Джон Рональд Руэл Толкиен. The Fellownship of a Ring
страница №13
...ayingnothing. 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.
On a seat cut in the stone beside a turn in the path they came upon
Gandalf and Bilbo deep in talk. `Hullo! Good morning!' said Bilbo. `Feel
ready for the great council?'
`I feel ready for anything,' answered Frodo. `But 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.' He pointed away far up the side of Rivendell to
the north.
'You may have a chance later,' said Gandalf. `But we cannot make any
plans yet. There is much to hear and decide today.'
Suddenly as they were talking a single clear bell rang out. `That is
the warning bell for the Council of Elrond,' cried Gandalf. `Come along now!
Both you and Bilbo are wanted.'
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.
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.
Elrond was there, and several others were seated in silence about him.
Frodo saw Glorfindel and Glуin; 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, saying:
'Here, my friends is the hobbit, Frodo son of Drogo. Few have ever come
hither through greater peril or on an errand more urgent.'
He then pointed out and named those whom Frodo had not met before.
There was a younger dwarf at Glуin's side: his son Gimli. Beside Glorfindel
there were several other counsellors of Elrond's 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 Cнrdan 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.
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.
`Here,' said Elrond, turning to Gandalf, `is 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.'
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 Glуin 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.
`It is now many years ago,' said Glуin, `that a shadow of disquiet fell
upon our people. Whence it came we did not at first perceive. 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-dыm; and they declared that now at last we had the power and
numbers to return.'
Glуin sighed. `Moria! 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 has dared to pass the doors of
Khazad-dыm for many lives of kings, save Thrуr only, and he perished. At
last, however, Balin listened to the whispers, and resolved to go; and
though Dбin did not give leave willingly, he took with him Ori and Уin and
many of our folk, and they went away south.
"That 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.
"Then about a year ago a messenger came to Dбin, but not from
Moria-from Mordor: a horseman in the night, who called Dбin 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. "For Sauron knows,"
said he, "that one of these was known to you on a time."
'At 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. "As a
small token only of your friendship Sauron asks this," he said: "that you
should find this thief," such was his word, "and 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. Refuse, and things will not seem so well.
Do you refuse?"
'At that his breath came like the hiss of snakes, and all who stood by
shuddered, but Dбin said: "I say neither yea nor nay. I must consider this
message and what it means under its fair cloak."
' "Consider well, but not too long," said he.
` "The time of my thought is my own to spend," answered Dбin.
' "For the present," said he, and rode into the darkness.
'Heavy 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. The third and last time, so
he says, is soon to come, before the ending of the year.
'And so I have been sent at last by Dбin 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 have come also to King Brand in
Dale, and that he is afraid. We fear that he may yield. Already war is
gathering on his eastern borders. If we make no answer, the Enemy may move
Men of his rule to assail King Brand, and Dбin also.'
`You have done well to come,' said Elrond. `You will hear today all
that you need in order to understand the purposes of the Enemy. 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.
`That is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called, I say.
though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands. 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.
`Now, 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.'
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 t= 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 Mountain 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.
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.
Of Nъmenor he spoke, its glory and its fall, and the return of the
Kings of Men to Middle-earth out of the deeps of the Sea, borne upon the
wings of storm. Then Elendil the Tall and his mighty sons, Isildur and
Anбrion, became great lords; and the North-realm they made in Arnor, and the
South-realm in Gondor above the mouths of Anduin. But Sauron of Mordor
assailed them, and they made the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and the
hosts of Gil-galad and Elendil were mustered in Arnor.
Thereupon Elrond paused a while and sighed. `I remember well the
splendour of their banners,' he said. `It 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.'
`You remember?' said Frodo, speaking his thought aloud in his
astonishment. `But I thought,' he stammered as Elrond turned towards him, 'I
thought that the fall of Gil-galad was a long age ago.'
