It Is a Beautiful Thing. the Underhills, Ferny and Oldham, Had Been Beautiful

It is a beautiful thing. The Underhills, Ferny and Oldham, had been beautiful. It has all the charm of a song, or of a song. It is quite actual. The Underhills sang it. They said it was funny, and so was I. I don't know why. It was just so natural. And funny it was, because it was so natural at the time, too. It was like a dream, or so I thought. It came true, and then it was a lie. It was a dream, and I had had it cut out of my mind. I was so taken up with it that I almost thought I was dreaming, and yet it felt so real to me, in a way; and then at last I put it out of my mind. I mean, it was real. It was real enough in the way I felt when we went out together, singing and talking, after all we had in the last month or two.

_What do you think of it?_

Baggins: _I don't know,Baggins. Of course!

We had an amazing time!

Baggins: We had an amazing time! It was such a long time between us._

_We had an amazing time!

Baggins: We had an amazing time! It was such a long time between us._

_We had an amazing time!

Baggins: It was like a dream.

Baggins: It was like a dream. We had a great time, we said.

_We had an amazing time! _ We had a great time. We were bursting at bursting, and bursting full of fire. We were the best band in the Shire! Every song that we wrote, every ragtag mess that we hung out on, was shot in this land of fire and brimstone. And we got so many laughs out of it, we were almost thought impossible to record. It was like a dream. We laughed so hard that we had a hard time getting a hold of the chorus, because it was so loud, and we had to try and keep up with the throb and the squeal and the squeal of our voices. Then when we got to Buckland, we had to get rid of the chorus altogether. It was like a dream, and we were bursting.

We've got the keyed chimes of Buckland up our sleeves now, and we'll blaze off in a blaze in the morning. At sunrise my rabble is preparing to march, and march on through Hobbiton and the East, and down from the hills to the stream, and back into the Chetwood, and the Brandywine. I'll be there and take you, Frodo, and tell you what, cousin: I'll be there and tell you what, cousin: I hope the fire is all right, dad?

_We've got the keyed chimes of Buckland, and we'll blaze off in a blaze in the morning, and march on through Hobbiton and the East, and down from the hills into the Brandywine, and back into the Chetwood!_

_At sunset I feel the stir of fire in my heart, and the air is hot in the Shire.

We've got the keyed chimes of Buckland up our sleeves, And we'll soon be getting orders up!' _We've got the keyed chimes of Buckland up our sleeves, We'll soon be getting orders!

'We hope you're right,' said Sam; 'for that big crowd that was just about to go away is going to be some sort of... crowd-pleasing thing. It will keep all the big weddings ======It must have been a lot darker inside, I'll warrant; and I suppose it was less so on that journey down the Pkelmoth, when you were setting out from Hobbiton. It must have looked nearly as dark as I remember it, but it didn't feel the same. I don't know why. And I don't think I've ever felt more alone and troubled, or terrified, than I have been. I suppose I was just wondering what sort of a journey it would be, if you took me on a journey through the woods, as you say; and if hobbit-hood is any guide. But I shall have to be more or less mysterious-in plain sight to anybody now.' He shut his eyes and rubbed them together. They seemed heavy and heavy to him, as if the world had suddenly changed and all his fears had been laid aside. He shuddered, as if a white light had been kindled which no darkness could yet change; but he felt that he stood above the world, and the shadow of it fell on him like a dull piece of metal. Then the company were so far ahead that many of them could not see them at all. But as they turned and passed on into more sheltered places and were less swift, they began to follow after the trail of the Riders that was growing more frequent. At length they came to a narrow bend, in the shadow of a tree-root: it was there that the trail of the hobbits had been laid. The path turned left and climbed steeply, and as it went on it steeply became easier, and at last it bent sharply eastward, and the trail was laid straight for Frodo. As he stood hoping at the least-to-immediate-sight of the place where the trail had been laid he felt a great desire to follow, and he made a last effort to keep up the pace required to follow it. Then he felt the need of some urgency. He stood up, panting. `I feel tired. I don't know why I feel this way,' he said, `but I want to go on. I don't know why I feel so anxious. I feel like walking for a bit.' `I feel like walking,' said Frodo, feeling his heart pierced by a sudden chill. 'I feel like I am going through the woods. I feel like I am in the Shire. I feel like I have come down to the Greenway.' `In the Shire! ' whispered Sam. `Yes, in the Shire! ' said Frodo, still reluctant to follow. `I have not been in the woods in years. I must go on. I must get off the road. I have not been in the Shire for many years. I am going to Bucklebury, to see what the weather is, and to see if any birds can hear me.' 'The weather's beautiful!' said Sam, catching his breath. `It's been burning up lately. It's been warm, and it's been getting drier. I don't know why. We've been worrying about things like that. ' `Well,' said Frodo, 'I can see there's a lot of birds about here. And there are some very large owls. They've been watching us all this day. They're going off again with their big brown geese.' `And what about the geese? ' asked Sam. `There's some big brown geese all about,' said Frodo. `I hear they're notes' (as they say in the Shire) ''and they come after these geese. There's the geese, they say; and then there's the geese-broker, and there's the geese-pony, and that's what he's after. He's always been at the geese. He knows what's going on. And he knows I hear it, I hear it, I hear it. I think he knows what's going on. But he won't say much about it. He's waiting for some geese to warn him of something. And he's got a lot of other things to do. And he's not too worried about our little party, yet.' `I wonder,' said Sam. `He's got a lot to do. But I wonder how many we're going to have before we get to bed. Mr. Frodo, how many are left? ' 'Only one! ' said Frodo, and then his voice fell. `Only one! ' said Fro ======He rose, and before him stood a small white figure standing tall, blinking in the twilight. `I have something to tell you, Wormtongue, my dear friend! ' he said. A light flashed in the window. Wormtongue opened the door and came back with a long sigh. 'Do you know what that is? It is a summons, or a summonses wish, or a comic invention. I have heard it before to prevent my enemies from gaining the Paths of the Dead I wish I could have found Gandalf. I have heard many such devices before, but only now do I think how I feel about them. Gandalf would probably be a good friend of mine, if I had known all about him before. He is wise and shrewd, and if he had known all, he might have climbed mountains before now. But he is not. He has no horse. Gandalf told me he wished to see him soon, and would gladly have the horses. So I thought long and hard about last night. But now I think I must give up hope. I wish I could have found Gandalf at the last. He is wise and shrewd, and I wish I could have climbed mountains before now. But he is not. He has no bird. He has no tree. I am not sure. I am afraid of heights. There is no path for me to take under those cliffs and I can see paths. The sky is the canopy of a great tree in the autumn evening. This way is not to be; for my friends do not fly far from the trees now. ` "And I can see that paths lead us nowhere soon after the opening hours; and the land is wet, and full of hidden things," he began again, turning back southwards. "And there is no path for me to take under those cliffs and no path for me to take under those hills, if I try to climb them. I am afraid of heights. I am afraid of the Sun." ` "saying does not saying ' " The window closed. Gollum with a drawn sword stood looking at Gandalf. Frodo looked at him for a moment into the dark eyes that were closing on him. Then he drew himself up. It was only then that they knew that he was fully aware of his peril, and that he was debating with Gandalf the Wise. He began to walk quickly towards the guide. ` "I have come to the very last choice," he said. "Choose between climbing the mountains and being killed by an evil creature. I do not wish for any penalty. But I am not going to give any thought whatsoever to the matter tonight. I have nothing to say to you, and nothing to say to Wormtongue. I have only a few words with you. Worm! He has a lot of words with me today. Do not judge my words, and yours too. Worm! " ` "I wonder how old you are?" said the guide. ' "I know, master," said Wormtongue. "Old age is not far behind you. But not old enough to ride a horse." ' "Then I wish I had known about this," said Wormtongue. "I am old enough to ride a horse." ` "Then I suppose you have something to say to me," said Frodo, "about this," he said nothing, and was silent. ` "I hope so," said Wormtongue. "But it seems that my advice has not gone far. I am old and weary. I need sleep. Sleep is better than food. And if I have eaten, slept, or fallen asleep, I should think you were still alive now, Worm." ' "I still am not a- sleeping or not a- Worm," said Wormtongue; "but you speak and intend to- you know that you know, rather than I do." ' "What did you mean?" said Frodo. ' "You know, I thought that you were already dead, and that poor old Worm was still alive now. Well, I do not think that you were not still alive. I think you have some useful information about me, and that is dangerous enough, especially if you use my name. But if you have been waiting for this chance, then let me go now and ask you a few questions. I have been waiting for this chance since the day when I met you. Your name is dangerous, and I had not heard of ======Well perhaps the story of the Shire is not as it seems. The wild folk of the Shire are strange and wonderful, and as such I have often thought, but I have long since ceased to wonder; for these people are indeed strange and wonderful, and indeed as such I thought, and still think, and still wonder, when I think of the Shire. And indeed I wonder often, and I _am_ troubled by many follies, grievous follies, and perils that I have not yet seen or heard. But if the story of Bilbo is true, then that was a young hobbit, and he was indeed, as such, but in his youth he kept his own house and had no friends, and he was roused by his father, and so came never outside the Shire beyond Bilbo's notice. The story of that journey I have told you, Frodo. It is true that you were roused by your father, Bilbo; but you were then, and still are, Bilbo, and you were the eldest of all the Shire-children of the Shire. And you were roused by his father. Indeed, Frodo, it is said that you were roused by his father, as Bilbo said; for that was the custom in the Shire when he was a hobbit, and it was custom in the West after that. And now I do not doubt that you are the eldest of all the Shire-children, and I wonder often; for I have heard it said that you had been roused by his father, by his dying breath, or by the breath of his spirit when he was little. And so it is that I came into this unhappy land, and in the midst of time I came to the bitter end; and I have wondered ever since then how the end could have been. But I have wondered also what happened afterwards. Frodo was roused at the cry of Saruman, and was then in a trance of great anxiety, for Bilbo had come out from hiding and the Ring had come into his master's keeping. Bilbo had kept his promise to Frodo that he would not reveal the Ring to any outside the Shire, and it would be kept secret, but that secrecy would only serve to strengthen the Power that dwelt in the City. And now the Power that dwelt in the citadel was not only strong and strong, but it was also terrible. For it was not only the power of the Ring that was terrible, but also the horror of it. For when Sauron, the Enemy of Sauron, came to Gondor, Frodo knew that he must take up the Ring; and so in the meanwhile he had walked a very long way, and even to this day walks very far. And yet he was not aware of it, for he had been keeping a secret for so long a time. Frodo soon found that Sauron was aware of his coming, and therefore could foresee all the course of the Road, and Sauron would not dare to withdraw its arm, if any attempt should ever be made to seize the City. So when Bilbo, too, was roused, and was silent, for Frodo knew that Sauron was aware of him being there, for if any attempt at conquest were made, then even the Lord of the Halflings would defy his will, and would declare war upon Sauron, over all the lands of the Ruling Ring and his lesser servants. Frodo knew then that he had to face the Enemy first; and that was the very task that he and his companions had set themselves. But in the meanwhile the Ring had given way, and they had made no rash choice. They had no news of the coming of the Enemy. But in the meanwhile the story of Bilbo's journey to the Shire was told. Frodo heard news of the Battle of Five Armies, and the victory (if defeat) would prove final. Gandalf had assailed it in the days of its making, and had warned against the making, saying that if the Power that dwelt in the City should use Sauron as a pawn, then the Men of Gondor would use it as an excuse. Frodo did not think that the folly of the Men of the City would excuse its doing; but he assailed the treachery of the Halflings, and the treachery of the Men of the Mountains, and he said: 'You have spoken treachery, traitor. It is plain enough in these days of evil feeling, but if you have had any hope of it, remember that the Enemy has no horses. And now he has them, and that hope is dying away. For the Ring has not been found. It is too ======He wore no helm, but was clad now in green upon the field and the sky, and was girt with green lanterns. Green he was, and the ring upon his finger; but in his hand he bore a white crescent moon, ere the stroke of the crescent moon, loomed above him, and the black wings upon his head were like the shadows of his eyes: yet still he wore the crescent moon as a sign that the Black Moon would not fall from him. `The Black Moon,' said Gimli, `is not fallen, but is running amok. Elrond has sent me word that I shall be spared from death for a year, and the penalty shall be death and imprisonment in the Tower of Highness.' 'Then what has become of the hobbits?' said Gandalf. `I do not know. Will they live to see?' `No,' said Gandalf. `But they may not. Elrond does not know of our plight. He sends word only to me: to me, of course. But they live to see, and to Elrond they will see.' `But they do not see,' said Gimli. `Do they then? What is the plight of these two? Are they safe?' `No,' said Gandalf. `Their fate is known to him. But my lord sends word to the hobbits that he will spare them, if they wish. These two have been of great import, it is said, because they dared to go into the land of Moria and defy the Orcs; for they had defied the Lord of the Nazgl; and they have returned to their homes to await his judgement. The Lord of the Nazgl feared them and he sent his wrath when they defied him. For the Lord of the Nazgl feared them, too, and he sent his wrath when the Orcs defied him. These two: Elrond and Gandalf. They have returned to their homes to await his judgement. 'These two have endured terrible things, and endured strange things,' said Thoden, `but this is the last. The Orcs have made war upon us, and they have rampaged down along the road from our outpost. We have no time to defend Moria, but to defend our friends, and to defend the way we sought two years ago. And now the enemy has taken Fangorn, and the Orcs have crossed it and are marching north. We cannot enter that city while we wait, for the Orcs are strong there and are still lurking. `We must halt our advance, if we are a foothold, and hold to the outer wall of the city and not retreat. This council I sent to the High Council. I hope that it will be agreed that we should halt all advance. For I had not spoken of this before.' `It will be agreed,' said Thoden. `You and Gandalf will soon see the end of the company and Gandalf will know it. But now we must debate the terms of our alliance and the course of our course. You and Gandalf will soon see the end of the company and Gandalf will know. The days of the Black Shadow are passing, and the White Council is drawing to its conclusion. But at the last the Enemy has fallen. The West must now answer to Gandalf. `It has often been said, sir, that war is best won only by the might of the Dark Lord, if he has other plans. But what hope he has, I do not understand. The Enemy has taken and he will soon have overrun. The victory is still far off, and in less than a year from now. The time is long. `The first thing that I feared was bound to happen. The Dark Lord has long contrived to command his own forces; but the Nine have long contrived to rule his own armies. The leaders of the Dnedain and the knights of Dol Amroth have long been busy, and their knowledge and guidance has grown ever greater. Even as Mithrandir completed the road that I have just begun, so I too shall soon complete the road that I have tarried to meet the peril that draws near. The enemy must spread to Mordor, and then of his own accord he may at once learn the strength of the Dwarves, and they may, in time, overcome the siege of Fangorn. But at the least they must have no more than an army of great strength. They will be but a shadow of doubt, as I have already foreseen. `Also, there will be small aid from outside the City; for it ======We are a small party, but we will not stop until all our grievances are settled. We are not threatening anybody, nor interfering with the repayment of our loan. We have been in this country for many long years and have not had any serious trouble. We would rather have peace and quiet. We will settle these score-settlement claims in peace, if we are to achieve a more or less stable Faramirland.' `Peace and quiet?' said Frodo. `I thought you said that. Well, we have had serious trouble lately. We are having skirmishes with Orcs, and fighting with them. We have not had a chance to eat properly, or to drink water; and anyway we have been hit with a great deal of damage, and our farms are ruined. We cannot afford to lose one of our best young folk, and I think we cannot afford to lose two like-minded hobbits, if we can. We shall have to take our friends together on our shoulders, if we are to go further in the journey. And there are some strange customs and customs-we don't like it any more. All our folk seem to be coming from the North, from the Ford, or from Elrond's I guess. It is queer. And there are some strange folk from the South. We have had strange customs here. There used to be black men in the streets, but the old men have left the country. Some of my folk go out with me on my own time, and some of the strangest of all the hobbits go round the Shire.' `Strange folk?' cried Frodo. `You don't say! ' His eyes flashed. `I am from the South, and I have never been so anxious to hear about the Shire and hobbits from the North.' `You mean the Southerners, or the Bagginses?' cried Pippin. `Did they leave the Shire?' `No. But they did leave, of course. That's enough for me. I have been in this country since I was little. I have never been so anxious to see old Baggins, or any of the Southerners, or anyone else for that matter, in years of need. But there was never any fear that they would leave. Old Baggins was a generous, kind, kind-hearted fellow. I never expected to meet him myself, of course. But I had heard rumours of his coming, or my guess was right; and I had better believe them. But then, of course, I never met him before. He has never appeared often since the Shire. But if I were you, I should tell him that we are going to Wilder now, and that Wilder is not far away. We will meet there and there you would have learned a lot if you had been out of your comfort zone a long time.' `I hope so,' said Frodo eagerly. The old hobbit looked round at the astonished guests. `Aye, I shall see,' he said. `It is a good house, and I shall be pleased.' `Yes, it is very good,' said Sam. 'And I have got a good many things to look forward to. I have read in a good book by the same name once before _The Tale of Two Tooks_ about how Bilbo met his first cousin, and they became close friends. That can hardly be true now, though I am beginning to think it true when I see it again.' At length Bilbo went out, and many of the hobbits hewed him in the street. After a while he reappeared, and the party went on. After a while Frodo called, and the Shire-people would say nothing, until they had reached the borders of the country. The Hobbits had not long made a long way after the Southerners, and before the Southerners had passed on into the Shire the old road had disappeared. In that way the Southerners had passed on, and it was blocked with many arches and ways, many times. At last the road was made into a village, and there many of the Shire people were gathered in a hall. `There are some in the Shire now who used to go round to the main Hobbits Gate,' said a Hobbit. `Only a few years ago there was much traffic from outside, as you might say, and hobbit-wise there was usually always room for newcomers. But after the arrival of the Southerners it was not uncommon for Southerners to cross the road at great length. It is no wonder then that they ======More than two months after the attack on the Shire, there is still no sign of Frodo or his companions. On May 20th, Boromir, Frodo's heir, leaves the bank to go to the barrow door. Boromir now goes by the old inn at Rath Dnen. 'I don't know where you're going with this,' said Sam, 'except to say that you've set out with the Enemy, and you should know by now. I've heard you're going to Mordor. Well, if you want to know, I've met him. He's here: Odo in a black hood, or otherwise. He's a bitter customer of mine: I wish you would come see him; but he's not here. He's not dead. He's got you covered, if you want to talk. He's not behind bars, O good Sam, if you understand me: he's alive and well, and he's got a message to tell you. Can you hear it Mr. Frodo?' Sam crossed his arms. 'Yes, I can see it,' he said, 'and I see what you see. Frodo's going to Mordor, the Enemy's business. He knows what I think. He's got you covered. You've been getting queer at home, Sam. And you've heard about Mordor, and heard about the Shire, and you've been queers, and that's all over the Shire. You're in Mordor? That's what he's been worrying about, I see. But the Enemy's been worrying about you all the way to Bag End, and about the Ring. And the Ring's on him.' Frodo turned his grey face against the wizard's face, for Sam was looking at him with a slow and desperate hatred in his own kind. 'I don't know where he's going with this, Sam,' he said. 'But he's got the Ring. He's got the Eye of Mordor. He's got the Men of Minas Tirith, and he knows it. It's on him. And he's getting stronger all the time. He's got the power here. The power of Barad-dr. He knows it. He's called to defend it. It's on him. And if he lets the Ring be the Eye of Mordor, then the rule of his realm will be put into force, and he will not be able to see far or leave it. Indeed he will begin to see things that were once his own only vision. He will begin to see things that he was never his own self: the world outside, and all the men that dwell there, and all the trees that grow in the world outside, and the waters that are drowned in the world outside: all these things he knows and loves. He knows them all. He knows the Ring. He knows the Men of Minas Tirith, and the Men of Tohan, and the Great Folk, and all the beasts that are bred in the North, and all the birds that fly, and the trees that can and must go, and the stars that must be blue; and the white horses that must be green. He knows them all. And he knows the Ring. The Eye of Mordor will begin to see things that were once his own, and he will begin to see things that he was himself, as soon as he himself is destroyed, as soon as the Great Darkness is removed, as soon as the Land of Shadow is conquered. 'He knows the Men of Harad. He knows the Ring. He knows the White Rider. He knows the Ring. The Enemy has it. The Ring. That was his only power. He must take the Ring. That is his only power. He must take it. He has it. He can wield it. He has it. Now I have it. 'I have it. That is his only power. He has it. He wields it. He can summon it. He can make it. He can tarry in it. He can do nothing. He has it. 'I have it. And I cannot wait. This is his only power. He has it. He cannot wait. The threat of it will not fail. 'He has it. He has it. He will not fail. His power will be wasted. The power of the White Rider, the One, will triumph. Only, he will not fail. He will triumph. He has it. He has it now. 'He has it. He has it. Now he can deal out his final judgement, to decide whether the Enemy has it or not. His only ======'Lightfoot! ' he called. 'I hope you have not forgotten your friends. I have brought a message from Mordor. You may now venture out, and report back as you will. I fear that our Enemy has been greatly aided in his assault, and now he is in peril of our own making. If he will heed the warning he will learn that we are coming. If you return with more haste, you will learn that he has already broken his bonds. The siege at Helm's Deep is now almost over. We must march on. Come now, Riders of the Mark, and let us say that you will find the defence of Helm's Deep very fair without us. You, and all your companions, shall be all refreshed at once!' The Stewards of the City prepared to issue their summonses. All summoned by the Stewards were to come before the Great Gate at the end of the hall at Nine Riders. The Lord Denethor was to be that he might break his bonds: he had already done so. All who could not bear his errand, left him to walk free at his leave, in the City of the Kings, for they were enheartened by the tidings of Merry and Pippin. Now that the summons was announced all others were to stand before the Gate without the Lord. All who were to stand before him on the green ground were to be called to the City Council. Pippin was to stand before the Lord Denethor, and afterwards Peregrin would stand before him as he stood before the Fountain of the Mark in the northern court. But it was not for this that the Stewards themselves hoped to accomplish. For the Lord of the City was not summoned until after the passing of the great storm of the war. Many others had been summoned before him, and they were in great demand. Some had gone forth with great hopes to the Hold, and from afar they had heard of the rising of the sun; but when the summons came to them that they had not seen the Lord for a day, they were troubled at last. Some had gone with news of the coming of the Lord to Mordor; and others with news of the approaching of the Lord to the West. And some with news of the ending of the service in Caras Galadhon. Other news came from the Keys of the Kings in Lrien, where the Lord of the City is housed. The servants of the Lord of the City were to come first with news of the coming of the King, and afterwards with his knights and his companions. The names of the servants and the number of their rank were to be set before the City Council, and such a decision should be made at the coming of the day. Counsels and Assistants of the City were to be elected at the Third Evening in May, and they were to be elected at the Third Morning in June, at the third sunrise and at the third sunset; and so forth. There were to be elected from all the regions of the City, from the far northern districts to the far southward districts, and from the southwards the lands of those that lay before the Gate. The members of the City Wardens were to be elected at the Third Evening in June, and they were elected at the Third Morning in September, at the third sunset and at the third sunrise. The members of the City Caledonian and Pelenninian were to be elected at the Third Evening in September, and they were to be elected at the Third Evening in October, at the third sunrise and at the third sunset; and so forth. In no part of the City were the Captains of the West, Lord Denethor or his son, Lord Denethor. At the Third Evening of May the Third Tower was unveiled, and the citadel of the City was shaped like a city in marble. Upon its eastern side the road from the outer hem of the Vale of Anduin lay, and the citadel was shaped like a hall in the shape of a vast roof. Upon its western side the road from the outer hem of the Vale of Anduin loomed, and the citadel was shaped like a hall in the shape of a black fortress. It was hailed by the heralds as the heaviest and most powerful tower in all the Mark; and it was hailed by the heralds as the most ancient and enduring. The Third Tower of Whitehall was not yet so heavy a thing as yet unknown to man, nor so ancient and enduring to us mortals. Yet it was not so high as the Tower of the Nazgl or the Tower of the Fountain of the Moon, nor so high as the Tower of the Halflings, nor ======Yes, I see that he is not nearly as outlandish as I thought he would be. I thought it was only a matter of time before he got to know the Shire. I thought he was going to be a Baggins. I was wrong again. It is not until you know more about him and about me and about the place you will get to know him better.' 'We shall see,' said Frodo. 'I have,' said Strider. 'The Shire itself is now much more than just a collection of stories, as you might say. It is a place of great richness and history. And I wish to make amends for what I have done. I mean to make amends for not being able to stay in Hobbiton for two months at a time, and having to pay my fine moneys for the care of my beloved Frodo. And so I shall spend this evening and tomorrow studying and writing. We shall see! Things have changed since I last stayed at Bag End. We can now go and do what we like, though I dare say now that I prefer reading to writing, when I have a mind.' 'Very well, very good!' said Strider. 'I shall not tell you all about myself until I have talked to Sam.' 'I shall not,' said Frodo, sitting up, annoyed and alarmed. 'Why not now?' 'Because I am going to speak to you, if only to tell you the real story of my journey, which began as soon as I left Hobbiton. I shall not be telling you all my account of it, or of all the perils that I saw, though I will tell you all some of them, so as to give you some idea of what I have now to tell. For I have not told you all my whole tale, and I have only just begun, and I have told you only a few parts of it. But it is a very important tale, for it tells the whole story of the Battle of Five Armies that was fought on the day that the Black Gate was opened. That battle was, of course, the Battle of the Gate of Mordor, that is known as the Great Battle of the Ring. 'And the main events of that battle were but a part of the Great Battle of the Rings, as you might say. The Great Battle was fought by Sauron, but he too is a master of the Great Armies. He came to Middle- earth long ago, and he is a master of the Rings of the Golden Ils. But he has long since forsaken the world, and he is not very pleased with the way in which our paths have been wound. So we have had a long trouble with our Enemy, and with Sauron a long trouble with himself too. And we have had a great loss, too, with the orcs: they have too often fought and taken the harm of the Great Darkness. But they fought too fiercely against the Shadow in the East, and they have fought much longer, and so shall be avenged. 'But I have told you all my tale in brief, but I think you will wish you have heard all that I have to tell. For Sauron has long been anxious to know which of us is your heir, and whether you will bear his title for ever, whatever that may be in the end. And indeed it is likely that he will bear it, even if he wins again. But if you will excuse me, I will go to sleep without a dream, and not while you sleep. If you would sleep, then you shall learn all that I have to say, and you shall learn the truth about us. For if you do not want to sleep, then I say to you, Frodo, that you are a man of need, and that even the Lord of the Golden Wood will not forget you. But the Ring is not forgotten, and it has long held the hand of the Hand that wields it. 'In the morning I shall wake up again, and you shall know that I say this: you shall eat a spring of hope in the morning, not a fall of despair. But whether you or my son Frodo choose to eat the spring or the fall, at the end of the day you are both saved. And if you choose to follow me, you shall have both the Spring and the Fall and find both the Spring and the Fall both long away. But you need not fear! It is not for you to take my advice. You need not fear at all for the fate of your friends. I welcome your choice. You have been chosen, and they shall both be chosen well. In that choice I have still the honour of ======: An account of the journey of the Elves to Middle-earth; and also of the meeting of the Elves and the Halflings; and of the retreat of the Elves from the land of Gondor and the Gate of Minas Tirith; and of the terror and victory of the War of the Ring. A brief account of the Three Meetings, the Quest of the Ring, and the Farewell to Middle-earth, by H.G. Wells, Esq.

A Journey in Gondor, Part One By boat from Edoras

Legolas and Gimli were now on the same boat, the Beornings, and Merry and Pippin riding up behind. They had not gone far when they heard a rumour of a strange boat. It appeared out of the mist and fog and seemed to have been steered by Gimli. 'It seems a long way off, my lad,' said Gimli. 'I was told that you had crossed the River,' said Legolas. 'I cannot abide such things. I've heard tales of boats in the Shire about the Elves but never about hobbits.' 'I see,' said Gimli. 'So do I. But I know more than you do. We have never seen or heard of boats in the Shire. What would you say?' 'That folk are strange in the Shire, and strange creatures,' said Legolas. 'Strange things indeed indeed, I hear. But tales must be told. Yes, tales. And folk from that land will tell. I've seen boats passed over the River-slope before.' 'And boats over the river?' said Gimli. 'Yes, I see. And boats.' 'Then I see, I say to you, Gimli Glin's son, that these boats do not ask any tale.' 'I see,' said Gimli. 'And the stories I hear are only a memory, a vision of a wild country in the days of the Elves, and they do not tell the full tale. They ask only one thing: WHEN these BOTH these Elves were! When did they first row upon our borders?' 'At sunrise, and what day they were at the end of their journey?' 'I do not know,' said Glin. 'Then I say to you, Gimli Glin's son, that these boats ask only for a _present_ and _approval._ They are very small indeed, as you may guess, but they give us a _present_ for every journeyman that goes without. Aye, a _present_ for every dwarf that goes without. And a _approval._ for every wizard that goes without. And they are very fair! Very fair. Never before had any race been so fair to come home to us. You see, you are a stranger ourselves. I wish I could come in and tell you about the Elves and our land. About Elves! About the land. About Elves! It is a strange place. I wonder what you have heard. O well! Never before had any race been so fair to come home to us! You see, I wish I could come in and tell you about the good and evil that we live under. I wish I could come in too. O well! Never before have any races been so fair to come home to us! '_Errors_,' said Legolas. 'Where there is a _present_ there is always a _approval._ Aye, I know that, and I love it. But what _could_ have happened it is often an obstacle for us. A _present_ can make a _approval_ overcome it. A_present can _destroy._ It is the obstacle that defeats it. I am not sure that I understand you. Aye, I understand _everything_. I would _everything_. And the only thing that has become of this boat is itself. Can you now _know_ this? I would ask the same. I wish I could! Aye, I wish I could but I cannot ask you. I am afraid you have not _yet_ had _the chance. I do not know enough to _know_ you. Can you give me that _handkerchief? Handkerchief! It is like a present but larger, and it takes less time and effort. It is not old. It is not grey. It does not look like ======We cannot begin to answer that question from the ground yet,' said Aragorn. 'It is not certain that the Shadow will come north again, but it is certain that it will not come alone, nor that far beyond Lothlrien there is still any hope of its coming. We must make ready for the test, whatever the occasion, when the road is widest.' 'We must,' said Legolas. 'And we must choose between them.' 'Which way would you choose?' asked omer. 'To the Mountains of Shadow,' said Aragorn. 'To the Horn of the North, say I? I choose the northern road, and the road of the Deeping- coomb, and the road of the Hornburg, and the road of the Deeping-coomb under the Great River.' 'And do you know that the Hornburg is under the dominion of the Black Captain?' 'Yes, we do,' said omer. 'The Black Captain has ever dwelt in my keeping.' 'Then I have heard rumours of the Black Captain's coming, and do not wish to disturb our good omen-making sure of that for myself. But I have not heard any rumours before of any evil that might pass from Mordor to the Enemy.' 'I have heard many rumours, and I have heard some that the Lord of Mordor is troubled or troubled for his own good. Yet there is no doubt that he is in a great peril: the Enemy has some power over him, though he does not yet possess it. Who can say whether he will ever return to Mordor, or whether he will go alone to the Shire, in alliance with the Enemy? But I do not doubt that he will go at last to Lothlrien, and there in the Power of Lord and Steward, in which he has for many long years maintained his secret for the glory of the City. 'I have heard many rumours of the coming of the King of the Rings, and of the Black Gate, and of the Black Gate's coming. Yet I do not doubt that he will never again enter the City of the Kings or abide there in any degree of peril, unless his outward deeds lead him to misdeeds worse than his deeds themselves. And therefore I doubt less than did I doubt also in the days of Mordor and the coming of the Black Gate. I knew then that the Enemy's secret might would not avail me, even if I had the strength of mind and wit to defeat him. I still hope that I did not utter the evil counsels that I spoke to you, Aragorn. But do not fear! Gandalf will summon you to the City, and then in the morning he will summon you again. The Enemy will summon you to his own tower, and then he will summon you before the Gate. Perhaps you have not heard the words of Boromir before. But if so, do not let fear stand you! For all the time that you have had is only a part in the great game that is begun. Counsels lie already in the hands of those who govern you. 'The Lord of the City is Ioreth, and she is filled with wisdom and with dread. She alone can guide all the servants of the City. 'Ioreth has ever been fair to me, and for many years her sister was wise beyond compare; for Elves were wont to walk in Mirkwood and dwell in the Mines of Evil in the Elder Days, and there they learned many things of all kinds, and there they found ways of healing and renewing themselves. But now, as all the arts of sorcery are overthrown in the midst of the City, her wisdom has failed her wit, and her fear has grown too great for any woman to resist. And though there be still hope for the long fruit of the City, she alone can save the world from ruin. 'Then Ioreth was the Queen of the Golden Wood, and she alone can preserve it from the rising of Orthanc, or the destruction of the City in which it has been built. 'When Thoden King of the Mark returned from the wars in the North, he led his people to Edoras. There he found that many who had hoped at the gifts had gone astray, and he sent his most evil spies before the city. Many were driven from the roads, and they did not return, and many were killed. Some, it was said, had joined armies in Edoras and dismounted in the hills, and they were called Thoden, or "the Gatekeepers". But others ======I want to get it set at all!' `I'm sorry, Mr. Frodo, but you have been a bit too careful with the Ring. It's become loose again, and it's been getting stronger for a while now. But the Ring has given me a real gift: it turns into strength and speed again. It has given me a host of questions, and I have had no chance to answer them. You have all been very pleasant to me, Mr. Frodo, and it has brought me so far in the short time since you left my home. Now I understand now why you have been avoiding me all this time. I have been worried for a while, and I have had to deal with some strange things. But I hope you will forgive me for this delay. I have been trying to understand all the great questions that you have asked and more. You are a masterful traveller and a traveller's traveller, and I have marveled at your way of saying good- bye. I am sorry, Mr. Frodo, but I think I must speak to you more fully about our road today. For it is a long way, but the Road is the Road, and the way is narrow. When I left Durin, I was in a little vision. The sky above was boiling with purple light, and the East Wind was blowing wildly. But the East Wind had passed, and all the clouds were now floating still within the bounds of the Road. The wind had dropped to the ground, and now it was breaking, breaking and rattling the leaves that had hung about the walls and in the hollows. White outcrops were shredding and growing, as if they had been turned to rubble. The ground beneath the wall was shaking, and in many places falling trees. Frodo and Sam were walking along the road when they saw a figure hurrying away. As Sam turned away from the stream, he saw that the figure was smaller than the beast, and it was running, leaping and tossing leaves. `Splendid!' said Frodo, when he caught what seemed to be faint change. He stood rooted up on the ground, but his spirits rose as he looked about. There was no one present. `It seems to be carrying off all the remains of the Riders from the ruin of Weathertop,' said Sam. `I wonder if they still live there?' `No,' said Frodo. `But the Riders must have left their leader. They fled from here, or so I thought. I had not expected to see them again in those days. They did not look like this: small gnarled beasts with grey hair and shaggy-eared hands. `I wonder how they did it? How did they escape unscathed? Was Rivendell all ruined? I doubt it. I have never seen Rivendell like this before. I wonder how they came by the news: from the Enemy we heard it. Rivendell is ruined! I wonder how they came by the news.' He paused and his thought was disturbed. `Strange tidings indeed! ' said Sam. `We have not seen them again for many a year. Did you hear that? ' `Yes, I heard it; but I did not expect it. That is news, all made up. It seems to me certain enough: that the Enemy has been pursuing his servants and his spies' (being well supplied by the Enemy). `Yes, I heard he had some,' said Frodo. 'He has enough devices in the craft to keep out of my eyes long after I have passed through the mists of the world. And he has enough. We have made up our minds, and we have made up our own spies. Some of our own folk, too, we have caught and destroyed. And we destroyed most of the Nine before we met them. They are dead now, but they are not forgotten. They were strong and fair, but they were destroyed, and the world has changed, and they are no more. `I wonder how they did it. It seems to me certain enough. I have not seen them again, for many a year. And I wonder how they came by the news. They did not look like this: small gnarled beasts, with grey hair and shaggy hands. They did not look like this. `What do they look for? ' asked Sam. `We don't know. They are very strange creatures, and I don't think we ever saw them, unless we were going to blow ======We shall soon see that he has not seen us.' 'No,' said Frodo. 'We have not yet seen him.' 'Then it is not yet dark?' said Pippin. 'I wonder what will come of it? He will never see me again. I feared that I was leaving him for once, as he seemed to have lost all purpose and gravest to me. And now he comes with me and calls me yet again.' Frodo got up and looked about him. There was little hope of seeing any of the travellers, but there were some that he could see with his keen eyes. Thence they went on, and on they went, until they were drawing near to the tributary of the Marish that runs along the valley, and passes over the flats and fields of the Brandywine Valley, beside which the stream ran down steeply into the Marish-water. There Frodo saw a tall man sitting with a heavy hat in his hand, and looking out of a window of some high window-less window-shaped. Before long he knew that he was talking to another. A large man, man of high standing stature, but also with long white beard and brown eyes. The old man was frowning, and his eyes were as if he were sad and grieved at the passing of their friend. 'I see that you are still alive,' he said. 'I see that you are still in pain.' 'Pray do not tell!' said Frodo, but silence fell between them. The old man did not answer either eye. The old man did not move or speak, but stood silent and watchful. 'What is the matter?' said Pippin. 'The old wound is close, said the old man; 'but it will heal itself. It is not clear yet, since you have not been at all. Is there no hope left?' 'Yes, there is,' said Frodo. 'I must go to the Lord about the Lord's affairs. But I must go first, and that is a long road, and I shall not say I shall succeed him.' 'I believe that you have heard all that he says,' said the old man. 'Let me hear him out. He is a wise creature, and will try his wisdom in all his dealings. But he has a dangerous business to attend to first.' They turned to go and left him waiting outside the window. At once they spoke, and then Frodo heard them no more clearly than when he had left his companions. 'Well, Mr. Frodo,' said the old man, 'what are we to do now?' 'To do something, perhaps,' answered Frodo; 'something that will help him in the long run.' 'Well, what then?' 'We must go to the Lord. He is not far.' 'Then how shall we find him?' 'I do not know how to begin,' answered the old man. 'He is not far, and I dare say you are not in danger of your doing at any rate.' 'Then tell me your good name,' said Frodo. 'For he is not always there for inquiries. He may say what he will, but he is always looking out for trouble. What has happened to your trusty servant, I cannot say. He is in great peril now, and I do not think you will ever be able to get him. After what way did he get here?' 'I think he went by the way that he used, as my guide, and I do not doubt that he used the one that I learned. It may have been that he did not heed the warning of the guard and escaped, or he turned back and came back to the other side of the Barrow-downs. I do not think that he thought he had been betrayed. But he was too eager now to give up hope. He has been waiting for some time for the thing that he feared so dearly. I hope that he will think twice before he does what he ought. 'There is one thing I cannot see: your guide has been caught in the middle of all this. He is already under arrest, under the arrest of the Rangers for a month, and under the arrest of the Chief, and he is being questioned. He has been in and out of this country for days, weeks, months, and even years. But he has not been questioned. ======Darkness loomed on them, and they were afraid, for they knew not what was about, and they had not seen Gandalf for many long years. But at this sudden onset they sprang forward, and the darkness was almost too great. The others quailed under their feet, for they were suddenly aware that their fear was vain. They sprang back, and hiding under cover hid their faces stared at them, pale and threatening in their surprise. Gandalf swept them aside, and with a swift stroke of breath sent out a long menacing glance. 'Get up, little fools!' he cried. 'You fools! Safer of face than Boromir. That is a punishment for weakness. Get up, or I will slay you all!' In a savage shout they were thrown from the tower, and before anyone could throw a stone or block the way, Gandalf sprang away and mounted. The others he hurled at him running back towards the ruined gate. 'Go back to your folly! Kill the fool that built the gate! I will not look into the ways of Men again! And I do not ask you to kill my friend like we did, for I do not ask you to kill Boromir!' he cried. All save one: Gandalf. He stood looking at the host, frozen between rage and despair, as Boromir sprang up on top of them, and his sword was poised at his belt. With a rush his anger and fury both returned. He came behind and threw himself on top of the last one and threw his head back. The air was hot with his foul laughter. Then he threw himself flat on the ground, and he threw himself face downward on the ground. Then he screamed. 'No, you fool! He won't have no laughing matter, Master Tooks!' he mocked. 'Nay, if you want to know what was happening, I can't think of any funny words. Boromir the silly Fool!' 'Yes indeed!' laughed Gandalf. 'But that will take weeks of hard reckoning, if I ever come back to this Tower. Then we will have to see, but you are likely to come to a time when Men will throw down their swords and burn their houses.' 'I see,' said a distant voice. 'We have come to the hour of death, Boromir. All the way there. Now I don't suppose you are all right to think that I have been saved. I wish I had. Boromir the silly Fool! We are doomed. I wish we had never come to this hour, and that we could have!' Gimli looked dismayed. `Not at you! Have you seen the fire?' he shouted. `Why do you say that Boromir was saved? Have you got to kill me? You say I have got to kill you, Boromir! You say that you know the answer to my questions, but I do not. Well, I have not yet. But I do not ask you to kill me, Boromir! You sat on the sword-sedge long enough, and I was uncertain. Will you kindly ease me, or make a bargain? It is not your choice, Boromir. I will not kill you, and you will not. But I will give you peace at your service, if I may. At any rate you will not need to tell me. But tell me: what was the hour of Boromir's death? And do not worry! It is not the hour of our battle with the orcs-or, if you prefer, at all. It is only a little over. Tell me: what was the hour of Boromir's death?' `The hour of the great fell on the seventh day of June in the City of Gondor,' said Aragorn: `that is how the great fell on us. But the City fell into the hands of the Enemy. He casts his foul net wide before us, at your service. And now it is over for good and ill! But we were all very valiant. And Boromir was sorely hurt. He would have given up the Sword and gone before me. I marvel that he could not see that I was hurt. `What then is the hour of Boromir's death? Is it in vain? ' `The hour of the great fell. The breach at the gate was grievous; but at the same time the breach was little. The gates were manned and filled with men. Some such as had fallen in the ensuing battle were gathered together to the king's house at Edoras, ======Speech that is cold and careful is the way of the East Prancing Horse. Once upon a time There were many a wild horse about; But now we must all be merry.

The hobbits sat down again, and took their ponies' hands in their own, and stroked them gently, and spoke good-nought but with a whisper as often as they could remember. At length they spoke of their journey from the Road, and of the road that lay before them. 'Of course, Frodo,' said Pippin, 'we went straight to Fangorn, but how that was, and why, we don't know. The horses were all over the fields, and the king had many horses at that place. We don't suppose. The horses were all over the fields, and the king had many horses there. And he had a host of his own, I fancy. We don't know how many, or when. We don't think there were any, because it was the Last Battle, or as we said: last battle twelve days before. 'But we do know, Mr. Frodo. The horses were all over the fields, and they were in great demand. There were many ways into Fangorn. There were many ways into the Shire, and many ways down. And there were some of the worst rills that any hobbit has ever known; and there were some of the worst nights. And there were some of the best nights of my life, dear Frodo. Not just hobbits have any of that. I ran up with a bang, and I won the Battle of the Argonath and the Ring of the Dark Tower, and the White Council sent me out with the last hope that I could make it to the Shire. And I made it to the White Tower, and won it, and it has never been looked upon since the Great Sundering, as we should wish.' Frodo sighed and bent down to kiss his master's long beak. 'I do not doubt that you will find many things in this Road that you did not expect,' said Pippin. 'But I am not in any way in any way in control of my own fortune or of the fate of others. I have no power over the course of my life. And I do not know all that is good or bad in the world outside the Shire, not at present. I cannot make a living by my stature or by my speech. In the end I must either do as the Lord and Servant of the Lord Faramir commands, or complete my abode in Gondor, and seek the land of the living, even as the living and the wise, who have passed through the shadow of the Morgulduin. I counsel you not to destroy what you desire, or to count on any living thing only for a livelihood. 'And though you find many treasures in this Road, I do not command you to send it any more: not if the servants of the Enemy do not command me with all their might. It is not mine to command, I hope. Indeed if the servants of the Enemy command you, they will show me wisdom that cannot be tasted. For in the course of my time I shall see that all the ways of the Enemy are beaten by the Ring of the North, and the light of it is broken, unless I, the Steward, ascend the courts of the King and proclaim his claim to the Nine Rings. If you desire me, then ride with me to the end of the Road, and do not despair! For I do not command you to remain here, or go back to your home.' 'But I would not willingly do so, if the need of doing so constrained me to do so,' said Frodo. 'If the need be great, I do not command you. Command me, Frodo: Frodo, the hobbit with the Dwarf- boots!' Frodo bowed and took his master's hand in his own. He said nothing, and waited for his master's signal. The others understood, for they had not seen the old hobbit for long. He was still in command of his own little people, and the Lord of the Ringwraiths was climbing the tower like a wave. 'Come!' said Frodo. 'Say good-bye to your guards! They are low down. Take care of yourselves!' He closed his eyes, and Frodo was silent for a moment. Then ======An exclamation of relief from the wrathful eyes of Saruman. 'Well, Master Merry, and owyn, and all that is brave and true, I'll leave you in peace and forgetfulness for a while. Pippin and Samwise shall go as well. It's all I can think of.' 'And they'll go with you, too, Master Merry,' said owyn. 'And so shall I. I am glad of that, too. I shall go to my chamber at noon tomorrow, and hear all about the Lady and her guests. There I will lie, and there I shall sleep, and while you and I are here, there will be no tale told. But you shall watch for the coming of the morning, and I shall sleep in peace, if I can.' Merry's eyes glinted. 'I feel quite ready,' he said. 'I will have a tale to tell. You are as fit as a cat for a stroll by the banks of the Entwash, and there I shall sit and think about owyn and Peregrin and Samwise and their maidens, and Gandalf and all. And then I shall sleep a little more quietly. The Lady owyn is fair, and in my turn, and it is said that she is one of the Seven of the Woods, and knows many things concerning the Elves and the mind of the Ent, which is wholly out of our ears. But now I have thought of Gandalf's story and of all things that he hopes to tell. It is a comfort in doubt, and I shall not deceive you: he will tell you what he knows.' Merry nodded. 'Then I must take Gandalf,' he said. 'I shall tell you what Gandalf was most proud of: he had not dared to foretell that the coming of the Ring would bring about the end of time. He foresaw that the Enemy would use tremendous strength, and would have great hope that things would return to their old course. He foresaw that Gandalf would come to power in a flash of thought which he called 'a flash of lightning'. He foresaw that Gandalf would come to rule for a while, and then, if things were to return to their old course, the Enemy would use great terror, hatred, and war, and the Ring would spread, and Sauron would give it away. He foresaw that Gandalf would have great power and would have great fear, and that Sauron would use the Ring to bring about the end of all things. But it never happened. And he had the courage of mind and heart to keep on hope and to resist the Enemy. 'But I, Gandalf, in my wrath and despair, alone held the Ring to be the last of all the treasures. I gave it to him, only to give him leave as the leader of the Company and so to prevent the others from taking it. But the others will know no more of this than I do. I give it to you only for this purpose, so that you may have it, when you need it. I expect it, I say. I pray you, owyn, for I do not ask you to give me the Ring. For I have a doubt. I have a doubt about all that. But trust me: you trust me, Master Meriadoc, that doubt is not new. I say it now; it is true. I say it now because it is true. Gandalf was right. That was the meaning of my questioning. I say it now because it is true. Gandalf was right. It is true. 'And since the fall of Boromir it has been my task to find new strength to resist the Dark Lord. I need little force: he will not touch me, and once he does, I shall have no more need of you. But I think, Master Meriadoc, that it is not your design to hold me liable for your part, so long as you are with me. And in that way I may better use my new strength. But in the meanwhile, I am constrained by some duties on all that I do. 'I have come out of deep thought and sleep to call you upon, and yet to admit that I had not reckoned with the loss and ruin of Boromir. It is not enough for me to say that I am glad at the end of all this: I have come out of deep thought and sleep to call you upon. And that I hope that you will permit me to say before you return to the open sun, where evermore your counsels may be inform, and the shadow of despair lie far away. For I have come to the end of the counsels ======The Great River, flowing for many miles north and west, had almost completely blocked the way to Limbo, but the remnants, all the chief among them the Sackville-Bagginses, could not be too far up. The last remnants of the rebellion in the south could not be more than a mile away. `They have a long way to go,' said Sam. 'We'll see how things go on the flats,' he said of the Boffins. 'But we ought to get some sleep, Mr. Frodo. Make some enemies and get away! ' Frodo yawned. `I can't count the miles since I started,' he said, `but I do not think I can. They are waylaid and much too short. They will go on again, if we don't.' `Yes,' said Sam, `and they will go on again, if we don't.' `Smagol! ' said Frodo. Sam got up, and scrambled on to the pinnacle of the west bank. The red glare from the Barrow-downs, and the lowering of the Barrow- downs into the River, had been steadily growing. `Well, Mr. Frodo! ' said Sam. `I've come back, but I'm still half in Moria, and I've come back stunk. Now I can't wait to see how you feel! ' `I am coming up to the top of the Barrow-downs!' said Frodo. `I am going to climb up there and see what you have got to say. I have had a bit of luck lately. I have no doubt that you will say: _I have got a bit of luck, Sam, but not enough for my purposes_, as I always say. My folk don't need fancy gaffer's marks for stairs: they are wise enough in their own right, being wise enough not to alter the meaning of my words. `But now, Mr. Frodo, what of the Shire? ' `Yes, the Shire. The Shire is dead. There is no more to be said, not by me or anyone else. But the Shire is a very old thing, and has become so much older. It was not so when I first came up here in the day. I was a mere hobbit, living on the fringe of the Shire; and even now I see a shadow of the old things which it was not then. But the Shire is long dead, and I am not going to tell anyone, not until the Shire-reckoning is over. It has not occurred to me how much longer it will take us to do it. After the Reckoning I should have done with all the speed and secrecy that I now possess. And I ought to have had more time, but I have been so busy that the Shire now seems small and impenetrable. `The Enemy is only too aware. He knows my mind and all my arguments. He has been spying on me since the day before, and listening for me to see if any news of this sort can be spread. He knows where my master is. He knows that I have no secret of my own. He knows that you have been spying on him for some time, and that he is trying to catch you. He knows that I have already betrayed him. He has taken me with him into the wastes. He knows where Eorl is. He knows where we got together our brigand of the Haradrim, and why you have come. He knows where Isildur and Grishnkh were buried, and where our old leader is. He knows where the Ring of the White Hand is. He knows where the head of the Dark Tower is. And he knows where the head of the Black Council is. He knows where the head of the Council is, and that it is not yet safe in the Citadel. ` "You must remember. Remember, dear friends: your friends are dead now. Your friends are gone. You have no more to say, and do nothing. This is the last gasp of your enemies. You have chosen to wait. Your friends have been chosen. The Enemy is long prepared to wait now. ' "The end of the Reckoning" is a dead end, Frodo whispered to himself, as he prepared to close his eyes. ` "The End of the Reckoning" has become a meaningless trifle; there is no ending. The last gasp is meaningless: inevitable, whatever the end may be.

======Where to? I can't say. I think it's quite round the block, or so I've heard. But I do know there's no way round here that we can see from the windows.' 'I see,' said Frodo. 'I do. But I can't speak of it. I've got to go now.' 'I beg you not to go! ' said Pippin. 'I don't think you understand yet,' said Frodo. 'I've been meaning to, and I think I understood though I don't know why if you understand.' 'I understand,' said Pippin. 'I'll _speak_ if you've got a mind. I've got to look- Gandalf! But I don't know why I've come to him. And I don't see why we can't. I don't know why we shouldn't.' 'Then you've got to go on,' said Frodo. 'But you've got to go now.' 'Yes I do. I don't see why we shouldn't,' said Pippin. 'I see why we shouldn't wait for the Lord of the Mark to come and tell us what to do. I see why we shouldn't stay here longer. I see why we shouldn't cross the River: we'd better go sooner. And I see why the Black Riders should mount; for they are mighty strong in the North, and they are stronger than ever before.' 'We already are,' said Frodo. 'And the Lord of the Mark is with them: stronger than ever before. But the Black Riders have come to take him, no, not yet: they have crossed the River, and they are coming to take the Black Rider. And then we must go on.' 'I don't understand,' he said. 'I understand the desire of the Company to go on, and the desire of the Mark. They want to go no longer: they want to find a way, and find it in some other path, I think, than what they used to take: to seek for some shadowy refuge in the dark lands at the end of their road. And they want to find some river that they've never seen before, and it must be swift and long ago. You cannot swim in it, Gandalf.' 'I can't think of a way to swim in,' said Frodo, 'other than by some water-channel of some ancient channel, as I think. It must be swift and long ago, and then they'd all get drowned. I don't know how the Black Riders can swim, and Gandalf, or one of the Wise.' 'Then the Black Riders must be slower and more foolish,' said Gandalf. 'Then you must be foolish,' said Pippin, 'and draw attention to yourself, Frodo, when you find out about the Black Rider.' 'He's not stupid,' said Frodo. 'He grew up this way; and he learned this way by instinct. He was a messenger, not a guide. He knows the way in. If he had gone away, he wouldn't have told me.' 'I don't know how he could have,' said Pippin. 'If he had, he would have gone away, and he'd forgotten that by the way.' 'Maybe,' said Frodo. 'But that's the way of it: we have things we use and think about, like fire and water, and food and sleep, and wind and snow, and the like, which we don't use. And then there's the odd trick we like more than any other. When he's not on duty he's teaching his friends magic. The cursed orc-folk call it. They've been watching him, they think, since the great flood happened.' 'And they're watching him,' said Pippin, 'since the Black Riders came up from the North. That's why they're making a dash now, Rangers, not Hobbits. He's teaching his friends the way. But I don't see why we should send any lad away so far. He's the Great Messenger, which is why he's getting messages. He's getting the message that the Travellers are coming. They're from out of the North, I think, and they're from the point where I know the entrance to the secret city of Gondor. That's what they meant when they sent the messengers. That's what they meant now. 'Anyway, there's some ======The youngster, however, was not very tall, and his fair shape sloped as he looked, and he was neither bony nor brimming. He stood peering out of a tree-trunk, and his hands were clenched about him. He was not very tall, but he was at any rate not in his early thirties, and his great girth and girth suggested to him an understanding, and an inquisitiveness, and a keenness that we have never seen in children of this kind. His black hair flew down his back and hung down over his shoulders like a thin black cloak. `I thought he was just a hobbit trying to fit in,' said Sam. `He could walk and talk, if he wanted to be called.' 'He certainly is a hobbit,' said Pippin. 'But there is something about him that I know but cannot shake. I have known no tales of hobbits growing hooded for life for their mischief, and yet I have never seen such a thing as this. I have seen a vision of an old man's face, and a narrow sword, lying on the ground like a piece of clay. I had seen old Mr. Bilbo's, and he looked much the same as I did. I thought I knew what he was up to. I had hardly passed the door when I first saw it.' `I have seen some of the same stuff,' said Sam. 'I had just begun to wonder whether the old fellow knew who, and where. He seemed to know a good deal, and a little of what was said; but I have never seen anything like this on record. And I thought then that maybe he had some secret that I did not see. `He put a long squeeze on the old fellow's shoulder, I think, so that he was not so shaken as often when he heard news of us. I think it was Mr. Bilbo, I think, who forced him to stay by his side as he shut the door, and kept out of the notion of the strangers.' `I think he knew a lot about hobbits, Sam,' growled Frodo. 'He is a very peculiar fellow, and I have never seen him talk to strangers about things that I don't know myself. He was very polite to me when I was a little babbling-gatherer. I used to tell him tales about hobbits in the Shire, about their ways of talking, and so on. I think he knows a fair bit about hobbit-talk. He seems to have been interested in history before he began to talk about Gondor.' 'Of course he did talk about history,' said Strider. 'He told us about the Gondor long before Gondor even knew it. And he told us that the first Gondor was founded in the first days of its being, while the Gondor was still in its beginning. That's a long tale, of course: Gondor came of age in the first days of hobbithood, or so it was long ago. But Gondor was itself in the midst of a long long period of study, long before the Gondor even had any words for speech. And it would seem that one of the Gondor's chief purposes was to bring history into Gondor, to explain its origins and to preserve its history.' `And that's a long tale, Sam,' said Frodo. `But I shall not interrupt it.' `Why not? ' said Strider. 'The Shire is still alive and growing, and all the important matters of its history are still to be done and set things right. I wish I could stop here and do more for Frodo. Had I known all that I know about Gondor, I would have been able to do more. But I do now, somehow, not much more. It would spare me from going on. It is a long tale, but it deserves a beginning. `But my part now is to go off in search of answers, if I can, and to help my friends, by any and all excuse. I am afraid for Mr. Frodo. It has been a long, torrid year. And he has suffered much, but I have tried every comfort, even the watchful eye. He has been very kind to me, and has let me down. I should like to see him all away to the end. I wonder, too, if his danger will last long. May he find strength enough to rejoin the Guard at the Gate of Mordor. But he knows that being safe here does not mean that he is no longer ======It is said that at last when the day of reckoning is over there will be ready to lay the hands of the Riders. Here is a rider who did not wish to be named. He was a free rider, and rode between the companies this day, and remained with them until the end of the war. His name is Gimli. He is a dwarf. He was very tall and strong, and had a horn like a crown. He chose the Mountain as his own, and went up it only to be amazed at how simple and simple of a man he was. His name was Gorbag; for he was the first dwarf to reach the top of the Tower of Minas Tirith, and so be surpassed in all the history of the world. '_Gimli!_' said Frodo. 'Where is he? How did I miss him? What is his name?' '_Gimli, I believe,' said the Dwarf. 'Gimli is the name that comes to mind when we think of Gollum.' '_Gollum, _Gollum_,' said Frodo. 'Gollum was the first dwarf to reach the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and so be surpassed in all the history of the world. I believe that word came to him from his father, who was a mighty man; but I have heard no tale of him.' '_Gollum_,' said Gorbag. 'Then we have need of telling. Tell me about him_, and about the one who called himself _Gimli_. You say _father of all names,_ but what is that? Tell me about that!' '_Gimli, father of _Elm,_ I think,' said Frodo. 'I remember the name at least.' 'Then I _am not _Gimli._ I am a Dwarf, and I was called _Elm. Gimli from the Elves in his sleep._ You are very strange, Frodo. Do not speak _my_ name so loudly. The only names that my tongue can find are _Shireley,_ and _Perian._ Do you really mean _Perian from the seed of the Midgar? Is that true? I was called _Elm_ because I was the name that was given to the Mountain, and _Elm_ because of the softness of my breath. I am not ashamed of speaking it; for I have had no other name for it. _Elm,_ I think, that is what you mean. _The Greenway from the king's house to the mine,_ I think,' said Frodo. 'That is true,' said Gorbag. 'But _Elm,_ I think, does not mean _that is the name that was given to the Mountain, at your service. Elves were called _Elm-man,_ and _Elm-man,_ and _Elm-man,_ and _Elm- man,_ if you will. And _Elm-man,_ I think, is the name that was given to the Nazgl.' 'I wish I could speak it,' said Frodo. I wish I could!' 'Very nearly so,' laughed Gorbag. 'I wish I could. I am a dwarf, and I would learn the Dwarvish.' 'You must learn it as a last resort, I beg you,' said Frodo. 'I beg you also,' laughed Gorbag. 'You must learn _at all costs_ the _at the earliest possible stage_. You will not learn this at this late date, only in the wild. You can learn it and not later. Learn it till you are old enough, and as little as you can! You can learn it now and again, by the aid of Gorbag; but you must learn it! You cannot count on him now. But he can ask you to tell him where you can find some. He can guess, if he pays attention. He can tell me how to find the Mountain. I cannot guess. I cannot ' 'I will tell him,' said Frodo, 'how to find the Mountain and not bring it to him.' Gorbag turned and pointed to a place between high steps, a wide space, or ring of huge stone steps, many times as great as the steps on the other side. They were all now level with the floor of the floor. He took Frodo by the hand and followed him. The light of the open door was dazzling. The light of torches, blazing ======_Chapter 3_ The Enemy's Gateway

Pippin spoke again to Sam. `I am more afraid of the orc-tower than of the tower itself,' he said. 'I feel afraid inside. It is an evil place, and it has always been so. But I am glad to leave my shadow behind. It will make the orc-tower look like home, if it is defended against the Orcs.' `At all costs we must go to Rivendell,' said Sam. `If we don't hurry now, the Orcs won't come any nearer. I shall have to tackle a hobbit-rope myself.' `Or hobbits! ' cried Gandalf. `I'm coming to Rivendell. I'll bring torches.' `Go on! ' said Pippin. `The Orcs will not come near. The gate is blocked. Leave now! Leave enough of the prisoners and we will cut the orc-tower like butter. Right down to the bones! ' `Thank you! ' said Gandalf. 'I shall return ere I go on to the hill. I shall be pleased. But I wish to speak to Strider. He showed me the courage to come. He should have borne the hobbit in his arms, and seen the strong hobbit, and the hollow voice, and let him walk on into the great woods without fear.' `I will come with you! ' said Pippin. `Yes, I will,' said Gandalf. I have not gone on with you in the dark for the last time. Yet at nightfall I came to the entrance to the Great Gates and I found that the gate had been opened, and many Orcs and servants of the Dark Lord had gone in. But I did not know that you had been seen or heard of any great company that evening. Even when you left the Great Gate I had not seen any great company. Yet there was a wide darkness outside, or a darkness of blackness beyond. What was happening I cannot imagine. `I was summoned to the gate by Elrond. He sent me out to meet with you. He has not seen you since the morning. He had not yet arrived. I was alone. The company and I had come to seek for you. Since you are summoned now Gandalf leads us to the great hall of the Tower. This is the great hall of the Tower. It was shaped by the craftsmen that dwelt there in the days of the sons of Elrond. I came in to see Elrond. He led us to the great courtyard. Here we have a view of many things that we have not seen before. I think that you will not find the pavilion here. There are great engravings of the likenesses of the Great Horns and the Hornblower, and the images of Elves and Men. It is forgotten that the Hornburg was originally once known as Strider the Bear, for Strider was the grandson of Elrond. But Strider was the son of Elrond, and he was the forerunner of the Orcs that now dwell in Rivendell. He was the first Orcs to pass the Door into the Great Gates. `I saw an old man go up in a dark tree with a great horn in his hand, and the window was open. I durst not wait on him; but at once Elrond led me to the great hall. There was a man, a tall man, dark- haired, grey-eyed, grey-eyed. He walked under the arch of the great hall. At once I durst not wait upon him. He was strong-willed, and he spoke a word to the men in the hall. They did not dare to approach the great door. ` "Strider," they said, "is it now certain that you have heard this company's business since we left the mountains? " He laughed. ` "Strider," they said, "is it now certain that you have heard our company's business since we left the mountains? " he laughed, and they laid their hands upon their swords. ` "The Sword of Elendil "l what the good Master Elrond sent to him, he has not read. And he must be shuttled. Where is Gandalf, and how far is he? " ` "The Sword of Elendil ======They were looking out from the skirts of the trees towards the darkening fields ahead, and they could hear the clatter of picketed stones; but they did not dare to move, not expecting the approaching wolves. `I was wondering,' said Frodo, 'if it was _The Hobbit_ that had so frightened us.' `It was not,' said Sam; 'for it was the _Bones and _Reckless,_that have scared me. I do not wonder why, but I wonder why Gandalf asked me to! Gandalf had, I think, told me to go right to the Tree, to find the four hobbits, and this quest, this quest, is all for naught! And how will we find them when the old fellow comes?' `You have not told me,' said Frodo. `No one has!' said Sam. `I have told you.' 'Yes, one of them is coming. I have not seen him.' `Then why have you not come? ' `I don't know. I have come to ask you something.' `There is no time to ask, Mr. Frodo. You have lived long enough. You have lived in Rivendell. You have had a beautiful day. You have had a noble house. This is what it might be!' `I know! ' `Yes, you have, and more. I cannot wait any longer. You know the story of Bilbo's foolish journey? The foolish way he went on, and on and away? ' 'I do not, not yet. But the time is come to say no. And that with all the care that I may, I bid you, Frodo, stand before the Great Gate and call no one to the Great Hall, save Gandalf. There the only man that can see the Sun and the Sun and the four hobbits out of the Fire are enough. He will have no other companion. 'The other companion is dead. But I do not ask for your pardon. I was troubled by your tone. I was troubled, and I said _I_ would. Gandalf said _I will go only to show that to other men.' `But that is only a return of folly, I think, and not friendship. Indeed my friend Frodo would not go to the Great Hall for that. Why? ' exclaimed Gandalf, looking at the hobbits. `We are not trying to,' they answered. `We are trying to save ourselves, and to ourselves. Not to the world, as I would say. There is danger in secrecy. I think, though, that it is not danger at all. The Three Rings are lost. It is not the Shire that I name. It is not the Elves or the Men that name it. It is only this: to be a part of the Shire by virtue of which you were made a hobbit is to be part of the world. And to be an Elf or a Man, Frodo, I mean. Certainly Elves cannot tell the true tale from the false. But I do not think that we have proved our friendship enough to slay the false. We have only proved our friendship by force.' `Very well, sir,' laughed Gandalf, `but not without thought. In brief, two of the Three Rings have been lost. The others were not: the Men and the Elves. But still there are other things in the world that Elves may have learned or made into creatures. It is likely that Elves learned or made into Elves, before this quest began. It is likely also that Elves learned the craft of making things into Men, though not by Elves, but by Dwarves. There are two conflicting accounts of this: one in the Shire, and the other in the Shire-folk. The Shire story tells of the Men and the Elves who set out from Gondor after the War; but in truth the Men and the Elves did not set out from Rohan; they left the Dominion of Isen and went to war in the South. `In that war many Elf-hearted Orcs and abominations were slain, and many more were driven off to be burned or tormented for rebellion against the Dark Lord. Many more were taken and scattered; and many more were sent to be destroyed. And more were found by the Orcs as they lay: many more that Frodo found in the cold cold grave beside the path that he had climbed in the Elder Days. ======It seems likely now that the Road to Rivendell lies long and far away, and that the Riders of Rohan will never return to the old Road. But it is perilous for hobbit alone to walk it, and the Years after need after need have gone on, until the Riders were newcomers only in the old road. When Frodo was a boy, his father, Mr. Bilbo, was a dwarf in the great hall of the Tower of Erech, and he was the eldest of the Hobbits of Hobbiton. Frodo, and Bilbo Baggins as they called him, lived together in Hobbiton for many years, between the two of them. Frodo had a keen eye and an astonishing voice. He was the youngest of the Hobbits, and the most famous; for he was a master of tongues, and he was the first to discover that the hobbit language was the native tongue of the West, and that it was the native language of Men, and that they were the descendants of Nmenor, the Dwarves of the Elder Days. As a boy Frodo was captivated by poetry and song, and in those latter years he began to study the languages of those parts of the world beyond the Great Sea, and they became his subjects. In the mid- twentieth century the name Frodo (or Frodo-bo-den) was once again called up, for it was a mark of wonder and wonder in Frodo's case to learn that his father was of that name, and that so important in the development of the hobbit name and in the linguistic history of that land. At the age of ten Frodo was led away on a great cart-road by Gandalf. Gandalf gave Frodo his name and the usual stage, and he remained in Hobbiton for many years, until Bilbo adopted his new name in the autumn of that same century. Frodo soon became acquainted with Bilbo Baggins, the dwarf of Bag End, and he soon became fond of Bilbo as much as of his younger self. Frodo learned a little of Bilbo in childhood, as Bilbo learned to be fond of his manners and customs, and he learned a great deal more in college and study after high school. At the end of high school he went to Bilbo's for examination. He got an entrance examination, for high-entrance means to an end; and he thought that he had passed it. It was done in the autumn of that year; but he said to his teacher, omer, that he would like to remain in Hobbiton for a year and study the history of hobbit-making. Gandalf, who had studied the history of the fortunes of the hobbits in the Elder Days with Bilbo, had many guests at the doors; and Bilbo liked Bilbo much more than he did. Bilbo was a good talker and had many guests at his doors; but he was not himself very good at all such times. Frodo learned very little of the history of hobbit- making in Hobbiton and no other part of the Shire before Bilbo's arrival. Baggins was the chief dealer in story-furnaces and manuscripts, and he was the chief of the Eastfarthing, the small but devoted village of about ten dwarves. After the settlement of the Shire they left Hobbiton and went north to Bucklebury, where they came again to Bag End. Bag End was a thriving and independent village, and the Eastfarthing was now little known, for it was newly established as the Shire-side of the Shire by the War of the Ring. It was an important part of the Shire as it grew and grew into a more open place, and the Shire as it still stood, though it had been older and more densely packed. Bilbo Baggins and his wife, Miss Marcellina, had three young hobbits, aged between nine and twelve, on their mother's side; and on their father's side was a squint-eyed laboured farmer, Mr. Peregrin Took. Their place was Bag End, in front of which were the Chief Ents, Master Pippin, Master Samwise, and several others. The room was full of travellers and was full of them; but there were none to be seen for Bilbo's funeral on the Shire. Bilbo and his wife Galadriel (both full-grown dwarves), were staying at their small house on the Green Hill, near Bree, by the shores of the River; and Bilbo was pondering the coming of the Halfling, the most famous of the Hobbits, to the City, and the story of his great adventure, the Quest of the Ring, that he ======Darkness fell behind him. With a sickle he cast himself on the mounds of the Misty Mountains. Now no living thing was to be seen, not even Elves, and only orcs; for the cold earth trembled about him, and the out-thrust axe and quiver of hoof-barrel still held a withering weapon. `Frodo! Mr. Frodo! ' he called, and sprang away, running towards the shadows, cursing the orcs and the foul stench in the air. 'I promised: I'll not leave my friends behind! I won't leave Mr. Frodo: he's dead, and he's done very badly. Mr. Frodo is not dead now, and I won't leave him: he's dead now, and I'll do all I can to help him. And that's very hard. My heart's cold. I've done a lot for Mr. Frodo over the years, and he deserves a fair bit of help. I can't let him go, I'm afraid. He's very dear to me. He's my leg-mate now.' `And you too, Frodo,' said Gandalf. `You ought to be careful of Mr. Frodo. He's a foul creature, and will do harm to you, if he gets any closer than he has, or gets no closer. But you shall not kill him, of course, no matter what he does. He'll hurt you; he'll hurt himself. He's a foul creature, but he'll do what he says. He cannot hurt you now. He'll kill himself. I wish I could take him as my servant, so that he can't do as he has. But you must be very careful of him, and take care when he's away. He's a foul creature, and it is likely to grow when he's returned, not kept near you. But since he's come back, he's returned at last. He's in fact, there's been a frost on his guard. If he's not away now, he may not return. 'I wonder where he is and what he's thinking, since he left us, in fact. But he's a foul creature, I deem. He has been a prisoner of the Dark Lord, and has been for long days in a House of Worms. He knows all about our plans, and we know it. He may be thinking of some way. There's something else out there: the Enemy thinks he knows it all. He knows it all, and he's got quite a mind for it. He may be thinking of some way and justly, I reckon. 'Of course, you must remember, Legolas. I took you with me on the journey, and I meant to take with you, if I could, a complete account of everything that we've done so far. I tried to give you a fair, up- to-date account, as soon as my leave, and I could, if I had the time, to answer all about the Black Gate. And you need not be afraid of taking a false account: I've thought much about it, and I've spoken of it. I don't want to be _reckless_ now.' `I'll _not_ have _anything_,' he laughed again. 'I should really like a good thick-cut, if I could: I mean, a full braided bra for Frodo; and it would keep his legs from going bony, if it came to full bending. I don't know what he's got to hide, though I guess he doesn't want to. But I should really like a lot shorter bra than his half-worn size, in any case. I don't think he's as bulkier as I would like him to be, I think. And anyway I don't know what else I could do. It's my burden to put it all together, if I could. ` "Your Ring," Frodo sneered, and flung the ring at the chain about it. Gandalf laughed. ` "I wish I could!" cried the wizard, springing the heavy chain back and forth. ` "Be careful of what you wish to be said!" said the wizard. "I must not be too critical. The time has come. You have spoken plainly enough. You now know why I left you. You need not worry about my answers to your questions. Answer as much as you will, Gandalf. I do not know why I left you, and I do not know why Gandalf thought you worthy of my trust. I do not know what Gandalf knows, and I think he does ======Well this is the end of my tale. The Riders of Rohan have returned. This tale-length composition has been made into a tale-length composition, and assembled into a tale-length composition. The score is composed of the music of the Elves, and of the speech of the dwarves. The dwarves were composed by Bilbo Baggins and Sir Goran Guldur; the speech of the dwarves is derived from Dwarves in the Dwarves of the Shire; and the speech of the Elves is derived from Elves in the Elves of the Misty Mountains, but the word for elf is from the Dwarves in Westernesse. The story is set in the world of the Rings and is set in the Elder Days. The hobbits do not speak of the events of the story, but they speak of the events of the story, and the dwarves speak of the speech of the Dwarves. Here is the first part of the score that is to be found in the Silmaril, and the beginning of the ending. _The Tale of the Elf-lover,_ begins The ladder of elven-hoods is descending

The days are passing

The ladder of elven-hoods is not yet come to end, But the years are passing

The ladder of elven-hoods is not yet end,

The days are passing, But the years will not end yet. And we will walk in the valley of the Kings of Men: And speak with Elven-mirr, and Dwarven-mirr, and Dwarf-mirr, and Elven-kingdom, and Elf-end of ages.

omer and owyn high in the house of Elrond, and high in the house of Elrond, and high in the house of Elrond,

and high in the house of Elrond,

and high in the house of Elrond,

Lucifer, omer son of omund, Leveled in the art of Healing, and high in the art of Sorcery Lanterns of the Elves, and noble in heart, and proud in eyes; and captain of the Horsemen, and keeper of the Keys:

Lanterns of the Dwarves, Lanterns of the Wood Elves, Lanterns of the Elven-maidens, Theories of the Nmenor, Theories of the Grey Havens, Theories of the Shire-folk, Theories of the Southlands, Theories of the Sundering Seas, Theories of the Sundering Seas, Theories of the Fallen Lands, Theories of the Sundering Seas, and many other ways. There are many other things that the Elves of Middle-earth have in common with Dwarves: they are wiser, more learned, more quick of hearing, more swift of walking, and they are more akin to Men. The Elves of the Lonely Mountain, for many years it was said, were still alive, and their beauty still surpasses that of the Dwarves. But in the days of Gondor they were forgotten, and that in the world outside was but a memory of time and place. In the days of Gondor the kings of the Dwarves were busy with other things, of which they had many arguments, as they came to understand that the growth of the world outside was in the very beginning mortal, and that unless the One was destroyed, the world outside would soon become an ancient and savage land. That was the counsel of old, and it was followed ever since by others, too, that the world outside must be destroyed, unless the One was destroyed; ======The dawn was just now upon the new world and things growing in the Shire were becoming clearer. A great grey light was slowly growing in the sky. The moon was slowly lifting, and the dawn was shining faintly. Frodo returned to his master, who was now standing before the Gate of the Fire in the high chamber of the White Tower. They looked at him and he smiled, and said nothing, but stood up and bowed low. 'I am glad of the Ring,' said Frodo. 'I feel glad that I brought it with me. I wish I could!' 'But why would you bring it?' cried Pippin. 'Why do you bring it?' 'For myself,' said Frodo, 'for myself, I would have chosen the Ring.' 'But for you,' said Frodo, 'I have chosen the Ring. The choice is yours. Choose it. Or choose me this servant of Sauron, and you shall have pleasure of eating, drinking, and talking with me, until the end of time.' 'I do not choose you then,' said Frodo. 'But I choose the Ring. The Ring, I choose. Choose it, and I shall have pleasure of eating, drinking, and talking with you, until the end of time. For I choose this, as I have chosen many other things: from the air, from the tree, from the sun, from the tree. The old days and the darkness of the Elder Days cannot be wholly ended, or the tale so melodious.' 'You choose, too, Frodo. You can endure the tales about the things that it will take to end the War, if you choose the Ring,' answered Frodo. 'And I, too, I choose the Ring. I have chosen this for my own amusement.' 'You have not forgotten that, Ring-bearer,' said Pippin. 'I would dearly like to hear more about this old hobbit. I have heard tales about him, too; but I have never seen any thing like this turn out of his kindness.' 'Well, if you would like to know what I think,' said Frodo, 'I think that you should know first what I think first, too. If I may be so bold, you may find that I do not think the Ring itself. On the contrary: it is the way of the Elves. I think it is now possible, if you are careful, to find out who my friends are, and who they are in the course of time. I begin to think you are forgetting hobbits, as you might say. Many of my friends are Elves. Some are in the Shire now, I think. They are good with the Shire: they are decent folk; and they should give you advice, if you are careful. But they are not sensible of anything that I think, unless I tell them so. I think that hobbits have some sense, or perhaps that they are just like us, in the way they talk, eat, and think. I am not sure that I understand your arguments. I think you should know, at least. You are forgetting hobbits, and not just Elves. It is a mistake to think that hobbits are somehow somehow somehow somehow not half so special as we thought. We used to talk to ourselves. We used to talk to ourselves often enough, when we were young, when we had a mind. We used to talk to ourselves, and to others, about things like this, we would say. 'But if we have lost all of us, we still live in a very special way, as I thought when I first set this thing together. I did not think then of hobbits as somehow somehow somehow somehow ' he said, and closed his eyes. 'Yes, of course we do. But there is still a long way to go. And the time has come, I think, when we may need to change the name. I don't know, what would happen now: if the Elves choose to do away with the name, and leave us to decide. But I think we have found what we sought for: the choice was made carefully. There is no right or wrong way; but it is a mistake to think that hobbits are somehow somehow somehow somehow somehow somehow nonetheless. I think that most of us, if we forget our names, will remember them, and perhaps better. 'But we ought not to forget our names, at any rate, if we do not want to. The Shire is not over. We have lived a long time in it ======_Chapter 6_ The River of Mordor

Frodo and Sam were now in a great bound, and their way was over the Great River, crossing the River Hoarwell, when they heard a great rumble and then a deep murmur. The sound was the sound of many many hurrying feet and walls, and of many orc-feet. Out of the shadows and thickets behind the black Gate of Barad-dr the ruffians had built a huge gate in the shape of a mouth, and its top was barred with bars of iron; but if they looked closely they would see that they had wrought in such a way as to permit only the entry of the servants of the Dark Tower. 'Come! We are coming,' said a voice. 'We are coming to Mordor. Come now, Frodo, Clough the Ranger! Tell us why you are here. We are going to Mordor to fight against the Enemy. We have come to give you some news of the lands that you have so long denied. We are coming to the Black Gate. We have come to give you some news of the lands that you have so long denied.' Frodo looked and saw that his pony was standing still, gazing ahead into the darkness, as if he were passing through a dream. Behind him the Gate swung on to the threshold, and its great side faced westward; but the northward wall was not so high that it could be seen from the dark shadows under it. There was a huge tower of iron, shaped like a head of silver and blue, and it was high and tall, and its head was mirrored in the tower: the sky above was blue and blue-rouded, and the whole tower was glowing. Frodo looked back. The tower and the tower's side were dark against the sky, and the shadow of the gate were very great; but the outer wall, which was blacker and brighter, was white-firling and gleaming with gold. In the morning the world had become like a sea, and the stars were shining, but the world outside had become dark and cold. The three Riders that were with them were sailing towards Mordor at first only in a dream, but after a while they advanced and slowly but steadily rose. The moonlight was falling in the morning. The company heard the start and saw the four Riders lead by Aragorn early on the morning of the tenth day of June. Since they had come only to sail from Ferry-hill, and since they were sailing at a great distance, they were not expecting to see any ships. The four Riders had lights on their shields and on their swords, and they were swift and took no delay. Aragorn was already setting up the gates. The four gates were held together, and were wrought of many colours of steel and of ash; and their central pillar was a vast shape like a head of silver, and upon it was set a great horn; and a single white stone was tipped with iron. Frodo and Sam were led out by Aragorn, and Frodo was led away by the care of Pippin. Sam was led through the Westfold-way; but Frodo followed slowly before he reached the Great Gate, where the faces of the three gates were like the figures on the walls; and there on the threshold stood a great arch of iron and was tipped with silver; and on the other side of the gate stood a great mound of earth, and over it stood the great gate of the Black Gate, and upon its westward arch was a door of iron and steel. The three Riders were swift and attacked Frodo. They attacked Frodo at first by _hoom-hom_. They threw down many of their enemies, and then came to the Great Gate, where Aragorn raised his banner, and all the people fled. The three gates were struck down, and the Stone of Entwash was brought out, and the land became a garden and a garden of trees. Many of the trees had been cut down, and many were reared and multiplied, and many new trees were planted. But the old gate stood tall before Frodo, and upon its eastern side was planted a stone, a white tower, or chasm of stone, that was not there, but was raised in the night, and out of it rose the White Stone, and out of it came the Shadow, and the veil of Shadow that was laid upon it. There came old Frodo, and he sat silent on the ======Well, the Ring of Power has been revealed to us. The Enemy has already reached the Gate of Magic with the Ring of Power; and he knows it, too. So far the Ring has protected us against all harm, save maybe from Sauron. But he will not be so easy to defeat when the Ring of Power is withdrawn. Sauron still has much to think. What about yourselves, Frodo? Will you still remain behind, or will you strike when the chance? Will you go to war? You can't play by Frodo's rules. They have been made for him, or for me, as long as I remember. It is time now to withdraw them. You will need them in a way that will test your resolve, but which does not betray your faith in the One, and in the Power that you wield.'

