Hisime 1st | Recovering field, after the delay

Hisime 1st -- Recovering field, after the delay

Having spent a few time in delay, because of the rain, Gildor decided to go on besides the rainy wheather. Hindrum did not like it much, and complained a lot, but even so, the Noldo went on, and made the horse to go on. And they'd probably have to travel by night, too, so as to win the bet, because no: Gildor would NOT loose his mantle and horse to two young Telerin youth sailers not used to the field walk! ("Hindrun, however, will only know that we're going to trottle day and night when night comes, and he realizes that we have not stopped, because I have had enough complaint for now, and I will have the double of what I already had by then, therefore, let it come when time comes!..."), thought the elf.

Plans, plans... "Bad horse!, Bad horse!"

(Gildor talks with his horse)

"Here it is, Hindrun: we will have to travel by night, to recover the
delay of the rainy day!"

"eeeeenrhrhrhrh-pfrrfrfrfrfr!"

"I knew you'd disagree."

"pfrfrfrfrfrfr..."

"I knew you'd understand..."

1349gildor30rainy_day

(...)

> "Right. Things will be different when we get to Lorien..."
>
> In seven weeks and a half.... Thought Gildor. Eru was merciful to the
> horses: they can't count their own age, and time for them is simply a
> day after another.
>

Long day, travelling under rain. Winds from the north took the rain
away.

Gildor would have to travel by night, he thought to himself, so as to
recover the delay. Obviously the teleri had delayed too, but it was to
be used on his favour! :^)

Only... :^ better not to let Hindrum to know it yet... "If he knows me
well, as he does, he must be thinking, already, and complaining
silently about it..."

1328

> After a brief moment of solemn silence, at last, Gildor asked:
>
> "This is it!, what do you think?"
>
> Hindrun
> "Pfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfr!..."
>
> Gildor
> "You're never happy!... What a company!"
>
> Hindrun
> "Eeeeeenrhrh!"
>
> Gildor looks back, and ahead.
>
> "O, I see... You're right, mate: we're going to have rain, I see...
> Better hurry up! Let's go, and find shelter before it falls."



Gildor got a rainy afternoon and night. He stopped, and hoped that
rain was leaving him, but it didn't. On the 29th morning, he talked
with Hindrun, who reminded him that if they waited long, there would
be no way of them winning the bet.

Therefore, Gildor went on the way with the horse on the 29th. Under
the rain.

"All right", said Gildor, "the song of Faroth and Wen actually is a
bit sad in itself... And the melody too. I'll think about another
one."

Gildor did not tell Hindrun, but he missed his lute really much, back
there, in his room, at Imladris.

"O, Imladris!", he thought, loud voice. "Why do I make these things,
right, mate?"

(Hindrun was quiet)

"Right. Things will be different when we get to Lorien..."

In seven weeks and a half.... Thought Gildor. Eru was merciful to the
horses: they can't count their own age, and time for them is simply a
day after another.

:^

1318gildor29song

> "Remember that?!, an old one, from the days of Beleriand!"
>
> the horse shooks his head:
> "Yeeeenrh-pfrfrfrfrf."
>
> Gildor
> "It's a beautiful one!: it goes on like this...
>
> [continues]

Gildor
"So,

Am----------------------G-----------------------------Am
Last night as I lay dreaming -- of pleasant days gone by
Am----------------------------------------------C----------G
mey mind being bent on ra-ambling -- to Nargoth Rond I did fly
Am-----------------------------------C-------------------G
I stepped on board a vision -- and I followed wi-ith the will
-----Am--------------------G-------------------------Am
when next I came to anchor at -- the cross near amon Thil...

Delighted by the vision -- enchanted by the scene
where in mey early bo-oyhood -- so often I-I had been
I thought I heard a murmur -- and I think I hear it still
it's that little stre-eam of wa-ater -- that flows down amon Thil...

Being on the 23rd of Nar -- the da-ay before the fair
when Nargoth Rond's sons and daughters -- in crowds assembled there
the young the old the brave and the bold -- their duty to fulfill
at the sacred rond of Narog's king -- a mile from amon Thil

I went to see-ee mey neighbours -- to hear what they might say
the brave ones were all dead and gone -- and the youngster's eyes
[turning gray
I met Tilion, the taylor -- he's bold as e-ever still
sure he used to make my britches -- w'n I lived in a-amon Thil

(I paid a flying visit to -- mey fi-irst and only love:
she's as fair as the prettiest li-ily -- and she's gen-ntle a-as a
[dove
She threw her arms around me saying -- 'Faroth I lo-ove you still!...'
By the valar she's Wen, the fa-armer's daughter -- the pri-ide of a-
[-amon Thil!...

