[
    {
        "text": "\u2018At least we may yet be avenged. Let us gird ourselves and weep no more! Come! We have a long road, and much to do.\u2019 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\u2019 feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, they were black,\u2019 said Beregond, \u2018and I see that you know something of them, though you have not spoken of them in any of your tales.\u2019 \u2018I know of them,\u2019 said Pippin softly, \u2018but I will not speak of them now, so near, so near.\u2019 He broke off and lifted his eyes above the River, and it seemed to him that all he could see was a vast and threatening shadow. Perhaps it was mountains looming on the verge of sight, their jagged edges softened by wellnigh twenty leagues of misty air; perhaps it was but a cloud-wall, and beyond that again a yet deeper gloom. But even as he looked it seemed to his eyes that the gloom was growing and gathering, very slowly, slowly rising to smother the regions of the sun."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Who are you, and what d\u2019you think you\u2019re doing?\u2019 said the ruffian-leader."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hardly twenty paces from where the hobbits lurked the small orcmore. There\u2019s not a trace left, I say. I\u2019ve lost the scent through giving way to you. It went up into the hills, not along the valley, I tell you.\u2019 \u2018Not much use are you, you little snufflers?\u2019 said the big orc. \u2018I reckon eyes are better than your snotty noses.\u2019 \u2018Then what have you seen with them?\u2019 snarled the other. \u2018Garn! You don\u2019t even know what you\u2019re looking for.\u2019 \u2018Whose blame\u2019s that?\u2019 said the soldier. \u2018Not mine. That comes from Higher Up. First they say it\u2019s a great Elf in bright armour, then it\u2019s a sort of small dwarf-man, then it must be a pack of rebel Uruk- hai; or maybe it\u2019s all the lot together.\u2019 \u2018Ar!\u2019 said the tracker. \u2018They\u2019ve lost their heads, that\u2019s what it is."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hateful night passed slowly and reluctantly. Such daylight as followed was dim; for here as the Mountain drew near the air wasback not moving. Sam stood beside him, reluctant to speak, and yet knowing that the word now lay with him: he must set his master\u2019s will to work for another effort. At length, stooping and caressing Frodo\u2019s brow, he spoke in his ear."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is as I feared,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018These were no ordinary wolves hunting for food in the wilderness. Let us eat quickly and go!\u2019 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 havenorth-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 hillside, ready to depart, a pale sunlight gleamed over the mountain-tops."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo felt Bilbo stir impatiently at his side. Evidently he was annoyed on his friend\u2019s behalf. Standing suddenly up he burst out: All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Still,\u2019 he said, standing suddenly up and sticking out his chin, while his beard went stiff and straight like bristling wire, \u2018we must keep up our courage. You will soon be well, if I do not talk you to death. You are in Rivendell, and you need not worry about anything for the present.\u2019 \u2018I haven\u2019t any courage to keep up,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018but I am not worried at the moment. Just give me news of my friends, and tell me the end of the affair at the Ford, as I keep on asking, and I shall be content for the present. After that I shall have another sleep, I think; but I shan\u2019t be able to close my eyes until you have finished the story for me.\u2019 Gandalf moved his chair to the bedside and took a good look at Frodo. The colour had come back to his face, and his eyes were clear, and fully awake and aware. He was smiling, and there seemed to be little wrong with him. But to the wizard\u2019s eye there was a faint change, just a hint as it were of transparency, about him, and especi- ally about the left hand that lay outside upon the coverlet."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 his mind."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And in the watches I have made up my mind,\u2019 he said. \u2018I 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.\u2019 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\u2019s light, bobbing like a will-o\u2019-the-wisp in front of them. The passage they had chosen wound steadily upwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thus Gandalf softly sang, and then suddenly he changed. Casting his tattered cloak aside, he stood up and leaned no longer on his staff; and he spoke in a clear cold voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beside Glorfindel there were several other counsellors of Elrond\u2019s household, of whom Erestor was the chief; and with him was Galdor, an Elf from the Grey Havens who had come on an errand from C\u00b4\u0131rdan the Shipwright. There was also a strange Elf clad in green and brown, Legolas, a messenger from his father, Thranduil, the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood. And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have, maybe, the power to heal her body, and to recall her from the dark valley. But to what she will awake: hope, or forgetfulness, or despair, I do not know. And if to despair, then she will die, unless other healing comes which I cannot bring. Alas! for her deeds have set her among the queens of great renown.\u2019 Then Aragorn stooped and looked in her face, and it was indeed white as a lily, cold as frost, and hard as graven stone. But he bent and kissed her on the brow, and called her softly, saying: \u2018E\u00b4owyn E\u00b4 omund\u2019s daughter, awake! For your enemy has passed away!\u2019 She did not stir, but now she began again to breathe deeply, so that her breast rose and fell beneath the white linen of the sheet."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now I must go down to meet those who come. I have seen a sight upon the field that is very grievous to my heart, and greater sorrow may yet come to pass. Come with me, Pippin! But you, Beregond, should return to the Citadel and tell the chief of the Guard there what has befallen. It will be his duty, I fear, to withdraw you from the Guard; but say to him that, if I may give him counsel, you should be sent to the Houses of Healing, to be the guard and servant of your captain, and to be at his side when he awakes \u2013 if that shall ever be again. For by you he was saved from the fire. Go now! I shall return soon.\u2019 With that he turned away and went with Pippin down towards the lower city. And even as they hastened on their way the wind brought a grey rain, and all the fires sank, and there arose a great smoke before them.Chapter 8 THE HOUSES OF HEALING A mist was in Merry\u2019s eyes of tears and weariness when they drew near the ruined Gate of Minas Tirith. He gave little heed to the wreck and slaughter that lay about all. Fire and smoke and stench was in the air; for many engines had been burned or cast into the fire-pits, and many of the slain also, while here and there lay many carcases of the great Southron monsters, half-burned, or broken by stone-cast, or shot through the eyes by the valiant archers of Mor- thond. The flying rain had ceased for a time, and the sun gleamed up above; but all the lower city was still wrapped in a smouldering reek."
    },
    {
        "text": "So time unreckoned passed, until Gimli saw a sight that he was ever afterwards loth to recall. The road was wide, as far as he could judge, but now the Company came suddenly into a great empty space, and there were no longer any walls upon either side. The dread was so heavy on him that he could hardly walk. Away to the left something glittered in the gloom as Aragorn\u2019s torch drew near. Then Aragorn halted and went to look what it might be."
    },
    {
        "text": "There seemed to be a great stone in the way, but the Orcs had got through somehow, for he could hear their voices on the other side. They were still running along, deeper and deeper into the moun- tain, back towards the tower. Sam felt desperate. They were carrying off his master\u2019s body for some foul purpose and he could not follow."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where am I, and what is the time?\u2019 he said aloud to the ceiling."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have already overtaken some of those that we are hunting,\u2019 he said. \u2018Look!\u2019 He pointed, and they saw that what they had at firstcruel strokes, and two had been beheaded. The ground was wet with their dark blood."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Ever am I fated to be your burden, friend at need,\u2019\u2019 I said."
    },
    {
        "text": "They took a deep draught of the air, and felt that a skip and a few stout strides would bear them wherever they wished. It seemed fainthearted to go jogging aside over the crumpled skirts of the downs towards the Road, when they should be leaping, as lusty as Tom, over the stepping stones of the hills straight towards the Mountains."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hullo!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018So that\u2019s what is bothering you? Now, Pippin my lad, don\u2019t forget Gildor\u2019s saying \u2013 the one Sam used to quote: Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick toaffairs of Wizards,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I should like a bit of information as well as danger. I should like a look at that ball.\u2019 \u2018Go to sleep!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018You\u2019ll get information enough, sooner or later. My dear Pippin, no Took ever beat a Brandybuck for inquisi- tiveness; but is this the time, I ask you?\u2019 \u2018All right! What\u2019s the harm in my telling you what I should like: a look at that stone? I know I can\u2019t have it, with old Gandalf sitting on it, like a hen on an egg. But it doesn\u2019t help much to get no more from you than a you-can\u2019t-have-it so-go-to-sleep!\u2019 \u2018Well, what else could I say?\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I\u2019m sorry, Pippin, but you really must wait till the morning. I\u2019ll be as curious as you like after breakfast, and I\u2019ll help in any way I can at wizard-wheedling."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It seems that Saruman thinks so too,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Let us leave them!\u2019 They returned now to the ruins of the gate. Hardly had they passed out under the arch, when, from among the shadows of the piled stones where they had stood, Treebeard and a dozen other Ents came striding up. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas gazed at them in wonder."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s a hobbit by the size of it, but all dressed up queer. Hey!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Who are you, and what\u2019s all this to-do?\u2019 \u2018It\u2019s Sam, Sam Gamgee. I\u2019ve come back.\u2019 Farmer Cotton came up close and stared at him in the twilight."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 he said in a soft voice, \u2018it has gone beyond our reach. Of that at least let us be glad. We can no longer be tempted to use the Ring."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sound of hoofs stopped. As Frodo watched he saw something dark pass across the lighter space between two trees, and then halt."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Paths of the Dead,\u2019 he muttered to himself. \u2018The Paths of the Dead? What does all this mean? They have all left me now. They have all gone to some doom: Gandalf and Pippin to war in the East; and Sam and Frodo to Mordor; and Strider and Legolas and Gimli to the Paths of the Dead. But my turn will come soon enough, I suppose. I wonder what they are all talking about, and what the king means to do. For I must go where he goes now.\u2019 In the midst of these gloomy thoughts he suddenly remembered that he was very hungry, and he got up to go and see if anyone else in this strange camp felt the same. But at that very moment a trumpet sounded, and a man came summoning him, the king\u2019s esquire, to wait at the king\u2019s board."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits lay down on their blankets with their feet towards the hearth; but Strider settled himself in the chair against the door. They talked for a little, for Merry still had several questions to ask."
    },
    {
        "text": "A long clammy hand went over his mouth and another caught\u2018Got him!\u2019 hissed Gollum in his ear. \u2018At last, my precious, we\u2019ve got him, yes, the nassty hobbit. We takes this one. She\u2019ll get the other."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I can\u2019t go on, Sam,\u2019 he murmured. \u2018I\u2019m going to faint. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s come over me.\u2019 \u2018I do, Mr. Frodo. Hold up now! It\u2019s the gate. There\u2019s some devilry there. But I got through, and I\u2019m going to get out. It can\u2019t be more dangerous than before. Now for it!\u2019 Sam drew out the elven-glass of Galadriel again. As if to do honour to his hardihood, and to grace with splendour his faithful brown hobbit-hand that had done such deeds, the phial blazed forth sud- denly, so that all the shadowy court was lit with a dazzling radiance like lightning; but it remained steady and did not pass."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018To Gimli son of Glo\u00b4in,\u2019\u2019 she said, \u2018\u2018give his Lady\u2019s greeting."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To see far off, and to converse in thought with one another,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018In that way they long guarded and united the realm of Gondor. They set up Stones at Minas Anor, and at Minas Ithil, and at Orthanc in the ring of Isengard. The chief and master of these was under the Dome of Stars at Osgiliath before its ruin. The three others were far away in the North. In the house of Elrond it is told that they were at Annu\u00b4minas, and Amon Su\u02c6l, and Elendil\u2019s Stone was on the Tower Hills that look towards Mithlond in the Gulf of Lune where the grey ships lie."
    },
    {
        "text": "Just over the top of the hill they came on the patch of fir-wood."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beyond those peaks the range bends round south-west. There are many maps in Elrond\u2019s house, but I suppose you never thought to look at them?\u2019 \u2018Yes I did, sometimes,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018but I don\u2019t remember them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Horsemen were galloping on the grass of Rohan; wolves poured from Isengard. From the havens of Harad ships of war put out towains. All the power of the Dark Lord was in motion. Then turning south again he beheld Minas Tirith. Far away it seemed, and beauti- ful: 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits said nothing. Sam looked at Frodo. At last Frodo spoke. \u2018I do not wish to go,\u2019 he said; \u2018but 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!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo propped his back against the tree-trunk, and closed his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "The lies were too much alike for my comfort. Clearly the ring had an unwholesome power that set to work on its keeper at once. That was the first real warning I had that all was not well. I told Bilbo often that such rings were better left unused; but he resented it, and soon got angry. There was little else that I could do. I could not take it from him without doing greater harm; and I had no right to do so anyway. I could only watch and wait. I might perhaps have consulted Saruman the White, but something always held me back.\u2019 \u2018Who is he?\u2019 asked Frodo. \u2018I have never heard of him before.\u2019 \u2018Maybe not,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018Hobbits are, or were, no concern of his. Yet he is great among the Wise. He is the chief of my order and the head of the Council. His knowledge is deep, but his pride has grown with it, and he takes ill any meddling. The lore of the Elven-rings, great and small, is his province. He has long studied it, seeking the lost secrets of their making; but when the Rings were debated in the Council, all that he would reveal to us of his ring-lore told against my fears. So my doubt slept \u2013 but uneasily. Still I watched and I waited."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Don\u2019t you trust too much in the Boss\u2019s kind heart. Sharkey\u2019s come now, and he\u2019ll do what Sharkey says.\u2019 \u2018And what may that be?\u2019 said Frodo quietly."
    },
    {
        "text": "It is doubtful if he ever did anything braver in cold blood, or more unwise.for. Come back!\u2019 He took Sam under the armpits and hauled him up again. \u2018Now, wait a bit and be patient!\u2019 he said. Then he lay on the ground, leaning out and looking down; but the light seemed to be fading quickly, although the sun had not yet set. \u2018I think we could manage this,\u2019 he said presently. \u2018I could at any rate; and you could too, if you kept your head and followed me carefully.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know how you can be so sure,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Why! You can\u2019t see to the bottom in this light. What if you comes to a place where there\u2019s nowhere to put your feet or your hands?\u2019 \u2018Climb back, I suppose,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "As soon as the Shire-hobbits entered, there was a chorus of wel- come from the Bree-landers. The strangers, especially those that had come up the Greenway, stared at them curiously. The landlord intro- duced the newcomers to the Bree-folk, so quickly that, though they caught many names, they were seldom sure who the names belonged to. The Men of Bree seemed all to have rather botanical (and to the Shire-folk rather odd) names, like Rushlight, Goatleaf, Heathertoes, Appledore, Thistlewool and Ferny (not to mention Butterbur). Some of the hobbits had similar names. The Mugworts, for instance, seemed numerous. But most of them had natural names, such as Banks, Brockhouse, Longholes, Sandheaver, and Tunnelly, many of which were used in the Shire. There were several Underhills from Staddle, and as they could not imagine sharing a name without being related, they took Frodo to their hearts as a long-lost cousin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They have taken the wall!\u2019 men cried. \u2018They are blasting breaches in it. They are coming!\u2019 \u2018Where is Faramir?\u2019 cried Beregond in dismay. \u2018Say not that he has fallen!\u2019 It was Gandalf that brought the first tidings. With a handful of horsemen he came in the middle morning, riding as escort to a line of wains. They were filled with wounded men, all that could be saved from the wreck of the Causeway Forts. At once he went to Denethor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now, Mr. Peregrin,\u2019 he said, \u2018where might you be coming from, and where might you be going to? Were you coming to visit me? For, if so, you had gone past my gate without my seeing you.\u2019 \u2018Well, no,\u2019 answered Pippin. \u2018To tell you the truth, since you have guessed it, we got into the lane from the other end: we had come over your fields. But that was quite by accident. We lost our way in the woods, back near Woodhall, trying to take a short cut to the Ferry.\u2019 \u2018If you were in a hurry, the road would have served you better,\u2019 said the farmer. \u2018But I wasn\u2019t worrying about that. You have leave to walk over my land, if you have a mind, Mr. Peregrin. And you, Mr. Baggins \u2013 though I daresay you still like mushrooms.\u2019 He laughed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Just the time for a nice breakfast by the open window in spring sunshine. And how I should like breakfast! Do these people ever have it, or is it over? And when do they have dinner, and where?\u2019 Presently he noticed a man, clad in black and white, coming along the narrow street from the centre of the citadel towards him. Pippin felt lonely and made up his mind to speak as the man passed; but he had no need. The man came straight up to him."
    },
    {
        "text": "So now at last the City was besieged, enclosed in a ring of foes. The Rammas was broken, and all the Pelennor abandoned to the Enemy."
    },
    {
        "text": "When they had eaten, Aragorn called the Company together. \u2018The day has come at last,\u2019 he said: \u2018the 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 Orcs may already be on this side of the water.\u2019 There was a long silence in which no one spoke or moved."
    },
    {
        "text": "Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.\u2019 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 sud- denly 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He filled us all with fear. What new terror is this?\u2019 \u2018One that you cannot slay with arrows,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018You only slew his steed. It was a good deed; but the Rider was soon horsed again. For he was a Nazgu\u02c6l, one of the Nine, who ride now upon winged steeds. Soon their terror will overshadow the last armies of our friends, cutting off the sun. But they have not yet been allowed to cross the River, and Saruman does not know of this new shape in which the Ringwraiths have been clad. His thought is ever on the Ring. Was it present in the battle? Was it found? What if The\u00b4oden, Lord of the Mark, should come by it and learn of its power? That is the danger that he sees, and he has fled back to Isengard to double and treble his assault on Rohan. And all the time there is another danger, close at hand, which he does not see, busy with his fiery thoughts. He has forgotten Treebeard.\u2019 \u2018Now you speak to yourself again,\u2019 said Aragorn with a smile."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Boromir, and any that go with him seeking Minas Tirith, will do well to leave the Great River above Rauros and cross the Entwashis a strange land, and is now little known. But Boromir and Aragorn doubtless do not need this warning.\u2019 \u2018Indeed we have heard of Fangorn in Minas Tirith,\u2019 said Boromir."
    },
    {
        "text": "The gate-guards would not let them through by night, though they might break through. Even in the daylight they would try to keep them out, I think, at any rate until they got a message through to the Master of the Hall \u2013 for they would not like the look of the Riders, and would certainly be frightened by them. But, of course, Buckland cannot resist a determined attack for long. And it is possible that in the morning even a Black Rider that rode up and asked for Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodoturnedtowatchthesleeknecksofthewaterastheycurvedmoon was sinking, round and white. Pale mists shimmered in the great vale below: a wide gulf of silver fume, beneath which rolled the cool night-waters of the Anduin. A black darkness loomed beyond, and in it glinted, here and there, cold, sharp, remote, white as the teeth of ghosts, the peaks of Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains of the realm of Gondor, tipped with everlasting snow."
    },
    {
        "text": "One more day will do it.\u2019 And then he paused."
    },
    {
        "text": "He looked on the bright point of the sword. He thought of the places behind where there was a black brink and an empty fall into nothingness. There was no escape that way. That was to do nothing, not even to grieve. That was not what he had set out to do. \u2018What am I to do then?\u2019 he cried again, and now he seemed plainly to know the hard answer: see it through. Another lonely journey, and the worst."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 Middle-earth. Then he threw his staff on the ground, and sat down in silence."
    },
    {
        "text": "Far ahead and to their right the Misty Mountains loomed; ever darker and taller they grew as the miles went by. The sun went slowly down before them. Evening came behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We thought you had gone to find some,\u2019 said Pippin, busy setting out the food, and cups. \u2018You had better go now.\u2019and the small camping kettle at a little fall where the water fell a few feet over an outcrop of grey stone. It was icy cold; and they spluttered and puffed as they bathed their faces and hands."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I last saw him gathering men about him and fighting in the mouth of the Deep. Gamling was with him, and the dwarf; but I could not come to them.\u2019 Aragorn strode on through the inner court, and mounted to a high chamber in the tower. There stood the king, dark against a narrow window, looking out upon the vale."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 said Frodo in a dreamlike voice. \u2018But I have seen them too. In the pools when the candles were lit. They lie in all the pools, pale faces, deep deep under the dark water. I saw them: grim faces and evil, and noble faces and sad. Many faces proud and fair, and weeds in their silver hair. But all foul, all rotting, all dead. A fell light is in them.\u2019 Frodo hid his eyes in his hands. \u2018I know not who they are; but I thought I saw there Men and Elves, and Orcs beside them.\u2019 \u2018Yes, yes,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018All dead, all rotten. Elves and Men and Orcs. The Dead Marshes. There was a great battle long ago, yes, so they told him when Sme\u00b4agol was young, when I was young before the Precious came. It was a great battle. Tall Men with long swords, and terrible Elves, and Orcses shrieking. They fought on the plain for days and months at the Black Gates. But the Marshes have grown since then, swallowed up the graves; always creeping, creeping.\u2019 \u2018But that is an age and more ago,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018The Dead can\u2019t be really there! Is it some devilry hatched in the Dark Land?\u2019 \u2018Who knows? Sme\u00b4agol doesn\u2019t know,\u2019 answered Gollum. \u2018You cannot reach them, you cannot touch them. We tried once, yes, precious. I tried once; but you cannot reach them. Only shapes to see, perhaps, not to touch. No precious! All dead.\u2019 Sam looked darkly at him and shuddered again, thinking that he guessed why Sme\u00b4agol had tried to touch them. \u2018Well, I don\u2019t want to see them,\u2019 he said. \u2018Never again! Can\u2019t we get on and get away?\u2019 \u2018Yes, yes,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018But slowly, very slowly. Very carefully! Or hobbits go down to join the Dead ones and light little candles."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "It chilled them with fear."
    },
    {
        "text": "In those days the Companions of the Ring dwelt together in a fair house with Gandalf, and they went to and fro as they wished. And Frodo said to Gandalf: \u2018Do you know what this day is that Aragorn speaks of ? For we are happy here, and I don\u2019t wish to go; but the days are running away, and Bilbo is waiting; and the Shire is my home.\u2019 \u2018As for Bilbo,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018he is waiting for the same day, and he knows what keeps you. And as for the passing of the days, it is now only May and high summer is not yet in; and though all things may seem changed, as if an age of the world had gone by, yet to the trees and the grass it is less than a year since you set out.\u2019 \u2018Pippin,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018didn\u2019t you say that Gandalf was less close than of old? He was weary of his labours then, I think. Now he is recovering.\u2019 And Gandalf said: \u2018Many folk like to know beforehand what is to be set on the table; but those who have laboured to prepare the feast like to keep their secret; for wonder makes the words of praise louder."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hauberk was burdensome, and the helm weighed upon his head."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Elrond commanded it,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018The river of this valley is under his power, and it will rise in anger when he has great need to bar the Ford. As soon as the captain of the Ringwraiths rode into the water the flood was released. If I may say so, I added a few touches of my own: you may not have noticed, but some of the waves took the form of great white horses with shining white riders; and there were many rolling and grinding boulders. For a moment I was afraid that we had let loose too fierce a wrath, and the flood would get out of hand and wash you all away. There is great vigour in the waters that come down from the snows of the Misty Mountains.\u2019 \u2018Yes, it all comes back to me now,\u2019 said Frodo: \u2018the tremendous roaring. I thought I was drowning, with my friends and enemies and all. But now we are safe!\u2019 Gandalf looked quickly at Frodo, but he had shut his eyes. \u2018Yes, you are all safe for the present. Soon there will be feasting and merry- making to celebrate the victory at the Ford of Bruinen, and you will all be there in places of honour.\u2019 \u2018Splendid!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It is wonderful that Elrond, and Glorfindel and such great lords, not to mention Strider, should take so much trouble and show me so much kindness.\u2019 \u2018Well, there are many reasons why they should,\u2019 said Gandalf, smiling. \u2018I am one good reason. The Ring is another: you are thewas here and could hear all about it. It would have made him laugh."
    },
    {
        "text": "No Orcs remained alive; their bodies were uncounted. But a great many of the hillmen had given themselves up; and they were afraid, and cried for mercy."
    },
    {
        "text": "From that time on Sam thought that he sensed a change in Gollum again. He was more fawning and would-be friendly; but Sam sur- prised some strange looks in his eyes at times, especially towards Frodo; and he went back more and more into his old manner of speaking. And Sam had another growing anxiety. Frodo seemed to be weary, weary to the point of exhaustion. He said nothing, indeed he hardly spoke at all; and he did not complain, but he walked like one who carries a load, the weight of which is ever increasing; and he dragged along, slower and slower, so that Sam had often to beg Gollum to wait and not to leave their master behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "Soon he came out alone on the summit of Amon Hen, and halted, gasping for breath. He saw as through a mist a wide flat circle, paved with mighty flags, and surrounded with a crumbling battlement; and in the middle, set upon four carven pillars, was a high seat, reached by a stair of many steps. Up he went and sat upon the ancient chair, feeling like a lost child that had clambered upon the throne of mountain-kings."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now, don\u2019t mistake me!\u2019 he cried, as Frodo rose from his seat, and Sam jumped up with a scowl. \u2018I shall take more care of the secret than you do. And care is needed!\u2019 He leaned forward and looked at them. \u2018Watch every shadow!\u2019 he said in a low voice. \u2018Black horse- men have passed through Bree. On Monday one came down the Greenway, they say; and another appeared later, coming up the Greenway from the south.\u2019 There was a silence. At last Frodo spoke to Pippin and Sam: \u2018I ought to have guessed it from the way the gatekeeper greeted us,\u2019 he said. \u2018And the landlord seems to have heard something. Why did he press us to join the company? And why on earth did we behave so foolishly: we ought to have stayed quiet in here.\u2019 \u2018It would have been better,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018I would have stopped your going into the common-room, if I could; but the innkeeper would not let me in to see you, or take a message.\u2019 \u2018Do you think he\u2014\u2014\u2019 began Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I suppose we haven\u2019t got an axe among our luggage, Mr. Frodo?\u2019 asked Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "Can\u2019t you do something?\u2019 Gandalf looked through the gaping Gate, and already on the fields he heard the gathering sound of battle. He clenched his hand. \u2018I must go,\u2019 he said. \u2018The Black Rider is abroad, and he will yet bring ruin on us. I have no time.\u2019 \u2018But Faramir!\u2019 cried Pippin. \u2018He is not dead, and they will burn him alive, if someone does not stop them.\u2019 \u2018Burn him alive?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018What is this tale? Be quick!\u2019 \u2018Denethor has gone to the Tombs,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018and he has taken Faramir, and he says we are all to burn, and he will not wait, and they are to make a pyre and burn him on it, and Faramir as well."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly at the top of the stair there was a stab of white light."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Orcs reeled and screamed and cast aside both sword and spear."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Maggots!\u2019 jeered the Isengarders. \u2018You\u2019re cooked. The Whiteskins will catch you and eat you. They\u2019re coming!\u2019 A cry from Grishna\u00b4kh showed that this was not mere jest. Horse- men, riding very swiftly, had indeed been sighted: still far behind but gaining on the Orcs, gaining on them like a tide over the flats on folk straying in a quicksand."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Lady E\u00b4 owyn,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018will wish soon to rise and depart; but she should not be permitted to do so, if you can in any way restrain her, until at least ten days be passed.\u2019 \u2018As for Faramir,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018he must soon learn that his father is dead. But the full tale of the madness of Denethor should not be told to him, until he is quite healed and has duties to do. See that Beregond and the perian who were present do not speak to him of these things yet!\u2019 \u2018And the other perian, Meriadoc, who is under my care, what ofsaid Aragorn. \u2018Let him do so, if he wishes. He may walk a little in the care of his friends.\u2019 \u2018They are a remarkable race,\u2019 said the Warden, nodding his head."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And this I remember of Boromir as a boy, when we together learned the tale of our sires and the history of our city, that always it displeased him that his father was not king. \u2018\u2018How many hundreds of years needs it to make a steward a king, if the king returns not?\u2019\u2019 he asked. \u2018\u2018Few years, maybe, in other places of less royalty,\u2019\u2019 my father answered. \u2018\u2018In Gondor ten thousand years would not suffice.\u2019\u2019 Alas! poor Boromir. Does that not tell you something of him?\u2019 \u2018It does,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Yet always he treated Aragorn with honour.\u2019 \u2018I doubt it not,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018If he were satisfied of Aragorn\u2019s claim, as you say, he would greatly reverence him. But the pinch had not yet come. They had not yet reached Minas Tirith or become rivals in her wars."
    },
    {
        "text": "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! \u2018Surely you see it, my friend?\u2019 he said, turning now suddenly to Frodo again. \u2018You say that you are afraid. If it is so, the boldest should pardon you. But is it not really your good sense that revolts?\u2019\u2018Then you will come to Minas Tirith?\u2019 cried Boromir. His eyes were shining and his face eager."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So Saruman would not leave?\u2019 he said. \u2018I did not think he would."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then at a great distance, as if it came out of memories of the Shire, some sunlit early morning, when the day called and doors were opening, he heard Sam\u2019s voice speaking. \u2018Wake up, Mr. Frodo! Wake up!\u2019 Had the voice added: \u2018Your breakfast is ready,\u2019 he would hardly have been surprised. Certainly Sam was urgent. \u2018Wake up, Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Fear not!\u2019 he said. \u2018Long have I desired to look upon the likenesses of Isildur and Ana\u00b4rion, my sires of old. Under their shadow Elessar, the Elfstone son of Arathorn of the House of Valandil Isildur\u2019s son, heir of Elendil, has naught to dread!\u2019 Then the light of his eyes faded, and he spoke to himself: \u2018Would that Gandalf were here! How my heart yearns for Minas Anor and the walls of my own city! But whither now shall I go?\u2019 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 sud- denly the boats shot through, out into a wide clear light."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018My son, your father is old but not yet dotard. I can see and hear, as was my wont; and little of what you have half said or left unsaid is now hidden from me. I know the answer to many riddles. Alas, alas for Boromir!\u2019 \u2018If what I have done displeases you, my father,\u2019 said Faramir quietly, \u2018I wish I had known your counsel before the burden of so weighty a judgement was thrust on me.\u2019 \u2018Would that have availed to change your judgement?\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018You would still have done just so, I deem. I know you well. Ever your desire is to appear lordly and generous as a king of old, gracious, gentle. That may well befit one of high race, if he sits\u2018So be it,\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "As soon as the land faded into a formless grey under coming night, they started out again. In a little while Gollum led them down on to the southward road; and after that they went on more quickly, though the danger was greater. Their ears were strained for the sound of hoof or foot on the road ahead, or following them from behind; but the night passed, and they heard no sound of walker or rider."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I do not know, but I fear the worst,\u2019 answered Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "The light sprang up again, and there on the brink of the chasm, at the very Crack of Doom, stood Frodo, black against the glare, tense, erect, but still as if he had been turned to stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And now that the great ones have gone to discuss high matters,\u2019 said Legolas, \u2018the hunters can perhaps learn the answers to their own small riddles. We tracked you as far as the forest, but there are still many things that I should like to know the truth of.\u2019 \u2018And there is a great deal, too, that we want to know about you,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We have learnt a few things through Treebeard, the Old Ent, but that is not nearly enough.\u2019 \u2018All in good time,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018We were the hunters, and you should give an account of yourselves to us first.\u2019 \u2018Or second,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018It would go better after a meal. I have a sore head; and it is past mid-day. You truants might make amends by finding us some of the plunder that you spoke of. Food and drink would pay off some of my score against you.\u2019 \u2018Then you shall have it,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Will you have it here, or in more comfort in what\u2019s left of Saruman\u2019s guard-house \u2013 over there under the arch? We had to picnic out here, so as to keep an eye on the road.\u2019 \u2018Less than an eye!\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018But I will not go into any orc-house; nor touch Orcs\u2019 meat or anything that they have mauled.\u2019 \u2018We wouldn\u2019t ask you to,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We have had enough of Orcs ourselves to last a life-time. But there were many other folk in Isengard. Saruman kept enough wisdom not to trust his Orcs. He had Men to guard his gates: some of his most faithful servants, I suppose. Anyway they were favoured and got good provisions.\u2019 \u2018And pipe-weed?\u2019 asked Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That night we rested while others laboured. For there were many captives set free, and many slaves released who had been folk of Gondor taken in raids; and soon also there was a great gathering of men out of Lebennin and the Ethir, and Angbor of Lamedon came up with all the horsemen that he could muster. Now that the fear of the Dead was removed they came to aid us and to look on the Heir of Isildur; for the rumour of that name had run like fire in the dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not a \u2018\u2018short cut\u2019\u2019, I hope,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Our last short cut through woods nearly ended in disaster.\u2019 \u2018Ah, but you had not got me with you then,\u2019 laughed Strider. \u2018My cuts, short or long, don\u2019t go wrong.\u2019 He took a look up and down the Road. No one was in sight; and he led the way quickly down towards the wooded valley."
    },
    {
        "text": "I love my feet better. But, maybe, I shall come yet where I can stand and fight.\u2019 \u2018It may well be so,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden."
    },
    {
        "text": "The morning came, pale and clammy. Frodo woke up first, and found that a tree-root had made a hole in his back, and that his neck was stiff. \u2018Walking for pleasure! Why didn\u2019t I drive?\u2019 he thought, as he usually did at the beginning of an expedition. \u2018And all my beautiful feather beds are sold to the Sackville-Bagginses! These tree-roots would do them good.\u2019 He stretched. \u2018Wake up, hobbits!\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "Butterbur, looking really scared. \u2018But why can\u2019t you stay here quiet for a bit, Mr. Underhill? What are all these queer goings on? What are these black men after, and where do they come from, I\u2019d like to know?\u2019 \u2018I\u2019m sorry I can\u2019t explain it all,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018I am tired and very worried, and it\u2019s a long tale. But if you mean to help me, I ought to warn you that you will be in danger as long as I am in your house."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sing all ye people! And the people sang in all the ways of the City."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here are your ponies, now!\u2019 he said. \u2018They\u2019ve more sense (in some ways) than you wandering hobbits have \u2013 more sense in their noses. For they sniff danger ahead which you walk right into; and if they run to save themselves, then they run the right way. You must forgive them all; for though their hearts are faithful, to face fear of Barrow-wights is not what they were made for. See, here they comefrom their packs; and they soon felt too hot, for they were obliged to put on some of the thicker and warmer things that they had brought against the oncoming of winter."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin was a little ahead of the others. Suddenly he turned round and called to them. \u2018There is a path here!\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There lies the Mirrormere, deep Kheled-za\u02c6ram!\u2019 said Gimli sadly."
    },
    {
        "text": "It\u2019s not like me, somehow, if you understand.\u2019 \u2018Maybe not, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but it\u2019s like things are in the world."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Lotho never meant things to come to this pass. He has been a wicked fool, but he\u2019s caught now. The ruffians are on top, gathering, robbing and bullying, and running or ruining things as they like, in his name."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The sign has been given,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018and the day is not far off.\u2019 And he set watchmen upon the walls."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not that I ever heard,\u2019 said Pippin. Frodo was silent. He too was gazing eastward along the road, as if he had never seen it before."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin watched, and he saw the horseman and the White Rider meet and halt, waiting for those on foot. Men now hurried out to them from the City; and soon they all passed from sight under the outer walls, and he knew that they were entering the Gate. Guessing that they would come at once to the Tower and the Steward, he hurried to the entrance of the citadel. There he was joined by many others who had watched the race and the rescue from the high walls."
    },
    {
        "text": "Yet the herdsmen and husbandmen that dwelt there were not many, and the most part of the people of Gondor lived in the seven circles of the City, or in the high vales of the mountain-borders, in Lossar- nach, or further south in fair Lebennin with its five swift streams."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018These leaves,\u2019 he said, \u2018I have walked far to find; for this plant does not grow in the bare hills; but in the thickets away south of the Road I found it in the dark by the scent of its leaves.\u2019 He crushed a leaf in his fingers, and it gave out a sweet and pungent fragrance. \u2018It is fortunate that I could find it, for it is a healing plant that the Men of the West brought to Middle-earth. Athelas they named it, and it grows now sparsely and only near places where they dwelt or camped of old; and it is not known in the North, except to some of those who wander in the Wild. It has great virtues, but over such a wound as this its healing powers may be small.\u2019unhurt felt their minds calmed and cleared. The herb had also some power over the wound, for Frodo felt the pain and also the sense of frozen cold lessen in his side; but the life did not return to his arm, and he could not raise or use his hand. He bitterly regretted his foolishness, and reproached himself for weakness of will; for he now perceived that in putting on the Ring he obeyed not his own desire but the commanding wish of his enemies. He wondered if he would remain maimed for life, and how they would now manage to continue their journey. He felt too weak to stand."
    },
    {
        "text": "The old man took no notice, but stooped and sat himself on a low flat stone. Then his grey cloak drew apart, and they saw, beyond doubt, that he was clothed beneath all in white."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The scouts have come back at last,\u2019 said an Orc close at hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is it far?\u2019 \u2018I do not know. You might call it far, perhaps. But what does that matter?\u2019 \u2018Well, you see, we have lost all our belongings,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We have only a little food.\u2019long while. And if we decide to part company, I can set you down outside my country at any point you choose. Let us go!\u2019 Holding the hobbits gently but firmly, one in the crook of each arm, Treebeard lifted up first one large foot and then the other, and moved them to the edge of the shelf. The rootlike toes grasped the rocks. Then carefully and solemnly, he stalked down from step to step, and reached the floor of the Forest."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hoom, hm! Ah now,\u2019 said Treebeard, looking dark-eyed at him.\u2018Strange it may seem,\u2019 said Legolas; \u2018but while Gimli lives I shall not come to Fangorn alone. His axe is not for trees, but for orc-necks, O Fangorn, Master of Fangorn\u2019s Wood. Forty-two he hewed in the battle.\u2019 \u2018Hoo! Come now!\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018That is a better story! Well, well, things will go as they will; and there is no need to hurry to meet them. But now we must part for a while. Day is drawing to an end, yet Gandalf says you must go ere nightfall, and the Lord of the Mark is eager for his own house.\u2019 \u2018Yes, we must go, and go now,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I fear that I must take your gatekeepers from you. But you will manage well enough without them.\u2019 \u2018Maybe I shall,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018But I shall miss them. We have become friends in so short a while that I think I must be getting hasty \u2013 growing backwards towards youth, perhaps. But there, they are the first new thing under Sun or Moon that I have seen for many a long, long day. I shall not forget them. I have put their names into the Long List. Ents will remember it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Open, in the name of Mordor!\u2019 said a voice thin and menacing."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the south end of the greensward there was an opening. There the green floor ran on into the wood, and formed a wide space like a hall, roofed by the boughs of trees. Their great trunks ran like pillars down each side. In the middle there was a wood-fire blazing, and upon the tree-pillars torches with lights of gold and silver were burning steadily. The Elves sat round the fire upon the grass or upon the sawn rings of old trunks. Some went to and fro bearing cups and pouring drink; others brought food on heaped plates and dishes."
    },
    {
        "text": "The tunnel was high and wide, so wide that, though the hobbits walked abreast, only touching the side-walls with their outstretched hands, they were separated, cut off alone in the darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Who lives in this land?\u2019 he asked. \u2018And who built these towers? Is this troll-country?\u2019 \u2018No!\u2019 said Strider. \u2018Trolls do not build. No one lives in this land."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018E\u00b4 omer, my son! You lead the first e\u00b4ored,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden; \u2018and it shall go behind the king\u2019s banner in the centre. Elfhelm, lead your company to the right when we pass the wall. And Grimbold shall lead his towards the left. Let the other companies behind follow these three that lead, as they have chance. Strike wherever the enemy gathers. Other plans we cannot make, for we know not yet how things stand upon the field. Forth now, and fear no darkness!\u2019 The leading company rode off as swiftly as they could, for it wasother he tried to loosen his sword in its sheath. He felt now bitterly the truth of the old king\u2019s words: in such a battle what would you do, Meriadoc? Just this,\u2019 he thought: \u2018encumber a rider, and hope at best to stay in my seat and not be pounded to death by galloping hoofs!\u2019 It was no more than a league to where the out-walls had stood."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone, In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What is it!\u2019 cried Merry. \u2018It is time to get up. It is half past four and very foggy. Come on! Sam is already getting breakfast ready."
    },
    {
        "text": "But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. And already, Frodo, our time is beginning to look black. The Enemy is fast becoming very strong."
    },
    {
        "text": "The path stopped climbing, and became for a while nearly level. The dark trees drew aside, and ahead they could see the path going almost straight forward. Before them, but some distance off, there stood a green hill-top, treeless, rising like a bald head out of the encircling wood. The path seemed to be making directly for it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beneath the Moon and under star he wandered far from northern strands, bewildered on enchanted ways beyond the days of mortal lands."
    },
    {
        "text": "But out of the deep shadow of the dale rose a vast spire of smoke and vapour; as it mounted, it caught the rays of the sinking moon, and spread in shimmering billows, black and silver, over the starry sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "The world changed, and a single moment of time was filled with an hour of thought. At once he was aware that hearing was sharpened while sight was dimmed, but otherwise than in Shelob\u2019s lair. All things about him now were not dark but vague; while he himself was there in a grey hazy world, alone, like a small black solid rock, and the Ring, weighing down his left hand, was like an orb of hot gold."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018My dear Frodo!\u2019 exclaimed Gandalf. \u2018Hobbits really are amazing creatures, as I have said before. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch. I hardly expected to get such an answer, not even from you. But Bilbo made no mistake in choosing his heir, though he little thought how important it would prove. Iyou will have to go, and leave the name of Baggins behind you. That name will not be safe to have, outside the Shire or in the Wild. I will give you a travelling name now. When you go, go as Mr. Underhill."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And that\u2019s the end of that,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018A nasty end, and I wish I needn\u2019t have seen it; but it\u2019s a good riddance.\u2019 \u2018And the very last end of the War, I hope,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "He took his own tea with Pippin and Sam Gamgee in the kitchen."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Lawks!\u2019 said Merry, looking in. The stone floor was swimming."
    },
    {
        "text": "But do not despair!\u2019 He laughed again, seeing the dismay in Pippin\u2019s face. \u2018Those who have had heavy duty take somewhat to refresh their strength in the mid-morning. Then there is the nuncheon, at noon or after as duties allow; and men gather for the daymeal, and such mirth as there still may be, about the hour of sunset."
    },
    {
        "text": "The host turned away now from the road to the Fords of Isen and bent their course southward. Night fell, and still they rode on. The hills drew near, but the tall peaks of Thrihyrne were already dim against the darkening sky. Still some miles away, on the far side of the Westfold Vale, a great bay in the mountains, lay a green coomb, out of which a gorge opened in the hills. Men of that land called it Helm\u2019s Deep, after a hero of old wars who had made his refuge there."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Fissh, nice fissh. White Face has vanished, my precious, at last, yes. Now we can eat fish in peace. No, not in peace, precious. For Precious is lost; yes, lost. Dirty hobbits, nasty hobbits. Gone and left us, gollum; and Precious is gone. Only poor Sme\u00b4agol all alone. No Precious. Nasty Men, they\u2019ll take it, steal my Precious. Thieves. We hates them. Fissh, nice fissh. Makes us strong. Makes eyes bright, fingers tight, yes. Throttle them, precious. Throttle them all, yes, if we gets chances. Nice fissh. Nice fissh!\u2019with pity and disgust. He wished it would stop, and that he never need hear that voice again. Anborn was not far behind. He could creep back and ask him to get the huntsmen to shoot. They would probably get close enough, while Gollum was gorging and off his guard. Only one true shot, and Frodo would be rid of the miserable voice for ever. But no, Gollum had a claim on him now. The servant has a claim on the master for service, even service in fear. They would have foundered in the Dead Marshes but for Gollum. Frodo knew, too, somehow, quite clearly that Gandalf would not have wished it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beware!\u2019 Gollum cowered. \u2018On the Precious, on the Precious!\u2019 he repeated."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "The woman hastened to the king\u2019s side, taking his arm, and with faltering steps the old man came down from the dais and paced softly through the hall. Wormtongue remained lying on the floor. They came to the doors and Gandalf knocked."
    },
    {
        "text": "The host rode on. Need drove them. Fearing to come too late, they rode with all the speed they could, pausing seldom. Swift and enduring were the steeds of Rohan, but there were many leagues to go. Forty leagues and more it was, as a bird flies, from Edoras to the fords of the Isen, where they hoped to find the king\u2019s men that held back the hosts of Saruman."
    },
    {
        "text": "No tomb! No long slow sleep of death embalmed. We will burn like heathen kings before ever a ship sailed hither from the West. The West has failed. Go back and burn!\u2019 The messengers without bow or answer turned and fled."
    },
    {
        "text": "The music and singing round them seemed to falter, and a silence fell. Bilbo looked quickly at Frodo\u2019s face and passed his hand across his eyes. \u2018I understand now,\u2019 he said. \u2018Put it away! I am sorry: sorry you have come in for this burden; sorry about everything. Don\u2019t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story. Well, it can\u2019t be helped. I wonder if it\u2019s any good trying to finish my book? But don\u2019t let\u2019s worry about it now \u2013 let\u2019s have some real News! Tell me all about the Shire!\u2019 Frodo hid the Ring away, and the shadow passed leaving hardly a shred of memory. The light and music of Rivendell was about him again. Bilbo smiled and laughed happily. Every item of news from the Shire that Frodo could tell \u2013 aided and corrected now and again by Sam \u2013 was of the greatest interest to him, from the felling of the least tree to the pranks of the smallest child in Hobbiton. They were so deep in the doings of the Four Farthings that they did not notice the arrival of a man clad in dark green cloth. For many minutes he stood looking down at them with a smile."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But don\u2019t forget I\u2019ve arrested you.\u2019 \u2018I won\u2019t,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Never. But I may forgive you. Now I am not going any further today, so if you\u2019ll kindly escort me to The Floating Log, I\u2019ll be obliged.\u2019 \u2018I can\u2019t do that, Mr. Baggins. The inn\u2019s closed. There\u2019s a Shirriff- house at the far end of the village. I\u2019ll take you there.\u2019 \u2018All right,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Go on and we\u2019ll follow.\u2019 Sam had been looking the Shirriffs up and down and had spotted one that he knew. \u2018Hey, come here Robin Smallburrow!\u2019 he called."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 built out of the very stone of the hills. Their dark leaves shone and their berries glowed red in the light of the rising sun."
    },
    {
        "text": "But about the Gate resistance still was stout, and there the knights of Dol Amroth and the hardiest of the garrison stood at bay. Shot and dart fell thick; siege-towers crashed or blazed suddenly like torches. All before the walls on either side of the Gate the ground was choked with wreck and with bodies of the slain; yet still driven as by a madness more and more came up."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sun on the hill-top was now getting hot. It must have been about eleven o\u2019clock; but the autumn haze still prevented them from seeing much in other directions. In the west they could not make out either the line of the Hedge or the valley of the Brandywine beyond it. Northward, where they looked most hopefully, they could see nothing that might be the line of the great East Road, for which they were making. They were on an island in a sea of trees, and the horizon was veiled."
    },
    {
        "text": "PS. Do NOT use It again, not for any reason whatever! Do not travel by night! PPS. Make sure that it is the real Strider. There are many strange men on the roads. His true name is Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Isn\u2019t that odd now?\u2019 he said softly to himself. \u2018Yet after all, why not? Why shouldn\u2019t it stay there?\u2019 Gandalf looked again very hard at Bilbo, and there was a gleam in his eyes.\u2018I think, Bilbo,\u2019 he said quietly, \u2018I should leave it behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "From helm to sea they saw him leap, As arrow from the string, And dive into the water deep, As mew upon the wing."
    },
    {
        "text": "He fell silent again; but Frodo could not help asking one more question: the one he most desired to have answered. \u2018Tell us, Master,\u2019 he said, \u2018about the Willow-man. What is he? I have never heard of him before.\u2019 \u2018No, don\u2019t!\u2019 said Merry and Pippin together, sitting suddenly upright. \u2018Not now! Not until the morning!\u2019 \u2018That is right!\u2019 said the old man. \u2018Now is the time for resting."
    },
    {
        "text": "Come! We will go now. Leave all that can be spared behind! We will press on by day and dark!\u2019 They drew up the last boat and carried it to the trees. They laid beneath it such of their goods as they did not need and could not carry away. Then they left Parth Galen. The afternoon was fading as they came back to the glade where Boromir had fallen. There they picked up the trail of the Orcs. It needed little skill to find."
    },
    {
        "text": "But maybe, if you become a king, you will find that he must choose his friends with care. The friendship of Saruman and the power of Orthanc cannot be lightly thrown aside, whatever grievances, real or fancied, may lie behind. You have won a battle but not a war \u2013 and that with help on which you cannot count again. You may find the Shadow of the Wood at your own door next: it is wayward, and senseless, and has no love for Men."
    },
    {
        "text": "The fish of this pool are dearly bought.\u2019 Gollum dropped the fish from his hand. \u2018Don\u2019t want fish,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Where now she wanders none can tell, In sunlight or in shade; For lost of yore was Nimrodel And in the mountains strayed."
    },
    {
        "text": "However, in the meanwhile for all Mr. Butterbur knew his money was gone for good, or for bad. And he had other troubles. For there was a great commotion as soon as the remaining guests were astir and heard news of the raid on the inn. The southern travellers hadnight, none other than Bill Ferny\u2019s squint-eyed companion. Suspicion fell on him at once."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t like this at all,\u2019 panted Sam just behind. \u2018Snow\u2019s all right on a fine morning, but I like to be in bed while it\u2019s falling. I wish this lot would go off to Hobbiton! Folk might welcome it there.\u2019 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 Bilbo) could remember the Fell Winter of 1311, when white wolves invaded the Shire over the frozen Brandywine."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You may well put your thinking cap on, if you\u2019ve got one. It\u2019s no laughing matter. No one, no one has ever stuck a pin in Shelob before, as you should know well enough. There\u2019s no grief in that; but think \u2013 there\u2019s someone loose hereabouts as is more dangerous than any other damned rebel that ever walked since the bad old times, since the Great Siege. Something has slipped.\u2019 \u2018And what is it then?\u2019 growled Shagrat."
    },
    {
        "text": "Presently it grew altogether dark: the air itself seemed black and heavy to breathe. When lights appeared Sam rubbed his eyes: he thought his head was going queer. He first saw one with the corner of his left eye, a wisp of pale sheen that faded away; but others appeared soon after: some like dimly shining smoke, some like misty flames flickering slowly above unseen candles; here and there they twisted like ghostly sheets unfurled by hidden hands. But neither of his companions spoke a word."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum led the way close under the cliff. For the present they were no longer climbing, but the ground was now more broken and dangerous in the dark, and there were blocks and lumps of fallen stone in the way. Their going was slow and cautious. How many hours had passed since they had entered the Morgul Vale neither Sam nor Frodo could any longer guess. The night seemed endless."
    },
    {
        "text": "Only the night before he had said: \u2018Well, Mr. Frodo, we\u2019ve been far and seen a deal, and yet I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve found a better place than this. There\u2019s something of everything here, if you understand me: the Shire and the Golden Wood and Gondor and kings\u2019 houses and inns and meadows and mountains all mixed. And yet, somehow, I feel we ought to be going soon. I\u2019m worried about my gaffer, to tell you the truth.\u2019 \u2018Yes, something of everything, Sam, except the Sea,\u2019 Frodo had answered; and he repeated it now to himself: \u2018Except the Sea.\u2019 That day Frodo spoke to Elrond, and it was agreed that they should leave the next morning. To their delight Gandalf said: \u2018I think I shall come too. At least as far as Bree. I want to see Butterbur.\u2019 In the evening they went to say good-bye to Bilbo. \u2018Well, if you must go, you must,\u2019 he said. \u2018I am sorry. I shall miss you. It is nicethat he had already done so; and he gave him also three books of lore that he had made at various times, written in his spidery hand, and labelled on their red backs: Translations from the Elvish, by B.B."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now in their debate some had counselled that Minas Morgul should first be assailed, and if they might take it, it should be utterly destroyed. \u2018And, maybe,\u2019 said Imrahil, \u2018the road that leads thence to the pass above will prove an easier way of assault upon the Dark Lord than his northern gate.\u2019 But against this Gandalf had spoken urgently, because of the evilhad brought. For if the Ring-bearer had indeed attempted that way, then above all they should not draw the Eye of Mordor thither. So the next day when the main host came up, they set a strong guard upon the Cross-roads to make some defence, if Mordor should send a force over the Morgul Pass, or should bring more men up from the South. For that guard they chose mostly archers who knew the ways of Ithilien and would lie hid in the woods and slopes about the meeting of the ways. But Gandalf and Aragorn rode with the vanguard to the entrance of Morgul Vale and looked on the evil city."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their spears were like a springing wood. Loudly and joyously they shouted as The\u00b4oden came forth. Some held in readiness the king\u2019s horse, Snowmane, and others held the horses of Aragorn and Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 the Elder Days, and was now walking in a world that was no more. In Rivendell there was memory of ancient things; in Lo\u00b4 rien 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\u2019s borders: but on the land of Lo\u00b4 rien no shadow lay."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I know not why I have had the patience to speak to you. For I need you not, nor your little band of gallopers, as swift to fly as to advance, The\u00b4oden Horsemaster. Long ago I offered you a state beyond your merit and your wit. I have offered it again, so that those whom you mislead may clearly see the choice of roads. You give me brag and abuse. So be it. Go back to your huts! \u2018But you, Gandalf ! For you at least I am grieved, feeling for your shame. How comes it that you can endure such company? For you are proud, Gandalf \u2013 and not without reason, having a noble mind and eyes that look both deep and far. Even now will you not listen to my counsel?\u2019 Gandalf stirred, and looked up. \u2018What have you to say that you did not say at our last meeting?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Or, perhaps, you have things to unsay?\u2019 Saruman paused. \u2018Unsay?\u2019 he mused, as if puzzled. \u2018Unsay? I endeavoured to advise you for your own good, but you scarcely listened. You are proud and do not love advice, having indeed a store of your own wisdom. But on that occasion you erred, I think, misconstruing my intentions wilfully. I fear that in my eagerness to persuade you, I lost patience. And indeed I regret it. For I bore you no ill-will; and even now I bear none, though you return to me in the company of the violent and the ignorant. How should I? Are we not both members of a high and ancient order, most excellent in Middle-earth? Our friendship would profit us both alike. Much we could still accomplish together, to heal the disorders of the world."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tom stooped, removed his hat, and came into the dark chamber, singing: Get out, you old Wight! Vanish in the sunlight! Shrivel like the cold mist, like the winds go wailing, Out into the barren lands far beyond the mountains! Come never here again! Leave your barrow empty! Lost and forgotten be, darker than the darkness, Where gates stand for ever shut, till the world is mended."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It was only a feeble blow and the cap turned it,\u2019 he said. \u2018It would take more than such an orc-scratch to keep me back.\u2019 \u2018I will tend it, while you rest,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "O yes, my precious, we do see. Sme\u00b4agol knew hobbits could not go this way. O yes, Sme\u00b4agol knew.\u2019 \u2018Then what the plague did you bring us here for?\u2019 said Sam, not feeling in the mood to be just or reasonable."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So it is now: the Nine he has gathered to himself; the Seven also, or else they are destroyed. The Three are hidden still. But that no longer troubles him. He only needs the One; for he made that Ringwill command them all again, wherever they be, even the Three, and all that has been wrought with them will be laid bare, and he will be stronger than ever."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not idly do the leaves of Lo\u00b4 rien fall,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018This did not drop by chance: it was cast away as a token to any that might follow."
    },
    {
        "text": "Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling, The voices of my people that have gone before me? I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me; For our days are ending and our years failing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But whatever befell on the North March, you, Frodo, I doubt no longer. If hard days have made me any judge of Men\u2019s words and faces, then I may make a guess at Halflings! Though,\u2019 and now he smiled, \u2018there is something strange about you, Frodo, an Elvish air, maybe. But more lies upon our words together than I thought at first. I should now take you back to Minas Tirith to answer there to Denethor, and my life will justly be forfeit, if I now choose a course that proves ill for my city. So I will not decide in haste what is to be done. Yet we must move hence without more delay.\u2019 He sprang to his feet and issued some orders. At once the men who were gathered round him broke up into small groups, and went off this way and that, vanishing quickly into the shadows of the rocks and trees. Soon only Mablung and Damrod remained."
    },
    {
        "text": "All were hooded and masked, and had gauntlets on their hands, and were armed like Faramir and his companions. Before long they had all passed and vanished. The sun rose till it neared the South. The shadows shrank."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No one comes nigh Bree now from Outside,\u2019 he said. \u2018And the inside folks, they stay at home mostly and keep their doors barred. It all comes of those newcomers and gangrels that began coming up the Greenway last year, as you may remember; but more came later."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was Gimli the dwarf who broke in suddenly. \u2018The words of this wizard stand on their heads,\u2019 he growled, gripping the handle of his axe. \u2018In the language of Orthanc help means ruin, and saving means slaying, that is plain. But we do not come here to beg.\u2019 \u2018Peace!\u2019 said Saruman, and for a fleeting moment his voice was less suave, and a light flickered in his eyes and was gone. \u2018I do not speak to you yet, Gimli Glo\u00b4 in\u2019s son,\u2019 he said. \u2018Far away is your home and small concern of yours are the troubles of this land. But it was not by design of your own that you became embroiled in them, and so I will not blame such part as you have played \u2013 a valiant one, I doubt not. But I pray you, allow me first to speak with the King of Rohan, my neighbour, and once my friend."
    },
    {
        "text": "Stars came out. The waxing moon was riding in the West, and the shadows of the rocks were black. They had come to the feet of stony hills, and their pace was slower, for the trail was no longer easy to follow. Here the highlands of the Emyn Muil ran from North to South in two long tumbled ridges. The western side of each ridge was steep and difficult, but the eastward slopes were gentler, furrowed with many gullies and narrow ravines. All night the three companions scrambled in this bony land, climbing to the crest of the first and tallest ridge, and down again into the darkness of a deep winding valley on the other side."
    },
    {
        "text": "His belt was of gold and garnets, and rich with gold was the helm upon his bony head face downward on the floor. He had fallen near the far wall of the cave, as now could be seen, and before him stood a stony door closed fast: his finger-bones were still clawing at the cracks. A notched and broken sword lay by him, as if he had hewn at the rock in his last despair."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the meanwhile Frodo and Bilbo sat side by side, and Sam came quickly and placed himself near them. They talked together in soft voices, oblivious of the mirth and music in the hall about them."
    },
    {
        "text": "And then they knew him, changed as he was, so high and glad of face, kingly, lord of Men, dark-haired with eyes of grey.\u2018Yes, Sam, Strider,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018It is a long way, is it not, from Bree, where you did not like the look of me? A long way for us all, but yours has been the darkest road.\u2019 And then to Sam\u2019s surprise and utter confusion he bowed his knee before them; and taking them by the hand, Frodo upon his right and Sam upon his left, he led them to the throne, and setting them upon it, he turned to the men and captains who stood by and spoke, so that his voice rang over all the host, crying: \u2018Praise them with great praise!\u2019 And when the glad shout had swelled up and died away again, to Sam\u2019s final and complete satisfaction and pure joy, a minstrel of Gondor stood forth, and knelt, and begged leave to sing. And behold! he said: \u2018Lo! lords and knights and men of valour unashamed, kings and princes, and fair people of Gondor, and Riders of Rohan, and ye sons of Elrond, and Du\u00b4nedain of the North, and Elf and Dwarf, and greathearts of the Shire, and all free folk of the West, now listen to my lay. For I will sing to you of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom.\u2019 And when Sam heard that he laughed aloud for sheer delight, and he stood up and cried: \u2018O great glory and splendour! And all my wishes have come true!\u2019 And then he wept."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their horses were of great stature, strong and clean-limbed; their grey coats glistened, their long tails flowed in the wind, their manes were braided on their proud necks. The Men that rode them matched them well: tall and long-limbed; their hair, flaxen-pale, flowed under their light helms, and streamed in long braids behind them; their faces were stern and keen. In their hands were tall spears of ash, painted shields were slung at their backs, long swords were at their belts, their burnished shirts of mail hung down upon their knees."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits had been nearly two months in the house of Elrond, and November had gone by with the last shreds of autumn, and December was passing, when the scouts began to return. Some had gone north beyond the springs of the Hoarwell into the Ettenmoors; and others had gone west, and with the help of Aragorn and the Rangers had searched the lands far down the Greyflood, as far as Tharbad, where the old North Road crossed the river by a ruined town. Many had gone east and south; and some of these had crossed the Mountains and entered Mirkwood, while others had climbed the pass at the sources of the Gladden River, and had come down into Wilderland and over the Gladden Fields and so at length had reached the old home of Radagast at Rhosgobel. Radagast was not there; and they had returned over the high pass that was called the Redhorn Gate. The sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir, were the last to return; they had made a great journey, passing down the Silverlode into a strange country, but of their errand they would not speak to any save to Elrond."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now, Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018You must trust me. I will not desert you. Answer truthfully, if you can. It will do you good not harm.\u2019 He cut the cords on Gollum\u2019s wrists and ankles and raised him to his feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is the storehouse and buttery of my company of the Guard,\u2019 said Beregond. \u2018Greetings, Targon!\u2019 he called through the hatch. \u2018It is early yet, but here is a newcomer that the Lord has taken into his service. He has ridden long and far with a tight belt, and has had sore labour this morning, and he is hungry. Give us what you have!\u2019 They got there bread, and butter, and cheese and apples: the last of the winter store, wrinkled but sound and sweet; and a leatherbrought Pippin to a place at the east end of the great out-thrust battlement where there was an embrasure in the walls with a stone seat beneath the sill. From there they could look out on the morning over the world."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He had a friend called De\u00b4agol, of similar sort, sharper-eyed but not so quick and strong. On a time they took a boat and went down to the Gladden Fields, where there were great beds of iris and flower- ing reeds. There Sme\u00b4agol got out and went nosing about the banks but De\u00b4agol sat in the boat and fished. Suddenly a great fish took his hook, and before he knew where he was, he was dragged out and down into the water, to the bottom. Then he let go of his line, for he thought he saw something shining in the river-bed; and holding his breath he grabbed at it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have quick ears,\u2019 he went on, lowering his voice, \u2018and though I cannot disappear, I have hunted many wild and wary things and I canusually avoidbeingseen, ifIwish.Now, Iwasbehind thehedgeor to one another; but one thing interested me. Please remember, said one of them, that the name Baggins must not be mentioned. I am Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018\u2018Gandalf !\u2019\u2019 I said at last, but my voice was only a whisper. Did he say: \u2018\u2018Hullo, Pippin! This is a pleasant surprise!\u2019\u2019? No, indeed! He said: \u2018\u2018Get up, you tom-fool of a Took! Where, in the name of wonder, in all this ruin is Treebeard? I want him. Quick!\u2019\u2019 \u2018Treebeard heard his voice and came out of the shadows at once; and there was a strange meeting. I was surprised, because neither of them seemed surprised at all. Gandalf obviously expected to find Treebeard here; and Treebeard might almost have been loitering about near the gates on purpose to meet him. Yet we had told the old Ent all about Moria. But then I remembered a queer look he gave us at the time. I can only suppose that he had seen Gandalf or had some news of him, but would not say anything in a hurry. \u2018\u2018Don\u2019t be hasty\u2019\u2019 is his motto; but nobody, not even Elves, will say much about Gandalf \u2019s movements when he is not there."
    },
    {
        "text": "Half fearing a breaking plunge down on to unseen rocks the hobbits landed, in a drop of no more than a dozen feet, with a thud and a crunch into the last thing that they had expected: a tangle of thorny bushes. There Sam lay still, softly sucking a scratched hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "The king and his company slept no more that night; but they saw and heard no other strange thing, save one: the voice of the river beside them suddenly awoke. There was a rush of water hurrying down among the stones; and when it had passed, the Isen flowed and bubbled in its bed again, as it had ever done."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yess, wretched we are, precious,\u2019 he whined. \u2018Misery misery! Hobbits won\u2019t kill us, nice hobbits.\u2019 \u2018No, we won\u2019t,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But we won\u2019t let you go, either."
    },
    {
        "text": "He it was that now rode out, and with him came only a small company of black-harnessed soldiery, and a single banner, black but bearing on it in red the Evil Eye. Now halting a few paces before the Captains of the West he looked them up and down and laughed."
    },
    {
        "text": "And then he\u2019ll not leave you again. Rest you quiet till I come; and may no foul creature come anigh you! And if the Lady could hear me and give me one wish, I would wish to come back and find you again. Good-bye!\u2019 And then he bent his own neck and put the chain upon it, and at once his head was bowed to the ground with the weight of the Ring, as if a great stone had been strung on him. But slowly, as if the weight became less, or new strength grew in him, he raised his head, and then with a great effort got to his feet and found that he could walk and bear his burden. And for a moment he lifted up the Phial and looked down at his master, and the light burned gently now with the soft radiance of the evening-star in summer, and in that light Frodo\u2019s face was fair of hue again, pale but beautiful with an Elvish beauty, as of one who has long passed the shadows. And with the bitter comfort of that last sight Sam turned and hid the light and stumbled on into the growing dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Lord of the City sat now in a high chamber above the Hall of the White Tower with Pippin at his side; and through the dim windows, north and south and east, he bent his dark eyes, as if to pierce the shadows of doom that ringed him round. Most to the North he looked, and would pause at whiles to listen as if by some ancient art his ears might hear the thunder of hoofs on the plains far away."
    },
    {
        "text": "I\u2019ll lower you, and you need do no more than use your feet and hands to fend yourself off the rock. Though, if you put your weight on some of the ledges and give me a rest, it will help. When you\u2019re down, I\u2019ll follow. I feel quite myself again now.\u2019 \u2018Very well,\u2019 said Sam heavily. \u2018If it must be, let\u2019s get it over!\u2019 He took up the rope and made it fast over the stump nearest to the brink; then the other end he tied about his own waist. Reluctantly he turned and prepared to go over the edge a second time."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Saruman has fallen under it. Rohan is beset. Who knows what you will find there, if ever you return?\u2019 \u2018Not this at least,\u2019 said Boromir, \u2018that they will buy their lives with horses. They love their horses next to their kin. And not without reason, for the horses of the Riddermark come from the fields of the North, far from the Shadow, and their race, as that of their masters, is descended from the free days of old.\u2019 \u2018True indeed!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018And there is one among them that might have been foaled in the morning of the world. The horses of the Nine cannot vie with him; tireless, swift as the flowing wind."
    },
    {
        "text": "He had no clear idea at all. Frodo had not spoken much to him of his errand, and Sam only knew vaguely that the Ring had somehow to be put into the fire. \u2018The Cracks of Doom,\u2019 he muttered, the old name rising to his mind. \u2018Well, if Master knows how to find them, I don\u2019t.\u2019 \u2018There you are!\u2019 came the answer. \u2018It\u2019s all quite useless. He said so himself. You are the fool, going on hoping and toiling. You could have lain down and gone to sleep together days ago, if you hadn\u2019t been so dogged. But you\u2019ll die just the same, or worse. You might just as well lie down now and give it up. You\u2019ll never get to the top anyway.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And I\u2019ll carry Mr. Frodo up myself, if it breaks my back and heart. So stop arguing!\u2019 At that moment Sam felt a tremor in the ground beneath him, and he heard or sensed a deep remote rumble as of thunder imprisoned under the earth. There was a brief red flame that flickered under the clouds and died away. The Mountain too slept uneasily."
    },
    {
        "text": "Boromir muttered under his breath, but the echoing stone magni- fied the sound to a hoarse whisper that all could hear: \u2018In the deep places of the world! And thither we are going against my wish. Who will lead us now in this deadly dark?\u2019 \u2018I will,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and Gimli shall walk with me. Follow my staff !\u2019 Asthewizardpassedonaheadupthegreatsteps,heheldhisstaffand shallow; and at the top they found an arched passage with a level floor leading on into the dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "They also keep a horne\u00b4d cow as proud as any queen; But music turns her head like ale, And makes her wave her tufted tail and dance upon the green."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Then you must go now,\u2019\u2019 said Radagast; \u2018\u2018for I have wasted time in looking for you, and the days are running short. I was told to find you before Midsummer, and that is now here. Even if you set out from this spot, you will hardly reach him before the Nine discover the land that they seek. I myself shall turn back at once.\u2019\u2019 And with that he mounted and would have ridden straight off."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Get you gone, ere it turn to your evil.\u2019 \u2018Get down or we will shoot you from the wall,\u2019 they cried. \u2018This is no parley. You have nothing to say.\u2019 \u2018I have still this to say,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018No enemy has yet taken the Hornburg. Depart, or not one of you will be spared. Not one will be left alive to take back tidings to the North. You do not know your peril.\u2019 So great a power and royalty was revealed in Aragorn, as he stood there alone above the ruined gates before the host of his enemies, that many of the wild men paused, and looked back over their shoulders to the valley, and some looked up doubtfully at the sky. But the Orcs laughed with loud voices; and a hail of darts and arrows whistled over the wall, as Aragorn leaped down."
    },
    {
        "text": "Go!\u2019 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\u2019s staff. He seemed to be still standing on guard by the closed door. Frodo breathed heavily and leaned against Sam, who put his arms about him. They stood peering up the stairs into the darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ride on! Ride on!\u2019 cried E\u00b4 omer. \u2018Too late now to turn aside. The fensofEntwashmustguardourflank.Hastenowweneed.Rideon!\u2019past: Calenhad, Min-Rimmon, Erelas, Nardol. But their fires were quenched. All the lands were grey and still; and ever the shadow deepened before them, and hope waned in every heart.Chapter 4 THE SIEGE OF GONDOR Pippin was roused by Gandalf. Candles were lit in their chamber, for only a dim twilight came through the windows; the air was heavy as with approaching thunder."
    },
    {
        "text": "With a gasp Frodo cast himself on the ground. Sam sat by him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The horn of Boromir!\u2019 he cried. \u2018He is in need!\u2019 He sprang down the steps and away, leaping down the path. \u2018Alas! An ill fate is on me this day, and all that I do goes amiss. Where is Sam?\u2019 As he ran the cries came louder, but fainter now and desperately the horn was blowing. Fierce and shrill rose the yells of the Orcs, and suddenly the horn-calls ceased. Aragorn raced down the last slope, but before he could reach the hill\u2019s foot, the sounds died away; and as he turned to the left and ran towards them they retreated, until at last he could hear them no more. Drawing his bright sword and crying Elendil! Elendil! he crashed through the trees."
    },
    {
        "text": "A brief vision he had of swirling cloud, and in the midst of it towers and battlements, tall as hills, founded upon a mighty moun- tain-throne above immeasurable pits; great courts and dungeons, eyeless prisons sheer as cliffs, and gaping gates of steel and adamant: and then all passed. Towers fell and mountains slid; walls crumbled and melted, crashing down; vast spires of smoke and spouting steams went billowing up, up, until they toppled like an overwhelming wave, and its wild crest curled and came foaming down upon the land."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Elves sat on the grass and spoke together in soft voices; they seemed to take no further notice of the hobbits. Frodo and his com- panions wrapped themselves in cloaks and blankets, and drowsiness stole over them. The night grew on, and the lights in the valley went out. Pippin fell asleep, pillowed on a green hillock."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Who is that?\u2019 Frodo asked, when he got a chance to whisper to Mr. Butterbur. \u2018I don\u2019t think you introduced him?\u2019 \u2018Him?\u2019 said the landlord in an answering whisper, cocking an eye without turning his head. \u2018I don\u2019t rightly know. He is one of the wandering folk \u2013 Rangers we call them. He seldom talks: not but what he can tell a rare tale when he has the mind. He disappears for a month, or a year, and then he pops up again. He was in and out pretty often last spring; but I haven\u2019t seen him about lately. What his right name is I\u2019ve never heard: but he\u2019s known round here as Strider. Goes about at a great pace on his long shanks; though he don\u2019t tell nobody what cause he has to hurry. But there\u2019s no account- ing for East and West, as we say in Bree, meaning the Rangers and the Shire-folk, begging your pardon. Funny you should ask about him.\u2019 But at that moment Mr. Butterbur was called away by a demand for more ale and his last remark remained unexplained."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then he raised his empty hand, palm outward in token of parley."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Orcs!\u2019 he muttered. \u2018We\u2019ll never rush it like this. There\u2019s Orcs about, and worse than Orcs.\u2019 Then returning quickly to his long habit of secrecy, he closed his hand about the precious Phial which he still bore. Red with his own living blood his hand shone for a moment, and then he thrust the revealing light deep into a pocket near his breast and drew his elven-cloak about him. Now he tried to quicken his pace. His master was gaining on him; already he was some twenty strides ahead, flitting on like a shadow; soon he would be lost to sight in that grey world."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Messenger put these aside, and there to the wonder and dismay of all the Captains he held up first the short sword that Sam had carried, and next a grey cloak with an elven-brooch, and last the coat of mithril-mail that Frodo had worn wrapped in his tattered garments. A blackness came before their eyes, and it seemed to them in a moment of silence that the world stood still, but their hearts were dead and their last hope gone. Pippin who stood behind Prince Imrahil sprang forward with a cry of grief."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo felt his chin go down and his head nod. Just in front of him Pippin fell forward on to his knees. Frodo halted. \u2018It\u2019s no good,\u2019 he heard Merry saying. \u2018Can\u2019t go another step without rest. Must have nap. It\u2019s cool under the willows. Less flies!\u2019 Frodo did not like the sound of this. \u2018Come on!\u2019 he cried. \u2018We can\u2019t have a nap yet. We must get clear of the Forest first.\u2019 But the others were too far gone to care. Beside them Sam stood yawning and blinking stupidly."
    },
    {
        "text": "He laughed at me, for my words were empty, and he knew it."
    },
    {
        "text": "But harder than stone is the flesh and bone Of a troll that sits in the hills alone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Pick up those prisoners!\u2019 shouted Uglu\u00b4k. \u2018Don\u2019t play any tricks with them! If they are not alive when we get back, someone else will die too.\u2019 An Orc seized Pippin like a sack, put its head between his tiedtreated Merry in the same way. The Orc\u2019s clawlike hand gripped Pippin\u2019s arms like iron; the nails bit into him. He shut his eyes and slipped back into evil dreams."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The enemy,\u2019 men murmured. \u2018The dike is down. Here they come pouring through the breaches! And they carry torches, it seems."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 Company as they crouched against the cliff, and when the air cleared again they saw that the path was blocked behind them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All right,\u2019 said Shagrat, \u2018but we\u2019ll talk of that later. Wait till we get to the Under-way. There\u2019s a place there where we can talk a bit, while the lads go on.\u2019 Shortly afterwards Sam saw the torches disappear. Then there was a rumbling noise, and just as he hurried up, a bump. As far as he could guess the Orcs had turned and gone into the very opening which Frodo and he had tried and found blocked. It was still blocked."
    },
    {
        "text": "The ferry-boat moved slowly across the water. The Buckland shore drew nearer. Sam was the only member of the party who had not been over the river before. He had a strange feeling as the slow gurgling stream slipped by: his old life lay behind in the mists, dark adventure lay in front. He scratched his head, and for a moment had a passing wish that Mr. Frodo could have gone on living quietly at Bag End."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is a line of trees,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018and that must mark the Road."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Corsairs of Umbar!\u2019 men shouted. \u2018The Corsairs of Umbar! Look! The Corsairs of Umbar are coming! So Belfalas is taken, and the Ethir, and Lebennin is gone. The Corsairs are upon us! It is the last stroke of doom!\u2019 And some without order, for none could be found to command them in the City, ran to the bells and tolled the alarm; and somewhelmed!\u2019 But the wind that sped the ships blew all their clamour away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Seems so,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Well, we can but wait and see.\u2019 And with that he sat down beside Frodo under the shadow of the cliff."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beaver the builder, buck the leaper, Bear bee-hunter, boar the fighter; Hound is hungry, hare is fearful . . ."
    },
    {
        "text": "But soon there were few left in Minas Tirith who had the heart to stand up and defy the hosts of Mordor. For yet another weapon, swifter than hunger, the Lord of the Dark Tower had: dread and despair."
    },
    {
        "text": "But that desire was yet far away, and long now had she been hungry, lurking in her den, while the power of Sauron grew, and light and living things forsook his borders; and the city in the valley was dead, and no Elf or Man came near, only the unhappy Orcs."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am so sleepy,\u2019 he said, \u2018that soon I shall fall down on the road."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018To Bag End,\u2019\u2019 says they."
    },
    {
        "text": "They\u2019re all Elvish enough, but they\u2019re not all the same. Now these folk aren\u2019t wanderers or homeless, and seem a bit nearer to the likes of us: they seem to belong here, more even than Hobbits do in theNothing seems to be going on, and nobody seems to want it to. If there\u2019s any magic about, it\u2019s right down deep, where I can\u2019t lay my hands on it, in a manner of speaking.\u2019 \u2018You can see and feel it everywhere,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Adventures of Five Hobbits. The Tale of the Great Ring, compiled by Bilbo Baggins from his own observations and the accounts of his friends."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was early April and the sky was now clearing after heavy rain."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No more, no more!\u2019 cried the Elves laughing. \u2018You have eaten enough already for a long day\u2019s march.\u2019 \u2018I thought it was only a kind of cram, such as the Dale-men make for journeys in the wild,\u2019 said the Dwarf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Whither do you run, Master Peregrin?\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And it\u2019s a good thing neither half of the old villain don\u2019t know what master means to do,\u2019 he thought. \u2018If he knew that Mr. Frodo is trying to put an end to his Precious for good and all, there\u2019d be trouble pretty quick, I bet. Anyhow old Stinker is so frightened of the Enemy \u2013 and he\u2019s under orders of some kind from him, or was \u2013 that he\u2019d give us away rather than be caught helping us; and rather than let his Precious be melted, maybe. At least that\u2019s my idea. And I hope the master will think it out carefully. He\u2019s as wise as any, but he\u2019s soft-hearted, that\u2019s what he is. It\u2019s beyond any Gamgee to guess what he\u2019ll do next.\u2019 Frodo did not answer Gollum at once. While these doubts were passing through Sam\u2019s slow but shrewd mind, he stood gazing out towards the dark cliff of Cirith Gorgor. The hollow in which they had taken refuge was delved in the side of a low hill, at some little height above a long trenchlike valley that lay between it and the outer buttresses of the mountain-wall. In the midst of the valley stood the black foundations of the western watch-tower. By morning-light the roads that converged upon the Gate of Mordor could now be clearly seen, pale and dusty; one winding back northwards; another dwin- dling eastwards into the mists that clung about the feet of Ered Lithui; and a third that ran towards him. As it bent sharply round the tower, it entered a narrow defile and passed not far below the hollow where he stood. Westward, to his right, it turned, skirting the shoulders of the mountains, and went off southwards into the deep shadows that mantled all the western sides of Ephel Du\u00b4ath; beyond his sight it journeyed on into the narrow land between the mountains and the Great River."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And that, Frodo, is the end of my account. May Elrond and the others forgive the length of it. But such a thing has not happened before, that Gandalf broke tryst and did not come when he promised."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019ll be near the back, I guess,\u2019 Sam muttered. \u2018The whole Tower climbs backwards-like. And anyway I\u2019d better follow these lights.\u2019 He advanced down the passage, but slowly now, each step more reluctant. Terror was beginning to grip him again. There was no sound save the rap of his feet, which seemed to grow to an echoing noise, like the slapping of great hands upon the stones. The dead bodies; the emptiness; the dank black walls that in the torchlight seemed to drip with blood; the fear of sudden death lurking in door- way or shadow; and behind all his mind the waiting watchful malice at the gate: it was almost more than he could screw himself to face."
    },
    {
        "text": "The road had been made in a long lost time, and for perhaps thirty miles below the Morannon it had been newly repaired, but as it went south the wild encroached upon it. The handiwork of Men of old could still be seen in its straight sure flight and level course: now and again it cut its way through hillside slopes, or leaped over a stream upon a wide shapely arch of enduring masonry; but at last all signs of stonework faded, save for a broken pillar here and there, peering out of bushes at the side, or old paving-stones still lurking amid weeds and moss. Heather and trees and bracken scrambledwind: it held on its own sure course and guided them by the swiftest way."
    },
    {
        "text": "Another way, darker, more difficult to find, more secret. But Sme\u00b4agol knows it. Let Sme\u00b4agol show you!\u2019 \u2018Another way!\u2019 said Frodo doubtfully, looking down at Gollum with searching eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wonder if they think of us at all,\u2019 he said, \u2018and what is happening to them all away there.\u2019 He waved his hand vaguely in the air before him; but he was in fact now facing southwards, as he came back to Shelob\u2019s tunnel, not west. Out westward in the world it was drawing to noon upon the fourteenth day of March in the Shire-reckoning, and even now Aragorn was leading the black fleet from Pelargir, and Merry was riding with the Rohirrim down the Stonewain Valley, while in Minas Tirith flames were rising and Pippin watched the madness grow- ing in the eyes of Denethor. Yet amid all their cares and fear the thoughts of their friends turned constantly to Frodo and Sam. They werenotforgotten.Buttheywerefarbeyondaid,andnothoughtcouldHe came back at last to the stone door of the orc-passage, and still unable to discover the catch or bolt that held it, he scrambled over as before and dropped softly to the ground. Then he made his way stealthily to the outlet of Shelob\u2019s tunnel, where the rags of her great web were still blowing and swaying in the cold airs. For cold they seemed to Sam after the noisome darkness behind; but the breath of them revived him. He crept cautiously out."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 answered Gandalf, \u2018he has gone at last.\u2019 \u2018I wish \u2013 I mean, I hoped until this evening that it was only a joke,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But I knew in my heart that he really meant to go. He always used to joke about serious things. I wish I had come back sooner, just to see him off.\u2019 \u2018I think really he preferred slipping off quietly in the end,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Don\u2019t be too troubled. He\u2019ll be all right \u2013 now. He left a packet for you. There it is!\u2019 Frodo took the envelope from the mantelpiece, and glanced at it, but did not open it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019ve made up my mind,\u2019 he kept saying to himself. But he had not. Though he had done his best to think it out, what he was doing was altogether against the grain of his nature. \u2018Have I got it wrong?\u2019 he muttered. \u2018What ought I to have done?\u2019 As the sheer sides of the Cleft closed about him, before he reached the actual summit, before he looked at last on the path descending into the Nameless Land, he turned. For a moment, motionless in intolerable doubt, he looked back. He could still see, like a small blot in the gathering gloom, the mouth of the tunnel; and he thought he could see or guess where Frodo lay. He fancied there was a glimmer on the ground down there, or perhaps it was some trick of his tears, as he peered out at that high stony place where all his life had fallen in ruin."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then his own will stirred; slowly it forced the hand back and set it to find another thing, a thing lying hidden near his breast. Cold and hard it seemed as his grip closed on it: the phial of Galadriel, so long treasured, and almost forgotten till that hour. As he touched it, for a while all thought of the Ring was banished from his mind. He sighed and bent his head."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Does he feel no fear?\u2019 muttered the Dwarf. \u2018In any other cave Gimli Glo\u00b4in\u2019s son would have been the first to run to the gleam of gold. But not here! Let it lie!\u2019 Nonetheless he drew near, and saw Aragorn kneeling, while Ella- dan held aloft both torches. Before him were the bones of a mighty man. He had been clad in mail, and still his harness lay there whole; for the cavern\u2019s air was as dry as dust, and his hauberk was gilded."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Nazgu\u02c6l screeched and swept away, for their Captain was not yet come to challenge the white fire of his foe. The hosts of Morgul intent on their prey, taken at unawares in wild career, broke, scat- tering like sparks in a gale. The out-companies with a great cheer turned and smote their pursuers. Hunters became the hunted. The retreat became an onslaught. The field was strewn with stricken orcs and men, and a reek arose of torches cast away, sputtering out in swirling smoke. The cavalry rode on."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A mortal, Frodo, who keeps one of the Great Rings, does not die, but he does not grow or obtain more life, he merely continues, until at last every minute is a weariness. And if he often uses the Ring to make himself invisible, he fades: he becomes in the end invisible permanently, and walks in the twilight under the eye of the Dark Power that rules the Rings. Yes, sooner or later \u2013 later, if he is strong or well-meaning to begin with, but neither strength nor good purpose will last \u2013 sooner or later the Dark Power will devour him.\u2019 \u2018How terrifying!\u2019 said Frodo. There was another long silence. The sound of Sam Gamgee cutting the lawn came in from the garden."
    },
    {
        "text": "Eventually he fell into a vague dream, in which he seemed to be looking out of a high window over a dark sea of tangled trees. Down below among the roots there was the sound of creatures crawling and snuffling. He felt sure they would smell him out sooner or later."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Step forward, Sam!\u2019 said Merry; and Sam stood up with a face scarlet up to the ears. \u2018Here\u2019s our collector of information! And he collected a lot, I can tell you, before he was finally caught. After which, I may say, he seemed to regard himself as on parole, and dried up.\u2019 \u2018Sam!\u2019 cried Frodo, feeling that amazement could go no further, and quite unable to decide whether he felt angry, amused, relieved, or merely foolish."
    },
    {
        "text": "Yet he felt in his heart that Faramir, though he was much like his brother in looks, was a man less self-regarding, both sterner andFaramir. \u2018Then maybe you can see it in your mind\u2019s eye: a great horn of the wild ox of the East, bound with silver, and written with ancient characters. That horn the eldest son of our house has borne for many generations; and it is said that if it be blown at need any- where within the bounds of Gondor, as the realm was of old, its voice will not pass unheeded."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If only I could have my wish, my one wish,\u2019 he sighed, \u2018to go back andfind him!\u2019Thenat lastheturnedto theroadin frontandtook aOnly a few steps; and now only a few more and he would be going down and would never see that high place again. And then suddenly he heard cries and voices. He stood still as stone. Orc-voices. They were behind him and before him. A noise of tramping feet and harsh shouts: Orcs were coming up to the Cleft from the far side, from some entry to the tower, perhaps. Tramping feet and shouts behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "Down on the Road, where it swept to the right to go round the foot of the hill, there was a large inn. It had been built long ago when the traffic on the roads had been far greater. For Bree stood at an old meeting of ways; another ancient road crossed the East Road just outside the dike at the western end of the village, and in former days Men and other folk of various sorts had travelled much on it. Strange as News from Bree was still a saying in the Eastfarthing, descending from those days, when news from North, South, and East could be heard in the inn, and when the Shire-hobbits used to go more often to hear it. But the Northern Lands had long been desolate, and the North Road was now seldom used: it was grass-grown, and thean important person. His house was a meeting place for the idle, talkative, and inquisitive among the inhabitants, large and small, of the four villages; and a resort of Rangers and other wanderers, and for such travellers (mostly dwarves) as still journeyed on the East Road, to and from the Mountains."
    },
    {
        "text": "Indeed it certainly would; for this is the One, and he is exerting all his power to find it or draw it to himself."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They cannot conquer for ever!\u2019 said Frodo. And then suddenly the brief glimpse was gone. The Sun dipped and vanished, and as if at the shuttering of a lamp, black night fell.Chapter 8 THE STAIRS OF CIRITH UNGOL Gollum was tugging at Frodo\u2019s cloak and hissing with fear and impatience. \u2018We must go,\u2019 he said. \u2018We mustn\u2019t stand here. Make haste!\u2019 Reluctantly Frodo turned his back on the West and followed as his guide led him, out into the darkness of the East. They left the ring of trees and crept along the road towards the mountains. This road, too, ran straight for a while, but soon it began to bend away southwards, until it came right under the great shoulder of rock that they had seen from the distance. Black and forbidding it loomed above them, darker than the dark sky behind. Crawling under its shadow the road went on, and rounding it sprang east again and began to climb steeply."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, before breakfast,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But if you\u2019re short of sleep cold water on the neck\u2019s like rain on a wilted lettuce. There! Now I can keep awake long enough to eat a bit.\u2019 They were led then to seats beside Faramir: barrels covered with pelts and high enough above the benches of the Men for their con- venience. Before they ate, Faramir and all his men turned and faced west in a moment of silence. Faramir signed to Frodo and Sam that they should do likewise."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It comes from Mordor, lord,\u2019 he said. \u2018It began last night at sunset."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Let me go away!\u2019\u2019 he whined. \u2018\u2018Let me go away! My messages are useless now.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018They are indeed,\u2019\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018\u2018But you have only two choices: to stay with me until Gandalf and your master arrive; or to cross the water. Which will you have?\u2019\u2019 \u2018The man shivered at the mention of his master, and put a foot into the water; but he drew back. \u2018\u2018I cannot swim,\u2019\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Immediately, though everything else remained as before, dim and dark, the shapes became terribly clear. He was able to see beneath their black wrappings. There were five tall figures: two standing on the lip of the dell, three advancing. In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of steel. Their eyes fell on him and pierced him, as they rushed towards him. Desperate, he drew his own sword, and it seemed to him that it flickered red, as if it was a firebrand. Two of the figures halted. The third was taller than the others: his hair was long and gleaming and on his helm was a crown. In one hand he held a long sword, and in the other a knife; both the knife and the hand that held it glowed with a pale light. He sprang forward and bore down on Frodo.time he struck at the feet of his enemy. A shrill cry rang out in the night; and he felt a pain like a dart of poisoned ice pierce his left shoulder. Even as he swooned he caught, as through a swirling mist, a glimpse of Strider leaping out of the darkness with a flaming brand of wood in either hand. With a last effort Frodo, dropping his sword, slipped the Ring from his finger and closed his right hand tight upon it.Chapter 12 FLIGHT TO THE FORD When Frodo came to himself he was still clutching the Ring desper- ately. He was lying by the fire, which was now piled high and burning brightly. His three companions were bending over him."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last there came a pause in the Ent-voices; and looking up they saw Treebeard coming towards them, with another Ent at his side."
    },
    {
        "text": "The only part that seemed really to rouse him and hold his atten- tion was the account of the crowning and marriage of Aragorn. \u2018I was invited to the wedding, of course,\u2019 he said. \u2018And I have waited for it long enough. But somehow, when it came to it, I found I had so much to do here; and packing is such a bother.\u2019 When nearly a fortnight had passed Frodo looked out of his window and saw that there had been a frost in the night, and the cobwebs were like white nets. Then suddenly he knew that he must go, and say good-bye to Bilbo. The weather was still calm and fair, after one of the most lovely summers that people could remember; but October had come, and it must break soon and begin to rain and blow again. And there was still a very long way to go. Yet it was not really the thought of the weather that stirred him. He had a feeling that it was time he went back to the Shire. Sam shared it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam and Pippin sat near, and they began to hum, and then to sing softly: Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go To heal my heart and drown my woe."
    },
    {
        "text": "The blade scored it with a dreadful gash, but those hideous folds could not be pierced by any strength of men, not though Elf or Dwarf should forge the steel or the hand of Beren or of Tu\u00b4rin wield it. SheNow splaying her legs she drove her huge bulk down on him again."
    },
    {
        "text": "They had been going for a long while \u2013 Pippin had tried to keep count of the \u2018ent-strides\u2019 but had failed, getting lost at about three thousand \u2013 when Treebeard began to slacken his pace. Suddenly he stopped, put the hobbits down, and raised his curled hands to his mouth so that they made a hollow tube; then he blew or called through them. A great hoom, hom rang out like a deep-throated horn in the woods, and seemed to echo from the trees. Far off there came from several directions a similar hoom, hom, hoom that was not an echo but an answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the top of the lane the party halted, and Frodo and his friends went on; and they came at last to the once beloved place. The garden was full of huts and sheds, some so near the old westward windows that they cut off all their light. There were piles of refuse everywhere."
    },
    {
        "text": "And when you\u2019ve finished discussing us, perhaps you\u2019ll say who you are, and why you can\u2019t let two tired travellers rest.\u2019 The tall green man laughed grimly. \u2018I am Faramir, Captain of Gondor,\u2019 he said. \u2018But there are no travellers in this land: only the servants of the Dark Tower, or of the White.\u2019 \u2018But we are neither,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018And travellers we are, whatever Captain Faramir may say.\u2019 \u2018Then make haste to declare yourselves and your errand,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018We have a work to do, and this is no time or place for riddling or parleying. Come! Where is the third of your company?\u2019 \u2018The third?\u2019 \u2018Yes, the skulking fellow that we saw with his nose in the pool down yonder. He had an ill-favoured look. Some spying breed of Orc, I guess, or a creature of theirs. But he gave us the slip by some fox-trick.\u2019 \u2018I do not know where he is,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018He is only a chance companion met upon our road, and I am not answerable for him. If you come on him, spare him. Bring him or send him to us. He is only a wretched gangrel creature, but I have him under my care for a while. But as for us, we are Hobbits of the Shire, far to the North andWest,beyondmanyrivers.FrodosonofDrogoismyname,andcall it.\u2019 Here Faramir started and grew intent. \u2018Seven companions we had: one we lost at Moria, the others we left at Parth Galen above Rauros: two of my kin; a Dwarf there was also, and an Elf, and two Men. They were Aragorn; and Boromir, who said that he came out of Minas Tirith, a city in the South.\u2019 \u2018Boromir!\u2019 all the four men exclaimed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nonetheless we put an end to them. But we have been too long away. We are needed south and west. Will you not come? There are spare horses as you see. There is work for the Sword to do. Yes, and we could find a use for Gimli\u2019s axe and the bow of Legolas, if they will pardon my rash words concerning the Lady of the Wood. I spoke only as do all men in my land, and I would gladly learn better.\u2019 \u2018I thank you for your fair words,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018and my heart desires to come with you; but I cannot desert my friends while hope remains.\u2019 \u2018Hope does not remain,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018You will not find your friends on the North-borders.\u2019 \u2018Yet my friends are not behind. We found a clear token not farthem, and no trail has turned aside, this way or that, unless my skill has wholly left me.\u2019 \u2018Then what do you think has become of them?\u2019 \u2018I do not know. They may have been slain and burned among the Orcs; but that you will say cannot be, and I do not fear it. I can only think that they were carried off into the forest before the battle, even before you encircled your foes, maybe. Can you swear that none escaped your net in such a way?\u2019 \u2018I would swear that no Orc escaped after we sighted them,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018We reached the forest-eaves before them, and if after that any living thing broke through our ring, then it was no Orc and had some Elvish power.\u2019 \u2018Our friends were attired even as we are,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018and you passed us by under the full light of day.\u2019 \u2018I had forgotten that,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018It is hard to be sure of anything among so many marvels. The world is all grown strange. Elf and Dwarf in company walk in our daily fields; and folk speak with the Lady of the Wood and yet live; and the Sword comes back to war that was broken in the long ages ere the fathers of our fathers rode into the Mark! How shall a man judge what to do in such times?\u2019 \u2018As he ever has judged,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man\u2019s part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.\u2019 \u2018True indeed,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018But I do not doubt you, nor the deed which my heart would do. Yet I am not free to do all as I would. It is against our law to let strangers wander at will in our land, until the king himself shall give them leave, and more strict is the command in these days of peril. I have begged you to come back willingly with me, and you will not. Loth am I to begin a battle of one hundred against three.\u2019 \u2018I do not think your law was made for such a chance,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Stay where you are!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Draw no weapons! Wait! and it will pass you by!\u2019 A mist gathered about them. Above them a few stars still glim- mered faintly; but on either side there arose walls of impenetrable gloom; they were in a narrow lane between moving towers of shadow."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, not very well, Mr. Frodo.\u2019 \u2018Of course not. But never mind. You can see me on my way. Tell Rose that you won\u2019t be away very long, not more than a fortnight; and you\u2019ll come back quite safe.\u2019 \u2018I wish I could go all the way with you to Rivendell, Mr. Frodo, and see Mr. Bilbo,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And yet the only place I really want to be in is here. I am that torn in two.\u2019 \u2018Poor Sam! It will feel like that, I am afraid,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But you will be healed. You were meant to be solid and whole, and you will be.\u2019 In the next day or two Frodo went through his papers and his writings with Sam, and he handed over his keys. There was a bigthin wandering hand; but most of it was written in Frodo\u2019s firm flowing script. It was divided into chapters but Chapter 80 was unfinished, and after that were some blank leaves. The title page had many titles on it, crossed out one after another, so: My Diary. My Unexpected Journey. There and Back Again. And What Happened After."
    },
    {
        "text": "Mithril! I have never seen or heard tell of one so fair. Is this the coat that Gandalf spoke of ? Then he undervalued it. But it was well given!\u2019 \u2018I have often wondered what you and Bilbo were doing, so close in his little room,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Bless the old hobbit! I love him more than ever. I hope we get a chance of telling him about it!\u2019 There was a dark and blackened bruise on Frodo\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 water 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.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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t be alarmed! I mean just this: I will tell you what I know, and give you some good advice \u2013 but I shall want a reward.\u2019 \u2018And what will that be, pray?\u2019 said Frodo. He suspected now that he had fallen in with a rascal, and he thought uncomfortably that he had brought only a little money with him. All of it would hardly satisfy a rogue, and he could not spare any of it."
    },
    {
        "text": "He came back to Frodo, and then of his elven-rope he cut a short piece to serve his master as a girdle and bind the grey cloak close about his waist. The rest he carefully coiled and put back in his pack."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now tell me your tale, and do not hurry!\u2019 said Treebeard."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beneath the mountain\u2019s arm within the Wizard\u2019s Vale through years uncounted had stood that ancient place that Men called Isen- gard. Partly it was shaped in the making of the mountains, but mighty works the Men of Westernesse had wrought there of old; and Saruman had dwelt there long and had not been idle."
    },
    {
        "text": "Too soon. For Sam still stood upon his feet, and dropping his own sword, with both hands he held the elven-blade point upwards, fend- ing off that ghastly roof; and so Shelob, with the driving force of her own cruel will, with strength greater than any warrior\u2019s hand, thrust herself upon a bitter spike. Deep, deep it pricked, as Sam was crushed slowly to the ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018My blood runs chill,\u2019 said Gimli, but the others were silent, and his voice fell dead on the dank fir-needles at his feet. The horses would not pass the threatening stone, until the riders dismounted and led them about. And so they came at last deep into the glen; and there stood a sheer wall of rock, and in the wall the Dark Door gaped before them like the mouth of night. Signs and figures were carved above its wide arch too dim to read, and fear flowed from it like a grey vapour."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wonder if old Gandalf has been here,\u2019 he said to Pippin. \u2018Who- ever it was put this stuff here meant to come back it seems.\u2019 Strider was greatly interested in these discoveries. \u2018I wish I had\u2018It is just as I feared,\u2019 he said, when he came back. \u2018Sam and Pippin have trampled the soft ground, and the marks are spoilt or confused. Rangers have been here lately. It is they who left the fire- wood behind. But there are also several newer tracks that were not made by Rangers. At least one set was made, only a day or two ago, by heavy boots. At least one. I cannot now be certain, but I think there were many booted feet.\u2019 He paused and stood in anxious thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then without turning Aragorn cried aloud so that all could hear:without looking back they rode the mountain-fields, until they came to a bridge over the growing torrent and found a road that went down into the land."
    },
    {
        "text": "Already, years before, Gollum had beheld her, Sme\u00b4agol who pried into all dark holes, and in past days he had bowed and worshipped her, and the darkness of her evil will walked through all the ways of his weariness beside him, cutting him off from light and from regret."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is Weathertop,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018The Old Road, which we have left far away on our right, runs to the south of it and passes not far from its foot. We might reach it by noon tomorrow, if we go straight towards it. I suppose we had better do so.\u2019 \u2018What do you mean?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Payment is only put off. Leg it!\u2019 Neither Pippin nor Merry remembered much of the later part of the journey. Evil dreams and evil waking were blended into a long tunnel of misery, with hope growing ever fainter behind. They ran, and they ran, striving to keep up the pace set by the Orcs, licked every now and again with a cruel thong cunningly handled. If they halted or stumbled, they were seized and dragged for some distance."
    },
    {
        "text": "Upon it sat a shape, black-mantled, huge and threatening. A crown of steel he bore, but between rim and robe naught was there to see, save only a deadly gleam of eyes: the Lord of the Nazgu\u02c6 l. To the air he had returned, summoning his steed ere the darkness failed, and now he was come again, bringing ruin, turning hope to despair, and victory to death. A great black mace he wielded."
    },
    {
        "text": "They had ridden for some five hours and were far out upon the western plain, yet more than half their journey lay still before them. In a great circle, under the starry sky and the waxing moon, they now made their bivouac. They lit no fires, for they were un- certain of events; but they set a ring of mounted guards about them, and scouts rode out far ahead, passing like shadows in the folds of the land. The slow night passed without tidings or alarm."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Also there is this!\u2019 said Bilbo, bringing out a parcel which seemed to be rather heavy for its size. He unwound several folds of old cloth, and held up a small shirt of mail. It was close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit silver, and was studded with white gems. With it was a belt of pearl and crystal."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was plenty of everything left for Frodo. And, of course, all the chief treasures, as well as the books, pictures, and more than enough furniture, were left in his possession. There was, however, no sign nor mention of money or jewellery: not a penny-piece or a glass bead was given away."
    },
    {
        "text": "Whether the morning and evening of one day or of many days had passed Frodo could not tell. He did not feel either hungry or tired, only filled with wonder. The stars shone through the window and the silence of the heavens seemed to be round him. He spoke at last out of his wonder and a sudden fear of that silence: \u2018Who are you, Master?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "At first Merry and Pippin were struck chiefly by the variety that they saw: the many shapes, and colours, the differences in girth, and height, and length of leg and arm; and in the number of toes and fingers (anything from three to nine). A few seemed more or less related to Treebeard, and reminded them of beech-trees or oaks. But there were other kinds. Some recalled the chestnut: brown-skinned Ents with large splayfingered hands, and short thick legs. Some recalled the ash: tall straight grey Ents with many-fingered hands and long legs; some the fir (the tallest Ents), and others the birch, the rowan, and the linden. But when the Ents all gathered round Tree- beard, bowing their heads slightly, murmuring in their slow musical voices, and looking long and intently at the strangers, then the hobbits saw that they were all of the same kindred, and all had the same eyes: not all so old or so deep as Treebeard\u2019s, but all with the same slow, steady, thoughtful expression, and the same green flicker."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He suspects, but he does not know \u2013 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 Lothlo\u00b4rien 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.\u2019 Frodo bent his head. \u2018And what do you wish?\u2019 he said at last."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And do not forget that old man!\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018I should be happier if I could see the print of a boot.\u2019 \u2018Why would that make you happy?\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now the cries of clear strong voices came ringing over the fields."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ropes indeed!\u2019 answered an Elf from the boats. \u2018Never 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.\u2019 \u2018You don\u2019t need to tell me that!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018I came without any, and I\u2019ve been worried ever since. But I was wondering what these were made of, knowing a bit about rope-making: it\u2019s in the family as you might say.\u2019 \u2018They are made of hithlain,\u2019 said the Elf, \u2018but 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!\u2018Come!\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018All is now ready for you. Enter the boats! But take care at first!\u2019 \u2018Heed the words!\u2019 said the other Elves. \u2018These 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.\u2019 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\u2019s brink. Here and there golden leaves 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "For east or west all woods must fail..."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, sir. I don\u2019t know how to say it, but after last night I feel different. I seem to see ahead, in a kind of way. I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can\u2019t turn back."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Imrahil said: \u2018So victory is shorn of gladness, and it is bitter bought, if both Gondor and Rohan are in one day bereft of their lords. E\u00b4omer rules the Rohirrim. Who shall rule the City meanwhile? Shall we not send now for the Lord Aragorn?\u2019 And the cloaked man spoke and said: \u2018He is come.\u2019 And they saw as he stepped into the light of the lantern by the door that it was Aragorn, wrapped in the grey cloak of Lo\u00b4 rien above his mail, and bearing no other token than the green stone of Galadriel. \u2018I have come because Gandalf begs me to do so,\u2019 he said. \u2018But for the present I am but the Captain of the Du\u00b4nedain of Arnor; and the Lord of Dol Amroth shall rule the City until Faramir awakes. But it is my counsel that Gandalf should rule us all in the days that follow and in our dealings with the Enemy.\u2019 And they agreed upon that."
    },
    {
        "text": "They rolled the Man slowly up the hill and bundled him into the Moon, While his horses galloped up in rear, And the cow came capering like a deer, and a dish ran up with the spoon."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was no sound. Some way ahead, a mile or so, perhaps, was a great grey wall, a last huge upthrusting mass of mountain-stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sleep! I feel the need of it, as never I thought any dwarf could. Riding is tiring work. Yet my axe is restless in my hand. Give me a row of orc-necks and room to swing and all weariness will fall from me!\u2019 A slow time passed. Far down in the valley scattered fires still burned. The hosts of Isengard were advancing in silence now. Their torches could be seen winding up the coomb in many lines."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nice Master!\u2019 he whispered. \u2018Nice hobbit, come back to poor Sme\u00b4agol. Good Sme\u00b4agol comes. Now let\u2019s go, go quickly, yes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Trapped!\u2019 cried Gandalf. \u2018Why did I delay? Here we are, caught, just as they were before. But I was not here then. We will see what\u2014\u2014\u2019 Doom, doom came the drum-beat and the walls shook."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 with one remaining instant in which to do so."
    },
    {
        "text": "In a dark crevice between two great piers of rock they sat down: Frodo and Sam a little way within, and Gollum crouched upon the ground near the opening. There the hobbits took what they expected would be their last meal before they went down into the Nameless Land, maybe the last meal they would ever eat together. Some of the food of Gondor they ate, and wafers of the waybread of the Elves, and they drank a little. But of their water they were sparing and took only enough to moisten their dry mouths."
    },
    {
        "text": "But it is no good flying blindly this way with the pursuit just behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "With hearts strangely lightened they now rested again, but not for long. They were not going quick enough for Gollum. By his reckoning it was nearly thirty leagues from the Morannon to the Cross-roads above Osgiliath, and he hoped to cover that distance in four journeys."
    },
    {
        "text": "As well set your boot to the mountain\u2019s root, For the seat of a troll don\u2019t feel it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then I thought in my heart that we drew near to the Sea; for wide was the water in the darkness, and sea-birds innumerable cried on its shores. Alas for the wailing of the gulls! Did not the Lady tell me to beware of them? And now I cannot forget them.\u2019 \u2018For my part I heeded them not,\u2019 said Gimli; \u2018for we came then at last upon battle in earnest. There at Pelargir lay the main fleet oftheir fear with them; and some of the ships had put off, seeking to escape down the River or to reach the far shore; and many of the smaller craft were ablaze. But the Haradrim, being now driven to the brink, turned at bay, and they were fierce in despair; and they laughed when they looked on us, for they were a great army still."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now Aragorn knelt beside Faramir, and held a hand upon his brow. And those that watched felt that some great struggle was going on. For Aragorn\u2019s face grew grey with weariness; and ever and anon he called the name of Faramir, but each time more faintly to their hearing, as if Aragorn himself was removed from them, and walked afar in some dark vale, calling for one that was lost."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last they left the village behind. The escort of children and stragglers that had followed them got tired and turned back at the South-gate. Passing through, they kept on along the Road for some miles. It bent to the left, curving back into its eastward line as it rounded the feet of Bree-hill, and then it began to run swiftly down- wards into wooded country. To their left they could see some of the houses and hobbit-holes of Staddle on the gentler south-eastern slopes of the hill; down in a deep hollow away north of the Road there were wisps of rising smoke that showed where Combe lay; Archet was hidden in the trees beyond."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last the old man broke the silence. \u2018Well met indeed, my friends,\u2019 he said in a soft voice. \u2018I wish to speak to you. Will you come down, or shall I come up?\u2019 Without waiting for an answer he began to climb."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nob, you woolly-pated ninny!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Can\u2019t you give old friends their names? You shouldn\u2019t go scaring me like that, with times as they are. Well, well! And where have you come from? I never expected to see any of you folk again, and that\u2019s a fact: going off into the Wild with that Strider, and all those Black Men about. But I\u2019m right glad to see you, and none more than Gandalf. Come in! Come in! The same rooms as before? They\u2019re free. Indeed most rooms are emptythesedays,asI\u2019llnothidefromyou,foryou\u2019llfinditoutsoonBob! Ah, but there I\u2019m forgetting, Bob\u2019s gone: goes home to his folk at nightfall now. Well, take the guests\u2019 ponies to the stables, Nob! And you\u2019ll be taking your horse to his stable yourself, Gandalf, I don\u2019t doubt. A fine beast, as I said when I first set eyes on him. Well, come in! Make yourselves at home!\u2019 Mr. Butterbur had at any rate not changed his manner of talking, and still seemed to live in his old breathless bustle. And yet there was hardly anybody about, and all was quiet; from the Common Room there came a low murmur of no more than two or three voices."
    },
    {
        "text": "One summer\u2019s evening an astonishing piece of news reached the Ivy Bush and Green Dragon. Giants and other portents on the borders of the Shire were forgotten for more important matters: Mr. Frodo was selling Bag End, indeed he had already sold it \u2013 to the Sackville- Bagginses! \u2018For a nice bit, too,\u2019 said some. \u2018At a bargain price,\u2019 said others, \u2018and that\u2019s more likely when Mistress Lobelia\u2019s the buyer.\u2019 (Otho had died some years before, at the ripe but disappointed age of 102.) Just why Mr. Frodo was selling his beautiful hole was even more debatable than the price. A few held the theory \u2013 supported by the nods and hints of Mr. Baggins himself \u2013 that Frodo\u2019s money was running out: he was going to leave Hobbiton and live in a quiet way on the proceeds of the sale down in Buckland among his Brandybuck relations. \u2018As far from the Sackville-Bagginses as may be,\u2019 some added. But so firmly fixed had the notion of the immeasurable wealth of the Bagginses of Bag End become that most found this hard to believe, harder than any other reason or unreason that their fancy could suggest: to most it suggested a dark and yet unrevealed plot by Gandalf. Though he kept himself very quiet and did not go about by day, it was well known that he was \u2018hiding up in the Bag End\u2019."
    },
    {
        "text": "But you would not have fared any better. We kept as good as we sent, I promise you. Better, because we sent no drink."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Sam was now sorrowful at heart, and it seemed to him that if the parting would be bitter, more grievous still would be the long road home alone. But even as they stood there, and the Elves were going aboard, and all was being made ready to depart, up rode Merry and Pippin in great haste. And amid his tears Pippin laughed."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the upper rooms were little rows of hard beds, and on every wall there was a notice and a list of Rules. Pippin tore them down. There was no beer and very little food, but with what the travellers brought and shared out they all made a fair meal; and Pippin broke Rule 4 by putting most of next day\u2019s allowance of wood on the fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Behold the White Rider!\u2019 cried Aragorn, and all took up the words."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come, Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018We are in danger. Men will kill you, if they find you here. Come quickly, if you wish to escape death."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, and will not rise today, Master Holbytla. Nor ever again, one would think under this cloud. But time does not stand still, though the Sun be lost. Make haste!\u2019 Flinging on some clothes, Merry looked outside. The world was darkling. The very air seemed brown, and all things about were black and grey and shadowless; there was a great stillness. No shape of cloud could be seen, unless it were far away westward, where the furthest groping fingers of the great gloom still crawled onwards and a little light leaked through them. Overhead there hung a heavy roof, sombre and featureless, and light seemed rather to be failing than growing.he made his way to the king. Hirgon the rider of Gondor was there before him, and beside him stood now another man, like him and dressed alike, but shorter and broader. As Merry entered he was speaking to the king."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where\u2019s Sam?\u2019 Frodo asked at length. \u2018And are the others all right?\u2019 \u2018Yes, they are all safe and sound,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018Sam was here until I sent him off to get some rest, about half an hour ago.\u2019 \u2018What happened at the Ford?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It all seemed so dim, somehow; and it still does.\u2019 \u2018Yes, it would. You were beginning to fade,\u2019 answered Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have drunk the cup of parting,\u2019 she said, \u2018and 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 Lothlo\u00b4rien.\u2019 Then she called to each in turn."
    },
    {
        "text": "They stood up, rigid as stones. Gandalf was gazing up, his arms out and downwards, stiff, his hands clenched."
    },
    {
        "text": "CameoutofLugbu\u00b4rzthefirsttime,yearsago,andwehadwordfromwith Her Ladyship. I suppose he\u2019s no good to eat: she wouldn\u2019t worry about words from High Up. But a fine guard you keep in the valley: he was up here a day before all this racket. Early last night we saw him. Anyway my lads reported that Her Ladyship was having some fun, and that seemed good enough for me, until the message came."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Ents pay attention to every detail!\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Gulls! They are flying far inland. A wonder they are to me and a trouble to my heart. Never in all my life had I met them, until we came to Pelargir, and there I heard them crying in the air as we rode to the battle of the ships. Then I stood still, forgetting war in Middle-earth; for their wailing voices spoke to me of the Sea. The Sea! Alas! I have not yet beheld it. But deep in the hearts of all my kindred lies the sea-longing, which it is perilous to stir. Alas! for the gulls. No peace shall I have again under beech orMiddle-earth, and great works to do. But if all the fair folk take to the Havens, it will be a duller world for those who are doomed to stay.\u2019 \u2018Dull and dreary indeed!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018You must not go to the Havens, Legolas. There will always be some folk, big or little, and even a few wise dwarves like Gimli, who need you. At least I hope so. Though I feel somehow that the worst of this war is still to come."
    },
    {
        "text": "They went out and seated themselves upon the piled stones before the gateway. They could see far down into the valley now; the mists were lifting and floating away upon the breeze."
    },
    {
        "text": "I am not coming to the Shire. You must settle its affairs yourselves; that is what you have been trained for. Do you not yet understand? My time is over: it is no longer my task to set things to rights, nor to help folk to do so. And as for you, my dear friends, you will need no help. You are grown up now. Grown indeed very high; among the great you are, and I have no longer any fear at all for any of you."
    },
    {
        "text": "Fear no alder black! Heed no hoary willow! Fear neither root nor bough! Tom goes on before you."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What in the Shire is that?\u2019 exclaimed Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "And we have a hard road ahead, the worst road of all.\u2019 \u2018About the food,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018How long\u2019s it going to take us to do this job? And when it\u2019s done, what are we going to do then? This waybread keeps you on your legs in a wonderful way, though it doesn\u2019t satisfy the innards proper, as you might say: not to my feeling anyhow, meaning no disrespect to them as made it. But you have to eat some of it every day, and it doesn\u2019t grow. I reckon we\u2019ve got enough to last, say, three weeks or so, and that with a tight belt and a light tooth, mind you. We\u2019ve been a bit free with it so far.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know how long we shall take to \u2013 to finish,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018We were miserably delayed in the hills. But Samwise Gamgee, my dear hobbit \u2013 indeed, Sam my dearest hobbit, friend of friends \u2013 I do not think we need give thought to what comes after that. To do the job as you put it \u2013 what hope is there that we ever shall? And if we do, who knows what will come of that? If the One goes into the Fire, and we are at hand? I ask you, Sam, are we ever likely to need bread again? I think not. If we can nurse our limbs to bring us to Mount Doom, that is all we can do. More than I can, I begin to feel.\u2019 Sam nodded silently. He took his master\u2019s hand and bent over it. He did not kiss it, though his tears fell on it. Then he turned away, drew his sleeve over his nose, and got up, and stamped about, trying to whistle, and saying between the efforts: \u2018Where\u2019s that dratted creature?\u2019 It was actually not long before Gollum returned; but he came so quietly that they did not hear him till he stood before them. His fingers and face were soiled with black mud. He was still chewing and slavering. What he was chewing, they did not ask or like to think."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I will,\u2019 said Aragorn heavily. \u2018You followed my lead almost to disaster in the snow, and have said no word of blame. I will follow your lead now \u2013 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo was waiting on the step, smiling, but looking rather tired and worried. He welcomed all the callers, but he had not much more to say than before. His reply to all inquiries was simply this: \u2018Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He is nearly spent,\u2019 said Aragorn turning to Gandalf. \u2018But this comes not from the wound. See! that is healing. Had he been smitten by some dart of the Nazgu\u02c6 l, as you thought, he would have died that night. This hurt was given by some Southron arrow, I would guess."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam lay rolled in blankets beside Frodo. \u2018I had a funny dream an hour or two before we stopped, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 he said. \u2018Or maybe it wasn\u2019t a dream. Funny it was anyway.\u2019 \u2018Well, what was it?\u2019 said Frodo, knowing that Sam would not settle down until he had told his tale, whatever it was. \u2018I haven\u2019t seen or thought of anything to make me smile since we left Lothlo\u00b4 rien.\u2019 \u2018It wasn\u2019t funny that way, Mr. Frodo. It was queer. All wrong, if it wasn\u2019t a dream. And you had best hear it. It was like this: I saw a log with eyes!\u2019 \u2018The log\u2019s all right,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018There are many in the River."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But what I have heard seems to me for the most part old wives\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I do not blame you,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018You spoke with skill in a hard place, and wisely, it seemed to me. But I learned or guessed more from you than your words said. You were not friendly with Boromir, or you did not part in friendship. You, and Master Samwise, too, I guess have some grievance. Now I loved him dearly, and would gladly avenge his death, yet I knew him well. Isildur\u2019s Bane \u2013 I would hazard that Isildur\u2019s Bane lay between you and was a cause of contention in your Company. Clearly it is a mighty heirloom of some sort, and such things do not breed peace among confederates, not if aught may be learned from ancient tales. Do I not hit near the mark?\u2019 \u2018Near,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018but not in the gold. There was no contention in our Company, though there was doubt: doubt which way we should take from the Emyn Muil. But be that as it may, ancient tales teach us also the peril of rash words concerning such things as \u2013 heirlooms.\u2019 \u2018Ah, then it is as I thought: your trouble was with Boromir alone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I mean: when we do get there, it is not certain what we shall find."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting! Then he turned, tossed up his hat, leaped on Lumpkin\u2019s back, and rode up over the bank and away singing into the dusk."
    },
    {
        "text": "As they walked up the green path from the gate no light was visible; the windows were dark and shuttered. Frodo knocked on the door, and Fatty Bolger opened it. A friendly light streamed out. They slipped in quickly and shut themselves and the light inside. They were in a wide hall with doors on either side; in front of them a passage ran back down the middle of the house."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a still silence. Then Gollum dropped his head and shrank down, until he was squatting on the floor, shivering. \u2018We doesn\u2019t know and we doesn\u2019t want to know,\u2019 he whimpered. \u2018Never came here; never come again.\u2019 \u2018There are locked doors and closed windows in your mind, and darkroomsbehindthem,\u2019saidFaramir.\u2018ButinthisIjudgethatyou\u2018Master knows,\u2019 said Gollum with a sidelong glance at Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He\u2019s frightened, and he\u2019s very tired, and this hobbit\u2019s not nice, not nice at all. Sme\u00b4agol won\u2019t grub for roots and carrotses and \u2013 taters."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Silence!\u2019 said Gandalf sternly, thrusting him back; but the Mess- enger laughed aloud."
    },
    {
        "text": "From World\u2019s End then he turned away, and yearned again to find afar his home through shadows journeying, and burning as an island star on high above the mists he came, a distant flame before the Sun, a wonder ere the waking dawn where grey the Norland waters run."
    },
    {
        "text": "Come to Master!\u2019 \u2018No!\u2019 said the voice. \u2018Not nice Master. Leaves poor Sme\u00b4agol and goes with new friends. Master can wait. Sme\u00b4agol hasn\u2019t finished.\u2019 \u2018There\u2019s no time,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Bring fish with you. Come!\u2019 \u2018No! Must finish fish.\u2019 \u2018Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 said Frodo desperately. \u2018Precious will be angry. I shall take Precious, and I shall say: make him swallow the bones and choke. Never taste fish again. Come, Precious is waiting!\u2019 There was a sharp hiss. Presently out of the darkness Gollum came crawling on all fours, like an erring dog called to heel. He had a half-eaten fish in his mouth and another in his hand. He came close to Frodo, almost nose to nose, and sniffed at him. His pale eyes were shining. Then he took the fish out of his mouth and stood up."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gimli wept openly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Boats of the Elves would not sink, maybe,\u2019 he said, \u2018but 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 some- where 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.\u2019 \u2018Seldom in my life has any boat come out of the North, and the Orcs prowl on the east-shore,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018If you go forward, peril will grow with every mile, even if you find a path.\u2019 \u2018Peril lies ahead on every southward road,\u2019 answered Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "With a new sense of responsibility he brought his eyes back to the ground near at hand, studying the next move. As the light grew a little he saw to his surprise that what from a distance had seemed wide and featureless flats were in fact all broken and tumbled. Indeed the whole surface of the plains of Gorgoroth was pocked with great holes, as if, while it was still a waste of soft mud, it had been smitten with a shower of bolts and huge slingstones. The largest of these holes were rimmed with ridges of broken rock, and broad fissures ran out from them in all directions. It was a land in which it would be possible to creep from hiding to hiding, unseen by all but the most watchful eyes: possible at least for one who was strong and had no need for speed. For the hungry and worn, who had far to go before life failed, it had an evil look."
    },
    {
        "text": "When his eye turns hither, it will be the red eye of wrath. But when I say \u2018\u2018free\u2019\u2019, I mean \u2018\u2018free\u2019\u2019: free from bond, of chain or command: to go where you will, even, even to Mordor, Saruman, if you desire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We are tree-herds, we old Ents. Few enough of us are left now."
    },
    {
        "text": "As the third stage of their day\u2019s march drew on and afternoon waned, the forest opened out, and the trees became larger and more scattered. Great ilexes of huge girth stood dark and solemn in wide glades with here and there among them hoary ash-trees, and giant oaks just putting out their brown-green buds. About them lay long launds of green grass dappled with celandine and anemones, white and blue, now folded for sleep; and there were acres populous with the leaves of woodland hyacinths: already their sleek bell-stems were thrusting through the mould. No living creature, beast or bird, was to be seen, but in these open places Gollum grew afraid, and they walked now with caution, flitting from one long shadow to another.snakes down a steep crumbling bank. A deep dim valley lay before them. On its further side the woods gathered again, blue and grey under the sullen evening, and marched on southwards. To the right the Mountains of Gondor glowed, remote in the West, under a fire- flecked sky. To the left lay darkness: the towering walls of Mordor; and out of that darkness the long valley came, falling steeply in an ever-widening trough towards the Anduin. At its bottom ran a hurrying stream: Frodo could hear its stony voice coming up through the silence; and beside it on the hither side a road went winding down like a pale ribbon, down into chill grey mists that no gleam of sunset touched. There it seemed to Frodo that he descried far off, floating as it were on a shadowy sea, the high dim tops and broken pinnacles of old towers forlorn and dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "As soon as Shadowfax saw Gandalf, he checked his pace and whin- nied loudly; then trotting gently forward he stooped his proud head and nuzzled his great nostrils against the old man\u2019s neck."
    },
    {
        "text": "Strider sprang from hiding and dashed down towards the Road, leaping with a cry through the heather; but even before he had moved or called, the rider had reined in his horse and halted, looking up towards the thicket where they stood. When he saw Strider, he dis- mounted and ran to meet him calling out: Ai na vedui Du\u00b4nadan! Mae govannen! His speech and clear ringing voice left no doubt in their hearts: the rider was of the Elven-folk. No others that dwelt in the wide world had voices so fair to hear. But there seemed to be a note of haste or fear in his call, and they saw that he was now speaking quickly and urgently to Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is indeed wonderful!\u2019 they said. \u2018Three hobbits in a wood at night! We have not seen such a thing since Bilbo went away. What is the meaning of it?\u2019 \u2018The meaning of it, fair people,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018is simply that we seem to be going the same way as you are. I like walking under the stars. But I would welcome your company.\u2019 \u2018But we have no need of other company, and hobbits are so dull,\u2019 they laughed. \u2018And how do you know that we go the same way as you, for you do not know whither we are going?\u2019 \u2018And how do you know my name?\u2019 asked Frodo in return."
    },
    {
        "text": "Lay down any weapons that you have!\u2019 The leader looked round. He was trapped. But he was not scared, not now with a score of his fellows to back him. He knew too little of hobbits to understand his peril. Foolishly he decided to fight. It would be easy to break out."
    },
    {
        "text": "For Frodo was going on foot. His plan \u2013 for pleasure and a last look at the Shire as much as any other reason \u2013 was to walk from Hobbiton to Bucklebury Ferry, taking it fairly easy."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Company halted suddenly, as if they had come to an agree- ment 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 great boulder rolled down from hidden heights above."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tonight I will lie in the Hold of Dunharrow. One evening of peaceIn the deepening dusk they came down into the valley. Here the Snowbourn flowed near to the western walls of the dale, and soon the path led them to a ford where the shallow waters murmured loudly on the stones. The ford was guarded. As the king approached many men sprang up out of the shadow of the rocks; and when they saw the king they cried with glad voices: \u2018The\u00b4oden King! The\u00b4oden King! The King of the Mark returns!\u2019 Then one blew a long call on a horn. It echoed in the valley. Other horns answered it, and lights shone out across the river."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Three times!\u2019 he whimpered. \u2018Three times is a threat. They feel us here, they feel the Precious. The Precious is their master. We cannot go any further this way, no. It\u2019s no use, no use!\u2019 Pleading and kind words were no longer of any avail. It was not until Frodo commanded him angrily and laid a hand on his sword-hilt that Gollum would get up again. Then at last he rose with a snarl, and went before them like a beaten dog."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A plain road, though it led through a hedge of swords,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018By 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.\u2019 \u2018Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you will speak the truth,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlo\u00b4rien. Believe what you will, there is no other way for us \u2013 unless you would go back to Moria-gate, or scale the pathless mountains, or swim the Great River all alone.\u2019 \u2018Then lead on!\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018But it is perilous.\u2019 \u2018Perilous indeed,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018fair and perilous; but only evil need fear it, or those who bring some evil with them. Follow me!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Very cautiously he raised himself inch by inch, until he could peer overitbetweentwobrokenpointsofstone.Heremainedtherewith-horn blew on the ramparts of the Morannon. Then quietly Gollum drew back and slipped down into the hollow."
    },
    {
        "text": "Elrond was there, and several others were seated in silence about him. Frodo saw Glorfindel and Glo\u00b4in; and in a corner alone Strider was sitting, clad in his old travel-worn clothes again. Elrond drew Frodo to a seat by his side, and presented him to the company,ever come hither through greater peril or on an errand more urgent.\u2019 He then pointed out and named those whom Frodo had not met before. There was a younger dwarf at Glo\u00b4in\u2019s side: his son Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hail, comers from afar!\u2019 they said, and they turned the hilts of their swords towards the travellers in token of peace. Green gems flashed in the sunlight. Then one of the guards stepped forward and spoke in the Common Speech."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But there are not enough of us to venture down to the bridges.\u2019 \u2018I came across,\u2019 said the evil voice. \u2018A winged Nazgu\u02c6l awaits us northward on the east-bank.\u2019 \u2018Maybe, maybe! Then you\u2019ll fly off with our prisoners, and get all the pay and praise in Lugbu\u00b4 rz, and leave us to foot it as best we can through the Horse-country. No, we must stick together. These lands are dangerous: full of foul rebels and brigands.\u2019 \u2018Aye, we must stick together,\u2019 growled Uglu\u00b4k. \u2018I don\u2019t trust you little swine. You\u2019ve no guts outside your own sties. But for us you\u2019d all have run away. We are the fighting Uruk-hai! We slew the great warrior. We took the prisoners. We are the servants of Saruman the Wise, the White Hand: the Hand that gives us man\u2019s-flesh to eat."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I should like to save the Shire, if I could \u2013 though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them. But I don\u2019t feel like that now. I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, that\u2019s that,\u2019 he said. \u2018Now I\u2019m off !\u2019 They went out into the hall. Bilbo chose his favourite stick from the stand; then he whistled. Three dwarves came out of different rooms where they had been busy."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Enough, enough!\u2019 cried Gimli. \u2018We are departing as quickly as we may!\u2019 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 lifted; the clouds began to break and the light grew broader."
    },
    {
        "text": "As he gazed Frodo became aware that there was a great stir and movement on the plain. It seemed as if whole armies were on the march, though for the most part they were hidden by the reeks and fumes drifting from the fens and wastes beyond. But here and there he caught the gleam of spears and helmets; and over the levels beside the roads horsemen could be seen riding in many companies. He remembered his vision from afar upon Amon Hen, so few days before, though now it seemed many years ago. Then he knew that the hope that had for one wild moment stirred in his heart was vain. The trumpets had not rung in challenge but in greeting. This was no assault upon the Dark Lord by the men of Gondor, risen like avenging ghosts from the graves of valour long passed away. These were Men of other race, out of the wide Eastlands, gathering to the summons oftheirOverlord;armiesthathadencampedbeforehisGatebynightlight of day, so near to this vast menace, Frodo quickly drew his frail grey hood close upon his head, and stepped down into the dell. Then he turned to Gollum."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Du\u00b4 nadan,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018He is often called that here. But I thought you knew enough Elvish at least to know du\u00b4n-adan: Man of the West, Nu\u00b4meno\u00b4 rean. But this is not the time for lessons!\u2019 He turned to Strider. \u2018Where have you been, my friend? Why weren\u2019t you at the feast? The Lady Arwen was there.\u2019 Strider looked down at Bilbo gravely. \u2018I know,\u2019 he said. \u2018But often I must put mirth aside. Elladan and Elrohir have returned out of the Wild unlooked-for, and they had tidings that I wished to hear at once.\u2019 \u2018Well, my dear fellow,\u2019 said Bilbo, \u2018now you\u2019ve heard the news, can\u2019t you spare me a moment? I want your help in something urgent."
    },
    {
        "text": "Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them. Good night!\u2019 The Company now took their leave and returned to their pavilion."
    },
    {
        "text": "Very soon they were laughing, and snapping their fingers at rain, and at Black Riders. The last few miles, they felt, would soon be behind them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Who drew it forth? Was it kept?\u2019 \u2018I drew it forth,\u2019 said Imrahil, \u2018and staunched the wound. But I did not keep the arrow, for we had much to do. It was, as I remember, just such a dart as the Southrons use. Yet I believed that it came from the Shadows above, for else his fever and sickness were not to be understood; since the wound was not deep or vital. How then do you read the matter?\u2019 \u2018Weariness, grief for his father\u2019s mood, a wound, and over all the Black Breath,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018He is a man of staunch will, for already he had come close under the Shadow before ever he rode to battle on the out-walls. Slowly the dark must have crept on him, even as he fought and strove to hold his outpost. Would that I could have been here sooner!\u2019 Thereupon the herb-master entered. \u2018Your lordship asked for kingsfoil, as the rustics name it,\u2019 he said; \u2018or athelas in the noble tongue, or to those who know somewhat of the Valinorean...\u2019\u2018Your pardon lord!\u2019 said the man. \u2018I see you are a lore-master, not merely a captain of war. But alas! sir, we do not keep this thing in the Houses of Healing, where only the gravely hurt or sick are tended."
    },
    {
        "text": "Rangers passed at times beyond the hills, but they were few and did not stay. Other wanderers were rare, and of evil sort: trolls might stray down at times out of the northern valleys of the Misty Moun- tains. Only on the Road would travellers be found, most often dwarves, hurrying along on business of their own, and with no help and few words to spare for strangers."
    },
    {
        "text": "Something terrible may happen up there. The Lord is out of his mind, I think. I am afraid he will kill himself, and kill Faramir too."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, more\u2019s the pity,\u2019 said Cotton. \u2018There\u2019s a good few down south in Longbottom and by Sarn Ford, I hear; and some more lurking in the Woody End; and they\u2019ve sheds at Waymeet. And then there\u2019s the Lockholes, as they call \u2019em: the old storage-tunnels at Michel Delving that they\u2019ve made into prisons for those as stand up to them. Still I reckon there\u2019s not above three hundred of them in the Shire all told, and maybe less. We can master them, if we stick together.\u2019 \u2018Have they got any weapons?\u2019 asked Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "When they had walked for about three hours they rested. The night was clear, cool, and starry, but smoke-like wisps of mist were creeping up the hill-sides from the streams and deep meadows. Thin- clad birches, swaying in a light wind above their heads, made a black net against the pale sky. They ate a very frugal supper (for hobbits), and then went on again. Soon they struck a narrow road, that went rolling up and down, fading grey into the darkness ahead: the road to Woodhall, and Stock, and the Bucklebury Ferry. It climbed away from the main road in the Water-valley, and wound over the skirts of the Green Hills towards Woody End, a wild corner of the Eastfarthing."
    },
    {
        "text": "Reluctantly Sam obeyed. At once Gollum got up and began pranc- ing about, like a whipped cur whose master has patted it. From that moment a change, which lasted for some time, came over him. Hestepped near him or made any sudden movement, and he avoided the touch of their elven-cloaks; but he was friendly, and indeed pitifully anxious to please. He would cackle with laughter and caper, if any jest was made, or even if Frodo spoke kindly to him, and weep if Frodo rebuked him. Sam said little to him of any sort. He suspected him more deeply than ever, and if possible liked the new Gollum, the Sme\u00b4agol, less than the old."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018In the South the realm of Gondor long endured; and for a while its splendour grew, recalling somewhat of the might of Nu\u00b4menor, ere it fell. High towers that people built, and strong places, and havens of many ships; and the winged crown of the Kings of Men was held in awe by folk of many tongues. Their chief city was Osgili- ath, Citadel of the Stars, through the midst of which the River flowed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Here Fatty Bolger halted. \u2018Good-bye, Frodo!\u2019 he said. \u2018I wish you were not going into the Forest. I only hope you will not need rescu- ing before the day is out. But good luck to you \u2013 today and every day!\u2019 \u2018If there are no worse things ahead than the Old Forest, I shall bethey cried, and rode down the slope and disappeared from Fredegar\u2019s sight into the tunnel."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I do not know clearly,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but the path climbs, I think, up into the mountains on the northern side of that vale where the old city stands. It goes up to a high cleft and so down to \u2013 that which is beyond.\u2019 \u2018Do you know the name of that high pass?\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is the water,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018But Quickbeam and some others are watching it. Not all those posts and pillars in the plain are of Saruman\u2019s planting. Quickbeam, I think, is by the rock, near the foot of the stair.\u2019 \u2018Yes, a tall grey Ent is there,\u2019 said Legolas, \u2018but his arms are at his sides, and he stands as still as a door-tree.\u2019 \u2018It is past noon,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and we at any rate have not eaten since early morning. Yet I wish to see Treebeard as soon as may be."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There!\u2019 he cried after a moment, drawing his hand across his brow. \u2018Perhaps I know more about these pursuers than you do. You fear them, but you do not fear them enough, yet. Tomorrow you will have to escape, if you can. Strider can take you by paths that are seldom trodden. Will you have him?\u2019 There was a heavy silence. Frodo made no answer; his mind was confused with doubt and fear. Sam frowned, and looked at his master; and at last he broke out: \u2018With your leave, Mr. Frodo, I\u2019d say no! This Strider here, he warns and he says take care; and I say yes to that, and let\u2019s beginbut it\u2019s no reason why we should let him go leading us out into some dark place far from help, as he puts it.\u2019 Pippin fidgeted and looked uncomfortable. Strider did not reply to Sam, but turned his keen eyes on Frodo. Frodo caught his glance and looked away. \u2018No,\u2019 he said slowly. \u2018I don\u2019t agree. I think, I think you are not really as you choose to look. You began to talk to me like the Bree-folk, but your voice has changed. Still Sam seems right in this: I don\u2019t see why you should warn us to take care, and yet ask us to take you on trust. Why the disguise? Who are you? What do you really know about \u2013 about my business; and how do you know it?\u2019 \u2018The lesson in caution has been well learned,\u2019 said Strider with a grim smile. \u2018But caution is one thing and wavering is another. You will never get to Rivendell now on your own, and to trust me is your only chance. You must make up your mind. I will answer some of your questions, if that will help you to do so. But why should you believe my story, if you do not trust me already? Still here it is\u2014\u2014\u2019 At that moment there came a knock at the door. Mr. Butterbur had arrived with candles, and behind him was Nob with cans of hot water. Strider withdrew into a dark corner."
    },
    {
        "text": "There will be such a deal of singing that the ideas will be driven clean out of my head. I shall have to get my friend the Du\u00b4nadan to help me. Where is he?\u2019 Elrond laughed. \u2018He shall be found,\u2019 he said. \u2018Then you two shall go into a corner and finish your task, and we will hear it and judge it before we end our merrymaking.\u2019 Messengers were sent to find Bilbo\u2019s friend, though none knew where he was, or why he had not been present at the feast."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I 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 but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while all the Company is true.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "So they both lived, delighting in their own devices, and feared no assault, nor wrath, nor any end of their wickedness. Never yet had any fly escaped from Shelob\u2019s webs, and the greater now was her rage and hunger."
    },
    {
        "text": "Peregrin and all could stay and have a bite with us, we would be pleased!\u2019 \u2018And so should we!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But we must be going at once, I\u2019m afraid. Even now it will be dark before we can reach the Ferry.\u2019 \u2018Ah! but wait a minute! I was going to say: after a bit of supper, I\u2019ll get out a small waggon, and I\u2019ll drive you all to the Ferry. That will save you a good step, and it might also save you trouble of another sort.\u2019 Frodo now accepted the invitation gratefully, to the relief of Pippin andSam.Thesunwasalreadybehindthewesternhills,andthelightlit with candles and the fire was mended. Mrs. Maggot bustled in and out. One or two other hobbits belonging to the farm-household came in. In a short while fourteen sat down to eat. There was beer in plenty, and a mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon, besides much other solid farmhouse fare. The dogs lay by the fire and gnawed rinds and cracked bones."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I believe it no more than did Boromir,\u2019 answered Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He won\u2019t go another day like that, if he moves at all. And you can\u2019t go on much longer giving him all the water and most of the food.\u2019 \u2018I can go on a good way though, and I will.\u2019 \u2018Where to?\u2019 \u2018To the Mountain, of course.\u2019 \u2018But what then, Sam Gamgee, what then? When you get there, what are you going to do? He won\u2019t be able to do anything for himself.\u2019 To his dismay Sam realized that he had not got an answer to this."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly, caught by the level beams, Frodo saw the old king\u2019s head: it was lying rolled away by the roadside. \u2018Look, Sam!\u2019 he cried, startled into speech. \u2018Look! The king has got a crown again!\u2019 The eyes were hollow and the carven beard was broken, but about the high stern forehead there was a coronal of silver and gold. A trailing plant with flowers like small white stars had bound itself across the brows as if in reverence for the fallen king, and in the crevices of his stony hair yellow stonecrop gleamed."
    },
    {
        "text": "The wind blew, and the trumpets sang, and arrows whined; butred, as if it were the ending of the day, or the end maybe of all the world of light. And out of the gathering mirk the Nazgu\u02c6l came with their cold voices crying words of death; and then all hope was quenched."
    },
    {
        "text": "My errand is pressing. Here at least is my sword, goodman Ha\u00b4ma."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam tried to guess the distances and to decide what way they ought to take. \u2018It looks every step of fifty miles,\u2019 he muttered gloomily, staring at the threatening mountain, \u2018and that\u2019ll take a week, if it takes a day, with Mr. Frodo as he is.\u2019 He shook his head, and as he worked things out, slowly a new dark thought grew in his mind.came home to him at last: at best their provision would take them to their goal; and when the task was done, there they would come to an end, alone, houseless, foodless in the midst of a terrible desert."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and know- ledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the One Ring."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was dark, and white stars were shining, when Frodo and his companions came at last to the Greenway-crossing and drew near the village. They came to the West-gate and found it shut; but at the door of the lodge beyond it, there was a man sitting. He jumped up and fetched a lantern and looked over the gate at them in surprise."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here we will rest tonight,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018This 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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Verily,\u2019 said Gandalf, now in a loud voice, keen and clear, \u2018that way lies our hope, where sits our greatest fear. Doom hangs still on a thread. Yet hope there is still, if we can but stand unconquered for a little while.\u2019 The others too now turned their eyes eastward. Over the sundering leagues of land, far away they gazed to the edge of sight, and hope and fear bore their thoughts still on, beyond dark mountains to the Land of Shadow. Where now was the Ring-bearer? How thin indeed was the thread upon which doom still hung! It seemed to Legolas,Guard. And further still, endlessly remote and yet a present threat, there was a tiny tongue of flame."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t take names to yourself, Sme\u00b4agol,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It\u2019s unwise, whether they are true or false.\u2019 \u2018Sme\u00b4agol has to take what\u2019s given him,\u2019 answered Gollum. \u2018He was given that name by kind Master Samwise, the hobbit that knows so much.\u2019 Frodo looked at Sam. \u2018Yes sir,\u2019 he said. \u2018I did use the word, waking up out of my sleep sudden and all and finding him at hand. I said Icome to the point, you and I, Sme\u00b4agol. Tell me. Can we find the rest of the way by ourselves? We\u2019re in sight of the pass, of a way in, and if we can find it now, then I suppose our agreement can be said to be over. You have done what you promised, and you\u2019re free: free to go back to food and rest, wherever you wish to go, except to servants of the Enemy. And one day I may reward you, I or those that remember me.\u2019 \u2018No, no, not yet,\u2019 Gollum whined. \u2018O no! They can\u2019t find the way themselves, can they? O no indeed. There\u2019s the tunnel coming."
    },
    {
        "text": "As the terrible cry ended, falling back through a long sickening wail to silence, Frodo slowly raised his head. Across the narrow valley, now almost on a level with his eyes, the walls of the evil city stood, and its cavernous gate, shaped like an open mouth with gleaming teeth, was gaping wide. And out of the gate an army came."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was indeed in deepening gloom that the king came to Edoras, although it was then but noon by the hour. There he halted only a short while and strengthened his host by some three score of Riders that came late to the weapontake. Now having eaten he made ready to set out again, and he wished his esquire a kindly farewell. But Merry begged for the last time not to be parted from him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Disturbed as if out of some gloating dream by his small yell she turned slowly the dreadful malice of her glance upon him. But almost before she was aware that a fury was upon her greater than any she had known in countless years, the shining sword bit upon her foot and shore away the claw. Sam sprang in, inside the arches of her legs, and with a quick upthrust of his other hand stabbed at the clustered eyes upon her lowered head. One great eye went dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "The will of the Watchers was broken with a suddenness like the snapping of a cord, and Frodo and Sam stumbled forward. Then they ran. Through the gate and past the great seated figures with their glittering eyes. There was a crack. The keystone of the arch crashed almost on their heels, and the wall above crumbled, and fell in ruin. Only by a hair did they escape. A bell clanged; and from the Watchers there went up a high and dreadful wail. Far up above in the darkness it was answered. Out of the black sky there came drop- ping like a bolt a winged shape, rending the clouds with a ghastly shriek.Chapter 2 THE LAND OF SHADOW Sam had just wits enough left to thrust the phial back into his breast."
    },
    {
        "text": "Once more the desire to slip on the Ring came over Frodo; but this time it was stronger than before. So strong that, almost before he realized what he was doing, his hand was groping in his pocket."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bring us wood quick to burn, and lay it all about us, and beneath; and pour oil upon it. And when I bid you thrust in a torch. Do this and speak no more to me. Farewell!\u2019 \u2018By your leave, lord!\u2019 said Pippin and turned and fled in terror from the deathly house. \u2018Poor Faramir!\u2019 he thought. \u2018I must find Gandalf. Poor Faramir! Quite likely he needs medicine more than tears. Oh, where can I find Gandalf ? In the thick of things, I suppose; and he will have no time to spare for dying men or madmen.\u2019no fire to this place while Faramir lives! Do nothing until Gandalf comes!\u2019 \u2018Who is the master of Minas Tirith?\u2019 the man answered. \u2018The Lord Denethor or the Grey Wanderer?\u2019 \u2018The Grey Wanderer or no one, it would seem,\u2019 said Pippin, and he sped back and up the winding way as swiftly as his feet would carry him, past the astonished porter, out through the door, and on, till he came near the gate of the Citadel. The sentinel hailed him as he went by, and he recognized the voice of Beregond."
    },
    {
        "text": "Maggot got down and took a good look either way, north and south, but nothing could be seen in the darkness, and there was not a sound in the still air. Thin strands of river-mist were hanging above the dikes, and crawling over the fields."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, for myself,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018it is dark before me. I must go down also to Minas Tirith, but I do not yet see the road. An hour long prepared approaches.\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t leave me behind!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I have not been of much use yet; but I don\u2019t want to be laid aside, like baggage to be called for when all is over. I don\u2019t think the Riders will want to be bothered with me now. Though, of course, the king did say that I was to sit by him when he came to his house and tell him all about the Shire.\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018and your road lies with him, I think, Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are the emblems of Durin!\u2019 cried Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here is the Mirror of Galadriel,\u2019 she said. \u2018I have brought you here so that you may look in it, if you will.\u2019 The air was very still, and the dell was dark, and the Elf-lady\u2018Many things I can command the Mirror to reveal,\u2019 she answered, \u2018and 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, and things that yet may be. But which it is that he sees, even the wisest cannot always tell. Do you wish to look?\u2019 Frodo did not answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He would certainly never have passed on to you anything that he thought would be a danger, even though I promised to look after you. He thought the ring was very beautiful, and very useful at need; and if anything was wrong or queer, it was himself. He said that it was \u2018\u2018growing on his mind\u2019\u2019, and he was always worrying about it; but he did not suspect that the ring itself was to blame. Though he had found out that the thing needed looking after; it did not seem always of the same size or weight; it shrank or expanded in an odd way, and might suddenly slip off a finger where it had been tight.\u2019 \u2018Yes, he warned me of that in his last letter,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018so I have always kept it on its chain.\u2019 \u2018Very wise,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But as for his long life, Bilbo never con- nected it with the ring at all. He took all the credit for that to himself, and he was very proud of it. Though he was getting restless and uneasy."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Good tidings!\u2019 cried E\u00b4 omer. \u2018Even in this gloom hope gleams again. Our Enemy\u2019s devices oft serve us in his despite. The accursed darkness itself has been a cloak to us. And now, lusting to destroy Gondor and throw it down stone from stone, his orcs have taken awaymygreatestfear.Theout-wallcouldhavebeenheldlongagainstThe\u00b4oden. \u2018Good fortune go with you for tidings and for guidance!\u2019 \u2018Kill gorgu\u02c6n! Kill orc-folk! No other words please Wild Men,\u2019 answered Gha\u02c6n. \u2018Drive away bad air and darkness with bright iron!\u2019 \u2018To do these things we have ridden far,\u2019 said the king, \u2018and we shall attempt them. But what we shall achieve only tomorrow will show.\u2019 Gha\u02c6n-buri-Gha\u02c6n squatted down and touched the earth with his horny brow in token of farewell. Then he got up as if to depart. But suddenly he stood looking up like some startled woodland animal snuffling a strange air. A light came in his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "It wheeled and went north, flying at a speed greater than any wind of Middle-earth. The stars fainted before it. It was gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Welcome to the Treegarth of Orthanc!\u2019 he said. \u2018I knew that you were coming, but I was at work up the valley; there is much still to be done. But you have not been idle either away in the south and the east, I hear; and all that I hear is good, very good.\u2019 Then Tree- beard praised all their deeds, of which he seemed to have full know- ledge; and at last he stopped and looked long at Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Help now to repair the evil in which you have joined,\u2019 said Erken- brand; \u2018and afterwards you shall take an oath never again to pass the Fords of Isen in arms, nor to march with the enemies of Men; and then you shall go free back to your land. For you have been deluded by Saruman. Many of you have got death as the reward of your trust in him; but had you conquered, little better would your wages have been.\u2019 The men of Dunland were amazed; for Saruman had told them that the men of Rohan were cruel and burned their captives alive."
    },
    {
        "text": "As they looked out of the window there came falling gently as if it was flowing down the rain out of the sky, the clear voice of Gold- berry singing up above them. They could hear few words, but it seemed plain to them that the song was a rain-song, as sweet as showers on dry hills, that told the tale of a river from the spring in the highlands to the Sea far below. The hobbits listened with delight; and Frodo was glad in his heart, and blessed the kindly weather, because it delayed them from departing. The thought of going had been heavy upon him from the moment he awoke; but he guessed now that they would not go further that day."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t let us go too far!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I don\u2019t want to be seen, but I want to see if it is another Black Rider.\u2019 \u2018Very well!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018But don\u2019t forget the sniffing!\u2019 The hoofs drew nearer. They had no time to find any hiding-place better than the general darkness under the trees; Sam and Pippin crouched behind a large tree-bole, while Frodo crept back a few yards towards the lane. It showed grey and pale, a line of fading light through the wood. Above it the stars were thick in the dim sky, but there was no moon."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam turned away and sighed: \u2018I wish I was going back to Lo\u00b4 rien!\u2019 At last one evening they came over the high moors, suddenly as to travellers it always seemed, to the brink of the deep valley of Rivendell and saw far below the lamps shining in Elrond\u2019s house."
    },
    {
        "text": "Couldn\u2019t you take me to see Elves, sir, when you go?\u2019 Suddenly Gandalf laughed. \u2018Come inside!\u2019 he shouted, and putting out both his arms he lifted the astonished Sam, shears, grass-clippings and all, right through the window and stood him on the floor. \u2018Take\u2018I did, sir. And that\u2019s why I choked: which you heard seemingly."
    },
    {
        "text": "So they passed into the northern marches of that land that Men once called Ithilien, a fair country of climbing woods and swift-falling streams. The night became fine under star and round moon, and it seemed to the hobbits that the fragrance of the air grew as they went forward; and from the blowing and muttering of Gollum it seemed that he noticed it too, and did not relish it. At the first signs of day they halted again. They had come to the end of a long cutting, deep, and sheer-sided in the middle, by which the road clove its way through a stony ridge. Now they climbed up the westward bank and looked abroad."
    },
    {
        "text": "The king mounted his horse, Snowmane, and Merry sat beside him on his pony: Stybba was his name. Presently E\u00b4omer came out from the gate, and with him was Aragorn, and Halbarad bearing the great staff close-furled in black, and two tall men, neither young nor old. So much alike were they, the sons of Elrond, that few could tell them apart: dark-haired, grey-eyed, and their faces elven-fair, clad alike in bright mail beneath cloaks of silver-grey. Behind them walked Legolas and Gimli. But Merry had eyes only for Aragorn, so startling was the change that he saw in him, as if in one night many years had fallen on his head. Grim was his face, grey-hued and weary."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last Merry stirred and whispered softly: \u2018So far so good; but how are we to avoid being spitted?\u2019 The answer came almost immediately. The cries of Grishna\u00b4kh had roused the Orcs. From the yells and screeches that came from the knoll the hobbits guessed that their disappearance had been dis- covered: Uglu\u00b4k was probably knocking off a few more heads. Then suddenly the answering cries of orc-voices came from the right, out- side the circle of watch-fires, from the direction of the forest and the mountains. Mauhu\u00b4r had apparently arrived and was attacking the besiegers. There was the sound of galloping horses. The Riders were drawing in their ring close round the knoll, risking the orc-arrows, so as to prevent any sortie, while a company rode off to deal with the newcomers. Suddenly Merry and Pippin realized that without moving they were now outside the circle: there was nothing between them and escape."
    },
    {
        "text": "And now he shall endure the slow torment of years, as long and slow as our arts in the Great Tower can contrive, and never be released, unless maybe when he is changed and broken, so that he may come to you, and you shall see what you have done. This shall surely be unless you accept my Lord\u2019s terms.\u2019 \u2018Name the terms,\u2019 said Gandalf steadily, but those nearby saw the anguish in his face, and now he seemed an old and wizened man, crushed, defeated at last. They did not doubt that he would accept."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo and Sam got up, rubbing their eyes, like children wakened from an evil dream to find the familiar night still over the world. But Gollum lay on the ground as if he had been stunned. They roused him with difficulty, and for some time he would not lift his face, but knelt forward on his elbows, covering the back of his head with his large flat hands."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Why, you have nearly finished it, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 Sam exclaimed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There upon Celebdil was a lonely window in the snow, and before it lay a narrow space, a dizzy eyrie above the mists of the world. The sun shone fiercely there, but all below was wrapped in cloud. Out he sprang, and even as I came behind, he burst into new flame. There was none to see, or perhaps in after ages songs would still be sung of the Battle of the Peak.\u2019 Suddenly Gandalf laughed. \u2018But what would they say in song? Those that looked up from afar thought that the mountain was crowned with storm. Thunder they heard, and lightning, they said, smote upon Celebdil, and leaped back broken into tongues of fire. Is not that enough? A great smoke rose about us, vapour and steam. Ice fell like rain. I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin. Then darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I said not so; yet evil came,\u2019 answered Legolas sadly. \u2018Then many of the Elves of Nimrodel\u2019s kindred left their dwellings and departed, and she was lost far in the South, in the passes of the White Moun- tains; 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly the foremost Rider spurred his horse forward. It checked at the water and reared up. With a great effort Frodo sat upright and brandished his sword."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was neither star nor moon when the Riders came to the breach in the Dike, where the stream from above passed out, and the road beside it ran down from the Hornburg. The rampart loomed suddenly before them, a high shadow beyond a dark pit. As they rode up a sentinel challenged them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Who are you, and what are you doing in this land?\u2019 said the Rider, using the Common Speech of the West, in manner and tone like to the speech of Boromir, Man of Gondor."
    },
    {
        "text": "Or maybe not: fish from the pool of Henneth Annu\u02c6n may cost him all he has to give.\u2019 \u2018Now I have him at the arrow-point,\u2019 said Anborn. \u2018Shall I not shoot, Captain? For coming unbidden to this place death is our law.\u2019 \u2018Wait, Anborn,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018This is a harder matter than it seems. What have you to say now, Frodo? Why should we spare?\u2019you not to slay him for that reason, and for others. He forbade the Elves to do so. I do not know clearly why, and of what I guess I cannot speak openly out here. But this creature is in some way bound up with my errand. Until you found us and took us, he was my guide.\u2019 \u2018Your guide!\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018The matter becomes ever stranger. I would do much for you, Frodo, but this I cannot grant: to let this sly wanderer go free at his own will from here, to join you later if it please him, or to be caught by orcs and tell all he knows under threat of pain. He must be slain or taken. Slain, if he be not taken very swiftly. But how can this slippery thing of many guises be caught, save by a feathered shaft?\u2019 \u2018Let me go down quietly to him,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018You may keep your bows bent, and shoot me at least, if I fail. I shall not run away.\u2019 \u2018Go then and be swift!\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018If he comes off alive, he should be your faithful servant for the rest of his unhappy days. Lead Frodo down to the bank, Anborn, and go softly. The thing has a nose and ears. Give me your bow.\u2019 Anborn grunted and led the way down the winding stair to the landing, and then up the other stair, until at last they came to a narrow opening shrouded with thick bushes. Passing silently through, Frodo found himself on the top of the southern bank above the pool."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That\u2019s better!\u2019 he said, his spirits rising a little. \u2018I didn\u2019t dare to move when I was left alone, or one of the guards came. Until the yelling and fighting began. The two big brutes: they quarrelled, I think. Over me and my things. I lay here terrified. And then all went deadly quiet, and that was worse.\u2019 \u2018Yes, they quarrelled, seemingly,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018There must have been a couple of hundred of the dirty creatures in this place. A bit of a tall order for Sam Gamgee, as you might say. But they\u2019ve done all the killing of themselves. That\u2019s lucky, but it\u2019s too long to make a song about, till we\u2019re out of here. Now what\u2019s to be done? You can\u2019t go walking in the Black Land in naught but your skin, Mr. Frodo.\u2019 \u2018They\u2019ve taken everything, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Everything I had."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I made that up myself,\u2019 he whispered to Frodo, \u2018for the Du\u00b4 nadan, a long time ago when he first told me about himself. I almost wish that my adventures were not over, and that I could go with him when his day comes.\u2019 Aragorn smiled at him; then he turned to Boromir again. \u2018For my part I forgive your doubt,\u2019 he said. \u2018Little do I resemble the figures of Elendil and Isildur as they stand carven in their majesty in the halls of Denethor. I am but the heir of Isildur, not Isildur himself. I have had a hard life and a long; and the leagues that lie between here and Gondor are a small part in the count of my journeys. I have crossed many mountains and many rivers, and trodden many plains, even into the far countries of Rhu\u02c6n and Harad where the stars are strange."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was an ancient highway that ran down from Isengard to the crossings. For some way it took its course beside the river, bending with it east and then north; but at the last it turned away and went straight towards the gates of Isengard; and these were under the mountain-side in the west of the valley, sixteen miles or more from its mouth. This road they followed but they did not ride upon it; for the ground beside it was firm and level, covered for many miles about with short springing turf. They rode now more swiftly, and by midnight the Fords were nearly five leagues behind. Then they halted, ending their night\u2019s journey, for the King was weary. They were come to the feet of the Misty Mountains, and the long arms of Nan Curun\u00b4\u0131r stretched down to meet them. Dark lay the vale before them, for the moon had passed into the West, and its light was hidden by the hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "We must away! We must away! We ride before the break of day! \u2018Very good!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But in that case there are a lot of things to do before we go to bed \u2013 under a roof, for tonight at any rate.\u2019 \u2018Oh! That was poetry!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Do you really mean to start before the break of day?\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018I fear those Black Riders, and I am sure it is unsafe to stay in one place long, especially in a place to which it is known I was going. Also Gildor advised me not to wait. But I should very much like to see Gandalf. I could see that even Gildor was disturbed when he heard that Gandalf had never appeared. It really depends on two things. How soon could the Riders get to Bucklebury? And how soon could we get off? It will take aget off in an hour. I have prepared practically everything. There are five ponies in a stable across the fields; stores and tackle are all packed, except for a few extra clothes, and the perishable food.\u2019 \u2018It seems to have been a very efficient conspiracy,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "All save one. There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon Shadowfax: Shadowfax who alone among the free horses of the earth endured the terror, unmoving, steadfast as a graven image in Rath D\u00b4\u0131nen."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Speak, Legolas!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Tell us what you see there before us!\u2019 Legolas gazed ahead, shading his eyes from the level shafts of therises upon the east. A dike and mighty wall and thorny fence encircle it. Within there rise the roofs of houses; and in the midst, set upon a green terrace, there stands aloft a great hall of Men. And it seems to my eyes that it is thatched with gold. The light of it shines far over the land. Golden, too, are the posts of its doors. There men in bright mail stand; but all else within the courts are yet asleep.\u2019 \u2018Edoras those courts are called,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and Meduseld is that golden hall. There dwells The\u00b4oden son of Thengel, King of the Mark of Rohan. We are come with the rising of the day. Now the road lies plain to see before us. But we must ride more warily; for war is abroad, and the Rohirrim, the Horse-lords, do not sleep, even if it seem so from afar. Draw no weapon, speak no haughty word, I counsel you all, until we are come before The\u00b4oden\u2019s seat.\u2019 The morning was bright and clear about them, and birds were singing, when the travellers came to the stream. It ran down swiftly into the plain, and beyond the feet of the hills turned across their path in a wide bend, flowing away east to feed the Entwash far off in its reed-choked beds. The land was green: in the wet meads and along the grassy borders of the stream grew many willow-trees."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And these same foul creatures were more than surprised to meet us out on the Wold, for they had not heard of us before; though that might be said also of better folk. And not many will remember us, for not many escaped us alive, and the River had most of those. But it was well for you, for if they had not met us, then the king of the grassland would not have ridden far, and if he had there would have been no home to return to.\u2019 \u2018We know it well,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018and never shall it be forgotten in Minas Tirith or in Edoras.\u2019 \u2018Never is too long a word even for me,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018Not while your kingdoms last, you mean; but they will have to last long indeed to seem long to Ents.\u2019But now come tell me: what of the task that I set you? How is Saruman? Is he not weary of Orthanc yet? For I do not suppose that he will think you have improved the view from his windows.\u2019 Treebeard gave Gandalf a long look, almost a cunning look, Merry thought. \u2018Ah!\u2019 he said. \u2018I thought you would come to that. Weary of Orthanc? Very weary at last; but not so weary of his tower as he was weary of my voice. Hoom! I gave him some long tales, or at least what might be thought long in your speech.\u2019 \u2018Then why did he stay to listen? Did you go into Orthanc?\u2019 asked Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Bill, my lad,\u2019 he said, \u2018you oughtn\u2019t to have took up with us. You could have stayed here and et the best hay till the new grass comes.\u2019 Bill swished his tail and said nothing."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West, for your King shall come again, and he shall dwell among you all the days of your life."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018I will go to Saruman,\u2019\u2019 I said."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019\u2018Knock on the doors with your head, Peregrin Took,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "At length the Lady Galadriel released them from her eyes, and she smiled. \u2018Do not let your hearts be troubled,\u2019 she said. \u2018Tonight you shall sleep in peace.\u2019 Then they sighed and felt suddenly weary, as those who have been questioned long and deeply, though no words had been spoken openly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If only they are in a hurry and will let a couple of tired soldiers alone and pass on!\u2019 he thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "They felt as if a trap was closing about them; but they did not quite lose heart. They still remembered the hopeful view they had had of the line of the Road ahead, and they still knew in which direction it lay. In any case, they now had so great a dislike for that hollow place about the stone that no thought of remaining there was in their minds. They packed up as quickly as their chilled fingers would work."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tongues began to wag in Hobbiton and Bywater; and rumour of the coming event travelled all over the Shire. The history and charac- ter of Mr. Bilbo Baggins became once again the chief topic of conver- sation; and the older folk suddenly found their reminiscences in welcome demand."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Donotweep,lord,\u2019hestammered.\u2018Perhapshewillgetwell.Havehas failed. The Enemy has found it, and now his power waxes; he sees our very thoughts, and all we do is ruinous."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To walk to Bucklebury as quickly as possible,\u2019 answered Frodo, and gave his attention to the food."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Indeed things have changed!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But there is no mis- taking 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 Siran- non flowed through it with the road beside it. Let us go and see what things are like now!\u2019 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 impass- able. No sign of gate or entrance, not a fissure or crack could Frodo see in the frowning stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I like that!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018I should like to learn it. In Moria, in Khazad-du\u02c6m! But it makes the darkness seem heavier, thinking of all those lamps. Are there piles of jewels and gold lying about here still?\u2019 Gimli was silent. Having sung his song he would say no more."
    },
    {
        "text": "We must go down to face a peril near despair, yet that deadly peril is removed.\u2019 He turned. \u2018Come, Aragorn son of Arathorn!\u2019 he said. \u2018Do not regret your choice in the valley of the Emyn Muil, nor call it a vain pursuit. You chose amid doubts the path that seemed right: the choice was just, and it has been rewarded. For so we have met in time, who otherwise might have met too late. But the quest of your companions is over. Your next journey is marked by your given word. You must go to Edoras and seek out The\u00b4oden in his hall. For you are needed."
    },
    {
        "text": "The arm let go of Frodo, and Sam pulled him away, crying out for help. Twenty other arms came rippling out. The dark waterback. Rousing them from the horror that seemed to have rooted all but Sam to the ground where they stood, he drove them forward."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the meantime, whomsoever you take under your protection shall be under my protection and under the shield of Gondor. Are you answered?\u2019 Frodo bowed low. \u2018I am answered,\u2019 he said, \u2018and I place myself at your service, if that is of any worth to one so high and honourable.\u2019 \u2018It is of great worth,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018And now, do you take this creature, this Sme\u00b4agol, under your protection?\u2019 \u2018I do take Sme\u00b4agol under my protection,\u2019 said Frodo. Sam sighed audibly; and not at the courtesies, of which, as any hobbit would, he thoroughly approved. Indeed in the Shire such a matter would have required a great many more words and bows."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, Master. Dangerous places. This is the road from the Tower of the Moon, Master, down to the ruined city by the shores of the River. The ruined city, yes, very nasty place, full of enemies. We shouldn\u2019t have taken Men\u2019s advice. Hobbits have come a long way out of the path. Must go east now, away up there.\u2019 He waved his skinny arm towards the darkling mountains. \u2018And we can\u2019t use this road. Oh no! Cruel peoples come this way, down from the Tower.\u2019 Frodo looked down on to the road. At any rate nothing was moving on it now. It appeared lonely and forsaken, running down to empty ruins in the mist. But there was an evil feeling in the air, as if things might indeed be passing up and down that eyes could not see. Frodo shuddered as he looked again at the distant pinnacles now dwindling into night, and the sound of the water seemed cold and cruel: the voice of Morgulduin, the polluted stream that flowed from the Valley of the Wraiths."
    },
    {
        "text": "Denethor started as one waking from a trance, and the flame died in his eyes, and he wept; and he said: \u2018Do not take my son from me! He calls for me.\u2019 \u2018He calls,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018but you cannot come to him yet. For he must seek healing on the threshold of death, and maybe find it not."
    },
    {
        "text": "Fragments of stone lay near."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Your poor hand!\u2019 he said. \u2018And I have nothing to bind it with, or comfort it. I would have spared him a whole hand of mine rather."
    },
    {
        "text": "Not expecting even this simple trick from Sam, Gollum fell over with Sam on top, and he received the weight of the sturdy hobbit in his stomach. A sharp hiss came out of him, and for a second his hand upon Sam\u2019s throat loosened; but his fingers still gripped the sword-hand. Sam tore himself forward and away, and stood up, and then quickly he wheeled away to his right, pivoted on the wrist held by Gollum. Laying hold of the staff with his left hand, Sam swung it up, and down it came with a whistling crack on Gollum\u2019s out- stretched arm, just below the elbow."
    },
    {
        "text": "Between them was a narrow space, and there upon a floor of polished stone, written with strange signs, a man might stand five hundred feet above the plain. This was Orthanc, the citadel of Saruman, the name of which had (by design or chance) a twofold meaning; for in the Elvish speech orthanc signifies Mount Fang, but in the language of the Mark of old the Cunning Mind."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You are weary, I see,\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018You have ridden fast and far, and under shadows of evil in the air, I am told.\u2019 \u2018Let us not speak of that!\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Tired?\u2019\u2019 he said, \u2018\u2018tired? Well no, not tired, but stiff. I need a good draught of Entwash. We have worked hard; we have done more stone-cracking and earth-gnawing today than we have done in many a long year before. But it is nearly finished. When night falls do not linger near this gate or in the old tunnel! Water may come through \u2013 and it will be foul water for a while, until all the filth of Saruman is washed away. Then Isen can run clean again.\u2019\u2019 He began to pull down a bit more of the walls, in a leisurely sort of way, just to amuse himself.was the sound of a rider coming swiftly up the road. Merry and I lay quiet, and Treebeard hid himself in the shadows under the arch."
    },
    {
        "text": "The next day they spent also in his company, but they did not go far from his \u2018house\u2019. Most of the time they sat silent under the shelter of the bank; for the wind was colder, and the clouds closer and greyer; there was little sunshine, and in the distance the voices of the Ents at the Moot still rose and fell, sometimes loud and strong, sometimes low and sad, sometimes quickening, sometimes slow and solemn as a dirge. A second night came and still the Ents held conclave under hurrying clouds and fitful stars."
    },
    {
        "text": "But in the morning, as Faramir came from the Houses, he saw her, as she stood upon the walls; and she was clad all in white, and gleamed in the sun. And he called to her, and she came down, and they walked on the grass or sat under a green tree together, now in silence, now in speech. And each day after they did likewise. And the Warden looking from his window was glad in heart, for he was a healer, and his care was lightened; and certain it was that, heavy as was the dread and foreboding of those days upon the hearts of men, still these two of his charges prospered and grew daily in strength."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Of course, it is likely enough, my friends,\u2019 he said slowly, \u2018likely enough that we are going to our doom: the last march of the Ents."
    },
    {
        "text": "Round the corner a long arm was groping, walking on its fingers towards Sam, who was lying nearest, and towards the hilt of the sword that lay upon him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf was not there. Gloom settled still more heavily on Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Orcs yelled and jeered. \u2018Come down! Come down!\u2019 they cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam and Peregrin had not been idle. They had explored the small dell and the surrounding slopes. Not far away they found a spring of clear water in the hillside, and near it footprints not more than a day or two old. In the dell itself they found recent traces of a fire, and other signs of a hasty camp. There were some fallen rocks on the edge of the dell nearest to the hill. Behind them Sam came upon a small store of firewood neatly stacked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What\u2019s the time?\u2019 he said sleepily."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I hope so,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But I hope that you may find some other better keeper soon. But in the meanwhile it seems that I am a danger, a danger to all that live near me. I cannot keep the Ring and stay here. I ought to leave Bag End, leave the Shire, leave everything and go away.\u2019 He sighed."
    },
    {
        "text": "So they stumbled on through the weary end of the night, and until the coming of another day of fear they walked in silence with bowed heads, seeing nothing, and hearing nothing but the wind hissing in their ears.Chapter 3 THE BLACK GATE IS CLOSED Before the next day dawned their journey to Mordor was over. The marshes and the desert were behind them. Before them, darkling against a pallid sky, the great mountains reared their threatening heads."
    },
    {
        "text": "They met the Prince Imrahil, and he called to them: \u2018Whither now, Mithrandir? The Rohirrim are fighting on the fields of Gondor! We must gather all the strength that we can find.\u2019 \u2018You will need every man and more,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Make all haste. I will come when I can. But I have an errand to the Lord Denethor that will not wait. Take command in the Lord\u2019s absence!\u2019 They passed on; and as they climbed and drew near to the Citadel they felt the wind blowing in their faces, and they caught the glimmer of morning far away, a light growing in the southern sky. But it brought little hope to them, not knowing what evil lay before them, fearing to come too late."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beside that he kept only the remnants of their waybread and the water-bottle, and Sting still hanging by his belt; and hidden away in a pocket of his tunic next his breast the phial of Galadriel and the little box that she gave him for his own."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What was that?\u2019 asked Beregond. \u2018You also felt something?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 muttered Pippin. \u2018It is the sign of our fall, and the shadow of doom, a Fell Rider of the air.\u2019 \u2018Yes, the shadow of doom,\u2019 said Beregond. \u2018I fear that Minas Tirith shall fall. Night comes. The very warmth of my blood seems stolen away.\u2019 For a time they sat together with bowed heads and did not speak."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Maybe,\u2019 he said. \u2018But so great a claim will need to be established, and clear proofs will be required, should this Aragorn ever come to Minas Tirith. He had not come, nor any of your Company, when I set out six days ago.\u2019 \u2018Boromir was satisfied of that claim,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Indeed, if Boromir were here, he would answer all your questions. And since he was already at Rauros many days back, and intended then to go straight to your city, if you return, you may soon learn the answers there. My part in the Company was known to him, as to all the others, for it was appointed to me by Elrond of Imladris himself before the whole Council. On that errand I came into this country, but it is not mine to reveal to any outside the Company. Yet those who claim to oppose the Enemy would do well not to hinder it.\u2019 Frodo\u2019s tone was proud, whatever he felt, and Sam approved of it; but it did not appease Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is an evil door,\u2019 said Halbarad, \u2018and my death lies beyond it. I will dare to pass it nonetheless; but no horse will enter.\u2019 \u2018But we must go in, and therefore the horses must go too,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018For if ever we come through this darkness, many leagues lie beyond, and every hour that is lost there will bring the triumph of Sauron nearer. Follow me!\u2019 Then Aragorn led the way, and such was the strength of his will in that hour that all the Du\u00b4nedain and their horses followed him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We must take a little food,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Are you hungry, Sme\u00b4agol? We have very little to share, but we will spare you what we can.\u2019 At the word hungry a greenish light was kindled in Gollum\u2019s pale eyes, and they seemed to protrude further than ever from his thin sickly face. For a moment he relapsed into his old Gollum-manner."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then he returned to the brink of the dell and looked down at the others laughing and talking."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018No one else would dare to ride through the open land, so full of foul Orcs,\u2019\u2019 he said, \u2018\u2018so I was sent. And I have had a perilous journey, and I am hungry and weary. I fled far north out of my way, pursued by wolves.\u2019\u2019 \u2018I caught the sidelong looks he gave to Treebeard, and I said to myself \u2018\u2018liar\u2019\u2019. Treebeard looked at him in his long slow way for several minutes, till the wretched man was squirming on the floor."
    },
    {
        "text": "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. \u2018An evil of the Ancient World it seemed, such as I have never seen before,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018It was both a shadow and a flame, strong and terrible.\u2019 \u2018It was a Balrog of Morgoth,\u2019 said Legolas; \u2018of all elf-banes the most deadly, save the One who sits in the Dark Tower.\u2019 \u2018Indeed I saw upon the bridge that which haunts our darkest dreams, I saw Durin\u2019s Bane,\u2019 said Gimli in a low voice, and dread was in his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And is Orthanc then left unguarded?\u2019 asked Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the Three-Farthing Stone they gave it up. They had done nearly fourteen miles with only one rest at noon. It was now three o\u2019clock."
    },
    {
        "text": "All at once, as if through a gate of light, the Road ran out again from the end of the tunnel into the open. There at the bottom of a sharp incline they saw before them a long flat mile, and beyond that the Ford of Rivendell. On the further side was a steep brown bank, threaded by a winding path; and behind that the tall mountains climbed, shoulder above shoulder, and peak beyond peak, into the fading sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "After stumbling along for some way along the stream, they came quite suddenly out of the gloom. As if through a gate they saw the sunlight before them. Coming to the opening they found that they had made their way down through a cleft in a high steep bank, almost a cliff. At its feet was a wide space of grass and reeds; and in the distance could be glimpsed another bank almost as steep. A golden afternoon of late sunshine lay warm and drowsy upon the hidden land between. In the midst of it there wound lazily a dark river of brown water, bordered with ancient willows, arched over with willows, blocked with fallen willows, and flecked with thousands of faded willow-leaves. The air was thick with them, fluttering yellow from the branches; for there was a warm and gentle breeze blowing softly in the valley, and the reeds were rustling, and the willow-boughs were creaking."
    },
    {
        "text": "So it was that, even as the Captains were about to turn away, the silence was broken suddenly. There came a long rolling of great drums like thunder in the mountains, and then a braying of horns that shook the very stones and stunned men\u2019s ears. And thereupon the door of the Black Gate was thrown open with a great clang, and out of it there came an embassy from the Dark Tower."
    },
    {
        "text": "That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, \u2018a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all\u2019. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear, and sadness."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, and where then?\u2019 asked Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam had fallen to his knees by Frodo\u2019s head, his senses reeling in the foul stench, his two hands still gripping the hilt of the sword."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Oh yes, you do,\u2019 answered Strider; \u2018but we had better wait until the uproar has died down. Then, if you please, Mr. Baggins, I should like a quiet word with you.\u2019 \u2018What about?\u2019 asked Frodo, ignoring the sudden use of his proper name."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry alone seemed fairly cheerful. \u2018You had better lead on and find that path,\u2019 Frodo said to him. \u2018Don\u2019t let us lose one another, or forget which way the Hedge lies!\u2019 They picked a way among the trees, and their ponies plodded along, carefully avoiding the many writhing and interlacing roots."
    },
    {
        "text": "The night grew ever colder. Aragorn and Gimli slept fitfully, and whenever they awoke they saw Legolas standing beside them, or walking to and fro, singing softly to himself in his own tongue, and as he sang the white stars opened in the hard black vault above. So the night passed. Together they watched the dawn grow slowly in the sky, now bare and cloudless, until at last the sunrise came. It was pale and clear. The wind was in the East and all the mists had rolled away; wide lands lay bleak about them in the bitter light."
    },
    {
        "text": "The next morning they were busy packing another cart with the remainder of the luggage. Merry took charge of this, and drove off with Fatty (that is Fredegar Bolger). \u2018Someone must get there and warm the house before you arrive,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Well, see you later \u2013 the day after tomorrow, if you don\u2019t go to sleep on the way!\u2019 Folco went home after lunch, but Pippin remained behind. Frodo was restless and anxious, listening in vain for a sound of Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here lie all the Men of the Mark that fell near this place,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Careful!\u2019 whispered Frodo coming behind. \u2018Don\u2019t alarm him! He\u2019s much more dangerous than he looks.\u2019 The black crawling shape was now three-quarters of the way down, and perhaps fifty feet or less above the cliff \u2019s foot. Crouching stone- still in the shadow of a large boulder the hobbits watched him. He seemed to have come to a difficult passage or to be troubled about something. They could hear him snuffling, and now and again there was a harsh hiss of breath that sounded like a curse. He lifted his head, and they thought they heard him spit. Then he moved on again. Now they could hear his voice creaking and whistling."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Thus we meet again, though all the hosts of Mordor lay between us,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Did I not say so at the Hornburg?\u2019 \u2018So you spoke,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer, \u2018but hope oft deceives, and I knew not then that you were a man foresighted. Yet twice blessed is help unlooked for, and never was a meeting of friends more joyful.\u2019 And they clasped hand in hand. \u2018Nor indeed more timely,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018You come none too soon, my friend. Much loss and sorrow has befallen us.\u2019 \u2018Then let us avenge it, ere we speak of it!\u2019 said Aragorn, and they rode back to battle together."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom.\u2019 The crouching shape backed away, terror in its blinking eyes, and yet at the same time insatiable desire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I did not say that we should hear good news,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But evil or good we will await it here.\u2019 The three companions now left the hill-top, where they might be an easy mark against the pale sky, and they walked slowly down the northward slope. A little above the hill\u2019s foot they halted, and wrapping their cloaks about them, they sat huddled together upon the faded grass. The time passed slowly and heavily. The wind was thin and searching. Gimli was uneasy."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Settle it!\u2019 cried Gimli. \u2018Most noble hobbit, it leaves me deep in your debt.\u2019 \u2018Well, I am going back into the open air, to see what the wind and sky are doing!\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It was deep night. We lay on top of a pile of stone, and could see nothing beyond it. Mist or shadows blotted out everything like a great blanket all round us. The air seemed hot and heavy; and it was full of rustlings, creakings, and a murmur like voices passing. I think that hundreds more of the Huorns must have been passing by to help in the battle. Later there was a great rumble of thunder away south, and flashes of lightning far away across Rohan. Every now and then we could see mountain-peaks, miles and miles away, stab out sud- denly, black and white, and then vanish. And behind us there were noises like thunder in hills, but different. At times the whole valley echoed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Farewell for this time,\u2019 said Bergil. \u2018Take my greetings to my father, and thank him for the company that he sent. Come again soon, I beg. Almost I wish now that there was no war, for we might have had some merry times. We might have journeyed to Lossarnach, to my grandsire\u2019s house; it is good to be there in spring, the woods and fields are full of flowers. But maybe we will go thither together yet. They will never overcome our Lord, and my father is very valiant."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We will come with you,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "Uglu\u00b4 k shouted, and a number of other Orcs of nearly his own size ran up. Then suddenly, without warning, Uglu\u00b4 k sprang forwards, and with two swift strokes swept the heads off two of his opponents."
    },
    {
        "text": "Where are our own folk?\u2019 It drew now to evening by the hour, and the light was so dim that even far-sighted men upon the Citadel could discern little clearly out upon the fields, save only the burnings that ever multiplied, and the lines of fire that grew in length and speed. At last, less than a mileThe watchers held their breath. \u2018Faramir must be there,\u2019 they said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam looked at him unhappily. \u2018It all depends on what you want,\u2019 put in Merry. \u2018You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin \u2013 to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours \u2013 closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo. Anyway: there it is. We know most of what Gandalf has told you. We know a good deal about the Ring. We are horribly afraid \u2013 but we are coming with you; or following you like hounds.\u2019 \u2018And after all, sir,\u2019 added Sam, \u2018you did ought to take the Elves\u2019 advice. Gildor said you should take them as was willing, and yougrinning. \u2018I don\u2019t deny it, but I\u2019ll never believe you are sleeping again, whether you snore or not. I shall kick you hard to make sure."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beside them Gimli stood with his stout legs apart, wielding his dwarf- axe. The bow of Legolas was singing."
    },
    {
        "text": "Eventually they were shown into the study. Frodo was sitting at a table with a lot of papers in front of him. He looked indisposed \u2013 to see Sackville-Bagginses at any rate; and he stood up, fidgeting with something in his pocket. But he spoke quite politely."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No mail have we to fit you,\u2019 said E\u00b4 owyn, \u2018nor any time for the forging of such a hauberk; but here is also a stout jerkin of leather, a belt, and a knife. A sword you have.\u2019 Merry bowed, and the lady showed him the shield, which was like the shield that had been given to Gimli, and it bore on it the device of the white horse. \u2018Take all these things,\u2019 she said, \u2018and bear them to good fortune! Farewell now, Master Meriadoc! Yet maybe we shall meet again, you and I.\u2019 So it was that amid a gathering gloom the King of the Mark made ready to lead all his Riders on the eastward road. Hearts were heavy and many quailed in the shadow. But they were a stern people, loyal to their lord, and little weeping or murmuring was heard, even in the camp in the Hold where the exiles from Edoras were housed, women and children and old men. Doom hung over them, but they faced it silently."
    },
    {
        "text": "His knowledge was deep, his thought was subtle, and his hands mar- vellously skilled; and he had a power over the minds of others. The wise he could persuade, and the smaller folk he could daunt. That power he certainly still keeps. There are not many in Middle-earth that I should say were safe, if they were left alone to talk with him, even now when he has suffered a defeat. Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel, perhaps, now that his wickedness has been laid bare, but very few others.\u2019 \u2018The Ents are safe,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018He seems at one time to have got round them, but never again. And anyway he did not understand them; and he made the great mistake of leaving them out of his calculations. He had no plan for them, and there was no time to make any, once they had set to work. As soon as our attack began, thefewremainingratsinIsengardstartedboltingthrougheveryholemany orc-folk, of any size, escaped. Not from the Huorns: there was a wood full of them all round Isengard by that time, as well as those that had gone down the valley."
    },
    {
        "text": "And still Meriadoc the hobbit stood there blinking through his tears, and no one spoke to him, indeed none seemed to heed him."
    },
    {
        "text": "For many miles the red eye seemed to stare at them as they fled, stumbling through a barren stony country. They did not dare to take the road, but they kept it on their left, following its line as well as they could at a little distance. At last, when night was growing old and they were already weary, for they had taken only one short rest, the eye dwindled to a small fiery point and then vanished: they had turned the dark northern shoulder of the lower mountains and were heading southwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "I command. I return to Isengard by the shortest road.\u2019 \u2018Is Saruman the master or the Great Eye?\u2019 said the evil voice. \u2018We should go back at once to Lugbu\u00b4rz.\u2019 \u2018If we could cross the Great River, we might,\u2019 said another voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Yes, I have come,\u2019\u2019 I said. \u2018\u2018I have come for your aid, Saruman the White.\u2019\u2019 And that title seemed to anger him."
    },
    {
        "text": "If they were astonished at what they saw, their captors were even more astonished. Four tall Men stood there. Two had spears in their hands with broad bright heads. Two had great bows, almost of their own height, and great quivers of long green-feathered arrows. All had swords at their sides, and were clad in green and brown of varied hues, as if the better to walk unseen in the glades of Ithilien. Green gauntlets covered their hands, and their faces were hooded and masked with green, except for their eyes, which were very keen and bright. At once Frodo thought of Boromir, for these Men were like him in stature and bearing, and in their manner of speech."
    },
    {
        "text": "Grishna\u00b4kh flung himself on the ground flat, dragging the hobbits under him; then he drew his sword. No doubt he meant to kill his captives, rather than allow them to escape or to be rescued; but itgloom: it was aimed with skill, or guided by fate, and it pierced his right hand. He dropped the sword and shrieked. There was a quick beat of hoofs, and even as Grishna\u00b4kh leaped up and ran, he was ridden down and a spear passed through him. He gave a hideous shivering cry and lay still."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a sound of water falling nearby."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But I am not such a man. Or I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must flee. Sit at peace! And be comforted, Samwise. If you seem to have stumbled, think that it was fated to be so. Your heart is shrewd as well as faithful, and saw clearer than your eyes. For strange though it may seem, it was safe to declare this to me. It may even help the master that you love. It shall turn to his good, if it is in my power. So be comforted. But do not even name this thing again aloud. Once is enough.\u2019 The hobbits came back to their seats and sat very quiet. Men turned back to their drink and their talk, perceiving that their captain had had some jest or other with the little guests, and that it was over."
    },
    {
        "text": "The king was already there, and as soon as they entered he called for Merry and had a seat set for him at his side. \u2018It is not as I would have it,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden; \u2018for this is little like my fair house in Edoras."
    },
    {
        "text": "They clothed him then in elven-white, and seven lights before him sent, as through the Calacirian to hidden land forlorn he went."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their bags and gear they piled on the parlour-floor. They pushed a low chair against the door and shut the window. Peering out, Frodo saw that the night was still clear. The Sickle* was swinging bright above the shoulders of Bree-hill. He then closed and barred the heavy inside shutters and drew the curtains together. Strider built up the fire and blew out all the candles."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s 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 back- wards, if he had seen it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is the only way,\u2019 whispered Gollum. \u2018No paths beyond the road. No paths. We must go to the Cross-roads. But make haste! Be silent!\u2019 As furtively as scouts within the campment of their enemies, theyhunting cats. At length they reached the trees, and found that they stood in a great roofless ring, open in the middle to the sombre sky; and the spaces between their immense boles were like the great dark arches of some ruined hall. In the very centre four ways met. Behind them lay the road to the Morannon; before them it ran out again upon its long journey south; to their right the road from old Osgiliath came climbing up, and crossing, passed out eastward into darkness: the fourth way, the road they were to take."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But how will they know that we are not Orcs?\u2019 he thought. \u2018I don\u2019t suppose they\u2019ve ever heard of hobbits down here. I suppose I ought to be glad that the beastly Orcs look like being destroyed, but I would rather be saved myself.\u2019 The chances were that he and Merry would be killed together with their captors, before ever the Men of Rohan were aware of them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yea,\u2019 he said; \u2018for though the Stones be lost, they say, still the lords of Gondor have keener sight than lesser men, and many messages come to them. But sit now!\u2019 Then men came bearing a chair and a low stool, and one brought a salver with a silver flagon and cups, and white cakes. Pippin sat down, but he could not take his eyes from the old lord. Was it so, or had he only imagined it, that as he spoke of the Stones a sudden gleam of his eye had glanced upon Pippin\u2019s face? \u2018Now tell me your tale, my liege,\u2019 said Denethor, half kindly, half mockingly. \u2018For the words of one whom my son so befriended will be welcome indeed.\u2019 Pippin never forgot that hour in the great hall under the piercing eye of the Lord of Gondor, stabbed ever and anon by his shrewd questions, and all the while conscious of Gandalf at his side, watching and listening, and (so Pippin felt) holding in check a rising wrath and impatience. When the hour was over and Denethor again rang\u2018Lead the Lord Mithrandir to the housing prepared for him,\u2019 said Denethor, \u2018and his companion may lodge with him for the present, if he will. But be it known that I have now sworn him to my service, and he shall be known as Peregrin son of Paladin and taught the lesser pass-words. Send word to the Captains that they shall wait on me here, as soon as may be after the third hour has rung."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Captains mounted again and rode back, and from the host of Mordor there went up a jeering yell. Dust rose smothering the air, as from nearby there marched up an army of Easterlings that had waited for the signal in the shadows of Ered Lithui beyond the further Tower. Down from the hills on either side of the Morannon poured Orcs innumerable. The men of the West were trapped, and soon, all about the grey mounds where they stood, forces ten times and more than ten times their match would ring them in a sea of enemies."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Man!\u2019 cried Pippin, now thoroughly roused. \u2018Man! Indeed not! I am a hobbit and no more valiant than I am a man, save perhaps now and again by necessity. Do not let Gandalf deceive you!\u2019 \u2018Many a doer of great deeds might say no more,\u2019 said Ingold. \u2018But what is a hobbit?\u2019 \u2018A Halfling,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018Nay, not the one that was spoken of,\u2019 he added seeing the wonder in the men\u2019s faces. \u2018Not he, yet one of his kindred.\u2019 \u2018Yes, and one who journeyed with him,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018And Boromir of your City was with us, and he saved me in the snows of the North, and at the last he was slain defending me from many foes.\u2019 \u2018Peace!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018The news of that grief should have been told first to the father.\u2019 \u2018It has been guessed already,\u2019 said Ingold; \u2018for there have been strange portents here of late. But pass on now quickly! For the Lord of Minas Tirith will be eager to see any that bear the latest tidings of his son, be he man or\u2014\u2014\u2019 \u2018Hobbit,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Little service can I offer to your lord, but what I can do, I would do, remembering Boromir the brave.\u2019 \u2018Fare you well!\u2019 said Ingold; and the men made way for Shadowfax, and he passed through a narrow gate in the wall. \u2018May you bring good counsel to Denethor in his need, and to us all, Mithrandir!\u2019 Ingold cried. \u2018But you come with tidings of grief and danger, as is your wont, they say.\u2019 \u2018Because I come seldom but when my help is needed,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018And as for counsel, to you I would say that you are over-late in repairing the wall of the Pelennor. Courage will now be your best defence against the storm that is at hand \u2013 that and such hope as I bring. For not all the tidings that I bring are evil. But leave your trowels and sharpen your swords!\u2019 \u2018The work will be finished ere evening,\u2019 said Ingold. \u2018This is the last portion of the wall to be put in defence: the least open to attack, for it looks towards our friends of Rohan. Do you know aught ofback. This road and no road looks towards safety any longer. Be vigilant! But for Gandalf Stormcrow you would have seen a host of foes coming out of Ano\u00b4rien and no Riders of Rohan. And you may yet. Fare you well, and sleep not!\u2019 Gandalf passed now into the wide land beyond the Rammas Echor."
    },
    {
        "text": "There is no descent save by a narrow stair of many thousand steps, and the valley below seems far away. I looked on it and saw that, whereas it had once been green and fair, it was now filled with pits and forges. Wolves and orcs were housed in Isengard, for Saruman was mustering a great force on his own account, in rivalry of Sauron and not in his service, yet. Over all his works a dark smoke hung and wrapped itself about the sides of Orthanc. I stood alone on an island in the clouds; and I had no chance of escape, and my days were bitter. I was pierced with cold, and I had but little room in which to pace to and fro, brooding on the coming of the Riders to the North."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Though the Stewards deemed that it was a secret kept only by themselves, long ago I guessed that here in the White Tower, one at least of the Seven Seeing Stones was preserved. In the days of his wisdom Denethor would not presume to use it to challenge Sauron, knowing the limits of his own strength. But his wisdom failed; and I fear that as the peril of his realm grew he looked in the Stone and was deceived: far too often, I guess, since Boromir departed. He was too great to be subdued to the will of the Dark Power, he saw nonethe- less only those things which that Power permitted him to see. The knowledge which he obtained was, doubtless, often of service to him; yet the vision of the great might of Mordor that was shown to him fed the despair of his heart until it overthrew his mind.\u2019 \u2018Now I understand what seemed so strange to me!\u2019 said Pippin, shuddering at his memories as he spoke. \u2018The Lord went away from the room where Faramir lay; and it was only when he returned that I first thought he was changed, old and broken.\u2019 \u2018It was in the very hour that Faramir was brought to the Tower that many of us saw a strange light in the topmost chamber,\u2019 said Beregond. \u2018But we have seen that light before, and it has long been\u2018Alas! then I have guessed rightly,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Thus the will of Sauron entered into Minas Tirith; and thus I have been delayed here."
    },
    {
        "text": "I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see."
    },
    {
        "text": "Yet their Captain cared not greatly what they did or how many might be slain: their purpose was only to test the strength of the defence and to keep the men of Gondor busy in many places. It was against the Gate that he would throw his heaviest weight. Very strong it might be, wrought of steel and iron, and guarded with towers and bastions of indomitable stone, yet it was the key, the weakest point in all that high and impenetrable wall."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes. The obvious thing to do, of course, if one could. I tried long ago; but I have managed it at last.\u2019 \u2018Then what happened after Bilbo escaped from him? Do you know that?\u2019 \u2018Not so clearly. What I have told you is what Gollum was willing to tell \u2013 though not, of course, in the way I have reported it. Gollum is a liar, and you have to sift his words. For instance, he called the Ring his \u2018\u2018birthday-present\u2019\u2019, and he stuck to that. He said it came from his grandmother, who had lots of beautiful things of that kind."
    },
    {
        "text": "The two vast iron doors of the Black Gate under its frowning arch were fast closed. Upon the battlement nothing could be seen. All was silent but watchful. They were come to the last end of their folly, and stood forlorn and chill in the grey light of early day before towers and walls which their army could not assault with hope, not even if it had brought thither engines of great power, and the Enemy had no more force than would suffice for the manning of the gate and wall alone. Yet they knew that all the hills and rocks about the Moran- non were filled with hidden foes, and the shadowy defile beyond was bored and tunnelled by teeming broods of evil things. And as they stood they saw all the Nazgu\u02c6l gathered together, hovering above the Towers of the Teeth like vultures; and they knew that they were watched. But still the Enemy made no sign."
    },
    {
        "text": "One morning the hobbits woke to find the large field, south of Bilbo\u2019s front door, covered with ropes and poles for tents and pav- ilions. A special entrance was cut into the bank leading to the road, and wide steps and a large white gate were built there. The three hobbit-families of Bagshot Row, adjoining the field, were intensely interested and generally envied. Old Gaffer Gamgee stopped even pretending to work in his garden."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And I can\u2019t come.\u2019 \u2018No, Sam. Not yet anyway, not further than the Havens. Though you too were a Ring-bearer, if only for a little while. Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He is watching. He sees much and hears much. His Nazgu\u02c6l are still abroad. They passed over this field ere the sunrise, though fewfortune turning in our favour, and the defeat unlooked-for of his first assault; the fall of his great Captain."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was Frodo who first put something of his sorrow into halting words. He was seldom moved to make song or rhyme; even in Riven- dell 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 Lo\u00b4 rien 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "No hours so dark had Pippin known, not even in the clutches of the Uruk-hai. It was his duty to wait upon the Lord, and wait he did, forgotten it seemed, standing by the door of the unlit chamber, mastering his own fears as best he could. And as he watched, it seemed to him that Denethor grew old before his eyes, as if something had snapped in his proud will, and his stern mind was overthrown."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam could never describe in words, nor picture clearly to himself, what he felt or thought that night, though it remained in his memory as one of the chief events of his life. The nearest he ever got was to say: \u2018Well, sir, if I could grow apples like that, I would call myself a gardener. But it was the singing that went to my heart, if you know what I mean.\u2019 Frodo sat, eating, drinking, and talking with delight; but his mind was chiefly on the words spoken. He knew a little of the elf-speech and listened eagerly. Now and again he spoke to those that served him and thanked them in their own language. They smiled at him and said laughing: \u2018Here is a jewel among hobbits!\u2019 After a while Pippin fell fast asleep, and was lifted up and borne away to a bower under the trees; there he was laid upon a soft bed and slept the rest of the night away. Sam refused to leave his master."
    },
    {
        "text": "The cry was piercing. The guards leapt down from the banks. All the camp was soon astir."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly Frodo himself felt sleep overwhelming him. His head swam. There now seemed hardly a sound in the air. The flies had stopped buzzing. Only a gentle noise on the edge of hearing, a soft fluttering as of a song half whispered, seemed to stir in the boughs above. He lifted his heavy eyes and saw leaning over him a huge willow-tree, old and hoary. Enormous it looked, its sprawling branches going up like reaching arms with many long-fingered hands, its knotted and twisted trunk gaping in wide fissures that creaked faintly as the boughs moved. The leaves fluttering against the bright sky dazzled him, and he toppled over, lying where he fell upon the grass."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is poor fare,\u2019 they said to the hobbits; \u2018for we are lodging in the greenwood far from our halls. If ever you are our guests at home, we will treat you better.\u2019 \u2018It seems to me good enough for a birthday-party,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Slam the doors and wedge them!\u2019 shouted Aragorn. \u2018And keep your packs on as long as you can: we may get a chance to cut our way out yet.\u2019 \u2018No!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018We must not get shut in. Keep the east door ajar! We will go that way, if we get a chance.\u2019 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.\u2018Who comes hither to disturb the rest of Balin Lord of Moria?\u2019 he cried in a loud voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Oh, curse you, you stinking thing!\u2019 he said. \u2018Go away! Be off ! I don\u2019t trust you, not as far as I could kick you; but be off. Or I shall hurt you, yes, with nasty cruel steel.\u2019down the path. Sam gave no more heed to him. He suddenly remembered his master. He looked up the path and could not see him. As fast as he could he trudged up the road. If he had looked back, he might have seen not far below Gollum turn again, and then with a wild light of madness glaring in his eyes come, swiftly but warily, creeping on behind, a slinking shadow among the stones."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t know quite where we are,\u2019 said Merry; \u2018but that peak is probably Methedras, and as far as I can remember the ring of Isengard lies in a fork or deep cleft at the end of the mountains. It is probably down behind this great ridge. There seems to be a smoke or haze over there, left of the peak, don\u2019t you think?\u2019 \u2018What is Isengard like?\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I wonder what Ents can do about it anyway.\u2019 \u2018So do I,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Isengard is a sort of ring of rocks or hills, I think, with a flat space inside and an island or pillar of rock in the middle, called Orthanc. Saruman has a tower on it. There is a gate, perhaps more than one, in the encircling wall, and I believe there is a stream running through it; it comes out of the mountains, and flows on across the Gap of Rohan. It does not seem the sort of place for Ents to tackle. But I have an odd feeling about these Ents: somehow I don\u2019t think they are quite as safe and, well, funny as they seem. They seem slow, queer, and patient, almost sad; and yet I believe they could be roused. If that happened, I wouldrather not bedifference between an old cow sitting and thoughtfully chewing, and a bull charging; and the change might come suddenly. I wonder if Treebeard will rouse them. I am sure he means to try. But they don\u2019t like being roused. Treebeard got roused himself last night, and then bottled it up again.\u2019 The hobbits turned back. The voices of the Ents were still rising and falling in their conclave. The sun had now risen high enough to look over the high hedge: it gleamed on the tops of the birches and lit the northward side of the dingle with a cool yellow light. There they saw a little glittering fountain. They walked along the rim of the great bowl at the feet of the evergreens \u2013 it was pleasant to feel cool grass about their toes again, and not to be in a hurry \u2013 and then they climbed down to the gushing water. They drank a little, a clean, cold, sharp draught, and sat down on a mossy stone, watching the patches of sun on the grass and the shadows of the sailing clouds passing over the floor of the dingle. The murmur of the Ents went on. It seemed a very strange and remote place, outside their world, and far from everything that had ever happened to them. A great longing came over them for the faces and voices of their companions, especially for Frodo and Sam, and for Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "So have a care! Cut no living wood!\u2019 \u2018There is no need,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018The Riders have left chip and bough enough, and there is dead wood lying in plenty.\u2019 He went off to gather fuel, and busied himself with building and kindling a fire; but Aragorn sat silent with his back to the great tree, deep in thought; and Legolas stood alone in the open, looking towards the profound shadow of the wood, leaning forward, as one who listens to voices calling from a distance."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is quite cool,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Take it!\u2019 Frodo received it on his shrinking palm: it seemed to have become thicker and heavier than ever."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Good!\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife-work up here.\u2019 E\u00b4omer and Aragorn leant wearily on their swords. Away on the left the crash and clamour of the battle on the Rock rose loud again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All right,\u2019 said Sam, laughing with the rest. \u2018But what about these Tree-men, these giants, as you might call them? They do say that one bigger than a tree was seen up away beyond the North Moors not long back.\u2019 \u2018Who\u2019s they?\u2019 \u2018My cousin Hal for one. He works for Mr. Boffin at Overhill and goes up to the Northfarthing for the hunting. He saw one.\u2019 \u2018Says he did, perhaps. Your Hal\u2019s always saying he\u2019s seen things; and maybe he sees things that ain\u2019t there.\u2019 \u2018But this one was as big as an elm tree, and walking \u2013 walking seven yards to a stride, if it was an inch.\u2019\u2018But this one was walking, I tell you; and there ain\u2019t no elm tree on the North Moors.\u2019 \u2018Then Hal can\u2019t have seen one,\u2019 said Ted. There was some laugh- ing and clapping: the audience seemed to think that Ted had scored a point."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before long the wood came to a sudden end. Wide grass-lands stretched before them. They now saw that they had, in fact, turned too much to the south. Away over the flats they could glimpse the low hill of Bucklebury across the River, but it was now to their left."
    },
    {
        "text": "Of him the harpers sadly sing: the last whose realm was fair and free between the Mountains and the Sea."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hoom, no, not into Orthanc!\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018But he came to his window and listened, because he could not get news in any other way, and though he hated the news, he was greedy to have it; and I saw that he heard it all. But I added a great many things to the news that it was good for him to think of. He grew very weary. He always was hasty. That was his ruin.\u2019 \u2018I observe, my good Fangorn,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018that with great care you say dwelt, was, grew. What about is? Is he dead?\u2019 \u2018No, not dead, so far as I know,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018But he is gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 journey under cover of night as often as they could, until they were far from Rivendell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018For a little while,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden.bid men sound the horns? But where is Aragorn? His place is empty and he has not eaten.\u2019 \u2018We will make ready to ride,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden; \u2018but let word be sent to the Lord Aragorn that the hour is nigh.\u2019 The king with his guard and Merry at his side passed down from the gate of the Burg to where the Riders were assembling on the green. Many were already mounted. It would be a great company; for the king was leaving only a small garrison in the Burg, and all who could be spared were riding to the weapontake at Edoras. A thousand spears had indeed already ridden away at night; but still there would be some five hundred more to go with the king, for the most part men from the fields and dales of Westfold."
    },
    {
        "text": "Fare well, Elfstone!\u2019 And Aragorn said: \u2018Now I know what you bear. Bear it still for me a while!\u2019 And he turned and looked away to the North under the great stars, and then he fell silent and spoke no more while the night\u2019s journey lasted."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Proudfeet!\u2019 shouted an elderly hobbit from the back of the pavilion."
    },
    {
        "text": "The land ahead rose in long shallow slopes, barren and pitiless, towards the desert that lay at Sauron\u2019s gate."
    },
    {
        "text": "Even the wise cannot see all ends."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It will be drier above,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Come, Gamling, let us see how things go on the wall!\u2019 He climbed up and found Legolas beside Aragorn and E\u00b4 omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "Two days ago I found it, and followed it over the Bridge; and today I marked where you descended from the hills again. But come! There is no time for further news. Since you are here we must risk the peril of the Road and go. There are five behind us, and when they find your trail upon the Road they will ride after us like the wind. And they are not all. Where the other four may be, I do not know. I fear that we may find the Ford is already held against us.\u2019 While Glorfindel was speaking the shades of evening deepened."
    },
    {
        "text": "For in the sixth circle, outside the walls of the citadel, there were some fair stables where a few swift horses were kept, hard by the lodgings of the errand-riders of the Lord: messengers always ready to go at the urgent command of Denethor or his chief captains. But now all the horses and the riders were out and away."
    },
    {
        "text": "Denethor laughed bitterly. \u2018Nay, not yet, Master Peregrin! He will not come save only to triumph over me when all is won. He uses others as his weapons. So do all great lords, if they are wise, Master Halfling. Or why should I sit here in my tower and think, and watch, and wait, spending even my sons? For I can still wield a brand.\u2019 He stood up and cast open his long black cloak, and behold! he was clad in mail beneath, and girt with a long sword, great-hilted in a sheath of black and silver. \u2018Thus have I walked, and thus now for many years have I slept,\u2019 he said, \u2018lest with age the body should grow soft and timid.\u2019 \u2018Yet now under the Lord of Barad-du\u02c6r the most fell of all his captains is already master of your outer walls,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018King of Angmar long ago, Sorcerer, Ringwraith, Lord of the Nazgu\u02c6l, a spear of terror in the hand of Sauron, shadow of despair.\u2019of the Dark Tower. Is this all that you have returned to say? Or can it be that you have withdrawn because you are overmatched?\u2019 Pippin trembled, fearing that Gandalf would be stung to sudden wrath, but his fear was needless. \u2018It might be so,\u2019 Gandalf answered softly. \u2018But our trial of strength is not yet come. And if words spoken of old be true, not by the hand of man shall he fall, and hidden from the Wise is the doom that awaits him. However that may be, the Captain of Despair does not press forward, yet. He rules rather according to the wisdom that you have just spoken, from the rear, driving his slaves in madness on before."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Thus spoke Malbeth the Seer, in the days of Arvedui, last king at Fornost,\u2019 said Aragorn: Over the land there lies a long shadow, westward reaching wings of darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "He had been taken when the ruffians smoked out a band of rebels that he led from their hidings up in the Brockenbores by the hills of Scary."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have looked the last upon that which was fairest,\u2019 he said to Legolas his companion. \u2018Henceforward I will call nothing fair, unless it be her gift.\u2019 He put his hand to his breast."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam heard a bolt drawn back. Then he heard the hideous voice speaking again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hoom,hm;hoom,hm,howdiditgo?Roomtum,roomtum,roomty\u2018We always seem to have got left out of the old lists, and the old stories,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Yet we\u2019ve been about for quite a long time."
    },
    {
        "text": "Through the throat of one huge leader Aragorn passed his sword with a thrust; with a great sweep Boromir hewed the head off another."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, Master Underhill,\u2019 said Strider, \u2018if I were you, I should stop your young friends from talking too much. Drink, fire, and chance-meeting are pleasant enough, but, well \u2013 this isn\u2019t the Shire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now therefore let us go to Fangorn and set the score right!\u2019 From Deeping-coomb they rode to Isengard, and saw how the Ents had busied themselves. All the stone-circle had been thrown down and removed, and the land within was made into a gardenTower of Orthanc rose still, tall and impregnable, and its black rock was mirrored in the pool."
    },
    {
        "text": "He stood upon the bridge alone and Fire and Shadow both defied; his staff was broken on the stone, in Khazad-du\u02c6 m his wisdom died."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf stood up and strode forward, holding his staff aloft."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If Elves could fly over mountains, they might fetch the Sun to save us,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018But I must have something to work on."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am a messenger of the King,\u2019 he said. \u2018You are speaking to the King\u2019s friend, and one of the most renowned in all the lands of the West. You are a ruffian and a fool. Down on your knees in the road and ask pardon, or I will set this troll\u2019s bane in you!\u2019 The sword glinted in the westering sun. Merry and Sam drew their swords also and rode up to support Pippin; but Frodo did not move.Theruffiansgaveback.ScaringBree-landpeasants,andbully-note in the voices of these newcomers that they had not heard before."
    },
    {
        "text": "The old wound throbbed with pain and a great chill spread towards Frodo\u2019s heart."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo stepped inside the dark door. \u2018Sam!\u2019 he called. \u2018Sam! Time!\u2019 \u2018Coming, sir!\u2019 came the answer from far within, followed soon by Sam himself, wiping his mouth. He had been saying farewell to the beer-barrel in the cellar."
    },
    {
        "text": "Its walls were of clean stone, but they were mostly covered with green hanging mats and yellow curtains. The floor was flagged, and strewn with fresh green rushes. There were four deep mattresses, each piled with white blankets, laid on the floor along one side. Against the opposite wall was a long bench laden with wide earthenware basins, and beside it stood brown ewers filled with water, some cold, some steaming hot. There were soft green slippers set ready beside each bed."
    },
    {
        "text": "All might be dead in the Tower of Cirith Ungol, but it was steeped in fear and evil still.Watchers beating on them, black silent shapes on either side of the gate through which the glare of Mordor dimly showed. As they threaded their way among the hideous bodies of the orcs each step became more difficult. Before they even reached the archway they were brought to a stand. To move an inch further was a pain and weariness to will and limb."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, father of Horse-men,\u2019 he said, \u2018we fight not. Hunt only. Kill gorgu\u02c6n in woods, hate orc-folk. You hate gorgu\u02c6n too. We help as we can. Wild Men have long ears and long eyes; know all paths. Wild Men live here before Stone-houses; before Tall Men come up out of Water.\u2019 \u2018But our need is for aid in battle,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018How will you and your folk help us?\u2019 \u2018Bring news,\u2019 said the Wild Man. \u2018We look out from hills. We climb big mountain and look down. Stone-city is shut. Fire burns there outside; now inside too. You wish to come there? Then you must be quick. But gorgu\u02c6n and men out of far-away,\u2019 he waved a short gnarled arm eastward, \u2018sit on horse-road. Very many, more than Horse-men.\u2019 \u2018How do you know that?\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "At first the beauty of the melodies and of the interwoven words in elven-tongues, even though he understood them little, held him in a spell, as soon as he began to attend to them. Almost it seemed that the words took shape, and visions of far lands and bright things that he had never yet imagined opened out before him; and the firelit hall became like a golden mist above seas of foam that sighed upon the margins of the world. Then the enchantment became more and more dreamlike, until he felt that an endless river of swelling gold and silver was flowing over him, too multitudinous for its pattern to be comprehended; it became part of the throbbing air about him, and it drenched and drowned him. Swiftly he sank under its shining weight into a deep realm of sleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s good to be able to see again,\u2019 said Frodo, breathing deep."
    },
    {
        "text": "There may be things worth seeing down at the Great Gate ere the closing.\u2019 He went out, and soon after all the others followed. The day was still fine, though it was growing hazy, and it was hot for March, even so far southwards. Pippin felt sleepy, but the lodging seemed cheerless, and he decided to go down and explore the City. He took a few morsels that he had saved to Shadowfax, and they were graciously accepted, though the horse seemed to have no lack. Then he walked on down many winding ways."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And what are they?\u2019 \u2018The name meant that which looks far away. The Orthanc-stone was one.\u2019 \u2018Then it was not made, not made\u2019 \u2013 Pippin hesitated \u2013 \u2018by the Enemy?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Nor by Saruman. It is beyond his art, and beyond Sauron\u2019s too. The palant\u00b4\u0131ri came from beyond Westernesse, from Eldamar. The Noldor made them. Fe\u00a8anor himself, maybe, wrought them, in days so long ago that the time cannot be measured in years. But there is nothing that Sauron cannot turn to evil uses."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well told, my friend,\u2019 he said, \u2018but that is enough at this time."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s no good, Sam,\u2019 he said. \u2018I can\u2019t manage it. This mail-shirt, I mean. Not in my present state. Even my mithril-coat seemed heavy when I was tired. This is far heavier. And what\u2019s the use of it? We shan\u2019t win through by fighting.\u2019 \u2018But we may have some to do,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And there\u2019s knives and stray arrows. That Gollum isn\u2019t dead, for one thing. I don\u2019t like to think of you with naught but a bit of leather between you and a stab in the dark.\u2019 \u2018Look here, Sam dear lad,\u2019 said Frodo: \u2018I am tired, weary, I haven\u2019t a hope left. But I have to go on trying to get to the Mountain, as long as I can move. The Ring is enough. This extra weight is killing me. It must go. But don\u2019t think I\u2019m ungrateful. I hate to think of the foul work you must have had among the bodies to find it for me.\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t talk about it, Mr. Frodo. Bless you! I\u2019d carry you on my back, if I could. Let it go then!\u2019 Frodo laid aside his cloak and took off the orc-mail and flung it away. He shivered a little. \u2018What I really need is something warm,\u2019 he said. \u2018It\u2019s gone cold, or else I\u2019ve caught a chill.\u2019 \u2018You can have my cloak, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam. He unslung his pack and took out the elven-cloak. \u2018How\u2019s this, Mr. Frodo?\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Only a few hours ago you were unwilling to sit on a horse of Rohan,\u2019 laughed Legolas. \u2018You will make a rider yet.\u2019 \u2018It seems unlikely that I shall have the chance,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "When all the Company had crossed, they sat and rested and ate a little food; and Legolas told them tales of Lothlo\u00b4 rien that the Elves of Mirkwood still kept in their hearts, of sunlight and starlight upon the meadows by the Great River before the world was grey."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes! The Elf-warrior is loose!\u2019 he cried. \u2018I\u2019m coming. Just you show me the way up, or I\u2019ll skin you!\u2019 But the orc was in its own haunts, nimble and well-fed. Sam was a stranger, hungry and weary. The stairs were high and steep and winding. Sam\u2019s breath began to come in gasps. The orc had soon passed out of sight, and now only faintly could be heard the slapping of its feet as it went on and up. Every now and again it gave a yell, and the echo ran along the walls. But slowly all sound of it died away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What\u2019s the matter with the place?\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Has it been a bad year, or what? I thought it had been a fine summer and harvest.\u2019 \u2018Well no, the year\u2019s been good enough,\u2019 said Hob. \u2018We grows a lot of food, but we don\u2019t rightly know what becomes of it. It\u2019s all these \u2018\u2018gatherers\u2019\u2019 and \u2018\u2018sharers\u2019\u2019, I reckon, going round counting and measuring and taking off to storage. They do more gathering than sharing, and we never see most of the stuff again.\u2019 \u2018Oh come!\u2019 said Pippin yawning. \u2018This is all too tiresome for me tonight. We\u2019ve got food in our bags. Just give us a room to lie downThe hobbits at the gate still seemed ill at ease, evidently some rule or other was being broken; but there was no gainsaying four such masterful travellers, all armed, and two of them uncommonly large and strong-looking. Frodo ordered the gates to be locked again. There was some sense at any rate in keeping a guard, while ruffians were still about. Then the four companions went into the hobbit guard-house and made themselves as comfortable as they could. It was a bare and ugly place, with a mean little grate that would not allow a good fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "I will help you back to the Healers. But do not fear! They will come back. The Men of Minas Tirith will never be overcome. And now they have the Lord Elfstone, and Beregond of the Guard too.\u2019 Ere noon the army came to Osgiliath. There all the workers and craftsmen that could be spared were busy. Some were strengthening the ferries and boat-bridges that the enemy had made and in part destroyed when they fled; some gathered stores and booty; and others on the eastern side across the River were throwing up hasty works of defence."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018When all have come we will speak together.\u2019 Each of the companions he greeted courteously by name as they entered. \u2018Welcome Aragorn son of Arathorn!\u2019 he said. \u2018It 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But you need not fear for your skin. I do not wish to kill you, or hurt you, as you would know, if you really understood me. And I have the power to protect you. I am giving you a last chance. You can leave Orthanc, free \u2013 if you choose.\u2019 \u2018That sounds well,\u2019 sneered Saruman. \u2018Very much in the mannerconvenient. But why should I wish to leave? And what do you mean by \u2018\u2018free\u2019\u2019? There are conditions, I presume?\u2019 \u2018Reasons for leaving you can see from your windows,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018Others will occur to your thought. Your servants are destroyed and scattered; your neighbours you have made your enemies; and you have cheated your new master, or tried to do so."
    },
    {
        "text": "Soon they were leading their ponies in single file over the rim and down the long northward slope of the hill, down into a foggy sea. As they went down the mist became colder and damper, and their hair hung lank and dripping on their foreheads. When they reached the bottom it was so chill that they halted and got out cloaks and hoods, which soon became bedewed with grey drops. Then, mounting their ponies, they went slowly on again, feeling their way by the rise and fall of the ground. They were steering, as well as they could guess, for the gate-like opening at the far northward end of the long valley which they had seen in the morning. Once they were through the gap, they had only to keep on in anything like a straight line and they were bound in the end to strike the Road. Their thoughts did not go beyond that, except for a vague hope that perhaps away beyond the Downs there might be no fog."
    },
    {
        "text": "So King The\u00b4oden rode from Helm\u2019s Gate and clove his path to the great Dike. There the company halted. Light grew bright about them. Shafts of the sun flared above the eastern hills and glimmered on their spears. But they sat silent on their horses, and they gazed down upon the Deeping-coomb."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018very: tired out with idleness and waiting. I have kicked my heels at the door of my master\u2019s chamber for many slow hours, while he has debated with Gandalf and the Prince and other great persons. And I\u2019m not used, Master Beregond, to waiting hungry on others while they eat. It is a sore trial for a hobbit, that. No doubt you will think I should feel the honour more deeply. But what is the good of such honour? Indeed what is the good even of food and drink under this creeping shadow? What does it mean? The very air seems thick and brown! Do you often have such glooms when the wind is in the East?\u2019 \u2018Nay,\u2019 said Beregond, \u2018this is no weather of the world. This is some device of his malice; some broil of fume from the Mountain of Fire that he sends to darken hearts and counsel. And so it doth indeed. I wish the Lord Faramir would return. He would not be dismayed. But now, who knows if he will ever come back across the River out of the Darkness?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018Gandalf, too, is anxious. He was disappointed, I think, not to find Faramir here. And where has he got to himself ? He left the Lord\u2019s council before the noon-meal, and in no good mood either, I thought. Perhaps he has some foreboding of bad news.\u2019his ears; but Beregond, who had been looking out from the battlement as he spoke of Faramir, remained there, stiffened, staring out with starting eyes. Pippin knew the shuddering cry that he had heard: it was the same that he had heard long ago in the Marish of the Shire, but now it was grown in power and hatred, piercing the heart with a poisonous despair."
    },
    {
        "text": "Taking his leave, he returned to the walls, and passed round all their circuit, enheartening the men, and lending aid wherever the assault was hot. Legolas went with him. Blasts of fire leaped up from below shaking the stones. Grappling-hooks were hurled, and ladders raised. Again and again the Orcs gained the summit of the outer wall, and again the defenders cast them down."
    },
    {
        "text": "They came close behind, stooping, often using their hands even as he did. \u2018Three precious little Gollums in a row we shall be, if this goes on much longer,\u2019 thought Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Are we rested? Have we had beautiful sleep?\u2019 he said. \u2018Let\u2019s go!\u2019 \u2018We aren\u2019t, and we haven\u2019t,\u2019 growled Sam. \u2018But we\u2019ll go if we must.\u2019 Gollum dropped at once from the branches of the tree on to all fours, and the hobbits followed more slowly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now do I most grudge a time of rest or any halt in our chase,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018The Orcs have run before us, as if the very whips of Sauron were behind them. I fear they have already reached the forest and the dark hills, and even now are passing into the shadows of the trees.\u2019 Gimli ground his teeth. \u2018This is a bitter end to our hope and to all our toil!\u2019 he said.they had come towards the night gathering in the East. \u2018There is something strange at work in this land. I distrust the silence. I distrust even the pale Moon. The stars are faint; and I am weary as I have seldom been before, weary as no Ranger should be with a clear trail to follow. There is some will that lends speed to our foes and sets an unseen barrier before us: a weariness that is in the heart more than in the limb.\u2019 \u2018Truly!\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018That I have known since first we came down from the Emyn Muil. For the will is not behind us but before us.\u2019 He pointed away over the land of Rohan into the darkling West under the sickle moon."
    },
    {
        "text": "Far over the Great River, and the Brown Lands, leagues upon grey leagues away, the Dawn came, red as flame. Loud rang the hunting-horns to greet it. The Riders of Rohan sprang suddenly to life. Horn answered horn again."
    },
    {
        "text": "No, something else drew him away. So my friends think, those that hunted him for me."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018As was agreed, I shall here blindfold the eyes of Gimli the Dwarf."
    },
    {
        "text": "The land had changed. Where before the green dale had lain, its grassy slopes lapping the ever-mounting hills, there now a forest loomed. Great trees, bare and silent, stood, rank on rank, with tangled bough and hoary head; their twisted roots were buried in the long green grass. Darkness was under them. Between the Dike and the eaves of that nameless wood only two open furlongs lay. There now cowered the proud hosts of Saruman, in terror of the king and in terror of the trees. They streamed down from Helm\u2019s Gate until all above the Dike was empty of them, but below it they were packed like swarming flies. Vainly they crawled and clambered about the walls of the coomb, seeking to escape. Upon the east too sheer and stony was the valley\u2019s side; upon the left, from the west, their final doom approached."