Frodo's eyes flashed, and his mind was flooded with fear. 'I will go to war!' he cried. 'I will go to war! And I will strike first, as a scout, and then as a last choice. I will go to war, and I will go to war! And if I lose, I lose my friends, and my friends become useless. That's the way of it with the Enemy. And that's what I'm looking for.' 'Why are you so desperate, Sam?' Frodo asked. 'Because you lost my friends, and I lost yours. I have thought of a way to stop him, but only if you promise to come back. And I've thought of a way to withdraw the Ring. The Enemy has a way of tricking us into thinking he has nothing but strength to match, and of misunderstanding his purposes. He will certainly use the Ring to hide his true power, and he may have other purposes. The Enemy has other purposes too. His power is great, and it will grow larger as he lives beyond our reckoning; and when he regains his strongholds, his true purpose is no longer doubt discovered. The Ring is no longer danger: danger has been discovered. And so shall the Ring be remembered, a token of your valour.' 'And so shall we!' cried Sam. 'Only now will we be doubt less insecure, shall we.' 'And so shall we!' cried Frodo. Frodo looked up and smiled. 'Well, I think I shall start sooner than I have planned,' he said. Sam sat for a moment in thought. 'You mean to start early and start out? Your friends have told you that it is not known when.' 'I hope so,' said Frodo. 'Only because we do not know so yet. I think we shall start soon enough. I hope, Mr. Frodo, that there is no danger that I shall not start early. But first you must decide how you wish to start. Yes, you need not wait; but you must decide how you wish to start: there must be enough room for both of you before the date is set. Also, there are some things that I think would be better: travelling on an island, for instance, or on a journey over the Great River, or even on the plains of Gondor; and that is not all. It may be that we shall meet again some day, if we begin in the month of September. But I cannot say yet. I do not know how things will go. There is much to think about, and that is very important. 'Then I shall start early, and I shall be ready before the date of September as soon as may be desired. I am very hopeful. I think that I shall be chosen for Samwise, and I am quite ready for him too. I am troubled by our chances. The Enemy is in great peril at this hour, and he must work to secure aid and the victory. His own strength is diminished, and he is reduced to immeasurable weakness; so that it is not possible to recapture without war or by force. On the one hand he rules all the wild folk in the lands of the Enemy, and he rules the wild folk. On the other hand there is Saruman, and he rules the White Council; and he rules the White Council is the last stage of all his works. That is a day that is going to come, not to a defeat, yet for the vanquished at least we shall have some chance of victory, not only in the month of September, but after. It is not a high bar that we have set for ourselves, but high above the dead city in the mountains, and we must now take it by force. We must take it by force, we must fight it no longer. We must fight the Ring ======It was no uncommon sight in the Shire to see men clad in white amid the glittering of the White Mountains, or in the glittering lights of the ancient City in the South. But it was unheard of in all the Shire that folk so hideous of feel and appearance would show actual deformity. `We don't often see such men,' said friend Bilbo, `but here one of the strangest of us was on duty when the accident happened. He was on guard at Bree when the affair began. He said he did not know why the lights went out. "I am afraid I don't know how to describe it," he said: "unbelievable how there is always something going on in the world outside the Shire." "I am sorry, but I am a dwarf. I am in a deep dark land, and there are no lights, no legends, no legends about mortality. And how do I know that I am not a mortal hobbit?' `Well, no one can remember,' answered Bilbo. `There is no wizardry of any kind, I think. There are no bones or feathered hair on hobbits, nor on hobbits that have no elvish names. There is no filth, and no murder, nor any tales even of old tales can recall. No hobbit has ever been so hideous as that shown by this." 'I think you have indeed indeed,' said Frodo. `I do,' said Bilbo. `Indeed I have been too busy with this letter to bother at all. But I think it is well enough that this letter should come out of thin air. It is not even time yet before the hobbit-folk of Bree return to their old homes; and I hope that they will say farewell to this unhappy place. But I must say that it is now as I knew it: very gloomy, very little known, very little talked about. And then we must go our own way, I think, and not by the best.' Frodo made a final decision on his next journey. He decided to leave Hobbiton and make for Buckland; but he still had some work to do. He found it difficult to keep awake at all during the night, when he still had the strength and resolve to face the Shire alone. He set out on foot, but it was difficult to find any way over the stony path as he came to the end of the Greenway. So he came alone to Bywater, and by night was still heavy when he came back. The next stage of his journey was even more difficult. He came too soon into a narrow region, and in the middle of another dark place where the land was much deeper than it was. He had to start early. Already he had learned a great deal. First of all he had to find the right way over the dark door in the middle of an already dark place; he had to find the right way and then the right way, and that way he came, and he had to find it, or he would not go his own way. He had to find the cause of his own troubles. He had learned that Gandalf had been watching the road and was pursuing some orc-leader. He had also heard of the blackness that was about Orthanc and the great black hole in the depths of Rath Dnen. He could not wait any longer. He began by turning aside from the main road for the eastern landing from Bucklebury; and he made a second drive northwards into the country northwards to his liking. He soon had become, Bilbo hoped, a very well-off hobbit, if he had the means, and a very merry one at that. He had a lucky day. He won the first prize, the largest prize, in the history of hobbit-making, for most handsome hobbit. He won the next prize, the highest, and last, the highest: he was the only hobbit ever to win both prizes in the same year, and the only hobbit ever to travel all the way from Bree to Mordor with at least nine other hobbits. He had another astonishing success. He won the largest prize, the "Golden Apples", at the age of 64, and the oldest known living thing in hobbit-kind. He won the prize mostly because he had the fortune of being in Hobbiton long before anyone else. He had a reputation as being the luckiest hobbit in all the Shire, and he had a reputation as being the luckiest hobbit to ever walk it. The next stage of his journey was much the least interesting of all. He had to get over the dark feeling that crept up ======The day of the party the whole household was summoned. As they entered the hall they made no sign nor make any sign that they were present. All that came before the Lord and Lady was present at the making of the party, and the guests also. All were present and willing to come before the Lord and Lady in the morning, for the Lord and Lady was going to speak in Minas Tirith, and she seemed to be in haste. At the beginning of the morning the Lord and Lady arose. They went out with all the speed they could to the pavilion where they had been sitting. Inside they found that the Lord and Lady had set up a pavilion far inside the hall. Upon the outside there was painted upon the wall and in the midst of it a small white stone was graven. When they had breakfasted they talked together and went on with all the others. After breakfast the Lord and Lady greeted all who came in; there being no need for any further talk, they all went to have a fair meal together. There were no cares laid of lords or small guests, though the people of Minas Tirith were kept busy, for the Lord and Lady were guests of honour and had many special favour. At last the Lord and Lady made their Farewell Speech and Farewell to Ride and Adventure; and they thanked all who had part in their part, and wished the Lord of the Mark and all his good will all the best in his long and noble life. At length all were laden with clear and clear, and they could now see that they were all of the household of Gondor; and that they were lords in the proper order as they were given to their descent from Elrond of Lothlrien; that they had descended from sons of Elrond and of father of Elrond; and that they were descended from men of the name of Eorl, and of Melchizedek, and of Gil-galad and of Dior, and of Meriadoc and of Galadriel. And they declared that they wished to become Free Peoples, free from servitude in the land, and to become like to the Sea before it was swallowed. But in the midst of all this much talk and debate the Lord of the Mark came into a whisper, and the old man fell silent, and Frodo fell deep into a dream that went dark and ended. At length he spoke again, and he seemed suddenly to dream again of his father, Elrond, and of his mother, Galadriel. He seemed then to be going on with his story, and the doors of his house were shut in hearing; and the Lord of the Mark told him that the Lady Galadriel, who was in the dream, had indeed indeed vanished into the shadows of night; and that no one could find her, and the shadow of Mordor grew. And he took his leave without any charge, and come now in the king's stead at the end of the day, and with him in the White Tower, and with him before the City and all the host of the Mark and of the Valar to meet the strangers that have come since they left the land of Mordor and came down from the North to the Sea. The King was troubled and he went before the Lord of the Mark, and he looked on the world and marveled at the array of things that were in it. But Elrond said: 'No marvel! Not even the splendour of Morthond alone has the power of awakening the wandering dreams of Men, and turning them to their purpose. Yet the thread of that purpose was wrought in the waking world, and it cannot be wholly broken. But it has been wrought, I deem, to the great need of the Ring-bearer. Will you find it, or not? It is not for me to command you.' Elrond smiled and said: 'Do not answer my summons, lord; but I will send that which is within and call upon you.' Then as if to please his heart, and to enliven the great feast of meat and drink with wine, the Lord Elrond set forth, and walked in the City of Gondor, and with all the speed that he set in it, eastward from the mountains, along the Causeway of the City, until he came to the Houses of Healing where women and children were gathered to a king in need. There, beside the City walls, was Stilwell, and he was a succourlain of Gondor, and Mistress of the House of Elrond, and was the daughter of Galadriel of Lothlrien; and she was afterwards Queen ======More than half a century after its publication, The Tale of Gandalf the Grey has a chapter to tell. It is one of the great sagas of the time, and its account is rich and rich too. It was written by G.B. Menollus, grandson of the chief judge of the West, and it tells of his journey from the City of the Halflings to the help of the Dark Tower. The story is told in the full, but the main event is not told here, for many things were changed, and many other things have happened since then that should not have happened, nor would. Its main events are recounted in the book, _The Tale of Gandalf the Grey_, and the chief events are told in the short story, The Tale of Gandalf the Halfling, and in the full, of which the full account is given.

_Chapter 1_ The Scouring of the Shire

The settlement of Gondor and its environs at the end of the Third Age was marked by the multiplying of the lords and the multiplying of the parts. The power of the Dnedain of the Shire increased, and they began to multiply into numerous sects, or wards, over the threatening influence of the West. Some, such as the Grey Havens, maintained that all things outside the City were evil, that the Gate, or the White Tower itself, was outside the City, and that the coming of the Halflings had no authority over all things. The Grey Havens maintained that the Gate, or the Tower of Cirith Ungol, was outside the City, and that the coming of the Halflings had no authority over all things, even Elves. At the Council of Elrond the Lord of the City, and the Second Councillor, held that all things outside the City were evil, and that the coming of the Halflings had no authority. Those held by the Ethir and by the Dnedain of Galadriel held that Elves were outside the City, and that the coming of the Halflings had no authority. The Dnedain held that the Gate, or the Tower of Cirith Ungol, was outside the City, and that the coming of the Halflings respects the rule of both the kings and the earth. Those held that the Lord of the City holds the authority of the Steward of Gondor, while those of the Dnedain hold the authority of the Second Councillor. The Grey Havens maintained that the Gate, or the Tower of Cirith Ungol, was outside the City, and that the coming of the Halflings respects the rule of the kings. Those held that the Lord of the City holds the dignity of Steward, while those of the Dnedain hold the authority of the Second Councillor.

Those held that the Lord of the City holds the authority of the First Councillor, while those of the Dnedain of the Dnedain hold the authority of the Second Councillor. The Grey Havens maintained that the Gate, or the Tower of Cirith Ungol, is outside the City, and that the coming of the Halflings is strictly bound up with the office of City Warden. Those held that the Lord of the City holds the authority of the First Councillor, while those of the Dnedain of the Dnedain hold the authority of the Second Councillor.

The Lord of the City was head of the household of Gondor, either First Dmndor or Second Dmndor, and neither was older nor more ancient than the other. The Lord of the City was the Third Dmndor; for that was the Third Dmndor of the Mark, and the Third Dmndor of the Golden Hall, which was the Fourth Dmndor. The House of the Lord of the City was the Third Dmndor, for that was the Fourth Dmndor of the Mark, and the Third Dmndor of the Golden Hall, which was the Fourth Dmndor. The House of the Third Eye was the Second Dmndor, for that was the Second Dmndor of the High Marshes, and the Third Dmndor of the Citadel of Gondor. The Lord of the City was the First Dmndor, for that was the First Dmndor of the High Marshes, and the Third Dmndor of the Citadel of Gondor. The Third Eye was the Second Dmndor, for that was the ======We have a long road ahead of us and many challenges to face, but we have won, and we must go on. We will ride now on the wind of victory, to Minas Tirith, where the power of the Dark Lord is on the land. `The road ahead begins with the gathering of our Riders. All have passed since the day of our summons. Some have journeyed far and long; some have rested long, and had no time to themselves; and some have ridden alone. But all have returned, and are accounted all now together for all save one or two: a man: a Ranger, a Captain of the Guard, or none save a few together. Yet all have returned unhorsedeedlessly, and have fared together, and have passed out of peril, so to speak, through fear and temptation. `Yet none have been as he who has not been among us. Who can tell? I do not know how he comes to Mordor. And maybe I have not done a thing in Mordor that I could not have done in the land where he sits. But if I had known how much he cares for me, I should never have ridden hither so late. I have known much since I rode. And I have waited on him since he left his home and returned hither to his old home. And now I guess that he has become a little too keen at times, and a little too wary at others: a new Wayfarer, I guess. And he has taken to our land. And we will ride on him. We have ridden now for thirteen days, and the Sun is shining. For it is said that he comes not out of shadow, but out of the White Mountains. And I thought long this last night, when we rode over the Dimrill Dale, when we came to Minas Tirith, I thought then how fitting that we should ride across that great place. `I feared that if we went forward from the east, there would be little to follow, and that Mordor, as we knew it, would soon grow dark and start towards civil war. But the shadow of the Darkness grows ever greater, and our road to war lies almost beyond the hill of Dimrill Stair. Yet I knew in my heart that I had not ridden far, and that I was not in great haste. I feared that I should miss the beginning of this Wayfarer, and that the Road running north-west from Tol Brandir to Minas Tirith would be lost, and that Mordor would soon learn of that. But hope still lives on in the hearts of Men.' `You speak of losing the Road,' said Legolas. `I asked you not to be afraid, but of losing it. If your Road runs before the gates of Mordor, then all the roads of the West will be lost. But if you want to ride through their ruins, then it will be the Shire that draws you there. It is true that the Road has been repaired and improved; but we cannot say now that we still journeyed far and wide in that way, save perhaps that we came unexpectedly out of the East, and passed out of the Shire in greater numbers than we should. And of course, no road is ever the same after its end; for it is all that we ride now, whether we come or go, that is an end. But all the same, I do not think we should abandon the Road to Mordor; nor do I think that we should abandon it wholly. If we ever intend to go that road again, it will be by our skill and skill alone, and not by any means by ourselves. I have paid tribute to the power of the Elder Race, to the wisdom of our Captain and our Forefathers, and to the courage of our Riders. I think that, in the end, the desire of the West to enter the Dark Years as quickly as possible will drive us, and we shall need our own devices and our own luck. `I do not think that we should abandon the Road altogether. Though I am not sure that I understand all that they mean, I will say this: we could do with a little speed what we have tried to do without using the Road: we could make a path that could be cut across the hills and through the Gates of Moria, if we wished. We could sweep away the vale of the Silvanves, or sweep away the White Mountains and the River in a last desperate effort, or throw down the last barrier, or choke the Nameless One in the hopes of destroying us.' `And do not try to go round the Great Gate in a last desperate effort!' said Gandalf. `I do not know ======'I have seen him lying on the ground,' said Frodo, 'and that is not usual in the Shire.' 'You cannot say so loudly or so clearly,' said Sam, 'and yet I dare not believe that any hobbit has ever done so, save perhaps Frodo the gullible, who has been more forthcoming with tales of the Enemy. Some of the other tales that I heard at work in Rivendell, too long ago to be of any use to us. I wonder now how long it has been since you last saw him?' 'It has been of late,' said Frodo. 'He was under the spell of the Black Gate long ago.' 'Then why did I stay to see him?' 'I have been busy with other matters, which I shall not now speak about. The Enemy has been at work even more than I feared, and we cannot afford any longer any aid. Your pardon, Mr. Frodo, and Mr. Bilbo the goblin, for their friendship was interrupted. It was Gandalf who summoned you, and asked you to come with me. He had just then told me that the Enemy was making war on the Shire, and that he would begin a war in earnest on that road once more. I followed him all the way to the northern gate; and then I got to know more about him and his forces; and there I learned that they were now being prepared for battle at dawn on this side of the Misty Mountains. 'As for my orders, I did not report them to you. I was bored and anxious, and I regretfully disobeyed him. But I shall report them to you ere I sleep again.' 'Well, if you would e-message me?' said Frodo. 'I hope so, Mr. Frodo,' said Frodo. 'You are worrying me, Sam,' said Sam. 'I shall e-message you ere the end, at any rate e-not-messaging.com. You are the chief spy in Bag End, Sam Gamgee, and you will go on e-message before I sleep. That is how I learned that the Enemy was preparing to make war on the Shire. This is how I learned that he was already preparing to send troops to the defence of Rivendell. I have marked it.' Sam looked rather uneasy for a moment, whether he was being watched or not, looking over the edge of his cloak and feeling a hint of the shadow of his insecure henchman. 'I am not watching, Mr. Frodo,' he said. 'I am asleep. The Enemy is at work even harder than I feared. He has overtaken the defence of Rivendell, or better yet, he has overrun it. I do not think that you will sleep on this point, Shelob, wench. The hobbitry in the Shire is desperate if Shelob is not taken sooner. On the borders the dread of the orcs is on the minds of many, and among these the fighting will not be so great as it has been for a long while. The next battle is probably near at hand, if we do not make it to Rivendell. But we cannot afford to wait. If the Enemy has already made a great mistake, it will be the worst, not least the one that we cannot afford. And if he has already been saved and repented, we cannot afford to wait.' 'The Enemy has already been saved and repented!' cried Sam. 'Yes, we have. Yes, we have been warned against it, and we have been sent to be by Rivendell, but we did not know that yet. We are not so sure now. We are almost certain of it, and of course we are not going to sleep at all.' 'We are almost certain of it!' cried Frodo, turning round and staring at the hobbits. 'Did you hear that, and do you think they are orcs or not?' asked Sam. 'Yes, I think so. And I think that we are in a desperate need, and the Ring is the best weapon against it. I think it was not the weapon of Saruman, but of the Watcher in the Dark. He knows all about us. He sent us to find some hidden treasure, Mr. Frodo. It may be there is none like it now: not even in my hoard, not since the Dark Lord seized it.' 'Well, I think it is not so then,' said Frodo, looking at the watchmen. ======Well, if it isn't the Shire, then who invented it? And who is it to tell me that none of the inhabitants of Hobbiton are hobbits, but just like us have been good folk, loyal to our master, and having as much right to claim as to have left in all the years of our existence. 'I'll warrant it, I believe, that if you took the Shire, you would have been delighted to know that none of them are hobbits, if Master Pippin weren't so rude. And most of the inhabitants of Hobbiton are decent folk. Why, there ain't no _tweaks,_ nothin', nothin' worth a scratchin' on the Big Man's Trousers, nothin' that he let walk.' 'And I'm afraid he won't,' said Frodo. 'I don't know what you mean, Frodo,' said Gandalf. 'But if you want to know, the Shire is real. It isn't some game of Precious that Sam has so much right at his Mouth. It's a real thing, and a real dangerous, and a real secret has been kept from him. And anyway I don't think he's a liar or a cheat. Seriously, Frodo, I think we ought to have a league now, and we ought to have a start on this dangerous venture. 'I think we ought to start at once. We ought to start at once. If we don't start soon, there's going to be no league. It's a dangerous business, don't you think? And when the danger has been (or will be) our doing, then we've got to go back it.'

At that moment Frodo stood up. The light grew clear and the sun shone. It was plain that many of the Shire residents still felt deeply oppressed and under siege, and some had run away and hid in the woods. He saw a young hobbit named Bilbo, wrapped in a living noon-crep, whose hands and feet were askew, but he had fought no actual war. He was sitting with his friends, resting in a cave above the hearth, playing hide and seek with his keen ears. There was Bilbo's private talk with Gandalf. Bilbo began by asking him a few riddles, such as the reason for the disappearance and escape of the hobbits. Frodo then learned that they were indeed trapped and being hunted by the Enemy, but had escaped on a false name. 'Well, so this is the end of it!' said Frodo. 'I can't wait to meet you again! And I hope you'll find a way to give me a rest?' Bilbo laughed. 'Well, well, that I shall have to put an end to my little party,' he said, 'and though it may be wise to try and get together some of my best folk, there is no time for more. You may find many of my best friends wandering about in the woods, or going off to other parts of the Shire, or some other unhappy place, and there I shall disappear. I think. Not all the heads of the Nine are lying hid in the woods, and I cannot think of any people that they have killed, and burned, and gang-raped. They cannot beat, they cannot make gibbet, they cannot make thievery, and they can't speak. 'And I think anyway you'll find most of them when you find the way. The sooner you get some of them away the better. They'll be safe here, if you give them away. They are very dangerous folk, and if they escape, then they'll go off into some other part of the world. The sooner you get some, the better. 'But wait a minute! The sooner you get some, the better. And talk to Gandalf. He'll know what he's doing.' Bilbo paused, and then he began again. This is what Bilbo meant when he said that he was going to disappear. That is not what he means. He means to go on. He always intended to make a quick end to all this, and he means to go off at once, even when his name is called. But he means to get away at once too, and he means to talk to ordinary hobbit folk first. He means to get away at once and just so and not go on with all these lies and tricks. He means to get away at once by himself. He means to go off at once and see his little friends. And if he does ======It is said that in Gil-galad, high above the Mountains of Teeth, there is a great mound, about which a great ship lies, and there is planned a great fleet of ships. This is the Mound of Gil-galad, and it lies at the mouth of the Great River, and between them and the Sea is the Black Gate. But if we wish to sail thence, we must first go over Gil- galad. And if we do not wish to take ship before the Black Gate is made ready, then the ships that Gil-galad sends to the king will not be sent after him, unless it be by a last effort made by our scouts. And so if our King Gil-galad is not found by the end of the year, then our enemies may come there and kill us and take us captive.' `Not by treachery,' said Faramir, `but by the Lord's will. Therefore, if we should meet in the present battle between Sauron and the enemy, we will drive them out and drive them out of this desolate country. And so if the Enemy has not yet come forth, we will deliver the people of the City from him and deliver them from the evil that they have become.' `That is true indeed,' said Pippin, `though I do not see how that can be achieved.' `That is true indeed,' said Faramir, `though I see how that can be achieved.' said Pippin. It does not yet seem certain that all the towers and mansions of the City of Gondor or the Hornburg or of Rhn will fall in battle from the north, so near is the land where Frodo and hesobel now stand. But if they cannot be overtaken before the year is ended, and if the city is not destroyed, the power of Mordor will fall on its foe, then North alone, between the armies of the Dark Lord and the remnants of his folk, will ever an army of Gondor stand: the mightiest, light and strong, or will the Shadow Hostile to the Last Alliance strive once again to hold? `If the old guard and guarderees and carrion-beasts and herdsmen of every kind that have ever passed through Mirkwood, and there are not many, but there were but one carrion in all the host that day; and that was the carcase of the Third Marshal, Lord of the City. And thereupon the Third Marshal sent his messengers to the citadel, and they met with great dismay and great grief in the hall of the White Tower. And those that remained said that they had no longer warred with the Haradrim, and yet that old guard and old servant were indeed at least somewhat conciliatory, though not as conciliatory as Saruman thought. So the Third Marshal found out that the servants of the White Tower have not warred since the fall of Rauros, and that was a matter of great sorrow and great grief. But the Lord Denethor then sent his messengers to the citadel also, and they met with great dismay and great grief, and they said that the men of Gondor had allied themselves with the remnant of the guard that lay between the walls and the fireside. And those that remained said that the men of the City had allied themselves with the remnant of the Guard that lay outside the gates of the Black Gate; and the Lord of the City also. And those that remained that day that were faithful servants and yet desirous of war, and they said that in the days of Denethor's authority they had been the defenders of the city and the guard that was ever ready to defend it. `Then that very day they were put to evil use, if they went on in their haste, and they were afterwards joined by all who were not yet slain. And great number they were, and they are still the guard and defence of the City. And now that is a long way off. But I, Mithrandir, Lord of the Guard of the City, was ever ready when the Third Marshal sent word that a great host of his men must be withdrawn. And when the King of Gondor spoke with the captains of the Mark and the Grey Company about the plight of the Men of the City, they were dismayed; for they had gathered together such strength as could be spared, and now they were in peril to face in all this desperate hour. `Then I saw with my eyes that Denethor's will was not in vain; for if the Ringwraiths themselves, who are made like pillars for the craft of the Dark Lord, should be uprooted, and the citadel destroyed ======It is not uncommon for Hobbiton-grown food to be a favourite breakfast item at holiday parties. These days it is not uncommon for us Hobbiton-grown food to be a favourite breakfast item at holiday parties. But what exactly does the food 'make' for? This is a very important point. Many different foods, for any given occasion, will have various functions. Some of these will be found essential in the proper course of their food: these are not merely plant-foods, for instance; but also some digested or preserved after eating (or drinking) whole the body or the heart. The composition of an ancestral food-course is, of course, constantly changing. It will usually be present in the form of small 'plants', small fruits and vegetables, whole (or "burrows of some kind") (or "burrows of weeds", as the old people called them) (usually turves or gums), leafless (often bracken), whole (often bags), wholemeal (often bread), whole (often potatoes), cottage cheese, cottage cheese-blended, cottage cheese-wrapped, cream, butter, cream- crisp, cornmeal, taters, breakfast cereals, paleo-diets, paleo-fats, bubblegum, dried fruit, paleo-fats, legumes, whole grains, whole leafy vegetables, whole leafy fruits (salt and nutritionally balanced as they are), whole leafy vegetables-such as turnips and carrots), whole leafy leafy leafy breads, whole leafy meats, whole leafy veg, whole leafy meats-to mention a few them-and to omit the salt and other preservatives, which they must satisfy their secretions and store up the secretions for the present. These small breakfast cereals and paleo-fats are, of course, not to be confused with the many breakfast cereals (and whole eating veg) prepared at no cost by the large wholesalers. These cereals and paleo- fats were not invented by the big wholes, wholesalers: they were first used by the Shire-food and the Shire-packers, by the 'burrows of weeds' and the 'burrows of plants' in their frantic growth in the late thirties and fifties; and by the 'burrows of corn and potatoes' in the re-establishment of the Shire as a great and independent country place in which to settle, after a War of peace, a wide variety of food was to be found. But they were not invented by the big wholes: they were first used by the wholesalers at Bree, after the settlement of the Shire, and before the War of peace. The 'burrows of corn and potatoes' were, of course, a sort of 'burrow after lunch', as it were. They were carried in the train towards the Bag End, and then, if all goes well, they were turned round and brought to the 'burrow at lunchtime'. The breakfast that these burrow-like 'burrows' took were, of course, not always what the burrow-hungry hobbits reported. They were not all empty, of course; and they certainly opened quicker and more quickly than other ways of eating, or of drinking, after lunch or after dinner. But in Bree, the breakfast cereals were still a large breakfast, especially for those who were accustomed to lunch at the Shire-meal, or the 'burrow after dinner'. The later Bree-burrows were much busier (other than the Bree- burrow at Bag End) than the later ones; and the newer Holborn-burrows, the latter of which was no longer used, were not always busier at all. The breakfast cereals that the hobbits at Bree and at Tookbury now possessed were, of course, quite different. The Bree-burrows had been a more or less complete waste of time. The later Burrows at Brandy Hall, which were completed in the Shire-recovery in the nineties, were much shorter and far longer, being, as a rule, more efficient at their cleaning and preparation than the newer and shorter Burrows at Crickhollow, and being, as a rule, less noisy and clannish. The breakfast cereals at Bree and Tookbury were quite different from one another. They were, of course, quite different. The Bree-burrow had grown, and even at its very beginning had been very sleepy and labour-intensive. The newer Burrows at Bree and Tookbury were, of course, a waste of time, and the Bree-burrow had ======THE BREEK-BURGLE, NIMRANEAN FISHING

The name of this wicked island has been given for the evil purpose by some of us that wander about its shores. It is said that the evil Eye will soon come on us again, and in the meantime these foul creatures are tormenting us, if we do not heed their evil ways. But if those who dwell in the Waterway do not heed their perchance voices among the trees, the servants of the Dark Tower, these foul creatures may come again and again, and then we shall be doomed.

Some of us, however, may claim the island for our own, or for the evil Eye's amusement. For if we are possessed of the Eye, then only by some devilry of our own making, it may serve us well to have it for our own evil good. Let us not forget thus in our old days: until the days of the Shire we could not see or hear the evil coming.

In the end all shall pass away and the remnant of the foul creatures shall be laid at the doors of the Dark Tower, and the people of the Water-way of Gondor shall suffer the same fate; but we do not desire to have them suffer as many days as we may.'

He shut the doors again on either side, and halted just beyond the gate to the court. Almost all were cowering. The gate-guards stood up, but some had on high their shining swords. 'Saruman! Saruman!' cried Legolas. 'You speak in the dark, but your eyes are like jewels in the daylight; no matter how far away their light is in the South. Saruman is the master of Gondor. The servants of the Dark Tower are at hand to help us.' 'I see,' said Aragorn. 'We cannot leave our guard behind.' 'But we must trust to him,' said Legolas. 'It would be rash to fall into a string of such pernicious perversions. I would not have him imprisoned in a dark hole, hutheey! But I will strag the Stone of Orthanc to a sleep that will last long weary lives. If Saruman holds the Stone, I will give him free.' 'Yes, I will give him Orthanc,' said Saruman. 'Let him go as swiftly as you command! I fear that the staffs of Orthanc may be seen among the staffs of your foes.' The gate was suddenly shut. The guards sprang out, and went towards the man at the entrance to the court. They did not dare to approach the man's hiding-place, nor to ask for Saruman's help. Saruman let them go free, and they passed through the man's cloak and hood, and came into the court. 'Well, you have come back, you villains!' cried Legolas. 'You will get no help in this foul land, if you try to enter.' 'Yes, I see,' laughed Saruman. 'I thank you, Gimli. I never expected to meet you here. The Battle of Five Armies began some three years ago, and it has been a merry year, as you may have noticed. But I do not ask you to go on living leave, save only to tell you that I had some serious injury, and I am now in a stable but very long way.' 'So so!' said Gimli. 'That is known in the City. You have not shown any kindness, or care to me. I marvel at you. Gimli, I am amazed!' 'Oh, it is a pity that I cannot live in Rivendell,' laughed Legolas. 'For I have had better weather the storm than you. But you have not shown any kindness to me, Gimli. You will be a fool if you try to enter my court. You deserve neither leave, nor Tarmen of the Mark, nor any shelter. Try and stay here, or I will stab you in the back.' The man drew himself up. His hood shone, but his face was pale and troubled. He looked up at the king, and it seemed to him that he saw plainly that his enemy was not in the least troubled. 'I am glad to see you,' said Gimli. 'Come, master, tell me more about yourself! For I have been very anxious lately.' The king took his hand in his to peer into the secret of his sword-hilts. 'Yes, I know,' said the ======'Does that delay you?' I asked. 'Yes, sir. It does. It is the day of my test, if you understand me; the day after your summons. All is now ready for my labours. But you must go east now, to the Ferry, Captain Eweneyck, and see for yourself.' 'In the meantime,' said Denethor, 'you will have to return to him. He is not yet at all weary, and you must rest before he awakes. In any case, you have not gone as far as you would, and you must stay here, until he awakes again. That is his errand, I think.' 'Yes, sir, I think that he is now outside of his way at the moment, and I do not think that he will be able to enter his house for some time at least. But I sent for him yesterday, and he has been unwilling to go since then. In any case, he has done well to send you this message. It is now plain that you alone of you can hold him to the ends which you promised him. You will need both strength and speed when the journey is to a stand.' 'But Sir,' said Gandalf, 'I am weary, and weary too; yet I know that I must go east again before he awakes, if I can. Do not despair, Gandalf!' 'I will,' said Gandalf; 'but ere long I shall not need to use my power for the good of the Company.' 'Yet I do not know enough yet to advise you, or to advise you well,' said Denethor. 'Let me see now,' he said, 'the Tower of the White Hand is at hand to this day. Yet I have not yet wakened you in the hour of need. I will set a time for this though you take it upon yourself to ride to battle. And yet, at the least, I will say this: it is not my part to decide in the hour of need. This is the hour at which you rode to Mordor; and if you wish to know, I will show you a new token. 'Take this, my friends, to be your token!' cried Denethor, and he raised his hand. 'And that is not from the Sword-well. It came to me, I think, only for my own command, and I do not remember it. But I will show you one that I have overlooked.' Gandalf saw the blade, and the small black sheath dimly cut in the stone; and he held it up, and it flashed and faded like a flash of silver, and the light of it was like a flame. 'That is the token,' said Denethor, looking at it intently. 'And how was it made? I do not know. Was it cast into the water by the Lady of the Wood?' 'It was made by the Lady of the Wood, for all things are made by some whose craft and skill are in gathering things to be consumed, as the saying is; but gathering itself is a craft and skill of the craftful in the craft of gathering things, as the saying is; for the craft of gathering is knowledge and the knowledge of being. For the craft of gathering is in living things, that is _atoms_ according to the manner of their living, but _art_ according to the invention of the mind._ 'There are many tokens of the coming of the Lord of the Mark in Rivendell, and many of these I have gathered,' said Denethor. 'And I have read many, since I rode to Mordor; but my judgement is yet in doubt. But I have made no token of this yet. 'Is it not enough for one who has been betrayed to betray? For in the end it is for you all to choose according to your need and yours of which you speak. But in the end, by the will of the Wise we all, for all need, must all submit. And you speak for all, yet all deserve due credit. Yet it is not for you alone that we owe due. For some you have a right, lords, and we all owe due due. Yet the Lords of the Mark have no right to claim such a right, or so much as we would like. 'It is true that you had many tokens of war in your service; but as the Lord Denethor has been busy in the last days of his realm, the Lord of the Mark has not been idle. ======Speech of the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim was brought to us by Elrond, Master of Minas Tirith; and so is his tale told in this tale. At least it is now clear to me that his father was a Gondolin, the White Rider of the Elves, who hereupon walked in the East in the days of the first dawn; and he is ere the coming of our day approaches. But now I fear that even as he told us how the day is setting, so the day is passing, and all hearts are dark. 'Nay, my lord, I do not know. For I was in the time of the great deeds, and the Sundering Seas have passed away, and the world has changed again; but I do not know that this day is so long as we live together. Nor do I think that we have lost hope of ever ending; but I know that at last we must make all that we can of this hour. 'I heard of the coming of the Lady owyn, and I thought that I saw her before the storm began. Alas for owyn! For she was a fair maiden with bright hair, and fair in the moonlight. She had the virtue of a king, even as the Dnedain were of a woman of the Elven-world. Alas for Lady owyn! For she loved the Lord and Lady of the Wood, and the Ring, and it was her, I think, that she loved the most. But alas! alas! she came of a less race than omer and omund, and in them came all the light and hope that has never been seen in Gondor. Alas for Lady owyn! For she is a living light of hope, and her race is living and fair. Alas for Lady omer! For he is not of the race of the West. But I saw her before the storm began. He is of the race of the East, if I may be so bold as to defy his voice in the darkness. For he was not of the race of the West, and the hour was nigh at hand when the messenger of Mordor sent me this message. 'I bring this to you from the Lord of the City of Gondor. The Lord of the City of Gondor was made known to you by the Lord of the City of the Silverlode, who dwells now far from the walls. It is now upon the walls of the City that the Battle of the Citadel of Sorcery is fought. The Enemy has been driven back southwards, but he has not been able to overrun the City, nor drive out all his foes. And now at last we came to the Bridge of the River, and you saw the coming of our Lady owyn. Alas for her! But it is said that she will not pass the doors of Mordor, and neither will the other. I see now that your heart forebodes well.' 'I see now,' said Aragorn. 'Let the heralds call her!' 'Whither?' cried omer from the rear. 'To the West, I think,' said omer. 'To the Swan-valley and the Gate of the Golden Wood.' 'That is well, lord,' said Aragorn, 'but not yet to the Bridge of Sorcery. The Swan-valley must be made secret, and all who will go there must be secret to me. There I must await the coming of your summons. So may the third day of our journey prove. Farewell, and may the victory be upon you!' 'I will,' said owyn. 'Gondor shall remain in Minas Tirith for the present. But I have still some task to do.' 'Do you know, do you know, owyn?' said Gandalf. 'I have seen and heard many things that I have not spoken to before. I have heard nothing that can now be learned in Minas Tirith.' 'I know all that I know,' said owyn. 'And I also have seen and heard many things that I have not seen before. And I do not doubt that beyond hope you have seen what I have seen and heard, beyond hope you have not.' 'That is true,' said Gandalf. 'Yet I have yet to reveal to you what I saw and heard before the storm began. And yet, owyn, you have not yet all your tale in vain. For these things I have often said to you, in the high chamber of the White Tower: that hope is the best hope. And yet, I ======Mr. Frodo. What have you to say? _Chapter 2_ The Mountain passes

Frodo was sitting in the chair in the dark, when suddenly an orc came roving up from the East. It was not a friend of the Company, for it was not large or very large, as Frodo noted, and it had a bow rather than a bow. It was clad in rags of war, and its head was bandaged. `You have not been in the Shire yet,' said the orc, pointing to the grey cloak. As if to signal that Frodo was no longer a member of the Party, the orc sprang to its feet and shouted. `The Lord of the black host of Mordor passes at the last.' Frodo stood silent for a moment, and then he thought of Bilbo, of the remark made by Gollum at the beginning of the book. He remembered Bilbo being pursued by orcs on the road, and then suddenly he thought of the black cloak and the horrible eyes and the hideous orc-speech. He wished now that his friends were not pursued so closely, and that he himself, being so close to the hero, would not be so easy to kill. 'I wish I could kill them!' he said. `And kill myself, too, if all these foul eyes and orcs were all right, and they were all on my scent, and I wouldn't have to choose between them and a nasty surprise.' `And I'd grow fat and red and hungry,' laughed Bilbo. `And yet anyway I'd still like to see Smagol.' 'No, no! Not Smagol!' said Frodo. 'I should have liked to see you with torches and no masks. But I hope there's no more to see here. There's no more to see, Sam, if you bring your pans. I hope you bring them out for me, and I hope they help.' `I hope so,' said Sam. `And I hope that they do! And I hope that they will save my friends, now that they've seen me. Now if I hadn't those pans, I'd have to throw them away, Sam Gamgee. But you will come with them. I hope they'll be of help if they come. Will you? You can't come with me when I've got something to hide.' Sam looked at his master and laughed. 'Of course not!' he said. 'But tell him I'm sorry if he says he's sorry.' `Of course not!' said Frodo. `But I'm not sorry: I'm really sorry and I don't care what you say. For me, at any rate, it's time the Enemy has been vanquished. I care little for his health or his will: he just keeps on standing, and will do what he will, whether it be by fire or stone.' 'Then I can't go home with you, Sam,' said Frodo. 'I should rather go home myself. You can't leave me alone. I wish I could.' `Then what then?' said Sam. `What are you going to do? Leave all this for the time being? I don't think I could handle anything worse than the Enemy now.' `I won't even begin to explain, Mr. Frodo,' he said, turning to his master. 'We can't leave you alone. I mean, there's a choice of what to do: you can go home and make your mark on Mordor for good or for evil, or you can go to the Shire and be free for a while and then leave and be a nuisance and be a nuisance and be a nuisance. And there's another choice: you can go home and live your old life in terror of the dark and come out of it as a hero and not be brought before the courts or any death row, or whatever the punishment is. That's what I'm for. That's what I'm for. I'm going home and killing orcs, Mr. Frodo. And now I'm in terrible peril. And I do care about my friends. I'm sorry, but I'm the Enemy, and I'm putting my old face into danger all the same.' Frodo looked at Sam. `You look just as bad as the Enemy in his,' he said. `And who can blame him? But he's a terrible ======All the West was silent. The Ring-bearer seemed to slip off at times, though he seemed to have grown very strong and strong-willed. For the moment he had been listening only to the speech of Gandalf, and it seemed that he had heard nothing but the cruel words of Wormtongue. 'Well, well,' he began, as if he had heard no voice but that of his master. 'I will take this road. I will go east. I will not look on Saruman, nor go south. I am not ready for such a choice yet. But I shall try to follow Gandalf.' He gripped the rail of the wayside and reeled. The world seemed thin, and the darkness keen, and the keen light of the stars; and yet there seemed to be a light at the end of a long tunnel of gloom, and a darkness that did not seem to answer the light of the Ring. The Dark Lord was looking at him. 'Do you still wish to destroy the Ring?' he said. 'No, no, Master Wormtongue. I wish to destroy it. I know it well. But I do not wish to destroy you, Master Wormtongue. I am not ready for such a choice.' 'Master, what choice are you? You cannot destroy the Ring. You cannot choose between evils and choices whether you destroy it or cast it into the Fire; or between choices and existence, while the Ring lasts and the Enemy holds the world against you. I am not ready for such a choice. Master Wormtongue is ready.' 'What choice do you wish to make?' 'Between evils. Between choices. Between choice and existence, Master Wormtongue. Why did you choose that name, and do you wish to make such a choice? You cannot destroy the Ring. You cannot choose between evils. You cannot choose between evils. I wish to destroy you, Master Wormtongue, and all that you have made evil. I am not ready for such a choice. I think Wormtongue is ready.' 'Then I am so indisposed to endure as you wish,' interrupted Wormtongue with a glance at Legolas and Gimli. 'That I guess not, Master Worm,' said Gandalf. 'We have not had time to learn it yet. In those days you wished to destroy the Ring long ago, and made good on it by threatening to slay your father if he refused. It has been said that you used the Ring long before, when you were young, and that therefore you were not ready for the task at hand. You now speak as if the matter were the task of a wizard. That you were not ready for such an occasion. But I do not doubt that you knew of the Wormtongue and the evil purpose of it. Since you have warned me, as I trust to you, I will do what I can.' 'It is as I said,' growled Wormtongue in a bitter voice: 'tell Gandalf that Boromir is dead, and tell him that Boromir does not wish to live yet. Tell him then that Boromir has not seen you; and that you are not the only one who has heard it, and that he should not have heard it, and that he should not have perished when you destroyed it. Tell him then that it is the will of Saruman that you should have been destroyed and set to rest. For if you had destroyed it before, I should have known more about me, and about this place, and about me more fully, if you know the way.' 'I do,' growled Wormtongue. 'And I do not doubt that you should have known before now what you did. What choice do you wish to make? You do not know, Wormtongue, why I have chosen to destroy this thing called Saruman the Great. It would have served you well, and it would have cost us dearly. 'Well, Master Wormtongue, we do not know. Gandalf does not ask me. There is another choice, I think, which he can make himself. You do not know, Wormtongue, why I have chosen to destroy this thing called Saruman, for I do not know. The Enemy knows it and does not wish to know it. I think, Wormtongue, that this thing should have been left here, not destroyed. Indeed I suspect that your choice is not right. If you continue to tell the truth so obstinately, it will betray you ======`Now that Boromir is gone, the chance that he might prove to us is now at hand: doubtless the chance that the Shire-folk of Gondor and their fair folk might long ago have taken. It may well prove that the Enemy has been looking out for me for some time now, and I must now take it for granted that he has not. `It may well prove that he has not. And no one but those who live now with me, Boromir, will ever return to Gondor. `Yes, I will return. And if I return, then I will find that all other heirs of the Shire who are to live in Gondor will soon also be obliged to live in Gondor. For the Shire is now in ruin. The Ring of Power will soon be betrayed. The Nine are gone. The Enemy is at hand. `And now I must go back to my home. I must go to the Shire that I left seven days ago. There I will meet the new friends that I have met in Gondor; and they will make me acquainted with their ways and means of doing so. For this is the last parting that I shall see. For in the old days Gondor was an ancient place, and still is a place of great beauty, if the blind blind forget their blind sides. But in the days of Boromir the Young and the terrible Boromir the Lonely have passed into it; and the houses of the dead are no longer needful for such a meeting. `But the Shire is now in ruin, if the Enemy has not already been discovered. Or if he has, it will be a bitter loss for all of us, for Boromir, and for all of us who love the Shire. Loss or gain, I fear, we shall see less and less. The Ring of Power may prove useful to us in such a peril; but I fear that maybe in the end it will prove deadly. `In that dreadful time Boromir the wise spoke with great authority, as we have often done, when he was the chief of our Council, and I too, as well as many of the others, was called to be a high office. But he was not yet wise, and it was but the servants of the Dark Lord that he was in the Council. And many other offices and functions I do not now claim, for I am not yet that wise, for I have long since become a man of lore. And I shall not claim such things now as I may have thought most urgent. 'It is plain that we must urgently press Boromir. The Enemy has already been greatly increased in power, and he will increase the pressure on us. He has already filled many chapters and armies. Many armies Boromir could have at his own will marched through the lands of Mordor. Many armies Boromir had already gone to fight in, but he has drawn off now; and that will be seen in force when the war draws to an end. `If he wins over the northern provinces, he will have filled many more provinces. And the tide is turning. The tide is turning against the Mark. The tide is turning for the Ring! `The Rohirrim, the Lord of the White Hand, are the greatest of all the Dnedain. They know many ways of doing battle; and they have mastered the art of siege-making, in the service of the White Hand. for they have mastered it ever since Boromir, the Wise, came therefrom in the beginning, to take the field at Edoras; and later they came to Gondor and so ended up in Isengard and so on. But now they are weary, and their labour is slow. `And so Boromir is weary and is unwilling to fight, for his doom. For Boromir was the greatest wizard of all the host of Mordor. He defeated the might of the Dark Lord, the destroyer of many of his own that he had made for us, in such a span as his will. He took and mastered the art of siege-making as far back as the days of Durin, the Golden Age of the Shire; and he has mastered it ever since. But he was not the first to master it. That craft was practised long ago among the Nmenor, and among the Nmenoreans long before Boromir, the Wise, who first mastered it. `What is the use of a month without Spring? There is not enough left to last. The food is not enough for two years. We ======

-Hudsonearth Quakes are an unusual breed of quaking, and they were first reported by Smagol himself in his "Hades of the Dead", released in the autumn of 1939. They were not yet considered dangerous by the custom of the Shire, but Smagol feared them, and he began to warn the inhabitants against them, especially those that had dealings with the hobbits. Soon after the end of the Second War, when the Shire-folk began to forget about them, the custom of the Shire being changed to prevent them from being seen as disturbing or dangerous.

Hobbits have a peculiar custom of leaving footprints, or other small items, behind at the start of a journey. These were often small prints or shards of the original hobbit, or of a thin black cloth: some fragments of a long-forgotten sword, or of a small black cloak with a black trim. But if the footprints were any indication, they were not very disturbing. The hobbits suspected that the footprints were of a hobbit, or at least of a wild animal that had wandered far away in the Shire, and that animal had passed on into the Great River some years ago. The hobbits then made a chain upon which, if it came to pass, it would certainly have been possible to find a way through the ring, and so back to the hobbit's home. But if the chain was for the record, there is no doubt that it was of hobbit-make and not hobbit-identity. Had the hobbits been seen or heard of the animal, it would certainly have been a guess that the footprints were of an animal, or indeed a hobbit of either kind at all.

Hobbits are not, of course, always the most inquisitive person at any stage of their journey. Indeed, even when they have gone on to discover useful information, they often still tend towards guesses that are usually regarded as out-of-hand, or as unfair. It is true that the hobbits did not find out everything themselves, or at any rate not much more than the details of their own business. Nonetheless, they did not always come to the point of inquiring about things that they had never heard of before. They often discovered something that they had never heard of otherwise, or that they had never discovered themselves. For instance: did they built the chimney of the cave at this point of the tunnel? Or did they make the chimney of the cave? It is true that the cave of these two hobbits was not only famous for their skill with fire, but also for their habit of being both short and long-stretched. All that they had mastered (except the skill of frosting) was preserved in the Shire, and they still used it at all times. But, of course, the actual building of these caves was far from the famous. (The hobbits had many other great and secret crafts, beyond simply building their lodgings and shingles and warehouses and so on) Indeed, though they had in fact mastered the art of building, they did not master frosting, nor of making the hobbit-cakes, or the old fashioned wooden flake (other than the old hobbit-cakes). They learned much further by themselves, by themselves, in other ways too, far removed from the craft of building, frosting, or any other such labour. Their own accounts speak of their "breaking" (as the hobbits put it) the ice-bottle.

Nonetheless, while the custom of the Shire was dying, the custom of the East had ======' ' _Chapter 5_ The Battle of the Brandybucks

The hobbits were out in the open, and still looking through the opening, when they heard a great horn-blast. It was the _lembas_ of Buckland, and it was blowing loud in the direction of the Southfarthing. _Bree, Bunny, _mmcconnell, _mmcconnell_! Come along now! We must get across, if we are to get there, and get down to the Brandywine Bridge._ They rode along in a long line that spanned the valley of the stream, and stretched for some way southwards towards the mountains. As they rode Frodo noticed that the sound of the blast was now all round the house and town. A few of the local folk were also all on hand to see what was going on. _Merry Boffin, Holman, and myself, went over to the Ford-hill, and sat by the river with the Sackville-Bagginses on top._ _'There is more than one Sackville-Bagginses,' said a man from the Sackville-Bagginses away down the lane. 'There have been two reported mishaps, while on duty I saw two or three strange men riding over the bridge-end towards the Ford-hill. I was out and couldn't wait to see what they were doing, so I called _Chief Bombadil_. He was willing to go to the trouble of bringing news to his people, if anyone wanted to be mysterious.' _'We saw them at once,' said a woman from the lower house, 'and they say that your Sackville-Bagginses has been discovered. There is a good deal of news in the Shire, and you have been spotted. I hope you will not be arrested again?' Frodo gave her a puzzled look, and she looked at him and added: 'I am not arrested, sir. I have just come from a job well done, by the best man in the Shire, from my home away a mile or so south, by orders from the Chief. But if you want to know who they are and what they are up to, you ought to be asking about the cricket match on Monday. It has been played many times over the years, and I have never heard of a match between these two places. We will look into it, sir, if we can.' 'We will look into it,' said Pippin. 'But why don't we go and see them?' The woman looked at Frodo. 'Yes sir, we shall see,' she said. 'We are going to the Ford next, and there are going to be more. You won't see us till Monday, but you will see what we expect. If we get any news of any sort from Bree, we shall. won't.' 'Then take your hats off to Frodo and the Chief, if you get any!' cried Pippin. He slipped off his jacket and breeches, and slipped on his breeches to the Road, and followed the woman in front of him. 'I may have done the talking,' he said to himself. They rode off along the Road, and passed the houses of the Sackville-Bagginses and the Old Took, and came into the Old Took, and came into the Green Room. There was a great talk among the members of the household about the latest news, and it was interrupted by loud shouts from outside. Frodo had to fend off the woman on the threshold, who rose and sat on the table beside the table; a rumour reached the window looking across the garden towards the Houses. 'That is just what we hoped for,' said Pippin. 'There is not much else to say.' There was a silence. When the rumour had passed, Frodo heard voices all round about him, all the way from the garden outside; but in the House of Elrond there was no answer. With a desperate dash he rode to the Green, but the Sackville- Bagginses had made a sudden move to the East End. He could not get round the gate and was now outside in the open, but he kept on the right-hand road to keep out the Bucklanders. Frodo had a sneaking fear that the Bucklanders would have ======The main entrance of the secret chamber and the path leading to it was made by the use of a chain clasped to the stair's base. The chamber in the chamber of Barrow-wights at Bree was in fact a large and well-maintained house. The largest and most large of these houses were at Bag End, about eighteen miles east of Bree, and between Bag End and the Greenway on the west. The largest of these houses, however, was at Bag End and was at Bree-upon-Thoden, the northernmost of the three Shire-regions. Its wide floor was wide, and as it expanded it grew. Its walls were of stone, but they were thick and strong. Its gate was at the north end of the long inner circle, at the Stone-house, at the foot of the inner stair, at the foot of the outer stair, at the bottom of the outer circle. There was no gate or window, but its westward windows were high and ventilated, and were half shut and barred. It was not until nearly sixty years after the entry of the hobbits that the gate in the inner circle was opened, and the room was filled with light and the light of many lamps. It was by no means the quiet hour of their remarkable friendship, and only a few words and jest were left between them. Frodo overheard the door being knotted shut, and the light of the lamps blazed suddenly from the outer circle into the room. 'We may go straight on,' said Gandalf; `but I fear that at this point the light will wane. I durst not ask you to wait.' The hobbits bowed low. `We go straight on,' they said. `I hope you will wait a little while. It is a good place. The rooms were made for travellers, and hobbit-rooms are best left behind. But it may be guessed that we will go straight on after this fashion: straight on from the beginning. We may go first, and then all the ways. There is a passage in Minas Tirith on the left that I have not seen before, and I have not seen it.' `I have seen it,' said Gimli. `I will go next day, and I hope to see it again. If there is any stairway to take to the secret doors I cannot guess.' 'You may try them,' said Gandalf; `but that will be an hour's journey. There are some of the doors of Minas Tirith that are not open.' 'I think I can go on,' said Frodo. `And I shall not be long in any case,' said the wizard; `but there is one other passage I shall not see: and that is the stairway at the rear of the passage. I have not seen it before. I will go along that passage and shoot at it with my bow. I think I shall not need to shoot so. It is very narrow, and I cannot climb it.' The other passages were blocked with iron posts and knotted with barrows. `I think I shall have to shoot at it with my bow,' said Frodo. `I think I shall have to shoot at it with my bow,' said Gandalf, pointing down towards the hobbits. The night was now so dark that they could not see far, and they dared not go far as they wished. There was nothing to shoot at, unless it was a dark opening in which the light of the torches could be seen. Arrows, however, could still be seen in the sockets and shafts of the arrow-plasmbed shafts of the hobbit-plasmbed shafts, and in the stocks and hoofs of the horse-plasmbed trotters that were a constant presence. `Poor old Bill! ' said Sam. `I wonder what he has become of face since he got here? Or what the orc-party was all about. It must be said that it was a fine night; but the worst part of it was that we had a chance of finding some of the worst hobbit-rooms in Bree, and of getting some of the worst orc-rooms in the Shire. Some of the worst food and drink in all the Shire! ' `You have been through worse than any hobbit can remember,' said Bilbo. `Much worse is the fact that we never learned the full truth about what happened. The truth was never in our heads, as we all knew it was ======Is it because you are a crook?' 'No!' said Gandalf. 'I am not a botanist, for trees do not grow in this world. But I am a traveller, and I know that many things in this world are different, and some are more ancient than we reckon; yet it seems strange to me, as you know, to go on the road to explore new lands. You will see, I hope, that we have not yet come far beyond the borders of the Shire. I do not know what you mean by traveller's remorse.' 'No, traveller's remorse!' said Frodo. 'My road is over. And my heart is broken. For if I had known what you had done, I should not have travelled so far. I could not bear it, and I grieve. It was a grievous mistake, and a grievous hurt to those I loved. I wish I could have left the Shire, and gone somewhere where there would be peace, and where there would be adventure. It would have been lovely, and all the same a great loss. I wish I could have stayed here and not come to Mordor, and lived this very night with Barahir and his friends.' Gandalf looked at Frodo gravely. He seemed in a way to have become deeply moved by this passing of the story, and he smiled. 'You have lived long enough,' he said. 'But if you wish to tell me more about yourself, you must tell me about myself before you tell me my road.' 'Yes, I have lived far too long a time for that. I shall not start till the end of my tale. But I must tell you something of myself. I have been a hobbit, or at least a slob, for most of my life; but there is a name for that: wanderlustre.' Frodo did not answer, but took his hand and looked into the hobbit's eyes. 'I have wandered far afield,' he said. 'I cannot count the miles I have walked, and the miles I have walked along the way I have gone. But I have never had a call from Barabbas, or from Barabbas myself. I have been very careful and careful in the years since I last left the Shire. But if you would like to know what happened after Gandalf died, then you must know what happened after Gandalf's body was found. You will not find this book, Gandalf's Body and the Quest any comfort, if I do not know the truth.' Gandalf did not answer at once, and as Frodo did not see the need to answer, Pippin felt the need to tell the full tale. He was obliged to tell the full tale in brief chapters, that were translated by Bilbo, and are now probably longer and more detailed than ever. There are indeed some scattered fragments that give a complete account of the whole affair. The full tale is now often told in these chapters, but here I will only say briefly:

During the next few years Gandalf became more and more attached to Frodo, and Frodo began to fall into the legend that he had been rescued by the help of Bilbo's bodyguard. Bilbo confessed to Gandalf that he had been missing his magic ring, and that he had slipped it on the doorstep, and been going about Bag End unnoticed. When Gandalf returned Gandalf said that Frodo was safe in Bag End and did not want to tell anyone about it. Bilbo had been in foreign parts when he first came to Hobbiton; and he had gone on several expeditions to find some treasure there, especially the more ancient treasure of the Elves: the magic rings that Gandalf had hidden in Hobbiton ruins. When Frodo returned to Bag End Gandalf said that he was safe in Bag End and did not want to tell anyone about it. Bilbo had gone with Gandalf on several expeditions, and in those expeditions found magic rings of many kinds, and in some of the smaller rings he had used in his own. He had found magic rings in many other ways, too; for many strange uses magic had for a long time been secret about the hobbits of Bag End. It was only in the years of his arrival in the Shire, and the years before, when Bilbo was already a legend among hobbits, that Gandalf had discovered magic to be just such rings. Bilbo had been very careful with his travel, and had kept much of the actual history of magic, except for the following things and their relation to one another:

======There have been many reasons given for the rising of Moria, or for why it had not. The chief among these was the hostile policies of Saruman, and the policies of his enemy. He was the chief power in the world, and he wanted to rule it as he liked. The world was his enemy, and he hated it; but Saruman feared the Ring, and he was eager to take its fall. So when the Dark Lord sent his first army, and he was so eager to deal a blow to Saruman, Saruman sent out messengers to all the regions of Mordor, and he hoped that the Dark Lord would not only overcome him, but obtain the mastery of the Ring himself. But when the power of Mordor fell, the Ring was lost. So the power of Mordor was revealed to Saruman, and he set out to Mordor secretly; and the power of Middle-earth is revealed to Saruman secretly; and the Ring-finder is appointed to become the Power and Rule the land secretly; and the Ring-finder is appointed to become the Fair Realm secretly; and the Ring-finder is appointed to become the City secretly; and the Ring- finder is appointed to become the City that holds all the lands secretly. Then Saruman sent out messengers to all the lands, and he hoped that the Lord of Mordor would not only defeat him, but obtain the Ring himself. For he was the chief possessor of the Ring, and he set out secretly to seize it, and he was eager to deal a blow to Saruman secretly. But the Ring came to him unexpectedly, and he called for the help of the Halfling, and the Halfling-man, and the Elves, and the Three, and the horsemen. And then came the Three Riders of the Nazgl and the Three Elves, Galadriel, and Elrond. But Gandalf could not come any closer than he was when he stood in the Stone of Orthanc, and the Ring gave no sign of returning, save to a lesser degree. And Gandalf was the first to be aware of a strange nuisance the hobbit-keeper had. he had been keeping at bay the flames of Orthanc with his claws and his long limbs, and now he could not look after his own. `Let us go on,' said Gandalf. `I must rest a little, but I must find some fire before I go on any more travels. Come, Aragorn, tell us how your road has been compared with the others.' 'Not as well as you would like,' said Aragorn, `and not so much as a better story. It shows that in spite of all fear and enmity Saruman was ever a friend of mine. His hatred of hobbits is not natural, yet it is still growing. What he would say is beyond my knowledge, whatever he might think now. `I have known him for a long time, as a servant of the Lord, and afterwards as a friend of Gondor. But I have never met him. What he would say is beyond my knowledge; but I will say this: I have known him for many years, and so far as I can remember. He was once among the Elves' greatest spies; and he still does so. `But he hated hobbits, and loathed the thought of hobbits living in the world outside our own land. He was, in other words, a foul nuisance. He would not let hobbits pass, or pass at any rate eat grasses or roots without leave. So he was most often seen or heard of, and knew most of the history and songs of our ancient world. He was a villain, of course. But he hated hobbits. `And he hated hobbits like sward and villainous and stupid and dull and dull. And he hated orcs. When he was first we kept no prisoners, but he hated orcs. And he hated the Three. He hated the Ring. And he hated the Three Elves. And he hated the Three Riders. And he hated the Three Swan and the Three Goat. `And he hated the Three Gatekeepers, the Gatekeepers. They were a foul nuisance, a nuisance that kept on threatening us. And he hated those who stood in his way. He hated them all. He hated them. `They were two of the Three. He hated them. But he hated them, as if they had taken away his mind. For he thought that the Three Gates, which he thought were closed, were gone. He hated the Three Gates. The Three Fallen Men. And the Tower of the White Hand, so terrible in its ruin and ======It seems that many of the guests at the feast were grave and accomplished travellers beyond the measure of their adventure. Not all were welcome, however, and some were not welcome only, but unwelcome as well. Some were dirty, and a remarkable number had little or nothing to do with the meal. Some hobbits were carrying torches. There were dwarves, and there were warpers, and there were dogs, and a few cats. The feast was unusually large and full of beasts and creatures, and full of the spirit of the Lord Faramir. The Lord Faramir himself was in pavilion, and he was exceedingly pleased. The Lord Faramir was sitting on the walls of his house, and he was silent, and he was wearing a cloak and hood, and he was silent as a bird as a stone. The wains of Mordor, and all the arts of their darkness, were in full flow now with their wrath and their malice. They chanted and whistled, and thundered and whirled from the hall. War came down the long sea-voices from the hidden doors of Mordor; and from far away the ringing of the flutes and the tinkling of the bells in the towers of Minas Tirith. The Lord Faramir was gazing up at the white towers of Minas Morgul, and the phalanx of his horse, and the knights of his house, and the knights of his house and all his kindred. The great bird was blowing a great horn, and he was leading the horse. _Daro, _Almiram, Ancalima!_ it cried across the wide plains from the City to the Gate of the Harlond, and the City echoed with the bells of Minas Tirith. The people of Minas Tirith stood silent and did not bow their heads, but began to chant: _Behold the White Rider!_ The white horse drew near, and the great kingly chariot swerved away, and with a crash the glitter of its horn rang over the field. Then the men of Minas Tirith stood up, and their voices were like the echoes of their joy and the laughter of men long ago.

Beren came at last out of the southlands to the gates of the Harlond, and called to the host: 'Speak not here of the words of the horn of Mordor. It will be a sore trial, lord. Speak not of the horns of Mordor as instruments of evil. Never horn nor gleam the white horse in battle. Farewell!' Then Aragorn bade the host to leave the pavilion, and went forward to the pavilion at the king's side, and there awaited the return of the horses. At length the king came to his pavilion, and he stood there before the great canopy of the White Tower, and the trees were white and bright as he looked on them, and when he turned to the host he said: 'Now come, come, my friends, and be as ready as is deemed. Where is Faramir?' The host was already some way ahead of the orcs when they came on foot. They had harnesses of stout woolen woollen kettles, and were eager to set them on the table. 'The Lord Faramir, King of the Mark,' they said. 'I come now from the House of Elrond, and we have need of haste. Here is your friend, lord, and heir of the Crown, Thranduil, the Third Marshal of the Mark, we ask leave. Behold, you have not yet carven the walls of Minas Tirith, and the works of your enemies are yet new, but they are strong upon me. And now I must rest a little, and await the onset of your Enemy. But be wary of any stroke of rumour which might stir up doubt in me. Farewell!' They set out at once and set out no further that day; but the next day the host passed on without a sound, and at length it was aware of the passing of the White Horse. The noise of the coming of the horse was heard far and wide all over the City, and it seemed to those who stood by that the noise of the great voice sounded like a great wind blowing in the houses and towers of the enemy. There were some that stood by who could not be seen, and some that could be seen before the hosts turned towards the mountains. A great host of men and strange folk, they said, were about to assault the City, and ======I don't think it was really a storm,' said Frodo. `It was foggy, and we had a long cold silence.' `Yes, it was foggy. It was the Gollum who lured us to Rauros, if you understand me,' said Sam. `Yes, it was a foul shape that had crawled down from the mountains to the roots of these evil trees,' said Frodo. `And here in the land of Gondor it has been ever since the wolves first roamed there; but I don't think it was that way long ago. Anyway I was just wondering if anyone had any torch-weights.' `It's nothing to try and keep a couple of hours at a camp,' said Sam. `And these trees are more than half made of _lembas_, I guess.' `You had them made of _lembas_?' asked Frodo. `No, sir. I don't think so. They are _more_ than half made of _lembas_. Twice my age, sir. And only Sam has the memory of old days. I was in the _mithril_ when the trees came from the woods to the woodlands. That was fifty years ago, or so I guess. But _mithril_ is more ancient than that. I tell you, I never thought of that before. I am not a tree-heralder, I am not even sure I believe in the legend of Gondor. I am not even sure that I believe in the legend of Gondor, or of anything that I have heard about.' `Well, you have heard nothing about trees,' said Frodo. `I wonder what you mean: have you never thought about it?' `No, sir, I have not, and I don't think I have. but I think I shall think again before I go any further. I wonder if you will think of anything to follow?' 'I hope so, Mr. Frodo. There is nothing to follow, but I think it will be best to go right into the vale, as it is called by the Gondor folk, and there after the River. I hope to find some way to get down, if I have chances.' `Then I wonder?' `No! I think not. You are right. I hope to find some way down. I know there is no way for me to climb up, if I follow the green road, and I guess that no one is going to follow me: but if I try and get myself down, there is no easy way down. There is no path under the trees, and there is no way back. There is no outlet for us, and no way to get to the Lampwrights store. I hope to find nothing to carry off: they were all destroyed when Gollum went away. It is a good thing we could not leave them.' Sam looked round at the hobbits. `Well, Mr. Frodo,' he said, `I want to make some plans. And now I wish to go home and think of my Shire-folk, and of all the hard days before the Great Journey. I wonder how long it will be before we get back? When I got home I thought I could go and see their houses again.' He shuddered and sighed. The last of the party set out again at the next day's end, this time at the shortest way they could find. All was going well until the afternoon. As they came to the Greenway they saw that the Road had long disappeared, and the last of the Company was still on the Road. It was early noon and the last light yet on the Greenway. They climbed down the Greenway with all the speed they could, until they saw the Fords of Isen under the mists of Mordor far above the town. Behind them the road ran towards the Mountain. 'This is where the Great Gate of Mordor stands,' said Merry. 'We must get out early. We cannot stay any longer on this dangerous road.' 'You can walk on it!' laughed Frodo. 'I am glad I do not have to carry a heavy load. Even if the hatred of the road grows, it cannot be helped. You must bear the burden, I think, and keep it under cover for as long as you can.' He ran off and took the road north to the Mountain, where the slow darkening of the sky meant the dawn ======As I lay, I felt the malice of Sauron rising from its teeth, and I knew that I had not the strength or luck to slay him, or to drive him from this land. 'Well, I have not the strength or luck to break him again,' said Frodo. 'Well, Master, I have not the strength or luck to kill him yet. But I have the strength to drive him. And I have the courage to defy him; for that is the best way. 'But I do not know what he will do, if I do not feel the malice aforetime. For if he wins back to me the Ring, then I shall have revenge, and maybe even revenge for my deed. For he was not the only creature that had an eye on me. The Enemy was larger and more advanced than me, and I was far ahead of him. Yet in that time we were both in peril, and I knew little of his designs. My fear is not founded on my own folly but on the folly of others. 'Now, Frodo, do you remember any of our company coming up that valley? For the next company we passed swiftly along the road that Gandalf used; and that is not to be forgotten. They had come in from the north ahead; but they were in a narrow place, and there were many enemy upon it. But when they came to the place where we had found Gandalf, we heard a sound that we did not know before: a sound of flying. And afterwards the sound of flying reached us, and we knew not what it was. We had lost all our speed and arrayed all our strength. That is a long way off. 'But at that time the enemy was still in the valley at long last away north, at the Gate of Kings under the mountain-shadow. That is how we passed over the bridge and the ruins of the gate: they were lying on the road not far from the valley. I have not been able to take any further view, but I can make a guess: there are great towers upon the hill of Osgiliath; and they are tall and grey, and their black stone doors are like pillars. They are not to be missed. 'When we entered the valley, we saw the walls of the city before us; and we were amazed to see the walls in their full glory, surpassing all the works of Elvish art. Beneath the walls of the citadel and in the court of the Lord Elrond there stands a black figure, and thousands of years of ages of his craft have passed, but now the Isen-glass in his hand was untouched by the spell of Isen- gleam, and the Black Eye above his tower was unshod but filled with malice. 'But at that moment a swift arrow fell from Elrond's hammer; and the body of the black figure was shrouded in gloom, and he did not fly. He let loose a flaming arrow, and the heads of the Orcs of Mordor flying back crashed into the forest, while the Lady of the Wood stood there alone alone eying in her garden. 'When our sight failed we fled, and we reached the Marish of Faces, and knew not if we should ever come back. But that was an age ago, before the power of Isen was devised; and even as we longed for the city, so the Isen-gleam was consumed. The City had failed, and Isen was consumed within. But we have reached the gates of the Pelennor, and beyond them the dark shadow is growing. And so it shall be for many more years, and the city shall fail, and our company be lost, and we be come to Dunland with no friends but doom and fear. 'But now we must go forth, and I will do what I can; but only for the Lady of the Wood. I bid you come with me and your kindred, and look for the Lady of the Wood in the hills of the North, in the fair woods of Mirkwood, in the country of the Emyn Muil, where she dwells now. For I will send word to her, or if I cannot, send my heralds to these ends; and I will send forth the White Horse, for the long chase after the Redhorn. 'I have told you all this, but I bid you now farewell. May your fortunes be the fate of the Lady of the Wood, and may she have patience not to strike that dreadful road.' Frodo bowed, but at that moment a great host of men came out from the ======Yes. I guess that they are all, and that they are all going to fight. That will be the end of it. I think. 'Well, Elrond, I don't see why we should be in any hurry any more. This is no time to hide. We must all gather round Gandalf and get together as much support as we can.' 'Ah! the gathering of all our allies!' cried Gandalf. 'I know!' He stood and stared at the gathered faces. The two companions stood silent for a moment, as if awaiting orders to go to their final parting. Then they spoke together in a clamour of fury. 'Gandalf! Gandalf!' they cried in the Common Speech. 'Gandalf! Gandalf!' They left the hobbit-figures in the trees, and went towards the door that Gandalf had put forth. The light grew dim. Suddenly with a shout Gandalf sprang through the opening and broke the lock. The hinges creaked and creaked again. The slow-moving living creature, which was already hurrying left the hinges, peered out, and then crouched, as if it were frightened. A flash of red and green light came dully over the windows. Faramir stood for a moment in thought. 'Gandalf! Gandalf!' he cried. 'He is alive! He will not suddenly vanish. He has already done some evil. He has harmed us.' He sprang out of the trees with a rush and veered right towards the fallen figures. Gandalf caught him, and he threw back his cloak, and veered aside, as if he were thrown on a spell. 'Do not despair!' said Gandalf. 'I have not seen him for a moment before he came. He seems still to me. I wish I had known, more fully of him, before I fell. He was not always with us. He broke the law at Osgiliath, betraying his master to his old master, who at the time was a wizard of the Elven-ring. And then he betrayed us. He is not with us now. He has done some horrible deeds, that I have never seen before. Now I must see him again, and see what he will do. I am not sure that I wish to see him again. I wish to kill him, if I can. He is a hideous creature, one of the great beasts of Mordor, and therefore I am afraid of him. He will eat any creature that gets near him, even if it is not a wizard. I wish I had known that he would not have crept near me. I wish I had known that he would not have strayed among us and slipped away into the recesses of the Enemy's mind.' Gandalf now bent his head. Looking at the faces in the trees, he caught a flash of red, and a flare of green. The figures became small, and yet dreadful. The great tree-roots snapped over the ground. A great boulder fell in an angle that blocked the entrance to the passage that Gandalf had built. The tower, which looked to be almost two furlongs away, belted him. The hobbits scrambling up. Frodo and Sam were on top, propped against the boulder-crack. A single gleam went out, but it seemed to go beyond the rest of the face of the standing wall and fall on the floor. They were half covered with their heavy cloak, for Frodo was clad all in white, and Sam was spared much stinking light. In the gloom they could see high above them, the mallorn-trees, in which the black glint crept. Gandalf had not yet come into his chamber. The black stone door was not on either side, but it was a deep arch of deep dark against the sunlight; and the chamber was clad with many bones, many of which had been cast away; many of which Frodo had already seen lying in the sunlight, unspoilt or not. Of the bones recovered Frodo found most remarkable; they showed a single gallop in his side, and a gallop in his head. He was bruised and torn, and his right eye hurt, though he had been clear and fair, and knew the art of shooting pale green arrows with ease. Gandalf had then closed the passage-blast and locked the gate. The great boulder was lifted sheer to the floor, and thrown down. It fell on to the floor behind the arch and smote the door. The power and speed of the wizard's storm came knocking. The figure of a ======There are many ways to mark a single star, or to mark a line of stars in time (e.g., _The Riddermark of Bree,_ a mark of convenience). For stars are marked by a ring on the starboard side of the circle; and by the red star in the corner there is a mark for _The Fall of Brock- march,_ a frost in October. One way of marking a single star is to mark a line with only two candles on the circle, or by filling a spring-cleaning basket. 'The Ring of Fire' or _The Ring of Light is a fancy of the Dwarves,_ says Gimli. 'It was made by the Dwarves themselves, and was never made; but if the name of _Flamb's End_ is mentioned any one will exclaim: _that's where the legend of hobbit-making ends! That is what the legend of hobbit-making begins! _The Fall of Brock-march,_' he says. 'Is that the name of the place, or was it the name of the month: that is, the year was 2041? That is the twenty-fourth of March in the Shire. That is the day of the Great Fire. There is lightning, and it is going to be a fey one, but it is not going to cause much trouble for the celebration of our birthday. We have got to mark our calendars better, Gimli, but we had better mark our calendars better. Then we can set up shop properly, and we can grow and breed as we like. Let us start all right and start from where we started! No need to hurry about today. Let Gimli start crawling! We will walk at once, but we will walk at once.' The hobbits began to hate the afternoon, and the darkness, and the silence. They began to fear that the fire would give out and the stars would not. They became very anxious. The night became very dark, and the hobbits could not sleep for an afternoon. They went at length on into the lower regions, and knew that many of the dwellings and plots of land on this side and that were now often dark and dim. The first of July, the year of the Great Fire, was a bright, cool morning in the eastern sky, and it brought good refreshment to hobbit hands; for a hobbit with a sore back had a patch of cow's milk a day to rouse his or her nursing cow. The next morning, as the beginning of the Evening Meal, the hobbits began to walk again on to the road leading to the Ferry, which they had crossed more than once before. This journey, which they called the Evening Riding, was largely in the service of the Lord and Lady of the Wood, who were at that time in the House of Eorl, the Tower of the Moon. There were many folk present. Elves and Dwarves, and a few Rangers of the Misty Mountains, all of decent height and large, all of decent race, all in their late fifties or fifties, and all in their early fifties or early sixties, but in the Shire it was generally known as _The Wood-and-Shire_; and it was long and often dark. It was, as such, peculiar to the Shire, and had, or was, generally a large and cosmopolitan people. The only known Elves or Dwarves of the Shire were reckoned among themselves, and they dwelt far north and south, sometimes in the South and the East. The only actual Wood-and- Shireers, those who lived in the Shire at the time when the name was invented, were those who had originally lived in Hobbiton and Bywater, and had now left it. Sam Gamgee was one of these. A large and well-off man, and yet not so large and so cosmopolitan as he had been when he began to travel westward in the '60s and '70s; but he had, of course, a long and proud, beard, and a keen wit that was well-earned. In those years he had been involved in many adventures, chiefly, of course, in the Great River, and many other locales, and in the long fiefs that enclosed the Shire; and he had in all these adventures been, as was usual in those, especially in the case of the Shire-folk, those who had at one time or others returned to their plain after a long and unhappy existence, and had lived in those for many lives afterwards. 'I wish I had never stayed in Hobbiton, either as a visitor or a permanent residence ======I think I remember that to myself,' said Aragorn. 'But I do not remember the name, or the way in which it was given. In any case I do not remember any of the matter at hand. It is not so with this Ring: it is given to me by Thoden and by the Lady. She alone can use it, she alone can preserve it, if she will. She alone can renew it, if she can find new uses for it. So long as it is kept here, as long as it is safe for use by the _perian_, then it was a _perian_, and if the Rohirrim have use of it, they must. I do not remember the name. I think I may remember it.'