I dreamed I he-eld and kissed her -- as i-in the days of yore...
she said 'Faroth you're only jo-oking -- as many's the ti-ime
[before...)
The cock, he crew in the mo-orning -- he crew both lo-oud and srill
I awoke in Li-indon far away -- many miles from a-amon Thil..."

After a brief moment of solemn silence, at last, Gildor asked:

"This is it!, what do you think?"

Hindrun
"Pfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfr!..."

Gildor
"You're never happy!... What a company!"

Hindrun
"Eeeeeenrhrh!"

Gildor looks back, and ahead.

"O, I see... You're right, mate: we're going to have rain, I see...
Better hurry up! Let's go, and find shelter before it falls."

1274gildor29song

Gildor is talking with Hindrun, the horse.

Gildor
"How's that song again, Hindrun?..."

the horse
"Pfrfrfrffrfrfrfr!..."

Gildor
"No, no, no: it was like this!:

"Last night as I was dreaming
of pleasant days gone by,
My mind being bent on rambling
to Nargothrond I did fly...

"Remember that?!, an old one, from the days of Beleriand!"

the horse shooks his head:
"Yeeeenrh-pfrfrfrfrf."

Gildor
"It's a beautiful one!: it goes on like this...

[continues]

1259summary

Gildor is on his way to Adayrn, so as to see who is going to win the
bet, him or his travel mates, the two telerin elves from the havens,
that acompany him to Lothlorien.

(Adayrn's a tree by the river Baranduin)

Gildor's walking on October 28th

1190review

REVIEW

Having met Niphredol, the thoron, Gildor finds out that something's
going on among the birds, and that one of the melib is missing.

He also found out with Niphredol that the nests of Emyn Beraid are now
empty, something that neither Cirdan nor Elrond knew.

Gildor and Hindrun head on toward the old Adayrn, where they have made
a bet, that he and Hindrun were to get there before the teleri that
where with them.

Gildor is also figuring out what to do about the two elves, because
he'd better follow the way to Lorien on his own, once the two elves
were young, and he felt that they might bring trouble: it wasn't time
for travelling with unexperienced companions.

Even if they had to move north from Adayrn, towards Rivendell, Gildor
was to head on to Lothlorien with his horse only.

1183gildor

Gildor:
>
> "Udun!, I forgot to ask him about the Hithaeglir... So hasty these
> birds always!... Let be."

Gildor talks with his horse.

"Once it has been held the goblins of the Misty Mountains, since we
last took the Amon Annor, I wander what about the south keeps of the
mountains, Hindrun.

"But Cirdan's worry about the delay of the company coming from
Lothlorien isn't unfounded. I think that the goblins may have taken
the way through the mountains, and blocked it.

"Maybe also Saruman is in bad situation.

"When we reach the mountains, my friend, we will split up. You will
return to Rivendell, and I'll follow on foot to Lothlorien. I will
cross the mountains silently. When we reach at Adayrn, I will send
Ragnor and Rauros somewhere else.

"However... They might be useful: if they go to Rivendell along the
misty mountains, they won't feel that their trip was in vain, and
they will may take a look at the way, and see how the goblin holds
are doing, and report to Elrond, once they are up there...

"Yes, I think that it might quite be a solution for them!..."

Hindrum seems to agree...

"Pfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfr!"

1182gildor28et_niphredol

[PART II]

> Gildor:
>
> "Well, I did not, and neither does Cirdan..."
>
Nipherdol looks to the sky:

"Then maybe I should go there, tell him so..."

Gildor:

"Wait!, wait!"

Niphredol breaks his movement.

Gildor:

"Tell me news of Rivendell!"

Niphredol:

"Last thing I know is that there has been plenty of people in the
Imladris, arriving from many places."

Gildor:

"Oh?"

Niph:

"Dwarves of the east, elves of Mirkwood, men from the south were also
trying to find the valley, I don't know if they managed to..."

Gildor:

"South?"

Niph:

"Oh, I don't know... One of the brothers said that he recognized the
colours of Gondor. I would not..."

Gildor:

"And Galdor must have reached Rivendell by the same time, if... It
seems that Elrond's meeting may have taken place after all."

