# embedding_metadata

key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-journey  under cover  of night as often as  they could,  until they were far 
from Rivendell. 
     `You should fear the many eyes  of the servants of Sauron,' he said. 'I  
do not doubt that news of the discomfiture of the Riders has already reached 
him,  and he will be filled with wrath. Soon now his spies on foot  and  wing  
will be abroad in the northern lands. Even of the  sky above you must beware 
as you go on your way.' 
     The Company took little gear of war,  for their hope was in secrecy not 
in battle. Aragorn had And®ril  but no other weapon, and he went  forth clad 
only in rusty green and brown. as a  Ranger of the wilderness. Boromir had a 
long sword,  in fashion like And®ril but of less  lineage and he bore also a  
shield and his war-horn. 
     'Loud and  clear it sounds  in the valleys of the hills,' he said, `and 
then  let all the foes  of Gondor  flee!' Putting  it to  his lips he blew a


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-if he did not come. 
     `That  animal can nearly talk,' he said, `and  would talk, if he stayed 
here  much longer. He gave me a  look as plain as Mr. Pippin could speak it: 
if you don't  let me go  with you, Sam, I'll follow  on my own.' So Bill was 
going as the beast of burden, yet he was the only member of the Company that 
did not seem depressed. 
     Their  farewells had been  said in the great hall by the  fire, and they 
were only waiting now for  Gandalf, who had not yet come out of the house. A 
gleam of firelight came from the open doors, and soft lights were glowing in 
many windows. Bilbo  huddled in a cloak stood silent  on the doorstep beside 
Frodo.  Aragorn sat with his head bowed to his knees; only Elrond knew fully 
what this hour meant to him. The others could be seen as grey  shapes in the 
darkness.  
     Sam was  standing by the  pony, sucking  his teeth, and staring moodily 
into  the  gloom  where  the  river  roared  stonily below;  his  desire for


key: chroma:document
string_value:
all the mementoes of my Journey away with me, except the Ring. But I did not 
expect to use this, and I don't need it  now, except to  look  at sometimes. 
You hardly feel any weight when you put it on.' 
     `I  should look -- well, I don't think I should look right in it,' said 
Frodo. 
     `Just what I sa id myself,' said Bilbo. 'But never mind about looks. You  
can wear it under your  outer clothes.  Come  on! You must share this secret  
with me. Don't tell anybody else! But I should  feel happier  if I knew  you  
were wearing it.  I have a fancy it would turn even the  knives of the Black  
Riders,' he ended in a low voice. 
     `Very  well, I will take  it,' said  Frodo. Bilbo  put  it  on him, and 
fastened Sting upon the glittering belt; and then Frodo put over the top his 
old weather -stained breeches, tunic, and jacket. 
     'Just a  plain hobbit you  look,' said Bilbo.  'But there is more about


key: chroma:document
string_value:
don't want to be left behind. We want to go with Frodo.' 
     `That  is  because  you do not understand a nd cannot imagine what  lies 
ahead,' said Elrond. 
     `Neither  does Frodo,'  said  Gandalf,  unexpectedly supporting Pippin. 
'Nor do  any of us see clearly. It is true that  if these hobbits understood 
the danger, they would  not dare to go. But they wou ld  still wish to go, or  
wish that  they dared, and be shamed  and unhappy.  I think, Elrond, that in 
this matter it  would be well to  trust  rather  to their friendship than to 
great wisdom. Even if you chose for us an elf-lord,  such as  Glorfindel, he 
could not storm the Dark Tower, nor open the road  to the Fire by the  power 
that is in him.' 
     `You  speak  gravely,'  said Elrond, `but  I am in doubt. The Shire,  I 
forebode,  is not free now from peril;  and these two I had thought to  send


key: chroma:document
string_value:
and L®thien and the winning of the  Great Jewel; but in the day, while Merry 
and Pippin were out and about, Frodo and Sam were  to be found with Bilbo in 
his  own small  room.  Then Bilbo would  read  passages from his book (which 
still seemed very incomplete). or scraps of his verses, or  would take notes 
of Frodo's adventures.  
     On the morning of the last day Frodo  was alone with Bilbo, and the old 
hobbit  pulled  out from under his bed a wooden box.  He lifted  the lid and 
fumbled inside. 
     'Here  is your sword,' he said. 'But it was broken, you know. I took it 
to  keep it safe but I've  forgotten to ask if the smiths  could mend it. No 
time now..  So I thought, perhaps,  you would care to have this,  don't  you  
know?' 
     He took from the box  a small sword in an old shabby leathern scabbard.  
Then he drew it, and  its polished and well -tended blade glittered suddenly,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
But one beyond your strength, Bilbo. You cannot take this thing back. It has 
passed on. If you need my advice any longer, I should say that your  part is 
ended,  unless  as a  recorder.  Finish  your book,  and  leave  the  ending 
unaltered! There is still hope for it. But get ready to write a sequel, when 
they come back.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-aside into other paths, as chance allows. The further you  go, the less easy 
will it be  to  withdraw; yet  no oath or bond is  laid on you to go further  
than you will. For you do not yet know the strength of  your hearts, and you  
cannot foresee what each may meet upon the road.' 
     `Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens,' said Gimli. 
     'Maybe,' said Elrond, `but let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has 
not seen the nightfall. ' 
     'Yet sworn word may strengthen quaking heart,' said Gimli. 
     `Or  break it,' said Elrond. `Look  not too far ahead! But  go now with 
good hearts!  Farewell, and may the  blessing of Elves and Men and  all Free 
Folk go with you. May the stars shine upon your faces!' 
     'Good . . . good luck!' cried Bilbo, stuttering with the cold. 'I don't 
suppose you will be able to keep a diary, Frodo my lad, but I shall expect a  
full account when you get back. And don't be too long! Farewell!'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
shield and his war-horn. 
     'Loud and  clear it sounds  in the valleys of the hills,' he said, `and 
then  let all the foes  of Gondor  flee!' Putting  it to  his lips he blew a  
blast, and the echoes leapt from rock to rock, and all that heard that voice 
in Rivendell sprang to their feet. 
     Slow  should you  be to  wind  that  horn again,  Boromir, said Elrond. 
'until you stand once more on the  borders of your land, and dire need is on 
you.' 
     `Maybe,' said Boromir.  'But always I have let my  horn cry  at setting 
forth, and though thereafter we may walk in the shadows, I will not go forth 
as a thief in the night.' 
     Gimli the  dwarf alone wore  openly  a short shirt of steel-rings,  for  
dwarves make  light  of burdens;  and in  his  belt was a  broad-bladed axe. 
Legolas had  a bow and a  quiver,  and  at his belt a long  white knife. The 
younger  hobbits wore the swords that they had  taken  from the  barrow; but


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-the middle of  the day,  in some  hollow of the land,  or  hidden under  the 
tangled  thorn-bushes  that  grew in  thickets in many places. In  the  late 
afternoon they were roused by the watch, and took their chief meal: cold and 
cheerless as  a rule, for they could seldom risk the lighting of a  fire. In 
the  evening  they went on again, always  as nearly  southward as they could 
find a  way. 
     At  first  it seemed  to  the hobbits  that  although  they walked  and 
stumbled until  they were weary, they were creeping forward like snails, and  
getting nowhere. Each  day  the land looked much the same as  it had the day 
before. Yet steadily the  mountains were drawing nearer. South  of Rivendell 
they rose ever higher, and bent westwards; and about the  feet  of the  main 
range there was tumbled an ever  wider land of bleak hills, and deep valleys 
filled with turbulent waters. Paths were few and winding, and led them often


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     'No,'  said Gandalf. 'But you  see further ahead in  the  clear  light. 
Beyond those peaks the range bends round south-west. There are  many maps 
in 
Elrond's house, but I suppose you never thought to look at them?' 
     `Yes I did, sometimes,' said Pippin, `but I don't remember them.  Frodo 
has a better head for that sort of thing.' 
     `I need no map,' said  Gimli, who  had come  up  with Legolas,  and was 
gazing out before him with a strange  light in his deep eyes. `There is  the 
land where our fathers worked of old, and we have wrought the image of those 
mountains  into many works of metal  and of  stone, and into  many songs and 
tales. They stand tall in our dreams: Baraz, Zirak, Shathyr. 
     `Only once before have I seen them from afar in waking life, but I know 
them and their names, for under them lies  Khazad-dym, the Dwarrowdelf, that 
is  now  called  the Black Pit,  Moria in the Elvish  tongue.  Yonder stands


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-wholesome air about Hollin. Much evil must befall a country before it wholly 
forgets the Elves, if once they dwelt there.' 
     'That is true,' said Legolas. `But  the Elves of  this land  were of  a  
race strange to  us  of the  silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not 
now remember them: Only I hear the stones  lament them: deep they delved us, 
fair  they wrought  us,  high they  builded us;  but they are gone. They are 
gone. They sought the Havens long ago.' 
     That morning they lit a fire in a deep  hollow shrouded by great bushes 
of holly, and their supper -breakfast was merrier than it had been since they 
set out. They did not hurry to bed afterwards, for they expected to have all 
the  night  to sleep  in, and they  did not  mean to go  on again until  the 
evening of the next day. Only Aragorn was silent and restless. After a while 
he left the Company  and  wandered on  to the ridge; there he stood  in  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
darkness.  
     Sam was  standing by the  pony, sucking  his teeth, and staring moodily 
into  the  gloom  where  the  river  roared  stonily below;  his  desire for  
adventure was at its lowest ebb. 
     `Bill,  my lad,' he said,  `you oughtn't to have took up  with us.  You  
could have stayed here and et the best hay  till the  new grass comes.' Bill 
swished his tail and said nothing. 
     Sam  eased the pack on  his shoulders, and  went over anxiously  in his 
mind all the things that he had stowed in it,  wondering if he had forgotten 
anything: his chief treasure, his cooking gear; and the  little  box of salt 
that he  always carried  and  refilled  when he  could;  a  good  supply  of 
pipe-weed (but not near enough,  I'll  warrant); flint  and tinder;  woollen 
hose:  linen;  various  small  belongings  of his  master's that  Frodo  had 
forgotten and Sam had  stowed to  bring them out in  triumph when they  were 
called for. He went through them all.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Legolas had  a bow and a  quiver,  and  at his belt a long  white knife. The 
younger  hobbits wore the swords that they had  taken  from the  barrow; but 
Frodo took only Sting;  and his mail-coat, as Bilbo wished, remained hidden. 
Gandalf bore his staff, but girt at his side was  the elven-sword Glamdring, 
the mate of Orcrist that lay now upon  the breast of Thorin under the Lonely 
Mountain. 
     All were well furnished by Elrond with thick warm clothes, and they had 
jackets and cloaks lined with  fur. Spare food and clothes  and blankets and 
other needs were laden on a  pony, none other  than the poor beast that they 
had brought from Bree. 
     ?he stay  in Rivendell had  worked a  great wonder of change on him: he 
was  glossy and seemed  to  have  the vigour of youth.  It  was  Sam who had 
insisted on choosing him, declaring that Bill (as he called him) would pine,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
suppose you will be able to keep a diary, Frodo my lad, but I shall expect a  
full account when you get back. And don't be too long! Farewell!' 
     Many other s of Elrond's household stood in the shadows and watched them 
go, bidding them farewell  with soft  voices. There was no laughter, and  no  
song or music. At last they turned away and faded silently into the dusk. 
     They crossed  the bridge and wound slowly up the long steep paths  that 
led out of the cloven vale of Rivendell; and they came at length to the high 
moor where the wind hissed through the  heather. Then with one glance at the 
Last Homely House twinkling below them they strode away far into the night. 
     At  the  Ford of Bruinen they left the Road and turning southwards went 
on  by  narrow paths  among the folded lands. Their purpose was to hold this 
course west of the Mountains  for many  miles and days. The country was 
much


key: chroma:document
string_value:
old weather -stained breeches, tunic, and jacket. 
     'Just a  plain hobbit you  look,' said Bilbo.  'But there is more about 
you now than  appears  on the surface. Good luck to you!' He turned away and 
looked out of the window, trying to hum a tune. 
     'I cannot thank you as I should, Bilbo,  for this, and for all our past  
kindnesses,' said Frodo. 
     'Don't try!' said the old hobbit, turning round and slapping him on the 
back.  `Ow!' he cried. `You are  too  hard  now  to slap! But there you are: 
Hobbits must stick together, and especially  Bagginses. All I  ask in return 
is: take  as much care of yourself as you can. and  bring  back all the news 
you can, and  any old  songs and  tales you can come by. I'll do  my best to 
finish my book before you return. I should like to write the second book, if


key: chroma:document
string_value:
range there was tumbled an ever  wider land of bleak hills, and deep valleys 
filled with turbulent waters. Paths were few and winding, and led them often  
only to the edge of some sheer fall, or down into treacherous swamps.  
     They had been a fortnight on the way when the weather changed. The wind 
suddenly fell and then  veered round to  the south. The swift -flowing clouds 
lifted and melted away, and the sun came out,  pale and bright. There came a 
cold clear dawn  at the  end of a long stumbling night-march. The travellers 
reached a low ridge crowned with ancient holly -trees whose grey-green trunks 
seemed to have  been  bu ilt  out of the very  stone of the hills. Their dark 
leaves shone and their berries glowed red in the light of the rising sun. 
     Away  in the  south Frodo could  see the  dim shapes of lofty mountains 
that seemed now to stand across the path that the Company was taking. At the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
them and their names, for under them lies  Khazad-dym, the Dwarrowdelf, that 
is  now  called  the Black Pit,  Moria in the Elvish  tongue.  Yonder stands 
Barazinbar, the  Redhorn, cruel Caradhras; and beyond him are Silvertine and 
Cloudyhead: Celebdil  the  White,  and  Fanuidhol  the Grey,  that  we  call 
Zirak-zigil and Bundushathyr. 
     `There the  Misty  Mountains  divide, and between  their  arms lies the 
deep-shadowed valley  which we cannot forget: Azanulbizar, the Dimrill Dale, 
which the Elves call Nanduhirion.' 
     `It is for the Dimrill Dale  that we are  making,' said Gandalf. `If we 
climb  the  pass that  is called the Redhorn Gate, under  the  far  side  of 
Caradhras, we shall come down by the Dimrill Stair into the deep vale of the  
Dwarves. There lies the Mirrormere, and there the River Silverlode rises  in 
its icy springs.' 
     `Dark is  the water  of  Kheled-zvram,' said Gimli, `and  cold are  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
hose:  linen;  various  small  belongings  of his  master's that  Frodo  had 
forgotten and Sam had  stowed to  bring them out in  triumph when they  were 
called for. He went through them all. 
     'Rope!'  he  muttered. `No  rope!  And  only  last night  you  said  to 
yourself: "Sam, what about a bit of rope? You'll want it, if you haven't got 
it:" Well, I'll wa nt it. I can't get it now.' 
     At that moment Elrond came out with  Gandalf, and he called the Company 
to him. 'This is my last  word,' he said in a low voice. 'The Ring-bearer is 
setting  out on the Quest  of  Mount Doom. On him  alone is any charge laid: 
neither to cast away the Ring, nor to deliver it to any servant of the Enemy 
nor  indeed to  let any  handle  it,  save  members of  the Company  and the 
Council,  and  only then in  gravest need. The others  go  with him  as free 
companions,  to help him on his way.  You may tarry,  or come back, or  turn


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-him, and  over all  hung a  clear blue sky, as the Sun rode up from the East. 
Away  in the South  a dark patch appeared,  and grew,  and  drove north like 
flying smoke in the wind. 
     `What's  that, Strider? It don't look  like  a  cloud,' said  Sam  in a  
whisper to  Aragorn. He made no  answer, he was gazing  intently at the sky; 
but  before long  Sam could see for himself what was  approaching. Flocks of 
birds, flying at great speed, were wheeling and circling, and traversing all 
the  land as if they  were searching for  something; and they  were steadily 
drawing nearer. 
     `Lie  flat and still!' hissed  Aragorn, pulling Sam down into the shade 
of a holly-bush; for a whole regiment of birds had broken away suddenly from 
the main host, and came, flying low, straight towards the ridge. Sam thought 
they were a kind of crow of large size. As they passed overhead, in so dense 
a throng that their shadow followed them  darkly over the  ground below, one


key: chroma:document
string_value:
on  by  narrow paths  among the folded lands. Their purpose was to hold this 
course west of the Mountains  for many  miles and days. The country was 
much 
rougher  and  mor e barren  than  in  the  green vale of the  Great River  in 
Wilderland  on the other side of the range,  and  their going would be slow;  
but  they hoped  in  this way to  escape the notice of unfriendly  eyes. The 
spies of Sauron had hitherto seldom been seen in this empty country, and the 
paths were little known except to the people of Rivendell.  
     Gandalf walked in front, and with him went Aragorn, who knew this  land 
even  in the dark.  The  others were in file behind, and  Legolas whose eyes 
were keen was the rearguard.  The first  part of their  journey was hard and 
dreary, and Frodo remembered little  of it, save the wind. For many  sunless 
days an icy blast came from the Mountains in the east, and no garment seemed 
able  to keep out its searching fingers.  Though the Company was  well clad,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
evening of the next day. Only Aragorn was silent and restless. After a while 
he left the Company  and  wandered on  to the ridge; there he stood  in  the 
shadow of a tree, looking out southwards and  westwards, with his head posed 
as if he was listening. Then he returned to the brink of the dell and look ed 
down at the others laughing and talking. 
     `What  is the  matter, Strider?' Merry called up. 'What are you looking 
for? Do you miss the East Wind?' 
     'No  indeed,' he answered. `But I miss  something. I  have been in  the 
country  of  Hollin in many seasons. No folk  dwell here now, but many other  
creatures live here at  all times, especially birds. Yet now all  things but 
you are silent. I  can feel it.  There is no sound for miles about  us,  and 
your voices seem to make the ground echo. I do not understand it.' 
     Gandalf looked  up with  sudden interest. `But what do you guess is the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Dwarves. There lies the Mirrormere, and there the River Silverlode rises  in 
its icy springs.' 
     `Dark is  the water  of  Kheled-zvram,' said Gimli, `and  cold are  the 
springs of Kibil-nvla. My  heart trembles at the thought that I may see them 
soon.' 
     `May you have  joy of the sight, my good  dwarf  l' said  Gandalf.   'But 
whatever you may do, we at least cannot stay in that valley. We must go down 
the Silverlode into the secret woods, and so  to the Great  River,  and then  
--' 
     He paused. 
     'Yes, and where then?' asked Merry. 
     'To the end of the  journey -- in the  end,' said  Gandalf.  'We cannot 
look too  far ahead. Let us be glad that  the first stage is safely over.  I 
think we  will rest here, not only today but  tonight as  well. There  is  a


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-I am spared.' He broke off and turned to the window again, singing softly. 
 
     I sit beside the fire and think 
     of all that I have seen, 
     of meadow-flowers and butterflies 
     in summers that have been; 
 
     Of yellow leaves and gossamer 
     in autumns that there were, 
     with morning mist and silver sun 
     and wind upon my hair. 
 
     I sit beside the fire and think 
     of how the world will be 
     when winter comes without a spring 
     that I shall ever see. 
 
     For still  there are so many things 
     that I have never seen: 
     in every wood in every spring 
     there is a different green. 
 
     I sit beside the fire and think 
     of people long ago, 
     and people who will see a world  
     that I shall never know.  
 
     But all the while I sit and think 
     of times there were before, 
     I listen for returning feet 
     and voices at the door.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-unexpected feasts ahead for you. For myself I should like a pipe to smoke in 
comfort,  and warmer feet. However, we are certain of one thing at any rate: 
it will get warmer as we get south.' 
     'Too  warm, I  shouldn't  wonder,'  muttered  Sam  to  Frodo. 'But  I'm 
beginning to think it's time we got  a sight of that Fiery Mountain  and saw 
the end of the Road, so to speak. I thought at first that this here Redhorn, 
or  whatever its  name is, might  be it, till Gimli spoke his piece.  A fair 
jaw-cracker dwarf-language  must be!' Maps  conveyed nothing  to Sam's mind, 
and all  distances in  these strange lands  seemed so vast that he was quite 
out of his reckoning. 
     All that day the Company remained in hiding. The dark birds passed over  
now  and  again;  but  as  the  westering  Sun  grew  red  they  disappeared 
southwards. At dusk  the  Company set out, and  turning  now half  east they


key: chroma:document
string_value:
they were a kind of crow of large size. As they passed overhead, in so dense 
a throng that their shadow followed them  darkly over the  ground below, one 
harsh croak was heard. 
     Not until they had  dwindled into the distance, north and west, and the 
sky was again  clear  would  Aragorn rise. Then he  sprang  up and  went and 
wakened Gandalf. 
     `Regiments of  black  crows  are  flying over all  the land between the 
Mountains  and the Greyflood,'  he said, `and  they have passed over Hollin.  
They are not natives here; they are crebain  out of Fangorn and Dunland. I do 
not know what they are about: possibly there is some trouble away south from 
which they are  fleeing; but  I  think  they are spying out the land. I have 
also glimpsed many hawks flying high up in the sky. I think we ought to move 
again this  evening.  Hollin is no  longer wholesome  for  us: it  is  being 
watched.' 
     `And in that case so is the Redhorn  Gate,' said Gandalf;  `and how  we


key: chroma:document
string_value:
days an icy blast came from the Mountains in the east, and no garment seemed 
able  to keep out its searching fingers.  Though the Company was  well clad, 
they  seldom felt warm, either moving or at rest. They slept uneasily during


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Away  in the  south Frodo could  see the  dim shapes of lofty mountains 
that seemed now to stand across the path that the Company was taking. At the 
left of this high  range rose three peaks; the  tallest and nearest stood up 
like a tooth tipped with snow; its great, bare, northern precipice was still 
largely  in the  shadow, but where the sunlight slanted upon  it,  it glowed 
red. 
     Gandalf stood  at Frodo's side and  looked out under his hand. `We have 
done well,' he said.  `We have reached the borders of the country  that  Men 
call Hollin; many Elves lived here  in happier  days,  when Eregion was  its 
name.  Five-and-forty leagues as the crow flies we  have come,  though  many 
long miles further our feet  have walked. The land and the weather  will  be 
milder now, but perhaps all the more dangerous.' 
     `Dangerous or  not, a  real sunrise  is  mighty  welcome,'  said Frodo, 
throwing back his hood and letting the morning light fall on his face.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-Silverlode into  a strange country, but of their errand they would not speak 
to any save to Elrond. 
     In no region had the messengers discovered any signs or tidings  of the 
Riders  or other  servants of the  Enemy. Even from the Eagles of the  Misty 
Mountains they had learned no fresh news. Nothing had been seen  or heard of 
Gollum; but the wild wolves were still gathering, and were hunting again far  
up the Great River. Three of the black horses had been found at once drowned 
in  the flooded Ford.  On  the  rocks  of  the  rapids  below  it  searchers 
discovered the bodies of five more, and also a long black cloak, slashed and 
tattered. Of the Black Riders no other trace was to be seen, and nowhere was 
their presence to be felt. It seemed that they had vanished from the North.  
     'Eight  out of the Nine are  accounted for at least, ' said Gandalf. 'It 
is  rash  to  be  too  sure,  yet I think that  we  may hope  now  that  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-naked sides, dull red as if stained with blood. 
     There was a  black look in the sky, and  the sun was wan. The  wind had 
gone now round to the north-east. Gandalf snuffed the air and looked ba ck. 
     `Winter deepens behind us,' he said quietly to  Aragorn.  'The  heights 
away  north  are whiter  than  they  were;  snow  is  lying far  down  their 
shoulders. Tonight we shall be on our way high up  towards the Redhorn Gate. 
We  may well be seen  by watchers  on that narrow path,  and waylaid by some 
evil;  but the weather may prove a  more deadly enemy than any. What  do you  
think of your course now, Aragorn?' 
     Frodo overheard  these  words, and understood that  Gandalf and Aragorn 
were  continuing  some  debate  that  had  begun  long before.  He  listened 
anxiously. 
     'I think no good of our course from beginning to end, as you know well, 
Gandalf,' answered Aragorn. `And perils known and unknown will grow as we 
go


key: chroma:document
string_value:
your voices seem to make the ground echo. I do not understand it.' 
     Gandalf looked  up with  sudden interest. `But what do you guess is the 
reason?' he asked.  `Is  there  more  in  it  than  surprise  at seeing four 
hobbits, not to mention  the rest of us, where people are so seldom seen  or  
heard?' 
     `I  hope  that  is  it,'  answered Aragorn.  `But I  have  a  sense  of 
watchfulness, and of fear, that I have never had here before.' 
     "Then we  must be more careful,' said Gandalf.  'If you bring a  Ranger  
with you, it  is well  to pay attention to  him, especially if the Ranger is 
Aragorn. We must stop talking aloud, rest quietly, and set the watch.' 
     It was Sam's turn that day  to take the first watch, but Aragorn joined 
him. The others  fell asleep. Then the silence grew until even  Sam felt it. 
The breathing  of  the  sleepers could be  plainly heard.  The swish  of the 
pony's tail and the occasional movements of his feet became loud noises. Sam


key: chroma:document
string_value:
now  and  again;  but  as  the  westering  Sun  grew  red  they  disappeared 
southwards. At dusk  the  Company set out, and  turning  now half  east they 
steered their course towards  Caradhras, which far away still glowed faintly 
red  in the last  light of the vanished Sun. One  by one  white stars sprang 
forth as the sky faded. 
     Guided by Aragorn they struck a good path. It looked to Frodo   like the 
remains of an ancient road, that had once been broad and  well planned, from 
Hollin to the  mountain -pass.  The  Moon, now  at the  full,  rose  over the 
mountains, and cast a pale light in which the shadows of stones were  black. 
Many  of  them looked  to  have been worked by hands, though  now  they  lay 
tumbled and ruinous in a bleak, barren land. 
     It  was the cold chill hour before the first stir of dawn, and the moon 
was low. Frodo looked  up at the sky. Suddenly  he saw or felt a shadow  pass


key: chroma:document
string_value:
again this  evening.  Hollin is no  longer wholesome  for  us: it  is  being 
watched.' 
     `And in that case so is the Redhorn  Gate,' said Gandalf;  `and how  we 
can get over that withou t being seen, I cannot imagine. But we will think of 
that when we must. As for moving as soon as it is dark, I am afraid that you  
are right.' 
     `Luckily our fire made  little smoke,  and  had  burned  low before the 
crebain  came,' said Aragorn. `It must be put out and not lit again.' 
     `Well if that isn't a plague and a nuisance!' said Pippin. The news: no 
fire, and a move again  by night, had been broken to him, as soon as he woke 
in the late afternoon. 'All because of a pack of crows! I had looked forward 
to a real good meal tonight: something hot.' 
     `Well, you can go on looking forward,' said Gandalf. `There may be many


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-Redhorn Gate may be  watched; and also  I have doubts of the weather that is 
coming up behind. Snow may come. We must go  with all the speed that we 
can. 
Even so it will take us more than two marches before we reach the top of the  
pass.  Dark will come early this evening. We must leave  as  soon as you can 
get ready.' 
     'I will  add a  word of  advice, if I  may,'  said Boromir. 'I was born 
under the shadow of the White Mountains and  know  something of journeys  
in 
the high places. We shall meet bitter cold, if no worse, before we come down 
on the other side. It will not help  us to keep so secret that we are frozen 
to death. When we leave here, where  there are still a few trees and bushes,  
each of us should carry a faggot of wood, as large as he can bear.' 
     'And Bill could take a bit more, couldn't  you lad?' said Sam. The pony 
looked at him mournfully. 
     'Very well,' said Gandalf. `But we must not  use the wood -- not unless


key: chroma:document
string_value:
milder now, but perhaps all the more dangerous.' 
     `Dangerous or  not, a  real sunrise  is  mighty  welcome,'  said Frodo, 
throwing back his hood and letting the morning light fall on his face. 
     'But the mountains  are ahead of us,' said Pippin. `We must have turned 
eastwards in the night.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'Eight  out of the Nine are  accounted for at least, ' said Gandalf. 'It 
is  rash  to  be  too  sure,  yet I think that  we  may hope  now  that  the 
Ringwraiths  were  scattered,  and  have been obliged to return as best they 
could to their Master in Mordor, empty and shapeless.  
     `If that  is so,  it wi ll be some time before they  can begin the  hunt 
again. Of course the Enemy has other servants, but they will have to journey 
all the way to  the borders of Rivendell before they can pick  up our trail. 
And  if we are  careful that  will be  hard to find.  But  we  must delay no 
longer.' 
     Elrond  summoned the hobbits to him.  He looked gravely  at Frodo. 'The 
time has  come,' he said.  `If the Ring is to set out, it  must go soon. But 
those who go with it must  not  count on their  errand being aided by  war or 
force.  They  must pass into the domain of  the Enemy far from  aid. Do  you  
still hold to your word, Frodo, that you will be the Ring-bearer?'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
anxiously. 
     'I think no good of our course from beginning to end, as you know well, 
Gandalf,' answered Aragorn. `And perils known and unknown will grow as we 
go 
on. But we must  go on; and it is no good our  delaying  the passage  of the 
mountains. Further south  there are no passes, till one comes to the Gap  of 
Rohan.  I do not trust  that way since your news of Saruman. Who knows 
which 
side now the marshals of the Horse-lords serve?' 
     'Who knows indeed!' said Gandalf. `But there is another way, and not by  
the pass of Caradhras: the dark and secret way that we have spoken of.' 
     'But let us not speak of it again! Not yet. Say nothing to the others I 
beg, not until it is plain tha t there is no other way.' 
     'We must decide before we go further,' answered Gandalf. 
     'Then let us weigh  the matter in our  minds, while the others rest and 
sleep,' said Aragorn. 
     In the late afternoon, while the others were finishing their breakfast,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
The breathing  of  the  sleepers could be  plainly heard.  The swish  of the 
pony's tail and the occasional movements of his feet became loud noises. Sam 
could hear his own joints creaking, if  he  stirred. Dead silence was around


key: chroma:document
string_value:
It  was the cold chill hour before the first stir of dawn, and the moon 
was low. Frodo looked  up at the sky. Suddenly  he saw or felt a shadow  pass 
over the high  stars, as  if for a  moment they faded  and  then flashed out 
again. He shivered. 
     `Did you see anything pass over?' he whispered to Gandalf, who was just  
ahead. 
     `No, but I felt it, whatever  it was,' he answered. `It may be nothing, 
only a wisp of thin cloud.' 
     `It was moving fast then,' muttered Aragorn, `and not with the wind.' 
     Nothing  further  happened  that  night.  The next morning  dawned even  
brighter  than  before.  But the air was chill  again; already  the wind was 
turning back towards the east. For two more nights they marched on, climbing 
steadily but ever more slowly as their road wound up into the hills, and the 
mountains towered up, nearer and nearer. On the third morning Caradhras rose 
before  them, a mighty peak, tipped with  snow  like silver, but with  sheer


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-Bilbo) could remember the Fell Winter of 1311, when the white wolves 
invaded 
the Shire over the frozen Brandywine. 
     Gandalf  halted. Snow  was  thick on  his  hood and  shoulders;  it was 
already ankle-deep about his boots.  
     "This is what I feared,' he said. `What do you say now, Aragorn?' 
     'That I feared  it too,' Aragorn answered, `but less than other things. 
I knew the  risk of  snow, though it seldom falls heavily so far south, save 
high up in the mountains. But we are not  high yet;  we are still  far down, 
where the paths are usually open all the winter.' 
     'I wonder if this  is a contrivance  of the Enemy,' said Boromir. "They 
say in my land that he can govern the storms in the Mountains of Shadow that 
stand upon the borders of Mordor. He has strange powers and many allies.' 
     'His arm  has grown long indeed,' said Gimli, `if he can draw snow down 
from the North to trouble us here three hundred leagues away.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'And Bill could take a bit more, couldn't  you lad?' said Sam. The pony 
looked at him mournfully. 
     'Very well,' said Gandalf. `But we must not  use the wood -- not unless 
it is a choice between fire and death.' 
     The Company set out again with good speed at first; but soon their  way 
became steep  and  difficult.  The twisting  and climbing road  had  in many  
places almost disappeared, and was  blocked  with  many fallen  stones.  The 
night grew deadly dark under great clouds. A  bitter wind swirled among  the 
rocks. By midnight they had climbed to the knees of the great mountains. The 
narrow path now wound  under a sheer wall of cliffs to the left, above which  
the grim flanks of Caradhras towered up invisible in the gloom; on the right  
was a gulf of darkness where the land fell suddenly into a deep ravine. 
     Laboriously they climbed a  sharp slope and halted for a  moment at the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
force.  They  must pass into the domain of  the Enemy far from  aid. Do  you  
still hold to your word, Frodo, that you will be the Ring-bearer?' 
     'I do,' said Frodo. `I will go with Sam.' 
     `Then  I cannot help you  much, not even with counsel,' said Elrond. `I  
can foresee very little of your road; and how your task is to be achieved  I 
do not know. The  Shadow has  crept now  to the  feet  of the Mountains, and 
draws nigh even  to  the  borders of Greyflood; and  under the Shadow all is 
dark to me. You will meet many foes, some open, and some disguised; and  
you 
may find friends upon your way when you  least look for it. I will send  out 
messages, such  as I can contrive, to  those  whom I know in the wide world;  
but so  perilous are the  lands now become that some  may well  miscarry, or  
come no quicker than you yourself.  
     `And I will choose you companions to go with  you, as far as  they will


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'Then let us weigh  the matter in our  minds, while the others rest and 
sleep,' said Aragorn. 
     In the late afternoon, while the others were finishing their breakfast, 
Gandalf and Aragorn  went aside together and stood looking at Caradhras. Its 
sides  were now dark  and sullen, and  its head  was in  grey  cloud.  Frodo 
watched them, wondering which way the debate would go. When they returned 
to 
the Company Ganda lf spoke, and then he knew that it had been decided to face 
the weather and the high  pass. He was relieved. He could not guess what was 
the other dark and secret way, but the very mention of it had seemed to fill 
Aragorn with dismay, and Frodo was glad that it had been abandoned. 
     `From signs that we have  seen lately,' said Gandalf,  'I fear that the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     The night is getting old,' said Aragorn. "The dawn is not far off.' 
     `If any dawn can pierce these clouds,' said Gimli. 
     Boromir  stepped  out of the  circle and stared up into  the blackness.  
'The snow is growing less,' he said, `and the wind is quieter.' 
     Frodo gazed wearily at the flakes  still  falling out of the dark to be 
revealed white  for a moment in the light of the dying fire;  but for a long 
time he could see no sign of their slackening. Then suddenly,  as sleep  was 
beginning to creep over him again, he  was aware that  the  wind had  indeed  
fallen,  and the flakes were  becoming larger and fewer. Very slowly  a  dim 
light began to grow. At last the snow stopped altogether. 
     As the   light grew stronger  it showed  a silent shrouded world.  Below 
their refuge  were white  humps and domes and shapeless deeps beneath  which 
the path  that they had trodden was  altogether lost;  but the heights above


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-little  love for those that go on two legs, and  yet are not in  league with 
Sauron, but have purposes of  their own. Some have been in this world longer  
than he.' 
     'Caradhras was called the Cruel, and had an ill name, said Gimli, `long 
years ago, when rumour of Sauron had not been heard in these lands.' 
     `It matters little who is the enemy, if we cannot beat off  his attack; 
said Gandalf. 
     'But what can we do?'  cried Pippin miserably. He  was leaning on Merry 
and Frodo, and he was shivering. 
     `Either stop where we are, or  go back,' said Gandalf.  'It is no  good 
going on. Only a little higher, if I remember rightly,  this path leaves the 
cliff  and  runs into  a wide  shallow trough at the bottom of a  long  hard 
slope. We should  have no shelter there  from snow, or stones  -- or anything  
else.' 
     `And it is no good going back while the storm holds,' said Aragorn. `We


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'His arm  has grown long indeed,' said Gimli, `if he can draw snow down 
from the North to trouble us here three hundred leagues away.' 
     'His arm has grown long,' said Gandalf. 
     While  they  were halted,  the wind died  down, and the snow  slackened 
until  it almost ceased. They tramped on again.  But they had not  gone more 
than a  furlong when the storm returned with fresh  fury. The  wind whistled 
and  the snow became a blinding blizzard. Soon even Boromir found it hard to 
keep going. The hobbits, bent nearly double, toiled along behind  the taller 
folk, but it was  plain  that they could not  go much  further,  if the snow 
continued.  Frodo's  feet felt like lead. Pippin  was dragging behind.  Even 
Gimli, as stout as any dwarf could be, was grumbling as he trudged. 
     The Company  halted  suddenly, as if  they  had  come  to  an agreement 
without any words  being  spoken. They  heard eerie noises in  the  darkness


key: chroma:document
string_value:
was a gulf of darkness where the land fell suddenly into a deep ravine. 
     Laboriously they climbed a  sharp slope and halted for a  moment at the 
top. Frodo felt a soft touch on his face. He put out his arm and saw the dim 
white flakes of snow settling on his sleeve. 
     They went on. But before  long the snow was falling fast,  filling  all 
the air, and swirling into Frodo's eyes. The dark bent shapes of Gandalf and 
Aragorn only a pace or two ahead could hardly be seen. 
     'I don't like this at all,' panted Sam  just behind.  'Snow's all right 
on a fine morning,  but I like to be in  bed while it's falling. I wish this 
lot would  go off to Hobbiton! Folk  might  welcome  it there.' Except on the 
high moors of the Northfarthing a heavy fall was rare in the Shire,  and was 
regarded as  a pleasant event and  a chance for fun. No  living hobbit (save


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-places the snow was breast -high, and often Boromir  seemed to bc swimming 
or 
burrowing with his great arms rather than walking. 
     Legolas watched  them for a while with a smile upon his lips,  and then 
he turned to the others. `The strongest must seek a way, say you? But I say: 
let a ploughman plough,  but choose an otter for swimming, and  for  running 
light over grass and leaf or over snow-an Elf.' 
     With that he sprang forth nimbly, and  then Frodo noticed as if for the 
first time, though he had long known it, that the Elf had no boots, but wore 
only light shoes, as he always did, and his feet made little imprint  in the 
snow. 
     'Farewell!' he said to Gandalf. `I go to find the Sun!' Then swift as a  
runner over  firm sand he shot away, and quickly overtaking the toiling men,  
with a  wave of his hand he passed them,  and  sped into  the  distance, and 
vanished round the rocky turn.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-it; though lesser  men with spades might have served you  better.  Still, we 
have thrust a lane through the  drift; and for that all here may be grateful 
who cannot run as light as Elves.' 
     `But  how are we  to get down there, even  if  you have cut through the 
drift?' said Pippin, voicing the thought of all the hobbits.  
     'Have  hope!' said Boromir. 'I am weary, but I still have some strength 
left, and  Aragorn too. We  will  bear the  little folk. The others no doubt 
will make shift  to tread the path behind  us. Come, Master Peregrin! I will 
begin with you.' 
     He lifted  up  the hobbit. 'Cling to  my back! I shall need my arms' he 
said and  strode forward. Aragorn with Merry came behind. Pippin marvelled at 
his  strength, seeing the passage that he had already forced with  no  other  
tool than his great limbs. Even now, burdened as he was, he was widening the 
track for those who followed, thrusting the snow aside as he went.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
their refuge  were white  humps and domes and shapeless deeps beneath  which 
the path  that they had trodden was  altogether lost;  but the heights above 
were hidden in great clouds still heavy with the threat of snow.  
     Gimli looked up and shook his head. `Caradhras has not forgiven us.' he 
said.  `He has more snow yet to fling at  us, if we go on.  The sooner we go 
back and down the better.' 
     To this all agreed, but their retreat  was  now difficult. It might well 
prove impossible. Only a few paces from the ashes of their fire the snow lay 
many feet deep, higher than the heads of the hobbits; in places it  had been 
scooped and piled by the wind into great drifts against the cliff. 
     `If  Gandalf  would go before us with  a bright  flame, he might melt a  
path for you,' said Legolas. The storm had troubled him little, and he alone 
of the Company remained still light of heart. 
     `If Elves could fly over mountains, they  might fetch  the Sun  to save


key: chroma:document
string_value:
that I shall never know.  
 
     But all the while I sit and think 
     of times there were before, 
     I listen for returning feet 
     and voices at the door. 
 