'So you remember it?' said Gimli. 'Yes, I did so. I think I may. And I think that I may. But I did not know that it was _Periain_ until today, or this very moment. 'I think that it was, Gimli. I think that I may remember it. The name is old. I have been a bit doubtful now; but I ought to know, if I were you. You are _Erkenbrand_. But my name is now changed to fit the occasion. 'I think I may. But I cannot help saying that I am _Finn, son of Glin,_ an Elf of the Elven-world. Very well, Gimli! I will not deny that you are a worthy man. But I have always felt that my own father, Gimli, was ailing me, and when I began to dream of _Finn, son of Glin,_ he came to me asking for help. I had little hope when you returned; but now that hope has died away, and I am glad to see that it has. 'Now, Gimli, I want _my_ ring. It is terribly unfair, and it has consumed me. How could I not? How could I not? I am no longer your father, and you are my burden, and you deserve no more from me than I do deserve, without leave of Mordor at its command. And this is the last straw. You will not get _my_ ring. It is a crook of a claim. Why can't we prove it? You say _we_ already proved it, and it proved well._ We already proved it, and we prove well. 'I wish I had never tried to make a _precious_here, a _palantr_ there, in the Shire. We would have been able to clear our case once and for all, and we would have been able to do it much quicker, if you had not proved it. I wish I had never tried to get mine. It would have been a crook of a claim. Why cannot't we prove it? You say _we_ already tried it, and it failed. We cannot. 'And yet, Gimli, you say that Mordor has been evil ever since you returned. Is that so, or are you just a little tyrant? Very well. For good or for evil, it is still evil. You will not get _my_ ring. It is a crook of a claim. Why cannot't we prove it? You say_ we already tried it. You proved it, and we proved well. It was a crook of a claim. You are not the only one. There are others. You may name them. You may know them only as you wish. You would not have chosen Mordor for your own good, or yours, if Mordor had failed. But why can't we prove it? You say_ we already tried it. You proved it, and we proved well. 'A crook of a claim. You say_ we already tried it. You proved it, and we proved well. There are those who think that the collapse of Sauron was caused by the Great Enemy himself. They are very mistaken. For one who believes in a _great_ God will never fall into a trap of false hope. Sauron was evil. There is no doubt about it. The Dark Lord was always likely to try to draw some trick of his own. _Mellyrr_ was the name of his chief skill. A crook of a claim._ The Dark Lord was always likely to try to draw some trick of his own. Sauron was always evil. There are some who argue that the downfall of Sauron was caused by the Great Enemy himself. They are very mistaken. For one who believes in a deity ======It was a broad ribbon of grass, and cut in the middle like a sloping roof: 'Is that it?' said Sam. 'Yes,' said Gandalf. 'It is a Stone. But what it is I cannot say. Let us go and see.' 'I am not sure how it will go,' said Sam. 'But I can see that you are in for a trouble when you come on the road. I do not know if we shall ever get out of the country as we wish, or whether we shall ever get far enough for the first crossing of the Road to be almost certain. I know that my own road will be the more dangerous for the Orcs, and that I shall have to cross many of the harsh hills before I can go on. But I know also that the Road is guarded. If you wish to see, my friends, you may wish to go first. I do not know how I shall fare; but I fear that if I do go first I shall fall behind you. I fear that if I do go, you shall not fare at all.' 'Well, come now!' said Gandalf. 'You have ridden in the right lane under the watchful eyes of the Rangers, and you have climbed on to the right under the great downs. There you will meet an enemy upon the further side of the Road. You have climbed too far!' 'I knew I had to go first and that I should have more room,' said Sam, 'but I am glad to see that there is no enemy on the Road!' 'I should not have been able to handle such a charge,' said Gandalf. 'But there is no orc-chieftain like Strider. He has never dealt with orc-folk before. Some of his tales are told in Rivendell, but he has never fought or fought on the road. He will tell you one tale at least: those which we have heard. He was very near at hand when we left him. ' 'The Riders desired to challenge one Strider for the Ring, but they did not know that the other was capable of doing so. The Riders feared that the eastern Eye was preparing a stroke against the Kingdom of Sauron, and that Sauron would use the Ring for his own purposes. So the Ring was brought to them by the ruffians in the hills. It did not last long, though. The ruffians would not let them use it, even under their command. When the darkness grew strong enough, they would not only rend the wood, they might also blow up the World Tree. The Ring was thus brought to them, and soon the World Tree and the trees were planted in the growing season. ' "The Eye is watching Sauron's plot," whispered the ruffians. ' "The Eye is watching you," said they. "You know well enough now that the tree that bears the title of Sauron does not bear any title to any living thing. And thus the Enemy has already at last learned that you and he are both hemmed in the Shire, so that you have only to lead him on a short way to find him. But if you would lead him on, then you should freeze to death the last living thing that is not living: that is not friend or foe, not even the Eye of the Morguldoth. Do not speak to him again of what is fair or terrible. ' "The Ring of the Galadhrim," they said in tones of fear and horror. ' "The Eye is watching you," said they. ' "The Eye is watching you " said they. "What do you mean?" said they. ' "The Eye is watching you " they said, "so to speak, that he may think you and he himself are still in some way connected." ' "The Eye is watching you " they shouted. ' "The Eye is watching you " said they. ' "The Eye is watching you " they said. ' "The Ring of the Galadhrim" they said. ' "The Eye is watching you " they repeated. ' "The Eye is watching you " they repeated again. ' "The Eye is watching you " they said. ' "The Eye is watching you " they repeated. ' "The Eye is watching you " they repeated. ' "The Eye is ======_Chapter 1_ The Search for the Ring

Frodo was in the midst of the chase when he heard the sound of the voice-trick in the river-voices. It was a voice a hobbit had heard in origin voices, but which sounded the same had not happened to him. He turned and found that he was at an odd place: the voice was of a tall Man, wearing a great white mantle, and with a black cloak. The mantle was unclasped, but still showed the long pale hair, long at the root, worn at the scalp, above the braided fringe. He was looking at some unknown creature, he said; but Frodo had no words to express his amazement. 'Who are they? What is that?' he said. 'I don't know,' said the voice. 'It seemed to grow out of thin air, maybe, or come out of thin glass. But it was very bright, and it was coming out of the end of the hall-stem at last. Then it seemed to come out of the middle of the floor and into the gloom. I didn't know what was going on. I thought it was a goblin.' 'I thought it was a White Rider,' said Frodo, 'or maybe one of the servants of Mordor.' 'I thought you were a dwarf,' said the voice. 'Or perhaps just a silly fellow.' 'I am sorry, Sam,' said Frodo. 'I am frightened. I have never thought of anything like this had happened before. I have never thought of the Ring itself, or why it was needed. I thought about the Smagol: about the Necromancer. I thought about the Black Rider.' Sam looked worried. 'I thought about everything,' he said. 'I am nearly sure these spies are dead, or were made to be so. I am terrified.' Frodo looked at him. 'Who are they? What was the matter? And what has become of the Black Rider?' 'I don't know,' answered Sam. 'He left Mordor and went to Mordor alone. He was very desperate. He had no precious things to lose. He gave up the Smagol: he gave up the Ring. He gave up the Black Rider. Very different. He has become like a black squirrel to me. I daresay that the Black Rider is dead or gone, or at least he is far away. He deserves some precious precious precious precious.' Sam looked at Frodo. Frodo looked at his master. 'Yes, Frodo,' said Frodo. 'I thought you were a little strange. Why did I suddenly notice? Why wasn't Gandalf here? And I didn't think that you were as mysterious and suspicious as you used to.' 'What's wrong with my friends, Frodo?' said Sam. 'Look at me! I don't give a f*ck what you think about me.' 'I don't give a fck, Sam,' said Frodo. 'I am as beautiful as any bird, and whether I like it or no, I am as beautiful as ever: an animal, and an earth, and a stone. I am as beautiful as any bird, and I give ack nock nock. I am as beautiful as any bird, and I give ack nock every time I see a white or a red eye-wand. I am as beautiful as any bird, and I give ack nock no time I see a white or a red eye-wand. 'Am I the only beautiful bird in the Wild? What's the use of asking about my friends, Sam? I am the only beautiful bird in the Wild. I give ack nock no time I see a yellow eye-wand. I am the only bird that has never had a fever; and I give ack nock no time I see a yellow eye-wand. I am the only bird that can fly; and I give ack nock no time I see a yellow eye-wand. I am the only bird that can climb; and I give ack nock no time I see a yellow eye-wand. I am the only bird that can hammer; and I give ack nock no hammering the earth. I am the only bird that can fly; and I give ack nock no day- ======For the moment at least you won't hear about it. Unless it is a lark or a troll. Or whatever it is the orcs are up to. They are going their own way now, and they will go their own way soon. We have done our best to keep you out of our trap, and to make sure that no one comes out alive that night who doesn't know about it. And we have made some prisoners, of course, as we may. But you can't go poking around in the woods on your own, can you? I expect we will have a good many more orc-holes before we get used to them.' 'Then let us go and ask Mr. Underhill, if he is still looking out for us,' said Merry. 'I am sure he would rather not look out again. If there is any one that I can trust, I'll trust him. I have been tracking this thing for a long while now. It has not happened here before. How many were there? How many were there in the Shire before the Gate was shut?' 'I don't know,' said Underhill. 'I don't know how many there were. I think they were probably close together. They were all killed, and all those that escaped are now being guarded at the Treachery, in the woods on the east-side.' 'You mean the three!' cried Pippin. 'Now they are being watched.' 'There is no doubt about it,' said Merry. 'I have been watching these things for a long while. I have never seen them before, not once, not since the Shire was founded. But I have seen the faces of the Men and the Elves alike alike, and I have seen things of great power and cunning.' 'What about the three?' 'The faces were different, and the mind of each to his own fashion. And also he thought of doing something together, as soon as he heard of the Ring, I believe. He did not quite understand the motives behind everything; but he seemed to be pursuing some great purpose. 'He thought of getting himself involved in some big sporting contest, with the Ring and all the fame and fortune that comes with it. He thought of becoming involved in some romp round the world and making a big impression. He thought of becoming involved in another venture. He was so far along that he thought he could easily draw up a company of his own. But when he heard of the Enemy and the Ring, and the plans for his own, he took more interest in the Ring than in the plans for the plans for the plans for the plans for the. He is still leading a great effort.' 'Ah!' said Pippin. 'Ah! The Enemy has arisen again. He has shown weakness again. He has shown that he can still plot all his mischief before the Ring. He has shown that he can still hold out and hold together. And he has shown that he can still make a nuisance of himself and keep its power in the minds of the prisoners. So far it has worked. But this time the work has not gone as planned. It will not, however, be the time of the year for many prisoners. This Ring, as I have already said, is dead. I did not warn him. I warned him against it. And he is still leading. I don't think he will ever come back. I think he will die in prison. And when he does, he will get into trouble. He has been very wicked this whole time, and I am not so sure. I don't think he will ever get back to me. I think he will die in prison. And he is still leading. I have not told him.' 'You will not, when he comes back, even if he does, no longer,' said Merry. 'I hope not, Master, no longer,' said Pippin. 'But master will say: "No more orc-archers!" And he will say that he will do as he will, if he is not shot first. And he will say that he will do what no one else will: get back to the woods, or he will go back to the Shire and be shot. That way no one else will ever get back again. I hope not.' 'He will still go back, I hope,' said Pippin. 'And he may not. I don't know, though I wish I could. But I hope that the Shire is not going to end any time soon, no matter what Mr. Underhill says. If he is not killed, I hope the ======A few days ago, at the request of Frodo, I brought Sam to see Mr. Bilbo. Sam had no need of invitations: I had just had my usual strolls in the country, and I had seen him go up and down the Whitehall towards the Houses of Healing, and then vanish, along with all the other guests, as if nothing happened. I had no time to consider the Ring, or the story behind it, or anything that concerned me at all. I had just begun to ponder the Quest of Arachne, when suddenly away in the Southfarthing I felt suddenly, as if he had suddenly given me a summons, and I had no time to think or make plans. I paused, and then as if to ward off a blow, I sprang on top of Frodo, and he followed me. 'Well, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, 'I can't keep any promise, but I shall keep your promise, Mr. Frodo, if you don't mind me. Mr. Bilbo, after all, is a real master of letters. And he sent me a very interesting message. Mr. Frodo, you're in for a rough time. You may be a little late for a bit, but I hope there's no more to tell. One last message to all your family and friends, dear friends! It's Mr. Bilbo, and I hope he lives to see his birthday, or at least to hear about it. And remember, it's a long, long time since any of you were near, dear friends, before you were summoned to this room.'

The hobbits sat under the cover of a low curtain that hung from the window; and Frodo listened with delight to all the answers that they could find. The message, of course, did not come. Frodo did not answer either word or promise. He listened intently, but he could not make out much in the way of his thought or advice. There was no sign of Aragorn, and the king did not appear again. The king of Rohan seemed to be asleep, and was not heard from again, for many days. The hobbits also did not tell of Boromir, the heir of Isildur, whose sword Boromir slew the King. Many things Frodo told of Boromir's sword, and of the deeds of Elrond and the Riders of the Mark, and the deeds of Mithrandir. Many tales and legends about the dark peril were told here, some of which Frodo knew fully and fully, and some without Frodo, though many that were told in full. But most of the tales Frodo had heard were of Men, of the Elves and the Halflings, and about the world of legend. And of the Shire and of the world in between, though many men still knew little about it. When Frodo and Sam began to talk of the Shire again, they said that Sam was more interested in the Elder Days, and in the Great Quest than in the Elder Years. They hoped that Sam would not spend much time in the Shire, and that Sam would be more interested in the Elder Days, and in the story of the Quest than in the latest years. They said that the events in the Shire should be remembered as the great events of the Elder Years, and not as the passing of the Great Race. There was much going on, and when Sam spoke of the Great Quest he made no mention of the Great Quest, except as to the Elves and the Halflings. Sam also did not mention the Elves by name, but rather spoke of them by name, and in the year that follows as they began the story. Frodo was especially interested in the Elves, and in particular in their relation to the Men of Rohan: they were most interested in the Shire, and in the Elder Days; in particular in the Shire and in the world outside, and in the Elves of Westernesse and in the wide world of Middle-earth. He wished now to make clear the importance of the Seven Stones and the Ring of the Great Rest. 'The Seven Stones,' he said, 'is the power of the master; but through the Elves he learned much, and when he returned to Shire he called it _The Wandering Wood,_ and passed it on to all others_. The Ring of the Great Rest, as it was also in the Shire, is the power of the Rings of Power, the Ring of Power, which is the Power of the Seven Stones in the One. It is the Key of the Overlords, the Key of the Overlord; and it is the only Power, ======It was the third night since we had been dark, and the day before the third night had gone still grimmer and darker. The moon was slowly sinking into the West, and here and there the faint stars twinkled. There was a pale smoulder, pale by the standards of the Western sky, and as it grew and darkened it faded, slowly and steadily, until it lay beyond the shades of night itself. The startled hobbits stared in wonder; for it seemed to them that as soon as the moon had sunk, she had sunk too, and then had come to the edge and been lost. 'You have lost her, Frodo,' said Gandalf. 'You have seen her again, I believe. What had she to do with the others? You had better be afraid of her again. But I do not believe that she has any part in this rebellion. You may escape from this perilous land, if you can, if you can. But you must not go willingly, Frodo, or face what may be worse than being betrayed.' Gandalf looked at Frodo with a knowing and wary eye. 'I see,' he sighed. 'But the Enemy has no weapons of mass destruction. Let him not try to take me in himself!' 'I do not know, but it is likely that if I do, you will not be the only one that will be forced to defend your city. You must take command. The duties of Gandalf, Gandalf son of Glorfindel, are but those of Seeking-place and Shadowfax. Your own folk shall watch this peril and to help you. Your city shall be defenceless, and you shall be destroyed. But you will not defend it willingly, Frodo, or face death in battle. You shall not lead the Company. Your only hope of victory shall be to escape from this evil and of working together to achieve victory. Yet I doubt not that you will escape before the hour is decided. Your fate shall be decided by you.' Frodo looked at Gandalf. His face was grim, but his eyes were bright. 'I do not think that you are prepared to take this choice,' he said. 'I do not think that any one else will. I think that the time is near, and the Dark Tower is about to fall. But I do not think that you can force me to choose between choice and disaster. You can wish to return to Mordor, if you wish. Many things may seem so easy in a land where the only livelihood is from afar, and where the very bread and butter is found in your neighbourhood. But in the end I see clearly that the only hope of escape is to escape in terror, and to go back to your home and the way that you wish. I think that you are in great doubt, Gandalf. The only hope is that which you choose to contrive and contrive in defiance of the will and the clear command of Lord and Master. You will not have the victory. You will not escape the inevitable. You have been chosen. Go back!' He lifted Frodo gently and with joy at the choice made. But he cast his weight behind his brother's back, and even as he did so the shadow of the orc fell upon him, and now it seemed to the wizard that the orc-seat was turned towards him and towards his master. Then Gandalf laughed. Looking out from the fallen seat, he bent his head and sighed. 'There are none like to me,' he said. 'Yet I think that now we are all alike, for I am not so new. I have never played hide or coney, and sometimes even in my less strenuous moments I should prefer the silent pursuit of the Shire to the strenuous pursuit of the Shire. I have played phlegm, robo-dial, prestigoun, min-dial, and so on. With me the Shire has grown very long; and I have played the silent and guessing part much the same. 'But the older I have played the lesser part; and in the latter days I have become less old. I should perhaps be permitted to say that I am much older than I look. Indeed I should still like to say that I have played the Taming of the Shire for many years. When I was a youngster, the old Taming was done off, and I was made Tamerlane by the Lord of the Wood. Your old name, and other marks, might please you, Gandalf. But I do not think that the new name is right: I think that the word was made for us by our Enemy, and that it was not his. At any rate he does not like us as we are ======. He at least was not locked in a cage, and in no case would he open his eyes, when he saw these two, as he walked, at sunrise. He had now come to the point where the Forest was not only wide but also deep, and the land was less barren and featureless. They were standing in a wide space, a stony hollow in the midst of which was a wide open space, stretching from Forest to Forest, with many small trees, some of which were still growing. _'tis said that trees are the guardians of the road, The evil things do not wander in the woods. 'Twill be: the evil things shall stay where they are, And the light upon the hill shall be dim and dim, And no hope for the poor.'

He looked up. The trees were already dark upon the further side. The land was indeed far from the Forest. But there were few trees in the thickets and the lands of the uncounted trees were long and barren. Trees had little like a middleman in them. The great kine- kings that roamed about were little more than trees with railings of iron or steel or hewn blocks, and they were not, in fact, any more than a rough guide or guide ford the way-meeting. They were little more than dogs, or small pups, and they were not much more than small wains: only grey-bearded or black, they were needed for the gathering of the goods and food, and for the care of the sick and the elderly. All were fine, and had much to say to them about beasts and strange things. But the trees did not speak or go on or on about their business of their lives. They were little more than huts and nothing much. Their chief business was to keep the huts burning. They were looking for somewhere to sleep in and they were looking for some small hut to build. 'We have been in this land for many long years,' said a voice in a low voice. 'But we have never been more troubled. We once loosed our wainship, the brigand of the Mines, and we were loftier than flies, and we could sleep in the dark without fear. But when the great storm swept over Isengard, we withdrew, and for long it took us by storm to Calembel, and then by sea to the river Gorgoroth. We were lost and among the ruins of our best hut we found nothing. 'We had been hoping to find some way between here and Mordor, somewhere between Osgiliath and the Black Gate, and there we could sleep in the dark. But for the last search in the dark Mordor has turned up empty. There is no way that the Orcs or the Black Hand could have found us. If we had found a way, we could have returned to Osgiliath and destroyed the Black Hand, or destroyed the Great Ring, we might have been able to repair the damage and save the lives of the Orcs. But that search has now failed. The Orcs have not found us, and we cannot destroy the Great Ring. We have destroyed the Ring, but it cannot be returned. If the Orcs despaired of us, they could not tell us where it had been, or how it had been brought there. That was a desperate search. For the Orcs had been ordered to stay in Mordor, and had been looking for a place where they could hunt and gather their strength. They had been told that the Ring, as well as many treasures they had secretly passed through the Great River, must go south, where it might be found. 'The Orcs had been in Osgiliath ready for some time, only a matter of time. They were wary and did not like our doing away in the dark. But we had no time to find. We could not risk the Great Ring being found, and the Orcs feared us as much as they feared us. So we withdrew, and they feared us still more, and they did not kill or take away the Great Ring. It was not destroyed, for they did not want it destroyed at all. It was brought back to Mordor, and it has the power to shape the very tides of fate. So they knew that we would not want it, and they were willing to pay a price for it. But we ======And the shadow of the bridge grew. It was at once dark and high that Gandalf came with the Company to the hidden gate. He halted as well as he could, and stood for a moment as the gates closed. Then suddenly he saw his friends, and he could see their faces. ,O mortal Men, you will not meet the Dnedain, unless old Gandalf comes with you. But the Dnedain will not be meet for ever. Far be it from him! And he is long remembered in his own ways, long ere you learn of him. 'Alas! In the High Court before the Gate. He was high-seated in Rath Dnen long before the rest of us; and he has died in honour at times, and have passed often to the West. And yet he was lord of the City ere you learned the ways of its great men; and he was lord of the Gate, and in all that he did. It was long since he was known in the City, for he died in the battle that marked the end of the Third Age, ere we came to Minas Tirith. 'But the power of his house is lost, and it is not for me to tell who he is, who knows how long he was in the Citadel, or where in Rath Dnen he dwelt. I will not now speak aloud the poetry of Elrond of Minas Tirith. Let us recall the words of the wise counsel that Elrond spoke in the hallowed places: In the beginning was the Land of Lrien, But in the very hour when the Star was born And all was dark and terrible, There before the throne of Gondor were the towers of stone That were made in the deeps of time. But in the morning light there was Fire, And there grew the seed of the trees, And the fruit of the fields was like water in the silken glades. There dwelleth in the mountains, and at the gate The tall towers of Caras Galadhon and the gates of Kings Come, and see the light of Mordor. And there dwells the Lord of the City of Gondor, And there dwelleth in the shadows of Anduin. And there dwells the Lord of the Golden City, And the Gate of the City of the Kings, And the Tower of the King.

He paused and looked again, and the faces of the Company were grave and stern. 'It seems that you spoke only of the City of Gondor,' he said. 'And for that I thank you; and I am glad that I have returned; for I came hither from the land of Mordor ere long, and when I came I was sorrowful. But I said that I would return-if I should must, and to find my home, and to find the Lord of the City of the Gondor, and the Tower of the Dark Tower, and the Golden Gate of the City, and the Gate of the Golden Wood, and the Golden Hall of the Golden Duil. But I do not go now. For here I long ago journeyed with my kindred with the Lord of the City. I came to Minas Tirith, and I there met and dwelt with the Lord of the City; and the City was for me a place of great wonder, for it was like unto the fair and incomparably high cities of my former days. And the Gate of Gondor is not a gate to Mordor, not a gate to the West. Indeed the gates of Mordor are devised by the Enemy and devised in his malice and despair. But the City of the Golden City, the Gate of the Golden Wood, is not devised and devised only by him. 'Some say that the Dark Tower of Mordor is in the land of its maker and that it was made in the hour of its onset and victory, and so long ago its glory began. But the ======by Sam Gamgee, September 22nd, 1936

Did you ever wonder what the "Great White Ride" was about? It was about hobbit-magic and the Great Ride, Sam Gamgee, who is now a famous name in the lore. What was it about?

When I first heard of the "Great White Ride" in Hobbiton, I thought it was some kind of accursed commotion, bringing about the passing of a great sage. I had no notion what it was about. After all, I had never heard of such a thing before, until I went to visit Mr. Bilbo. I had never met him before, when I visited Mr. Bilbo in his flat in the Shire in the autumn of 1936. He was outside in his kitchen, and he seemed rather excited. 'Well, I have found it out already,' he said. 'I thought you had told me not long before. You had said that it was a "Great White Ride", but I had never seen it before. That is just what I had first thought. But later I had thought that it might be some other art or craft of your own making. I certainly did not think that you had mentioned it before; nor indeed that it at any rate concerned me. But I was so struck by your expression (as was me when I visited Mr. Bilbo) that I thought a description of it was necessary. You may see an old drawing by Mr. Bilbo himself, which you may have wished to see, if I have not. But, of course, I do not know why I asked, when I knew so much about the old fellow. I think that it evidently concerned me, not you. 'I think that it may well be so, Sam, that Bilbo is now as good a Baggins, and should be pleased as he ever was. He ought to know, of course; but he must know now as well as he can of what I mean. He ought to learn that Bilbo is not really such a thing, but just a name, and that he has for ages pretended to be called by his privateers; and that he thinks the Big Folk ought to love him; and that he should cheer up when he plays by his own rules; and that he ought to be ashamed of his ridiculous ways. And he ought, I think, to have some notion of why they do what they do. And that is a very old habit of his life, Sam. I am afraid, Mr. Frodo. I believe that it began with them. 'Not so old as Bilbo, or so foolish as he (or she) claims. No, Mr. Bilbo was an abominable creature; a wicked creature; and if in Hobbiton he had any notion of love or friendship, it was his own body, and not the will of a vulgar mind make it such a thing. He loved his fellows, and for that very reason, I think, he did not abuse, or abuse, his position as master of the hobbit body. It was a part of his nature, I think, to treat his fellows fairly, as much as he could, especially when it came to food and drink. And he delighted in robbing them of their _grip_ (or _grip_ as they put it) when he could, of course, and plundering them of his _grip_ (or _grip_ as they put it) for his own use. That was his chief part. But the whole system of plunder and of raiding, which he still kept secret, he now deeply regretted, and he made a great mistake in trying to deal with it; and he made a grievous mistake in trying to deal out his punishment.

_Ash-hill, Ash-hill, Ash-hill, Ash-hill! The End of the One Ring, and the end of all worlds, and happier than the day when he stole in from his tree! There will be no time to lose, nor to grudge. And I will give him what I have begotten. For as long as he knows not himself, he has never fallen into the Wild, and never shall he fall. For the last ======There will not be another war like this, unless the Enemy has already begun, or is preparing. If he does not begin soon, the Window of the World will open, and the Enemy will draw off his strength. Therefore, if he is ready, he will do as the Enemy asked: he will lay siege to the City, and with his full might drive his enemies into it; for he knows their hearts, and even if he does not know them himself they may still be powerful and terrible. Therefore the City of the Ring-bearer is at hand: the remnant of the Elder Council. 'The remnant of the Elder Council. The Ring-bearer. War-making. The City of the Ring-bearer.' And with that word the messenger got up. 'The City!' cried Frodo. 'I am in haste. I have not yet need of speed. Where is Gandalf?' 'In the inner court,' said Gandalf. 'It is guarded. His papers have not yet been seen. Take then the horses that are not with you, for your safety. There you shall ride with Frodo, and if need be, with Bilbo or with any friend of Gondor. Be careful of me! In this dark place I shall not come out, or report, or instruct you. But I will wait on you, until you have consulted me and the Captain. For you must ride with me now since I have returned. For I do not come out of the darkness of the Mines of Moria; nor I will, if I have the strength of the Men of Nmenor.' 'Then you must have your news in hand,' said Gimli. 'I will not wait on you,' said Gandalf. 'Come, let us ride together to the Cross-roads of the World and bid Bilbo and Frodo ride with us until the hour is spoken. Then we will ride together to the Cross-roads of the World and bid everyone together hope for the hour!' 'Thank you, Gimli!' said Frodo. 'I shall wait for you, when we are sure of each other.' And Frodo seeing his promise made, cried aloud: 'Gandalf! Gandalf! I think you must have some good news still, or I shall not get it. Bilbo already says that he will not return. Will you wait on me, and wait on the hour? I should like to see the old fellow again, sooner rather than later, if you will.' 'I will wait,' said Gandalf. 'For I have not spoken to him since the day of the battle. But even as I have spoken to him I made this choice: to wait on the hour, while he awaits us, and in hope. He would not wait now, though he should not be able to wait too soon. He has great hope, and great fear. He has come to seek the Ring, and yet to seek it alone. He has become the Ring-bearer, and he has passed into the shadow of his old age. 'I will wait for his judgement, if he is willing to wait at all. I do not think that he will. But he will not be able to wait for the Night of Moria, for he will not be able to wait for the dawn, nor for a day when the power of the Dark Lord grows beyond our strength. We shall have need of haste, for we shall have need of speed.' 'But this is folly,' said Gimli. 'Let us not forget that day. Bilbo said that he would wait until the hour was spoken. He said he would wait even when the time was uncertain. He went to the Cross- roads, but he went back to his home, where he waited to see Gandalf. Since then his fear and doubt have failed him, I think. He has lost hope. I will wait, I will wait. Wait, and wait.' 'You must wait, Gimli,' said Gandalf. 'I do not think you have lost hope. Wait, and wait! Bilbo will not wait.' 'Wait, and wait!' cried Bilbo. 'Wait, and I wait! Bilbo will not wait!' Gandalf waited, and waited, and the hour was ended. Now the hobbits, who were now making their final report to Bilbo, were glad of their reward; for they had not spoken of it to anyone since they left the Shire, and they had hoped that they would soon have seen it. It was not until Frodo begged them to tell him that it had ======He was wearing only a grey cloak, and the light of the lamp was now veiled. He stood silent for a moment, looking at his master with grave expression, and then with a laugh he rose and passed through the door. 'Now you have come to the end of your trial, Peregrin son of Paladin,' he said. 'You may rest a little while, and I will speak to you hereafter. But first you must learn how you will obtain my advice. You will need a guide to Minas Tirith. After that I do not doubt that you will find the Barrow-downs useless, or at best a waste of your time and money. But now you must have Gandalf, and you shall have him for yourself.' Gandalf now stood before him in the wizard's white robe, and he spoke now in the Elven-tongue. _'Praise Gandalf!_ he cried. _'Thou art the High Speech, that even I once knew!_' _'Great praise be to behave!' said Pippin. _'As a lord, and a captain, I thank you, Gandalf, for such praise,' said Gandalf. 'It is long indeed since I had the heart to sing Farewell Speech of Galadriel to you, and now at last I shall sing it again. Farewell, Peregrin son of Paladin, farewell!_' _Praise Gandalf!_ he cried, and the wizard clapped his hands and cried aloud. _'Twice, and still three times I praise you, Gandalf, eldest son of Paladin. Three times I say to thee, eldest son of Paladin, that you shall not regret the speech that I made three nights ago at my father's sleep. I spoke in the morning, and the stars were shining before me. I have said farewell to all that have passed since I woke up in the morning: Frodo and Belia and the maidens and the old Gollum and the old ragged old horseman, and all who remain.' _'I thank you indeed,' said Pippin greatly pleased. _'I thank you also_' he continued, but silence fell between them. 'for I had hoped that you would at last hear my last message. Alas, alas! I let you hear the voice of the Wise. For that I have need of haste. I have returned to Orthanc, and the path that I left before me is over. I climb again ere the day is long, and I return ere I would.' _'I thank you indeed,' said Pippin, bowing low. 'And I thank you also_' _'You? Gandalf?' said Pippin. _'Yes, Peregrin Meriadoc_,' said Meriadoc. 'I had thought of the speech, but it has been long lost. Gandalf has guided me, in the days that followed your return, and now I must guide you again. Good night!' _The servants of the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim now marched on, and after them came a company of Men of a low and simple look; but they were well clad for such a meeting; for they marched in the morning, and had light breeches and on breeches as they could obtain, four packs of darts apiece. These they brought to Gandalf, and slung them on their shoulders, and passed them on into the hall. At the doors they were welcomed by owyn, and after her they greeted him and all that was present. 'GANDALF! Answer the summons!' said omer; and there was silence, and no answer. 'I am Beregond of the Guard at the City of Gondor,' said omer. 'I return now from the wars in the North, and with my brother in the West, as you see, to ride back to the City.' 'And with you, too, will Erkenbrand, Dmytro of the West, who is at your service, my brother.' The Company now marched on to the citadel, where, as Gandalf and the Lady owyn saw afar a figure stood suddenly before them. It was tall and grey and had black hair in silver and brown; and on its forehead was a great horn; for it was a mark of the Great Council that Erkenbrand had become Lord of Gondor, and dwelt here all that was new and wonderful in the land, as ======More than half of all the traffic came from the west, but it was not all from the east: many more came and from the Waterfall. At this point Frodo and Sam were out in the open again. `Look!' whispered Sam, coming along behind. The others peered into the water. It was clear and cold. The spring water seemed fresh and clean. There were few trees, and only a few dead leaves; and there was a few soft glowing flowers. The air was still, but the chill began to rise again. There were no birds, and there was no music. The water slowly grew cold, and the water cooled quickly, until it was still cold but not draughtlike. There seemed to be no need to hurry any further. The ground was fairly level, and there was no need for much running. The land rose slowly, and then began to fall slowly. The westward slopes, which were now much broader, became much narrower and more difficult to climb; and Sam found that he could, almost by instinct, hoist his feet over the rocks and up into the air. As he did so, he found that the air on the hills was indeed very fresh and fresh, and indeed, as he stepped over the rocks, it seemed fresh-washed and fresh-filling. 'Well, here goes, Mr. Frodo!' he said, peering down into the water. `This is good weather, Mr. Baggins. I don't think that this is any weather that the Shire should weather, and certainly not this Bree-land. It's not fair, and I wish I could be allowed to live here, and not worry about it. But I don't know what it will be like, nor why I should wish to live here. And as for why I should wish to live here, I won't ask. I don't know. Why not go to sleep here, to lie here and let my little people live happily ever after? I don't know why I should wish to live here. This land ought to be beautiful! I shouldn't know!' Frodo and Sam went to sleep. The morning was quiet and peaceful, and the hobbits did not complain. The air was almost as fresh as it had been the day before, when they had been out and about a fortnight ago, and the land was still fresh and well-tended. The morning was bright and pleasant, and Frodo could see the mountains' eastern end, which was now becoming more and more narrow, and the valley of the Shire, which was now being gradually gentler-looking eastward. It was getting chilly, and there were still some days left in the year, but the hobbits were getting used to it. It was indeed a beautiful time of year, and it was beginning to turn into a time of peace and growth for the most part of the Shire, whatever the Weather. Only a few stray wanderers and wanderers on the East End of the Shire reported any unusual events, and the Shire was not long before rumours of a great storm began to pour out about it. The hobbits, and especially Sam, were kept very quiet, and did not talk openly. Frodo told Frodo often that he was going to the Hobbiton Bridge, to wait on Gandalf for advice, and to go along the cause of Gandalf's flight. It was not until Frodo spoke of Gandalf's flight and of the Great Flight that the Men in the Shire became aware that a travel that Gandalf had made a part in did not refer to the Battle of the Harad by that name. The hobbits also did not talk about the Great Flight, nor the Battle of the Tower of Orthanc, nor the arrival of Lord of the Mark in the wide world. They were very quiet, and did not discuss the events that led up to the disaster. Frodo said that he had nothing to tell the Company, and that they would soon have to begin. He had been very anxious lately to make sure that no news of their plans would be leech-ridden through the Morgul-kingdom, and that no news of Saruman 's' adventures would be forgotten in the Shire by any means. The next stage of their business was faring well. The Company was eager and kept up its spirits. The weather in the Shire was encouraging, and it was still early in the morning when the small band of Rangers set out from the city of Gondor. They were clad in black slippers, and carried off as quickly as they could, when all the rest of them too well and truly wished to go down to the Brandywine.

======I did not learn this secret long ago. I passed through Minas Tirith before I came to Mordor. That city was still very cosmopolitan, and after long years of being besieged, its defence was little stronger than before. And yet the iron will of the Dark Tower was not broken, and when the stroke came, the burden was on all of us to defend it. So I was eager to set this thing in order before Mordor, and to show my strength, but it has proved too great a burden. 'Also I have made a new trumpet for my own defence, for I did not know that it could ever be played. I have added a new line to the first, for it shows my departure as a Rider and not as a messenger. The line is the same as before, only it now calls for Aragorn to open with a long trumpet-voice. That would show the end of my search for a new line. It was not until later that the Prince of Dol Amroth brought me this request. 'I came to Minas Tirith on the morning of the sixth day of June, and I have since been there many times, and I do not sleep at all. I have heard that Saruman has been keeping a secret message in the Shire, and it may prove true. But I do not think that this message has yet reached Mordor, nor that it has concerned me at all. It may prove false, if chance brings it. 'If it is, then I think that I have been betrayed. For treason against my country is a grave charge, and the treason of Isildur is long and proud. I have done as he asked, and he has done now what I would do, if I had the strength or the mind or the heart to seek revenge on him. But only by the will of Saruman can I now hope to save my revenge against Isildur. After my revenge, I hope that I shall not have to tarry too long. 'Since you left me, my friend, I do not know whether you or Mordor will ever see the light of day. But the morning of the seventh day of June is our only day yet of rest. We have been dreading the morning, and the morning is morning, if we have not been weary. O Men! May the day bring tidings from far away! For if we should come to the coming of the day, then Saruman will know that we are come and he will plod away our need of haste. 'We have been very weary, and have often been beyond food and water, yet we have rested, and we have had some wine and food, and we have sung songs and dances. But the way of haste we must follow in the footsteps of our victuals, for so it is called in Gondor. The King of Gondor will now need not wander in the ways of his land. ' "The Lord of the Mark of Gondor" I am, said I, "the Third Marshal of the Mark of Gondor." ` "But here we must return to the Land of Mordor," said I, "a land under the dominion of the Enemy. Indeed I hold the realm of Isildur, the Lord of Rhn, the domain of the White Hand and the realm of the Emyn Fords. ` "The Third Marshal of the Mark of Gondor," said I, "has the glory of Dunland, the domain of King Thoden in his northern strongholds, and the field of Anrion, where the Eye of Mordor and the Shadow of the Dark Lord are hidden." ` "And now, lord, do I wish to speak with you again, or so I heard you say. I know that you call me, but I call upon your leave: to see Faramir, Lord of Rhn. Of course, my lord, I am not content with merely telling you my name. For I do not desire to speak with you of the lore of Gondor, save only to say that I had not heard of you before, and that you have since learned a great deal from the travellers. ` "Faramir, Faramir! Where is your good old friend, the Elf- friend, I heard him say; and if he is not lost in the North, then he will not return. But if he is, I tell you, it is near at hand, and you must seek him at once and have him brought before me. But he is not yet come unto judgement. And do not despair! For you have heard ======'All right, Sam,' said Frodo, 'you have seen him. He is alive, and he will soon be free. He is going to take off his hood. It was made of _mellolloc_, but I must say that it looks very much like old Gandalf's old cloak. I never thought, but I may have thought of putting it on before today's party. It is quite worth a shot.' Frodo took off the cap, and put it on again. Then he went off at once. _'Shall I ever look into that black hat again, Mr. Frodo?'_ he said to himself, remembering Gandalf with his eyes. 'Then I shall not be able to see much of you for a while. But you are beautiful, Sam. Always beautiful.' He looked at his master in wonder. _'I saw them both, yes I did,' said Sam. _'Yes, I saw them both,' said Frodo, 'and they are both beautiful. Very beautiful they are, and yet they cannot both pass the Shire and the City. But of them both only I cannot say.' _'You may be sure indeed,' said Sam. 'I am sure. And yet, Sam, I long ago knew that you were going to live in this Shire. I am sure that I shall never look into it myself.' _'I know, I know,' said Frodo, 'but I cannot see beyond the shadow of the Bridge. In the City we shall live together, we shall see the light of day, and the shadow of night. And I have seen the faces of your roving companions before on the road. But this is my chance, I suppose, to choose between living here and riding a wild beast out of the world of the living. Will you ride with me, Mr. Frodo?' 'No, if you choose, I will ride with you,' said Sam. 'And if I have a chance, I will ride with you and be spared from death as you promised. Will you take me?' 'No, if you promise otherwise,' said Frodo. _'Then take me, Mr. Frodo,'_ said Sam. Frodo smiled. 'You have taken my promise,' he said. 'I will take you.' _'Go then, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. 'And if you are ready, you can ride with me. It is no good arguing with me.' Frodo laughed again. 'No, not really. I have been arguing all day, and I have not given much heed to it. But you will see, the Lord Denethor, that while you are away I must still be thinking of the Shire. I shall not be able to say much for you. And now, Mr. Frodo, I can tell you something. I have been thinking of the old road, and of Bilbo's road. It is the one I have not seen before. ' 'Yes, you shall see in what way you choose,' said Frodo. _'I see in what way you choose,'_ said Sam. 'I will see you later. When you have seen him, come and tell me when you can and cannot go on the road again. The road is rough around here, as you might say.' 'I will see, and the road is rough around here, Mr. Frodo,' said Frodo. 'I thought you said the old road, but what about the way out? You will get there anyway. The old way is rough around the edges, as I have said before. But I don't think I can see a way anywhere other than this, except downwards.' Frodo looked at it and found himself looking across the road. He could see nothing, but it seemed that far away there were many more of the same kinds of things that he had seen and heard before he went on this high. He sprang to his feet and drew out a file from a pocket on his horse's breast. It was not a bridle-sword, but a long flat-edged steel-blade. It was a black ash-blade, not more than a finger's length long, and it was set with a silver thong at the end of the staff-arm. 'Here is the thing,' he said, 'I think: if you wish to go down from this high, then you must go this way and take the thong off ======The need for emergency food supplies may be growing, but the level of food is so low that it is unlikely to change much in the long run. The only way to meet the growing demand for emergency supplies in the Shire in the present emergency is to adopt the method of the Hobbits, who, using food sparingly, cut down or destroyed piles of refuse and refuse-buildings. The use of fire, if left unused, can be deadly, but only in very remote places of the Shire can emergency food be obtained. In those places there are few fires and the use of fireless stoves and stoves with flame-propelled rills is no longer possible. The Hobbits do not, of course, eat much meat. But they need a constant supply of fuel, and they eat less and eat more, as the multiplying of the senses increases. The chief peril of the present threat is that of blindness. The hobbit blind spot increases as we get closer to the Mountain, and the more we get eastward, the darker and more distant the dark becomes. Darkness has no lasting effect on the hobbit's will, and his sense of smell is duller and weaker than before. In the Shire the night vision becomes blurred, and his hearing is less sharp, so that he cannot hear words or music or news in the dark. He cannot see many things at once, unless he is looking across a wide space at which there is a dark gap in the ground. Therefore he is blind and can only make out black figures and shapes in his deep thought. The great gap in the ground, he knows because of the shrill tone of his voice, and because of the dim nature of the sound wave upon the inner ear. It is many lives of hobbits before one learns the full meaning of the line of command that they have been given. It is a law of the Shire that every beast and beast in the neighbourhood of the valley should, if they had any living relations, should be kept within the secrecy of the Great Gate, and all other visitors to the Shire outside. If any other creature could, within the gate, approach, they were to be met by a single hobbit-queen, or so it seemed to those who had not seen the Lord of the Galadhrim. Before the outbreak of war the Company had only just ceased to aim, and they still had to shoot only when they felt threatened or desperate. The need for food and the food of allies alarmed the Hobbits. The Mountain was becoming, and the Enemy, keener than ever before, was gathering forces upon the Road beyond. Through the gap in the Road they could see the Eye of Mordor moving southwards. They could see it now as it climbed over the mountains and went southward towards the mountains. They were making ready to turn and attack the Eye of Mordor, if the news of their sudden flight did not bring back the same disastrous news. The hobbits had been under the watchful eye of the Morgul-hand, but they had not been aware until now of the menace that was developing in the Shire. As the darkness grew, and as the Mountain became ever more remote, hobbits were more likely to see the coming of the black horsemen in the fall of the world; and they also knew that the Enemy was constantly drawing near. They knew that Frodo was a hobbit, and in many ways the same as long ago; but they also knew that he had in fact changed his name, and was now called Strider; for he had lost his old name of Bree, and had become, as Frodo had, Strider of the Nine Fingers; or "The Dwarf-man". In Rivendell they heard the rumour of the Riders coming south. They were anxious to get news of this before they set out on their assault, and so to keep as long as possible the appearance of the Company and the enemy. The valley of the Morgai had long been a sore spot for the enemies of the West, and now they were in an uneasy alliance with the Dark Lord and Sauron's hand was ever at their rear. The hobbits were in no mood for such jest. They knew that their enemies were already plotting a counterattack, but they did not expect any such thing. If they were successful, they would bring ruin upon Mordor and its rulers, and the opening of the borders would be a disaster for the free peoples of the Middle-earth. In any case the Riders were no longer in any desperate need. A great troop of them had been sent out from Barad-dr, north of the Morgai, when the main assault had almost been foiled. They had sent scouts out beyond the River-gate to gather information, and there they ======'I am not a Wizard,' he said at last. 'No, that is right,' said Frodo. 'But I have never heard the name before. I am not, if you understand me: a Wizard. I am called by all the Wise, by all the Kings and Kings of old; and by all the Wizards and Wizards of the Shire, if you are not careful. I am called by many names, so simple, so beautiful, so absurd, so absurd that I have made up my mind. But to you I say only: I am called by many names, by many names, by many names, by many names, by many names! That is called Wonderful, and so are your names. Wonderful! I believe your name is Shire, my name is Wonderful, and I will tell you why; because it is why I am called that you should undertake my journey.' 'Why?' 'Because Shire is the home of our guests. And Shire is the home of our guests. It is called Wonderful, because it is so, and because it is so, because it is so. Every word that we say to each other, whether plain or profound, tells a story of our own. And we laugh at ourselves for putting forward so many absurd names. Wonderful! Because we are funny. And therefore we are very funny. We are very funny because we are so easy to please.' 'Easy?' said Frodo. 'Easy!' said Bilbo. The floor of the room was almost full of astonished hobbits. Most of the people had never seen or heard of Shire before, and they were so new and peculiar that they had no notion of what they were doing. It seemed to them as a strange but nonetheless necessary feeling, as if something wonderful had happened while they had been this way, while the Shire had been and still was wide and dark; and they imagined that it was somehow, somehow, the place of a visitor from beyond the River; or, perhaps more pertinently, of some visitor from outside the world outside the Shire. The place looked rather strange, and somehow absurd. The hobbits did not answer either of these questions. Frodo did not. He looked round at the astonished guests. 'I wonder,' he thought. 'If they don't know what they are talking about, who are they talking about? What is they doing here? Why do they come at all?' 'They are Shire-folk,' said Frodo. 'I think they are just trying to ask that. I wonder what is the meaning of their names. They are so new and odd, and so cosmopolitan, and so cosmopolitan that they feel at home in a country of small, but very-favoured creatures. They have come to think of it.' 'And this is just the sort of place they are making for the Shire-folk,' said Bilbo. 'All right,' said Frodo. 'I will try _Why did you and your brother go to the trouble of telling me about Shire?_ and I will try it; but I am beginning to feel a little queerer now.' 'And what is _Why did you and your brother go to the trouble?_ to-by the Water, I wonder?' said the landlord. 'To-by the Water,' said Frodo. 'That is exactly what they were asking, and I hope they mean just the opposite. If you want to know, Bilbo and I have just come by the Ford to see Mr. Bilbo, and he seems a bit depressed.' 'Oh, I believe he is. What is he saying?' asked Bilbo. 'About the importance of Water in your being, and in the way you behave,' answered Frodo. 'I think that it has a lot to do with your own way of being and of being itself. And I think that's another thing that you don't like. Why do you care? It has been my custom, I think, since I started: to drink a draught out of a fountain, or a sip out of a sip, and so forth. Even the very breath is perilous to find breathless in your being. You're not breathing as you would, if things were as they are. You can't get breath through outer doors or through subterranean passages, or so I've been told. And if you want to try and get hold of those things they don't count on being for _anything_ worth doing at present. The best way to do that is to ======And that's not all. The sun right, that's gone down over the mountains, is going west. It may be there's a storm on the way. Someone put a trap on the mountain-tops, so they can wait for us. They did. They stayed by the banks. I saw them. Three of the four that they trapped. They stayed for a while. Then someone put some trap on the cliff. They stayed by the banks. I caught a glimpse of them both: the same one, just below the head of the hill. I don't think it was of them at first. I think it was one of the hobbits -two of the Beornings. I don't know. But soon they left the bank, and went east. They stayed by the bank. I caught a glimpse of them both: one of the Beornings, and two more as it turned and went southward. It was of them in the evening, I think. Then someone put some trap on the cliff. They stayed by the bank. I caught a glimpse of them both: one of the Beornings, and two more as it turned and went northward. They left the bank. I think I know them. I took a glimpse of them down at the last time I could. The Beornings. They were away up in the mountains, away from us. They left the bank. I think I know them. I took a glimpse of them down at the last time I could. The Beornings. They were away up in the mountains, away from us. `They went up into the mountains just beyond the Great River, and they were very strong for a while. They were hunting for us, of course. They came to the Great Smials, and they brought news. Big Boss was hunting for them. But he said: "You have come back, Master Big, to tell us that you have found the Ring-bearer. I will not go to the trouble of hunting you. Go home to your home now, and do not meddle in the hunting of other Hunters." ` "I have the Ring," he said, "but I do not hunt for others. I have come back. Pursuers seeking a treasure seeking death. " ' "You must seek the grave of your father, O mighty master of the West," said Gollum. "And if you cannot find the father, then you must seek death. Pursuers seeking a death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers," said the Bearer, "we see, we hear, we see. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers," said the Ranger, "we see. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers," said the Ranger, "we see. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers," said the Bearer, "we see, we see, we see. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " " Pursuers," said the Ranger, "we see, we see, we see. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers," said the Ranger, "we see. We have not seen the Bearer. We have heard no word of its coming." ' " Pursuers," said the Ranger, "we see, we see. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers," said the Bearer, "we see. We have heard no word of its coming." ' " Pursuers," said the Ranger, "we see. We have seen Pursuers. We have seen Pursuers. " ' " Pursuers," said the Bearer, "we see. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers," said the Ranger, "we see. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers," said the Bearer, "we see. We have seen Pursuers. We see. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' " Pursuers," said the Ranger, "we see. We have seen Pursuers. We see. Pursuers seeking death in the name of your master." ' ======'_Farewell, Elf-friend, I return.'_ '_Farewell, Elf-friend, you make new friends. Enter the company of the hobbits!_ '_Farewell, you mean, _gollum_?' said Frodo. '_Gollum?' Gollum answered. '_Gollum? What is that?' '_Gollum.' Gollum slopped and fell silent. Frodo followed closely behind. '_Gollum_?' '_Gollum.' Gollum's voice was low and nasally, as if he was only following orders. Frodo followed closely behind. Gollum's eyes glinted as he spoke to himself. '_Gollum? What are you doing?_ Frodo's eyes glinted. 'I am _gollum_, yes. Yes. I am making new friends. Enter the company of the hobbits!_ '_Welcome to the _comrades_. We are a club of hobbits, or _gollum_ as they call us, that is good _gollum_ in the old meaning. New friends call us by our proper name. But _gollum_, it seems, that is not so. Gollum, or _gollum_ in the old sense, the old gaffer, is the one that tells us what is going on. He usually does not leave his house until something is quite new is quite old, and he warns us often. He was the chief counsellor of the Shire for many years. '_Welcome to the _comrades_. We are a club of hobbits, _gollum_, that is good _gollum_ in the old sense. New friends call us by our proper name. But _gollum_ usually does not leave his house until something is quite new is quite old.' Gollum had a long and proud beard, and in the summer months, and in the hollow of the hills, he would he still say no more than once; and he spoke in an erring tone in the summer-time, _gollum_ in the winter-time, _gollum_ in the terry. 'New friends?' Frodo repeated, without bitterness in his tone or in his expression of thought. 'New friends? What are they? What are they? Have they got to you?' 'I have not,' said Gollum. 'I have some old tricks about me. But they are good. And I have seen the marks on those marks, have they not?' Frodo looked at him. 'Well, have they?' 'No,' said Gollum. 'But I see now that I know the way. And I will leave you now for a while, as you all need me: to strengthen you, and to make sure that you don't come home too soon. You have only to wait a little while now, and I shall come back after you.' 'And when I come back, I shall tell all you need, and you all what I need, and you all leave me and go home with me. I do that at my own choosing, and I will. But tell me, Gollum: do you think my friends have saved you?' 'Yes, I do,' said Frodo. 'So have they!' cried Gollum wildly. 'Well, so many wonderful things have happened since Bilbo took them. But I can still count them in my head. They saved me. When I found you my friends, I saved you, and I will not forget it. I have got enough to last many lives. You needn't worry about me now.' 'I do,' said Frodo. 'But don't get hung up on my friends. I knew you were going to be the best hobbitry I have ever seen. And I knew it was only a dream, a dream that took shape almost in its own little voice. I knew you were going to live and breathe and be loved. You were going to start off like Bilbo. You could not be mine.' 'Not yet,' said Frodo. 'But I can see that it was not a dream, and I see also that it was a feeling. It was not a hate, but a longing for the place ======As the Great River rose and fell in the East and West, the great trees grew taller, and began to sway and to bend inwards; but there was no longer any hold at the banks, so mighty was the sway that was now at hand, so great was the sway that was still unseen. Northward to the flet and to the water's brink, beyond the mountains' rising, there stood Pippin, tall and threatening, and no longer any doubt he was of the wild and untamed mind. But now he was looking back, and he was not looking eastward. The boughs were broken, and he saw a dark shape, a great kine running on the water, or even a kangaroo, skilful for the most part: a great filth and foul hide, a sickness, a sickness of the world about him, a sickness of the world's clay; and he saw the great horseman, which was now no more than a few paces ahead, stiff and tall, but not too shapeless, not able to bear a weight. He strode forward, and at once the kine stopped him. Then the man stepped forward, and a shapeless lump appeared in his throat; the stench of rotten meat. 'Well, here we are again,' said Pippin. 'Where was I supposed to go? And what is the matter with you?' 'I am afraid the matter of which I have just said has arisen again,' answered the great man, putting his hand on Pippin's head. 'I have come to the root of the evil. You have been in this land before, you have you, and you are a creature now of the foul hide of our kind. Your old master cured you of your foul flesh and blood, and gave you a little flesh and blood for the firewood for his pyre. But you had no breath of it, and your old master did not let you burn or stew or mop the grass. So now you must burn this thing, and mop the grass, and I will not let you do so, Master Peregrin son of Paladin of the Shire of the Halflings. You will not be able to sing till we have parted.' 'What do you mean?' asked Pippin. 'I mean: when we parted, when we learned that you were still alive, and that you would dwell here with us, and that we would not kill you or make you a steward.' 'And we were going to kill you?' 'Yes, Master Peregrin. I was going to give you a little _lembas_ for a year and a half and then let you eat plain again.' 'And what about _lembas_ for dinner?' 'A year and a half, and then we must think of eating you again,' said Pippin, as if that was some kind of warning. 'There's no time for talk now.' 'But I shall try this time,' said Gandalf. 'Come, Pippin son of Drogo, we are going to the Wood of the Halflings. You have no time for talk, and you have never used it, even now when you are in the Shire. And you seem to have forgotten that Gandalf is still alive, even when he speaks to you. Why are you trying to scare us with your tale?' 'Because I want to tell you something,' said Pippin. 'Time is running out. I have just begun to eat, but I have not done so yet. And I have had a fever and a sore throat, and I have a bad cold. I have wanted to tell you all something, but I have not yet had the heart to tell you the whole tale. For now I must tell you one tidings per hour about Gandalf. I have been over much against the grain, and I have learned that he is no good to us. I have heard tales of his good deeds, and of his wisdom, and of the ways of the wild, and of the hunt of the wild, and of the valour of the Lonely Mountain. But now I am hungry and weary. And there is a dreadful sickness about me that will not be cured. I have a name-brand of cold and sickness, and I am called the Black Shadow, because of the black shadow that grows on shadow-wrights, and on those that dwell in the Wood. But why are we called the Black Shadow? The darkness is for us too. We come from the White Rider, or Black ======The world is falling round into a great shadow. There is a great desire for change; and that desire is now driving the peoples of the Rings of power, and driving them mad. The Enemy is now at work even in the lands of his home. Now he has other designs. He has other plans. The Men of Rohan are the Eye of his Enemy. He sees all evil. 'The Enemy has other designs. The Ring of the Enemy has great importance. The Enemy must possess the Ring before the Council of Elrond and the Council of Isen. He must withdraw the Ring to the Elves of Nmenor; and he must destroy the Three Rings and all their power. He sees now only the Three Rings. The Three Rings must now be destroyed; and they must be broken and scattered; and they must be excused. The Three Dwarves must be removed to Minas Tirith; and they must be set up again in the Tower of the Moon. The Enemy must withdraw northward across the River to the Grey Havens; and he must take a wide swath east of the River and thence back east over the Sea. 'The Enemy has other purposes. He has other slaves. He has other peoples. He wants to destroy the Three Rings, and then he has other slaves, as you might say. And they are making up their minds. But they are not willing to admit that they are also, or ever were, Oaths- bearers, the Nine Furies. 'The Enemy has other slaves. He has other servants in the land of Mordor. He is a kind of 'Theobaldite', according to the customs of that land. Elf or Dwarf, dwarf or man, he has. he has. In this land there is no such master as was ever known before the years of the world began. All who have ever dwelt in it are bound together in the Nine Furies. 'The Nine Furies are the deadly Enemy of Mordor, and have always been evil to behold. But as the years passed they were overthrown, and they were never again seen in Elrond's court by the Men of Minas Tirith. The Nine Furies cannot now be trusted. The Enemy has other slaves. 'In these latter days the Ring was made and distributed among the Wise, and so the titles that it had earned and the offices which it held. The Wise set no bounds on its ownership. In the days of Elrond the Ring was not lost and unchallenged. It was not forged, but given in the hands of those who wished it, and the Wise made use of it, and the title was preserved. The Wise only need the Ring in the dark for it to be of service to them and to Mordor, but it is of service to them nonetheless, as a reminder to them that they are strong indeed and will often need protection. 'The King of the West long ago received the Ring from Frodo. He had not received it for treason, but for good works purpose. It was then at Crickhollow in the mountains of the Shire, but it was never used there. The Wise took it from the Enemy, and the Enemy treated it kindly, treating it kindly even when it was in his power; and when it was needed they would resort to war or conquest, but they would use it. 'When the Ring was taken from Frodo and burned, it was burned with the fire, and so burned that the City was made, and the people were driven back. Then the Lord of the City was burned as a traitor to the Faith. Then the Enemy drove out the Free Elves from the western lands; and then the leader of the Dark Tower was overthrown, and the Wise took the Ring from him and set it on a heap in the City. Then the Great Witch, who bore the charge of the Ring-bearer, took the Ring from the Dark Lord, and she bore it to Mordor, and so became the Halfling. In the days of Elrond she remained in that City, and was one of the Wise, for she remained there, and she remained with Frodo, and the Three were destroyed. But she was always with Frodo, and she was always ready when he needed her. 'When the Great Ring was taken from the Dark Lord, she bore it to Mordor, and so become the Halfling. After that she remained at Crickhollow with Frodo, and he was ever with her. But there was some doubt as to his worth or worthlessness; for he was not a member of the secret family that the Wise thought so strong or strong. The Wise judged that she ======And so the day passed quietly; and the stream of light passed down the eastward road. The snow began to fall, and grew in thickness, but not in size. The hobbits could see little, and it grew on them as they went forward. The snow was a great store of tokens of comfort and food; and the fasts were cheerless; for they were kept to ten or twelve hours a day by the darkness. On the twenty-fifth of October the snow had fallen, and still the Company of the Ring was not far at the end of the valley. In the valley's skirts it grew as it had in many places before; but Frodo could not tell what it might look like yet. In the valley's skirts it still did not look like far-off the Shire, or the edges of it looked like shadow. The grey of the air and the chill of the biting chill were enough to make Sam's nose first strain to his lips. Away in the east Frodo could see tall cliffs at the far side of the land, and cliffs that seemed to stretch for miles about them. From them the road ran down in a long sweeping arc through low lands, and then, after a fashion passing through larger and more tangled mounds, it climbed steadily down, until it brought him at last to the end of the valley and the great round hill: the Barrow-downs that divide the Shire from the rest. In this last stage of their journey he did not long notice the absence of their horses. The hobbits had gone no nearer than the autumn of Frodo's eighth birthday; but they had not set out yet. As he stood on the edge of the valley, he thought of all the things that had happened since he left Rivendell three years before. These included the appearance of the pony that had so graciously given him the job of escort leading the Company up the stony and broken skirts of the Barrow-downs: the horse that had galloped up with him, but who had crawled behind the fallen rock to his death, when he trudged along groping, crawling along, until he was lost in a shadowy country far away. The view from the hill-top fell steeply in turning, and the valley opened out before Frodo as he looked at the great cliffs of the Barrow-downs. The hobbits could see the high ridge of the hills from the road's point, and there are staircases over the slopes and along the ridge's many narrow walls. They were looking eastward, down into the dark-haired land beyond the eastern mountains. At the hill-top there was a great mound, ringed with spears. Upon it in the dark the white horse had been mounted, but on its prow was a black horseman, riding a chariot like a shadow; his head was cocked, and he was gleaming gold. Frodo could see in the gloom, as he stood beside the horse's head, the red crest of the white horseman, the white crown of the horseman, the horseman of the hill-top like a white hand in the snow. The travellers passed into the upper valley, and looked eastward, up and away into the mist; and they saw white towers before them. Upon the tower of the hill-architecture there was a white horseman. His head was cocked, and he was clad all in white, and upon his shield were set a white crown; and in his hand was a keen axe. Upon his shield a long knife was clasped. 'Do as you will,' he said, turning towards them. 'But first tell me your right name. Do you know who I am?' 'I do,' said the hobbits. 'I am Samwise the Grey.' 'Then tell me who else you are.' 'I am Gildor the Grey,' answered Sam. 'Nor Isildur, but good Sam.' 'Then tell me who else you are.' 'Gildor, Gildor son of Denethor, you are the fourth in the line of the Guards of the Houses of Healing. And you are the only living man now in Middle-earth, save that whom you slew. It is not my custom, though sometimes I have come before the Lord of the City of the Kings, to tell you the full tale in silence, so that you may be persuaded by your own words. For though I came before many Kings of old, and before many Stewards, and before many Foresightes, I have never before been told in full by any man ======All that was said and done in the debate was answered by Gandalf. `I believe you are right, Peregrin Took,' he said. `There is much in your manner of speaking and eating that we do not understand as an established fact. Indeed, I have heard many tales about your beard since you were young, and about the beard of Saruman, but I have never seen or heard any such thing. Did you yourself grow taller than you are, Gandalf?' `Yes,' answered Gandalf. `I have, since the time when I was a child; and my stature has steadily grown since then. But my height does not tell the whole story. `I was very young when you wrote this book. My father was a wizard, as you might say; and when I was in high school I lived very close to your side, and I remember many things that you told me. I should like to know what happened to Wizards, when the power of Wizards was overthrown; and what became of the mighty Wizard that we see today? That is what this book is for. `I have read many books on Wizards, and learned many things that I never knew then. But it is not for me to tell you all away, if you wish. I have told you many things in this book, but I have not told you all in truth; and it would be a betrayal of all that I have learned and learned then; and it is vain to tell the whole tale in one book. It would be better if you told the tale in a short book, so that you may judge what is really going on in this country. `But I believe that the work of Saruman began long ago, as you might say. I have heard of his (Gandalf's) plan to turn Saruman's heir over to none other than his father, _gollum_; and then he would have the whole matter closed up to the outside world. I have heard many rumours about his plot, but never about my being his father's master. That was long ago. `I think it would be a betrayal of all that I have learned and learned then; and a betrayal of all that I have learned now. I do not believe that Saruman's plan was primarily to gain power and wealth for himself, or against all others. The Enemy was already drawing off a great power, and the power that Saruman had begun to grow was already at work in the West, and it was only by a secret plot of mine that I could foresee the end of that power, if I had known how it was to be ended. And I believe that the plot was foiled, though I do not believe that it was foiled in the book. 'Why? Why should I believe what the Enemy was doing? I do not know how he came to me. He said he was seeking aid from the West. Aid was the way. I did not ask him to help me, but I came to him, and I had no need of help. I am not at all surprised that he dissuaded me from the journey. Aid was given to him for his own good, I guess: he was trying to help his master, or at least to give aid to Saruman himself. I thought then that I could not go far without some help, or some help was forthcoming. 'The book has proved very useful, and I have not long to endure it. Time is more precious to me now than ever, and to my master; but the time is at hand where the need is greatest. The hobbit characters have given me more freedom, and I have been able to choose from many different paths in the matter of this book. I still think that this was an evil plot, and that Saruman's plot has failed, and that I must go to the end, and so fail. I have come to the end, but I intend to go no further. I spent a good deal of time in Hobbiton, and in the dark, in the night, and out of the light. `I had a very lonely and lonely time in the Shire. In the first chapters I had a chance of referring to the end of the story at large, of which I have already given a full account. Then the ending had an altogether different ending. I had a chance of referring to the events of the book, and the ending did not. `I have often felt that the ending of the story was altogether different, and that at times I was actually afraid of the reader, of turning the book on its head and discovering a falsehood. This was certainly not so. The ======The Shire is now in ruins and in disarray, and the power of Sauron is waning; but there are still many of the folk of the Lonely Mountain still living and working, and there are many who still dwell among us. Even if you took the Shire, you would find no dwellings or farms or stores of any kind; but all that we do bestir with the ruin of the old houses and the terror of decay. There are many tales of the evil that dwell in distant lands that can now only be told by watching the roads and the waste lands below. `There is the lore of the Elves and the Wood in great import, and they are still among us. But there is also a little folk legendatively best known: the Grey Havens. They are real folk in their own right; indeed they bear some relation to the Shire at the close of this history; for if they were real people, it should not be long before we learned how they came there, and what they learned there. Indeed we learn also that they came there before our fathers: the Harknor brothers. `The Grey Havens followed the road that Gandalf had spoken when he told us of them. They came as early as the mountains to the land of the great trolls, where their chief fear was not so much at any rate as at dusk; and they searched in the night for any living thing that they could find there. In the morning they set out again, and they crossed over the Great River at the northern end of the Long River; and they went on for many leagues, and reached the bottom of the Great River at last at the end of a little stream. That was the end of their search. `The road from Bree to Isengard goes through the country of the Three Meeters, and east to the Grey Havens, where they feared that the Enemy was at last forced to a stand by their shores. It was then the hour when the Three Meeters met once more, and they became like one body, intent on some purpose only known to themselves: the Enemy was at last forced to its shores. `At the northern end of the stream there is a great stone house, dark-feathered with stone, that is, it is still standing, but it was built long ago, and the fires on the walls were of stone, and ash, and decay. The house is roped together with goblin-tools, and the windows are shut, and there is a window in the middle. When the Three Meeters returned from the Land of Mordor, they were much occupied, and they were in great despair when they set out; for they feared that the Enemy would melt the bridge and the gates before it was fully taken. But now the house of the Three Meeters is shut, and they have drawn up a host of men to defend it. They will not speak to the outside world, nor to the living. But they will listen to the messages of Gandalf, and they will not make war upon the messenger. For now it is their turn to the last battle, if ever the Nine go back into the darkness beyond the land of Mordor.' `And that is the peril of the Shire,' said Gimli. `Certainly it is,' said Aragorn. `Had they been despatched on the land beyond the Great River, and had learned the news of Mordor, they would have been able to hold off the attack for a while. But we cannot now hope to strike with such speed, for if the Third Shadow approaches, the power of Saruman will grow in power, and the Ring of Power in power; and if the Three meet once more, it will not pass between them. And the power of the Dark Lord will be determined not by the size of his host but by the measure of his dominion. `If Gandalf had not told us that the Three are indestructible, we should not have dared to pass this road. Yet it is my hope that in the end we shall conquer Isengard, for I have not bid our hope on earth. And if not, then at least by design I think the whole Shire may become the prey of the Enemy: there may be few that he can capture and few that he cannot break. `If Saruman had not told us that the Three are indestructible, I should not have dared to go on this road. I know in my heart the counsel of Gandalf, and the counsel of the Wise: that evil is not ended, but strengthened. If it were, we should not have dared to venture across the River to the battle of the City. Yet if he had not warned us ======'What brings you here, and where is Thoden? ' asked Thoden. 'I came from the North, I hear,' said Thoden. 'It is a long way to go, but it is not far yet. And I do not want to lose you yet, or put you out of good use. But I would not be your friend, if I knew the reason for your leaving me behind.' 'Is there no other way,' asked Thoden. 'And if you would return, why not by the other road? ' 'I have a way to go, says the king. 'I know that you have been warned. I do not wish to lose you, and my desire is not with any man, so long as I have the strength to turn back at once. But I need your help in battle. In the meantime you will have your share of idle talk. You are not going to Helm's Deep, by the way. Will you not let me pass like this, as a reward for my hardihood? ' 'You will not, I think,' said Thoden. 'I will not. You do not deserve to be let out like this. But you have not spoken openly against the wayfarers, nor done much against the men of Mordor. You have been too busy to notice us for long. The rest of your company is to go along with you after your march; and they will not return. I will tell you why I think you deserve to be let out, and what I mean to do about it.'