    },
    {
        "text": "They strained their eyes, and the shadows seemed to grow. Soon there could be no doubt: three or four tall black figures were standing there on the slope, looking down on them. So black were they that they seemed like black holes in the deep shade behind them. Frodo thought that he heard a faint hiss as of venomous breath and felt a thin piercing chill. Then the shapes slowly advanced."
    },
    {
        "text": "They climbed down and out of the dike and through a gap in the wall, and then Tom turned due north, for they had been bearing somewhat to the west. The land was now open and fairly level, and they quickened their pace, but the sun was already sinking low when at last they saw a line of tall trees ahead, and they knew that they had come back to the Road after many unexpected adventures. They galloped their ponies over the last furlongs, and halted under the long shadows of the trees. They were on the top of a sloping bank, and the Road, now dim as evening drew on, wound away below them. At this point it ran nearly from South-west to North-east, and on their right it fell quickly down into a wide hollow. It was rutted and bore many signs of the recent heavy rain; there were pools and pot-holes full of water."
    },
    {
        "text": "As the light grew stronger it showed a silent shrouded world."
    },
    {
        "text": "Boromir! I cried. Where is thy horn? Whither goest thou? O Boromir! But he was gone. The boat turned into the stream and passed glimmering on into the night. Dreamlike it was, and yet no dream, for there was no waking. And I do not doubt that he is dead and has passed down the River to the Sea.\u2019 \u2018Alas!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018That was indeed Boromir as I knew him. For the golden belt was given to him in Lothlo\u00b4rien by the Lady Galadriel."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019m going back on to the road while the light lasts, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 he said. \u2018Trust to luck again! It nearly failed us last time, but it didn\u2019t quite. A steady pace for a few more miles, and then a rest.\u2019 He was taking a far greater risk than he knew; but Frodo was too much occupied with his burden and with the struggle in his mind to debate, and almost too hopeless to care. They climbed on to the causeway and trudged along, down the hard cruel road that led to the Dark Tower itself. But their luck held, and for the rest of that day they met no living or moving thing; and when night fell they vanished into the darkness of Mordor. All the land now brooded as at the coming of a great storm: for the Captains of the West had passed the Cross-roads and set flames in the deadly fields of Imlad Morgul."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Leaving the letter aside, I promised Gandalf no less. Barley, he says to me, this friend of mine from the Shire, he may be coming out this way before long, him and another. He\u2019ll be calling himself Underhill. Mind that! But you need ask no questions. And if I\u2019m not with him, he may be in trouble, and he may need help. Do whatever you can for him, and I\u2019ll be grateful, he says. And here you are, and trouble is not far off, seemingly.\u2019looking for Baggins, and if they mean well, then I\u2019m a hobbit. It was on Monday, and all the dogs were yammering and the geese screaming."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wonder where that dratted Gollum is?\u2019 thought Sam, as he crawled back into deeper shade. \u2018He stands a fair chance of being spitted for an Orc, or of being roasted by the Yellow Face. But I fancy he\u2019ll look after himself.\u2019 He lay down beside Frodo and began to doze."
    },
    {
        "text": "On the hearth wood was burning."
    },
    {
        "text": "For it seems clear that our Enemy has opened his war at last and made the first move while Frodo was still free. So now for many days he will have his eye turned this way and that, away from his own land. And yet, Pippin, I feel from afar his haste and fear. He has begun sooner than he would. Something has happened to stir him.\u2019 Gandalf stood for a moment in thought. \u2018Maybe,\u2019 he muttered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So this is the thief !\u2019 said Gandalf. Hastily he cast his cloak over the globe where it lay. \u2018But you, Pippin! This is a grievous turn to things!\u2019 He knelt by Pippin\u2019s body: the hobbit was lying on his back, rigid, with unseeing eyes staring up at the sky. \u2018The devilry! What mischief has he done \u2013 to himself, and to all of us?\u2019 The wizard\u2019s face was drawn and haggard."
    },
    {
        "text": "His thought turned to the Ring, but there was no comfort there, only dread and danger. No sooner had he come in sight of Mount Doom, burning far away, than he was aware of a change in his burden."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s toes.\u2019 \u2018Ah, it is as I said,\u2019 growled Gimli. \u2018It 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.\u2019 \u2018ButhappilyyourCaradhrashasforgottenthatyouhaveMenwithserved 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.\u2019 \u2018But how are we to get down there, even if you have cut through the drift?\u2019 said Pippin, voicing the thought of all the hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "I thought her Sneak had brought her a toy, or that you\u2019d perhaps sent her a present, a prisoner of war or something. I don\u2019t interfere when she\u2019s playing. Nothing gets by Shelob when she\u2019s on the hunt.\u2019 \u2018Nothing, say you! Didn\u2019t you use your eyes back there? I tell you I\u2019m not easy in my mind. Whatever came up the Stairs, did get by."
    },
    {
        "text": "And now Legolas fell silent, while the others talked, and he looked out against the sun, and as he gazed he saw white sea-birds beating up the River."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tell me of Boromir my brother, and of old Mithrandir, and of the fair people of Lothlo\u00b4 rien.\u2019 Frodo no longer felt sleepy and he was willing to talk. But though the food and wine had put him at his ease, he had not lost all his caution. Sam was beaming and humming to himself, but when Frodo spoke he was at first content to listen, only occasionally venturing to make an exclamation of agreement."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I should have been half drowned down there, or washed clean off,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018What a piece of luck you had that rope!\u2019 \u2018Better luck if I\u2019d thought of it sooner,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Maybe you remember them putting the ropes in the boats, as we started off: in the Elvish country. I took a fancy to it, and I stowed a coil in my pack. Years ago, it seems. \u2018\u2018It may be a help in many needs,\u2019\u2019 he said: Haldir, or one of those folk. And he spoke right.\u2019 \u2018A pity I didn\u2019t think of bringing another length,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but I left the Company in such a hurry and confusion. If only we had enough we could use it to get down. How long is your rope, I wonder?\u2019 Sam paid it out slowly, measuring it with his arms: \u2018Five, ten, twenty, thirty ells, more or less,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "The day passed slowly. A great thirst troubled them, but they drank only a few drops from their bottles \u2013 last filled in the gully, which now as they looked back in thought seemed to them a place of peace and beauty. The hobbits took it in turn to watch. At first, tired as they were, neither of them could sleep at all; but as the sun far away was climbing down into slow moving cloud, Sam dozed. It was Frodo\u2019s turn to be on guard. He lay back on the slope of the pit, but that did not ease the sense of burden that was on him. He looked up at the smoke-streaked sky and saw strange phantoms, dark riding shapes, and faces out of the past. He lost count of time, hover- ing between sleep and waking, until forgetfulness came over him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What are these?\u2019 asked Sam, handling one that lay upon the greensward."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Long after, but still very long ago, there lived by the banks of the Great River on the edge of Wilderland a clever-handed and quiet- footed little people. I guess they were of hobbit-kind; akin to thefamily of high repute, for it was large and wealthier than most, and it was ruled by a grandmother of the folk, stern and wise in old lore, such as they had. The most inquisitive and curious-minded of that family was called Sme\u00b4agol. He was interested in roots and beginnings; he dived into deep pools; he burrowed under trees and growing plants; he tunnelled into green mounds; and he ceased to look up at the hill-tops, or the leaves on trees, or the flowers opening in the air: his head and his eyes were downward."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Running wild over the grass,\u2019 they answered. \u2018He will let no man handle him. There he goes, away down by the ford, like a shadow among the willows.\u2019 Gandalf whistled and called aloud the horse\u2019s name, and far away he tossed his head and neighed, and turning sped towards the host like an arrow."
    },
    {
        "text": "They are not enemies, indeed they are not concerned with us at all.\u2019 So it seemed to be; for as he spoke the tall creatures, without a glance at the riders, strode into the wood and vanished."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was not long before Gandalf himself came in search of them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Road is forgotten, but not by Wild Men. Over hill and behind hill it lies still under grass and tree, there behind Rimmon and down to D\u02c6\u0131n, and back at the end to Horse-men\u2019s road. Wild Men will showE\u00b4omer and the king spoke together in their own tongue. At length The\u00b4oden turned to the Wild Man. \u2018We will receive your offer,\u2019 he said. \u2018For though we leave a host of foes behind, what matter? If the Stone-city falls, then we shall have no returning. If it is saved, then the orc-host itself will be cut off. If you are faithful, Gha\u02c6n-buri-Gha\u02c6n, then we will give you rich reward, and you shall have the friendship of the Mark for ever.\u2019 \u2018Dead men are not friends to living men, and give them no gifts,\u2019 said the Wild Man. \u2018But if you live after the Darkness, then leave Wild Men alone in the woods and do not hunt them like beasts any more. Gha\u02c6n-buri-Gha\u02c6n will not lead you into trap. He will go himself with father of Horse-men, and if he leads you wrong, you will kill him.\u2019 \u2018So be it!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 stir- ring 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "My dear People, began Bilbo, rising in his place. \u2018Hear! Hear! Hear!\u2019 they shouted, and kept on repeating it in chorus, seeming reluctant to follow their own advice. Bilbo left his place and went and stood on a chair under the illuminated tree. The light of the lanterns fell on his beaming face; the golden buttons shone on his embroidered silk waistcoat. They could all see him standing, waving one hand in the air, the other was in his trouser-pocket."
    },
    {
        "text": "No trouble by day, nor any sound by night, disturbed the peace of Bree while the travellers remained there; but the next morning they got up early, for as the weather was still rainy they wished to reach the Shire before night, and it was a long ride. The Bree folk were all out to see them off, and were in merrier mood than they had been for a year; and those who had not seen the strangers in all their gear before gaped with wonder at them: at Gandalf with his white beard, and the light that seemed to gleam from him, as if his blue mantle was only a cloud over sunshine; and at the four hobbits like riders upon errantry out of almost forgotten tales. Even those who had laughed at all the talk about the King began to think there might be some truth in it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Frodo stirred and spoke with a clear voice, indeed with a voice clearer and more powerful than Sam had ever heard him use, and it rose above the throb and turmoil of Mount Doom, ringing in the roof and walls."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t kill us,\u2019 he wept. \u2018Don\u2019t hurt us with nassty cruel steel! Let us live, yes, live just a little longer. Lost lost! We\u2019re lost. And when Precious goes we\u2019ll die, yes, die into the dust.\u2019 He clawed up the ashes of the path with his long fleshless fingers. \u2018Dusst!\u2019 he hissed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, in the early night we crept down a long ravine into the upper end of the Wizard\u2019s Vale, the Ents with all their rustling Huorns behind. We could not see them, of course, but the whole air was full of creaking. It was very dark, a cloudy night. They moved at a great speed as soon as they had left the hills, and made a noise like a rushing wind. The Moon did not appear through the clouds, andThere was a light gleaming from a high window in the tower, that was all."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 blood in the firelight. Doom, doom rolled the drum-beats, growing louder and louder, doom, doom."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I reached here at last by a long hard road, up the Hoarwell and through the Ettenmoors, and down from the north. It took me nearly fifteen days from Weathertop, for I could not ride among the rocks of the troll-fells, and Shadowfax departed. I sent him back to his master; but a great friendship has grown between us, and if I have need he will come at my call. But so it was that I came to Rivendell only two days before the Ring, and news of its peril had already been brought here \u2013 which proved well indeed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Lockbearer, wherever thou goest my thought goes with thee. But have a care to lay thine axe to the right tree!\u2019\u2019 \u2019 \u2018In happy hour you have returned to us, Gandalf,\u2019 cried the Dwarf, capering as he sang loudly in the strange dwarf-tongue. \u2018Come, come!\u2019 he shouted, swinging his axe. \u2018Since Gandalf \u2019s head is now sacred, let us find one that it is right to cleave!\u2019 \u2018That will not be far to seek,\u2019 said Gandalf, rising from his seat."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Day is near,\u2019 he whispered, as if Day was something that might overhear him and spring on him. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol will stay here: I will stay here, and the Yellow Face won\u2019t see me.\u2019 \u2018We should be glad to see the Sun,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018but we will stay here: we are too tired to go any further at present.\u2019 \u2018You are not wise to be glad of the Yellow Face,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018It shows you up. Nice sensible hobbits stay with Sme\u00b4agol. Orcs and nasty things are about. They can see a long way. Stay and hide withwall of the gully. It was not much more than a tall man\u2019s height now, and at its base there were wide flat shelves of dry stone; the water ran in a channel on the other side. Frodo and Sam sat on one of the flats, resting their backs. Gollum paddled and scrabbled in the stream."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You have still got the ring in your pocket,\u2019 said the wizard."
    },
    {
        "text": "He soon found that the thicket was closer and more tangled than it had appeared. There were no paths in the undergrowth, and they did not get on very fast. When they had struggled to the bottom of the bank, they found a stream running down from the hills behind in a deeply dug bed with steep slippery sides overhung with brambles."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This journey is over, maybe,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden, \u2018but I have far yet to go. Two nights ago the moon was full, and in the morning I shall ride to Edoras to the gathering of the Mark.\u2019 \u2018But if you would take my counsel,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer in a low voice, \u2018you would then return hither, until the war is over, lost or won.\u2019 The\u00b4oden smiled. \u2018Nay, my son, for so I will call you, speak not the soft words of Wormtongue in my old ears!\u2019 He drew himself up and looked back at the long line of his men fading into the dusk behind. \u2018Long years in the space of days it seems since I rode west; but never will I lean on a staff again. If the war is lost, what good will be my hiding in the hills? And if it is won, what grief will it be, even if I fall, spending my last strength? But we will leave this now."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where sight fails the earth may bring us rumour,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "He listened and sniffed, which seemed, as they had noticed before, his usual method of discovering the time of night."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Some say it is so far, and some say otherwise. It is a strange road, and folk are glad to reach their journey\u2019s end, whether the time isthe Ford of Bruinen, where the Road crosses the Loudwater that runs out of Rivendell. We have at least a fortnight\u2019s journey before us, for I do not think we shall be able to use the Road.\u2019 \u2018A fortnight!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018A lot may happen in that time.\u2019 \u2018It may,\u2019 said Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "That night they camped on a stony shelf with a rock-wall behind them, in which there was a shallow cave, a mere scoop in the cliff."
    },
    {
        "text": "The evening deepened in the room, and the firelight burned brighter; and they looked at Bilbo as he slept and saw that his face was smiling. For some time they sat in silence; and then Sam looking round at the room and the shadows flickering on the walls, said softly: \u2018I don\u2019t think, Mr. Frodo, that he\u2019s done much writing while we\u2019ve been away. He won\u2019t ever write our story now.\u2019 At that Bilbo opened an eye, almost as if he had heard. Then he roused himself. \u2018You see, I am getting so sleepy,\u2019 he said. \u2018And when I have time to write, I only really like writing poetry. I wonder, Frodo my dear fellow, if you would very much mind tidying things up a bit before you go? Collect all my notes and papers, and my diary too, and take them with you, if you will. You see, I haven\u2019t much time for the selection and the arrangement and all that. Get Sam to help, and when you\u2019ve knocked things into shape, come back, and I\u2019ll run over it. I won\u2019t be too critical.\u2019 \u2018Of course I\u2019ll do it!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018And of course I\u2019ll come back soon: it won\u2019t be dangerous any more. There is a real king now, and he will soon put the roads in order.\u2019 \u2018Thank you, my dear fellow!\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018That really is a very great relief to my mind.\u2019 And with that he fell asleep again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Fire is our friend in the wilderness.\u2019 \u2018Maybe,\u2019 muttered Sam. \u2018It is also as good a way of saying \u2018\u2018here we are\u2019\u2019 as I can think of, bar shouting.\u2019 Down in the lowest and most sheltered corner of the dell they lit a fire, and prepared a meal. The shades of evening began to fall, and it grew cold. They were suddenly aware of great hunger, for they had not eaten anything since breakfast; but they dared not make more than a frugal supper. The lands ahead were empty of all save birds and beasts, unfriendly places deserted by all the races of the world."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It was the Sackville-Bagginses that were his downfall, as you might expect. One day, a year before the Party, I happened to be walking along the road, when I saw Bilbo ahead. Suddenly in the distance the S.-B.s appeared, coming towards us. Bilbo slowed down, and then hey presto! he vanished. I was so startled that I hardly had the wits to hide myself in a more ordinary fashion; but I got through the hedge and walked along the field inside. I was peeping through into the road, after the S.-B.s had passed, and was looking straight at\u2018After that I kept my eyes open. In fact, I confess that I spied. But you must admit that it was very intriguing, and I was only in my teens. I must be the only one in the Shire, besides you Frodo, that has ever seen the old fellow\u2019s secret book.\u2019 \u2018You have read his book!\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018Good heavens above! Is nothing safe?\u2019 \u2018Not too safe, I should say,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018But I have only had one rapid glance, and that was difficult to get. He never left the book about. I wonder what became of it. I should like another look. Have you got it, Frodo?\u2019 \u2018No. It was not at Bag End. He must have taken it away.\u2019 \u2018Well, as I was saying,\u2019 Merry proceeded, \u2018I kept my knowledge to myself, till this spring when things got serious. Then we formed our conspiracy; and as we were serious, too, and meant business, we have not been too scrupulous. You are not a very easy nut to crack, and Gandalf is worse. But if you want to be introduced to our chief investigator, I can produce him.\u2019 \u2018Where is he?\u2019 said Frodo, looking round, as if he expected a masked and sinister figure to come out of a cupboard."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is some good stone-work here,\u2019 he said as he looked at the walls; \u2018but also some that is less good, and the streets could be better contrived. When Aragorn comes into his own, I shall offer him the service of stonewrights of the Mountain, and we will make this a town to be proud of.\u2019 \u2018They need more gardens,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018The houses are dead, and there is too little here that grows and is glad. If Aragorn comes into his own, the people of the Wood shall bring him birds that sing and trees that do not die.\u2019 At length they came to the Prince Imrahil, and Legolas looked at him and bowed low; for he saw that here indeed was one who had elven-blood in his veins. \u2018Hail, lord!\u2019 he said. \u2018It is long since the people of Nimrodel left the woodlands of Lo\u00b4 rien, and yet still one may see that not all sailed from Amroth\u2019s haven west over water.\u2019 \u2018So it is said in the lore of my land,\u2019 said the Prince; \u2018yet never has one of the fair folk been seen there for years beyond count. And I marvel to see one here now in the midst of sorrow and war. What do you seek?\u2019 \u2018I am one of the Nine Companions who set out with Mithrandir from Imladris,\u2019 said Legolas; \u2018and with this Dwarf, my friend, I came with the Lord Aragorn. But now we wish to see our friends, Meriadoc and Peregrin, who are in your keeping, we are told.\u2019 \u2018You will find them in the Houses of Healing, and I will lead you\u2018For Aragorn sends this message to you. He does not wish to enter the City again at this time. Yet there is need for the captains to hold council at once, and he prays that you and E\u00b4 omer of Rohan will come down to his tents, as soon as may be. Mithrandir is already there.\u2019 \u2018We will come,\u2019 said Imrahil; and they parted with courteous words."
    },
    {
        "text": "Already they are scaling the bank at many points, thick as marching ants. But we have taught them not to carry torches.\u2019 It was now past midnight. The sky was utterly dark, and the stillness of the heavy air foreboded storm. Suddenly the clouds were seared by a blinding flash. Branched lightning smote down upon the eastward hills. For a staring moment the watchers on the walls saw all the space between them and the Dike lit with white light: it was boiling and crawling with black shapes, some squat and broad, some tall and grim, with high helms and sable shields. Hundreds and hun- dreds more were pouring over the Dike and through the breach. The dark tide flowed up to the walls from cliff to cliff. Thunder rolled infell clinking and glancing on the stones. Some found a mark. The assault on Helm\u2019s Deep had begun, but no sound or challenge was heard within; no answering arrows came."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thin and stretched he said. A sign that the ring was getting control.\u2019 \u2018How long have you known all this?\u2019 asked Frodo again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Even as Pippin gazed in wonder the walls passed from looming grey to white, blushing faintly in the dawn; and suddenly the sun climbed over the eastern shadow and sent forth a shaft that smote the face of the City. Then Pippin cried aloud, for the Tower of Ecthelion, standing high within the topmost wall, shone out against the sky, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver, tall and fair and shapely, and its pinnacle glittered as if it were wrought of crystals; and white banners broke and fluttered from the battlements in the morning breeze, and high and far he heard a clear ringing as of silver trumpets."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thereupon Elrond paused a while and sighed. \u2018I remember well the splendour of their banners,\u2019 he said. \u2018It recalled to me the glory of the Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not so.\u2019 \u2018You remember?\u2019 said Frodo, speaking his thought aloud in his astonishment. \u2018But I thought,\u2019 he stammered as Elrond turned towards him, \u2018I thought that the fall of Gil-galad was a long age ago.\u2019 \u2018So it was indeed,\u2019 answered Elrond gravely. \u2018But my memory reaches back even to the Elder Days. Ea\u00a8rendil was my sire, who was born in Gondolin before its fall; and my mother was Elwing, daughter of Dior, son of Lu\u00b4thien of Doriath. I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many defeats, and many fruitless victories."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So it was that when summer waned, there came a night of moon, and Gwaihir the Windlord, swiftest of the Great Eagles, came unlooked-for to Orthanc; and he found me standing on the pinnacle."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You are Peregrin the Halfling?\u2019 he said. \u2018I am told that you have been sworn to the service of the Lord and of the City. Welcome!\u2019 He held out his hand and Pippin took it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But I doubt not, lord,\u2019 said the Warden, \u2018that you would learn more from the Halfling that is with us; for he was in the riding of the king, and with the Lady at the end, they say.\u2019 And so Merry was sent to Faramir, and while that day lasted they talked long together, and Faramir learned much, more even than Merry put into words; and he thought that he understood now some- thing of the grief and unrest of E\u00b4owyn of Rohan. And in the fair evening Faramir and Merry walked in the garden, but she did not come."
    },
    {
        "text": "I was awake early this morning, and now it must be nearly noon.\u2019 \u2018Noon?\u2019 said Sam, trying to calculate. \u2018Noon of what day?\u2019 \u2018The fourteenth of the New Year,\u2019 said Gandalf; \u2018or if you like, the eighth day of April in the Shire-reckoning.* But in Gondor the New Year will always now begin upon the twenty-fifth of March when Sauron fell, and when you were brought out of the fire to the King. He has tended you, and now he awaits you. You shall eat and drink with him. When you are ready I will lead you to him.\u2019 \u2018The King?\u2019 said Sam. \u2018What king, and who is he?\u2019 \u2018The King of Gondor and Lord of the Western Lands,\u2019 said Gandalf; \u2018and he has taken back all his ancient realm. He will ride soon to his crowning, but he waits for you.\u2019 \u2018What shall we wear?\u2019 said Sam; for all he could see was the old and tattered clothes that they had journeyed in, lying folded on the ground beside their beds."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ah! you know best,\u2019 said the landlord, knowingly. \u2018I won\u2019t give you away; but I was told that this Baggins would be going by the name of Underhill, and I was given a description that fits you well enough, if I may say so.\u2019 \u2018Indeed! Let\u2019s have it then!\u2019 said Frodo, unwisely interrupting."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Go now!\u2019 said Celeborn. \u2018You 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 not speak of your further road for a while.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "The night was old and the East grey when they rode up at last from Deeping-coomb and came back to the Hornburg. There they were to lie and rest for a brief while and take counsel."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, that was not thrown by Saruman,\u2019 he said; \u2018nor even at his bidding, I think. It came from a window far above. A parting shot from Master Wormtongue, I fancy, but ill aimed.\u2019 \u2018The aim was poor, maybe, because he could not make up his mind which he hated more, you or Saruman,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "But the throne was empty. At the foot of the dais, upon the lowest step which was broad and deep, there was a stone chair, black and unadorned, and on it sat an old man gazing at his lap. In his hand was a white rod with a golden knob. He did not look up. Solemnly they paced the long floor towards him, until they stood three paces from his footstool. Then Gandalf spoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "On the south-eastern side the ground fell very steeply, as if the slopes of the hill were continued far down under the trees, like island- shores that really are the sides of a mountain rising out of deep waters."
    },
    {
        "text": "Elves, who seldom walked in the Shire, could now be seen passing westward through the woods in the evening, passing and not returning; but they were leaving Middle-earth and were no longer concerned with its troubles. There were, however, dwarves on the road in unusual numbers. The ancient East\u2013West Road ran through the Shire to its end at the Grey Havens, and dwarves had always used it on their way to their mines in the Blue Mountains. They were the hobbits\u2019 chief source of news from distant parts \u2013 if they wanted any: as a rule dwarves said little and hobbits asked no more. But now Frodo often met strange dwarves of far countries, seeking refuge inThat name the hobbits only knew in legends of the dark past, like a shadow in the background of their memories; but it was ominous and disquieting. It seemed that the evil power in Mirkwood had been driven out by the White Council only to reappear in greater strength in the old strongholds of Mordor. The Dark Tower had been rebuilt, it was said. From there the power was spreading far and wide, and away far east and south there were wars and growing fear. Orcs were multiplying again in the mountains. Trolls were abroad, no longer dull-witted, but cunning and armed with dreadful weapons. And there were murmured hints of creatures more terrible than all these, but they had no name."
    },
    {
        "text": "Slowly, trampling the fallen, he rode forth, heeding no longer any dart. He halted and held up a long pale sword. And as he did so a great fear fell on all, defender and foe alike; and the hands of men drooped to their sides, and no bow sang. For a moment all was still."
    },
    {
        "text": "They looked back, but the turn of the road prevented them from seeing far. \u2018I wonder if that is Gandalf coming after us,\u2019 said Frodo; but even as he said it, he had a feeling that it was not so, and a sudden desire to hide from the view of the rider came over him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018When the Ents had reduced a large part of the southern walls to rubbish, and what was left of his people had bolted and deserted him, Saruman fled in a panic. He seems to have been at the gates when we arrived: I expect he came to watch his splendid army march out. When the Ents broke their way in, he left in a hurry. They did not spot him at first. But the night had opened out, and there was a great light of stars, quite enough for Ents to see by, and suddenly Quickbeam gave a cry \u2018\u2018The tree-killer, the tree-killer!\u2019\u2019 Quickbeam is a gentle creature, but he hates Saruman all the more fiercely for that: his people suffered cruelly from orc-axes. He leapt down the path from the inner gate, and he can move like a wind when he is roused. There was a pale figure hurrying away in and out of the shadows of the pillars, and it had nearly reached the stairs to the tower-door. But it was a near thing. Quickbeam was so hot after him, that he was within a step or two of being caught and strangled when he slipped in through the door."
    },
    {
        "text": "When all the guests were seated before his chair the Lord looked at them again. \u2018Here there are eight,\u2019 he said. \u2018Nine 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.\u2019 \u2018Nay, there was no change of counsel,\u2019 said the Lady Galadriel, speaking for the first time. Her voice was clear and musical, but deeper than woman\u2019s wont. \u2018Gandalf the Grey set out with the Com- pany, 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 fences of Lothlo\u00b4rien: a grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet and of his mind are hidden from me.\u2019 \u2018Alas!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Gandalf the Grey fell into shadow. He remained in Moria and did not escape.\u2019 At these words all the Elves in the hall cried aloud in grief and amazement. \u2018These are evil tidings,\u2019 said Celeborn, \u2018the most evil that have been spoken here in long years full of grievous deeds.\u2019 He turned to Haldir. \u2018Why has nothing of this been told to me before?\u2019 he asked in the elven-tongue."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wait for us one day. If we do not return in that time, you will know that evil has indeed befallen us. Then you must take a new leader and follow him as best you can.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "As soon as she had squeezed her soft squelching body and its folded limbs out of the upper exit from her lair, she moved with a horrible speed, now running on her creaking legs, now making a sudden bound. She was between Sam and his master. Either she did not see Sam, or she avoided him for the moment as the bearer of the light, and fixed all her intent upon one prey, upon Frodo, bereft of his Phial, running heedless up the path, unaware yet of his peril."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If he wins back at all across the Pelennor, his enemies will be on his heels,\u2019 said the messenger. \u2018They have paid dear for the crossing, but less dearly than we hoped. The plan has been well laid. It is now seen that in secret they have long been building floats and barges in great number in East Osgiliath. They swarmed across like beetles."
    },
    {
        "text": "Night slowly passed. The sun rose. The hobbits rose rather later."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018In the North after the war and the slaughter of the Gladden Fields the Men of Westernesse were diminished, and their city of Annu\u00b4minas beside Lake Evendim fell into ruin; and the heirs of Valandil removed and dwelt at Fornost on the high North Downs, and that now too is desolate. Men call it Deadmen\u2019s Dike, and they fear to tread there. For the folk of Arnor dwindled, and their foes devoured them, and their lordship passed, leaving only green mounds in the grassy hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now let us take our ease here for a little!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018We will sit on the edge of ruin and talk, as Gandalf says, while he is busy elsewhere. I feel a weariness such as I have seldom felt before.\u2019 He wrapped his grey cloak about him, hiding his mail-shirt, and stretched out his long legs. Then he lay back and sent from his lips a thin stream of smoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here then at last comes the ending of the Fellowship of the Ring,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Yet I hope that ere long you will return to my land with the help that you promised.\u2019 \u2018We will come, if our own lords allow it,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Well, fare- well, my hobbits! You should come safe to your own homes now, and I shall not be kept awake for fear of your peril. We will send word when we may, and some of us may yet meet at times; but I fear that we shall not all be gathered together ever again.\u2019 Then Treebeard said farewell to each of them in turn, and he bowed three times slowly and with great reverence to Celeborn and Galad- riel. \u2018It is long, long since we met by stock or by stone, A vanimar, vanima\u00b4lion nostari!\u2019 he said. \u2018It is sad that we should meet only thus at the ending. For the world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, and I smell it in the air. I do not think we shall meet again.\u2019 And Celeborn said: \u2018I do not know, Eldest.\u2019 But Galadriel said: \u2018Not in Middle-earth, nor until the lands that lie under the wave are lifted up again. Then in the willow-meads of Tasarinan we may meet in the Spring. Farewell!\u2019 Last of all Merry and Pippin said good-bye to the old Ent, and he grew gayer as he looked at them. \u2018Well, my merry folk,\u2019 he said, \u2018will you drink another draught with me before you go?\u2019 \u2018Indeed we will,\u2019 they said, and he took them aside into the shade of one of the trees, and there they saw that a great stone jar had been set. And Treebeard filled three bowls, and they drank; and they saw hisstrangeeyeslookingatthemovertherimofhisbowl.\u2018Takecare,\u2018Well, good-bye!\u2019 he said. \u2018And don\u2019t forget that if you hear any news of the Entwives in your land, you will send word to me.\u2019 Then he waved his great hands to all the company and went off into the trees."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Farewell! Follow fast!\u2019 cried Gandalf. \u2018Away, Shadowfax!\u2019 The great horse tossed his head. His flowing tail flicked in the moonlight. Then he leapt forward, spurning the earth, and was gone like the north wind from the mountains."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They are invisible, and their own makers cannot find them or open them, if their secret is forgotten.\u2019 \u2018But this Door was not made to be a secret known only to Dwarves,\u2019 said Gandalf, coming suddenly to life and turning round."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Steady! Steady!\u2019 cried Gandalf, as Merry and Pippin pushed for- ward, glad to find a place where they could rest with at least more feeling of shelter than in the open passage. \u2018Steady! You do not know what is inside yet. I will go first.\u2019they 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Like many that I saw at Isengard,\u2019 muttered Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo turned and looked at him thoughtfully, wondering about Gandalf \u2019s second postscript. \u2018Why didn\u2019t you tell me that you were Gandalf \u2019s friend at once?\u2019 he asked. \u2018It would have saved time.\u2019 \u2018Would it? Would any of you have believed me till now?\u2019 said Strider. \u2018I knew nothing of this letter. For all I knew I had to persuade you to trust me without proofs, if I was to help you. In any case, I did not intend to tell you all about myself at once. I had to study you first, and make sure of you. The Enemy has set traps for me before now. As soon as I had made up my mind, I was ready to tell you whatever you asked. But I must admit,\u2019 he added with a queer laugh, \u2018that I hoped you would take to me for my own sake. A hunted mansometimesweariesofdistrustandlongsforfriendship.Butthere,relief after reading Gandalf \u2019s letter. \u2018But handsome is as handsome does, as we say in the Shire; and I daresay we shall all look much the same after lying for days in hedges and ditches.\u2019 \u2018It would take more than a few days, or weeks, or years, of wander- ing in the Wild to make you look like Strider,\u2019 he answered. \u2018And you would die first, unless you are made of sterner stuff than you look to be.\u2019 Pippin subsided; but Sam was not daunted, and he still eyed Strider dubiously. \u2018How do we know you are the Strider that Gandalf speaks about?\u2019 he demanded. \u2018You never mentioned Gandalf, till this letter came out. You might be a play-acting spy, for all I can see, trying to get us to go with you. You might have done in the real Strider and took his clothes. What have you to say to that?\u2019 \u2018That you are a stout fellow,\u2019 answered Strider; \u2018but I am afraid my only answer to you, Sam Gamgee, is this. If I had killed the real Strider, I could kill you. And I should have killed you already without so much talk. If I was after the Ring, I could have it \u2013 now!\u2019 He stood up, and seemed suddenly to grow taller. In his eyes gleamed a light, keen and commanding. Throwing back his cloak, he laid his hand on the hilt of a sword that had hung concealed by his side. They did not dare to move. Sam sat wide-mouthed staring at him dumbly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Allright!\u2019hesaid.\u2018Saynomore!Youhavetakennoharm.Thereones might have done worse in such a pass. But mark this! You have been saved, and all your friends too, mainly by good fortune, as it is called. You cannot count on it a second time. If he had questioned you, then and there, almost certainly you would have told all that you know, to the ruin of us all. But he was too eager. He did not want information only: he wanted you, quickly, so that he could deal with you in the Dark Tower, slowly. Don\u2019t shudder! If you will meddle in the affairs of Wizards, you must be prepared to think of such things. But come! I forgive you. Be comforted! Things have not turned out as evilly as they might.\u2019 He lifted Pippin gently and carried him back to his bed. Merry followed, and sat down beside him. \u2018Lie there and rest, if you can, Pippin!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Trust me. If you feel an itch in your palms again, tell me of it! Such things can be cured. But anyway, my dear hobbit, don\u2019t put a lump of rock under my elbow again! Now, I will leave you two together for a while.\u2019 With that Gandalf returned to the others, who were still standing by the Orthanc-stone in troubled thought. \u2018Peril comes in the night when least expected,\u2019 he said. \u2018We have had a narrow escape!\u2019 \u2018How is the hobbit, Pippin?\u2019 asked Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Behold! You are come to Cerin Amroth,\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018For 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then the Black Captain rose in his stirrups and cried aloud in aThrice he cried. Thrice the great ram boomed. And suddenly upon the last stroke the Gate of Gondor broke. As if stricken by some blasting spell it burst asunder: there was a flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven fragments to the ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "One moment stood she, and a spell His voice laid on her: Beren came,As Beren looked into her eyes Within the shadows of her hair, The trembling starlight of the skies He saw there mirrored shimmering."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played another part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls and bright swords do not stay. You know little of the lands beyond your bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear would have destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the Du\u00b4nedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave? \u2018And yet less thanks have we than you. Travellers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. \u2018\u2018Strider\u2019\u2019 I am to one fat man who lives within a day\u2019s march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly. Yet we would not have it otherwise. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we must be secret to keep them so."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Gil-galad was the last of the great Elf-kings of Middle-earth."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Shirriff-house at Frogmorton was as bad as the Bridge-house."
    },
    {
        "text": "Her mantle glinted in the moon, As on a hill-top high and far She danced, and at her feet was strewn A mist of silver quivering."
    },
    {
        "text": "I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.\u2019 And again she looked at Faramir. \u2018No longer do I desire to be a queen,\u2019 she said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Throw it in the air on a breezy day and let it do its work!\u2019 said\u2018Choose one spot as a nursery, and see what happens to the plants there,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come hither!\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018Look at me! Do you know the name of this place? Have you been here before?\u2019 Slowly Gollum raised his eyes and looked unwillingly into Fara- mir\u2019s. All light went out of them, and they stared bleak and pale for a moment into the clear unwavering eyes of the man of Gondor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Who said you could?\u2019\u2019 says she."
    },
    {
        "text": "So men still sing in the evening.\u2019 With these words the travellers passed the silent mounds. Follow- ing the winding way up the green shoulders of the hills, they came at last to the wide wind-swept walls and the gates of Edoras."
    },
    {
        "text": "Darkness came early to the silent woods, and before the fall of night they halted, weary, for they had walked seven leagues or more from Henneth Annu\u02c6n. Frodo lay and slept away the night on the deep mould beneath an ancient tree. Sam beside him was more uneasy: he woke many times, but there was never a sign of Gollum, who had slipped off as soon as the others had settled to rest. Whether he had slept by himself in some hole nearby, or had wandered rest- lessly prowling through the night, he did not say; but he returned with the first glimmer of light, and roused his companions."
    },
    {
        "text": "Checking the horse to a walk, he turned and looked back. The Riders seemed to sit upon their great steeds like threatening statues upon a hill, dark and solid, while all the woods and land about them receded as if into a mist. Suddenly he knew in his heart that they were silently commanding him to wait. Then at once fear and hatred awoke in him. His hand left the bridle and gripped the hilt of his sword, and with a red flash he drew it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Light was fading again when he woke. Frodo sat propped against the rock behind, but he had fallen asleep. The water-bottle was empty. There was no sign of Gollum."
    },
    {
        "text": "They had come to the desolation that lay before Mordor: thebeyond all healing \u2013 unless the Great Sea should enter in and wash it with oblivion. \u2018I feel sick,\u2019 said Sam. Frodo did not speak."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I will stop it!\u2019 he boomed. \u2018And you shall come with me. You may be able to help me. You will be helping your own friends that way, too; for if Saruman is not checked Rohan and Gondor will have an enemy behind as well as in front. Our roads go together \u2013 to Isengard!\u2019 \u2018We will come with you,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We will do what we can.\u2019 \u2018Yes!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I should like to see the White Hand overthrown."
    },
    {
        "text": "All I caught was gha\u02c6 sh: that is \u2018\u2018fire\u2019\u2019. Then something came into the chamber \u2013 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Fear now filled all Frodo\u2019s mind. He thought no longer of his sword. No cry came from him. He shut his eyes and clung to the horse\u2019s mane. The wind whistled in his ears, and the bells upon the harness rang wild and shrill. A breath of deadly cold pierced him like a spear, as with a last spurt, like a flash of white fire, the elf-horse speeding as if on wings, passed right before the face of the foremost Rider.up the stony path. He was climbing the steep bank. He was across the Ford."
    },
    {
        "text": "Two liveries Sam noticed, one marked by the Red Eye, the other by a Moon disfigured with a ghastly face of death; but he did not stop to look more closely. Across the court a great door at the foot of the Tower stood half open, and a red light came through; a large orc lay dead upon the threshold. Sam sprang over the body and went in; and then he peered about at a loss."
    },
    {
        "text": "He lived alone, as Bilbo had done; but he had a good many friends, especially among the younger hobbits (mostly descen- dants of the Old Took) who had as children been fond of Bilbo and often in and out of Bag End. Folco Boffin and Fredegar Bolger were two of these; but his closest friends were Peregrin Took (usually called Pippin), and Merry Brandybuck (his real name was Meriadoc, but that was seldom remembered). Frodo went tramping over the Shire with them; but more often he wandered by himself,and Pippin suspected that he visited the Elves at times, as Bilbo had done."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So Treebeard went out into the ring and shouted. His enormous voice rose above all the din. There was a dead silence, suddenly. In it we heard a shrill laugh from a high window in the tower. That had a queer effect on the Ents. They had been boiling over; now they became cold, grim as ice, and quiet. They left the plain and gathered round Treebeard, standing quite still. He spoke to them for a little in their own language; I think he was telling them of a plan he had made in his old head long before. Then they just faded silently away in the grey light. Day was dawning by that time."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Let us sit and rest and have something to eat, here on the landing, since we can\u2019t find a dining-room!\u2019 said Frodo. He had begun to shake off the terror of the clutching arm, and suddenly he felt extremely hungry."
    },
    {
        "text": "Dread was round him, and enemies before him in the pass, and hismasterwasinafeymoodrunningheedlesslytomeetthem.Turn-things that increased his dismay. He saw that the sword which Frodo still held unsheathed was glittering with blue flame; and he saw that though the sky behind was now dark, still the window in the tower was glowing red."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Lord of the Mark rides to Helm\u2019s Gate,\u2019 E\u00b4 omer answered."
    },
    {
        "text": "I could have brought the thing here myself long ago without so much trouble. I have thought several times of going back to Hobbiton for it; but I am getting old, and they would not let me: Gandalf and Elrond, I mean. They seemed to think that the Enemy was looking\u2018And Gandalf said: \u2018\u2018The Ring has passed on, Bilbo. It would do no good to you or to others, if you tried to meddle with it again.\u2019\u2019 Odd sort of remark, just like Gandalf. But he said he was looking after you, so I let things be. I am frightfully glad to see you safe and sound.\u2019 He paused and looked at Frodo doubtfully."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was hard enough for poor Sam, tired as he was; but for Frodo it was a torment, and soon a nightmare. He set his teeth and tried to stop his mind from thinking, and he struggled on. The stench of the sweating orcs about him was stifling, and he began to gasp with thirst. On, on they went, and he bent all his will to draw his breath and to make his legs keep going; and yet to what evil end he toiled and endured he did not dare to think. There was no hope of falling out unseen. Now and again the orc-driver fell back and jeered at them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And when will that time be? said Baldor. But no answer did he ever get. For the old man died in that hour and fell upon his face; and no other tidings of the ancient dwellers in the mountains have our folk ever learned. Yet maybe at last the time foretold has come, and Aragorn may pass.\u2019 \u2018But how shall a man discover whether that time be come or no, save by daring the Door?\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018And that way I would not go though all the hosts of Mordor stood before me, and I were alone and had no other refuge. Alas that a fey mood should fall on a man so greathearted in this hour of need! Are there not evil things enough abroad without seeking them under the earth? War is at hand.\u2019 He paused, for at that moment there was a noise outside, a man\u2019s voice crying the name of The\u00b4oden, and the challenge of the guard."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, this is the end, Sam Gamgee,\u2019 said a voice by his side. And there was Frodo, pale and worn, and yet himself again; and in his eyes there was peace now, neither strain of will, nor madness, nor any fear. His burden was taken away. There was the dear master of the sweet days in the Shire."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before the first day\u2019s march was over Frodo\u2019s pain began to grow again, but he did not speak of it for a long time. Four days passed, without the ground or the scene changing much, except that behind them Weathertop slowly sank, and before them the distant mountains loomed a little nearer. Yet since that far cry they had seen and heard no sign that the enemy had marked their flight or followed them."
    },
    {
        "text": "He tarried there from errantry, and melodies they taught to him, and sages old him marvels told, and harps of gold they brought to him."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a moment the hobbits noticed nothing strange about this. Then they gasped. There was no sign of Tom disappearing! Tom laughed again, and then he spun the Ring in the air \u2013 and it vanished with a flash. Frodo gave a cry \u2013 and Tom leaned forward and handed it back to him with a smile."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then suddenly Merry felt it at last, beyond doubt: a change. Wind was in his face! Light was glimmering. Far, far away, in the South the clouds could be dimly seen as remote grey shapes, rolling up, drifting: morning lay beyond them.dazzling far off in black and white, its topmost tower like a glittering needle; and then as the darkness closed again there came rolling over the fields a great boom."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But I stray. We in the house of Denethor know much ancient lore by long tradition, and there are moreover in our treasuries many things preserved: books and tablets writ on withered parchments, yea, and on stone, and on leaves of silver and of gold, in divers characters. Some none can now read; and for the rest, few ever unlock them. I can read a little in them, for I have had teaching. It was these records that brought the Grey Pilgrim to us. I first saw him when I was a child, and he has been twice or thrice since then.\u2019 \u2018The Grey Pilgrim?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Had he a name?\u2019 \u2018Mithrandir we called him in elf-fashion,\u2019 said Faramir, \u2018and he was content. Many are my names in many countries, he said. Mithrandir among the Elves, Tharku\u02c6n to the Dwarves; Olo\u00b4rin I was in my youth in the West that is forgotten, in the South Inca\u00b4nus, in the North Gandalf; to the East I go not.\u2019 \u2018Gandalf !\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I thought it was he. Gandalf the Grey, dearest of counsellors. Leader of our Company. He was lost in Moria.\u2019 \u2018Mithrandir was lost!\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018An evil fate seems to have pursued your fellowship. It is hard indeed to believe that one of so great wisdom, and of power \u2013 for many wonderful things he did among us \u2013 could perish, and so much lore be taken from the world."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All is well,\u2019 said Aragorn, as he clambered down the bank. \u2018There 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "His plan, as far as they could understand it without knowing the country, was to go towards Archet at first, but to bear right and pass it on the east, and then to steer as straight as he could over the wildto avoid the Midgewater Marshes. But, of course, they would have to pass through the marshes themselves, and Strider\u2019s description of them was not encouraging."
    },
    {
        "text": "And over Middle-earth he passed and heard at last the weeping sore of women and of elven-maids in Elder Days, in years of yore."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So!\u2019 cried Denethor. \u2018Thou hadst already stolen half my son\u2019s love. Now thou stealest the hearts of my knights also, so that they rob me wholly of my son at the last. But in this at least thou shalt not defy my will: to rule my own end.\u2019 \u2018Come hither!\u2019 he cried to his servants. \u2018Come, if you are not all recreant!\u2019 Then two of them ran up the steps to him. Swiftly he snatched a torch from the hand of one and sprang back into the house. Before Gandalf could hinder him he thrust the brand amid the fuel, and at once it crackled and roared into flame."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It must have been about midnight when the Ents broke the dams and poured all the gathered waters through a gap in the northern wall, down into Isengard. The Huorn-dark had passed, and the thun- der had rolled away. The Moon was sinking behind the western mountains."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Eight out of the Nine are accounted for at least,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look!\u2019 he said. \u2018We must have come down a long way, or else the cliff has sunk. It\u2019s much lower here than it was, and it looks easier too.\u2019 Sam knelt beside him and peered reluctantly over the edge. Then he glanced up at the great cliff rising up, away on their left. \u2018Easier!\u2019 he grunted. \u2018Well, I suppose it\u2019s always easier getting down than up."
    },
    {
        "text": "Fill up while I run and see about some food. And then let\u2019s be easy for a bit. Dear me! We Tooks and Brandybucks, we can\u2019t live long on the heights.\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I can\u2019t. Not yet, at any rate. But at least, Pippin, we can now see them, and honour them. It is best to love first what you are fitted to love, I suppose: you must start somewhere and have some roots, and the soil of the Shire is deep. Still there are things deeper and higher; and not a gaffer could tend his garden in what he calls peace but for them, whether he knows about them or not. I am glad that I know about them, a little. But I don\u2019t know why I am talking like this. Where is that leaf ? And get my pipe out of my pack, if it isn\u2019t broken.\u2019 Aragorn and Gandalf went now to the Warden of the Houses of Healing, and they counselled him that Faramir and E\u00b4owyn should remain there and still be tended with care for many days."
    },
    {
        "text": "It grew, until almost it seemed to them that smell was the only clear sense left to them, and that was for their torment. One hour, two hours, three hours: how many had they passed in this lightless hole? Hours \u2013 days, weeks rather. Sam left the tunnel-side and shrank towards Frodo, and their hands met and clasped, and so together they still went on.opening in the rock far wider than any they had yet passed; and out of it came a reek so foul, and a sense of lurking malice so intense, that Frodo reeled. And at that moment Sam too lurched and fell forwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018E\u00b4owyn! E\u00b4 owyn!\u2019 cried Merry. Then tottering, struggling up, with her last strength she drove her sword between crown and mantle, as the great shoulders bowed before her. The sword broke sparkling into many shards. The crown rolled away with a clang. E\u00b4 owyn fell forward upon her fallen foe. But lo! the mantle and hauberk were empty."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018More Men going to Mordor,\u2019 he said in a low voice. \u2018Dark faces."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018On, on, on,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018We never went that way, but they say it goes a hundred leagues, until you can see the Great Water that is never still. There are lots of fishes there, and big birds eat fishes: nice birds: but we never went there, alas no! we never had a chance. And further still there are more lands, they say, but the Yellow Face is very hot there, and there are seldom any clouds, and the men are fierce and have dark faces. We do not want to see that land.\u2019 \u2018No!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But do not wander from your road. What of the third turning?\u2019 \u2018O yes, O yes, there is a third way,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018That is the road to the left. At once it begins to climb up, up, winding and climbing back towards the tall shadows. When it turns round the black rock, you\u2019ll see it, suddenly you\u2019ll see it above you, and you\u2019ll want to hide.\u2019 \u2018See it, see it? What will you see?\u2019 \u2018The old fortress, very old, very horrible now. We used to hear tales from the South, when Sme\u00b4agol was young, long ago. O yes, we used to tell lots of tales in the evening, sitting by the banks of the Great River, in the willow-lands, when the River was younger too, gollum, gollum.\u2019 He began to weep and mutter. The hobbits waited patiently."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Listen, Hound of Sauron!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Gandalf is here. Fly, if you value your foul skin! I will shrivel you from tail to snout, if you come within this ring.\u2019 The wolf snarled and sprang towards them with a great leap. At that moment there was a sharp twang. Legolas had loosed his bow."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bregalad, his eyes shining, swung into the line beside Treebeard."
    },
    {
        "text": "It is only two lines of a verse long known in Elven-lore: Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Why are you waiting? What is the matter with you?\u2019 said Gimliman so, at unawares and unchallenged, whatever fear or doubt be on us. Watch and wait!\u2019 At that moment the old man quickened his pace and came with surprising speed to the foot of the rock-wall. Then suddenly he looked up, while they stood motionless looking down. There was no sound."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wish Merry was here,\u2019 he heard himself saying, and quick thoughts raced through his mind, even as he watched the enemy come charging to the assault. \u2018Well, well, now at any rate I understand poor Denethor a little better. We might die together, Merry and I, and since die we must, why not? Well, as he is not here, I hope he\u2019ll find an easier end. But now I must do my best.\u2019 He drew his sword and looked at it, and the intertwining shapes of red and gold; and the flowing characters of Nu\u00b4 menor glinted like fire upon the blade. \u2018This was made for just such an hour,\u2019 he thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We surely aren\u2019t going to stay here for the night, are we, sir?\u2019 he exclaimed. \u2018If there are hobbit-folk in these parts, why don\u2019t we look for some that would be willing to take us in? It would be more homelike.\u2019 \u2018What\u2019s wrong with the inn?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Tom Bombadil recom- mended it. I expect it\u2019s homelike enough inside.\u2019 Even from the outside the inn looked a pleasant house to familiar eyes. It had a front on the Road, and two wings running back on land partly cut out of the lower slopes of the hill, so that at the rear the second-floor windows were level with the ground. There was a wide arch leading to a courtyard between the two wings, and on the left under the arch there was a large doorway reached by a few broad steps. The door was open and light streamed out of it. Above the arch there was a lamp, and beneath it swung a large signboard: a fat white pony reared up on its hind legs. Over the door was painted in white letters: the prancing pony by barliman butterbur. Many of the lower windows showed lights behind thick curtains."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sme\u00b4agol, Master has come to look for you. Master is here. Come, Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 There was no answer but a soft hiss, as of intaken breath."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Tell me, lord,\u2019 he said, \u2018what brings you here? And what was the meaning of the dark words? Long has Boromir son of Denethor been gone seeking an answer, and the horse that we lent him came back riderless. What doom do you bring out of the North?\u2019 \u2018The doom of choice,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018You may say this to The\u00b4oden son of Thengel: open war lies before him, with Sauron or against him. None may live now as they have lived, and few shall keep what they call their own. But of these great matters we will speak later. If chance allows, I will come myself to the king. Now I am in great need, and I ask for help, or at least for tidings. You heard that we are pursuing an orc-host that carried off our friends. What can you tell us?\u2019 \u2018That you need not pursue them further,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018The Orcs are destroyed.\u2019 \u2018And our friends?\u2019 \u2018We found none but Orcs.\u2019 \u2018But that is strange indeed,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Did you search the slain? Were there no bodies other than those of orc-kind? They would be small, only children to your eyes, unshod but clad in grey.\u2019 \u2018There were no dwarves nor children,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018We counted all the slain and despoiled them, and then we piled the carcases and burned them, as is our custom. The ashes are smoking still.\u2019 \u2018We do not speak of dwarves or children,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Our friends were hobbits.\u2019 \u2018Hobbits?\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018And what may they be? It is a strange name.\u2019 \u2018A strange name for a strange folk,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018But these were very dear to us. It seems that you have heard in Rohan of the words that troubled Minas Tirith. They spoke of the Halfling. These hobbits are Halflings.\u2019 \u2018Halflings!\u2019 laughed the Rider that stood beside E\u00b4omer. \u2018Halflings! But they are only a little people in old songs and children\u2019s tales out of the North. Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight?\u2019 \u2018A man may do both,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018For not we but those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it underhasten south, lord. Let us leave these wild folk to their fancies. Or let us bind them and take them to the king.\u2019 \u2018Peace, E\u00b4othain!\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer in his own tongue. \u2018Leave me a while."
    },
    {
        "text": "And that was all, less than three thousands full told. No more would come. Their cries and the tramp of their feet passed into the City and died away. The onlookers stood silent for a while. Dust hung in the air, for the wind had died and the evening was heavy."
    },
    {
        "text": "The howling of the wolves was now all round them, sometimes nearer and sometimes further off. In the dead of 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam ran after him, cursing, but he did not go far. Soon the thought of Frodo returned to him, and he remembered that the other orc had gone back into the turret. Here was another dreadful choice, and he had no time to ponder it. If Shagrat got away, he would soon get help and come back. But if Sam pursued him, the other orc might do some horrible deed up there. And anyway Sam might miss Shagrat or be killed by him. He turned quickly and ran back up the stairs."
    },
    {
        "text": "There flying Elwing came to him, and flame was in the darkness lit; more bright than light of diamond the fire upon her carcanet."
    },
    {
        "text": "Don\u2019t you want to?\u2019 \u2018Well yes \u2013 and no. Now it comes to it, I don\u2019t like parting with it at all, I may say. And I don\u2019t really see why I should. Why do you want me to?\u2019 he asked, and a curious change came over his voice. It was sharp with suspicion and annoyance. \u2018You are always badgering me about my ring; but you have never bothered me about the other things that I got on my journey.\u2019 \u2018No, but I had to badger you,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I wanted the truth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There 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.\u2019 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You don\u2019t say, Mr. Baggins, or is it Mr. Underhill? I\u2019m getting so mixed up. You don\u2019t say, Master Gandalf ! Well I never! Who\u2019d have thought it in our times!\u2019 But he did say much on his own account. Things were far from well, he would say. Business was not even fair, it was downright bad."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The end will not be long,\u2019 said the king. \u2018But I will not end here, taken like an old badger in a trap. Snowmane and Hasufel and the horses of my guard are in the inner court. When dawn comes, I will bid men sound Helm\u2019s horn, and I will ride forth. Will you ride with me then, son of Arathorn? Maybe we shall cleave a road, or make such an end as will be worth a song \u2013 if any be left to sing of us hereafter.\u2019 \u2018I will ride with you,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Surely,\u2019 he cried, \u2018this is the greatest jest in all the history of Gondor: that we should ride with seven thousands, scarce as many as the vanguard of its army in the days of its power, to assail the mountains and the impenetrable gate of the Black Land! So might a child threaten a mail-clad knight with a bow of string and green willow! If the Dark Lord knows so much as you say, Mithrandir, will he not rather smile than fear, and with his little finger crush us like a fly that tries to sting him?\u2019 \u2018No, he will try to trap the fly and take the sting,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, if that isn\u2019t queerer than ever!\u2019 he exclaimed. \u2018Mr. Baggins is it? Come inside! We must have a talk.\u2019 They went into the farmer\u2019s kitchen, and sat by the wide fire-place."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo jumped up and stood on a table, and began to talk. The attention of Pippin\u2019s audience was disturbed. Some of the hobbits looked at Frodo and laughed and clapped, thinking that Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Follow me!\u2019 he cried. \u2018The 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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018For,\u2019 said he, \u2018Minas Ithil in Morgul Vale shall be utterly destroyed, and though it may in time to come be made clean, no man may dwell there for many long years.\u2019 And last of all Aragorn greeted E\u00b4omer of Rohan, and they embraced, and Aragorn said: \u2018Between us there can be no word of giving or taking, nor of reward; for we are brethren. In happy hour did Eorl ride from the North, and never has any league of peoples been more blessed, so that neither has ever failed the other, nor shall fail. Now, as you know, we have laid The\u00b4oden the Renowned in a tomb in the Hallows, and there he shall lie for ever among the Kings of Gondor, if you will. Or if you desire it, we will come to Rohan and bring him back to rest with his own people.\u2019 And E\u00b4omer answered: \u2018Since the day when you rose before me out of the green grass of the downs I have loved you, and that love shall not fail. But now I must depart for a while to my own realm, where there is much to heal and set in order. But as for the Fallen, when all is made ready we will return for him; but here let him sleep a while.\u2019 And E\u00b4 owyn said to Faramir: \u2018Now I must go back to my own land and look on it once again, and help my brother in his labour; but when one whom I long loved as father is laid at last to rest, I will return.\u2019went the sons of Elrond. All the road was lined with people to do them honour and praise them, from the Gate of the City to the walls of the Pelennor. Then all others that dwelt afar went back to their homes rejoicing; but in the City there was labour of many willing hands to rebuild and renew and to remove all the scars of war and the memory of the darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "They rode in silence for a while; but Legolas was ever glancing from side to side, and would often have halted to listen to the sounds of the wood, if Gimli had allowed it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t stop!\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "They left the washing up for Lobelia. Pippin and Sam strapped up their three packs and piled them in the porch. Pippin went out for a last stroll in the garden. Sam disappeared."
    },
    {
        "text": "You were never a traveller, unless driven by great need.\u2019\u2019whispered. \u2018\u2018The Nine are abroad again. They have crossed the River secretly and are moving westward. They have taken the guise of riders in black.\u2019\u2019 \u2018I knew then what I had dreaded without knowing it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is no name for a Man that you give. And strange too is your raiment. Have you sprung out of the grass? How did you escape our sight? Are you Elvish folk?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018One only of us is an Elf, Legolas from the Woodland Realm in distant Mirkwood. But we have passed through Lothlo\u00b4 rien, and the gifts and favour of the Lady go with us.\u2019 The Rider looked at them with renewed wonder, but his eyes hardened. \u2018Then there is a Lady in the Golden Wood, as old tales tell!\u2019 he said. \u2018Few escape her nets, they say. These are strange days! But if you have her favour, then you also are net-weavers and sorcerers, maybe.\u2019 He turned a cold glance suddenly upon Legolas and Gimli. \u2018Why do you not speak, silent ones?\u2019 he demanded."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Why, you\u2019ll be beating Mr. Bilbo next!\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "When the Captains were but two days gone, the Lady E\u00b4owyn bade the women who tended her to bring her raiment, and she would not be gainsaid, but rose; and when they had clothed her and set her arm in a sling of linen, she went to the Warden of the Houses of Healing."
    },
    {
        "text": "You\u2019re full of wickedness and mischief, Gollum. You will have to come with us, that\u2019s all, while we keep an eye on you. But you must help us, if you can. One good turn deserves another.\u2019 \u2018Yess, yes indeed,\u2019 said Gollum sitting up. \u2018Nice hobbits! We will come with them. Find them safe paths in the dark, yes we will. And where are they going in these cold hard lands, we wonders, yes we wonders?\u2019 He looked up at them, and a faint light of cunning and eagerness flickered for a second in his pale blinking eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now we\u2019ll deal with Grishna\u00b4kh,\u2019 said Uglu\u00b4k; but some even of his own followers were looking uneasily southwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "On September 20th two covered carts went off laden to Buckland, conveying the furniture and goods that Frodo had not sold to his new home, by way of the Brandywine Bridge.The next day Frodolong ago for Bilbo\u2019s great party. Still Gandalf did not appear. In the evening Frodo gave his farewell feast: it was quite small, just a dinner for himself and his four helpers; but he was troubled and felt in no mood for it. The thought that he would so soon have to part with his young friends weighed on his heart. He wondered how he would break it to them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I could not follow him then and there. I had ridden very far already that day, and I was as weary as my horse; and I needed to\u2018However, I wrote a message to Frodo, and trusted to my friend the innkeeper to send it to him. I rode away at dawn; and I came at long last to the dwelling of Saruman. That is far south in Isengard, in the end of the Misty Mountains, not far from the Gap of Rohan."
    },
    {
        "text": "But there is some dark terror that dwells in the passes above Minas Morgul. If Cirith Ungol is named, old men and masters of lore will blanch and fall silent."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 Lo\u00b4rien."
    },
    {
        "text": "Presently it brought them to a small clear lake in a shallow dell: it lay in the broken ruins of an ancient stone basin, the carven rim of which was almost wholly covered with mosses and rose-brambles; iris-swords stood in ranks about it, and water-lily leaves floated on its dark gently-rippling surface; but it was deep and fresh, and spilled ever softly out over a stony lip at the far end."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Leastways, if it wasn\u2019t him, then there\u2019s two of him. I went away to find some water and spied him nosing round just as I turned back."
    },
    {
        "text": "They did not have to wait long. The orcs were going at a great pace. Those in the foremost files bore torches. On they came, red flames in the dark, swiftly growing. Now Sam too bowed his head, hoping that it would hide his face when the torches reached them; and he set their shields before their knees to hide their feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "Strider immediately went to fetch the landlord. Poor Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Back to the hall,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018But 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He\u2019ll do what Sharkey says. Because if a Boss gives trouble, we can change him. See? And if little folks try to push in where they\u2019re not wanted, we can put them out of mischief. See?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I see,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018For one thing, I see that you\u2019re behind the times and the news here. Much has happened since you left the South. Your day is over, and all other ruffians\u2019. The Dark Tower has fallen, and there is a King in Gondor. And Isengard has been destroyed, and your precious master is a beggar in the wilderness. I passed him on the road. The King\u2019s messengers will ride up the Greenway now, not bullies from Isengard.\u2019 The man stared at him and smiled. \u2018A beggar in the wilderness!\u2019 he mocked. \u2018Oh, is he indeed? Swagger it, swagger it, my little cock-a- whoop. But that won\u2019t stop us living in this fat little country where you have lazed long enough. And\u2019 \u2013 he snapped his fingers in Frodo\u2019s face \u2013 \u2018King\u2019s messengers! That for them! When I see one, I\u2019ll take notice, perhaps.\u2019 This was too much for Pippin. His thoughts went back to the Field of Cormallen, and here was a squint-eyed rascal calling the Ring-bearer \u2018little cock-a-whoop\u2019. He cast back his cloak, flashed out his sword, and the silver and sable of Gondor gleamed on him as he rode forward."
    },
    {
        "text": "Already men were labouring to clear a way through the jetsam of battle; and now out from the Gate came some bearing litters. Gently they laid E\u00b4 owyn upon soft pillows; but the king\u2019s body they covered with a great cloth of gold, and they bore torches about him, and their flames, pale in the sunlight, were fluttered by the wind."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the morning counsels are best, and night changes many thoughts.\u2019 With that the king stood up, and they all rose. \u2018Go now each to your rest,\u2019 he said, \u2018and sleep well. And you, Master Meriadoc, I need no more tonight. But be ready to my call as soon as the Sun is risen.\u2019 \u2018I will be ready,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018even if you bid me ride with you on the Paths of the Dead.\u2019 \u2018Speak not words of omen!\u2019 said the king. \u2018For there may be more roads than one that could bear that name. But I did not say that I would bid you ride with me on any road. Good night!\u2019 \u2018I won\u2019t be left behind, to be called for on return!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I won\u2019t be left, I won\u2019t.\u2019 And repeating this over and over again to himself he fell asleep at last in his tent."
    },
    {
        "text": "From Frodo\u2019s mind the bright morning \u2013 treacherously bright, he thought \u2013 had not banished the fear of pursuit; and he pondered the words of Gildor. The merry voice of Pippin came to him. He was running on the green turf and singing."
    },
    {
        "text": "He looked up at the face of Saruman with its dark solemn eyes bent down upon him, and then to Gandalf at his side; and he seemed to hesitate. Gandalf made no sign; but stood silent as stone, as one waiting patiently for some call that has not yet come. The Riders stirred at first, murmuring with approval of the words of Saruman; and then they too were silent, as men spell-bound. It seemed to them that Gandalf had never spoken so fair and fittingly to their lord."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am no longer young even in the reckoning of Men of the Ancient Houses,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Will you not open your mind more clearly to me?\u2019 \u2018What then shall I say?\u2019 said Gandalf, and paused for a while in thought. \u2018This in brief is how I see things at the moment, if you wish to have a piece of my mind as plain as possible. The Enemy, of course, has long known that the Ring is abroad, and that it is borne by a hobbit. He knows now the number of our Company that set out from Rivendell, and the kind of each of us. But he does not yet perceive our purpose clearly. He supposes that we were all going to Minas Tirith; for that is what he would himself have done in ourone may suddenly appear, wielding the Ring, and assailing him with war, seeking to cast him down and take his place. That we should wish to cast him down and have no one in his place is not a thought that occurs to his mind. That we should try to destroy the Ring itself has not yet entered into his darkest dream. In which no doubt you will see our good fortune and our hope. For imagining war he has let loose war, believing that he has no time to waste; for he that strikes the first blow, if he strikes it hard enough, may need to strike no more. So the forces that he has long been preparing he is now setting in motion, sooner than he intended. Wise fool. For if he had used all his power to guard Mordor, so that none could enter, and bent all his guile to the hunting of the Ring, then indeed hope would have faded: neither Ring nor bearer could long have eluded him. But now his eye gazes abroad rather than near at home; and mostly he looks towards Minas Tirith. Very soon now his strength will fall upon it like a storm."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 He paused suddenly, as if he had become aware that he was speaking his thoughts aloud. \u2018It would be folly to throw lives away, I mean,\u2019 he ended. \u2018It is a choice between defending a strong place and walking openly into the arms of death. At least, that is how I see it.\u2019 Frodo caught something new and strange in Boromir\u2019s glance, and he looked hard at him. Plainly Boromir\u2019s 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\u2019s words. And so their debate ended."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf the Grey caught like a fly in a spider\u2019s treacherous web! Yet even the most subtle spiders may leave a weak thread."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last Aragorn stirred. \u2018Gandalf !\u2019 he said. \u2018Beyond all hope you return to us in our need! What veil was over my sight? Gandalf !\u2019 Gimli said nothing, but sank to his knees, shading his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s nothing for it but to scramble down this gully, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Let\u2019s see what it leads to!\u2019 \u2018A nasty drop, I\u2019ll bet,\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We still have our journey and our errand before us,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018We have no choice but to go on, or to return to Rivendell.\u2019 Pippin\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He came unto the timeless halls where shining fall the countless years, and endless reigns the Elder King in Ilmarin on Mountain sheer; and words unheard were spoken thenbeyond the world were visions showed forbid to those that dwell therein."
    },
    {
        "text": "Even Pippin is up. I am just going to saddle the ponies, and fetch the one that is to be the baggage-carrier. Wake that sluggard Fatty! At least he must get up and see us off.\u2019 Soon after six o\u2019clock the five hobbits were ready to start. Fatty Bolger was still yawning. They stole quietly out of the house. Merry went in front leading a laden pony, and took his way along a path that went through a spinney behind the house, and then cut across several fields. The leaves of trees were glistening, and every twig was dripping; the grass was grey with cold dew. Everything was still, and far-away noises seemed near and clear: fowls chattering in a yard, someone closing a door of a distant house."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 he said. \u2018I\u2019m in a bit of a fix. Rose and me had settled to call him Frodo, with your leave; but it\u2019s not him, it\u2019s her."
    },
    {
        "text": "We\u2019ll finish it,\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "Rough and proud now seemed all his dealings with The\u00b4oden. And over their hearts crept a shadow, the fear of a great danger: the end of the Mark in a darkness to which Gandalf was driving them, while Saruman stood beside a door of escape, holding it half open so that a ray of light came through. There was a heavy silence."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018We will venture one more journey by night."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf laughed grimly. \u2018You see? Already you too, Frodo, cannot easily let it go, nor will to damage it. And I could not \u2018\u2018make\u2019\u2019 youheavy sledge-hammer, it would make no dint in it. It cannot be unmade by your hands, or by mine."
    },
    {
        "text": "The drums rolled louder. Fires leaped up. Great engines crawled across the field; and in the midst was a huge ram, great as a forest-tree a hundred feet in length, swinging on mighty chains. Long had it been forging in the dark smithies of Mordor, and its hideous head, founded of black steel, was shaped in the likeness of a ravening wolf; on it spells of ruin lay. Grond they named it, in memory of the Hammer of the Underworld of old. Great beasts drew it, orcs sur- rounded it, and behind walked mountain-trolls to wield it."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was the sunset-hour, but the great pall had now stretched far into the West, and only as it sank at last into the Sea did the Sun escape to send out a brief farewell gleam before the night, even as Frodo saw it at the Cross-roads touching the head of the fallen king."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ride forward! Ride!\u2019 cried Glorfindel to Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam Gamgee looked back. Through an opening in the trees he caught a glimpse of the top of the green bank from which they had climbed down."
    },
    {
        "text": "They led their ponies under the arch, and leaving them standing in the yard they climbed up the steps. Frodo went forward and nearly bumped into a short fat man with a bald head and a red face. He had a white apron on, and was bustling out of one door and in through another, carrying a tray laden with full mugs.and vanished into a babel of voices and a cloud of smoke. In a moment he was out again, wiping his hands on his apron."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo stirred. And suddenly his heart went out to Faramir. \u2018The storm has burst at last,\u2019 he thought. \u2018This great array of spears and swords is going to Osgiliath. Will Faramir get across in time? He guessed it, but did he know the hour? And who can now hold the fords when the King of the Nine Riders comes? And other armies will come. I am too late. All is lost. I tarried on the way. All is lost."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo looked at it closely, and rather suspiciously (like one who has lent a trinket to a juggler). It was the same Ring, or looked the same and weighed the same: for that Ring had always seemed to Frodo to weigh strangely heavy in the hand. But something prompted him to make sure. He was perhaps a trifle annoyed with Tom for seeming to make so light of what even Gandalf thought so perilously important. He waited for an opportunity, when the talk was going again, and Tom was telling an absurd story about badgers and their queer ways \u2013 then he slipped the Ring on."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Rohirrim indeed had no need of news or alarm. All too well they could see for themselves the black sails. For E\u00b4omer was now scarcely a mile from the Harlond, and a great press of his first foes was between him and the haven there, while new foes came swirling behind, cutting him off from the Prince. Now he looked to the River, and hope died in his heart, and the wind that he had blessed he now called accursed. But the hosts of Mordor were enheartened, and filled with a new lust and fury they came yelling to the onset."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last they came out of shadow to the seventh gate, and the warm sun that shone down beyond the river, as Frodo walked in the glades of Ithilien, glowed here on the smooth walls and rooted pillars, and the great arch with keystone carven in the likeness of a crowned and kingly head. Gandalf dismounted, for no horse was allowed in the Citadel, and Shadowfax suffered himself to be led away at the softof strange shape, high-crowned, with long cheek-guards close-fitting to the face, and above the cheek-guards were set the white wings of sea-birds; but the helms gleamed with a flame of silver, for they were indeed wrought of mithril, heirlooms from the glory of old days. Upon the black surcoats were embroidered in white a tree blossoming like snow beneath a silver crown and many-pointed stars. This was the livery of the heirs of Elendil, and none wore it now in all Gondor, save the Guards of the Citadel before the Court of the Fountain where the White Tree once had grown."
    },
    {
        "text": "At least I beg you not to use it in any way that will cause talk or rouse suspicion. I say again: keep it safe, and keep it secret!\u2019 \u2018You are very mysterious! What are you afraid of ?\u2019 \u2018I am not certain, so I will say no more. I may be able to tell you something when I come back. I am going off at once: so this is good-bye for the present.\u2019 He got up."
    },
    {
        "text": "A few miles to the north-east the foothills of the Ashen Mountains stood like sombre grey ghosts, behind which the misty northern heights rose like a line of distant cloud hardly darker than the lowering sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A matter of some importance \u2013 to us both,\u2019 answered Strider, looking Frodo in the eye. \u2018You may hear something to your advantage.\u2019 \u2018Very well,\u2019 said Frodo, trying to appear unconcerned. \u2018I\u2019ll talk to you later.\u2019 Meanwhile an argument was going on by the fireplace. Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They mustn\u2019t be silly,\u2019 he hissed. \u2018We must go. No time to lose!\u2019 And nothing more could they get out of him. Where he had been, and what he thought was brewing to make him in such a hurry, he would not say. Sam was filled with deep suspicion, and showed it; but Frodo gave no sign of what was passing in his mind. He sighed, hoisted his pack, and prepared to go out into the ever-gathering darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large waste-paper basket. Dora was Drogo\u2019s sister and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am almost sure that the hobbits have been up here,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "The red eye of the tower had not been blind. He was caught."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the middle of the table, against the woven cloths upon the wall, there was a chair under a canopy, and there sat a lady fair to look upon, and so like was she in form of womanhood to Elrond that Frodo guessed that she was one of his close kindred. Young she was and yet not so. The braids of her dark hair were touched by no frost; her white arms and clear face were flawless and smooth, and the light of stars was in her bright eyes, grey as a cloudless night; yet queenly she looked, and thought and knowledge were in her glance, as of one who has known many things that the years bring. Above her brow her head was covered with a cap of silver lace netted with small gems, glittering white; but her soft grey raiment had no ornament save a girdle of leaves wrought in silver."
    },
    {
        "text": "There\u2019s no longer even any bad sense in it. They cut down trees and let \u2019em lie, they burn houses and build no more."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gimli stood ill at ease, frowning, but E\u00b4 omer came up to him, leading his horse."
    },
    {
        "text": "Whereas your part is to go out to the battle of your City, whereshould we wish to live longer? Why should we not go to death side by side?\u2019 \u2018Authority is not given to you, Steward of Gondor, to order the hour of your death,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018And only the heathen kings, under the domination of the Dark Power, did thus, slaying themselves in pride and despair, murdering their kin to ease their own death.\u2019 Then passing through the door he took Faramir from the deadly house and laid him on the bier on which he had been brought, and which had now been set in the porch. Denethor followed him, and stood trembling, looking with longing on the face of his son. And for a moment, while all were silent and still, watching the Lord in his throes, he wavered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If we reach the Fire in that time, we\u2019ll be lucky at this rate!\u2019 he thought. \u2018And we might be wanting to get back. We might!\u2019 Besides, at the end of a long night-march, and after bathing and drinking, he felt even more hungry than usual. A supper, or a break- fast, by the fire in the old kitchen at Bagshot Row was what he really wanted. An idea struck him and he turned to Gollum. Gollum had just begun to sneak off on his own, and he was crawling away on all fours through the fern."
    },
    {
        "text": "They at once gave up any idea of going back. Frodo led the way, and plunged quickly into the thick bushes beside the stream. \u2018Whew!\u2019 he said to Pippin. \u2018We were both right! The short cut has gone crooked already; but we got under cover only just in time. You\u2019ve got sharp ears, Sam: can you hear anything coming?\u2019 They stood still, almost holding their breath as they listened; but there was no sound of pursuit. \u2018I don\u2019t fancy he would try bringing his horse down that bank,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But I guess he knows we came down it. We had better be going on.\u2019 Going on was not altogether easy. They had packs to carry, and the bushes and brambles were reluctant to let them through. They were cut off from the wind by the ridge behind, and the air was still and stuffy. When they forced their way at last into more open ground, they were hot and tired and very scratched, and they were also no longer certain of the direction in which they were going. The banks of the stream sank, as it reached the levels and became broader and shallower, wandering off towards the Marish and the River."
    },
    {
        "text": "Twilight lay upon the waterfalls."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Aragorn looked at them, and there was pity in his eyes rather than wrath; for these were young men from Rohan, from Westfold far away, or husbandmen from Lossarnach, and to them Mordor had been from childhood a name of evil, and yet unreal, a legend that had no part in their simple life; and now they walked like men in a hideous dream made true, and they understood not this war nor why fate should lead them to such a pass."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What is it?\u2019 he whispered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Dimly he became aware of voices clamouring: it seemed that many of the Orcs were demanding a halt. Uglu\u00b4k was shouting. He felt himself flung to the ground, and he lay as he fell, till black dreams took him. But he did not long escape from pain; soon the iron grip of merciless hands was on him again. For a long time he was tossed and shaken, and then slowly the darkness gave way, and he came back to the waking world and found that it was morning. Orders were shouted and he was thrown roughly on the grass."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What think you of the garrison at Osgiliath?\u2019 \u2018It is not strong,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018I have sent the company of Ithilien to strengthen it, as I have said.\u2019 \u2018Not enough, I deem,\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018It is there that the first blow will fall. They will have need of some stout captain there.\u2019 \u2018There and elsewhere in many places,\u2019 said Faramir, and sighed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, they are gone,\u2019 said Aragorn at last. \u2018We cannot find them or catch them; so that if they do not return of their own will, we must do without. We started on our feet, and we have those still.\u2019 \u2018Feet!\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018But we cannot eat them as well as walk on them.\u2019 He threw some fuel on the fire and slumped down beside it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now!\u2019 cried Gimli. \u2018Stop him, Legolas!\u2019 \u2018Did I not say that I wished to speak to you?\u2019 said the old man."
    },
    {
        "text": "Maybe Frodo felt it, not knowing it, as he had upon Amon Hen, even though he believed that Gandalf was gone, gone for ever into the shadow in Moria far away. He sat upon the ground for a long while, silent, his head bowed, striving to recall all that Gandalf had said to him. But for this choice he could recall no counsel. Indeed Gandalf \u2019s guidance had been taken from them too soon, too soon, while the Dark Land was still very far away. How they should enter it at the last Gandalf had not said. Perhaps he could not say. Into the stronghold of the Enemy in the North, into Dol Guldur, he had once ventured. But into Mordor, to the Mountain of Fire and to Barad-du\u02c6r, since the Dark Lord rose in power again, had he ever journeyed there? Frodo did not think so. And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside, expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go. It was an evil fate. But he had taken it on himself in his own sitting-room in the far-off spring of another year, so remote now that it was like a chapter in a story of the world\u2019s youth, when the Trees of Silver and Gold were still in bloom. This was an evil choice. Which way should he choose? And if both led to terror and death, what good lay in choice? The day drew on. A deep silence fell upon the little grey hollow where they lay, so near to the borders of the land of fear: a silence that could be felt, as if it were a thick veil that cut them off from all the world about them. Above them was a dome of pale sky barred with fleeting smoke, but it seemed high and far away, as if seen through great deeps of air heavy with brooding thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Welcome!\u2019 the Elf then said again in the Common Language, speaking slowly. \u2018We 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 lan- guages of other lands. I am one. Haldir is my name. My brothers, Ru\u00b4mil and Orophin, speak little of your tongue."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come now!\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018The Heir of Elendil would be a strength indeed to the Sons of Eorl in this evil tide. There is battle even now upon the Westemnet, and I fear that it may go ill for us."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s a Black Rider over us,\u2019 he said. \u2018I can feel it. We had betterand did not speak for some time. Then Frodo breathed a sigh of relief. \u2018It\u2019s passed,\u2019 he said. They stood up, and then they both stared in wonder. Away to their left, southward, against a sky that was turning grey, the peaks and high ridges of the great range began to appear dark and black, visible shapes. Light was growing behind them. Slowly it crept towards the North. There was battle far above in the high spaces of the air. The billowing clouds of Mordor were being driven back, their edges tattering as a wind out of the living world came up and swept the fumes and smokes towards the dark land of their home. Under the lifting skirts of the dreary canopy dim light leaked into Mordor like pale morning through the grimed window of a prison."
    },
    {
        "text": "Would it were not so! Would that this thing had come to me!\u2019 \u2018Comfort yourself !\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018In no case would Boromir have brought it to you. He is dead, and died well; may he sleep in peace! Yet you deceive yourself. He would have stretched out his hand to this thing, and taking it he would have fallen. He would have kept it for his own, and when he returned you would not have known your son.\u2019 The face of Denethor set hard and cold. \u2018You found Boromir less apt to your hand, did you not?\u2019 he said softly. \u2018But I who was his father say that he would have brought it to me. You are wise, maybe, Mithrandir, yet with all your subtleties you have not all wisdom."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is no sound outside here yet,\u2019 said Aragorn, who was stand- ing by the eastern door listening. \u2018The passage on this side plunges straight down a stair: it plainly does not lead back towards the hall."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Of Nu\u00b4menor?\u2019 said E\u00b4owyn."
    },
    {
        "text": "On they rode, the king and his companions. Captains and cham- pions fell or fled before them. Neither orc nor man withstood them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then as the dark hole stood before him and the stench came out to meet him, like a clap of thunder the thought of Frodo and the monster smote upon Sam\u2019s mind. He spun round, and rushed wildly up the path, calling and calling his master\u2019s name. He was too late. So far Gollum\u2019s plot had succeeded.Chapter 10 THE CHOICES OF MASTER SAMWISE Frodo was lying face upward on the ground and the monster was bending over him, so intent upon her victim that she took no heed of Sam and his cries, until he was close at hand. As he rushed up he saw that Frodo was already bound in cords, wound about him from ankle to shoulder, and the monster with her great forelegs was begin- ning half to lift, half to drag his body away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are the Walls of Moria,\u2019 said Gandalf, pointing across the water. \u2018And 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.\u2019 \u2018We must find a way round the northern edge,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018The first thing for the Company to do is to climb up by the main path\u2018But in any case we cannot take the poor beast into the Mines,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018The road under the mountains is a dark road, and there are places narrow and steep which he cannot tread, even if we can.\u2019 \u2018Poor old Bill!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I had not thought of that. And poor Sam! I wonder what he will say?\u2019 \u2018I am sorry,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Poor Bill has been a useful companion, and it goes to my heart to turn him adrift now. I would have travelled lighter 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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You should fear the many eyes of the servants of Sauron,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018That is not the road that you must take. I have spoken words of hope. But only of hope. Hope is not victory."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Good-day to you!\u2019\u2019 I says, going out to him. \u2018\u2018This lane don\u2019t lead anywhere, and wherever you may be going, your quickest way will be back to the road.\u2019\u2019 I didn\u2019t like the looks of him; and when Grip came out, he took one sniff and let out a yelp as if he had been stung: he put down his tail and bolted off howling. The black fellow sat quite still."
    },
    {
        "text": "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!\u2019 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 noNow the Lady arose, and Celeborn led them back to the hythe."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, here is the strangest riddle that we have yet found!\u2019 exclaimed Legolas. \u2018A bound prisoner escapes both from the Orcs and from the surrounding horsemen. He then stops, while still in the open, and cuts his bonds with an orc-knife. But how and why? For if his legs were tied, how did he walk? And if his arms were tied, how did he use the knife? And if neither were tied, why did he cut the cords at all? Being pleased with his skill, he then sat down and quietly ate some waybread! That at least is enough to show that he was a hobbit, without the mallorn-leaf. After that, I suppose, he turned his arms into wings and flew away singing into the trees. It should be easy to find him: we only need wings ourselves!\u2019 \u2018There was sorcery here right enough,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018What was that old man doing? What have you to say, Aragorn, to the reading of Legolas. Can you better it?\u2019 \u2018Maybe, I could,\u2019 said Aragorn, smiling. \u2018There are some other signs near at hand that you have not considered. I agree that the prisoner was a hobbit and must have had either legs or hands free, before he came here. I guess that it was hands, because the riddle then becomes easier, and also because, as I read the marks, he was carried to this point by an Orc. Blood was spilled there, a few paces away, orc-blood. There are deep prints of hoofs all about this spot, and signs that a heavy thing was dragged away. The Orc was slain by horsemen, and later his body was hauled to the fire. But the hobbit was not seen: he was not \u2018\u2018in the open\u2019\u2019, for it was night and he still had his elven-cloak. He was exhausted and hungry, and it is not toit is a comfort to know that he had some lembas in his pocket, even though he ran away without gear or pack; that, perhaps, is like a hobbit. I say he, though I hope and guess that both Merry and Pippin were here together. There is, however, nothing to show that for certain.\u2019 \u2018And how do you suppose that either of our friends came to have a hand free?\u2019 asked Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nothing could be seen all round the house but falling water. Frodo stood near the open door and watched the white chalky path turn into a little river of milk and go bubbling away down into the valley."
    },
    {
        "text": "Only a glimpse, as through a tall window, could be seen of the great valley in the gloaming below. A single small light could be seen twinkling by the river."
    },
    {
        "text": "And as for not being the right and proper person, why, Mr. Frodo wasn\u2019t, as you might say, nor Mr. Bilbo. They didn\u2019t choose them- selves.\u2019 \u2018Ah well, I must make up my own mind. I will make it up. But I\u2019ll be sure to go wrong: that\u2019d be Sam Gamgee all over."
    },
    {
        "text": "They soon reached them; too soon for Merry. Wild cries broke out, and there was some clash of arms, but it was brief. The orcs busy about the walls were few and amazed, and they were quickly slain or driven off. Before the ruin of the north-gate in the Rammas the king halted again. The first e\u00b4ored drew up behind him and about him on either side. Dernhelm kept close to the king, though Elfhelm\u2019s company was away on the right. Grimbold\u2019s men turned aside and passed round to a great gap in the wall further eastward."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Can\u2019t anything be done, Mr. Butterbur?\u2019 asked Frodo. \u2018Can\u2019t we get a couple of ponies in the village, or even one just for the baggage? I don\u2019t suppose we could hire them, but we might be able to buy them,\u2019 he added, doubtfully, wondering if he could afford it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Saruman laughed. \u2018So you have heard the name, have you? All my people used to call me that in Isengard, I believe. A sign of affection, possibly.* But evidently you did not expect to see me here.\u2019 \u2018I did not,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But I might have guessed. A little mischief in a mean way: Gandalf warned me that you were still capable of it.\u2019 \u2018Quite capable,\u2019 said Saruman, \u2018and more than a little. You made me laugh, you hobbit-lordlings, riding along with all those great people, so secure and so pleased with your little selves. You thought you had done very well out of it all, and could now just amble back and have a nice quiet time in the country. Saruman\u2019s home could be all wrecked, and he could be turned out, but no one could touch yours. Oh no! Gandalf would look after your affairs.\u2019 Saruman laughed again. \u2018Not he! When his tools have done their task he drops them. But you must go dangling after him, dawdling and talking, and riding round twice as far as you needed. \u2018\u2018Well,\u2019\u2019 thought I, \u2018\u2018if they\u2019re such fools, I will get ahead of them and teach them a lesson. One ill turn deserves another.\u2019\u2019 It would have been a sharper lesson, if only you had given me a little more time and more Men. Still I have already done much that you will find it hard to mend or undo in your lives. And it will be pleasant to think of that and set it against my injuries.\u2019 \u2018Well, if that is what you find pleasure in,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018I pity you."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was wakened by a man shaking him. \u2018Wake up, wake up, Master Holbytla!\u2019 he cried; and at length Merry came out of deep dreams and sat up with a start. It still seemed very dark, he thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Forth rode The\u00b4oden. Five nights and days east and onward rode the Eorlingas through Folde and Fenmarch and the Firienwood, six thousand spears to Sunlending, Mundburg the mighty under Mindolluin, Sea-kings\u2019 city in the South-kingdom foe-beleaguered, fire-encircled."
    },
    {
        "text": "Come yourselves if you can!\u2019 \u2018We will!\u2019 said Merry and Pippin together, and they turned away hastily. Treebeard looked at them, and was silent for a while, shaking his head thoughtfully. Then he turned to Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "This was its fashion, while Saruman was at his height, accounted by many the chief of Wizards. A great ring-wall of stone, like towering cliffs, stood out from the shelter of the mountain-side, from which it ran and then returned again. One entrance only was there made in it, a great arch delved in the southern wall. Here through the black rock a long tunnel had been hewn, closed at either end with mighty doors of iron. They were so wrought and poised upon their huge hinges, posts of steel driven into the living stone, that when unbarred they could be moved with a light thrust of the arms, noiselessly. One who passed in and came at length out of the echoing tunnel, beheld a plain, a great circle, somewhat hollowed like a vast shallow bowl: a mile it measured from rim to rim. Once it had been green and filled with avenues, and groves of fruitful trees, watered by streams that flowed from the mountains to a lake. But no green thing grew there in the latter days of Saruman. The roads were paved with stone-flags, dark and hard; and beside their borders instead of trees there marched long lines of pillars, some of marble, some of copper and of iron, joined by heavy chains."
    },
    {
        "text": "In terror they stumbled on. Soon the road bent sharply eastward again and exposed them for a dreadful moment to view from the Tower. As they flitted across they glanced back and saw the great black shape upon the battlement; then they plunged down between high rock-walls in a cutting that fell steeply to join the Morgul-road."
    },
    {
        "text": "He brushed away the tears, and stooped to pick up the green shield that E\u00b4owyn had given him, and he slung it at his back. Then he looked for his sword that he had let fall; for even as he struck his blow his arm was numbed, and now he could only use his left hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was dark and dim all day. From the sunless dawn until evening the heavy shadow had deepened, and all hearts in the City were oppressed. Far above a great cloud streamed slowly westward from the Black Land, devouring light, borne upon a wind of war; but below the air was still and breathless, as if all the Vale of Anduin waited for the onset of a ruinous storm."
    },
    {
        "text": "Small wonder is it that you have not heard them, Boromir. From the ruin of the Gladden Fields, where Isildur perished, three men onlysword of Elendil; and he brought them to Valandil, the heir of Isildur, who being but a child had remained here in Rivendell. But Narsil was broken and its light extinguished, and it has not yet been forged again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Wandering aimlessly at first in the wood, Frodo found that his feet 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-treessunlight. 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "But let us not tarry here. There is much to say and to do, and you are weary. He shall come with us. Indeed he must, for if he does not forget his new duties more easily than I do, he must attend on his lord again within this hour. Come, Pippin, follow us!\u2019 So at length they came to the private chamber of the Lord of the City. There deep seats were set about a brazier of charcoal; and wine was brought; and there Pippin, hardly noticed, stood behind the chair of Denethor and felt his weariness little, so eagerly did he listen to all that was said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Aragorn gained the door, and swiftly it clanged to behind him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where will wants not, a way opens, so we say,\u2019 he whispered; \u2018and so I have found myself.\u2019 Merry looked up and saw that it was the young Rider whom he had noticed in the morning. \u2018You wish to go whither the Lord of the Mark goes: I see it in your face.\u2019 \u2018I do,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "The king now returned to the Hornburg, and slept, such a sleep of quiet as he had not known for many years, and the remainder of his chosen company rested also. But the others, all that were not hurt or wounded, began a great labour; for many had fallen in the battle and lay dead upon the field or in the Deep."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No more than you can afford,\u2019 answered Strider with a slow smile, as if he guessed Frodo\u2019s thoughts. \u2018Just this: you must take me along with you, until I wish to leave you.\u2019 \u2018Oh, indeed!\u2019 replied Frodo, surprised, but not much relieved."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What have I said?\u2019 he cried. \u2018What have I done? Frodo, Frodo!\u2019 he called. \u2018Come back! A madness took me, but it has passed. Come back!\u2019 There was no answer. Frodo did not even hear his cries. He was already far away, leaping blindly up the path to the hill-top. Terror and grief shook him, seeing in his thought the mad fierce face of Boromir, and his burning eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 He stepped forward; but Boromir stood irresolute and did not follow. \u2018Is there no other way?\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now let me pass. Come, Aragorn!\u2019 Slowly Aragorn unbuckled his belt and himself set his sword upright against the wall. \u2018Here I set it,\u2019 he said; \u2018but I command you not to touch it, nor to permit any other to lay hand on it. In this Elvish sheath dwells the Blade that was Broken and has been made again. Telchar first wrought it in the deeps of time. Death shall come to any man that draws Elendil\u2019s sword save Elendil\u2019s heir.\u2019 The guard stepped back and looked with amazement on Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "A few of the riders appeared to be bowmen, skilled at shooting from a running horse. Riding swiftly into range they shot arrows at the Orcs that straggled behind, and several of them fell; then the riders wheeled away out of the range of the answering bows of their enemies, who shot wildly, not daring to halt. This happened many times, and on one occasion arrows fell among the Isengarders. One of them, just in front of Pippin, stumbled and did not get up again."
    },
    {
        "text": "The last stage of their journey to Orodruin came, and it was amouthful of food. It remained dark, not only because of the smokes of the Mountain: there seemed to be a storm coming up, and away to the south-east there was a shimmer of lightnings under the black skies."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Naur an edraith ammen! Naur dan i ngaurhoth!\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, you have seen a thing or two since you last peeped out of a looking-glass,\u2019 he said to his reflection. \u2018But now for a merry meeting!\u2019 He stretched out his arms and whistled a tune."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Take Sandyman\u2019s mill now. Pimple knocked it down almost as soon as he came to Bag End. Then he brought in a lot o\u2019 dirty-looking Men to build a bigger one and fill it full o\u2019 wheels and outlandish contraptions. Only that fool Ted was pleased by that, and he works there cleaning wheels for the Men, where his dad was the Miller and his own master. Pimple\u2019s idea was to grind more and faster, or so he said. He\u2019s got other mills like it. But you\u2019ve got to have grist before you can grind; and there was no more for the new mill to do than for the old. But since Sharkey came they don\u2019t grind no more corn at all. They\u2019re always a-hammering and a-letting out a smoke and a stench, and there isn\u2019t no peace even at night in Hobbiton. And they pour out filth a purpose; they\u2019ve fouled all the lower Water, and it\u2019s getting down into Brandywine. If they want to make the Shire into a desert, they\u2019re going the right way about it. I don\u2019t believe that fool of a Pimple\u2019s behind all this. It\u2019s Sharkey, I say.\u2019 \u2018That\u2019s right!\u2019 put in Young Tom. \u2018Why, they even took Pimple\u2019s old ma, that Lobelia, and he was fond of her, if no one else was. Some of the Hobbiton folk, they saw it. She comes down the lane with her old umberella. Some of the ruffians were going up with a big cart."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is it morning already?\u2019 said Frodo yawning."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now, now, my dear hobbit!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018All your long life we have been friends, and you owe me something. Come! Do as you promised: give it up!\u2019 \u2018Well, if you want my ring yourself, say so!\u2019 cried Bilbo. \u2018But you won\u2019t get it. I won\u2019t give my Precious away, I tell you.\u2019 His hand strayed to the hilt of his small sword."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I can\u2019t say why, but I felt certain he was looking or smelling for me; and also I felt certain that I did not want him to discover me."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hobbits?\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Your tongue is strangely changed; but the name sounds not unfitting so. Hobbits! No report that I have heard does justice to the truth.\u2019 Merry bowed; and Pippin got up and bowed low. \u2018You are gra- cious, lord; or I hope that I may so take your words,\u2019 he said. \u2018And here is another marvel! I have wandered in many lands, since I left my home, and never till now have I found people that knew any story concerning hobbits.\u2019 \u2018My people came out of the North long ago,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018But I will not deceive you: we know no tales about hobbits. All that is said among us is that far away, over many hills and rivers, live the halfling folk that dwell in holes in sand-dunes. But there are notheir voices to resemble the piping of birds. But it seems that more could be said.\u2019 \u2018It could indeed, lord,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Anduin is near, and Anduin leads down to the Sea. To the Sea! To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying, The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The birds again!\u2019 said Aragorn, pointing down."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ah! there one of the foul things is stooping on him. Help! help! Will no one go out to him? Faramir!\u2019 With that Beregond sprang away and ran off into the gloom."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sleep again, and do not be afraid!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018For you are not going like Frodo to Mordor, but to Minas Tirith, and there you will be as safe as you can be anywhere in these days. If Gondor falls, or the Ring is taken, then the Shire will be no refuge.\u2019 \u2018You do not comfort me,\u2019 said Pippin, but nonetheless sleep crept over him. The last thing that he remembered before he fell into deep dream was a glimpse of high white peaks, glimmering like floating isles above the clouds as they caught the light of the westering moon."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf in grief and horror turned his face away and closed the door. For a while he stood in thought, silent upon the threshold, while those outside heard the greedy roaring of the fire within. And then Denethor gave a great cry, and afterwards spoke no more, nor was ever again seen by mortal men.\u2018And so pass also the days of Gondor that you have known; for good or evil they are ended. Ill deeds have been done here; but let now all enmity that lies between you be put away, for it was contrived by the Enemy and works his will. You have been caught in a net of warring duties that you did not weave. But think, you servants of the Lord, blind in your obedience, that but for the treason of Beregond Faramir, Captain of the White Tower, would now also be burned."
    },
    {
        "text": "I\u2019ll keep watch. I can sleep tomorrow, being no more than luggage in a boat, as you might say.\u2019 \u2018I might,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018and I might say \u2018\u2018luggage with eyes\u2019\u2019. You shall watch; but only if you promise to wake me half-way towards morning, if nothing happens before then.\u2019 In the dead hours Frodo came out of a deep dark sleep to find Sam shaking him. \u2018It\u2019s a shame to wake you,\u2019 whispered Sam, \u2018but that\u2019s what you said. There\u2019s 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.\u2019 He lay down, and Frodo sat up, huddled in his blankets, and fought off his sleep. Minutes or hours passed slowly, and nothingmoored 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are Elf-havens west of my land, the Shire, where Hobbits live.\u2019 \u2018Happy folk are Hobbits to dwell near the shores of the sea!\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018It 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.\u2019 \u2018I cannot,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I have never seen them. I have never been out of my own land before. And if I had known what the world outside was like, I don\u2019t think I should have had the heart to leavefull 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "But the courage that had been awakened in him was now too strong: he could not leave his friends so easily. He wavered, groping in his pocket, and then fought with himself again; and as he did so the arm crept nearer. Suddenly resolve hardened in him, and he seized a short sword that lay beside him, and kneeling he stooped low over the bodies of his companions. With what strength he had he hewed at the crawling arm near the wrist, and the hand broke off; but at the same moment the sword splintered up to the hilt. There was a shriek and the light vanished. In the dark there was a snarlingonce back into his mind, from which it had disappeared with the first coming of the fog, came the memory of the house down under the Hill, and of Tom singing. He remembered the rhyme that Tom had taught them. In a small desperate voice he began: Ho! Tom Bombadil! and with that name his voice seemed to grow strong: it had a full and lively sound, and the dark chamber echoed as if to drum and trumpet."
    },
    {
        "text": "So foot by foot, like small grey insects, they crept up the slope."
    },
    {
        "text": "As nightshade was closing about them Aragorn halted. Only twice in the day\u2019s march had they rested for a brief while, and twelve leagues now lay between them and the eastern wall where they had stood at dawn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018E\u00b4owyn, E\u00b4 owyn!\u2019 cried E\u00b4 omer amid his tears. But she opened her eyes and said: \u2018E\u00b4 omer! What joy is this? For they said that you were slain. Nay, but that was only the dark voices in my dream. How long have I been dreaming?\u2019 \u2018Not long, my sister,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018But think no more on it!\u2019 \u2018I am strangely weary,\u2019 she said. \u2018I must rest a little. But tell me, what of the Lord of the Mark? Alas! Do not tell me that that was a dream; for I know that it was not. He is dead as he foresaw.\u2019 \u2018He is dead,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer, \u2018but he bade me say farewell to E\u00b4owyn, dearer than daughter. He lies now in great honour in the Citadel of Gondor.\u2019 \u2018That is grievous,\u2019 she said. \u2018And yet it is good beyond all that I dared hope in the dark days, when it seemed that the House of Eorl was sunk in honour less than any shepherd\u2019s cot. And what of the king\u2019s esquire, the Halfling? E\u00b4omer, you shall make him a knight of the Riddermark, for he is valiant!\u2019 \u2018He lies nearby in this House, and I will go to him,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "All was silent, save for the rumour of war in the City down below, and they heard the water dripping sadly from the dead branches into the dark pool. Then they went on through the Citadel gate, where the sentinel stared at them in wonder and dismay as they passed by."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is one of my people yonder across the stream,\u2019 he said, \u2018though you may not see him.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That sounds like a bit of old Bilbo\u2019s rhyming,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Or is it one of your imitations? It does not sound altogether encouraging.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It came to me then, as if I was making itup;butImayhavehearditlongago.Certainlyitreminds meverysprings were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. \u2018\u2018It\u2019s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,\u2019\u2019 he used to say. \u2018\u2018You step into the Road, and if you don\u2019t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to. Do you realize that this is the very path that goes through Mirkwood, and that if you let it, it might take you to the Lonely Mountain or even further and to worse places?\u2019\u2019 He used to say that on the path outside the front door at Bag End, especially after he had been out for a long walk.\u2019 \u2018Well, the Road won\u2019t sweep me anywhere for an hour at least,\u2019 said Pippin, unslinging his pack. The others followed his example, putting their packs against the bank and their legs out into the road."
    },
    {
        "text": "The grass under their feet was smooth and short, as if it had been mown or shaven. The eaves of the Forest behind were clipped, and trim as a hedge. The path was now plain before them, well-tended and bordered with stone. It wound up on to the top of a grassy knoll, now grey under the pale starry night; and there, still high above them on a further slope, they saw the twinkling lights of a house. Down again the path went, and then up again, up a long smooth hillsidehouse before them, up, down, under hill. Behind it a steep shoulder of the land lay grey and bare, and beyond that the dark shapes of the Barrow-downs stalked away into the eastern night."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I hope there are not many more hobbits that have become like this."
    },
    {
        "text": "Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe, Let them go! Let them go! Sand and stone and pool and dell, Fare you well! Fare you well!Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are all alight."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hail, Frodo!\u2019 he cried. \u2018You are abroad late. Or are you perhaps lost?\u2019 Then he called aloud to the others, and all the company stopped and gathered round."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf caressed him. \u2018It is a long way from Rivendell, my friend,\u2019 he said; \u2018but you are wise and swift and come at need. Far let us ride now together, and part not in this world again!\u2019 Soon the other horses came up and stood quietly by, as if awaiting orders. \u2018We go at once to Meduseld, the hall of your master, The\u00b4oden,\u2019 said Gandalf, addressing them gravely. They bowed their heads. \u2018Time presses, so with your leave, my friends, we will ride."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin looked at him: tall and proud and noble, as all the men that he had yet seen in that land; and with a glitter in his eye as he thought of the battle. \u2018Alas! my own hand feels as light as a feather,\u2019 he thought, but he said nothing. \u2018A pawn did Gandalf say? Perhaps; but on the wrong chessboard.\u2019 So they talked until the sun reached its height, and suddenly the noon-bells were rung, and there was a stir in the citadel; for all save the watchmen were going to their meal."
    },
    {
        "text": "And not in his name even for much longer. He\u2019s a prisoner in Bag End now, I expect, and very frightened. We ought to try and rescue him.\u2019 \u2018Well I am staggered!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Of all the ends to our journey that is the very last I should have thought of: to have to fight half-orcs and ruffians in the Shire itself \u2013 to rescue Lotho Pimple!\u2019 \u2018Fight?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Well, I suppose it may come to that. But remember: there is to be no slaying of hobbits, not even if they have gone over to the other side. Really gone over, I mean; not just obeying ruffians\u2019 orders because they are frightened. No hobbit has ever killed another on purpose in the Shire, and it is not to begin now. And nobody is to be killed at all, if it can be helped. Keep your tempers and hold your hands to the last possible moment!\u2019 \u2018But if there are many of these ruffians,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018it will cer- tainly mean fighting. You won\u2019t rescue Lotho, or the Shire, just by being shocked and sad, my dear Frodo.\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018It won\u2019t be so easy scaring them a second time."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where d\u2019you think you\u2019re going?\u2019 said one, the largest and most evil-looking of the crew. \u2018There\u2019s no road for you any further. And where are those precious Shirriffs?\u2019 \u2018Coming along nicely,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018A little footsore, perhaps. We promised to wait for them here.\u2019 \u2018Garn, what did I say?\u2019 said the ruffian to his mates. \u2018I told Sharkey it was no good trusting those little fools. Some of our chaps ought to have been sent.\u2019 \u2018And what difference would that have made, pray?\u2019 said Merry.\u2018Footpads, eh?\u2019 said the man. \u2018So that\u2019s your tone, is it? Change it, or we\u2019ll change it for you. You little folk are getting too uppish."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We had better try a way back southwards along the line of the cliff, I think,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018We might find some nook there, or even a cave or something.\u2019 \u2018I suppose so,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I\u2019m tired, and I don\u2019t think I can scramble among stones much longer tonight \u2013 though I grudge the delay. I wish there was a clear path in front of us: then I\u2019d go on till my legs gave way.\u2019 They did not find the going any easier at the broken feet of the Emyn Muil. Nor did Sam find any nook or hollow to shelter in: only bare stony slopes frowned over by the cliff, which now rose again, higher and more sheer as they went back. In the end, worn out, they just cast themselves on the ground under the lee of a boulder lying not far from the foot of the precipice. There for some time they sat huddled mournfully together in the cold stony night, while sleep crept upon them in spite of all they could do to hold it off. The moon now rode high and clear. Its thin white light lit up the faces of the rocks and drenched the cold frowning walls of the cliff, turning all the wide looming darkness into a chill pale grey scored with black shadows."
    },
    {
        "text": "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. Nothingthe 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then all was silent. Wormtongue sprawled on his face."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wonder who made this path, and what for,\u2019 said Merry, as they walked along one of these avenues, where the stones were unusually large and closely set. \u2018I am not sure that I like it: it has a \u2013 well, rather a barrow-wightish look. Is there any barrow on Weathertop?\u2019 \u2018No. There is no barrow on Weathertop, nor on any of these hills,\u2019 answered Strider. \u2018The Men of the West did not live here; though in their latter days they defended the hills for a while against the evil that came out of Angmar. This path was made to serve the forts along the walls. But long before, in the first days of the North Kingdom, they built a great watch-tower on Weathertop, Amon Su\u02c6l they called it. It was burned and broken, and nothing remains of it now but a tumbled ring, like a rough crown on the old hill\u2019s head. Yet once it was tall and fair. It is told that Elendil stood there watching for the coming of Gil- galad out of the West, in the days of the Last Alliance.\u2019 The hobbits gazed at Strider. It seemed that he was learned in old lore, as well as in the ways of the wild. \u2018Who was Gil-galad?\u2019 asked Merry; but Strider did not answer, and seemed to be lost in thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Halfastickymilefromheretothegate!\u2019mutteredPippin.\u2018IwishGandalf stood before the door of Orthanc and beat on it with his staff. It rang with a hollow sound. \u2018Saruman, Saruman!\u2019 he cried in a loud commanding voice. \u2018Saruman come forth!\u2019 For some time there was no answer. At last the window above the door was unbarred, but no figure could be seen at its dark opening."
    },
    {
        "text": "Just as they felt their feet slowing down to a standstill, they noticed that the ground was gently rising. The water began to murmur. In the darkness they caught the white glimmer of foam, where the river flowed over a short fall. Then suddenly the trees came to an end and the mists were left behind. They stepped out from the Forest, and found a wide sweep of grass welling up before them. The river, now small and swift, was leaping merrily down to meet them, glinting here and there in the light of the stars, which were already shining in the sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "Still it smells sweet when bruised, does it not? If sweet is the right word: wholesome, maybe, is nearer.\u2019 \u2018Wholesome verily,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018And now, dame, if you love the Lord Faramir, run as quick as your tongue and get me kingsfoil, if there is a leaf in the City.\u2019 \u2018And if not,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018I will ride to Lossarnach with Ioreth behind me, and she shall take me to the woods, but not to her sisters."
    },
    {
        "text": "The light grew no stronger, for Orodruin was still belching forth a great fume that, beaten upwards by the opposing airs, mounted higher and higher, until it reached a region above the wind and spread in an immeasurable roof, whose central pillar rose out of the shadows beyond their view. They had trudged for more than an hour when they heard a sound that brought them to a halt. Unbelievable, but unmistakable. Water trickling. Out of a gully on the left, so sharp and narrow that it looked as if the black cliff had been cloven by some huge axe, water came dripping down: the last remains, maybe, of some sweet rain gathered from sunlit seas, but ill-fated to fall at last upon the walls of the Black Land and wander fruitless down into the dust. Here it came out of the rock in a little falling streamlet, and flowed across the path, and turning south ran away swiftly to be lost among the dead stones."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That may be. I will do as you ask. Call Ha\u00b4ma to me. Since he proved untrusty as a doorward, let him become an errand-runner."
    },
    {
        "text": "But he has not gone without woe and bitter loss. And that I might have averted but for the madness of Denethor. So long has the reach of our Enemy become! Alas! but now I perceive how his will was able to enter into the very heart of the City."
    },
    {
        "text": "He set out and came back westward, as far as the Great River. But then he turned aside. He was not daunted by the distance, I am sure."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I cannot thank you as I should, Bilbo, for this, and for all your past kindnesses,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "As night fell and the light of the fire began to shine out brightly he began to tell them tales to keep their minds from fear. He knewgood and evil deeds of the Elder Days. They wondered how old he was, and where he had learned all this lore."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly the silence was broken, and they heard below them cries and the ringing of swords: such sounds as had not been heard in the hallowed places since the building of the City. At last they came to Rath D\u00b4\u0131nen and hastened towards the House of the Stewards, loom- ing in the twilight under its great dome."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam sat down and scratched his head, and yawned like a cavern."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sorrowfully they cast loose the funeral boat: there Boromir lay, restful, peaceful, gliding upon the bosom of the flowing water. The stream took him while they held their own boat back with their paddles. He floated by them, and slowly his boat departed, waning to a dark spot against the golden light; and then suddenly it vanished."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.happened to the water, I cannot guess; it used to be swift and noisy."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Will you come with me?\u2019 said Beregond. \u2018You may join my mess for this day. I do not know to what company you will be assigned; or the Lord may hold you at his own command. But you will be welcome. And it will be well to meet as many men as you may, while there is yet time.\u2019 \u2018I shall be glad to come,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I am lonely, to tell you the truth. I left my best friend behind in Rohan, and I have had no one to talk to or jest with. Perhaps I could really join your company? Are you the captain? If so, you could take me on, or speak for me?\u2019 \u2018Nay, nay,\u2019 Beregond laughed, \u2018I am no captain. Neither office nor rank nor lordship have I, being but a plain man of arms of the Third Company of the Citadel. Yet, Master Peregrin, to be only a man of arms of the Guard of the Tower of Gondor is held worthy in the City, and such men have honour in the land.\u2019 \u2018Then it is far beyond me,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Take me back to our room, and if Gandalf is not there, I will go where you like \u2013 as your guest.\u2019 Gandalf was not in the lodging and had sent no message; so Pippin went with Beregond and was made known to the men of the Third Company. And it seemed that Beregond got as much honour from it as his guest, for Pippin was very welcome. There had already been much talk in the citadel about Mithrandir\u2019s companion and his long closeting with the Lord; and rumour declared that a Prince of the Halflings had come out of the North to offer allegiance to Gondor and five thousand swords. And some said that when the Riders came from Rohan each would bring behind him a halfling warrior, small maybe, but doughty."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, come now!\u2019 he said. \u2018You have proved mightiest, and all your labours have gone well. Where now would you be going? And why do you come here?\u2019 \u2018To see how your work goes, my friend,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and to thank you for your aid in all that has been achieved.\u2019 \u2018Hoom, well, that is fair enough,\u2019 said Treebeard; \u2018for to be sure Ents have played their part. And not only in dealing with that, hoom, that accursed tree-slayer that dwelt here. For there was a great in- rush of those, bura\u00b4rum, those evileyed-blackhanded-bowlegged-flint- hearted-clawfingered-foulbellied-bloodthirsty, morimaite-sincahonda, hoom, well, since you are hasty folk and their full name is as long as years of torment, those vermin of orcs; and they came over the River and down from the North and all round the wood of Laurelindo\u00b4renan, which they could not get into, thanks to the Great ones who are here.\u2019 He bowed to the Lord and Lady of Lo\u00b4 rien."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Oh well, I suppose he\u2019s gone off to find something for himself."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Go!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018If you trouble this village again, you will regret it.\u2019 The three hobbits came on, and then the ruffians turned and fled, running away up the Hobbiton Road; but they blew their horns as they ran."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Riders came to the wood, and they halted; horse and man, they were unwilling to pass in. The trees were grey and menacing, and a shadow or a mist was about them. The ends of their long sweeping boughs hung down like searching fingers, their roots stood up from the ground like the limbs of strange monsters, and dark caverns opened beneath them. But Gandalf went forward, leading the company, and where the road from the Hornburg met the trees they saw now an opening like an arched gate under mighty boughs; and through it Gandalf passed, and they followed him. Then to their amazement they found that the road ran on, and the Deeping-stream beside it; and the sky was open above and full of golden light. But on either side the great aisles of the wood were already wrapped in dusk, stretching away into impenetrable shadows; and there they heard the creaking and groaning of boughs, and far cries, and a rumour of wordless voices, murmuring angrily. No Orc or other living creature could be seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf was thinking of a spring, nearly eighty years before, when Bilbo had run out of Bag End without a handkerchief. His hair was perhaps whiter than it had been then, and his beard and eyebrows were perhaps longer, and his face more lined with care and wisdom; but his eyes were as bright as ever, and he smoked and blew smoke- rings with the same vigour and delight."
    },
    {
        "text": "In his hand he bore a single arrow, black-feathered and barbed with steel, but the point was painted red."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo and Sam could go no further. Their last strength of mind and body was swiftly ebbing. They had reached a low ashen hill piled at the Mountain\u2019s foot; but from it there was no more escape. It was an island now, not long to endure, amid the torment of Orodruin."
    },
    {
        "text": "Warn him! Darn him! A bump o\u2019 the boot on the seat, Tom thought, Would be the way to larn him."
    },
    {
        "text": "And if he were given the Ring, he would soon forget it, or most likely throw it away. Such things have no hold on his mind. He would be a most unsafe guardian; and that alone is answer enough.\u2019 \u2018But in any case,\u2019 said Glorfindel, \u2018to send the Ring to him wouldcould, soon or late the Lord of the Rings would learn of its hiding place and would bend all his power towards it. Could that power be defied by Bombadil alone? I think not. I think that in the end, if all else is conquered, Bombadil will fall, Last as he was First; and then Night will come.\u2019 \u2018I know little of Iarwain save the name,\u2019 said Galdor; \u2018but Glorfin- del, I think, is right. Power to defy our Enemy is not in him, unless such power is in the earth itself. And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy the very hills. What power still remains lies with us, here in Imladris, or with C\u00b4\u0131rdan at the Havens, or in Lo\u00b4 rien. But have they the strength, have we here the strength to withstand the Enemy, the coming of Sauron at the last, when all else is overthrown?\u2019 \u2018I have not the strength,\u2019 said Elrond; \u2018neither have they.\u2019 \u2018Then if the Ring cannot be kept from him for ever by strength,\u2019 said Glorfindel, \u2018two things only remain for us to attempt: to send it over the Sea, or to destroy it.\u2019 \u2018But Gandalf has revealed to us that we cannot destroy it by any craft that we here possess,\u2019 said Elrond. \u2018And they who dwell beyond the Sea would not receive it: for good or ill it belongs to Middle-earth; it is for us who still dwell here to deal with it.\u2019 \u2018Then,\u2019 said Glorfindel, \u2018let us cast it into the deeps, and so make the lies of Saruman come true. For it is clear now that even at the Council his feet were already on a crooked path. He knew that the Ring was not lost for ever, but wished us to think so; for he began to lust for it for himself. Yet oft in lies truth is hidden: in the Sea it would be safe.\u2019 \u2018Not safe for ever,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018There are many things in the deep waters; and seas and lands may change. And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world. We should seek a final end of this menace, even if we do not hope to make one.\u2019 \u2018And that we shall not find on the roads to the Sea,\u2019 said Galdor."
    },
    {
        "text": "So Gandalf and Peregrin rode to the Great Gate of the Men of Gondor at the rising of the sun, and its iron doors rolled back before them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I would not have you go without seeing Kheled-za\u02c6ram.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They pushed, pulled, tore, shook, and hammered; and clang-bang, crash-crack, in five minutes they had these huge gates just lying in ruin; and some were already beginning to eat into the walls, like rabbits in a sand-pit. I don\u2019t know what Saruman thought was hap- pening; but anyway he did not know how to deal with it. His wizardry may have been falling off lately, of course; but anyway I think he has not much grit, not much plain courage alone in a tight place without a lot of slaves and machines and things, if you know what I mean."
    },
    {
        "text": "The night passed slowly and wearily. Dawn was growing in the sky, and the dell was filling with grey light, when Strider at last returned."
    },
    {
        "text": "They were taken by surprise. You heard that horn-blowing? Evidently there are other ruffians near at hand. They\u2019ll be much bolder when there\u2019s more of them together. We ought to think of taking cover somewhere for the night. After all we\u2019re only four, even if we are armed.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ve an idea,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Let\u2019s go to old Tom Cotton\u2019s down South Lane! He always was a stout fellow. And he has a lot of lads that were all friends of mine.\u2019 \u2018No!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018It\u2019s no good \u2018\u2018getting under cover\u2019\u2019. That is just whatpeoplehavebeendoing,andjustwhattheseruffianslike.They\u2018Do what?\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I can walk this path,\u2019 said Legolas; \u2018but the others have not this skill. Must they swim?\u2019 \u2018No!\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018We have two more ropes. We will fasten them above the other, one shoulder-high, and another half-high, and hold- ing these the strangers should be able to cross with care.\u2019 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 overhard, and looking down into the pale eddying water as if it was a chasm in the mountains."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hush!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I think I hear hoofs again.\u2019 They stopped suddenly and stood as silent as tree-shadows, listen- ing. There was a sound of hoofs in the lane, some way behind, but coming slow and clear down the wind. Quickly and quietly they slipped off the path, and ran into the deeper shade under the oak- trees."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018What about drink?\u2019\u2019 I said to the Ents."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That, I guess, is the language of the Rohirrim,\u2019 said Legolas; \u2018for it is like to this land itself; rich and rolling in part, and else hard and stern as the mountains. But I cannot guess what it means, save that it is laden with the sadness of Mortal Men.\u2019 \u2018It runs thus in the Common Speech,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018as near as I can make it."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was no answer. For a moment he stood, his heart beating with wild fears, and then he plunged in. A shadow followed him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Legolas and Gimli left the tracking to Aragorn. There was little for him to see. The floor of the forest was dry and covered with a drift of leaves; but guessing that the fugitives would stay near the water, he returned often to the banks of the stream. So it was that he came upon the place where Merry and Pippin had drunk and bathed their feet. There plain for all to see were the footprints of two hobbits, one somewhat smaller than the other."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then suddenly one day, for he had been too busy for weeks to give a thought to his adventures, he remembered the gift of Galadriel."
    },
    {
        "text": "But it is hard! I had counted on passing the Golden Perch at Stock before sundown. The best beer in the Eastfarthing, or used to be: it is a long time since I tasted it.\u2019 \u2018That settles it!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Short cuts make delays, but inns make longer ones. At all costs we must keep you away from the Golden Perch. We want to get to Bucklebury before dark. What do you say, Sam?\u2019 \u2018I will go along with you, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam (in spite of private misgivings and a deep regret for the best beer in the Eastfarthing)."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Maybe,\u2019 said the Elf; \u2018but a heavy boot might leave no print here: the grass is deep and springy.\u2019 \u2018That would not baffle a Ranger,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018A bent blade is enough for Aragorn to read. But I do not expect him to find any traces. It was an evil phantom of Saruman that we saw last night. I am sure of it, even under the light of morning. His eyes are looking out on us from Fangorn even now, maybe.\u2019 \u2018It is likely enough,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018yet I am not sure. I am thinking of the horses. You said last night, Gimli, that they were scared away."
    },
    {
        "text": "He sought her ever, wandering far Where leaves of years were thickly strewn, By light of moon and ray of star In frosty heavens shivering."
    },
    {
        "text": "There it went again from another place! Sam began to run as well as he could uphill."
    },
    {
        "text": "And then he found himself at the doors of the great hall beneath the gleaming tower; and behind the wizard he passed the tall silent door-wardens and entered the cool echoing shadows of the house of stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nothing happened. There was a gasp of astonishment from theby Gandalf, quarrelling over the right way to cook thirteen dwarves and one hobbit.\u2019 \u2018I had no idea we were anywhere near the place!\u2019 said Pippin. He knew the story well. Bilbo and Frodo had told it often; but as a matter of fact he had never more than half believed it. Even now he looked at the stone trolls with suspicion, wondering if some magic might not suddenly bring them to life again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Here lay aside your burden for a while!\u2019 \u2018Welcome son of Thranduil! Too seldom do my kindred journey hither from the North.\u2019 \u2018Welcome Gimli son of Glo\u00b4in! It is long indeed since we saw one of Durin\u2019s 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.\u2019 Gimli bowed low."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Stay!\u2019 he shouted. \u2018Do not follow me yet!\u2019 He ran quickly to the right, away from the main trail; for he had seen footprints that went that way, branching off from the others, the marks of small unshod feet. These, however, did not go far before they were crossed by orc-prints, also coming out from the main trail behind and in front, and then they curved sharply back again and were lost in the tramp- ling. At the furthest point Aragorn stooped and picked up something from the grass; then he ran back."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Shire \u2013 he may be seeking for it now, if he has not already found out where it lies. Indeed, Frodo, I fear that he may even think that the long-unnoticed name of Baggins has become important.\u2019 \u2018But this is terrible!\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018Far worse than the worst that I imagined from your hints and warnings. O Gandalf, best of friends, what am I to do? For now I am really afraid. What am I to do? What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!\u2019 \u2018Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.\u2019 \u2018I am sorry,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But I am frightened; and I do not feel any pity for Gollum.\u2019 \u2018You have not seen him,\u2019 Gandalf broke in."
    },
    {
        "text": "The North Wind may have heard the horn of the son of Denethor.\u2019 \u2018O Boromir! From the high walls westward I looked afar, But you came not from the empty lands where no men are.\u2019 Then Legolas sang: From the mouths of the Sea the South Wind flies, from the\u2018What news from the South, O sighing wind, do you bring to me at eve? Where now is Boromir the Fair? He tarries and I grieve.\u2019 \u2018Ask not of me where he doth dwell \u2013 so many bones there lie On the white shores and the dark shores under the stormy sky; So many have passed down Anduin to find the flowing Sea."
    },
    {
        "text": "When they came up with him, they saw that he had made no mistake: there were clearly the beginnings of a path, that climbed with many windings out of the woods below and faded away on the hill-top behind. In places it was now faint and overgrown, or choked with fallen stones and trees; but at one time it seemed to have been much used. It was a path made by strong arms and heavy feet. Here and there old trees had been cut or broken down, and large rockseasiest way down, but they went cautiously, and their anxiety increased as they came into the dark woods, and the path grew plainer and broader. Suddenly coming out of a belt of fir-trees it ran steeply down a slope, and turned sharply to the left round the corner of a rocky shoulder of the hill. When they came to the corner they looked round and saw that the path ran on over a level strip under the face of a low cliff overhung with trees. In the stony wall there was a door hanging crookedly ajar upon one great hinge."
    },
    {
        "text": "But danger has come on you sooner than you expected, and now you are making up your mind to go at once. And you don\u2019t want to."
    },
    {
        "text": "Evening was coming and the sky above was growing dim. He turned and found that the dream was little worse than the waking. His wrists, legs, and ankles were tied with cords. Beside him Merry lay, white-faced, with a dirty rag bound across his brows. All about them sat or stood a great company of Orcs."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "When Ha\u00b4ma had been summoned and had gone, Gandalf led The\u00b4oden to a stone seat, and then sat himself before the king upon the topmost stair. Aragorn and his companions stood nearby."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Thank you!\u2019 said the hobbits, one after the other."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then take it,\u2019 said the other, \u2018and let\u2019s hold it ourselfs! Then we shall be master, gollum! Make the other hobbit, the nasty suspicious hobbit, make him crawl, yes, gollum!\u2019 \u2018But not the nice hobbit?\u2019 \u2018Oh no, not if it doesn\u2019t please us. Still he\u2019s a Baggins, my precious, yes, a Baggins. A Baggins stole it. He found it and he said nothing, nothing. We hates Bagginses.\u2019 \u2018No, not this Baggins.\u2019 \u2018Yes, every Baggins. All peoples that keep the Precious. We must have it!\u2019 \u2018But He\u2019ll see, He\u2019ll know. He\u2019ll take it from us!\u2019 \u2018He sees. He knows. He heard us make silly promises \u2013 against His orders, yes. Must take it. The Wraiths are searching. Must take it.\u2019 \u2018Not for Him!\u2019 \u2018No, sweet one. See, my precious: if we has it, then we can escape, even from Him, eh? Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Sme\u00b4agol? Gollum the Great? The Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day, fresh from the sea. Most Precious Gol- lum! Must have it. We wants it, we wants it, we wants it!\u2019 \u2018But there\u2019s two of them. They\u2019ll wake too quick and kill us,\u2019 whined Sme\u00b4agol in a last effort. \u2018Not now. Not yet.\u2019 \u2018We wants it! But\u2019 \u2013 and here there was a long pause, as if a new thought had wakened. \u2018Not yet, eh? Perhaps not. She might help."
    },
    {
        "text": "And he had promised to bring her food. But her lust was not his lust. Little she knew of or cared for towers, or rings, or anythingmountains could no longer hold her up and the darkness could not contain her."
    },
    {
        "text": "And now Faramir was gone again. \u2018They give him no rest,\u2019 some murmured. \u2018The Lord drives his son too hard, and now he must do the duty of two, for himself and for the one that will not return.\u2019 And ever men looked northward, asking: \u2018Where are the Riders of Rohan?\u2019 In truth Faramir did not go by his own choosing. But the Lord of the City was master of his Council, and he was in no mood that day to bow to others. Early in the morning the Council had been summoned. There all the captains judged that because of the threat in the South their force was too weak to make any stroke of war on their own part, unless perchance the Riders of Rohan yet should come. Meanwhile they must man the walls and wait."
    },
    {
        "text": "To his amazement, as he listened Frodo became aware that it was the elven-tongue that they spoke, or one but little different; and he looked at them with wonder, for he knew then that they must be Du\u00b4nedain of the South, men of the line of the Lords of Westernesse."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Very tough in the fibre, I deem.\u2019 At the doors of the Houses many were already gathered to see Aragorn, and they followed after him; and when at last he had supped, men came and prayed that he would heal their kinsmen or their friends whose lives were in peril through hurt or wound, or who lay under the Black Shadow. And Aragorn arose and went out, and he sent for the sons of Elrond, and together they laboured far into the night. And word went through the City: \u2018The King is come again indeed.\u2019 And they named him Elfstone, because of the green stone that he wore, and so the name which it was foretold at his birth that he should bear was chosen for him by his own people."
    },
    {
        "text": "They\u2019ve rummaged it, of course. But I guess they disliked the very look and smell of the lembas, worse than Gollum did. It\u2019s scattered about and some of it is trampled and broken, but I\u2019ve gathered it together. It\u2019s not far short of what you\u2019ve got. But they\u2019ve taken Faramir\u2019s food, and they\u2019ve slashed up my water-bottle.\u2019 \u2018Well, there\u2019s no more to be said,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018We\u2019ve got enough to start on. But the water\u2019s going to be a bad business. But come, Mr. Frodo! Off we go, or a whole lake of it won\u2019t do us any good!\u2019 \u2018Not till you\u2019ve had a mouthful, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I won\u2019t budge."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the midst of the field before the Hornburg two mounds were raised, and beneath them were laid all the Riders of the Mark who fell in the defence, those of the East Dales upon one side, and those of Westfold upon the other. But the men of Dunland were set apart in a mound below the Dike. In a grave alone under the shadow of the Hornburg lay Ha\u00b4ma, captain of the King\u2019s guard. He fell before the Gate."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nay, I came rather to guard the hurt men that can yet be healed; for the Rammas is breached far and wide, and soon the host of Morgul will enter in at many points. And I came chiefly to say this."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Begging your pardon, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 he said, \u2018but this has gone on long enough. He\u2019s no right to talk to you so. After all you\u2019ve gone through, as much for his good and all these great Men as for anyone else."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well?\u2019 said Strider. \u2018When are you going to open that letter?\u2019 Frodo looked carefully at the seal before he broke it. It seemed cer- tainly to be Gandalf \u2019s. Inside, written in the wizard\u2019s strong but graceful script, was the following message: THE PRANCING PONY, BREE. Midyear\u2019s Day, Shire Year, 1418."
    },
    {
        "text": "Look!\u2019 \u2018No, not even my eyes can see him, my good Legolas,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018He must be far aloft indeed. I wonder what is his errand, if he is the same bird that I have seen before. But look! I can see something nearer at hand and more urgent; there is something moving over the plain!\u2019 \u2018Many things,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018It is a great company on foot; but I cannot say more, nor see what kind of folk they may be. They are many leagues away: twelve, I guess; but the flatness of the plain is hard to measure.\u2019 \u2018I think, nonetheless, that we no longer need any trail to tell us which way to go,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Let us find a path down to the fields as quick as may be.\u2019 \u2018I doubt if you will find a path quicker than the one that the Orcs chose,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "The dusk was deep when at length they set out, creeping over the westward rim of the dell, and fading like ghosts into the broken country on the borders of the road. The moon was now three nights from the full, but it did not climb over the mountains until nearly midnight, and the early night was very dark. A single red light burned high up in the Towers of the Teeth, but otherwise no sign could be seen or heard of the sleepless watch on the Morannon."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have done our best in a short time to make it look like home. After all Fatty and I only got here with the last cart-load yesterday.\u2019 Frodo looked round. It did look like home. Many of his own favourite things \u2013 or Bilbo\u2019s things (they reminded him sharply of him in their new setting) \u2013 were arranged as nearly as possible as they had been at Bag End. It was a pleasant, comfortable, welcoming place; and he found himself wishing that he was really coming here to settle down in quiet retirement. It seemed unfair to have put his friends to all this trouble; and he wondered again how he was going to break the news to them that he must leave them so soon, indeed\u2018It\u2019s delightful!\u2019 he said with an effort. \u2018I hardly feel that I have moved at all.\u2019 The travellers hung up their cloaks, and piled their packs on the floor. Merry led them down the passage and threw open a door at the far end. Firelight came out, and a puff of steam."
    },
    {
        "text": "But dark is the path appointed for thee: The Dead watch the road that leads to the Sea."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come, Master Perian!\u2019 said the lad. \u2018You are still in pain, I see."
    },
    {
        "text": "Such loveliness in living thing Frodo had never seen before nor imagined in his mind; and he was both surprised and abashed to find that he had a seat at Elrond\u2019s table among all these folk so high and fair. Though he had a suitable chair, and was raised upon several cushions, he felt very small, and rather out of place; but that feeling quickly passed. The feast was merry and the food all that his hunger could desire. It was some time before he looked about him again or even turned to his neighbours."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Just what I said myself,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018But never mind about looks."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All except one thing,\u2019 said Aragorn: \u2018leaf from the Southfarthing in Isengard. The more I consider it, the more curious I find it. I have never been in Isengard, but I have journeyed in this land, and I know well the empty countries that lie between Rohan and the Shire."
    },
    {
        "text": "He listened. The Orcs from the tunnel and the others marching down had sighted one another, and both parties were now hurrying and shouting. He heard them both clearly, and he understood what they said. Perhaps the Ring gave understanding of tongues, or simply understanding, especially of the servants of Sauron its maker, so that ifhegaveheed,heunderstoodandtranslatedthethoughttohimself.courage. At present Sam still thought only of hiding, of lying low till all was quiet again; and he listened anxiously. He could not tell how near the voices were, the words seemed almost in his ears."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then let us defend it, and hope!\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "With its own weapons was it worsted!\u2019 \u2018Strange indeed,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018In that hour I looked on Aragorn and thought how great and terrible a Lord he might have become in the strength of his will, had he taken the Ring to himself. Not for naught does Mordor fear him. But nobler is his spirit than the under- standing of Sauron; for is he not of the children of Lu\u00b4thien? Never shall that line fail, though the years may lengthen beyond count.\u2019 \u2018Beyond the eyes of the Dwarves are such foretellings,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t know what it is,\u2019 he said, \u2018but I suddenly felt afraid. I durstn\u2019t go outside this dell for any money; I felt that something was creeping up the slope.\u2019 \u2018Did you see anything?\u2019 asked Frodo, springing to his feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits felt Grishna\u00b4kh\u2019s fingers twitch. \u2018O ho!\u2019 hissed the goblin softly. \u2018That\u2019s what he means, is it? O ho! Very ve-ry danger- ous, my little ones.\u2019 \u2018Perhaps,\u2019 said Merry, now alert and aware of Pippin\u2019s guess."
    },
    {
        "text": "He went forward a short way and Anborn came softly behind him."
    },
    {
        "text": "He brought the box out and showed it to the other Travellers (for so they were now called by everyone), and asked their advice."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We must make for the Road again,\u2019 he said. \u2018We cannot hope to find a path through these hills. Whatever danger may beset it, the Road is our only way to the Ford.\u2019 As soon as they had eaten they set out again. They climbed slowly down the southern side of the ridge; but the way was much easier than they had expected, for the slope was far less steep on this side, and before long Frodo was able to ride again. Bill Ferny\u2019s poor old pony was developing an unexpected talent for picking out a path, and for sparing its rider as many jolts as possible. The spirits of the party rose again. Even Frodo felt better in the morning light, but every now and again a mist seemed to obscure his sight, and he passed his hands over his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "Think he\u2019d got a new friend, he would.\u2019 \u2018Patience!\u2019 said Faramir, but without anger. \u2018Do not speak before your master, whose wit is greater than yours. And I do not need any to teach me of our peril. Even so, I spare a brief time, in order to judge justly in a hard matter. Were I as hasty as you, I might have slain you long ago. For I am commanded to slay all whom I find in this land without the leave of the Lord of Gondor. But I do not slay man or beast needlessly, and not gladly even when it is needed."
    },
    {
        "text": "The upper wind settled in the West and deeper and wetter clouds rolled up to spill their laden rain on the bare heads of the Downs."
    },
    {
        "text": "Little time was left to Aragorn for the ordering of his battle. Upon the one hill he stood with Gandalf, and there fair and desperate was raised the banner of the Tree and Stars. Upon the other hill hard by stood the banners of Rohan and Dol Amroth, White Horse and Silver Swan. And about each hill a ring was made facing all ways, bristling with spear and sword. But in the front towards Mordor where the first bitter assault would come there stood the sons of Elrond on the left with the Du\u00b4nedain about them, and on the right the Prince Imrahil with the men of Dol Amroth tall and fair, and picked men of the Tower of Guard."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But these creatures of Isengard, these half-orcs and goblin-men that the foul craft of Saruman has bred, they will not quail at the sun,\u2019 said Gamling. \u2018And neither will the wild men of the hills. Do you not hear their voices?\u2019 \u2018I hear them,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer; \u2018but they are only the scream of birds\u2018I know that tongue. It is an ancient speech of men, and once was spoken in many western valleys of the Mark. Hark! They hate us, and they are glad; for our doom seems certain to them. \u2018\u2018The king, the king!\u2019\u2019 they cry. \u2018\u2018We will take their king. Death to the Forgoil! Death to the Strawheads! Death to the robbers of the North!\u2019\u2019 Such names they have for us. Not in half a thousand years have they forgotten their grievance that the lords of Gondor gave the Mark to Eorl the Young and made alliance with him. That old hatred Saruman has inflamed. They are fierce folk when roused. They will not give way now for dusk or dawn, until The\u00b4oden is taken, or they themselves are slain.\u2019 \u2018Nonetheless day will bring hope to me,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Is it not said that no foe has ever taken the Hornburg, if men defended it?\u2019 \u2018So the minstrels say,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "But he had no close friends, until some of his younger cousins began to grow up."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018At last!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Here are the tracks that we seek! Up this water-channel: this is the way that the Orcs went after their debate.\u2019 Swiftly now the pursuers turned and followed the new path. As if fresh from a night\u2019s rest they sprang from stone to stone. At last they reached the crest of the grey hill, and a sudden breeze blew in their hair and stirred their cloaks: the chill wind of dawn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You take after Bilbo,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018There is more about you than meets the eye, as I said of him long ago.\u2019 Frodo wondered if the remark meant more than it said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Unwearied then were Durin\u2019s folk; Beneath the mountains music woke: The harpers harped, the minstrels sang, And at the gates the trumpets rang."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He\u2019s really gone this time, I fancy,\u2019 muttered Sam. \u2018I guess this is just exactly where he meant to bring us. Gollum! If ever I lay hands on you again, you\u2019ll be sorry for it.\u2019 Presently, groping and fumbling in the dark, they found that the opening on the left was blocked: either it was a blind, or else some great stone had fallen in the passage. \u2018This can\u2019t be the way,\u2019 Frodo whispered. \u2018Right or wrong, we must take the other.\u2019 \u2018And quick!\u2019 Sam panted. \u2018There\u2019s something worse than Gollum about. I can feel something looking at us.\u2019 They had not gone more than a few yards when from behind them came a sound, startling and horrible in the heavy padded silence: a gurgling, bubbling noise, and a long venomous hiss. They wheeled round, but nothing could be seen. Still as stones they stood, staring, waiting for they did not know what."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nay,\u2019 they said, \u2018not if the Nameless One himself should come, not even he could enter here while we yet live.\u2019 But some answered: \u2018While we yet live? How long? He has a weapon that has brought low many strong places since the world began. Hunger. The roads are cut. Rohan will not come.\u2019 But the engines did not waste shot upon the indomitable wall. It was no brigand or orc-chieftain that ordered the assault upon the Lord of Mordor\u2019s greatest foe. A power and mind of malice guided it. As soon as the great catapults were set, with many yells and the creaking of rope and winch, they began to throw missiles marvellously high, so that they passed right above the battlement and fell thudding within the first circle of the City; and many of them by some secret art burst into flame as they came toppling down."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Old knives are long enough as swords for hobbit-people,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "His cloven shield, his broken sword, they to the water brought."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What do you say to fire?\u2019 asked Boromir suddenly. \u2018The 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.\u2019 \u2018You may make a fire, if you can,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018If there are any watchers that can endure this storm, then they can see us, fire or no.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ai! Steady now!\u2019 shouted Uglu\u00b4k from the rear."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are eyes!\u2019 he said. \u2018Eyes looking out from the shadows of the boughs! I never saw such eyes before.\u2019 The others, surprised by his cry, halted and turned; but Legolas started to ride back."
    },
    {
        "text": "Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks. For a moment he might have paused to consider Gollum, a tiny figure sprawling on the ground: there perhaps lay the famished skeleton of some child of Men, its ragged garment still clinging to it, its long arms and legs almost bone-white and bone-thin: no flesh worth a peck.At least for a long while it was empty. Then presently Sam thought he saw a dark bird-like figure wheel into the circle of his sight, and hover, and then wheel away again. Two more followed, and then a fourth. They were very small to look at, yet he knew, somehow, that they were huge, with a vast stretch of pinion, flying at a great height."
    },
    {
        "text": "It had been officially announced that Sam was coming to Buckland \u2018to do for Mr. Frodo and look after his bit of garden\u2019; an arrangement that was approved by the Gaffer, though it did not console him for the prospect of having Lobelia as a neighbour."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then what was the use of bringing us to this accursed spot?\u2019 cried Boromir, glancing back with a shudder at the dark water. \u2018You told us that you had once passed through the Mines. How could that be, if you did not know how to enter?\u2019 \u2018The answer to your first question, Boromir,\u2019 said the wizard, \u2018is that I do not know the word \u2013 yet. But we shall soon see. And,\u2019 he added, with a glint in his eyes under their bristling brows, \u2018you 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Make haste!\u2019 Over the plains Shadowfax was flying, needing no urging and no guidance. Less than an hour had passed, and they had reached the Fords of Isen and crossed them. The Mound of the Riders and its cold spears lay grey behind them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, four nights and three days, to be exact. The Elves brought you from the Ford on the night of the twentieth, and that is where you lost count. We have been terribly anxious, and Sam has hardly left your side, day or night, except to run messages. Elrond is a master of healing, but the weapons of our Enemy are deadly. To tell you the truth, I had very little hope; for I suspected that there was some fragment of the blade still in the closed wound. But it could not beFrodo shuddered, remembering the cruel knife with notched blade that had vanished in Strider\u2019s hands. \u2018Don\u2019t be alarmed!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018It is gone now. It has been melted. And it seems that Hobbits fade very reluctantly. I have known strong warriors of the Big People who would quickly have been overcome by that splinter, which you bore for seventeen days.\u2019 \u2018What would they have done to me?\u2019 asked Frodo. \u2018What were the Riders trying to do?\u2019 \u2018They tried to pierce your heart with a Morgul-knife which remains in the wound. If they had succeeded, you would have become like they are, only weaker and under their command. You would have become a wraith under the dominion of the Dark Lord; and he would have tormented you for trying to keep his Ring, if any greater torment were possible than being robbed of it and seeing it on his hand.\u2019 \u2018Thank goodness I did not realize the horrible danger!\u2019 said Frodo faintly. \u2018I was mortally afraid, of course; but if I had known more, I should not have dared even to move. It is a marvel that I escaped!\u2019 \u2018Yes, fortune or fate have helped you,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018not to men- tion courage. For your heart was not touched, and only your shoulder was pierced; and that was because you resisted to the last. But it was a terribly narrow shave, so to speak. You were in gravest peril while you wore the Ring, for then you were half in the wraith-world yourself, and they might have seized you. You could see them, and they could see you.\u2019 \u2018I know,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018They were terrible to behold! But why could we all see their horses?\u2019 \u2018Because they are real horses; just as the black robes are real robes that they wear to give shape to their nothingness when they have dealings with the living.\u2019 \u2018Then why do these black horses endure such riders? All other animals are terrified when they draw near, even the elf-horse of Glorfindel. The dogs howl and the geese scream at them.\u2019 \u2018Because these horses are born and bred to the service of the Dark Lord in Mordor. Not all his servants and chattels are wraiths! There are orcs and trolls, there are wargs and werewolves; and there have been and still are many Men, warriors and kings, that walk alive under the Sun, and yet are under his sway. And their number is growing daily.\u2019 \u2018What about Rivendell and the Elves? Is Rivendell safe?\u2019 \u2018Yes, at present, until all else is conquered. The Elves may fear the Dark Lord, and they may fly before him, but never again will they listen to him or serve him. And here in Rivendell there live stillhave dwelt in the Blessed Realm live at once in both worlds, and against both the Seen and the Unseen they have great power.\u2019 \u2018I thought that I saw a white figure that shone and did not grow dim like the others. Was that Glorfindel then?\u2019 \u2018Yes, you saw him for a moment as he is upon the other side: one of the mighty of the Firstborn. He is an Elf-lord of a house of princes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Mr. Merry!\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come back, Saruman!\u2019 said Gandalf in a commanding voice. To the amazement of the others, Saruman turned again, and as if dragged against his will, he came slowly back to the iron rail, leaning on it, breathing hard. His face was lined and shrunken. His hand clutched his heavy black staff like a claw."
    },
    {
        "text": "But when the dawn came, cold and pale, Aragorn rose at once, and he led the Company forth upon the journey of greatest haste and weariness that any among them had known, save he alone, and only his will held them to go on. No other mortal Men could have endured it, none but the Du\u00b4 nedain of the North, and with them Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas of the Elves."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was dark and damp. At the far end it was closed by a gate of thick-set iron bars. Merry got down and unlocked the gate, and when they had all passed through he pushed it to again. It shut with a clang, and the lock clicked. The sound was ominous."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s no time for tales till we get somewhere else, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But you\u2019re in the top of that tower you and me saw from away down by the tunnel before the orcs got you. How long ago that was I don\u2019t know. More than a day, I guess.\u2019 \u2018Only that?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It seems weeks. You must tell me all about it, if we get a chance. Something hit me, didn\u2019t it? And I fell into darkness and foul dreams, and woke and found that waking was worse. Orcs were all round me. I think they had just been pouring some horrible burning drink down my throat. My head grew clear, but I was aching and weary. They stripped me of everything; and then two great brutes came and questioned me, questioned me until\u2018You won\u2019t, if you talk about them, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And if we don\u2019t want to see them again, the sooner we get going the better. Can you walk?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I can walk,\u2019 said Frodo, getting up slowly. \u2018I am not hurt, Sam. Only I feel very tired, and I\u2019ve a pain here.\u2019 He put his hand to the back of his neck above his left shoulder. He stood up, and it looked to Sam as if he was clothed in flame: his naked skin was scarlet in the light of the lamp above. Twice he paced across the floor."
    },
    {
        "text": "Spring surpassed his wildest hopes. His trees began to sprout and grow, as if time was in a hurry and wished to make one year do for twenty. In the Party Field a beautiful young sapling leaped up: it had silver bark and long leaves and burst into golden flowers in April. It was indeed a mallorn, and it was the wonder of the neighbourhood."
    },
    {
        "text": "Come forth!\u2019 There was a long silence, and from wall and gate no cry or sound was heard in answer. But Sauron had already laid his plans, and he had a mind first to play these mice cruelly before he struck to kill."
    },
    {
        "text": "The country was much rougher and more 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "My lord does not issue any command to you, he begs you only to remember old friendship and oaths long spoken, and for your own good to do all that you may. It is reported to us that many kings have ridden in from the East to the service of Mordor. From the North to the field of Dagorlad there is skirmish and rumour of war."
    },
    {
        "text": "Together we score one hundred and forty-four. Your numbers were chosen to fit this remarkable total: One Gross, if I may use the expression."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Stay! Stay!\u2019 cried Gandalf, springing forward to the stone stair before the door. \u2018Stay this madness!\u2019 For there were the servants of Denethor with swords and torches in their hands; but alone in the porch upon the topmost step stood Beregond, clad in the black and silver of the Guard; and he held the door against them. Two of them had already fallen to his sword, staining the hallows with their blood; and the others cursed him,the house of the dead the voice of Denethor crying: \u2018Haste, haste! Do as I have bidden! Slay me this renegade! Or must I do so myself ?\u2019 Thereupon the door which Beregond held shut with his left hand was wrenched open, and there behind him stood the Lord of the City, tall and fell; a light like flame was in his eyes, and he held a drawn sword."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now you go to sleep first, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 he said. \u2018It\u2019s getting dark again. I reckon this day is nearly over.\u2019 Frodo sighed and was asleep almost before the words were spoken."
    },
    {
        "text": "Indeed my friends, none of you have any weapon that could hurt me. Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide has turned.\u2019 He laid his hand on Gimli\u2019s head, and the Dwarf looked up and laughed suddenly. \u2018Gandalf !\u2019 he said. \u2018But you are all in white!\u2019 \u2018Yes, I am white now,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been. But come now, tell me of yourselves! I have passed through fire and deep water, since we parted. I have forgotten much that I thought I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten. I can see many things far off, but many things that are close at hand I cannot see. Tell me of yourselves!\u2019 \u2018What do you wish to know?\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018All that has happened since we parted on the bridge would be a long tale. Will you not first give us news of the hobbits? Did you find them, and are they safe?\u2019 \u2018No, I did not find them,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018There was a darkness over the valleys of the Emyn Muil, and I did not know of their captivity, until the eagle told me.\u2019 \u2018The eagle!\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018I have seen an eagle high and far off: the last time was four days ago, above the Emyn Muil.\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018that was Gwaihir the Windlord, who rescued me from Orthanc. I sent him before me to watch the River and gather tidings. His sight is keen, but he cannot see all that passes under hill and tree. Some things he has seen, and others I have seen myself."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s only stars, as I thought,\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have passed no place on the way up that offered more shelter than this cliff-wall we are under now.\u2019 \u2018Shelter!\u2019 muttered Sam. \u2018If this is shelter, then one wall and no roof make a house.\u2019 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 everstood 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come back! Come back!\u2019 he heard Sam\u2019s voice out of the black- ness above."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That won\u2019t do! Never thought it would show like that!\u2019 he mut- tered, and he started to hurry back. Suddenly he halted and listened."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Praised be the bow of Galadriel, and the hand and eye of Legolas!\u2019 said Gimli, as he munched a wafer of lembas. \u2018That was a mighty shot in the dark, my friend!\u2019 \u2018But who can say what it hit?\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 wide 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Behold Isildur\u2019s Bane!\u2019 said Elrond."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bilbo backed away to the wall, breathing hard, his hand clutching at his pocket. They stood for a while facing one another, and the air of the room tingled. Gandalf \u2019s eyes remained bent on the hobbit."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last they came to the end of the black mere, and they crossed it, perilously, crawling or hopping from one treacherous island tuss- ock to another. Often they floundered, stepping or falling hands-first into waters as noisome as a cesspool, till they were slimed and fouled almost up to their necks and stank in one another\u2019s nostrils."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look,\u2019 he said, pointing downwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Farewell!\u2019 he said to Gandalf. \u2018I go to find the Sun!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hm, hoom!\u2019 said Treebeard, when at last their story had wound and wandered down to the battle of the Orcs and the Riders of Rohan. \u2018Well, well! That is a bundle of news and no mistake. You have not told me all, no indeed, not by a long way. But I do not doubt that you are doing as Gandalf would wish. There is something very big going on, that I can see, and what it is maybe I shall learn in good time, or in bad time. By root and twig, but it is a strange business: up sprout a little folk that are not in the old lists, and behold! the Nine forgotten Riders reappear to hunt them, and Gandalf takes them on a great journey, and Galadriel harbours them in Caras Galadhon, and Orcs pursue them down all the leagues of Wilderland: indeed they seem to be caught up in a great storm. I hope they weather it!\u2019 \u2018And what about yourself ?\u2019 asked Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018How it angers me! Fool! Obstinate fool! Running wilfully to death and ruining our cause. If any mortals have claim to the Ring, it is the men of Nu\u00b4menor, and not Halflings. It is not yours save by unhappy chance. It might have been mine. It should be mine. Give it to me!\u2019 Frodo did not answer, but moved away till the great flat stone stood between them. \u2018Come, come, my friend!\u2019 said Boromir in a softer voice. \u2018Why 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,\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Go on!\u2019 he breathed in Frodo\u2019s ear. \u2018Have a care to your right."
    },
    {
        "text": "They saw no sign of any trail to right or left, but here and there they passed single Orcs, fallen in their tracks as they ran, with grey- feathered arrows sticking in back or throat."
    },
    {
        "text": "And for my part, I shall not wholly fail of my task, though Gondor should perish, if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. For I also am a steward. Did you not know?\u2019 And with that he turned and strode from the hall with Pippin running at his side."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 Lothlo\u00b4rien."
    },
    {
        "text": "Slowly he drew it out. Bilbo put out his hand. But Frodo quickly drew back the Ring. To his distress and amazement he found that he was no longer looking at Bilbo; a shadow seemed to have fallen between them, and through it he found himself eyeing a little wrinkled creature with a hungry face and bony groping hands. He felt a desire to strike him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Through the gate there now appeared a broad thick-set hobbit with a round red face. \u2018Hallo! Hallo! And who may you be, and what may you be wanting?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Does not the Black Gate lie yonder?\u2019 said she. \u2018And must he not now be come thither? It is seven days since he rode away.\u2019 \u2018Seven days,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018But think not ill of me, if I say to you: they have brought me both a joy and a pain that I never thought to know. Joy to see you; but pain, because now the fear and doubt of this evil time are grown dark indeed. E\u00b4owyn, I would not have this world end now, or lose so soon what I have found.\u2019 \u2018Lose what you have found, lord?\u2019 she answered; but she looked at him gravely and her eyes were kind. \u2018I know not what in these days you have found that you could lose. But come, my friend, let us not speak of it! Let us not speak at all! I stand upon some dreadful brink, and it is utterly dark in the abyss before my feet, but whether there is any light behind me I cannot tell. For I cannot turn yet. I wait for some stroke of doom.\u2019 \u2018Yes, we wait for the stroke of doom,\u2019 said Faramir. And they said no more; and it seemed to them as they stood upon the wall that the wind died, and the light failed, and the Sun was bleared, and all sounds in the City or in the lands about were hushed: neither wind, nor voice, nor bird-call, nor rustle of leaf, nor their own breath could be heard; the very beating of their hearts was stilled. Time halted."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Of course, he possessed the ring for many years, and used it, so it might take a long while for the influence to wear off \u2013 before it was safe for him to see it again, for instance. Otherwise, he might live on for years, quite happily: just stop as he was when he parted with it. For he gave it up in the end of his own accord: an important point. No, I was not troubled about dear Bilbo any more, once he had let the thing go. It is for you that I feel responsible."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin glanced at it as he hurried after Gandalf. It looked mourn- ful, he thought, and he wondered why the dead tree was left in this place where everything else was well tended."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He fled, certainly,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018but not, I think, from Orcs.\u2019 What he thought was the cause of Frodo\u2019s sudden resolve and flight Aragorn did not say. The last words of Boromir he long kept secret."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits opened the barrier and stood aside. \u2018Thank you!\u2019 the Men jeered. \u2018Now run home to bed before you\u2019re whipped.\u2019 Then they marched along the street shouting: \u2018Put those lights out! Get indoors and stay there! Or we\u2019ll take fifty of you to the Lockholes for a year. Get in! The Boss is losing his temper.\u2019 No one paid any heed to their orders; but as the ruffians passed, they closed in quietly behind and followed them. When the Men reached the fire there was Farmer Cotton standing all alone warming his hands."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I can add some more, if you\u2019d like it,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Calling your Chief Names, Wishing to punch his Pimply Face, and Thinking you Shirriffs look a lot of Tom-fools.\u2019 \u2018There now, Mister, that\u2019ll do. It\u2019s the Chief \u2019s orders that you\u2019re to come along quiet. We\u2019re going to take you to Bywater and hand you over to the Chief \u2019s Men; and when he deals with your case you can have your say. But if you don\u2019t want to stay in the Lockholes any longer than you need, I should cut the say short, if I was you.\u2019 To the discomfiture of the Shirriffs Frodo and his companions all roared with laughter. \u2018Don\u2019t be absurd!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I am going where I please, and in my own time. I happen to be going to Bag End on business, but if you insist on going too, well that is your affair.\u2019 \u2018Very well, Mr. Baggins,\u2019 said the leader, pushing the barrier aside."
    },
    {
        "text": "One by one they dimmed, and slowly they drew back. No brightness so deadly had ever afflicted them before. From sun and moon and star they had been safe underground, but now a star had descended into the very earth. Still it approached, and the eyes began to quail."
    },
    {
        "text": "Out east my knowledge fails. Tom is not master of Riders from the Black Land far beyond his country.\u2019 All the same the hobbits wished he was coming with them. They felt that he would know how to deal with Black Riders, if anyone did. They would soon now be going forward into lands wholly strange to them, and beyond all but the most vague and distant legends of the Shire, and in the gathering twilight they longed for home. A deep loneliness and sense of loss was on them. They stood silent, reluctant to make the final parting, and only slowly became aware that Tom was wishing them farewell, and telling them to have good heart and to ride on till dark without halting.the Road you\u2019ll come upon a village, Bree under Bree-hill, with doors looking westward. There you\u2019ll find an old inn that is called The Prancing Pony. Barliman Butterbur is the worthy keeper. There you can stay the night, and afterwards the morning will speed you upon your way. Be bold, but wary! Keep up your merry hearts, and ride to meet your fortune!\u2019 They begged him to come at least as far as the inn and drink once more with them; but he laughed and refused, saying: Tom\u2019s country ends here: he will not pass the borders."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sauron had taken the proffered bait in jaws of steel."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It seems that you are come on the wings of song out of the forgotten days,\u2019 he said. \u2018It shall be, lord, as you command.\u2019 \u2018Well,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018if it has Andu\u00b4ril to keep it company, my axe may stay here, too, without shame\u2019; and he laid it on the floor. \u2018Now then, if all is as you wish, let us go and speak with your master.\u2019 The guard still hesitated. \u2018Your staff,\u2019 he said to Gandalf. \u2018Forgive me, but that too must be left at the doors.\u2019 \u2018Foolishness!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Prudence is one thing, but discour- tesy is another. I am old. If I may not lean on my stick as I go, then I will sit out here, until it pleases The\u00b4oden to hobble out himself to speak with me.\u2019 Aragorn laughed. \u2018Every man has something too dear to trust to another. But would you part an old man from his support? Come, will you not let us enter?\u2019 \u2018The staff in the hand of a wizard may be more than a prop for age,\u2019 said Ha\u00b4ma. He looked hard at the ash-staff on which Gandalf leaned. \u2018Yet in doubt a man of worth will trust to his own wisdom."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s a beautiful morning.\u2019 \u2018What\u2019s beautiful about it?\u2019 said Pippin, peering over the edge of his blanket with one eye. \u2018Sam! Get breakfast ready for half-past nine! Have you got the bath-water hot?\u2019 Sam jumped up, looking rather bleary. \u2018No, sir, I haven\u2019t, sir!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I never expected to see those again! I marked a few orcs with mine; but Uglu\u00b4k took them from us. How he glared! At first I thought he was going to stab me, but he threw the things away as if they burned him.\u2019 \u2018And here also is your brooch, Pippin,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018I have kept it safe, for it is a very precious thing.\u2019 \u2018I know,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018It was a wrench to let it go; but what else could I do?\u2019 \u2018Nothing else,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018One who cannot cast away a treasure at need is in fetters. You did rightly.\u2019 \u2018The cutting of the bands on your wrists, that was smart work!\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Luck served you there; but you seized your chance with both hands, one might say.\u2019 \u2018And set us a pretty riddle,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018I wondered if you had grown wings!\u2019 \u2018Unfortunately not,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018But you did not know about Grishna\u00b4kh.\u2019 He shuddered and said no more, leaving Merry to tell of those last horrible moments: the pawing hands, the hot breath, and the dreadful strength of Grishna\u00b4kh\u2019s hairy arms."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here let them rest!\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018And when their spears have rotted and rusted, long still may their mound stand and guard the Fords of Isen!\u2019 \u2018Is this your work also, Gandalf, my friend?\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018You accomplished much in an evening and a night!\u2019 \u2018With the help of Shadowfax \u2013 and others,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I rode fast and far. But here beside the mound I will say this for your comfort: many fell in the battles of the Fords, but fewer than rumour made them. More were scattered than were slain; I gathered together all that I could find. Some men I sent with Grimbold of Westfold to join Erkenbrand. Some I set to make this burial. They have now followed your marshal, Elfhelm. I sent him with many Riders to Edoras. Saruman I knew had despatched his full strength against you, and his servants had turned aside from all other errands and gone to Helm\u2019s Deep: the lands seemed empty of enemies; yet I feared that wolf-riders and plunderers might ride nonetheless to Meduseld, while it was undefended. But now I think you need not fear: you will find your house to welcome your return.\u2019With that the company said farewell to the island and the mound, and passed over the river, and climbed the further bank. Then they rode on, glad to have left the mournful Fords. As they went the howling of the wolves broke out anew."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But my lord of Rohan, am I to be called a murderer, because valiant men have fallen in battle? If you go to war, needlessly, for I did not desire it, then men will be slain. But if I am a murderer on that account, then all the House of Eorl is stained with murder; for they have fought many wars, and assailed many who defied them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Wood-elves tracked him first, an easy task for them, for his trail was still fresh then. Through Mirkwood and back again it led them, though they never caught him. The wood was full of the rumour of him, dreadful tales even among beasts and birds. The Woodmen said that there was some new terror abroad, a ghost that drank blood. It climbed trees to find nests; it crept into holes to find the young; it slipped through windows to find cradles."
    },
    {
        "text": "One by one they all went dark; they turned away, and a great bulk, beyond the light\u2019s reach, heaved its huge shadow in between. They were gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hour of noon had passed. They were come to the doors ofstone, cracked and splintered into countless jagged shards, was scat- tered far and wide, or piled in ruinous heaps. The great arch still stood, but it opened now upon a roofless chasm: the tunnel was laid bare, and through the cliff-like walls on either side great rents and breaches had been torn; their towers were beaten into dust. If the Great Sea had risen in wrath and fallen on the hills with storm, it could have worked no greater ruin."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sometimes in the silence of that barren country they fancied that they heard faint sounds behind them, a stone falling, or the imagined step of flapping feet on the rock. But if they halted and stood still listening, they heard no more, nothing but the wind sighing over the edges of the stones \u2013 yet even that reminded them of breath softly hissing through sharp teeth."
    },
    {
        "text": "Strider had changed his mind, and had decided to leave Bree by the main road. Any attempt to set off across country at once would only make matters worse: half the inhabitants would follow them, to see what they were up to, and to prevent them from trespassing."
    },
    {
        "text": "Men now raised the king, and laying cloaks upon spear-truncheons they made shift to bear him away towards the City; and others lifted E\u00b4owyn gently up and bore her after him. But the men of the king\u2019sthem. So they laid them apart from their foes and the fell beast and set spears about them. And afterwards when all was over men returned and made a fire there and burned the carcase of the beast; but for Snowmane they dug a grave and set up a stone upon which was carved in the tongues of Gondor and the Mark: Faithful servant yet master\u2019s bane, Lightfoot\u2019s foal, swift Snowmane."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "If I were to tell you all that tale, we should still be sitting here when Spring had passed into Winter."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Raise the Shire!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Now! Wake all our people! They hate all this, you can see: all of them except perhaps one or two rascals, and a few fools that want to be important, but don\u2019t at all understand what is really going on. But Shire-folk have been so comfortable so long they don\u2019t know what to do. They just want a match, though, and they\u2019ll go up in fire. The Chief \u2019s Men must know that. They\u2019ll try to stamp on us and put us out quick. We\u2019ve only got a very short time."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gimli was busy with a small fire near at hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "But all save Legolas said that they must now take their leave and depart either south or west. \u2018Come, Gimli!\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Now by Fangorn\u2019s leave I will visit the deep places of the Entwood and see such trees as are nowhere else to be found in Middle-earth. You shall come with me and keep your word; and thus we will journey on together to our own lands in Mirkwood and beyond.\u2019 To this Gimli agreed, though with no great delight, it seemed."
    },
    {
        "text": "But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Du\u00b4nedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king. No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the undead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will."
    },
    {
        "text": "The next will be greater. This war then is without final hope, as Denethor perceived. Victory cannot be achieved by arms, whether you sit here to endure siege after siege, or march out to be over- whelmed beyond the River. You have only a choice of evils; and prudence would counsel you to strengthen such strong places as you have, and there await the onset; for so shall the time before your end be made a little longer.\u2019 \u2018Then you would have us retreat to Minas Tirith, or Dol Amroth, or to Dunharrow, and there sit like children on sand-castles when the tide is flowing?\u2019 said Imrahil."
    },
    {
        "text": "At length they stirred and looked up, and began to search for anything that would give them tidings of Balin\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "They found that they were looking at a most extraordinary face."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have not heard that it was the fault of the Elves,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Light, light of Sun and Moon, he still feared and hated, and he always will, I think; but he was cunning. He found he could hide from daylight and moonshine, and make his way swiftly and softly by dead of night with his pale cold eyes, and catch small frightened or unwary things. He grew stronger and bolder with new food and new air. He found his way into Mirkwood, as one would expect.\u2019 \u2018Is that where you found him?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Day came, and the fallow sun blinked over the lifeless ridges of Ered Lithui. Then suddenly the cry of brazen-throated trumpets was heard: from the watch-towers they blared, and far away from hidden holds and outposts in the hills came answering calls; and further still, remote but deep and ominous, there echoed in the hollow land beyond the mighty horns and drums of Barad-du\u02c6r. Another dreadful day of fear and toil had come to Mordor; and the night-guards were summoned to their dungeons and deep halls, and the day-guards, evil-eyed and fell, were marching to their posts. Steel gleamed dimly on the battlement."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come on, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 he whispered. \u2018One more crawl, and then you can lie still.\u2019 With a last despairing effort Frodo raised himself on his hands, and struggled on for maybe twenty yards. Then he pitched down into a shallow pit that opened unexpectedly before them, and there he lay like a dead thing.Chapter 3 MOUNT DOOM Sam put his ragged orc-cloak under his master\u2019s head, and covered them both with the grey robe of Lo\u00b4 rien; and as he did so his thoughts went out to that fair land, and to the Elves, and he hoped that the cloth woven by their hands might have some virtue to keep them hidden beyond all hope in this wilderness of fear. He heard the scuffling and cries die down as the troops passed on through the Isenmouthe. It seemed that in the confusion and the mingling of many companies of various kinds they had not been missed, not yet at any rate."
    },
    {
        "text": "Let us understand one another, and dismiss from thought these lesser folk! Let them wait on our decisions! For the common good I am willing to redress the past, and to receive you. Will you not consult with me? Will you not come up?\u2019 So great was the power that Saruman exerted in this last effort that none that stood within hearing were unmoved. But now the spell waswhollydifferent.Theyheardthegentleremonstranceofakindlyor stupid servants overhearing the elusive discourse of their elders, and wondering how it would affect their lot. Of loftier mould these two were made: reverend and wise. It was inevitable that they should make alliance. Gandalf would ascend into the tower, to discuss deep things beyond their comprehension in the high chambers of Orthanc."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018At his command they fell back. \u2018\u2018Even the shades of Men are obedient to his will,\u2019\u2019 I thought. \u2018\u2018They may serve his needs yet!\u2019\u2019 \u2018One day of light we rode, and then came the day without dawn, and still we rode on, and Ciril and Ringlo\u00b4 we crossed; and on the third day we came to Linhir above the mouth of Gilrain. And there men of Lamedon contested the fords with fell folk of Umbar and Harad who had sailed up the river. But defenders and foes alike gave up the battle and fled when we came, crying out that the King of the Dead was upon them. Only Angbor, Lord of Lamedon, had the heart to abide us; and Aragorn bade him gather his folk and come behind, if they dared, when the Grey Host had passed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Day was waning. In the last rays of the sun the Riders cast long pointed shadows that went on before them. Darkness had already crept beneath the murmuring fir-woods that clothed the steep moun- tain-sides. The king rode now slowly at the end of the day. Presently the path turned round a huge bare shoulder of rock and plunged into the gloom of soft-sighing trees. Down, down they went in a long winding file. When at last they came to the bottom of the gorge they found that evening had fallen in the deep places. The sun was gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Alas!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Thus passes the heir of Denethor, Lord of the Tower of Guard! This is a bitter end. Now the Company is all in ruin. It is I that have failed. Vain was Gandalf \u2019s trust in me. What shall I do now? Boromir has laid it on me to go to Minas Tirith, and my heart desires it; but where are the Ring and the Bearer? How shall I find them and save the Quest from disaster?\u2019 He knelt for a while, bent with weeping, still clasping Boromir\u2019s hand. So it was that Legolas and Gimli found him. They came from the western slopes of the hill, silently, creeping through the trees as if they were hunting. Gimli had his axe in hand, and Legolas his long knife: all his arrows were spent. When they came into the glade they halted in amazement; and then they stood a moment with heads bowed in grief, for it seemed to them plain what had happened."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Go!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But keep what honour you may, and do not run! And there is a task which you may attempt and so be not wholly shamed. Take your way south-west till you come to Cair Andros, and if that is still held by enemies, as I think, then re-take it, if you can; and hold it to the last in defence of Gondor and Rohan!\u2019 Then some being shamed by his mercy overcame their fear and went on, and the others took new hope, hearing of a manful deed within their measure that they could turn to, and they departed. And so, since many men had already been left at the Cross-roads, it was with less than six thousands that the Captains of the West came atThey advanced now slowly, expecting at every hour some answer to their challenge, and they drew together, since it was but waste of men to send out scouts or small parties from the main host. At nightfall of the fifth day of the march from Morgul Vale they made their last camp, and set fires about it of such dead wood and heath as they could find. They passed the hours of night in wakefulness and they were aware of many things half-seen that walked and prowled all about them, and they heard the howling of wolves. The wind had died and all the air seemed still. They could see little, for though it was cloudless and the waxing moon was four nights old, there were smokes and fumes that rose out of the earth and the white crescent was shrouded in the mists of Mordor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Helm! Helm!\u2019 the Riders shouted. \u2018Helm is arisen and comes back to war. Helm for The\u00b4oden King!\u2019 And with that shout the king came. His horse was white as snow, golden was his shield, and his spear was long. At his right hand was Aragorn, Elendil\u2019s heir, behind him rode the lords of the House of Eorl the Young. Light sprang in the sky. Night departed.drove through the hosts of Isengard as a wind among grass. Behind them from the Deep came the stern cries of men issuing from the caves, driving forth the enemy. Out poured all the men that were left upon the Rock. And ever the sound of blowing horns echoed in the hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "That night drew to its end, but clouds were now over moon and star, and they knew of the coming of day only by the slow spreading of the thin grey light."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hoom, hm, I have not troubled about the Great Wars,\u2019 said Treebeard; \u2018they mostly concern Elves and Men. That is the business of Wizards: Wizards are always troubled about the future. I do not like worrying about the future. I am not altogether on anybody\u2019s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me: nobody cares for the woods as I care for them, not even Elves now- adays. Still, I take more kindly to Elves than to others: it was the Elves that cured us of dumbness long ago, and that was a great gift that cannot be forgotten, though our ways have parted since. And there are some things, of course, whose side I am altogether not on; I am against them altogether: these \u2013 bura\u00b4rum\u2019 (he again made a deep rumble of disgust) \u2018\u2014\u2014these Orcs, and their masters.is a long way away. But it seems that the wind is setting East, and the withering of all woods may be drawing near. There is naught that an old Ent can do to hold back that storm: he must weather it or crack."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly, as Shagrat was stooped over the battlement, his back to the roof-top, Sam to his amazement saw that one of the sprawling bodies was moving. It was crawling. It put out a claw and clutched the bundle. It staggered up. In its other hand it held a broad-headed spear with a short broken haft. It was poised for a stabbing thrust."
    },
    {
        "text": "Brandybuck lying by the roadside. He seemed to be asleep. \u2018\u2018I thought I had fallen into deep water,\u2019\u2019 he says to me, when I shook him. Very queer he was, and as soon as I had roused him, he got up and ran back here like a hare.\u2019 \u2018I am afraid that\u2019s true,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018though I don\u2019t know what I said. I had an ugly dream, which I can\u2019t remember. I went to pieces."
    },
    {
        "text": "Only too clearly Sam saw how hopeless it would be for him to creep down under those many-eyed walls and pass the watchful gate."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018At \u2019em, lads!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Let \u2019em have it!\u2019 With a long knife in his left hand and a club in the other he made a rush at the ring, trying to burst out back towards Hobbiton. He aimed a savage blow at Merry who stood in his way. He fell dead with four arrows in him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Quickly?\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018Hoom! Yes, indeed. Quicker than I expected. Indeed I have not seen them roused like this for many an age. We Ents do not like being roused; and we never are roused unless it is clear to us that our trees and our lives are in great danger."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018I don\u2019t care,\u2019\u2019 said De\u00b4agol. \u2018\u2018I have given you a present already, more than I could afford. I found this, and I\u2019m going to keep it.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Oh, are you indeed, my love,\u2019\u2019 said Sme\u00b4agol; and he caught De\u00b4agol by the throat and strangled him, because the gold looked so bright and beautiful. Then he put the ring on his finger."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 Nu\u00b4menor."
    },
    {
        "text": "But he thought of Pippin and the flames in Minas Tirith and thrust down his own dread."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 he said, a little louder. The voice stopped."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018When Saruman was safe back in Orthanc, it was not long before he set some of his precious machinery to work. By that time there were many Ents inside Isengard: some had followed Quickbeam, and others had burst in from the north and east; they were roaming about and doing a great deal of damage. Suddenly up came fires and foul fumes: the vents and shafts all over the plain began to spout and belch. Several of the Ents got scorched and blistered. One of them, Beechbone I think he was called, a very tall handsome Ent, got caught in a spray of some liquid fire and burned like a torch: a horrible sight."
    },
    {
        "text": "Dusk came. They passed away, grey shadows in a stony land.Chapter 2 THE RIDERS OF ROHAN Dusk deepened. Mist lay behind them among the trees below, and brooded on the pale margins of the Anduin, but the sky was clear."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Maybe, we have a thousand fit to fight on foot,\u2019 said Gamling,son here. What news of Erkenbrand? Word came yesterday that he was retreating hither with all that is left of the best Riders of Westfold."
    },
    {
        "text": "Faramir smiled, though his heart was filled with pity. \u2018Your window does not look eastward?\u2019 he said. \u2018That can be amended. In this I will command the Warden. If you will stay in this house in our care, lady, and take your rest, then you shall walk in this garden in the sun, as you will; and you shall look east, whither all our hopes have gone. And here you will find me, walking and waiting, and also looking east. It would ease my care, if you would speak to me, or walk at whiles with me.\u2019 Then she raised her head and looked him in the eyes again; and a colour came in her pale face. \u2018How should I ease your care, my lord?\u2019 she said. \u2018And I do not desire the speech of living men.\u2019 \u2018Would you have my plain answer?\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Rain may fall and wind may blow, And many miles be still to go, But under a tall tree I will lie, And let the clouds go sailing by."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The secret will not reach the Enemy from us,\u2019 said Gildor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The rain has ended,\u2019 she said; \u2018and new waters are running down- hill, under the stars. Let us now laugh and be glad!\u2019 \u2018And let us have food and drink!\u2019 cried Tom. \u2018Long tales are thirsty."
    },
    {
        "text": "High in the blue air Mount Mindolluin lifted its white helm and snowy cloak. Armed men went to and fro in the ways of the City, as if going at the striking of the hour to changes of post and duty."
    },
    {
        "text": "Oliphaunt am I, Biggest of all, Huge, old, and tall."
    },
    {
        "text": "After the feast (more or less) came the Speech. Most of the com-favourite drinks, and nibbling at their favourite dainties, and their fears were forgotten. They were prepared to listen to anything, and to cheer at every full stop."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Could we not still send messages to him and obtain his help?\u2019 asked Erestor. \u2018It seems that he has a power even over the Ring.\u2019 \u2018No, I should not put it so,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Say rather that the Ring has no power over him. He is his own master. But he cannot alter the Ring itself, nor break its power over others. And now he is withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can see them, waiting perhaps for a change of days, and he will not step beyond them.\u2019 \u2018But within those bounds nothing seems to dismay him,\u2019 said Erestor. \u2018Would he not take the Ring and keep it there, for ever harmless?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018not willingly. He might do so, if all the free folk of the world begged him, but he would not understand the need."
    },
    {
        "text": "After much wandering and search they found a way that they could climb, and with a last hundred feet of clawing scramble they were up. They came to a cleft between two dark crags, and passing through foundthemselvesontheveryedgeofthelastfenceofMordor.BelowThe wind of the world blew now from the West, and the great clouds were lifted high, floating away eastward; but still only a grey light came to the dreary fields of Gorgoroth. There smokes trailed on the ground and lurked in hollows, and fumes leaked from fissures in the earth."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 were tired and sleepy, and their hearts were as gloomy as the dying day."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s going to be thick,\u2019 said Maggot; \u2018but I\u2019ll not light my lanterns till I turn for home. We\u2019ll hear anything on the road long before we meet it tonight.\u2019 It was five miles or more from Maggot\u2019s lane to the Ferry. The hobbits wrapped themselves up, but their ears were strained for any sound above the creak of the wheels and the slow clop of the ponies\u2019 hoofs. The waggon seemed slower than a snail to Frodo. Beside him Pippin was nodding towards sleep; but Sam was staring forwards into the rising fog."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t \u2019ee like it, Sam?\u2019 he sneered. \u2018But you always was soft. I thought you\u2019d gone off in one o\u2019 them ships you used to prattle about, sailing, sailing. What d\u2019you want to come back for? We\u2019ve work to do in the Shire now.\u2019 \u2018So I see,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018No time for washing, but time for wall- propping. But see here, Master Sandyman, I\u2019ve a score to pay in this village, and don\u2019t you make it any longer with your jeering, or you\u2019ll foot a bill too big for your purse.\u2019 Ted Sandyman spat over the wall. \u2018Garn!\u2019 he said. \u2018You can\u2019t touch me. I\u2019m a friend o\u2019 the Boss\u2019s. But he\u2019ll touch you all right, if I have any more of your mouth.\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t waste any more words on the fool, Sam!\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now the guests were ready, and they drank the stirrup-cup, and with great praise and friendship they departed, and came at length to Helm\u2019s Deep, and there they rested two days. Then Legolas repaid his promise to Gimli and went with him to the Glittering Caves; and when they returned he was silent, and would say only that Gimli alone could find fit words to speak of them. \u2018And never before has a Dwarf claimed a victory over an Elf in a contest of words,\u2019 said he."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They will make it yet. They will escape,\u2019 thought Pippin. And then he managed to twist his neck, so as to glance back with one eye over his shoulder. He saw that riders away eastward were already level with the Orcs, galloping over the plain. The sunset gilded their spears and helmets, and glinted in their pale flowing hair. They were hemming the Orcs in, preventing them from scattering, and driving them along the line of the river."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No one ever has luck in there. You\u2019ll get lost. People don\u2019t go in there.\u2019 \u2018Oh yes they do!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018The Brandybucks go in \u2013 occasion- ally when the fit takes them. We have a private entrance. Frodo went in once, long ago. I have been in several times: usually in daylight, of course, when the trees are sleepy and fairly quiet.\u2019 \u2018Well, do as you think best!\u2019 said Fredegar. \u2018I am more afraid ofthe journey. Still, I am very glad someone is stopping behind, who can tell Gandalf what you have done, when he turns up, as I am sure he will before long.\u2019 Fond as he was of Frodo, Fatty Bolger had no desire to leave the Shire, nor to see what lay outside it. His family came from the Eastfarthing, from Budgeford in Bridgefields in fact, but he had never been over the Brandywine Bridge. His task, according to the original plans of the conspirators, was to stay behind and deal with inquisitive folk, and to keep up as long as possible the pretence that Mr. Baggins was still living at Crickhollow. He had even brought along some old clothes of Frodo\u2019s to help him in playing the part. They little thought how dangerous that part might prove."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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 Lothlo\u00b4rien. There was little speechThe 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\u2019s 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, some- times seizing a paddle and driving the boat close behind Aragorn\u2019s."
    },
    {
        "text": "But if Saruman has become evil, as you say, then their doom cannot be long delayed.\u2019\u2019 \u2018He set me down in the land of Rohan ere dawn; and now I have lengthened my tale over long. The rest must be more brief. In Rohan I found evil already at work: the lies of Saruman; and the king of the land would not listen to my warnings. He bade me take a horse and be gone; and I chose one much to my liking, but little to his. I took the best horse in his land, and I have never seen the like of him.\u2019 \u2018Then he must be a noble beast indeed,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018and it grieves me more than many tidings that might seem worse to learn that Sauron levies such tribute. It was not so when last I was in that land.\u2019 \u2018Nor is it now, I will swear,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018It is a lie that comes from the Enemy. I know the Men of Rohan, true and valiant, our allies, dwelling still in the lands that we gave them long ago.\u2019 \u2018The shadow of Mordor lies on distant lands,\u2019 answered Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 vanished, and Frodo sighed and prepared to draw away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, lord. Many have seen an old man in white upon a horse, passing hither and thither over the plains like wind in the grass. Some thought he was Saruman. It is said that he went away ere nightfall towards Isengard. Some say also that Wormtongue was seen earlier, going northward with a company of Orcs.\u2019 \u2018It will go ill with Wormtongue, if Gandalf comes upon him,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Nonetheless I miss now both my counsellors, the old and the new. But in this need we have no better choice than to go on, as Gandalf said, to Helm\u2019s Gate, whether Erkenbrand be there or no. Is it known how great is the host that comes from the North?\u2019 \u2018It is very great,\u2019 said the scout. \u2018He that flies counts every foeman twice, yet I have spoken to stouthearted men, and I do not doubt that the main strength of the enemy is many times as great as all that we have here.\u2019 \u2018Then let us be swift,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018Let us drive through such foes as are already between us and the fastness. There are caves in Helm\u2019s Deep where hundreds may lie hid; and secret ways lead thence up on to the hills.\u2019 \u2018Trust not to secret ways,\u2019 said the king. \u2018Saruman has long spied out this land. Still in that place our defence may last long. Let us go!\u2019their way climbed southward, higher and higher into the dim folds about the mountains\u2019 feet. They found few of the enemy before them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their lord was dead and burned, dead lay the King of Rohan in their citadel, and the new king that had come to them in the night was gone again to a war with powers too dark and terrible for any might or valour to conquer. And no news came. After the host left Morgul Vale and took the northward road beneath the shadow of the moun- tains no messenger had returned nor any rumour of what was passing in the brooding East."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He wandered in loneliness, weeping a little for the hardness of the world, and he journeyed up the River, till he came to a stream that flowed down from the mountains, and he went that way. He caught fish in deep pools with invisible fingers and ate them raw."
    },
    {
        "text": "Follow Sme\u00b4agol very carefully, and you may go a long way, quite aIt was already day, a windless and sullen morning, and the marsh- reeks lay in heavy banks. No sun pierced the low clouded sky, and Gollum seemed anxious to continue the journey at once. So after a brief rest they set out again and were soon lost in a shadowy silent world, cut off from all view of the lands about, either the hills that they had left or the mountains that they sought. They went slowly in single file: Gollum, Sam, Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Your rope might prove useful again, Sam,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hullo, Sam!\u2019 he said. \u2018Not resting? Is anything wrong? What is the time?\u2019 \u2018About a couple of hours after daybreak,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018and nigh on half past eight by Shire clocks, maybe. But nothing\u2019s wrong. Though it ain\u2019t quite what I\u2019d call right: no stock, no onions, no taters. I\u2019ve got a bit of a stew for you, and some broth, Mr. Frodo. Do you good. You\u2019ll have to sup it in your mug; or straight from the pan, when it\u2019s cooled a bit. I haven\u2019t brought no bowls, nor nothing proper.\u2019 Frodo yawned and stretched. \u2018You should have been resting, Sam,\u2019 he said. \u2018And lighting a fire was dangerous in these parts. But I do feel hungry. Hmm! Can I smell it from here? What have you stewed?\u2019 \u2018A present from Sme\u00b4agol,\u2019 said Sam: \u2018a brace o\u2019 young coneys; though I fancy Gollum\u2019s regretting them now. But there\u2019s naught to go with them but a few herbs.\u2019 Sam and his master sat just within the fern-brake and ate their stew from the pans, sharing the old fork and spoon. They allowed them- selves half a piece of the Elvish waybread each. It seemed a feast."
    },
    {
        "text": "The burden must lie now upon you and your kindred.\u2019 \u2018But I shall die,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018For I am a mortal man, and though being what I am and of the race of the West unmingled, I shall have life far longer than other men, yet that is but a little while; and when those who are now in the wombs of women are born and have grown old, I too shall grow old. And who then shall govern Gondor and those who look to this City as to their queen, if my desire be not granted? The Tree in the Court of the Fountain is still withered and barren. When shall I see a sign that it will ever be otherwise?\u2019 \u2018Turn your face from the green world, and look where all seems barren and cold!\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Queer things you do hear these days, to be sure,\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018In the house of Elrond, and it is ten o\u2019clock in the morning,\u2019 said a voice. \u2018It is the morning of October the twenty-fourth, if you want to know.\u2019 \u2018Gandalf !\u2019 cried Frodo, sitting up. There was the old wizard, sitting in a chair by the open window."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo laughed. \u2018Who tied the rope?\u2019 he said. \u2018A good thing it held as long as it did! To think that I trusted all my weight to your knot!\u2019 Sam did not laugh. \u2018I may not be much good at climbing, Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "The gate opened and three huge dogs came pelting out into the lane, and dashed towards the travellers, barking fiercely. They took no notice of Pippin; but Sam shrank against the wall, while two wolvish- looking dogs sniffed at him suspiciously, and snarled if he moved."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We fought far under the living earth, where time is not counted."
    },
    {
        "text": "They rode off along a path that wound away from behind the house, and went slanting up towards the north end of the hill-brow under which it sheltered. They had just dismounted to lead their ponies up the last steep slope, when suddenly Frodo stopped."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "And then at last over the miles between there came a rumble, rising to a deafening crash and roar; the earth shook, the plain heaved and cracked, and Orodruin reeled. Fire belched from its riven summit."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Up you come, Sam my lad!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Now take my hand!\u2019 \u2018Save me, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 gasped Sam. \u2018I\u2019m drownded. I can\u2019t see your hand.\u2019 \u2018Here it is. Don\u2019t pinch, lad! I won\u2019t let you go. Tread water and don\u2019t flounder, or you\u2019ll upset the boat. There now, get hold of the side, and let me use the paddle!\u2019 With a few strokes Frodo brought the boat back to the bank, and Sam was able to scramble out, wet as a water-rat. Frodo took off the Ring and stepped ashore again."
    },
    {
        "text": "But I can\u2019t keep awake any longer. If I yawn any more, I shall split at the ears. Good night!\u2019 Pippin said no more. He lay still now, but sleep remained far away; and it was not encouraged by the sound of Merry breathing softly, asleep in a few minutes after saying good night. The thought of the dark globe seemed to grow stronger as all grew quiet. Pippin felt again its weight in his hands, and saw again the mysterious red depths into which he had looked for a moment. He tossed and turned and tried to think of something else."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nor when the riddling words of our dream were debated among us, did I think of Isildur\u2019s Bane as being this same thing. For Isildur was ambushed and slain by orc-arrows, according to the only legend that we knew, and Mithrandir had never told me more."
    },
    {
        "text": "There might have been some grumbling about \u2018dealing locally\u2019, but that very week orders began to pour out of Bag End for every kind of provision, commodity, or luxury that could be obtained in Hobbi- ton or Bywater or anywhere in the neighbourhood. People became enthusiastic; and they began to tick off the days on the calendar; and they watched eagerly for the postman, hoping for invitations."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018How comes this?\u2019 said The\u00b4oden sternly. He turned towards E\u00b4 omer, and the men looked in wonder at him, standing now proud and erect. Where was the old man whom they had left crouching in his chair or leaning on his stick? \u2018It is my doing, lord,\u2019 said Ha\u00b4ma, trembling. \u2018I understood that E\u00b4omer was to be set free. Such joy was in my heart that maybe I have erred. Yet, since he was free again, and he a Marshal of the Mark, I brought him his sword as he bade me.\u2019 \u2018To lay at your feet, my lord,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last they were brought to a halt. The ridge took a sharper bend northward and was gashed by a deeper ravine. On the further side it reared up again, many fathoms at a single leap: a great grey cliff loomed before them, cut sheer down as if by a knife stroke. They could go no further forwards, and must turn now either west or east."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am not a tree-root, Sir,\u2019 he said, \u2018nor a bag, but a bruised hobbit."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is there no deed to do?\u2019 she said. \u2018Who commands in this City?\u2019 \u2018I do not rightly know,\u2019 he answered. \u2018Such things are not my care."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t,\u2019 said Gandalf grimly. \u2018It is some time since I last heard the sound of your shears. How long have you been eavesdropping?\u2019 \u2018Eavesdropping, sir? I don\u2019t follow you, begging your pardon."
    },
    {
        "text": "I should like a tale in the right order, starting with that strange day when our fellowship was broken.\u2019 \u2018You shall have it, if there is time,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018But first \u2013 if you have finished eating \u2013 you shall fill your pipes and light up. And then for a little while we can pretend that we are all back safe at Bree again, or in Rivendell.\u2019 He produced a small leather bag full of tobacco. \u2018We have heaps of it,\u2019 he said; \u2018and you can all pack as much as you wish, when we go. We did some salvage-work this morning, Pippin and I. There are lots of things floating about. It was Pippin who found two small barrels, washed up out of some cellar or store-house, I suppose."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Stand still!\u2019 he whispered to the others. \u2018Do not move or speak!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have found many of our folk lying slain as they fled thither,\u2019 said the scout. \u2018And we have met scattered companies, going this way and that, leaderless. What has become of Erkenbrand none seem to know. It is likely that he will be overtaken ere he can reach Helm\u2019s Gate, if he has not already perished.\u2019 \u2018Has aught been seen of Gandalf ?\u2019 asked The\u00b4oden."
    },
    {
        "text": "This is only a small selection of the assembled presents. Bilbo\u2019s residence had got rather cluttered up with things in the course of his long life. It was a tendency of hobbit-holes to get cluttered up: for which the custom of giving so many birthday-presents was largely responsible. Not, of course, that the birthday-presents were always new; there were one or two old mathoms of forgotten uses that had circulated all around the district; but Bilbo had usually given newEvery one of the various parting gifts had labels, written out per- sonally by Bilbo, and several had some point, or some joke. But, of course, most of the things were given where they would be wanted and welcome. The poorer hobbits, and especially those of Bagshot Row, did very well. Old Gaffer Gamgee got two sacks of potatoes, a new spade, a woollen waistcoat, and a bottle of ointment for creak- ing joints. Old Rory Brandybuck, in return for much hospitality, got a dozen bottles of Old Winyards: a strong red wine from the Southfarthing, and now quite mature, as it had been laid down by Bilbo\u2019s father. Rory quite forgave Bilbo, and voted him a capital fellow after the first bottle."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly Tom\u2019s talk left the woods and went leaping up the young stream, over bubbling waterfalls, over pebbles and worn rocks, and among small flowers in close grass and wet crannies, wandering at last up on to the Downs. They heard of the Great Barrows, and the green mounds, and the stone-rings upon the hills and in the hollows among the hills. Sheep were bleating in flocks. Green walls and white walls rose. There were fortresses on the heights. Kings of little king- doms fought together, and the young Sun shone like fire on the red metal of their new and greedy swords. There was victory and defeat; and towers fell, fortresses were burned, and flames went up into the sky. Gold was piled on the biers of dead kings and queens; and mounds covered them, and the stone doors were shut; and the grass grew over all. Sheep walked for a while biting the grass, but soon the hills were empty again. A shadow came out of dark places far away, and the bones were stirred in the mounds. Barrow-wights walked in the hollow places with a clink of rings on cold fingers, and gold chains in the wind. Stone rings grinned out of the ground like broken teeth in the moonlight."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is plain enough,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018If you are a friend, speak the password, and the doors will open, and you can enter.\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018these doors are probably governed by words."
    },
    {
        "text": "Do you understand? Everything!\u2019 He cowered on the floor again with bowed head, as his own words brought home to him the fullness of the disaster, and despair overwhelmed him. \u2018The quest has failed, Sam. Even if we get out of here, we can\u2019t escape. Only Elves can escape. Away, away out of Middle-earth, far away over the Sea. If even that is wide enough to keep the Shadow out.\u2019 \u2018No, not everything, Mr. Frodo. And it hasn\u2019t failed, not yet. I took it, Mr. Frodo, begging your pardon. And I\u2019ve kept it safe. It\u2019s round my neck now, and a terrible burden it is, too.\u2019 Sam fumbled for the Ring and its chain. \u2018But I suppose you must take it back.\u2019 Now it had come to it, Sam felt reluctant to give up the Ring and burden his master with it again."
    },
    {
        "text": "But you will first surrender to me the Key of Orthanc, and your staff."
    },
    {
        "text": "He had brought many men with him; indeed all the survivors of the foray were now gathered on the slope nearby, two or three hundred strong. They sat in a wide semicircle, between the arms of which Faramir was seated on the ground, while Frodo stood before him. It looked strangely like the trial of a prisoner."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Cirith Ungol? Morgul Vale?\u2019 he said. \u2018The time, Faramir, the time? When did you part with them? When would they reach that accursed valley?\u2019 \u2018I parted with them in the morning two days ago,\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "In a few moments they had shouldered their packs again and were off."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am named Beregond son of Baranor. I have no duty this morn- ing, and I have been sent to you to teach you the pass-words, and to tell you some of the many things that no doubt you will wish to know. And for my part, I would learn of you also. For never before have we seen a halfling in this land and though we have heard rumour of them, little is said of them in any tale that we know. Moreover you are a friend of Mithrandir. Do you know him well?\u2019 \u2018Well,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I have known of him all my short life, as you might say; and lately I have travelled far with him. But there is much to read in that book, and I cannot claim to have seen more than a\u2018Aragorn?\u2019 said Beregond. \u2018Who is he?\u2019 \u2018Oh,\u2019 stammered Pippin, \u2018he was a man who went about with us."
    },
    {
        "text": "Wonderful folk, Elves, sir! Wonderful!\u2019 \u2018They are,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Do you like them still, now you have had a closer view?\u2019 \u2018They seem a bit above my likes and dislikes, so to speak,\u2019 answered Sam slowly. \u2018It don\u2019t seem to matter what I think about them. They are quite different from what I expected \u2013 so old and young, and so gay and sad, as it were.\u2019 Frodo looked at Sam rather startled, half expecting to see some outward sign of the odd change that seemed to have come over him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Half-grown hobbits, the hole-dwellers."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It may be well enough for this lord of the race of Gondor, as he claims,\u2019 he said, \u2018but who has heard of a horse of the Mark being given to a Dwarf ?\u2019 \u2018No one,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018And do not trouble: no one will ever hear of it. I would sooner walk than sit on the back of any beast so great, free or begrudged.\u2019 \u2018But you must ride now, or you will hinder us,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Swine is it? How do you folk like being called swine by the muck- rakers of a dirty little wizard? It\u2019s orc-flesh they eat, I\u2019ll warrant.\u2019 Manyloudyellsinorc-speechansweredhim,andtheringingclashthe twilight he saw a large black Orc, probably Uglu\u00b4k, standing facing Grishna\u00b4kh, a short crook-legged creature, very broad and with long arms that hung almost to the ground. Round them were many smaller goblins. Pippin supposed that these were the ones from the North."
    },
    {
        "text": "They hastened up the last slope, and stood breathless beside her."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I pass the test,\u2019 she said. \u2018I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.\u2019 They stood for a long while in silence. At length the Lady spoke again. \u2018Let us return!\u2019 she said. \u2018In the morning you must depart, for now we have chosen, and the tides of fate are flowing.\u2019 \u2018I would ask one thing before we go,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018a 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?\u2019 \u2018You have not tried,\u2019 she said. \u2018Only thrice have you set the Ring upon your finger since you knew what you possessed. Do not try! It would destroy you. Did not Gandalf 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?\u2019 she asked turning again to Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "Stay then! But I warn you, you will not easily come out again. Not unless the dark hands of the East stretch out to take you. Saruman!\u2019 he cried, and his voice grew in power and authority. \u2018Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey, whom you betrayed. I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death. You have no colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council.\u2019 He raised his hand, and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "For the other Companions steeds were furnished according toGondor; and Legolas and Gimli as ever rode together upon Arod."
    },
    {
        "text": "The night was barred with long clouds, fleeting on a chill wind, when they arose again. Under the cold moon they went on once more, as swift as by the light of day."
    },
    {
        "text": "E\u00b4omer and Aragorn stood together on the Deeping Wall. They heard the roar of voices and the thudding of the rams; and then in a sudden flash of light they beheld the peril of the gates."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was Sam\u2019s first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man\u2019s name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace \u2013 all in a flash of thought which was quickly driven from his mind. For just as Mablung stepped towards the fallen body, there was a new noise. Great crying and shouting. Amidst it Sam heard a shrill bellowing or trumpeting. And then a great thudding and bumping, like huge rams dinning on the ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branchingO Lo\u00b4rien! The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day; The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I would gladly learn how this creeping Sme\u00b4agol became possessed of the Thing of which we speak, and how he lost it, but I will not trouble you now. If ever beyond hope you return to the lands of the living and we re-tell our tales, sitting by a wall in the sun, laughing at old grief, you shall tell me then. Until that time, or some other time beyond the vision of the Seeing-stones of Nu\u00b4 menor, farewell!\u2019 He rose and bowed low to Frodo, and drawing the curtain passed out into the cave.Chapter 7 JOURNEY TO THE CROSS-ROADS Frodo and Sam returned to their beds and lay there in silence resting for a little, while men bestirred themselves and the business of the day began. After a while water was brought to them, and then they were led to a table where food was set for three. Faramir broke his fast with them. He had not slept since the battle on the day before, yet he did not look weary."
    },
    {
        "text": "As if to his eyes some sudden vision had been given, Gandalf stirred; and he turned, looking back north where the skies were pale and clear. Then he lifted up his hands and cried in a loud voice ringing above the din: The Eagles are coming! And many voices answered crying: The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming! The hosts of Mordor looked up and wondered what this sign might mean."
    },
    {
        "text": "The blade was notched."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A bath!\u2019 cried Pippin. \u2018O blessed Meriadoc!\u2019 \u2018Which order shall we go in?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Eldest first, or quickest first? You\u2019ll be last either way, Master Peregrin.\u2019 \u2018Trust me to arrange things better than that!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We can\u2019t begin life at Crickhollow with a quarrel over baths. In that room there are three tubs, and a copper full of boiling water. There are also towels, mats and soap. Get inside, and be quick!\u2019 Merry and Fatty went into the kitchen on the other side of the passage, and busied themselves with the final preparations for a late supper. Snatches of competing songs came from the bathroom mixed with the sound of splashing and wallowing. The voice of Pippin was suddenly lifted up above the others in one of Bilbo\u2019s favourite bath-songs."
    },
    {
        "text": "The rocks and stones are like old bones all bare of meat."
    },
    {
        "text": "I wandered in Summer in the elm-woods of Ossiriand."
    },
    {
        "text": "What are you, I wonder? I cannot place you. You do not seem to come in the old lists that I learned when I was young. But that was a long, long time ago, and they may have made new lists. Let me see! Let me see! How did it go? Learn now the lore of Living Creatures! First name the four, the free peoples: Eldest of all, the elf-children; Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses; Ent the earthborn, old as mountains; Man the mortal, master of horses: Hm, hm, hm."
    },
    {
        "text": "A porter sat in a little house beside the way, and with fear in his eyes he came forth bearing a lantern in his hand. At the Lord\u2019s command he unlocked the door, and silently it swung back; and they passed through, taking the lantern from his hand. It was dark on the climbing road between ancient walls and many-pillared balusters looming in the swaying lantern-beam. Their slow feet echoed as they walked down, down, until at last they came to the Silent Street, Rath D\u00b4\u0131nen, between pale domes and empty halls and images of men long dead; and they entered into the House of the Stewards and set down their burden."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The\u00b4oden King,\u2019 they answered. \u2018He is dead. But E\u00b4omer King now rides in the battle: he with the white crest in the wind.\u2019 Then the prince went from his horse, and knelt by the bier in honour of the king and his great onset; and he wept. And rising he looked then on E\u00b4 owyn and was amazed. \u2018Surely, here is a woman?\u2019 he said. \u2018Have even the women of the Rohirrim come to war in our need?\u2019 \u2018Nay! One only,\u2019 they answered. \u2018The Lady E\u00b4 owyn is she, sister of E\u00b4 omer; and we knew naught of her riding until this hour, and greatly we rue it.\u2019 Then the prince seeing her beauty, though her face was pale and cold, touched her hand as he bent to look more closely on her. \u2018Men of Rohan!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Are there no leeches among you? She is hurt, to the death maybe, but I deem that she yet lives.\u2019 And he held the bright-burnished vambrace that was upon his arm before her cold lips, and behold! a little mist was laid on it hardly to be seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "If you never do, You won\u2019t think I\u2019m true; But old Oliphaunt am I, And I never lie.\u2018That,\u2019 said Sam, when he had finished reciting, \u2018that\u2019s a rhyme we have in the Shire. Nonsense maybe, and maybe not. But we have our tales too, and news out of the South, you know. In the old days hobbits used to go on their travels now and again. Not that many ever came back, and not that all they said was believed: news from Bree, and not sure as Shiretalk, as the sayings go. But I\u2019ve heard tales of the big folk down away in the Sunlands. Swertings we call \u2019em in our tales; and they ride on oliphaunts, \u2019tis said, when they fight. They put houses and towers on the oliphauntses backs and all, and the oliphaunts throw rocks and trees at one another. So when you said \u2018\u2018Men out of the South, all in red and gold,\u2019\u2019 I said \u2018\u2018were there any oliphaunts?\u2019\u2019 For if there was, I was going to take a look, risk or no."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now a great weariness came down on him like a cloud. He could dissemble and resist no longer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do as I say!\u2019 said Gandalf fiercely. \u2018Swords are no more use here."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Night closed about them. At last they halted to make their camp."
    },
    {
        "text": "All day far below them a leaping stream had run down from the high pass behind, cleaving its narrow way between pine-clad walls; and now through a stony gate it flowed out and passed into a wider vale. The Riders followed it, and suddenly Harrowdale lay before them, loud with the noise of waters in the evening. There the white Snowbourn, joined by the lesser stream, went rushing, fuming on the stones, down to Edoras and the green hills and the plains. Away to the right at the head of the great dale the mighty Starkhorn loomed up above its vast buttresses swathed in cloud; but its jagged peak, clothed in everlasting snow, gleamed far above the world, blue-shadowed upon the East, red-stained by the sunset in the West."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Run, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 he cried. \u2018No, not that way! There\u2019s a sheer drop over the wall. Follow me!\u2019 Down the road from the gate they fled. In fifty paces, with a swift bend round a jutting bastion of the cliff, it took them out of sight from the Tower. They had escaped for the moment. Cowering back against the rock they drew breath, and then they clutched at their hearts. Perching now on the wall beside the ruined gate the Nazgu\u02c6l sent out its deadly cries. All the cliffs echoed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Send your guards down to the stairs\u2019 foot,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018And you, lady, leave him a while with me. I will care for him.\u2019 \u2018Go, E\u00b4owyn sister-daughter!\u2019 said the old king. \u2018The time for fear is past.\u2019 The woman turned and went slowly into the house. As she passed the doors she turned and looked back. Grave and thoughtful was her glance, as she looked on the king with cool pity in her eyes. Very fair was her face, and her long hair was like a river of gold. Slender and tall she was in her white robe girt with silver; but strong she seemed and stern as steel, a daughter of kings. Thus Aragorn for the first time in the full light of day beheld E\u00b4 owyn, Lady of Rohan, and thought her fair, fair and cold, like a morning of pale spring that is not yet come to womanhood. And she now was suddenly aware of him: tall heir of kings, wise with many winters, greycloaked, hiding a power that yet she felt. For a moment still as stone she stood, then turning swiftly she was gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Even if I wanted another companion, I should not agree to any such thing, until I knew a good deal more about you, and your business.\u2019 \u2018Excellent!\u2019 exclaimed Strider, crossing his legs and sitting back comfortably. \u2018You seem to be coming to your senses again, and that is all to the good. You have been much too careless so far. Very well! I will tell you what I know, and leave the reward to you. You may be glad to grant it, when you have heard me.\u2019 \u2018Go on then!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018What do you know?\u2019 \u2018Too much; too many dark things,\u2019 said Strider grimly. \u2018But as for your business\u2014\u2014\u2019 He got up and went to the door, opened it quickly and looked out. Then he shut it quietly and sat down again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard, for your watch hath not been in vain, and the Black Gate is broken, and your King hath passed through, and he is victorious."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin looked behind. The number of the Ents had grown \u2013 or what was happening? Where the dim bare slopes that they had crossed should lie, he thought he saw groves of trees. But they were moving! Could it be that the trees of Fangorn were awake, and the forest was rising, marching over the hills to war? He rubbed his eyes wondering if sleep and shadow had deceived him; but the great grey shapes moved steadily onward. There was a noise like wind in many branches. The Ents were drawing near the crest of the ridge now, and all song had ceased. Night fell, and there was silence: nothing was to be heard save a faint quiver of the earth beneath the feet of the Ents, and a rustle, the shade of a whisper as of many drifting leaves. At last they stood upon the summit, and looked down into a dark pit: the great cleft at the end of the mountains: Nan Curun\u00b4\u0131r, the Valley of Saruman."
    },
    {
        "text": "But in the meantime, the general opinion in the neighbourhood was that Bilbo, who had always been rather cracked, had at last gone quite mad, and had run off into the Blue. There he had undoubtedly fallen into a pool or a river and come to a tragic, but hardly an untimely, end. The blame was mostly laid on Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin went on talking for a while. \u2018I hope, if I do go to sleep in this bird-loft, that I shan\u2019t roll off,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before long he was walking with Gandalf once more down the cold corridor to the door of the Tower Hall. There Denethor sat in a grey gloom, like an old patient spider, Pippin thought; he did not seem to have moved since the day before. He beckoned Gandalf to a seat, but Pippin was left for a while standing unheeded. Presently the old man turned to him: \u2018Well, Master Peregrin, I hope that you used yesterday to your profit, and to your liking? Though I fear that the board is barer in this city than you could wish.\u2019 Pippin had an uncomfortable feeling that most of what he had said or done was somehow known to the Lord of the City, and much was guessed of what he thought as well. He did not answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And there are some folk in Bree who are not to be trusted,\u2019 he went on. \u2018Bill Ferny, for instance. He has an evil name in the Bree-land, and queer folk call at his house. You must have noticed him among the company: a swarthy sneering fellow. He was very close with one of the Southern strangers, and they slipped out together just after your \u2018\u2018accident\u2019\u2019. Not all of those Southerners mean well; and as for Ferny, he would sell anything to anybody; or make mischief for amusement.\u2019 \u2018What will Ferny sell, and what has my accident got to do with him?\u2019 said Frodo, still determined not to understand Strider\u2019s hints."
    },
    {
        "text": "The assault on the gates was redoubled. Against the Deeping Wall the hosts of Isengard roared like a sea. Orcs and hillmen swarmed about its feet from end to end. Ropes with grappling hooks were hurled over the parapet faster than men could cut them or fling them back. Hundreds of long ladders were lifted up. Many were cast down in ruin, but many more replaced them, and Orcs sprang up them like apes in the dark forests of the South. Before the wall\u2019s foot the dead and broken were piled like shingle in a storm; ever higher rose the hideous mounds, and still the enemy came on."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And I say there\u2019s some mistake,\u2019 repeated Butterbur, picking up the tray and gathering up the broken crockery."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They set a watch on the tower, I believe, but the watchers were so well hidden in shadows and kept so still, that I could not see them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly he heard the tinkle of water, a sound hard and clear as a stone falling into a dream of dark shadow. Light grew, and lo! the Company passed through another gateway, high-arched and broad, and a rill ran out beside them; and beyond, going steeply down, was a road between sheer cliffs, knife-edged against the sky far above. So deep and narrow was that chasm that the sky was dark, and in it small stars glinted. Yet as Gimli after learned it was still two hours ere sunset of the day on which they had set out from Dunharrow; though for all that he could then tell it might have been twilight in some later year, or in some other world."
    },
    {
        "text": "And long listening\u2019s hungry work, morning, noon, and evening!\u2019 With that he jumped out of his chair, and with a bound took a candle from the chimney-shelf and lit it in the flame that Goldberry held; then he danced about the table. Suddenly he hopped through the door and disappeared."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, here is our refuge,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018Not a place of great ease, but here you may pass the night in peace. It is dry at least, and there is food, though no fire. At one time the water flowed down through this cave and out of the arch, but its course was changed further up the gorge, by workmen of old, and the stream sent down in a fall of doubled height over the rocks far above. All the ways into this grot were then sealed against the entry of water or aught else, all save one. There are now but two ways out: that passage yonder by which you entered blindfold, and through the Window-curtain into a deep bowl filled with knives of stone. Now rest a while, until the evening meal is set.\u2019 The hobbits were taken to a corner and given a low bed to lie on, if they wished. Meanwhile men busied themselves about the cave, quietly and in orderly quickness. Light tables were taken from theplatters, bowls and dishes of glazed brown clay or turned box-wood, smooth and clean. Here and there was a cup or basin of polished bronze; and a goblet of plain silver was set by the Captain\u2019s seat in the middle of the inmost table."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thousands could dwell there, workers, servants, slaves, and warriors with great store of arms; wolves were fed and stabled in deep dens beneath. The plain, too, was bored and delved. Shafts were driven deep into the ground; their upper ends were covered by low mounds and domes of stone, so that in the moonlight the Ring of Isengard looked like a graveyard of unquiet dead. For the ground trembled."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then suddenly Pippin looked up and saw that the sun was still shining and the banners still streaming in the breeze. He shook himself. \u2018It is passed,\u2019 he said. \u2018No, my heart will not yet despair. Gandalf fell and has returned and is with us. We may stand, if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon our knees.\u2019 \u2018Rightly said!\u2019 cried Beregond, rising and striding to and fro. \u2018Nay, though all things must come utterly to an end in time, Gondor shall not perish yet. Not though the walls be taken by a reckless foe that will build a hill of carrion before them. There are still other fastnesses, and secret ways of escape into the mountains. Hope and memory shall live still in some hidden valley where the grass is green.\u2019 \u2018All the same, I wish it was over for good or ill,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I am no warrior at all and dislike any thought of battle; but waiting on the edge of one that I can\u2019t escape is worst of all. What a long day it seems already! I should be happier, if we were not obliged to stand and watch, making no move, striking nowhere first. No stroke would have been struck in Rohan, I think, but for Gandalf.\u2019 \u2018Ah, there you lay your finger on the sore that many feel!\u2019 said Beregond. \u2018But things may change when Faramir returns. He is bold, more bold than many deem; for in these days men are slow to believe that a captain can be wise and learned in the scrolls of lore and song, as he is, and yet a man of hardihood and swift judgement in the field."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where is the king?\u2019 he said. \u2018And E\u00b4owyn?\u2019 Then he stumbled and sat down on a doorstep and began to weep again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Like a storm they broke upon the line of the men of Gondor, and beat upon helm and head, and arm and shield, as smiths hewing the hot bending iron. At Pippin\u2019s side Beregond was stunned and overborne, and he fell; and the great troll-chief that smote him down bent over him, reaching out a clutching claw; for these fell creatures would bite the throats of those that they threw down."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They won\u2019t get far,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018All that country is alive with our hunters now.\u2019 Behind, the trapped Men in the lane, still about four score, tried to climb the barrier and the banks, and the hobbits were obliged to shoot many of them or hew them with axes. But many of the strongest and most desperate got out on the west side, and attacked their enemies fiercely, being now more bent on killing than escaping. Sev- eral hobbits fell, and the rest were wavering, when Merry and Pippin, who were on the east side, came across and charged the ruffians."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yet, Master Peregrin, we have this honour: ever we bear the brunt of the chief hatred of the Dark Lord, for that hatred comes down out of the depths of time and over the deeps of the Sea. Here will thehammer-strokefallhardest.AndforthatreasonMithrandircamePippin did not answer. He looked at the great walls, and the towers and brave banners, and the sun in the high sky, and then at the gathering gloom in the East; and he thought of the long fingers of that Shadow: of the orcs in the woods and the mountains, the treason of Isengard, the birds of evil eye, and the Black Riders even in the lanes of the Shire \u2013 and of the winged terror, the Nazgu\u02c6l. He shud- dered, and hope seemed to wither. And even at that moment the sun for a second faltered and was obscured, as though a dark wing had passed across it. Almost beyond hearing he thought he caught, high and far up in the heavens, a cry: faint, but heart-quelling, cruel and cold. He blanched and cowered against the wall."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sun rose and passed overhead unseen, and began to sink, and the light through the trees to the west grew golden; and always they walked in cool green shadow, and all about them was silence. The birds seemed all to have flown away or to have fallen dumb."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Indeed you look in the bloom of health.\u2019 \u2018Aye, you do indeed,\u2019 said Gimli, looking them up and down over the top of his cup. \u2018Why, your hair is twice as thick and curly as when we parted; and I would swear that you have both grown somewhat, if that is possible for hobbits of your age. This Treebeard at any rate has not starved you.\u2019 \u2018He has not,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018But Ents only drink, and drink is not enough for content. Treebeard\u2019s draughts may be nourishing, but\u2018You have drunk of the waters of the Ents, have you?\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Can you find your way?\u2019 said Beregond at the door of the small hall, on the north side of the citadel, where they had sat. \u2018It is a black night, and all the blacker since orders came that lights are to be dimmed within the City, and none are to shine out from the walls."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where is it?\u2019 \u2018In an envelope, if you must know,\u2019 said Bilbo impatiently. \u2018There on the mantelpiece. Well, no! Here it is in my pocket!\u2019 He hesitated."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He can govern man and beast. He will make it yet.\u2019 Now the main retreat was scarcely two furlongs distant. Out of the gloom behind a small company of horsemen galloped, all that was left of the rearguard. Once again they turned at bay, facing the oncoming lines of fire. Then suddenly there was a tumult of fierce cries. Horsemen of the enemy swept up. The lines of fire became flowing torrents, file upon file of Orcs bearing flames, and wild Southron men with red banners, shouting with harsh tongues, surging up, overtaking the retreat. And with a piercing cry out of the dim sky fell the winged shadows, the Nazgu\u02c6l stooping to the kill."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Master said so. Master says: Bring us to the Gate. So good Sme\u00b4agol does so. Master said so, wise master.\u2019 \u2018I did,\u2019 said Frodo. His face was grim and set, but resolute. He was filthy, haggard, and pinched with weariness, but he cowered no longer, and his eyes were clear. \u2018I said so, because I purpose to enter Mordor, and I know no other way. Therefore I shall go this way. I do not ask anyone to go with me.\u2019 \u2018No, no, master!\u2019 wailed Gollum, pawing at him, and seeming in great distress. \u2018No use that way! No use! Don\u2019t take the Precious to Him! He\u2019ll eat us all, if He gets it, eat all the world. Keep it, nice master, and be kind to Sme\u00b4agol. Don\u2019t let Him have it. Or go away, go to nice places, and give it back to little Sme\u00b4agol. Yes, yes, master\u2018I am commanded to go to the land of Mordor, and therefore I shall go,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018If there is only one way, then I must take it."
    },
    {
        "text": "It did not sound like the voice of the old Sam Gamgee that he thought he knew. But it looked like the old Sam Gamgee sitting there, except that his face was unusually thoughtful."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 asremains 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. 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "A sudden unreasoning fear of discovery laid hold of Frodo, and he thought of his Ring. He hardly dared to breathe, and yet the desire to get it out of his pocket became so strong that he began slowly to move his hand. He felt that he had only to slip it on, and then he would be safe. The advice of Gandalf seemed absurd. Bilbo had used the Ring. \u2018And I am still in the Shire,\u2019 he thought, as his hand touched the chain on which it hung. At that moment the rider sat up, and shook the reins. The horse stepped forward, walking slowly at first, and then breaking into a quick trot."
    },
    {
        "text": "They built very tall towers, and one they raised was silver-white, and in it there was a stone like the Moon, and round it were great white walls. O yes, there were many tales about the Tower of the Moon.\u2019 \u2018That would be Minas Ithil that Isildur the son of Elendil built,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It was Isildur who cut off the finger of the Enemy.\u2019 \u2018Yes, He has only four on the Black Hand, but they are enough,\u2019 said Gollum shuddering. \u2018And He hated Isildur\u2019s city.\u2019 \u2018What does he not hate?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But what has the Tower of the Moon to do with us?\u2019conquered it long ago. It is a very terrible place now. Travellers shiver when they see it, they creep out of sight, they avoid its shadow. But master will have to go that way. That is the only other way. For the mountains are lower there, and the old road goes up and up, until it reaches a dark pass at the top, and then it goes down, down, again \u2013 to Gorgoroth.\u2019 His voice sank to a whisper and he shuddered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bilbo Baggins had made the words, to a tune that was as old as the hills, and taught it to Frodo as they walked in the lanes of the Water-valley and talked about Adventure."
    },
    {
        "text": "They rode down the bank and looked up and down. There was nothing to be seen. \u2018Well, here we are again at last!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I suppose we haven\u2019t lost more than two days by my short cut through the Forest! But perhaps the delay will prove useful \u2013 it may have put them off our trail.\u2019 The others looked at him. The shadow of the fear of the Black Riders came suddenly over them again. Ever since they had entered the Forest they had thought chiefly of getting back to the Road; only now when it lay beneath their feet did they remember the danger which pursued them, and was more than likely to be lying in wait for them upon the Road itself. They looked anxiously back towards the setting sun, but the Road was brown and empty."
    },
    {
        "text": "There were rumours of strange things happening in the world outside; and as Gandalf had not at that time appeared or sent any message for several years, Frodo gathered all the news he could."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The brooch of an elven-cloak!\u2019 cried Legolas and Gimli together."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2018Ai! ai!\u2019 wailed Legolas. \u2018A Balrog! A Balrog is come!\u2019 Gimli stared with wide eyes. \u2018Durin\u2019s Bane!\u2019 he cried, and letting his axe fall he covered his face."
    },
    {
        "text": "They walked slowly, stooping, keeping close in line, following attentively every move that Gollum made. The fens grew more wet, opening into wide stagnant meres, among which it grew more and more difficult to find the firmer places where feet could tread without sinking into gurgling mud. The travellers were light, or maybe none of them would ever have found a way through."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I can hear a pony or a horse coming along the road behind,\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "The day after, being the third day since they set out from Minas Tirith, the army began its northward march along the road. It was some hundred miles by that way from the Cross-roads to the Moran- non, and what might befall them before they came so far none knew."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Steady, Gamgee!\u2019 he said. \u2018Think, if you can! He can\u2019t fly across rivers, and he can\u2019t jump waterfalls. He\u2019s got no gear. So he\u2019s got to get back to the boats. Back to the boats! Back to the boats, Sam, like lightning!\u2019 Sam turned and bolted back down the path. He fell and cut his knees. Up he got and ran on. He came to the edge of the lawn of Parth Galen by the shore, where the boats were drawn up out of the water. No one was there. There seemed to be cries in the woods behind, but he did not heed them. He stood gazing for a moment, stock-still, gaping. A boat was sliding down the bank all by itself."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now withered lay the hemlock-sheaves, And one by one with sighing sound Whispering fell the beechen leaves In the wintry woodland wavering."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam stepped back and braced his feet against a stump a yard orThunder growled and rumbled in the distance, and the rain was still falling heavily. The hobbits crawled away back into the gully; but they did not find much shelter there. Rills of water began to run down; soon they grew to a spate that splashed and fumed on the stones, and spouted out over the cliff like the gutters of a vast roof."
    },
    {
        "text": "Evening\u2019s coming on, and we ought to get a move on.\u2019 \u2018Orders,\u2019 said a third voice in a deep growl. \u2018Kill all but not the Halflings; they are to be brought back alive as quickly as possible. That\u2019s my orders.\u2019 \u2018What are they wanted for?\u2019 asked several voices. \u2018Why alive? Dowanted for the War, some Elvish plot or other. Anyway they\u2019ll both be questioned.\u2019 \u2018Is that all you know? Why don\u2019t we search them and find out? We might find something that we could use ourselves.\u2019 \u2018That is a very interesting remark,\u2019 sneered a voice, softer than the others but more evil. \u2018I may have to report that. The prisoners are not to be searched or plundered: those are my orders.\u2019 \u2018And mine too,\u2019 said the deep voice. \u2018Alive and as captured; no spoiling. That\u2019s my orders.\u2019 \u2018Not our orders!\u2019 said one of the earlier voices. \u2018We have come all the way from the Mines to kill, and avenge our folk. I wish to kill, and then go back north.\u2019 \u2018Then you can wish again,\u2019 said the growling voice. \u2018I am Uglu\u00b4k."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Why?\u2019\u2019 said De\u00b4agol."