Niph:

"I will be leaving, by now: do you need any that I can help, sire
elf?"

Gildor:

"Two more pieces of information, Niph, my friend: did you know of
periannath?"

Niph:

"Only that they don't like to leave their own homes, under hills,
however not deep as the dwarrows..."

Gildor:

"What about... Adayrn?, that's it what I had in mind..."

Niph:

"What about Adayrn?! He has grown roots long ago, and nothing's
changed. Why do you ask?"

Gildor:

"Right. This is it, thanks, my friend!"

Niph:

"Not at all, sire elf. See you around, maybe, some day..."

Gildor:

"See you! Take care! fly high!"

Niphredol took off and flew away, toward Emyn Beraid.

Gildor:

"Udun!, I forgot to ask him about the Hithaeglir... So hasty these
birds always!... Let be."

1171gildor28et_niphredol

> REVIEW | Gildor shares his plans with the horse.

The trotting during the morning had been swift and quiet.

In the afternoon, Gildor was surprised by a sudden intervention: it
was Niphredol, the thoron.

He had landed behind a hill, and awaited for Gildor to pass by. When
the elf was passing by, Niphredol came out, behind him, and before he
could notice, the bird shouted:

"Hail, Gildor Inglorion! Are the winds happy with our meeting?!"

Gildor jumped to the floor, and although he had recognized the voice,
in the haste, he had his sword in hand, unsheathed.

"Niphredol! I expected to find you yet, during this trip. But I had
heard that you had been spending days at Ereintherinin's Nest, by
Gwaihir... What are you doing here?!"

Niphredol:

"I was given a mission, sire elf: to find the Blue Messenger. Have
you seen him around, or heard of him? It has been difficult to find
him."

Gildor:

"Luin? Last time I heard of him, he was at Beorn's... Everyone knows
he's been working there."

Niphredol:

"Yes, but some things happened, and I did not find Beorn. Nor did I
find the Blue Meleb. The clues have lead me to these lands. I'm about
to believe that I'm going to find him at Cirdan's..."

Gildor:

"Only if he's arrived there during the last four days. I've come from
there, and he wasn't there. The Emyn Beraid are around, too, and it
happens that it used to be a refuge of his kin, since it was
abandoned by the dunedain."

Niph:

"But has been deserted, now. You should know this..."

Gildor:

"Well, I did not, and neither does Cirdan..."

[END OF PART I]

1164gildor27

As Gildor was travelling, he was making his plans.

"Well, Hindrun, once the teleri are travelling north of the hills
because they want a straighter way, they will have quite a work to
climb. This will give us enough time so as to travel in a good speed.
We don't have to run. Only to keep the trotting we've been making.

"I think it will be quite a stroll. We won't need to travel by night,
we can stop, and rest. All we have to do is to keep our eyes open, so
as to watch the road, and not to let any unexpected travellers to pass
by without taking notice.

"We're avoiding anyone, and we're travelling too south of the
periannath's Shire, therefore we won't have much work, but to keep the
rythm.

"What do you say, my friend, is this satisfactory?"

"Eeeenrkhrrkrkrkr", said Hindrun.

1163gildor26

the horse, who gave the answer:
>
> "Pfrfrfrfrfrfr-frfr, eeeenrh pfrfrfrfr-fr!", meaning "I hope so,
sire, > but I don't underestimate the fellow horses that carry them!"
>
> The sky was blue, and the wind fresh.

Horses don't live long as much as edain, but this horse was really
someone Gildor would miss, soon!

1155gildor26

Gildor took, then, the way south of the line in the map, and the teleri
took the way north of it.

Gildor kept an eye on them. He realized that they had decided to take a
short cut north of the hills.

"Fools as they will be!, Hindrun, my friend!: this bet is easily won!"
said he to the horse, who gave the answer:

"Pfrfrfrfrfrfr-frfr, eeeenrh pfrfrfrfr-fr!", meaning "I hope so, sire,
but I don't underestimate the fellow horses that carry them!"

The sky was blue, and the wind fresh.

1115gildor25lone_rider

[Re: GILDOR HEADS ON, on himself]

--- In Last_Battle_ofthe_elves@yahoogroups.com, "Gustavo"
wrote:
> [Re: Fwd: 25th October: Gildor & company on their way to Lorien]
>
> They would meet at old Adayrn.
> Thus [Gildor] got separated [of Ragnor and Rauros, of the teleri].