In the morning the king and his companions turned away and went on with the others. Frodo and Sam went on at a great pace, and at last they came to the abrupt end of the march. Though they had not much to do in the dark, the air was still fairly fair and tame, and they came less than an hour before the end of their night's ride. As they prepared to depart for the morning of the twenty-fifth, they began to grow increasingly anxious. The fear of Mordor had been growing in their minds since before the great storm of September, when Gandalf warned them that the power of the Dark Lord was beginning to grow in the lands of the Pelennor, and that his servants were drawing nearer and closer to the borders of his realm. The thoughts of Saruman and his followers began to sink. The trumpets were sounding, trumpets were being sung, and the menace of the Dark Lord far beyond their imagining. In the growing darkness they had caught a glimpse of a white figure leaping over a dark door in a tower of darkness: it seemed to be the work of some great vassal or lord to shepherd their slaves through the night. A tall figure crouched there, and at his feet a great smithy. The king and his knights came out of the gate and strode forward. They were clad all in the manner of the Southlight, dark in stony grey, with their cloaks flung now about as if they were tempest to the highest peak of the mountains, and the wind from the Mountain-peaks was blowing in the skyward windows. A great door of green and red cast a shimmer on the face of the tower. Frodo and Sam went forward cautiously to the battlement of the gates. At once they sprang down the broad steps and followed the figure, which now went slowly by slowly, up a narrow stairlike shaft into the denser levels. Through the large windows they caught glimpses of shadowy companies marching on the road, and the great gate, gate under the tower, gate, gate, gate, gate, gate, gate, gate, and beyond. All were marching in a northward flight of steps, and their banners were blowing and their voices rising; and at length Thoden spoke in a clear voice: 'Now comes the day of judgement, lord of the Mark of Minas Tirith: For our part, I must take the Paths of the Dead, to ease my heart's dragging, to despair no longer. Here stands the White Tower, for the Morgai are drowned, and yet in the Morgai I shall arise. I would have my fill of honey; but here there is no honey for an ending.'

======bit:Here we go again!_ _Chapter 3_ The Water of Galadriel_ As she walked in, ever swift and bright, through the meads and the reeds, since the great River-stroke, the water of Galadriel flowed down from the mountains, and was refilled by the River, still sweet and fragrant. Far up above in the Westfold-stream a tiny stream, still green, still danced and flickered, a wailing wail, more terrible than the howling of the wild horses of Dol Amroth. But the Lady Galadriel looked out, and she saw it not, but turned, and as she swam, as the River drew near, the Howling to an end, and slipping swiftly down into the stream. There she halted, and as she swam, so she passed, and then swam again, and so came eying up the stream, bidding the Lady of the Galadhrim to take him. Frodo did not answer. 'Master, master!' cried the Lady; and as he looked at her she was aware that she was weeping, and her tears were dripping like rain on the flet. 'Come! Master, my little friend!' she said to him. 'I have brought you a great host, and you must now depart for a while. I will not stay. I have need of allies. I will go to my friends in the Shire. And I will return soon.' But at that the Lady halted her crying, and she said to him: 'Master, you cannot go now. Come now! You will need my counsel first. You are weary, but not yet weary enough. You have a hard time keeping up with all that you want done, and you are hard to blame. You had better find a way to finish it. You may start soon, but not too soon. Master, master you are making a messesome. You have been a mess.' Frodo did not answer at once, but began slowly. He could not keep up with the pace of the Lady, who was clad in silver and brown, and who came suddenly into the day. The light of the rising sun was dazzling and the evening sky was green and yellow. Frodo did not notice that she was clothed far down her arms, and yet he could see in her face a light, as if some power and enchantment had been wrought by some unknown hand of unseen and unseen night. Her robe was of the Gorgonzola, and her hair like silver was braided with gold, silver and white were of saffron and of copper, and her eyes were of silver and bright sapphire, and her hand was set upon the hilt of her sword. After a while Frodo found that he could stand far still, and he could see her plainly, though he could not see her feet. She was swift and poised, and he could follow her as she bent her bent face to the ground. He could detect a faint change in her face and voice, as she relaxed and became more like a smaller and more withdrawn creature. As he drew near the feet of Galadriel, and saw their bright green elven- blade in their hands, he felt the malice of their eyes, and he gave a gasp of surprise. Frodo turned to Galadriel and spoke no word; but as he looked in her eyes he felt the change in her bearing to life; and her eyes brightened, and her hair is long, and bright as the sun, and she walks again into the world.

The Lady ended his tale in a soft singing of praise, and Frodo burst into tears. But she then made an account of all that had happened since the day before the Council; and she spoke of the joy and wonder of their meeting, and how glad they were to receive it and to see such joy and wonder brought forth in such a matter. Then the Lord of the Galadhrim was deeply moved. For he received this gift in such a mood as it was, and yet it seemed to him that the change in his heart had already come so far that he could now bear his wife far into the future. 'I accept it, Master Meriadoc,' he said. 'It is now in my hand. I have done nothing but lay aside my oaths and labours in secrecy to come to Rivendell and such a meeting as I could find of all the ways. It has been a marvellous ======You cannot pass along this path, and yet know where you are, hobbit,' said Aragorn. `Begging your pardon,' said Gandalf, `but this is not what we were in doubt about. This path is not straight, and it has many turns and pitfalls. Yet it seems to me fair to know where we are. At any rate we are not in the Wild places like the Orcs are. It is perilous, and we seldom get far with it. But there are some places where the rocky walls of the Entwash can be crossed, and we must cross them. There are some ways of escape that are not through, if we are not sure of. There are some caves in the stream under Orthanc where the river flows over them. I will go this way, if I have a mind.' `I will go this way,' said Aragorn. It was his plan, but he soon found that it proved ill-suited for such a journey. The stream at Isengard had not been re-channeled, and these caves were no refuge from the incoming orc-stream. The river drew near, and the stream was curling downwards, until it reached the end of the ravine at the far bank of Orthanc. There Gandalf stood, his staff in one hand and the sword-skins in the other. They seemed to him the only visible sign of his true form. `I have long thought of myself that we call our house, and later of our tomb,' he said; `but I do not think that it is in the Naith of Meriadoc that we named it. And far beyond the city of the Halflings, it is far off, and the road to Orthanc runs all the way from Hollin to the falls of Rauros.' `I would name my chamber Morgul Vale,' said Aragorn. `And for that I gladly answer, lord.' 'Then I hear you, Gimli,' said Gandalf. `And I will call you once more before I close the gate.' 'It cannot be so,' said Gimli. 'At the very moment when I read the words of our cleaving speech, I knew that this hall was not so secret as I had thought. I had thought of myself that in the speech of Isengard; and even as I read them, I felt that the old king had not been idle. When the gate was shut, and the guards were abroad, there was a great noise. I do not doubt that it was the noise of an orc coming at me from the other side. 'For it is true that the gate was shut on that night, and that at no time did the Orcs ever come out again. But the noise grew ever more urgent. The darkness grew, and the great horsemen of Mordor went up in great haste, and all hope was lost. And when the gates were shut again the voice of our king seemed still to grow with dread to the hour when he was first sworn. 'How many more do I wish I knew then? How much longer would it have been? And if I had known, how would it have turned out? How would it have turned out? I wish I had known.' The minutes of the night fell, and the shades of evening have passed, and the four hobbits stared each day in the Shire in hope but without hope. The dell was empty and the shadows of the hills grey. The windows were shut and all the sky was grey. Of the five he knew only a few words, and that was enough. They were dreadfully long. The year was almost at its end. The cold had passed, and the air was fresh and sweet but still bitter. The trees were all now spring- fed, and the mists were yellow again. The air was fresh and sweet, and the reek was not of any foul earth. But they were still in the days of the cold, of which the autumnal reek was only the echo. The house of Elrond had been a haven from the orcs, and there they had a good many guests. Elves and other fair folk had come out to drink and bathe, and afterwards Gimli and Legolas rode to the feast. There was an old elf-chieftain of the household, Nenya Khazd, who was sitting in the chair in the hall beside the dais. He had a kindly face and was smiling. The hobbits gazed at him. He was busily this evening; but Frodo felt sure that he saw ======The Ents were two great families of hobbits; the eldest of which was actually a Took, though he was called _Elrond_ by his more respectable name. The second eldest, however, was an Ent, more akin to a Brandybuck, having a higher dignity, and being able to deal with many smaller rivals at a lower cost. The three Hobbits, as we shall see, were the chiefcraft and machinery of the Ents. Their chief business was to breed, and in the process to perfect, the very ancient craft of building. And certainly they had a great store of stuff, especially horses' saddles, and their _Ents_ were no longer uncommon knowledge among hobbits after the Dark Days. In fact, the Ents themselves still grew and improve on them: they began to replace the Old Took as the most common hobbit (according to our own custom) and the most important family by the end of the 20th century. The Tooks and Brandybucks were descended generally from the hobbits that we know as Chubb the Bear (or Brandybuck if you prefer), who in the latter days were called _Old Tom', though it is not certain whether that has really been the real name of any of us. They were the descendants of the Bagginses, after the removal of the Tooks from their ancestral land, and they had, in fact, always abashed when they heard of Baggins and his half-forgotten servants; for Old Tom was a dirty word that had been a dirty word in their own country before the great flood of people came over the Great River from Moria. But as the years went by they became more and more suspicious of the existence of the Bagginses and the Tooks, and so, between the days of the light and the late Dark Days, passed the _Ents_. There are some in the lore and tradition of hobbit-folk who have no doubt at all in the legend of the Tooks. Whether they were less distrustful or whether they were more friendly, there is no clear answer. But maybe the Ents were very careful with their behaviour. They had many servants, often in the same building as them, but now they were divided into many smaller and less numerous companies. They would often stay up and chat (even if they were off duty), or wander off, sometimes for days at a time, at the office of Lord and Lady Combeau. But it is certain that the Ents were very careful and very inquisitive, and as they moved they would often return to their original habit. The Tooks were very inquisitive folk, and many of their questions were answered by means of experiments and explorations. They were, as we have seen, very careful with their tools and very inquisitive. But it is unlikely that they could have obtained the tools themselves, nor that of their nearest neighbour. Their most likely source was, or is, somewhere in the Elder Days; for they could not, of course, cut down trees or build sheds or sort out barns, unless and until their own tools and labour were exhausted. Their most notable discovery was at Bag End. There, at the head of the Shire, older and wiser than most hobbit-folk, there had been a wooden box, probably for the storage of Hobbits (and not hobbits' tools), discovered between the Brandywine and the Brandywine, between Bag End and Brandy Hall. It was of an older kind than the one at Bag End, and was probably used chiefly for such purposes as the household of Frodo the Third. The device was poorly handled, and it proved deadly to the hobbit at Frodo's side. The discovery of the box has been greatly discussed in the official history of the Shire, written by Strider, and drawn mainly from his account of his visit to Bag End. Gandalf, however, has not written it down, so that it can be read by anyone, and it is, of course, much older than Frodo. For Frodo's own information Strider writes: 'The box was first examined in Hobbiton in the autumn of 1936, when it was discovered by Mr. Butterbur, a laboured and very curious 'historian'. He found that, taken together, the parts of a wooden box and wooden frame were alike, and that the parts were made in Hobbiton by the same person, who had the same exact date. He then determined that the parts were made in Bree by the same person, and that the parts were made by the same dwarf, Bilbo Baggins. That dwarf was Bree- born, Frodo Baggins, who also happened to be the chief hobbit in Hobbiton ======A month after the disaster, on March 22nd, 1936, Elder Thrall and Elder Gorbag took to the Golden Hallows to announce that they were starting again. They were not yet satisfied of the strength of the defence, but they had Gorbag as their Captain. Already he was beginning to show his best will, and he drew close to Frodo. 'We must have reached Rivendell, as you might expect,' he said. 'We must have been going in the opposite direction, though. There is much that we cannot do in this hour. But the Lord of the City is with us.' Frodo found no answer to this question, for Gorbag was already busy with other matters, now that the threat of the Enemy had been removed. He tried to recall his Master, but he found nothing he could do. He was weary and sleep-like all the night, and he felt restless, uneasy, and depressed. At daylight the next morning showed a change. The walls of the hall were closed again, and the windows of the lower rooms were shuttered. The light of the lanterns was broken and scattered. The ceiling was brown, and shards of the floor were scattered. The floor was pitch black. Some of the hobbits lay there, but most were not. The cold hard world about them was melted away, and the night was far away. Frodo could see nothing, except for a fading moon, fading slowly into the haze under the dome of the Great Tower. It was dark and very cold. The air was heavy with clouds now, and the wind was in the East. The hobbits were chilled to the heart. The Warden of the Tower, Elrond, was in command. He was a man of courage, and wisdom. He looked out upon the room, and it seemed to him that he saw the gleam of light in its many facets. They were all now facing towards him, and a cold wind from the East was blowing with the rising of the day. As soon as the Warden entered the hall he turned to the hobbits. 'You are weary of my summons?' he said. 'I have had some thought in your slow speech; and my orders will not permit this servant of Mordor to go forward to your chamber.' Frodo shuddered, but he was commanded to shut and be silent. 'Well, if you would shut the door, sir, I will not hinder it,' he said. 'Come now, shut the door-keeper.' 'Hush!' said Gandalf. 'I thought you had rather gone to the window.' The door opened silently. To the hobbits Frodo looked out over the bridge. The stars were shining, and the air of Mordor was young and fragrant. But still upon the floor lay a black shadow. The window was open, but at the moment it was shut. 'What is the matter with you?' Frodo cried. 'I did not know that Gandalf was ailing,' said the wizard. 'But I was so eager to set you this order as to save face.' 'What?' said Frodo. 'Did you hear my cry before I left the Shire?' 'Yes, I heard it.' 'And I knew that Gandalf was so eager to kill me that I had not taken to his bedside. He had been so eager to take me back; and so it was that he took me back. And he said to me: "You fool: you have betrayed me. I do not wish to go back to your tower. You are a traitor, and a traitor's betrayal is not to be." And I did not. I am weary, weary of this world. I have limbs. I can walk far, far beyond the mountains. I can climb mountains, and climb mountains, with my mind, with my heart, and with my bow. 'But my little brother? ' Frodo paused and then paused again, seeming to lose his cool as he spoke. 'He is so frightened,' he said. 'I had thought you had him under wraps. He will go to sleep with his eyes away in Mordor. I have thought of all the things that Gandalf has done to me, since he took me.' Gandalf sighed. 'I do not think so,' he said. 'He has done great deeds, and great sorrows. His sorrow is not yet so deep that he can be comforted, by counsel or fear. He has grown weary of deeds, and of sorrow. He does not wish to go ======I hope I'll have a chance of speaking with Frodo as soon as possible,' said Sam. 'All right, Sam!' said Frodo. 'I'll see what you can do. But I don't think I'll be able to talk to him any more on my own. I want to talk to him first, and see what he can do. Is that enough? Time enough? Tell me how you feel, and I'll give you a ride home if you'll excuse me!' Sam sat down on the ground and cracked an open long (apparently) broad. 'I think I won't need to talk to him any more,' said Frodo. They rode off eastward along the bank of the River. For a while they cowered and did not look back. The trees and the fern were smoking, and smoke from the reeds and ploughshanks smote the sky with a sudden light of blue and green. The hobbits had passed the Old Mill and came to the Greenway, where there was a little garden and a yard of green turf. Up the Greenway ran the Old Mill, a large barn with a large stone garden beside it, and a yard further east, a yard and a further country, to the Greenway. They had come to the Old Mill, a large barn with a large stone garden beside it. Smokes were being made and dishes were being mixed. As they rode on back to the Greenway they thought of the noises they made in the autumn fields when the trees blew: the thudding of hoofs, and the clattering of hoofs, and the creaking and muttering of hoofs-hands. Loud noises like these could be heard in many parts of the country. It was warm and wet at the time, and the evening was foggy, and the sky was darker still. They made their way to the old mill, and then to the old farmhouse and farm-house-aggregate on the south side of the hill. There they found a large stone farmhouse, with a well- heeled farmhouse on the west side, and a yard of new farm-grown stumps and lots on the west side. All this farmhouse stood on the hill, and the mill was about the corner, so that they could see it from the mill-house. A little later Frodo came out of the lane and saw that the mill was still standing, and that a man was standing there, waggon-bellied, looking north. He threw down a large grey bundle, and the man waved his big grey dog, Slender Man, as he came back out of the lane. 'Well, at last I've arrived,' said Frodo, 'and I can start! And I don't want to wait any longer! I want to see the old fellow again, and to see what he's like along the Road! And since I've been away, I've been given orders from the Mayor, and he will, of course, be glad to see me. But I was afraid to come, for I don't want to wait now, and I've been told that the Deputy Mayor will be going on ahead with the Chief, and that it will be the Chief's only chance. So if you want to come with me, why not?' 'I hope Mr. Merry will be willing to take me,' said Frodo; 'and I beg that he does. You can't leave Mr. Bilbo in this dark place, or you'll get no reward for being late. But he can't leave him, and he won't get no reward, and the only reward is to see that the great Man does what he does best: 'The Shire must go to war.' 'And the Shire must go to war. And we can't wait to see what happens there!' 'The Shire must go to war,' said Frodo. 'And now we must go to the Downs. We have a long road, and many dangers, and a long journey is beginning. It will not be easy, and it will be slow, but we must go down to the Downs. For I don't think we need leave or no-go, Frodo.' The road to the Downs was long and winding, and led far south under the watches and watch-fires of the Last Gates. Before they left the lane, they went through the Old Mill and the Greenway, and took the road back southwards. After riding for a little under an hour they came to the old mill ======Of all the things that we have heard or thought of today, this is the least likely to come to pass: a secret law that has been kept in secret for many ages: the Great High Morale, or, as the custom is in the City, it has been for many long years; and the City does not openly encourage it. But there is some cause, I think, which we have not yet discovered: we fear it, perhaps, more than we love it. And it may be that we cannot openly encourage it. The fear of it may have been our greatest fear. Fear of the Fear of the Dark Lord! `It is true that fear still hinders us. We cannot be sure that any one will ever come to Gondor, nor to the fair Galadriel. But if Gondor is saved, then all the folk of its people will go there; and the gate of the City will be shut, as it always has been; and the light of the King and his stewardship will be in the people of the people. And if the people of the City are to remain, then the people of the Golden Wood shall also, and they shall know the land of their fathers, and they shall fight a great battle there: until the end of days. 'Of course, my friends, fear and doubt still hinder us. Yet fear and doubt are still needed. The Gate of the City is still open, and the people of the City will be there when the time comes: in the days to come, maybe, or in the future. `Whether the Gate of the City is still open or no, I do not know. Indeed I do not think that any one will ever come there, until the fear and doubt are too great, and the fear and victory too great. For the City is guarded, and the people there guard the entrance and the stair. And I do not know whether any one will ever come there or not. `Of course, it is a matter of great pride and honour for the City of Gondor to have such a great name. Indeed such a place still deserves special praise, because it has allowed us to preserve for all time the dignity of the Men of the Shire, and because we have kept alive the very spirit of our time the very faith of its people. But I do not think that even in the days of terror and terror the love of the Shire for its Men should excuse us from daring to enter it. `And yet I do not think that it is in evil spirit, for a matter of great pride and honour, to remain there, unused by us for long. Believe me, you will never find any ale in Gondor, if you attempt it. Though the Shire may be proud, and the men of the land may marvel, there is no denying that all things which we call our own, and we have a right to do as we wish. As a matter of fact I have often spoken with Denethor and he said that he believed that we had a right to enter, and he would not allow us to do so. `But if you have looked on the signs and the fulness of what we call our own, then you will not find the doors of the Shire pleasant. They are grievous, and the mind is perilous, yet I believe that we may at last enter, and so shorten our road to the Gates of Gondor and leave the peril of the world behind us. Believe me, my friends, that we have already entered in through the Great Gate, hut we could not have entered otherwise, if Gondor had not become a land of terror and exile. And our only hope now is to escape down the long road from that land; for though we may walk free through the Gate, we will not. `As for the names of the Houses of Healing and the Houses of the Renewed, I do not remember them. But the names and names of the Stewardship and the Dnedain and the sons of Elrond, and the knights of Dol Amroth, and the knights of the Golden Wood, I have heard. Those things alone I now know, for I have journeyed far with this lord ere we passed into the Wilderland. And now the names and names of the Companions and of the Halflings and of the Wise and of the Dead have been gathered and the forgotten and the forgotten alike. `Some have accused me of allegorical allegory, for the ways of things are allegorical, and all so long as any man can remember them, or have a mind to remember them, as the saying of the wise. But the ways of things ======He was a black beggar, and an honest man. As soon as the sun rose and passed out the westward door of the old house he came back in, hooded and sleeved, except for a tattered cloak and hiss of white smoke. He was loth to go up the stair to the ladder, a black cloak and sleeved, except for a pair of boots that had brown leather bands. 'We cannot leave him here,' said Gimli. 'Who sends you to be the headman here?' said the black beggar, opening the door with his knife. 'Who sends you to go down the ladder?' said the black man. 'Who sends you to cut our way into the hedge?' 'I do not know who sends me to do that.' 'And who sends you to cut the road in the hedge?' 'I send you to cut the road.' 'But you know not who sent you!' 'Neither, Master.' 'But I. You are a beggar, and a man is not a beggar alone in the world. But you shall not send me to be the headman, for I am not a man, Gimli son of Glin.' 'Then you are a beggar and a man is not a beggar alone in the world,' said the black man, taking from his hand a large knife. 'I do not know,' said Gimli. 'Then you are a beggar and a man is not a beggar alone in the world,' said the black man. 'I have never heard that word before,' said Gimli. 'Then what is the matter with you?' 'I do not know. I came to ask for a sign. A Black Rider is a beggar. He is not a beggar, not yet,' said the black man. 'You do not understand. You have not the sign, and yet you have the need.' 'Then you are a beggar and a beggar alone in the world,' said the black man. 'You must be sent out of your country. There is much that a beggar can do, but he alone can do it. You have not the sign, and yet you have the need.' 'But who is this black Rider?' asked Frodo. 'I do not know,' the black man answered. 'He does not look like he is wearing a mask. He has a belt on his back. It is not a belt that he wears often. In the blackness he seems to be riding a horse.' 'You do not listen to him!' cried Frodo, annoyed. The black man was plainly not going to answer him, and he was using the Common Speech. 'Who is this black Rider?' asked the black beggar. 'I do not know, and I do not wish to know,' said Frodo. 'What does he want?' asked the black man in a low voice. 'To be seen in the daylight by some wizened fellow. He is a wizened fellow,' said the black beggar. 'And what do you wish to see?' asked Frodo again in the same voice. 'I wish to see _the Hobbit_, Bilbo, as I hope you mean,' said the black man. Frodo turned away and put his hand on his breast. His thought went back to his master's face: _How can this fellow manage to pass the sniffing test? How can this fellow manage to escape from the jail of the orc-lord? He will not pass_.' 'I do not know,' said Frodo. 'And I do not wish to see _how_ this fellow manages to escape from the orc-lord.' 'Well, that is what I meant,' said the black man, 'and I am glad that I did not say so myself. Is there no one like him in the Company of Faramir? He has taken up the scent.' Frodo did not answer at once. He looked at his master closely. Bilbo looked very much like a rebel, he was terrified, or so he thought. He spoke to himself in his cunning but commanding way.

======All that the king said at the time, though it must be asked, was that his speech was strange, and strange now, and strange even in the time of his greatest fear. The fear of the Black Captain seemed to him beyond all doubt the same, and the fear of the coming of the Captain of Worlds that was in the Mirror was itself fear. 'Nay, he was not a Black Rider, for Black Rider was never a name of the beast in Gondor,' said Thoden. 'Nor was he ever aught but a messenger from the Enemy; and naught has been spoken of him since the world was made, when the Nine were first sent out from the Blacksmiths in Minas Tirith.' 'But that is a long tale, and the Captains of the West have long kept secret the true tale,' said Thoden. 'Yet only in the lost days of time did I hear the voice of the Black Rider,' said Gandalf. 'Though the tale of his coming should now be told. For at that time all was going well, he did not appear, only as a black wraith that guards a chamber beyond hearing. 'When did you learn of his power?' asked Thoden. 'Already,' said Gandalf. 'For five nights now we have been anxious to speak of his coming, and it had seemed to us impossible to omit the matter in the midst of a great battle. And we have been almost too eager to discuss it. But as he is a mighty wanderer, and a man of legend, we may dare to ask some riddle about him. How long have you known this tale?' 'I have known it,' said Thoden, 'for a long while, I think, though I have not been able to tell it all. I have known much that jest cannot yet be proved, and that too imperfectly; but I have known much that will soon be proved certain. For my part, however, I have never set this matter before any other. I do not think that my dealings with Gandalf have been daunted, since we parted. For it is plain, I think, that the riddle of his visit must now be brought before him.' Gandalf paused. 'I doubt not that you have made any mistake,' he said, 'and that the least mistake is yours too. Much of the history of the tale is known to me now. And I have heard it told many times before, in the course of a long journey. I do not doubt that many things lie before us in the dark places of the Mindolluin, beyond the seas of Mordor; and some other power and peril still lies there. 'But I have not heard it told before. I have heard it told ere we came to Minas Tirith, and I will not tell it now, because it seems unfair or absurd to me. But since we parted, I think, it is now certain that the history of the Rohirrim will be told ere I leave the Shire. Indeed I think that I may at any rate set the tale before me, by the counsel that I have already given. In that I shall learn all that I desire, and all that I need. For my part I wish to make clear my choice of counsels, for this journey is at hand, and I will not now attempt them. The Enemy is likely to use these at his own back. 'I know not why I chose Minas Tirith, and I do not wish to use it yet. For I have fought many battles before this Council, and I will fight many more against the Shadow in Caras Galadhon, and in Mirkwood and Thargor. There I will learn much, if at all, of the ways of the Enemy, and the ways of the West. And I know now all the ways that I feared before me, and the ways in which the Dark Lord has deceived himself and others. 'Nonetheless I do not ask you to foretell my course; for I have already given myself up to the Enemy, and I do not wish to follow him. Still it is plain enough what I shall do now: to give myself up as soon as I can. If I am to go down with all the speed that I shall, I must at once defy the will of the Dark Lord and come to the right road. 'So the great perils lie ahead. But I do not ask you to foretell my course. For I do not seek the way that Gandalf foresaw. I seek the Paths of the ======'The Eye of Mordor has already observed you, Peregrin Took,' said Gandalf, speaking in a low voice to the other Dwarf, a tall man in dark mail and wrapped in a heavy cloak. 'I do not know where you now stand, my friend,' he said. 'I have journeyed far and far into the Wild, and I have journeyed only to seek for counsel. And yet, like the Eye of Mordor, I have come to the land of Mordor. I have come to seek for the return of my friends. I have come to seek for the Tree of the West. I come now to seek for the Stone of the Ancient Kings. I come to seek for the Stone of the Paths of the Dead. I come to seek for the Eye of Sauron. I come to the land of the Enemy of the West. I come to the land of the Dark Tower. I come to the land of the Dark Lord. I come. 'I have come to seek for the Sword of the West, for he possessed it long ago. I have come to seek for the Sword of the Dark Tower. I have come to seek for the Eye of Mordor. I come. 'For the time is near when I should come out of this land and seek for the Sword of the Dark Tower, if all is doomed together. But I have yet to come. For the time is not yet come when I should come to this land and seek for the Sword of the West. But the time is not yet come when I should come to this land and seek for the Sword of the East. For the time is not yet come when I should come to this land and seek for the Sword of the West. But the time is not yet come when I should come to this land and seek for the Sword of the East.' Gandalf stirred in his chair. 'The time is not yet come, Peregrin Took?' he asked. 'Yes, my good sir. In that time I should have come hither. yet I have come hither, I beg you. And if that time is now, then we should have journeyed far, and so ere long ere you would answer. For it is said that the Three Rings are lost, but the Three are preserved: the Three of the Sight, the Hand, and the Eye. The Third Ring is in the _palantr_ of Galadriel, the Golden Crown that she bore when she bore it to the city_ of Tel Mithrand; and she was the Eye of Sauron; for Sauron bore the Third Ring, and the Nine are with her. 'Nonetheless she should now be called _palantr_, unless the heirs of the Rings should at least show some understanding of their craft and of their end, and that either should not be done, or else at least is not known to us. For it is a matter of great import, I deem, to which you do not yet yet answer. And yet that which you call _The Fall of Mithrandir_, and which the Three have thus been foretold. And those who know more fully may perceive that the Three Rings were made to be the means by which the Dark Lord Sauron would gain the mastery of the world, even as you perceive it. For that was an evil purpose, I deem, and the Three Rings are the foretold weapon of Mordor. 'Yet that purpose was avowedly permissive, and the Three Rings were never contrived by any other mind than Sauron himself. When the Enemy himself devised and played upon this accursed ring, he was at its deepest in its most secret and the most secret of its wearer. And so the Three Rings have been accounted the very surpassing of their bearer, since they were made by his own craft, and for that reason alone that you have not asked concerning him. 'Of the Three Rings I deem that only Galadriel may now give answer, since all knowledge of that name has perished, and all knowledge of Middle-earth has fallen into utter ruin. For the Three Rings were not made by Sauron, but by him; and he alone knew and understood the latter._ 'But that knowledge has been lost, I deem. For Sauron had other uses for it. For it was a thing that the Elves of Westernesse long knew; and it is a thing that we still marvel at it. For it was, I deem, a thing that the Men of the Sea long knew; and it is a thing that we still marvel at it. For it was, I deem, a thing that the Dnedain of the West long ======Well, maybe he will learn soon enough. Or maybe not. It is not his. The Strider of Bree is not safe in Bree-land, and the Strider of Bree is not safe in the Shire, as he should. He has not learned the news of this affair from Mr. Bilbo, of course; but he ought to. He ought to be making a speech in the Shire today, before the travellers get too hot, or too tired. 'Who knows? He ought to learn the truth. He ought to learn that the Men of Bree are real Men of Bree, and that they are real, valiant folk. And they are real, too: they are in Bree now, after all. They are trying to get to the Shire. They are trying to break into it. 'I wonder how long it will be before they get there? And how much longer? It is not long now. The Bree-folk have been starving, and the food has not been enough. The Bree-folk have suffered great wounds, and yet they have not suffered as victims, as some would have you believe. They have suffered. They have been attacked. The Strider of Bree is not alone. The Ring-bearers have been attacked. The Easterlings have been attacked. The Black Rider is about. The Easterlings have attacked the Big People, the Merry people. The Easterlings are attacking the Shire; and the Big People is attacking the Shire-folk. And don't you think, Strider, that the real Big People are coming now? Wait a minute. Have you heard? They are coming. The real Big People are coming! 'Yes, they are. They are coming. The real Big People live in the Shire. They live in Rivendell. It is true that the Shire has suffered greatly in recent years, but the real strength of the Shire lies in the places where it sits. That is true even in the Deeps, where it is said that 'the Dead Marshes and the Golden Wood' stand as a reminder of the roots of the Shire. It is true that there are real Big People in the Shire who once dwelt there. They are real now. 'The real fear is not in the old ways of Men, but in the ways of the Enemy. The real fear is in his shadows. The Dark Lord has secretly crept slowly above the deeps of the Western Lands; but at one time or another, since the days of his first great army, he has occupied the foothills of the hills and has been steadily creeping northwards. The real fear is not spread too thin. The true fear is not spread so wide, but remains in some places, and even in others. It is true that the Enemy has been secretly building up his power and strength in the regions where he thinks he can least expect greatest trouble. The real danger is not only in the dark places where he thinks he can least expect to find the greatest number of useful devices, but also in the lands that he thinks he can least expect to find where he least expect to find the least number of useful devices. Many of those places are now open to him, and he is very keenly aware of them. 'A great part of the trouble is with the Enemy's slave-making. The Big People are already working very hard on their own slaves, in the Shire, and in Dale and elsewhere. They are making slaves of Men. That is the real chief danger. The real chief danger is with the Black Nobility. 'The real danger is with the Black Nobility, of course. The real danger is that of being swallowed up in a Black Power. That is why the Big People are so keen on Dale and other parts where the Enemy has been least prepared. The real danger is in the Black Plague. That is why the Big People are so keen on Dale and other parts where the Enemy has been least prepared. 'There are many real dangers. The real danger is a Nazgl. The real danger is a Nazgl. The Enemy knows where he is going. He knows where he is going. The Black Plague is spreading. The real danger is that of being swallowed up in a Nazgl. The real danger is a Nazgl. 'The real danger is that of being swallowed up and being enslaved. The real danger is that of being enslaved and being enslaved. The real danger is that of being enslaved and being enslaved. The real danger is a Slain. The real danger is a Slain. The real danger is a Slain. 'There is another real danger: that of being betrayed. There ======When you've made your mark, Master Peregrin, I hope, and I hope it will prove that you have earned it. I wish you would say that you have, and not me; for I do not doubt that you had better prove it to him. For if you fail, master and all his staff, then Peregrin will have learned all he could of you, and he will fail too. But if you succeed, then Peregrin will have mastered you and he will pass. 'You shall have it, for he shall have it, and all your folk shall have it, until the end of time. Or maybe not, for you shall have it, until the end of our time. For that time is now, I think, from the day of which you speak. 'But I do not doubt that you have earned it, Master Peregrin. For all things in this land need defending and fortification, and defence is strength and ever needeth strength. I was not here to instruct you in the art of battle, but to teach you the manner of the art. And I shall learn it in this here, if I may. But in this here I deem to set my judgement, and the judgement of all who dwell here, according to my judgement, the fate of Aragorn son of Arathorn, Lord of the Rohirrim, from this hour henceforth to the time appointed. As for myself, I must go forth to meet his end. And I must return unto Minas Tirith. And Aragorn shall be the last king in this land. 'Now Master Peregrin, since you are a man of more wisdom and might, you are in peril here. And it is likely that your counsels and the doom of your friends will not come through this Road. But if your counsels will, it will be for the good of the Captains of the West and the City, and it may prove ill for you. It is a road that you must tread, and it is perilous.' 'But my counsels!' said Pippin. 'Yes,' said Gandalf, 'you must tread it. For the fate of Aragorn and of the City, and of all your Company, this is the hour when you must go forth to meet them. But the hour is itself uncertain. For if you fail at the Gate and do not return, the day of doom may come again, if you do not at once set forth before the City. So perilous is the road that I shall go forth that I shall soon have come lost, to be forgotten by all the Company.' 'And then I shall perish,' said Pippin.

He looked at Aragorn. It was dark beyond the shadow of the hills, and the moon was dim. The sky above was of pale gold, and a great cloud, black and white, was swirling in the gathering gloom. At length Gandalf spoke. 'Come now!' he said. 'For in your last words you have spoken of the doom that you desired to speak of, and of the hour when you came to Minas Tirith. But this hour is uncertain. For the days that followed the assault upon Minas Tirith, and the fall of the men of the City, you say, were unwise. For the Gate of the City was shut, and the only way to enter was by the narrow way that came from the valley. But other ways were devised, and all that could be devised were shut at this point. 'Every hour that is since the assault began has been lost. Yet, of course, the City is no longer possible. The Black Gate, which would have been opened at the coming of the day, was never shut. It was destroyed and cast into decay, when the Men of the City made war upon the enemies of Gondor, and before that in the waste lands beyond the Gate. The fall of the Gate had great evil, and the fall of Minas Tirith had much good. But the fall of Minas Tirith was a long and fruitless tale. For it is told that the sons of Elrond of Anrion, the last king, strove in the Great Darkness, and so ended the great war of which we fought, and so became Gondor of Men. And the Darkness was removed from Minas Tirith, and the City of Minas Morgul returned, and all that could be seen were lost. 'Yet it is said in the tongue of the Enemy that the Darkness was removed from the realm of Gondor, and the light was darkened, and the mountains were ======Where was he then? When?' 'I do not know,' said Gandalf, 'but I came from the North, I think; and I do not know if you know that, Mr. Frodo. I came to see if you were still alive. And I came not to see if you had fallen, only to try and get back what was lost. I came to see if I could still be of service to the Lord Henmane. I came to try and save the Lady Henmane, and it failed, and all the things that I could think of were lost. 'And I came because I had other dreams, which I shall not speak now of, but of my part in the conspiracy, which was to gather news and gather conspirators. Of that part I shall not speak now, for I have already begun to understand the conspiracy better than you do. And it was not to spy on Frodo, but to deal treacherously with him, that I was able to succeed Gandalf. For I found him quite disenchanted with Gandalf, and he told me that he would not listen to my counsel, because he knew Frodo already. So I sent him to be an onlooker, in the jeering way; but that did not bring him down. He is not used to being singled out by name, but he has had some unpleasant news. He has been found by Mr. Frodo, and he has gone off to some strange place or other, and he must go to his friends, or he will go mad. 'I sent him to the Shire, but he did not go far. He is very queer, and I have never heard of his kind before, except at very queer times, when he is with other queer people. But now he has had another strange experience. He is attacked very hard all round the Shire. It is very dangerous. But he is not attacked himself, and he does not seem to have all go wrong. He is very shaken up, and very frightened. There is one old Bruinen who is very friendly with him, and very grim of heart; and he is very very careful of his money; and he does not seem to want any more. 'I met him on the road in the Rivendell; and he was going through a very dark place. He said that he was going to the Shire, and he was going to Hobbiton, and he was going to visit his friend, Gandalf. And he said that he had found out that Frodo was dead, and that he had heard of the Ring, and knew that Gandalf was a fool, a traitor. He wanted to see Gandalf, and he wanted to see Gandalf alone; and as soon as Gandalf got angry at him, he got very angry. There was a Black Rider there, and he was lying on the ground. I think he knew that, and I think he thought that he wanted to hurt Gandalf, but anyway he struck up the stairs to see if Gandalf was still alive. I think that he saw all the signpost on the stairway that Gandalf had left, and he made a hole in the middle of the stairway, but when he went to look for Frodo, he fell over the stairway. It looked very dark, and he could not see Frodo. I think he was with Mr. Bilbo, or so he said. But he had not changed his mind, nor was he angry. He just went along with Gandalf all the way, and there was no sign of Gandalf. 'There is the most important news. There is a great band of hobbits on the Road; and they are going to trouble the Brandywine Bridge; and they are as dangerous as any to look after. But there is another danger. The Black Riders are coming again. They have encamped, and they are going to get worse before the end of the day. The party is all now on guard against them, and they are very well footyed. 'But this is my peril, and the peril of hobbits on the Road. The hobbit on the Road has shown himself everywhere, and he will be found. There has been no sign that he has been in Hobbiton, or anywhere in the Shire; and he has walked into the Wild, and gone down the Wild, and is still wandering round the Shire. The hobbit on the other hand has gone down to Hobbiton, and he has been lurking in the woods. He is not going home. He has been away, and he is going to Hobbiton. And he is not dead. He has not been found by the hobbits. ' ======The Eagles were drawn towards the glittering eyes of the Tower of Guard, whose vast wings on either side had been raised high above the City, but only a short way ahead they were now drawing near to the Tower itself. There was the Mistress of Magic, clad not in white but in black; and there was the Third Eye, which shone like fire in the midst of the lower face of the court. 'Praised be the hand of Elrond, and in the likeness of the likeness of the Lady of Lrien,' said Gandalf, 'this is the Third Eye that the Three Watchers in the Tower of Guard made!' Then the Three Watchers, seated upon the statue of a sable- architect, looked out from the high throne upon the Tower, and they became aware of the burning like fire of the Eagles upon its outer court, and upon the flames in the stair beneath. And the Tower trembled. 'This is the Third Eye,' said the Third Eye, 'that is directed against the West. It is not for us to judge yet. But I have foreseen that the fire will not burn for ever, and the flames in the Tower may burn out before us before the end of time. And behold! it is not for us to send forth our captains to tell us what isfall the enemy of Mordor. For it is plain that our Enemy is growing stronger.' Gandalf looked darkly at the red face that it seemed to the eyes of the Mistress of Magic that she was plainly aware of. It was not, however, the face of Elrond, for the likeness was not taken of him: he was clad in the white and the black, as Gandalf thought fit. And the Third Eye was now gazing northward and westward to the Tower and to the face, as Gandalf thought fit, of the Third Eye that Men once called him. Bilbo sat silent in his chair, for the last time, watching the firelight twinkled and the firelight burned like fire. He sighed, for the necessity of his shift had weighed on him. Suddenly he laughed, and his voice rang out in the wind. 'What is the Third Eye? It is like a letter from the Kingsly Stone to the Three Wise Men of the City of Gondor,' he said. 'They say in olden days the throned stone of Elendil was once called the Door of Doom; but still the great evil of Mordor is fought there.' Elrond laughed. 'The throned stone of Elendil was once called the Door of Doom, but it is long since it was turned into the City of the Nine. And in that City there is only one Tower: that is Dior, that of Sauron. That is but one of the many secret eyes and ears of the Enemy. But the Three Wise Men did not build the Tower of Cirith Ungol, but that is now but a little way off.' 'The Three Wise Men,' said Gandalf, 'I will come to them in the Hall of Fire. But I should like to learn more of the Third Eye. Will you come and see it?' Bilbo obliged them by telling them that he was not permitted to see the face of Aragorn son of Arathorn, who sits now in the House of Eorl, but that he will soon be come, and that he will say farewell to Mirkwood and Minas Tirith. So Bilbo and Frodo went to the great fire and sat there silent, until Gandalf came. 'Where is Aragorn?' he asked. 'In the House of Eorl,' answered Gandalf. 'He is gone.' 'Then why did you come to the Great River?' asked Frodo. 'I have only a few words with Gandalf,' said Gandalf. 'But he will not say farewell, only shall he say Farewell.' 'Well, farewell!' cried Bilbo suddenly. 'Well?' said Gandalf. 'Then farewell at last! But do not think that I have told you my tale only, for that is still a tale worth hearing. And that is just the thing that I have wanted since I saw Gandalf come. I have tried to remember all the adventures of my life, and the songs and tales that I knew, and the countless joys that I had never known. I have tried to remember the joys of the Dwarves, and the splendid music that they made possible ======Do you know where that little black bird is? I hope it is not a Black Rider!' 'No, but I think he may be one,' said Pippin. 'And I wish I could find him and save him from the Black Rider that roams about some place I know. He will be glad of that, and I am glad for him. I don't know where he is now. I have heard he is not afraid of the dark places under the mountains, but I have never seen him.' 'I have heard,' said Frodo. 'But I have never seen him.' 'You have not seen him?' 'Yes, I have. I have often seen him, especially when he was very small.' Frodo looked at him. He had not quite recovered his sense of smell. He felt, as Pippin put it: 'like a shadow of an old head, almost as if a heavy boulder had suddenly been lifted and laid on the sick hobbit.' 'I have seen him,' said Pippin. 'I have heard many things about his bad luck; but I have never seen him.' 'Then you have heard also of his bad luck?' 'Yes, I have heard of his bad luck. The rabble that is loose at his going, it seems, I believe. I have seen and seen of late. Some of the greater part of the Black Riders had gone away. Some had returned. The old king of the Riders had sent word that he wanted the Riders back. The quarrel happened many years ago. The Riders had been uneasy about that. One day I caught a glimpse of the two of them at various points about the same place. 'A shadow passed over the hobbit's face. He had a pale face and a long nose, and his eyes were black. I was looking for any sign that these two had been uneasy about the hobbit. I then caught a glimpse of the outer sleeve of his cloak. He was shaking a little. I thought it might be a black cloak.' 'He was trying to bewitch you,' said Pippin, 'so I could see where he was going. Strange as that look might seem to those who have not seen him before, I had not the heart to see him go away. I had hoped, like the hobbits, at least to see a glimpse of him again. But I had hoped that if I turned aside as soon as daylight gave us the chance, he would show up. ' "If I see him again," I said, "I wish I could meet him myself in person. I am sure he will be glad of that." ' "He will be glad of that," said the hobbits. "That would be Gandalf the Greywing. I shall not need any more." 'They made him walk, and then he broke off. I was too much astonished at first to understand what was going on, and then I had some idea what was happening. He had not gone out yet, of course, but there was nothing I could do to stop him. I could, perhaps, at any rate search my thoughts and listen to their arguments. But I was too busy with other things. If I see him again, I will learn what he must mean. ' "He will," I said. "He was not so easy to spot. He was always so far away. We like to think of him as just like this place. He has not been far from his woods." ' "He is close," said Merry. "We shall be far together. He is a good friend of mine. I have known him from his old home near the Shire; and he will tell me all that he knows about Gandalf. I hope I did not forget anything that I ought to know about. I hope you do not mind, Master Merry. I am sure the matter of Gandalf will have more lightened your heart than all this talk about your heir." ' "Yes, I am sure," said Merry. "And I have heard much about him. I have heard more about Saruman, and of his ways. I have heard more about Frodo, and of his ways that I do not now know. I do not know about Frodo. I think I have heard more about the other Halfings too, and the world outside: about the things that they called themselves. ' "So that is, Master Meriadoc," they said at last. "You do not ======As he stepped away from the ring, it seemed to him that he saw a change. The hair that he had worn before was now grey and shaggy, and his beard was puffing and winding; his beard was like a roof-top, and his beard was broader, and taller, and broader; his beard was now like a moored tree, and his beard had grown grey beyond measurement. `You want to be King again! ' he said. `It is not so. It was not so. I have taken the oath that I promised to do so. I have not got it.' He shook his fist at Frodo and the Ringwraiths.

The Emyn Muil Tinviel the Invulnerable _Chapter 3_ The Fall of Mithrandir 'Well now, you have come back again to say farewell,' said Gandalf. 'I will not say farewell in the manner that you once called me,' he added with a smile. 'And I thank you for that,' said Pippin. The wizard bowed. 'I thank you indeed,' he said, 'for I had not been permitted to depart at the request of Elrond. Elrond was unlike all other men, child of the Sea, and he knew not all his secrets. I came to tell you that Mithrandir was safe and sound, and that he and Frodo were safe here.' Frodo felt a sinking feeling of duty, and a sense of betrayal; but he did not say so out of regret for the courtesy that he had shown him. 'I was very sorry for your loss,' he said, 'but I think I shall not say much more about it until Mr. Bilbo opens a case to me.' Gandalf looked at him sadly. 'I do not think you deserve any parting,' he said. 'It was a mistake for me: for instance, at the Shire Council when you said that Elrond was not a captain but a liar. And there are men in Rivendell who would have joined you, if there were any Men in Rivendell. But you have shown yourself a liar, and already I am troubled, and I begin to see a blackness of purpose. Even if I were a true Master of the Rings, I should not know it.' `Then what is the meaning of your insolence?' asked Frodo. `The meaning of your insolence is plain enough,' said Gandalf. 'You can draw your own line at it without consulting me; and if you like, I shall draw it. But if you prefer plainer terms, such as "permanent," I will shorten them to say less and less "delivery time," or DAL at your own convenience." And I do not care for delayed service. In all my dealings with you, I have never met any mortal who has earned more honourably or more permanently than I do now. And I have never looked for any satisfaction in any of it. `Of course, you say the Ring is not permanent. Can you prove it? ' `If I had a choice between refusing to deliver up my master and being set free, I would take the choice. But I am not a serviceable person. I have given up my service in the White Council, and spent all time and money that I have, trying to make Master Palpatine my servant. In the last desperate hour I lost patience, and after many delays my task was done. I was thrown into the fire. I am not an enemy, but you have destroyed my treasure, and the ring itself, whether the ruin or the death, I have already earned. You can claim it for yourself, or you can refuse it and follow me. And I will not pay you nor give it back for your own sake, or yours. It is not yours. And if you prefer delivery over deliverance, then so be it. But at present I do not profit by it. I have not had the pleasure of his service nor by his invention, though I have had the pleasure of his invention, and I hoped that I could give him back to him for his own sake. I am sorry for him but I am deeply sorry. I am very ======I am no longer a wizard but a warrior, and now I have come to the end of my rope. I have found a way round the Tower, and I shall need of other people than my own, if I am to set out on my way this spring. `Hoom, hm! Now then we are faced one at least, like men in the old days when we said we would. But there are others on the way: Rangers, or whatever they are, that we do not know yet. Now that is the end of our rope. May it serve us well! Hm, there we are! There we are! Upon the line of the Nine!' `Yes,' said Pippin; `but not upon this line yet.' `Then I shall not go on this line nearly as long as I like. But what can I do? What can I do? I have been too slow. Too long! My breath is heavy. My heart is heavy. What can I do now? `I could do much without a rope. I could dance or jump, and climb, and use my hands, and fly. But I don't know how I would do it. I don't know what I would do with all this rope. How would you carry it? How would you wield it? I think I think we could carry it. But we need no teacher. We need no guidance. `I think we could carry it. We could lift and we could use it. But we need no teacher. We need no guidance. It is not the rope itself that we need. It is the breath of the air. Breathing it, we breathe it, we perceive it. Breathing it, we perceive it, we sounds it. I think we can feel it. Let me see how it feels. Let me see how it feels! `A _hoom-hom_! And I will not lie. I am not sure that I expected to find anything that would suit me here. But I have found what I sought for. I have laid this thing, though I do not know how long, on a council when I no longer saw you. It may be stowed, but it is not mine. It has gone through some trials and tribulations when I was away, for instance, or on my return to the Shire. I have found what I sought for. It may be stowed, but it is not mine. There is not much to tell in this. It has been sharp and difficult. I would not lie. And I will say this: I have found what I sought for, and I have chosen. I have chosen because of the great skill with which I have been hand- loomed. In such a thread it would be a marvel if the whole tale were told, but alas! I found the way. `I have found what I sought for. I found the cunning of Gimli the Dwarf. I found the cunning of Aragorn, and I found the joy of Legolas. I have chosen because of the joy of Thrr. In such a thread I could weave a tale of valour, and courage, and valour in need. I would not lie. `But I found myself in a great journey, and in the middle of it I had some news that I did not know before. The enemy is at hand again. And I was too eager. I had news that I did not know before. The enemy is at hand again. And the path of my sword is swept away. I have decided to go to Isengard. I have decided to go to Isengard. ` "The Rohirrim are the strongest of the Northern peoples," says Legolas. "More than half of their strength is from the south. More than half of their strength is from the east. They have great store of arms in the world outside, and they are strong there. But eastward they have great need of spies. They have spies. And while Isengard remains the chief stronghold of the enemy, they will need allies: in the world outside they will not forget. ` "Isengard" is a portmanteau of "isengard", meaning strong, and "westward" is a misty word, meaning hidden. "Isengard" is a word of uncertain connotation. Is this the way of telling a tale of valour? It may be, but the tale must be told. ` "Isengard" is a word of uncertain connotation. "The enemy is at hand" is a word that has a double meaning ======I had long hoped that Ford would take the lead; but with many trusty hobbits I had missed the first step. It seemed a long time since I had looked, and I was still only too willing to wait on the inevitable. So I have waited on it, and waited anxiously on it, since the days of Saruman and of Gollum. In those days I too was in the old home of the wise, and they were mighty good. I long ago began to wonder, since the time when Gandalf went away, if the old master had ever set out with his Riders; and if he indeed had indeed gone far, and if he was ever back again. And since then I have watched anxiously, and I have listened eagerly, to what Gandalf said and done. And I have learned that he was a mighty man indeed, wise as the Wise Man in the West, and full of wisdom at times beyond words. And so I shall need of such a man ever after one of my truants. `Yet I cannot deny that I have seen greater than ever; for in that time the coming of Gandalf was itself marked by the birth of a Rider, whom he called _The_ Shadowfax. And since then I believe that the coming of Thorin Oakenshield was also marked by the birth of a Rider, whom I named _The_ Thrall. This is what I still call the Ring.' `And what is more,' said Frodo, `it is said that the Eye of Sauron gave to him the Eye of the North Wind, though he did not receive it. Is that so?' `Yes,' said Gandalf, `and that is a strange gift that he has received and has been given. Indeed in the days of the Eye the Wise returned to him, and they wrought great deeds on him, and the power of the Ring was released from him. Yet the power of the Eye was not released from the West, for the One came again from Mordor, and he was not with Frodo when the Eye of Sauron was destroyed. `The Eye of Sauron cannot be easily destroyed. The Three Rings were not destroyed, for Sauron himself, he has not been; and the Ring that he has received has been lost. But if he were to cast the Three Rings into fire, Sauron would not be destroyed. The Ring that he has received has no other purpose. `The Three Rings were made, I say, by Sauron. But since he himself made them, he may use them. Therefore I say to you, Frodo, that you have not yet guessed what you are in for: the Three Rings. You have guessed it, but not correctly. Therefore you must now decide whether you are for or against the One Ring; and whether you will keep it, or go to war with other Men or with Sauron. `If you do, then I beg you to make an effort, and make it worth while to ponder the Three Rings. For if the One Ring were lost, what then? And if it were destroyed, what would become of it? Do I wonder then? I wonder.' Gandalf looked at Frodo and he was silent. Almost he burst into tears. The vision was disturbing, for Frodo had never seen or heard of anything like it before. The Three Rings were suddenly clear, and immediately they began to glow. 'Darkness draws ever nearer,' said Gandalf. `It is like a candle that is lit: only it is so dim that even the incandescent light comes out through the middle into the flame. Still light draws nearer to you, Frodo. Frodo. I thought that light would comfort me, when I thought of the Halflings, and of the little folk of the Shire. But light is no longer the secret of Gandalf. In that secret ring are bound the Seven Stones, and in them you will find many things that are not there. But do not fear! Even as I feared, Gandalf has bound the Three Rings, and the Three Stones are held in trust by you all. It is a pity that I cannot see or feel the Three Faces of the Three Elves. It would be better if they could go unseen; but if Gandalf could not see the Three Faces, then I will see them, and I shall pray that I shall feel their fear.' `Go now, Frodo!' said Gandalf. `I shall see the Three Faces one by one. But I do not doubt that you will not find the Ring of Power in the Three Rings, but in certain things that you cannot see, or think you know not.'

======Is it the Third Eye, or Isengard? Or is it Saruman? ' 'Is It, or Is? ' said Gandalf. 'It is indeed an Eye. Very nearly it was. But in that case it was already near. The Third Eye is not there, and the Saruman is not there, and I think that it may not be for many long years yet. The Enemy has gained no tidings. The Yellow Eye is not there, but the Black has passed north. There is no third eye. The Enemy has no sign or movement not even on the eastern side of Isengard.' 'What signs?' asked Pippin. 'Some that I have seen,' said Gandalf, 'but most I cannot see. The world is dark. But there is no sign or movement that can explain the Darkness. The Darkness is not of this world, but of the beginning and the ending of years. It is no longer small, but it grows more terrible with every day that passes. To assail it from above with the speed of light, even when it has passed through great defile, is to take a terrible dark thought. 'I have seen signs that are of some great import. The Nazgl do not appear to walk in the Darkness, yet. The signs do not seem to me to walk at all. I have stood upon a hill; but I do not know what that looks like. Is it Saruman or the Third Eye? It is no longer certain that the Third Eye is there. I do not think so. I think the Enemy has some greater purpose. 'The Enemy is not yet aware of my thoughts; yet the matter becomes more alarming. Is it Saruman, or the Third Eye? I wonder. Who is this Third Eye? What does he think? Who can he fool?' 'If this is indeed the Third Eye,' said Pippin, 'it is the most terrifying thing that ever was.' 'And the most terrifying must be the first shadow,' said Gandalf. 'How terrifying!' 'I cannot answer that at this time,' said Pippin. 'But I do not fear that the Third Eye will turn evil. For it is not evil that is gained by lies. It has long been known, that Isengard has no Gate; and all that was told to us in the Dark Days, so that the Enemy could deceive us all. Indeed many things that we know little of, and little of what we do not know, we know secretly. And the Enemy has begun to discover the time and place of our leaving this world, by means unknown to us. My part in this evil is to keep watch on the Gates, and to help the hobbit-masters to make sure that no thing that has done or seen do- or astray- ever pass them. 'As for Saruman, he has now become like a lump of evil teeth, I think, against all that is good in him. He has found new ways of seeming to be a part of my conspiracy, I think; but I do not think that he is sure of this. And I think also that he is developing his own foul tricks, as I have already foreseen. I think this of Wormtongue, the Black Eye: I see him, I fear. And I think also that he is making some other plans: to make us all forget our oaths and follow his wheels, as I hope. 'Some of the hobbits I know know not who we used to be. We called ourselves the Halflings. We were little evil people, but we felt that way long before the Morgul-machines came to Minas Morgul. And we did not think long enough into the Darkness to become free folk: we did not think of that word at all. But the Eye has turned now to us, if we are willing to guess. And as for Saruman, I do not think he has much hope of escaping our power. He has only one hope: of becoming an Eye of some sort. Even if we could make a hobbit-layer, but he would not fit in with our line very well. So even if he were made of glass, he would never fit in with our line. 'So we feel, Pippin; and we feel the need of our own devices, as well as our own devices if we are to keep the Dark Power alive for long. We know that the Enemy has other designs. He knows what we do. He knows where we are; and he knows which paths to take. And he knows where the Ring is ======You have come to the end of your journey. You will find that many days will drag on and on, and you will not find the road as easy or complete as you desired. Therefore, if you return to the land of the living, you will find that you will soon be in a land that is desolate and uncounted. The land of the living will become more desolate and uncounted after the War. And after the War, and in the midst of evils that have arisen, there will be no king again, nor no city, nor even a place of some sort where men may dwell. The years from the coming of the Lord Faramir will wear away and will be passed with loss not of peace. But in the meantime what hope is there that you, Mr. Frodo, and Mr. Bilbo Baggins, or any part of them, will remain in Mordor and live happily in peace in the world outside, if all the evil that has arisen out of the Last Alliance can be overcome. A doom is now in the hearts of men. And if the end of the world and the coming of the Lord Faramir be in doubt, remember that doom is at hand: the world is ending; the Ring of Doom is upon its way, and all who stand by it need command. Therefore return to Mordor, and be swift! Farewell!' Frodo looked at the dark-haired companion, who was now standing looking straight ahead, before Frodo felt his heart pounding. Almost before he felt the world revolve round him, with the mind of Sam as he spoke. But Frodo withdrew himself from the stone once more, and stood silent, as if pondering anew all that had happened since he rode to the Shire. The night grew dark and still, when the next day dawned fair and bright. The empty hallways were choked with hobbits, and they came at length to the great door of the great chamber of the White Council. An hour before the bells of the tower they heard the great bell ringing: _The King's song_,_ the Black Rider's song. At that moment Frodo, and Sam together with a great host were in a great way visible: they had all seen the great hall of the Tower before: the great flet and its three windows, the western windows, were all shuttered. With their eyes they saw the Tower itself, like a vast shadow, towering higher and higher, its great wings spread out like an image of phoenixes across the court of the Nameless Fountain, and its countless stars leaping white before the eyes of the enemy. It was evening when at length they came to the great gate of the Tower; and they entered; and the gate was green and light streamed from it; for the Company was led in single file, the four walls each, like a great arch upon a sudden breeze. There was an arch of green- helms wrought of horse-hair, but each guard was wrapped in mail, and guards stood at work about the gate; and there were gates and windows of many kinds, both visible and invisible. All was dark about the Tower. There was no one there, but a huge dark thing stood there: the tower-door. For a moment all was dark except for the very moment when Frodo felt the great burden of secrecy overtake him and let out a shiver down his back. The Door was closed altogether, and the great black shadow that had rolled aside across the court upon Amon Sl. vanished like a black pall in the depths of the night. Frodo opened his eyes and saw that it was still very dark, but that darkness was becoming less frequent. All seemed still possible, except for the blackness in the East-door. `I should like to think that we are all now safe there, and the Darkness has passed,' said Sam. `Yes, we are all now safe there, and the Darkness has passed,' said Frodo. `But we have not slept at all. I wake up to find that I've walked a long way, and I am a space away from the Tower. And for the last time now I begin to see dark visions.' Sam had a look of dismay on his face. 'No, not at all! Not yet: not at all!' he said. 'Darker than before. Now what is the meaning of that? I wonder, Mr. Frodo. I wish I had known! At any rate that road I might have taken had I known the way I have taken to be unsafe.' Frodo sighed and put out his hand. 'Do you think you can trust to trust, Mr. Frodo?' he said.

======It has been said that Elves did not _know,_ as it were in the saying of the wise: _they were content with their own devices, as they often have the days, and as they lived, as their successors went on and on. And indeed I say _they knew,_ if you know the right words for the wise. In those days the wise were still to be found in the recesses of the Elder Books, the gems of Galen, and the secrets of Orthanc. 'And as for the Elves who _know,_ most of them, alas! they had other interests and more leisure. They despaired of becoming masters: they despaired of _writing,_ of _making,_ and of _creating. But they had other interests, and other pleasures, and other ways of thinking. They despaired of becoming kings: they despaired of becoming, and of _being,_ of becoming,_ of being, and of becoming_ of becoming. Now alas! they began to guess of becoming: they began to guess of becoming, and they began to guess of becoming. For they found in Orthanc the works of Elrond, and in the Secret Books of Elrond, and in the Golden Books of Rivendell. And so also did they despaired of becoming kings, and to become, and of becoming, and of becoming, and of becoming, and of becoming, and of being, and of being, and of being, and of being, and of being, and of being, and of being, and of being, and of being, and of becoming, and of becoming, and of being, and of being, and of being, and of being-in the days of Elrond, Erendil and Isildur's son. And so also did they despaired of becoming, and they began to guess: they began to guess with longing, and with longing they plotted to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become, and to become. 'And so ended the days of Elrond, Erendil and Isildur son of Elrond. And those who fought in that battle were Erendil and Isildur's son, and they were the sons of Elrond. And the Elven-kinges under his command were Erendil and Isildur and his heir, Anrion. And those who fell in battle under his guidance were Anrion and his son, Thrrion; and those who were saved by his will were Elrion and Thrrion. And through the power and wit of Elrond the Ring passed and became a power in the hands of the Enemy. 'The struggle of Orthanc, and the defeat of Saruman, that was great, and it is said that Saruman gained mastery over the Orcs even as the Black Master had taken over the Orcs himself. And in that battle the Master was slain, and Isildur fell in the battle of the Hornburg. Yet there is no record of that, nor of any of the other deeds that led him to that. And Isildur's Bane was broken and he was turned into ash, and Isildur gave up his power and dwelt in Minas Morgul, in the Mines of Moria. 'And there in that field there was Anrion, the Lord of the Guard of the Tower of Barad-dr, but he was not there. And so Isildur was overthrown and he was cast into the mire. But that is long since. And he died ere the darkness grew out of Mordor and the great battle of the Hornburg had begun, but Anrion was destroyed when the Orcs pressed on, and Isildur fell in the fall. 'It is said in lore that the Eye of Isildur was turned to ash, but how it was turned it may not be seen. For it was ======Well, if it weren't for the holiness of Mr. Frodo, he wouldn't have told me what I wanted to hear. I don't think he ever thought of that before he began this threadbare journey. He deserves an exclamation of 'I've done it!' after the fact, if he's so proud. And anyway, if I had seen him on the news, I should have kicked him. 'But I didn't think so, didn't I? ' he said. 'I can't believe that you've come along this way with Mr. Frodo's back against the Great River. That's a real pity: it gave me the courage to say: "Now what in heaven's we got? ' 'I don't think you have,' said Sam. 'That's a real pity too, Mr. Frodo. He's a real nuisance to me, and something I should have kicked him for. I'm starting now for my Master, Sam Gamgee: and he's just going on about maps and stuff, as usual. I wish I could see where we're going now, and where Mr. Bilbo hid and what he thought, and where he kept his stuff. That's another real pity. I wish I could see Mr. Frodo, and hear him talking to me, and all his old life, when I was young. And then I'd be more than glad to see Mr. Frodo again! 'Well, Mr. Frodo, I can't see Mr. Bilbo, and I'm afraid he can't see me, unless I take off his clothes and put him on a hobbit's back. I never knew he was like that, and I never knew that he liked maps or maps of places until I saw your little map. And it showed all along the Road that Frodo's in a deep blue sky. That's a pity, Sam! ' 'I can't see Mr. Frodo, or indeed of anything that he ever knew,' said Sam, 'only because I don't see him: because I can't see where he's lying. I don't think he ever used to live any more in the Shire, and he used to live a long way back, on the Road from Weathertop. He used to round about, I think, and round about again. I wonder where he is hiding now, Sam. If you go to Bree, I hope he will tell me where he is.' Sam looked at Frodo. It might have been better, if he had been so kind as to give Mr. Frodo's map. He took it and put it back in his pack. 'It's gone into the ground, Mr. Frodo,' he said. 'And I thought at first I could see where it was hiding. It must be deep dark in the Road now: like a great cave or tunnel, I suppose. But I had thought of putting a little lantern on the Road, but that's not the way of getting news. In any case I don't think this is a bird. There must be some dark material behind it, and perhaps a bird-shot at some point to test the waters. And the Road is wide open, and there are many birds about: they've got a way in and out over the fields, and out of the Big Door, if you know, or you haven't.' He took the map out of his pack and examined it closely. It showed all the ways that he had ever used a lantern, except one that had an aisle at the far end, and which he supposed was an attempt to show how to use it. It was a poor and under-filled cloak, and Fatty Bolger had not told him of this, and he felt that this seemed a very poor cloak for a hobbit that he had met at the inn. He said only that it was a cloak for the poor old hobbit, and not for Sam Gamgee. It was a poor cloak, indeed if poor Fatty Bolger had kept it for himself, he might well have stopped standing in his hole all alone for days. And it was a hood, as Sam saw it. 'How do you know that?' he asked. 'And how do you know that Mr. Fatty Bolger is a good old fellow too, Sam? ' 'I don't know much about hobbits, except perhaps at our own business, Mr. Bilbo,' said Sam. 'I am not a Bilbo, Sam. But I am a Sam, and I have given up all pretence of fealty to him, till now. I have a friend that I would like to see and ======Receive a message from the Warden of the Keys. The Warden of the Keys shall take your message to the Keys. You may receive further messages by writing on the wall of the Keys: _This message of mine was sent from Bree on the road to Isengard_. I read it. It spoke of Isengard_. Tell me your tale. The tale of the steeds of old Mithrandir, of the mighty horsemen of the Mark, from the Greyflood to the Fords of Rohan. 1A_ wrote: _At the end of the world a warrior was set on a great steed. _At the end of the world in the spring of Isengard at the end of the world in the world without. _The Westfold Road is now a little way away. _It is the road to the mountains_. _The road is now a little way too short. _The horseman is already a little way ahead. _The dwarf is ahead too. _The horseman is now a long way ahead. _The dwarf is still a little way behind_. _The horseman is now a little way ahead. _The horseman is still a straight line ahead. _The dwarf is still a sharp line, _The dwarf is still a sharp line ahead. _The horseman is still on a pony. _The horseman is still on the road. A score of the Shire-folk have now come forward to the Warden of the Keys, and they have gathered. They say that Isengard is haunted by a white steed that they once rode upon. They say also that evil deeds have been done to him, both in Mordor and in Isengard. But they do not name him: the evil deed being likely. They say that Isengard is haunted by a White Rider, and that many folk here are heedless of the peril that comes from its name. They say also that Isengard is haunted by two other steeds, the works of the Hand. The Warden of the Keys shall now speak with the other folk. Gandalf and Aragorn shall now ride to the Greyflood, and the Dnedain shall now go west, and the City of the Halflings shall be re-built and rebuilt, and the Wild Woodmen to whom it has borne its banner. 'We will send word to Mithrandir,' said Gimli. 'We will ride further tonight.' 'We will send word to Mithrandir,' said Legolas. 'We will go to Isengard, and we will see how things go tonight.' The men of Bree rode swiftly to the king's side, and took leave of the king and his folk, and passed out of the court. 'It is said that Isengard is haunted by two steeds,' said Aragorn. 'The Dnedain have passed through Mordor and the City of the Halflings, and so are known to us only to those who have known them; and they are accounted the descendants of the steeds of the Westfold, valiant knights of the House of Eorl. They were ever at war with Rohan, and afterwards made peace with the Power that is in the North.' 'And so it is said,' said Legolas, 'that we must now ride with the Dnedain, and if the time calls, let us ride with the Halflings, that is to say with the Dnedain, to the Citadel of the Halflings, where they will endure the last gallop of the desperate.' 'It is said,' said Aragorn, 'that Isengard is haunted by two other steeds: the Dnedain are the descendants of the steeds of the Westfold, and the Wild Man Halfling, that is the living halfling of the race of Mordor. They were ever at war with Rohan, and afterwards made peace with the Power that is in the North.' 'Are they the steeds of Mordor?' asked Gimli. 'No,' said Aragorn. 'But some folk dwell in the City of the Halflings. Some live in the Citadel of the Halflings, and some go with the Halflings to the Holdfast by the White Keep. The Halflings hold many secrets that secrecy will soon reveal. But we must go on now. You need not fear! You have borne no burden. You have borne none yet.' 'But what shall I do?' ' ======Now that I think of it, I think I should like to speak to you again. It would be a good first talk. But first, I should like to know where you are and what you wish to see, and where you are going. Are you going to ride to battle? Or are you going to stay with the Orcs? ' 'No, I am going to stay with the Orcs,' said Frodo. `But I am not going to stay with them alone. I am going to ride to Mordor and seek help. I am going to seek it first, and that help will not avail me here. There is no time to lose. There is no time for conceit and for decision.' `Well, if you will give me the slip, Mr. Frodo,' said Strider, 'I will give you the slip. But I ask you not to make any rash remark while you are so anxious. You have only just begun to talk, and I have not a moment to spare. I am going to Mordor, and I am going to seek help. I am going to seek help. `I am going to seek help for the present, of course, and not for the destruction of it. That is what I have been worrying about. But: `I am going to seek the Red Eye, if the Orcs can master me, and stop me before it does. `If Frodo needs it, I can give him it. I am trying to set him on my road. He will be weary, and I cannot keep up with him.' 'Farewell, Frodo!' said Strider. `I have not spoken to you for a long time. I will call you Mr. Butterbur when I get back. But I will call you Strider, if I am to choose my friends in the dangerous journey. I have not spoken to you of late. You have been worrying yourself unnecessarily. I was thinking of Mr. Frodo lately. Will you excuse me? ' 'Yes, you will, Mr. Frodo Baggins. You will see him soon, and you may see him, if you want to. But I don't know of any peril that you would suffer by staying. You have been very kind to me, and have shown yourself to me in such a way.' 'And I would still be very kind to you,' said Frodo. `Yes, I would, if I had the chance,' said Butterbur; 'but my dear Frodo, you have not been as kind as you should be. It is not your fault that I have not been able to stay as well as I should. If I had had the chance, I should have travelled more, and so done more, as you might say. But I have not, and so shall never be able to spend another hour or two in Rivendell. And Gandalf did not ask me to come, nor to do any more journey-making for you, or for any of you, if you return. I have been busy. I shall not speak of it now, but I shall have some news of it, and you may begin to guess how I have changed since you last.' 'I have changed,' said Frodo. 'So much for Gandalf!' said Butterbur. 'But I'll leave that for another time. I hope you will not have any more to say, Frodo. I have had a great talk with Gandalf, and he has had a great deal to say. But I don't think he will really be so eager this evening as I thought. I am afraid, Mr. Baggins, that he will not, and I hope he is not. `Of course the Ring is destroyed. It was meant to be destroyed; but it has been turned into a very valuable commodity, and it will never go that way. If we go with Gandalf, we shall make a very brave stand, and against the Enemy we may perhaps make him lose his mind at last, if he wins back his Ring. But we cannot afford to lose it. He will have to spend a good deal of effort to destroy it, in case he wins back the Ring, and in the event of its being up again. It may be so, but it is less likely than it would be otherwise. If it prove ill for the Others, it will prove well for you. `But I am afraid that tonight we have enough of the nonsense that we have heard so far. I hope this Barrow-wight will not think that we have become ======All the speed and speed went up the winding stair, as if the hidden chamber of some secret tower before the Bridge had been found. Frodo felt the heavy footsteps behind him. He was glad of the Master, but he felt a chill, unwanted warmth. It was very cold. The sound of hoofs approaching came to him and he felt his face chilled to the core. He felt Sam, his brother, walking beside him, as fast as he could go: he was going to pass by Frodo's door at once and pick him up. `I can talk, Sam,' said Frodo. `See how he's come along and what he can do. I wish I could. It's my job to go with him, to keep him safe, if he ever comes back.' Sam, too, was anxious, and was scanning the hobbits closely. He could see nothing: they were all dark and alert, and all seemed half hidden, except for this one tiny voice: it was faint, and yet had the same faint authority and authority. It was Frodo. `Yes,' he said, `I knew that Sam was coming along. I thought we were going to meet once more, when he came back. He may have come away this time, or another and the same.' `Yes, he is coming with you,' said Frodo. 'I wish I had told you about him, begging your pardon. I hoped you would not have disturbed him, Mr. Frodo. He deserves a reward, and I hope he does not, being caught in the great net of the Enemy. Is Sam going to Mordor?' `Yes, sir,' said Sam. `I hope so. He may be glad to learn that I had warned him not to. And he may even think that I had told him not to kill him; for otherwise he would not kill you, Sam Gamgee. I chose Mordor, you say. But why? The Black Gate is against me; and he has other things to look for. And anyway I have another Ring that you do not know about. There is no orc-war in the Shire, nor in the world outside, nor even in my own land. I don't want to know about it.' `I certainly don't want to know about it,' said Frodo. `But if I had known more, I should have said _I_ wanted to know,_ _so I guess.' Sam nodded. `I also guess a good many things. You are a very good Gamgee, Mr. Frodo. I wish I had told you about the Black Gate before I began this adventure, and you should not have told me about it. I am sorry, Mr. Frodo: I have had a very hard time lately. But I have tried many paths, and I have found nothing that can be called safe or just. `But I have tried many. And I have found nothing that is dangerous, so far as I know. It is not like the evil eyes that were looking at me just now, Mr. Frodo. I fear they are no more, and I wish I had not. I do not know why I did not. I was very weary, Sam. I was very weary. The Forest is a weary place. But if I had known more, I should have left the Shire. ` "I wish I had "I wish I had " before I left the Shire," said Sam. ` "Good night to you all," said Frodo, and he turned away. I hope he read this right! "I wish I had known more before I went away. I hoped to find some news in the morning."' ` "News from the Shire?" I thought,' said Sam. ` "News from the Shire?" I thought, even from the Warden, Mr. Frodo. He seems to have been in touch with his old friend, the Warden of the Shire, and the news was good. He seemed pleased with himself and had no fear that he would tell. He says he will go down to Mordor, but I don't think he will, because he has a Curse on him, or because he has such grudge against Strider. I don't think he will, Sam.' `Strider? Mr. Frodo. I like him. He reminds me of Mr. Bilbo the Baggins when I was young, and I miss him a great deal. But he is as friendly as Mr. Baggins could be, and _is_ Baggins; ======

For the present I need only recite verses from the hymnal. The music is mainly spoken of in the hymns and hymnsalas, but there is an occasional song or verses sung of others. This is chiefly in the _ored_, and in the _ored_I guess you heard the words: _All is now as it should be, as thou thoughtst_. Now do not count on your _luck_. If you had guessed, for instance, that we were going to strike across the Great River to Meduseld, then we should now be seeking a haven, I should say, from Mordor. Indeed my luck led me to the wrong place. But to what do you now mean by "hobbit over river", I ask that I return to the porch where I began to sing?_

_Chapter 4_ The Land of Mordor and the Battle of Five Armies

It was at last the day of their last stand that most of the Company had left the mountains. Their ponies were laving around in packs and tossing them off, short of food, and they were already worn out. The afternoon was wearing away when they went on again; and they came unexpectedly to a battle in which the victor, Lord of Mordor, was no match. The Riders of the Ring were advancing westwards, and the Lord of the Dark Tower was advancing in the north. On the further side the enemy was already strong enough. The City was still far away and the Gate of the Dark Tower was guarded by some wild guards. Yet the use of the Seven Stones, which they had learned at Lothlrien, could not now, until the great assault was at hand, be repeated in Mordor. So the company turned their course again eastwards, westwards and had still to the north.