     It was  a  cold grey  day near the end of  December.  The East Wind was 
streaming through  the  bare branches of the trees, and seething in the dark 
pines on the hills. Ragged clouds  were hurrying overhead,  dark and low. As 
the cheerless shadows  of the early evening began  to  fall the Company made 
ready to set out. They were to start at dusk, for Elrond  counselled them to


key: chroma:document
string_value:
The Company  halted  suddenly, as if  they  had  come  to  an agreement 
without any words  being  spoken. They  heard eerie noises in  the  darkness 
round them.  It may have been only a  trick of  the wind in  the cracks  and 
gullies  of the  rocky wall, but the sounds were those of shrill  cries, and 
wild  howls  of  laughter.  Stones  began  to  fall  from the mountain-side, 
whistling over  their heads, or crashing on the path beside them. Every  now 
and  again they heard a dull  rumble,  as a gr eat  boulder rolled  down from 
hidden heights above. 
     `We cannot go further  tonight,' said Boromir. `Let those  call it  the 
wind who will; there are fell voices on the  air; and these stones are aimed 
at us.' 
     `I do call it the wind,' said Aragor n. `But that does not make what you  
say untrue. There are many evil and unfriendly things in the world that have


key: chroma:document
string_value:
slope. We should  have no shelter there  from snow, or stones  -- or anything  
else.' 
     `And it is no good going back while the storm holds,' said Aragorn. `We 
have  pa ssed  no place on the way up that  offered  more  shelter  than this 
cliff-wall we are under now.' 
     `Shelter!' muttered Sam. `If this is shelter, then one wall and no roof 
make a house.' 
     The Company now gathered together  as close to the cliff as  they could. 
It faced  southwards, and near the bottom it leaned  out  a little, so  that 
they hoped it would give  them some protection  from  the northerly wind and 
from the falling  stones. But eddying blasts swirled  round them from  every 
side, and the snow flowed down in ever denser clouds. 
     They huddled together with their backs to the wall. Bill the pony stood 
patiently but dejectedly in  front  of  the  hobbits,  and  screened  them a  
little; but before long the  drifting snow was above his  hocks, and it went


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     `This will be the death  of the halflings, Gandalf,'  said Boromir. `It 
is useless  to sit  here until the  snow goes  over  our heads.  We must  do 
something to save ourselves.' 
     `Give them this,' said Gandalf, searching in his pack and drawing out a  
leathern flask. `Just a mouthful each -- for all of us. It is very precious. 
It is miruvor, the cordial of Imladris. Elrond gave it to me at our parting. 
Pass it round!' 
     As soon as Frodo had swallowed a little of the warm and fragrant liquor  
he felt a new strength of heart, and the  heavy drowsiness  left  his limbs.  
The  others a lso  revived and found fresh hope and vigour. But the snow  did  
not  relent. It whirled about  them thicker  than  ever, and the  wind  blew 
louder. 
     'What do  you say to fire?' asked Boromir  suddenly. 'The  choice seems 
near now between fire and death, Gandalf. Doubtless we shall be hidden  from


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-indeed,' said Merry. `But you had better tell us about it, and  let  us know 
the worst at once.' 
     'The road  that I speak  of leads to the Mines of Moria,' said Gandalf.  
Only  Gimli lifted  up his head; a smouldering fire  was in his eyes. On all 
the others a dread fell at  the mention of that name. Even to the hobbits it 
was a legend of vague fear: 
     `The road  may lead  to Moria,  but how can  we  hope that it will lead 
through Moria? ' said Aragorn darkly. 
     `It  is a name of ill omen,' said Boromir. `Nor do I see the need to go 
there. If we cannot cross the mountains, let us journey southwards, until we 
come  to the Gap of Rohan, where men  are friendly to  my people, taking the 
road that  I followed on my way  hither. Or we might  pass by  and cross the 
Isen into Langstrand and  Lebennin,  and so come to Gondor from the  regions 
nigh to the sea.' 
     'Things have changed since you came  north, Boromir,' answered Gandalf.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
patiently but dejectedly in  front  of  the  hobbits,  and  screened  them a  
little; but before long the  drifting snow was above his  hocks, and it went 
on mounting. If they had had no  larger companions the  hobbits  would  soon 
have been entirely buried. 
     A great sleepiness came over Frodo; he felt himself sinking fast into a  
warm and hazy dream. He thought a fire was heating his toes,  and out of the 
shadows on the other side of the hearth he heard Bilbo's voice  speaking.  I 
don't think much of your diary , he  said. Snowstorms on January the twelfth: 
there was no need to come back to report that! 
     But I wanted rest and sleep, Bilbo, Frodo answered with an effort, when 
he  felt  himself shaken, and he came back painfully to wakefulness. Boromir 
had lifted him off the ground out of a nest of snow.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
It was  evening, and the  grey light  was again  waning fast, when they 
halted  for the night. They were very  weary.  The mountains were veiled  in 
deepening dusk, and the wind was cold. Gandalf spared them one more 
mouthful 
each of the miruvor  of Rivendell. When they had eaten some food he called a  
council.  
     'We cannot, of  course, go on again  tonight,' he said. `The attack   on 
the Redhorn Gate has tired us out, and we must rest here for a while.' 
     `And then where are we to go? ' asked Frodo. 
     'We still have our journey and our errand before us,' answered Gandalf.  
`We have no choice but to go on, or to return to Rivendell.' 
     Pippin's  face brightened visibly at the  mere  mention  of  return  to 
Rivendell; Merry and Sam looked  up hopefully. But Aragorn  and Boromir 
made 
no sign. Frodo looked troubled.  
     `I wish I was back there,' he said. `But how can I return without shame


key: chroma:document
string_value:
of the Company remained still light of heart. 
     `If Elves could fly over mountains, they  might fetch  the Sun  to save  
us,' answered Gandalf. `But I must have something to work on.  I cannot burn 
snow.' 
     `Well,' said Boromir, `when heads are  at a  loss bodies must serve, as 
we say in my  country. The strongest of us must seek a  way. See! Though all 
is  now snow-clad,  our path, as  we came up, turned about that shoulder  of 
rock down yonder. It was there that the snow first began to burden us. If we 
could  reach that point, maybe it would prove easier  beyond. It  is no more 
than a furlong off, I guess. ' 
     `Then let us force a path thither, you and I!' said Aragorn. 
     Aragorn was the  tallest of the  Company, but  Boromir, little less  in 
height, was  broader and heavier  in  build.  He led  the  way,  and Aragorn 
followed  him.  Slowly  they  moved off, and were soon  toiling heavily.  In


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-itself. The name of Moria is black.' 
     `You speak  of  what  you do not  know,  when you  liken  Moria to  the 
stronghold of Sauron,' answered Gandalf.  `I alone of you  have ever been in 
the dungeons of the Dark Lord, and only in  his older and lesser dwelling in  
Dol Guldur. Those who pass the gates of Barad-dyr do not return. But I wou ld 
not lead you into Moria if there  were no hope of coming out again. If there 
are Orcs there,  it may prove ill for us, that is true. But most of the Orcs 
of the Misty Mountains were  scattered or  destroyed  in the Battle  of Five 
Armies. The Eagles report that Orcs are gathering again from afar; but there 
is a hope that Moria is still free. 
     `There is  even a chance that Dwarves are  there, and that in some deep 
hall of his fathers, Balin son of Fundin may be found. However it may prove, 
one must tread the path that need chooses!' 
     'I will tread the  path with you, Gandalf! ' said Gimli. 'I will go and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
louder. 
     'What do  you say to fire?' asked Boromir  suddenly. 'The  choice seems 
near now between fire and death, Gandalf. Doubtless we shall be hidden  from 
all unfriendly eyes when the  snow has covered us,  but that  will not  help 
us.' 
     'You may make a fire,  if you can,' answered Gandalf. 'If there are any 
watchers that can endure this storm, then they  can see us, fire or no.' But 
though they had  brought wood and kindlings by  the  advice  of Boromir,  it  
passed the skill of Elf or even Dwarf to strike a flame that would hold amid 
the swirling wind or catch  in  the  wet fuel.  At  last reluctantly Gandalf 
himself took a hand. Picking  up a faggot he held it aloft for a moment, and 
then with a word of command, naur an edraith ammen! he thrust the end of his 
staff into  the midst of it.  At once a great spout  of green and blue flame 
sprang out, and the wood flared and sputtered. 
     `If there  are any  to  see, then I at  least am revealed to  them,' he


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Isen into Langstrand and  Lebennin,  and so come to Gondor from the  regions 
nigh to the sea.' 
     'Things have changed since you came  north, Boromir,' answered Gandalf.  
'Did you not hear what I  told you  of Saruman? With him I may have business 
of my own ere all is over. But the Ring must not come near Isengard, if that 
can by any means be prevented. The Gap of Rohan is closed to  us while we go 
with the Bearer. 
     'As  for the longer road:  we cannot  afford the time. We might spend a  
year in such a journey, and we should pass through many lands that are empty 
and  harbourless.  Yet  they would not  be safe. The watchful  eyes  both of 
Saruman and of the Enemy are on them. When you came north, Boromir, you 
were 
in the  Enemy's eyes only one stray wanderer from the South and a matter  of 
small concern to  him: his  mind was busy with the pursuit of the  Ring. But 
you return now as  a member of the Ring's  Company, and you  are in peril as


key: chroma:document
string_value:
one must tread the path that need chooses!' 
     'I will tread the  path with you, Gandalf! ' said Gimli. 'I will go and 
look on  the halls of Durin, whatever may  wait  there-if  you can  find the 
doors that are shut.' 
     'Good,  Gimli!  '  said  Gandalf.  `You encourage me. We  will seek the 
hidden  doors together.  And  we will come  through.  In  the  ruins of  the 
Dwarves, a dwarf's head  will be less easy to bewilder than Elves or Men  or  
Hobbits. Yet it  will not  be the first time  that  I have been to  Moria. I 
sought  there long for Thrbin son of  Thrur  after  he  was  lost.  I passed 
through, and I came out again alive! ' 
     `I too once passed the Dimrill Gate,' said Aragorn quietly; 'but though 
I also came out again, the memory is very evil. I do not wish to enter Moria  
a second time.' 
     'And I don't wish to enter it even once,' said Pippin. 
     'Nor me,' muttered Sam. 
     `Of course not!  ' said Gandalf.  'Who would? But  the question is: who


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-howling of the wolves was now all round them, sometimes nearer and 
sometimes 
further off.  In the dead  of the night many shining eyes were  seen peering 
over the brow of the  hill. Some advanced almost to the ring of stones. At a  
gap  in the circle a great  dark wolf-shape  could be seen halted, gazing at 
them.  A shuddering howl  broke from him, as if he  were a captain summoning 
his pack to the assault. 
     Gandalf stood  up and strode forward, holding his staff aloft. 'Listen, 
Hound of Sauron! ' he cried. `Gandalf is here.  Fly, if you value  your foul 
skin! I will shrivel you from tail to snout, if you come within this ring.' 
     The wolf snarled and  sprang towards  them  with a great leap.  At that 
moment  there was a sharp twang. Legolas  had  loosed his bow.  There  was a  
hideous yell, and the leaping shape thudded to  the ground; the elvish arrow 
had  pierced  its  throat. The  watching  eyes were  suddenly  extinguished.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
sprang out, and the wood flared and sputtered. 
     `If there  are any  to  see, then I at  least am revealed to  them,' he 
said. 'I have  written Gandalf  is  here  in signs  that all  can  read from 
Rivendell to the mouths of Anduin.' 
     But the Company cared no longer for watchers or unfriendly  eyes. Their  
hearts were rejoiced to see  the light of the fire. The wood burned merrily; 
and though  all round it  the  snow  hissed, and pools of  slush crept under  
their feet, they warmed  their hands gladly at the  blaze. There they stood,  
stooping  in  a circle round the little  dancing and  blowing flames. A  red 
light was on their tired and anxious faces; behind them the night was like a  
black wall. 
     But the wood was burning fast, and the snow still fell. 
     The fire burned low. and the last faggot was thrown on.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
runner over  firm sand he shot away, and quickly overtaking the toiling men,  
with a  wave of his hand he passed them,  and  sped into  the  distance, and 
vanished round the rocky turn. 
     The others  waited huddled together, watching until Boromir and Aragor n 
dwindled into black specks  in the whiteness. At length they too passed from  
sight. The time dragged on. The clouds lowered, and now a few flakes of snow 
came curling down again. 
     An hour, maybe,  went by, though it seemed far longer, and then at last 
they  saw  Legolas  coming  back.  At  the  same time  Boromir  and  Aragorn 
reappeared round the bend far behind him and came labouring up the slope. 
     `Well,' cried Legolas as he ran up, `I have not brought the Sun. She is 
walking in the blue fields of the South, and a little wreath of snow on this 
Redhorn hillock troubles her not at all. But I have brought back a gleam  of 
good hope for  those who are doomed  to  go on feet. There  is  the greatest


key: chroma:document
string_value:
small concern to  him: his  mind was busy with the pursuit of the  Ring. But 
you return now as  a member of the Ring's  Company, and you  are in peril as 
long as you remain with us. The danger will increase  with every league that 
we go south under the naked sky. 
     `Since our open attempt on the mountain-pass our plight has become more 
desperate, I  fear. I  see now little  hope, if  we  do not soon vanish from 
sight for a while, and cover our trail. Therefore I advise that we should go 
neither over the mountains, nor round them, but  under them. That  is a road 
at any rate that the Enemy will least expect us to take.' 
     `We do not  know what  he expects,' said  Boromir. `He  may  watch  all 
roads, likely and  unlikely. In  that case to enter  Moria would  be to walk  
into  a  trap, hardly better than knocking at  the  gates of  the Dark Tower


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Rivendell; Merry and Sam looked  up hopefully. But Aragorn  and Boromir 
made 
no sign. Frodo looked troubled.  
     `I wish I was back there,' he said. `But how can I return without shame 
-- unless there is indeed no other way, and we are already defeated? ' 
     `You  are right, Frodo,'  said Gandalf:  `to go back is to admit defeat 
and face worse defeat to come. If we go  back now, then the Ring must remain 
there: we shall not be able to set out again. Then sooner or later Rivendell 
will be  besieged,  and after a  brief and bitter time it will be destroyed. 
The  Ringwraiths  are deadly  enemies, but they are only shadows  yet of the 
power and terror they would possess if the Ruling Ring was on their master's 
hand again.' 
     'Then  we must  go on, if there is a way,' said  Frodo with a sigh. Sam 
sank back into gloom. 
     `There is a way that we may attempt,' said Gandalf. `I thought from the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     `Naur an edraith ammen! Naur dan i ngaurhoth!' he cried. 
     There was a roar and a crackle, and  the  tree above him  burst  into a  
leaf and bloom of blinding flame. The fire leapt  from tree-top to tree-top. 
The whole hill was crowned with dazzling light. The swords and knives of the 
defenders shone and flickered. The last arrow of Legolas kindled in  the air 
as it flew, and  plunged burning into the  heart of a  great wolf-chieftain. 
All the others fled. 
     Slowly the fire died till nothing was left but falling ash  and sparks;  
a bitter smoke curled above the burned tree-stumps, and blew darkly from the 
hill, as the first  light of dawn came dimly in the  sky. Their enemies were 
routed and did not return. 
     `What did I  tell  you,  Mr. Pippin?  ' said Sam, she/thing his  sword. 
`Wolves won't get him. That was an eye-opener, and no mistake! Nearly singed 
the hair off my head!'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
a second time.' 
     'And I don't wish to enter it even once,' said Pippin. 
     'Nor me,' muttered Sam. 
     `Of course not!  ' said Gandalf.  'Who would? But  the question is: who 
will follow me, if I lead you there? ' 
     'I will,' said Gimli eagerly. 
     'I  will,' said  Aragorn  heavily.  `You  followed  my  lead almost  to 
disaster in  the  snow, and have said no  word of  blame. I will follow your 
lead  now  -- if this last warning does not move you. It is  not of the Ring, 
nor of  us others that  I am thinking now, but of you, Gandalf. And I say to 
you: if you pass the doors of Moria, beware! ' 
     `I  will not go,' said Boromir;  'not  unless  the vote  of  the  whole 
company  is  against me.  What  do  Legolas and  the  little  folk  say? The


key: chroma:document
string_value:
hideous yell, and the leaping shape thudded to  the ground; the elvish arrow 
had  pierced  its  throat. The  watching  eyes were  suddenly  extinguished. 
Gandalf  and  Aragorn strode forward, but the hill was deserted; the hunting 
packs had fled. All about them  the darkness grew silent, and no cry came on 
the sighing wind. 
     The  night was  old, and westward the waning moon was setting. gleaming 
fitfully  through the breaking clouds.  Suddenly  Frodo started  from sleep. 
Without warning  a  storm of  howls broke out fierce and wild all  about the 
camp. A great host of Wargs ha d gathered silently and was now attacking them 
from every side at once. 
     `Fling  fuel on the  fire!' cried  Gandalf to  the  hobbits. `Draw your 
blades, and stand back to back!' 
     In the leaping light, as  the fresh wood blazed up, Frodo saw many gr ey 
shapes spring over  the  ring of stones. More and more followed. Through the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Redhorn hillock troubles her not at all. But I have brought back a gleam  of 
good hope for  those who are doomed  to  go on feet. There  is  the greatest  
wind-drift of all just beyond the turn, and there our Strong Men were almost  
buried. They despaired, until I  returned and told them  that the  drift was 
little wider  than  a wall. And on  the  other  side the snow suddenly grows 
less,  while further down  it  is no  more than  a white coverlet  to cool a  
hobbit's toes.' 
     `Ah, it is as I  said,' growled Gimli. 'It was no ordinary storm. It is 
the  ill  will of Caradhras. He  does not love Elves and  Dwarves, and  that 
drift was laid to cut off our escape.' 
     'But happily your Caradhras has forgotten that you  have Men with you,' 
said Boromir, who came up at that moment. `And doughty Men too, if I may 
say


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-well that I  did so, for now we have several miles less to cross, and  haste 
is needed. Let us go! ' 
     `I do not know which to hope,' said  Boromir grimly: `that Gandalf will 
find what he seeks, or that coming to the cliff we shall find the gates lost 
for ever. All choices seem ill, and to be caught between wolves and the wall  
the likeliest chance. Lead on!' 
     Gimli now walked ahead by the wizard's side, so eager was he to come to 
Moria. Together they led  the Company back towards the  mountains. The  only 
road of old  to Moria from the  west  had lain along the course of a stream, 
the Sirannon,  that ran out from the feet of the cliffs near where the doors 
had stood.  But either Gandalf was astray,  or  else the land had changed in 
recent years; for he  did not strike the stream where he  looked to  find it, 
only a few miles southwards from their start. 
     The morning was  passing towards noon,  and still the  Company wandered


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-Ring-bearer's voice surely should be heard? ' 
     'I do not wish to go to Moria,' said Legolas.  
     The  hobbits said nothing. Sam looked at Frodo. At last Frodo spoke. `I  
do  not wish to go,' he said; `but neither do I wish to refuse the advice of 
Gandalf. I  beg that there should be  no vote,  until we  have slept on  it. 
Gandalf will get votes easier in the light of the morning than in this  cold 
gloom. How the wind howls! ' 
     At  these  words  all fell  into silent thought. They  heard  the  wind 
hissing among the rocks and trees, and there was a howling and wailing round 
them in the empty spaces of the night. 
     Suddenly  Aragorn leapt to  his feet. 'How the wind howls! '  he cried. 
'It is howling with wolf-voices. The  Wargs have  come west of the Mountains!  
' 
     'Need we wait until morning then? ' said Gandalf. `It is as I said. The 
hunt  is  up! Even if  we live to see the dawn, who now will wish to journey


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`What did I  tell  you,  Mr. Pippin?  ' said Sam, she/thing his  sword. 
`Wolves won't get him. That was an eye-opener, and no mistake! Nearly singed 
the hair off my head!' 
     When  the full light of the morning came no signs of the wolves were to 
be found, and they  looked in vain for the  bodies of the  dead. No trace of 
the fight remained but the  charred trees and the arrows of Legolas lying on 
the hill-top. All were undamaged save one of which only the point was left. 
     `It is as  I feared,'  said Gandalf.  `These  were no  ordinary  wolves 
hunting for food in the wilderness. Let us eat quickly and go!' 
     That day  the weather changed again, almost as if it was at the command  
of some power that had no longer  any use for snow, since they had retreated 
from the pass, a power that wished now to have a clear light in  which things 
that  moved  in the  wild could be  seen from far away.  The  wind  had been


key: chroma:document
string_value:
hand again.' 
     'Then  we must  go on, if there is a way,' said  Frodo with a sigh. Sam 
sank back into gloom. 
     `There is a way that we may attempt,' said Gandalf. `I thought from the 
beginning, when  first I considered this journey, that we should try it. But 
it is not a pleasant way, and I have not spoken of it to the Company before. 
Aragorn was against it, until the pass over the mountains had  at least been 
tried.' 
     `If  it  is a worse road  than the  Redhorn Gate,  then it must be evil


key: chroma:document
string_value:
tool than his great limbs. Even now, burdened as he was, he was widening the 
track for those who followed, thrusting the snow aside as he went. 
     They  came  at length  to  the  great drift.  It  was  flung across the 
mountain-path like a  sheer  and sudden  wall, and  its  crest, sharp as  if 
shaped with  knives,  reared up more than twice the  height of  Boromir; but 
through the middle  a passage had been  beaten, rising  and falling  like  a  
bridge.  On  the  far  side Merry  and Pippin were set down, and there  they 
waited with Legolas for the rest of the Company to arrive. 
     After a  while Boromir returned carrying Sam. Behind in  the narrow but 
now well-trodden track came Gandalf,  leading  Bill with Gimli perched among 
the baggage. Last came Aragorn carrying Frodo. They passed through the lane; 
but hardly had Frodo touched the ground when with a deep rumble there rolled 
down a fall of stones and slithering  snow. The spray of it half blinded the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-land to the left, turned and went due east again. Rounding  the corner  they 
saw  before them a  low  cliff, some  five fathoms  high, with a  broken and 
jagged  top. Over  it  a trickling water  dripped, through a wide cleft that 
seemed to have been carved out by a fall that had once been  strong and full.  
     `Indeed things have changed! ' said Gandalf. `But there is no mistaking 
the  place.  There  is  all  that remains of the  Stair Falls. If I remember  
right, there was  a flight of steps cut  in the  rock at their side, but the 
main road  wound away left and climbed with several  loops  up  to the level 
ground at  the top. There used to be a shallow valley beyond the falls right 
up to the Walls of  Moria, and the Sirannon flowed  through it with the road 
beside it. Let us go and see what things are like now! ' 
     They found the stone steps without difficulty, and Gimli sprang swiftly


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-and brought no animal, least of  all  this one that Sam is fond of, if I had 
had my way. I feared all along that we should be obliged to take this road.' 
     The day was drawing to its end, and cold stars were glinting in the sky 
high above the sunset, when the  Company,  with all  the speed  they  could,  
climbed up the slopes and reached the side of the lake. In breadth it looked 
to be no  more  than two or three furlongs at the widest point.  How far  it 
stretched  away  southward they could  not see in the failing light; but its 
northern end was no more than half a mile from where they stood, and between 
the  stony ridges  that enclosed the valley and the water's edge there was a  
rim of open ground. They hurried forward, for they had still  a mile  or two 
to go  before they could reach the point on the  far shore that  Gandalf was 
making for; and then he had still to find the doors. 
     When  they came to the northernmost corner of  the  lake  they  found a


key: chroma:document
string_value:
blades, and stand back to back!' 
     In the leaping light, as  the fresh wood blazed up, Frodo saw many gr ey 
shapes spring over  the  ring of stones. More and more followed. Through the 
throat of one  huge  leader  Aragorn passed his sword with a thrust; with  a  
great sweep Boromir hewed the head off another. Beside them Gimli stood 
with 
his  stout  legs apart,  wielding  his  dwarf-axe.  The  bow of  Legolas was 
singing. 
     In the wavering firelight  Gandalf seemed suddenly to grow: he rose up, 
a  great menacing shape like the monument of some ancient king of  stone set 
upon a hill. Stooping like a cloud, he lifted a burning branch and strode to 
meet the wolves. They gave  back before him. High in  the air he  tossed the 
blazing  brand.  It flared with a  sudden white radiance like lightning; and 
his voice rolled like thunder.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
only a few miles southwards from their start. 
     The morning was  passing towards noon,  and still the  Company wandered 
and scrambled in a barren country  of red stones. Nowhere could they see any 
gleam of  water or hear any sound of it. All was bleak and dry. Their hearts 
sank.  They saw no living thing, and not a bird was in the sky; but what the 
night  would bring, if it caught them in that  lost land, none of them cared 
to think. 
     Suddenly Gimli, who  had pressed on ahead, called back  to them. He was 
standing  on a knoll and pointing to the  right. Hurrying up they saw  below 
them  a  deep and narrow channel. It was  empty and  silent,  and  hardly  a  
trickle of water flowed among the  brown and red-stained  stones of its bed;  
but  on the  near side there was a path, much broken and decayed, that wound 
its way among the ruined walls and paving -stones of an ancient highroad. 
     'Ah! Here it is at last! ' said Gandalf. `This is where the stream ran:


key: chroma:document
string_value:
' 
     'Need we wait until morning then? ' said Gandalf. `It is as I said. The 
hunt  is  up! Even if  we live to see the dawn, who now will wish to journey  
south by night with the wild wolves on his trail? ' 
     'How far is Moria? ' asked Boromir. 
     `There was a door south-west  of Caradhras,  some  fifteen miles as the 
crow flies, and maybe twenty as the wolf runs,' answered Gandalf grimly. 
     'Then let  us start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if  we can,'  said 
Boromir. 'The wolf that one hears is worse than the orc that one fears.' 
     `True!' said Aragorn, loosening his sword in its sheath. `But where the 
warg howls, there also the orc prowls.' 
     `I  wish I had taken Elrond's advice,' muttered Pippin to Sam. `I am no 
good after all. There is not enough of the breed of Bandobras the Bullroarer  
in  me:  these  howls  freeze my  blood.  I  don't ever  remember feeling so 
wretched.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
but hardly had Frodo touched the ground when with a deep rumble there rolled 
down a fall of stones and slithering  snow. The spray of it half blinded the 
Company as they crouched against the cliff,  and  when the air cleared again 
they saw that the path was blocked behind them. 
     `Enough, enough!' cried Gimli.  'We are departing as quickly as we may!' 
And  indeed with that  last stroke the malice  of  the mountain seemed to be 
expended, as if Caradhras was  satisfied  that the invaders had been  beaten 
off  and  would not  dare to  return. The threat of snow lift ed; the  clouds 
began to break and the light grew broader. 
     As Legolas had reported, they found that the snow  became steadily more 
shallow as they went down, so that even the hobbits could trudge along. Soon 
they  all stood once more on the  flat shelf at the head of the steep  slope 
where they had felt the first flakes of snow the night before.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
from the pass, a power that wished now to have a clear light in  which things 
that  moved  in the  wild could be  seen from far away.  The  wind  had been 
turning through north to north-west during the night, and now it failed. The 
clouds  vanished southwards and the sky was opened, high and blue.  As  they 
stood upon the hill-side, ready to depart, a pale sunlight gleamed over  the 
mountain-tops.  
     `We must reach  the doors before sunset,' said Gandalf,  'or I  fear we 
shall not reach them at all. It is not far, but our path may be winding, for  
here Aragorn cannot guide us; he has seldom walked in this country, and only 
once have I been under the west wall of Moria, and that was long ago. 
     `There  it lies,' he said,  pointing away south-eastwards to where  the 
mountains' sides fell sheer into the shadows at their feet.  In the distance 
could  be dimly seen a line of bare cliffs,  and in their midst, taller than


key: chroma:document
string_value:
beside it. Let us go and see what things are like now! ' 
     They found the stone steps without difficulty, and Gimli sprang swiftly 
up them,  followed by Gandalf and Frodo.  When they reached the top they saw 
that  they could go no further that way, and the reason for the drying up of 
the Gate-stream was revealed. Behind  them the sinking Sun filled  the  cool  
western sky with glimmering  gold. Before them stretched a dark still  lake. 
Neither sky nor sunset was reflected on its sullen surface. The Sirannon had 
been dammed  and had filled  all the valley.  Beyond the  ominous water were 
reared vast cliffs, their stern faces pallid in  the fading light: final and 
impassable. No sign of gate or entrance,  not a fissure or crack could Frodo 
see in the frowning stone. 
     `There  are  the  Walls  of  Moria,' said Gandalf,  pointing across the 
water. `And there the Gate stood once upon a time, the Elven Door at the end


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-Rivendell. Make your ways to places where you can find grass, and so come in 
time to Elrond's house, or wherever you wish to go. 
     `There, Sam! He will have quite as  much chance of escaping wolves  and 
getting home as we have.' 
     Sam stood sullenly by the pony and returned no answer. Bill, seeming to  
understand well what  was going on, nuzzled up to  him,  putting his nose to 
Sam's  ear. Sam burst into tears, and  fumbled with the straps, unlading all 
the pony's packs and throwing them on the ground. The others  sorted out the 
goods, making a  pile of all that could be left behind,  and dividing up the 
rest. 
     When this was  done  they turned to watch Gandalf. He  appeared to have 
done nothing. He was standing between the two trees gazing at the blank wall 
of the cliff, as if he  would bore a hole  into it  with his eyes. Gimli was 
wandering about, tapping the stone here  and there with his axe. Legolas was 
pressed against the rock, as if listening.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
making for; and then he had still to find the doors. 
     When  they came to the northernmost corner of  the  lake  they  found a  
narrow creek that  barred their way. It was green and stagnant,  thrust  out 
like  a  slimy  arm  towards  the  enclosing  hills.  Gimli  strode  forward 
undeterred, and found that the water was shallow, no more than ankle-deep at 
the edge. Behind him they walked in file, threading their way with care, for  
under  the  weedy  pools were sliding  and  greasy  stones, and footing  was 
treacherous. Frodo shuddered  with disgust at  the touch of the dark unclean 
water on his feet. 
     As  Sam,  the last of the Company, led Bill up  on to the dry ground on 
the  far side, there came a soft sound: a swish, followed by a plop, as if a  
fish had disturbed the still surface of  the water. Turning quickly they saw 
ripples, black -edged  with shadow in  the  waning  light: great  rings  were


key: chroma:document
string_value:
good after all. There is not enough of the breed of Bandobras the Bullroarer  
in  me:  these  howls  freeze my  blood.  I  don't ever  remember feeling so 
wretched.' 
     'My heart's  right  down  in my  toes, Mr. Pippin,' said Sam.  'But  we 
aren't etten yet,  and there are some stout folk here with  us. Whatever may 
be in store for old Gandalf, I'll wager it isn't a wolf's belly.' 
     For their defence in the  night the Company  climbed to the  top of the 
small hill under which they had been sheltering. it was crowned  with a knot  
of old and twisted trees, about which lay a broken circle of boulder stones. 
In the midst of  this they lit a fire,  for there was  no hope that darkness 
and silence would keep their trail from discovery by the hunting packs.  
     Round the  fire  they  sat,  and those  that  were  not on  guard dozed 
uneasily.  Poor  Bill the  pony  trembled  and sweated where he  stood.  The


key: chroma:document
string_value:
its way among the ruined walls and paving -stones of an ancient highroad. 
     'Ah! Here it is at last! ' said Gandalf. `This is where the stream ran: 
Sirannon, the  Gate-stream, they used  to call  it. But what has happened to 
the water,  I cannot guess; it used  to  be swift  and noisy.  Come! We must  
hurry on. We are late.' 
     The Company were  footsore and tired; but they  trudged  doggedly along 
the rough and winding track for many miles. The sun turned from the noon and 
began  to go west. After  a brief halt  and a hasty meal they went on again. 
Before them the  mountains frowned, but  their path lay in a deep  trough of 
land  and  they  could  see only  the higher shoulders and the  far eastward 
peaks. 
     At length they came  to a sharp  bend. There  the road, which had  been 
veering southwards between the brink of the channel and  a steep fall of the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
they  all stood once more on the  flat shelf at the head of the steep  slope 
where they had felt the first flakes of snow the night before. 
     The morning was now far advanced. From  the high place they looked back


key: chroma:document
string_value:
of the cliff, as if he  would bore a hole  into it  with his eyes. Gimli was 
wandering about, tapping the stone here  and there with his axe. Legolas was 
pressed against the rock, as if listening. 
     'Well, here  we are and all ready,'  said  Merry;  `but  where  are the 
Doors? I can't see any sign of them.' 
     'Dwarf-doors are  not made to be seen when shut,' said Gimli. `They are 
invisible, and their own  masters cannot  find them or  open them,  if their 
secret is forgotten.' 
     'But this Door was not made to be a secret known only to Dwarves,' said 
Gandalf, coming  suddenly to  life and turning  round.  `Unless  things  are 
altogether changed, eyes that know what to look for may discover the signs.' 
     He walked forward  to the wall. Right  between the shadow  of the trees 
there  was a smooth space,  and over this he passed  his  hands to and  fro, 
muttering words under his breath. Then he stepped back. 
     'Look!' he said. `Can you see anything now?'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
fish had disturbed the still surface of  the water. Turning quickly they saw 
ripples, black -edged  with shadow in  the  waning  light: great  rings  were 
widening outwards from  a point far out in the lake.  There  was  a bubbling  
noise, and then silence.  The  dusk  deepened, and  the  last gleams of  the 
sunset were veiled in cloud. 
     Gandalf  now  pressed on  at  a great pace, and the  others followed as 
quickly as they could. They reached the strip of dry  land between  the lake 
and the cliffs: it  was  narrow,  often  hardly  a  dozen yards  across, and 
encumbered  with fallen  rock  and stones; but they found a way, hugging the 
cliff,  and  keeping  as  far  from the  dark water as  they might.  A  mile 
southwards  along  the shore  they  came upon holly trees.  Stumps  and dead 
boughs were rotting  in the shallows, the remains it seemed of old thickets,  
or of a hedge that had once lined the  road  across the drowned valley.  But


key: chroma:document
string_value:
see in the frowning stone. 
     `There  are  the  Walls  of  Moria,' said Gandalf,  pointing across the 
water. `And there the Gate stood once upon a time, the Elven Door at the end 
of the road from Hollin by which we have come. But this way is blocked. None 
of  the Company, I guess, will wish to swim this  gloomy water at the end  of 
the day. It has an unwholesome look.' 
     `We  must find a way round the northern  edge,' said Gimli. `The  first  
thing for the  Company to  do is to climb up  by the main path and see where 
that  will lead us.  Even  if  there were  no  lake,  we could not  get  our 
baggage-pony up this stair.' 
     `But in any  case we cannot take the poor  beast  into the Mines,' said 
Gandalf. `The road under the mountains is a dark road, and there are  places 
narrow and steep which he cannot tread, even if we can.' 
     `Poor old Bill! ' said Frodo. `I had not thought of that. And poor Sam!  
I wonder what he will say?  '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
mountains' sides fell sheer into the shadows at their feet.  In the distance 
could  be dimly seen a line of bare cliffs,  and in their midst, taller than 
the rest, one great grey wall. `When we left the pass I  led you southwards,  
and not  back to  our starting point, as some of you may have noticed. It is


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-know how to enter? ' 
     `The answer to your first question, Boromir,' said the wizard, `is that 
I do not know the word-yet. But we shall  soon see.  And,' he added,  with  a  
glint in his eyes under their bristling brows, 'you may ask what  is the use 
of my deeds when they are proved useless. As for your other question: do you 
doubt  my  tale? Or have you no wits left? I did  not enter this way. I came 
from the East. 
     `If you wish to know, I will tell you that these doors  open  outwards.  
From the inside you may thrust them open with  your  hands. From the outside 
nothing  will move  them  save  the spell of command.  They cannot be forced 
inwards.' 
     `What  are  you going  to do  then? '  asked  Pippin, undaunted  by the 
wizard's bristling brows.  
     `Knock on  the doors with your head, Peregrin Took,' said Gandalf. `But 
if that does not shatter them, and I  am allowed a little peace from foolish 
questions, I will seek for the opening words.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-westwards over the lower lands.  Far away in the tumble of country  that lay 
at the foot of the  mountain  was  the  dell  from which they had started to 
climb the pass.  
     Frodo's legs ached. He was chilled to the bone and hungry; and his head 
was dizzy as he thought of the long and painful march downhill. Black specks 
swam  before his eyes. He rubbed them, but the black specks remained. In the 
distance below him, but still high above the lower foothills, dark dots were 
circling in the air. 
     `The birds again!' said Aragorn, pointing down. 
     'That cannot be helped  now,' said Gandalf.  `Whether they are good  or  
evil,  or have nothing to do with us at  all, we must go  down at  once. Not 
even on the knees of Caradhras will we wait for another night-fall!' 
     A cold  wind flowed down behind them, as they turned their backs on the 
Redhorn Gate,  and stumbled  wearily down the  slope. Caradhras had defeated 
them. 

####-


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-Middle-earth.  Then he  threw  his  staff  on the  ground, and  sat down  in 
silence. 
     At that moment from far off the  wind bore to their listening ears  the 
howling of wolves. Bill the pony started in fear, and Sam sprang to his side 
and whispered softly to him. 
     'Do not let him run away! ' said Boromir. 'It seems that we  shall need 
him still, if the wolves do not  find us. How  I  hate  this foul pool! ' He 
stooped and picking up a large stone he cast it far into the dark water. 
     The stone vanished with a soft slap; but at  the same instant there was 
a swish and a bubble. Great rippling rings formed on the surface  out beyond  
where the stone had fallen, and they moved slowly towards  the  foot  of the 
cliff. 
     'Why did  you do  that, Boromir? ' said Frodo. `I hate this place, too, 
and I am afraid. I don't know of what: not of wolves, or the dark behind the 
doors, but of something else. I am afraid of the pool. Don't disturb it! '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
there  was a smooth space,  and over this he passed  his  hands to and  fro, 
muttering words under his breath. Then he stepped back. 
     'Look!' he said. `Can you see anything now?' 
     The Moon  now shone upon the grey face of the  rock; but they could see 
nothing else for a  while.  Then slowly on the surface, where  the  wizard's 
hands had passed, faint lines appeared, like slender veins of silver running 
in the stone. At first they were no more than pale gossamer -threads, so fine 
that they only twinkled fitfully where the Moon  caught  them,  but steadily 
they grew broader and clearer, until their design could be guessed. 
 
     At the top, as high as Gandalf could reach, was  an arch of interlacing 
letters in an Elvish  character. Below,  though  the threads were in  places 
blurred  or  broken,  the  outline could be seen of an  anvil  and  a hammer


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-surmounted by a crown with seven  stars. Beneath these again were two trees,  
each bearing crescent moons. More clearly than all else there shone forth in 
the middle of the door a single star with many rays.  
     `There are the emblems of Durin!' cried Gimli. 
     `And there is the Tree of the High Elves!' said Legolas.  
     `And the Star of the House of Flanor,' said Gandalf. `They  are wrought 
of  ithildin  that mirrors only starlight  and moonlight, and sleeps until it 
is touched by one who speaks words now long forgotten in Middle-earth. It is 
long since I heard them, and I thought deeply  before I could recall them to 
my mind.' 
     'What does the writing  say?' asked  Frodo, who was trying  to decipher  
the inscription on the arch. 'I thought I knew the elf-letters but  I cannot 
read these.' 
     `The words are in  the elven-tongue of the West of  Middle-earth in the 
Elder Days,' answered Gandalf.  'But they do not say anything  of importance


key: chroma:document
string_value:
boughs were rotting  in the shallows, the remains it seemed of old thickets,  
or of a hedge that had once lined the  road  across the drowned valley.  But 
close under the cliff  there  stood,  still strong and  living,  . two  tall 
trees, larger than any trees of holly that Frodo  had ever seen or imagined.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
if that does not shatter them, and I  am allowed a little peace from foolish 
questions, I will seek for the opening words. 
     `I  once knew every spell in all the tongues  of Elves or  Men  or Orcs 
that was  ever  used for such a purpose. I can still  remember  ten score of 
them  without searching in  my mind. But on ly a few trials, I think, will be 
needed;  and I  shall not  have  to call on  Gimli for  words  of the secret 
dwarf-tongue  that  they  teach to none. The opening words were Elvish, like 
the writing on the arch: that seems certain.' 
     He stepped up to the rock again, and lightly touched with his staff the 
silver star in the middle beneath the sign of the anvil. 
     Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen! 
     Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen! 
     he said  in a commanding voice.  The silver lines faded, but the  blank  
grey stone did not stir. 
     Many times he  repeated these words in different order, or varied them.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-Those were happier times. Now let us go!' 
     He strode  forward  and  set his foot  on the lowest  step. But at that 
moment several things happened. Frodo felt something seize  him by the ankle, 
and he fell with a cry. Bill  the pony gave a wild neigh of fear, and turned 
tail and dashed away along the lakeside into the darkness. Sam leaped  after  
him, and  then hearing Frodo's cry  he ran back again, weeping  and cursing.  
The others swung round and saw the waters of the lake seething, as if a host  
of snakes were swimming up from the southern end. 
     Out  from  the  water  a  long sinuous  tentacle had  crawled;  it  was 
pale-green  and luminous and wet.  Its fingered end had ho ld of Frodo's foot  
and was dragging him into the water. Sam on his knees was now slashing at it 
with a knife. 
     The arm  let go of Frodo, and Sam pulled him away, crying out for help. 
Twenty others arms came rippling out. The dark water boiled, and there was a  
hideous stench.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
and I am afraid. I don't know of what: not of wolves, or the dark behind the 
doors, but of something else. I am afraid of the pool. Don't disturb it! ' 
     'l wish we could get away! ' said Merry. 
     'Why doesn't Gandalf do something quick? ' said Pippin. 
     Gandalf took no notice of them. He sat  with his head bowed,  either in 
despair or in anxious thought. The mournful howling of the wolves was  heard 
again. The ripples  on the water  grew and came  closer;  some were  already  
lapping on the shore. 
     With a suddenness that startled them all the wizard sprang to his feet. 
He was laughing! `I have it! '  he  cried. 'Of  course, of  course! Absurdly 
simple, like most riddles when you see the answer.' 
     Picking up  his  staff he  stood before  the rock and  said  in  a clear 
voice: Mellon! 
     The  star  shone  out briefly  and faded again.  Then silently  a great 
doorway was  outlined, though not a  crack or joint had been visible before.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
narrow and steep which he cannot tread, even if we can.' 
     `Poor old Bill! ' said Frodo. `I had not thought of that. And poor Sam!  
I wonder what he will say?  ' 
     `I am sorry,' said Gandalf. `Poor Bill has  been a useful companion and 
it goes  to  my heart to turn him adrift now. I would have travelled lighter


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-four marches, I expect. It cannot be less than forty miles from West -door to 
East -gate in a direct line, and the road may wind much.' 
     After only a brief rest they started on their way again. All were eager  
to  get the journey over as quickly  as possible, and were willing, tired as 
they  were, to go on  marching  still for  several hours. Gandalf  walked in 
front as before. In his left hand he held up his glimmering staff, the light 
of which just showed the ground before  his feet; in his right he  held  his 
sword Glamdring.  Behind him came Gimli, his eyes glinting in  the dim light 
as he turned his head from side to side. Behind the dwarf  walked Frodo, and 
he had drawn the short sword, Sting. No gleam came from the blades of  Sting 
or of  Glamdring;  and  that was some comfort, for being the work of  Elvish 
smiths in  the Elder  Days these swords shone with a cold light, if any Orcs


key: chroma:document
string_value:
read these.' 
     `The words are in  the elven-tongue of the West of  Middle-earth in the 
Elder Days,' answered Gandalf.  'But they do not say anything  of importance 
to us.  They say only: The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and 
enter.  And  underneath  small and faint  is written:  I, Narvi,  made them. 
Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs.' 
     `What does it mean by speak, friend, and enter?' asked Merry. 
     'That is plain enough,'  said  Gimli. `If  you are a friend,  speak the 
password, and the doors will open, and you can enter.' 
     'Yes,' said Gandalf, 'these doors are probably  governed by words. Some 
dwarf-gates will open only at special times, or for  particular persons; and 
some have locks and keys that  are still needed when all necessary times and  
words are known. These doors have no key. In the days of Durin they were not 
secret. They usually  stood  open  and doorwards sat here. But  if they were


key: chroma:document
string_value:
he said  in a commanding voice.  The silver lines faded, but the  blank  
grey stone did not stir. 
     Many times he  repeated these words in different order, or varied them. 
Then  he tried other spells.  one  after another,  speaking  now faster  and 
louder, now soft and slow. Then he spoke many single words of Elvish speech. 
Nothing happened. The cliff towered into the night, the countless stars were 
kindled, the wind blew cold, and the doors stood fast. 
     Again Gandalf approached the  wall, and lifting up his arms he spoke in 
tones of command and rising wrath. Edro, edro! he cried, and struck the rock 
with  his  staff.  Open,  open! he shouted, and followed  it with  the  same 
command  in  every  language that had  ever  been  spoken  in  the  West  of


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-beautiful, and had stood so long.' 
     `I felt that  something horrible was near from  the moment that my foot 
first  touched the water,'  said Frodo. 'What  was the  thing, or were there 
many of them? ' 
     'I do not know,' answered Gandalf, 'but the arms were all guided by one 
purpose.  Something has  crept, or has  been driven out of dark waters under  
the mountains.  There  are  older and  fouler things  than  Orcs in the deep 
places of  the world.'  He did not speak aloud his thought that whatever  it 
was  that dwelt  in the lake, it had  seized  on Frodo  first among  all the 
Company. 
     Boromir muttered under  his breath, but the echoing stone magnified the 
sound to a  hoarse  whisper  that all could hear: `In the deep places of the 
world!  And thither we are going against my wish.  Who will lead  us  now in 
this deadly dark? ' 
     'I will,' said Gandalf, 'and Gimli shall walk with me. Follow my staff!  
'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
with a knife. 
     The arm  let go of Frodo, and Sam pulled him away, crying out for help. 
Twenty others arms came rippling out. The dark water boiled, and there was a  
hideous stench. 
     `Into  the gateway!  Up  the stairs!  Quick! ' shouted Gandalf  leaping 
back. Rousing them from the horror that seemed to have rooted all but Sam to 
the ground where they stood, he drove them forward. 
     They were  just in time. Sam and  Frodo were  only  a few steps up, and 
Gandalf had just  begun to climb, when the groping tentacles writhed  across 
the  narrow  shore  and  fingered  the cliff-wall  and  the  doors. One came 
wriggling over  the  threshold, glistening in  the starlight. Gandalf turned 
and paused. If he  was considering what word would close the gate again from 
within, there  was no  need. Many  coiling  arms seized the  doors on either  
side, and with horrible strength, swung them round.  With a shattering  echo


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-there is any path to find. He has  led us in here  against our fears, but he 
will lead us out again, at whatever cost to himself. He is  surer of finding 
the way home in a blind night than the cats of Queen Ber®thiel.' 
     It was well for  the Company that  they  had such  a guide. They had no 
fuel nor any means of making torches; in the desperate scramble at the doors 
many things had been left behind. But without any light they would soon have 
come  to grief. There  were not only  many roads  to choose from, there were 
also  in many places holes and pitfalls, and dark wells beside  the  path in 
which their passing feet echoed. There were fissures and chasms in the walls 
and floor, and  every  now  and  then  a crack would open right before their 
feet.  The widest was more than seven  feet across, and it  was long  before 
Pippin could summon enough courage to leap over the dreadful gap.  The noise


key: chroma:document
string_value:
voice: Mellon! 
     The  star  shone  out briefly  and faded again.  Then silently  a great 
doorway was  outlined, though not a  crack or joint had been visible before. 
Slowly it divided in the middle and swung outwards inch  by inch, until both  
doors lay back against the wall.  Through the opening a shadowy stair  could  
be seen climbing steeply up; but  beyond the  lower  steps the darkness  was 
deeper than the night. The Company stared in wonder. 
     `I was wrong after all,' said  Gandalf, 'and Gimli  too. Merry, of  all 
people, was on  the  right track.  The  opening word  was  inscribed on  the 
archway  all the time!  The translation  should have been:  Say "Friend" and 
enter. I had only to speak the Elvish word for friend and the  doors opened. 
Quite simple. Too simple for a learned lore-master in these suspicious days.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
or of  Glamdring;  and  that was some comfort, for being the work of  Elvish 
smiths in  the Elder  Days these swords shone with a cold light, if any Orcs 
were near  at hand. Behind Frodo went Sam, and after  him  Legolas,  and the 
young hobbits, and Boromir. In the dark at the rear, grim and silent, walked 
Aragorn. 
     The passage  twisted  round a few  turns, and then began to descend. It 
went steadily down for  a long while before it became level once again.  The  
air grew  hot and  stifling, but  it was  not  foul, and at times they  felt 
currents of cooler air upon  their faces, issuing from half-guessed openings 
in the walls.  There  were  many of  these. In the  pale ray of the wizard's 
staff, Frodo caught glimpses of stairs and arches and of  other passages and 
tunnels, sloping  up,  or  running steeply down, or opening  blankly dark on 
either side. It was bewildering beyond hope of remembering.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
words are known. These doors have no key. In the days of Durin they were not 
secret. They usually  stood  open  and doorwards sat here. But  if they were 
shut, any who  knew the opening word could speak it and pass in. At lea st so 
it is recorded, is it not, Gimli? ' 
     'It is,' said the dwarf. `But what the  word  was  is  not  remembered. 
Narvi and his craft and all his kindred have vanished from the earth.' 
     'But do not you know the word, Gandalf? ' asked Boromir in surprise. 
     `No! ' said the wizard. 
     The others looked  dismayed;  only  Aragorn,  who  knew  Gandalf  well, 
remained silent and unmoved. 
     'Then  what was  the use of bringing us to this  accursed spot?'  cried 
Boromir, glancing back with a shudder at  the dark water. `You  told us that 
you had  once passed  through the  Mines. How  could that be, if you did not