'So it was indeed,' answered Elrond gravely. `But my memory reaches
back even to the Elder Days. Eдrendil was my sire, who was born in Gondolin
before its fall; and my mother was Elwing, daughter of Dior, son of Lъthien
of Doriath. I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many
defeats, and many fruitless victories.
`I 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, Aiglos 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's sword, and took it for his own.'
At this the stranger, Boromir, broke in. `So that is what became of the
Ring!' he cried. `If 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.'
`Alas! yes,' said Elrond. `Isildur took it, as should not have been. It
should have been cast then into Orodruin's 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 Cнrdan stood, and I. But Isildur
would not listen to our counsel.
' "This I will have as weregild for my father, and my brother," 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's Bane. Yet death maybe was better than what else might have
befallen him.
'Only to the North did these tidings come, and only to a few. Small
wonder it is that you have not heard them, Boromir. From the ruin of the
Gladden Fields, where Isildur perished, three men only came ever back over
the mountains after long wandering. One of these was Ohtar, the esquire of
Isildur, who bore the shards of the sword 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.
`Fruitless did I call the victory of the Last Alliance? Not wholly so,
yet it did not achieve its end. Sauron was diminished, but not destroyed.
His Ring was lost but not unmade. The Dark Tower was broken, but its
foundations were not removed; for they were made with the power of the Ring,
and while it remains they will endure. Many Elves and many mighty Men, and
many of their friends. had perished in the war. Anбrion 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 Nъmenor has decayed, and the span of their years has
lessened.
'In the North after the war and the slaughter of the Gladden Fields the
Men of Westernesse were diminished, and their city of Annъminas 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's 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.
'In the South the realm of Gondor long endured; and for a while its
splendour grew, recalling somewhat of the might of Nъmenor, 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 Osgiliath, Citadel of the Stars. through the
midst of which the River flowed. 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 Eressлa, and before that out of the Uttermost
West in the Day before days when the world was young.
`But in the wearing of the swift years of Middle-earth the line of
Meneldil son of Anбrion failed, and the Tree withered, and the blood of the
Nъmenoreans became mingled with that of lesser men. Then the watch upon the
walls of Mordor slept, and dark things crept back to Gorgoroth. And on a
time evil things came forth, and they took Minas Ithil and abode in it, and
they made it into a place of dread; and 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.
'So 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.'
He ceased, but at once Boromir stood up, tall and proud, before them.
Give me leave, Master Elrond, said he, first 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 of their peril, if we should fail at last.
`Believe not that in the land of Gondor the blood of Nъmenor 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?
`Yet 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. A power was there that we have not felt before.
`Some 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.
'I was in the company that held the bridge, until it was cast down
behind us. Four only were saved by swimming: my brother and myself and two
others. But still we fight on, holding all the west shores of Anduin; and
those who shelter behind us give us praise, if ever they hear our name: much
praise but little help. Only from Rohan now will any men ride to us when we
call.
`In 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. 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.
'In that dream I thought the eastern sky grew dark and there was a
growing thunder, but in the West a pale light lingered, and out of it I
heard a voice, remote but clear, crying:
Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur's Bane shall waken,
And the Halfling forth shall stand.
Of these words we could understand little, and we spoke to our father,
Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor. 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.'
'And here in the house of Elrond more shall be made clear to you' said
Aragorn, standing up. He cast his sword upon the table that stood before
Elrond, and the blade was in two pieces. `Here is the Sword that was
Broken!' he said.
`And who are you, and what have you to do with Minas Tirith?' asked
Boromir, looking in wonder at the lean face of the Ranger and his
weather-stained cloak.
`He is Aragorn son of Arathorn,' said Elrond; `and he is descended
through many fathers from Isildur Elendil's son of Minas Ithil. He is the
Chief of the Dъnedain in the North, and few are now left of that folk.'
`Then it belongs to you, and not to me at all!' cried Frodo in
amazement, springing to his feet, as if he expected the Ring to be demanded
at once.