    },
    {
        "text": "He got leave of Denethor, how I do not know, to look at the secrets of our treasury, and I learned a little of him, when he would teach (and that was seldom). Ever he would search and would question us above all else concerning the Great Battle that was fought upon Dagorlad in the beginning of Gondor, when He whom we do not name was overthrown. And he was eager for stories of Isildur, though of him we had less to tell; for nothing certain was ever known among us of his end.\u2019 Now Faramir\u2019s voice sank to a whisper. \u2018But this much I learned, or guessed, and I have kept it ever secret in my heart since: that Isildur took somewhat from the hand of the Unnamed, ere he went away from Gondor, never to be seen among mortal men again. Here I thought was the answer to Mithrandir\u2019s questioning. But it seemed then a matter that concerned only the seekers after ancient learning."
    },
    {
        "text": "Another followed him, and then another; then again two more."
    },
    {
        "text": "Boromir stepped out of the circle and stared up into the blackness."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That, I think, no one will ever know,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come in!\u2019 he said, unlocking the gate. \u2018We won\u2019t stay for news out here in the cold and the wet, a ruffianly evening. But old Barley will no doubt give you a welcome at The Pony, and there you\u2019ll hear all there is to hear.\u2019 \u2018And there you\u2019ll hear later all that we say, and more,\u2019 laughed Gandalf. \u2018How is Harry?\u2019 The Gate-keeper scowled. \u2018Gone,\u2019 he said. \u2018But you\u2019d best ask Barliman. Good evening!\u2019 \u2018Good evening to you!\u2019 they said, and passed through; and then they noticed that behind the hedge at the road-side a long low hut had been built, and a number of men had come out and were staring at them over the fence. When they came to Bill Ferny\u2019s house they saw that the hedge there was tattered and unkempt, and the windows were all boarded up."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Very good!\u2019 said Sam gloomily. \u2018But I\u2019m going first.\u2019 \u2018You?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018What\u2019s made you change your mind about climbing?\u2019 \u2018I haven\u2019t changed my mind. But it\u2019s only sense: put the one lowest as is most likely to slip. I don\u2019t want to come down atop of you and knock you off \u2013 no sense in killing two with one fall.\u2019 Before Frodo could stop him, he sat down, swung his legs over the brink, and twisted round, scrabbling with his toes for a foothold."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was not a broad road, and it had no wall or parapet along the edge, and as it ran on the sheer drop from its brink became deeper and deeper. The hobbits could hear no movements, and after listening for a while they set off eastward at a steady pace."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo felt a great weariness come over him. Ever since the sun began to sink the mist before his eyes had darkened, and he felt that a shadow was coming between him and the faces of his friends. Now pain assailed him, and he felt cold. He swayed, clutching at Sam\u2019s arm."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wake up, Mr. Frodo! Wake up!\u2019 Frodo stirred and opened his eyes, and smiled, seeing Sam\u2019s face bending over him. \u2018Calling me early aren\u2019t you, Sam?\u2019 he said. \u2018It\u2019s dark still!\u2019 \u2018Yes it\u2019s always dark here,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But Gollum\u2019s come back, Mr. Frodo, and he says it\u2019s tomorrow. So we must be walking on."
    },
    {
        "text": "The land and the weather will be milder now, but perhaps all the more dangerous.\u2019\u2018But the mountains are ahead of us,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018We must have turned eastwards in the night.\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But you see further ahead in the clear light."
    },
    {
        "text": "The postern was closed again, the iron door was barred and piled inside with stones. When all were safe within, E\u00b4omer turned: \u2018I thank you, Gimli son of Glo\u00b4in!\u2019 he said. \u2018I did not know that you were with us in the sortie. But oft the unbidden guest proves the best company."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry peered from behind Dernhelm\u2019s back. Far away, maybe ten miles or more, there was a great burning, but between it and the Riders lines of fire blazed in a vast crescent, at the nearest point less than a league distant. He could make out little more on the dark plain, and as yet he neither saw any hope of morning, nor felt any wind, changed or unchanged."
    },
    {
        "text": "At length Beregond rose. \u2018Farewell for this time!\u2019 he said. \u2018I have duty now till sundown, as have all the others here, I think. But if you are lonely, as you say, maybe you would like a merry guide about the City. My son would go with you gladly. A good lad, I may say."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So four of the Company still remain,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018We will ride on together. But we shall not go alone, as I thought. The king is now determined to set out at once. Since the coming of the winged shadow, he desires to return to the hills under cover of night.\u2019 \u2018And then whither?\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam sank back into gloom."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is it not guarded?\u2019 asked Frodo sternly. \u2018And did you escape out of the darkness, Sme\u00b4agol? Were you not rather permitted to depart, upon an errand? That at least is what Aragorn thought, who found you by the Dead Marshes some years ago.\u2019 \u2018It\u2019s a lie!\u2019 hissed Gollum, and an evil light came into his eyes at the naming of Aragorn. \u2018He lied on me, yes he did. I did escape, all by my poor self. Indeed I was told to seek for the Precious; and I have searched and searched, of course I have. But not for the Black One. The Precious was ours, it was mine I tell you. I did escape.\u2019 Frodo felt a strange certainty that in this matter Gollum was for once not so far from the truth as might be suspected; that he had somehow found a way out of Mordor, and at least believed that it was by his own cunning. For one thing, he noted that Gollum used I, and that seemed usually to be a sign, on its rare appearances, that some remnants of old truth and sincerity were for the moment on top. But even if Gollum could be trusted on this point, Frodo did not forget the wiles of the Enemy. The \u2018escape\u2019 may have been allowed or arranged, and well known in the Dark Tower. And in any case Gollum was plainly keeping a good deal back."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is no journey for such steeds as Stybba, as I have told you,\u2019 saidThe\u00b4oden.\u2018Andinsuchabattleaswethinktomakeonthefields\u2018As for that, who can tell?\u2019 answered Merry. \u2018But why, lord, did you receive me as swordthain, if not to stay by your side? And I would not have it said of me in song only that I was always left behind!\u2019 \u2018I received you for your safe-keeping,\u2019 answered The\u00b4oden; \u2018and also to do as I might bid. None of my Riders can bear you as burden."
    },
    {
        "text": "He wondered what the time was. Somewhere between one day and the next, he supposed; but even of the days he had quite lost count."
    },
    {
        "text": "Up came Tom with his big boots on.As should be a-lyin\u2019 in graveyard."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly Aragorn leapt to his feet. \u2018How the wind howls!\u2019 he cried. \u2018It is howling with wolf-voices. The Wargs have come west of the Mountains!\u2019 \u2018Need we wait until morning then?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018It is as I said."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the bottom of the Hill on its western side they came to the gate opening on to a narrow lane. There they halted and adjusted the straps of their packs. Presently Sam appeared, trotting quickly and breathing hard; his heavy pack was hoisted high on his shoulders, and he had put on his head a tall shapeless felt bag, which he called a hat. In the gloom he looked very much like a dwarf."
    },
    {
        "text": "If you fall in the pool, then no one but your fishing friend can help you. And forget not that there are bowmen near at hand, though you may not see them.\u2019 Frodo crept forward, using his hands Gollum-like to feel his way and to steady himself. The rocks were for the most part flat and smooth but slippery. He halted listening. At first he could hear no sound but the unceasing rush of the fall behind him. Then presently he heard, not far ahead, a hissing murmur."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There now!\u2019 he laughed, flicking at their legs. \u2018Where there\u2019s a whip there\u2019s a will, my slugs. Hold up! I\u2019d give you a nice freshener now, only you\u2019ll get as much lash as your skins will carry when you come in late to your camp. Do you good. Don\u2019t you know we\u2019re at war?\u2019 They had gone some miles, and the road was at last running down a long slope into the plain, when Frodo\u2019s strength began to give out and his will wavered. He lurched and stumbled. Desperately Sam tried to help him and hold him up, though he felt that he could himself hardly stay the pace much longer. At any moment now he knew that the end would come: his master would faint or fall, and all would be discovered, and their bitter efforts be in vain. \u2018I\u2019ll have that big slave-driving devil anyway,\u2019 he thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No! I could not!\u2019 he said to himself. \u2018It is one thing to take my young friends walking over the Shire with me, until we are hungryeven if they are willing to come. The inheritance is mine alone. I don\u2019t think I ought even to take Sam.\u2019 He looked at Sam Gamgee, and discovered that Sam was watching him."
    },
    {
        "text": "The others were discussing this very question. They quickly decided to leave Weathertop as soon as possible. \u2018I think now,\u2019 said Strider, \u2018that the enemy has been watching this place for some days."
    },
    {
        "text": "But the Gaffer did not convince his audience. The legend of Bilbo\u2019s wealth was now too firmly fixed in the minds of the younger generation of hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ho la! You up there, you dunghill rat! Stop your squeaking, or I\u2019ll come and deal with you. D\u2019you hear?\u2019 There was no answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "When the black breath blows and death\u2019s shadow grows and all lights pass, come athelas! come athelas! Life to the dying In the king\u2019s hand lying! It is but a doggrel, I fear, garbled in the memory of old wives. Its meaning I leave to your judgement, if indeed it has any. But old folk still use an infusion of the herb for headaches.\u2019 \u2018Then in the name of the king, go and find some old man of less lore and more wisdom who keeps some in his house!\u2019 cried Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come! We will walk a little and then go find us some refreshment, and eat and drink on the battlement, and survey the fair morning.\u2019 \u2018One moment!\u2019 said Pippin blushing. \u2018Greed, or hunger by your courtesy, put it out of my mind. But Gandalf, Mithrandir as you call him, asked me to see to his horse \u2013 Shadowfax, a great steed of Rohan, and the apple of the king\u2019s eye, I am told, though he has given him to Mithrandir for his services. I think his new master loves the beast better than he loves many men, and if his good will is of any value to this city, you will treat Shadowfax with all honour: with greater kindness than you have treated this hobbit, if it is possible.\u2019\u2018I am glad to learn it,\u2019 said Beregond, \u2018for now I may say that strange accents do not mar fair speech, and hobbits are a fair-spoken folk. But come! You shall make me acquainted with this good horse."
    },
    {
        "text": "No one had a more attentive audience than old Ham Gamgee, commonly known as the Gaffer. He held forth at The Ivy Bush, a small inn on the Bywater road; and he spoke with some authority, for he had tended the garden at Bag End for forty years, and had helped old Holman in the same job before that. Now that he was himself growing old and stiff in the joints, the job was mainly carried on by his youngest son, Sam Gamgee. Both father and son were on very friendly terms with Bilbo and Frodo. They lived on the Hill itself, in Number 3 Bagshot Row just below Bag End."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 again and grew dull. In spite of the fading of his sword the feeling of immediate danger did not 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\u2019s foot far below."
    },
    {
        "text": "Next morning after a late breakfast, the wizard was sitting with Frodo by the open window of the study. A bright fire was on the hearth, but the sun was warm, and the wind was in the South. Every- thing looked fresh, and the new green of spring was shimmering in the fields and on the tips of the trees\u2019 fingers."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Rope!\u2019 muttered Sam. \u2018I knew I\u2019d want it, if I hadn\u2019t got it!\u2019 As these dangers became more frequent their march became slower. Already they seemed to have been tramping on, on, endlessly to the mountains\u2019 roots. They were more than weary, and yet there seemed no comfort in the thought of halting anywhere. Frodo\u2019s 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,thatgrimwoundhadnotbeenwithouteffect.Hissensesin 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 hinder our crossing; and after- wards 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Mercy!\u2019 cried Gandalf. \u2018If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?\u2019 \u2018The names of all the stars, and of all living things, and the whole history of Middle-earth and Over-heaven and of the Sundering Seas,\u2019 laughed Pippin. \u2018Of course! What less? But I am not in a hurry tonight. At the moment I was just wondering about the black shadow."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum looked at them. A strange expression passed over his lean hungry face. The gleam faded from his eyes, and they went dim and grey, old and tired. A spasm of pain seemed to twist him, and he turned away, peering back up towards the pass, shaking his head, as if engaged in some interior debate. Then he came back, and slowly putting out a trembling hand, very cautiously he touched Frodo\u2019s knee \u2013 but almost the touch was a caress. For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Gandalf !\u2019 he cried. \u2018Gandalf ! Forgive me!\u2019 \u2018Forgive you?\u2019 said the wizard. \u2018Tell me first what you have done!\u2019 \u2018I, I took the ball and looked at it,\u2019 stammered Pippin; \u2018and I saw things that frightened me. And I wanted to go away, but I couldn\u2019t."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That may be so,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Small comfort will those two have in their companionship: they will gnaw one another with words."
    },
    {
        "text": "O Lo\u00b4rien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tinu\u00b4viel! Tinu\u00b4viel! He called her by her Elvish name; And there she halted listening."
    },
    {
        "text": "With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip, and the thongs lashed and curled about the wizard\u2019s knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. \u2018Fly, you fools!\u2019 he cried, and was gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s voice speaking. I don\u2019t 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 wakeful- ness. Boromir had lifted him off the ground out of a nest of snow."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not yet, but night is drawing to an end, and the full moon is setting. Will you come and see it? Also there is a matter on which I desire your counsel. I am sorry to rouse you from sleep, but will you come?\u2019 \u2018I will,\u2019 said Frodo, rising and shivering a little as he left the warm blanket and pelts. It seemed cold in the fireless cave. The noise of the water was loud in the stillness. He put on his cloak and followed Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "You hear the Woses, the Wild Men of the Woods: thus they talk together from afar. They still haunt Dru\u00b4adan Forest, it is said. Rem- nants of an older time they be, living few and secretly, wild and wary as the beasts. They go not to war with Gondor or the Mark; but now they are troubled by the darkness and the coming of the orcs: they fear lest the Dark Years be returning, as seems likely enough. Let us be thankful that they are not hunting us: for they use poisoned arrows, it is said, and they are woodcrafty beyond compare. But they have offered their services to The\u00b4oden. Even now one of their headmen is being taken to the king. Yonder go the lights. So much I have heard but no more. And now I must busy myself with my lord\u2019s commands. Pack yourself up, Master Bag!\u2019 He vanished into the shadows."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Elves and Dragons! I says to him. Cabbages and potatoes are better for me and you. Don\u2019t go getting mixed up in the business of your betters, or you\u2019ll land in trouble too big for you, I says to him. And I might say it to others,\u2019 he added with a look at the stranger and the miller."
    },
    {
        "text": "And then even as it winged away into forgetfulness it heard voices, and they seemed to be crying in some forgotten world far above: \u2018The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming!\u2019 For one moment more Pippin\u2019s thought hovered. \u2018Bilbo!\u2019 it said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well!\u2019 said Gandalf at last. \u2018What are you thinking about? Have you decided what to do?\u2019 \u2018No!\u2019 answered Frodo, coming back to himself out of darkness, and finding to his surprise that it was not dark, and that out of the window he could see the sunlit garden. \u2018Or perhaps, yes. As far as I understand what you have said, I suppose I must keep the Ring and guard it, at least for the present, whatever it may do to me.\u2019 \u2018Whatever it may do, it will be slow, slow to evil, if you keep it with that purpose,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam heard a burst of hoarse singing, blaring of horns and banging of gongs, a hideous clamour. Gorbag and Shagrat were already on the threshold."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hardly had Sam hidden the light of the star-glass when she came."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 flows into the Bay of Belfalas whence the Elves of Lo\u00b4 rien set sail. But neither Nimrodel nor Amroth came ever back."
    },
    {
        "text": "They cast themselves down in the heather a few yards from the road-side, and fell asleep immediately. They seemed hardly to have closed their eyes when Glorfindel, who had set himself to watch while they slept, awoke them again. The sun had now climbed far into the morning, and the clouds and mists of the night were gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "The two orc-figures were still some way ahead. He could see them now, black and squat against a red glare. The passage ran straight at last, up an incline; and at the end, wide open, were great double doors, leading probably to deep chambers far below the high horn of the tower. Already the Orcs with their burden had passed inside."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ach! No!\u2019 he spluttered. \u2018You try to choke poor Sme\u00b4agol. Dust and ashes, he can\u2019t eat that. He must starve. But Sme\u00b4agol doesn\u2019t mind. Nice hobbits! Sme\u00b4agol has promised. He will starve. He can\u2019t eat hobbits\u2019 food. He will starve. Poor thin Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 \u2018I\u2019m sorry,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but I can\u2019t help you, I\u2019m afraid. I think this food would do you good, if you would try. But perhaps you can\u2019t even try, not yet anyway.\u2019 The hobbits munched their lembas in silence. Sam thought that it tasted far better, somehow, than it had for a good while: Gollum\u2019s behaviour had made him attend to its flavour again. But he did not feel comfortable. Gollum watched every morsel from hand to mouth, like an expectant dog by a diner\u2019s chair. Only when they had finished and were preparing to rest, was he apparently convinced that they had no hidden dainties that he could share in. Then he went and sat by himself a few paces away and whimpered a little."
    },
    {
        "text": "Away to the eastward the distant fires flickered, and now it seemed that here and there they crept across the plain. Houses and barns were burning. Then from many points little rivers of red flame came hurrying on, winding through the gloom, converging towards the line of the broad road that led from the City-gate to Osgiliath."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He told me the true story soon after I came to live here. He said you had pestered him till he told you, so I had better know too. \u2018\u2018No secrets between us, Frodo,\u2019\u2019 he said; \u2018\u2018but they are not to go any further. It\u2019s mine anyway.\u2019\u2019 \u2019 \u2018That\u2019s interesting,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Well, what did you think of it all?\u2019 \u2018If you mean, inventing all that about a \u2018\u2018present\u2019\u2019, well, I thought the true story much more likely, and I couldn\u2019t see the point of altering it at all. It was very unlike Bilbo to do so, anyway; and I thought it rather odd.\u2019 \u2018So did I. But odd things may happen to people that have such treasures \u2013 if they use them. Let it be a warning to you to be very careful with it. It may have other powers than just making you vanish when you wish to.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t understand,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "When the Prince Imrahil had parted from Legolas and Gimli, at once he sent for E\u00b4omer; and he went down with him from the City, and they came to the tents of Aragorn that were set up on the field not far from the place where King The\u00b4oden had fallen. And there they took counsel together with Gandalf and Aragorn and the sons of Elrond."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, Gollum, or whatever it is we\u2019re to call you,\u2019 he said, \u2018now for it! The Moon\u2019s gone, and the night\u2019s going. We\u2019d better start.\u2019 \u2018Yes, yes,\u2019 agreed Gollum, skipping about. \u2018Off we go! There\u2019s only one way across between the North-end and the South-end. I found it, I did. Orcs don\u2019t use it, Orcs don\u2019t know it. Orcs don\u2019t cross the Marshes, they go round for miles and miles. Very lucky you came this way. Very lucky you found Sme\u00b4agol, yes. Follow Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 He took a few steps away and looked back inquiringly, like a dog inviting them for a walk. \u2018Wait a bit, Gollum!\u2019 cried Sam. \u2018Not too far ahead now! I\u2019m going to be at your tail, and I\u2019ve got the rope handy.\u2019 \u2018No, no!\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol promised.\u2019 In the deep of night under hard clear stars they set off. Gollum led them back northward for a while along the way they had come; then he slanted to the right away from the steep edge of the Emyn Muil, down the broken stony slopes towards the vast fens below."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There isn\u2019t no pipe-weed now,\u2019 said Hob; \u2018at least only for the Chief \u2019s men. All the stocks seem to have gone. We do hear that waggon-loads of it went away down the old road out of the South- farthing, over Sarn Ford way. That would be the end o\u2019 last year, after you left. But it had been going away quietly before that, in a small way. That Lotho\u2014\u2014\u2019 \u2018Now you shut up, Hob Hayward!\u2019 cried several of the others."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is close on ten leagues hence to the east-shore of Anduin,\u2019 said Mablung, \u2018and we seldom come so far afield. But we have a new errand on this journey: we come to ambush the Men of Harad. Curse them!\u2019 \u2018Aye, curse the Southrons!\u2019 said Damrod. \u2018\u2019Tis said that there were dealings of old between Gondor and the kingdoms of the Harad in the Far South; though there was never friendship. In those days our bounds were away south beyond the mouths of Anduin, and Umbar, the nearest of their realms, acknowledged our sway. But that is long since. \u2019Tis many lives of Men since any passed to or fro between us. Now of late we have learned that the Enemy has been among them, and they are gone over to Him, or back to Him \u2013 they were ever ready to His will \u2013 as have so many also in the East. I doubt not that the days of Gondor are numbered, and the walls of Minas Tirith are doomed, so great is His strength and malice.\u2019 \u2018But still we will not sit idle and let Him do all as He would,\u2019 said Mablung. \u2018These cursed Southrons come now marching up the ancient roads to swell the hosts of the Dark Tower. Yea, up the very roads that craft of Gondor made. And they go ever more heedlessly, we learn, thinking that the power of their new master is great enough, so that the mere shadow of His hills will protect them. We come to teach them another lesson. Great strength of them was reported to us some days ago, marching north. One of their regiments is due by ourreckoningtopassby,sometimeerenoon\u2013upontheroadabove,ventures. But his life is charmed, or fate spares him for some other end.\u2019 Their talk died down into a listening silence. All seemed still and watchful. Sam, crouched by the edge of the fern-brake, peered out."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tell the e\u00b4ored to assemble on the path, and make ready to ride to the Entwade.\u2019 Muttering E\u00b4othain retired, and spoke to the others. Soon they drew off and left E\u00b4omer alone with the three companions."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their land was originally unprotected from the East; but on that side they had built a hedge: the High Hay. It had been planted many generations ago, and was now thick and tall, for it was constantly tended. It ran all the way from Brandywine Bridge, in a big loop curving away from the river, to Haysend (where the Withywindle flowed out of the Forest into the Brandywine): well over twenty miles from end to end. But, of course, it was not a complete protection."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Slow should you be to wind that horn again, Boromir,\u2019 said Elrond, \u2018until you stand once more on the borders of your land, and dire need is on you.\u2019 \u2018Maybe,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018But 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.\u2019 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.Theyoungerhobbitsworetheswordsthattheyhadtakenfromwas the elven-sword Glamdring, the mate of Orcrist that lay now upon the breast of Thorin under the Lonely Mountain."
    },
    {
        "text": "As a matter of fact he came out on the right side in the end. It turned out later that only one horse had been actually stolen. The others had been driven off, or had bolted in terror, and were found wandering in different corners of the Bree-land. Merry\u2019s ponies had escaped altogether, and eventually (having a good deal of sense) they made their way to the Downs in search of Fatty Lumpkin. So they came under the care of Tom Bombadil for a while, and were well-off."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf laughed. \u2018Well, well,\u2019 he said, \u2018if they are afraid of just five of us, then we have met worse enemies on our travels. But at any rate they will give you peace at night while we stay.\u2019 \u2018How long will that be?\u2019 said Butterbur. \u2018I\u2019ll not deny we should be glad to have you about for a bit. You see, we\u2019re not used to such troubles; and the Rangers have all gone away, folk tell me. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve rightly understood till now what they did for us. For there\u2019s been worse than robbers about. Wolves were howling round the fences last winter. And there\u2019s dark shapes in the woods, dreadful things that it makes the blood run cold to think of. It\u2019s been very disturbing, if you understand me.\u2019 \u2018I expect it has,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Nearly all lands have been disturbed these days, very disturbed. But cheer up, Barliman! You have been on the edge of very great troubles, and I am only glad to hear that you have not been deeper in. But better times are coming. Maybe, better than any you remember. The Rangers have returned. We came back with them. And there is a king again, Barliman. He will soon be turning his mind this way."
    },
    {
        "text": "It might be a good point at which to cross. But of course, if we get there, we shall be further than we were from the Mountain, sixty miles from it, I should think. I guess that we have gone about twelve leagues north from the bridge now. Even if all goes well, I could hardly reach the Mountain in a week. I am afraid, Sam, that the burden will get very heavy, and I shall go still slower as we get nearer.\u2019 Sam sighed. \u2018That\u2019s just as I feared,\u2019 he said. \u2018Well, to say nothing of water, we\u2019ve got to eat less, Mr. Frodo, or else move a bit quicker, at any rate while we\u2019re still in this valley. One more bite and all the food\u2019s ended, save the Elves\u2019 waybread.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ll try and be a bit quicker, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo, drawing a deep breath. \u2018Come on then! Let\u2019s start another march!\u2019 It was not yet quite dark again. They plodded along, on into the night. The hours passed in a weary stumbling trudge with a few brief halts. At the first hint of grey light under the skirts of the canopy of shadow they hid themselves again in a dark hollow under an over- hanging stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Meaning I don\u2019t think at all, eh? Curse you! You\u2019re as bad as the other rabble: the maggots and the apes of Lugbu\u00b4rz. No good trying to charge with them. They\u2019d just squeal and bolt, and there are more than enough of these filthy horse-boys to mop up our lot on the flat."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here, what are you doing?\u2019 cried Sam, his suspicions coming back as soon as he saw that shape."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Strange are the ways of Men, Legolas! Here they have one of the marvels of the Northern World, and what do they say of it? Caves, they say! Caves! Holes to fly to in time of war, to store fodder in! My good Legolas, do you know that the caverns of Helm\u2019s Deep are vast and beautiful? There would be an endless pilgrimage of Dwarves, merely to gaze at them, if such things were known to be. Aye indeed, they would pay pure gold for a brief glance!\u2019 \u2018And I would give gold to be excused,\u2019 said Legolas; \u2018and double to be let out, if I strayed in!\u2019 \u2018You have not seen, so I forgive your jest,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018But you speak like a fool. Do you think those halls are fair, where your King dwells under the hill in Mirkwood, and Dwarves helped in their making long ago? They are but hovels compared with the caverns I have seen here: immeasurable halls, filled with an everlasting music of water that tinkles into pools, as fair as Kheled-za\u02c6ram in the starlight."
    },
    {
        "text": "With his keen hobbit-eyes he saw that many more Men were about."
    },
    {
        "text": "To Sam he gave a little bag of gold. \u2018Almost the last drop of the Smaug vintage,\u2019 he said. \u2018May come in useful, if you think of getting married, Sam.\u2019 Sam blushed."
    },
    {
        "text": "And Shadowfax shall show her the meaning of haste.\u2019 When Ioreth was gone, Aragorn bade the other women to make water hot. Then he took Faramir\u2019s hand in his, and laid the other hand upon the sick man\u2019s brow. It was drenched with sweat; but Faramir did not move or make any sign, and seemed hardly to breathe."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Men of Bree were brown-haired, broad, and rather short, cheerful and independent: they belonged to nobody but themselves; but they were more friendly and familiar with Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, and other inhabitants of the world about them than was (or is) usual with Big People. According to their own tales they were the original inhabitants and were the descendants of the first Men that ever wandered into the West of the middle-world. Few had survived the turmoils of the Elder Days; but when the Kings returned again over the Great Sea they had found the Bree-men still there, and they were still there now, when the memory of the old Kings had faded into the grass."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Saruman!\u2019 cried Gimli, springing towards him with axe in hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well!\u2019 said Frodo at last, sitting up and straightening his back, as if he had made a decision. \u2018I can\u2019t keep it dark any longer. I have got something to tell you all. But I don\u2019t know quite how to begin.\u2019 \u2018I think I could help you,\u2019 said Merry quietly, \u2018by telling you some of it myself.\u2019 \u2018What do you mean?\u2019 said Frodo, looking at him anxiously."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What do you think of that, Gandalf ?\u2019 asked Aragorn. \u2018One would say that all the Wizard\u2019s Vale was burning.\u2019 \u2018There is ever a fume above that valley in these days,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer: \u2018but I have never seen aught like this before. These are steams rather than smokes. Saruman is brewing some devilry to greet us. Maybe he is boiling all the waters of Isen, and that is why the river runs dry.\u2019 \u2018Maybe he is,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Tomorrow we shall learn what he is doing. Now let us rest for a while, if we can.\u2019 They camped beside the bed of the Isen river; it was still silent and empty. Some of them slept a little. But late in the night the watchmen cried out, and all awoke. The moon was gone. Stars were shining above; but over the ground there crept a darkness blacker than the night. On both sides of the river it rolled towards them, going northward."
    },
    {
        "text": "And already there is a bond of love between us.\u2019 \u2018You choose well,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden; \u2018and I give him now gladly. Yet it is a great gift. There is none like to Shadowfax. In him one of the mighty steeds of old has returned. None such shall return again. And to you my other guests I will offer such things as may be found in my armoury. Swords you do not need, but there are helms and coats of mail of cunning work, gifts to my fathers out of Gondor. Choose from these ere we go, and may they serve you well!\u2019 Now men came bearing raiment of war from the king\u2019s hoard, and they arrayed Aragorn and Legolas in shining mail. Helms too they chose, and round shields: their bosses were overlaid with gold and set with gems, green and red and white. Gandalf took no armour; and Gimli needed no coat of rings, even if one had been found to match his stature, for there was no hauberk in the hoards of Edoras of better make than his short corslet forged beneath the Mountain in the North. But he chose a cap of iron and leather that fitted well upon his round head; and a small shield he also took. It bore the running horse, white upon green, that was the emblem of the House of Eorl."
    },
    {
        "text": "But at that moment there came a sound like mingled song and laugh- ter. Clear voices rose and fell in the starlit air. The black shadow straightened up and retreated. It climbed on to the shadowy horse and seemed to vanish across the lane into the darkness on the otherhave burst out of the trees and dashed off towards the voices, if they had not pulled him back."
    },
    {
        "text": "They woke together, hand in hand. Sam was almost fresh, ready for another day; but Frodo sighed. His sleep had been uneasy, full of dreams of fire, and waking brought him no comfort. Still his sleep had not been without all healing virtue: he was stronger, more able to bear his burden one stage further. They did not know the time, nor how long they had slept; but after a morsel of food and a sip of water they went on up the ravine, until it ended in a sharp slope of screes and sliding stones. There the last living things gave up their struggle; the tops of the Morgai were grassless, bare, jagged, barren as a slate."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Aiya elenion ancalima!\u2019 cried Frodo once again behind him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ah! the sight and the smell of the Spring in Nan-tasarion! And I said that was good."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Maybe there is no right choice,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now let us cry: \u2018\u2018a plague on the stiff necks of Elves!\u2019\u2019 \u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But the Company shall all fare alike. Come, bind our eyes, Haldir!\u2019 \u2018I shall claim full amends for every fall and stubbed toe, if you do not lead us well,\u2019 said Gimli as they bound a cloth about his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum\u2019s hands twitched a little. Hardly perceptibly his head moved to the left and the right, and first one eye and then the other opened a slit. The hobbits made no sign."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam took a sip of water, but pressed Frodo to drink, and when his master had recovered a little he gave him a whole wafer of their precious waybread and made him eat it. Then, too worn out even to feel much fear, they stretched themselves out. They slept a little in uneasy fits; for their sweat grew chill on them, and the hard stones bit them, and they shivered. Out of the north from the Black Gate through Cirith Gorgor there flowed whispering along the ground a thin cold air."
    },
    {
        "text": "See, you have spoken skilfully, as ever; but I, have I not seen your eye fixed on Mithrandir, seeking whether you said well or too much? He has long had your heart in his keeping."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is what it is, Mr. Baggins,\u2019 said the leader of the Shirriffs, a two-feather hobbit: \u2018You\u2019re arrested for Gate-breaking, and Tearing up of Rules, and Assaulting Gate-keepers, and Trespassing, and Sleeping in Shire-buildings without Leave, and Bribing Guards with Food.\u2019 \u2018And what else?\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Pride and despair!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Didst thou think that the eyes of the White Tower were blind? Nay, I have seen more than thou know- est, Grey Fool. For thy hope is but ignorance. Go then and labour in healing! Go forth and fight! Vanity. For a little space you may triumph on the field, for a day. But against the Power that now arises there is no victory. To this City only the first finger of its hand has yet been stretched. All the East is moving. And even now the wind of thy hope cheats thee and wafts up Anduin a fleet with black sails."
    },
    {
        "text": "The words that Gandalf had murmured came back into his mind."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hope, yes,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But Isengard is strong. And other perils draw ever nearer. Do not delay, The\u00b4oden, when we are gone. Lead your people swiftly to the Hold of Dunharrow in the hills!\u2019 \u2018Nay, Gandalf !\u2019 said the king. \u2018You do not know your own skill in healing. It shall not be so. I myself will go to war, to fall in the front of the battle, if it must be. Thus shall I sleep better.\u2019 \u2018Then even the defeat of Rohan will be glorious in song,\u2019 said Aragorn. The armed men that stood near clashed their weapons, crying: \u2018The Lord of the Mark will ride! Forth Eorlingas!\u2019 \u2018But your people must not be both unarmed and shepherdless,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Who shall guide them and govern them in your place?\u2019 \u2018I will take thought for that ere I go,\u2019 answered The\u00b4oden. \u2018HereAt that moment Ha\u00b4ma came again from the hall. Behind him cringing between two other men, came Gr\u00b4\u0131ma the Wormtongue. His face was very white. His eyes blinked in the sunlight. Ha\u00b4ma knelt and presented to The\u00b4oden a long sword in a scabbard clasped with gold and set with green gems."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin was recovering. He was warm, but the wind in his face was keen and refreshing. He was with Gandalf. The horror of the Stone and of the hideous shadow over the moon was fading, things left behind in the mists of the mountains or in a passing dream. He drew a deep breath."
    },
    {
        "text": "Out of doubt, out of dark, to the day\u2019s rising he rode singing in the sun, sword unsheathing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I will answer for him,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018He brought me to the Black Gate, as I asked; but it was impassable.\u2019 \u2018There is no open gate into the Nameless Land,\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 across the hall through the northern arch light also glimmered faint and distantly."
    },
    {
        "text": "You shall visit Fangorn with me, and then I will come with you to see Helm\u2019s Deep.\u2019 \u2018That would not be the way of return that I should choose,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018But I will endure Fangorn, if I have your promise to come back to the caves and share their wonder with me.\u2019 \u2018You have my promise,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018But alas! Now we must leave behind both cave and wood for a while. See! We are coming to the end of the trees. How far is it to Isengard, Gandalf ?\u2019 \u2018About fifteen leagues, as the crows of Saruman make it,\u2019 said Gandalf: \u2018five from the mouth of Deeping-coomb to the Fords; and ten more from there to the gates of Isengard. But we shall not ride all the way this night.\u2019 \u2018And when we come there, what shall we see?\u2019 asked Gimli. \u2018You may know, but I cannot guess.\u2019 \u2018I do not know myself for certain,\u2019 answered the wizard. \u2018I was there at nightfall yesterday, but much may have happened since. Yet Ithinkthatyouwillnotsaythatthejourneywasinvain\u2013notthoughAt last the company passed through the trees, and found that they had come to the bottom of the Coomb, where the road from Helm\u2019s Deep branched, going one way east to Edoras, and the other north to the Fords of Isen. As they rode from under the eaves of the wood, Legolas halted and looked back with regret. Then he gave a sudden cry."
    },
    {
        "text": "Farewell he bade to his free people, hearth and high-seat, and the hallowed places, where long he had feasted ere the light faded."
    },
    {
        "text": "The road dipped between rising turf-banks, carving its way through the terraces to the river\u2019s edge, and up again upon the further side.Therewerethreelinesofflatstepping-stonesacrossthestream,and it seemed strange to them; for the Fords had ever been a place full of the rush and chatter of water upon stones; but now they were silent. The beds of the stream were almost dry, a bare waste of shingles and grey sand."
    },
    {
        "text": "A sudden light broke on Frodo. \u2018Sharkey!\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here dwell Celeborn and Galadriel,\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018It is their wish that you should ascend and speak with them.\u2019 One of the Elf-wardens then blew a clear note on a small horn, and it was answered three times from far above. \u2018I will go first,\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018Let 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.\u2019 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 midst of which grew the trunk of the great mallorn, now tapering towards its crown, and yet making still a pillar of wide girth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Igreetyou,\u2019hesaid,\u2018andmaybeyoulookforwelcome.Buttruthoftener the worse. I will not deceive you: when I heard that Shadowfax had come back riderless, I rejoiced at the return of the horse, but still more at the lack of the rider; and when E\u00b4 omer brought the tidings that you had gone at last to your long home, I did not mourn. But news from afar is seldom sooth. Here you come again! And with you come evils worse than before, as might be expected. Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow? Tell me that.\u2019 Slowly he sat down again in his chair."
    },
    {
        "text": "When he thought all was ready he lifted the pans off the fire, and crept along to Frodo. Frodo half opened his eyes as Sam stood over him, and then he wakened from his dreaming: another gentle, unre- coverable dream of peace."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And now they\u2019re gone for robbers and live outside, hiding in the woods beyond Archet, and out in the wilds north-away. It\u2019s like a bit of the bad old times tales tell of, I say. It isn\u2019t safe on the road and nobody goes far, and folk lock up early. We have to keep watchers all round the fence and put a lot of men on the gates at nights.\u2019 \u2018Well, no one troubled us,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018and we came along slowly, and kept no watch. We thought we\u2019d left all trouble behind us.\u2019 \u2018Ah, that you haven\u2019t, Master, more\u2019s the pity,\u2019 said Butterbur."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We must get under cover,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018or we shall be seen. It will not be any comfort to us, if these riders discover that we are not Orcs after we are dead.\u2019 He got up and stamped his feet. \u2018Those cords have cut me like wires; but my feet are getting warm again. I could stagger on now. What about you, Merry?\u2019 Merry got up. \u2018Yes,\u2019 he said, \u2018I can manage it. Lembas does put heart into you! A more wholesome sort of feeling, too, than the heat of that orc-draught. I wonder what it was made of. Better not to know, I expect. Let\u2019s get a drink of water to wash away the thought of it!\u2019 \u2018Not here, the banks are too steep,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Forward now!\u2019 They turned and walked side by side slowly along the line of the river. Behind them the light grew in the East. As they walked they compared notes, talking lightly in hobbit-fashion of the things that had happened since their capture. No listener would have guessed from their words that they had suffered cruelly, and been in dire peril, going without hope towards torment and death; or that even now, as they knew well, they had little chance of ever finding friend or safety again."
    },
    {
        "text": "The next day the hills rose still higher and steeper before them, and they were forced to turn away northwards out of their course. Strider seemed to be getting anxious: they were nearly ten days out from Weathertop, and their stock of provisions was beginning to run low."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So!\u2019 he said. \u2018You bid me mind my own affairs, and get me back home, and let you be. Boromir will tell all, when he comes. When he comes, say you! Were you a friend of Boromir?\u2019 Vividly before Frodo\u2019s mind came the memory of Boromir\u2019s assault upon him, and for a moment he hesitated. Faramir\u2019s eyes watching him grew harder. \u2018Boromir was a valiant member of our Company,\u2019 said Frodo at length. \u2018Yes, I was his friend, for my part.\u2019 Faramir smiled grimly. \u2018Then you would grieve to learn that Boromir is dead?\u2019 \u2018I would grieve indeed,\u2019 said Frodo. Then catching the look in Faramir\u2019s eyes, he faltered. \u2018Dead?\u2019 he said. \u2018Do you mean that he is dead, and that you knew it? You have been trying to trap me in words, playing with me? Or are you now trying to snare me with a falsehood?\u2019 \u2018I would not snare even an orc with a falsehood,\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "He looked first for his friends. Sam had begged to be allowed to wait on his master, but had been told that for this time he was a guest of honour. Frodo could see him now, sitting with Pippin andNext to Frodo on his right sat a dwarf of important appearance, richly dressed. His beard, very long and forked, was white, nearly as white as the snow-white cloth of his garments. He wore a silver belt, and round his neck hung a chain of silver and diamonds. Frodo stopped eating to look at him."
    },
    {
        "text": "But the horsemen pressed on and ere evening they came to the Cross-roads and the great ring of trees, and all was silent. No sign of any enemy had they seen, no cry or call had been heard, no shaft had sped from rock or thicket by the way, yet ever as they went forward they felt the watchfulness of the land increase. Tree and stone, blade and leaf were listening. The darkness had been dispelled, and far away westward sunset was on the Vale of Anduin, and the white peaks of the mountains blushed in the blue air; but a shadow and a gloom brooded upon the Ephel Du\u00b4ath."
    },
    {
        "text": "The doors were thrown open, and they went across a wide passage and through other doors, and came into a further hall. In it were no tables, but a bright fire was burning in a great hearth between the carven pillars upon either side."
    },
    {
        "text": "At first Sam did not listen; he took a pace out of the eastward door and looked about. At once he saw that up here the fighting had been fiercest. All the court was choked with dead orcs, or their severed and scattered heads and limbs. The place stank of death. A snarl followed by a blow and a cry sent him darting back into hiding. An orc-voice rose in anger, and he knew it again at once, harsh, brutal, cold. It was Shagrat speaking, Captain of the Tower."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They have left us fruit and drink, and bread,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Come and have your breakfast. The bread tastes almost as good as it did last night. I did not want to leave you any, but Sam insisted.\u2019 Frodo sat down beside Sam and began to eat. \u2018What is the plan for today?\u2019 asked Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "Not too soon came their aid to the Rohirrim; for fortune had turned against E\u00b4omer, and his fury had betrayed him. The great wrath of his onset had utterly overthrown the front of his enemies, and great wedges of his Riders had passed clear through the ranks of the Southrons, discomfiting their horsemen and riding their foot- men to ruin. But wherever the mu\u02c6makil came there the horses would not go, but blenched and swerved away; and the great monsters were unfought, and stood like towers of defence, and the Haradrim rallied about them. And if the Rohirrim at their onset were thrice out- numbered by the Haradrim alone, soon their case became worse; for new strength came now streaming to the field out of Osgiliath. There they had been mustered for the sack of the City and the rape of Gondor, waiting on the call of their Captain. He now was destroyed; but Gothmog the lieutenant of Morgul had flung them into the fray; Easterlings with axes, and Variags of Khand, Southrons in scarlet, and out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues. Some now hastened up behind the Rohirrim, others held westward to hold off the forces of Gondor and prevent their joining with Rohan."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Whatever happens to the rest of my stuff, when the S.-B.s get their claws on it, at any rate I have found a good home for this!\u2019 said Frodo, as he drained his glass. It was the last drop of Old Winyards."
    },
    {
        "text": "At first he pretended to take some notes; but he often fell asleep; and when he woke he would say: \u2018How splendid! How wonderful! But where were we?\u2019 Then they went on with the story from the point where he had begun to nod."
    },
    {
        "text": "Dernhelm was no comfort: he never spoke to anyone. Merry felt small, unwanted, and lonely. Now the time was anxious, and the host was in peril. They were less than a day\u2019s ride from the out-walls of Minas Tirith that encircled the townlands. Scouts had been sent ahead. Some had not returned. Others hastening back had reported that the road was held in force against them. A host of the enemy was encamped upon it, three miles west of Amon D\u02c6\u0131n, and some strength of men was already thrusting along the road and was no more than three leagues away. Orcs were roving in the hills and woods along the roadside. The king and E\u00b4 omer held council in the watches of the night."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Dark Power was deep in thought, and the Eye turned inward, pondering tidings of doubt and danger: a bright sword, and a stern and kingly face it saw, and for a while it gave little thought to other things; and all its great stronghold, gate on gate, and tower on tower, was wrapped in a brooding gloom."
    },
    {
        "text": "Awake! Awake! Fear, Fire, Foes! Awake! Fire, Foes! Awake! Behind him Sam heard a hubbub of voices and a great din and slamming of doors. In front of him lights sprang out in the gloaming; dogs barked; feet came running. Before he got to the lane\u2019s end there was Farmer Cotton with three of his lads, Young Tom, Jolly, and Nick, hurrying towards him. They had axes in their hands, and barred the way."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ere that dark day ended none of the enemy were left to resist us; all were drowned, or were flying south in the hope to find their own lands upon foot. Strange and wonderful I thought it that the designs of Mordor should be overthrown by such wraiths of fear and darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger wayHe paused, silent for a moment. Then without another word he turned away from the lights and voices in the field and tents, and followed by his three companions went round into his garden, and trotted down the long sloping path. He jumped over a low place in the hedge at the bottom, and took to the meadows, passing into the night like a rustle of wind in the grass."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo took rather more time to follow him. He had the rope about his waist and it was fast above, and he had shortened it so that it would pull him up before he reached the ground; still he did not want to risk a fall, and he had not quite Sam\u2019s faith in this slender grey line. He found two places, all the same, where he had to trust wholly to it: smooth surfaces where there was no hold even for his strong hobbit fingers and the ledges were far apart. But at last he too was down."
    },
    {
        "text": "Turning westward they came at length to a door in the rearward wall of the sixth circle. Fen Hollen it was called, for it was kept ever shut save at times of funeral, and only the Lord of the City might use that way, or those who bore the token of the tombs and tended the houses of the dead. Beyond it went a winding road that descended in many curves down to the narrow land under the shadow of Mindolluin\u2019s precipice where stood the mansions of the dead Kings and of their Stewards."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, but I felt it, whatever it was,\u2019 he answered. \u2018It may be nothing, only a wisp of thin cloud.\u2019 \u2018It was moving fast then,\u2019 muttered Aragorn, \u2018and not with the wind.\u2019 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 naked sides, dull red as if stained with blood."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is no need to come yet, if you don\u2019t want to,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly, with startling agility and speed, straight off the ground with a jump like a grasshopper or a frog, Gollum bounded forward into the darkness. But that was just what Frodo and Sam had expected. Sam was on him before he had gone two paces after his spring. Frodo coming behind grabbed his leg and threw him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Doner! Boner! Troll\u2019s old seat is still the same, And the bone he boned from its owner! \u2018Well, that\u2019s a warning to us all!\u2019 laughed Merry. \u2018It is as well you used a stick, and not your hand, Strider!\u2019 \u2018Where did you come by that, Sam?\u2019 asked Pippin. \u2018I\u2019ve never heard those words before.\u2019 Sam muttered something inaudible. \u2018It\u2019s out of his own head, of course,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I am learning a lot about Sam Gamgee on this journey. First he was a conspirator, now he\u2019s a jester. He\u2019ll end up by becoming a wizard \u2013 or a warrior!\u2019 \u2018I hope not,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018I don\u2019t want to be neither!\u2019 In the afternoon they went on down the woods. They were prob- ably following the very track that Gandalf, Bilbo, and the dwarves had used many years before. After a few miles they came out on the top of a high bank above the Road. At this point the Road had left the Hoarwell far behind in its narrow valley, and now clung close to the feet of the hills, rolling and winding eastward among woods and heather-covered slopes towards the Ford and the Mountains. Not far down the bank Strider pointed out a stone in the grass. On it roughly cut and now much weathered could still be seen dwarf-runes and secret marks."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And you?\u2019 she said, turning to Sam. \u2018For this is what your folk would call magic, I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem 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?\u2019 \u2018I did,\u2019 said Sam, trembling a little between fear and curiosity. \u2018I\u2019ll have a peep, Lady, if you\u2019re willing."
    },
    {
        "text": "Away high in the East swung Remmirath, the Netted Stars, and slowly above the mists red Borgil rose, glowing like a jewel of fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Never yet. Do not then stumble at the end of the road,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018But at the least keep this thing secret. You, and all others that stand here! The hobbit, Peregrin, above all should not know where it is bestowed. The evil fit may come on him again. For alas! he has handled it and looked in it, as should never have happened.not at once guess the nature of the Stone. Then I was weary, and as I lay pondering it, sleep overcame me. Now I know!\u2019 \u2018Yes, there can be no doubt,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018At last we know the link between Isengard and Mordor, and how it worked. Much is explained.\u2019 \u2018Strange powers have our enemies, and strange weaknesses!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018But it has long been said: oft evil will shall evil mar.\u2019 \u2018That many times is seen,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But at this time we have been strangely fortunate. Maybe, I have been saved by this hobbit from a grave blunder. I had considered whether or not to probe this Stone myself to find its uses. Had I done so, I should have been revealed to him myself. I am not ready for such a trial, if indeed I shall ever be so. But even if I found the power to withdraw myself, it would be disastrous for him to see me, yet \u2013 until the hour comes when secrecy will avail no longer.\u2019 \u2018That hour is now come, I think,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He drew a deep breath. \u2018Well, I\u2019m back,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "The others went away north. All that day they were busy, out of sight. Most of the time we were left alone. It was a dreary day; and we wandered about a bit, though we kept out of the view of the windows of Orthanc, as much as we could: they stared at us so threateningly. A good deal of the time we spent looking for something to eat. And also we sat and talked, wondering what was happening away south in Rohan, and what had become of all the rest of our Company. Every now and then we could hear in the distance the rattle and fall of stone, and thudding noises echoing in the hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Farewell, Master Holbytla!\u2019 he said. \u2018My body is broken. I go to my fathers. And even in their mighty company I shall not now be ashamed. I felled the black serpent. A grim morn, and a glad day, and a golden sunset!\u2019 Merry could not speak, but wept anew. \u2018Forgive me, lord,\u2019 he said at last, \u2018if I broke your command, and yet have done no more innot be denied. Live now in blessedness; and when you sit in peace with your pipe, think of me! For never now shall I sit with you in Meduseld, as I promised, or listen to your herb-lore.\u2019 He closed his eyes, and Merry bowed beside him. Presently he spoke again. \u2018Where is E\u00b4omer? For my eyes darken, and I would see him ere I go. He must be king after me. And I would send word to E\u00b4 owyn. She, she would not have me leave her, and now I shall not see her again, dearer than daughter.\u2019 \u2018Lord, lord,\u2019 began Merry brokenly, \u2018she is\u2014\u2014\u2019; but at that moment there was a great clamour, and all about them horns and trumpets were blowing. Merry looked round: he had forgotten the war, and all the world beside, and many hours it seemed since the king rode to his fall, though in truth it was only a little while. But now he saw that they were in danger of being caught in the very midst of the great battle that would soon be joined."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The friend I speak of is not an Elf,\u2019 said Legolas; \u2018I mean Gimli, Glo\u00b4in\u2019s son here.\u2019 Gimli bowed low, and the axe slipped from his belt and clattered on the ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You are full of courtesy this morning,\u2019 laughed Legolas. \u2018But maybe, if we had not arrived, you would already have been keeping one another company again.\u2019 \u2018Maybe; and why not?\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018We had foul fare with the Orcs, and little enough for days before that. It seems a long while since we could eat to heart\u2019s content.\u2019 \u2018It does not seem to have done you any harm,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "Grey now as tears, gleaming silver, red then it rolled, roaring water: foam dyed with blood flamed at sunset; as beacons mountains burned at evening; red fell the dew in Rammas Echor.Chapter 7 THE PYRE OF DENETHOR When the dark shadow at the Gate withdrew Gandalf still sat motion- less. But Pippin rose to his feet, as if a great weight had been lifted from him; and he stood listening to the horns, and it seemed to him that they would break his heart with joy. And never in after years could he hear a horn blown in the distance without tears starting in his eyes. But now suddenly his errand returned to his memory, and he ran forward. At that moment Gandalf stirred and spoke to Shadowfax, and was about to ride through the Gate."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not yet,\u2019 he answered. \u2018I am going home now to put my notes in order.\u2019 He promised to deal with the amazing events at Bree, and so give a bit of interest to a book that appeared likely to treat mostly of the remote and less important affairs \u2018away south\u2019."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That does not sound like a Black Rider\u2019s horse!\u2019 said Frodo, listening intently. The other hobbits agreed hopefully that it did not, but they all remained full of suspicion. They had been in fear of pursuit for so long that any sound from behind seemed ominous and unfriendly. But Strider was now leaning forward, stooped to the ground, with a hand to his ear, and a look of joy on his face."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Thank goodness you don\u2019t keep any boats on the west-bank!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Can horses cross the river?\u2019 \u2018They can go ten miles north to Brandywine Bridge \u2013 or they might swim,\u2019 answered Merry. \u2018Though I never heard of any horse swimming the Brandywine. But what have horses to do with it?\u2019tell Fatty Bolger that you are coming. We\u2019ll see about supper and things.\u2019 \u2018We had our supper early with Farmer Maggot,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but we could do with another.\u2019 \u2018You shall have it! Give me that basket!\u2019 said Merry, and rode ahead into the darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then a minstrel and loremaster stood up and named all the names of the Lords of the Mark in their order: Eorl the Young; and Brego builder of the Hall; and Aldor brother of Baldor the hapless; and Fre\u00b4a, and Fre\u00b4awine, and Goldwine, and De\u00b4or, and Gram; and Helm who lay hid in Helm\u2019s Deep when the Mark was overrun; and so ended the nine mounds of the west-side, for in that time the line was broken, and after came the mounds of the east-side: Fre\u00b4ala\u00b4f, Helm\u2019s sister-son, and Le\u00b4ofa, and Walda, and Folca, and Folcwine, and Fengel, and Thengel, and The\u00b4oden the latest. And when The\u00b4oden was named E\u00b4omer drained the cup. Then E\u00b4owyn bade those that served to fill the cups, and all there assembled rose and drank to the new king, crying: \u2018Hail, E\u00b4 omer, King of the Mark!\u2019 At the last when the feast drew to an end E\u00b4omer arose and said: \u2018Now this is the funeral feast of The\u00b4oden the King; but I will speak ere we go of tidings of joy, for he would not grudge that I should do so, since he was ever a father to E\u00b4owyn my sister. Hear then all my guests, fair folk of many realms, such as have never before been gathered in this hall! Faramir, Steward of Gondor, and Prince of Ithilien, asks that E\u00b4 owyn Lady of Rohan should be his wife, and she grants it full willing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now it is time to drink the cup of farewell,\u2019 she said. \u2018Drink, Lord of the Galadhrim! And let not your heart be sad, though night must follow noon, and already our evening draweth nigh.\u2019 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 silent about her, and a while she looked upon her guests. At last she spoke again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, Treebeard and I have had some interesting discussions, and made a few plans,\u2019 he said; \u2018and we have all had some much-needed rest. Now we must be going on again. I hope you companions have all rested, too, and refreshed yourselves?\u2019 \u2018We have,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018But our discussions began and ended in smoke. Still we feel less ill-disposed towards Saruman than we did.\u2019 \u2018Do you indeed?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Well, I do not. I have now a last task to do before I go: I must pay Saruman a farewell visit. Dangerous, and probably useless; but it must be done. Those of you who wish may come with me \u2013 but beware! And do not jest! This is not the time for it.\u2019 \u2018I will come,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018I wish to see him and learn if he really looks like you.\u2019 \u2018And how will you learn that, Master Dwarf?\u2019 said Gandalf.Well, we shall see, perhaps. He may be shy of showing himself before many different eyes together. But I have ordered all the Ents to remove themselves from sight, so perhaps we shall persuade him to come out.\u2019 \u2018What\u2019s the danger?\u2019 asked Pippin. \u2018Will he shoot at us, and pour fire out of the windows; or can he put a spell on us from a distance?\u2019 \u2018The last is most likely, if you ride to his door with a light heart,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But there is no knowing what he can do, or may choose to try. A wild beast cornered is not safe to approach. And Saruman has powers you do not guess. Beware of his voice!\u2019 They came now to the foot of Orthanc. It was black, and the rock gleamed as if it were wet. The many faces of the stone had sharp edges as though they had been newly chiselled. A few scorings, and small flake-like splinters near the base, were all the marks that it bore of the fury of the Ents."
    },
    {
        "text": "Most of the things which they had to tell were a mere wonder andrepeated in defiance of the evidence of Mr. Butterbur\u2019s own ears."
    },
    {
        "text": "If it is destroyed, then he will fall; and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed for ever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so a great evil of this world will be removed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, I suppose we must be going on again,\u2019 he said. \u2018I wonder how long it will be before we really are caught and all the toiling and the slinking will be over, and in vain.\u2019 He stood up. \u2018It\u2019s dark, and we cannot use the Lady\u2019s glass. Keep it safe for me, Sam. I have nowhere to keep it now, except in my hand, and I shall need both hands in the blind night. But Sting I give to you. I have got an orc-blade, but I do not think it will be my part to strike any blow again.\u2019 It was difficult and dangerous moving in the night in the pathlessWhen a grey light crept back over the western heights, long after day had opened in the lands beyond, they went into hiding again and slept a little, turn by turn. In his times of waking Sam was busy with thoughts of food. At last when Frodo roused himself and spoke of eating and making ready for yet another effort, he asked the question that was troubling him most."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is called Cirith Ungol.\u2019 Gollum hissed sharply and began mut- tering to himself. \u2018Is not that its name?\u2019 said Faramir turning to him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Taking his axe the Dwarf now cut several branches. These they lashed together with bowstrings, and spread their cloaks upon the frame. Upon this rough bier they carried the body of their companion to the shore, together with such trophies of his last battle as they chose to send forth with him. It was only a short way, yet they found it no easy task, for Boromir was a man both tall and strong."
    },
    {
        "text": "A creature of an older world maybe it was, whose kind, lingering in forgotten mountains cold beneath the Moon, outstayed their day, and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood, apt to evil. And the Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the measure of all other things that fly; and he gave it to his servant to be his steed. Down, down it came, and then, folding its fingered webs, it gave a croaking cry, and settled upon the body of Snowmane, digging in its claws, stooping its long naked neck."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To the Havens, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do Elves live in those woods?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beside it was a great pile of helms and mail, cloven shields, and broken swords, bows and darts and other gear of war. Upon a stake in the middle was set a great goblin head; upon its shattered helm the white badge could still be seen. Further away, not far from the river, where it came streaming out from the edge of the wood, there was a mound. It was newly raised: the raw earth was covered with fresh-cut turves: about it were planted fifteen spears."
    },
    {
        "text": "The forest where Faramir had stood seemed empty and drear, as if a dream had passed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No one ever found out what had become of De\u00b4agol; he was murdered far from home, and his body was cunningly hidden. But Sme\u00b4agol returned alone; and he found that none of his family could see him, when he was wearing the ring. He was very pleased with his discovery and he concealed it; and he used it to find out secrets, and he put his knowledge to crooked and malicious uses. He became sharp-eyed and keen-eared for all that was hurtful. The ring had given him power according to his stature. It is not to be wondered at that he became very unpopular and was shunned (when visible) by all his relations. They kicked him, and he bit their feet. He tookto go far away; and his grandmother, desiring peace, expelled him from the family and turned him out of her hole."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Since 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.\u2019 \u2018We do not know what he expects,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018He 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 itself. The name of Moria is black.\u2019 \u2018You speak of what you do not know, when you liken Moria to the stronghold of Sauron,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018I 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-du\u02c6r do not return. But I would 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "And yet what help could he or any of the Company give to Frodo, save to walk blindly with him into the darkness? \u2018I shall go to Minas Tirith, alone if need be, for it is my duty,\u2019 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\u2019s thoughts."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019ll warrant); flint and tinder; woollen hose; linen; various small belongings of his master\u2019s that Frodo had forgotten and Sam had stowed to bring them out in triumph when they were called for. He went through them all."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019d like to try somewhere where there\u2019s none of \u2019em. But the war\u2019s on now, and when that\u2019s over things may be easier.\u2019 \u2018It\u2019s going well, they say.\u2019 \u2018They would,\u2019 grunted Gorbag. \u2018We\u2019ll see. But anyway, if it does go well, there should be a lot more room. What d\u2019you say? \u2013 if we get a chance, you and me\u2019ll slip off and set up somewhere on our own with a few trusty lads, somewhere where there\u2019s good loot nice and handy, and no big bosses.\u2019 \u2018Ah!\u2019 said Shagrat. \u2018Like old times.\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Gorbag. \u2018But don\u2019t count on it. I\u2019m not easy in my mind. As I said, the Big Bosses, ay,\u2019 his voice sank almost to a whisper, \u2018ay, even the Biggest, can make mistakes. Something nearly slipped, you say. I say, something has slipped. And we\u2019ve got to look out. Always the poor Uruks to put slips right, and small thanks. But don\u2019t forget: the enemies don\u2019t love us any more than they love Him, and if they get topsides on Him, we\u2019re done too. But see here: when were you ordered out?\u2019 \u2018About an hour ago, just before you saw us. A message came: Nazgu\u02c6l uneasy. Spies feared on Stairs. Double vigilance. Patrol to head of Stairs. I came at once.\u2019 \u2018Bad business,\u2019 said Gorbag. \u2018See here \u2013 our Silent Watchers were uneasy more than two days ago, that I know. But my patrol wasn\u2019t ordered out for another day, nor any message sent to Lugbu\u00b4rz either: owing to the Great Signal going up, and the High Nazgu\u02c6l going off to the war, and all that. And then they couldn\u2019t get Lugbu\u00b4rz to pay attention for a good while, I\u2019m told.\u2019 \u2018The Eye was busy elsewhere, I suppose,\u2019 said Shagrat. \u2018Big things going on away west, they say.\u2019 \u2018I daresay,\u2019 growled Gorbag. \u2018But in the meantime enemies have got up the Stairs. And what were you up to? You\u2019re supposed to keep watch, aren\u2019t you, special orders or no? What are you for?\u2019 \u2018That\u2019s enough! Don\u2019t try and teach me my job. We were awake all right. We knew there were funny things going on.\u2019 \u2018Very funny!\u2019 \u2018Yes, very funny: lights and shouting and all. But Shelob was on the go. My lads saw her and her Sneak.\u2019 \u2018Her Sneak? What\u2019s that?\u2019 \u2018You must have seen him: little thin black fellow; like a spider himself, or perhaps more like a starved frog. He\u2019s been here before."
    },
    {
        "text": "The slow voices of the Riders stirred the hearts even of those who did not know the speech of that people; but the words of the song brought a light to the eyes of the folk of the Mark as they heard again afar the thunder of the hooves of the North and the voice of Eorl crying above the battle upon the Field of Celebrant; and the tale of the kings rolled on, and the horn of Helm was loud in the mountains, until the Darkness came and King The\u00b4oden arose and rode through the Shadow to the fire, and died in splendour, even as the Sun, returning beyond hope, gleamed upon Mindolluin in the morning."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, sir. I saw nothing, but I didn\u2019t stop to look.\u2019 \u2018I saw something,\u2019 said Merry; \u2018or I thought I did \u2013 away westwards where the moonlight was falling on the flats beyond the shadow of the hill-tops, I thought there were two or three black shapes. They seemed to be moving this way.\u2019 \u2018Keep close to the fire, with your faces outward!\u2019 cried Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Won\u2019t somebody give us a bit of a song, while the sun is high?\u2019 said Merry, when they had finished. \u2018We haven\u2019t had a song or a tale for days.\u2019 \u2018Not since Weathertop,\u2019 said Frodo. The others looked at him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All you wish is to see it and touch it, if you can, though you know it would drive you mad. Not on it. Swear by it, if you will. For you know where it is. Yes, you know, Sme\u00b4agol. It is before you.\u2019 For a moment it appeared to Sam that his master had grown and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog. Yet the two were in some way akin and not alien: they could reach one another\u2019s minds. Gollum raised himself and began pawing at Frodo, fawning at his knees."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018White!\u2019\u2019 he sneered. \u2018\u2018It serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed. The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018In which case it is no longer white,\u2019\u2019 said I. \u2018\u2018And he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018You need not speak to me as to one of the fools that you take for friends,\u2019\u2019 said he. \u2018\u2018I have not brought you hither to be instructed by you, but to give you a choice.\u2019\u2019 \u2018He drew himself up then and began to declaim, as if he were making a speech long rehearsed. \u2018\u2018The Elder Days are gone. The Middle Days are passing. The Younger Days are beginning. The time of the Elves is over, but our time is at hand: the world of Men, which we must rule. But we must have power, power to order all things as we will, for that good which only the Wise can see."
    },
    {
        "text": "As Frodo lay, tired but unable to close his eyes, it seemed to him that far away there came a light in the eastern sky: it flashed and faded many times. It was not the dawn, for that was still some hours off."
    },
    {
        "text": "When the night-shadows fall, then the door will open, Out of the window-panes light will twinkle yellow."
    },
    {
        "text": "He saw the elven-flowers spring About her feet, and healed again He longed by her to dance and sing Upon the grass untroubling."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That the Nine had indeed arisen I felt assured, apart from the words of Saruman which might be lies. Long ere I came to Isengard I had heard tidings by the way that could not be mistaken. Fear was ever in my heart for my friends in the Shire; but still I had somebegan. And both my fear and my hope proved ill-founded. For my hope was founded on a fat man in Bree; and my fear was founded on the cunning of Sauron. But fat men who sell ale have many calls to answer; and the power of Sauron is still less than fear makes it."
    },
    {
        "text": "On the further edge of this broad hill-back they stayed their march and crawled for hiding underneath a tangled knot of thorns. Theirwith dead branch and bramble, and roofed with the first leaves and shoots of spring. There they lay for a while, too tired yet to eat; and peering out through the holes in the covert they watched for the slow growth of day."
    },
    {
        "text": "When we found that you were not with them, Gandalf sent me to look for you. Poor old Merry! How glad I am to see you again! But you are worn out, and I won\u2019t bother you with any talk. But tell me,right arm, Pippin, not since I stabbed him. And my sword burned all away like a piece of wood.\u2019 Pippin\u2019s face was anxious. \u2018Well, you had better come with me as quick as you can,\u2019 he said. \u2018I wish I could carry you. You aren\u2019t fit to walk any further. They shouldn\u2019t have let you walk at all; but you must forgive them. So many dreadful things have happened in the City, Merry, that one poor hobbit coming in from the battle is easily overlooked.\u2019 \u2018It\u2019s not always a misfortune being overlooked,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I was overlooked just now by \u2013 no, no, I can\u2019t speak of it. Help me, Pippin! It\u2019s all going dark again, and my arm is so cold.\u2019 \u2018Lean on me, Merry lad!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Come now! Foot by foot."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then suddenly she laid her hand on his arm. \u2018You are a stern lord and resolute,\u2019 she said; \u2018and thus do men win renown.\u2019 She paused."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Rohirrim have good bowmen after their fashion, but there are too few here, too few.\u2019 \u2018It is dark for archery,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Indeed it is time for sleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If you wish only to destroy the Ring,\u2019 he said, \u2018then there is little use in war and weapons; and the Men of Minas Tirith cannot help."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was Gildor and many fair Elven folk; and there to Sam\u2019s wonder rode Elrond and Galadriel. Elrond wore a mantle of grey and had a star upon his forehead, and a silver harp was in his hand, and upon his finger was a ring of gold with a great blue stone, Vilya, mightiest of the Three. But Galadriel sat upon a white palfrey and was robed all in glimmering white, like clouds about the Moon; for she herself seemed to shine with a soft light. On her finger was Nenya, the ring wrought of mithril, that bore a single white stone flickering like a frosty star. Riding slowly behind on a small grey pony, and seeming to nod in his sleep, was Bilbo himself."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Behold the Argonath, the Pillars of the Kings!\u2019 cried Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "So it was that near the end of a wild and wet evening in the last days of October the five travellers rode up the climbing road and cametotheSouth-gateofBree.Itwaslockedfast;andtherainblewWhen they had called many times, at last the Gate-keeper came out, and they saw that he carried a great cudgel. He looked at them with fear and suspicion; but when he saw that Gandalf was there, and that his companions were hobbits, in spite of their strange gear, then he brightened and wished them welcome."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We are tired, but we shall rest better when we are outside,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "They felt the Orc\u2019s arms trembling violently. \u2018Curse you, you filthy little vermin!\u2019 he hissed. \u2018Untie your legs? I\u2019ll untie every string in your bodies. Do you think I can\u2019t search you to the bones? Search you! I\u2019ll cut you both to quivering shreds. I don\u2019t need the help of your legs to get you away \u2013 and have you all to myself !\u2019 Suddenly he seized them. The strength in his long arms and shoul- ders was terrifying. He tucked them one under each armpit, and crushed them fiercely to his sides; a great stifling hand was clapped over each of their mouths. Then he sprang forward, stooping low."
    },
    {
        "text": "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-du\u02c6r, Fortress of Sauron."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Herdsmen!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Where are their flocks? What are they, Gandalf ? For it is plain that to you, at any rate, they are not strange.\u2019 \u2018They are the shepherds of the trees,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018Is it so long since you listened to tales by the fireside? There are children in your land who, out of the twisted threads of story, could pick the answer to your question. You have seen Ents, O King, Ents out of Fangorn Forest, which in your tongue you call the Entwood. Did you think that the name was given only in idle fancy? Nay, The\u00b4oden, it is otherwise: to them you are but the passing tale; all the years fromEorltheYoungtoThe\u00b4odentheOldareoflittlecounttothem;of legend I begin a little to understand the marvel of the trees, I think. I have lived to see strange days. Long we have tended our beasts and our fields, built our houses, wrought our tools, or ridden away to help in the wars of Minas Tirith. And that we called the life of Men, the way of the world. We cared little for what lay beyond the borders of our land. Songs we have that tell of these things, but we are forgetting them, teaching them only to children, as a careless custom. And now the songs have come down among us out of strange places, and walk visible under the Sun.\u2019 \u2018You should be glad, The\u00b4oden King,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018For not only the little life of Men is now endangered, but the life also of those things which you have deemed the matter of legend. You are not without allies, even if you know them not.\u2019 \u2018Yet also I should be sad,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018For however the fortune of war shall go, may it not so end that much that was fair and wonderful shall pass for ever out of Middle-earth?\u2019 \u2018It may,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018The evil of Sauron cannot be wholly cured, nor made as if it had not been. But to such days we are doomed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now for the other!\u2019 said Uglu\u00b4k. Pippin saw him go to Merry, who was lying close by, and kick him. Merry groaned. Seizing him roughly Uglu\u00b4k pulled him into a sitting position, and tore the bandage off his head. Then he smeared the wound with some dark stuff out of a small wooden box. Merry cried out and struggled wildly."
    },
    {
        "text": "And when they had reckoned up all their strength and taken thought for the journeys they should make and the roads they should choose, Imrahil suddenly laughed aloud."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That word comes too oft and easy from your lips,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wish we could have a Stone that we could see all our friends in,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018and that we could speak to them from far away!\u2019 \u2018Only one now remains that you could use,\u2019 answered Aragorn; \u2018for you would not wish to see what the Stone of Minas Tirith would show you. But the Palant\u00b4\u0131r of Orthanc the King will keep, to see what is passing in his realm, and what his servants are doing. For do not forget, Peregrin Took, that you are a knight of Gondor, and I do not release you from your service. You are going now on leave, but I may recall you. And remember, dear friends of the Shire, that my realm lies also in the North, and I shall come there one day.\u2019 Then Aragorn took leave of Celeborn and Galadriel; and the Lady said to him: \u2018Elfstone, through darkness you have come to your hope, and have now all your desire. Use well the days!\u2019 But Celeborn said: \u2018Kinsman, farewell! May your doom be other than mine, and your treasure remain with you to the end!\u2019 With that they parted, and it was then the time of sunset; and when after a while they turned and looked back, they saw the King of the West sitting upon his horse with his knights about him; and the falling Sun shone upon them and made all their harness to gleam like red gold, and the white mantle of Aragorn was turned to a flame."
    },
    {
        "text": "They came within cry of the Morannon, and unfurled the banner, and blew upon their trumpets; and the heralds stood out and sent their voices up over the battlement of Mordor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have heard strange words, and I see new perils far off. I have laboured long in thought, and now I fear that I must change my purpose. Tell me, The\u00b4oden, you ride now to Dunharrow, how long will it be ere you come there?\u2019 \u2018It is now a full hour past noon,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018Before the night of the third day from now we should come to the Hold. The Moon will then be two nights past his full, and the muster that the king com- manded will be held the day after. More speed we cannot make, if the strength of Rohan is to be gathered.\u2019 Aragorn was silent for a moment. \u2018Three days,\u2019 he murmured,some decision; his face was less troubled. \u2018Then, by your leave, lord, I must take new counsel for myself and my kindred. We must ride our own road, and no longer in secret. For me the time of stealth has passed. I will ride east by the swiftest way, and I will take the Paths of the Dead.\u2019 \u2018The Paths of the Dead!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden, and trembled. \u2018Why do you speak of them?\u2019 E\u00b4omer turned and gazed at Aragorn, and it seemed to Merry that the faces of the Riders that sat within hearing turned pale at the words. \u2018If there be in truth such paths,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden, \u2018their gate is in Dunharrow; but no living man may pass it.\u2019 \u2018Alas! Aragorn my friend!\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018I had hoped that we should ride to war together; but if you seek the Paths of the Dead, then our parting is come, and it is little likely that we shall ever meet again under the Sun.\u2019 \u2018That road I will take, nonetheless,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But I say to you, E\u00b4omer, that in battle we may yet meet again, though all the hosts of Mordor should stand between.\u2019 \u2018You will do as you will, my lord Aragorn,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018It is your doom, maybe, to tread strange paths that others dare not. This parting grieves me, and my strength is lessened by it; but now I must take the mountain-roads and delay no longer. Farewell!\u2019 \u2018Farewell, lord!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Ride unto great renown! Farewell, Merry! I leave you in good hands, better than we hoped when we hunted the orcs to Fangorn. Legolas and Gimli will still hunt with me, I hope; but we shall not forget you.\u2019 \u2018Good-bye!\u2019 said Merry. He could find no more to say. He felt very small, and he was puzzled and depressed by all these gloomy words. More than ever he missed the unquenchable cheerfulness of Pippin. The Riders were ready, and their horses were fidgeting; he wished they would start and get it over."
    },
    {
        "text": "They started off again. They had not gone far when Frodo paused."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Maybe even your foolishness helped, my lad. Let me see: some five days ago now he would discover that we had thrown down Saruman, and had taken the Stone. Still what of that? We could not use it to much purpose, or without his knowing. Ah! I wonder. Aragorn? His time draws near. And he is strong and stern underneath, Pippin; bold, determined, able to take his own counsel and dare great risks at need. That may be it. He may have used the Stone and shown himself to the Enemy, challenging him, for this very purpose. I wonder. Well, we shall not know the answer till the Riders of Rohan come, if they do not come too late. There are evil days ahead. To sleep while we may!\u2019 \u2018But,\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ah, then I think it is likely that Gimli\u2019s eyes do not deceive him."
    },
    {
        "text": "His brown hand still clutched the hilt of a broken sword."
    },
    {
        "text": "The last rank of spears had vanished down the road. The tower still grinned across the valley, but the light was fading in it. The whole city was falling back into a dark brooding shade, and silence. Yet still it was filled with watchfulness."
    },
    {
        "text": "Fail \u2013 even as he said the word his voice faded into silence. The air seemed heavy and the making of words wearisome. Just behind them a large branch fell from an old overhanging tree with a crash into the path. The trees seemed to close in before them."
    },
    {
        "text": "They woke to find a cool sun shining into the great court, and on to the floor of the bay. Shreds of high cloud were overhead, running on a stiff easterly wind. Treebeard was not to be seen; but while Merry and Pippin were bathing in the basin by the arch, they heard him humming and singing, as he came up the path between the trees."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "What shall we do with it?\u2019 There was a silence. At last Elrond spoke again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Foiled again!\u2019 he said to his wife. \u2018And after waiting sixty years."
    },
    {
        "text": "Out of sight and shot they flew, and yet were ever present, and their deadly voices rent the air. More unbearable they became, not less, at each new cry. At length even the stout-hearted would fling them- selves to the ground as the hidden menace passed over them, or they would stand, letting their weapons fall from nerveless hands while into their minds a blackness came, and they thought no more of war; but only of hiding and of crawling, and of death."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, even as you see us.\u2019 Wide wonder came into E\u00b4 omer\u2019s eyes. \u2018Strider is too poor a name, son of Arathorn,\u2019 he said. \u2018Wingfoot I name you. This deed of the three friends should be sung in many a hall. Forty leagues and five you have measured ere the fourth day is ended! Hardy is the race of Elendil! \u2018But now, lord, what would you have me do! I must return in haste to The\u00b4oden. I spoke warily before my men. It is true that we are not yet at open war with the Black Land, and there are some, close to the king\u2019s ear, that speak craven counsels; but war is coming."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where in Middle-earth are we?\u2019 said Gimli; and Elladan answered: \u2018We have descended from the uprising of the Morthond, the long chill river that flows at last to the sea that washes the walls of Dol Amroth. You will not need to ask hereafter how comes its name: Blackroot men call it.\u2019 The Morthond Vale made a great bay that beat up against the sheer southern faces of the mountains. Its steep slopes were grass- grown; but all was grey in that hour, for the sun had gone, and far below lights twinkled in the homes of Men. The vale was rich and many folk dwelt there."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then about a year ago a messenger came to Da\u00b4in, but not from Moria \u2013 from Mordor: a horseman in the night, who called Da\u00b4in to his gate. The Lord Sauron the Great, so he said, wished for our friendship. Rings he would give for it, such as he gave of old. And he asked urgently concerning hobbits, of what kind they were, and where they dwelt. \u2018\u2018For Sauron knows,\u2019\u2019 said he, \u2018\u2018that one of these was known to you on a time.\u2019\u2019 \u2018At this we were greatly troubled, and we gave no answer. And then his fell voice was lowered, and he would have sweetened it if he could. \u2018\u2018As a small token only of your friendship Sauron asks this,\u2019\u2019 he said: \u2018\u2018that you should find this thief,\u2019\u2019 such was his word, \u2018\u2018and get from him, willing or no, a little ring, the least of rings, that once he stole. It is but a trifle that Sauron fancies, and an earnest of your good will. Find it, and three rings that the Dwarf-sires possessed of old shall be returned to you, and the realm of Moria shall be yours for ever. Find only news of the thief, whether he still lives and where, and you shall have great reward and lasting friendship from the Lord."
    },
    {
        "text": "The\u00b4oden rose and put his hand to his side; but no sword hung at his belt. \u2018Where has Gr\u00b4\u0131ma stowed it?\u2019 he muttered under his breath."
    },
    {
        "text": "Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight, Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight, There my pretty lady is, River-woman\u2019s daughter, Slender as the willow-wand, clearer than the water."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If I had! If you had!\u2019 he said. \u2018Such words and ifs are vain. It has gone into the Shadow, and only time will show what doom awaits it, and us. The time will not be long. In what is left, let all who fight the Enemy in their fashion be at one, and keep hope while they may, and after hope still the hardihood to die free.\u2019 He turned to Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Forlong!\u2019 men shouted. \u2018True heart, true friend! Forlong!\u2019 But when the men of Lossarnach had passed they muttered: \u2018So few! Two hundreds, what are they? We hoped for ten times the number."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t say such things!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It only makes it worse.\u2019 Then he stretched himself out, dizzy and weary, and he spoke no more for a while. At last with a struggle he got up again. To his amazement he found that Sam was asleep. \u2018Wake up, Sam!\u2019 he said. \u2018Come on! It\u2019s time we made another effort.\u2019 Sam scrambled to his feet. \u2018Well I never!\u2019 he said. \u2018I must have dropped off. It\u2019s a long time, Mr. Frodo, since I had a proper sleep,Frodo now led the way, northward as near as he could guess, among the stones and boulders lying thick at the bottom of the great ravine. But presently he stopped again."
    },
    {
        "text": "When he came to himself again, for a moment he could recall nothing except a sense of dread. Then suddenly he knew that he was imprisoned, caught hopelessly; he was in a barrow. A Barrow-wight had taken him, and he was probably already under the dreadful spells of the Barrow-wights about which whispered tales spoke. He dared not move, but lay as he found himself: flat on his back upon a cold stone with his hands on his breast."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Orcs were piled in great heaps, away from the mounds of Men, not far from the eaves of the forest. And the people were troubled in their minds; for the heaps of carrion were too great for burial or for burning. They had little wood for firing, and none would have dared to take an axe to the strange trees, even if Gandalf had not warned them to hurt neither bark nor bough at their great peril."
    },
    {
        "text": "She might, yes.\u2019 \u2018No, no! Not that way!\u2019 wailed Sme\u00b4agol."
    },
    {
        "text": "It did not, however, turn out half as bad as he had expected. The rope seemed to give him confidence, though he shut his eyes more than once when he looked down between his feet. There was one awkward spot, where there was no ledge and the wall was sheer and even undercut for a short space; there he slipped and swung out on the silver line. But Frodo lowered him slowly and steadily, and it was over at last. His chief fear had been that the rope-length would give out while he was still high up, but there was still a good bight in Frodo\u2019s hands, when Sam came to the bottom and called up: \u2018I\u2019m down!\u2019 His voice came up clearly from below, but Frodo could not see him; his grey elven-cloak had melted into the twilight."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It certainly came,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018and that\u2019s the chief thing. But now we\u2019ve got to think of our next move. Night will be on us soon."
    },
    {
        "text": "And whither then? I cannot say."
    },
    {
        "text": "Do not be a fool. If you wish to treat with me, while you have a chance, go away, and come back when you are sober! And leave behind these cut-throats and small rag-tag that dangle at your tail! Good day!\u2019 He turned and left the balcony."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What it was I cannot guess, but I have never felt such a challenge."
    },
    {
        "text": "And even if he did so, he could not go far on the guarded road beyond: not even the black shadows, lying deep where the red glow could not reach, would shield him long from the night-eyed orcs."
    },
    {
        "text": "Great shadows fell across them; trunks and branches of trees hung dark and threatening over the path. White mists began to rise and curl on the surface of the river and stray about the roots of the trees upon its borders. Out of the very ground at their feet a shadowy steam arose and mingled with the swiftly falling dusk."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ah well, you always did take a gloomy view,\u2019 said Shagrat. \u2018You can read the signs how you like, but there may be other ways to explain them. Anyhow, I\u2019ve got watchers at every point, and I\u2019m going to deal with one thing at a time. When I\u2019ve had a look at the fellow we have caught, then I\u2019ll begin to worry about something else.\u2019big fellow with the sharp sword doesn\u2019t seem to have thought him worth much anyhow \u2013 just left him lying: regular Elvish trick.\u2019 \u2018We\u2019ll see. Come on now! We\u2019ve talked enough. Let\u2019s go and have a look at the prisoner!\u2019 \u2018What are you going to do with him? Don\u2019t forget I spotted him first. If there\u2019s any game, me and my lads must be in it.\u2019 \u2018Now, now,\u2019 growled Shagrat, \u2018I have my orders. And it\u2019s more than my belly\u2019s worth, or yours, to break \u2019em. Any trespasser found by the guard is to be held at the tower. Prisoner is to be stripped."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then wilt thou not let me ride with this company, as I have asked?\u2019 \u2018I will not, lady,\u2019 he said. \u2018For that I could not grant without leave of the king and of your brother; and they will not return until tomorrow. But I count now every hour, indeed every minute."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Oh,thatwon\u2019tdo!\u2019saidBilbo.\u2018Booksoughttohavegoodendings.\u2018It will do well, if it ever comes to that,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was not very long, though fear made it seem an hour at least, before he heard Sam\u2019s voice calling softly from below: Elbereth, Elbereth. Frodo let down the light ladder. Up came Sam, puffing, heaving a great bundle on his head. He let it fall with a thud."
    },
    {
        "text": "And they passed him by. He cowered, trying to creep away into some cranny and to hide."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018For mithril,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018The wealth of Moria was not in gold and jewels, the toys of the Dwarves; nor in iron, their servant."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018News of you, of course,\u2019 answered Strider. \u2018An account of your performance would be very interesting to certain people. After that they would hardly need to be told your real name. It seems to me only too likely that they will hear of it before this night is over. Is that enough? You can do as you like about my reward: take me as a guide or not. But I may say that I know all the lands between the Shire and the Misty Mountains, for I have wandered over them for many years. I am older than I look. I might prove useful. You will have to leave the open road after tonight; for the horsemen will watch it night and day. You may escape from Bree, and be allowed to go forward while the Sun is up; but you won\u2019t go far. They will come on you in the wild, in some dark place where there is no help. Do you wish them to find you? They are terrible!\u2019 The hobbits looked at him, and saw with surprise that his face was drawn as if with pain, and his hands clenched the arms of his chair. The room was very quiet and still, and the light seemed to have grown dim. For a while he sat with unseeing eyes as if walking in distant memory or listening to sounds in the Night far away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And there is the Tree of the High Elves!\u2019 said Legolas.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.\u2019 \u2018What does the writing say?\u2019 asked Frodo, who was trying to decipher the inscription on the arch. \u2018I thought I knew the elf-letters, but I cannot read these.\u2019 \u2018The words are in the elven-tongue of the West of Middle-earth in the Elder Days,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018But they do not say anything of importance to us. They say only: The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria."
    },
    {
        "text": "They decided to attempt the climb, but it proved very difficult."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here are some treasures that you let fall,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018You will be glad to have them back.\u2019 He loosened his belt from under his cloak, and took from it the two sheathed knives."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Can\u2019t you stop your rabble making such a racket, Shagrat?\u2019the other. \u2018But let the lads play! No need to worry about Shelob for a bit, I reckon. She\u2019s sat on a nail, it seems, and we shan\u2019t cry about that. Didn\u2019t you see: a nasty mess all the way back to that cursed crack of hers? If we\u2019ve stopped it once, we\u2019ve stopped it a hundred times. So let \u2019em laugh. And we\u2019ve struck a bit of luck at last: got something that Lugbu\u00b4 rz wants.\u2019 \u2018Lugbu\u00b4rz wants it, eh? What is it, d\u2019you think? Elvish it looked to me, but undersized. What\u2019s the danger in a thing like that?\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t know till we\u2019ve had a look.\u2019 \u2018Oho! So they haven\u2019t told you what to expect? They don\u2019t tell us all they know, do they? Not by half. But they can make mistakes, even the Top Ones can.\u2019 \u2018Sh, Gorbag!\u2019 Shagrat\u2019s voice was lowered, so that even with his strangely sharpened hearing Sam could only just catch what was said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Have pity on one worn out in your service. Send me not from your side! I at least will stand by you when all others have gone. Do not send your faithful Gr\u00b4\u0131ma away!\u2019 \u2018You have my pity,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018And I do not send you from my side. I go myself to war with my men. I bid you come with me and prove your faith.\u2019 Wormtongue looked from face to face. In his eyes was the hunted look of a beast seeking some gap in the ring of his enemies. He licked his lips with a long pale tongue. \u2018Such a resolve might be expected from a lord of the House of Eorl, old though he be,\u2019 he said. \u2018But those who truly love him would spare his failing years. Yet I see thatwork, hear me at least in this, lord! One who knows your mind and honours your commands should be left in Edoras. Appoint a faithful steward. Let your counsellor Gr\u00b4\u0131ma keep all things till your return \u2013 and I pray that we may see it, though no wise man will deem it hopeful.\u2019 E\u00b4 omer laughed. \u2018And if that plea does not excuse you from war, most noble Wormtongue,\u2019 he said, \u2018what office of less honour would you accept? To carry a sack of meal up into the mountains \u2013 if any man would trust you with it?\u2019 \u2018Nay, E\u00b4 omer, you do not fully understand the mind of Master Wormtongue,\u2019 said Gandalf, turning his piercing glance upon him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018These are the strangest trees that ever I saw,\u2019 he said; \u2018and I have seen many an oak grow from acorn to ruinous age. I wish that there were leisure now to walk among them: they have voices, and in time I might come to understand their thought.\u2019 \u2018No, no!\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Let us leave them! I guess their thought\u2018Not of all that go on two legs,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018There I think you are wrong. It is Orcs that they hate. For they do not belong here and know little of Elves and Men. Far away are the valleys where they sprang. From the deep dales of Fangorn, Gimli, that is whence they come, I guess.\u2019 \u2018Then that is the most perilous wood in Middle-earth,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo sniffed the air and looked up doubtfully at the sky. He strapped his belt outside his cloak and tightened it, and settled his light pack on his back; then he stepped towards the edge. \u2018I\u2019m going to try it,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Big as a house, much bigger than a house, it looked to him, a grey-clad moving hill. Fear and wonder, maybe, enlarged him in the hobbit\u2019s eyes, but the Mu\u02c6mak of Harad was indeed a beast of vast bulk, and the like of him does not walk now in Middle-earth; his kin that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth and majesty. On he came, straight towards the watchers, and then swerved aside in the nick of time, passing only a few yards away, rocking the ground beneath their feet: his great legs like trees, enormous sail-like ears spread out, long snout upraised like a huge serpent about to strike, his small red eyes raging. His upturned hornlike tusks were bound with bands of gold and dripped with blood. His trappings of scarlet and gold flapped about him in wild tatters. The ruins of what seemed a very war-tower lay upon his heaving back, smashed in his furious passage through the woods; and high upon his neck still desperately clung a tiny figure \u2013 the body of a mighty warrior, a giant among the Swertings."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Don\u2019t look at them! Gollum says we mustn\u2019t. Let\u2019s keep up with him and get out of this cursed place as quick as we can \u2013 if we can!\u2019 \u2018All right,\u2019 said Frodo, as if returning out of a dream. \u2018I\u2019m coming."
    },
    {
        "text": "Another bed was set beside him for his servant. Sam hesitated for a moment, then bowing very low: \u2018Good night, Captain, my lord,\u2019 he said. \u2018You took the chance, sir.\u2019 \u2018Did I so?\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Gandalf,\u2019 the old man repeated, as if recalling from old memory a long disused word. \u2018Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf.\u2019 He stepped down from the rock, and picking up his grey cloak wrapped it about him: it seemed as if the sun had been shining, but now was hid in cloud again. \u2018Yes, you may still call me Gandalf,\u2019 he said, and the voice was the voice of their old friend and guide. \u2018Get up, my good Gimli! No blame to you, and no harm done to me."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 as slippery as a fish. I hoped the river-voyage would beat him, but he is too clever a waterman."
    },
    {
        "text": "Quickly Gandalf strode across the white-paved court. A sweet foun- tain played there in the morning sun, and a sward of bright green lay about it; but in the midst, drooping over the pool, stood a dead tree, and the falling drops dripped sadly from its barren and broken branches back into the clear water."
    },
    {
        "text": "Whether because of some special keenness of sight, or because of some other sense, the horse lifted and sprang lightly over them; but its rider did not see them, lying covered in their elven-cloaks, too crushed for the moment, and too afraid to move."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But I expected to find it. I have come back from dark journeys and long search to make that final test. It is the last proof, and all is now only too clear. Making out Gollum\u2019s part, and fitting it into the gap in the history, required some thought. I may have started with guesses about Gollum, but I am not guessing now. I know. I have seen him.\u2019 \u2018You have seen Gollum?\u2019 exclaimed Frodo in amazement."
    },
    {
        "text": "The rumours that you have heard are true: he has indeed arisen again and left his hold in Mirkwood and returned to his ancient fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor. That name even you hobbits have heard of, like a shadow on the borders of old stories. Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.\u2019 \u2018I wish it need not have happened in my time,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ea\u00a8rendil was a mariner that tarried in Arvernien; he built a boat of timber felledher sails he wove of silver fair, of silver were her lanterns made, her prow he fashioned like a swan, and light upon her banners laid."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Can you find a path easier by day or by night? We\u2019re tired; but if you choose the night, we\u2019ll start tonight.\u2019 \u2018The big lights hurt our eyes, they do,\u2019 Gollum whined. \u2018Not under the White Face, not yet. It will go behind the hills soon, yess. Rest a bit first, nice hobbits!\u2019The hobbits seated themselves beside him, one on either side, with their backs to the stony wall, resting their legs. There was no need for any arrangement by word: they knew that they must not sleep for a moment. Slowly the moon went by. Shadows fell down from the hills, and all grew dark before them. The stars grew thick and bright in the sky above. No one stirred. Gollum sat with his legs drawn up, knees under chin, flat hands and feet splayed on the ground, his eyes closed; but he seemed tense, as if thinking or listening."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I 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.\u2019 The Company took little gear of war, for their hope was in secrecy not in battle. Aragorn had Andu\u00b4ril but no other weapon, and he went forth clad only in rusty green and brown, as a Ranger of the wilder- ness. Boromir had a long sword, in fashion like Andu\u00b4 ril but of less lineage, and he bore also a shield and his war-horn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s coming out in a minute,\u2019 whispered Pippin to Merry. Merry nodded."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It was a compliment,\u2019 said Merry Brandybuck, \u2018and so, of course, not true.\u2019 Then they went round the hole, and evicted three young hobbits (two Boffins and a Bolger) who were knocking holes in the walls of one of the cellars. Frodo also had a tussle with young Sancho Proudfoot (old Odo Proudfoot\u2019s grandson), who had begun an exca- vation in the larger pantry, where he thought there was an echo. The legend of Bilbo\u2019s gold excited both curiosity and hope; for legendary gold (mysteriously obtained, if not positively ill-gotten), is, as every- one knows, anyone\u2019s for the finding \u2013 unless the search is interrupted."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Eagles report that Orcs are gathering again from afar; but theredeep hall of his fathers, Balin son of Fundin may be found. However it may prove, one must tread the path that need chooses!\u2019 \u2018I will tread the path with you, Gandalf !\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018I will go and look on the halls of Durin, whatever may wait there \u2013 if you can find the doors that are shut.\u2019 \u2018Good, Gimli!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018You encourage me. We will seek the hidden doors together. And we will come through. In the ruins of the Dwarves, a dwarf \u2019s 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 Thra\u00b4in son of Thro\u00b4 r after he was lost. I passed through, and I came out again alive!\u2019 \u2018I too once passed the Dimrill Gate,\u2019 said Aragorn quietly; \u2018but though I also came out again, the memory is very evil. I do not wish to enter Moria a second time.\u2019 \u2018And I don\u2019t wish to enter it even once,\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The 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, but 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 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.\u2019 He paused and sighed."
    },
    {
        "text": "A shaft is mentioned. Then Balin has set up his seat in the Chamber of Mazarbul.\u2019\u2018Well, I can read no more for a long way,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018except the word gold, and Durin\u2019s 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 O\u00b4 in to seek for the upper armouries of Third Deep, something go westwards, a blur, to Hollin gate.\u2019 Gandalf paused and set a few leaves aside. \u2018There are several pages of the same sort, rather hastily written and much damaged,\u2019 he said; \u2018but 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 large bold hand using an Elvish script.\u2019 \u2018That would be Ori\u2019s hand,\u2019 said Gimli, looking over the wizard\u2019s arm. \u2018He could write well and speedily, and often used the Elvish characters.\u2019 \u2018I fear he had ill tidings to record in a fair hand,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, come now! I think we had better not move out from here again, until it has gone quite dark. So you shall tell me how you know, and all about what happened. If you can do it quietly.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ll try,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018but when I think of that Stinker I get so hot I could shout.\u2019 There the hobbits sat under the cover of the thorny bush, while the drear light of Mordor faded slowly into a deep and starless night; and Sam spoke into Frodo\u2019s ear all that he could find words for of Gollum\u2019s treacherous attack, the horror of Shelob, and his own adventures with the orcs. When he had finished, Frodo said nothing but took Sam\u2019s hand and pressed it. At length he stirred."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam felt that he could sit like that in endless happiness; but it was not allowed. It was not enough for him to find his master, he had still to try and save him. He kissed Frodo\u2019s forehead. \u2018Come! Wake up, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 he said, trying to sound as cheerful as he had when he drew back the curtains at Bag End on a summer\u2019s morning."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To find Mithrandir,\u2019 Pippin answered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Wonder came into his face, and then he smiled in answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "It isn\u2019t to see Elves now, nor dragons, nor mountains, that I want \u2013 I don\u2019t rightly know what I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through, sir, if you understand me.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t altogether. But I understand that Gandalf chose me a good companion. I am content. We will go together.\u2019\u2018All ready to start?\u2019 he said as Pippin ran up. \u2018We must be getting off at once. We slept late; and there are a good many miles to go.\u2019 \u2018You slept late, you mean,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I was up long before; and we are only waiting for you to finish eating and thinking.\u2019 \u2018I have finished both now. And I am going to make for Bucklebury Ferry as quickly as possible. I am not going out of the way, back to the road we left last night: I am going to cut straight across country from here.\u2019 \u2018Then you are going to fly,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018You won\u2019t cut straight on foot anywhere in this country.\u2019 \u2018We can cut straighter than the road anyway,\u2019 answered Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "But none were unmoved; none rejected its pleas and its commands without an effort of mind and will, so long as its master had control of it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I do not know,\u2019 she answered. \u2018He came at night, and rode away yestermorn, ere the Sun had climbed over the mountain-tops. He isTell me, did he speak of that road?\u2019 He pointed away along the darkening lines of stones towards the Dwimorberg. \u2018Of the Paths of the Dead?\u2019 \u2018Yes, lord,\u2019 said E\u00b4owyn. \u2018And he has passed into the shadow from which none have returned. I could not dissuade him. He is gone.\u2019 \u2018Then our paths are sundered,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018He is lost. We must ride without him, and our hope dwindles.\u2019 Slowly they passed through the short heath and upland grass, speaking no more, until they came to the king\u2019s pavilion. There Merry found that everything was made ready, and that he himself was not forgotten. A little tent had been pitched for him beside the king\u2019s lodging; and there he sat alone, while men passed to and fro, going in to the king and taking counsel with him. Night came on and the half-seen heads of the mountains westward were crowned with stars, but the East was dark and blank. The marching stones faded slowly from sight, but still beyond them, blacker than the gloom, brooded the vast crouching shadow of the Dwimorberg."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hoo, eh? Entmoot?\u2019 said Treebeard, turning round. \u2018It is not a place, it is a gathering of Ents\u2013which does not often happen nowadays."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits were silent for some time. They felt, oddly enough, safe and comfortable, and they had a great deal to think and wonder about. At last Pippin ventured to speak again."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hall of Elrond\u2019s house was filled with folk: Elves for the most part, though there were a few guests of other sorts. Elrond, as was his custom, sat in a great chair at the end of the long table upon the dais; and next to him on the one side sat Glorfindel, on the other side sat Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Though they rode through the midst of the Shire all the evening and all the night, none saw them pass, save the wild creatures; or here and there some wanderer in the dark who saw a swift shimmer under the trees, or a light and shadow flowing through the grass asFar Downs, and to the Towers, and looked on the distant Sea; and so they rode down at last to Mithlond, to the Grey Havens in the long firth of Lune."
    },
    {
        "text": "A guest-house shall be made ready: there you shall sleep, when you have eaten.\u2019 \u2018Nay, lord,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018There is no rest yet for the weary. The men of Rohan must ride forth today, and we will ride with them, axe, sword, and bow. We did not bring them to rest against your wall, Lord of the Mark. And I promised E\u00b4 omer that my sword and his should be drawn together.\u2019 \u2018Now indeed there is hope of victory!\u2019 said E\u00b4omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t see how our food can be made to last,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018We have been careful enough in the last few days, and this supper is no feast; but we have used more than we ought, if we have two weeks still to go, and perhaps more.\u2019 \u2018There is food in the wild,\u2019 said Strider; \u2018berry, root, and herb; and I have some skill as a hunter at need. You need not be afraid of starving before winter comes. But gathering and catching food is long and weary work, and we need haste. So tighten your belts, and think with hope of the tables of Elrond\u2019s house!\u2019 The cold increased as darkness came on. Peering out from the edge of the dell they could see nothing but a grey land now vanishing quickly into shadow. The sky above had cleared again and was slowly filled with twinkling stars. Frodo and his companions huddled round the fire, wrapped in every garment and blanket they possessed; but Strider was content with a single cloak, and sat a little apart, drawing thoughtfully at his pipe."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the far end the rock-wall was sheer, but at the bottom it had been hollowed back into a shallow bay with an arched roof: the only roof of the hall, save the branches of the trees, which at the inner end overshadowed all the ground leaving only a broad open path in the middle. A little stream escaped from the springs above, and leav- ing the main water, fell tinkling down the sheer face of the wall, pouring in silver drops, like a fine curtain in front of the arched bay."
    },
    {
        "text": "Farewell and return!\u2019 They parted and Pippin hurried back towards the citadel. It seemed a long way, and he grew hot and very hungry; and night closed down swift and dark. Not a star pricked the sky. He was late for the daymeal in the mess, and Beregond greeted him gladly,was on him, and now he desired very much to see Gandalf again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Frodo, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 he called. \u2018Don\u2019t leave me here alone! It\u2019s yourSamcalling.Don\u2019tgowhereIcan\u2019tfollow!Wakeup,Mr.Frodo!Then anger surged over him, and he ran about his master\u2019s body in a rage, stabbing the air, and smiting the stones, and shouting challenges. Presently he came back, and bending looked at Frodo\u2019s face, pale beneath him in the dusk. And suddenly he saw that he was in the picture that was revealed to him in the mirror of Galadriel in Lo\u00b4rien: Frodo with a pale face lying fast asleep under a great dark cliff. Or fast asleep he had thought then. \u2018He\u2019s dead!\u2019 he said. \u2018Not asleep, dead!\u2019 And as he said it, as if the words had set the venom to its work again, it seemed to him that the hue of the face grew livid green."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018We are needed. There is much that you can yet do.\u2019 Then suddenly Denethor laughed. He stood up tall and proud again, and stepping swiftly back to the table he lifted from it the pillow on which his head had lain. Then coming to the doorway he drew aside the covering, and lo! he had between his hands a palant\u00b4\u0131r."
    },
    {
        "text": "He did not feel invisible at all, but horribly and uniquely visible; and he knew that somewhere an Eye was searching for him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin became drowsy again and paid little attention to Gandalf telling him of the customs of Gondor, and how the Lord of the City had beacons built on the tops of outlying hills along both borders of the great range, and maintained posts at these points where fresh horses were always in readiness to bear his errand-riders to Rohan in the North, or to Belfalas in the South. \u2018It is long since the beacons of the North were lit,\u2019 he said; \u2018and in the ancient days of Gondor they were not needed, for they had the Seven Stones.\u2019 Pippin stirred uneasily."
    },
    {
        "text": "The third day broke, bleak and windy. At sunrise the Ents\u2019 voices rose to a great clamour and then died down again. As the morning wore on the wind fell and the air grew heavy with expectancy. The hobbits could see that Bregalad was now listening intently, although to them, down in the dell of his ent-house, the sound of the Moot was faint."
    },
    {
        "text": "The tenth day of their journey was over. Wilderland was behind them. They could go no further without choice between the east-way and the west. The last stage of the Quest was before them.Chapter 10 THE BREAKING OF THE FELLOWSHIP 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Forlong! Forlong!\u2019 Pippin heard men calling. \u2018What do they say?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "The king rode in the midst of the leading company, his household- men about him. Elfhelm\u2019s e\u00b4ored came next; and now Merry noticed that Dernhelm had left his place and in the darkness was moving steadily forward, until at last he was riding just in rear of the king\u2019s guard. There came a check. Merry heard voices in front speaking softly. Out-riders had come back who had ventured forward almost to the wall. They came to the king."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is there none whom you would name? In whom do my people trust?\u2019 \u2018In the House of Eorl,\u2019 answered Ha\u00b4ma."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018One of you might have fallen in and still be wondering when you were going to strike the bottom,\u2019 said Aragorn to Merry. \u2018Let the guide go first while you have one.\u2019 \u2018This seems to have been a guardroom, made for the watching of the three passages,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018That hole was plainly a well for the guards\u2019 use, covered with a stone lid. But the lid is broken, and we must all take care in the dark.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I see that you do not yet know what to do,\u2019 said Celeborn. \u2018It is not my part to choose for you; but I will help you as I may. There aresomeamongyouwhocanhandleboats:Legolas,whosefolkknow\u2018And one Hobbit!\u2019 cried Merry. \u2018Not all of us look on boats as wild horses. My people live by the banks of the Brandywine.\u2019 \u2018That is well,\u2019 said Celeborn. \u2018Then 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 \u2013 or east.\u2019 Aragorn thanked Celeborn many times. The gift of boats com- forted him much, not least because there would now be no need to decide his course for some days. The others, too, looked more hope- ful. 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "As the wretched pair passed by the company they came to the hobbits, and Saruman stopped and stared at them; but they looked at him with pity."
    },
    {
        "text": "There were also many families of hobbits in the Bree-land; and they claimed to be the oldest settlement of Hobbits in the world, one that was founded long before even the Brandywine was crossed and the Shire colonized. They lived mostly in Staddle though there were some in Bree itself, especially on the higher slopes of the hill, above the houses of the Men. The Big Folk and the Little Folk (as theyparts of the Bree-folk. Nowhere else in the world was this peculiar (but excellent) arrangement to be found."
    },
    {
        "text": "From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king."
    },
    {
        "text": "I think Pippin ran away from the trail for that purpose.\u2019 \u2018Then he at least was alive,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018And he had the use of his wits, and of his legs too. That is heartening. We do not pursue in vain.\u2019 \u2018Let us hope that he did not pay too dearly for his boldness,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Come! Let us go on! The thought of those merry young folk driven like cattle burns my heart.\u2019blown away upon the breeze. The sun sank. Shadows rose behind and reached out long arms from the East. Still the hunters held on."
    },
    {
        "text": "But I do not seek allies in war. The might of Elrond is in wisdom not in weapons, it is said. I come to ask for counsel and the unravelling of hard words. For on the eve of the sudden assault a dream came to my brother in a troubled sleep; and afterwards a like dream came oft to him again, and once to me."
    },
    {
        "text": "At length Celeborn spoke of their departure."
    },
    {
        "text": "For some time they had been cut off from the world, as if in an invisible island; now they were laid bare again, peril had returned."
    },
    {
        "text": "And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he sang to them, now in the elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness."
    },
    {
        "text": "At its head there rode a tall and evil shape, mounted upon a black horse, if horse it was; for it was huge and hideous, and its face was a frightful mask, more like a skull than a living head, and in the sockets of its eyes and in its nostrils there burned a flame. The rider was robed all in black, and black was his lofty helm; yet this was no Ringwraith but a living man. The Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad- du\u02c6r he was, and his name is remembered in no tale; for he himself had forgotten it, and he said: \u2018I am the Mouth of Sauron.\u2019 But it is told that he was a renegade, who came of the race of those that are named the Black Nu\u00b4meno\u00b4reans; for they established their dwellings in Middle-earth during the years of Sauron\u2019s domination, and they worshipped him, being enamoured of evil knowledge. And he entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again, and because of his cunning he grew ever higher in the Lord\u2019s favour; and he learned great sorcery, and knew much of the mind of Sauron; and he was more cruel than any orc."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, that isn\u2019t anything new, if you believe the old tales. And I don\u2019t see what it matters to me or you. Let them sail! But I warrant you haven\u2019t seen them doing it; nor anyone else in the Shire.\u2019 \u2018Well, I don\u2019t know,\u2019 said Sam thoughtfully. He believed he had once seen an Elf in the woods, and still hoped to see more one day."
    },
    {
        "text": "The ring beyond was filled with steaming water: a bubbling caul- dron, in which there heaved and floated a wreckage of beams and spars, chests and casks and broken gear. Twisted and leaning pillars reared their splintered stems above the flood, but all the roads were drowned. Far off, it seemed, half veiled in winding cloud, there loomed the island rock. Still dark and tall, unbroken by the storm, the tower of Orthanc stood. Pale waters lapped about its feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Why, this is the Stock-brook!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018If we are going to try and get back on to our course, we must cross at once and bear right.\u2019 They waded the stream, and hurried over a wide open space, rush-grown and treeless, on the further side. Beyond that they came again to a belt of trees: tall oaks, for the most part, with here and there an elm tree or an ash. The ground was fairly level, and there was little undergrowth; but the trees were too close for them to seeaway and the rain came streaming down. They trudged along as fast as they could, over patches of grass, and through thick drifts of old leaves; and all about them the rain pattered and trickled. They did not talk, but kept glancing back, and from side to side."
    },
    {
        "text": "Men came galloping back over the field and up the ramp to the gate of the Hornburg. The rearguard of the Westfolders had been driven in."
    },
    {
        "text": "But it is the Black Captain that defeats us. Few will stand and abide even the rumour of his coming. His own folk quail at him, and they would slay themselves at his bidding.\u2019 \u2018Then I am needed there more than here,\u2019 said Gandalf, and rode off at once, and the glimmer of him faded soon from sight. And all that night Pippin alone and sleepless stood upon the wall and gazedThe bells of day had scarcely rung out again, a mockery in the unlightened dark, when far away he saw fires spring up, across in the dim spaces where the walls of the Pelennor stood. The watchmen cried aloud, and all men in the City stood to arms. Now ever and anon there was a red flash, and slowly through the heavy air dull rumbles could be heard."
    },
    {
        "text": "But at length all was said, and they parted again for a while, until it was time for the Three Rings to pass away. Quickly fading into the stones and the shadows the grey-cloaked people of Lo\u00b4rien rode towards the mountains; and those who were going to Rivendell sat on the hill and watched, until there came out of the gathering mist a flash; and then they saw no more. Frodo knew that Galadriel had held aloft her ring in token of farewell."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before his upraised hand the foul Messenger recoiled, and Gandalf coming seized and took from him the tokens: coat, cloak, and sword."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look!\u2019 he cried; and stooping he lifted from the ground a black cloak that had lain there hidden by the darkness. A foot above the lower hem there was a slash. \u2018This was the stroke of Frodo\u2019s sword,\u2019 he said. \u2018The only hurt that it did to his enemy, I fear; for it is unharmed, but all blades perish that pierce that dreadful King. More deadly to him was the name of Elbereth.\u2019 \u2018And more deadly to Frodo was this!\u2019 He stooped again and lifted up a long thin knife. There was a cold gleam in it. As Strider raised it they saw that near the end its edge was notched and the point was broken off. But even as he held it up in the growing light, they gazed in astonishment, for the blade seemed to melt, and vanished like a smoke in the air, leaving only the hilt in Strider\u2019s hand. \u2018Alas!\u2019 he cried. \u2018It was this accursed knife that gave the wound. Few now have the skill in healing to match such evil weapons. But I will do what I can.\u2019 He sat down on the ground, and taking the dagger-hilt laid it on his knees, and he sang over it a slow song in a strange tongue. Then setting it aside, he turned to Frodo and in a soft tone spoke words the others could not catch. From the pouch at his belt he drew out the long leaves of a plant."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nothing is on the road, and no sound of foot, or horn, or bowstring is anywhere to be heard. A waiting silence broods above the Nameless Land. I do not know what this portends. But the time draws swiftly to some great conclusion. Storm is coming. Hasten while you may! If you are ready, let us go. The Sun will soon rise above the shadow.\u2019 The hobbits\u2019 packs were brought to them (a little heavier than they had been), and also two stout staves of polished wood, shod with iron, and with carven heads through which ran plaited leathern thongs."
    },
    {
        "text": "As they expected Mr. Butterbur came to the parlour after supper to see if all had been to their liking. As indeed it had: no change for the worse had yet come upon the beer or the victuals at The Pony, at any rate. \u2018Now I won\u2019t make so bold as to suggest you should come to the Common Room tonight,\u2019 said Butterbur. \u2018You\u2019ll be tired; and there isn\u2019t many folk there this evening, anyway. But if you could spare me half an hour before you go to your beds, I would dearly like to have some talk with you, quiet-like by ourselves.\u2019 \u2018That is just what we should like, too,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018We are not tired. We have been taking things easy. We were wet, cold and hungry, but all that you have cured. Come, sit down! And if you have any pipe-weed, we\u2019ll bless you.\u2019 \u2018Well, if you\u2019d called for anything else, I\u2019d have been happier,\u2019 said Butterbur. \u2018That\u2019s just a thing that we\u2019re short of, seeing how we\u2019ve only got what we grow ourselves, and that\u2019s not enough."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then the Sun went at last behind Mindolluin and filled all the sky with a great burning, so that the hills and the mountains were dyed as with blood; fire glowed in the River, and the grass of the Pelennor lay red in the nightfall. And in that hour the great Battle of the field of Gondor was over; and not one living foe was left within the circuit of the Rammas. All were slain save those who fled to die, or to drown in the red foam of the River. Few ever came eastward to Morgul or Mordor; and to the land of the Haradrim came only aAragorn and E\u00b4omer and Imrahil rode back towards the Gate of the City, and they were now weary beyond joy or sorrow. These three were unscathed, for such was their fortune and the skill and might of their arms, and few indeed had dared to abide them or look on their faces in the hour of their wrath. But many others were hurt or maimed or dead upon the field. The axes hewed Forlong as he fought alone and unhorsed; and both Duilin of Morthond and his brother were trampled to death when they assailed the mu\u02c6 makil, leading their bowmen close to shoot at the eyes of the monsters. Neither Hirluin the fair would return to Pinnath Gelin, nor Grimbold to Grimslade, nor Halbarad to the Northlands, dour-handed Ranger. No few had fallen, renowned or nameless, captain or soldier; for it was a great battle and the full count of it no tale has told. So long afterward a maker in Rohan said in his song of the Mounds of Mundburg: We heard of the horns in the hills ringing, the swords shining in the South-kingdom."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ever he clutched me, and ever I hewed him, till at last he fled into dark tunnels. They were not made by Durin\u2019s folk, Gimli son of Glo\u00b4in.Far,farbelowthedeepestdelvingsoftheDwarves,theworldto darken the light of day. In that despair my enemy was my only hope, and I pursued him, clutching at his heel. Thus he brought me back at last to the secret ways of Khazad-du\u02c6m: too well he knew them all. Ever up now we went, until we came to the Endless Stair.\u2019 \u2018Long has that been lost,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Many have said that it was never made save in legend, but others say that it was destroyed.\u2019 \u2018It was made, and it had not been destroyed,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak it climbed, ascending in unbroken spiral in many thousand steps, until it issued at last in Durin\u2019s Tower carved in the living rock of Zirakzigil, the pinnacle of the Silvertine."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ahead and eastward they saw the windy uplands of the Wold of Rohan that they had already glimpsed many days ago from the Great River. North-westward stalked the dark forest of Fangorn; still ten leagues away stood its shadowy eaves, and its further slopes faded intothedistantblue.Beyondthereglimmeredfaraway,asiffloatingthem, its stream now swift and narrow, and its banks deep-cloven."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All shall be prepared for you and await you at the haven before noon tomorrow,\u2019 said Celeborn. \u2018I 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.\u2019 \u2018Good night, my friends!\u2019 said Galadriel. \u2018Sleep in peace! Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight."
    },
    {
        "text": "So soon they struggled on once more, until the dawn began to spread slowly in the wide grey solitude. They had then walked almost eight leagues, and the hobbits could not have gone any further, even if they had dared.The growing light revealed to them a land already less barren and ruinous. The mountains still loomed up ominously on their left, but near at hand they could see the southward road, now bearing away from the black roots of the hills and slanting westwards. Beyond it were slopes covered with sombre trees like dark clouds, but all about them lay a tumbled heathland, grown with ling and broom and cornel, and other shrubs that they did not know. Here and there they saw knots of tall pine-trees. The hearts of the hobbits rose again a little in spite of weariness: the air was fresh and fragrant, and it reminded them of the uplands of the Northfarthing far away. It seemed good to be reprieved, to walk in a land that had only been for a few years under the dominion of the Dark Lord and was not yet fallen wholly into decay. But they did not forget their danger, nor the Black Gate that was still all too near, hidden though it was behind the gloomy heights. They looked about for a hiding-place where they could shel- ter from evil eyes while the light lasted."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I want a word with you.\u2019 With a sheepish glance at his leader, who looked wrathful but did notdaretointerfere,ShirriffSmallburrowfellbackandwalkedbesideought to have more sense, coming a-waylaying Mr. Frodo and all."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It all began with Pimple, as we call him,\u2019 said Farmer Cotton; \u2018and it began as soon as you\u2019d gone off, Mr. Frodo. He\u2019d funny ideas, had Pimple. Seems he wanted to own everything himself, and then order other folk about. It soon came out that he already did own a sight more than was good for him; and he was always grabbing more, though where he got the money was a mystery: mills and malt-houses and inns, and farms, and leaf-plantations. He\u2019d already bought Sandyman\u2019s mill before he came to Bag End, seemingly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No good to send Horse-men,\u2019 he said. \u2018Wild Men have already seen all that can be seen in the bad air. They will come soon and speak to me here.\u2019 The captains came; and then out of the trees crept warily other pu\u00b4kel-shapes so like old Gha\u02c6n that Merry could hardly tell them apart. They spoke to Gha\u02c6n in a strange throaty language."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is it the custom in your land to wash the head before supper?\u2019 said the man who waited on the hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "Treebeard repeated the words thoughtfully. \u2018Hill. Yes, that was it. But it is a hasty word for a thing that has stood here ever since this part of the world was shaped. Never mind. Let us leave it, and go.\u2019 \u2018Where shall we go?\u2019 asked Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Tell us of Gil-galad,\u2019 said Merry suddenly, when he paused at the end of a story of the Elf-kingdoms. \u2018Do you know any more of that old lay that you spoke of ?\u2019 \u2018I do indeed,\u2019 answered Strider. \u2018So also does Frodo, for it con- cerns us closely.\u2019 Merry and Pippin looked at Frodo, who was staring into the fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Strider!\u2019\u2019 I cried, shouting for joy."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Oh, I don\u2019t know. I can\u2019t count days in Rivendell,\u2019 said Bilbo."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.dark behind the doors, but of something else. I am afraid of the pool."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was chilly, and he wrapped his cloak about him. The moon was shining cold and white, down into the dell, and the shadows of the bushes were black. All about lay sleeping shapes. The two guards were not in view: they were up on the hill, perhaps, or hidden in the bracken. Driven by some impulse that he did not understand, Pippin walked softly to where Gandalf lay. He looked down at him. The wizard seemed asleep, but with lids not fully closed: there was a glitter of eyes under his long lashes. Pippin stepped back hastily. But Gandalf made no sign; and drawn forward once more, half against his will, the hobbit crept up again from behind the wizard\u2019s head."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, well, now we can talk again,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018You are thirsty, I expect. Perhaps you are also tired. Drink this!\u2019 He went to the back of the bay, and then they saw that several tall stone jars stood there, with heavy lids. He removed one of the lids, and dipped in a great ladle, and with it filled three bowls, one very large bowl, and two smaller ones."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ah!\u2019 said Mr. Butterbur. \u2018Then your right name is Baggins?\u2019 \u2018It is,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018and you had better give me that letter at once, and explain why you never sent it. That\u2019s what you came to tell me, I suppose, though you\u2019ve taken a long time to come to the point.\u2019 Poor Mr. Butterbur looked troubled. \u2018You\u2019re right, master,\u2019 he said, \u2018and I beg your pardon. And I\u2019m mortal afraid of what Gandalf will say, if harm comes of it. But I didn\u2019t keep it back a-purpose. I put it by safe. Then I couldn\u2019t find nobody willing to go to the Shire next day, nor the day after, and none of my own folk were to spare; and then one thing after another drove it out of my mind. I\u2019m a busy man. I\u2019ll do what I can to set matters right, and if there\u2019s any help I can give, you\u2019ve only to name it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But the stewards were wiser and more fortunate. Wiser, for they recruited the strength of our people from the sturdy folk of the sea- coast, and from the hardy mountaineers of Ered Nimrais. And they made a truce with the proud peoples of the North, who often had assailed us, men of fierce valour, but our kin from afar off, unlike the wild Easterlings or the cruel Haradrim."
    },
    {
        "text": "To the beeches of Neldoreth I came in the Autumn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018As you wish. I care not,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018Yet 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?\u2019 \u2018Were you not at the Council?\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018Because we cannot use it, and what is done with it turns to evil.\u2019 Boromir got up and walked about impatiently. \u2018So you go on,\u2019 he cried. \u2018Gandalf, Elrond \u2013 all these folk have taught you to say so."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But not yet, I beg, Master!\u2019 cried Bilbo. \u2018Already the Sun is climb- ing to noon, and I feel the need of something to strengthen me.\u2019 \u2018I had not named you,\u2019 said Elrond smiling. \u2018But I do so now."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry turned towards him to say something and gave a start, and checked an exclamation. Frodo was delighted (in a way): it was his own ring all right, for Merry was staring blankly at his chair, and obviously could not see him. He got up and crept quietly away from the fireside towards the outer door."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, what is it?\u2019 \u2018It\u2019s Rosie, Rose Cotton,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018It seems she didn\u2019t like my going abroad at all, poor lass; but as I hadn\u2019t spoken, she couldn\u2019t say so. And I didn\u2019t speak, because I had a job to do first. But now I have spoken, and she says: \u2018\u2018Well, you\u2019ve wasted a year, so why wait longer?\u2019\u2019 \u2018\u2018Wasted?\u2019\u2019 I says. \u2018\u2018I wouldn\u2019t call it that.\u2019\u2019 Still I see what she means. I feel torn in two, as you might say.\u2019 \u2018I see,\u2019 said Frodo: \u2018you want to get married, and yet you want to live with me in Bag End too? But my dear Sam, how easy! Get married as soon as you can, and then move in with Rosie. There\u2019s room enough in Bag End for as big a family as you could wish for.\u2019 And so it was settled. Sam Gamgee married Rose Cotton in theFrodo knew that he was more lucky himself; for there was not a hobbit in the Shire that was looked after with such care. When the labours of repair had all been planned and set going he took to a quiet life, writing a great deal and going through all his notes. He resigned the office of Deputy Mayor at the Free Fair that Mid- summer, and dear old Will Whitfoot had another seven years of presiding at Banquets."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They bring fire,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden, \u2018and they are burning as they come, rick, cot, and tree. This was a rich vale and had many home- steads. Alas for my folk!\u2019 \u2018Would that day was here and we might ride down upon them like a storm out of the mountains!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018It grieves me to fly before them.\u2019 \u2018We need not fly much further,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018Not far ahead now lies Helm\u2019s Dike, an ancient trench and rampart scored across the coomb, two furlongs below Helm\u2019s Gate. There we can turn and give battle.\u2019 \u2018Nay, we are too few to defend the Dike,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018It is a mile long or more, and the breach in it is wide.\u2019 \u2018At the breach our rearguard must stand, if we are pressed,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I was the herald of Gil-galad and marched with his host. I was at the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, where we had the mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aeglos and Narsil, none could withstand. I beheld the last combat on the slopes of Orodruin, where Gil-galad died, and Elendil fell, and Narsil broke beneath him; but Sauron himself was overthrown, and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand with the hilt-shard of his father\u2019s sword, and took it for his own.\u2019 At this the stranger, Boromir, broke in. \u2018So that is what became of the Ring!\u2019 he cried. \u2018If ever such a tale was told in the South, it has long been forgotten. I have heard of the Great Ring of him that we do not name; but we believed that it perished from the world in the ruin of his first realm. Isildur took it! That is tidings indeed.\u2019 \u2018Alas! yes,\u2019 said Elrond. \u2018Isildur took it, as should not have been."
    },
    {
        "text": "But no day came, only a dead brown twilight. In the East there was a dull red glare under the lowering cloud: it was not the red of dawn. Across the tumbled lands between, the mountains of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath frowned at them, black and shapeless below where night lay thick and did not pass away, above with jagged tops and edges out- lined hard and menacing against the fiery glow. Away to their right a great shoulder of the mountains stood out, dark and black amid the shadows, thrusting westward."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last Gandalf looked up. \u2018It seems to be a record of the fortunes of Balin\u2019s folk,\u2019 he said. \u2018I 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 \u2013 three, so at least two are missing from the beginning. Listen to this! \u2018We drove out orcs from the great gate and guard \u2013 I think; the next word is blurred and burned: probably room \u2013 we slew many in the bright \u2013 I think \u2013 sun in the dale. Flo\u00b4i was killed by an arrow. He slew the great. Then there is a blur followed by Flo\u00b4i 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What do you know of these horsemen, Aragorn?\u2019 he said. \u2018Do we sit here waiting for sudden death?\u2019 \u2018I have been among them,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018They are proud and wilful, but they are true-hearted, generous in thought and deed; bold but not cruel; wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs, after the manner of the children of Men before the Dark Years. But I do not know what has happened here of late, nor inpeople of Gondor, though they are not akin to them. It was in for- gotten years long ago that Eorl the Young brought them out of the North, and their kinship is rather with the Bardings of Dale, and with the Beornings of the Wood, among whom may still be seen many men tall and fair, as are the Riders of Rohan. At least they will not love the Orcs.\u2019 \u2018But Gandalf spoke of a rumour that they pay tribute to Mordor,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "There The\u00b4oden fell, Thengling mighty, to his golden halls and green pastures in the Northern fields never returning, high lord of the host. Harding and Guthla\u00b4f, Du\u00b4nhere and De\u00b4orwine, doughty Grimbold, Herefara and Herubrand, Horn and Fastred, fought and fell there in a far country: in the Mounds of Mundburg under mould they lie with their league-fellows, lords of Gondor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And if we\u2019re going to try and get down, we had better try at once."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Saruman, your staff is broken.\u2019 There was a crack, and the staff split asunder in Saruman\u2019s hand, and the head of it fell down at Gandalf \u2019s feet. \u2018Go!\u2019 said Gandalf. With a cry Saruman fell back and crawledpassing close to Gandalf \u2019s head, it smote the stair on which he stood."
    },
    {
        "text": "Strider may have an honest reason for spying and eavesdropping; but if so, I should advise him to explain it.\u2019 \u2018Well answered!\u2019 said Strider laughing. \u2018But the explanation is simple: I was looking for a Hobbit called Frodo Baggins. I wanted to find him quickly. I had learned that he was carrying out of the Shire, well, a secret that concerned me and my friends."
    },
    {
        "text": "They dreaded the dark hours, and kept watch in pairs by night, expecting at any time to see black shapes stalking in the grey night, dimly lit by the cloud-veiled moon; but they saw nothing, and heard no sound but the sigh of withered leaves and grass. Not once did they feel the sense of present evil that had assailed them before the attack in the dell. It seemed too much to hope that the Riders had already lost their trail again. Perhaps they were waiting to make some ambush in a narrow place? At the end of the fifth day the ground began once more to rise slowly out of the wide shallow valley into which they had descended."
    },
    {
        "text": "The horsemen had encircled them. A small band disobeyed Uglu\u00b4k\u2019s command, and ran on towards the forest: only three returned."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Run down with this to your home, Sam!\u2019 he said. \u2018Then cut along the Row and meet us as quick as you can at the gate in the lane beyond the meadows. We are not going through the village tonight."
    },
    {
        "text": "With that the servant of the Prince came and led them to the Houses of Healing; and there they found their friends in the garden, and their meeting was a merry one. For a while they walked and talked, rejoicing for a brief space in peace and rest under the morning high up in the windy circles of the City. Then when Merry became weary, they went and sat upon the wall with the greensward of the Houses of Healing behind them; and away southward before them was the Anduin glittering in the sun, as it flowed away, out of the sight even of Legolas, into the wide flats and green haze of Lebennin and South Ithilien."
    },
    {
        "text": "Shadowfax they called him. By day his coat glistens like silver; and by night it is like a shade, and he passes unseen. Light is his footfall! Never before had any man mounted him, but I took him and I tamed him, and so speedily he bore me that I reached the Shire when Frodo was on the Barrow-downs, though I set out from Rohan only when he set out from Hobbiton."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yet now, if the Rohirrim are grown in some ways more like to us, enhanced in arts and gentleness, we too have become more like to them, and can scarce claim any longer the title High. We are become Middle Men, of the Twilight, but with memory of other things. For as the Rohirrim do, we now love war and valour as things good in themselves, both a sport and an end; and though we still hold that a warrior should have more skills and knowledge than only the craft of weapons and slaying, we esteem a warrior, nonetheless, above men of other crafts. Such is the need of our days. So even was my brother, Boromir: a man of prowess, and for that he was accounted the best man in Gondor. And very valiant indeed he was: no heir of Minas Tirith has for long years been so hardy in toil, so onward into battle, or blown a mightier note on the Great Horn.\u2019 Faramir sighed and fell silent for a while."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do you feel any need to leave the Shire now \u2013 now that your wish to see them has come true already?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You left the East Wind to me,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018but I will say naught of it.\u2019 \u2018That is as it should be,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018In Minas Tirith they endure the East Wind, but they do not ask it for tidings. But now Boromir has taken his road, and we must make haste to choose our own.\u2019 He surveyed the green lawn, quickly but thoroughly, stooping often to the earth. \u2018No Orcs have been on this ground,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Full memory flooded back, and Sam cried aloud: \u2018It wasn\u2019t a dream! Then where are we?\u2019 And a voice spoke softly behind him: \u2018In the land of Ithilien, and in the keeping of the King; and he awaits you.\u2019 With that Gandalf stood before him, robed in white, his beard now gleaming like pure snow in the twinkling of the leafy sunlight. \u2018Well, Master Samwise, how do you feel?\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then they went out for a sniff of air, and glimpse of the stars, and then they went to bed. Frodo\u2019s party was over, and Gandalf had not come."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo fidgeted, wondering what to do. Pippin was evidently much enjoying the attention he was getting, and had become quite forgetful of their danger. Frodo had a sudden fear that in his present mood he might even mention the Ring; and that might well be disastrous."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their name was lost and no song or legend remembered it. For what purpose they had made this place, as a town or secret temple or a tomb of kings, none in Rohan could say. Here they laboured in the Dark Years, before ever a ship came to the western shores, or Gondor of the Du\u00b4nedain was built; and now they had vanished, and only the old Pu\u00b4kel-men were left, still sitting at the turnings of the road."
    },
    {
        "text": "For the collection of HUGO BRACEGIRDLE, from a contributor;on an (empty) book-case. Hugo was a great borrower of books, and worse than usual at returning them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018I dwelt there once, and still I return when I may. There my heart is; but it is not my fate to sit in peace, even in the fair house of Elrond.\u2019 The hills now began to shut them in. The Road behind held on its way to the River Bruinen, but both were now hidden from view."
    },
    {
        "text": "They took the Stock Road over the hills and went towards the Woody End, and they let their ponies walk at their leisure. They camped in the Green Hills, and on September the twenty-second they rode gently down into the beginning of the trees as afternoon was wearing away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018I liked white better,\u2019\u2019 I said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo sat up. \u2018Good morning!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018For 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.\u2019 \u2018I shall be glad,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018I 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.\u2019 After they had breakfasted Gandalf decided to go on again at once."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their great hinges and iron bars were wrenched and bent; many of their timbers were cracked. \u2018The doors will not withstand another such battering.\u2019 \u2018Yet we cannot stay here beyond the walls to defend them,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018Look!\u2019 He pointed to the causeway. Already a great press of Orcs and Men were gathering again beyond the stream. Arrows whined, and skipped on the stones about them. \u2018Come! We must get back and see what we can do to pile stone and beam across the gates within. Come now!\u2019 They turned and ran. At that moment some dozen Orcs that had lain motionless among the slain leaped to their feet, and came silently and swiftly behind. Two flung themselves to the ground at E\u00b4 omer\u2019s heels, tripped him, and in a moment they were on top of him. But a small dark figure that none had observed sprang out of the shadows and gave a hoarse shout: Baruk Khaza\u02c6d! Khaza\u02c6d ai-me\u02c6nu! An axe swung and swept back. Two Orcs fell headless. The rest fled."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then an old wife, Ioreth, the eldest of the women who served in that house, looking on the fair face of Faramir, wept, for all the people loved him. And she said: \u2018Alas! if he should die. Would that there were kings in Gondor, as there were once upon a time, they say! For it is said in old lore: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so the rightful king could ever be known.\u2019 And Gandalf, who stood by, said: \u2018Men may long remember your words, Ioreth! For there is hope in them. Maybe a king has indeed returned to Gondor; or have you not heard the strange tidings thatshouting,\u2019 she answered. \u2018All I hope is that those murdering devils do not come to this House and trouble the sick.\u2019 Then Gandalf went out in haste, and already the fire in the sky was burning out, and the smouldering hills were fading, while ash- grey evening crept over the fields."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Shelob was not as dragons are, no softer spot had she save only her eyes. Knobbed and pitted with corruption was her age-old hide, but ever thickened from within with layer on layer of evil growth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He\u2019s mine,\u2019 said Tom. \u2018My four-legged friend; though I seldom ride him, and he wanders often far, free upon the hillsides. When your ponies stayed with me, they got to know my Lumpkin; and they smelt him in the night, and quickly ran to meet him. I thought he\u2019d look for them and with his words of wisdom take all their fear away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Welcome and well met!\u2019 said the dwarf, turning towards him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018I thought I heard feet, and I thought I saw a light \u2013 like eyes. I have thought so often, since we first entered Moria.\u2019 Gimli halted and stooped to the ground. \u2018I hear nothing but the night-speech of plant and stone,\u2019 he said. \u2018Come! Let us hurry! The others are out of sight.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If they\u2019ve killed you, what shall I do? Well, I\u2019m coming at last, right to the top, to see what I must.\u2019the Tower. Sam tried to count the steps, but after two hundred he lost his reckoning. He was moving quietly now; for he thought that he could hear the sound of voices talking, still some way above. More than one rat remained alive it seemed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Most likely neither of us will come back.\u2019 \u2018If you don\u2019t come back, sir, then I shan\u2019t, that\u2019s certain,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Don\u2019t you leave him! they said to me. Leave him! I said. I never mean to. I am going with him, if he climbs to the Moon; and if any of those Black Riders try to stop him, they\u2019ll have Sam Gamgee to reckon with, I said. They laughed.\u2019 \u2018Who are they, and what are you talking about?\u2019 \u2018The Elves, sir. We had some talk last night; and they seemed to know you were going away, so I didn\u2019t see the use of denying it."
    },
    {
        "text": "As time went on, people began to notice that Frodo also showed signs of good \u2018preservation\u2019: outwardly he retained the appearance of a robust and energetic hobbit just out of his tweens. \u2018Some folk have all the luck,\u2019 they said; but it was not until Frodo approached the usually more sober age of fifty that they began to think it queer."
    },
    {
        "text": "The winds of wrath came driving him, and blindly in the foam he fled from west to east, and errandless, unheralded he homeward sped."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Surely this is a troll-hole, if ever there was one!\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I saw him there,\u2019 answered Gandalf, \u2018but before that he had wan- dered far, following Bilbo\u2019s trail. It was difficult to learn anything from him for certain, for his talk was constantly interrupted by curses and threats. \u2018\u2018What had it got in its pocketses?\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018It wouldn\u2019t say, no precious. Little cheat. Not a fair question. It cheated first, it did. It broke the rules. We ought to have squeezed it, yes precious."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, well! That\u2019s over!\u2019 said the wizard struggling to his feet. \u2018I have done all that I could. But I have met my match, and have nearly been destroyed. But don\u2019t 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!\u2019 They stumbled after 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 their chief danger; for in the dark they could not see a descent, until they came on itAt 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Known?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I have known much that only the Wise know, Frodo. But if you mean \u2018\u2018known about this ring\u2019\u2019, well, I still do not know, one might say. There is a last test to make. But I no longer doubt my guess."
    },
    {
        "text": "He felt that even minutes were precious, but one by one they escaped; and he could do nothing. He cared no longer for Shagrat or Snaga or any other orc that was ever spawned. He longed only for his master, for one sight of his face or one touch of his hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "Many houses there were, chambers, halls, and passages, cut and tunnelled back into the walls upon their inner side, so that all the open circle was overlooked by countless windows and dark doors."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s more than one passage here,\u2019 he whispered with an effort: it seemed hard to make his breath give any sound. \u2018It\u2019s as orc-like a place as ever there could be!\u2019 After that, first he on the right, and then Frodo on the left, passed three or four such openings, some wider, some smaller; but there was as yet no doubt of the main way, for it was straight, and did not turn, and still went steadily up. But how long was it, how much more of this would they have to endure, or could they endure? The breathlessness of the air was growing as they climbed; and now they seemed often in the blind dark to sense some resistance thicker than the foul air. As they thrust forward they felt things brush against their heads, or against their hands, long tentacles, or hanging growths perhaps: they could not tell what they were. And still the stench grew."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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 Lo\u00b4 rien 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\u2018There lies the fastness of Southern Mirkwood,\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018It 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "I saw him no more, and know no more. But I honour his memory, for he was very valiant. He died to save us, my kinsman Meriadoc and myself, waylaid in the woods by the soldiery of the Dark Lord; and though he fell and failed, my gratitude is none the less.\u2019 Then Pippin looked the old man in the eye, for pride stirred strangely within him, still stung by the scorn and suspicion in thatis, I will offer it, in payment of my debt.\u2019 Twitching aside his grey cloak, Pippin drew forth his small sword and laid it at Denethor\u2019s feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yrch! \u2019 said Legolas, falling into his own tongue."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It may not matter much,\u2019 he said apologetically, \u2018but I would rather not be seen on the road \u2013 by anyone. I am sick of my doings being noticed and discussed. And if it is Gandalf,\u2019 he added as an afterthought, \u2018we can give him a little surprise, to pay him out for being so late. Let\u2019s get out of sight!\u2019 The other two ran quickly to the left and down into a little hollow not far from the road. There they lay flat. Frodo hesitated for a second: curiosity or some other feeling was struggling with his desire to hide. The sound of hoofs drew nearer. Just in time he threw himself down in a patch of long grass behind a tree that overshadowed the road. Then he lifted his head and peered cautiously above one of the great roots."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the inner part of the pavilion was a small space, curtained off with broidered hangings, and strewn with skins; and there at a small table sat The\u00b4oden with E\u00b4omer and E\u00b4owyn, and Du\u00b4nhere, lord of Harrowdale. Merry stood beside the king\u2019s stool and waited on him, till presently the old man, coming out of deep thought, turned to him and smiled."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Gandalf sprang up the steps, and the men fell back from him and covered their eyes; for his coming was like the incoming of a white light into a dark place, and he came with great anger. He lifted up his hand, and in the very stroke, the sword of Denethor flew up and left his grasp and fell behind him in the shadows of the house; and Denethor stepped backward before Gandalf as one amazed."
    },
    {
        "text": "So The\u00b4oden and E\u00b4owyn came to the City of Gondor, and all who saw them bared their heads and bowed; and they passed through the ash and fume of the burned circle, and went on and up along the streets of stone. To Merry the ascent seemed agelong, a meaningless journey in a hateful dream, going on and on to some dim ending that memory cannot seize."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now come!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Pray, do not interrupt, my good Glo\u00b4 in."
    },
    {
        "text": "On a seat cut in the stone beside a turn in the path they came upon Gandalf and Bilbo deep in talk. \u2018Hullo! Good morning!\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018Feel ready for the great council?\u2019 \u2018I feel ready for anything,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018But most of all I should like to go walking today and explore the valley. I should like to get into those pine-woods up there.\u2019 He pointed away far up the side of Rivendell to the north."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was dark. Deep night had fallen. There were many clear stars, but 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, what\u2019s the next move?\u2019 said Farmer Cotton."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018How bright your garden looks!\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He decided to wait until nightfall. After that, if Gandalf wanted him urgently, he would go to Crickhollow, and might even get there first."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But we have heard rumours of your coming, for the messengers of Elrond passed by Lo\u00b4rien on their way home up the Dimrill Stair."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ents in a solemn row stood like statues at the gate, with their long arms uplifted, but they made no sound. Merry and Pippin looked back, when they had passed some way down the winding road. Sunlight was still shining in the sky, but long shadows reached over Isengard: grey ruins falling into darkness. Treebeard stood alone there now, like the distant stump of an old tree: the hobbits thought of their first meeting, upon the sunny ledge far away on the borders of Fangorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "And to the Warden of the Houses Faramir said: \u2018Here is the Lady E\u00b4 owyn of Rohan, and now she is healed.\u2019 And the Warden said: \u2018Then I release her from my charge and bid her farewell, and may she suffer never hurt nor sickness again. I commend her to the care of the Steward of the City, until her brother returns.\u2019 But E\u00b4owyn said: \u2018Yet now that I have leave to depart, I would remain. For this House has become to me of all dwellings the most blessed.\u2019 And she remained there until King E\u00b4 omer came."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their way wound along the floor of the hollow, and round the green feet of a steep hill into another deeper and broader valley, and then over the shoulders of further hills, and down their long limbs, and up their smooth sides again, up on to new hill-tops and down into new valleys. There was no tree nor any visible water: it was a country of grass and short springy turf, silent except for the whisper of the air over the edges of the land, and high lonely cries of strange birds. As they journeyed the sun mounted, and grew hot. Each time they climbed a ridge the breeze seemed to have grown less. When they caught a glimpse of the country westward the distant Forest seemed to be smoking, as if the fallen rain was steaming up again from leaf and root and mould. A shadow now lay round the edge ofAbout mid-day they came to a hill whose top was wide and flat- tened, like a shallow saucer with a green mounded rim. Inside there was no air stirring, and the sky seemed near their heads. They rode across and looked northwards. Then their hearts rose; for it seemed plain that they had come further already than they had expected."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That was the undoing of Saruman\u2019s plot. For Radagast knew no reason why he should not do as I asked; and he rode away towards Mirkwood where he had many friends of old. And the Eagles of the Mountains went far and wide, and they saw many things: the gather- ing of wolves and the mustering of Orcs; and the Nine Riders going hither and thither in the lands; and they heard news of the escape of Gollum. And they sent a messenger to bring these tidings to me."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019m going to see what\u2019s up. I want to find my gaffer.\u2019 \u2018We ought to find out first what we\u2019re in for, Sam,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018When did I first begin to guess?\u2019 he mused, searching back in memory. \u2018Let me see \u2013 it was in the year that the White Councilthough I did not know yet what I feared. I wondered often how Gollum came by a Great Ring, as plainly it was \u2013 that at least was clear from the first. Then I heard Bilbo\u2019s strange story of how he had \u2018\u2018won\u2019\u2019 it, and I could not believe it. When I at last got the truth out of him, I saw at once that he had been trying to put his claim to the ring beyond doubt. Much like Gollum with his \u2018\u2018birthday-present\u2019\u2019."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then by some shift of airs all the mist was drawn away like a veil, and there leaned up, as he climbed over the rim of the world, the Swordsman of the Sky, Menelvagor with his shining belt. The Elves\u2018Come!\u2019 the Elves called to the hobbits. \u2018Come! Now is the time for speech and merriment!\u2019 Pippin sat up and rubbed his eyes. He shivered. \u2018There is a fire in the hall, and food for hungry guests,\u2019 said an Elf standing before him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He\u2019s mad. I always said so,\u2019 was probably the most popular comment."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea, And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree."
    },
    {
        "text": "The farmer sat in the driving-seat, and whipped up his two stout ponies. His wife stood in the light of the open door."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, it is not evil; or what evil is in it is far away. I catch only the faintest echoes of dark places where the hearts of the trees are black."
    },
    {
        "text": "Inside in the hall there was piled a large assortment of packages and parcels and small articles of furniture. On every item there was a label tied. There were several labels of this sort: For ADELARD TOOK, for his VERY OWN, from Bilbo; on an umbrella. Adelard had carried off many unlabelled ones."
    },
    {
        "text": "They\u2019re as different as peas and apples.\u2019 \u2018Maybe. To sheep other sheep no doubt appear different,\u2019 laughed Lindir. \u2018Or to shepherds. But Mortals have not been our study. We have other business.\u2019 \u2018I won\u2019t argue with you,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018I am sleepy after so much music and singing. I\u2019ll leave you to guess, if you want to.\u2019 He got up and came towards Frodo. \u2018Well, that\u2019s over,\u2019 he said in a low voice. \u2018It went off better than I expected. I don\u2019t often get asked for a second hearing. What did you think of it?\u2019 \u2018I am not going to try and guess,\u2019 said Frodo smiling."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sing hey! for the bath at close of day that washes the weary mud away! A loon is he that will not sing: O! Water Hot is a noble thing! O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain, and the brook that leaps from hill to plain; but better than rain or rippling streams is Water Hot that smokes and steams."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, no! wait!\u2019 Frodo called back, more strongly now. \u2018I shall be better soon. I feel better already. Wait! You can\u2019t do anything without a rope.\u2019 \u2018Rope!\u2019 cried Sam, talking wildly to himself in his excitement and relief. \u2018Well, if I don\u2019t deserve to be hung on the end of one as a warning to numbskulls! You\u2019re nowt but a ninnyhammer, Sam Gamgee: that\u2019s what the Gaffer said to me often enough, it being a word of his. Rope!\u2019 \u2018Stop chattering!\u2019 cried Frodo, now recovered enough to feel both amused and annoyed. \u2018Never mind your gaffer! Are you trying to tell yourself you\u2019ve got some rope in your pocket? If so, out with it!\u2019 \u2018Yes, Mr. Frodo, in my pack and all. Carried it hundreds of miles, and I\u2019d clean forgotten it!\u2019 \u2018Then get busy and let an end down!\u2019 Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it. There indeed at the bottom was a coil of the silken-grey rope made by the folk of Lo\u00b4 rien. He cast an end to his master. The darkness seemed to lift from Frodo\u2019s eyes, or else his sight was returning. He could see the grey line as it came dangling down, and he thought it had a faint silver sheen. Now that he had some point in the darkness to fix his eyes on, he felt less giddy. Leaning his weight forward, he made the end fast round his waist, and then he grasped the line with both hands."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits were still weary, when they set out again early next morning. There were many miles yet to go between them and the Ford, and they hobbled forward at the best pace they could manage."
    },
    {
        "text": "And Frodo when he saw her come glimmering in the evening, with stars on her brow and a sweet fragrance about her, was moved with great wonder, and he said to Gandalf: \u2018At last I understand why we have waited! This is the ending. Now not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be beautiful and blessed and all its fear pass away!\u2019 Then the King welcomed his guests, and they alighted; and Elrond surrendered the sceptre, and laid the hand of his daughter in theArwen Undo\u00b4 miel in the City of the Kings upon the day of Mid- summer, and the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfilment.Chapter 6 MANY PARTINGS When the days of rejoicing were over at last the Companions thought of returning to their own homes. And Frodo went to the King as he was sitting with the Queen Arwen by the fountain, and she sang a song of Valinor, while the Tree grew and blossomed. They welcomed Frodo and rose to greet him; and Aragorn said: \u2018I know what you have come to say, Frodo: you wish to return to your own home. Well, dearest friend, the tree grows best in the land of its sires; but for you in all the lands of the West there will ever be a welcome. And though your people have had little fame in the legends of the great, they will now have more renown than many wide realms that are no more.\u2019 \u2018It is true that I wish to go back to the Shire,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But first I must go to Rivendell. For if there could be anything wanting in a time so blessed, I missed Bilbo; and I was grieved when among all the household of Elrond I saw that he was not come.\u2019 \u2018Do you wonder at that, Ring-bearer?\u2019 said Arwen. \u2018For you know the power of that thing which is now destroyed; and all that was done by that power is now passing away. But your kinsman possessed this thing longer than you. He is ancient in years now, according to his kind; and he awaits you, for he will not again make any long journey save one.\u2019 \u2018Then I beg leave to depart soon,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Soon there was great peril of fire behind the wall, and all who could be spared were busy quelling the flames that sprang up in many places. Then among the greater casts there fell another hail, less ruinous but more horrible. All about the streets and lanes behind the Gateittumbleddown,smallroundshotthatdidnotburn.Butwhenfighting at Osgiliath, or on the Rammas, or in the fields. They were grim to look on; for though some were crushed and shapeless, and some had been cruelly hewn, yet many had features that could be told, and it seemed that they had died in pain; and all were branded with the foul token of the Lidless Eye. But marred and dishonoured as they were, it often chanced that thus a man would see again the face of someone that he had known, who had walked proudly once in arms, or tilled the fields, or ridden in upon a holiday from the green vales in the hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "Faramir turned to the man at his side. \u2018Now what would you say that it is, Anborn? A squirrel, or a kingfisher? Are there black king- fishers in the night-pools of Mirkwood?\u2019 \u2018\u2019Tis not a bird, whatever else it be,\u2019 answered Anborn. \u2018It has four limbs and dives manwise; a pretty mastery of the craft it shows, too. What is it at? Seeking a way up behind the Curtain to our hidings? It seems we are discovered at last. I have my bow here, and I have posted other archers, nigh as good marksmen as myself, on either bank. We wait only for your command to shoot, Captain.\u2019 \u2018Shall we shoot?\u2019 said Faramir, turning quickly to Frodo.and louder. He could not see, but he guessed well enough from their words what they were looking at."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then the others also departed, and Frodo and Sam went to their beds and slept. And in the morning they rose again in hope and peace; and they spent many days in Ithilien. For the Field of Cormallen, where the host was now encamped, was near to Henneth Annu\u02c6n, and the stream that flowed from its falls could be heard in the night as it rushed down through its rocky gate, and passed through the flowery meads into the tides of Anduin by the Isle of Cair Andros."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You are a set of deceitful scoundrels!\u2019 he said, turning to the others. \u2018But bless you!\u2019 he laughed, getting up and waving his arms, \u2018I give in. I will take Gildor\u2019s advice. If the danger were not so dark, I should dance for joy. Even so, I cannot help feeling happy; happier than I have felt for a long time. I had dreaded this evening.\u2019 \u2018Good! That\u2019s settled. Three cheers for Captain Frodo and com- pany!\u2019 they shouted; and they danced round him. Merry and Pippin began a song, which they had apparently got ready for the occasion."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam looked up out of the hollow. The land all about was dreary, flat and drab-hued. On the roads nearby nothing was moving now; but Sam feared the watchful eyes on the wall of the Isenmouthe, no more than a furlong away northward. South-eastward, far off like a dark standing shadow, loomed the Mountain. Smokes were pouring from it, and while those that rose into the upper air trailed away eastward, great rolling clouds floated down its sides and spread over the land."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What is the time?\u2019 said Pippin yawning."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly they swept up with a noise like thunder, and the foremost horseman swerved, passing by the foot of the hill, and leading the host back southward along the western skirts of the downs. After him they rode: a long line of mail-clad men, swift, shining, fell and fair to look upon."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Certainly,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018We are too great a burden for one.\u2019 \u2018There are three,\u2019 said Legolas, gazing out over the plain. \u2018See how they run! There is Hasufel, and there is my friend Arod beside him! But there is another that strides ahead: a very great horse. I have not seen his like before.\u2019 \u2018Nor will you again,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018That is Shadowfax. He is the chief of the Mearas, lords of horses, and not even The\u00b4oden, King of Rohan, has ever looked on a better. Does he not shine like silver, and run as smoothly as a swift stream? He has come for me: the horse of the White Rider. We are going to battle together.\u2019 Even as the old wizard spoke, the great horse came striding up the slope towards them; his coat was glistening and his mane flowing in the wind of his speed. The two others followed, now far behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "Where is that silly fellow, Merry? It would be the last straw, if weAt that moment they heard a door slam; then feet came running along the passage. Merry came in with a rush followed by Nob. He shut the door hastily, and leaned against it. He was out of breath."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have never entered it. Come, tell me more about it, and about the Ents!\u2019 \u2018Ents,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018Ents are \u2013 well Ents are all different for one thing. But their eyes now, their eyes are very odd.\u2019 He tried a few fumbling words that trailed off into silence. \u2018Oh, well,\u2019 he went on, \u2018you have seen some at a distance, already \u2013 they saw you at any rate, and reported that you were on the way \u2013 and you will see many others, I expect, before you leave here. You must form your own ideas.\u2019 \u2018Now, now!\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018We are beginning the story in the middle."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam, waking suddenly by some instinct of watchfulness, saw first his master\u2019s empty bed and leapt to his feet. Then he saw two dark figures, Frodo and a man, framed against the archway, which was now filled with a pale white light. He hurried after them, past rows of men sleeping on mattresses along the wall. As he went by the cave-mouth he saw that the Curtain was now become a dazzling veil of silk and pearls and silver thread: melting icicles of moonlight. But he did not pause to admire it, and turning aside he followed his master through the narrow doorway in the wall of the cave."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I think that I now understand what he is up to. He is plotting to become a Power. He has a mind of metal and wheels; and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve him for the moment. And now it is clear that he is a black traitor. He has taken up with foul folk, with the Orcs. Brm, hoom! Worse than that: he has been doing something to them; something dangerous. For these Isengarders are more like wicked Men. It is a mark of evil things that came in the Great Darkness that they cannot abide the Sun; but Saruman\u2019s Orcs can endure it, even if they hate it. I wonder what he has done? Are they Men he has ruined, or has he blended the races of Orcs and Men? That would be a black evil!\u2019 Treebeard rumbled for a moment, as if he were pronouncing some deep, subterranean Entish malediction. \u2018Some time ago I began tothat long ago he had been spying out all the ways, and discovering my secrets. He and his foul folk are making havoc now. Down on the borders they are felling trees \u2013 good trees. Some of the trees they just cut down and leave to rot \u2013 orc-mischief that; but most are hewn up and carried off to feed the fires of Orthanc. There is always a smoke rising from Isengard these days."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo himself, after the first shock, found that being his own master and the Mr. Baggins of Bag End was rather pleasant. For some years he was quite happy and did not worry much about the future. But half unknown to himself the regret that he had not gone with Bilbo was steadily growing. He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Bree-folk, Big and Little, did not themselves travel much; and the affairs of the four villages were their chief concern. Occasion- ally the Hobbits of Bree went as far as Buckland, or the Eastfarthing; but though their little land was not much further than a day\u2019s riding east of the Brandywine Bridge, the Hobbits of the Shire now seldom visited it. An occasional Bucklander or adventurous Took would come out to the Inn for a night or two, but even that was becoming less and less usual. The Shire-hobbits referred to those of Bree, and to any others that lived beyond the borders, as Outsiders, and took very little interest in them, considering them dull and uncouth. There were probably many more Outsiders scattered about in the West of the World in those days than the people of the Shire imagined. Some, doubtless, were no better than tramps, ready to dig a hole in any bank and stay only as long as it suited them. But in the Bree-land, at any rate, the hobbits were decent and prosperous, and no more rustic than most of their distant relatives Inside. It was not yet forgot- ten that there had been a time when there was much coming and going between the Shire and Bree. There was Bree-blood in the Brandybucks by all accounts."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018How do I feel?\u2019 he cried. \u2018Well, I don\u2019t know how to say it. I feel, I feel\u2019 \u2013 he waved his arms in the air \u2013 \u2018I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!\u2019 He stopped and he turned towards his master."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018So you have come back? Why have you neglected to report for so long?\u2019\u2019 \u2018I did not answer. He said: \u2018\u2018Who are you?\u2019\u2019 I still did not answer, but it hurt me horribly; and he pressed me, so I said: \u2018\u2018A hobbit.\u2019\u2019 \u2018Then suddenly he seemed to see me, and he laughed at me. It was cruel. It was like being stabbed with knives. I struggled. But he said: \u2018\u2018Wait a moment! We shall meet again soon. Tell Saruman that this dainty is not for him. I will send for it at once. Do you understand? Say just that!\u2019\u2019 \u2018Then he gloated over me. I felt I was falling to pieces. No, no! I can\u2019t say any more. I don\u2019t remember anything else.\u2019 \u2018Look at me!\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "And there in the midst of the fields they set up their pavilions and awaited the morning; for it was the Eve of May, and the King would enter his gates with the rising of the Sun.Chapter 5 THE STEWARD AND THE KING Over the city of Gondor doubt and great dread had hung. Fair weather and clear sun had seemed but a mockery to men whose days held little hope, and who looked each morning for news of doom."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Fair lady!\u2019 said Frodo again after a while. \u2018Tell me, if my asking does not seem foolish, who is Tom Bombadil?\u2019 \u2018He is,\u2019 said Goldberry, staying her swift movements and smiling."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So that was the job I felt I had to do when I started,\u2019 thought Sam: \u2018to help Mr. Frodo to the last step and then die with him? Well, if that is the job then I must do it. But I would dearly like to see Bywater again, and Rosie Cotton and her brothers, and the Gaffer and Marigold and all. I can\u2019t think somehow that Gandalf would have sent Mr. Frodo on this errand, if there hadn\u2019t a\u2019 been any hope of his ever coming back at all. Things all went wrong when he went down in Moria. I wish he hadn\u2019t. He would have done something.\u2019 But even as hope died in Sam, or seemed to die, it was turned to a new strength. Sam\u2019s plain hobbit-face grew stern, almost grim, as the will hardened in him, and he felt through all his limbs a thrill, as if he was turning into some creature of stone and steel that neither despair nor weariness nor endless barren miles could subdue."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then let us go to the forest,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 Man gasped, stared for a moment amazed, and then ran wildly about, seeking here and there among the rocks and trees."
    },
    {
        "text": "His wits, too, were wide-awake."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Faramir, \u2018of the land of Westernesse that foundered, and of the great dark wave climbing over the green lands and above the hills, and coming on, darkness unescapable. I often dream of it.\u2019 \u2018Then you think that the Darkness is coming?\u2019 said E\u00b4owyn. \u2018Dark- ness Unescapable?\u2019 And suddenly she drew close to him."
    },
    {
        "text": "The water was gathered again into a stone basin in the floor between the trees, and thence it spilled and flowed away beside the open path, out to rejoin the Entwash in its journey through the forest."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the morning he woke to find that the rain had stopped. The clouds were still thick, but they were breaking, and pale strips of blue appeared between them. The wind was shifting again. They did notof the cliff, until he came back. He was going to climb up, if he could, and get a look at the lie of the land."
    },
    {
        "text": "They were like great figures seated upon thrones. Each had three joined bodies, and three heads facing outward, and inward, and across the gateway. The heads had vulture-faces, and on their great knees were laid clawlike hands. They seemed to be carved out of huge blocks of stone, immovable, and yet they were aware: some dreadful spirit of evil vigilance abode in them. They knew an enemy. Visible or invisible none could pass unheeded. They would forbid his entry, or his escape."
    },
    {
        "text": "But he must swear on the Precious.\u2019 \u2018No! not on it,\u2019 said Frodo, looking down at him with stern pity."
    },
    {
        "text": "How came you there?\u2019 \u2018I followed you to shake off sleep,\u2019 said Gimli; \u2018but I looked on the hillmen and they seemed over large for me, so I sat beside a stone to see your sword-play.\u2019Dwarf. \u2018But I am content. Till now I have hewn naught but wood since I left Moria.\u2019 \u2018Two!\u2019 said Gimli, patting his axe. He had returned to his place on the wall."
    },
    {
        "text": "fear! fire! foes! The Brandybucks were blowing the Horn-call of Buckland, that had not been sounded for a hundred years, not since the white wolves came in the Fell Winter, when the Brandywine was frozen over."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The wise speak only of what they know, Gr\u00b4\u0131ma son of Ga\u00b4lmo\u00b4d."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the staff 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a moment of silence The\u00b4oden stood looking down at E\u00b4 omer as he knelt still before him. Neither moved."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do you know, Sam,\u2019 he said at length, \u2018the beastly tree threw me in! I felt it. The big root just twisted round and tipped me in!\u2019 \u2018You were dreaming I expect, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018You shouldn\u2019t sit in such a place, if you feel sleepy.\u2019 \u2018What about the others?\u2019 Frodo asked. \u2018I wonder what sort of dreams they are having.\u2019 They went round to the other side of the tree, and then Sam understood the click that he had heard. Pippin had vanished. The crack by which he had laid himself had closed together, so that not a chink could be seen. Merry was trapped: another crack had closed about his waist; his legs lay outside, but the rest of him was inside a dark opening, the edges of which gripped like a pair of pincers."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have come to a dead end, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018If we go on, we shall only come up to that orc-tower, but the only road to take is that road that comes down from it \u2013 unless we go back. We can\u2019t climb up westward, or climb down eastward.\u2019 \u2018Then we must take the road, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018We must take it and chance our luck, if there is any luck in Mordor. We might as well give ourselves up as wander about any more, or try to go back. Our food won\u2019t last. We\u2019ve got to make a dash for it!\u2019 \u2018All right, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Lead me! As long as you\u2019ve got any hope left. Mine is gone. But I can\u2019t dash, Sam. I\u2019ll just plod along after you.\u2019 \u2018Before you start any more plodding, you need sleep and food, Mr. Frodo. Come and take what you can get of them!\u2019 He gave Frodo water and an additional wafer of the waybread, and he made a pillow of his cloak for his master\u2019s head. Frodo was too weary to debate the matter, and Sam did not tell him that he had drunk the last drop of their water, and eaten Sam\u2019s share of the food as well as his own. When Frodo was asleep Sam bent over him and listened to his breathing and scanned his face. It was lined and thin, and yet in sleep it looked content and unafraid. \u2018Well, here goes, Master!\u2019 Sam muttered to himself. \u2018I\u2019ll have to leave you for a bit and trust to luck. Water we must have, or we\u2019ll get no further.\u2019for some way as it climbed north, until he came to the rock-steps where long ago, no doubt, its spring had come gushing down in a little waterfall. All now seemed dry and silent; but refusing to despair Sam stooped and listened, and to his delight he caught the sound of trickling. Clambering a few steps up he found a tiny stream of dark water that came out from the hill-side and filled a little bare pool, from which again it spilled, and vanished then under the barren stones."
    },
    {
        "text": "Her hair was long, her limbs were white, And fair she was and free; And in the wind she went as lightBeside the falls of Nimrodel, By water clear and cool, Her voice as falling silver fell Into the shining pool."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was dreary and wearisome. Cold clammy winter still held sway in this forsaken country. The only green was the scum of livid weed on the dark greasy surfaces of the sullen waters. Dead grasses and rotting reeds loomed up in the mists like ragged shadows of long- forgotten summers."
    },
    {
        "text": "They looked hard at one another."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A very nice well-spoken gentlehobbit is Mr. Bilbo, as I\u2019ve always said,\u2019 the Gaffer declared. With perfect truth: for Bilbo was very polite to him, calling him \u2018Master Hamfast\u2019, and consulting him constantly upon the growing of vegetables \u2013 in the matter of \u2018roots\u2019, especially potatoes, the Gaffer was recognized as the leading authority by all in the neighbourhood (including himself )."
    },
    {
        "text": "Too surprised and too relieved to talk, the hobbits followed after him as fast as they could. But that was not fast enough. Tom soon disappeared in front of them, and the noise of his singing got fainter and further away. Suddenly his voice came floating back to them in a loud halloo!Hop along, my little friends, up the Withywindle! Tom\u2019s going on ahead candles for to kindle."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018I can\u2019t abide changes,\u2019\u2019 said he, \u2018\u2018not at my time of life, and least of all changes for the worst.\u2019\u2019 \u2018\u2018Changes for the worst,\u2019\u2019 he repeated many times."
    },
    {
        "text": "At length after fifteen days of journey the wain of King The\u00b4oden passed through the green fields of Rohan and came to Edoras; and there they all rested. The Golden Hall was arrayed with fair hangings and it was filled with light, and there was held the highest feast that it had known since the days of its building. For after three days the Men of the Mark prepared the funeral of The\u00b4oden; and he was laid in a house of stone with his arms and many other fair things that he had possessed, and over him was raised a great mound, covered with green turves of grass and of white evermind. And now there were eight mounds on the east-side of the Barrowfield."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is getting hot!\u2019 he gasped. \u2018We 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.\u2019 Gimli took his arm and helped him down to a seat on the step."
    },
    {
        "text": "In a chair, at the far side of the room facing the outer door, sat a woman. Her long yellow hair rippled down her shoulders; her gown was green, green as young reeds, shot with silver like beads of dew; and her belt was of gold, shaped like a chain of flag-lilies set with the pale-blue eyes of forget-me-nots. About her feet in wide vessels of green and brown earthenware, white water-lilies were floating, so that she seemed to be enthroned in the midst of a pool."
    },
    {
        "text": "For still there are so many things that I have never seen: in every wood in every springI sit beside the fire and think of people long ago, and people who will see a world that I shall never know."
    },
    {
        "text": "Full description of every article, garment, weapon, letter, ring, or trinket is to be sent to Lugbu\u00b4rz at once, and to Lugbu\u00b4rz only. And the prisoner is to be kept safe and intact, under pain of death for every member of the guard, until He sends or comes Himself. That\u2019s plain enough, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do.\u2019 \u2018Stripped, eh?\u2019 said Gorbag. \u2018What, teeth, nails, hair, and all?\u2019 \u2018No, none of that. He\u2019s for Lugbu\u00b4rz, I tell you. He\u2019s wanted safe and whole.\u2019 \u2018You\u2019ll find that difficult,\u2019 laughed Gorbag. \u2018He\u2019s nothing but car- rion now. What Lugbu\u00b4rz will do with such stuff I can\u2019t guess. He might as well go in the pot.\u2019 \u2018You fool,\u2019 snarled Shagrat. \u2018You\u2019ve been talking very clever, but there\u2019s a lot you don\u2019t know, though most other folk do. You\u2019ll be for the pot or for Shelob, if you don\u2019t take care. Carrion! Is that all you know of Her Ladyship? When she binds with cords, she\u2019s after meat. She doesn\u2019t eat dead meat, nor suck cold blood. This fellow isn\u2019t dead!\u2019 Sam reeled, clutching at the stone. He felt as if the whole dark world was turning upside down. So great was the shock that he almost swooned, but even as he fought to keep a hold on his senses, deep inside him he was aware of the comment: \u2018You fool, he isn\u2019t dead, and your heart knew it. Don\u2019t trust your head, Samwise, it is not the best part of you. The trouble with you is that you never really had any hope. Now what is to be done?\u2019 For the moment nothing, but to prop himself against the unmoving stone and listen, listen to the vile orc-voices."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018This I will have as weregild for my father, and my brother,\u2019\u2019 he said; and therefore whether we would or no, he took it to treasure it. But soon he was betrayed by it to his death; and so it is named in the North Isildur\u2019s Bane. Yet death maybe was better than what else might have befallen him."
    },
    {
        "text": "They went on. But before long the snow was falling fast, filling all the air, and swirling into Frodo\u2019s eyes. The dark bent shapes of Gandalf and Aragorn only a pace or two ahead could hardly be seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam came to the gaping mouth and peered in. It was dark and hot, and a deep rumbling shook the air. \u2018Frodo! Master!\u2019 he called."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Against delay. Against the way that seems easier. Against refusal of the burden that is laid on me. Against \u2013 well, if it must be said, against trust in the strength and truth of Men.\u2019 \u2018Yet that strength has long protected you far away in your little country, though you knew it not.\u2019 \u2018I do not doubt the valour of your people. But the world is chang- ing. The walls of Minas Tirith may be strong, but they are not strong enough. If they fail, what then?\u2019 \u2018We shall fall in battle valiantly. Yet there is still hope that they will not fail.\u2019 \u2018No hope while the Ring lasts,\u2019 said Frodo.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?\u2019 Frodo looked up. His heart went suddenly cold. He caught the strange gleam in Boromir\u2019s eyes, yet his face was still kind and friendly. \u2018It is best that it should lie hidden,\u2019 he answered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But last night I told you of Sauron the Great, the Dark Lord."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sme\u00b4agol,\u2019 said Gollum suddenly and clearly, opening his eyes wide and staring at Frodo with a strange light. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol will swear on the Precious.\u2019 Frodo drew himself up, and again Sam was startled by his words and his stern voice. \u2018On the Precious? How dare you?\u2019 he said. \u2018Think! One Ring to rule them all and in the Darkness bind them."
    },
    {
        "text": "From the North shall he come, need shall drive him: he shall pass the Door to the Paths of the Dead."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now, therefore, things shall be openly spoken that have been hidden from all but a few until this day. And first, so that all may understand what is the peril, the Tale of the Ring shall be told from the beginning even to this present. And I will begin that tale, though others shall end it.\u2019 Then all listened while Elrond in his clear voice spoke of Sauron and the Rings of Power, and their forging in the Second Age of the world long ago. A part of his tale was known to some there, but the full tale to none, and many eyes were turned to Elrond in fear and wonder as he told of the Elven-smiths of Eregion and their friendship with Moria, and their eagerness for knowledge, by which Sauron ensnared them. For in that time he was not yet evil to behold, and they received his aid and grew mighty in craft, whereas he learned all their secrets, and betrayed them, and forged secretly in the Moun- tain of Fire the One Ring to be their master. But Celebrimbor was aware of him, and hid the Three which he had made; and there was war, and the land was laid waste, and the gate of Moria was shut."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Jumped over the Moon!\u2019 chuckled Merry as he rolled himself inhis blanket. \u2018Very ridiculous of you, Frodo! But I wish I had been there to see. The worthies of Bree will be discussing it a hundred years hence.\u2019 \u2018I hope so,\u2019 said Strider. Then they all fell silent, and one by one the hobbits dropped off to sleep.Chapter 11 A KNIFE IN THE DARK As they prepared for sleep in the inn at Bree, darkness lay on Buck- land; a mist strayed in the dells and along the river-bank. The house at Crickhollow stood silent. Fatty Bolger opened the door cautiously and peered out. A feeling of fear had been growing on him all day, and he was unable to rest or go to bed: there was a brooding threat in the breathless night-air. As he stared out into the gloom, a black shadow moved under the trees; the gate seemed to open of its own accord and close again without a sound. Terror seized him. He shrank back, and for a moment he stood trembling in the hall. Then he shut and locked the door."
    },
    {
        "text": "They said farewell to Nob and Bob, and took leave of Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will seek for the opening words."
    },
    {
        "text": "He loved mountains, or he had loved the thought of them marching on the edge of stories brought from far away; but now he was borne down by the insupportable weight of Middle-earth. He longed to shut out the immensity in a quiet room by a fire.days he had jogged up and down, over passes, and through long dales, and across many streams. Sometimes where the way was broader he had ridden at the king\u2019s side, not noticing that many of the Riders smiled to see the two together: the hobbit on his little shaggy grey pony, and the Lord of Rohan on his great white horse. Then he had talked to The\u00b4oden, telling him about his home and the doings of the Shire-folk, or listening in turn to tales of the Mark and its mighty men of old. But most of the time, especially on this last day, Merry had ridden by himself just behind the king, saying nothing, and trying to understand the slow sonorous speech of Rohan that he heard the men behind him using. It was a language in which there seemed to be many words that he knew, though spoken more richly and strongly than in the Shire, yet he could not piece the words together. At times some Rider would lift up his clear voice in stirring song, and Merry felt his heart leap, though he did not know what it was about."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Know also, my friends, that I learned more yet from Gollum. He was loth to speak and his tale was unclear, but it is beyond all doubt that he went to Mordor, and there all that he knew was forced from him. Thus the Enemy knows now that the One is found, that it was long in the Shire; and since his servants have pursued it almost to our door, he soon will know, already he may know, even as I speak,All sat silent for a while, until at length Boromir spoke. \u2018He is a small thing, you say, this Gollum? Small, but great in mischief. What became of him? To what doom did you put him?\u2019 \u2018He is in prison, but no worse,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018He had suffered much. There is no doubt that he was tormented, and the fear of Sauron lies black on his heart. Still I for one am glad that he is safely kept by the watchful Elves of Mirkwood. His malice is great and gives him a strength hardly to be believed in one so lean and withered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wish I was back there,\u2019 he said. \u2018But how can I return without shame \u2013 unless there is indeed no other way, and we are already defeated?\u2019 \u2018You are right, Frodo,\u2019 said Gandalf: \u2018to 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\u2019s hand again.\u2019 \u2018Then we must go on, if there is a way,\u2019 said Frodo with a sigh."
    },
    {
        "text": "Peel it! Heal it!Tom\u2019s leg is game, since home he came, And his bootless foot is lasting lame; But Troll don\u2019t care, and he\u2019s still there With the bone he boned from its owner."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly there was a great shout, and down from the Dike came those who had been driven back into the Deep. There came Gamling the Old, and E\u00b4omer son of E\u00b4 omund, and beside them walked Gimli the dwarf. He had no helm, and about his head was a linen band stained with blood; but his voice was loud and strong."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018The Enemy must have some great need or purpose,\u2019\u2019 said Rada- gast; \u2018\u2018but what it is that makes him look to these distant and desolate parts, I cannot guess.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018What do you mean?\u2019\u2019 said I."
    },
    {
        "text": "The fireworks were by Gandalf: they were not only brought by him, but designed and made by him; and the special effects, set pieces, and flights of rockets were let off by him. But there was also a generous distribution of squibs, crackers, backarappers, sparklers, torches, dwarf-candles, elf-fountains, goblin-barkers and thunder- claps. They were all superb. The art of Gandalf improved with age."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If you wish to know what I think,\u2019 he began again after a while, \u2018I think it was Saruman. Who else? Remember the words of E\u00b4 omer: he walks about like an old man hooded and cloaked. Those were the words. He has gone off with our horses, or scared them away, and here we are. There is more trouble coming to us, mark my words!\u2019 \u2018I mark them,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But I marked also that this old man had a hat not a hood. Still I do not doubt that you guess right, and that we are in peril here, by night or day. Yet in the meantime there is nothing that we can do but rest, while we may. I will watch for a while now, Gimli. I have more need of thought than of sleep.\u2019 The night passed slowly. Legolas followed Aragorn, and Gimli followed Legolas, and their watches wore away. But nothing hap- pened. The old man did not appear again, and the horses did not return.Chapter 3 THE URUK-HAI Pippin lay in a dark and troubled dream: it seemed that he could hear his own small voice echoing in black tunnels, calling Frodo, Frodo! But instead of Frodo hundreds of hideous orc-faces grinned at him out of the shadows, hundreds of hideous arms grasped at him from every side. Where was Merry? He woke. Cold air blew on his face. He was lying on his back."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not that way! No, not that way!\u2019 whispered Gollum, but the breath between his teeth seemed to tear the heavy stillness like a whistle, and he cowered to the ground in terror."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The king shall come again,\u2019 he said. \u2018Fear not! Not West but East does our doom await us.\u2019 The king now went down the stair with Gandalf beside him. The others followed. Aragorn looked back as they passed towards the gate. Alone E\u00b4owyn stood before the doors of the house at the stair\u2019s head; the sword was set upright before her, and her hands were laid upon the hilt. She was clad now in mail and shone like silver in the sun.restless in my hands. Though I doubt not that these Rohirrim are fell-handed when they come to it. Nonetheless this is not the warfare that suits me. How shall I come to the battle? I wish I could walk and not bump like a sack at Gandalf \u2019s saddlebow.\u2019 \u2018A safer seat than many, I guess,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Yet doubtless Gandalf will gladly put you down on your feet when blows begin; or Shadowfax himself. An axe is no weapon for a rider.\u2019 \u2018And a Dwarf is no horseman. It is orc-necks I would hew, not shave the scalps of Men,\u2019 said Gimli, patting the haft of his axe."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do you think we shall see anything of those Riders?\u2019 asked Pippin cheerfully. Under the morning sun the prospect of seeing a whole troop of them did not seem very alarming to him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then the weather clouded over. That was on Wednesday the eve of the Party. Anxiety was intense. Then Thursday, September the 22nd, actually dawned. The sun got up, the clouds vanished, flags were unfurled and the fun began."
    },
    {
        "text": "Little of all this, of course, reached the ears of ordinary hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then all the Captains of the West cried aloud, for their hearts were filled with a new hope in the midst of darkness. Out from the beleaguered hills knights of Gondor, Riders of Rohan, Du\u00b4nedain of theNorth,close-serriedcompanies,droveagainsttheirwaveringfoes,\u2018Stand, Men of the West! Stand and wait! This is the hour of doom.\u2019 And even as he spoke the earth rocked beneath their feet. Then rising swiftly up, far above the Towers of the Black Gate, high above the mountains, a vast soaring darkness sprang into the sky, flicker- ing with fire. The earth groaned and quaked. The Towers of the Teeth swayed, tottered, and fell down; the mighty rampart crumbled; the Black Gate was hurled in ruin; and from far away, now dim, now growing, now mounting to the clouds, there came a drumming rumble, a roar, a long echoing roll of ruinous noise."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, probably,\u2019 said Frodo, not liking the reminder. \u2018But I hope to get across the river without their seeing us.\u2019 \u2018Did you find out anything about them from Gildor?\u2019 \u2018Not much \u2013 only hints and riddles,\u2019 said Frodo evasively."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He is indisposed,\u2019 he said. \u2018He is resting.\u2019 \u2018Hiding, you mean,\u2019 said Lobelia. \u2018Anyway we want to see him and we mean to see him. Just go and tell him so!\u2019 Merry left them a long while in the hall, and they had time to discover their parting gift of spoons. It did not improve their tempers."
    },
    {
        "text": "O! Water cold we may pour at need down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed; but better is Beer, if drink we lack, and Water Hot poured down the back."
    },
    {
        "text": "From out of the shadow a red sword leaped flaming."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then for the last time the Council met; for now we learned that he was seeking ever more eagerly for the One. We feared then that he had some news of it that we knew nothing of. But Saruman said nay, and repeated what he had said to us before: that the One would never again be found in Middle-earth.Fear not! His hope will cheat him. Have I not earnestly studied this matter? Into Anduin the Great it fell; and long ago, while Sauron slept, it was rolled down the River to the Sea. There let it lie until the End.\u2019\u2019 \u2019 Gandalf fell silent, gazing eastward from the porch to the far peaks of the Misty Mountains, at whose great roots the peril of the world had so long lain hidden. He sighed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All aboard, Sam?\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Gibbets and crows!\u2019 he hissed, and they shuddered at the hideous change. \u2018Dotard! What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor among the dogs? Too long have they escaped the gibbet themselves. But the noose comes, slow in the drawing, tight and hard in the end. Hang if you will!\u2019 Now his voice changed, as he slowly mastered himself."
    },
    {
        "text": "The\u00b4oden King of the Mark had reached the road from the Gate to the River, and he turned towards the City that was now less than a mile distant. He slackened his speed a little, seeking new foes, and his knights came about him, and Dernhelm was with them. Ahead nearer the walls Elfhelm\u2019s men were among the siege-engines, hew- ing, slaying, driving their foes into the fire-pits. Well nigh all the northern half of the Pelennor was overrun, and there camps were blazing, orcs were flying towards the River like herds before the hun- ters; and the Rohirrim went hither and thither at their will. But they had not yet overthrown the siege, nor won the Gate. Many foes stood before it, and on the further half of the plain were other hosts still unfought. Southward beyond the road lay the main force of the Haradrim, and there their horsemen were gathered about the stan- dard of their chieftain. And he looked out, and in the growing light he saw the banner of the king, and that it was far ahead of the battle with few men about it. Then he was filled with a red wrath and shouted aloud, and displaying his standard, black serpent upon scar- let, he came against the white horse and the green with great press of men; and the drawing of the scimitars of the Southrons was like a glitter of stars."
    },
    {
        "text": "Others might be devised. But on this we may count in any case: one at least of our friends escaped. It is our task to find him and help him before we return to Rohan. We must not be daunted by Fangorn, since need drove him into that dark place.\u2019 \u2018I do not know which daunts me more: Fangorn, or the thought of the long road through Rohan on foot,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "He had hardly sat down, when there came a soft knock at the front-door. \u2018Lobelia again most likely,\u2019 he thought. \u2018She must have thought of something really nasty, and have come back again to say it. It can wait.\u2019 He went on with his tea. The knock was repeated, much louder,\u2018If you don\u2019t let me in, Frodo, I shall blow your door right down your hole and out through the hill,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What do you want, and where do you come from?\u2019 he asked gruffly."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a while the three companions remained silent, gazing after him. Then Aragorn spoke. \u2018They will look for him from the White Tower,\u2019 he said, \u2018but he will not return from mountain or from sea.\u2019 Then slowly he began to sing: Through Rohan over fen and field where the long grass grows The West Wind comes walking, and about the walls it goes."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a moment the orc crouched, and then with a hideous yelp of fear it turned and fled back as it had come. Never was any dog more heartened when its enemy turned tail than Sam at this unexpected flight. With a shout he gave chase."
    },
    {
        "text": "When he had overcome Sancho and pushed him out, Frodo col- lapsed on a chair in the hall. \u2018It\u2019s time to close the shop, Merry,\u2019 he said. \u2018Lock the door, and don\u2019t open it to anyone today, not even if they bring a battering ram.\u2019 Then he went to revive himself with a belated cup of tea."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No indeed!\u2019 said Elrond, turning towards him with a smile. \u2018You at least shall go with him. It is hardly possible to separate you from him, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.\u2019 Sam sat down, blushing and muttering. \u2018A nice pickle we have landed ourselves in, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 he said, shaking his head.Chapter 3 THE RING GOES SOUTH Later that day the hobbits held a meeting of their own in Bilbo\u2019s room. Merry and Pippin were indignant when they heard that Sam had crept into the Council, and had been chosen as Frodo\u2019s com- panion."
    },
    {
        "text": "They were too overjoyed to hear him speak to answer for a while; nor did they understand his question. At length he gathered from Sam that they had seen nothing but the vague shadowy shapes coming towards them. Suddenly to his horror Sam found that his master had vanished; and at that moment a black shadow rushed past him, and he fell. He heard Frodo\u2019s voice, but it seemed to come from a great distance, or from under the earth, crying out strange words. They saw nothing more, until they stumbled over the body of Frodo, lying as if dead, face downwards on the grass with his sword beneath him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is good tidings,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Yet the marks are two days old. And it seems that at this point the hobbits left the water- side.\u2019 \u2018Then what shall we do now?\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018We cannot pursue them through the whole fastness of Fangorn. We have come ill supplied."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018At once I took my leave of Denethor, but even as I went north- wards, messages came to me out of Lo\u00b4 rien that Aragorn had passed that way, and that he had found the creature called Gollum. There- fore I went first to meet him and hear his tale. Into what deadly perils he had gone alone I dared not guess.\u2019 \u2018There is little need to tell of them,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018If a man must needs walk in sight of the Black Gate, or tread the deadly flowers of Morgul Vale, then perils he will have. I, too, despaired at last, and I began my homeward journey. And then, by fortune, I came sud- denly on what I sought: the marks of soft feet beside a muddy pool."
    },
    {
        "text": "Slowly The\u00b4oden stretched forth his hand. As his fingers took the hilt, it seemed to the watchers that firmness and strength returned to his thin arm. Suddenly he lifted the blade and swung it shimmering and whistling in the air. Then he gave a great cry. His voice rang clear as he chanted in the tongue of Rohan a call to arms."
    },
    {
        "text": "But even as Gandalf and his companions came carrying the bier to the main door of the Houses, they heard a great cry that went upfor a moment all stood still, and yet when it had passed, suddenly their hearts were lifted up in such a hope as they had not known since the darkness came out of the East; and it seemed to them that the light grew clear and the sun broke through the clouds."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018At last I can deal with you!\u2019 He leaped forward with drawn blade ready for battle. But Gollum did not spring. He fell flat upon the ground and whimpered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Already they had passed a few outlying trees. The land was beginning to slope upwards, ever more steeply; but the Orcs did not halt. Both Uglu\u00b4k and Grishna\u00b4kh shouted, spurring them on to a last effort."
    },
    {
        "text": "I should like to be there, even if I could not be of much use: I shall never forget Uglu\u00b4 k and the crossing of Rohan.\u2019 \u2018Good! Good!\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018But I spoke hastily. We must not be hasty. I have become too hot. I must cool myself and think; for it is easier to shout stop! than to do it.\u2019 He strode to the archway and stood for some time under the falling rain of the spring. Then he laughed and shook himself, and wherever the drops of water fell glittering from him to the ground they glinted like red and green sparks. He came back and laid himself on the bed again and was silent."
    },
    {
        "text": "But almost at once they came to a new difficulty. The tunnel forked, or so it seemed, and in the dark they could not tell which was the wider way, or which kept nearer to the straight. Which should they take, the left, or the right? They knew of nothing to guide them, yet a false choice would almost certainly be fatal."
    },
    {
        "text": "They stood now; and Sam still holding his master\u2019s hand caressed it. He sighed. \u2018What a tale we have been in, Mr. Frodo, haven\u2019t we?\u2019 he said. \u2018I wish I could hear it told! Do you think they\u2019ll say: Now comes the story of Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom? And then everyone will hush, like we did, when in Rivendell they told us the tale of Beren One-hand and the Great Jewel. I wish I could hear it!his eyes still strayed north, north into the eye of the wind, to where the sky far off was clear, as the cold blast, rising to a gale, drove back the darkness and the ruin of the clouds."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind ofStill she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but as a steel-blade, fair yet terrible. A swift stroke she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she clove asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow passed away. A light fell about her, and her hair shone in the sunrise."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, I can smell it,\u2019 said Frodo, but he did not move, and histhere, I wish I could come there quickly and make an end!\u2019 He shuddered. The wind was chilly and yet heavy with an odour of cold decay. \u2018Well,\u2019 he said, at last withdrawing his eyes, \u2018we cannot stay here all night, fix or no fix. We must find a more sheltered spot, and camp once more; and perhaps another day will show us a path.\u2019 \u2018Or another and another and another,\u2019 muttered Sam. \u2018Or maybe no day. We\u2019ve come the wrong way.\u2019 \u2018I wonder,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It\u2019s my doom, I think, to go to that Shadow yonder, so that a way will be found. But will good or evil show it to me? What hope we had was in speed. Delay plays into the Enemy\u2019s hands \u2013 and here I am: delayed. Is it the will of the Dark Tower that steers us? All my choices have proved ill. I should have left the Company long before, and come down from the North, east of the River and of the Emyn Muil, and so over the hard of Battle Plain to the passes of Mordor. But now it isn\u2019t possible for you and me alone to find a way back, and the Orcs are prowling on the east bank. Every day that passes is a precious day lost. I am tired, Sam. I don\u2019t know what is to be done. What food have we got left?\u2019 \u2018Only those, what d\u2019you call \u2019em, lembas, Mr. Frodo. A fair supply."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, I will go,\u2019 he answered slowly. \u2018But what names shall I report? And what shall I say of you? Old and weary you seem now, and yet you are fell and grim beneath, I deem.\u2019 \u2018Well do you see and speak,\u2019 said the wizard. \u2018For I am Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then at last he said: \u2018\u2018Ha, hm, I was expecting you, Master Worm- tongue.\u2019\u2019 The man started at that name. \u2018\u2018Gandalf got here first. So I know as much about you as I need, and I know what to do with you. Put all the rats in one trap, said Gandalf; and I will. I am the master of Isengard now, but Saruman is locked in his tower; and you can go there and give him all the messages that you can think of.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Let me go, let me go!\u2019\u2019 said Wormtongue. \u2018\u2018I know the way.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018You knew the way, I don\u2019t doubt,\u2019\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018\u2018But things have changed here a little. Go and see!\u2019\u2019 \u2018He let Wormtongue go, and he limped off through the arch, with us close behind, until he came inside the ring and could see all the floods that lay between him and Orthanc. Then he turned to us."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is everything ready?\u2019 asked Bilbo. \u2018Everything packed and labelled?\u2019 \u2018Everything,\u2019 they answered."
    },
    {
        "text": "A few miles north, high up in the angle where the western spur branched away from the main range, stood the old castle of Durthang, now one of the many orc-holds that clustered about the dale of Udu\u02c6n."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now as the blackness of night returned Frodo sat, his head between his knees, his arms hanging wearily to the ground where his hands lay feebly twitching. Sam watched him, till night covered them both and hid them from one another. He could no longer find any words to say; and he turned to his own dark thoughts. As for himself, though weary and under a shadow of fear, he still had some strength left. The lembas had a virtue without which they would long ago have lain down to die. It did not satisfy desire, and at times Sam\u2019s mind was filled with the memories of food, and the longing for simple bread and meats. And yet this waybread of the Elves had a potency that increased as travellers relied on it alone and did not mingle it with other foods. It fed the will, and it gave strength to endure, and to master sinew and limb beyond the measure of mortal kind. But now a new decision must be made. They could not follow this road any longer; for it went on eastward into the great Shadow, but the Mountain now loomed upon their right, almost due south, and they must turn towards it. Yet still before it there stretched a wide region of fuming, barren, ash-ridden land."
    },
    {
        "text": "His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars. Venerable he seemed as a king crowned with many winters, and yet hale as a tried warrior in the fulness of his strength. He was the Lord of Rivendell and mighty among both Elves and Men."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019m not so hopeful, Mr. Pippin,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But I\u2019d like to know what became of that poor pony. He\u2019s been on my mind many a time, and the wolves howling and all.\u2019 At last they came to The Prancing Pony, and that at least looked outwardly unchanged; and there were lights behind the red curtains in the lower windows. They rang the bell, and Nob came to the door, and opened it a crack and peeped through; and when he saw them standing under the lamp he gave a cry of surprise."
    },
    {
        "text": "PPPS. I hope Butterbur sends this promptly. A worthy man, but his memory is like a lumber-room: thing wanted always buried. If he forgets, I shall roast him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To Isengard!\u2019 To Isengard! Though Isengard be ringed and barred with doors of stone; Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone, We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door; For bole and bough are burning now, the furnace roars \u2013 we go to war! To land of gloom with tramp of doom, with roll of drum, we come, we come; To Isengard with doom we come! With doom we come, with doom we come! So they sang as they marched southwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "At once he set off with long deliberate strides through the trees, deeper and deeper into the wood, never far from the stream, climbing steadily up towards the slopes of the mountains. Many of the trees seemed asleep, or as unaware of him as of any other creature that merely passed by; but some quivered, and some raised up their branches above his head as he approached. All the while, as he walked, he talked to himself in a long running stream of musical sounds."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Men and Dwarves were mostly talking of distant events and telling news of a kind that was becoming only too familiar. There was trouble away in the South, and it seemed that the Men who had come up the Greenway were on the move, looking for lands where they could find some peace. The Bree-folk were sympathetic, but plainly not very ready to take a large number of strangers into their little land. One of the travellers, a squint-eyed ill-favoured fellow, was foretelling that more and more people would be coming north in the near future. \u2018If room isn\u2019t found for them, they\u2019ll find it forThe hobbits did not pay much attention to all this, as it did not at the moment seem to concern hobbits. Big Folk could hardly beg for lodgings in hobbit-holes. They were more interested in Sam and Pippin, who were now feeling quite at home, and were chatting gaily about events in the Shire. Pippin roused a good deal of laughter with an account of the collapse of the roof of the Town Hole in Michel Delving: Will Whitfoot, the Mayor, and the fattest hobbit in the Westfarthing, had been buried in chalk, and came out like a floured dumpling. But there were several questions asked that made Frodo a little uneasy. One of the Bree-landers, who seemed to have been in the Shire several times, wanted to know where the Underhills lived and who they were related to."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There were rowan-trees in my home,\u2019 said Bregalad, softly and sadly, \u2018rowan-trees that took root when I was an Enting, many many years ago in the quiet of the world. The oldest were planted by the Ents to try and please the Entwives; but they looked at them and smiled and said that they knew where whiter blossom and richer fruit were growing. Yet there are no trees of all that race, the people of the Rose, that are so beautiful to me. And these trees grew and grew, till the shadow of each was like a green hall, and their red berries in the autumn were a burden, and a beauty and a wonder. Birds used to flock there. I like birds, even when they chatter; and the rowan has enough and to spare. But the birds became unfriendly and greedy and tore at the trees, and threw the fruit down and did not eat it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin introduced the other two to the farmer. \u2018Mr. Frodo Baggins,\u2019 he said. \u2018You may not remember him, but he used to live at Brandy Hall.\u2019 At the name Baggins the farmer started, and gave Frodo a sharp glance. For a moment Frodo thought that the memory of stolen mushrooms had been aroused, and that the dogs would be told to see him off. But Farmer Maggot took him by the arm."
    },
    {
        "text": "Do you cut down groves of blossoming trees in the springtime for firewood? We would tend these glades of flowering stone, not quarry them. With cautious skill, tap by tap \u2013 a small chip of rock and no more, perhaps, in a whole anxious day \u2013 so we could work, and as the years went by, we should open up new ways, and display far chambers that are still dark, glimpsed only as a void beyond fissures in the rock. And lights, Legolas! We should make lights, such lamps as once shone in Khazad-du\u02c6m; and when we wished we would drive away the night that has lain there since the hills were made; and when we desired rest, we would let the night return.\u2019 \u2018You move me, Gimli,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018I have never heard you speak like this before. Almost you make me regret that I have not seen these caves. Come! Let us make this bargain \u2013 if we both return safe out of the perils that await us, we will journey for a while together."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If you pick up with a horse-thief, and bring him to my house,\u2019 said Butterbur angrily, \u2018you ought to pay for all the damage yourselves and not come shouting at me. Go and ask Ferny where your hand- some friend is!\u2019 But it appeared that he was nobody\u2019s friend, and nobody could recollect when he had joined their party."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wrong again, I expect,\u2019 he sighed. \u2018But it\u2019s my job to go right up to the top first, whatever happens afterwards.\u2019 Away below Shagrat went leaping down the stairs and out over the court and through the gate, bearing his precious burden. If Sam could have seen him and known the grief that his escape would bring, he might have quailed. But now his mind was set on the last stage of his search. He came cautiously to the turret-door and stepped inside. It opened into darkness. But soon his staring eyes were aware of a dim light at his right hand. It came from an opening that led to another stairway, dark and narrow: it appeared to go winding up the turret along the inside of its round outer wall. A torch was glimmering from somewhere up above.one of the red eyes that he and Frodo had seen from down below by the tunnel\u2019s mouth. Quickly Sam passed the door and hurried on to the second storey, dreading at any moment to be attacked and to feel throttling fingers seize his throat from behind. He came next to a window looking east and another torch above the door to a passage through the middle of the turret. The door was open, the passage dark save for the glimmer of the torch and the red glare from outside filtering through the window-slit. But here the stair stopped and climbed no further. Sam crept into the passage. On either side there was a low door; both were closed and locked. There was no sound at all."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018How do we shape our course now, Sme\u00b4agol?\u2019 asked Frodo. \u2018Must we cross these evil-smelling fens?\u2019 \u2018No need, no need at all,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018Not if hobbits want to reach the dark mountains and go to see Him very quick. Back a little, and round a little\u2019 \u2013 his skinny arm waved north and east \u2013 \u2018and you can come on hard cold roads to the very gates of His country. Lots of His people will be there looking out for guests, very pleased to take them straight to Him, O yes. His Eye watches that way all the time. It caught Sme\u00b4agol there, long ago.\u2019 Gollum shuddered. \u2018But Sme\u00b4agol has used his eyes since then, yes, yes: I\u2019ve used eyes and feet and nose since then. I know other ways. More difficult, not so quick; but better, if we don\u2019t want Him to see. Follow Sme\u00b4agol! He can take you through the marshes, through the mists, nice thick mists."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hullo!\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018I wondered if you would turn up.\u2019 \u2018I am glad to find you visible,\u2019 replied the wizard, sitting down in a chair, \u2018I wanted to catch you and have a few final words. I suppose you feel that everything has gone off splendidly and according to plan?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I do,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018Though that flash was surprising: it quite startled me, let alone the others. A little addition of your own, I suppose?\u2019 \u2018It was. You have wisely kept that ring secret all these years, and it seemed to me necessary to give your guests something else that would seem to explain your sudden vanishment.\u2019 \u2018And would spoil my joke. You are an interfering old busybody,\u2019 laughed Bilbo, \u2018but I expect you know best, as usual.\u2019 \u2018I do \u2013 when I know anything. But I don\u2019t feel too sure about this whole affair. It has now come to the final point. You have had your joke, and alarmed or offended most of your relations, and given the whole Shire something to talk about for nine days, or ninety-nine more likely. Are you going any further?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I am. I feel I need a holiday, a very long holiday, as I have told you before. Probably a permanent holiday: I don\u2019t expect I shall return. In fact, I don\u2019t mean to, and I have made all arrangements."
    },
    {
        "text": "I think we will rest here, not only today but tonight as well. There is a wholesome air about Hollin. Much evil must befall a country before it wholly forgets the Elves, if once they dwelt there.\u2019not 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.\u2019 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 shadow of a tree, looking out southwards and westwards, with his head posed as if he was listening."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is gone for ever,\u2019 he said, \u2018and now all is dark and empty.\u2019 But the fit passed, and when Sam got back on the twenty-fifth, Frodo had recovered, and he said nothing about himself. In the meanwhile Bag End had been set in order, and Merry and Pippin came over from Crickhollow bringing back all the old furniture and gear, so that the old hole soon looked very much as it always had done."
    },
    {
        "text": "An avenue of trees had stood there. They were all gone. And looking with dismay up the road towards Bag End they saw a tall chimney of brick in the distance. It was pouring out black smoke into the evening air."
    },
    {
        "text": "At that moment there was a twang of bowstrings: several arrows whistled over them, and some fell among them. One smote Frodo between the shoulders and he lurched forward with a cry, letting go his paddle: but the arrow fell back, foiled by his hidden coat of mail."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Excellent!\u2019 said Frodo, when he understood the plan. \u2018We could not have left any message behind for Gandalf otherwise. I don\u2019t know whether these Riders can read or not, of course, but I should not have dared to risk a written message, in case they got in and searched the house. But if Fatty is willing to hold the fort, and I can be sure of Gandalf knowing the way we have gone, that decides me. I am going into the Old Forest first thing tomorrow.\u2019 \u2018Well, that\u2019s that,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018On the whole I would rather have our job than Fatty\u2019s \u2013 waiting here till Black Riders come.\u2019 \u2018You wait till you are well inside the Forest,\u2019 said Fredegar. \u2018You\u2019ll wish you were back here with me before this time tomorrow.\u2019 \u2018It\u2019s no good arguing about it any more,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We have still got to tidy up and put the finishing touches to the packing, before we get to bed. I shall call you all before the break of day.\u2019 When at last he had got to bed, Frodo could not sleep for some time. His legs ached. He was glad that he was riding in the morning."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hallo there!\u2019 called Farmer Maggot. The advancing hoofs stopped short. They thought they could dimly guess a dark cloaked shape in the mist, a yard or two ahead."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Greetings!\u2019 said the lad. \u2018Where do you come from? You are a\u2018Oh come!\u2019 said the lad. \u2018Then we are all men here. But how old are you, and what is your name? I am ten years already, and shall soon be five feet. I am taller than you. But then my father is a Guard, one of the tallest. What is your father?\u2019 \u2018Which question shall I answer first?\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018My father farms the lands round Whitwell near Tuckborough in the Shire. I am nearly twenty-nine, so I pass you there; though I am but four feet, and not likely to grow any more, save sideways.\u2019 \u2018Twenty-nine!\u2019 said the lad and whistled. \u2018Why, you are quite old! As old as my uncle Iorlas. Still,\u2019 he added hopefully, \u2018I wager I could stand you on your head or lay you on your back.\u2019 \u2018Maybe you could, if I let you,\u2019 said Pippin with a laugh. \u2018And maybe I could do the same to you: we know some wrestling tricks in my little country. Where, let me tell you, I am considered uncom- monly large and strong; and I have never allowed anyone to stand me on my head. So if it came to a trial and nothing else would serve, I might have to kill you. For when you are older, you will learn that folk are not always what they seem; and though you may have taken me for a soft stranger-lad and easy prey, let me warn you: I am not, I am a halfling, hard, bold, and wicked!\u2019 Pippin pulled such a grim face that the boy stepped back a pace, but at once he returned with clenched fists and the light of battle in his eye."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What\u2019s the matter with you?\u2019 he said. \u2018If you will try to run away, you must be tied; but we don\u2019t wish to hurt you.\u2019 \u2018It hurts us, it hurts us,\u2019 hissed Gollum. \u2018It freezes, it bites! Elves twisted it, curse them! Nasty cruel hobbits! That\u2019s why we tries to escape,ofcourseitis,precious.Weguessedtheywerecruelhobbits.\u2018No, I will not take it off you,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018not unless\u2019 \u2013 he paused a moment in thought \u2013 \u2018not unless there is any promise you can make that I can trust.\u2019 \u2018We will swear to do what he wants, yes, yess,\u2019 said Gollum, still twisting and grabbling at his ankle. \u2018It hurts us.\u2019 \u2018Swear?\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019d make you squeak, you miserable rat.\u2019 He stooped over Pippin, bringing his yellow fangs close to his face. He had a black knife with a long jagged blade in his hand. \u2018Lie quiet, or I\u2019ll tickle you with this,\u2019 he hissed. \u2018Don\u2019t draw attention to yourself, or I may forget my orders. Curse the Isengarders! Uglu\u00b4k u bagronk sha pushdug Saruman-glob bu\u00b4bhosh skai\u2019: he passed into a long angry speech in his own tongue that slowly died away into muttering and snarling."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ever my heart rises as we draw near the mountains. There is good rock here. This country has tough bones. I felt them in my feet as we came up from the dike. Give me a year and a hundred of my kin and I would make this a place that armies would break upon like water.\u2019 \u2018I do not doubt it,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018But you are a dwarf, and dwarves are strange folk. I do not like this place, and I shall like it no more by the light of day. But you comfort me, Gimli, and I am glad to have you standing nigh with your stout legs and your hard axe. I wish there were more of your kin among us. But even more would I give for a hundred good archers of Mirkwood. We shall need them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Busy as ants hurrying orcs were digging, digging lines of deep trenches in a huge ring, just out of bowshot from the walls; and as the trenches were made each was filled with fire, though how it was kindled or fed, by art or devilry, none could see. All day the labour went forward, while the men of Minas Tirith looked on, unable to hinder it. And as each length of trench was completed, they could see great wains approaching; and soon yet more companies of the enemy were swiftly setting up, each behind the cover of a trench, great engines for the casting of missiles. There were none upon the City walls large enough to reach so far or to stay the work."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last Aragorn stood above the great gates, heedless of the darts of the enemy. As he looked forth he saw the eastern sky grow pale."
    },
    {
        "text": "As they crossed the bridge and looked up the Hill they gasped."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called, I say, though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018When the world was young, and the woods were wide and wild, the Ents and the Entwives \u2013 and there were Entmaidens then: ah! the loveliness of Fimbrethil, of Wandlimb the lightfooted, in the days of our youth! \u2013 they walked together and they housed together. But our hearts did not go on growing in the same way: the Ents gave their love to things that they met in the world, and the Entwives gave their thought to other things, for the Ents loved the great trees, and the wild woods, and the slopes of the high hills; and they drank of the mountain-streams, and ate only such fruit as the trees let fall in their path; and they learned of the Elves and spoke with the Trees. Butin the thicket, and the wild apple and the cherry blossoming in spring, and the green herbs in the waterlands in summer, and the seeding grasses in the autumn fields. They did not desire to speak with these things; but they wished them to hear and obey what was said to them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Still, it may be useful.\u2019 \u2018It may, and it may not,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I should not make use of it, if I were you. But keep it secret, and keep it safe! Now I am going to bed.\u2019 As master of Bag End Frodo felt it his painful duty to say good-bye to the guests. Rumours of strange events had by now spread all over the field, but Frodo would only say no doubt everything will be cleared up in the morning. About midnight carriages came for the important folk. One by one they rolled away, filled with full but very unsatisfied hobbits. Gardeners came by arrangement, and removed in wheel- barrows those that had inadvertently remained behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "Only to be picked up by the most unlikely person imaginable: Bilbo from the Shire! \u2018Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought.\u2019 \u2018It is not,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Though I am not sure that I understand you. But how have you learned all this about the Ring, and about Gollum? Do you really know it all, or are you just guessing still?\u2019 Gandalf looked at Frodo, and his eyes glinted. \u2018I knew much and I have learned much,\u2019 he answered. \u2018But I am not going to give an account of all my doings to you. The history of Elendil and Isildur and the One Ring is known to all the Wise. Your ring is shown to be that One Ring by the fire-writing alone, apart from any other evidence.\u2019 \u2018And when did you discover that?\u2019 asked Frodo, interrupting."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s face, and Sam\u2019s."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the South the Haradrim are moving, and fear has fallen on all our coastlands, so that little help will come to us thence. Make haste! For it is before the walls of Minas Tirith that the doom of our time will be decided, and if the tide be not stemmed there, then it will flow over all the fair fields of Rohan, and even in this Hold among the hills there shall be no refuge.\u2019 \u2018Dark tidings,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden, \u2018yet not all unguessed. But say to Denethor that even if Rohan itself felt no peril, still we would come to his aid. But we have suffered much loss in our battles with Saruman the traitor, and we must still think of our frontier to the north and east, as his own tidings make clear. So great a power as the Dark Lord seems now to wield might well contain us in battle before the City and yet strike with great force across the River away beyond the Gate of Kings."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Fissh, nice fissh,\u2019 said the voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018How many are there?\u2019 he thought. \u2018Thirty or forty from the tower at least, and a lot more than that from down below, I guess. How many can I kill before they get me? They\u2019ll see the flame of the sword, as soon as I draw it, and they\u2019ll get me sooner or later. I wonder if any song will ever mention it: How Samwise fell in the High Pass and made a wall of bodies round his master. No, no song. Of course not, for the Ring\u2019ll be found, and there\u2019ll be no more songs. I can\u2019t help it. My place is by Mr. Frodo. They must understand that \u2013 Elrond and the Council, and the great Lords and Ladies with all their wisdom. Their plans have gone wrong. I can\u2019t be their Ring- bearer. Not without Mr. Frodo.\u2019 But the Orcs were out of his dim sight now. He had had no time to consider himself, but now he realized that he was weary, weary almost to exhaustion: his legs would not carry him as he wished. He was too slow. The path seemed miles long. Where had they all got to in the mist? Theretheywereagain!Agoodwayaheadstill.Aclusteroffigures\u2018Come on, Sam!\u2019 he said, \u2018or you\u2019ll be too late again.\u2019 He loosened the sword in its sheath. In a minute he would draw it, and then\u2014\u2014 There was a wild clamour, hooting and laughing, as something was lifted from the ground. \u2018Ya hoi! Ya harri hoi! Up! Up!\u2019 Then a voice shouted: \u2018Now off ! The quick way. Back to the Undergate! She\u2019ll not trouble us tonight by all the signs.\u2019 The whole band of orc-figures began to move. Four in the middle were carrying a body high on their shoulders. \u2018Ya hoi!\u2019 They had taken Frodo\u2019s body. They were off. He could not catch them up. Still he laboured on. The Orcs reached the tunnel and were passing in. Those with the burden went first, and behind them there was a good deal of struggling and jostling. Sam came on. He drew the sword, a flicker of blue in his wavering hand, but they did not see it. Even as he came panting up, the last of them vanished into the black hole."
    },
    {
        "text": "Time seemed poised in uncertainty. They were too late! Too late was worse than never! Perhaps The\u00b4oden would quail, bow his old head, turn, slink away to hide in the hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "From Wilderland to Western shore, from northern waste to southern hill, through dragon-lair and hidden door and darkling woods he walked at will."
    },
    {
        "text": "When their breakfast was over, and their packs all trussed up again, it was after ten o\u2019clock, and the day was beginning to turn fine and hot. They went down the slope, and across the stream where it dived under the road, and up the next slope, and up and down another shoulder of the hills; and by that time their cloaks, blankets, water, food, and other gear already seemed a heavy burden."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Whence come you?\u2019 he said. \u2018A halfling, and in the livery of the Tower! Whence...?\u2019 But with that Gandalf stepped to his side and spoke. \u2018He came with me from the land of the Halflings,\u2019 he said. \u2018He came with me."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wish I had known all this before,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I had no notion of what I was doing.\u2019 \u2018Oh yes, you had,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018You knew you were behaving wrongly and foolishly; and you told yourself so, though you did notride together. But if I had spoken sooner, it would not have lessened your desire, or made it easier to resist. On the contrary! No, the burned hand teaches best. After that advice about fire goes to the heart.\u2019 \u2018It does,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018If all the seven stones were laid out before me now, I should shut my eyes and put my hands in my pockets.\u2019 \u2018Good!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018That is what I hoped.\u2019 \u2018But I should like to know\u2014\u2014\u2019 Pippin began."
    },
    {
        "text": "Three other entrances they saw, dark black arches: one straight before them eastwards, and one on either side. Then the light went out."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Worst is a bad word,\u2019\u2019 I said to him, \u2018\u2018and I hope you do not live to see it.\u2019\u2019 But amidst his talk I gathered at last that Frodo had left Hobbiton less than a week before, and that a black horseman had come to the Hill the same evening. Then I rode on in fear. I came to Buckland and found it in uproar, as busy as a hive of ants that has been stirred with a stick. I came to the house at Crickhollow, and it was broken open and empty; but on the threshold there lay a cloak that had been Frodo\u2019s. Then for a while hope left me, and I did not wait to gather news, or I might have been comforted; but I rode on the trail of the Riders. It was hard to follow, for it went many ways, and I was at a loss. But it seemed to me that one or two had ridden towards Bree; and that way I went, for I thought of words that might be said to the innkeeper."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Forty-two, Master Legolas!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Alas! My axe is notched: the forty-second had an iron collar on his neck. How is it with you?\u2019 \u2018You have passed my score by one,\u2019 answered Legolas. \u2018But I do not grudge you the game, so glad am I to see you on your legs!\u2019 \u2018Welcome, E\u00b4omer, sister-son!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Now that I see you safe, I am glad indeed.\u2019 \u2018Hail, Lord of the Mark!\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018The dark night has passed, and day has come again. But the day has brought strange tidings.\u2019 He turned and gazed in wonder, first at the wood and then at Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "They entered the circle of white trees. As they did so the South Wind blew upon Cerin Amroth and sighed among the branches."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But you are all worrying yourselves unnecessarily. Nothing is decided yet.\u2019 \u2018Nothing decided!\u2019 cried Pippin. \u2018Then what were you all doing? You were shut up for hours.\u2019 \u2018Talking,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018There was a deal of talk, and everyone had an eye-opener. Even old Gandalf. I think Legolas\u2019s bit of news about Gollum caught even him on the hop, though he passed it off.\u2019 \u2018You were wrong,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018You were inattentive. I had already heard of it from Gwaihir. If you want to know, the only real eye-openers, as you put it, were you and Frodo; and I was the only one that was not surprised.\u2019 \u2018Well, anyway,\u2019 said Bilbo, \u2018nothing was decided beyond choosing poor Frodo and Sam. I was afraid all the time that it might come to that, if I was let off. But if you ask me, Elrond will send out a fair number, when the reports come in. Have they started yet, Gandalf ?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said the wizard. \u2018Some of the scouts have been sent outin Mirkwood. And Aragorn has gone with Elrond\u2019s sons. We shall have to scour the lands all round for many long leagues before any move is made. So cheer up, Frodo! You will probably make quite a long stay here.\u2019 \u2018Ah!\u2019 said Sam gloomily. \u2018We\u2019ll just wait long enough for winter to come.\u2019 \u2018That can\u2019t be helped,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018It\u2019s your fault partly, Frodo my lad: insisting on waiting for my birthday. A funny way of honouring it, I can\u2019t help thinking. Not the day I should have chosen for letting the S.-B.s into Bag End. But there it is: you can\u2019t wait now till spring; and you can\u2019t go till the reports come back."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is no news of the Rohirrim,\u2019 he said. \u2018Rohan will not come now. Or if they come, it will not avail us. The new host that we had tidings of has come first, from over the River by way of Andros, it is said. They are strong: battalions of Orcs of the Eye, and countless companies of Men of a new sort that we have not met before. Not tall, but broad and grim, bearded like dwarves, wielding great axes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Mithril! All folk desired it. It could be beaten like copper, and 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Upon the left stands Amon Lhaw, and upon the right is Amon Hen, theHillsofHearingandofSight.InthedaysofthegreatkingsthereEre the shade of night falls we shall come to them. I hear the endless voice of Rauros calling.\u2019 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 great voice. Already night was laid on the flowing waters when the travellers came at last under the shadow of the hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "You have come and are here met, in this very nick of time, by chance as it may seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find counsel for the peril of the world."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly he was thrown on to the stony floor again. It was early night, but the slim moon was already falling westward. They were on the edge of a cliff that seemed to look out over a sea of pale mist."
    },
    {
        "text": "Maggot jumped down and stood holding the ponies\u2019 heads, and peering forward into the gloom. Clip-clop, clip-clop came the approach- ing rider. The fall of the hoofs sounded loud in the still, foggy air."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What is it?\u2019 said the dwarf."
    },
    {
        "text": "On the bank of the Silverlode, at some distance up from the meet- ing 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Why are you so unfriendly?\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018I 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!\u2019 \u2018No! no!\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018The Council laid it upon me to bear it.\u2019 \u2018It is by our own folly that the Enemy will defeat us,\u2019 cried Boromir."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 \u2013 he threw himself from the seat, crouching, covering his head with his grey hood."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come! We have spent all the time that is allowed to a meeting ofHe wrapped himself again in his old tattered cloak, and led the way. Following him they descended quickly from the high shelf and made their way back through the forest, down the bank of the Entwash. They spoke no more words, until they stood again upon the grass beyond the eaves of Fangorn. There was no sign of their horses to be seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You don\u2019t say much in all your tales about the Elves, sir,\u2019 said Sam, suddenly plucking up courage. He had noted that Faramir seemed to refer to Elves with reverence, and this even more than his courtesy, and his food and wine, had won Sam\u2019s respect and quieted his suspicions."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But there are other marks, very strange marks, which I do not under- stand. I wonder if we can see anything from this ledge which will help us to guess which way they went next?\u2019 He stood up and looked about, but he saw nothing that was of any use. The shelf faced southward and eastward; but only on the east was the view open. There he could see the heads of the trees descending in ranks towards the plain from which they had come."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Isengarders began to run with a redoubled pace that aston- ished Pippin, a terrific spurt it seemed for the end of a race. Thenheads and also began to put on speed. The forest was dark and close."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If I hear not allowed much oftener,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018I\u2019m going to get angry.\u2019 \u2018Can\u2019t say as I\u2019d be sorry to see it,\u2019 said Robin lowering his voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "They did not halt until they were out of bowshot from the walls."
    },
    {
        "text": "But upon one form the sunlight fell: a young man upon a white horse."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We cannot get out,\u2019 muttered Gimli. \u2018It was well for us that the poolGandalf raised his head and looked round. \u2018They seem to have made a last stand by both doors,\u2019 he said; \u2018but 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 Da\u00b4in, if you get a chance. It will interest him, though it will grieve him deeply. Come, let us go! The morning is passing.\u2019 \u2018Which way shall we go?\u2019 asked Boromir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Night lies over Isengard,\u2019 said Treebeard.Chapter 5 THE WHITE RIDER \u2018My very bones are chilled,\u2019 said Gimli, flapping his arms and stamp- ing his feet. Day had come at last. At dawn the companions had made such breakfast as they could; now in the growing light they were getting ready to search the ground again for signs of the hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "I hoped you would manage it. Well, well! So all this feasting is in your honour, I hear. I hope you enjoyed yourself ?\u2019 \u2018Why weren\u2019t you there?\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018And why haven\u2019t I been allowed to see you before?\u2019 \u2018Because you were asleep. I have seen a good deal of you. I have\u2018What were you doing?\u2019 \u2018Why, sitting and thinking. I do a lot of that nowadays, and this is the best place to do it in, as a rule. Wake up, indeed!\u2019 he said, cocking an eye at Elrond. There was a bright twinkle in it and no sign of sleepiness that Frodo could see. \u2018Wake up! I was not asleep, Master Elrond. If you want to know, you have all come out from your feast too soon, and you have disturbed me \u2013 in the middle of making up a song. I was stuck over a line or two, and was thinking about them; but now I don\u2019t suppose I shall ever get them right."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes? Now Boromir you would say?\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018What would you say? He took his peril with him?\u2019 \u2018Yes sir, begging your pardon, and a fine man as your brother was, if I may say so. But you\u2019ve been warm on the scent all along. Now I watched Boromir and listened to him, from Rivendell all down the road \u2013 looking after my master, as you\u2019ll understand, and not meaning any harm to Boromir \u2013 and it\u2019s my opinion that in Lo\u00b4rien he first saw clearly what I guessed sooner: what he wanted. From the moment he first saw it he wanted the Enemy\u2019s Ring!\u2019 \u2018Sam!\u2019 cried Frodo aghast. He had fallen deep into his own thoughts for a while, and came out of them suddenly and too late."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Enemies of the Orcs are likely to be our friends. Do any folk dwell in these hills?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018The Rohirrim seldom come here, and it is far from Minas Tirith. It might be that some company of Men were hunting here for reasons that we do not know. Yet I think not.\u2019 \u2018What do you think?\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "You can say what you like, Gaffer, but Bag End\u2019s a queer place, and its folk are queerer.\u2019 \u2018And you can say what you like, about what you know no more of than you do of boating, Mr. Sandyman,\u2019 retorted the Gaffer, dislik- ing the miller even more than usual. \u2018If that\u2019s being queer, then we could do with a bit more queerness in these parts. There\u2019s some not far away that wouldn\u2019t offer a pint of beer to a friend, if they lived in a hole with golden walls. But they do things proper at Bag End."
    },
    {
        "text": "Did he leave me no message, or has plate and bottle driven it from your mind?\u2019 \u2018He left a message,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018and I was coming to it, but I have been hindered by many other questions. I was to say that, if the Lord of the Mark and Gandalf will ride to the northern wall they will find Treebeard there, and he will welcome them. I may add that they will also find food of the best there, it was discovered and selected by your humble servants.\u2019 He bowed."
    },
    {
        "text": "The tents began to go up. There was a specially large pavilion, so big that the tree that grew in the field was right inside it, and stood proudly near one end, at the head of the chief table. Lanterns were hung on all its branches. More promising still (to the hobbits\u2019 mind): an enormous open-air kitchen was erected in the north corner of the field. A draught of cooks, from every inn and eating-house for miles around, arrived to supplement the dwarves and other odd folk that were quartered at Bag End. Excitement rose to its height."
    },
    {
        "text": "But stream and pool is wet and cool: so nice for feet! And now we wish\u2014\u2014guessed it.\u2019 A glint came into his eyes, and Sam catching the gleam in the darkness thought it far from pleasant."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly as they drew nearer a terrific baying and barking broke out, and a loud voice was heard shouting: \u2018Grip! Fang! Wolf ! Come on, lads!\u2019 Frodo and Sam stopped dead, but Pippin walked on a few paces."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come! I will lead you now!\u2019 he called. \u2018We must obey his last command. Follow me!\u2019 They stumbled wildly up the great stairs beyond the door, Aragorn leading, Boromir at the rear. At the top was a wide echoing passage."
    },
    {
        "text": "I have granted it, as I could. For my heart tells me that you will need such gear ere the end.\u2019 Now she led Merry to a booth among the lodges of the king\u2019s guard; and there an armourer brought out to her a small helm, and a round shield, and other gear."
    },
    {
        "text": "Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling, Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling, In Eresse\u00a8a, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,And so singing Legolas went away down the hill."