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-Their  great  roots spread  from the  wall to the  water. Under the   looming 
cliffs  they had looked like mere bushes, when seen  far off from the top of 
the Stair; but now they  towered overhead, stiff, dark, and silent, throwing 
deep night-shadows about their feet,  standing  like sentinel pillars at the 
end of the road. 
     `Well, here  we are at last!  ' said  Gandalf. 'Here the Elven-way from 
Hollin ended. Holly  was  the  token  of the  people of that land, and  they 
planted it here to mark the end of their  domain; for the West -door was made 
chiefly for their  use in their traffic with the Lords of Moria. Those  were 
happier days, when there was still close friendship at times between folk of 
different race, even between Dwarves and Elves.' 
     'It was not  the fault of the Dwarves that the friendship  waned,' said 
Gimli. 
     'I have not heard that it was the fault of the Elves,' said Legolas.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
world!  And thither we are going against my wish.  Who will lead  us  now in 
this deadly dark? ' 
     'I will,' said Gandalf, 'and Gimli shall walk with me. Follow my staff!  
' 
     As  the wizard passed  on ahead up  the great steps, he held  his staff 
aloft, and from its tip there came  a faint radiance. The wide  stairway was 
sound and undamaged. Two hundred steps they counted, broad and shallow;  
and 
at the top they found  an arched  passage with  a level floor leading on into 
the dark. 
     `Let us  sit and rest and  have  something to eat, here on the landing, 
since  we can't find a dining-room! ' said  Frodo. He had begun to shake off 
the terror of the clutching arm, and suddenly he felt extremely hungry. 
     The proposal was welcomed by all; and they sat down on the upper steps,  
dim figures  in the gloom. After they had eaten,  Gandalf gave  them each  a  
third sip of the miruvor of Rivendell.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
feet.  The widest was more than seven  feet across, and it  was long  before 
Pippin could summon enough courage to leap over the dreadful gap.  The noise 
of churning water came  up from  far below, as if  some great mill-wheel was 
turning in the depths.  
     `Rope! ' muttered Sam. `I knew I'd want it, if I hadn't got it! ' 
     As  these  dangers  became  more frequent  their  march became  slower.  
Already  they  seemed  to  have  been  tramping  on, on,  endlessly  to  the 
mountains' roots. They were more than weary, and yet there seemed no comfort 
in  the thought of halting anywhere. Frodo's  spirits had risen  for a while 
after his escape, and  after food and a draught  of the  cordial; but  now a  
deep uneasiness, growing to  dread, crept over him again. Though he had been 
healed  in  Rivendell  of the  knife-stroke,  that grim  wound had  not been 
without effect. His senses were sharper and more aware  of things that could


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-enough, or near  enough, for him to  feel certain that he heard it; but once 
it had started it never stopped, while  the Company was moving. But  it  was 
not an echo, for when they halted it pattered on for a little all by itself,  
and then grew still. 
     It was after nightfall when they had  entered the  Mines. They had been 
going for several hours with only  brief  halts,  when Gandalf came  to  his 
first serious check.  Before  him stood a wide dark arch  opening into three 
passages: all  led  in  the  same  general  direction,  eastwards;  but  the 
left -hand  passage plunged  down, while the right-hand climbed up,  and  the  
middle way seemed to run on, smooth and level but very narrow. 
     'I  have no  memory of this  place  at all! '  said  Gandalf,  standing 
uncertainly under the arch. He held up his staff in the hope of finding some 
marks or inscription that might help his choice; but nothing of the kind was


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-care in the dark.' 
     Pippin  felt  curiously attracted by  the  well. While the  others were 
unrolling  blankets and making beds against the walls of the chamber, as far  
as  possible from the hole in  the floor, he crept  to the  edge  and peered 
over. A chill air seemed to  strike his face,  rising from invisible depths. 
Moved by  a sudden impulse he groped for a loose  stone, and let it drop. He 
felt  his heart beat many times before there was any sound. Then  far below,  
as if  the stone had fallen into deep water in  some cavernous place,  there 
came a plunk, very distant, but magnified and repeated in the hollow shaft. 
     `What's that? ' cried Gandalf.  He was relieved  when  Pippin confessed 
what he had done; but he was angry, and Pippin could see  his  eye glinting.  
'Fool  of a Took!  '  he growled. 'This  is a serious journey,  not a hobbit 
walking-party. Throw yourself in next time, and  then you will be no further  
nuisance. Now be quiet! '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
tunnels, sloping  up,  or  running steeply down, or opening  blankly dark on 
either side. It was bewildering beyond hope of remembering. 
     Gimli aided Gandalf very little, except by h is stout  courage. At least  
he  was not,  as  were most of the  others, troubled by the mere darkness in 
itself. Often the wizard consulted him at points where the choice of way was 
doubtful; but it was  always  Gandalf who had the final word. The  Mines  of 
Moria were vast and intricate beyond the imagination  of Gimli, Gluin's son,  
dwarf of the mountain-race though he was. To Gandalf the far -off memories of 
a  journey long  before were now of little help, but  even  in the gloom and 
despite all windings of the road he knew whither he wished to go, and he did 
not falter, as long as there was a path that led towards his goal. 
     `Do not be afraid! ' said Aragorn. There was a pause longer than usual, 
and Gandalf and Gimli were  whispering  together; the  others  were  crowded


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-'You want to sleep, I expect. I cannot get a wink, so  I may  as well do the 
watching.' 
     'I know what is the matter with me,' he muttered, as he sat down by the 
door.  'I  need  smoke!  I have not tasted  it since the morning  before the 
snowstorm.' 
     The  last thing that Pippin saw, as sleep took  him, was a dark glimpse 
of  the  old  wizard huddled on  the floor,  shielding a glowing chip in his 
gnarled hands  between his knees.  The flicker for  a moment showed his sharp 
nose. and the puff of smoke. 
     It was  Gandalf who roused them all from sleep. He  had sat and watched 
all alone for  about six hours, and had let  the others  rest.  `And  in the 
watches I have  made up my mind,' he  said. `I  do  not  like the feel of the 
middle way; and  I do not like the smell of the left-hand way: there is foul 
air down there, or I am no guide. I shall take the right -hand passage. It is 
time we began to climb up again.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
within, there  was no  need. Many  coiling  arms seized the  doors on either  
side, and with horrible strength, swung them round.  With a shattering  echo 
they slammed,  and all  light was lost. A noise of rending and crashing came 
dully through the ponderous stone. 
     Sam,  clinging  to  Frodo's arm, collapsed  on  a  step  in  the  black  
darkness.  `Poor old  Bill!  ' he said in a choking  voice. `Poor   old Bill! 
Wolves  and snakes! But the snakes were too much for him.  I  had to choose, 
Mr. Frodo. I had to come with you.' 
     They heard Gandalf go back down  the steps and thrust his staff against 
the doors. There was a quiver in the stone and the stairs trembled, .but the 
doors did  not open. `Well, well! ' said the wizard. `The passage is blocked 
behind  us now  and there is only one  way  out--on  the other  side  of the 
mountains. I fear from the sounds that  boulders have been piled up, and the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
The proposal was welcomed by all; and they sat down on the upper steps,  
dim figures  in the gloom. After they had eaten,  Gandalf gave  them each  a  
third sip of the miruvor of Rivendell. 
     `It will not last much longer, I am  afraid,' he said; 'but I  think we 
need it after that horror at  the gate. And unless we have  great  luck,  we 
shall need all that is left before we see the other side! Go  carefully with 
the water, too!  There are  many streams  and wells in  the Mines,  but they 
should not be touched. We  may  not  have a chance of filling  our skins and 
bottles till we come down into Dimrill Dale.' 
     'How long is that going to take us? ' asked Frodo. 
     'I  cannot  say,'  answered Gandalf.  'It depends  on many chances. But 
going straight,  without mishap  or  losing our  way, we shall take three or


key: chroma:document
string_value:
uncertainly under the arch. He held up his staff in the hope of finding some 
marks or inscription that might help his choice; but nothing of the kind was 
to be seen. `I am too  weary to decide,'  he said, shaking his head. `And  I 
expect  that you are all as weary  as I  am, or wearier.  We had better halt 
here for what is left of the night. You know what I mean! In here it is ever  
dark; but outside the late Moon is riding westward and  the middle-night has 
passed.' 
     `Poor old Bill! ' said Sam. 'I wonder where he is. I hope  those wolves 
haven't got him yet.' 
     To the  left of  the great arch  they  found a stone door:  it was half 
closed, but swung back easily to a gentle thrust. Beyond there seemed to lie 
a wide chamber cut in the rock. 
     `Steady! Steady!  ' cried  Gandalf as Merry and  Pippin pushed forward, 
glad to find a place where  they could  rest  with  at least more feeling of


key: chroma:document
string_value:
healed  in  Rivendell  of the  knife-stroke,  that grim  wound had  not been 
without effect. His senses were sharper and more aware  of things that could 
not be seen. One sign of change that he soon had noticed  was that he  could 
see more in the  dark  than any of his companions, save perhaps Gandalf. And 
he was  in any case  the bearer of the Ring: it hung upon its chain  against 
his breast, and at whiles it seemed a heavy weight. He felt the certainty of 
evil ahead and of evil following; but he said nothing. He gripped tighter on 
the hilt of his sword and went on doggedly. 
     The Company behind him spoke seldom, and then only in hurried whispers.  
There  was  no  sound  but  the  sound of  their own feet; the dull stump of 
Gimli's dwarf-boots; the heavy tread of Boromir; the  light step of Legolas; 
the soft, scarce-heard patter of hobbit-feet; and in the rear  the slow firm 
footfalls of  Aragorn with his  long stride.  When they halted  for a moment


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'It was not  the fault of the Dwarves that the friendship  waned,' said 
Gimli. 
     'I have not heard that it was the fault of the Elves,' said Legolas. 
     'I have heard both,' said Gandalf; 'and I will not give judgement  now. 
But I beg you two, Legolas  and Gimli, at least  to  be friends, and to help 
me. I need you  both.  The  doors are shut and hidden, and the sooner we find  
them the better. Night is at hand! ' 
     Turning to  the others he said:  'While I  am  searching, will you each 
make ready to enter the  Mines? For here I fear we  must say farewell to our  
good  bea st of burden. You must lay aside much  of the stuff that we brought 
against  bitter weather:  you will  not need it inside, nor, I hope, when we 
come through  and journey on down  into the South.  Instead each of us  must  
take  a  share  of  what  the pony   carried,  especially  the food  and  the 
water -skins.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'Fool  of a Took!  '  he growled. 'This  is a serious journey,  not a hobbit 
walking-party. Throw yourself in next time, and  then you will be no further  
nuisance. Now be quiet! ' 
     Nothing more was heard for several  minutes; but then there came out of 
the depths faint knocks: tom-tap, tap-tom. They stopped, and when the echoes 
had  died away, they  were repeated:  tap-tom,  tom-tap, tap-tap, tom.  They  
sounded  disquietingly  like signals of  some  sort;  but after a  while the 
knocking died away and was not heard again. 
     'That  was  the  sound of a  hammer, or I have never heard  one,'  said 
Gimli. 
     `Yes,' said  Gandalf, 'and I do not like it. It may  have nothing to do 
with Peregrin's  foolish  stone; but  probably something  has been disturbed 
that would have been better left quiet.  Pray, do nothing of the kind again!  
Let us hope we shall get some rest without further trouble. You, Pippin, can


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-are  coming to the habitable parts, and I guess that we are not far now from 
the eastern side. But we are  high up, a good deal higher than  the  Dimrill 
Gate, unless I am mistaken. From the feeling of the air we must be in a wide 
hall. I will now risk a little real light.' 
     He  raised his staff,  and for a  brief instant there was blaze  like a  
flash  of lightning. Great shadows sprang up and fled, and for a second they  
saw a vast roof  far above their heads upheld by many mighty pillars hewn of 
stone. Before them and on either side stretched a huge empty hall; its black  
walls, polished  and smooth  as  glass, flashed and glittered.  Three  other  
entrances  they saw, dark black  arches: one straight before them eastwards,  
and one on either side. Then the light went out. 
     `That  is all that I shall venture on for the  present,' said  Gandalf. 
'There used to be great windows on the mountain-side, and shafts leading out


key: chroma:document
string_value:
come through  and journey on down  into the South.  Instead each of us  must  
take  a  share  of  what  the pony   carried,  especially  the food  and  the 
water -skins.' 
     'But you can't  leave poor old Bill behind in this forsaken  place, Mr. 
Gandalf! ' cried Sam,  angry and  distressed.  `I won't have  it, and that's 
flat. After he has come so far and all! ' 
     'I am sorry, Sam,'  said the wizard. `But when the  Door opens I do not 
think  you will  be able  to  drag your Bill  inside, into  the long dark of 
Moria. You will have to choose between Bill and your master.' 
     'He'd  follow Mr. Frodo into  a dragon's  den, if I led him,' protested 
Sam.  `It'd  be nothing short  of murder  to turn  him loose with  all these 
wolves about.' 
     'It will be short of murder, I hope,' said Gandalf. He laid his hand on 
the pony's head, and spoke  in  a  low voice. `Go with  words  of  guard and 
guiding on you,' he said. `You are a wise  beast, and  have  learned much in


key: chroma:document
string_value:
the soft, scarce-heard patter of hobbit-feet; and in the rear  the slow firm 
footfalls of  Aragorn with his  long stride.  When they halted  for a moment 
they  heard nothing  at all, unless it were occasionally a faint trickle and 
drip of unseen water. Yet Frodo began to hear, or to imagine  that he heard, 
something else:  like the faint  fall of soft bare feet. It  was  never loud


key: chroma:document
string_value:
a wide chamber cut in the rock. 
     `Steady! Steady!  ' cried  Gandalf as Merry and  Pippin pushed forward, 
glad to find a place where  they could  rest  with  at least more feeling of 
shelter than  in  the open passage. `Steady! You do  not know what is inside  
yet. I will go first.' 
     He went in cautiously, and the others filed behind. `There! '  he said, 
pointing with his staff to the middle of the floor. Before his feet they saw 
a large round hole like the  mouth of a well. Broken and rusty chains lay at 
the edge and trailed down into the black pit. Fragments of stone lay near. 
     'One of you might have fallen in and  still be wondering  when you were 
going to strike the bottom,' said Aragorn to Merry. 'Let  the guide go first  
while you have one.' 
     'This seems  to  have been a guardroom, made for  the  watching  of the 
three passages,'  said Gimli. `That hole was plainly a  well for the guards'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`That  is all that I shall venture on for the  present,' said  Gandalf. 
'There used to be great windows on the mountain-side, and shafts leading out 
to the light in the upper reaches of the Mines. I think we have reached  them 
now, but it is  night outside again, and we  cannot tell until morning. If I 
am right, tomorrow we may  actually see  the morning peeping  in. But in the 
meanwhile we had better go  no further. Let  us rest, if we can. Things have 
gone well  so far, and the greater part of the dark road is over. But we are 
not through yet, and it is a long way down to the  Gates  that open  on  the 
world.' 
     The Company spent that night in the great cavernous hall, huddled close 
together  in a corner  to escape  the draught:  there seemed  to be a steady 
inflow of chill air through the eastern archway. All about them as  they lay 
hung the darkness,  hollow and  immense,  and  they  were  oppressed by  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
that would have been better left quiet.  Pray, do nothing of the kind again!  
Let us hope we shall get some rest without further trouble. You, Pippin, can 
go on the first watch, as a  reward,' he growled, as he  rolled himself in a  
blanket.  
     Pippin  sat  miserably  by  the door in  the pitch dark; but he kept on 
turning  round, fearing  that some unknown thing would  crawl  up out of the 
well.  He  wished he could cover  the  hole,  if only with a blanket, but he 
dared not move or go near it, even though Gandalf seemed to be asleep. 
     Actually Gandalf was awake, though  lying still and silent. He was deep 
in  thought,  trying  to recall  every memory of  his former journey in  the 
Mines,  and considering  anxiously  the next  course  that he should take; a  
false turn now might be disastrous.  After an hour  he rose up and came over  
to Pippin. 
     `Get into a corner  and have a sleep, my lad,' he said in a kindly tone.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`Do not be afraid! ' said Aragorn. There was a pause longer than usual, 
and Gandalf and Gimli were  whispering  together; the  others  were  crowded 
behind, waiting anxiously. `Do not be afraid! I have been with him on many a  
journey,  if  never on  one so dark; and  there  are tales  of  Rivendell of 
greater  deeds  of his than any that I have seen. He  will  not go astray-if


key: chroma:document
string_value:
behind  us now  and there is only one  way  out--on  the other  side  of the 
mountains. I fear from the sounds that  boulders have been piled up, and the 
trees  uprooted and thrown across the gate. I  am sorry; for the trees  were


key: chroma:document
string_value:
middle way; and  I do not like the smell of the left-hand way: there is foul 
air down there, or I am no guide. I shall take the right -hand passage. It is 
time we began to climb up again.' 
     For eight dark hours, not counting two brief  halts,  they marched  on;  
and they met no  danger, and heard nothing, and  saw nothing  but the  faint 
gleam  of  the wizard's  light, bobbing like  a will-o'-the-wisp in front of 
them. The passage  they  had  chosen wound steadily upwards. As  far as they 
could judge it went in great mounting curves, and as it rose it grew loftier  
and wider.  There  were  now no openings  to  other galleries or  tunnels on 
either side, and the floor  was level  and sound,  without  pits or  cracks. 
Evidently  they had struck  what once had  been an important road; and  they 
went forward quicker than they had done on their first march. 
     In this way they advanced some fifteen miles, measured in a direct line


key: chroma:document
string_value:
while you have one.' 
     'This seems  to  have been a guardroom, made for  the  watching  of the 
three passages,'  said Gimli. `That hole was plainly a  well for the guards' 
use, covered with a stone lid. But the  lid is broken, and we  must all take


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-distantly. 
     Frodo sat up. `Good morning!  ' said  Gandalf: `For morning it is again 
at last. I was right,  you see.  We  are high up on the east  side of Moria. 
Before today is over we ought to find the Great  Gates and see the waters of 
Mirrormere lying in the Dimrill Dale before us.' 
     'I shall be glad,' said Gimli. `I have looked on  Moria, and it is very 
great, but it has become dark and dreadful; and we have found no  sign  of my 
kindred. I doubt now that Balin ever came here.' 
     After they had breakfasted Gandalf decided to go on again at  once. `We 
are tired, but we shall rest better  when we are outside,' he said. `I think  
that none of us will wish to spend another night in Moria.' 
     `No indeed! '  said Boromir. `Which way shall we take?  Yonder eastward 
arch?  ' 
     'Maybe,' said  Gandalf. `But  I du not know yet exactly  where  we are. 
Unless I am quite astray, I guess that  we are above and to the north of the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
went forward quicker than they had done on their first march. 
     In this way they advanced some fifteen miles, measured in a direct line 
east, though  they must have actually walked twenty miles  or  more. As  the 
road climbed  upwards`  Frodo's spirits rose  a little;  but he  still  felt 
oppressed, and still at times he heard, or thought he heard, away behind the 
Company and beyond the fall and patter of  their feet, a following  footstep 
that was not an echo. 
     They had marched as far as the hobbits could endure without a rest, and 
all were thinking of a place where they could sleep, when suddenly the walls 
to  right and left vanished. They seemed to have passed through some  arched 
doorway into a black and empty space. There  was  a great draught of  warmer  
air behind them, and before  them the darkness was cold on their faces. They 
halted and crowded anxiously together. 
     Gandalf seemed pleased. `I chose the right way,'  he said.  `At  last we


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet 
harder  than tempered steel. Its beauty  was like to  that of common silver, 
but  the  beauty  of mithril  did not tarnish  or grow dim.  The Elves dearly 
loved it, and among many uses they  made of it ithildin , starmoon, which you 
saw  upon  the doors. Bilbo had a  corslet of mithril-rings that Thorin gave 
him. I wonder what has become of it? Gathering dust  still in Michel Delving 
Mathom-house, I suppose.' 
     `What?  ' cried  Gimli,  startled  out of  his  silence. `A  corslet of 
Moria -silver? That was a kingly gift! ' 
     'Yes,' said  Gandalf. `I never told him, but its worth was greater than 
the value of the whole Shire and everything in it.' 
     Frodo said nothing, but he put his hand under his tunic and touched the 
rings of his mail-shirt. He felt staggered to think that he had been walking 
about with the price of the Shire under his jacket. Had Bilbo known? He felt


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-stand.' 
     `Well, I can read no more for a long way,'  said  Gandalf, 'except  the 
word  gold , and Durin's Axe and something  helm. Then  Balin is now  lord of 
Moria . That seems to  end a  chapter. After some  stars another hand begins,  
and I can see we found  truesilver,  and  later the  word wellforged and then  
something, I have it! mithril; and  the last two  lines Uin to  seek for the 
upper  armouries of  Third  Deep,  something go westwards, a blur, to Hollin 
gate .' 
     Gandalf paused and set a few leaves  aside. 'There are several pages of 
the same sort, rather hastily  written and much damaged, he said; `but I can 
make little of  them in  this light.  Now  there must  be a number of leaves 
missing, because they  begin  to  be numbered  five,  the fifth year  of the 
colony,  I suppose. Let  me see! No, they  are too cut and stained; I cannot 
read them. We might do  better  in the sunlight.  Wait! Here is something: a


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     No stain yet on the Moon was seen, 
     No words were laid on stream or stone 
     When Durin woke and walked alone. 
     He named the nameless hills and dells; 
     He drank from yet untasted wells; 
     He stooped and looked in Mirrormere, 
     And saw a crown of stars appear, 
     As gems upon a silver thread, 
     Above the shadow of his head. 
 
     The world was fair, the mountains tall, 
     In Elder Days before the fall 
     Of mighty kings in Nargothrond 
     And Gondolin, who now beyond 
     The Western Seas have passed away: 
     The world was fair in Durin's Day. 
 
     A king he was on carven throne 
     In many-pillared halls of stone 
     With golden roof and silver floor, 
     And runes of power upon the door. 
     The light of sun and star and moon  
     In shining lamps of crystal hewn  
     Undimmed by cloud or shade of night 
     There shone for ever fair and bright. 
 
     There hammer on the anvil smote,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
inflow of chill air through the eastern archway. All about them as  they lay 
hung the darkness,  hollow and  immense,  and  they  were  oppressed by  the 
loneliness and vastness of  the dolven halls and endlessly branching  stairs 
and passages. The wildest imaginings  that dark rumour had ever suggested to 
the hobbits fell altogether short of the actual dread and wonder of Moria. 
     `There must have been a mighty crowd of dwarves here at one time ' said 
Sam; `and every one  of them busier  than badgers for five  hundred years to 
make all this, and most in hard rock too! What did they do it all for?  They 
didn't live in these darksome holes surely? ' 
     `These are not holes,' said Gimli. `This is the great realm and city of 
the Dwarrowdelf. And  of  old  it was  not  darksome, but  full of light and 
splendour, as is still remembered in our songs.' 
     He rose  and standing in the dark he  began to  chant in a  deep voice, 
while the echoes ran away into the roof.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-thought. 
     A sudden dread and a horror  of  the chamber fell on  the  Company. `We  
cannot get out,' muttered Gimli. 'It was  well for us that the pool had sunk  
a little, and that the Watcher was sleeping down at the southern end.' 
     Gandalf raised  his  head and  looked  round. `They seem to have made a  
last  stand by both doors,'  he  said; 'but there were not many left by that 
time. So ended the  attempt to retake Moria! It was valiant but foolish. The 
time is not come yet. Now,  I fear, we must say  farewell  to  Balin  son of 
Fundin.  Here  he must  lie in the halls of his  fathers.  We will take this 
book,  the Book  of Mazarbul, and look at  it  more  closely  later. You had 
better keep it, Gimli, and take it  back  to Dbin, if  you get a chance.  It 
will interest him, though it will grieve  him deeply. Come, let  us  go! The 
morning is passing.' 
     'Which way shall we go? ' asked Boromir.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
arch?  ' 
     'Maybe,' said  Gandalf. `But  I du not know yet exactly  where  we are. 
Unless I am quite astray, I guess that  we are above and to the north of the 
Great Gates; and it may not be easy to find the right road down to them. The 
eastern arch will probably prove to be the way that we must take; but before 
we make up our minds we ought to look about us. Let us go towards that light 
in the north door. If we cou ld find a window it would help,  but I fear that 
the light comes only down deep shafts.' 
     Following  his  lead the Company  passed under the  northern arch. They 
found themselves in a wide corridor. As they went along it the  glimmer grew 
stronger, and they saw that it came through a doorway on their right. It was 
high and flat-topped, and the stone door was still upon its hinges, standing 
half open.  Beyond it was a large square  chamber. It was  dimly lit, but to 
their eyes, after so long  a time in the dark, it seemed dazzlingly  bright,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
colony,  I suppose. Let  me see! No, they  are too cut and stained; I cannot 
read them. We might do  better  in the sunlight.  Wait! Here is something: a  
large bold hand using an Elvish script.' 
     'That would be Ori's hand,' said Gimli, looking  over the wizard's arm. 
`He could write well and speedily, and often used the Elvish characters.' 
     `I  fear  he had  ill tidings to record in a  fair hand,' said Gandalf.  
'The first clear word is sorrow, but the rest of the line is lost, unless it 
ends in estre. Yes, it  must  be  yestre followed by day being  the tenth of 
novembre Balin lord of Moria fell in Dimrill Dale. He went alone  to look in  
Mirror mere.  an orc shot him from behind a stone. we slew the orc, hut many 
more  ... up  from  east up  the Silverlode. The remainder of the page is so 
blurred that I can hardly make anything out, but I think  I can read we have 
barred the gates, and then can  hold them long if , and then perhaps horrible


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     Another  harsh  horn-call and shrill cries  rang out.  Feet were coming 
down the corridor.  There was a  ring and clatter  as the Company drew their 
swords. Glamdring shone  with a  pale light, and Sting glinted at the edges.  
Boromir set his shoulder against the western door. 
     `Wait a  moment! Do not close it yet! ' said Gandalf. He sprang forward 
to Boromir 's side and drew himself up to his full height. 
     'Who  comes hither  to disturb the rest of  Balin Lord of Moria?  '  he 
cried in a loud voice. 
     There was a  rush of  hoarse laughter, like the fall  of sliding stones 
into a pit; amid the clamour a deep voice was raised in command. Doom, 
boom, 
doom went the drums in the deep. 
     With a quick movement Gandalf stepped before  the narrow opening of the 
door and thrust forward his staff:  There was a dazzling flash that  lit the 
chamber  and the  passage  outside. For an instant  the wizard  looked  out.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
rings of his mail-shirt. He felt staggered to think that he had been walking 
about with the price of the Shire under his jacket. Had Bilbo known? He felt 
no doubt that Bilbo knew quite  well.  It was indeed a kingly gift. But  now 
his thoughts  had been carried away  from the dark  Mines, to  Rivendell, to 
Bilbo,  and to Bag  End in  the days while Bilbo was  still there. He wished 
with  all his  heart  that he was back  there, and in those days, mowing the  
lawn, or pottering among the flowers, and that he had never heard  of Moria, 
or mithril --  or the Ring. 
     A deep silence fell.  One by one the others  fell  asleep. Frodo was on 
guard. As if it were a breath that came in through unseen doors  out of deep 
places,  dread  came  over him. His hands were cold  and his  brow  damp. He 
listened. All his mind was given to listening and  nothing else for two slow 
hours; but he heard no sound, not even the imagined echo of a footfall.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
splendour, as is still remembered in our songs.' 
     He rose  and standing in the dark he  began to  chant in a  deep voice, 
while the echoes ran away into the roof.  
     The world was young, the mountains green,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
In shining lamps of crystal hewn  
     Undimmed by cloud or shade of night 
     There shone for ever fair and bright. 
 
     There hammer on the anvil smote, 
     There chisel clove, and graver wrote; 
     There forged was blade, and bound was hilt; 
     The delver mined, the mason built. 
     There beryl, pearl, and opal pale, 
     And metal wrought like fishes' mail, 
     Buckler and corslet, axe and sword, 
     And shining spears were laid in hoard. 
 
     Unwearied then were Durin's folk  
     Beneath the mountains music woke:


key: chroma:document
string_value:
The Company  of the Ring stood silent beside the  tomb of  Balin. Frodo 
thought  of  Bilbo  and his long friendship with the  dwarf,  and of Balin's 
visit to the  Shire long  ago. In  that dusty  chamber  in the mountains  it 
seemed a thousand years ago and on the other side of the world. 
     At length they stirred and looked up, and began  to search for anything 
that would give them tidings of Balin's fate, or show what had become of his 
folk. There was another smaller door on the other side of the chamber, under  
the shaft.  By both the doors they could now see that many bones were lying, 
and among  them  were  broken swords and axe-heads,  and cloven  shields and 
helms. Some of the swords were crooked: orc-scimitars with blackened blades.  
     There were many recesses cut in the rock of the walls, and in them were 
large iron-bound chests  of  wood. All had  been  broken and plundered;  but


key: chroma:document
string_value:
will interest him, though it will grieve  him deeply. Come, let  us  go! The 
morning is passing.' 
     'Which way shall we go? ' asked Boromir. 
     'Back to the hall,' answered  Gandalf. 'But  our visit to this room has 
not been  in vain. I now know where we are. This must be, as Gimli says, the 
Chamber of Mazarbul; and the hall must be the twenty-first of the North-end. 
Therefore we  should leave by  the  eastern arch of the hall, and bear right 
and south, and go downwards. The Twenty-first  Hall should be on the Seventh 
Level, that is six above the level of the Gates. Come now! Back to the hall! 
' 
     Gandalf had hardly spoken these words, when there came a great noise: a  
rolling  Boom that seemed  to come  from depths far below, and to tremble in 
the stone at their feet. They sprang towards  the door  in alarm. Doom, doom 
it rolled  again, as  if huge  hands were turning the very caverns  of Moria


key: chroma:document
string_value:
half open.  Beyond it was a large square  chamber. It was  dimly lit, but to 
their eyes, after so long  a time in the dark, it seemed dazzlingly  bright, 
and they blinked as they entered. 
     Their  feet  disturbed  a deep dust upon the floor,  and stumbled among 
things  lying in the doorway whose shapes they could not at first  make out. 
The chamber was lit  by a  wi de shaft high in the  further  eastern wall; it 
slanted  upwards and, far  above,  a small square patch of blue sky could be 
seen. The light of the  shaft fell directly  on a table in the middle of the 
room:  a single  oblong block, about two  feet high,  upon  which was laid a  
great slab of white stone. 
     `It  looks  like  a tomb,' muttered  Frodo,  and  bent forwards with  a  
curious  sense  of foreboding,  to  look more  closely  at it.  Gandalf came 
quickly to his side. On the slab runes were deeply graven:


key: chroma:document
string_value:
listened. All his mind was given to listening and  nothing else for two slow 
hours; but he heard no sound, not even the imagined echo of a footfall. 
     His  watch  was nearly over, when, far  off  where he guessed  that the 
western  archway stood,  he  fancied  that he could  see two pale points  of 
light, almost  like  luminous eyes. He started. His head had nodded. `I must  
have  nearly fallen asleep on guard,' he thought. `I  was on  the edge  of a 
dream.' He stood up and rubbed his eyes, and remained standing, peering into 
the dark, until he was relieved by Legolas. 
     When he lay down  he quickly went to  sleep, but  it seemed to him that 
the  dream went on: he  heard whispers, and saw the two pale points of light  
approaching, slowly. He woke and  found that the others were speaking softly 
near him, and that a  dim light  was falling on his face. High  up above the 
eastern  archway through a shaft near  the roof came  a long pale gleam; and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
blurred that I can hardly make anything out, but I think  I can read we have 
barred the gates, and then can  hold them long if , and then perhaps horrible  
and  suffer. Poor Balin! He seems to have kept  the  title that he  took for  
less than five years. I wonder  what happened afterwards;  but there  is  no 
time to  puzzle  out the last few pages. Here  is the last page of  all.' He 
paused and sighed. 
     `It  is grim reading,' he said. 'I fear their end was cruel. Listen! We 
cannot get  out.  We cannot get out. They have  taken the  Bridge and second 
hall. Frbr and Luni and  Nbli fell there. Then there are four lines  smeared 
so  that I can only read went 5 days  ago. The last lines run the pool is up 
to  the wall  at Westgate. The Wa tcher in  the Water took Uin. We cannot get 
out. The  end comes, and then  drums, drums in the deep. I wonder what  that 
means. The last thing written is in a  trailing  scrawl of elf-letters: they


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     The harpers harped, the minstrels sang, 
     And at the gates the trumpets rang. 
 
     The world is grey, the mountains old, 
     The forge's fire is ashen-cold  
     No harp is wrung, no hammer falls: 
     The darkness dwells in Durin's halls 
     The shadow lies upon his tomb 
     In Moria, in Khazad-dym. 
     But still the sunken stars appear 
     In dark and windless Mirrormere; 
     There lies his crown in water deep, 
     Till Durin wakes again from sleep. 
     `I like  that! ' said Sam. `I  should  like  to learn it. In Moria,  in  
Khazad-dym!  But it makes the darkness seem heavier, thinking  of all  those  
lamps. Are there piles of jewels and gold lying about here st ill?  ' 
     Gimli was silent. Having sung his song he would say no more. 
     `Piles  of jewels? ' said  Gandalf. `No. The Orcs have often  plundered 
Moria; there is nothing left in the upper halls. And since the dwarves fled,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
door and thrust forward his staff:  There was a dazzling flash that  lit the 
chamber  and the  passage  outside. For an instant  the wizard  looked  out. 
Arrows whined and whistled down the corridor as he sprang back. 
     'There are  Orcs, very many of them,' he said. `And some are  large and 
evil: black Uruks of Mordor. For the moment they are hanging back, but there 
is something else there. A great  cave-troll,  I  think,  or more than  one. 
There is no hope of escape that way.' 
     'And no hope at all, if they  come at the other  door  as  well,'  said 
Boromir. 
     'There is no sound outside here yet,' said Aragorn, who was standing by 
the eastern door listening. `The passage on  this side plunges straight down 
a stair: it plainly does not lead back towards the hall. But it  is  no good 
flying blindly  this way with the  pursuit  just behind. We cannot block the 
door. Its key is gone and the lock is broken, and it  opens inwards. We must


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     Boromir leaped forward and hewed at the arm with all his might; but his 
sword  rang, glanced  aside, and  fell  from his shaken  hand. The blade was 
notched. 
     Suddenly, and to his  own surprise,  Frodo  felt a hot wrath blaze up in 
his heart. `The Shire! ' he cried, and springing beside Boromir, he stooped, 
and stabbed with Sting at the hideous foot. There was a bellow, and the foot  
jerked back, nearly  wrenching  Sting from Frodo's arm.  Black dr ops dripped 
from the blade and smoked on the floor. Boromir  hurled  himself against the 
door and slammed it again. 
     `One for the Shire! '  cried  Aragorn. `The hobbit's bite is  deep! You  
have a good blade, Frodo son of Drogo! ' 
     There was a crash  on the door, followed by crash after crash. Rams  and 
hammers were  beating against it.  It cracked  and staggered  back,  and the 
opening grew  suddenly  wide.  Arrows  came  whistling  in, but  struck  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
the stone at their feet. They sprang towards  the door  in alarm. Doom, doom 
it rolled  again, as  if huge  hands were turning the very caverns  of Moria  
into a vast drum. Then there came an echoing blast: a great  horn  was blown 
in  the hall,  and answering horns  and harsh cries  were heard further off. 
There was a hurrying sound of many feet. 
     `They are coming! ' cried Legolas.  
     'We cannot get out,' said Gimli. 
     `Trapped! ' cried Gandalf. `Why  did I delay? Here we are, caught, just 
as they were before. But I was not here then. We will see what ----' 
     Doom, doom came the drum-beat and the walls shook. 
     'Slam the doors and wedge them! ' shouted Aragorn. 'And keep your packs 
on as long as you can: we may get a chance to cut our way out yet.' 
     `No! ' said Gandalf. 'We must not get shut in. Keep the east door ajar! 
We will go that way, if we get a chance.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
out. The  end comes, and then  drums, drums in the deep. I wonder what  that 
means. The last thing written is in a  trailing  scrawl of elf-letters: they 
are coming.  There is  nothing more.'  Gandalf paused  and stood  in  silent


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`Piles  of jewels? ' said  Gandalf. `No. The Orcs have often  plundered 
Moria; there is nothing left in the upper halls. And since the dwarves fled, 
no one dares to seek the shafts and treasuries down in the deep places: they 
are drowned in water --or in a shadow of fear.' 
     `Then what do the dwarves want to come back for? ' asked Sam. 
     'For mithril,' answered  Gandalf. `The  wealth of Moria was not in gold 
and jewels, the toys of the Dwarves; nor in iron, their servant. Such things 
they found here, it is true, especially iron; but they did not need to delve 
for  them:  all things that they  desired they could obtain in  traffic. For  
here alone in the world was found Moria -silver, or true-silver as some  have 
called it: mithril is the Elvish name. The Dwarves have a name which they do 
not tell. Its worth was  ten times that of gold, and now it is beyond price; 
for little is left above  ground, and even the Orcs dare not  delve here for


key: chroma:document
string_value:
hammers were  beating against it.  It cracked  and staggered  back,  and the 
opening grew  suddenly  wide.  Arrows  came  whistling  in, but  struck  the  
northern wall, and fell harmlessly to the floor . There  was a horn-blast and 
a rush of feet, and orcs one after another leaped into the chamber. 
     How many there were the Company could  not count. The affray was sharp, 
but the orcs were dismayed by the fierceness of  the  defence. Legolas  shot 
two  through the throat.  Gimli hewed the legs from  under another that  had 
sprung up on Balin's  tomb. Boromir and Aragorn slew many. When thirteen 
had 
fallen the rest fled shrieking. leaving the  defenders unharmed, except  for  
Sam who had  a scratch along the scalp.  A  quick duck had saved him; and he 
had  felled  his  orc:  a sturdy  thrust with his  Barrow-blade. A  fire was 
smouldering  in his  brown  eyes  that would  have  made  Ted Sandyman  step 
backwards, if he had seen it.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-hurled  against  the  wall and  pinned.  Sam,  with  a  cry, hacked  at  the 
spear-shaft, and it broke. But  even as the orc flung down the truncheon and  
swept  out his scimitar, And®ril came down upon his helm. There  was a flash 
like flame and the helm burst  asunder.  The orc fell with cloven  head. His 
followers fled howling, as Boromir and Aragorn sprang at them. 
     Doom, doom went  the drums  in the  deep.  The  great voice  rolled out 
again. 
     'Now! ' shouted Gandalf. 'Now is the last chance. Run for it! ' 
     Aragorn picked up Frodo  where  he lay by the  wall and  made  for  the 
stair, pushing Merry and Pippin in  front  of him. The others followed;  but 
Gimli had  to be dragged away  by Legolas: in spite of the peril he lingered 
by  Balin's tomb  with his head bowed.  Boromir hauled the eastern  door to,  
grinding upon its hinges: it  had great iron rings on either side, but could 
not be fastened.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
flying blindly  this way with the  pursuit  just behind. We cannot block the 
door. Its key is gone and the lock is broken, and it  opens inwards. We must  
do something to delay the enemy first. We will make them fear the Chamber of 
Mazarbul!' he said grimly feeling the edge of his sword, And®ril. 
     Heavy feet  were  heard in the corridor. Boromir  flung himself against  
the door  and heaved it to; then  he wedged it  with broken sword-blades and 
splinters of wood. The Company retreated  to the other  side of the chamber. 
But they had no chance to fly yet. There was a b low on the door that made it 
quiver;  and then it began  to grind slowly open, driving back the wedges. A 
huge  arm and shoulder, with  a  dark skin of  greenish scales,  was  thrust  
through  the  widening  gap.  Then a  great,  flat,  toeless foot was for ced 
through below. There was a dead silence outside.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-doom-boom, doom-boom, and then  stopped. Gandalf came flying down the  
steps 
and fell to the ground in the midst of the Company. 
     `Well, well! That's over!  ' said the wizard struggling to his feet. `I  
have done  all that I  could. But I have met my  match, and have nearly been 
destroyed. But don't stand here! Go  on! You  will have to  do without light 
for a  while: I am rather  shaken. Go on! Go on! Where are  you, Gimli? Come 
ahead with me! Keep close behind, all of you!' 
     They stumbled a fter him  wondering what had happened.  Doom,  doom 
went 
the drum-beats  again: they now sounded muffled and  far away, but they were 
following. There was no  other sound  of pursuit, neither tramp of feet, nor 
any  voice. Gandalf took  no turns, right or left, for the passage seemed to 
be  going in the direction that he desired. Every now and again it descended  
a  flight of steps, fifty or more, to a  lower level. At the moment that was


key: chroma:document
string_value:
not tell. Its worth was  ten times that of gold, and now it is beyond price; 
for little is left above  ground, and even the Orcs dare not  delve here for 
it. The lodes lead away  north towards  Caradhras, and down to darkness. The 
Dwarves  tell  no tale;  but  even as  mithril  was the  foundation of their 
wealth, so  also it was their destruction: they delved too greedily and  too 
deep,  and disturbed that from which they fled,  Durin's  Bane. Of what they 
brought to light the Orcs  have gathered nearly all, and given it in tribute 
to Sauron, who covets it. 
     `Mithril!  All  folk desired it.  It could be  beaten  like copper, and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
had  felled  his  orc:  a sturdy  thrust with his  Barrow-blade. A  fire was 
smouldering  in his  brown  eyes  that would  have  made  Ted Sandyman  step 
backwards, if he had seen it. 
     `Now  is  the  time! ' cried  Gandalf.  `Let us  go,  before the  troll 
returns!' 
     But even as they retreated, and before Pippin and Merry had reached the 
stair  outside,  a  huge orc-chieftain, almost man-high, clad in black  mail 
from  head  to foot,  leaped  into  the chamber;  behind  him his  followers 
clustered in the doorway. His broad flat  face was swart, his eyes were like 
coals, and  his tongue  was red; he wielded a great  spear. With a thrust of 
his  huge hide shield he  turned  Boromir's  sword  and  bore him backwards,  
throwing him to  the ground. Diving under Aragorn's blow with the speed of a  
striking  snake  he  charged  into  the Company  and  thrust with  his spear 
straight  at  Frodo.  The blow caught  him  on the right side, and Frodo was


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####- 
     'These  are Daeron's Runes,  such as were used  of  old in Moria,' said 
Gandalf. 'Here is written in the tongues of Men and Dwarves:  
     balin son of fundin 
     lord of moria.' 
     'He  is  dead then,' said  Frodo. `I feared it was  so.' Gimli cast his 
hood over his face. 
 