'It does not belong to either of us,' said Aragorn; `but it has been
ordained that you should hold it for a while.'
'Bring out the Ring, Frodo!' said Gandalf solemnly. `The time has come.
Hold it up, and then Boromir will understand the remainder of his riddle.'
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.
'Behold Isildur's Bane!' said Elrond.
Boromir's eyes glinted as he gazed at the golden thing. `The Halfling!'
he muttered. `Is then the doom of Minas Tirith come at last? But why then
should we seek a broken sword?'
'The words were not the doom of Minas Tirith,' said Aragorn. `But 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. 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's 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?'
`I was not sent to beg any boon, but to seek only the meaning of a
riddle,' answered Boromir proudly. `Yet we are hard pressed, and the Sword
of Elendil would be a help beyond our hope-if such a thing could indeed
return out of the shadows of the past.' He looked again at Aragorn, and
doubt was in his eyes.
Frodo felt Bilbo stir impatiently at his side. Evidently he was annoyed
on his friend's 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.
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.
`Not very good perhaps, but to the point — 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.' He sat down with a snort.
`I made that up myself,' he whispered to Frodo, `for the Dъnadan, 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.'
Aragorn smiled at him; then he turned to Boromir again. `For my part I
forgive your doubt,' he said. 'Little 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 Rhыn and
Harad where the stars are strange.
'But 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--but hunters ever of
the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many places, not in Mordor
only.
`If 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 Dъnedain were asleep, or were all gone into the
grave?
`And yet less thanks have we than you. Travellers scowl at us, and
countrymen give us scornful names. "Strider" I am to one fat man who lives
within a day's 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. That has been the task of my kindred,
while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown.
`But now the world is changing once again. A new hour comes. Isildur's
Bane is found. Battle is at hand. The Sword shall be reforged. I will come
to Minas Tirith.'
`Isildur's Bane is found, you say,' said Boromir. `I have seen a bright
ring in the Halfling's 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?'
`That shall be told,' said Elrond.
`But not yet, I beg, Master!' said Bilbo. `Already the Sun is climbing
to noon, and I feel the need of something to strengthen me.'
`I had not named you,' said Elrond smiling. `But I do so now. 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.'
`Very well,' said Bilbo. `I will do as you bid. But I will now tell the
true story, and if some here have heard me tell it otherwise' — he looked
sidelong at Glуin — `I 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.'
To some there Bilbo's 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.
'Well told, my friend,' he said, `but that is enough at this time. For
the moment it suffices to know that the Ring passed to Frodo, your heir. Let
him now speak!'
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.
`Not bad,' Bilbo said to him. `You would have made a good story of it,
if they hadn't 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!'
`Yes, it made quite a long tale,' answered Frodo. 'But the story still
does not seem complete to me. I still want to know a good deal, especially
about Gandalf.'
Galdor of the Havens, who sat near by, overheard him. `You speak for me
also,' he cried, and turning to Elrond he said: `The Wise may have good
reason to believe that the halfling's trove is indeed the Great 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-if he
knows the things that we have heard?'
`The questions that you ask, Galdor, are bound together,' said Elrond.
`I 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.'
`Some, Galdor,' said Gandalf, `would think the tidings of Glуin, and
the pursuit of Frodo, proof enough that the halfling's trove is a thing of
great worth to the Enemy. Yet it is a ring. What then? The Nine the Nazgыl
keep. The Seven are taken or destroyed.' At this Glуin stirred, but did not
speak. `The Three we know of. What then is this one that he desires so much?
'There is indeed a wide waste of time between the River and the
Mountain, between the loss and the finding. But the gap in the knowledge 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.
'Some 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 dissuaded 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
and that was in the very year of the finding of this Ring: a strange chance,
if chance it was.
`But 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. 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.
` "At the worst," said he, "our Enemy knows that we have it not and
that it still is lost. But what was lost may yet be found, he thinks. 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."'
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.
`There I was at fault,' he said. `I 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.'
