolls (Stone-trolls) 12, 57, 249,
    261, 263, 268–71 passim,
    1562 the return of the king
    Took, Paladin 989, 991, 994,
    1321; see also Took,
    Peregrin, son of Paladin
    Took, Pearl 1448
    Took, Peregrin (I) ‘Pippin’, son
    of Paladin 2, 20, 21, 56,
    89–281 passim, 285–6, 290,
    291, 292, 294, 296, 311,
    354, 357, 359, 364–528
    passim, 539, 540, 552, 563,
    564–5, 569, 572, 574,
    578–635 passim, 637, 638,
    639, 640, 644, 646, 647,
    648–9, 650, 652, 726–50
    passim, 752, 762, 765,
    767–84, 860, 977–1011
    passim, 1016, 1020, 1035,
    1036, 1042, 1054–69,
    1070–2, 1075, 1077,
    1079–83, 1087, 1090,
    1113–16, 1120, 1121, 1122,
    1124–5, 1134, 1137, 1139,
    1141, 1142, 1143–4, 1156,
    1162, 1164, 1168–9, 1174,
    1251, 1252, 1266, 1271,
    1277, 1285–6, 1289, 1292,
    1295–1322, 1327, 1328,
    1329, 1330, 1337, 1338,
    1340, 1341, 1342, 1347,
    1348, 1349, 1351, 1433,
    1435, 1441, 1443, 1445,
    1448, 1450, 1464, 1489;
    Prince of the Halflings
    1056; Thain 1443
    Took, Pervinca 1448
    Took, Pimpernel 1448
    Took, Reginard 1448
    Took, Rosa ne´e Baggins 1445,
    1448
    Took, Sigismond 1448
    Tookland 12, 93, 1321, 1327
    Torech Ungol see Shelob: lair of
    1145, 1146; name 1483; see
    also Corsairs of Umbar
    Undergate (under-gate, Underway) 962, 964, 1173, 1182
    Underharrow 1051
    Underhill, surname 203; see also
    Baggins, Frodo
    Underhill, from Staddle 1299
    Undertowers 19, 1442
    Undo´miel see Arwen
    Undying Lands (Realm) see
    Aman
    Ungoliant 947
    Upbourn 1051
    Uruk-hai see Orcs
    Uruks see Orcs
    Uttermost West see Aman
    Valacar 1359, 1369, 1370, 1425
    Valandil 317, 323, 513, 1267,
    1355, 1358, 1424
    Valandur 1358
    Valar, the (Authorities,
    Guardians of the World,
    Lords of the West, those
    who dwell beyond the Sea) 15,
    347, 864, 1097, 1261–2, 1352,
    1353, 1354, 1356–7, 1419,
    1359, 1457; Ban of 1354,
    1356–7; thrones of 1268
    Valimar 492
    Valinor 306, 1275, 1353, 1420,
    1422
    Valinorean, language 1132
    Varda see Elbereth
    Vardamir 1354
    Variags of Khand 1107, 1110
    Vidugavia 1370
    Vidumavi 1370
    Vilya 1346, 1424
    Vinitharya see Eldacar
    Vorondil ‘the Hunter’ 988, 1359
    index 1563
    290, 293, 429, 1243, 1487;
    cave-troll 422; Hill-trolls
    1168–9, 1386; Olog-hai
    1487; language of 1487,
    1490; Sam’s song of the
    troll 270–1
    Trolls’ wood (Trollshaws)
    263–9 passim
    Tuckborough 8, 20, 600, 1006,
    1321, 1328, 1458
    Tumladen 999
    Tunnelly, surname 203
    Tuor 1353
    Turambar 1359, 1367
    Turgon, king of Gondolin
    1352–3
    Turgon, steward 1360, 1382,
    1403
    Tu´rin, of the First Age 353,
    953
    Tu´rin I, steward 1360
    Tu´rin II, steward 1360, 1381–2,
    1403
    Twilight, of the West 1391, 1393
    Two Trees of Valinor see
    Laurelin; Telperion
    Two Watchers see Watchers
    Twofoot, Daddy 29
    Tyrn Gorthad see Barrow-downs
    Uduˆn, flame of [hell], i.e.