####- 

Chapter 5. The Bridge of Khazad-dym


key: chroma:document
string_value:
by  Balin's tomb  with his head bowed.  Boromir hauled the eastern  door to,  
grinding upon its hinges: it  had great iron rings on either side, but could 
not be fastened. 
     'I am all right,' gasped Frodo. `I can walk. Put me down! ' 
     Aragorn nearly dropped him in his  amazement. 'I thought you were dead! 
' he cried. 
     'Not yet! '  said Gandalf. 'But there is time  for wonder.  Off you go, 
all of you, down the stairs! Wait a few minutes for me at the bottom, but if 
I  do  not come soon, go on!  Go  quickly and choose paths leading right and 
downwards.' 
     'We cannot leave you to hold the door alone! ' said Aragorn. 
     `Do as I say! ' said Gandalf fiercely.  `Swords are no  more use  here. 
Go!' 
     The passage was lit by no shaft and was utterly dark. They groped their 
way down  a long  flight  of steps, and then looked back; but they could see 
nothing, except high above them the faint glimmer  of the wizard's staff. He


key: chroma:document
string_value:
near him, and that a  dim light  was falling on his face. High  up above the 
eastern  archway through a shaft near  the roof came  a long pale gleam; and 
across the hall  through  the  northern  arch light also glimmered faint and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-narrow.' 
     Suddenly Frodo saw before him a black chasm. At the end of the hall the 
floor vanished and fell to an unknown  depth. The outer door  could only  be 
reached by a slender bridge of stone, without kerb or rail, that spanned the 
chasm with one curving  spring  of fifty feet. It was  an ancient defence of 
the Dwarves against  any enemy that  might  capture  the  First Hall and the 
outer passages. They  could only pass across it in single file. At the brink  
Gandalf halted and the others came up in a pack behind. 
     'Lead  the way,  Gimli! ' he said. 'Pippin and  Merry next. Straight on 
and up the stair beyond the door! ' 
     Arrows  fell  among them. One  struck Frodo  and  sprang  back. Another  
pierced Gandalf's hat  and stuck there  like a black feather.  Frodo  looked 
behind. Beyond  the fire  he saw swarming black figures: there seemed to  be 
hundreds of orcs. They brandished spears and scimitars which  shone  red  as


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-became very hot. 
     When they came to the  arch  Gandalf  went through,  signing to them to 
wait.  As  he  stood just beyond the opening they saw his face  lit by a red 
glow. Quickly he stepped back. 
     `There is some new devi lry here,' he said, 'devised for our welcome  no 
doubt.  But I know now  where we are:  we  have reached the First Deep,  the 
level immediately below the Gates. This is the Second Hall of Old Moria; and 
the Gates are near: away beyond  the eastern end, on  the left, not more than 
a quarter of a mile. Across the Bridge, up a broad stair,  along a wide road 
through the First Hall, and out! But come and look! ' 
     They peered out. Before them was another cavernous hall. It was loftier  
and far  longer than the one in which they had  slept. They  were  near  its 
eastern  end; westward it ran away into darkness. Down the  centre stalked a  
double line of towering pillars. They were carved like boles of mighty trees


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-ghvsh;  that is  "fire". Then something came into the chamber  --  I felt it 
through  the door, and the orcs themselves were  afraid and fell  silent. It 
laid hold of the iron ring, and then it perceived me and my spell. 
     'What it was  I cannot guess, but I have  never felt such  a challenge. 
The counter -spell was  terrible. It nearly broke me. For an instant the door  
left  my control and began to open!  I had  to speak a word of Command. That 
proved too great a strain.  The door burst in pieces.  Something  dark  as a  
cloud was blocking out all the light inside, and I was thrown backwards down 
the stairs. All the wall gave way, and  the roof of  the  chamber as well, I 
think. 
     `I  am afraid Balin is buried deep, and maybe something  else is buried 
there too. I  cannot say. But at least the passage behind  us was completely 
blocked.  Ah! I have never  felt  so spent, but it  is passing. And now what


key: chroma:document
string_value:
be  going in the direction that he desired. Every now and again it descended  
a  flight of steps, fifty or more, to a  lower level. At the moment that was 
their chief danger; for in the dark they could not see a descent, until they 
came on it, and put their feet out into  emptiness.  Gandalf felt the ground 
with his staff like a blind man. 
     At the end of an hour they had gone a mile, or maybe a little more, and 
had descended many flights of stairs. There was still  no sound  of pursuit. 
Almost  they  began to hope that they  would  escape. At the  bottom  of the  
seventh flight Gandalf halted. 
     `It is getting hot! ' he  gasped. `We ought to  be down at least to the 
level of the Gates now.  Soon I think we should look for  a left -hand turn to 
take us  east. I  hope  it is not far. I am very weary. I  must  rest here a  
moment, even if all the orcs ever spawned are after us.' 
     Gimli took  his arm and  helped  him down to a seat on the step.  `What


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     The dark figure streaming with fire raced towards them. The orcs yelled 
and  poured over the stone gangways.  Then Boromir raised his horn and blew.  
Loud  the challenge rang and bellowed, like the shout of many  throats under 
the  cavernous  roof. For a  moment the orcs  quailed  and the  fiery shadow 
halted.  Then the  echoes died as suddenly as  a  flame blown out by a  dark 
wind, and the enemy advanced again. 
     'Over the bridge!' cried Gandalf, recalling his strength. `Fly! This is 
a foe beyond any  of you. I  must hold the narrow  way.  Fly! '  Aragorn and 
Boromir did not heed the command, but still held their ground, side by side,  
behind Gandalf a t the  far end of the bridge. The others halted  just within 
the doorway  at the hall's end, and turned, unable to leave their  leader to 
face the enemy alone. 
     The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     `Gondor! ' cried Boromir and leaped after him. 
     At that moment Gandalf  lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the 
bridge  before  him.  The  staff broke asunder and  fell  from  his  hand. A 
blinding sheet of white  flame sprang  up. The  bridge cracked. Right at the 
Balrog's  feet it broke, and the stone  upon which it stood crashed into the 
gulf,  while the  rest  remained, poised,  quivering  like a tongue  of rock  
thrust out into emptiness.  
     With  a terrible  cry the Balrog fell  forward, and  its shadow plu nged 
down and vanished.  But  even as it  fell it swung  its whip, and the thongs 
lashed and curled  about the wizard's  knees, dragging him to the brink.  He 
staggered  and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid  into the  abyss. 
'Fly, you fools!  ' he cried, and was gone. 
     The fires went  out, and blank darkness  fell. The Company stood rooted 
with  horror staring  into the pit. Even  as Aragorn and Boromir came flying


key: chroma:document
string_value:
way down  a long  flight  of steps, and then looked back; but they could see 
nothing, except high above them the faint glimmer  of the wizard's staff. He 
seemed  to  be still  standing on guard by  the closed door.  Frodo breathed 
heavily  and  leaned  aga inst Sam, who  put his arms  about him.  They stood 
peering up  the  stairs  into the darkness. Frodo thought he could hear  the 
voice of  Gandalf above, muttering words that ran down the sloping roof with 
a sighing  echo. He could not catch  what was said .  The  walls seemed to be 
trembling.  Every  now and again the drum-beats  throbbed and rolled:  doom, 
doom. 
     Suddenly at the top of the stair there was a stab of white  light. Then 
there  was a dull rumble and a heavy thud. The drum-beats broke  out wildly:


key: chroma:document
string_value:
eastern  end; westward it ran away into darkness. Down the  centre stalked a  
double line of towering pillars. They were carved like boles of mighty trees 
whose boughs upheld  the roof with a branching tracery of stone. Their stems 
were smooth and black, but a  red glow was  darkly mirrored  in their sides. 
Right  across the  floor, close  to the feet  of two  huge  pillars  a great 
fissure  had opened. Out of it a fierce  red light came,  and  now and aga in 
flames licked  at the brink and curled about the bases of the columns. Wisps 
of dark smoke wavered in the hot air. 
     'If we had come by  the  main road down from the upper halls, we should  
have been trapped here,' said Gandalf.  `Let  us hope that the fire now lies 
between us and pursuit. Come! There is no time to lose.' 
     Even as he  spoke they heard again  the pursuing drum-beat: Doom, doom, 
doom.  Away  beyond the  shadows  at the western end of the  hall there came


key: chroma:document
string_value:
there too. I  cannot say. But at least the passage behind  us was completely 
blocked.  Ah! I have never  felt  so spent, but it  is passing. And now what 
about  you, Frodo? There was not time to say  so, but I have never been more 
delighted in my life than when you spoke.  I feared that it was  a brave but 
dead hobbit that Aragorn was carrying.' 
     `What about me?  ' said  Frodo. 'I am  alive,  and whole I think. I  am 
bruised and in pain, but it is not too bad.' 
     `Well,' said Aragorn, `I can only say that hobbits are made of  a stuff 
so tough  that I  have  never met the like of it. Had  I known, I would have 
spoken softer in the  Inn at  Bree! That spear-thrust would have  skewered a  
wild boar! ' 
     'Well, it did not skewer me, I am glad  to say,'  said Frodo; `though I 
feel  as  if I had been caught between  a hammer  and an anvil.' He  said no 
more. He found breathing painful. 
     'You take  after Bilbo,' said  Gandalf.  `There is  more about you than


key: chroma:document
string_value:
the doorway  at the hall's end, and turned, unable to leave their  leader to 
face the enemy alone. 
     The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, 
leaning on  the sta ff  in his left hand,  but  in his other  hand  Glamdring 
gleamed,  cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow 
about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the whip, and the thongs 
whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm. 
     `You cannot  pass,' he  said. The  orcs stood still, and a dead silence 
fell. `I  am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You  
cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udyn. Go back to  the 
Shadow! You cannot pass.' 
     The  Balrog made  no  answer.  The fire in  it seemed to die,  but  the 
darkness grew. It  stepped forward slowly on to  the bridge, and suddenly it 
drew  itself  up to a  great height, and its wings were spread from wall  to


key: chroma:document
string_value:
behind. Beyond  the fire  he saw swarming black figures: there seemed to  be 
hundreds of orcs. They brandished spears and scimitars which  shone  red  as 
blood in the firelight. Doom, doom rolled the drum-beats, growing louder and 
louder, doom, doom. 
     Legolas  turned and set an arrow to the  string, though it  was  a long 
shot for his small bow. He drew, but his hand fell, and the arrow slipped to 
the ground. He  gave a cry of  dismay and  fear.  Two great trolls appeared; 
they bore  great slabs  of stone, and flung  them down to serve as  gangways 
over  the fire.  But  it was not the  trolls that  had filled the  Elf  with 
terror. The  ranks of the orcs had opened, and they crowded away, as if they 
themselves  were afraid.  Something was coming  up behind them.  What it was 
could not be seen:  it was like a grea t shadow, in the middle of which was a  
dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to 
be in it and to go before it.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
The fires went  out, and blank darkness  fell. The Company stood rooted 
with  horror staring  into the pit. Even  as Aragorn and Boromir came flying 
back, the rest  of the bridge cracked and  fell.  With a  cry Aragorn roused 
them. 
     'Come!  I  will lead you now!  '  he  called.  'We  must  obey his last  
command. Follow me!  ' 
     They  stumbled  wildly  up the great stairs beyond  the  door.  Aragorn 
leading, Boromir at the  rear. At the top was a  wide echoing passage. Along 
this they  fled. Frodo heard Sam at his side weeping, and then he found that 
he himself was  weeping as  he ran. Doom, doom,  doom the  drum-beats rolled 
behind, mournful now and slow; doom! 
     They ran on. The light grew before them; great shafts pierced the roof.  
They ran  swifter. They passed into  a  hall, bright with daylight from  its 
high windows in the east. They fled across it. Through its huge broken doors


key: chroma:document
string_value:
moment, even if all the orcs ever spawned are after us.' 
     Gimli took  his arm and  helped  him down to a seat on the step.  `What 
happened away up there a t the  door? ' he asked. `Did you meet the beater of 
the drums?  ' 
     'I  do not know,' answered Gandalf. `But I found myself suddenly  faced 
by something  that I have not met before. I could think of nothing to do but 
to try and  put a  shutting-spell on the door. I know many; but to do things 
of that kind rightly requires time,  and even then the door can be broken by 
strength. 
     `As  I stood there  I could hear orc-voices on  the other  side: at any 
moment  I thought they would burst it open. I could not hear  what was said; 
they seemed to be talking in their  own hideous language.  All  I caught was


key: chroma:document
string_value:
feel  as  if I had been caught between  a hammer  and an anvil.' He  said no 
more. He found breathing painful. 
     'You take  after Bilbo,' said  Gandalf.  `There is  more about you than 
meets the  eye, as I said  of  him long ago.'  Frodo wondered  if the remark 
meant more than it said. 
     They  now went  on again. Before long Gimli spoke.  He had keen eyes in 
the dark. `I think,' he said, `that there  is a light  ahead. But it  is not 
daylight. It is red. What can it be? ' 
     `Ghvsh!' muttered  Gandalf. `I wonder if that is what they meant:  that 
the lower levels are on fire? Still, we can only go on.' 
     Soon the light became  unmistakable,  and could be  seen by all. It was 
flickering and glowing  on the walls away down the passage before them. They 
could now see their way: in front the road sloped down swiftly, and some way 
ahead there stood  a low archway; through it the glowing light came. The air


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Even as he  spoke they heard again  the pursuing drum-beat: Doom, doom, 
doom.  Away  beyond the  shadows  at the western end of the  hall there came 
cries  and  horn-calls. Doom,  doom:  the pillars seemed  to tremble and the 
flames to quiver. 
     `Now for the  last race! ' said Gandalf. 'If the sun is shining outside 
we may still escape. After me!  ' 
     He  turned left  and  sped  across the smooth  floor of the  hall.  The 
distance was greater than it had looked. As they ran they heard the beat and 
echo  of  many  hurrying feet behind.  A shrill  yell went up: they had been 
seen. There was a  ring and clash of steel. An arrow  whistled over  Frodo's 
head. 
     Boromir laughed. `They did not expect this,' he said. `The fire has cut 
them off. We are on the wrong side! ' 
     `Look ahead! ' called Gandalf. `The Bridge is near. It is dangerous and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
There were many recesses cut in the rock of the walls, and in them were 
large iron-bound chests  of  wood. All had  been  broken and plundered;  but 
beside the shattered lid of one there lay the remains of a book. It had been 
slashed  and stabbed and partly burned, and it was so stained with black and 
other  dark  marks like old blood that little of  it could be  read. Gandalf 
lifted it carefully, but the leaves crackled and broke as he laid it  on the 
slab.  He  pored over it  for  some time  without  speaking. Frodo and Gimli 
standing  at his side could see, as he gingerly turned the leaves, that they 
were  written by many different hands, in runes, both of Moria  and of Dale,  
and here and  there in Elvish script. 
     At last Gandalf looked  up. 'It seems to be a record of the fortunes of 
Balin's folk,' he said. `I guess  that it began with their coming to Dimrill 
Dale nigh on thirty years ago: the  pages seem to have numbers referring  to


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'Alas! I  Fear  we cannot  stay here longer,'  said  Aragorn. He looked 
towards the mountains and held up his sword. `Farewell, Gandalf! ' he cried.  
'Did I  not say to you: if  you pass the doors of Moria, beware? Alas that I 
spoke true! What hope have we without you?  ' 
     He turned to the Company. `We must do without hope,' he said. `At least  
we may yet be avenged. Let us gird ourselves and weep no more! Come! We 
have 
a long road, and much to do.' 
     They rose and looked about  them. Northward the dale ran up into a glen  
of shadows between  two great arms of the mountains, above which three white 
peaks were shining:  Celebdil, Fanuidhol, Caradhras. the Mountains of Moria. 
At the head of  the glen a torrent flowed  like a white lace over an endless 
ladder  of short  falls,  and  a   mist of foam  hung in the  air  about  the 
mountains' feet. 
     `Yonder is the Dimrill  Stair,'  said  Aragorn,  pointing to the falls.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
darkness grew. It  stepped forward slowly on to  the bridge, and suddenly it 
drew  itself  up to a  great height, and its wings were spread from wall  to 
wall;  but still Gandalf could  be seen,  glimmering in the gloom; he seemed  
small, and altogether alone: grey  and bent, like a  wizened tree before the 
onset of a storm. 
     From out of the shadow a red sword leaped flaming. 
     Glamdring glittered white in answer. 
     There was a ringing clash and  a stab  of  white fire. The Balrog  fell 
back  and its  sword flew  up in molten  fragments. The wizard swayed on the 
bridge, stepped back a pace, and then again stood still. 
     'You cannot pass! ' he said. 
     With a bound the  Balrog leaped full  upon the bridge. Its whip whirled 
and hissed. 
     'He cannot stand alone! ' cried Aragorn suddenly and ran back along the 
bridge.  'Elendil!' he shouted. 'I am with you, Gandalf! '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
could not be seen:  it was like a grea t shadow, in the middle of which was a  
dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to 
be in it and to go before it. 
     It came to the edge of the fire and the  light faded as if a cloud  had 
bent  over it. Then with  a rush it leaped  across the fissure.  The  flames 
roared up to greet  it, and  wreathed about it; and a black smoke swirled in 
the air. Its streaming mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand 
was  a  blade like a stabbing tongue of fire;  in its left  it held a whip of 
many thongs. 
     'Ai! ai! ' wailed Legolas. 'A Balrog! A Balrog is come! ' 
     Gimli stared with wide eyes. `Durin's Bane! ' he cried, and letting his 
axe fall he covered his face. 
     'A  Balrog,' muttered  Gandalf.  `Now I  understand.'  He  faltered and 
leaned heavily on his staff. `What an evil fortune! And I am already weary.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
They ran  swifter. They passed into  a  hall, bright with daylight from  its 
high windows in the east. They fled across it. Through its huge broken doors 
they passed,  and  suddenly before  them the Great Gates opened,  an arch of 
blazing ligh t. 
     There  was a guard of  orcs crouching in the  shadows behind the  great 
door posts towering on either  side,  but the gates were shattered and  cast 
down.  Aragorn smote to the ground the  captain that stood  in his path, and 
the rest fled in terror of his wrath. The Company swept  past them  and took  
no  heed  of them.  Out of the Gates they ran and sprang down  the  huge and 
age-worn steps, the threshold of Moria. 
     Thus, at last, they came beyond hope under the sky and felt the wind on 
their faces.  
     They did not  halt  until  they were  out  of bowshot from  the  walls.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-well of water, clear as crystal,  from which a freshet fell over a stone lip 
and ran glistening and gurgling down a steep rocky channel. 
     'Here is  the spring from  which the Silverlode rises.' said Gimli. `Do 
not drink of it! It is icy cold.' 
     'Soon it becomes a swift river, and  it  gathers water from  many other  
mountain-streams,' said Aragorn.  `Our road leads beside it for  many miles.  
For I  shall take you  by the road that  Gandalf chose, and first I hope  to 
come to  the woods  where  the  Silverlode  flows into the  Great  River -out 
yonder.'  They looked as  he  pointed,  and before  them  they  could see the 
stream  leaping  down to the trough of the  valley, and then  running on and 
away into the lower lands, until it was lost in a golden haze. 
     `There  lie  the  woods of Lothlurien! '  said  Legolas. `That  is  the 
fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-hasten away, and he that must remain.' 
     The  Company now went down  the road from the Gates.  It was  rough and 
broken,  fading to a winding track between heather and whin  that thrust amid 
the cracking stones. But still it could  be seen  that once long ago a great 
paved way  had  wound upwards from  the lowlands of  the  Dwarf-kingdom.  
In 
places there were ruined works of stone beside the path, and mounds of green 
topped with slender birches, or fir-trees sighing in  the wind. An  eastward 
bend led them  hard by the sward of  Mirrormere,  and there not far from the 
roadside stood a single column broken at the top. 
     'That  is Durin's Stone! ' cried Gimli. `I cannot  pass without turning 
aside for a moment to look at the wonder of the dale! ' 
     `Be swift  then! ' said  Aragorn, looking back towards the Gates.  `The 
Sun sinks early. The Orcs will  not, maybe, come out till after dusk, but we


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     Soon afterwards they came  upon another stream that ran down  from  the 
west, and joined  its  bubbling water with the hurrying Silverlode. Together  
they plunged over a fall of green-hued  stone, and foamed  down into a dell.  
About  it stood fir-trees, short and bent,  and  its  sides were  steep  and 
clothed with harts-tongue  and shrubs of whortle-berry. At the  bottom there 
was  a level  space  through  which the stream flowed  noisily  over shining 
pebbles. Here they rested.  It was now  nearly three hours  after noon,  and 
they  had  come  only  a few  miles  from  the  Gates. Already  the sun  was 
westering. 
     While Gimli and the two  younger hobbits kindled a  fire of brush-  and 
fir-wood, and drew  water, Aragorn tended Sam and Frodo. Sam's wound was 
not 
deep, but  it looked ugly, and  Aragorn's face  was grave as he examined it. 
After a moment he looked up with relief.  
     'Good luck, Sam! '  he said. 'Many  have received worse  than  this  in


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Balin's folk,' he said. `I guess  that it began with their coming to Dimrill 
Dale nigh on thirty years ago: the  pages seem to have numbers referring  to 
the years  after their arrival. The top page is marked  one -- three, so  at 
least two are missing from the beginning. Listen to this!  
     'We drove out orcs from the great gate and  guard --  I think; the next 
word is blurred and burned; probably room -- we slew many in the bright -- I  
think -- sun in the dale. Flui was killed by  an arrow.  He slew the  great. 
Then there is a blur followed by Flui under grass near Mirror mere. The next 
line or two I cannot  read. Then comes We have taken the twentyfirst hall of 
North end  to  dwell in. There is I cannot read what. A shaft is  mentioned. 
Then Balin has set up his seat in the Chamber of Mazarbul. ' 
     'The Chamber of  Records,' said Gimli. `I  guess that is  where we  now


key: chroma:document
string_value:
ladder  of short  falls,  and  a   mist of foam  hung in the  air  about  the 
mountains' feet. 
     `Yonder is the Dimrill  Stair,'  said  Aragorn,  pointing to the falls. 
'Down  the  deep-cloven way that climbs beside  the torrent  we should  have 
come, if fortune had been kinder.' 
     `Or Caradhras less cruel,' said Gimli. `There he stands smiling in  the 
sun! ' He shook his fist at the furthest of the snow-capped peaks and turned 
away. 
     To the east the outflung arm of  the mountains marched to a sudden end, 
and far lands  could be  descried beyond  them, wide and vague. To the south 
the Misty Mountains receded endlessly as far as sight could reach. Less than 
a  mile away, and a  little below them, for they still stood high up on  the 
west side of the dale, there lay a mere. It was long and oval, shaped like a  
great spear-head thrust  deep  into the northern glen; but its  southern end 
was  beyond the  shadows under the sunlit sky. Yet  its  waters were dark: a


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-about them and the  road behind was dim, he had heard again the quick patter 
of feet. Even now he heard it. He turned swiftly. There were two tiny gleams 
of light behind, or for a moment he thought he  saw  them, but at once  they 
slipped aside and vanished. 
     `What is it? ' said the dwarf.  
     `I don't know.' answered Frodo. 'I thought I heard feet,  and I thought 
I saw a light -like  eyes. I  have thought so  often, since we first  entered 
Moria.' 
     Gimli  halted and  stooped  to  the  ground. 'I  hear  nothing but  the 
night-speech of plant  and stone,'  he said. 'Come! Let us hurry! The others 
are out of sight.' 
     The  night-wind  blew  chill up the valley to  meet them. Before them a  
wide  grey shadow loomed, and  they heard an endless  rustle of leaves  like 
poplars in the breeze. 
     `Lothlurien! ' cried Legolas. 'Lothlurien! We have come to the eaves of 
the Golden Wood. Alas that it is winter! '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-spoke of? Then he undervalued it. But it was well given! ' 
     `I have  often wondered what you and Bilbo  wer e doing, so close in his 
little room,'  said Merry. 'Bless the old hobbit! I love him more than ever. 
I hope we get a chance of telling him about it! ' 
     There was a dark and blackened bruise on Frodo's right side and breast. 
Under the mail there was a shirt of soft leather, but at one point the rings 
had been driven through it into the flesh. Frodo's left side also was scored 
and bruised where he had been hurled against the  wall. While the others set  
the  food ready.  Aragorn  bathed the hurts  with wa ter in which athelas was 
steeped. The pungent fragrance filled  the dell, and all  those who  stooped 
over the steaming water felt refreshed and strengthened. Soon Frodo felt the 
pain leave him,  and his breath grew  easy: though he was stiff and sore  to 
the touch for many days. Aragorn bound some soft pads of cloth at his side.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-Dimrill  Dale lay about them. The shadow of the Misty Mountains lay upon it, 
but  eastwards there was a golden  light  on the land.  It was but one  hour 
after noon. The sun was shining; the clouds were white and high. 
     They looked  back.  Dark yawned  the  archway  of  the Gates  under the 
mountain-shadow. Faint and far beneath the earth rolled the slow drum-beats:  
doom. A thin black smoke trailed out. Nothing else was to be seen; the  dale 
all  around was empty.  Doom. Grief  at last  wholly overcame them, and they 
wept long: some standing and silent, some  cast upon the ground. Doom, doom. 
The drum-beats faded. 
 

####- 

Chapter 6. Lothlurien


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`There  lie  the  woods of Lothlurien! '  said  Legolas. `That  is  the 
fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees 
of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. Not 
till the  spring comes and  the  new green opens  do they fall, and then the 
boughs are  laden with yellow flowers; and the floor of the  wood is golden,  
and golden is the  roof, and its  pillars are of silver, for the bark of the 
trees is smooth and grey. So still our songs in Mirkwood say. My heart would 
be glad if I were beneath the eaves of that wood, and it were springtime! ' 
     `My heart will be glad, even in the winter,' said Aragorn. 'But it lies 
many miles away. Let us hasten! ' 
     For some  time Frodo and Sam managed to keep up with  the  others;  but 
Aragorn was  leading them at  a great  pace,  and  after a while they lagged 
behind.  They  had eaten nothing  since  the  early morning.  Sam's cut  was


key: chroma:document
string_value:
deep, but  it looked ugly, and  Aragorn's face  was grave as he examined it. 
After a moment he looked up with relief.  
     'Good luck, Sam! '  he said. 'Many  have received worse  than  this  in 
payment for the slaying of their first orc. The  cut is not poisoned, as the 
wounds of orc-blades too often are. It should  heal well when  I have tended 
it. Bathe it when Gimli has heated water.' 
     He opened his pouch  and drew out  some withered leaves.  `They are dry 
and some of their virtue has one, he said, but here I have still some of the 
leaves of athelas that I gathered near Weather top. Crush  one in the  water, 
and wash the wound clean, and I will bind it. Now it is your turn. Frodo! ' 
     'I am all right,'  said Frodo, reluctant  to have his garments touched. 
`AII I needed was some food and a little rest.' 
     `No! ' said Aragorn. `We must have a  look and see what the  hammer and 
the  anvil have  done  to you. I still marvel  that  you are  alive at all.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`Be swift  then! ' said  Aragorn, looking back towards the Gates.  `The 
Sun sinks early. The Orcs will  not, maybe, come out till after dusk, but we 
must be far away before nightfall. The Moon is almost spent, and it will  be 
dark tonight.' 
     'Come with me,  Frodo! ' cried the dwarf,  springing from the  road. `I  
would not have  you  go without  seeing Kheled-zvram.'  He ran down the long 
green slope. Frodo followed slowly,  drawn by the still blue water in  spite 
of hurt and weariness; Sam came up behind. 
     Beside  the  standing stone Gimli halted and looked up. It  was cracked 
and weather -worn, and the faint runes upon its side could not be read. `This 
pillar marks the spot where Durin first looked  in the Mirrormere,' said the 
dwarf. 'Let us look ourselves once, ere we go!' 
     They stooped over the dark water. At first they could see nothing. Then 
slowly they saw the forms of the encircling mountains mirrored in a profou nd


key: chroma:document
string_value:
great spear-head thrust  deep  into the northern glen; but its  southern end 
was  beyond the  shadows under the sunlit sky. Yet  its  waters were dark: a  
deep blue  like  clear evening sky seen from  a lamp-lit room. Its face  was 
still and unruffled. About it lay a smooth sward, shelving down on all sides 
to its bare unbroken rim. 
     `There lies the Mirrormere, deep Kheled -zvram! ' said  Gimli sadly.  `I  
remember that he said: "May you have joy of  the sight! But we cannot linger 
there."  Now long shall I journey ere  I have  joy again. It is  I that must


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     `A plain road, though it  led through a hedge of swords,' said Boromir. 
`By  strange  paths has this Company been  led, and so far  to evil fortune. 
Against my will we passed under the shades of Moria, to our loss. And now we 
must enter the Golden Wood, you say. But of that perilous land we have heard 
in  Gondor, and it is said that few come out who once go in; and of that few  
none have escaped unscathed.' 
     `Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you will speak 
the truth said Aragorn. But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of 
those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlurien. Believe what you  
will,  there  is no other  way  for  us  --  unless  you  would  go  back  to 
Moria -gate, or  scale the pathless mountains, or swim the  Great  River  all 
alone.' 
     `Then lead on! ' said Boromir. `But it is perilous.' 
     `Perilous indeed,' said Aragorn, 'fair and perilous; but only evil need


key: chroma:document
string_value:
poplars in the breeze. 
     `Lothlurien! ' cried Legolas. 'Lothlurien! We have come to the eaves of 
the Golden Wood. Alas that it is winter! ' 
     Under  the night the trees stood tall before them, arched over the road 
and stream that  ran suddenly  beneath their  spreading  boughs. In  the dim 
light of  the stars their stems were grey, and their quivering leaves a hint 
of fallow gold. 
     'Lothlurien! '  said  Aragorn. 'Glad I am to hear again the wind in the 
trees! We are still little more than five leagues from the Gates, but we can 
go no further. Here  let  us hope that the virtue of the Elves will  keep us 
tonight from the peril that comes behind.' 
     `If Elves indeed still dwell here in the darkening world,' said Gimli. 
     'It is long since any  of my own folk journeyed hither back to the land 
whence we wandered in ages long ago,' said Legolas, 'but we hear that Lurien 
is not yet deserted, for there is a  secret power here  that holds evil from


key: chroma:document
string_value:
pain leave him,  and his breath grew  easy: though he was stiff and sore  to 
the touch for many days. Aragorn bound some soft pads of cloth at his side.  
     `The mail is marvellously light,' he said. `Put it on again, if you can 
bear it. My heart is glad  to know that you have  such a coat. Do not lay it 
aside, even  in sleep,  unless fortune brings you where you  are safe for  a  
while; and that will seldom chance while your quest lasts.' 
     When they  had eaten, the Company got ready to go on. They  put out the  
fire and hid all  traces of it. Then climbing out of the dell they  took  to 
the  road  again.  They  had  not  gone far before the sun  sank  behind the 
westward  heights  and  great  shadows crept down  the mountain-sides.  Dusk  
veiled their  feet,  and  mist  rose in the hollows. Away  in  the east  the 
evening light lay pale upon the dim lands of distant plain and wood. Sam and 
Frodo  now  feeling eased  and greatly refreshed were  able  to go at a fair


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-the Great River before the world was grey. 
     At  length  a  silence fell, and they  heard the music of the waterfall 
running sweetly  in the shadows. Almost Frodo fancied that he  could  hear a 
voice singing, mingled with the sound of the water. 
     `Do you hear the voice of Nimrodel? ' asked Legolas. 'I will sing you a  
song  of the maiden Nimrodel, who bore the same  name  as the stream  besi de 
which she lived lung ago. It is a fair song in our woodland tongue; but this 
is how it runs in the  Westron Speech, as some in Rivendell now sing it.' In 
a soft voice hardly to be heard amid the rustle of the leaves above them  he 
began: 
     An Elven-maid there was of old, 
     A shining star by day: 
     Her mantle white was hemmed with gold, 
     Her shoes of silver-grey. 
 
     A star was bound upon her brows, 
     A light was on her hair 
     As sun upon the golden boughs 
     In Lurien the fair. 
 
     Her hair was long, her limbs were white,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`No! ' said Aragorn. `We must have a  look and see what the  hammer and 
the  anvil have  done  to you. I still marvel  that  you are  alive at all.' 
Gently he stripped off Frodo's old jacket and worn tunic, and gave a gasp of 
wonder. Then he laughed. The silver corslet shimmered  before his eyes  like 
the light upon a rippling sea. Carefully he took it  off and held it up, and 
the gems on it glittered like stars.  and the sound of the shaken rings  was 
like the tinkle of rain in a pool. 
     `Look, my friends!' he called.  `H ere's a pretty hobbit -skin to wrap an 
elven-princeling in! If it were known that  hobbits had  such hides, all the 
hunters of Middle-earth would be riding to the Shire.' 
     `And all the arrows of all the hunters  in the world would be in vain,' 
said  Gimli, gazing at the mail in wonder. `It is a mithril-coat. Mithril! I 
have never seen or  heard tell of one so fair. Is this the coat that Gandalf


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Aragorn was  leading them at  a great  pace,  and  after a while they lagged 
behind.  They  had eaten nothing  since  the  early morning.  Sam's cut  was 
burning like fire, and his head felt light.  In spite of the shining sun the 
wind seemed chill after the warm darkness of Moria.  He shivered. Frodo felt 
every step more painful and he gasped for breath. 
     At last Legolas turned, and seeing  them  now far behind,  he spoke  to 
Aragorn. The others halted, and Aragorn ran back, calling to Boromir to come 
with him. 
     'I am sorry,  Frodo!  ' he cried, full of concern. `So much has happened 
this day and we have such need of haste, that I have forgotten that you were 
hurt; and Sam too. You should have spoken. We have done nothing to ease 
you, 
as we ought, though all the orcs of Moria were after  us. Come now! A little 
further on there is a place  where we can rest for a little. There I will do 
what I can for you. Come, Boromir! We will carry them.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
whence we wandered in ages long ago,' said Legolas, 'but we hear that Lurien 
is not yet deserted, for there is a  secret power here  that holds evil from 
the land.  Nevertheless its folk are seldom  seen, and maybe they  dwell now  
deep in the woods and far from the northern border.' 
     'Indeed deep  in the  wood they dwell,' said Aragorn, and sighed as  if 
some memory stirred in him. `We must fend for ourselves tonight.  We will go 
forward a short way, until the trees are all about us, and then we will turn 
aside from the path and seek a place to rest in.' 
     He stepped forward; but Boromir  stood irresolute and did  not  follow.  
'Is there no other way?  ' he said. 
     `What other fairer way would you desire? ' said Aragorn.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
evening light lay pale upon the dim lands of distant plain and wood. Sam and 
Frodo  now  feeling eased  and greatly refreshed were  able  to go at a fair 
pace,  and  with only one brief halt Aragorn  led the Company on  for nearly 
three more hours.  
     It was  dark. Deep  night had fallen. There  were  many clear stars, hut 
the fast -waning moon  would not be seen till late. Gimli  and  Frodo were at 
the rear, walking softly and not speaking, listening for any sound  upon the 
road behind. At length Gimli broke the silence. 
     'Not a sound but the wind,' he  said. `There are no goblins near, or my 
ears are made of wood. It is to be  hoped that the Orcs will be content with 
driving us from Moria. And maybe that was  all their  purpose, and  they had 
nothing else to do with u s-with the Ring. Though Orcs will often pursue foes 
for many leagues into the plain, if they have a fallen captain to avenge.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
They stooped over the dark water. At first they could see nothing. Then 
slowly they saw the forms of the encircling mountains mirrored in a profou nd 
blue, and the peaks were like plumes of white flame above them; beyond there 
was a space of sky. There like jewels sunk in the deep shone glinting stars,  
though sunlight was in  the sky above. Of their own stooping forms no shadow 
could be seen. 
     'O Kheled-zvram fair and wonderful! ' said Gimli. `There lies the Crown  
of Durin till he wakes.  Farewell! ' He bowed, and turned away, and hastened 
back up the green-sward to the road again. 
     `What  did  you see?  '  said Pippin to Sam, but  Sam was  too deep  in 
thought to answer. 
     The road now  turned south and went quickly downwards, running out from 
between the arms of  the dale. Some  way  below the mere they came on a deep


key: chroma:document
string_value:
A star was bound upon her brows, 
     A light was on her hair 
     As sun upon the golden boughs 
     In Lurien the fair. 
 
     Her hair was long, her limbs were white, 
     And fair she was and free; 
     And in the wind she went as light 
     As leaf of linden-tree. 
 
     Beside the falls of Nimrodel, 
     By water clear and cool, 
     Her voice as falling silver fell 
     Into the shining pool. 
 
     Where now she wanders none can tell, 
     In sunlight or in shade; 
     For lost of yore was Nimrodel 
     And in the mountains strayed. 
 
     The elven-ship in haven grey 
     Beneath the mountain -lee


key: chroma:document
string_value:
alone.' 
     `Then lead on! ' said Boromir. `But it is perilous.' 
     `Perilous indeed,' said Aragorn, 'fair and perilous; but only evil need 
fear it, or those who bring some evil with them. Follow me!  ' 
     They  had gone  little more than a mile into the  forest when they came 
upon  another  stream flowing  down swiftly from  the tree-clad  slopes that 
climbed back westward towards the mountains.  They heard it splashing over a  
fall away among the shadows on  their  right. Its dark  hurrying waters  ran 
across the path before  them, and joined  the Silverlode in a  swirl  of dim 
pools among the roots of trees.  
     `Here is Nimrodel! ' said  Legolas.  'Of this stream  the Silvan  Elves 
made  many songs long ago, and still we sing them  in the North, remembering 
the rainbow on its falls, and the  golden flowers  that floated in its foam. 
All is  dark now  and the Bridge of Nimrodel is broken down. I will bathe my


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     The voice of Legolas faltered, and the  song ceased. 'I cannot sing any 
more,' he said. 'That is  but a part, for I have forgotten much.  It is long 
and  sad,  for  it  tells  how sorrow came  upon Lothlurien,  Lurien  of the 
Blossom, when the Dwarves awakened  evil in the mountains.' 
     `But the Dwarves did not make the evil,' said Gimli. 
     `I said not  so; yet evil came,' answered Legolas sadly.  `Then many of 
the Elves  of  Nimrodel's kindred left their dwellings and departed  and she 
was  lost far in  the South, in  the passes of the White Mountains;  and she 
came  not to  the ship where  Amroth her  lover waited for  her. But  in the 
spring when the wind is in the new leaves the echo of her voice may still be  
heard by the falls that bear her name. And when the wind is in the South the 
voice  of Amroth comes up from the sea; for  Nimrodel flows into Silverlode, 
that Elves call Celebrant, and Celebrant into Anduin  the Great. and  Anduin


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-and  among these they  found that there had been built a wooden platform, or 
flet as such things were called in those days: the  Elves called it a talan. 
It  was  reached  by a round hole in  the  centre  through  which the ladder  
passed. 
     When Frodo came at last up on to the flet he found Legolas seated  with 
three other Elves. They were clad  in  shadowy-grey, and could  not  be seen 
among  the tree-stems, unless they moved suddenly. They stood up, and one of 
them uncovered a small lamp that  gave out a slender silver beam. He held it 
up,  looking at Frodo's face,  and Sam's. Then he shut  off the light again, 
and  spoke words of welcome in  his elven-tongue.  Frodo  spoke haltingly in 
return. 
     `Welcome!' the Elf then said  again in the  Common  Language,  speaking 
slowly. 'We seldom use any tongue but our own; for we dwell now in the heart 
of the forest, and do not willingly have dealings  with any other folk. Even


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     The  Elves  spoke together in  soft  voices, and questioned Legolas  in 
their own tongue. 'Very good,' said Haldir at last. `We will do this, though 
it is against our liking. If  Aragorn and Legolas will guard him, and answer  
for him, he shall pass; but he must go blindfold through Lothlurien. 
     `But now  we must debate  no  longer. Your folk  must not remain on the 
ground. We have been keeping watch on the rivers, ever since we saw a  great 
troop of Orcs  going north toward Moria, along  the skirts of the mountains,  
many days ago. Wolves  are howling on the wood's borders. If you have indeed 
come from Moria, the peril cannot  be far behind. Tomorrow early you must go 
on. 
     'The four hobbits shall c limb up here  and  stay with us-we do not fear 
them! There is  another talan in  the next tree.  There the others must take 
refuge.  You, Legolas, must answer to us for them. Call  us, if  anything is 
amiss! And have an eye on that dwarf!'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
nothing else to do with u s-with the Ring. Though Orcs will often pursue foes 
for many leagues into the plain, if they have a fallen captain to avenge.' 
     Frodo  did not answer. He looked at Sting, and the blade  was dull. Yet 
he had heard something, or thought he had. As soon a s the shadows had fallen


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-song.  Mellyrn  they are called, and are those that bear the yellow blossom, 
but I have never climbed in one. I will see now what is  their shape and way 
of growth.' 
     `Whatever  it may be,'  said Pippin,  `they  will be  marvellous  trees 
indeed if they can offer any rest at night, except to birds. I cannot  sleep 
on a perch! ' 
     'Then dig a hole in the  ground,' said Legolas, `if that  is more after 
the fashion of your kind. But  you  must dig swift and deep, if you  wish to 
hide from Orcs.' He sprang  lightly up from the ground  and  caught a branch 
that grew from the trunk high above his head. But even as he swung there for 
a moment, a voice spoke suddenly from the tree-shadows above him. 
     `Daro!'  it said in commanding tone, and Legolas dropped back to  earth 
in surprise and fear. He shrank against the bole of the tree. 
     'Stand still! ' he whispered to the others. `Do not move or speak! '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
the rainbow on its falls, and the  golden flowers  that floated in its foam. 
All is  dark now  and the Bridge of Nimrodel is broken down. I will bathe my 
feet, for it  is said that  the water is  healing to  the  weary.'  He  went 
forward and climbed down the deep-cloven bank and stepped into the stream. 
     `Follow me!' he  cried. 'The water is not deep. Let us wade  across! On 
the  further bank we can rest. and  the sound of the falling water may bring 
us sleep and forgetfulness of grief.' 
     One by one they  climbed down and followed Legolas. For  a moment Frodo 
stood near the brink and let the water flow over his tired feet. It was cold 
but its touch was clean, and  as he went on and it  mounted to his knees, he 
felt that the stain of travel and all weariness was washed from his limbs.  
     When all  the Company had crossed, they sat and rested and ate a little 
food; and Legolas  told them  tales of Lothlurien that the Elves of Mirkwood


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     Frodo  lay  for some  time awake,  and looked up  at the stars glinting 
through the pale roof of quivering leaves. Sam was snoring at his  side long 
before he himself closed his eyes. He could dimly see  the grey forms of two  
elves  sitting motionless  with their  arms about  their  knees, speaking in 
whispers. The other had  gone down to take up  his watch on one of the lower  
branches. At  last lulled by the wind in the  boughs above,  and  the  sweet 
murmur of the falls of Nimrodel below,  Frodo  fell  asleep with the song of 
Legolas running in his mind. 
     Late in the  night he awoke. The  other hobbits were  asleep. The Elves 
were gone. The sickle Moon was gleaming dimly among the leaves. The wind 
was 
still. A little way off he heard a harsh laugh and the tread of many feet on 
the ground below. There was a ring of  metal. The sounds died  slowly  away, 
and seemed to go southward, on into the wood.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     Awaited her for many a day 
     Beside the roaring sea. 
 
     A wind by night in Northern lands 
     Arose, and loud it cried, 
     And drove the ship from elven-strands 
     Across the streaming tide. 
 
     When dawn came dim the land was lost, 
     The mountains sinking grey 
     Beyond the heaving waves that tossed 
     Their plumes of blinding spray. 
 
     Amroth beheld the fading shore 
     Now low beyond the swell, 
     And cursed the faithless ship that bore 
     Him far from Nimrodel. 
 
     Of old he was an Elven-king, 
     A lord of tree and glen, 
     When golden were the boughs in spring 
     In fair Lothlurien. 
 
     From helm to sea they saw him leap, 
     As arrow from the string, 
     And dive into the water deep, 
     As mew upon the wing. 
 
     The wind was in his flowing hair, 
     The foam about him shone; 
     Afar they saw him strong and fair 
     Go riding like a swan. 
 