    },
    {
        "text": "Neither goods nor folk have passed that way for many a long year, not openly. Saruman had secret dealings with someone in the Shire, I guess. Wormtongues may be found in other houses than King The\u00b4oden\u2019s. Was there a date on the barrels?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018It was the 1417 crop, that is last year\u2019s; no, the year before, of course, now: a good year.\u2019 \u2018Ah well, whatever evil was afoot is over now, I hope; or else it is beyond our reach at present,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Yet I think I shall men- tion it to Gandalf, small matter though it may seem among his great affairs.\u2019 \u2018I wonder what he is doing,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018The afternoon is getting on. Let us go and look round! You can enter Isengard now at any rate, Strider, if you want to. But it is not a very cheerful sight.\u2019Chapter 10 THE VOICE OF SARUMAN They passed through the ruined tunnel and stood upon a heap of stones, gazing at the dark rock of Orthanc, and its many windows, a menace still in the desolation that lay all about it. The waters had now nearly all subsided. Here and there gloomy pools remained, covered with scum and wreckage; but most of the wide circle was bare again, a wilderness of slime and tumbled rock, pitted with black- ened holes, and dotted with posts and pillars leaning drunkenly this way and that. At the rim of the shattered bowl there lay vast mounds and slopes, like the shingles cast up by a great storm; and beyond them the green and tangled valley ran up into the long ravine between the dark arms of the mountains. Across the waste they saw riders picking their way; they were coming from the north side, and already they were drawing near to Orthanc."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It reminds me of Nu\u00b4menor,\u2019 said Faramir, and wondered to hear himself speak."
    },
    {
        "text": "Soon the dwindling company, following the Isen, turned west and rode through the Gap into the waste lands beyond, and then they turned northwards, and passed over the borders of Dunland. The Dunlendings fled and hid themselves, for they were afraid of Elvish folk, though few indeed ever came to their country; but the travellers did not heed them, for they were still a great company and were well provided with all that they needed; and they went on their way at their leisure, setting up their tents when they would."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We\u2019ll see, we\u2019ll see,\u2019 he said often to himself, when the evil mood was on him, as he walked the dangerous road from Emyn Muil to Morgul Vale, \u2018we\u2019ll see. lt may well be, O yes, it may well be that when She throws away the bones and the empty garments, we shall find it, we shall get it, the Precious, a reward for poor Sme\u00b4agol who brings nice food. And we\u2019ll save the Precious, as we promised. O yes. And when we\u2019ve got it safe, then She\u2019ll know it, O yes, then we\u2019ll pay Her back, my precious. Then we\u2019ll pay everyone back!\u2019 So he thought in an inner chamber of his cunning, which he still hoped to hide from her, even when he had come to her again and had bowed low before her while his companions slept."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then the Riders of the King\u2019s House upon white horses rode round about the barrow and sang together a song of The\u00b4oden Thengel\u2019s son that Gle\u00b4owine his minstrel made, and he made no other song after."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and I do not like it. It may have nothing to do with Peregrin\u2019s 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 go on the first watch, as a reward,\u2019 he growled, as he rolled himself in a blanket."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then he heard a noise in the distance. At first he thought it was a great wind coming over the leaves of the forest. Then he knew that it was not leaves, but the sound of the Sea far-off; a sound he had never heard in waking life, though it had often troubled his dreams."
    },
    {
        "text": "But in the circle of Isengard, trapped and alone, it was not easy to think that the hunters before whom all have fled or fallen would falter in the Shire far away.\u2019 \u2018I saw you!\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018You were walking backwards and for- wards. The moon shone in your hair.\u2019 Gandalf paused astonished and looked at him. \u2018It was only a dream,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018but it suddenly came back to me. I had quite forgotten it. It came some time ago; after I left the Shire, I think.\u2019 \u2018Then it was late in coming,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018as you will see. I was in an evil plight. And those who know me will agree that I have seldom been in such need, and do not bear such misfortune well."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wonder if I shall ever look down into that valley again,\u2019 he said quietly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I guess that the \u2018\u2018Chief \u2019\u2019 will have a gang of ruffians handy. We had better find someone who will tell us how things are round here.\u2019 But in the village of Bywater all the houses and holes were shut, and no one greeted them. They wondered at this, but they soon discovered the reason of it. When they reached The Green Dragon, the last house on the Hobbiton side, now lifeless and with broken windows, they were disturbed to see half a dozen large ill-favoured Men lounging against the inn-wall; they were squint-eyed and sallow- faced."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I should not shout, if I were you,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018It does more harm than good.\u2019 Frodo began to wonder if it were possible to find a way through, and if he had been right to make the others come into this abominable wood. Merry was looking from side to side, and seemed already uncertain which way to go. Pippin noticed it. \u2018It has not taken you long to lose us,\u2019 he said. But at that moment Merry gave a whistle of relief and pointed ahead."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Master, master!\u2019 cried Sam. He was close behind, his own sword drawn and ready. \u2018Stars and glory! But the Elves would make a song of that, if ever they heard of it! And may I live to tell them and hear them sing. But don\u2019t go on, master! Don\u2019t go down to that den! Now\u2019s our only chance. Now let\u2019s get out of this foul hole!\u2019 And so back they turned once more, first walking and then run- ning; for as they went the floor of the tunnel rose steeply, and with every stride they climbed higher above the stenches of the unseen lair, and strength returned to limb and heart. But still the hatred of the Watcher lurked behind them, blind for a while, perhaps, but undefeated, still bent on death. And now there came a flow of air to meet them, cold and thin. The opening, the tunnel\u2019s end, at last it was before them. Panting, yearning for a roofless place, they flung themselvesforward;andtheninamazementtheystaggered,tumblingair filtered through, but not a glimmer of any light. Once more they charged and were hurled back."
    },
    {
        "text": "Side by side they lay; and down swept Gwaihir, and down came Landroval and Meneldor the swift; and in a dream, not knowing what fate had befallen them, the wanderers were lifted up and borne far away out of the darkness and the fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo sprang out of the waggon to greet him. \u2018So there you are at last!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I was beginning to wonder if you would turn up at all today, and I was just going back to supper. When it grew foggy I came across and rode up towards Stock to see if you had fallen in any ditches. But I\u2019m blest if I know which way you have come. Where did you find them, Mr. Maggot? In your duck-pond?\u2019 \u2018No, I caught \u2019em trespassing,\u2019 said the farmer, \u2018and nearly set my dogs on \u2019em; but they\u2019ll tell you all the story, I\u2019ve no doubt. Now, if you\u2019ll excuse me, Mr. Merry and Mr. Frodo and all, I\u2019d best be turning for home. Mrs. Maggot will be worriting with the night getting thick.\u2019 He backed the waggon into the lane and turned it. \u2018Well, good night to you all,\u2019 he said. \u2018It\u2019s been a queer day, and no mistake. But all\u2019s well as ends well; though perhaps we should not say that until we reach our own doors. I\u2019ll not deny that I\u2019ll be glad now when I do.\u2019 He lit his lanterns, and got up. Suddenly he produced a large basket from under the seat. \u2018I was nearly forgetting,\u2019 he said. \u2018Mrs."
    },
    {
        "text": "On either side and in front wide fens and mires now lay, stretching away southward and eastward into the dim half-light. Mists curled and smoked from dark and noisome pools. The reek of them hung stifling in the still air. Far away, now almost due south, the mountain- walls of Mordor loomed, like a black bar of rugged clouds floating above a dangerous fog-bound sea."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ar! Who says there isn\u2019t?\u2019 \u2018That\u2019s cursed rebel-talk, and I\u2019ll stick you, if you don\u2019t shut it down, see?\u2019 \u2018All right, all right!\u2019 said the tracker. \u2018I\u2019ll say no more and go on thinking. But what\u2019s the black sneak got to do with it all? That gobbler with the flapping hands?\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know. Nothing, maybe. But he\u2019s up to no good, nosing around, I\u2019ll wager. Curse him! No sooner had he slipped us and run off than word came he\u2019s wanted alive, wanted quick.\u2019 \u2018Well, I hope they get him and put him through it,\u2019 growled the tracker. \u2018He messed up the scent back there, pinching that cast-off mail-shirt that he found, and paddling all round the place before I could get there.\u2019 \u2018It saved his life anyhow,\u2019 said the soldier. \u2018Why, before I knew he was wanted I shot him, as neat as neat, at fifty paces right in the back; but he ran on.\u2019 \u2018Garn! You missed him,\u2019 said the tracker. \u2018First you shoot wild, then you run too slow, and then you send for the poor trackers. I\u2019ve had enough of you.\u2019 He loped off."
    },
    {
        "text": "If the battle were before my gates, maybe your deeds would be remembered by the minstrels; but it is a hundred leagues and two to Mundburg where Denethor is lord. I will say no more.\u2019 Merry bowed and went away unhappily, and stared at the lines of horsemen. Already the companies were preparing to start: men were tightening girths, looking to saddles, caressing their horses; some gazed uneasily at the lowering sky. Unnoticed a Rider came up and spoke softly in the hobbit\u2019s ear."
    },
    {
        "text": "The voice of Legolas faltered, and the song ceased. \u2018I cannot sing any more,\u2019 he said. \u2018That is but a part, for I have forgotten much. It is long and sad, for it tells how sorrow came upon Lothlo\u00b4 rien, Lo\u00b4 rien of the Blossom, when the Dwarves awakened evil in the mountains.\u2019 \u2018But the Dwarves did not make the evil,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I should not sing any more at present. Wait till we do get to the edge, and then we\u2019ll turn and give them a rousing chorus!\u2019 He spoke cheerfully, and if he felt any great anxiety, he did not show it. The others did not answer. They were depressed. A heavy weight was settling steadily on Frodo\u2019s heart, and he regretted nowgoing back (if that was still possible), when things took a new turn."
    },
    {
        "text": "All that heard that sound trembled. Many of the Orcs cast them- selves on their faces and covered their ears with their claws. Back from the Deep the echoes came, blast upon blast, as if on every cliff and hill a mighty herald stood. But on the walls men looked up, listening with wonder; for the echoes did not die. Ever the hornblasts wound on among the hills; nearer now and louder they answered one to another, blowing fierce and free."
    },
    {
        "text": "On this occasion the presents were unusually good. The hobbit- children were so excited that for a while they almost forgot about eating. There were toys the like of which they had never seen before, all beautiful and some obviously magical. Many of them had indeed been ordered a year before, and had come all the way from the Mountain and from Dale, and were of real dwarf-make."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have journeyed a long way round,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018We could have all come here safe together, if we had left the Great River on the second or third day and struck west. Few can foresee whither their road will lead them, till they come to its end.\u2019 \u2018But we did not wish to come to Fangorn,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo\u2019s face was peaceful, the marks of fear and care had left it; but it looked old, old and beautiful, as if the chiselling of the shaping years was now revealed in many fine lines that had before been hidden, though the identity of the face was not changed. Not that Sam Gamgee put it that way to himself. He shook his head, as if finding words useless, and murmured: \u2018I love him. He\u2019s like that, and sometimes it shines through, somehow. But I love him, whether or no.\u2019 Gollum returned quietly and peered over Sam\u2019s shoulder. Looking at Frodo, he shut his eyes and crawled away without a sound. Sam came to him a moment later and found him chewing something and\u2018Sme\u00b4agol always helps,\u2019 he said. \u2018He has brought rabbits, nice rabbits. But master has gone to sleep, and perhaps Sam wants to sleep. Doesn\u2019t want rabbits now? Sme\u00b4agol tries to help, but he can\u2019t catch things all in a minute.\u2019 Sam, however, had no objection to rabbit at all, and said so. At least not to cooked rabbit. All hobbits, of course, can cook, for they begin to learn the art before their letters (which many never reach); but Sam was a good cook, even by hobbit reckoning, and he had done a good deal of the camp-cooking on their travels, when there was a chance. He still hopefully carried some of his gear in his pack: a small tinder-box, two small shallow pans, the smaller fitting into the larger; inside them a wooden spoon, a short two-pronged fork and some skewers were stowed; and hidden at the bottom of the pack in a flat wooden box a dwindling treasure, some salt. But he needed a fire, and other things besides. He thought for a bit, while he took out his knife, cleaned and whetted it, and began to dress the rabbits. He was not going to leave Frodo alone asleep even for a few minutes."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now indeed we miss Gandalf most.\u2019 \u2018Grievous is our loss,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Yet we must needs make up our minds without his aid. Why cannot we decide, and so help Frodo? Let us call him back and then vote! I should vote for Minas Tirith.\u2019 \u2018And so should I,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018We, of course, were only sent to help the Bearer along the road, to go no further than we wished; and none of us is under any oath or command to seek Mount Doom."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum, however, did not intend to be got rid of, yet. He knelt at Frodo\u2019s feet, wringing his hands and squeaking. \u2018Not this way, master!\u2019 he pleaded. \u2018There is another way. O yes indeed there is."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 great 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the last before the guests set out E\u00b4omer and E\u00b4 owyn came to Merry, and they said: \u2018Farewell now, Meriadoc of the Shire and Holdwine of the Mark! Ride to good fortune, and ride back soon to our welcome!\u2019 And E\u00b4 omer said: \u2018Kings of old would have laden you with gifts that a wain could not bear for your deeds upon the fields of Mund- burg; and yet you will take naught, you say, but the arms that were given to you. This I suffer, for indeed I have no gift that is worthy; but my sister begs you to receive this small thing, as a memorial of Dernhelm and of the horns of the Mark at the coming of the morning.\u2019 Then E\u00b4 owyn gave to Merry an ancient horn, small but cunningly wrought all of fair silver with a baldric of green; and wrights had engraven upon it swift horsemen riding in a line that wound about it from the tip to the mouth; and there were set runes of great virtue."
    },
    {
        "text": "For the moment Pippin was unwatched. His legs were securely bound, but his arms were only tied about the wrists, and his hands were in front of him. He could move them both together, though the bonds were cruelly tight. He pushed the dead Orc to one side, then hardly daring to breathe, he drew the knot of the wrist-cord up and down against the blade of the knife. It was sharp and the dead hand held it fast. The cord was cut! Quickly Pippin took it in his fingers and knotted it again into a loose bracelet of two loops and slipped it over his hands. Then he lay very still."
    },
    {
        "text": "We beg you to use all the speed that you can. Hasufel shall bear Aragorn and Arod Legolas. I will set Gimli before me, and by his\u2018Now I understand a part of last night\u2019s riddle,\u2019 said Legolas as he sprang lightly upon Arod\u2019s back. \u2018Whether they fled at first in fear, or not, our horses met Shadowfax, their chieftain, and greeted him with joy. Did you know that he was at hand, Gandalf ?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I knew,\u2019 said the wizard. \u2018I bent my thought upon him, bidding him to make haste; for yesterday he was far away in the south of this land. Swiftly may he bear me back again!\u2019 Gandalf spoke now to Shadowfax, and the horse set off at a good pace, yet not beyond the measure of the others. After a little while he turned suddenly, and choosing a place where the banks were lower, he waded the river, and then led them away due south into a flat land, treeless and wide. The wind went like grey waves through the endless miles of grass. There was no sign of road or track, but Shadowfax did not stay or falter."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly Sam woke up thinking that he heard his master calling."
    },
    {
        "text": "At Helm\u2019s Gate, before the mouth of the Deep, there was a heel of rock thrust outward by the northern cliff. There upon its spur stood high walls of ancient stone, and within them was a lofty tower."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So it will, if I have not returned before the sundown-bells,\u2019 said Bergil. \u2018Come! There goes the trumpet for the closing of the Gate.\u2019 Hand in hand they went back into the City, the last to pass the Gate before it was shut; and as they reached the Lampwrights\u2019 Street all the bells in the towers tolled solemnly. Lights sprang in many windows, and from the houses and wards of the men at arms along the walls there came the sound of song."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do you think he can see us?\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "And the music and the singing \u2013 not that I have had the time or the heart for much listening since we got here. But I\u2019m getting to know some of the ways of the place.\u2019 \u2018I know what you have been doing, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo, taking hisSam led him along several passages and down many steps and out into a high garden above the steep bank of the river. He found his friends sitting in a porch on the side of the house looking east."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Let me see,\u2019 said Merry: \u2018five nights ago \u2013 now we come to a part of the story you know nothing about. We met Treebeard that morning after the battle; and that night we were at Wellinghall, one of his ent-houses. The next morning we went to Entmoot, a gathering of Ents, that is, and the queerest thing I have ever seen in my life. Itof their moot, the Ents suddenly blew up. It was amazing. The Forest had felt as tense as if a thunderstorm was brewing inside it: then all at once it exploded. I wish you could have heard their song as they marched.\u2019 \u2018If Saruman had heard it, he would be a hundred miles away by now, even if he had had to run on his own legs,\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits wandered here and there visiting again the places that they had passed before; and Sam hoped always in some shadow of the woods or secret glade to catch, maybe, a glimpse of the great Oliphaunt. And when he learned that at the siege of Gondor there had been a great number of these beasts but that they were all destroyed, he thought it a sad loss."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All right, all right!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018That\u2019s quite enough. I don\u2019t want to hear no more. No welcome, no beer, no smoke, and a lot of rules and orc-talk instead. I hoped to have a rest, but I can see there\u2019s work and trouble ahead. Let\u2019s sleep and forget it till morning!\u2019 The new \u2018Chief \u2019 evidently had means of getting news. It was a good forty miles from the Bridge to Bag End, but someone made the journey in a hurry. So Frodo and his friends soon discovered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ah, yes! Old Gandalf. Three months back he walked right into my room without a knock. Barley, he says, I\u2019m off in the morning. Will you do something for me? You\u2019ve only to name it, I said. I\u2019m in a hurry, said he, and I\u2019ve no time myself, but I want a message took to the Shire."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then all the sky was clean and blue and birds sang in every tree."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hai! Hola! Here\u2019s something! Lying right in the road. A spy, a spy!\u2019 There was a hoot of snarling horns and a babel of baying voices."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum would not move. He stood shaking and gibbering to him- self, until with a rush the wind came upon them, hissing and snarling over the marshes. The night became less dark, light enough for them to see, or half see, shapeless drifts of fog, curling and twisting as it rolled over them and passed them. Looking up they saw the clouds breaking and shredding; and then high in the south the moon glim- mered out, riding in the flying wrack."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was already mid-day when they drew near the southern end of the path, and saw before them, in the pale clear light of the October sun, a grey-green bank, leading up like a bridge on to the northward slope of the hill. They decided to make for the top at once, while the daylight was broad. Concealment was no longer possible, and they could only hope that no enemy or spy was observing them. Nothing was to be seen moving on the hill. If Gandalf was anywhere about, there was no sign of him."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits shuddered. Even in the Shire the rumour of the Barrow-wights of the Barrow-downs beyond the Forest had been heard. But it was not a tale that any hobbit liked to listen to, even by a comfortable fireside far away. These four now suddenly re- membered what the joy of this house had driven from their minds: thehouseofTomBombadilnestledundertheveryshoulderofthoseWhen they caught his words again they found that he had now wandered into strange regions beyond their memory and beyond their waking thought, into times when the world was wider, and the seas flowed straight to the western Shore; and still on and back Tom went singing out into ancient starlight, when only the Elf-sires were awake."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hold still!\u2019 said one. \u2018Or we\u2019ll stick you as full of pins as a hedge- hog. Hold still!\u2019 Gollum went limp, and began to whine and weep. They tied him, none too gently."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, no, lord,\u2019 said the man. \u2018No Orc at least. But I saw, or thought I saw, something a little strange. It was getting deep dusk, when the eyes make things greater than they should be. So perhaps it may have been no more than a squirrel.\u2019 Sam pricked up his ears at this. \u2018Yet if so, it was a black squirrel, and I saw no tail. \u2019Twas like a shadow on the ground, and it whisked behind a tree-trunk when I drew nigh and went up aloft as swift as any squirrel could."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, sir!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Begging your pardon, sir! But I meant no wrong to you, Mr. Frodo, nor to Mr. Gandalf for that matter. He has some sense, mind you; and when you said go alone, he said no! take someone as you can trust.\u2019 \u2018But it does not seem that I can trust anyone,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "The rail rang and snapped. The stair cracked and splintered in glitter- ing sparks. But the ball was unharmed: it rolled on down the steps, a globe of crystal, dark, but glowing with a heart of fire. As it bounded away towards a pool Pippin ran after it and picked it up."
    },
    {
        "text": "You revealed yourself to me just now, foolishly. Give it back to Sme\u00b4agol you said. Do not say that again! Do not let that thought grow in you! You will never get it back. But the desire of it may betray you to a bitter end. You will never get it back. In the last need, Sme\u00b4agol, I should put on the Precious; and the Precious mastered you long ago."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits led their ponies up, winding round and round until they reached the top. There they stood and gazed about them. The air was gleaming and sunlit, but hazy; and they could not see to any great distance. Near at hand the mist was now almost gone; though here and there it lay in hollows of the wood, and to the south of them, out of a deep fold cutting right across the Forest, the fog still rose like steam or wisps of white smoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018When that happens to a tree, you find that some have bad hearts."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look!\u2019 cried Legolas, pointing up into the pale sky above them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Am I still dreaming?\u2019 he muttered. \u2018But the other dreams were horrible.\u2019 \u2018You\u2019re not dreaming at all, Master,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018It\u2019s real. It\u2019s me."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is much to tell, good and bad,\u2019 said Glo\u00b4 in; \u2018yet it is mostly good: we have so far been fortunate, though we do not escape the shadow of these times. If you really wish to hear of us, I will tell you tidings gladly. But stop me when you are weary! Dwarves\u2019 tongues run on when speaking of their handiwork, they say.\u2019 And with that Glo\u00b4in embarked on a long account of the doings of the Dwarf-kingdom. He was delighted to have found so polite a listener; for Frodo showed no sign of weariness and made no attempt to change the subject, though actually he soon got rather lost among the strange names of people and places that he had never heard of before. He was interested, however, to hear that Da\u00b4in was still King under the Mountain, and was now old (having passed his two hundred and fiftieth year), venerable, and fabulously rich. Of the ten companions who had survived the Battle of Five Armies seven were still with him: Dwalin, Glo\u00b4in, Dori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur. Bombur was now so fat that he could not move himself from his couch to his chair at table, and it took six young dwarves to lift him."
    },
    {
        "text": "He alone knew the way after Gandalf \u2019s fall. But had there not been us lesser folk to care for, I do not think that either he or Boromir would have fled.\u2019 \u2018Maybe, it would have been better had Boromir fallen there with Mithrandir,\u2019 said Faramir, \u2018and not gone on to the fate that waited above the falls of Rauros.\u2019 \u2018Maybe. But tell me now of your own fortunes,\u2019 said Frodo, turn- ing the matter aside once again. \u2018For I would learn more of Minas Ithil and Osgiliath, and Minas Tirith the long-enduring. What hope have you for that city in your long war?\u2019 \u2018What hope have we?\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018It is long since we had any hope. The sword of Elendil, if it returns indeed, may rekindle it, but I do not think that it will do more than put off the evil day, unless other help unlooked-for also comes, from Elves or Men. For the Enemy increases and we decrease. We are a failing people, a springless autumn."
    },
    {
        "text": "So the men of Gondor called the out-wall that they had built with great labour, after Ithilien fell under the shadow of their Enemy. For ten leagues or more it ran from the mountains\u2019 feet and so back again, enclosing in its fence the fields of the Pelennor: fair and fertile townlands on the long slopes and terraces falling to the deep levels of the Anduin. At its furthest point from the Great Gate of the City, north-eastward, the wall was four leagues distant, and there from a frowning bank it overlooked the long flats beside the river, and men had made it high and strong; for at that point, upon a walled cause- way, the road came in from the fords and bridges of Osgiliath and passed through a guarded gate between embattled towers. At its nearest point the wall was little more than one league from the City, and that was south-eastward. There Anduin, going in a wide knee about the hills of Emyn Arnen in South Ithilien, bent sharply west, and the out-wall rose upon its very brink; and beneath it lay the quays and landings of the Harlond for craft that came upstream from the southern fiefs."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then suddenly he stopped, and they saw that he nodded as if he was falling asleep. The hobbits sat still before him, enchanted; and it seemed as if, under the spell of his words, the wind had gone, and the clouds had dried up, and the day had been withdrawn, and darkness had come from East and West, and all the sky was filled with the light of white stars."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Ring misseth, maybe, the heat of Sauron\u2019s hand, which was black and yet burned like fire, and so Gil-galad was destroyed; and maybe were the gold made hot again, the writing would be refreshed. But for my part I will risk no hurt to this thing: of all the works of Sauron the only fair."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018See here, Captain!\u2019 He planted himself squarely in front of Faramir, his hands on his hips, and a look on his face as if he was addressing a young hobbit who had offered him what he called \u2018sauce\u2019 when questioned about visits to the orchard. There was some mur- muring, but also some grins on the faces of the men looking on: the sight of their Captain sitting on the ground and eye to eye with a young hobbit, legs well apart, bristling with wrath, was one beyond their experience. \u2018See here!\u2019 he said. \u2018What are you driving at? Let\u2019s come to the point before all the Orcs of Mordor come down on us! If you think my master murdered this Boromir and then ran away, you\u2019ve got no sense; but say it, and have done! And then let us know what you mean to do about it. But it\u2019s a pity that folk as talk about fighting the Enemy can\u2019t let others do their bit in their own way without interfering. He\u2019d be mighty pleased, if he could see you now."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their Captain remained in secret away south of Bree, while two rode ahead through the village, and four more invaded the Shire. But when these were foiled in Bree and at Crickhollow, they returned to their Captain with tidings, and so left the Road unguarded for a while, except by their spies. The Captain then sent some eastward straight across country, and he himself with the rest rode along the Road in great wrath."
    },
    {
        "text": "They had not gone far on the fifth day when they left the last straggling pools and reed-beds of the marshes behind them. The land before them began steadily to rise again. Away in the distance east- ward they could now see a line of hills. The highest of them was at the right of the line and a little separated from the others. It had a conical top, slightly flattened at the summit."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018But Gandalf,\u2019\u2019 I cried, \u2018\u2018where have you been? And have you seen the others?\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Wherever I have been, I am back,\u2019\u2019 he answered in the genuine Gandalf manner. \u2018\u2018Yes, I have seen some of the others. But news must wait. This is a perilous night, and I must ride fast. But the dawn may be brighter; and if so, we shall meet again. Take care of yourselves, and keep away from Orthanc! Good-bye!\u2019\u2019 \u2018Treebeard was very thoughtful after Gandalf had gone. He had evidently learnt a lot in a short time and was digesting it. He lookedshould. Hm, this is a bundle of news and no mistake! Well, now Treebeard must get busy again.\u2019\u2019 \u2018Before he went, we got a little news out of him; and it did not cheer us up at all. But for the moment we thought more about you three than about Frodo and Sam, or about poor Boromir. For we gathered that there was a great battle going on, or soon would be, and that you were in it, and might never come out of it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Behind him, hastening down the long slopes, were a thousand men on foot; their swords were in their hands. Amid them strode a man tall and strong. His shield was red. As he came to the valley\u2019s brink, he set to his lips a great black horn and blew a ringing blast."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That cannot be helped now,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Whether 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!\u2019 A cold wind flowed down behind them, as they turned their backs on the Redhorn Gate, and stumbled wearily down the slope."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 were hidden in great clouds still heavy with the threat of snow."
    },
    {
        "text": "Follow Sme\u00b4agol! Don\u2019t look at lights!\u2019 He crawled away to the right, seeking for a path round the mere."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea."
    },
    {
        "text": "He spoke this last word so loudly and suddenly that everyone sat up who still could. I regret to announce that \u2013 though, as I said, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to spend among you \u2013 this is the END. I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-BYE! He stepped down and vanished. There was a blinding flash of light, and the guests all blinked. When they opened their eyes Bilbo was nowhere to be seen. One hundred and forty-four flabbergasted hobbits sat back speechless. Old Odo Proudfoot removed his feet from the table and stamped. Then there was a dead silence, until suddenly, after several deep breaths, every Baggins, Boffin, Took, Brandybuck, Grubb, Chubb, Burrows, Bolger, Bracegirdle, Brock-food and drink were needed to cure the guests of shock and annoyance."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am wounded,\u2019 he answered, \u2018wounded; it will never really heal.\u2019 But then he got up, and the turn seemed to pass, and he was quite himself the next day. It was not until afterwards that Sam recalled that the date was October the sixth. Two years before on that day it was dark in the dell under Weathertop.think about. The first of Sam and Rosie\u2019s children was born on the twenty-fifth of March, a date that Sam noted."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Take the rope off, Sam!\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, yes I am,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It is my shoulder. The wound aches, and the memory of darkness is heavy on me. It was a year ago today.\u2019 \u2018Alas! there are some wounds that cannot be wholly cured,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf was shorter in stature than the other two; but his long white hair, his sweeping silver beard, and his broad shoulders, made him look like some wise king of ancient legend. In his aged face under great snowy brows his dark eyes were set like coals that could leap suddenly into fire.and keen, and his voice like music; on his brow sat wisdom, and in his hand was strength."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018I have been told that wherever they go the Riders ask for news of a land called Shire.\u2019\u2019 \u2018\u2018\u2018The Shire,\u2019\u2019 I said; but my heart sank. For even the Wise might fear to withstand the Nine, when they are gathered together under their fell chieftain. A great king and sorcerer he was of old, and now he wields a deadly fear. \u2018\u2018Who told you, and who sent you?\u2019\u2019 I asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "Only the change in the level of the ground at his feet told him when he at last came to the top of a ridge or hill. He was weary, sweating and yet chilled. It was wholly dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And you, Master Dwarf, pray take your hand from your axe-haft, till I am up! You will not need such arguments.\u2019 Gimli started and then stood still as stone, staring, while the old man sprang up the rough steps as nimbly as a goat. All weariness seemed to have left him. As he stepped up on to the shelf there was a gleam, too brief for certainty, a quick glint of white, as if some garment shrouded by the grey rags had been for an instant revealed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Chapter 1 A LONG-EXPECTED PARTY When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special mag- nificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton."
    },
    {
        "text": "I cannot burn snow.\u2019 \u2018Well,\u2019 said Boromir, \u2018when 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\u2018Then let us force a path thither, you and I!\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Are you angry with me, Gandalf ?\u2019 he said, as their guide went out and closed the door. \u2018I did the best I could.\u2019 \u2018You did indeed!\u2019 said Gandalf, laughing suddenly; and he came and stood beside Pippin, putting his arm about the hobbit\u2019s shoul- ders, and gazing out of the window. Pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own, for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in the wizard\u2019s face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is a hard doom and a hopeless errand,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018But at the least, remember my warning: beware of this guide, Sme\u00b4agol. He has done murder before now. I read it in him.\u2019 He sighed."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was that more than the drag of the Ring that made him cower and stoop as he walked. The Eye: that horrible growing sense of a hostile will that strove with great power to pierce all shadows of cloud, and earth, and flesh, and to see you: to pin you under its deadly gaze, naked, immovable. So thin, so frail and thin, the veils were become that still warded it off. Frodo knew just where the present habitation and heart of that will now was: as certainly as a man can tell the direction of the sun with his eyes shut. He was facing it, and itson in his wretched heart between the pressure of the Eye, and the lust of the Ring that was so near, and his grovelling promise made half in the fear of cold iron, the hobbits did not guess. Frodo gave no thought to it. Sam\u2019s mind was occupied mostly with his master, hardly noticing the dark cloud that had fallen on his own heart. He put Frodo in front of him now, and kept a watchful eye on every movement of his, supporting him if he stumbled, and trying to encourage him with clumsy words."
    },
    {
        "text": "Two or three weeks had passed, and still Frodo made no sign of getting ready to go."
    },
    {
        "text": "For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master\u2019s, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo\u2019s side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "His pale eyes were half unlidded. Sam restrained himself, though his fingers were twitching. His eyes, filled with anger and disgust, were fixed on the wretched creature as he now began to move again, still whispering and hissing to himself."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Morgul-stuff, Gorbag\u2019s gear, was a better fit and better made,\u2019 said Sam; \u2018but it wouldn\u2019t do, I guess, to go carrying his tokens into Mordor, not after this business here. Well, there you are, Mr. Frodo. A perfect little orc, if I may make so bold \u2013 at least you would be, if we could cover your face with a mask, give you longer arms, and make you bow-legged. This will hide some of the tell-tales.\u2019 He put a large black cloak round Frodo\u2019s shoulders. \u2018Now you\u2019re ready! You can pick up a shield as we go.\u2019 \u2018What about you, Sam?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Aren\u2019t we going to match?\u2019 \u2018Well, Mr. Frodo, I\u2019ve been thinking,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018I\u2019d best not leave any of my stuff behind, and we can\u2019t destroy it. And I can\u2019t wear orc-mail over all my clothes, can I? I\u2019ll just have to cover up.\u2019 He knelt down and carefully folded his elven-cloak. It went into a surprisingly small roll. This he put into his pack that lay on the floor. Standing up, he slung it behind his back, put an orc-helm on his head, and cast another black cloak about his shoulders. \u2018There!\u2019 he said. \u2018Now we match, near enough. And now we must be off !\u2019 \u2018I can\u2019t go all the way at a run, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo with a wry smile."
    },
    {
        "text": "But old Rory Brandybuck was not so sure. Neither age nor an enormous dinner had clouded his wits, and he said to his daughter-in- law, Esmeralda: \u2018There\u2019s something fishy in this, my dear! I believe that mad Baggins is off again. Silly old fool. But why worry? He hasn\u2019t taken the vittles with him.\u2019 He called loudly to Frodo to send the wine round again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Naked I was sent back \u2013 for a brief time, until my task is done."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ash! Ash and smoke blown away on the wind!\u2019 Then Gandalf seeing the madness that was on him feared that he had already done some evil deed, and he thrust forward, with Bere- gond and Pippin behind him, while Denethor gave back until he stood beside the table within. But there they found Faramir, still dreaming in his fever, lying upon the table. Wood was piled under it, and high all about it, and all was drenched with oil, even the garments of Faramir and the coverlets; but as yet no fire had been set to the fuel. Then Gandalf revealed the strength that lay hid in him, even as the light of his power was hidden under his grey mantle."
    },
    {
        "text": "O proud walls! White towers! O winge\u00b4d crown and throne of gold! O Gondor, Gondor! Shall Men behold the Silver Tree, Or West Wind blow again between the Mountains and the Sea? Now let us go!\u2019 he said, drawing his eyes away from the South, and looking out west and north to the way that he must tread."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Alas for my brother, whom I too loved!\u2019 He rose. \u2018May I have your leave, father?\u2019 And then he swayed and leaned upon his father\u2019s chair."
    },
    {
        "text": "Voices they heard, whisperings and groanings and an endless rustling sigh; the earth shook under them. Long it seemed to them that they sat and were afraid; but at last the darkness and the rumour passed,Away south upon the Hornburg, in the middle night men heard a great noise, as a wind in the valley, and the ground trembled; and all were afraid and no one ventured to go forth. But in the morning they went out and were amazed; for the slain Orcs were gone, and the trees also. Far down into the valley of the Deep the grass was crushed and trampled brown, as if giant herdsmen had pastured great droves of cattle there; but a mile below the Dike a huge pit had been delved in the earth, and over it stones were piled into a hill. Men believed that the Orcs whom they had slain were buried there; but whether those who had fled into the wood were with them, none could say, for no man ever set foot upon that hill. The Death Down it was afterwards called, and no grass would grow there. But the strange trees were never seen in Deeping-coomb again; they had returned at night, and had gone far away to the dark dales of Fangorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was some distance from the Brandywine to Frodo\u2019s new house at Crickhollow. They passed Buck Hill and Brandy Hall on their left, and on the outskirts of Bucklebury struck the main road of Buckland that ran south from the Bridge. Half a mile northward along this they came to a lane opening on their right. This they followed for a couple of miles as it climbed up and down into the country."
    },
    {
        "text": "The black figures fled from the house. One of them let fall a hobbit-cloak on the step, as he ran. In the lane the noise of hoofs broke out, and gathering to a gallop, went hammering away into the darkness. All about Crickhollow there was the sound of horns blow- ing, and voices crying and feet running. But the Black Riders rode like a gale to the North-gate. Let the little people blow! Sauron would deal with them later. Meanwhile they had another errand: they knew now that the house was empty and the Ring had gone. They rode down the guards at the gate and vanished from the Shire."
    },
    {
        "text": "Stern now was E\u00b4omer\u2019s mood, and his mind clear again. He let blow the horns to rally all men to his banner that could come thither; for he thought to make a great shield-wall at the last, and stand, and fight there on foot till all fell, and do deeds of song on the fields of Pelennor, though no man should be left in the West to remember the last King of the Mark. So he rode to a green hillock and there set his banner, and the White Horse ran rippling in the wind."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To Isengard?\u2019 they cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "The king turned to Merry. \u2018I am going to war, Master Meriadoc,\u2019 he said. \u2018In a little while I shall take the road. I release you from my service, but not from my friendship. You shall abide here, and if you will, you shall serve the Lady E\u00b4owyn, who will govern the folk in my stead.\u2019 \u2018But, but, lord,\u2019 Merry stammered, \u2018I offered you my sword. I do not want to be parted from you like this, The\u00b4oden King. And as all my friends have gone to the battle, I should be ashamed to stay behind.\u2019 \u2018But we ride on horses tall and swift,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden; \u2018and great though your heart be, you cannot ride on such beasts.\u2019 \u2018Then tie me on to the back of one, or let me hang on a stirrup, or something,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018It is a long way to run; but run I shall,Snowmane,\u2019 he said. \u2018But at the least you shall ride with me to Edoras and look on Meduseld; for that way I shall go. So far Stybba can bear you: the great race will not begin till we reach the plains.\u2019 Then E\u00b4owyn rose up. \u2018Come now, Meriadoc!\u2019 she said. \u2018I will show you the gear that I have prepared for you.\u2019 They went out together. \u2018This request only did Aragorn make to me,\u2019 said E\u00b4 owyn, as they passed among the tents, \u2018that you should be armed for battle."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And what would you swear?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ai! laurie\u00a8 lantar lassi su\u00b4rinen, ye\u00b4ni u\u00b4no\u00b4time\u00a8 ve ra\u00b4mar aldaron! Ye\u00b4ni ve linte\u00a8 yuldar ava\u00b4nier mi oromardi lisse-miruvo\u00b4reva Andu\u00b4ne\u00a8 pella, Vardo tellumar nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni o\u00b4maryo aireta\u00b4ri-l\u00b4\u0131rinen."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 adven- tures; 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? \u2018He is debating which course is the most desperate, I think,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018And 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 secret of our journey is already betrayed. But Minas Tirith is no nearer to the Fire and the destruction of the Burden."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wolves won\u2019t get him. That was an eye-opener, and no mistake! Nearly singed the hair off my head!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "And indeed the love that the horses of the Rangers bore for their riders was so great that they were willing to face even the terror of the Door, if their masters\u2019 hearts were steady as they walked beside them. But Arod, the horse of Rohan, refused the way, and he stood sweating and trembling in a fear that was grievous to see. Then Legolas laid his hands on his eyes and sang some words that went soft in the gloom, until he suffered himself to be led, and Legolas passed in. And there stood Gimli the Dwarf left all alone."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Gollum, gollum!\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hope he rekindled, and in hope ended; over death, over dread, over doom liftedBut Merry stood at the foot of the green mound, and he wept, and when the song was ended he arose and cried: \u2018The\u00b4oden King, The\u00b4oden King! Farewell! As a father you were to me, for a little while. Farewell!\u2019 When the burial was over and the weeping of women was stilled, and The\u00b4oden was left at last alone in his barrow, then folk gathered to the Golden Hall for the great feast and put away sorrow; for The\u00b4oden had lived to full years and ended in honour no less than the greatest of his sires. And when the time came that in the custom of the Mark they should drink to the memory of the kings, E\u00b4owyn Lady of Rohan came forth, golden as the sun and white as snow, and she bore a filled cup to E\u00b4 omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a silence as Merry crept nearer, and then the Wild Man began to speak, in answer to some question, it seemed. His voice was deep and guttural, yet to Merry\u2019s surprise he spoke the Common Speech, though in a halting fashion, and uncouth words were mingled with it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yet it has a bottom, beyond light and knowledge,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What happened away up there at the door?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Did you meet the beater of the drums?\u2019 \u2018I do not know,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018But 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Frodo Baggins at your service and your family\u2019s,\u2019 said Frodo correctly, rising in surprise and scattering his cushions. \u2018Am I right in guessing that you are the Glo\u00b4 in, one of the twelve companions of the great Thorin Oakenshield?\u2019 \u2018Quite right,\u2019 answered the dwarf, gathering up the cushions and courteously assisting Frodo back into his seat. \u2018And I do not ask, for I have already been told that you are the kinsman and adopted heir of our friend Bilbo the renowned. Allow me to congratulate you on your recovery.\u2019 \u2018Thank you very much,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "He had a long white beard and bushy eyebrows that stuck out beyond the brim of his hat. Small hobbit-children ran after the cart all through Hobbiton and right up the hill. It had a cargo of fireworks, as they rightly guessed. At Bilbo\u2019s front door the old man began to unload: there were great bundles of fireworks of all sorts and shapes, each labelled with a large red G and the elf-rune, ."
    },
    {
        "text": "Shelob was gone; and whether she lay long in her lair, nursing her malice and her misery, and in slow years of darkness healed herself from within, rebuilding her clustered eyes, until with hunger like death she spun once more her dreadful snares in the glens of the Mountains of Shadow, this tale does not tell."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf held it up. It looked to be made of pure and solid gold."
    },
    {
        "text": "A snake without fangs may crawl where he will.\u2019 \u2018You may be right,\u2019 said Gandalf; \u2018but this snake had still one tooth left, I think. He had the poison of his voice, and I guess that he persuaded you, even you Treebeard, knowing the soft spot in your heart. Well, he is gone, and there is no more to be said. But the Tower of Orthanc now goes back to the King, to whom it belongs."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Thither I came at last, to the uttermost foundations of stone. He was with me still. His fire was quenched, but now he was a thing of slime, stronger than a strangling snake."
    },
    {
        "text": "The gates were closed at nightfall; but just inside them were small lodges for the gatekeepers."
    },
    {
        "text": "What we did in the War of the Ring."
    },
    {
        "text": "We are knights of the City and of the Mark, as I hope you observe.\u2019 At last the glad day ended; and when the Sun was gone and the round Moon rode slowly above the mists of Anduin and flickered through the fluttering leaves, Frodo and Sam sat under the whispering trees amid the fragrance of fair Ithilien; and they talked deep into the night with Merry and Pippin and Gandalf, and after a while Legolas and Gimli joined them. There Frodo and Sam learned much of all that had happened to the Company after their fellowship was broken on the evil day at Parth Galen by Rauros Falls; and still there was always more to ask and more to tell."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Bilbo had not finished. Seizing a horn from a youngster nearby, he blew three loud hoots. The noise subsided. I shall not keep you long, he cried. Cheers from all the assembly. I have called you all together for a Purpose. Something in the way that he said this made an impression. There was almost silence, and one or two of the Tooks pricked up their ears.among such excellent and admirable hobbits. Tremendous outburst of approval."
    },
    {
        "text": "Say The King Elessar. For that is true, even though he has not yet sat upon the throne; and it will give the Enemy more thought, if the heralds use that name.\u2019 And thereafter thrice a day the heralds pro- claimed the coming of the King Elessar. But none answered the challenge."
    },
    {
        "text": "The cleft was longer and deeper than it seemed. Some way down they found a few gnarled and stunted trees, the first they had seen for days: twisted birch for the most part, with here and there a fir-tree."
    },
    {
        "text": "No choice was left them but to play their part to its end. Therefore Aragorn now set the host in such array as could best be contrived; and they were drawn up on two great hills of blasted stone and earth that orcs had piled in years of labour. Before them towards Mordor lay like a moat a great mire of reeking mud and foul-smelling pools.trumpeters. There was Gandalf as chief herald, and Aragorn with the sons of Elrond, and E\u00b4 omer of Rohan, and Imrahil; and Legolas and Gimli and Peregrin were bidden to go also, so that all the enemies of Mordor should have a witness."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last Merry halted. \u2018We can\u2019t go on like this,\u2019 he panted. \u2018I want some air.\u2019 \u2018Let\u2019s have a drink at any rate,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I\u2019m parched.\u2019 He clambered on to a great tree-root that wound down into the stream, and stooping drew up some water in his cupped hands. It was clear and cold, and he took many draughts. Merry followed him. The water refreshed them and seemed to cheer their hearts; for a while they sat together on the brink of the stream, dabbling their sore feet and legs, and peering round at the trees that stood silently about them, rank upon rank, until they faded away into grey twilight in every direction."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Riders!\u2019 cried Aragorn, springing to his feet. \u2018Many riders on swift steeds are coming towards us!\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Legolas, \u2018there are one hundred and five. Yellow is their hair, and bright are their spears. Their leader is very tall.\u2019 Aragorn smiled. \u2018Keen are the eyes of the Elves,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018If indeed you look only, as you say, for records of ancient days, and the beginnings of the City, read on!\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018For to me what was is less dark than what is to come, and that is my care. But unless you have more skill even than Saruman, who has studied here long, you will find naught that is not well known to me, who am master of the lore of this City.\u2019\u2019 \u2018So said Denethor. And yet there lie in his hoards many records that few even of the lore-masters now can read, for their scripts and tongues have become dark to later men. And Boromir, there lies in Minas Tirith still, unread, I guess, by any save Saruman and myself since the kings failed, a scroll that Isildur made himself. For Isildur did not march away straight from the war in Mordor, as some have told the tale.\u2019 \u2018Some in the North, maybe,\u2019 Boromir broke in. \u2018All know in Gondor that he went first to Minas Anor and dwelt a while with his nephew Meneldil, instructing him, before he committed to him the rule of the South Kingdom. In that time he planted there the last sapling of the White Tree in memory of his brother.\u2019 \u2018But in that time also he made this scroll,\u2019 said Gandalf; \u2018and that is not remembered in Gondor, it would seem. For this scroll concerns the Ring, and thus wrote Isildur therein: The Great Ring shall go now to be an heirloom of the North Kingdom; but records of it shall be left in Gondor, where also dwell the heirs of Elendil, lest a time come when the memory of these great matters shall grow dim."
    },
    {
        "text": "Dreadful as the Dead Marshes had been, and the arid moors of the Noman-lands, more loathsome far was the country that the crawling day now slowly unveiled to his shrinking eyes. Even to the Mere of Dead Faces some haggard phantom of green spring would come; but here neither spring nor summer would ever come again. Here nothing lived, not even the leprous growths that feed on rottenness. The gasping pools were choked with ash and crawling muds, sickly white and grey, as if the mountains had vomited the filth of their entrails upon the lands about. High mounds of crushed and powdered rock, great cones of earth fire-blasted and poison-stained, stood like an obscene graveyard in endless rows, slowly revealed in the reluctant light."
    },
    {
        "text": "A strong citadel it was indeed, and not to be taken by a host of enemies, if there were any within that could hold weapons; unless some foe could come behind and scale the lower skirts of Mindolluin, and so come upon the narrow shoulder that joined the Hill of Guard to the mountain mass. But that shoulder, which rose to the height of the fifth wall, was hedged with great ramparts right up to the precipice that overhung its western end; and in that space stood the houses and domed tombs of bygone kings and lords, for ever silent between the mountain and the tower."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hail, King of the Mark!\u2019 he said. \u2018Ride now to victory! Bid E\u00b4 owyn farewell!\u2019 And so he died, and knew not that E\u00b4 owyn lay near him. And those who stood by wept, crying: \u2018The\u00b4oden King! The\u00b4oden King!\u2019 But E\u00b4 omer said to them: Mourn not overmuch! Mighty was the fallen,Yet he himself wept as he spoke. \u2018Let his knights remain here,\u2019 he said, \u2018and bear his body in honour from the field, lest the battle ride over it! Yea, and all these other of the king\u2019s men that lie here.\u2019 And he looked at the slain, recalling their names. Then suddenly he beheld his sister E\u00b4owyn as she lay, and he knew her. He stood a moment as a man who is pierced in the midst of a cry by an arrow through the heart; and then his face went deathly white, and a cold fury rose in him, so that all speech failed him for a while. A fey mood took him."
    },
    {
        "text": "This is how it runs in your tongue: ent. When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf, and sap is in the bough; When light is on the wild-wood stream, and wind is on the brow; When stride is long, and breath is deep, and keen the mountain-air, Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is fair! entwife. When Spring is come to garth and field, and corn is in the blade; When blossom like a shining snow is on the orchard laid; When shower and Sun upon the Earth with fragrance fill the air, I\u2019ll linger here, and will not come, because my land is fair."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not a bird!\u2019 said Sam mournfully."
    },
    {
        "text": "Though maybe he will not need it.\u2019 \u2018That will be seen later,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But I will give to Ents all this valley to do with as they will, so long as they keep a watch upon Orthanc and see that none enter it without my leave.\u2019 \u2018It is locked,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018I made Saruman lock it and give me the keys. Quickbeam has them.\u2019 Quickbeam bowed like a tree bending in the wind and handed to Aragorn two great black keys of intricate shape, joined by a ring of steel. \u2018Now I thank you once more,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018and I bid you farewell. May your forest grow again in peace. When this valley isTreebeard\u2019s face became sad. \u2018Forests may grow,\u2019 he said. \u2018Woods may spread. But not Ents. There are no Entings.\u2019 \u2018Yet maybe there is now more hope in your search,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t think you will find it that way,\u2019 he whispered. \u2018It isn\u2019t easy to find.\u2019 \u2018Find it?\u2019 said Grishna\u00b4kh: his fingers stopped crawling and gripped Pippin\u2019s shoulder. \u2018Find what? What are you talking about, little one?\u2019 For a moment Pippin was silent. Then suddenly in the darkness he made a noise in his throat: gollum, gollum. \u2018Nothing, my precious,\u2019 he added."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 trodden with this Company, I do not much doubt that I shall find a way through Rohan, and Fangorn too, if need be.\u2019 \u2018Then I need say no more,\u2019 said Celeborn. \u2018But 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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yet there are among us still some who have dealings with the Elves when they may, and ever and anon one will go in secret to Lo\u00b4 rien, seldom to return. Not I. For I deem it perilous now for mortal man wilfully to seek out the Elder People. Yet I envy you that have spoken with the White Lady.\u2019 \u2018The Lady of Lo\u00b4rien! Galadriel!\u2019 cried Sam. \u2018You should see her,\u2013 not at making it: a bit of a comic rhyme, perhaps, now and again, you know, but not real poetry \u2013 so I can\u2019t tell you what I mean. It ought to be sung. You\u2019d have to get Strider, Aragorn that is, or old Mr. Bilbo, for that. But I wish I could make a song about her."
    },
    {
        "text": "Keep it well. Glamdring it is called, for the Elves made it long ago."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Bear away from this unhappy place your comrades who have fallen. And we will bear Faramir, Steward of Gondor, to a place where he can sleep in peace, or die if that be his doom.\u2019 Then Gandalf and Beregond taking up the bier bore it away towards the Houses of Healing, while behind them walked Pippin with downcast head. But the servants of the Lord stood gazing as stricken men at the house of the dead; and even as Gandalf came to the end of Rath D\u00b4\u0131nen there was a great noise. Looking back they saw the dome of the house crack and smokes issue forth; and then with a rush and rumble of stone it fell in a flurry of fire; but still unabated the flames danced and flickered among the ruins. Then in terror the servants fled and followed Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The words are known indeed,\u2019 said Faramir in astonishment. \u2018It is some token of your truth that you also know them.\u2019 \u2018Aragorn whom I named is the bearer of the Sword that was Broken,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018And we are the Halflings that the rhyme spoke of.\u2019 \u2018That I see,\u2019 said Faramir thoughtfully. \u2018Or I see that it might be so. And what is Isildur\u2019s Bane?\u2019 \u2018That is hidden,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018Doubtless it will be made clear in time.\u2019 \u2018We must learn more of this,\u2019 said Faramir, \u2018and know what brings you so far east under the shadow of yonder\u2014\u2014,\u2019 he pointed and said no name. \u2018But not now. We have business in hand. You are in peril, and you would not have gone far by field or road this day."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bilbo had not much to say of himself. When he had left Hobbiton he had wandered off aimlessly, along the Road or in the country on either side; but somehow he had steered all the time towards Rivendell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ill?\u2019 cried Denethor, and his eyes flashed suddenly. \u2018Why do you ask? The men were under your command. Or do you ask for my judgement on all your deeds? Your bearing is lowly in my presence, yet it is long now since you turned from your own way at my counsel."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is little to discover,\u2019 he said when he returned. \u2018The main trail is all confused with the passage of the horsemen as they came back; their outward course must have lain nearer the river. But this eastward trail is fresh and clear. There is no sign there of any feet going the other way, back towards Anduin. Now we must ride slower, and make sure that no trace or footstep branches off on either side."
    },
    {
        "text": "A little way ahead and to his left he saw suddenly, issuing from a black hole of shadow under the cliff, the most loathly shape that he had ever beheld, horrible beyond the horror of an evil dream. Most like a spider she was, but huger than the great hunting beasts, and more terrible than they because of the evil purpose in her remorseless eyes. Those same eyes that he had thought daunted and defeated, there they were lit with a fell light again, clustering in her out-thrust head. Great horns she had, and behind her short stalk-like neck was her huge swollen body, a vast bloated bag, swaying and sagging between her legs; its great bulk was black, blotched with livid marks, but the belly underneath was pale and luminous and gave forth a stench. Her legs were bent, with great knobbed joints high above her back, and hairs that stuck out like steel spines, and at each leg\u2019s end there was a claw."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sharpen your blade!\u2019 Gandalf went to the door, and there he turned. \u2018I am in haste, Pippin,\u2019 he said. \u2018Do me a favour when you go out. Even before you rest, if you are not too weary. Go and find Shadowfax and see how he is housed. These people are kindly to beasts, for they are a good and wise folk, but they have less skill with horses than some.\u2019 With that Gandalf went out; and as he did so, there came the note of a clear sweet bell ringing in a tower of the citadel. Three strokes it rang, like silver in the air, and ceased: the third hour from the rising of the sun."
    },
    {
        "text": "Caradhras had defeated them.Chapter 4 A JOURNEY IN THE DARK 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "And in his arms before him on his horse he bore the body of his kinsman, Faramir son of Denethor, found upon the stricken field."
    },
    {
        "text": "They stood on a wet floor of polished stone, the doorstep, as it were, of a rough-hewn gate of rock opening dark behind them. But in front a thin veil of water was hung, so near that Frodo could have put an outstretched arm into it. It faced westward. The level shafts of the setting sun behind beat upon it, and the red light was broken into many flickering beams of ever-changing colour. It was as if they stood at the window of some elven-tower, curtained with threaded jewels of silver and gold, and ruby, sapphire and amethyst, all kindled with an unconsuming fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The trail is straight, and turns neither right nor left, as far as my eyes can see,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes! We wants it! We wants it!\u2019with a jerk as Sme\u00b4agol spoke again. Finally both arms, with long fingers flexed and twitching, clawed towards his neck."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with weary feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, so much at least is now clear,\u2019 said Legolas: \u2018Frodo is no longer on this side of the River: only he can have taken the boat."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle; the dog began to roar, The cow and the horses stood on their heads; The guests all bounded from their beds and danced upon the floor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We won\u2019t!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Not for you.\u2019 Then he collapsed again. \u2018Gollum, gollum,\u2019 he whimpered with his face to the ground. \u2018Don\u2019t look at us! Go away! Go to sleep!\u2019 \u2018He will not go away or go to sleep at your command, Sme\u00b4agol,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But if you really wish to be free of him again, then you must help me. And that I fear means finding us a path towards him. But you need not go all the way, not beyond the gates of his land.\u2019 Gollum sat up again and looked at him under his eyelids. \u2018He\u2019s over there,\u2019 he cackled. \u2018Always there. Orcs will take you all the way."
    },
    {
        "text": "From Evereven\u2019s lofty hills where softly silver fountains fall his wings him bore, a wandering light, beyond the mighty Mountain Wall."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do you think you killed him with that apple, Sam?\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And ere morning it will be in the East,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018But rest, if you must. Yet do not cast all hope away. Tomorrow is unknown."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Maggots, and the Puddifoots of Stock, and most of the inhabi- tants of the Marish, were house-dwellers; and this farm was stoutly built of brick and had a high wall all round it. There was a wide wooden gate opening out of the wall into the lane."
    },
    {
        "text": "I have returned. And behold! I too bring back a horse. Here is Shadowfax the Great, whom no other hand can tame. And here beside me is Aragorn son of Arathorn, the heir of Kings, and it is to Mundburg that he goes. Here also are Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf, our comrades. Go now and say to your master that we are at his gates and would have speech with him, if he will permit us to come into his hall.\u2019 \u2018Strange names you give indeed! But I will report them as you bid, and learn my master\u2019s will,\u2019 said the guard. \u2018Wait here a little while, and I will bring you such answer as seems good to him. Do not hope too much! These are dark days.\u2019 He went swiftly away, leaving the strangers in the watchful keeping of his comrades."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018By all the signs, Captain Shagrat, I\u2019d say there\u2019s a large warrior loose, Elf most likely, with an elf-sword anyway, and an axe as well maybe; and he\u2019s loose in your bounds, too, and you\u2019ve never spotted him. Very funny indeed!\u2019 Gorbag spat. Sam smiled grimly at this description of himself."
    },
    {
        "text": "He\u2019d spot me, pretty quick, if I put the Ring on now, in Mordor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Untie our legs!\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "It became difficult to follow the path, and they were very tired."
    },
    {
        "text": "Counsels may be found that are neither the webs of wizards nor the haste of fools. I have in this matter more lore and wisdom than you deem.\u2019 \u2018What then is your wisdom?\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Alas!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Must we pass this way, where the carrion- beasts devour so many good Riders of the Mark?\u2019 \u2018This is our way,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Grievous is the fall of your men; but you shall see that at least the wolves of the mountains do not devour them. It is with their friends, the Orcs, that they hold their feast: such indeed is the friendship of their kind. Come!\u2019 They rode down to the river, and as they came the wolves ceased their howling and slunk away. Fear fell on them seeing Gandalf in the moon, and Shadowfax his horse shining like silver. The riders passed over to the islet, and glittering eyes watched them wanly from the shadows of the banks."
    },
    {
        "text": "Quickly and silently he went, until he came to the edge of the knoll."
    },
    {
        "text": "But that I am afraid will be just your luck.\u2019 \u2018I am afraid it will,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018We can\u2019t start until we have found out about the Riders.\u2019 \u2018I thought they were all destroyed in the flood,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "With foes ahead, behind us dread, Beneath the sky shall be our bed, Until at last our toil be passed, Our journey done, our errand sped."
    },
    {
        "text": "When others spoke they seemed harsh and uncouth by contrast; and if they gainsaid the voice, anger was kindled in the hearts of those under the spell. For some the spell lasted only while the voice spoke to them, and when it spoke to another they smiled, as men do who see through a juggler\u2019s trick while others gape at it. For many the sound of the voice alone was enough to hold them enthralled; but for those whom it conquered the spell endured when they were far away, and ever they heard that soft voice whispering and urging them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Mr. Butterbur did not seem much put out. He reckoned, very probably, that his house would be full again on many future nights, until the present mystery had been thoroughly discussed. \u2018Now what have you been doing, Mr. Underhill?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Frightening my customers and breaking up my crocks with your acrobatics!\u2019 \u2018I am very sorry to have caused any trouble,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It was quite unintentional, I assure you. A most unfortunate accident.\u2019 \u2018All right, Mr. Underhill! But if you\u2019re going to do any more tumbling, or conjuring, or whatever it was, you\u2019d best warn folk beforehand \u2013 and warn me. We\u2019re a bit suspicious round here of anything out of the way \u2013 uncanny, if you understand me; and we don\u2019t take to it all of a sudden.\u2019 \u2018I shan\u2019t be doing anything of the sort again, Mr. Butterbur, I promise you. And now I think I\u2019ll be getting to bed. We shall be making an early start. Will you see that our ponies are ready by eight o\u2019clock?\u2019 \u2018Very good! But before you go, I should like a word with you in private, Mr. Underhill. Something has just come back to my mind that I ought to tell you. I hope that you\u2019ll not take it amiss. When I\u2019ve seen to a thing or two, I\u2019ll come along to your room, if you\u2019re willing.\u2019 \u2018Certainly!\u2019 said Frodo; but his heart sank. He wondered how many private talks he would have before he got to bed, and what they would reveal. Were these people all in league against him? He began to suspect even old Butterbur\u2019s fat face of concealing dark designs.Chapter 10 STRIDER Frodo, Pippin, and Sam made their way back to the parlour. There was no light. Merry was not there, and the fire had burned low. It was not until they had puffed up the embers into a blaze and thrown on a couple of faggots that they discovered Strider had come with them. There he was calmly sitting in a chair by the door! \u2018Hallo!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Who are you, and what do you want?\u2019 \u2018I am called Strider,\u2019 he answered; \u2018and though he may have for- gotten it, your friend promised to have a quiet talk with me.\u2019 \u2018You said I might hear something to my advantage, I believe,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018What have you to say?\u2019 \u2018Several things,\u2019 answered Strider. \u2018But, of course, I have my price.\u2019 \u2018What do you mean?\u2019 asked Frodo sharply."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits were glad to leave the cheerless lands and the perilous Road behind them; but this new country seemed threatening and unfriendly. As they went forward the hills about them steadily rose."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 the West stars glinted bright."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Did you hear a whistle, and what sounded like an answer?\u2019 he asked. \u2018A few minutes back. I hope it was only a bird, but it didn\u2019t sound quite like that: more like somebody mimicking a bird-call, I thought. And I\u2019m afraid my bit of fire\u2019s been smoking. Now if I\u2019ve gone and brought trouble, I\u2019ll never forgive myself. Nor won\u2019t have a chance, maybe!\u2019 \u2018Hush!\u2019 whispered Frodo. \u2018I thought I heard voices.\u2019 The two hobbits trussed their small packs, put them on ready for flight, and then crawled deeper into the fern. There they crouched listening."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Orcs came with axes and cut down my trees. I came and called them by their long names, but they did not quiver, they did not hear or answer: they lay dead."
    },
    {
        "text": "They turned a sharp bend in the river, and there, sailing proudly down the stream towards 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No hope of escape!\u2019 thought Pippin. \u2018But there is a hope that I have left some of my own marks unspoilt on the wet ground.\u2019 He groped with his two tied hands at his throat, and unclasped the brooch of his cloak. Just as long arms and hard claws seized him, he let it fall. \u2018There I suppose it will lie until the end of time,\u2019 he thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "The morning dawned bright and fair; the air was clean, and the light pale and clear in a rain-washed sky. Their hearts were encour- aged, but they longed for the sun to warm their cold stiff limbs. As soon as it was light, Strider took Merry with him and went to survey the country from the height to the east of the pass. The sun had risen and was shining brightly when he returned with more comforting news. They were now going more or less in the right direction. If they went on, down the further side of the ridge, they would have the Mountains on their left. Some way ahead Strider had caught a glimpse of the Loudwater again, and he knew that, though it was hidden from view, the Road to the Ford was not far from the River and lay on the side nearest to them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now on we go!\u2019 he said. \u2018Nice hobbits! Brave hobbits! Very very weary, of course; so we are, my precious, all of us. But we must take master away from the wicked lights, yes, yes, we must.\u2019 With these words he started off again, almost at a trot, down what appeared to be a long lane between high reeds, and they stumbled after him as quickly as they could. But in a little while he stopped suddenly and sniffed the air doubtfully, hissing as if he was troubled or displeased again."
    },
    {
        "text": "It must have been a little after midnight when Gollum woke up: suddenly they were aware of his pale eyes unlidded gleaming at them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And I will come, too,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018The matter of the Lady Galadriel lies still between us. I have yet to teach you gentle speech.\u2019 \u2018We shall see,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018So many strange things have chanced that to learn the praise of a fair lady under the loving strokes of a Dwarf \u2019s axe will seem no great wonder. Farewell!\u2019small and far away. Aragorn did not look back: he was watching the trail as they sped on their way, bending low with his head beside the neck of Hasufel. Before long they came to the borders of the Entwash, and there they met the other trail of which E\u00b4omer had spoken, coming down from the East out of the Wold."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, we\u2019ve come back none too soon,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "After doing some twelve miles, they halted. A short way back the road had bent a little northward and the stretch that they had passed over was now screened from sight. This proved disastrous. They rested for some minutes and then went on; but they had not taken many steps when suddenly in the stillness of the night they heard the sound that all along they had secretly dreaded: the noise of marching feet. It was still some way behind them, but looking back they could see the twinkle of torches coming round the bend less than a mile away, and they were moving fast: too fast for Frodo to escape by flight along the road ahead."
    },
    {
        "text": "Saruman turned. \u2018No evil?\u2019 he cackled. \u2018Oh no! Even when he sneaks out at night it is only to look at the stars. But did I hear someone ask where poor Lotho is hiding? You know, don\u2019t you, Worm? Will you tell them?\u2019 Wormtongue cowered down and whimpered: \u2018No, no!\u2019 \u2018Then I will,\u2019 said Saruman. \u2018Worm killed your Chief, poor little fellow, your nice little Boss. Didn\u2019t you, Worm? Stabbed him in his sleep, I believe. Buried him, I hope; though Worm has been very hungry lately. No, Worm is not really nice. You had better leave him to me.\u2019 A look of wild hatred came into Wormtongue\u2019s red eyes. \u2018You told me to; you made me do it,\u2019 he hissed."
    },
    {
        "text": "The guilty shall bring the guilty to judgement,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden, and his voice was grim, yet he looked at Gandalf and smiled and as he did so many lines of care were smoothed away and did not return."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gimli rose and planted his feet firmly apart: his hand gripped the handle of his axe, and his dark eyes flashed. \u2018Give me your name, horse-master, and I will give you mine, and more besides,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam had taken no part in the conversation, though he had listened; and at the same time he had attended with his keen hobbit ears to all the soft woodland noises about them. One thing he had noted, that in all the talk the name of Gollum had not once come up. He was glad, though he felt that it was too much to hope that he would never hear it again. He soon became aware also that though they walked alone, there were many men close at hand: not only Damrod and Mablung flitting in and out of the shadows ahead, but others on either side, all making their swift secret way to some appointed place."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hoom, hom! Here we come with a boom, here we come at last!\u2019 called Treebeard when he caught sight of Bregalad and the hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "The valley seemed to stretch on endlessly. Suddenly Frodo saw a hopeful sign. On either side ahead a darkness began to loom through the mist; and he guessed that they were at last approaching the gap in the hills, the north-gate of the Barrow-downs. If they could pass that, they would be free."
    },
    {
        "text": "They passed along the edge of a huge turnip-field, and came to a stout gate. Beyond it a rutted lane ran between low well-laid hedges towards a distant clump of trees. Pippin stopped."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I remember that he said: \u2018\u2018May you have joy of the sight! But we cannot linger there.\u2019\u2019 Now long shall I journey ere I have joy again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What is the light?\u2019 he said to Strider, who had risen, and was standing, gazing ahead into the night."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He covered his eyes and bent forward, cowering. The same warning fear was on him as he had felt in the presence of the Black Riders, the helpless horror that had come with the cry in the wind and the shadow on the moon, though now it was not so crushing or compel- ling: the menace was more remote. But menace it was. Frodo felt it too. His thought was broken. He stirred and shivered, but he did not look up. Gollum huddled himself together like a cornered spider."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then he forgot the point, for things had plainly gone far enough, and were getting dangerous. A great heaviness was in all his limbs, but he roused himself with an effort and sat up. Something warned him to be careful and not to reveal that he had overheard the debate."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum was tearing at his master, trying to get at the chain and the Ring. This was probably the only thing that could have roused the dying embers of Frodo\u2019s heart and will: an attack, an attempt to wrest his treasure from him by force. He fought back with a sudden fury that amazed Sam, and Gollum also. Even so things might have gone far otherwise, if Gollum himself had remained unchanged; but whatever dreadful paths, lonely and hungry and waterless, he had trodden, driven by a devouring desire and a terrible fear, they had left grievous marks on him. He was a lean, starved, haggard thing, all bones and tight-drawn sallow skin. A wild light flamed in his eyes, but his malice was no longer matched by his old griping strength."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was worried. The afternoon was getting late, and he thought this sudden sleepiness uncanny. \u2018There\u2019s more behind this than sun and warm air,\u2019 he muttered to himself. \u2018I don\u2019t like this great big tree. I don\u2019t trust it. Hark at it singing about sleep now! This won\u2019t do at all!\u2019 He pulled himself to his feet, and staggered off to see what had become of the ponies. He found that two had wandered on a good way along the path; and he had just caught them and brought them back towards the others, when he heard two noises; one loud, and the other soft but very clear. One was the splash of something heavy falling into the water; the other was a noise like the snick of a lock when a door quietly closes fast."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Isengard began to fill up with black creeping streams and pools."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 Maggot went on, \u2018I\u2019m glad that you\u2019ve had the sense to come back to Buckland. My advice is: stay there! And don\u2019t get mixed up with these outlandish folk. You\u2019ll have friends in these parts. If any of these black fellows come after you again, I\u2019ll deal with them. I\u2019ll say you\u2019re dead, or have left the Shire, or anything you like. And that might be true enough; for as like as not it is old Mr. Bilbo they want news of.\u2019 \u2018Maybe you\u2019re right,\u2019 said Frodo, avoiding the farmer\u2019s eye and staring at the fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And now for our manger,\u2019 said Beregond, and he led Pippin back to the citadel, and so to a door in the north side of the great tower."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "It belonged to a large Man-like, almost Troll-like, figure, at least fourteen foot high, very sturdy, with a tall head, and hardly any neck."
    },
    {
        "text": "I can\u2019t find it. I am tired. I, we can\u2019t find it, gollum, gollum, no, nowhere. They\u2019re always awake. Dwarves, Men, and Elves, terrible Elves with bright eyes. I can\u2019t find it. Ach!\u2019 He got up and clenched his long hand into a bony fleshless knot, shaking it towards the East."
    },
    {
        "text": "He sat up and looked about. Merry was not far away. They were bythebanksofaswiftnarrowriver.Aheadmountainsloomed:atallThere was much shouting and debating among the Orcs; a quarrel seemed on the point of breaking out again between the Northerners and the Isengarders. Some were pointing back away south, and some were pointing eastward."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nazgu\u02c6l!\u2019 he cried. \u2018The messenger of Mordor. The storm isHe sprang away, calling Shadowfax as he ran. Aragorn followed him. Going to Pippin, Gandalf picked him up in his arms. \u2018You shall come with me this time,\u2019 he said. \u2018Shadowfax shall show you his paces.\u2019 Then he ran to the place where he had slept. Shadowfax stood there already. Slinging the small bag which was all his luggage across his shoulders, the wizard leapt upon the horse\u2019s back. Aragorn lifted Pippin and set him in Gandalf \u2019s arms, wrapped in cloak and blanket."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Very well,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But we must not use the wood \u2013 notThe 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Doom drove them on. Darkness took them, horse and horseman; hoofbeats afar sank into silence: so the songs tell us."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here is the last parting of our ways,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018If you take my counsel, you will not turn eastward yet. Go straight on, for thus you will have the cover of the woodland for many miles. On your west is an edge where the land falls into the great vales, sometimes suddenly and sheer, sometimes in long hillsides. Keep near to this edge and the skirts of the forest. In the beginning of your journey you may walk under daylight, I think. The land dreams in a false peace, and for a while all evil is withdrawn. Fare you well, while you may!\u2019 He embraced the hobbits then, after the manner of his people, stooping, and placing his hands upon their shoulders, and kissing their foreheads. \u2018Go with the good will of all good men!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Still on and up the stairway bent and crawled, until at last with a final flight, short and straight, it climbed out again on to another level. The path had veered away from the main pass in the great ravine, and it now followed its own perilous course at the bottom of a lesser cleft among the higher regions of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath. Dimly the hobbits could discern tall piers and jagged pinnacles of stone on either side, between which were great crevices and fissures blacker than the night, where forgotten winters had gnawed and carved the sunless stone. And now the red light in the sky seemed stronger; though they could not tell whether a dreadful morning were indeed coming to this place of shadow, or whether they saw only the flame of some great violence of Sauron in the torment of Gorgoroth beyond."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018E\u00b4omer shall stay here for a while. But do not speak yet of war or woe, until you are made whole again. Great gladness it is to see you wake again to health and hope, so valiant a lady!\u2019 \u2018To health?\u2019 said E\u00b4owyn. \u2018It may be so. At least while there is an empty saddle of some fallen Rider that I can fill, and there are deeds to do. But to hope? I do not know.\u2019 Gandalf and Pippin came to Merry\u2019s room, and there they found Aragorn standing by the bed. \u2018Poor old Merry!\u2019 cried Pippin, and he ran to the bedside, for it seemed to him that his friend looked worse and a greyness was in his face, as if a weight of years of sorrow layhim back. He is weary now, and grieved, and he has taken a hurt like the Lady E\u00b4 owyn, daring to smite that deadly thing. But these evils can be amended, so strong and gay a spirit is in him. His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.\u2019 Then Aragorn laid his hand on Merry\u2019s head, and passing his hand gently through the brown curls, he touched the eyelids, and called him by name. And when the fragrance of athelas stole through the room, like the scent of orchards, and of heather in the sunshine full of bees, suddenly Merry awoke, and he said: \u2018I am hungry. What is the time?\u2019 \u2018Past supper-time now,\u2019 said Pippin; \u2018though I daresay I could bring you something, if they will let me.\u2019 \u2018They will indeed,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018And anything else that this Rider of Rohan may desire, if it can be found in Minas Tirith, where his name is in honour.\u2019 \u2018Good!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Then I would like supper first, and after that a pipe.\u2019 At that his face clouded. \u2018No, not a pipe. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll smoke again.\u2019 \u2018Why not?\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then let us lay him in a boat with his weapons, and the weapons of his vanquished foes,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018We will send him to the Falls of Rauros and give him to Anduin. The River of Gondor will take care at least that no evil creature dishonours his bones.\u2019 Quickly they searched the bodies of the Orcs, gathering their swords and cloven helms and shields into a heap."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The house of his spirit crumbles.\u2019 Then stepping softly towards Pippin he looked down at him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, Sam!\u2019 he said. \u2018What about it? I am leaving the Shire as soon as ever I can \u2013 in fact I have made up my mind now not even to wait a day at Crickhollow, if it can be helped.\u2019 \u2018Very good, sir!\u2019 \u2018You still mean to come with me?\u2019 \u2018I do.\u2019 \u2018It is going to be very dangerous, Sam. It is already dangerous."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here is the gift of Celeborn and Galadriel to the leader of your Company,\u2019 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 formedofmanygemsthenameAndu\u00b4rilandthelineageofthesword.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.\u2019 And Aragorn answered: \u2018Lady, 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.\u2019 \u2018Yet maybe this will lighten your heart,\u2019 said Galadriel; \u2018for it was left in my care to be given to you, should you pass through this land.\u2019 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 out- spread wings; and as she held it up the gem flashed like the sun shining through the leaves of spring. \u2018This stone I gave to Celebr\u00b4\u0131an 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!\u2019 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. \u2018For the gifts that you have given me I thank you,\u2019 he said, \u2018O Lady of Lo\u00b4rien of whom were sprung Celebr\u00b4\u0131an and Arwen Evenstar. What praise could I say more?\u2019 The Lady bowed her head, 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018My lords,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018listen to the words of the Steward of Gondor before he died: You may triumph on the fields of the Pelennor for a day, but against the Power that has now arisen there is no victory."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam drew a deep breath. There was a path, but how he was to get up the slope to it he did not know. First he must ease his aching back. He lay flat beside Frodo for a while. Neither spoke. Slowly the light grew. Suddenly a sense of urgency which he did not understand came to Sam. It was almost as if he had been called: \u2018Now, now, or it will be too late!\u2019 He braced himself and got up. Frodo also seemed to have felt the call. He struggled to his knees."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo,\u2019 he said in injured tones, \u2018but I do know something about rope and about knots. It\u2019s in the family, as you might say. Why, my grand-dad, and my uncle Andy after him, him that was the Gaffer\u2019s eldest brother, he had a rope-walk over by Tighfield many a year."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t know if the Road has ever been measured in miles beyond the Forsaken Inn, a day\u2019s journey east of Bree,\u2019 answered Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I do not know of anything else that could have hindered him, except the Enemy himself,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018But do not give up hope! Gandalf is greater than you Shire-folk know \u2013 as a rule you can only see his jokes and toys. But this business of ours will be his greatest task.\u2019 Pippin yawned. \u2018I am sorry,\u2019 he said, \u2018but I am dead tired. In spite of all the danger and worry I must go to bed, or sleep where I sit."
    },
    {
        "text": "Even if my errand is performed, no one will ever know. There will be no one I can tell. It will be in vain.\u2019 Overcome with weakness he wept. And still the host of Morgul crossed the bridge."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not yet!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But there is no 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.\u2019 \u2018We cannot leave you to hold the door alone!\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The night is getting old,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018The dawn is not far off.\u2019 \u2018If any dawn can pierce these clouds,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Alas!\u2019 said Celeborn. \u2018We long have feared that under Caradhras a terror slept. But had I known that the Dwarves had stirred up this evil in Moria again, I 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.\u2019 \u2018He would be rash indeed that said that thing,\u2019 said Galadriel gravely. \u2018Needless 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 Lothlo\u00b4 rien, 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? \u2018Dark is the water of Kheled-za\u02c6ram, and cold are the springs of Kibil-na\u02c6la, and fair were the many-pillared halls of Khazad-du\u02c6m in Elder Days before the fall of mighty kings beneath the stone.\u2019 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 there love and understanding."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There was more than one power at work, Frodo. The Ring was trying to get back to its master. It had slipped from Isildur\u2019s hand and betrayed him; then when a chance came it caught poor De\u00b4agol,mean; and as long as it stayed with him he would never leave his deep pool again. So now, when its master was awake once more and sending out his dark thought from Mirkwood, it abandoned Gollum."
    },
    {
        "text": "The winged shapes wheeled, and stooped swiftly down, speeding back to Mordor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Down! down!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Now speak your promise!\u2019 \u2018We promises, yes I promise!\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018I will serve the master of the Precious. Good master, good Sme\u00b4agol, gollum, gollum!\u2019 Sud- denly he began to weep and bite at his ankle again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s so much water in the air that I\u2019m coming into the kitchen to finish,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "He could see them stealing up the slopes, singly or in long files, keeping always to the shade of grove or thicket, or crawling, hardly visible in their brown and green raiment, through grass and brake."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Old fool!\u2019 he said. \u2018Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!\u2019 And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last as the afternoon was waning they came to the eaves of the forest, and in an open glade among the first trees they found the place of the great burning: the ashes were still hot and smoking."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then one of the younger folk called for a song. But at that a hush fell, and he was frowned down, and the call was not repeated."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Ents!\u2019 exclaimed Aragorn. \u2018Then there is truth in the old legends about the dwellers in the deep forests and the giant shepherds of the trees? Are there still Ents in the world? I thought they were only a memory of ancient days, if indeed they were ever more than a legend of Rohan.\u2019 \u2018A legend of Rohan!\u2019 cried Legolas. \u2018Nay, every Elf in Wilderland has sung songs of the old Onodrim and their long sorrow. Yet even among us they are only a memory. If I were to meet one still walking in this world, then indeed I should feel young again! But Treebeard: that is only a rendering of Fangorn into the Common Speech; yet you seem to speak of a person. Who is this Treebeard?\u2019 \u2018Ah! now you are asking much,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018The little that I know of his long slow story would make a tale for which we have no time now. Treebeard is Fangorn, the guardian of the forest; he is the oldest of the Ents, the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth. I hope indeed, Legolas, that you may yet meet him. Merry and Pippin have been fortunate: they met him here, even where we sit. For he came here two days ago and bore them away to his dwelling far off by the roots of the mountains. He often comes here, especially when his mind is uneasy, and rumours of the world outside trouble him. I saw him four days ago striding among the trees, and I think he saw me, for he paused; but I did not speak, for I was heavy with thought, and weary after my struggle with the Eye of Mordor; and he did not speak either, nor call my name.\u2019 \u2018Perhaps he also thought that you were Saruman,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "Without haste and at peace they passed into Ano\u00b4 rien, and they came to the Grey Wood under Amon D\u02c6\u0131n; and there they heard a sound as of drums beating in the hills, though no living thing could be seen. Then Aragorn let the trumpets be blown; and heralds cried: \u2018Behold, the King Elessar is come! The Forest of Dru\u00b4adan he gives to Gha\u02c6n-buri-Gha\u02c6n and to his folk, to be their own for ever; and hereafter let no man enter it without their leave!\u2019 Then the drums rolled loudly, and were silent."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018How far can you bear me?\u2019\u2019 I said to Gwaihir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And you, my Lord Mithrandir, shall come too, as and when you will. None shall hinder your coming to me at any time, save only in my brief hours of sleep. Let your wrath at an old man\u2019s folly run off, and then return to my comfort!\u2019 \u2018Folly?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Nay, my lord, when you are a dotard you will die. You can use even your grief as a cloak. Do you think that I do not understand your purpose in questioning for an hour one who knows the least, while I sit by?\u2019 \u2018If you understand it, then be content,\u2019 returned Denethor. \u2018Pride would be folly that disdained help and counsel at need; but you deal out such gifts according to your own designs. Yet the Lord of Gondor is not to be made the tool of other men\u2019s purposes, however worthy."
    },
    {
        "text": "The black shadow stood close to the point where they had left the path, and it swayed from side to side. Frodo thought he heard the sound of snuffling. The shadow bent to the ground, and then began to crawl towards him."
    },
    {
        "text": "The leaves were all thicker and greener about the edges of the glade, enclosing it with an almost solid wall. No tree grew there, only rough grass and many tall plants: stalky and faded hemlocks and wood- parsley, fire-weed seeding into fluffy ashes, and rampant nettles and thistles. A dreary place: but it seemed a charming and cheerful garden after the close Forest."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t worry about me!\u2019 he added. \u2018I feel much better, but I don\u2019t think I could sing. Perhaps Sam could dig something out of his memory.\u2019 \u2018Come on, Sam!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018There\u2019s more stored in your head than you let on about.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know about that,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But how would this suit? It ain\u2019t what I call proper poetry, if you understand me: just a bit of nonsense. But these old images here brought it to my mind.\u2019 Standing up, with his hands behind his back, as if he was at school, he began to sing to an old tune."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo stripped the blankets from Pippin and rolled him over, and then walked off to the edge of the wood. Away eastward the sun was rising red out of the mists that lay thick on the world. Touched with gold and red the autumn trees seemed to be sailing rootless in a shadowy sea. A little below him to the left the road ran down steeply into a hollow and disappeared."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly, and to his own surprise, Frodo felt a hot wrath blaze up in his heart. \u2018The Shire!\u2019 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\u2019s arm. Black drops dripped from the blade and smoked on\u2018One for the Shire!\u2019 cried Aragorn. \u2018The hobbit\u2019s bite is deep! You have a good blade, Frodo son of Drogo!\u2019 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He came, a weary man with dinted helm and cloven shield. Slowly he climbed from his horse and stood there a while gasping. At length he spoke. \u2018Is E\u00b4 omer here?\u2019 he asked. \u2018You come at last, but too late, and with too little strength. Things have gone evilly since The\u00b4odred fell. We were driven back yesterday over the Isen with great loss; many perished at the crossing. Then at night fresh forces came over the river against our camp. All Isengard must be emptied; and Saruman has armed the wild hillmen and herd-folk of Dunland beyond the rivers, and these also he loosed upon us. We were over- mastered. The shield-wall was broken. Erkenbrand of Westfold has drawn off those men he could gather towards his fastness in Helm\u2019s Deep. The rest are scattered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Neat work, Bill,\u2019 said Sam, meaning the pony."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam and Merry got up and walked away from the fire. Frodo and Pippin remained seated in silence. Strider was watching the moon- light on the hill intently. All seemed quiet and still, but Frodo felt a cold dread creeping over his heart, now that Strider was no longer speaking. He huddled closer to the fire. At that moment Sam came running back from the edge of the dell."
    },
    {
        "text": "It stopped short aghast. For what it saw was not a small frightened hobbit trying to hold a steady sword: it saw a great silent shape, cloaked in a grey shadow, looming against the wavering light behind; in one hand it held a sword, the very light of which was a bitter pain, the other was clutched at its breast, but held concealed some nameless menace of power and doom."
    },
    {
        "text": "With Dwarf and Hobbit, Elves and Men, with mortal and immortal folk,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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It 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 Lo\u00b4 rien, to dwell in the trees, and maybe it is so still. Therefore 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.\u2019 \u2018And even in these latter days dwelling in the trees might be thought safer than sitting on the ground,\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "That was enough for the others. They gave in. Their weapons were taken from them, and they were roped together, and marched off to an empty hut that they had built themselves, and there they were tied hand and foot, and locked up under guard. The dead leader was dragged off and buried."
    },
    {
        "text": "Do not let him speak, or put a spell upon us! Shoot first!\u2019 Legolas took his bow and bent it, slowly and as if some other will resisted him. He held an arrow loosely in his hand but did not fit it to the string. Aragorn stood silent, his face was watchful and intent."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo slept at times, deeply and peacefully, either trusting Gollum or too tired to trouble about him; but Sam found it difficult to do more than doze, even when Gollum was plainly fast asleep, whiffling and twitching in his secret dreams. Hunger, perhaps, more than mistrust kept him wakeful: he had begun to long for a good homely meal, \u2018something hot out of the pot\u2019."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is a gift that I bring you from the Lady of Rivendell,\u2019 answered Halbarad. \u2018She wrought it in secret, and long was the making. But she also sends word to you: The days now are short. Either our hope cometh, or all hope\u2019s end. Therefore I send thee what I have made for thee."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Down the deep-cloven way that climbs beside the torrent we should have come, if fortune had been kinder.\u2019 \u2018Or Caradhras less cruel,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018There he stands smiling in the sun!\u2019 He shook his fist at the furthest of the snow-capped peaks and turned away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Save your breath!\u2019 laughed Merry. \u2018I\u2019ve a better.\u2019 Then lifting up his silver horn he winded it, and its clear call rang over the Hill; and out of the holes and sheds and shabby houses of Hobbiton the hobbits answered, and came pouring out, and with cheers and loud cries they followed the company up the road to Bag End."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You will soon learn the truth,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Already they approach.\u2019 At length even Gimli could hear the distant beat of galloping hoofs."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Aragorn turned, and there was a stony slope behind him running down from the skirts of the snow; and as he looked he was aware that alone there in the waste a growing thing stood. And he climbed to it, and saw that out of the very edge of the snow there sprang a sapling tree no more than three foot high. Already it had put forth young leaves long and shapely, dark above and silver be- neath, and upon its slender crown it bore one small cluster of flowers whose white petals shone like the sunlit snow."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018I come from yonder,\u2019\u2019 he said, slow and stiff-like, pointing back west, over my fields, if you please. \u2018\u2018Have you seen Baggins?\u2019\u2019 he asked in a queer voice, and bent down towards me. I could not see any face, for his hood fell down so low; and I felt a sort of shiver down my back. But I did not see why he should come riding over my land so bold."
    },
    {
        "text": "There he stood, with his hat in his hand and the wind in his hair, and looked down upon the three hobbits, that had been laid on their backs upon the grass at the west side of the mound. Raising his right hand he said in a clear and commanding voice: Wake now my merry lads! Wake and hear me calling! Warm now be heart and limb! The cold stone is fallen; Dark door is standing wide; dead hand is broken."
    },
    {
        "text": "One wheeled towards him; but it seemed to Pippin that he raised his hand, and from it a shaft of white light stabbed upwards. The Nazgu\u02c6l gave a long wailing cry and swerved away; and with that the four others wavered, and then rising in swift spirals they passed away eastward vanishing into the lowering cloud above; and down on the Pelennor it seemed for a while less dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I was afraid for you, Frodo,\u2019 he said, coming forward. \u2018If 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin afterwards recalled little of either food or drink, for his mind was filled with the light upon the elf-faces, and the sound of voices so various and so beautiful that he felt in a waking dream. But he remembered that there was bread, surpassing the savour of a fair white loaf to one who is starving; and fruits sweet as wildberries and richer than the tended fruits of gardens; he drained a cup that was filled with a fragrant draught, cool as a clear fountain, golden as a summer afternoon."
    },
    {
        "text": "Old Will Whitfoot had been in the Lockholes longer than any, and though he had perhaps been treated less harshly than some, he needed a lot of feeding up before he could look the part of Mayor; so Frodo agreed to act as his Deputy, until Mr. Whitfoot was in shape again. The only thing that he did as Deputy Mayor was to reduce the Shirriffs to their proper functions and numbers. The task of hunting out the last remnant of the ruffians was left to Merry and Pippin, and it was soon done. The southern gangs, after hearing the news of the Battle of Bywater, fled out of the land and offered little resistancetotheThain.BeforetheYear\u2019sEndthefewsurvivorswereMeanwhile the labour of repair went on apace, and Sam was kept very busy. Hobbits can work like bees when the mood and the need comes on them. Now there were thousands of willing hands of all ages, from the small but nimble ones of the hobbit lads and lasses to the well-worn and horny ones of the gaffers and gammers. Before Yule not a brick was left standing of the new Shirriff-houses or of anything that had been built by \u2018Sharkey\u2019s Men\u2019; but the bricks were used to repair many an old hole, to make it snugger and drier. Great stores of goods and food, and beer, were found that had been hidden away by the ruffians in sheds and barns and deserted holes, and especially in the tunnels at Michel Delving and in the old quarries at Scary; so that there was a great deal better cheer that Yule than anyone had hoped for."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is an ent-house,\u2019 he said, \u2018and there are no seats, I fear. But you may sit on the table.\u2019 Picking up the hobbits he set them on the great stone slab, six feet above the ground, and there they sat dangling their legs, and drinking in sips."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf laughed. \u2018That is better!\u2019 he said. \u2018Well, The\u00b4oden, will you ride with me to find Treebeard? We must go round about, but it is not far.WhenyouseeTreebeard,youwilllearnmuch.ForTreebeardis\u2018I will come with you,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Farewell, my hobbits! May we meet again in my house! There you shall sit beside me and tell me all that your hearts desire: the deeds of your grandsires, as far as you can reckon them; and we will speak also of Tobold the Old and his herb-lore. Farewell!\u2019 The hobbits bowed low. \u2018So that is the King of Rohan!\u2019 said Pippin in an undertone. \u2018A fine old fellow. Very polite.\u2019Chapter 9 FLOTSAM AND JETSAM Gandalf and the King\u2019s company rode away, turning eastward to make the circuit of the ruined walls of Isengard. But Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas remained behind. Leaving Arod and Hasufel to stray in search of grass, they came and sat beside the hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All we need is something to keep a hold on him,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Five days ere I set out on this venture, eleven days ago at about this hour of the day, I heard the blowing of that horn: from the northward it seemed, but dim, as if it were but an echo in the mind."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t think much of this,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I feel nearly done in."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That would be no new counsel,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Have you not done this and little more in all the days of Denethor? But no! I said this would be prudent. I do not counsel prudence. I said victory could not be achieved by arms. I still hope for victory, but not by arms.ForintothemidstofallthesepoliciescomestheRingofPower,the understanding of our plight, and of Sauron\u2019s. If he regains it, your valour is vain, and his victory will be swift and complete: so complete that none can foresee the end of it while this world lasts."
    },
    {
        "text": "Slowly they laboured on. As they rose above the stench and vapours of the poisonous stream their breath became easier and their heads clearer; but now their limbs were deadly tired, as if they had walked all night under a burden, or had been swimming long against a heavy tide of water. At last they could go no further without a halt."
    },
    {
        "text": "The world was young, the mountains green, No stain yet on the Moon was seen,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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Half an hour, maybe,\u2019 he answered. \u2018Or it might be an hour. I have wandered for some time since. I do not know! I do not know!\u2019 He put his head in his hands, and sat as if bowed with grief."
    },
    {
        "text": "It has been treasured by his heirs when all other heirlooms were lost; for it was spoken of old among us that it should be made again when the Ring, Isildur\u2019s Bane, was found. Now you have seen the sword that you have sought, what would you ask? Do you wish for the House of Elendil to return to the Land of Gondor?\u2019 \u2018I was not sent to beg any boon, but to seek only the meaning of a riddle,\u2019 answered Boromir proudly. \u2018Yet we are hard pressed, and the Sword of Elendil would be a help beyond our hope \u2013 if such a thing could indeed return out of the shadows of the past.\u2019 He looked again at Aragorn, and doubt was in his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, here goes, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Good-bye!\u2019 He let go. Frodo followed. And even as they fell they heard the rush of horsemen sweeping over the bridge and the rattle of orc-feet running up behind. But Sam would have laughed, if he had dared."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 towards 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly Pippin was reminded of the hewn rocks of Argonath, and awe fell on him, as he looked down that avenue of kings long dead. At the far end upon a dais of many steps was set a high throne under a canopy of marble shaped like a crowned helm; behind it was carved upon the wall and set with gems an image of a tree in flower."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well do I understand your speech,\u2019 he answered in the same language; \u2018yet few strangers do so. Why then do you not speak in the Common Tongue, as is the custom in the West, if you wish to be answered?\u2019 \u2018It is the will of The\u00b4oden King that none should enter his gates, save those who know our tongue and are our friends,\u2019 replied one of the guards. \u2018None are welcome here in days of war but our own folk, and those that come from Mundburg in the land of Gondor. Who are you that come heedless over the plain thus strangely clad, riding horses like to our own horses? Long have we kept guard here, and we have watched you from afar. Never have we seen other riders soSay, are you not a wizard, some spy from Saruman, or phantoms of his craft? Speak now and be swift!\u2019 \u2018We are no phantoms,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018nor do your eyes cheat you."
    },
    {
        "text": "As he lay there, thinking and getting a hold of himself, he noticed all at once that the darkness was slowly giving way: a pale greenish light was growing round him. It did not at first show him what kind of a place he was in, for the light seemed to be coming out of himself, and from the floor beside him, and had not yet reached the roof or wall. He turned, and there in the cold glow he saw lying beside him Sam, Pippin, and Merry. They were on their backs, and their faces looked deathly pale; and they were clad in white. About them lay many treasures, of gold maybe, though in that light they looked cold and unlovely. On their heads were circlets, gold chains were about their waists, and on their fingers were many rings. Swords lay by their sides, and shields were at their feet. But across their three necks lay one long naked sword.Suddenly a song began: a cold murmur, rising and falling. The voice seemed far away and immeasurably dreary, sometimes high in the air and thin, sometimes like a low moan from the ground. Out of the formless stream of sad but horrible sounds, strings of words would now and again shape themselves: grim, hard, cold words, heartless and miserable. The night was railing against the morning of which it was bereaved, and the cold was cursing the warmth for which it hungered. Frodo was chilled to the marrow. After a while the song became clearer, and with dread in his heart he perceived that it had changed into an incantation: Cold be hand and heart and bone, and cold be sleep under stone: never more to wake on stony bed, never, till the Sun fails and the Moon is dead."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And so is this. Folk have come to grief here. Aye, they have, to grief. Laurelindo\u00b4renan lindelorendor malinorne\u00b4lion ornemalin,\u2019 he hummed to himself. \u2018They are falling rather behind the world in there, I guess,\u2019 he said. \u2018Neither this country, nor anything else outside the Golden Wood, is what it was when Celeborn was young. Still: Taurelilo\u00b4me\u00a8a-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaure\u00a8a Lo\u00b4me\u00a8anor* that is what they used to say. Things have changed, but it is still true in places.\u2019\u2018What do you mean?\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018What is true?\u2019 \u2018The trees and the Ents,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018I do not understand all that goes on myself, so I cannot explain it to you. Some of us are still true Ents, and lively enough in our fashion, but many are growing sleepy, going tree-ish, as you might say. Most of the trees are just trees, of course; but many are half awake. Some are quite wide awake, and a few are, well, ah, well getting Entish. That is going on all the time."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where are we, Gandalf ?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Gandalf, Gandalf !\u2019 cried Pippin, and Shadowfax halted."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam shook his head and did not answer. He was passing the rope through his fingers thoughtfully. \u2018Have it your own way, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 he said at last, \u2018but I think the rope came off itself \u2013 when I called.\u2019 He coiled it up and stowed it lovingly in his pack."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was the day before Midsummer when messengers came from Amon D\u02c6\u0131n to the City, and they said that there was a riding of fair folk out of the North, and they drew near now to the walls of the Pelennor. And the King said: \u2018At last they have come. Let all the City be made ready!\u2019 Upon the very Eve of Midsummer, when the sky was blue as sapphire and white stars opened in the East, but the West was still golden, and the air was cool and fragrant, the riders came down the North-way to the gates of Minas Tirith. First rode Elrohir and Elladan with a banner of silver, and then came Glorfindel and Erestor and all the household of Rivendell, and after them came the Lady Galad- riel and Celeborn, Lord of Lothlo\u00b4 rien, riding upon white steeds and with them many fair folk of their land, grey-cloaked with white gems in their hair; and last came Master Elrond, mighty among Elves and Men, bearing the sceptre of Annu\u00b4minas, and beside him upon a grey palfrey rode Arwen his daughter, Evenstar of her people."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then up he came spluttering, with weeds in his hair and a handful of mud; and he swam to the bank. And behold! when he washed the mud away, there in his hand lay a beautiful golden ring; and it shone and glittered in the sun, so that his heart was glad. But Sme\u00b4agol had been watching him from behind a tree, and as De\u00b4agol gloated over the ring, Sme\u00b4agol came softly up behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "Long ago Gorhendad Oldbuck, head of the Oldbuck family, one of the oldest in the Marish or indeed in the Shire, had crossed the river, which was the original boundary of the land eastwards. He built (and excavated) Brandy Hall, changed his name to Brandybuck, and settled down to become master of what was virtually a small independent country. His family grew and grew, and after his days continued to grow, until Brandy Hall occupied the whole of the low hill, and had three large front-doors, many side-doors, and about a hundred windows. The Brandybucks and their numerous dependants then began to burrow, and later to build, all round about. That was the origin of Buckland, a thickly inhabited strip between the river and the Old Forest, a sort of colony from the Shire. Its chief village was Bucklebury, clustering in the banks and slopes behind Brandy Hall."
    },
    {
        "text": "The cold hard lands they bites our hands, they gnaws our feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If that is so, it will 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.\u2019 Elrond summoned the hobbits to him. He looked gravely at Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Entwives ordered them to grow according to their wishes, and bear leaf and fruit to their liking; for the Entwives desired order, and plenty, and peace (by which they meant that things should remain where they had set them). So the Entwives made gardens to live in."
    },
    {
        "text": "With that he stood up and went down to the bottom of the gully again. He looked out. Clear sky was growing in the East once more."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I hope you\u2019ve made inquiries about inns along the road? Or have you forgotten about food and drink?\u2019thirsty! I don\u2019t know when drop or morsel last passed my lips. I\u2019d forgotten it, trying to find you. But let me think! Last time I looked I\u2019d got about enough of that waybread, and of what Captain Faramir gave us, to keep me on my legs for a couple of weeks at a pinch. But if there\u2019s a drop left in my bottle, there\u2019s no more. That\u2019s not going to be enough for two, nohow. Don\u2019t orcs eat, and don\u2019t they drink? Or do they just live on foul air and poison?\u2019 \u2018No, they eat and drink, Sam. The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own. I don\u2019t think it gave life to the orcs, it only ruined them and twisted them; and if they are to live at all, they have to live like other living creatures."
    },
    {
        "text": "So now there was a wide space before the walls of Minas Tirith, and it was hemmed in upon all sides by the knights and the soldiers of Gondor and of Rohan, and by the people of the City and of all parts of the land. A hush fell upon all as out from the host stepped the Du\u00b4nedain in silver and grey; and before them came walking slow the Lord Aragorn. He was clad in black mail girt with silver, and he wore a long mantle of pure white clasped at the throat with a great jewel of green that shone from afar; but his head was bare save for a star upon his forehead bound by a slender fillet of silver. With him were E\u00b4omer of Rohan, and the Prince Imrahil, and Gandalf robed all in white, and four small figures that many men marvelled to see."
    },
    {
        "text": "Maggot put this up for Mr. Baggins, with her compliments.\u2019 He handed it down and moved off, followed by a chorus of thanks and good-nights."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was wide and well-paved, and along its eastern edge ran a broad green riding-track, and beyond that a wall. On the ride horsemen gallopedtoandfro,butallthestreetseemedtobechokedwithgreatby horses; another slower, great waggons with fair housings of many colours, drawn by oxen; and along the west rim of the road many smaller carts hauled by trudging men."
    },
    {
        "text": "You have a score of scores counted ten times and five. They have more. Big fight, and who will win? And many more walk round walls of Stone-houses.\u2019 \u2018Alas! he speaks all too shrewdly,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018And our scouts say that they have cast trenches and stakes across the road. We cannot sweep them away in sudden onset.\u2019 \u2018And yet we need great haste,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018Mundburg is on fire!\u2019 \u2018Let Gha\u02c6n-buri-Gha\u02c6n finish!\u2019 said the Wild Man. \u2018More than one road he knows. He will lead you by road where no pits are, no gorgu\u02c6n walk, only Wild Men and beasts. Many paths were made when Stonehouse-folk were stronger. They carved hills as hunters carve beast-flesh. Wild Men think they ate stone for food. They went through Dru\u00b4adan to Rimmon with great wains. They go no longer."
    },
    {
        "text": "Presently the captain of the Guard thrust aside the curtain. \u2018A man is here, lord,\u2019 he said, \u2018an errand-rider of Gondor. He wishes to come before you at once.\u2019 \u2018Let him come!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What did you blush for, Sam?\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018You 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.\u2019didn\u2019t 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 \u2013 with a bit of garden of my own.\u2019 \u2018That\u2019s funny,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Almost exactly what I felt myself; only, only well, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll say any more,\u2019 he ended lamely."
    },
    {
        "text": "One by one white stars sprang forth as the sky faded."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Nor does age lie so heavily on your shoulders as some would have you think. Cast aside your prop!\u2019 From the king\u2019s hand the black staff fell clattering on the stones."
    },
    {
        "text": "Aragorn dismounted and surveyed the ground, then leaping back into the saddle, he rode away for some distance eastward, keeping to one side and taking care not to override the footprints. Then he again dismounted and examined the ground, going backwards and forwards on foot."
    },
    {
        "text": "In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him. The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command."
    },
    {
        "text": "The riders were not, however, content merely to wait for the dawn and let their enemies rest. A sudden outcry on the east side of the knoll showed that something was wrong. It seemed that some of the Men had ridden in close, slipped off their horses, crawled to the edge of the camp and killed several Orcs, and then had faded away again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, alas! through him the Enemy has learned that the One has been found again. He knows where Isildur fell. He knows where Gollum found his ring. He knows that it is a Great Ring, for it gave long life. He knows that it is not one of the Three, for they have never been lost, and they endure no evil. He knows that it is not one of the Seven, or the Nine, for they are accounted for. He knows that it is the One. And he has at last heard, I think, of hobbits and the Shire."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo paddled away from the shore, and the River bore them swiftly away, down the western arm, and past the frowning cliffs of Tol Brandir. The roar of the great falls drew nearer. Even with such help as Sam could give, it was hard work to pass across the current at the southward end of the island and drive the boat eastward towards the far shore."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beautiful she is, sir! Lovely! Sometimes like a great tree in flower, sometimes like a white daffadowndilly, small and slender like. Hard as di\u2019monds, soft as moonlight. Warm as sunlight, cold as frost in the stars. Proud and far-off as a snow-mountain, and as merry as any lass I ever saw with daisies in her hair in springtime. But that\u2019s a lot o\u2019 nonsense, and all wide of my mark.\u2019 \u2018Then she must be lovely indeed,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018Perilously fair.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know about perilous,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018It strikes me that folk takes their peril with them into Lo\u00b4 rien, and finds it there because they\u2019ve brought it. But perhaps you could call her perilous, because she\u2019s so strong in herself. You, you could dash yourself to pieces on her, like a ship on a rock; or drownd yourself, like a hobbit in a river."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Quick now, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 he said. \u2018I\u2019ve had a bit of a search to find anything small enough for the likes of us. We\u2019ll have to make do. But we must hurry. I\u2019ve met nothing alive, and I\u2019ve seen nothing, but I\u2019m not easy. I think this place is being watched. I can\u2019t explain it, but well: it feels to me as if one of those foul flying Riders was about, up in the blackness where he can\u2019t be seen.\u2019 He opened the bundle. Frodo looked in disgust at the contents, but there was nothing for it: he had to put the things on, or go naked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The time has come,\u2019 he said. \u2018If 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?\u2019 \u2018I do,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I will go with Sam.\u2019 \u2018Then I cannot help you much, not even with counsel,\u2019 said Elrond. \u2018I 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 the Grey- flood; 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He sprang past them; but even as he did so, thrusting the phial back into his bosom, he was aware, as plainly as if a bar of steel hading walls before him. Far up above, like an answering signal, a harsh bell clanged a single stroke."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was also his plan to shorten their journey by cutting across another great loop of the Road: east beyond Weathertop it changed its course and took a wide bend northwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam was sitting on the grass near the edge of the wood. Pippin was standing studying the sky and weather. There was no sign of the Elves."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I did not give you leave to go,\u2019 said Gandalf sternly. \u2018I have not finished. You have become a fool, Saruman, and yet pitiable. You might still have turned away from folly and evil, and have been of service. But you choose to stay and gnaw the ends of your old plots."
    },
    {
        "text": "As long as you never used it, I did not think that the Ring would have any lasting effect on you, not for evil, not at any rate for a very long time. And you must remember that nine years ago, when I last saw you, I still knew little for certain.\u2019 \u2018But why not destroy it, as you say should have been done long ago?\u2019 cried Frodo again. \u2018If you had warned me, or even sent me a message, I would have done away with it.\u2019 \u2018Would you? How would you do that? Have you ever tried?\u2019 \u2018No. But I suppose one could hammer it or melt it.\u2019 \u2018Try!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Try now!\u2019 Frodo drew the Ring out of his pocket again and looked at it. It now appeared plain and smooth, without mark or device that he could see. The gold looked very fair and pure, and Frodo thought how rich and beautiful was its colour, how perfect was its roundness."
    },
    {
        "text": "He bent low over it, looking like a greedy child stooping over a bowl of food, in a corner away from others. He drew his cloak aside and gazed at it. The air seemed still and tense about him. At first the globe was dark, black as jet, with the moonlight gleaming on its surface. Then there came a faint glow and stir in the heart of it, and it held his eyes, so that now he could not look away. Soon all the inside seemed on fire; the ball was spinning, or the lights within were revolving. Suddenly the lights went out. He gave a gasp and struggled; but he remained bent, clasping the ball with both hands. Closer and closer he bent, and then became rigid; his lips moved soundlessly for a while. Then with a strangled cry he fell back and lay still."
    },
    {
        "text": "The door opened, but no one could be seen to open it. Pippin looked into a great hall. It was lit by deep windows in the wide aisles at either side, beyond the rows of tall pillars that upheld the roof."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s a pretty thing, isn\u2019t it?\u2019 said Bilbo, moving it in the light. \u2018And useful. It is my dwarf-mail that Thorin gave me. I got it back from Michel Delving before I started, and packed it with my luggage. I brought all the mementoes of my Journey away with me, except the Ring.ButIdidnotexpecttousethis,andIdon\u2019tneeditnow,except\u2018I should look \u2013 well, I don\u2019t think I should look right in it,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "They halted and Frodo looked south wistfully. \u2018I should dearly like to see the old fellow again,\u2019 he said. \u2018I wonder how he is getting on?\u2019 \u2018As well as ever, you may be sure,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Quite untroubled; and I should guess, not much interested in anything that we have done or seen, unless perhaps in our visits to the Ents. There may be a time later for you to go and see him. But if I were you, I should press on now for home, or you will not come to the Brandywine Bridge before the gates are locked.\u2019 \u2018But there aren\u2019t any gates,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018not on the Road; you know that quite well. There\u2019s the Buckland Gate, of course; but they\u2019ll let me through that at any time.\u2019 \u2018There weren\u2019t any gates, you mean,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I think you will find some now. And you might have more trouble even at the Buckland Gate than you think. But you\u2019ll manage all right. Good-bye, dear friends! Not for the last time, not yet. Good-bye!\u2019 He turned Shadowfax off the Road, and the great horse leaped the green dike that here ran beside it; and then at a cry from Gandalf he was gone, racing towards the Barrow-downs like a wind from the\u2018Well here we are, just the four of us that started out together,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We have left all the rest behind, one after another. It seems almost like a dream that has slowly faded.\u2019 \u2018Not to me,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018To me it feels more like falling asleep again.\u2019Chapter 8 THE SCOURING OF THE SHIRE It was after nightfall when, wet and tired, the travellers came at last to the Brandywine, and they found the way barred. At either end of the Bridge there was a great spiked gate; and on the further side of the river they could see that some new houses had been built: two-storeyed with narrow straight-sided windows, bare and dimly lit, all very gloomy and un-Shirelike."
    },
    {
        "text": "You won\u2019t need it any more, Bilbo, unless I am quite mistaken.\u2019 Bilbo flushed, and there was an angry light in his eyes. His kindly face grew hard. \u2018Why not?\u2019 he cried. \u2018And what business is it of yours, anyway, to know what I do with my own things? It is my own. I found it. It came to me.\u2019 \u2018Yes, yes,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But there is no need to get angry.\u2019 \u2018If I am it is your fault,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018It is mine, I tell you. My own."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Hoom! Gandalf !\u2019\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018\u2018I am glad you have come."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I sent my son forth, unthanked, unblessed, out into needless peril, and here he lies with poison in his veins. Nay, nay, whatever may now betide in war, my line too is ending, even the House of the Stewards has failed. Mean folk shall rule the last remnant of the Kings of Men, lurking in the hills until all are hounded out.\u2019 Men came to the door crying for the Lord of the City. \u2018Nay, I will not come down,\u2019 he said. \u2018I must stay beside my son. He might still speak before the end. But that is near. Follow whom you will, even the Grey Fool, though his hope has failed. Here I stay.\u2019 So it was that Gandalf took command of the last defence of the City of Gondor. Wherever he came men\u2019s hearts would lift again, and the winged shadows pass from memory. Tirelessly he strode from Citadel to Gate, from north to south about the wall; and with him went the Prince of Dol Amroth in his shining mail. For he and his knights still held themselves like lords in whom the race of Nu\u00b4menor ran true. Men that saw them whispered saying: \u2018Belike the old tales speak well; there is Elvish blood in the veins of that folk, for the people of Nimrodel dwelt in that land once long ago.\u2019 And then one would sing amid the gloom some staves of the Lay of Nimrodel, or other songs of the Vale of Anduin out of vanished years."
    },
    {
        "text": "He ended, and strode on silently, and in all the wood, as far as ear could reach, there was not a sound."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yess! Yess indeed! There was another way. Sme\u00b4agol found it."
    },
    {
        "text": "A mile further on they came to a narrow ravine that led away north- wards through the steep lands on the left of the Road. Here Strider turned aside, and soon they were lost in a sombre country of dark trees winding among the feet of sullen hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s all ready. I thought we should be off today.\u2019 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\u2019 goods, grabbed a spare blanket, and some extra packages of food, and ran back."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We are likely to see other newcomers first,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Fugi- tives from Cair Andros have already reached us. The isle has fallen."
    },
    {
        "text": "Far off the shadows of Sauron hung; but torn by some gust of wind out of the world, or else moved by some great disquiet within, the mantling clouds swirled, and for a moment drew aside; and then he saw, rising black, blacker and darker than the vast shades amid which it stood, the cruel pinnacles and iron crown of the topmost tower of Barad-du\u02c6r. One moment only it stared out, but as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye; and then the shadows were furled again and the terrible vision was removed. The Eye was not turned to them: it was gazing north to where the Captains of the West stood at bay, and thither all its malice was now bent, as the Power moved to strike itsdeadlyblow;butFrodoatthatdreadfulglimpsefellasonestrickenpering: \u2018Help me, Sam! Help me, Sam! Hold my hand! I can\u2019t stop it.\u2019 Sam took his master\u2019s hands and laid them together, palm to palm, and kissed them; and then he held them gently between his own. The thought came suddenly to him: \u2018He\u2019s spotted us! It\u2019s all up, or it soon will be. Now, Sam Gamgee, this is the end of ends.\u2019 Again he lifted Frodo and drew his hands down to his own breast, letting his master\u2019s legs dangle. Then he bowed his head and struggled off along the climbing road. It was not as easy a way to take as it had looked at first. By fortune the fires that had poured forth in the great turmoils when Sam stood upon Cirith Ungol had flowed down mainly on the southern and western slopes, and the road on this side was not blocked. Yet in many places it had crumbled away or was crossed by gaping rents. After climbing eastward for some time it bent back upon itself at a sharp angle and went westward for a space."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Over the bridge!\u2019 cried Gandalf, recalling his strength. \u2018Fly! This is a foe beyond any of you. I must hold the narrow way. Fly!\u2019 Aragorn and Boromir did not heed the command, but still held their ground, side by side, behind Gandalf at the far end of the bridge. The others halted just within the doorway at the hall\u2019s end, and turned, unable to leave their leader to face the enemy alone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Sharkey,\u2019\u2019 says they. \u2018\u2018So get out o\u2019 the road, old hagling!\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018I\u2019ll give you Sharkey, you dirty thieving ruffians!\u2019\u2019 says she, and ups with her umberella and goes for the leader, near twice her size."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Did you ask about the sniffing?\u2019 \u2018We didn\u2019t discuss it,\u2019 said Frodo with his mouth full."
    },
    {
        "text": "He stretched and drew a deep breath. \u2018Why, what a dream I\u2019ve had!\u2019 he muttered. \u2018I am glad to wake!\u2019 He sat up and then he saw that Frodo was lying beside him, and slept peacefully, one hand behind his head, and the other resting upon the coverlet. It was the right hand, and the third finger was missing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019ll crawl, Sam,\u2019 he gasped."
    },
    {
        "text": "They did not stir, but the sickly hue had left them. They looked now as if they were only very deeply asleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, we have got no fish,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018We have only got this\u2019 \u2013 he held up a wafer of lembas \u2013 \u2018and water, if the water here is fit to drink.\u2019 \u2018Yess, yess, nice water,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018Drink it, drink it, while we can! But what is it they\u2019ve got, precious? Is it crunchable? Is it tasty?\u2019 Frodo broke off a portion of a wafer and handed it to him on its leaf-wrapping. Gollum sniffed at the leaf and his face changed: a spasm of disgust came over it, and a hint of his old malice. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol smells it!\u2019 he said. \u2018Leaves out of the Elf-country, gah! They stinks."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t hurt us! Don\u2019t let them hurt us, precious! They won\u2019t hurt us will they, nice little hobbitses? We didn\u2019t mean no harm, but they jumps on us like cats on poor mices, they did, precious. And we\u2019re so lonely, gollum. We\u2019ll be nice to them, very nice, if they\u2019ll be nice to us, won\u2019t we, yes, yess.\u2019\u2018But that would kill us, kill us,\u2019 whimpered Gollum. \u2018Cruel little hobbitses. Tie us up in the cold hard lands and leave us, gollum, gollum.\u2019 Sobs welled up in his gobbling throat."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What burden do you bear, Men of Rohan?\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here,\u2019 said Elrond, turning to Gandalf, \u2018is Boromir, a man from the South. He arrived in the grey morning, and seeks for counsel. I have bidden him to be present, for here his questions will be answered.\u2019 Not all that was spoken and debated in the Council need now be told. Much was said of events in the world outside, especially in the South, and in the wide lands east of the Mountains. Of these things Frodo had already heard many rumours; but the tale of Glo\u00b4 in was new to him, and when the dwarf spoke he listened attentively. It appeared that amid the splendour of their works of hand the hearts of the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain were troubled."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now The\u00b4oden spoke to E\u00b4omer, and he lifted up his hand and cried aloud, and with that word the Riders set forth. They rode over the Dike and down the Coomb, and then, turning swiftly eastwards, they took a path that skirted the foothills for a mile or so, until bending south it passed back among the hills and disappeared from view. Aragorn rode to the Dike and watched till the king\u2019s men were far down the Coomb. Then he turned to Halbarad."
    },
    {
        "text": "Upon the hearth the fire is red, Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet, Still round the corner we may meet A sudden tree or standing stone That none have seen but we alone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, Lady,\u2019 he answered. \u2018To tell you the truth, I wondered what you were talking about. I saw a star through your fingers. But if you\u2019ll pardon my speaking out, I think my master was right. I wish you\u2019d take his Ring. You\u2019d put things to rights. You\u2019d stop them digging up the Gaffer and turning him adrift. You\u2019d make some folk pay for their dirty work.\u2019 \u2018I would,\u2019 she said. \u2018That is how it would begin. But it would not stop with that, alas! We will not speak more of it. Let us go!\u2019Chapter 8 LO\u00b4 FAREWELL TO RIEN That night the Company was again summoned to the chamber of Celeborn, and there the Lord and Lady greeted them with fair words."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not wholly, perhaps,\u2019 said Faramir; \u2018but malice eats it like a canker, and the evil is growing. He will lead you to no good. If you will part with him, I will give him safe-conduct and guidance to any point on the borders of Gondor that he may name.\u2019 \u2018He would not take it,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018He would follow after me as he long has done. And I have promised many times to take him under my protection and to go where he led. You would not ask me to break faith with him?\u2019if one sees a friend bound unwitting to his own harm. But no \u2013 if he will go with you, you must now endure him. But I do not think you are holden to go to Cirith Ungol, of which he has told you less than he knows. That much I perceived clearly in his mind. Do not go to Cirith Ungol!\u2019 \u2018Where then shall I go?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Back to the Black Gate and deliver myself up to the guard? What do you know against this place that makes its name so dreadful?\u2019 \u2018Nothing certain,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018We of Gondor do not ever pass east of the Road in these days, and none of us younger men has ever done so, nor has any of us set foot upon the Mountains of Shadow."
    },
    {
        "text": "Butterbur with many thanks. \u2018I hope we shall meet again some day, when things are merry once more,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I should like nothing better than to stay in your house in peace for a while.\u2019 They tramped off, anxious and downhearted, under the eyes of the crowd. Not all the faces were friendly, nor all the words that were shouted. But Strider seemed to be held in awe by most of the Bree-landers, and those that he stared at shut their mouths and drew away. He walked in front with Frodo; next came Merry and Pippin; and last came Sam leading the pony, which was laden with as much of their baggage as they had the heart to give it; but already it looked less dejected, as if it approved of the change in its fortunes. Sam was chewing an apple thoughtfully. He had a pocket full of them: a parting present from Nob and Bob. \u2018Apples for walking, and a pipe for sitting,\u2019 he said. \u2018But I reckon I\u2019ll miss them both before long.\u2019 The hobbits took no notice of the inquisitive heads that peeped out of doors, or popped over walls and fences, as they passed. But as they drew near to the further gate, Frodo saw a dark ill-kept house behind a thick hedge: the last house in the village. In one of the\u2018So that\u2019s where that southerner is hiding!\u2019 he thought. \u2018He looks more than half like a goblin.\u2019 Over the hedge another man was staring boldly. He had heavy black brows, and dark scornful eyes; his large mouth curled in a sneer. He was smoking a short black pipe. As they approached he took it out of his mouth and spat."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have come at last to a hard choice,\u2019 he said. \u2018Shall we rest by night, or shall we go on while our will and strength hold?\u2019 \u2018Unless our enemies rest also, they will leave us far behind, if we stay to sleep,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "The great doors slammed to. Boom. The bars of iron fell into place inside. Clang. The gate was shut. Sam hurled himself against the bolted brazen plates and fell senseless to the ground. He was out in the darkness. Frodo was alive but taken by the Enemy.Chapter 1 MINAS TIRITH Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf \u2019s cloak. He wondered if he was awake or still sleeping, still in the swift-moving dream in which he had been wrapped so long since the great ride began. The dark world was rushing by and the wind sang loudly in his ears. He could see nothing but the wheeling stars, and away to his right vast shadows against the sky where the mountains of the South marched past. Sleepily he tried to reckon the times and stages of their journey, but his memory was drowsy and uncertain."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018See now!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018The Westfold dales are opening before us. Here we come back to the eastward road. The dark shadow yonder is the mouth of the Deeping-coomb. That way lies Aglarond and the Glittering Caves. Do not ask me about them. Ask Gimli, if you meet again, and for the first time you may get an answer longer than you wish. You will not see the caves yourself, not on this journey."
    },
    {
        "text": "You stink, and master stinks; the whole place stinks.\u2019 \u2018Yes, yes, and Sam stinks!\u2019 answered Gollum. \u2018Poor Sme\u00b4agol smells it, but good Sme\u00b4agol bears it. Helps nice master. But that\u2019s no matter. The air\u2019s moving, change is coming. Sme\u00b4agol wonders; he\u2019s not happy.\u2019 He went on again, but his uneasiness grew, and every now and again he stood up to his full height, craning his neck eastward and southward. For some time the hobbits could not hear or feel what was troubling him. Then suddenly all three halted, stiffening and listening. To Frodo and Sam it seemed that they heard, far away, a long wailing cry, high and thin and cruel. They shivered. At the same moment the stirring of the air became perceptible to them; and it grew very cold. As they stood straining their ears, they heard a noise like a wind coming in the distance. The misty lights wavered, dimmed, and went out."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Neither does Frodo,\u2019 said Gandalf, unexpectedly supporting Pippin. \u2018Nor do any of us see clearly. It is true that if these hobbits understood the danger, they would not dare to go. But they would still wish to go, or wish that they dared, and be shamed and un- happy. 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.\u2019 \u2018You speak gravely,\u2019 said Elrond, \u2018but I am in doubt. The Shire, I forebode, is not free now from peril; and these two I had thought to send back there as messengers, to do what they could, according to the fashion of their country, to warn the people of their danger."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But when I escaped and warned you, then the mask was torn, for those who would see. After that Wormtongue played dangerously, always seeking to delay you, to prevent your full strength being gath- ered. He was crafty: dulling men\u2019s wariness, or working on their fears, as served the occasion. Do you not remember how eagerly he urged that no man should be spared on a wildgoose chase northward, when the immediate peril was westward? He persuaded you to forbid E\u00b4 omer to pursue the raiding Orcs. If E\u00b4omer had not defied Wormtongue\u2019s voice speaking with your mouth, those Orcs would have reached Isengard by now, bearing a great prize. Not indeed that prize which Saruman desires above all else, but at the least two members of my Company, sharers of a secret hope, of which even to you, lord, I cannot yet speak openly. Dare you think of what they might now be suffering, or what Saruman might now have learned to our destruction?\u2019\u2018Say also,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018that to crooked eyes truth may wear a wry face.\u2019 \u2018Indeed my eyes were almost blind,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Most of all I owe to you, my guest. Once again you have come in time. I would give you a gift ere we go, at your own choosing. You have only to name aught that is mine. I reserve now only my sword!\u2019 \u2018Whether I came in time or not is yet to be seen,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last Gandalf halted and beckoned to them; and they came, and saw that beyond him the mists had cleared, and a pale sunlight shone."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then he actually rose from his seat and bowed. \u2018Glo\u00b4 in at your service,\u2019 he said, and bowed still lower."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last the trumpets rang and the army began to move. Troop by troop, and company by company, they wheeled and went off east- ward. And long after they had passed away out of sight down the great road to the Causeway, Merry stood there. The last glint of the morning sun on spear and helm twinkled and was lost, and still he remained with bowed head and heavy heart, feeling friendless and alone. Everyone that he cared for had gone away into the gloom that hungoverthedistanteasternsky;andlittlehopeatallwasleftinhisand he felt weak and old, and the sunlight seemed thin. He was roused by the touch of Bergil\u2019s hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "For Snowmane in his agony had rolled away from him again; yet he was the bane of his master."
    },
    {
        "text": "Here and there they came upon roving bands of Orcs; but they fled ere the Riders could take or slay them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Morning, my little friends!\u2019 he said to the others. \u2018I suppose you know who you\u2019ve taken up with? That\u2019s Stick-at-naught Strider, that is! Though I\u2019ve heard other names not so pretty. Watch out tonight! And you, Sammie, don\u2019t go ill-treating my poor old pony! Pah!\u2019 He spat again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nay, he did not come to the Rock,\u2019 said one of the Westfold-men."
    },
    {
        "text": "Farewell!\u2019 Then she fell on her knees, saying: \u2018I beg thee!\u2019 \u2018Nay, lady,\u2019 he said, and taking her by the hand he raised her."
    },
    {
        "text": "And then the head lay quietly back again in rest. No change came\u2018Good-bye, master, my dear!\u2019 he murmured. \u2018Forgive your Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo sighed and sat up. \u2018Where are we? How did I get here?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo and Sam gazed out in mingled loathing and wonder on this hateful land. Between them and the smoking mountain, and about it north and south, all seemed ruinous and dead, a desert burned and choked. They wondered how the Lord of this realm maintained and fed his slaves and his armies. Yet armies he had. As far as their eyes could reach, along the skirts of the Morgai and away southward, there were camps, some of tents, some ordered like small towns. One of the largest of these was right below them. Barely a mile out into the plain it clustered like some huge nest of insects, with straight dreary streets of huts and long low drab buildings. About it the ground was busy with folk going to and fro; a wide road ran from it south-east to join the Morgul-way, and along it many lines of small black shapes were hurrying."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thinking of all these things Sam went back to his master. He had no need to rouse him. Frodo was lying on his back with eyes open, staring at the cloudy sky. \u2018Well, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018I\u2019ve been having a look round and thinking a bit. There\u2019s nothing on the roads, and we\u2019d best be getting away while there\u2019s a chance. Can you man- age it?\u2019 \u2018I can manage it,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I must.\u2019 Once more they started, crawling from hollow to hollow, flitting behind such cover as they could find, but moving always in a slant towards the foothills of the northern range. But as they went the most easterly of the roads followed them, until it ran off, huggingfor the Dark Lord had almost completed the movement of his forces, and even in the fastness of his own realm he sought the secrecy of night, fearing the winds of the world that had turned against him, tearing aside his veils, and troubled with tidings of bold spies that had passed through his fences."
    },
    {
        "text": "Denethor looked indeed much more like a great wizard than Gandalf did, more kingly, beautiful, and powerful; and older. Yet by a sense other than sight Pippin perceived that Gandalf had the greater power and the deeper wisdom, and a majesty that was veiled. And he was older, far older. \u2018How much older?\u2019 he wondered, and then he thought how odd it was that he had never thought about it before."
    },
    {
        "text": "After a time he brought them to the brink of the narrow gully that they had struck before; but they were now further from the hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What does that mean?\u2019 said one of the guard to Ha\u00b4ma."
    },
    {
        "text": "Elrond went forward and stood beside the silent figure. \u2018Awake, little master!\u2019 he said, with a smile. Then, turning to Frodo, he beckoned to him. \u2018Now at last the hour has come that you have wished for, Frodo,\u2019 he said. \u2018Here is a friend that you have long missed.\u2019 The dark figure raised its head and uncovered its face."
    },
    {
        "text": "Soon there will be battle on the fields. A sortie must be made ready."
    },
    {
        "text": "Here they washed themselves and drank their fill at the in-falling freshet. Then they sought for a resting-place, and a hiding-place; for this land, fair-seeming still, was nonetheless now territory of the Enemy. They had not come very far from the road, and yet even in so short a space they had seen scars of the old wars, and the newer wounds made by the Orcs and other foul servants of the Dark Lord: a pit of uncovered filth and refuse; trees hewn down wantonly and left to die, with evil runes or the fell sign of the Eye cut in rude strokes on their bark."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ach, sss! Cautious, my precious! More haste less speed. We musstn\u2019t rissk our neck, musst we, precious? No, precious \u2013 gollum!\u2019 He lifted his head again, blinked at the moon, and quickly shut his eyes. \u2018We hate it,\u2019 he hissed. \u2018Nassty, nassty shivery light it is \u2013 sss \u2013 it spies on us, precious \u2013 it hurts our eyes.\u2019 He was getting lower now and the hisses became sharper and clearer.\u2018Whereissit,whereissit:myPrecious,myPrecious?It\u2019sours,\u2018It doesn\u2019t sound as if he knew we were here, does it?\u2019 whispered Sam. \u2018And what\u2019s his Precious? Does he mean the\u2014\u2014\u2019 \u2018Hsh!\u2019 breathed Frodo. \u2018He\u2019s getting near now, near enough to hear a whisper.\u2019 Indeed Gollum had suddenly paused again, and his large head on its scrawny neck was lolling from side to side as if he was listening."
    },
    {
        "text": "Along this path the hobbits trudged, side by side, unable to see Gollum in front of them, except when he turned back to beckon themon.Thenhiseyesshonewithagreen-whitelight,reflectingtheSam were always conscious, ever glancing fearfully over their shoul- ders, and ever dragging their eyes back to find the darkening path."
    },
    {
        "text": "ent. When Summer lies upon the world, and in a noon of gold Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold; When woodland halls are green and cool, and wind is in the West, Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is best! entwife. When Summer warms the hanging fruit and burns the berry brown; When straw is gold, and ear is white, and harvest comes to town; When honey spills, and apple swells, though wind be in the West, I\u2019ll linger here beneath the Sun, because my land is best! ent. When Winter comes, the winter wild that hill and wood shall slay; When trees shall fall and starless night devour the sunless day; When wind is in the deadly East, then in the bitter rain I\u2019ll look for thee, and call to thee; I\u2019ll come to thee again! entwife. When Winter comes, and singing ends; when darkness falls at last; When broken is the barren bough, and light and labour past; I\u2019ll look for thee, and wait for thee, until we meet again: Togetherwewilltaketheroadbeneaththebitterrain!Treebeard ended his song. \u2018That is how it goes,\u2019 he said. \u2018It is Elvish, of course: lighthearted, quickworded, and soon over. I daresay it is fair enough. But the Ents could say more on their side, if they had time! But now I am going to stand up and take a little sleep. Where will you stand?\u2019 \u2018We usually lie down to sleep,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We shall be all right where we are.\u2019 \u2018Lie down to sleep!\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018Why of course you do! Hm, hoom: I was forgetting: singing that song put me in mind of old times; almost thought that I was talking to young Entings, I did."
    },
    {
        "text": "When the poor creature died next spring \u2013 she was after all more than a hundred years old \u2013 Frodo was surprised and much moved: she had left all that remained of her money and of Lotho\u2019s for him to use in helping hobbits made homeless by the troubles. So that feud was ended."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018I would rather see him than all the towers and palaces in the world.\u2019 At length the feast came to an end. Elrond and Arwen rose and went down the hall, and the company followed them in due order."
    },
    {
        "text": "Dear Frodo, Bad news has reached me here. I must go off at once. You had better leave Bag End soon, and get out of the Shire before the end of July at latest. I will return as soon as I can; and I will follow you, if I find that youaregone.Leaveamessageformehere,ifyoupassthroughBree.Youbusiness and will help you. Make for Rivendell. There I hope we may meet again. If I do not come, Elrond will advise you."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam scowled at him, and sucked his teeth; but he seemed to sense that there was something odd about his master\u2019s mood and that the matterwasbeyondargument.AllthesamehewasamazedatFrodo\u2019stwisted away. \u2018You know that, or you guess well enough, Sme\u00b4agol,\u2019 he said, quietly and sternly. \u2018We are going to Mordor, of course. And you know the way there, I believe.\u2019 \u2018Ach! sss!\u2019 said Gollum, covering his ears with his hands, as if such frankness, and the open speaking of the names, hurt him. \u2018We guessed, yes we guessed,\u2019 he whispered; \u2018and we didn\u2019t want them to go, did we? No, precious, not the nice hobbits. Ashes, ashes, and dust, and thirst there is; and pits, pits, pits, and Orcs, thousands of Orcses. Nice hobbits mustn\u2019t go to \u2013 sss \u2013 those places.\u2019 \u2018So you have been there?\u2019 Frodo insisted. \u2018And you\u2019re being drawn back there, aren\u2019t you?\u2019 \u2018Yess. Yess. No!\u2019 shrieked Gollum. \u2018Once, by accident it was, wasn\u2019t it, precious? Yes, by accident. But we won\u2019t go back, no, no!\u2019 Then suddenly his voice and language changed, and he sobbed in his throat, and spoke but not to them. \u2018Leave me alone, gollum! You hurt me. O my poor hands, gollum! I, we, I don\u2019t want to come back."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin chuckled, but Sam looked indignant. \u2018That won\u2019t help you much; it goes for most hobbits, Barley, he says to me,\u2019 continued Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Since then the water has been sinking again. There must be outlets somewhere from the caves underneath, I think. If Saruman peeps out of any of his windows, it must look an untidy, dreary mess. We felt very lonely. Not even a visible Ent to talk to in all the ruin; and no news. We spent the night up on top there above the arch, and it was cold and damp and we did not sleep. We had a feeling that anything might happen at any minute. Saruman is still in his tower."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sun was beginning to get low and the light of afternoon was on the land as they went down the hill. So far they had not met a soul on the road. This way was not much used, being hardly fit for carts, and there was little traffic to the Woody End. They had been jogging along again for an hour or more when Sam stopped a moment as if listening. They were now on level ground, and the road after much winding lay straight ahead through grass-land sprinkled with tall trees, outliers of the approaching woods."
    },
    {
        "text": "Do you want it, or not? And what would you give for it?\u2019 \u2018Do I want it? Do I want it?\u2019 said Grishna\u00b4kh, as if puzzled; but his arms were trembling. \u2018What would I give for it? What do you mean?\u2019you must untie our legs first, or we\u2019ll do nothing, and say nothing.\u2019 \u2018My dear tender little fools,\u2019 hissed Grishna\u00b4kh, \u2018everything you have, and everything you know, will be got out of you in due time: everything! You\u2019ll wish there was more that you could tell to satisfy the Questioner, indeed you will: quite soon. We shan\u2019t hurry the enquiry. Oh dear no! What do you think you\u2019ve been kept alive for? My dear little fellows, please believe me when I say that it was not out of kindness: that\u2019s not even one of Uglu\u00b4 k\u2019s faults.\u2019 \u2018I find it quite easy to believe,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018But you haven\u2019t got your prey home yet. And it doesn\u2019t seem to be going your way, whatever happens. If we come to Isengard, it won\u2019t be the great Grishna\u00b4kh that benefits: Saruman will take all that he can find. If you want anything for yourself, now\u2019s the time to do a deal.\u2019 Grishna\u00b4kh began to lose his temper. The name of Saruman seemed specially to enrage him. Time was passing and the disturbance was dying down. Uglu\u00b4k or the Isengarders might return at any minute."
    },
    {
        "text": "Soon he had passed, like a shadow into shadow, down the winding road, and behind him still the black ranks crossed the bridge. So great an army had never issued from that vale since the days of Isildur\u2019s might; no host so fell and strong in arms had yet assailed the fords of Anduin; and yet it was but one and not the greatest of the hosts that Mordor now sent forth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And they tell us to throw it away!\u2019 he cried. \u2018I do not say destroy it. That might be well, if reason could show any hope of doing so."
    },
    {
        "text": "After half an hour Pippin said: \u2018I hope we have not turned too much towards the south, and are not walking longwise through this wood! It is not a very broad belt \u2013 I should have said no more than a mile at the widest \u2013 and we ought to have been through it by now.\u2019 \u2018It is no good our starting to go in zig-zags,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018That won\u2019t mend matters. Let us keep on as we are going! I am not sure that I want to come out into the open yet.\u2019 They went on for perhaps another couple of miles. Then the sun gleamed out of ragged clouds again and the rain lessened. It was now past mid-day, and they felt it was high time for lunch. They halted under an elm tree: its leaves though fast turning yellow were still thick, and the ground at its feet was fairly dry and sheltered. When they came to make their meal, they found that the Elves had filled their bottles with a clear drink, pale golden in colour: it had the scent of a honey made of many flowers, and was wonderfully refreshing."
    },
    {
        "text": "When he had dressed, Frodo found that while he slept the Ring had been hung about his neck on a new chain, light but strong."
    },
    {
        "text": "Well, all I can say is: things look as hopeless as a frost in Spring. Just when being invisible would be really useful, I can\u2019t use the Ring! And if ever I get any further, it\u2019s going to be nothing but a drag and a burden every step. So what\u2019s to be done?\u2019 He was not really in any doubt. He knew that he must go down to the gate and not linger any more. With a shrug of his shoulders, as if to shake off the shadow and dismiss the phantoms, he began slowly to descend. With each step he seemed to diminish. He had not gone far before he had shrunk again to a very small and frightened hobbit. He was now passing under the very walls of the Tower, and the cries and sounds of fighting could be heard with his unaided ears."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo had retired for a while and left his friend Merry Brandybuck to keep an eye on things. When Otho loudly demanded to see Frodo, Merry bowed politely."
    },
    {
        "text": "The afternoon came, and the sun, going west towards the moun- tains, sent out long yellow beams between the cracks and fissures of the clouds. Suddenly they were aware that everything was very quiet; the whole forest stood in listening silence. Of course, the Ent-voices had stopped. What did that mean? Bregalad was standing up erect and tense, looking back northwards towards Derndingle."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam turned quickly. \u2018And you, Ferny,\u2019 he said, \u2018put your ugly face out of sight, or it will get hurt.\u2019 With a sudden flick, quick as lightning, an apple left his hand and hit Bill square on the nose. He ducked too late, and curses came from behind the hedge. \u2018Waste of a good apple,\u2019 said Sam regretfully, and strode on."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have no fitting gifts to give you at our parting,\u2019 said Faramir; \u2018but take these staves. They may be of service to those who walk or climb in the wild. The men of the White Mountains use them; though these have been cut down to your height and newly shod. They are made of the fair tree lebethron, beloved of the woodwrights of Gondor, and a virtue has been set upon them of finding and returning. May that virtue not wholly fail under the Shadow into which you go!\u2019 The hobbits bowed low. \u2018Most gracious host,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018it was said to me by Elrond Halfelven that I should find friendship upon the way, secret and unlooked for. Certainly I looked for no such friendship as you have shown. To have found it turns evil to greatNow they made ready to depart. Gollum was brought out of some corner or hiding-hole, and he seemed better pleased with himself than he had been, though he kept close to Frodo and avoided the glance of Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wormtongue!\u2019 called Frodo. \u2018You need not follow him. I knowWormtongue halted and looked back at him, half prepared to stay."
    },
    {
        "text": "You will not have us slay wild beasts for no purpose, and it seemed no more, so I tried no arrow. It was too dark for sure shooting anyway, and the creature was gone into the gloom of the leaves in a twinkling."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits felt encouraged, and looked up hopefully at the broad- ening daylight in the sky. At the far side of the glade there was a break in the wall of trees, and a clear path beyond it. They could see it running on into the wood, wide in places and open above, though every now and again the trees drew in and overshadowed it with their dark boughs. Up this path they rode. They were still climbing gently, but they now went much quicker, and with better heart; for it seemed to them that the Forest had relented, and was going to let them pass unhindered after all."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly from the Dike yells and screams, and the fierce battle- cries of men broke out. Flaming brands appeared over the brink and clustered thickly at the breach. Then they scattered and vanished."
    },
    {
        "text": "Supposing the king\u2019s small escort was trapped and overcome, but he escaped into the darkness \u2013 alone in the wild fields of Rohan with no idea of where he was in all the endless miles? \u2018No good!\u2019 he thought. He drew his sword and tightened his belt."
    },
    {
        "text": "How could I do so, who have so often counselled my friends to suspect even their own hands when dealing with the Enemy. Bless you, Gimli, son of Glo\u00b4 in! Maybe you will see us both together one day and judge between us!\u2019 \u2018But the hobbits!\u2019 Legolas broke in. \u2018We have come far to seek them, and you seem to know where they are. Where are they now?\u2019 \u2018With Treebeard and the Ents,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "This is Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is hot in here,\u2019 said Legolas to Gandalf. \u2018I feel a great wrath about me. Do you not feel the air throb in your ears?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Things would have gone ill with Sam, if he had been alone. But Frodo sprang up, and drew Sting from its sheath. With his left hand he drew back Gollum\u2019s head by his thin lank hair, stretching his long neck, and forcing his pale venomous eyes to stare up at the sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here is a nice little parlour!\u2019 he said. \u2018I hope it will suit. Excuse meyou want anything, ring the hand-bell, and Nob will come. If he don\u2019t come, ring and shout!\u2019 Off he went at last, and left them feeling rather breathless. He seemed capable of an endless stream of talk, however busy he might be. They found themselves in a small and cosy room. There was a bit of bright fire burning on the hearth, and in front of it were some low and comfortable chairs. There was a round table, already spread with a white cloth, and on it was a large hand-bell. But Nob, the hobbit servant, came bustling in long before they thought of ringing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018To put up some sheds for Sharkey,\u2019\u2019 says they."
    },
    {
        "text": "They walked down a paved passage, long and empty, and as they went Gandalf spoke softly to Pippin. \u2018Be careful of your words, Master Peregrin! This is no time for hobbit pertness. The\u00b4oden is a kindly old man. Denethor is of another sort, proud and subtle, a man of far greater lineage and power, though he is not called a king. But he will speak most to you, and question you much, since you can tell him of his son Boromir. He loved him greatly: too much perhaps; and the more so because they were unlike. But under cover of this love he will think it easier to learn what he wishes from you rather than from me. Do not tell him more than you need, and leave quiet the matter of Frodo\u2019s errand. I will deal with that in due time. And say nothing about Aragorn either, unless you must.\u2019 \u2018Why not? What is wrong with Strider?\u2019 Pippin whispered. \u2018He meant to come here, didn\u2019t he? And he\u2019ll be arriving soon himself, anyway.\u2019 \u2018Maybe,maybe,\u2019said Gandalf.\u2018Thoughifhecomes,it islikelytoGandalf halted before a tall door of polished metal. \u2018See, Master Pippin, there is no time to instruct you now in the history of Gondor; though it might have been better, if you had learned something of it, when you were still birds-nesting and playing truant in the woods of the Shire. Do as I bid! It is scarcely wise when bringing the news of the death of his heir to a mighty lord to speak over much of the coming of one who will, if he comes, claim the kingship. Is that enough?\u2019 \u2018Kingship?\u2019 said Pippin amazed."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback; and indeed though his garments were rich, and his cloak was lined with fur, they were stained with long travel. He had a collar of silver in which a single white stone was set; his locks were shorn about his shoulders. On a baldric he wore a great horn tipped with silver that now was laid upon his knees. He gazed at Frodo and Bilbo with sudden wonder."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then he saw that it was not so; the man was a stranger, though as like to Boromir as if he were one of his kin, tall and grey-eyed and proud. He was clad as a rider with a cloak of dark green over a coat of fine mail; on the front of his helm was wrought a small silver star."
    },
    {
        "text": "I believe you are friends and folk worthy of honour, who have no evil purpose. You may go in.\u2019entered. Inside it seemed dark and warm after the clear air upon the hill. The hall was long and wide and filled with shadows and half lights; mighty pillars upheld its lofty roof. But here and there bright sunbeams fell in glimmering shafts from the eastern windows, high under the deep eaves. Through the louver in the roof, above the thin wisps of issuing smoke, the sky showed pale and blue. As their eyes changed, the travellers perceived that the floor was paved with stones of many hues; branching runes and strange devices intertwined beneath their feet. They saw now that the pillars were richly carved, gleaming dully with gold and half-seen colours. Many woven cloths were hung upon the walls, and over their wide spaces marched figures of ancient legend, some dim with years, some darkling in the shade."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s some devilry at work in the Shire,\u2019 he said. \u2018Elrond knew what he was about when he wanted to send Mr. Merry back.\u2019 Then suddenly Sam gave a cry and sprang away. \u2018I can\u2019t stay here,\u2019 he said wildly. \u2018I must go home. They\u2019ve dug up Bagshot Row, and there\u2019s the poor old Gaffer going down the Hill with his bits of things on a barrow. I must go home!\u2019 \u2018You cannot go home alone,\u2019 said the Lady. \u2018You 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But you know the Gaffer is close at hand, and he will be very well looked after by Widow Rumble.\u2019 \u2018It\u2019s not that, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam, and he went very red."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Will you not put aside your doubt of me and let me go? I am weary, and full of grief, and afraid. But I have a deed to do, or to attempt, before I too am slain. And the more need of haste, if we two halflings are all that remain of our fellowship."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So you have yet another of these imps with you!\u2019 he cried. \u2018What use you find in them I cannot guess; but to send them as spies into Mordor is beyond even your accustomed folly. Still, I thank him, for it is plain that this brat at least has seen these tokens before, and it would be vain for you to deny them now.\u2019 \u2018I do not wish to deny them,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Indeed, I know them all and all their history, and despite your scorn, foul Mouth of Sauron, you cannot say as much. But why do you bring them here?\u2019 \u2018Dwarf-coat, elf-cloak, blade of the downfallen West, and spy from the little rat-land of the Shire \u2013 nay, do not start! We know it well \u2013 here are the marks of a conspiracy. Now, maybe he that bore thesewhat little wit is left to you. For Sauron does not love spies, and what his fate shall be depends now on your choice.\u2019 No one answered him; but he saw their faces grey with fear and the horror in their eyes, and he laughed again, for it seemed to him that his sport went well. \u2018Good, good!\u2019 he said. \u2018He was dear to you, I see. Or else his errand was one that you did not wish to fail? It has."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Maybe,\u2019 said Elrond, \u2018but let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.\u2019 \u2018Yet sworn word may strengthen quaking heart,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It will be Bilbo\u2019s Birthday on Thursday, Sam,\u2019 he said. \u2018And he will pass the Old Took. He will be a hundred and thirty-one!\u2019 \u2018So he will!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018He\u2019s a marvel!\u2019 \u2018Well, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018I want you to see Rose and find out if she can spare you, so that you and I can go off together. You can\u2019t go far or for a long time now, of course,\u2019 he said a little wistfully."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What shall we do?\u2019 he said. \u2018We have walked long and far. Shall we look for some place in the woods behind where we can lie hidden?\u2019 \u2018No good hiding in the dark,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018It\u2019s in day that hobbits must hide now, yes in day.\u2019 \u2018Oh come!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018We must rest for a bit, even if we get up again in the middle of the night. There\u2019ll still be hours of dark then, time enough for you to take us a long march, if you know the way.\u2019 Gollum reluctantly agreed to this, and he turned back towards the trees, working eastward for a while along the straggling edges of the wood. He would not rest on the ground so near the evil road, and after some debate they all climbed up into the crotch of a large holm-oak, whose thick branches springing together from the trunk made a good hiding-place and a fairly comfortable refuge. Night fellGollum at once curled up and went to sleep. The hobbits did not shut their eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "I think he is in Rohan now.\u2019 \u2018You have been in Rohan, I hear. There is much that I would ask you of that land also; for we put much of what little hope we have in its people. But I am forgetting my errand, which was first to answer what you would ask. What would you know, Master Peregrin?\u2019 \u2018Er well,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018if I may venture to say so, rather a burning question in my mind at present is, well, what about breakfast and all that? I mean, what are the meal-times, if you understand me, and where is the dining-room, if there is one? And the inns? I looked, but never a one could I see as we rode up, though I had been borne up by the hope of a draught of ale as soon as we came to the homes of wise and courtly men.\u2019 Beregond looked at him gravely. \u2018An old campaigner, I see,\u2019 he said. \u2018They say that men who go warring afield look ever to the next hope of food and of drink; though I am not a travelled man myself."
    },
    {
        "text": "The song ended. \u2018These are High Elves! They spoke the name of Elbereth!\u2019saidFrodoinamazement.\u2018FewofthatfairestfolkareeverThe hobbits sat in shadow by the wayside. Before long the Elves came down the lane towards the valley. They passed slowly, and the hobbits could see the starlight glimmering on their hair and in their eyes. They bore no lights, yet as they walked a shimmer, like the light of the moon above the rim of the hills before it rises, seemed to fall about their feet. They were now silent, and as the last Elf passed he turned and looked towards the hobbits and laughed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yonder is the Dimrill Stair,\u2019 said Aragorn, pointing to the falls."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Men of Gondor are valiant, and they will never submit; but they may be beaten down. Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon. Let the Ring be your weapon, if it has such power as you say. Take it and go forth to victory!\u2019 \u2018Alas, no,\u2019 said Elrond. \u2018We cannot use the Ruling Ring. That we now know too well. It belongs to Sauron and was made by him alone, and is altogether evil. Its strength, Boromir, is too great for anyone to wield at will, save only those who have already a great power of their own. But for them it holds an even deadlier peril. The very desire of it corrupts the heart. Consider Saruman. If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor, using his own arts, he would then set himself on Sauron\u2019s throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear. And that is another reason why the Ring should be destroyed: as long as it is in the world it will be a danger even to the Wise. For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so. I fear to take the Ring to hide it. I will not take the Ring to wield it.\u2019 \u2018Nor I,\u2019 said Gandalf.we have. And at the least, while the Wise ones guard this Ring, we will fight on. Mayhap the Sword-that-was-Broken may still stem the tide \u2013 if the hand that wields it has inherited not an heirloom only, but the sinews of the Kings of Men.\u2019 \u2018Who can tell?\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But we will put it to the test one day.\u2019 \u2018May the day not be too long delayed,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018For though I do not ask for aid, we need it. It would comfort us to know that others fought also with all the means that they have.\u2019 \u2018Then be comforted,\u2019 said Elrond. \u2018For there are other powers and realms that you know not, and they are hidden from you. Anduin the Great flows past many shores, ere it comes to Argonath and the Gates of Gondor.\u2019 \u2018Still it might be well for all,\u2019 said Glo\u00b4 in the Dwarf, \u2018if all these strengths were joined, and the powers of each were used in league."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And then you must take some sleep,\u2019 said Frodo.if you understand me \u2013 in him still, and it\u2019s getting stronger again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Don\u2019t the great tales never end?\u2019 \u2018No, they never end as tales,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But the people in them come, and go when their part\u2019s ended. Our part will end later \u2013 or sooner.\u2019 \u2018And then we can have some rest and some sleep,\u2019 said Sam. He laughed grimly. \u2018And I mean just that, Mr. Frodo. I mean plain ordinary rest, and sleep, and waking up to a morning\u2019s work in the garden. I\u2019m afraid that\u2019s all I\u2019m hoping for all the time. All the big important plans are not for my sort. Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We\u2019re in one, of course; but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: \u2018\u2018Let\u2019s hear about Frodo and the Ring!\u2019\u2019 And they\u2019ll say: \u2018\u2018Yes, that\u2019s one of my favourite stories. Frodo was very brave, wasn\u2019t he, dad?\u2019\u2019 \u2018\u2018Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that\u2019s saying a lot.\u2019\u2019 \u2019 \u2018It\u2019s saying a lot too much,\u2019 said Frodo, and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. To Sam suddenly it seemed as if all the stones were listening and the tall rocks leaning over them. But Frodo did not heed them; he laughed again. \u2018Why, Sam,\u2019 he said, \u2018to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you\u2019ve left out one of the chief charac- ters: Samwise the stouthearted. \u2018\u2018I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn\u2019t they put in more of his talk, dad? That\u2019s what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn\u2019t have got far without Sam, would he, dad?\u2019\u2019 \u2019 \u2018Now, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018you shouldn\u2019t make fun. I wasfast. You and I, Sam, are still stuck in the worst places of the story, and it is all too likely that some will say at this point: \u2018\u2018Shut the book now, dad; we don\u2019t want to read any more.\u2019\u2019 \u2019 \u2018Maybe,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018but I wouldn\u2019t be one to say that. Things done and over and made into part of the great tales are different."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum rose slowly and crawled insect-like to the lip of the hollow."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Begging your pardon, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 he said, \u2018but have you any notion how far there is still to go?\u2019 \u2018No, not any clear notion, Sam,\u2019 Frodo answered. \u2018In Rivendell before I set out I was shown a map of Mordor that was made before the Enemy came back here; but I only remember it vaguely. I remem- ber clearest that there was a place in the north where the western range and the northern range send out spurs that nearly meet. That must be twenty leagues at least from the bridge back by the Tower."
    },
    {
        "text": "About an hour after midnight the fear fell on them a third time, but it now seemed more remote, as if it were passing far above the clouds, rushing with terrible speed into the West. Gollum, however, was helpless with terror, and was convinced that they were being hunted, that their approach was known."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Three, fairest of all, the Elf-lords hid from him, and his hand never touched them or sullied them. Seven the Dwarf-kings possessed, but three he has recovered, and the others the dragons have consumed. Nine he gave to Mortal Men, proud and great, and so ensnared them. Long ago they fell under the dominion of the One, and they became Ringwraiths, shadows under his great Shadow, his most terrible servants. Long ago. It is many a year since the Nine walked abroad. Yet who knows? As the Shadow grows once more, they too may walk again. But come! We will not speak of such things even in the morning of the Shire."
    },
    {
        "text": "Why, even Gollum might be good in a tale, better than he is to have by you, anyway. And he used to like tales himself once, by his own account. I wonder if he thinks he\u2019s the hero or the villain? \u2018Gollum!\u2019 he called. \u2018Would you like to be the hero \u2013 now where\u2019s he got to again?\u2019 There was no sign of him at the mouth of their shelter nor in the shadows near. He had refused their food, though he had, as usual, accepted a mouthful of water; and then he had seemed to curl up for a sleep. They had supposed that one at any rate of his objects in his long absence the day before had been to hunt for food to his own liking; and now he had evidently slipped off again while they talked."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits remained flat on the ground, as Grishna\u00b4kh had left them. Another horseman came riding swiftly to his comrade\u2019s aid."
    },
    {
        "text": "But all the while I sit and think of times there were before, I listen for returning feet and voices at the door."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am glad that you are here with me,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Here at the end of all things, Sam.\u2019 \u2018Yes, I am with you, Master,\u2019 said Sam, laying Frodo\u2019s wounded hand gently to his breast. \u2018And you\u2019re with me. And the journey\u2019s finished. But after coming all that way I don\u2019t want to give up yet."
    },
    {
        "text": "At once Strider flung himself on the ground behind the ruined circle, pulling Frodo down beside him. Merry threw himself along- side."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry and Pippin dragged themselves forward and lay down with their backs to the willow-trunk. Behind them the great cracks gaped wide to receive them as the tree swayed and creaked. They looked up at the grey and yellow leaves, moving softly against the light, and singing. They shut their eyes, and then it seemed that they could almost hear words, cool words, saying something about water and sleep. They gave themselves up to the spell and fell fast asleep at the foot of the great grey willow.compelling desire for cool water. \u2018Wait for me, Sam,\u2019 he stammered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Daro!\u2019 it said in commanding tone, and Legolas dropped back to earth in surprise and fear. He shrank against the bole of the tree."
    },
    {
        "text": "They found a passage between two hills that led them into a valley running south-east, the direction that they wished to take; but towards the end of the day they found their road again barred by a ridge of high land; its dark edge against the sky was broken into many bare points like teeth of a blunted saw. They had a choice between going back or climbing over it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Stay a moment!\u2019\u2019 I said. \u2018\u2018We shall need your help, and the help of all things that will give it. Send out messages to all the beasts and birds that are your friends. Tell them to bring news of anything that bears on this matter to Saruman and Gandalf. Let messages be sent to Orthanc.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018I will do that,\u2019\u2019 he said, and rode off as if the Nine were after him."
    },
    {
        "text": "The leading company was halted, and as those behind filed up out of the trough of the Stonewain Valley they spread out and passed to camping-places under the grey trees. The king summoned the captains to council. E\u00b4 omer sent out scouts to spy upon the road; but old Gha\u02c6n shook his head."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thehobbitsledtheway;andtheypassedunderthearchandcamehearth and chimney at one side. The chamber was hewn out of the stone; and it must once have been dark, for its windows looked out only into the tunnel. But light came in now through the broken roof."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Good!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018It is mending fast. You will soon be sound again. Elrond has cured you: he has tended you for days, ever since you were brought in.\u2019 \u2018Days?\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018My name!\u2019 said the old man again. \u2018Have you not guessed it already? You have heard it before, I think. Yes, you have heard it before. But come now, what of your tale?\u2019 The three companions stood silent and made no answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s 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 they heard nothing at all, unless it were occasion- ally 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Still, I daresay I could get together a fair company of our younger folks \u2013 if I could make them understand the need; if I could rouse them: we are not a hasty folk. What a pity there are so few of us!\u2019 \u2018Why are there so few, when you have lived in this country so long?\u2019 asked Pippin. \u2018Have a great many died?\u2019 \u2018Oh, no!\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018None have died from inside, as you might say. Some have fallen in the evil chances of the long years, of course; and more have grown tree-ish. But there were never many of us and we have not increased. There have been no Entings \u2013 no children, you would say, not for a terrible long count of years. You see, we lost the Entwives.\u2019 \u2018How very sad!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018How was it that they all died?\u2019 \u2018They did not die!\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018I never said died. We lost them, I said. We lost them and we cannot find them.\u2019 He sighed. \u2018I thought most folk knew that. There were songs about the hunt of the Ents for the Entwives sung among Elves and Men from Mirkwood to Gondor. They cannot be quite forgotten.\u2019 \u2018Well, I am afraid the songs have not come west over the Moun- tains to the Shire,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Won\u2019t you tell us some more, or sing us one of the songs?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I will indeed,\u2019 said Treebeard, seeming pleased with the request. \u2018But I cannot tell it properly, only in short; and then we must end our talk: tomorrow we have councils to call, and work to do, and maybe a journey to begin.\u2019 \u2018It is rather a strange and sad story,\u2019 he went on after a pause."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Galadriel!\u2019 he called, and gathering his courage he lifted up the Phial once more. The eyes halted. For a moment their regard relaxed, as if some hint of doubt troubled them. Then Frodo\u2019s heart flamed within him, and without thinking what he did, whether it was folly or despair or courage, he took the Phial in his left hand, and with his right hand drew his sword. Sting flashed out, and the sharp elven- blade sparkled in the silver light, but at its edges a blue fire flickered."
    },
    {
        "text": "With a shout Sam raced across the grass. The boat slipped into the water."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But at the western edge of Mirkwood the trail turned away. It wandered off southwards and passed out of the Wood-elves\u2019 ken, and was lost. And then I made a great mistake. Yes, Frodo, and not the first; though I fear it may prove the worst. I let the matter be. I let him go; for I had much else to think of at that time, and I still trusted the lore of Saruman."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Verily,\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018And in my turn I bore it, and so did each eldest son of our house, far back into the vanished years before the failing of the kings, since Vorondil father of Mardil hunted the wild kine of Araw in the far fields of Rhu\u02c6n. I heard it blowing dim upon the northern marches thirteen days ago, and the River brought it to me, broken: it will wind no more.\u2019 He paused and there was a heavy silence. Suddenly he turned his black glance upon Pippin. \u2018What say you to that, Halfling?\u2019 \u2018Thirteen, thirteen days,\u2019 faltered Pippin. \u2018Yes, I think that would be so. Yes, I stood beside him, as he blew the horn. But no help came. Only more orcs.\u2019 \u2018So,\u2019 said Denethor, looking keenly at Pippin\u2019s face. \u2018You were there? Tell me more! Why did no help come? And how did you escape, and yet he did not, so mighty a man as he was, and only orcs to withstand him?\u2019 Pippin flushed and forgot his fear. \u2018The mightiest man may be slain by one arrow,\u2019 he said; \u2018and Boromir was pierced by many."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Please, Treebeard,\u2019 he said, \u2018could I ask you something? Why did Celeborn warn us against your forest? He told us not to risk getting entangled in it.\u2019 \u2018Hmm, did he now?\u2019 rumbled Treebeard. \u2018And I might have said much the same, if you had been going the other way. Do not risk getting entangled in the woods of Laurelindo\u00b4renan! That is what the Elves used to call it, but now they make the name shorter: Lothlo\u00b4rien they call it. Perhaps they are right: maybe it is fading, not growing."
    },
    {
        "text": "Isildur\u2019sBaneisfound.Battleisathand.TheSwordshallbereforged.bright ring in the Halfling\u2019s hand; but Isildur perished ere this age of the world began, they say. How do the Wise know that this ring is his? And how has it passed down the years, until it is brought hither by so strange a messenger?\u2019 \u2018That shall be told,\u2019 said Elrond."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly a great horse came striding up, like a flash of silver. It was already dark, but I could see the rider\u2019s face clearly: it seemed to shine, and all his clothes were white. I just sat up, staring, with my mouth open. I tried to call out, and couldn\u2019t."
    },
    {
        "text": "But the punishment is just. If Wormtongue ever comes out of Orthanc alive, it will be more than he deserves."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Away now, Shadowfax! Run, greatheart, run as you have never run before! Now we are come to the lands where you were foaled, and every stone you know. Run now! Hope is in speed!\u2019 Shadowfax tossed his head and cried aloud, as if a trumpet had summoned him to battle. Then he sprang forward. Fire flew from his feet; night rushed over him."
    },
    {
        "text": "But for a while they could still feel, and indeed the senses of their feet and fingers at first seemed sharpened almost painfully. The walls felt, to their surprise, smooth, and the floor, save for a step now and again, was straight and even, going ever up at the same stiff slope."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is good!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018My dear Gimli, it is Longbottom Leaf ! There were the Hornblower brandmarks on the barrels, as plain as plain. How it came here, I can\u2019t imagine. For Saruman\u2019s private use, I fancy. I never knew that it went so far abroad. But it comes in handy now!\u2019 \u2018It would,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018if I had a pipe to go with it. Alas, I lost mine in Moria, or before. Is there no pipe in all your plunder?\u2019 \u2018No, I am afraid not,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We have not found any, not even here in the guardrooms. Saruman kept this dainty to himself, it seems. And I don\u2019t think it would be any use knocking on the doors of Orthanc to beg a pipe of him! We shall have to share pipes, as good friends must at a pinch.\u2019 \u2018Half a moment!\u2019 said Pippin. Putting his hand inside the breastmy old wooden pipe. And here\u2019s another: an unused one. I have carried it a long way, though I don\u2019t know why. I never really expected to find any pipe-weed on the journey, when my own ran out. But now it comes in useful after all.\u2019 He held up a small pipe with a wide flattened bowl, and handed it to Gimli. \u2018Does that settle the score between us?\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Often the grass was so high that it reached above the knees of the riders, and their steeds seemed to be swimming in a grey-green sea."
    },
    {
        "text": "There need not be, there would not be, any real change in our designs, only in our means.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Saruman,\u2019\u2019 I said, \u2018\u2018I have heard speeches of this kind before, but only in the mouths of emissaries sent from Mordor to deceive the ignorant. I cannot think that you brought me so far only to weary my ears.\u2019\u2019 \u2018He looked at me sidelong, and paused a while considering. \u2018\u2018Well, I see that this wise course does not commend itself to you,\u2019\u2019 he said.Gandalf ?\u2019\u2019 he whispered. \u2018\u2018Why not? The Ruling Ring? If we could command that, then the Power would pass to us. That is in truth why I brought you here. For I have many eyes in my service, and I believe that you know where this precious thing now lies. Is it not so? Or why do the Nine ask for the Shire, and what is your business there?\u2019\u2019 As he said this a lust which he could not conceal shone suddenly in his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo opened his eyes and drew a breath. It was easier to breathe up here above the reeks that coiled and drifted down below. \u2018Thank you, Sam,\u2019 he said in a cracked whisper. \u2018How far is there to go?\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018because I don\u2019t know where we\u2019re going.\u2019 He looked back, and then he looked up; and he was amazed to see how far his last effort had brought him. The Mountain standing ominous and alone had looked taller than it was. Sam saw now that it was less lofty than the high passes of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath which he and Frodo had scaled. The confused and tumbled shoulders of its great base rose for maybe three thousand feet above the plain, and above them was reared half as high again its tall central cone, like a vast oast or chimney capped with a jagged crater. But already Sam was more than half way up the base, and the plain of Gorgoroth was dim below him, wrapped in fume and shadow. As he looked up he would have given a shout, if his parched throat had allowed him; for amid the rugged humps and shoulders above him he saw plainly a path or road. It climbed like a rising girdle from the west and wound snakelike about the Mountain, until before it went round out of view it reached the foot of the cone upon its eastern side.guessed that if he could only struggle on just a little way further up, they would strike this path. A gleam of hope returned to him. They might conquer the Mountain yet. \u2018Why, it might have been put there a-purpose!\u2019 he said to himself. \u2018If it wasn\u2019t there, I\u2019d have to say I was beaten in the end.\u2019 The path was not put there for the purposes of Sam. He did not know it, but he was looking at Sauron\u2019s Road from Barad-du\u02c6 rtothe Sammath Naur, the Chambers of Fire. Out from the Dark Tower\u2019s huge western gate it came over a deep abyss by a vast bridge of iron, and then passing into the plain it ran for a league between two smoking chasms, and so reached a long sloping causeway that led up on to the Mountain\u2019s eastern side. Thence, turning and encircling all its wide girth from south to north, it climbed at last, high in the upper cone, but still far from the reeking summit, to a dark entrance that gazed back east straight to the Window of the Eye in Sauron\u2019s shadow-mantled fortress. Often blocked or destroyed by the tumults of the Mountain\u2019s furnaces, always that road was repaired and cleared again by the labours of countless orcs."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Riders were still in the low valley before the mouth of the Coomb, when cries and hornblasts were heard from their scouts that went in front. Out of the darkness arrows whistled. Swiftly a scout rode back and reported that wolf-riders were abroad in the valley, and that a host of Orcs and wild men were hurrying southward from the Fords of Isen and seemed to be making for Helm\u2019s Deep."
    },
    {
        "text": "If the storm passes before nightfall, I\u2019m going to try it.\u2019 \u2018The rain\u2019s nearly given over already,\u2019 said Sam; \u2018but don\u2019t you go doing anything risky in the dim again, Mr. Frodo! And I haven\u2019t got over that shriek on the wind yet, if you have. Like a Black Rider it sounded \u2013 but one up in the air, if they can fly. I\u2019m thinking we\u2019d best lay up in this crack till night\u2019s over.\u2019 \u2018And I\u2019m thinking that I won\u2019t spend a moment longer than I need, stuck up on this edge with the eyes of the Dark Country looking over the marshes,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "At length, just as they felt that they could endure no more, they saw Gollum\u2019s eyes peering down at them again. \u2018We\u2019re up,\u2019 he whis- pered. \u2018First stair\u2019s past. Clever hobbits to climb so high, very clever hobbits. Just a few more little steps and that\u2019s all, yes.\u2019in a deep dark passage that seemed still to go up before them, though at a gentler slope and without steps. Gollum did not let them rest long."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well no; but I have heard something that has made me anxious and needs looking into. If I think it necessary after all for you to get off at once, I shall come back immediately, or at least send word. In the meanwhile stick to your plan; but be more careful than ever, especially of the Ring. Let me impress on you once more: don\u2019t use it! \u2019 He went off at dawn. \u2018I may be back any day,\u2019 he said. \u2018At the very latest I shall come back for the farewell party. I think after all you may need my company on the Road.\u2019 At first Frodo was a good deal disturbed, and wondered often what Gandalf could have heard; but his uneasiness wore off, and in the fine weather he forgot his troubles for a while. The Shire had seldom seen so fair a summer, or so rich an autumn: the trees were laden with apples, honey was dripping in the combs, and the corn was tall and full."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hoom, hmm! Come now! Not so hasty! You call yourselves hobbits? But you should not go telling just anybody. You\u2019ll be letting out your own right names if you\u2019re not careful.\u2019 \u2018We aren\u2019t careful about that,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018As a matter of fact I\u2019m a Brandybuck, Meriadoc Brandybuck, though most people call me just Merry.\u2019 \u2018And I\u2019m a Took, Peregrin Took, but I\u2019m generally called Pippin, or even Pip.\u2019 \u2018Hm, but you are hasty folk, I see,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018I am honoured by your confidence; but you should not be too free all at once. There are Ents and Ents, you know; or there are Ents and things that look like Ents but ain\u2019t, as you might say. I\u2019ll call you Merry and Pippin, if you please \u2013 nice names. For I am not going to tell you my name, not yet at any rate.\u2019 A queer half-knowing, half-humorous look came with a green flicker into his eyes. \u2018For one thing it would take a long while: my name is growing all the time, and I\u2019ve lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story. Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to in my language, in the Old Entish as you might say. It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was naked, lying as if in a swoon on a heap of filthy rags: his arm was flung up, shielding his head, and across his side there ran an ugly whip-weal."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do not be afraid!\u2019 said Aragorn. There was a pause longer than usual, and Gandalf and Gimli were whispering together; the others were crowded behind, waiting anxiously. \u2018Do not be afraid! I have been with him on many a journey, if never on one so dark; and there are tales in Rivendell of greater deeds of his than any that I have seen. He will not go astray \u2013 if 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 Beru\u00b4thiel.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Aye,\u2019 he sighed, \u2018we may help the other peoples before we pass away."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before he could mind, Tom slipped behind And gave him the boot to larn him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come now, Gollum or Sme\u00b4agol if you wish, tell me of this other way, and show me, if you can, what hope there is in it, enough tounnerved him. It was not easy to get any clear account out of him, amid his mumblings and squeakings, and the frequent interruptions in which he crawled on the floor and begged them both to be kind to \u2018poor little Sme\u00b4agol\u2019. After a while he grew a little calmer, and Frodo gathered bit by bit that, if a traveller followed the road that turned west of Ephel Du\u00b4 ath, he would come in time to a crossing in a circle of dark trees. On the right a road went down to Osgiliath and the bridges of the Anduin; in the middle the road went on southwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "There in the still cool hour before dawn they rested for a brief space. The moon had long gone down before them, the stars glittered above them; the first light of day had not yet come over the dark hills behind. For the moment Aragorn was at a loss: the orc-trail had descended into the valley, but there it had vanished."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Up we go!\u2019 said Merry joyfully. \u2018Now for a breath of air, and a sight of the land!\u2019 They climbed and scrambled up the rock. If the stair had beenand sores of their captivity had healed and their vigour had returned."
    },
    {
        "text": "He rose clumsily and bowed in dwarf-fashion, saying: \u2018Yet more fair is the living land of Lo\u00b4 rien, and the Lady Galadriel is above all the jewels that lie beneath the earth!\u2019 There was a silence. At length Celeborn spoke again. \u2018I did not know that your plight was so evil,\u2019 he said. \u2018Let 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 thatwe 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He will take that bait, in hope and in greed, for he will think that in such rashness he sees the pride of the new Ringlord: and he will say: \u2018\u2018So! he pushes out his neck too soon and too far. Let him come on, and behold I will have him in a trap from which he cannot escape."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo sprang to his feet. A long-drawn wail came down the wind, like the cry of some evil and lonely creature. It rose and fell, and ended on a high piercing note. Even as they sat and stood, as if suddenly frozen, it was answered by another cry, fainter and further off, but no less chilling to the blood. There was then a silence, broken only by the sound of the wind in the leaves."
    },
    {
        "text": "His eyes closed. He cried out; and sat up, staring in bewilderment at all the faces round him, pale in the moonlight.understand? Say just that!\u2019 Then he struggled to get up and escape, but Gandalf held him gently and firmly."
    },
    {
        "text": "But on him mighty doom was laid, till Moon should fade, an orbe\u00b4d star to pass, and tarry never more on Hither Shores where mortals are; for ever still a herald on an errand that should never rest to bear his shining lamp afar, the Flammifer of Westernesse."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He is steering a straight course now for the halls of The\u00b4oden under the slopes of the White Mountains,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018It will be quicker so. The ground is firmer in the Eastemnet, where the chief northward track lies, across the river, but Shadowfax knows the way through every fen and hollow.\u2019 For many hours they rode on through the meads and riverlands."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a moment The\u00b4oden and E\u00b4omer and all his men stared at them in wonder. Amid all the wreck of Isengard this seemed to them the strangest sight. But before the king could speak, the small smoke- breathing figure became suddenly aware of them, as they sat there silent on the edge of the mist. He sprang to his feet. A young man he looked, or like one, though not much more than half a man in height; his head of brown curling hair was uncovered, but he was clad in a travel-stained cloak of the same hue and shape as the com- panions of Gandalf had worn when they rode to Edoras. He bowed very low, putting his hand upon his breast. Then, seeming not to observe the wizard and his friends, he turned to E\u00b4 omer and the king."
    },
    {
        "text": "They sat on the green edge and looked out over the woods below them, while they ate their mid-day meal. As the sun rose and passedthem greatly; for it was good to see a sight of anything beyond the wood\u2019s borders, though they did not mean to go that way, if they could help it: the Barrow-downs had as sinister a reputation in hobbit- legend as the Forest itself."
    },
    {
        "text": "On the eastern side, in the angle of two piers, there was a great door, high above the ground; and over it was a shuttered window, opening upon a balcony hedged with iron bars. Up to the threshold of the door there mounted a flight of twenty-seven broad stairs, hewn by some unknown art of the same black stone. This was the only entrance to the tower; but many tall windows were cut with deep embrasures in the climbing walls: far up they peered like little eyes in the sheer faces of the horns."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Gollum\u2019s doing, I\u2019ll be bound,\u2019 said Sam to Frodo. \u2018And a nice place to choose, too. The River seems set on taking us right into their arms!\u2019 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 star-glimmer they must have offered their cunning foes some mark, unless it was that the grey cloaks of Lo\u00b4 rien and the grey timber of the elf-wrought boats defeated the malice of the archers of Mordor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Our King and the White Rider!\u2019 they shouted. \u2018Forth Eorlingas!\u2019 The trumpets sounded. The horses reared and neighed. Spear clashed on shield. Then the king raised his hand, and with a rush like the sudden onset of a great wind the last host of Rohan rode thundering into the West."
    },
    {
        "text": "Upon their shields they bore a strange device: a small white hand in\u2018I have not seen these tokens before,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018What do they mean?\u2019 \u2018S is for Sauron,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018That is easy to read.\u2019 \u2018Nay!\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Sauron does not use the elf-runes.\u2019 \u2018Neither does he use his right name, nor permit it to be spelt or spoken,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018And he does not use white. The Orcs in the service of Barad-du\u02c6r use the sign of the Red Eye.\u2019 He stood for a moment in thought. \u2018S is for Saruman, I guess,\u2019 he said at length."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A Balrog,\u2019 muttered Gandalf. \u2018Now I understand.\u2019 He faltered and leaned heavily on his staff. \u2018What an evil fortune! And I am already weary.\u2019 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 sud- denly as a flame blown out by a dark wind, and the enemy advanced again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo and Sam beat first upon the tree-trunk where Pippin had lain. They then struggled frantically to pull open the jaws of the crack that held poor Merry. It was quite useless.Crickhollow!\u2019 He kicked the tree with all his strength, heedless of his own feet. A hardly perceptible shiver ran through the stem and up into the branches; the leaves rustled and whispered, but with a sound now of faint and far-off laughter."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Your guide must be blindfolded,\u2019 said Faramir, \u2018but you and your servant Samwise I release from this, if you wish.\u2019 Gollum squealed, and squirmed, and clutched at Frodo, when they came to bind his eyes; and Frodo said: \u2018Blindfold us all three, and cover up my eyes first, and then perhaps he will see that no harm is meant.\u2019 This was done, and they were led from the cave of Henneth Annu\u02c6n. After they had passed the passages and stairs they felt the cool morning air, fresh and sweet, about them. Still blind they went on for some little time, up and then gently down. At last the voice of Faramir ordered them to be uncovered."
    },
    {
        "text": "In that riding went also Queen Arwen, and Celeborn and Galadriel with their folk, and Elrond and his sons; and the princes of Dol Amroth and of Ithilien, and many captains and knights. Never had any king of the Mark such company upon the road as went with The\u00b4oden Thengel\u2019s son to the land of his home."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Brr! The nasty creature; the poor wretch!\u2019 Gollum said nothing to them, until he had drunk deeply and washed himself in the stream. Then he came up to them, licking his lips. \u2018Better now,\u2019 he said. \u2018Are we rested? Ready to go on? Nice hobbits, they sleep beautifully. Trust Sme\u00b4agol now? Very, very good.\u2019floor more gradual. Its bottom was less stony and more earthy, and slowly its sides dwindled to mere banks. It began to wind and wander."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018As for me,\u2019 said Boromir, \u2018my way home lies onward and not back.\u2019 \u2018That is true,\u2019 said Celeborn, \u2018but is all this Company going with you to Minas Tirith?\u2019 \u2018We have not decided our course,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Beyond Lothlo\u00b4r- ien I do not know what Gandalf intended to do. Indeed I do not think that even he had any clear purpose.\u2019 \u2018Maybe not,\u2019 said Celeborn, \u2018yet 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 Lo\u00b4 rien and Gondor, save by boat. And are not the bridges of Osgiliath broken down and all the landings held now by the Enemy? \u2018On 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?\u2019 \u2018If my advice is heeded, it will be the western shore, and the way to Minas Tirith,\u2019 answered Boromir. \u2018But I am not the leader of the Company.\u2019 The others said nothing, and Aragorn looked doubtful and troubled."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He stands not alone,\u2019 said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow with hands that moved quicker than sight. \u2018You would die before your stroke fell.\u2019 E\u00b4 omer raised his sword, and things might have gone ill, but Aragorn sprang between them, and raised his hand. \u2018Your pardon, E\u00b4omer!\u2019 he cried. \u2018When you know more you will understand why you have angered my companions. We intend no evil to Rohan, nor to any of its folk, neither to man nor to horse. Will you not hear our tale before you strike?\u2019 \u2018I will,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer lowering his blade. \u2018But wanderers in the Riddermark would be wise to be less haughty in these days of doubt."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The morning is wearing away,\u2019 he said. \u2018Soon we must go.\u2019 \u2018Do we go to find our friends and to see Treebeard?\u2019 asked Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "They are overtaking us, riding hard.\u2019 The\u00b4oden at once called a halt. The Riders turned about and seized their spears. Aragorn dismounted and set Merry on the ground, and drawing his sword he stood by the king\u2019s stirrup. E\u00b4omer and his esquire rode back to the rear. Merry felt more like unneeded baggage than ever, and he wondered, if there was a fight, what he should do."
    },
    {
        "text": "Monoliths of black marble, they rose to great capitals carved in many strange figures of beasts and leaves; and far above in shadow the wide vaulting gleamed with dull gold. The floor was of polished stone, white-gleaming, inset with flowing traceries of many colours. No hangings nor storied webs, nor any things of woven stuff or of wood, were to be seen in that long solemn hall; but between the pillars there stood a silent company of tall images graven in cold stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "Far over the plain E\u00b4owyn saw the glitter of their spears, as she stood still, alone before the doors of the silent house.Chapter 7 HELM\u2019S DEEP The sun was already westering as they rode from Edoras, and the light of it was in their eyes, turning all the rolling fields of Rohan to a golden haze. There was a beaten way, north-westward along the foot-hills of the White Mountains, and this they followed, up and down in a green country, crossing small swift streams by many fords."
    },
    {
        "text": "His plans are far from ripe, I think, but they are ripening. We shall be hard put to it. We should be very hard put to it, even if it were not for this dreadful chance."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits grew very weary. They advanced slowly, for they had to pick their way through a pathless country, encumbered by fallen trees and tumbled rocks. As long as they could they avoided climbing for Frodo\u2019s sake, and because it was in fact difficult to find any way up out of the narrow dales. They had been two days in this country when the weather turned wet. The wind began to blow steadily out of the West and pour the water of the distant seas on the dark heads of the hills in fine drenching rain. By nightfall they were all soaked, and their camp was cheerless, for they could not get any fire to burn."
    },
    {
        "text": "The orc-trail turned from the downs towards it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes: I found him some way up the hill, and I spoke to him. I urged him to come to Minas Tirith and not to go east. I grew angry and he left me. He vanished. I have never seen such a thing happen before, though I have heard of it in tales. He must have put the Ring on. I could not find him again. I thought he would return to you.\u2019 \u2018Is that all that you have to say?\u2019 said Aragorn, looking hard and not too kindly at Boromir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is Durin\u2019s Stone!\u2019 cried Gimli. \u2018I cannot pass without turning aside for a moment to look at the wonder of the dale!\u2019 \u2018Be swift then!\u2019 said Aragorn, looking back towards the Gates."
    },
    {
        "text": "But neither rock nor river would be to blame. Now Boro\u2014\u2014\u2019 He stopped and went red in the face."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Careful!\u2019 he whispered. \u2018Steps. Lots of steps. Must be careful!\u2019 Care was certainly needed. Frodo and Sam at first felt easier, having now a wall on either side, but the stairway was almost as steep as a ladder, and as they climbed up and up, they became more and more aware of the long black fall behind them. And the steps were narrow, spaced unevenly, and often treacherous: they were worn and smooth at the edges, and some were broken, and some cracked as foot was set upon them. The hobbits struggled on, until at last they were clinging with desperate fingers to the steps ahead, and forcing their aching knees to bend and straighten; and ever as the stair cut its way deeper into the sheer mountain the rocky walls rose higher and higher above their heads."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You wrap that orc-rag close round you, and put the belt outside it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nothing like it has happened since Bilbo came with us. But perhaps I should not inquire too closely, since Elrond and Gandalf do not seem disposed to talk of this?\u2019 \u2018I think we will not speak of it, at least not yet,\u2019 said Frodo politely."
    },
    {
        "text": "Curtains of wind-blown rain were slanting down. The sky above and to the west was still dark with thunder, and lightning far away flickered among the tops of hidden hills. But the wind had shifted to the north, and already the storm that had come out of the East was receding, rolling away southward to the sea. Suddenly through a rent in the clouds behind them a shaft of sun stabbed down. The falling showers gleamed like silver, and far away the river glittered like a shimmering glass."
    },
    {
        "text": "The shafts ran down by many slopes and spiral stairs to caverns far under; there Saruman had treasuries, store-houses, armouries,vents, lit from beneath with red light, or blue, or venomous green."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys of the hills,\u2019 he said, \u2018and then let all the foes of Gondor flee!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ents the earthborn, old as mountains, the wide-walkers, water drinking; and hungry as hunters, the Hobbit children, the laughing-folk, the little people, they shall remain friends as long as leaves are renewed. Fare you well! But if you hear news up in your pleasant land, in the Shire, send me word! You know what I mean: word or sight of the Entwives."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The enemy is at hand!\u2019 they said. \u2018We loosed every arrow that we had, and filled the Dike with Orcs. But it will not halt them long."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t try!\u2019 said the old hobbit, turning round and slapping him on the back. \u2018Ow!\u2019 he cried. \u2018You 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\u2019ll do my best to finish my book before you return. I should like to write the second book, if I am spared.\u2019 He broke off and turned to the window again, singing softly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Let\u2019s find a place to lie up in,\u2019 he said. \u2018Not lower down. Higher up for me.\u2019 A little way back above the lake they found a deep brown bed of last year\u2019s fern. Beyond it was a thicket of dark-leaved bay-trees climbing up a steep bank that was crowned with old cedars. Here they decided to rest and pass the day, which already promised to be bright and warm. A good day for strolling on their way along the groves and glades of Ithilien; but though Orcs may shun the sunlight, there were too many places here where they could lie hid and watch; and other evil eyes were abroad: Sauron had many servants. Gollum, in any case, would not move under the Yellow Face. Soon it would look over the dark ridges of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath, and he would faintNow that the despair of the impassable Gate was behind him, he did not feel so inclined as his master to take no thought for their livelihood beyond the end of their errand; and anyway it seemed wiser to him to save the waybread of the Elves for worse times ahead. Six days or more had passed since he reckoned that they had only a bare supply for three weeks."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Boromir did not speak again."
    },
    {
        "text": "The trees were the worst loss and damage, for at Sharkey\u2019s bidding they had been cut down recklessly far and wide over the Shire; and Sam grieved over this more than anything else. For one thing, this hurt would take long to heal, and only his great-grandchildren, he thought, would see the Shire as it ought to be."
    },
    {
        "text": "Briefly Strider told of the attack on their camp under Weathertop, and of the deadly knife. He drew out the hilt, which he had kept, and handed it to the Elf. Glorfindel shuddered as he took it, but he looked intently at it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But what about the Black Riders? Would it be safe to wait one day for Gandalf ?\u2019 \u2018That all depends on what you think the Riders would do, if they found you here,\u2019 answered Merry. \u2018They could have reached here by now, of course, if they were not stopped at the North-gate, where the Hedge runs down to the river-bank, just this side of the Bridge."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then they halted and looked at him and saw that he lived still; but he did not look at them. The way is shut, his voice said again. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "When the light of day was come into the sky but the sun was not yet risen above the high ridges in the East, Aragorn made ready to depart. His company was all mounted, and he was about to leap into the saddle, when the Lady E\u00b4 owyn came to bid them farewell. She was clad as a Rider and girt with a sword. In her hand she bore a cup, and she set it to her lips and drank a little, wishing them good speed; and then she gave the cup to Aragorn, and he drank, and he said: \u2018Farewell, Lady of Rohan! I drink to the fortunes of your House, and of you, and of all your people. Say to your brother: beyond the shadows we may meet again!\u2019 Then it seemed to Gimli and Legolas who were nearby that she wept, and in one so stern and proud that seemed the more grievous."
    },
    {
        "text": "They had been a fortnight on the way when the weather changed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am all right,\u2019 gasped Frodo. \u2018I can walk. Put me down!\u2019 Aragorn nearly dropped him in his amazement. \u2018I thought you were dead!\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "West, west away, the round sun is falling."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But no! That came in his tale, long long ago. This is my tale, and it is ended now. Good-bye!\u2019 And his thought fled far away and his eyes saw no more.Chapter 1 THE TOWER OF CIRITH UNGOL Sam roused himself painfully from the ground. For a moment he wondered where he was, and then all the misery and despair returned to him. He was in the deep dark outside the under-gate of the orcs\u2019 stronghold; its brazen doors were shut. He must have fallen stunned when he hurled himself against them; but how long he had lain there he did not know. Then he had been on fire, desperate and furious; now he was shivering and cold. He crept to the doors and pressed his ears against them."
    },
    {
        "text": "My Precious. Yes, my Precious.\u2019 The wizard\u2019s face remained grave and attentive, and only a flicker in his deep eyes showed that he was startled and indeed alarmed. \u2018It has been called that before,\u2019 he said, \u2018but not by you.\u2019 \u2018But I say it now. And why not? Even if Gollum said the sameBilbo,\u2019 he said. \u2018You make that clearer with every word you say. It has got far too much hold on you. Let it go! And then you can go yourself, and be free.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ll do as I choose and go as I please,\u2019 said Bilbo obstinately."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But we will speak no longer counsels of prudence. We will come."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am sorry, Frodo!\u2019 he cried, full of concern. \u2018So much has hap- pened 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.\u2019 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.wound was not deep, but it looked ugly, and Aragorn\u2019s face was grave as he examined it. After a moment he looked up with relief."
    },
    {
        "text": "He might have been just another bag that Dernhelm was carrying."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ah,\u2019 said Ted, \u2018you do, if you listen. But I can hear fireside-tales and children\u2019s stories at home, if I want to.\u2019 \u2018No doubt you can,\u2019 retorted Sam, \u2018and I daresay there\u2019s more truth in some of them than you reckon. Who invented the stories anyway? Take dragons now.\u2019 \u2018No thank \u2019ee,\u2019 said Ted, \u2018I won\u2019t. I heard tell of them when I was a youngster, but there\u2019s no call to believe in them now. There\u2019s only one Dragon in Bywater, and that\u2019s Green,\u2019 he said, getting a general laugh."
    },
    {
        "text": "Here Bilbo\u2019s hand ended and Frodo had written: the downfall of the lord of the rings and the return of the king (as seen by the Little People; being the memoirs of Bilbo and Frodo of the Shire, supplemented by the accounts of their friends and the learning of the Wise.) Together with extracts from Books of Lore translated by Bilbo in Rivendell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018The time of my thought is my own to spend,\u2019\u2019 answered Da\u00b4in."
    },
    {
        "text": "But E\u00b4owyn stood still as a figure carven in stone, her hands clenched at her sides, and she watched them until they passed into the shadows under the black Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain, in which was the Door of the Dead. When they were lost to view, she turned, stumbling as one that is blind, and went back to her lodging. But none of her folk saw this parting, for they hid themselves in fear and would not come forth until the day was up, and the reckless strangers were gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "And Aragorn himself waits for a sign.\u2019 There came a day when Gandalf could not be found, and the Companions wondered what was going forward. But Gandalf took Aragorn out from the City by night, and he brought him to the southern feet of Mount Mindolluin; and there they found a path made in ages past that few now dared to tread. For it led up on to the mountain to a high hallow where only the kings had been wont to go. And they went up by steep ways, until they came to a high field below the snows that clad the lofty peaks, and it looked down over the precipice that stood behind the City. And standing there they surveyed the lands, for the morning was come; and they sawMountains of Shadow were veiled in a golden mist. Upon the one side their sight reached to the grey Emyn Muil, and the glint of Rauros was like a star twinkling far off; and upon the other side they saw the River like a ribbon laid down to Pelargir, and beyond that was a light on the hem of the sky that spoke of the Sea."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Men of Nu\u00b4menor were settled far and wide on the shores and seaward regions of the Great Lands, but for the most part they fell into evils and follies. Many became enamoured of the Darkness andtheblackarts;someweregivenoverwhollytoidlenessandease,\u2018It is not said that evil arts were ever practised in Gondor, or that the Nameless One was ever named in honour there; and the old wisdom and beauty brought out of the West remained long in the realm of the sons of Elendil the Fair, and they linger there still. Yet even so it was Gondor that brought about its own decay, falling by degrees into dotage, and thinking that the Enemy was asleep, who was only banished not destroyed."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the king\u2019s board sat E\u00b4omer and the four guests, and there also waiting upon the king was the lady E\u00b4owyn. They ate and drank swiftly. The others were silent while The\u00b4oden questioned Gandalf concerning Saruman."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo suddenly felt very foolish, and found himself (as was his habit when making a speech) fingering the things in his pocket. He felt the Ring on its chain, and quite unaccountably the desire came over him to slip it on and vanish out of the silly situation. It seemed to him, somehow, as if the suggestion came to him from outside, from someone or something in the room. He resisted the temptation firmly, and clasped the Ring in his hand, as if to keep a hold on it and prevent it from escaping or doing any mischief. At any rate it gave him no inspiration. He spoke \u2018a few suitable words\u2019, as theyhelp to renew the old ties of friendship between the Shire and Bree; and then he hesitated and coughed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their going was very slow. To prevent their getting separated and wandering in different directions they went in file, with Frodo leading."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Easy, easy!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018He has no strength to match you. Don\u2019t hurt him, if you can help it. He\u2019ll be quieter, if you don\u2019t. Sme\u00b4agol! They won\u2019t hurt you. I\u2019ll go with you, and you shall come to no harm. Not unless they kill me too. Trust Master!\u2019 Gollum turned and spat at him. The men picked him up, put a hood over his eyes, and carried him off."
    },
    {
        "text": "But I stayed for a while, for it seemed strange, and then I hastened back. I thought I heard the thing hiss at me from high above as I turned away. A large squirrel, maybe. Perhaps under the shadow of the Unnamed some of the beasts of Mirkwood are wandering hither to our woods. They have black squirrels there, \u2019tis said.\u2019 \u2018Perhaps,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018But that would be an ill omen, if it were so. We do not want the escapes of Mirkwood in Ithilien.\u2019 Sam fancied that he gave a swift glance towards the hobbits as he spoke; but Sam said nothing. For a while he and Frodo lay back and watched the torchlight, and the men moving to and fro speaking in hushed voices."
    },
    {
        "text": "He let out a loud sigh and gave a huge yawn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What have you to say, The\u00b4oden King? Will you have peace with me, and all the aid that my knowledge, founded in long years, can bring? Shall we make our counsels together against evil days, and repair our injuries with such good will that our estates shall both come to fairer flower than ever before?\u2019 Still The\u00b4oden did not answer. Whether he strove with anger or doubt none could say. E\u00b4 omer spoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "His sword broke and fell out of his shaking hand. The elf-horse reared and snorted. The foremost of the black horses had almost set foot upon the shore."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 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 perceived themor deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of Lo\u00b4rien there was no stain."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wake our guests,\u2019 he said, \u2018and take them water. It is time to eat.\u2019 Frodo sat up and yawned and stretched. Sam, not used to being waited on, looked with some surprise at the tall man who bowed, holding a basin of water before him."
    },
    {
        "text": "The others looked at him in silence, and exchanged meaning glances among themselves."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hee now! See now! I\u2019m tired o\u2019 gnawing old bones and skins; I\u2019ve a mind to dine on thee now.\u2019 But just as he thought his dinner was caught, He found his hands had hold of naught."
    },
    {
        "text": "O! Water is fair that leaps on high in a fountain white beneath the sky; but never did fountain sound so sweet as splashing Hot Water with my feet! There was a terrific splash, and a shout of Whoa! from Frodo. ItMerry went to the door: \u2018What about supper and beer in the throat?\u2019 he called. Frodo came out drying his hair."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Aye, aye, something like, but much worse. I do not doubt there is some shadow of the Great Darkness lying there still away north; and bad memories are handed down. But there are hollow dales in this land where the Darkness has never been lifted, and the trees are older than I am. Still, we do what we can. We keep off strangers and the foolhardy; and we train and we teach, we walk and we weed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Through Evernight he back was borne on black and roaring waves that ran o\u2019er leagues unlit and foundered shores that drowned before the Days began, until he heard on strands of pearl where ends the world the music long, where ever-foaming billows roll the yellow gold and jewels wan."
    },
    {
        "text": "Here I must bid you lay aside your weapons before you enter.\u2019 Then Legolas gave into his hand his silver-hafted knife, his quiver, and his bow. \u2018Keep these well,\u2019 he said, \u2018for they come from the Golden Wood and the Lady of Lothlo\u00b4 rien gave them to me.\u2019 Wonder came into the man\u2019s eyes, and he laid the weapons hastily by the wall, as if he feared to handle them. \u2018No man will touch them, I promise you,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "They soon found that it was impossible to make their way along the crest of the Morgai, or anywhere along its higher levels, pathless as they were and scored with deep ghylls. In the end they were forced to go back down the ravine that they had climbed and seek for a way along the valley. It was rough going, for they dared not cross over to the path on the westward side. After a mile or more they saw, huddled in a hollow at the cliff \u2019s foot, the orc-hold that they had guessed was near at hand: a wall and a cluster of stone huts set about the dark mouth of a cave. There was no movement to be seen, but the hobbits crept by cautiously, keeping as much as they could to the thorn-brakes that grew thickly at this point along both sides of the old water-course."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sweet was her singing then, and her heart was beating! He opened his eyes and looked at them with a sudden glint of blue: And that proved well for you \u2013 for now I shall no longer go down deep again along the forest-water, not while the year is old. Nor shall I be passing Old Man Willow\u2019s house this side of spring-time, not till the merry spring, when the River-daughter dances down the withy-path to bathe in the water."
    },
    {
        "text": "The townlands were rich, with wide tilth and many orchards, and homesteads there were with oast and garner, fold and byre, and many rills rippling through the green from the highlands down to Anduin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, here we are, and here we must pass another night,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018We need sleep, and even if Aragorn had a mind to pass the Gates of Argonath by night, we are all too tired \u2013 except, no doubt, our sturdy dwarf.\u2019we 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 eastern shore. But tonight two must watch together in turns: three hours off and one on guard.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Maggot looked at him thoughtfully. \u2018Well, I see you have ideas of your own,\u2019 he said. \u2018It is as plain as my nose that no accident brought you and that rider here on the same afternoon; and maybe my news was no great news to you, after all. I am not asking you to tell me anything you have a mind to keep to yourself; but I see you are in some kind of trouble. Perhaps you are thinking it won\u2019t be too easy to get to the Ferry without being caught?\u2019 \u2018I was thinking so,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But we have got to try and get there; and it won\u2019t be done by sitting and thinking. So I am afraid we must be going. Thank you very much indeed for your kindness! I\u2019ve been in terror of you and your dogs for over thirty years, Farmer Maggot, though you may laugh to hear it. It\u2019s a pity: for I\u2019ve missed a good friend. And now I\u2019m sorry to leave so soon. But I\u2019ll come back, perhaps, one day \u2013 if I get a chance.\u2019 \u2018You\u2019ll be welcome when you come,\u2019 said Maggot. \u2018But now I\u2019ve a notion. It\u2019s near sundown already, and we are going to have our supper; for we mostly go to bed soon after the Sun. If you and Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Water, water!\u2019 muttered Sam. He had stinted himself, and in his parched mouth his tongue seemed thick and swollen; but for all his care they now had very little left, perhaps half his bottle, and maybe there were still days to go. All would long ago have been spent, if they had not dared to follow the orc-road. For at long intervals on that highway cisterns had been built for the use of troops sent in haste through the waterless regions. In one Sam had found some water left, stale, muddied by the orcs, but still sufficient for their desperate case. Yet that was now a day ago. There was no hope of any more."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Welcome to Caras Galadhon!\u2019 he said. \u2018Here is the city of the Galadhrim where dwell the Lord Celeborn and Galadriel the Lady of Lo\u00b4 rien. But we cannot enter here, for the gates do not look north- ward. We must go round to the southern side, and the way is not short, for the city is great.\u2019 There was a road paved with white stone running on the outer brink of the fosse. Along this they went 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "In vain men shook their fists at the pitiless foes that swarmed before the Gate. Curses they heeded not, nor understood the tongues of western men, crying with harsh voices like beasts and carrion-birds."
    },
    {
        "text": "When every guest had been welcomed and was finally inside the gate, there were songs, dances, music, games, and, of course, food and drink. There were three official meals: lunch, tea, and dinner (or supper). But lunch and tea were marked chiefly by the fact that at those times all the guests were sitting down and eating together."
    },
    {
        "text": "Quickly E\u00b4 omer set his men in readiness. The king and the men of his household were in the Hornburg, and there also were many of the Westfold-men. But on the Deeping Wall and its tower, and behind it, E\u00b4 omer arrayed most of the strength that he had, for here the defence seemed more doubtful, if the assault were determined and in great force. The horses were led far up the Deep under such guard as could be spared."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ever he goes and comes unlooked-for.\u2019 \u2018Wormtongue, were he here, would not find it hard to explain,\u2019 said the other."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That animal can nearly talk,\u2019 he said, \u2018and would talk, if he stayed here much longer. He gave me a look as plain as Mr. Pippin could speak it: if you don\u2019t let me go with you, Sam, I\u2019ll follow on my own.\u2019 So Bill was going as the beast of burden, yet he was the only member of the Company that did not seem depressed."
    },
    {
        "text": "They hammered on the outer gate and called, but there was at first no answer; and then to their surprise someone blew a horn, and the lights in the windows went out. A voice shouted in the dark: \u2018Who\u2019s that? Be off ! You can\u2019t come in. Can\u2019t you read the notice: No admittance between sundown and sunrise?\u2019 \u2018Of course we can\u2019t read the notice in the dark,\u2019 Sam shouted back. \u2018And if hobbits of the Shire are to be kept out in the wet on a night like this, I\u2019ll tear down your notice when I find it.\u2019 At that a window slammed, and a crowd of hobbits with lanterns poured out of the house on the left. They opened the further gate, and some came over the bridge. When they saw the travellers they seemed frightened."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They\u2019ve cut it down!\u2019 cried Sam. \u2018They\u2019ve cut down the Party Tree!\u2019 He pointed to where the tree had stood under which Bilbo had made his Farewell Speech. It was lying lopped and dead in the field. As if this was the last straw Sam burst into tears."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin lifted it and presented the hilt to him. \u2018Whence came this?\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018Many, many years lie on it. Surely this is a blade wrought by our own kindred in the North in the deep past?\u2019 \u2018It came out of the mounds that lie on the borders of my country,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018But only evil wights dwell there now, and I will not willingly tell more of them.\u2019 \u2018I see that strange tales are woven about you,\u2019 said Denethor, \u2018and once again it is shown that looks may belie the man \u2013 or the halfling."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where does that other old animal, that Fatty Lumpkin, come from?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "A marching host of Elves had come up silently: they were hastening towards the northern borders to guard against any attack from Moria; andtheybroughtnews,someofwhichHaldirreported.Themaraud-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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I remember it was long ago \u2013 in the time of the war between Sauron and the Men of the Sea \u2013 desire came over me to see Fimbre- thil again. Very fair she was still in my eyes, when I had last seen her, though little like the Entmaiden of old. For the Entwives were bent and browned by their labour; their hair parched by the sun to the hue of ripe corn and their cheeks like red apples. Yet their eyes were still the eyes of our own people. We crossed over Anduin and came to their land; but we found a desert: it was all burned and uprooted, for war had passed over it. But the Entwives were not there. Long we called, and long we searched; and we asked all folk that we met which way the Entwives had gone. Some said they had never seen them; and some said that they had seen them walking away west, and some said east, and others south. But nowhere that we went could we find them. Our sorrow was very great. Yet the wild wood called, and we returned to it. For many years we used to go out every now and again and look for the Entwives, walking far and wide and calling them by their beautiful names. But as time passed we went more seldom and wandered less far. And now the Entwives are only a memory for us, and our beards are long and grey. The Elves made many songs concerning the Search of the Ents, and some of the songs passed into the tongues of Men. But we made no songs about it, being content to chant their beautiful names when we thought of the Entwives. We believe that we may meet again in a time to come, and perhaps we shall find somewhere a land where we can live together and both be content. But it is foreboded thatof old destroyed the gardens, the Enemy today seems likely to wither all the woods."
    },
    {
        "text": "You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udu\u02c6n."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I think that none of us will wish to spend another night in Moria.\u2019 \u2018No indeed!\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018Which way shall we take? Yonder eastward arch?\u2019north 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 could find a window it would help, but I fear that the light comes only down deep shafts.\u2019 Following his lead the Company passed under the northern arch."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Only to the North did these tidings come, and only to a few."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018For the present,\u2019\u2019 said he, and rode into the darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Either stop where we are, or go back,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018It 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 \u2013 or anything else.\u2019 \u2018And it is no good going back while the storm holds,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "It seemed to Frodo then that he heard, quite plainly but far off, voices out of the past: What a pity Bilbo did not stab the vile creature, when he had a chance! Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It was the Huorns, or so the Ents call them in \u2018\u2018short language\u2019\u2019."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Elbereth Gilthoniel! \u2019 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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 theplace 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! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!\u2019 She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illumined 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was now high noon. The guards stood alert and tense in the shadow of the trees. Suddenly the horns rang out louder and beyond mistake from above, over the top of the slope. Sam thought that he heard cries and wild shouting also, but the sound was faint, as if it came out of some distant cave. Then presently the noise of fighting broke out near at hand, just above their hiding-place. He could hear plainly the ringing grate of steel on steel, the clang of sword on iron cap, the dull beat of blade on shield; men were yelling and screaming, and one clear loud voice was calling Gondor! Gondor! \u2018It sounds like a hundred blacksmiths all smithying together,\u2019 said Sam to Frodo. \u2018They\u2019re as near as I want them now.\u2019 But the noise grew closer. \u2018They are coming!\u2019 cried Damrod. \u2018See! Some of the Southrons have broken from the trap and are flying from the road. There they go! Our men after them, and the Captain leading.\u2019 Sam, eager to see more, went now and joined the guards. He scrambled a little way up into one of the larger of the bay-trees. For a moment he caught a glimpse of swarthy men in red running down the slope some way off with green-clad warriors leaping after them, hewing them down as they fled. Arrows were thick in the air. Then suddenly straight over the rim of their sheltering bank, a man fell, crashingthroughtheslendertrees,nearlyontopofthem.Hecametotattered, his corslet of overlapping brazen plates was rent and hewn, his black plaits of hair braided with gold were drenched with blood."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You can have what I have got left,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018if you will wait a moment.\u2019 He got down and searched in the bag at his saddle. Then he handed to Saruman a leather pouch. \u2018Take what there is,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Even as Sam himself crouched, looking at her, seeing his death in her eyes, a thought came to him, as if some remote voice had spoken, and he fumbled in his breast with his left hand, and found what he sought: cold and hard and solid it seemed to his touch in a phantom world of horror, the Phial of Galadriel."
    },
    {
        "text": "O! Wanderers in the shadowed land despair not! For though dark they stand, all woods there be must end at last, and see the open sun go past: the setting sun, the rising sun, the day\u2019s end, or the day begun."
    },
    {
        "text": "And Ioreth said to her kinswoman: \u2018This is just a ceremony such as we have in the City, cousin; for he has already entered, as I was telling you; and he said to me\u2014\u2014\u2019 And then again she was obliged to silence, for Faramir spoke again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018For you are still afraid, perhaps, of mist and tree-shadows and deep water, and untame things. Fear nothing! For tonight you are under the roof of Tom Bombadil.\u2019 The hobbits looked at her in wonder; and she looked at each of them and smiled. \u2018Fair lady Goldberry!\u2019 said Frodo at last, feeling his heart moved with a joy that he did not understand. He stood as he had at times stood enchanted by fair elven-voices; but the spell that was now laid upon him was different: less keen and lofty was the delight, but deeper and nearer to mortal heart; marvellous and yet not strange. \u2018Fair lady Goldberry!\u2019 he said again. \u2018Now the joyO slender as a willow-wand! O clearer than clear water! O reed by the living pool! Fair River-daughter! O spring-time and summer-time, and spring again after! O wind on the waterfall, and the leaves\u2019 laughter!\u2019 Suddenly he stopped and stammered, overcome with surprise to hear himself saying such things. But Goldberry laughed."
    },
    {
        "text": "The ground now became damp, and in places boggy and here and there they came upon pools, and wide stretches of reeds and rushes filled with the warbling of little hidden birds. They had to pick their way carefully to keep both dry-footed and on their proper course. At first they made fair progress, but as they went on, their passage became slower and more dangerous. The marshes were bewildering and treacherous, and there was no permanent trail even for Rangers to find through their shifting quagmires. The flies began to torment them, and the air was full of clouds of tiny midges that crept up their sleeves and breeches and into their hair."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You would have done better to come with us after all, poor old Fredegar!\u2019 said Pippin, as they carried him out too weak to walk."
    },
    {
        "text": "But the Hornburg still held fast, like an island in the sea. Its gates lay in ruin; but over the barricade of beams and stones within no enemy as yet had passed."
    },
    {
        "text": "A light kindled in the sky, a blaze of yellow fire behind dark bar- riers. Pippin cowered back, afraid for a moment, wondering into what dreadful country Gandalf was bearing him. He rubbed his eyes, and then he saw that it was the moon rising above the eastern shadows, now almost at the full. So the night was not yet old and for hours the dark journey would go on. He stirred and spoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Put away that bow, Master Elf !\u2019 The bow and arrow fell from Legolas\u2019 hands, and his arms hung loose at his sides."
    },
    {
        "text": "Even outside everything seemed still. No sound of Sam\u2019s shears could now be heard.there. The Ring of the Enemy would leave its mark, too, leave him open to the summons. And all folk were whispering then of the new Shadow in the South, and its hatred of the West. There were his fine new friends, who would help him in his revenge! \u2018Wretched fool! In that land he would learn much, too much for his comfort. And sooner or later as he lurked and pried on the borders he would be caught, and taken \u2013 for examination. That was the way of it, I fear. When he was found he had already been there long, and was on his way back. On some errand of mischief. But that does not matter much now. His worst mischief was done."
    },
    {
        "text": "And now from beyond the bridge-end came answering cries. Down in the dark trough, cut off from the dying glare of Orodruin, Frodo and Sam could not see ahead, but already they heard the tramp of iron- shodfeet,andupontheroadthererangtheswiftclatterofhoofs.ful drop into the gulf, for the slopes of the Morgai had already risen almost to the level of the road; but it was too dark for them to guess the depth of the fall."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You are not fit for such a journey,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But do not be ashamed. If you do no more in this war, you have already earned great honour. Peregrin shall go and represent the Shire-folk; and do not grudge him his chance of peril, for though he has done as well as his fortune allowed him, he has yet to match your deed. But in truth all now are in like danger. Though it may be our part to find a bitter end before the Gate of Mordor, if we do so, then you will come also to a last stand, either here or wherever the black tide overtakes you. Farewell!\u2019 And so despondently Merry now stood and watched the mustering of the army. Bergil was with him, and he also was downcast; for his father was to march leading a company of the Men of the City: he could not rejoin the Guard until his case was judged. In that same company Pippin was also to go, as a soldier of Gondor. Merry could see him not far off, a small but upright figure among the tall men of Minas Tirith."
    },
    {
        "text": "Round the corner came a black horse, no hobbit-pony but a full- sized horse; and on it sat a large man, who seemed to crouch in the saddle, wrapped in a great black cloak and hood, so that only hisWhen it reached the tree and was level with Frodo the horse stopped."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Got you, Gorbag!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Not quite dead, eh? Well, I\u2019ll finish my job now.\u2019 He sprang on to the fallen body, and stamped and trampled it in his fury, stooping now and again to stab and slash it with his knife. Satisfied at last, he threw back his head and let out a horrible gurgling yell of triumph. Then he licked his knife, and put it between his teeth, and catching up the bundle he came loping towards the near door of the stairs."
    },
    {
        "text": "There the guards awaited him, and heralds stood, and all the lords and chiefs were gathered together that remained in Edoras or dwelt nearby."
    },
    {
        "text": "Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. E\u00b4omer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first e\u00b4ored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but The\u00b4oden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Orome\u00a8 the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.Chapter 6 THE BATTLE OF THE PELENNOR FIELDS But it was no orc-chieftain or brigand that led the assault upon Gondor. The darkness was breaking too soon, before the date that his Master had set for it: fortune had betrayed him for the moment, and the world had turned against him; victory was slipping from his grasp even as he stretched out his hand to seize it. But his arm was long. He was still in command, wielding great powers. King, Ringwraith, Lord of the Nazgu\u02c6l, he had many weapons. He left the Gate and vanished."
    },
    {
        "text": "I love beasts, and we see them seldom in this stony city; for my people came from the mountain-vales, and before that from Ithilien."
    },
    {
        "text": "Some were just poor bodies running away from trouble; but most were bad men, full o\u2019 thievery and mischief. And there was trouble right here in Bree, bad trouble. Why, we had a real set-to, and there were some folk killed, killed dead! If you\u2019ll believe me.\u2019 \u2018I will indeed,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018How many?\u2019 \u2018Three and two,\u2019 said Butterbur, referring to the big folk and the little. \u2018There was poor Mat Heathertoes, and Rowlie Appledore, and little Tom Pickthorn from over the Hill; and Willie Banks from up- away, and one of the Underhills from Staddle: all good fellows, and they\u2019re missed. And Harry Goatleaf that used to be on the West-gate, and that Bill Ferny, they came in on the strangers\u2019 side, and they\u2019ve gone off with them; and it\u2019s my belief they let them in. On the night of the fight, I mean. And that was after we showed them the gates and pushed them out: before the year\u2019s end, that was; and the fight was early in the New Year, after the heavy snow we had."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018As for that,\u2019 said the Rider, staring down at the Dwarf, \u2018the stranger should declare himself first. Yet I am named E\u00b4 omer son of E\u00b4 omund, and am called the Third Marshal of Riddermark.\u2019 \u2018Then E\u00b4omer son of E\u00b4 omund, Third Marshal of Riddermark, let Gimli the Dwarf Glo\u00b4 in\u2019s son warn you against foolish words. You speak evil of that which is fair beyond the reach of your thought, and only little wit can excuse you.\u2019beard and all, Master Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Company came at last out of the ravine, as suddenly as if they had issued from a crack in a wall; and there lay the uplands of a great vale before them, and the stream beside them went down with a cold voice over many falls."
    },
    {
        "text": "When they had finished they stood up. \u2018May no hunger trouble you on the road,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018You have little provision, but some small store of food fit for travellers I have ordered to be stowed in your packs. You will have no lack of water as you walk in Ithilien, but do not drink of any stream that flows from Imlad Morgul, the Valley of Living Death. This also I must tell you. My scouts and watchers have all returned, even some that have crept within sight of the Morannon. They all find a strange thing. The land is empty."
    },
    {
        "text": "But he himself burst into tears. Then, as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed."
    },
    {
        "text": "The cow jumped over the Moon! And the poor old troll!\u2019 With that he fell fast asleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "We\u2019re hobbits.\u2019 \u2018Why not make a new line?\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hoo, ho! Good morning, Merry and Pippin!\u2019 he boomed, when he saw them. \u2018You sleep long. I have been many a hundred strides already today. Now we will have a drink, and go to Entmoot.\u2019 He poured them out two full bowls from a stone jar; but from a different jar. The taste was not the same as it had been the night before: it was earthier and richer, more sustaining and food-like, so to speak. While the hobbits drank, sitting on the edge of the bed, and nibbling small pieces of elf-cake (more because they felt that eating was a necessary part of breakfast than because they felt hungry), Treebeard stood, humming in Entish or Elvish or some strange tongue, and looking up at the sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo was the only one present who had said nothing. For some time he had sat silent beside Bilbo\u2019s empty chair, and ignored all remarks and questions. He had enjoyed the joke, of course, even though he had been in the know. He had difficulty in keeping from laughter at the indignant surprise of the guests. But at the same time he felt deeply troubled: he realized suddenly that he loved the old hobbit dearly. Most of the guests went on eating and drinking and discussing Bilbo Baggins\u2019 oddities, past and present; but the Sackville-Bagginses had already departed in wrath. Frodo did not want to have any more to do with the party. He gave orders for more wine to be served; then he got up and drained his own glass silently to the health of Bilbo, and slipped out of the pavilion."
    },
    {
        "text": "They came to the way-meeting. There was still no sign of orcs, nor of an answer to the cry of the Nazgu\u02c6l; but they knew that the silence would not last long. At any moment now the hunt would begin."
    },
    {
        "text": "The ostler has a tipsy cat that plays a five-stringed fiddle; And up and down he runs his bow, Now squeaking high, now purring low, now sawing in the middle."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I will take the Ring,\u2019 he said, \u2018though I do not know the way.\u2019 Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him, and Frodo felt his heart pierced by the sudden keenness of the glance. \u2018If I understand aright all that I have heard,\u2019 he said, \u2018I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no one will. This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? \u2018But it is a heavy burden. So heavy that none could lay it onHador, and Hu\u00b4rin, and Tu\u00b4rin, and Beren himself were assembled together, your seat should be among them.\u2019 \u2018But you won\u2019t send him off alone surely, Master?\u2019 cried Sam, unable to contain himself any longer, and jumping up from the corner where he had been quietly sitting on the floor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But now the world is changing once again. A new hour comes."
    },
    {
        "text": "And he beheld me. Yes, Master Gimli, he saw me, but in other guise than you see me here. If that will aid him, then I have done ill. But I do not think so. To know that I lived and walked the earth was a blow to his heart, I deem; for he knew it not till now. The eyes in Orthanc did not see through the armour of The\u00b4oden; but Sauron has not forgotten Isildur and the sword of Elendil. Now in the very hour of his great designs the heir of Isildur and the Sword are revealed; for I showed the blade re-forged to him. He is not so mighty yet that he is above fear; nay, doubt ever gnaws him.\u2019 \u2018But he wields great dominion, nonetheless,\u2019 said Gimli; \u2018and now he will strike more swiftly.\u2019 \u2018The hasty stroke goes oft astray,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018We must press our Enemy, and no longer wait upon him for the move. See my friends, when I had mastered the Stone, I learned many things. A grave peril I saw coming unlooked-for upon Gondor from the South that will draw off great strength from the defence of Minas Tirith. If\u2018Then lost it must be,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018For what help is there to send thither, and how could it come there in time?\u2019 \u2018I have no help to send, therefore I must go myself,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits began to tell him the story of their adventures ever since they left Hobbiton. They followed no very clear order, for they interrupted one another continually, and Treebeard often stopped the speaker, and went back to some earlier point, or jumped forward askingquestionsaboutlaterevents.TheysaidnothingwhateveraboutHe was immensely interested in everything: in the Black Riders, in Elrond, and Rivendell, in the Old Forest, and Tom Bombadil, in the Mines of Moria, and in Lothlo\u00b4rien and Galadriel. He made them describe the Shire and its country over and over again. He said an odd thing at this point. \u2018You never see any, hm, any Ents round there, do you?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Well, not Ents, Entwives I should really say.\u2019 \u2018Entwives?\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Are they like you at all?\u2019 \u2018Yes, hm, well no: I do not really know now,\u2019 said Treebeard thoughtfully. \u2018But they would like your country, so I just wondered.\u2019 Treebeard was however especially interested in everything that concerned Gandalf; and most interested of all in Saruman\u2019s doings."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You need no weapons,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018These are but herdsmen."
    },
    {
        "text": "Legolas laid down his paddle and took up the bow that he had brought from Lo\u00b4 rien. 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do you know, I thought for a bit that I had lost my sight? From the lightning or something else worse. I could see nothing, nothing at all, until the grey rope came down. It seemed to shimmer somehow.\u2019 \u2018It does look sort of silver in the dark,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Never noticed it before, though I can\u2019t remember as I\u2019ve ever had it out since I first stowed it. But if you\u2019re so set on climbing, Mr. Frodo, how are you going to use it? Thirty ells, or say, about eighteen fathom: that\u2019s no more than your guess at the height of the cliff.\u2019 Frodo thought for a while. \u2018Make it fast to that stump, Sam!\u2019 he said. \u2018Then I think you shall have your wish this time and go first."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Gondor! Gondor!\u2019 cried Aragorn. \u2018Would that I looked on youGondor! Gondor, between the Mountains and the Sea! West Wind blew there; the light upon the Silver Tree Fell like bright rain in gardens of the Kings of old."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a little while the travellers talked of their night before in the tree-tops, and of their day\u2019s journey, and of the Lord and Lady; for they had not yet the heart to look further back."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You won\u2019t go again, you say? Curse you, Snaga, you little maggot! If you think I\u2019m so damaged that it\u2019s safe to flout me, you\u2019re mistaken."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Otherwise nothing can be made out for certain. All our footprints are here, crossing and re-crossing. I cannot tell whether any of the hobbits have come back since the search for Frodo began.\u2019 He returned to the bank, close to where the rill from the spring trickled out into the River. \u2018There are some clear prints here,\u2019 he said. \u2018A hobbitwadedoutintothewaterandback;butIcannotsayhowlongAragorn did not answer at once, but went back to the camping- place and looked at the baggage. \u2018Two packs are missing,\u2019 he said, \u2018and one is certainly Sam\u2019s: it was rather large and heavy. This then is the answer: Frodo has gone by boat, and his servant has gone with him. Frodo must have returned while we were all away. I met Sam going up the hill and told him to follow me; but plainly he did not do so. He guessed his master\u2019s mind and came back here before Frodo had gone. He did not find it easy to leave Sam behind!\u2019 \u2018But why should he leave us behind, and without a word?\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018That was a strange deed!\u2019 \u2018And a brave deed,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Sam was right, I think. Frodo did not wish to lead any friend to death with him in Mordor. But he knew that he must go himself. Something happened after he left us that overcame his fear and doubt.\u2019 \u2018Maybe hunting Orcs came on him and he fled,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wonder where Isengard is?\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are trolls!\u2019 Pippin panted. \u2018Down in a clearing in the woods not far below. We got a sight of them through the tree-trunks. They are very large!\u2019 \u2018We will come and look at them,\u2019 said Strider, picking up a stick."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Very well,\u2019 said Uglu\u00b4k. \u2018Leave them to me then! No killing, as I\u2019ve told you before; but if you want to throw away what we\u2019ve come all the way to get, throw it away! I\u2019ll look after it. Let the fighting Uruk-hai do the work, as usual. If you\u2019re afraid of the Whiteskins, run! Run! There\u2019s the forest,\u2019 he shouted, pointing ahead. \u2018Get to it! It\u2019s your best hope. Off you go! And quick, before I knock a few more heads off, to put some sense into the others.\u2019 There was some cursing and scuffling, and then most of the North- erners broke away and dashed off, over a hundred of them, running wildly along the river towards the mountains. The hobbits were left with the Isengarders: a grim dark band, four score at least of large, swart, slant-eyed Orcs with great bows and short broad-bladed swords. A few of the larger and bolder Northerners remained with them."