    dwelling of Morgoth
    beneath Thangorodrim 430;
    [a region of Mordor] 1214,
    1218, 1219, 1243, 1437
    Ufthak 969
    Uglu´k 579–98 passim, 614, 617,
    735
    Umbar 862, 1001, 1145, 1368,
    1356, 1371, 1372, 1373,
    1381, 1383, 1422, 1425,
    1426, 1480, 1483; fleet of
    1295, 1361, 1433; Amon
    Suˆl 242, 344, 780, 1361,
    1364, 1425; palantı´r of
    Amon Suˆl see Palantı´r;
    Tower of Amon Suˆl 242,
    1361, 1425
    Wellinghall 612, 736
    Werewolves 290
    West-elves see Eldar
    West-gate, of Moria see Moria
    West March, of Shire 12
    West Road (North-way), from
    Minas Tirith to Rohan
    1154, 1270–1, 1274
    Westemnet 568
    Westernesse see Nu´menor
    Westfarthing 9, 12, 30, 204,
    1460, 1475, 1489
    Westfold 688, 692, 707, 757,
    1018, 1160; Dales of 783;
    men of (Helmingas,
    Westfolders, etc.) 692, 693,
    699, 702, 707, 708, 709,
    711, 712 see also
    Erkenbrand, lord of
    Westfold, Grimbold; Vale
    of 688, 689, 690
    Westlands (West of the World,
    West), i.e. the West of
    Middle-earth 195, 316, 318,
    464, 685, 1420, 1421, 1468,
    1473, 1481, 1483, 1487;
    West, the (free folk of, men
    of, children of, army of,
    etc.), i.e. those free of, and
    opposing Sauron 77, 318,
    1024, 1118, 1156, 1165,
    1249, 1261–2
    Westmansweed see Pipe-weed
    Westmarch 12, 1442, 1450; see
    also Red Book of
    Westmarch
    1564 the return of the king
    Wainriders 1373, 1374, 1395,
    1426
    Walda 1279, 1402, 1429
    Wandering Companies 111
    Wandering Days 3
    Wandlimb see Fimbrethil
    War of the Dwarves and Orcs
    1381–2, 1409–10, 1417,
    1428
    War of the Elves and Sauron
    1422
    War of the Great Jewels 1482
    War of the Ring 20, 21, 287,
    580, 588, 1344, 1351, 1353,
    1384, 1385, 1392, 1405,
    1411, 1417, 1419, 1440,
    etc.
    Warden of the Houses of
    Healing see Houses of
    Healing
    Wardens of the Westmarch 19,
    1442, 1450
    Wargs see Wolves
    Watcher in the Water 394,
    401–2, 420
    Watchers, of Cirith Ungol (Two
    Watchers) 1180, 1185,
    1196–7
    Watchful Peace 1366, 1379–80,
    1427
    Watchwood 766
    Water, the 36, 93, 109, 1201,
    1326, 1330
    Water-valley 93, 101
    Waybread see Lembas
    Waymeet 1320, 1321, 1320,
    1322, 1327
    Weather Hills 239, 240, 241–4,
    248, 249, 1361
    Weathertop 4, 225, 237–45
    passim, 254, 260, 261, 264,
    269, 275, 285, 344, 437,
    White Tree, of Valinor see
    Telperion
    White-socks 188
    Whitfoot, Will (Mayor of Michel
    Delving, Flourdumpling)
    204, 206, 1312, 1325,
    1336–7, 1341, 1440,
    1441
    Whitfurrows 1312
    Whitwell 1006
    Widfara 1094
    Wights see Barrow-wights
    Wild, the 82, 217, 223, 259,
    302, 355, 1430; Wilderness
    274
    Wild Men, of Dunland see
    Dunlendings
    Wild Men (Woses) 1087,
    1088–90, 1091–2, 1094,
    1436, 1480, 1484; see also
    Ghaˆn-buri-Ghaˆn
    Wilderland 4, 14, 69, 76, 77,
    297, 327, 357, 366, 468,
    501, 506, 508, 514, 615,
    651, 1362, 1425, 1485
    Willow, Old Man (Willow-man,
    Great Willow) 156–8, 165,
    170
    Windfola 1053, 1100
    Winding Stair 745–6, 841, 928,
    966, 967
    Window of the Eye 1232
    Winged Shadow(s), Terror see
    Nazguˆl
    Winterfilth 1451, 1457
    Wise, the [the Wizards and the
    Rulers of the Elves] 3, 62,
    63, 64, 69, 72, 74, 325, 326,
    334, 337, 349, 353, 803,
    1071, 1344, 1425, 1427; see
    also White Council
    Wise-nose 188
    index 1565
    Wetwang see Nindalf
    White Company 1269–70
    White Council (Council of the
    Wise) 57, 62, 63, 69, 326,
    327–8, 333, 345, 346, 464,
    616, 1293, 1379–80, 1400,
    1416, 1427–32 passim
    White Downs 8, 13, 1313–14,
    1347
    White Hand, pillar of 722, 767;
    as emblem see Isengard
    White horse, emblem of Rohan
    see Rohan
    White Mountains (Ered
    Nimrais, Mountains of
    Gondor, etc.) 318, 336, 341,
    374, 444, 487, 496–7, 549,
    555, 659, 686, 687, 779, 886,
    894, 908, 978, 981, 982,
    1033, 1035, 1038, 1381,
    1396, 1398, 1402, 1484
    White Rider see Gandalf
    White ship 1348
    White Tower, of Minas Tirith
    (Tower of Ecthelion) 542,
    859, 982, 984, 1001, 1047,
    1070–4, 1077, 1079, 1080,
    1117, 1121, 1140, 1251,
    1265, 1304, 1385, 1426,
    1428
    White Towers (Elf-towers) 9,
    59, 347, 1347; see also
    Tower Hills
    White Tree, of Gondor (Silver