     But from the West has come no word,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
voice  of Amroth comes up from the sea; for  Nimrodel flows into Silverlode, 
that Elves call Celebrant, and Celebrant into Anduin  the Great. and  Anduin 
flows into  the  Bay of Belfalas  whence the  Elves of Lurien set  sa il. But 
neither Nimrodel nor Amroth ever came back. 
     'It is told  that she had a house built in the branches  of a tree that 
grew  near the falls; for that  was the custom  of the  Elves of  Lurien, to 
dwell in the trees, and maybe it is so still. Ther efore they were called the 
Galadhrim, the Tree-people. Deep  in  their forest the trees are very great. 
The people of the woods did not delve in the  ground like Dwarves, nor build 
strong places of stone before the Shadow came.' 
     `And even in  these la tter days dwelling in the trees might  be thought 
safer than sitting on the  ground,' said  Gimli. He looked across the stream 
to the road that led back to Dimrill Dale, and then up into the roof of dark 
boughs above.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
them! There is  another talan in  the next tree.  There the others must take 
refuge.  You, Legolas, must answer to us for them. Call  us, if  anything is 
amiss! And have an eye on that dwarf!' 
     Legolas at once went down the ladder to take Haldir's message; and soon  
afterwards Merry and Pippin  clambered up on to the high flet. They were out 
of breath and seemed rather scared. 
     `There!' said Merry  panting. `We  have lugged up your blankets as well 
as  our own. Strider has hidden all the rest of  the baggage in a deep drift 
of leaves.' 
     `You had no  need  of your burdens,' said  Haldir. `It is  cold in  the 
tree-tops in  winter, though the wind tonight is  in the  South; but we have 
food and drink to give you that will drive away the night -chill, and we have 
skins and cloaks to spare.' 
     The  hobbits accepted this  second (and far better) supper very gladly. 
Then they  wrapped themselves warmly,  not only  in  the fur-cloaks  of  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
When all  the Company had crossed, they sat and rested and ate a little 
food; and Legolas  told them  tales of Lothlurien that the Elves of Mirkwood  
still  kept  in their  hearts, of sunlight and starlight upon the meadows by


key: chroma:document
string_value:
the ground below. There was a ring of  metal. The sounds died  slowly  away, 
and seemed to go southward, on into the wood. 
     A head  appeared suddenly through the hole in the flet. Frodo sat up in  
alarm and saw that it was a grey-hooded Elf. He looked towards the hobbits. 
     `What is it? ' said Frodo. 
     `Yrch!' said  the Elf in a hissing whisper, and cast on to the flet the 
rope-ladder rolled up. 
     'Orcs! ' said Frodo. `What are they doing? ' But the Elf had gone. 
     There were  no more  sounds. Even the leaves were silent,  and the very 
falls  seemed  to  be hushed.  Frodo sat and  shivered in his wraps. He  was 
thankful that they had not been  caught on the ground; but he felt  that the 
trees offered little  protection, except concealment.  Orcs were  as keen as 
hounds on  a scent, it  was  said, but they could  also climb.  He drew  out 
Sting: it flashed and glittered  like a  blue  flame  and then  slowly faded


key: chroma:document
string_value:
safer than sitting on the  ground,' said  Gimli. He looked across the stream 
to the road that led back to Dimrill Dale, and then up into the roof of dark 
boughs above. 
     `Your  words bring good counsel, Gimli,' said Aragorn. `We cannot build 
a house, but  tonight we  will do as the Galadhrim  and seek  refuge  in the 
tree-tops, if we can. We have sat here beside  the road  already longer than 
was wise.' 
     The Company now turned aside from the path, and  went into the shadow of 
the deeper woods,  westward along  the mountain-stream away from 
Silverlode. 
Not  far from the falls of Nimrodel they  found a cluster of trees,  some of 
which overhung the stream. Their great grey trunks were of mighty girth, but 
their height could not be guessed. 
     `I will climb up,' said  Legolas. `I am at home among trees, by root or  
bough, though  these  trees are of a kind strange to  me, save as  a name in


key: chroma:document
string_value:
The wind was in his flowing hair, 
     The foam about him shone; 
     Afar they saw him strong and fair 
     Go riding like a swan. 
 
     But from the West has come no word, 
     And on the Hither Shore 
     No tidings Elven-folk have heard 
     Of Amroth evermore.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
in surprise and fear. He shrank against the bole of the tree. 
     'Stand still! ' he whispered to the others. `Do not move or speak! ' 
     There  was a sound  of soft laughter over their heads, and then another  
clear voice spoke in an  elven-tongue. Frodo could understand little of what 
was  said, for the speech that the  Silvan folk east of the  mountains  used 
among themselves was unlike that of the West. Legolas looked up and 
answered 
in the same language.* 
     `Who are they, and what do they say? ' asked Merry. 
     `They're Elves,' said Sam. `Can't  you hear their voices? ' 
     `Yes, they are Elves,'  said Legolas; `and they say that you breathe so 
loud that they could  shoot you in the dark.' Sam  hastily put his hand over 
his mouth.  'But they say also that  you need have  no fear. They have  been 
aware of us for a long while. They heard  my  voice across the Nimrodel, and 
knew that I  was one of their  Northern kindred, and therefore they did  not


key: chroma:document
string_value:
skins and cloaks to spare.' 
     The  hobbits accepted this  second (and far better) supper very gladly. 
Then they  wrapped themselves warmly,  not only  in  the fur-cloaks  of  the 
Elves, but in their own blankets as well, and  tried  to  go  to  sleep. But 
weary  as  they  were only  Sam found that  easy to  do. Hobbits do not like 
heights, and do not sleep upstairs, even when they have any stairs. The flet 
was not at  all to their liking as a  bedroom.  It had  no walls. not even a  
rail; only on one side  was there a  light  plaited  screen,  which could be 
moved and fixed in different places according to the wind. 
     Pippin went on  talking for a while. `I  hope, if I  do  go to sleep in 
this bed-loft, that I shan't roll off,' he said. 
     `Once I do get to sleep,' said Sam, 'i  shall go on sleeping, whether I 
roll off or no. And the less said,  the sooner I'll drop off, if you take my 
meaning.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-two pale eyes. They stopped and gazed upward unwinking. Suddenly they 
turned 
away, and a shadowy figure slipped round the trunk of the tree and vanished. 
     Immediately  afterwards Haldir  came  climbing swiftly  up through  the 
branches. `There was something in this tree that I have never seen  before,' 
he said. `It was not an orc. It fled as  soon as I touched the tree-stem. It 
seemed to be wary, and to have some skill in trees, or I  might have thought  
that it was one of you hobbits.  
     'I did not  shoot, for I  dared not arouse any  cries:  we cannot  risk  
battle. A strong company of Orcs has passed. They crossed the Nimrodel-curse 
their foul feet in its clean water!-and went on down the old road beside the 
river. They seemed to pick up some scent, and they searched the ground for a 
while near the place where you halted. The three of us could not challenge a  
hundred,  so we went ahead and spoke  with feigned  voices, leading  them on 
into the wood.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-you may not see him.' He gave a call like the low whistle of a bird, and out 
of a thicket of  young trees an Elf stepped, clad in grey, but with his hood 
thrown back; his hair glinted like gold in the morning sun. Haldir skilfully 
cast over the stream a coil of grey rope, and he caught it and bound the end 
about a tree near the bank. 
     `Celebrant is  already  a  strong stream here, as you see,' said Haldir 
'and it runs both swift and deep, and is very cold. We do not set foot in it 
so far  north, unless  we must. But  in these days of watchfulness we do not 
make bridges. This is how we cross! Follow me!' He  made his end of the rope 
fast about another tree,  and then ran lightly along it, over the  river and 
back again, as if he were on a road. 
     `I  can walk  this path,' said  Legolas; `but the others have not  this 
skill. Must they swim?' 
     `No!' said Haldir. `We have two  more ropes. We  will fasten them above


key: chroma:document
string_value:
hounds on  a scent, it  was  said, but they could  also climb.  He drew  out 
Sting: it flashed and glittered  like a  blue  flame  and then  slowly faded 
again and grew dull. In  spite  of the  fading of his  sword  the feeling of 
immediate danger did no t leave Frodo, rather it grew stronger. He got up and 
crawled to the opening and peered  down. He was almost certain that he could 
hear stealthy movements at the tree's foot far below. 
     Not Elves; for  the  woodland folk were  altogether noiseless in  their 
movements. Then he heard faintly a sound like sniffing: and something seemed 
to  be  scrabbling on the bark of  the tree-trunk. He  stared down into  the 
dark, holding his breath. 
     Something was now  climbing slowly, and  its breath  came  like a   soft 
hissing through closed teeth. Then coming  up, close  to the stem, Frodo saw


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-enemies of the one Enemy, and yet I must  walk blind, while the sun is merry 
in the woodland under leaves of gold!  ' 
     `Folly it  may seem,' said Haldir. 'Indeed  in nothing is the power  of 
the Dark Lord more clearly shown  than in the estrangement that  divides all  
those who still oppose him.  Yet so little faith and trust do we find now in 
the world beyond Lothlurien, unless maybe in  Rivendell, that we dare not by 
our own  trust  endanger our  land. We live  now  upon  an island  amid many 
perils, and our hands are more often upon the bowstring than upon the harp.  
     `The rivers long defended us, but they are a sure guard no more for the 
Shadow has crept northward  all about  us. Some speak of departing, yet  for  
that it already seems too  late. The mountains to the west are growing evil; 
to the east the lands are waste, and full of Sauron's creatures; and  it  is 
rumoured  that we cannot  now safely pass southward  through  Rohan, and the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-grew.  But  if  there  are  mallorn-trees beyond  the Great Sea,  none  have 
reported it.' 
     As they spoke  thus, the  Company filed slowly along the  paths  in the 
wood, led by Hald ir, while the other Elf walked behind. They felt the ground 
beneath their  feet smooth and  soft, and  after  a while they  walked  more 
freely, without fear of hurt or  fall. Being deprived of sight, Frodo  found 
his hearing and  other senses  sharpened. He could smell the  trees and  the 
trodden  grass.  He could hear many  different notes in  the  rustle  of the 
leaves overhead, the river murmuring away on  his right, and  the thin clear 
voices of birds in  the sky. He  felt the sun upon his face  and hands  when 
they passed through an open glade. 
     As  soon  as he  set  foot  upon the  far  bank of Silverlode a strange 
feeling had come upon  him, and it  deepened as he walked on into the Naith: 
it seemed to him that  he had stepped over a bridge of time into a corner of


key: chroma:document
string_value:
aware of us for a long while. They heard  my  voice across the Nimrodel, and 
knew that I  was one of their  Northern kindred, and therefore they did  not 
hinder our  crossing; and  afterwards  they  heard  my song. Now they bid me 
climb up  with Frodo;  for they seem  to have had some tidings of him and of 
our journey. The others they ask to wait a little and to keep  watch at  the 
foot of the tree, until they have decided what is to be done.' 
     Out of  the  shadows a  ladder  was  let  down:  it  was made  of rope, 
silver -grey and  glimmering  in the dark, and  though it looked  slender  it 
proved  strong enough to bear  many men. Legolas ran  lightly up, and  Frodo 
followed slowly; behind  came Sam trying not to breathe loudly. The branches 
of the mallorn-tree grew  out nearly straight from the trunk, and then swept 
upward; but near the top the main stem divided into a crown  of many boughs,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     `Also,' said Haldir, `they bring me a message from the Lord and Lady of 
the Galadhrim. You are all to walk free, even the dwarf Gimli. It seems that 
the  Lady knows who and what is each member of  your  Company.  New 
messages 
have come from Rivendell perhaps.' 
     He  removed the  bandage  first from Gimli's eyes.  'Your pardon! '  he 
said, bowing low. `Look on  us now with friendly eyes! Look and be glad, for  
you are the  first  dwarf to behold the  trees of the Naith of  Lurien since 
Durin's Day! ' 
     When  his eyes were in  turn uncovered, Frodo looked up  and caught his 
breath.  They were  standing  in an  open  space. To the  left stood a great 
mound, covered with  a sward of grass as  green as Spring-time in the  Elder  
Days.  Upon it , as a double crown, grew two circles of trees: the  outer had 
bark  of  snowy white,  and  were leafless  but  beautiful in  their shapely 
nakedness;  the inner were mallorn-trees of great height,  still arrayed  in


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-other may walk free for a while, until we come nearer to our dwellings, down 
in Egladil, in the Angle between the waters. ' 
     This was not at  all to the liking of  Gimli.  `The  agreement was made 
without my consent,' he said. `I will not walk blindfold, like a beggar or a  
prisoner. And I am no spy.  My folk  have never had dealings with any of the 
servants of the Enemy. Neither have we  done harm to the Elves. I am no more 
likely to betray you than Legolas, or any other of my companions.' 
     'I  do not doubt you,' said Haldir. 'Yet this is our law. I am  not the 
master of the law, and cannot set it aside. I  have done much in letting you  
set foot over Celebrant.' 
     Gimli was  obstinate. He  planted his feet  firmly apart, and laid  his 
hand upon the haft of his axe. 'I will go forward free,' he said, 'or I will 
go back and seek my own land,  where I am known to be true of word, though I 
perish alone in the wilderness.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`I  can walk  this path,' said  Legolas; `but the others have not  this 
skill. Must they swim?' 
     `No!' said Haldir. `We have two  more ropes. We  will fasten them above 
the other, one shoulder-high,  and another half-high, and holding these  the 
strangers should be able to cross with care.' 
     When this  slender bridge had been made, the Company passed  over, some 
cautiously and slowly, others more easily. Of  the hobbits Pippin proved the 
best for he was  sure-footed, and he walked  over quickly, holding only with 
one hand;  but he kept his eyes on the bank ahead and did not look down. Sam 
shuffled along, clutching hard, and looking down into the pale eddying water 
as if it was a chasm in the mountains.  
     He breathed with relief when he was safely across. `Live and  learn! as 
my gaffer used to say. Though he was thinking of gardening,  not of roosting 
like a bird,  nor  of trying  to walk like a spider. Not even my  uncle Andy


key: chroma:document
string_value:
while near the place where you halted. The three of us could not challenge a  
hundred,  so we went ahead and spoke  with feigned  voices, leading  them on 
into the wood. 
     `Orophin  has  now  gone in haste  back  to our  dwellings  to warn our 
people. None of the Orcs will  ever return out of  Lurien. And there will be 
many Elves hidden on the northern border before another night falls. Bu t you 
must take the road south as soon as it is fully light.' 
     Day came pale from the East. As the light grew  it filtered through the 
yellow leaves of  the mallorn, and  it  seemed to the hobbits that the early 
sun of a  cool summer's morning was  shining. Pale-blue sky peeped among the 
moving branches. Looking  through an opening on the south side  of the  flet  
Frodo saw all the valley of the Silverlode lying  like a  sea of fallow gold 
tossing gently in the breeze. 
     The  morning was  still  young and cold when the Company set out again,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
slowly. 'We seldom use any tongue but our own; for we dwell now in the heart 
of the forest, and do not willingly have dealings  with any other folk. Even 
our own kindred in the North are sundered from us. But there  are some of us 
still  who  go  abroad  for  the gathering  of news and the watching  of our 
enemies, and they speak the languages of other lands. I am one. Haldir is my  
name. My brothers, R®mil and Orophin, speak little of your tongue. 
     `But we have heard rumours of your coming, for the messengers of Elrond 
passed by Lurien on their way home up the Dimrill Stair. We had not heard of 
hobbits, or halflings, for many a long year,  and did not know  that any yet 
dwelt in Middle-earth. You do not  look evil! And since you come with an Elf 
of our  kindred, we are willing to befriend you, as  Elrond asked; though it 
is not our custom to lead strangers through our land. But you must stay here 
tonight. How many are you? '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
my gaffer used to say. Though he was thinking of gardening,  not of roosting 
like a bird,  nor  of trying  to walk like a spider. Not even my  uncle Andy 
ever did a trick like that! ' 
     When  at length  all the Company was gathered on the  east  bank of the 
Silverlode,  the Elves untied the ropes and  coiled two of them.  R®mil, who 
had remained  on  the  other side, drew back the last  one, slung  it on his 
shoulder, and  with a wave of his hand went away,  back to  Nimrodel to keep 
watch. 
     `Now, friends,'  said  Haldir, `you have entered the Naith of Lurien or  
the  Gore, as you would  say, for it is the land that lies like a spear -head 
between the arms of Silverlode  and Anduin the Great. We  allow no strangers 
to spy  out the secrets of the  Naith. Few indeed  are permitted even to set 
foot there. 
     `As was agreed, I shall here blindfold the eyes of Gimli the Dwarf. The


key: chroma:document
string_value:
bark  of  snowy white,  and  were leafless  but  beautiful in  their shapely 
nakedness;  the inner were mallorn-trees of great height,  still arrayed  in 
pale  gold. High  amid  the branches of a  towering  tree that stood in  the 
centre of all there gleamed a white flet. At the feet of  the trees, and all 
about  the  green hillsides the grass was studded with small golden  flowers 
shaped  like  stars.  Among them,  nodding  on  slender  stalks,  were  other  
flowers, white and palest green: they glimmered  as a mist amid the rich hue 
of  the  grass. Over all the sky was blue, and  the sun  of afternoon glowed 
upon the hill and cast long green shadows beneath the trees.  
     'Behold! You  are come to Cerin Amroth,' said Haldir. `For this is  the 
heart  of the ancient realm  as it  was long ago, and here is the  mound  of 
Amroth, where in  happier days his high house was built. Here ever bloom the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-perceived them and made for them names new and wonderful. In winter  here 
no 
heart  could  mourn for summer  or  for spring.  No  blemish  or sickness or  
deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of 
Lurien there was no stain. 
     He  turned  and saw that Sam was now standing beside him, looking round 
with a  puzzled expression, and rubbing his eyes as  if he was not sure that 
he was  awake. `It's  sunlight  and bright  day, right enough,'  he said. `I  
thought that Elves were all for moon and stars: but this is more elvish than 
anything I ever heard tell of. I feel as if I was  inside a song. if you take 
my meaning.' 
     Haldir looked at them, and he seemed indeed to take the meaning of both 
thought  and  word.  He  smiled. `You  feel the  power of  the  Lady of  the 
Galadhrim,' he said. `Would it please you  to climb with me up Cerin Amroth?  
' 
     They followed  him  as  he stepped lightly up  the  grass-clad  slopes.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
hand upon the haft of his axe. 'I will go forward free,' he said, 'or I will 
go back and seek my own land,  where I am known to be true of word, though I 
perish alone in the wilderness.' 
     `You cannot go back,' said Haldir sternly. 'Now you have come thus far, 
you must be  brought before the Lord and the Lady. They shall judge  you, to 
hold  you or to  give you leave, as they  will. You cannot cross the  rivers 
again, and behind you  there are now secret sentinels  that you cannot pass.  
You would be slain before you saw them.' 
     Gimli  drew  his axe from his belt. Haldir and his companion bent their 
bows. 'A plague on Dwarves and their stiff necks! ' said Legolas.  
     'Come!'  said Aragorn. `If I am still to lead this Company, you must do 
as I bid. It is hard upon  the Dwarf to be thus singled  out. We will all be 
blindfold, even Legolas. That will be best, though it will make  the journey 
slow and dull.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Frodo saw all the valley of the Silverlode lying  like a  sea of fallow gold 
tossing gently in the breeze. 
     The  morning was  still  young and cold when the Company set out again, 
guided now  by Haldir and his  brother  R®mil. `Farewell,  sweet Nimrodel! ' 
cried Legolas. Frodo looked back and  caught a gleam of white foam among 
the 
grey tree-stems.  `Farewell,' he said. It seemed to him  tha t he would never  
hear again  a running water so beautiful, for  ever blending its innumerable 
notes in an endless changeful music. 
     They went back to the path that  still  went on along the west side  of 
the  Silverlode, and for some way they followed it southward. There were the 
prints of orc-feet in the earth. But soon Haldir turned aside into the trees 
and halted on the bank of the river under their shadows. 
     `There is one of my  people yonder across the stream,' he said  `though


key: chroma:document
string_value:
feeling had come upon  him, and it  deepened as he walked on into the Naith: 
it seemed to him that  he had stepped over a bridge of time into a corner of 
the  Elder Days, and  was  -now walking  in  a world that  was  no  more.  In 
Rivendell  there was memory of  ancient things; in Lurien the ancient things 
still lived on  in the waking world. Evil had been  seen  and  heard  there, 
sorrow had been known; the Elves  feared and  distrusted the world  outside: 
wolves  were howling on  the wood's borders: but  on  the land  of Lurien no 
shadow lay. 
     All that day the  Company marched on, until  they felt the cool evening 
come and heard  the early night-wind whispering among many leaves. Then 
they 
rested and slept without fear upon the ground;  for  their guides would  not 
permit  them to unbind their eyes, and they could  not climb. In the morning 
they went  on again,  walking without  hast e. At noon they halted, and Frodo


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-sway. He longed suddenly to fly like a bird to rest in the  green city. Then  
he looked  eastward and  saw all the land of Lurien running down to  the pale  
gleam of Anduin, the Great  River.  He lifted his  eyes across the river and 
all the light went out, and he  was back again in the world he knew.  Beyond 
the river  the land  appeared flat and empty,  formless and vague, until far 
away  it  rose  again  like  a  wall, dark  and drear.  The sun that lay  on 
Lothlurien had no power to enlighten the shadow of that distant height. 
     `There  lies  the fastness of  Southern  Mirkwood,' said Haldir. `It is 
clad in a forest of dark fir, where the trees strive one against another and 
their branches rot and wither. In the midst upon a  stony height  stands Dol 
Guldur, where long the hidden Enemy had his dwelling. We fear that now it is 
inhabited again,  and with power sevenfold. A black cloud lies often over it


key: chroma:document
string_value:
of our  kindred, we are willing to befriend you, as  Elrond asked; though it 
is not our custom to lead strangers through our land. But you must stay here 
tonight. How many are you? ' 
     `Eight,' said Legolas. `Myself, four hobbits; and two men, one of whom, 
Aragorn, is an Elf-friend of the folk of Westernesse.' 
     `The  name of Aragorn son of Arathorn is known in Lurien,' said Haldir, 
`and  he  has the favour of  the  Lady. All then is  well.  But you have yet 
spoken only of seven.' 
     `The eighth is a dwarf,' said Legolas. 
     `A dwarf! '  said Haldir. `That  is not well. We have not had  dealings 
wi th  the Dwarves since the Dark Days. They are not permitted in our land. I  
cannot allow him to pass.' 
     `But  he is from the Lonely Mountain, one of  Dbin's trusty people, and 
friendly to Elrond,' said Frodo. `Elrond himself  chose him to be one of our 
companions, and he has been brave and faithful.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
heart  of the ancient realm  as it  was long ago, and here is the  mound  of 
Amroth, where in  happier days his high house was built. Here ever bloom the 
winter  flowers  in the  unfading grass:  the  yellow  elanor, and the  pale 
niphredil. Here we will stay awhile, and  come  to the city of the Galadhrim 
at dusk.' 
     The  others  cast themselves down  upon the  fragrant grass,  but Frodo 
stood  awhile still lost in wonder.  It seemed  to him that  he  had stepped 
through a high window  that looked on a vanished world. A light was  upon it 
for which his language  had no  name.  All that  he saw was shapely, but the 
shapes  seemed at once clear cut, as  if they had  been first conceived  and 
drawn at the uncovering of  his eyes, and ancient as if they had endured for  
ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, 
but  they were  fresh  and poignant,  as if  he  had  at  that  moment first


key: chroma:document
string_value:
to the east the lands are waste, and full of Sauron's creatures; and  it  is 
rumoured  that we cannot  now safely pass southward  through  Rohan, and the 
mouths of the Great River are watched by the Enemy. Even if we could come 
to 
the shores of the Sea, we  should  find no  longer any shelter there. It  is 
said that there are still havens of. the High Elves, but they are  far north 
and west, beyond the land of  the Halflings.  But where  that may be, though 
the Lord and Lady may know, I do not.' 
     `You ought  at  least to guess,  since you have seen  us,' said  Merry. 
`There are Elf-havens west of my land, the Shire where Hobbits live.' 
     `Happy folk  are  Hobbits to dwell  near  the shores of the sea! ' said 
Haldir. 'It is long indeed since any of my folk have looked on it, yet still 
we remember it in song. Tell me of these havens as we walk.' 
     `I cannot,' said Merry. `I have never seen them.  I have never been out


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Galadhrim,' he said. `Would it please you  to climb with me up Cerin Amroth?  
' 
     They followed  him  as  he stepped lightly up  the  grass-clad  slopes.  
Though he walked and  breathed, and about him living leaves and flowers were 
stirred by the same cool wind as fanned his face, Frodo felt that  he was in 
a timeless land that did not fade or change or fall into forgetfulness. When 
he had gone and passed again into  the outer world, still Frodo the wanderer  
from the Shire would walk there, upon the  grass among  elanor and niphredil 
in fair Lothlurien. 
     They entered the circle of white trees. As they did so the  South  Wind 
blew  upon Cerin Amroth and  sighed among the  branches. Frodo  stood still, 
hearing far off_ great seas upon beaches that had long ago been washed away, 
and sea -birds crying whose race had perished from the earth. 
     Haldir  had gone on and was  now  climbing to the high  flet. As  Frodo


key: chroma:document
string_value:
as I bid. It is hard upon  the Dwarf to be thus singled  out. We will all be 
blindfold, even Legolas. That will be best, though it will make  the journey 
slow and dull.' 
     Gimli laughed  suddenly. `A  merry  troop of fools we  shall look! Will 
Haldir lead us all on a string, like  many blind beggars with one dog? But I 
will be content, if only Legolas here shares my blindness.' 
     `I am an Elf and a  kinsman here,' said Legolas, becoming angry  in his 
turn. 
     `Now let us cry: "a plague on the stiff necks of Elves!"' said Aragorn. 
`But the Company shall all fare alike. Come, bind our eyes Haldir! ' 
     `I shall claim  full amends for every fall and  stubbed  toe, if you do 
not lead us well,' said Gimli as they bound a cloth about his eyes.  
     'You will have no claim,' said  Haldir. `I shall lead you well, and the 
paths are smooth and straight.' 
     `Alas for  the  folly  of these  days! '  said Legolas.  'Here  all  are


key: chroma:document
string_value:
permit  them to unbind their eyes, and they could  not climb. In the morning 
they went  on again,  walking without  hast e. At noon they halted, and Frodo  
was aware that they had  passed out under the shining Sun. Suddenly he heard 
the sound of many voices all around him. 
     A marching host of Elves  had  come up silently:  they  were  hastening 
toward the northern borders to guard against any attack from Moria; and they 
brought news,  some of  which Haldir reported. The marauding orcs  had  been 
waylaid and  almost all destroyed; the remnant had fled westward towards the 
mountains, and were being pursued.  A strange creature also  had  been seen, 
running with bent back and  with hands near the ground, like a beast and yet  
not of beast-shape. It  had eluded  capture, and  they had not  shot it, not 
knowing whether it was good or ill, and  it had vanished down the Silverlode 
southward.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Guldur, where long the hidden Enemy had his dwelling. We fear that now it is 
inhabited again,  and with power sevenfold. A black cloud lies often over it 
of  late. In this high place you may see the two powers that are opposed one  
to another;  and ever  they  strive now  in thought,  but whereas the  light 
perceives  the very  heart of  the darkness,  its  own  secret has not  been 
discovered. Not yet.' He turned and climbed swiftly down, and  they followed 
him. 
     At the hill's foot Frodo found Aragorn, standing still  and silent as a  
tree; but in his hand was a small golden bloom of elanor, and a light was in 
his eyes. He was wrapped in some fair memory: and as Frodo looked  at him he 
knew that he beheld things as they once had been in this same place. For the 
grim years were removed from the  face of Aragorn, and he  seemed clothed in 
white, a  young lord  tall and fair; and he spoke words in the Elvish tongue


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-the sound of singing falling from on high like soft rain upon leaves.  
     They went along many paths and climbed many  stairs, until they came to 
the high places and saw before them amid a wide  lawn a fountain shimmering. 
It was lit by silver lamps that swung from the boughs of trees,  and it fell 
into a  basin of silver, from which a white stream spilled.  Upon the  south 
side of the lawn  there stood the mightiest  of  all  the trees;  its  great 
smooth  bole  gleamed  like  grey  silk, and up it  towered, until its first 
branches, far above, opened their huge limbs under shadowy clouds of leaves.  
Beside it  a  broad white ladder stood, and   at  its foot three  Elves  were 
seated. They sprang up as the travellers approached, and Frodo saw that they 
were tall and  clad in grey  mail, and from their shoulders hung long  white 
cloaks. 
     'Here dwell Celeborn and Galadriel,'  said Haldir.  `It is  their  wish 
that you should ascend and speak with them.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-wells of deep memory. 
     Haldir led  Frodo  before them, and the  Lord welcomed  him in his  own 
tongue. The Lady Galadriel said no word but looked long upon his face. 
     `Sit  now beside  my chair, Frodo of the Shire!  ' said Celeborn. `When 
all have come we will speak together.' 
     Each of the companions he greeted courteously by name  as they entered.  
`Welcome Aragorn son  of Arathorn! ' he said. `It is eight  and thirty years 
of the world outside since you came to this land;  and those years lie heavy 
on you. But the end is near, for good or ill. Here lay aside your burden for  
a while! ' 
     'Welcome son of Thranduil! Too seldom do my kindred journey hither from 
the North.' 
     `Welcome Gimli  son of  Gluin!  It is long indeed since  we  saw one of 
Durin's folk in Caras Galadhon. But today we have broken our  long  law. May 
it be a sign that though  the world is now dark better days are at hand, and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
we remember it in song. Tell me of these havens as we walk.' 
     `I cannot,' said Merry. `I have never seen them.  I have never been out 
of my own la nd before. And if I had known what the world outside was like. I 
don't think I should have had the heart to leave it.' 
     `Not even to see fair Lothlurien? '  said Haldir.  'The world is indeed 
full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much 
that is fair, and  though in all lands love is  now  mingled with  grief, it 
grows perhaps the greater. 
     `Some there are among us  who sing that  the Shadow  will draw back and 
peace shall come again.  Yet I do not believe  that  the world about us will 
ever again be as it was of old, or the light of the Sun as it was aforetime. 
For the Elves, I fear, it will prove at best a truce, in which they may pass 
to  the  Sea  unhindered  and  leave the Middle-earth  for  ever.  Alas  for


key: chroma:document
string_value:
and sea -birds crying whose race had perished from the earth. 
     Haldir  had gone on and was  now  climbing to the high  flet. As  Frodo 
prepared to follow him,  he laid his hand  upon the  tree beside the ladder: 
never before had  he been  so  suddenly and so keenly aware of the  feel and 
texture of a tree's skin and of the life within  it. He  felt  a  delight in 
wood and  the touch of it, neither  as forester nor as carpenter; it was the 
delight of the living tree itself. 
     As he stepped out at last upon the lofty platform, Haldir took his hand 
and turned him toward the South. `Look this way first! ' he said. 
     Frodo looked  and saw, still at some  distance, a  hill of many  mighty 
trees, or a city of green towers: which it was he could not tell. Out of it, 
it seemed  to him that the  power and light came that held all the  land  in


key: chroma:document
string_value:
grim years were removed from the  face of Aragorn, and he  seemed clothed in 
white, a  young lord  tall and fair; and he spoke words in the Elvish tongue 
to one whom Frodo could not see . Arwen vanimelda, nambril! he said, and then 
he drew a breath, and returning  out  of his thought  he looked at Frodo and 
smiled. 
     `Here  is the  heart of Elvendom on earth,' he said, `and here my heart 
dwells  ever,  unless there  be a light beyond the dark roads that  we still 
must tread, you and I. Come with  me!  ' And taking Frodo's hand in  his, he 
left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as living man.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
The  sun  was  sinking  behind  the  mountains,  and the  shadows  were 
deepening in the woods, when  they went on again.  Their paths now went into 
thickets  where  the dusk had already gathered. Night came beneath the trees 
as they walked, and the Elves uncovered their silver lamps.  
     Suddenly they came out into the open again and found themselves under a 
pale evening sky pricked by a  few early  stars.  There  was a wide treeless 
space  before  them, running in a  great circle  and bending  away on  either  
hand. Beyond it was a deep fosse lost in soft shadow, but the grass upon its 
brink was green, as if it  glowed still in memory of the sun that  had gone. 
Upon the further side there rose to a great height a green wall encircling a  
green hill thronged with mallorn-trees taller than any they had yet seen  in 
all the land. Their height  could not be  guessed,  but they stood up in the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-afterwards we almost forgot our grief for a time,  as  we walked in gladness 
on the fair paths of Lurien.' 
     `Yet our grief  is  great  and our loss  cannot be mended ,' said Frodo. 
'Gandalf was our guide, and he led us  through  Moria; and when  our  escape 
seemed beyond hope he saved us, and he fell.' 
     'Tell us now the full tale! ' said Celeborn: 
     Then  Aragorn  recounted  all  that  had  happened  upon  the  pass  of 
Caradhras, and in  the  days that followed;  and  he spoke  of Balin and his 
book, and the fight in the Chamber of Mazarbul, and the fire, and the narrow 
bridge, and  the  coming of the Terror.  'An  evil  of  the Ancient World it 
seemed,  such as  I have  never seen before,' said  Aragorn. `It  was both a  
shadow and a flame, strong and terrible.' 
     'It was a Balrog of Morgoth,' said Legolas; `of  all elf-banes the most  
deadly, save the One who sits in the Dark Tower.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
cloaks. 
     'Here dwell Celeborn and Galadriel,'  said Haldir.  `It is  their  wish 
that you should ascend and speak with them.' 
     One of the  Elf-wardens then blew a clear note on a small horn, and  it 
was answered  three times from far  above. `I will  go first,' said  Haldir. 
'Let Frodo come  next and  with him  Legolas. The others may follow  as they 
wish. It is a  long climb for those that are not  accustomed to such stairs,  
but you may rest upon the way.' 
     As he climbed slowly up Frodo passed many flets: some on one side, some 
on  another,  and some set about  the  bole of the tree,  so that the ladder  
passed through them. At a  great height above the ground he came to  a  wide 
talan, like the deck of a great ship. On it was built a house, so large that 
almost  it would have served  for  a hall of Men upon the earth. He  entered 
behind  Haldir, and found that he was  in a chamber of oval  shape,  in  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-not speak of your further road for a while.' 
     That night the Company slept upon the ground, much  to the satisfaction 
of the hobbits. The Elves spread for them a pavilion  among  the trees  near 
the fountain, and in it they laid soft couches; then speaking words of peace 
with fair  elvish voices they left  them.  For a little while the travellers 
talked of their night  before in the tree-tops, and of  their day's journey, 
and of the Lord and  Lady;  for they had not yet the  heart to  look further  
back. 
     `What  did you  blush for, Sam?  ' said  Pippin. `You soon  broke down. 
Anyone would have thought you had a guilty conscience. I hope it was nothing 
worse than a wicked plot to steal one of my blankets.' 
     `I never thought no such thing,' answered Sam, in no mood for jest. 'If 
you  want to know, I felt as if I hadn't  got nothing on,  and I didn't like 
it. She seemed to be looking inside  me and asking me what I would do if she


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Durin's folk in Caras Galadhon. But today we have broken our  long  law. May 
it be a sign that though  the world is now dark better days are at hand, and 
that friendship shall be renewed between our peoples.' Gimli bowed low. 
     When all  the guests were seated before his chair   the  Lord  looked at 
them again. 'Here there  are eight,' he said. `Nine were to set out: so said 
the messages. But maybe  there has been some  change of counsel that we have 
not heard. Elrond is far away, and darkness gathers between us, and all this 
year the shadows have grown longer.' 
     `Nay, there was no change of counsel,' said the Lady Galadriel speaking 
for the first time. Her voice was clear and musical, but deeper than woman's 
wont. `Gandalf the Grey  set out  with the Company, but he did  not pass the 
borders of this land.  Now tell us where he is; for  I much desired to speak 
with him again. But  I cannot see him from afar,  unless he comes within the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
For the Elves, I fear, it will prove at best a truce, in which they may pass 
to  the  Sea  unhindered  and  leave the Middle-earth  for  ever.  Alas  for  
Lothlurien that I  love! It would be a  poor life in a land where no mallorn


key: chroma:document
string_value:
green hill thronged with mallorn-trees taller than any they had yet seen  in 
all the land. Their height  could not be  guessed,  but they stood up in the 
twilight like living towers. In  their, many-tiered branches and amid  their 
ever -moving  leaves  countless  lights were  gleaming,  green and  gold  and  
silver. Haldir turned towards the Company. 
     `Welcome to  Caras  Galadhon!  ' he  said. 'Here  is the  city  of  the 
Galadhrim where dwell  the Lord Celeborn  and Galadriel  the Lady of Lurien. 
But we  cannot enter here,  for  the gates do not look northward. We must go  
round to the  southern side,  and the  way is  not  short,  for the city  is 
great.' 
     There was a road  paved with white stone  running on the outer brink of 
the  fosse. Along this  they wen t westward, with the city  ever  climbing up 
like  a  green cloud upon their left; and as the night deepened  more lights 
sprang forth, until all the  hill seemed afire with stars. They came at last


key: chroma:document
string_value:
almost  it would have served  for  a hall of Men upon the earth. He  entered 
behind  Haldir, and found that he was  in a chamber of oval  shape,  in  the 
midst of which grew the trunk of the great mallorn, now tapering towards its 
crown, and yet making still a pillar of wide girth. 
     The chamber was  filled with a  soft  light; its walls were  green  and 
silver and  its roof  of gold. Many Elves were  seated there.  On two chairs 
beneath the  bole of the tree and canopied by a living bough there sat, side 
by side, Celeborn and Galadriel.  They stood up to greet  their guests, after  
the  manner  of Elves, even those who were accounted mighty kings. Very tall 
they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave  and 
beautiful.  They were clad wholly  in white; and the hair of the Lady was of 
deep gold, and the hair of the  Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; 
but no sign  of  age was upon  them, unless it were  in  the depths of their


key: chroma:document
string_value:
you  want to know, I felt as if I hadn't  got nothing on,  and I didn't like 
it. She seemed to be looking inside  me and asking me what I would do if she 
gave me the chance of  flying back home to the Shire to a nice  little  hole 
with-with a bit of garden of my own.' 
     `That's funny,' said Merry. 'Almost  exactly what I felt  myself; only, 
only well, I don't think I'II say any more,' he ended lamely. 
     All  of them, it seemed, had fared  alike:  each  had felt that  he was 
offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something 
that he greatly  desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had 
only to  turn  aside from the road and  leave the Quest and  the war against 
Sauron to others.  
     `And it seemed  to me, too,'  said Gimli, `that my choice  would remain 
secret and known only to myself.' 
     'To me it seemed exceedingly strange,' said Boromir. `Maybe it was only


key: chroma:document
string_value:
shadow and a flame, strong and terrible.' 
     'It was a Balrog of Morgoth,' said Legolas; `of  all elf-banes the most  
deadly, save the One who sits in the Dark Tower.' 
     `Indeed I saw  upon  the bridge that  which haunts our darkest dreams l 
saw Durin's Bane,' said Gimli in a low voice, and dread was in his eyes. 
     'Alas!  ' said Celeborn.  `We long have feared that  under Caradhras  a  
terror slept.  But had  I known that the Dwarves had st irred up this evil in 
Moria again,  l  would have forbidden you to pass the  northern borders, you  
and all that went with you. And  if it were possible, one would  say that at 
the last  Gandalf fell from wisdom into folly, going needlessly into the net 
of Moria.' 
     `He would be rash indeed that said that thing,' said Galadriel gravely. 
`Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. Those that followed him 
knew not  his mind and cannot report his full purpose. But however it may be


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-in answer. 
     He rose clumsily and bowed  in dwarf-fashion, saying: `Yet more fair is 
the living land of  Lurien, and the Lady Galadriel is above  all the  jewels 
that lie beneath the earth! ' 
     There was  a silence.  At length Celeborn spoke again. `I did  not know 
that your plight was so evil,' he said. `Let Gimli  forget my harsh words: I 
spoke in  the trouble of  my heart. I will do what I  can  to aid you,  each 
according  to his wish and need, but especially  that one of the little folk  
who bears the burden.' 
     'Your quest is known to us,' said Galadriel, looking at Frodo. `But  we 
will not here speak of it more openly. Yet not in vain will it prove, maybe, 
that you came to this land seeking aid, as Gandalf himself plainly purposed.  
For  the  Lord of  the  Galadhrim is  accounted the wisest of  the Elves  of 
Middle-earth, and a giver of  gifts beyond  the power of kings. He has dwelt


key: chroma:document
string_value:
borders of this land.  Now tell us where he is; for  I much desired to speak 
with him again. But  I cannot see him from afar,  unless he comes within the 
fences of Lothlurien: a grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet and 
of his mind are hidden from me.' 
     'Alas! ' said Aragorn. `Gandalf the Grey fell into  shadow. He remained 
in Moria and did not escape.' 
     At these words  all the  Elves in the  hall  cried aloud  in grief  and 
amazement. `These are evil tidings,' said Celeborn, `the most evil that have 
been spoken here in long years full of grievous deeds.' He turned to Haldir. 
`Why  has nothing  of  this  been  told  to me before?  '  he  asked in  the 
Elven-tongue. 
     'We  have  not spoken  to  Haldir of  our  deeds or our purpose,'  said 
Legolas. `At  first  we were  weary and  danger  was  too close  behind  and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     `Speak no evil of the Lady Galadriel! ' said Aragorn sternly. 'You know 
not what you say.  There is in her  and in  this land no evil, unless a  man 
bring  it  hither himself.  Then let him beware!  But  tonight I shall sleep 
without  fear  for the first time  since  I left Rivendell. And may  I sleep 
deep, and forget for a while my grief! I am weary in body and in  heart.' He 
cast himself down upon his couch and fell at once into a long sleep. 
     The others soon did the same, and no sound  or  dream  disturbed  their 
slumber. When they woke they found that the light of day  was broad upon the 
lawn before the pavilion.  and  the fountain rose and fell glittering in the 
sun. 
     They remained some  days in Lothlurien, so  far as they could  tell  or 
remember. All the while that they dwelt there the sun  shone clear, save for  
a gentle  rain that fell at times, and passed away leaving all  things fresh


key: chroma:document
string_value:
like  a  green cloud upon their left; and as the night deepened  more lights 
sprang forth, until all the  hill seemed afire with stars. They came at last 
to  a white  bridge, and crossing found  the  great gates of the  city: they 
faced south-west, set between the  ends of the  encircling  wall  that  here 
overlapped, and they were tall and strong, and hung with many lamps.  
     Haldir knocked  and  spoke,  and the gates  opened soundlessly; but  of 
guards Frodo could see no sign. The  travellers passed within, and the gates 
shut behind them. They were in a deep lane between the ends of the wall, and 
passing quickly through it they entered the City of the Trees. No folk could 
they  see, nor  hear  any feet upon the paths;  but  there were many voices,  
about them, and  in the air  above. Far away up  on the hill they could hear


key: chroma:document
string_value:
deep gold, and the hair of the  Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; 
but no sign  of  age was upon  them, unless it were  in  the depths of their 
eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet  profound, the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`And it seemed  to me, too,'  said Gimli, `that my choice  would remain 
secret and known only to myself.' 
     'To me it seemed exceedingly strange,' said Boromir. `Maybe it was only 
a test,  and she thought to read our thoughts  for her own good purpose; but 
almost I  should  have said that she was tempting us, and offering  what she 
pretended to have the power to give. It  need not be  said that I refused to 
listen. The Men of Minas Tirith are true to their word.' But what he thought 
that the Lady had offered him Boromir did not tell. 
     And as for Frodo, he would  not speak, though  Boromir pressed him with 
questions. `She held you long in her gaze, Ring-bearer,' he said. 
     `Yes,'  said Frodo; `but whatever  came into my  mind  then I will keep 
there.' 
     `Well, have a care!  ' said  Boromir.  `I do not feel too sure  of this 
Elvish Lady and her purposes.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. Those that followed him 
knew not  his mind and cannot report his full purpose. But however it may be 
with the  guide, the followers are blameless.  Do not repent of your welcome  
to the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long  and far from Lothlurien, who 
of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and would not 
wish 
to look upon their ancient home, though it  had become an abode of dragons?  
     'Dark  is  the  water  of  Kheled-zvram, and cold  are the  springs  of 
Kibil-nvla,  and  fair were  the many-pillared halls  of Khazad-dym in Elder  
Days before  the fall of mighty  kings beneath  the stone.' She looked  upon 
Gimli, who sat glowering and sad, and she smiled. And the Dwarf, hearing the 
names given in his own ancient tongue,  looked up and met her  eyes;  and it 
seemed  to him that he looked  suddenly  into the heart of  an enemy and saw


key: chroma:document
string_value:
For  the  Lord of  the  Galadhrim is  accounted the wisest of  the Elves  of 
Middle-earth, and a giver of  gifts beyond  the power of kings. He has dwelt  
in  the  West  since  the days of  dawn, and  I have dwelt  with  him  years 
uncounted;  for  ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin  I  passed over the 
mountains, and together through ages  of  the world we have fought  the long 
defeat. 
     'I it was who first summoned  the White Council. And  if my designs had 
not  gone amiss, it would  have been  governed by Gandalf the Grey, and then 
mayhap things would have  gone otherwise. But even now there is hope left. I 
will not give you  counsel, saying do this,  or do that. For not in doing or  
contriving, nor  in  choosing between this course and another, can  I avail; 
but  only in knowing what was  and is, and in part also  what shall  be. But 
this I will  say to you: your Quest  stands upon the edge of a knife.  Stray


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-He was seldom moved to make song or rhyme; even in Rivendell he had 
listened 
and had not sung himself, though his memory was stored with many things that 
others had made before him. But now as he sat beside the  fountain in Lurien 
and heard  about  him the  voices of the Elves, his thought took shape  in a  
song that seemed fair to him;  yet  when he  tried to repeat it to Sam  only 
snatches remained, faded as a handful of withered leaves. 
     When evening in the Shire was grey 
     his footsteps on the Hill were heard; 
     before the dawn he went away 
     on journey long without a word. 
 