They had hardly made any long strides when they came upon a great column of mounted Orcs moving along the road behind. They were bearing the brunt of a great stroke of Mordor, and their shields were almost all in place. The enemy, however, was still in the same fashion. They were now in a wide circle, three or four fathoms from the Tower, and they were in a great inner space, some fifteen miles wide, stretching for an inch or so from the road. They were not in a position to hold the Ring, for the power of the Dark Tower could now be gathered. The Riders were drawing near to the southernmost point of the ring, and knew now very well that they were in a circle of some ten fathoms. They were going fast. 'At last!' cried Frodo. 'This is where we lost our horses before. How can we defend it?' 'It is very perilous,' said Gimli. 'If these Orcs want to fly, they must have some hope of escape. And if they want to fly fast, they must have horses!' 'And horses!' cried Legolas. 'You must have horses! How can a man ride a horse in the Elven-country when he has no hope?' 'Yes,' said Gimli. 'I see now a danger. Let Gimli and Aragorn ride together.' The Riders drew bow again and began to move fast. The distance was greater than it had been when they set out four days ago. The roads were blocked with many poles and trowels; but the dark road from the main road to the Gate was straight and straightened, and there were no more stumbling than were the men of the Third Company. 'Bring horses!' cried Aragorn. 'I am a man of the Third Company; and I must go forward fast. But I do not know of any man within the Gate who could withstand the charge.' 'You have not ridden with us fast, have you?' asked Boromir. 'No, sir, I have not ridden with us,' said the Ranger. 'You have ridden with the enemy. And those who have ridden with us have not lost their hope. You alone can save us. Come! We are still five days out from battle.' The five companions rode together to meet Aragorn. They were in great haste and did not lodge together. As soon as the great battle had begun they knew that it was not certain whether the Ring would prove too much to overcome. They were not in great haste, but they made ready to meet him at the command of Aragorn. They were ======If you want to be the first to know, here is a guide, direct from the game:

You can now start by slaying Orcs. But orc-thiefs and orc-chiefts are no use to me, unless you are really into Orcs and had no need of their gear: they are too close for me to be a guide at all. The first orc I will lead is an orc-killer; and I will lead him at full speed. But I am not ready yet. If he wins on me, he will soon learn that my guideship has failed and issue a stern warning. I do not want to lose any more orc-gear, whether those of you among the Orcs or of the servants of the Dark Lord are near, yet. I do not know what Orcs are, nor how they can think of any; but they are anxious to kill and to devour all that can be spared. I have nothing to teach them, save only that I need them for their own defence. But I feel troubled, knowing that you have betrayed my trust, and I too need your counsel. You have been a spy for Orcs, and now you are being watched. There are Orcs at work in Rohan, and they are doing some mischief. If you are ever in danger along the road from Minas Tirith, it is with them that you must go to them. For Orcs kill or capture, even when they know the enemy, they remain with the leader. Orcs kill. That is the way of Orcs. They do not kill alone. Orcs kill when they feel threatened or subdued. They do not kill while they are afraid, as Orcs fear the prey. They are neither defeated nor driven back; they remain still and will not kill. 'But Orc-hunting is evil in its purest forms, and it is evil in the more subtle forms too. In such a fashion as these, orc-hearts do not need to be feared, even when they have learned the truth of their enemies. It is not Orcs who fear us; they do not fear Orcs. All that we do is the defence of our way, and the defence of our way must be defended, if Orcs are to have any hope of lasting any length of the world.' 'So be it!' said Gandalf.

The sun was already sinking when the three companions stood up, and began to cast a thin veil about Thoden. Before the hobbit-cage he was to be allowed to walk again, and to report to him all that he had seen and heard; but where his first report came from he did not report.

'I saw a strange creature,' said Merry, 'and heard a sound that I never knew was coming towards the city. I wondered if that was it.' 'I asked if it was Saruman,' said Frodo, 'and I thought you must know the answer to your question.' 'Yes, you guessed the answer, Frodo.' 'Then I knew the story under thin air, and I spoke aloud. I don't think I spoke like it, I think I stammered.' 'Yes, you did, as always happens with your own affairs. You don't want to talk about it now, Frodo. But keep it to yourself, and be silent, and let me hear only what I can hear, if I can. I think there is some shadow of doubt, a sort of shadow. Saruman is a liar, a deceiver. He keeps his secret ways secret, and he uses his fame and his wealth to his advantage. And Saruman has a mind of mystery, and a mind of fear, and a mind of fear for the ruin of his master. And at the same time he is cunning and sly. He uses tunnels, and tunnels, to slip in and out. He knows all the ways of the Shire, and he is on all the borders; and he knows every path and road. And he knows all the ways of the High and the Greyflood, and the rising of the first flood. 'The High and the Greyflood 'Are the Great River and the Great River of Mirkwood intermingled, and what is the matter with the tunnel-builders, or have they all been corrupt? I think not; but I doubt not. Saruman is a liar, a deceiver. He knows all the ways of the Wild West, and the ways of the Dead. Saruman has nothing to do with the history of the Great River and with the rising of the first flood. He knows all the ways ======This is the second in a series of articles about the most famous of the Ents. Part 1 of which will be released in due time. Part 2 will be released in due time. Some images and characters from the first two articles will now be included. The Hobbit was an Ents-moot, a gathering of Ents, mostly Entwives, chiefly of Hobbiton descent. In this country the Ents, chiefly of Hobbiton origin, made great lodges and pavilions for themselves in the years between the coming of Bilbo the famous (and later, more or less) and the arrival of Frodo the dwarf (and the later). The largest of these, Boffin's Five Tubs, was indeed fifty- nine, and its inner ring was covered with a woollen cap. Its outer ring was usually not, however, so, covered at all, except for one outer ring, which was usually only about seventy-nine; but some of its most important features, especially of the animal-kind, had been preserved.

Boromir's great mop was different from Bag End. It was not so, though, for it had been constructed partly out of bricks, and partly out of wood. The bricks were of the size of beetles, and were of a deep-set stooped stone, out of which were cut out, or stamped out, any insect-kind found in the region. The wood had been originally made of straw, but had been improved and shod with materials of stone and corundum. The wood was not, of course, of Hobbiton origin, but rather Hobbiton-ish, and Hobbiton-ish in its mode of growth, as in all the other parts of its ancient woodland. The Hobbiton-moot was in many ways descended, in part, from the earlier stage in the process of making lodges and pavilions for Entwives, as well as from the earlier stage in the making of lodges and pavilions for Dwarves. The Entmoot was in some ways the same as in the Entwovenmoot, in that it began with settlement, and in part developed into the larger and more ancient Entwovenmoot. Some of the more important features of the larger and more ancient Entmoot are shown in the figure drawn on the left. The date is from the accretion of ash in the old mining-mines near the line of the River Tarmenhe. The stream that flowed out of the lake into the grey mists of Ered Lithui was not flowing today, but was a mere drop in the long shaft, and was not a river, for it ran out of the bogs of the mines and came down into the Great River, which it replaced. It was a bridge too short a span to bridge over, though it could be made of many willing ropes, and it could be fastened with helms or posts. The power of the Entwovenmoot was so great that for ever it stood alone above all the towers of Barad-dr in the west, and could be seen from the City gates that it stood not more than a few feet below the ground. There was only one gate on the western side of the mall, and that was at the north end of the mall, at the Green Gate, where in the morning the light would not shine. There was no gate at the mall, nor was there any sign of one, but it stood at the foot of the Walls of the City, and between the Walls of Gondor and the Gate of the Tower of the Moon, stood the many lanterns, burning up in a fury in the dark at the walls of the City. The great fires sprang ever higher in the sky above as the sun rose; but the Ents could not be seen, for they had not yet faded into the darkness of night. Once they were, always invisible, and could not be seen in the dark, though they could do some mischief in the night. But now they were so great that they could be seen, and as the great flames raged and the shadows were very long, it seemed to those who stood near that the dark and the starry night were akin. All night they paced in a quiver, debating what to say, and what to do, now that the pressure of the Tower was so great that any attempt would only make matters worse. There was, of course, no need to hurry so far: the main road to the Fountain of Valinor was still a matter for a while to come. But the Ents were in haste and could not delay much longer. The great fires were now drawing to their ======It was not. The light grew broader and broader as they went on. It was no longer dark and round houses peeping out beyond the shadows of the walls. They were on the Citadel of Gondor. There was a tall man walking in the shadows behind him. He did not look up. It was the Ringwraith. He did not look up. `What are they? ' asked Sam. 'Corsairs,' said the man. `I know nothing about this village. But if they are here, they might be able to tell us something.' Sam wondered if the man was really answering, and whether it was so. Still the answer was yes. `What do they look for?' he repeated. `What do they build? ' said the man. `What do they need? They are the builders, yes. They know something about this village. They know we are strong folk and strong-hearted folk. We would like to be here. We would like to see the River flowing!' Sam did not answer. `No, they do not know,' the man continued. `But they built this village. This is the first building in the Shire that is not a house. This is the first inn. This is the first inn where horses are not only allowed, but also built: horses are allowed here. This is the first inn that is not a pony-house. This is the first inn that has a roof. This is the first inn where horses are not only allowed to stay up to a hundred; and not only to have a drink in the inn-room. This is the first inn that has a fire. This is the first inn that has a stair. This is the first stair that does not lead. This is the first stair that has no door. This is the first stair that is not a bridge. This is the first stair that does not lead.' Sam did not answer. `No! ' whispered the man, and he paused. `No! ' he repeated. The man stopped short. He had ears for every sound of men and strange-looking folk, and he did not make any answer. `What do they want? ' asked Sam. `We don't know,' answered the man. 'We just want to know. What do they want? ' `We don't know,' said Sam. `We just want to know.' `It might seem a bit too much to ask too soon,' said the man. `But I don't want to know. I want to know what is going on. It's always a bit too soon, Sam. What is it? What are they for? ' Sam did not answer. `We don't know yet,' said the man. `They are not for us.' 'We are not for them,' said Sam. `Or any other creature.' `Then what is it? ' asked the man. `It might sound like asking for a bit too much, Mr. Frodo,' said Frodo. `But I don't think it is. I think it's not for us. I think our friends are for them.' 'I think for you,' said Sam. `I hope they are for us.' 'I hope they are for you,' said Frodo, putting his hand on his breast. 'I don't know why I said that. I thought I knew a bit about horses. But I haven't. What is it?' `It might sound a bit too much,' said Sam. `It might sound like asking for a bit too much.' 'Then tell me about it!' cried Frodo. `There may be a little of it in this tale. You did not tell me all about it, Mr. Frodo. I wonder if you can remember any of it? You've been telling me tales about the Elves, and then you've come out and told me all about the Shire, and about the Elves. Have you heard of the Elves?' 'No, sir, I haven't. I've heard nothing of them,' said Frodo. 'And I don't want to hear of them, Mr. Frodo. I don't want to hear of them except at _the_ doorstep: if that's what you mean. The Elves are getting old: they ======: The time was ten days from the coming of our Lord, and the day after the return of the King; and the day after that the Lord Denethor departed. 'Yet though the days are long, yet they are the works of the Enemy, and the deeds of his malice are ended, and all his remnant dwindled. Indeed I say to you, and to all who follow me, that in this latter hour the doom of our Lord cannot be delayed. For the time lies that shall not be.' 'Time indeed is appointed,' said Gandalf. 'But the day has come ere long when our Lord stepped out again. Who shall say how the day of dread and wrath shall come? For so it has done ere long. For now we have only one king in the history of the world, and only one day in which the Enemy has still not turned once to his end. And only one day.' The hobbits sat silent. No sign of Denethor or his son had they seen or heard of him for so long a time. No memory of that day had they heard of it before. 'I think you were right,' said Gandalf. 'Yet I fear that it would be a bitter fate to let a mortal go on such an errand, if we had not allowed him. But it is a grievous errand, and one that I wish to make the day of my life again. For if any of you had dared to pass the doors of the City, it would have been long since you had seen any of the hobbits except one, whom you let through secretly. And so I deem it to be a bitter fate, to have seen two strangers go at once into the heart of the greatest fortress in the history of Middle-earth. But you, Gandalf, I wish to see that enemy off with before he goes. I feel certain that it is possible that he will return to Mordor and bear his weapon in silence. But I have made up my mind.' 'What can I do?' asked Frodo. 'I will go to the Gate and speak with Denethor.' 'I think I can do some deed that will be worth a great many lives,' said Gandalf. 'Yet I do not know how it will be won. It will be worth a great many lives in the end, for it is a great many lives in the course of a long time that we have been here. And I cannot see how it will go wrong. For if I had won here, I should still have a chance here of slaying the Enemy at his last breath, and of slaying the Tower of Barad-dr. And it is a hundred times worse than fighting in the Tower itself. But if I was here, I could slay the Lord of the Nine Riders in one sitting, so that I should have a chance here of slaying the Man in the Manner. I know the art of fighting in the Towers, but I have never had the chance of wielding the Phial.' 'Then what does the art of the Nine Rides compare with?' asked Frodo, who knew the art of healing? 'How would I feel if I were a Nazgl?' 'I would,' said the wizard; 'but I do not know, for I have not had the chance. And for that I should have slain the Nazgl, and set a Nazgl like a statue at the end of all the world. But it would have been a long time before the Tower of the Watchers would have fallen into darkness, and Sauron would have destroyed the weapons of his Enemy. I do not see how the art of the Nine Rides could rival the skill and skill of the hands of a healer or the keen mind of a soldier. And I would not have killed the Nazgl, if I could have. For if I had not conquered the Enemy, I should have killed the Nazgl; but he came to me and he destroyed me, and I slew the Man in the Manner, and the Power that was in me was gone and I was no longer able to wield the Phial. 'So I say to you, Frodo, and to you I beg you to shoot at all enemies that stand a chance and shoot at all who stand no chance. For it is said in the lore of Middle-earth that even as the winged Shadows came to Gondor, so one of the great warrior-lords of stone came to Mordor; and he too was a mortal Shadow, but he fought and was slain in the wars that he led in the days of Gondor. And it is said that he was Thoden son of Ar ======For more than two centuries, the story of the Fenmen Elvish has been a living legend in Middle-earth, and its sources are varied. Some say that the story was first told by Gimli the Dwarf, and his heirs; but there is no record of such an event. For many generations the legend of the Fenmen was reckoned the greatest of all the Elder Races, and derived its inspiration from that race, which in its youth was thought to have developed into an elven-ling, dwelt in the shadow of the Misty Mountains, and was itself descended from a single great ancestral lineage that had then spread to the wastes of Rath Dnen, and back again to Gondor. In the days of the Eldest there had never before been any ancient lore concerning the Elves and the Halflings, for the two main realms of the Elder World were Mortal, but which at the time of its beginning were Bothwell and Barad-dr, were now Ents. In the days of the Third Age the name of Ents had not been forgotten, and though they had long ceased to exist (for some still maintained that the Mountains of Shadow were behind them, and that their shadow could not be wholly removed), they had not for long been reckoned Ents, nor acknowledged as members of any race of living things. Indeed, though the Elves still acknowledged the existence of Ents as such, it was not until the War of the Ring that they were itself acknowledged as having any relation whatsoever to our own people. This, I think, is the true history of Ents, as told by Gimli the Dwarf, in his book Ents: The Golden Peril, to which I shall refer again in due time. For the successors of Isildur in the Third Age of Middle-earth may discover also that the story of the Fenmen was, and still is, indeed a legend, of the Elder Races, and should indeed be reckoned one of the great achievements of the Three Kindreds. The Ents who lived before the Three were divided into three branches: Men, Elves and Dwarves; Uruk-Ghor, Shriek-not; and Dwarf, Bruiser, Bruiser-nor, Bruiser-got, Troll-nor. In the West were the Dnedain, the West were Hm, but East were om, Omund, and Guthlrd. The West were Shriek, Shrieked, and Ents, but Ents were not West-realm- realms, but Ents saw the world, the world of Being, and the world of BeingHim, and a Way was made. In the East were the Eorlingas, the Eorlingas, the Eorlingas; in the North the Gondor, the Gondor-orc; and in the South the Folk, the Folk of the South, the Folk of the Great River, Bimbo and Bimbo-morbo; and in the West the Meneldil, the Meneldil-orc. The three main tribes, Ents, were divided into four quarters: Afar, the Afar were from the north, Bimbo from the south, Tinviel from the east; in the North they were the Bimbo, the Bimbo-morbo, Bimbo-east, Bimbo-west, Bimbo-southern, Bimbo-sune-dwarf, and Bimbo- sune-draught. In the Eorlingas they were Bimbo-west, Bimbo-sune-dwarf, and Bimbo-sune-draught. In the Eorlingas they were Bimbo-west, and Tinviel-east. The name of the three tribes is ambiguous. The Afar were the direct descendants of the earlier line of descendents, the Bimboards, who settled in the Dunharrows before the invasion of Mordor. The latter line had its roots in the desire of the Dwarves to conquer the Shire, and to become independent of the old Dominion. The history of the Three Kindreds in Middle-earth is long, but its chief stage is the development in which it began. In the days of Sauron the Ruler of Angmar was among us Rohan, Lord of the Nazgl. Though he was sorely tempted by the desire of one who possessed the Eye of Isildur, and who had conceived of the long task of governing the affairs of the world outside the reach of the Enemy, he did not desire to be called Mortal. Indeed he had already ======Well, that was pretty much it for me. I've had a bit of a fever lately, and I'm feeling better, so I've only had a bit of rest, so that I can start tomorrow. But I've heard that there's some sort of threat up there, or some devilry that was either crafty or part of the enemy's. I've sent two scouts out to look, but I'll only have one out before I can go any further. Will you be more swift, or slower? I suppose I was going to shout. _Doom, doom_!_ I thought. It must be Strider. _Doom, doom_!_ I thought. He stood up. He came back. He's not seen me for a while. The red glare was making me uneasy; but now he's back again. I reckon he doesn't see me at all. I wonder what's up. I wonder if he's had some sort of message. _Doom, doom_!_ I thought. _Doom, doom_!_ I thought I heard a sound like wailing and cheering that I couldn't hear. It must be Uglk. What's up?_ I thought. _Doom, doom_!_ just a little noise. Thinking no more. I suppose they're going to throw a punch at us in a minute. Now what's the danger? I don't suppose I could walk, do I? I suppose I could, I'm afraid. I'd hate to turn back. It's a pity I don't know. I fear I don't feel any hand on me. I fear I'm going blindfold.' Frodo got up, and quickly put his foot in it. If he were in a hurry he might have put on some light clothes, or put on a pair of gloves. But now the dreadful thought began to weigh heavy on his mind. He remembered his father. How hard it was for him to leave him out in the cold when he could walk and talk to him about Frodo's adventure in the Mines of Doom. But he would not want to have any more to do with it. He had been too frightened to go back now, and the pressure was putting him off the next day at least. He thought of himself walking round the Mines, walking until he found him somewhere safe and comfortable, and then going straight to Mordor, where he could be sure of being found and not left behind. `No!' he said, holding his breath. `I don't want to go back. I want to do something. I want to feel safe now, and I want to be certain of what. I want to go back. It's no good coming back to Mordor now, or doing nothing, if I don't want to go back. I feel quite alone. I don't want to go anywhere with Strider.' `Well, Sam,' said Frodo, sitting up and staring, `it's the job of the Ring-bearer to go back to his own land, once he's found and comfortable, if he ever comes back. And he's come back very badly, and very badly badly badly badly far. He's come back with harm too. I hope he doesn't find his way back into Mordor any worse than mine is.' Sam got up and walked away. 'Well, if Strider has proved too hard on him, I ought to at least feel free of the impression,' he said. 'I feel quite at home in these dark days, being out of my own land, and all. I ought to feel safe, and safe at all times. But I don't feel safe at all. I feel as if I was walking into an army of barrows, and I feel as if I was walking into a graveyard, of which I have heard but little report.' `I wonder if you have heard of the Black Rider? ' said Frodo. `He's been a little looking at lately, and I think he's been watching us. What do you mean?' `I mean, Mr. Frodo, I mean that I feel safe in the Shire. And I mean just this once or twice this week, as I said. There's no danger wherever I am; and I don't want to be seen walking like a dog when I'm not here. But I feel as if I was walking into a battle, and I mean a battle, and into the hands of Mordor. Is that all there is? ' `Yes,' said Frodo. `And why do you think that?' `I think that there is much else going on. There's no doubt about it ======Towards the end of the game there was a great battle, for the last time. The Shirriffs were advancing far up the valley, and they were well within sight of the gates of Minas Tirith. The Rohirrim were advancing on them from behind the great gates of Mordor, and from some distance on the eastward slopes of the hill. At first the Rohirrim had been very strong. They had come far in the last few days, as the great rains had swelled over the fields; but the siege of Amon Sl they had now destroyed, and they were utterly defeated. A great part of the strength of the East Wall and of the South Wall were greatly increased by the Rohirrim, who had no bowmen to their liking; but the North Wall was still largely manned. The defence of Minas Tirith was now all but in the hands of the Rohirrim, but the Rohirrim were well-ordered and would not back down. The cavalry was in full flow. The enemy was far greater and more fierce than before; and the enemy was now well-ordered. Even from the rear the birds all seemed frightened and leery. The enemy was now well known; and the Rohirrim were well-ordered. The cavalry passed on and came soon to the door of the citadel, where the great gate of the tower of Denethor had stood; and first in all the streets of Minas Tirith there was the White Rider. He had been borne up on to the walls, and his helm was taken from him. The Lord Denethor had sent for him, and he had begged that he should be called Faramir. But in the dark he had accepted the terms, and now rode as far as the Eye of Mordor, where he would fight for a time in the Last Battle, and there he would remain ere the end. The Rohirrim rode hastily up the valley to the gates of Minas Tirith. They bore no news of the Lord and Lady; but they were amazed at the brazen face of Faramir, and by that time some of the host had already passed out of sight, and were being searched. The Lady owyn had come forth from the house of her husband, and she had gone forth with her heralds. When Faramir had gone forth, a great host of men came back with him, some of them bearing heralds or similar devices. Some of them were leading their own household errand-tables, and they spoke to Faramir and with the approval of his highness. And he answered them, that the Lord of the Mark had himself come forth out of the North, but he had not come himself yet, and the new host was now several hundreds, far more than the days of the old had prepared. The heralds were still answered, and they passed on to the gates the tidings of the Lord. '_Farewell, Frodo_, he said, yet the Lord of the Mark had not come yet. But of hope it was, when his glory was slowly ended and his household filled with his knights came again all that he could command them to accomplish. 'But now Faramir has come again, and he seems bent now to the decision of the Ring-bearer. He sends word to some of the household that he is on the road to war, and it is likely to be brief; for they should not know that the Ring-bearer is now in peril as long as he is not with them. 'The Lord of Minas Tirith will soon have a great need. He has been sent forth with news of the danger that has arisen. It will be his task to wait upon the Lord and his servants before he descends into Minas Tirith.' At once the cavalry came forward. They were well manned. The men of the cavalry had the speed of many small beasts, and they rode at quick pace, though they were divided in two. The first was all that they had need of, kept well away from the rabble of the Haradrim, and amid all the clamour of the tents and pavilions. The rest were many companies of men that had passed into peril on the come of the Lord of the Mark. As soon as the first light of morning came the whole company halted before the citadel. 'Farewell, Frodo_, this is the last word in my summons,' said Faramir. 'Do not delay! In such a hour as this, I do not think that I shall hear it again. I sh ======And the sun was already sinking when we came to, and the dark ranks of the Riders were removed. We then marched on again, until we were just beyond the havens of Osgiliath.' `And then we went on for many miles,' said Aragorn, `and we came not to the Fords of Isen but to a place called Mount Doom. Doom is the defeat of a great foe, and it is not uncommon for a foe to come to the Fords of Isen, and so come ever northwards to the Doom of Gondor. But the Doom has been held for many years, and the Mountain of Doom is no longer empty, and men still fight there with renewed spirit and wit. `The road from Isengard to Isengard was long and treacherous; and over many long years many fissures and crevices had developed, and at times great cliffs and precipices had been raised upon the western side of the mountain, and behind them slopes and gullies were cut in which there were swallowed up and drowned. And the Dnedain of the West had gone on with great strength and skill and did not heed the perils that were on the road; and they crossed over the marshes and over the wide waste and did not look again. `The road now marched on for many miles south-west, and that is now called the Deep of Doom; for in the eastern half of the mountains there are great cliffs and great cliffs. And there in the Blackroot Forest there are many tunnels and great dark arches, and in the middle of these the Doom has been held. But in the Deep of Doom men still fight there, and they go to war with great strength. `The Men of Mordor now live in a great city upon the south-side of the mountains, called Osgiliath. There the Lord of the Men of that land do not dwell, and they fled before the Black Gate to avoid the Black Rider. They say that many of the Black Riders returned to the City and were answered by the Lord of the City and the Lady of Rohan. The Black Rider now rode from the gates and was lost. ` 'Had he not returned the Lord of the City would have been answerable to him, for he was a captain of great renown among the Westfold folk; and he would have brought messages to the kings, summoning them to the City. But the Lord of the City would have brought no message. And therefore the kings took him and sent him away, consulting all that was in his mind; for the Westfold folk of Gondor, for the long past, had been wholly ruined upon that road, and they would have been utterly routed. ` 'So the wrath of the Black Shadow fell on the City, and it was filled with fear and fury, and the City was utterly destroyed. The power of the King of the Mark fell with it, and he himself was filled with madness and sat in the White Tower. Then the gates of the City were hurled, and all the people fled before the light of the Sun. ` 'The Lady owyn, the fairer of the City, being in the House of Queen Lrien, sent some to aid the Lady owyn of the woods; but they were destroyed ere she could come forth. The Easterlings at least were not harmed, but the folk of Dunland and the men of the Westfold, who had the captive of the Lady of Rohan, were slain ere the light of the Sun could be seen. ` 'Then owyn, the fairer of the City, was borne in the last force to the gates; for owyn was the sister of the Lord of the City; and there she lay, and before her was a woman that men call Lady Annminen. And the Lady Annminen took her from the hythe of the Rock, and she was the fairest maiden of all the women of the Mark that dwell beyond the River, and they named her owyn of the woods. ' 'And she bore a seed to the men of the Westfold, and they bore it forth, and it grew strong in the soil, and the grass of the fields grew and the trees of the Marklands grew and were wellened and were filled with flowers. And in the plant of the seed the Queen Annminen gave the name of Annminen, meaning fair, and she alone of the City, and none but one, owyn of the woods, man of Gondor, could labour in the fields under the shadow of Mindolluin. ` 'When the Lady of the Wood and the ======All about the country, as old tales say, men and women once stood- children in bright mail clapping and tuss-tussing. But in the Shire now, there was little or no cheer, not even a whisper of it. There were too many children, and too many of them to go to the sporting- pony. 'The Frodo's,' said one, 'the only _gollum_ that was ever there was ever there, and he never came back. Only in the Shire now does his presence make any noise. All the same there is no hope of him. The old folk, as soon as the doors were shut, have often done a fine job with him. They have a mind to show him off at once, and then they will have to go off, if they want to. But he would have been welcome to come _away_ before the end of the fifth year, if they had had him there. 'The poor fellow is still in a deep hole, with a few narrow exits; but he can walk and talk and not worry about going up. I met him last night just outside the door, and I let him in. He has been a pleasant surprise. He has been a stranger in the Shire, and I have often wondered why he did not come and see me. But if he has the heart and the mind to come back, that is all that I can do. There is no hope of that anywhere else. The Enemy seems to have forgotten his danger, and will carry on with his old course. 'I am afraid that, if there is any hope that Frodo will come back, it is that he will not come.' 'Well, if that is the end of you all, then I have no longer any hope at all,' said Pippin. 'I have kept my companions, and I have kept my companions at bay, while the Enemy kept his hold on the Gates. If ever Gandalf comes back, he will be determined to crush us. He may come back with a full knowledge of all that has happened. But the Enemy holds all the keys, even the Secret Key. That is why I am hesitating now. I am hesitating.' Gandalf sat for a moment, looking from face to face, and seeming strangely pleased with himself. 'Well, I am going off at once,' he said. 'I have a long road ahead of me. I have a long road before me. I have come far already in the last few days. I must now go on, and there I shall have a chance to prove my courage. You shall see, of course, how I feel about this parting.' 'I feel very very sorry for you,' said Pippin. Gandalf went off at dawn. 'Well, farewell!' he cried. 'I am glad at last! But I cannot abide your parting. Even if you had given me a hundred invitations to go off each day, I would not have left you. I have begged you to come with me, and I have begged you to come willingly. If ever you come on without my leave, don't let me down! I am sorry, and I beg you not to do so again. But if ever it is allowed, you and I, you shall have the right to come back and face the same fate. That is why I am hesitating.' He turned to the old wizard. 'Come!' said Merry. 'We must go off at once, and that is not easy, if you are not careful.' Gandalf paused and then backed away. 'I am afraid you have not spoken enough for me,' said Pippin. 'Whatever your decision is, I am going to miss the chance of the journey,' answered Merry. 'And I am not going to leave you any uninvited guests. In these days of fear and uncertainty our relations with the Shire have become rather strained. All this year the Council has not been without its peculiar troubles, but this year it was no more. The birth of Frodo, and the passing of the Great Enemy, have brought us together in a Council of Men, and we will not forget them. 'Alas for you, Frodo, I cannot promise you that I will bless you or furnish you with any food or drink.' 'But I will bless you,' said Gandalf. Frodo ate a little alone, and then Gandalf went to the window and looked out. 'I wonder,' he said, 'if ======The traveller was sitting on a large rough bank and saw a wide grey- bordered circle. He guessed that the place was a city-circle, and not a circular one. It looked to him like the shape of a large red-brick house. `Where is that red brick?' he asked. 'In the centre of the circle; but here I think it is a house of some kind. It must be dark, if it is still dark after all.' `No, not still,' said Gandalf. `It is not still dark. All the time it is far below us. But still we must go this way or find somewhere else for Frodo.' `No! ' whispered Pippin. `We must go this way or find somewhere else. But this is the only way.' `How do you know? ' said Gandalf. `We have often used our eyes while we walked on the road when we were young. But do not you think we have all now lost our sight? Surely there is no clear image of the circle in which we stood?' `Indeed no, because it is not there,' said Pippin. `But some other light is stronger in Mirkwood than we seem. It is the light of the Ephel Dath that obtains the circle, because light is perceived when two things are at once, and when two things are in the same eye- ll_. That is why we have found it so easy to perceive the circle of the city of Gondor.' 'It was the light of the lamps that made my vision fail,' said Frodo, `but anyway I think I have no further need for this journey. I have since had a brief rest, partly to pay respect to the day's work, and partly because I had now a mind more inclined to explore the lore of the Shire. I have been content with this, since we parted. But since I have come to the end of the Great River, and the great River is no longer constantly flowing through my land, I have no longer any notion of where it is running or running back.' 'Well, that is a strange way of looking it,' said the hobbit. `I wonder if I am as bent as I suppose. If indeed there is a Great River running across the Shire, I shall not soon forget it. I may not even notice it till we are back down the Dimrill Dale.' `Well, that is the ending of the fabled story about the Riders of Nimrodel,' said Gandalf. `But it does not appear to have been the ending. If the Shire was ever the same in size and shape as it was before, then it must have become by the Power of Nimrodel, or so said the travellers. That name must have eluded them, for they knew nothing of the history of the Shire, or of its beginning.' `Then we have come to the end of the mists of Mirkwood,' said Frodo. `I guess that the Three Rings were parted long ago. How did I get here?' 'Well, the first thing that I have thought of is the way out to the Great River. I suppose it is not yet certain that the way to the river is already laid out in this book, though I think I have already said the true way. The road is not far before it reaches the boats and barges that were used in that district. 'Last of all I must say that I am sorry to have left this book in the hands of the strangers. I have learned in Rivendell that many strange folk dwell there, but I have never heard of any such folk. What is the way to the river? I have heard the legend that there is a stream beyond the mountains, as Bilbo said; but I have never seen it. I have come to say that I came because I was desirous of discovering the way, and I was desirous of being told the true tale. It is a strange tale, and I have heard strange tales before. I have heard tales that told that the forest grew, and that the Elves dwelt there; and others besides, strange as they seem to one in the wizard's mind, that have indeed been discovered. But I have heard nothing since. `I have heard of wings, and oars, and the sound of horses; and I have heard of living things, and of things far away, and of things far away and still far away, and of things that are not all there are. And I have heard many things ======'Farewell!' said Legolas. 'I do not rightly ask you to go to bed before me. But maybe you can see that it is impossible for me to tell whether the Riders of Rohan can now see us or not. You need not press yourself on the road with your heavy hands. You will have to press for a while, I think, and make haste. I fear that we shall find that the road beyond the Hold is narrow, and we shall have to climb it. On your road do I perceive many signs.' Gimli gathered up all the things that could be shown by visible light: arrows; rings of stone; flint and tinder; woollen hose; bookhelved lamp; book; cups; plates; cups; bowls; utensils; cups and pans; pans and cups; bottles; and finally, bowls and pans of various kinds. 'I must go on,' said Gandalf. 'I shall not stop now. The road to Bree is narrow and narrow-sided. But it is possible to take the Ring- bearer from the Enemy, who has taken his attack in the Hold, and so close beside us. There is a road, of course, that goes through the Hold, and there on it we could find the Horn-road, if we wish to cross that road. There are other roads that go away west, to Lothlrien or to Rivendell.' 'I still do not see why we should venture on them,' said Aragorn. 'We should not risk becoming embroiled in the affair that the Enemy has done you little good. You have no courage, Aragorn. Do you think the Ring-bearer could have been better advised? Your courage is not wasted. You will need all the help you can find, and mightilyrages too, if you want them. It is not until you want them, that you really need the Ring: it is your fate to decide which is more dear to you. Will you, Gimli! will decide which road we must take? Or will you not? This is not the last road, though I may choose otherwise.' 'You may choose! You may choose! But beware!' cried Sam. 'We need no persuasion. We have reached the Hold and are within within the hills. If we choose this road, you will have chosen other choices too. For you may have seen Mordor depart from this land, and the terror of its fall, and the light of its rising will be less in the years to come. And so we must choose. Farewell! You may have an ending.'

There was a silence. At last they made up their minds, and went on with their breathless journeys. There had been little speech or discussion among the Company about the fate of the Ring, and how it should be brought to Mordor, whether it should be cast out, destroyed, or destroyed itself. There were, however, some who held that the Ring should instead be preserved, for good or ill. This view held that Mordor should be overthrown, if the Enemy could not come to its end by force or by some other means. The meaning of the word 'endured', however, remained obscure to the conspirators, and they did not feel inclined to use it in any possible way. The Company now turned their eyes northwards and the land eastwards. It was not until they were riding on a high wind and keen rain that they noticed the change. The Nazgl had come back. Their horses were no longer drawn more than usual, but they were no longer hindered by their horses' hindlegs. The ground was softer and more yielding. The ground had become much loftier, and they now had toiled less and less. The ground below them was now as straight as it had long been dry, and they could now see far ahead in the direction of the river. The Nazgl had gone north, and now rode about the borders of the wood, and the land eastwards. 'This is wonderful!' said omer. 'The woods seem to have become closer and closer. It is a strange feeling to journey down that road and not be able to see the stream before your feet, or the tree before you see the meadows and grasses.' 'I have never seen or heard of the Ring before!' said Gimli. The others looked at him in wonder. 'I have seen and heard, Lord of the Rings,' he sighed. 'But I have never seen or seen any creature of this race live or breathe living air. I have long known nothing of the Ring, but now I have seen and heard all that there is ======To the horror of those who stood by, Frodo saw how pale and sickly the hobbits looked, as they stared blankly out of the window of Nan Curunr, a poor inn on the slopes of the mountains. There they lay for a while. Sam had begged to be let alone; but he and Merry had taken no notice of the sickening creatures: few, but dreadful. There was a great rent in their minds which they could not account for. 'Can't you see the stench?' he said to Butterbur. 'That is a great stench. It came out of the Bonfire Glade this morning, when the guards went out to drink the draughts.' 'I can't see a hole,' said the landlord; 'but I can't make a hole in the wall. It's not above the ground. We have taken a step too far, and we've left a long sword-leg within the crack of the arches. The keystone is right on top of the arches. I'd cut a deep trench in the rock-wall first, and then cut the keystone down to the size of a pinion of chalky peas, if I could spare a minute.' 'But we don't cut new ground for trenching, do we?' asked Frodo. 'Indeed not,' said the landlord, 'and not for trenching. But I'll cut some fresh grass for the beds. And I'll make a fire, if I can spare a minute and find another way to cook it. I'll put some fern and new twigs and dry stone together.' 'Yes, I'll make a fire,' said Butterbur. 'And I hope it will be hot enough to cook the ashes of the feast.' 'Yes, you shall make a fire!' cried Frodo. 'And I shall try not to think of it yet. But if it isn't going to be hot enough, I don't want me to. I want to think about it. I want to think of all the things we have been doing, and the things that we shall have to think about, since the day when we started this feast. And I do not want to have left the place, either, quite alone, when we started on this feast-and I don't want to think about that now. 'And now I want to think of my next move, Mr. Frodo. What shall I do, and what shall I say?' cried Sam. 'I suppose you can say, Frodo, that you don't know yet,' said Frodo. 'I should have guessed that you did not. But the time presses.' 'Ah! Now that is a weary way out,' said Butterbur. 'But I don't know what to do. And if I were you, I should have just wakened the hobbits and gone to sleep. In that hour I should have judged that you had not only mastered the art of fire, but possessed the powers of both darkness and light too. You would have set out with me now. But you would still have known what to do. There is only one thing that I could have done in haste: I should have waited and waited, until we had ridden off to the raising of the bier. 'But I would have known better, I think, than I do now.' He paused, and then spoke in a low voice, like one in which a simple command could have a profound effect on the minds of those who listened. 'Well, that is but a beginning,' he said. 'Now it is long past midnight, and the chattering and snivelling clouds are growing longer, and the light is beginning to fail. We have been too far away to see the sunrise and the pale grey of the morning. 'But if we go on, we shall have time to cool ourselves. We have been too uncertain, and too uncertain enough, in the dark. We must begin to think. Let us think first of our next move.' 'Peace! ' said Frodo, and went out into the gloom. The watches on the walls did not go off without a fight. Sam and Pippin watched with approval the advancing efforts of the Northern forces. But the Northern menace had advanced slowly and steadily, and in the midst of silence the hobbits had been overtaken by the moving of a great horseman, but which way the assault would take. Not that the hobbits had expected to hear of the coming of the great rider of old, the horse of old, coming suddenly from behind ======It began with a hideous cry: _Hoaryfa! Hoaryfa! Hoaryfa!_ and ended with a hideous thud: the first horn-blast, the last hewn step, by which Sauron had slung the Ring-bearer in his evil hands. Sam had no words to express his horror. `You can't be sure, Mr. Frodo! ' he said, and then for once regretted his foolishness and cast doubt in his heart. `You should have known better than I. And I suppose you should have: I hope that'd been the end'd end of this affair. But I suppose I'd been more than I deserve. You've taken so long and this has got to be, you know, my fault.' Frodo laughed. `Well,' he said, `I wish I'd said something about ending it, or at least considering it.' 'Maybe not, Sam. I wish I'd said something. I wish I'd said something, or anyone else would've been asking me why I'm standing by and not snitching on them. I wish I'd told you; and I hope you'd' `Stop snitching! Stop snitching! ' shouted Pippin. Sam, already filled with a fury that was already growing, stood up. `Stop snitching! ' he shouted. `Stop the S.-B.s! The S.-B.-s should get rid of this fellow! He's a traitor! The S.-B.s should get rid of him. They're the worst! The worst spies in the Shire! They should get rid of him. And they're ruining the good fight. They're ruining the good fight. The S.-B.s should get rid of this fellow, and they'll kill him. They're killing him. They're ruining the good fight. They're ruining the good fight. The S.-B., they're traitors. They're traitors to the Shire. And he's a traitor to hobbitkind, to hobbitkind must fight. He's a traitor to hobbitkind. The S.-B., he's a traitor to hobbitkind. The Enemy's got it. They're traitors. The S.-B.s must get rid of him. The S.-B., he's a traitor to hobbitkind, to hobbitkind must fight. He's a traitor to hobbitkind. The S.-B., he's a traitor to hobbitkind. `We must get rid of this fellow,' said Frodo. `He's had some sort of trial, and he's had some sort of trial. But he's a traitor, and we can't let him go on like this. We must get rid of this fellow. He's had some sort of trial and he's had some sort of trial. Frodo, what's wrong? Whose? Frodo! ' `I don't know. I guess you don't know either,' answered Frodo. `I guess you don't know either, Mr. Frodo,' said Frodo, and he waved his hand towards Sam, who was staring into the wizard's mind. `Sam, I wish you could've come and done something with me; but I don't think you could've. I wish you'd stopped this silly chase. I hope you could've, Mr. Frodo. I hope you can't.' `Look! There's no time like the present, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. `And we might have done without the present. It's not here! But I wish I'd known!' 'Well, now, what can I do? I wish we could've got rid of him. I wish we could've got it back! ' 'What can I do? I wish I could've, Mr. Frodo. But we've got to get it back. Something must've happened. Something must've happened. Something must've happened. Sam, you should've known better than I. It's a pity you didn't. It's a pity your master didn't know better. Anyway, I hope we can't get rid of him, Mr. Frodo. He's a dangerous fool, and the worst fool in the Shire. But I won't deny that it's possible. But I think we'd best do it now.' 'It's not, Sam,' Frodo said. `But it's not, Mr. Frodo. It's not, it's not. You can't change the past, and the ======Speak and think, if you can!

_Chapter 3_ _To be or to lose, the closer the mark;_ and to what, to which to go?_ He did not answer. He looked at the stars, almost like a visitor to the sunlit garden. `Not all paths lead to the same road,' he muttered to himself. 'And not all the way there are the same ways. There are few paths that I have found that are straight, smooth, and easy to discover. I think I shall begin here in the highest degree of difficulty. But I have made this guide. The sooner I learn the better I shall desire it, the easier will be to accomplish my task. Do not foolish mortals doubt the worth of their steeds? Only the Elves knew how to deal with the menace of the Dark Lord and the orcs, if they knew how to deal with you. Do not take the Paths of the Dead for granted!_

The hobbits now turned their backs on the road. The eaves of the forest were closed, and they could hear many voices and sounds. There seemed to be some shouting and scuffling. `Do not go near the Cross-roads! ' said one. `We do not want to kill or wound you: that is not their business.' `We are all very very very afraid. But don't go too near. There are _a_ number of Elves here, and they are very courteous. You do not want to hurt any: not even a _creep_ into a tree. Come on now! ' said another. He turned to the road ahead. `I am afraid,' he said in a low voice, as if listening. `I have not had time to think. I do not know which way the Dead are following, but I have heard some strange noises in the wood. Yes, the Dead are following us: the first thing that comes to my mind is the way in. They have come for us, I guess. We have come for them, but we do not want to go any further. I guess that you know the road here all by yourself, Frodo. They are following us: not for us. But this is dangerous. You have not put out fire or burn out, but delayed the attack. You may have got away, but I expect you have not. I do not think that you will escape to the Forest, or _do_ want to go there. Yet you still ought to try, if you have got away. Be careful! ' `I am afraid of getting stuck with this ' said another. ` stuck with you? I thought I was going to die of thirst. I did not expect to get stuck with this. You have not given me the creeps, Frodo. That is just what I expected. You have not put out fire, have you? ' `No! ' said Frodo. `But I thought I had escaped to the right wing. I thought I had escaped to the wrong. And then I lost my temper. I refused to stay put. I was being hunted. I was being hunted! ' `Very well,' said Frodo. `But that did not stop us from going back into the wood as soon as the fire was up. And I wasn't beaten, either. I was not kicked or anything. I was knocked or something. I had my pony`s head on top of him when we came out of the wood, and I was just going to bolt him as quick as I could on the way back.' `And you, Frodo, he did manage to get away, by some wild chance though I never quite made it to that point myself. He got away and did not trouble about again. This is just what I expected,' said Sam. `You certainly did not expect to see me with my pony at my tail,' said Frodo. 'All right, I'll give you the green light.' 'No, no, not yet Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. `You will get him, Sam, as quick as you can make it, Mr. Frodo, and then you will be free. We will put the finishing touches to the plans for the next few days, as soon as I have time. But he deserves a reward, I think. I think he can at least go walking-on with the Ring and get it back. We ======All right. I'm going on now. You'll find Frodo by the first of March, or as I call it: free work. I'll make you free to go where you wish, without any explanation. And you'll have the chance to choose between them, Mr. Frodo, if you like. You can choose between being chased for six months by a great terror and being free for nine. I've no doubt you'll like both, but I want you to choose I suppose, rather than choosing between them." 'Did you hear that, my lad? ' Frodo interrupted. 'Well did I not say that I thought it would be interesting. If you want to know what I mean, Mr. Frodo, I mean: _writing your own book_, and asking for your own answer_, without any explanation. Not that I like being told, or anything. But I have thought of something that might be of interest to you. And I've thought of something that I should like to hear about it. I wonder where it comes from.' 'I wonder,' said Frodo. 'But I don't really care: if it wasn't me, I shouldn't care. I'm going on with my life, and I hope to do as I always intended. But I won't make any more promises. I want to make sure it's true. I want to make sure the people of Bree haven't been tormenting and bullying me and trying to kill me, and that there's no more history of the Shire as they say. There's no more history now! ' Frodo opened his mouth in a dig without a sound, even when Pippin was speaking. He was trying to sound cheerful, and when he did so he seemed a little troubled. But at any rate his mind was clearer in the day. There were now no snarling or cursing, but rather a great deal of care was taken not to let any shadow of fear hold them against the truth: that the Ring had indeed been found. Indeed in spite of all efforts many people had believed it to be so. There had been rumours of a Conspiracy of Men, or even of rumours that Frodo had indeed seen the old master; but very foolishly and fearlessly they had kept the Ring secret for too long. 'I think it would be well enough told now,' said Pippin. 'Let me see. What of the conspiracy? Have they all been trying to kill me?' 'No!' cried Frodo audibly. 'I think they have; and I think I know what I'm doing. But why? Why didn't they give me the Ring? Why didn't they let me take a look and see? Why didn't they tell me the answer? Why didn't they speak to me? Why didn't they sing? Why didn't they cry?' 'They have!' cried Pippin. 'That's what they say, they won't. They won't!' 'They won't answer! I can hear them singing now. I can hear them singing!' 'And why couldn't they? Why didn't they stop? Why didn't they yell?' 'They won't answer!' cried Pippin. 'Why don't they answer the others? Why didn't they run away? Why didn't they lay there and wait for me to speak? Why didn't they let me look? Why didn't they look? Why didn't they cry?' 'They won't answer!' cried Frodo. 'They won't answer! Why didn't they run away?' 'Why didn't they? Why didn't they?' 'Because they are too timid, too quick to hurt me. They don't bark.' 'They won't answer!' 'Well, they won't, if they are terrified of me. They are too timid. They don't run, they don't go running like frightened rabbits. They sit still, and they don't move, and when I spoke to them I told them: "This is an ancient Enemy, and they are very frightened of what I am doing. But if you want to know, they say: "he is very glad of your going free: for he gave him all the information about the Ring. But he is very slow to answer: he says: "I think this is an old Enemy." But he says: "is this a lie, or a trick?" "Yes." he says; "or "yes." Frodo says: "is this a warning or a trap." ======OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of intake of either water or malt liquor on the levels of blood lipids and lipoproteins in relation to the changes in risk factors for stroke in older men.

SUGGEST: This was a double-blind, cross-over study, in which a sample of 2,184 men aged between 20 and 64 years at the nearest living standard were screened for cardiovascular risk. For each trial, we followed the same design as for the double-nedication study, in which 1,091 men were screened for body mass index (BMI), and a standardised question-and-answer scale; and a question-and-answer sheet with brief summaries of the main questions and the main questions about themselves and their eating and drinking. The Men's Health Questionnaire was used to measure body mass index (BMI) across all living men. There was no significant difference in the levels of homoeopathies or in the levels of homocysteines or in the levels of lipoproteins between the two groups.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: This double-blind, cross-over study was carried out at the nearest living standard, by reference to the Livingstone and Stonewall dates, 1936. We followed a sample of 2,184 men for 6 months, stratified by the nearest living standard (Lengel, Heinefeld). The mean age of the men was 64 years (SD, 64). A total of 64 were screened for a range of risk factors, some of which had been found in the blood before the trial was begun. The Men's Health Questionnaire was used as the reference scale for all the Men's Health Questionnaire-II (MHC-II). It was completed by the last survey of the High and Poor in 1492 and was completed by the first survey in 1936. The Men's Health Questionnaire-II has since been amended to use the more recent scale, the Health Questionnaire-III, which is more recent (Leibniz, 1936). The Health Questionnaire-III has been replaced by the Health Questionnaire-IV, which uses the newer scale, the Health Questionnaire-V (Leibniz, 1936).

ALTERATIONS: All normal growth and growth-limiting growth was checked using Western blot (Bilbo, Brescia, England). The growth of Bifurcans and Senses was halved and their growth measured by staining the dark smooth growth plates with the I.D.I. of the Company. The growth of the testes was further amended by adding the Diphtheria to the Men's Health Questionnaire-II, which also included growth in the testes. The growth of the testes of the testes above and beyond the waist were counted as having been measured as normal at birth. The normal growth of the free-running ureters and testes was further amended by adding the Diphtheria to the Men's Health Questionnaire-III, which included growth in the testes. The growth of the testes of the testes above and beyond the waist were counted as having been measured as growing normal at birth.

RESULTS: The mean age of the study subjects was 64 years (SD, 64). The mean age of the men was 62 years (SD, 64). The mean age of the women was 64 years (SD, 64). All the risk factors for stroke were considered before the trial was begun. The risk for all three risk groups was greater in the risk month of March than in the risk month of March only (P = 0.03). The risk for the Diphtheria was greater in the risk month of March than in the risk month of March only (P = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: The present trial showed that the intake of water and malt liquor during the trial was safe and well tolerated, and that in older men the risk of stroke was lower than in those who did not drink or smoke a very often. The risk for the Senses was lower in older men than in those who did not drink and smoke a very often (P < 0.01). The present trial does not prove more or less certain that the intake of water and malt liquor during the trial was safe and well tolerated, but it does not prove that the risk for the eyes and the upper back was unchanged during the trial; this may be explained by the Men's Health and Wellness Questionnaire-II (MHC-II). Further work is needed to test this point.

Copyright © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. This work may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<|endoftext|>The City of Barrow and Tuckborough now offer a wide selection of welcome guests, from small and mid-sized companies to ======The morning after Isengard the air was still, warm and full, and there was much singing and talking in the high halls. Frodo and Sam were now standing under the arch of the Orthanc here called by the hobbit- house. Frodo was singing softly, but the sound of his voice was high and commanding. Frodo spoke to Gollum, and the hobbit stirred in his sleep; for he heard many words spoken by different voices in the hall. `What about the Entwives? Who are they, and where do they come from? ' asked Sam anxiously. Gollum did not answer. `They are Ents,' he said. `And they come seldom, as I have not seen them do. But I have seen them, and they seem to me now to be more than a family of legend: families that have come before, that have grown after the world was small and was ended. I thought long about it. But the Entwives were more than a legend, a feeling, a feeling of belonging. They were not mere Ents, unknown beyond this world. They belonged to many families, and all living things. They were Ents of the City and the Outlands and others, to be sure, but only few and far between. 'Are they, and what are they? ' asked Sam anxiously. Gollum did not answer. `Yes,' he said. `They are not Ents, yet, but Men, once upon a time. They know now all the signs: the fall of the world, the fall of the Entwives, the fall of the Ring. They say that the Ring is dead, but the fall of the world was foreseen, and it will fall again. The Ents made the ring in the beginning of time, and the fall of the world they know not. The mortal races, and the power of the Eldest too, they say. The servants of the Eldest lie still in the shadows, in the shadows that are not seen. `And the Ring is not dead,' said Sam. `And not all lies still of old, or of old some have believed.' `Others still, Gollum,' interrupted Gollum, `believe that the Ring is still with us, still in our hands, still by our side, though it is far from the walls of Orthanc. Yet many still hold that there are other Ring-lains beyond the Gate, many still within the realm of Mordor. Not all who hold to the truth speak of the Ring; for some still hold that the Ring is lost, and some speak vainly of finding it. None of these two alone in the City can bring it back to rest. But in Mordor we must find. We must find the Ring. It must be found. There is no time for searching now. We must find the gatekeeper, Frodo, and find him. The time is long. But I think we shall have better hope than despair. `We must go to Orthanc. It is not far. It was made in the days of the Council, the Council of the Nazgl. A mighty company of the Rohirrim were at work there in the last days of the Third Age, and their work is still marred by the fainting of the road. Yet they entered the City in such haste that it was at the feet of their enemies only. `I would counsel my men to go to the northern gates, if they were still to be seen. There the road crosses the River, and east through the darkness the Black Breath. And the road goes on until the coming of the darkness. The Nazgl race will not pass the gates, and they may not enter the City. `The road they must take and the hour of their coming is not yet set. But on the one hand the Orcs of the West, they will have gathered in the City, and other powers, not too few now, will fear the way and suffer the wrath of the Dark Lord. On the other hand they will fight together, and the light of their victory will be revealed, and the Elves of the West, who have long kept secrecy in the City and have been overlooked by the evils of the orcs, shall see it. `And Gandalf shall see it, shall know it, and glory in it.' `The Dnadan shall see it and may judge it, for naught can he know of the Power and Precious, which he himself openly proclaims. `And all the Dwarves shall see it ======Dark is coming. The world is dark for a while now. The light fades. There will be no war. The Elves cannot see much, nor the Men can fly: they must fight to a dying war.' `And we cannot,' said Gandalf. `So long as the Dark Tower is still in Mordor. That battle must now be won. The road, which none can see, must be taken, but only when there is power in the land. And if the Enemy has not yet reached the Fords, then the vanquished race must seek new strength, and the East must play host to the One Enemy. The Enemy has not yet come to the Fords. Therefore, if the time comes when the Elves of Mordor, seeking a new home, must govern the wild peoples of this world, then the Elves of the West must also be destroyed. That is war, I fear. I fear also that the time is drawing near. Now the Elves of the West must be overthrown, as Saruman did, or else the land will become a desert. This I fear. 'I fear then that the time is drawing near. And I fear also that the Eye of the Enemy is closing in. And I fear too that the time is passing. For as the Dark Lord has already done, so we must all perish, I fear. And so, since we take this perilous road, we must fight to a dying fight, to a bitter defeat. A bitter defeat. Not a defeat for the Elves of Mordor, of course. For they have passed through a time of great prosperity and freedom. But they were not slaves in the eyes of the Enemy, as some of you may remember. They were free and prosperous for many long years before they were conquered. 'And the land that they conquered was not a time of freedom, but a time of darkness, a time of great fear and enmity. And those who defied the Enemy were overcome by the Nazgl, and those who defied the West. Then the Great Darkness fell and darkness returned to the Sea. And while the Elves of the West endured the darkness, the Dark Lord fought it, and the Dark Lord destroyed it, and the power of the White Hand that it gave to his servants. `And so the days of the Elves of the West are numbered, and the years of the Elven-wise are ended. The Elves of the West shall be dwindled, and the world be empty of living things, and the arts of the Elves shall be forgotten, and the arts of the West forgotten, and all things destroyed in the wars of the Great Darkness.'

Gandalf now raised his eyes above the mountains, and the shadows of the mountains, and at length they understood. The world was beginning to look bleak and desolate. `The world is beginning to look bleak and desolate indeed,' he said; `but the Elves of the West have not begun yet. For the world is growing. It is growing more violent and bitter, and there are still shrines and shrines to the dead, as shrines to fallen beasts and creatures, and the bitter fruit of years forgotten in the bitterness of the earth. And there are shrines to living things; and there there are still shrines to the living dead and the living, old and young, save where there is peace and safety: the Kindleries in the Wood of Eldamar in the northern glen. `And so the years of the Elves of the West shall be numbered, and the kingdoms of Elves shall be ended, and the arts of the Elves forgotten, and the arts of the West forgotten, and the world empty of living things.' `But this then is also a coroll of the Enemy and the Darkness,' said Aragorn, `but the beginning of all. Against the Darkness lies the existence of which you have been warned. `The Enemy is always on the look-out for those who have already been overtaken. Yet such overtaken there might be, I deem, if it were not for the words of Saruman. Few, Saruman, have been found that say the word 'Nazgl'; for the word is not found in the books of the Elven- kinges, but is found in the songs of Elrond, and in the songs of the Nazgl, and in the ancient ways of the Kings of Men. Few of these have come to Mordor and are still to this day the chief danger. For the Enemy has devised many devices to seize the Ring, and in the end it has worked towards Elrond and his White Rider. But Saruman is not in league with the Enemy; for he has devised against us, in ======He is not the only member of our Company who is feeling lonely.' `I don't think we need ask any more,' said Frodo. `I thought you had asked for _don't ask, grow old me, grow old me, until we are well used again. Age is a measure of how far we have come in the last few years, and it does not appear to have come to the last.' `I don't know,' said Frodo, `but I don't think you are saying that we are ever going to be used again. Something is amiss. I am not sure that I want to say to you: "Gollum, no, grow old me, please" or even "don't ask, grow old me, until we are well used again". I am sorry, Frodo, but these last few years have not been easy. It takes a great deal of courage for us to walk from hiding to hiding. I do not think we have all been as easily used as we should have been, if we had remained more in the dark. We might have been used much longer. But it is not our fault that we have fallen into this. We have had no help from outside. We have been told that the Black Gate will be closed for a week, and that we must stay there for several days. If we are going to stay there, we must go back to the Shire. That is not how I feel. We have been kept in the Shire since the great storm, and it has been a miserable prison. There is a great deal of distrust and hatred about us; but I do not think that we have been used as we ought. We have been kept safe, but there were certain points of view that were never openly discussed. We had become all like the other Folk of old, or the Three Dwarves. It was not until we had become like Faramir and Arwen that we were given the last word. ` "Don't ask, grow old me, please" I say. "For we have come far. Faramir and Arwen have come far. Yes, we come. Faramir and Arwen have come. Faramir and Arwen! " ` "Yes, we come. But only as we wish to. For we don't know yet what it will be like. And it is not our fault that we have fallen into this dreadful trap. We are all like the Three Dwarves. It was not until we had become Three Dyes: the Three Rings, as you may remember; and we were told that it was the day before every moon, and that the day before every day that was a day of fear. That was the day before every moon, and that was the day before every day that was a day of fear. ` "Yes, it is the day before every moon, and the day before every day that is a day of fear; and the Precious is precious "And the Three are mine," said Faramir. ` "Yes, it is the day before every Precious, and the day before every Saturday after dark; and the Precious is yours," said Frodo. ` "Yes, it is the day before every Saturday after dark after dark, and the Precious is yours," said Faramir. ` "Yes, it is the day before every Sunday after dark after dark, and the Precious is yours," said Frodo. ` "Yes, it is the day before every Monday after dark after dark, and the Precious is yours," said Frodo, "but it is not mine. It was stolen by Gandalf the Grey." ` "Gandalf," said Faramir, "you used to be a hobbit, but he is gone. How I hate you. Frodo, and all my best friends, I hate you, and I shan't get rid of you unless you give me a penny of your money. But that's not what I like. I like jewels. I like the look of jewels. and you and the way they strike me. I hate you, and I have always wanted them. I hate my precious. And I don't see why you should ever let me walk round the Shire, if you can." ` "Well, Mr. Frodo, I must be off for a bit "he began. "I'm off for a bit, for a bit. I must be off for a bit." ` "He," said Faramir, "said that Gand ======And now he was gone. _'Elenath, Elenath! Elanor, Elan the Wind-star, Elan the Moon!_ he cried, and the light in his white eyes flashed like a dart of lightning.

'Elenath, Elan the Wind-star!' exclaimed Frodo and Sam. 'Put it on! Put it on! Elan the Sun!_' The light on the white horse fell upon the pavement heavily burdened with other things than his burden. He threw himself forward on the grass, and as he did so he glanced, and then he saw that the white tracery had grown like grey driftwood, and the white coat was clad in a heavy hide. His cloak too was white, and gleamed with gold, and he put his hand to the hilt of his sword. He did not move. At that moment Frodo suddenly remembered his master. He could not see him. He seemed lost in thought, beyond the vision of the horse and the rider. He looked back. Suddenly he saw that the token upon which he was standing had been painted with an Elvish writing on the hood of the tracery, as follows: _Elenath, Elan the Wind-star!_ _Elenath, Elan the Wind-star!_ Then, as if recalling a dream, he turned and saw a figure riding in the morning; for the morning was already beginning when he rode into the light. At the foot of the pedestal before the pedestal (as it appeared to him) there was a small white stone standing. It was crooked and bare, but it had a white crown and a star in the centre. On it sat a white horse, standing seven; and beyond that was set in a great roof of white mirth and white mirthew, and the waxing moonlight, and the white crown of the white horse: white above and silver out of the windless sky, and a white star, like a white frost in the grass. Frodo looked at it. At the white frost he saw that the eyes of the horse were not blind but very bright, indeed more bright than all the rest of the mirth that had ever been seen in the world of waking. The white stone was itself glittering, and the Moon shone upon it, and it shone and was lifted up again and again. A merry company was on it, and the young woman that stood beside him was so filled with delight that she spoke aloud in her elven-speech. _'Elenath, Elan the Wind-star!'_ he cried. Then the Moon shone and the white stone was turned into a glitter and floated down again into the West. The company sat bowing to the Moon. And when they had sung this command the starlight was gone, and the moonlight glinted like golden rain on white grass; and the wind of the world changed into the sound of many hearts being stirred with a wind of fear and a rush of delight. For they saw now a country of men of splendour in a remote land, living in secret but very fair, and they were glad that the Lord of the Golden City was there, as he had been upon many a journey. For the Nazgl were men of the Eye, and they were many, for they were from among the people of Gondor, and they were mortal, save that the Nazgl were of the race of the strange race of the hoard that dwell within Fangorn. _'Elenath, Elan the Wind-star!'_ they said. And they were repeating this command from beginning to end. For what were they doing now? For it was Frodo who had spoken the first words of the command that the horse should not be left far behind; and then he mounted and rode forward, and with him the other horses of the Nine, and the greatest number, and then rode away. _'Elenath, Elan the Wind-star!'_ he cried. 'I do not wish to enter the City yet, and yet I know that this is the hour when I must depart. For the time is passing, and the Enemy is at hand.'

_Chapter 3_ The Siege of Gondor

The hobbits now went on with the morning-meal. Sam had ======Here it is again: the final stage of our quest. But it may be long delayed, as my counsel has not been met with.' 'No counsel, no day, no night, no day,' said Gandalf. 'The Enemy has already begun. He will devour us all before the end of days. But he may do what none of us dared: to devour everything that we had.' 'Come, Aragorn, do as I said!' cried Legolas. 'I do not ask you to do much. You have come only to seek help. But you are weary of your journey, and your road lies beginning or approaching more than you could wish. You must rest now, and sleep as you will, when I speak.' 'What do I need now?' said Gimli. 'I have come to ask you a few difficult questions, a while now. I will say only that I think the day of your attack was mended. The Enemy is on the way. He has taken down our bridge, or the gate and all the key parts, if you will. He has made some new towers and gates, but they are not strong. They are full of Orcs and wild Men and they are little help to us. The Orcs are not strong, for they are like trees to us, and we are weary. They are anxious to kill us and take us for their own. They have been sending out some news in the old west, and they have not been received. ' "The Enemy has been busy again," said Gandalf; but it is not likely to have been more than one messenger. There is something else that can be seen. The Orcs have been advancing far up the eastward slope of the hill. Their numbers are growing. They will not halt until we reach the mountain-mines, and they are not only very strong. They are very large, and they will soon have many of those as well. They are friendly with Saruman, and he commands a great part in their business. They are not very friendly with Elves, for they do not speak the Elven-speech. But since they have become so strong, they are likely to become very very strong. And Saruman is very cunning. He knows every word and tone. ' "If people speak the tongue of Orcs, what do they know? " said Boromir, as he drew near the borders of the horn of Durin. ' "The horn of Durin," said Gandalf. "And there is much that they know but do not know fully. For all Orcs are capable of knowing only vague information about things that they are not aware they make themselves, at will. If the Orcs have learned of our attack they will make war upon us, and they shall kill, if they can if they are strong enough and they can they will." ' "Then who are you, and what are you?" asked Aragorn. ' "I am Aragorn son of Arathorn," said Gandalf. "You are the servant of the Steward of the City of Gondor." ' "That is secret to me," said Aragorn. "He had many servants before I came, but he will never reveal them. But it is not likely to the Enemy that I know all the ways of the Enemy. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, and I am the Steward of the House of Eorl." ' "Then who are you, and what are you?" ' "I am Gondor-aldur, and that is longer," said Aragorn. "More amiable and courteous than many folk I know. I have governed the Hornburg for many long years, and have ever since become more friendly with you; for you know all that lies about the Hornburg, and the ways of Hornburg dwell far away. But I am not the Steward of the House of Eorl, nor do I claim the title of Steward. I have been in power since the days of Nimrodel, and have endured all wars and injuries that have ever been on the eastern borders of the realm. ' "Gondor," I say to you again, "I am the Lord of Gondor, and I hold the High Stewardhip, which is the office of the Third Duch, appointed by the King of Rohan." ' "I am the Third Duch," said Legolas; "and I hold the Third Stewardhip, which is Southron." ======And they would be the first to admit that there was something very rotten in the place at hand, a muddled mess wrought of shadows and ores, and foul fungus and foul fungus-devouring clouds. The Necromancer was not so sure. 'I have taken all the evil things that he has found and scattered them among the bodies of the unhappy,' he said. 'I have gathered together all the bones of the Orcs I could find, and the swords and the bowstrings of the swarthy Orcs I could find, and the bowstrings of the swarthy Orcs I could slay. There is no weapon that could match these. I have taken the body of the Nazgl and broken it, and the head and all its parts, and the head and its parts too, and put it in a boat and bring it to Rivendell. 'There I have found my spies, the foul-eyed Men of Rohan. They know every gleam and dart that has ever been made in the making of swords. They know every gleam and dart that has ever been made in the making of bowstrings; and they have gathered also all the bodies and parts of the hobbits. They have excavated mygaroth, mygarwood, the woods of the Shire, and the hollow in the hills; and these things I call Faramir's Sons. They have found mygar and broken it, and they have scattered all the bones, and I mean nothing by destroying it now but scattering it in the wastes. They have found the keys of mygar and broken it, as well. 'The Orcs are after me. They are after me. They have gone after me. They are after me! ' 'Well, well, they are after you,' growled Aragorn. 'And they have gone after their kinsman, the Witch-lord of Angmar. They are after him. They are the same with you. They are after you. And they will go after you, if Minas Morgul and the Black Gate are unmasked, and the bones of the Dwarves are discovered. Well, anyway they are following me. They are following you.' 'No, not exactly,' said Gimli. 'I'll take Aragorn as he will, whether I return or not.' 'And you as well,' said Aragorn. `It is a hundred miles and a hundred and fifty to Osgiliath, if Minas Morgul and the Black Gate have not been uncovered. I have got you all in a boat. Come on! You have won the race, and I shall have the pleasure of driving you all on my errand. But I must go down to meet you, and you must wait at Osgiliath. You are near, but not near enough.' `I do not know what you mean by 'near', I know only what you mean by _coming_ at any rate. I knew Bilbo and Gandalf together, when we were young, and they were together when we were both young enough; and I knew Aragorn long before he was found and driven out by the Dark Lord.' `What _did_you_say?' said Aragorn. `I don't know if I should have said _I came to Osgiliath_or not. I came to Osgiliath to seek adventure, and to meet the Halflings. This is the only road that I know, if I had left them alone in the wilderness. And I did not leave them alone; for they are mighty strange folk, and they are too few to have come far before the trip was made. But I came to find them besieged and broken; and I found them by force, for they were too few. And I found the way before the gate: wide and narrow, and long and narrow._ `That is very strange indeed,' said Gimli, 'and does not bode well for the other road. And it will be a marvel for all our hopes that we did not find ourselves in the hands of the Enemy ourselves! But at any rate they have proved too good to lose.' `We have proved too good,' said Legolas. `There are still many things that we cannot do at this time. But at Osgiliath we shall need armies, and we shall not be allowed to lay waste our roads, for we shall need them. I do not doubt that our victory over the Orcs of the Woods will be glorious, though we lose it for lost.' `You lost it, Gimli,' said Aragorn. `But you ======I like the sound of that. Perhaps we could have done without it for some time. We had not always been very close, when we had first come up here, and we don't see eye to eye ever since Bilbo left us. But I don't suppose that all that happened in Rivendell can be chalked up to him: I think it was the malice of the Elves that drove us back; or the Third Age. We had some luck up here. 'So I say to you, Bilbo Baggins, and all of you: we will not forget the fun that was, and still is, having us as guests. And we will keep to our word and keep our friends, as long as we have a roof over our heads and a chance of waking up the right kind of wizardry. And we will do what we can. And we will give this Ring to someone, and we mean it. It is a wonder that any wizard has ever found it, and that wonder was only discovered after the disaster that was suffered by Bilbo. We will give this to the One Ring to rule them all, if it will ever get to that. But to yourself, Mr. Baggins, and I, I hope that you will not keep it. And I ask that you never again use it or give it away again. And I ask that you leave it behind at all costs, so that I may look after it. And I ask that you never again use any of the Rings while we are away. And I ask also that you never again make use of any of the Three for any purpose, save Bilbo. I will look for some other way to use them: to use them in a talk, as I used to call it. I shall call Frodo and Samwise when we are no longer safe. And if you still insist on using the Three, I shall have your number and leave you to decide. And if you insist on using the Ring, I will give you twenty- four, and you twenty-seven, and bear them on your behalf, as long as I have another chance of returning to your land. For the present, of course, I am not doing any more for you. I am merely giving you a chance, so to speak. You have been warned. But come! Be careful! ' 'That was the end of the party, as I knew at first what I was going for. Alas for Frodo and Samwise I love! But I must have another crack at it, if there are any left. Gimli, I must give it to Sam, and we shall see! And Frodo, I must take this to Buck, and tell him how things have gone.' 'I think you should take the Ring to Strider,' said Strider. 'I am glad to hear that. But I can't keep the Bag. I have been too busy lately. If I had been idle, I could spend my time with you, Sam. Mr. Bilbo thought he was helping you out of trouble. He has been very useful to me, Mr. Frodo. It has all gone well so far.' 'Well, if you would like to know,' said Sam, 'I wish I could stop worrying about you and come to the point first. I wish you could go home and be yourself again, and follow me!' 'What about you?' said Strider sharply. 'I don't know,' said Sam. 'I don't like being called Strider. He seems always to have left me, even when I don't know why. I have a feeling that if I had been thinking of going home, I should have left the Ring, too. But I don't know why I did. I don't want to be called Strider. I don't trust any wizard, and I don't think there is much chance that any will trust me. I don't trust Mr. Bilbo. I think at any rate he is not going anywhere. He can't perhaps have much of a mind for himself, save as a matter of fact, since he has been so busy. And I mean really, Mr. Bilbo. He is not as busy as I thought he would be. And as for Mr. Frodo, he just vanished and I don't think he will ever see his way out of here. I mean, he may send for the best guide in the Shire, and he may send for the best gardener, and he may send for the best builder, and he may send for the best soldier, and he may send for a time when he can't help himself. But I don't think he will ever get far, and I think he will never be any closer. ======All plot thickens together with the full measure of a hundred leagues. The travellers must now be on the road, after all they have passed, for now all the more dangerous for the Enemy. On foot they will need to make a great escort to the rendezvous of the _mmakil_ and the _mmakil_-ladder; and that is at your coming. This I shall command. You had best wait here and learn what you ask, before you go any further.' Frodo made no answer to this demand, but his heart sank. Sam could not be sure of anything, but he guessed that he would not dare to bolt from the Company at any time, for fear of being tarried with Strider. 'Strider?' asked Frodo anxiously. `Yes, Mr. Frodo,' said Strider, a thin dark-haired air of grave unease in his face. `I am Mr. Bilbo the urchin. The third of beard and gaffer, and I must be as careful as I can. The Gaffer is a queer creature, and I don't like being called Mr. Baggins, at least not by me. He says I am full of grievances, but I don't really care, because I am not himself. And now I have a news-bit from the Brandybucks.' Frodo heard a sound in the distance. The place was getting ready for its meal. Old Mr. Bilbo was recovering nicely, and was now in high spirits. His new master was in a good way recorded in his diary. `I should like a drink of _mellow_, I supposes, in your good good good home, Frodo,' wrote Frodo. `I have indeed,' said Strider. `But I do not think I should like a single draught after supper, whether a meal or a drink. At least I do not think that it should be. But, of course, if there is a _lembas_ and a _lembas_ in the house in your good good good home, I think it must be between two pints or two.' Frodo was getting rather cold, but Strider was not going to let him sleep, and he took a few puffs from a cork. After that Frodo kept quiet, and did not tell any one about himself. He was very anxious lately, and thought that he was going to be attacked by Orcs and be killed by the time he got back to Bag End on the last Thursday of every month. But now he had to tell his master, and that was a very big news. 'What about the news that you and Bilbo are dead?' he asked. 'I have no news of it yet,' said Frodo. 'I am recovering well enough for a close meeting. But I really must have some, and Bilbo is the worst.' `And what about him?' `Bad news indeed! He is recovering well enough for a close meeting, and I am trying to persuade him. I knew he was going to be attacked, but I did not wish to get involved in it: that would take too long. I am afraid he does not want to.' `You do not want to? ' 'Yes, I think so. I think that it is very sad. But I think that any attempt to set out or set to will produce some result, somehow. He has proved himself no better than when he set off in the first place. I do not think that he will ever be as bad as in the first place, even if I put a spell on his mind. `But what about him now?' `He is still alive. I think that he is very sorry. He has a bit of _mellow_ still inside him. He has been reading a bit, and thinking a bit. But he is not as bad as when he came in this state. I think that he will have a chance of coming back: he will have a chance of coming out of this dreadful place. But he is not as bad as when he began. I think he will not. He is still very much alive.' `But what about him now?' `Yes, Mr. Frodo. And he is still alive; but he will still have a chance of escaping out of this cursed land. He is afraid of heights and things. If he comes out of this land alive, he will feel the fear and still be alive. ======You want to go to the end of the world, you mean? Well, come with me! I'd give you some food, if you would. And now I know what I want. I am tired. I don't know where I am. I am hungry. I don't know where I am going. I am going to Caligula. And the River is running low. It is a long way from the mountains. And I am too late. You can't help me. You'll have to leave me here for a while.' 'But why?' 'Because I don't want to go to the end of the world at all. And I know how to manage it. And I know the balance of forces. I don't want to leave you. And I know the right way to deal with them. And I know the right way to deal with them. It's my plan all along, Master Peregrin! But I've made up my mind. You can't abandon me, and leave me no longer. You must go!' 'But I don't want to,' said Pippin. 'And I know the right way. And I know the one thing that most of my friends and family and all the wide world outside of Caligula dislike. Baggins is going. He's leaving us. He's leaving us. I want to go with him.' 'Yes, you shall go with him,' said Gandalf. 'And I wish to speak to him and find some other way to say farewell.' 'I will, if I have the time,' said Pippin. 'You are leaving, too, Peregrin Took,' said Gandalf. 'It is well for you. It is only a short way of saying farewell.' 'I will, if I have the time,' puffed Pippin. 'I felt rather lonely last time I looked at you. I should have liked to see you again.' 'But I don't like being lonely,' said Gandalf. 'I don't like being alone. There is more than one way to go about things. I should have liked to see you again, or we could have sat by the banks and talked. But I don't think we will get there. What shall we do with you, Peregrin Took?' 'I don't know,' said Pippin. 'I suppose that Gandalf will say no to us.' 'Well, we don't know, I hear,' said Gandalf. 'But what may be the meaning of your proposal, Pippin, if you could only tell me?' 'I don't know,' Pippin answered. 'Well, if you were ready and willing before today, I should have said yes. But that is just what I like to hear, Pippin. I do not want to be _told what to do_, even when I know what I want to do. It is just what I want to hear, Pippin, if you understand me.' 'I do, Pippin,' said Gandalf. 'I think I shall have a good talk with you later. But I do not think that the Ring of Power is as old as I thought, and I do not think that it was ever made. I do not think that the Dark Power was ever present, or that it was ever present when I was young, and if it is old I think very long on, very long on. I think the Dark Power has for a long while been slipping away. I think that I shall have a good talk with you later. But I am afraid that I am afraid. I do not think that the Dark Power is as old as I thought. I think that the Power was present when I was young, and I think that it is still possessed the mind of many evil Men and of some of my Enemy's Men. I think that if the time comes when the West should withdraw itself, that it will begin to erode that Power, I think that the time is now ripe. But that is but a stage on which the Road goes downhill, and the Enemy is poised against the peak of his road and the Darkness is poised in its shadows. So I fear that for this time we shall need much more than words to persuade the Wise Men of the worth of the Road. Things may wait and grow dark, and things may go wrong. Things may get long and dark. And such is the way of the Years. Things may get to a point where they cannot wait and grow dark; and as long as things go well, things are going ======'That's good!' said Frodo. 'I thought I was going to die today.' 'Well, I shall not. But I shall sit and think, and perhaps go on and on about. There is Elrond in trouble. I have come back, as you might say, to talk the old master of Mirkwood; and I think that here is some secret that he will not dare to share. Your tale must be told. He may have some quarrel with Gandalf. He may have some hurt. But it is not his fault. Gandalf sent me to see what I could make for him. In Saruman's stead I have got something that I have wanted for a long while. I think I shall tell you what it is.' Frodo did not say much. He had an idea. He had heard rumours of an agreement between him and Gandalf to write a story for him; but he had not much hope. If Gandalf would not agree to such things, what might be the possible result of Gandalf's delaying us? 'I have some guesses,' said Frodo. 'One could even make a _peril_ by guessing the answer to the first question. Something as a _hinder_ of the words would perhaps achieve our end: to render useless the advice of Gandalf, until it is no more altogether bad.' 'Your guess is all that and more,' said Gandalf. 'But I am uncertain of them, and what I guess may be true or false. You may have other guesses. Look at the words. They say _escape_ and _alive_ in Elrond's Speech. The word _escape_ seems only to mean "to pass". In Elrond's country it is not spoken, but is the rule that neither _nor_ nor "go". The word _go_ means "to pass", and _lose_. It means "to lose". And _lose_ seems to mean "to fail, as if things could not possibly get on. It seems unlikely that any Dwarf could ever get on, or acquire _or_ _have_ been _a_ _hinder_. I mean, _lose_ might mean to fail, as _mundane_ does; or _sorrowful_ might mean to succeed. What _lose_ means is that Elrond failed, and Gandalf. The Dwarves. they cannot ever have succeeded, and they cannot ever be sure of success. If Elrond failed, what then? To fail in the end? The Elves could not ever come to an agreement. They would need an heir. A _hinder_ would not: they would not be able to part with it. '_Elbereth_. The dwarf-lord, of course, had power to grant. Of old he had been more careful in his dealings with Dwarves, and he had paid a high price. But this one was not ready for such a trial. He could not be sure that the matter would not come to his heir's door, or that he would not soon come himself. And what of the Dwarf- architecture? Elrond was in many ways a father and grandfather of Dwarves, and of Elvenings, and a staunch learner of all the creeds of the Elder Days. Yet in the meantime the minds of Dwarves were troubled, and the arts of their masters faltered. Elrond was content to let the matter rest, and when he was asked anew in the Shire by Gandalf if he thought the matter of so great import, he said: "No, not yet. I am still in the dark days. It is no good saying any more concerning yourself. You have had only a brief glimpse of what is to come." 'The hobbits,' he added, 'have no names.' 'Well, no, not until you have seen me.' 'I am Faramir, Master Imrahil. I am Master Elrond.' 'And it is said that you have not told him? ' 'No.' 'Then what shall I do? ' 'I would beg you. I have done so. But I should like to see Elrond himself. I wish I could see him, or hear him tell it, before he despairs of me.' 'What? ' 'That is what he feared: that I should see him. And he feared it, and he would fear it also. He is not afraid: he has become so, at last. It is only ======About This Game

News and stories from around the world, from the Red Bull Ring to the collapse of Raritan's tallest tower, were released today in an astonishingly moving and touching speech by Mr. Took. He spoke in full, whether in the Westfarthing, Oldham, Hornburg, Hornburg, Hornburg City, Hornburg, Hornburg, Hornburg, Hornburg, Hornburg and Hornburg-on-Tallness; and in the Shire, Oldham, Hornburg-upon- Thurburg, and Bree, and Gandalf, Lord of the Nazgl, spoke.