    },
    {
        "text": "They came upon many hidden pools, and broad acres of sedge waving above wet and treacherous bogs; but Shadowfax found the way, and the other horses followed in his swath. Slowly the sun fell from the sky down into the West. Looking out over the great plain, far away the riders saw it for a moment like a red fire sinking into the grass."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is Gandalf, and The\u00b4oden and his men!\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Let us go and meet them!\u2019 \u2018Walk warily!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018There are loose slabs that may tilt up and throw you down into a pit, if you don\u2019t take care.\u2019 They followed what was left of the road from the gates to Orthanc, going slowly, for the flag-stones were cracked and slimed. The riders, seeing them approach, halted under the shadow of the rock and waited for them. Gandalf rode forward to meet them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But how\u2019s Mr. Frodo?\u2019 he said. \u2018Isn\u2019t it a shame about his poor hand? But I hope he\u2019s all right otherwise. He\u2019s had a cruel time.\u2019 \u2018Yes, I am all right otherwise,\u2019 said Frodo, sitting up and laughing in his turn. \u2018I fell asleep again waiting for you, Sam, you sleepy-head."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry will correct me, if I forget anything important: I am not going into details: the whips and the filth and stench and all that; it does not bear remembering.\u2019 With that he plunged into an account of Boromir\u2019s last fight and the orc-march from Emyn Muil to the Forest.The others nodded as the various points were fitted in with their guesses."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Faramir laughed merrily. \u2018That is well,\u2019 he said; \u2018for I am not a king. Yet I will wed with the White Lady of Rohan, if it be her will. And if she will, then let us cross the River and in happier days let us dwell in fair Ithilien and there make a garden. All things will grow with joy there, if the White Lady comes.\u2019 \u2018Then must I leave my own people, man of Gondor?\u2019 she said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You are welcome to it; it came from the flotsam of Isengard.\u2019 \u2018Mine, mine, yes and dearly bought!\u2019 cried Saruman, clutching at the pouch. \u2018This is only a repayment in token; for you took more, I\u2019ll be bound. Still, a beggar must be grateful, if a thief returns him even a morsel of his own. Well, it will serve you right when you come home, if you find things less good in the Southfarthing than you would like. Long may your land be short of leaf !\u2019 \u2018Thank you!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018In that case I will have my pouch back, which is not yours and has journeyed far with me. Wrap the weed in a rag of your own.\u2019 \u2018One thief deserves another,\u2019 said Saruman, and turned his back on Merry, and kicked Wormtongue, and went away towards the wood."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You shouldn\u2019t listen to all you hear, Sandyman,\u2019 said the Gaffer, who did not much like the miller. \u2018There isn\u2019t no call to go talking of pushing and pulling. Boats are quite tricky enough for those that sit still without looking further for the cause of trouble. Anyway: there was this Mr. Frodo left an orphan and stranded, as you might say, among those queer Bucklanders, being brought up anyhow in Brandy Hall. A regular warren, by all accounts. Old Master Gorbadoc never had fewer than a couple of hundred relations in the place. Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gimli looked up and shook his head. \u2018Caradhras has not forgiven us,\u2019 he said. \u2018He has more snow yet to fling at us, if we go on. The sooner we go back and down the better.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Let the Orcs lie,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018The morning may bring new counsel.\u2019 In the afternoon the King\u2019s company prepared to depart. The\u2018Great injury indeed has Saruman done to me and all this land,\u2019 he said; \u2018and I will remember it, when we meet.\u2019 The sun was already drawing near the hills upon the west of the Coomb, when at last The\u00b4oden and Gandalf and their companions rode down from the Dike. Behind them were gathered a great host, both of the Riders and of the people of Westfold, old and young, women and children, who had come out from the caves. A song of victory they sang with clear voices; and then they fell silent, wondering what would chance, for their eyes were on the trees and they feared them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t you know my name yet? That\u2019s the only answer. Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless? But you are young and I am old. Eldest, that\u2019s what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-wights. When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless \u2013 before the Dark Lord came from Outside.\u2019 A shadow seemed to pass by the window, and the hobbits glanced hastily through the panes. When they turned again, Goldberry stood in the door behind, framed in light. She held a candle, shielding its flame from the draught with her hand; and the light flowed through it, like sunlight through a white shell."
    },
    {
        "text": "This was the stronghold of Saruman, as fame reported it; for within living memory the men of Rohan had not passed its gates, save perhaps a few, such as Wormtongue, who came in secret and told no man what they saw."
    },
    {
        "text": "Drink up. We can fill it again when we go on.\u2019 With that Sam plunged into sleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What is that, Legolas?\u2019 he asked, pointing to the northern sky. \u2018Is it, as I think, an eagle?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018It is an eagle, a hunting eagle. I wonder what that forebodes. It is far from the mountains.\u2019 \u2018We will not start until it is fully dark,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come on, you miserable sluggard!\u2019 Sam cried to himself. \u2018Now for it!\u2019 He drew Sting and ran towards the open gate. But just as he was about to pass under its great arch he felt a shock: as if he had run into some web like Shelob\u2019s, only invisible. He could see no obstacle, but something too strong for his will to overcome barred the way. He looked about, and then within the shadow of the gate he saw the Two Watchers."
    },
    {
        "text": "So the King of the Mark came back victorious out of the West to Dunharrow beneath the feet of the White Mountains. There he found the remaining strength of his people already assembled; for as soon as his coming was known captains rode to meet him at the ford, bearing messages from Gandalf. Du\u00b4nhere, chieftain of the folk of Harrowdale, was at their head."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum sent out a long hiss through his teeth. He stood up for a moment, tense and menacing; and then he collapsed, falling forward on to all fours and crawling up the bank of the pit. \u2018Nice hobbits! Nice Sam!\u2019 he said. \u2018Sleepy heads, yes, sleepy heads! Leave good Sme\u00b4agol to watch! But it\u2019s evening. Dusk is creeping. Time to go.\u2019 \u2018High time!\u2019 thought Sam. \u2018And time we parted, too.\u2019 Yet it crossed his mind to wonder if indeed Gollum was not now as dangerous turned loose as kept with them. \u2018Curse him! I wish he was choked!\u2019 he muttered. He stumbled down the bank and roused his master."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Up with your beard, Durin\u2019s son!\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018For thus is it spoken: Oft hope is born, when all is forlorn.\u2019\u2019 But what hope he saw from afar he would not tell. When night came it did but deepen the darkness, and our hearts were hot, for away in the North we saw a red glow under the cloud, and Aragorn said: \u2018\u2018Minas Tirith is burning.\u2019\u2019 \u2018But at midnight hope was indeed born anew. Sea-crafty men of the Ethir gazing southward spoke of a change coming with a fresh wind from the Sea. Long ere day the masted ships hoisted sail, and our speed grew, until dawn whitened the foam at our prows. And so it was, as you know, that we came in the third hour of the morning with a fair wind and the Sun unveiled, and we unfurled the great standard in battle. It was a great day and a great hour, whatever may come after.\u2019 \u2018Follow what may, great deeds are not lessened in worth,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Great deed was the riding of the Paths of the Dead, and great it shall remain, though none be left in Gondor to sing of it in the days that are to come.\u2019in the tents there below. For my part, like Merry, I wish that with our victory the war was now over. Yet whatever is still to do, I hope to have a part in it, for the honour of the folk of the Lonely Mountain.\u2019 \u2018And I for the folk of the Great Wood,\u2019 said Legolas, \u2018and for the love of the Lord of the White Tree.\u2019 Then the companions fell silent, but a while they sat there in the high place, each busy with his own thoughts, while the Captains debated."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ho! Ho! Ho! they began again louder. They stopped short suddenly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What are you doing here?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Is it not a law in the City that those who wear the black and silver must stay in the Citadel, unless their lord gives them leave?\u2019 \u2018He has,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018He sent me away. But I am frightened."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We cannot, of course, go on again tonight,\u2019 he said. \u2018The attack on the Redhorn Gate has tired us out, and we must rest here for a while.\u2019 \u2018And then where are we to go?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was not as yet any sign of a path, and the trees seemed constantly to bar their way. Pippin suddenly felt that he could not bear it any longer, and without warning let out a shout. \u2018Oi! Oi!\u2019 he cried. \u2018I am not going to do anything. Just let me pass through, will you!\u2019 The others halted startled; but the cry fell as if muffled by a heavy curtain. There was no echo or answer though the wood seemed to become more crowded and more watchful than before."
    },
    {
        "text": "He had not far to go. The tunnel was some way behind; the Cleft a couple of hundred yards ahead, or less. The path was visible in the dusk, a deep rut worn in ages of passage, running now gently up in a long trough with cliffs on either side. The trough narrowed rapidly."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam yelled and brandished Sting, but his little voice was drowned in the tumult. No one heeded him."
    },
    {
        "text": "A fox passing through the wood on business of his own stopped several minutes and sniffed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo looked down at the body with pity and horror, for as he looked it seemed that long years of death were suddenly revealed in it, and it shrank, and the shrivelled face became rags of skin upon a hideous skull. Lifting up the skirt of the dirty cloak that sprawled beside it, he covered it over, and turned away."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 places the snow was breast-high, and often Boromir seemed to be swimming or burrowing with his great arms rather than walking."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here\u2019s my pretty lady!\u2019 he said, bowing to the hobbits. \u2018Here\u2019s my Goldberry clothed all in silver-green with flowers in her girdle! Is the table laden? I see yellow cream and honeycomb, and white\u2018It is,\u2019 said Goldberry; \u2018but the guests perhaps are not?\u2019 Tom clapped his hands and cried: \u2018Tom, Tom! your guests are tired, and you had near forgotten! Come now, my merry friends, and Tom will refresh you! You shall clean grimy hands, and wash your weary faces; cast off your muddy cloaks and comb out your tangles!\u2019 He opened the door, and they followed him down a short passage and round a sharp turn. They came to a low room with a sloping roof (a penthouse, it seemed, built on to the north end of the house)."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Who is it?\u2019 said a voice. \u2018What do you wish?\u2019 The\u00b4oden started. \u2018I know that voice,\u2019 he said, \u2018and I curse the day when I first listened to it.\u2019 \u2018Go and fetch Saruman, since you have become his footman, Gr\u00b4\u0131ma Wormtongue!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018And do not waste our time!\u2019 The window closed. They waited. Suddenly another voice spoke, low and melodious, its very sound an enchantment. Those who listened unwarily to that voice could seldom report the words that they heard; and if they did, they wondered, for little power remained in them. Mostly they remembered only that it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire awoke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But quite long, I should think. We can have many a good talk. What about helping me with my book, and making a start on the next? Have you thought of an ending?\u2019 \u2018Yes, several, and all are dark and unpleasant,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "The king and his Riders passed on. Before the causeway that crossed the stream they dismounted. In a long file they led their horses up the ramp and passed within the gates of the Hornburg. There they were welcomed again with joy and renewed hope; for now there were men enough to man both the burg and the barrier wall."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin had bowed crushed with horror when he heard Gandalf reject the terms and doom Frodo to the torment of the Tower; but he had mastered himself, and now he stood beside Beregond in the front rank of Gondor with Imrahil\u2019s men. For it seemed best to him to die soon and leave the bitter story of his life, since all was in ruin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s something that might be useful,\u2019 he said. \u2018He\u2019s dead: the one that whipped you. Broke his neck, it seems, in his hurry. Now you draw up the ladder, if you can, Mr. Frodo; and don\u2019t you let it down till you hear me call the pass-word. Elbereth I\u2019ll call. What the Elves say. No orc would say that.\u2019about him, and to keep his mind occupied, began to walk to and fro, prying and peering into every corner of his prison."
    },
    {
        "text": "Altogether 1420 in the Shire was a marvellous year. Not only was there wonderful sunshine and delicious rain, in due times and perfect measure, but there seemed something more: an air of richness and growth, and a gleam of a beauty beyond that of mortal summers that flicker and pass upon this Middle-earth. All the children born or begotten in that year, and there were many, were fair to see and strong, and most of them had a rich golden hair that had before been rare among hobbits. The fruit was so plentiful that young hobbits very nearly bathed in strawberries and cream; and later they sat on the lawns under the plum-trees and ate, until they had made piles of stones like small pyramids or the heaped skulls of a conqueror, and then they moved on. And no one was ill, and everyone waswas astonishing; and everywhere there was so much corn that at Harvest every barn was stuffed. The Northfarthing barley was so fine that the beer of 1420 malt was long remembered and became a byword. Indeed a generation later one might hear an old gaffer in an inn, after a good pint of well-earned ale, put down his mug with a sigh: \u2018Ah! that was proper fourteen-twenty, that was!\u2019 Sam stayed at first at the Cottons\u2019 with Frodo; but when the New Row was ready he went with the Gaffer. In addition to all his other labours he was busy directing the cleaning up and restoring of Bag End; but he was often away in the Shire on his forestry work. So he was not at home in early March and did not know that Frodo had been ill. On the thirteenth of that month Farmer Cotton found Frodo lying on his bed; he was clutching a white gem that hung on a chain about his neck and he seemed half in a dream."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That\u2019s all I know,\u2019 stammered Sam, blushing. \u2018I learned it from Mr. Bilbo when I was a lad. He used to tell me tales like that, knowing how I was always one for hearing about Elves. It was Mr. Bilbo as taught me my letters. He was mighty book-learned was dear old Mr. Bilbo. And he wrote poetry. He wrote what I have just said.\u2019 \u2018He did not make it up,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018It is part of the lay that is called The Fall of Gil-galad, which is in an ancient tongue. Bilbo must have translated it. I never knew that.\u2019 \u2018There was a lot more,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018all about Mordor. I didn\u2019t learn that part, it gave me the shivers. I never thought I should be going that way myself !\u2019 \u2018Going to Mordor!\u2019 cried Pippin. \u2018I hope it won\u2019t come to that!\u2019 \u2018Do not speak that name so loudly!\u2019 said Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But you will come, at least for a while?\u2019 Boromir persisted. \u2018My 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,\u2019 he said. \u2018You need rest before your venture, if go you must.\u2019 He laid his hand on the hobbit\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo and Sam halted and sat silent in the soft shadows, until they saw a shimmer as the travellers came towards them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come out, you two, and let us get away. Now we know who made the path \u2013 and we had better get off it quick.\u2019 \u2018There is no need, I think,\u2019 said Strider, coming out. \u2018It is certainly a troll-hole, but it seems to have been long forsaken. I don\u2019t think we need be afraid. But let us go on down warily, and we shall see.\u2019 The path went on again from the door, and turning to the right again across the level space plunged down a thick wooded slope."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was now dark and the falls were pale and grey, reflecting only the lingering moonlight of the western sky. He could not see Gollum."
    },
    {
        "text": "Grief maybe had wrought it, and remorse. He saw tears on that once tearless face, more unbearable than wrath."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a dull clang. The gates of Minas Morgul had closed."
    },
    {
        "text": "But as you please! Ring the bell, if you lack anything!\u2019 So refreshed and encouraged did they feel at the end of their supper (about three quarters of an hour\u2019s steady going, not hindered by unnecessary talk) that Frodo, Pippin, and Sam decided to join the company. Merry said it would be too stuffy. \u2018I shall sit here quietly by the fire for a bit, and perhaps go out later for a sniff of the air. Mind your Ps and Qs, and don\u2019t forget that you are supposed to be escaping in secret, and are still on the high-road and not very far from the Shire!\u2019 \u2018All right!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Mind yourself ! Don\u2019t get lost, and don\u2019t forget that it is safer indoors!\u2019 The company was in the big common-room of the inn. The gather- ing was large and mixed, as Frodo discovered, when his eyes got used to the light. This came chiefly from a blazing log-fire, for the three lamps hanging from the beams were dim, and half veiled in smoke. Barliman Butterbur was standing near the fire, talking to a(sitting chattering together), a few more dwarves, and other vague figures difficult to make out away in the shadows and corners."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now for it! Now for the last gasp!\u2019 said Sam as he struggled to his feet. He bent over Frodo, rousing him gently. Frodo groaned; but with a great effort of will he staggered up; and then he fell upon his knees again. He raised his eyes with difficulty to the dark slopes of Mount Doom towering above him, and then pitifully he began to crawl forward on his hands."
    },
    {
        "text": "The ponies had vanished! The stable-doors had all been opened in the night, and they were gone: not only Merry\u2019s ponies, but every other horse and beast in the place."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but whatever came into my mind then I will keep there.\u2019 \u2018Well, have a care!\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018I do not feel too sure of this Elvish Lady and her purposes.\u2019 \u2018Speak no evil of the Lady Galadriel!\u2019 said Aragorn sternly. \u2018You 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.\u2019 He cast himself down upon his couch and fell at once into a long sleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then I\u2019ll tell you what to think,\u2019 said Maggot. \u2018You should never have gone mixing yourself up with Hobbiton folk, Mr. Frodo. Folk are queer up there.\u2019 Sam stirred in his chair, and looked at the farmer with an unfriendly eye. \u2018But you were always a reckless lad. When Ithis all comes of those strange doings of Mr. Bilbo\u2019s. His money was got in some strange fashion in foreign parts, they say. Maybe there is some that want to know what has become of the gold and jewels that he buried in the hill of Hobbiton, as I hear?\u2019 Frodo said nothing: the shrewd guesses of the farmer were rather disconcerting."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 she said, divining his thought, \u2018it 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 Lo\u00b4 rien upon the finger of Galadriel that one of the Three remains."
    },
    {
        "text": "There are queer folk about. Though I say it as shouldn\u2019t, you may think,\u2019 he added with a wry smile, seeing Frodo\u2019s glance. \u2018And there have been even stranger travellers through Bree lately,\u2019 he went on, watching Frodo\u2019s face."
    },
    {
        "text": "But the victory did little to enhearten the captains. \u2018It is but a feint,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018and its chief purpose, I deem, was rather to draw us on by a false guess of our Enemy\u2019s weakness than to do us much hurt, yet.\u2019 And from that evening onward the Nazgu\u02c6l came and followed every move of the army. They still flew high and out of sight of all save Legolas, and yet their presence could be felt, as a deepening of shadow and a dimming of the sun; and though the Ringwraiths did not yet stoop low upon their foes and were silent, uttering no cry, the dread of them could not be shaken off."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 they passed, and suddenly before them the Great Gates opened, an arch of blazing light."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was smoking now in silence, for Frodo was sitting still, deep in thought. Even in the light of morning he felt the dark shadow of the tidings that Gandalf had brought. At last he broke the silence."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Beyond all towers strong and high,\u2019 he began again, and then he stopped short. He thought that he had heard a faint voice answering him. But now he could hear nothing. Yes, he could hear something, but not a voice. Footsteps were approaching. Now a door was being opened quietly in the passage above; the hinges creaked. Sam crouched down listening. The door closed with a dull thud; and then a snarling orc-voice rang out."
    },
    {
        "text": "And we will, precious!\u2019\u2019 \u2018That is a sample of his talk. I don\u2019t suppose you want any more."
    },
    {
        "text": "But at the last when the month of May was drawing near the Captains of the West set out again; and they went aboard ship with all their men, and they sailed from Cair Andros down Anduin to Osgiliath; and there they remained for one day; and the day after they came to the green fields of the Pelennor and saw again the white towers under tall Mindolluin, the City of the Men of Gondor, last memory of Westernesse, that had passed through the darkness and fire to a new day."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If you wish to speak to us, come down! Bring out your king! We are the fighting Uruk-hai. We will fetch him from his hole, if he does not come. Bring out your skulking king!\u2019 \u2018The king stays or comes at his own will,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "When last I saw him he sank beside a tree and plucked a black- feathered shaft from his side. Then I swooned and was made captive."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then he squatted and listened again. Then he stood up, as if to risk a sudden dash. At that very moment the dark form of a rider loomed up right in front of him. A horse snorted and reared. A man called out."
    },
    {
        "text": "These thorns must be a foot long by the feel of them; they\u2019ve stuck through everything I\u2019ve got on. Wish I\u2019d a\u2019put that mailshirt on!\u2019 \u2018Orc-mail doesn\u2019t keep these thorns out,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Not even a leather jerkin is any good.\u2019 They had a struggle to get out of the thicket. The thorns and briars were as tough as wire and as clinging as claws. Their cloaks were rent and tattered before they broke free at last."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo and Sam, however, went back to ordinary attire, except that when there was need they both wore long grey cloaks, finely woven and clasped at the throat with beautiful brooches; and Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry and Pippin lived together for some time at Crickhollow, and there was much coming and going between Buckland and Bag End. The two young Travellers cut a great dash in the Shire with their songs and their tales and their finery, and their wonderful par- ties. \u2018Lordly\u2019 folk called them, meaning nothing but good; for it warmed all hearts to see them go riding by with their mail-shirts so bright and their shields so splendid, laughing and singing songs of far away; and if they were now large and magnificent, they were unchanged otherwise, unless they were indeed more fairspoken and more jovial and full of merriment than ever before."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I can\u2019t,\u2019 he said. \u2018I can\u2019t see. I can\u2019t find any hold. I can\u2019t move yet.\u2019 \u2018What can I do, Mr. Frodo? What can I do?\u2019 shouted Sam, leaning out dangerously far. Why could not his master see? It was dim, certainly, but not as dark as all that. He could see Frodo below him, a grey forlorn figure splayed against the cliff. But he was far out of the reach of any helping hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "In a low hesitating voice Pippin began again, and slowly his words grew clearer and stronger. \u2018I saw a dark sky, and tall battlements,\u2019 he said. \u2018And tiny stars. It seemed very far away and long ago, yet hard and clear. Then the stars went in and out \u2013 they were cut off by things with wings. Very big, I think, really; but in the glass they looked like bats wheeling round the tower. I thought there were nine of them. One began to fly straight towards me, getting bigger and bigger. It had a horrible \u2013 no, no! I can\u2019t say."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Bill Ferny will have watched where we left the Road, for certain,\u2019 he said; \u2018though I don\u2019t think he will follow us himself. He knows the land round here well enough, but he knows he is not a match for me in a wood. It is what he may tell others that I am afraid of. I don\u2019t suppose they are far away. If they think we have made for Archet, so much the better.\u2019 Whether because of Strider\u2019s skill or for some other reason, they saw no sign and heard no sound of any other living thing all that day: neither two-footed, except birds; nor four-footed, except one fox and a few squirrels. The next day they began to steer a steady course eastwards; and still all was quiet and peaceful. On the third day out from Bree they came out of the Chetwood. The land had been falling steadily, ever since they turned aside from the Road, and they now entered a wide flat expanse of country, much more difficult to man- age. They were far beyond the borders of the Bree-land, out in the pathless wilderness, and drawing near to the Midgewater Marshes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, you have kept at it, I must say.\u2019 \u2018I have quite finished, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018The last pages are for you.\u2019 On September the twenty-first they set out together, Frodo on the pony that had borne him all the way from Minas Tirith, and was now called Strider; and Sam on his beloved Bill. It was a fair golden morning, and Sam did not ask where they were going: he thought he could guess."
    },
    {
        "text": "Goldberry spoke to them and recalled their eyes and thoughts."
    },
    {
        "text": "And here I shall still be forced to remain, for I shall soon have other charges, not Faramir only."
    },
    {
        "text": "From dark Dunharrow in the dim morning with thane and captain rode Thengel\u2019s son: to Edoras he came, the ancient halls of the Mark-wardens mist-enshrouded; golden timbers were in gloom mantled."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last they halted. Then they turned aside, leaving the highway and taking to the sweet upland turf again. Going westward a mile or so they came to a dale. It opened southward, leaning back into the slope of round Dol Baran, the last hill of the northern ranges, greenfooted, crowned with heather. The sides of the glen were shaggy with last year\u2019s bracken, among which the tight-curled fronds of spring were just thrusting through the sweet-scented earth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018It is forty leagues and two from Pelargir to the landings at the Harlond,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018Yet to the Harlond we must come tomorrow or fail utterly.\u2019\u2019 \u2018The oars were now wielded by free men, and manfully they laboured; yet slowly we passed up the Great River, for we strove against its stream, and though that is not swift down in the South, we had no help of wind. Heavy would my heart have been, for all our victory at the havens, if Legolas had not laughed suddenly."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was perilous for the hobbits to use such a path, but they needed speed, and Frodo felt that he could not face the toil of scrambling among the boulders or in the trackless glens of the Morgai. And he judged that northward was, maybe, the way that their hunters would least expect them to take. The road east to the plain, or the pass back westward, those they would first search most thoroughly. Only when he was well north of the Tower did he mean to turn and seek for some way to take him east, east on the last desperate stage of his journey. So now they crossed the stony bed and took to the orc-path, and for some time they marched along it. The cliffs at their left were overhung, and they could not be seen from above; but the path made many bends, and at each bend they gripped their sword-hilts and went forward cautiously."
    },
    {
        "text": "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. \u2018We have come to bid our last farewell,\u2019 she said, \u2018and to speed you with blessings from our land.\u2019 \u2018Though you have been our guests,\u2019 said Celeborn, \u2018you 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 Lo\u00b4 rien.\u2019 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, 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 of that which has already been left far behind by the flowing streams of Time."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then one of the knights took the king\u2019s banner from the hand of Guthla\u00b4f the banner-bearer who lay dead, and he lifted it up. Slowly The\u00b4oden opened his eyes. Seeing the banner he made a sign that it should be given to E\u00b4omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Celebrant is already a strong stream here, as you see,\u2019 said Haldir, \u2018and 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!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nevertheless to Isengard I go,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I shall not stay there long. My way lies now eastward. Look for me in Edoras, ere the waning of the moon!\u2019 \u2018Nay!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018In the dark hour before dawn I doubted, but we will not part now. I will come with you, if that is your counsel.\u2019 \u2018I wish to speak with Saruman, as soon as may be now,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and since he has done you great injury, it would be fitting if you were there. But how soon and how swiftly will you ride?\u2019 \u2018My men are weary with battle,\u2019 said the King; \u2018and I am weary also. For I have ridden far and slept little. Alas! My old age is not feigned nor due only to the whisperings of Wormtongue. It is an ill that no leech can wholly cure, not even Gandalf.\u2019 \u2018Then let all who are to ride with me rest now,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018We will journey under the shadow of evening. It is as well; for it is my counsel that all our comings and goings should be as secret as may be, henceforth. But do not command many men to go with you, The\u00b4oden. We go to a parley not to a fight.\u2019 The King then chose men that were unhurt and had swift horses, and he sent them forth with tidings of the victory into every vale of the Mark; and they bore his summons also, bidding all men, young and old, to come in haste to Edoras. There the Lord of the Mark wouldholdan assemblyofallthatcouldbear arms,onthethirddayAragorn, and Legolas, and Gimli. In spite of his hurt the dwarf would not stay behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, Sam!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Do not kill him even now. For he has not hurt me. And in any case I do not wish him to be slain in this evil mood. He was great once, of a noble kind that we should not dare to raise our hands against. He is fallen, and his cure is beyond us; but I would still spare him, in the hope that he may find it.\u2019 Saruman rose to his feet, and stared at Frodo. There was a strange look in his eyes of mingled wonder and respect and hatred. \u2018You have grown, Halfling,\u2019 he said. \u2018Yes, you have grown very much. You are wise, and cruel. You have robbed my revenge of sweetness, and now I must go hence in bitterness, in debt to your mercy. I hate it and you! Well, I go and I will trouble you no more. But do not expect me to wish you health and long life. You will have neither. But that is not my doing. I merely foretell.\u2019 He walked away, and the hobbits made a lane for him to pass; but their knuckles whitened as they gripped on their weapons. Worm- tongue hesitated, and then followed his master."
    },
    {
        "text": "E\u00b4omer struggled to his feet, even as Aragorn ran back to his aid."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then as quickly as he could he cut away the binding cords and laid his head upon Frodo\u2019s breast and to his mouth, but no stir of life could he find, nor feel the faintest flutter of the heart. Often he chafed his master\u2019s hands and feet, and touched his brow, but all were cold."
    },
    {
        "text": "It is a frightful nuisance. When ought I to start?\u2019 Boromir looked in surprise at Bilbo, but the laughter died on his lipswhenhesawthatalltheothersregardedtheoldhobbitwithgravethis affair, you might be expected to finish it. But you know well enough now that starting is too great a claim for any, and that only a small part is played in great deeds by any hero. You need not bow! Though the word was meant, and we do not doubt that under jest you are making a valiant offer. But one beyond your strength, Bilbo."
    },
    {
        "text": "A broad stairway climbed from the Deep up to the Rock and the rear-gate of the Hornburg. Near the bottom stood Aragorn. In his hand still Andu\u00b4ril gleamed, and the terror of the sword for a while held back the enemy, as one by one all who could gain the stair passed up towards the gate. Behind on the upper steps knelt Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "They looked back, but they could not see far because of the many windings and rollings of the Road. As quickly as they could they scrambled off the beaten way and up into the deep heather and bilberry brushwood on the slopes above, until they came to a small patch of thick-growing hazels. As they peered out from among the bushes, they could see the Road, faint and grey in the failing light, some thirty feet below them. The sound of hoofs drew nearer. They were going fast, with a light clippety-clippety-clip. Then faintly, as if it was blown away from them by the breeze, they seemed to catch a dim ringing, as of small bells tinkling."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018E\u00b4owyn is safe now,\u2019 he said. \u2018But you, Wormtongue, you have done what you could for your true master. Some reward you have earned at least. Yet Saruman is apt to overlook his bargains. I should advise you to go quickly and remind him, lest he forget your faithful service.\u2019 \u2018You lie,\u2019 said Wormtongue."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Mountain crept up ever nearer, until, if they lifted their heavy heads, it filled all their sight, looming vast before them: a huge mass of ash and slag and burned stone, out of which a sheer-sided cone was raised into the clouds. Before the daylong dusk ended and true night came again they had crawled and stumbled to its very feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo had been in the battle, but he had not drawn sword, and his chief part had been to prevent the hobbits in their wrath at their losses, from slaying those of their enemies who threw down their weapons. When the fighting was over, and the later labours were ordered, Merry, Pippin, and Sam joined him, and they rode back with the Cottons. They ate a late midday meal, and then Frodo said with a sigh: \u2018Well, I suppose it is time now that we dealt with the \u2018\u2018Chief \u2019\u2019.\u2019 \u2018Yes indeed; the sooner the better,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018And don\u2019t be too gentle! He\u2019s responsible for bringing in these ruffians, and for all the evil they have done.\u2019 Farmer Cotton collected an escort of some two dozen sturdy hob- bits. \u2018For it\u2019s only a guess that there is no ruffians left at Bag End,\u2019 he said. \u2018We don\u2019t know.\u2019 Then they set out on foot. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin led the way."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last he was no more than a dozen feet from the ground, right above their heads. From that point there was a sheer drop, for the cliff was slightly undercut, and even Gollum could not find a hold of any kind. He seemed to be trying to twist round, so as to go legs first, when suddenly with a shrill whistling shriek he fell. As he did so, he curled his legs and arms up round him, like a spider whose descending thread is snapped."
    },
    {
        "text": "Yet they will cast all away rather than submit to Sauron: for they know him now. For the fate of Lothlo\u00b4 rien 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.\u2019 \u2018You are wise and fearless and fair, Lady Galadriel,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "You shall choose.\u2019 \u2018My heart bids me go on,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018But we must hold together. I will follow your counsel.\u2019 \u2018You give the choice to an ill chooser,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Since we passed through the Argonath my choices have gone amiss.\u2019 He fell silent, gazing north and west into the gathering night for a long while."
    },
    {
        "text": "Shadows had fallen in the valley below, but there was still a light on the faces of the mountains far above. The air was warm. The sound of running and falling water was loud, and the evening was filled with a faint scent of trees and flowers, as if summer still lingered in Elrond\u2019s gardens."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s warm!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Meaning your hand, Mr. Frodo. It has felt so cold through the long nights. But glory and trumpets!\u2019 he cried, turning round again with shining eyes and dancing on the floor. \u2018It\u2019s fine to see you up and yourself again, sir! Gandalf asked me to come and see if you were ready to come down, and I thought he was joking.\u2019 \u2018I am ready,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Let\u2019s go and look for the rest of the party!\u2019 \u2018I can take you to them, sir,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018It\u2019s a big house this, and very peculiar. Always a bit more to discover, and no knowing what you\u2019ll find round a corner. And Elves, sir! Elves here, and Elves there! Some like kings, terrible and splendid; and some as merry as children."
    },
    {
        "text": "Peregrin Took I should say, and Mr. Merry! How they have grown! Bless me! But I can see there\u2019s more tales to tell than ours.\u2019 \u2018There are indeed,\u2019 said Pippin turning towards him. \u2018And we\u2019ll begin telling them, as soon as this feast is ended. In the meantime you can try Gandalf. He\u2019s not so close as he used to be, though he laughs now more than he talks. For the present Merry and I are busy."
    },
    {
        "text": "As he stepped out at last upon the lofty platform, Haldir took his hand and turned him towards the South. \u2018Look this way first!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "And Aragorn looked on the slain, and he said: \u2018Here lie many that are not folk of Mordor. Some are from the North, from the Misty Mountains, if I know anything of Orcs and their kinds. And here are others strange to me. Their gear is not after the manner of Orcs at all!\u2019 There were four goblin-soldiers of greater stature, swart, slant- eyed, with thick legs and large hands. They were armed with short broad-bladed swords, not with the curved scimitars usual with Orcs; and they had bows of yew, in length and shape like the bows of Men."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hills drew nearer. They made an undulating ridge, often rising almost to a thousand feet, and here and there falling again to low clefts orpasses leading into theeastern land beyond.Along the crestruins of old works of stone. By night they had reached the feet of the westward slopes, and there they camped. It was the night of the fifth of October, and they were six days out from Bree."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hail, Gimli Glo\u00b4 in\u2019s son!\u2019 he cried. \u2018I have not had time to learn gentle speech under your rod, as you promised. But shall we not put aside our quarrel? At least I will speak no evil again of the Lady of the Wood.\u2019 \u2018I will forget my wrath for a while, E\u00b4omer son of E\u00b4 omund,\u2019 said Gimli; \u2018but if ever you chance to see the Lady Galadriel with your eyes, then you shall acknowledge her the fairest of ladies, or our friendship will end.\u2019 \u2018So be it!\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018But until that time pardon me, and in token of pardon ride with me, I beg. Gandalf will be at the head with the Lord of the Mark; but Firefoot, my horse, will bear us both, if you will.\u2019 \u2018I thank you indeed,\u2019 said Gimli greatly pleased. \u2018I will gladly go with you, if Legolas, my comrade, may ride beside us.\u2019 \u2018It shall be so,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018Legolas upon my left, and Aragorn upon my right, and none will dare to stand before us!\u2019 \u2018Where is Shadowfax?\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "It isn\u2019t far \u2013 let\u2019s go and investigate!\u2019 They found it was further than they thought. The ground was rising steeply still, and it was becoming increasingly stony. The light grew broader as they went on, and soon they saw that there was a rock- wall before them: the side of a hill, or the abrupt end of some long root thrust out by the distant mountains. No trees grew on it, and the sun was falling full on its stony face. The twigs of the trees at its foot were stretched out stiff and still, as if reaching out to the warmth. Where all had looked so shabby and grey before, the wood now gleamed with rich browns, and with the smooth black-greys of bark like polished leather. The boles of the trees glowed with a soft green like young grass: early spring or a fleeting vision of it was about them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Give us that, De\u00b4agol, my love,\u2019\u2019 said Sme\u00b4agol, over his friend\u2019s shoulder."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Poor wretch!\u2019 he said half remorsefully. \u2018Now I wonder where he\u2019s got to?\u2019 \u2018Not far, not far!\u2019 said a voice above him. He looked up and saw the shape of Gollum\u2019s large head and ears against the evening sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "Galadriel told me that he was in peril. But he escaped in the end. I am glad. It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir\u2019s sake. But that is not the only part they have to play. They were brought to Fangorn, and their coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains. Even as we talk here, I hear the first rumblings. Saruman had best not be caught away from home when the dam bursts!\u2019 \u2018In one thing you have not changed, dear friend,\u2019 said Aragorn: \u2018you still speak in riddles.\u2019 \u2018What? In riddles?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018No! For I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying.\u2019 He laughed, but the sound now seemed warm and kindly as a gleam of sunshine."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was not long before a clamour was heard in the streets leading up from the outer circles, and there was much cheering and crying of the names of Faramir and Mithrandir. Presently Pippin saw torches, and followed by a press of people two horsemen riding slowly: one was in white but shining no longer, pale in the twilight as if his fire was spent or veiled; the other was dark and his head was bowed. They dismounted, and as grooms took Shadowfax and the other horse, they walked forward to the sentinel at the gate: Gandalf steadily, his grey cloak flung back, and a fire still smouldering in his eyes; the other, clad all in green, slowly, swaying a little as a weary or a wounded man."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam took a deep breath. \u2018The Riders are about again, up in the air,\u2019 he said in a hoarse whisper. \u2018I saw them. Do you think they could see us? They were very high up. And if they are Black Riders, same as before, then they can\u2019t see much by daylight, can they?\u2019 \u2018No, perhaps not,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But their steeds could see. And these winged creatures that they ride on now, they can probably see more than any other creature. They are like great carrion birds. They are looking for something: the Enemy is on the watch, I fear.\u2019 The feeling of dread passed, but the enfolding silence was broken."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then you have not yet eaten today?\u2019 \u2018Well, yes, to speak in courtesy, yes,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018But no more than a cup of wine and a white cake or two by the kindness of your lord; but he racked me for it with an hour of questions, and that is hungry work.\u2019 Beregond laughed. \u2018At the table small men may do the greater deeds, we say. But you have broken your fast as well as any man in the Citadel, and with greater honour. This is a fortress and a tower of guard and is now in posture of war. We rise ere the Sun, and take a morsel in the grey light, and go to our duties at the opening hour."
    },
    {
        "text": "You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do.\u2019 \u2018But,\u2019 said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, \u2018I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you have done.\u2019 \u2018So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them. But you are my heir: all that I had and might have had I leave to you. And also you have Rose, and Elanor; and Frodo-lad will come, and Rosie-lass, and Merry, and Goldilocks, and Pippin; and perhaps more that I cannot see. Your hands and your wits will be needed everywhere. You will be the Mayor, of course, as long as you want to be, and the most famous gardener in history; and you will read things out of the Red Book, and keep alive the memory of the age that is gone, so that people will remember the Great Danger and so love their beloved land all the more. And that will keep you as busy and as happy as anyone can be, as long as your part of the Story goes on."
    },
    {
        "text": "And sometimes his right hand would creep to his breast, clutching, and then slowly, as the will recovered mastery, it would be withdrawn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Awake, E\u00b4 owyn, Lady of Rohan!\u2019 said Aragorn again, and he took her right hand in his and felt it warm with life returning. \u2018Awake! The shadow is gone and all darkness is washed clean!\u2019 Then he laid her hand in E\u00b4 omer\u2019s and stepped away. \u2018Call her!\u2019 he said, and he passed silently from the chamber."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are the doors before you,\u2019 said the guide. \u2018I must return now to my duty at the gate. Farewell! And may the Lord of the Mark be gracious to you!\u2019 He turned and went swiftly back down the road. The others climbed the long stair under the eyes of the tall watchmen. Silent they stood now above and spoke no word, until Gandalf stepped out upon the paved terrace at the stair\u2019s head. Then suddenly with clear voices they spoke a courteous greeting in their own tongue."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018In seven days we will go,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018For we shall ride with you far on the road, even as far as the country of Rohan. In three days now E\u00b4 omer will return hither to bear The\u00b4oden back to rest in the Mark, and we shall ride with him to honour the fallen. But now before you go I will confirm the words that Faramir spoke to you, and you are made free for ever of the realm of Gondor; and all your companions likewise. And if there were any gifts that I could give to match with your deeds you should have them; but whatever you desire you shall take with you, and you shall ride in honour and arrayed as princes of the land.\u2019 But the Queen Arwen said: \u2018A gift I will give you. For I am the daughter of Elrond. I shall not go with him now when he departs to the Havens; for mine is the choice of Lu\u00b4thien, and as she so have I chosen, both the sweet and the bitter. But in my stead you shall go,you may pass into the West, until all your wounds and weariness are healed. But wear this now in memory of Elfstone and Evenstar with whom your life has been woven!\u2019 And she took a white gem like a star that lay upon her breast hanging upon a silver chain, and she set the chain about Frodo\u2019s neck. \u2018When the memory of the fear and the darkness troubles you,\u2019 she said, \u2018this will bring you aid.\u2019 In three days, as the King had said, E\u00b4 omer of Rohan came riding to the City, and with him came an e\u00b4ored of the fairest knights of the Mark. He was welcomed; and when they sat all at table in Mer- ethrond, the Great Hall of Feasts, he beheld the beauty of the ladies that he saw and was filled with great wonder. And before he went to his rest he sent for Gimli the Dwarf, and he said to him: \u2018Gimli Glo\u00b4in\u2019s son, have you your axe ready?\u2019 \u2018Nay, lord,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018but I can speedily fetch it, if there be need.\u2019 \u2018You shall judge,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018For there are certain rash words concerning the Lady in the Golden Wood that lie still between us."
    },
    {
        "text": "Here and there upon heights and ridges they caught glimpses of ancient walls of stone, and the ruins of towers: they had an ominous look. Frodo, who was not walking, had time to gaze ahead and to think. He recalled Bilbo\u2019s account of his journey and the threatening towers on the hills north of the Road, in the country near the Trolls\u2019 wood where his first serious adventure had happened. Frodo guessed that they were now in the same region, and wondered if by chance they would pass near the spot."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am afraid I am only in everybody\u2019s way,\u2019 he stammered; \u2018but I should like to do anything I could, you know.\u2019 \u2018I doubt it not,\u2019 said the king. \u2018I have had a good hill-pony made ready for you. He will bear you as swift as any horse by the roads that we shall take. For I will ride from the Burg by mountain paths, not by the plain, and so come to Edoras by way of Dunharrow where the Lady E\u00b4 owyn awaits me. You shall be my esquire, if you will. Is there gear of war in this place, E\u00b4 omer, that my sword-thain could use?\u2019 \u2018There are no great weapon-hoards here, lord,\u2019 answered E\u00b4 omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Orcs must have been aware from this point that they were pur- sued; they may have made some attempt to get their captives away before they were overtaken.\u2019 As they rode forward the day was overcast. Low grey clouds came over the Wold. A mist shrouded the sun. Ever nearer the tree-clad slopes of Fangorn loomed, slowly darkling as the sun went west."
    },
    {
        "text": "Strangely enough, Frodo felt refreshed. He had been dreaming."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Receive it, lord!\u2019 he said: \u2018in earnest of other things that shall be given back. But if I may counsel you in the use of your own, do not use it \u2013 yet! Be wary!\u2019 \u2018When have I been hasty or unwary, who have waited and prepared for so many long years?\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "Very nearly, if they get through. O yes!\u2019 Frodo shivered. The climb had made him sweat, but now he felt cold and clammy, and there was a chill draught in the dark passage, blowing down from the invisible heights above. He got up and shook himself. \u2018Well, let\u2019s go on!\u2019 he said. \u2018This is no place to sit in.\u2019 The passage seemed to go on for miles, and always the chill air flowed over them, rising as they went on to a bitter wind. The moun- tains seemed to be trying with their deadly breath to daunt them, to turn them back from the secrets of the high places, or to blow them away into the darkness behind. They only knew that they had come to the end, when suddenly they felt no wall at their right hand. They could see very little. Great black shapeless masses and deep grey shadows loomed above them and about them, but now and again a dull red light flickered up under the lowering clouds, and for a moment they were aware of tall peaks, in front and on either side, like pillars holding up a vast sagging roof. They seemed to have climbed up many hundreds of feet, on to a wide shelf. A cliff was on their left and a chasm on their right."
    },
    {
        "text": "There ain\u2019t no eaves at Bag End, and that\u2019s a fact.\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t be a fool! What have you heard, and why did you listen?\u2019 Gandalf \u2019s eyes flashed and his brows stuck out like bristles."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Time passed with many cares, until my doubts were awakened again to sudden fear. Whence came the hobbit\u2019s ring? What, if my fear was true, should be done with it? Those things I must decide."
    },
    {
        "text": "The horsemen, following the trail, had turned from the river, and were drawing near the downs. They were riding like the wind."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bilbo never did a kinder deed than when he brought the lad back to live among decent folk."
    },
    {
        "text": "Creeping cautiously out from the edge of the trees, they set off across the open as quickly as they could."
    },
    {
        "text": "Counsel I gave and counsel took. Thence by strange roads I came, and messages I bring to some of you. To Aragorn I was bidden to say this: Where now are the Du\u00b4nedain, Elessar, Elessar? Why do thy kinsfolk wander afar? Near is the hour when the Lost should come forth, And the Grey Company ride from the North."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is useless to sit here until the snow goes over our heads. We must do something to save ourselves.\u2019 \u2018Give them this,\u2019 said Gandalf, searching in his pack and drawing out a leathern flask. \u2018Just a mouthful each \u2013 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!\u2019 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 also revived and found fresh hope and vigour."
    },
    {
        "text": "After so long journeying and camping, and days spent in the lonely wild, the evening meal seemed a feast to the hobbits: to drink pale yellow wine, cool and fragrant, and eat bread and butter, and salted meats, and dried fruits, and good red cheese, with clean hands and clean knives and plates. Neither Frodo nor Sam refused anything that was offered, nor a second, nor indeed a third helping. The wine coursed in their veins and tired limbs, and they felt glad and easy of heart as they had not done since they left the land of Lo\u00b4 rien."
    },
    {
        "text": "They went openly but heedfully, with mounted scouts before them on the road, and others on foot upon either side, especially on the eastward flank; for there lay dark thickets, and a tumbled land of rocky ghylls and crags, behind which the long grim slopes of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath clambered up. The weather of the world remained fair, and the wind held in the west, but nothing could waft away the glooms and the sad mists that clung about the Mountains of Shadow; and behind them at whiles great smokes would arise and hover in the upper winds."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are various queer things living deep in the Forest, and on the far side,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018or at least I have heard so; but I have never seen any of them. But something makes paths. Whenever one comes inside one finds open tracks; but they seem to shift and change from time to time in a queer fashion. Not far from this tunnel there is, or was for a long time, the beginning of quite a broad path leading to the Bonfire Glade, and then on more or less in our direction, east and a little north. That is the path I am going to try and find.\u2019 The hobbits now left the tunnel-gate and rode across the wide hollow. On the far side was a faint path leading up on to the floorcould see the dark line of the Hedge through the stems of trees that were already thick about them. Looking ahead they could see only tree-trunks of innumerable sizes and shapes: straight or bent, twisted, leaning, squat or slender, smooth or gnarled and branched; and all the stems were green or grey with moss and slimy, shaggy growths."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If there are any to see, then I at least am revealed to them,\u2019 he said. \u2018I have written Gandalf is here in signs that all can read from Rivendell to the mouths of Anduin.\u2019burned 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Excuse me: that is a part of my name for it; I do not know what the word is in the outside languages: you know, the thing we are on, where I stand and look out on fine mornings, and think about theup to? And these \u2013 bura\u00b4rum,\u2019 he made a deep rumbling noise like a discord on a great organ \u2013 \u2018these Orcs, and young Saruman down at Isengard? I like news. But not too quick now.\u2019 \u2018There is quite a lot going on,\u2019 said Merry; \u2018and even if we tried to be quick, it would take a long time to tell. But you told us not to be hasty. Ought we to tell you anything so soon? Would you think it rude, if we asked what you are going to do with us, and which side you are on? And did you know Gandalf ?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I do know him: the only wizard that really cares about trees,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018Do you know him?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Pippin sadly, \u2018we did. He was a great friend, and he was our guide.\u2019 \u2018Then I can answer your other questions,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018I am not going to do anything with you: not if you mean by that \u2018\u2018do something to you\u2019\u2019 without your leave. We might do some things together. I don\u2019t know about sides. I go my own way; but your way may go along with mine for a while. But you speak of Master Gandalf, as if he was in a story that had come to an end.\u2019 \u2018Yes, we do,\u2019 said Pippin sadly. \u2018The story seems to be going on, but I am afraid Gandalf has fallen out of it.\u2019 \u2018Hoo, come now!\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018Hoom, hm, ah well.\u2019 He paused, looking long at the hobbits. \u2018Hoom, ah, well I do not know what to say. Come now!\u2019 \u2018If you would like to hear more,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018we will tell you. But it will take some time. Wouldn\u2019t you like to put us down? Couldn\u2019t we sit here together in the sun, while it lasts? You must be getting tired of holding us up.\u2019 \u2018Hm, tired? No, I am not tired. I do not easily get tired. And I do not sit down. I am not very, hm, bendable. But there, the Sun is going in. Let us leave this \u2013 did you say what you call it?\u2019 \u2018Hill?\u2019 suggested Pippin. \u2018Shelf ? Step?\u2019 suggested Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it. But you do not stand alone. You will learn that your trouble is but part of the trouble of all the western world. The Ring! What shall we do with the Ring, the least of rings, the trifle that Sauron fancies? That is the doom that we must deem."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I cannot say,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018It depends on many chances. But going straight, without mishap or losing our way, we shall take three or 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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "They had better both be dead together. And that too would be a lonely journey."
    },
    {
        "text": "Stony-faced they were, with dark window-holes staring north and east and west, and each window was full of sleepless eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Like that friend of Bill Ferny\u2019s at Bree,\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There go the last of the wains that bear away to refuge the aged, the children, and the women that must go with them. They must all be gone from the Gate and the road clear for a league before noon: that was the order. It is a sad necessity.\u2019 He sighed. \u2018Few, maybe, of those now sundered will meet again. And there were always too few children in this city; but now there are none \u2013 save some young lads that will not depart, and may find some task to do: my own son is one of them.\u2019 They fell silent for a while. Pippin gazed anxiously eastward, as if at any moment he might see thousands of orcs pouring over the fields. \u2018What can I see there?\u2019 he asked, pointing down to the middle of the great curve of the Anduin. \u2018Is that another city, or what is it?\u2019 \u2018It was a city,\u2019 said Beregond, \u2018the chief city of Gondor, of which this was only a fortress. For that is the ruin of Osgiliath on either side of Anduin, which our enemies took and burned long ago. Yet we won it back in the days of the youth of Denethor: not to dwell in, but to hold as an outpost, and to rebuild the bridge for the passage of our arms. And then came the Fell Riders out of Minas Morgul.\u2019 \u2018The Black Riders?\u2019 said Pippin, opening his eyes, and they were wide and dark with an old fear re-awakened."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I tried to get away, because I thought it would fly out; but when it had covered all the globe, it disappeared. Then he came. He did not speak so that I could hear words. He just looked, and I understood."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sam!\u2019 he called. \u2018Pippin! Merry! Come along! Why don\u2019t you keep up?\u2019 There was no answer. Fear took him, and he ran back past the stones shouting wildly: \u2018Sam! Sam! Merry! Pippin!\u2019 The pony bolted into the mist and vanished. From some way off, or so it seemed, he thought he heard a cry: \u2018Hoy! Frodo! Hoy!\u2019 It was away eastward, on his left as he stood under the great stones, staring and straining into the gloom. He plunged off in the direction of the call, and found himself going steeply uphill."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Dead are following,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018I see shapes of Men and of horses, and pale banners like shreds of cloud, and spears like winter-thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.\u2019 \u2018Yes, the Dead ride behind. They have been summoned,\u2019 said Elladan."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ah yes, I recognized the name. I recollect the time when youngBaggins before you turned up. What do you think that funny customer asked me?\u2019 They waited anxiously for him to go on. \u2018Well,\u2019 the farmer con- tinued, approaching his point with slow relish, \u2018he came riding on a big black horse in at the gate, which happened to be open, and right up to my door. All black he was himself, too, and cloaked and hooded up, as if he did not want to be known. \u2018\u2018Now what in the Shire can he want?\u2019\u2019 I thought to myself. We don\u2019t see many of the Big Folk over the border; and anyway I had never heard of any like this black fellow."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No!\u2019 Pippin laughed. \u2018Don\u2019t believe what strangers say of them- selves either! I am not a fighter. But it would be politer in any case for the challenger to say who he is.\u2019 The boy drew himself up proudly. \u2018I am Bergil son of Beregond of the Guards,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tired as he was Merry could not sleep. He had ridden now for four days on end, and the ever-deepening gloom had slowly weighed down his heart. He began to wonder why he had been so eager to come, when he had been given every excuse, even his lord\u2019s com- mand, to stay behind. He wondered, too, if the old King knew that he had been disobeyed and was angry. Perhaps not. There seemed to be some understanding between Dernhelm and Elfhelm, the Mar- shal who commanded the e\u00b4ored in which they were riding. He and all his men ignored Merry and pretended not to hear if he spoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "At first men laughed and did not greatly fear such devices. For the main wall of the City was of great height and marvellous thickness, built ere the power and craft of Nu\u00b4menor waned in exile; and its outward face was like to the Tower of Orthanc, hard and dark and smooth, unconquerable by steel or fire, unbreakable except by some convulsion that would rend the very earth on which it stood."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If the return to Iarwain be thought too dangerous, then flight to the Sea is now fraught with gravest peril. My heart tells me that Sauron will expect us to take the western way, when he learns what has befallen. He soon will. The Nine have been unhorsed indeed, but that is but a respite, ere they find new steeds and swifter. Only the waning might of Gondor stands now between him and a march in power along the coasts into the North; and if he comes, assailing the White Towers and the Havens, hereafter the Elves may have no escape from the lengthening shadows of Middle-earth.\u2019 \u2018Long yet will that march be delayed,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018Gondor\u2018And yet its vigilance can no longer keep back the Nine,\u2019 said Galdor. \u2018And other roads he may find that Gondor does not guard.\u2019 \u2018Then,\u2019 said Erestor, \u2018there are but two courses, as Glorfindel already has declared: to hide the Ring for ever; or to unmake it. But both are beyond our power. Who will read this riddle for us?\u2019 \u2018None here can do so,\u2019 said Elrond gravely. \u2018At least none can foretell what will come to pass, if we take this road or that. But it seems to me now clear which is the road that we must take. The westward road seems easiest. Therefore it must be shunned. It will be watched. Too often the Elves have fled that way. Now at this last we must take a hard road, a road unforeseen. There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril \u2013 to Mordor. We must send the Ring to the Fire.\u2019 Silence fell again. Frodo, even in that fair house, looking out upon a sunlit valley filled with the noise of clear waters, felt a dead darkness in his heart. Boromir stirred, and Frodo looked at him. He was fingering his great horn and frowning. At length he spoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "The last person they passed was a sturdy old gaffer clipping a hedge. \u2018Hullo, hullo!\u2019 he jeered. \u2018Now who\u2019s arrested who?\u2019 Two of the Shirriffs immediately left the party and went towards him. \u2018Leader!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Order your fellows back to their places at once, if you don\u2019t want me to deal with them!\u2019 The two hobbits at a sharp word from the leader came back sulkily."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The wind\u2019s changing,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018It\u2019s turned east again. It feels cool up here.\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Pippin; \u2018I\u2019m afraid this is only a passing gleam, and it will all go grey again. What a pity! This shaggy old forest looked so different in the sunlight. I almost felt I liked the place.\u2019 \u2018Almost felt you liked the Forest! That\u2019s good! That\u2019s uncommonly kind of you,\u2019 said a strange voice. \u2018Turn round and let me have a look at your faces. I almost feel that I dislike you both, but do not let us be hasty. Turn around!\u2019 A large knob-knuckled hand was laid on each of their shoulders, and they were twisted round, gently but irresistibly; then two great arms lifted them up."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nothing to do with their wood: I do not mean that. Why, I knew some good old willows down the Entwash, gone long ago, alas! They were quite hollow, indeed they were falling all to pieces, but as quiet and sweet-spoken as a young leaf. And then there are some trees in the valleys under the mountains, sound as a bell, and bad right through. That sort of thing seems to spread. There used to be some very dangerous parts in this country. There are still some very black patches.\u2019 \u2018Like the Old Forest away to the north, do you mean?\u2019 asked Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sinking moon was obscured by a great sailing cloud, but suddenly it rode out clear again. Then they all heard the sound of hoofs, and at the same moment they saw dark shapes coming swiftly on the path from the fords. The moonlight glinted here and there on the points of spears. The number of the pursuers could not be told, but they seemed no fewer than the king\u2019s escort, at the least."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Your business is your own, no doubt,\u2019 said the man; \u2018but it\u2019s my business to ask questions after nightfall.\u2019 \u2018We are hobbits from Buckland, and we have a fancy to travel and to stay at the inn here,\u2019 put in Merry. \u2018I am Mr. Brandybuck. Is that enough for you? The Bree-folk used to be fair-spoken to travellers, or so I had heard.\u2019 \u2018All right, all right!\u2019 said the man. \u2018I meant no offence. But you\u2019ll find maybe that more folk than old Harry at the gate will be asking you questions. There\u2019s queer folk about. If you go on to The Pony, you\u2019ll find you\u2019re not the only guests.\u2019 He wished them good night, and they said no more; but Frodo could see in the lantern-light that the man was still eyeing them curiously. He was glad to hear the gate clang to behind them, as they rode forward. He wondered why the man was so suspicious, and whether anyone had been asking for news of a party of hobbits. Could ithavebeenGandalf?Hemighthavearrived,whiletheyweredelayedThe man stared after the hobbits for a moment, and then he went back to his house. As soon as his back was turned, a dark figure climbed quickly in over the gate and melted into the shadows of the village street."
    },
    {
        "text": "O stars that in the Sunless Year With shining hand by her were sown, In windy fields now bright and clear We see your silver blossom blown! O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! We still remember, we who dwell In this far land beneath the trees, Thy starlight on the Western Seas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Men of Gondor, the loremasters tell that it was the custom of old that the king should receive the crown from his father ere he died; or if that might not be, that he should go alone and take it from the hands of his father in the tomb where he was laid. But since things must now be done otherwise, using the authority of the Steward, I have today brought hither from Rath D\u00b4\u0131nen the crown of Ea\u00a8rnur the last king, whose days passed in the time of our longfathers of old.\u2019 Then the guards stepped forward, and Faramir opened the casket, and he held up an ancient crown. It was shaped like the helms of the Guards of the Citadel, save that it was loftier, and it was all white, and the wings at either side were wrought of pearl and silver in the likeness of the wings of a sea-bird, for it was the emblem of kings who came over the Sea; and seven gems of adamant were set in the circlet, and upon its summit was set a single jewel the light of which went up like a flame."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf walked in front, and with him went Aragorn, who knewwas 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, they seldom felt warm, either moving or at rest. They slept uneasily during 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 after- noon 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "The old man laid the sword along his lap, and Pippin put his hand to the hilt, and said slowly after Denethor: \u2018Here do I swear fealty and service to Gondor, and to the Lord and Steward of the realm, to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end. So say I, Peregrin son of Paladin of the Shire of the Halflings.\u2019 \u2018And this do I hear, Denethor son of Ecthelion, Lord of Gondor, Steward of the High King, and I will not forget it, nor fail to reward that which is given: fealty with love, valour with honour, oath- breaking with vengeance.\u2019 Then Pippin received back his sword and put it in its sheath."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now slowly and sadly Merry walked beside the bearers, and he gave no more heed to the battle. He was weary and full of pain, and his limbs trembled as with a chill. A great rain came out of the Sea, and it seemed that all things wept for The\u00b4oden and E\u00b4owyn, quenching the fires in the City with grey tears. It was through a mist that pres- ently he saw the van of the men of Gondor approaching. Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, rode up and drew rein before them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Dazed as he was with pain and weariness, Sam woke up, grasped quickly at his chance, and threw himself to the ground, dragging Frodo down with him. Orcs fell over them, snarling and cursing."
    },
    {
        "text": "Little fingers of fire licked against the dry scored rind of the ancient tree and scorched it. A tremor ran through the whole willow. The leaves seemed to hiss above their heads with a sound of pain and anger. A loud scream came from Merry, and from far inside the tree they heard Pippin give a muffled yell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I sat at night by the waters of Anduin, in the grey dark under the young pale moon, watching the ever-moving stream; and the sad reeds were rustling. So do we ever watch the shores nigh Osgiliath, which our enemies now partly hold, and issue from it to harry our lands. But that night all the world slept at the midnight hour. Then I saw, or it seemed that I saw, a boat floating on the water, glimmering grey, a small boat of a strange fashion with a high prow, and there was none to row or steer it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Maybe a light helm might be found to fit him; but we have no mail or sword for one of his stature.\u2019 \u2018I have a sword,\u2019 said Merry, climbing from his seat, and drawing from its black sheath his small bright blade. Filled suddenly with love for this old man, he knelt on one knee, and took his hand and kissed it. \u2018May I lay the sword of Meriadoc of the Shire on your lap, The\u00b4oden King?\u2019 he cried. \u2018Receive my service, if you will!\u2019 \u2018Gladly will I take it,\u2019 said the king; and laying his long old hands upon the brown hair of the hobbit, he blessed him. \u2018Rise now, Meria- doc, esquire of Rohan of the household of Meduseld!\u2019 he said. \u2018Take your sword and bear it unto good fortune!\u2019 \u2018As a father you shall be to me,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thirdly and finally, he said, I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 thehourhadcomeatlastwhentheheirofElendilshouldcomeforthforsake the Ring, if Frodo refused in the end to go with Boromir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I\u2019ve heard nothing, and seen nothing, for two nights now.\u2019 \u2018Nor me,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Grrr! Those eyes did give me a turn! But perhaps we\u2019ve shaken him off at last, the miserable slinker. Gollum! I\u2019ll give him gollum in his throat, if ever I get my hands on his neck.\u2019 \u2018I hope you\u2019ll never need to,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I don\u2019t know how he followed us; but it may be that he\u2019s lost us again, as you say. In this\u2018I hope that\u2019s the way of it,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018I wish we could be rid of him for good!\u2019 \u2018So do I,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but he\u2019s not my chief trouble. I wish we could get away from these hills! I hate them. I feel all naked on the east side, stuck up here with nothing but the dead flats between me and that Shadow yonder. There\u2019s an Eye in it. Come on! We\u2019ve got to get down today somehow.\u2019 But that day wore on, and when afternoon faded towards evening they were still scrambling along the ridge and had found no way of escape."
    },
    {
        "text": "Mrs. Maggot brought out beer in a huge jug, and filled four large mugs. It was a good brew, and Pippin found himself more than compensated for missing the Golden Perch. Sam sipped his beer sus- piciously. He had a natural mistrust of the inhabitants of other parts of the Shire; and also he was not disposed to be quick friends with anyone who had beaten his master, however long ago."
    },
    {
        "text": "A wind that had sprung up in the night was blowing now keenly from the North, and it was rising; but the lands about looked grey and drear."
    },
    {
        "text": "The riding figure sat quite still with its head bowed, as if listening. From inside the hood came a noise as of someone sniffing to catch an elusive scent; the head turned from side to side of the road."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before long, washed and refreshed, the hobbits were seated at the table, two on each side, while at either end sat Goldberry and the Master. It was a long and merry meal. Though the hobbits ate, as only famished hobbits can eat, there was no lack. The drink in their drinking-bowls seemed to be clear cold water, yet it went to their hearts like wine and set free their voices. The guests became suddenly aware that they were singing merrily, as if it was easier and more natural than talking."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That\u2019s done it!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Now I\u2019ve rung the front-door bell! Well, come on somebody!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Tell Captain Shagrat that the great Elf-warrior has called, with his elf-sword too!\u2019 There was no answer. Sam strode forward. Sting glittered blue in his hand. The courtyard lay in deep shadow, but he could see that the pavement was strewn with bodies. Right at his feet were two orc-archers with knives sticking in their backs. Beyond lay many more shapes; some singly as they had been hewn down or shot; others in pairs, still grappling one another, dead in the very throes of stabbing, throttling, biting. The stones were slippery with dark blood."
    },
    {
        "text": "Be wary still!\u2019 He fell silent and sighed. \u2018Well, no need to brood on what tomorrow may bring. For one thing, tomorrow will be certain to bring worse than today, for many days to come. And there is nothing more that I can do to help it. The board is set, and the pieces arehad no time to gather news. I must go, Pippin. I must go to this lords\u2019 council and learn what I can. But the Enemy has the move, and he is about to open his full game. And pawns are likely to see as much of it as any, Peregrin son of Paladin, soldier of Gondor."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then a clamour arose in the Deep behind. Orcs had crept like rats through the culvert through which the stream flowed out. There they had gathered in the shadow of the cliffs, until the assault above was hottest and nearly all the men of the defence had rushed to the wall\u2019s top. Then they sprang out. Already some had passed into the jaws of the Deep and were among the horses, fighting with the guards."
    },
    {
        "text": "Legolas gave a great shout and shot an arrow high into the air: it vanished in a flash of flame."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Are these magic cloaks?\u2019 asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then slowly they saw the forms of the encircling mountains mirrored in a profound 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do,\u2019 said Shagrat in angry tones. \u2018Put him right up in the top chamber.\u2019 \u2018What for?\u2019 growled Gorbag. \u2018Haven\u2019t you any lock-ups down below?\u2019 \u2018He\u2019sgoingoutofharm\u2019sway,Itellyou,\u2019answeredShagrat.\u2018See?where you won\u2019t come, if you don\u2019t keep civil. Up to the top, I say."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, here we are!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Here\u2019s the Gate, and it looks to me as if that\u2019s about as far as we are ever going to get. My word, but the Gaffer would have a thing or two to say, if he saw me now! Often said I\u2019d come to a bad end, if I didn\u2019t watch my step, he did."
    },
    {
        "text": "But as the day wore on and all too soon the dim light began to fail, Frodo stooped again, and began to stagger, as if the renewed effort had squandered his remaining strength."
    },
    {
        "text": "This was the second, no, the third night since he had looked in the Stone. And with that hideous memory he woke fully, and shivered, and the noise of the wind became filled with menacing voices."
    },
    {
        "text": "Storage barrels were being opened. Men were fetching water from the fall. Some were laving their hands in basins. A wide copper bowl and a white cloth were brought to Faramir and he washed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Over the lip of the little dell, on the side away from the hill, they felt, rather than saw, a shadow rise, one shadow or more than one."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Elrohir gave to Aragorn a silver horn, and he blew upon it; and it seemed to those that stood near that they heard a sound of answering horns, as if it was an echo in deep caves far away. No other sound they heard, and yet they were aware of a great host gathered all about the hill on which they stood; and a chill wind like the breath of ghosts came down from the mountains. But Aragorn dismounted, and standing by the Stone he cried in a great voice: \u2018Oathbreakers, why have ye come?\u2019 And a voice was heard out of the night that answered him, as if from far away: \u2018To fulfil our oath and have peace.\u2019 Then Aragorn said: \u2018The hour is come at last. Now I go to Pelargir upon Anduin, and ye shall come after me. And when all this land is clean of the servants of Sauron, I will hold the oath fulfilled, and ye shall have peace and depart for ever. For I am Elessar, Isildur\u2019s heir of Gondor.\u2019 And with that he bade Halbarad unfurl the great standard which hehadbrought;andbehold!itwasblack,andiftherewasanydeviceCompany camped beside the Stone, but they slept little, because of the dread of the Shadows that hedged them round."
    },
    {
        "text": "Fare Well! Frodo read the letter to himself, and then passed it to Pippin and Sam. \u2018Really old Butterbur has made a mess of things!\u2019 he said. \u2018He deserves roasting. If I had got this at once, we might all have been safe in Rivendell by now. But what can have happened to Gandalf ? He writes as if he was going into great danger.\u2019 \u2018He has been doing that for many years,\u2019 said Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So we always do,\u2019 he said, as they sat down: \u2018we look towards Nu\u00b4menor that was, and beyond to Elvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be. Have you no such custom at meat?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Frodo, feeling strangely rustic and untutored. \u2018But if we are guests, we bow to our host, and after we have eaten we rise and thank him.\u2019 \u2018That we do also,\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Once I do get to sleep,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018I shall go on sleeping, whether I roll off or no. And the less said, the sooner I\u2019ll drop off, if you take my meaning.\u2019 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,FrodofellasleepwiththesongofLegolasrunninginhismind.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."
    },
    {
        "text": "And at last Bergil came running in, and he bore six leaves in a cloth. \u2018It is kingsfoil, Sir,\u2019 he said; \u2018but not fresh, I fear. It must have been culled two weeks ago at the least. I hope it will serve, Sir?\u2019 Then looking at Faramir he burst into tears."
    },
    {
        "text": "A wide and echoing passage led back from the door towards the mountain-side. It was dimly lit with torches flaring in brackets on the walls, but its distant end was lost in gloom. Many doors and openings could be seen on this side and that; but it was empty save for two or three more bodies sprawling on the floor. From what he had heard of the captains\u2019 talk Sam knew that, dead or alive, Frodo would most likely be found in a chamber high up in the turret far above; but he might search for a day before he found the way."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We are making for the inn here,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018We are jour- neying east and cannot go further tonight.\u2019 \u2018Hobbits! Four hobbits! And what\u2019s more, out of the Shire by their talk,\u2019 said the gatekeeper, softly as if speaking to himself. He stared at them darkly for a moment, and then slowly opened the gate and let them ride through."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then he shut off the light again, and spoke words of welcome in his elven-tongue. Frodo spoke haltingly in return."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And if that is not proof enough, Galdor, there is the other test that I spoke of. Upon this very ring which you have here seen held aloft, round and unadorned, the letters that Isildur reported may still be read, if one has the strength of will to set the golden thing in the fire a while. That I have done, and this I have read: Ash nazg durbatulu\u02c6k, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulu\u02c6k agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.\u2019 The change in the wizard\u2019s voice was astounding. Suddenly it became menacing, powerful, harsh as stone. A shadow seemed to pass over the high sun, and the porch for a moment grew dark. All trembled, and the Elves stopped their ears."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hunt is up! Even if we live to see the dawn, who now will wish\u2018There was a door south-west of Caradhras, some fifteen miles as the crow flies, and maybe twenty as the wolf runs,\u2019 answered Gandalf grimly."
    },
    {
        "text": "He heard the wizard sigh, and mutter: \u2018When will Faramir return?\u2019 \u2018Hullo!\u2019 said Pippin, poking his head round the curtain. \u2018I thought you had forgotten all about me. I am glad to see you back. It has been a long day.\u2019 \u2018But the night will be too short,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I have come back here, for I must have a little peace, alone. You should sleep, in a bed while you still may. At the sunrise I shall take you to the Lord Denethor again. No, when the summons comes, not at sunrise. The Darkness has begun. There will be no dawn.\u2019Chapter 2 THE PASSING OF THE GREY COMPANY Gandalf was gone, and the thudding hoofs of Shadowfax were lost in the night, when Merry came back to Aragorn. He had only a light bundle, for he had lost his pack at Parth Galen, and all he had was a few useful things he had picked up among the wreckage of Isengard."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 twilight like living towers."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I did not know you rode bare-back, Gandalf,\u2019 he said. \u2018You haven\u2019t a saddle or a bridle!\u2019 \u2018I do not ride elf-fashion, except on Shadowfax,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing."
    },
    {
        "text": "But after a while the air began to get hot and stuffy. The trees drew close again on either side, and they could no longer see far ahead. Now stronger than ever they felt again the ill will of the wood pressing on them. So silent was it that the fall of their ponies\u2019 hoofs, rustling on dead leaves and occasionally stumbling on hidden roots, seemed to thud in their ears. Frodo tried to sing a song to encourage them, but his voice sank to a murmur."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, now I have at least some notion of where we are!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We have come almost in the opposite direction to which we intended. This is the River Withywindle! I will go on and explore.\u2019 He passed out into the sunshine and disappeared into the long grasses. After a while he reappeared, and reported that there was fairly solid ground between the cliff-foot and the river; in some places firm turf went down to the water\u2019s edge. \u2018What\u2019s more,\u2019 he said, \u2018there seems to be something like a footpath winding along on this side of the river. If we turn left and follow it, we shall be bound to come out on the east side of the Forest eventually.\u2019 \u2018I dare say!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018That is, if the track goes on so far, and does not simply lead us into a bog and leave us there. Who made the track, do you suppose, and why? I am sure it was not for our benefit. I am getting very suspicious of this Forest and everything in it, and I begin to believe all the stories about it. And have you any idea how far eastward we should have to go?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018I haven\u2019t. I don\u2019t know in the least how far down the Withywindle we are, or who could possibly come here often enough to make a path along it. But there is no other way out thatto the path that he had discovered. Everywhere the reeds and grasses were lush and tall, in places far above their heads; but once found, the path was easy to follow, as it turned and twisted, picking out the sounder ground among the bogs and pools. Here and there it passed over other rills, running down gullies into the Withywindle out of the higher forest-lands, and at these points there were tree-trunks or bundles of brushwood laid carefully across."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018In this evil hour I have come on an errand over many dangerous leagues to Elrond: a hundred and ten days I have journeyed all alone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018An hour since he vanished!\u2019 shouted Sam. \u2018We must try and find him at once. Come on!\u2019 \u2018Wait a moment!\u2019 cried Aragorn. \u2018We must divide up into pairs, and arrange \u2013 here, hold on! Wait!\u2019 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\u2018We shall all be scattered and lost,\u2019 groaned Aragorn. \u2018Boromir! 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.\u2019 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! \u2018Come with me, Sam!\u2019 he said. \u2018None 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!\u2019 He sped up the path."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I suppose it\u2019s no good asking \u2018\u2018what way do we go now?\u2019\u2019 We can\u2019t go no further \u2013 unless we want to ask the Orcs for a lift.\u2019 \u2018No, no!\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018No use. We can\u2019t go further. Sme\u00b4agol said so. He said: we\u2019ll go to the Gate, and then we\u2019ll see. And we do see."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No!\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol is not pleased. And Sme\u00b4agol doesn\u2019t like smelly leaves. He doesn\u2019t eat grasses or roots, no precious, not till he\u2019s starving or very sick, poor Sme\u00b4agol.\u2019 \u2018Sme\u00b4agol\u2019ll get into real true hot water, when this water boils, if he don\u2019t do as he\u2019s asked,\u2019 growled Sam. \u2018Sam\u2019ll put his head in it, yes precious. And I\u2019d make him look for turnips and carrots, and taters too, if it was the time o\u2019 the year. I\u2019ll bet there\u2019s all sorts of good things running wild in this country. I\u2019d give a lot for half a dozen taters.\u2019 \u2018Sme\u00b4agol won\u2019t go, O no precious, not this time,\u2019 hissed Gollum."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018These are the terms,\u2019 said the Messenger, and smiled as he eyed them one by one. \u2018The rabble of Gondor and its deluded allies shall withdraw at once beyond the Anduin, first taking oaths never again to assail Sauron the Great in arms, open or secret. All lands east of the Anduin shall be Sauron\u2019s for ever, solely. West of the Anduin as far as the Misty Mountains and the Gap of Rohan shall be tributary to Mordor, and men there shall bear no weapons, but shall have leave to govern their own affairs. But they shall help to rebuild Isen- gard which they have wantonly destroyed, and that shall be Sauron\u2019s, and there his lieutenant shall dwell: not Saruman, but one more worthy of trust.\u2019 Looking in the Messenger\u2019s eyes they read his thought. He was to be that lieutenant, and gather all that remained of the West under his sway; he would be their tyrant and they his slaves."
    },
    {
        "text": "He wondered where Frodo was, and if he was already in Mordor, or if he was dead; and he did not know that Frodo from far away looked on that same moon as it set beyond Gondor ere the coming of the day."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He\u2019d spot me and cow me, before I could so much as shout out."
    },
    {
        "text": "Heaving up again, wrenching away from the pain, she bent her writh- ing limbs beneath her and sprang backwards in a convulsive leap."
    },
    {
        "text": "I accept your service. For you are not daunted by words; and you have courteous speech, strange though the sound of it may be to us in the South. And we shall have need of all folk of courtesy, be they great or small, in the days to come. Swear to me now!\u2019 \u2018Take the hilt,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and speak after the Lord, if you are resolved on this.\u2019 \u2018I am,\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "The door was scarred; the bell-chain was dangling loose, and the bell would not ring. Knocking brought no answer. At length they pushed and the door yielded. They went in. The place stank and was full of filth and disorder: it did not appear to have been used for some\u2018Where is that miserable Lotho hiding?\u2019 said Merry. They had searched every room and found no living thing save rats and mice."
    },
    {
        "text": "The next day the country on either side began to change rapidly."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tidings of death have many wings. Night oft brings news to near kindred, \u2019tis said. Boromir was my brother.\u2019 A shadow of sorrow passed over his face. \u2018Do you remember aught of special mark that the Lord Boromir bore with him among his gear?\u2019 Frodo thought for a moment, fearing some further trap, and wondering how this debate would turn in the end. He had hardly saved the Ring from the proud grasp of Boromir, and how he would fare now among so many men, warlike and strong, he did not know."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A letter for me from Gandalf !\u2019 cried Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "As for Bilbo Baggins, even while he was making his speech, he had been fingering the golden ring in his pocket: his magic ring that he had kept secret for so many years. As he stepped down he slipped it on his finger, and he was never seen by any hobbit in Hobbiton again."
    },
    {
        "text": "But at last she said: \u2018Lords, you are weary and shall now go to your beds with such ease as can be contrived in haste. But tomorrow fairer housing shall be found for you.\u2019 But Aragorn said: \u2018Nay, lady, be not troubled for us! If we may lie here tonight and break our fast tomorrow, it will be enough. For I ride on an errand most urgent, and with the first light of morning we must go.\u2019 She smiled on him and said: \u2018Then it was kindly done, lord, to ride so many miles out of your way to bring tidings to E\u00b4owyn, and to speak with her in her exile.\u2019 \u2018Indeed no man would count such a journey wasted,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018and yet, lady, I could not have come hither, if it were not that the road which I must take leads me to Dunharrow.\u2019 And she answered as one that likes not what is said: \u2018Then, lord, you are astray; for out of Harrowdale no road runs east or south; and you had best return as you came.\u2019 \u2018Nay, lady,\u2019 said he, \u2018I am not astray; for I walked in this land ere you were born to grace it. There is a road out of this valley, and that road I shall take. Tomorrow I shall ride by the Paths of the Dead.\u2019 Then she stared at him as one that is stricken, and her face blanched, and for long she spoke no more, while all sat silent. \u2018But, Aragorn,\u2019 she said at last, \u2018is it then your errand to seek death? For that is all that you will find on that road. They do not suffer the living to pass.\u2019 \u2018They may suffer me to pass,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018but at the least I will adventure it. No other road will serve.\u2019 \u2018But this is madness,\u2019 she said. \u2018For here are men of renown and prowess, whom you should not take into the shadows, but should lead to war, where men are needed. I beg you to remain and ride with my brother; for then all our hearts will be gladdened, and our hope be the brighter.\u2019 \u2018It is not madness, lady,\u2019 he answered; \u2018for I go on a path appointed. But those who follow me do so of their free will; and if they wish now to remain and ride with the Rohirrim, they may do so. But I shall take the Paths of the Dead, alone, if needs be.\u2019 Then they said no more, and they ate in silence; but her eyes were ever upon Aragorn, and the others saw that she was in great torment of mind. At length they arose, and took their leave of the Lady, and thanked her for her care, and went to their rest."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018At least, you must either accept this promise or carry out your law. You will get no more. But I promised that if he came to me, he should not be harmed. And I would not be proved faithless.\u2019 Faramir sat for a moment in thought. \u2018Very good,\u2019 he said at last."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the foot of the stairs Gandalf and the king dismounted. \u2018I will go up,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I have been in Orthanc and I know my peril.\u2019 \u2018And I too will go up,\u2019 said the king. \u2018I am old, and fear no peril any more. I wish to speak with the enemy who has done me so much wrong. E\u00b4omer shall come with me, and see that my aged feet do not falter.\u2019 \u2018As you will,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Aragorn shall come with me. Let the others await us at the foot of the stairs. They will hear and see enough, if there is anything to hear or see.\u2019 \u2018Nay!\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Legolas and I wish for a closer view. We alone here represent our kindreds. We also will come behind.\u2019 \u2018Come then!\u2019 said Gandalf, and with that he climbed the steps, and The\u00b4oden went beside him."
    },
    {
        "text": "They wavered. Doubt came into them as the light approached."
    },
    {
        "text": "We shall be packed in a few minutes.\u2019 Mr. Butterbur hurried off to see that their ponies were got ready, and to fetch them a \u2018bite\u2019. But very soon he came back in dismay."
    },
    {
        "text": "Legolas lay still, looking up at the sun and sky with steady eyes, and singing softly to himself. At last he sat up. \u2018Come now!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ah! the green smell!\u2019 he said. \u2018It is better than much sleep. Let us run!\u2019 \u2018Light feet may run swiftly here,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018More swiftly, maybe, than iron-shod Orcs. Now we have a chance to lessen their lead!\u2019 They went in single file, running like hounds on a strong scent, and an eager light was in their eyes. Nearly due west the broad swath of the marching Orcs tramped its ugly slot; the sweet grass of Rohan had been bruised and blackened as they passed. Presently Aragorn gave a cry and turned aside."
    },
    {
        "text": "A ridiculous story. I have no doubt that Sme\u00b4agol\u2019s grandmother was a matriarch, a great person in her way, but to talk of her possessing many Elven-rings was absurd, and as for giving them away, it was a lie. But a lie with a grain of truth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018At least by good chance we came at the right hour to reward you for your patience,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018This is the Window of the Sunset, Henneth Annu\u02c6n, fairest of all the falls of Ithilien, land of many foun- tains. Few strangers have ever seen it. But there is no kingly hall behind to match it. Enter now and see!\u2019 Even as he spoke the sun sank, and the fire faded in the flowing water. They turned and passed under the low forbidding arch. At once they found themselves in a rock-chamber, wide and rough, with an uneven stooping roof. A few torches were kindled and cast a dim light on the glistening walls. Many men were already there. Others were still coming in by twos and threes through a dark narrow door on one side. As their eyes grew accustomed to the gloom the hobbits saw that the cave was larger than they had guessed and was filled with great store of arms and victuals."
    },
    {
        "text": "Though Frodo looked about him on every side he saw no sign of the great stones standing like a gate, and before long they came to the northern gap and rode swiftly through, and the land fell away before them. It was a merry journey with Tom Bombadil trotting gaily beside them, or before them, on Fatty Lumpkin, who could move much faster than his girth promised. Tom sang most of the time, but it was chiefly nonsense, or else perhaps a strange language unknown to the hobbits, an ancient language whose words were mainly those of wonder and delight."
    },
    {
        "text": "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: \u2018What a place! What a horrible place! Just let me get out of this boat, and I\u2019ll never wet my toes in a puddle again, let alone a river!\u2019 \u2018Fear not!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Except that Aragorn insisted on my putting in a green stone. He seemed to think it important. I don\u2019t know why. Otherwise he obvi- ously thought the whole thing rather above my head, and he said that if I had the cheek to make verses about Ea\u00a8rendil in the house of Elrond, it was my affair. I suppose he was right.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It seemed to me to fit somehow, though I can\u2019t explain. I was half asleep when you began, and it seemed to follow on from something that I was dreaming about. I didn\u2019t understand that it was really you speaking until near the end.\u2019 \u2018It is difficult to keep awake here, until you get used to it,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018Not that hobbits would ever acquire quite the Elvish appetite for music and poetry and tales. They seem to like them as much as food, or more. They will be going on for a long time yet. What do you say to slipping off for some more quiet talk?\u2019 \u2018Can we?\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Will I come down?\u2019 he mocked. \u2018Does an unarmed man come down to speak with robbers out of doors? I can hear you well enough here. I am no fool, and I do not trust you, Gandalf. They do not stand openly on my stairs, but I know where the wild wood-demons are lurking, at your command.\u2019 \u2018The treacherous are ever distrustful,\u2019 answered Gandalf wearily."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now they laid Boromir in the middle of the boat that was to bear him away. The grey hood and elven-cloak they folded and placed beneath his head. They combed his long dark hair and arrayed it upon his shoulders. The golden belt of Lo\u00b4rien gleamed about histhey put the swords of his enemies. Then fastening the prow to the stern of the other boat, they drew him out into the water. They rowed sadly along the shore, and turning into the swift-running channel they passed the green sward of Parth Galen. The steep sides of Tol Brandir were glowing: it was now mid-afternoon. As they went south the fume of Rauros rose and shimmered before them, a haze of gold."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is only one way: to find the Cracks of Doom in the depths of Orodruin, the Fire-mountain, and cast the Ring in there, if you really wish to destroy it, to put it beyond the grasp of the Enemy for ever.\u2019 \u2018I do really wish to destroy it!\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018Or, well, to have it destroyed. I am not made for perilous quests. I wish I had never seen the Ring! Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen?\u2019 \u2018Such questions cannot be answered,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.\u2019 \u2018But I have so little of any of these things! You are wise and powerful. Will you not take the Ring?\u2019 \u2018No!\u2019 cried Gandalf, springing to his feet. \u2018With that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly.\u2019 His eyes flashed and his face was lit as by a fire within. \u2018Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good. Do not tempt me! I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe, unused. The wish to wield it would be too great for my strength. I shall have such need of it. Great perils lie before me.\u2019 He went to the window and drew aside the curtains and the shut- ters. Sunlight streamed back again into the room. Sam passed along the path outside whistling. \u2018And now,\u2019 said the wizard, turning back to Frodo, \u2018the decision lies with you. But I will always help you.\u2019 He laid his hand on Frodo\u2019s shoulder. \u2018I will help you bear this burden, as long as it is yours to bear. But we must do something, soon. The Enemy is moving.\u2019 There was a long silence. Gandalf sat down again and puffed atembers on the hearth, until they filled all his vision, and he seemed to be looking down into profound wells of fire. He was thinking of the fabled Cracks of Doom and the terror of the Fiery Mountain."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Precious, precious, precious!\u2019 Gollum cried. \u2018My Precious! O my Precious!\u2019 And with that, even as his eyes were lifted up to gloat on his prize, he stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on theThere was a roar and a great confusion of noise. Fires leaped up and licked the roof. The throbbing grew to a great tumult, and the Mountain shook. Sam ran to Frodo and picked him up and carried him out to the door. And there upon the dark threshold of the Sam- math Naur, high above the plains of Mordor, such wonder and terror came on him that he stood still forgetting all else, and gazed as one turned to stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "Most of the inhabitants of Bree and Staddle, and many even from Combe and Archet, were crowded in the road to see the travellers start. The other guests in the inn were at the doors or hanging out of the windows."
    },
    {
        "text": "Caveyard! Paveyard! This many a year has Tim been gone, And I thought he were lyin\u2019 in graveyard.\u2019 \u2018My lad,\u2019 said Troll, \u2018this bone I stole."
    },
    {
        "text": "A nasty name. Gollum, maybe?\u2019 \u2018Yes, that is what I have feared for some time,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Ever 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 Lo\u00b4 rien would throw him off the scent again. The miserable creature must have been hiding in the woods by the Silverlode, watching us start off !\u2019 \u2018That\u2019s about it,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And we\u2019d better be a bit more watchful ourselves, or we\u2019ll feel some nasty fingers round our necks one of these nights, if we ever wake up to feel anything. And that\u2019s what I was leading up to. No need to trouble Strider or the others tonight."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is long since any of my own folk journeyed hither back to the land whence we wandered in ages long ago,\u2019 said Legolas, \u2018but we hear that Lo\u00b4 rien 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.\u2019 \u2018Indeed deep in the wood they dwell,\u2019 said Aragorn, and sighed as if some memory stirred in him. \u2018We must fend for ourselves tonight."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Denethor leaped upon the table, and standing there wreathed in fire and smoke he took up the staff of his stewardship that lay at his feet and broke it on his knee. Casting the pieces into the blaze he bowed and laid himself on the table, clasping the palant\u00b4\u0131r with both hands upon his breast. And it was said that ever after, if any man looked in that Stone, unless he had a great strength of will to turn it to other purpose, he saw only two aged hands withering in flame."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Oh, Mr. Frodo, that\u2019s hard!\u2019 said Sam shivering. \u2018That\u2019s hard, trying to go without me and all. If I hadn\u2019t a guessed right, where would you be now?\u2019 \u2018Safely on my way.\u2019 \u2018Safely!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018All alone and without me to help you? I couldn\u2019t have a borne it, it\u2019d have been the death of me.\u2019 \u2018It would be the death of you to come with me, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018and I could not have borne that.\u2019 \u2018Not as certain as being left behind,\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018At the end of June I was in the Shire, but a cloud of anxiety was on my mind, and I rode to the southern borders of the little land; for I had a foreboding of some danger, still hidden from me but drawing near. There messages reached me telling me of war and defeat in Gondor, and when I heard of the Black Shadow a chill smote my heart. But I found nothing save a few fugitives from the South; yet it seemed to me that on them sat a fear of which they would not speak. I turned then east and north and journeyed along the Greenway; and not far from Bree I came upon a traveller sitting on a bank beside the road with his grazing horse beside him. It was Radagast the Brown, who at one time dwelt at Rhosgobel, near the borders of Mirkwood. He is one of my order, but I had not seen him for many a year."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He is not as other men of this time, Pippin, and whatever be his descent from father to son, by some chance the blood of Westernesse runs nearly true in him; as it does in his other son, Faramir, and yet did not in Boromir whom he loved best. He has long sight. He can perceive, if he bends his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men, even of those that dwell far off. It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You ought to mop all that up before you get anything to eat, Peregrin,\u2019 he said. \u2018Hurry up, or we shan\u2019t wait for you.\u2019 They had supper in the kitchen on a table near the fire. \u2018I suppose you three won\u2019t want mushrooms again?\u2019 said Fredegar without much hope."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I didn\u2019t ought to have left my blanket behind,\u2019 muttered Sam; and lying down he tried to comfort Frodo with his arms and body."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thus came Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur\u2019s heir, out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the Sea to the kingdom of Gondor; and the mirth of the Rohirrim was a torrent of laughterandaflashingofswords,andthejoyandwonderoftheCityseemed to them that their own ships should be filled with their foes; and a black dread fell on them, knowing that the tides of fate had turned against them and their doom was at hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo! By water, wood and hill, by the reed and willow, By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us! Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us! There was a sudden deep silence, in which Frodo could hear his heart beating. After a long slow moment he heard plain, but far away, as if it was coming down through the ground or through thick walls, an answering voice singing: Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow, Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow."
    },
    {
        "text": "Crush one in the water, and wash the wound clean, and I will bind it. Now it is your turn, Frodo!\u2019 \u2018I am all right,\u2019 said Frodo, reluctant to have his garments touched."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Aragorn came to E\u00b4 owyn, and he said: \u2018Here there is a grievous hurt and a heavy blow. The arm that was broken has been tended with due skill, and it will mend in time, if she has the strength to live. It is the shield-arm that is maimed; but the chief evil comes through the sword-arm. In that there now seems no life, although it is unbroken."
    },
    {
        "text": "All the one hundred and forty-four guests expected a pleasant feast; though they rather dreaded the after-dinner speech of their host (an inevitable item). He was liable to drag in bits of what he called poetry; and sometimes, after a glass or two, would allude to the absurd adventures of his mysterious journey. The guests were not disappointed: they had a very pleasant feast, in fact an engrossing entertainment: rich, abundant, varied, and prolonged. The purchase of provisions fell almost to nothing throughout the district in the ensuing weeks; but as Bilbo\u2019s catering had depleted the stocks of most of the stores, cellars and warehouses for miles around, that did not matter much."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gimlistoodleaningagainstthebreastworkuponthewall.Legolas\u2018This is more to my liking,\u2019 said the dwarf, stamping on the stones."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Master, dear master!\u2019 said Sam, and through a long silence waited, listening in vain."
    },
    {
        "text": "The others may walk free for a while, until we come nearer to our dwellings, down in Egladil, in the Angle between the waters.\u2019 This was not at all to the liking of Gimli. \u2018The agreement was made without my consent,\u2019 he said. \u2018I 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.\u2019 \u2018I do not doubt you,\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018Yet 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.\u2019 Gimli was obstinate. He planted his feet firmly apart, and laid his hand upon the haft of his axe. \u2018I will go forward free,\u2019 he said, \u2018or 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.\u2019 \u2018You cannot go back,\u2019 said Haldir sternly. \u2018Now 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.\u2019 Gimli drew his axe from his belt. Haldir and his companion bent their bows. \u2018A plague on Dwarves and their stiff necks!\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "In a chill hour they came to the end of the water-course. The banks became moss-grown mounds. Over the last shelf of rotting stone the stream gurgled and fell down into a brown bog and was lost. Dry reeds hissed and rattled though they could feel no wind."
    },
    {
        "text": "They lit a fire in a hollow, down among the roots of a spreadingGuards were set, two at a watch. The rest, after they had supped, wrapped themselves in a cloak and blanket and slept. The hobbits lay in a corner by themselves upon a pile of old bracken. Merry was sleepy, but Pippin now seemed curiously restless. The bracken cracked and rustled, as he twisted and turned."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now he was one small soldier in a city preparing for a great assault, clad in the proud but sombre manner of the Tower of Guard."
    },
    {
        "text": "A laugh put an end to them. There was a surly hobbit lounging over the low wall of the mill-yard. He was grimy-faced and black-handed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo was annoyed. It was a harmless enough tale for most of the local hobbits, no doubt: just a funny story about those funny people away beyond the River; but some (old Butterbur, for instance) knew a thing or two, and had probably heard rumours long ago about Bilbo\u2019s vanishing. It would bring the name of Baggins to their minds, especially if there had been inquiries in Bree after that name."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But if you would know what I think set the beacons ablaze, it was the news that came that eve out of Lebennin. There is a great fleet drawing near to the mouths of Anduin, manned by the corsairs of Umbar in the South. They have long ceased to fear the might of Gondor, and they have allied them with the Enemy, and now make a heavy stroke in his cause. For this attack will draw off much of the help that we looked to have from Lebennin and Belfalas, where folk are hardy and numerous. All the more do our thoughts go north to Rohan; and the more glad are we for these tidings of victory that you bring."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo and Sam sprang from their stools and set themselves side by side with their backs to the wall, fumbling for their sword-hilts."
    },
    {
        "text": "But what be bones that lie in a hole? Thy nuncle was dead as a lump o\u2019 lead, Afore I found his shinbone."
    },
    {
        "text": "There is a marshal over the Riders of Rohan; and the Lord Hu\u00b4rin, I am told, commands the men of Gondor. But the Lord Faramir is by right the Steward of the City.\u2019 \u2018Where can I find him?\u2019 \u2018In this house, lady. He was sorely hurt, but is now set again on the way to health. But I do not know\u2014\u2014\u2019 \u2018Will you not bring me to him? Then you will know.\u2019 The Lord Faramir was walking alone in the garden of the Houses of Healing, and the sunlight warmed him, and he felt life run new in his veins; but his heart was heavy, and he looked out over the walls eastward. And coming, the Warden spoke his name, and he turned and saw the Lady E\u00b4 owyn of Rohan; and he was moved with pity, for he saw that she was hurt, and his clear sight perceived her sorrow and unrest."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Indeed yes,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Doubly. And is not that strange? Noth- ing that we have endured of late has seemed so grievous as the treason of Isengard. Even reckoned as a lord and captain Saruman has grown very strong. He threatens the Men of Rohan and draws off their help from Minas Tirith, even as the main blow is approaching from the East. Yet a treacherous weapon is ever a danger to the hand. Saruman also had a mind to capture the Ring, for himself, or at least to snare some hobbits for his evil purposes. So between them our enemies have contrived only to bring Merry and Pippin with marvellous speed, and in the nick of time, to Fangorn, where otherwise they would never have come at all! \u2018Also they have filled themselves with new doubts that disturb their plans. No tidings of the battle will come to Mordor, thanks to the horsemen of Rohan; but the Dark Lord knows that two hobbits were taken in the Emyn Muil and borne away towards Isengard against the will of his own servants. He now has Isengard to fear as well as Minas Tirith. If Minas Tirith falls, it will go ill with Saruman.\u2019 \u2018Itis apitythat ourfriends lieinbetween,\u2019 saidGimli.\u2018If noland\u2018The victor would emerge stronger than either, and free from doubt,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But Isengard cannot fight Mordor, unless Saruman first obtains the Ring. That he will never do now. He does not yet know his peril. There is much that he does not know. He was so eager to lay his hands on his prey that he could not wait at home, and he came forth to meet and to spy on his messengers. But he came too late, for once, and the battle was over and beyond his help before he reached these parts. He did not remain here long. I look into his mind and I see his doubt. He has no woodcraft. He believes that the horsemen slew and burned all upon the field of battle; but he does not know whether the Orcs were bringing any prisoners or not. And he does not know of the quarrel between his servants and the Orcs of Mordor; nor does he know of the Winged Messenger.\u2019 \u2018The Winged Messenger!\u2019 cried Legolas. \u2018I shot at him with the bow of Galadriel above Sarn Gebir, and I felled him from the sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "The next day, the fourth, was little better, and the night almost as comfortless. Though the Neekerbreekers (as Sam called them) had been left behind, the midges still pursued them."
    },
    {
        "text": "But still Frodo did not speak to Gollum or make his choice. His eyes were closed, as if he were dreaming, or looking inward into his heart and memory. At last he stirred and stood up, and it seemed that he was about to speak and to decide. But \u2018hark!\u2019 he said. \u2018What is that?\u2019 A new fear was upon them. They heard singing and hoarse shout- ing. At first it seemed a long way off, but it drew nearer: it was coming towards them. It leaped into all their minds that the Black Wings had spied them and had sent armed soldiers to seize them: no speed seemed too great for these terrible servants of Sauron. They crouched, listening. The voices and the clink of weapons and harness were very close. Frodo and Sam loosened their small swords in their sheaths. Flight was impossible."
    },
    {
        "text": "In pairs they galloped by, and though every now and then one rose in his stirrups and gazed ahead and to either side, they appeared not to perceive the three strangers sitting silently and watching them."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was no reply. He stood listening. He was suddenly aware that it was getting very cold, and that up here a wind was beginning to blow, an icy wind. A change was coming in the weather. The mist was flowing past him now in shreds and tatters. His breath was smoking, and the darkness was less near and thick. He looked up and saw with surprise that faint stars were appearing overhead amid the strands of hurrying cloud and fog. The wind began to hiss over the grass."
    },
    {
        "text": "For I fear that already you have come too late, only to see the last days of my house. Not long now shall stand the high hall which Brego son of Eorl built. Fire shall devour the high seat. What is to be done?\u2019 \u2018Much,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But first send for E\u00b4 omer. Do I not guess rightly that you hold him prisoner, by the counsel of Gr\u00b4\u0131ma, of him that all save you name the Wormtongue?\u2019 \u2018It is true,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018He had rebelled against my commands, and threatened death to Gr\u00b4\u0131ma in my hall.\u2019 \u2018A man may love you and yet not love Wormtongue or his coun- sels,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "One evening Sam came into the study and found his master looking very strange. He was very pale and his eyes seemed to see things far away."
    },
    {
        "text": "Not very expensive ones, as a rule, and not so lavishly as on this occasion; but it was not a bad system. Actually in Hobbiton and Bywater every day in the year was somebody\u2019s birthday, so that every hobbit in those parts had a fair chance of at least one present at least once a week. But they never got tired of them."
    },
    {
        "text": "They had seen his master. What would they do? He had heard tales of the Orcs to make the blood run cold. It could not be borne. He sprang up. He flung the Quest and all his decisions away, and fear and doubt with them. He knew now where his place was and had been: at his master\u2019s side, though what he could do there was not clear. Back he ran down the steps, down the path towards Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "In any case, I judge that the younger of these two, Peregrin Took, should remain. My heart is against his going.\u2019 \u2018Then, Master Elrond, you will have to lock me in prison, or send me home tied in a sack,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018For otherwise I shall follow the Company.\u2019 \u2018Let it be so then. You shall go,\u2019 said Elrond, and he sighed. \u2018Now the tale of Nine is filled. In seven days the Company must depart.\u2019 The Sword of Elendil was forged anew by Elvish smiths, and onfor Aragorn son of Arathorn was going to war upon the marches of Mordor. Very bright was that sword when it was made whole again; the light of the sun shone redly in it, and the light of the moon shone cold, and its edge was hard and keen. And Aragorn gave it a new name and called it Andu\u00b4ril, Flame of the West."
    },
    {
        "text": "He breathed with relief when he was safely across. \u2018Live 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 ever did a trick like that!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That Gollum\u2019s about again, I\u2019m afraid, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That Gandalf Greyhame has need of haste,\u2019 answered Ha\u00b4ma."
    },
    {
        "text": "It cut her web and got clean out of the hole. That\u2019s something to think about!\u2019 \u2018Ah well, but she got him in the end, didn\u2019t she?\u2019 \u2018Got him? Got who? This little fellow? But if he was the only one, then she\u2019d have had him off to her larder long before, and there he\u2019d be now. And if Lugbu\u00b4rz wanted him, you\u2019d have to go and get him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What\u2019s the matter?\u2019 asked Merry. \u2018Are you lying on an ant-hill?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018but I\u2019m not comfortable. I wonder how long it is since I slept in a bed?\u2019 Merry yawned. \u2018Work it out on your fingers!\u2019 he said. \u2018But you must know how long it is since we left Lo\u00b4 rien.\u2019 \u2018Oh, that!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I mean a real bed in a bedroom.\u2019 \u2018Well, Rivendell then,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018But I could sleep anywhere tonight.\u2019 \u2018You had the luck, Merry,\u2019 said Pippin softly, after a pause. \u2018You were riding with Gandalf.\u2019 \u2018Well, what of it?\u2019 \u2018Did you get any news, any information out of him?\u2019 \u2018Yes, a good deal. More than usual. But you heard it all or most of it; you were close by, and we were talking no secrets. But you can go with him tomorrow, if you think you can get more out of him \u2013 and if he\u2019ll have you.\u2019 \u2018Can I? Good! But he\u2019s close, isn\u2019t he? Not changed at all.\u2019 \u2018Oh yes, he is!\u2019 said Merry, waking up a little, and beginning to wonder what was bothering his companion. \u2018He has grown, or something. He can be both kinder and more alarming, merrier and more solemn than before, I think. He has changed; but we have not had a chance to see how much, yet. But think of the last part of that business with Saruman! Remember Saruman was once Gandalf \u2019s superior: head of the Council, whatever that may be exactly. He was Saruman the White. Gandalf is the White now. Saruman came when he was told, and his rod was taken; and then he was just told to go, and he went!\u2019 \u2018Well, if Gandalf has changed at all, then he\u2019s closer than ever that\u2019s all,\u2019 Pippin argued. \u2018That\u2014glass ball, now. He seemed mighty pleased with it. He knows or guesses something about it. But does he tell us what? No, not a word. Yet I picked it up, and I saved it from rolling into a pool. Here, I\u2019ll take that, my lad \u2013 that\u2019s all. I wonder what it is? It felt so very heavy.\u2019 Pippin\u2019s voice fell very low, as if he was talking to himself."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a while Frodo stood there on the high stone, and a shiver ran through him, wondering if anywhere in the vastness of the nightlands his old companions walked or slept, or lay dead shrouded in mist."
    },
    {
        "text": "Strider ordered them to pick him up and lay him near the fire, and then he disappeared. That was now a good while ago."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Which way did they go? Was Frodo there?\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam came on. He was reeling like a drunken man, but he came on. And Shelob cowed at last, shrunken in defeat, jerked and quivered as she tried to hasten from him. She reached the hole, and squeezing down, leaving a trail of green-yellow slime, she slipped in, even as Sam hewed a last stroke at her dragging legs. Then he fell to the ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "They went two or three miles further, and the orc-hold was hidden from sight behind them; but they had hardly begun to breathe more freely again when harsh and loud they heard orc-voices. Quickly they slunk out of sight behind a brown and stunted bush. The voices drew nearer. Presently two orcs came into view. One was clad in ragged brown and was armed with a bow of horn; it was of a small breed, black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind. The other was a big fighting-orc, like those of Shagrat\u2019s company, bearing the token of the Eye. He also had a bow at his back and carried a short broad-headed spear. As usual they were quarrelling, and being of different breeds they used the Common Speech after their fashion."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You lie quiet, or you\u2019ll pay for it! You\u2019ve not got long to live in peace, I guess; but if you don\u2019t want the fun to begin right now, keep your trap shut, see? There\u2019s a reminder for you!\u2019 There was a sound like the crack of a whip."
    },
    {
        "text": "And the retreat of those that we put out far afield will be perilous, if he wins across in force.\u2019 \u2018And what of Cair Andros?\u2019 said the Prince. \u2018That, too, must be held, if Osgiliath is defended. Let us not forget the danger on our left. The Rohirrim may come, and they may not. But Faramir has told us of great strength drawing ever to the Black Gate. More than one host may issue from it, and strike for more than one passage.\u2019 \u2018Much must be risked in war,\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018Cair Andros is manned, and no more can be sent so far. But I will not yield the River and the Pelennor unfought \u2013 not if there is a captain here who has still the courage to do his lord\u2019s will.\u2019 Then all were silent. But at length Faramir said: \u2018I do not oppose your will, sire. Since you are robbed of Boromir, I will go and do what I can in his stead \u2013 if you command it.\u2019 \u2018I do so,\u2019 said Denethor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But I am the real Strider, fortunately,\u2019 he said, looking down at them with his face softened by a sudden smile. \u2018I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will.\u2019 There was a long silence. At last Frodo spoke with hesitation. \u2018I believed that you were a friend before the letter came,\u2019 he said, \u2018or at least I wished to. You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would \u2013 well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand.\u2019 \u2018I see,\u2019 laughed Strider. \u2018I look foul and feel fair. Is that it? All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost.\u2019 \u2018Did the verses apply to you then?\u2019 asked Frodo. \u2018I could not make out what they were about. But how did you know that they were in Gandalf \u2019s letter, if you have never seen it?\u2019 \u2018I did not know,\u2019 he answered. \u2018But I am Aragorn, and those verses go with that name.\u2019 He drew out his sword, and they saw that the blade was indeed broken a foot below the hilt. \u2018Not much use is it, Sam?\u2019 said Strider. \u2018But the time is near when it shall be forged anew.\u2019Strider shall be your guide. And now I think it is time you went to bed and took what rest you can. We shall have a rough road to- morrow. Even if we are allowed to leave Bree unhindered, we can hardly hope now to leave it unnoticed. But I shall try to get lost as soon as possible. I know one or two ways out of Bree-land other than the main road. If once we shake off the pursuit, I shall make for Weathertop.\u2019 \u2018Weathertop?\u2019 said Sam. \u2018What\u2019s that?\u2019 \u2018It is a hill, just to the north of the Road, about half way from here to Rivendell. It commands a wide view all round; and there we shall have a chance to look about us. Gandalf will make for that point, if he follows us. After Weathertop our journey will become more difficult, and we shall have to choose between various dangers.\u2019 \u2018When did you last see Gandalf ?\u2019 asked Frodo. \u2018Do you know where he is, or what he is doing?\u2019 Strider looked grave. \u2018I do not know,\u2019 he said. \u2018I came west with him in the spring. I have often kept watch on the borders of the Shire in the last few years, when he was busy elsewhere. He seldom left it unguarded. We last met on the first of May: at Sarn Ford down the Brandywine. He told me that his business with you had gone well, and that you would be starting for Rivendell in the last week of September. As I knew he was at your side, I went away on a journey of my own. And that has proved ill; for plainly some news reached him, and I was not at hand to help."
    },
    {
        "text": "The great shadow descended like a falling cloud. And behold! it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The king calls for you.\u2019 \u2018But the Sun has not risen, yet,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Use all the wits and knowledge you have of your own, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018and then use the gift to help your work and better it. And use it sparingly. There is not much here, and I expect every grain has a value.\u2019 So Sam planted saplings in all the places where specially beautiful or beloved trees had been destroyed, and he put a grain of the precious dust in the soil at the root of each. He went up and down the Shire in this labour; but if he paid special attention to Hobbiton and Bywater no one blamed him. And at the end he found that he still had a little of the dust left; so he went to the Three-Farthing Stone, which is as near the centre of the Shire as no matter, and cast it in the air with his blessing. The little silver nut he planted in the Party Field where the tree had once been; and he wondered what would come of it. All through the winter he remained as patient as he could, and tried to restrain himself from going round constantly to see if anything was happening."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ever and anon Gandalf let blow the trumpets, and the heralds would cry: \u2018The Lords of Gondor are come! Let all leave this land or yield them up!\u2019 But Imrahil said: \u2018Say not The Lords of Gondor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Lord, hear me!\u2019 he said. \u2018Now we feel the peril that we werethe trapped wolf speak to the hounds, if he could. What aid can he give to you, forsooth? All he desires is to escape from his plight. But will you parley with this dealer in treachery and murder? Remember The\u00b4odred at the Fords, and the grave of Ha\u00b4ma in Helm\u2019s Deep!\u2019 \u2018If we speak of poisoned tongues what shall we say of yours, young serpent?\u2019 said Saruman, and the flash of his anger was now plain to see. \u2018But come, E\u00b4omer, E\u00b4omund\u2019s son!\u2019 he went on in his soft voice again. \u2018To every man his part. Valour in arms is yours, and you win high honour thereby. Slay whom your lord names as enemies, and be content. Meddle not in policies which you do not understand."
    },
    {
        "text": "One of the first things done in Hobbiton, before even the removal of the new mill, was the clearing of the Hill and Bag End, and the restoration of Bagshot Row. The front of the new sand-pit was all levelled and made into a large sheltered garden, and new holes were dug in the southward face, back into the Hill, and they were lined with brick. The Gaffer was restored to Number Three; and he said often and did not care who heard it: \u2018It\u2019s an ill wind as blows nobody no good, as I always say. And All\u2019s well as ends Better!\u2019 There was some discussion of the name that the new row should be given. Battle Gardens was thought of, or Better Smials. But after a while in sensible hobbit-fashion it was just called New Row. It was a purely Bywater joke to refer to it as Sharkey\u2019s End."
    },
    {
        "text": "An account to the Ring-bearer of so strange an event was required,here is the Ring. But we have not yet come any nearer to our purpose."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ponies would not help us to escape horsemen,\u2019 he said at last, thoughtfully, as if he guessed what Frodo had in mind. \u2018We should not go much slower on foot, not on the roads that I mean to take. I was going to walk in any case. It is the food and stores that trouble me. We cannot count on getting anything to eat between here and Rivendell, except what we take with us; and we ought to take plenty to spare; for we may be delayed, or forced to go round-about, far out of the direct way. How much are you prepared to carry on your backs?\u2019 \u2018As much as we must,\u2019 said Pippin with a sinking heart, but trying to show that he was tougher than he looked (or felt)."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hey! Come derry dol! Hop along, my hearties! Hobbits! Ponies all! We are fond of parties."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo found himself walking with Gandalf. \u2018This is the Hall of Fire,\u2019 said the wizard. \u2018Here you will hear many songs and tales \u2013 if you can keep awake. But except on high days it usually stands empty and quiet, and people come here who wish for peace, and thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ere iron was found or tree was hewn, When young was mountain under moon; Ere ring was made, or wrought was woe, It walked the forests long ago.\u2019 \u2018And what may be the answer to your riddle?\u2019 said The\u00b4oden."
    },
    {
        "text": "He did not obey at once, for a strange reluctance seized him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam hurried to the house. By the large round door at the top of the steps from the wide yard stood Mrs. Cotton and Rosie, and Nibs in front of them grasping a hay-fork."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018If we kill him, we must kill him outright. But we can\u2019t do that, not as things are. Poor wretch! He has done us no harm.\u2019 \u2018Oh hasn\u2019t he!\u2019 said Sam rubbing his shoulder. \u2018Anyway he meant to, and he means to, I\u2019ll warrant. Throttle us in our sleep, that\u2019s his plan.\u2019 \u2018I daresay,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But what he means to do is another matter.\u2019 He paused for a while in thought. Gollum lay still, but stopped whimpering. Sam stood glowering over him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bilbo drew his hand over his eyes. \u2018I am sorry,\u2019 he said. \u2018But I felt so queer. And yet it would be a relief in a way not to be bothered with it any more. It has been so growing on my mind lately. Sometimes I have felt it was like an eye looking at me. And I am always wanting to put it on and disappear, don\u2019t you know; or wondering if it is safe, and pulling it out to make sure. I tried locking it up, but I found I couldn\u2019t rest without it in my pocket. I don\u2019t know why. And I don\u2019t seem able to make up my mind.\u2019 \u2018Then trust mine,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018It is quite made up. Go away and leave it behind. Stop possessing it. Give it to Frodo, and I will look after him.\u2019 Bilbo stood for a moment tense and undecided. Presently he sighed. \u2018All right,\u2019 he said with an effort. \u2018I will.\u2019 Then he shrugged his shoulders, and smiled rather ruefully. \u2018After all that\u2019s what this party business was all about, really: to give away lots of birthday- presents, and somehow make it easier to give it away at the same\u2018Indeed it would take away the only point I ever saw in the affair,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 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 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 werethe leader. \u2018This is madness! We cannot dare the Rapids by night! But no boat can live in Sarn Gebir, be it night or day.\u2019 \u2018Back, back!\u2019 cried Aragorn. \u2018Turn! Turn if you can!\u2019 He drove his paddle into the water, trying to hold the boat and bring it round."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I did not say so,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Who knows? Have patience. Go where you must go, and hope! To Edoras! I go thither also.\u2019\u2018We shall see, we shall see,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Will you come now with me?\u2019 \u2018Yes, we will set out together,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But I do not doubt that you will come there before me, if you wish.\u2019 He rose and looked long at Gandalf. The others gazed at them in silence as they stood there facing one another. The grey figure of the Man, Aragorn son of Arathorn, was tall, and stern as stone, his hand upon the hilt of his sword; he looked as if some king out of the mists of the sea had stepped upon the shores of lesser men. Before him stooped the old figure, white, shining now as if with some light kindled within, bent, laden with years, but holding a power beyond the strength of kings."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Master!\u2019 cried Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "And the King pardoned the Easterlings that had given themselves up, and sent them away free, and he made peace with the peoples of Harad; and the slaves of Mordor he released and gave to them all the lands about Lake Nu\u00b4rnen to be their own. And there were brought before him many to receive his praise and reward for their valour;And the King said to Beregond: \u2018Beregond, by your sword blood was spilled in the Hallows, where that is forbidden. Also you left your post without leave of Lord or of Captain. For these things, of old, death was the penalty. Now therefore I must pronounce your doom."
    },
    {
        "text": "Have you anyone you can send, and trust to go? I can find someone, I said, tomorrow, maybe, or the day after. Make it tomorrow, he says, and then he gave me a letter."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But it was at the coming of the Halfling that Isildur\u2019s Bane should waken, or so one must read the words,\u2019 he insisted. \u2018If then you are the Halfling that was named, doubtless you brought this thing, whatever it may be, to the Council of which you speak, and there Boromir saw it. Do you deny it?\u2019 Frodo made no answer. \u2018So!\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018I wish then to learn from you more of it; for what concerns Boromir concerns me. An orc-arrow slew Isildur, so far as old tales tell. But orc-arrows are plenty, and the sight of one would not be taken as a sign of Doom by Boromir of Gondor. Had you this thing in keeping? It is hidden, you say; but is not that because you choose to hide it?\u2019 \u2018No, not because I choose,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018It does not belong to me. It does not belong to any mortal, great or small; though if any could claim it, it would be Aragorn son of Arathorn, whom I named, the leader of our Company from Moria to Rauros.\u2019 \u2018Why so, and not Boromir, prince of the City that the sons offrom Isildur Elendil\u2019s son himself. And the sword that he bears was Elendil\u2019s sword.\u2019 A murmur of astonishment ran through all the ring of men. Some cried aloud: \u2018The sword of Elendil! The sword of Elendil comes to Minas Tirith! Great tidings!\u2019 But Faramir\u2019s face was unmoved."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Goldberry!\u2019 he cried. \u2018My fair lady, clad all in silver green! We have never said farewell to her, nor seen her since the evening!\u2019 He was so distressed that he turned back; but at that moment a clear call came rippling down. There on the hill-brow she stood beckoning to them: her hair was flying loose, and as it caught the sun it shone and shimmered. A light like the glint of water on dewy grass flashed from under her feet as she danced."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where have you been, Boromir?\u2019 asked Aragorn. \u2018Have you seen Frodo?\u2019 Boromir hesitated for a second. \u2018Yes, and no,\u2019 he answered slowly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wake up, Master!\u2019 he said. \u2018Time for another start.\u2019 As if roused by a sudden bell, Frodo rose quickly, and stood up and looked away southwards; but when his eyes beheld the Mountain and the desert he quailed again."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was now as clear and far-seen as it had been veiled and misty when they stood upon the knoll in the Forest, which could now be seen rising pale and green out of the dark trees in the West. In that direction the land rose in wooded ridges, green, yellow, russet under the sun, beyond which lay hidden the valley of the Brandywine. Tothe lowlands and flowed away out of the knowledge of the hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "Worst of all, the air was full of fumes; breathing was painful and difficult, and a dizziness came on them, so that they staggered and often fell. And yet their wills did not yield, and they struggled on."
    },
    {
        "text": "Aragorn had brought torches from Dunharrow, and now he wentnothing but the dim flame of the torches; but if the Company halted, there seemed an endless whisper of voices all about him, a murmur of words in no tongue that he had ever heard before."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But Shadowfax will have no harness. You do not ride Shadowfax: he is willing to carry you \u2013 or not. If he is willing, that is enough. It is then his business to see that you remain on his back, unless you jump off into the air.\u2019 \u2018How fast is he going?\u2019 asked Pippin. \u2018Fast by the wind, but very smooth. And how light his footfalls are!\u2019 \u2018He is running now as fast as the swiftest horse could gallop,\u2019 answered Gandalf; \u2018but that is not fast for him. The land is rising aare the Thrihyrne peaks like black spears. It will not be long before we reach the branching roads and come to the Deeping-coomb, where the battle was fought two nights ago.\u2019 Pippin was silent again for a while. He heard Gandalf singing softly to himself, murmuring brief snatches of rhyme in many tongues, as the miles ran under them. At last the wizard passed into a song of which the hobbit caught the words: a few lines came clear to his ears through the rushing of the wind: Tall ships and tall kings Three times three, What brought they from the foundered land Over the flowing sea? Seven stars and seven stones And one white tree."
    },
    {
        "text": "He wore a ring on his finger."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry stepped forward. \u2018We have met before,\u2019 he said to the leader, \u2018and I warned you not to come back here. I warn you again: you are standing in the light and you are covered by archers. If you lay a finger on this farmer, or on anyone else, you will be shot at once."
    },
    {
        "text": "Some people were rather shocked; but Frodo kept up the custom of giving Bilbo\u2019s Birthday Party year after year until they got used to it. He said that he did not think Bilbo was dead. When they asked: \u2018Where is he then?\u2019 he shrugged his shoulders."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Strider, whose keener sight left him in no doubt. \u2018The enemy is here!\u2019 Hastily they crept away and slipped down the north side of the hill to find their companions."
    },
    {
        "text": "Do not worry! Though I said \u2018\u2018absurd\u2019\u2019 just now, I did not mean it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now the flicker of approaching torches and the clink of steel ahead was very near. In a minute they would reach the top and be on him."
    },
    {
        "text": "He could not see them, but he knew that all round him were the companies of the Rohirrim. He could smell the horses in the dark, and could hear their shiftings and their soft stamping on the needle- covered ground. The host was bivouacked in the pine-woods that clustered about Eilenach Beacon, a tall hill standing up from the long ridges of the Dru\u00b4adan Forest that lay beside the great road in East Ano\u00b4 rien."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "After a while he looked back and found that he had already climbed some hundreds of feet above the valley, but still far below he could dimly see a winding line of Riders crossing the ford and filing along the road towards the camp prepared for them. Only the king and his guard were going up into the Hold."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where are you?\u2019 he cried out miserably."
    },
    {
        "text": "There are other powers at work far stronger.\u2019 \u2018Well, I wish Frodo would \u2018\u2018screw himself up\u2019\u2019 and come back, and let us get it over,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018This waiting is horrible! Surely the time is up?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018The hour is long passed. The morning is wearing away. We must call for him.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is evil afoot in Isengard, and the West is no longer safe. It is as Gandalf feared: by some means the traitor Saruman has had news of our journey. It is likely too that he knows of Gandalf \u2019s fall. Pursuers from Moria may have escaped the vigilance of Lo\u00b4rien, or they may have avoided that land and come to Isengard by other paths. Orcs travel fast. But Saruman has many ways of learning news. Do you remember the birds?\u2019 \u2018Well, we have no time to ponder riddles,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Let us bear Boromir away!\u2019 \u2018But after that we must guess the riddles, if we are to choose our course rightly,\u2019 answered Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018\u2018See, lads,\u2019\u2019 he said, \u2018\u2018next time this young varmint sets foot on my land, you can eat him. Now see him off !\u2019\u2019 They chased me all the way to the Ferry. I have never got over the fright \u2013 though I daresay the beasts knew their business and would not really have touched me.\u2019 Pippin laughed. \u2018Well, it\u2019s time you made it up. Especially if you are coming back to live in Buckland. Old Maggot is really a stout fellow \u2013 if you leave his mushrooms alone. Let\u2019s get into the lane and then we shan\u2019t be trespassing. If we meet him, I\u2019ll do the talking."
    },
    {
        "text": "Even Sam\u2019s vision in the Mirror had not prepared him for what they saw. The Old Grange on the west side had been knocked down, and its place taken by rows of tarred sheds. All the chestnuts were gone.sand and gravel quarry. Bag End up beyond could not be seen for a clutter of large huts."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Must bathe feet a minute.\u2019 Half in a dream he wandered forward to the riverward side of the tree, where great winding roots grew out into the stream, like gnarled dragonets straining down to drink. He straddled one of these, and paddled his hot feet in the cool brown water; and there he too suddenly fell asleep with his back against the tree."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I lit a bit of fire,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018It cheered us up in the fogs. There were few faggots about, and most of the wood we could find was wet. But there is a great draught in the chimney: it seems to wind away up through the rock, and fortunately it has not been blocked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You seem to have been doing well, Master Took,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Nazgu\u02c6l came again, and as their Dark Lord now grew and put forth his strength, so their voices, which uttered only his will and his malice, were filled with evil and horror. Ever they circled above the City, like vultures that expect their fill of doomed men\u2019s flesh."
    },
    {
        "text": "I know these Riders.\u2019 He paused, and his eyes were cold and hard."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thus they were revenged upon the Orcs."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Ferry is east from Woodhall; but the hard road curves away to the left \u2013 you can see a bend of it away north over there. It goes round the north end of the Marish so as to strike the causeway from the Bridge above Stock. But that is miles out of the way. We could save a quarter of the distance if we made a line for the Ferry from where we stand.\u2019 \u2018Short cuts make long delays,\u2019 argued Pippin. \u2018The country is rough round here, and there are bogs and all kinds of difficulties down in the Marish \u2013 I know the land in these parts. And if you are worrying about Black Riders, I can\u2019t see that it is any worse meeting them on a road than in a wood or a field.\u2019 \u2018It is less easy to find people in the woods and fields,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018And if you are supposed to be on the road, there is some chance that you will be looked for on the road and not off it.\u2019 \u2018All right!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I will follow you into every bog and ditch."
    },
    {
        "text": "But now, my jolly Lumpkin, old Tom\u2019s going to ride. Hey! he\u2019s coming with you, just to set you on the road; so he needs a pony."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a silence, for suddenly the dark and unknown forest, so near at hand, made itself felt as a great brooding presence, full of secret purpose. After a while Legolas spoke again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then Isildur said to their king: \u2018\u2018Thou shalt be the last king. And if the West prove mightier than thy Black Master, this curse I lay upon thee and thy folk: to rest never until your oath is fulfilled. For this war will last through years uncounted, and you shall be sum- moned once again ere the end.\u2019\u2019 And they fled before the wrath of Isildur, and did not dare to go forth to war on Sauron\u2019s part; and they hid themselves in secret places in the mountains and had no dealings with other men, but slowly dwindled in the barren hills. And the terror of the Sleepless Dead lies about the Hill of Erech and all places where that people lingered. But that way I must go, since there are none living to help me.\u2019 He stood up. \u2018Come!\u2019 he cried, and drew his sword, and it flashed in the twilit hall of the Burg. \u2018To the Stone of Erech! I seek the Paths of the Dead. Come with me who will!\u2019 Legolas and Gimli made no answer, but they rose and followed Aragorn from the hall. On the green there waited, still and silent, the hooded Rangers. Legolas and Gimli mounted. Aragorn sprang upon Roheryn. Then Halbarad lifted a great horn, and the blast of it echoed in Helm\u2019s Deep: and with that they leapt away, riding down the Coomb like thunder, while all the men that were left on Dike or Burg stared in amaze."
    },
    {
        "text": "They looked at him, and for a while he was silent. At last he spoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "Holding aloft the Phial Frodo looked and before him he saw a greyness which the radiance of the star-glass did not pierce and did not illuminate, as if it were a shadow that being cast by no light, no light could dissipate. Across the width and height of the tunnel a vast web was spun, orderly as the web of some huge spider, but denser-woven and far greater, and each thread was as thick as rope."
    },
    {
        "text": "For MILO BURROWS, hoping it will be useful, from B.B.; on a gold pen and ink-bottle. Milo never answered letters."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly he spoke, aloud but as if to himself, saying slowly: The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began."
    },
    {
        "text": "With a quick movement Gandalf stepped before the narrow open- ing 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. Arrows whined and whistled down the corridor as he sprang back."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin and Merry sat up. Their guards, Isengarders, had gone with Uglu\u00b4 k. But if the hobbits had any thought of escape, it was soon dashed. A long hairy arm took each of them by the neck and drew them close together. Dimly they were aware of Grishna\u00b4kh\u2019s great head and hideous face between them; his foul breath was on their cheeks. He began to paw them and feel them. Pippin shuddered as hard cold fingers groped down his back."
    },
    {
        "text": "And yet \u2013 when they had gone, the shadows closed on men again, and their hearts went cold, and the valour of Gondor withered into ash. And so slowly they passed out of a dim day of fears into the darkness of a desperate night. Fires now raged unchecked in the first circle of the City, and the garrison upon the outer wall was already in many places cut off from retreat. But the faithful who remained there at their posts were few; most had fled beyond the second gate."
    },
    {
        "text": "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. \u2018I must have nearly fallen asleep on guard,\u2019 he thought. \u2018I was on the edge of a dream.\u2019 He stood up and rubbed his eyes, and remained standing, peering into the dark, until he was relieved by Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I do not lie. See, The\u00b4oden, here is a snake! With safety you cannot take it with you, nor can you leave it behind. To slay it would be just. But it was not always as it now is. Once it was a man, and did you service in its fashion. Give him a horse and let him go at once, wherever he chooses. By his choice you shall judge him.\u2019 \u2018Do you hear this, Wormtongue?\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018This is your choice: to ride with me to war, and let us see in battle whether you are true; or to go now, whither you will. But then, if ever we meet again, I shall not be merciful.\u2019 Slowly Wormtongue rose. He looked at them with half-closed eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin laughed. \u2018Very life-like!\u2019 he said. \u2018But what will happen when they have penetrated the disguise?\u2019 \u2018We shall see,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018Let us hope to hold the fort till morning.\u2019 \u2018Good night to you,\u2019 said Nob, and went off to take his part in the watch on the doors."
    },
    {
        "text": "He heard behind his head a creaking and scraping sound. Raising himself on one arm he looked, and saw now in the pale light that they were in a kind of passage which behind them turned a corner."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam scrambling below the outfall of the lake, smelling and touch- ing the unfamiliar plants and trees, forgetful for the moment of Mordor, was reminded suddenly of their ever-present peril. He stumbled on a ring still scorched by fire, and in the midst of it he found a pile of charred and broken bones and skulls. The swift growth of the wild with briar and eglantine and trailing clematis was already drawing a veil over this place of dreadful feast and slaughter; but it was not ancient. He hurried back to his companions, but he said nothing: the bones were best left in peace and not pawed and routed by Gollum."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the wonder of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable disappearance and unexpected return. The riches he had brought back from his travels had now become a local legend, and it was popularly believed, whatever the old folk might say, that the Hill at Bag End was full of tunnels stuffed with treasure. And if that was not enough for fame, there was also his prolonged vigour to marvel at. Time wore on, but it seemed to have little effect on Mr. Baggins. At ninety he was much the same as at fifty. At ninety-nine they began to call him well-preserved; but unchanged would have been nearer the mark. There were some that shook their heads and thought this was too much of a good thing; it seemed unfair that anyone should possess (apparently) perpetual youth as well as (reputedly) inexhaustible wealth."
    },
    {
        "text": "After a few remarks about the weather and the agricultural pros- pects (which were no worse than usual), Farmer Maggot put down his mug and looked at them all in turn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come now, ride with me!\u2019 Then Elrond and Galadriel rode on; for the Third Age was over, and the Days of the Rings were passed, and an end was come of the story and song of those times. With them went many Elves of the High Kindred who would no longer stay in Middle-earth; and among them, filled with a sadness that was yet blessed and without bitterness, rode Sam, and Frodo, and Bilbo, and the Elves delighted to honour them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Coming, Mr. Frodo! Coming!\u2019 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.by the hair as he came up, bubbling and struggling. Fear was staring in his round brown eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All this about the Orcs of Barad-du\u02c6r, Lugbu\u00b4rz as they call it, makes me uneasy,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018The Dark Lord already knew too much, and his servants also; and Grishna\u00b4kh evidently sent some message across the River after the quarrel. The Red Eye will be looking towards Isengard. But Saruman at any rate is in a cleft stick of his own cutting.\u2019 \u2018Yes, whichever side wins, his outlook is poor,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Things began to go all wrong for him from the moment his Orcs set foot in Rohan.\u2019 \u2018We caught a glimpse of the old villain, or so Gandalf hints,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018On the edge of the Forest.\u2019 \u2018When was that?\u2019 asked Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "Through woven woods in Elvenhome She lightly fled on dancing feet, And left him lonely still to roam In the silent forest listening."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ware! Ware!\u2019 cried Damrod to his companion. \u2018May the Valar turn him aside! Mu\u02c6mak! Mu\u02c6mak!\u2019 To his astonishment and terror, and lasting delight, Sam saw a vast shape crash out of the trees and come careering down the slope."
    },
    {
        "text": "On thesixth daysince theirparting from theKing theyjourneyedagain into the open country at sundown they overtook an old man leaning on a staff, and he was clothed in rags of grey or dirty white, and at his heels went another beggar, slouching and whining."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Forest drew close to the hedge in many places. The Bucklanders kept their doors locked after dark, and that also was not usual in the Shire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s me!\u2019 shouted Sam as he trotted up. \u2018Sam Gamgee! So don\u2019t try prodding me, Nibs. Anyway, I\u2019ve a mail-shirt on me.\u2019 He jumped down from his pony and went up the steps. They stared at him in silence. \u2018Good evening, Mrs. Cotton!\u2019 he said. \u2018Hullo, Rosie!\u2019 \u2018Hullo, Sam!\u2019 said Rosie. \u2018Where\u2019ve you been? They said you were dead; but I\u2019ve been expecting you since the spring. You haven\u2019t hurried, have you?\u2019 \u2018Perhaps not,\u2019 said Sam abashed. \u2018But I\u2019m hurrying now. We\u2019re setting about the ruffians, and I\u2019ve got to get back to Mr. Frodo. But I thought I\u2019d have a look and see how Mrs. Cotton was keeping, and you, Rosie.\u2019 \u2018We\u2019re keeping nicely, thank you,\u2019 said Mrs. Cotton. \u2018Or should be, if it weren\u2019t for these thieving ruffians.\u2019 \u2018Well, be off with you!\u2019 said Rosie. \u2018If you\u2019ve been looking after Mr. Frodo all this while, what d\u2019you want to leave him for, as soon as things look dangerous?\u2019 This was too much for Sam. It needed a week\u2019s answer, or none."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You are forgetting not only your family history, but all you ever knew about trolls,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018It is broad daylight with a bright sun, and yet you come back trying to scare me with a tale of live trolls waiting for us in this glade! In any case you might have noticed that one of them has an old bird\u2019s nest behind his ear. That would be a most unusual ornament for a live troll!\u2019 They all laughed. Frodo felt his spirits reviving: the reminder of Bilbo\u2019s first successful adventure was heartening. The sun, too, was warm and comforting, and the mist before his eyes seemed to be lifting a little. They rested for some time in the glade, and took their mid-day meal right under the shadow of the trolls\u2019 large legs."
    },
    {
        "text": "There have been many lords in the green fields in my time, and I have never learned their speech or their names. They will be wanting man-food, and you know all about that, I guess. So find what you think is fit for a king to eat, if you can.\u2019\u2019 And that is the end of the story. Though I should like to know who this Wormtongue is. Was he really the king\u2019s counsellor?\u2019 \u2018He was,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018and also Saruman\u2019s spy and servant in Rohan. Fate has not been kinder to him than he deserves. The sight of the ruin of all that he thought so strong and magnificent must have been almost punishment enough. But I fear that worse awaits him.\u2019 \u2018Yes, I don\u2019t suppose Treebeard sent him to Orthanc out of kind- ness,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018He seemed rather grimly delighted with the business, and was laughing to himself when he went to get his bathe and drink. We spent a busy time after that, searching the flotsam, and rummaging about. We found two or three store-rooms in different places nearby, above the flood-level. But Treebeard sent some Ents down, and they carried off a great deal of the stuff."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits stood now on the brink of a tall cliff, bare and bleak, its feet wrapped in mist; and behind them rose the broken highlands crowned with drifting cloud. A chill wind blew from the East. Night was gathering over the shapeless lands before them; the sickly green of them was fading to a sullen brown. Far away to the right the Anduin, that had gleamed fitfully in sun-breaks during the day, was now hidden in shadow. But their eyes did not look beyond the River, back to Gondor, to their friends, to the lands of Men. South and east they stared to where, at the edge of the oncoming night, a dark line hung, like distant mountains of motionless smoke. Every now and again a tiny red gleam far away flickered upwards on the rim of earth and sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "And what\u2019s all this about the inn being closed?\u2019 \u2018They\u2019re all closed,\u2019 said Robin. \u2018The Chief doesn\u2019t hold with beer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And I will choose you companions to go with you, as far as they will or fortune allows. The number must be few, since your hope is in speed and secrecy. Had I a host of Elves in armour of the Elder Days, it would avail little, save to arouse the power of Mordor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nay! It\u2019s not one of them ruffians,\u2019 Sam heard the farmer say."
    },
    {
        "text": "For they did not move or speak with mouth, looking from mind to mind; and only their shining eyes stirred and kindled as their thoughts went to and fro."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 said Faramir, looking into her face. \u2018It was but a picture in themind.Idonotknowwhatishappening.Thereasonofmywakingand joy are come to me that no reason can deny. E\u00b4owyn, E\u00b4owyn, White Lady of Rohan, in this hour I do not believe that any darkness will endure!\u2019 And he stooped and kissed her brow."
    },
    {
        "text": "But I am afraid there is no possible doubt: he had made his slow, sneaking way, step by step, mile by mile, south, down at last to the Land of Mordor.\u2019 A heavy silence fell in the room. Frodo could hear his heart beating."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hm! Here we are!\u2019 said Treebeard, breaking his long silence. \u2018I have brought you about seventy thousand ent-strides, but what that comes to in the measurement of your land I do not know. Anyhow we are near the roots of the Last Mountain. Part of the name of this place might be Wellinghall, if it were turned into your language. I like it. We will stay here tonight.\u2019 He set them down on the grass between the aisles of the trees, and they followed him towards the great arch. The hobbits now noticed that as he walked his knees hardly bent, but his legs opened in a great stride. He planted his big toes (and they were indeed big, and very broad) on the ground first, before any other part of his feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "Primeroles and anemones were awake in the filbert-brakes; and asphodel and many lily-flowers nodded their half-opened heads in the grass: deep green grass beside the pools, where falling streamsAs they walked, brushing their way through bush and herb, sweet odours rose about them. Gollum coughed and retched; but the hob- bits breathed deep, and suddenly Sam laughed, for heart\u2019s ease not for jest. They followed a stream that went quickly down before them."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was an evil doom that set her in his path. For she is a fair maiden, fairest lady of a house of queens. And yet I know not how I should speak of her. When I first looked on her and perceived her unhappi- ness, it seemed to me that I saw a white flower standing straight and proud, shapely as a lily, and yet knew that it was hard, as if wrought by elf-wrights out of steel. Or was it, maybe, a frost that had turned its sap to ice, and so it stood, bitter-sweet, still fair to see, but stricken, soon to fall and die? Her malady begins far back before this day, does it not, E\u00b4 omer?\u2019 \u2018I marvel that you should ask me, lord,\u2019 he answered. \u2018For I hold you blameless in this matter, as in all else; yet I knew not that E\u00b4 owyn, my sister, was touched by any frost, until she first looked on you."
    },
    {
        "text": "The king and all his company sat silent on their horses, marvelling, perceiving that the power of Saruman was overthrown; but how they could not guess. And now they turned their eyes towards the archway and the ruined gates. There they saw close beside them a great rubble- heap; and suddenly they were aware of two small figures lying on it at their ease, grey-clad, hardly to be seen among the stones. There were bottles and bowls and platters laid beside them, as if they had just eaten well, and now rested from their labour. One seemed asleep; the other, with crossed legs and arms behind his head, leaned back against a broken rock and sent from his mouth long wisps and little rings of thin blue smoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "Let it be of mounted men. In them lies our brief hope, for in one thing only is the enemy still poorly provided: he has few horsemen.\u2019 \u2018And we also have few. Now would the coming of Rohan be in the nick of time,\u2019 said Denethor."
    },
    {
        "text": "And then a trumpet rang from the Citadel, and Denethor at last released the sortie. Drawn up within the shadow of the Gate and under the looming walls outside they had waited for his signal: all the mounted men that were left in the City. Now they sprang forward, formed, quickened to a gallop, and charged with a great shout. And from the walls an answering shout went up; for foremost on the field rode the swan-knights of Dol Amroth with their Prince and his blue banner at their head."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then he sent plundering Orcs, and they carry off what they can, choosing always the black horses: few of these are now left. For that reason our feud with the Orcs is bitter.many months. He has taken Orcs into his service, and Wolf-riders, and evil Men, and he has closed the Gap against us, so that we are likely to be beset both east and west."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There go three that I love, and the smallest not the least,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "The morning was now far advanced. From the high place they looked back westwards over the lower lands. Far away in the tumble of country that lay at the foot of the mountain was the dell fromhis 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, Mr. Baggins has gone away. Went this morning, and my Sam went with him: anyway all his stuff went. Yes, sold out and gone, I tell\u2019ee. Why? Why\u2019s none of my business, or yours. Where to? That ain\u2019t no secret. He\u2019s moved to Bucklebury or some such place, away down yonder. Yes it is \u2013 a tidy way. I\u2019ve never been so far myself; they\u2019re queer folks in Buckland. No, I can\u2019t give no message. Good night to you!\u2019 Footsteps went away down the Hill. Frodo wondered vaguely why the fact that they did not come on up the Hill seemed a great relief.to go and ask the Gaffer who the inquirer was; but he thought better (or worse) of it, and turned and walked quickly back to Bag End."
    },
    {
        "text": "And before the Sun had fallen far from the noon out of the East there came a great Eagle flying, and he bore tidings beyond hope from the Lords of the West, crying: Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor, for the Realm of Sauron is ended for ever, and the Dark Tower is thrown down."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last they came to a narrow gate in a thick hedge. Nothing could be seen of the house in the dark: it stood back from the lane in the middle of a wide circle of lawn surrounded by a belt of low trees inside the outer hedge. Frodo had chosen it, because it stood in an out-of-the-way corner of the country, and there were no other dwell- ings close by. You could get in and out without being noticed. It had been built a long while before by the Brandybucks, for the use of guests, or members of the family that wished to escape from the crowded life of Brandy Hall for a time. It was an old-fashioned countrified house, as much like a hobbit-hole as possible: it was long and low, with no upper storey; and it had a roof of turf, round windows, and a large round door."
    },
    {
        "text": "East rode the knights of Dol Amroth driving the enemy before them: troll-men and Variags and orcs that hated the sunlight. South strode E\u00b4 omer and men fled before his face, and they were caught between the hammer and the anvil. For now men leaped from the ships to the quays of the Harlond and swept north like a storm. There came Legolas, and Gimli wielding his axe, and Halbarad with the standard, and Elladan and Elrohir with stars on their brow, and the dour-handed Du\u00b4nedain, Rangers of the North, leading a great valour of the folk of Lebennin and Lamedon and the fiefs of the South. But before all went Aragorn with the Flame of the West, Andu\u00b4ril like a new fire kindled, Narsil re-forged as deadly as of old; and upon his brow was the Star of Elendil."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo sighed and turned back southward. As if to mark his disre- gard of all such courtesy, Gollum was scrabbling in the mould at the foot of a tree. \u2018Hungry again already?\u2019 thought Sam. \u2018Well, now for it again!\u2019\u2018Yes, let us go,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But if you can only speak ill of those who showed you mercy, keep silent!\u2019 \u2018Nice Master!\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol was only joking. Always forgives, he does, yes, yes, even nice Master\u2019s little trickses. Oh yes, nice Master, nice Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 Frodo and Sam did not answer. Hoisting their packs and taking their staves in hand, they passed on into the woods of Ithilien."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, so we meet and part, Frodo son of Drogo. You have no need of soft words: I do not hope to see you again on any other day under this Sun. But you shall go now with my blessing upon you, and upon all your people. Rest a little while food is prepared for you."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Just now in this room, of course,\u2019 answered the wizard sharply."
    },
    {
        "text": "But however anxious their guides might be, it was plain that the hobbits could go no further that night. They were stumbling along dizzy with weariness, and unable to think of anything but their feet and legs. Frodo\u2019s pain had redoubled, and during the day things about him faded to shadows of ghostly grey. He almost welcomed the coming of night, for then the world seemed less pale and empty."
    },
    {
        "text": "Days passed and The Day drew nearer. An odd-looking waggon laden with odd-looking packages rolled into Hobbiton one evening and toiled up the Hill to Bag End. The startled hobbits peered out of lamplit doors to gape at it. It was driven by outlandish folk, singing strange songs: dwarves with long beards and deep hoods. A few of them remained at Bag End. At the end of the second week in Sep-He wore a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, and a silver scarf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam Gamgee was sitting in one corner near the fire, and opposite him was Ted Sandyman, the miller\u2019s son; and there were various other rustic hobbits listening to their talk."
    },
    {
        "text": "Twilight was about them as they crept back to the lane. The West wind was sighing in the branches. Leaves were whispering. Soon the road began to fall gently but steadily into the dusk. A star came out above the trees in the darkening East before them. They went abreast and in step, to keep up their spirits. After a time, as the stars grew thicker and brighter, the feeling of disquiet left them, and they no longer listened for the sound of hoofs. They began to hum softly, as hobbits have a way of doing as they walk along, especially when they are drawing near to home at night. With most hobbits it is a supper-song or a bed-song; but these hobbits hummed a walking-song (though not, of course, without any mention of supper and bed)."
    },
    {
        "text": "It\u2019s getting dark early. I think there\u2019s a storm coming.\u2019 The smoky blur of the mountains in the East was lost in a deeper blackness that was already reaching out westwards with long arms."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018if only we had our legs and hands free, we might get away. But I can\u2019t touch the knots, and I can\u2019t bite them.\u2019 \u2018No need to try,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018I was going to tell you: I\u2019ve managed to free my hands. These loops are only left for show. You\u2019d better have a bit of lembas first.\u2019 He slipped the cords off his wrists, and fished out a packet. The cakes were broken, but good, still in their leaf-wrappings. The hobbits each ate two or three pieces. The taste brought back to them the memory of fair faces, and laughter, and wholesome food in quiet days now far away. For a while they ate thoughtfully, sitting in the dark, heedless of the cries and sounds of battle nearby. Pippin was the first to come back to the present."
    },
    {
        "text": "He will never love me, I fear; for he bit me, and I was not gentle."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here are three of my companions, Treebeard,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I have spoken of them, but you have not yet seen them.\u2019 He named them one by one."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All the same,\u2019 said Frodo to all those who stood near, \u2018I wish for no killing; not even of the ruffians, unless it must be done, to prevent them from hurting hobbits.\u2019 \u2018All right!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018But we shall be having a visit from the Hobbiton gang any time now, I think. They won\u2019t come just to talk things over. We\u2019ll try to deal with them neatly, but we must be prepared for the worst. Now I\u2019ve got a plan.\u2019 \u2018Very good,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018You make the arrangements.\u2019 Just then some hobbits, who had been sent out towards Hobbiton, came running in. \u2018They\u2019re coming!\u2019 they said. \u2018A score or more. But two have gone off west across country.\u2019 \u2018To Waymeet, that\u2019ll be,\u2019 said Cotton, \u2018to fetch more of the gang."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I can carry enough for two,\u2019 said Sam defiantly."
    },
    {
        "text": "And far away, as Frodo put on the Ring and claimed it for his own, even in Sammath Naur the very heart of his realm, the Power in Barad-du\u02c6r was shaken, and the Tower trembled from its founda- tions to its proud and bitter crown. The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him, and his Eye piercing all shadows looked across the plain to the door that he had made; and the magnitude of his own folly was revealed to him in a blinding flash, and all the devices of his enemies were at last laid bare. Then his wrath blazed in consuming flame, but his fear rose like a vast black smoke to choke him. For he knew his deadly peril and the thread upon which his doom now hung."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Dreams and legends spring to life out of the grass."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo dozed, though the pain of his wound was slowly growing, and a deadly chill was spreading from his shoulder to his arm and side."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Riders of Rohan sat uneasily upon their horses, on either side of the stair, and looked up darkly at the great tower, fearing what might befall their lord. Merry and Pippin sat on the bottom step, feeling both unimportant and unsafe."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018In the realm of Gondor,\u2019 the wizard answered. \u2018The land of Ano\u00b4rien is still passing by.\u2019 There was a silence again for a while. Then, \u2018What is that?\u2019 cried Pippin suddenly, clutching at Gandalf \u2019s cloak. \u2018Look! Fire, red fire! Are there dragons in this land? Look, there is another!\u2019 For answer Gandalf cried aloud to his horse. \u2018On, Shadowfax! We must hasten. Time is short. See! The beacons of Gondor are alight, calling for aid. War is kindled. See, there is the fire on Amon D\u02c6\u0131n, and flame on Eilenach; and there they go speeding west: Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad, and the Halifirien on the bordershe lifted up his head and neighed. And out of the darkness the answering neigh of other horses came; and presently the thudding of hoofs was heard, and three riders swept up and passed like flying ghosts in the moon and vanished into the West. Then Shadowfax gathered himself together and sprang away, and the night flowed over him like a roaring wind."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All penalty is remitted for your valour in battle, and still more because all that you did was for the love of the Lord Faramir. None- theless you must leave the Guard of the Citadel, and you must go forth from the City of Minas Tirith.\u2019 Then the blood left Beregond\u2019s face, and he was stricken to the heart and bowed his head. But the King said: \u2018So it must be, for you are appointed to the White Company, the Guard of Faramir, Prince of Ithilien, and you shall be its captain and dwell in Emyn Arnen in honour and peace, and in the service of him for whom you risked all, to save him from death.\u2019 And then Beregond, perceiving the mercy and justice of the King, was glad, and kneeling kissed his hand, and departed in joy and content. And Aragorn gave to Faramir Ithilien to be his princedom, and bade him dwell in the hills of Emyn Arnen within sight of the City."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have no memory of this place at all!\u2019 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 to be seen. \u2018I am too weary to decide,\u2019 he said, shaking his head. \u2018And I expect that you are all as weary as I am, or wearier."
    },
    {
        "text": "But at that touch Frodo stirred and cried out softly in his sleep, and immediately Sam was wide awake. The first thing he saw was Gollum \u2013 \u2018pawing at master,\u2019 as he thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018My lads are tired of lugging you about. We have got to climb down, and you must use your legs. Be helpful now. No crying out, no trying to escape. We have ways of paying for tricks that you won\u2019t like, though they won\u2019t spoil your usefulness for the Master.\u2019 He cut the thongs round Pippin\u2019s legs and ankles, picked him up by his hair and stood him on his feet. Pippin fell down, and Uglu\u00b4k dragged him up by his hair again. Several Orcs laughed. Uglu\u00b4 k thrust a flask between his teeth and poured some burning liquid down his throat: he felt a hot fierce glow flow through him. The pain in his legs and ankles vanished. He could stand."
    },
    {
        "text": "All day the track of their enemies led straight on, going north-west without a break or turn. As once again the day wore to its end they came to long treeless slopes, where the land rose, swelling up towards a line of low humpbacked downs ahead. The orc-trail grew fainter as it bent north towards them, for the ground became harder and the grass shorter. Far away to the left the river Entwash wound, a silver thread in a green floor. No moving thing could be seen. Often Aragorn wondered that they saw no sign of beast or man. The dwell- ings of the Rohirrim were for the most part many leagues away to the South, under the wooded eaves of the White Mountains, now hidden in mist and cloud; yet the Horse-lords had formerly kept many herds and studs in the Eastemnet, this easterly region of their realm, and there the herdsmen had wandered much, living in camp and tent, even in winter-time. But now all the land was empty, and there was a silence that did not seem to be the quiet of peace."
    },
    {
        "text": "And the City was filled again with women and fair children that returned to their homes laden with flowers; and from Dol Amroth came the harpers that harped most skilfully in all the land; and there were players upon viols and upon flutes and upon horns of silver, and clear-voiced singers from the vales of Lebennin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018For no boat could have been carried over the stony hills from Tol Brandir; and Boromir purposed to go home across the Entwash and the fields of Rohan. And yet how could any vessel ride the foam of the great falls and not founder in the boiling pools, though laden with water?\u2019 \u2018I know not,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018But whence came the boat?\u2019 \u2018From Lo\u00b4 rien,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018In three such boats we rowed down Anduin to the Falls. They also were of elven-work.\u2019 \u2018You passed through the Hidden Land,\u2019 said Faramir, \u2018but it seems that you little understood its power. If Men have dealings with the Mistress of Magic who dwells in the Golden Wood, then they may look for strange things to follow. For it is perilous for mortal man to walk out of the world of this Sun, and few of old came thence unchanged, \u2019tis said."
    },
    {
        "text": "A little apart the Rangers sat, silent, in an ordered company, armed with spear and bow and sword. They were clad in cloaks of dark grey, and their hoods were cast now over helm and head. Their horses were strong and of proud bearing, but rough-haired; and one stood there without a rider, Aragorn\u2019s own horse that they had brought from the North; Roheryn was his name. There was no gleam of stone or gold, nor any fair thing in all their gear and harness; nor did their riders bear any badge or token, save only that each cloak was pinned upon the left shoulder by a brooch of silver shaped like a rayed star."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are some who would begin to doubt whether your errand is fit to tell,\u2019 said the old man. \u2018Happily I know something of it. You are tracking the footsteps of two young hobbits, I believe. Yes, hob- bits. Don\u2019t stare, as if you had never heard the strange name before."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly a low voice murmured: Gil-galad was an Elven-king."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo found that Strider was now looking at him, as if he had heard or guessed all that had been said. Presently, with a wave of his hand and a nod, he invited Frodo to come over and sit by him. As Frodo drew near he threw back his hood, showing a shaggy head of dark hair flecked with grey, and in a pale stern face a pair of keento meet you, Master \u2013 Underhill, if old Butterbur got your name right.\u2019 \u2018He did,\u2019 said Frodo stiffly. He felt far from comfortable under the stare of those keen eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam was behind him, and after him came Pippin, and then Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 \u2018Poor old Bill!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018I wonder where he is. I hope those wolves haven\u2019t got him yet.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You idiotic fool!\u2019 Pippin muttered to himself. \u2018You\u2019re going to get yourself into frightful trouble. Put it back quick!\u2019 But he found now that his knees quaked, and he did not dare to go near enough to the wizard to reach the bundle. \u2018I\u2019ll never get it back now without waking him,\u2019 he thought, \u2018not till I\u2019m a bit calmer. So I may as well have a look first. Not just here though!\u2019 He stole away, and sat down on a green hillock not far from his bed. The moon looked in over the edge of the dell."
    },
    {
        "text": "Just then I saw the eyes: two pale sort of points, shiny-like, on a hump at the near end of the log. What\u2019s more, it wasn\u2019t a log, for it had paddle-feet, like a swan\u2019s almost, only they seemed bigger, anda shout, if it was still there when I had rubbed the drowse out of my head. For the whatever-it-was was coming along fast now and getting close behind Gimli. But whether those two lamps spotted me moving and staring, or whether I came to my senses, I don\u2019t know. When I looked again, it wasn\u2019t 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\u2019t see no more eyes, though."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It looks like a tomb,\u2019 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:\u2018These are Daeron\u2019s Runes, such as were used of old in Moria,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Here is written in the tongues of Men and Dwarves: balin son of fundin lord of moria.\u2019 \u2018He is dead then,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I feared it was so.\u2019 Gimli cast his hood over his face.Chapter 5 \u02c6 THE BRIDGE OF KHAZAD-DUM The Company of the Ring stood silent beside the tomb of Balin."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "A bitter chill came into the air. Slowly in the East the dark faded to a cold grey. Red shafts of light leapt above the black walls of the Emyn Muil far away upon their left. Dawn came clear and bright; a wind swept across their path, rushing through the bent grasses. Sud- denly Shadowfax stood still and neighed. Gandalf pointed ahead."
    },
    {
        "text": "Twice that day they rested and took a little of the food provided by Faramir: dried fruits and salted meat, enough for many days; and bread enough to last while it was still fresh. Gollum ate nothing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But how will that help us?\u2019 asked Sam. \u2018Surely the Enemy knows all about his own mountains, and that road will be guarded as close as this? The tower isn\u2019t empty, is it?\u2019 \u2018O no, not empty!\u2019 whispered Gollum. \u2018It seems empty, but it isn\u2019t, O no! Very dreadful things live there. Orcs, yes always Orcs; but worse things, worse things live there too. The road climbs right under the shadow of the walls and passes the gate. Nothing moves on the road that they don\u2019t know about. The things inside know: the Silent Watchers.\u2019 \u2018So that\u2019s your advice is it,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018that we should go another long march south, to find ourselves in the same fix or a worse one, when we get there, if we ever do?\u2019 \u2018No, no indeed,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018Hobbits must see, must try to understand. He does not expect attack that way. His Eye is all round, but it attends more to some places than to others. He can\u2019t see everything all at once, not yet. You see, He has conquered all the country west of the Shadowy Mountains down to the River, and He holds the bridges now. He thinks no one can come to the Moontower without fighting big battle at the bridges, or getting lots of boats which they cannot hide and He will know about.\u2019 \u2018You seem to know a lot about what He\u2019s doing and thinking,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Have you been talking to Him lately? Or just hobnobbing with Orcs?\u2019 \u2018Not nice hobbit, not sensible,\u2019 said Gollum, giving Sam an angry glance and turning to Frodo. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol has talked to Orcs, yes of course, before he met master, and to many peoples: he has walked very far. And what he says now many peoples are saying. It\u2019s here in the North that the big danger is for Him, and for us. He will come out of the Black Gate one day, one day soon. That is the only way big armies can come. But away down west He is not afraid, and there are the Silent Watchers.\u2019 \u2018Just so!\u2019 said Sam, not to be put off. \u2018And so we are to walk up and knock at their gate and ask if we\u2019re on the right road for Mordor? Or are they too silent to answer? It\u2019s not sense. We might as well do it here, and save ourselves a long tramp.\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t make jokes about it,\u2019 hissed Gollum. \u2018It isn\u2019t funny, O no!must not go to the terrible city, O no, of course not. That is where Sme\u00b4agol helps, nice Sme\u00b4agol, though no one tells him what it is all about. Sme\u00b4agol helps again. He found it. He knows it.\u2019 \u2018What did you find?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where is E\u00b4 omer? Tell him there is no hope ahead. He should return to Edoras before the wolves of Isengard come there.\u2019 The\u00b4oden had sat silent, hidden from the man\u2019s sight behind his guards; now he urged his horse forward. \u2018Come, stand before me, Ceorl!\u2019 he said. \u2018I am here. The last host of the Eorlingas has ridden forth. It will not return without battle.\u2019 The man\u2019s face lightened with joy and wonder. He drew himself up. Then he knelt, offering his notched sword to the king. \u2018Command me, lord!\u2019 he cried. \u2018And pardon me! I thought\u2014\u2014\u2019 \u2018You thought I remained in Meduseld bent like an old tree under winter snow. So it was when you rode to war. But a west wind has shaken the boughs,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Give this man a fresh horse! LetWhile The\u00b4oden was speaking, Gandalf rode a short way ahead, and he sat there alone, gazing north to Isengard and west to the setting sun. Now he came back."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was no doubt of the voices. They were speaking low and furtively, but they were near, and coming nearer. Then quite suddenly one spoke clearly close at hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "But as for throwing it away, that was obviously wrong. These Rings have a way of being found. In evil hands it might have done great evil. Worst of all, it might have fallen into the hands of the Enemy."
    },
    {
        "text": "I knew Bilbo, too. To tell you the truth, I have been watching you rather closely ever since he left. I thought you would go after him sooner or later; indeed I expected you to go sooner, and lately we have been very anxious. We have been terrified that you might give us the slip, and go off suddenly, all on your own like he did. Ever since this spring we have kept our eyes open, and done a good deal of planning on our own account. You are not going to escape so easily!\u2019 \u2018But I must go,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It cannot be helped, dear friends. It is wretched for us all, but it is no use your trying to keep me. Since you have guessed so much, please help me and do not hinder me!\u2019 \u2018You do not understand!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018You must go \u2013 and there- fore we must, too. Merry and I are coming with you. Sam is an excellent fellow, and would jump down a dragon\u2019s throat to save you, if he did not trip over his own feet; but you will need more than one companion in your dangerous adventure.\u2019 \u2018My dear and most beloved hobbits!\u2019 said Frodo deeply moved. \u2018But I could not allow it. I decided that long ago, too. You speak of danger, but you do not understand. This is no treasure-hunt, no there-and- back journey. I am flying from deadly peril into deadly peril.\u2019 \u2018Of course we understand,\u2019 said Merry firmly. \u2018That is why we have decided to come. We know the Ring is no laughing-matter; but we are going to do our best to help you against the Enemy.\u2019 \u2018The Ring!\u2019 said Frodo, now completely amazed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry started, noticing the stranger for the first time. \u2018Go on!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018This is a friend of Gandalf \u2019s. I will explain later.\u2019 \u2018It seemed to make off up the Road, eastward,\u2019 continued Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Loose us! Loose us!\u2019 he said. \u2018The cord hurts us, yes it does, it hurts us, and we\u2019ve done nothing.\u2019 \u2018Nothing?\u2019 said Faramir, looking at the wretched creature with a keen glance, but without any expression in his face either of anger, or pity, or wonder. \u2018Nothing? Have you never done anything worthy of binding or of worse punishment? However, that is not for me to judge, happily. But tonight you have come where it is death to come."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The murder of De\u00b4agol haunted Gollum, and he had made up a defence, repeating it to his \u2018\u2018Precious\u2019\u2019 over and over again, as heturned up just so as to be a present. It was his birthday-present, and so on, and on."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What is the news, Aragorn?\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not bad,\u2019 Bilbo said to him. \u2018You would have made a good story of it, if they hadn\u2019t kept on interrupting. I tried to make a few notes, but we shall have to go over it all again together some time, if I am to write it up. There are whole chapters of stuff before you ever got here!\u2019 \u2018Yes, it made quite a long tale,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018But the story still does not seem complete to me. I still want to know a good deal, especially about Gandalf.\u2019 GaldoroftheHavens,whosatnearby,overheardhim.\u2018YouspeakGreat Ring of long debate, unlikely though that may seem to those who know less. But may we not hear the proofs? And I would ask this also. What of Saruman? He is learned in the lore of the Rings, yet he is not among us. What is his counsel \u2013 if he knows the things that we have heard?\u2019 \u2018The questions that you ask, Galdor, are bound together,\u2019 said Elrond. \u2018I had not overlooked them, and they shall be answered. But these things it is the part of Gandalf to make clear; and I call upon him last, for it is the place of honour, and in all this matter he has been the chief.\u2019 \u2018Some, Galdor,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018would think the tidings of Glo\u00b4 in, and the pursuit of Frodo, proof enough that the halfling\u2019s trove is a thing of great worth to the Enemy. Yet it is a ring. What then? The Nine the Nazgu\u02c6l keep. The Seven are taken or destroyed.\u2019 At this Glo\u00b4in stirred, but did not speak. \u2018The Three we know of. What then is this one that he desires so much? \u2018There is indeed a wide waste of time between the River and the Mountain, between the loss and the finding. But the gap in the know- ledge of the Wise has been filled at last. Yet too slowly. For the Enemy has been close behind, closer even than I feared. And well is it that not until this year, this very summer, as it seems, did he learn the full truth."
    },
    {
        "text": "From the hills in the Eastfold of your realm I saw it rise and creep across the sky, and all night as I rode it came behind eating up the stars. Now the great cloud hangs over all the land between here and the Mountains of Shadow; and it is deepening. War has already begun.\u2019 For a while the king sat silent. At last he spoke. \u2018So we come to it in the end,\u2019 he said: \u2018the great battle of our time, in which many things shall pass away. But at least there is no longer need for hiding."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ask of the North Wind news of them the North Wind sends to me!\u2019 \u2018O Boromir! Beyond the gate the seaward road runs south, But you came not with the wailing gulls from the grey sea\u2019s mouth.\u2019 Then Aragorn sang again: From the Gate of Kings the North Wind rides, and past the roaring falls; And clear and cold about the tower its loud horn calls."
    },
    {
        "text": "When winter passed, she came again, And her song released the sudden spring, Like rising lark, and falling rain, And melting water bubbling."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf laughed long and merrily. \u2018The trees?\u2019 he said. \u2018Nay, I see the wood as plainly as do you. But that is no deed of mine. It is\u2018Then if not yours, whose is the wizardry?\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Not Saruman\u2019s, that is plain. Is there some mightier sage, of whom we have yet to learn?\u2019 \u2018It is not wizardry, but a power far older,\u2019 said Gandalf: \u2018a power that walked the earth, ere elf sang or hammer rang."
    },
    {
        "text": "His will was too weak and slow to restrain his hand. It dragged at the chain and clutched the Ring. But Sam did not put it on; for even as he clasped it to his breast, an orc came clattering down. Leaping out of a dark opening at the right, it ran towards him. It was no more than six paces from him when, lifting its head, it saw him; and Sam could hear its gasping breath and see the glare in its bloodshot eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "He heard the crack of stone, and the murmur of water far off in Morgul Vale; and down away under the rock the bubbling misery of Shelob, groping, lost in some blind passage; and voices in the dun- geons of the tower; and the cries of the Orcs as they came out of the tunnel; and deafening, roaring in his ears, the crash of the feet and the rending clamour of the Orcs before him. He shrank against the cliff. But they marched up like a phantom company, grey distorted figures in a mist, only dreams of fear with pale flames in their hands."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam plainly was beginning to have doubts again about Strider; but while they were talking he returned, appearing suddenly out of the shadows. They started, and Sam drew his sword and stood over Frodo; but Strider knelt down swiftly at his side."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But I don\u2019t think you need go alone. Not if you know of anyone you can trust, and who would be willing to go by your side \u2013 and that you would be willing to take into unknown perils. But if you look for a companion, be careful in choosing! And be careful of what you say, even to your closest friends! The enemy has many spies and many ways of hearing.\u2019 Suddenly he stopped as if listening. Frodo became aware that all was very quiet, inside and outside. Gandalf crept to one side of the window. Then with a dart he sprang to the sill, and thrust a long arm out and downwards. There was a squawk, and up came Sam Gamgee\u2019s curly head hauled by one ear."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hardly one in which my help is needed! I have other things to do."
    },
    {
        "text": "That day it seemed to Sam that his master had found some new strength, more than could be explained by the small lightening of the load that he had to carry. In the first marches they went further and faster than he had hoped. The land was rough and hostile, and yet they made much progress, and ever the Mountain drew nearer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ride, The\u00b4oden!\u2019 he said. \u2018Ride to Helm\u2019s Deep! Go not to the Fords of Isen, and do not tarry in the plain! I must leave you for a while. Shadowfax must bear me now on a swift errand.\u2019 Turning to Aragorn and E\u00b4omer and the men of the king\u2019s household, he cried: \u2018Keep well the Lord of the Mark, till I return. Await me at Helm\u2019s Gate! Farewell!\u2019 He spoke a word to Shadowfax, and like an arrow from the bow the great horse sprang away. Even as they looked he was gone: a flash of silver in the sunset, a wind over the grass, a shadow that fled and passed from sight. Snowmane snorted and reared, eager to fol- low; but only a swift bird on the wing could have overtaken him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am sure you have given me all the heaviest stuff,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "They came to the path and found that it was broad, paved with broken rubble and beaten ash. Frodo clambered on to it, and then moved as if by some compulsion he turned slowly to face the East."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Lands will lie open to you eastward that have long been closed.\u2019 But Treebeard shook his head and said: \u2018It is far to go. And there are too many Men there in these days. But I am forgetting my manners! Will you stay here and rest a while? And maybe there are some that would be pleased to pass through Fangorn Forest and so shorten their road home?\u2019 He looked at Celeborn and Galadriel."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, no oliphaunts,\u2019 said Gollum again. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol has not heard of them. He does not want to see them. He does not want them to be. Sme\u00b4agol wants to go away from here and hide somewhere safer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If we had come by the main road down from the upper halls, we should have been trapped here,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Let us hope that the fire now lies between us and pursuit. Come! There is no time to lose.\u2019 Even as he spoke they heard again the pursuing drum-beat: Doom, doom,doom.Awaybeyondtheshadowsatthewesternendofthehall\u2018Now for the last race!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018If the sun is shining outside, we may still escape. After me!\u2019 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\u2019s head."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, yes,\u2019 he answered. \u2018Yes, we must go this way now.\u2019 \u2018D\u2019you mean to say you\u2019ve been through this hole?\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yet such as we are we will try it,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then I say to you,\u2019 said Faramir, turning to Gollum, \u2018you are under doom of death; but while you walk with Frodo you are safe for our part. Yet if ever you be found by any man of Gondor astray without him, the doom shall fall. And may death find you swiftly, withinGondororwithout,ifyoudonotwellservehim.Nowanswer\u2018This I will not have secret,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018Answer me, or I will reverse my judgement!\u2019 Still Gollum did not answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "The village of Bree had some hundred stone houses of the Big Folk, mostly above the Road, nestling on the hillside with windows looking west. On that side, running in more than half a circle from the hill and back to it, there was a deep dike with a thick hedge on the inner side. Over this the Road crossed by a causeway; but where it pierced the hedge it was barred by a great gate. There was another gate in the southern corner where the Road ran out of the village."
    },
    {
        "text": "Even as these thoughts pierced him with dread and held him bound as with a spell, the Rider halted suddenly, right before the entrance of the bridge, and behind him all the host stood still. There was a pause, a dead silence. Maybe it was the Ring that called to the Wraith-lord, and for a moment he was troubled, sensing some other power within his valley. This way and that turned the dark head helmed and crowned with fear, sweeping the shadows with its unseen eyes. Frodo waited, like a bird at the approach of a snake, unable to move. And as he waited, he felt, more urgent than ever before, the command that he should put on the Ring. But great as the pressure was, he felt no inclination now to yield to it. He knew that the Ring would only betray him, and that he had not, even if he put it on, the power to face the Morgul-king \u2013 not yet. There was no longer any answer to that command in his own will, dismayed by terror though it was, and he felt only the beating upon him of a great power fromit moved the hand inch by inch towards the chain upon his neck."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then suddenly his visits had ceased. It was over nine years since Frodo had seen or heard of him, and he had begun to think that the wizard would never return and had given up all interest in hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "The fire burned low, and the last faggot was thrown on."
    },
    {
        "text": "Once, looking suddenly back, as if some prickle of the skin told him that he was watched from behind, he thought he caught a brief glimpse of a small dark shape slipping behind a tree-trunk. He opened his mouth to speak and shut it again. \u2018I\u2019m not sure of it,\u2019 he said to himself, \u2018and why should I remind them of the old villain, if theySo they passed on, until the woodlands grew thinner and the land began to fall more steeply. Then they turned aside again, to the right, and came quickly to a small river in a narrow gorge: it was the same stream that trickled far above out of the round pool, now grown to a swift torrent, leaping down over many stones in a deep-cloven bed, overhung with ilex and dark box-woods. Looking west they could see, below them in a haze of light, lowlands and broad meads, and glinting far off in the westering sun the wide waters of the Anduin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Get up, you idiot!\u2019 he shouted to the other beggar, who had sat down on the ground; and he struck him with his staff. \u2018Turn about! If these fine folk are going our way, then we will take another. Get on, or I\u2019ll give you no crust for your supper!\u2019 The beggar turned and slouched past whimpering: \u2018Poor old Gr\u00b4\u0131ma! Poor old Gr\u00b4\u0131ma! Always beaten and cursed. How I hate him! I wish I could leave him!\u2019terror at Gandalf, and then shuffled quickly past behind Saruman."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, he will come,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018even if he comes too late. But think! At best the Red Arrow cannot have reached him more than two days ago, and the miles are long from Edoras.\u2019 It was night again ere news came. A man rode in haste from the fords, saying that a host had issued from Minas Morgul and was already drawing nigh to Osgiliath; and it had been joined by regiments from the South, Haradrim, cruel and tall. \u2018And we have learned,\u2019 said the messenger, \u2018that the Black Captain leads them once again, and the fear of him has passed before him over the River.\u2019 With those ill-boding words the third day closed since Pippin came to Minas Tirith. Few went to rest, for small hope had any now that even Faramir could hold the fords for long."
    },
    {
        "text": "Shadowfax whinnied as Pippin entered the stable and turned his head. \u2018Good morning!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Gandalf will come as soon as he may. He is busy, but he sends greetings, and I am to see that all is well with you; and you resting, I hope, after your long labours.\u2019 Shadowfax tossed his head and stamped. But he allowed Beregond to handle his head gently and stroke his great flanks."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ah, but he has likely enough been adding to what he brought at first,\u2019 argued the miller, voicing common opinion. \u2018He\u2019s often away from home. And look at the outlandish folk that visit him: dwarves coming at night, and that old wandering conjuror, Gandalf, and all."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Believe not that in the land of Gondor the blood of Nu\u00b4menor is spent, nor all its pride and dignity forgotten. By our valour the wild folk of the East are still restrained, and the terror of Morgul kept at bay; and thus alone are peace and freedom maintained in the lands behind us, bulwark of the West. But if the passages of the River should be won, what then? \u2018Yet that hour, maybe, is not now far away. The Nameless Enemy has arisen again. Smoke rises once more from Orodruin that we call Mount Doom. The power of the Black Land grows and we are hard beset. When the Enemy returned our folk were driven from Ithilien, our fair domain east of the River, though we kept a foothold there and strength of arms. But this very year, in the days of June, sudden war came upon us out of Mordor, and we were swept away. We were outnumbered, for Mordor has allied itself with the Easterlings and the cruel Haradrim; but it was not by numbers that we were defeated."
    },
    {
        "text": "However, in the meanwhile, walking was not unpleasant. Indeed, if it had not been for the disturbing events of the night before, they would have enjoyed this part of the journey better than any up to that time. The sun was shining, clear but not too hot. The woods in the valley were still leafy and full of colour, and seemed peaceful and wholesome. Strider guided them confidently among the many crossing paths, although left to themselves they would soon have been at a loss. He was taking a wandering course with many turns and doublings, to put off any pursuit."
    },
    {
        "text": "And suddenly there rose a great chorus of trumpets from high above, sounding from some hollow place, as it seemed, that gathered their notes into one voice and sent it rolling and beating on the walls of stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "Wait!\u2019\u2019 \u2018And I waited. Until that night when he left this house. He said and did things then that filled me with a fear that no words of Saruman could allay. I knew at last that something dark and deadly was at work. And I have spent most of the years since then in finding out the truth of it.\u2019 \u2018There wasn\u2019t any permanent harm done, was there?\u2019 asked Frodo anxiously. \u2018He would get all right in time, wouldn\u2019t he? Be able to rest in peace, I mean?\u2019 \u2018He felt better at once,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But there is only one Power in this world that knows all about the Rings and their effects; and as far as I know there is no Power in the world that knows all about hobbits. Among the Wise I am the only one that goes in for hobbit- lore: an obscure branch of knowledge, but full of surprises. Soft asof the Wise would believe. I don\u2019t think you need worry about Bilbo."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a tearing creak and the other crack split open, and out of it Pippin sprang, as if he had been kicked. Then with a loud snap both cracks closed fast again. A shudder ran through the tree from root to tip, and complete silence fell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Have hope!\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018I 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.\u2019 He lifted up the hobbit. \u2018Cling to my back! I shall need my arms,\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But Gandalf chose to come himself, and he was the first to be lost,\u2019 answered Gimli. \u2018His foresight failed him.\u2019 \u2018The counsel of Gandalf was not founded on foreknowledge of safety, for himself or for others,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark. But I shall not depart from this place yet. In any case we must here await the morning-light.\u2019 A little way beyond the battle-field they made their camp under a spreading tree: it looked like a chestnut, and yet it still bore many broad brown leaves of a former year, like dry hands with long splayed fingers; they rattled mournfully in the night-breeze."
    },
    {
        "text": "He stood still enchanted, while the sweet syllables of the Elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody. \u2018It is a song to Elbereth,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018They will sing that, and other songs of the Blessed Realm, many times tonight. Come on!\u2019 He led Frodo back to his own little room. It opened on to the gardens and looked south across the ravine of the Bruinen. There they sat for some while, looking through the window at the bright stars above the steep-climbing woods, and talking softly. They spoke no more of the small news of the Shire far away, nor of the dark shadows and perils that encompassed them, but of the fair things they had seen in the world together, of the Elves, of the stars, of trees, and the gentle fall of the bright year in the woods."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam had no time to think. He might have slipped out of the other door, but hardly without being seen; and he could not have played hide-and-seek with this hideous orc for long. He did what was prob- ably the best thing he could have done. He sprang out to meet Shagrat with a shout. He was no longer holding the Ring, but it was there, a hidden power, a cowing menace to the slaves of Mordor; and in his hand was Sting, and its light smote the eyes of the orc like the glitter of cruel stars in the terrible elf-countries, the dream of which was a cold fear to all his kind. And Shagrat could not both fight and keep hold of his treasure. He stopped, growling, baring his fangs."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Winter deepens behind us,\u2019 he said quietly to Aragorn. \u2018The 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?\u2019 Frodo overheard these words, and understood that Gandalf and\u2018I think no good of our course from beginning to end, as you know well, Gandalf,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018And 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?\u2019 \u2018Who knows indeed!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But there is another way, and not by the pass of Caradhras: the dark and secret way that we have spoken of.\u2019 \u2018But let us not speak of it again! Not yet. Say nothing to the others, I beg, not until it is plain that there is no other way.\u2019 \u2018We must decide before we go further,\u2019 answered Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "It fell upon his ears like the echo of all the joys he had ever known."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hasufel was already saddled. Legolas and Gimli with their horse stood close by."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "I hope you are all enjoying yourselves as much as I am. Deafening cheers. Cries of Yes (and No). Noises of trumpets and horns, pipes and flutes, and other musical instruments. There were, as has been said, many young hobbits present. Hundreds of musical crackers had been pulled. Most of them bore the mark dale on them; which did not convey much to most of the hobbits, but they all agreed they were marvellous crackers. They contained instruments, small, but of perfect make and enchanting tones. Indeed, in one corner some of the young Tooks and Brandybucks, supposing Uncle Bilbo to have finished (since he had plainly said all that was necessary), now got up an impromptu orchestra, and began a merry dance-tune. Master Everard Took and Miss Melilot Brandybuck got on a table and with bells in their hands began to dance the Springle-ring: a pretty dance, but rather vigorous."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Worms or beetles or something slimy out of holes,\u2019 thought Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Frodo took the small sword that had belonged to Sam, and had been laid at his side in Cirith Ungol. \u2018Sting I gave to you Sam,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "When winter first begins to bite and stones crack in the frosty night, when pools are black and trees are bare, \u2019tis evil in the Wild to fare."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I galloped to Weathertop like a gale, and I reached it before sundown on my second day from Bree \u2013 and they were there before me. They drew away from me, for they felt the coming of my anger and they dared not face it while the Sun was in the sky. But they closed round at night, and I was besieged on the hill-top, in the old ring of Amon Su\u02c6l. I was hard put to it indeed: such light and flame cannot have been seen on Weathertop since the war-beacons of old."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The price is not set on the fish,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018Only to come here and look on the pool bears the penalty of death. I have spared you so far at the prayer of Frodo here, who says that of him at least you have deserved some thanks. But you must also satisfy me. What is your name? Whence do you come? And whither do you go? What is your business?\u2019 \u2018We are lost, lost,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018No name, no business, no Pre- cious, nothing. Only empty. Only hungry; yes, we are hungry. A few little fishes, nasty bony little fishes, for a poor creature, and they say death. So wise they are; so just, so very just.\u2019 \u2018Not very wise,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018But just: yes perhaps, as just as our little wisdom allows. Unloose him Frodo!\u2019 Faramir took a small nail-knife from his belt and handed it to Frodo. Gollum misunder- standing the gesture, squealed and fell down."
    },
    {
        "text": "In panoply of ancient kings, in chaine\u00b4d rings he armoured him; his shining shield was scored with runes to ward all wounds and harm from him; his bow was made of dragon-horn, his arrows shorn of ebony, of silver was his habergeon, his scabbard of chalcedony; his sword of steel was valiant, of adamant his helmet tall, an eagle-plume upon his crest, upon his breast an emerald."
    },
    {
        "text": "Let horse be bridled, horn be sounded! Forth Eorlingas! The guards, thinking that they were summoned, sprang up the stair. They looked at their lord in amazement, and then as one man\u2018Westu The\u00b4oden ha\u00b4l!\u2019 cried E\u00b4omer. \u2018It is a joy to us to see you return into your own. Never again shall it be said, Gandalf, that you come only with grief !\u2019 \u2018Take back your sword, E\u00b4omer, sister-son!\u2019 said the king. \u2018Go, Ha\u00b4ma, and seek my own sword! Gr\u00b4\u0131ma has it in his keeping. Bring him to me also. Now, Gandalf, you said that you had counsel to give, if I would hear it. What is your counsel?\u2019 \u2018You have yourself already taken it,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018To put your trust in E\u00b4 omer, rather than in a man of crooked mind. To cast aside regret and fear. To do the deed at hand. Every man that can ride should be sent west at once, as E\u00b4omer counselled you: we must first destroy the threat of Saruman, while we have time. If we fail, we fall. If we succeed \u2013 then we will face the next task. Meanwhile your people that are left, the women and the children and the old, should fly to the refuges that you have in the mountains. Were they not prepared against just such an evil day as this? Let them take provision, but delay not, nor burden themselves with treasures, great or small. It is their lives that are at stake.\u2019 \u2018This counsel seems good to me now,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Let all my folk get ready! But you my guests \u2013 truly you said, Gandalf, that the courtesy of my hall is lessened. You have ridden through the night, and the morning wears away. You have had neither sleep nor food."
    },
    {
        "text": "These he took off and put in the chimney-corner. Then he sat in the largest chair and called the hobbits to gather round him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Too often have I heard of duty,\u2019 she cried. \u2018But am I not of the House of Eorl, a shieldmaiden and not a dry-nurse? I have waited on faltering feet long enough. Since they falter no longer, it seems, may I not now spend my life as I will?\u2019 \u2018Few may do that with honour,\u2019 he answered. \u2018But as for you, lady: did you not accept the charge to govern the people until their lord\u2019s return? If you had not been chosen, then some marshal or captain would have been set in the same place, and he could not ride away from his charge, were he weary of it or no.\u2019 \u2018Shall I always be chosen?\u2019 she said bitterly. \u2018Shall I always be left behind when the Riders depart, to mind the house while they win renown, and find food and beds when they return?\u2019 \u2018A time may come soon,\u2019 said he, \u2018when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.\u2019 And she answered: \u2018All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.\u2019 \u2018What do you fear, lady?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "They ate and drank; and they talked now of Gondor and its ways and customs, now of the Shire and the strange countries that Pippin had seen. And ever as they talked Beregond was more amazed, and looked with greater wonder at the hobbit, swinging his short legs as he sat on the seat, or standing tiptoe upon it to peer over the sill at the lands below."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now!\u2019 shouted Gandalf. \u2018Now is the last chance. Run for it!\u2019 Aragorn picked up Frodo where he lay by the wall and made for the stair, pushing Merry and Pippin in front of him. The othershauled the eastern door to, grinding upon its hinges: it had great iron rings on either side, but could not be fastened."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Thenwhatareyoudoinghere?\u2019theyanswered.\u2018Whydoyoulook\u2018I looked out to see the dawn,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "The wide plains opened grey before them."
    },
    {
        "text": "In western lands beneath the Sun the flowers may rise in Spring, the trees may bud, the waters run, the merry finches sing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, well!\u2019 he said. \u2018These trees do shift. There is the Bonfire Glade in front of us (or I hope so), but the path to it seems to have moved away!\u2019 The light grew clearer as they went forward. Suddenly they came out of the trees and found themselves in a wide circular space. There wasskyabovethem,blueandcleartotheirsurprise,fordownunderto shine down into the clearing, though its light was on the tree-tops."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Did you see anything pass over?\u2019 he whispered to Gandalf, who was just ahead."
    },
    {
        "text": "Grond crawled on. The drums rolled wildly. Over the hills of slain a hideous shape appeared: a horseman, tall, hooded, cloaked in black."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now the Captains of the West led their host towards the City, and folk saw them advance in line upon line, flashing and glinting in the sunrise and rippling like silver. And so they came before the Gateway and halted a furlong from the walls. As yet no gates had been set up again, but a barrier was laid across the entrance to the City, and there stood men at arms in silver and black with long swords drawn. Before the barrier stood Faramir the Steward, and Hu\u00b4rin Warden of the Keys, and other captains of Gondor, and the Lady E\u00b4owyn of Rohan with Elfhelm the Marshal and many knights of the Mark; and upon either side of the Gate was a great press of fair people in raiment of many colours and garlands of flowers."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bilbo got up and bowed. \u2018I am flattered, Lindir,\u2019 he said. \u2018But it would be too tiring to repeat it all.\u2019 \u2018Not too tiring for you,\u2019 the Elves answered laughing. \u2018You know you are never tired of reciting your own verses. But really we cannot answer your question at one hearing!\u2019 \u2018What!\u2019 cried Bilbo. \u2018You can\u2019t tell which parts were mine, and which were the Du\u00b4nadan\u2019s?\u2019 \u2018It is not easy for us to tell the difference between two mortals,\u2019 said the Elf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bilbo Baggins called it a party, but it was really a variety of enter- tainments rolled into one. Practically everybody living near was invited. A very few were overlooked by accident, but as they turned up all the same, that did not matter. Many people from other parts oftheShirewerealsoasked;andtherewereevenafewfromoutsidewere those who went out again by a back way and came in again by the gate. Hobbits give presents to other people on their own birthdays."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly Legolas gave a cry. \u2018The horses! The horses!\u2019 The horses were gone. They had dragged their pickets and dis- appeared. For some time the three companions stood still and silent, troubled by this new stroke of ill fortune. They were under the eaves of Fangorn, and endless leagues lay between them and the Men of Rohan, their only friends in this wide and dangerous land. As they stood, it seemed to them that they heard, far off in the night, the sound of horses whinnying and neighing. Then all was quiet again, except for the cold rustle of the wind."
    },
    {
        "text": "Care and dread she had, and shared with me, in the days of Worm-\u2018My friend,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018you had horses, and deeds of arms, and the free fields; but she, born in the body of a maid, had a spirit and courage at least the match of yours. Yet she was doomed to wait upon an old man, whom she loved as a father, and watch him falling into a mean dishonoured dotage; and her part seemed to her more ignoble than that of the staff he leaned on."
    },
    {
        "text": "After a rest they had a good lunch, and then more rest."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am troubled in mind, lord,\u2019 he said, standing by the king\u2019s horse."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ever since Bilbo left I have been deeply concerned about you, and about all these charming, absurd, helpless hobbits. It would be a grievous blow to the world, if the Dark Power overcame the Shire; if all your kind, jolly, stupid Bolgers, Hornblowers, Boffins, Brace- girdles, and the rest, not to mention the ridiculous Bagginses, became enslaved.\u2019 Frodo shuddered. \u2018But why should we be?\u2019 he asked. \u2018And why should he want such slaves?\u2019 \u2018To tell you the truth,\u2019 replied Gandalf, \u2018I believe that hitherto \u2013 hitherto, mark you \u2013 he has entirely overlooked the existence of hobbits. You should be thankful. But your safety has passed. He does not need you \u2013 he has many more useful servants \u2013 but he won\u2019t forget you again. And hobbits as miserable slaves would please him far more than hobbits happy and free. There is such a thing as malice and revenge.\u2019 \u2018Revenge?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Revenge for what? I still don\u2019t understand what all this has to do with Bilbo and myself, and our ring.\u2019 \u2018It has everything to do with it,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018You do not know the real peril yet; but you shall. I was not sure of it myself when I was last here; but the time has come to speak. Give me the ring for a moment.\u2019 Frodo took it from his breeches-pocket, where it was clasped to a chain that hung from his belt. He unfastened it and handed it slowly to the wizard. It felt suddenly very heavy, as if either it or Frodo himself was in some way reluctant for Gandalf to touch it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There 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.\u2019 \u2018It is for the Dimrill Dale that we are making,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018If 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.\u2019 \u2018Dark is the water of Kheled-za\u02c6ram,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018and cold are the springs of Kibil-na\u02c6la. My heart trembles at the thought that I may see them soon.\u2019 \u2018May you have joy of the sight, my good dwarf !\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Grishna\u00b4kh stepped aside and vanished into the shadows. The others gave way, and one stepped backwards and fell over Merry\u2019s prostrate form with a curse. Yet that probably saved his life, for Uglu\u00b4 k\u2019s fol- lowers leaped over him and cut down another with their broad-bladed swords. It was the yellow-fanged guard. His body fell right on top of Pippin, still clutching its long saw-edged knife."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tom sat on a while beside them in silence, while each of them tried to muster the courage to ask one of the many questions he had\u2018Did you hear me calling, Master, or was it just chance that brought you at that moment?\u2019 Tom stirred like a man shaken out of a pleasant dream. \u2018Eh, what?\u2019 said he. \u2018Did I hear you calling? Nay, I did not hear: I was busy singing. Just chance brought me then, if chance you call it. It was no plan of mine, though I was waiting for you. We heard news of you, and learned that you were wandering. We guessed you\u2019d come ere long down to the water: all paths lead that way, down to Withy- windle. Old grey Willow-man, he\u2019s a mighty singer; and it\u2019s hard for little folk to escape his cunning mazes. But Tom had an errand there, that he dared not hinder.\u2019 Tom nodded as if sleep was taking him again; but he went on in a soft singing voice: I had an errand there: gathering water-lilies, green leaves and lilies white to please my pretty lady, the last ere the year\u2019s end to keep them from the winter, to flower by her pretty feet till the snows are melted."
    },
    {
        "text": "Some people are actually accusing me of spiriting Bilbo away, or worse. If you want to know, there is supposed to be a plot between you and me to get hold of his wealth.\u2019 \u2018Some people!\u2019 exclaimed Frodo. \u2018You mean Otho and Lobelia."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018True enough,\u2019 said Ha\u00b4ma; \u2018but for myself, I will wait until I see Gandalf again.\u2019 \u2018Maybe you will wait long,\u2019 said the other."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merrywantedsomebodytotalkto,andhethoughtofPippin.ButE\u00b4omer and could blow a horn or something and go galloping to his rescue. He sat up, listening to the drums that were beating again, now nearer at hand. Presently he heard voices speaking low, and he saw dim half-shrouded lanterns passing through the trees. Men nearby began to move uncertainly in the dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "They reached the summit of the rock; they drove towards the gates."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, one can\u2019t be everywhere at once, I suppose,\u2019 he said. \u2018But I missed a lot, seemingly.\u2019 In the meanwhile the host made ready for the return to Minas Tirith. The weary rested and the hurt were healed. For some had laboured and fought much with the remnants of the Easterlings and Southrons, until all were subdued. And, latest of all, those returned who had passed into Mordor and destroyed the fortresses in the north of the land."
    },
    {
        "text": "It looked like the black shade of a horse led by a smaller black shadow."
    },
    {
        "text": "The four younger hobbits were, however, in high spirits, and the party soon became very cheerful in spite of Gandalf \u2019s absence. The dining-room was bare except for a table and chairs, but the food was good, and there was good wine: Frodo\u2019s wine had not been included in the sale to the Sackville-Bagginses."
    },
    {
        "text": "Drowns on dry land, thinks an island is a mountain; thinks a fountain is a puff of air."
    },
    {
        "text": "Come! Tell us your tale. And if you have not yet cast your story into verse, you may tell it in plain words. The briefer, the sooner shall you be refreshed.\u2019 \u2018Very well,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018I will do as you bid. But I will now tell the true story, and if some here have heard me tell it otherwise\u2019 \u2013 he looked sidelong at Glo\u00b4 in \u2013 \u2018I ask them to forget it and forgive me. I only wished to claim the treasure as my very own in those days, and to be rid of the name of thief that was put on me. But perhaps I understand things a little better now. Anyway, this is what happened.\u2019 To some there Bilbo\u2019s tale was wholly new, and they listened with amazement while the old hobbit, actually not at all displeased, recounted his adventure with Gollum, at full length. He did not omit a single riddle. He would have given also an account of his party and disappearance from the Shire, if he had been allowed; but Elrond raised his hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "There shall be shown a token That Doom is near at hand, For Isildur\u2019s Bane shall waken, And the Halfling forth shall stand."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It will take days to clear the road like this,\u2019 he said. \u2018What\u2019s to be done? Have those eyes come back?\u2019 \u2018No, not to be seen,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But I still feel that they are looking at me, or thinking about me: making some other plan, per- haps. If this light were lowered, or if it failed, they would quickly come again.\u2019 \u2018Trapped in the end!\u2019 said Sam bitterly, his anger rising again above weariness and despair. \u2018Gnats in a net. May the curse of Faramir bite that Gollum and bite him quick!\u2019 \u2018That would not help us now,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Come! Let us see what Sting can do. It is an elven-blade. There were webs of horror in the dark ravines of Beleriand where it was forged. But you must be the guard and hold back the eyes. Here, take the star-glass. Do not be afraid. Hold it up and watch!\u2019 Then Frodo stepped up to the great grey net, and hewed it with a wide sweeping stroke, drawing the bitter edge swiftly across a ladder of close-strung cords, and at once springing away. The blue-gleaming blade shore through them like a scythe through grass, and they leaped and writhed and then hung loose. A great rent was made."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I suppose so, Mr. Baggins; but we have to say just \u2018\u2018the Chief \u2019\u2019 nowadays.\u2019 \u2018Do you indeed!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Well, I am glad he has dropped the Bagginsatanyrate.Butitisevidentlyhightimethatthefamilydealttalking that way,\u2019 said one. \u2018He\u2019ll get to hear of it. And if you make so much noise, you\u2019ll wake the Chief \u2019s Big Man.\u2019 \u2018We shall wake him up in a way that will surprise him,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "And now the fighting waxed furious on the fields of the Pelennor; and the din of arms rose upon high, with the crying of men and thethe south walls of the City the footmen of Gondor now drove against the legions of Morgul that were still gathered there in strength. But the horsemen rode eastward to the succour of E\u00b4 omer: Hu\u00b4rin the Tall, Warden of the Keys, and the Lord of Lossarnach, and Hirluin of the Green Hills, and Prince Imrahil the fair with his knights all about him."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was rolled in a blanket, with his cloak spread over the top; and close beside him, between his right side and his bent arm, there was a hummock, something round wrapped in a dark cloth; his hand seemed only just to have slipped off it to the ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "I fear you have taken deadly hurt.\u2019 \u2018Boromir is dead,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018I am unscathed, for I was not here with him. He fell defending the hobbits, while I was away upon the hill.\u2019 \u2018The hobbits!\u2019 cried Gimli. \u2018Where are they then? Where is Frodo?\u2019 \u2018I do not know,\u2019 answered Aragorn wearily. \u2018Before he died Boromir told me that the Orcs had bound them; he did not think that they were dead. I sent him to follow Merry and Pippin; but I did not ask him if Frodo or Sam were with him: not until it was too late."
    },
    {
        "text": "Across the mouth of the pass, from cliff to cliff, the Dark Lord had built a rampart of stone. In it there was a single gate of iron, and upon its battlement sentinels paced unceasingly. Beneath the hills on either side the rock was bored into a hundred caves and maggot-holes; there a host of orcs lurked, ready at a signal to issue forth like black ants going to war. None could pass the Teeth of Mordor and not feel their bite, unless they were summoned by Sauron, or knew the secret passwords that would open the Moran- non, the black gate of his land."
    },
    {
        "text": "In his time the City was made more fair than it had ever been, even in the days of its first glory; and it was filled with trees and with fountains, and its gates were wrought of mithril and steel, and its streets were paved with white marble; and the Folk of the Mountain laboured in it, and the Folk of the Wood rejoiced to come there; and all was healed and made good, and the houses were filled with men and women and the laughter of children, and no window was blind nor any courtyard empty; and after the ending of the Third Age of the world into the new age it preserved the memory and the glory of the years that were gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "He led them down the passage to the parlour that they had used on that strange night more than a year ago; and they followed him, a little disquieted, for it seemed plain to them that old Barliman was putting a brave face on some trouble. Things were not what they had been. But they said nothing, and waited."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hardest of all it was to part with his cooking-gear. Tears welled in his eyes at the thought of casting it away."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nonetheless they saw no sign of any enemy that day, nor the next."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was dark and lifeless; for the Orcs and lesser creatures of Mordor that had dwelt there had been destroyed in battle, and the Nazgu\u02c6l were abroad. Yet the air of the valley was heavy with fear and enmity."
    },
    {
        "text": "There were long hairy breeches of some unclean beast-fell, and a tunic of dirty leather. He drew them on. Over the tunic went a coat of stout ring-mail, short for a full-sized orc, too long for Frodo and heavy. About it he clasped a belt, at which there hung a short sheath holding a broad-bladed stabbing-sword. Sam had brought several orc-helmets. One of them fitted Frodo well enough, a black cap with iron rim, and iron hoops covered with leather upon which the Evil Eye was painted in red above the beaklike nose-guard."
    },
    {
        "text": "So sleek, so fair! What a joy to meet! We only wish to catch a fish, so juicy-sweet! These words only made more pressing to Sam\u2019s mind a problem that had been troubling him from the moment when he understood that his master was going to adopt Gollum as a guide: the problem of food. It did not occur to him that his master might also have thought of it, but he supposed Gollum had. Indeed how had Gollum kept himself in all his lonely wandering? \u2018Not too well,\u2019 thought Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So all my plan is spoilt!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It is no good trying to escape you. But I\u2019m glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad. Come along! It is plain that we were meant to go together. We will go, and may the others find a safe road! Strider will look after them. I don\u2019t supposeSo Frodo and Sam set off on the last stage of the Quest together."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There in the trees.\u2019 \u2018Where? I have not elf-eyes.\u2019 \u2018Hush! Speak more softly! Look!\u2019 said Legolas pointing. \u2018Down in the wood, back in the way that we have just come. It is he. Cannot you see him, passing from tree to tree?\u2019 \u2018I see, I see now!\u2019 hissed Gimli. \u2018Look, Aragorn! Did I not warn you? There is the old man. All in dirty grey rags: that is why I could not see him at first.\u2019 Aragorn looked and beheld a bent figure moving slowly. It was not far away. It looked like an old beggar-man, walking wearily, leaning on a rough staff. His head was bowed, and he did not look towards them. In other lands they would have greeted him with kind words; but now they stood silent, each feeling a strange expectancy: something was approaching that held a hidden power \u2013 or menace."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now far ahead the Road has gone, Let others follow it who can! Let them a journey new begin, But I at last with weary feetAnd as Bilbo murmured the last words his head dropped on his chest and he slept soundly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well?\u2019 it said now with gentle question. \u2018Why must you disturb my rest? Will you give me no peace at all by night or day?\u2019 Its tone was that of a kindly heart aggrieved by injuries undeserved."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Get into a corner and have a sleep, my lad,\u2019 he said in a kindly tone. \u2018You want to sleep, I expect. I cannot get a wink, so I may as well do the watching.\u2019 \u2018I know what is the matter with me,\u2019 he muttered, as he sat down by the door. \u2018I need smoke! I have not tasted it since the morning before the snowstorm.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "A bit o\u2019 fresh meat will go down sweet! I\u2019ll try my teeth on thee now."
    },
    {
        "text": "The king now rose, and at once E\u00b4owyn came forward bearing wine. \u2018Ferthu The\u00b4oden ha\u00b4l!\u2019 she said. \u2018Receive now this cup and drink in happy hour. Health be with thee at thy going and coming!\u2019 The\u00b4oden drank from the cup, and she then proffered it to thefair face and smiled; but as he took the cup, his hand met hers, and he knew that she trembled at the touch. \u2018Hail Aragorn son of Arathorn!\u2019 she said. \u2018Hail Lady of Rohan!\u2019 he answered, but his face now was troubled and he did not smile."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wheew! Gollum!\u2019 Sam called and whistled softly. \u2018Come on! Still time to change your mind. There\u2019s some left, if you want to try stewed coney.\u2019 There was no answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nay! Not Elves,\u2019 said the fourth, the tallest, and as it appeared the chief among them. \u2018Elves do not walk in Ithilien in these days."
    },
    {
        "text": "A power was there that we have not felt before."
    },
    {
        "text": "They relaxed, leaning their heads back, and shutting their eyes or seeming to. Soon the sound of their soft breathing could be heard."
    },
    {
        "text": "Did they suppose they had captured the Ring-bearer and his faithful comrade? I think not. Their masters would not dare to give such plain orders to Orcs, even if they knew so much themselves; they would not speak openly to them of the Ring: they are not trusty servants. But I think the Orcs had been commanded to capture hob- bits, alive, at all costs. An attempt was made to slip out with the precious prisoners before the battle. Treachery perhaps, likely enough with such folk; some large and bold Orc may have been trying to escape with the prize alone, for his own ends. There, that is my tale."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then even Shadowfax must rest, in some hollow of the hills: at Edoras, I hope. Sleep, if you can! You may see the first glimmer of dawn upon the golden roof of the house of Eorl. And in three days thence you shall see the purple shadow of Mount Mindolluin and the walls of the tower of Denethor white in the morning."
    },
    {
        "text": "At first he could see little. He seemed to be in a world of mist in which there were only shadows: the Ring was upon him. Then here and there the mist gave way and he saw many visions: small and clear as if they were under his eyes upon a table, and yet remote."
    },
    {
        "text": "But it is more treacherous than you are. It may twist your words."
    },
    {
        "text": "They were on a wide flat rock without rail or parapet. At their right, eastwards, the torrent fell, splashing over many terraces, and then, pouring down a steep race, it filled a smooth-hewn channel with a dark force of water flecked with foam, and curling and rushing almost at their feet it plunged sheer over the edge that yawned upon their left. A man stood there, near the brink, silent, gazing down."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a second he hesitated, and no one breathed. Then he spoke, and his voice was shrill and cold. Pride and hate were conquering him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So much for your Big Man,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We\u2019ll see the Chief later. In the meantime we want a lodging for the night, and as you seem to have pulled down the Bridge Inn and built this dismal place instead, you\u2019ll have to put us up.\u2019 \u2018I am sorry, Mr. Merry,\u2019 said Hob, \u2018but it isn\u2019t allowed.\u2019 \u2018What isn\u2019t allowed?\u2019 \u2018Taking in folk off-hand like, and eating extra food, and all that,\u2019 said Hob."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their backs were to the swords and spears of the Riders, and their faces to the valley. They cried and wailed, for fear and great wonder had come upon them with the rising of the day."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The first circle of the City is burning, lord,\u2019 they said. \u2018What are your commands? You are still the Lord and Steward. Not all will follow Mithrandir. Men are flying from the walls and leaving them unmanned.\u2019 \u2018Why? Why do the fools fly?\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018Better to burn sooner than late, for burn we must. Go back to your bonfire! And I? I will go now to my pyre. To my pyre! No tomb for Denethor and Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Haste now is needed,\u2019 he said, and he sent one riding back swiftly to the City to bring aid. But he bowing low to the fallen, bade them farewell, and mounting rode away into battle."
    },
    {
        "text": "The light of Andu\u00b4ril must now be uncovered in the battle for which it has so long waited. There is war in Rohan, and worse evil: it goes ill with The\u00b4oden.\u2019 \u2018Then are we not to see the merry young hobbits again?\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yrch!\u2019 said the Elf in a hissing whisper, and cast on to the flet the rope-ladder rolled up."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And let us hope that none will ever speak it here again,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018Nonetheless I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond. For if that tongue is not soon to be heard in every corner of the West, then let all put doubt aside that this thing is indeed what the Wise have declared: the treasure of the Enemy, fraught with all his malice; and in it lies a great part of his strength of old. Out of the Black Years come the words that the Smiths of Eregion heard, and knew that they had been betrayed: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I do not understand all this,\u2019 he said. \u2018Saruman is a traitor, but did he not have a glimpse of wisdom? Why do you speak ever of hiding and destroying? Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely defeat the Enemy. That is what he most fears, I deem."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Mr. Butterbur! Master!\u2019 he shouted. \u2018They\u2019ve come back!\u2019 \u2018Oh have they? I\u2019ll learn them,\u2019 came Butterbur\u2019s voice, and out he came with a rush, and he had a club in his hand. But when he saw who they were he stopped short, and the black scowl on his face changed to wonder and delight."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is grim reading,\u2019 he said. \u2018I fear their end was cruel. Listen! We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They have taken the Bridge and second hall. Fra\u00b4r and Lo\u00b4ni and Na\u00b4li 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 Watcher in the Water took O\u00b4 in. 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 are coming. There is nothing more.\u2019 Gandalf paused and stood in silent thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "But the snow did not relent. It whirled about them thicker than ever, and the wind blew louder."
    },
    {
        "text": "Steeds went striding to the Stoningland as wind in the morning. War was kindled."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam plodded on. He felt that he was on the right road, and his spirits had risen a good deal. He thrust the Ring away and tightened his belt. \u2018Well, well!\u2019 he said. \u2018If only they all take such a dislike to me and my Sting, this may turn out better than I hoped. And anyway it looks as if Shagrat, Gorbag, and company have done nearly all my job for me. Except for that little frightened rat, I do believe there\u2019s nobody left alive in the place!\u2019 And with that he stopped, brought up hard, as if he had hit his head against the stone wall. The full meaning of what he had said struck him like a blow. Nobody left alive! Whose had been that horrible dying shriek? \u2018Frodo, Frodo! Master!\u2019 he cried half sobbing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We shall be cold tonight, whichever way we go.\u2019 \u2018Well, we\u2019d better decide on the way now,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018The morning must be getting on.\u2019 Just then they became aware of a yellow light that had appeared, some way further on into the wood: shafts of sunlight seemed sud- denly to have pierced the forest-roof."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You know talk o\u2019 that sort isn\u2019t allowed. The Chief will hear of it, and we\u2019ll all be in trouble.\u2019 \u2018He wouldn\u2019t hear naught, if some of you here weren\u2019t sneaks,\u2019 rejoined Hob hotly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Run away now!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018You will get plenty when the time comes.\u2019 Then he disappeared inside with Bilbo, and the door was shut. The young hobbits stared at the door in vain for a while, and then made off, feeling that the day of the party would never come."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 \u2013 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I hear all kinds of news, from over the Mountains, and out of the South, but hardly anything from the Shire. I heard about the Ring, of course. Gandalf has been here often. Not that he has told me a great deal, he has become closer than ever these last few years. The Du\u00b4nadan has told me more. Fancy that ring of mine causing such a disturbance! It is a pity that Gandalf did not find out more sooner."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Regiments of black crows are flying over all the land between the Mountains and the Greyflood,\u2019 he said, \u2018and 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Does he think that men sleep without watch all night? Why does he so?\u2019 \u2018There are two answers, I think,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018For one thing, he knows little of Men, and sly though he is, your refuge is so hidden that perhaps he does not know that Men are concealed here. For another, I think he is allured here by a mastering desire, stronger than his caution.\u2019 \u2018He is lured here, you say?\u2019 said Faramir in a low voice. \u2018Can he, does he then know of your burden?\u2019 \u2018Indeed yes. He bore it himself for many years.\u2019 \u2018He bore it?\u2019 said Faramir, breathing sharply in his wonder. \u2018This matter winds itself ever in new riddles. Then he is pursuing it?\u2019 \u2018Maybe. It is precious to him. But I did not speak of that.\u2019 \u2018What then does the creature seek?\u2019 \u2018Fish,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Look!\u2019 They peered down at the dark pool. A little black head appeared at the far end of the basin, just out of the deep shadow of the rocks."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Thrice shall pay for all, if you are willing. You will not find me a burden much greater than when you bore me from Zirakzigil, where my old life burned away.\u2019\u2018Then come, and let your brother go with us, and some other of your folk who is most swift! For we have need of speed greater than any wind, outmatching the wings of the Nazgu\u02c6l.\u2019 \u2018The North Wind blows, but we shall outfly it,\u2019 said Gwaihir."
    },
    {
        "text": "But such is Faramir. Less reckless and eager than Boromir, but notcannot strike till some foe comes within it. Then our hand must be heavy!\u2019 He smote the hilt of his sword."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not a sound but the wind,\u2019 he said. \u2018There 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 us \u2013 with the Ring."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Boromir son of the Lord Denethor?\u2019 said Faramir, and a strange stern look came into his face. \u2018You came with him? That is news indeed, if it be true. Know, little strangers, that Boromir son of Denethor was High Warden of the White Tower, and our Captain- General: sorely do we miss him. Who are you then, and what had you to do with him? Be swift, for the Sun is climbing!\u2019 \u2018Are the riddling words known to you that Boromir brought to Rivendell?\u2019 Frodo replied."
    },
    {
        "text": "After the Road had run down some way, and had left Bree-hill standing tall and brown behind, they came on a narrow track that led off towards the North. \u2018This is where we leave the open and take to cover,\u2019 said Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "The woods on either side became denser; the trees were now younger and thicker; and as the lane went lower, running down into a fold of the hills, there were many deep brakes of hazel on the rising slopes at either hand. At last the Elves turned aside from the path. A green ride lay almost unseen through the thickets on the right; and this they followed as it wound away back up the wooded slopes on to the top of a shoulder of the hills that stood out into the lower land of the river-valley. Suddenly they came out of the shadow of the trees, and before them lay a wide space of grass, grey under the night. On three sides the woods pressed upon it; but eastward the ground fell steeply and the tops of the dark trees, growing at the bottom of the slope, were below their feet. Beyond, the low lands lay dim and flat under the stars."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018How should I know? He\u2019s welcome to go where he will, so long as he pays in the morning. There\u2019s Mr. Took, now: he\u2019s not vanished.\u2019 \u2018Well, I saw what I saw, and I saw what I didn\u2019t,\u2019 said Mugwort obstinately."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Get some of the longer sticks ready in your hands!\u2019encircled them. Nothing happened. There was no sound or move- ment in the night. Frodo stirred, feeling that he must break the silence: he longed to shout out aloud."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam\u2019s hand wavered. His mind was hot with wrath and the memory of evil. It would be just to slay this treacherous, murderous creature, just and many times deserved; and also it seemed the only safe thing to do. But deep in his heart there was something that restrained him: he could not strike this thing lying in the dust, forlorn, ruinous, utterly wretched. He himself, though only for a little while, had borne the Ring, and now dimly he guessed the agony of Gollum\u2019s shrivelled mind and body, enslaved to that Ring, unable to find peace or relief ever in life again. But Sam had no words to express what he felt."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He looks as if he were spoiling for a race, and not newly come from a great journey,\u2019 said Beregond. \u2018How strong and proud he is! Where is his harness? It should be rich and fair.\u2019 \u2018None is rich and fair enough for him,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018He will have none. If he will consent to bear you, bear you he does; and if not, well, no bit, bridle, whip, or thong will tame him. Farewell, Shadow- fax! Have patience. Battle is coming.\u2019 Shadowfax lifted up his head and neighed, so that the stable shook, and they covered their ears. Then they took their leave, seeing that the manger was well filled."
    },
    {
        "text": "There he halted and sat down. For the moment he could drive himself no further. He felt that if once he went beyond the crown of the pass and took one step veritably down into the land of Mordor, that step would be irrevocable. He could never come back. Without any clear purpose he drew out the Ring and put it on again. Immedi- ately he felt the great burden of its weight, and felt afresh, but now more strong and urgent than ever, the malice of the Eye of Mordor, searching, trying to pierce the shadows that it had made for its own defence, but which now hindered it in its unquiet and doubt."
    },
    {
        "text": "Presently he became aware that Frodo was singing softly to himself, singing the old walking-song, but the words were not quite the same."
    },
    {
        "text": "Yes, men on horses: four or five. Ah! I cannot stand it! Gandalf ! Gandalf save us!\u2019 Another long screech rose and fell, and he threw himself back again from the wall, panting like a hunted animal. Faint and seem- ingly remote through that shuddering cry he heard winding up from below the sound of a trumpet ending on a long high note."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They took me and they set me alone on the pinnacle of Orthanc, in the place where Saruman was accustomed to watch the stars."
    },
    {
        "text": "Or would be, if Lugbu\u00b4rz would let him alone. And of course, beyond wondering where he is and what\u2019s happened to him.\u2019 \u2018And what\u2019s going to happen to him,\u2019 laughed Gorbag. \u2018We can tell him a few stories at any rate, if we can\u2019t do anything else. I don\u2019t suppose he\u2019s ever been in lovely Lugbu\u00b4 rz, so he may like to know what to expect. This is going to be more funny than I thought. Let\u2019s go!\u2019 \u2018There\u2019s going to be no fun, I tell you,\u2019 said Shagrat. \u2018And he\u2019s got to be kept safe, or we\u2019re all as good as dead.\u2019 \u2018All right! But if I were you, I\u2019d catch the big one that\u2019s loose, before you send in any report to Lugbu\u00b4rz. It won\u2019t sound too pretty to say you\u2019ve caught the kitten and let the cat escape.\u2019 The voices began to move away. Sam heard the sound of feet receding. He was recovering from his shock, and now a wild fury was on him. \u2018I got it all wrong!\u2019 he cried. \u2018I knew I would. Now they\u2019ve got him, the devils! the filth! Never leave your master, never, never: that was my right rule. And I knew it in my heart. May I be forgiven! Now I\u2019ve got to get back to him. Somehow, somehow!\u2019 He drew his sword again and beat on the stone with the hilt, but it only gave out a dull sound. The sword, however, blazed so brightly now that he could see dimly in its light. To his surprise he noticed that the great block was shaped like a heavy door, and was less than twice his own height. Above it was a dark blank space between the top and the low arch of the opening. It was probably only meant to be a stop against the intrusion of Shelob, fastened on the inside with some latch or bolt beyond the reach of her cunning. With his remain- ing strength Sam leaped and caught the top, scrambled up, and dropped; and then he ran madly, sword blazing in hand, round a bend and up a winding tunnel."
    },
    {
        "text": "All went well that day, and no sight or sound had they of the enemy waiting to waylay them. The Wild Men had put out a screen of wary hunters, so that no orc or roving spy should learn of the movements in the hills. The light was more dim than ever as theyby a wild woodman; but old Gha\u02c6n walked beside the king. The start had been slower than was hoped, for it had taken time for the Riders, walking and leading their horses, to find paths over the thickly wooded ridges behind their camp and down into the hidden Stonewain Valley. It was late in the afternoon when the leaders came to wide grey thickets stretching beyond the eastward side of Amon D\u02c6\u0131n, and masking a great gap in the line of hills that from Nardol to D\u02c6\u0131n ran east and west. Through the gap the forgotten wain-road long ago had run down, back into the main horse-way from the City through Ano\u00b4 rien; but now for many lives of men trees had had their way with it, and it had vanished, broken and buried under the leaves of uncounted years. But the thickets offered to the Riders their last hope of cover before they went into open battle; for beyond them lay the road and the plains of Anduin, while east and southwards the slopes were bare and rocky, as the writhen hills gathered themselves together and climbed up, bastion upon bastion, into the great mass and shoulders of Mindolluin."
    },
    {
        "text": "The days that followed were golden, and Spring and Summer joined and made revel together in the fields of Gondor. And tidings now came by swift riders from Cair Andros of all that was done, and the City made ready for the coming of the King. Merry was sum- moned and rode away with the wains that took store of goods toStewardship, although it was only for a little while, and his duty was to prepare for one who should replace him."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was already nearly as hot as it had been the day before; but clouds were beginning to come up from the West. It looked likely to turn to rain. The hobbits scrambled down a steep green bank and plunged into the thick trees below. Their course had been chosen tothe flats beyond. Then they could make straight for the Ferry over country that was open, except for a few ditches and fences. Frodo reckoned they had eighteen miles to go in a straight line."
    },
    {
        "text": "Standing upon the rim of the ruined circle, they saw all round below them a wide prospect, for the most part of lands empty and featureless, except for patches of woodland away to the south, beyond which they caught here and there the glint of distant water. Beneath them on this southern side there ran like a ribbon the Old Road, coming out of the West and winding up and down, until it fadedthe nearer foothills were brown and sombre; behind them stood taller shapes of grey, and behind those again were high white peaks glim- mering among the clouds."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf stayed in the Shire for over two months. Then one evening, at the end of June, soon after Frodo\u2019s plan had been finally arranged, he suddenly announced that he was going off again next morning. \u2018Only for a short while, I hope,\u2019 he said. \u2018But I am going down beyond the southern borders to get some news, if I can. I have been idle longer than I should.\u2019 He spoke lightly, but it seemed to Frodo that he looked rather worried. \u2018Has anything happened?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s most unfair,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Instead of throwing him out, and clapping him in chains, Elrond goes and rewards him for his cheek!\u2019 \u2018Rewards!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I can\u2019t imagine a more severe punishment."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, here we are at last!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Here 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.\u2019 \u2018It was not the fault of the Dwarves that the friendship waned,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "As Frodo stood upon the threshold, Elrond wished him a fair journey, and blessed him, and he said: \u2018I think, Frodo, that maybe you will not need to come back, unless you come very soon. For about this time of the year, when the leaves are gold before they fall, look for Bilbo in the woods of the Shire. I shall be with him.\u2019 These words no one else heard, and Frodo kept them to himself.Chapter 7 HOMEWARD BOUND At last the hobbits had their faces turned towards home. They were eager now to see the Shire again; but at first they rode only slowly, for Frodo had been ill at ease. When they came to the Ford of Bruinen, he had halted, and seemed loth to ride into the stream; and they noted that for a while his eyes appeared not to see them or things about him. All that day he was silent. It was the sixth of October."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Go back, Faramir, valiant Captain of Gondor, and defend your city while you may, and let me go where my doom takes me.\u2019 \u2018For me there is no comfort in our speech together,\u2019 said Faramir; \u2018but you surely draw from it more dread than need be. Unless the people of Lo\u00b4rien themselves came to him, who arrayed Boromir as for a funeral? Not Orcs or servants of the Nameless. Some of your Company, I guess, live still."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Twenty-one!\u2019 cried Gimli. He hewed a two-handed stroke and laid the last Orc before his feet. \u2018Now my count passes Master Legolas again.\u2019 \u2018We must stop this rat-hole,\u2019 said Gamling. \u2018Dwarves are said to be cunning folk with stone. Lend us your aid, master!\u2019 \u2018We do not shape stone with battle-axes, nor with our finger-nails,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018But I will help as I may.\u2019 They gathered such small boulders and broken stones as they could find to hand, and under Gimli\u2019s direction the Westfold-men blocked up the inner end of the culvert, until only a narrow outlet remained. Then the Deeping-stream, swollen by the rain, churned and fretted in its choked path, and spread slowly in cold pools from cliff to cliff."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But my lord sends word that we must set ourselves in readiness: orders may come for a sudden move.\u2019 \u2018Is the enemy coming then?\u2019 asked Merry anxiously. \u2018Are those their drums? I began to think I was imagining them, as no one else seemed to take any notice of them.\u2019 \u2018Nay, nay,\u2019 said Elfhelm, \u2018the enemy is on the road not in the hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "Following with his keen eyes the trail to the river, and then the river back towards the forest, Aragorn saw a shadow on the distant green, a dark swift-moving blur. He cast himself upon the ground and listened again intently. But Legolas stood beside him, shading his bright elven-eyes with his long slender hand, and he saw not a shadow, nor a blur, but the small figures of horsemen, many horse- men, and the glint of morning on the tips of their spears was like the twinkle of minute stars beyond the edge of mortal sight. Far behind them a dark smoke rose in thin curling threads."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is grievous news concerning Saruman,\u2019 he said; \u2018for we trusted him and he is deep in all our counsels. It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill. But such falls and betrayals, alas, have happened before. Of the tales that we have heard this day the tale of Frodo was most strange to me. I have known few hobbits, save Bilbo here; and it seems to me that he is perhaps not so alone and singular as I had thought him. The world has changed much since I last was on the westward roads."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now come, you filth!\u2019 he cried. \u2018You\u2019ve hurt my master, you brute, and you\u2019ll pay for it. We\u2019re going on; but we\u2019ll settle with you first. Come on, and taste it again!\u2019 As if his indomitable spirit had set its potency in motion, the glass blazed suddenly like a white torch in his hand. It flamed like a star that leaping from the firmament sears the dark air with intolerable light. No such terror out of heaven had ever burned in Shelob\u2019s face before. The beams of it entered into her wounded head and scored it with unbearable pain, and the dreadful infection of light spread from eye to eye. She fell back beating the air with her forelegs, her sight blasted by inner lightnings, her mind in agony. Then turning her maimed head away, she rolled aside and began to crawl, claw by claw, towards the opening in the dark cliff behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018His doubt will be growing, even as we speak here. His Eye is now straining towards us, blind almost to all else that is moving. So we must keep it. Therein lies all our hope. This, then, is my counsel."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo said nothing, but Sam looked scared."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then farewell!\u2019 saidFaramir. \u2018But if Ishould return, think betterGandalf it was that last spoke to Faramir ere he rode east. \u2018Do not throw your life away rashly or in bitterness,\u2019 he said. \u2018You will be needed here, for other things than war. Your father loves you, Faramir, and will remember it ere the end. Farewell!\u2019 So now the Lord Faramir had gone forth again, and had taken with him such strength of men as were willing to go or could be spared. On the walls some gazed through the gloom towards the ruined city, and they wondered what chanced there, for nothing could be seen. And others, as ever, looked north and counted the leagues to The\u00b4oden in Rohan. \u2018Will he come? Will he remember our old alliance?\u2019 they said."