     From Wilderland to Western shore, 
     from northern waste to southern hill, 
     through dragon-lair and hidden door 
     and darkling woods he walked at will. 
 
     With Dwarf and Hobbit, Elves and Men, 
     with mortal and immortal folk, 
     with bird on bough and beast in den, 
     in their own secret tongues he spoke. 
 
     A deadly sword, a healing hand,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-the same,  I'm beginning to feel that if we've got to go on,  then we'd best 
get it over. 
     'It's the  job that's never started as takes longest  to finish, as  my 
old gaffer used to say. And I don't reckon that these folk  can do much more 
to  help us, magic or no. It's  when we leave  this land that we shall  miss 
Gandalf worse, I'm thinking.' 
     'I  am afraid that's only too  true, Sam,' said Frodo. `Yet I hope very 
much that before we leave we shall see the Lady of the Elves again.' 
     Even as he spoke, they saw,  as if she  came in answer to their  words,  
the  Lady Galadriel  approaching. Tall and white and fair she walked beneath 
the trees. She spoke no word, but beckoned to them. 
     Turning aside, she led them  toward  the southern slopes of the hill of 
Caras Galadhon,  and passing through  a high green  hedge they  came into an 
enclosed  garden. No trees  grew there,  and it  lay open  to the  sky.  The


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-They've dug up Bagshot Row, and there's the  poor old gaffer  going down the 
Hill with his bits of things on a barrow. I must go home! ' 
     'You cannot go home alone,' said the Lady. 'You did not wish to go home 
without your master before you looked in the Mirror, and  yet  you knew that 
evil things might well be happening in the  Shire.  Remember that the Mirror 
shows many things, and not all have yet come to pass. Some never come to be, 
unless those that behold the visions turn aside  from their path to  prevent 
them. The Mirror is dangerous as a guide of deeds.' 
     Sam  sat on  the  ground and  put his head in his hands. `I  wish I had 
never come  here, and I don't want to see  no  more magic,' he said and fell 
silent. After a moment he spoke again thickly, as if struggling with  tears. 
`No, I'll go home by the long road with Mr. Frodo, or  not at all,' he said. 
`But I hope I  do  get  back some  day. If  what  I've  seen turns out true,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-and  they seem also to use  the  same word of the  deceits of the Enemy. But 
this, if you will, is  the  magic of Galadriel. Did  you not  say  that  you  
wished to see Elf-magic?  ' 
     'I did,' said Sam, trembling a little between fear and curiosity. `I'll 
have a peep, Lady, if you're willing.' 
     `And I'd not mind  a glimpse of what's going on at home,' he said in an 
aside to  Frodo.  'It seems a terrible  long time that  I've been  away. But 
there, like  as  not I'll only  see the  stars,  or something that  I  won't  
understand.' 
     'Like as not,' said the Lady with a gentle laugh. `But come,  you shall 
look and see what you may. Do not touch the water! ' 
     Sam climbed up  on  the foot of the pedestal and leaned over the basin. 
The water looked hard and dark. Stars were reflected in it. 
     `There's only stars, as I thought,'  he said. Then he gave a  low gasp, 
for  the stars went out. As if  a dark  veil had  been withdrawn, the Mirror


key: chroma:document
string_value:
names given in his own ancient tongue,  looked up and met her  eyes;  and it 
seemed  to him that he looked  suddenly  into the heart of  an enemy and saw 
there love and understanding. Wonder came into his face, and then  he smiled


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-with disordered papers; rain was beating on the windows. 
     Then there  was a pause, and after  it many swift scenes followed  that 
Frodo in some way knew to be parts of a great history in which he had become 
involved. The mist cleared and he saw a sight which he had never seen before 
but knew at once: the Sea. Darkness fell. The sea rose  and raged in a great 
storm. Then  he saw  against  the  Sun, sinking  blood-red into a  wrack  of 
clouds,  the black outline  of a tall ship with torn sails riding up  out of 
the  West.  Then a wide river flowing through a  populous city. Then a white  
fortress with seven towers. And then again a ship with  black sails, but now 
it was morning again, and the water rippled with light, and a banner bearing  
the  emblem of a white tree shone in the sun. A smoke  as of fire and battle 
arose, and again the  sun went  down in a burning red that faded into a grey 
mist; and into the mist a small  ship passed away, twinkling with lights. It


key: chroma:document
string_value:
remember. All the while that they dwelt there the sun  shone clear, save for  
a gentle  rain that fell at times, and passed away leaving all  things fresh 
and clean. The air was cool and  soft, as if it were  early spring, yet they 
felt about them the deep  and thoughtful quiet of winter.  It seemed to them 
that they did little but  eat and drink and  rest, and walk among the trees;  
and it was enough. 
     They had not seen  the Lord and Lady  again, and they had little speech 
with the Elven-folk; for few of these  knew or would use the Westron tongue. 
Haldir  had  bidden them  farewell and gone back again to the  fences of the 
North, where great watch was  now kept since the tidings of Moria  that  the 
Company had  brought. Legolas  was away much among the Galadhrim,  and 
after 
the  first  night  he  did not sleep with  the  other companions,  though he 
returned  to  eat and talk with them. Often he  took Gimli with him  when he


key: chroma:document
string_value:
with mortal and immortal folk, 
     with bird on bough and beast in den, 
     in their own secret tongues he spoke. 
 
     A deadly sword, a healing hand, 
     a back that bent beneath its load; 
     a trumpet-voice, a burning brand, 
     a weary pilgrim on the road. 
 
     A lord of wisdom throned he sat, 
     swift in anger, quick to laugh; 
     an old man in a battered hat 
     who leaned upon a thorny staff. 
 
     He stood upon the bridge alone 
     and Fire and Shadow both defied; 
     his staff was broken on the stone, 
     in Khazad-dym his wisdom died. 
     `Why, you'll be beating Mr. Bilbo next! ' said Sam.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Caras Galadhon,  and passing through  a high green  hedge they  came into an 
enclosed  garden. No trees  grew there,  and it  lay open  to the  sky.  The 
evening star had risen and  was  shining with white  fire above  the western 
woods.  Down a long flight of steps the Lady went into   a deep green hollow, 
through which ran murmuring the silver stream that issued from the  fountain 
on  the hill.  At the bottom, upon a  low  pedestal  carved like a branching 
tree, stood a basin  of silver.  wide  and shallow, and beside  it  stood  a  
si lver ewer. 
     With water from the stream Galadriel  filled the basin to the brim, and 
breathed  on it, and when the water  was still again she spoke. `Here is the 
Mirror  of Galadriel,'  she said.  'I have  brought you here so that you may 
look in it, if you will.' 
     The air was very still, and the dell  was dark, and the Elf-lady beside 
him was tall and pale. 'What shall we  look  for,  and what shall we  see? '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
but  only in knowing what was  and is, and in part also  what shall  be. But 
this I will  say to you: your Quest  stands upon the edge of a knife.  Stray 
but a little and it will fail, to the ruin  of  all. Yet hope remains  while 
all the Company is true.' 
     And  with that word  she held them with her eyes, and in silence looked 
searchingly at  each  of them  in turn. None save  Legolas and Aragorn could 
long endure her glance. Sam quickly blushed and hung his head. 
     At  length  the  Lady Galadriel  released them from her  eyes,  and she 
smiled. `Do not let your hearts be troubled,' she said. 'Tonight  you  shall 
sleep in peace.' Then they sighed and felt suddenly weary, as those who have 
been questioned long and deeply, though no words had been spoken openly.  
     `Go now! ' said Celeborn. `You are worn with sorrow and much toil. Even 
if  your Quest did  not concern us  closely, you should  have refuge in this


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`No, I'll go home by the long road with Mr. Frodo, or  not at all,' he said. 
`But I hope I  do  get  back some  day. If  what  I've  seen turns out true, 
somebody's going to catch it hot! ' 
     `Do you now  wish to look , Frodo? '  said  the Lady Galadriel. `You did 
not wish to see Elf-magic and were content.' 
     `Do you advise me to look? ' asked Frodo. 
     'No,' she said. `I do not counsel you one way or the other. I am  not a  
counsellor.  You may  learn something, a nd  whether what you  see be fair or 
evil, that  may be profitable,  and yet it may not. Seeing is both good  and 
perilous. Yet  I think, Frodo, that you have courage and  wisdom enough  for 
the venture, or I would not have brought you here. Do as you will!   ' 
     `I will look,' said Frodo, and he climbed on the pedestal and bent over  
the  dark  water.  At once the Mirror  cleared  and  he  saw  a twilit land. 
Mountains  loomed dark in the distance against a pale sky. A  long grey road


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-thought. But still the door is closed! ' 
     She lifted up her white arms, and spread out her hands towards the East 
in a  gesture of  rejection  and  denial. Edrendil, the Evening  Star,  most  
beloved of the Elves, shone clear above. So bright was it that the figure of 
the Elven-lady cast a dim shadow on the ground. Its rays glanced upon a ring 
about  her  finger; it  glittered like  polished  gold overlaid  with silver 
light, and a white stone in it twinkled as if the Even -star had come down to 
rest upon her hand. Frodo gazed at the ring with awe; for suddenly it seemed  
to him that he understood. 
     `Yes,' she said, divining his thought, `it is not permitted to speak of 
it,  and  Elrond  could  not  do  so.  But  it  cannot  be  hidden from  the 
Ring-bearer,  and  one who has seen  the Eye.  Verily it is in the  land  of 
Lurien upon  the finger of Galadriel  that one of the Three remains. This is 
Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     'No, I am afraid not,' said Frodo. 'But that is the best I can do yet.' 
     'Well, Mr. Frodo, if  you  do have another go, I hope you'll say a word 
about his fireworks,' said Sam. `Something like this:  
     The finest rockets ever seen: 
     they burst in stars of blue and green, 
     or after thunder golden showers 
     came falling like a rain of flowers. 
     Though that doesn't do them justice by a long road.' 
     `No,  I'll  leave that  to  you,  Sam. Or perhaps to Bilbo. But-well. I 
can't talk of  it any more. I can't bear to think  of bringing  the news  to 
him.' 
     One  evening Frodo and Sam were walking  together in the cool twilight.  
Both of them  felt restless again. On  Frodo suddenly the  shadow of parting  
had fallen: he  knew somehow that the time was very near when  he must leave 
Lothlurien. 
     `What do you think of Elves now, Sam?  ' he said. `I asked you the same


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`There's only stars, as I thought,'  he said. Then he gave a  low gasp, 
for  the stars went out. As if  a dark  veil had  been withdrawn, the Mirror  
grew grey, and then clear. There was sun shining, and the branches  of trees 
were waving and tossing in the  wind. But before Sam could make  up his mind 
what it  was that he saw, the  light faded; and  now he thought he saw Frodo 
with  a pale face lying fast asleep under a great dark cliff. Then he seemed 
to see  himself going along  a dim passage, and climbing an endless  winding 
stair. It came to him suddenly that he was looking urgently  for  something, 
but what it was he  did not know. Like a dream the vision  shifted and  went  
back, and he  saw the trees again. But this time they were not so close, and  
he could see what was  going on: they were not waving in the wind, they were 
falling, crashing to the ground. 
     `Hi!' cried Sam  in  an  outraged  voice.  'There's  that Ted  Sandyman


key: chroma:document
string_value:
arose, and again the  sun went  down in a burning red that faded into a grey 
mist; and into the mist a small  ship passed away, twinkling with lights. It 
vanished, and Frodo sighed and prepared to draw away. 
     But suddenly the Mirror went altogether dark, as dark as  if a hole had 
opened in the world  of sight, and Frodo looked into emptiness. In the black  
abyss there appeared a single Eye  that slowly grew. until it  filled nearly 
all  the  Mirror. So terrible was it that Frodo stood rooted, unable to  cry 
out  or  to withdraw his gaze. The Eye was rimmed with fire, but  was itself 
glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful  and  intent, and  the black slit of its 
pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing. 
     Then the Eye began to rove, searching this way and that; and Frodo knew 
with certainty  and  horror that  among  the  many things that it sought  he 
himself  was one. But  he also knew that  it could not see him-not yet,  not


key: chroma:document
string_value:
after 
the  first  night  he  did not sleep with  the  other companions,  though he 
returned  to  eat and talk with them. Often he  took Gimli with him  when he 
went abroad in the land, and the others wondered at this change. 
     Now as the companions sat or walked together they spoke of Gandalf, and 
all  that  each had  known and seen of  him came clear before their minds. As 
they  were healed of hurt and weariness of body the grief of their loss grew 
more keen. Often they heard nearby Elvish voices singing, and knew that they 
were making songs  of  lamentation  for his fall,  for they caught  his name 
among the sweet sad words that they could not understand. 
     Mithrandir, Mithrandir  sang  the Elves, O Pilgrim Grey!  For  so  they 
loved  to  call  him.  But if Legolas was with  the  Company,  he would  not 
interpret the songs for them, saying that he had not the skill, and that for  
him the grief was still too near, a matter for tears and not yet for song.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
look in it, if you will.' 
     The air was very still, and the dell  was dark, and the Elf-lady beside 
him was tall and pale. 'What shall we  look  for,  and what shall we  see? ' 
asked Frodo, filled with awe. 
     `Many things I can command the Mirror to reveal,' she a nswered, `and to  
some I can  show  what  they desire  to see. But the  Mirror will  also show 
things unbidden,  and those  are  often stranger  and more  profitable  than 
things which we  wish  to behold. What you will see, if you leave the Mirror  
free to work, I cannot tell.  For it shows things that were, and things that 
are,  things  that yet may be. But which it is that he sees, even the wisest  
cannot always tell. Do you wish to look? ' 
     Frodo did not answer. 
     `And you? ' she said, turning to Sam.  'For this is what your folk would 
call magic. I  believe;  though I  do not understand clearly what they mean;


key: chroma:document
string_value:
the  dark  water.  At once the Mirror  cleared  and  he  saw  a twilit land. 
Mountains  loomed dark in the distance against a pale sky. A  long grey road 
wound back out of sight.  Far away a figure came slowly down the road, faint 
and  small at  first,  but  growing  larger and  clearer  as it  approached. 
Suddenly Frodo realized that it reminded  him  of Gandalf. He  almost called 
aloud the wizard's name, and then he saw that  the figure was clothed not in 
grey but in  white, in  a white  that shone faintly in the dusk; and  in its 
hand  there was  a white staff. The  head was so bowed that he could see  no 
face,  and  presently the figure turned aside round  a bend in the road  and 
went out  of  the Mirror's  view. Doubt came into Frodo's  mind:  was this a  
vision of Gandalf on one of his  many  lonely  journeys long  ago, or was it 
Saruman?  
     The vision now  changed. Brief and  small but  very vivid  he  caught a


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`Go now! ' said Celeborn. `You are worn with sorrow and much toil. Even 
if  your Quest did  not concern us  closely, you should  have refuge in this 
City, until you were  healed and refreshed. Now  you shall rest, and we will


key: chroma:document
string_value:
had fallen: he  knew somehow that the time was very near when  he must leave 
Lothlurien. 
     `What do you think of Elves now, Sam?  ' he said. `I asked you the same 
question once before-it   seems a very long while ago; but you have seen more 
of them since then.' 
     'I  have  indeed!  ' said Sam. 'And I reckon  there's  Elves and Elves.  
They're  all  elvish enough,  but they're not all the same. Now  these  folk  
aren't wanderers or homeless, and seem a bit nearer to the likes of us: they 
seem to belong here, more even than Hobbits do in the Shire. Whether they've 
made the land, or  the  land's  made them, it's hard to say,  if you take my 
meaning. It's  wonderfully  quiet here.  Nothing seems to  be going on,  and 
nobody  seems to  want it to. If  there's any magic  about,  it's right down 
deep, where I can't lay my hands on it, in a manner of speaking.' 
     'You can see and feel it everywhere,' said Frodo.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
interpret the songs for them, saying that he had not the skill, and that for  
him the grief was still too near, a matter for tears and not yet for song. 
     It was Frodo who first put something of his sorrow into  halting words.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
with certainty  and  horror that  among  the  many things that it sought  he 
himself  was one. But  he also knew that  it could not see him-not yet,  not 
unless he willed it. The Ring that hung upon its  chain  about his neck grew 
heavy, heavier than a great stone,  and his  head was dragged downwards. The 
Mirror  seemed  to be growing hot and  curls  of steam were rising  from the 
water. He was slipping forward. 
     `Do not touch the water!' said the  Lady  Galadriel softly. The  vision 
faded,  and Frodo found that he was  looking  at the cool stars twinkling in 
the silver basin. He stepped back shaking all over and looked at the Lady. 
     `I know what it was that you  last saw,' she said; `for that is also in 
my mind. Do not be  afraid! But do  not think that only by singing  amid the 
trees, nor  even by  the  slender arrows of  elven-bows,  is  this  land  of 
Lothlurien maintained and defended against its  Enemy. I say  to you, Frodo,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Lurien upon  the finger of Galadriel  that one of the Three remains. This is 
Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper. 
     `He suspects, but  he  does not  know  --  not  yet. Do you not see now 
wherefore your  coming is to us as  the footstep  of  Doom? For if you fail, 
then we are  laid  bare to the Enemy.  Yet if you succeed, then our power is 
diminished, and Lothlurien will fade, and the  tides  of  Time will sweep it 
away. We must depart into the  West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell  and 
cave, slowly to forget and to be forgotten.' 
     Frodo bent his head. `And what do you wish? ' he said at last. 
     `That  what should be shall be,' she answered.  `The love of the  Elves 
for  their land  a nd  their works is deeper than the deeps of  the Sea,  and 
their regret  is  undying and cannot ever  wholly be assuaged. Yet they will 
cast all away rather than submit to Sauron: for they know him  now.  For the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
vision of Gandalf on one of his  many  lonely  journeys long  ago, or was it 
Saruman?  
     The vision now  changed. Brief and  small but  very vivid  he  caught a  
glimpse of  Bilbo  walking restlessly about his room. The table was littered


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-grasp. The evil that was devised long ago  works on  in many  ways,  whether 
Sauron himself stands or falls. Would not that have been a noble deed to set  
to the credit of his Ring, if I had taken it by force or fear from my guest?  
     `And now a t last  it comes. You will give me the Ring  freely! In place  
of  the Dark Lord  you will set up  a  Queen. And I shall  not  be dark, but 
beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the 
Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Drea dful as the Storm and the 
Lightning!  
Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair! ' 
     She  lifted up her hand and from the  ring that she wore there issued a  
great  light that  illuminated her  alone  and left all else dark. She stood 
before  Frodo seeming  now  tall beyond  measurement, and  beautiful  beyond 
enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light


key: chroma:document
string_value:
deep, where I can't lay my hands on it, in a manner of speaking.' 
     'You can see and feel it everywhere,' said Frodo. 
     'Well,' said Sam, 'you can't  see nobody working  it. No  fireworks like 
poor Gandalf used to  show. I  wonder  we  don't see nothing of the Lord and 
Lady in all these days. I fancy now that she could do some wonderful things, 
if she had a mind. I'd dearly love to see some Elf-magic, Mr. Frodo!  ' 
     'I  wouldn't,' said Frodo.  `I am content.  And I don't  miss Gandalf's 
fireworks, but his bushy eyebrows, and his quick temper, and his voice.' 
     `You're right,'  said  Sam.  `And don't think I'm  finding  fault. I've 
often wanted to  see a  bit of magic like what it tells of in old tales, but 
I've never heard of a  better land than this. It's like being at home and on 
a holiday at the same time, if you understand me. I don't want to leave. All


key: chroma:document
string_value:
trees, nor  even by  the  slender arrows of  elven-bows,  is  this  land  of 
Lothlurien maintained and defended against its  Enemy. I say  to you, Frodo, 
that  even as I speak to you, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or  
all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my


key: chroma:document
string_value:
their regret  is  undying and cannot ever  wholly be assuaged. Yet they will 
cast all away rather than submit to Sauron: for they know him  now.  For the 
fate of Lothlurien you are not answerable but only for the doing of your own  
task. Yet I  could wish, were it of any avail, that the One  Ring had  never 
been wrought, or had remained for ever lost.' 
     'You are wise  and fearless  and fair, Lady  Galadriel,' said Frodo. `I  
will give  you the One Ring, if you ask for it. It is too great a matter for  
me.' 
     Galadriel laughed  with a sudden clear laugh. `Wise the  Lady Galadriel 
may be,' she said, `yet here she has met her match in  courtesy. Gently  are 
you revenged for my testing of your heart at our first meeting. You begin to  
see with a keen eye. I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to  ask  
what you offer. For many long  years I  had pondered what I might do, should 
the  Great  Ring come  into my hands, and behold!  it was brought  within my


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     His  own  plan, while Gandalf remained with  them, had been to go  with 
Boromir, and with his sword help to deliver Gondor. For he believed that the 
message of the dreams was a summons, and that the hour had come at last 
when 
the  heir of  Elendil  should  come  forth and  strive with  Sauron  for the 
mastery. But in Moria  the burden of Gandalf had been laid  on  him; and  he  
knew that he could not now forsake the Ring, if Frodo refused in  the end to  
go with  Boromir. And  yet what help could he or any of the Company give  to 
Frodo, save to walk blindly with him into the darkness?  
     `I shall go to Minas Tirith,  alone if need be, for it is my duty,' said 
Boromir; and after  that he was  silent  for a while,  sitting with his eyes 
fixed  on Frodo, as if  he was trying  to  read the Halfling's thoughts.  At 
length he spoke  again, softly, as if he was debating  with himself. `If you


key: chroma:document
string_value:
before  Frodo seeming  now  tall beyond  measurement, and  beautiful  beyond 
enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light 
faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and  lo! she was  shrunken: a slender  
elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad. 
     'I pass the test,' she said. `I will diminish, and go into the West and 
remain Galadriel.' 
     They stood for a long while in silence. At length the Lady spoke again. 
`Let us return! ' she  said. `In the morning you must depart for now we have 
chosen, and the tides of fate are flowing.' 
     `I  would  ask  one thing before we go,'  said Frodo, `a  thing which I 
often meant to  ask  Gandalf in Rivendell. I  am permitted to  wear  the One 
Ring: why  cannot I see all the others  and know the thoughts  of those that 
wear them? ' 
     `You have not tried,' she said. `Only thrice have you set the Ring upon


key: chroma:document
string_value:
That  night  the Company was again summoned to the chamber of Celeborn, 
and there the Lord and Lady greeted them with fair words. At length Celeborn 
spoke of their departure. 
     `Now is the time,' he  said, `when those who wish to continue the Quest  
must harden their hearts to leave this land.  Those who no longer wish to go  
forward may remain here, for a while. But whether they stay or go, none  can 
be sure of  peace.  For we are come now to  the edge of doom. Here those who 
wish  may await  the oncoming of the hour till either the ways of  the world 
lie open again. or we summon them to the  last need of Lurien. Then they may 
return to their own lands, or else go to the long home of those that fall in 
battle.' 
     There was a silence. `They all resolved to  go forward,' said Galadriel 
looking in their eyes. 
     `As for me,' said Boromir, `my way home lies onward and not back.' 
     `That is true,' said Celeborn, `but is all this Company  going with you


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-nibbled at it. His expression quickly changed, and  he ate  all the rest  of 
the cake with relish. 
     `No more,  no  more!' cried the  Elves laughing.  `You have eaten enough 
already for a long day's march.' 
     `I thought  it was  only a kind of cram, such as  the Dale-men make for 
journeys in the wild,' said the Dwarf.  
     `So it is,' they answered.  `But we call it   lembas or waybread, and it 
is mor e strengthening than any food made  by Men, and  it  is more  pleasant  
than cram, by all accounts.' 
     `Indeed it is,' said Gimli.  'Why it is better than  the honey-cakes of 
the Beornings,  and  that  is great praise,  for the Beornings  are the best 
bakers that I know of; but they are none too willing to deal out their cakes 
to travellers in these days. You are kindly hosts! ' 
     'All the same, we bid you spare the food,' they  said. 'Eat little at a  
time,  and only at need. For these things  are given to  serve  you when all


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-among  you who can handle  boats: Legolas, whose folk know  the swift Forest  
River; and Boromir of Gondor; and Aragorn the traveller.' 
     `And  one Hobbit! ' cried Merry. `Not all of us look on  boats as  wild 
horses. My people live by the banks of the Brandywine.' 
     `That is  well,' said Celeborn. `Then I will furnish  your Company with 
boats. They must be small and light, for  if you go far  by water, there are 
places where you will be forced to  carry them. You will come to  the rapids 
of Sarn  Gebir,  and maybe at  last to the  great falls of  Rauros where the 
River thunders down from Nen Hithoel; and there  are other perils. Boats may 
make your journey less toilsome for  a while.  Yet they  will  not  give you  
counsel:  in the  end  you must leave  them and the River, and turn  west -or 
east.' 
     Aragorn  thanked  Celeborn  many times. The gift of boats comforted him 
much, not least because there would now be no  need to decide his course for


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-walk among the stones or the trees. You are indeed high in the favour of the 
Lady! For she herself and her maidens wove this stuff; and never before have 
we clad strangers in the garb of our own people.' 
     After  their morning meal the Company said farewell to  the lawn by the 
fountain.  Their  hearts  were  heavy;  for it was a fair  place, and it had 
become like home to  them,  though they could not count the days and  nights 
that they had passed there. As they stood for a moment looking at the  white 
water in the sunlight, Haldir came walking towards them over the green grass 
of the glade. Frodo greeted him with delight. 
     'I have  returned from the  Northern  Fences,'  said the Elf, `and I am 
sent  now  to be your guide again.  The Dimrill Dale is  full of vapour  and 
clouds of  smoke,  and the  mountains are troubled. There are noises in  the 
deeps  of the  earth. If any of you had thought  of returning northwards  to


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-silver and gold  and green, but most were either  white or grey. Three small 
grey boats had been made ready for  the travellers, and  in  these the Elves 
stowed their goods. And they added  also coils of rope, three  to each boat. 
Slender they looked, but strong,  silken  to the touch, grey of hue like the 
elven-cloaks.  
     `What  are  these?  '  asked  Sam,  handling  one  that  lay  upon  the 
greensward. 
     `Ropes indeed! ' answered an Elf  from the  boats.  'Never  travel  far 
without  a rope! And one that is long and strong and light. Such  are these. 
They may be a help in many needs.' 
     'You don't  need to  tell me  that! ' said Sam. `I came without any and 
I've been worried ever since. But I was wondering  what these  were made of,  
knowing a bit about rope -making: it's in the family as you might say.' 
     `They are made of hithlain ,' said the Elf, `but there is no time now to


key: chroma:document
string_value:
fixed  on Frodo, as if  he was trying  to  read the Halfling's thoughts.  At 
length he spoke  again, softly, as if he was debating  with himself. `If you  
wish only to destroy  the Ring,' he said,  `then there is little use in  war 
and weapons; and the Men of Minas  Tirith  cannot  help.  But if you wish to  
destroy the armed might  of the  Dark Lord,  then it is folly  to go without 
force into his domain; and folly  to throw away.' He  paused suddenly, as if 
he had  become aware that he was  speaking his thoughts aloud. `It  would be 
folly  to  throw  lives away,  I  mean,' he ended. `It is  a choice  between 
defending a  strong place  and   walking openly  into the arms  of death.  At  
least, that is how I see it.' 
     Frodo caught something  new  and strange  in  Boromir's glance, and  he 
looked hard at  him.  Plainly Boromir's thought was different from his final 
words. It would be folly to throw away: what? The Ring of Power? He had said


key: chroma:document
string_value:
he could see what was  going on: they were not waving in the wind, they were 
falling, crashing to the ground. 
     `Hi!' cried Sam  in  an  outraged  voice.  'There's  that Ted  Sandyman 
a-cutting down trees as he  shouldn't. They didn't ought to be  felled: it's 
that avenue beyond the Mill that shades the road to Bywater. I  wish I could  
get at Ted, and I'd fell him ! ' 
     But  now  Sam  noticed  that the Old  Mill had  vanished,  and  a large 
red-brick building was being put up  where it had stood. Lots of  folk  were 
busily  at work. There was a tall red chimney nearby.  Black smoke seemed to 
cloud the surface of the Mirror. 
     'There's some devilry at work in the Shire,' he said. 'Elrond knew what 
he  was about when he wanted to send Mr. Merry back.' Then suddenly Sam 
gave 
a cry and sprang away. 'I can't stay here,' he said wildly. `I must go home.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
looking in their eyes. 
     `As for me,' said Boromir, `my way home lies onward and not back.' 
     `That is true,' said Celeborn, `but is all this Company  going with you  
to Minas Tirith? ' 
     `We have not decided our course,' said Aragorn. 'Beyond Lothlurien I do 
not know what Gandalf intended to do. Indeed I do not think that even he had 
any clear purpose. ' 
     `Maybe not,' said  Celeborn, `yet when you leave this land, you  can no 
longer  forget  the Great  River.  As  some of you  know well, it  cannot be 
crossed  by travellers with baggage between Lurien and Gondor, save by boat. 
And are not the bridges  of Osgiliath broken down  and all the landings held 
now by the Enemy?  
     `On which side will you journey? The way to Minas Tirith lies upon this 
side, upon  the  west; but the straight road of the Quest  lies east of  the 
River, upon the darker shore. Which shore will you now take?  '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'All the same, we bid you spare the food,' they  said. 'Eat little at a  
time,  and only at need. For these things  are given to  serve  you when all  
else fails.  The  cakes  will keep sweet  for  many many  days, if  they are 
unbroken and left in their leaf-wrappings, as we have brought them. One will 
keep a traveller on his feet for a day of  long labour, even if he be one of 
the tall Men of Minas Tirith.' 
     The  Elves next unwrapped  and gave to each  of the Company the clothes 
they  had  brought.  For  each they  had  provided a  hood  and cloak,  made 
according to his size, of the light but warm silken stuff that the Galadhrim 
wove. It was  hard to say of what  colour they were:  grey with  the hue  of 
twilight under  the trees they seemed  to be; and yet if they were moved, or  
set in another light, they were green as shadowed leaves, or brown as fallow 
fields by  night, dusk -silver  as  water under  the  stars. Each  cloak  was


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Ring: why  cannot I see all the others  and know the thoughts  of those that 
wear them? ' 
     `You have not tried,' she said. `Only thrice have you set the Ring upon 
your finger since you knew what you possessed. Do not try!  It would destroy 
you.  Did not Ganda lf tell  you that  the rings give power  according to the 
measure of each possessor? Before you could use that power you would need 
to 
become far stronger, and to train your will to the domination of others. Yet 
even so, as Ring-bearer and as one that has borne it on finger and seen that 
which is hidden, your sight is grown keener. You  have perceived  my thought 
more clearly than many  that are accounted wise. You saw the Eye of him that 
holds the  Seven and the Nine.  And  did  you not see and recognize the ring 
upon my finger? Did you see my ring? ' she asked turning again to Sam. 
     'No, Lady,' he  answered. `To tell you the truth, I  wondered what  you


key: chroma:document
string_value:
clouds of  smoke,  and the  mountains are troubled. There are noises in  the 
deeps  of the  earth. If any of you had thought  of returning northwards  to 
your homes, you would not have been able to pass  that  way. But come!  Your 
path now goes south.' 
     As they walked through Caras Galadhon the green ways were empty; but in 
the trees above them many voices were murmuring and singing. They 
themselves 
went  silently. At last Haldir  led them down the  southward  slopes  of the 
hill, and they came again  to  the great  gate hung with  lamps, and to  the 
white  bridge; and so they  passed out and left the city of the Elves.  Then 
they turned  away from the paved road  and took  a path that went off into a  
deep  thicket  of  mallorn-trees,  and passed  on,  winding through  rolling 
woodlands  of  silver  shadow,  leading   them  ever  down,  southwards  and 
eastwards, towards the shores of the River.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
knowing a bit about rope -making: it's in the family as you might say.' 
     `They are made of hithlain ,' said the Elf, `but there is no time now to 
instruct  you  in  the  art of their making. Had we  known that  this  craft  
delighted  you, we  could  have taught  you  much. But  now alas! unless you 
should at some time return hither, you must be content with our gift. May it 
serve you well! ' 
     `Come! ' said Haldir.  `All is now ready  for you. Enter the boats! But 
take care at first! ' 
     'Heed the words! ' said the other  Elves. 'These boats are light-built, 
and they are crafty and  unlike the boats of other folk. They will not sink, 
lade them as you will; but they are wayward if mishandled. It would be  wise 
if you accustomed yourselves to stepping  in and out,  here where there is a  
landing-place, before you set off downstream.' 
     The Company  was  arranged in this way: Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam were in


key: chroma:document
string_value:
east.' 
     Aragorn  thanked  Celeborn  many times. The gift of boats comforted him 
much, not least because there would now be no  need to decide his course for 
some days. The others, too, looked more hopeful. Whatever perils  lay ahead, 
it seemed better to float down the broad tide of Anduin to meet them than to 
plod   forward  with  bent backs. Only Sam was doubtful: he at any rate still 
thought boats as bad as wild horses, or worse, and not  all the dangers that 
he had survived made him think better of them. 
     `All shall be prepared for you and await you  at the  haven before noon 
tomorrow,'  said  Celeborn.  'I will send my people to you in the morning to 
help you make ready for the journey. Now we will  wish  you all a fair night  
and untroubled sleep.' 
     'Good  night,  my friends!  ' said Galadriel.  'Sleep in peace! Do  not 
trouble your  hearts overmuch with thought of  the road tonight.  Maybe  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
looked hard at  him.  Plainly Boromir's thought was different from his final 
words. It would be folly to throw away: what? The Ring of Power? He had said 
something like this  at the Council, but then he had accepted the correction 
of Elrond. Frodo looked at Aragorn,  but he seemed  deep in  his own thought 
and made no sign that he  had  heeded Boromir's wor ds.  And so  their debate 
ended. Merry and Pippin were  already asleep, and Sam was nodding. The 
night 
was growing old. 
     In the  morning, as they were  beginning  to  pack their slender goods,  
Elves that could speak their tongue came to them and brought them many gifts 
of food and clothing for the  journey.  The food was  mostly in the  form of 
very thin cakes, made of a meal that was baked a light brown on the outside, 
and inside  was  the colour of  cream. Gimli took  up one  of  the cakes and 
looked at it with a doubtful eye. 
     `Cram,' he said  under his breath,  as he broke off a crisp corner  and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
set in another light, they were green as shadowed leaves, or brown as fallow 
fields by  night, dusk -silver  as  water under  the  stars. Each  cloak  was 
fastened about the neck with a brooch like a green leaf veined with silver. 
     `Are these magic cloaks? ' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder. 
     `I do  not  know what you mean by  that,' answered  the  leader  of the 
Elves. `They are fair garments, and the web is good, for it was made in this 
land. They are elvish robes certainly, if that is what  you  mean. Leaf  and  
branch, water and  stone: they have the hue and beauty  of all  these things 
under the twilight of Lurien that we  love; for  we  put the thought of  all 
that we love into all that  we make. Yet they  are garments, not armour, and 
they  will not turn shaft or blade. But they should serve you well: they are 
light to wear, and warm enough  or cool enough at  need.  And  you will find


key: chroma:document
string_value:
upon my finger? Did you see my ring? ' she asked turning again to Sam. 
     'No, Lady,' he  answered. `To tell you the truth, I  wondered what  you  
were talking about.  I  saw a star through your finger. But if you'll pardon


key: chroma:document
string_value:
landing-place, before you set off downstream.' 
     The Company  was  arranged in this way: Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam were in 
one boat; Boromir,  Merry,  and Pippin  in another; and  in the  third  were 
Legolas and Gimli, who  had now become fast friends. In this last boat  most 
of  the goods and packs were  stowed. The boats were moved and  steered with 
short-handled paddles that had broad leaf-shaped blades. When all  was ready 
Aragorn led them  on a trial up  the Silverlode. The current  was  swift and 
they went  forward slowly. Sam sat  in the  bows,  clutching the  sides, and 
looking back wistfully to  the  shore. The sunlight  glittering on the water  
dazzled his eyes.  As they passed beyond the green field of the Tongue,  the 
trees  drew down to the  river's  brink. Here and there golden lea ves tossed 
and floated on the  rippling stream.  The air was very bright and still, and 
there was a silence, except for the high distant song of larks.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
woodlands  of  silver  shadow,  leading   them  ever  down,  southwards  and 
eastwards, towards the shores of the River. 
     They had gone  some ten miles and noon  was at hand when they came on a  
high green  wall. Passing through  an opening they came  suddenly out of the 
trees. Before them  lay a  long  lawn of shining grass, studded  with golden 
elanor  that  glinted  in the sun.  The lawn ran  out  into a narrow  tongue 
between  bright margins:  on  the  right  and  west  the  Silverlode  flowed 
glittering; on the left and  east the Great River  rolled its broad  waters, 
deep and  dark.  On  the  further  shores the  woodlands  still  marched  on 
southwards as far as the eye could see, but  all the banks  were  bleak  and 
bare. No mallorn lifted its gold-hung boughs beyond the Land of Lurien. 
     On  the bank of the Silverlode, at some distance up from the meeting of 
the  streams,  there was a hythe of white stones and  white wood. By it were


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-of that  which has already been left far behind by  the  flowing  streams of 
Time. 
     After they had eaten and drunk,  sitting upon the grass, Celeborn spoke 
to them again of their journey, and lifting his hand he pointed south to the 
woods beyond the Tongue. 
     `As you go down the water,' he said, `you will find that the trees will 
fail, and you  will come to a barren country. There the River flows in stony 
vale amid  high moors, until at last after many leagues it comes to the tall 
island  of the Tindrock,  that we call Tol Brandir. There it casts its  arms 
about the steep shores of the  isle, and falls then  with a  great noise and 
smoke  over the cataracts of Rauros down into the Nindalf, the Wetwang as it 
is called in your  tongue.  That  is a wide region of sluggish fen where the 
stream becomes tortuous and much divided. There the Entwash flows in by 
many 
mouths from the Forest of  Fangorn  in the west. About that stream, on  this


key: chroma:document
string_value:
they  will not turn shaft or blade. But they should serve you well: they are 
light to wear, and warm enough  or cool enough at  need.  And  you will find 
them a great aid in keeping out of the sight of unfriendly eyes, whether you


key: chroma:document
string_value:
stream becomes tortuous and much divided. There the Entwash flows in by 
many 
mouths from the Forest of  Fangorn  in the west. About that stream, on  this 
side of the Great River, lies Rohan. On the further side are the bleak hills 
of the Emyn Muil. The wind blows from the East there, for they look out over  
the Dead Marshes and the Noman-lands to Cirith Gorgor and the black gates of 
Mordor. 
     'Boromir, and any  that go with him seeking  Minas Tirith, will do well 
to leave the Great River  above Rauros and cross the Entwash before it finds 
the marshes.  Yet  they  should  not  go too far  up  that  stream, nor risk  
becoming entangled in the  Forest of Fangorn. That is a strange land, and is 
now  little  known. But  Boromir  and Aragorn  doubtless  do  not  need this 
warning.' 
     'Indeed we have heard  of Fangorn in  Minas Tirith,' said Boromir. `But 
what I have heard seems to me for the most part old wives' tales, such as we


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-my speaking  out,  I think my master was right. I  wish you'd take his Ring. 
You'd  put things  to  rights.  You'd  stop them digging up the  gaffer  and 
turning him adrift. You'd make some folk pay for their dirty work.' 
     `I would,' she said. `That is how it would begin. Bu t it would not stop 
with that, alas! We will not speak more of it. Let us go!' 