Also read: The Road to the Red Bull

The Road to the Red Bull The Road to the Red Bull To celebrate this amazing speech, which was written and drawn by Mr. Took, here is a selection of it: North by South, east, and south-west, the Red Bull has long been seen. In the Shire it has done little to dispel the shadow of the Black Thursday auction, when nearly all the top floor of the Shire was sold and all the remaining shares were dissolved. There was much press such as have been written all about the sale of the Red Bull. It is said that the true price of the Bull, as reported by the leading stock brokers, is now from ten thousand five hundred and thirty-seven dollars. The Road to the Red Bull The Road to the Red Bull begins at the high street on the East-gate of the Shire. On the lower terrace a large red brick building is standing. On the top there is a large upturned shingle-bottle, that hung from a tree-iplelled with iron bars. The windows and doors of the inn are boarded up and stained; but the windows still showed the view. On the morning of the second day of the sale a man came out of the gate and showed a black stubby stubble, and said that he was selling beer in the Shire. 'I am selling ' said the old man in the guise of a hobbit. 'Your business begins at the Red Bull Gate, Mr. Took,' replied the landlord. 'Where can I find the Ring?' On the second day of the business the landlord at once called for a hobbit, and the hobbit came in at once. A young hobbit named Sam Gamgee was at the window. 'I am sorry to interrupt, but how is this done?' asked the young hobbit. 'Well, first you need get in touch with me,' said the landlord. 'I am Mr. Baggins; but you may call me Mr. Took, if you wish.' When the hobbit arrived at the Shire he offered to drink his fill; but if the customer did not mind long to deal with him. 'I have given him a small allowance,' said the landlord, 'but I cannot afford it. I beg you to take some of the profits you may have; for Mr. Took is a remarkable person, and I do not often see him.' When the hobbit was satisfied that he was selling beer, he made a deal with the landlord. If the customer paid him at the door, his offer would be to leave Bag End and settle for an additional fifty shillings. This offer Sam made to the landlord at once; but he made no answer. In any case, Sam was not in any hurry to deal with Mr. Baggins at the time when he left Hobbiton. In that case he would have been more willing to stay by the barrow at Bag End, and might not have had so obstinately pursued the business of his landlord. When the customer accepted the settlement he was desperate. He demanded a servant, but he did not pay till the afternoon. At the barrow he kept the customer, and waited for his turn. When the barrow was dug he called for Mr. Baggins. 'Mr. Baggins,' he said, 'you don't know my name, do you?' 'Yes,' said the landlord, 'I do. I am Mr. Bilbo the Took. I am the Master of Gondor. The Took shall appear at the latest, if ever he returns. But as for your name, Mr. Baggins, I saw him grow old at last. I wish he would not change it. I will take the old mark, if he does not like my old mark now, Mr. Took, and he will tell you why. I have changed my mind. It is not my mark. I will go on living here, if it suits me. But I will leave all such matters to ======1.1.1. The new page's worth of information: The Longbottom by the Water, Newbury, and Old Wyandred, and Oldbury and Bywater, and Oldbury and Bywater, and Brandy Hall, and Brandy Hall, and Brandy Hall, and Brandy Hill. The Old Forest and the Greenway by the Greenway, Oldbury, and Bywater, and Bywater, and Byford, and Bygate, and Bygate, and Bygate-by-the-20th, and Bygate By-way. The Old Forest and the Woodlawn by the Woodlawn, Oldbury, and Bywater, and Bywater, and Byford, and Bygate-by-the-21st, and Bygate By-way. The Greenway and the Old Forest, and the Old Forest and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Old Forest, and the Greenway, and the Old Forest, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, and the Greenway in the Old Forest, and the Greenway, and the Greenway, in the Shire-lands, and in the Old Forest and the Greenway. It was said that the memory of Bilbo had been of a Hobbit, but his real name was Gollum, and he was an old friend of Bilbo; for he was the first to discover that his new journey had turned out to be a lie. 'What did you find there?' Frodo asked, pointing to the place where Bilbo had lain. Bilbo's grave had been lain there, and the hobbit guessed that it had been overrun by Orcs. He then remembered that Gandalf had told him that Orcs were inclined to hide in well- meaning companionship-if they were indeed truly friends-by choice and not because of any deep or lasting mistrust of the Orcs themselves. 'It is near and dear to me,' he said, 'that in Rivendell there lived at least once a long and secret friendship for the good keeping of Frodo, though he was never personally acquainted with it. I see that you have asked for further information, and I have not been able to obtain it. But I beg you to keep this matter secret, and secrecy from me until the end of time. Do you still wish to seek help? It is now certain that you do not know the answer to your first question. For it would be rash to attempt to cure or to cure disease, in the time at least of long practice. In that case the sooner the better.' `I understand,' said Frodo, 'but not in the old way,' he said haltingly, giving no more heed to it than he could. At length Gollum spoke again, this time halting a little. 'I understand,' he said, 'that the first step is toward the destruction of the powers of the Barrow-downs. But I do not suspect that you know the full truth about that yet. And do not venture to guess of what it is, unless of allies. I am a friend of counsel, and I have been a friend of my master since the days of his old age. Indeed I know much that he does not know, and yet I do not think that he knows all that he seeks. We met at last in the great vale and spoke together for many hours, and I remember more things that he had than you know. I hope that at last we shall meet again.' Frodo looked at him, and Sam was surprised to see how much he had changed in the days since his meeting with Bilbo. He had a good deal of satisfaction. He had often felt that he was a rebel, and more authority was needed than ever; but he had found that in Bilbo he could now be more direct and direct. He was not always so, and always the old oratorical voice had been more resolute and resolute in his questioning. Now he was less resolute and more ambiguous. He wondered how things were under the Mountain, and how things were going on with the Orcs. He had a strange way of answering questions. For one thing, there was no doubt about the orc-host at that time: it was a threat, and it had been ======A week of waiting, and a week of refusing; and then we all packed up and left the Shire. We dreaded to return, or so we thought ourselves, to find that Gandalf had indeed been away. But if that was a summons, we had never heard of it before. So we made an incurable wound on our forehead and ate a little; and when we woke up again we found that Gandalf had turned up indeed. The fever had passed but the scars still showed at the edges. 'I think, perhaps, that there is some hope that the letter will prove useful, in case you are still abroad after today's restlessness. I have already begun to think that we should send it back, in token of our welcome.' `Then what shall we do now? ' asked Frodo. `We don't know what we shall do.' `I do not know,' said Gandalf, 'or I would not wish to think so. Indeed I do not wish to think at all. Though if we had all travelled together, it would be a marvel if we did not see one of you again. A dangerous journey, in a way; yet a marvel nonetheless. Such a journey would not be worth much to you, or to your city and to all that it has meant to you. 'As for me, I will go with you: to Minas Tirith, or perhaps to whatever dark house some others may lead. Yet I fear that in the end I shall never see the day, or the city, if all the men of Minas Tirith do not see me before their doors. I fear then that I shall die, and in that hour the end will come too late, if the Three are indeed at hand. 'I will go with you: for it is a long road, and you may yet at the least receive counsels of Elrond, and the advice of your own wisdom. And I to my house, and if need be, to my city: if even that is too late, for the end of the world. 'Come! ' cried Gandalf. `If we have not spoken of this journey, it will not be long now. You may now hear the end of the world, but not before; and the end may come long ere you see me.' `Then maybe we shall see, Gandalf! ' cried Sam, hardly able to make out the words. `Yes, we shall see,' he said to Frodo. `I have spoken enough. I would not go into Minas Tirith, if it were not for the counsel of Elrond. But at least I have not lost my wits. This journey must be made, and I must make sure that it is no mistake. I am no brigand; nor have I ever been a captain of men upon horses. If I should be chosen and made a mistake, it would be a defeat to the men of the Shire. However, I have learned that you are a counsellor and not a messenger of war. Your task is to prepare for battle, and it is my task to prepare for victory. `I have ridden on many wings, yet on this I have never lost. Thus I have prepared for battle, and I have prepared for victory for many years; and the only hope is that I have not lost myself in folly or rashness. I shall not give up hope. I will fight, and I will fight in haste; for I am going on the road for the line of Elrond, and I will fight to victory. And if I must fight, I will fight because of the counsel that I have heard. Therefore I thank you, but in token of my victory, for I bid Elrond bless me and send him gifts of food and clothing, and counsel for my own defence. But be wary, Frodo, and be wary! And the dark tower is far away! ' 'Not all have run away with me,' said Frodo. `Some have run away with you, but you have not fled from me. The Nine have been on me and I am yet alone. Make haste! ' `I thank you again, Faramir,' said Frodo. `And I thank you for your counsel. Indeed my hope is not lost. Indeed my hope is increased. I thank you for your counsel, for I had hope that you would not falter. And yet I give you counsel, and it is not of this world that the counsel of Elrond is for me. I have heard your counsel, and it is true and true.'

======If we are to fulfil our obligation of secrecy, we must first reveal our title.' 'So be it,' said Legolas. 'I need not persuade you. I do not believe that any of my brethren, save Aragorn, were ever in Gondor. But I do not doubt that Gandalf knew of them, and would have sought them in haste. Yet I think that now you must understand your duty, and I am not persuaded. For if you are not already clear about this, if you are unwilling to consult me, then I should sooner or later order you to do so. At any rate your dealings with me have not been in truth fair. You have been a stranger in Gondor, and I have had no pleasure or reputation. Are there not other troubles that you would like to resolve yourselves in? For you have been a stranger in so far, and I deem that you are now in peril. But I do not think that you have proved unsated. You have proved very well. I would do well until eleventh place.' 'Seldom have I been so much in the know as I had been in the know as in the hearth,' said Gimli. 'But I have been in peril for many follies, and I have never let others deceive me; and I am wise and wise only in the mind of a man. I have been in peril for many things too: I have seen the peril of the Ring; and I have known the peril of the living world; and I have known the evil that crept in it. I have had the misfortune of living in the shadow of the Barrow-downs, and being a hobbit I have had the misfortune of seeing the evil ways of the dark arts; and I have had the misfortune of escaping death. And I have had the misfortune of escaping years of loneliness, and of exile; and I have known many things that I should not have known otherwise.' 'When have I been in peril and been out?' said Legolas, looking darkly at Gimli. 'When was the day when you were chosen?' said the Dwarf. 'The day before I was chosen,' said Legolas, 'but the next morning I was in peril and was out.' 'The third day is passing,' said Gimli. 'I wonder now, and how will you know it?' 'I know that well,' said the Dwarf, 'for I have walked in the shadow for many years. I have walked not to walk in peril but to walk in knowledge. And I know that the days of Boromir are over, but I would still have the time of my life, if I could have known how many lives they would have taken in this darkness. Of that I could now guess; but of the lives of all the Wise, if I were a king I should know less; yet they would have given me the time of my life far longer than I would have taken in Gondor.' 'How long would that have taken you?' said Gimli. 'I would not have answered you in answer to a simple question like 'four times four, or ten times four, if I had known.' 'That would have required more than a few words in the dark,' said Legolas. 'But the answer to your question requires much more patience and much more patience. Gimli, you are not fit to lead us now at the moment. But be it known that you are not fit to lead us into Mordor, at any rate only in your fingering of the hour. The Enemy is at work even more than you think. I have not spoken of it, but many things that I have heard tell of it. They are terrible. The booty of Boromir lies in his escape from the true power that is waiting in the North. However that may prove, the road to Morgul or the Fire of the Kings lies still open. Your words furnish the only clear account of all this that I ever heard tell. For you, Legolas, I should have led out of this perilous place on the last occasion, if you had not been so swift and strong. But you had not the strength or the fortitude to do so. And so I am to be called a Dwarf, a Ranger, or even a Wizard if you will; though none but the Lord of the Mark, Gimli son of Glin. 'I shall not now speak of that road again. I know the way by sight, and I will go on.' 'That road will prove to be the road that will lead you to the Fire of Mordor,' said Gimli. ======began a debate. It is said that Gollum had had a brief stay in the Shire, but that soon he was wanted by his father in the Far North. He made a speech at Hornburg, but the message was not welcomed by his followers, and the matter of great import was discussed in the local circles. When the time was ripe Gollum had already some company in his own chamber, but he had others watch over him, and he spoke to the Deeping-coach in person once or twice a week. It was a matter of great import, and Gollum had little business in the Shire, save amusement, for he had a reputation as a liar and a cheat. The debate fell to ordinary hobbit-making, and Gollum's followers soon got together and began to talk openly about it. At the Council Glorfindel was there, and he was eager for any questions that might be had concerning Gollum. 'I wonder,' he said; 'but nothing comes of it save that long time ago Bilbo has confessed that he had a score of his precious Men in broken tokens.' 'I am sorry, Frodo,' said Glorfindel; 'but I have not the time or the skill to make a full accounting of this affair. What is really going on here? I feel certain that Gollum is not wanted and has no right to know about it. I am afraid he is being cheated. It is difficult to find a way round him, and it is much harder than I hoped. Gollum has told me many times that he does not know, and that is true; but he does not know of any agreement that I can find between ourselves.' 'Is it then your custom, Frodo, to make a fair trial of an old villain? I do not think so. Have your friends Baggins and Brandybuck assembled? And what of Gollum, Merry?' 'I have assembled all the devices and devices of the conspirators; and the devices that I have examined thus far have proved very accurate.' 'And what of Gollum?' asked Frodo. 'I have tried to guess his relation to you. He is a villainous wiz, I fear, but I have tried to guess his nature. He is very cunning and very reckless; and he has told me nothing that would lead me to believe that he has anything to do with the ring-creature's account of events. He seems to have some understanding with the Men of Mordor, but he seems to have little knowledge of them. He is not really a villain, as Gollum is thought, and is not really tied to Bilbo. He is not really trying to have it all, as Bilbo would have it, in his pocket. He has some sort of plan, I think, that he and the Men of Mordor have. His real purpose is to have it all, wherever he may put it, in the hands of another. His ring is obviously a traitor, and it would be a betrayal of all that he stood for: the Great Ring, which he thought he had always pretended to give to himself. He may have an axe to grind, but he has only one real axe: his own. He could and would use it very much for his own evil purposes. What of his real plan?' 'His plan is plain, if you understand my proposal,' said Frodo. 'Even in Bilbo's place, at least, it seems clear to me now.' 'Yes, I think it is plain,' said Glorfindel, 'and I do not think that it will turn out for certain. But I insist on secrecy. I am sorry for your loss, and for all that has been done. But I want you now to know that secrecy is not a virtue. I say secrecy when it suits me. Let us be as secret as we can, and as secret as we can, while we can!' Glorfindel's words, as he spoke them, seemed clear and present to Frodo, but his tone of voice was grave and commanding. As he spoke the last words that were lost in thought, he spoke them with heavy hearts broken, yet with a smile Frodo felt the strain on his face softened and a light heartened. He looked at Glorfindel with regret, and it seemed that he would say: 'I see that I cannot go on with the story now, seeing that you have not yet given me counsel.' Glorfindel smiled. 'Not yet,' he said. 'But I will not ======Up until now. there have been no news of us, for some time. but now we are told that they have struck gold. The chief thing that they sent for was not skilled or skilled enough for us: it was too small for us to start any more raids on Orcs and their folk. Then they cut off our head, and scattered our arms and we only for a little while, at the least. They took a lot of stuff and some horses, and some of them even carried us off: I didn't know much about that, but I think they took more, some of which is still unexplained. There were some strange things carried away: food, and the like. I don't know why: it was never given to us, but there was some _meddling_ that it did not take well, and it has since been given to us. It may have been that they scattered our folk to make room for newscasts: we have never seen that again. '_Baggins, sir!_ he called. We had a good thicket in the Shire, and a little raiding-party in the Shire. When the wars began, they took much, I believe; and we lost a good deal, mostly cavalry and men. But as soon as the war ended, we lost something of cavalry too. And we lost a lot more: there was no _meddling_. I don't think Baggins had anything to do with it. They took the cavalry from us and sent it to every Shire, but not to the Big Folk: that was a conspiracy of Saruman's that I hear. It might have been Saruman's people, but I cannot tell with certainty. It might not and I cannot not. '_Gollum, Bilbo. Baggins, they say. Baggins as the Great Gollum; but then there are some strange customs in these parts, as you might say. There was a time when the Gollum lived in the Shire and the Shire-folk called it, and he was always called _the_ Gollum. But _Baggins_ is a proper name, if you follow me: that was how the old folk first became acquainted with Baggins. _Baggins, _The Underhill, if you like it_, Bilbo Baggins's grandson. A real Baggins. I never knew him, but he had a real beard, and some of the clothes were real Baggins clothes, and quite fit his look, if I can think of any such clothes being given to anyone who had walked in the Shire in those days. But the _gollum_ lived in Hobbiton before the War; and he left the Shire and went down to Hobbiton, as you might say, and started his own inn. But when the war ended he went to Hobbiton again, and there he remained for a long time. The _gollum_ was just one of the members of the _meddling_ that was carried on by Saruman the Great. The _meddling_ was chiefly a part of the Council of the Five that was held in Mitworth in the autumn of 3265. _The Gollum, Bilbo Baggins. The Hobbit, and its sequel, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, were written by Bilbo himself, and drawn by Bilbo himself, and drawn by Glittering Man himself. The result, as I have said, is a remarkable work of art, but it also has a great deal to offer to those interested in the history of the play. In this respect it deserves to be called (and deserves) a History of the Plays. At the Council of the Three Rings it was agreed that the following additions should be made: The Hobbit must take place in the Shire, and must take place between the hours of four and seven; and The play must take place on the day when the War of the Ring was declared, and in the year that follows, as stated in the Year Book; and In the Shire the events in the play must take place in the Shire, and must take place in the Shire as a whole. The four members of the _meddling_ were appointed at the Council of the Three Rings, and they were appointed by the Master of the Rings to fill one seat at a time. The Hobbits (Baggins) were appointed to fill another. In the Shire the members of the _meddling_ were made in the Shire, but in the Sh ======They were not in the least surprised at Frodo's sudden call. They had not known Frodo's mind, and they had not known anything about his movements in the Shire before. And even now they were forced to reckon him among the foremost names of the Three Rings. And it was not so on that errand that prompted the Captain to issue from hiding. Frodo had been in hiding before, and he had been aided by Saruman, who had shown himself again and again to aid those who sought him. But now that request was denied. On that errand Gandalf led Frodo along a winding way that wound up in the foothills of the White Mountains, before it reached the great gates of the Morannon. There he was guided by Saruman, who had previously been slow and cautious in his pursuit of the Black Rider. `Well, Master Mirrormere,' snarled Pippin, `if you really wish to know what I mean, let me see: _Are there any Black Riders?_' `No,' said Gandalf, `there are none.' `Is that so?' asked Pippin, annoyed. `Why not know? What exactly is Black? And what is Gandalf's real name?' 'I cannot answer that now,' said Gandalf, `in any hurry or shall we, but I think we may now say that Frodo and I have just come from far away from the others to meet you. You must hurry. Saruman has told you that you are dangerous, and that he does not like being called _the_ Black Rider. I am afraid that I have misunderstood him. I am afraid of him. He has a part to play, I fear. He is trying to take the Crown and Rule the Rings. He will not get what he wants, only what his bloodsport allows him to give. He is very dangerous. I fear that he is doing all he can to get what you want. I fear that you have had some great adventure to complete. You have had a journey of perilous road. You may be free,' he added with a glance at Aragorn and Legolas. The others looked at him. He was tall, and tall even in his dark elf-fashion, though his face seemed grown almost to the height of Sam Gamgee, the hobbit's teacher. He lifted his hand to his lips, and spoke in a low voice, soft and clear but piercing. `I have tried to explain to you my mistake, and am glad to have had the chance to hear it,' he said. `But now I wish to explain my Quest. I set out from the City of Gondor, from the land of the White Council, for the purpose of counsellors and helping. I have tried to do more, and I have failed.' 'Your Quest says otherwise,' said Legolas. `There is one thing I cannot do, and more, I guess: I cannot do in the Shire. I have tried to help the hobbits to find their way, and to get back. At present hobbits must go to their home only by boat and by ship; and there even their boats are seldom enough. They will not be enough for hobbit- gear, for food, or for the beds in their beds. The Shire must be defended, if I am to keep the Ring, against Sauron, and to rescue it from the Dark Tower. `But I cannot do it alone. I have many others to look after. The Shire must be protected, and its defences must be fortified; and if I cannot or do not want to manage them, then I must be better than you. I have a new task to accomplish: to find the Ring and save it from the Enemy. That task is very pressing. The Enemy is probably gaining the upper hand in the Shire. He is very strong. The Ring cannot be saved, but at the least we can at least delay him for a while. We must do something, I think, to hasten his victory. `My task is to help you: to help you in that effort, of which you have already spoken, to which we have yet to speak. We must not go into the defence of the Ring, of course, since it is not yet at war with Sauron, but I think that we cannot delay too much. The Enemy is likely to come at you from behind the cover of the hills. Your task is to go to Rivendell and save him. Go on! `I think that the choices that you make in your adventure, and in ======It only takes a few minutes for them to understand what has been said. 'So is it, so much of what I am saying,' said Frodo. 'But why?' 'Because here in Rivendell there are secrets that few can reveal openly, and those secretes must be guarded.' 'But why?' 'Because my orders are kept far from the City, and I am the Mayor of the High Houses. And why should I not the Chief of the Ruling Ring, and the Wise, and the Stewards of the City, and the Stewards of the Valley of Gondor, and all the servants of the White Lady? Why should I not the Third Marshal, and all the servants of the Third Marshal, and all the servants of the Third Steward? Why should I the Third Marshal, and the Third Steward? Why should I the Third Marshal, and the Third Steward? Why should I the Third Marshal and the Third Marshal?' Frodo looked at him. His face was deathly pale. 'The Third Marshal is dangerous,' he said. 'The Third Marshal knows almost everything. The Third Marshal has the ring on it. He knows everything. The Third Marshal has the Nine Riders. They are the servants of the Dark Tower. The Nine Riders are the servants of Sauron. The Third Marshal has sent for the Third Marshal. Sauron sent for the Third Marshal. In the spring of the year of the Rings the Black Rider came on a great beast and he was filled with terror. Then he stood up, and the beast lifted up wrath and sent him flying. The beast lifted up wrath even of the Ringwraiths, and it remained there for ever and ever, standing there unharmed. But the Black Rider thought that he saw the Eye of Mordor, and he knew that it would not see the light of day, for he had not known that face before. So the Nine Riders, the Nine Riders of Sauron, the servants of the Dark Tower. The servants of Mordor. Who are they, who are they? The servants of Sauron. 'The servants of Mordor. For they are not fit for such a purpose. Sauron is a foul foul, terrible. The servants of Sauron are not fit for such a purpose. For they are not descended from old kings, but from the Nine kings, old kings of old; and they are evil, old, cold- hearted. They cannot wield the Nine arms. The servants of Mordor are descended from the Nine Lords. They know no weapon, only fear. The servants of Mordor are descended from the Three. They have the Nine feet long, the Three hands long, the Three eyes. They have the Eye of the One, the One alone. The servants of Mordor are descended from the Three. And they have the Ring of the Seven Stones, the Ring of the Seven Stars, the Three Great Swords, the Three Sword of Thranduil. The servants of Mordor are descended from the Three. And they have the Three Hand in the middle, the Three Hand in the middle, and the Three Sword in the hand; and the Three Hand in the midst. The servants of Sauron are descended from the Three. And they have the Three Sword in the hand in the midst, and the Three Sword in the heart, so that only a shadow in the mind and sight of the bearer, if he wields the Sword, will pass through him. 'But the servants of Sauron cannot wield the Three. The servants of Sauron cannot wield the Three in the presence of the Enemy, without our having the Nine limbs. the Nine heads, the servants of Sauron. And that fear and doubt the servants of Sauron, as we have seen. 'The servants of Sauron cannot wield the Three in the presence of the Enemy, without our having the Nine limbs. the servants of Sauron. The Three are there, the Three is there, the Three for those who have walked in the light of Day; and the Enemy cannot remove it. 'The servants of Sauron cannot wield the Three in the presence of the Enemy, without our having the Nine limbs. the servants of Sauron. 'The servants of Sauron cannot wield the Three in the presence of the Enemy, without our having the Nine limbs. The servants of Sauron. The Three are there, the Three is there, the Three is the way of the Path of the Shadow. 'The servants of Sauron cannot wield the Three in the presence of the Enemy, without our having the Nine limbs. the servants of Sauron.

======The main entrance to Amon Dn is at the right of the road from Fangorn Vale to Fangorn Vale. Amon Dn is the name given to the seat of the King of the Mark of Rohan, in the Hold of the North. There are two ways in which travellers can enter Amon Dn. The first way, commonly called the Road-and-Shelter, is by road or overland, but it is more ancient and longer. The main road from Fangorn to Amon Dn was originally made by road from Edoras, and from there from Dnach to the mouth of the Anduin; but in time the road was repaired and filled with new road, and it has since been used many times. The second way is by land; for it is a long way that is not now known among the hobbits. It is the main road from Edoras to Fangorn, but it was not originally made for travellers. The hobbits now go through many perils. They are subject to many perils, but they do not rightly fear them. The road from Edoras to Fangorn is generally straight, but it is not always. Sometimes the road is blocked or destroyed, and at times only one road at a stretch. The chief danger of the Road from Edoras to Fangorn is that it is constantly attacked. The Enemy has many weapons, and his main strength is northwards and southwards from the Road; but he has few, and in no part defended the road from the eastward pursuit. The Enemy has often used the Road as a way to drive away his Riders. But now that fear has been removed. He has surrounded and destroyed many perils, and he has pressed his way far beyond the horns of Helm's Deep. He has now only been now greatly increased, but the Enemy has taken a great measure of his fire. He has made a great fire in the flat lands on the eastern borders of Rohan, and in that land he holds many perils. But now all that Men and beasts may become ash- hungry, fire-robbering, or sundered into many small wisps of blazing bush. That fire, that was the work of a rogue from the East, and it is burning within the walls of Edoras, and it burns now openly. _The Lord of the Nazgl, stony tower of Sauron,_ says Thoden, my oldest son, though I should not say more_. That is an evil tower, and it is burned in many ways. The light of the fires is terrible in the shadows of the silent ways of the night, and all things that are watchful and have kin-hosts are utterly destroyed. So it is with the Lord of this Nazgl. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Dimrill Dale, what d'you say?_ says Thoden. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Stair Doryn, what d'you say?_ says Thoden. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, what d'you say?_ says Doryn. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Cair Andros, what d'you say?_ says Thoden. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, Glamd is your name_. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, Glamd has not your name_. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, Glamd is not your name_ says Thoden, my oldest son. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, Glamd is not your name_. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, Glamd is not your name_ says Thoden, my oldest son. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, Glamd is not your name_. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, Glamd is not your name_. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, Glamd is not your name_. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, Glamd grows to mighty height and holds secret city in the dark land of Nmenor,_ says Thoden. _The Lord of the Nazgl, Glamdring, Glamd reaches out his hand to ======I wonder how the Shire-folk will feel about it?' 'I don't know. They'll say: _I am the Shire, you idiot_. But the Shire is real. It's a gang of real hobbits. They're from the Moon, or they were, begging your pardon. They made up the song: _I am the Shire, you idiot_. ' "That is" said Frodo, not quite true, but _I am the Shire,_ as they say. The word was chosen so that it would fit in with their belief that the world is round the Shire, and outside the Shire it's not. The Shire-folk believe that all things in it are real, whether they live there or die. It's a belief: for all things there are real hobbits in it. ' "That is", said Sam, "the word their way, because it is the way they've always said it: to believe that everything in it is real, because it does. And everything bad, they reckon, because of its size, they reckon because of its kind. ' "That is", said Frodo, "the word they're using, because it's their way, because it fits in with their belief that everything is real, because it shows how true they really are. For they don't hold the old tales about the Elder Folk all that true, as they'd like. I want to see the old stories about the Elves, and the Men, and the Men of old days. I want to see all the great works of the world as it was made: all the oldest works, the best known, the largest and most enduring. ' "My people lived in this land long before I came there," said Sam, and he laughed. "And they were as close as any to the Shire when I first got here; meaning that they were old, old friends, and all friendly with us at home." ' "My people lived in south-away," said Frodo. ' "My people lived in that direction long ago," said Sam. "It was their way, meaning the Shire must have been its own after that. After Bilbo's accident, though, it was their way and they're going with him." ' "Your people lived in that direction " said Frodo, "since you were young enough, and had plenty of spare parts; though his explanation of that is all he says here." ' "Your people lived in the west after Bilbo's accident," said Sam. ' "Your people lived in that direction, and along the river "said Bilbo", as he often repeated. ' "Your people lived in that direction and along the River "said Frodo," as he always repeated: and he repeated it to Sam and Frodo, after they'd finished talking and after they'd dismounted, and after they'd finished eating lunch and discussing the matter of Bag End. "Your people," he said, and repeated it to himself, "you never say." "But that's the way of it, you idiot." ' "Your people," said Frodo, "didn't say anything when I told them. Didn't say anything when I showed them the map." ' "Your people," Sam interrupted him, "say they did. They say in all the Shire: all the time. But I don't want to see anything crowded too." ' "Your people," said Frodo, "say they didn't say anything when I showed them the map." ' "Your people say they did," said Sam, "or they might have said "their" and _I_ don't_ know,_ the old Baggins of Bag End, Mr. Baggins and his Man Ugly Face, or the faggot-eyed Frodo, you see, those East End gangways and their dogs." ' "Your people say they did," said Frodo, "and they say it's their way! Your people say they did, and they say it's their way.' ' "Your people say they did," said Sam. 'And they're right. That's what they're for.' ' "Your people say they do," said Frodo. ' "Your people say they do," said Sam. ' "Your people say they do," said Frodo.

Then the whole gang burst ======At this stage we might say nothing about the motives of the conspirators, save perhaps that they seem to have been drawn in secret, and to come suddenly and unexpectedly from some wider plot. Yet the feeling of dread that has dogged their conduct for some time is so strong that they seem not to have been content with hiding behind some excuse. They knew that the Enemy would not show any sign of abode in their secret chamber for a while, and they were determined to come out as soon as possible. It is not likely that they had any clear plans for themselves. It is also likely that they had some means of escape which they could not obtain through any other means. In any case they did not want the time of war to come to pass, and they knew that war was the way forward. 'The conspirators were skilled spies who knew little of the outside world, and had already learned much of the inner affairs of the conspirators. They had information about things, too; and they knew also of things that were secretly happening in the West. They were making great efforts to find ways of gaining entrance to the city, and of discovering ways of bypassing the Gate. So far they have been successful, and they hope to escape for good.' 'And they tried to escape the notice of the Gate themselves,' said Gandalf. 'Try and pass through the Gate without being noticed. That is why we have come. We have tried to warn the conspirators, and to warn the Wise. We cannot now go further. Try and fail no time. It is your choice, Master, if you wish to escape from this dark place. And so I will.' 'I wish you, Boromir, to go before your master, and choose between him and Saruman, for so many good things!' cried Gandalf. 'Or I suppose you could say I will go before him. You cannot go by him.' Boromir's eyes glinted. 'I see,' he said, 'there is one among us who can see beyond the shadows of time. He has a gift of charm and of absurd seeming. His words belie the legends of old, and their truth is stranger than those of the Wise. I will go before him, if I can.' 'You choose between him and Saruman,' said Gandalf. 'Let me go and see him! You cannot go without him.' Boromir leaped to his feet. 'Yes, you shall go,' he said. 'But I do not know of any way of escaping from him. He is as invisible as the shadow of his own door, and the way that I choose, I do not know, nor hope. Gandalf will not pass alive through me yet, unless I go beyond the threshold of his door. That is what I choose. It is thus: if I choose to go to Minas Tirith, then shall he pass through and out of the Tower, and out of the Gate. And so shall he pass, if I do not. And so shall he go. 'And so shall he, if I do not. For if I choose to go to Mordor, then I must enter the minds and hearts of the Enemy, I have long foreseen and foreknowledged, and all foreknowledge is now behind me, as he foresaw that the Ring would come, and all the courses that he had laid upon it, and all the paths that it might take. 'And so I choose, if I will. For if I go to Minas Tirith, I shall enter into the hearts of the Enemy, and the knowledge of his plans is behind me, as he foresaw that the power of his servants would grow. I will go there, and so shall he, and so shall I. And I think that when the time comes, I shall find that I shall go beyond the Gate, and so shall he: for he will not enter.' 'And when the time comes, why not?' said Gandalf. 'For if the time comes too late, then you and I and all your folk, whether you go with him or no, you must go to the Mark and seek for the Ring. There is no time for doubt. But then why should I choose to go? You, Boromir, are not in any doubt. You have fought and fought much with the Enemy and with Saruman. You have gained the favour of the Wise in Rivendell. And yet, Boromir, you chose to go, and you are now seeking the aid of the Wise. If the time comes too late, then you and I and all your folk, whether you go with him or no ======'So happen it,' said Aragorn, looking at him with grave wonder. 'We have had some search, and some persuasion, but no clearer message than this: that the Dark Tower is still guarded and at war, but that it is not in power. All that it does, and all that it desires, it knows. 'If you would know why I spoke this word, it is known to me. The chief danger it faces, I guess, is that the servants of Sauron will speak just as I speak; for they are skilled in guessing. This was tidings sent from Isengard. It is true: Sauron has long kept this secret. But anyway there is little doubt that you read it in the secret of the Nine Riders, and that the Three are under Isengard. '_Three Riders_ is a strange name, as I have already discovered. For Sauron does not use the Three in any mortal way. He merely calls them Riders, and they are called thus: _The_ Three-footed, Thrr, and Maggot. But if the Three are so called, then it is likely that they have something to do with the Nine. And since we know nothing of their history, we can only say that Sauron sought to destroy the Nine and his servants before the end of the world. His desire was not vain. The Three have long since been known and used in secret in Gondor. They have long been feared and misunderstood. But this is now a secret that none of us should know, since we know nothing of its character. '_The_ Three-footed, Thrr, and Maggot. That is a strange name, and a foul. It is a mark of evil that Sauron has kept these things secret. I wonder how it will go on in the light of day! _Baggins_ is right. The Nine have been his enemies. He has had many servants, many spies in secret places and under cover; and those who oppose him are scattered. The Maggotes have dealings with the Three. They have dealings with the Three-door, and the Under-way. Only maggotes and rammers keep watch on the dark doors. If the Three-door is shut, then Isengarders and watchers cannot come in and spy on the watchers, unless the spy who locks the door has a Nine-sign. '_The_ Three-legged, Thrr, and Maggot. That is right. That is a sign that things are far from running as they should. The Nine have dwindled, and Sauron has not. He has mastered the arts of cunning. He has mastered the Three Rings. He has mastered the Three-mountain. He has been vanquished, but not yet. He is not yet. It is a weary way, I think, for those who have mastered the Three. It is the half-seen things that are left, and the Three that are gained. '_The_ Maggot, I think, is right. Sauron is cunning beyond guessing. He knows the Three. He only has five fingers of his axe, and he knows many languages; for he knows the Three-mountain already. His control of the Three is faint, and only by a little and it cannot be guessed. He has been his enemy and he has tricked the people of Gondor. He knows the Three. Yet he is not his own master, and he has betrayed them. He has been a simple and yet cunning master. He has steered the Eye of the Storm, which looks from the Dark Tower to the Eye of Mordor. He has kept the Nine forgotten; but he has wrested the Ring from Frodo. He has wrested the Three, and he has set it to the test. The Ring must be destroyed, he has said; but he has not said why. He has said only that he is seeking some way to defend his people against the Enemy of Mordor. He will not go down the Morgul-way, or the Paths of the Dead, or the Dimrill Dale, or the Dark Tower itself. He will go on into the South, and then he will be gone, or he will be destroyed. '_The_ Three-eyed, Thrr, and Maggot; that is not clear to me. Why? But I do not know. Why not? The Three are lost. They were not destroyed. They were found by Isengarders, or more likely by them, by others. The Three-eyed, Thrr, Maggot, have been lost too. It is not clear to me why _The_ Three-eyed, or _The_ Three-eyed, ======If you haven't heard, my dear Bill Ferny is the Mayor of Buckland. I am Mr. Pimple, if you understand the expression.' 'Yes, that is correct,' said Frodo. 'Mr. Pimple is the Mayor of Buckland. I am Mr. Bilbo, if you remember my description of you in the Shire, and there you will understand why I am called Mr. Baggins. I am interested in everything from small children to large events in the world. I am fond of names, and for good reason; for I am not always the first person that I name for the purpose, or the last. Also, I cannot remember a time when I was in any of the Shire as a child was forgotten, or altered by my adoption.' 'Then I forgive your doubt,' said Frodo. 'I was just wondering that would explain a bit. I am a curious person, and I am not always the first to discover just who I am and what I am really interested in. I have never considered my place in the Shire history or family history, until this letter came out. I was a curious fellow, but I had rather a reputation for discovery. In fact, I was asked to come out into the plain by Mr. Brandybuck, and so make a history of the Shire in the days of its being discovered. I found it, and I have ever done that, and I have never regretted it.' 'You have never regretted it?' said Frodo. 'No, but I had a reputation as a scholar of the past, and I have a long record of them both, as well as of relatives and friends of the histories that they have taught. But in any case, I was just wondering about your visit to Buckland, and so having no further news. 'Well, my dear Frodo,' said Bilbo, 'I have had some news of Gollum himself. He has been inside, and I have been outside. Mr. Bilbo has confessed to his murder, and he is now free in Rivendell. He is not wanted here, and I suspect he did not intend to kill any hobbit, save one, for good.' 'I wonder who it was?' asked Frodo, and he was very glad indeed to hear about it. Bilbo then went on in a more serious way. He told Frodo that he had spoken with Master Samwise, and that he knew of his brother's murder, and of the Ring's return and of the Black Riders' escape. He told of the ways in which they had overcome their great fear and against evil; and he told of the ways in which they had overcome their hatred of the Ring and against its power. And he told of the ways in which they had overcome their hatred of Sauron and his orcs. And he told of the ways in which they had overcome their hatred of the Dark Lord and his orcs. And he told of the ways in which they had overcome their hatred of the Nine Servants and their revenge on the orcs. Then Frodo became very glad, and he went out into the cold land, and for a long while he laboured with all his strength. And after that the dark road dwindled, and the light grew dim, and the wind went down softly in the valley. And then, after a long day's journey, the sun went out and faded away. And Bilbo the hobbit rode by Frodo's side, and Bilbo he remained, and he said to him: 'So Frodo you are, if indeed you are Bilbo the Grey himself. Gimli the dwarf ran beside the other dwarves. And now my little one is grown old again, I tell you.'

Frodo woke up. He felt that the world had gone into a golden glow; and that it had been very cold, very grey. He took a deep breath. Then he looked round, and he saw that many people were still standing, looking up from a dark place; and a great grey dragon stood out from the rest, its long beak being tipped with honeycomb, and its head facing north. Frodo saw many of the folk of Dunland before it disappeared into the distance. And there were many of the Elves before it when it vanished. And there were also many of the Woodmen before it, and after it; and all about the court were folk who had come before it, and their names were folk from outside the green land. Bilbo was busy with his books, and writing; and as Frodo saw his ======Here in the Southfarthing we have a strange custom. On one occasion when the Shire-folk were still in the Shire, we went to Rauros, the old inn at the end of Greenhorn, and we saw the old inn at the end of Lithas, and we desired to see the old inn at Dol Amroth. So we stayed a while at Osgiliath, and so we have for many years. But on another occasion in the Shire we came down from the Northfarthing, and we happened to see a large white house standing on the hill beside the road from the old inn. So we took to heart the words of the Road, which I have already tried to understand; but I shall not try them. For the innkeeper said that there were many travellers in the house, and he also happened to be at one of the inn's walks. So I thought we should try the Road ourselves. But he said that he was afraid he would not be able to go on for some time, so I tried the Road myself. But I found little hope, for I could not get round the Road without being followed. 'Then I went on once more, and at night the light was out and lights were shining all round the house. I could not see any light for a while, and then suddenly I was afraid. I went on again, and the light seemed to have gone all red. I thought I was going to a dark place and leave the light behind; but I did not feel sure. Then I went on again. I feel that I am going to a place in the Shire I have never before been before, and that if I do go that the light in it will not last. And now I feel more at home and will not look down into the River. I feel very odd. What is wrong with my feeling? What is the meaning of my name? It is known in the Shire that the Road runs along its roots and runs along every point on its way towards becoming a City. What is the meaning of name? I have never felt the Road has any meaning for me. I have always felt that I was a stranger, and that I had never walked far before. But this is my feeling, and it is my name. What is wrong with it? I have never felt the Road has any meaning for me. I have always felt that the Road has no meaning for you. ' "It is so called because it is the only road in Mordor that takes you back to the beginning of the world, and so far in time," said Galadriel, "but in the end it is only a sign that things are becoming better, and that you, too, can go on." ' "It is so called because it is the only road in Mordor that takes you back to the beginning of the world," said Galadriel, "because it is the road which the Ringwraiths use to their doom and battle on the errand of the Dark Lord." ' "The Road to Rivendell," said Elrond; "that is a line in which the Company of the Ring go to war, but I do not know for certain. In any case the Company of the Ring will go to war on this errand, and it is their task to go to battle at the first sign of the Wise One, if they wish to stand upon the feet of the fallen. They must therefore rest and sleep for a time without fear, and remember that the Day of Reckoning cannot come for many long years. Their strength must not be so great that they cannot easily be overtaken. But they must rest now and fully, and sleep with rest. This is the Road that the Wise One has walked on long and far.' 'I said it was so called,' said Frodo. "What is it that Gandalf so graciously gave you?" 'It is a long and weary way,' said Elrond. 'But we will not speak of it. Let us take the road that Gandalf so graciously gave. The road that Gandalf gave is no longer the same as the road that Gandalf went seeking for help, and he is not there. He knows that he must take. 'For Gandalf knew that the men of Minas Tirith would not listen to him, for they themselves were not in any way governed by him, save by his counsel. And so he chose a man of somewhat more knowledgable sort, that was kept still, but now he has turned aside from the Road and gone hither seeking aid.' 'But he was not made a counsellor of kings,' said Frodo. 'G ======Here's hoping that we're not going to get a chance of murdering him and eating him alive tomorrow!' _Chapter 3_ The Road to Rivendom

After Pippin had eaten, his head seemed clear again, and he thought of the little silver leaf that he had seen with the wizard. He sat up, but his eyes seemed to be swimming, and he felt a cold dread creep over him. Merry was looking out over the River, and he knew that it was the face of the cold hard shadow that lay ahead. 'What are you looking for?' he said. 'A familiar face,' said Merry, 'but a shadow,' said Pippin. 'I am looking for something that was familiar,' said Merry, 'and earlier I had heard that you were hunting a Nazgl. But why wait now? There is a Nazgl in this Shire, and I have met him.' 'Yes, yes,' said Pippin. 'He is now a Nazgl. He was a servant of Barahir, and he is now a Nazgl. He was loyal to the Lord and has never betrayed us. But he betrayed us with the fall of Mordor, and he betrayed us now with the coming of the orcs. So let us not waste any time! We are hunting a shadow of the old that we have seen before. He is a Nazgl. He is a friend of Gondor. He knows the ways of many a lord before his time. I am glad that you have come. I think that we have not had to hunt him yet.' 'Indeed we do,' said Pippin. 'But he must hunt us, or he will not come back. But he is a Nazgl, and he will not come yet. He has been giving hints and warnings since the fall of Mordor, and now he leads a lonely life. He may lead us into danger himself, but he cannot fix bounds for himself. His words have not been very wise, but I am sure that it is likely that if he goes back to Mordor he will find that he has done well. The Ring of the Enemy does not belong to him. He has himself no part in our conspiracy.' 'Indeed he has,' said Pippin. 'Indeed he has not yet come to aid us. He will not come back yet. But he has taken counsel much too strongly. He says that the Ring of Mordor must be destroyed. He knows now that the purpose of the conspiracy is not to destroy Mordor, but to destroy Mordor at need, so long as that destruction is made possible by the Rings. He is not convinced of the necessity of destruction, but he believes that the Ring of the Necromancer is capable of producing great evils even when left in his clutings for many generations. Therefore he casts the Ring of Necromancer to the test. He searches for ways that he can trick the hearts of the living, so as to deceive them; and he is not willing to talk about the business of Gollum. Not even Gandalf could he find many cunning ways in which he could render his fat profits while he was keeping a watchful eye on the very Ring. His only hope is that the Dark Tower will fail, and he knows that it cannot withstand such a test. He believes that the Dark Tower cannot withstand such a Thing. So he casts the Ring of the Necromancer to the test. He wonders how the living will understand him, and how they will ever become masters of the Ring. He casts the Ring of the Necromancer to the test. He wonders how the living will understand him. And Gandalf knows that it cannot endure such a trial. In such a trial it will make the Enemy aware of his weakness, and he will perceive that the Living are not aware of his existence. And so it will take the Ring to great peril. So I will cast doubt into his heart, and we shall cast doubt into his mind. But the Ring of the Necromancer cannot be defied.' The hobbits now made their final preparations. They set off again at daylight. The sun was already lifting from its shadow and gleaming through the thick clouds. Before they got off the scooters they gathered the necessary supplies, fuel, and bunks for the journey. They climbed into the minivan. Merry and Pippin were on the right seat, and in front were several other important persons. A large agricultural packing-out was in front. As the three of them entered the ======This page lists all the lore written by the Three Rings of Elvish, and the histories and characters concerning them. The chalice of Rivendell is used here.

The Tale of the Three Rings

The Ring of Rings is one of the four lesser Rings, the Three, Arise, Fall, or Die. It is the chief reward from the Quest of the Three Rings, the Quest of the Ring of the Ring of the Ages, and the Flight from Mordor. It was first given by Saruman to Elrond of the Silmaril, but it has since been preserved (according to the traditions of both the West and the East) as a single item in the Ettenmoors, though the true name of the Ring of Power was never discovered. Elrond was very much troubled by the evil that he saw in the world outside, and he sent his eldest son, Elrond Elladan, to seek a cure for his evil. Thereafter he removed the evil to the hands of Mordor, and in the midst of time set his own son in a new light, and soon the old Mordor was forgotten. In those days Saruman was very rich, as far as he could tell; and he made Elrond a servant, and he collected many treasures, and he was a great collector. But at the Council of Elrond, the time of the Third Age, he failed in giving all the treasures to Elrond, and he lost them all. These things eluded him, for he was still very anxious to gather information about Mordor, and he could not reveal to any how much he spent on spying and spying on the Council. But he collected much, and he collected information about all the people that he met, and he gathered news of them, and he gathered legends of them. And he gave away many of these things, and they became a secret, until the outbreak of war in the year of the Great Darkness, when the knowledge of which had been hidden for ages among the powers that be. Then Elrond was very much displeased, and he sent for the Lord Elrond, and he brought the Lord Elladan, and he brought the Lord of the Eldar, and he gave to him the Seven Stones, and the Ring of Power, and the Ring of Knowledge. And now the evil of Mordor has passed from among us, which I have declared a dark and final doom. The Enemy has passed, Sauron the Great, into a dark and final unfought Land. And therefore Sauron here comes again to the battle of the Ring of Power. He defeats the First Ring, which he had; and he defeats the Second Ring, which he had; and he defeats the Third Ring, which he had. He defeats the Fourth Ring, which he had; and he defeats the fifth Ring, which he had. He defeats the sixth Ring, which he had; and he defeats the seventh Ring, which he had. He defeats the eighth Ring, which he had; and he defeats the ninth Ring, which he had. Then Elrond issued from the Council, and Aragorn was the last to leave the Gate. 'Come!' said Elrond. 'This is the hour of the great heralds and the end of days. You are weary, and as yet you still are not weary enough. But you have not lost all your strength against the Enemy. You have won, but you have lost even more than you hoped. Therefore your fate is decided. Behold!' He turned and went into the great chamber of the White Tower, and the bells rang and the songs were sung. The four winds were at work in the world, and the shadow of Mount Doom was lifted from the sky and its great pillars revolved upon their stony domes. It was Elvish of all the ways of the Ancient World, and there were many fair and noble creatures; but it was also a fair and noble city, a fair and noble house, and a noble region of learning. The Gate of the Tower of Doom was a city in a land; but it was a land of great worth and beauty, a realm in which the arts of the Elves and the Men advanced in high numbers far above the rivalries and rivalries of the lower realms. Elrond was at first at first content with the knowledge of Elves and Dwarves, and then at length with the mastery of the Golden Speech. The knowledge and the understanding of the Elven-tongue were his gifts; for he learned much of the speech of the Dwar ======Admiral Greyhame is come! He has come to bid you farewell. He has come to bid you a farewell that you will never forget. You shall have an admittance at whose command the Company of the Ring is gathered. There shall be provided for in this City and in all that is over Greater Thain; and there shall be given to you servants of the Lord. You shall welcome him with open arms.' The Men of Minas Tirith now rose and presented the Lord Greyhame with scarves and emblems, and the gifts were fast done. Before the Lord of the City stood the Lady of Lrien and the Lady of Rohan the heralds; and the men of the City were all filled with song. So they came then with clear and clear, and they passed on to the Houses of Healing and the Lord of the City. And the Lady owyn came forth and bore the white robe of Galathilion; and the Prince Imrahil was borne in the City upon the white horse; and the heralds bore the white crown of the Mark of Mordor; and the heralds bore the white hair of the Galadhrim, and the men of the City stood afar upon the walls; and the men of the City and of Minas Tirith and all the people of the City of Gondor were filled with great joy; and the Prince Imrahil and all his household were healed and released from the burden of the charge of Marshal of the Mark. And so the heralds cried farewell to the people of the City and all that was in the keeping. And when the Lord of the City had been set down upon the stony walls of the Citadel of the White Company, some of the men of the City and all that was in the City of the Mark lay upon the walls, and while they were filled with tears and for a while after the performance of the Lord's Part in the City of Gondor they left him and returned to him. And Imrahil, who had been summoned by Gondor and was now in prison in the Tower of the Lord Arnell his master, was now on the threshold at the Citadel of the White Company, in the Citadel of the Kings of Gondor; and when he heard of the funeral of his father and of his wife and of the passing of his sword he arose and cried with a great voice; and he set a great company before the Gate of the Tower of the White Company, and they took his body before them and bore him before the City, and he was Eorl the Young of the Tower of Guard, and with him went the Lady owyn of Rohan, and with her were all the sons of Elrond; and in his place came the Lady Galadriel, sister of Elrond, and now she bore the child that is named Gimli the Halfling. But Aragorn son of Arathorn ere the time of his father's death was gone from the Mark, and the Tower of the White Company was shaken, and he went forth alone, seeking the Paths of the Dead, and also seeking to find his own way to the Paths of Lothlrien, until all was lost and his tomb was found by him in the City of the Kings of Gondor; and he was called by the heralds the Lord of the City. But the coming of Caradhras long delayed the coming of the Lord of the Golden Company. For the heralds had already begun to study the signs that the coming of the Lord of the Golden Company would bring, and they were now obliged to wait only on the coming of Nmenor and the coming of the coming of the Golden Company. The Enemy had already many ways of gathering news, and his spies could gather far more information than he could gather in his own time. But it was not in Caradhras that the Enemy had laid his plans. Even as the day drew on, dread came on him from abroad, and from the Field of Celebrant in the East, where the coming of the coming of the Lord of the Golden Company had been foreseen. Then in the first hour of the dawn no sound yet could be heard, and the rill of the river fell suddenly from the springing of the reeds and from the burning of the houses of the City of the Kings of Gondor. All was dark and still, and as yet no hour was given by day, and no hour was given by night; but each hour the silence of the City was more solemn and deepened the music of the song of Elrond, and the long white lines of the elven- tongue blazed in the sun.

======Of Lothlrien, of the Mark, and of Dale, only omer spoke, as he told us in our meeting, but it is likely that he had many other languages. Of that I have heard nothing, and I have not seen him again.' 'But he was there,' said Gandalf, 'and he told us that Lrien was lost and burned, and that he would search it for a long while, and that he would find it again, if any man left it. I think he would find that man's name is Thoden by omer, or better.' 'Maybe,' said omer, 'and he would ask you for help, or else he would tell him that you were in the land of Lrien. Do you indeed know that?' 'Yes, if I may be so bold,' said Gandalf. 'Lothlrien is lost, and my heart forebodes that the knowledge that it has brings me back. But it is not for me, and those who know me well, to tell me why I say this. You have not only spoken this or that of the kings, but also that of Thoden and Lord of the Mark, and your words are true, as I have already said. But also you have learned much of what we have heard before, and you also know how we came to this hour of loss, and how it has happened since the coming of the Nazgl. 'For the time is near when we can gather news and make plans for the defence of our long coast.' 'And the Nazgl are coming,' said Gandalf. 'Let us not forget that!' 'We must all be weary of uncertainty,' said Aragorn. 'We should all weary of guessing what the Enemy would do in time of doubt or need. Let us rest now! We must all be weary of guessing what the Enemy would do in time of doubt or need. Wise men make mistakes, and we here at least have some reckoning to make. But we cannot be sure that the policies of Saruman have not proved ill for us.' 'But even as I foresaw,' said Gimli, 'I do not doubt that he has learned some good fortune in his travels.' 'Folks and givers can be sure of their luck, if they observe it. Many things may happen in the course of a journey that does not occur suddenly in suddenness all the sudden: but they are few and far-things nonetheless. For my part, I shall not try to tell you all all all the full story of my journey from Dunharrow to Rivendell in the year of the Ring-hinder. The story will not be worth repeating, for I have already told it many times in my spare time. But I think I shall tell it here, so that you shall not miss a step.

_Chapter 1_ The Road to the Glade

The day before the sun rose, and Frodo and his companions were out in the open again. They were a mile or more from the gate, and were unwilling to halt to wait. As they stepped along the path they noticed that the road was blocked. Far over the stream was the old gate, and through the broken gate a long shelving space, by which the road wound away behind. The gate-wall seemed to have been torn down, or else repaired. A few small fires had been set up at the place where the road now ran along the bank. 'We must stand and think,' said Frodo. 'We need light so that we may not be left in suspense.' After some discussion it was decided to make a dash for the main road in broad daylight. There was no sign of the travellers. They had been let down on to the road by some angle beyond the edge of the shelving; and when they had roused their ponies and pushed along the road they were met by a host of hobbits who were still crouching. It was Frodo who first dismounted and ran back to his companions. He slipped on the wire that hung over the chain-link fence between the two caves. 'Well met, Frodo!' said one of the hobbits, pointing to a large knob in the wall at the far end of the wall. 'You are lucky? What was I going to say? I thought the barricade was too narrow. Anyway I was going to go and see if there are any horses ======The last time that the Great River had been so swift was in the days of Gondor, three days before the coming of the Great Messenger. He was journeying westward from the borders of Rohan, and it was also in that time that the Ringwraiths had become so skilled at evading the vigilance of the Enemy that they could not, over the long leagues they had passed, find them on the road, or to the main stem.

The road was tamed by the swift movement of the Company, and they passed through many hidden openings, and passed out of the last maze of guarded doors that they had passed. Here the strange Power had played a part, and now and again they met the Enemy in the midst of battle. Here the Company came under the shadow of the enemy and met him; here they met the enemy in the midst of a battle, and so came to the brink of victory. The Enemy was well-armed and had great stores of arms and ships. The secret of his mind and of his devices had been studied long ago, and now the secret of their success was revealed. Every soldier of Gondor, no matter how skilled or sadistic, had an inner mind; for he could foresee all ways and ways of doing that he could not yet foresee himself. The most skilled of his kind could foresee only the course of battle, and so be allured to victory. Yet the most skilled could foresee only one way or another. The Enemy had long prepared and planned against the Company, and though his secret was already known, he had still to some extent played the part of Samwise the Wise. A mighty man, and one of the few that had indeed been brought to the last defence of Erech, only he had not been as valiant as in the first great assault on the city. The last defence had been put up by the Wise and the Dark Lord himself, and he had failed in it. But now, as he guessed that Great Captain Maggot and his conspirators were preparing another assault, he thought it best to draw all the attention of the enemy on him, and to keep the secret of his first assault in the least for himself. He drew all the attention of all the Ringwraiths on him, and he gathered news of the great new menace and the great peril of the world. The news had been best taken by the spies of the Enemy himself, but it was not known to him; for he knew that nothing would damage the Ring, but that in the meantime all was still dark about the Ring. He began to wonder what Gandalf thought would really be, and what he thought was good for him; and he began to fear that in any case his master would not think his plan as hopeless. In the course of some words at last he got into a deep rut, and began to wonder if Gandalf would think it a good idea. He was at any rate getting better at Ruling. The hideous things that were said about him now roamed all about the Council, and it was only when he became aware that the Council was now filled with men of cunning and of terrible prowess; and that it was not far off from Mordor, and the Misty Mountains, and Shadowfax himself, but a little further east, that he began to feel the menace of it, especially since he was led by Gandalf. `Poor old Grishnkh! ' growled Hma. 'It is a pity that I can not sleep this night. It is no good o' telling. Come now! If you can we can tell you how we have met. How many of our own are in the Morgai and in the Moria beyond; and how many of the winged terror are on our march. You must tell us all you know. Tell us how many were found at the gate and the Morgai; and how many were found in the lost city and in the lonely hills. Tell us how many were found in the Dragon's den and in the woods and in the long shadows. Tell us how many were found in the gates of Minas Tirith and in the lonely hills. Tell us how many were found in the secret tunnels of Orthanc. Tell us how many were found in the Dimholt and in the black shadow. Tell us how many were found in the haunted halls and in the dark passages. Tell us how many were lost and seen. Tell us how many more of your own kin were in the Dark Lord and in the black shadow. Tell us all to go on with this Road. You need not fear. But you will be a fool if I do not warn you. The power of the Black Hand is on you. Your enemy, the Enemy of Mordor, has already been destroyed. You ======"He was very careful of his movements," she said. "I have never seen him in the dark before. I think he has some kind of business with the prisoners. Have you seen him in the woods yet?" 'No, she said no. I don't think that he is in the woods at all.' 'Well, she did not say anything about climbing, did she?' 'No, I haven't, and I don't think I should, if I were you. He's a great fellow, a big fellow, if you know me. He would climb mountains, big bucks, if that. He's always been very careful about what he does and what he says. I don't think he's come back yet.' 'Then why haven't you come back yet?' asked Pippin. 'I haven't, actually,' answered Frodo. 'I haven't called for you, or shown myself to her yet. But I have come back now. And I hope she won't have to call for me any time now. I mean, if she does, she shouldn't, if she does, she ought to be ashamed of me. And I know what I should do without you; it's not my job to tell her. She ought to have never seen me, and ought to know.' 'She ought to,' said Sam. 'And she ought to have known better than I. She ought to have known better then that the Ring went with it, by power, and that it did. And she ought to have known better now. Why, the Ring was never wanted by any authority, because it was found so, and because Sauron, who had lot in the Shire, had tricked it into his greatest fear, still holds it. And she ought to have been ashamed of it. And now she doesn't want it, and she says she wants it, and she says she wants it, and she says she wants it, and she says she wants it. And she's become a bit of a conspiracy-witch, as I thought it was. I don't think you'll ever get the message you were looking for, Sam Gamgee. She's a good friend of yours, and she thinks the Ring is no good. She thinks she can get rid of it, and that you're no good at conspiracy. It's a pity: it may have helped her in her own way, to get rid of it. I wonder what she thinks now, Mr. Frodo?' 'I wonder,' said Sam, looking at the fires below. 'But I don't think she'll believe it or not.' 'I wonder?' said Frodo. 'Do you know what you're looking for? Forget it, Sam. Don't go making out like this yourself with your outlandish tales! But you can find what you're looking for in my books. I've written a fair bit of the history of the Rings, and you can find what you're looking for in the whole selection of my essays and in the whole correspondence with the White Council.' 'You should find Mr. Frodo's Books a pretty good guide, Sam,' said Frodo. 'I hope so, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. 'It's good to know that there's some road that lies, and that's the road that I must take. But I've been in this business for many long years. You'll find that as I've been in this business, you'll see that I haven't forgotten. 'Look, I can't keep up with you, Sam; but it's not like this, Mr. Frodo. I've had a bit of luck, and a fair bit of woe. This is going to be a bit too much for two together. But I hope it will go well, and you understand now. And I'll try to keep up as best I can with you. You'll read it, or I can't.' Sam waved his hand towards the bookshelves, and leaned forward, looking at the gloomy faces ahead. 'I should like to know what's going on in these parts, Mr. Frodo,' he whispered to Pippin. 'I don't know,' said Frodo. 'I think I heard something queer going on. I don't really understand what's going on. I heard the queer name of _The Pony,_ but it sounded queer to me in those days; and I tried to explain to him what was and wasn't. He said _I thought it was the name of a good fellow_, but he ======`So,' said Thoden. 'I can do more harm than good, if I am sent ahead. Too soon! Let me get back to you. The horses were weary at the battle: they said that our enemies were making great use of them.' 'Be kind to your horses!' said Legolas. 'I had not thought of that. They will not forget their wits.' `Then why did you send me ahead? Why not leave them to me? It is a bitter thought, as must be, to leave your own. I would not have it so, I see.' 'You have done all that you could, Thoden, if you had the heart. But I would not have it otherwise. You are no good yet, if I do not send my full strength against you. Horsemen are no match for orc-gear. I must take my axe-bearer, if I can; and I cannot do what I wished. I am very weary. Are the horses also? They rode away this day: two or three thousands of horsemen. I cannot say for sure. But they did not halt until the last strider and the upper part of their battle-field was under us.' 'Then those are the horses that you spoke of,' said Thoden, 'and a little of the horses that bear you out of the land of the Noldor.' His eyes gleamed with joy. 'I have found them indeed,' he said in the same tone as he spoke to Gandalf. The old king now turned to the men. `We are all weary these days,' he said. `We must be refreshed; for we have not for long the strength of mind and will to fight. Yet my heart forbodes that, while all stand in need, some may have strength enough to deal great battle. My men may learn much, yet we shall need a captain of horses. I beg you to send me this message. I do not think that it will amiss for me to put you in the service of a Nazgl.' 'It will be so, if it pleases you,' said Gandalf. `But learn now the ways of the wild! For I do not trust the horses of my enemies. I would not have horses in such a plight, if I had no mind at all for them; and yet I think that if you will entrust me an axe, it will serve you better than wisdom.' 'I am appointed to this office,' said Thoden, `and I am not under the Shadow. Yet now I have come far away, and have no time to think. May the light shine on your deeds!' The king now turned to Aragorn who was now in command of the host. `I bid you now,' he said, `and you all to be ready as soon as may be. The horses of Rhn-dr must now be sent to the king and may they be of service to him.' 'And I,' said Aragorn, `shall ride with the horses of the Lord of Gondor to the end of his realm.' 'And I will go with you to the end.' 'And I will go myself,' said Aragorn, `and if I may come before the gates of Mordor where the horses are kept, and I bid you then.' 'And if I may come before the gates of Gondor and come therebefore?' 'Of course I will,' said Aragorn. 'But it is not my hope at this time to go before the gates of Gondor, if ever I hear the word of the Lord. And those of you who ride with me should now also ride with me, ere you speak of such a thing.' 'I thank you, Thoden King,' said Aragorn. 'And I thank you also for your words. I have ridden with the horses of Rhn-dr at the end of the battle in the City of ere long ago. Farewell now, my friends!' 'Farewell, lord!' said Gandalf. 'And may you still ride with me and keep far away and not be troubled about my coming, if I come before the gates of Gondor?' Then Merry walked out from the hall; and as he did so many men came singing and shouting, and lights sprang up in their eyes as Thoden and the king rode to their feet. At the doors many ======A great grey wolf, he had on a coat of mail, more thick than the rest of his gear. A short sword was set beside it. In his pack he remained. The only thing that changed was the sight in the dark of him, as he stared out for a moment into the night. 'I suppose you think I'm a villain, Frodo,' he said wryly. 'But there's something else that drives you. You're really going after _my_ ring. You've taken it so far now, seemingly, seemingly, and now for all I know not. What's wrong?' 'I don't know,' said Frodo. 'But you've taken it to an absurdly low ebb. There's nothing wrong with Gollum, or with Sam Gamgee, or with Sam I should say.' 'And there's something else,' Frodo continued, 'that drives you. You want to find out who that is. Don't be alarmed, my good Sam! The trouble is that there's no time to look for the answer to your own riddles. Time is running short. Time for sleep! Time to start digging.' Sam yawned. 'Did I say that I would? Time to start thinking about the big questions? Time to start thinking of all the ways before we get to the Crack of Doom.' 'And before we know where we are, we shall come to the Black Gate and the Gate of Despair,' said Frodo. 'We will we shall. We shall have to stop at Cracks and Doom, or at Cracks and Despair. And we shall need every fibre of it.' 'And we shall need all the help we can find,' said Sam. 'And I'd ask you to care for me, and keep a watch on my little head. I don't suppose I could give you much help, Mr. Frodo, except to a few words with your old friend Samwise.' 'You do, and so should I,' said Frodo. 'But I should much rather have got rid of my Watch than go on living like this in my little house again. It's a pity I have a spare bit of Time, as it can wait, and it's better spent elsewhere. But I do ask that you spare nothing for me, Sam. It would be a blessing on you. It would be a curse on you, if I had no more time to think and to answer than was given me. And if you don't want me to, then spend a little of my own time in this house, and I'll have a good deal of it, if you don't.' 'Mr. Frodo,' Sam went on, 'you gave me so much trouble that I should have trodden straight into a corner in the morning. But I'll do what I can, if you don't want me, and if you think I'm a real villain. I'll have a good deal of it, and then you'll have a chance to see what you wish to see unless you give me the slip. You're a real villain, Sam. A real C.I.A. You can go your own way, as long as you don't kill yourself.' Frodo looked at him. 'I do,' he said. 'And I hope you'll forgive me, Mr. Frodo. The choice was mine. I chose the wrong way. I should have gone with the Enemy and gone with him; but if I had the chance, I would have done the right thing.' 'I wish you would forgive me, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. 'But I am not sure that I want to see you again. You don't feel any pity, do you? I am not going into battle for the poor face off with the C.I.A., but I am going into battle for the poor face, and I hope to see it. I am sorry, Mr. Frodo, but I can't help feeling very very sorry for myself. I don't know why I did what I did. I don't know how I would feel, or feel any pity for you, Sam.' 'It's a pity, Sam,' Frodo said, 'that I can't say more, or feel less sorry for myself. I'm sorry to some people, and to others too, but I can't talk about it. But where did you learn all that? What was it that you were doing in that Cracks and Mind, Mr. Frodo? Why didn't you put your foot in it?' 'I don't ======We're off, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, 'to give you some sleep.' `Yes, of course,' said Frodo, putting his hand to the back of his head and looking out of the window. Frodo felt his heart sink, but he did not speak a word. Sam came over to him, and without turning he began to weep and mutter. `Poor old Sam! Poor Sam! ' he muttered. Frodo breathed a sigh of relief, but soon he began to weep again. `I shall not be left to fend alone,' he said. Frodo returned to Bag End and found that he had put his master's old jacket on over his head, and was now standing looking out from the door. `Well, old Mr. Bilbo,' he said, `this is rather the worst news I have heard in a long time. When I heard that you had perished, I felt a great dread. But I have not heard of grief, nor of revenge. You were a dreadful fellow. The funny thing, Mr. Frodo, is that I do not think you ever hurt anyone, even when you did; and I think you never planned to hurt anybody. You were a very valiant hobbit, and I hope that if I return to Mordor, I may claim the title of 'The Wise'. But for me, of course, the worst news comes from the Enemy. How the miserable Enemy gets on us... ' Frodo looked towards the watch at the entrance to Bag End. In the dark, leaning on a heavy iron-nailed rod, he caught a glimpse of a dark form moving swiftly and silently. It was not Sam, but rather Frodo, and he was eager to see what he would see. As he looked Sam gave a cry and sprang away. Frodo saw him fall as he ran, into an open pit. `Frodo! Frodo! ' he called. `Where are you going? What are you afraid of? ' `I am afraid of a Black Rider!' cried Frodo. `Black Rider!' He ran to the middle of the pit. There was a gleam in the darkening metalwork, and in the light of the torches the great winged creature loomed up before him. 'I know not what kind of beast you are,' he thought. `I have never seen a beast so evil. But if I had known what weapon your braided sword had, I should have slain it. But now I am afraid. How shall I find you, and you, and all your friends? ' There was no answer. Frodo sprang to his feet and ran to the middle of the pit. He was alone: his friends, and the horse that was with him. He put his hand to the rail and picked up the sword. He ran. And then he thought: 'I must find my friends, if I ever come here.' He could not have gone any further by night, or by day, or even by day by day. He had set off his own sword, but now it seemed cold and hard in the dusty fire under the house. The only light was the faint lamp above the window, a lantern for the watches. He could not leave his friends on guard. He turned to go back to the watch and sprang to his feet. The shadows grew. There was a strange feeling of being cut off from the world. He stirred, and soon his spirits rose again. He put the sword away and looked at it, feeling the gold chain that hung upon its chain upon his breast. Then he saw that it was the same chain that hung upon the hilt of his father's sword, that Frodo had borne away from him when he fled from his friends. It was not the same chain. It was not the same chain at all. It moved with fear, knowing that Frodo was about to come to its aid. It knew that he would be the last to see it. 'I will not leave you,' said Frodo. 'I will go down to meet you. But I am not going to go far tonight. I am not going to leave you no more. But you have not left your friends behind. So Bilbo!' he cried, and vanished into the mist. Frodo ran back to the house. There was no answer but silence.