    },
    {
        "text": "It grew cold. As morning came the wind began to stir again, but now it came from the North, and soon it freshened to a rising breeze."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not yet,\u2019 he said, \u2018not yet.\u2019 Weariness and more than weariness oppressed him; it seemed as if a heavy spell was laid on his mind and body. \u2018I must rest,\u2019 he muttered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tinu\u00b4viel was dancing there To music of a pipe unseen, And light of stars was in her hair, And in her raiment glimmering."
    },
    {
        "text": "And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin\u2019s sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.Chapter 5 THE RIDE OF THE ROHIRRIM It was dark and Merry could see nothing as he lay on the ground rolled in a blanket; yet though the night was airless and windless, all about him hidden trees were sighing softly. He lifted his head. Then he heard it again: a sound like faint drums in the wooded hills and mountain-steps. The throb would cease suddenly and then be taken up again at some other point, now nearer, now further off. He won- dered if the watchmen had heard it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Whether it was clad in stuff like green and grey bark, or whether that was its hide, was difficult to say. At any rate the arms, at a short distance from the trunk, were not wrinkled, but covered with a brown smooth skin. The large feet had seven toes each. The lower part of the long face was covered with a sweeping grey beard, bushy, almost twiggy at the roots, thin and mossy at the ends. But at the moment the hobbits noted little but the eyes. These deep eyes were now surveying them, slow and solemn, but very penetrating. They were brown, shot with a green light. Often afterwards Pippin tried to describe his first impression of them."
    },
    {
        "text": "They bowed to the ground. Then he turned and without looking back he left them and went to his two guards that stood at a little distance away. They marvelled to see with what speed these green- clad men now moved, vanishing almost in the twinkling of an eye."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, I don\u2019t know,\u2019 said Gorbag\u2019s voice. \u2018The messages go through quicker than anything could fly, as a rule. But I don\u2019t enquire how it\u2019s done. Safest not to. Grr! Those Nazgu\u02c6l give me the creeps. And they skin the body off you as soon as look at you, and leave you all cold in the dark on the other side. But He likes \u2019em; they\u2019re His\u2018You should try being up here with Shelob for company,\u2019 said Shagrat."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes we shall!\u2019 cried Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The stroke on the left might be a G-rune with thin branches,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018It might be a sign left by Gandalf, though one cannot be sure. The scratches are fine, and they certainly look fresh. But the marks might mean something quite different, and have nothing to do with us. Rangers use runes, and they come here sometimes.\u2019 \u2018What could they mean, even if Gandalf made them?\u2019 asked Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "Yes, he is gone seven days. I let him go. There was little left of him when he crawled out, and as for that worm-creature of his, he was like a pale shadow. Now do not tell me, Gandalf, that I promised to keep him safe; for I know it. But things have changed since then."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 he said, \u2018they are quite plain: a hobbit\u2019s footprints. Pippin\u2019s, I think. He is smaller than the others. And look at this!\u2019 He held up a thing that glittered in the sunlight. It looked like the new-opened leaf of a beech-tree, fair and strange in that treeless plain."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The snow is growing less,\u2019 he said, \u2018and the wind is quieter.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I will come, if I have the fortune,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018I have made a bargain with my friend that, if all goes well, we will visit Fangorn together \u2013 by your leave.\u2019 \u2018Any Elf that comes with you will be welcome,\u2019 said Treebeard."
    },
    {
        "text": "Westward the view was blocked by the base of the great turret that stood at the back of this upper court and reared its horn high above the crest of the encircling hills. Light gleamed in a window-slit. Its door was not ten yards from where Sam stood. It was open but dark, and from just within its shadow the voices came."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last, weary and feeling finally defeated, he sat on a step below the level of the passage-floor and bowed his head into his hands. It was quiet, horribly quiet. The torch, that was already burning low when he arrived, sputtered and went out; and he felt the darkness cover him like a tide. And then softly, to his own surprise, there at the vain end of his long journey and his grief, moved by what thought in his heart he could not tell, Sam began to sing."
    },
    {
        "text": "The eldest of these, and Bilbo\u2019s favourite, was young Frodo Baggins. When Bilbo was ninety-nine he adopted Frodo as his heir, and brought him to live at Bag End; and the hopes of the Sackville- Bagginses were finally dashed. Bilbo and Frodo happened to have the same birthday, September 22nd. \u2018You had better come and live here, Frodo my lad,\u2019 said Bilbo one day; \u2018and then we can celebrate our birthday-parties comfortably together.\u2019 At that time Frodo was still in his tweens, as the hobbits called the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three.understood that something quite exceptional was being planned for that autumn. Bilbo was going to be eleventy-one, 111, a rather curious number, and a very respectable age for a hobbit (the Old Took himself had only reached 130); and Frodo was going to be thirty-three, 33,an important number: the date of his \u2018coming of age\u2019."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, so I have!\u2019 cried Bilbo. \u2018And my will and all the other documents too. You had better take it and deliver it for me. That will be safest.\u2019 \u2018No, don\u2019t give the ring to me,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Put it on the mantel- piece. It will be safe enough there, till Frodo comes. I shall wait for him.\u2019 Bilbo took out the envelope, but just as he was about to set it by the clock, his hand jerked back, and the packet fell on the floor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018What for?\u2019\u2019 says she."
    },
    {
        "text": "And upon its out-thrust knee was the Guarded City, with its seven walls of stone so strong and old that it seemed to have been not builded but carven by giants out of the bones of the earth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is some new devilry here,\u2019 he said, \u2018devised 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!\u2019 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 whose boughs upheld the roof with a branch- ing 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 again flames licked at the brink and curled about the bases of the columns. Wisps of dark smoke wavered in the hot air."
    },
    {
        "text": "Down west sinks the Sun: soon you will be groping."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Don\u2019t be a fool, Sam Gamgee,\u2019 came an answer in his own voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "They looked up, astonished, for they had heard no sound of his coming; and they saw a figure standing at the rail, looking down upon them: an old man, swathed in a great cloak, the colour of which was not easy to tell, for it changed if they moved their eyes or if he stirred. His face was long, with a high forehead, he had deep darkling eyes, hard to fathom, though the look that they now bore was grave and benevolent, and a little weary. His hair and beard were white, but strands of black still showed about his lips and ears."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I can guess some of it,\u2019 said Sam gloomily. \u2018What I saw in the Mirror: trees cut down and all, and my old gaffer turned out of the Row. I ought to have hurried back quicker.\u2019 \u2018And something\u2019s wrong with the Southfarthing evidently,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018There\u2019s a general shortage of pipe-weed.\u2019\u2018Deep in, but not at the bottom,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018You have forgotten Saruman. He began to take an interest in the Shire before Mordor did.\u2019 \u2018Well, we\u2019ve got you with us,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018so things will soon be cleared up.\u2019 \u2018I am with you at present,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018but soon I shall not be."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018At first I thought that you yourselves were Orcs,\u2019 he said; \u2018but now I see that it is not so. Indeed you know little of Orcs, if you go hunting them in this fashion. They were swift and well-armed, and they were many. You would have changed from hunters to prey, if ever you had overtaken them. But there is something strange about you, Strider.\u2019 He bent his clear bright eyes again upon the Ranger."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing? Frodo and Sam stood as if enchanted. The wind puffed out. The leaves hung silently again on stiff branches. There was another burst of song, and then suddenly, hopping and dancing along the path, there appeared above the reeds an old battered hat with a tall crown and a long blue feather stuck in the band. With another hop and a bound there came into view a man, or so it seemed. At any rate he was too large and heavy for a hobbit, if not quite tall enough for one of the Big People, though he made noise enough for one, stumping along with great yellow boots on his thick legs, and charging through grass and rushes like a cow going down to drink. He had a blue coat and a long brown beard; his eyes were blue and bright, and his face was red as a ripe apple, but creased into a hundred wrinkles of laughter. In his hands he carried on a large leaf as on a tray a small pile of white water-lilies.\u2018Whoa! Whoa! steady there!\u2019 cried the old man, holding up one hand, and they stopped short, as if they had been struck stiff. \u2018Now, my little fellows, where be you a-going to, puffing like a bellows? What\u2019s the matter here then? Do you know who I am? I\u2019m Tom Bombadil. Tell me what\u2019s your trouble! Tom\u2019s in a hurry now. Don\u2019t you crush my lilies!\u2019 \u2018My friends are caught in the willow-tree,\u2019 cried Frodo breathlessly."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Aragorn cried: \u2018Ye\u00b4! utu\u00b4vienyes! I have found it! Lo! here is a scion of the Eldest of Trees! But how comes it here? For it is not itself yet seven years old.\u2019 And Gandalf coming looked at it, and said: \u2018Verily this is a sapling of the line of Nimloth the fair; and that was a seedling of Galathilion, and that a fruit of Telperion of many names, Eldest of Trees. Whocourt, a fruit must have been set here. For it is said that, though the fruit of the Tree comes seldom to ripeness, yet the life within may then lie sleeping through many long years, and none can foretell the time in which it will awake. Remember this. For if ever a fruit ripens, it should be planted, lest the line die out of the world. Here it has lain hidden on the mountain, even as the race of Elendil lay hidden in the wastes of the North. Yet the line of Nimloth is older far than your line, King Elessar.\u2019 Then Aragorn laid his hand gently to the sapling, and lo! it seemed to hold only lightly to the earth, and it was removed without hurt; and Aragorn bore it back to the Citadel. Then the withered tree was uprooted, but with reverence; and they did not burn it, but laid it to rest in the silence of Rath D\u00b4\u0131nen. And Aragorn planted the new tree in the court by the fountain, and swiftly and gladly it began to grow; and when the month of June entered in it was laden with blossom."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There it lies,\u2019 he said, pointing away south-eastwards to where the mountains\u2019 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. \u2018When we left the pass I led you southwards, and not back to our starting point, as some of you may have noticed. It is well that I did so, for now we have several miles less to cross, and haste is needed. Let us go!\u2019 \u2018I do not know which to hope,\u2019 said Boromir grimly: \u2018that 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!\u2019 Gimli now walked ahead by the wizard\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is a fair lord and a great captain of men,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018If Gondor has such men still in these days of fading, great must have been its glory in the days of its rising.\u2019 \u2018And doubtless the good stone-work is the older and was wrought in the first building,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018It is ever so with the things that Men begin: there is a frost in Spring, or a blight in Summer, and they fail of their promise.\u2019 \u2018Yet seldom do they fail of their seed,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018And that will lie in the dust and rot to spring up again in times and places unlooked-for. The deeds of Men will outlast us, Gimli.\u2019 \u2018And yet come to naught in the end but might-have-beens, I guess,\u2019 said the Dwarf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I should be grateful for the part they have played, but I do not love them. You may think them wonderful, but I have seen a greater wonder in this land, more beautiful than any grove or glade that ever grew: my heart is still full of it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This won\u2019t do, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018If we were real orcs, we ought to be dashing back to the Tower, not running away. The first enemy we meet will know us. We must get off this road somehow.\u2019 \u2018But we can\u2019t,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018not without wings.\u2019 The eastern faces of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath were sheer, falling in cliff and precipice to the black trough that lay between them and the inner ridge. A short way beyond the way-meeting, after another steep incline, a flying bridge of stone leapt over the chasm and bore the road across into the tumbled slopes and glens of the Morgai. With a desperate spurt Frodo and Sam dashed along the bridge; but they had hardly reached its further end when they heard the hue and cry begin. Away behind them, now high above on the mountain-side, loomed the Tower of Cirith Ungol, its stones glowing dully. Suddenly its harsh bell clanged again, and then broke into a shattering peal. Horns sounded."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Saruman,\u2019\u2019 I said, standing away from him, \u2018\u2018only one hand at a time can wield the One, and you know that well, so do not trouble to say we! But I would not give it, nay, I would not give even news of it to you, now that I learn your mind. You were head of the Council, but you have unmasked yourself at last. Well, the choices are, it seems, to submit to Sauron, or to yourself. I will take neither."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You saw and heard nothing, Anborn?\u2019 Faramir asked of the latest comer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wake up, wake up! Wake up, sleepies!\u2019 he whispered. \u2018Wake up! No time to lose. We must go, yes, we must go at once. No time to lose!\u2019 Sam stared at him suspiciously: he seemed frightened or excited.\u2018Silly!\u2019 hissed Gollum. \u2018We\u2019re not in decent places. Time\u2019s running short, yes, running fast. No time to lose. We must go. Wake up, Master, wake up!\u2019 He clawed at Frodo; and Frodo, startled out of sleep, sat up suddenly and seized him by the arm. Gollum tore himself loose and backed away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes. Well no, I didn\u2019t get him. He came to me, because he trusted me at first, I\u2019m afraid. I did not want him tied up like this. I hope it will be all right; but I hate the whole business.\u2019 \u2018So do I,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And nothing will ever be all right where that piece of misery is.\u2019 A man came and beckoned to the hobbits, and took them to the recess at the back of the cave. Faramir was sitting there in his chair, and the lamp had been rekindled in its niche above his head. He signed to them to sit down on the stools beside him. \u2018Bring wine for the guests,\u2019 he said. \u2018And bring the prisoner to me.\u2019 The wine was brought, and then Anborn came carrying Gollum.malice of his eyes with their heavy pale lids. A very miserable creature he looked, dripping and dank, smelling of fish (he still clutched one in his hand); his sparse locks were hanging like rank weed over his bony brows, his nose was snivelling."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Elves?\u2019 said a third, doubtfully."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Piles of jewels?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018No. 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 \u2013 or in a shadow of fear.\u2019 \u2018Then what do the dwarves want to come back for?\u2019 asked Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "There suddenly upon a ridge appeared a rider, clad in white, shining in the rising sun. Over the low hills the horns were sounding."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Frodo, I think you do very unwisely in this,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018I do not think you should go with this creature. It is wicked.\u2019 \u2018No, not altogether wicked,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "About the eleventh hour, released at last for a while from service, Pippin came out and went in search of food and drink to cheer his heavy heart and make his task of waiting more supportable. In the messes he met Beregond again, who had just come from an errandindoors, and stifled even in the lofty citadel. Now they sat side by side again in the embrasure looking eastward, where they had eaten and talked the day before."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, good luck on your road, and good luck to your homecom- ing!\u2019 said Mr. Butterbur. \u2018I should have warned you before that all\u2019s not well in the Shire neither, if what we hear is true. Funny goings on, they say. But one thing drives out another, and I was full of my own troubles. But if I may be so bold, you\u2019ve come back changed from your travels, and you look now like folk as can deal with troubles out of hand. I don\u2019t doubt you\u2019ll soon set all to rights. Good luck to you! And the oftener you come back the better I\u2019ll be pleased.\u2019 They wished him farewell and rode away, and passed through the West-gate and on towards the Shire. Bill the pony was with them, and as before he had a good deal of baggage, but he trotted along beside Sam and seemed well content."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the bottom of the seventh flight Gandalf halted."
    },
    {
        "text": "There he lay for a while, fighting with despair. His head swam, but from the heat in his body he guessed that he had been given another draught. An Orc stooped over him, and flung him some bread and a strip of raw dried flesh. He ate the stale grey bread hungrily, but not the meat. He was famished but not yet so famished as to eat flesh flung to him by an Orc, the flesh of he dared not guess what creature."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the black wind the stars shall die, and still on gold here let them lie, till the dark lord lifts his hand over dead sea and withered land."
    },
    {
        "text": "At dawn the horns sounded, and within an hour they took the road again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Why are you waking?\u2019 asked Frodo. \u2018It is not your watch.\u2019 \u2018I do not know,\u2019 answered Aragorn; \u2018but a shadow and a threat has been growing in my sleep. It would be well to draw your sword.\u2019 \u2018Why?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Are enemies at hand?\u2019 \u2018Let us see what Sting may show,\u2019 answered Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was blowing a great horn, and his yellow hair was flying in the wind. The horse\u2019s head was lifted, and its nostrils were wide and red as it neighed, smelling battle afar. Foaming water, green and white, rushed and curled about its knees."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now more than half the line had gone by. Then suddenly one of the slave-drivers spied the two figures by the road-side. He flicked a whip at them and yelled: \u2018Hi, you! Get up!\u2019 They did not answer, and with a shout he halted the whole company.the devices on their shields. \u2018Deserting, eh?\u2019 he snarled. \u2018Or thinking of it? All your folk should have been inside Udu\u02c6 n before yesterday evening. You know that. Up you get and fall in, or I\u2019ll have your numbers and report you.\u2019 They struggled to their feet, and keeping bent, limping like footsore soldiers, they shuffled back towards the rear of the line. \u2018No, not at the rear!\u2019 the slave-driver shouted. \u2018Three files up. And stay there, or you\u2019ll know it, when I come down the line!\u2019 He sent his long whip-lash cracking over their heads; then with another crack and a yell he started the company off again at a brisk trot."
    },
    {
        "text": "Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning, Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning? Thus spoke a forgotten poet long ago in Rohan, recalling how tall and fair was Eorl the Young, who rode down out of the North; and there were wings upon the feet of his steed, Felaro\u00b4f, father of horses."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Good-bye, my dear Bilbo \u2013 until our next meeting!\u2019 he said softly and went back indoors."
    },
    {
        "text": "But that evening, as Sam was walking home and twilight was fading, there came the once familiar tap on the study window."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I myself am in the Warden\u2019s keeping,\u2019 answered Faramir. \u2018Nor have I yet taken up my authority in the City. But had I done so, I should still listen to his counsel, and should not cross his will in matters of his craft, unless in some great need.\u2019 \u2018But I do not desire healing,\u2019 she said. \u2018I wish to ride to war like my brother E\u00b4omer, or better like The\u00b4oden the king, for he died and has both honour and peace.\u2019 \u2018It is too late, lady, to follow the Captains, even if you had the strength,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018But death in battle may come to us all yet, willing or unwilling. You will be better prepared to face it in your own manner, if while there is still time you do as the Healer com- manded. You and I, we must endure with patience the hours of waiting.\u2019 She did not answer, but as he looked at her it seemed to him that something in her softened, as though a bitter frost were yielding at the first faint presage of spring. A tear sprang in her eye and fell down her cheek, like a glistening rain-drop. Her proud head drooped a little. Then quietly, more as if speaking to herself than to him: \u2018But the healers would have me lie abed seven days yet,\u2019 she said. \u2018And my window does not look eastward.\u2019 Her voice was now that of a maiden young and sad."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Dark Lord is putting forth all his strength."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I evidently came back by much too straight a road from my trip."
    },
    {
        "text": "The less it sees the better.\u2019 The road passed slowly, winding down the valley. Now further, and now nearer Isen flowed in its stony bed. Night came down from the mountains. All the mists were gone. A chill wind blew. The moon, now waxing round, filled the eastern sky with a pale cold sheen. The shoulders of the mountain to their right sloped down to bare hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look!\u2019 \u2018Look at what?\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A stout little fellow with red cheeks,\u2019 said Mr. Butterbur solemnly."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo felt a fool. Not knowing what else to do, he crawled away under the tables to the dark corner by Strider, who sat unmoved, giving no sign of his thoughts. Frodo leaned back against the wall and took off the Ring. How it came to be on his finger he could not tell. He could only suppose that he had been handling it in his pocket while he sang, and that somehow it had slipped on when he stuck out his hand with a jerk to save his fall. For a moment he wondered if the Ring itself had not played him a trick; perhaps it had tried to reveal itself in response to some wish or command that was felt in the room. He did not like the looks of the men that had gone out.\u2018Well?\u2019 said Strider, when he reappeared. \u2018Why did you do that? Worse than anything your friends could have said! You have put your foot in it! Or should I say your finger?\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know what you mean,\u2019 said Frodo, annoyed and alarmed."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits had gone a few weary miles when they halted. Frodo seemed nearly spent. Sam saw that he could not go much further in this fashion, crawling, stooping, now picking a doubtful way very slowly, now hurrying at a stumbling run."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2018That would not be easy, even if we were all Men,\u2019 said Boromir."
    },
    {
        "text": "Dark fell about him. Horses reared and screamed. Men cast from the saddle lay grovelling on the ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "It did not seem likely to him that many of them would survive it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A dwarf !\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018That is not well. We have not had dealings with the Dwarves since the Dark Days. They are not permitted in our land. I cannot allow him to pass.\u2019 \u2018But he is from the Lonely Mountain, one of Da\u00b4in\u2019s trusty people, and friendly to Elrond,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Elrond himself chose him to be one of our companions, and he has been brave and faithful.\u2019 The Elves spoke together in soft voices, and questioned Legolas in their own tongue. \u2018Very good,\u2019 said Haldir at last. \u2018We 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 Lothlo\u00b4rien.we saw a great troop of Orcs going north towards Moria, along the skirts of the mountains, many days ago. Wolves are howling on the wood\u2019s borders. If you have indeed come from Moria, the peril cannot be far behind. Tomorrow early you must go on."
    },
    {
        "text": "The morning was still young and cold when the Company set out again, guided now by Haldir and his brother Ru\u00b4mil. \u2018Farewell, sweet Nimrodel!\u2019 cried Legolas. Frodo looked back and caught a gleam of white foam among the grey tree-stems. \u2018Farewell,\u2019 he said. It seemed to him that he would never hear again a running water so beautiful, for ever blending its innumerable notes in an endless changeful music."
    },
    {
        "text": "Already it seemed years to Pippin since he had sat there before, in some half-forgotten time when he had still been a hobbit, a light- hearted wanderer touched little by the perils he had passed through."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Sam played his last trick. With all his strength he pulled away and got his feet firmly planted; then suddenly he drove his legs against the ground and with his whole force hurled himself back- wards."
    },
    {
        "text": "A star was bound upon her brows, A light was on her hair As sun upon the golden boughs In Lo\u00b4rien the fair."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018At dawn three days ago, lord,\u2019 he said, \u2018Shadowfax came like a wind out of the West to Edoras, and Gandalf brought tidings of your victory to gladden our hearts. But he brought also word from you to hasten the gathering of the Riders. And then came the winged Shadow.\u2019 \u2018The winged Shadow?\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018We saw it also, but that was in the dead of night before Gandalf left us.\u2019 \u2018Maybe, lord,\u2019 said Du\u00b4nhere. \u2018Yet the same, or another like to it, a flying darkness in the shape of a monstrous bird, passed over Edoras that morning, and all men were shaken with fear. For it stooped upon Meduseld, and as it came low, almost to the gable, there came a cry that stopped our hearts. Then it was that Gandalf counselled us not to assemble in the fields, but to meet you here in the valley under the mountains. And he bade us to kindle no more lights or fires than barest need asked. So it has been done. Gandalf spoke with great authority. We trust that it is as you would wish. Naught has been seen in Harrowdale of these evil things.\u2019 \u2018It is well,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018I will ride now to the Hold, and there before I go to rest I will meet the marshals and captains. Let them come to me as soon as may be!\u2019 The road now led eastward straight across the valley, which was at that point little more than half a mile in width. Flats and meads ofof the great roots of the Starkhorn, cloven by the river in ages past."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the late afternoon, while the others were finishing their break- fast, 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 Gandalf 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Our Sam says that everyone\u2019s going to be invited to the party, and there\u2019s going to be presents, mark you, presents for all \u2013 this very month as is.\u2019 That very month was September, and as fine as you could ask. A day or two later a rumour (probably started by the knowledgeable Sam) was spread about that there were going to be fireworks \u2013 fire- works, what is more, such as had not been seen in the Shire for nigh on a century, not indeed since the Old Took died."
    },
    {
        "text": "He looked at Frodo and smiled. \u2018Very well,\u2019 he said. \u2018I think that will do \u2013 but it must not be any later. I am getting very anxious. In the meanwhile, do take care, and don\u2019t let out any hint of where you are going! And see that Sam Gamgee does not talk. If he does, I really shall turn him into a toad.\u2019 \u2018As for where I am going,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018it would be difficult to give that away, for I have no clear idea myself, yet.\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t be absurd!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I am not warning you against leaving an address at the post-office! But you are leaving the Shire \u2013 and that should not be known, until you are far away. And you must go, or at least set out, either North, South, West or East \u2013 and the direction should certainly not be known.\u2019said Frodo. \u2018For where am I to go? And by what shall I steer? What is to be my quest? Bilbo went to find a treasure, there and back again; but I go to lose one, and not return, as far as I can see.\u2019 \u2018But you cannot see very far,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Neither can I. It may be your task to find the Cracks of Doom; but that quest may be for others: I do not know. At any rate you are not ready for that long road yet.\u2019 \u2018No indeed!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But in the meantime what course am I to take?\u2019 \u2018Towards danger; but not too rashly, nor too straight,\u2019 answered the wizard. \u2018If you want my advice, make for Rivendell. That journey should not prove too perilous, though the Road is less easy than it was, and it will grow worse as the year fails.\u2019 \u2018Rivendell!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Very good: I will go east, and I will make for Rivendell. I will take Sam to visit the Elves; he will be delighted.\u2019 He spoke lightly; but his heart was moved suddenly with a desire to see the house of Elrond Halfelven, and breathe the air of that deep valley where many of the Fair Folk still dwelt in peace."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hurray!\u2019 cried Pippin, springing up. \u2018Here is our noble cousin! Make way for Frodo, Lord of the Ring!\u2019 \u2018Hush!\u2019 said Gandalf from the shadows at the back of the porch."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What news from the West, O wandering wind, do you bring to me tonight? Have you seen Boromir the Tall by moon or by starlight?\u2019 \u2018I saw him ride over seven streams, over waters wide and grey; I saw him walk in empty lands, until he passed away Into the shadows of the North. I saw him then no more."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What in the name of wonder?\u2019 began Merry, feeling the golden circlet that had slipped over one eye. Then he stopped, and a shadow came over his face, and he closed his eyes. \u2018Of course, I remember!\u2019 he said. \u2018The men of Carn Du\u02c6 m came on us at night, and we were worsted. Ah! the spear in my heart!\u2019 He clutched at his breast. \u2018No! No!\u2019 he said, opening his eyes. \u2018What am I saying? I have been dreaming. Where did you get to, Frodo?\u2019 \u2018I thought that I was lost,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but I don\u2019t want to speak of it. Let us think of what we are to do now! Let us go on!\u2019 \u2018Dressed up like this, sir?\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Where are my clothes?\u2019 He flung his circlet, belt, and rings on the grass, and looked round helplessly, as if he expected to find his cloak, jacket, and breeches, and other hobbit-garments lying somewhere to hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s the job that\u2019s never started as takes longest to finish, as my old gaffer used to say. And I don\u2019t reckon that these folk can do much more to help us, magic or no. It\u2019s when we leave this land that we shall miss Gandalf worse, I\u2019m thinking.\u2019 \u2018I am afraid that\u2019s only too true, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Yet I hope very much that before we leave we shall see the Lady of the Elves again.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "As far as he could remember, Sam slept through the night in deep content, if logs are contented."
    },
    {
        "text": "Aragorn and his companions searched far and wide about the field of battle, but the light faded, and evening soon drew down, dim and misty. By nightfall they had discovered no trace of Merry and Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018On, lad! On!\u2019 he cried. \u2018We\u2019ll be going back soon.\u2019 Then he heard Merry change the note, and up went the Horn-cry of Buckland, shaking the air."
    },
    {
        "text": "Along most of that way there is much grass on either side of the road."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was still an echo as of following feet in the cutting behind them; a rushing noise as if a wind were rising and pouring through the branches of the pines. One moment Glorfindel turned and listened, then he sprang forward with a loud cry."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thornbushes grew thick upon the low banks, and under them they made their camp, two hours or so before the middle of the night."
    },
    {
        "text": "As the evening drew on, Frodo woke up again, and he found that he no longer felt in need of rest or sleep, but had a mind for food and drink, and probably for singing and story-telling afterwards. He got out of bed and discovered that his arm was already nearly as useful again as it ever had been. He found laid ready clean garments of green cloth that fitted him excellently. Looking in a mirror he was startled to see a much thinner reflection of himself than he remembered: it looked remarkably like the young nephew of Bilbo who used to go tramping with his uncle in the Shire; but the eyes looked out at him thoughtfully."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018When Treebeard had got a few arrows in him, he began to warm up, to get positively \u2018\u2018hasty\u2019\u2019, as he would say. He let out a great hoom-hom, and a dozen more Ents came striding up. An angry Ent is terrifying. Their fingers, and their toes, just freeze on to rock; and they tear it up like bread-crust. It was like watching the work of great tree-roots in a hundred years, all packed into a few moments."
    },
    {
        "text": "Underhill had taken as much ale as was good for him."
    },
    {
        "text": "The day passed uneasily. They lay deep in the heather and counted out the slow hours, in which there seemed little change; for they were still under the shadows of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath, and the sun was veiled."
    },
    {
        "text": "To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, as a pale shrouded figure it loomed over the Hill. For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But in the wearing of the swift years of Middle-earth the line of Meneldil son of Ana\u00b4rion failed, and the Tree withered, and the blood of the Nu\u00b4meno\u00b4reans became mingled with that of lesser men. Then thewatchuponthewallsofMordorslept,anddarkthingscreptbackand it is called Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sorcery. Then Minas Anor was named anew Minas Tirith, the Tower of Guard; and these two cities were ever at war, but Osgiliath which lay between was deserted and in its ruins shadows walked."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam struggled with his own weariness, and he took Frodo\u2019s hand; and there he sat silent till deep night fell. Then at last, to keep himself awake, he crawled from the hiding-place and looked out. The land seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or of foot. Far above the Ephel Du\u00b4 ath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now let the fun begin! Let us sing together! Then another clear voice, as young and as ancient as Spring, like the song of a glad water flowing down into the night from a bright morning in the hills, came falling like silver to meet them: Now let the song begin! Let us sing together Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather, Light on the budding leaf, dew on the feather, Wind on the open hill, bells on the heather, Reeds by the shady pool, lilies on the water: Old Tom Bombadil and the River-daughter! And with that song the hobbits stood upon the threshold, and a golden light was all about them.Chapter 7 IN THE HOUSE OF TOM BOMBADIL The four hobbits stepped over the wide stone threshold, and stood still, blinking. They were in a long low room, filled with the light of lamps swinging from the beams of the roof; and on the table of dark polished wood stood many candles, tall and yellow, burning brightly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Speed now, fair guests!\u2019 she said. \u2018And hold to your purpose! North with the wind in the left eye and a blessing on your footsteps! Make haste while the Sun shines!\u2019 And to Frodo she said: \u2018Farewell, Elf- friend, it was a merry meeting!\u2019 But Frodo found no words to answer. He bowed low, and mounted his pony, and followed by his friends jogged slowly down the gentle slope behind the hill. Tom Bombadil\u2019s house and the valley, and the Forest were lost to view. The air grew warmer between the green walls of hillside and hillside, and the scent of turf rose strong and sweet as they breathed. Turning back, when they reached the bottom of the green hollow, they saw Goldberry, now small and slender like a sunlit flower against the sky: she was standing still watching them, and her hands were stretched out towards them. As they looked she gave a clear call, and lifting up her hand she turned and vanished behind the hill."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am sorry to take leave of Master Bombadil,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018He\u2019s a caution and no mistake. I reckon we may go a good deal further and see naught better, nor queerer. But I won\u2019t deny I\u2019ll be glad to see this Prancing Pony he spoke of. I hope it\u2019ll be like The Green Dragon away back home! What sort of folk are they in Bree?\u2019 \u2018There are hobbits in Bree,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018as well as Big Folk. I daresay it will be homelike enough. The Pony is a good inn by all accounts. My people ride out there now and again.\u2019 \u2018It may be all we could wish,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but it is outside the Shire all the same. Don\u2019t make yourselves too much at home! Please remember \u2013 all of you \u2013 that the name of Baggins must not be mentioned. I am Mr. Underhill, if any name must be given.\u2019 They now mounted their ponies and rode off silently into the evening. Darkness came down quickly, as they plodded slowly down- hill and up again, until at last they saw lights twinkling some distance ahead."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018One Gross, indeed! Vulgar expression.\u2019 It is also, if I may be allowed to refer to ancient history, the anniversary of my arrival by barrel at Esgaroth on the Long Lake; though the fact that it was my birthday slipped my memory on that occasion. I was only fifty-one then, and birthdays did not seem so important. The banquet was very splendid, however, though I had a bad cold at the time, I remember, and could only say \u2018thag you very buch\u2019. I now repeat it more correctly: Thank you very much for coming to my little party. Obstinate silence."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Easy said,\u2019 objected Sam. \u2018Better wait till morning and more light.\u2019 \u2018No! Not if I can help it,\u2019 said Frodo with a sudden strange vehe- mence. \u2018I grudge every hour, every minute. I\u2019m going down to try it out. Don\u2019t you follow till I come back or call!\u2019 Gripping the stony lip of the fall with his fingers he let himself gently down, until when his arms were almost at full stretch, his toes found a ledge. \u2018One step down!\u2019 he said. \u2018And this ledge broadens out to the right. I could stand there without a hold. I\u2019ll\u2014\u2014\u2019 his words were cut short."
    },
    {
        "text": "The 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, if he did not come."
    },
    {
        "text": "The air was growing very warm again. The hobbits ran about for a while on the grass, as he told them. Then they lay basking in the sun with the delight of those that have been wafted suddenly from bitter winter to a friendly clime, or of people that, after being long ill and bedridden, wake one day to find that they are unexpectedly well and the day is again full of promise."
    },
    {
        "text": "The easterly wind that had been blowing ever since they left Ithilien now seemed dead. Slowly and painfully they clambered down, grop- ing, stumbling, scrambling among rock and briar and dead wood in the blind shadows, down and down until they could go no further."
    },
    {
        "text": "Faramir had sent for this robe and had wrapped it about her; and he thought that she looked fair and queenly indeed as she stood there at his side. The mantle was wrought for his mother, Finduilas of Amroth,whodieduntimely,andwastohimbutamemoryofloveli-But she now shivered beneath the starry mantle, and she looked northward, above the grey hither lands, into the eye of the cold wind where far away the sky was hard and clear."
    },
    {
        "text": "Quickly they gathered dry grass and leaves, and bits of bark; and made a pile of broken twigs and chopped sticks. These they heaped against the trunk on the far side of the tree from the prisoners. As soon as Sam had struck a spark into the tinder, it kindled the dry grass and a flurry of flame and smoke went up. The twigs crackled."
    },
    {
        "text": "Dimrill Dale lay about them. The shadow of the Misty Mountains lay upon it, but eastwards there was a golden light on the land. ItThey 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 LOTHLO\u00b4 RIEN \u2018Alas! I fear we cannot stay here longer,\u2019 said Aragorn. He looked towards the mountains and held up his sword. \u2018Farewell, Gandalf !\u2019 he cried. \u2018Did I not say to you: if you pass the doors of Moria, beware? Alas that I spoke true! What hope have we without you?\u2019 He turned to the Company. \u2018We must do without hope,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "When at last the blackness passed, Sam looked up and shadows were about him; but for how many minutes or hours the world had gone dragging on he could not tell. He was still in the same place, and still his master lay beside him dead. The mountains had not crumbled nor the earth fallen into ruin."
    },
    {
        "text": "So passed the third day of their journey with Gollum. Before the shadows of evening were long in happier lands, they went on again,great care, and he was sometimes at a loss for a while. They had come to the very midst of the Dead Marshes, and it was dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "When he returned he was not reassuring. \u2018We have come too far to the north,\u2019 he said, \u2018and we must find some way to turn back southwards again. If we keep on as we are going we shall get up into the Ettendales far north of Rivendell. That is troll-country, and little known to me. We could perhaps find our way through and come round to Rivendell from the north; but it would take too long, for I do not know the way, and our food would not last. So somehow or other we must find the Ford of Bruinen.\u2019 The rest of that day they spent scrambling over rocky ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018There is water of Isen,\u2019\u2019 they said, \u2018\u2018and that is good enough for Ents and Men.\u2019\u2019 But I hope that the Ents may have found time to brew some of their draughts from the mountain-springs, and we shall see Gandalf \u2019s beard curling when he returns. After the Ents had gone, we felt tired, and hungry. But we did not grumble \u2013 our labours had been well rewarded. It was through our search for man- food that Pippin discovered the prize of all the flotsam, those Horn-\u2018We understand it all perfectly now,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "But as Aragorn came to the booth where he was to lodge witha glimmer in the night, for she was clad in white; but her eyes were on fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "The least you can do in amends is to tell me what is afoot.\u2019 \u2018Anything that can keep so in this devil\u2019s mirk,\u2019 answered Elfhelm."
    },
    {
        "text": "He turned away and mounted his pony. But as he started off, Rosie ran down the steps."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018For tonight we go to the woods on the hills above Woodhall. It is some miles, but you shall have rest at the end of it, and it will shorten your journey tomorrow.\u2019 They now marched on again in silence, and passed like shadows and faint lights: for Elves (even more than hobbits) could walk when they wished without sound or footfall. Pippin soon began to feel sleepy, and staggered once or twice; but each time a tall Elf at his side put out his arm and saved him from a fall. Sam walked along at Frodo\u2019s side, as if in a dream, with an expression on his face half of fear and half of astonished joy."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Rohan? Rohan did you say? That is a glad word. We seek that land in haste from long afar.\u2019 \u2018You have found it,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018When you crossed the fords yonder you entered it. But it is the realm of The\u00b4oden the King. None ride here save by his leave. Who are you? And what is your haste?\u2019 \u2018Halbarad Du\u00b4nadan, Ranger of the North I am,\u2019 cried the man."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Mithrandir! Mithrandir!\u2019 men cried. \u2018Now we know that the storm is indeed nigh!\u2019 \u2018It is upon you,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I have ridden on its wings. Let me pass! I must come to your Lord Denethor, while his stewardship lasts. Whatever betide, you have come to the end of the Gondor that you have known. Let me pass!\u2019 Then men fell back before the command of his voice and ques- tioned him no further, though they gazed in wonder at the hobbit that sat before him and at the horse that bore him. For the people of the City used horses very little and they were seldom seen in their streets, save only those ridden by the errand-riders of their lord. And they said: \u2018Surely that is one of the great steeds of the King of Rohan? Maybe the Rohirrim will come soon to strengthen us.\u2019 But Shadowfax walked proudly up the long winding road."
    },
    {
        "text": "Had he heard a whistle or not? Or was it the call of some strange bird? If it was a whistle, it did not come from Frodo\u2019s direction."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hail, and well met at last!\u2019 said the Elf-lord to Frodo. \u2018I was sent from Rivendell to look for you. We feared that you were in danger upon the road.\u2019answered Glorfindel. \u2018Elrond received news that troubled him. Some of my kindred, journeying in your land beyond the Baranduin,* learned that things were amiss, and sent messages as swiftly as they could. They said that the Nine were abroad, and that you were astray bearing a great burden without guidance, for Gandalf had not returned. There are few even in Rivendell that can ride openly against the Nine; but such as there were, Elrond sent out north, west, and south. It was thought that you might turn far aside to avoid pursuit, and become lost in the Wilderness."
    },
    {
        "text": "The news that his master was still alive roused him to a last effort beyond thought of weariness. He could not see anything ahead, for this new passage twisted and turned constantly; but he thought he was catching the two Orcs up: their voices were growing nearer again."
    },
    {
        "text": "At length they came to land again upon the southern slopes of Amon Lhaw. There they found a shelving shore, and they drew the boat out, high above the water, and hid it as well as they could behind a great boulder. Then shouldering their burdens, they set off, seeking a path that would bring them over the grey hills of the Emyn Muil, and down into the Land of Shadow.Chapter 1 THE DEPARTURE OF BOROMIR Aragorn sped on up the hill. Every now and again he bent to the ground. Hobbits go light, and their footprints are not easy even for a Ranger to read, but not far from the top a spring crossed the path, and in the wet earth he saw what he was seeking."
    },
    {
        "text": "They reached the entrance to the Ferry lane at last. It was marked by two tall white posts that suddenly loomed up on their right. Farmer Maggot drew in his ponies and the waggon creaked to a halt. They were just beginning to scramble out, when suddenly they heard what they had all been dreading: hoofs on the road ahead. The sound was coming towards them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam laughed grimly. \u2018Cobwebs!\u2019 he said. \u2018Is that all? Cobwebs! But what a spider! Have at \u2019em, down with \u2019em!\u2019 In a fury he hewed at them with his sword, but the thread that he struck did not break. It gave a little and then sprang back like a plucked bowstring, turning the blade and tossing up both sword and arm. Three times Sam struck with all his force, and at last one single cord of all the countless cords snapped and twisted, curling and whipping through the air. One end of it lashed Sam\u2019s hand, and he cried out in pain, starting back and drawing his hand across his mouth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They may, but they\u2019ve got eyes and ears everywhere; some among my lot, as like as not. But there\u2019s no doubt about it, they\u2019re troubled about something. The Nazgu\u02c6l down below are, by your account; and Lugbu\u00b4rz is too. Something nearly slipped.\u2019 \u2018Nearly, you say!\u2019 said Gorbag."
    },
    {
        "text": "Already the closing hour was drawing nigh, and the red sun had gone behind Mindolluin. Shadow came down on the City."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But I rode to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stair of Saruman; and there he met me and led me up to his high chamber."
    },
    {
        "text": "Leaflock has grown sleepy, almost tree-ish, you might say: he hashair he is. He used to rouse up in winter; but of late he has been too drowsy to walk far even then. Skinbark lived on the mountain-slopes west of Isengard. That is where the worst trouble has been. He was wounded by the Orcs, and many of his folk and his tree-herds have been murdered and destroyed. He has gone up into the high places, among the birches that he loves best, and he will not come down."
    },
    {
        "text": "A reek came on before it. \u2018Master, master!\u2019 cried Sam, and life and urgency came back into his voice. \u2018The Lady\u2019s gift! The star-glass! A light to you in dark places, she said it was to be. The star-glass!\u2019 \u2018The star-glass?\u2019 muttered Frodo, as one answering out of sleep, hardly comprehending. \u2018Why yes! Why had I forgotten it? A light when all other lights go out! And now indeed light alone can help us.\u2019 Slowly his hand went to his bosom, and slowly he held aloft the Phial of Galadriel. For a moment it glimmered, faint as a rising star struggling in heavy earthward mists, and then as its power waxed, and hope grew in Frodo\u2019s mind, it began to burn, and kindled to a silver flame, a minute heart of dazzling light, as though Ea\u00a8rendil had himself come down from the high sunset paths with the last Silmaril upon his brow. The darkness receded from it, until it seemed to shine in the centre of a globe of airy crystal, and the hand that held it sparkled with white fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "Too many ears pricking and eyes prying.\u2019 Sam ran off at full speed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well Masters,\u2019 said Nob, \u2018I\u2019ve ruffled up the clothes and put in a bolster down the middle of each bed. And I made a nice imitation of your head with a brown woollen mat, Mr. Bag \u2013 Underhill, sir,\u2019 he added with a grin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And all seemed well with Bilbo. And the years passed. Yes, they passed, and they seemed not to touch him. He showed no signs of age. The shadow fell on me again. But I said to myself: \u2018\u2018After all he comes of a long-lived family on his mother\u2019s side. There is time yet."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a moment E\u00b4 omer and Aragorn halted before the gates. The thunder was rumbling in the distance now. The lightning flickered still, far off among the mountains in the South. A keen wind was blowing from the North again. The clouds were torn and drifting, and stars peeped out; and above the hills of the Coomb-side the westering moon rode, glimmering yellow in the storm-wrack."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a while they stood there, like men on the edge of a sleep where nightmare lurks, holding it off, though they know that they can only come to morning through the shadows. The light broadened and hardened. The gasping pits and poisonous mounds grew hideously clear. The sun was up, walking among clouds and long flags of smoke, but even the sunlight was defiled. The hobbits had no welcome for that light; unfriendly it seemed, revealing them in their helplessness \u2013 little squeaking ghosts that wandered among the ash-heaps of the Dark Lord."
    },
    {
        "text": "With a cry Sam leapt across the floor, Sting in hand. The orc wheeled round, but before it could make a move Sam slashed its whip-hand from its arm. Howling with pain and fear but desperatestumbled over him. Before he could scramble up he heard a cry and a thud. The orc in its wild haste had tripped on the ladder-head and fallen through the open trap-door. Sam gave no more thought to it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is the signal for supper!\u2019 said Bilbo. The pain and alarm vanished at once, and the prostrate hobbits leaped to their feet. There was a splendid supper for everyone; for everyone, that is, except those invited to the special family dinner-party. This was held in the great pavilion with the tree. The invitations were limited to twelve dozen (a number also called by the hobbits one Gross, though the word was not considered proper to use of people); and the guests were selected from all the families to which Bilbo and Frodo were related, with the addition of a few special unrelated friends (such as Gandalf )."
    },
    {
        "text": "Baggins \u2013 Underhill, I should say! Good night \u2013 now, bless me! Where\u2019s your Mr. Brandybuck?\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 said Frodo with sudden anxiety. They had forgot- ten all about Merry, and it was getting late. \u2018I am afraid he is out."
    },
    {
        "text": "Though Pippin had regretfully to destroy this hopeful tale, he could not be rid of his new rank, only fitting, men thought, to one befriended by Boromir and honoured by the Lord Denethor; andhe could wish. Indeed his only trouble was to be \u2018wary\u2019 according to the counsel of Gandalf, and not to let his tongue wag freely after the manner of a hobbit among friends."
    },
    {
        "text": "Once more Aragorn bruised two leaves of athelas and cast them intoThen, whether Aragorn had indeed some forgotten power of Wes- ternesse, or whether it was but his words of the Lady E\u00b4 owyn that wrought on them, as the sweet influence of the herb stole about the chamber it seemed to those who stood by that a keen wind blew through the window, and it bore no scent, but was an air wholly fresh and clean and young, as if it had not before been breathed by any living thing and came new-made from snowy mountains high beneath a dome of stars, or from shores of silver far away washed by seas of foam."
    },
    {
        "text": "His knees shook, and he was wroth with himself. \u2018Here is a thing unheard of !\u2019 he said. \u2018An Elf will go underground and a Dwarf dare not!\u2019 With that he plunged in. But it seemed to him that he dragged his feet like lead over the threshold; and at once a blindness came upon him, even upon Gimli Glo\u00b4 in\u2019s son who had walked unafraid in many deep places of the world."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What do you wish?\u2019 he said again. \u2018If it lies in my power, I will do it.\u2019 \u2018I would have you command this Warden, and bid him let me go,\u2019 she said; but though her words were still proud, her heart faltered,child that has not the firmness of mind to go on with a dull task to the end."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To me! To me!\u2019 cried The\u00b4oden. \u2018Up Eorlingas! Fear no darkness!\u2019 But Snowmane wild with terror stood up on high, fighting with the air, and then with a great scream he crashed upon his side: a black dart had pierced him. The king fell beneath him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Mordor-dark had returned, and the watch-fires on the heightsspring, and then climbing warily up they came to the road at the point where it swung east towards the Isenmouthe twenty miles away."
    },
    {
        "text": "Presently Denethor waved to Pippin and dismissed him again for a while. \u2018Go to the armouries of the Citadel,\u2019 he said, \u2018and get you there the livery and gear of the Tower. It will be ready. It was com- manded yesterday. Return when you are clad!\u2019 It was as he said; and Pippin soon found himself arrayed in strange garments, all of black and silver. He had a small hauberk, its rings forged of steel, maybe, yet black as jet; and a high-crowned helm with small raven-wings on either side, set with a silver star in the centre of the circlet. Above the mail was a short surcoat of black, but broidered on the breast in silver with the token of the Tree. His old clothes were folded and put away, but he was permitted to keep the grey cloak of Lo\u00b4rien, though not to wear it when on duty. He looked now, had he known it, verily Ernil i Pheriannath, the Prince of the Halflings, that folk had called him; but he felt uncomfortable. And the gloom began to weigh on his spirits."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have not spoken to Haldir of our deeds or our purpose,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018At first we were weary and danger was too close behind; and afterwards we almost forgot our grief for a time, as we walked in gladness on the fair paths of Lo\u00b4rien.\u2019 \u2018Yetourgriefisgreatandourlosscannotbemended,\u2019saidFrodo.\u2018Tell us now the full tale!\u2019 said Celeborn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All who can have now got safe within, Aragorn,\u2019 he called. \u2018Come back!\u2019 Aragorn turned and sped up the stair; but as he ran he stumbledforemost fell with Legolas\u2019 last arrow in his throat, but the rest sprang over him. Then a great boulder, cast from the outer wall above, crashed down upon the stair, and hurled them back into the Deep."
    },
    {
        "text": "War is preparing!\u2019 \u2018Then you knew of the Riders already \u2013 before I met them?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I knew of them. Indeed I spoke of them once to you; for the Black Riders are the Ringwraiths, the Nine Servants of the Lord of the Rings. But I did not know that they had arisen again or I should have fled with you at once. I heard news of them only after I left you in June; but that story must wait. For the moment we have been saved from disaster, by Aragorn.\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018it was Strider that saved us. Yet I was afraid of him at first. Sam never quite trusted him, I think, not at any rate until we met Glorfindel.\u2019 Gandalf smiled. \u2018I have heard all about Sam,\u2019 he said. \u2018He has no more doubts now.\u2019 \u2018I am glad,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018For I have become very fond of Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Whips, knives, and clubs, enough for their dirty work: that\u2019s all they\u2019ve showed so far,\u2019 said Cotton. \u2018But I dare say they\u2019ve got other gear, if it comes to fighting. Some have bows, anyway. They\u2019ve shot one or two of our folk.\u2019 \u2018There you are, Frodo!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I knew we should have to fight. Well, they started the killing.\u2019 \u2018Not exactly,\u2019 said Cotton. \u2018Leastways not the shooting. Tooks started that. You see, your dad, Mr. Peregrin, he\u2019s never had no truck with this Lotho, not from the beginning: said that if anyone was going to play the chief at this time of day, it would be the right Thain of the Shire and no upstart. And when Lotho sent his Men they got no change out of him. Tooks are lucky, they\u2019ve got those deep holes in the Green Hills, the Great Smials and all, and theand robbing. After that the ruffians turned nastier. And they keep a pretty close watch on Tookland. No one gets in nor out of it now.\u2019 \u2018Good for the Tooks!\u2019 cried Pippin. \u2018But someone is going to get in again, now. I am off to the Smials. Anyone coming with me to Tuckborough?\u2019 Pippin rode off with half a dozen lads on ponies. \u2018See you soon!\u2019 he cried. \u2018It\u2019s only fourteen miles or so over the fields. I\u2019ll bring you back an army of Tooks in the morning.\u2019 Merry blew a horn-call after them as they rode off into the gathering night. The people cheered."
    },
    {
        "text": "A few wolves howled mournfully, far away. The Ents stopped the inflow in the night, and sent the Isen back into its old course. And that was the end of it all."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I was going to find a way into Mordor,\u2019 he said faintly. \u2018I was going to Gorgoroth. I must find the Mountain of Fire and cast the thing into the gulf of Doom. Gandalf said so. I do not think I shall ever get there.\u2019 Faramir stared at him for a moment in grave astonishment. Then suddenly he caught him as he swayed, and lifting him gently, carried him to the bed and laid him there, and covered him warmly. At once he fell into a deep sleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Good morning, merry friends!\u2019 cried Tom, opening the eastern window wide. A cool air flowed in; it had a rainy smell. \u2018Sun won\u2019t show her face much today, I\u2019m thinking. I have been walking wide, leaping on the hill-tops, since the grey dawn began, nosing wind and weather, wet grass underfoot, wet sky above me. I wakened Goldberry singing under window; but naught wakes hobbit-folk in the early morning. In the night little folk wake up in the darkness, and sleep after light has come! Ring a ding dillo! Wake now, my merry friends! Forget the nightly noises! Ring a ding dillo del! derry del, my hearties! If you come soon you\u2019ll find breakfast on the table. If you come latethe hobbits came soon, and left the table late and only when it was beginning to look rather empty. Neither Tom nor Goldberry were there. Tom could be heard about the house, clattering in the kitchen, and up and down the stairs, and singing here and there outside. The room looked westward over the mist-clouded valley, and the window was open. Water dripped down from the thatched eaves above. Before they had finished breakfast the clouds had joined into an unbroken roof, and a straight grey rain came softly and steadily down. Behind its deep curtain the Forest was completely veiled."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Old Ent looked at them long and searchingly, and spoke to them in turn. Last he turned to Legolas. \u2018So you have come all the way from Mirkwood, my good Elf ? A very great forest it used to be!\u2019 \u2018And still is,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018But not so great that we who dwell there ever tire of seeing new trees. I should dearly love to journey in Fangorn\u2019s Wood. I scarcely passed beyond the eaves of it, and I did not wish to turn back.\u2019 Treebeard\u2019s eyes gleamed with pleasure. \u2018I hope you may have your wish, ere the hills be much older,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before: Arise, arise, Riders of The\u00b4oden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! With that he seized a great horn from Guthla\u00b4f his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains."
    },
    {
        "text": "On that stretch the errand-riders of Gondor reckoned to make their greatest speed. We may ride it swiftly and without great rumour.\u2019 \u2018Then since we must look for fell deeds and the need of all our strength,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer, \u2018I counsel that we rest now, and set out hence by night, and so time our going that we come upon the fields when tomorrow is as light as it will be, or when our lord gives the signal.\u2019 To this the king assented, and the captains departed. But soon Elfhelm returned. \u2018The scouts have found naught to report beyond the Grey Wood, lord,\u2019 he said, \u2018save two men only: two dead men and two dead horses.\u2019 \u2018Well?\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018What of it?\u2019 \u2018This, lord: they were errand-riders of Gondor; Hirgon was one maybe. At least his hand still clasped the Red Arrow, but his head was hewn off. And this also: it would seem by the signs that they were fleeing westward when they fell. As I read it, they found the enemy already on the out-wall, or assailing it, when they returned \u2013 and that would be two nights ago, if they used fresh horses from the posts, as is their wont."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a moment he stood, gasping, clutching his breast. Then he drew his sleeve across his face, wiping away the grime, and sweat, and tears."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a moment Treebeard stood under the rain of the falling spring, and took a deep breath; then he laughed, and passed inside. A great stone table stood there, but no chairs. At the back of the bay it was already quite dark. Treebeard lifted two great vessels and stood them on the table. They seemed to be filled with water; but he held his hands over them, and immediately they began to glow, one with a golden and the other with a rich green light; and the blending of the two lights lit the bay, as if the sun of summer was shining through a roof of young leaves. Looking back, the hobbits saw that the trees insome red as copper; while the tree-trunks looked like pillars moulded out of luminous stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "Legolas watched them for a while with a smile upon his lips, and then he turned to the others. \u2018The 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 \u2013 an Elf.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "They shall be pledges of your conduct, to be returned later, if you merit them.\u2019 Saruman\u2019s face grew livid, twisted with rage, and a red light was kindled in his eyes. He laughed wildly. \u2018Later!\u2019 he cried, and his voice rose to a scream. \u2018Later! Yes, when you also have the Keys of Barad-du\u02c6r itself, I suppose; and the crowns of seven kings, and the rods of the Five Wizards, and have purchased yourself a pair of boots many sizes larger than those that you wear now. A modest plan."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Twenty-one!\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "The farmer looked at him closely. \u2018Well, if it isn\u2019t Master Pippin \u2013 Mr. Peregrin Took, I should say!\u2019 he cried, changing from a scowl to a grin. \u2018It\u2019s a long time since I saw you round here. It\u2019s lucky for you that I know you. I was just going out to set my dogs on any strangers. There are some funny things going on today. Of course, we do get queer folk wandering in these parts at times. Too near the River,\u2019 he said, shaking his head. \u2018But this fellow was the most outlandish I have ever set eyes on. He won\u2019t cross my land without\u2018Then you haven\u2019t seen him?\u2019 said the farmer. \u2018He went up the lane towards the causeway not a long while back. He was a funny customer and asking funny questions. But perhaps you\u2019ll come along inside, and we\u2019ll pass the news more comfortable. I\u2019ve a drop of good ale on tap, if you and your friends are willing, Mr. Took.\u2019 It seemed plain that the farmer would tell them more, if allowed to do it in his own time and fashion, so they all accepted the invitation."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do you remember that bit of rabbit, Mr. Frodo?\u2019 he said. \u2018And our place under the warm bank in Captain Faramir\u2019s country, the day I saw an oliphaunt?\u2019water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I begin to see it even with my waking eyes, and all else fades.\u2019 Sam went to him and kissed his hand. \u2018Then the sooner we\u2019re rid of it, the sooner to rest,\u2019 he said haltingly, finding no better words to say. \u2018Talking won\u2019t mend nothing,\u2019 he muttered to himself, as he gathered up all the things that they had chosen to cast away. He was not willing to leave them lying open in the wilderness for any eyes to see. \u2018Stinker picked up that orc-shirt, seemingly, and he isn\u2019t going to add a sword to it. His hands are bad enough when empty. And he isn\u2019t going to mess with my pans!\u2019 With that he carried all the gear away to one of the many gaping fissures that scored the land and threw them in. The clatter of his precious pans as they fell down into the dark was like a death-knell to his heart."
    },
    {
        "text": "Brazen trumpets sounded. The enemy surged forward, some against the Deeping Wall, others towards the causeway and the ramp that led up to the Hornburg-gates. There the hugest Orcs were mustered, and the wild men of the Dunland fells. A moment they hesitated and then on they came. The lightning flashed, and blazoned upon every helm and shield the ghastly hand of Isengard was seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "Take such friends as are trusty and willing. Now you should be grateful, for I do not give this counsel gladly. The Elves have their own labours and their own sorrows, and they are little concerned with the ways of hobbits, or of any other creatures upon earth. Our paths cross theirs seldom, by chance or purpose. In this meeting there may be more than chance; but the purpose is not clear to me, and I fear to say too much.\u2019 \u2018I am deeply grateful,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but I wish you would tell me plainly what the Black Riders are. If I take your advice I may not see Gandalf for a long while, and I ought to know what is the danger that pursues me.\u2019 \u2018Is it not enough to know that they are servants of the Enemy?\u2019 answered Gildor. \u2018Flee them! Speak no words to them! They are deadly. Ask no more of me! But my heart forbodes that, ere all is ended, you, Frodo son of Drogo, will know more of these fell things than Gildor Inglorion. May Elbereth protect you!\u2019 \u2018But where shall I find courage?\u2019 asked Frodo. \u2018That is what I chiefly need.\u2019 \u2018Courage is found in unlikely places,\u2019 said Gildor. \u2018Be of goodshall know of your journey, and those that have power for good shall be on the watch. I name you Elf-friend; and may the stars shine upon the end of your road! Seldom have we had such delight in strangers, and it is fair to hear words of the Ancient Speech from the lips of other wanderers in the world.\u2019 Frodo felt sleep coming upon him, even as Gildor finished speak- ing. \u2018I will sleep now,\u2019 he said; and the Elf led him to a bower beside Pippin, and he threw himself upon a bed and fell at once into a dreamless slumber.Chapter 4 A SHORT CUT TO MUSHROOMS In the morning Frodo woke refreshed. He was lying in a bower made by a living tree with branches laced and drooping to the ground; his bed was of fern and grass, deep and soft and strangely fragrant. The sun was shining through the fluttering leaves, which were still green upon the tree. He jumped up and went out."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What about the dogs?\u2019 asked Frodo anxiously."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes I do!\u2019 replied Mugwort. \u2018And I mean what I say, what\u2019s more.\u2019 \u2018There\u2019s some mistake somewhere,\u2019 said Butterbur, shaking his head. \u2018There was too much of that Mr. Underhill to go vanishing into thin air; or into thick air, as is more likely in this room.\u2019 \u2018Well, where is he now?\u2019 cried several voices."
    },
    {
        "text": "Still, be careful now, if it\u2019s very cold!\u2019 The water was cool but not icy, and it had an unpleasant taste, at once bitter and oily, or so they would have said at home. Here it seemed beyond all praise, and beyond fear or prudence. They drank their fill, and Sam replenished his water-bottle. After that Frodo felt easier, and they went on for several miles, until the broadening of the road and the beginnings of a rough wall along its edge warned them that they were drawing near to another orc-hold."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly Gimli looked up, and there just on the edge of the firelight stood an old bent man, leaning on a staff, and wrapped in a great cloak; his wide-brimmed hat was pulled down over his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "There were many Bagginses and Boffins, and also many Tooks and Brandybucks; there were various Grubbs (relations of Bilbo Baggins\u2019 grandmother), and various Chubbs (connexions of his Took grand- father); and a selection of Burrowses, Bolgers, Bracegirdles, Brock- houses, Goodbodies, Hornblowers and Proudfoots. Some of these were only very distantly connected with Bilbo, and some had hardly ever been in Hobbiton before, as they lived in remote corners of the Shire. The Sackville-Bagginses were not forgotten. Otho and his wife Lobelia were present. They disliked Bilbo and detested Frodo, but so magnificent was the invitation card, written in golden ink, that they had felt it was impossible to refuse. Besides, their cousin, Bilbo, had been specializing in food for many years and his table had a high reputation."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wonder,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018Accident, then. That accident has made your position dangerous.\u2019 \u2018Hardlymorethanitwasalready,\u2019saidFrodo.\u2018Iknewthesehorse-\u2018You must not count on that!\u2019 said Strider sharply. \u2018They will return. And more are coming. There are others. I know their number."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo was crushed by the news. How could they hope to reach Rivendell on foot, pursued by mounted enemies? They might as well set out for the Moon. Strider sat silent for a while, looking at the hobbits, as if he was weighing up their strength and courage."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And what is he doing in this part of the world?\u2019 \u2018There are some Men about,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Down in the South- farthing they have had trouble with Big People, I believe. But I have never heard of anything like this rider. I wonder where he comes from.\u2019 \u2018Begging your pardon,\u2019 put in Sam suddenly, \u2018I know where he comes from. It\u2019s from Hobbiton that this here black rider comes, unless there\u2019s more than one. And I know where he\u2019s going to.\u2019 \u2018What do you mean?\u2019 said Frodo sharply, looking at him in aston- ishment. \u2018Why didn\u2019t you speak up before?\u2019 \u2018I have only just remembered, sir. It was like this: when I got back to our hole yesterday evening with the key, my dad, he says to me: Hallo, Sam! he says. I thought you were away with Mr. Frodo this morning. There\u2019s been a strange customer asking for Mr. Baggins of Bag End, and he\u2019s only just gone. I\u2019ve sent him on to Bucklebury. Not that I liked the sound of him. He seemed mighty put out, when I told him Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "After lunch, the Sackville-Bagginses, Lobelia and her sandy-haired son, Lotho, turned up, much to Frodo\u2019s annoyance. \u2018Ours at last!\u2019 said Lobelia, as she stepped inside. It was not polite; nor strictly true, for the sale of Bag End did not take effect until midnight. But Lobelia canperhapsbeforgiven:shehadbeenobligedtowaitaboutseventy-she had paid for had been carried off; and she wanted the keys. It took a long while to satisfy her, as she had brought a complete inven- tory with her and went right through it. In the end she departed with Lotho and the spare key and the promise that the other key would be left at the Gamgees\u2019 in Bagshot Row. She snorted, and showed plainly that she thought the Gamgees capable of plundering the hole during the night. Frodo did not offer her any tea."
    },
    {
        "text": "Behind them orc-archers crowded, sending a hail of darts against the bowmen on the walls. They gained the gates. The trees, swung by strong arms, smote the timbers with a rending boom. If any man fell, crushed by a stone hurtling from above, two others sprang to take his place. Again and again the great rams swung and crashed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I think that the enemy brought his own enemy with him,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018These are Northern Orcs from far away. Among the slain are none of the great Orcs with the strange badges. There was a quarrel, I guess: it is no uncommon thing with these foul folk."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Of all the confounded nuisances you are the worst, Sam!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And now I will answer Galdor\u2019s other questions. What of Saruman? What are his counsels to us in this need? This tale I must tell in full, for only Elrond has heard it yet, and that in brief; but it will bear on all that we must resolve. It is the last chapter in the Tale of the Ring, so far as it has yet gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing? Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing? Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow; The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow."
    },
    {
        "text": "We come, we come with roll of drum: ta-runda runda runda rom! The Ents were coming: ever nearer and louder rose their song: We come, we come with horn and drum: ta-ru\u00afna ru\u00afna ru\u00afna rom!Before long they saw the marching line approaching: the Ents were swinging along with great strides down the slope towards them."
    },
    {
        "text": "After some time he returned. \u2018Follow me!\u2019 he said. \u2018The\u00b4oden gives you leave to enter; but any weapon that you bear, be it only a staff, you must leave on the threshold. The doorwardens will keep them.\u2019 The dark gates were swung open. The travellers entered, walking infilebehindtheirguide.Theyfoundabroadpath,pavedwithhewnBeside the way in a stone channel a stream of clear water flowed, sparkling and chattering. At length they came to the crown of the hill. There stood a high platform above a green terrace, at the foot of which a bright spring gushed from a stone carved in the likeness of a horse\u2019s head; beneath was a wide basin from which the water spilled and fed the falling stream. Up the green terrace went a stair of stone, high and broad, and on either side of the topmost step were stone-hewn seats. There sat other guards, with drawn swords laid upon their knees. Their golden hair was braided on their shoulders; the sun was blazoned upon their green shields, their long corslets were burnished bright, and when they rose taller they seemed than mortal men."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 cracked 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Indeed Cousin Brandybuck is going in front now. This is where he comes in. I don\u2019t suppose you have much notion where we are; but IspentmytimeatRivendellratherbetter.WearewalkingwestalongEven as he spoke the dark edge of the forest loomed up straight before them. Night seemed to have taken refuge under its great trees, creeping away from the coming Dawn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Of course he started with a lot of property in the Southfarthing which he had from his dad; and it seems he\u2019d been selling a lot o\u2019 the best leaf, and sending it away quietly for a year or two. But at the end o\u2019 last year he began sending away loads of stuff, not only leaf. Things began to get short, and winter coming on, too. Folk got angry, but he had his answer. A lot of Men, ruffians mostly, came with great waggons, some to carry off the goods south-away, and others to stay. And more came. And before we knew where we were they were planted here and there all over the Shire, and were felling trees and digging and building themselves sheds and houses just as they liked. At first goods and damage was paid for by Pimple; but soon they began lording it around and taking what they wanted."
    },
    {
        "text": "In Dwimordene, in Lo\u00b4rien Seldom have walked the feet of Men, Few mortal eyes have seen the light That lies there ever, long and bright."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Frodo! Mr. Frodo, my dear!\u2019 cried Sam, tears almost blinding him. \u2018It\u2019s Sam, I\u2019ve come!\u2019 He half lifted his master and hugged him to his breast. Frodo opened his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "Altogether there were about two dozen standing on the wide grassy floor of the dingle, and as many more were marching in."
    },
    {
        "text": "Easy to find Orcs east of the River. Don\u2019t ask Sme\u00b4agol. Poor, poor Sme\u00b4agol, he went away long ago. They took his Precious, and he\u2019s lost now.\u2019 \u2018Perhaps we\u2019ll find him again, if you come with us,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Which way has Gollum gone?\u2019 panted Sam. \u2018And why didn\u2019t he wait?\u2019 \u2018Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 said Frodo, trying to call. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 But his voice croaked, and the name fell dead almost as it left his lips. There was no answer, not an echo, not even a tremor of the air."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Must get up, yes they must!\u2019 he said. \u2018Long ways to go still, south and east. Hobbits must make haste!\u2019 That day passed much as the day before had gone, except that the silence seemed deeper; the air grew heavy, and it began to be stifling under the trees. It felt as if thunder was brewing. Gollum often paused, sniffing the air, and then he would mutter to himself and urge them to greater speed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Deeping Wall is taken, lord, and all the defence swept away; but many have escaped hither to the Rock.\u2019 \u2018Is E\u00b4 omer here?\u2019 \u2018No, lord. But many of your men retreated into the Deep; and some say that E\u00b4 omer was amongst them. In the narrows they may hold back the enemy and come within the caves. What hope they may have then I do not know.\u2019 \u2018More than we. Good provision, it is said. And the air is wholesome there because of the outlets through fissures in the rock far above."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They rested here a while,\u2019 he said, \u2018but even the outward trail is already old. I fear that your heart spoke truly, Legolas: it is thrice twelve hours, I guess, since the Orcs stood where we now stand. If they held to their pace, then at sundown yesterday they would reach the borders of Fangorn.\u2019 \u2018I can see nothing away north or west but grass dwindling into mist,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Could we see the forest, if we climbed the hills?\u2019 \u2018It is still far away,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018If I remember rightly, these downs run eight leagues or more to the north, and then north-west to the issuing of the Entwash there lies still a wide land, another fifteen leagues it may be.\u2019 \u2018Well, let us go on,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018My legs must forget the miles.The sun was sinking when at last they drew near to the end of the line of downs. For many hours they had marched without rest. They were going slowly now, and Gimli\u2019s back was bent. Stone-hard are the Dwarves in labour or journey, but this endless chase began to tell on him, as all hope failed in his heart. Aragorn walked behind him, grim and silent, stooping now and again to scan some print or mark upon the ground. Only Legolas still stepped as lightly as ever, his feet hardly seeming to press the grass, leaving no footprints as he passed; but in the waybread of the Elves he found all the sustenance that he needed, and he could sleep, if sleep it could be called by Men, resting his mind in the strange paths of Elvish dreams, even as he walked open-eyed in the light of this world."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf stood at Frodo\u2019s side and looked out under his hand. \u2018We have done well,\u2019 he said. \u2018We 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Indeed in this riding north I went without the king\u2019s leave, for in my absence his house is left with little guard. But scouts warned me of the orc-host coming down out of the East Wall four nights ago, and among them they reported that some bore the white badges of Saruman. So suspecting what I most fear, a league between Orthanc and the Dark Tower, I led forth my e\u00b4ored, men of my own household; and we overtook the Orcs at nightfall two days ago, near to the borders of the Entwood. There we surrounded them, and gave battle yesterday at dawn. Fifteen of my men I lost, and twelve horses alas! For the Orcs were greater in number than we counted on. Others joined them, coming out of the East across the Great River: their trail is plain to see a little north of this spot. And others, too, came out of the forest. Great Orcs, who also bore the White Hand of Isengard: that kind is stronger and more fell than all others."
    },
    {
        "text": "Call us, if anything is amiss! And have an eye on that dwarf !\u2019 Legolas at once went down the ladder to take Haldir\u2019s message; and soon afterwards Merry and Pippin clambered up on to the high flet. They were out of breath and seemed rather scared."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Celeborn warned us not to go far into Fangorn,\u2019 he said. \u2018Do you know why, Aragorn? What are the fables of the forest that Boromir had heard?\u2019 \u2018I have heard many tales in Gondor and elsewhere,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018but if it were not for the words of Celeborn I should deem them only fables that Men have made as true knowledge fades. I had thought of asking you what was the truth of the matter. And if an Elf of the wood does not know, how shall a Man answer?\u2019 \u2018You have journeyed further than I,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018I have heard nothing of this in my own land, save only songs that tell how the Onodrim, that Men call Ents, dwelt there long ago; for Fangorn is old, old even as the Elves would reckon it.\u2019 \u2018Yes, it is old,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018as old as the forest by the Barrow- downs, and it is far greater. Elrond says that the two are akin, the last strongholds of the mighty woods of the Elder Days, in which the Firstborn roamed while Men still slept. Yet Fangorn holds some secret of its own. What it is I do not know.\u2019 \u2018And I do not wish to know,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Let nothing that dwells in Fangorn be troubled on my account!\u2019 They now drew lots for the watches, and the lot for the first watch fell to Gimli. The others lay down. Almost at once sleep laid hold on them. \u2018Gimli!\u2019 said Aragorn drowsily. \u2018Remember, it is perilous to cut bough or twig from a living tree in Fangorn. But do not stray far in search of dead wood. Let the fire die rather! Call me at need!\u2019 With that he fell asleep. Legolas already lay motionless, his fair hands folded upon his breast, his eyes unclosed, blending living night and deep dream, as is the way with Elves. Gimli sat hunched by the fire, running his thumb thoughtfully along the edge of his axe. The tree rustled. There was no other sound."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You will have no claim,\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018I shall lead you well, and the paths are smooth and straight.\u2019 \u2018Alas for the folly of these days!\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Here all are enemies of the one Enemy, and yet I must walk blind, while the sun is merry in the woodland under leaves of gold!\u2019 \u2018Folly it may seem,\u2019 said Haldir. \u2018Indeed 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 Lothlo\u00b4rien, unless maybe in Riven- dell, 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Have you got it \u2013 either of you?\u2019 he snarled."
    },
    {
        "text": "So Mr. Frodo is his first and second cousin, once removed either way, as the saying is, if you follow me. And Mr. Drogo was staying at Brandy Hall with his father-in-law, old Master Gorbadoc, as he often did after his marriage (him being partial to his vittles, and old Gorbadoc keeping a mighty generous table); and he went out boating on the Brandywine River; and he and his wife were drownded, and poor Mr. Frodo only a child and all.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ve heard they went on the water after dinner in the moonlight,\u2019 said Old Noakes; \u2018and it was Drogo\u2019s weight as sunk the boat.\u2019 \u2018And I heard she pushed him in, and he pulled her in after him,\u2019 said Sandyman, the Hobbiton miller."
    },
    {
        "text": "There had been the first ride at terrible speed without a halt, and then in the dawn he had seen a pale gleam of gold, and they had come to the silent town and the great empty house on the hill. And hardly had they reached its shelter when the winged shadow had passed over once again, and men wilted with fear. But Gandalf had spoken soft words to him, and he had slept in a corner, tired but uneasy, dimly aware of comings and goings and of men talking and Gandalf giving orders. And then again riding, riding in the night."
    },
    {
        "text": "That has not happened in this Forest since the wars of Sauron and the Men of the Sea. It is the orc-work, the wanton hewing \u2013 ra\u00b4rumWizards ought to know better: they do know better. There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men bad enough for such treachery. Down with Saruman!\u2019 \u2018Will you really break the doors of Isengard?\u2019 asked Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Strider! How splendid! Do you know, I guessed it was you in the black ships. But they were all shouting corsairs and wouldn\u2019t listen to me. How did you do it?\u2019 Aragorn laughed, and took the hobbit by the hand. \u2018Well met indeed!\u2019 he said. \u2018But there is not time yet for travellers\u2019 tales.\u2019 But Imrahil said to E\u00b4omer: \u2018Is it thus that we speak to our kings? Yet maybe he will wear his crown in some other name!\u2019 And Aragorn hearing him, turned and said: \u2018Verily, for in the high tongue of old I am Elessar, the Elfstone, and Envinyatar, the Renewer\u2019: and he lifted from his breast the green stone that lay there."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The realm of Sauron is ended!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018The Ring-bearer has fulfilled his Quest.\u2019 And as the Captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed; and then a hush fell."
    },
    {
        "text": "And he lifted up Gandalf and sped away south, and with him went Landroval, and Meneldor young and swift. And they passed over Udu\u02c6n and Gorgoroth and saw all the land in ruin and tumult beneath them, and before them Mount Doom blazing, pouring out its fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Drink this!\u2019 said Glorfindel to them, pouring for each in turn a little liquor from his silver-studded flask of leather. It was clear as spring water and had no taste, and it did not feel either cool or warm in the mouth; but strength and vigour seemed to flow into all their limbs as they drank it. Eaten after that draught the stale bread and dried fruit (which was now all that they had left) seemed to satisfyThey had rested rather less than five hours when they took to the Road again. Glorfindel still urged them on, and only allowed two brief halts during the day\u2019s march. In this way they covered almost twenty miles before nightfall, and came to a point where the Road bent right and ran down towards the bottom of the valley, now making straight for the Bruinen. So far there had been no sign or sound of pursuit that the hobbits could see or hear; but often Glorfindel would halt and listen for a moment, if they lagged behind, and a look of anxiety clouded his face. Once or twice he spoke to Strider in the elf-tongue."
    },
    {
        "text": "But I did not think so. Did you hear them, Legolas? Did they sound to you like beasts in terror?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018I heard them clearly. But for the darkness and our own fear I should have guessed that they were beasts wild with some sudden gladness. They spoke as horses will when they meet a friend that they have long missed.\u2019 \u2018So I thought,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018but I cannot read the riddle, unless they return. Come! The light is growing fast. Let us look first and guess later! We should begin here, near to our own camping-ground, searching carefully all about, and working up the slope towards the forest. To find the hobbits is our errand, whatever we may think of our visitor in the night. If they escaped by some chance, then they must have hidden in the trees, or they would have been seen. If we find nothing between here and the eaves of the wood, then we will make a last search upon the battle-field and among the ashes. But there is little hope there: the horsemen of Rohan did their work too well.\u2019hanging limp, and rattling in the chill easterly wind. Aragorn moved slowly away. He came to the ashes of the watch-fire near the river- bank, and then began to retrace the ground back towards the knoll where the battle had been fought. Suddenly he stooped and bent low with his face almost in the grass. Then he called to the others. They came running up."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No!\u2019 said Gollum, and then he squealed, as if something had stabbed him. \u2018Yes, yes, we heard the name once. But what does the name matter to us? Master says he must get in. So we must try some way. There is no other way to try, no.\u2019 \u2018No other way?\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018How do you know that? And who has explored all the confines of that dark realm?\u2019 He looked long and thoughtfully at Gollum. Presently he spoke again. \u2018Take this creature away, Anborn. Treat him gently, but watch him. And do not you, Sme\u00b4agol, try to dive into the falls. The rocks have such teeth there as would slay you before your time. Leave us now and take your fish!\u2019 Anborn went out and Gollum went cringing before him. The curtain was drawn across the recess."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then I felt terrified, and I turned back, and was just going to bolt home, when something came behind me and I...I fell over.\u2019 \u2018I found him, sir,\u2019 put in Nob. \u2018Mr. Butterbur sent me out with a lantern. I went down to West-gate, and then back up towards South-gate. Just nigh Bill Ferny\u2019s house I thought I could see some- thing in the Road. I couldn\u2019t swear to it, but it looked to me as if two men was stooping over something, lifting it. I gave a shout, but when I got up to the spot there was no signs of them, and only Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "But when would it come? The night seemed endless and timeless, minute after minute falling dead and adding up to no passing hour, bringing no change. Sam began to wonder if a second darkness had begun and no day would ever reappear. At last he groped for Frodo\u2019s hand. It was cold and trembling. His master was shivering."
    },
    {
        "text": "And now he was face to face with a furious enemy, little less than his own size. This fight was not for him. Sam swept up his swordSam could reach him, he was off, running with amazing speed back towards the tunnel."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And it might draw other things, neither Orc nor Hobbit,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018We are near to the mountain-marches of the traitor Saruman. Also we are on the very edge of Fangorn, and it is perilous to touch the trees of that wood, it is said.\u2019 \u2018But the Rohirrim made a great burning here yesterday,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018and they felled trees for the fire, as can be seen. Yet they passed the night after safely here, when their labour was ended.\u2019 \u2018They were many,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018and they do not heed the wrath of Fangorn, for they come here seldom, and they do not go under the trees. But our paths are likely to lead us into the very forest itself."
    },
    {
        "text": "They bowed, but with a wave of her arm she bade them look round; and they looked out from the hill-top over lands under the morning."
    },
    {
        "text": "Aragorn and Gandalf walked together or sat speaking of their road and the perils they would meet; and they pondered the storied and figured maps and books of lore that were in the house of Elrond."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Still that must be expected,\u2019 said Gandalf to himself. \u2018He is not half through yet, and to what he will come in the end not even Elrond can foretell. Not to evil, I think. He may become like a glass filled with a clear light for eyes to see that can.\u2019 \u2018You look splendid,\u2019 he said aloud. \u2018I will risk a brief tale without consulting Elrond. But quite brief, mind you, and then you must sleep again. This is what happened, as far as I can gather. The Riders made straight for you, as soon as you fled. They did not need the guidance of their horses any longer: you had become visible to them, being already on the threshold of their world. And also the Ring drew them. Your friends sprang aside, off the road, or they would have been ridden down. They knew that nothing could save you, if the white horse could not. The Riders were too swift to overtake, and too many to oppose. On foot even Glorfindel and Aragorn togetherClose to the Ford there is a small hollow beside the road masked by a few stunted trees. There they hastily kindled fire; for Glorfindel knew that a flood would come down, if the Riders tried to cross, and then he would have to deal with any that were left on his side of the river. The moment the flood appeared, he rushed out, followed by Aragorn and the others with flaming brands. Caught between fire and water, and seeing an Elf-lord revealed in his wrath, they were dismayed, and their horses were stricken with madness. Three were carried away by the first assault of the flood; the others were now hurled into the water by their horses and overwhelmed.\u2019 \u2018And is that the end of the Black Riders?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 two pale eyes. They stopped and gazed upward unwinking."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes sir, and showed your quality: the very highest.\u2019 Faramir smiled. \u2018A pert servant, Master Samwise. But nay: the praise of the praiseworthy is above all rewards. Yet there was naught in this to praise. I had no lure or desire to do other than I have done.\u2019 \u2018Ah well, sir,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018you said my master had an Elvish air; and that was good and true. But I can say this: you have an air too, sir, that reminds me of, of \u2013 well, Gandalf, of wizards.\u2019 \u2018Maybe,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018Maybe you discern from far away the air of Nu\u00b4 menor. Good night!\u2019Chapter 6 THE FORBIDDEN POOL Frodo woke to find Faramir bending over him. For a second old fears seized him and he sat up and shrank away."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last Tom and Goldberry rose and cleared the table swiftly. The guests were commanded to sit quiet, and were set in chairs, each with a footstool to his tired feet. There was a fire in the wide hearth before them, and it was burning with a sweet smell, as if it were built of apple-wood. When everything was set in order, all the lights in the room were put out, except one lamp and a pair of candles at each end of the chimney-shelf. Then Goldberry came and stood before them, holding a candle; and she wished them each a good night and deep sleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But he still lived when I left him. Yet he is resolved to stay with the rearguard, lest the retreat over the Pelennor become a rout. He may, perhaps, hold his men together long enough, but I doubt it. He is pitted against a foe too great. For one has come that I feared.\u2019 \u2018Not \u2013 the Dark Lord?\u2019 cried Pippin, forgetting his place in his terror."
    },
    {
        "text": "Heopenedhiseyesandlookedupastheycamein.\u2018Hullo,hullo!\u2019twenty-nine? And in one year more, if I am spared, I shall equal the Old Took. I should like to beat him; but we shall see.\u2019 After the celebration of Bilbo\u2019s birthday the four hobbits stayed in Rivendell for some days, and they sat much with their old friend, who spent most of his time now in his room, except at meals. For these he was still very punctual as a rule, and he seldom failed to wake up in time for them. Sitting round the fire they told him in turn all that they could remember of their journeys and adventures."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 it the shore rose sheer into a grey cliff, and there was no further passage for those on foot."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo and Sam were led apart and brought to a tent, and there their old raiment was taken off, but folded and set aside with honour; and clean linen was given to them. Then Gandalf came and in his arms, to the wonder of Frodo, he bore the sword and the elven-cloak and the mithril-coat that had been taken from him in Mordor. For Sam he brought a coat of gilded mail, and his elven-cloak all healed of the soils and hurts that it had suffered; and then he laid before\u2018Tonight at least you should wear one,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Of course not!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Who would? But the question is: who will follow me, if I lead you there?\u2019 \u2018I will,\u2019 said Gimli eagerly."
    },
    {
        "text": "There agelong she had dwelt, an evil thing in spider-form, even such as once of old had lived in the Land of the Elves in the West that is now under the Sea, such as Beren fought in the Mountains of Terror in Doriath, and so came to Lu\u00b4thien upon the green sward amid the hemlocks in the moonlight long ago. How Shelob came there, flying from ruin, no tale tells, for out of the Dark Years few tales have come. But still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-du\u02c6r; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness. Far and wide her lesser broods, bastards of the miserable mates, her own offspring, that she slew, spread from glen to glen, from the Ephel Du\u00b4ath to the eastern hills, to Dol Guldur and the fastnesses of Mirkwood. But none could rival her, Shelob the Great, last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world."
    },
    {
        "text": "They came at length to the edge of the shelf almost at the feet of the old stump; then they sprang up and turned round with their backs to the hill, breathing deep, and looking out eastward. They saw that they had only come some three or four miles into the forest: the heads of the trees marched down the slopes towards the plain. There, near the fringe of the forest, tall spires of curling black smoke went up, wavering and floating towards them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam heard him and crawled with an effort to the edge. \u2018Master, master!\u2019 he called. \u2018Master!\u2019 He heard no answer. He found he was shaking all over, but he gathered his breath, and once again he shouted: \u2018Master!\u2019 The wind seemed to blow his voice back into his throat, but as it passed, roaring up the gully and away over the hills, a faint answering cry came to his ears: \u2018All right, all right! I\u2019m here. But I can\u2019t see.\u2019 Frodo was calling with a weak voice. He was not actually very far away. He had slid and not fallen, and had come up with a jolt to hishim against the cliff, so that he had not toppled over. He steadied himself a little, laying his face against the cold stone, feeling his heart pounding. But either the darkness had grown complete, or else his eyes had lost their sight. All was black about him. He wondered if he had been struck blind. He took a deep breath."
    },
    {
        "text": "They picked up two shields to complete their disguise and then went on."
    },
    {
        "text": "Says he\u2019s hungry.\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t worry!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018There\u2019s no help for it. But he\u2019ll come back, you\u2019ll see. The promise will hold yet a while. And he won\u2019t leave his Precious, anyway.\u2019 Frodo made light of it when he learned that they had slept soundly for hours with Gollum, and a very hungry Gollum too, loose beside them. \u2018Don\u2019t think of any of your gaffer\u2019s hard names,\u2019 he said. \u2018You were worn out, and it has turned out well: we are now both rested."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then you shall go with me,\u2019 said the Rider. \u2018I will bear you before me, under my cloak until we are far afield, and this darkness is yet darker. Such good will should not be denied. Say no more to any man, but come!\u2019 \u2018Thank you indeed!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Thank you, sir, though I do not know your name.\u2019 \u2018Do you not?\u2019 said the Rider softly. \u2018Then call me Dernhelm.\u2019 Thus it came to pass that when the king set out, before Dernhelm sat Meriadoc the hobbit, and the great grey steed Windfola made little of the burden; for Dernhelm was less in weight than many men, though lithe and well-knit in frame."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Many long lives of men it is since the golden hall was built.\u2019 \u2018Five hundred times have the red leaves fallen in Mirkwood in my home since then,\u2019 said Legolas, \u2018and but a little while does that seem to us.\u2019 \u2018But to the Riders of the Mark it seems so long ago,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018that the raising of this house is but a memory of song, and the years beforearelostinthemistoftime.Nowtheycallthislandtheirhome,Elf and Dwarf; yet they listened, for there was a strong music in it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam caught his master in his arms, as he stumbled and almost fell, right on the threshold of the bridge."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Tell me,\u2019 he said, \u2018is there any hope? For Frodo, I mean; or at least mostly for Frodo.\u2019 Gandalf put his hand on Pippin\u2019s head. \u2018There never was much hope,\u2019 he answered. \u2018Just a fool\u2019s hope, as I have been told. And when I heard of Cirith Ungol\u2014\u2014\u2019 He broke off and strode to the window, as if his eyes could pierce the night in the East. \u2018Cirith Ungol!\u2019 he muttered. \u2018Why that way, I wonder?\u2019 He turned. \u2018Just now, Pippin, my heart almost failed me, hearing that name. And yet in truth I believe that the news that Faramir brings has some hope in it."
    },
    {
        "text": "But when Sauron returned and grew in might again, Isildur sum- moned the Men of the Mountains to fulfil their oath, and they would not: for they had worshipped Sauron in the Dark Years."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nay! The riders are little more than five leagues distant,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "The door would be closed, and they would be left outside, dismissed to await allotted work or punishment. Even in the mind of The\u00b4oden the thought took shape, like a shadow of doubt: \u2018He will betray us; he will go \u2013 we shall be lost.\u2019 Then Gandalf laughed. The fantasy vanished like a puff of smoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin left him and called for the servants, and they came: six men of the household, strong and fair; yet they trembled at the summons. But in a quiet voice Denethor bade them lay warm cover- lets on Faramir\u2019s bed and take it up. And they did so, and lifting up the bed they bore it from the chamber. Slowly they paced to trouble the fevered man as little as might be, and Denethor, now bending on a staff, followed them; and last came Pippin.flickers of dull red. Softly they paced the great courtyard, and at a word from Denethor halted beside the Withered Tree."
    },
    {
        "text": "We have not the Ring. In wisdom or great folly it has been sent away to be destroyed, lest it destroy us. Without it we cannot by force defeat his force. But we must at all costs keep his Eye from his true peril. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give the Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come on! Follow me!\u2019 he called back over his shoulder, and he hurried forward. But his hope soon changed to bewilderment and alarm. The dark patches grew darker, but they shrank; and suddenly he saw, towering ominous before him and leaning slightly towardsvalley, when he looked out from the hill in the morning. He had passed between them almost before he was aware: and even as he did so darkness seemed to fall round him. His pony reared and snorted, and he fell off. When he looked back he found that he was alone: the others had not followed him."
    },
    {
        "text": "He began to say to himself: \u2018Perhaps I shall cross the River myself one day.\u2019 To which the other half of his mind always replied: \u2018Not yet.\u2019 So it went on, until his forties were running out, and his fiftieth birthday was drawing near: fifty was a number that he felt was some- how significant (or ominous); it was at any rate at that age that adventure had suddenly befallen Bilbo. Frodo began to feel restless, and the old paths seemed too well-trodden. He looked at maps, and wondered what lay beyond their edges: maps made in the Shire showed mostly white spaces beyond its borders. He took to wandering further afield and more often by himself; and Merry and his other friends watched him anxiously. Often he was seen walking and talking with the strange wayfarers that began at this time to appear in the Shire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Things go ill, my friends,\u2019 he said, wiping the sweat from his brow with his arm."
    },
    {
        "text": "The light faded, and the leaves on the bushes rustled softly. Clearer and nearer now the bells jingled, and clippety-clip came the quick trotting feet. Suddenly into view below came a white horse, gleaming in the shadows, running swiftly. In the dusk its headstall flickered and flashed, as if it were studded with gems like living stars. The rider\u2019s cloak streamed behind him, and his hood was thrown back; his golden hair flowed shimmering in the wind of his speed. To Frodo it appeared that a white light was shining through the form and raiment of the rider, as if through a thin veil."
    },
    {
        "text": "They faded swiftly and softly into the darkness. Over all the leagues of waste before the gates of Mordor there was a black silence.Chapter 2 THE PASSAGE OF THE MARSHES Gollum moved quickly, with his head and neck thrust forward, often using his hands as well as his feet. Frodo and Sam were hard put to it to keep up with him; but he seemed no longer to have any thought of escaping, and if they fell behind, he would turn and wait for them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is a great power in them, and they seem able to wrap themselves in shadow: it is difficult to see them moving. But they do. They can move very quickly, if they are angry. You stand still looking at the weather, maybe, or listening to the rustling of the wind, and then suddenly you find that you are in the middle of a wood with great groping trees all around you. They still have voices, and can speak with the Ents \u2013 that is why they are called Huorns, Tree- beard says \u2013 but they have become queer and wild. Dangerous. I should be terrified of meeting them, if there were no true Ents about to look after them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Ents made up their minds rather quickly, after all, didn\u2019t they?\u2019 Pippin ventured to say after some time, when for a moment the singing paused, and only the beating of hands and feet was heard."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, theown tongue. The Lady Galadriel said no word but looked long upon his face."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Faramir! The Lord Faramir! It is his call!\u2019 cried Beregond. \u2018Brave heart! But how can he win to the Gate, if these foul hell-hawks have other weapons than fear? But look! They hold on. They will make the Gate. No! the horses are running mad. Look! the men are thrown; they are running on foot. No, one is still up, but he rides back to the others. That will be the Captain: he can master both beasts and men."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018When we came, we meant to go straight from Isengard back to the king\u2019s house at Edoras over the plains, a ride of some days. But we have taken thought and changed the plan. Messengers have gone ahead to Helm\u2019s Deep, to warn them that the king is returning tomorrow. He will ride from there with many men to Dunharrow by paths among the hills. From now on no more than two or three together are to go openly over the land, by day or night, when it can be avoided.\u2019 \u2018Nothing or a double helping is your way!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I am afraid I was not looking beyond tonight\u2019s bed. Where and what are Helm\u2019s Deep and all the rest of it? I don\u2019t know anything about this country.\u2019 \u2018Then you\u2019d best learn something, if you wish to understand what is happening. But not just now, and not from me: I have too many pressing things to think about.\u2019 \u2018All right, I\u2019ll tackle Strider by the camp-fire: he\u2019s less testy. But why all this secrecy? I thought we\u2019d won the battle!\u2019 \u2018Yes, we have won, but only the first victory, and that in itself increases our danger. There was some link between Isengard and Mordor, which I have not yet fathomed. How they exchanged news I am not sure; but they did so. The Eye of Barad-du\u02c6r will be looking impatiently towards the Wizard\u2019s Vale, I think; and towards Rohan."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beyond the Morgai there was the dreadful plain of Gorgoroth to cross."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018you can\u2019t see nobody working it. No fireworks like poor old Gandalf used to show. I wonder we don\u2019t 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\u2019d dearly love to see some Elf-magic, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 \u2018I wouldn\u2019t,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I am content. And I don\u2019t miss Gandalf \u2019s fireworks, but his bushy eyebrows, and his quick temper, and his voice.\u2019 \u2018You\u2019re right,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And don\u2019t think I\u2019m finding fault. I\u2019ve often wanted to see a bit of magic like what it tells of in old tales, but I\u2019ve never heard of a better land than this. It\u2019s like being at home and on a holiday at the same time, if you understand me. I don\u2019t want to leave. All the same, I\u2019m beginning to feel that if we\u2019ve got to go on, then we\u2019d best get it over."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They are far far away,\u2019 he said sadly, turning to Aragorn. \u2018I know in my heart that they have not rested this night. Only an eagle could overtake them now.\u2019 \u2018Nonetheless we will still follow as we may,\u2019 said Aragorn. Stooping he roused the Dwarf. \u2018Come! We must go,\u2019 he said. \u2018The scent is growing cold.\u2019 \u2018But it is still dark,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Even Legolas on a hill-top could not see them till the Sun is up.\u2019 \u2018I fear they have passed beyond my sight from hill or plain, under moon or sun,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Galadriel!\u2019 he said faintly, and then he heard voices far off but clear: the crying of the Elves as they walked under the stars in the beloved shadows of the Shire, and the music of the Elves as it came through his sleep in the Hall of Fire in the house of Elrond."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I got here without much adventure,\u2019 he said, \u2018and after a rest I went on with the dwarves to Dale: my last journey. I shan\u2019t travel again. Old Balin had gone away. Then I came back here, and here I have been. I have done this and that. I have written some more of my book. And, of course, I make up a few songs. They sing them occasionally: just to please me, I think; for, of course, they aren\u2019t really good enough for Rivendell. And I listen and I think. Time doesn\u2019t seem to pass here: it just is. A remarkable place altogether."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look, my friends!\u2019 he called. \u2018Here\u2019s 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.\u2019 \u2018And all the arrows of all the hunters in the world would be in vain,\u2019 said Gimli, gazing at the mail in wonder. \u2018It is a mithril-coat."
    },
    {
        "text": "But now I don\u2019t suppose I\u2019ll ever see the old fellow again. He\u2019ll miss his chance of I told \u2019ee so, Sam: more\u2019s the pity. He could go on telling me as long as he\u2019d got breath, if only I could see his old face again. But I\u2019d have to get a wash first, or he wouldn\u2019t know me."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Faramir! Faramir!\u2019 men cried, weeping in the streets. But he did not answer, and they bore him away up the winding road to the Citadel and his father. Even as the Nazgu\u02c6 l had swerved aside from the onset of the White Rider, there came flying a deadly dart, and Faramir, as he held at bay a mounted champion of Harad, had fallen to the earth. Only the charge of Dol Amroth had saved him from the red southland swords that would have hewed him as he lay."
    },
    {
        "text": "Troll sat alone on his seat of stone, And munched and mumbled a bare old bone; For many a year he had gnawed it near, For meat was hard to come by."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, well!\u2019 said the wizard. \u2018The passage is blocked behind us now, and there is only one way out \u2013 on the other side of the moun- tains. 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 beautiful, and had stood so long.\u2019 \u2018I felt that something horrible was near from the moment that my foot first touched the water,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018What was the thing, or were there many of them?\u2019 \u2018I do not know,\u2019 answered Gandalf; \u2018but 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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Each palant\u00b4\u0131r replied to each, but all those in Gondor were ever open to the view of Osgiliath. Now it appears that, as the rock of Orthanc has withstood the storms of time, so there the palant\u00b4\u0131r of that tower has remained. But alone it could do nothing but see small images of things far off and days remote. Very useful, no doubt, that was to Saruman; yet it seems that he was not content. Further and further abroad he gazed, until he cast his gaze upon Barad-du\u02c6 r. Then he was caught! \u2018Who knows where the lost Stones of Arnor and Gondor now lie, buried, or drowned deep? But one at least Sauron must have obtained and mastered to his purposes. I guess that it was the Ithil-stone, for he took Minas Ithil long ago and turned it into an evil place: Minas Morgul, it has become."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There I was at fault,\u2019 he said. \u2018I was lulled by the words of Saruman the Wise; but I should have sought for the truth sooner, and our peril would now be less.\u2019 \u2018We were all at fault,\u2019 said Elrond, \u2018and but for your vigilance the Darkness, maybe, would already be upon us. But say on!\u2019 \u2018From the first my heart misgave me, against all reason that I knew,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and I desired to know how this thing came to Gollum, and how long he had possessed it. So I set a watch for him, guessing that he would ere long come forth from his darkness to seek for his treasure. He came, but he escaped and was not found. And then alas! I let the matter rest, watching and waiting only, as we have too often done."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The perishing is more likely, and will be a lot easier anyway,\u2019 he said grimly to himself, as he sheathed Sting and turned from the brazen doors. Slowly he groped his way back in the dark along the tunnel, not daring to use the elven-light; and as he went he tried to fit together the events since Frodo and he had left the Cross-roads."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin, not liking to show Strider that he was still afraid, went on ahead with Merry. Sam and Strider came behind, one on each side of Frodo\u2019s pony, for the path was now broad enough for four or five hobbits to walk abreast. But they had not gone very far before Pippin came running back, followed by Merry. They both looked terrified."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo followed them, feeling very wretched. They went through the opening behind the bushes, and back, down the stairs and pass- ages, into the cave. Two or three torches had been lit. Men were stirring. Sam was there, and he gave a queer look at the limp bundle that the men carried. \u2018Got him?\u2019 he said to Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "For Anduin, from the bend at the Harlond, so flowed that from the City men could look down it lengthwise for some leagues, and the far- sighted could see any ships that approached. And looking thither they cried in dismay; for black against the glittering stream they beheld a fleet borne up on the wind: dromunds, and ships of great draught with many oars, and with black sails bellying in the breeze."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All that you say is strange, Aragorn,\u2019 he said. \u2018Yet you speak the truth, that is plain: the Men of the Mark do not lie, and therefore they are not easily deceived. But you have not told all. Will you not now speak more fully of your errand, so that I may judge what to do?\u2019 \u2018I set out from Imladris, as it is named in the rhyme, many weeks ago,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018With me went Boromir of Minas Tirith."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have watched too long,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018There\u2019s Uglu\u00b4k! I don\u2019t want to meet him again.\u2019 The hobbits turned and fled deep into the shadows of the wood."
    },
    {
        "text": "They thought they were going to get Bag End, that time when he went off and was thought to be dead. And then he comes back and orders them off; and he goes on living and living, and never looking a day older, bless him! And suddenly he produces an heir, and has all the papers made out proper. The Sackville-Bagginses won\u2019t never see the inside of Bag End now, or it is to be hoped not.\u2019 \u2018There\u2019s a tidy bit of money tucked away up there, I hear tell,\u2019 said a stranger, a visitor on business from Michel Delving in the Westfarthing. \u2018All the top of your hill is full of tunnels packed with chests of gold and silver, and jools, by what I\u2019ve heard.\u2019 \u2018Then you\u2019ve heard more than I can speak to,\u2019 answered the Gaffer. \u2018I know nothing about jools. Mr. Bilbo is free with his money, and there seems no lack of it; but I know of no tunnel-making. I saw Mr. Bilbo when he came back, a matter of sixty years ago, when I was a lad. I\u2019d not long come prentice to old Holman (him being my dad\u2019s cousin), but he had me up at Bag End helping him to keepa pony and some mighty big bags and a couple of chests. I don\u2019t doubt they were mostly full of treasure he had picked up in foreign parts, where there be mountains of gold, they say; but there wasn\u2019t enough to fill tunnels. But my lad Sam will know more about that."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last Gollum turned to the hobbits. \u2018Day soon,\u2019 he said. \u2018Hobbits must hurry. Not safe to stay in the open in these places. Make haste!\u2019 He quickened his pace, and they followed him wearily. Soon they began to climb up on to a great hog-back of land. For the most part it was covered with a thick growth of gorse and whortleberry, and low tough thorns, though here and there clearings opened, the scars of recent fires. The gorse-bushes became more frequent as they got nearer the top; very old and tall they were, gaunt and leggy below but thick above, and already putting out yellow flowers that glimmered in the gloom and gave a faint sweet scent. So tall were the spiny thickets that the hobbits could walk upright under them, passing through long dry aisles carpeted with a deep prickly mould."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gimli sprang up, too amazed for the moment to cry out, though at once the thought flashed into his mind that Saruman had caught\u2018Well, father, what can we do for you?\u2019 said Aragorn, leaping to his feet. \u2018Come and be warm, if you are cold!\u2019 He strode forward, but the old man was gone. There was no trace of him to be found near at hand, and they did not dare to wander far. The moon had set and the night was very dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "For about an hour they went on, silently, in single file, oppressed by the gloom and by the absolute stillness of the land, broken only now and again by the faint rumbling as of thunder far away or drum- beats in some hollow of the hills. Down from their hiding-place they went, and then turning south they steered as straight a course as Gollum could find across a long broken slope that leaned up towards the mountains. Presently, not far ahead, looming up like a black wall, they saw a belt of trees. As they drew nearer they became aware that these were of vast size, very ancient it seemed, and still towering high, though their tops were gaunt and broken, as if tempest and lightning-blast had swept across them, but had failed to kill them or to shake their fathomless roots."
    },
    {
        "text": "Another army is come from the Black Gate, crossing from the north-east.\u2019 \u2018Some have accused you, Mithrandir, of delighting to bear ill news,\u2019 said Denethor, \u2018but to me this is no longer news: it was known to me ere nightfall yesterday. As for the sortie, I had already given thought to it. Let us go down.\u2019 Time passed. At length watchers on the walls could see the retreat of the out-companies. Small bands of weary and often wounded men came first with little order; some were running wildly as if pursued."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sun was down, and a cool pale evening was quietly fading into night. He walked home under the early stars through Hobbiton andIt was just at this time that Gandalf reappeared after his long absence. For three years after the Party he had been away. Then he paid Frodo a brief visit, and after taking a good look at him he went off again. During the next year or two he had turned up fairly often, coming unexpectedly after dusk, and going off without warning before sunrise. He would not discuss his own business and journeys, and seemed chiefly interested in small news about Frodo\u2019s health and doings."
    },
    {
        "text": "Not but what I think he\u2019d try to throttle me first now. We don\u2019t see eye to eye, and he\u2019s not pleased with Sam, O no precious, not pleased at all.\u2019 They finished, and Sam went off to the stream to rinse his gear. As he stood up to return, he looked back up the slope. At that moment he saw the sun rise out of the reek, or haze, or dark shadow, or whatever it was, that lay ever to the east, and it sent its golden beams down upon the trees and glades about him. Then he noticed a thin spiral of blue-grey smoke, plain to see as it caught the sunlight, rising from a thicket above him. With a shock he realized that this was the smoke from his little cooking-fire, which he had neglected to put out."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I think all will be well now,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018He was not held long, and hobbits have an amazing power of recovery. The memory, or the horror of it, will probably fade quickly. Too quickly, perhaps."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Company halted, and there was not a heart among them that did not quail, unless it were the heart of Legolas of the Elves, for whom the ghosts of Men have no terror."
    },
    {
        "text": "Not Elves; for the woodland folk were altogether noiseless in their movements. Then he heard faintly a sound like sniffing; and some- thing seemed to be scrabbling on the bark of the tree-trunk. He stared down into the dark, holding his breath."
    },
    {
        "text": "Treebeard was at their head, and some fifty followers were behind him, two abreast, keeping step with their feet and beating time with their hands upon their flanks. As they drew near the flash and flicker of their eyes could be seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here we will wait,\u2019 he said. \u2018But send not for the embalmers."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And there are names among us that are worth more than a thousand mail-clad knights apiece. No, he will not smile.\u2019 \u2018Neither shall we,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018If this be jest, then it is too bitter for laughter. Nay, it is the last move in a great jeopardy, and for one side or the other it will bring the end of the game.\u2019 Then he drew Andu\u00b4ril and held it up glittering in the sun. \u2018You shall not be sheathed again until the last battle is fought,\u2019 he said.Chapter 10 THE BLACK GATE OPENS Two days later the army of the West was all assembled on the Pelennor. The host of Orcs and Easterlings had turned back out of Ano\u00b4rien, but harried and scattered by the Rohirrim they had broken and fled with little fighting towards Cair Andros; and with that threat destroyed and new strength arriving out of the South the City was as well manned as might be. Scouts reported that no enemies remained upon the roads east as far as the Cross-roads of the Fallen King. All now was ready for the last throw."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then there was a bit of trouble, but not enough. Old Will the Mayor set off for Bag End to protest, but he never got there. Ruffians laid hands on him and took and locked him up in a hole in Michel Delving, and there he is now. And after that, it would be soon after New Year, there wasn\u2019t no more Mayor, and Pimple called himself Chief Shirriff, or just Chief, and did as he liked; and if anyone got \u2018\u2018uppish\u2019\u2019 as they called it, they followed Will. So things went from bad to worse. There wasn\u2019t no smoke left, save for the Men; and the Chiefdidn\u2019tholdwithbeer,saveforhisMen,andclosedalltheinns;up \u2018\u2018for fair distribution\u2019\u2019: which meant they got it and we didn\u2019t, except for the leavings which you could have at the Shirriff-houses, if you could stomach them. All very bad. But since Sharkey came it\u2019s been plain ruination.\u2019 \u2018Who is this Sharkey?\u2019 said Merry. \u2018I heard one of the ruffians speak of him.\u2019 \u2018The biggest ruffian o\u2019 the lot, seemingly,\u2019 answered Cotton. \u2018It was about last harvest, end o\u2019 September maybe, that we first heard of him. We\u2019ve never seen him, but he\u2019s up at Bag End; and he\u2019s the real Chief now, I guess. All the ruffians do what he says; and what he says is mostly: hack, burn, and ruin; and now it\u2019s come to killing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Silly!\u2019 he said to himself, as he opened his eyes and wondered why he was lying down under the hedge. \u2018It\u2019s in your pack all the time!\u2019 Then he realized, first that the pipe might be in his pack but he had no leaf, and next that he was hundreds of miles from Bag End. He sat up. It seemed to be almost dark. Why had his master let him sleep on out of turn, right on till evening? \u2018Haven\u2019tyouhadnosleep,Mr.Frodo?\u2019hesaid.\u2018What\u2019sthetime?lighter: darker and darker. As far as I can tell, it isn\u2019t midday yet, and you\u2019ve only slept for about three hours.\u2019 \u2018I wonder what\u2019s up,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Is there a storm coming? If so it\u2019s going to be the worst there ever was. We shall wish we were down a deep hole, not just stuck under a hedge.\u2019 He listened. \u2018What\u2019s that? Thunder, or drums, or what is it?\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It\u2019s been going on for a good while now. Sometimes the ground seems to tremble, sometimes it seems to be the heavy air throbbing in your ears.\u2019 Sam looked round. \u2018Where\u2019s Gollum?\u2019 he said. \u2018Hasn\u2019t he come back yet?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018There\u2019s not been a sign or sound of him.\u2019 \u2018Well, I can\u2019t abide him,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018In fact, I\u2019ve never taken anything on a journey that I\u2019d have been less sorry to lose on the way. But it would be just like him, after coming all these miles, to go and get lost now, just when we shall need him most \u2013 that is, if he\u2019s ever going to be any use, which I doubt.\u2019 \u2018You forget the Marshes,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I hope nothing has hap- pened to him.\u2019 \u2018And I hope he\u2019s up to no tricks. And anyway I hope he doesn\u2019t fall into other hands, as you might say. Because if he does, we shall soon be in for trouble.\u2019 At that moment a rolling and rumbling noise was heard again, louder now and deeper. The ground seemed to quiver under their feet. \u2018I think we are in for trouble anyhow,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I\u2019m afraid our journey is drawing to an end.\u2019 \u2018Maybe,\u2019 said Sam; \u2018but where there\u2019s life there\u2019s hope, as my gaffer used to say; and need of vittles, as he mostways used to add. You have a bite, Mr. Frodo, and then a bit of sleep.\u2019 The afternoon, as Sam supposed it must be called, wore on. Look- ing out from the covert he could see only a dun, shadowless world, fading slowly into a featureless, colourless gloom. It felt stifling but not warm. Frodo slept unquietly, turning and tossing, and sometimes murmuring. Twice Sam thought he heard him speaking Gandalf \u2019s name. The time seemed to drag interminably. Suddenly Sam heard a hiss behind him, and there was Gollum on all fours, peering at them with gleaming eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "He woke, thinking that he had heard horns blowing. He sat up."
    },
    {
        "text": "They followed their enemies now by the clear light of day. It seemed that the Orcs had pressed on with all possible speed. Every now and again the pursuers found things that had been dropped or cast away: food-bags, the rinds and crusts of hard grey bread, a torn black cloak, a heavy iron-nailed shoe broken on the stones. The trail led them north along the top of the escarpment, and at length they came to a deep cleft carved in the rock by a stream that splashed noisily down. In the narrow ravine a rough path descended like a steep stair into the plain.Muil. The falling stream vanished into a deep growth of cresses and water-plants, and they could hear it tinkling away in green tunnels, down long gentle slopes towards the fens of Entwash Vale far away."
    },
    {
        "text": "He turned to Gollum. \u2018Do you know where we are?\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "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!\u2019 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "By that pool long ago I found the River-daughter, fair young Goldberry sitting in the rushes."
    },
    {
        "text": "The ruffians came tramping along the East Road, and without halting turned up the Bywater Road, which ran for some way sloping up between high banks with low hedges on top. Round a bend, about a furlong from the main road, they met a stout barrier of old farm- carts upturned. That halted them. At the same moment they became aware that the hedges on both sides, just above their heads, were all lined with hobbits. Behind them other hobbits now pushed out some more waggons that had been hidden in a field, and so blocked the way back. A voice spoke to them from above."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the high tongue it will not sound so ill, and Telcontar I will be and all the heirs of my body.\u2019 And with that they passed into the House; and as they went towards the rooms where the sick were tended Gandalf told of the deeds of E\u00b4 owyn and Meriadoc. \u2018For,\u2019 he said, \u2018long have I stood by them, and at first they spoke much in their dreaming, before they sank into the deadly darkness. Also it is given to me to see many things far off.\u2019 Aragorn went first to Faramir, and then to the Lady E\u00b4 owyn, and last to Merry. When he had looked on the faces of the sick and seen their hurts he sighed. \u2018Here I must put forth all such power and skill as is given to me,\u2019 he said. \u2018Would that Elrond were here, for he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greater power.\u2019 And E\u00b4omer seeing that he was both sorrowful and weary said: \u2018First you must rest, surely, and at the least eat a little?\u2019 But Aragorn answered: \u2018Nay, for these three, and most soon for Faramir, time is running out. All speed is needed.\u2019 Then he called to Ioreth and he said: \u2018You have store in this House of the herbs of healing?\u2019 \u2018Yes, lord,\u2019 she answered; \u2018but not enough, I reckon, for all that will need them. But I am sure I do not know where we shall find more; for all things are amiss in these dreadful days, what with fires and burnings, and the lads that run errands so few, and all the roads blocked. Why, it is days out of count since ever a carrier came in from Lossarnach to the market! But we do our best in this House with what we have, as I am sure your lordship will know.\u2019 \u2018I will judge that when I see,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018One thing also is short, time for speech. Have you athelas?\u2019 \u2018I do not know, I am sure, lord,\u2019 she answered, \u2018at least not by\u2018It is also called kingsfoil,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018and maybe you know it by that name, for so the country-folk call it in these latter days.\u2019 \u2018Oh that!\u2019 said Ioreth. \u2018Well, if your lordship had named it at first I could have told you. No, we have none of it, I am sure. Why, I have never heard that it had any great virtue; and indeed I have often said to my sisters when we came upon it growing in the woods: \u2018\u2018kingsfoil\u2019\u2019, I said, \u2018\u2018\u2019tis a strange name, and I wonder why \u2019tis called so; for if I were a king, I would have plants more bright in my garden\u2019\u2019."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019ll never get him there,\u2019 thought Pippin. \u2018Is there no one to help me? I can\u2019t leave him here.\u2019 Just then to his surprise a boy came running up behind, and as he passed he recognized Bergil Beregond\u2019s son."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I shall return to Isengard, and those who will may come with me. There we may see strange things.\u2019 \u2018But there are not men enough in the Mark, not if they were all gathered together and healed of wounds and weariness, to assault the stronghold of Saruman,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden."
    },
    {
        "text": "They could not see his face: he was hooded, and above the hood he wore a wide-brimmed hat, so that all his features were overshadowed, except for the end of his nose and his grey beard. Yet it seemed to Aragorn that he caught the gleam of eyes keen and bright from within the shadow of the hooded brows."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I was wrong after all,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and 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 \u2018\u2018Friend\u2019\u2019 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. Those were happier times. Now let us go!\u2019 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\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the top, as high as Gandalf could reach, was an arch of inter- lacing 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Some of my kin look just like trees now, and need something great to rouse them; and they speak only in whispers. But some of my trees are limb-lithe, and many can talk to me. Elves began it, of course, waking trees up and teaching them to speak and learning their tree-talk. They always wished to talk to everything, the old Elves did. But then the Great Darkness came, and they passed away over the Sea, or fled into far valleys, and hid themselves, and made songs aboutdaysthatwouldnevercomeagain.Neveragain.Aye,aye,there\u2018Those were the broad days! Time was when I could walk and sing all day and hear no more than the echo of my own voice in the hollow hills. The woods were like the woods of Lothlo\u00b4rien, only thicker, stronger, younger. And the smell of the air! I used to spend a week just breathing.\u2019 Treebeard fell silent, striding along, and yet making hardly a sound with his great feet. Then he began to hum again, and passed into a murmuring chant. Gradually the hobbits became aware that he was chanting to them: In the willow-meads of Tasarinan I walked in the Spring."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Tell 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 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 Glo\u00b4 in!\u2019 \u2018Nay!\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Alas 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 Glo\u00b4 in: 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 Lothlo\u00b4 rien shall remain ever clear and unstained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor grow stale.\u2019 \u2018Maybe,\u2019 said Gimli; \u2018and I thank you for your words. True words doubtless;yetallsuchcomfortiscold.MemoryisnotwhattheheartI have heard that for them memory is more like to the waking world than to a dream. Not so for Dwarves."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I broke off our speech together,\u2019 said Faramir, \u2018not only because time pressed, as Master Samwise had reminded me, but also because we were drawing near to matters that were better not debated openly before many men. It was for that reason that I turned rather to the matter of my brother and let be Isildur\u2019s Bane. You were not wholly frank with me, Frodo.\u2019 \u2018I told no lies, and of the truth all I could,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Death in the morning and at day\u2019s ending lords took and lowly. Long now they sleep under grass in Gondor by the Great River."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have not found what we sought,\u2019 said one. \u2018But what have we found?\u2019 \u2018Not Orcs,\u2019 said another, releasing the hilt of his sword, which he had seized when he saw the glitter of Sting in Frodo\u2019s hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "Too weary to go further they sought for some place where they could rest. For a while they sat without speaking under the shadow of a mound of slag; but foul fumes leaked out of it, catching their throats and choking them. Gollum was the first to get up. Spluttering and cursing he rose, and without a word or a glance at the hobbits he crawled away on all fours. Frodo and Sam crawled after him until they came to a wide almost circular pit, high-banked upon the west."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We\u2019ll clear up later,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Now tell me all about it! I guess that you have been having adventures, which was not quite fair without me. I want a full account; and most of all I want to know what was the matter with old Maggot, and why he spoke to me like that. He sounded almost as if he was scared, if that is possible.\u2019 \u2018We have all been scared,\u2019 said Pippin after a pause, in which Frodo stared at the fire and did not speak. \u2018You would have been, too, if you had been chased for two days by Black Riders.\u2019 \u2018And what are they?\u2019 \u2018Black figures riding on black horses,\u2019 answered Pippin. \u2018If Frodo won\u2019t talk, I will tell you the whole tale from the beginning.\u2019 He then gave a full account of their journey from the time when they left Hobbiton. Sam gave various supporting nods and exclamations."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What is it?\u2019 growled Sam, misinterpreting the signs. \u2018What\u2019s the need to sniff ? The stink nearly knocks me down with my nose held."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If you wish to know, I will tell you that these doors open outwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "Certainly the distances had now all become hazy and deceptive, but there could be no doubt that the Downs were coming to an end. A long valley lay below them winding away northwards, until it came to an opening between two steep shoulders. Beyond, there seemed to be no more hills. Due north they faintly glimpsed a long dark line."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Follow me!\u2019 said Merry, \u2018and you will see.\u2019 He turned to the left along the Hedge, and soon they came to a point where it bent inwards, running along the lip of a hollow. A cutting had been made, at some distance from the Hedge, and went sloping gently down into the ground. It had walls of brick at the sides, which rose steadily, until suddenly they arched over and formed a tunnel that dived deep under the Hedge and came out in the hollow on the other side."
    },
    {
        "text": "Or there maybe \u2019tis cloudless night and swaying beeches bear the Elven-stars as jewels whiteThough here at journey\u2019s end I lie in darkness buried deep, beyond all towers strong and high, beyond all mountains steep, above all shadows rides the Sun and Stars for ever dwell: I will not say the Day is done, nor bid the Stars farewell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wonder when we\u2019ll find water again?\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But I suppose even over there they drink? Orcs drink, don\u2019t they?\u2019 \u2018Yes, they drink,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But do not let us speak of that."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was Sam kneeling before him, his face wrung with pain, as if he had been stabbed in the heart; tears welled from his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "And while you\u2019ve been trapessing in foreign parts, chasing Black Men up mountains from what my Sam says, though what for he don\u2019t make clear, they\u2019ve been and dug up Bagshot Row and ruined my taters!\u2019 \u2018I am very sorry, Mr. Gamgee,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But now I\u2019ve come back, I\u2019ll do my best to make amends.\u2019 \u2018Well, you can\u2019t say fairer than that,\u2019 said the Gaffer. \u2018Mr. Frodo Baggins is a real gentlehobbit, I always have said, whatever you may think of some others of the name, begging your pardon. And I hope my Sam\u2019s behaved hisself and given satisfaction?\u2019 \u2018Perfect satisfaction, Mr. Gamgee,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Indeed, if you will believe it, he\u2019s now one of the most famous people in all the lands, and they are making songs about his deeds from here to the Sea and beyond the Great River.\u2019 Sam blushed, but he looked gratefully at Frodo, for Rosie\u2019s eyes were shining and she was smiling at him."
    },
    {
        "text": "But at that very moment a hiss escaped its teeth, a gasp of pain orhate. Quick as a snake Shagrat slipped aside, twisted round, and drove his knife into his enemy\u2019s throat."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sssh! ssh!\u2019 hissed Gollum hurrying back to them. \u2018Sssh!\u2019 His fingers were on his lips and he shook his head urgently. Tugging at Frodo\u2019s sleeve, he pointed towards the path; but Frodo would not move."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You know, then, what this thing is?\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018Come, now you have seen, tell me why it should be spared. In all our words together you have not once spoken of your gangrel companion, and I let him be for the time. He could wait till he was caught and brought before me. I sent my keenest huntsmen to seek him, but he slipped them, and they had no sight of him till now, save Anborn here, once at dusk yesterevening. But now he has done worse trespass than only to go coney-snaring in the uplands: he has dared to come to Henneth Annu\u02c6n, and his life is forfeit. I marvel at the creature: so secret and so sly as he is, to come sporting in the pool before our very window."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To my home, or one of my homes,\u2019 answered Treebeard."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You are weary of this day?\u2019 said Beregond."
    },
    {
        "text": "Refuse, and things will not seem so well. Do you refuse?\u2019\u2019 \u2018At that his breath came like the hiss of snakes, and all who stood by shuddered, but Da\u00b4in said: \u2018\u2018I say neither yea nor nay. I must consider this message and what it means under its fair cloak.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Consider well, but not too long,\u2019\u2019 said he."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That was nigh on thirty years ago. For a while we had news and it seemed good: messages reported that Moria had been entered and a great work begun there. Then there was silence, and no word has ever come from Moria since."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now, friends,\u2019 said Haldir, \u2018you have entered the Naith of Lo\u00b4rien, or the Gore, as you would say, for it is the land that lies like a spearhead 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am old, Gandalf. I don\u2019t look it, but I am beginning to feel it in my heart of hearts. Well-preserved indeed!\u2019 he snorted. \u2018Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can\u2019t be right. I need a change, or something.\u2019 Gandalf looked curiously and closely at him. \u2018No, it does not seem right,\u2019 he said thoughtfully. \u2018No, after all I believe your plan is probably the best.\u2019 \u2018Well, I\u2019ve made up my mind, anyway. I want to see mountains again, Gandalf \u2013 mountains; and then find somewhere where I can rest. In peace and quiet, without a lot of relatives prying around, and a string of confounded visitors hanging on the bell. I might find somewhere where I can finish my book. I have thought of a nice ending for it: and he lived happily ever after to the end of his days.\u2019 Gandalf laughed. \u2018I hope he will. But nobody will read the book, however it ends.\u2019 \u2018Oh, they may, in years to come. Frodo has read some already, as\u2018He would come with me, of course, if I asked him. In fact he offered to once, just before the party. But he does not really want to, yet. I want to see the wild country again before I die, and the Mountains; but he is still in love with the Shire, with woods and fields and little rivers. He ought to be comfortable here. I am leaving everything to him, of course, except a few oddments. I hope he will be happy, when he gets used to being on his own. It\u2019s time he was his own master now.\u2019 \u2018Everything?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018The ring as well? You agreed to that, you remember.\u2019 \u2018Well, er, yes, I suppose so,\u2019 stammered Bilbo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I, E\u00b4omer son of E\u00b4 omund, speak.\u2019 \u2018This is good tidings beyond hope,\u2019 said the sentinel. \u2018Hasten! The enemy is on your heels.\u2019 The host passed through the breach and halted on the sloping sward above. They now learned to their joy that Erkenbrand had left many men to hold Helm\u2019s Gate, and more had since escaped thither."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the water-side Aragorn remained, watching the bier, while Legolas and Gimli hastened back on foot to Parth Galen. It was a mile or more, and it was some time before they came back, paddling two boats swiftly along the shore."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hola! Gorbag! What are you doing up here? Had enough of war already?\u2019 \u2018Orders, you lubber. And what are you doing, Shagrat? Tired of lurking up there? Thinking of coming down to fight?\u2019 \u2018Orders to you. I\u2019m in command of this pass. So speak civil. What\u2019s your report?\u2019 \u2018Nothing.\u2019 \u2018Hai! hai! yoi!\u2019 A yell broke into the exchanges of the leaders. The Orcs lower down had suddenly seen something. They began to run."
    },
    {
        "text": "Though Orcs will often pursue foes for many leagues into the plain, if they have a fallen captain to avenge.\u2019 Frodo did not answer. He looked at Sting, and the blade was dull."
    },
    {
        "text": "The day waned, and dusk was twined about the boles of the trees."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is what I feared,\u2019 he said. \u2018What do you say now, Aragorn?\u2019 \u2018That I feared it too,\u2019 Aragorn answered, \u2018but 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.\u2019 \u2018I wonder if this is a contrivance of the Enemy,\u2019 said Boromir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A cage,\u2019 she said. \u2018To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.\u2019 \u2018And yet you counselled me not to adventure on the road that I had chosen, because it is perilous?\u2019and victory. I would not see a thing that is high and excellent cast away needlessly.\u2019 \u2018Nor would I,\u2019 he said. \u2018Therefore I say to you, lady: Stay! For you have no errand to the South.\u2019 \u2018Neither have those others who go with thee. They go only because they would not be parted from thee \u2013 because they love thee.\u2019 Then she turned and vanished into the night."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hey you!\u2019 he said roughly. \u2018What are you up to?\u2019 \u2018Nothing, nothing,\u2019 said Gollum softly. \u2018Nice Master!\u2019Gollum withdrew himself, and a green glint flickered under his heavy lids. Almost spider-like he looked now, crouched back on his bent limbs, with his protruding eyes. The fleeting moment had passed, beyond recall. \u2018Sneaking, sneaking!\u2019 he hissed. \u2018Hobbits always so polite, yes. O nice hobbits! Sme\u00b4agol brings them up secret ways that nobody else could find. Tired he is, thirsty he is, yes thirsty; and he guides them and he searches for paths, and they say sneak, sneak. Very nice friends, O yes my precious, very nice.\u2019 Sam felt a bit remorseful, though not more trustful. \u2018Sorry,\u2019 he said. \u2018I\u2019m sorry, but you startled me out of my sleep. And I shouldn\u2019t have been sleeping, and that made me a bit sharp. But Mr. Frodo, he\u2019s that tired, I asked him to have a wink; and well, that\u2019s how it is. Sorry. But where have you been to?\u2019 \u2018Sneaking,\u2019 said Gollum, and the green glint did not leave his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "There came at last a dreadful nightfall; and even as the Captains of the West drew near to the end of the living lands, the two wanderers came to an hour of blank despair. Four days had passed since they had escaped from the orcs, but the time lay behind them like an ever-darkening dream. All this last day Frodo had not spoken, but had walked half-bowed, often stumbling, as if his eyes no longer saw the way before his feet. Sam guessed that among all their pains he boretheworst,thegrowingweightoftheRing,aburdenonthebodyhis shrinking eyes from a dreadful Eye that sought to look in them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Even as he gazed his quick ears caught sounds in the woodlands below, on the west side of the River. He stiffened. There were cries, and among them, to his horror, he could distinguish the harsh voices of Orcs. Then suddenly with a deep-throated call a great horn blew, and the blasts of it smote the hills and echoed in the hollows, rising in a mighty shout above the roaring of the falls."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We cannot go any further,\u2019 said Merry to Strider. \u2018I am afraid this has been too much for Frodo. I am dreadfully anxious about him. What are we to do? Do you think they will be able to cure him in Rivendell, if we ever get there?\u2019 \u2018We shall see,\u2019 answered Strider. \u2018There is nothing more that I can do in the wilderness; and it is chiefly because of his wound that I am so anxious to press on. But I agree that we can go no further tonight.\u2019 \u2018What is the matter with my master?\u2019 asked Sam in a low voice, looking appealingly at Strider. \u2018His wound was small, and it is already closed. There\u2019s nothing to be seen but a cold white mark on his shoulder.\u2019 \u2018Frodo has been touched by the weapons of the Enemy,\u2019 said Strider, \u2018and there is some poison or evil at work that is beyond myNight was cold up on the high ridge. They lit a small fire down under the gnarled roots of an old pine, that hung over a shallow pit: it looked as if stone had once been quarried there. They sat huddled together. The wind blew chill through the pass, and they heard the tree-tops lower down moaning and sighing. Frodo lay half in a dream, imagining that endless dark wings were sweeping by above him, and that on the wings rode pursuers that sought him in all the hollows of the hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Something that is following us,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But don\u2019t ask any more now! Let\u2019s get away at once!\u2019 They hurried up the path to the top of the bank, but when they looked back the far shore was shrouded in mist, and nothing could be seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo! By water, wood and hill, by the reed and willow, By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us! Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us! When they had sung this altogether after him, he clapped them each on the shoulder with a laugh, and taking candles led them back to their bedroom.Chapter 8 FOG ON THE BARROW-DOWNS That night they heard no noises. But either in his dreams or out of them, he could not tell which, Frodo heard a sweet singing running in his mind: a song that seemed to come like a pale light behind a grey rain-curtain, and growing stronger to turn the veil all to glass and silver, until at last it was rolled back, and a far green country opened before him under a swift sunrise."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Boromir, O Boromir!\u2019 he cried. \u2018What did she say to you, the Lady that dies not? What did she see? What woke in your heart then? Why went you ever to Laurelindo\u00b4renan, and came not by your own road, upon the horses of Rohan riding home in the morning?\u2019 Then turning again to Frodo, he spoke in a quiet voice once more."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ho, hm, well, we could, you know! You do not know, perhaps, how strong we are. Maybe you have heard of Trolls? They are mighty strong. But Trolls are only counterfeits, made by the Enemy in the Great Darkness, in mockery of Ents, as Orcs were of Elves. We are stronger than Trolls. We are made of the bones of the earth. We can split stone like the roots of trees, only quicker, far quicker, if our minds are roused! If we are not hewn down, or destroyed by fire or blast of sorcery, we could split Isengard into splinters and crack its walls into rubble.\u2019 \u2018But Saruman will try to stop you, won\u2019t he?\u2019 \u2018Hm, ah, yes, that is so. I have not forgotten it. Indeed I have thought long about it. But, you see, many of the Ents are younger than I am, by many lives of trees. They are all roused now, and their mind is all on one thing: breaking Isengard. But they will start think- ing again before long; they will cool down a little, when we take our evening drink. What a thirst we shall have! But let them march now and sing! We have a long way to go, and there is time ahead for thought. It is something to have started.\u2019 Treebeard marched on, singing with the others for a while. But after a time his voice died to a murmur and fell silent again. Pippin could see that his old brow was wrinkled and knotted. At last he looked up, and Pippin could see a sad look in his eyes, sad but not unhappy. There was a light in them, as if the green flame had sunk deeper into the dark wells of his thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "He is a friend of Merry\u2019s, and I used to come here with him a good deal at one time.\u2019 They went along the lane, until they saw the thatched roofs of a large house and farm-buildings peeping out among the trees ahead."
    },
    {
        "text": "At other times there were merely lots of people eating and drinking \u2013continuously from elevenses until six-thirty, when the fireworks started."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s addressed plain enough,\u2019 said Mr. Butterbur, producing a letter from his pocket, and reading out the address slowly and proudly (he valued his reputation as a lettered man): Mr. FRODO BAGGINS, BAG END, HOBBITON in the SHIRE."
    },
    {
        "text": "We are lost in ruin and downfall, and there is no escape.\u2019 \u2018Well, Master, we could at least go further from this dangerous place here, from this Crack of Doom, if that\u2019s its name. Now couldn\u2019t we? Come, Mr. Frodo, let\u2019s go down the path at any rate!\u2019 \u2018Very well, Sam. If you wish to go, I\u2019ll come,\u2019 said Frodo; and they rose and went slowly down the winding road; and even as they passed towards the Mountain\u2019s quaking feet, a great smoke and steam belched from the Sammath Naur, and the side of the cone was riven open, and a huge fiery vomit rolled in slow thunderous cascade down the eastern mountain-side."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Water!\u2019 shouted Pippin. \u2018Where\u2019s the water?\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t keep water in my pockets,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What has happened? Where is the pale king?\u2019 he asked wildly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hold it up!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018And look closely!\u2019 As Frodo did so, he now saw fine lines, finer than the finest pen- strokes, running along the ring, outside and inside: lines of fire that seemed to form the letters of a flowing script. They shone piercingly bright, and yet remote, as if out of a great depth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And this is the dreadful chance, Frodo. He believed that the One had perished; that the Elves had destroyed it, as should have been done. But he knows now that it has not perished, that it has been found. So he is seeking it, seeking it, and all his thought is bent on it. It is his great hope and our great fear.\u2019 \u2018Why, why wasn\u2019t it destroyed?\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018And how did the Enemy ever come to lose it, if he was so strong, and it was so precious to him?\u2019 He clutched the Ring in his hand, as if he saw already dark fingers stretching out to seize it."
    },
    {
        "text": "And as he held it up, it seemed to those that looked on that the globe began to glow with an inner flame, so that the lean face of the Lord was lit as with a red fire, and it seemed cut out of hard stone, sharp with black shadows, noble, proud, and terrible. His eyes glittered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now Denethor stood up and released the fevered hand of Faramir that he had held. \u2018He is burning, already burning,\u2019 he said sadly."
    },
    {
        "text": "Together E\u00b4 omer and Aragorn sprang through the door, their men close behind. The two swords flashed from the sheath as one.Charging from the side, they hurled themselves upon the wild men. Andu\u00b4ril rose and fell, gleaming with white fire. A shout went up from wall and tower: \u2018Andu\u00b4ril! Andu\u00b4ril goes to war. The Blade that was Broken shines again!\u2019 Dismayed the rammers let fall the trees and turned to fight; but the wall of their shields was broken as by a lightning-stroke, and they were swept away, hewn down, or cast over the Rock into the stony stream below. The orc-archers shot wildly and then fled."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then sitting in the high seat he looked out. But the sun seemed darkened, and the world dim and remote. He turned from the North back again to North, and saw nothing save the distant hills, unless it were that far away he could see again a great bird like an eagle high in the air, descending slowly in wide circles down towards the earth."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before Frodo could recover or speak a word, three hobbit-bows twanged and Wormtongue fell dead."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then The\u00b4oden was aware of him, and would not wait for his onset, but crying to Snowmane he charged headlong to greet him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nonsense, Lindir,\u2019 snorted Bilbo. \u2018If you can\u2019t distinguish be- tween a Man and a Hobbit, your judgement is poorer than I imagined."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Alas!\u2019 said Legolas, coming to Aragorn\u2019s side. \u2018We have hunted and slain many Orcs in the woods, but we should have been of more use here. We came when we heard the horn \u2013 but too late, it seems."
    },
    {
        "text": "Very stealthily Gollum led them down the hillside, keeping under cover wherever it was possible, and running, almost bent to the ground, across any open space; but the light was now so dim that even a keen-eyed beast of the wild could scarcely have seen the hobbits, hooded, in their grey cloaks, nor heard them, walking as warily as the little people can. Without the crack of a twig or the rustle of a leaf they passed and vanished."
    },
    {
        "text": "Many young hobbits were included, and present by parental per- mission; for hobbits were easy-going with their children in the matter of sitting up late, especially when there was a chance of getting them a free meal. Bringing up young hobbits took a lot of provender."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018How far back his treachery goes, who can guess?\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "They watched the pale rings of light round his lanterns as they dwindled into the foggy night. Suddenly Frodo laughed: from the covered basket he held, the scent of mushrooms was rising.Chapter 5 A CONSPIRACY UNMASKED \u2018Now we had better get home ourselves,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018There\u2019s some- thing funny about all this, I see; but it must wait till we get in.\u2019 They turned down the Ferry lane, which was straight and well-kept and edged with large white-washed stones. In a hundred yards or so it brought them to the river-bank, where there was a broad wooden landing-stage. A large flat ferry-boat was moored beside it. The white bollards near the water\u2019s edge glimmered in the light of two lamps on high posts. Behind them the mists in the flat fields were now above the hedges; but the water before them was dark, with only a few curling wisps like steam among the reeds by the bank. There seemed to be less fog on the further side."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last the king\u2019s company came to a sharp brink, and the climbing road passed into a cutting between walls of rock, and so went up a short slope and out on to a wide upland. The Firienfeld men called it, a green mountain-field of grass and heath, high above the deep-delved courses of the Snowbourn, laid upon the lap of the great mountains behind: the Starkhorn southwards, and northwards the saw-toothed mass of I\u00b4 rensaga, between which there faced the riders, the grim black wall of the Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain rising out ofinto the dusk and vanished in the trees. Those who dared to follow that road came soon to the black Dimholt under Dwimorberg, and the menace of the pillar of stone, and the yawning shadow of the forbidden door."
    },
    {
        "text": "New forces of the enemy were hastening up the road from the River; and from under the walls came the legions of Morgul; and from the southward fields came footmen of Harad with horsemen before them, and behind them rose the huge backs of the mu\u02c6makil with war-towers upon them. But northward the white crest of E\u00b4omer led the great front of the Rohirrim which he had again gathered and marshalled; and out of the City came all the strength of men that was in it, and the silver swan of Dol Amroth was borne in the van, driving the enemy from the Gate."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What do you advise us to do?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He looks fair famished. Not too dainty to try what hobbit tastes like, if there ain\u2019t no fish, I\u2019ll wager \u2013 supposing as he could catch us napping. Well, he won\u2019t: not Sam Gamgee for one.\u2019 They stumbled along in the dark winding gully for a long time, or so it seemed to the tired feet of Frodo and Sam. The gully turned eastward, and as they went on it broadened and got gradually shal- lower. At last the sky above grew faint with the first grey of morning."
    },
    {
        "text": "High in the air he tossed the blazing brand. It flared with a sudden white radiance like lightning; and his voice rolled like thunder."
    },
    {
        "text": "Boromir laughed. \u2018They did not expect this,\u2019 he said. \u2018The fire has cut them off. We are on the wrong side!\u2019 \u2018Look ahead!\u2019 called Gandalf. \u2018The Bridge is near. lt is dangerous and narrow.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "I\u2019ve never seen or felt anything like it in the Shire before.\u2019 \u2018But what has one of the Big People got to do with us?\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And who are you, and what have you to do with Minas Tirith?\u2019 asked Boromir, looking in wonder at the lean face of the Ranger and his weather-stained cloak."
    },
    {
        "text": "The next day Gandalf and the hobbits took leave of Bilbo in his room, for it was cold out of doors; and then they said farewell to Elrond and all his household."
    },
    {
        "text": "Away in the south Frodo could see the dim shapes of lofty moun- tains 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "For indeed these are your own horses that we ride, as you knew well ere you asked, I guess. But seldom does thief ride home to the stable."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Your fingers would remember their old strength better, if they grasped a sword-hilt,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "To his surprise he felt tired but lighter, and his head seemed clear again. No more debates disturbed his mind. He knew all the argu- ments of despair and would not listen to them. His will was set, and only death would break it. He felt no longer either desire or need of sleep, but rather of watchfulness. He knew that all the hazards and perils were now drawing together to a point: the next day would be a day of doom, the day of final effort or disaster, the last gasp."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018At once!\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018Why, I thought you were staying on foraway for a good while; but I\u2019ll come and see you again, as soon as I can. Expect me when you see me! I shall slip in quietly. I shan\u2019t often be visiting the Shire openly again. I find that I have become rather unpopular. They say I am a nuisance and a disturber of the peace."
    },
    {
        "text": "There were hard words, for it is long since war has driven us from the green fields; but there have been no evil deeds. All is now ordered, as you see. And your lodging is prepared for you; for I have had full tidings of you and knew the hour of your coming.\u2019 \u2018So Aragorn has come then,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018Is he still here?\u2019 \u2018No, he is gone,\u2019 said E\u00b4 owyn turning away and looking at the mountains dark against the East and South."
    },
    {
        "text": "They had not made any definite plans, but had vaguely thought of going down to Crickhollow together first, and resting there a bit."
    },
    {
        "text": "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, and they blinked as they entered."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "In rode the Lord of the Nazgu\u02c6l. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgu\u02c6 l, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nai elye\u00a8 hiruva. Nama\u00b4rie\u00a8! \u2018Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind, long years numberless as the wings of trees! The 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!\u2019 Varda is the name of that Lady whom the Elves in these lands of exile name Elbereth."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry stared at the lines of marching stones: they were worn and black; some were leaning, some were fallen, some cracked or broken; they looked like rows of old and hungry teeth. He wondered what they could be, and he hoped that the king was not going to follow them into the darkness beyond. Then he saw that there were clusters of tents and booths on either side of the stony way; but these were not set near the trees, and seemed rather to huddle away from them towards the brink of the cliff. The greater number were on the right, where the Firienfeld was wider; and on the left there was a smaller camp, in the midst of which stood a tall pavilion. From this side a rider now came out to meet them, and they turned from the road."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Take courage and look! There are fell things below.\u2019 Reluctantly Pippin climbed on to the seat and looked out over the wall. The Pelennor lay dim beneath him, fading away to the scarce guessed line of the Great River. But now wheeling swiftly across it, like shadows of untimely night, he saw in the middle airs below him five birdlike forms, horrible as carrion-fowl yet greater than eagles, cruel as death. Now they swooped near, venturing almost within bowshot of the walls, now they circled away."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo remained silent."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then this can go over all. It don\u2019t look quite orc-fashion, but it\u2019ll keep you warmer; and I daresay it\u2019ll keep you from harm better than any other gear. It was made by the Lady.\u2019 Frodo took the cloak and fastened the brooch. \u2018That\u2019s better!\u2019 he said. \u2018I feel much lighter. I can go on now. But this blind dark seems to be getting into my heart. As I lay in prison, Sam, I tried to remem- ber the Brandywine, and Woody End, and The Water running through the mill at Hobbiton. But I can\u2019t see them now.\u2019 \u2018There now, Mr. Frodo, it\u2019s you that\u2019s talking of water this time!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018If only the Lady could see us or hear us, I\u2019d say to her: \u2018\u2018Your Ladyship, all we want is light and water: just clean water and plain daylight, better than any jewels, begging your pardon.\u2019\u2019 But it\u2019s a long way to Lo\u00b4rien.\u2019 Sam sighed and waved his hand towards the heights of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath, now only to be guessed as a deeper blackness against the black sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "In their shed they found the ponies: sturdy little beasts of the kind loved by hobbits, not speedy, but good for a long day\u2019s work. They mounted, and soon they were riding off into the mist, which seemed to open reluctantly before them and close forbiddingly behind them."
    },
    {
        "text": "That night they camped on a small eyot close to the western bank."
    },
    {
        "text": "Through the mist before his eyes he was aware dimly of Frodo\u2019s face, and stubbornly he fought to master himself and to drag himself out of the swoon that was upon him. Slowly he raised his head and saw her, only a few paces away, eyeing him, her beak drabbling a spittle of venom, and a green ooze trickling from below her wounded eye."
    },
    {
        "text": "Strider now turned their course again north-eastwards, and on the sixth day they reached the top of a long slow-climbing slope, and saw far ahead a huddle of wooded hills. Away below them they could see the Road sweeping round the feet of the hills; and to their right a grey river gleamed pale in the thin sunshine. In the distance they glimpsed yet another river in a stony valley half-veiled in mist."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Where be you a-going?\u2019\u2019 says she."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam sprang towards it. \u2018If ever I see the Lady again, I will tell her!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Light and now water!\u2019 Then he stopped. \u2018Let me\u2018I didn\u2019t mean that,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018I mean: if it\u2019s poisonous, or some- thing that will show its badness quick, well, better me than you, master, if you understand me.\u2019 \u2018I do. But I think we\u2019ll trust our luck together, Sam; or our blessing."
    },
    {
        "text": "The travellers came into a long valley; narrow, deeply cloven, dark and silent. Trees with old and twisted roots hung over cliffs, and piled up behind into mounting slopes of pine-wood."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Bill Ferny,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018if you don\u2019t open that gate in ten seconds, you\u2019ll regret it. I shall set steel to you, if you don\u2019t obey. And when you have opened the gates you will go through them and never return."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, I call that very queer, and indeed disturbing,\u2019 said Frodo to himself, as he walked towards his companions. Pippin and Sam had remained flat in the grass, and had seen nothing; so Frodo described the rider and his strange behaviour."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am being eaten alive!\u2019 cried Pippin. \u2018Midgewater! There are more midges than water!\u2019 \u2018What do they live on when they can\u2019t get hobbit?\u2019 asked Sam,Their camping-place was damp, cold, and uncomfortable; and the biting insects would not let them sleep. There were also abominable creatures haunting the reeds and tussocks that from the sound of them were evil relatives of the cricket. There were thousands of them, and they squeaked all round, neek-breek, breek-neek, unceasingly all the night, until the hobbits were nearly frantic."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Only some bundle of oddments, perhaps, after all,\u2019 he thought with a strange sense of relief; but he did not put the bundle down again.Quickly now he drew off the cloth, wrapped the stone in it and kneeling down, laid it back by the wizard\u2019s hand. Then at last he looked at the thing that he had uncovered. There it was: a smooth globe of crystal, now dark and dead, lying bare before his knees."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam gasped and gathered all his remaining breath to shout. \u2018Look out behind!\u2019 he yelled. \u2018Look out, master! I\u2019m\u2019 \u2013 but suddenly his cry was stifled."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018From signs that we have seen lately,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018I fear that the 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.\u2019 \u2018I will add a word of advice, if I may,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018I 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.\u2019 \u2018And Bill could take a bit more, couldn\u2019t you, lad?\u2019 said Sam. The pony looked at him mournfully."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hail, Lord of the Mark!\u2019 she cried. \u2018My heart is glad at your returning.\u2019 \u2018And you, E\u00b4 owyn,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden, \u2018is all well with you?\u2019 \u2018All is well,\u2019 she answered; yet it seemed to Merry that her voice belied her, and he would have thought that she had been weeping, if that could be believed of one so stern of face. \u2018All is well. It was a weary road for the people to take, torn suddenly from their homes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Like, and yet unlike,\u2019 muttered Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "But long ago he rode away, and where he dwelleth none can say;The others turned in amazement, for the voice was Sam\u2019s."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a moment the sight of it gladdened the hearts of the hobbits; but Gollum cowered down, muttering curses on the White Face."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t know what stories you mean,\u2019 Merry answered. \u2018If you mean the old bogey-stories Fatty\u2019s nurses used to tell him, about goblins and wolves and things of that sort, I should say no. At any rate I don\u2019t believe them. But the Forest is queer. Everything in it is very much more alive, more aware of what is going on, so to speak, than things are in the Shire. And the trees do not like strangers. They watch you. They are usually content merely to watch you, as long as daylight lasts, and don\u2019t do much. Occasionally the most unfriendly ones may drop a branch, or stick a root out, or grasp at you with a long trailer. But at night things can be most alarming, or so I am told. I have only once or twice been in here after dark, and then only near the hedge. I thought all the trees were whispering to each other, passing news and plots along in an unintelligible language; and the branches swayed and groped without any wind. They do say the trees do actually move, and can surround strangers and hem them in. In fact long ago they attacked the Hedge: they came and planted them- selves right by it, and leaned over it. But the hobbits came and cut down hundreds of trees, and made a great bonfire in the Forest, and burned all the ground in a long strip east of the Hedge. After that the trees gave up the attack, but they became very unfriendly. There is still a wide bare space not far inside where the bonfire was made.\u2019 \u2018Is it only the trees that are dangerous?\u2019 asked Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Phew! But perhaps you don\u2019t mind bad smells.\u2019 Gollum\u2019s eyes glinted. \u2018He doesn\u2019t know what we minds, does he, precious? No, he doesn\u2019t. But Sme\u00b4agol can bear things. Yes. He\u2019s been through. O yes, right through. It\u2019s the only way.\u2019 \u2018And what makes the smell, I wonder,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018It\u2019s like \u2013 well, I wouldn\u2019t like to say. Some beastly hole of the Orcs, I\u2019ll warrant, with a hundred years of their filth in it.\u2019 \u2018Well,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018Orcs or no, if it\u2019s the only way, we must take it.\u2019 Drawing a deep breath they passed inside. In a few steps they were in utter and impenetrable dark. Not since the lightless passages of Moria had Frodo or Sam known such darkness, and if possible heresound fell dead. They walked as it were in a black vapour wrought of veritable darkness itself that, as it was breathed, brought blindness not only to the eyes but to the mind, so that even the memory of colours and of forms and of any light faded out of thought. Night always had been, and always would be, and night was all."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Are the Men of Rohan still to be trusted, do you think?\u2019\u2019 I said to Gwaihir, for the treason of Saruman had shaken my faith."
    },
    {
        "text": "Not that there was great hope in such a course. On that stony plain there was no cover, and across it ran the highways of the Orcs and the soldiers of the Enemy. Not even the cloaks of Lo\u00b4 rien would have concealed them there."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly he found he was out in the open. There were no trees after all. He was on a dark heath, and there was a strange salt smell in the air. Looking up he saw before him a tall white tower, standing alone on a high ridge. A great desire came over him to climb the tower and see the Sea. He started to struggle up the ridge towards theChapter 6 THE OLD FOREST Frodo woke suddenly. It was still dark in the room. Merry was stand- ing there with a candle in one hand, and banging on the door with the other. \u2018All right! What is it?\u2019 said Frodo, still shaken and bewildered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Maybe there was some dispute about the road.\u2019 \u2018Or about the captives,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Let us hope that they, too, did not meet their end here.\u2019 Aragorn searched the ground in a wide circle, but no other traces of the fight could be found. They went on. Already the eastward sky was turning pale; the stars were fading, and a grey light was slowly growing. A little further north they came to a fold in which a tiny stream, falling and winding, had cut a stony path down into the valley. In it some bushes grew, and there were patches of grass upon its sides."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then sleep took him, and the dim light of the last day of their quest found them side by side. The wind had fallen the day before as it shifted from the West, and now it came from the North and began to rise; and slowly the light of the unseen Sun filtered down into the shadows where the hobbits lay."
    },
    {
        "text": "Slowly in Pippin\u2019s aching head memory pieced itself together and became separated from dream-shadows. Of course: he and Merry had run off into the woods. What had come over them? Why had they dashed off like that, taking no notice of old Strider? They had run a long way shouting \u2013 he could not remember how far or how long; and then suddenly they had crashed right into a group of Orcs: they were standing listening, and they did not appear to see Merry and Pippin until they were almost in their arms. Then they yelled and dozens of other goblins had sprung out of the trees. Merry and he had drawn their swords, but the Orcs did not wish to fight, and had tried only to lay hold of them, even when Merry had cut off several of their arms and hands. Good old Merry! Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight. He slew many of them and the rest fled. But they had not gone far on the way back when they were attacked again, by a hundred Orcs at least, some of them very large, and they shot a rain of arrows: always at Boromir. Boromir had blown his great horn till the woods rang, and at first the Orcs had been dismayed and had drawn back; but when no answer but the echoes came, they had attacked more fiercely than ever. Pippin did not remember much more. His last memory was of Boromir leaning against a tree, plucking out an arrow; then darkness fell suddenly."
    },
    {
        "text": "They set out at once: Mablung and Damrod a little ahead, and Faramir with Frodo and Sam behind. Skirting the hither side of the pool where the hobbits had bathed, they crossed the stream, climbed a long bank, and passed into green-shadowed woodlands that marched ever downwards and westwards. While they walked, as swiftly as the hobbits could go, they talked in hushed voices."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where are you going then?\u2019 \u2018To Minas Tirith, before the seas of war surround it.\u2019 \u2018Oh! And how far is that?\u2019 \u2018Leagues upon leagues,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018Thrice as far as the dwellings of King The\u00b4oden, and they are more than a hundred miles east from here, as the messengers of Mordor fly. Shadowfax must run a longer road. Which will prove the swifter? \u2018We shall ride now till daybreak, and that is some hours away."
    },
    {
        "text": "She it was that clothed us as you see us, in elven-grey. This broochFaramir looked closely at it. \u2018It is beautiful,\u2019 he said. \u2018Yes, \u2019tis work of the same craft. So then you passed through the Land of Lo\u00b4rien? Laurelindo\u00b4renan it was named of old, but long now it has lain beyond the knowledge of Men,\u2019 he added softly, regarding Frodo with a new wonder in his eyes. \u2018Much that was strange about you I begin now to understand. Will you not tell me more? For it is a bitter thought that Boromir died, within sight of the land of his home.\u2019 \u2018No more can I say than I have said,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018Though your tale fills me with foreboding. A vision it was that you saw, I think, and no more, some shadow of evil fortune that has been or will be. Unless indeed it is some lying trick of the Enemy. I have seen the faces of fair warriors of old laid in sleep beneath the pools of the Dead Marshes, or seeming so by his foul arts.\u2019 \u2018Nay, it was not so,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018For his works fill the heart with loathing; but my heart was filled with grief and pity.\u2019 \u2018Yet how could such a thing have happened in truth?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo learned that Grimbeorn the Old, son of Beorn, was now the lord of many sturdy men, and to their land between the Mountains and Mirkwood neither orc nor wolf dared to go."
    },
    {
        "text": "She* hardly believed her fiery eyes; For though it was day, to her surprise they all went back to bed! There was loud and long applause. Frodo had a good voice, and the song tickled their fancy. \u2018Where\u2019s old Barley?\u2019 they cried. \u2018He ought to hear this. Bob ought to learn his cat the fiddle, and then we\u2019d have a dance.\u2019 They called for more ale, and began to shout: \u2018Let\u2019s have it again, master! Come on now! Once more!\u2019 They made Frodo have another drink, and then begin his song again, while many of them joined in; for the tune was well known, and they were quick at picking up words. It was now Frodo\u2019s turn to feel pleased with himself. He capered about on the table; and when he came a second time to the cow jumped over the Moon, he leaped in the air. Much too vigorously; for he came down, bang, into a tray full of mugs, and slipped, and rolled off the table with a crash, clatter, and bump! The audience all opened their mouths wide for laughter, and stopped short in gaping silence; for the singer dis- appeared. He simply vanished, as if he had gone slap through the floor without leaving a hole! The local hobbits stared in amazement, and then sprang to their feet and shouted for Barliman. All the company drew away from Pippin and Sam, who found themselves left alone in a corner, and eyed darkly and doubtfully from a distance. It was plain that many people regarded them now as the companions of a travelling magician of unknown powers and purpose. But there was one swarthy Bree- lander, who stood looking at them with a knowing and half-mocking expression that made them feel very uncomfortable. Presently he slipped out of the door, followed by the squint-eyed southerner: the two had been whispering together a good deal during the evening."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I know these fields and this gate!\u2019 he said. \u2018This is Bamfurlong, old Farmer Maggot\u2019s land. That\u2019s his farm away there in the trees.\u2019 \u2018One trouble after another!\u2019 said Frodo, looking nearly as much alarmed as if Pippin had declared the lane was the slot leading to a dragon\u2019s den. The others looked at him in surprise."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!\u2019 he shouted, and then burst into tears.Chapter 3 THREE IS COMPANY \u2018You ought to go quietly, and you ought to go soon,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is good!\u2019 said Bergil. \u2018We boys are no longer allowed to pass the Gate without an elder. Now we shall see better.\u2019 Beyond the Gate there was a crowd of men along the verge of the road and of the great paved space into which all the ways to Minas Tirith ran. All eyes were turned southwards, and soon a murmur rose: \u2018There is dust away there! They are coming!\u2019 Pippin and Bergil edged their way forward to the front of the crowd, and waited. Horns sounded at some distance, and the noise of cheering rolled towards them like a gathering wind. Then there was a loud trumpet-blast, and all about them people were shouting."
    },
    {
        "text": "His head so proud, his face so fair, his limbs they laid to rest; And Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, bore him upon its breast.\u2019 \u2018O Boromir! The Tower of Guard shall ever northward gaze To Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, until the end of days.\u2019 So they ended. Then they turned their boat and drove it with all the speed they could against the stream back to Parth Galen."
    },
    {
        "text": "People stared much as he passed. To his face men were gravely courteous, saluting him after the manner of Gondor with bowed head and hands upon the breast; but behind him he heard many calls, as those out of doors cried to others within to come and see the Prince of the Halflings, the companion of Mithrandir. Many used some other tongue than the Common Speech, but it was not long before he learned at least what was meant by Ernil i Pheriannath and knew that his title had gone down before him into the City."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018My master is sick and wounded,\u2019 said Sam angrily. \u2018He can\u2019t go on riding after nightfall. He needs rest.\u2019 Glorfindel caught Frodo as he sank to the ground, and taking him gently in his arms he looked in his face with grave anxiety."
    },
    {
        "text": "All that day the outer ridge of the Emyn Muil had been bending gradually northward, as they struggled on. Along its brink there now stretched a wide tumbled flat of scored and weathered rock, cut every now and again by trench-like gullies that sloped steeply down to deep notches in the cliff-face. To find a path in these clefts, which were becoming deeper and more frequent, Frodo and Sam were driven to their left, well away from the edge, and they did not notice that for several miles they had been going slowly but steadily downhill: the cliff-top was sinking towards the level of the lowlands."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Ring now has passed beyond my help, or the help of any of the Company that set out from Rivendell. Very nearly it was revealed to the Enemy, but it escaped. I had some part in that: for I sat in a high place, and I strove with the Dark Tower; and the Shadow passed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Good evening, Mr. Baggins!\u2019 he said. \u2018Glad indeed I am to see you safe back. But I\u2019ve a bone to pick with you, in a manner o\u2019 speaking, if I may make so bold. You didn\u2019t never ought to have a\u2019 sold Bag End, as I always said. That\u2019s what started all the mischief."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, it is Elves,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018One can meet them sometimes in the Woody End. They don\u2019t live in the Shire, but they wander into it in spring and autumn, out of their own lands away beyond the Tower Hills. I am thankful that they do! You did not see, but that Black Rider stopped just here and was actually crawling towards us when the song began. As soon as he heard the voices he slipped away.\u2019 \u2018What about the Elves?\u2019 said Sam, too excited to trouble about the rider. \u2018Can\u2019t we go and see them?\u2019 \u2018Listen! They are coming this way,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018We have only to wait.\u2019 The singing drew nearer. One clear voice rose now above the others. It was singing in the fair elven-tongue, of which Frodo knew only a little, and the others knew nothing. Yet the sound blending with the melody seemed to shape itself in their thought into words which they only partly understood. This was the song as Frodo heard it: Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear! O Queen beyond the Western Seas! O Light to us that wander here Amid the world of woven trees! Gilthoniel! O Elbereth! Clear are thy eyes and bright thy breath! Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee In a far land beyond the Sea."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Down, down!\u2019 he gasped, clutching his hand to his breast, so that beneath the cover of his leather shirt he clasped the Ring. \u2018Down,Then suddenly, as before under the eaves of the Emyn Muil, Sam saw these two rivals with other vision. A crouching shape, scarcely more than the shadow of a living thing, a creature now wholly ruined and defeated, yet filled with a hideous lust and rage; and before it stood stern, untouchable now by pity, a figure robed in white, but at its breast it held a wheel of fire. Out of the fire there spoke a commanding voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then we will not,\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018Go now and rest as you may."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 shut, any who knew the opening word could speak it and pass in. At least so it is recorded, is it not, Gimli?\u2019 \u2018It is,\u2019 said the dwarf. \u2018But what the word was is not remembered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Whither did he go?\u2019 asked E\u00b4 omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "There\u2019s none to be had from the Shire these days. But I\u2019ll do what I can.\u2019 When he came back he brought them enough to last them for a day or two, a wad of uncut leaf. \u2018Southlinch,\u2019 he said, \u2018and the best we have; but not the match of Southfarthing, as I\u2019ve always said, though I\u2019m all for Bree in most matters, begging your pardon.\u2019 They put him in a large chair by the wood-fire, and Gandalf sat on the other side of the hearth, and the hobbits in low chairs between them; and then they talked for many times half an hour, and exchanged all such news as Mr. Butterbur wished to hear or give."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Gandalf !\u2019\u2019 he cried. \u2018\u2018I was seeking you. But I am a stranger in these parts. All I knew was that you might be found in a wild region with the uncouth name of Shire.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Your information was correct,\u2019\u2019 I said. \u2018\u2018But do not put it that way, if you meet any of the inhabitants. You are near the borders of the Shire now. And what do you want with me? It must be pressing."
    },
    {
        "text": "A sudden weight smote him and he crashed forward, tearing the backs of his hands that still clasped his master\u2019s. Then he knew what had happened, for above him as he lay he heard a hated voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "From somewhere behind the house came the sound of singing. Every now and again they caught, among many a derry dol and a merry dol and a ring a ding dillo the repeated words: Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow; Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow."
    },
    {
        "text": "Far behind the battle the River had been swiftly bridged, and all day more force and gear of war had poured across. Now at last in the middle night the assault was loosed. The vanguard passed through the trenches of fire by many devious paths that had been left between them. On they came, reckless of their loss as they approached, still bunched and herded, within the range of bowmen on the wall. But indeed there were too few now left there to do them great damage, though the light of the fires showed up many a mark for archers of such skill as Gondor once had boasted. Then perceiving that the valour of the City was already beaten down, the hidden Captain put forth his strength. Slowly the great siege-towers built in OsgiliathMessengers came again to the chamber in the White Tower, and Pippin let them enter, for they were urgent. Denethor turned his head slowly from Faramir\u2019s face, and looked at them silently."
    },
    {
        "text": "When Pippin had gone, he came and sat curled up at Frodo\u2019s feet, where at last he nodded and closed his eyes. Frodo remained long awake, talking with Gildor.The tidings were mostly sad and ominous: of gathering darkness, the wars of Men, and the flight of the Elves. At last Frodo asked the question that was nearest to his heart: \u2018Tell me, Gildor, have you ever seen Bilbo since he left us?\u2019 Gildor smiled. \u2018Yes,\u2019 he answered. \u2018Twice. He said farewell to us on this very spot. But I saw him once again, far from here.\u2019 He would say no more about Bilbo, and Frodo fell silent."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I think you look fine, Sam,\u2019 she said. \u2018Go on now! But take care of yourself, and come straight back as soon as you have settled the ruffians!\u2019 When Sam got back he found the whole village roused. Already, apart from many younger lads, more than a hundred sturdy hobbits were assembled with axes, and heavy hammers, and long knives, and stout staves; and a few hadhunting-bows. More were still coming inand also because it was one of the things forbidden by the Chief. It burned bright as night came on. Others at Merry\u2019s orders were setting up barriers across the road at each end of the village. When the Shirriffs came up to the lower one they were dumbfounded; but as soon as they saw how things were, most of them took off their feathers and joined in the revolt. The others slunk away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hope on then!\u2019 laughed Denethor. \u2018Do I not know thee, Mithran- dir? Thy hope is to rule in my stead, to stand behind every throne, north, south, or west. I have read thy mind and its policies. Do I not know that this halfling was commanded by thee to keep silence? That he was brought hither to be a spy within my very chamber? And yet in our speech together I have learned the names and purpose of all thy companions. So! With the left hand thou wouldst use me for a little while as a shield against Mordor, and with the right bring upam Steward of the House of Ana\u00b4rion. I will not step down to be the dotard chamberlain of an upstart. Even were his claim proved to me, still he comes but of the line of Isildur. I will not bow to such a one, last of a ragged house long bereft of lordship and dignity.\u2019 \u2018What then would you have,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018if your will could have its way?\u2019 \u2018I would have things as they were in all the days of my life,\u2019 answered Denethor, \u2018and in the days of my longfathers before me: to be the Lord of this City in peace, and leave my chair to a son after me, who would be his own master and no wizard\u2019s pupil. But if doom denies this to me, then I will have naught: neither life diminished, nor love halved, nor honour abated.\u2019 \u2018To me it would not seem that a Steward who faithfully surrenders his charge is diminished in love or in honour,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018And at the least you shall not rob your son of his choice while his death is still in doubt.\u2019 At those words Denethor\u2019s eyes flamed again, and taking the Stone under his arm he drew a knife and strode towards the bier. But Beregond sprang forward and set himself before Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "The waters have gone down. It will not be enough to put sentinels round the tower, I fear. I do not doubt that there were deep ways delved under Orthanc, and that Saruman hopes to go and come unmarked, before long. If you will undertake the labour, I beg you to pour in the waters again; and do so, until Isengard remains a standing pool, or you discover the outlets. When all the underground places are drowned, and the outlets blocked, then Saruman must stay upstairs and look out of the windows.\u2019 \u2018Leave it to the Ents!\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018We shall search the valley from head to foot and peer under every pebble. Trees are coming back to live here, old trees, wild trees. The Watchwood we will call it. Not a squirrel will go here, but I shall know of it. Leave it to Ents! Until seven times the years in which he tormented us have passed, we shall not tire of watching him.\u2019Chapter 11 \u00b4 THE PALANTIR The sun was sinking behind the long western arm of the mountains when Gandalf and his companions, and the king with his Riders, set out again from Isengard. Gandalf took Merry behind him, and Ara- gorn took Pippin. Two of the king\u2019s men went on ahead, riding swiftly, and passed soon out of sight down into the valley. The others followed at an easy pace."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last wearied with his cares Sam drowsed, leaving the morrow till it came; he could do no more. Dream and waking mingled uneasily. He saw lights like gloating eyes, and dark creeping shapes, and he heard noises as of wild beasts or the dreadful cries of tortured things; and he would start up to find the world all dark and only empty blackness all about him. Once only, as he stood and stared wildly round, did it seem that, though now awake, he could still see pale lights like eyes; but soon they flickered and vanished."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But that, of course, would only make the evil part of him angrier in the end \u2013 unless it could be conquered. Unless it could be cured.\u2019 Gandalf sighed. \u2018Alas! there is little hope of that for him. Yet not no hope. No, not though he possessed the Ring so long, almost as far back as he can remember. For it was long since he had worn it much: in the black darkness it was seldom needed. Certainly he had never \u2018\u2018faded\u2019\u2019. He is thin and tough still. But the thing was eating up his mind, of course, and the torment had become almost unbearable."
    },
    {
        "text": "The men of Rohan grew weary. All their arrows were spent, and every shaft was shot; their swords were notched, and their shields were riven. Three times Aragorn and E\u00b4omer rallied them, and three times Andu\u00b4ril flamed in a desperate charge that drove the enemy from the wall."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Devilry of Saruman!\u2019 cried Aragorn. \u2018They have crept in the cul- vert again, while we talked, and they have lit the fire of Orthanc beneath our feet. Elendil, Elendil!\u2019 he shouted, as he leaped down into the breach; but even as he did so a hundred ladders were raised against the battlements. Over the wall and under the wall the last assault came sweeping like a dark wave upon a hill of sand. The defence was swept away. Some of the Riders were driven back, further and further into the Deep, falling and fighting as they gave way, step by step, towards the caves. Others cut their way back towards the citadel."
    },
    {
        "text": "With a dreadful stroke Sam was wakened from his cowering mood."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I shall get myself a bit into training, too,\u2019 he said, looking at himself in a dusty mirror in the half-empty hall. He had not done any strenuous walking for a long time, and the reflection looked rather flabby, he thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I will give you the One Ring, if you ask for it. It is too great a matter for me.\u2019 Galadriel laughed with a sudden clear laugh. \u2018Wise the Lady Galadriel may be,\u2019 she said, \u2018yet here she has met her match in courtesy."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But my home, such as I have, is in the North. For here the heirs of Valandil have ever dwelt in long line unbroken from father unto son for many generations. Our days have darkened, and we have dwindled; but ever the Sword has passed to a new keeper. And this I will say to you, Boromir, ere I end. Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters \u2013 but hunters ever of the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many places, not in Mordor only."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hullo, Pippin!\u2019he said.\u2018So you\u2019vecome onthis littleexpedition,talk to one another. Any trouble will be reported at the other end, and He\u2019ll know how to pay you. You\u2019ll get bed and breakfast all right: more than you can stomach.\u2019 The orc-band began to descend a narrow ravine leading down into the misty plain below. Merry and Pippin, separated by a dozen Orcs or more, climbed down with them. At the bottom they stepped on to grass, and the hearts of the hobbits rose."
    },
    {
        "text": "To Legolas she sent this word: Legolas Greenleaf long under tree In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea! If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore, Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.\u2019 Gandalf fell silent and shut his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is not clear to me that the will of The\u00b4oden son of Thengel, even though he be lord of the Mark, should prevail over the will of Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elendil\u2019s heir of Gondor.\u2019 \u2018This is the house of The\u00b4oden, not of Aragorn, even were he King of Gondor in the seat of Denethor,\u2019 said Ha\u00b4ma, stepping swiftly beforethedoorsandbarringtheway.Hisswordwasnowinhishandbut it is useless to refuse. A king will have his way in his own hall, be it folly or wisdom.\u2019 \u2018Truly,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018And I would do as the master of the house bade me, were this only a woodman\u2019s cot, if I bore now any sword but Andu\u00b4ril.\u2019 \u2018Whatever its name may be,\u2019 said Ha\u00b4ma, \u2018here you shall lay it, if you would not fight alone against all the men in Edoras.\u2019 \u2018Not alone!\u2019 said Gimli, fingering the blade of his axe, and looking darkly up at the guard, as if he were a young tree that Gimli had a mind to fell. \u2018Not alone!\u2019 \u2018Come, come!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018We are all friends here. Or should be; for the laughter of Mordor will be our only reward, if we quarrel."
    },
    {
        "text": "I do not feel any pity for Gollum. He deserves death."
    },
    {
        "text": "Glamdring glittered white in answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "She was a young Baggins, and too obviously considered her face shapely."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now get on!\u2019 said Merry, and after that the travellers saw to it that their ponies\u2019 pace was quick enough to push the Shirriffs along as fast as they could go. The sun came out, and in spite of the chilly wind they were soon puffing and sweating."
    },
    {
        "text": "Which way would any of us choose in Frodo\u2019s place? I do not know."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam struggled with himself, arguing this way and that. \u2018He may be all right,\u2019 he thought, \u2018and then he may not. Fair speech may hide a foul heart.\u2019 He yawned. \u2018I could sleep for a week, and I\u2019d be better for it. And what can I do, if I do keep awake, me all alone, and all these great Men about? Nothing, Sam Gamgee; but you\u2019ve got to keep awake all the same.\u2019 And somehow he managed it. The light faded from the cave door, and the grey veil of falling water grew dim and was lost in gathering shadow. Always the sound of the water went on, never changing its note, morning or evening or night. It mur-Now more torches were being lit. A cask of wine was broached."
    },
    {
        "text": "His footsteps retreated down the passage."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Saruman!\u2019 muttered Aragorn. \u2018But he shall not turn us back! Halt we must once more; for, see! even the Moon is falling into gathering cloud. But north lies our road between down and fen when day returns.\u2019 As before Legolas was first afoot, if indeed he had ever slept."
    },
    {
        "text": "There were no clouds overhead yet, but a heaviness was in the air; it was hot for the season of the year. The rising sun was hazy, and behind it, following it slowly up the sky, there was a growing darkness, as of a great storm moving out of the East. And away in the North-west there seemed to be another darkness brooding about the feet of the Misty Mountains, a shadow that crept down slowly from the Wizard\u2019s Vale."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before dawn was in the sky he woke and rose. Gimli was still deep in slumber, but Legolas was standing, gazing northwards into the darkness, thoughtful and silent as a young tree in a windless night."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Which way do we go from here?\u2019 asked Frodo. \u2018Is that the opening of \u2013 of the Morgul Valley, away over there beyond that black mass?\u2019 \u2018Need we think about it yet?\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Surely we\u2019re not going to move any more today, if day it is?\u2019 \u2018Perhaps not, perhaps not,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018But we must go soon, to the Cross-roads. Yes, to the Cross-roads. That\u2019s the way over there, yes, Master.\u2019 The red glare over Mordor died away. The twilight deepened as great vapours rose in the East and crawled above them. Frodo and Sam took a little food and then lay down, but Gollum was restless."
    },
    {
        "text": "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. \u2018It\u2019s sunlight and bright day, right enough,\u2019 he said. \u2018I 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.\u2019 Haldir looked at them, and he seemed indeed to take the meaning of both thought and word. He smiled. \u2018You feel the power of the Lady of the Galadhrim,\u2019 he said. \u2018Would it please you to climb with me up Cerin Amroth?\u2019 They followed him as he stepped lightly up the grass-clad slopes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Show me the precious Ring!\u2019 he said suddenly in the midst of the story: and Frodo, to his own astonishment, drew out the chain from his pocket, and unfastening the Ring handed it at once to Tom.a second the hobbits had a vision, both comical and alarming, of his bright blue eye gleaming through a circle of gold. Then Tom put the Ring round the end of his little finger and held it up to the candlelight."
    },
    {
        "text": "The grass-lands rolled against the hills that clustered at their feet, and flowed up into many valleys still dim and dark, untouched by the light of dawn, winding their way into the heart of the great mountains."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But what can we do?\u2019 cried Pippin miserably. He was leaning on Merry and Frodo, and he was shivering."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Curse the filth!\u2019 he said, and sprang after them into the darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s only one thing those maggots can do: they can see like gimlets in the dark. But these Whiteskins have better night-eyes than most Men, from all I\u2019ve heard; and don\u2019t forget their horses! They can see the night-breeze, or so it\u2019s said. Still there\u2019s one thing the fine fellows don\u2019t know: Mauhu\u00b4r and his lads are in the forest, and they should turn up any time now.\u2019 Uglu\u00b4 k\u2019s words were enough, apparently, to satisfy the Isengarders; but the other Orcs were both dispirited and rebellious. They posted a few watchers, but most of them lay on the ground, resting in theanything a few feet away. The fires brought no light to the hillock."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We don\u2019t often see Shire-folk riding on the Road at night,\u2019 he went on, as they halted a moment by his door. \u2018You\u2019ll pardon my wondering what business takes you away east of Bree! What may your names be, might I ask?\u2019 \u2018Our names and our business are our own, and this does not seem a good place to discuss them,\u2019 said Frodo, not liking the look of the man or the tone of his voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is Faramir come?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sheer rose the dreadful cliffs to unguessed heights on either side."
    },
    {
        "text": "There at the bend it was cut deep through a crag of old weathered stone once long ago vomited from the Mountain\u2019s furnaces. Panting under his load Sam turned the bend; and even as he did so, out of the corner of his eye, he had a glimpse of something falling from the crag, like a small piece of black stone that had toppled off as he passed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The 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.\u2019 \u2018Come with me, Frodo!\u2019 cried the dwarf, springing from the road."
    },
    {
        "text": "On all the level spaces there was great concourse of men. Some thronged to the roadside, hailing the king and the riders from the West with glad cries; but stretching away into the distance behind there were ordered rows of tents and booths, and lines of picketed horses, and great store of arms, and piled spears bristling like thickets of new- planted trees. Now all the great assembly was falling into shadow, and yet, though the night-chill blew cold from the heights, no lanterns glowed, no fires were lit. Watchmen heavily cloaked paced to and fro."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 themiddleofthestreamagainandhaddriventheirboatsbacksomeshadow of bushes leaning out over the water they halted and drew breath."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gorbag and Shagrat were drawing near the gate."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018O Sam!\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018What have I said? What have I done? Forgive me! After all you have done. It is the horrible power of the Ring. I wish it had never, never, been found. But don\u2019t mind me, Sam. I must carry the burden to the end. It can\u2019t be altered. You can\u2019t come between me and this doom.\u2019 \u2018That\u2019s all right, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 said Sam, rubbing his sleeve across his eyes. \u2018I understand. But I can still help, can\u2019t I? I\u2019ve got to get you out of here. At once, see! But first you want some clothes and gear, and then some food. The clothes will be the easiest part. As we\u2019re in Mordor, we\u2019d best dress up Mordor-fashion; and anyway there isn\u2019t no choice. It\u2019ll have to be orc-stuff for you, Mr. Frodo, I\u2019m afraid. And for me too. If we go together, we\u2019d best match. Now put this round you!\u2019 Sam unclasped his grey cloak and cast it about Frodo\u2019s shoulders."
    },
    {
        "text": "Land of the Valley of Singing Gold, that was it, once upon a time."
    },
    {
        "text": "So it has been called for long years; but its right name, Barliman, is\u2018Well, that sounds more hopeful, I\u2019ll allow,\u2019 said Butterbur. \u2018And it will be good for business, no doubt. So long as he lets Bree alone.\u2019 \u2018He will,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018He knows it and loves it.\u2019 \u2018Does he now?\u2019 said Butterbur looking puzzled. \u2018Though I\u2019m sure I don\u2019t know why he should, sitting in his big chair up in his great castle, hundreds of miles away. And drinking wine out of a golden cup, I shouldn\u2019t wonder. What\u2019s The Pony to him, or mugs o\u2019 beer? Not but what my beer\u2019s good, Gandalf. It\u2019s been uncommon good, since you came in the autumn of last year and put a good word on it. And that\u2019s been a comfort in trouble, I will say.\u2019 \u2018Ah!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But he says your beer is always good.\u2019 \u2018He says?\u2019 \u2018Of course he does. He\u2019s Strider. The chief of the Rangers. Haven\u2019t you got that into your head yet?\u2019 It went in at last, and Butterbur\u2019s face was a study in wonder. The eyes in his broad face grew round, and his mouth opened wide, and he gasped. \u2018Strider!\u2019 he exclaimed when he got back his breath. \u2018Him with a crown and all and a golden cup! Well, what are we coming to?\u2019 \u2018Better times, for Bree at any rate,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well!\u2019 Sam went on. \u2018Whatever they have to eat and drink, we can\u2019t get it. There\u2019s no way down that I can see. And we couldn\u2019t cross all that open country crawling with enemies, even if we did get down.\u2019 \u2018Still we shall have to try,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It\u2019s no worse than I expected. I never hoped to get across. I can\u2019t see any hope of it now."
    },
    {
        "text": "Each of the hobbits saw in his mind a vision of the cloaked and booted Riders. If the horsemen had already found the dell, the sooner Strider led them somewhere else the better. Sam viewed the hollow with great dislike, now that he had heard news of their enemies on the Road, only a few miles away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All is well,\u2019 said Aragorn, turning back. \u2018Here are some of my own kin from the far land where I dwelt. But why they come, andthat could be gathered in haste; but the brethren Elladan and Elrohir have ridden with us, desiring to go to the war. We rode as swiftly as we might when your summons came.\u2019 \u2018But I did not summon you,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018save only in wish. My thoughts have often turned to you, and seldom more than tonight; yet I have sent no word. But come! All such matters must wait. You find us riding in haste and danger. Ride with us now, if the king will give his leave.\u2019 The\u00b4oden was indeed glad of the news. \u2018It is well!\u2019 he said. \u2018If these kinsmen be in any way like to yourself, my lord Aragorn, thirty such knights will be a strength that cannot be counted by heads.\u2019 Then the Riders set out again, and Aragorn for a while rode with the Du\u00b4nedain; and when they had spoken of tidings in the North and in the South, Elrohir said to him: \u2018I bring word to you from my father: The days are short. If thou art in haste, remember the Paths of the Dead.\u2019 \u2018Always my days have seemed to me too short to achieve my desire,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018But great indeed will be my haste ere I take that road.\u2019 \u2018That will soon be seen,\u2019 said Elrohir. \u2018But let us speak no more of these things upon the open road!\u2019 And Aragorn said to Halbarad: \u2018What is that that you bear, kins- man?\u2019 For he saw that instead of a spear he bore a tall staff, as it were a standard, but it was close-furled in a black cloth bound about with many thongs."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If only that dratted wizard will leave young Frodo alone, perhaps he\u2019ll settle down and grow some hobbit-sense,\u2019 they said. And to all appearance the wizard did leave Frodo alone, and he did settle down, but the growth of hobbit-sense was not very noticeable. Indeed, he at once began to carry on Bilbo\u2019s reputation for oddity. He refused to go into mourning; and the next year he gave a party in honour of Bilbo\u2019s hundred-and-twelfth birthday, which he called a Hundred- weight Feast. But that was short of the mark, for twenty guests were invited and there were several meals at which it snowed food and rained drink, as hobbits say."
    },
    {
        "text": "Wood and water, stock and stone, I can master; but there is a Wizard to manage here.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Treebeard,\u2019\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018\u2018I need your help. You have done much, but I need more. I have about ten thousand Orcs to manage.\u2019\u2019 \u2018Then those two went off and had a council together in some corner. It must have seemed very hasty to Treebeard, for Gandalf was in a tremendous hurry, and was already talking at a great pace, before they passed out of hearing. They were only away a matter of minutes, perhaps a quarter of an hour. Then Gandalf came back to us, and he seemed relieved, almost merry. He did say he was glad to see us, then."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sam, you can make a dash for Cotton\u2019s farm, if you like. He\u2019s the chief person round here, and the sturdiest. Come on! I am going to blow the horn of Rohan, and give them all some music they have never heard before.\u2019 They rode back to the middle of the village. There Sam turned aside and galloped off down the lane that led south to Cotton\u2019s. He had not gone far when he heard a sudden clear horn-call go up ringing into the sky. Far over hill and field it echoed; and so compelling was that call that Sam himself almost turned and dashed back. His pony reared and neighed."
    },
    {
        "text": "When he woke up the sky above was dim, not lighter but darker than when they had breakfasted. Sam leapt to his feet. Not least from his own feeling of vigour and hunger, he suddenly understood that he had slept the daylight away, nine hours at least. Frodo was still fast asleep, lying now stretched on his side. Gollum was not to be seen. Various reproachful names for himself came to Sam\u2019s mind, drawn from the Gaffer\u2019s large paternal word-hoard; then it also occurred to him that his master had been right: there had for the present been nothing to guard against. They were at any rate both alive and unthrottled."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Who cut the cords she\u2019d put round him, Shagrat? Same one as cut the web. Didn\u2019t you see that? And who stuck a pin into Her Ladyship? Same one, I reckon. And where is he? Where is he, Shagrat?\u2019 Shagrat made no reply."
    },
    {
        "text": "Alas for Saruman! It was his downfall, as I now perceive. Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves. Yet he must bear the blame. Fool! to keep it secret, for his own profit."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But Saruman now! Saruman is a neighbour: I cannot overlook him. I must do something, I suppose. I have often wondered lately what I should do about Saruman.\u2019 \u2018Who is Saruman?\u2019 asked Pippin. \u2018Do you know anything about his history?\u2019 \u2018Saruman is a Wizard,\u2019 answered Treebeard. \u2018More than that I cannot say. I do not know the history of Wizards. They appeared first after the Great Ships came over the Sea; but if they came with the Ships I never can tell. Saruman was reckoned great among them, I believe. He gave up wandering about and minding the affairs of Men and Elves, some time ago \u2013 you would call it a very long time ago; and he settled down at Angrenost, or Isengard as the Men of Rohan call it. He was very quiet to begin with, but his fame began to grow. He was chosen to be the head of the White Council, they say; but that did not turn out too well. I wonder now if even then Saruman was not turning to evil ways. But at any rate he used to give no trouble to his neighbours. I used to talk to him. There was a time when he was always walking about my woods. He was polite in those days, always asking my leave (at least when he met me); and always eager to listen. I told him many things that he would never have found out by himself; but he never repaid me in like kind. I cannot remember that he ever told me anything. And he got more and more like that; his face, as I remember it \u2013 I have not seen it for many a day \u2013 became like windows in a stone wall: windows with shutters inside."
    },
    {
        "text": "He brought candles and a tray full of plates."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But mighty indeed was Aragorn that day. Lo! all the black fleet was in his hands; and he chose the greatest ship to be his own, and he went up into it. Then he let sound a great concourse of trumpets taken from the enemy; and the Shadow Host withdrew to the shore."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was important. Magic rings are \u2013 well, magical; and they are rare and curious. I was professionally interested in your ring, you may say; and I still am. I should like to know where it is, if you go wandering again. Also I think you have had it quite long enough."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam sat silent and said no more. He had a good deal to think about. For one thing, there was a lot to do up in the Bag End garden, and he would have a busy day tomorrow, if the weather cleared. The grass was growing fast. But Sam had more on his mind than garden- ing. After a while he sighed, and got up and went out."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We must be off,\u2019 he said. \u2018Half a moment!\u2019 Grishna\u00b4kh\u2019s sword was lying close at hand, but it was too heavy and clumsy for him to use; so he crawled forward, and finding the body of the goblin he\u2018Now for it!\u2019 he said. \u2018When we\u2019ve warmed up a bit, perhaps we shall be able to stand again, and walk. But in any case we had better start by crawling.\u2019 They crawled. The turf was deep and yielding, and that helped them; but it seemed a long slow business. They gave the watch-fire a wide berth, and wormed their way forward bit by bit, until they came to the edge of the river, gurgling away in the black shadows under its deep banks. Then they looked back."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But, Frodo, I pressed you hard at first about Isildur\u2019s Bane. Forgive me! It was unwise in such an hour and place. I had not had time for thought. We had had a hard fight, and there was more than enoughis still preserved of ancient lore among the Rulers of the city that is not spread abroad. We of my house are not of the line of Elendil, though the blood of Nu\u00b4 menor is in us. For we reckon back our line to Mardil, the good steward, who ruled in the king\u2019s stead when he went away to war. And that was King Ea\u00a8rnur, last of the line of Ana\u00b4rion, and childless, and he came never back. And the stewards have governed the city since that day, though it was many generations of Men ago."
    },
    {
        "text": "And some said: \u2018They are Elvish wights. Let them go where they belong, into the dark places, and never return. The times are evilThe light was still grey as they rode, for the sun had not yet climbed over the black ridges of the Haunted Mountain before them. A dread fell on them, even as they passed between the lines of ancient stones and so came to the Dimholt. There under the gloom of black trees that not even Legolas could long endure they found a hollow place opening at the mountain\u2019s root, and right in their path stood a single mighty stone like a finger of doom."
    },
    {
        "text": "In those last days the hobbits sat together in the evening in the Hall of Fire, and there among many tales they heard told in full the lay of Beren and Lu\u00b4thien 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\u2019s adventures."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hail, Lord and Steward of Minas Tirith, Denethor son of Ecthelion! I am come with counsel and tidings in this dark hour.\u2019 Then the old man looked up. Pippin saw his carven face with its proud bones and skin like ivory, and the long curved nose between the dark deep eyes; and he was reminded not so much of Boromir as of Aragorn. \u2018Dark indeed is the hour,\u2019 said the old man, \u2018and at such times you are wont to come, Mithrandir. But though all the signs forebode that the doom of Gondor is drawing nigh, less now to meis that darknessthan myown darkness. Ithas been toldto meof Rohan and may come hereafter. Halflings they are, as you see, yet this is not he of whom the omens spoke.\u2019 \u2018Yet a Halfling still,\u2019 said Denethor grimly, \u2018and little love do I bear the name, since those accursed words came to trouble our coun- sels and drew away my son on the wild errand to his death. My Boromir! Now we have need of you. Faramir should have gone in his stead.\u2019 \u2018He would have gone,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Be not unjust in your grief ! Boromir claimed the errand and would not suffer any other to have it. He was a masterful man, and one to take what he desired. I journeyed far with him and learned much of his mood. But you speak of his death. You have had news of that ere we came?\u2019 \u2018I have received this,\u2019 said Denethor, and laying down his rod he lifted from his lap the thing that he had been gazing at. In each hand he held up one half of a great horn cloven through the middle: a wild-ox horn bound with silver."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 Sam sat on the ground and put his head in his hands. \u2018I wish I had never come here, and I don\u2019t want to see no more magic,\u2019 he said and fell silent. After a moment he spoke again thickly, as if struggling with tears. \u2018No, I\u2019ll go home by the long road with Mr. Frodo, or not at all,\u2019 he said. \u2018But I hope I do get back some day. If what I\u2019ve seen turns out true, somebody\u2019s going to catch it hot!\u2019 \u2018Do you now wish to look, Frodo?\u2019 said the Lady Galadriel. \u2018You did not wish to see Elf-magic and were content.\u2019 \u2018Do you advise me to look?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam soon became aware that the Captain was not satisfied with Frodo\u2019s account of himself at several points: what part he had to play in the Company that set out from Rivendell; why he had left Boromir; and where he was now going. In particular he returned often to Isildur\u2019s Bane. Plainly he saw that Frodo was concealing from him some matter of great importance."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Can you see any markings on it?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here at last we find news!\u2019 said Aragorn. He lifted up a broken leaf for them to see, a large pale leaf of golden hue, now fading and turning brown. \u2018Here is a mallorn-leaf of Lo\u00b4rien, and there are small crumbs on it, and a few more crumbs in the grass. And see! there are some pieces of cut cord lying nearby!\u2019 \u2018And here is the knife that cut them!\u2019 said Gimli. He stooped and drew out of a tussock, into which some heavy foot had trampled it, a short jagged blade. The haft from which it had been snapped was beside it. \u2018It was an orc-weapon,\u2019 he said, holding it gingerly, and looking with disgust at the carved handle: it had been shaped like a hideous head with squinting eyes and leering mouth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Lothlo\u00b4rien!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Glad 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.\u2019 \u2018If Elves indeed still dwell here in the darkening world,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, yess, longer,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018But not so difficult. Hobbits have climbed the Straight Stair. Next comes the Winding Stair.\u2019 \u2018And what after that?\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come!\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018On! On!\u2019 Wild joy at their escape from theIt seemed light in that dark land to his eyes that had passed through the den of night. The great smokes had risen and grown thinner, and the last hours of a sombre day were passing; the red glare of Mordor had died away in sullen gloom. Yet it seemed to Frodo that he looked upon a morning of sudden hope. Almost he had reached the summit of the wall. Only a little higher now. The Cleft, Cirith Ungol, was before him, a dim notch in the black ridge, and the horns of rock darkling in the sky on either side. A short race, a sprinter\u2019s course, and he would be through! \u2018The pass, Sam!\u2019 he cried, not heeding the shrillness of his voice, that released from the choking airs of the tunnel rang out now high and wild. \u2018The pass! Run, run, and we\u2019ll be through \u2013 through before anyone can stop us!\u2019 Sam came up behind as fast as he could urge his legs; but glad as he was to be free, he was uneasy, and as he ran, he kept on glancing back at the dark arch of the tunnel, fearing to see eyes, or some shape beyond his imagining, spring out in pursuit. Too little did he or his master know of the craft of Shelob. She had many exits from her lair."
    },
    {
        "text": "Neither Hirluin the Fair to the hills by the sea, nor Forlong the old to the flowering vales ever, to Arnach, to his own country returned in triumph; nor the tall bowmen, Derufin and Duilin, to their dark waters, meres of Morthond under mountain-shadows."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Put it out! Put it out!\u2019 begged Merry. The branches of the willow began to sway violently. There was a sound as of a wind rising and spreading outwards to the branches of all the other trees round about, as though they had dropped a stone into the quiet slumber of the river-valley and set up ripples of anger that ran out over the whole Forest. Sam kicked at the little fire and stamped out the sparks. But Frodo, without any clear idea of why he did so, or what he hoped for, ran along the path crying help! help! help! It seemed to him that he could hardly hear the sound of his own shrill voice: it was blown away from him by the willow-wind and drowned in a clamour of leaves, as soon as the words left his mouth. He felt desperate: lost and witless.back in the Forest. He turned round and listened, and soon there could be no doubt: someone was singing a song; a deep glad voice was singing carelessly and happily, but it was singing nonsense: Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo! Half hopeful and half afraid of some new danger, Frodo and Sam now both stood still. Suddenly out of a long string of nonsense-words (or so they seemed) the voice rose up loud and clear and burst into this song: Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling! Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits climbed up and watched him until he was out of sight."
    },
    {
        "text": "The drums rolled and rattled. With a vast rush Grond was hurled forward by huge hands. It reached the Gate. It swung. A deep boom rumbled through the City like thunder running in the clouds. But the doors of iron and posts of steel withstood the stroke."
    },
    {
        "text": "After some time the hobbits heard him murmuring again. He seemed to be counting on his fingers. \u2018Fangorn, Finglas, Fladrif, aye, aye,\u2019 he sighed. \u2018The trouble is that there are so few of us left,\u2019 he said turning towards the hobbits. \u2018Only three remain of the first Ents that walked in the woods before the Darkness: only myself, Fangorn, and Finglas and Fladrif \u2013 to give them their Elvish names; you may call them Leaflock and Skinbark if you like that better. And of us three, Leaflock and Skinbark are not much use for this business."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No you don\u2019t, Sam!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018It is good for him. He\u2019s got nothing except what he ordered us to pack. He\u2019s been slack lately, and he\u2019ll feel the weight less when he\u2019s walked off some of his own.\u2019 \u2018Be kind to a poor old hobbit!\u2019 laughed Frodo. \u2018I shall be as thin as a willow-wand, I\u2019m sure, before I get to Buckland. But I was talking nonsense. I suspect you have taken more than your share, Sam, and I shall look into it at our next packing.\u2019 He picked up his stick again. \u2018Well, we all like walking in the dark,\u2019 he said, \u2018so let\u2019s put some miles behind us before bed.\u2019single file along hedgerows and the borders of coppices, and night fell dark about them. In their dark cloaks they were as invisible as if they all had magic rings. Since they were all hobbits, and were trying to be silent, they made no noise that even hobbits would hear. Even the wild things in the fields and woods hardly noticed their passing."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 theFar away up on the hill they could hear the sound of singing falling from on high like soft rain upon leaves."
    },
    {
        "text": "There she crouched, her shuddering belly splayed upon the ground, the great bows of her legs quivering, as she gathered herself for another spring \u2013 this time to crush and sting to death: no little bite of poison to still the struggling of her meat; this time to slay and then to rend."
    },
    {
        "text": "But he has not come.\u2019 \u2018I fear that he will not come now,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018Our scouts have gained no news of him, and the enemy fills all the valley behind us.\u2019 \u2018I would that he had escaped,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018He was a mighty man. In him lived again the valour of Helm the Hammerhand. But we cannot await him here. We must draw all our forces now behind the walls. Are you well stored? We bring little provision, for we rode forth to open battle, not to a siege.\u2019 \u2018Behind us in the caves of the Deep are three parts of the folk of Westfold, old and young, children and women,\u2019 said Gamling. \u2018But great store of food, and many beasts and their fodder, have also been gathered there.\u2019 \u2018That is well,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018They are burning or despoiling all that is left in the vale.\u2019 \u2018If they come to bargain for our goods at Helm\u2019s Gate, they will pay a high price,\u2019 said Gamling."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then suddenly Frodo fell asleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So do I,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and so do all who live to see such times."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We know many things,\u2019 they said. \u2018We have seen you often before with Bilbo, though you may not have seen us.\u2019 \u2018Who are you, and who is your lord?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam got out the rope. \u2018And where were you off to in the cold hard lands, Mr. Gollum?\u2019 he growled. \u2018We wonders, aye, we wonders. To find some of your orc-friends, I warrant. You nasty treacherous crea- ture. It\u2019s round your neck this rope ought to go, and a tight noose too.\u2019 Gollum lay quiet and tried no further tricks. He did not answer Sam, but gave him a swift venomous look."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is good to learn that they are still alive,\u2019 said Gimli; \u2018for they cost us great pains in our march over Rohan, and I would not have such pains all wasted.\u2019 Together the Elf and the Dwarf entered Minas Tirith, and folk that saw them pass marvelled to see such companions; for Legolas was fair of face beyond the measure of Men, and he sang an elven-song in a clear voice as he walked in the morning; but Gimli stalked beside him, stroking his beard and staring about him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin could see all the Pelennor laid out before him, dotted into the distance with farmsteads and little walls, barns and byres, but nowhere could he see any kine or other beasts. Many roads and tracks crossed the green fields, and there was much coming and going: wains moving in lines towards the Great Gate, and others passing out. Now and again a horseman would ride up, and leap from the saddle and hasten into the City. But most of the traffic went out along the chief highway, and that turned south, and then bending swifter than the River skirted the hills and passed soon from sight."
    },
    {
        "text": "The warmth of the orc-draught had gone. Pippin felt cold and sick again. Suddenly he fell face downward on the turf. Hard hands with rending nails gripped and lifted him. He was carried like a sack once more, and darkness grew about him: whether the darkness of another night, or a blindness of his eyes, he could not tell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What shall I do, what shall I do?\u2019 he said. \u2018Did I come all this way with him for nothing?\u2019 And then he remembered his own voice speaking words that at the time he did not understand himself, at the beginning of their journey: I have something to do before the end. I must see it through, sir, if you understand."
    },
    {
        "text": "The ridge upon which the companions stood went down steeply before their feet. Below it twenty fathoms or more, there was a wide and rugged shelf which ended suddenly in the brink of a sheer cliff: the East Wall of Rohan. So ended the Emyn Muil, and the green plains of the Rohirrim stretched away before them to the edge of sight."
    },
    {
        "text": "Butterbur had come trotting in, and he was now trying to listen to several conflicting accounts of the event at the same time."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are evil things written on this hilt,\u2019 he said; \u2018though maybe your eyes cannot see them. Keep it, Aragorn, till we reach the house of Elrond! But be wary, and handle it as little as you may! Alas! the wounds of this weapon are beyond my skill to heal. I will do what I can \u2013 but all the more do I urge you now to go on without rest.\u2019 He searched the wound on Frodo\u2019s shoulder with his fingers, andhis face grew graver, as if what he learned disquieted him. But Frodo felt the chill lessen in his side and arm; a little warmth crept down from his shoulder to his hand, and the pain grew easier. The dusk of evening seemed to grow lighter about him, as if a cloud had been withdrawn. He saw his friends\u2019 faces more clearly again, and a measure of new hope and strength returned."
    },
    {
        "text": "Of all the legends that he had heard in his early years such fragments of tales and half-remembered stories about the Elves as the hobbits knew, had always moved him most deeply. \u2018There are some, even in these parts, as know the Fair Folk and get news of them,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a silence. All the men in the cave stopped talking and looked towards them in wonder. But Faramir sat down again in his chair and began to laugh quietly, and then suddenly became grave again."
    },
    {
        "text": "And some of the bosses are going to lose their skins too, I guess, if what I hear is true: Tower raided and all, and hundreds of your lads done in, and prisoner got away. If that\u2019s the way you fighters go on, small wonder there\u2019s bad news from the battles.\u2019 \u2018Who says there\u2019s bad news?\u2019 shouted the soldier."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry led the pony over a gangway on to the ferry, and the others followed. Merry then pushed slowly off with a long pole. The Brandy- wine flowed slow and broad before them. On the other side the bank was steep, and up it a winding path climbed from the further landing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then let us weigh the matter in our minds, while the others rest and sleep,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "When he was a few feet away, he stood, stooping over his staff, with his head thrust forward, peering at them from under his hood. \u2018And what may you be doing in these parts? An Elf, a Man, and a Dwarf, all clad in Elvish fashion. No doubt there is a tale worth hearing behind it all. Such things are not often seen here.\u2019 \u2018You speak as one that knows Fangorn well,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Is that so?\u2019 \u2018Not well,\u2019 said the old man: \u2018that would be the study of many lives. But I come here now and again.\u2019 \u2018Might we know your name, and then hear what it is that you have to say to us?\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018The morning passes, and we have andoing, and what tale can you tell of yourselves? As for my name!\u2019 He broke off, laughing long and softly. Aragorn felt a shudder run through him at the sound, a strange cold thrill; and yet it was not fear or terror that he felt: rather it was like the sudden bite of a keen air, or the slap of a cold rain that wakes an uneasy sleeper."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Aye, we will,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018The legs of Men will lag on a rough road, while a Dwarf goes on, be the burden twice his own weight, Master Boromir!\u2019 The task proved hard indeed, yet in the end it was done. The goods were 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We must reach the doors before sunset,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018or 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Eh, what?\u2019 said Tom sitting up, and his eyes glinting in the gloom."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 back."
    },
    {
        "text": "He thrust and pushed at the block, and he threw himself against it, but it did not yield. Then not far inside, or so he thought, he heard the two captains\u2019 voices talking again. He stood still listening for a little, hoping perhaps to learn something useful. Perhaps Gorbag, who seemed to belong to Minas Morgul, would come out, and he could then slip in."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the days that followed his crowning the King sat on his throne in the Hall of the Kings and pronounced his judgements. And embassies came from many lands and peoples, from the East and the South, and from the borders of Mirkwood, and from Dunland in the west."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The four hobbits shall climb up here and stay with us \u2013 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Through the trees, while the Faces are dark. Yes, come, let\u2019s go!\u2019 \u2018Yes, we\u2019ll go soon,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But not at once. I will go with you as I promised. I promise again. But not now. You are not safe yet. I will save you, but you must trust me.\u2019 \u2018We must trust Master?\u2019 said Gollum doubtfully. \u2018Why? Why not go at once? Where is the other one, the cross rude hobbit? Where is he?\u2019 \u2018Away up there,\u2019 said Frodo, pointing to the waterfall. \u2018I am not going without him. We must go back to him.\u2019 His heart sank. This was too much like trickery. He did not really fear that Faramir would allowGollumtobekilled,buthewouldprobablymakehimprisonerever to make him understand or believe that Frodo had saved his life in the only way he could. What else could he do? \u2013 to keep faith, as near as might be, with both sides. \u2018Come!\u2019 he said. \u2018Or the Precious will be angry. We are going back now, up the stream. Go on, go on, you go in front!\u2019 Gollum crawled along close to the brink for a little way, snuffling and suspicious. Presently he stopped and raised his head. \u2018Some- thing\u2019s there!\u2019 he said. \u2018Not a hobbit.\u2019 Suddenly he turned back. A green light was flickering in his bulging eyes. \u2018Masster, masster!\u2019 he hissed. \u2018Wicked! Tricksy! False!\u2019 He spat and stretched out his long arms with white snapping fingers."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, that is done,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Now I must find Treebeard and tell him how things have gone.\u2019 \u2018He will have guessed, surely?\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Were they likely to end any other way?\u2019 \u2018Not likely,\u2019 answered Gandalf, \u2018though they came to the balance of a hair. But I had reasons for trying; some merciful and some less so. First Saruman was shown that the power of his voice was waning."
    },
    {
        "text": "Indeed so much did Tom know, and so cunning was his question- ing, that Frodo found himself telling him more about Bilbo and his own hopes and fears than he had told before even to Gandalf. Tom wagged his head up and down, and there was a glint in his eyes when he heard of the Riders."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I brought a little hatchet for chopping firewood,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018That wouldn\u2019t be much use.\u2019 \u2018Wait a minute!\u2019 cried Sam, struck by an idea suggested by fire- wood. \u2018We might do something with fire!\u2019 \u2018We might,\u2019 said Frodo doubtfully. \u2018We might succeed in roasting Pippin alive inside.\u2019 \u2018We might try to hurt or frighten this tree to begin with,\u2019 said Sam fiercely. \u2018If it don\u2019t let them go, I\u2019ll have it down, if I have to gnaw it.\u2019 He ran to the ponies and before long came back with two tinder- boxes and a hatchet."
    },
    {
        "text": "He wondered very much what kind of folk they were. He wished now that he had learned more in Rivendell, and looked more at maps and things; but in those days the plans for the journey seemed to be in more competent hands, and he had never reckoned with being cut off from Gandalf, or from Strider, and even from Frodo. All that he could remember about Rohan was that Gandalf \u2019s horse, Shadowfax, had come from that land. That sounded hopeful, as far as it went."
    },
    {
        "text": "So it was that Frodo saw her whom few mortals had yet seen; Arwen, daughter of Elrond, in whom it was said that the likeness of Lu\u00b4thien had come on earth again; and she was called Undo\u00b4miel, for she was the Evenstar of her people. Long she had been in the land of her mother\u2019s kin, in Lo\u00b4 rien beyond the mountains, and was but lately returned to Rivendell to her father\u2019s house. But her brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, were out upon errantry; for they rode often far afield with the Rangers of the North, forgetting never their mother\u2019s torment in the dens of the orcs."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They\u2019ll wait for the Sun, curse them!\u2019 growled one of the guards."
    },
    {
        "text": "Already it seemed that word of their coming had gone before them; and at once they were admitted, silently, and without question."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is no time to tell all that you should hear,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "The wind was in his flowing hair, The foam about him shone;But from the West has come no word, And on the Hither Shore No tidings Elven-folk have heard Of Amroth evermore."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo, there\u2019s other things we might do without. Why not lighten the load a bit? We\u2019re going that way now, as straight as we can make it.\u2019 He pointed to the Mountain. \u2018It\u2019s no good taking anything we\u2019re not sure to need.\u2019 Frodo looked again towards the Mountain. \u2018No,\u2019 he said, \u2018we shan\u2019t need much on that road. And at its end nothing.\u2019 Picking up his orc-shield he flung it away and threw his helmet after it. Then pulling off the grey cloak he undid the heavy belt and let it fall to the ground, and the sheathed sword with it. The shreds of the black cloak he tore off and scattered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Last of all he scanned The\u00b4oden\u2019s face and opened his mouth as if to speak. Then suddenly he drew himself up. His hands worked. His eyes glittered. Such malice was in them that men stepped back from\u2018After him!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018See that he does no harm to any, but do not hurt him or hinder him. Give him a horse, if he wishes it.\u2019 \u2018And if any will bear him,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer."
    },
    {
        "text": "If I, wearing it, were to command you, you would obey, even if it were to leap from a precipice or to cast yourself into the fire. And such would be my command. So have a care, Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 Sam looked at his master with approval, but also with surprise: there was a look in his face and a tone in his voice that he had not known before. It had always been a notion of his that the kindness of dear Mr. Frodo was of such a high degree that it must imply a fair measure of blindness. Of course, he also firmly held the incompat- ible belief that Mr. Frodo was the wisest person in the world (with the possible exception of Old Mr. Bilbo and of Gandalf ). Gollum in his own way, and with much more excuse as his acquaintance was much briefer, may have made a similar mistake, confusing kindness and blindness. At any rate this speech abashed and terrified him. He grovelled on the ground and could speak no clear words but nice master."
    },
    {
        "text": "Turning back they saw across the River the far hills kindled. Day leaped into the sky. The red rim of the sun rose over the shoulders of the dark land. Before them in the West the world lay still, formless and grey; but even as they looked, the shadows of night melted, the colours of the waking earth returned: green flowed over the wide meads of Rohan; the white mists shimmered in the water-vales; and far off to the left, thirty leagues or more, blue and purple stood the White Mountains, rising into peaks of jet, tipped with glimmering snows, flushed with the rose of morning."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then at last Pippin took Gandalf \u2019s hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "On down the grey road they went beside the Snowbourn rushing on its stones; through the hamlets of Underharrow and Upbourn, where many sad faces of women looked out from dark doors; and so without horn or harp or music of men\u2019s voices the great ride into the East began with which the songs of Rohan were busy for many long lives of men thereafter."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Some 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 Lothlo\u00b4rien that I love! It would be a poor life in a land where no mallorn grew. But if there are mallorn- trees beyond the Great Sea, none have reported it.\u2019 As they spoke thus, the Company filed slowly along the paths in the wood, led by Haldir, 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 murmur- ing away on his right, and the thin clear voices of birds high in the sky. He felt the sun upon his face and hands when they passed through an open glade."
    },
    {
        "text": "My dear Bagginses and Boffins, he began again; and my dear Tooks and Brandybucks, and Grubbs, and Chubbs, and Burrowses, and Horn- blowers, and Bolgers, Bracegirdles, Goodbodies, Brockhouses and Proudfoots."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits regretted very much that they knew so little about them: only a rather vague report by Sam of what Gandalf had told the Council. But they were clear at any rate that Uglu\u00b4k and his troop came from Isengard, and spoke of Saruman as their master."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Master, dear master,\u2019 he said, but Frodo did not speak. As he had run forward, eager, rejoicing to be free, Shelob with hideous speed had come behind and with one swift stroke had stung him in the neck. He lay now pale, and heard no voice, and did not move."
    },
    {
        "text": "We will ride the straight way and the open road and with all our speed. The muster shall begin at once, and wait for none that tarry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Also,\u2019 said Haldir, \u2018they 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.\u2019 He removed the bandage first from Gimli\u2019s eyes. \u2018Your pardon!\u2019 he said, bowing low. \u2018Look on us now with friendly eyes! Look and be glad, for you are the first dwarf to behold the trees of the Naith of Lo\u00b4rien since Durin\u2019s Day!\u2019 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 Springtime 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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "This only would he say, that Imladris was of old the name among the Elves of a far northern dale, where Elrond the Halfelven dwelt, greatest of lore-masters. Therefore my brother, seeing how desperate was our need, was eager to heed the dream and seek for Imladris; but since the way was full of doubt and danger, I took the journey upon myself. Loth was my father to give me leave, and long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay.\u2019 \u2018And here in the house of Elrond more shall be made clear to you,\u2019 said Aragorn, standing up. He cast his sword upon the table that stood before Elrond, and the blade was in two pieces. \u2018Here is the Sword that was Broken!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "They\u2019vetookotherswemissmore,butthere\u2019snodenyingsheshowedInto the middle of this talk came Sam, bursting in with his gaffer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Some here will remember that many years ago I myself dared to pass the doors of the Necromancer in Dol Guldur, and secretly explored his ways, and found thus that our fears were true: he was none other than Sauron, our Enemy of old, at length taking shape and power again. Some, too, will remember also that Saruman dis- suaded us from open deeds against him, and for long we watched him only. Yet at last, as his shadow grew, Saruman yielded, and the Council put forth its strength and drove the evil out of Mirkwood \u2013 and that was in the very year of the finding of this Ring: a strange chance, if chance it was."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come forth!\u2019 they cried. \u2018Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Justice shall be done upon him. For wrongfully he has made war upon Gondor and wrested its lands. Therefore the King of Gondor demands that he should atone for his evils, and depart then for ever."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "To the complete surprise of both the hobbits it came loose. Sam fell over, and the long grey coils slithered silently down on top of him."
    },
    {
        "text": "And as for Frodo, he would not speak, though Boromir pressed him with questions. \u2018She held you long in her gaze, Ring-bearer,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There must have been a mighty crowd of dwarves here at one time,\u2019 said Sam; \u2018and 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\u2019t live in these darksome holes surely?\u2019 \u2018These are not holes,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018This 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.\u2019 He rose and standing in the dark he began to chant in a deep voice, while the echoes ran away into the roof."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And what of escape? In the dark we should have passed the signs that led you to the brooch.\u2019 \u2018The Orcs will be doubly on their guard since then, and the prisoners even wearier,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018There will be no escape again, if we do not contrive it. How that is to be done cannot be guessed, but first we must overtake them.\u2019 \u2018And yet even I, Dwarf of many journeys, and not the least hardy of my folk, cannot run all the way to Isengard without any pause,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018My heart burns me too, and I would have started sooner; but now I must rest a little to run the better. And if we rest, then the blind night is the time to do so.\u2019\u2018You are our guide,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018and you are skilled in the chase."
    },
    {
        "text": "A wanderer escaped from night to haven white he came at last, to Elvenhome the green and fair where keen the air, where pale as glass beneath the Hill of Ilmarin a-glimmer in a valley sheer the lamplit towers of Tirion are mirrored on the Shadowmere."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then the Prince Imrahil and E\u00b4omer of Rohan left him and passed through the City and the tumult of the people, and mounted to the Citadel; and they came to the Hall of the Tower, seeking the Steward."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is now many years ago,\u2019 said Glo\u00b4in, \u2018that a shadow of disquiet fell upon our people. Whence it came we did not at first perceive."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, here we are!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018And very cheerless and uninviting it looks! There is no water and no shelter. And no sign of Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry slept until he was roused by Legolas and Gimli. \u2018The Sun is high,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018All others are up and doing. Come, Master Sluggard, and look at this place while you may!\u2019and see how it was! And there are caves, Merry, caves of wonder! Shall we visit them, Legolas, do you think?\u2019 \u2018Nay! There is no time,\u2019 said the Elf. \u2018Do not spoil the wonder with haste! I have given you my word to return hither with you, if a day of peace and freedom comes again. But it is now near to noon, and at that hour we eat, and then set out again, I hear.\u2019 Merry got up and yawned. His few hours\u2019 sleep had not been nearly enough; he was tired and rather dismal. He missed Pippin, and felt that he was only a burden, while everybody was making plans for speed in a business that he did not fully understand. \u2018Where is Aragorn?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "Low upon the edge of sight shoulders of the mountains glinted red upon either side. A smoke seemed to rise up and darken the sun\u2019s disc to the hue of blood, as if it had kindled the grass as it passed down under the rim of earth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I was in the company that held the bridge, until it was cast down behindus.Fouronlyweresavedbyswimming:mybrotherandmyselfhear our name: much praise but little help. Only from Rohan now will any men ride to us when we call."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 pace, and with only one brief halt Aragorn led the Company on for nearly three more hours."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then at last an answer came: a storm of arrows met them, and a hail of stones. They wavered, broke, and fled back; and then charged again, broke and charged again; and each time, like the incoming sea, they halted at a higher point. Again trumpets rang, and a press of roaring men leaped forth. They held their great shields above them like a roof, while in their midst they bore two trunks of mighty trees."
    },
    {
        "text": "And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Soon get more now,\u2019 he said, licking his lips. \u2018Good water runs down in streams to the Great River, nice water in the lands we are going to. Sme\u00b4agol will get food there too, perhaps. He\u2019s very hungry, yes, gollum!\u2019 He set his two large flat hands on his shrunken belly, and a pale green light came into his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "And they went down and crossed the bridge and came to the doors, and all the house was filled with light and song for joy at Elrond\u2019s homecoming."
    },
    {
        "text": "The cold hour before dawn was passing. The figure by the door moved. In the dark without moon or stars a drawn blade gleamed, as if a chill light had been unsheathed. There was a blow, soft but heavy, and the door shuddered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before he could pick it up, the wizard stooped and seized it and set it in its place. A spasm of anger passed swiftly over the hobbit\u2019s face again. Suddenly it gave way to a look of relief and a laugh."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a silence. The old man did not move in his chair. At length Gandalf spoke. \u2018Hail, The\u00b4oden son of Thengel! I have returned. For behold! the storm comes, and now all friends should gather together, lest each singly be destroyed.\u2019 Slowly the old man rose to his feet, leaning heavily upon a short black staff with a handle of white bone; and now the strangers saw that, bent though he was, he was still tall and must in youth have been high and proud indeed."
    },
    {
        "text": "No word did he ever speak of it to any of the Council. We had not yet given thought to the fate of the palant\u00b4\u0131ri of Gondor in its ruinous wars. By Men they were almost forgotten. Even in Gondor they were a secret known only to a few; in Arnor they were remembered onlyand astonished at getting answers to so many questions, and wonder- ing how long it would last."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly the River swept round a bend, and the banks rose upon either side, and the light of Lo\u00b4rien was hidden. To that fair land Frodo never came again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Of old he was an Elven-king, A lord of tree and glen, When golden were the boughs in spring In fair Lothlo\u00b4rien."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am out of my reckoning,\u2019 he said to Frodo. \u2018I did not know that we had come so far: Anduin flows faster than I thought. Sarn Gebir must be close at hand already.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "At his side Pippin lay dreaming pleasantly; but a change came over his dreams and he turned and groaned. Suddenly he woke, or thought he had waked, and yet still heard in the darkness the sound that had disturbed his dream: tip-tap, squeak: the noise was like branches fretting in the wind, twig-fingers scraping wall and window: creak, creak, creak. He wondered if there were willow-trees close to the house; and then suddenly he had a dreadful feeling that he was not in an ordinary house at all, but inside the willow and listening to that horrible dry creaking voice laughing at him again. He sat up, and felt the soft pillows yield to his hands, and he lay down again relieved. He seemed to hear the echo of words in his ears: \u2018Fear nothing! Have peace until the morning! Heed no nightly noises!\u2019 Then he went to sleep again."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "As it drew near the great furnaces where, in the deeps of time, it had been shaped and forged, the Ring\u2019s power grew, and it became more fell, untameable save by some mighty will. As Sam stood there, even though the Ring was not on him but hanging by its chain about hisof Mordor. He felt that he had from now on only two choices: to forbear the Ring, though it would torment him; or to claim it, and challenge the Power that sat in its dark hold beyond the valley of shadows. Already the Ring tempted him, gnawing at his will and reason. Wild fantasies arose in his mind; and he saw Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age, striding with a flaming sword across the darkened land, and armies flocking to his call as he marched to the overthrow of Barad-du\u02c6r. And then all the clouds rolled away, and the white sun shone, and at his command the vale of Gorgoroth became a garden of flowers and trees and brought forth fruit. He had only to put on the Ring and claim it for his own, and all this could be."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look!\u2019 he said, clutching Frodo by the arm. They all looked, and on the edge high above them they saw against the sky a horse standing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But 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.\u2019 He took up a paddle, and steered towards the western bank, following Aragorn\u2019s boat ahead, which had already moved out of the middle stream."
    },
    {
        "text": "All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sounds had died away. Evidently Mauhu\u00b4r and his \u2018lads\u2019 had been killed or driven off. The Riders had returned to their silent ominous vigil. It would not last very much longer. Already the night was old. In the East, which had remained unclouded, the sky was beginning to grow pale."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wonder greatly what brings four hobbits on so long a journey."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, what did you discover?\u2019 growled the voice of Uglu\u00b4 k."
    },
    {
        "text": "By the end of the next day the pain and unease had passed, and Frodo was merry again, as merry as if he did not remember the blackness of the day before. After that the journey went well, and the days went quickly by; for they rode at leisure, and often they lingered in the fair woodlands where the leaves were red and yellow in the autumn sun. At length they came to Weathertop; and it was then drawing towards evening and the shadow of the hill lay dark on the road. Then Frodo begged them to hasten, and he would not look towards the hill, but rode through its shadow with head bowed and cloak drawn close about him. That night the weather changed, and a wind came from the West laden with rain, and it blew loud and chill, and the yellow leaves whirled like birds in the air. When they came to the Chetwood already the boughs were almost bare, and a great curtain of rain veiled Bree-hill from their sight."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We do not know, and our hearts are heavy,\u2019 he said. \u2018But as for the Paths of the Dead, you have yourself walked on their first steps. Nay, I speak no words of ill omen! The road that we have climbed is the approach to the Door, yonder in the Dimholt. But what lies beyond no man knows.\u2019 \u2018No man knows,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden: \u2018yet ancient legend, now seldom spoken, has somewhat to report. If these old tales speak true that have come down from father to son in the House of Eorl, then the Door under Dwimorberg leads to a secret way that goes beneath the mountain to some forgotten end. But none have ever ventured in to search its secrets, since Baldor, son of Brego, passed the Door and was never seen among men again. A rash vow he spoke, as he drained the horn at that feast which Brego made to hallow new-built Medu- seld, and he came never to the high seat of which he was the heir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I do not know how it happened,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018Nor do I know why an Orc was carrying them away. Not to help them to escape, we may be sure. Nay, rather I think that I now begin to understand a matter that has puzzled me from the beginning: why when Boromir had fallen were the Orcs content with the capture of Merry and Pippin? They did not seek out the rest of us, nor attack our camp; but instead they went with all speed towards Isengard."