`We were all at fault,' said Elrond, `and but for your vigilance the
Darkness, maybe, would already be upon us. But say on!'
`From the first my heart misgave me, against all reason that I knew,'
said Gandalf, `and 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.
`Time passed with many cares, until my doubts were awakened again to
sudden fear. Whence came the hobbit's ring? What, if my fear was true,
should be done with it? Those things I must decide. 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.
'That 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 Dъnedain, and their watch was doubled;
and I opened my heart to Aragorn, the heir of Isildur.'
`And I,' said Aragorn, `counselled that we should hunt for Gollum. too
late though it may seem. And since it seemed fit that Isildur's heir should
labour to repair Isildur's fault, I went with Gandalf on the long and
hopeless search.'
Then Gandalf told how they had explored the whole length of Wilderland,
down even to the Mountains of Shadow and the fences of Mordor. `There 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 came back to me: words of Saruman, half-heeded at the time. I heard
them now clearly in my heart.
` "The Nine, the Seven, and the Three," he said, "had 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."
`What 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's ever held this thing, ere it was lost? The hand of
Isildur alone.
`With that thought, I forsook the chase, and passed swiftly to Gondor.
In former days the members of my order had been well received there, but
Saruman most of all. Often he had been for long the guest of the Lords of
the City. Less welcome did the Lord Denethor show me then than of old, and
grudgingly he permitted me to search among his hoarded scrolls and books.
' "If indeed you look only, as you say, for records of ancient days,
and the beginnings of the City, read on! " he said. "For 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."
`So said Denethor. And yet there lie in his hoards many records that
few now can read, even of the lore-masters, 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.'
'Some in the North, maybe,' Boromir broke in. 'All 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.'
`But in that time also he made this scroll,' said Gandalf; `and 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.
`And after these words Isildur described the Ring, such as he found it.
It was hot when I first took it, hot as a glede, and my hand was
scorched, so that I doubt if ever again I shall be free of the pain of it.
Yet 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. The Ring misseth, maybe, the heat of Sauron's 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. gut for my part I will
risk no hurt to this thing: of all the works of Sauron the only fair. It is
precious to me, though I buy it with great pain.
'When 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.
`At once I took my leave of Denethor, but even as I went northwards,
messages came to me out of Lуrien that Aragorn had passed that way, and that
he had found the creature called Gollum. Therefore I went first to meet him
and hear his tale. Into what deadly perils he had gone alone I dared not
guess.'
`There is little need to tell of them,' said Aragorn. `If 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 suddenly on what I sought:
the marks of soft feet beside a muddy pool. 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. He will never love me, I fear; for he bit me, and
I was not gentle. Nothing more did I ever get from his mouth than the marks
of his teeth. I deemed it the worst part of all my journey, the road back,
watching him day and night, making him walk before me with a halter on his
neck, gagged, until he was tamed by lack of drink and food, driving him ever
towards Mirkwood. I brought him there at last and gave him to the Elves, for
we had agreed that this should be done; and I was glad to be rid of his
company, for he stank. For my part I hope never to look upon him again; but
Gandalf came and endured long speech with him.'
`Yes, long and weary,' said Gandalf, `but not without profit. For one
thing, the tale he told of his loss agreed with that which Bilbo has now
told openly for the first time; but that mattered little, since I had
already guessed it. But I learned then first that Gollum's ring came out of
the Great River nigh to the Gladden Fields. And I learned also that he had
possessed it long. Many lives of his small kind. The power of the ring had
lengthened his years far beyond their span; but that power only the Great
Rings wield.
`And 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 durbatulыk, ush nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulыk agh
burzum-ishi krimpatul.'
The change in the wizard's 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.
`Never before has any voice dared to utter the words of that tongue in
Imladris, Gandalf the Grey,' said Elrond, as the shadow passed and the
company breathed once more.
`And let us hope that none will ever speak it here again,' answered
Gandalf. `Nonetheless 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.