####- 
 

Chapter 8. Farewell to Lurien


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-and as  she held  it  up  the gem flashed  like the sun shining through  the 
leaves  of spring. `This  stone I  gave to Celebrnan my daughter, and she to 
hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope. In this hour take the name 
that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the house of Elendil! ' 
     Then Aragorn took  the stone and pinned the brooch upon his breast, and 
those  who  saw  him wondered; for they  had  not marked before how tall and 
kingly  he stood, and it seemed to  them that many years of toil  had  fallen 
from his shoulders. `For the  gifts that you have  given me I thank you,' he 
said, 'O Lady of  Lurien of whom were sprung Celebrnan  and Arwen  
Evenstar. 
What praise could I say more? ' 
     The Lady bowed her hea d, and she turned then to Boromir, and to him she 
gave a belt of gold; and to  Merry  and Pippin  she gave small silver belts, 
each  with a  clasp wrought like a golden flower. To Legolas she  gave a bow


key: chroma:document
string_value:
warning.' 
     'Indeed we have heard  of Fangorn in  Minas Tirith,' said Boromir. `But 
what I have heard seems to me for the most part old wives' tales, such as we  
tell to our children. All that lies north of Rohan is now  to us so far away 
that fancy can wander freely there. Of old Fangorn lay  upon the  borders of 
our realm; but it is now many lives of men since  any of  us  visited it, to 
prove or disprove the legends that have come down from distant years. 
     `I have myself  been at whiles in Rohan, but I have  never  crossed  it 
northwards. When I  was sent out as a messenger, I passed through the Gap by 
the skirts  of the White Mountains,  and crossed the Isen  and the Greyflood  
into Northerland.  A  long and wearisome  journey.  Four  hundred  leagues I 
reckoned it, and it took me many  months; for  I lost my horse at Tharbad, at 
the fording  of  the  Greyflood. After that  journey,  and  the road  I have


key: chroma:document
string_value:
On  the bank of the Silverlode, at some distance up from the meeting of 
the  streams,  there was a hythe of white stones and  white wood. By it were 
moored many boats and  barges.  Some were  brightly painted, and shone  with


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-trodden  with  this Company, I  do  not much doubt  that I shall find a  way 
through Rohan, and Fangorn too, if need be.' 
     `Then  I need say no more,' said Celeborn. 'But do not despise the lore 
that has come down from distant years; for oft it may chance  that old wives 
keep in memory word of things that once were needful for the wise to know.' 
     Now Galadriel rose  from the grass, and taking a  cup  from one  of her  
maidens she filled it with white mead and gave it to Celeborn. 
     'Now it is time  to drink the cup of  farewell,' she said. `Drink, Lord 
of  the Galadhrim!  And let not your heart be  sad though night  must follow 
noon, and already our evening draweth nigh.' 
     Then  she brought  the  cup to each of the Company, and bade them drink  
and farewell. But when they had drunk she commanded them to sit again on the 
grass,  and  chairs were set  for her and  for Celeborn.  Her maidens   stood


key: chroma:document
string_value:
gave a belt of gold; and to  Merry  and Pippin  she gave small silver belts, 
each  with a  clasp wrought like a golden flower. To Legolas she  gave a bow 
such as  the Galadhrim used,  longer and  stouter than the bows of Mirkwood, 
and strung with a string of elf-hair. With it went a quiver of arrows.  
     `For you little gardener and lover of trees,' she said to  Sam, `I have 
only a small gift.' She put into his hand a little box of plain  grey  wood, 
unadorned save for  a single silver rune upon the lid.  `Here  is set  G for  
Galadriel,' she said; `but  also it may stand  for garden in your tongue. In 
this box there is earth from my orchard, and such blessing  as Galadriel has 
still to bestow  is upon it. It will not keep  you on your  road, nor defend 
you  against any peril; but if you keep it and see your  home again at last, 
then perhaps it may reward  you.  Though you should find all barren and laid


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     Nambril! Nai hiruvalyl Valimar. 
     Nai elyl hiruva. Nambril! 
     `Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the  wind,  long years numberless  as 
the  wings of trees!  The long years have passed like  swift draughts of the 
sweet mead in lofty halls beyond the West, beneath the blue  vaults of Varda  
wherein the stars  tremble  in the  song of her voice, holy and queenly. Who  
now shall refill  the cup for me? For now the Kindler, Varda,  the  Queen of 
the Stars,  from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds, and all  
paths are drowned deep in shadow; and out of a grey country darkness lies on 
the foaming waves between  us, and mist  covers the jewels of Calacirya  for  
ever. Now lost, lost to those from the East is Valimar! Farewell! Maybe thou 
shalt find Valimar. Maybe even thou shalt find it. Farewell!  ' Varda is the 
name of that Lady whom the Elves in these lands of exile name Elbereth.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
and farewell. But when they had drunk she commanded them to sit again on the 
grass,  and  chairs were set  for her and  for Celeborn.  Her maidens   stood 
silent about her, and a while  she looked upon her guests. At last she spoke 
again. 
     'We have drunk  the cup of  parting,' she  said, `and the  shadows fall 
between us. But  before you go,  I have brought in  my ship gifts  which the 
Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim now offer  you in memory of Lothlurien.' 
Then 
she called to each in turn. 
     `Here is  the gift  of Celeborn  and  Galadriel to the  leader  of your 
Company,' she  said to Aragorn, and she gave him a sheath that had been made 
to fit his sword.  It was  overlaid  with  a  tracery of flowers  and leaves 
wrought of silver and gold, and on it were set in elven runes formed of many 
gems the name And®ril and the lineage of the sword. 
     `The  blade  that  is  drawn from  this  sheath shall  not be stained or


key: chroma:document
string_value:
and untroubled sleep.' 
     'Good  night,  my friends!  ' said Galadriel.  'Sleep in peace! Do  not 
trouble your  hearts overmuch with thought of  the road tonight.  Maybe  the 
paths that  you each  shall tread are  already laid before your feet, though 
you do not see them. Good night! ' 
     The  Company  now  took  their leave  and  returned to their  pavilion. 
Legolas  went with them, for this  was to be their last night in Lothlurien, 
and in spite of the words of Galadriel they wished to take counsel together. 
     For a  long time they debated what they should do, and  how it would be 
best to attempt the fulfilling of their purpose with the Ring: but they came 
to no decision. It was plain that most of them desired to go  first to Minas 
Tirith, and to  escape at least for a while from  the  terror of  the Enemy. 
They would have been willing to follow a leader  over the River and into the  
shadow of Mordor; but Frodo spoke  no word, and Aragorn was still divided in


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-thrust them out into the flowing stream, and  the rippling waters bore  them 
slowly  away. The  travellers  sat still  without moving or speaking. On the 
green  bank near to the very point  of the Tongue  the  Lady Galadriel stood 
alone and silent. As they passed her they  turned and their eyes watched her  
slowly  floating away  from  them.  For  so it seemed  to  them:  Lurien was 
slipping  backward, like a bright ship masted with enchanted trees,  sailing 
on to forgotten shores, while they sat  helpless upon the margin of the grey 
and leafless world. 
     Even as they gazed,  the Silverlode passed out into the currents of the 
Great River, and their boats turned  and began to speed southwards. Soon the 
white form of the Lady  was small and  distant. She  shone like a window  of 
glass  upon a far hill in the westering sun, or as a remote lake seen from a  
mountain: a  crystal fallen in the lap of the land. Then  it seemed to Frodo


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     They turned a sharp bend in  the river, and there, sailing proudly down 
the stream toward them, they saw a  swan of great size. The water rippled on  
either  side of the white  breast beneath its curving neck. Its  beak  shone 
like burnished gold, and its eyes glinted like jet set in yellow stones; its 
huge white wings  were half lifted.  A music came down the river as it  drew 
nearer; and suddenly they perceived that it was  a ship, wrought  and carved 
with elven-skill in the likeness of  a bird. Two elves clad in white steered 
it  with  black paddles. In the midst of the vessel sat Celeborn, and behind 
him  stood Galadriel, tall and white; a circlet of golden flowers was in her  
hair, and in her hand she held a harp, and  she sang. Sad and  sweet was the 
sound of her voice in the cool clear air: 
     I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold  there grew:  
     Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
you  against any peril; but if you keep it and see your  home again at last, 
then perhaps it may reward  you.  Though you should find all barren and laid 
waste, there will be  few gardens in  Middle-earth that will bloom like your 
garden, if you sprinkle this earth there. Then you may  remember  Galadriel, 
and catch a glimpse  far off  of Lurien,  that you  have  seen  only  in our 
winter.  For our spring and our summer are gone  by,  and they will never be 
seen  on earth again save in memory.' 
     Sam  went  red  to  the  ears  and muttered something inaudible, as  he 
clutched the box and bowed as well as he could. 
     `And what gift would a Dwarf ask of the Elves? ' said Galadriel turning 
to Gimli. 
     `None,   Lady,' answered Gimli. `It is  enough for  me  to have seen the 
Lady of the Galadhrim, and to have heard her gentle words.' 
     `Hear all ye Elves! ' she cried to those about her. `Let none say again


key: chroma:document
string_value:
gems the name And®ril and the lineage of the sword. 
     `The  blade  that  is  drawn from  this  sheath shall  not be stained or  
broken  even in  defeat,' she said. `But is there aught else that you desire 
of me at our parting? For  darkness will flow between us, and it may be that 
we shall  not meet  again, unless it be far  hence upon  a  road that has no 
returning.' 
     And Aragorn answered: 'Lady, you know  all my desire, and  long held in 
keeping the only  treasure that I seek. Yet it is not yours to give me, even 
if you would; and only through darkness shall I come to it.' 
     `Yet maybe this will lighten  your heart,' said Galadriel;  `for it was 
left in my care to be given to you, should you pass through this land.' Then 
she lifted from  her lap  a  great stone  of a clear green, set in  a silver  
brooch that  was wrought in the likeness of an eagle with  outspread  wings;


key: chroma:document
string_value:
glass  upon a far hill in the westering sun, or as a remote lake seen from a  
mountain: a  crystal fallen in the lap of the land. Then  it seemed to Frodo 
that she lifted her arms in a  final farewell, and far but piercing-clear on 
the following wind came the sound of her voice singing. But now she  sang in 
the  ancient tongue of the Elves  beyond the Sea, and he  did not understand  
the words: fair was the music, but it did not comfort him. 
     Yet as is the way of Elvish words, they remained  graven in his memory,  
and long afterwards he interpreted  them, as well as he could:  the language 
was that of Elven -song and spoke of things little known on Middle-earth. 
     Ai! lauril lantar lassi s®rinen, 
     Yjni ®nutiml ve rbmar aldaron! 
     Yjni ve lintl yuldar avbnier 
     mi oromardi lisse-miruvureva 
     And®nl pella, Vardo tellumar 
     nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni 
     umaryo airetbri-lnrinen. 
 
     Sn man i yulma nin enquantuva?


key: chroma:document
string_value:
They would have been willing to follow a leader  over the River and into the  
shadow of Mordor; but Frodo spoke  no word, and Aragorn was still divided in 
his mind.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-you desire something that I could give? Name it, I bid you! You shall not be 
the only guest without a gift.' 
     `There  is  nothing,  Lady  Galadriel,'  said  Gimli,  bowing  low  and 
stammering. `Nothing, unless it might be-unless it is permitted to ask. nay, 
to name a single strand of your hair, which  surpasses the gold of the earth 
as the stars surpass the gems of the mine. I do not ask for such a gift. But 
you commanded me to name my desire.' 
     The Elves stirred and murmured with astonishment, and Celeborn gazed at 
the Dwarf in wonder, but the Lady smiled. 'It is said that the  skill of the 
Dwarves is in their hands rather than in their tongues ' she said; `yet that 
is not true of Gimli. For  none have ever  made to me a request  so bold and 
yet so  courteous. And  how shall I  refuse, since I commanded him to speak? 
But tell me, what would you do with such a gift? ' 
     `Treasure it, Lady,' he answered, `in memory of your words to me at our


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-grow stale.' 
     `Maybe,' said  Gimli;  `and  I  thank you  for  your words.  True words 
doubtless; yet all  such  comfort  is cold.  Memory  is not  what  the heart 
desires. That is only a mirror, be it clear as Kheled-zvram. Or  so says the 
heart  of Gimli  the Dwarf. Elves  may see  things otherwise.  Indeed I have 
heard that for them memory is more like to the waking world than to a dream. 
Not so for Dwarves.  
     'But let us talk no more of it. Look to the boat! She is too low in the 
water with all this baggage, and  the Great River is swift. I do not wish to 
drown my grief in cold water.' He took up  a paddle, and steered towards the 
western bank, following Aragorn's boat ahead, which had already moved out of 
the middle stream. 
     So the  Company went on their long way, down the wide  hurrying waters,  
borne ever  southwards. Bare woods stalked along either bank, and they could 
not see any glimpse of the lands behind. The breeze died  away and the River


key: chroma:document
string_value:
sound of her voice in the cool clear air: 
     I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold  there grew:  
     Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.  
     Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea, 
     And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree. 
     Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone, 
     In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion. 
     There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years, 
     While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears. 
     O Lurien! The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day; 
     The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away. 
     O Lurien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore 
     And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor. 
     But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me, 
     What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?


key: chroma:document
string_value:
shalt find Valimar. Maybe even thou shalt find it. Farewell!  ' Varda is the 
name of that Lady whom the Elves in these lands of exile name Elbereth. 
     Suddenly the River  swept round a bend, and the banks rose  upon either 
side, and the light of Lurien was hidden. To that fair land Frodo never came 
again. 
     The travellers  now  turned their faces  to  the journey;  the  sun was 
before  them, and their  eyes were dazzled, for all were  filled with tears. 
Gimli wept openly. 
     `I have  looked  the  last  upon that which was  fairest,' he  said  to 
Legolas his companion. `Henceforward I will call  nothing fair, unless it be 
her gift.' He put his hand to his breast. 
     `Tell me,  Legolas, why  did I  come on this Quest?  Little did I  know 
where  the  chief peril  lay!  Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we  could not 
foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger


key: chroma:document
string_value:
mi oromardi lisse-miruvureva 
     And®nl pella, Vardo tellumar 
     nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni 
     umaryo airetbri-lnrinen. 
 
     Sn man i yulma nin enquantuva? 
 
     An sn Tintalll Varda Oiolosslo  
     ve fanyar mbryat Elentbri ortanl 
     ar ilyl tier undulbvl lumbull; 
     ar sindanuriello caita mornil 
     i falmalinnar imbl met, ar hnsil 
     unt®pa Calaciryo mnri oiall. 
     Si vanwa nb, Rumello vanwa, Valimar!


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Lady of the Galadhrim, and to have heard her gentle words.' 
     `Hear all ye Elves! ' she cried to those about her. `Let none say again 
that Dwarves  are grasping  and ungracious! Yet surely, Gimli son of  Gluin,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
borne ever  southwards. Bare woods stalked along either bank, and they could 
not see any glimpse of the lands behind. The breeze died  away and the River 
flowed without a sound. No voice  of  bird broke the silence.  The  sun grew 
misty as the day grew old, until it gleamed in a pale sky  like a high white 
pearl. Then it faded into the West, and dusk came  early, followed by a grey 
and  starless night. Far into the dark quiet hours they  floated on, guiding 
their boats under the overhanging shadows  of the western woods. Great trees 
passed  by like ghosts, thrusting their twisted thirsty  roots  through  the 
mist down into the water. It was dreary and cold. Frodo sat and  listened to 
the  faint lap and  gurgle  of  the River fretting among the  tree-roots and 
driftwood near the shore, until  his  head nodded and he fell into an uneasy 
sleep.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
where  the  chief peril  lay!  Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we  could not 
foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger 
that I feared, and it did not hold me back. But I would not have come, had I 
known the  danger of light and joy. Now I have taken my worst wound in  this 
parting, even if I were to go this night straight to the Dark Lord. Alas for 
Gimli son of Gluin! ' 
     `Nay! ' said Legolas. `Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world 
in these after -days. For  such is the  way of  it:  to find and lose,  as it 
seems to those whose boat is on the running stream. But I count you blessed, 
Gimli son of Gluin: for your loss you suffer of your own  free will, and you  
might have chosen otherwise. But you have not forsaken  your companions, 
and 
the least reward that you shall have is that  the memory of Lothlurien shall 
remain ever clear  and unstained in your heart, and  shall neither  fade nor


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-the  sunset, and  away on  the edge of sight a dark line, where marched  the 
southernmost ranks of the Misty Mountains.  
     There was no sign of living moving  things,  save birds. Of these there 
were many: small  fowl whistling  and  piping in  the reeds,  but  they were 
seldom seen.  Once  or  twice the  travellers  heard  the rush  and whine of 
swan-wings, and looking up they saw a great phalanx streaming along the sky. 
     `Swans! ' said Sam. `And mighty big ones too! ' 
     `Yes,' said Aragorn, 'and they are black swans.' 
     `How wide and empty and mournful all this country looks! '  said Frodo.  
`I  always imagined  that as one journeyed  south it got warmer and merrier,  
until winter was left behind for ever.' 
     'But we  have not journeyed  far south yet,'  answered Aragorn. `It  is 
still winter, and we are far from the sea. Here the world  is cold until the 
sudden spring, and we  may yet have snow again. Far away down in the Bay  of


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Frodo  was roused  by Sam. He found  that  he was  lying, well wrapped,  
under tall grey-skinned trees in a quiet corner of the woodlands on the west 
bank of the  Great River, Anduin. He had slept the night  away, and the grey 
of morning was dim among the bare branches. Gimli was busy with a small fire 
near at hand. 
     They started  again  before   the day  was broad.  Not that most of  the 
Company were eager to hurry southwards: they were content that the decision, 
which they must make at  latest  when they came  to  Rauros and the Tindrock  
Isle, still lay some days ahead; and they let the River  bear them on at its 
own  pace,  having no desire to hasten  towards  the perils that lay beyond, 
whichever course they  took in  the end. Aragorn  let  them  drift with  the 
stream as they wished, husbanding their  strength against weariness to come.  
But he insisted that at least they should  start early  each day and journey


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     `That I won't,'  said Sam. ` 'Twas  the eyes as made me sit  up,  so to 
speak. I saw what I took to be a log floating along in the half-light behind 
Gimli's boat; but I didn't  give much heed to it. Then  it seemed as if  the 
log  was slowly  catching us  up. And  that  was peculiar, as you might say, 
seeing as we were all  floating on  the stream together. Just then I saw the 
eyes: two pale sort of points, shiny-like, on a hump at the  near end of the 
log. What's  more, it  wasn't a  log, for it had  paddle-feet, like a swan's 
almost, only they seemed bigger, and kept dipping in and out of the water. 
     'That's when  I sat right up  and rubbed  my  eyes,  meaning  to give a  
shout,  if  it was still there  when I had rubbed the drowse out of my head.  
For the whatever -it-was was coming along fast now and  getting close  behind 
Gimli. But whether those two lamps spotted me moving and staring, or whether


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-from  the  East. On  the  other  side the meads had  become rolling downs of 
withered grass amidst a land of fen and tussock. Frodo shivered, thinking of 
the lawns and fountains, the clear sun and gentle rains of Lothlurien. There 
was little speech and  no laughter  in any of  the boats. Each member of the 
Company was busy with his own thoughts.  
     The heart of  Legolas was running under  the stars of a summer night in 
some  northern glade amid  the beech-woods; Gimli  was fingering gold in his 
mind, and wondering if it were  fit to be  wrought into the  housing  of the 
Lady's gift.  Merry and  Pippin in the middle  boat  were  ill at  ease, for  
Boromir sat muttering  to himself, sometimes biting his nails,  as  if  some 
restlessness or doubt consumed him, sometimes  seizing a paddle and  driving 
the boat  close behind Aragorn's. Then Pippin, who sat  in  the bow  looking 
back, caught a queer gleam in his eye, as he peered forward gazing at Frodo.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
still winter, and we are far from the sea. Here the world  is cold until the 
sudden spring, and we  may yet have snow again. Far away down in the Bay  of 
Belfalas, to which Anduin runs, it is warm and merry, maybe, or would be but 
for the  Enemy. But here we are  not above sixty  leagues, I guess, south of 
the Southfarthing away in your Shire, hundreds of long miles yonder. You are 
looking now south-west across the north  plains of the Riddermark, Rohan the 
land of the Horse-lords. Ere long we shall come to the mouth of the Limlight 
that runs  down from Fangorn to join  the  Great  River. That  is  the north 
boundary  of Rohan; and  of old all that lay between  Limlight and the White 
Mountains belonged to the Rohirrim. It  is a rich and pleasant land, and its 
grass has no rival; but in these evil days folk do not dwell by the River or  
ride often  to its shores.  Anduin  is  wide, yet  the orcs  can shoot their


key: chroma:document
string_value:
And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor. 
     But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me, 
     What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea? 
     Aragorn stayed his boat as the Swan-ship drew alongside. The Lady ended 
her  song and greeted them. `We have come to bid you our last farewell,' she 
said, `and to speed you with blessings from our land . ' 
     `Though  you have  been our guests,'  said Celeborn, `you have  not yet 
eaten with  us, and we  bid you, therefore, to a parting feast, here between 
the flowing waters that will bear you far from Lurien.' 
     The Swan passed on slowly to the hythe, and they turned their boats and 
followed it. There in the last  end  of  Egladil  upon  the  green grass the 
parting feast was held;  but Frodo ate  and drank  little,  heeding only the 
beauty of the Lady and her voice. She seemed no longer perilous or terrible,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-up to. No need to trouble  Strider or the others tonight. I'll keep watch. I 
can sleep tomorrow, being no more than luggage in a boat, as you might say.' 
     `I might,' said Frodo, `and I might say "luggage with eyes".  You shall 
watch; but only if  you promise  to  wake me  halfway  towards  morning,  if 
nothing happens before then.' 
     In the  dead hours Frodo came out  of a  deep dark  sleep  to find  Sam 
shaking him. `It's a shame to wake you,' whispered Sam, `but that's what you 
said. There's  nothing  to  tell,  or not much. I thought I heard  some soft  
plashing and a sniffing noise, a while  back;  but  you hear  a lot  of such 
queer sounds by a river at night.' 
     He lay down, and Frodo sat up, huddled in his blankets,   and fought off 
his sleep. Minutes or hours passed  slowly, and  nothing happened. Frodo was 
just yielding  to the temptation to lie down again when a dark shape, hardly


key: chroma:document
string_value:
grass has no rival; but in these evil days folk do not dwell by the River or  
ride often  to its shores.  Anduin  is  wide, yet  the orcs  can shoot their 
arrows  far across  the stream; and of late, it is said,  they have dared to 
cross the water and raid the herds and studs of Rohan.' 
     Sam looked from bank to  bank  uneasily. The trees had  seemed  hostile 
before, as if they harboured secret eyes and  lurking dangers; now he wished  
that  the trees were still  there. He felt  that the  Company was too naked, 
afloat in  little open  boats  in  the midst of shelterless  lands, and on a  
river that was the frontier of war. 
     In  the  next day  or two, as they went on, borne  steadily southwards, 
this feeling  of insecurity grew  on  all the Company. For  a whole day they 
took to  their  paddles  and  hastened forward. The banks  slid by. Soon the 
River broadened and grew more shallow; long stony beaches lay upon the east,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
parting feast was held;  but Frodo ate  and drank  little,  heeding only the 
beauty of the Lady and her voice. She seemed no longer perilous or terrible,  
nor  filled with hidden power. Already she seemed to him, as by men of later 
days Elves still  at times are seen: present and yet remote, a living vision


key: chroma:document
string_value:
stream as they wished, husbanding their  strength against weariness to come.  
But he insisted that at least they should  start early  each day and journey 
on  far into the evening; for he felt  in his heart that  time was pressing, 
and he  feared that the Dark Lord  had not been idle while  they lingered in 
Lurien. 
     Nonetheless  they saw no sign of  an enemy that  day, nor the next. The 
dull grey hours passed without event. As the third  day of their voyage wore 
on the lands changed slowly: the trees  thinned and  then failed altogether. 
On  the eastern bank to their left  they saw long formless slopes stretching 
up and away toward the sky; brown and withered they  looked, as  if fire had 
passed  over them, leaving no  living  blade of green:  an  unfriendly waste 
without even a broken tree or a  bold  stone to relieve the  emptiness. They 
had come to  the Brown Lands  that lay, vast and  desolate, between Southern


key: chroma:document
string_value:
the boat  close behind Aragorn's. Then Pippin, who sat  in  the bow  looking 
back, caught a queer gleam in his eye, as he peered forward gazing at Frodo.  
Sam had  long  ago  made up his mind  that,  though boats were maybe  not as 
dangerous  as  he  had been  brought  up  to  believe,  they were  far  more 
uncomfortable  than even  he had  imagined. He was   cramped  and  miserable, 
having nothing to do but stare at the winter -lands crawling by and the  grey 
water on either side of him. Even when the paddles were in use they  did not 
trust Sam with one. 
     As dusk drew down on the fourth day, he was looking back over the bowed 
heads of Frodo and Aragorn and the following boats; he was drowsy and 
longed 
for camp and the feel of earth under his toes. Suddenly something caught his 
sight: at first he stared  at it listlessly, then  he sat  up and rubbed his 
eyes; but when he looked again he could not see it any more.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
For the whatever -it-was was coming along fast now and  getting close  behind 
Gimli. But whether those two lamps spotted me moving and staring, or whether 
I came to my senses, I don't know. When I looked again, it wasn't there. Yet  
I  think I caught a glimpse with  the tail  of-my eye, as the saying  is, of 
something dark shooting under the shadow of the bank. I couldn't see no more 
eyes though. 
     `I said to myself: "dreaming again, Sam Gamgee," I said: and  I said no 
more just then. But  I've been  thinking since. and now I'm not so sure. What 
do you make of it, Mr. Frodo? ' 
     'I  should make nothing of it  but a log and the dusk and sleep in your 
eyes Sam, said  Frodo, if this was the  first  time that those eyes had been 
seen. But it isn't. I saw them away back north before we reached Lurien. And 
I saw  a strange creature with eyes climbing to the  flet that night. Haldir 
saw it too. And do you remember the report of the  Elves that went after the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
his sleep. Minutes or hours passed  slowly, and  nothing happened. Frodo was 
just yielding  to the temptation to lie down again when a dark shape, hardly 
visible, floated close to one of the moored boats. A long whitish hand could  
be dimly seen as it shot out and grabbed the gunwale; two pale lamplike eyes 
shone coldly as  they peered inside, and then they  lifted  and gazed up  at 
Frodo  on the eyot. They were not more than a yard or  two  away,  and Frodo 
heard  the  soft hiss of intaken breath. He stood up, drawing Sting from its 
sheath, and faced the eyes. Immediately their light was shut  off. There was 
another hiss and a splash, and the dark log-shape shot away downstream  into 
the night. Aragorn stirred in his sleep, turned over, and sat up` 
     'What is it? ' he whispered, springing  up and coming to Frodo. `I felt 
something in my sleep. Why have you drawn your sword? ' 
     `Gollum,' answered Frodo. 'Or at least, so I guess.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
side, upon  the  west; but the straight road of the Quest  lies east of  the 
River, upon the darker shore. Which shore will you now take?  ' 
     `If my advice  is heeded, it will be the western shore,  and the way to 
Minas Tirith,' answered Boromir.  `But I  am not the leader of the Company.' 
The others said nothing, and Aragorn looked doubtful and troubled. 
     `I see that you do not yet know  what to do,' said Celeborn. `It is not 
my  part to choose for you; but I will help you as  I  may.  There are  some


key: chroma:document
string_value:
took to  their  paddles  and  hastened forward. The banks  slid by. Soon the 
River broadened and grew more shallow; long stony beaches lay upon the east, 
and  there were  gravel-shoals  in  the water, so that  careful steering was 
needed. The Brown Lands rose into bleak wolds, over which flowed a chill air


key: chroma:document
string_value:
without even a broken tree or a  bold  stone to relieve the  emptiness. They 
had come to  the Brown Lands  that lay, vast and  desolate, between Southern 
Mirkwood and the hills of the Emyn Muil. What pestilence or war or evil deed 
of the Enemy had so blasted all that region even Aragorn could not tell. 
     Upon the west to their  right the land was treeless  also,  but it  was 
flat, and  in many places green  with wide plains of grass. On this side  of 
the River they passed forests of great reeds, so tall that they shut out all 
view to  the  west,  as  the  little  boats  went   rustling by  along  their 
fluttering borders. Their dark withered plumes bent and tossed in  the light 
cold airs, hissing softly and sadly. Here and there through  openings  Frodo 
could catch sudden  glimpses of rolling meads, and far  beyond them hills in


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'What is it? ' he whispered, springing  up and coming to Frodo. `I felt 
something in my sleep. Why have you drawn your sword? ' 
     `Gollum,' answered Frodo. 'Or at least, so I guess.' 
     `Ah! '  said Aragorn. `So you know about our little footpad, do you? He 
padded after us all through Moria and right down to Nimrodel. Since we  took  
to boats,  he has been lying on a  log  and paddling with  hands and feet. I 
have tried  to catch him once or twice at night; but he is slier than a fox, 
and a s slippery as a  fish. I hoped the river -voyage would beat him, but  he 
is too clever a waterman. 
     `We  shall have to  try going faster tomorrow. You lie down  now, and I 
will keep watch for what is left of the night.  I wish I could  lay my hands 
on the wretch.  We might make him useful. But if I cannot, we shall have  to 
try  and lose him. He is very dangerous. Quite apart from murder by night on 
his own account, he may put any enemy that is about on our track.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-while  the voyage lasted.  If he  was still following, he  was very wary and 
cunning.  At Aragorn's bidding they paddled now  for  long  spells, and  the 
banks went  swiftly  by.  But  they  saw little  of the  country,  for  they 
journeyed mostly by night and  twilight, resting by day, and lying as hidden  
as the  land  allowed.  In this way the  time passed without event until the 
seventh day. 
     The weather was still grey and overcast,  with  wind from the East, but 
as evening drew into night the sky away westward cleared, and pools of faint 
light,  yellow and pale green, opened under  the grey shores of cloud. There 
the white rind of the new Moon could be seen glimmering in the remote lakes.  
Sam looked at it and puckered his brows.  
     The next  day the  country on either side began to change  rapidly. The 
banks began to rise and grow stony.  Soon they were passing through a  hilly 
rocky land, and on both shores there were steep slopes buried in deep brakes


key: chroma:document
string_value:
sight: at first he stared  at it listlessly, then  he sat  up and rubbed his 
eyes; but when he looked again he could not see it any more. 
     That night they camped  on a small eyot close to  the western bank. Sam 
lay rolled  in  blankets  beside Frodo. `I had a funny dream an hour or  two 
before we  stopped, Mr.  Frodo,' he said. `Or maybe it wasn't a dream. Funny 
it was anyway.' 
     `Well,  what was it? ' said  Frodo,  knowing that  Sam would not settle 
down until he had told his tale, whatever it was. 'I haven't seen or thought 
of anything to make me smile since we left Lothlurien.' 
     `It wasn't funny that way, Mr. Frodo.  It was  queer.  All wrong, if it 
wasn't a dream. And you had best hear it. It was like this: I saw a log with 
eyes!  ' 
     `The log's  all right,' said Frodo.  `There are  many in the River. But 
leave out the eyes!  '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-the West stars glinted bright. 
     `Come! ' said Aragorn. `We will  venture one more journey  by night. We 
are coming to reaches of the River that I do not know well: for I have never  
journeyed by water  in these parts before, not between here and the rapids of 
Sarn  Gebir. But if I am right in my reckoning, those are  still many  miles 
ahead. Still there are dangerous places even before we come there: rocks and 
stony  eyots in the stream. We must keep a sharp watch and not try to paddle  
swiftly.' 
     To Sam in  the leading  boat  was given the  task  of watchman. He  lay 
forward peering into the  gloom.  The night grew dark,  but the stars  above 
were strangely bright, and there was a glimmer On the face of the River.  It 
was close  on  midnight,  and they had been drifting for  some while. hardly  
using the paddles, when suddenly Sam cried out.  Only a few yards ahead dark 
shapes loomed up in the stream and he heard the swirl of racing water. There


key: chroma:document
string_value:
I saw  a strange creature with eyes climbing to the  flet that night. Haldir 
saw it too. And do you remember the report of the  Elves that went after the  
orc-band?  ' 
     `Ah,'  said  Sam. `I  do;  and  I remember  more too.  I don't  like my 
thoughts; but thinking of one thing and another, and Mr. Bilbo's stories and 
all, I fancy I  could put a name on the creature,  at a guess. A nasty name. 
Gollum, maybe?  ' 
     `Yes, that  is what  I  have feared for  some  time,' said  Frodo. `Ever  
since  the night on the flet. I suppose he was lurking in Moria, and  picked 
up our trail then;  but I hoped that our stay in Lurien would throw  him off 
the scent again. The miserable creature must  have  been hiding in the woods 
by the Silverlode, watching us start off! ' 
     `That's about it,'  said Sam. `And  we'd better be a  bit more watchful 
ourselves,  or we'll  feel some  nasty fingers  round our necks one of these


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-and he lurched forward with a cry, letting go his paddle: but the arrow fell 
back. foiled by his hidden  coat of mail. Another passed  through  Aragorn's 
hood; and a  third  stood fast in the gunwale of  the  second boat, close by 
Merry's hand. Sam thought he could glimpse black  figures running to and fro 
upon the long  shingle-banks that lay under  the eastern shore.  They seemed 
very near. 
     `Yrch!' said Legolas, falling into his own tongue. 
     `Orcs! ' cried Gimli. 
     `Gollum's doing, I'll be bound.' said  Sam to Frodo. `And  a nice place 
to choose, too. The River seems set on taking us right into their arms! ' 
     They all leaned forward straining at the paddles: even Sam took a hand. 
Every moment they expected to feel the bite  of black -feathered arrows. Many 
whined overhead or struck the  water nearby; but there were no more hits. It  
was dark,  but  not  too  dark  for  the  night-eyes of  Orcs,  and  in  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
banks began to rise and grow stony.  Soon they were passing through a  hilly 
rocky land, and on both shores there were steep slopes buried in deep brakes 
of thorn and sloe, tangled with brambles and creepers. Behind them stood low 
crumbling  cliffs, and  chimneys of  grey weathered stone dark with ivy; and 
beyond  these again there  rose high ridges crowned with wind-writhen  firs.  
They were  drawing near to  the  grey  hill-country of  the  Emyn  Muil, the 
southern march of Wilderland. 
     There were many birds about the cliffs and  the  rock -chimneys, and all 
day high in  the  air flocks of  birds  had been circling, black against the 
pale sky. As  they  lay  in their  camp that day Aragorn watched the flights 
doubtfully, wondering if Gollum had been doing some mischief and the news 
of 
their voyage was now moving in the wilderness. Later as the sun was setting, 
and the Company was stirring and getting ready to start again, he descried a


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-swiftly,  came out  of the blackness in  the  South,  and  sped towards  the 
Company, blotting out  all  light as it approached. Soon  it  appeared as  a  
great  winged creature, blacker  than the pits in  the night. Fierce  voices 
rose up to greet it from across the water. Frodo felt a sudden chill running 
through him and clutching  at his heart;  there was  a deadly cold, like the 
memory of an old wound, in his shoulder. He crouched down, as if to hide. 
     Suddenly  the great bow of  Lurien sang. Shrill went the arrow from the 
elven-string.  Frodo looked up. Almost above  him the  winged shape swerved. 
There was a harsh croaking scream, as it fell out of the air, vanishing down 
into the gloom of  the eastern  shore. The sky was clean again.  There was a  
tumult  of many voices far away, cursing and  wailing in  the darkness,  and  
then silence. Neither shaft nor cry came again from the east that night.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
try  and lose him. He is very dangerous. Quite apart from murder by night on 
his own account, he may put any enemy that is about on our track.' 
     The night  passed without  Gollum showing  so  much as  a shadow again. 
After that the Company kept a sharp look -out, but they saw no more of Gollum


key: chroma:document
string_value:
using the paddles, when suddenly Sam cried out.  Only a few yards ahead dark 
shapes loomed up in the stream and he heard the swirl of racing water. There 
was  a swift  current which swung left,  towards the eastern shore where the 
channel was clear. As they were swept aside  the travellers could  see,  now 
very close, the pale foam of the River lashing against sharp rocks that were 
thrust out  far  into the stream like a  ridge of  teeth. The boats were all 
huddled together. 
     `Hoy  there, Aragorn! '  shouted Boromir, as his boat bumped  into  the 
leader.  `This is madness! We cannot  dare the Rapids  by night! But no boat 
can live in Sarn Gebir, be it night or  day.' 
     `Back,  back! ' cried Aragorn. 'Turn! Turn if you can!  '  He drove his 
paddle into the water, trying to hold the boat and bring it round. 
     'I am  out of my reckoning,' he said to Frodo.  'I did not know that we 
had come so  far: Anduin  fl ows faster  than I thought.  Sarn Gebir must  be


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-fingers, and looking up at  the sky. `It's very strange,' he  murmured. `The  
Moon's the same in the Shire  and  in  Wilderland, or  it  ought  to be. But 
either it's out of its running, or  I'm all  wrong  in my  reckoning. You'll 
remember,  Mr. Frodo, the  Moon was waning as we lay on the  flet up in that 
tree: a  week from the full,  I reckon. And we'd been a week on the way last  
night, when up pops  a New Moon as thin as a nail -paring, as if we had never 
stayed no time in the Elvish country. 
     `Well, I can  remember three  nights  there for certain,  and I seem to 
remember several more, but I would   take my oath it was never a whole month. 
Anyone would think that time did not count in there! ' 
     `And perhaps that was the way of it,' said Frodo. `In that land, maybe, 
we  were in  a time that has elsewhere long gone by. It was  not,  I  think, 
until Silverlode bore us  back to Anduin that we returned  to the time  that


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     When the day came the mood of the world about them had become soft  and 
sad. Slowly  the dawn grew  to a  pale light, diffused and shadowless. There 
was mist on the River, and white fog  swathed the shore; the far  bank could 
not be seen. 
     `I can't abide fog,' said  Sam; `but this  seems to be a lucky one. Now 
perhaps we can get away without those cursed goblins seeing us.' 
     `Perhaps so,'  said Aragorn. `But it  will  be  hard to find  the  path 
unless the fog lifts a little later on. And we must find the path, if we are 
to pass Sarn Gebir and come to the Emyn Muil.' 
     'I  do  not see why we should pass the Rapids or follow the  River  any 
further,' said Boromir. `If the Emyn Muil lie before us, then we can abandon 
these cockle-boats, and strike westward and southward, until we come to  the 
Entwash and cross into my own land.' 
     `We can, if we are making for Minas Tirith,' said Aragorn, `but that is


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'I am  out of my reckoning,' he said to Frodo.  'I did not know that we 
had come so  far: Anduin  fl ows faster  than I thought.  Sarn Gebir must  be 
close at hand already.' 
     With  great  efforts  they  checked  the boats and slowly brought  them 
about; but at first they  could make only small headway against the current, 
and all  the time they were  carried nearer and  nearer to the eastern bank. 
Now dark and ominous it loomed up in the night. 
     'All together,  paddle!  '  shouted  Boromir. 'Paddle! Or  we  shall be 
driven on the  shoals.' Even as  he  spoke  Frodo felt the  keel beneath him 
grate upon stone. 
     At that moment there was a twang of bowstrings: several arrows whistled  
over  them, and some fell among them. One smote Frodo between the  
shoulders


key: chroma:document
string_value:
of 
their voyage was now moving in the wilderness. Later as the sun was setting, 
and the Company was stirring and getting ready to start again, he descried a  
dark  spot against the  fading light:  a  great bird high  and far  off, now 
wheeling, now flying on slowly southwards. 
     'What is that, Legolas? ' he  asked, pointing to the northern sky.  'Is 
it, as I think. an eagle? ' 
     'Yes.' said  Legolas.  `It is an eagle, a hunting  eagle. I wonder what 
that forebodes. It is far from the mountains.' 
     `We will not start until it is fully dark,' said Aragorn. 
     The eighth night of their journey came. It was silent and windless; the 
grey east wind had passed away. The thin  crescent  of the  Moon had  fallen  
early into the pale sunset, but the sky was clear above, and though far away 
in the South there were great ranges of cloud that still  shone faintly,  in


key: chroma:document
string_value:
we  were in  a time that has elsewhere long gone by. It was  not,  I  think, 
until Silverlode bore us  back to Anduin that we returned  to the time  that 
flows through mortal lands to the Great Sea. And I don't  remember any moon, 
either new or old, in Caras Galadhon: only stars by night and sun by day.' 
     Legolas stirred in his boa t. `Nay, time does  not tarry ever,' he said; 
`but change and growth is not in all  things and places alike. For the Elves 
the world moves, and it  moves both very swift and very slow. Swift, because 
they  themselves change little,  and all else  fleets by:  it is a  grief to 
them. Slow, because they do not count the running years, not for themselves. 
The  passing seasons are but ripples ever repeated in  the long long stream. 
Yet beneath the Sun all things must wear to an end at last.' 
     `But the wearing is slow in Lurien,' said Frodo. `The power of the Lady 
is on it.  Rich are  the hours,  though short they  seem, in Caras Galadhon,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
whined overhead or struck the  water nearby; but there were no more hits. It  
was dark,  but  not  too  dark  for  the  night-eyes of  Orcs,  and  in  the 
star-glimmer they must have offered  their cunning foes some mark, unless it 
was that  the grey cloaks Of Lurien and  the grey timber of the  elf-wrought 
boats defeated the malice of the archers of Mordor. 
     Stroke by  stroke they  laboured on. In the darkness it  was hard to be 
sure that they were indeed moving at  all; but slowly the swirl of the water  
grew less, and the  shadow of the eastern bank faded back into the night . At 
last, as far as they  could judge, they had reached the middle of the stream 
again and had driven their boats back some distance above the jutting rocks.  
Then  half turning they  thrust them  with all  their  strength towards  the 
western shore. Under  the  shadow Of bushes leaning  out  over the water they 
halted and drew breath.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`But the wearing is slow in Lurien,' said Frodo. `The power of the Lady 
is on it.  Rich are  the hours,  though short they  seem, in Caras Galadhon, 
where Galadriel wields the Elven -ring.' 
     'That should not have  been said  outside Lurien, not even to me,' said 
Aragorn. `Speak no more of it! But so it is, Sam: in that land you lost your 
count.  There time  flowed swiftly by  us,  as  for the Elves. The  old moon 
passed,  and  a new  moon waxed  and waned  in  the world  outside, while we 
tarried there. And yestereve a  new  moon came again.  Winter is nearly gone. 
Time flows on to a spring of little hope.' 
     The night passed silently. No voice or call was heard again  across the 
water. The  travellers  huddled  in  their  boats  felt the  changing of the 
weather. The air grew  warm and very still under the great moist clouds that 
had floated up from the South and the distant seas. The rushing of the River


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-water beyond the Rapids.  
     `Boats of the Elves would not sink, maybe,' he said, `but that does not 
say that  we should come through Sarn  Gebir  alive.  None have ever done so 
yet. No road was made by the Men of Gondor in this region, for even in their 
great  days  their realm did not reach up  Anduin beyond the Emyn  Muil; but 
there is a portage-way somewhere on  the western shore, if I can find it. It 
cannot yet have perished; for light boats used to journey  out of Wilderland 
down to Osgiliath, and still did so until a few years ago, when the Orcs  of 
Mordor began to multiply.' 
     'Seldom in my life has any boat come  out of  the North,  and  the Orcs 
prowl on the east-shore,' said Boromir. `If you go forward, peril  will grow 
with every mile, even if you find a path.' 
     `Peril lies ahead on every southward road,' answered Aragorn. `Wait for  
us one day.  If we do  not return in that time, you will know that  evil has


key: chroma:document
string_value:
weather. The air grew  warm and very still under the great moist clouds that 
had floated up from the South and the distant seas. The rushing of the River  
over the rocks of the rapids seemed to grow  louder and closer. The twigs of 
the trees above them began to drip.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Then  half turning they  thrust them  with all  their  strength towards  the 
western shore. Under  the  shadow Of bushes leaning  out  over the water they 
halted and drew breath. 
     Legolas laid down his paddle and took  up the  bow that he had  brought 
from  Lurien. Then he  sprang ashore  and climbed  a few paces up  the bank. 
Stringing the bow  and  fitting an arrow  he turned, peering back  over  the 
River into  the darkness.  Across  the water  there were  shrill  cries, but 
nothing could be seen. 
     Frodo looked up at the Elf  standing tall above him, as he  gazed  into 
the night, seeking a mark to shoot at. His head was dark, crowned with sharp 
white  stars that glittered in  the  black pools  of the sky behind. But now 
rising and sailing up from the South the great clouds advanced, sending  out 
dark outriders into the starry fields. A sudden dread fell on the Company. 
     `Elbereth Gilthoniel!' sighed Legolas as he  looked up.  Even as he did


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-taken out of the boats and brought to the top of the bank, where there was a  
level space. Then the boats were drawn out of the water and carried up. They 
were  far less heavy than any  had  expected.  Of what  tree growing in  the 
elvish country  they were made not even Legolas knew; but the wood was 
tough 
and yet strangely light. Merry and Pippin alone could  carry their boat with 
ease  along the  flat. Nonetheless it  needed the strength of the two Men to 
lift  and haul them  over the ground that the  Company  now had to cross. It 
sloped up away from the River, a tumbled waste of  grey  limestone-boulders,  
with many hidden holes  shrouded with weeds and bushes;  there were thickets 
of brambles,  and sheer dells;  and here and there boggy pools fed by waters 
trickling from the terraces further inland. 
     One  by  one  Boromir and  Aragorn  carried the boats, while the others 
toiled  and scrambled after them with the baggage. At last  all was  removed


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-eastern shore. But tonight two must watch together in turns: three hours off 
and one on guard.' 
     Nothing happened that night  worse than a brief drizzle of rain an hour 
before dawn. As soon as it was fully light they started. Already the fog was 
thinning. They kept as  close as they could  to  the western  side, and they 
could see the dim shapes of the low cliffs rising ever higher, shadowy walls 
with  their  feet in the hurrying river. In the mid-morning the  clouds drew 
down  lower,  and it began to rain heavily. They drew  the  skin-covers over  
their boats to prevent them from being flooded, and drifted on: little could 
be seen before them or about them through the grey falling curtains. 
     The rain,  however, did  not  last  long.  Slowly  the  sky above  grew 
lighter,  and  then  suddenly the clouds broke,  and  their draggled fringes 
trailed away northward up the  River. The  fogs and mists were  gone. Before


key: chroma:document
string_value:
lighter,  and  then  suddenly the clouds broke,  and  their draggled fringes 
trailed away northward up the  River. The  fogs and mists were  gone. Before 
the travellers  lay  a wide ravine, with  great rocky sides to which  clung, 
upon  shelves  and in narrow crevices, a few thrawn  trees. The channel grew 
narrower and the River swifter. Now  they were speeding  along  with  little  
hope of stopping or turning, whatever they might meet ahead. Over them was a  
lane of pale-blue sky, around them  the dark overshadowed  River, and before 
them  black, shutting out  the  sun,  the hills of  Emyn Muil, in  which  no 
opening could be seen. 
     Frodo peering  forward saw in the distance two great rocks approaching:  
like  great pinnacles or pillars  of stone  they seemed.  Tall and sheer and 
ominous they stood upon either  side of the  stream. A  narrow  gap appeared 
between them, and the River swept the boats towards it.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
One  by  one  Boromir and  Aragorn  carried the boats, while the others 
toiled  and scrambled after them with the baggage. At last  all was  removed 
and laid  on the  portage-way. Then with little further hindrance, save from 
sprawling briars and many fallen  stones, they  moved forward all  together.  
Fog still hung in veils upon the crumbling rock -wall, and to their left mist 
shrouded the River: they  could hear it  rushing  and foaming over the sharp 
shelves and stony teeth of Sarn Gebir, but they could not see it. Twice they 
made the journey, before all was brought safe to the southern landing. 
     There the portage-way, turning back  to the water -side, ran gently down 
to the shallow edge of a little pool. It seemed to have been  scooped in the 
river -side, not by hand,  but by the  water  swirling  down  from Sarn Gebir 
against a low pier of  rock that jutted out some way into the stream. Beyond