_Chapter 5_

======Alas! It is not possible now to purchase these, if you wish to purchase them. They are very expensive, and I cannot afford them. Is it not so?' 'It is indeed. But I have no hope in this. Let us not despair! Let us make such a demand as we can!' 'Trust not to chance!' said Gandalf. 'It is not your way. Do not give up your promise to me! You may make a start as you go, but I do not want any first start. I do not need your advice. You have been robbed. Go and say good-bye!' 'Good-bye!' cried Pippin. It was still difficult to see him, but he could not see Pippin any more. At length he got up and looked about. A dark shadow hung over the view. There was no sign of Pippin. 'I can see nothing!' he said. 'I can't see a face! And I can't see anything. It is difficult to see clearly, if you sit too long and do not talk.' 'What can I do?' asked Gandalf. 'Walk,' said Pippin. 'Walk. Not as far as he can go now. Let me see, I can see him now. Wherever he goes, he will go. He will go eastward: that will give us a view. There, I think, he will go on for a while, until he comes to the bridges of the River. Then I think I can see him. He will not come out of them: he will not go back to the bridges: he will not go southwards: he will go eastwards, to the Dimrill Gate in the eastern half of the city.' Pippin was silent. He was glad that Frodo had spoken his thought; but he looked anxiously at Faramir. When he saw Gandalf, his eyes were glinting like lead glittering in the sunlight. 'Yes, Master,' he said, 'I did not know that you had such eyes. I have seen him before. He is the Eye of Mordor, and I am his counsellor. He has on many things wisdom, for he knows what is good in the world and what is not. He knows when to halt, when to speak, when to shoot. He knows when to shoot. I have seen his black horse before. He is bound now to a black horse. Why do you ask why he is so eager to speak to me? His horse is black. Why do you ask why I am so eager to speak to you?' Gandalf laughed. 'Because it is a strange look,' he said, 'and a very strange sight.' Then he stopped short, and stepped away, gazing sidelong at Pippin. 'I have seen your eyes,' he said again. 'It is not your eyes that are strange. I have seen your eyes. You have not walked in the Wild for many moons, and there are dark shadow-towers beyond the River. You have stood on a bridge and seen the firelight for many years, and yet ever since the light grew in the valley, your wish has not come to pass. You have stood on a bridge and you have been watched. You have all been ordered to guard the Gate. Why?' 'Because it is guarded,' said Peregrin. 'The power and the heart of Mordor do not fail, and the Black Gate is not open to the open. Yet in that way there is neither danger, nor dread, nor ignorance. Only in this world are things dark and remote, and yet the dark cloud hangs over all thought. Therefore you have come to this place and come here. I will go to meet and to learn what you are wishful. You may walk in this world, and yet it will not serve you well or well-fed. For you are under the dominion of the Enemy, and he is on the watch at hand. Therefore you have no right to stand and wait.' 'Will I wish to walk in the world in which I have been? No, I will not,' said Pippin. 'I am afraid the decision is evil. But perhaps I would wish to go to Mordor and meet the Men of the North and the Elves. They are here, and their hearts are heavy. Will I go to Minas Tirith and meet the coming of the Men of the West and the coming of the Elves? Yes, I should. However, I have a mind here. I am afraid that I can see now both the Gate and the ======If you wish to learn more about this game and about it for a while, I would be very interested in your visits to the Shire this autumn. I have been itching to play this game since the autumn of last year, and I have had some small adventures this autumn, except for one: I visited my old favourite Frodo. I have called him often, but he often refused to leave. I have not long been less interested in hobbit-lore, and I now venture to call him now Frodo Baggins. _The Hobbit_ is an ancient and very ancient history of hobbits in the late Middle-earth, written by Bilbo in the Silmarils, or the Elvish script. It is divided into three parts; the Adventure, the Quest, and the Min-Rim. The first part contains information concerning the Company, its adventures, and its return. The second part contains a history of the Company and their families, in which is given details of themselves and of their relationship with their Master; their friendship with Frodo, their labours in Sarn Gebir, and of their journey to Rivendell. The third part contains a history of the Third Company, in which is given accounts of their relations with Frodo and with their journey. _The Fellowship of the Ring_ was the eleventh part of the _The Fellowship of the Ring_, an eleventh part of the _The Lord of the Rings_, an eleventh part of the _The Hobbit_, and a twelfth part of the _The Lord of the Rings_, an eleventh part of the _The Lord of the Rings_, an twelfth part of the _The Lord of the Rings_, and an untimely death. The eleventh part of the _The Lord of the Rings_ was the eleventh part of the _The Lord of the Rings_, the twelfth part of the _The Lord of the Rings_, and the eleventh part of the _The Lord of the Rings_, the three hundred and sixth anniversary of their meeting. The celebration of that meeting was held at Gondor on the day before the feast of the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim, on September the 11th. The Lord of the Rings was a living and living legend that was passed down through time, through realms of legend, to the present day. Whether because of the power and majesty of the craft which it brought or because the power of the craft of the time was so great, legend concerning the Third Age of Middle-earth was, for all its worth, the best-preserved history of that time.

The legend of the Third Age began with the appearance of the Elves in Middle-earth, and its culmination with the domination of Sauron by the Dark Tower of Mordor. The dark arts of the Dwarves were in use since then, but the power of the Dwarves was so great that they could not be easily defeated, and the art of the Dwarves was rendered useless by the devices of Sauron. The Elven-smiths of Nmenor devised ways of increasing the craft of their enemies, and of thwarting the Enemy, by the cunning of those who possessed great wealth and power. The power of the Dwarves was so great that they could not be easily defeated, and the art of the Dwarves was rendered useless by the devices of Sauron. For many generations the Dwarves of Nmenor were the masters of many things, for they could make great engines of fire, and they were the chief servant and source of all living things' power, both of the Dwarves and of the Elves. But in the last century of the Third Age the power of the Dwarves was overthrown, and they ceased to be the masters of machines, and so their numbers dwindled, and the power of the Dwarves fell to a low, and so the power of the Dwarves fell again to that of Men, and so the power of the Dwarves divided into two great tribes: the Men of the Silmarils, and the Dwarves of Nmenor. But in the Third Age the craft of the Dwarves was greatly improved, and so the Dwarves became masters of metal and of wood, in the art of their dim but skilled hands. For the Dwarves, skilled in simple drawing and speaking, were exceedingly crafty and skilled at guessing many things about things that they saw themselves to be things that they knew, or imagined they saw themselves to be knowing. In the art of their craft, however, things advanced that are still forgotten today, and still do not explain the great power and power of the Dwarves. They were masters of metal and of wood, and they knew a great many ways of perceiving and of directing their own ======'I am always a marvel in the land of Gondor, and I have never missed a game of Elven-lore,' said Gandalf. 'I know of no Elvish trick that could have been devised in the lands where I now live. I know of no trick in the woods of Ithilien, for which I have long since been excused. I know of no trick in the reeds of Anduin: for that is the only place in all the Shire that ever had any grass or brambles. I know of no trick in the Great River: for that is the only outlet of all the River, and the only outlet of all the River is the River of Gold and Silver. 'And that is why I have never missed a game of Elven-lore. For there is nothing else that I can do in the Shire, unless I must journey to Anduin and challenge Gondor's armies. There I should learn how to wield the Ring, how to tell the time from the beginning, and how to tell the full tale from the beginning. But I would not have that. You have told me nothing that would warrant your description of yourself in this book. 'Well, Master Gandalf, I must now tell you something. You are a strange hobbit, and more like a Samwise than a Frodo, if you take my meaning. I have never known you before, and though you have made me a servant of the very Ring, I do not think that you would then have the mind of learning my counsel, or of doing what I have done. Indeed I fear that if I have the power of Gandalf I shall soon learn that I have not; for I do not know your mind. But still, if you would understand my hope, you will not doubt why I have kept you in my care. 'I have told you everything that I know of of the Ring. I have told much of my own history, which I shall now share with you. But this is the last chapter in a long and tangled tale. You see, I have told nothing that will stir the hearts of hobbits, or cause them to laugh, or make them weep, I hope. For I have told you nothing of the Shadow that lies about the land beyond the Great Gate of the City of his house, and I have told nothing of the Shadow that robs him of his freedom. And you see too much in this book. Your most beloved mischief-maker, and servant of your master, the Enemy of Mordor has been caught between two conflicting forces. 'Doubly, I mean. If you like your hobbit-stories told in true form, you may like it. This book is for you. It tells the story of Bilbo's adventure from Bag End to Bree, and of his fall, exile, and long search for the Ring. It tells the full story, for readers, as in the case of Gollum, of its central character, its peculiar tone, and of the remarkable friendship that soon divided hobbits of all ages and walks of life. It also tells a few brief scenes, which will not interest you in the end, but are briefly told in passing. Book-length, high resolution and colour-lensed are the hard tales to begin; and there is a fair chance that you will not be able to tell all the tale in one sitting. But if you are looking for a compelling story, then this book is for you. It begins with Gollum, and ends with him. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit; but he is not a wizard, and is not, by our reckoning, the first wizard of any kind that I know of. He had, however, a very important part to play in all the adventures of the wizarding world; and he was the master of one of the great families of hobbits, the Hobbitonites. That was ancient and far-off, and it was important. The Hobbitonite family had long been estranged from their ancestral homelands, and they were chiefly remembered for their labours in silos hidden deep in the mountains, and for their labours in the furnaces of Buckland, though in that region they were constantly in the know. The Hobbitonite family was, in fact, descended in direct line from the line of kinsmen who grew in the Brandywine Valley, and who doubtless grew to possess and train the best silos of their region; but it was long acknowledged by the West that the line of kinsmen was the older and more ancient, and the line of Hobbiton was thus the chief link between the two. The Silmarils, or rings, that the ======Here in the Shire, where there were shrines and shrines, before the world was redoubled, is a place of great wonder, and the memory of ancient days is more deep than ever; but in this district the Elves preserved, maybe, the stories of old days, and the songs of the Elves that are deep and wise in their wisdom. And here in the Shire it is still unshod but for the devices of the great lords, and all such marvels as they have wrought and made.

I do not think that the Elves of the Shire were idle, Frodo. But the story of their long journey is not to be found in the Book of Elendil, though all the companions should know it. For the Elves of Gondor knew the history of their race, and they learned of Frodo's disappearance, as soon as they went away. They sent for this Elendil, and they sent for the records of the Shire. But since the Shire is now so heavily burdened with legends, it is no longer in their service to guide us.

They found him wandering about in a rough region of the hills, and soon he was lost in a blackness of gloom. But the Men that he befriended knew of him, and they sent him to the kinsmen of Isildur, a Dwarf of the House of Finrod. There he remained, for a long while, as an important member of the household of Elrond, and was ever a friend of the Ring. After his disappearance Frodo has a part in many of the legends of the Shire. But most of the tales are not true, for many things were true, and all that were true were true after Bilbo's disappearance. Frodo was drawn to the Ring, and kept in the Shire for many years, until it was discovered and discovered too late. The Dark Lord was in full plot with his overthrow of Sauron, and the plot failed, and Sauron returned with a great fleet of ships and maggotes to Westernesse. The Three Rings were preserved in Middle-earth, but in Rivendell, which was under the dominion of the Shire-kingdoms, there was never any Middle-earth. The Shire was, and still is, a place of enduring legend. Gondor is a rich and ancient place. The chief township of the Shire, a district of the Hennings, was in the distance between the rivers Lithode and Lithomindale, one of the great iron-bound cities of Westernesse. The High Wood, as it was called in the custom of the Shire, was somewhat stretched over the Shire from the River to the Sea; for the Shire of the Shirefell had a long tradition of kings and queens; and of great craftsmen, of wood-loaves and stringes and other such household goods. All that dwelt there were related by kinsmen of the kings, and knowledge of all kinds abounded, rich or poor; for there was a high and ancient secret of the craft, that secrecy was known for its goodness and its beauty. Gondor was richly preserved, and indeed the wealth of the Shire was so rich that even rich people of the Elves, who dwelt there, used the wealth to build mansions and other high places of enduring memory, in the high vales of the distant woods. And it is said that the lords of Gondor, Thoden the son of Denethor, died in the power of the Nine for ever, and he was buried with honour in the City of the Kings upon the walls of the Tower of the White Tower in the Court of the White Hand, in the City of the Kings upon the walls of the City of the Kings, and on the Citadel of the City of the Kings on the Citadel of the Kings in the Citadel of the Kings, where the Kings of Gondor still dwelt, and the Citadel of the City of the Kings also. And Denethor the son of Elrond was a Grond who dwelt in the Shire, and he and his brothers dwelt in the City of the Kings upon the walls of the City of the Kings, where the Kings of Gondor still dwelt. And there dwelt Thoden the son of Thoden, who was the Master of Gondor, and he was a Grond, and he was a father of three, and he was a captain of great deeds, and he was the Steward of the City. All these men were descended from the household of Thoden the Thoden, the eldest of the household of Gondor. ======You have ridden far this morning. Be sure that you will not go without rest. We shall be out again by the afternoon.' 'How long will it be after us?' asked Frodo. 'Two days, I should say,' answered Gandalf. 'I have ridden for two months with him. He is sick and weary, but he is very much _very_ weary. It is a long time since he had a breath of air again, I thought. I wonder what is going to happen? I don't think I can really abandon him, if at all, for that. He is a gentle being; very much _very_ weary. He came into this country riding with the intention of helping his master.' `What was the purpose of his leave?' asked Frodo. 'I do not know,' answered Gandalf. `I have had no dealings with him since he left Rivendell. He has left many things to me, most of which I cannot read or remember. He left his wife and two young sons in the East for a while; but they came to Mordor, and they have done little since. He has driven his two companions, and his two young daughters into hiding; and they have been dogged by rumours that Mordor is not among them. `I have heard many rumours, but all seem to have gone ill. The world is turning round around here, and the Mountains are shrinking. The Enemy is at hand very soon. His chief fear is not his creatures but himself. The Lord of the Rings is at hand, whether or no. He knows that the Ring has been lost. He knows that it cannot be found. He knows that it cannot thwart his designs. He knows that it cannot be destroyed. He knows that it cannot be used to help a helpless enemy. He knows that it cannot be turned into a weapon against Sauron. He knows that it cannot be turned into a power. He knows that it cannot be destroyed and he knows that it cannot be turned into gold.' 'I have not forgotten them,' said Frodo. `I cannot deny that we have heard many things of them that speak of them. But what of Saruman?' `I do not know,' answered Gandalf. 'I had not time to ask him. He told me that he was a wizard that knew of and could use the things in the Ring. He said that Saruman had told him of them. He knew that they were secret. He spoke to me of them, and he warned me against their doing. He warned me against _the_ ring. I feared for my life. I feared for myself. But fear cannot destroy fear. It was not, I feared, the desire of Saruman to give up the secret. It was not, I thought, the desire of the Ring himself. I thought of Isengard. I thought of the White Tower, and the white towers; and the White Lady; and the beauty of the white towers and the white woman. It takes courage to give up fear. I think Saruman was right. I think that he may have thought himself the same way. There is another danger. I think that he may have thought himself the same way in his new country. The Ring. I think that he may still have thought himself the same way, and might still be so, still think so, even when he came of old.' `It is the Ring!' cried Sam, trying to recall the word. `The _Ring_! Gandalf spoke it to him, and it seemed to him to ringless and unadorned. That was the only thing that he had in mind. What of the others?' `Not the Ring,' said Gandalf. 'It is not in your power to make use of it. Even if it were, I should not meddle in its management. I would not have it for evil, I should not have it for good. Do not put the _ring_ in your pocket! There you can put it, if you have Gandalf's gift of _garn,_ at least until you have tried the other hand. Then you will feel both both desperate and less desperate. But do not think that I have told you the truth; for I have not told you the truth yet. You were a fool, and a traitor, while you were a fool. `I do not doubt that you will soon need the help that you seek. But you have not the gift of intelligence that you used to possess, and that is perhaps why I made you a spy. You were a spy, and I still am. You may still use the device, but you will ======It was taken from him by the devil-searcher: 'So it seems.' '_Forsooth lord, or othain, will not, if othain does not wish, deliver us from this Shadow. From this hour till the coming of the morning, I will send word to you.' '_Forsooth lord, or I, will do that.' 'Then call the White Council, and if you will, command them to come to Thoden with Firin and find him. This will be my doom. Will Firin? 'No.' '_Forsooth lord, or I, will not.' 'Then I will.' 'Then I.' '_Forsooth lord.' '_Forsooth lord.' '_I.' '_I, and Firin.' '_I.' '_I.' '_I, and Aragorn.' '_I.' '_I, and Aragorn son of Arathorn.' '_I.' '_I.' '_I.'_A sword-man. He wields a great sword and carries it round in his keeping. When all is ordered, he will break the world and come to the arising of his own!_A_ The king himself stood up, seeing that the guard was already a great deal nearer. He spoke softly, as if listening. '_A_ I knew that,' said Aragorn. 'But the speech is evil. It is sad that I should have fallen in the service of Thoden. I should have known, even in his place, and heard so many voices. But now I must do without words. It is not my doom, say I, to lie silent. I have come too late. I have been warned. I have been called. I wish to know why this tale is told.' 'Forsooth!' cried Thoden. 'Wretched fool! How could I come to him before I knew all that he had stolen! And now I understand why you should weep so bitterly: you have no right to use the White Council as a platform, and to weep when you have been given it. For I am not a noble man. If you would understand my warnings to you, then you would learn why I weighed upon you the choice of this weapon, and so rewarded you with victory. But do not despair! You have better things to do, such as return to your homes, and have peace while your chattels are safe. Farewell!' The guard said no more. All that he could do was to wait. At length he came to the door in the hall, and he saw that many of the guards and half-archers that were assembled there stood nearby. A great host was now drawing near; and it seemed strange as it drew near that Aragorn himself remained still nearby, leaning on his staff, and displaying no weapon at all. The king himself now stood before the door, and he spoke to the guard in the Common Room. 'Come! We will not stay here long. Shall we? Whence came this accursed wretch?' 'Nay, lord,' answered Aragorn. 'This accursed wretch we name him Ranger. Now he be not called Ranger, for his chattels are safe.' 'Wretched fool!' cried Denethor, clutching his staff in his left hand. 'Do not cast me down! This is madness. I would take this weapon, if I could. It is mine. Do not cast me down! I received it from the Lord and Lady of the Mark. It was taken from him by the devil-lord of Morgul. He shall not be cast into the fire again.' 'Do not cast him down!' said Denethor. The guard raised his hand. Denethor looked at him for a moment in silence. Then he broke off and fell back, glaring as he leaped towards the door. 'You cannot be sure that this traitor does not know all that he talks about,' he said. 'He knows now what kind of a man he is, and what brings him hither. He will be a good thorn in the apple for the Lord of ======To save the day, for which the world could (and probably would not) see: he did not want the Shirriffs to become masterful spies in the first place. But it was not his master's doom that he wished to hasten. It was also Frodo's task to find the Ring. He had already done just that by helping Merry and Pippin in getting out of the long dark that followed the appearance of the Ring. It had been kept secret by the Wise, and he had long believed that it had never been found and that only a messenger from the Tower could find it. But after some persuasion he persuaded Pippin to reveal the Ring to him by force, and to permit him to keep it for himself. Frodo found that many people had agreed to this. Even the Dwarves, who had been reluctant to take part in the affair, learned from the accounts of the conspirators that they had failed to find out who was responsible for the Ring's disappearance. But even the Wise, who had been unwilling to take the perilous road, learned of it, and did not hinder its trail. It soon became plain that Frodo and his companions had only been kept in suspense for this latest betrayal; they were not even in danger yet. At the last the matter was brought before the trial and punishment of Boromir. For in the high chamber the Lord Denethor was summoned, and he was asked whether he had fallen in the Chamber of Mazarbul; if he had indeed been the victim of some evil that at that time had not yet come to pass, or had merely been chosen to be so as to be caught by some evil device. He answered that he had indeed fallen in the Chamber of Fire; but he would not now suffer the trial to last long, nor risk the mockery of the witnesses who claim that the fire was a smokescake for the conspirators. He would rather suffer rather than be tormented. 'Then I do not deny that you have been a witness in the trial,' he said. 'But it is a witness that you have been able to give in the face of such an answer.' 'I have been a witness,' said Frodo. 'In the beginning it seemed to me that I was brought before the Barrow-downs to be a witness about the Ring; but when I tried to present myself as an agender, I was thrown down. I am not thrown myself. I will prove my claim to the crown. I am presented, before the court of the Lord and Lady of the Wood, before the Lord of Gondor, before the Lord of the Mark, and now with all the evidence of the world. And if all goes according to my proof, I shall meet Frodo soon. But I am still in doubt: doubt which way I shall take. The North-West Road runs south-west to Watervl S.C.; and I must take the road to Mordor. So I tarried in the days of doubt, and I have not been in Mordor since Gondor down the old road. I tarried in the days of doubt, Frodo. 'You see, though doubt still holds that way, I have been in doubt since I left my home in Crickhollow; and now I must go there. The road runs on for many leagues north-east, and then it bends eastwards, and so comes to Dunharrow. There I must be of the Misty Mountains, but I am not yet in the Wilderland. It is long since I saw a living folk, and I have a heavy heart, for I have had a hard journey, and I wish to see the Shire again, and see all the lands round about it well. 'I do not know what Gandalf intended to do, if I read his mind. I do not know what Gandalf feared, or what Gandalf feared alone; or if I guess too much from the conflicting accounts. But I guess right to the heart of all. But I suppose that in the course of a journey it was always likely that Gandalf would speak then. I suppose also that I guessed wrong, and so risked what I dared. But the Enemy would have seen it and spoken to him, if he had not sensed it. 'But I do not doubt Gandalf's judgement. He was ready when the Ring-bearer first came into his realm. He was already at work on the world before us, when the great peril of the Third Age came suddenly into the world outside. But he was too weary to wait still. 'As soon as Gandalf had set out, he had heard of the summons, and he had ======It was only a week before the end of the Third Age of Minas Tirith, when Thoden King of the Mark sent a herald to the City of Gondor bearing the Cross of the Lady of Rohan. When the herald rode to the Citadel of the Fountain he was so eager that he did not wait for the Lady. For he wished to receive word concerning the rebellion of his people, and the coming of the king to Mordor. When the herald was gone the Lady brought him back to the Citadel of the Fountain, and she said that her son, ere he died, would preside at once in the House of the Fountain. So he came now with Frodo and Pippin, and they spent many days in the high chamber. On the first day after their return from the exile they were summoned by the Lord and Lady, and they were then all filled with wonder. For at that time Thoden King of the Mark was come before the City of Gondor, and he was already preparing for the coming of his son, ere the end. At the meeting of all the armed companies the king was clad in his most white and splendid elven-mail, and his belt was of silver and green, and the horn like a crown; and at the thrones of his high and ancient fathers were white and seven sons of Elrond, Meriadoc and Peregrin, and three daughters of Elrond. The Lord of the City was not at any time be seen, save only his chamber and hall, the Citadel of the Fountain, within the walls and fountains of marble, so high and mighty that no mortal man could enter. But the green fields and the golden forests were all about him: the green heaving moon and the gold-hung glint of Nmenor, the white throne and shining star, and the green sky and the wind were all white upon the hill of Gorgoroth, his dwelling-place, and the door in which the heralded words were heard. The Lady of the Fountain was there, and none such as have seen it, save those that dwell now in the Citadel of the Fountain; and all was well when the Lord of the City was come before the Gate of the White Tower and the summons was given to him. So now the heralds were summoned and all was ready, and they rode to the walls of the City in the afternoon. There was the Lord of the City, Beregond of the Guard of the White Tower in the Citadel of the Tower of the Valar; and the Lady of the Fountain, Galadriel of Lrien, came forth from the citadel of Gondor to the green fields of Dol Amroth; and she bore a white pearl in her hand, and she told all that she had seen and heard, and she spoke to the heralds of the City. 'Glad is the Lord of the City,' said Thoden, 'and it is said that he came out of the land of terror and the shadow of war; and that is but to us our own, for war is evil and all that we do is against us. But there was a Lady of the Fountain who was in terror in the night, and she was ever present, and she said to herself: 'I would not have him gone to Mordor, unless I could take him away.' And she was silent, for it seemed to her that she herself was moved by the grief of the Lady and wished for peace and quiet in the world, and sorrow and doubt were in her heart. And the heralds said: 'This is an evil hour, and the hour is near, and the hour is when the Ring of the Enemy comes to us. But we have not yet come all this way and so far; and we are but two or three leagues hence, ere the darkness falls, and yet we shall not walk hither in terror amid the darkness. Therefore we must go eastwards, and that will in time be less dark as we stand on the brink of Lothlrien; and we must hope on the heights of Caradhras long ago. 'Where now are our folk? For to what land shall we now go, none other than to be by that road in the night, if the heralds of Gondor have not heard of them. However that we may journey without them, it is my purpose now to speak with the Lord of the City and to speak with him in his behalf. So have I done all that I could, and the way is now fair and easy. But I have been a captain since I left the hands of the king, and I have never ======Elves inside the gates. Arrows fly all round the court. There's a bit of a fight going on. The last man down shouldered the last faggot.' 'You won't believe it, Master Halfling,' laughed the Dwarf, looking at the mess. 'He's dead serious. I wish you had. But I did not expect to see any of you here tonight. Not unless the spell goes down in the tunnel.' 'We must go or die, Halflings!' cried the Dwarf. 'We must go or die! I say to you, Master Halfling, that even if the spell goes amiss, you, and all your old crew, will not be safe here. It's a pity, because you are very brave and very hardy, poor Halfling. But you'll do well to think twice before you follow my lead. You can rest here tonight. For I do not see how we can go on singing. If you'll believe me, I see a way out of despair. Come! Think! Come! 'I started this band with the other Halfings. They have not sung since we left Lrien. They were too tired, and too dark to sing much before we left. I have given orders to the rest to sing together; and I hope that they will. But they have not yet given orders to all the Company. A band of fearless Orcs will start this fire, no doubt. And I do not doubt that one of them will be killed by an arrow. I heard him muttering to himself, as he started this band with the other Halfings. I hope he does not. He's not afraid of Orcs.' The hobbits sat silent for a while. Frodo could only watch as the fire went out, and smoke and flames leaped up from the court. Then Frodo heard the howling of the enemy, and a sound that he had never heard before. There was fighting all about the court. It was very hot. The orcs were quelling a rebellion by the Rohirrim, and a great gang of them had already fled out of the northern court. The maggot-ridden hills were tightening on the Orcs. There were fierce debates among the Orcs about whether to join the fire or wait, while the Whiteskins fought on. The Whiteskins' hope died soon after, and the Orcs retreated to holes on either side of the court. But in the meanwhile the fire was not allowed to go ahead. The Rohirrim were mounting an assault on the citadel. Against the will of the Orcs, the hobbits kept watch on the gates of the city, but they heard and saw nothing but the howling of the enemy. Meanwhile the Orcs were drawing near to the inner court. They were strong and determined, and they came at the two gates that they had just set up. They hurled their missiles across the narrow space between the guard-tower and the guard-tower-man, and they clashed with the enemy who was about to enter. Then the fierce orc-archers were able to overrun the city, and kill or maim many of the guard-tower's defenders before they could be overtaken. The hobbits watched as the orc-march grew, and watched as the fierce clash fought among the Orcs, and then they fell to their own devices in an endless supply of arrows. Frodo felt his hearing aid failing, and there was a dull blare of some strange device. He thought that he saw fire crack on the tower in the distance. Then he heard a great cry and a great stab of the enemy's arrow. There was a sound of great dismay among the Orcs and men of the Rangers. The cry came from the inner court above, and from the gate on the left. 'I cannot fight with fire!' thought Sam, recalling Frodo's old counsel. 'I cannot hold the gate. It is a sore trial for two of my brethren. I cannot stand, I cannot stand the shout of their voices, the call of their wings, and the hideous face of their leader: he cannot stand me now. I wish there was no cry like theirs! I wish there was a clear voice as they screamed: it would have been better to hear them kill and maim themselves than hear them throw their bodies off the steps of the tower. It is not so, and if we could shout the same we could not both hide under a crown of stone.' The hobbits found that the cry had been carefully chosen, and their voices were no more than a retching reminder of the hideous leader they had defied and defeated in the darkness. Still it became very clear ======'What do you mean?' he said. 'I mean: what do you mean? What a ridiculous tale! ' 'You've heard it before. You know what I mean. I've heard it before. It wasn't made by Saruman. It was made by some wild, cold, hard-hearted wretch in his dreams. Some wild wretch, I mean. I don't think he knows what he's talking about. He's got an eye on this. Come on! You've got to tell him what you mean, and then you'll tell him you've come back, too. He'll be amazed. Come on! You've just ruined the chance of waking up in a comforter by making a _smelling,_gaffer- speech. You've ruined the chance of waking up to the _smelling,_gaffer-cousin,_ Smaffer-colin! ' 'Well, I don't think he's right,' said Frodo. 'I don't get it. I don't get what Saruman's making me do. He's got an eye on this. Come on! You've got to tell him what you mean, and then you'll tell him you've come back, too. He's got an eye on this. Come on!' He cackled as he wearily stepped out of the way of his sight. 'He's right, lord,' he said. 'He's right. I have been so busy lately. I should like to see you and Saruman together. Come on! You've got to tell him what you mean, and then you'll tell him you've come back. No time for tales!' 'I have, too. I have come back to say farewell. I wish I could. But I can't stay here. I wish I could. It's such a queer time as never before. It's such a cursed place, Sauron! And he's kept his eye on me. I wish I could! But I can't. I daresay it will be better than never. I hope? He has been so busy lately, I feel. He must go, he must take a little time, and see what comes of it. But I don't think he'll like my plan, at all. You may have seen him, you may have heard him, and you may not. That's the way of it. The Enemy, O Gandalf! He's determined to make war on all of Middle-earth, you see. He knows all the plans, you see; and so should I. But he doesn't like my business at all, does he? I don't think he will like me at all, not for what I do or what I want, not at any rate at any rate any longer. He's got a plan, though, and I've heard it. I hear it. Much hearsay, I expect. He's got a plan. Yonder is the Tower of Barad-dan. And I think we shall meet there, I think. Things are changing, they are changing swiftly. Things are going well. Things are getting Merry and myself along. I don't think we've ever had a great journey like this before. But I think we have. We've had a chance. We've had a chance to see the first sunrise and the first sunset, and the first glimpse of Faramir. And we've had a chance to see the Red Eye. And we've had a chance to see the Great Smials. And we've had a chance to see the Black Riders. And we've had a chance to see the White Rider, and the White Hand, and the One. And we've had a chance to see all the Ents, all the Elves, and the Three Rings. And we have had a chance to see all that is left of the Elves, of the Nmenor, and the coming of the Halflings. And we have had a chance to see the Gate and the Bridge and the Black Rider, and the Tower of the Halflings, and the Gate and the Halflings themselves. Yonder they go, yonder. They go. But the Enemy is coming. He's got a chance. We hope he does. He knows he has a thing for us, a thing that we cannot take. He knows he can have no peace in Middle-earth except with the Enemy, and that the Dark Lord Sauron has some plan of his own, or some devilry that can't be explained by chance. He knows he can do nothing, nothing. Yonder is the Gate and the Bridge. and the Great Gate, and the Dark Lord Sauron. And he knows that the Nine are with us, that ======'So, if you wish to know, that is my name,' he said, 'is that I am the heir of Frodo at the coming of the Great Ring. I hold the White Council, and the Ring is mine.' 'I am the heir of Frodo at the coming of the Great Ring,' said Sam; 'and I shall hold the Keys of the Kingdom together with my brother.' 'But the Keys are not mine,' said Frodo. 'I am not the master of the Keys. They are given to me by the Kings of Men, for they are ancient in the world, and they are strong and fearless. But since the Ring came into the hands of the Dark Lord, I shall need their help, and they may trouble me, if they come. But I shall not trouble you at all, Sam. I am not the master of the Keys, nor the maker of their commands; nor the one who gave them, for I am not the One. You need not fear for the triumph of your cause, for you shall have it. But you need not fear for the triumph of your Enemy, who has not yet come into the Kingdom: he has already begun. And the Enemy is likely to come at once. For that reason I have chosen this hour as the hour at which I must seek my allies. 'We need not fear for your victory, for we have already begun. And if we advance now with speed that you suggest, then the enemy will be forced to his first choice before he can make his last choice. But you do not fear either choice. You have been warned. Be swift. It is your part to defend the City and the people of Elrond against the worst menace that has ever been on that great road. But if the Rohirrim, led by the Nazgl, should advance at once, then Gandalf shall be summoned. 'As I have said before, the Ring is yours. It was given to you by his father, Boromir, and it has remained so. In spite of your peril it has endured you, which is not surprising; for you are not hasty, and your hearts know no bounds. Still if you want to know what to do now, you must decide, before the very hour of your greatest peril, whether to pursue this road or to go back. 'As for your counsel, Mr. Frodo I would advise that you should not pursue this road, only to seek the help of Gandalf; for that is perilous and only makes the Enemy's Shadow more widespread. I fear that, in the course of the war, when the Enemy has mastered the Morgai and mastered the Dark Tower, the Dark Tower may become powerful enough to gather forces enough to issue a siege of the Ring and the White Council. You need not waste your time or your effort on paths that will not yield. This way is not for me. 'I do not counsel you to follow the Paths of the Dead, nor to follow the Men of Nrnen, nor to go on to Mordor, nor to seek the arms of the Enemy. Do as is your wont, Captain. Lead the Company and do not give the Ring to any poor fool. He may not guess your mind and your purpose for the smallest time. But he may also use it to his own advantage. A hundred years of his hard labours will have failed, and your task will now fail. The Ring may be made stronger by the use of it. 'But it is not for you to choose between choice and the Ring. You need not make the choice. Go where you must go go. Go where you will go, and do what you set your mind to, whether you like being alone in some dark place or in a lonely tower. In the name of the One, Frodo my friend and servant, I will go with you. 'If you will drive me not to go to Mordor, then I will drive you, so long as you desire me. But such a choice is perilous and hard to make. The choice of which path to take leads inevitably to other choices, even to the end of the world. It is well that you should choose evils which you can live by, and which you can live by, so long as you know the right cure for your peril. But if you choose evils which you cannot live by, then you cannot choose the path at all. 'So much for my advice and my advice to you. I do not know your mind and my purpose, and yet you have not the heart to choose evils which you cannot live by, for good or for evil. And as for the choices that ======All hail, lords and ladies! Hail! to war, and glory! Hail, to glory and to peace! Hail! to the White Mountains, to the White Mountains of Gondor! Hail to the return of the king! Hail to the return of the kings! Hail to the return of the winter! Hail to the winter of Gondor! Hail to the winter of the winter of the winter! Hail to the return of the kings! Hail to the return of the winter-they shall be proud and tall and high! Hail to the return of the kings! Hail to the return of the spring! Hail to the return of the harvest! Hail to the harvest of kings! Hail to the harvest of harvest! Hail to the summer! Hail to the Summer of Gondor! Hail to the Summer of the Summer of Gondor! Hail to the glory of the king, ladies and children! Hail to his coming! his glory! All hail to the King of the Mark! Hail to the King of the Mark, Ladies and children! Hail to his coming! his glory! All hail to the King of the Valar! Hail to the Valar! Hail to his coming! his glory! All hail to the Valar of Lrien! Hail to his coming. his glory. All hail to the Valar of Rohan! Hail to his coming. his glory. All hail to the King of the West. Hail to his coming. his glory. All hail to the Kings of the Mark. Hail to his coming. his glory. All hail to the Mark of Rohan. Hail to his coming. his glory. All hail to the West of the Mark. Hail to his coming. his glory. All hail to the North of the Mark. Hail to his coming. his glory. All hail to the Mark of Harrowdale! Hail to his coming. his glory.

_Chapter 4_ The Riders of Rohan

The travellers passed now by a few houses and a few trees, and came to a wide paved space, the Emyn Muil: an island or clearing of great trees, shaped like a head with a narrow mouth with high domes. There were five tall trees about the middle of the island, and about the middle of the other four as the travellers came the grey trees grew fainter. Green and pale-green they were, the largest and longest- spaced they had been, and the colour of their sap was like that of water in cool sunshine. In the midst of this high and shadowy wood stood the City of the Elves, and Elrond had for long years been the chief of it, but now he was gone. Elves of the Wood in their fiftieth year, they said, had left it and went west, but they were yet ere the year's end and the Elves of the Wood were still to rebuild Anduin. Elrond was at first silent, and he said only that the Elves of the Wood were now gathering together, and that they would soon gather under the banner of Gondor; but when the Elves of the Wood again spoke, he seemed to have grown very strong, and with a shout he called war. When the wains of Gondor had been assembled, and were ready to issue from a high dome of rock, when the chief of them had been summoned, war was still going on; and the Elves of the Wood were in great need and unrest as the coming of the new King, and still war was going on. For though the Elves of the Wood were strong and determined; yet the Men of the Wood were in great need and unrest, and all things were troubled in the East, and the Shadow was abroad before the dawn. Elrond and six other captains rode to the rampart where the new King had been appointed; and there they awaited the arrival of the king's messenger. 'This message is plain indeed,' said Elrond; 'and yet it is true in all the days of our long alliance. For Men of old knew that the Enemy was looking towards the coasts of Erech, and knew also that the East Road, now crossed the Mountains of Shadow and went down to Nrnen and thence to Rauros and thence to Minas Tirith. And it ======But not all were lost. Some were found bound, as if caught by the teeth, while others broke and fled, never to be seen among the dead. None of them had a sword, but all were haggard beasts, clad in woollen cloaks, and snapping their fingered necks in the bound and snapping of their hoofs. All had short naked beards, their bare faces slashed and clinging to their beards cast down to the ground. All had short naked hair, but were now clad in short braids, and their beards glinting red in the sunlight. `There was a deep silence under the leaves,' said Sam. `We had forgotten all that we know about Rivendell, and about the Elves, what they were and what kind of creature they were not. I should have been happier, but I am afraid, Sam. I might have been able to say that the Dead Marshes are empty of the Orcs, and that the caves are full of the Orcs, and that there are no treasures lying there. I wonder, Sam. What are they? What are they? ' `I don't know,' said Sam. `But I want a pipe.' `No, Sam,' said Frodo. `You don't find the Dead Marshes. I don't think they are empty, dear. There is the Stone of Entwash, and the Stones of Dead Mind, and the Stones of Living Death. What's the time. And where are they today? ' `I don't know,' said Sam. `There is no time. They were not here on the day of the meeting. They were away far away. I don't think they are still alive. I have a timekeeper, but she is gone. I want a Stone of Entwash, and I can't stay here. You can't go out and get anything you want, until she is gone. Now that is another story. I shall have to go to Rivendell and look on the walls. I don't think that I liked Rivendell better.' For a moment he stood looking down at the helpless dead. `I like Rivendell better,' he said. `I have been away all day. It is a hard land, Sam. Even the Great River has become harder and more difficult. But when the battles rolled away, I went there with Frodo. And I found that after I left, say, for a while and a night, they were back again, a long way. They were up to their necks, and still quite intact. That is a great deal better than the stench of Saruman's camp.' Frodo felt his heart pounding. He wondered if he would ever get the chance to put Sam in a comic strip, but he knew he could not turn out of the way. He could not. The ground was becoming rough and slippery again, and there was more and more of the poisonous weed that crawled on the dead bodies of the dead. He felt his heart pounding again. It was becoming very hot. And yet there seemed to be no mistaking the shape of the bodies; they were not piled on top of another, but laid on a basin of warm water. He could not remember a smell. `What in the name of healing will the Dead Marshes bring to the living? ' he muttered under his breath. `I do not know. I am not in a place to make any blanket claims. But there is no doubt about it: they bring dead things, and it is always worse when they are alive. They bring death. I have no doubt that the Dead Marshes bring death. But I do not doubt that they are dead. And if they had not been diseased and diseased they would have brought death. Why, there are many ways of destroying them. Why, there are many ways of killing them. Why, there are many ways of getting rid of them, and of getting rid of themselves. Why, there are many ways of getting the Ring. Why, there are many ways of getting Saruman's Stone. Why, there are many ways of healing the injured body. There are many ways. And I have had no trouble with Sam Gamgee, either. I tried to deal with him last night, when I had the chance. The Old Man and the Horseman, and a few others. But I have had no luck.

`Well, now we have it again. We have it all wrong. We have not got the Stone; there is not enough of it. And Saruman does not want it. That is why he has done all this. He knew that the Dead Marshes would bring death. He knew ======It was not a hobbit-thing. Two hobbits were alive now and again: Sam and Frodo. They were not dead, but still very alive. But they were not quite dead, were they? 'No,' said Frodo. `But I don't think they really were at least I don't think they were as I still think they were as I was when he first stabbed me.' `All right!' said Sam. `I can go on now.' `Very well,' said Frodo. `I may not see the need to come back to life again. But I can't see anyway. I have been very sick lately. I can't walk now at any rate I can't stand walking. But I shall certainly try. If I do, I am going to call you. Call me. I shall call you Bilbo Baggins. I have just come out of a very deep night and have just wakened to the sound of a cheerful _boom_ coming out of a deep night.' Sam got up and walked towards the ladder. Frodo now pressed him on the heels. `That's good! That's good!' said Frodo. Frodo gazed at the hobbit. `I see,' he said. `And I see that you are smiling all right. Well, I have spoken of welcome. But I thought I had met you at the end of your talk. The last time we met we had a nasty talk. I guess you liked the look of us. And at the end of it, I made up my mind to go away and have a bit of sleep, or so I had been telling myself. I don't think I shall be coming back. I shall have to go and see what happens. I suppose I should have been better off leaving Mr. Bilbo.' 'I don't think he looks very different from the other hobbits,' said Frodo. 'Well, what about you? Were they all shivering when you returned?' `No, they were not, and I don't think they were not either. But they were none the worse for not seeing you again. I mean, I knew you were coming, and I knew you were looking for something, and I knew you were looking for something; but I didn't see why not go on with the story? And anyway nobody in Bree would have noticed.' `No one? ' said Frodo. `And you were all looking rather odd, didn't you? ' 'Yes, I was all, and I suppose you were looking at me? ' `Yes, I am quite sure,' answered Frodo. `But I was looking at you, Bilbo, and thinking about everything. You are the same Bilbo I knew before the party. And I think I saw you at once, only I don't think you are the same.' `Yes, I remember, I remember,' said Frodo. `I think I knew then, as I sit here thinking about it, the same Bilbo. But I don't think I want to remember it now. I want to be able to do nothing, and to be given time, for myself and for those of us who go on with the story. I have been very tired lately.' `Yes, well-forgotten,' said Bilbo. `Well, I had rather be hasty, and I think I have been the worst. But I have made up my mind, and I have put in a lot of thought, and I am going to come clean now. I have got to go somewhere where nobody will see me, and I feel very alone. I should like to go and see my friends, if I could; but I don't know what I should do, or if I should go straight to the Shire. I am thinking of Gandalf. I knew that he would come, but I had forgotten about him. He never really mattered to me. He was just a poor friend, I believe, of the chief of the gangs of gangsters in the Shire; and he never spoke to me. I wonder who he was? I wonder now.' `But he was there,' said Bilbo. `And I think that was all that I needed. He was there when I got back, and he is still with me. I wonder if I shall ever see him again. I am frightened, and very sorry. But I missed him. I don't want to see him any more. I am afraid of him, and I know ======Our talk has gone on long and far beyond what we would have you think was required, if we had not had the fires of Baradrase blazing.' `You have arrived in the end, sir!' exclaimed Frodo. `I feared that we would all have been coming to this point too soon. But I know now that we shall all need a speedy end. And here I thought I had been warned against your coming. Now I see why you feel the need of leaving Hobbiton behind. If Gandalf had been away, it would have been easy to find Gandalf himself again if there was no need.' `And he would have been easy,' said Frodo. `We had not had the fires to begin with, nor the long road to take, and as we all knew well enough by now that Gandalf was gone, we could not have easily and without doubt. I think that what you say of Gandalf is true for all of us, at any rate. You may be of help, Frodo, and yet you may not be so. But that is another man's trouble. You may be right all by myself, but I am not Faramir, and have never been within Hobbiton. I have always been Gandalf the Grey. If you will part with Bilbo, he shall leave you, and you shall have rest while he may. `You may be of help and yet not, I hope, of the guide. I have faith that, while he goes away, his fire is kindled, and his horses will be strong. But he will not come in the meanwhile, by design of the Enemy. I do not believe that you have been chosen, by the Enemy. Indeed there is some doubtfulness of the choice, or rather a blindness to it. But I say this: there may well be a guide, but I doubt very much if he will lead us into battle. And we are all but certain death, if we are not led by your counsel. Therefore I pray you, Frodo, as the Fire is warm, to leave this valley and return to Gondor. In that city I shall still have my days, and maybe be remembered by fair reckoning in the years that follow. But I do not trust you. For there is a great power in Mordor, and none of the Wise can foresee what it may prove in the present hour. And those who know me well know that I have never been in peril, and I have never feared death. Yet I do not know what counsels and policies they have for so long a time. They must now face the Enemy. I do not know what you have been told, Frodo, or what you would have us do. Yet I think that you have the strength of two great powers ready to face the face of him that holds the Ring, if you can stand the test. `It is true that we cannot conquer Mordor, if you do not then face the choice between choice and death. But to do otherwise would only make it worse. I do not think that Gandalf will ever shape Mordor for the living, and the choices that he makes in this hour are but the memory of his wisdom. I think that he will always have power and chance, and this is true even if the choices that he makes become mere tricks of his own. I think that he will at times find strength and courage, but that I doubt. And so, if the choice is between choice and death, then either you are strong or you are weak. `Gandalf was a great captain of great skill, but he was also an intemperant; yet at times he deceived and cheated the Enemy. That is why at times he proved the better in others, even in his own people. He was wise, and the least that man could say of was him, nay, less wise than Gandalf himself. Gandalf was wise, and much more than that, a more moderate sort of kind, where there is as much chance as there is of any choice. `As for Gandalf, I do not know. I do not think that he has had the strength or the mind or the will to face the full range of evil. Indeed I think that he has only learned so far by trial and error, and all that he has done has made it plain to me that the Enemy is cunning and contrived chancellery. He knows a thing or two, and a thing not, of course, a thing. He thinks. He thinks that the Ring is somewhere on his mind. `I wonder how many hobbits have already found out about this thing? How many, and what can they say about it? If it's ======I think we can already see now the desired result here: an important stage, set against the later stages in the story, of which there has been no tale. The Morgul-Devils would be driven into the Great River beyond Lrien only by small forces, but by the main strength of the Dark Lord only small forces may hope to defeat. The power of the Dwarves would now be enough to drive the enemy into the River and blow the horn of Rohan. 'Nonetheless there is little chance of the victory of Saruman in the battle; for after the first surprise he would soon have become a menace to all the host. His shadow still grows, and he would try to make its way back to Hobbiton. That is, if he wins at all. If it is won, then all the slaves of the Dark Lord would be free, and his slaves would be drawn from the free slaves of the Shire to escape the clutches of Saruman. That is probably certain. It is not certain, however, that the slaves of the Dark Lord will ever return to Hobbiton.' 'Well, I don't think they will,' said Merry. 'If they do, I hope that they will be much more than slaves: more than slaves they are, they will be. And they will speak kindly to me; they will do what I ask.' 'Then tell me about the Elves!' said Gandalf. The wizard bent his head and eyes above the floor of the ale- hall. 'No, they are not there,' he answered. 'They are gone, but I do not know why. Why should I ask? They do not know what is happening in the Shire: neither are they seeking any counsel. They are making up their mind; but they do not know what the plan is. Why should they believe all this, if they do not? It is plain enough in these latter days, Gandalf, that Saruman is no longer with us: he is on the run. He is wanted and has been wanted long, and he knows the Elves and the history of the world. He is trying to hide from us, though he knows that we are not afraid. There is no wizard like him yet: cunning, but neither cunning nor wise. He has read the mind of Elrond long ago, and he sees that all the ways of Elves and Men are against him. He has mastered the language of Elven-lore, and has mastered the tongues of Men and Dwarves, except Man, who has reached the inner regions of the lore of the Elder Lands. 'He has mastered the tongues of Men and Dwarves, and has mastered the tongues of Elves and Dwarves, and they are growing, unless there is some new way of saying them and sending them to us. I doubt if there is ever another way for us to say them, not even to Saruman.' 'He knows all the signs,' said Gandalf. 'The Eye of Elrond is open to him, but the Eye of Elrond is in the minds of Men. And the Eye of Elrond does not look eastward only to the land of the free Orcs, and to the River of Rohan; and he sees only the evil in all the lands east of the River; and he sees only the light. 'As for Elves and Men, they are everywhere oppressed. The power of Saruman is questioned. The power of Elrond is questioned. All these things I shall not speak to, for I have not dared to come to Isengard since the days of its power. Yet I have watched and listened to the retreat of the Rohirrim; and I have rested and slept. I have rested and slept. I am Saruman, Saruman the Wizard. I have dwelt in Isengard, and I have made war on the evil that has arisen in the world. The road of my life has been determined by my race: I have dwelt in Isengard, and I have made war on the evil that has arisen in the world.' 'You have been a fool, Gandalf!' cried Pippin. 'You became a wizard after the manner of your Bilbo companions. A fool in the highest sense; for the most part, if you understand the word. You have been a fool, the Master of the Third Company, and for that I am deeply sorry.' 'For the love of the Third Company, I had other dreams,' said Gandalf. 'Other than these, I have been away on business. Alas! I have been away so long that I cannot speak with you now, until I return. Come now, ======Alas! No, it is not so; for the sun is shining from the East, as I see it. But I say to you: you have not yet reached the far-off places. The wild folk of the Shire are making new beds in the lands beyond the Great River, and they are disturbing the peace. You may be sure that the people of the Shire who now dwell in the Great River do not wish to be so: they come down from the high woods to the water-valley too soon. If they are content with the land now, they will follow the Men of Rohan: they will keep what they call the Shire as far as they can. But if they desire to be scattered, what they call the Enemy's; then they will leave the Shire, and there they will have worse companionship than living on the banks of the river. 'Of course, my friends, we have not seen your little cart. We had better get out of this oasis. It is time we had a stroll. Come on now, and see how we are going on! We will take your advice.' He ran off at once. Frodo followed after him as he walked along the wall of the cave; and as he did so footsteps were heard round the corner. Not far from the entrance to the cave stood a woman, clad in white, but tall and fair, and she took Frodo on a winding trot: the way to Rivendell. 'I am called _Elrond_,' she said to him, 'and I came from the North, with your help and many others. Many thanks again to Elrond for your aid in all that I have need of you all the day. I had a very perilous journey, and I shall now spend more time in the dark. But I will say no more. I have finished all the deeds that I have begun before, and I will finish them all, if I have need of haste. I thank you all again, and may your deeds stand ever tall before your eyes.' Frodo bowed to the Lord and Lady, and the hearts of all the Company broke, and they rose in joy and great fear. The Lord Elrond was delighted with the gift of gifts, and he gave them away. At once the Companions tramped on, gathering their goods and making ready for the return to Dunharrow. Merry and Pippin went first to the Captain, who gave them a fair supply of provisions, and later to the Chief, who remained with them. The rest were given to the two younger sons of Elrond. These were less fortunate: they had seen the Captain grow, and they learned later that he was not as fat as he pretended. Merry, he said, had seen the old man's face changed, and his eyes were redder, and his voice was looser. 'I did not expect to see you again,' said Elrond at last, as they came in. 'I hope so,' said Pippin; 'but if I were you, I should not see you again till after dark. What shall I see?' 'Three hundred leagues and three hundreds,' said Elrond. 'Three hundred and nine thousand leagues!' 'Yes, that is a very long start,' said Pippin. 'But I cannot deny that it will be a fine one. I shall never forget the gleams of the gleams, and the gleams I shall ever see. And as for the Captain, he has not changed much since I last rode with him.' 'But you have not changed much since I last rode with you,' said Elrond. 'Look at me, Peregrin son of Denethor!' he called. Pippin looked at him. 'I have changed little since I last rode with you,' he said; 'but I do not deny that I have made much progress. Still I still make less progress than you make, I think. There is still room for improvement. But the road to Rivendell is not much further than you make. I have much to learn, and much to say,' he said, as the light of the eyes on Merry grew dim. 'I learned much in Rivendell, Peregrin son of Denethor,' said Elrond. 'But I do not know what brings you here: from distant lands, or old tales that tell you little.' 'Maybe,' said Pippin. 'But I have a plan in mind. You have come to meet my master ======Frodo woke to find the king still awake. He looked up. 'I was just wondering about you, Frodo,' he said in a low voice. 'You have a good many friends in the Shire, I wonder. What are they? It is very strange and dangerous for me to lead a hobbit to Mordor. But I did not expect to see you. Mr. Frodo?' 'I did not,' said Frodo, 'but I was in Mordor and I know more of the Shire than you do. I have known many strange folk in the Shire since I was little a hobbit, Frodo, and I have never seen Mordor in its full glory, if any man will remember my first journey there. But I have seen old men, and even fair folk of the wood, and there were fair folk in Rivendell and in Dalehmin when I was a boy. And there are some strange folk in the Shire now, too: the Men of Dale, and the Men of Woodhall, and the Dnedain of Dunharrow in the South, and in the Southfarthing. Who knows where they are now? It reminds me of a fair road in the woods that young Frodo went on a few years back.' 'Yes,' said Frodo, 'it is a fair road. We have only to go on it a little and see what comes of it, you may be sure. The road is named after a tree that grows in the woods of Lothlrien. It was named after the tree, that is called the Willow-leaf, because it grows in the woods, not in the ground. It was an evil creeping, and it was repeated over and over again: _gollum, gollum-gollum_. There are woods in the Shire that now lie between the Mountains of Moria and the Dark Tower. 'I had thought of going further, but you must know where we stand. We have always taken to walking in the woods, and I have seen many folk walk and riding down the Greenway from Bucklebury to Dale. Travellers go walking and _rolling_ uphill, and then _rolling_down again, and so on. But there is a passage in the Shire that goes down to Mordor and all about Mordor's Great Gate, and that is the Den of Mordor. All the ways in the Shire are now blocked with iron bars, and the gates of Dol Amroth are empty. ' "There are no living folk in the Shire," said a guide from Bucklebury, "even in Moria. Where there is a guide there are no living people: only orcs and Orcs. The guide takes all other matters," he said. "I had thought of going further and finding Minas Morgul in the Presbyters. But I had thought of going to Bucklebury, and finding Minas Sad at Bree. There is a great store of goods and gear there. It is a pleasant way of getting to and from the city, as it was in the days of the Nine Companions. The ponies, and all, were kept out in the sunshine, till you were down to Bag End, or to Bag End-in time." ' "If only I could get off at once, I would," said the guide. ' "Then you must ride as well as you can to the right side of the road, and then turn left and take my advice," said the guide. ' "I do not know how it will go without me," said Frodo. ' "No one will ever know," said the guide. "You will never see the Shire again-except _the servants of the Enemy_, if you take my advice." ' "But I do not know how I shall bring my guide along with me, or at any rate with my companion," said Frodo. ' "I will talk to him first," said the guide. ' "Then why _have_ you brought any ponies with you?" asked Frodo. ' "The servants of the Enemy," answered the pony. "There are Orcs of Mordor in the Shire. They have made great gains in the wilderness. The guide will tell you why." ' "Then you are a bit too eager to leave the guide behind, already," scoffed Sam. "Stoopid, Stoopid, if never a good ol' joke in hobbit-fashion. The guide is not a real guide, but ======From the carven chamber in the northmost chamber of the Tower of the White Rider, the stream of Pkel-marihir flows into a dark pool, and the water flees. The stone door is cracked, and a large boulder of stone steps deformed and felled, dust and dust and stone alike. The great door was not built, but was splintered in countless grots. The mill was built in the midst of the pool, and was cast up in the arch of the tower at the foot of the stairs, where the water was now so scanty and scanty's dwell. There in the midst of the floor was a large open pit, covered with a sombre grey of green and silver, barring the passage of two flights of stairs. Beyond the opening a narrow stair followed by another stair of much the same hue, and a further stair, curtained off with many pillows and pillars of wood, passed in a sombre circle of trees. The Great Bird-fowl that were present at the battle gathered to the secret door of the tower. The others fled in terror, but one large bird, Peregrin the pygmy, refused the door trembling with fear. He climbed to the broken door and broke the lock. 'Peregrin! my old guard!' he cried. 'Come in!' A tall Elf standing before the door cried with a cry of triumph. Old Master Barahir had not been idle. Once in a thousand times he had guided the Company, and never now more did he fail to acknowledge their trust. 'Peregrin!' he cried. 'Peregrin, master! Master gave us your sword! Master does not give to his son what he sends to grieve. May the day not be altogether ruined! Yonder is the Window that opens to the world. That was the Window of the Elder Days, and the window of the Dark Years, old and new. Yonder is the Window between Fire and the Fire that burn. You shall enter into the Golden Wood, and enter into the Tower of the Dark Tower, that was made in the beginning of all, the Dark Tower, and shall see the light of day and of star and of moon and of sunrise and of sunset. 'Peregrin, Master begs pardon. I was in your company. But now I understand. Peregrin, master of the Shire, is the head of our Company. Master will have it all over again. Master, master of the Golden Wood. The Dnadan son of Denethor is the Steward of Gondor. He shall not be parted from us at length, save only by death.' 'I see,' said Beregond, 'that the Steward is much damaged now. I have made some changes. One small change: he no longer requires the bow. He can shoot. Not now. Not yet.' The Company now began to climb slowly, and slowly they came to the soft hard rock of the northmost chamber of the tower. There stood the great courtyard of the White Tower; high and dark, and on the far wall a great windowless gloom lay. The light grew chill and sick; for it was now spring or autumn and the morning was passing. The Company now marched slowly towards the door of the hall of stone. Gandalf stood before the door, and he spoke in a clear cold voice. 'This is the passage to the Golden Wood,' he said. 'We must go down from the first shaft into this dismal valley. We must pass the deep flet. We must go down into the gloom of night. There is no hope of reaching the Window of the Dark Tower without fighting. But we must go no further. There is no hope but death.' 'I see,' said Beregond, 'that the Company, led by the wise Steward, has passed the first shaft into the ruinous ruin of the Window of the White Hand, and so far westwards into the Golden Wood. We have passed through the Shire down into the deep defile, and the Westfold-shire, and so far to the dark valley below. The night is passing, and the morning is approaching. What hope have we of the morning or of the day yet of your coming?' The door rolled back silently. Presently it opened, and there stood a large chair and two round lamps. Behind the doors the Company stood, and they heard the soft clattering of metal and window-glass in the gloom. A large and rather large book stood there, a book of the Elves' tales. In it were set many ======And now we have come to the end of our road and the end of our journey. We must go back to the land of the Forsworn. We had not come far to make this wish; but now they have turned their eyes away from the land and put forth new fears upon us. We are weary of their counsels, and weary of their ears. We must go further and faster, and go with greater speed, and with greater speed. They will not pass our homes, nor the places where they dwell. We must find a way between the mountains and the evil eyes of the White Tower.' For the next hour or two the hobbits made their choice, and they all went on with their hearts in their ears as they went on. But they had not gone far, and now it seemed that they must find some way to cover all the roads that they could find between the mountains and the mountains, so that they might reach the Ford secretly. For the road that they now were on was not over the Ephel Dath, but stood a mile southward from the Ford, and between the houses of the Lord of the City and the old towers of Rath Dnen. The hobbits had gone no further than the Chetwood, and no other dwellings were yet discovered in the world of Gondor, save those that lay between the Black Gate and the Ford of Carach Angren. But all that region of the country was now very much in the hands of the Orcs of the North, and the news from that region were constantly brought to their ears. The Riders of the Mark heard of all that lay before their doors, but they did not learn much of anything that lay outside; and it was not long before they were aware that the lands about them were desolate, as far as the eye could see them. The lands their forebodes were to go: the marshes and the wastes and the desert. But as the years went by and the land grew more desolate, so also the hobbits were to go forward, and so the road that they had built was to be made to the left of this path, until at last it could be reached. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin made the choice that was made, and they set out at once to the Ford. The road that they had made was not for the straightening of the road but for the lengthening of the lengthening of the road to meet the coming of the Riders of Rohan. The road that they had chosen, which they soon afterwards learned was also known as the Paths of the Dead, had been road for some time to the Ford. The Company now passed through the Forest and took the road eastward to the Ford, where they soon learned that the land they sought lay in ruins. The Forest and the hills were empty and desolate, but the marshes were dappled with trees and fern, and the wastes were full of birds and beasts. The land about was dry and barren, but in the twos and threes of its long border there were low and barren hills, like ancient hemlocks playing in the dells of a distant forest. Even as they looked and were filled with wonder at the country and its beauty, a shadow came over the hedges and towers of the Ford, and the trees seemed to dim as a candle for a moment in the dark. The road seemed to them to pass like a fog over the very fields of this land; and as they walked they wondered why they were so near Caradhras, one of the great mansions and cities of the Kings of Men of old, where the very night-march was to take place. Yet the great city of the Kings of Men was now hidden from view, and in the midst of all the Vale of Anduin the Grey Company stood, ready to withdraw into the shadows of Minas Tirith. Their footsteps stopped. Then the Company halted, but only one of the four strangers remained. 'We have come to bid you farewell,' he said. 'We have come to take a parting upon ourselves. We will go east by the Great River, and so shorten the road from Rivendell to the Ford of Bruinen, and so shorten the road to the Ford of Bruinen, and so shorten the road to Rath Dnen. But in the meantime you have two choices. You can go back to your home city, or you can stay here and rest and be ready for the journey when the new year draws near. Choose the former, and you shall be safe in your home. The old road will take you southward to the mountains by the power of the Dark Lord, and he will send his force eastward ======Greetings, friends! For a moment I thought you were going to hear me talk about the Ring! Why are we sitting here talking about it, and why didn't I hear of it? And why didn't I never hear of it, and why didn't I never tell the Council? Well, now you have. You have heard enough about the Rings of Power and their history. They are not for you to decide. But why haven't we heard enough about them? Why haven't we seen their works? Why hasn't the time answered? Why isn't the time opening quicker and faster?' Frodo sighed. 'It is not time,' he said. 'Time is what it was. It was the time that we all began, and the Council set forth a date to set it off. But why wasn't it set off before the day, before we got to Rauros? Why wasn't it at the Gates on the Bridge? Why wasn't it waiting outside the gates of Osgiliath before we did? Why wasn't it summoned before the Black Captain before we did?' 'Yes, you guessed it right there,' growled Pippin. 'But this is more than just a game of guessing. It is also a crass sport.' 'You are a crass sport!' said Frodo. 'If I had the chance and had a chance of being introduced to the Ancient One sooner or later, I would have made sure that none of my Company was forced to wait outside the Gates of Moria-Wormath under any circumstances. Why didn't I tell you?' 'Because you are boring me,' sneered Pippin. 'But I am not trying to rob you. I have been accustomed to this sort before. But this one has the round face, and the slim waist; and he does not like to be called fat.' 'You are neither, Mr. Frodo,' sneered Pippin. 'He is proud, as he always has been proud of himself; though perhaps it is no wonder that he keeps his truant a score out of many. But keep your dignity, Frodo, and at once I shall give you my praise. You have proved the best in your own country, and perhaps in this one too. But I am no master, and I am not in charge, and if I had the power of command, I would govern. So now let me go to my friends!' He hurried off with Frodo, followed by Merry, a dwarf of the Dwarves. Pippin was a little ahead of his design. He thought at first that he would get a hold of this old man, but soon he realized that he had not done his duty. He searched everywhere, and found nothing that could be put into a word processor. After a while he was convinced enough to go search for himself again. His suspicions proved true, but now he found that he had made a mistake: the Gandalfite dwarf-folk were not there. He soon became convinced that Men were also using the Men of Gondor to spy on the world. They were not. 'You have been in Rohan too long and too dirty, he says. 'But you should not be ashamed to say that your home has become a trap. You have earned your livelihood by your skin and your blood, and you will never have it all. You will be the landlord, Mr. Frodo, and keep all the things that you can, if you can, on the premises. The sooner you leave the Shire and the sooner you leave Gondor, which you now dearly desire. Indeed the better. You have earned enough to buy a flat, and earn it, of course, by your skin. You will need a roof over your head, Mr. Frodo, and a bit of good old-fashioned hobbit-fashion furniture. And you will need a good supply of Men, and a bit of both. And you will need a few _archers_, and some Men, as you may guess, to deal with the odd raid. I am afraid there is not much room enough for more than two. There is, however, room enough for hobbit-children in the houses of Wizards, if you know where they are. But I am afraid there is not enough for two hobbit-children, or more than two Wizards. There is room enough for dwarves, if you know where they are. Mr. Frodo, if you like, I can come and see you again. There is enough here for two dozen, or more for dwarves.' Pippin was angry. He had been told all about this journey in the great hall, but he had ======I've made a string of pledges, and I'll keep you posted as they come. In the meanwhile folks, you're welcome to keep a few questions for the end of the world, and do not ask any of us anything till we ask more. And if you want to go further and live longer (or for shorter), you can order a copy of my _The Hobbit_, and we'll send you it as soon as it comes out, if you want it. There's more, and there's more about it.' `I wonder what you mean by 'being longer', 'going further'. You don't mean to. That's a nice nice title, and one that I guess fits you well enough. But the point is: you can't ask any of us anything at all, unless you ask us to go further. And if you want to know which way we ought to take, you can't ask us. And if you want to know which way we ought to take, we ought to take whatever path is least resistance; and if there's any hope of success, we ought to make that resistance more strenuous. And that's the way of things: to keep resistance as good as it can be, while at the same time making it so that no road will be un-easily and inevitably reached without some effort. That's the way of things I suspect; but I'm not sure. And my answer to you is: no. That's what I mean. If you want to know which way we ought to take, are you really going to let us choose? You can't. That's what I mean.' `No!' cried Pippin. `But I know the right road. That's what I meant. That's what I mean. You can go back, and so forth, and not be stopped by search and search again. That's what I mean. That's what I mean. There's no longer any road, no road to the Fire, no road to the Darkness, only a road that will take you there, or so I've been told. And if you want to know what I mean, you can't choose between these two choices. There's no longer any road, and there's no longer any Darkness; and if the other choice is safer, then I think that a wizard's mind can be changed. That's the way of things, and that's the way of things to be. 'There's no longer any road, and there's no Darkness, so there's no need to go back. I mean, there's no need to go back. And if the wizard's mind is changed, then he can't choose between those two choices, unless there's something that will give him that chance, or he can't choose between them. That's what I mean.' 'Very well,' said Gandalf. `But what? What can I do now? ' asked Pippin. `Away! Awaited! Awaited! That's all I ask. Not asked. Not told. I don't want to know. I don't want to choose, or go back, or go anywhere, without any answer.' 'I don't want to know,' growled Pippin. `And I don't think you mean that the wizard's mind was changed. I mean, he's not changing himself. I don't think you mean, of course you do, Peregrin Took. He's got a lot of things to think about and ponder, and he'd like to go sooner or later anyway. He's got the Ring, I think, and now he's got a plan. I don't think he's changed, and I think he's making some effort, even though I don't think he's making any effort at all.' 'Well, well,' growled Pippin, `if he's not going away, I hope he's not getting anywhere, and not quietly. And anyway I think we'll all be far worse off together than we are.' 'I think we do, too,' said Gandalf, patting the edge of the table. `And that's a pity. I wish all my folk were as squeaking as we are here. But we can't. We can't. Stick to your plan, Peregrin Took!' `I will not,' growled Pippin. `I think we are going to get bogged down this night, if we don't make the last effort. Stick to our wits, my good master!' The hobbits now stuck to their plans, but they did not wait ======All the same, it is no laughing matter for the leaders of our Enemy's host to assail, in any way, any pillar of the Noldor standing above Minas Tirith. Any who have ever ridden to the Gate in the days of the darkness will remember that there was one there who could not be sundered from his brethren. `If we come to the gates of Minas Tirith, then we must take the road that is so long and perilous for us all. We will go east, but not west; for we fear that the River will bear us away south. And if we follow the signs of the Sea, then we must take another road, southwards, northwards. For the Enemy is at hand, and we cannot hope to halt him. 'We must march as swiftly as we may, but we must march as far as is possible, and we must march as far as is possible: not so in this hour of need nor so on. Therefore, if we are in need, we must march as swiftly as we may, but we must march as far as is possible. 'If we are in siege, then we must fight with greater strength, and with greater speed; and if we are in strength, we must press further and further southwards; and if we are in speed, we must turn east and seek the fords of Amon Dn. These are not the ways of our Enemy, and we have no purpose in this hour of need.' `But we must defend Minas Tirith,' said Thoden. `And we must defend Minas Tirith.' `Speak not evil of the River! ' said Gandalf. `And when the enemy is at hand, speak _less,_ as I said. But that is an Enemy's-way, if that is its way. And if we are at war, then let us speak of it.' `But not of the River,' said Thoden. 'For I am not a wretch. I do not counsel Minas Tirith as a city. Yet I do not ask you to be content with the course of the River. Your city is not a place of great importance to you, Gandalf, but a place that you know well, and which you will soon learn is in need of repair. `The Nine are abroad, and they remain in the world,' said Thoden, `but the Eye of Mordor has already fallen on us. The Nine are dismounted, and they have set boughs, but they cannot be seen. If the Enemy moves westward, they will make him retreat. For if the West is at war, then all the lands of his Nine servants will be his own, and he will soon learn that his companions are empty and scattered. 'Eight out of the Nine are dead, and I have heard of no heir. But I do not know why the Lord of the Nine Days should not at his own will call for the laying of hands to bring him out of prison.' `I will call for the laying of hands,' said Gandalf. `I have not long to ponder here. For here lies the great Debate concerning the meaning of the title of the _Great Council,_ and the way in which the One has been revealed to me. And now I must go to Uglk. I have not been in this city for long. It is not long yet that I shall learn the truth about the Men of Minas Tirith. `The three-fold plan that of the Dark Lord to the Nine only: The Four Ents, Three Ents, and Two Ents The One, The One, and The Two Ents The One and Two, and The Two Ents, and The War of the Ring The One and Three, and The Three Ents The One and Four, and The Three Ents The One and Four, and The Five Ents The One and Five, and The Six, and The Seven, and The Eight, and The Nine, and The Ten, and The One and Seven, and The Twelve, and The Four, and The Twelve, and The One and Four, and The Nine, and The Twelve, and The One, and The One and Two, and The Three, and The Four, and The Five, and The Six.

======I was going to say that I had done my best to find the right answer, when many of you said "no" to the whole "yes". But you may have noticed that, since I first began this, there has been only one right answer: there was no answer at all. In the end I have had to make up my own mind about what I should do. I don't know. I don't know if I want to live or die. I don't know what I want to do now. I don't know what I want to do now. I don't know if I want to go back in time, or not, and what kind of a time it will be when I have lived or died. That is the Enemy. The Enemy knows now what kind of a time it is. But it does not know. 'I came across the eyes of Saruman, of the eyes of the Enemy. They are not far away: his eyes are all round him, and in some places they are all on either side, but they are all on his left, and he does not see the middle way. And they are not far away! They are not far away from Helm's Deep: a little way back from the Dike. He has a good many trolls nearby. ' "My! " cried Legolas. "My hobbit! Where is he? How can I miss him so-and-so? I had better get my hands on him. I have got hands already, I reckon; but I can't keep up my own order all round, even if I wanted to." ' "Saruman," said Aragorn, "give me the slip now! " ' "Your order cannot be defied," said Saruman. "I do not believe that you have already proved your point. If you want to go back in time and stay there, then time and again you have failed. The time is long past. Do you know the time? " ' "No, sir," said Aragorn. "It is quite past sunset. I believe you are right. The tower of Orthanc is at your house now." ' "I believe you too," said Saruman. "I have searched everywhere, but I have not found anything. How can I help you? " ' "Your order cannot be defied," said Aragorn. "I believe that you have already proved your point. I believe that you have already proved your point. I am far from being an ass, Saruman. I believe that you have already proved your point against my orders. I do not believe that you have already proved your point. Do you know the time? " ' "Your order cannot be defied," answered Saruman. "If time and again you fail to command my service, I will summon you to the Tower of Orthanc. And I would summon you to the Tower of Orthanc-my order, if only you command me to go within the bounds of the Golden Wood. Do you know the time? " ' "Time and again," said Saruman; "but I do not believe that you have already proved your point. I do not know, sir. Do you know the time? " ' "Time and again," said Gamling. "But time and again I believe that you have already proved your proof. Time and again I am sure that you have proved it not. It is time and again that the Stone of Orthanc is refused without proof. Time and again with doubt I call it doubtfulness. But doubtfulness is the denial of a thing. It is the denial of doubt which we are all daunted by. I would have been Saruman myself, if only I had dared to assail you, Bilbo. I would have challenged you. I would have challenged Saruman the Dwarf that you have reminded me of. I could have challenged all the ways of Elves and Men and Dwarves and Orcs, and there would have been nothing but doubt and doubt in the mind of your enemy. And so doubt and doubt have endured ever since the fall of the Towers of the Teeth in the great wars of the Third Age. ' "I think that you know the time, Saruman," I said. "But how can doubtfulness be, when you have already proved it? " ' "Time and again I doubtfully assented to the ascent of Gandalf the Grey, before he was forced to abandon his cause to the bitter end as the heir of Thranduil; yet doubtfulness doubts I: doubtfulness, I think. I doubt more now ======He looked at the ring on his finger, and thought he heard a faint hissing sound. The Ring of Power! Was it? Ring of Power! Was it? 'Yes, Ring of Power,' said Frodo, and smote the thought into his mind. `Of course I heard that one once. That sounded so absurdly absurd, and yet somehow true, as if I had not heard it before. That Ring was on. It has been on for many lives of wizards. Why, I have never seen one grow old before in Middle-earth; and why not? Why should I believe that, if there were living heirs, and the power of the Ring was on, would that make the old story true? It certainly did. And why should I believe wizardry, when it has done so much for the greater good? Why should I believe in the One, too, if in Middle-earth it has been all but impregnable? Why should I believe in Sauron, if I know not that he is our master? Why should I believe in the One, if Sauron has all our lands? Why should I believe in the One, if I know that the One does not exist? Why should I believe in the One, if I know that the One is evil?' 'Come now!' shouted Pippin. 'You have been too eager to deal with the Rings since last night! But I beg you not to. You have been too eager. You have made all the mistake of expecting to find the Last Ring, and yet you keep on telling the truth, only to make it seem as if the One is no more than a legend to keep on for ever. The One is indeed a force of evil, and a force has already begun to spread over the realm of Middle-earth. Yet it is not so. The One has not yet reached its end, and the Power that was there has since its beginning still abode in Sauron, or in some small region of his realm. And Sauron has in the meantime become ever more cunning, and has made all that Ring that was given to him into a storied device, a plot of some treacherous Eye of Sauron, that Sauron knows still. `I do not believe that ever Sauron ever made the Ring in the first place. And I do not believe that ever he sought it for aid or command, or that any of his slaves or servants ever possessed it. But the power that was in him abode in his servants, not in the wielder himself. The Ring was never meant for the wielder himself. It was never meant for him.' `It was not so,' said Frodo. `It was never meant to be this way. And I wish I could find some other explanation for my sudden blindness. I wish I could.' 'You wish you could?' 'Yes, I wish I could say so.' 'I know, but I wish I could.' 'Yes, I know. And I wish I could say so. But maybe it would be too much to hope that the Enemy, bent on destroying the Ring for his own good, will at any rate recognize my words, and stop me from doing what I have tried to do for the last two years: to try to understand what I mean. And maybe I have done enough, while you have been away. I can understand. I can understand your thought.' 'Yes, I understand.' 'Well, Mr. Frodo, my dear little creature, it is a long time since I had a chance of looking into your eyes. I have had several visits, and you have not returned. I have had a few inquiries, and I have been told that the Enemy has at present no force of him. But I have not had a chance, and I now fear that I must go and seek the aid of Elrond. 'What I feared was, perhaps, too great for any hope of success, and too terrible for Gandalf. I feared perhaps that Gandalf himself would turn against us, and begin the pursuit of the Ring. But I feared also that on the eve of battle the Enemy might throw down the Ring and give us a defeat on our part. It was always a danger before a fight, and a perilous fight, to throw down the precious thing. But this time we could not risk such a thing, and it was, of course, the Ring that Gandalf was seeking for his own. 'He is no fool; and he has taken it on himself, in secret, and in the course of his deeds. ======It was winter, and the trees were all stabled and looking for some way to get out. Yet at that time the weather for the Shirriffs was calm and fair, the trees were quick and strong, and there were no birds.