`Know 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, that we have it here.'
All sat silent for a while, until at length Boromir spoke. `He is a
small thing, you say, this Gollum? Small, but great in mischief. What became
of him? To what doom did you put him?'
'He is in prison, but no worse,' said Aragorn. `He 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. 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.'
`Alas! alas!' cried Legolas, and in his fair elvish face there was
great distress. `The tidings that I was sent to bring must now be told. They
are not good, but only here have I learned how evil they may seem to this
company. Smйagol, who is now called Gollum, has escaped.'
'Escaped?' cried Aragorn. 'That is ill news indeed. We shall all rue it
bitterly, I fear. How came the folk of Thranduil to fail in their trust?'
`Not through lack of watchfulness,' said Legolas; `but perhaps through
over-kindliness. And we fear that the prisoner had aid from others, and that
more is known of our doings than we could wish. We guarded this creature day
and night, at Gandalf's bidding, much though we wearied of the task. But
Gandalf bade us hope still for his cure, and we had not the heart to keep
him ever in dungeons under the earth, where he would fall back into his old
black thoughts.'
'You were less tender to me,' said Glуin with a flash of his eyes as
old memories were stirred of his imprisonment in the deep places of the
Elven-king's halls.
'Now come!' said Gandalf. `Pray do not interrupt, my good Glуin. That
was a regrettable misunderstanding, long set right. If all the grievances
that stand between Elves and Dwarves are to be brought up here, we may as
well abandon this Council.'
Glуin rose and bowed, and Legolas continued. 'In the days of fair
weather we led Gollum through the woods; and there was a high tree standing
alone far from the others which he liked to climb. Often we let him mount up
to the highest branches, until he felt the free wind; but we set a guard at
the tree's foot. One day he refused to come down, and the guards had no mind
to climb after him: he had learned the trick of clinging to boughs with his
feet as well as with his hands; so they sat by the tree far into the night.
'It was that very night of summer, yet moonless and starless, that Orcs
came on us at unawares. We drove them off after some time; they were many
and fierce, but they came from over the mountains, and were unused to the
woods. When the battle was over, we found that Gollum was gone, and his
guards were slain or taken. It then seemed plain to us that the attack had
been made for his rescue, and that he knew of it beforehand. How that was
contrived we cannot guess; but Gollum is cunning, and the spies of the Enemy
are many. The dark things that were driven out in the year of the Dragon's
fall have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place,
save where our realm is maintained.
`We have failed to recapture Gollum. We came on his trail among those
of many Orcs, and it plunged deep into the Forest, going south. 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.'
`Well, well, he is gone,' said Gandalf. 'We 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.
'And now I will answer Galdor's 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.
'At 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.
` "Gandalf! " he cried. "I 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."
' "Your information was correct," I said. "But 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. You were never a
traveller, unless driven by great need."
' "I have an urgent errand," he said. "My news is evil." Then he looked
about him, as if the hedges might have ears. "Nazgыl," he whispered. "The
Nine are abroad again. They have crossed the River secretly and are moving
westward. They have taken the guise of riders in black."
'I knew then what I had dreaded without knowing it.
` "The enemy must have some great need or purpose," said Radagast; "but
what it is that makes him look to these distant and desolate parts, I cannot
guess."
` "What do you mean? " said I.
` "I have been told that wherever they go the Riders ask for news of a
land called Shire."
' "The Shire," 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. "Who told you, and who sent you? " I asked.
' "Saruman the White," answered Radagast. "And 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."
'And 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.
' "I will go to Saruman," I said.
' "Then you must go now," said Radagast; "for 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." And with that he mounted and would have
ridden straight off.
` "Stay a moment! " I said. "We 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."
` "I will do that," he said, and rode off as if the Nine were after
him.
`I 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 consider matters.
I stayed the night in Bree, and decided that I had no time to return to the
Shire. Never did I make a greater mistake!
`However, 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. And Boromir will tell you
that that is ...