    Tree, the Tree) 318, 328,
    549, 779, 838, 877–8, 985,
    1056, 1109, 1262, 1272–3,
    1275, 1373, 1381, 1385,
    1405, 1423–7 passim, 1439,
    1457; Nimloth [white
    flower] 1273, 1357, 1457;
    see also Withered Tree
    powers; contemptuously;
    ‘wizardry’: magic of kind
    popularly ascribed to the
    Wizards]
    Wizard’s Vale see Nan Curunı´r
    Wold of Rohan 558, 572, 1053,
    1094, 1282, 1396, 1401,
    1428
    Wolf, Farmer Maggot’s dog 120,
    121
    Wolf of Angband 253
    Wolf-riders 568, 690, 719
    Wolves 7, 120, 339, 341, 357,
    387–8, 400, 401, 402, 447,
    455, 522, 688, 718, 719,
    723, 738, 746, 747, 885,
    1300, 1414, 1434; wargs
    290, 387–90; white wolves
    231, 375, 1429; Hound of
    Sauron 389; see also Wolf of
    Angband
    Wood-elves see Elves
    Woodhall 93, 100, 106, 114–16
    Woodmen, of Mirkwood 76;
    language of 1483–4
    Woody End 93, 96, 97, 103,
    1201, 1310, 1320, 1329,
    1344, 1441
    World’s End 307
    Wormtongue (Grı´ma, son of
    Ga´lmo´d) 567, 664, 670–81
    passim, 689, 690, 710, 724,
    726, 746–50 passim, 754,
    762, 763, 782–3, 1037,
    1134, 1135, 1288, 1289,
    1333–5, 1467, 1493; name
    1493
    Woses see Wild Men
    Wraiths see Nazguˆl
    Writing and spelling, in Middleearth 5, 1461–77; see also
    Elvish writing; Runes;
    1566 the return of the king
    Witch-king (sorcerer king of
    Angmar, Wraith-king, chief
    of the Ringwraiths, Lord of
    the Nazguˆl, Morgul-lord,
    Black Captain, Captain of
    Despair, etc.) 6, 256, 257,
    258, 280, 287, 324–5, 344,
    924–5, 965–6, 1069, 1071,
    1073, 1077, 1079, 1083,
    1084, 1085, 1095, 1098,
    1099–1102, 1105, 1107,
    1121, 1151, 1177, 1202,
    1211, 1361, 1363, 1364,
    1376–9 passim, 1395, 1405,
    1419, 1426, 1427, 1436;
    cry of 1100, 1101, 1121;
    Dwimmerlaik 1100;
    winged beast of 1099–1102,
    1107
    Withered Tree (Dead Tree)
    [dead relic of the Tree of
    Gondor] 985, 1080, 1262,
    1272–3, 1275; see also
    White Tree, of Gondor
    Withywindle 129, 148–9, 151,
    158, 165, 168, 177; valley of
    148–50, 168
    Wizard(s) [one of the Order of
    Istari] 11, 14, 110, 519,
    615–16, 633, 667, 722, 760,
    768, 770–1, 774, 892, 1063,
    1423; Order 63, 328, 334,
    335, 758, 761, 1423–4;
    Istari 1423, 1424; Five
    Wizards 760, 1424; see also
    names of individual Wizards,
    e.g. Gandalf; the word
    ‘wizard’ often refers
    specifically to Gandalf, and is
    also used casually to refer to
    [a magician; anyone
    credited with strange
    Yellowskin ( Yearbook of
    Tuckborough) 1458
    Younger Days 337
    Yule 1337, 1452, 1455
    Zirakzigil (Zirak) see Celebdil
    index 1567
    Tengwar; writing under
    names of peoples, e.g.
    Dwarves
    Wulf 1398, 1399, 1400, 1428
    Yale, the 100, 1446, 1447
    MAPS
    3
    2
    4
    1
    1
    2
    3
    4
    ii
    works by j.r.r. tolkien
    The Hobbit
    Leaf by Niggle
    On Fairy-Stories
    Farmer Giles of Ham
    The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth
    The Lord of the Rings
    The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
    The Road Goes Ever On (with Donald Swann)
    Smith of Wootton Major
    works published posthumously
    Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo
    The Father Christmas Letters
    The Silmarillion
    Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien
    Unfinished Tales
    The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
    Finn and Hengest
    Mr Bliss
    The Monsters and the Critics & Other Essays
    Roverandom
    The Children of Hu´rin
    The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
    the history of middle-earth – by christopher tolkien
    I The Book of Lost Tales, Part One
    II The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two
    III The Lays of Beleriand
    IV The Shaping of Middle-earth
    V The Lost Road and Other Writings
    VI The Return of the Shadow
    VII The Treason of Isengard
    VIII The War of the Ring
    IX Sauron Defeated
    X Morgoth’s Ring
    XI The War of the Jewels
    XII The Peoples of Middle-earth
    HarperCollinsPublishers
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    Copyright
    www.tolkien.co.uk
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    Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2008
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