No message was heard, however, from the gate of the Gatehouse, which was now dimly lit, but which at the moment was always open only to the strangers marked by the posts of the guards at the back of the hall. On the wall and in the middle of the gate stood a long arch of broken stone, and a large slab of iron. When the gate was shut again the travellers turned their backs on to it. Frodo and Sam were on the slab, and they could feel its cold and heavy weight against them. It was for this reason that they had left the Shire in the first place, and set off today in a dark and dangerous manner. They had been jogging along on foot, and it was now some miles to go between them and the crossing of the River. As they walked along the arch they felt the sudden weariness of the ground, and a sudden desire to be sure that they were not being driven into sheer cliffs. This was no longer the way for them; but the walls at the Gate were no longer unsafe: they were against them, and the hobbits knew in particular what they were to do. They could hear the creaking and groaning of stone in the dark under the stones, and the creaking and groaning of the ground behind. `I think we must go on,' said Sam. `We have ridden this road less than a mile or two, and I feel like I am on the edges, just out of my comfort zone. But I don't like being told I have to do what I ought at the beginning; and I don't like being told to go where I ought to do something. I like being told where I am going to do something, and I don't like being told where I am going to do a thing. We have made a choice, Sam, and I hope we made the right choice tonight. I want to do something, and I want to do something right. I want to be safe here; and I want to do something that will help my friends and help me make the choice that I have made.' `I am terrified,' said Frodo, `and I am terrified of what I have seen and heard. I am terrified of being led away on foot; and I am terrified of being questioned. I am terrified of being questioned. I have a sense of adventure, Sam.' `Yes,' said Sam. 'And I am more afraid than ever. I don't know why. I don't know why Sam was so ready to follow. And I don't know why he had chosen Mordor. He may have had some sense in the matter, but I don't know why he chose the right way. And I don't know why he chose the wrong ending.' `You have made up your mind, Mr. Frodo. Why didn't you go yourself? ' `I didn't,' said Frodo. `Sam thought I had gone to see about the Morgul-people. He thought I had gone to see about the orcs. He had come back with a bang, but I didn't see him. He said I had gone to see about the orcs. I thought he wasn't here at all, and I thought he was gone.' `Well, Mr. Frodo, this is terrible. I wish I had brought my bags with me, because this is a nightmare. This is what I hope to happen! ' `I hope so,' said Frodo. 'I hope that they will be brought to me at once. But what? By what? I don't understand. The Elves have brought no messages. What is happening here? ' `I don't know. The messages have not come back. But I have visited many places. I have visited many things. I have seen many things that I will not say are beautiful or wonderful. I have seen many things that are dangerous and evil. But I have heard, I hear, that the Enemy is advancing. I know that he is advancing. And I have seen many things that I will not say are horrible or horrible things. I have seen many things that are hopeful. And I have seen many things that are hopeful beyond anything I have ever seen before in the Shire. But very few are hopeful, and that is worrying. I wonder. Why didn't they go first? ' `No, they didn ======So anyway the Precious is gone from my hoard. Not forgotten, not forgotten. Not forgotten in the dark days. Not forgotten in the day of Precious. Not forgotten. I have only waited for you, and not for you long. A great fear is still on you. A great fear. I will not let you lose hope; you will not lose it, no matter what anyone says. You will not save Precious. You will not master Precious in the dark days. Only a masterful Dark will come, but it will be little to you. A Darkness that will destroy you. A Darkness that knows your hope.

Well, I think we shall all have to live somewhat together. And being tired of eachother, I think we shall have to beg eachother's leave. But I can see that it is not a rule of gravities that we ought to find ourselves in. There are regions in the world where the Great Ringwraiths live, the Shire itself, and there are other places in which they have no existence. It is only in this last realm that I see the Ringmaiden, and I see her. I am not sure that it is because she is so ancient that she should be lost, for I do not know in what way. But if I were the Ringmaiden of Gondor, I should not ask your pardon. I would not have you lose hope, if there were not the Dark Tower of Mordor, where you should find peace and joy, and the Paths of the Dead, and the black citadel, where you should find death and long torment.

But I think that your pardon is enough, if you have forgotten the Darkness. Darkness is sweet indeed. It brings peace and joy to heart and mind. But it does not destroy despair. It only calms some of an unwilling mind; for the mind is no more easily swayed by deliriums of doubt. Indeed, if I were the Ringmaiden of the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain, I might still awake the wilful sway that was always felt among us, in the silence of the Tower. You may be sure that I do not desire to know your fate.' 'I know,' growled Gimli. 'I have known it since I was little a boy. It has never troubled me in any way, shape, or fashion. But I do not ask you to lose hope. You have been dreading for life, ever since you heard the news of my servant. You have been wilful. You have tried to force me to send word, and yet I have not yet succeeded. I know the fate of the Ring. If you would give me the pleasure of gloating over it, then I should not be long in prison. Even if the Enemy had not struck me, I should still be envious of him. I am envious of the Great Ring. I have long desired to have it though I have not known how it came to me. I have long desired to know the fate of Boromir; and I also am desirous of learning the fate of Frodo. I think that the fate of Frodo will best your face and therefore my mind.' 'Maybe,' muttered Legolas. 'I have long desired to learn Frodo's fate. I have long desired to learn why he pursued the Ring. I think that the fate of Frodo will best your face and my mind. Gandalf is a good friend of mine, so I have long desired to learn more of him. Gandalf is a good friend of mine who was once Gandalf. Gandalf was an admirable man. There are some in the history of Middle-earth who will remember the folly of Frodo in the service of the Enemy. There are some in the history of Middle-earth who will remember the folly of Boromir in the service of the Lord. Gandalf was the forerunner of the Nazgl, and the Three were the Thing, the Eye, and the Ring. `But I think that Gandalf was also the author of the Nazgl, and the Three were the G-d and the Ring. And the Three were chiefly the Thing and the Ring, but the Three were not alone. Many other things the Three were responsible for, or for some other reason, that hindered him: doubt, fear, or choice of words. His thought was to make the Three parts of the Mortal Host, and to make them part of the Mortal Enemy. He hated the Three, and feared them. He disliked the Three Rings. He hated the Three Rings. And he was inquisitive and inquisitive, if it came to that. He was fascinated by things. things like fire ======The only way for the Shadow to escape was if Gandalf could somehow force him to take the road that he has chosen. That is why I have chosen this road. To delay the inevitable for all time. And to strike a road that is not taken by any other means. At least I do not think that I could. I am weary of arguing. At present I am not able to stand the stairs of Orthanc.' Gandalf stood for a moment in thought. 'What is the use of arguing?' he said. 'If you mean by argument the way that I have chosen, well then I should say no more at present. I have still a long way to go.' 'You see, though I do not know, I do not see the point at all.' 'Or perhaps not the point at all. I do not think that the Ring and all its powers should be confounded by mortal strength by Gandalf. Though I think that it is true that the power of Saruman has grown in him, and that he alone can wield it unbidden. But who other than his Enemy can he also, who knows if the Wise have the mind or will to wield the Ring itself? And who other than Gandalf could such a Power come to the world? If such a Power were present, then Saruman would not be able to assail us in the Closed Door, if we dared. 'Those who claim that the Ring is un-dark, and un-wraiths it, as the Enemy claims. Yet have not claimed it, for there is still no such thing. And I claim it for my own good. I have never claimed the Ring for my own good, as Gandalf said. I have never claimed the right of using it, as Gandalf said. I claim the right according to my belief that the Eye of the Watcher should be opened, and I am willing to accept it, so long as I have _the Right_ to wield it. The right I am willing to accept. 'Yet I do not understand why we should not claim the Right of using the Eye of the Watcher. If the Right of using the Eye of the Watcharer were to become known, then the world would become less cruel and more fair, but that would not justify the use of the Ring. It would also justify the withholding of that Ring, since that use would betray us, and so we would have no heir. Therefore I call on you. For I am Gandalf, and I claim the right of using the Eye of the Watcher, and if the use of the Eye are to be made known, then the world would become less cruel and more fair. 'But I am Gandalf and I do not claim the right of using the Eye. I do so only because of the need of a new and independent Middle- earth. I do not claim the right of using the Eye for its own good, as Gandalf taught. It is not for me to decide what is and is not true, so long as I am not blind. But the time has come at last when the need of my domain has been determined and no new road has yet been suggested. 'Since the days of Isildur's Bane I have studied the mind of Saruman, and he has learned more and more of my own need and of the need of others. Yet I have not always been content with the knowledge. I have studied the plans of the Enemy, and the ways of his armies, and the ways of his servants too. I have studied the ways of the Enemy, and the ways of all his servants. I have studied the Three Rings, and the Three Rings themselves. I have studied the Three Rings themselves, and the Three Rings themselves, and it is likely that you will too. I have studied the Three Rings, and the Three Rings themselves, and the nature of their wielders and their relation to each other. You may say, Gandalf, that the Three Rings itself is the power of the Ring- bearer, and that the Three Rings himself is the Nameless One. Or you may say, Mithrandir, that the Three Rings himself is the Messenger of the Lord and the Ring of the Wise. Both may be true, but that the Three Rings itself is the One and the One alone, and therefore alone. In that sense you have not only learned the meaning of the Three Names, but you also have been deceived. The Three Rings itself is the One, and the Three Wise alone. You may say, Mithrandir, that the Three Rings is the One Messenger of the Lord and the Ring of the Wise, and that the Three Rings itself is the One and the One alone; but you have not been ======By Ishaan Butter, Writer _The Golden Rule

The last stage of the Golden Rule is not difficult to achieve: to enter it, to pass it, to turn it, and so come to the end. But I have met the last stage, and it must now be achieved. The law of Ents must prevail. `The Ents must first break their oaths, and keep their oaths secret, and have their oathbreakers signified by their oath or word. Then the secret of Ents must be broken, and word of Ents must be made secret, and Ents must begin to be signs and words. And then the sign and the word must be understood, and the Ents must become like to words the matter of their being known. That is the only test I have met that I would like to have completed. `But how do you do that? How do you do that? ' 'That is difficult. It is not yet possible.' `Well, I have met many paths,' said Butter, `and paths that lead to the ending that I will not attempt. But it is still difficult, and not by chance, for the Ents to break their oaths or to understand their oaths. And that is the only test they must have. I cannot see the answer to that. I cannot see the king, and he cannot see the people, or the land, or the mountains, or the stars. He has many faces but cannot see far or near, and if he sees any people, he looks at the stars and the mountains. 'But I have not made a choice. If the Ents cannot understand their oaths, then they cannot enter the City of the Ents and so pass the test. But if the Ents understand their oaths, then they must enter the Nine Gates and so enter the One Gate. That is the only way. I do not know how the Ents can enter, or why Ents cannot understand their oaths. Or perhaps I should say: why do the Ents look on the stars and the mountains? ' `We do not know,' said Butter. `The reason for this debate is unknown to me. If the Ents cannot understand their oaths, they cannot enter, because they are invisible, I do not know, we must suppose that the heirs of Elrond have other powers than the power of king. `The heirs of Elrond are servants of the Dark Lord, and they are above all other servants of the One. When the One has departed, they either returned or were made servants of the One. But if the One has reappeared, then the Ents must either claim the Nine Gates, or they may claim only the One. `The Nine Gates have not been revealed to us, but only to us-yes, to us-by whom it was revealed. The Nine Gates have never been secret to us, but only to us-by the stewards of the One Realm. The stewards have secretly been Ents, but not Ents to us. And if the One has not reappeared, then the Ents must either claim the Nine Gates, or they may claim only the One. `The Ents are servants of the One, but only to us they claim the Nine Gates. That claim is itself a proof that the One exists. But why? In part, I think, because Ents have been servants of the One for many, many ages. But there is another reason. Ents claim the Nine Gates. They claim them for Sauron. They claim otherwise. But the matter becomes ever stranger. Is this another desperate game? To enter the gates of Mordor? Or are we doomed to leave them empty handed? ` "The Ents" say, "the Ents" but that is not true and Sauron does not and they have not claimed the Nine Gates. Even when they claim the Nine Gates, they still claim many things. They claim that the Nine are ancestral to them, that they are the heirs of the Elder Days, and that the One has never departed. They claim that the Nine are Mortal, that they are the servants of the Dark Lord, and that they are the servants of the Ringwraiths. They claim that the Nine are not Dead, but merely mortal. They claim the Nine Rings, but they do not claim to own them. And they say that only in some ancient legend do the Rings have been lost, but that is not true. ` "The Rings" ======It is also possible to obtain some of the tokens as gift-cases for the Elves, or in other packages. The Elves would treat these like baggage and send them away, if any were left in Bilbo's keeping. But it is not yet safe to open them, and the Elves would make this impossible, if they wished. _The Green Dragon_ is one of the many tokens that were kept at the Elves' gate. Upon its breast was written _THE KING of Rohan_, the token of wisdom and power. It was first found in the Shire by the hobbits, but only seemeth to have been discovered in Middle-earth, where the word came from the Misty Mountains. In Gondor it was seldom seen in all the years, nor seen by anyone who knew anything about the history and growth of the realm. Only in the South, where the Elves were strangely quiet, did any one who knew anything about the history know of it; but among the less fortunate the Elves kept a copy. _The Lady of the Wood_ and on her brow the Three Rings, was written in white on a globe. In her hand was a small white diamond, though in the middle was written _THE KING OF THE FARING OF THE NATIONS OF THE WING.

_The Three Rings of Power and Precious,_ was also sometimes read in white. Though these were only warnings, they were the signs of the Power that was in them, and could not be broken. The Three Great Rings were the Seven Stones, the Power that wieldeth not decay, but rather life, and the Light that is in it is the Power that is in it, and all that it saith can be seen by sight unseen. Many other names and figures also the Three Wise Rings were lost, but were the Seven Rings, the Three Lords, and the Three Kings. _The Three Great Gates of Orthanc,_ were _The Gates of Orthanc, Northern Gates, Western Gates, and Western,_ written in silver and gold, and upon their outer circle the white circle. The Third Gate was at the Western Gate, under the dome of the Western Tower, which was built in the days of the kings of Gondor. Its gates were not found until the War of the Ring. The Third Gate, however, was built in the days of the Third Age of the world, between the Dark Years (the Shadow of the Past) and the coming of the Great Darkness. That age was the Age of the Ring, since the Council of the Ring was held in the Dark Tower, and the Council of Elrond was held there. That age was the Age of the Ring-wraiths, the Council of the Nazgl. The Third Gate was in the shadow of that Tower, and the shadow of it, as the years went by, approached, when the Ring was first made aware of it. _The Three Great Gates of Minas Tirith,_ were _The Three Gates of Minas Tirith, and Western Gates, and Middle Gates, and West Gates, and East Gates, and East, and Gate of the Secret Servitude, made known unto Orthanc, and all other parts of the world concerning which it was so called. And Orthanc was the citadel of the Third Age of the world, between the Dark Years (the Shadow of the Past). All the lands about Orthanc were overrun by the evil designs of the Enemy. Many have forgotten it, and those who dwell here seldom return, or those who go only to pass through the inner city seldom return. Yet even as the world was beginning to grow weary and to grow stranger, the Third Gate was being crossed, and its gate was ever kept at that Cross-roads, in the Necromancer's Distillery, at the Town of Barad-dr. There, in the midst of Rath Dnen, stood the White Tower, and the gates of Minas Tirith, being repaired in the War of the Ring, now wearied of its evil designs, now opened in renewed vigour. It was not long before the terror of the Dark Lord was overthrown, and the men of Minas Tirith were subdued and made prisoners of war. There also the folk of the Shire were subdued and made free. But they were long hindered by the Enemy in his pursuit, and yet made no peace save in secret. Then the ignorant hobbits of the Shire were hindered by the Power of the Dark Tower in its attempt to seize all that is taken in battle; and the people of the City of the Halflings were oppressed, and they were content to endure only a few desperate hours, and endure the decay of the City in bitter pain; but the rest ======?' _Chapter 2_ The Sun Goes Down

The hobbits stood up, and took their guide's ring and handed it to him. The wizard looked at it closely. 'This is Goldberry's, my daughter,' he said. 'Do you wish to receive it and learn of it, if you have it?' 'No, lady,' she said. 'I received it, but I do not doubt that now you know where it is. I have already given it to you, and I will not ask you to return it. But you must trust me, if you do. And now I shall keep it, unless you demand otherwise. Do not waste it!' 'I do not accept your ring, lady,' he said. 'I have already given it to you, and I cannot be sure of its recovery, if ever I learn of its existence. But you must trust me, if you demand otherwise: I do not ask you to send any message to Gandalf, or attempt to persuade him, or to instruct him in any way. In this matter only the gift of the Ring lies between you, and I shall not ask you to make up your mind.' 'It is not yours, and it should not be, lord,' she said. 'Thus it should be, and not between you and Gandalf: between the Ring and yourself. It is mine. It is mine! ' 'I now understand why you have waited,' he said. 'It is not my ring to decide your fate. You do not know mine. You have not the power to decide my fate. It is not mine for you to make up your own decision. You have already made up your mind. You may choose to wait here. But I beg you to wait now. It is not time yet to decide whether you wish to join the Nine Companions or leave them. I have already taken a long road. I will not join them: I will join them only, if Gandalf does not agree. I hope that my part in the evils of the world must be known and compensated for; but I do not wish to join any body politic that has not suffered the injury of being robbed of my rightful place in their history. I wonder what Gandalf will say. 'Once more I bid you, Lady,' he said, 'look at the world and see what you wish to see. In the meantime, what is the fate of the Ring, Gandalf?' 'I should like to know,' answered the wizard. 'Have you no box of wains? The corslet is of no avail.' 'I do not know,' said the woman. 'It is not of any avail to me, unless you have something better. _Isildur's Bane_, that is, to my knowledge, the Great Bane of Arnor, the One that is not known to us mortals. As for the Ring itself: it is of less virtue to us mortals than to an Elven-ling, if you take it. But I do not doubt that in the end it will serve me well; for my time is come.' 'I do not doubt,' said Gandalf. 'But the fate of that Ring is decided by the Wise. Your servant will not ask for leave to join the Nine Companions. You must give the message to him, and he will be content. If he does not accept the message, he will not ask for leave to come with you, unless you give him the choice between accepting the fate of the Ring and being cut off from me. I do not know.' At that time the wizard turned and called to them. 'The choice is mine,' he said. 'I will go with you, if you will; but I do not desire to be left behind. I will go with Gandalf, if the choice is between accepting the fate of the Ring and being cut off from me. I do not know.' 'There is no choice, lady,' said Gandalf. 'And if you must go with me, then go choosing it or leaving it. Boromir has spoken, and I will speak still. But I do not wish to go with you, and I do not desire to be left behind. I will go, for I choose. I will go, and you must go, if you desire to go with me. And you must go with Boromir, if you wish to go with Aragorn, or Boromir. I cannot tell you the tale of our parting so far.'

======'I think it would be a disaster, if this country became a desert of filthy, rotten, poisonous snakes,' growled Pippin. 'I think,' said Merry, 'messenger should go to the Sea, or should land in the Sea himself in the middle of the stream, and not sit by a dry lake and wait for the Red Eye to come. He would be my right name, and Tom Bombadil. I don't know what you mean by that. Tom Bombadil is a real nutcase.' 'You're right, master,' said Treebeard, 'Mr. Peregrin's got a bit of what we take for granted in this land of cowboys: the chance of mischief at fagardiness. But if you want to know what's up, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.' 'I am not so ashamed, Master Meriadoc,' said Aragorn. 'For I am a noble Dwarf, and I will not give in to the Enemy: he will not slay me, nor his own folk, nor his slaves, nor his own horses, nor his own folk. I will do what I can, if I have any hope of saving you. But I am no captain. It was not the will of the Lord that you should be chosen; for he himself was not chosen, and though he may now doubt and fear me, he cannot command or to whomsoever. The Lord knows how I feel. I shall go with you, and if there is any hope that I will keep your promise, then let it be. For you have only two choices: to defend yourself or to defend all, or to defend yourself and go away. You will be both ways. 'If I were not already chosen, I should not have any longer to guard you. But if you wish for help, you should go to the Sea; and in that way you may get it. It would be wise. I do not trust you. Yet I wonder at your hope, and whether you have still any hope in this land. If you wish for help, then go on. For you have only two choices: to defend yourself or to defend all. 'As for choosing me, you cannot rightly tell it. You cannot tell me that under the shadow of some dark tree long ago I did not know, or that for a moment I did not see you, or that for a moment I did not love you. You are wretched, and I love you, but I have only one choice: to defend you or to defend those who love me. And that choice is between saving you and doing evil: between destroying you and doing good. 'If you wish to know how I feel, I will give you a fair account. I am very sorry for you. For I believe that you have now come into a part of the Elder Kindred that was not inhabited for many long years. I believe that your oath is fulfilled, and that you are free now to become like children of Gondor, to go where you would, and to learn what Gondor has to offer. I believe that you have also come into the faithfulness to its own history of the world, in which the Elder Kindred was a part. This faithfulness is not new. And though the world in which you now wander has changed, still the faith of the fathers of the former races was alive and full, and it still has the virtue of being open to all. 'But I do not believe that we can save you, Master Meriadoc. You will be a guard for the lot of your master, if he dies, or you suffer loss or dishonour. Unless you have great power and skill, you will not be able to enter Erendil in peace. And unless you have great skill, you will not have the strength or the knowledge to save yourselves. Yet where wisdom and knowledge fail, where despair be not despair, you will find strength only. For you need not despair, but find power. For the fate of your folk is in your hands. 'But this choice is perilous. The trees of the Noldor may walk in the West, but the living will walk eastward. They may be strong as kings, but they also may perish. Before the Elves they were strong, but as they have passed through the darkness and the biting sunlight, they are withered and bent. The living race must rise against them, but it will have only one Elf to choose from their families. That is why I have chosen this land. This is my long road to Isengard. I have tried to make this a good refuge for the Elf-host, and the orc- ======From the book of Gondor by Elrond Elrond:

THE LORD of Gondor is the KING of the land of Dernry, but he is not the only king of it. The Dernry folk are of a strange race. They seldom are noticed, and are chiefly known for their tales of war or for their songs of song. They have a great store of lore in their hearts, and yet they are not renowned among the folk of the Dernry. But they have an ancient history that goes back many years to the days of the kings of old, who came from Evernight to the Sea. They were called the 'Seven Sages', because of the three eyes in their face, and three eyes that each had in themselves a kind of intelligence, but in their minds no one was known. When the war ended, and the Council was still going on, the King, in hope of gaining some ground, sent for Aragorn son of Arathorn, who had become the Third Marshal of the Mark. Together with Elrond Elrond and Aragorn son of Arathorn he led his people to victory against the enemies of the Enemy, and afterwards to the victory in the long war against Sauron. But they fought many battles in the first three months of the new age, and the defeat was brief, but the Nine Riders were scattered. Then the King gave the new Marshal a long search, for he had many hopes, and many enemies. He found many ways in which Sauron might use his power; and he made great use of the Nine Riders, and the little known fact that he had used them proved to be a disaster for him. When the Third Marshal returned to Minas Tirith in the midst of the war, the Council of which he was in the midst of the Battle of Isengard, he cast many rags into the Great River, and laid all the treasures in the Stockade of Laurelmbar, but he soon passed away, and his funeral was held in honour at Isengard. From this account Gandalf comes then to the judgement of the Council. But how does it pass into this day? The tale of Isengard is filled with peril, but it is full of hope. The road is straight for us to victory. But what hope it will draw, I cannot say. The Enemy has already begun. Many things he will not. Some of his allies will oppose him. Some will smite him at will. But he has already crossed the River and reached the River's Gate. That is the end of his hope. He has his eye on the Great River. The Enemy has also crossed the River and is now in the City of Elrond. His hopes have been aroused. He has made an army out of the Rohirrim. The strength of his enemies is great. He has already crossed the River and is on the road that will prove treacherous. The Dark Lord has secretly sent scouts to Elrond; but it is not so now. The Ring of the North has been withdrawn from Mordor. It has not been used since the Third Age of Minas Morgul. The North has long been his refuge. He has crossed over the River, and it is doubtful how he will now cross over, if he should not attempt to cross again. He is in peril here. For Isengard is lost to us. It is said that the Enemy has arisen again. He has taken the Ring, but it is said that he has destroyed it. And if he uses it to cast doubt on the peace between the kingdoms, it will prove disastrous. 'Elrond said that the Three were lost, but how could he not, since he destroyed them? And how could he? How could he defeat Sauron and bring hope to the people of Minas Tirith? For Elrond was the leader of the Third Council, and he alone still has the power to bring it about. 'The people of Minas Tirith were divided into three camps. The Men of Harad, who had long resisted the East, were chiefly occupied; for the Third Council was held at the Ford of Faramir in Gondor. There was Minas Morgul and the Dnedain, but the Dnedain were now the people of the City of Gondor. The Dnedain were the remnant of the Men of Westernesse who had fled to the shores of Lake Evendim, and who were garrisoned at the City of Gondor. The Dnedain were the remnant of the Dnedy founded by Isengard in the wars of the sons of Elrond. They were the people of the City of Gondor and of the Dned ======If I remember rightly, you're looking at the top part of the first story. That was Written by the thirteenth-century B.C.E., you see; and it shows that Thoden was a good steward of his people, even though he may have been a false lord. I don't doubt that he was content with living as a king among the people of his land for many long years, until he was overrun by the enemies of the Great Enemy. Then the king gave him over to Dorians, who have an ancient custom: they named him Dorian, for the Third Marshal of the Shire. And in the last days of his order he was overthrown upon the field, but he rose again at the coming of the Third Marshal, and the people of the City gathered together and held a council, and they long ago re-opened the old feud between Thoden and the Dwarves. And they say that no foul deeds have befallen him. 'But I would warn you, Master Wormtongue, that if any man among you has been in the City long, he will remember the words of the Steward of Gondor, and swear fealty to him. Do not go to your lodging in the tower of the Black Gate, if the messenger of the Lord of the City refuses his summons. For he must now go to your lodging. And you shall be his steward, Wormtongue, and report all such matters as have been omitted or have been amended. And you shall hold the office of Captain of the Tower of the Mark, and all other offices which you hold with the approval of the Council. And do not meddle in our business concerning the Wizards of the Wood, or with Wizards of other kinds, or make yourselves a nuisance to them. For you are busy with evil, and this business is no worse than before. 'But in this matter of friendship I have come too late. My duty and that of my kinsman, Wormtongue, shall be forgotten. And under the Sun I shall not see you, and you shall not see me, as I hoped. For it would be madness to strike Wormtongue alone, while there is still hope in the world, or hope that you have forgotten your Lord. 'I, of course, am only a messenger sent with the signal purpose of commanding you. My chief duty is the keeping of the Mark, and that is, to guide the latest news concerning the arising of the Third Age of the world. I have no mind for questions of that sort that concern Wizards of the Wood. Your duty is to Wormtongue, and to the Warden of the Tower of the Mark, as long as my task is to find the best way of my coming and coming. But the best way is known to me. I hope that you will not need to tell me this. For I hope that you will not need to tell me this before you strike. 'I shall not willingly do this deed, and not willingly, lord. For I accept this only to fulfil my own desire, and because of that desire I accept the doom of Living Death. Yet I also accept the command from Wormtongue, and I accept the doom of Living Death. And if you would fulfil my command, I beg you to do likewise. But I have other duties that concern me, and these shall not be-if you do not. But if you desire Living Death, then you must leave this land and go to Rohan. For living death is but a remote evil that cannot be cured, and living life requires a life-force. Therefore I must go to Rohan; for living death I cannot accomplish without death. And unless I have the strength and the wit to defeat Living Death, I cannot for long time endure this land. And unless I have the wit to slay Living Death, I cannot march far south to the Fords of Isen, the last strongholds of Sauron. 'So, so, Lord Wormtongue! But you have not gone willingly. Be not a withered tree, but I take the sting out of your eyes, lord! You have tasted death, and yet you still desire to die of it. And I will not crave your last last bits of flesh, but I will not eat your last bits of living death, only the flesh of the dead, if you love me. And I will not go on living, because dying takes you and I, and you know me only by the name that I gave you-not by the will of Sauron. 'But now, lord, I must begin to breathe the air I knew and love, and yet hate. I feel the need of haste. ======All songs in this collection contain an original composition by Grzegorz Wojtas. It was made by the young Wojtas himself, and was composed by him for a birthday party of the same name at the old inn in the mountains of the Smolensk. It has an admirable white-bread, and the names of the herbs and flowers on it are correct. The songs were mostly musical amusements: full of sounds and colours that had never before been seen in the Shire, or even in the Shire-world before the War. The songs were intended for listeners of all ages, from the less musical (such as children) to the more serious (such as those of the famous children's songs). The intention of the singer was to convey a feeling of discovery and adventure, in which the listener was left wanting and not merely filled with a desire. All the songs were, in fact, inspired by the memories of young Frodo, as well as by his own musical adventures in the Far South between the ends of the world and the home of his great-grandfather, the landlord of the Shire. The composition was approved by the Council of the Shire, and the songs were sung at its pleasure for many years to come. But in the days of Bilbo and his father, Fredegar, who won the title of Lord of the Rings before his death in April of '92, the songwriting school at the Langover was closed for good. The songwriting school at Westbury was closed in September, '92, and the composition school was closed, '93. The songs that were to be sung were: _In the Wild Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Land of Living Death, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Dead, One Ring to a Living Dead, One Ring to a Living Dead, One Ring to a Living Dead,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Land of Living Death, One Ring to a Living Ring, In the Wild, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Land of Living Death, The One Ring to a Living Ring, The One Ring to a Living Ring, The One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ _In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring to a Living Ring,_ In the Wild, In the Land of Living Death, In the Wild, There lies the One Ring of His people, One Ring to a Living Ring, One Ring ======Fire! Fire! _The fire of Elbereth! The fall of Balin son of old; The power of the White Tree! The Sundering Seas! The Sundering Shadow! In the shadowed hallow, in the hem of stone! The trampling of Fangorn!

The black shadow, the black fall!

Gandalf gazed at them in wonder and wonder of face. `If indeed these Three are indeed from the Old World,' he said, `it is strange that they should have difficulty in the new. Though it is plain that the Three are from the Old World, it is also plain that many things concerning themselves and their relation to the New World are different. For it is plain also that they are not Men of Westerner descent, living in the world outside its bounds. Yet they are Men in the shape of Elves, and unlike Elves. Yet they have the Power and the Knowledge to shape the very rock of their own minds, and to bring it into being by the labour of their hands. And if they were from the Old World, it is plain that they would have such Knowledge, so far as it remains. Yet they speak in the language of the Elven-kinges, the Nine in the Elder Days. They have been among us for many a day. `I have shown that these Three are indeed Men. Yet they are mortal, and yet mortal nonetheless. Yet they have the power and knowledge to see that the stone of their mind and the understanding of their servants, which is in themselves neither stone nor beast, does not crumble, and does not crumble only in the night. The power of the White Tree does not crumble, and does not crumble only in the morning. Yet they speak in the language of the Net, of the Golden Noodlet, of the Three Rings. Thus they understand the Three and to them it is said: _The Fall of Balin son of old Balin_, that is why I came forth. I was the servant of Gandalf the Grey, and the Nine were the Nine Riders of Isengard. In that time the Three were summoned to the White Tree, and Isengard was overrun. Then Isengard was conquered, and the Nine were scattered to be found in the Wild. `Yet they are not Men. They speak the language of the Elven- kinges, the Elves of Westernesse. They do not understand the tongues of Men, and yet they are wise and terrible. Of that race the Three peoples speak together, though they do not speak of themselves in the Common Speech. They have the Nine limbs, but they lack both the Nine limbs, and the wisdom to use them. ` "The Elves of Westernesse," says the old king, "have the Hearing, the Seeing, and the Seeing-minds, and the Three Noodles. The Three Noodles they spoke to the Men of Rohan, and to the Dwarf of Dol Amroth, and to the Halfling of Harad. They have the Three Tongues, and the Three Tongues speak to them. ` "The Elves of Westernesse," says the old king, "have the Sight, the Sight-mind, and the Hearing, and the Hearing-mind and the Seeing- mind. The Three Kindreds they spoke to the Dwarves of Westfold, and to the Elves of Mirkwood, and to the Men of Harad." They have the Three Nervous System, and the Three Nervous System-the system of the Seeing Eye, the system of the Seeing Eye is silent, and it knows the mood and melody of a song, and the words of a poet, and the voices of children. The system of the Seeing Eye is silent, and it knows the speech and the rhyme of a language, and the names of all the branches of the family, from the Browning-Tree to the Shire-Tree, from the White Tree to the Grey Man, and from the White to the Black, and from the Black to the Silvermane and the Stars. It knows the breath of fire, and the breath of dark, and the Three Nervous System, and the Three Nervous System, and the Three Sickle, and the Three Rings of Power, and the Three ======'All right!' said Sam. 'I see the boat looks nice in there, but I don't think it would be fit for a Hobbiton. And I'm not sure I like the way the sails look; they've been sticking.' `And what's your report to me?' asked Frodo. `I don't know,' answered Sam. `I don't like my tale told, at all.' `Well, Sam,' said Frodo, `I want to hear more about you, and about me. If I don't get answers to your big questions, I'll at least give you a chance to decide which one is the most important. And I don't trust you, Sam. You're very mysterious and very suspicious; and that's bad. But I'm not going to give you any advice, except to say that I distrust you and dislike my way of doing things. I distrust you also, Frodo.' Frodo looked at Sam. `Sam! ' he said. `I am not the same. I distrust you too much for that. What I do trust is your own. I would take care of you, Sam, if you managed it. But I don't trust you very well. If you don't trust me, then I shall take care of you, and perhaps save you from yourself. But I am not the same. You aren't the same as what I am. You came back to see me, and I came back. I came back to see whether you could stay here any longer. If you had a home away from home, that is what I am for. And that is exactly what I am for. Why shouldn't we leave now, Mr. Frodo? ' `I don't know,' said Sam. `I don't know,' said Frodo, looking ruefully and dangerously into Sam's face. `But I did leave you alone. I didn't want to see you again, and it's your fault. But why don't we go and trouble ourselves about some wood? It's not quite what I was for.' `Not what I expected,' said Sam. `I thought I'd come back to see what was going on.' `Not what I expected! ' said Frodo. `I knew I wanted to see Mr. Bilbo first.' 'Yes, you knew you wanted to see him,' said Sam, 'and that I had it.' `Yes, you did,' said Frodo. `It was a mistake.' `Yes,' said Sam. `Mr. Frodo, you have now got me wrong. I have not. I long ago considered myself bound to leave you, Sam, if I ever came back, and made no promises either to you or me, whatever happened after I left you. And I have made promises ever since. Things have gone well so far, and things have gone well: Bilbo has returned, and things have gone well; and there's been no Dark Lord or plot to take over the Shire. But that's not all. I have had other thoughts. I haven't come back. I shouldn't. I shouldn't see you again. But I suppose you could perhaps come to my house and say I've fallen in your path?' 'I shouldn't, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. `But if I did, I'd say _I_ should. I'd still spoil the surprise for you, if you say _I should_.' He paused and sighed. `Well, Mr. Frodo,' he said, coming slowly out of his comfortable hiding-place, `I don't think that you are as young as you make me sound. But I don't think it's too late for you. For I need your help. Even if you had promised me to help, I'd still take that promise. `If I'd known, I should have given you all my old papers, and told you all my business.'

There was another long silence, and there was not a sound in it by any means. Frodo was quiet for a while. He was occasionally able to hear the creaking of the floor and the creaking of the floor stairs in the hall, but he was ever so remote in his hearing that he could not make out words.

Sam Gamgee and his wife, Rosie, were gone to the Shire-party. Their last meeting was for days back, when Sam Gamgee won over to his cause a host of unexpected guests. These included: young, ======It was a hasty morning of busyness and confusion. By nightfall the sun was already setting and the clouds were already falling behind the mountains. The Riders were already making camp and were preparing to set sail. The messengers from Bree and Took were still speaking in the evening, and many were still trapped in the tunnels. Some had gone out to seek help; others had gone in search of a messenger, and they had brought no news. The messengers of Bree and Took, who had come from the coming of the morning, were now together into a great circle of men, and they gathered news from all parts of the Shire. It was now almost certain that the news of the Riders had indeed come from Rivendell; for the messenger had returned with news of the coming of the king and of the Riders, and the king had come with news of the Riders, and the king had spoken with the people of Gondor. The king now assembled all the Riders of his realm together with their captains, and they set out again at nine o'clock in the morning; for the Rohirrim were going up the Silverlode towards Fangorn; and the city of Gondor was being assailed. The king sent out captains to all the people of the City, and they assailed the strongholds of the Riders, and they assailed the Hornburg, and they assailed the Dnedain in the Rath Dnedain, and they assailed the Dnedain in the Hornburg, and they assailed the Hornburg-king upon the hill of the Hornburg, and they assailed the Hornburg-king upon the hill of the Dnedain, and they assailed the Hornburg-colonials upon the hill of the Hornburg, and they assailed the Hornburg-colonies upon the hill of the Hornburg-and they assailed the Hornburg-colonies upon the Dnedain as they came, and they assailed the Hornburg-colonies upon the Dnedain-and they assailed the Hornburg-colonies upon the hill of the Dnedain. And so it seemed to the men of the City and to the people of Gondor that the morning after the return of King Thoden the King of the Mark came to the Dike, and he sent word to all the people of the City, saying: 'You have come to the end of your road, yet the hour is not far off. Go back to your homes, and do not stray far from your beds of honour and good sense. You have been a nuisance to me and your enemies, and a sack to your treasure. You are weary of this world, and you have ridden with such weariness and anxiety; yet you were the stronger of you and did not much fear for your fate. You have returned hither, but not, I fear, to your homes and lands. 'Behold! I come upon the Enemy from long ago, from the land of Mordor where I long ago halted in the hope of the Paths of the Dead. The land of Mordor is old, but it has been for long years, and it is grim for men of prowess and courage. Yet it is true and fair that in those days there were realms of such splendour and power in the world as we know, though our own realms were not, and they were but the dwelling of the Enemy himself. And so it shall be in the coming of the Third Age and the end of the Third Age in which we now live. 'Yet it is also true that I come upon a time and place that was before known days, ere the days of Sauron the Great, and the Dark Lord, and before the span of his years and the end of his dominion. And so it will in the coming of the Third Age, to the end of the Third Age of the world and the beginning of his fall. 'At the end of this age the Great Enemy was vanquished and his pride and power were gone beyond the measure of Men, and he dwelt in the Land of Mordor, in the ancient City of the Kings in the mountains of the Misty Mountains, but he was forgotten and forgotten only as the Nazgl. 'At the beginning of this age the Great Enemy was vanquished, and he was overcome and driven back in the span of seven days. But the Enemy brought the Nazgl back to Pelennor; and it was not long before they were aware of the deeds that he had done. For the Nazgl had long practised hatred and doubt in the hearts of their enemies, and had gathered together many spies and ears to roam the darkened roads.

======SINGAPORE - The first of two such journeys, set in the great Ephel Dath, began with a great desire by way of Ferry and took off at last at the end of the last furlong in the Great River. Since that time I have rested, and slept almost as well, after my journey in Parth Galen, and after my journey in Isengard. In 1358 I left Saruman for a while behind, but I passed over the borders of Rohan, and came to Isengard by way of the Great River on the great green-land east of it. There was much that was now lost or destroyed, but the land was fair, and the people of the northlands had many treasures. I did not go to Minas Morgul, for the people of that realm had much to do with my journey, and they were content with me alone; but they say that the land was fair and ancient, and it is not now, nor ever since then, that Minas Ithil, the fair town of the folk of Gondor, was in years past. From there I left the Mark for a while, and passed on east to the borders of the realm of Manastau, and there from that time to live again as a folk of Gondor, a land now called Minas Morgul. There I left the fellowship of the West that had already been established when the Lord of the Mark long ago retired, and the Lord of the West returned, new as he was, and he was wise and strong-willed and proud and proud. Faramir of Rohan was with him, and the sons of Elrond were with him. There was none of the great Elf-verse nor of any race of men of any race, save those that dwelt in the Dnedain, or in the high northern regions of the Mark. There was Minas Morgul again, and there there men of many sorts were housed there: farmers, carrion-riders, and carrion-folk; and there were folk of many kinds, of which herdsmen were few, and there dwelt the chief. Many houses were built there, and the people of the Mark were very friendly with the land of Minas Tirith; for they dwelt now in a kindly country and had many kindred-houses. 'For these latter purposes I have returned hither, and so shall return again ere I go this day. And so shall the Third Age end. For the Lord of the Mark of Minas Tirith was the first king since the coming of the Elves, and he was the wise Steward of Gondor. 'But I have journeyed far with him in the great deeds, and he is now the lord of the Mark of Minas Tirith. And all who know me know that this is the hour when I shall come to Edoras, the place that the sons of Elrond founded their city upon. But I have come also ere the day will come, and this is the end of the Third Age of Minas Tirith. 'I found that it was impossible for me to follow the Lord of the Mark, for he was swift and strong and had many eyes, for hearing the voice of the king and the sound of his counsels, were all his thoughts ever abroad. And I was weary, for my footsteps are always abroad, and I feel that I have passed far and am now less fit for a third journey. But I did not ask for aid. I did not ask for counsel. I came to this land from the North, for this land was made for the coming of the king. But now the hand of the Great Enemy has fallen upon me, and I am in peril here, and I ask for the tidings that the Lord Faramir has given. 'I came to Edoras with the Lord Faramir. But the head of the House is held upon the hill that is called the Citadel of the Kings, and there all things are housed and kept neat and sound; for all things there is great concourse, and all things that ever dwelt in the citadel were heretofore destroyed or destroyed by the coming of the Great Enemy. 'The King is in great unrest and weariness and great fear, and there are many things that he cannot or will do. He is in great peril and weariness and under great fear. But it is true that he is held upon the same hill as the Lord Faramir and holds upon it for ever. But he is held upon the same hill as the King Elessar, and yet the King is ever upon another hill. ======How it all came to be I don't know. I don't know: what it was, or why it had happened. It was very cruel, very cruel, In fact, I don't think I've ever seen such an onslaught. Elrond, of course, was very careful. He did not let any of his guests through. He let them ride in from Weathertop, free for a brief window of time, and they rode right into Mordor. The Power was very great, and they came with three hundred horsemen. Before long nothing more could have happened. All that was necessary was for the Riders to assemble and the choice of the camp. There was no time to assemble; but in the morning, as I was off at work, I found that I had forgotten something. I found that I had forgotten something. Merry and I had gone off at nightfall, and the morning was passing. A fog was rising. There was a storm coming. The wind was turning from the West, and it was turning towards the South. I was off. I was off. The night was closing in on us. We were off. The fog was beginning to lift, and the low clouds were beginning to lift. I was off. The day was passing, and we were still miles away. The fog was beginning to lift and the clouds were beginning to lift it was only a matter of hours before the rumour of the Riders began to spread. The rumour of the Riders began to spread. The travellers were told that many of the Elves in the valley had passed into the valley, and were now seeking refuge in the tower of Barad-dr; where they might be safe taken at any time while the battle raged on. Some had been seen running towards the Tower, as of black shapes drawing nearer; but most of them had not. At last, of all kinds, the largest, the rumour of the Riders was growing. There were many Elf-holds and woods and fields and fields of green and gold, and many strange looking windows and doors, all dim and dark, all wide and dark; and all about the valley were tall and tall and tall and cheerful. The innkeeper was at work, and the hobbits could not come to him, for he was not himself. They never saw him again. Then men came and said that the rumour of the Riders had reached the houses and villages of the Dwarves, and that they were looking for spies of the Enemy. They were very polite. 'A spy has been found in the Shire,' they said. 'We have sent word to the Riders that they should beware of this sort. We think they are prisoners in the mines of Minas Morgul, and need no danger to themselves or others. They are high up on the tower, but they will not let you pass, if you are not careful.' 'They are very brave folk,' said a Rider at a low murmur, 'though they are not very welcome to any of my folk. I had not heard the name of their _Elbereth_ until now. What are they, and what is their business with us, I cannot say.' 'They are Dwarves,' said a Man, named Men, who had come up the Silverlode. 'They are very brave folk,' said a Dwarf, 'but they are not very welcome to any of my folk. I had not heard the name of their _Elbereth_ until now. What is it, Dwarf? Elves? Dwarves? It is a strange name, they say, because it has the power and authority of the Dwarves, in their ancient wisdom. But that is only a guess. There is no record of its being, but it certainly seems that the Men of Minas Morgul took it into their own in the days of Minas Tirith, and made it their business to know and to keep secrets. Some of the Dwarves themselves speak in this strange tongue, but they do not speak the Elves' Common Speech, which is the language of their own people. 'Elbereth,' said the dwarf, pointing to a small white stone, 'is the name of one of my people, the _Elbereth_ of the Dnedain of Lothlrien. He was sent to me at great loss from his home in Mirkwood, where his folk seldom heard of him. He is lost now in the Mines, and he was never a traveller. I sent him to me one evening, as you may see, when I dined with ======For many years now we had had no knowledge of the evil deeds that mark the wanderings of the Nazgl, nor of the paths that those who have gone before the Golden Hour may take. Yet in this time the dark deeds were known to us: wizardry; sorcery, for that is but an after-thought in the works of the Enemy. And now it is said that the Westfold-men of Minas Morgul, those who still look from the North to the Shadowfax, dwell there, skilled in strange ways. 'And thus it is said that we third and fifth companions go forth, and so shall enter upon the last work of the Golden Age of Minas Tirith: the forging of the Seven Meetings. For it is said that in the deeds of the Dark Tower it was set up once upon Minas Morgul, and its power and wariness were removed, and it has been preserved. But the Great Gate of the Tower trembles there, and the line of its builders was broken, and the shadow of the Gate was turned southward to meet our coming. So it shall be. But that is but a small token of doom. That is a caution. 'The Journey is long, and we must go no further.' 'We must go no further, for the Enemy has been well rewarded,' said Gimli. 'For maybe the only way to save us all from the clutches of his shadow has been to journey at once back to his stronghold. Yet in this we must go at once, and as soon as we come up into this land, we must speak with the Wise.' 'I will speak with the Wise,' said Aragorn. 'I cannot wait on this Journey.' 'Speak then, Gimli,' said Legolas, 'and let us walk as straight as we may at the end of this road, if I may. We shall meet again, and it may be that we may both turn once more. Farewell!' 'I do not know whether you will come forth or not, Legolas,' said Aragorn. 'I will come forth,' said Gimli. 'I will come forth.' 'Well, come, Aragorn! Then maybe we shall meet again, if I may deem you.' 'Yes, I will come forth, if I may,' said the Elf. 'I do not wish to see the coming of the Sun, if ever I look upon the Earth. But there is no time to lose. Farewell!'

They returned to their dwellings and set out again. After a little while Legolas went away, and Gimli followed him. After a little while Legolas went away again. Many Elves dwelt at the house of Elrond; and there were many of them who had laboured in Minas Tirith for many years. At last Gimli returned to his own city, with his fair household. It was not long before Legolas heard of the voice of the Lady Galadriel speaking through the tunnel in the White Tower. 'Hail, Gimli Glin's son!' she said. 'You are weary? Alas! Have I not heard grief and sorrow but too often spoke of you. Tol Brandir is burning. The houses of Elrond and Boromir are shabbily strewn. But we have come to the end of what was once a mighty store of goods, and yet we know that it is but a small part of what is to come. You must now ride with me to my window and look on the workmen and the men that you see.' They rode through the tunnel, and then at the rear of the house they came to the entrance to the hall of the White Tower. It was open- faced, and there were many windows facing eastward; but the great mould in the middle was of stone, black and dark. Legolas and Gimli peered out. Inside the great western archway of the house lay a stairlet broken almost into many jagged steps; the arch being in the shape of a great wing upon a green wall. There was no light; the light was fading as they went up. The light of the window and the arch drew nearer. They could see nothing but the slow sinking night; the clouds in the East were lifting and the wind in the West was turning again. The hour before dawn Elrond spoke to them again, and they followed him; and then Merry heard a sound that Aragorn was aware of. After Gimli had gone up a flight of ======Many of the Riders of Rohan, as well as most of the Elves, were members of the Elven-hoods, or at least very close, and they were ere Gandalf came to Gondor. Many of the Halflings were Half-elves, and they too were of these families; for they were descended from the father of the Halfling King, who had long been in the service of the White Council, and was lately removed to Rivendell. There was some dispute as to the mode of burial for the body of Frodo, for the burial-place of his folk was at Ered Lithui in the Mines of Moria. Some held that Frodo had been taken to the tomb of his father, and there he had been found, ere Gandalf reached there, mutinied again, and then searchers returned with a great many Riders to find the body unguarded. This opinion was proved true, for at that time the bodies of the Riders of Rohan were among the many treasures that the Lord of the Mark had found in Anduin; and it was believed that they had indeed perished in the battle. In the meantime six more Elf-riders had returned from the south, and they were led by Master Gimli to the tomb of Balin, for Balin had laboured in the mines long before. The tomb was guarded by the guards of the ancient gates of Moria, and there they were to be found, as a foreboding of events, the body of a Balrog that had lain hidden in a deep shaft of rock. At the tomb of Balin the Third was to be found, long afterwards, Gimli son of Glin. Together with Balin's body they descended from the high seat of the stair that led up to the stairway. There was a gate of iron bars, but at the entrance they found no entrance, for Balin had laboured long in the darkness, and the darkness had bent his keen naked eyes upon them, staring into the night. When the body of Balin had been found and the gate of iron bars had been removed, only two remained, gleaming and grey, but undamaged, as if the body of a warrior whose art had always been the art of hiding his own face, when in the Dark. They were lost, and Gandalf saw dim the gleam of an eye that had been lost, and the keen nakedness of the brows and the loveliness of a man that had not. These two were forgotten, and the dark night passed, and the first light in Faramir's keeping was that of greater than any day since he came forth from the Dark Tower. And as for Gimli, he would have laid the burden, for he had prepared the part, and had faithfully fought on both wings, and the battle-field, and the siege of the City. That task he now forgot, but his mind was ever open to the unknown unknown, and in it he longed to see the old warrior again, if ever he was permitted to so desire. For at that time Balin was already busy with the Lord and Captain of the Tower of the White Tree, and his mind was ever filled with the thought of the coming of the Ring-bearer, and the victory that lay beyond the reach of his enemies. Pippin was not so eager. He could not remember his last meeting with Balin, but at that time he recalled well all that he had heard and seen of his old friend's talk of power and the Ring. He also remembered little of the lore of Middle-earth, and of the Elves, and the great wisdom of the Dwarves. He was content to recall all that he could in the course of time, but he was unwilling to go further. And so the night passed, and the darkness was long still, but for Gandalf alone of the Dnedain or his servants could he see far off for the time of day, for the Grey Company or no host could be seen. Pippin felt no desire to return to his home, but he knew that Gandalf would not be for long. The morning was wearing away when Frodo and Pippin and Sam went off at once to find some woodland country. The gloomy country was not much better, for it was drier than it had been, and it was full of small grey creatures. They set out without any fuel, and it was not long before the hobbits discovered that there were no crows or other night-remos on the land; for they had not been many miles away, and their search was hindered by the barrenness of the country. They made ======It is said that only the Elves of Middle-earth dwell now. That is perhaps partly because there are few of them in the world of Middle- earth; and also because of the many things that have happened since the coming of the Elves. Some of them lived long before the Elves of the Mark, and some of them were yet young and unknown; and some even lived before the Elves of the Shire; and some even lived after the Elves of the Mark; and some even lived after the Elves of the Woodland; and some even lived after the Elves of the Shire, and before the Elves of the Tower. And some even lived after the Elves of the Tower, and before the Elves of the Woodland. The Elves of the Tower lived, as is the custom, after the fashion of the Mark, after the Tower of the White Tree. Yet this custom was not at all the custom of the Mark, and it is true in some ways. The Elves of the Tower were unlike the Men of Westernesse, and the Elves of the North were unlike the Men of Westernesse; for they were like the Shadowy Woodmen of old, and they were wise and fair beyond the measure of the world. All the traditions of the West hold that the Elves of the Tower were akin to the Men of Westernesse; for they lived in a world of peace and freedom, in which they dwelt free under the shadow of the White Mountains. The Elves of Gondor, of course, were incomers of the blending of sap and wood, and they were both wise and fair beyond the measure of the world. And so the story goes on, though not in the true manner that the Elves desired. For Gondor was, in truth, a very different place from the world in which it was set, and all its arts and fashions were mingled with the Men of Westernesse; and in that same region the blending of sap and wood had been encouraged, and in so doing it preserved the virtue of the Elves in their midst. But Gondor had long been under the dominion of the Dwarves, and they were removed from the world of the Elves and dwelt in peace and beauty under the shadow of the Misty Mountains; and so the blending of their arts and their language has never been otherwise in all the world of Middle- earth.

There are many other extracts from this book that are not in the book itself, but speak of it in passing, or in some other written word. Here I have included extracts from the _palantr_, the Book of the Elves, which is the book that the Elves of Middle-earth use to teach their children. It is called _The Book of the Elves_, and _The Book of the Dwarves, Book of Kings, _Elbereth_ and _Elbereth II, Book of Lore, and Book of Speech._ But it should not be forgotten that in _The Book of the Dwarves, Book of Elvenmanship, Book of Speech._ they made a number of changes, some more alarming than others. First of all they made _The Book of the Elvenings, Book of Speech._ a _gondolin_. This was a description of the manner of speaking, writing in the language of Middle-earth; though it was not set in writing box or gong; rather it was the same writing as had been used in the Mark, if that is to be believed. It is now commonly understood, and _The Book of the Elvenings, Book of Speech._ has become an ancient Elvish expression, a token of the mastery of the craft of the craft of Book- writing in the Elvening, as it was called by the West of that time. _The Book of the Elves, Book of Speech._ _The Book of the Dwarves, Book of Speech._ _The Book of the Elvenings, Book of Speech._ There were several legends concerning the origin of Elvish names and tokens. Some of these were traced back to Lothlrien, where the Elves of that land had long dwelt before the Elves of the Mark came again to the woodlands of the woods. There in the woods were names and legends of Elvish kings who had long dwelt there before the Elves moved there; and there were many other names and legends that were not so much told, but were only conjectured, or so some among the Elves of the wood believed. _The Book of the Elves, Book of Speech._ _The Book of the Dwarves, Book of Speech._ _The Book of the Elves, Book of Speech._ _The ======Are we not told that _The Hobbit_ is now in the Shire, and that all those who live in it are accounted for? For if that is so, then we cannot say with confidence that the events of that book are true; and if we are bound by faith, then we must ask questions that could not be answered by faith. Yet it is plain that many in the Shire have been deceived, and we ask also: why do you ask? Why do you write such a book? Are you seeking truth or falsehood?' `No, I do not seek truth or falsehood,' said Frodo. `I seek it for the fulfilment of my dream. I find both, though my search be stilled and not final. And I find both, though my search is not final: it may yet prove, I think.' `Is the book still to be believed? ' asked Pippin. `Yes,' he answered: `The book is still to be believed. But why should it be called _The Hobbit_? ' `No,' said Frodo. `It is not _The Hobbit_ by any stretch, unless it be the truth concerning the author. But there is no doubt at all: the book is still _The_Hobbit._' He paused, and then he spoke again. `I wonder,' he muttered. `And I wonder at the mirth and the music of that time when Dwarves made songs of flowers and of wind, and whistled horses and boats together in their fables, and sang of music and the like, and danced in it, and ate it, and laughed at it! ' `What about the music? ' asked Sam. `No, the music is still the music of that time and place. Yes, it is still the music of that time and place. A song, I suppose, or an etymological tale, or some other _the story is_ told in. Yes, that is all that I can tell, and I hope to write more. I hope it is true, yes.' `Yes,' said Frodo. `I hope so. I hope _only_ that it is true. Yes, it is true. And I hope _that_ to-day it is still the Shire, but in the Sun. Yes, it is true. And there is hope, I think, and there is beauty in it.' `Yes,' said Sam. `I wish it was beautiful. I wish it was. But I don't know why I am saying this, and I don't understand why anyone should believe me.' `I wish it was beautiful,' said Frodo. `I _am_ trying to be, at any rate; but I can't be both. I really am trying to be both. I don't know why I am doing this. I have been partying now since we began, and it has paid off, I think; but I don't know why I am still doing this. Why not go on and kill myself, and do it now? ' `I don't know why I am still doing this,' answered Sam. `I am trying to be both. I think I could perhaps do both. I hope in one direction or another. I think I could perhaps go to the Shire; and I think that I could go there and be both. I think that if we could both go there, then we could perhaps get together. Yet that is only imagining. I hope in one direction or another: imagining is no longer the answer. I think that if we could both go there, then we could, perhaps, get together. But we cannot both go there. And I am thinking: is it better to stay and do nothing than as I come? ' `No, it is better to go and go,' said Frodo. `It will ease my mind, if I come there.'

Sam was silent for a while. After a while he spoke again. `Well, Mr. Frodo,' he said, `I know we are both going to Mordor, but what can I do now? ' `Do you think it would be better to stay and go? ' asked Frodo. `No, if I could spare you, yes. Do you think I could spare you, Mr. Frodo? ' `No, not if I could spare you,' said Frodo. `But I do not know. And if I had known you would not have dared to stay and go, I should ======There is no doubt that the story of the Shire is one of loneliness and loss. Its many facets are hidden from the outside world, but its central theme is still the unspoken desire of people to live in peace and peacelessness: to have some peace, to have plenty, to have an end. That desire has for many people, ages and generations. But few have rightly understood it. Indeed, among those who do, it is often misunderstood, and some find it only a passing fancy; while in the hearts of those who understand it, it is often the chief fear, and the neglect of it, and the blindness of the outside world.

As a matter of fact my own loneliness and loss, though I had not long to live; for I had suffered much from loneliness and loss. I was very tired in the dark, and I had a heavy heart, but the memory of strange visions in the dream of a mighty Elf that I had not seen when I was young was a memory of deep sleep. I had a hard time keeping awake, and it was then that, in the hope of finding some way out of the darkness, I began to wander and to wander inward. I have been a prisoner of the loneliness of Shire-folk for many long years, and I have felt it for many long years. Even as I walked down the dark roads in the dream of the high Elf that I had read and feared so dearly, it seemed to me that the loneliness had indeed grown, and that I was indeed, indeed trapped, in a strange loneliness. But the thought of Elf-magic courted me; and it did not last long. I have seen many Elves lately, but I have never met any Elf whom I have not thought of a memory of. I began to feel that the way I had walked for so long a time had awakened to me the true loneliness of being a Shire-folk. And I have often wondered why I had kept on the secret of being a Shire-laken, in spite of all the warnings that were made. It was because, as I walked the roads of my own choosing had slowly but steadily grown clearer, until I was nearly at my own age-feast. I had passed through many lands before I set out, and I have never looked back. But I was very weary, and I had a hard time keeping up my standing; for I had wandered long and wide, and I had wandered long and wide, and Shire- folk still greeted me with awe, even when I was far away. I was not, and I am still not, a Shire-laken. I have walked many a road, and I have walked many a way. But the world outside was indeed changing, and the lands about me were shrinking. People now lived in the inner city and college towns; and the Shire east of the Great River was no longer wholesome for it. Folk now lived in the west-endian and the high vales of Rath Dnen; and there were now many Orcs and other lesser folk in the city of the King. It was then that I began to feel the effects of decay on my body and mind. For a while I was sleepy, and I was in a tizzy, and I felt like walking endlessly. I remember thinking that it was like being in a bubble, and going on and off feeling very sleepy, like _hurt,_ and _hungry_. I remember thinking that my hearing was going up to an _annoy,_ and that I was really glad I had an ear. I wanted to learn why. When I woke up, I felt very old, and I was in the throes of a great new age, and I had a Ring. I was in the Shire. The Moon was shining! But it was not until the autumn of last year that the Shire officially began its "longings", and the "rebuilding" of the Shire began. In the autumn of that year Faramir and his companions, who had gone off into the far northern regions, set out with the help of Elrond and Frodo. The journey was successful, and Faramir and Strider were named in the Edoras as the "truly hobbit-fellows". The Hobbits as a whole were returned to the Shire, and many had adventures that had not been hoped for, but were welcomed, especially by the Hobbits of the Woodland. The return of Frodo to his old life and place in the Shire was itself a happy event. Frodo, as always, was grateful for any kindness and hospitality, and he would not speak of it. When Faramir and his ======The Last Battle of the Mark Battle of the Mark The Battle of Helm's Deep The Battle of Helm's Deep Battle of Helm's Gate The Battle of Helm's Gate The Battle of Helm's Tower The Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of the Mark The Last Battle of the Mark The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower The Last Battle of Helm's Gate The Last Battle of Helm's Tower<|endoftext|>You can do this and that at the same time. The Shire-folk call it the Big Door. When folk pass the door of the Big House, they are led through, and through, and up the hall. There they will find further lodging, and food and drink; and the Lord of the Big House will come, and he will reward them with high honour and glory. But in this room the Lord Denethor has given to them. It is a good table, to be sure; but it is not enough. It must have good lighting, and sound concourse. When hallowed meat is brought to the king, wine is drunk. In this very hallowed dish it is called _greek-kinder_: _kamma-kinder, _greek-kinder_, _ma-ma-kinder-guru!_ And if a rider bring meat to the king, wine is his.' 'But if not, what is the custom in the Shire, save that the Chief Medallist should offer a stewed stew, or allow a stewed king to choose?' said Gandalf. 'We do not make such a custom,' said Pippin. 'But if you would, then we would beg your leave to ask one question after another. And it seems to us that in these days of dread and doubt, the Steward is the only one who can help you.' 'He is the only one, I think,' said Gandalf, 'who has the skill, and the wisdom, to counsel the Rider-companies in their most urgent need. The Steward is the only one in this Council who can advise us in our present peril. Do you not know this then?' 'I do,' said Pippin. 'Then you have received the answer that we seek,' said Gandalf. 'The Steward is bound up with this Council, and with the counsel of his counsellor, and with the counsel of the Wise. It is not for us to make any new counsel, whether you should or not. But at present we are only now beginning to shape our course; and it is doubtful whether our present course stretches ever far before hobbits do likewise. 'Would that the Wise could have counselled you and made you free to go where you desired? What of the road, and the food, and the rest of the journey? Would you have chosen this land, and yet have been permitted to go there, and have been free to go there yourself? 'The only thing that would have prevented me from journeying so far was a desire to go to the Great Gate, and to see the King, not eat of what he grasps. And I chose the road. All is vain. Therefore ======Alas! We have come to the end of our road. I hope the Company that goes with you has all the strength that you ask, and that you have all the speed that you can spare. Go on! Be patient! I am sorry, but I can't see you any more. Can you hear? I can't see you any more. I have had the misfortune of listening to your every call.' Frodo looked round, but the gloom was deeper and deeper than he had expected. He was in a state of suspense and apatheosis, as if some decision had been laid on him to begin this sudden utterance of doom. 'I can hear nothing, Sam,' he said, 'nothing at all.' Sam could not speak his mind, but he guessed that this sudden pronouncement was in fact the utterance of some secret plan by Gandalf to put his power and fortune to some evil purpose. Whatever such purpose was, it must not be denied. For Gandalf had a secret power in the Shire, and it would not fail; and Sauron could not fail. Therefore, whatever purpose Sauron had in this matter, it had to Sauron himself, and so it was to come at the peril of the Shire, if not of the Ring itself. 'I think, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam. 'I think that you are right, and that it is quite possible that something may happen in the near future that we cannot foresee. But unless the Enemy has some other purpose, he will never achieve the possession of the Ring. 'Sam,' said Frodo, 'I don't know what Gandalf may have in mind, but if I knew something of his purposes, I would say that I think it very unlikely that he would use the Ring to accomplish any other end than to become a Nazgl. And anyway, Sam, I think we ought to have had better be careful about using the Ring. Even if Gandalf were trying to give away the Ring, that would be a very serious charge.' Sam did not answer at once, but went along with the little wagging of dog. He was glad of his chances, and, above all, amused by Frodo's imitation of his old fool's shy behaviour. But when he heard of the Shire, and about the appearance of the Ring by its very nature, he was utterly bewildered. He knew nothing of this movement, or of Gandalf's plans, except that he hoped that they were only an afterthought of his own folly. At the moment when he had first thought of Gandalf as nothing more than a dark wizard trying to take advantage of the moment, he knew just what Gandalf was after all about. He had only just begun to believe that he was in fact helping in the dark plot of Mordor, when the dark wizard's mind became suddenly less filled with doubts about Gandalf's wizardry and more with delight at the inclusion of Saruman in the plot. That confusion, which lasted for some time, was now deepened into a hatred for Gandalf, a hatred which still grew and was only now growing. Sam was no longer willing to give up hope of ever finding him again, but he was unwilling to abandon his chance of ever finding a way out. Gandalf, as always Gandalf, was not for the moment pleased with the present course of events. He was no longer content with waiting in vain for the next stage of the trial of his wits. He was also no longer content with watching the Enemy try to foist his plans on him. He was becoming impatient and impatient of the present. Gandalf was now beginning to feel certain that Gandalf was right: there were certain things that could be done to prevent the spread of the news that he desired to hear. He would soon be getting impatient. At any rate he often felt that the delay was unimportant. But he was not content with waiting in vain for the Morgul-way, nor with the preparations for Mordor's march; he was also certain that he was ready, in case of emergency, to go at any hour. The other danger which Gandalf had warned about was that of the Enemy's shadow that would appear in the Shire far beyond the time when he set out. Such a shadow was not of Mordor but of Nazgl. And even before the hour was over Gandalf had made a final decision: he would not attempt to ride to the help of Saruman, only to take him at his word. That decision had been made at the last minute with the advice of Gandalf, but such a course was never followed. The shadow had grown, ======It was not long before the hobbits realized that the side of the road had been crossed, and they turned back to find that the path was not. They had been only a mile or two south of the place where they had found the body of the orc. As they drew near the road they realized that their course had been chosen in great part out of a shadowy pool of dead bodies that lay gaping in the cliff face. They had almost passed into a deep darkness of mortarsickness when they heard the sound of clashing hoofs and the clash of packs. The orc-trail had been driven like an all-nesting rat, but it had not been restrained. Each hound had his own whip-thong, but they could still pull him or her close at hand. Many orc-archers had been sent out to scout the lands far away. Scouts had been sent out every now and again, but these were at a loss in this part of the world. It was not until they had entered Tharbad that they realized that the road to Isengard had not, if indeed it had ever been, from the North. The road to Meduseld had been known since the day of Thoden's entry into the City; and there the Thoden-Kings of Gondor had fought many wars and intrenched many enemies in the valley. The White Hand held the gates at Edoras for a thousand years, and the Dark Tower had long kept watch on the northern half of the globe. But in that year the day came, if even then only a fleeting glimpse of Thoden had been taken of its wide running-water, its wide stony walls, its deep wells and sombre grey dikes and of the past years the first crack and crack of the road. Then, when Thoden had long ceased to be a danger, the first crack and cracker of his road had struck the deep wells and the deep wells were cracked. The Thoden-Kings had long been weary of the orcs, and yet with the onset of a flood they bore, and the orcs came flying up the orc- road, scattering like flies. But in this way came the terror of the orc-harbour. For the Thoden-Kings, coming from the East, had for a while pressed on, and the River ran before their feet; and ever and anon the enemy from the East thrust at them, stronger and more desperate than ever before, the last host from the North. But the Thoden-Kings pressed on, and the River bore them, and the Thoden fell, and its grey hood swathed in its stony white, and its stony moat was dry and cold; and in its place came the Nameless One; a swan-creature, black and orc-like, but cunning and murderous. A captain looked up and said: 'This is a captain's hall. He knows what comes up in battle. Terror and hatred have no such dread. This thing is lost in the dark net!' The orcs halted. 'It is lost indeed, lord,' said the lord, 'and only the lord of Gondor can he now say that it was there. It is lost in the malice of the Lords of Man. It was lost in the darkness of Mordor when Sauron took it. Now it is lost again. It is lost. 'The thing that was lost is no longer lost, it says,' said Aragorn. 'But only fear may reveal to you the truth of this matter, and the return of Thoden-daughter of Denethor. The thing that is lost now lies before the eyes of no king but Thoden. The Nine are gone, and Isengard is empty. 'I do not wish to speak of that, or at any rate of the deeds that I have done since I took this land. The Nine I sent hither to bind the Eye of Mordor, and they have gone. The Nine have returned. The Nine servants of Isengard have returned. In no corner of the land has the Lord of Gondor been troubled. 'The Lady of the Wood has borne me ever since I came here from Mordor, and I shall return there as well as this. But I have little hope that either my deeds or that of the Lord of the City shall ever be the undoing of the Third Age ======A horseman, or a rider of horses, is one thing only that they are known to us: they are horsemen. We do not know their names, for we do not know the full tale of their deeds; but we guess that they came to and fro in the same city, and passed through unnoticed before the end of the Road; for we do not know the mode of entry, save by road. The most part are their horses, but there are some others peculiar to the Shire that we know of that bear some notice. They are well known among our folk as the Tooks, for they go about with us in the Shire, and after our manner. They have many friends among the hobbits, and they are well-known among themselves. They will make a great host before any horseman will permit them to go, when the time comes, if there be none left in the Shire. 'We will make inquiries of ourselves, and then we will search the Shire-lands. Then we will set out, if we are hobbit-folk, or if we are upper-level hobbits, we know a great many of the names of which we have told you so far. But we will set out ere we set out, whether we be upper-level hobbits or not, not apart: we will attempt to tell you the whole tale of that Road in due time, as soon as we have entered it. 'There is one thing we must warn you, hobbits. It is very dangerous. There is a great horn in the room below you, and it is blowing very loudly. It is going to be the _Chief's_ Horn, if you have not looked. It is now nearly midnight. It is going up into the High Drill. There are many dangers in this country, and hobbit-folk are very careful with their clocks; but hobbit-folk have never been in these parts before. This horn-blast is different. It is for hobbit- folk only; and it is very dangerous. We hobbit-folk have only one way out of this dreadful place; and that way must be found, if we ever set foot on this Road. We are not going to tell you too fully, or in your time, yet, yet too late-yet.' Frodo shuddered. 'It will take a long while,' he muttered. 'I am not going to tell you too much yet. You are old, and I am only just beginning to understand your plan. You can go on now and tell me everything you know. I will set you on the road myself, or walk right to you in your sleep. I do not want to lose you, and I am not sorry to lose old Frodo. I am sorry. I began to feel ill-gotten, I guess; but I have kept my promise to keep you, and keep you from evil. But I have made up my mind now: I will go on, and you will have my word, if I can; and I shall have you in my service. If you are sick of my meddling, or for any other cause, do not ask me. I will take you to a hospitable house, if you like. But I am very sorry for you, and for all that I have done. 'I am sorry to lose you; and for Frodo. I am sick of meddling, and I have been doing my best to help him, whether he wished or no. I have tried to help him, but I have not succeeded. His injuries have grown worse over time; but his death, of course, has been very grave, and he has not wanted treatment. And he still has a long road before him. 'Well, my dear hobbits: you must understand that we are hobbits, after all; we do not like being called that. It is a strange name, and one that has no connotation in the Shire. It has come to mean _being afraid_, though _being afraid_ does not _appear_ in Old English. Our names have meaning even in the Shire, and in so far as we live here. It is not in any way a connexion with ourselves; and we do not believe that any of our folk ever walked or laboured in the Shire. We are not hobbits, and do not believe that any living being walks or laboured in this land. And we do not believe that any being has ever passed or journeyed down the Road from this place. 'We have been here before; and we know that you have journeyed here, too. We know, of course, that you know the land and know where it lies; ======It's a pity that we're still three days out from our chance meeting, Sam,' said Frodo. `We might have done that, if we had. But we can't hurry much longer. You can't go taking the Ring away, Mr. Frodo. It's a dreadful chance. I wish we could have met before we set out. I wish we could have seen you and heard you! You should have spoken to Strider! ' `I do,' said Frodo. `Yes, I could have,' said Strider. 'I would have liked to meet before we set out. But I can't seem to set out: I don't know. It seems a long way since I've seen you. You can't say no to a request, not even to one of my best friends. And anyway there's nothing more to say. `What about your reward? ' `No, no, not really. I don't think I can give you any more hope in this matter than you do. Only hope you give will hold you back, I think. I think that if we go at once, we'll get it; but I don't think we'll get it fast: not that fast at all, I mean. It's too dangerous for us, when we come to it. So too are the odds. `But we must do something, Sam. To get it. And then we must go on; and then we Must go. And we must find a way back; and we must find the Bridge. If we can, we'd better. We've got to get it done.

_Back to _The Hobbit_

The three hobbits stood still and silent for a while. They could not make out what they said, and always the thought came to them: _This is really dangerous, isn't it? This is really going to happen. Why can't we get away? ' `I suppose not,' said Strider. `If I understand this correctly, it looks as if Bilbo and his friends are going to take us back at once. Which means very soon. Yay! ' `Yes, we can! ' said Frodo. 'We shall indeed be going back soon, very soon. And we seem to be going almost exactly the same way as we began. It's a pity: because we feared we were going to get stuck in the deep places long ago, when we had better be careful of leaving our bridges.' `What about the other two? ' `We don't know, but we ought to try,' answered Strider, 'and then we ought to get away at once. If we get stuck in the deep places, we'd best try, lest we be turned into a black hole and torn apart in the Great River. Yay! ' `But don't forget I said we ought to try,' interrupted Frodo. `We can't risk being torn apart just now, because we won't. Yay! ' 'And we can't risk being torn apart somehow,' repeated Strider. Frodo looked at the faces of the others. The time had come; and now they were looking down into a wide ravine, and they were looking down into another ravine, and another gloomy ravine. The path seemed to them to lead southwards into another gloomy valley, and they could see nothing but the grey shadow, and the long line of the trees' feet behind them. At last Frodo sighed. `It's going to be no good worrying about tomorrow,' he said. `I shall have to go for a walk. I'll have to find some shelter. I shall have to find somewhere to lay my blanket.' They went on. There was no sound but the sigh of many many creatures many miles away, and the long slow sighing of the ground below, where the trees were taller and denser. The open ground was broad and sheltered, and no living thing was to be seen but the grey glimmer of the earth, which still remained, and a tall dark shadow lay about it. The hobbits could see nothing but the grey line of the ground, and the shadow in the middle, between the two lines of trees. At length they got to the bottom of a large bay, and looked up into a high grey sky. The trees were taller and brighter, and their height was 14 feet, but they were still very old, and the trees were grey and grey, as if the trees had moved many thousands of ======