    },
    {
        "text": "At dusk they halted again. Now twice twelve leagues they had passed over the plains of Rohan and the wall of the Emyn Muil was lost in the shadows of the East. The young moon was glimmering in a misty sky, but it gave small light, and the stars were veiled."
    },
    {
        "text": "One went to the door, one to the corner of the house on either side; and there they stood, as still as the shadows of stones, while night went slowly on. The house and the quiet trees seemed to be waiting breathlessly."
    },
    {
        "text": "But she said: \u2018Aragorn, wilt thou go?\u2019 \u2018I will,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "They started off in a southerly direction. This would mean crossing the Road, but it was the quickest way to more wooded country. And they needed fuel; for Strider said that Frodo must be kept warm, especially at night, while fire would be some protection for them all."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, here we are and all ready,\u2019 said Merry; \u2018but where are the Doors? I can\u2019t see any sign of them.\u2019 \u2018Dwarf-doors are not made to be seen when shut,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then she sent me no message?\u2019 said Gimli and bent his head."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If you mean that your precious Chief has been hiring ruffians out of the wild, then we\u2019ve not come back too soon.\u2019 He sprang from his pony, and seeing the notice in the light of the lanterns, he tore it down and threw it over the gate. The hobbits backed away and made no move to open it. \u2018Come on, Pippin!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Two is enough.\u2019 Merry and Pippin climbed the gate, and the hobbits fled. Another horn sounded. Out of the bigger house on the right a large heavy figure appeared against a light in the doorway."
    },
    {
        "text": "At that rage blazed in Sam\u2019s heart to a sudden fury. He sprang up, ran, and went up the ladder like a cat. His head came out in the middle of the floor of a large round chamber. A red lamp hung from its roof; the westward window-slit was high and dark. Something was lying on the floor by the wall under the window, but over it a black orc-shape was straddled. It raised a whip a second time, but the blow never fell."
    },
    {
        "text": "But he\u2019s afraid. Now it\u2019s come to the point, he\u2019s just plain terrified."
    },
    {
        "text": "Baggins had left his old home for good. Hissed at me, he did. It gave meand he stooped over me. I reckon it was one of the Big Folk from foreign parts. He spoke funny."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sharp blades are good to have, if Shire-folk go walking, east, south, or far away into dark and danger.\u2019 Then he told them that these blades were forged many long years ago by Men of Westernesse: they were foes of the Dark Lord, but they were overcome by the evil king of Carn Du\u02c6 m in the Land of Angmar."
    },
    {
        "text": "Green and long grew the grass on Snowmane\u2019s Howe, but ever black and bare was the ground where the beast was burned."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And I\u2019ve heard tell that Elves are moving west. They do say they are going to the harbours, out away beyond the White Towers.\u2019 Sam waved his arm vaguely: neither he nor any of them knew how far it was to the Sea, past the old towers beyond the western borders of the Shire. But it was an old tradition that away over there stood the Grey Havens, from which at times elven-ships set sail, never to return."
    },
    {
        "text": "When dawn came dim the land was lost, The mountains sinking grey Beyond the heaving waves that tossed Their plumes of blinding spray."
    },
    {
        "text": "His heart was heavy with fear and sorrow: if he and Sam were indeed, as seemed likely, all that was now left of the Nine Walkers, then he was in sole command of the secret of their errand. Better mistrust undeserved than rash words. And the memory of Boromir, of the dreadful change that the lure of the Ring had worked in him, was very present to his mind, when he looked at Faramir and listened to his voice: unlike they were, and yet also much akin."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo! They\u2019re gone,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "It is I that must hasten away, and he that must remain.\u2019 The Company now went down the road from the Gates. It wasthat once long ago a great paved way had wound upwards from the lowlands to 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "I don\u2019t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. This was unexpected and rather difficult. There was some scattered clapping, but most of them were trying to work it out and see if it came to a compliment."
    },
    {
        "text": "Beside it stooped a black figure."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now you, Frodo and Samwise, will come with me and my guards,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018You cannot go along the road southwards, if that was your purpose. It will be unsafe for some days, and always more closely watched after this affray than it has been yet. And you cannot, I think, go far today in any case, for you are weary. And so are we."
    },
    {
        "text": "But he\u2019s gone now beyond recall, gone for ever.\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But do you remember Gandalf \u2019s words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do? But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end. So let us forgive him! For the Quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.\u2019Chapter 4 THE FIELD OF CORMALLEN All about the hills the hosts of Mordor raged. The Captains of the West were foundering in a gathering sea. The sun gleamed red, and under the wings of the Nazgu\u02c6 l the shadows of death fell dark upon the earth. Aragorn stood beneath his banner, silent and stern, as one lost in thought of things long past or far away; but his eyes gleamed like stars that shine the brighter as the night deepens. Upon the hill-top stood Gandalf, and he was white and cold and no shadow fell on him. The onslaught of Mordor broke like a wave on the beleaguered hills, voices roaring like a tide amid the wreck and crash of arms."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sun was now high, and it shone down through the half- stripped branches of the trees, and lit the clearing with bright patches of light. They halted suddenly on the edge, and peered through the tree-trunks, holding their breath. There stood the trolls: three large trolls. One was stooping, and the other two stood staring at him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018O Kheled-za\u02c6ram fair and wonderful!\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018There lies the Crown of Durin till he wakes. Farewell!\u2019 He bowed, and turned away, and hastened back up the greensward to the road again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You know quite well,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018To keep you out of mischief; and if you do not like being here, you can remember that you brought it on yourself.\u2019 Pippin said no more."
    },
    {
        "text": "When the sound of hoof and foot had passed he ventured a whis- per. \u2018Bless me, Mr. Frodo, but I didn\u2019t know as anything grew in Mordor! But if I had a\u2019known, this is just what I\u2019d have looked for."
    },
    {
        "text": "The dark things that were driven out in the year of the Dragon\u2019s fall have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place, save where our realm is maintained."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I can\u2019t abide fog,\u2019 said Sam; \u2018but this seems to be a lucky one."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Enough to perceive that there are two follies to avoid. To use this thing is perilous. At this hour, to send it in the hands of a witless halfling into the land of the Enemy himself, as you have done, and this son of mine, that is madness.\u2019 \u2018And the Lord Denethor what would he have done?\u2019 \u2018Neither. But most surely not for any argument would he have set this thing at a hazard beyond all but a fool\u2019s hope, risking our utter ruin, if the Enemy should recover what he lost. Nay, it should have been kept, hidden, hidden dark and deep. Not used, I say, unless at theuttermostendofneed,butsetbeyondhisgrasp,savebyavictoryGandalf. \u2018Yet there are other men and other lives, and time still to be. And for me, I pity even his slaves.\u2019 \u2018And where will other men look for help, if Gondor falls?\u2019 answered Denethor. \u2018If I had this thing now in the deep vaults of this citadel, we should not then shake with dread under this gloom, fearing the worst, and our counsels would be undisturbed. If you do not trust me to endure the test, you do not know me yet.\u2019 \u2018Nonetheless I do not trust you,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Had I done so, I could have sent this thing hither to your keeping and spared myself and others much anguish. And now hearing you speak I trust you less, no more than Boromir. Nay, stay your wrath! I do not trust myself in this, and I refused this thing, even as a freely given gift. You are strong and can still in some matters govern yourself, Denethor; yet if you had received this thing, it would have overthrown you. Were it buried beneath the roots of Mindolluin, still it would burn your mind away, as the darkness grows, and the yet worse things follow that soon shall come upon us.\u2019 For a moment the eyes of Denethor glowed again as he faced Gandalf, and Pippin felt once more the strain between their wills; but now almost it seemed as if their glances were like blades from eye to eye, flickering as they fenced. Pippin trembled fearing some dreadful stroke. But suddenly Denethor relaxed and grew cold again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What do you think of Elves now, Sam?\u2019 he said. \u2018I asked you the same question once before \u2013 it seems a very long while ago; but you have seen more of them since then.\u2019 \u2018I have indeed!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And I reckon there\u2019s Elves and Elves."
    },
    {
        "text": "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, hus- banding 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 Lo\u00b4 rien."
    },
    {
        "text": "But now the dark swooping shadows were aware of the newcomer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That\u2019ll do to go on with,\u2019 said the Shirriff-leader."
    },
    {
        "text": "Swift, because they themselves change little, and all else fleets by: it is a grief to them. Slow, because they need 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.\u2019 \u2018But the wearing is slow in Lo\u00b4 rien,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018The power of the Lady is on it. Rich are the hours, though short they seem, in Caras Galadhon, where Galadriel wields the Elven-ring.\u2019 \u2018That should not have been said outside Lo\u00b4rien, not even to me,\u2019The 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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "They were hungry and very footsore and they could not stand the pace."
    },
    {
        "text": "It is close to the Road.\u2019 \u2018But surely we were hoping to find Gandalf there?\u2019 \u2018Yes; but the hope is faint. If he comes this way at all, he may not pass through Bree, and so he may not know what we are doing. And anyway, unless by luck we arrive almost together, we shall miss one another; it will not be safe for him or for us to wait there long. If the Riders fail to find us in the wilderness, they are likely to make for Weathertop themselves. It commands a wide view all round. Indeed, there are many birds and beasts in this country that could see us, asThe hobbits looked anxiously at the distant hills. Sam looked up into the pale sky, fearing to see hawks or eagles hovering over them with bright unfriendly eyes. \u2018You do make me feel uncomfortable and lonesome, Strider!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "They seemed to have left winter clinging to the hills behind. Here the air was softer and warmer, and faintly scented, as if spring was already stirring and the sap was flowing again in herb and leaf. Legolas took a deep breath, like one that drinks a great draught after long thirst in barren places."
    },
    {
        "text": "All the same he had been lonely, and never more so than now at the day\u2019s end. He wondered where in all this strange world Pippin had got to; and what would become of Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli. Then suddenly like a cold touch on his heart he thought of Frodo and Sam. \u2018I am forgetting them!\u2019 he said to himself reproach- fully. \u2018And yet they are more important than all the rest of us. And I came to help them; but now they must be hundreds of miles away, if they are still alive.\u2019 He shivered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Soon Strider beckoned to them, and the hobbits left the bushes and hurried down to the Road. \u2018This is Glorfindel, who dwells in the house of Elrond,\u2019 said Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "Another pierced Gandalf \u2019s hat and stuck there like a black feather."
    },
    {
        "text": "From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken:\u2018Not very good perhaps, but to the point \u2013 if you need more beyond the word of Elrond. If that was worth a journey of a hundred and ten days to hear, you had best listen to it.\u2019 He sat down with a snort."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was thankful that they had not been caught on the ground; but he felt that the trees offered little protection, except concealment."
    },
    {
        "text": "Everyone in the room was now looking at him. \u2018A song!\u2019 shouted one of the hobbits. \u2018A song! A song!\u2019 shouted all the others. \u2018Come on now, master, sing us something that we haven\u2019t heard before!\u2019 For a moment Frodo stood gaping. Then in desperation he began a ridiculous song that Bilbo had been rather fond of (and indeed rather proud of, for he had made up the words himself ). It was about an inn; and that is probably why it came into Frodo\u2019s mind just then. Here it is in full. Only a few words of it are now, as a rule, remembered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Go on running,\u2019 said Uglu\u00b4k. \u2018What do you think? Sit on the grass and wait for the Whiteskins to join the picnic?\u2019 \u2018But we can\u2019t run in the sunlight.\u2019 \u2018You\u2019ll run with me behind you,\u2019 said Uglu\u00b4k. \u2018Run! Or you\u2019ll never see your beloved holes again. By the White Hand! What\u2019s the use of sending out mountain-maggots on a trip, only half trained. Run, curse you! Run while night lasts!\u2019 Then the whole company began to run with the long loping strides of Orcs. They kept no order, thrusting, jostling, and cursing; yet their speed was very great. Each hobbit had a guard of three. Pippin was far back in the line. He wondered how long he would be able to go on at this pace: he had had no food since the morning. One of his guards had a whip. But at present the orc-liquor was still hot in him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well!\u2019 he exclaimed. \u2018The voice is right, and your face is no worse than it was, Sam. But I should a\u2019 passed you in the street in that gear. You\u2019ve been in foreign parts, seemingly. We feared you wereAnd that\u2019s the to-do. They\u2019re raising the Shire. We\u2019re going to clear out these ruffians, and their Chief too. We\u2019re starting now.\u2019 \u2018Good, good!\u2019 cried Farmer Cotton. \u2018So it\u2019s begun at last! I\u2019ve been itching for trouble all this year, but folks wouldn\u2019t help. And I\u2019ve had the wife and Rosie to think of. These ruffians don\u2019t stick at nothing. But come on now, lads! Bywater is up! We must be in it!\u2019 \u2018What about Mrs. Cotton and Rosie?\u2019 said Sam. \u2018It isn\u2019t safe yet for them to be left all alone.\u2019 \u2018My Nibs is with them. But you can go and help him, if you have a mind,\u2019 said Farmer Cotton with a grin. Then he and his sons ran off towards the village."
    },
    {
        "text": "Of their own stooping forms no shadow could be seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Farewell, and may you find what you seek!\u2019 cried E\u00b4omer. \u2018Return with what speed you may, and let our swords hereafter shine together!\u2019 \u2018I will come,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "And there stood Meriadoc the hobbit in the midst of the slain, blinking like an owl in the daylight, for tears blinded him; and through a mist he looked on E\u00b4owyn\u2019s fair head, as she lay and did not move; and he looked on the face of the king, fallen in the midst of his glory."
    },
    {
        "text": "Are you sure of this, and that he did not just leave you and depart\u2018I see that there is some great tale of dread in this,\u2019 said Faramir, \u2018which perhaps you may tell me in the evening-time. This Mithrandir was, I now guess, more than a lore-master: a great mover of the deeds that are done in our time. Had he been among us to consult concerning the hard words of our dream, he could have made them clear to us without need of messenger. Yet, maybe, he would not have done so, and the journey of Boromir was doomed. Mithrandir never spoke to us of what was to be, nor did he reveal his purposes."
    },
    {
        "text": "Look at all those weeping, trailing, beards and whiskers of lichen! And most of the trees seem to be half covered with ragged dry leaves that have never fallen. Untidy. I can\u2019t imagine what spring would look like here, if it ever comes; still less a spring-cleaning.\u2019 \u2018But the Sun at any rate must peep in sometimes,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Itjust dim, and frightfully tree-ish. You can\u2019t imagine animals living here at all, or staying for long.\u2019 \u2018No, nor hobbits,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018And I don\u2019t like the thought of trying to get through it either. Nothing to eat for a hundred miles, I should guess. How are our supplies?\u2019 \u2018Low,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We ran off with nothing but a couple of spare packets of lembas, and left everything else behind.\u2019 They looked at what remained of the elven-cakes: broken fragments for about five meagre days, that was all. \u2018And not a wrap or a blanket,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "How many are you?\u2019 \u2018Eight,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Myself, four hobbits; and two men, one of whom, Aragorn, is an Elf-friend of the folk of Westernesse.\u2019 \u2018The name of Aragorn son of Arathorn is known in Lo\u00b4rien,\u2019 said Haldir, \u2018and he has the favour of the Lady. All then is well. But you have yet spoken only of seven.\u2019 \u2018The eighth is a dwarf,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before he could conceal it, they saw through the mask the anguish of a mind in doubt, loathing to stay and dreading to leave its refuge."
    },
    {
        "text": "Yet he had heard something, or thought he had. As soon as the shadows had fallen 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Put it on the ground, master, if you please!\u2019 he said. \u2018Easier for me and you.\u2019 Then to the astonishment and amusement of the Men he plunged his head into the cold water and splashed his neck and ears."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo gave a cry and groped for the tongs; but Gandalf held him back.No apparent change came over the ring. After a while Gandalf got up, closed the shutters outside the window, and drew the curtains."
    },
    {
        "text": "There Pippin, staring uneasily about him, saw that he was in a wide vaulted chamber, draped as it were with the great shadows that the little lantern threw upon its shrouded walls. And dimly to be seen were many rows of tables, carved of marble; and upon each table lay a sleeping form, hands folded, head pillowed upon stone. But one table near at hand stood broad and bare. Upon it at a sign from Denethor they laid Faramir and his father side by side, and covered them with one covering, and stood then with bowed heads as mourners beside a bed of death. Then Denethor spoke in a low voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018How long will it take to pass by the enemy and come back to the road?\u2019 asked E\u00b4 omer. \u2018We must go at foot-pace, if you guide us; and I doubt not the way is narrow.\u2019 \u2018Wild Men go quick on feet,\u2019 said Gha\u02c6n. \u2018Way is wide for four horses in Stonewain Valley yonder,\u2019 he waved his hand southwards; \u2018but narrow at beginning and at end. Wild Man could walk from here to D\u02c6\u0131n between sunrise and noon.\u2019 \u2018Then we must allow at least seven hours for the leaders,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer; \u2018but we must reckon rather on some ten hours for all. Things unforeseen may hinder us, and if our host is all strung out, it will be long ere it can be set in order when we issue from the hills. What is the hour now?\u2019 \u2018Who knows?\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018All is night now.\u2019 \u2018It is all dark, but it is not all night,\u2019 said Gha\u02c6n. \u2018When Sun comes we feel her, even when she is hidden. Already she climbs over East-mountains. It is the opening of day in the sky-fields.\u2019 \u2018Then we must set out as soon as may be,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018Even so we cannot hope to come to Gondor\u2019s aid today.\u2019 Merry waited to hear no more, but slipped away to get ready for the summons to the march. This was the last stage before the battle."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, I, Gandalf the Grey,\u2019 said the wizard solemnly. \u2018There are many powers in the world, for good or for evil. Some are greater than I am. Against some I have not yet been measured. But my time is coming. The Morgul-lord and his Black Riders have come forth."
    },
    {
        "text": "There could be no return."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Lie flat and still!\u2019 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 harsh croak was heard."
    },
    {
        "text": "No such anguish had Shelob ever known, or dreamed of knowing, in all her long world of wickedness. Not the doughtiest soldier of old Gondor, nor the most savage Orc entrapped, had ever thus endured her, or set blade to her beloved flesh. A shudder went through her."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018In the afternoon we walked round the circle, and went to have a look at what was going on. There was a great shadowy wood of Huorns at the head of the valley, and another round the northern wall. We did not dare to go in. But there was a rending, tearing noise of work going on inside. Ents and Huorns were digging great pits and trenches, and making great pools and dams, gathering all the waters of the Isen and every other spring and stream that they could find. We left them to it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You misunderstand me,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Unlooked-for?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I said that I would return and meet you here.\u2019 \u2018But you did not name the hour, nor foretell the manner of your coming. Strange help you bring. You are mighty in wizardry, Gandalf the White!\u2019 \u2018That may be. But if so, I have not shown it yet. I have but given good counsel in peril, and made use of the speed of Shadowfax. Your own valour has done more, and the stout legs of the Westfold-men marching through the night.\u2019 Then they all gazed at Gandalf with still greater wonder. Some glanced darkly at the wood, and passed their hands over their brows, as if they thought their eyes saw otherwise than his."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You shall ride my horse,\u2019 said Glorfindel. \u2018I will shorten the stir- rups up to the saddle-skirts, and you must sit as tight as you can."
    },
    {
        "text": "Trembling he looked up, in time to see a tall dark figure like a shadow against the stars. It leaned over him. He thought there were two eyes, very cold though lit with a pale light that seemed to come from some remote distance. Then a grip stronger and colder than iron seized him. The icy touch froze his bones, and he remembered no more."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If we all got angry together something might be done. But it\u2019s these Men, Sam, the Chief \u2019s Men. He sends them round everywhere, and if any of us small folk stand up for our rights, they drag him off to the Lockholes. They took old Flourdumpling, old Will Whitfoot the Mayor, first, and they\u2019ve taken a lot more. Lately it\u2019s been getting worse. Often they beat \u2019em now.\u2019 \u2018Then why do you do their work for them?\u2019 said Sam angrily."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have come,\u2019 he said. \u2018But I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!\u2019 And suddenly, as he set it on his finger, he vanished from Sam\u2019s sight. Sam gasped,Something struck Sam violently in the back, his legs were knocked from under him and he was flung aside, striking his head against the stony floor, as a dark shape sprang over him. He lay still and for a moment all went black."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wake up, Mr. Frodo! They\u2019re gone, and we\u2019d better go too."
    },
    {
        "text": "Here are Hasufel and Arod, that E\u00b4 omer, the Third Marshal of the Mark, lent to us, only two days ago. We bring them back now, even as we promised him. Has not E\u00b4omer then returned and given warning of our coming?\u2019 A troubled look came into the guard\u2019s eyes. \u2018Of E\u00b4 omer I have naught to say,\u2019 he answered. \u2018If what you tell me is truth, then doubt- less The\u00b4oden will have heard of it. Maybe your coming was not wholly unlooked-for. It is but two nights ago that Wormtongue came to us and said that by the will of The\u00b4oden no stranger should pass these gates.\u2019 \u2018Wormtongue?\u2019 said Gandalf, looking sharply at the guard. \u2018Say no more! My errand is not to Wormtongue, but to the Lord of the Mark himself. I am in haste. Will you not go or send to say that we are come?\u2019 His eyes glinted under his deep brows as he bent his gaze upon the man."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And, Legolas, when the torches are kindled and men walk on the sandy floors under the echoing domes, ah! then, Legolas, gems and crystals and veins of precious ore glint in the polished walls; and the light glows through folded marbles, shell-like, translucent as the living hands of Queen Galadriel. There are columns of white and saffron and dawn-rose, Legolas, fluted and twisted into dreamlike forms; they spring up from many-coloured floors to meet the glistening pendants of the roof: wings, ropes, curtains fine as frozen clouds; spears, banners, pinnacles of suspended palaces! Still lakes mirror them: a glimmering world looks up from dark pools covered with clear glass; cities, such as the mind of Durin could scarce have imagined in his sleep, stretch on through avenues and pillared courts, on into the dark recesses where no light can come. And plink! a silver drop falls, and the round wrinkles in the glass make all the towers bend and waver like weeds and corals in a grotto of the sea. Then evening comes: they fade and twinkle out; the torches pass on into another chamber and another dream. There is chamber after chamber,The Caverns of Helm\u2019s Deep! Happy was the chance that drove me there! It makes me weep to leave them.\u2019 \u2018Then I will wish you this fortune for your comfort, Gimli,\u2019 said the Elf, \u2018that you may come safe from war and return to see them again. But do not tell all your kindred! There seems little left for them to do, from your account. Maybe the men of this land are wise to say little: one family of busy dwarves with hammer and chisel might mar more than they made.\u2019 \u2018No, you do not understand,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018No dwarf could be unmoved by such loveliness. None of Durin\u2019s race would mine those caves for stones or ore, not if diamonds and gold could be got there."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sir,\u2019 she said, \u2018I am in great unrest, and I cannot lie longer in sloth.\u2019 \u2018Lady,\u2019 he answered, \u2018you are not yet healed, and I was com- manded to tend you with especial care. You should not have risen from your bed for seven days yet, or so I was bidden. I beg you to go back.\u2019 \u2018I am healed,\u2019 she said, \u2018healed at least in body, save my left arm only, and that is at ease. But I shall sicken anew, if there is naught that I can do. Are there no tidings of war? The women can tell me nothing.\u2019 \u2018There are no tidings,\u2019 said the Warden, \u2018save that the Lords have ridden to Morgul Vale; and men say that the new captain out of the North is their chief. A great lord is that, and a healer; and it is a thing passing strange to me that the healing hand should also wield the sword. It is not thus in Gondor now, though once it was so, if old tales be true. But for long years we healers have only sought to patch the rents made by the men of swords. Though we should still have enough to do without them: the world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.\u2019 \u2018It needs but one foe to breed a war, not two, Master Warden,\u2019 answeredE\u00b4 owyn.\u2018Andthosewhohavenotswordscanstilldieuponhealed in body. Nor is it always evil to die in battle, even in bitter pain. Were I permitted, in this dark hour I would choose the latter.\u2019 The Warden looked at her. Tall she stood there, her eyes bright in her white face, her right hand clenched as she turned and gazed out of his window that opened to the East. He sighed and shook his head. After a pause she turned to him again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What is the matter, Strider?\u2019 Merry called up. \u2018What are you looking for? Do you miss the East Wind?\u2019 \u2018No indeed,\u2019 he answered. \u2018But 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.\u2019 Gandalf looked up with sudden interest. \u2018But what do you guess is the reason?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Is 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?\u2019 \u2018I hope that is it,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018But I have a sense of watch- fulness, and of fear, that I have never had here before.\u2019 \u2018Then we must be more careful,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018If 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.\u2019 It was Sam\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 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.sky; but before long Sam could see for himself what was approaching."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I cannot say yet,\u2019 Aragorn answered. \u2018As for the king, he will go to the muster that he commanded at Edoras, four nights from now."
    },
    {
        "text": "Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate; And though I oft have passed them by, A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun."
    },
    {
        "text": "Foul waters and foul meats they\u2019ll take, if they can get no better, but not poison. They\u2019ve fed me, and so I\u2019m better off than you. There must be food and water somewhere in this place.\u2019 \u2018But there\u2019s no time to look for them,\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, Frodo,\u2019 said Aragorn at last. \u2018I 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.\u2019 Frodo did not answer at once. Then he spoke slowly. \u2018I 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!\u2019 Aragorn looked at him with kindly pity. \u2018Very well, Frodo son of Drogo,\u2019 he said. \u2018You 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.\u2019 Frodo sat for a moment with his head bowed. Sam, who had been watching his master with great concern, shook his head and muttered: \u2018Plain as a pikestaff it is, but it\u2019s no good Sam Gamgee putting in his spoke just now.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Orcs!\u2019 cried Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "Done by! Gum by! In a cave in the hills he dwelt alone, And meat was hard to come by."
    },
    {
        "text": "Long had the terror of the Dead lain upon that hill and upon the empty fields about it. For upon the top stood a black stone, round as a great globe, the height of a man, though its half was buried in the ground. Unearthly it looked, as though it had fallen from the sky, as some believed; but those who remembered still the lore of Westernesse told that it had been brought out of the ruin of Nu\u00b4menor and there set by Isildur at his landing. None of the people of the valley dared to approach it, nor would they dwell near; for they said that it was a trysting-place of the Shadow-men and there they would gather in times of fear, thronging round the Stone and whispering."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Enough!\u2019 shouted Uglu\u00b4k running up. \u2018He\u2019s still got to run a long way yet. Make \u2019em both run! Just use the whip as a reminder.\u2019 \u2018But that\u2019s not all,\u2019 he snarled, turning to Pippin. \u2018I shan\u2019t forget."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo has a better head for that sort of thing.\u2019 \u2018I need no map,\u2019 said Gimli, who had come up with Legolas, and was gazing out before him with a strange light in his deep eyes. \u2018There 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, Shathu\u02c6r."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You come back,\u2019 shouted the soldier, \u2018or I\u2019ll report you!\u2019 \u2018Who to? Not to your precious Shagrat. He won\u2019t be captain any more.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ll give your name and number to the Nazgu\u02c6l,\u2019 said the soldier lowering his voice to a hiss. \u2018One of them\u2019s in charge at the Tower now.\u2019 The other halted, and his voice was full of fear and rage. \u2018Youand may they freeze the flesh off you! If the enemy doesn\u2019t get them first. They\u2019ve done in Number One, I\u2019ve heard, and I hope it\u2019s true!\u2019 The big orc, spear in hand, leapt after him. But the tracker, spring- ing behind a stone, put an arrow in his eye as he ran up, and he fell with a crash. The other ran off across the valley and disappeared."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I 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 \u2013 curse their foul feet in its clean water! \u2013 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\u2018Orophin has now gone in haste back to our dwellings to warn our people. None of the Orcs will ever return out of Lo\u00b4rien. And there will be many Elves hidden on the northern border before another night falls. But you must take the road south as soon as it is fully light.\u2019 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\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "But when, after the Standing Silence, wine was brought there came in two esquires to serve the kings; or so they seemed to be: one was clad in the silver and sable of the Guards of Minas Tirith, and the other in white and green. But Sam wondered what such young boys were doing in an army of mighty men. Then suddenly as they drew near and he could see them plainly, he exclaimed: \u2018Why, look Mr. Frodo! Look here! Well, if it isn\u2019t Pippin. Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So it is,\u2019 they answered. \u2018But we call it lembas or waybread, and it is more strengthening than any food made by Men, and it is more pleasant than cram, by all accounts.\u2019best 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!\u2019 \u2018All the same, we bid you spare the food,\u2019 they said. \u2018Eat 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.\u2019 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 fastened about the neck with a brooch like a green leaf veined with silver."
    },
    {
        "text": "Terror overcame Pippin and Merry, and they threw themselves flat on the ground. Sam shrank to Frodo\u2019s side. Frodo was hardly less terrified than his companions; he was quaking as if he was bitter cold, but his terror was swallowed up in a sudden temptation to put on the Ring. The desire to do this laid hold of him, and he could think of nothing else. He did not forget the Barrow, nor the message of Gandalf; but something seemed to be compelling him to disregard all warnings, and he longed to yield. Not with the hope of escape, or of doing anything, either good or bad: he simply felt that he must take the Ring and put it on his finger. He could not speak. He felt Sam looking at him, as if he knew that his master was in some great trouble, but he could not turn towards him. He shut his eyes and struggled for a while; but resistance became unbearable, and at last he slowly drew out the chain, and slipped the Ring on the forefinger of his left hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "Autumn was well under way before Frodo began to worry about Gandalf again. September was passing and there was still no news of him. The Birthday, and the removal, drew nearer, and still he did not come, or send word. Bag End began to be busy. Some of Frodo\u2019s friends came to stay and help him with the packing: there was Fredegar Bolger and Folco Boffin, and of course his special friends Pippin Took and Merry Brandybuck. Between them they turned the whole place upside-down."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018At dusk Treebeard came back to the gate. He was humming and booming to himself, and seemed pleased. He stood and stretched his great arms and legs and breathed deep. I asked him if he was tired."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin gazed in growing wonder at the great stone city, vaster and more splendid than anything that he had dreamed of; greater and stronger than Isengard, and far more beautiful. Yet it was in truth falling year by year into decay; and already it lacked half the men that could have dwelt at ease there. In every street they passed some great house or court over whose doors and arched gates were carved many fair letters of strange and ancient shapes: names Pippin guessed of great men and kindreds that had once dwelt there; and yet now they were silent, and no footsteps rang on their wide pavements, nor voice was heard in their halls, nor any face looked out from door or empty window."
    },
    {
        "text": "hm, hm."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the face of the stony wall there was something like a stair: natural perhaps, and made by the weathering and splitting of the rock, for it was rough and uneven. High up, almost level with the tops of forest-trees, there was a shelf under a cliff. Nothing grew there but a few grasses and weeds at its edge, and one old stump of a tree with only two bent branches left: it looked almost like the figure of some gnarled old man, standing there, blinking in the morning-light."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018For that reason I would have slain him before, forgetting the law of the hall. But there are other reasons.\u2019 He stepped forward, but Gandalf stayed him with his hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And much trouble would have been saved, if you had let him in, Barliman.\u2019 The landlord jumped with surprise. \u2018You!\u2019 he cried. \u2018You\u2019re always popping up. What do you want now?\u2019 \u2018He\u2019s here with my leave,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018He came to offer me his help.\u2019 \u2018Well, you know your own business, maybe,\u2019 said Mr. Butterbur, looking suspiciously at Strider. \u2018But if I was in your plight, I wouldn\u2019t take up with a Ranger.\u2019 \u2018Then who would you take up with?\u2019 asked Strider. \u2018A fat innkeeper who only remembers his own name because people shout it at him all day? They cannot stay in The Pony for ever, and they cannot go home. They have a long road before them. Will you go with them and keep the black men off ?\u2019 \u2018Me? Leave Bree! I wouldn\u2019t do that for any money,\u2019 said Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "Eagle in eyrie, ox in pasture, Hart horn-crowne\u00b4d; hawk is swiftest, Swan the whitest, serpent coldest..."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That was seventeen years ago. Soon I became aware that spies of many sorts, even beasts and birds, were gathered round the Shire, and my fear grew. I called for the help of the Du\u00b4nedain, and their watch was doubled; and I opened my heart to Aragorn, the heir of Isildur.\u2019 \u2018And I,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018counselled that we should hunt for Gollum, too late though it may seem. And since it seemed fit that Isildur\u2019s heir should labour to repair Isildur\u2019s fault, I went with Gandalf on the long and hopeless search.\u2019 Then Gandalf told how they had explored the whole length of Wilderland, down even to the Mountains of Shadow and the fences of Mordor. \u2018There we had rumour of him, and we guess that he dwelt there long in the dark hills; but we never found him, and at last I despaired. And then in my despair I thought again of a test that might make the finding of Gollum unneeded. The ring itself might tell if it were the One. The memory of words at the Council\u2018 \u2018\u2018The Nine, the Seven, and the Three,\u2019\u2019 he said, \u2018\u2018had each their proper gem. Not so the One. It was round and unadorned, as it were one of the lesser rings; but its maker set marks upon it that the skilled, maybe, could still see and read.\u2019\u2019 \u2018What those marks were he had not said. Who now would know? The maker. And Saruman? But great though his lore may be, it must have a source. What hand save Sauron\u2019s ever held this thing, ere it was lost? The hand of Isildur alone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What are you saying, Gandalf ?\u2019 asked Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is all that I shall venture on for the present,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Terrified Pippin lay still, though the pain at his wrists and ankles was growing, and the stones beneath him were boring into his back. To take his mind off himself he listened intently to all that he could hear. There were many voices round about, and though orc-speech sounded at all times full of hate and anger, it seemed plain that something like a quarrel had begun, and was getting hotter."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You have not said all that you know or guess, Aragorn my friend,\u2019 he said quietly. \u2018Poor Boromir! I could not see what happened to him. It was a sore trial for such a man: a warrior, and a lord of men."
    },
    {
        "text": "Well, it\u2019s fifteen mile each way. We needn\u2019t trouble about them just yet.\u2019 Merry hurried off to give orders. Farmer Cotton cleared the street, sending everyone indoors, except the older hobbits who had weapons of some sort. They had not long to wait. Soon they could hear loud voices, and then the tramping of heavy feet. Presently a whole squad of the ruffians came down the road. They saw the barrier and laughed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Awake! Awake!\u2019 he cried. \u2018It is a red dawn. Strange things await us by the eaves of the forest. Good or evil, I do not know; but we are called. Awake!\u2019 The others sprang up, and almost at once they set off again. Slowly the downs drew near. It was still an hour before noon when they reached them: green slopes rising to bare ridges that ran in a line straight towards the North. At their feet the ground was dry and the turf short, but a long strip of sunken land, some ten miles wide, lay between them and the river wandering deep in dim thickets of reed and rush. Just to the West of the southernmost slope there was a great ring, where the turf had been torn and beaten by many trampling feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "I think well of you \u2013 and of the others. It is no small feat to have come so far, and through such dangers, still bearing the Ring.\u2019 \u2018We should never have done it without Strider,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But we needed you. I did not know what to do without you.\u2019 \u2018I was delayed,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and that nearly proved our ruin."
    },
    {
        "text": "All at once, when he felt that he could pump out no more breath, nor force his knees to bend again, the stair ended. He stood still."
    },
    {
        "text": "The night was cold and still. All round the knoll on which the Orcs were gathered little watch-fires sprang up, golden-red in the darkness, a complete ring of them. They were within a long bowshot, but the riders did not show themselves against the light, and the Orcs wasted many arrows shooting at the fires, until Uglu\u00b4k stopped them."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Pu\u00b4kel-men they called them, and heeded them little: no power or terror was left in them; but Merry gazed at them with wonder and a feeling almost of pity, as they loomed up mournfully in the dusk."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ah! the light and the music in the Summer by the Seven Rivers of Ossir! And I thought that was best."
    },
    {
        "text": "But when news of the events at Bree came to Tom\u2019s ears, he sent them to Mr. Butterbur, who thus got five good beasts at a very fair price. They had to work harder in Bree, but Bob treated them well; so on the whole they were lucky: they missed a dark and dangerous journey. But they never came to Rivendell."
    },
    {
        "text": "Slowly they crawled up to the edge of the ring again, and peered through a cleft between two jagged stones. The light was no longer bright, for the clear morning had faded, and clouds creeping out of the East had now overtaken the sun, as it began to go down. They could all see the black specks, but neither Frodo nor Merry could make out their shapes for certain; yet something told them that there, far below, were Black Riders assembling on the Road beyond the foot of the hill."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yea truly, we know you, Mithrandir,\u2019 said the leader of the men, \u2018and you know the pass-words of the Seven Gates and are free to goland at this time, unless they be mighty men of arms in whose faith and help we can trust.\u2019 \u2018I will vouch for him before the seat of Denethor,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There, I\u2019ll be an orc no more,\u2019 he cried, \u2018and I\u2019ll bear no weapon, fair or foul. Let them take me, if they will!\u2019 Sam did likewise, and put aside his orc-gear; and he took out all the things in his pack. Somehow each of them had become dear to him, if only because he had borne them so far with so much toil."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum stood up and backed away against the cliff."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, well, bless my beard!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Sam Gamgee is it? Now what may you be doing?\u2019 \u2018Lor bless you, Mr. Gandalf, sir!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Nothing! Leastways I was just trimming the grass-border under the window, if you follow me.\u2019 He picked up his shears and exhibited them as evidence."
    },
    {
        "text": "But if you take my advice you will use it very seldom, or not at all."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was neither star nor moon. Not until the grey of dawn did he allow them to halt. Pippin, Merry, and Sam were by that time nearly asleep on their stumbling legs; and even Strider seemed by the sag of his shoulders to be weary. Frodo sat upon the horse in a dark dream."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I wonder what old Barliman was hinting at,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "But even the deafest and most stay-at-home began to hear queer tales; and those whose business took them to the borders saw strange things. The conversation in The Green Dragon at Bywater, one evening in the spring of Frodo\u2019s fiftieth year, showed that even in the comfort- able heart of the Shire rumours had been heard, though most hobbits still laughed at them."
    },
    {
        "text": "awake! awake! Far away answering horns were heard. The alarm was spreading."
    },
    {
        "text": "They stood under the boughs of the woods again. No noise of the falls could be heard, for a long southward slope lay now between them and the ravine in which the stream flowed. To the west they could see light through the trees, as if the world came there to a sudden end, at a brink looking out only on to sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "Men once dwelt here, ages ago; but none remain now. They became an evil people, as legends tell, for they fell under the shadow of Angmar. But all were destroyed in the war that brought the North Kingdom to its end. But that is now so long ago that the hills have forgotten them, though a shadow still lies on the land.\u2019 \u2018Where did you learn such tales, if all the land is empty and forget- ful?\u2019 asked Peregrin. \u2018The birds and beasts do not tell tales of that\u2018and many more things than I can tell are remembered in Rivendell.\u2019 \u2018Have you often been to Rivendell?\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then suddenly Faramir looked at Pippin. \u2018But now we come to strange matters,\u2019 he said. \u2018For this is not the first halfling that I have seen walking out of northern legends into the Southlands.\u2019 At that Gandalf sat up and gripped the arms of his chair; but he said nothing, and with a look stopped the exclamation on Pippin\u2019s lips. Denethor looked at their faces and nodded his head, as though in sign that he had read much there before it was spoken. Slowly, while the others sat silent and still, Faramir told his tale, with his eyes for the most part on Gandalf, though now and again his glance strayed to Pippin, as if to refresh his memory of others that he had seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam had lain still, fascinated by this debate, but watching every move that Gollum made from under his half-closed eye-lids. To his simple mind ordinary hunger, the desire to eat hobbits, had seemed the chief danger in Gollum. He realized now that it was not so: Gollum was feeling the terrible call of the Ring. The Dark Lord was He, of course; but Sam wondered who She was. One of the nasty friends the little wretch had made in his wanderings, he supposed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Next morning they set out again soon after sunrise. There was a frost in the air, and the sky was a pale clear blue. The hobbits felt refreshed, as if they had had a night of unbroken sleep. Already they were getting used to much walking on short commons \u2013 shorter at any rate than what in the Shire they would have thought barely enough to keep them on their legs. Pippin declared that Frodo was looking twice the hobbit that he had been."
    },
    {
        "text": "As he gazed at it suddenly Sam understood, almost with a shock, that this stronghold had been built not to keep enemies out of Mordor, but to keep them in. It was indeed one of the works of Gondor long ago, an eastern outpost of the defences of Ithilien, made when, after the Last Alliance, Men of Westernesse kept watch on the evil land of Sauron where his creatures still lurked. But as with Nar- chost and Carchost, the Towers of the Teeth, so here too the vigilance had failed, and treachery had yielded up the Tower to the Lord of the Ringwraiths, and now for long years it had been held by evil things. Since his return to Mordor, Sauron had found it useful; for he had few servants but many slaves of fear, and still its chief purpose as of old was to prevent escape from Mordor. Though if an enemy were so rash as to try to enter that land secretly, then it was also a last unsleeping guard against any that might pass the vigilance of Morgul and of Shelob."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wraiths!\u2019 he wailed. \u2018Wraiths on wings! The Precious is their master. They see everything, everything. Nothing can hide from them. Curse the White Face! And they tell Him everything. He sees, He knows. Ach, gollum, gollum, gollum!\u2019 It was not until the moon had sunk, westering far away beyond Tol Brandir, that he would get up or make a move."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No indeed, Master Samwise,\u2019 said Faramir, \u2018for I am not learned in Elven-lore. But there you touch upon another point in which we have changed, declining from Nu\u00b4menor to Middle-earth. For as you may know, if Mithrandir was your companion and you have spoken with Elrond, the Edain, the Fathers of the Nu\u00b4meno\u00b4 reans, fought beside the Elves in the first wars, and were rewarded by the gift of the kingdom in the midst of the Sea, within sight of Elvenhome. But in Middle-earth Men and Elves became estranged in the days of darkness, by the arts of the Enemy, and by the slow changes of time in which each kind walked further down their sundered roads. Men now fear and misdoubt the Elves, and yet know little of them. And we of Gondor grow like other Men, like the men of Rohan; for even they, who are foes of the Dark Lord, shun the Elves and speak of the Golden Wood with dread."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They 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.\u2019 \u2018His arm has grown long indeed,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018if he can draw snow down from the North to trouble us here three hundred leagues away.\u2019 \u2018His arm has grown long,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "E\u00b4 owyn it was, and Dernhelm also. For into Merry\u2019s mind flashed the memory of the face that he saw at the riding from Dunharrow: the face of one that goes seeking death, having no hope. Pity filled his heart and great wonder, and suddenly the slow-kindled courage of his race awoke. He clenched his hand. She should not die, so fair, so desperate! At least she should not die alone, unaided."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018For already he knows that the messengers that he sent to waylay the Company have failed again. They have not found the Ring."
    },
    {
        "text": "He opened an eye and tried gallantly to smile. \u2018Who\u2019s this young giant with the loud voice?\u2019 he whispered. \u2018Not little Pippin! What\u2019s your size in hats now?\u2019 Then there was Lobelia. Poor thing, she looked very old and thin when they rescued her from a dark and narrow cell. She insisted on hobbling out on her own feet; and she had such a welcome, and there was such clapping and cheering when she appeared, leaning on Frodo\u2019s arm but still clutching her umbrella, that she was quite touched, and drove away in tears. She had never in her life been popular before. But she was crushed by the news of Lotho\u2019s murder, and she would not return to Bag End. She gave it back to Frodo, and went to her own people, the Bracegirdles of Hardbottle."
    },
    {
        "text": "It had a high kerb by which troop-leaders could guide themselves in black night or fog, and it was banked up some feet above the level of the open land."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ever steeper and narrower it wound inward from the north under the shadow of the Thrihyrne, till the crowhaunted cliffs rose like mighty towers on either side, shutting out the light."
    },
    {
        "text": "So passed the sword of the Barrow-downs, work of Westernesse."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Frodo felt himself falling, and the roaring and confusion seemed to rise and engulf him together with his enemies. He heard and saw no more.Chapter 1 MANY MEETINGS Frodo woke and found himself lying in bed. At first he thought that he had slept late, after a long unpleasant dream that still hovered on the edge of memory. Or perhaps he had been ill? But the ceiling looked strange; it was flat, and it had dark beams richly carved. He lay a little while longer looking at patches of sunlight on the wall, and listening to the sound of a waterfall."
    },
    {
        "text": "A ship then new they built for him of mithril and of elven-glass with shining prow; no shaven oar nor sail she bore on silver mast: the Silmaril as lantern light and banner bright with living flame to gleam thereon by Elbereth herself was set, who thither came and wings immortal made for him, and laid on him undying doom, to sail the shoreless skies and come behind the Sun and light of Moon."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Store-room in there, and above the floods, luckily,\u2019 said Pippin, as they came back laden with dishes, bowls, cups, knives, and food of various sorts."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, no oliphaunts. What are oliphaunts?\u2019 said Gollum."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Merry stooped and lifted his hand to kiss it, and lo! The\u00b4oden opened his eyes, and they were clear, and he spoke in a quiet voice though laboured."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 Bilbo laughed. \u2018I have never known you give me pleasant advice before,\u2019 he said. \u2018As all your unpleasant advice has been good, I wonder if this advice is not bad. Still, I don\u2019t suppose I have the strength or luck left to deal with the Ring. It has grown, and I have not. But tell me: what do you mean by they?\u2019 \u2018The messengers who are sent with the Ring.\u2019 \u2018Exactly! And who are they to be? That seems to me what this Council has to decide, and all that it has to decide. Elves may thrive on speech alone, and Dwarves endure great weariness; but I am only an old hobbit, and I miss my meal at noon. Can\u2019t we think of some names now? Or put it off till after dinner?\u2019 No one answered. The noon-bell rang. Still no one spoke. Frodo glanced at all the faces, but they were not turned to him. All the Council sat with downcast eyes, as if in deep thought. A great dread fell on him, as if he was awaiting the pronouncement of some doom that he had long foreseen and vainly hoped might after all never be spoken. An overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace by Bilbo\u2019s side in Rivendell filled all his heart. At last with an effort he spoke, and wondered to hear his own words, as if some other will was using his small voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last Beregond spoke with an effort. \u2018They have come!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am called Strider,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018I came out of the North."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well,\u2019 answered Merry slowly. \u2018He is dead. It has brought it all back to me. He said he was sorry he had never had a chance of talking herb-lore with me. Almost the last thing he ever said. I shan\u2019t ever be able to smoke again without thinking of him, and that day, Pippin, when he rode up to Isengard and was so polite.\u2019 \u2018Smoke then, and think of him!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning. Though your service to him was brief, it should be a memory glad and honourable to the end of your days.\u2019 Merry smiled. \u2018Well then,\u2019 he said, \u2018if Strider will provide what is needed, I will smoke and think. I had some of Saruman\u2019s best in my pack, but what became of it in the battle, I am sure I don\u2019t know.\u2019 \u2018Master Meriadoc,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018if you think that I have passed through the mountains and the realm of Gondor with fire and sword to bring herbs to a careless soldier who throws away his gear, you are mistaken. If your pack has not been found, then you must send for the herb-master of this House. And he will tell you that he did not know that the herb you desire had any virtues, but that it is called westmansweed by the vulgar, and galenas by the noble, and other names in other tongues more learned, and after adding a few half-forgottenthe history of tongues. And so now must I. For I have not slept in such a bed as this, since I rode from Dunharrow, nor eaten since the dark before dawn.\u2019 Merry seized his hand and kissed it. \u2018I am frightfully sorry,\u2019 he said. \u2018Go at once! Ever since that night at Bree we have been a nuisance to you. But it is the way of my people to use light words at such times and say less than they mean. We fear to say too much. It robs us of the right words when a jest is out of place.\u2019 \u2018I know that well, or I would not deal with you in the same way,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018May the Shire live for ever unwithered!\u2019 And kissing Merry he went out, and Gandalf went with him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look out!\u2019 cried Sam. \u2018He\u2019ll spring!\u2019 He stepped forward, bran- dishing his sword. \u2018Quick, Master!\u2019 he gasped. \u2018Go on! Go on! No time to lose. I\u2019ll deal with him. Go on!\u2019 Frodo looked at him as if at one now far away. \u2018Yes, I must go on,\u2019 he said. \u2018Farewell, Sam! This is the end at last. On Mount Doom doom shall fall. Farewell!\u2019 He turned and went on, walking slowly but erect, up the climbing path."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is the eagle again! He is very high. He seems to be flying now away, from this land back to the North. He is going with great speed."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was a supper even better than before. The hobbits under the spell of Tom\u2019s words may have missed one meal or many, but when the food was before them it seemed at least a week since they had eaten. They did not sing or even speak much for a while, and paid close attention to business. But after a time their hearts and spirits rose high again, and their voices rang out in mirth and laughter."
    },
    {
        "text": "Such drink is not for us.\u2019 \u2018Then all the more need to fill our bottles,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But there isn\u2019t any water up here: not a sound or a trickle have I heard. And anyway Faramir said we were not to drink any water in Morgul.\u2019 \u2018No water flowing out of Imlad Morgul, were his words,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018We are not in that valley now, and if we came on a spring it would be flowing into it and not out of it.\u2019 \u2018I wouldn\u2019t trust it,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018not till I was dying of thirst. There\u2019s a wicked feeling about this place.\u2019 He sniffed. \u2018And a smell, I fancy."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Seldom will Orcs journey in the open under the sun, yet these have done so,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Certainly they will not rest by night.\u2019 \u2018But if we walk by night, we cannot follow their trail,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Black Riders!\u2019 muttered Pippin. \u2018Black Riders of the air! But see, Beregond!\u2019 he cried. \u2018They are looking for something, surely? See how they wheel and swoop, always down to that point over there! And can you see something moving on the ground? Dark little things."
    },
    {
        "text": "And they greeted Gandalf and said: \u2018We seek the Steward, and men say that he is in this House. Has any hurt befallen him? And the Lady E\u00b4 owyn, where is she?\u2019 And Gandalf answered: \u2018She lies within and is not dead, but is near death. But the Lord Faramir was wounded by an evil dart, as you have heard, and he is now the Steward; for Denethor has departed, and his house is in ashes.\u2019 And they were filled with grief and wonder at the tale that he told."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now perhaps we can get away without those cursed goblins seeing us.\u2019 \u2018Perhaps so,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But 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.\u2019 \u2018I do not see why we should pass the Rapids or follow the River any further,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018If 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.\u2019 \u2018We can, if we are making for Minas Tirith,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018but 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.\u2019 \u2018But the Enemy holds the eastern bank,\u2019 objected Boromir. \u2018And 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?\u2019 \u2018No!\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018Say rather that we will bear our boats by the ancient way to Rauros-foot, and there take to the water again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo flung him off and rose up quivering."
    },
    {
        "text": "Put us in amongst the four, next to Man (the Big People) and you\u2019ve got it.\u2019 \u2018Hm! Not bad, not bad,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018That would do. So you live in holes, eh? It sounds very right and proper. Who calls you hobbits, though? That does not sound Elvish to me. Elves made all the old words: they began it.\u2019 \u2018Nobody else calls us hobbits; we call ourselves that,\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "The elven-ship in haven grey Beneath the mountain-lee Awaited her for many a day Beside the roaring sea."
    },
    {
        "text": "We had not heard of \u2013 hobbits, of 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "They now went on again. Before long Gimli spoke. He had keen eyes in the dark. \u2018I think,\u2019 he said, \u2018that there is a light ahead. But it is not daylight. It is red. What can it be?\u2019 \u2018Gha\u02c6sh!\u2019 muttered Gandalf. \u2018I wonder if that is what they meant: that the lower levels are on fire? Still, we can only go on.\u2019 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 growing light came. The air became very hot."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The land must groan under their hated feet.\u2019 He stretched himself upon the ground with his ear pressed against the turf. He lay there motionless, for so long a time that Gimli wondered if he had swooned or fallen asleep again. Dawn came glimmering, and slowly a grey light grew about them. At last he rose, and now his friends could see his face: it was pale and drawn, and his look was troubled."
    },
    {
        "text": "There he saw Merry\u2019s feet still sticking out \u2013 the rest had already been drawn further inside. Tom put his mouth to the crack and began singing into it in a low voice. They could not catch the words, but evidently Merry was aroused. His legs began to kick. Tom sprang away, and breaking off a hanging branch smote the side of the willow with it. \u2018You let them out again, Old Man Willow!\u2019 he said. \u2018What be you a-thinking of ? You should not be waking. Eat earth! Dig deep! Drink water! Go to sleep! Bombadil is talking!\u2019 He then seized Merry\u2019s feet and drew him out of the suddenly widening crack."
    },
    {
        "text": "In such need a man that has no horse will go on foot, and he will not ask for leave to follow the trail. Nor will he count the heads of the enemy save with a sword. I am not weaponless.\u2019 Aragorn threw back his cloak. The elven-sheath glittered as he grasped it, and the bright blade of Andu\u00b4 ril shone like a sudden flame as he swept it out. \u2018Elendil!\u2019 he cried. \u2018I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, and am called Elessar, the Elfstone, Du\u00b4nadan, the heir of Isildur Elendil\u2019s son of Gondor. Here is the Sword that was Broken and is forged again! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swiftly!\u2019 Gimli and Legolas looked at their companion in amazement, for theyhadnotseenhiminthismoodbefore.Heseemedtohavegrownmoment it seemed to the eyes of Legolas that a white flame flickered on the brows of Aragorn like a shining crown."
    },
    {
        "text": "He sank to the ground beneath the wall of rock and bowed his head."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nothing assailed the Company nor withstood their passage, and yet steadily fear grew on the Dwarf as he went on: most of all because he knew now that there could be no turning back; all the paths behind were thronged by an unseen host that followed in the dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "Indeed there is a power in Rivendell to withstand the might of Mordor, for a while: and elsewhere other powers still dwell. There is power, too, of another kind in the Shire. But all such places will soon become islands under siege, if things go on as they are going."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I bet it didn\u2019t!\u2019 said Sam in an even more injured voice. He stooped and examined the ends. \u2018Nor it hasn\u2019t neither. Not a strand!\u2019 \u2018Then I\u2019m afraid it must have been the knot,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 only to the edge of some sheer fall, or down into treacherous swamps."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do not drink of it! It is icy cold.\u2019 \u2018Soon it becomes a swift river, and it gathers water from many other mountain-streams,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Our road leads beside it forGreat River \u2013 out yonder.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Out of some savage land in the wide East they come, we deem. They hold the northward road; and many have passed on into Ano\u00b4rien."
    },
    {
        "text": "There dwelt a hardy folk between the mountains and the sea. They were reckoned men of Gondor, yet their blood was mingled, and there were short and swarthy folk among them whose sires came more from the forgotten men who housed in the shadow of the hills in the Dark Years ere the coming of the kings. But beyond, in the great fief of Belfalas, dwelt Prince Imrahil in his castle of Dol Amroth by the sea, and he was of high blood, and his folk also, tall men and proud with sea-grey eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018You have left the Shire, and are now outside, and on the edge of the Old Forest.\u2019 \u2018Are the stories about it true?\u2019 asked Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "There is a seed of courage hidden (often deeply, it is true) in the heart of the fattest and most timid hobbit, waiting for some final and desperate danger to make it grow. Frodo was neither very fat nor very timid; indeed, though he did not know it, Bilbo (and Gandalf ) had thought him the best hobbit in the Shire. He thought he had come to the end of his adventure, and a terrible end, but the thought hardened him. He found himself stiffening, as if for a final spring; he no longer felt limp like a helpless prey."
    },
    {
        "text": "A strong place and wonderful was Isengard, and long it had been beautiful; and there great lords had dwelt, the wardens of Gondor upon the West, and wise men that watched the stars. But Saruman had slowly shaped it to his shifting purposes, and made it better, as he thought, being deceived \u2013 for all those arts and subtle devices, for which he forsook his former wisdom, and which fondly he imagined were his own, came but from Mordor; so that what he made was naught, only a little copy, a child\u2019s model or a slave\u2019s flattery, of that vast fortress, armoury, prison, furnace of great power, Barad-du\u02c6r, the Dark Tower, which suffered no rival, and laughed at flattery, biding its time, secure in its pride and its immeasurable strength."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Curse them!\u2019and shoot without arguing. There\u2019s got to be some fighting before this is settled, Mr. Frodo.\u2019 The Tooks did come sooner. Before long they marched in, a hun- dred strong, from Tuckborough and the Green Hills with Pippin at their head. Merry now had enough sturdy hobbitry to deal with the ruffians. Scouts reported that they were keeping close together. They knew that the countryside had risen against them, and plainly meant to deal with the rebellion ruthlessly, at its centre in Bywater. But however grim they might be, they seemed to have no leader among them who understood warfare. They came on without any pre- cautions. Merry laid his plans quickly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am troubled, for the first time since I have known him. We should have had messages, even if he could not come himself. When I returned, many days ago, I heard the ill news. The tidings had gone far and wide that Gandalf was missing and the horsemen had been seen. It was the Elven-folk of Gildor that told me this; and later they told me that you had left your home; but there was no news of your leaving Buckland. I have been watching the East Road anxiously.\u2019 \u2018Do you think the Black Riders have anything to do with it \u2013 with Gandalf \u2019s absence, I mean?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Who\u2019d have thought it!\u2019 Frodo exclaimed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sme\u00b4agol wants master to go. Nice master, won\u2019t he come with Sme\u00b4agol?\u2019 Frodo stood up. He had laughed in the midst of all his cares when Sam trotted out the old fireside rhyme of Oliphaunt, and the laugh had released him from hesitation. \u2018I wish we had a thousand oli- phaunts with Gandalf on a white one at their head,\u2019 he said. \u2018Then we\u2019d break a way into this evil land, perhaps. But we\u2019ve not; just our own tired legs, that\u2019s all. Well, Sme\u00b4agol, the third turn may turn the best. I will come with you.\u2019 \u2018Good master, wise master, nice master!\u2019 cried Gollum in delight, patting Frodo\u2019s knees. \u2018Good master! Then rest now, nice hobbits, under the shadow of the stones, close under the stones! Rest and lie quiet, till the Yellow Face goes away. Then we can go quickly. Soft and quick as shadows we must be!\u2019Chapter 4 OF HERBS AND STEWED RABBIT For the few hours of daylight that were left they rested, shifting into the shade as the sun moved, until at last the shadow of the western rim of their dell grew long, and darkness filled all the hollow. Then they ate a little, and drank sparingly. Gollum ate nothing, but he accepted water gladly."
    },
    {
        "text": "Swiftly he ran, but Shelob was swifter; in a few leaps she would have him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All well eh?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018You look the same as ever, Frodo!\u2019 \u2018So do you,\u2019 Frodo replied; but secretly he thought that Gandalf looked older and more careworn. He pressed him for news of himself and of the wide world, and soon they were deep in talk, and they stayed up far into the night."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Mr. Frodo, sir!\u2019 cried Sam quaking. \u2018Don\u2019t let him hurt me, sir! Don\u2019t let him turn me into anything unnatural! My old dad would take on so. I meant no harm, on my honour, sir!\u2019 \u2018He won\u2019t hurt you,\u2019 said Frodo, hardly able to keep from laughing, although he was himself startled and rather puzzled. \u2018He knows, as well as I do, that you mean no harm. But just you up and answer his questions straight away!\u2019 \u2018Well, sir,\u2019 said Sam dithering a little. \u2018I heard a deal that I didn\u2019t rightly understand, about an enemy, and rings, and Mr. Bilbo, sir, and dragons, and a fiery mountain, and \u2013 and Elves, sir. I listened because I couldn\u2019t help myself, if you know what I mean. Lor bless me, sir, but I do love tales of that sort. And I believe them too, whatever Ted may say. Elves, sir! I would dearly love to see them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Neither have they brought away any hobbits as hostages. Had they done even so much as that, it would have been a heavy blow to us, and it might have been fatal. But let us not darken our hearts by imagining the trial of their gentle loyalty in the Dark Tower. For the Enemy has failed \u2013 so far. Thanks to Saruman.\u2019 \u2018Then is not Saruman a traitor?\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "To hope\u2019s end I rode and to heart\u2019s breaking: Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall! These staves he spoke, yet he laughed as he said them. For once more lust of battle was on him; and he was still unscathed, and he was young, and he was king: the lord of a fell people. And lo! even as he laughed at despair he looked out again on the black ships, and he lifted up his sword to defy them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is where we turn aside, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018And we must turn east.\u2019 He sighed as he looked at the gloomy ridges across the valley. \u2018I have just about enough strength left to find some hole away up there. And then I must rest a little.\u2019 The river-bed was now some way below the path. They scrambled down to it, and began to cross it. To their surprise they came upon dark pools fed by threads of water trickling down from some source higher up the valley. Upon its outer marges under the westward mountains Mordor was a dying land, but it was not yet dead. And here things still grew, harsh, twisted, bitter, struggling for life. In the glens of the Morgai on the other side of the valley low scrubby trees lurked and clung, coarse grey grass-tussocks fought with the stones, and withered mosses crawled on them; and everywhere great writh- ing, tangled brambles sprawled. Some had long stabbing thorns, some hooked barbs that rent like knives. The sullen shrivelled leaves of a past year hung on them, grating and rattling in the sad airs, but their maggot-ridden buds were only just opening. Flies, dun or grey, or black, marked like orcs with a red eye-shaped blotch, buzzed and stung; and above the briar-thickets clouds of hungry midges danced and reeled."
    },
    {
        "text": "They now hurried forward again, delighted with the thought of climbing out for a while above the roof of the Forest. The path dipped, and then again began to climb upwards, leading them at last to the foot of the steep hillside. There it left the trees and faded into the turf. The wood stood all round the hill like thick hair that ended sharply in a circle round a shaven crown."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Even the orc-rags that you bore in the black land, Frodo, shall be preserved. No silks and linens, nor any armour or heraldry could be more honourable. But later I will find some other clothes, perhaps.\u2019 Then he held out his hands to them, and they saw that one shone with light. \u2018What have you got there?\u2019 Frodo cried. \u2018Can it be\u2014\u2014?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I have brought your two treasures. They were found on Sam when you were rescued, the Lady Galadriel\u2019s gifts: your glass, Frodo, and your box, Sam. You will be glad to have these safe again.\u2019 When they were washed and clad, and had eaten a light meal, the Hobbits followed Gandalf. They stepped out of the beech-grove inwhich they had lain, and passed on to a long green lawn, glowing in sunshine, bordered by stately dark-leaved trees laden with scarlet blossom. Behind them they could hear the sound of falling water, and a stream ran down before them between flowering banks, until it came to a greenwood at the lawn\u2019s foot and passed then on under an archway of trees, through which they saw the shimmer of water far away."
    },
    {
        "text": "Day was opening in the sky, and they saw that the mountains were now much further off, receding eastward in a long curve that was lost in the distance. Before them, as they turned west, gentle slopes ran down into dim hazes far below. All about them were small woods of resinous trees, fir and cedar and cypress, and other kinds unknown in the Shire, with wide glades among them; and everywhere there was a wealth of sweet-smelling herbs and shrubs. The long journey from Rivendell had brought them far south of their own land, but not until now in this more sheltered region had the hobbits felt the change of clime. Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mould, larches were green-fingered, small flowers were opening in the turf, birds were singing. Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019m sorry, Master Merry, but we have orders.\u2019 \u2018Whose orders?\u2019 \u2018The Chief \u2019s up at Bag End.\u2019 \u2018Chief ? Chief ? Do you mean Mr. Lotho?\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "As soon as they were down they went on again with Gollum lead- ing, eastwards, up the dark sloping land. They could see little, for the night was now so deep that they were hardly aware of the stems of trees before they stumbled against them. The ground became more broken and walking was more difficult, but Gollum seemed in no way troubled. He led them through thickets and wastes of brambles; sometimes round the lip of a deep cleft or dark pit, sometimes down into black bush-shrouded hollows and out again; but if ever they went a little downward, always the further slope was longer and steeper. They were climbing steadily. At their first halt they looked back, and they could dimly perceive the roofs of the forest they had left behind, lying like a vast dense shadow, a darker night under the dark blank sky. There seemed to be a great blackness looming slowly out of the East, eating up the faint blurred stars. Later the sinking moon escaped from the pursuing cloud, but it was ringed all about with a sickly yellow glare."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Orc-gear\u2019s no good,\u2019 said Sam waving his arms. \u2018I wish I\u2019d got an orc\u2019s hide!\u2019 At last Frodo could go no further. They had climbed up a narrow shelving ravine, but they still had a long way to go before they could even come in sight of the last craggy ridge. \u2018I must rest now, Sam, and sleep if I can,\u2019 said Frodo. He looked about, but there seemed nowhere even for an animal to crawl into in this dismal country. At length, tired out, they slunk under a curtain of brambles that hung down like a mat over a low rock-face.remained in Sam\u2019s bag of Faramir\u2019s provision: some dried fruit, and a small slip of cured meat; and they sipped some water. They had drunk again from the pools in the valley, but they were very thirsty again. There was a bitter tang in the air of Mordor that dried the mouth. When Sam thought of water even his hopeful spirit quailed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What\u2019s the matter, Mr. Frodo?\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now I am wondering what can have happened. Should I wait for him?\u2019 Gildor was silent for a moment. \u2018I do not like this news,\u2019 he said at last. \u2018That Gandalf should be late, does not bode well. But it is said: Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger. The choice is yours: to go or wait.\u2019 \u2018And it is also said,\u2019 answered Frodo: \u2018Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.\u2019 \u2018Is it indeed?\u2019 laughed Gildor. \u2018Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill. But what would you? You have not told me all concerning yourself; and how then shall I choose better than you? But if you demand advice, I will for friendship\u2019s sake give it. I think you should now go at once, without delay; and if Gandalf does not come before you set out, then I also advise this: do not go alone."
    },
    {
        "text": "They went forward steadily, but they soon saw that the Road was further away than they had imagined. Even without a fog, their sleep at mid-day would have prevented them from reaching it until after nightfall on the day before. The dark line they had seen was not athe boundary of a kingdom, but a very long time ago. He seemed to remember something sad about it, and would not say much."
    },
    {
        "text": "When Faramir had taken white bread and drunk a draught of wine, he sat upon a low chair at his father\u2019s left hand. Removed a little upon the other side sat Gandalf in a chair of carven wood; and he seemed at first to be asleep. For at the beginning Faramir spoke only of the errand upon which he had been sent out ten days before, and he brought tidings of Ithilien and of movements of the Enemy and his allies; and he told of the fight on the road when the men of Harad and their great beast were overthrown: a captain reporting to his master such matters as had often been heard before, small things of border-war that now seemed useless and petty, shorn of their renown."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Prince of Dol Amroth is in command in the absence of the Lord,\u2019 said Gandalf; \u2018but since he is not here, I must take this on myself. I bid you keep the key and guard it, until the City is set in order again.\u2019 Now at last they passed into the high circles of the City, and in the light of morning they went their way towards the Houses of Healing; and these were fair houses set apart for the care of those who were grievously sick, but now they were prepared for the tending of men hurt in battle or dying. They stood not far from the Citadel- gate, in the sixth circle, nigh to its southward wall, and about them was a garden and a greensward with trees, the only such place in the City. There dwelt the few women that had been permitted to remain in Minas Tirith, since they were skilled in healing or in the service of the healers."
    },
    {
        "text": "What comes after must come.\u2019 Sam said nothing. The look on Frodo\u2019s face was enough for him; he knew that words of his were useless. And after all he never had any real hope in the affair from the beginning; but being a cheerful hobbit he had not needed hope, as long as despair could be postponed. Now they were come to the bitter end. But he had stuck to his master all the way; that was what he had chiefly come for, and he would still stick to him. His master would not go to Mordor alone. Sam would go with him \u2013 and at any rate they would get rid of Gollum."
    },
    {
        "text": "He drew himself up, slowly, as a man that is stiff from long bending oversomedulltoil.Nowtallandstraighthestood,andhiseyeswerenew-awakened. I would now that you had come before, Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "When at last they halted and dismounted, even Aragorn was stiff and weary. Gandalf only allowed them a few hours\u2019 rest. Legolas and Gimli slept, and Aragorn lay flat, stretched upon his back; but Gan- dalf stood, leaning on his staff, gazing into the darkness, east and west. All was silent, and there was no sign or sound of living thing."
    },
    {
        "text": "On the great beast thundered, blundering in blind wrath through pool and thicket. Arrows skipped and snapped harmlessly about the triple hide of his flanks. Men of both sides fled before him, but many he overtook and crushed to the ground. Soon he was lost to view, still trumpeting and stamping far away. What became of him Sam never heard: whether he escaped to roam the wild for a time, until he perished far from his home or was trapped in some deep pit; or whether he raged on until he plunged in the Great River and wasSam drew a deep breath. \u2018An Oliphaunt it was!\u2019 he said. \u2018So there are Oliphaunts, and I have seen one. What a life! But no one at home will ever believe me. Well, if that\u2019s over, I\u2019ll have a bit of sleep.\u2019 \u2018Sleep while you may,\u2019 said Mablung. \u2018But the Captain will return, if he is unhurt; and when he comes we shall depart swiftly. We shall be pursued as soon as news of our deed reaches the Enemy, and that will not be long.\u2019 \u2018Go quietly when you must!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018No need to disturb my sleep. I was walking all night.\u2019 Mablung laughed. \u2018I do not think the Captain will leave you here, Master Samwise,\u2019 he said. \u2018But you shall see.\u2019Chapter 5 THE WINDOW ON THE WEST It seemed to Sam that he had only dozed for a few minutes when he awoke to find that it was late afternoon and Faramir had come back."
    },
    {
        "text": "But now, seeing what things were like, they decided to go straight to Hobbiton. So the next day they set out along the Road and jogged along steadily. The wind had dropped but the sky was grey. The land looked rather sad and forlorn; but it was after all the first of November and the fag-end of autumn. Still there seemed an unusual amount ofburninggoingon,andsmokerosefrommanypointsroundabout.As evening fell they were drawing near to Frogmorton, a village right on the Road, about twenty-two miles from the Bridge. There they meant to stay the night; The Floating Log at Frogmorton was a good inn. But as they came to the east end of the village they met a barrier with a large board saying no road; and behind it stood a large band of Shirriffs with staves in their hands and feathers in their caps, looking both important and rather scared."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But I reckon it was a nasty knock for those Sackville-Bagginses."
    },
    {
        "text": "Saruman laughed. \u2018You do what Sharkey says, always, don\u2019t you, Worm? Well, now he says: follow!\u2019 He kicked Wormtongue in the face as he grovelled, and turned and made off. But at that something snapped: suddenly Wormtongue rose up, drawing a hidden knife, and then with a snarl like a dog he sprang on Saruman\u2019s back, jerked his head back, cut his throat, and with a yell ran off down the lane."
    },
    {
        "text": "Great was the clash of their meeting. But the white fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, and more skilled was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove throughdown their chieftain. Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard, hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum, it seemed, had crawled off along the ledge into the dark- ness beyond, when the gates of Minas Morgul opened, leaving the hobbits where they lay. He now came creeping back, his teeth chattering and his fingers snapping. \u2018Foolish! Silly!\u2019 he hissed. \u2018Make haste! They mustn\u2019t think danger has passed. It hasn\u2019t. Make haste!\u2019 They did not answer, but they followed him on to the climbing ledge. It was little to the liking of either of them, not even after facing so many other perils; but it did not last long. Soon the path reached a rounded angle where the mountain-side swelled out again, and there it suddenly entered a narrow opening in the rock. They had come to the first stair that Gollum had spoken of. The darkness was almost complete, and they could see nothing much beyond their hands\u2019 stretch; but Gollum\u2019s eyes shone pale, several feet above, as he turned back towards them."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 shimmering arms. Distant but deep there came up on the wind a roaring sound like the roll of thunder heard far away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The rumour of the earth is dim and confused,\u2019 he said. \u2018Nothingmind that I heard them, even as I lay on the ground in sleep, and they troubled my dreams: horses galloping, passing in the West. But now they are drawing ever further from us, riding northward. I wonder what is happening in this land!\u2019 \u2018Let us go!\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All together, paddle!\u2019 shouted Boromir. \u2018Paddle! Or we shall be driven on the shoals.\u2019 Even as he spoke Frodo felt the keel beneath him grate upon stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "Faramir went about among the men, questioning each as he came in, in a soft voice. Some came back from the pursuit of the Southrons; others, left behind as scouts near the road, came in latest. All the Southrons had been accounted for, save only the great mu\u02c6 mak: what happened to him none could say. Of the enemy no movement could be seen; not even an orc-spy was abroad."
    },
    {
        "text": "The day\u2019s march promised to be warm and tiring work. After some miles, however, the road ceased to roll up and down: it climbed to the top of a steep bank in a weary zig-zagging sort of way, and then prepared to go down for the last time. In front of them they saw the lower lands dotted with small clumps of trees that melted away in the distance to a brown woodland haze. They were looking across the Woody End towards the Brandywine River. The road wound away before them like a piece of string."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is it not guarded?\u2019 Frodo repeated."
    },
    {
        "text": "And Minas Ithil they built, Tower of the Rising Moon, eastward upon a shoulder of the Mountains of Shadow; and westward at the feet of the White Mountains Minas Anor they made, Tower of the Setting Sun. There in the courts of the King grew a white tree, from the seed of that tree which Isildur brought over the deep waters, and the seed of that tree before came from Eresse\u00a8a, and before that out of the Uttermost West in the Day before days when the world was young."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gimli shivered. They had brought only one blanket apiece. \u2018Let us light a fire,\u2019 he said. \u2018I care no longer for the danger. Let the Orcs come as thick as summer-moths round a candle!\u2019 \u2018If those unhappy hobbits are astray in the woods, it might draw them hither,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "From it the orc-trail ran out again, turning north along the dry skirts of the hills. Aragorn halted and examined the tracks closely."
    },
    {
        "text": "A shadow passed over Glo\u00b4 in\u2019s face. \u2018We do not know,\u2019 he answered. \u2018It is largely on account of Balin that I have come to ask the advice of those that dwell in Rivendell. But tonight let us speak of merrier things!\u2019 Glo\u00b4 in began then to talk of the works of his people, telling Frodo about their great labours in Dale and under the Mountain. \u2018We have done well,\u2019 he said. \u2018But in metal-work we cannot rival our fathers, many of whose secrets are lost. We make good armour and keen swords, but we cannot again make mail or blade to match those that were made before the dragon came. Only in mining and building have we surpassed the old days. You should see the waterways of Dale, Frodo, and the fountains, and the pools! You should see the stone-paved roads of many colours! And the halls and cavernous streets under the earth with arches carved like trees; and the terraces and towers upon the Mountain\u2019s sides! Then you would see that we have not been idle.\u2019 \u2018Iwillcomeandseethem,ifeverIcan,\u2019saidFrodo.\u2018HowsurprisedGlo\u00b4 in looked at Frodo and smiled. \u2018You were very fond of Bilbo were you not?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "A sudden thought leaped into Pippin\u2019s mind, and he acted on it at once. He swerved aside to the right, and dived out of the reach of his clutching guard, headfirst into the mist; he landed sprawling on the grass.and ran. But the Orcs were after him. Some suddenly loomed up right in front of him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Behold! I go forth, and it seems like to be my last riding,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018I have no child. The\u00b4odred my son is slain. I name E\u00b4omer my sister-son to be my heir. If neither of us return, then choose a new lord as you will. But to some one I must now entrust my people that I leave behind, to rule them in my place. Which of you will stay?\u2019 No man spoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "But they found his chair empty, and before the dais lay The\u00b4oden King of the Mark upon a bed of state; and twelve torches stood about it, and twelve guards, knights both of Rohan and Gondor. And the hangings of the bed were of green and white, but upon the king was laid the great cloth of gold up to his breast, and upon that his unsheathed sword, and at his feet his shield. The light of the torches shimmered in his white hair like sun in the spray of a fountain, butWhen they had stood silent for a time beside the king, Imrahil said: \u2018Where is the Steward? And where also is Mithrandir?\u2019 And one of the guards answered: \u2018The Steward of Gondor is in the Houses of Healing.\u2019 But E\u00b4omer said: \u2018Where is the Lady E\u00b4owyn, my sister; for surely she should be lying beside the king, and in no less honour? Where have they bestowed her?\u2019 And Imrahil said: \u2018But the Lady E\u00b4owyn was yet living when they bore her hither. Did you not know?\u2019 Then hope unlooked-for came so suddenly to E\u00b4 omer\u2019s heart, and with it the bite of care and fear renewed, that he said no more, but turned and went swiftly from the hall; and the Prince followed him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Onceinmilderdaystheremusthavebeenafairthicketintheravine,of the gully, which lay along the edge of a rock-fault, was rough with broken stone and slanted steeply down. When they came at last to the end of it, Frodo stooped and leaned out."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Curse him, root and branch! Many of those trees were my friends, creatures I had known from nut and acorn; many had voices of their own that are lost for ever now. And there are wastes of stump and bramble where once there were singing groves. I have been idle. I have let things slip. It must stop!\u2019 Treebeard raised himself from his bed with a jerk, stood up, and thumped his hand on the table. The vessels of light trembled and sent up two jets of flame. There was a flicker like green fire in his eyes, and his beard stood out stiff as a great besom."
    },
    {
        "text": "The two hobbits gazed at the towers and the wall in despair. Even from a distance they could see in the dim light the movement of the black guards upon the wall, and the patrols before the gate. They lay nowpeeringovertheedgeofarockyhollowbeneaththeoutstretchedfrom their hiding-place to the black summit of the nearer tower. A faint smoke curled above it, as if fire smouldered in the hill beneath."
    },
    {
        "text": "The room became dark and silent, though the clack of Sam\u2019s shears, now nearer to the windows, could still be heard faintly from the garden. For a moment the wizard stood looking at the fire; then he stooped and removed the ring to the hearth with the tongs, and at once picked it up. Frodo gasped."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam looked at him and wept in his heart, but no tears came to his dry and stinging eyes. \u2018I said I\u2019d carry him, if it broke my back,\u2019 he muttered, \u2018and I will!\u2019 \u2018Come, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 he cried. \u2018I can\u2019t carry it for you, but I canAs Frodo clung upon his back, arms loosely about his neck, legs clasped firmly under his arms, Sam staggered to his feet; and then to his amazement he felt the burden light. He had feared that he would have barely strength to lift his master alone, and beyond that he had expected to share in the dreadful dragging weight of the accursed Ring. But it was not so. Whether because Frodo was so worn by his long pains, wound of knife, and venomous sting, and sorrow, fear, and homeless wandering, or because some gift of final strength was given to him, Sam lifted Frodo with no more difficulty than if he were carrying a hobbit-child pig-a-back in some romp on the lawns or hayfields of the Shire. He took a deep breath and started off."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a moment the thought flitted through Merry\u2019s mind: \u2018Where is Gandalf ? Is he not here? Could he not have saved the king and E\u00b4owyn?\u2019 But thereupon E\u00b4omer rode up in haste, and with him came the knights of the household that still lived and had now mastered their horses. They looked in wonder at the carcase of the fell beast that lay there; and their steeds would not go near. But E\u00b4omer leaped from the saddle, and grief and dismay fell upon him as he came to the king\u2019s side and stood there in silence."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Peregrin Took!\u2019 he said. \u2018Come back!\u2019 The hobbit relaxed and fell back, clinging to the wizard\u2019s hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t like the look of things at all,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Pretty hopeless, I call it \u2013 saving that where there\u2019s such a lot of folk there must be wells or water, not to mention food. And these are Men not Orcs, or my eyes are all wrong.\u2019 Neither he nor Frodo knew anything of the great slave-worked fields away south in this wide realm, beyond the fumes of the Moun- tain by the dark sad waters of Lake Nu\u00b4rnen; nor of the great roads that ran away east and south to tributary lands, from which the soldiers of the Tower brought long waggon-trains of goods and booty and fresh slaves. Here in the northward regions were the mines and forges, and the musterings of long-planned war; and here the Dark Power, moving its armies like pieces on the board, was gatheringthe moment it withdrew them, and brought up new forces, massing them about Cirith Gorgor for an avenging stroke. And if it had also been its purpose to defend the Mountain against all approach, it could scarcely have done more."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hold up, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 muttered Sam in Frodo\u2019s ear. \u2018Come back! Not that way. Gollum says not, and for once I agree with him.\u2019 Frodo passed his hand over his brow and wrenched his eyes away from the city on the hill. The luminous tower fascinated him, and he fought the desire that was on him to run up the gleaming road towards its gate. At last with an effort he turned back, and as he did so, he felt the Ring resisting him, dragging at the chain about his neck; and his eyes too, as he looked away, seemed for the moment to have been blinded. The darkness before him was impenetrable."
    },
    {
        "text": "But this in the Common Tongue is what is said, close enough: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is an heirloom of our house,\u2019 said E\u00b4owyn. \u2018It was made by the Dwarves, and came from the hoard of Scatha the Worm. Eorl the Young brought it from the North. He that blows it at need shall set fear in the hearts of his enemies and joy in the hearts of his friends, and they shall hear him and come to him.\u2019 Then Merry took the horn, for it could not be refused, and he kissed E\u00b4owyn\u2019s hand; and they embraced him, and so they parted for that time."
    },
    {
        "text": "Go on!\u2019 Hurrying forward again, Sam tripped, catching his foot in some old root or tussock. He fell and came heavily on his hands, which sank deep into sticky ooze, so that his face was brought close to the surface of the dark mere. There was a faint hiss, a noisome smell went up, the lights flickered and danced and swirled. For a moment the water below him looked like some window, glazed with grimy glass,throughwhichhewaspeering.WrenchinghishandsoutoftheGollum laughed. \u2018The Dead Marshes, yes, yes: that is their name,\u2019 he cackled. \u2018You should not look in when the candles are lit.\u2019 \u2018Who are they? What are they?\u2019 asked Sam shuddering, turning to Frodo, who was now behind him."
    },
    {
        "text": "The four hobbits stepped off the ferry. Merry was tying it up, and Pippin was already leading the pony up the path, when Sam (who had been looking back, as if to take farewell of the Shire) said in a hoarse whisper: \u2018Look back, Mr. Frodo! Do you see anything?\u2019 On the far stage, under the distant lamps, they could just make out a figure: it looked like a dark black bundle left behind. But as they looked it seemed to move and sway this way and that, as if searching the ground. It then crawled, or went crouching, back into the gloom beyond the lamps."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Alas for Boromir! It was too sore a trial!\u2019 he said. \u2018How you have increased my sorrow, you two strange wanderers from a far country, bearing the peril of Men! But you are less judges of Men than I of Halflings. We are truth-speakers, we men of Gondor. We boast sel- dom, and then perform, or die in the attempt. Not if I found it on the highway would I take it I said. Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing, and even though I knew not clearly what this thing was when I spoke, still I should take those words as a vow, and be held by them."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Orcs were getting ready to march again, but some of the Northerners were still unwilling, and the Isengarders slew two more before the rest were cowed. There was much cursing and confusion."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Never before has any voice dared to utter words of that tongue in Imladris, Gandalf the Grey,\u2019 said Elrond, as the shadow passed and the company breathed once more."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They\u2019re mine!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Given to me by Mrs. Maggot, a queen among farmers\u2019 wives. Take your greedy hands away, and I\u2019ll serve them.\u2019 Hobbits have a passion for mushrooms, surpassing even the greediest likings of Big People. A fact which partly explains young Frodo\u2019s long expeditions to the renowned fields of the Marish, and the wrath of the injured Maggot. On this occasion there was plenty for all, even according to hobbit standards. There were also many other things to follow, and when they had finished even Fatty Bolger heaved a sigh of content. They pushed back the table, and drew chairs round the fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "Are you going to sleep on your legs? It is nearly midnight.\u2019 \u2018I thought you liked walking in the dark,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But there is no great hurry. Merry expects us some time the day after tomorrow; but that leaves us nearly two days more. We\u2019ll halt at the first likely spot.\u2019 \u2018The wind\u2019s in the West,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018If we get to the other sideknew the land well within twenty miles of Hobbiton, but that was the limit of his geography."
    },
    {
        "text": "He ran to the figure huddled on the floor. It was Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam stood by him. His round eyes were wide open \u2013 for he was looking across lands he had never seen to a new horizon."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018but I can. The letters are Elvish, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here."
    },
    {
        "text": "Strider sighed and paused before he spoke again. \u2018That is a song,\u2019 he said, \u2018in the mode that is called ann-thennath among the Elves, but is hard to render in our Common Speech, and this is but a rough echo of it. It tells of the meeting of Beren son of Barahir and Lu\u00b4thien Tinu\u00b4viel. Beren was a mortal man, but Lu\u00b4thien was the daughter of Thingol, a King of Elves upon Middle-earth when the world was young; and she was the fairest maiden that has ever been among all the children of this world. As the stars above the mists of the Northern lands was her loveliness, and in her face was a shining light. In those days the Great Enemy, of whom Sauron of Mordor was but a servant, dwelt in Angband in the North, and the Elves of the West coming back to Middle-earth made war upon him to regain the Silmarils which he had stolen; and the fathers of Men aided the Elves. But the Enemy was victorious and Barahir was slain, and Beren escaping through great peril came over the Mountains of Terror into the hidden Kingdom of Thingol in the forest of Neldoreth. There he beheld Lu\u00b4thien singing and dancing in a glade beside the enchanted river Esgalduin; and he named her Tinu\u00b4viel, that is Nightingale in the language of old. Many sorrows befell them afterwards, and they were parted long. Tinu\u00b4viel rescued Beren from the dungeons of Sauron, and together they passed through great dangers, and cast down even the Great Enemy from his throne, and took from his iron crown one of the three Silmarils, brightest of all jewels, to be the bride-price of Lu\u00b4thien to Thingol her father. Yet at the last Berenfrom the world, so that she might follow him; and it is sung that they met again beyond the Sundering Seas, and after a brief time walking alive once more in the green woods, together they passed, long ago, beyond the confines of this world. So it is that Lu\u00b4thien Tinu\u00b4viel alone of the Elf-kindred has died indeed and left the world, and they have lost her whom they most loved. But from her the lineage of the Elf-lords of old descended among Men. There live still those of whom Lu\u00b4thien was the foremother, and it is said that her line shall never fail. Elrond of Rivendell is of that Kin. For of Beren and Lu\u00b4thien was born Dior Thingol\u2019s heir; and of him Elwing the White whom Ea\u00a8rendil wedded, he that sailed his ship out of the mists of the world into the seas of heaven with the Silmaril upon his brow. And of Ea\u00a8rendil came the Kings of Nu\u00b4menor, that is Westernesse.\u2019 As Strider was speaking they watched his strange eager face, dimly lit in the red glow of the wood-fire. His eyes shone, and his voice was rich and deep. Above him was a black starry sky. Suddenly a pale light appeared over the crown of Weathertop behind him. The waxing moon was climbing slowly above the hill that overshadowed them, and the stars above the hill-top faded."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tree and flower and leaf and grass, Let them pass! Let them pass! Hill and water under sky, Pass them by! Pass them by! Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate, And though we pass them by today, Tomorrow we may come this way And take the hidden paths that run Towards the Moon or to the Sun."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If Gandalf would go before us with a bright flame, he might melt a path for you,\u2019 said Legolas. The storm had troubled him little, and he alone of the Company remained still light of heart."
    },
    {
        "text": "The voices were now loud and near. Sam peered about. He had climbed right to the flat roof of the third and highest tier of the Tower: an open space, about twenty yards across, with a low parapet."
    },
    {
        "text": "Few men would be left to guard your walls, if he had been allowed to rule. And even now we learn from Gondor that the Dark Lord is stirring in the East. Such is the hour in which this wanderer chooses to return. Why indeed should we welcome you, Master Stormcrow? La\u00b4thspell I name you, Ill-news; and ill news is an ill guest they say.\u2019 He laughed grimly, as he lifted his heavy lids for a moment and gazed on the strangers with dark eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "If we do not find them soon, we shall be of no use to them, except to sit down beside them and show our friendship by starving together.\u2019 \u2018If that is indeed all we can do, then we must do that,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "He\u2019ll come back to this spot when the job\u2019s done \u2013 if he manages it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where is Entmoot?\u2019 Pippin ventured to ask."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018E\u00b4owyn, E\u00b4 owyn!\u2019 he cried at last. \u2018E\u00b4 owyn, how come you here? What madness or devilry is this? Death, death, death! Death take us all!\u2019 Then without taking counsel or waiting for the approach of the men of the City, he spurred headlong back to the front of the great host, and blew a horn, and cried aloud for the onset. Over the field rang his clear voice calling: \u2018Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world\u2019s ending!\u2019 And with that the host began to move. But the Rohirrim sang no more. Death they cried with one voice loud and terrible, and gathering speed like a great tide their battle swept about their fallen king and passed, roaring away southwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "Those as can\u2019t fly can jump!\u2019 \u2018It would be a big jump still,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018About, well\u2019 \u2013 he stood for a moment measuring it with his eyes \u2013 \u2018about eighteen fathoms, I should guess. Not more.\u2019 \u2018And that\u2019s enough!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Ugh! How I do hate looking down from a height! But looking\u2019s better than climbing.\u2019 \u2018All the same,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018I think we could climb here; and I think we shall have to try. See \u2013 the rock is quite different from what it was a few miles back. It has slipped and cracked.\u2019 The outer fall was indeed no longer sheer, but sloped outwards a little. It looked like a great rampart or sea-wall whose foundations had shifted, so that its courses were all twisted and disordered, leaving great fissures and long slanting edges that were in places almost as wide as stairs."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Let go! Gollum,\u2019 he said. \u2018This is Sting. You have seen it before once upon a time. Let go, or you\u2019ll feel it this time! I\u2019ll cut your throat.\u2019 Gollum collapsed and went as loose as wet string. Sam got up, fingering his shoulder. His eyes smouldered with anger, but he could not avenge himself: his miserable enemy lay grovelling on the stones whimpering."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come, Master Meriadoc!\u2019 he said. \u2018You shall not stand. You shall sit beside me, as long as I remain in my own lands, and lighten my heart with tales.\u2019 Room was made for the hobbit at the king\u2019s left hand, but no one called for any tale. There was indeed little speech, and they ate and\u2018Twice now, lord, I have heard of the Paths of the Dead,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last he could stand it no longer. He got up and looked round."
    },
    {
        "text": "That will be the new tidings of the black fleet. They are sparing only a tithe of their strength. Still every little is a gain.\u2019 And so the companies came and were hailed and cheered and passed through the Gate, men of the Outlands marching to defend the City of Gondor in a dark hour; but always too few, always less than hope looked for or need asked. The men of Ringlo\u00b4 Vale behind the son of their lord, Dervorin striding on foot: three hundreds. From theuplandsofMorthond,thegreatBlackrootVale,tallDuinhirwithhunters and herdsmen and men of little villages, scantily equipped save for the household of Golasgil their lord. From Lamedon, a few grim hillmen without a captain. Fisher-folk of the Ethir, some hun- dred or more spared from the ships. Hirluin the Fair of the Green Hills from Pinnath Gelin with three hundreds of gallant green-clad men. And last and proudest, Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, kinsman of the Lord, with gilded banners bearing his token of the Ship and the Silver Swan, and a company of knights in full harness riding grey horses; and behind them seven hundreds of men at arms, tall as lords, grey-eyed, dark-haired, singing as they came."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here is your sword,\u2019 he said. \u2018But it was broken, you know. I took it to keep it safe but I\u2019ve forgotten to ask if the smiths could mend it. No time now. So I thought, perhaps, you would care to have this, don\u2019t you know?\u2019 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, cold and bright. \u2018This is Sting,\u2019 he said, and thrust it with little effort deep into a wooden beam. \u2018Take it, if you like."
    },
    {
        "text": "As soon as Strider had roused them all, he led the way to their bedrooms. When they saw them they were glad that they had taken his advice: the windows had been forced open and were swinging, and the curtains were flapping; the beds were tossed about, and the bolsters slashed and flung upon the floor; the brown mat was torn to pieces."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hard was my parting from Lothlo\u00b4 rien. Yet I have come so far, and I say this: now we have reached the last choice, it is clear to me that I cannot leave Frodo. I would choose Minas Tirith, but if he does not, then I follow him.\u2019\u2018It would indeed be a betrayal, if we all left him,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "Like a black smoke driven by a mounting wind they fled. Wailing they passed under the waiting shadow of the trees; and from that shadow none ever came again.Chapter 8 THE ROAD TO ISENGARD So it was that in the light of a fair morning King The\u00b4oden and Gandalf the White Rider met again upon the green grass beside the Deeping-stream. There was also Aragorn son of Arathorn, and Legolas the Elf, and Erkenbrand of Westfold, and the lords of the Golden House. About them were gathered the Rohirrim, the Riders of the Mark: wonder overcame their joy in victory, and their eyes were turned towards the wood."
    },
    {
        "text": "Cruel and cold! Even if your war on me was just \u2013 as it was not, for were you ten times as wise you would have no right to rule me and mine for your own profit as you desired \u2013 even so, what will you say of your torches in Westfold and the children that lie dead there? And they hewed Ha\u00b4ma\u2019s body before the gates of the Hornburg, after he was dead. When you hang from a gibbet at your window for the sport of your own crows, I will have peace with you and Orthanc. So much for the House of Eorl. A lesser son of great sires am I, but I do not need to lick your fingers. Turn elsewhither. But I fear your voice has lost its charm.\u2019after the music of Saruman. But Saruman for a while was beside himself with wrath. He leaned over the rail as if he would smite the King with his staff. To some suddenly it seemed that they saw a snake coiling itself to strike."
    },
    {
        "text": "They walked on in silence for a while, passing like grey and green shadows under the old trees, their feet making no sound; above them many birds sang, and the sun glistened on the polished roof of dark leaves in the evergreen woods of Ithilien."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now at last they turned their faces to the Mountain and set out, thinking no more of concealment, bending their weariness and failing wills only to the one task of going on. In the dimness of its dreary day few things even in that land of vigilance could have espied them, save from close at hand. Of all the slaves of the Dark Lord, only the Nazgu\u02c6l could have warned him of the peril that crept, small but indomitable, into the very heart of his guarded realm. But the Nazgu\u02c6l and their black wings were abroad on other errand: they were gath- ered far away, shadowing the march of the Captains of the West, and thither the thought of the Dark Tower was turned."
    },
    {
        "text": "White they seemed now and very old, and as he looked at them, suddenly with a thrill of fear Pippin knew that Gandalf, Gandalfand of their resolve to go to Cirith Ungol, his voice fell, and he shook his head and sighed. Then Gandalf sprang up."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Ring! The Ring!\u2019 they cried with deadly voices; and immedi- ately their leader urged his horse forward into the water, followed closely by two others."
    },
    {
        "text": "Therefore they shall be trothplighted before you all.\u2019 And Faramir and E\u00b4 owyn stood forth and set hand in hand; and all there drank to them and were glad. \u2018Thus,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer, \u2018is the friendship of the Mark and of Gondor bound with a new bond, and the more do I rejoice.\u2019 \u2018No niggard are you, E\u00b4 omer,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018to give thus to Gondor the fairest thing in your realm!\u2019 Then E\u00b4 owyn looked in the eyes of Aragorn, and she said: \u2018Wish me joy, my liege-lord and healer!\u2019 And he answered: \u2018I have wished thee joy ever since first I sawWhen the feast was over, those who were to go took leave of King E\u00b4 omer. Aragorn and his knights, and the people of Lo\u00b4rien and of Rivendell, made ready to ride; but Faramir and Imrahil remained at Edoras; and Arwen Evenstar remained also, and she said farewell to her brethren. None saw her last meeting with Elrond her father, for they went up into the hills and there spoke long together, and bitter was their parting that should endure beyond the ends of the world."
    },
    {
        "text": "And so the fifth day came since the Lady E\u00b4owyn went first to Faramir; and they stood now together once more upon the walls of the City and looked out. No tidings had yet come, and all hearts were darkened. The weather, too, was bright no longer. It was cold."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hardly breathing, Pippin crept nearer, foot by foot. At last he knelt down. Then he put his hands out stealthily, and slowly lifted the lump up: it did not seem quite so heavy as he had expected."
    },
    {
        "text": "The assailing hosts halted, foiled by the silent menace of rock and wall. Ever and again the lightning tore aside the darkness. Then the Orcs screamed, waving spear and sword, and shooting a cloud of arrows at any that stood revealed upon the battlements; and the men of the Mark amazed looked out, as it seemed to them, upon a great field of dark corn, tossed by a tempest of war, and every ear glinted with barbed light."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf remained for a while staring after him into the darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He knows not to what end he rides; yet if he knew, he still would go on.\u2019 \u2018Alittlepeople,butofgreatwortharetheShire-folk,\u2019saidHalba-\u2018And now our fates are woven together,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018And yet, alas! here we must part. Well, I must eat a little, and then we also must hasten away. Come, Legolas and Gimli! I must speak with you as I eat.\u2019 Together they went back into the Burg; yet for some time Aragorn sat silent at the table in the hall, and the others waited for him to speak. \u2018Come!\u2019 said Legolas at last. \u2018Speak and be comforted, and shake off the shadow! What has happened since we came back to this grim place in the grey morning?\u2019 \u2018A struggle somewhat grimmer for my part than the battle of the Hornburg,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018I have looked in the Stone of Orthanc, my friends.\u2019 \u2018You have looked in that accursed stone of wizardry!\u2019 exclaimed Gimli with fear and astonishment in his face. \u2018Did you say aught to \u2013 him? Even Gandalf feared that encounter.\u2019 \u2018You forget to whom you speak,\u2019 said Aragorn sternly, and his eyes glinted. \u2018What do you fear that I should say to him? Did I not openly proclaim my title before the doors of Edoras? Nay, Gimli,\u2019 he said in a softer voice, and the grimness left his face, and he looked like one who has laboured in sleepless pain for many nights. \u2018Nay, my friends, I am the lawful master of the Stone, and I had both the right and the strength to use it, or so I judged. The right cannot be doubted. The strength was enough \u2013 barely.\u2019 He drew a deep breath. \u2018It was a bitter struggle, and the weariness is slow to pass. I spoke no word to him, and in the end I wrenched the Stone to my own will. That alone he will find hard to endure."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018We want man-food for twenty-five,\u2019\u2019 the Ents said, so you can see that somebody had counted your company carefully before you arrived. You three were evidently meant to go with the great people."
    },
    {
        "text": "But we Ents went on wandering, and we only came to the gardens now and again. Then when the Darkness came in the North, the Entwives crossed the Great River, and made new gardens, and tilled new fields, and we saw them more seldom. After the Darkness was overthrown the land of the Entwives blossomed richly, and their fields were full of corn. Many men learned the crafts of the Entwives and honoured them greatly; but we were only a legend to them, a secret in the heart of the forest. Yet here we still are, while all the gardens of the Entwives are wasted: Men call them the Brown Lands now."
    },
    {
        "text": "He\u2019s off to his home, as he always said; and no blame to him. But Mr. Frodo, he knows he\u2019s got to find the Cracks of Doom, if he can."
    },
    {
        "text": "Someone said that intelligence would be needed in the party. He was right. I think I shall come with you.\u2019 So great was Frodo\u2019s delight at this announcement that Gandalf left the window-sill, where he had been sitting, and took off his hat and bowed. \u2018I only said I think I shall come. Do not count on anything yet. In this matter Elrond will have much to say, and your friend the Strider. Which reminds me, I want to see Elrond. I must be off.\u2019 \u2018How long do you think I shall have here?\u2019 said Frodo to Bilbo when Gandalf had gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "At length they came back to the Steward\u2019s Door, and Beregond looked with grief at the porter. \u2018This deed I shall ever rue,\u2019 he said; \u2018but a madness of haste was on me, and he would not listen, but drew sword against me.\u2019 Then taking the key that he had wrested from the slain man he closed the door and locked it. \u2018This should now be given to the Lord Faramir,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So fear me not! I do not ask you to tell me more. I do not even ask you to tell me whether I now speak nearer the mark. But if you will trust me, it may be that I can advise you in your present quest, whatever that be \u2013 yes, and even aid you.\u2019 Frodo made no answer. Almost he yielded to the desire for help and counsel, to tell this grave young man, whose words seemed so wise and fair, all that was in his mind. But something held him back."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I hope so,\u2019 said Frodo and sighed. \u2018The very last stroke. But to think that it should fall here, at the very door of Bag End! Among all my hopes and fears at least I never expected that.\u2019 \u2018I shan\u2019t call it the end, till we\u2019ve cleared up the mess,\u2019 said Sam gloomily. \u2018And that\u2019ll take a lot of time and work.\u2019Chapter 9 THE GREY HAVENS The clearing up certainly needed a lot of work, but it took less time than Sam had feared. The day after the battle Frodo rode to Michel Delving and released the prisoners from the Lockholes. One of the first that they found was poor Fredegar Bolger, Fatty no longer."
    },
    {
        "text": "Doom, doom went the drums in the deep. The great voice rolled out again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sometimes Frodo was with them; but he was content to lean on their guidance, and he spent as much time as he could with Bilbo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam, clinging to Frodo\u2019s arm, collapsed on a step in the black darkness. \u2018Poor old Bill!\u2019 he said in a choking voice. \u2018Poor 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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Off hunting, I suppose,\u2019 said Sam and yawned. It was his turn to sleep first, and he was soon deep in a dream. He thought he was back in the Bag End garden looking for something; but he had a heavy pack on his back, which made him stoop. It all seemed very weedy and rank somehow, and thorns and bracken were invading the beds down near the bottom hedge."
    },
    {
        "text": "And I put as fast a hitch over the stump as anyone could have done, in the Shire or out of it.\u2019 \u2018Then the rope must have broken \u2013 frayed on the rock-edge, I expect,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "His friends watched over him, warming him, and bathing his wound."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But if he goes east, then all need not go with him; nor do I think that all should. That venture is desperate: as much so for eight as for three or two, or one alone. If you would let me choose, then I should appoint three companions: Sam, who could not bear it other- wise; 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.\u2019 \u2018That won\u2019t do at all!\u2019 cried Merry. \u2018We can\u2019t 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\u2019t we stop him?\u2019 \u2018We must stop him,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018And that is what he is worrying about, I am sure. He knows we shan\u2019t agree to his going east. And he doesn\u2019t like to ask anyone to go with him, poor old fellow. Imagine it: going off to Mordor alone!\u2019 Pippin shuddered. \u2018But the dear silly old hobbit, he ought to know that he hasn\u2019t got to ask. He ought to know that if we can\u2019t stop him, we shan\u2019t leave him.\u2019 \u2018Begging your pardon,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018I don\u2019t think you understand my master at all. He isn\u2019t hesitating about which way to go. Of course not! What\u2019s the good of Minas Tirith anyway? To him, I mean, begging your pardon, Master Boromir,\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Treebeard is not known to me. And I have guessed part of Saruman\u2019s double treachery; yet I do not see in what way the coming of two hobbits to Fangorn has served, save to give us a long and fruitless chase.\u2019 \u2018Wait a minute!\u2019 cried Gimli. \u2018There is another thing that I should like to know first. Was it you, Gandalf, or Saruman that we saw last night?\u2019 \u2018You certainly did not see me,\u2019 answered Gandalf, \u2018therefore I must guess that you saw Saruman. Evidently we look so much alike that your desire to make an incurable dent in my hat must be excused.\u2019comfort not to be mistaken at all points. Do I not know it only too well! But, of course, I never blamed you for your welcome of me."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What is it?\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do not bandy words in your insolence with the Mouth of Sauron!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Surety you crave! Sauron gives none. If you sue for his clemency you must first do his bidding. These are his terms. Takecloak and a white light shone forth like a sword in that black place."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Orcs clapped and hooted. \u2018Can\u2019t take his medicine,\u2019 they jeered. \u2018Doesn\u2019t know what\u2019s good for him. Ai! We shall have some fun later.\u2019 But at the moment Uglu\u00b4k was not engaged in sport. He needed speed and had to humour unwilling followers. He was healing Merry in orc-fashion; and his treatment worked swiftly. When he had forced a drink from his flask down the hobbit\u2019s throat, cut his leg-bonds, and dragged him to his feet, Merry stood up, looking pale but grim and defiant, and very much alive. The gash in his forehead gave him no more trouble, but he bore a brown scar to the end of his days."
    },
    {
        "text": "It is like lightning that leaps up from the hill-tops.\u2019 Frodo lay down again, but for a long while he could still see the white flashes, and against them the tall dark figure of Strider, standing silent and watchful. At last he passed into uneasy sleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "The others waited huddled together, watching until Boromir and Aragorn 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Orcs, and talking trees, and leagues of grass, and galloping riders, and glittering caves, and white towers and golden halls, and battles, and tall ships sailing, all these passed before Sam\u2019s mind until he felt bewildered. But amidst all these wonders he returned always to his astonishment at the size of Merry and Pippin; and he made them stand back to back with Frodo and himself. He scratched his head.\u2018That you certainly are not,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018But what did I say? Mortals cannot go drinking ent-draughts and expect no more to come of them than of a pot of beer.\u2019 \u2018Ent-draughts?\u2019 said Sam. \u2018There you go about Ents again; but what they are beats me. Why, it will take weeks before we get all these things sized up!\u2019 \u2018Weeks indeed,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018And then Frodo will have to be locked up in a tower in Minas Tirith and write it all down. Otherwise he will forget half of it, and poor old Bilbo will be dreadfully dis- appointed.\u2019 At length Gandalf rose. \u2018The hands of the King are hands of healing, dear friends,\u2019 he said. \u2018But you went to the very brink of death ere he recalled you, putting forth all his power, and sent you into the sweet forgetfulness of sleep. And though you have indeed slept long and blessedly, still it is now time to sleep again.\u2019 \u2018And not only Sam and Frodo here,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018but you too, Pippin. I love you, if only because of the pains you have cost me, which I shall never forget. Nor shall I forget finding you on the hill of the last battle. But for Gimli the Dwarf you would have been lost then. But at least I know now the look of a hobbit\u2019s foot, though it be all that can be seen under a heap of bodies. And when I heaved that great carcase off you, I made sure you were dead. I could have torn out my beard. And it is only a day yet since you were first up and abroad again. To bed now you go. And so shall I.\u2019 \u2018And I,\u2019 said Legolas, \u2018shall walk in the woods of this fair land, which is rest enough. In days to come, if my Elven-lord allows, some of our folk shall remove hither; and when we come it shall be blessed, for a while. For a while: a month, a life, a hundred years of Men."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Rope!\u2019 he muttered. \u2018No rope! And only last night you said to yourself: \u2018\u2018Sam, what about a bit of rope? You\u2019ll want it, if you haven\u2019t got it.\u2019\u2019 Well, I\u2019ll want it. I can\u2019t get it now.\u2019 AtthatmomentElrondcame outwithGandalf,andhecalledthealone 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 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.\u2019 \u2018Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019d better wait here,\u2019 thought Pippin. So he let Merry sink gently down on to the pavement in a patch of sunlight, and then he sat down beside him, laying Merry\u2019s head in his lap. He felt his body and limbs gently, and took his friend\u2019s hands in his own. The right hand felt icy to the touch."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I know,\u2019 growled Uglu\u00b4k. \u2018The cursed horse-boys have got wind of us. But that\u2019s all your fault, Snaga. You and the other scouts ought to have your ears cut off. But we are the fighters. We\u2019ll feast on horseflesh yet, or something better.\u2019 At that moment Pippin saw why some of the troop had been pointing eastward. From that direction there now came hoarse cries, and there was Grishna\u00b4kh again, and at his back a couple of score of others like him: long-armed crook-legged Orcs. They had a red eye painted on their shields. Uglu\u00b4k stepped forward to meet them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Some said that it could be seen, like a great black horseman, a dark shadow under the moon. Wherever he came a madness filled our foes, but fear fell on our boldest, so that horse and man gave way and fled. Only a remnant of our eastern force came back, destroying the last bridge that still stood amid the ruins of Osgiliath."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum cast up and down along the brink, and at length he called to them. \u2018Here! We can get down here. Sme\u00b4agol went this way once: I went this way, hiding from Orcs.\u2019 He led the way, and following him the hobbits climbed down into the gloom. It was not difficult, for the rift was at this point only some fifteen feet deep and about a dozen across. There was running water at the bottom: it was in fact the bed of one of the many small rivers that trickled down from the hills to feed the stagnant pools and mires beyond. Gollum turned to the right, southward more or less, and splashed along with his feet in the shallow stony stream. He seemed greatly delighted to feel the water, and chuckled to himself, sometimes even croaking in a sort of song."
    },
    {
        "text": "He could work much mischief still, if he were free. And I do not doubt that he was allowed to leave Mordor on some evil errand.\u2019 \u2018Alas! alas!\u2019 cried Legolas, and in his fair Elvish face there was great distress. \u2018The tidings that I was sent to bring must now be told."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Think you that Wormtongue had poison only for The\u00b4oden\u2019s ears? Dotard! What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor among their dogs? Have you not heard those words before? Saruman spoke them, the teacher of Wormtongue. Though I do not doubt that Wormtongue at home wrapped their meaning in terms more cunning. My lord, if your sister\u2019s love for you, and her will still bent to her duty, had not restrained her lips, you might have heard even such things as these escape them. But who knows what she spoke to the darkness, alone, in the bitter watches of the night, when all her life seemed shrinking, and the walls of her bower closing in about her, a hutch to trammel some wild thing in?\u2019 Then E\u00b4 omer was silent, and looked on his sister, as if pondering anew all the days of their past life together. But Aragorn said: \u2018I saw also what you saw, E\u00b4 omer. Few other griefs amid the ill chances of this world have more bitterness and shame for a man\u2019s heart than to behold the love of a lady so fair and brave that cannot be returned. Sorrow and pity have followed me ever since I left her desperate in Dunharrow and rode to the Paths of the Dead; and no fear upon that way was so present as the fear for what might befall her. And yet, E\u00b4omer, I say to you that she loves you more truly than me; for you she loves and knows; but in me she loves only a shadow and a thought: a hope of glory and great deeds, and lands far from the fields of Rohan."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What did I tell you? Something\u2019s happening!\u2019 cried Sam. \u2018 \u2018\u2018The war\u2019s going well,\u2019\u2019 said Shagrat; but Gorbag he wasn\u2019t so sure. And he was right there too. Things are looking up, Mr. Frodo. Haven\u2019t you got some hope now?\u2019 \u2018Well no, not much, Sam,\u2019 Frodo sighed. \u2018That\u2019s away beyond the mountains. We\u2019re going east not west. And I\u2019m so tired. And the Ring is so heavy, Sam. And I begin to see it in my mind all the time, like a great wheel of fire.\u2019 Sam\u2019s quick spirits sank again at once. He looked at his master anxiously, and he took his hand. \u2018Come, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 he said. \u2018I\u2019ve got one thing I wanted: a bit of light. Enough to help us, and yet I guess it\u2019s dangerous too. Try a bit further, and then we\u2019ll lie close and have a rest. But take a morsel to eat now, a bit of the Elves\u2019Sharing a wafer of lembas, and munching it as best they could with their parched mouths, Frodo and Sam plodded on. The light, though no more than a grey dusk, was now enough for them to see that they were deep in the valley between the mountains. It sloped up gently northward, and at its bottom went the bed of a now dry and withered stream. Beyond its stony course they saw a beaten path that wound its way under the feet of the westward cliffs. Had they known, they could have reached it quicker, for it was a track that left the main Morgul-road at the western bridge-end and went down by a long stair cut in the rock to the valley\u2019s bottom. It was used by patrols or by messengers going swiftly to lesser posts and strongholds north-away, between Cirith Ungol and the narrows of Isenmouthe, the iron jaws of Carach Angren."
    },
    {
        "text": "On the near side of him lay, gleaming on the ground, his elven- blade, where it had fallen useless from his grasp. Sam did not wait to wonder what was to be done, or whether he was brave, or loyal, or filled with rage. He sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master\u2019s sword in his left hand. Then he charged. No onslaught more fierce was ever seen in the savage world of beasts, where some desperate small creature armed with little teeth, alone, will spring upon a tower of horn and hide that stands above its fallen mate."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Tower trembles; to the tombs of kings doom approaches. The Dead awaken; for the hour is come for the oathbreakers: at the Stone of Erech they shall stand again and hear there a horn in the hills ringing."
    },
    {
        "text": "Faramir laughed softly. \u2018Fish!\u2019 he said. \u2018It is a less perilous hunger."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No!\u2019 said the wizard."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo was restless. The cold and wet had made his wound more painful than ever, and the ache and sense of deadly chill took away all sleep. He lay tossing and turning and listening fearfully to the stealthy night-noises: wind in chinks of rock, water dripping, a crack, the sudden rattling fall of a loosened stone. He felt that black shapes were advancing to smother him; but when he sat up he saw nothing but the back of Strider sitting hunched up, smoking his pipe, and watching. He lay down again and passed into an uneasy dream, in which he walked on the grass in his garden in the Shire, but it seemed faint and dim, less clear than the tall black shadows that stood looking over the hedge."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then world behind and home ahead, We\u2019ll wander back to home and bed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018If I am still to lead this Company, you must do as I bid. It is hard upon the Dwarf to be thus singled out.Gimli laughed suddenly. \u2018A 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.\u2019 \u2018I am an Elf and a kinsman here,\u2019 said Legolas, becoming angry in his turn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, Merry! Thank goodness I have found you!\u2019 He looked up and the mist before his eyes cleared a little. There was Pippin! They were face to face in a narrow lane, and but for themselves it was empty. He rubbed his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It does not belong to either of us,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018but it has been ordained that you should hold it for a while.\u2019 \u2018Bring out the Ring, Frodo!\u2019 said Gandalf solemnly. \u2018The time has come. Hold it up, and then Boromir will understand the remainder of his riddle.\u2019 There was a hush, and all turned their eyes on Frodo. He was shaken by a sudden shame and fear; and he felt a great reluctance to reveal the Ring, and a loathing of its touch. He wished he was far away. The Ring gleamed and flickered as he held it up before them in his trembling hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "At that moment there came a roaring and a rushing: a noise of loud waters rolling many stones. Dimly Frodo saw the river below him rise, and down along its course there came a plumed cavalry of waves. White flames seemed to Frodo to flicker on their crests, and he half fancied that he saw amid the water white riders upon white horses with frothing manes. The three Riders that were still in the midst of the Ford were overwhelmed: they disappeared, buried suddenly under angry foam. Those that were behind drew back in dismay."
    },
    {
        "text": "After a while he spoke to them; but they were slow and cautious in answering. They named themselves Mablung and Damrod, sol- diers of Gondor, and they were Rangers of Ithilien; for they were descended from folk who lived in Ithilien at one time, before it was overrun. From such men the Lord Denethor chose his forayers, who crossed the Anduin secretly (how or where, they would not say) to harry the Orcs and other enemies that roamed between the Ephel Du\u00b4ath and the River."
    },
    {
        "text": "Stroke after stroke he dealt, until at last all the web within his reach was shattered, and the upper portion blew and swayed like a loose veil in the incoming wind. The trap was broken."
    },
    {
        "text": "For a while the travellers sat where once the old gates of Isengard had stood, and there were now two tall trees like sentinels at the beginning of a green-bordered path that ran towards Orthanc; and they looked in wonder at the work that had been done, but no living thing could they see far or near. But presently they heard a voice calling hoom-hom, hoom-hom; and there came Treebeard striding down the path to greet them with Quickbeam at his side."
    },
    {
        "text": "And there, I think, he will hear tidings of war, and the Riders of Rohan will go down to Minas Tirith. But for myself, and any that will go with me...\u2019 \u2018I for one!\u2019 cried Legolas. \u2018And Gimli with him!\u2019 said the Dwarf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Behold Tol Brandir!\u2019 said Aragorn, pointing south to the tall peak."
    },
    {
        "text": "But I\u2019ve still got to do the best I can. At present that is to avoid being captured as long as possible. So we must still go northwards, I think, and see what it is like where the open plain is narrower.\u2019 \u2018I guess what it\u2019ll be like,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Where it\u2019s narrower the Orcs and Men will just be packed closer. You\u2019ll see, Mr. Frodo.\u2019 \u2018I dare say I shall, if we ever get so far,\u2019 said Frodo and turned away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Very odd,\u2019 said Frodo, tightening his belt, \u2018considering that there is actually a good deal less of me. I hope the thinning process will not go on indefinitely, or I shall become a wraith.\u2019 \u2018Do not speak of such things!\u2019 said Strider quickly, and with sur- prising earnestness."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last Sam could bear it no longer. \u2018What\u2019s all this, Gollum?\u2019 he said in a whisper. \u2018These lights? They\u2019re all round us now. Are we trapped? Who are they?\u2019 Gollum looked up. A dark water was before him, and he was crawling on the ground, this way and that, doubtful of the way. \u2018Yes, they are all round us,\u2019 he whispered. \u2018The tricksy lights. Candles of corpses, yes, yes. Don\u2019t you heed them! Don\u2019t look! Don\u2019t follow them! Where\u2019s the master?\u2019 Sam looked back and found that Frodo had lagged again. He could not see him. He went some paces back into the darkness, not daring to move far, or to call in more than a hoarse whisper. Suddenly he stumbled against Frodo, who was standing lost in thought, looking at the pale lights. His hands hung stiff at his sides; water and slime were dripping from them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You cannot pass!\u2019 he said.\u2018He cannot stand alone!\u2019 cried Aragorn suddenly and ran back along the bridge. \u2018Elendil! \u2019 he shouted. \u2018I am with you, Gandalf !\u2019 \u2018Gondor!\u2019 cried Boromir and leaped after him."
    },
    {
        "text": "The face of Elrond was ageless, neither old nor young, though in it was written the memory of many things both glad and sorrowful."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We\u2019re not allowed to,\u2019 said Robin."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf \u2019s eyes flashed. \u2018It will be my turn to get angry soon,\u2019 he said. \u2018If you say that again, I shall. Then you will see Gandalf the Grey uncloaked.\u2019 He took a step towards the hobbit, and he seemed to grow tall and menacing; his shadow filled the little room."
    },
    {
        "text": "Whose shall the horn be? Who shall call them from the grey twilight, the forgotten people? The heir of him to whom the oath they swore."
    },
    {
        "text": "Quickly he returned, bearing a large and laden tray. Then Tomodd the caperings of Tom. Yet in some fashion they seemed to weave a single dance, neither hindering the other, in and out of the room, and round about the table; and with great speed food and vessels and lights were set in order. The boards blazed with candles, white and yellow. Tom bowed to his guests. \u2018Supper is ready,\u2019 said Goldberry; and now the hobbits saw that she was clothed all in silver with a white girdle, and her shoes were like fishes\u2019 mail. But Tom was all in clean blue, blue as rain-washed forget-me-nots, and he had green stockings."
    },
    {
        "text": "Every now and again there came into his mind unbidden a vision of the keen face of Strider bending over a dark trail, and running, running behind. But what could even a Ranger see except a confused trail of orc-feet? His own little prints and Merry\u2019s were overwhelmed by the trampling of the iron-shod shoes before them and behind them and about them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, sir. I\u2019ll last for a bit now, sir.\u2019 Frodo shut and locked the round door, and gave the key to Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "E\u00b4 omer stepped back and a look of awe was in his face. He cast down his proud eyes. \u2018These are indeed strange days,\u2019 he muttered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin pressed forward as they passed under the lamp beneath the gate-arch, and when he saw the pale face of Faramir he caught his breath. It was the face of one who has been assailed by a great fear or anguish, but has mastered it and now is quiet. Proud and grave he stood for a moment as he spoke to the guard, and Pippin gazing at him saw how closely he resembled his brother Boromir \u2013 whom Pippin had liked from the first, admiring the great man\u2019s lordly but kindly manner. Yet suddenly for Faramir his heart was strangely moved with a feeling that he had not known before. Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Elder Race. He knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that hecatching his strange voice among the clamour of the men of the City, turned and looked down at him and was amazed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018These we will take in memory of our friend,\u2019 he cried. \u2018But as for your terms, we reject them utterly. Get you gone, for your embassy is over and death is near to you. We did not come here to waste words in treating with Sauron, faithless and accursed; still less with one of his slaves. Begone!\u2019 Then the Messenger of Mordor laughed no more. His face was twisted with amazement and anger to the likeness of some wild beast that, as it crouches on its prey, is smitten on the muzzle with a stinging rod. Rage filled him and his mouth slavered, and shapeless sounds of fury came strangling from his throat. But he looked at the fell faces of the Captains and their deadly eyes, and fear overcame his wrath. He gave a great cry, and turned, leaped upon his steed, and with his company galloped madly back to Cirith Gorgor. But as they went his soldiers blew their horns in signal long arranged; and even before they came to the gate Sauron sprang his trap."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where was I?\u2019 said the landlord, pausing and snapping his fingers."
    },
    {
        "text": "When they had all drunk, the king went down the hall to the doors."
    },
    {
        "text": "And I kept him until he was safe, safe from doing any more harm."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I tried to follow. Of course, it vanished almost at once; but I went round the corner and on as far as the last house on the Road.\u2019 Strider looked at Merry with wonder. \u2018You have a stout heart,\u2019 he said; \u2018but it was foolish.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Neither brave nor silly, I think. I could hardly help myself. I seemed to be drawn somehow. Anyway, I went, and suddenly I heard voices by the hedge. One was muttering; and the other was whispering, or hissing. I couldn\u2019t hear a word that was said. I did not creep any closer, because I began to tremble all over."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What did I tell you, Mr. Pippin?\u2019 said Sam, sheathing his sword."
    },
    {
        "text": "To Pippin\u2019s surprise he found that much of the talk was intelligible; many of the Orcs were using ordinary language. Apparently the members of two or three quite different tribes were present, and they could not understand one another\u2019s orc-speech. There was an angry debate concerning what they were to do now: which way they were to take and what should be done with the prisoners."
    },
    {
        "text": "And at the last, as the Sun fell from the noon and the shadows of the trees lengthened, he ended. \u2018Praise them with great praise!\u2019 he said and knelt. And then Aragorn stood up, and all the host arose, and they passed to pavilions made ready, to eat and drink and make merry while the day lasted."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To be very very good,\u2019 said Gollum. Then crawling to Frodo\u2019s feet he grovelled before him, whispering hoarsely: a shudder ran over him, as if the words shook his very bones with fear. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol will swear never, never, to let Him have it. Never! Sme\u00b4agol will save it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018One hobbit at least stood here for a while and looked back; and then he turned away into the forest,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "One of the guards ran down the stair. Another went to the well at the foot of the terrace and in his helm drew water. With it he washed clean the stones that Wormtongue had defiled."
    },
    {
        "text": "They were clad in warm raiment and heavy cloaks, and over all the Lady E\u00b4 owyn wore a great blue mantle of the colour of deep summer-night, and it was set with silver stars about hem and throat."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last he set the bowl down again. \u2018Ah \u2013 ah,\u2019 he sighed. \u2018Hm, hoom, now we can talk easier. You can sit on the floor, and I will lie down; that will prevent this drink from rising to my head and sending me to sleep.\u2019 On the right side of the bay there was a great bed on low legs, not more than a couple of feet high, covered deep in dried grass and bracken. Treebeard lowered himself slowly on to this (with only the slightest sign of bending at his middle), until he lay at full length, with his arms behind his head, looking up at the ceiling, upon which lights were flickering, like the play of leaves in the sunshine. Merry and Pippin sat beside him on pillows of grass."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Narvi and his craft and all his kindred have vanished from the earth.\u2019 \u2018But do not you know the word, Gandalf ?\u2019 asked Boromir in surprise."
    },
    {
        "text": "There were rockets like a flight of scintillating birds singing with sweet voices. There were green trees with trunks of dark smoke: their leaves opened like a whole spring unfolding in a moment, and their shining branches dropped glowing flowers down upon the astonished hobbits, disappearing with a sweet scent just before they touched their upturned faces. There were fountains of butterflies that flew glittering into the trees; there were pillars of coloured fires that rose and turned into eagles, or sailing ships, or a phalanx of flying swans; there was a red thunderstorm and a shower of yellow rain; there was a forest of silver spears that sprang suddenly into the air with a yell like an embattled army, and came down again into the Water with a hiss like a hundred hot snakes. And there was also one last surprise, in honour of Bilbo, and it startled the hobbits exceedingly, as Gandalf intended. The lights went out. A great smoke went up. It shaped itself like a mountain seen in the distance, and began to glow at thehis eyes glared down; there was a roar, and he whizzed three times over the heads of the crowd. They all ducked, and many fell flat on their faces. The dragon passed like an express train, turned a somer- sault, and burst over Bywater with a deafening explosion."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 he said with a smile. \u2018I ask leave once again to be your companion, Frodo.\u2019 \u2018I would have begged you to come,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018only I thought you were going to Minas Tirith with Boromir.\u2019 \u2018I am,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018And the Sword-that-was-Broken shall be re-forged ere I set out to war. But your road and our road lie together for many hundreds of miles. Therefore Boromir will also be in the Company. He is a valiant man.\u2019 \u2018There remain two more to be found,\u2019 said Elrond. \u2018These I will consider. Of my household I may find some that it seems good to me to send.\u2019 \u2018But that will leave no place for us!\u2019 cried Pippin in dismay. \u2018We don\u2019t want to be left behind. We want to go with Frodo.\u2019 \u2018That is because you do not understand and cannot imagine what lies ahead,\u2019 said Elrond."
    },
    {
        "text": "Turning towards it, he saw, beyond an arch of boughs, the road to Osgiliath running almost as straight as a stretched ribbon down, down, into the West. There, far away, beyond sad Gondor now overwhelmed in shade, the Sun was sinking, finding at last the hem of the great slow-rolling pall of cloud, and falling in an ominous fire towards the yet unsullied Sea. The brief glow fell upon a huge sitting figure, still and solemn as the great stone kings of Argonath. The years had gnawed it, and violent hands had maimed it. Its head was gone, and in its place was set in mockery a round rough-hewn stone, rudely painted by savage hands in the likeness of a grinning face with one large red eye in the midst of its forehead. Upon its knees and mighty chair, and all about the pedestal, were idle scrawls mixed with the foul symbols that the maggot-folk of Mordor used."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yet,\u2019 said Denethor, \u2018we should not lightly abandon the outer defences, the Rammas made with so great a labour. And the Enemy must pay dearly for the crossing of the River. That he cannot do, in force to assail the City, either north of Cair Andros because of the marshes, or southwards towards Lebennin because of the breadth of the River, that needs many boats. It is at Osgiliath that he will put his weight, as before when Boromir denied him the passage.\u2019 \u2018That was but a trial,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018Today we may make the Enemy pay ten times our loss at the passage and yet rue the exchange."
    },
    {
        "text": "Northward beyond the dwindling downs the land ran away in flats and swellings of grey and green and pale earth-colours, until it faded into a featureless and shadowy distance. Eastward the Barrow-downs rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eye- sight into a guess: it was no more than a guess of blue and a remote white glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.Chapter 9 THE GREAT RIVER 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Lord\u2019s errands are urgent and should not be hindered by me,\u2019 said Beregond; \u2018but tell me quickly, if you may: what goes forward? Whither has my Lord gone? I have just come on duty, but I heard that he passed towards the Closed Door, and men were bearing Faramir before him.\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018to the Silent Street.\u2019 Beregond bowed his head to hide his tears. \u2018They said that he was dying,\u2019 he sighed, \u2018and now he is dead.\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018not yet. And even now his death might be prevented, I think. But the Lord of the City, Beregond, has fallen before his city is taken. He is fey and dangerous.\u2019 Quickly he told of Denethor\u2019s strange words and deeds. \u2018I must find Gandalf at once.\u2019 \u2018Then you must go down to the battle.\u2019 \u2018I know. The Lord has given me leave. But, Beregond, if you can, do something to stop any dreadful thing happening.\u2019 \u2018The Lord does not permit those who wear the black and silver to leave their post for any cause, save at his own command.\u2019 \u2018Well, you must choose between orders and the life of Faramir,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018And as for orders, I think you have a madman to deal with, not a lord. I must run. I will return if I can.\u2019 He ran on, down, down towards the outer city. Men flying back from the burning passed him, and some seeing his livery turned and shouted, but he paid no heed. At last he was through the Second Gate, beyond which great fires leaped up between the walls. Yet it seemed strangely silent. No noise or shouts of battle or din of arms could be heard. Then suddenly there was a dreadful cry and a great shock, and a deep echoing boom. Forcing himself on against a gust of fear and horror that shook him almost to his knees, Pippin turned a corner opening on the wide place behind the City Gate. He stopped dead. He had found Gandalf; but he shrank back, cowering into aEver since the middle night the great assault had gone on. The drums rolled. To the north and to the south company upon company of the enemy pressed to the walls. There came great beasts, like moving houses in the red and fitful light, the mu\u02c6makil of the Harad dragging through the lanes amid the fires huge towers and engines."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nob\u2019ll say no word. No black man shall pass my doors, while I can stand on my legs. Me and my folk\u2019ll keep watch tonight; but you had best get some sleep, if you can.\u2019 \u2018In any case we must be called at dawn,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018We must get off as early as possible. Breakfast at six-thirty, please.\u2019 \u2018Right! I\u2019ll see to the orders,\u2019 said the landlord. \u2018Good night, Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We seek one Aragorn son of Arathorn, and we heard that he was in Rohan.\u2019 \u2018And you have found him also!\u2019 cried Aragorn. Giving his reins to Merry, he ran forward and embraced the newcomer. \u2018Halbarad!\u2019 he said. \u2018Of all joys this is the least expected!\u2019 Merry breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that this was some last trick of Saruman\u2019s, to waylay the king while he had only a few men about him; but it seemed that there would be no need to die in The\u00b4oden\u2019s defence, not yet at any rate. He sheathed his sword."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I hope not, indeed,\u2019 said Butterbur. \u2018But spooks or no spooks, they won\u2019t get in The Pony so easy. Don\u2019t you worry till the morning."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin looked out of the western window, down into a pool of mist. The Forest was hidden under a fog. It was like looking down on to a sloping cloud-roof from above. There was a fold or channel where the mist was broken into many plumes and billows: the valley of the Withywindle. The stream ran down the hill on the left and vanished into the white shadows. Near at hand was a flower-garden and a clipped hedge silver-netted, and beyond that grey shaven grass pale with dew-drops. There was no willow-tree to be seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "For ANGELICA\u2019S use, from Uncle Bilbo; on a round convex mirror."
    },
    {
        "text": "The air came fresh from the North-west. Their quiet ponies were almost frisky, sniffing and moving restlessly. Tom came out of the house and waved his hat and danced upon the doorstep, bidding the hobbits to get up and be off and go with good speed."
    },
    {
        "text": "And when they came forth evening had fallen and many stars were in the sky. And there came Gandalf on foot and with him one cloaked in grey; and they met before the doors of the Houses of Healing."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Sam lay back, and stared with open mouth, and for a moment, between bewilderment and great joy, he could not answer. At last he gasped: \u2018Gandalf ! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What\u2019s hap- pened to the world?\u2019as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laugh- ter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count."
    },
    {
        "text": "And now all those lands lie under the wave, And I walk in Ambaro\u00b4na, in Tauremorna, in Aldalo\u00b4me\u00a8, In my own land, in the country of Fangorn, Where the roots are long, And the years lie thicker than the leaves In Tauremornalo\u00b4me\u00a8."
    },
    {
        "text": "The intake of Gimli\u2019s breath could be heard as a loud hiss in the silence."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It must have irked Boromir to run from Orcs,\u2019 he said, \u2018or even from the fell thing you name, the Balrog \u2013 even though he was the last to leave.\u2019 \u2018He was the last,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018but Aragorn was forced to lead us."
    },
    {
        "text": "At that moment the Wraith-king turned and spurred his horse and rode across the bridge, and all his dark host followed him. Maybe the elven-hoods defied his unseen eyes, and the mind of his small enemy, being strengthened, had turned aside his thought. But he was in haste. Already the hour had struck, and at his great Master\u2019s bidding he must march with war into the West."
    },
    {
        "text": "And run he did, out of the back door, through the garden, and over the fields. When he reached the nearest house, more than a mile away, he collapsed on the doorstep. \u2018No, no, no!\u2019 he was crying. \u2018No, notme!Ihaven\u2019tgotit!\u2019Itwassometimebeforeanyonecouldmakewere in Buckland, some strange invasion from the Old Forest. And then they lost no more time."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We want him to walk, so it\u2019s no good tying his legs \u2013 or his arms, he seems to use them nearly as much. Tie one end to his ankle, and keep a grip on the other end.\u2019 He stood over Gollum, while Sam tied the knot. The result sur- prised them both. Gollum began to scream, a thin, tearing sound, very horrible to hear. He writhed, and tried to get his mouth to his ankle and bite the rope. He kept on screaming."
    },
    {
        "text": "There Beren came from mountains cold, And lost he wandered under leaves, And where the Elven-river rolled He walked alone and sorrowing."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 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, 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 wasreached by a round hole in the centre through which the ladder passed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin looked up, and it seemed to him that the sky had grown ashen-grey, as if a vast dust and smoke hung above them, and light came dully through it. But in the West the dying sun had set all the fume on fire, and now Mindolluin stood black against a burning smoulder flecked with embers. \u2018So ends a fair day in wrath!\u2019 he said, forgetful of the lad at his side."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ashamed of his terror, while Beregond of the Guard thought first of the captain whom he loved, Pippin got up and peered out. At that moment he caught a flash of white and silver coming from the North, like a small star down on the dusky fields. It moved with the speed of an arrow and grew as it came, converging swiftly with the flight of the four men towards the Gate. It seemed to Pippin that a pale light was spread about it and the heavy shadows gave way before it; and then as it drew near he thought that he heard, like an echo inare darkest. Go on! Go on, White Rider! Gandalf, Gandalf !\u2019 he shouted wildly, like an onlooker at a great race urging on a runner who is far beyond encouragement."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo returned his gaze but said nothing; and Strider made no further sign. His attention seemed suddenly to be fixed on Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry wondered how many Riders there were. He could not guess their number in the gathering gloom, but it looked to him like a great army, many thousands strong. While he was peering from side to side the king\u2019s party came up under the looming cliff on the eastern side of the valley; and there suddenly the path began to climb, and Merry looked up in amazement. He was on a road the like of which he had never seen before, a great work of men\u2019s hands in years beyond the reach of song. Upwards it wound, coiling like a snake, boring its way across the sheer slope of rock. Steep as a stair, it looped back- wards and forwards as it climbed. Up it horses could walk, and wains could be slowly hauled; but no enemy could come that way, except out of the air, if it was defended from above. At each turn of the road there were great standing stones that had been carved in the likeness of men, huge and clumsy-limbed, squatting cross-legged with their stumpy arms folded on fat bellies. Some in the wearing of the years had lost all features save the dark holes of their eyes that still stared sadly at the passers-by. The Riders hardly glanced at them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To every ship they came that was drawn up, and then they passed over the water to those that were anchored; and all the mariners were filled with a madness of terror and leaped overboard, save the slaves chained to the oars. Reckless we rode among our fleeing foes, driving them like leaves, until we came to the shore. And then to each of the great ships that remained Aragorn sent one of the Du\u00b4nedain, and they comforted the captives that were aboard, and bade them put aside fear and be free."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And so I have been sent at last by Da\u00b4in to warn Bilbo that he is sought by the Enemy, and to learn, if may be, why he desires this ring, this least of rings. Also we crave the advice of Elrond. For the Shadow grows and draws nearer. We discover that messengers havemake no answer, the Enemy may move Men of his rule to assail King Brand, and Da\u00b4in also.\u2019 \u2018You have done well to come,\u2019 said Elrond. \u2018You will hear today all that you need in order to understand the purposes of the Enemy."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is a name of ill omen,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018Nor do I see the need to go there. If we cannot cross the mountains, let us journey south- wards, 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.\u2019 \u2018Things have changed since you came north, Boromir,\u2019 answered Gandalf. \u2018Did 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Turning to the left and skirting this huge hedge Treebeard came in a few strides to a narrow entrance. Through it a worn path passed and dived suddenly down a long steep slope. The hobbits saw that they were descending into a great dingle, almost as round as a bowl, very wide and deep, crowned at the rim with the high dark evergreen hedge. It was smooth and grassclad inside, and there were no trees except three very tall and beautiful silver-birches that stood at theSeveral Ents had already arrived. More were coming in down the other paths, and some were now following Treebeard. As they drew near the hobbits gazed at them. They had expected to see a number of creatures as much like Treebeard as one hobbit is like another (at any rate to a stranger\u2019s eye); and they were very much surprised to see nothing of the kind. The Ents were as different from one another as trees from trees: some as different as one tree is from another of the same name but quite different growth and history; and some as different as one tree-kind from another, as birch from beech, oak from fir. There were a few older Ents, bearded and gnarled like hale but ancient trees (though none looked as ancient as Treebeard); and there were tall strong Ents, clean-limbed and smooth-skinned like forest-trees in their prime; but there were no young Ents, no saplings."
    },
    {
        "text": "Shapeless they lay now on the ground, torn and tumbled; and a cry went up into the shuddering air, and faded to a shrill wailing, passing with the wind, a voice bodiless and thin that died, and was swallowed up, and was never heard again in that age of this world."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sme\u00b4agol is hungry,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018Be back soon.\u2019 \u2018Come back now!\u2019 shouted Sam. \u2018Hi! Come back!\u2019 But Gollum had vanished.\u2018I dunno,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018After sundown, I reckon. And he\u2019s gone off."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All the same,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018you can\u2019t deny that others besides our Halfast have seen queer folk crossing the Shire \u2013 crossing it, mind you: there are more that are turned back at the borders. The Bounders have never been so busy before."
    },
    {
        "text": "They could not reach the City and turned back.\u2019 \u2018Alas!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Then Denethor has heard no news of our riding and will despair of our coming.\u2019 \u2018Need brooks no delay, yet late is better than never,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer. \u2018And mayhapinthistimeshalltheoldsawbeprovedtruerthaneverbeforeIt was night. On either side of the road the host of Rohan was moving silently. Now the road passing about the skirts of Mindolluin turned southward. Far away and almost straight ahead there was a red glow under the black sky and the sides of the great mountain loomed dark against it. They were drawing near the Rammas of the Pelennor; but the day was not yet come."
    },
    {
        "text": "He remembered that smell: the fragrance of Ithilien. \u2018Bless me!\u2019 he mused. \u2018How long have I been asleep?\u2019 For the scent had borne him back to the day when he had lit his little fire under the sunny bank; and for the moment all else between was out of waking memory."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Saruman the White,\u2019\u2019 answered Radagast. \u2018\u2018And he told me to say that if you feel the need, he will help; but you must seek his aid at once, or it will be too late.\u2019\u2019 \u2018And that message brought me hope. For Saruman the White is the greatest of my order. Radagast is, of course, a worthy Wizard, a master of shapes and changes of hue; and he has much lore of herbs and beasts, and birds are especially his friends. But Saruman has long studied the arts of the Enemy himself, and thus we have often been able to forestall him. It was by the devices of Saruman that we drove him from Dol Guldur. It might be that he had found some weapons that would drive back the Nine."
    },
    {
        "text": "He paused and looked more attentively. The horn upon the left was tall and slender; and in it burned a red light, or else the red light in the land beyond was shining through a hole. He saw now: it was a black tower poised above the outer pass. He touched Sam\u2019s arm and pointed."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the day\u2019s end they came to a stream that wandered down from the hills to lose itself in the stagnant marshland, and they went up along its banks while the light lasted. It was already night when at last they halted and made their camp under some stunted alder-trees by the shores of the stream. Ahead there loomed now against the dusky sky the bleak and treeless backs of the hills. That night they set a watch, and Strider, it seemed, did not sleep at all. The moon was waxing, and in the early night-hours a cold grey light lay on the land."
    },
    {
        "text": "So it was that they did not see the last stand, when Uglu\u00b4 k was overtaken and brought to bay at the very edge of Fangorn. There he was slain at last by E\u00b4omer, the Third Marshal of the Mark, who dismounted and fought him sword to sword. And over the wide fields the keen-eyed Riders hunted down the few Orcs that had escaped and still had strength to fly.ashes of their enemies. So ended the raid, and no news of it came ever back either to Mordor or to Isengard; but the smoke of the burning rose high to heaven and was seen by many watchful eyes.Chapter 4 TREEBEARD Meanwhile the hobbits went with as much speed as the dark and tangled forest allowed, following the line of the running stream, west- ward and up towards the slopes of the mountains, deeper and deeper into Fangorn. Slowly their fear of the Orcs died away, and their pace slackened. A queer stifling feeling came over them, as if the air were too thin or too scanty for breathing."
    },
    {
        "text": "Of them we know only old report and the rumour of bygone days."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo looked across at Sam. Their eyes met and they understood."
    },
    {
        "text": "All along it for many leagues east of the Bridge there are trees growing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well now, what was I going to say?\u2019 said Mr. Butterbur, tapping his forehead. \u2018One thing drives out another, so to speak. I\u2019m that busy tonight, my head is going round. There\u2019s a party that came up the Greenway from down South last night \u2013 and that was strange enough to begin with. Then there\u2019s a travelling company of dwarves going West come in this evening. And now there\u2019s you. If you weren\u2019t hobbits, I doubt if we could house you. But we\u2019ve got a room or two in the north wing that were made special for hobbits, when this place was built. On the ground floor as they usually prefer; round windows and all as they like it. I hope you\u2019ll be comfortable. You\u2019ll be wanting supper, I don\u2019t doubt. As soon as may be. This way now!\u2019 He led them a short way down a passage, and opened a door."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Put it out! Put it out!\u2019 cried Merry. \u2018He\u2019ll squeeze me in two, if you don\u2019t. He says so!\u2019 \u2018Who? What?\u2019 shouted Frodo, rushing round to the other side of the tree."
    },
    {
        "text": "He took Pippin\u2019s hand and bent over his face, listening for his breath; then he laid his hands on his brow. The hobbit shuddered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Slowly The\u00b4oden sat down again, as if weariness still struggled to master him against the will of Gandalf. He turned and looked at his great house. \u2018Alas!\u2019 he said, \u2018that these evil days should be mine, and should come in my old age instead of that peace which I have earned."
    },
    {
        "text": "They woke up, all four at once, in the morning light. Tom was moving about the room whistling like a starling. When he heard them stir he clapped his hands, and cried: \u2018Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My hearties!\u2019 He drew back the yellow curtains, and the hobbits saw that these had covered the windows, at either end of the room, one looking east and the other looking west."
    },
    {
        "text": "By the time that Tom returned they were feeling strong (and hungry). He reappeared, hat first, over the brow of the hill, and be- hind him came in an obedient line six ponies: their own five and one more. The last was plainly old Fatty Lumpkin: he was larger, stronger, fatter (and older) than their own ponies. Merry, to whom the others belonged, had not, in fact, given them any such names, but they answered to the new names that Tom had given them for the rest of their lives. Tom called them one by one and they climbed over the brow and stood in a line. Then Tom bowed to the hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "O yes, Shelob will get him, not Sme\u00b4agol: he promised; he won\u2019t hurt Master at all. But he\u2019s got you, you nassty filthy little sneak!\u2019 He spat on Sam\u2019s neck."
    },
    {
        "text": "Night came down without the Riders closing in for battle. Many Orcs had fallen, but fully two hundred remained. In the early darkness the Orcs came to a hillock. The eaves of the forest were very near, prob- ably no more than three furlongs away, but they could go no further."
    },
    {
        "text": "These Black Riders: I am not sure, but I think, I fear they come from\u2014\u2014\u2019 \u2018They come from Mordor,\u2019 said Strider in a low voice. \u2018From Mordor, Barliman, if that means anything to you.\u2019 \u2018Save us!\u2019 cried Mr. Butterbur turning pale; the name evidently was known to him. \u2018That is the worst news that has come to Bree in my time.\u2019 \u2018It is,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Are you still willing to help me?\u2019 \u2018I am,\u2019 said Mr. Butterbur. \u2018More than ever. Though I don\u2019t know what the likes of me can do against, against\u2014\u2014\u2019 he faltered.tonight, as Mr. Underhill; and you can forget the name of Baggins, till he is far away.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ll do that,\u2019 said Butterbur. \u2018But they\u2019ll find out he\u2019s here without help from me, I\u2019m afraid. It\u2019s a pity Mr. Baggins drew attention to himself this evening, to say no more. The story of that Mr. Bilbo\u2019s going off has been heard before tonight in Bree. Even our Nob has been doing some guessing in his slow pate; and there are others in Bree quicker in the uptake than he is.\u2019 \u2018Well, we can only hope the Riders won\u2019t come back yet,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look!\u2019 he cried, and they lifted their tired eyes. Before them stood the mountains of the South: white-tipped and streaked with black."
    },
    {
        "text": "Of these words we could understand little, and we spoke to our father, Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Enter, good guests!\u2019 she said, and as she spoke they knew that it was her clear voice they had heard singing. They came a few timid steps further into the room, and began to bow low, feeling strangely surprised and awkward, like folk that, knocking at a cottage door to beg for a drink of water, have been answered by a fair young elf-queen clad in living flowers. But before they could say anything, she sprang lightly up and over the lily-bowls, and ran laughing towards them; and as she ran her gown rustled softly like the wind in the flowering borders of a river."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now The\u00b4oden son of Thengel, will you hearken to me?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Do you ask for help?\u2019 He lifted his staff and pointed to a high window. There the darkness seemed to clear, and through the opening could be seen, high and far, a patch of shining sky. \u2018Not all is dark. Take courage, Lord of the Mark; for better help you will not find. No counsel have I to give to those that despair. Yet counsel I could give, and words I could speak to you. Will you hear them? They are not for all ears. I bid you come out before your doors andSlowly The\u00b4oden left his chair. A faint light grew in the hall again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Master!\u2019 cried Sam, and fell upon his knees. In all that ruin of the world for the moment he felt only joy, great joy. The burden was gone. His master had been saved; he was himself again, he was free."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, come along in your own time!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018We are going on.\u2019 \u2018Good-bye, Cock-robin!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018I\u2019ll wait for you outside The Green Dragon, if you haven\u2019t forgotten where that is. Don\u2019t dawdle on the way!\u2019 \u2018You\u2019re breaking arrest, that\u2019s what you\u2019re doing,\u2019 said the leader ruefully, \u2018and I can\u2019t be answerable.\u2019 \u2018Weshallbreakagoodmanythingsyet,andnotaskyoutoanswer,\u2019The travellers trotted on, and as the sun began to sink towards the White Downs far away on the western horizon they came to Bywater by its wide pool; and there they had their first really painful shock. This was Frodo and Sam\u2019s own country, and they found out now that they cared about it more than any other place in the world."
    },
    {
        "text": "He came at last by arched streets and many fair alleys and pave- ments to the lowest and widest circle, and there he was directed to the Lampwrights\u2019 Street, a broad way running towards the Great Gate. In it he found the Old Guesthouse, a large building of grey weathered stone with two wings running back from the street, and between them a narrow greensward, behind which was the many- windowed house, fronted along its whole width by a pillared porch and a flight of steps down on to the grass. Boys were playing among the pillars, the only children that Pippin had seen in Minas Tirith, and he stopped to look at them. Presently one of them caught sight of him, and with a shout he sprang across the grass and came into the street, followed by several others. There he stood in front of Pippin, looking him up and down."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was even as the day thus began to turn against Gondor and their hope wavered that a new cry went up in the City, it being then mid-morning, and a great wind blowing, and the rain flying north, and the sun shining. In that clear air watchmen on the walls saw afar a new sight of fear, and their last hope left them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Very well, I will take it,\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo, however, was silent and looked rather sad and thoughtful."
    },
    {
        "text": "From all his policies and webs of fear and treachery, from all his stratagems and wars his mind shook free; and throughout his realm a tremor ran, his slaves quailed, and his armies halted, and his captains suddenly steerless, bereft of will, wavered and despaired. For they were forgotten. The whole mind and purpose of the Power that wielded them was now bent with overwhelming force upon the Mountain. At his summons, wheeling with a rending cry, in a last desperate race there flew, faster than the winds, the Nazgu\u02c6l, the Ringwraiths, and with a storm of wings they hurtled southwards to Mount Doom."
    },
    {
        "text": "Or at least others were before us; for these horsemen are riding back down the orc-trail. We may get news from them.\u2019 \u2018Or spears,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a faint stir in the leaves, and a cock crowed far away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We cannot go further tonight,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018Let those call it the wind who will; there are fell voices on the air; and these stones are aimed at us.\u2019 \u2018I do call it the wind,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But that does not make what you say untrue. There are many evil and unfriendly things in the world that have 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.\u2019 \u2018Caradhras was called the Cruel, and had an ill name,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018long years ago, when rumour of Sauron had not been heard in these lands.\u2019 \u2018It matters little who is the enemy, if we cannot beat off his attack,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "And so it seemed that they would. The leading orcs came loping along, panting, holding their heads down. They were a gang of the smaller breeds being driven unwilling to their Dark Lord\u2019s wars; all they cared for was to get the march over and escape the whip. Beside them, running up and down the line, went two of the large fierce uruks, cracking lashes and shouting. File after file passed, and the tell-tale torchlight was already some way ahead. Sam held his breath."
    },
    {
        "text": "Legolas and Gimli were to ride again together in the company of Aragorn and Gandalf, who went in the van with the Du\u00b4nedain and the sons of Elrond. But Merry to his shame was not to go with them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Something\u2019s happening. He\u2019s not having it all his own way. His darkness is breaking up out in the world there. I wish I could see what is going on!\u2019 It was the morning of the fifteenth of March, and over the Vale of Anduin the Sun was rising above the eastern shadow, and the south-west wind was blowing. The\u00b4oden lay dying on the Pelennor Fields."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018That must be the stone that marked the place where the trolls\u2019 gold was hidden. How much is left of Bilbo\u2019s share, I wonder, Frodo?\u2019 Frodo looked at the stone, and wished that Bilbo had brought home no treasure more perilous, nor less easy to part with. \u2018None at all,\u2019 he said. \u2018Bilbo gave it all away. He told me he did not feel it was really his, as it came from robbers.\u2019 The Road lay quiet under the long shadows of early evening. There was no sign of any other travellers to be seen. As there was now no other possible course for them to take, they climbed down the bank, and turning left went off as fast as they could. Soon a shoulder of the hills cut off the light of the fast westering sun. A cold wind flowed down to meet them from the mountains ahead.sudden fear back into their hearts: the noise of hoofs behind them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And after these words Isildur described the Ring, such as he found it.even as I write it is cooled, and it seemeth to shrink, though it loseth neither its beauty nor its shape. Already the writing upon it, which at first was as clear as red flame, fadeth and is now only barely to be read. It is fashioned in an elven-script of Eregion, for they have no letters in Mordor for such subtle work; but the language is unknown to me. I deem it to be a tongue of the Black Land, since it is foul and uncouth. What evil it saith I do not know; but I trace here a copy of it, lest it fade beyond recall."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sky was clear and the stars were growing bright. \u2018It\u2019s going to be a fine night,\u2019 he said aloud. \u2018That\u2019s good for a beginning. I feel like walking. I can\u2019t bear any more hanging about. I am going to start, and Gandalf must follow me.\u2019 He turned to go back, and then stopped, for he heard voices, just round the corner by the end of Bagshot Row. One voice was certainly the old Gaffer\u2019s; the other was strange, and somehow unpleasant. He could not make out what it said, but he heard the Gaffer\u2019s answers, which were rather shrill. The old man seemed put out."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Butterbur they call him,\u2019\u2019 thought I. \u2018\u2018If this delay was his fault, I will melt all the butter in him. I will roast the old fool over a slow fire.\u2019\u2019 He expected no less, and when he saw my face he fell down flat and began to melt on the spot.\u2019 \u2018What did you do to him?\u2019 cried Frodo in alarm. \u2018He was really very kind to us and did all that he could.\u2019 Gandalf laughed. \u2018Don\u2019t be afraid!\u2019 he said. \u2018I did not bite, and I barked very little. So overjoyed was I by the news that I got out of him, when he stopped quaking, that I embraced the old fellow. How it had happened I could not then guess, but I learned that you had been in Bree the night before, and had gone off that morning with Strider."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 Boro- mir; 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are great fires, lord,\u2019 said one. \u2018The City is all set about with flame, and the field is full of foes. But all seem drawn off to the assault. As well as we could guess, there are few left upon the out-wall, and they are heedless, busy in destruction.\u2019 \u2018Do you remember the Wild Man\u2019s words, lord?\u2019 said another. \u2018I live upon the open Wold in days of peace; W\u00b4\u0131dfara is my name, and to me also the air brings messages. Already the wind is turning. There comes a breath out of the South; there is a sea-tang in it, faint though it be. The morning will bring new things. Above the reek it will be dawn when you pass the wall.\u2019 \u2018If you speak truly, W\u00b4\u0131dfara, then may you live beyond this day in years of blessedness!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. He turned to the men of his household who were near, and he spoke now in a clear voice so that many also of the riders of the first e\u00b4ored heard him: \u2018Now is the hour come, Riders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far behind. Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own for ever. Oaths ye have taken: now fulfil them all, to lord and land and league of friendship!\u2019 Men clashed spear upon shield."
    },
    {
        "text": "Words began to be whispered in secret: it was said that we were hemmed in a narrow place, and that greater wealth and splendour would be found in a wider world. Some spoke of Moria: the mighty works of our fathers that are called in our own tongue Khazad-du\u02c6m; and they declared that now at last we had the power and numbers to return.\u2019 Glo\u00b4 in sighed. \u2018Moria! Moria! Wonder of the Northern world! Too deep we delved there, and woke the nameless fear. Long have its vast mansions lain empty since the children of Durin fled. But now we spoke of it again with longing, and yet with dread; for no dwarf haswhispers, and resolved to go; and though Da\u00b4in did not give leave willingly, he took with him Ori and O\u00b4in and many of our folk, and they went away south."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before long he came hurrying back. \u2018I can see no sign of the enemy,\u2019 he said, \u2018and I wonder very much what that means. But I have found something very strange.\u2019 He held out his hand, and showed a single pale-green jewel. \u2018I found it in the mud in the middle of the Bridge,\u2019 he said. \u2018It is a beryl, an elf-stone. Whether it was set there, or let fall by chance, I cannot say; but it brings hope to me. I will take it as a sign that we may pass the Bridge; but beyond that I dare not keep to the Road, without some clearer token.\u2019 At once they went on again. They crossed the Bridge in safety, hearing no sound but the water swirling against its three great arches."
    },
    {
        "text": "On the top they found, as Strider had said, a wide ring of ancient stone-work, now crumbling or covered with age-long grass. But in the centre a cairn of broken stones had been piled. They were black- ened as if with fire. About them the turf was burned to the roots and all within the ring the grass was scorched and shrivelled, as if flames had swept the hill-top; but there was no sign of any living thing."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nearer at hand a few lights twinkled in the village of Woodhall."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Welcome, my lords, to Isengard!\u2019 he said. \u2018We are the doorward- ens. Meriadoc, son of Saradoc is my name; and my companion, who, alas! is overcome with weariness\u2019 \u2013 here he gave the other a dig with his foot \u2013 \u2018is Peregrin, son of Paladin, of the House of Took. Far in the North is our home. The Lord Saruman is within; but at the\u2018Doubtless he would!\u2019 laughed Gandalf. \u2018And was it Saruman that ordered you to guard his damaged doors, and watch for the arrival of guests, when your attention could be spared from plate and bottle?\u2019 \u2018No, good sir, the matter escaped him,\u2019 answered Merry gravely."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin looked up straight into his eyes. The wizard held his gaze for a moment in silence. Then his face grew gentler, and the shadow of a smile appeared. He laid his hand softly on Pippin\u2019s head."
    },
    {
        "text": "It should have been cast then into Orodruin\u2019s fire nigh at hand where it was made. But few marked what Isildur did. He alone stood by his father in that last mortal contest; and by Gil-galad only C\u00b4\u0131rdan stood, and I. But Isildur would not listen to our counsel."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well,\u2019 cried Legolas as he ran up, \u2018I have not brought the Sun."
    },
    {
        "text": "Soon they will be far behind.\u2019 \u2018I thought you were going to stop at Helm\u2019s Deep!\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What?\u2019 shouted Tom Bombadil, leaping up in the air. \u2018Old Man Willow? Naught worse than that, eh? That can soon be mended. I know the tune for him. Old grey Willow-man! I\u2019ll freeze his marrow cold, if he don\u2019t behave himself. I\u2019ll sing his roots off. I\u2019ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away. Old Man Willow!\u2019 Setting down his lilies carefully on the grass, he ran to the tree."
    },
    {
        "text": "First tell me your right name.\u2019 \u2018First tell me whom you serve,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Are you friend or foe of Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor?\u2019 \u2018I serve only the Lord of the Mark, The\u00b4oden King son of Thengel,\u2019 answered E\u00b4 omer. \u2018We do not serve the Power of the Black Land far away, but neither are we yet at open war with him; and if you are fleeing from him, then you had best leave this land. There is trouble now on all our borders, and we are threatened; but we desire only to be free, and to live as we have lived, keeping our own, and serving no foreign lord, good or evil. We welcomed guests kindly in the better days, but in these times the unbidden stranger finds us swift and hard. Come! Who are you? Whom do you serve? At whose command do you hunt Orcs in our land?\u2019 \u2018I serve no man,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018but the servants of Sauron I pursue into whatever land they may go. There are few among mortal Men who know more of Orcs; and I do not hunt them in this fashion out of choice. The Orcs whom we pursued took captive two of my friends."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018As 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "But lo! suddenly in the midst of the glory of the king his golden shield was dimmed. The new morning was blotted from the sky."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 land to the left, turned and went due east again."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then holding the star aloft and the bright sword advanced, Frodo, hobbit of the Shire, walked steadily down to meet the eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Stand! stand!\u2019 he cried desperately. \u2018Running is no use.\u2019 Slowly the eyes crept nearer."
    },
    {
        "text": "I tried not to, sir, but it burst out of me: I was so upset.\u2019 \u2018It can\u2019t be helped, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo sadly. He had suddenly realized that flying from the Shire would mean more painful partings than merely saying farewell to the familiar comforts of Bag End. \u2018I shall have to go. But\u2019 \u2013 and here he looked hard at Sam \u2013 \u2018if you really care about me, you will keep that dead secret. See? If you don\u2019t, if you even breathe a word of what you\u2019ve heard here, then I hope Gandalf will turn you into a spotted toad and fill the garden full of grass-snakes.\u2019 Sam fell on his knees, trembling. \u2018Get up, Sam!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I have thought of something better than that. Something to shut your mouth, and punish you properly for listening. You shall go away with Mr. Frodo!\u2019 \u2018Me, sir!\u2019 cried Sam, springing up like a dog invited for a walk."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Morning, Longshanks!\u2019 he said. \u2018Off early? Found some friends at last?\u2019 Strider nodded, but did not answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018As Aragorn has begun, so we must go on. We must push Sauron to his last throw. We must call out his hidden strength, so that he shall empty his land. We must march out to meet him at once. We must make ourselves the bait, though his jaws should close on us."
    },
    {
        "text": "I don\u2019t know what came over me.\u2019 \u2018I do,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018The Black Breath. The Riders must have leftFerny; and probably that Southerner was a spy as well. Something may happen in the night, before we leave Bree.\u2019 \u2018What will happen?\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Will they attack the inn?\u2019 \u2018No, I think not,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018They are not all here yet. And in any case that is not their way. In dark and loneliness they are strong- est; they will not openly attack a house where there are lights and many people \u2013 not until they are desperate, not while all the long leagues of Eriador still lie before us. But their power is in terror, and already some in Bree are in their clutch. They will drive these wretches to some evil work: Ferny, and some of the strangers, and, maybe, the gatekeeper too. They had words with Harry at West-gate on Monday. I was watching them. He was white and shaking when they left him.\u2019 \u2018We seem to have enemies all round,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018What are we to do?\u2019 \u2018Stay here, and do not go to your rooms! They are sure to have found out which those are. The hobbit-rooms have windows looking north and close to the ground. We will all remain together and bar this window and the door. But first Nob and I will fetch your luggage.\u2019 While Strider was gone, Frodo gave Merry a rapid account of all that had happened since supper. Merry was still reading and pondering Gandalf \u2019s letter when Strider and Nob returned."
    },
    {
        "text": "Grond crawled on. Upon its housing no fire would catch; and though now and again some great beast that hauled it would go mad and spread stamping ruin among the orcs innumerable that guarded it, their bodies were cast aside from its path and others took their place."
    },
    {
        "text": "All the night-walkers were gone, and the land seemed empty. North amid their noisome pits lay the first of the great heaps and hills of slag and broken rock and blasted earth, the vomit of the maggot-folk of Mordor; but south and now near loomed the great rampart of Cirith Gorgor, and the Black Gate amidmost, and the two Towers of the Teeth tall and dark upon either side. For in their last march the Captains had turned away from the old road as it bent east, and avoided the peril of the lurking hills, and so now they were approach- ing the Morannon from the north-west, even as Frodo had done."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then he kissed her hand, and sprang into the saddle, and rode away, and did not look back; and only those who knew him well and were near to him saw the pain that he bore."
    },
    {
        "text": "But I don\u2019t blame him for not waiting \u2013 if he ever came here.\u2019 \u2018I wonder,\u2019 said Strider, looking round thoughtfully. \u2018Even if he was a day or two behind us at Bree, he could have arrived here first."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo came in soon afterwards, and found him sitting in the dark, deep in thought. \u2018Has he gone?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Five leagues or one,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018we cannot escape them in this bare land. Shall we wait for them here or go on our way?\u2019 \u2018We will wait,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018I am weary, and our hunt has failed."
    },
    {
        "text": "For the fashion of Minas Tirith was such that it was built on seven levels, each delved into the hill, and about each was set a wall, and in each wall was a gate. But the gates were not set in a line: the Great Gate in the City Wall was at the east point of the circuit, but the next faced half south, and the third half north, and so to and fro upwards; so that the paved way that climbed towards the Citadelan arched tunnel, piercing a vast pier of rock whose huge out-thrust bulk divided in two all the circles of the City save the first. For partly in the primeval shaping of the hill, partly by the mighty craft and labour of old, there stood up from the rear of the wide court behind the Gate a towering bastion of stone, its edge sharp as a ship-keel facing east. Up it rose, even to the level of the topmost circle, and there was crowned by a battlement; so that those in the Citadel might, like mariners in a mountainous ship, look from its peak sheer down upon the Gate seven hundred feet below. The entrance to the Citadel also looked eastward, but was delved in the heart of the rock; thence a long lamp-lit slope ran up to the seventh gate. Thus men reached at last the High Court, and the Place of the Fountain before the feet of the White Tower: tall and shapely, fifty fathoms from its base to the pinnacle, where the banner of the Stewards floated a thousand feet above the plain."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It will not last much longer, I am afraid,\u2019 he said; \u2018but 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.\u2019 \u2018How long is that going to take us?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "A road, already visible in the growing light, came winding down from it, until only a mile or two from where the hobbits lay it turned east and ran along a shelf cut in the side of the spur, and so went down into the plain, and on to the Isenmouthe."
    },
    {
        "text": "Alas for Boromir the brave! The young perish and the old linger, withering.\u2019 He clutched his knees with his wrinkled hands."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But what?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Only one but will I allow tonight.\u2019 \u2018Gollum,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018How on earth could they be going about with him, even following him? And I could see that Faramir did not like the place he was taking them to any more than you do. What is wrong?\u2019 \u2018I cannot answer that now,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Yet my heart guessed that Frodo and Gollum would meet before the end. For good, or for evil. But of Cirith Ungol I will not speak tonight. Treachery, treachery I fear; treachery of that miserable creature. But so it must be. Let us remember that a traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not intend. It can be so, sometimes. Good night!\u2019again. The winged Shadows were not seen again that day, yet ever and anon, high above the city, a faint cry would come, and many who heard it would stand stricken with a passing dread, while the less stout-hearted quailed and wept."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo told many tales, yet always he steered the matter away from the quest of the Company and from the Ring, enlarging rather on the valiant part Boromir had played in all their adventures, with the wolves of the wild, in the snows under Caradhras, and in the mines of Moria where Gandalf fell. Faramir was most moved by the story of the fight on the bridge."
    },
    {
        "text": "Yours in haste GANDALF."
    },
    {
        "text": "The enemy is strong beyond our reckoning, yet we have a hope at which he has not guessed.\u2019 Quickly now Gandalf spoke. His voice was low and secret, and none save the king heard what he said. But ever as he spoke the light shone brighter in The\u00b4oden\u2019s eye, and at the last he rose from his seat to his full height, and Gandalf beside him, and together they looked out from the high place towards the East."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018There are none. It is quite plain, and it never shows a scratch or sign of wear.\u2019 \u2018Well then, look!\u2019 To Frodo\u2019s astonishment and distress the wizard threw it suddenly into the middle of a glowing corner of the fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We did not come too soon,\u2019 said Aragorn, looking at the gates."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What\u2019s that?\u2019 cried Gandalf. He was relieved when Pippin con- fessed what he had done; but he was angry, and Pippin could see his eye glinting. \u2018Fool of a Took!\u2019 he growled. \u2018This 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!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018So you have come, Gandalf,\u2019\u2019 he said to me gravely; but in his eyes there seemed to be a white light, as if a cold laughter was in his heart."
    },
    {
        "text": "Nonecanforceanentranceagainstdeterminedmen.Theymayhold\u2018They have a blasting fire, and with it they took the Wall. If they cannot come in the caves, they may seal up those that are inside. But now we must turn all our thought to our own defence.\u2019 \u2018I fret in this prison,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018If I could have set a spear in rest, riding before my men upon the field, maybe I could have felt again the joy of battle, and so ended. But I serve little purpose here.\u2019 \u2018Here at least you are guarded in the strongest fastness of the Mark,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018More hope we have to defend you in the Hornburg than in Edoras, or even at Dunharrow in the mountains.\u2019 \u2018It is said that the Hornburg has never fallen to assault,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden; \u2018but now my heart is doubtful. The world changes, and all that once was strong now proves unsure. How shall any tower withstand such numbers and such reckless hate? Had I known that the strength of Isengard was grown so great, maybe I should not so rashly have ridden forth to meet it, for all the arts of Gandalf. His counsel seems not now so good as it did under the morning sun.\u2019 \u2018Do not judge the counsel of Gandalf, until all is over, lord,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "When they had finished, the farmer and his sons went out with a lantern and got the waggon ready. It was dark in the yard, when the guests came out. They threw their packs on board and climbed in."
    },
    {
        "text": "All things now went well, with hope always of becoming still better; and Sam was as busy and as full of delight as even a hobbit could wish. Nothing for him marred that whole year, except for some vague anxiety about his master. Frodo dropped quietly out of all the doings of the Shire, and Sam was pained to notice how little honour he had in his own country. Few people knew or wanted to know about his deeds and adventures; their admiration and respect were given mostly to Mr. Meriadoc and Mr. Peregrin and (if Sam had known it) to himself. Also in the autumn there appeared a shadow of old troubles."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Of course there\u2019s a mistake!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I haven\u2019t vanished. Here I am! I\u2019ve just been having a few words with Strider in the corner.\u2019 He came forward into the firelight; but most of the company backed away, even more perturbed than before. They were not in the least satisfied by his explanation that he had crawled away quickly under the tables after he had fallen. Most of the Hobbits and the Men of Bree went off then and there in a huff, having no fancy for further entertainment that evening. One or two gave Frodo a black look and departed muttering among themselves. The Dwarves andlong no one was left but Strider, who sat on, unnoticed, by the wall."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo waited patiently for a while, then he spoke again less sternly."
    },
    {
        "text": "Spoons? Fiddlesticks!\u2019 He snapped his fingers under Frodo\u2019s nose and stumped off. But Lobelia was not so easily got rid of. A little later Frodo came out of the study to see how things were going on, and found her still about the place, investigating nooks and corners, and tapping the floors. He escorted her firmly off the premises, after he had relieved her of several small (but rather valuable) articles that had somehow fallen inside her umbrella. Her face looked as if she was in the throes of thinking out a really crushing parting remark; but all she found to say, turning round on the step, was: \u2018You\u2019ll live to regret it, young fellow! Why didn\u2019t you go too? You don\u2019t belong here; you\u2019re no Baggins \u2013 you \u2013 you\u2019re a Brandybuck!\u2019 \u2018Did you hear that, Merry? That was an insult, if you like,\u2019 said Frodo as he shut the door on her."
    },
    {
        "text": "And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air. And the Shadow departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped forth; and the waters of Anduin shone like silver, and in all the houses of the City men sang for the joy that welled up in their hearts from what source they could not tell."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Seeing this, we turned aside and came by the Southward road,\u2019 Frodo continued; \u2018for he said that there is, or there may be, a path near to Minas Ithil.\u2019 \u2018Minas Morgul,\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, what do you think of it?\u2019 asked Merry coming up the passage."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is Goldberry\u2019s washing day,\u2019 he said, \u2018and her autumn- cleaning. Too wet for hobbit-folk \u2013 let them rest while they are able! It\u2019s a good day for long tales, for questions and for answers, so Tom will start the talking.\u2019 He then told them many remarkable stories, sometimes half as if speaking to himself, sometimes looking at them suddenly with a bright blue eye under his deep brows. Often his voice would turn to song, and he would get out of his chair and dance about. He told them tales of bees and flowers, the ways of trees, and the strange creatures of the Forest, about the evil things and good things, things friendly and things unfriendly, cruel things and kind things, and secrets hidden under brambles.where all other things were at home. Moving constantly in and out of his talk was Old Man Willow, and Frodo learned now enough to content him, indeed more than enough, for it was not comfortable lore. Tom\u2019s words laid bare the hearts of trees and their thoughts, which were often dark and strange, and filled with a hatred of things that go free upon the earth, gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burn- ing: destroyers and usurpers. It was not called the Old Forest without reason, for it was indeed ancient, a survivor of vast forgotten woods; and in it there lived yet, ageing no quicker than the hills, the fathers of the fathers of trees, remembering times when they were lords. The countless years had filled them with pride and rooted wisdom, and with malice. But none were more dangerous than the Great Willow: his heart was rotten, but his strength was green; and he was cunning, and a master of winds, and his song and thought ran through the woods on both sides of the river. His grey thirsty spirit drew power out of the earth and spread like fine root-threads in the ground, and invisible twig-fingers in the air, till it had under its dominion nearly all the trees of the Forest from the Hedge to the Downs."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was a sad country, silent now but for the stony noise of quick waters. Smokes and steams drifted in sullen clouds and lurked in the hollows. The riders did not speak. Many doubted in their hearts, wondering to what dismal end their journey led.blade of grass was seen in any joint. Deep gutters, filled with trickling water, ran down on either side. Suddenly a tall pillar loomed up before them. It was black; and set upon it was a great stone, carved and painted in the likeness of a long White Hand. Its finger pointed north. Not far now they knew that the gates of Isengard must stand, and their hearts were heavy; but their eyes could not pierce the mists ahead."
    },
    {
        "text": "Alive without breath; as cold as death; never thirsting, ever drinking; clad in mail, never clinking."
    },
    {
        "text": "His bow was bent, but one gleaned arrow was all that he had left, and he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair."
    },
    {
        "text": "But however a removal might fit in with the designs of his wizardry, there was no doubt about the fact: Frodo Baggins was going back to Buckland.As a matter of fact with Merry\u2019s help he had already chosen and bought a little house at Crickhollow in the country beyond Bucklebury. To all but Sam he pretended he was going to settle down there permanently. The decision to set out eastwards had suggested the idea to him; for Buckland was on the eastern borders of the Shire, and as he had lived there in childhood his going back would at least seem credible."
    },
    {
        "text": "As soon as the whole company was assembled, standing in a wide circle round Treebeard, a curious and unintelligible conversation began. The Ents began to murmur slowly: first one joined and then another, until they were all chanting together in a long rising and falling rhythm, now louder on one side of the ring, now dying away there and rising to a great boom on the other side. Though he could not catch or understand any of the words \u2013 he supposed the language was Entish \u2013 Pippin found the sound very pleasant to listen to at first; but gradually his attention wavered. After a long time (and the chant showed no signs of slackening) he found himself wondering, since Entish was such an \u2018unhasty\u2019 language, whether they had yet got further than Good Morning; and if Treebeard was to call the roll,Treebeard was immediately aware of him. \u2018Hm, ha, hey, my Pippin!\u2019 he said, and the other Ents all stopped their chant. \u2018You are a hasty folk, I was forgetting; and anyway it is wearisome listening to a speech you do not understand. You may get down now. I have told your names to the Entmoot, and they have seen you, and they have agreed that you are not Orcs, and that a new line shall be put in the old lists. We have got no further yet, but that is quick work for an Entmoot. You and Merry can stroll about in the dingle, if you like. There is a well of good water, if you need refreshing, away yonder in the north bank. There are still some words to speak before the Moot really begins. I will come and see you again, and tell you how things are going.\u2019 He put the hobbits down. Before they walked away, they bowed low. This feat seemed to amuse the Ents very much, to judge by the tone of their murmurs, and the flicker of their eyes; but they soon turned back to their own business. Merry and Pippin climbed up the path that came in from the west, and looked through the opening in the great hedge. Long tree-clad slopes rose from the lip of the dingle, and away beyond them, above the fir-trees of the furthest ridge there rose, sharp and white, the peak of a high mountain. Southwards to their left they could see the forest falling away down into the grey distance. There far away there was a pale green glimmer that Merry guessed to be a glimpse of the plains of Rohan."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You won\u2019t find your clothes again,\u2019 said Tom, bounding down from the mound, and laughing as he danced round them in the sunlight.Onewouldhavethoughtthatnothingdangerousordreadful\u2018What do you mean?\u2019 asked Pippin, looking at him, half puzzled and half amused. \u2018Why not?\u2019 But Tom shook his head, saying: \u2018You\u2019ve found yourselves again, out of the deep water. Clothes are but little loss, if you escape from drowning. Be glad, my merry friends, and let the warm sunlight heat now heart and limb! Cast off these cold rags! Run naked on the grass, while Tom goes a-hunting!\u2019 He sprang away down hill, whistling and calling. Looking down after him Frodo saw him running away southwards along the green hollow between their hill and the next, still whistling and crying: Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander? Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder? Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin, White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin! So he sang, running fast, tossing up his hat and catching it, until he was hidden by a fold of the ground: but for some time his hey now! hoy now! came floating back down the wind, which had shifted round towards the south."
    },
    {
        "text": "On into the shadow they rode. In the willow-thickets where Snow- bourn flowed into Entwash, twelve leagues east of Edoras, they camped that night. And then on again through the Folde; and through the Fenmarch, where to their right great oakwoods climbed on the skirts of the hills under the shades of dark Halifirien by the borders of Gondor; but away to their left the mists lay on the marshes fed by the mouths of Entwash. And as they rode rumour came of war in the North. Lone men, riding wild, brought word of foes assailing their east-borders, of orc-hosts marching in the Wold of Rohan."
    },
    {
        "text": "So the third day of their pursuit began. During all its long hours of cloud and fitful sun they hardly paused, now striding, now running, as if no weariness could quench the fire that burned them. They seldom spoke. Over the wide solitude they passed and their elven- cloaks faded against the background of the grey-green fields; even in the cool sunlight of mid-day few but Elvish eyes would have marked them, until they were close at hand. Often in their hearts they thanked the Lady of Lo\u00b4 rien for the gift of lembas, for they could eat of it and find new strength even as they ran."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Indeed,\u2019 said Glo\u00b4in, \u2018if it were not for the Beornings, the passage from Dale to Rivendell would long ago have become impossible."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Well, you can lie on the bed. I am going to stand in the rain. Good night!\u2019 Merry and Pippin climbed on to the bed and curled up in the soft grass and fern. It was fresh, and sweet-scented, and warm. The lights died down, and the glow of the trees faded; but outside under the arch they could see old Treebeard standing, motionless, with his arms raised above his head. The bright stars peered out of the sky, and lit the falling water as it spilled on to his fingers and head, and dripped, dripped, in hundreds of silver drops on to his feet. Listening to the tinkling of the drops the hobbits fell asleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "Very different from old Gandalf. I wonder if his fame was not all along mainly due to his cleverness in settling at Isengard.\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Once he was as great as his fame made him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry did not like this talk of wild men and poisoned darts, but quite apart from that a great weight of dread was on him. Waiting was unbearable. He longed to know what was going to happen. He got up and soon was walking warily in pursuit of the last lantern before it disappeared among the trees."
    },
    {
        "text": "There the stair was covered by a small domed chamber in the midst of the roof, with low doors facing east and west. Eastward Sam could see the plain of Mordor vast and dark below, and the burning mountain far away. A fresh turmoil was surging in its deep wells, and the rivers of fire blazed so fiercely that even at this distance of many miles the light of them lit the tower-top with a red glare."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then the vision faded, and they were back in the sunlit world. It was time to start again. They made ready, packing their bags and lading their ponies. Their new weapons they hung on their leather belts under their jackets, feeling them very awkward, and wondering if they would be of any use. Fighting had not before occurred to any of them as one of the adventures in which their flight would land them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Were the breath of the West Wind to take a body visible, even so would it appear,\u2019 said E\u00b4 omer, as the great horse ran up, until he stood before the wizard.lors, most welcome of wanderers, a lord of the Mark, a chieftain of the Eorlingas while our kin shall last; and I give to him Shadowfax, prince of horses.\u2019 \u2018I thank you, The\u00b4oden King,\u2019 said Gandalf. Then suddenly he threw back his grey cloak, and cast aside his hat, and leaped to horseback. He wore no helm nor mail. His snowy hair flew free in the wind, his white robes shone dazzling in the sun."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tom\u2019s going home again water-lilies bringing."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was the sound of water that Merry heard falling into his quiet sleep: water streaming down gently, and then spreading, spreading irresistibly all round the house into a dark shoreless pool. It gurgled underthewalls,andwasrisingslowlybutsurely.\u2018Ishallbedrowned!\u2019on the corner of a cold hard flagstone. Then he remembered where he was and lay down again. He seemed to hear or remember hearing: \u2018Nothing passes doors or windows save moonlight and starlight and the wind off the hill-top.\u2019 A little breath of sweet air moved the curtain. He breathed deep and fell asleep again."
    },
    {
        "text": "When all was done Faramir led them to a recess at the back of the cave, partly screened by curtains; and a chair and two stools were brought there. A little earthenware lamp burned in a niche.of blunting the edge of a noble hunger, or for fear of me, I do not know. But it is not good to sleep too soon after meat, and that following a fast. Let us talk a while. On your journey from Rivendell there must have been many things to tell. And you, too, would per- haps wish to learn something of us and the lands where you now are."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before they had gone very far, perhaps, but time and distance soon passed out of his reckoning, Sam on the right, feeling the wall, was aware that there was an opening at the side: for a moment he caught a faint breath of some air less heavy, and then they passed it by."
    },
    {
        "text": "Seek for the Sword that was Broken."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018None, Lady,\u2019 answered Gimli. \u2018It is enough for me to have seen the Lady of the Galadhrim, and to have heard her gentle words.\u2019 \u2018Hear all ye Elves!\u2019 she cried to those about her. \u2018Let none say again that Dwarves are grasping and ungracious! Yet surely, Gimli son of Glo\u00b4 in, you desire something that I could give? Name it, I bid you! You shall not be the only guest without a gift.\u2019 \u2018There is nothing, Lady Galadriel,\u2019 said Gimli, bowing low and stammering. \u2018Nothing, unless it might be \u2013 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.\u2019 The Elves stirred and murmured with astonishment, and Celeborn gazed at the Dwarf in wonder, but the Lady smiled. \u2018It is said that the skill of the Dwarves is in their hands rather than in their tongues,\u2019 she said; \u2018yet 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?\u2019 \u2018Treasure it, Lady,\u2019 he answered, \u2018in 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.\u2019 Then the Lady unbraided one of her long tresses, and cut off three golden hairs, and laid them in Gimli\u2019s hand. \u2018These words shall go with the gift,\u2019 she said. \u2018I 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 say to you, Gimli son of Glo\u00b4 in, that your hands shall flow with gold, and yet over you gold shall have no dominion."
    },
    {
        "text": "A sudden dread and a horror of the chamber fell on the Company."
    },
    {
        "text": "After riding for about an hour, slowly and without talking, they saw the Hedge looming suddenly ahead. It was tall and netted over with silver cobwebs."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo looked at her questioningly. \u2018He is, as you have seen him,\u2019 she said in answer to his look. \u2018He is the Master of wood, water, and hill.\u2019 \u2018Then all this strange land belongs to him?\u2019 \u2018No indeed!\u2019 she answered, and her smile faded. \u2018That would indeed be a burden,\u2019 she added in a low voice, as if to herself. \u2018The trees and the grasses and all things growing or living in the land belong each to themselves. Tom Bombadil is the Master. No one has ever caught old Tom walking in the forest, wading in the water, leaping on the hill-tops under light and shadow. He has no fear. Tom Bombadil is master.\u2019 A door opened and in came Tom Bombadil. He had now no hat and his thick brown hair was crowned with autumn leaves. He laughed, and going to Goldberry, took her hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I\u2019m coming down to you,\u2019 shouted Sam, though how he hoped to help in that way he could not have said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Rede oft is found at the rising of the Sun.\u2019 \u2018Three suns already have risen on our chase and brought no counsel,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And would you have your proud folk say of you: \u2018\u2018There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North! Was there no woman of the race of Nu\u00b4menor to choose?\u2019\u2019 \u2019 \u2018I would,\u2019 said Faramir. And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many. And many indeed saw them and the light that shone about them as they came down from the walls and went hand in hand to the Houses of Healing."
    },
    {
        "text": "But suddenly he too stumbled forward with a cry of bitter pain, and his stroke went wide, driving into the ground. Merry\u2019s sword had stabbed him from behind, shearing through the black mantle, and passing up beneath the hauberk had pierced the sinew behind his mighty knee."
    },
    {
        "text": "A long-tilted valley, a deep gulf of shadow, ran back far into the mountains. Upon the further side, some way within the valley\u2019s arms, high on a rocky seat upon the black knees of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath, stood the walls and tower of Minas Morgul. All was dark about it, earth and sky, but it was lit with light. Not the imprisoned moonlight welling through the marble walls of Minas Ithil long ago, Tower of the Moon, fair and radiant in the hollow of the hills. Paler indeed than the moon ailing in some slow eclipse was the light of it now, wavering and blowing like a noisome exhalation of decay, a corpse-light, a light that illuminated nothing. In the walls and tower windows showed, like countless black holes looking inward into emptiness; but the topmost course of the tower revolved slowly, first one way and then another, a huge ghostly head leering into the night. For a moment the three companions stood there, shrinking, staring up with unwilling eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Let me see now: if we\u2019re found here, or Mr. Frodo\u2019s found, and that Thing\u2019s on him, well, the Enemy will get it. And that\u2019s the end of all of us, of Lo\u00b4 rien, and Rivendell, and the Shire and all. And there\u2019s no time to lose, or it\u2019ll be the end anyway. The war\u2019s begun, and more than likely things are all going the Enemy\u2019s way already."
    },
    {
        "text": "Have you others to offer?\u2019\u2019 \u2018He was cold now and perilous. \u2018\u2018Yes,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018I did not expect you to show wisdom, even in your own behalf; but I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, and so saving yourself much trouble and pain. The third choice is to stay here, until the end.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Until what end?\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Until you reveal to me where the One may be found. I may find means to persuade you. Or until it is found in your despite, and the Ruler has time to turn to lighter matters: to devise, say, a fitting reward for the hindrance and insolence of Gandalf the Grey.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018That may not prove to be one of the lighter matters,\u2019\u2019 said I."
    },
    {
        "text": "The next day, though the darkness had reached its full and grew no deeper, it weighed heavier on men\u2019s hearts, and a great dread was on them. Ill news came soon again. The passage of Anduin was won by the Enemy. Faramir was retreating to the wall of the Pelennor, rallying his men to the Causeway Forts; but he was ten times out- numbered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Garn!\u2019 said Shagrat. \u2018She\u2019s got more than one poison. When she\u2019s hunting, she just gives \u2019em a dab in the neck and they go as limp as boned fish, and then she has her way with them. D\u2019you remember old Ufthak? We lost him for days. Then we found him in a corner; hanging up he was, but he was wide awake and glaring. How wefew hours; and beyond feeling a bit sick for a bit, he\u2019ll be all right."
    },
    {
        "text": "Don\u2019t disturb it!\u2019 \u2018I wish we could get away!\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If you would learn that, you should come with me to Isengard,\u2019 answered Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the night he was wakened by a light, and he saw that Gandalf had come and was pacing to and fro in the room beyond the curtain of the alcove. There were candles on the table and rolls of parchment."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I think I could probably make some arrangements by then.\u2019 To tell the truth, he was very reluctant to start, now that it had come to the point: Bag End seemed a more desirable residence than it had for years, and he wanted to savour as much as he could of his last summer in the Shire. When autumn came, he knew that part at least of his heart would think more kindly of journeying, as it always did at that season. He had indeed privately made up his mind to leave on his fiftieth birthday: Bilbo\u2019s one hundred and twenty-eighth."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo smiled at him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Only a single horseman, and he made off westwards. All\u2019s clear now.\u2019 \u2018Now, I daresay. But how long? You fools! You should have shot him. He\u2019ll raise the alarm. The cursed horsebreeders will hear of us by morning. Now we\u2019ll have to leg it double quick.\u2019 A shadow bent over Pippin. It was Uglu\u00b4 k. \u2018Sit up!\u2019 said the Orc."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Surely even Orcs must pause on the march?\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So I thought,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018for you look like your father. I know him and he sent me to find you.\u2019 \u2018Then why did you not say so at once?\u2019 said Bergil, and suddenly a look of dismay came over his face. \u2018Do not tell me that he has changed his mind, and will send me away with the maidens! But no, the last wains have gone.\u2019 \u2018His message is less bad than that, if not good,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018He says that if you would prefer it to standing me on my head, you might show me round the City for a while and cheer my loneliness. I can tell you some tales of far countries in return.\u2019 Bergil clapped his hands, and laughed with relief. \u2018All is well,\u2019 he cried. \u2018Come then! We were soon going to the Gate to look on. We will go now.\u2019 \u2018What is happening there?\u2019 \u2018The Captains of the Outlands are expected up the South RoadBergil proved a good comrade, the best company Pippin had had since he parted from Merry, and soon they were laughing and talking gaily as they went about the streets, heedless of the many glances that men gave them. Before long they found themselves in a throng going towards the Great Gate. There Pippin went up much in the esteem of Bergil, for when he spoke his name and the pass-word the guard saluted him and let him pass through; and what was more, he allowed him to take his companion with him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Not a day too soon. Perhaps too late, at any rate to save Lotho,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Miserable fool, but I am sorry for him.\u2019 \u2018Save Lotho? Whatever do you mean?\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Destroy him, I should say.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t think you quite understand things, Pippin,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I fear it may be so with mine,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018There is no real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same. I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. Where shall I find rest?\u2019 Gandalf did not answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s another stair still,\u2019 he said. \u2018Much longer stair. Rest when we get to the top of next stair. Not yet.\u2019 Sam groaned. \u2018Longer, did you say?\u2019 he asked."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, and I don\u2019t want to,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I can\u2019t understand you."
    },
    {
        "text": "Such was the dark Dunharrow, the work of long-forgotten men."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, let\u2019s start then!\u2019 He stepped out of the front-door."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits were now wholly in the hands of Gollum. They did not know, and could not guess in that misty light, that they were in fact only just within the northern borders of the marshes, the main expanse of which lay south of them. They could, if they had known the lands, with some delay have retraced their steps a little, and then turning east have come round over hard roads to the bare plain of Dagorlad: the field of the ancient battle before the gates of Mordor."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the hill\u2019s 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 to one whom Frodo could not see. Arwen vanimelda, nama\u00b4rie\u00a8! he said, and then he drew a breath, and returning out of his thought he looked at Frodo and smiled."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am afraid we must go back to the Road here for a while,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018We have now come to the River Hoarwell, that the Elves call Mitheithel. It flows down out of the Ettenmoors, the troll-fells north of Rivendell, and joins the Loudwater away in the South. Some call it the Greyflood after that. It is a great water before it finds the Sea. There is no way over it below its sources in the Ettenmoors, except by the Last Bridge on which the Road crosses.\u2019 \u2018What is that other river we can see far away there?\u2019 asked Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "So the desperate journey went on, as the Ring went south and the banners of the kings rode north. For the hobbits each day, each mile, was more bitter than the one before, as their strength lessened and the land became more evil. They met no enemies by day. At times by night, as they cowered or drowsed uneasily in some hiding beside the road, they heard cries and the noise of many feet or the swift passing of some cruelly ridden steed. But far worse than all such perils was the ever-approaching threat that beat upon them as they went: the dreadful menace of the Power that waited, brooding in deep thought and sleepless malice behind the dark veil about its Throne. Nearer and nearer it drew, looming blacker, like the on- coming of a wall of night at the last end of the world."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ah!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And where will they live? That\u2019s what I often wonder.\u2019 For a while the hobbits continued to talk and think of the past journey and of the perils that lay ahead; but such was the virtue of the land of Rivendell that soon all fear and anxiety was lifted from their minds. The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song."
    },
    {
        "text": "The farmer laughed. \u2018They won\u2019t harm you \u2013 not unless I tell \u2019em to. Here, Grip! Fang! Heel!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Heel, Wolf !\u2019 To the relief of Frodo and Sam, the dogs walked away and let them go free."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was made on the model of the dwarf-song that started Bilbo on his adventure long ago, and went to the same tune: Farewell we call to hearth and hall! Though wind may blow and rain may fall, We must away ere break of day Far over wood and mountain tall."
    },
    {
        "text": "It no longer seemed very dark to him in the tunnel, rather it was as if he had stepped out of a thin mist into a heavier fog. His weariness was growing but his will hardened all the more. He thought he could see the light of torches a little way ahead, but try as he would, he could not catch them up. Orcs go fast in tunnels, and this tunnel they knew well; for in spite of Shelob they were forced to use it often as the swiftest way from the Dead City over the mountains. In what far-off time the main tunnel and the great round pit had been made, where Shelob had taken up her abode in ages past, they did not know; but many byways they had themselves delved about it on either side, so as to escape the lair in their goings to and fro on the business of their masters. Tonight they did not intend to go far down, but were hastening to find a side-passage that led back to their watch-tower on the cliff. Most of them were gleeful, delighted with what they had found and seen, and as they ran they gabbled and yammered after the fashion of their kind. Sam heard the noise of their harsh voices, flat and hard in the dead air, and he could distinguish two voices from among all the rest: they were louder, and nearer to him. The captains of the two parties seemed to be bringing up the rear, debating as they went."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But I\u2019m sure the Lady would not like me to keep it all for my own garden, now so many folk have suffered,\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "But to Sam the evening deepened to darkness as he stood at the Haven; and as he looked at the grey sea he saw only a shadow on the waters that was soon lost in the West. There still he stood far into the night, hearing only the sigh and murmur of the waves onAt last the three companions turned away, and never again looking back they rode slowly homewards; and they spoke no word to one another until they came back to the Shire, but each had great comfort in his friends on the long grey road."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the gate they found a great host of men, old and young, all ready in the saddle. More than a thousand were there mustered."
    },
    {
        "text": "He walked briskly back to his hole, and stood for a moment listen- ing with a smile to the din in the pavilion, and to the sounds of merrymaking in other parts of the field. Then he went in. He took off his party clothes, folded up and wrapped in tissue-paper his embroidered silk waistcoat, and put it away. Then he put on quickly some old untidy garments, and fastened round his waist a worn leather belt. On it he hung a short sword in a battered black-leather scabbard. From a locked drawer, smelling of moth-balls, he took out an old cloak and hood. They had been locked up as if they were very precious, but they were so patched and weatherstained that their original colour could hardly be guessed: it might have been dark green. They were rather too large for him. He then went into his study, and from a large strong-box took out a bundle wrapped inbag that was standing there, already nearly full. Into the envelope he slipped his golden ring, and its fine chain, and then sealed it, and addressed it to Frodo. At first he put it on the mantelpiece, but suddenly he removed it and stuck it in his pocket. At that moment the door opened and Gandalf came quickly in."
    },
    {
        "text": "As Frodo and Sam stood and gazed, the rim of light spread all along the line of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath, and then they saw a shape, moving at a great speed out of the West, at first only a black speck against the glimmering strip above the mountain-tops, but growing, until it plunged like a bolt into the dark canopy and passed high above them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam walked beside him, saying nothing, but sniffing the air, and looking every now and again with wonder in his eyes at the great heights in the East. The snow was white upon their peaks."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ai-oi!\u2019 he shouted. \u2018The Orcs are behind the wall. Ai-oi! Come, Legolas! There are enough for us both. Khaza\u02c6d ai-me\u02c6nu!\u2019 Gamling the Old looked down from the Hornburg, hearing the great voice of the dwarf above all the tumult. \u2018The Orcs are in the Deep!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Helm! Helm! Forth Helmingas!\u2019 he shouted as he leapedthem. Ere long they were hemmed in in the narrows of the gorge, and all were slain or driven shrieking into the chasm of the Deep to fall before the guardians of the hidden caves."
    },
    {
        "text": "So they took her. Dragged her off to the Lockholes, at her age too."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I think,\u2019 answered Strider slowly, as if he was not quite sure, \u2018I think the best thing is to go as straight eastward from here as we can, to make for the line of hills, not for Weathertop. There we can strike a path I know that runs at their feet; it will bring us to Weathertop from the north and less openly. Then we shall see what we shall see.\u2019 All that day they plodded along, until the cold and early evening came down. The land became drier and more barren; but mists and vapours lay behind them on the marshes. A few melancholy birds were piping and wailing, until the round red sun sank slowly into the western shadows; then an empty silence fell. The hobbits thought of the soft light of sunset glancing through the cheerful windows of Bag End far away."
    },
    {
        "text": "Why was he brought here out of forgetful sleep? Sam was eager for an answer to the same question and could not refrain himself from muttering, for his master\u2019s ear alone as he thought: \u2018It\u2019s a fine view, no doubt, Mr. Frodo, but chilly to the heart, not to mention the bones! What\u2019s going on?\u2019 Faramir heard and answered. \u2018Moonset over Gondor. Fair Ithil, as he goes from Middle-earth, glances upon the white locks of old Mindolluin. It is worth a few shivers. But that is not what I brought you to see \u2013 though as for you, Samwise, you were not brought, and do but pay the penalty of your watchfulness. A draught of wine shall amend it. Come, look now!\u2019 He stepped up beside the silent sentinel on the dark edge, and Frodo followed. Sam hung back. He already felt insecure enough on this high wet platform. Faramir and Frodo looked down. Far below them they saw the white waters pour into a foaming bowl, and then swirl darkly about a deep oval basin in the rocks, until they found their way out again through a narrow gate, and flowed away, fuming and chattering, into calmer and more level reaches. The moonlight still slanted down to the fall\u2019s foot and gleamed on the ripples of the basin. Presently Frodo was aware of a small dark thing on the near bank, but even as he looked at it, it dived and vanished just beyond the boil and bubble of the fall, cleaving the black water as neatly as an arrow or an edgewise stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last an evening came when from the walls the pavilions could be seen upon the field, and all night lights were burning as men watched for the dawn. And when the sun rose in the clear morning above the mountains in the East, upon which shadows lay no more,Stewards, bright argent like snow in the sun, bearing no charge nor device, was raised over Gondor for the last time."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tomorrow\u2019s need will be sterner.\u2019with Pippin beside him bearing a small torch, made his way to their lodging. They did not speak until they were behind closed doors."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Our last meal at Bag End!\u2019 said Frodo, pushing back his chair."
    },
    {
        "text": "The evening was closing in, and his cloaked figure quickly vanished into the twilight. Frodo did not see him again for a long time.Chapter 2 THE SHADOW OF THE PAST The talk did not die down in nine or even ninety-nine days. The second disappearance of Mr. Bilbo Baggins was discussed in Hobbi- ton, and indeed all over the Shire, for a year and a day, and was remembered much longer than that. It became a fireside-story for young hobbits; and eventually Mad Baggins, who used to vanish with a bang and a flash and reappear with bags of jewels and gold, became a favourite character of legend and lived on long after all the true events were forgotten."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018O very well,\u2019 said Sam, \u2018have it your own way! I don\u2019t suppose it\u2019s so far from the truth. And now we\u2019d better all be sneaking along together. What\u2019s the time? Is it today or tomorrow?\u2019 \u2018It\u2019s tomorrow,\u2019 said Gollum, \u2018or this was tomorrow when hobbits went to sleep. Very foolish, very dangerous \u2013 if poor Sme\u00b4agol wasn\u2019t sneaking about to watch.\u2019 \u2018I think we shall get tired of that word soon,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But never mind. I\u2019ll wake master up.\u2019 Gently he smoothed the hair back from Frodo\u2019s brow, and bending down spoke softly to him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Road runs along the edge of the hills for many miles from the Bridge to the Ford of Bruinen. But I have not yet thought how we shall cross that water. One river at a time! We shall be fortunate indeed if we do not find the Last Bridge held against us.\u2019 Next day, early in the morning, they came down again to the borders of the Road. Sam and Strider went forward, but they found no sign of any travellers or riders. Here under the shadow of the hills there had been some rain. Strider judged that it had fallen two daysThey hurried along with all the speed they could make, and after a mile or two they saw the Last Bridge ahead, at the bottom of a short steep slope. They dreaded to see black figures waiting there, but they saw none. Strider made them take cover in a thicket at the side of the Road, while he went forward to explore."
    },
    {
        "text": "Let\u2019s go and see if it\u2019s still there!\u2019 \u2018You have not spoken of this before.\u2019 \u2018No. Master did not ask. Master did not say what he meant to do."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018First check!\u2019 said Pippin, smiling grimly."
    },
    {
        "text": "Will you, Aragorn, take the Orthanc-stone and guard it? It is a danger- ous charge.\u2019 \u2018Dangerous indeed, but not to all,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018There is one who may claim it by right. For this assuredly is the palant\u00b4\u0131r of Orthanc from the treasury of Elendil, set here by the Kings of Gondor. Now my hour draws near. I will take it.\u2019 Gandalf looked at Aragorn, and then, to the surprise of the others, he lifted the covered Stone, and bowed as he presented it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But what can I do? Not leave Mr. Frodo dead, unburied on the top of the mountains, and go home? Or go on? Go on?\u2019 he repeated, and for a moment doubt and fear shook him. \u2018Go on? Is that what I\u2019ve got to do? And leave him?\u2019 Then at last he began to weep; and going to Frodo he composed his body, and folded his cold hands upon his breast, and wrapped his cloak about him; and he laid his own sword at one side, and the staff that Faramir had given at the other."
    },
    {
        "text": "Many were dead and gaunt, bitten to the core by the eastern winds."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, here we are,\u2019 sneered Grishna\u00b4kh. \u2018Fine leadership! I hope the great Uglu\u00b4k will lead us out again.\u2019 \u2018Put those Halflings down!\u2019 ordered Uglu\u00b4k, taking no notice ofthrough. Understand? As long as I\u2019m alive, I want \u2019em. But they\u2019re not to cry out, and they\u2019re not to be rescued. Bind their legs!\u2019 The last part of the order was carried out mercilessly. But Pippin found that for the first time he was close to Merry. The Orcs were making a great deal of noise, shouting and clashing their weapons, and the hobbits managed to whisper together for a while."
    },
    {
        "text": "But I spoke yet of my dread to none, knowing the peril of an untimely whisper, if it went astray. In all the long wars with the Dark Tower treason has ever been our greatest foe."
    },
    {
        "text": "There on the wide flats beside the noisy river were marshalled in many companies well nigh five and fifty hundreds of Riders fully armed, and many hundreds of other men with spare horses lightly burdened. A single trumpet sounded. The king raised his hand, and then silently the host of the Mark began to move. Foremost went twelve of the king\u2019s household-men, Riders of renown. Then the king followed with E\u00b4omer on his right. He had said farewell to E\u00b4owyn above in the Hold, and the memory was grievous; but now he turned his mind to the road that lay ahead. Behind him Merry rode on Stybba with the errand riders of Gondor, and behind them againhad come almost to the end of the line one looked up glancing keenly at the hobbit. A young man, Merry thought as he returned the glance, less in height and girth than most. He caught the glint of clear grey eyes; and then he shivered, for it came suddenly to him that it was the face of one without hope who goes in search of death."
    },
    {
        "text": "The West has failed. It is time for all to depart who would not be slaves.\u2019 \u2018Such counsels will make the Enemy\u2019s victory certain indeed,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum had shown no signs of tiring, but now he looked up and halted."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam looked up towards the orc-tower, and suddenly from its nar- row windows lights stared out like small red eyes. He wondered if they were some signal. His fear of the orcs, forgotten for a while in his wrath and desperation, now returned. As far as he could see, there was only one possible course for him to take: he must go on and try to find the main entrance to the dreadful tower; but his knees felt weak, and he found that he was trembling. Drawing his eyes down from the tower and the horns of the Cleft before him, he forced his unwilling feet to obey him, and slowly, listening with all his ears, peering into the dense shadows of the rocks beside the way, he retraced his steps, past the place where Frodo fell, and still the stench of Shelob lingered, and then on and up, until he stood again in the very cleft where he had put on the Ring and seen Shagrat\u2019s company go by."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hobbits still remained in Minas Tirith, with Legolas and Gimli; for Aragorn was loth for the fellowship to be dissolved. \u2018At last all such things must end,\u2019 he said, \u2018but I would have you wait a little while longer: for the end of the deeds that you have shared in has not yet come. A day draws near that I have looked for in all the years of my manhood, and when it comes I would have my friends beside me.\u2019 But of that day he would say no more."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "And Elves are wondrous fair to look upon, or so \u2019tis said.\u2019 \u2018Meaning we\u2019re not, I take you,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Thank you kindly."
    },
    {
        "text": "Proudfoots, repeated Bilbo. Also my good Sackville-Bagginses that I welcome back at last to Bag End. Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy-one today! \u2018Hurray! Hurray! Many Happy Returns!\u2019 they shouted, and they hammered joyously on the tables."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Dark are her words,\u2019 said Legolas, \u2018and little do they mean to those that receive them.\u2019 \u2018That is no comfort,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "And then wonder took him, and a great joy; and he cast his sword up in the sunlight and sang as he caught it. And all eyes followed his gaze, and behold! upon the foremost ship a great standard broke, and the wind displayed it as she turned towards the Harlond. There flowered a White Tree, and that was for Gondor; but Seven Stars were about it, and a high crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had borne for years beyond count. And the stars flamed in the sunlight, for they were wrought of gems by Arwen daughter of Elrond; and the crown was bright in the morning, for it was wrought of mithril and gold."
    },
    {
        "text": "The drink was like water, indeed very like the taste of the draughts they had drunk from the Entwash near the borders of the forest, and yet there was some scent or savour in it which they could not describe: it was faint, but it reminded them of the smell of a distant wood borne from afar by a cool breeze at night. The effect of the draught began at the toes, and rose steadily through every limb, bringing refreshment and vigour as it coursed upwards, right to the tips of the hair. Indeed the hobbits felt that the hair on their heads was actually standing up, waving and curling and growing. As for Treebeard, he first laved his feet in the basin beyond the arch, and then he drained his bowl at one draught, one long, slow draught. The hobbits thought he would never stop."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s Day."
    },
    {
        "text": "We are going now to a secret place we have, somewhat less than ten miles from here. The Orcs and spies of the Enemy have not found it yet, and if they did, we could hold it long even against many. There we may lie up and rest for a while, and you with us. In the morningThere was nothing for Frodo to do but to fall in with this request, or order. It seemed in any case a wise course for the moment, since this foray of the men of Gondor had made a journey in Ithilien more dangerous than ever."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was however spared the ordeal for the present. He was not com- manded to sing. Denethor turned to Gandalf, asking questions about the Rohirrim and their policies, and the position of E\u00b4 omer, the king\u2019s nephew. Pippin marvelled at the amount that the Lord seemed to know about a people that lived far away, though it must, he thought, be many years since Denethor himself had ridden abroad."
    },
    {
        "text": "When he returned to his chamber he called for the Warden, and heard all that he could tell of the Lady of Rohan."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was one of the saddest hours in their lives. The great chimney rose up before them; and as they drew near the old village across the Water, through rows of new mean houses along each side of the road, they saw the new mill in all its frowning and dirty ugliness: a great brick building straddling the stream, which it fouled with a steaming and stinking outflow. All along the Bywater Road every tree had been felled."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Because it\u2019s my birthday, my love, and I wants it,\u2019\u2019 said Sme\u00b4agol."
    },
    {
        "text": "He appeared already to know much about them and all their families, and indeed to know much of all the history and doings of the Shire down from days hardly remembered among the hobbits themselves. It no longer surprised them; but he made no secret that he owed his recent knowledge largely to Farmer Maggot, whom he seemed to regard as a person of more importance than they had imagined. \u2018There\u2019s earth under his old feet, and clay on his fingers; wisdom in his bones, and both his eyes are open,\u2019 said Tom. It was also clear that Tom had dealings with the Elves, and it seemed that in some fashion, news had reached him from Gildor concerning the flight of Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly they turned away, and a shadowy figure slipped round the trunk of the tree and vanished."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Aragorn took the green stone and held it up, and there came a green fire from his hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "There is no malice near us; but there is watchfulness, and anger.\u2019 \u2018Well, it has no cause to be angry with me,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018I have done it no harm.\u2019 \u2018That is just as well,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018But nonetheless it has suffered harm. There is something happening inside, or going to happen. Do you not feel the tenseness? It takes my breath.\u2019 \u2018I feel the air is stuffy,\u2019 said the Dwarf. \u2018This wood is lighter than Mirkwood, but it is musty and shabby.\u2019 \u2018It is old, very old,\u2019 said the Elf. \u2018So old that almost I feel young again, as I have not felt since I journeyed with you children. It is old and full of memory. I could have been happy here, if I had come in days of peace.\u2019 \u2018I dare say you could,\u2019 snorted Gimli. \u2018You are a Wood-elf, anyway, though Elves of any kind are strange folk. Yet you comfort me. Where you go, I will go. But keep your bow ready to hand, and I will keep my axe loose in my belt. Not for use on trees,\u2019 he added hastily, looking up at the tree under which they stood. \u2018I do not wish to meet that old man at unawares without an argument ready to hand, that is all. Let us go!\u2019 With that the three hunters plunged into the forest of Fangorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That was the sound of a hammer, or I have never heard one,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Which way would they turn, do you think?\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018North- ward to take a straighter road to Isengard, or Fangorn, if that is their aim as you guess? Or southward to strike the Entwash?\u2019 \u2018They will not make for the river, whatever mark they aim at,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018And unless there is much amiss in Rohan and the power of Saruman is greatly increased, they will take the shortest way that they can find over the fields of the Rohirrim. Let us search northwards!\u2019 The dale ran like a stony trough between the ridged hills, and a trickling stream flowed among the boulders at the bottom. A cliff frowned upon their right; to their left rose grey slopes, dim and shadowy in the late night. They went on for a mile or more north- wards. Aragorn was searching, bent towards the ground, among the folds and gullies leading up into the western ridge. Legolas was some way ahead. Suddenly the Elf gave a cry and the others came running towards him."
    },
    {
        "text": "When day came at last the hobbits were surprised to see how much closer the ominous mountains had already drawn. The air was now clearer and colder, and though still far off, the walls of Mordor were no longer a cloudy menace on the edge of sight, but as grim black towers they frowned across a dismal waste. The marshes were at an end, dying away into dead peats and wide flats of dry cracked mud."
    },
    {
        "text": "I wish I could get at Ted, and I\u2019d fell him!\u2019were busily at work. There was a tall red chimney nearby. Black smoke seemed to cloud the surface of the Mirror."
    },
    {
        "text": "Aragorn looked at the pale stars, and at the moon, now sloping behind the western hills that enclosed the valley. \u2018This is a night as long as years,\u2019 he said. \u2018How long will the day tarry?\u2019 \u2018Dawn is not far off,\u2019 said Gamling, who had now climbed up beside him. \u2018But dawn will not help us, I fear.\u2019 \u2018Yet dawn is ever the hope of men,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I read the signs aright,\u2019 he said to himself. \u2018Frodo ran to the hill-top. I wonder what he saw there? But he returned by the same way, and went down the hill again.\u2019 Aragorn hesitated. He desired to go to the high seat himself, hoping to see there something that would guide him in his per- plexities; but time was pressing. Suddenly he leaped forward, and ran to the summit, across the great flag-stones, and up the steps."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Good afternoon, Mr. Maggot!\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Man in the Moon took another mug, and then rolled beneath his chair; And there he dozed and dreamed of ale, Till in the sky the stars were pale, and dawn was in the air."
    },
    {
        "text": "Long was the way that fate them bore, O\u2019er stony mountains cold and grey, Through halls of iron and darkling door, And woods of nightshade morrowless."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is there anyone in this rout with authority to treat with me?\u2019 heking than a piece of Elvish glass, or a rabble such as this. Why, any brigand of the hills can show as good a following!\u2019 Aragorn said naught in answer, but he took the other\u2019s eye and held it, and for a moment they strove thus; but soon, though Aragorn did not stir nor move hand to weapon, the other quailed and gave back as if menaced with a blow. \u2018I am a herald and ambassador, and may not be assailed!\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I know only the little that Gandalf has told me,\u2019 said Frodo slowly."
    },
    {
        "text": "After a while Aragorn led the boats back upstream. They felt their way along the water\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I? Nothing!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I will do nothing to him. I do not wish for mastery. What will become of him? I cannot say. I grieve that so much that was good now festers in the tower. Still for us things have not gone badly. Strange are the turns of fortune! Often does hatred hurt itself ! I guess that, even if we had entered in, we could have found few treasures in Orthanc more precious than the thing which Wormtongue threw down at us.\u2019 A shrill shriek, suddenly cut off, came from an open window high above."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hopes fail. An end comes. We have only a little time to wait now."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I cannot,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018But I am glad that the shadow came no\u2018It was not a Balrog,\u2019 said Frodo, still shivering with the chill that had come upon him. \u2018It was something colder. I think it was\u2014\u2014\u2019 Then he paused and fell silent."
    },
    {
        "text": "Underhill, if any name must be given. That interested me so much that I followed them here. I slipped over the gate just behind them. Maybe Mr. Baggins has an honest reason for leaving his name behind; but if so, I should advise him and his friends to be more careful.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t see what interest my name has for anyone in Bree,\u2019 said Frodo angrily, \u2018and I have still to learn why it interests you. Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "He guessed that even in Elrond\u2019s house the matter of the Ring was not one for casual talk; and in any case he wished to forget his troubles for a time. \u2018But I am equally curious,\u2019 he added, \u2018to learn what brings so important a dwarf so far from the Lonely Mountain.\u2019 Glo\u00b4 in looked at him. \u2018If you have not heard, I think we will not speak yet of that either. Master Elrond will summon us all ere long, I believe, and then we shall all hear many things. But there is much else that may be told.\u2019 Throughout the rest of the meal they talked together, but Frodo listened more than he spoke; for the news of the Shire, apart from the Ring, seemed small and far-away and unimportant, while Glo\u00b4 in had much to tell of events in the northern regions of Wilderland."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018They pay a tribute of horses,\u2019\u2019 he answered, \u2018\u2018and send many yearly to Mordor, or so it is said; but they are not yet under the yoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "The water flowing beneath was silent, and it steamed, but the vapour that rose from it, curling and twisting about the bridge, was deadly cold. Frodo felt his senses reeling and his mind darkening. Then suddenly, as if some force were at work other than his own will, he began to hurry, tottering forward, his groping hands held out, his head lolling from side to side. Both Sam and Gollum ran after him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Outside the door they all halted. There was a cave or rock-chamber behind, but in the gloom inside nothing could be seen. Strider, Sam, and Merry pushing with all their strength managed to open the door a little wider, and then Strider and Merry went in. They did not go far, for on the floor lay many old bones, and nothing else was to be seen near the entrance except some great empty jars and broken pots."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If I had known all the mischief he had caused, I should have stuffed my pouch down Saruman\u2019s throat.\u2019 \u2018No doubt, no doubt! But you did not, and so I am able to welcome you home.\u2019 There standing at the door was Saruman himself, look- ing well-fed and well-pleased; his eyes gleamed with malice and amusement."
    },
    {
        "text": "And Sam is with him; only he would have taken his pack.\u2019 \u2018Our choice then,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018is either to take the remaining boat and follow Frodo, or else to follow the Orcs on foot. There is little hope either way. We have already lost precious hours.\u2019 \u2018Let me think!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018And now may I make a right choice, and change the evil fate of this unhappy day!\u2019 He stood silent for a moment. \u2018I will follow the Orcs,\u2019 he said at last. \u2018I would have guided Frodo to Mordor and gone with him to the end; but if I seek him now in the wilderness, I must abandon the captives to torment and death. My heart speaks clearly at last: the fate of the Bearer is in my hands no longer. The Company has played its part. Yet we that remain cannot forsake our companions while we have strength left."
    },
    {
        "text": "The fires below awoke in anger, the red light blazed, and all the cavern was filled with a great glare and heat. Suddenly Sam saw Gollum\u2019s long hands draw upwards to his mouth; his white fangs gleamed, and then snapped as they bit. Frodo gave a cry, and there he was, fallen upon his knees at the chasm\u2019s edge. But Gollum, dancing like a mad thing, held aloft the ring, a finger still thrust within its circle. It shone now as if verily it was wrought of living fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "Farmer Cotton looked at him slowly. \u2018I was just going to ask youhim lads! Lockholes for him, and give him something to keep him quiet!\u2019 The Men took one step forward and stopped short. There rose a roar of voices all round them, and suddenly they were aware that Farmer Cotton was not all alone. They were surrounded. In the dark on the edge of the firelight stood a ring of hobbits that had crept up out of the shadows. There was nearly two hundred of them, all holding some weapon."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Late one evening I came to the gate, like a great arch in the wall of rock; and it was strongly guarded. But the keepers of the gate were on the watch for me and told me that Saruman awaited me. I rode under the arch, and the gate closed silently behind me, and suddenly I was afraid, though I knew no reason for it."
    },
    {
        "text": "Even as they spoke there came a blare of trumpets. Then there was a crash and a flash of flame and smoke. The waters of the Deeping-stream poured out hissing and foaming: they were choked no longer, a gaping hole was blasted in the wall. A host of dark shapes poured in."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You had better do something quick!\u2019 whispered Strider in his ear."
    },
    {
        "text": "But though his fear was so great that it seemed to be part of the very darkness that was round him, he found himself as he lay thinking about Bilbo Baggins and his stories, of their jogging along together in the lanes of the Shire and talking about roads and adventures."
    },
    {
        "text": "But fear not! The visit shall be short, a mere call of courtesy, and we will go thence to the butteries.\u2019 Pippin found that Shadowfax had been well housed and tended."
    },
    {
        "text": "So time and the hopeless journey wore away. Upon the fourth day from the Cross-roads and the sixth from Minas Tirith they came at last to the end of the living lands, and began to pass into the desolation that lay before the gates of the Pass of Cirith Gorgor; and they could descry the marshes and the desert that stretched north and west to the Emyn Muil. So desolate were those places and so deep the horror that lay on them that some of the host were unmanned, and they could neither walk nor ride further north."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, I like that!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Thief indeed! What of our claim for waylaying, wounding, and orc-dragging us through Rohan?\u2019 \u2018Ah!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And bought he said. How, I wonder? And I didn\u2019t like the sound of what he said about the Southfarthing. It\u2019s time we got back.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019m sure it is,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But we can\u2019t go any quicker, if we are to see Bilbo. I am going to Rivendell first, whatever happens.\u2019 \u2018Yes, I think you had better do that,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But alas for Saruman! I fear nothing more can be made of him. He has withered altogether. All the same, I am not sure that Treebeard is right: I fancy he could do some mischief still in a small mean way.\u2019 Next day they went on into northern Dunland, where no men now dwelt, though it was a green and pleasant country. September came in with golden days and silver nights, and they rode at ease until they reached the Swanfleet river, and found the old ford, east of thefallswhereitwentdownsuddenlyintothelowlands.FartothewestSo they passed into Eregion, and at last a fair morning dawned, shimmering above gleaming mists; and looking from their camp on a low hill the travellers saw away in the east the Sun catching three peaks that thrust up into the sky through floating clouds: Caradhras, Celebdil, and Fanuidhol. They were near to the Gates of Moria."
    },
    {
        "text": "Their legs seemed leaden. Strange furtive noises ran among the bushes and reeds on either side of them; and if they looked up to the pale sky, they caught sight of queer gnarled and knobbly faces that gloomed dark against the twilight, and leered down at them from the high bank and the edges of the wood. They began to feel that all this country was unreal, and that they were stumbling through an ominous dream that led to no awakening."