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`Peril lies ahead on every southward road,' answered Aragorn. `Wait for  
us one day.  If we do  not return in that time, you will know that  evil has 
indeed befa llen us. Then you must take a new leader  and follow him as  best 
you can.' 
     It was with a heavy heart that Frodo saw Aragorn and Legolas climb  the 
steep bank and vanish into the  mists; but his fears proved groundless. Only 
two or three hours had passed, and it  was barely mid-day, when  the shadowy 
shapes of the explorers appeared again. 
     `All is well,' said Aragorn, as he clambered down the bank. 'There is a  
track,  and  it leads  to  a good landing  that  is still  serviceable.  The 
distance is not great: the head of the Rapids is but half  a mile below  us,  
and  they  are little more than a mile long.  Not far beyond them the stream 
becomes clear  and  smooth again,  though it runs  swiftly. Our hardest task  
will be to get our boats and baggage   to the old  portage-way. We have found


key: chroma:document
string_value:
ominous they stood upon either  side of the  stream. A  narrow  gap appeared 
between them, and the River swept the boats towards it. 
     `Behold the Argonath, the Pillars  of  the Kings! ' cried  Aragorn. `We 
shall pass them soon. Keep the boats  in  line, and as far apart as you can!  
Hold the middle of the stream! ' 
     As Frodo was  borne towards them the great  pillars rose like towers to 
meet  him.  Giants  they  seemed  to  him,  vast  grey  figures  silent  but 
threatening. Then  he saw that they were  indeed shaped and  fashioned:  the 
craft and power  of  old had  wrought  upon them,  and  still they preserved 
through the suns and rains of forgotten years the mighty likenesses in which 
they  had been hewn. Upon great pedestals founded  in the deep  waters stood 
two great kings  of stone: still with blurred eyes and  crannied  brows they 
frowned upon  the North. The left hand of each  was raised  palm outwards in


key: chroma:document
string_value:
river -side, not by hand,  but by the  water  swirling  down  from Sarn Gebir 
against a low pier of  rock that jutted out some way into the stream. Beyond  
it the shore rose sheer into a grey  cliff, and there was no further passage 
for those on foot. 
     Already the short afternoon was past, and a dim cloudy dusk was closing 
in. They sat beside the water listening to the confused rush and roar of the 
Rapids hidden in the mist; they wer e tired and sleepy, and their hearts were 
as gloomy as the dying day. 
     'Well, here we are, and here we must pass another night,' said Boromir. 
`We need sleep, and even if Aragorn had a mind to pass the Gates of Argonath 
by night, we are all too tired-except, no doubt, our sturdy dwarf.' 
     Gimli made no reply: he was nodding as he sat. 
     `Let us rest as much  as  we can now,' said  Aragorn. `Tomorrow we must 
journey by day again. Unless the weather changes once more and cheats us, we


key: chroma:document
string_value:
these cockle-boats, and strike westward and southward, until we come to  the 
Entwash and cross into my own land.' 
     `We can, if we are making for Minas Tirith,' said Aragorn, `but that is 
not yet agreed. And such a course  may be more perilous than  it sounds. The 
vale of Entwash is flat and fenny, and fog is a deadly peril there for those 
on foot and laden. I would not abandon our boats until we must. The River is 
at least a path that cannot be missed.' 
     `But the Enemy holds the eastern bank,' objected  Boromir. `And even if 
you pass the Gates  of  Argonath and come  unmolested  to the Tindrock, what 
will you do then? Leap down the Falls and land in the marshes? ' 
     `No! ' answered Aragorn. `Say rather that we will bear our boats by the 
ancient  way to  Rauros-foot, and  there take to the water again. Do you not 
know, Boromir, or do you choose to forget the North Stair, and the high seat


key: chroma:document
string_value:
two great kings  of stone: still with blurred eyes and  crannied  brows they 
frowned upon  the North. The left hand of each  was raised  palm outwards in 
gesture of  warning;  in each  right  hand there  was an axe; upon each head 
there  was a crumbling helm  and crown. Great  power and majesty they  still


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`Let us rest as much  as  we can now,' said  Aragorn. `Tomorrow we must 
journey by day again. Unless the weather changes once more and cheats us, we 
shall have  a good chance  of slipping through, unseen  by any eyes  on  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
dark outriders into the starry fields. A sudden dread fell on the Company. 
     `Elbereth Gilthoniel!' sighed Legolas as he  looked up.  Even as he did 
so,  a dark shape, like a cloud and yet  not a cloud, for it moved far  more


key: chroma:document
string_value:
becomes clear  and  smooth again,  though it runs  swiftly. Our hardest task  
will be to get our boats and baggage   to the old  portage-way. We have found 
it, but it lies well  back from  the water -side here, and runs under the lee 
of  a rock -wall, a furlong or more from the shore. We did not find where the 
northward  landing  lies. If it  still  remains,  we  must  have  passed  it 
yesterday night. We might labour far upstream and yet miss it in the  fog. I 
fear we must leave the River now, and make  for the  portage-way  as best we 
can from here.' 
     `That would not be easy, even if we were all Men,' said Boromir. 
     `Yet such as we are we will try it,' said Aragorn. 
     'Aye, we  will,' said Gimli. `The legs of Men will lag on a rough road, 
while a Dwarf goes on, be the burden twice his own weight, Master Boromir! ' 
     The task proved hard indeed, yet in the end it was done. The goods were


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-were leading  him up towards the  slopes of the hill. He came to a path, the 
dwindling ruins of a  road of long  ago. In steep places stairs of stone had 
been hewn,  but now they were  cracked  and worn, and split by the  roots of 
trees.  For some while he climbed, not caring which  way  he  went, until he 
came  to a  grassy place. Rowan-trees grew about it, and  in the midst was a  
wide  flat stone.  The  little upland lawn  was  open upon the  East and was 
filled now with  the early  sunlight. Frodo halted  and looked  out over the 
River, far  below  him, to Tol  Brandir and the birds wheeling in the  great 
gulf of air between  him and the untrodden isle.  The voice of Rauros was  a  
mighty roaring mingled with a deep throbbing boom. 
     He  sat  down upon the stone  and cupped his chin in his hands, staring 
eastwards but seeing little with his eyes. All that had happened since Bilbo 
left the Shire was passing through his mind,  and he  recalled and  pondered


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-eastward and  gazed at the tall island.  Its  si des  sprang sheer out of the 
running  water. High up above the  tall cliffs were  steep slopes upon which 
trees climbed, mounting  one  head above another; and  above them again were 
grey  faces of inaccessible rock, crowned by  a great spire  of  stone. Many 
birds were  circling  about it, but no sign of  other living things could be 
seen. 
     When they had eaten, Aragorn called the Company together. `The  day has 
come at last,' he said: 'the day of choice which we have  long delayed. What 
shall  now become  of our Company that has  travelled  so far in fellowship?  
Shall we turn  west with  Boromir and go to the wars of Gondor; or turn east  
to the Fear and Shadow; or shall we break our fellowship and go this way and 
that as each may choose? Whatever  we do  must  be done soon. We  cannot 
long 
halt here. The  enemy is on the eastern shore, we know; but I  fear that the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`That's about it,'  said Sam. `And  we'd better be a  bit more watchful 
ourselves,  or we'll  feel some  nasty fingers  round our necks one of these 
nights, if we ever wake up to feel anything. And   that's what I  was leading


key: chroma:document
string_value:
ancient  way to  Rauros-foot, and  there take to the water again. Do you not 
know, Boromir, or do you choose to forget the North Stair, and the high seat 
upon  Amon Hen,  that were made in the  days of the great  kings? I at least 
have a mind  to stand in that high place again,  before I decide  my further  
course. There, maybe, we shall see some sign that will guide us.' 
     Boromir held out  long  against this choice;  but  when it became plain 
that Frodo  would  follow Aragorn, wherever he went, he gave  in. 'It is not 
the  way  of the  Men of Minas Tirith to  desert their friends at  need,' he 
said, `and you will need my strength, if ever you are to reach the Tindrock. 
To the tall isle I will go, but no further. There  I shall  turn to my home, 
alone if my help has not earned the reward of any companionship.' 
     The day  was  now  growing,  and  the fog  had lifted a  little. It was 
decided that Aragorn and Legolas should at once go forward along the  shore,


key: chroma:document
string_value:
eastwards but seeing little with his eyes. All that had happened since Bilbo 
left the Shire was passing through his mind,  and he  recalled and  pondered  
everything  that he could  remember  of Gandalf's words.  Time went on,  and 
still he was no nearer to a choice. 
     Suddenly he awoke from his thoughts: a strange feeling came to him that 
something was behind him, that unfriendly eyes were upon  him. He sprang  up 
and turned; but all that  he saw to his  surprise was Boromir, and his  face 
was smiling and kind. 
     `I was afraid for  you, Frodo,' he said, coming forward. `If Aragorn is 
right and Orcs are near,  then none of us should wander alone, and you least  
of all: so much depends on you. And my heart too  is heavy. May  I  stay now 
and talk for a  while,  since  I have found  you? It would comfort me. Where 
there are so many, all speech becomes a debate without end. But two together  
may perhaps find wisdom.'


key: chroma:document
string_value:
that as each may choose? Whatever  we do  must  be done soon. We  cannot 
long 
halt here. The  enemy is on the eastern shore, we know; but I  fear that the 
Orcs may already be on this side of the water.' 
     There was a long silence in which no one spoke or moved. 
     'Well,  Frodo,'  said Aragorn at last. `I fear that  the burden is laid 
upon  you. You are the  Bearer  appointed by the  Council. Your  own way you  
alone  can choose. In this matter I cannot advise you. I am not Gandalf, and 
though I have tried to  bear his part, I do not know what design or hope  he 
had  for this hour,  if indeed he had any. Most  likely it seems that if  he 
were here now the choice would still wait on you. Such is your fate.' 
     Frodo did not answer at once. Then he spoke slowly. `I  know that haste 
is needed, yet I cannot choose. The burden is heavy. Give me an hour longer, 
and I will speak. Let me be alone! '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
tumult  of many voices far away, cursing and  wailing in  the darkness,  and  
then silence. Neither shaft nor cry came again from the east that night. 
     After a while Aragorn led the boats back upstream. They felt  their way 
along  the water's edge for some distance, until they  found a small shallow 
bay. A  few low  trees grew there close to the water, and behind them rose a  
steep  rocky  bank. Here the Company decided to stay and await the  dawn: it 
was useless  to attempt to move further by night.  They made no camp and lit 
no fire, but lay huddled in the boats, moored close together. 
     'Praised be  the bow  of Galadriel, and the  hand and eye of Legolas! ' 
said Gimli, as he munched a wafer of lembas. 'That was a mighty shot in  the 
dark, my friend!' 
     'But who can say what it hit?' said Legolas. 
     'I cannot,' said Gimli. `But  I am glad that the shadow came no nearer. 
I liked it not at all. Too much it reminded me of the shadow in Moria -- the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-the  burden  that  is laid on me. Against -well,  if it must be said, against  
trust in the strength and truth of Men.' 
     `Yet that  strength has  long  protected you far  away  in  your little 
country, though you knew it not.' 
     'I do not doubt the valour of  your  people. But the world is changing. 
The  walls of Minas Tirith may be strong, but they are not strong enough. If 
they fail, what then? ' 
     'We shall fall in battle valiantly.  Yet there is still hope  that they 
will not fail.' 
     'No hope while the Ring lasts,' said Frodo. 
     'Ah! The Ring! '  said Boromir, his eyes lighting. 'The Ring! Is it not 
a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt  for so  small a  
thing? So small a thing! And I have seen it only for an instant in the House 
of Elrond. Could I not have a sight of it again? ' 
     Frodo looked  up. His heart went suddenly cold.  He caught the  strange


key: chroma:document
string_value:
The day  was  now  growing,  and  the fog  had lifted a  little. It was 
decided that Aragorn and Legolas should at once go forward along the  shore, 
while the  others remained  by the  boats. Aragorn hoped to find some way by 
which they could carry  both  their boats and their  baggage to the smoother


key: chroma:document
string_value:
and talk for a  while,  since  I have found  you? It would comfort me. Where 
there are so many, all speech becomes a debate without end. But two together  
may perhaps find wisdom.' 
     `You are kind,'  answered Frodo. 'But  I do not think  that  any speech 
will help me.  For  I know what I should do, but I  am  afraid of doing  it, 
Boromir: afraid.' 
     Boromir stood  silent. Rauros roared endlessly on. The wind murmured in 
the branches of the trees. Frodo shivered. 
     Suddenly Boromir came and sat beside him. `Are you sure that you do not 
suffer needlessly? ' he said. `I wish to help you. You need counsel in  your 
hard choice. Will you not take mine? ' 
     'I  think I know already  what counsel you would  give, Boromir,'  said 
Frodo. 'And it would seem like wisdom but for the warning of my heart.' 
     `Warning? Warning against what? ' said Boromir sharply. 
     'Against  delay. Against the  way that seems easier. Against refusal of


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Aragorn led them to  the right  arm of the River. Here upon its western 
side under the shadow of Tol Brandir a green lawn ran down to the water from 
the feet of Amon Hen.  Behind it rose the first gentle  slopes  of  the hill 
clad with trees, and trees marched away westward along the curving shores of 
the lake. A little spring fell tumbling down and fed the grass.  
     'Here  we will rest tonight,' said Aragorn. `This is the lawn  of Parth 
Galen: a fair place in the summer days of old. Let us hope  that no evil has 
yet come here.' 
     They drew up their boats on the green banks, and  beside them they made  
their camp.  They set  a watch, but had no sight nor sound of their enemies.  
If Gollum had contrived  to follow  them,  he  remained  unseen and unheard. 
Nonetheless as the night  wore on Aragorn grew uneasy, tossing often in  his 
sleep and waking. In the small hours he got up and came to Frodo, whose turn 
it was to watch.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Frodo did not answer at once. Then he spoke slowly. `I  know that haste 
is needed, yet I cannot choose. The burden is heavy. Give me an hour longer, 
and I will speak. Let me be alone! ' 
     Aragorn looked  at  him with  kindly  pity. `Very  well,  Frodo  son of 
Drogo,' he  said. `You shall have an hour, and  you  shall be alone. We will 
stay here for a while. But do not stray far or out of call.' 
     Frodo sat for a moment with his head bowed. Sam, who had  been watching 
his master with  great  concern, shook his  head and  muttered:  'Plain as a  
pikestaff it is, but it's no good Sam Gamgee putting in his spoke just now.' 
, 
     Presently Frodo  got  up and  walked away;  and Sam saw that  while the  
others restrained  themselves and did not stare at him,  the eyes of Boromir 
followed Frodo  intently, until he passed  out of sight in the  trees at the 
foot of Amon Hen. 
     Wandering  aimlessly at first in the  wood, Frodo found  that his  feet


key: chroma:document
string_value:
of Elrond. Could I not have a sight of it again? ' 
     Frodo looked  up. His heart went suddenly cold.  He caught the  strange 
gleam in  Boromir's eyes, yet his face was still kind  and friendly.  'It is 
best that it should lie hidden,' he answered. 
     'As you wish. I care  not,' said Boromir.  'Yet may I not even speak of 
it? For you seem ever to think only of its power in the hands  of the Enemy:  
of  its evil  uses not  of its good.  The  world is changing, you say. Minas 
Tirith will fall,  if the Ring lasts. But why?  Certainly, if the  Ring were 
with the Enemy. But why, if it were with us? ' 
     'Were you not at the Council?  ' answered Frodo. `Because we cannot use  
it, and what is done with it turns to evil.' 
     Boromir got up and walked about impatiently. 'So you go  on,' he cried. 
'Gandalf, Elrond -- all these folk have taught you to say so. For themselves 
they may be right. These  elves and half-elves and  wizards, they would come


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-not Boromir? The Ring would give  me power of Command. How I would 
drive the 
hosts of Mordor, and all men would flock to my banner!' 
     Boromir strode up and down, speaking ever more loudly: Almost he seemed 
to have forgotten Frodo, while  his talk dwelt on walls and weapons, and the 
mustering  of  men;  and he drew  plans  for  great alliances  and  glorious 
victories to be; and he cast down Mordor, and became himself  a mighty king, 
benevolent and wise. Suddenly he stopped and waved his arms.  
     'And  they tell  us to throw it away!' he cried. `I do not sa y  destroy 
it. That might be  well, if  reason could show any hope of doing so. It does 
not. The only  plan that  is proposed  to us  is that a halfling should walk  
blindly into  Mordor and offer  the Enemy every chance of recapturing it for  
himself. Folly! 
     'Surely you see it, my friend?' he said, turning  now suddenly to Frodo


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Nonetheless as the night  wore on Aragorn grew uneasy, tossing often in  his 
sleep and waking. In the small hours he got up and came to Frodo, whose turn 
it was to watch. 
     `Why are you waking? ' asked Frodo. `It is not your watch.' 
     `I do  not know,' answered Aragorn; `but a shadow and a threat has been 
growing in my sleep. It would be well to draw your sword.' 
     `Why? ' said Frodo. `Are enemies at hand? ' 
     `Let us see what Sting may show,' answered Aragorn. 
     Frodo  then drew the elf-blade from its sheath. To his dismay the edges 
gleamed  dimly in  the night. `Orcs! ' he said. `Not very  near, and yet too 
near, it seems.' 
     `I feared as much,' said Aragorn. `But maybe they are  not on this side 
of the River. The light of  Sting is faint, and it may point to no more than 
spies of Mordor  roaming on the  slopes  of  Amon  Lhaw.  I have never heard 
before of Orcs  upon Amon Hen. Yet who  knows what may happen in  these 
evil


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'Gandalf, Elrond -- all these folk have taught you to say so. For themselves 
they may be right. These  elves and half-elves and  wizards, they would come 
to grief perhaps.  Yet often I  doubt if they are wise and not merely timid. 
But each to his own kind. True-hearted Men, they  will  not be corrupted. We 
of Minas Tirith have been  staunch  through long years  of trial. We do  not 
desire  the  power  of  wizard-lords,  only  strength  to  defend ourselves, 
strength in a just cause. And behold! in our need chance brings to light the 
-Ring of Power. It is a gift, I say; a gift to the foes of Mordor. It is mad 
not to use it, to  use the power of the Enemy against him. The fearless, the 
ruthless, these alone will  achieve victory.  What could not a warrior do in 
this  hour, a great leader? What could not Aragorn do? Or if he refuses, why


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-wore, the silent wardens  of a long-vanished kingdom. Awe and fear fell upon 
Frodo,  and he  cowered down, shutting his eyes and not daring to look up as 
the boat drew  near. Even Boromir bowed  his head  as  the boats whirled by. 
frail and  fleeting  as little  leaves,  under  the  enduring  shadow of the 
sentinels of N®menor. So they passed into the dark chasm of the Gates. 
     Sheer rose the dreadful cliffs to unguessed heights on either side. Far 
off was the dim sky. The black waters roared and echoed, and a wind screamed 
over them.  Frodo crouching over his knees heard Sam in front  muttering and 
groaning: `What a place! What a horrible place! Just let me get out of  this 
boat, and I'll never wet my toes in a puddle again, let alone a river! ' 
     `Fear  not! ' said a  strange voice behind him.  Frodo  turned and  saw 
Strider, and  yet  not Strider; for  the  weatherworn Ranger  was  no longer


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-under his eyes upon a table, and yet remote. There was no sound, only bright 
living images.  The world  seemed to have shrunk  and  fallen silent. He was 
sitting upon the Seat of Seeing, on Amon Hen, the Hill of the Eye of the Men 
of  N®menor. Eastward he looked into  wide uncharted lands, nameless plains,  
and forests unexplored. Northward he looked, and the Great  River lay like a 
ribbon beneath him, and the  Misty Mountains stood small and hard  as broken 
teeth. Westward he looked and saw  the broad pastures of Rohan; and Orthanc, 
the pinnacle of Isengard, like a black spike. Southward he looked, and below 
his very feet the  Great River curled  like a toppling wave and plunged over 
the falls of Rauros into a foaming pit; a glimmering rainbow played upon the 
fume. And Ethir Anduin he saw, the mighty delta of the River, and myriads of 
sea -birds whirling like a white dust  in the  sun, and  beneath them a green 
and silver sea, rippling in endless lines.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
'I cannot,' said Gimli. `But  I am glad that the shadow came no nearer. 
I liked it not at all. Too much it reminded me of the shadow in Moria -- the 
shadow of the Balrog,' he ended in a whisper. 
     'It  was not a Balrog,' said Frodo, still shivering with the chill that 
had come upon him.  'It was  something  colder.  I think it was   --' Then he 
paused and fell silent. 
     'What do you think? ' asked Boromir eagerly, leaning  from his boat, as 
if he was trying to catch a glimpse of Frodo's face. 
     `I think -- No, I will not say,' answered Frodo. `Whatever it was,  its 
fall has dismayed our enemies.' 
     `So  it seems,' said Aragorn. `Yet where they  are,  and how many,  and 
what they will do next, we do not know. This night we must all be sleepless!  
Dark hides  us now. Bu t what the  day  will  show  who can tell?  Have  your 
weapons close to hand! ' 
     Sam  sat tapping the hilt of his sword as if he  were  counting on  his


key: chroma:document
string_value:
blindly into  Mordor and offer  the Enemy every chance of recapturing it for  
himself. Folly! 
     'Surely you see it, my friend?' he said, turning  now suddenly to Frodo 
again. `You say that you are afraid. If it is so, the boldest should  pardon 
you. But is it not really your good sense that revolts?' 
     'No, I am afraid,' said Frodo.  'Simply  afraid. But I am glad  to have 
heard you speak so fully. My mind is clearer now.' 
     `Then  you  will come to  Minas Tirith? ' cried Boromir.  His eyes were 
shining and his face eager. 
     `You misunderstand me,' said Frodo. 
     'But you will come, at least for a while? ' Boromir persisted. 'My city 
is not far  now;  and it is little further  from  there to  Mordor than from 
here.  We have  been long in the  wilderness, and you need  news of what the 
Enemy is doing  before you make a move. Come with me, Frodo,' he  said. 
`You 
need  rest before your venture. if  go you must.' He laid  his  hand on  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
spies of Mordor  roaming on the  slopes  of  Amon  Lhaw.  I have never heard 
before of Orcs  upon Amon Hen. Yet who  knows what may happen in  these 
evil 
days, now  that Minas Tirith no longer holds secure the passages of  Anduin.  
We must go warily tomorrow.' 
     The day came like fire and smoke. Low in the East there were black bars 
of cloud  like the fumes of a great burning. The  rising  sun  lit them from 
beneath  with flames of  murky red; but  soon  it climbed above  them into a  
clear sky. The summit of Tol Brandir was tipped with  gold. Frodo looked out


key: chroma:document
string_value:
sea -birds whirling like a white dust  in the  sun, and  beneath them a green 
and silver sea, rippling in endless lines.  
     But everywhere he looked he saw  the signs of  war. The Misty Mountains 
were  crawling  like anthills:  orcs were  issuing out  of a thousand holes.  
Under the  boughs of  Mirkwood there was  deadly strife of Elves and Men and 
fell  beasts. The  land of the Beornings was aflame; a cloud was over Moria; 
smoke rose on the borders of Lurien. 
     Horsemen  were  galloping on  the grass of  Rohan;  wolves poured  from  
Isengard. From the  havens of Harad ships of war  put out to sea; and out of 
the East Men were moving endlessly: swordsmen, spearmen, bowmen upon 
horses, 
chariots of chieftains  and laden wains. All  the power of the Dark Lord was 
in  motion. Then turning south  again  he  beheld Minas Tirith. Far away  it 
seemed. and beautiful: white-walled,  many-towered, proud  and fair upon its


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     And suddenly he felt the  Eye. There was an eye  in the Dark Tower that 
did not sleep. He knew that it had become aware of his gaze.  A fierce eager  
will  was there.  It leaped  towards him; almost  like a finger he  felt it, 
searching for him. Very soon it would nail him down, know just exactly where 
he was. Amon  Lhaw it touched. It glanced  upon Tol Brandir he threw himself 
from the seat, crouching, covering his head with his grey hood. 
     He heard himself crying out: Never, never! Or was it: Verily I  come, I 
come to  you? He could not tell. Then  as a flash  from some other point  of 
power there  came  to  his mind another thought: Take it off!  Take  it off! 
Fool, take it off! Take off the Ring! 
     The two powers strove in him. For a moment,  perfectly balanced between 
their piercing  points,  he  writhed,  tormented. Suddenly  he was aware  of 
himself  again. Frodo, neither  the  Voice nor the Eye: free to choose,  and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     The others remained long by the river -side. For some time they had been 
silent, moving restlessly about; but now they  were sitting in a circle, and 
they  were talking. Every now  and again they made efforts to speak of other  
things,  of  their  long road and many  adventures;  they questioned Aragorn 
concerning the realm of Gondor and its ancient  history, and the remnants of 
its great works that could still be seen in this strange border -land  of the 
Emyn  Muil: the stone kings and  the  seats of Lhaw and Hen, and  the  great 
Stair  beside  the falls  of  Rauros. But always  their  thoughts  and words 
strayed back to Frodo and the Ring. What would Frodo choose  to do? Why  
was 
he hesitating?  
     `He is  debating  which course  is  the most desperate, I think,'  said 
Aragorn. 'And well he may. It is now more hopeless than ever for the Company 
to  go east, since we have  been tracked by Gollum,  and  must fear that the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`Fear  not! ' said a  strange voice behind him.  Frodo  turned and  saw 
Strider, and  yet  not Strider; for  the  weatherworn Ranger  was  no longer  
there.  In the  stern  sat Aragorn son of Arathorn, proud and erect, guiding 
the boat with skilful strokes; his hood was cast back, and his dark hair was 
blowing in the wind, a light was in his eyes:  a king returning from exile to 
his own land. 
     'Fear not!  ' he said. `Long have I desired to look upon the likenesses 
of  Isildur and Anbrion, my sires of old.  Under  their shadow  Elessar, the 
Elfstone son of  Arathorn of the House  of  Valandil  Isildur's  son heir of 
Elendil, has nought to dread! ' 
     Then the light of  his eyes faded, and he spoke to himself: `Would that 
Gandalf were  here! How my  heart yearns  for Minas Anor and the walls of my 
own city! But whither now shall I go? ' 
     The  chasm was long and  dark,  and filled  with the noise of wind  and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Enemy is doing  before you make a move. Come with me, Frodo,' he  said. 
`You 
need  rest before your venture. if  go you must.' He laid  his  hand on  the 
hobbit's  shoulder in friendly fashion;  but Frodo  felt  the hand trembling 
with suppressed excitement. He stepped quickly away, and eyed with alarm the 
tall Man, nearly twice his height and many times his match in strength. 
     `Why are you  so unfriendly? '  said Boromir. `I am a true man, neither  
thief nor tracker. I  need your Ring: that you know now; but  I give  you my  
word  that I do not  desire to keep it.  Will you not at least  let me  make 
trial of my plan? Lend me the Ring! ' 
     `No! no! ' cried Frodo. 'The Council laid it upon me to bear it.' 
     `It is by our own folly that the Enemy will  defeat us,' cried Boromir. 
`How it  angers  me!   Fool!  Obstinate fool!  Running wilfully to  death and


key: chroma:document
string_value:
their piercing  points,  he  writhed,  tormented. Suddenly  he was aware  of 
himself  again. Frodo, neither  the  Voice nor the Eye: free to choose,  and 
with  one  remaining  instant in  which to  do so. He  took the Ring off his 
finger. He  was kneeling in clear  sunlight before  the  high  seat. A black  
shadow seemed to  pass like an arm above him; it  missed Amon Hen and 
groped 
out west,  and faded. Then all the sky was  clean and blue and birds sang in 
every tree. 
     Frodo rose to his feet. A great weariness was on him,  but his will was 
firm and his heart lighter. He spoke aloud to himself. `I  will do now what I 
must,' he said.  'This at least is plain: the evil of the Ring is already at 
work even in the Company,  and the Ring must leave them before it  does more 
harm. I will go alone. Some I cannot  trust, and  those I  can trust are too 
dear  to me: poor old  Sam,  and Merry and  Pippin. Strider,  too: his heart


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-companions:  Sam, who  could not  bear it otherwise; and  Gimli; and myself.  
Boromir  will return to his own city,  where his father and his  people need 
him; and with him the others should go, or at  least Meriadoc  and Peregrin , 
if Legolas is not willing to leave us.' 
     `That won't do at all! ' cried Merry. 'We can't leave Frodo! Pippin and 
I  always intended to go wherever he went,  and we still  do. But we did not 
realize what that would mean. It  seemed different so far away, in the Shire 
or in Rivendell. It  would  be mad and cruel to let Frodo go  to Mordor. Why  
can't we stop him?' 
     'We must stop  him,'  said Pippin.  `And  that is what  he  is worrying 
about, I am sure. He knows we shan't agree to his going east. And  he doesn't  
like to ask anyone to go with him, poor old fellow. Imagine it: going off to 
Mordor  alone! ' Pippin shuddered. 'But the dear silly  old hobbit, he ought


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Gandalf were  here! How my  heart yearns  for Minas Anor and the walls of my 
own city! But whither now shall I go? ' 
     The  chasm was long and  dark,  and filled  with the noise of wind  and 
rushing water and echoing stone. It  bent somewhat  towards the west so that 
at first all was dark  ahead; but soon Frodo  saw a tall gap of light before 
him,  ever  growing.  Swiftly it  drew  near,  and  suddenly the  boats shot 
through, out into a wide clear light. 
     The sun, already long fallen from the noon, was shining in a windy sky. 
The pent  waters spread out into a long oval lake, pale  Nen Hithoel, fenced 
by  steep grey hills whose sides were clad with trees, but  their heads were 
bare,  cold-gleaming in  the sunlight. At  the far  southern end  rose three 
peaks.  The midmost stood somewhat forward from the others and sundered 
from 
them, an island  in the waters,  about  which   the flowing River  flung pale


key: chroma:document
string_value:
in  motion. Then turning south  again  he  beheld Minas Tirith. Far away  it 
seemed. and beautiful: white-walled,  many-towered, proud  and fair upon its 
mountain-seat;  its battlements  glittered with  steel, and its turrets were 
bright with many banners. Hope leaped in his heart. But against Minas Tirith 
was  set  another  fortress,  greater and more  strong.  Thither,  eastward, 
unwilling his eye was drawn.  It passed the ruined bridges of Osgiliath, the 
grinning  gates of  Minas Morgul. and the  haunted Mountains, and it  looked 
upon Gorgoroth,  the  valley of terror  in the  Land  of Mordor. Darkness lay 
there under the Sun. Fire glowed amid the smoke. Mount Doom was burning, 
and 
a  great  reek  rising.  Then at last  his  gaze was held: wall  upon  wall, 
battlement  upon  battlement, black, immeasurably strong,  mountain of iron, 
gate of steel, tower of adamant, he saw  it: Barad-dyr,  Fortress of Sauron. 
All hope left him.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
like to ask anyone to go with him, poor old fellow. Imagine it: going off to 
Mordor  alone! ' Pippin shuddered. 'But the dear silly  old hobbit, he ought 
to know that he  hasn't got to ask.  He ought  to know that if we can't stop 
him, we shan't leave him.' 
     'Begging  your  pardon,'  said  Sam. 'I don't  think you understand  my 
master  at all.  He isn't hesitating about which way  to  go. Of course not! 
What's the good of Minas Tirith anyway? To him, I mean, begging your 
pardon, 
Master Boromir,' he added, and turned. It was then that they discovered that 
Boromir, who at first had been sitting silent on  the outside of the circle, 
was no longer there. 
     `Now where's he got to? ' cried Sam, looking worried.  'He's been a bit 
queer lately, to my mind. But anyway he's  not in this business. He's off to 
his  home, as he always said;  and no blame to  him. But Mr. Frodo, he knows 
he's got to find the Cracks of Doom,  if  he can. But he's  afraid . Now it's


key: chroma:document
string_value:
harm. I will go alone. Some I cannot  trust, and  those I  can trust are too 
dear  to me: poor old  Sam,  and Merry and  Pippin. Strider,  too: his heart 
yearns for Minas Tirith, and he will be needed there, now Boromir has fallen 
into evil. I will go alone. At once.' 
     He went quickly  down the path and came back to the lawn where  Boromir 
had found him. Then he halted, listening. He thought he could hear cries and  
calls from the woods near the shore below.  
     'They'll be hunting  for  me,' he  said. `I wonder how long I have been 
away. Hours, I should think.' He hesitated. 'What can  I  do? ' he muttered. 
'I must go now or I shall never go.  I shan't  get  a  chance  again. I hate 
leaving them, and like  this without  any explanation. But surely  they will 
understand. Sam will. And what else can I do?' 
     Slowly he  drew out the Ring and put it  on  once more. He vanished and  
passed down the hill, less than a rustle of the wind.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
his  home, as he always said;  and no blame to  him. But Mr. Frodo, he knows 
he's got to find the Cracks of Doom,  if  he can. But he's  afraid . Now it's 
come to the point, he's just plain terrified. That's what his trouble is. Of 
course  he's had  a bit of schooling, so to speak-we  all have-since we left 
home, or  he'd be so terrified he'd just  fling  the Ring in the  River  and 
bolt. But he's still too frightened to start. And he isn't worrying about us 
either: whether we'll  go along with him or no. He knows we mean to.  That's 
another thing that's  bothering  him. If  he  screws himself up to go, he'll 
want to go alone. Mark my words!  We're going to  have trouble when he 
comes 
back. For he'll screw himself up all right, as sure as his name's Baggins.' 
     'I believe  you speak more  wisely than any of us,  Sam,' said Aragorn. 
`And what shall we do, if you prove right? '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-ruining our cause.  If any mortals have claim  to the Ring, it is the men of 
N®menor, and not Halflings. It is not yours save by unhappy chance. It might 
have been mine. It should be mine. Give it to me!  ' 
     Frodo  did not answer, but moved away  till the great  flat stone stood 
between them. `Come, come, my friend! ' said Boromir in a softer voice. 'Why 
not get rid of it? Why not be free of your  doubt and  fear? You can lay the 
blame on me, if you  will.  You  can say that I was too strong and took it by 
force. For I am  too strong for you, halfling,' he cried;  and  suddenly  he 
sprang  over the stone  and leaped at Frodo. His fair and pleasant face  was 
hideously changed; a raging fire was in his eyes. 
     Frodo dodged aside and again put the stone between them. There was only 
one thing he could do: trembling  he pulled  out the Ring upon its chain and 
quickly slipped it on his finger, even as Boromir sprang at him  again.  The


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     `Wait  a moment!  ' cried Aragorn. `We must  divide up into pairs,  and 
arrange-here, hold on! Wait! ' 
     It was no good. They took no notice of him. Sam had dashed  off  first. 
Merry  and Pippin  had followed, and were already disappearing westward into 
the trees  by  the  shore,  shouting:  Frodo! Frodo!  in  their clear,  high 
hobbit-voices. Legolas and  Gimli were running.  A  sudden  panic or madness 
seemed to have fallen on the Company. 
     `We  shall all be scattered and lost,' groaned Aragorn. `Boromir!  I do 
not know what part you have played in this mischief, but help  now! Go after 
those  two  young hobbits,  and guard them at  the least, even if you cannot 
find Frodo. Come back to this spot, if you find him, or any traces of him. I 
shall return soon.' 
     Aragorn  sprang swiftly away and  went in pursuit of  Sam. Just  as  he 
reached the  little lawn among the rowans  he  overtook him, toiling uphill, 
panting and calling, Frodo!


key: chroma:document
string_value:
peaks.  The midmost stood somewhat forward from the others and sundered 
from 
them, an island  in the waters,  about  which   the flowing River  flung pale 
shimmering arms. Distant but deep there came up on the wind a  roaring sound 
like the roll of thunder heard far away.


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-bank  all by itself.  With  a shout Sam raced  across  the  grass. The  boat 
slipped into the wat 
 
128d 
 
er. 
     `Coming, Mr. Frodo!  Coming! ' called  Sam, and flung himself  from the 
bank, clutching at the departing boat. He missed it by a  yard. With  a  cry 
and a  splash he fell face  downward into deep swift water. Gurgling he went 
under, and the River closed over his curly head. 
     An exclamation of dismay came from the empty boat. A paddle swirled and 
the boat put about. Frodo was  just  in time to grasp Sam by  the hair as he 
came up, bubbling and struggling. Fear was staring in his round brown eyes.  
     `Up you come, Sam my lad! ' said Frodo. `Now take my hand! ' 
     `Save me, Mr. Frodo! ' gasped Sam.  `I'm  drownded.  I can't  see  your 
hand.' 
     `Here it is. Don't  pinch, lad! I  won't  let you  go. Tread water  and 
don't flounder, or  you'll upset the boat. There now, get hold of  the side, 
and let me use the paddle! '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     'Stop him! Don't let him go! ' cried Pippin. 
     'I wonder?  '  said Aragorn.  `He is  the Bearer, and  the fate  of the 
Burden is on him. I do not think that it is our part to drive him one way or 
the  other. Nor  do I  think that we  should succeed, if we tried. There are 
other powers at work far stronger.' 
     `Well, I wish  Frodo would "screw himself up" and come back. and let us 
get it over,' said Pippin. `This waiting is horrible! Surely the time is up?  
' 
     `Yes,' said Aragorn. 'The hour  is long passed. The morning is  wearing 
away. We must call for him.' 
     At  that  moment Boromir  reappeared.  He  came out from the  trees and 
walked  towards them  without speaking.  His  face  looked grim and sad.  He 
paused as if counting those that were present, and then sat down aloof, with 
his eyes on the ground. 
     `Where have you been, Boromir? ' asked Aragorn. `Have you seen Frodo? '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
But tell me, what would you do with such a gift? ' 
     `Treasure it, Lady,' he answered, `in memory of your words to me at our 
first meeting. And if ever I return to the  smithies of my home, it shall be 
set in imperishable crystal to  be an heirloom of my house, and a  pledge of 
good will between the Mountain and the Wood until the end of days.' 
     Then the  Lady unbraided  one  of her long tresses, and  cut o ff  three 
golden hairs, and laid them in Gimli's hand. `These words shall  go with the 
gift,' she said. `I do not foretell, for all foretelling is now vain: on the 
one hand lies darkness, and on the other only hope. But if  hope  should not 
fail, then I sa y to you, Gimli son of Gluin, that your hands shall flow with 
gold, and yet over you gold shall have no dominion. 
     `And you, Ring-bearer,' she said, turning to Frodo. `I come to you last 
who are not last in my thoughts. For you I have prepared  this.'  She held up


key: chroma:document
string_value:
Aragorn  sprang swiftly away and  went in pursuit of  Sam. Just  as  he 
reached the  little lawn among the rowans  he  overtook him, toiling uphill, 
panting and calling, Frodo! 
     `Come with me, Sam! '  he said.  `None of us should be alone.  There is 
mischief about. I feel it.  I am going to the top, to  the Seat of Amon Hen, 
to  see what may be   seen. And look! It is  as  my heart guessed, Frodo went  
this way. Follow me, and keep your eyes open! ' He sped up the path. 
     Sam did his best, but he could not keep up with Strider the Ranger, and 
soon fell behind. He had not gone far before Aragorn was out of sight ahead. 
Sam stopped and puffed. Suddenly he clapped his hand to his head. 
     `Whoa,  Sam  Gamgee! ' he said aloud. `Your legs are too short, so  use 
your head! Let me  see now! Boromir isn't lying, that's not  his way; but he 
hasn't  told  us everything. Something scared Mr.  Frodo  badly.  He screwed


key: chroma:document
string_value:
one thing he could do: trembling  he pulled  out the Ring upon its chain and 
quickly slipped it on his finger, even as Boromir sprang at him  again.  The 
Man  gasped, stared for a  moment amazed, and then ran wildly about, seeking 
here and there among the rocks and trees. 
     'Miserable trickster!' he shouted. `Let me  get my  hands on you! Now I 
see your mind. You  will take the Ring  to Sauron and  sell us all. You have 
only waited  your  chance to  leave  us  in  the  lurch. Curse  you and  all 
halflings to death  and darkness! ' Then, catching his foot on  a stone,  he 
fell sprawling and  lay upon his face. For a while he was as still as if his 
own curse had struck him down; then suddenly he wept. 
     He rose and  passed  his  hand  over his eyes, dashing away  the tears.  
'What have I said? ' he cried. `What have I done? Frodo, Frodo! ' he called.  
'Come back! A madness took me, but it has passed. Come back! '


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-     `Behold Tol Brandir! ' said Aragorn,  pointing south to  the tall peak. 
'Upon the left stands Amon Lhaw, and upon the right is Amon Hen the Hills of 
Hearing and of Sight. In the days  of the  great kings there were high seats 
upon  them, and watch was kept there. But it is said that no foot of  man or 
beast has ever been set upon Tol Brandir. Ere  the shade of  night  falls we 
shall come to them. I hear the endless voice of Rauros calling.' 
     The Company rested now for a while,  drifting south on the current that 
flowed through the middle  of  the lake. They  ate  some food, and then they 
took  to their paddles and  hastened on their way. The sides of the westward 
hills fell into shadow, and  the Sun  grew round and  red.  Here and there a  
misty  star peered out. The three peaks loomed before  them, darkling in the 
twilight. Rauros was roaring with a grea t voice.  Already  night was laid on


key: chroma:document
string_value:
####-explain, and I shall never have  the heart  or  the chance to get off. But I 
must go at once. It's the only way.' 
     `Of course  it is,' answered  Sam.  'But not alone. I'm  coming too, or  
neither of us isn't going. I'll knock holes in all the boats first.' 
     Frodo actually laughed. A sudden warmth and gladness touched his heart. 
`Leave one! 'he said. `We'll need it. But you  can't come like  this without 
your gear or food or anything.' 
     'Just  hold on a moment, and  I'll  get my stuff!' cried  Sam  eagerly. 
'It's all ready. I thought we should be off today.' He rushed to the camping 
place,  fished out  his pack from the pile where Frodo had laid it  when  he 
emptied the boat of his companions' goods grabbed a  spare blanket, and some 
extra packages of food, and ran back. 
     `So all my  plan is spoilt!  ' said Frodo.  `It is  no good  trying  to 
escape you. But I'm glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad. Come along! It is


key: chroma:document
string_value:
`And you, Ring-bearer,' she said, turning to Frodo. `I come to you last 
who are not last in my thoughts. For you I have prepared  this.'  She held up 
a small crystal phial: it glittered as she moved it, and rays of white light 
sprang from  her hand.  'In this  phial,' she said, `is  caught the light of 
Edrendil's  star,  set amid  the  waters of my fountain. It will shine still 
brighter when night is  about you. May it be a  light to you in dark places, 
when all other lights go out. Remember Galadriel and her Mirror! ' 
     Frodo took the phial, and for a moment as it shone between them, he saw 
her  again  standing  like a  queen,  great and  beautiful,  but  no  longer  
terrible. He bowed, but found no words to say. 
     Now the Lady arose, and Celeborn led them back to  the  hythe. A yellow 
noon lay  on the  green land  of  the Tongue, and  the water  glittered with 
silver. All at last was  made  ready. The Company took  their places in  the


key: chroma:document
string_value:
your head! Let me  see now! Boromir isn't lying, that's not  his way; but he 
hasn't  told  us everything. Something scared Mr.  Frodo  badly.  He screwed 
himself up  to the point,  sudden. He made up his mind  at last to go. Where 
to? Off East. Not without Sam? Yes, without even his Sam. That's hard, cruel 
hard.' 
     Sam passed his hand over  his eyes, brushing  away the  tears. 'Steady, 
Gamgee!  ' he said. `Think,  if you can!  He can't fly across rivers, and he 
can't  jump  waterfalls. He's got no gear. So he's  got  to get back to  the 
boats. Back to the boats! Back to the boats, Sam, like lightning!  ' 
     Sam turned and bolted back down the path. He fell and cut his knees. Up 
he  got and ran on.  He  came to the edge of the lawn of Parth Galen  by the 
shore, where the boats were  drawn up out  of the  water.  No one was there.  
There  seemed to be cries in  the woods behind, but he did not heed them. He