    },
    {
        "text": "The skirts of the storm were lifting, ragged and wet, and the main battle had passed to spread its great wings over the Emyn Muil, upon which the dark thought of Sauron brooded for a while. Thence it turned, smiting the Vale of Anduin with hail and lightning, and cast- ing its shadow upon Minas Tirith with threat of war. Then, lowering in the mountains, and gathering its great spires, it rolled on slowly over Gondor and the skirts of Rohan, until far away the Riders on the plain saw its black towers moving behind the sun, as they rodeappeared, like small white holes in the canopy above the crescent moon."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hi!\u2019 cried Sam in an outraged voice. \u2018There\u2019s that Ted Sandyman a-cutting down trees as he shouldn\u2019t. They didn\u2019t ought to be felled: it\u2019s that avenue beyond the Mill that shades the road to Bywater."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is a great host and follows us hard,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "After their breakfast the hobbits had to re-pack, and get together further supplies for the longer journey they were now expecting. It was close on ten o\u2019clock before they at last got off. By that time the whole of Bree was buzzing with excitement. Frodo\u2019s vanishing trick; the appearance of the black horsemen; the robbing of the stables; and not least the news that Strider the Ranger had joined the mysterious hobbits, made such a tale as would last for many uneventful years."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Welcome!\u2019 she said. \u2018I had not heard that folk of the Shire were so sweet-tongued. But I see that you are an Elf-friend; the light in your eyes and the ring in your voice tells it. This is a merry meeting! Sit now, and wait for the Master of the house! He will not be long."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin sat with his knees drawn up and the ball between them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nor indeed am I a stranger; for I have been in this land before, more than once, and ridden with the host of the Rohirrim, though under other name and in other guise. You I have not seen before, for you are young, but I have spoken with E\u00b4omund your father, and with The\u00b4oden son of Thengel. Never in former days would any high lord of this land have constrained a man to abandon such a quest as mine."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do not touch the water!\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "But it was too late. At that moment the rock quivered and trembled beneath them. The great rumbling noise, louder than ever before, rolled in the ground and echoed in the mountains. Then with searing suddenness there came a great red flash. Far beyond the eastern mountains it leapt into the sky and splashed the lowering clouds with crimson. In that valley of shadow and cold deathly light it seemed unbearably violent and fierce. Peaks of stone and ridges like notched knives sprang out in staring black against the uprushing flame inforks of blue flame springing up from the tower and from the en- circling hills into the sullen clouds. The earth groaned; and out of the city there came a cry. Mingled with harsh high voices as of birds of prey, and the shrill neighing of horses wild with rage and fear, there came a rending screech, shivering, rising swiftly to a piercing pitch beyond the range of hearing. The hobbits wheeled round towards it, and cast themselves down, holding their hands upon their ears."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then I spoke to him and he bore me away, before Saruman was aware. I was far from Isengard, ere the wolves and orcs issued from the gate to pursue me."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo looked at them in wonder; for he had never before seen Elrond, of whom so many tales spoke; and as they sat upon his right hand and his left, Glorfindel, and even Gandalf, whom he thought he knew so well, were revealed as lords of dignity and power."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf halted. Snow was thick on his hood and shoulders; it was already ankle-deep about his boots."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nay, cousin! they are not boys,\u2019 said Ioreth to her kinswoman from Imloth Melui, who stood beside her. \u2018Those are Periain, out of the far country of the Halflings, where they are princes of great fame, it is said. I should know, for I had one to tend in the Houses. They are small, but they are valiant. Why, cousin, one of them went with only his esquire into the Black Country and fought with the Dark Lord all by himself, and set fire to his Tower, if you can believe it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But we were too late, as Elrond foresaw. Sauron also had watched us, and had long prepared against our stroke, governing Mordor from afar through Minas Morgul, where his Nine servants dwelt, until all was ready. Then he gave way before us, but only feigned to flee, and soon after came to the Dark Tower and openly declared himself."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There\u2019s no time to kill them properly,\u2019 said one. \u2018No time for play on this trip.\u2019 \u2018That can\u2019t be helped,\u2019 said another. \u2018But why not kill them quick, kill them now? They\u2019re a cursed nuisance, and we\u2019re in a hurry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now, Gollum,\u2019 he said, \u2018I\u2019ve another job for you. Go and fill these pans with water, and bring \u2019em back!\u2019 \u2018Sme\u00b4agol will fetch water, yes,\u2019 said Gollum. \u2018But what does the hobbit want all that water for? He has drunk, he has washed.\u2019 \u2018Never you mind,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018If you can\u2019t guess, you\u2019ll soon find out. And the sooner you fetch the water, the sooner you\u2019ll learn."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was alone and felt rather forlorn, although all about him the folk of Rivendell were gathered. But those near him were silent, intent upon the music of the voices and the instruments, and they gave no heed to anything else. Frodo began to listen."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come!\u2019 he said. \u2018You have guided us well and faithfully. This is the last stage. Bring us to the Gate, and then I will not ask you to go further. Bring us to the Gate, and you may go where you wish \u2013 only not to our enemies.\u2019 \u2018To the Gate, eh?\u2019 Gollum squeaked, seeming surprised and fright- ened. \u2018To the Gate, master says! Yes, he says so. And good Sme\u00b4agol does what he asks, O yes. But when we gets closer, we\u2019ll see perhaps, we\u2019ll see then. It won\u2019t look nice at all. O no! O no!\u2019 \u2018Go on with you!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Let\u2019s get it over!\u2019before they felt once more the fear that had fallen on them when the winged shape swept over the marshes. They halted, cowering on the evil-smelling ground; but they saw nothing in the gloomy evening sky above, and soon the menace passed, high overhead, going maybe on some swift errand from Barad-du\u02c6 r. After a while Gollum got up and crept forward again, muttering and shaking."
    },
    {
        "text": "I reckon it isn\u2019t safe for us both to sleep together, and begging your pardon, but I can\u2019t hold up my lids much longer.\u2019 \u2018Bless you, Sam!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Lie down and take your proper turn! But I\u2019d rather have Gollum than orcs. At any rate he won\u2019t give us away to them \u2013 not unless he\u2019s caught himself.\u2019 \u2018But he might do a bit of robbery and murder on his own,\u2019 growled Sam. \u2018Keep your eyes open, Mr. Frodo! There\u2019s a bottle full of water."
    },
    {
        "text": "They lay still for a while. It was too dark to seek for cover, if indeed there was any to find; but Sam felt that they ought at least to get further away from the highways and out of the range of torchlight."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo then drew the elf-blade from its sheath. To his dismay the edges gleamed dimly in the night. \u2018Orcs!\u2019 he said. \u2018Not very near, and yet too near, it seems.\u2019 \u2018I feared as much,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But 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 days, now that Minas Tirith no longer holds secure the passages of Anduin. We must go warily tomorrow.\u2019 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 tippedtall 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So you\u2019ve come back?\u2019 he said. \u2018Thought better of it, eh?\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ve returned to see that Orders are carried out and the prisoners safe,\u2019 answered Grishna\u00b4kh."
    },
    {
        "text": "A tall figure loomed up and stumbled over him, cursing the tree- roots. He recognized the voice of Elfhelm the Marshal."
    },
    {
        "text": "The head was so bowed that he could see no face, and presently theGandalf 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 with disordered papers; rain was beating on the windows."
    },
    {
        "text": "What\u2019s taters, precious, eh, what\u2019s taters?\u2019 \u2018Po \u2013 ta \u2013 toes,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018The Gaffer\u2019s delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly. But you won\u2019t find any, so you needn\u2019t look. But be good Sme\u00b4agol and fetch me the herbs, and I\u2019ll thinkfish and chips served by S. Gamgee. You couldn\u2019t say no to that.\u2019 \u2018Yes, yes we could. Spoiling nice fish, scorching it. Give me fish now, and keep nassty chips!\u2019 \u2018Oh you\u2019re hopeless,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Go to sleep!\u2019 In the end he had to find what he wanted for himself; but he did not have to go far, not out of sight of the place where his master lay, still sleeping. For a while Sam sat musing, and tending the fire till the water boiled. The daylight grew and the air became warm; the dew faded off turf and leaf. Soon the rabbits cut up lay simmering in their pans with the bunched herbs. Almost Sam fell asleep as the time went by. He let them stew for close on an hour, testing them now and again with his fork, and tasting the broth."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now they seemed quite close."
    },
    {
        "text": "Amroth beheld the fading shore Now low beyond the swell, And cursed the faithless ship that bore Him far from Nimrodel."
    },
    {
        "text": "Treebeard now perched Merry and Pippin on his shoulders and strode on again, every now and then sending out another horn-call, and each time the answers came louder and nearer. In this way they came at last to what looked like an impenetrable wall of dark ever- green trees, trees of a kind that the hobbits had never seen before: they branched out right from the roots, and were densely clad in dark glossy leaves like thornless holly, and they bore many stiff upright flower-spikes with large shining olive-coloured buds."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then all that was left unslain of their cavalry turned and fled far away."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then once more, orc-fashion, he leapt aside, and as Sam sprang at him, using the heavy bundle as both shield and weapon, he thrust it hard into his enemy\u2019s face. Sam staggered, and before he could recover, Shagrat darted past and down the stairs."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Evil things do not come into this valley; but all the same we should not name them. The Lord of the Ring is not Frodo, but the master of the Dark Tower of Mordor, whose power is again stretching out over the world. We are sitting in a fortress. Outside it is getting dark.\u2019 \u2018Gandalf has been saying many cheerful things like that,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018He thinks I need keeping in order. But it seems impossible, somehow, to feel gloomy or depressed in this place. I feel I could sing, if I knew the right song for the occasion.\u2019 \u2018I feel like singing myself,\u2019 laughed Frodo. \u2018Though at the moment I feel more like eating and drinking.\u2019 \u2018That will soon be cured,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018You have shown your usual cunning in getting up just in time for a meal.\u2019 \u2018More than a meal! A feast!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018As soon as Gandalf reported that you were recovered, the preparations began.\u2019 He had hardly finished speaking when they were summoned to the hall by the ringing of many bells."
    },
    {
        "text": "It seemed somehow the proper day on which to set out and follow him. Following Bilbo was uppermost in his mind, and the one thing that made the thought of leaving bearable. He thought as little as possible about the Ring, and where it might lead him in the end. But he did not tell all his thoughts to Gandalf. What the wizard guessed was always difficult to tell."
    },
    {
        "text": "At length they made up their minds to go on again. The path that had brought them to the hill reappeared on the northward side; but they had not followed it far before they became aware that it was bending steadily to the right. Soon it began to descend rapidly and they guessed that it must actually be heading towards the Withy- windle valley: not at all the direction they wished to take. After some discussion they decided to leave this misleading path and strike north- ward; for although they had not been able to see it from the hill-top, the Road must lie that way, and it could not be many miles off. Also northward, and to the left of the path, the land seemed to be drier and more open, climbing up to slopes where the trees were thinner, and pines and firs replaced the oaks and ashes and other strange and nameless trees of the denser wood."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hey there!\u2019 cried Tom, glancing towards him with a most seeing look in his shining eyes. \u2018Hey! Come Frodo, there! Where be you a-going? Old Tom Bombadil\u2019s not as blind as that yet. Take off your golden ring! Your hand\u2019s more fair without it. Come back! Leave your game and sit down beside me! We must talk a while more, and think about the morning. Tom must teach the right road, and keep your feet from wandering.\u2019 Frodo laughed (trying to feel pleased), and taking off the Ring he came and sat down again. Tom now told them that he reckoned the Sun would shine tomorrow, and it would be a glad morning, and setting out would be hopeful. But they would do well to start early; for weather in that country was a thing that even Tom could not be sure of for long, and it would change sometimes quicker than he could change his jacket. \u2018I am no weather-master,\u2019 said he; \u2018nor is aught that goes on two legs.\u2019 By his advice they decided to make nearly due North from his house, over the western and lower slopes of the Downs: they might hope in that way to strike the East Road in a day\u2019s journey, and avoid the Barrows. He told them not to be afraid \u2013 but to mind their own business.with hearts that never falter!\u2019 He said this more than once; and he advised them to pass barrows by on the west-side, if they chanced to stray near one. Then he taught them a rhyme to sing, if they should by ill-luck fall into any danger or difficulty the next day."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018My lord,\u2019 said the Warden, \u2018here is the Lady E\u00b4owyn of Rohan."
    },
    {
        "text": "He gripped tighter on the hilt of his sword and went on doggedly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Are we riding far tonight, Gandalf ?\u2019 asked Merry after a while. \u2018I don\u2019t know how you feel with small rag-tag dangling behind you; but the rag-tag is tired and will be glad to stop dangling and lie down.\u2019 \u2018So you heard that?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Don\u2019t let it rankle! Be thankful no longer words were aimed at you. He had his eyes on you. If it is any comfort to your pride, I should say that, at the moment, you and Pippin are more in his thoughts than all the rest of us. Who you are; how you came there, and why; what you know; whether you were captured, and if so, how you escaped when all the Orcs perished \u2013 it is with those little riddles that the great mind of Saruman is troubled. A sneer from him, Meriadoc, is a compliment, if you feel honoured by his concern.\u2019 \u2018Thank you!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018But it is a greater honour to dangle at your tail, Gandalf. For one thing, in that position one has a chance of putting a question a second time. Are we riding far tonight?\u2019 Gandalf laughed. \u2018A most unquenchable hobbit! All Wizardsgiven thought even to these simple matters. We will ride for a few hours, gently, until we come to the end of the valley. Tomorrow we must ride faster."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf did not look at Pippin or speak a word to him as they went. Their guide brought them from the doors of the hall, and then led them across the Court of the Fountain into a lane between tall buildings of stone. After several turns they came to a house close to the wall of the citadel upon the north side, not far from the shoulder that linked the hill with the mountain. Within, upon the first floor above the street, up a wide carven stair, he showed them to a fair room, light and airy, with goodly hangings of dull gold sheen unfigured. It was sparely furnished, having but a small table, two chairs and a bench; but at either side there were curtained alcovescurve of Anduin, still shrouded in mists, towards the Emyn Muil and Rauros far away. Pippin had to climb on the bench to look out over the deep stone sill."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And it seemed to me, too,\u2019 said Gimli, \u2018that my choice would remain secret and known only to myself.\u2019 \u2018To me it seemed exceedingly strange,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018Maybe 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.\u2019 But what he thought that the Lady had offered him Boromir did not tell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We need no further guidance,\u2019 said Elfhelm; \u2018for there are riders in the host who have ridden down to Mundburg in days of peace. I for one. When we come to the road it will veer south, and there will lie before us still seven leagues ere we reach the wall of the townlands."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am the Doorward of The\u00b4oden,\u2019 he said. \u2018Ha\u00b4ma is my name."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, my little ones!\u2019 said Grishna\u00b4kh in a soft whisper. \u2018Enjoying your nice rest? Or not? A little awkwardly placed perhaps: swords and whips on one side, and nasty spears on the other! Little people should not meddle in affairs that are too big for them.\u2019 His fingers continued to grope. There was a light like a pale but hot fire behind his eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "There beryl, pearl, and opal pale, And metal wrought like fishes\u2019 mail, Buckler and corslet, axe and sword, And shining spears were laid in hoard."
    },
    {
        "text": "They rode on, and evening deepened in the valley."
    },
    {
        "text": "Lights went out in house and hamlet as they came, and doors were shut, and folk that were afield cried in terror and ran wild like hunted deer. Ever there rose the same cry in the gathering night: \u2018The King of the Dead ! The King of the Dead is come upon us!\u2019 Bells were ringing far below, and all men fled before the face of Aragorn; but the Grey Company in their haste rode like hunters, until their horses were stumbling with weariness. And thus, just ere midnight, and in a darkness as black as the caverns in the mountains, they came at last to the Hill of Erech."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Sme\u00b4agol!\u2019 he said softly."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was not Sam, though, that gave you away this time, but Gandalf himself !\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Gandalf; \u2018for it will be better to ride back three together than one alone. Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.\u2019 Then Frodo kissed Merry and Pippin, and last of all Sam, and went aboard; and the sails were drawn up, and the wind blew, and slowly the ship slipped away down the long grey firth; and the light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore glimmered and was lost."
    },
    {
        "text": "So did the others."
    },
    {
        "text": "Right at the Balrog\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018When I read these words, my quest was ended. For the traced writing was indeed as Isildur guessed, in the tongue of Mordor and the servants of the Tower. And what was said therein was already known. For in the day that Sauron first put on the One, Celebrimbor, maker of the Three, was aware of him, and from afar he heard him speak these words, and so his evil purposes were revealed."
    },
    {
        "text": "The riders made no sound. Later in the night when the moon came out of the mist, then occasionally they could be seen, shadowy shapes that glinted now and again in the white light, as they moved in ceaseless patrol."
    },
    {
        "text": "At length they were once more aware of a wall looming up, and once more a stairway opened before them. Again they halted, and again they began to climb. It was a long and weary ascent; but thisit. At one point it crawled sideways right to the edge of the dark chasm, and Frodo glancing down saw below him as a vast deep pit the great ravine at the head of the Morgul Valley. Down in its depths glimmered like a glow-worm thread the wraith-road from the dead city to the Nameless Pass. He turned hastily away."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There was no need. He halted just by us and looked down at us."
    },
    {
        "text": "And behold! there lay his weapon, but the blade was smoking like a dry branch that has been thrust in a fire; and as he watched it, it writhed and withered and was consumed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then unslinging his pack he laid it on the floor. He drew Sting from its sheath. Hardly a flicker was to be seen upon its blade. \u2018I was forgetting this, Mr. Frodo,\u2019 he said. \u2018No, they didn\u2019t get everything! You lent me Sting, if you remember, and the Lady\u2019s glass. I\u2019ve got them both still. But lend them to me a little longer, Mr. Frodo. I must go and see what I can find. You stay here. Walk about a bit and ease your legs. I shan\u2019t be long. I shan\u2019t have to go far.\u2019 \u2018Take care, Sam!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018And be quick! There may be orcs still alive, lurking in wait.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ve got to chance it,\u2019 said Sam. He stepped to the trap-door and slipped down the ladder. In a minute his head reappeared. He threw a long knife on the floor."
    },
    {
        "text": "S\u00b4\u0131 man i yulma nin enquantuva? An s\u00b4\u0131 Tintalle\u00a8 Varda Oiolosse\u00a8o ve fanyar ma\u00b4ryat Elenta\u00b4ri ortane\u00a8, ar ilye\u00a8 tier undula\u00b4ve\u00a8 lumbule\u00a8; ar sindano\u00b4riello caita mornie\u00a8 i falmalinnar imbe\u00a8 met, ar h\u00b4\u0131sie\u00a8Nama\u00b4rie\u00a8! Nai hiruvalye\u00a8 Valimar."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 uncomfort- able 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "And then he came and questioned me; and he looked at me, and, and, that is all I remember.\u2019 \u2018That won\u2019t do,\u2019 said Gandalf sternly. \u2018What did you see, and what did you say?\u2019 Pippin shut his eyes and shivered, but said nothing. They all stared at him in silence, except Merry who turned away. But Gandalf \u2019s face was still hard. \u2018Speak!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly Gimli, who had pressed on ahead, called back to them."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019in. \u2018It is not the way of the Men of Minas Tirith to desert their friends at need,\u2019 he said, \u2018and 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.\u2019 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 water beyond the Rapids."
    },
    {
        "text": "He found that a small brand, burning away to its outer end, had kindled some fern at the edge of the fire, and the fern blazing up had set the turves smouldering. Hastily he stamped out what was left of the fire, scattered the ashes, and laid the turves on the hole. Then he crept back to Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Enemy?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Then you know why I am leaving the Shire?\u2019 \u2018I do not know for what reason the Enemy is pursuing you,\u2019 answered Gildor; \u2018but I perceive that he is \u2013 strange indeed though that seems to me. And I warn you that peril is now both before you and behind you, and upon either side.\u2019 \u2018You mean the Riders? I feared that they were servants of the Enemy. What are the Black Riders?\u2019 \u2018Has Gandalf told you nothing?\u2019 \u2018Nothing about such creatures.\u2019 \u2018Then I think it is not for me to say more \u2013 lest terror should keep you from your journey. For it seems to me that you have set out only just in time, if indeed you are in time. You must now make haste, and neither stay nor turn back; for the Shire is no longer any protection to you.\u2019 \u2018I cannot imagine what information could be more terrifying than your hints and warnings,\u2019 exclaimed Frodo. \u2018I knew that danger lay ahead, of course; but I did not expect to meet it in our own Shire."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 He turned and climbed swiftly down, and they followed him."
    },
    {
        "text": "To the pine-trees upon the highland of Dorthonion I climbed in the Winter."
    },
    {
        "text": "Already in this southern land they were blushing red at their finger- tips, feeling the approach of spring. Over the stream there was a ford between low banks much trampled by the passage of horses. The travellers passed over and came upon a wide rutted track leading towards the uplands."
    },
    {
        "text": "They went first along a black passage, then up many wet steps, and so came to a small flat landing cut in the stone and lit by the pale sky, gleaming high above through a long deep shaft. From here two flights of steps led: one going on, as it seemed, up on to the high bank of the stream; the other turning away to the left. This they followed. It wound its way up like a turret-stair."
    },
    {
        "text": "You have naught to fear from us, until your errand is done. But unless your master has come to new wisdom, then with all his servants you will be in great peril.\u2019 \u2018So!\u2019 said the Messenger. \u2018Then thou art the spokesman, old grey- beard? Have we not heard of thee at whiles, and of thy wanderings, ever hatching plots and mischief at a safe distance? But this time thou hast stuck out thy nose too far, Master Gandalf; and thou shalt see what comes to him who sets his foolish webs before the feet of Sauron the Great. I have tokens that I was bidden to show to thee \u2013 to thee in especial, if thou shouldst dare to come.\u2019 He signed to one of his guards, and he came forward bearing a bundle swathed in black cloths."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018All the \u2018\u2018great secrets\u2019\u2019 under the mountains had turned out to be just empty night: there was nothing more to find out, nothing worth doing, only nasty furtive eating and resentful remembering."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Strider the Ranger has come back!\u2019 \u2018He has never been away,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018I am Strider and Du\u00b4na- dan too, and I belong both to Gondor and the North.\u2019 They smoked in silence for a while, and the sun shone on them; slanting into the valley from among white clouds high in the West."
    },
    {
        "text": "Don\u2019t think I could crawl away far, even if I was free.\u2019 \u2018Lembas!\u2019 whispered Pippin. \u2018Lembas: I\u2019ve got some. Have you? I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve taken anything but our swords.\u2019 \u2018Yes, I had a packet in my pocket,\u2019 answered Merry, \u2018but it must be battered to crumbs. Anyway I can\u2019t put my mouth in my pocket!\u2019 \u2018You won\u2019t have to. I\u2019ve\u2014\u2014\u2019; but just then a savage kick warned Pippin that the noise had died down, and the guards were watchful."
    },
    {
        "text": "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. \u2018I will do now what I must,\u2019 he said. \u2018This 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 yearns for Minas Tirith, and he willbeneededthere,nowBoromirhasfallenintoevil.Iwillgoalone.Boromir had found him. Then he halted, listening. He thought he could hear cries and calls from the woods near the shore below."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Huorns will help,\u2019\u2019 said Treebeard. Then he went away and we did not see him again until this morning."
    },
    {
        "text": "Most inconveniently it cut across the line they had chosen. They could not jump over it, nor indeed get across it at all without getting wet, scratched, and muddy. They halted, wondering what to do."
    },
    {
        "text": "The dark shadow had passed, and a fair vision had visited him in this land of disease. Nothing remained of it in his memory, yet because of it he felt glad and lighter of heart. His burden was less heavy on him. Gollum welcomed him with dog-like delight. He chuckled and chattered, cracking his long fingers, and pawing at Frodo\u2019s knees."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He is bold and cunning. Even now he plays a game with peril and wins a throw. Hours of my precious time he has wasted already."
    },
    {
        "text": "There\u2019s something still alive in that place, something with eyes, or aFrodo raised his head, and then stood up. Despair had not left him, but the weakness had passed. He even smiled grimly, feeling now as clearly as a moment before he had felt the opposite, that what he had to do, he had to do, if he could, and that whether Faramir or Aragorn or Elrond or Galadriel or Gandalf or anyone else ever knew about it was beside the purpose. He took his staff in one hand and the phial in his other. When he saw that the clear light was already welling through his fingers, he thrust it into his bosom and held it against his heart. Then turning from the city of Morgul, now no more than a grey glimmer across a dark gulf, he prepared to take the upward road."
    },
    {
        "text": "With horns in my mouth I walk in the South, Flapping big ears."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You\u2019ll find his will and all the other documents in there, I think,\u2019 said the wizard. \u2018You are the master of Bag End now. And also, I fancy, you\u2019ll find a golden ring.\u2019 \u2018The ring!\u2019 exclaimed Frodo. \u2018Has he left me that? I wonder why."
    },
    {
        "text": "But that\u2019s a long tale, of course, and goes on past the happiness and into grief and beyond it \u2013 and the Silmaril went on and came to Ea\u00a8rendil. And why, sir, I never thought of that before! We\u2019ve got \u2013 you\u2019ve got some of the light of it in that star-glass that the Lady gave you! Why, to think of it, we\u2019re in the same tale still! It\u2019s going on."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hullo, Sam!\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry himself slew the leader, a great squint-eyed brute like a hugeAt last all was over. Nearly seventy of the ruffians lay dead on the field, and a dozen were prisoners. Nineteen hobbits were killed, and some thirty were wounded. The dead ruffians were laden on waggons and hauled off to an old sand-pit nearby and there buried: in the Battle Pit, as it was afterwards called. The fallen hobbits were laid together in a grave on the hill-side, where later a great stone was set up with a garden about it. So ended the Battle of Bywater, 1419, the last battle fought in the Shire, and the only battle since the Greenfields, 1147, away up in the Northfarthing. In consequence, though it happily cost very few lives, it has a chapter to itself in the Red Book, and the names of all those who took part were made into a Roll, and learned by heart by Shire-historians. The very consider- able rise in the fame and fortune of the Cottons dates from this time; but at the top of the Roll in all accounts stand the names of Captains Meriadoc and Peregrin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So you have come to gloat too, have you, my urchins?\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Company now mounted again, and Gimli returned to Leg- olas. They rode in file, and evening came on and a deep blue dusk; and still fear pursued them. Legolas turning to speak to Gimli looked back and the Dwarf saw before his face the glitter in the Elf \u2019s bright eyes. Behind them rode Elladan, last of the Company, but not the last of those that took the downward road."
    },
    {
        "text": "And to him there is no purpose higher in the world as it now stands than the good of Gondor; and the rule of Gondor, my lord, is mine and no other man\u2019s, unless the king should come again.\u2019 \u2018Unless the king should come again?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Well, my lord Steward, it is your task to keep some kingdom still against that event, which few now look to see. In that task you shall have all the aid that you are pleased to ask for. But I will say this: the rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor nor any other, great or small. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The valley of Minas Morgul passed into evil very long ago, and it was a menace and a dread while the banished Enemy dwelt yet far away, and Ithilien was still for the most part in our keeping. As you know, that city was once a strong place, proud and fair, Minas Ithil, the twin sister of our own city. But it was taken by fell men whom the Enemy in his first strength had dominated, and who wandered homeless and masterless after his fall. It is said that their lords were men of Nu\u00b4menor who had fallen into dark wickedness; to them the Enemy had given rings of power, and he had devoured them: living ghosts they were become, terrible and evil. After his going they took Minas Ithil and dwelt there, and they filled it, and all the valley about, with decay: it seemed empty and was not so, for a shapeless fear lived within the ruined walls. Nine Lords there were, and after the return of their Master, which they aided and prepared in secret, they grew strong again. Then the Nine Riders issued forth from the gates of horror, and we could not withstand them. Do not approach their citadel. You will be espied. It is a place of sleepless malice, full of lidless eyes. Do not go that way!\u2019 \u2018But where else will you direct me?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018You cannot yourself, you say, guide me to the mountains, nor over them. But over the mountains I am bound, by solemn undertaking to the Council, to find a way or perish in the seeking. And if I turn back, refusing the road in its bitter end, where then shall I go among Elves or Men? Would you have me come to Gondor with this Thing, the Thing that drove your brother mad with desire? What spell would it work in Minas Tirith? Shall there be two cities of Minas Morgul, grinning at each other across a dead land filled with rottenness?\u2019\u2018I know not. Only I would not have you go to death or to torment."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Wicked masster!\u2019 it hissed. \u2018Wicked masster cheats us; cheats Sme\u00b4agol, gollum. He musstn\u2019t go that way. He musstn\u2019t hurt Pre- ciouss. Give it to Sme\u00b4agol, yess, give it to us! Give it to uss!\u2019 With a violent heave Sam rose up. At once he drew his sword; but he could do nothing. Gollum and Frodo were locked together."
    },
    {
        "text": "There is always a fire here, all the year round, but there is little other light.\u2019 As Elrond entered and went towards the seat prepared for him, Elvish minstrels began to make sweet music. Slowly the hall filled, and Frodo looked with delight upon the many fair faces that were gathered together; the golden firelight played upon them and shim- mered in their hair. Suddenly he noticed, not far from the further end of the fire, a small dark figure seated on a stool with his back propped against a pillar. Beside him on the ground was a drinking-cup and some bread. Frodo wondered whether he was ill (if people were ever ill in Rivendell), and had been unable to come to the feast. His head seemed sunk in sleep on his breast, and a fold of his dark cloak was drawn over his face."
    },
    {
        "text": "His heart is as rotten as a black Huorn\u2019s. Still, if I were overcome and all my trees destroyed, I would not come while I had one dark hole left to hide in.\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But you have not plotted to cover all the world with your trees and choke all other living things. But there it is, Saruman remains to nurse his hatred and weave again such webs as he can. He has the Key of Orthanc. But he must not be allowed to escape.\u2019 \u2018Indeed no! Ents will see to that,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018Saruman shall not set foot beyond the rock, without my leave. Ents will watch overturn to other matters with one care the less. But you must be wary."
    },
    {
        "text": "There, choosing a gap between the watchers, he passed like an evil shadow out into the night, down the slope and away westward towards the river that flowed out of the forest. In that direction there was a wide open space with only one fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "He took off the Ring, moved it may be by some deep premonition of danger, though to himself he thought only that he wished to see more clearly. \u2018Better have a look at the worst,\u2019 he muttered. \u2018No good blundering about in a fog!\u2019 Hard and cruel and bitter was the land that met his gaze. Before his feet the highest ridge of the Ephel Du\u00b4 ath fell steeply in great cliffs down into a dark trough, on the further side of which there rose another ridge, much lower, its edge notched and jagged with crags like fangs that stood out black against the red light behind them: it was the grim Morgai, the inner ring of the fences of the land. Far beyond it, but almost straight ahead, across a wide lake of darkness dotted with tiny fires, there was a great burning glow; and from it rose in huge columns a swirling smoke, dusty red at the roots, black above where it merged into the billowing canopy that roofed in all the accursed land."
    },
    {
        "text": "Still, I should have liked to see the songs come true about the Entwives. I should dearly have liked to see Fimbrethil again. But there, my friends, songs like trees bear fruit only in their own time and their own way: and sometimes they are withered untimely.\u2019 The Ents went striding on at a great pace. They had descended intoalongfoldofthelandthatfellawaysouthward;nowtheybeganslopes where only a few gaunt pine-trees grew. The sun sank behind the dark hill-back in front. Grey dusk fell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What are they? And where has Strider, I mean the Lord Aragorn, where has he gone?\u2019 The king sighed, but no one answered, until at last E\u00b4omer spoke."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, Frodo, now at last we understand one another,\u2019 said Fara- mir. \u2018If you took this thing on yourself, unwilling, at others\u2019 asking, then you have pity and honour from me. And I marvel at you: to keep it hid and not to use it. You are a new people and a new world to me. Are all your kin of like sort? Your land must be a realm of peace and content, and there must gardeners be in high honour.\u2019 \u2018Not all is well there,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018but certainly gardeners are honoured.\u2019 \u2018But folk must grow weary there, even in their gardens, as do all things under the Sun of this world. And you are far from home and wayworn. No more tonight. Sleep, both of you \u2013 in peace, if you can. Fear not! I do not wish to see it, or touch it, or know more ofbut first tell me only, if you will, whither you wish to go, and what to do. For I must watch, and wait, and think. Time passes. In the morning we must each go swiftly on the ways appointed to us.\u2019 Frodo had felt himself trembling as the first shock of fear passed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Its dark hurrying waters ran across the path before them, and joinedmade 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 feet, for it is said that the water is healing to the weary.\u2019 He went forward and climbed down the deep- cloven bank and stepped into the stream."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So it has been for many lives of men. But the Lords of Minas Tirith still fight on, defying our enemies, keeping the passage of the River from Argonath to the Sea. And now that part of the tale that I shall tell is drawn to its close. For in the days of Isildur the Ruling Ring passed out of all knowledge, and the Three were released from its dominion. But now in this latter day they are in peril once more, for to our sorrow the One has been found. Others shall speak of its finding, for in that I played small part.\u2019 He ceased, but at once Boromir stood up, tall and proud, before them. \u2018Give me leave, Master Elrond,\u2019 said he, \u2018first to say more of Gondor, for verily from the land of Gondor I am come. And it would be well for all to know what passes there. For few, I deem, know of our deeds, and therefore guess little at their peril, if we should fail at last."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 Lo\u00b4rien, 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.\u2019\u2018And what gift would a Dwarf ask of the Elves?\u2019 said Galadriel, turning to Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018This is become a dreary place,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018What sickness has befallen the river? Many fair things Saruman has destroyed: has he devoured the springs of Isen too?\u2019 \u2018So it would seem,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "He looked up and gave one last pull to the rope as if in farewell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I endured him as long as I could, but the truth was desperately important, and in the end I had to be harsh. I put the fear of fire on him, and wrung the true story out of him, bit by bit, together with much snivelling and snarling. He thought he was misunderstood and ill-used. But when he had at last told me his history, as far as the end of the Riddle-game and Bilbo\u2019s escape, he would not say any more, except in dark hints. Some other fear was on him greater than mine. He muttered that he was going to get his own back. People would see if he would stand being kicked, and driven into a hole and then robbed. Gollum had good friends now, good friends and very strong. They would help him. Baggins would pay for it. That was his chief thought. He hated Bilbo and cursed his name. What is more, he knew where he came from.\u2019 \u2018But how did he find that out?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 of churning water came up from far below, as if some great mill-wheel was turning in the depths."
    },
    {
        "text": "Night under Night is flown, and the Gate is open! To Frodo\u2019s great joy the hobbits stirred, stretched their arms, rubbed their eyes, and then suddenly sprang up. They looked about in amazement, first at Frodo, and then at Tom standing large as life on the barrow-top above them; and then at themselves in their thin white rags, crowned and belted with pale gold, and jingling with trinkets."
    },
    {
        "text": "He wished this thing brought to Minas Tirith. Alas! it is a crooked fate that seals your lips who saw him last, and holds from me that which I long to know: what was in his heart and thought in his latest hours. Whether he erred or no, of this I am sure: he died well, achieving some good thing. His face was more beautiful even than in life."
    },
    {
        "text": "And your friend is gone, who should also be here. But it may be long ere we sit, you and I, at the high table in Meduseld; there will be no time for feasting when I return thither. But come now! Eat and drink, and let us speak together while we may. And then you shall ride with me.\u2019 \u2018May I?\u2019 said Merry, surprised and delighted. \u2018That would be splendid!\u2019 He had never felt more grateful for any kindness in words."
    },
    {
        "text": "At first he could see nothing. In his great need he drew out once more the phial of Galadriel, but it was pale and cold in his trembling hand and threw no light into that stifling dark. He was come to the heart of the realm of Sauron and the forges of his ancient might, greatest in Middle-earth; all other powers were here subdued. Fear- fully he took a few uncertain steps in the dark, and then all at once there came a flash of red that leaped upward, and smote the high black roof. Then Sam saw that he was in a long cave or tunnel that bored into the Mountain\u2019s smoking cone. But only a short way ahead its floor and the walls on either side were cloven by a great fissure, out of which the red glare came, now leaping up, now dying down into darkness; and all the while far below there was a rumour and a trouble as of great engines throbbing and labouring."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I should think you were making it all up,\u2019 said Merry, \u2018if I had not seen that black shape on the landing-stage \u2013 and heard the queer sound in Maggot\u2019s voice. What do you make of it all, Frodo?\u2019 \u2018Cousin Frodo has been very close,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018But the time has come for him to open out. So far we have been given nothing more\u2018That was only a guess,\u2019 said Frodo hastily. \u2018Maggot does not know anything.\u2019 \u2018Old Maggot is a shrewd fellow,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018A lot goes on behind his round face that does not come out in his talk. I\u2019ve heard that he used to go into the Old Forest at one time, and he has the reputation of knowing a good many strange things. But you can at least tell us, Frodo, whether you think his guess good or bad.\u2019 \u2018I think,\u2019 answered Frodo slowly, \u2018that it was a good guess, as far as it goes. There is a connexion with Bilbo\u2019s old adventures, and the Riders are looking, or perhaps one ought to say searching, for him or for me. I also fear, if you want to know, that it is no joke at all; and that I am not safe here or anywhere else.\u2019 He looked round at the windows and walls, as if he was afraid they would suddenly give way."
    },
    {
        "text": "When you came north, Boromir, you were in the Enemy\u2019s 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\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Have you got it here?\u2019 he asked in a whisper. \u2018I can\u2019t help feeling curious, you know, after all I\u2019ve heard. I should very much like just to peep at it again.\u2019 \u2018Yes, I\u2019ve got it,\u2019 answered Frodo, feeling a strange reluctance. \u2018It looks just the same as ever it did.\u2019 \u2018Well, I should just like to see it for a moment,\u2019 said Bilbo."
    },
    {
        "text": "The landlord keeps a little dog that is mighty fond of jokes; When there\u2019s good cheer among the guests, He cocks an ear at all the jests and laughs until he chokes."
    },
    {
        "text": "And while The\u00b4oden went by slow paths in the hills, the Grey Company passed swiftly over the plain, and on the next day in the afternoon they came to Edoras; and there they halted only briefly, ere they passed up the valley, and so came to Dunharrow as darkness fell."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Twice you have borne me, Gwaihir my friend,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "They rode now at an easy pace and dark came down upon the plains about them. The slow moon mounted, now waxing towards the full, and in its cold silver light the swelling grass-lands rose and fell like a wide grey sea. They had ridden for some four hours from the branching of the roads when they drew near to the Fords. Long slopes ran swiftly down to where the river spread in stony shoals between high grassy terraces. Borne upon the wind they heard the howling of wolves. Their hearts were heavy, remembering the many men that had fallen in battle in this place."
    },
    {
        "text": "In Imladris it dwells."
    },
    {
        "text": "There sat many men in bright mail, who sprang at once to their feet and barred the way with spears. \u2018Stay, strangers here unknown!\u2019 they cried in the tongue of the Riddermark, demanding the names and errand of the strangers. Wonder was in their eyes but little friend- liness; and they looked darkly upon Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am Gildor,\u2019 answered their leader, the Elf who had first hailed him. \u2018Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod. We are Exiles, and most of our kindred have long ago departed and we too are now only tarrying here a while, ere we return over the Great Sea. But some of our kinsfolk dwell still in peace in Rivendell. Come now, Frodo, tell us what you are doing? For we see that there is some shadow of fear upon you.\u2019 \u2018O Wise People!\u2019 interrupted Pippin eagerly. \u2018Tell us about the Black Riders!\u2019 \u2018Black Riders?\u2019 they said in low voices. \u2018Why do you ask about Black Riders?\u2019 \u2018Because two Black Riders have overtaken us today, or one has done so twice,\u2019 said Pippin; \u2018only a little while ago he slipped away as you drew near.\u2019 The Elves did not answer at once, but spoke together softly in their own tongue. At length Gildor turned to the hobbits. \u2018We will not speak of this here,\u2019 he said. \u2018We think you had best come now with us. It is not our custom, but for this time we will take you on our road, and you shall lodge with us tonight, if you will.\u2019Frodo bowing. \u2018Elen s\u00b4\u0131la lu\u00b4menn\u2019 omentielvo, a star shines on the hour of our meeting,\u2019 he added in the High-elven speech."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I suppose I was knocked on the head,\u2019 he said to himself. \u2018I wonder if poor Merry is much hurt. What has happened to Boromir? Whydidn\u2019ttheOrcskillus?Wherearewe,andwherearewegoing?\u2019\u2018What good have I been? Just a nuisance: a passenger, a piece of luggage. And now I have been stolen and I am just a piece of luggage for the Orcs. I hope Strider or someone will come and claim us! But ought I to hope for it? Won\u2019t that throw out all the plans? I wish I could get free!\u2019 He struggled a little, quite uselessly. One of the Orcs sitting near laughed and said something to a companion in their abominable tongue. \u2018Rest while you can, little fool!\u2019 he said then to Pippin, in the Common Speech, which he made almost as hideous as his own language. \u2018Rest while you can! We\u2019ll find a use for your legs before long. You\u2019ll wish you had got none before we get home.\u2019 \u2018If I had my way, you\u2019d wish you were dead now,\u2019 said the other."
    },
    {
        "text": "I think Gandalf might have shown me round a bit. But then the auction would have been over before I got back, and I should have had even more trouble than I did. Anyway it\u2019s too late now; and really I think it\u2019s much more comfortable to sit here and hear about it all. The fire\u2019s very cosy here, and the food\u2019s very good, and there are Elves when you want them. What more could one want? The Road goes ever on and on Out from the door where it began."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 she said. \u2018I do not counsel you one way or the other. I am not a counsellor. You may learn something, and 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!\u2019 \u2018I will look,\u2019 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 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\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Uglu\u00b4k dashed off to stop a stampede."
    },
    {
        "text": "To the centre all the roads ran between their chains. There stood a tower of marvellous shape. It was fashioned by the builders of old, who smoothed the Ring of Isengard, and yet it seemed a thing not made by the craft of Men, but riven from the bones of the earth in the ancient torment of the hills. A peak and isle of rock it was, black and gleaming hard: four mighty piers of many-sided stone were welded into one, but near the summit they opened into gaping horns, their pinnacles sharp as the points of spears, keen-edged as knives."
    },
    {
        "text": "They had drawn their knives and swords, but hesitated to attack Uglu\u00b4k."
    },
    {
        "text": "Either because they were quicker and hardier, or because of some plan of Grishna\u00b4kh\u2019s, the Isengarders gradually passed through the Orcs of Mordor, and Grishna\u00b4kh\u2019s folk closed in behind. Soon they were gaining also on the Northerners ahead. The forest began to draw nearer."
    },
    {
        "text": "Immediately afterwards Haldir came climbing swiftly up through the branches. \u2018There was something in this tree that I have never seen before,\u2019 he said. \u2018It 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He shrugged his shoulders."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Gandalf said: \u2018Let us not stay at the door, for the time is urgent. Let us enter! For it is only in the coming of Aragorn that any hope remains for the sick that lie in the House. Thus spake Ioreth, wise-woman of Gondor: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.\u2019the other scarce the height of a boy; and when he saw them he cried aloud in surprise and joy."
    },
    {
        "text": "As it went it sent out a long shrill cry, the voice of a Nazgu\u02c6 l; but this cry no longer held any terror for them: it was a cry of woe and dismay, ill tidings for the Dark Tower. The Lord of the Ringwraiths had met his doom."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Easy it is now to guess how quickly the roving eye of Saruman was trapped and held; and how ever since he has been persuaded from afar, and daunted when persuasion would not serve. The biter bit, the hawk under the eagle\u2019s foot, the spider in a steel web! How long, I wonder, has he been constrained to come often to his glass for inspection and instruction, and the Orthanc-stone so bent towards Barad-du\u02c6r that, if any save a will of adamant now looks into it, it will bear his mind and sight swiftly thither? And how it draws one to itself ! Have I not felt it? Even now my heart desires to test my will upon it, to see if I could not wrench it from him and turn it where I would \u2013 to look across the wide seas of water and of time to Tirion the Fair, and perceive the unimaginable hand and mind of Fe\u00a8anor at their work, while both the White Tree and the Golden were in flower!\u2019 He sighed and fell silent."
    },
    {
        "text": "I heard you shout \u2018\u2018messenger of Mordor\u2019\u2019. What was it? What could it do at Isengard?\u2019 \u2018It was a Black Rider on wings, a Nazgu\u02c6 l,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018It could have taken you away to the Dark Tower.\u2019 \u2018But it was not coming for me, was it?\u2019 faltered Pippin. \u2018I mean, it didn\u2019t know that I had . . .\u2019 \u2018Of course not,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018It is two hundred leagues or more in straight flight from Barad-du\u02c6r to Orthanc, and even a Nazgu\u02c6l would take a few hours to fly between them. But Saruman certainly looked in the Stone since the orc-raid, and more of his secret thought, I do not doubt, has been read than he intended. A messenger has been sent to find out what he is doing. And after what has happened tonight another will come, I think, and swiftly. So Saruman will come to the last pinch of the vice that he has put his hand in. He has no captive to send. He has no Stone to see with, and cannot answer the summons. Sauron will only believe that he is withholding the captive and refusing to use the Stone. It will not help Saruman to tell the truth to the messenger. For Isengard may be ruined, yet he is still safe in Orthanc. So whether he will or no, he will appear a rebel. Yet he rejected us, so as to avoid that very thing! What he will do in such a plight, I cannot guess. He has power still, I think, while in Orthanc, to resist the Nine Riders. He may try to do so. He may try to trap the Nazgu\u02c6l, or at least to slay the thing on which it now rides the air. In that case let Rohan look to its horses! \u2018But I cannot tell how it will fall out, well or ill for us. It may be that the counsels of the Enemy will be confused, or hindered by his wrath with Saruman. It may be that he will learn that I was therewas not deceived by the armour of Rohan, he would remember Aragorn and the title that he claimed. That is what I fear. And so we fly \u2013 not from danger but into greater danger. Every stride of Shadowfax bears you nearer to the Land of Shadow, Peregrin Took.\u2019 Pippin made no answer, but clutched his cloak, as if a sudden chill had struck him. Grey land passed under them."
    },
    {
        "text": "South and west it looked towards the warm lower vales of Anduin, shielded from the east by the Ephel Du\u00b4ath and yet not under the mountain-shadow, protected from the north by the Emyn Muil, open to the southern airs and the moist winds from the Sea far away. Many great trees grew there, planted long ago, falling into untended age amid a riot of careless descendants; and groves and thickets there were of tamarisk and pungent terebinth, of olive and of bay; and there were junipers and myrtles; and thymes that grew in bushes, or with their woody creeping stems mantled in deep tapestries the hidden stones; sages of many kinds putting forth blue flowers, or red, or pale green; and marjorams and new-sprouting parsleys, and many herbs of forms and scents beyond the garden-lore of Sam. The grots and rocky walls were already starred with saxifrages and stonecrops."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Friends have laboured here.\u2019 And they saw that in the midst of the eyot a mound was piled, ringed with stones, and set about with many spears."
    },
    {
        "text": "Down, snake!\u2019 he said suddenly in a terrible voice. \u2018Down on your belly! How long is it since Saruman bought you? What was the promised price? When all the men were dead, you were to pick your share of the treasure, and take the woman you desire? Too long have you watched her under your eyelids and haunted her steps.\u2019 E\u00b4 omer grasped his sword. \u2018That I knew already,\u2019 he muttered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then the Greenway will be opened again, and his messengers will come north, and there will be comings and goings, and the evil things will be driven out of the waste-lands. Indeed the waste in time will be waste no longer, and there will be people and fields where once there was wilderness.\u2019 Mr. Butterbur shook his head. \u2018If there\u2019s a few decent respectable folk on the roads, that won\u2019t do no harm,\u2019 he said. \u2018But we don\u2019t want no more rabble and ruffians. And we don\u2019t want no outsiders at Bree, nor near Bree at all. We want to be let alone. I don\u2019t want a whole crowd o\u2019 strangers camping here and settling there and tear- ing up the wild country.\u2019 \u2018You will be let alone, Barliman,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018There is room enough for realms between Isen and Greyflood, or along the shore- lands south of the Brandywine, without anyone living within many days\u2019 ride of Bree. And many folk used to dwell away north, a hundred miles or more from here, at the far end of the Greenway: on the North Downs or by Lake Evendim.\u2019 \u2018Up away by Deadmen\u2019s Dike?\u2019 said Butterbur, looking even more dubious. \u2018That\u2019s haunted land, they say. None but a robber would go there.\u2019 \u2018The Rangers go there,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Deadmen\u2019s Dike, you say."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Why doesn\u2019t Gandalf do something quick?\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "It is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain."
    },
    {
        "text": "And what is more, the Bridge and the East Road near the borders will certainly be watched, whether any Rider gets into Buckland or not. We don\u2019t know how many there are; but there are at least two, and possibly more. The only thing to do is to go off in a quite unexpected direction.\u2019 \u2018But that can only mean going into the Old Forest!\u2019 said Fredegar horrified. \u2018You can\u2019t be thinking of doing that. It is quite as dangerous as Black Riders.\u2019 \u2018Not quite,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018It sounds very desperate, but I believe Frodo is right. It is the only way of getting off without being followed at once. With luck we might get a considerable start.\u2019 \u2018But you won\u2019t have any luck in the Old Forest,\u2019 objected Fredegar."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He has been much occupied. Our orders came from Treebeard, who has taken over the management of Isengard. He commanded me to welcome the Lord of Rohan with fitting words. I have done my best.\u2019 \u2018And what about your companions? What about Legolas and me?\u2019 cried Gimli, unable to contain himself longer. \u2018You rascals, you woolly-footed and wool-pated truants! A fine hunt you have led us! Two hundred leagues, through fen and forest, battle and death, to rescue you! And here we find you feasting and idling \u2013 and smoking! Smoking! Where did you come by the weed, you villains? Hammer and tongs! I am so torn between rage and joy, that if I do not burst, it will be a marvel!\u2019 \u2018You speak for me, Gimli,\u2019 laughed Legolas. \u2018Though I would sooner learn how they came by the wine.\u2019 \u2018One thing you have not found in your hunting, and that\u2019s brighter wits,\u2019 said Pippin, opening an eye. \u2018Here you find us sitting on a field of victory, amid the plunder of armies, and you wonder how we came by a few well-earned comforts!\u2019 \u2018Well-earned?\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018I cannot believe that!\u2019 The Riders laughed. \u2018It cannot be doubted that we witness the meeting of dear friends,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018So these are the lost ones of your company, Gandalf ? The days are fated to be filled with marvels. Already I have seen many since I left my house; and now here before my eyes stand yet another of the folk of legend. Are not these the Halflings, that some among us call the Holbytlan?\u2019 \u2018Hobbits, if you please, lord,\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Take this, dear lord!\u2019 said a clear voice. \u2018It was ever at your service.\u2019 Two men had come softly up the stair and stood now a few steps from the top. E\u00b4 omer was there. No helm was on his head, no mail was on his breast, but in his hand he held a drawn sword; and as he knelt he offered the hilt to his master."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then the vision passed and Sam saw Frodo standing, hand on breast, his breath coming in great gasps, and Gollum at his feet, resting on his knees with his wide-splayed hands upon the ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Who sent you to Frogmorton?\u2019 \u2018No one did. We stay here in the big Shirriff-house. We\u2019re the First Eastfarthing Troop now. There\u2019s hundreds of Shirriffs all told, and they want more, with all these new rules. Most of them are in it against their will, but not all. Even in the Shire there are some as like minding other folk\u2019s business and talking big. And there\u2019s worse than that: there\u2019s a few as do spy-work for the Chief and his Men.\u2019 \u2018Ah! So that\u2019s how you had news of us, is it?\u2019 \u2018That\u2019s right. We aren\u2019t allowed to send by it now, but they use the old Quick Post service, and keep special runners at different points. One came in from Whitfurrows last night with a \u2018\u2018secret mes- sage\u2019\u2019, and another took it on from here. And a message came back this afternoon saying you was to be arrested and taken to Bywater,\u2018He won\u2019t be so eager when Mr. Frodo has finished with him,\u2019 said Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "It went on raining."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Company of the Ring shall be Nine; and the Nine Walkers shall be set against the Nine Riders that are evil. With you and your faithful servant, Gandalf will go; for this shall be his great task, and maybe the end of his labours.Gimli son of Glo\u00b4 in for the Dwarves. They are willing to go at least to the passes of the Mountains, and maybe beyond. For men you shall have Aragorn son of Arathorn, for the Ring of Isildur concerns him closely.\u2019 \u2018Strider!\u2019 cried Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It takes a lot o\u2019 believing,\u2019 said the Gaffer, \u2018though I can see he\u2019s been mixing in strange company. What\u2019s come of his weskit? I don\u2019t hold with wearing ironmongery, whether it wears well or no.\u2019 Farmer Cotton\u2019s household and all his guests were up early next morning. Nothing had been heard in the night, but more trouble would certainly come before the day was old. \u2018Seems as if none o\u2019 the ruffians were left up at Bag End,\u2019 said Cotton; \u2018but the gang from Waymeet will be along any time now.\u2019 After breakfast a messenger from the Tookland rode in. He was in high spirits. \u2018The Thain has raised all our country,\u2019 he said, \u2018and the news is going like fire all ways. The ruffians that were watching our land have fled off south, those that escaped alive. The Thain has gone after them, to hold off the big gang down that way; but he\u2019s sent Mr. Peregrin back with all the other folk he can spare.\u2019 The next news was less good. Merry, who had been out all night, came riding in about ten o\u2019clock. \u2018There\u2019s a big band about four miles away,\u2019 he said. \u2018They\u2019re coming along the road from Waymeet, but a good many stray ruffians have joined up with them. There must be close on a hundred of them; and they\u2019re fire-raising as they come."
    },
    {
        "text": "No cheers. This was ridiculous. Many of the guests, and especially the Sackville-Bagginses, were insulted, feeling sure they had only been asked to fill up the required number, like goods in a package."
    },
    {
        "text": "While they were halted, the wind died down, and the snow slack- ened 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.that they could not go much further, if the snow continued. Frodo\u2019s feet felt like lead. Pippin was dragging behind. Even Gimli, as stout as any dwarf could be, was grumbling as he trudged."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well met, I say again!\u2019 said the old man, coming towards them."
    },
    {
        "text": "Galadriel! Galadriel! Clear is the water of your well; White is the star in your white hand; Unmarred, unstained is leaf and land In Dwimordene, in Lo\u00b4rien More fair than thoughts of Mortal Men."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the dead night, Frodo lay in a dream without light. Then he saw the young moon rising; under its thin light there loomed before him a black wall of rock, pierced by a dark arch like a great gate. It seemed to Frodo that he was lifted up, and passing over he saw that the rock-wall was a circle of hills, and that within it was a plain, and in the midst of the plain stood a pinnacle of stone, like a vast tower but not made by hands. On its top stood the figure of a man. The moon as it rose seemed to hang for a moment above his head and glistened in his white hair as the wind stirred it. Up from the dark plain below came the crying of fell voices, and the howling of many wolves. Suddenly a shadow, like the shape of great wings, passed across the moon. The figure lifted his arms and a light flashed from the staff that he wielded. A mighty eagle swept down and bore him away. The voices wailed and the wolves yammered. There was a noise like a strong wind blowing, and on it was borne the sound of hoofs, galloping, galloping, galloping from the East. \u2018Black Riders!\u2019 thought Frodo as he wakened, with the sound of the hoofs still echo- ing in his mind. He wondered if he would ever again have the courage to leave the safety of these stone walls. He lay motionless, still listen- ing; but all was now silent, and at last he turned and fell asleep again or wandered into some other unremembered dream."
    },
    {
        "text": "At first their choice seemed to be good: they got along at a fair speed, though whenever they got a glimpse of the sun in an open glade they seemed unaccountably to have veered eastwards. But after a time the trees began to close in again, just where they had appeared from a distance to be thinner and less tangled. Then deep folds in the ground were discovered unexpectedly, like the ruts of great giant-wheels or wide moats and sunken roads long disused and choked with brambles. These lay usually right across their line of march, and could only be crossed by scrambling down and out again, which was troublesome and difficult with their ponies. Each time they climbed down they found the hollow filled with thick bushes and matted undergrowth, which somehow would not yield to the left, but only gave way when they turned to the right; and they had to go some distance along the bottom before they could find a way up the further bank. Each time they clambered out, the trees seemed deeper and darker; and always to the left and upwards it was most difficult to find a way, and they were forced to the right and downwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "As they came to the opening in the wood, they were surprised to see knights in bright mail and tall guards in silver and black standing there, who greeted them with honour and bowed before them. And then one blew a long trumpet, and they went on through the aisle of trees beside the singing stream. So they came to a wide green land, and beyond it was a broad river in a silver haze, out of which rose a long wooded isle, and many ships lay by its shores. But on the field where they now stood a great host was drawn up, in ranks and companies glittering in the sun. And as the Hobbits approached swords were unsheathed, and spears were shaken, and horns and trumpets sang, and men cried with many voices and in many tongues: \u2018Long live the Halflings! Praise them with great praise! Cuio i Pheriain anann! Aglar\u2019ni Pheriannath! Praise them with great praise, Frodo and Samwise! Daur a Berhael, Conin en Annu\u02c6n! Eglerio! Praise them! Eglerio! A laita te, laita te! Andave laituvalmet! Praise them! Cormacolindor, a laita ta\u00b4rienna! Praise them! The Ring-bearers, praise them with great praise!\u2019 And so the red blood blushing in their faces and their eyes shining with wonder, Frodo and Sam went forward and saw that amidst the clamorous host were set three high-seats built of green turves. Behind the seat upon the right floated, white on green, a great horse running free; upon the left was a banner, silver upon blue, a ship swan-prowed faring on the sea; but behind the highest throne in the midst of all a great standard was spread in the breeze, and there a white tree flowered upon a sable field beneath a shining crown and seven glitter- ing stars. On the throne sat a mail-clad man, a great sword was laid across his knees, but he wore no helm. As they drew near he rose."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Swans!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And mighty big ones too!\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018and they are black swans.\u2019 \u2018How wide and empty and mournful all this country looks!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I always imagined that as one journeyed south it got warmer and merrier, until winter was left behind for ever.\u2019 \u2018But we have not journeyed far south yet,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018It is still winter, and we are far from the sea. Here the world is cold until the sudden spring, and we may yet have snow again. Far away down in the Bay of Belfalas, to which Anduin runs, it is warm and merry, maybe, or would be but for the Enemy. 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 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.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "For I am weary of skulking in the hills, and wish to face peril and battle.\u2019 \u2018Your duty is with your people,\u2019 he answered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Well, fond is not the right word. I mean he is dear to me; though he is strange, and grim at times. In fact, he reminds me often of you. IButterbur; or stupid and wicked like Bill Ferny. But then we don\u2019t know much about Men in the Shire, except perhaps the Bree-landers.\u2019 \u2018You don\u2019t know much even about them, if you think old Barliman is stupid,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018He is wise enough on his own ground. He thinks less than he talks, and slower; yet he can see through a brick wall in time (as they say in Bree). But there are few left in Middle- earth like Aragorn son of Arathorn. The race of the Kings from over the Sea is nearly at an end. It may be that this War of the Ring will be their last adventure.\u2019 \u2018Do you really mean that Strider is one of the people of the old Kings?\u2019 said Frodo in wonder. \u2018I thought they had all vanished long ago. I thought he was only a Ranger.\u2019 \u2018Only a Ranger!\u2019 cried Gandalf. \u2018My dear Frodo, that is just what the Rangers are: the last remnant in the North of the great people, the Men of the West. They have helped me before; and I shall need their help in the days to come; for we have reached Rivendell, but the Ring is not yet at rest.\u2019 \u2018I suppose not,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But so far my only thought has been to get here; and I hope I shan\u2019t have to go any further. It is very pleasant just to rest. I have had a month of exile and adventure, and I find that has been as much as I want.\u2019 He fell silent and shut his eyes. After a while he spoke again. \u2018I have been reckoning,\u2019 he said, \u2018and I can\u2019t bring the total up to October the twenty-fourth. It ought to be the twenty-first. We must have reached the Ford by the twentieth.\u2019 \u2018You have talked and reckoned more than is good for you,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018How do the side and shoulder feel now?\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 Frodo answered. \u2018They don\u2019t feel at all: which is an improvement, but\u2019 \u2013 he made an effort \u2013 \u2018I can move my arm again a little. Yes, it is coming back to life. It is not cold,\u2019 he added, touching his left hand with his right."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sheep get like shepherd, and shepherds like sheep, it is said; but slowly, and neither have long in the world. It is quicker and closer with trees and Ents, and they walk down the ages together. For Ents are more like Elves: less interested in themselves than Men are, and better at getting inside other things. And yet again Ents are more like Men, more changeable than Elves are, and quicker at taking the colour of the outside, you might say. Or better than both: for they are steadier and keep their minds on things longer."
    },
    {
        "text": "When we opened them, we found they were filled with this: as fine a pipe-weed as you could wish for, and quite unspoilt.\u2019 Gimli took some and rubbed it in his palms and sniffed it. \u2018It feels good, and it smells good,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What do you look for, E\u00b4owyn?\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "At their last halt he sank down and said: \u2018I\u2019m thirsty, Sam,\u2019 andmore the night of Mordor closed over them, through all his thoughts there came the memory of water; and every brook or stream or fount that he had ever seen, under green willow-shades or twinkling in the sun, danced and rippled for his torment behind the blindness of his eyes. He felt the cool mud about his toes as he paddled in the Pool at Bywater with Jolly Cotton and Tom and Nibs, and their sister Rosie. \u2018But that was years ago,\u2019 he sighed, \u2018and far away. The way back, if there is one, goes past the Mountain.\u2019 He could not sleep and he held a debate with himself. \u2018Well, come now, we\u2019ve done better than you hoped,\u2019 he said sturdily. \u2018Began well anyway. I reckon we crossed half the distance before we stopped."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Sundering Seas between them lay, And yet at last they met once more, And long ago they passed away In the forest singing sorrowless."
    },
    {
        "text": "Boromir\u2019s eyes glinted as he gazed at the golden thing. \u2018The Halfling!\u2019 he muttered. \u2018Is then the doom of Minas Tirith come at last? But why then should we seek a broken sword?\u2019 \u2018The words were not the doom of Minas Tirith,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But doom and great deeds are indeed at hand. For the Sword that was Broken is the Sword of Elendil that broke beneath him when he fell."
    },
    {
        "text": "He said something about going for a breath of air.\u2019 \u2018Well, you do want looking after and no mistake: your party might be on a holiday!\u2019 said Butterbur. \u2018I must go and bar the doors quick, but I\u2019ll see your friend is let in when he comes. I\u2019d better send Nob to look for him. Good night to you all!\u2019 At last Mr. Butterbur went out, with another doubtful look at Strider and a shake of his head."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 \u2018You are kind,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018But 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.\u2019 Boromir stood silent. Rauros roared endlessly on. The wind mur- mured in the branches of the trees. Frodo shivered."
    },
    {
        "text": "On the western flank of Weathertop they found a sheltered hollow, at the bottom of which there was a bowl-shaped dell with grassy sides. There they left Sam and Pippin with the pony and their packs and luggage. The other three went on. After half an hour\u2019s plodding climb Strider reached the crown of the hill; Frodo and Merry fol- lowed, tired and breathless. The last slope had been steep and rocky."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a roar and a blast of fire. The archway of the gate above which he had stood a moment before crumbled and crashed in smoke and dust. The barricade was scattered as if by a thunderbolt. Aragorn ran to the king\u2019s tower."
    },
    {
        "text": "She rode with the king and was sorely hurt, and dwells now in my keeping. But she is not content, and she wishes to speak to the Steward of the City.\u2019 \u2018Do not misunderstand him, lord,\u2019 said E\u00b4 owyn. \u2018It is not lack of care that grieves me. No houses could be fairer, for those who desire to be healed. But I cannot lie in sloth, idle, caged. I looked for death in battle. But I have not died, and battle still goes on.\u2019 At a sign from Faramir, the Warden bowed and departed. \u2018What would you have me do, lady?\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018I also am a prisoner of the healers.\u2019 He looked at her, and being a man whom pity deeply stirred, it seemed to him that her loveliness amid her grief would pierce his heart. And she looked at him and saw the grave tenderness in his eyes, and yet knew, for she was bred among men of war, that here was one whom no Rider of the Mark would outmatch in battle."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Aragorn,\u2019 she said, \u2018why will you go on this deadly road?\u2019 \u2018Because I must,\u2019 he said. \u2018Only so can I see any hope of doing my part in the war against Sauron. I do not choose paths of peril, E\u00b4 owyn. Were I to go where my heart dwells, far in the North I would now be wandering in the fair valley of Rivendell.\u2019 For a while she was silent, as if pondering what this might mean."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, he knows. We will promise Master, if he saves us. We\u2019ll promise to It, yes.\u2019 He crawled to Frodo\u2019s feet. \u2018Save us, nice Master!\u2019 he whined. \u2018Sme\u00b4agol promises to Precious, promises faithfully. Never come again, never speak, no never! No, precious, no!\u2019 \u2018Are you satisfied?\u2019 said Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "Many Elves and many mighty Men, and many of their friends, had perished in the war. Ana\u00b4rion was slain, and Isildur was slain; and Gil-galad and Elendil were no more. Never again shall there be any such league of Elves and Men; for Men multiply and the Firstborn decrease, and the two kindreds are estranged. And ever since that day the race of Nu\u00b4menor has decayed, and the span of their years has lessened."
    },
    {
        "text": "For the moment it suffices to know that the Ring passed to Frodo, your heir. Let him now speak!\u2019 Then, less willingly than Bilbo, Frodo told of all his dealings with the Ring from the day that it passed into his keeping. Every step of his journey from Hobbiton to the Ford of Bruinen was questioned and considered, and everything that he could recall concerning the Black Riders was examined. At last he sat down again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, I don\u2019t think so,\u2019 Merry laughed. \u2018But that is another story, which can wait until after lunch.\u2019 \u2018Well let us go and have lunch then!\u2019 said the Dwarf."
    },
    {
        "text": "When they were some fifty paces off, E\u00b4 omer cried in a loud voice: \u2018Halt! Halt! Who rides in Rohan?\u2019 The pursuers brought their steeds to a sudden stand. A silence followed; and then in the moonlight, a horseman could be seen dis- mounting and walking slowly forward. His hand showed white as he held it up, palm outward, in token of peace; but the king\u2019s men gripped their weapons. At ten paces the man stopped. He was tall, a dark standing shadow. Then his clear voice rang out."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes, yes, perhaps. No safe places in this country,\u2019 said Gollum sulkily.\u2018Nosafeplaces.Butmastermusttryitorgohome.NootherIts name was Cirith Ungol, a name of dreadful rumour. Aragorn could perhaps have told them that name and its significance; Gandalf would have warned them. But they were alone, and Aragorn was far away, and Gandalf stood amid the ruin of Isengard and strove with Saruman, delayed by treason. Yet even as he spoke his last words to Saruman, and the palant\u00b4\u0131r crashed in fire upon the steps of Orthanc, his thought was ever upon Frodo and Samwise, over the long leagues his mind sought for them in hope and pity."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I should say,\u2019 answered Strider, \u2018that they stood for G3, and were a sign that Gandalf was here on October the third: that is three days ago now. It would also show that he was in a hurry and danger was at hand, so that he had no time or did not dare to write anything longer or plainer. If that is so, we must be wary.\u2019 \u2018I wish we could feel sure that he made the marks, whatever they may mean,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It would be a great comfort to know that he was on the way, in front of us or behind us.\u2019 \u2018Perhaps,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018For myself, I believe that he was here, and was in danger. There have been scorching flames here; and now the light that we saw three nights ago in the eastern sky comes back to my mind. I guess that he was attacked on this hill-top, but with what result I cannot tell. He is here no longer, and we must now look after ourselves and make our own way to Rivendell, as best we can.\u2019 \u2018How far is Rivendell?\u2019 asked Merry, gazing round wearily. The world looked wild and wide from Weathertop."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Many leagues,\u2019\u2019 said he, \u2018\u2018but not to the ends of the earth. I was sent to bear tidings not burdens.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Then I must have a steed on land,\u2019\u2019 I said, \u2018\u2018and a steed surpass- ingly swift, for I have never had such need of haste before.\u2019\u2019for in the Riddermark of Rohan the Rohirrim, the Horse-lords, dwell, and there are no horses like those that are bred in that great vale between the Misty Mountains and the White."
    },
    {
        "text": "Soon Sam came to a long flight of broad shallow steps. Now the orc-tower was right above him, frowning black, and in it the red eye glowed. Now he was hidden in the dark shadow under it. He was coming to the top of the steps and was in the Cleft at last."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If only I could smite that foul Messenger with it, then almost I should draw level with old Merry. Well, I\u2019ll smite some of this beastly brood before the end. I wish I could see cool sunlight and green grass again!\u2019 Then even as he thought these things the first assault crashed into them. The orcs hindered by the mires that lay before the hills halted and poured their arrows into the defending ranks. But through them there came striding up, roaring like beasts, a great company of hill- trolls out of Gorgoroth. Taller and broader than Men they were, and they were clad only in close-fitting mesh of horny scales, or maybe that was their hideous hide; but they bore round bucklers huge and black and wielded heavy hammers in their knotted hands. Reckless they sprang into the pools and waded across, bellowing as they came."
    },
    {
        "text": "Would you commit your promise to that, Sme\u00b4agol? It will hold you."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018ButfeargrewinmeasIrode.EverasIcamenorthIheardtidingsremained on the eastern borders, not far from the Greenway, and some invaded the Shire from the south. I came to Hobbiton and Frodo had gone; but I had words with old Gamgee. Many words and few to the point. He had much to say about the shortcomings of the new owners of Bag End."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is ill dealing with such a foe: he is a wizard both cunning and dwimmer-crafty, having many guises. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man hooded and cloaked, very like to Gandalf, as many now recall. His spies slip through every net, and his birds of ill omen are abroad in the sky. I do not know how it will all end, and my heart misgives me; for it seems to me that his friends do not all dwell in Isengard. But if you come to the king\u2019s house, you shall see for yourself. Will you not come? Do I hope in vain that you have been sent to me for a help in doubt and need?\u2019 \u2018I will come when I may,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Be off !\u2019\u2019 I said. \u2018\u2018There are no Bagginses here. You\u2019re in the wrong part of the Shire. You had better go back west to Hobbiton \u2013 but you can go by road this time.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Baggins has left,\u2019\u2019 he answered in a whisper. \u2018\u2018He is coming. He is not far away. I wish to find him. If he passes will you tell me? I will come back with gold.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018No you won\u2019t,\u2019\u2019 I said. \u2018\u2018You\u2019ll go back where you belong, double quick. I give you one minute before I call all my dogs.\u2019\u2019 \u2018He gave a sort of hiss. It might have been laughing, and it might not. Then he spurred his great horse right at me, and I jumped out of the way only just in time. I called the dogs, but he swung off, and rode through the gate and up the lane towards the causeway like a bolt of thunder. What do you think of that?\u2019 Frodo sat for a moment looking at the fire, but his only thought was how on earth would they reach the Ferry. \u2018I don\u2019t know what to think,\u2019 he said at last."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018May it keep you well!\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018It was made for me in Thengel\u2019s day, while still I was a boy.\u2019 Gimli bowed. \u2018I am proud, Lord of the Mark, to bear your device,\u2019 he said. \u2018Indeed sooner would I bear a horse than be borne by one."
    },
    {
        "text": "One day now had passed since Boromir fell, and the Orcs were yet far ahead. No longer could any sight of them be seen in the level plains."
    },
    {
        "text": "There he wandered long in a dream of music that turned into running water, and then suddenly into a voice. It seemed to be the voice of Bilbo chanting verses. Faint at first and then clearer ran the words."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Shall we turn on the others to search the sheds?\u2019 \u2018This is worse than Mordor!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Much worse in a way. It comes home to you, as they say; because it is home, and you remem- ber it before it was all ruined.\u2019 \u2018Yes, this is Mordor,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Just one of its works. Saruman was doing its work all the time, even when he thought he was working for himself. And the same with those that Saruman tricked, like Lotho.\u2019 Merry looked round in dismay and disgust. \u2018Let\u2019s get out!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Wasn\u2019t it guarded, Gollum?\u2019 As he said this, he caught or fancied he caught a green gleam in Gollum\u2019s eye. Gollum muttered but did not reply."
    },
    {
        "text": "I am hunting Orcs.\u2019 The Rider leaped from his horse. Giving his spear to another who rode up and dismounted at his side, he drew his sword and stood face to face with Aragorn, surveying him keenly, and not without wonder. At length he spoke again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Tales out of the South,\u2019 Gollum went on again, \u2018about the tall Men with the shining eyes, and their houses like hills of stone, and the silver crown of their King and his White Tree: wonderful tales."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018If that isn\u2019t the very tree you hid behind when the Black Rider first showed up, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 said Sam pointing to the left. \u2018It seemsIt was evening, and the stars were glimmering in the eastern sky as they passed the ruined oak and turned and went on down the hill between the hazel-thickets. Sam was silent, deep in his memories."
    },
    {
        "text": "But west would lead them only into more labour and delay, back towards the heart of the hills; east would take them to the outer precipice."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a loud rumbling sound, as of stones rolling and falling, and suddenly light streamed in, real light, the plain light of day. A low door-like opening appeared at the end of the chamber beyond Frodo\u2019s feet; and there was Tom\u2019s head (hat, feather, and all) framed against the light of the sun rising red behind him. The light fell upon the floor, and upon the faces of the three hobbits lying beside Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come, you shall sit behind me, friend Gimli,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Then all will be well, and you need neither borrow a horse nor be troubled by one.\u2019 A great dark-grey horse was brought to Aragorn, and he mounted it. \u2018Hasufel is his name,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer. \u2018May he bear you well and to better fortune than Ga\u00b4rulf, his late master!\u2019 A smaller and lighter horse, but restive and fiery, was brought to Legolas. Arod was his name. But Legolas asked them to take off saddle and rein. \u2018I need them not,\u2019 he said, and leaped lightly up, and to their wonder Arod was tame and willing beneath him, moving here and there with but a spoken word: such was the Elvish way with all good beasts. Gimli was lifted up behind his friend, and he clung to him, not much more at ease than Sam Gamgee in a boat."
    },
    {
        "text": "Immediately before the travellers the widest of these glens opened like a long gulf among the hills. Far inward they glimpsed a tumbled mountain-mass with one tall peak; at the mouth of the vale there stood like a sentinel a lonely height. About its feet there flowed, as a thread of silver, the stream that issued from the dale; upon its brow they caught, still far away, a glint in the rising sun, a glimmer of gold."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But Strider shall be the name of my house, if that be ever established."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018So be it!\u2019 cried Denethor. \u2018But not with your death only, Lord Faramir: with the death also of your father, and of all your people, whom it is your part to protect now that Boromir is gone.\u2019 \u2018Do you wish then,\u2019 said Faramir, \u2018that our places had been exchanged?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I wish that indeed,\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018For Boromir was loyal to me and no wizard\u2019s pupil. He would have remembered his father\u2019s need, and would not have squandered what fortune gave. He would have brought me a mighty gift.\u2019 For a moment Faramir\u2019s restraint gave way. \u2018I would ask you, my father, to remember why it was that I, not he, was in Ithilien. On one occasion at least your counsel has prevailed, not long ago. It was the Lord of the City that gave the errand to him.\u2019 \u2018Stir not the bitterness in the cup that I mixed for myself,\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018Have I not tasted it now many nights upon my tongue, foreboding that worse yet lay in the dregs? As now indeed I find."
    },
    {
        "text": "At this a chorus of voices broke out. If Frodo had really wanted to write a book, and had had many ears, he would have learned enough for several chapters in a few minutes. And if that was not enough, he was given a whole list of names, beginning with \u2018Old Barliman here\u2019, to whom he could go for further information. But after a time, as Frodo did not show any sign of writing a book on the spot, the hobbits returned to their questions about doings in the Shire. Frodo did not prove very communicative, and he soon found himself sitting alone in a corner, listening and looking around."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Let us go up on to this green hill!\u2019 he said. Wearily they followed him, climbing the long slope, until they came out upon the top. It was a round hill smooth and bare, standing by itself, the most northerly of the downs. The sun sank and the shadows of evening fell like a curtain. They were alone in a grey formless world without mark or measure. Only far away north-west there was a deeper darkness against the dying light: the Mountains of Mist and the forest at their feet."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s like this,\u2019 he began, hesitating and looking troubled. \u2018If I\u2019ve done any harm, I\u2019m sorry indeed. But one thing drives out another, as you\u2019ll admit; and I\u2019m a busy man. But first one thing and then another this week have jogged my memory, as the saying goes; and not too late I hope. You see, I was asked to look out for hobbits of the Shire, and for one by the name of Baggins in particular.\u2019 \u2018And what has that got to do with me?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Remember that! For you are now sworn to his service. I do not know what put it into your head, or your heart, to do that. But it was well done. I did not hinder it, for generous deed should not be checked by cold counsel. It touched his heart, as well (may I say it) as pleasing his humour. And at least you are free now to move about as you will in Minas Tirith \u2013 when you are not on duty. For there is another side to it. You are at his command; and he will not forget."
    },
    {
        "text": "And I say to you: if you pass the doors of Moria, beware!\u2019 \u2018I will not go,\u2019 said Boromir; \u2018not unless the vote of the whole Company is against me. What do Legolas and the little folk say? The Ring-bearer\u2019s voice surely should be heard?\u2019 \u2018I do not wish to go to Moria,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hm, hoom, here I am again,\u2019 said Treebeard. \u2018Are you getting weary, or feeling impatient, hmm, eh? Well, I am afraid that you must not get impatient yet. We have finished the first stage now; but I have still got to explain things again to those that live a long way off, far from Isengard, and those that I could not get round to before the Moot, and after that we shall have to decide what to do. However, deciding what to do does not take Ents so long as going over all the facts and events that they have to make up their minds about. Still, it is no use denying, we shall be here a long time yet: a couple of days very likely. So I have brought you a companion. He has an ent-house nearby. Bregalad is his Elvish name. He says he has already made up his mind and does not need to remain at the Moot. Hm, hm, he is the nearest thing among us to a hasty Ent. You ought to get on together. Good-bye!\u2019 Treebeard turned and left them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018I am very fond indeed of it, and of all the dear old Shire; but I think I need a holiday.\u2019 \u2018You mean to go on with your plan then?\u2019 \u2018I do. I made up my mind months ago, and I haven\u2019t changed it.\u2019 \u2018Very well. It is no good saying any more. Stick to your plan \u2013 your whole plan, mind \u2013 and I hope it will turn out for the best, for you, and for all of us.\u2019 \u2018I hope so. Anyway I mean to enjoy myself on Thursday, and have my little joke.\u2019 \u2018Who will laugh, I wonder?\u2019 said Gandalf, shaking his head.The next day more carts rolled up the Hill, and still more carts."
    },
    {
        "text": "Still far ahead, and still high above, Frodo, looking up, saw, as he guessed, the very crown of this bitter road. Against the sullen redness of the eastern sky a cleft was outlined in the topmost ridge, narrow, deep-cloven between two black shoulders; and on either shoulder was a horn of stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Frodo and Sam staring at the sky, breathing deeply of the fresher air, saw it come: a small cloud flying from the accursed hills; a black shadow loosed from Mordor; a vast shape winged and omin- ous. It scudded across the moon, and with a deadly cry went awayshadow of horror wheeled and returned, passing lower now, right above them, sweeping the fen-reek with its ghastly wings. And then it was gone, flying back to Mordor with the speed of the wrath of Sauron; and behind it the wind roared away, leaving the Dead Marshes bare and bleak. The naked waste, as far as the eye could pierce, even to the distant menace of the mountains, was dappled with the fitful moonlight."
    },
    {
        "text": "He would have welcomed a fight \u2013 with not too many enemies at a time \u2013 rather than this hideous brooding uncertainty. He forced him- self to think of Frodo, lying bound or in pain or dead somewhere in this dreadful place. He went on."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Bree-hobbits were, in fact, friendly and inquisitive, and Frodo soon found that some explanation of what he was doing would have to be given. He gave out that he was interested in history and geogra- phy (at which there was much wagging of heads, although neither of these words were much used in the Bree-dialect). He said he was thinking of writing a book (at which there was silent astonishment), and that he and his friends wanted to collect information about hobbits living outside the Shire, especially in the eastern lands."
    },
    {
        "text": "Of folly I would say, if the long wisdom of Elrond did not forbid me.\u2019 \u2018Despair, or folly?\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy! For he is very wise, and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall put him out of reckoning.\u2019 \u2018At least for a while,\u2019 said Elrond. \u2018The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.\u2019 \u2018Very well, very well, Master Elrond!\u2019 said Bilbo suddenly. \u2018Say no more! It is plain enough what you are pointing at. Bilbo the silly hobbit started this affair, and Bilbo had better finish it, or himself. I was very comfortable here, and getting on with my book. If you want to know, I am just writing an ending for it. I had thought of putting: and he lived happily ever afterwards to the end of his days. It is a good ending, and none the worse for having been used before. Now I shall have to alter that: it does not look like coming true; and anyway there will evidently have to be several more chapters, if I live to write them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, you have walked into a trap,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Your fellows from Hobbiton did the same, and one is dead and the rest are pris- oners. Lay down your weapons! Then go back twenty paces and sit down. Any who try to break out will be shot.\u2019 But the ruffians could not now be cowed so easily. A few of them obeyed, but were immediately set on by their fellows. A score or more broke back and charged the waggons. Six were shot, but the remainder burst out, killing two hobbits, and then scattering across country in the direction of the Woody End. Two more fell as they ran. Merry blew a loud horn-call, and there were answering calls from a distance."
    },
    {
        "text": "Your good health!\u2019 He drained his mug and went out noisily."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Darkness is passing,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018but it still lies heavy on this City.\u2019 At the gate of the Citadel they found no guard. \u2018Then Beregond has gone,\u2019 said Pippin more hopefully. They turned away and hastened along the road to the Closed Door. It stood wide open, and the porter lay before it. He was slain and his key had been taken."
    },
    {
        "text": "At these words there was a cry and part of the inner end of the\u2018Come, friend Frodo!\u2019 said Tom. \u2018Let us get out on to clean grass! You must help me bear them.\u2019 Together they carried out Merry, Pippin, and Sam. As Frodo left the barrow for the last time he thought he saw a severed hand wrig- gling still, like a wounded spider, in a heap of fallen earth. Tom went back in again, and there was a sound of much thumping and stamp- ing. When he came out he was bearing in his arms a great load of treasure: things of gold, silver, copper, and bronze; many beads and chains and jewelled ornaments. He climbed the green barrow and laid them all on top in the sunshine."
    },
    {
        "text": "Strange songs have been sung of the draughts of Fangorn.\u2019 \u2018Many strange tales have been told about that land,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well Saruman!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Where are you going?\u2019 \u2018What is that to you?\u2019 he answered. \u2018Will you still order my goings, and are you not content with my ruin?\u2019 \u2018You know the answers,\u2019 said Gandalf: \u2018no and no. But in any case the time of my labours now draws to an end. The King has taken on the burden. If you had waited at Orthanc, you would have seen him, and he would have shown you wisdom and mercy.\u2019 \u2018Then all the more reason to have left sooner,\u2019 said Saruman; \u2018for I desire neither of him. Indeed if you wish for an answer to your first question, I am seeking a way out of his realm.\u2019 \u2018Then once more you are going the wrong way,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and I see no hope in your journey. But will you scorn our help? For we offer it to you.\u2019 \u2018To me?\u2019 said Saruman. \u2018Nay, pray do not smile at me! I prefer your frowns. And as for the Lady here, I do not trust her: she always hated me, and schemed for your part. I do not doubt that she has brought you this way to have the pleasure of gloating over my poverty."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What? Me, alone, go to the Crack of Doom and all?\u2019 He quailed still, but the resolve grew. \u2018What? Me take the Ring from him? The Council gave it to him.\u2019 But the answer came at once: \u2018And the Council gave him com- panions, so that the errand should not fail. And you are the last of all the Company. The errand must not fail.\u2019 \u2018I wish I wasn\u2019t the last,\u2019 he groaned. \u2018I wish old Gandalf was here, or somebody. Why am I left all alone to make up my mind? I\u2019m sure to go wrong. And it\u2019s not for me to go taking the Ring, putting myself forward.\u2019 \u2018But you haven\u2019t put yourself forward; you\u2019ve been put forward."
    },
    {
        "text": "When Sam awoke, he found that he was lying on some soft bed, but over him gently swayed wide beechen boughs, and through their young leaves sunlight glimmered, green and gold. All the air was full of a sweet mingled scent."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Thus we crossed over Gilrain, driving the allies of Mordor in rout before us; and then we rested a while. But soon Aragorn arose, saying: \u2018\u2018Lo! already Minas Tirith is assailed. I fear that it will fall ere we come to its aid.\u2019\u2019 So we mounted again before night had passed and went on with all the speed that our horses could endure over the plains of Lebennin.\u2019 Legolas paused and sighed, and turning his eyes southward softly he sang: Silver flow the streams from Celos to Erui In the green fields of Lebennin! Tall grows the grass there. In the wind from the Sea The white lilies sway, And the golden bells are shaken of mallos and alfirin In the green fields of Lebennin, In the wind from the Sea! \u2018Green are those fields in the songs of my people; but they were dark then, grey wastes in the blackness before us. And over the wide land, trampling unheeded the grass and the flowers, we hunted our foes through a day and a night, until we came at the bitter end to the Great River at last."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I saw him, Mr. Butterbur,\u2019 said a hobbit; \u2018or leastways I didn\u2019t see him, if you take my meaning. He just vanished into thin air, in a manner of speaking.\u2019 \u2018You don\u2019t say, Mr. Mugwort!\u2019 said the landlord, looking puzzled."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Of course. This is merrymaking not business. Come and go as you like, as long as you don\u2019t make a noise.\u2019 They got up and withdrew quietly into the shadows, and madeof regret as they passed out of the Hall of Fire. Even as they stepped over the threshold a single clear voice rose in song."
    },
    {
        "text": "Down the great stairway they plodded. The high chamber of the turret behind, where they had met again, seemed almost homely: they were out in the open again now, and terror ran along the walls."
    },
    {
        "text": "He would not eat any of their food, but he drank a little water and then crawled about under the bushes, sniffing and muttering. Then suddenly he disappeared."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Two?\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018I have done better, though now I must grope for spent arrows; all mine are gone. Yet I make my tale twenty at the least. But that is only a few leaves in a forest.\u2019 The sky now was quickly clearing and the sinking moon was shin- ing brightly. But the light brought little hope to the Riders of the Mark. The enemy before them seemed to have grown rather than diminished, and still more were pressing up from the valley through the breach. The sortie upon the Rock gained only a brief respite."
    },
    {
        "text": "None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the master: His songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What of the dawn?\u2019 they jeered. \u2018We are the Uruk-hai: we do not stop the fight for night or day, for fair weather or for storm. We come to kill, by sun or moon. What of the dawn?\u2019 \u2018None knows what the new day shall bring him,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "He had taken too long in making up his mind, and now it was no good. How could he escape, or save himself, or save the Ring? The Ring. He was not aware of any thought or decision. He simply found himself drawing out the chain and taking the Ring in his hand. The head of the orc-company appeared in the Cleft right before him."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last the hobbits saw, rising dimly before them, a steep dark land: they had come to the feet of the mountains, and to the green roots of tall Methedras. Down the hillside the young Entwash, leaping from its springs high above, ran noisily from step to step to meet them. On the right of the stream there was a long slope, clad withTreebeard strode up the slope, hardly slackening his pace. Sud- denly before them the hobbits saw a wide opening. Two great trees stood there, one on either side, like living gate-posts; but there was no gate save their crossing and interwoven boughs. As the old Ent approached, the trees lifted up their branches, and all their leaves quivered and rustled. For they were evergreen trees, and their leaves were dark and polished, and gleamed in the twilight. Beyond them was a wide level space, as though the floor of a great hall had been cut in the side of the hill. On either hand the walls sloped upwards, until they were fifty feet high or more, and along each wall stood an aisle of trees that also increased in height as they marched inwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "Legolas went with them, for this was to be their last night in Loth- lo\u00b4 rien, and in spite of the words of Galadriel they wished to take counsel together."
    },
    {
        "text": "He crept on; and as he went he wondered how many orcs lived in the Tower with Shagrat, and how many Gorbag had, and what they were quarrelling about, if that was what was happening. Shagrat\u2019s company had seemed to be about forty, and Gorbag\u2019s more than twice as large; but of course Shagrat\u2019s patrol had only been a part of his garrison. Almost certainly they were quarrelling about Frodo, and the spoil. For a second Sam halted, for suddenly things seemed clear to him, almost as if he had seen them with his eyes. The mithril coat! Of course, Frodo was wearing it, and they would find it. And from what Sam had heard Gorbag would covet it. But the orders of the Dark Tower were at present Frodo\u2019s only protection, and if they were set aside, Frodo might be killed out of hand at any moment."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But the Ring was lost. It fell into the Great River, Anduin, and vanished. For Isildur was marching north along the east banks of the River, and near the Gladden Fields he was waylaid by the Orcs of the Mountains, and almost all his folk were slain. He leaped into the waters, but the Ring slipped from his finger as he swam, and then the Orcs saw him and killed him with arrows.\u2019 Gandalf paused. \u2018And there in the dark pools amid the Gladden Fields,\u2019 he said, \u2018the Ring passed out of knowledge and legend; and even so much of its history is known now only to a few, and the Council of the Wise could discover no more. But at last I can carry on the story, I think."
    },
    {
        "text": "But the pursuers were close behind. At the top of the bank the horse halted and turned about neighing fiercely. There were Nine Riders at the water\u2019s edge below, and Frodo\u2019s spirit quailed before the threat of their uplifted faces. He knew of nothing that would prevent them from crossing as easily as he had done; and he felt that it was useless to try to escape over the long uncertain path from the Ford to the edge of Rivendell, if once the Riders crossed. In any case he felt that he was commanded urgently to halt. Hatred again stirred in him, but he had no longer the strength to refuse."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look over there on the cliff !\u2019 Sam looked and breathed in sharply through his teeth. \u2018Ssss!\u2019 he said. \u2018That\u2019s what it is. It\u2019s that Gollum! Snakes and adders! And to think that I thought that we\u2019d puzzle him with our bit of a climb!Down the face of a precipice, sheer and almost smooth it seemed in the pale moonlight, a small black shape was moving with its thin limbs splayed out. Maybe its soft clinging hands and toes were finding crevices and holds that no hobbit could ever have seen or used, but it looked as if it was just creeping down on sticky pads, like some large prowling thing of insect-kind. And it was coming down head first, as if it was smelling its way. Now and again it lifted its head slowly, turning it right back on its long skinny neck, and the hobbits caught a glimpse of two small pale gleaming lights, its eyes that blinked at the moon for a moment and then were quickly lidded again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I couldn\u2019t stay to hear more, sir, since you were waiting; and I didn\u2019t give much heed to it myself. The Gaffer is getting old, and more than a bit blind, and it must have been near dark when this fellow come up the Hill and found him taking the air at the end of our Row. I hope he hasn\u2019t done no harm, sir, nor me.\u2019 \u2018The Gaffer can\u2019t be blamed anyway,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018As a matter of fact I heard him talking to a stranger, who seemed to be inquiring for me, and I nearly went and asked him who it was. I wish I had, or you had told me about it before. I might have been more careful on the road.\u2019 \u2018Still, there may be no connexion between this rider and the Gaffer\u2019s stranger,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018We left Hobbiton secretly enough, and I don\u2019t see how he could have followed us.\u2019 \u2018What about the smelling, sir?\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And the Gaffer said he was a black chap.\u2019 \u2018I wish I had waited for Gandalf,\u2019 Frodo muttered. \u2018But perhaps it would only have made matters worse.\u2019 \u2018Then you know or guess something about this rider?\u2019 said Pippin, who had caught the muttered words."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here is another riddle!\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018But it needs the light of day, and for that we cannot wait.\u2019 \u2018Yet however you read it, it seems not unhopeful,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "The retreat became a rout. Already men were breaking away, flying wild and witless here and there, flinging away their weapons, crying out in fear, falling to the ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Once more you come in the hour of need, unlooked-for,\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "In fact with every step towards the gates of Mordor Frodo felt the Ring on its chain about his neck grow more burdensome. He was now beginning to feel it as an actual weight dragging him earthwards."
    },
    {
        "text": "The air, as it seemed to them, grew harsh, and filled with a bitter reek that caught their breath and parched their mouths."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Behold Eorl the Young!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Thus he rode out of the North to the Battle of the Field of Celebrant.\u2019 Now the four companions went forward, past the clear wood-fire burning upon the long hearth in the midst of the hall. Then they halted. At the far end of the house, beyond the hearth and facing north towards the doors, was a dais with three steps; and in the middle of the dais was a great gilded chair. Upon it sat a man so bent with age that he seemed almost a dwarf; but his white hair was long and thick and fell in great braids from beneath a thin golden circlet set upon his brow. In the centre upon his forehead shone a single white diamond. His beard was laid like snow upon his knees; but his eyes still burned with a bright light, glinting as he gazed at the strangers. Behind his chair stood a woman clad in white. At his feet upon the steps sat a wizened figure of a man, with a pale wise face and heavy-lidded eyes."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018If you have walked all these days with closed ears and mind asleep, wake up now!\u2019 He knocked on the door."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was an admirable thing and altogether precious. When he took it out he had intended to fling it from him into the very hottest part of the fire. But he found now that he could not do so, not without a great struggle. He weighed the Ring in his hand, hesitating, and forcing himself to remember all that Gandalf had told him; and then with an effort of will he made a movement, as if to cast it away \u2013 but he found that he had put it back in his pocket."
    },
    {
        "text": "Thus, at last, they came beyond hope under the sky and felt the wind on their faces."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And as for valour, that cannot be computed by stature. He has passed through more battles and perils than you have, Ingold, though you be twice his height; and he comes now from the storming of Isengard, of which we bear tidings, and great weariness is on him, or I would wake him. His name is Peregrin, a very valiant man.\u2019 \u2018Man?\u2019 said Ingold dubiously, and the others laughed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You do not ask me or tell me much that concerns yourself, Frodo,\u2019 said Gildor. \u2018But I already know a little, and I can read more in your face and in the thought behind your questions. You are leaving the Shire, and yet you doubt that you will find what you seek, or accom- plish what you intend, or that you will ever return. Is not that so?\u2019 \u2018It is,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018but I thought my going was a secret known only to Gandalf and my faithful Sam.\u2019 He looked down at Sam, who was snoring gently."
    },
    {
        "text": "Can\u2019t a hobbit walk from the Water to the River in peace?\u2019 \u2018But it is not your own Shire,\u2019 said Gildor. \u2018Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more. The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.\u2019 \u2018I know \u2013 and yet it has always seemed so safe and familiar. What can I do now? My plan was to leave the Shire secretly, and make my waytoRivendell;butnowmyfootstepsaredogged,beforeeverIgetthink the Road will prove too hard for your courage. But if you desire clearer counsel, you should ask Gandalf. I do not know the reason for your flight, and therefore I do not know by what means your pursuers will assail you. These things Gandalf must know. I suppose that you will see him before you leave the Shire?\u2019 \u2018I hope so. But that is another thing that makes me anxious. I have been expecting Gandalf for many days. He was to have come to Hobbiton at the latest two nights ago; but he has never appeared."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Strider!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018You seem to have a lot of names.\u2019 \u2018Well, Strider is one that I haven\u2019t heard before, anyway,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018What do you call him that for?\u2019\u2018And why do you call him Du\u00b4nadan?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "He was in a land of darkness where the days of the world seemed forgotten, and where all who entered were forgotten too."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Fling fuel on the fire!\u2019 cried Gandalf to the hobbits. \u2018Draw your blades, and stand back to back!\u2019 In the leaping light, as the fresh wood blazed up, Frodo saw many grey shapes spring over the ring of stones. More and more followed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He is Aragorn son of Arathorn,\u2019 said Elrond; \u2018and he is descended through many fathers from Isildur Elendil\u2019s son of Minas Ithil. He\u2018Then it belongs to you, and not to me at all!\u2019 cried Frodo in amazement, springing to his feet, as if he expected the Ring to be demanded at once."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry and Pippin heard, clear in the cold air, the neighing of war-horses, and the sudden singing of many men. The Sun\u2019s limb was lifted, an arc of fire, above the margin of the world. Then with a great cry the Riders charged from the East; the red light gleamed on mail and spear. The Orcs yelled and shot all the arrows that remained to them. The hobbits saw several horsemen fall; but their line held on up the hill and over it, and wheeled round and charged again. Most of the raiders that were left alive then broke and fled, this way and that, pursued one by one to the death. But one band, holding together in a black wedge, drove forward resolutely in the direction of the forest. Straight up the slope they charged towards the watchers. Now they were drawing near, and it seemed certain that they would escape: they had already hewn down three Riders that barred their way."
    },
    {
        "text": "Tarry here this night. Then you shall look on the muster of Rohan and ride away the gladder for the sight, and the swifter for the rest."
    },
    {
        "text": "Indeed I do not think you need me any more: were I to let you fall, you would float upon the wind.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Do not let me fall!\u2019\u2019 I gasped, for I felt life in me again. \u2018\u2018Bear me to Lothlo\u00b4rien!\u2019\u2019\u2018Thus it was that I came to Caras Galadhon and found you but lately gone. I tarried there in the ageless time of that land where days bring healing not decay. Healing I found, and I was clothed in white."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Did you see them again, Mr. Frodo?\u2019 asked Sam, as they sat, stiff and chilled, munching wafers of lembas, in the cold grey of early morning."
    },
    {
        "text": "But The\u00b4oden was not utterly forsaken. The knights of his house lay slain about him, or else mastered by the madness of their steeds were borne far away. Yet one stood there still: Dernhelm the young, faithful beyond fear; and he wept, for he had loved his lord as a father. Right through the charge Merry had been borne unharmed behind him, until the Shadow came; and then Windfola had thrown them in his terror, and now ran wild upon the plain. Merry crawled on all fours like a dazed beast, and such a horror was on him that he was blind and sick."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I do not know, but it seems clear to me that this is what happened."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gandalf led them to the porch where Frodo had found his friends the evening before. The light of the clear autumn morning was now glowing in the valley. The noise of bubbling waters came up from the foaming river-bed. Birds were singing, and a wholesome peace lay on the land. To Frodo his dangerous flight, and the rumours of the darkness growing in the world outside, already seemed only the memories of a troubled dream; but the faces that were turned to meet them as they entered were grave."
    },
    {
        "text": "Down from the wall leapt Gimli with a fierce cry that echoed in the cliffs. \u2018Khaza\u02c6d! Khaza\u02c6d!\u2019 He soon had work enough."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What would you do in my service?\u2019 \u2018I thought, sir, that you would tell me my duties.\u2019 \u2018I will, when I learn what you are fit for,\u2019 said Denethor. \u2018But that I shall learn soonest, maybe, if I keep you beside me. The esquire of my chamber has begged leave to go to the out-garrison, so you shall take his place for a while. You shall wait on me, bear errands, and talk to me, if war and council leave me any leisure. Can you sing?\u2019sing of anything more terrible than wind or rain. And most of my songs are about things that make us laugh; or about food and drink, of course.\u2019 \u2018And why should such songs be unfit for my halls, or for such hours as these? We who have lived long under the Shadow may surely listen to echoes from a land untroubled by it? Then we may feel that our vigil was not fruitless, though it may have been thankless.\u2019 Pippin\u2019s heart sank. He did not relish the idea of singing any song of the Shire to the Lord of Minas Tirith, certainly not the comic ones that he knew best; they were too, well, rustic for such an occasion."
    },
    {
        "text": "Two swift hours passed, and now the king sat upon his white horse, glimmering in the half-light. Proud and tall he seemed, though the hair that flowed beneath his high helm was like snow; and many marvelled at him and took heart to see him unbent and unafraid."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yes,\u2019 he said, \u2018I am here. And you are lucky to be here, too, after all the absurd things you have done since you left home.\u2019 Frodo lay down again. He felt too comfortable and peaceful to argue, and in any case he did not think he would get the better of an argument. He was fully awake now, and the memory of his journey was returning: the disastrous \u2018short cut\u2019 through the Old Forest; the \u2018accident\u2019 at The Prancing Pony; and his madness in put- ting on the Ring in the dell under Weathertop. While he was thinking of all these things and trying in vain to bring his memory down to his arriving in Rivendell, there was a long silence, broken only by the soft puffs of Gandalf \u2019s pipe, as he blew white smoke-rings out of the window."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A broken sword was on his knee. I saw many wounds on him. It was Boromir, my brother, dead. I knew his gear, his sword, his beloved face. One thing only I missed: his horn. One thing only I knew not: a fair belt, as it were of linked golden leaves, about his waist."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018How are you going to get through this?\u2019 asked Fredegar."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We cannot get out,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "At that moment the great black shape of Anborn loomed up behind him and came down on him. A large strong hand took him in the nape of the neck and pinned him. He twisted round like lightning, all wet and slimy as he was, wriggling like an eel, biting and scratching like a cat. But two more men came up out of the shadows."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The wound was overcoming you at last. A few more hours and you would have been beyond our aid. But you have some strength in you, my dear hobbit! As you showed in the Barrow. That was touch and go: perhaps the most dangerous moment of all. I wish you could have held out at Weathertop.\u2019and afterwards there were other things to think about. How do you know about it?\u2019 \u2018You have talked long in your sleep, Frodo,\u2019 said Gandalf gently, \u2018and it has not been hard for me to read your mind and memory."
    },
    {
        "text": "There is an inn, a merry old inn beneath an old grey hill, And there they brew a beer so brown That the Man in the Moon himself came down one night to drink his fill."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I 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 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.\u2019 \u2018What about me?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I am alive, and whole I think. I am bruised and in pain, but it is not too bad.\u2019 \u2018Well,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018I 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 wouldhavespokensofterintheInnatBree!Thatspear-thrustwouldI feel as if I had been caught between a hammer and an anvil.\u2019 He said no more. He found breathing painful."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And that is near the end of our tale. For during that evening and night many ships were made ready and manned; and in the morning the fleet set forth. Long past it now seems, yet it was but the morn of the day ere yesterday, the sixth since we rode from Dunharrow."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well now, what about a smoke, while you tell us what has been happening in the Shire?\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Your small fire, of course, would not melt even ordinary gold. This Ring has already passed through it unscathed, and even unheated. But there is no smith\u2019s forge in this Shire that could change it at all. Not even the anvils and furnaces of the Dwarves could do that. It has been said that dragon-fire could melt and consume the Rings of Power, but there is not now any dragon left on earth in which the old fire is hot enough; nor was there ever any dragon, not even Ancalagon the Black, who could have harmed the One Ring, the Ruling Ring, for that was made by Sauron himself."
    },
    {
        "text": "At dawn they made ready to go on. The light came grey and pale, and they did not see the rising of the sun. The air above was heavy with fog, and a reek lay on the land about them. They went slowly, riding now upon the highway. It was broad and hard, and well- tended. Dimly through the mists they could descry the long arm of the mountains rising on their left. They had passed into Nan Curun\u00b4\u0131r, the Wizard\u2019s Vale. That was a sheltered valley, open only to the South. Once it had been fair and green, and through it the Isen flowed, already deep and strong before it found the plains; for it was fed by many springs and lesser streams among the rain-washed hills, and all about it there had lain a pleasant, fertile land."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Past the second hour,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Time to get up and make yourself presentable. You are summoned to the Lord of the City to learn your new duties.\u2019 \u2018And will he provide breakfast?\u2019 \u2018No! I have provided it: all that you will get till noon. Food is now doled out by order.\u2019 Pippin looked ruefully at the small loaf and (he thought) very inadequate pat of butter which was set out for him, beside a cup of thin milk. \u2018Why did you bring me here?\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "With a suddenness that startled them all the wizard sprang to his feet. He was laughing! \u2018I have it!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Of course, of course! Absurdly simple, like most riddles when you see the answer.\u2019 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. 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "To his alarm Frodo became aware that the ridiculous young Took, encouraged by his success with the fat Mayor of Michel Delving, was now actually giving a comic account of Bilbo\u2019s farewell party. He was already giving an imitation of the Speech, and was drawing near to the astonishing Disappearance."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What he had been doing he would not say. He only wept and called us cruel, with many a gollum in his throat; and when we pressed him he whined and cringed, and rubbed his long hands, licking his fingers as if they pained him, as if he remembered some old torture."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last they set off. They led their ponies down the hill; and then mounting they trotted quickly along the valley. They looked back and saw the top of the old mound on the hill, and from it the sunlight on the gold went up like a yellow flame. Then they turned a shoulder of the Downs and it was hidden from view."
    },
    {
        "text": "The hurrying darkness, now gathering great speed, rushed up from the East and swallowed the sky. There was a dry splitting crack of thunder right overhead. Searing lightning smote down into the hills."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin was bruised and torn, his aching head was grated by the filthy jowl and hairy ear of the Orc that held him. Immediately in front were bowed backs, and tough thick legs going up and down, up and down, unresting, as if they were made of wire and horn, beating out the nightmare seconds of an endless time."
    },
    {
        "text": "After a minute Pippin went to the door and down the stair and looked about the street. The sun was now shining warm and bright, and the towers and tall houses cast long clear-cut shadows westward."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Other evils there are that may come; for Sauron is himself but a servant or emissary. Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Aragorn set trumpeters at each of the four roads that ran into the ring of trees, and they blew a great fanfare, and the heralds cried aloud: \u2018The Lords of Gondor have returned and all this land that is theirs they take back.\u2019 The hideous orc-head that was set upon the carven figure was cast down and broken in pieces, and the old king\u2019s head was raised and set in its place once more, still crowned with white and golden flowers; and men laboured to wash and pare away all the foul scrawls that orcs had put upon the stone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018For one thing,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden, \u2018I had not heard that they spouted smoke from their mouths.\u2019 \u2018That is not surprising,\u2019 answered Merry; \u2018for it is an art which we have not practised for more than a few generations. It was Tobold Hornblower, of Longbottom in the Southfarthing, who first grew the true pipe-weed in his gardens, about the year 1070 according to our reckoning. How old Toby came by the plant . . .\u2019 \u2018You do not know your danger, The\u00b4oden,\u2019 interrupted Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "That view was somehow disquieting; so they turned from the sight and went down into the hollow circle. In the midst of it there stood a single stone, standing tall under the sun above, and at this hour casting no shadow. It was shapeless and yet significant: like a land- mark, or a guarding finger, or more like a warning. But they were now hungry, and the sun was still at the fearless noon; so they set their backs against the east side of the stone. It was cool, as if the sun had had no power to warm it; but at that time this seemed pleasant. There they took food and drink, and made as good a noon- meal under the open sky as anyone could wish; for the food came from \u2018down under Hill\u2019. Tom had provided them with plenty for the comfort of the day. Their ponies unburdened strayed upon the grass."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018Yes, sir, I am afraid so, sir,\u2019\u2019 said Butterbur, mistaking me. \u2018\u2018He got at them, in spite of all that I could do, and they took up with him. They behaved very queer all the time they were here: wilful, you might say.\u2019\u2019 \u2018 \u2018\u2018Ass! Fool! Thrice worthy and beloved Barliman!\u2019\u2019 said I. \u2018\u2018It\u2019s the best news I have had since Midsummer; it\u2019s worth a gold piece at the least. May your beer be laid under an enchantment of surpassing excellence for seven years!\u2019\u2019 said I. \u2018\u2018Now I can take a night\u2019s rest,\u2018So I stayed there that night, wondering much what had become of the Riders; for only of two had there yet been any news in Bree, it seemed. But in the night we heard more. Five at least came from the west, and they threw down the gates and passed through Bree like a howling wind; and the Bree-folk are still shivering and ex- pecting the end of the world. I got up before dawn and went after them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And yet\u2019 \u2013 he paused and stood up, and looked round, north, east, and south \u2013 \u2018the doings at Isengard should warn us that we are caught now in a great net and strategy. This is no longer a bickering at the fords, raiding from Ithilien and from Ano\u00b4 rien, ambushing and pillaging. This is a great war long-planned, and we are but one piece in it, whatever pride may say. Things move in the far East beyond the Inland Sea, it is reported; and north in Mirkwood and beyond; and south in Harad. And now all realms shall be put to the test, to stand, or fall \u2013 under the Shadow."
    },
    {
        "text": "I shan\u2019t want it again, I expect.\u2019 Frodo accepted it gratefully."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Yet here we are \u2013 and nicely caught in the net,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "The chanting ceased. Frodo opened his eyes and saw that Bilbo\u2018Now we had better have it again,\u2019 said an Elf."
    },
    {
        "text": "After they had eaten, Goldberry sang many songs for them, songs that began merrily in the hills and fell softly down into silence; and in the silences they saw in their minds pools and waters wider than any they had known, and looking into them they saw the sky below them and the stars like jewels in the depths. Then once more she wished them each good night and left them by the fireside. But Tom now seemed wide awake and plied them with questions."
    },
    {
        "text": "When they had sung many songs, and talked of many things they had done together, they toasted Bilbo\u2019s birthday, and they drank his health and Frodo\u2019s together according to Frodo\u2019s custom."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We will not walk in the dark,\u2019 he said at length. \u2018The peril of missing the trail or signs of other coming and going seems to me the greater. If the Moon gave enough light, we would use it, but alas! he sets early and is yet young and pale.\u2019 \u2018And tonight he is shrouded anyway,\u2019 Gimli murmured. \u2018Would that the Lady had given us a light, such a gift as she gave to Frodo!\u2019 \u2018It will be more needed where it is bestowed,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018With him lies the true Quest. Ours is but a small matter in the great deeds of this time. A vain pursuit from its beginning, maybe, which no choice of mine can mar or mend. Well, I have chosen. So let us use the time as best we may!\u2019 He cast himself on the ground and fell at once into sleep, for he had not slept since their night under the shadow of Tol Brandir."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I know what it was that you last saw,\u2019 she said; \u2018for 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 thisand know his mind, or all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my thought. But still the door is closed!\u2019 She lifted up her white arms, and spread out her hands towards the East in a gesture of rejection and denial. Ea\u00a8rendil, 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "I\u2019m not a thief, whatever he said.\u2019 \u2018I have never called you one,\u2019 Gandalf answered. \u2018And I am not one either. I am not trying to rob you, but to help you. I wish you would trust me, as you used.\u2019 He turned away, and the shadow passed. He seemed to dwindle again to an old grey man, bent and troubled."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And what do you think that was?\u2019 Pippin asked at last, trying to\u2018It was not bird or beast,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018It was a call, or a signal \u2013 there were words in that cry, though I could not catch them. But no hobbit has such a voice.\u2019 No more was said about it. They were all thinking of the Riders, but no one spoke of them. They were now reluctant either to stay or go on; but sooner or later they had got to get across the open country to the Ferry, and it was best to go sooner and in daylight."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then let us start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if we can,\u2019 said Boromir. \u2018The wolf that one hears is worse than the orc that one fears.\u2019 \u2018True!\u2019 said Aragorn, loosening his sword in its sheath. \u2018But where the warg howls, there also the orc prowls.\u2019 \u2018I wish I had taken Elrond\u2019s advice,\u2019 muttered Pippin to Sam. \u2018I 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\u2019t ever remember feeling so wretched.\u2019 \u2018My heart\u2019s right down in my toes, Mr. Pippin,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018But we aren\u2019t etten yet, and there are some stout folk here with us. Whatever may be in store for old Gandalf, I\u2019ll wager it isn\u2019t a wolf \u2019s belly.\u2019 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 dis- covery by the hunting packs."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What\u2019s all this?\u2019 said Frodo, feeling inclined to laugh."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What a fix!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018That\u2019s the one place in all the lands we\u2019ve ever heard of that we don\u2019t want to see any closer; and that\u2019s the one place we\u2019re trying to get to! And that\u2019s just where we can\u2019t get, nohow. We\u2019ve come the wrong way altogether, seemingly. We can\u2019t get down; and if we did get down, we\u2019d find all that green land a nasty bog, I\u2019ll warrant. Phew! Can you smell it?\u2019 He sniffed at the wind."
    },
    {
        "text": "For you cannot easily talk to hobbits that are riding, when you\u2019re on your own legs trying to trot beside them.\u2019 The hobbits were delighted to hear this, and thanked Tom many times; but he laughed, and said that they were so good at losing themselves that he would not feel happy till he had seen them safe over the borders of his land. \u2018I\u2019ve got things to do,\u2019 he said: \u2018my making and my singing, my talking and my walking, and my watching of the country. Tom can\u2019t be always near to open doors and willow- cracks. Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting.\u2019 It was still fairly early by the sun, something between nine and ten, and the hobbits turned their minds to food. Their last meal had been lunch beside the standing stone the day before. They breakfasted now off the remainder of Tom\u2019s provisions, meant for their supper, with additions that Tom had brought with him. It was not a large meal (considering hobbits and the circumstances), but they felt much better for it. While they were eating Tom went up to the mound, and looked through the treasures. Most of these he made into a pile that glistered and sparkled on the grass. He bade them lie there \u2018free to all finders, birds, beasts, Elves or Men, and all kindly creatures\u2019; for so the spell of the mound should be broken and scattered and no Wight ever come back to it. He chose for himself from the pile a brooch set with blue stones, many-shaded like flax-flowers or the wings of blue butterflies. He looked long at it, as if stirred by some memory, shaking his head, and saying at last: \u2018Here is a pretty toy for Tom and for his lady! Fair was she who long ago wore this on her shoulder. Goldberry shall wear it now, and we will not forget her!\u2019 For each of the hobbits he chose a dagger, long, leaf-shaped, and keen, of marvellous workmanship, damasked with serpent-forms infiery stones. Whether by some virtue in these sheaths or because of the spell that lay on the mound, the blades seemed untouched by time, unrusted, sharp, glittering in the sun."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But as he lowered his eyes, he saw far ahead the tops of the Misty Mountains, out of which the stream came. And he thought suddenly: \u2018\u2018It would be cool and shady under those mountains. The Sun could not watch me there. The roots of those mountains must be roots indeed; there must be great secrets buried there which have not been discovered since the beginning.\u2019\u2019 \u2018So he journeyed by night up into the highlands, and he found a little cave out of which the dark stream ran; and he wormed his way like a maggot into the heart of the hills, and vanished out of all knowledge. The Ring went into the shadows with him, and even the maker, when his power had begun to grow again, could learn nothing of it.\u2019 \u2018Gollum!\u2019 cried Frodo. \u2018Gollum? Do you mean that this is the very Gollum-creature that Bilbo met? How loathsome!\u2019 \u2018I think it is a sad story,\u2019 said the wizard, \u2018and it might have happened to others, even to some hobbits that I have known.\u2019 \u2018I can\u2019t believe that Gollum was connected with hobbits, however distantly,\u2019 said Frodo with some heat. \u2018What an abominable notion!\u2019 \u2018It is true all the same,\u2019 replied Gandalf. \u2018About their origins, at any rate, I know more than hobbits do themselves. And even Bilbo\u2019s story suggests the kinship. There was a great deal in the background of their minds and memories that was very similar. They understood one another remarkably well, very much better than a hobbit would understand, say, a Dwarf, or an Orc, or even an Elf. Think of the riddles they both knew, for one thing.\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Though other folks besides hobbits ask riddles, and of much the same sort. And hobbits don\u2019t cheat. Gollum meant to cheat all the time. He was just trying to put poor Bilbo off his guard. And I daresay it amused his wickedness to start a game which might end in providing him with an easy victim, but if he lost wouldelse in it, I think, which you don\u2019t see yet. Even Gollum was not wholly ruined. He had proved tougher than even one of the Wise would have guessed \u2013 as a hobbit might. There was a little corner of his mind that was still his own, and light came through it, as through a chink in the dark: light out of the past. It was actually pleasant, I think, to hear a kindly voice again, bringing up memories of wind, and trees, and sun on the grass, and such forgotten things."
    },
    {
        "text": "His sword was long, his lance was keen, his shining helm afar was seen; the countless stars of heaven\u2019s field were mirrored in his silver shield."
    },
    {
        "text": "After an hour or two they had lost all clear sense of direction, though they knew well enough that they had long ceased to go north- ward at all. They were being headed off, and were simply following a course chosen for them \u2013 eastwards and southwards, into the heart of the Forest and not out of it.yet met. It was so steep and overhung that it proved impossible to climb out of it again, either forwards or backwards, without leaving their ponies and their baggage behind. All they could do was to follow the fold \u2013 downwards. The ground grew soft, and in places boggy; springs appeared in the banks, and soon they found themselves fol- lowing a brook that trickled and babbled through a weedy bed. Then the ground began to fall rapidly, and the brook growing strong and noisy, flowed and leaped swiftly downhill. They were in a deep dim-lit gully over-arched by trees high above them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You cannot enter here,\u2019 said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. \u2018Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!\u2019 The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We have failed to recapture Gollum. We came on his trail among those of many Orcs, and it plunged deep into the Forest, going south."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hardening his will Sam thrust forward once again, and halted with a jerk, staggering as if from a blow upon his breast and head. Then greatly daring, because he could think of nothing else to do, answering a sudden thought that came to him, he drew slowly out the phial of Galadriel and held it up. Its white light quickened swiftly, and the shadows under the dark arch fled. The monstrous Watchers sat there cold and still, revealed in all their hideous shape. For a moment Sam caught a glitter in the black stones of their eyes, the very malice of which made him quail; but slowly he felt their will waver and crumble into fear."
    },
    {
        "text": "They stood for a while silent on the hill-top, near its southward edge. In that lonely place Frodo for the first time fully realized his homelessness and danger. He wished bitterly that his fortune had left him in the quiet and beloved Shire. He stared down at the hateful Road, leading back westward \u2013 to his home. Suddenly he was aware that two black specks were moving slowly along it, going westward; and looking again he saw that three others were creeping eastward to meet them. He gave a cry and clutched Strider\u2019s arm."
    },
    {
        "text": "And I do not think that Mithrandir would have chosen this way.\u2019 \u2018Yet since he is gone, I must take such paths as I can find. And there is no time for long searching,\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I cannot read the fiery letters,\u2019 said Frodo in a quavering voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 lam- entation for his fall, for they caught his name among the sweet sad words that they could not understand."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo soon went to sleep again; but his dreams were again troubled with the noise of wind and of galloping hoofs. The wind seemed to be curling round the house and shaking it; and far off he heard a horn blowing wildly. He opened his eyes, and heard a cock crowing lustily in the inn-yard. Strider had drawn the curtains and pushed back the shutters with a clang. The first grey light of day was in the room, and a cold air was coming through the open window."
    },
    {
        "text": "But they are better than naught, by a long bite. I never thought, though, when I first set tooth in them, that I should ever come to wish for a change. But I do now: a bit of plain bread, and a mug \u2013 aye, half a mug \u2013 of beer would go down proper. I\u2019ve lugged my cooking-gear all the way from the last camp, and what use has it been? Naught to make a fire with, for a start; and naught to cook, not even grass!\u2019 They turned away and went down into a stony hollow. The wester- ing sun was caught into clouds, and night came swiftly. They slept as well as they could for the cold, turn and turn about, in a nook among great jagged pinnacles of weathered rock; at least they were sheltered from the easterly wind."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The 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\u2019s 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.\u2019 \u2018You ought at least to guess, since you have seen us,\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I am not a Black Rider, Sam,\u2019 he said gently, \u2018nor in league with them. I have been trying to discover something of their movements; but I have found nothing. I cannot think why they have gone and do not attack again. But there is no feeling of their presence anywhere at hand.\u2019 When he heard what Frodo had to tell, he became full of concern, and shook his head and sighed. Then he ordered Pippin and Merry to heat as much water as they could in their small kettles, and to bathe the wound with it. \u2018Keep the fire going well, and keep Frodo warm!\u2019 he said. Then he got up and walked away, and called Sam to him. \u2018I think I understand things better now,\u2019 he said in a low voice. \u2018There seem only to have been five of the enemy. Why they were not all here, I don\u2019t know; but I don\u2019t think they expected to be resisted. They have drawn off for the time being. But not far, I fear. They will come again another night, if we cannot escape. They are only waiting, because they think that their purpose is almost accomplished, and that the Ring cannot fly much further. I fear,Sam choked with tears. \u2018Don\u2019t despair!\u2019 said Strider. \u2018You must trust me now. Your Frodo is made of sterner stuff than I had guessed, though Gandalf hinted that it might prove so. He is not slain, and I think he will resist the evil power of the wound longer than his enemies expect. I will do all I can to help and heal him. Guard him well, while I am away!\u2019 He hurried off and disappeared again into the darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then they broke the evil bridge and set red flames in the noisome fields and departed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Of our lore and manners they have learned what they would, and their lords speak our speech at need; yet for the most part they hold by the ways of their own fathers and to their own memories, and they speak among themselves their own North tongue. And we love them: tall men and fair women, valiant both alike, golden-haired, bright-eyed, and strong; they remind us of the youth of Men, as they were in the Elder Days. Indeed it is said by our lore-masters that they have from of old this affinity with us that they are come from those same Three Houses of Men as were the Nu\u00b4meno\u00b4 reans in their beginning; not from Hador the Goldenhaired, the Elf-friend, maybe, yet from such of his people as went not over Sea into the West, refusing the call.Men of the Twilight, such as are the Rohirrim and their kin that dwell still far in the North; and the Wild, the Men of Darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They answered a summons, as you heard,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Word came to Rivendell, they say: Aragorn has need of his kindred. Let the Du\u00b4nedain ride to him in Rohan! But whence this message came they are now in doubt. Gandalf sent it, I would guess.\u2019 \u2018Nay, Galadriel,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Did she not speak through Gandalf of the ride of the Grey Company from the North?\u2019 \u2018Yes, you have it,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018The Lady of the Wood! She read many hearts and desires. Now why did not we wish for some of our own kinsfolk, Legolas?\u2019 Legolas stood before the gate and turned his bright eyes away north and east, and his fair face was troubled. \u2018I do not think that any would come,\u2019 he answered. \u2018They have no need to ride to war; war already marches on their own lands.\u2019 For a while the three companions walked together, speaking ofthe road, until they stood on Helm\u2019s Dike and looked into the Coomb. The Death Down already stood there, black and tall and stony, and the great trampling and scoring of the grass by the Huorns could be plainly seen. The Dunlendings and many men of the garri- son of the Burg were at work on the Dike or in the fields and about the battered walls behind; yet all seemed strangely quiet: a weary valley resting after a great storm. Soon they turned back and went to the midday meal in the hall of the Burg."
    },
    {
        "text": "That\u2019s what his trouble is. Of course he\u2019s had a bit of schooling, so to speak \u2013 we all have \u2013 since we left home, or he\u2019d be so terrified he\u2019d just fling the Ring in the River and bolt. But he\u2019s still too frightened to start. And he isn\u2019t worrying about us either: whether we\u2019ll go along with him or no. He knows we mean to. That\u2019s another thing that\u2019s bothering him. If he screws himself up to go, he\u2019ll want to go alone. Mark my words! We\u2019re going to have trouble when he comes back. For he\u2019ll screw himself up all right, as sure as his name\u2019s Baggins.\u2019 \u2018I believe you speak more wisely than any of us, Sam,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018And what shall we do, if you prove right?\u2019Burden 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "For LOBELIA SACKVILLE-BAGGINS, as a PRESENT; on a case of silver spoons. Bilbo believed that she had acquired a good many of his spoons, while he was away on his former journey. Lobelia knew that quite well. When she arrived later in the day, she took the point at once, but she also took the spoons."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A Ring of Power looks after itself, Frodo. It may slip off treacher- ously, but its keeper never abandons it. At most he plays with the idea of handing it on to someone else\u2019s care \u2013 and that only at an early stage, when it first begins to grip. But as far as I know Bilbo alone in history has ever gone beyond playing, and really done it. He needed all my help, too. And even so he would never have just forsaken it, or cast it aside. It was not Gollum, Frodo, but the Ring itself that decided things. The Ring left him.\u2019 \u2018What, just in time to meet Bilbo?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Wouldn\u2019t an Orc have suited it better?\u2019 \u2018It is no laughing matter,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Not for you. It was the strangest event in the whole history of the Ring so far: Bilbo\u2019s arrival just at that time, and putting his hand on it, blindly, in the dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was not long before Aragorn found fresh signs. At one point, near the bank of the Entwash, he came upon footprints: hobbit-prints, but too light for much to be made of them. Then again beneath the bole of a great tree on the very edge of the wood more prints were discovered. The earth was bare and dry, and did not reveal much."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018 \u2018\u2018A burden you have been,\u2019\u2019 he answered, \u2018\u2018but not so now. Light as a swan\u2019s feather in my claw you are. The Sun shines through you."
    },
    {
        "text": "He had passed beyond the torchlight, almost to a great archedchoking shriek. He stopped short. Then he heard feet coming. Some- one was running in great haste down an echoing stairway over- head."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Master Merry\u2019s being squeezed in a crack!\u2019 cried Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Forlong has come,\u2019 Bergil answered; \u2018old Forlong the Fat, the Lord of Lossarnach. That is where my grandsire lives. Hurrah! Here he is. Good old Forlong!\u2019 Leading the line there came walking a big thick-limbed horse, and on it sat a man of wide shoulders and huge girth, but old and grey-bearded, yet mail-clad and black-helmed and bearing a long heavy spear. Behind him marched proudly a dusty line of men, well- armed and bearing great battle-axes; grim-faced they were, and shorter and somewhat swarthier than any men that Pippin had yet seen in Gondor."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin lifted it, covered it hurriedly in his own cloak, and half turned to go back to his bed. At that moment Gandalf moved in his sleep, and muttered some words: they seemed to be in a strange tongue; his hand groped out and clasped the wrapped stone, then he sighed and did not move again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018My friends,\u2019 he said, \u2018and all you people of this city and of the Western lands! Things of great sorrow and renown have come to pass. Shall we weep or be glad? Beyond hope the Captain of our foes has been destroyed, and you have heard the echo of his last despair."
    },
    {
        "text": "But now the trail was fresh and swift, and it led not to Mordor but away. Along the skirts of the Dead Marshes I followed it, and then I had him. Lurking by a stagnant mere, peering in the water as the dark eve fell, I caught him, Gollum. He was covered with green slime."
    },
    {
        "text": "Out of doubt, out of dark to the day\u2019s rising I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It is fifteen leagues thence to the vale of the Morgulduin, if they went straight south; and then they would be still five leagues westward of the accursed Tower. At swiftest they could not come there before today, and maybe they have not come there yet. Indeed I see what you fear. But the darkness is not due to their venture. It began yestereve, and all Ithilien was under shadow last night. It is clear to me that the Enemy has long planned an assault on us, and its hour had already been determined before ever the travellers left my keeping.\u2019 Gandalf paced the floor. \u2018The morning of two days ago, nigh on three days of journey! How far is the place where you parted?\u2019 \u2018Some twenty-five leagues as a bird flies,\u2019 answered Faramir. \u2018But I could not come more swiftly. Yestereve I lay at Cair Andros, the long isle in the River northward which we hold in defence; and horses are kept on the hither bank. As the dark drew on I knew that haste was needed, so I rode thence with three others that could also be horsed. The rest of my company I sent south to strengthen the garri- son at the fords of Osgiliath. I hope that I have not done ill?\u2019 He looked at his father."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last, on the fifth morning since they took the road with Gollum, they halted once more. Before them dark in the dawn the great mountains reached up to roofs of smoke and cloud. Out from their feet were flung huge buttresses and broken hills that were now at the nearest scarce a dozen miles away. Frodo looked round in horror."
    },
    {
        "text": "O Orofarne\u00a8, Lassemista, Carnim\u00b4\u0131rie\u00a8! O rowan fair, upon your hair how white the blossom lay!Upon your head how golden-red the crown you bore aloft! O rowan dead, upon your head your hair is dry and grey; Your crown is spilled, your voice is stilled for ever and a day."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo had no strength for such a battle. He sank to the ground."
    },
    {
        "text": "At a second blow the door yielded and fell back, with timbers burst and lock broken. The black figures passed swiftly in."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nor me,\u2019 muttered Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now silently the host of Rohan moved forward into the field of Gondor, pouring in slowly but steadily, like the rising tide through breaches in a dike that men have thought secure. But the mind and will of the Black Captain were bent wholly on the falling city, and as yet no tidings came to him warning that his designs held any flaw."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then with a crash came a great ringing shout: ra-hoom-rah! The trees quivered and bent as if a gust had struck them. There was another pause, and then a marching music began like solemn drums, and above the rolling beats and booms there welled voices singing high and strong."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Captains bowed their heads; and when they looked up again, behold! their enemies were flying and the power of Mordor was scattering like dust in the wind. As when death smites the swollen brooding thing that inhabits their crawling hill and holds them all in sway, ants will wander witless and purposeless and then feebly die, so the creatures of Sauron, orc or troll or beast spell-enslaved, ran hither and thither mindless; and some slew themselves, or cast them- selves in pits, or fled wailing back to hide in holes and dark lightless places far from hope. But the Men of Rhu\u02c6n and of Harad, Easterling and Southron, saw the ruin of their war and the great majesty and glory of the Captains of the West. And those that were deepest and longest in evil servitude, hating the West, and yet were men proud and bold, in their turn now gathered themselves for a last stand of desperate battle. But the most part fled eastward as they could; and some cast their weapons down and sued for mercy."
    },
    {
        "text": "But far more he was troubled by the Eye: so he called it to himself."
    },
    {
        "text": "After a while they plunged into a deeply cloven track between tall trees that rustled their dry leaves in the night. It was very dark. At first they talked, or hummed a tune softly together, being now far away from inquisitive ears. Then they marched on in silence, and Pippin began to lag behind. At last, as they began to climb a steep slope, he stopped and yawned."
    },
    {
        "text": "Aragorn stood a while hesitating. \u2018It is not my will,\u2019 he said, \u2018to put aside my sword or to deliver Andu\u00b4ril to the hand of any other man.\u2019 \u2018It is the will of The\u00b4oden,\u2019 said Ha\u00b4ma."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Where\u2019s Bob?\u2019 asked the landlord. \u2018You don\u2019t know? Well, find him! Double sharp! I haven\u2019t got six legs, nor six eyes neither! Tell Bob there\u2019s five ponies that have to be stabled. He must find room somehow.\u2019 Nob trotted off with a grin and a wink."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Look at it, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Look at it! The wind\u2019s changed."
    },
    {
        "text": "He peered between the hemlock-leaves And saw in wonder flowers of gold Upon her mantle and her sleeves, And her hair like shadow following.Enchantment healed his weary feet That over hills were doomed to roam; And forth he hastened, strong and fleet, And grasped at moonbeams glistening."
    },
    {
        "text": "But ere long it escaped our skill, and we dared not continue the hunt; for we were drawing nigh to Dol Guldur, and that is still a very evil place; we do not go that way.\u2019 \u2018Well, well, he is gone,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018We have no time to seek for him again. He must do what he will. But he may play a part yet that neither he nor Sauron have foreseen."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I think\u2014No, I will not say,\u2019 answered Frodo. \u2018Whatever it was, its fall has dismayed our enemies.\u2019 \u2018So it seems,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Yet 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. But what the day will show who can tell? Have your weapons close to hand!\u2019 Sam sat tapping the hilt of his sword as if he were counting on his fingers, and looking up at the sky. \u2018It\u2019s very strange,\u2019 he mur- mured. \u2018The Moon\u2019s the same in the Shire and in Wilderland, or it ought to be. But either it\u2019s out of its running, or I\u2019m all wrong in my reckoning. You\u2019ll 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\u2019d 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To the end of the journey \u2013 in the end,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018We cannot look too far ahead. Let us be glad that the first stage is safely over."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But I am going to Mordor.\u2019 \u2018I know that well enough, Mr. Frodo. Of course you are. And I\u2019m coming with you.\u2019 \u2018Now, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018don\u2019t hinder me! The others will be coming back at any minute. If they catch me here, I shall have to argue and explain, and I shall never have the heart or the chance to get off. But I must go at once. It\u2019s the only way.\u2019 \u2018Of course it is,\u2019 answered Sam. \u2018But not alone. I\u2019m coming too, or neither of us isn\u2019t going. I\u2019ll knock holes in all the boats first.\u2019 Frodo actually laughed. A sudden warmth and gladness touched his heart. \u2018Leave one!\u2019 he said. \u2018We\u2019ll need it. But you can\u2019t come like this without your gear or food or anything.\u2019 \u2018Just hold on a moment, and I\u2019ll get my stuff !\u2019 cried Sam eagerly."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Let us go on.\u2019 They came at length to the steep abrupt end of Treebeard\u2019s Hill, and looked up at the rock-wall with its rough steps leading to the\u2018Let us go up and look about us!\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018I still feel my breath short. I should like to taste a freer air for a while.\u2019 The companions climbed up. Aragorn came last, moving slowly: he was scanning the steps and ledges closely."
    },
    {
        "text": "Some say they were planted in the old days.\u2019 \u2018Splendid!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018If we make as good going this afternoon as we have done this morning, we shall have left the Downs before the Sun sets and be jogging on in search of a camping place.\u2019 But even as he spoke he turned his glance eastwards, and he saw that on that side the hills were higher and looked down upon them; and all those hills were crowned with green mounds, and on some were standing stones, pointing upwards like jagged teeth out of green gums."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last they came out of the stony darkness and looked about."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018King\u2019s man! King\u2019s man!\u2019 his heart cried within him. \u2018You must stay by him. As a father you shall be to me, you said.\u2019 But his willThen out of the blackness in his mind he thought that he heard Dernhelm speaking; yet now the voice seemed strange, recalling some other voice that he had known."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Why don\u2019t we get together and charge through? What\u2019s old Uglu\u00b4k think he\u2019s doing, I should like to know?\u2019 \u2018I daresay you would,\u2019 snarled Uglu\u00b4k stepping up from behind."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now down we go, Sam,\u2019 Frodo whispered. \u2018Down into the valley quick, and then turn northward, as soon as ever we can.\u2019 Day was coming again in the world outside, and far beyond the glooms of Mordor the Sun was climbing over the eastern rim of Middle-earth; but here all was still dark as night. The Mountain smouldered and its fires went out. The glare faded from the cliffs."
    },
    {
        "text": "His name, of course, was Proudfoot, and well merited; his feet were large, exceptionally furry, and both were on the table."
    },
    {
        "text": "And he has sent men to fetch wood and oil. And I have told Beregond, but I\u2019m afraid he won\u2019t dare to leave his post: he is on guard. And what can he do anyway?\u2019 So Pippin poured out his tale, reaching up and touching Gandalf \u2019s knee with trembling hands. \u2018Can\u2019t you save Faramir?\u2019 \u2018Maybe I can,\u2019 said Gandalf; \u2018but if I do, then others will die, I fear. Well, I must come, since no other help can reach him. But evil and sorrow will come of this. Even in the heart of our stronghold the Enemy has power to strike us: for his will it is that is at work.\u2019 Then having made up his mind he acted swiftly; and catchingthe noise of war rose behind them. Everywhere men were rising from their despair and dread, seizing their weapons, crying one to another: \u2018Rohan has come!\u2019 Captains were shouting, companies were muster- ing; many already were marching down to the Gate."
    },
    {
        "text": "Secondly, to celebrate my birthday. Cheers again. I should say: OUR birthday. For it is, of course, also the birthday of my heir and nephew, Frodo. He comes of age and into his inheritance today. Some perfunctory clapping by the elders; and some loud shouts of \u2018Frodo! Frodo! Jolly old Frodo,\u2019 from the juniors. The Sackville-Bagginses scowled, and wondered what was meant by \u2018coming into his inheritance\u2019."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam was looking at Orodruin, the Mountain of Fire. Ever and anon the furnaces far below its ashen cone would grow hot and with a great surging and throbbing pour forth rivers of molten rock from chasms in its sides. Some would flow blazing towards Barad-du\u02c6r down great channels; some would wind their way into the stony plain, until they cooled and lay like twisted dragon-shapes vomited from the tormented earth. In such an hour of labour Sam beheld Mount Doom, and the light of it, cut off by the high screen of the Ephel Du\u00b4ath from those who climbed up the path from the West, now glared against the stark rock faces, so that they seemed to be drenched with blood."
    },
    {
        "text": "My duty at least is clear, to go on. Come now, son of E\u00b4omund, the choice must be made at last. Aid us, or at the worst let us go free."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin woke to the sound of voices. Another day of hiding and a night of journey had fleeted by. It was twilight: the cold dawn was at hand again, and chill grey mists were about them. Shadowfax stood steaming with sweat, but he held his neck proudly and showed no sign of weariness. Many tall men heavily cloaked stood beside him, and behind them in the mist loomed a wall of stone. Partly ruinous it seemed, but already before the night was passed the sound of hurried labour could be heard: beat of hammers, clink of trowels, and the creak of wheels. Torches and flares glowed dully here and there in the fog. Gandalf was speaking to the men that barred his way, and as he listened Pippin became aware that he himself was being discussed."
    },
    {
        "text": "But nothing of this evil which they had stirred up against them did poor Sam know, except that a fear was growing on him, a menace which he could not see; and such a weight did it become that it was a burden to him to run, and his feet seemed leaden."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is a way that we may attempt,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I 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.\u2019 \u2018If it is a worse road than the Redhorn Gate, then it must be evil indeed,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018But you had better tell us about it, and let us know the worst at once.\u2019 \u2018The road that I speak of leads to the Mines of Moria,\u2019 said Gandalf.OnlyGimlilifteduphishead;asmoulderingfirewasinhis\u2018The road may lead to Moria, but how can we hope that it will lead through Moria?\u2019 said Aragorn darkly."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum was the first to recover. Again he pulled at their cloaks urgently, but he spoke no word. Almost he dragged them forward. Every stepSo they came slowly to the white bridge. Here the road, gleaming faintly, passed over the stream in the midst of the valley, and went on, winding deviously up towards the city\u2019s gate: a black mouth opening in the outer circle of the northward walls. Wide flats lay on either bank, shadowy meads filled with pale white flowers. Luminous these were too, beautiful and yet horrible of shape, like the demented forms in an uneasy dream; and they gave forth a faint sickening charnel-smell; an odour of rottenness filled the air. From mead to mead the bridge sprang. Figures stood there at its head, carven with cunning in forms human and bestial, but all corrupt and loathsome."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hobbits!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Now what does that remind me of ? Might I ask your names, sirs?\u2019 \u2018Mr. Took and Mr. Brandybuck,\u2019 said Frodo; \u2018and this is Sam Gamgee. My name is Underhill.\u2019 \u2018There now!\u2019 said Mr. Butterbur, snapping his fingers. \u2018It\u2019s gone again! But it\u2019ll come back, when I have time to think. I\u2019m run off my feet; but I\u2019ll see what I can do for you. We don\u2019t often get a party out of the Shire nowadays, and I should be sorry not to make you welcome. But there is such a crowd already in the house tonight as there hasn\u2019t been for long enough. It never rains but it pours, we say in Bree.\u2019 \u2018Hi! Nob!\u2019 he shouted. \u2018Where are you, you woolly-footed slow- coach? Nob!\u2019 \u2018Coming, sir! Coming!\u2019 A cheery-looking hobbit bobbed out of a door, and seeing the travellers, stopped short and stared at them with great interest."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You cannot pass,\u2019 he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. \u2018I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor."
    },
    {
        "text": "The vision melted into waking; and there was Tom whistling like a tree-full of birds; and the sun was already slanting down the hill and through the open window. Outside everything was green and pale gold."
    },
    {
        "text": "As the day wore on the light increased a little, and the mists lifted, growing thinner and more transparent. Far above the rot and vapours of the world the Sun was riding high and golden now in a serene country with floors of dazzling foam, but only a passing ghost of her could they see below, bleared, pale, giving no colour and no warmth."
    },
    {
        "text": "Fury at the treachery, and desperation at the delay when his master was in deadly peril, gave to Sam a sudden violence and strength that was far beyond anything that Gollum had expected from this slow stupid hobbit, as he thought him. Not Gollum himself could have twisted more quickly or more fiercely. His hold on Sam\u2019s mouth slipped, and Sam ducked and lunged forward again, trying to tear away from the grip on his neck. His sword was still in his hand, and on his left arm, hanging by its thong, was Faramir\u2019s staff. Desperately he tried to turn and stab his enemy. But Gollum was too quick. His long right arm shot out, and he grabbed Sam\u2019s wrist: his fingers were like a vice; slowly and relentlessly he bent the hand down and forward, till with a cry of pain Sam released the sword and it fell to the ground; and all the while Gollum\u2019s other hand was tightening on Sam\u2019s throat."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat: \u2018The white horses of the Moon, They neigh and champ their silver bits; But their master\u2019s been and drowned his wits, and the Sun\u2019ll be rising soon!\u2019 So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle, a jig that would wake the dead: He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune, While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon: \u2018It\u2019s after three!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We do not and we never have,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer with a flash of his eyes; \u2018though it comes to my ears that that lie has been told. Some years ago the Lord of the Black Land wished to purchase horses of us at great price, but we refused him, for he puts beasts to evil use."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then one rode forward, a tall man, taller than all the rest; from his helm as a crest a white horsetail flowed. He advanced until the point of his spear was within a foot of Aragorn\u2019s breast. Aragorn did not stir."
    },
    {
        "text": "He is tending your tired beasts.\u2019 The hobbits sat down gladly in low rush-seated chairs, while Gold- berry busied herself about the table; and their eyes followed her, for the slender grace of her movement filled them with quiet delight."
    },
    {
        "text": "Men said that in the far-off days of the glory of Gondor the sea-kings had built here this fastness with the hands of giants. The Hornburg it was called, for a trumpet sounded upon the tower echoed in the Deep behind, as if armies long-forgotten were issuing to war from caves beneath the hills. A wall, too, the men of old had made fromthe feet of the Hornrock it wound, and flowed then in a gully through the midst of a wide green gore, sloping gently down from Helm\u2019s Gate to Helm\u2019s Dike. Thence it fell into the Deeping-coomb and out into the Westfold Vale. There in the Hornburg at Helm\u2019s Gate Erkenbrand, master of Westfold on the borders of the Mark, now dwelt. As the days darkened with threat of war, being wise, he had repaired the wall and made the fastness strong."
    },
    {
        "text": "They all hurried forward, hobbits and ponies. Already half their weariness and all their fears had fallen from them. Hey! Come merry dol! rolled out the song to greet them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Come, join the Moot! We are off. We are off to Isengard!\u2019 \u2018To Isengard!\u2019 the Ents cried in many voices."
    },
    {
        "text": "Merry looked out in wonder upon this strange country, of which he had heard many tales upon their long road. It was a skyless world, in which his eye, through dim gulfs of shadowy air, saw only ever- mounting slopes, great walls of stone behind great walls, and frowning precipices wreathed with mist. He sat for a moment half dreaming, listening to the noise of water, the whisper of dark trees, the crack of stone, and the vast waiting silence that brooded behind all sound."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Ugh! That smell!\u2019 he said. \u2018It\u2019s getting stronger and stronger.\u2019 Presently they were under the shadow, and there in the midst of it they saw the opening of a cave. \u2018This is the way in,\u2019 said Gollum softly. \u2018This is the entrance to the tunnel.\u2019 He did not speak its name: Torech Ungol, Shelob\u2019s Lair. Out of it came a stench, not the sickly odour of decay in the meads of Morgul, but a foul reek, as if filth unnameable were piled and hoarded in the dark within."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Cram,\u2019 he said under his breath, as he broke off a crisp corner and nibbled at it. His expression quickly changed, and he ate all the rest of the cake with relish."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sun went down. Bag End seemed sad and gloomy and dishev- elled. Frodo wandered round the familiar rooms, and saw the light of the sunset fade on the walls, and shadows creep out of the corners."
    },
    {
        "text": "The skies burst into thunder seared with lightning. Down like lashing whips fell a torrent of black rain. And into the heart of the storm, with a cry that pierced all other sounds, tearing the clouds asunder, the Nazgu\u02c6 l came, shooting like flaming bolts, as caught in the fiery ruin of hill and sky they crackled, withered, and went out."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What\u2019s all this,\u2019 he snarled as he came forward. \u2018Gate-breaking? You clear out, or I\u2019ll break your filthy little necks!\u2019 Then he stopped, for he had caught the gleam of swords."
    },
    {
        "text": "But the wood was burning fast, and the snow still fell."
    },
    {
        "text": "They did not imagine that there was anything in this little land that would stand up to twenty of their kind together."
    },
    {
        "text": "The people in the Marish were friendly with the Bucklanders, and theauthorityoftheMasteroftheHall(astheheadoftheBrandybuckthe Bucklanders as peculiar, half foreigners as it were. Though, as a matter of fact, they were not very different from the other hobbits of the Four Farthings. Except in one point: they were fond of boats, and some of them could swim."
    },
    {
        "text": "The weapontake was set for the morrow. When all is ordered we will set out. Ten thousand spears I might have sent riding over the plain to the dismay of your foes. It will be less now, I fear; for I will not leave my strongholds all unguarded. Yet six thousands at the least shall ride behind me. For say to Denethor that in this hour the Kingmust reach the end with strength to fight. A week it may be from tomorrow\u2019s morn ere you hear the cry of the Sons of Eorl coming from the North.\u2019 \u2018A week!\u2019 said Hirgon. \u2018If it must be so, it must. But you are like to find only ruined walls in seven days from now, unless other help unlooked-for comes. Still, you may at the least disturb the Orcs and Swarthy Men from their feasting in the White Tower.\u2019 \u2018At the least we will do that,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018But I myself am new-come from battle and long journey, and I will now go to rest."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They are coming!\u2019 cried Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "The host had almost passed when suddenly Aragorn stood up, and called in a loud voice: \u2018What news from the North, Riders of Rohan?\u2019 With astonishing speed and skill they checked their steeds, wheeled, and came charging round. Soon the three companions found themselves in a ring of horsemen moving in a running circle, up the hill-slope behind them and down, round and round them, and drawing ever inwards. Aragorn stood silent, and the other two sat without moving, wondering what way things would turn.had bows in hand, and their arrows were already fitted to the string."
    },
    {
        "text": "You have, and so have I. Well, they climbed up here the day before yesterday; and they met someone that they did not expect. Does that comfort you? And now you would like to know where they were taken? Well, well, maybe I can give you some news about that. But why are we standing? Your errand, you see, is no longer as urgent as you thought. Let us sit down and be more at ease.\u2019 The old man turned away and went towards a heap of fallen stones and rock at the foot of the cliff behind. Immediately, as if a spell had been removed, the others relaxed and stirred. Gimli\u2019s hand went at once to his axe-haft. Aragorn drew his sword. Legolas picked up his bow."
    },
    {
        "text": "Mist and twilight, cloud and shade, Away shall fade! Away shall fade! Fire and lamp, and meat and bread, And then to bed! And then to bed! The song ended. \u2018And now to bed! And now to bed!\u2019 sang Pippin in a high voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "They had reached the Mountain\u2019s foot on its northern side, and a little to the westward; there its long grey slopes, though broken, were not sheer. Frodo did not speak, and so Sam struggled on as best he could, having no guidance but the will to climb as high as might be before his strength gave out and his will broke. On he toiled, up and up, turning this way and that to lessen the slope, often stumbling forward, and at the last crawling like a snail with a heavy burden on its back. When his will could drive him no further, and his limbs gave way, he stopped and laid his master gently down."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then Pippin stabbed upwards, and the written blade of Wester- nesse pierced through the hide and went deep into the vitals of the troll, and his black blood came gushing out. He toppled forward and came crashing down like a falling rock, burying those beneath him.\u2018So it ends as I guessed it would,\u2019 his thought said, even as it fluttered away; and it laughed a little within him ere it fled, almost gay it seemed to be casting off at last all doubt and care and fear."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I know. But it is difficult to do both,\u2019 he objected. \u2018If I just vanish like Bilbo, the tale will be all over the Shire in no time.\u2019 \u2018Of course you mustn\u2019t vanish!\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018That wouldn\u2019t do at all! I said soon, not instantly. If you can think of any way of slipping out of the Shire without its being generally known, it will be worth a little delay. But you must not delay too long.\u2019 \u2018What about the autumn, on or after Our Birthday?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Frodo stopped and sat down on a stone. They had now climbed up to the top of a great hump of bare rock. Ahead of them there was a bay in the valley-side, and round the head of this the path went on, no more than a wide ledge with a chasm on the right; across the sheer southward face of the mountain it crawled upwards, until it disappeared into the blackness above."
    },
    {
        "text": "The passage twisted round a few turns, and then began to descend."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t know why I did it. If the others have escaped, they\u2019ve probably all gone with Frodo.\u2019 A whip-thong curled round his legs, and he stifled a cry."
    },
    {
        "text": "No chance to go back with It and get advice or permission. No, it\u2019s sit here till they come and kill me over master\u2019s body, and gets It; or take It and go.\u2019 He drew a deep breath. \u2018Then take It, it is!\u2019 He stooped. Very gently he undid the clasp at the neck and slipped his hand inside Frodo\u2019s tunic; then with his other hand raising the head, he kissed the cold forehead, and softly drew the chain over it."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Men of the Mark took their weapons from them, and set them to work."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Indeed!\u2019 said Uglu\u00b4k. \u2018Waste of effort. I\u2019ll see that orders are carried out in my command. And what else did you come back for? You went in a hurry. Did you leave anything behind?\u2019 \u2018I left a fool,\u2019 snarled Grishna\u00b4kh. \u2018But there were some stout fellows with him that are too good to lose. I knew you\u2019d lead them into a mess. I\u2019ve come to help them.\u2019 \u2018Splendid!\u2019 laughed Uglu\u00b4k. \u2018But unless you\u2019ve got some guts for fighting, you\u2019ve taken the wrong way. Lugbu\u00b4rz was your road. The Whiteskins are coming. What\u2019s happened to your precious Nazgu\u02c6l? Has he had another mount shot under him? Now, if you\u2019d brought\u2018Nazgu\u02c6l, Nazgu\u02c6l,\u2019 said Grishna\u00b4kh, shivering and licking his lips, as if the word had a foul taste that he savoured painfully. \u2018You speak of what is deep beyond the reach of your muddy dreams, Uglu\u00b4k,\u2019 he said. \u2018Nazgu\u02c6l! Ah! All that they make out! One day you\u2019ll wish that you had not said that. Ape!\u2019 he snarled fiercely. \u2018You ought to know that they\u2019re the apple of the Great Eye. But the winged Nazgu\u02c6l: not yet, not yet. He won\u2019t let them show themselves across the Great River yet, not too soon. They\u2019re for the War \u2013 and other purposes.\u2019 \u2018You seem to know a lot,\u2019 said Uglu\u00b4k. \u2018More than is good for you, I guess. Perhaps those in Lugbu\u00b4rz might wonder how, and why. But in the meantime the Uruk-hai of Isengard can do the dirty work, as usual. Don\u2019t stand slavering there! Get your rabble together! The other swine are legging it to the forest. You\u2019d better follow. You wouldn\u2019t get back to the Great River alive. Right off the mark! Now! I\u2019ll be on your heels.\u2019 The Isengarders seized Merry and Pippin again and slung them on their backs. Then the troop started off. Hour after hour they ran, pausing now and again only to sling the hobbits to fresh carriers."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam got up. He was dazed, and blood streaming from his head dripped in his eyes. He groped forward, and then he saw a strange and terrible thing. Gollum on the edge of the abyss was fighting like a mad thing with an unseen foe. To and fro he swayed, now so near the brink that almost he tumbled in, now dragging back, falling to the ground, rising, and falling again. And all the while he hissed but spoke no words."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Then if we are going to toil through bog and briar, let\u2019s go now!\u2019 said Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "At least that is the tale in the City. That will be the one that walks with our Elfstone. They are dear friends, I hear. Now he is a marvel, the Lord Elfstone: not too soft in his speech, mind you, but he has a golden heart, as the saying is; and he has the healing hands. \u2018\u2018The hands of the king are the hands of a healer\u2019\u2019, I said; and that was how it was all discovered. And Mithrandir, he said to me: \u2018\u2018Ioreth, men will long remember your words\u2019\u2019, and\u2014\u2014\u2019 But Ioreth was not permitted to continue the instruction of her kinswoman from the country, for a single trumpet rang, and a dead silence followed. Then forth from the Gate went Faramir with Hu\u00b4rin of the Keys, and no others, save that behind them walked four menFaramir met Aragorn in the midst of those there assembled, and he knelt, and said: \u2018The last Steward of Gondor begs leave to surren- der his office.\u2019 And he held out a white rod; but Aragorn took the rod and gave it back, saying: \u2018That office is not ended, and it shall be thine and thy heirs\u2019 as long as my line shall last. Do now thy office!\u2019 Then Faramir stood up and spoke in a clear voice: \u2018Men of Gondor, hear now the Steward of this Realm! Behold! one has come to claim the kingship again at last. Here is Aragorn son of Arathorn, chieftain of the Du\u00b4nedain of Arnor, Captain of the Host of the West, bearer of the Star of the North, wielder of the Sword Reforged, victorious in battle, whose hands bring healing, the Elfstone, Elessar of the line of Valandil, Isildur\u2019s son, Elendil\u2019s son of Nu\u00b4menor. Shall he be king and enter into the City and dwell there?\u2019 And all the host and all the people cried yea with one voice."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I feared it, Sam,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018We\u2019ve trusted to luck, and it has failed us. We\u2019re trapped.\u2019 He looked wildly up at the frowning wall, where the road-builders of old had cut the rock sheer for many fathoms above their heads. He ran to the other side and looked over the brink into a dark pit of gloom. \u2018We\u2019re trapped at last!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "With a squeal Gollum let go. Then Sam waded in; not waiting to change the staff from left to right he dealt another savage blow. Quick as a snake Gollum slithered aside, and the stroke aimed at his head fell across his back. The staff cracked and broke. That was enough for him. Grabbing from behind was an old game of his, and seldom had he failed in it. But this time, misled by spite, he had made the mistake of speaking and gloating before he had both hands on his victim\u2019s neck. Everything had gone wrong with his beautiful plan, since that horrible light had so unexpectedly appeared in the darkness."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well!\u2019 he cried. \u2018We\u2019ve done it! We\u2019ve escaped from the Emyn Muil!Andnowwhatnext,Iwonder?Maybeweshallsoonbesighinghammers!\u2019 he said. \u2018Noodles! My beautiful rope! There it is tied to a stump, and we\u2019re at the bottom. Just as nice a little stair for that slinking Gollum as we could leave. Better put up a signpost to say which way we\u2019ve gone! I thought it seemed a bit too easy.\u2019 \u2018If you can think of any way we could have both used the rope and yet brought it down with us, then you can pass on to me ninny- hammer, or any other name your gaffer gave you,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Climb up and untie it and let yourself down, if you want to!\u2019 Sam scratched his head. \u2018No, I can\u2019t think how, begging your pardon,\u2019 he said. \u2018But I don\u2019t like leaving it, and that\u2019s a fact.\u2019 He stroked the rope\u2019s end and shook it gently. \u2018It goes hard parting with anything I brought out of the Elf-country. Made by Galadriel herself, too, maybe. Galadriel,\u2019 he murmured, nodding his head mournfully."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Do you think,\u2019 asked Pippin hesitatingly, \u2018do you think we may be pursued, tonight?\u2019 \u2018No, I hope not tonight,\u2019 answered Tom Bombadil; \u2018nor perhaps the next day. But do not trust my guess; for I cannot tell for certain."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Their horses must have perished, and without them they are crippled. But the Ringwraiths themselves cannot be so easily destroyed. However, there is nothing more to fear from them at present. Your friends crossed after the flood had passed and they found you lying on your face at the top of the bank, with a broken sword under you. The horse was standing guard beside you. You were pale and cold, and they feared that you were dead, or worse. Elrond\u2019s folk met them, carrying you slowly towards Rivendell.\u2019 \u2018Who made the flood?\u2019 asked Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "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\u2019s staff, Frodo caught glimpses of stairs and arches, and of other passages and tunnels, sloping up, or runningGimli aided Gandalf very little, except by his 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, Glo\u00b4in\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "And seen closer in the light of two candles that he lit and carried before them the landlord\u2019s face looked rather wrinkled and careworn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hullo, Bergil!\u2019 he called. \u2018Where are you going? Glad to see you again, and still alive!\u2019 \u2018I am running errands for the Healers,\u2019 said Bergil. \u2018I cannot stay.\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018But tell them up there that I have a sick hobbit, a perian mind you, come from the battle-field. I don\u2019t think he can walk so far. If Mithrandir is there, he will be glad of the message.\u2019 Bergil ran on."
    },
    {
        "text": "Pippin remained behind. \u2018Was there ever anyone like him?\u2019 he said. \u2018Except Gandalf, of course. I think they must be related. My dear ass, your pack is lying by your bed, and you had it on your back when I met you. He saw it all the time, of course. And anyway I have some stuff of my own. Come on now! Longbottom Leaf it is."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We are famisshed, yes famisshed we are, precious,\u2019 he said. \u2018What is it they eats? Have they nice fisshes?\u2019 His tongue lolled out between his sharp yellow teeth, licking his colourless lips."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was a fine night, and the black sky was dotted with stars. He looked up, sniffing the air. \u2018What fun! What fun to be off again, off on the Road with dwarves! This is what I have really been longing for, for years! Good-bye!\u2019 he said, looking at his old home and bowing to the door. \u2018Good-bye, Gandalf !\u2019 \u2018Good-bye, for the present, Bilbo. Take care of yourself ! You are old enough, and perhaps wise enough.\u2019 \u2018Take care! I don\u2019t care. Don\u2019t you worry about me! I am as happy now as I have ever been, and that is saying a great deal. But the time has come. I am being swept off my feet at last,\u2019 he added, and then in a low voice, as if to himself, he sang softly in the dark: The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began."
    },
    {
        "text": "He climbed in those trees, and he couldn\u2019t wash the smell off his hands, my nice hands.\u2019 Dropping the leaf, he took a corner of the lembas and nibbled it. He spat, and a fit of coughing shook him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I ask you again,\u2019 he said: \u2018is not this secret way guarded?\u2019 But the name of Aragorn had put Gollum into a sullen mood. He had all the injured air of a liar suspected when for once he has told the truth, or part of it. He did not answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Are you in pain, Frodo?\u2019 said Gandalf quietly as he rode by Frodo\u2019s side."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Heavy have the hearts of our chieftains been since that night. We needed not the fell voice of the messenger to warn us that his words held both menace and deceit; for we knew already that the power that has re-entered Mordor has not changed, and ever it betrayed us of old. Twice the messenger has returned, and has gone unanswered."
    },
    {
        "text": "Are you Mr. Butterbur?\u2019 \u2018That\u2019s right! Barliman is my name. Barliman Butterbur at your service! You\u2019re from the Shire, eh?\u2019 he said, and then suddenly he clapped his hand to his forehead, as if trying to remember something."
    },
    {
        "text": "The bubbling hiss drew nearer, and there was a creaking as of some great jointed thing that moved with slow purpose in the dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water."
    },
    {
        "text": "Bilbo Baggins has gone away; as far as I know, for good.\u2019 Some of the visitors he invited to come inside, as Bilbo had left \u2018messages\u2019 for them."
    },
    {
        "text": "A tall man entered, and Merry choked back a cry; for a moment it seemed to him that Boromir was alive again and had returned."
    },
    {
        "text": "Gollum crouched down and his voice sank to a whisper again. \u2018A little path leading up into the mountains; and then a stair, a narrow stair, O yes, very long and narrow. And then more stairs. And then\u2019 \u2013 his voice sank even lower \u2013 \u2018a tunnel, a dark tunnel; and at last a little cleft, and a path high above the main pass. It was that way that Sme\u00b4agol got out of the darkness. But it was years ago. The path may have vanished now; but perhaps not, perhaps not.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t like the sound of it at all,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Sounds too easy at any rate in the telling. If that path is still there, it\u2019ll be guarded too."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sword in hand Sam went after him. For the moment he had forgotten everything else but the red fury in his brain and the desire to kill Gollum. But before he could overtake him, Gollum was gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "When the old man, helped by Bilbo and some dwarves, had finished unloading, Bilbo gave a few pennies away; but not a single squib or cracker was forthcoming, to the disappointment of the onlookers."
    },
    {
        "text": "We are very sorry for you.\u2019 Frodo opened his mouth and shut it again. His look of surprise was so comical that they laughed. \u2018Dear old Frodo!\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Did you really think you had thrown dust in all our eyes? You have not been nearly careful or clever enough for that! You have obviously been planning to go and saying farewell to all your haunts all this year since April. We have constantly heard you muttering: \u2018\u2018Shall I ever look down into that valley again, I wonder\u2019\u2019, and things like that. And pretending that you had come to the end of your money, and actually selling your beloved Bag End to those Sackville- Bagginses! And all those close talks with Gandalf.\u2019 \u2018Good heavens!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I thought I had been both careful and clever. I don\u2019t know what Gandalf would say. Is all the Shire discussing my departure then?\u2019 \u2018Oh no!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018Don\u2019t worry about that! The secret won\u2019tand are often with you. We can usually guess what you are thinking."
    },
    {
        "text": "The old man\u2019s flat face and dark eyes showed nothing, but his voice was sullen with displeasure. \u2018Wild Men are wild, free, but not children,\u2019 he answered. \u2018I am great headman, Gha\u02c6n-buri-Gha\u02c6n. I count many things: stars in sky, leaves on trees, men in the dark."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Or break it,\u2019 said Elrond. \u2018Look 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!\u2019 \u2018Good ... good luck!\u2019 cried Bilbo, stuttering with the cold. \u2018I don\u2019t 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\u2019t be too long! Farewell!\u2019 Many others of Elrond\u2019s 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then through all the years that followed he traced the Ring; but since that history is elsewhere recounted, even as Elrond himself set it down in his books of lore, it is not here recalled. For it is a long tale, full of deeds great and terrible, and briefly though Elrond spoke, the sun rode up the sky, and the morning was passing ere he ceased."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Hullo!\u2019 said Merry. \u2018The Sun must have run into a cloud while we\u2019ve been under these trees, and now she has run out again; or else she has climbed high enough to look down through some opening."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I have nothing much to give to you young fellows,\u2019 he said to Merry and Pippin, \u2018except good advice.\u2019 And when he had given them a fair sample of this, he added a last item in Shire-fashion: \u2018Don\u2019t let your heads get too big for your hats! But if you don\u2019t finish growing up soon, you are going to find hats and clothes expensive.\u2019 \u2018But if you want to beat the Old Took,\u2019 said Pippin, \u2018I don\u2019t see why we shouldn\u2019t try and beat the Bullroarer.\u2019 Bilbo laughed, and he produced out of a pocket two beautiful pipes with pearl mouth-pieces and bound with fine-wrought silver."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Neither do I,\u2019 answered the wizard. \u2018I have merely begun to wonder about the ring, especially since last night. No need to worry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Mithrandir!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Mithrandir!\u2019 \u2018Well met, I say to you again, Legolas!\u2019 said the old man.bright, piercing as the rays of the sun; power was in his hand. Between wonder, joy, and fear they stood and found no words to say."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We may remain there for a while and make a brave stand; but the Lord Denethor and all his men cannot hope to do what even Elrond said was beyond his power: either to keep the Burden secret, or to hold off the full might of the Enemy when he comes to take it."
    },
    {
        "text": "First of all, before they had eaten or washed or even shed their cloaks, the hobbits went in search of Bilbo. They found him all alone in his little room. It was littered with papers and pens and pencils; but Bilbo was sitting in a chair before a small bright fire. He looked very old, but peaceful, and sleepy."
    },
    {
        "text": "Legolas looked up and answered in the same language.* \u2018Who are they, and what do they say?\u2019 asked Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They are sailing, sailing, sailing over the Sea, they are going into the West and leaving us,\u2019 said Sam, half chanting the words, shaking his head sadly and solemnly. But Ted laughed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now Sauron knows all this, and he knows that this precious thing which he lost has been found again; but he does not yet know where it is, or so we hope. And therefore he is now in great doubt. For if we have found this thing, there are some among us with strength enough to wield it. That too he knows. For do I not guess rightly, Aragorn, that you have shown yourself to him in the Stone of Orthanc?\u2019 \u2018I did so ere I rode from the Hornburg,\u2019 answered Aragorn. \u2018I deemed that the time was ripe, and that the Stone had come to me for just such a purpose. It was then ten days since the Ring-bearer went east from Rauros, and the Eye of Sauron, I thought, should be drawn out from his own land. Too seldom has he been challenged since he returned to his Tower. Though if I had foreseen how swift would be his onset in answer, maybe I should not have dared to show myself. Bare time was given me to come to your aid.\u2019 \u2018But how is this?\u2019 asked E\u00b4omer. \u2018All is vain, you say, if he has the Ring. Why should he think it not vain to assail us, if we have it?\u2019 \u2018He is not yet sure,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018and he has not built up his power by waiting until his enemies are secure, as we have done. Also we could not learn how to wield the full power all in a day. Indeed it can be used only by one master alone, not by many; and he will look for a time of strife, ere one of the great among us makes himself master and puts down the others. In that time the Ring might aid him, if he were sudden."
    },
    {
        "text": "Have you good store in Minas Tirith? For if we must ride now in all haste, then we must ride light, with but meal and water enough to last us into battle.\u2019 \u2018We have very great store long prepared,\u2019 answered Hirgon. \u2018Ride now as light and as swift as you may!\u2019 \u2018Then call the heralds, E\u00b4 omer,\u2019 said The\u00b4oden. \u2018Let the Riders be marshalled!\u2019 E\u00b4omer went out, and presently the trumpets rang in the Hold and were answered by many others from below; but their voices no longer sounded clear and brave as they had seemed to Merry the night before. Dull they seemed and harsh in the heavy air, braying ominously."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018It\u2019s a trap!\u2019 said Sam, and he laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword; and as he did so, he thought of the darkness of the barrow whence it came. \u2018I wish old Tom was near us now!\u2019 he thought."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hasufel and Arod, weary but proud, followed their tireless leader, a grey shadow before them hardly to be seen. The miles went by. The waxing moon sank into the cloudy West."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018That is the horn that Boromir always wore!\u2019 cried Pippin."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I was just running over some of the Rhymes of Lore in my mind,\u2019 answered the wizard. \u2018Hobbits, I suppose, have forgotten them, even those that they ever knew.\u2019 \u2018No, not all,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018And we have many of our own, which wouldn\u2019t interest you, perhaps. But I have never heard this one. What is it about \u2013 the seven stars and seven stones?\u2019 \u2018About the palant\u00b4\u0131ri of the Kings of Old,\u2019 said Gandalf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Let us now go on with the journey we have begun!\u2019 The company turned then away from the Coomb and from the wood and took the road towards the Fords. Legolas followed reluc- tantly. The sun had set, already it had sunk behind the rim of the world; but as they rode out from the shadow of the hills and looked west to the Gap of Rohan the sky was still red, and a burning light was under the floating clouds. Dark against it there wheeled and flew many black-winged birds. Some passed overhead with mournful cries, returning to their homes among the rocks."
    },
    {
        "text": "At nightfall he brought them to his ent-house: nothing more than a mossy stone set upon turves under a green bank. Rowan-trees grew in a circle about it, and there was water (as in all ent-houses), a spring bubbling out from the bank. They talked for a while as darkness fell on the forest. Not far away the voices of the Entmoot could be heard still going on; but now they seemed deeper and less leisurely, and every now and again one great voice would rise in a high and quicken- ing music, while all the others died away. But beside them Bregalad spoke gently in their own tongue, almost whispering; and they learned that he belonged to Skinbark\u2019s people, and the country where they had lived had been ravaged. That seemed to the hobbits quite enough to explain his \u2018hastiness\u2019, at least in the matter of Orcs."
    },
    {
        "text": "The last lap.\u2019 Frodo drew a deep breath and sat up. \u2018The last lap!\u2019 he said."
    },
    {
        "text": "Presently Gha\u02c6n turned to the king. \u2018Wild Men say many things,\u2019 he said. \u2018First, be wary! Still many men in camp beyond D\u02c6\u0131n, an hour\u2019s walk yonder,\u2019 he waved his arm west towards the black beacon."
    },
    {
        "text": "And E\u00b4 owyn did not go, though her brother sent word begging her to come to the field of Cormallen. And Faramir wondered at this, but he saw her seldom, being busy with many matters; and she dwelt still in the Houses of Healing and walked alone in the garden, and her face grew pale again, and it seemed that in all the City she only was ailing and sorrowful. And the Warden of the Houses was troubled, and he spoke to Faramir."
    },
    {
        "text": "Lamps were twinkling there. Behind loomed up the Buck Hill; and out of it, through stray shrouds of mist, shone many round windows, yellow and red. They were the windows of Brandy Hall, the ancient home of the Brandybucks."
    },
    {
        "text": "There I will crush him, and what he has taken in his insolence shall be mine again for ever.\u2019\u2019 \u2018We must walk open-eyed into that trap, with courage, but small hope for ourselves. For, my lords, it may well prove that we ourselves shall perish utterly in a black battle far from the living lands; so that even if Barad-du\u02c6r be thrown down, we shall not live to see a new age. But this, I deem, is our duty. And better so than to perish nonetheless \u2013 as we surely shall, if we sit here \u2013 and know as we die that no new age shall be.\u2019 They were silent for a while. At length Aragorn spoke. \u2018As I have begun, so I will go on. We come now to the very brink, where hope and despair are akin. To waver is to fall. Let none now reject the counsels of Gandalf, whose long labours against Sauron come at last to their test. But for him all would long ago have been lost. Nonethe- less I do not yet claim to command any man. Let others choose as they will.\u2019 Then said Elrohir: \u2018From the North we came with this purpose, and from Elrond our father we brought this very counsel. We will not turn back.\u2019 \u2018As for myself,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer, \u2018I have little knowledge of these deep matters; but I need it not. This I know, and it is enough, that as my friend Aragorn succoured me and my people, so I will aid him when he calls. I will go.\u2019I will go also. Yet for a while I stand in the place of the Steward of Gondor, and it is mine to think first of its people. To prudence some heed must still be given. For we must prepare against all chances, good as well as evil. Now, it may be that we shall triumph, and while there is any hope of this, Gondor must be protected. I would not have us return with victory to a City in ruins and a land ravaged behind us. And yet we learn from the Rohirrim that there is an army still unfought upon our northern flank.\u2019 \u2018That is true,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I do not counsel you to leave the City all unmanned. Indeed the force that we lead east need not be great enough for any assault in earnest upon Mordor, so long as it be great enough to challenge battle. And it must move soon. Therefore I ask the Captains: what force could we muster and lead out in two days\u2019 time at the latest? And they must be hardy men that go willingly, knowing their peril.\u2019 \u2018All are weary, and very many have wounds light or grievous,\u2019 said E\u00b4omer, \u2018and we have suffered much loss of our horses, and that is ill to bear. If we must ride soon, then I cannot hope to lead even two thousands, and yet leave as many for the defence of the City.\u2019 \u2018We have not only to reckon with those who fought on this field,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018New strength is on the way from the southern fiefs, now that the coasts have been rid. Four thousands I sent marching from Pelargir through Lossarnach two days ago; and Angbor the fearless rides before them. If we set out in two days more, they will draw nigh ere we depart. Moreover many were bidden to follow me up the River in any craft they could gather; and with this wind they will soon be at hand, indeed several ships have already come to the Harlond. I judge that we could lead out seven thousands of horse and foot, and yet leave the City in better defence than it was when the assault began.\u2019 \u2018The Gate is destroyed,\u2019 said Imrahil, \u2018and where now is the skill to rebuild it and set it up anew?\u2019 \u2018In Erebor in the Kingdom of Da\u00b4in there is such skill,\u2019 said Ara- gorn; \u2018and if all our hopes do not perish, then in time I will send Gimli Glo\u00b4 in\u2019s son to ask for wrights of the Mountain. But men are better than gates, and no gate will endure against our Enemy if men desert it.\u2019 This then was the end of the debate of the lords: that they should set forth on the second morning from that day with seven thousands, if these might be found; and the great part of this force should be on foot,because ofthe evillands into whichthey wouldgo. Aragornand E\u00b4omer five hundreds of the Rohirrim who were unhorsed but themselves warworthy, and he himself should lead five hundreds of his best Riders on horse; and another company of five hundred horse there should be, among which should ride the sons of Elrond with the Du\u00b4nedain and the knights of Dol Amroth: all told six thousand foot and a thousand horse. But the main strength of the Rohirrim that remained horsed and able to fight, some three thousand under the command of Elfhelm, should waylay the West Road against the enemy that was in Ano\u00b4rien. And at once swift riders were sent out to gather what news they could northwards; and eastwards from Osgiliath and the road to Minas Morgul."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam was beside himself. \u2018I\u2019m going right on, Mr. Frodo!\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "He imagined suddenly that he caught a muffled cry, and he made towards it; and even as he went forward the mist was rolled up and thrust aside, and the starry sky was unveiled. A glance showed him that he was now facing southwards and was on a round hill-top, which he must have climbed from the north. Out of the east the bitingwindwasblowing.Tohisrightthereloomedagainstthewest-\u2018Here!\u2019 said a voice, deep and cold, that seemed to come out of the ground. \u2018I am waiting for you!\u2019 \u2018No!\u2019 said Frodo; but he did not run away. His knees gave, and he fell on the ground. Nothing happened, and there was no sound."
    },
    {
        "text": "Seven stars and seven stones and one white tree."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018They\u2019re Elves,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018Can\u2019t you hear their voices?\u2019 \u2018Yes, they are Elves,\u2019 said Legolas; \u2018and they say that you breathe so loud that they could shoot you in the dark.\u2019 Sam hastily put his hand over his mouth. \u2018But they say also that you need have no fear."
    },
    {
        "text": "While the grey light lasted, they cowered under a black stone like worms, shrinking, lest the winged terror should pass and spy them with its cruel eyes. The remainder of that journey was a shadow of growing fear in which memory could find nothing to rest upon. For two more nights they struggled on through the weary pathless land."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Lothlo\u00b4rien!\u2019 cried Legolas. \u2018Lothlo\u00b4rien! We have come to the eaves of the Golden Wood. Alas that it is winter!\u2019In the dim light of the stars their stems were grey, and their quivering leaves a hint of fallow gold."
    },
    {
        "text": "At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland; and already they were singing again as they went. But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the afternoon Uglu\u00b4k\u2019s troop overtook the Northerners. They were flagging in the rays of the bright sun, winter sun shining in a pale cool sky though it was; their heads were down and their tongues lolling out."
    },
    {
        "text": "Elrond greeted them gravely and graciously, and Galadriel smiled upon them. \u2018Well, Master Samwise,\u2019 she said. \u2018I hear and see that you have used my gift well. The Shire shall now be more than ever blessed and beloved.\u2019 Sam bowed, but found nothing to say. He had forgotten how beautiful the Lady was.I think I am quite ready to go on another journey. Are you coming?\u2019 \u2018Yes, I am coming,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018The Ring-bearers should go together.\u2019 \u2018Where are you going, Master?\u2019 cried Sam, though at last he under- stood what was happening."
    },
    {
        "text": "We shall not forsake our old alliance with Gondor, and while they fight we shall aid them: so say I and all who hold with me. The East-mark is my charge, the ward of the Third Marshal, and I have removed all our herds and herdfolk, withdrawing them beyond Entwash, and leaving none here but guards and swift scouts.\u2019 \u2018Then you do not pay tribute to Sauron?\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There is a strange tale to tell!\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018There are only two boats upon the bank. We could find no trace of the other.\u2019 \u2018Have Orcs been there?\u2019 asked Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "To that Stone the Company came and halted in the dead of night."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Fly!\u2019 he called. \u2018Fly! The enemy is upon us!\u2019way across the flat, when suddenly there was a noise of horses gallop- ing. Out of the gate in the trees that they had just left rode a Black Rider. He reined his horse in, and halted, swaying in his saddle."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, no!\u2019 cried Gimli. \u2018Do as you please in your madness, but let me first get down from this horse! I wish to see no eyes!\u2019 \u2018Stay, Legolas Greenleaf !\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Do not go back into the wood, not yet! Now is not your time.\u2019 Even as he spoke, there came forward out of the trees three strange shapes. As tall as trolls they were, twelve feet or more in height; their strong bodies, stout as young trees, seemed to be clad with raiment or with hide of close-fitting grey and brown. Their limbs were long, and their hands had many fingers; their hair was stiff, and their beards grey-green as moss. They gazed out with solemn eyes, but they were not looking at the riders: their eyes were bent northwards. Suddenly they lifted their long hands to their mouths, and sent forth ringing calls, clear as notes of a horn, but more musical and various. The calls were answered; and turning again, the riders saw other creatures of the same kind approaching, striding through the grass. They came swiftly from the North, walking like wading herons in their gait, but not in their speed; for their legs in their long paces beat quicker than the heron\u2019s wings. The riders cried aloud in wonder, and some set their hands upon their sword-hilts."
    },
    {
        "text": "Morning went on. People came and began (by orders) to clear away the pavilions and the tables and the chairs, and the spoons and knives and bottles and plates, and the lanterns, and the flowering shrubs inThen a number of other people came (without orders): Bagginses, and Boffins, and Bolgers, and Tooks, and other guests that lived or were staying near. By mid-day, when even the best-fed were out and about again, there was a large crowd at Bag End, uninvited but not unexpected."
    },
    {
        "text": "Itwaslateinthenightwhenatlengththeyreachedfirmergroundfeel, and smell, and uncanny memory for shapes in the dark, he seemed to know just where he was again, and to be sure of his road ahead."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I can\u2019t manage it, Sam,\u2019 he said. \u2018It is such a weight to carry, such a weight.\u2019 Sam knew before he spoke, that it was vain, and that such words might do more harm than good, but in his pity he could not keep silent. \u2018Then let me carry it a bit for you, Master,\u2019 he said. \u2018You know I would, and gladly, as long as I have any strength.\u2019 A wild light came into Frodo\u2019s eyes. \u2018Stand away! Don\u2019t touch me!\u2019 he cried. \u2018It is mine, I say. Be off !\u2019 His hand strayed to his sword-hilt. But then quickly his voice changed. \u2018No, no, Sam,\u2019 he said sadly. \u2018But you must understand. It is my burden, and no one else can bear it. It is too late now, Sam dear. You can\u2019t help me in that way again. I am almost in its power now. I could not give it up, and if you tried to take it I should go mad.\u2019 Sam nodded. \u2018I understand,\u2019 he said. \u2018But I\u2019ve been thinking, Mr."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Nothing can we see to guide us here,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018Well, now we must halt again and wear the night away. It is growing cold!\u2019 \u2018The wind is north from the snows,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And now,\u2019 said Denethor, \u2018my first command to you: speak and be not silent! Tell me your full tale, and see that you recall all that you can of Boromir, my son. Sit now and begin!\u2019 As he spoke he struck a small silver gong that stood near his footstool, and at once servants came forward. Pippin saw then that they had been standing in alcoves on either side of the door, unseen as he and Gandalf entered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now, now, Mr. Brandybuck, don\u2019t go reminding me of that! But there, you\u2019ve broken my thought. Now where was I? Nob, stables, ah! that was it. I\u2019ve something that belongs to you. If you recollect Bill Ferny and the horsethieving: his pony as you bought, well, it\u2019s here. Come back all of itself, it did. But where it had been to you know better than me. It was as shaggy as an old dog and as lean as a clothes-rail, but it was alive. Nob\u2019s looked after it.\u2019 \u2018What! My Bill?\u2019 cried Sam. \u2018Well, I was born lucky, whatever my gaffer may say. There\u2019s another wish come true! Where is he?\u2019 Sam would not go to bed until he had visited Bill in his stable."
    },
    {
        "text": "But leave out the eyes!\u2019 \u2018That I won\u2019t,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018\u2019Twas 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\u2019s boat; but I didn\u2019t 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I would.\u2019 \u2018Then, E\u00b4 owyn of Rohan, I say to you that you are beautiful. In the valleys of our hills there are flowers fair and bright, and maidens fairer still; but neither flower nor lady have I seen till now in Gondor so lovely, and so sorrowful. It may be that only a few days are left ere darkness falls upon our world, and when it comes I hope to face it steadily; but it would ease my heart, if while the Sun yet shines, I\u2018Alas, not me, lord!\u2019 she said. \u2018Shadow lies on me still. Look not to me for healing! I am a shieldmaiden and my hand is ungentle. But I thank you for this at least, that I need not keep to my chamber. I will walk abroad by the grace of the Steward of the City.\u2019 And she did him a courtesy and walked back to the house. But Faramir for a long while walked alone in the garden, and his glance now strayed rather to the house than to the eastward walls."
    },
    {
        "text": "At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Sam came in. He ran to Frodo and took his left hand, awkwardly and shyly. He stroked it gently and then he blushed and turned hastily away."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was the third evening since they had fled from the Company, as far as they could tell: they had almost lost count of the hours during which they had climbed and laboured among the barren slopes and stones of the Emyn Muil, sometimes retracing their steps because they could find no way forward, sometimes discovering that they had wandered in a circle back to where they had been hours before. Yet on the whole they had worked steadily eastward, keeping as near as they could find a way to the outer edge of this strange twisted knot of hills. But always they found its outward faces sheer, high and impassable, frowning over the plain below; beyond its tumbled skirts lay livid festering marshes where nothing moved and not even a bird was to be seen."
    },
    {
        "text": "Before long the invitations began pouring out, and the Hobbiton post-office was blocked, and the Bywater post-office was snowed under, and voluntary assistant postmen were called for. There was a constant stream of them going up the Hill, carrying hundreds of polite variations on Thank you, I shall certainly come."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Good evening, little master!\u2019 he said, bending down. \u2018What may you be wanting?\u2019 \u2018Beds for four, and stabling for five ponies, if that can be managed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What\u2019s wrong with old Maggot?\u2019 asked Pippin. \u2018He\u2019s a good friend to all the Brandybucks. Of course he\u2019s a terror to trespassers, and keeps ferocious dogs \u2013 but after all, folk down here are near the border and have to be more on their guard.\u2019 \u2018I know,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But all the same,\u2019 he added with a shame-mushrooms, when I was a youngster at Brandy Hall. On the last occasion he beat me, and then took me and showed me to his dogs."
    },
    {
        "text": "As his story was unfolded of his meeting with Frodo and his servant and of the events at Henneth Annu\u02c6n, Pippin became aware that Gandalf \u2019s hands were trembling as they clutched the carven wood."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Maybe, I could lead you at guess in the darkness and hold to the line,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018but if we strayed, or they turned aside, then when light came there might be long delay before the trail was found again.\u2019 \u2018And there is this also,\u2019 said Gimli: \u2018only by day can we see if any tracks lead away. If a prisoner should escape, or if one should be carried off, eastward, say, to the Great River, towards Mordor, we might pass the signs and never know it.\u2019 \u2018That is true,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But if I read the signs back yonder rightly, the Orcs of the White Hand prevailed, and the whole company is now bound for Isengard. Their present course bears me out.\u2019 \u2018Yet it would be rash to be sure of their counsels,\u2019 said Gimli."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Gilthoniel, A Elbereth!\u2019 Sam cried. For, why he did not know, his thought sprang back suddenly to the Elves in the Shire, and the song that drove away the Black Rider in the trees."
    },
    {
        "text": "And Gandalf said: \u2018This is your realm, and the heart of the greater realm that shall be. The Third Age of the world is ended, and the new age is begun; and it is your task to order its beginning and to preserve what may be preserved. For though much has been saved, much must now pass away; and the power of the Three Rings also is ended. And all the lands that you see, and those that lie round about them, shall be dwellings of Men. For the time comes of the Dominion of Men, and the Elder Kindred shall fade or depart.\u2019 \u2018I know it well, dear friend,\u2019 said Aragorn; \u2018but I would still have your counsel.\u2019 \u2018Not for long now,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018The Third Age was my age. I was the Enemy of Sauron; and my work is finished. I shall go soon."
    },
    {
        "text": "But I have managed to make a fair number promise to come. We shall meetintheplacewherewehavealwaysmet:DerndingleMencallit.as on the previous day. At the entrance to the court he turned to the right, stepped over the stream, and strode away southwards along the feet of great tumbled slopes where trees were scanty. Above these the hobbits saw thickets of birch and rowan, and beyond them dark climbing pinewoods. Soon Treebeard turned a little away from the hills and plunged into deep groves, where the trees were larger, taller, and thicker than any that the hobbits had ever seen before. For a while they felt faintly the sense of stifling which they had noticed when they first ventured into Fangorn, but it soon passed. Treebeard did not talk to them. He hummed to himself deeply and thoughtfully, but Merry and Pippin caught no proper words: it sounded like boom, boom, rumboom, boorar, boom boom, dahrar boom boom, dahrar boom, and so on with a constant change of note and rhythm. Now and again they thought they heard an answer, a hum or a quiver of sound, that seemed to come out of the earth, or from boughs above their heads, or perhaps from the boles of the trees; but Treebeard did not stop or turn his head to either side."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018He is stout and strong,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Let us hope that he will escape back to the caves. There he would be safe for a while. Safer than we. Such a refuge would be to the liking of a dwarf.\u2019 \u2018That must be my hope,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018But I wish that he had come this way. I desired to tell Master Gimli that my tale is now thirty-nine.\u2019 \u2018If he wins back to the caves, he will pass your count again,\u2019 laughed Aragorn. \u2018Never did I see an axe so wielded.\u2019 \u2018I must go and seek some arrows,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018Would that this night would end, and I could have better light for shooting.\u2019 Aragorn now passed into the citadel. There to his dismay he learned that E\u00b4omer had not reached the Hornburg."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I doubt it,\u2019 said the landlord unhappily. \u2018The two or three riding- ponies that there were in Bree were stabled in my yard, and they\u2019re gone. As for other animals, horses or ponies for draught or what not, there are very few of them in Bree, and they won\u2019t be for sale. But I\u2019ll do what I can. I\u2019ll rout out Bob and send him round as soon as may be.\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Strider reluctantly, \u2018you had better do that. I am afraid we shall have to try to get one pony at least. But so ends all hope of starting early, and slipping away quietly! We might as well have blown a horn to announce our departure. That was part of their plan, nocrumb, I hope: we can have breakfast while we wait \u2013 and sit down to it. Let\u2019s get hold of Nob!\u2019 In the end there was more than three hours\u2019 delay. Bob came back with the report that no horse or pony was to be got for love or money in the neighbourhood \u2013 except one: Bill Ferny had one that he might possibly sell. \u2018A poor old half-starved creature it is,\u2019 said Bob; \u2018but he won\u2019t part with it for less than thrice its worth, seeing how you\u2019re placed, not if I knows Bill Ferny.\u2019 \u2018Bill Ferny?\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018Isn\u2019t there some trick? Wouldn\u2019t the beast bolt back to him with all our stuff, or help in tracking us, or something?\u2019 \u2018I wonder,\u2019 said Strider. \u2018But I cannot imagine any animal running home to him, once it got away. I fancy this is only an afterthought of kind Master Ferny\u2019s: just a way of increasing his profits from the affair. The chief danger is that the poor beast is probably at death\u2019s door. But there does not seem any choice. What does he want for it?\u2019 Bill Ferny\u2019s price was twelve silver pennies; and that was indeed at least three times the pony\u2019s value in those parts. It proved to be a bony, underfed, and dispirited animal; but it did not look like dying just yet. Mr. Butterbur paid for it himself, and offered Merry another eighteen pence as some compensation for the lost animals. He was an honest man, and well-off as things were reckoned in Bree; but thirty silver pennies was a sore blow to him, and being cheated by Bill Ferny made it harder to bear."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Orcs!\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018What are they doing?\u2019 But the Elf had gone."
    },
    {
        "text": "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.\u2019 \u2018What?\u2019 cried Gimli, startled out of his silence. \u2018A corslet of Moria- silver? That was a kingly gift!\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018I never told him, but its worth was greater than the value of the whole Shire and everything in it.\u2019 Frodo said nothing, but he put his hand under his tunic andHad 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 \u2013 or the Ring."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Last night you began to tell me strange things about my ring, Gandalf,\u2019 he said. \u2018And then you stopped, because you said that such matters were best left until daylight. Don\u2019t you think you had better finish now? You say the ring is dangerous, far more dangerous than I guess. In what way?\u2019 \u2018In many ways,\u2019 answered the wizard. \u2018It is far more powerful than I ever dared to think at first, so powerful that in the end it would\u2018In Eregion long ago many Elven-rings were made, magic rings as you call them, and they were, of course, of various kinds: some more potent and some less. The lesser rings were only essays in the craft before it was full-grown, and to the Elven-smiths they were but trifles \u2013 yet still to my mind dangerous for mortals. But the Great Rings, the Rings of Power, they were perilous."
    },
    {
        "text": "Do you notice it? A queer kind of a smell, stuffy. I don\u2019t like it.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t like anything here at all,\u2019 said Frodo, \u2018step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water all seem accursed. But so our path is laid.\u2019 \u2018Yes, that\u2019s so,\u2019 said Sam. \u2018And we shouldn\u2019t be here at all, if we\u2019d known more about it before we started. But I suppose it\u2019s often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that\u2019s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually \u2013 their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn\u2019t. And if they had, we shouldn\u2019t know, because they\u2019d have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on \u2013 and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a goodbest tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we\u2019ve fallen into?\u2019 \u2018I wonder,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018But I don\u2019t know. And that\u2019s the way of a real tale. Take any one that you\u2019re fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don\u2019t know. And you don\u2019t want them to.\u2019 \u2018No, sir, of course not. Beren now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorodrim, and yet he did, and that was a worse place and a blacker danger than ours."
    },
    {
        "text": "Though that doesn\u2019t do them justice by a long road.\u2019 \u2018No, I\u2019ll leave that to you, Sam. Or perhaps to Bilbo. But \u2013 well, I can\u2019t talk of it any more. I can\u2019t bear to think of bringing the news to him.\u2019 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 Lothlo\u00b4rien."
    },
    {
        "text": "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 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\u2019s Bane. Of what they brought to light the Orcs have gathered nearly all, and given it in tribute to Sauron, who covets it."
    },
    {
        "text": "In the early night Frodo woke from deep sleep, suddenly, as if some sound or presence had disturbed him. He saw that Strider was sitting alert in his chair: his eyes gleamed in the light of the fire, which had been tended and was burning brightly; but he made no sign or movement."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Now as the sun went down Aragorn and E\u00b4omer and Imrahil drew near the City with their captains and knights; and when they came before the Gate Aragorn said: \u2018Behold the Sun setting in a great fire! It is a sign of the end and fall of many things, and a change in the tides of the world. But this City and realm has rested in the charge of the Stewards for many long years, and I fear that if I enter it unbidden, then doubt and debate may arise, which should not be while this war is fought. I will not enter in, nor make any claim, until it be seen whether we or Mordor shall prevail. Men shall pitch my tents upon the field, and here I will await the welcome of the Lord of the City.\u2019 But E\u00b4 omer said: \u2018Already you have raised the banner of the Kings and displayed the tokens of Elendil\u2019s House. Will you suffer these to be challenged?\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018But I deem the time unripe; and I have no mind for strife except with our Enemy and his servants.\u2019 And the Prince Imrahil said: \u2018Your words, lord, are wise, if one who is a kinsman of the Lord Denethor may counsel you in this matter. He is strong-willed and proud, but old; and his mood has been strange since his son was stricken down. Yet I would not have you remain like a beggar at the door.\u2019 \u2018Not a beggar,\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018Say a captain of the Rangers, who are unused to cities and houses of stone.\u2019 And he commanded that his banner should be furled; and he did off the Star of the North Kingdom and gave it to the keeping of the sons of Elrond."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What did you see?\u2019 said Pippin to Sam, but Sam was too deep in thought to answer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018No, I don\u2019t think any harm of old Butterbur. Only he does not altogether like mysterious vagabonds of my sort.\u2019 Frodo gave him a puzzled look. \u2018Well, I have rather a rascally look, have I not?\u2019 said Strider with a curl of his lip and a queer gleam in his eye. \u2018But I hope we shall get to know one another better. When we do, I hope you will explain what happened at the end of your song. For that little prank\u2014\u2014\u2019 \u2018It was sheer accident!\u2019 interrupted Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "They leapt up refreshed. Frodo ran to the eastern window, and found himself looking into a kitchen-garden grey with dew. He had half expected to see turf right up to the walls, turf all pocked with hoof-prints. Actually his view was screened by a tall line of beans on poles; but above and far beyond them the grey top of the hill loomed up against the sunrise. It was a pale morning: in the East, behind long clouds like lines of soiled wool stained red at the edges, lay glimmering deeps of yellow. The sky spoke of rain to come; but the light was broadening quickly, and the red flowers on the beans began to glow against the wet green leaves."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "A witless worm have you become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.\u2019 He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became sud- denly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Unless things are altogether changed, eyes that know what to look for may discover the signs.\u2019 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Far away now rising towards the South the sun, piercing the smokes and haze, burned ominous, a dull bleared disc of red; but all Mordor lay about the Mountain like a dead land, silent, shadow-folded, wait- ing for some dreadful stroke."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Aragorn smiled. \u2018It will serve,\u2019 he said. \u2018The worst is now over. Stay and be comforted!\u2019 Then taking two leaves, he laid them on his hands and breathed on them, and then he crushed them, and straightway a living freshness filled the room, as if the air itself awoke and tingled, sparkling with joy. And then he cast the leaves into the bowls of steaming water that were brought to him, and at once all hearts were lightened. For the fragrance that came to each was like a memory of dewy mornings of unshadowed sun in some land of which the fair world in spring is itself but a fleeting memory. But Aragorn stood up as one refreshed, and his eyes smiled as he held a bowl before Faramir\u2019s dreaming face.me of the roses of Imloth Melui when I was a lass, and no king could ask for better.\u2019 Suddenly Faramir stirred, and he opened his eyes, and he looked on Aragorn who bent over him; and a light of knowledge and love was kindled in his eyes, and he spoke softly. \u2018My lord, you called me. I come. What does the king command?\u2019 \u2018Walk no more in the shadows, but awake!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018You are weary. Rest a while, and take food, and be ready when I return.\u2019 \u2018I will, lord,\u2019 said Faramir. \u2018For who would lie idle when the king has returned?\u2019 \u2018Farewell then for a while!\u2019 said Aragorn. \u2018I must go to others who need me.\u2019 And he left the chamber with Gandalf and Imrahil; but Beregond and his son remained behind, unable to contain their joy."
    },
    {
        "text": "At the foot of the walled hill the way ran under the shadow of many mounds, high and green. Upon their western sides the grass was white as with a drifted snow: small flowers sprang there like countless stars amid the turf."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then just as he was putting his hand to the hilt of his sword, there came an unexpected relief. They were out on the plain now and drawing near the entrance to Udu\u02c6n. Some way in front of it, before the gate at the bridge-end, the road from the west converged with others coming from the south, and from Barad-du\u02c6r. Along all the roads troops were moving; for the Captains of the West were advanc- ing and the Dark Lord was speeding his forces north. So it chanced that several companies came together at the road-meeting, in the dark beyond the light of the watch-fires on the wall. At once thereplied their whips, scuffles broke out and some blades were drawn. A troop of heavy-armed uruks from Barad-du\u02c6 r charged into the Dur- thang line and threw them into confusion."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018To that the Elves know not the answer,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam found Frodo and his friends by the fire talking to old Tom Cotton, while an admiring crowd of Bywater folk stood round and stared."
    },
    {
        "text": "In those days no other Men had settled dwellings so far west, or within a hundred leagues of the Shire. But in the wild lands beyond Bree there were mysterious wanderers. The Bree-folk called them Rangers, and knew nothing of their origin. They were taller and darker than the Men of Bree and were believed to have strange powers of sight and hearing, and to understand the languages of beasts and birds. They roamed at will southwards, and eastwards even as far as the Misty Mountains; but they were now few and rarely seen. When they appeared they brought news from afar, and told strange forgotten tales which were eagerly listened to; but the Bree-folk did not make friends of them."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018And you need not turn up your nose at the provender, Master Gimli,\u2019 said Merry. \u2018This is not orc-stuff, but man-food, as Treebeard calls it. Will you have wine or beer? There\u2019s a barrel inside there \u2013 very passable. And this is first-rate salted pork. Or I can cut you some rashers of bacon and broil them, if you like. I am sorry there is no green stuff: the deliveries have been rather interrupted in the last few days! I cannot offer you anything to follow but butter and honey for your bread. Are you content?\u2019 \u2018Indeed yes,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018The score is much reduced.\u2019 The three were soon busy with their meal; and the two hobbits, unabashed, set to a second time. \u2018We must keep our guests company,\u2019 they said."
    },
    {
        "text": "The Rohirrim cannot come.\u2019and hewing any man that they found abroad, living or dead. The numbers that had already passed over the River could not be guessed in the darkness, but when morning, or its dim shadow, stole over the plain, it was seen that even fear by night had scarcely over-counted them. The plain was dark with their marching companies, and as far as eyes could strain in the mirk there sprouted, like a foul fungus- growth, all about the beleaguered city great camps of tents, black or sombre red."
    },
    {
        "text": "The travellers now rode with more speed, and they made their way towards the Gap of Rohan; and Aragorn took leave of them at last close to that very place where Pippin had looked into the Stone of Orthanc. The Hobbits were grieved at this parting; for Aragorn had never failed them and he had been their guide through many perils."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Time wears on, and the mists are blowing away, or would if you strange folk did not wreathe yourselves in smoke. What of the tale?\u2019 \u2018Well, my tale begins with waking up in the dark and finding myself all strung-up in an orc-camp,\u2019 said Pippin. \u2018Let me see, what is today?\u2019 \u2018The fifth of March in the Shire-reckoning,\u2019 said Aragorn. Pippin made some calculations on his fingers. \u2018Only nine days ago!\u2019 he said.* \u2018It seems a year since we were caught. Well, though half of it was like a bad dream, I reckon that three very horrible days followed."
    },
    {
        "text": "Turning aside, she led them towards 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 evening star had risen and was shining with white fire above the western woods. Down a long flight of steps the Lady went into the 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 silver ewer."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Bring wine and food and seats for the guests,\u2019 said Denethor,said to Gandalf. \u2018Much of more import, it may seem, and yet to me less pressing. But maybe we can speak again at the end of the day.\u2019 \u2018And earlier, it is to be hoped,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018For I have not ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and fifty leagues, with the speed of wind, only to bring you one small warrior, however courteous. Is it naught to you that The\u00b4oden has fought a great battle, and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the staff of Saruman?\u2019 \u2018It is much to me. But I know already sufficient of these deeds for my own counsel against the menace of the East.\u2019 He turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them, almost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire, drawn from eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Well, things are a bit better than you think,\u2019 said Frodo. \u2018I have had a bit of luck while you were away. Indeed they did not take everything. I\u2019ve found my food-bag among some rags on the floor."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Here, my lad, I\u2019ll take that! I did not ask you to handle it,\u2019 he cried, turning sharply and seeing Pippin coming up the steps, slowly, as if he were bearing a great weight. He went down to meet him and hastily took the dark globe from the hobbit, wrapping it in the folds of his cloak. \u2018I will take care of this,\u2019 he said. \u2018It is not a thing, I guess, that Saruman would have chosen to cast away.\u2019 \u2018But he may have other things to cast,\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018If that is the end of the debate, let us go out of stone\u2019s throw, at least!\u2019 \u2018It is the end,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018Let us go.\u2019 They turned their backs on the doors of Orthanc, and went down."
    },
    {
        "text": "Boromir leaped forward and hewed at the arm with all his might; but his sword rang, glanced aside, and fell from his shaken hand."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Open!\u2019 he cried. \u2018The Lord of the Mark comes forth!\u2019 The doors rolled back and a keen air came whistling in. A wind was blowing on the hill."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018A job of work for me, I can see; but I\u2019m so tired,\u2019 he kept on saying. Presently he remembered what he was looking for. \u2018My pipe!\u2019 he said, and with that he woke up."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I pity snails, and all that carry their homes on their backs.\u2019 \u2018I could take a lot more yet, sir. My packet is quite light,\u2019 said Sam stoutly and untruthfully."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018There are three empty saddles, but I see no hobbits,\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018What in truth this Thing is I cannot yet guess; but some heirloom of power and peril it must be. A fell weapon, perchance, devised by the Dark Lord. If it were a thing that gave advantage in battle, I can well believe that Boromir, the proud and fearless, often rash, ever anxious for the victory of Minas Tirith (and his own glory therein), might desire such a thing and be allured by it. Alas that ever he went on that errand! I should have been chosen by my father and the elders, but he put himself forward, as being the older and the hardier (both true), and he would not be stayed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Miserable trickster!\u2019 he shouted. \u2018Let 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!\u2019 Then, catching his foot on a stone, he fell sprawling and lay upon his face. For a while heHe rose and passed his hand over his eyes, dashing away the tears."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Speak! Tell us where you have hidden our friends! What have you done with them? Speak, or I will make a dint in your hat that even a wizard will find it hard to deal with!\u2019 The old man was too quick for him. He sprang to his feet and leaped to the top of a large rock. There he stood, grown suddenly tall, towering above them. His hood and his grey rags were flung away. His white garments shone. He lifted up his staff, and Gimli\u2019s axe leaped from his grasp and fell ringing on the ground. The sword of Aragorn, stiff in his motionless hand, blazed with a sudden fire."
    },
    {
        "text": "The banks began to rise and grow stony. Soon they were passing throughahillyrockyland,andonbothshoresthereweresteepslopesgrey 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Lord,\u2019 she said, \u2018if you must go, then let me ride in your following."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then I was weary, very weary; and I walked long in dark thought.\u2019\u2018I cannot say. He was saved from a great peril, but many lie before him still. He resolved to go alone to Mordor, and he set out: that is all that I can say.\u2019 \u2018Not alone,\u2019 said Legolas. \u2018We think that Sam went with him.\u2019 \u2018Did he!\u2019 said Gandalf, and there was a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face. \u2018Did he indeed? It is news to me, yet it does not surprise me. Good! Very good! You lighten my heart. You must tell me more. Now sit by me and tell me the tale of your journey.\u2019 The companions sat on the ground at his feet, and Aragorn took up the tale. For a long while Gandalf said nothing, and he asked no questions. His hands were spread upon his knees, and his eyes were closed. At last when Aragorn spoke of the death of Boromir and of his last journey upon the Great River, the old man sighed."
    },
    {
        "text": "But Sam, remembering the overheard debate, found it hard to believe that the long submerged Sme\u00b4agol had come out on top: that voice at any rate had not had the last word in the debate. Sam\u2019s guess was that the Sme\u00b4agol and Gollum halves (or what in his own mind he called Slinker and Stinker) had made a truce and a temporary alliance: neitherwantedtheEnemytogettheRing;bothwishedtokeepFrodoWhether there really was another way into Mordor Sam doubted."
    },
    {
        "text": "All hope left him."
    },
    {
        "text": "Uncanny, I called it. Nob, he came and told me that two black men were at the door asking for a hobbit called Baggins. Nob\u2019s hair was all stood on end. I bid the black fellows be off, and slammed the door on them; but they\u2019ve been asking the same question all the way to Archet, I hear. And that Ranger, Strider, he\u2019s been asking ques- tions, too. Tried to get in here to see you, before you\u2019d had bite or sup, he did.\u2019 \u2018He did!\u2019 said Strider suddenly, coming forward into the light."
    },
    {
        "text": "The world is grey, the mountains old, The forge\u2019s fire is ashen-cold; No harp is wrung, no hammer falls: The darkness dwells in Durin\u2019s halls; The shadow lies upon his tombBut still the sunken stars appear In dark and windless Mirrormere; There lies his crown in water deep, Till Durin wakes again from sleep."
    },
    {
        "text": "But desperate as that road might be, his task was now far worse: not to avoid the gate and escape, but to enter it, alone."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You be careful of yourself, Maggot!\u2019 she called. \u2018Don\u2019t go arguing with any foreigners, and come straight back!\u2019 \u2018I will!\u2019 said he, and drove out of the gate. There was now no breath of wind stirring; the night was still and quiet, and a chill was in the air. They went without lights and took it slowly. After a mile or two the lane came to an end, crossing a deep dike, and climbing a short slope up on to the high-banked causeway."
    },
    {
        "text": "Ru\u00b4mil, 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Hours passed and still they rode on. Gimli nodded and would have fallen from his seat, if Gandalf had not clutched and shaken him."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018For you little gardener and lover of trees,\u2019 she said to Sam, \u2018I have only a small gift.\u2019 She put into his hand a little box of plain grey wood, unadorned save for a single silver rune upon the lid. \u2018Here is set G for Galadriel,\u2019 she said; \u2018but 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."
    },
    {
        "text": "Speak, friend, and enter. And underneath small and faint is written: I, Narvi, made them. Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs.\u2019 \u2018What does it mean by speak, friend, and enter?\u2019 asked Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Only once before have I seen them from afar in waking life, but I know them and their names, for under them lies Khazad-du\u02c6 m, 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 Zirakzigil and Bundushathu\u02c6r."
    },
    {
        "text": "Suddenly Bilbo looked up. \u2018Ah, there you are at last, Du\u00b4nadan!\u2019 he cried."
    },
    {
        "text": "Drums rolled and fires leaped up. The great doors of the Black Gate swung back wide. Out of it streamed a great host as swiftly as swirling waters when a sluice is lifted."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Just a plain hobbit you look,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018But there is more about you now than appears on the surface. Good luck to you!\u2019 He turned away and looked out of the window, trying to hum a tune."
    },
    {
        "text": "You should know that above all I hate the caging of live things, and I will not keep even such creatures as these caged beyond great need."
    },
    {
        "text": "Sam was out of his hiding in a flash and crossed the space between him and the cliff-foot in a couple of leaps. Before Gollum could get up, he was on top of him. But he found Gollum more than he bargained for, even taken like that, suddenly, off his guard after a fall. Before Sam could get a hold, long legs and arms were wound round him pinning his arms, and a clinging grip, soft but horribly strong, was squeezing him like slowly tightening cords; clammy fingers were feeling for his throat. Then sharp teeth bit into his shoul- der. All he could do was to butt his hard round head sideways into the creature\u2019s face. Gollum hissed and spat, but he did not let go."
    },
    {
        "text": "The sun had gone down red behind the hills at their backs, and evening was coming on before they came back to the road at the end of the long level over which it had run straight for some miles. At that point it bent left and went down into the lowlands of the Yale making for Stock; but a lane branched right, winding through a wood ofancientoak-treesonitswaytoWoodhall.\u2018Thatisthewayforus,\u2019tree: it was still alive and had leaves on the small branches that it had put out round the broken stumps of its long-fallen limbs; but it was hollow, and could be entered by a great crack on the side away from the road. The hobbits crept inside, and sat there upon a floor of old leaves and decayed wood. They rested and had a light meal, talking quietly and listening from time to time."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Is this the only way, Sme\u00b4agol?\u2019 said Frodo."
    },
    {
        "text": "Legolas and Gimli were now riding together upon one horse; and they kept close beside Gandalf, for Gimli was afraid of the wood."
    },
    {
        "text": "At first Frodo felt as if he had indeed been turned into stone by the incantation. Then a wild thought of escape came to him. He wondered if he put on the Ring, whether the Barrow-wight would miss him, and he might find some way out. He thought of himself running free over the grass, grieving for Merry, and Sam, and Pippin, but free and alive himself. Gandalf would admit that there had been nothing else he could do."
    },
    {
        "text": "But come! With hope or without hope we will follow the trail of our enemies. And woe to them, if we prove the swifter! We will make such a chase as shall be accounted a marvel among the Three Kindreds: Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Forth the Three Hunters!\u2019 Like a deer he sprang away. Through the trees he sped. On and on he led them, tireless and swift, now that his mind was at last made up. The woods about the lake they left behind. Long slopes they climbed, dark, hard-edged against the sky already red with sunset."
    },
    {
        "text": "There was a brief silver glint, and a swirl of tiny ripples. It swam to the side, and then with marvellous agility a froglike figure climbed out of the water and up the bank. At once it sat down and began to gnaw at the small silver thing that glittered as it turned: the last rays of the moon were now falling behind the stony wall at the pool\u2019s end."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Bilbo!\u2019 cried Frodo with sudden recognition, and he sprang forward."
    },
    {
        "text": "At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect."
    },
    {
        "text": "There they stood silent, hardly to be seen, save for a red gleam in their eyes that caught the glare of the ships that were burning. And Aragorn spoke in a loud voice to the Dead Men, crying: \u2018 \u2018\u2018Hear now the words of the Heir of Isildur! Your oath is fulfilled."
    },
    {
        "text": "Presently he came to an open space where a small tent had been set up for the king under a great tree. A large lantern, covered above, was hanging from a bough and cast a pale circle of light below. There sat The\u00b4oden and E\u00b4omer, and before them on the ground sat a strange squat shape of a man, gnarled as an old stone, and the hairs of his scanty beard straggled on his lumpy chin like dry moss. He was short-legged and fat-armed, thick and stumpy, and clad only withHere was one of those old images brought to life, or maybe a creature descended in true line through endless years from the models used by the forgotten craftsmen long ago."
    },
    {
        "text": "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."
    },
    {
        "text": "It will be a pleasure of memory only, I fear. Go at once and never return!\u2019The hobbits of the villages had seen Saruman come out of one of the huts, and at once they came crowding up to the door of Bag End. When they heard Frodo\u2019s command, they murmured angrily: \u2018Don\u2019t let him go! Kill him! He\u2019s a villain and a murderer. Kill him!\u2019 Saruman looked round at their hostile faces and smiled. \u2018Kill him!\u2019 he mocked. \u2018Kill him, if you think there are enough of you, my brave hobbits!\u2019 He drew himself up and stared at them darkly with his black eyes. \u2018But do not think that when I lost all my goods I lost all my power! Whoever strikes me shall be accursed. And if my blood stains the Shire, it shall wither and never again be healed.\u2019 The hobbits recoiled. But Frodo said: \u2018Do not believe him! He has lost all power, save his voice that can still daunt you and deceive you, if you let it. But I will not have him slain. It is useless to meet revenge with revenge: it will heal nothing. Go, Saruman, by the speediest way!\u2019 \u2018Worm! Worm!\u2019 Saruman called; and out of a nearby hut came Wormtongue, crawling, almost like a dog. \u2018To the road again, Worm!\u2019 said Saruman. \u2018These fine fellows and lordlings are turning us adrift again. Come along!\u2019 Saruman turned to go, and Wormtongue shuffled after him. But even as Saruman passed close to Frodo a knife flashed in his hand, and he stabbed swiftly. The blade turned on the hidden mail-coat and snapped. A dozen hobbits, led by Sam, leaped forward with a cry and flung the villain to the ground. Sam drew his sword."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I hope so, I\u2019m sure,\u2019 said Butterbur. \u2018Well, this has been the nicest chat I\u2019ve had in a month of Mondays. And I\u2019ll not deny that I\u2019ll sleep easier tonight and with a lighter heart. You\u2019ve given me a powerful lot to think over, but I\u2019ll put that off until tomorrow. I\u2019m for bed, and I\u2019ve no doubt you\u2019ll be glad of your beds too. Hey, Nob!\u2019 he called, going to the door. \u2018Nob, you slowcoach!\u2019 \u2018Nob!\u2019 he said to himself, slapping his forehead. \u2018Now what does that remind me of ?\u2019 \u2018Not another letter you\u2019ve forgotten, I hope, Mr. Butterbur?\u2019 said Merry."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Because an old man with feet that leave marks might be no more than he seemed,\u2019 answered the Dwarf."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Saruman, Saruman!\u2019 said Gandalf still laughing. \u2018Saruman, you missed your path in life. You should have been the king\u2019s jester and earned your bread, and stripes too, by mimicking his counsellors. Ah me!\u2019 he paused, getting the better of his mirth. \u2018Understand one another? I fear I am beyond your comprehension. But you, Saruman, I understand now too well. I keep a clearer memory of your argu- ments, and deeds, than you suppose. When last I visited you, you were the jailor of Mordor, and there I was to be sent. Nay, the guest who has escaped from the roof, will think twice before he comes back in by the door. Nay, I do not think I will come up. But listen, Saruman, for the last time! Will you not come down? Isengard has proved less strong than your hope and fancy made it. So may other things in which you still have trust. Would it not be well to leave it for a while? To turn to new things, perhaps? Think well, Saruman! Will you not come down?\u2019 A shadow passed over Saruman\u2019s face; then it went deathly white."
    },
    {
        "text": "Evidently there was no wish for any uncanny events in the Common Room again."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Our peril will be greatest just ere we reach the river,\u2019 said Glorfin- del; \u2018for my heart warns me that the pursuit is now swift behind us, and other danger may be waiting by the Ford.\u2019 The Road was still running steadily downhill, and there was now in places much grass at either side, in which the hobbits walked when they could, to ease their tired feet. In the late afternoon they came to a place where the Road went suddenly under the dark shadow of tall pine-trees, and then plunged into a deep cutting with steep moist walls of red stone. Echoes ran along as they hurried forward; and there seemed to be a sound of many footfalls following their own."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But there is only one way through the mountains that will bring me to the coastlands before all is lost. That is the Paths of the Dead.\u2019 \u2018The Paths of the Dead!\u2019 said Gimli. \u2018It is a fell name; and little to the liking to the Men of Rohan, as I saw. Can the living use such a road and not perish? And even if you pass that way, what will so few avail to counter the strokes of Mordor?\u2019 \u2018The living have never used that road since the coming of the Rohirrim,\u2019 said Aragorn, \u2018for it is closed to them. But in this dark hour the heir of Isildur may use it, if he dare. Listen! This is the word that the sons of Elrond bring to me from their father in Rivend- ell, wisest in lore: Bid Aragorn remember the words of the seer, and the Paths of the Dead.\u2019 \u2018And what may be the words of the seer?\u2019 said Legolas."
    },
    {
        "text": "Then came a blast of savage wind, and with it, mingling with its roar, there came a high shrill shriek. The hobbits had heard just such a cry far away in the Marish as they fled from Hobbiton, and even there in the woods of the Shire it had frozen their blood. Out here in the waste its terror was far greater: it pierced them with cold blades of horror and despair, stopping heart and breath. Sam fell flat on his face. Involuntarily Frodo loosed his hold and put his hands over his head and ears. He swayed, slipped, and slithered downwards with a wailing cry."
    },
    {
        "text": "How abominable! I would give them Bag End and everything else, if I could get Bilbo back and go off tramping in the country with him. I love the Shire. But I begin to wish, somehow, that I had gone too. I wonder if I shall ever see him again.\u2019 \u2018So do I,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018And I wonder many other things. Good- bye now! Take care of yourself ! Look out for me, especially at unlikely times! Good-bye!\u2019 Frodo saw him to the door. He gave a final wave of his hand, and walked off at a surprising pace; but Frodo thought the old wizard looked unusually bent, almost as if he was carrying a great weight."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018But you speak of him as if he was a friend. I thought Fangorn was dangerous.\u2019 \u2018Dangerous!\u2019 cried Gandalf. \u2018And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord. And Aragorn is dangerous, and Legolas is dangerous. You are beset with dangers, Gimli son of Glo\u00b4 in; for you are dangerous yourself, in your own fashion. Certainly the forest of Fangorn is perilous \u2013 not least to those that are toobrimming over, and all the forest is filled with it. The coming of the hobbits and the tidings that they brought have spilled it: it will soon be running like a flood; but its tide is turned against Saruman and the axes of Isengard. A thing is about to happen which has not happened since the Elder Days: the Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong.\u2019 \u2018What will they do?\u2019 asked Legolas in astonishment."
    },
    {
        "text": "Slowly on hand and knee the hobbits crawled away out of the turmoil, until at last unnoticed they dropped over the further edge of the road."
    },
    {
        "text": "The others looked dismayed; only Aragorn, who knew Gandalf well, remained silent and unmoved."
    },
    {
        "text": "It was evening. Frodo could not have called, for he had fallen asleep, and had slid down nearly to the bottom of the pit. Gollum was by him. For a moment Sam thought that he was trying to rouse Frodo; then he saw that it was not so. Gollum was talking to himself. Sme\u00b4agol was holding a debate with some other thought that used the same voice but made it squeak and hiss. A pale light and a green light alternated in his eyes as he spoke.our Precious, not to let Him have it \u2013 never. But it\u2019s going to Him, yes, nearer every step. What\u2019s the hobbit going to do with it, we wonders, yes we wonders.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know. I can\u2019t help it. Master\u2019s got it. Sme\u00b4agol promised to help the master.\u2019 \u2018Yes, yes, to help the master: the master of the Precious. But if we was master, then we could help ourselfs, yes, and still keep promises.\u2019 \u2018But Sme\u00b4agol said he would be very very good. Nice hobbit! He took cruel rope off Sme\u00b4agol\u2019s leg. He speaks nicely to me.\u2019 \u2018Very very good, eh, my precious? Let\u2019s be good, good as fish, sweet one, but to ourselfs. Not hurt the nice hobbit, of course, no, no.\u2019 \u2018But the Precious holds the promise,\u2019 the voice of Sme\u00b4agol objected."
    },
    {
        "text": "The thought came suddenly into Pippin\u2019s mind, as if caught direct from the urgent thought of his enemy: \u2018Grishna\u00b4kh knows about the Ring! He\u2019s looking for it, while Uglu\u00b4k is busy: he probably wants it for himself.\u2019 Cold fear was in Pippin\u2019s heart, yet at the same time he was wondering what use he could make of Grishna\u00b4kh\u2019s desire."
    },
    {
        "text": "And the Tree that was withered shall be renewed, and he shall plant it in the high places, and the City shall be blessed."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You may have a chance later,\u2019 said Gandalf. \u2018But we cannot make any plans yet. There is much to hear and decide today.\u2019 Suddenly as they were talking a single clear bell rang out. \u2018That is the warning bell for the Council of Elrond,\u2019 cried Gandalf. \u2018Come along now! Both you and Bilbo are wanted.\u2019 Frodo and Bilbo followed the wizard quickly along the winding path back to the house; behind them, uninvited and for the moment forgotten, trotted Sam."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018You needn\u2019t,\u2019 said Bilbo. \u2018As a matter of fact it was all mine."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone, We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door! There was very much more. A great deal of the song had no words, and was like a music of horns and drums. It was very exciting. But I thought it was only marching music and no more, just a song \u2013 until I got here. I know better now.\u2019 \u2018We came down over the last ridge into Nan Curun\u00b4\u0131r, after night had fallen,\u2019 Merry continued. \u2018It was then that I first had the feeling that the Forest itself was moving behind us. I thought I was dreaming an entish dream, but Pippin had noticed it too. We were both fright- ened; but we did not find out more about it until later."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018The Stones of Seeing do not lie, and not even the Lord of Barad- du\u02c6r can make them do so. He can, maybe, by his will choose what things shall be seen by weaker minds, or cause them to mistake the meaning of what they see. Nonetheless it cannot be doubted that when Denethor saw great forces arrayed against him in Mordor, and more still being gathered, he saw that which truly is."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Go back!\u2019 he cried. \u2018Go back to the Land of Mordor, and follow me no more!\u2019 His voice sounded thin and shrill in his own ears. The Riders halted, but Frodo had not the power of Bombadil. His enemies laughed at him with a harsh and chilling laughter. \u2018Come back! Come back!\u2019 they called. \u2018To Mordor we will take you!\u2019 \u2018Go back!\u2019 he whispered."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We saw no signs of them,\u2019 answered Gimli. \u2018And Orcs would have taken or destroyed all the boats, and the baggage as well.\u2019 \u2018I will look at the ground when we come there,\u2019 said Aragorn."
    },
    {
        "text": "Doom, boom, doom went the drums in the deep."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018Now, lord,\u2019 said Gandalf, \u2018look out upon your land! Breathe the free air again!\u2019 From the porch upon the top of the high terrace they could see beyond the stream the green fields of Rohan fading into distant grey."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018I don\u2019t know what has come over you, Gandalf,\u2019 he said. \u2018You have never been like this before. What is it all about? It is mine isn\u2019t it? I found it, and Gollum would have killed me, if I hadn\u2019t kept it."
    },
    {
        "text": "\u2018We shall pass them soon. Keep the boats in line, and as far apart as you can! Hold the middle of the stream!\u2019 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 gesture of warning; in eachrighthandtherewasanaxe;uponeachheadtherewasacrumb-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 Nu\u00b4menor. So they passed into the dark chasm of the Gates."
    }
]