"It's better that I travel south, Hindrun", said Gildor to the
horse, "'cause it's more probable that trouble will come from that way.
Once we meet old Adayrn, we'll see what to do. Maybe I could manage to
send Ragnor and Rauros up north, to meet Galdor, at Rivendell. The
problem is going to be to convince them... But it'd be better that we
went on our on to Lothlorien. We'd follow faster."

1111gildor25

[Re: Fwd: 25th October: Gildor & company on their way to Lorien]

"Wheeeess!!", Gildor called Hindrun, who had, with his companions,
> taken the time to eat a bit, called the two horses. The elves
mounted,
> and went on ahead.

Gildor had made a bet with Ragnor and Rauros, once he saw the trip was
probably going to be tedious. They would meet at Baranduin, Gildor
travelling south, and the teleri travelling north of the way they had
marked in the map.

They would meet at old Adayrn, and Adayrn was to be their judge. If
Gildor got there first, Ragnor and Rauros were to give him their
horses. If Gildor lost the bet, Ragnor would have Gildor's sword, and
Rauros, Gildor's mantle.

Thus they got separated.

1044gildor25and_company

"Tell them to pretend you're only wild horses, > Hindrun, will you?"
>
> "pfrfrfrfrfr", he nodded.
>
> "Come lads," said Gildor, "there's bushes, near that tree. Lets hide."

They went near the tree. Rauros wished to unsheath his sword, but
Gildor, with a gesture, held him. "Just wait."

The man on the horse, appearently a local, passed by, and went his way,
slowly, in his path.

When he was far, Gildor went out, and Ragnor and Rauros, right after
him. "Wheeeess!!", Gildor called Hindrun, who had, with his companions,
taken the time to eat a bit, called the two horses. The elves mounted,
and went on ahead.

They travelled all day, and slept at night.

1043gildor25and_company

Gildor:
> "Don't you sing, Ragnor?, did you never th[ink] about singing?..."
>
> Rauros, suddenly frightened:
> "Captain!, look!"
>
> Gildor looked in the direction he showed.
>
> A man on a horse was coming closer.

Gildor said "halt", and they stopped.

"What is him, Rauros?", Gildor asked.

Rauros, making effort with his eyes, trying to recognize the figure,
said, at last: "A man. Not of the Dunedain. One of the locals of
Eriador, it seems to me..."

Gildor:
"Very good, Rauros. And he hasn't seen us." Gildor dismounted. Their
horses did not have cells.

"Let the horses be. He will think them to be wild." And Gildor added
to Hindrun, his horse: "Tell them to pretend you're only wild horses,
Hindrun, will you?"

"pfrfrfrfrfr", he nodded.

"Come lads," said Gildor, "there's bushes, near that tree. Lets hide."

1042gildor25and_company

> Gildor:
> "And Erestor is the advisor", he nods.

Rauros:
"And do you have contact with the lord of Mirkwood?"

Gildor:
"Thranduil?... Little. His older son is usually at Rivendell. He
likes to travel. For a while, people spoke that the prince and the
lord's daughter might... come to have something. But soon after she
came out with this story with the dunadan..."

Ragnor:
"They say she's pretty!"

Gildor:
"Arwen Undomiel? Ha-ha!, they say so, yes, they say."

Ragnor:
"Is she, captain?"

Gildor:
"And how are the girls at the haven, nowadays, Ragnor?, there's quite
few of them, for I rarely see any."

Ragnor:
"Ow, the pretty ones usually cross soon, and don't linger. They don't
resist the call of the West!"

Gildor:
"Good, they're girls, after all, ay? Would you wish them to be
strong?!"

Rauros:
"You did not answer Ragnor, captain: what about lady Arwen?"

Gildor:
"Let me see... Do you know Lomelin?"

Ragnor and Rauros, together:
"NNoo!"

Gildor:
"Right, you're younger... Tathar? Do you know Tathar... Hum, no, she
hasn't been to the Havens... Lefnui!, do you know maid Lefnui?,
remember her?"

Ragnor:
"Yes!"

Rauros:
"hm..."

Gildor:
"Quite like her, Ragnor, only her hair is darker. Lefnui is a bit
lighter, if I well remember."

Ragnor:
"What about you, master Gildor, do you have a companion?"

Gildor, laughing:
"Ha-ha-ha!!, I?!... My young one, I was really glad to have mey
cousin in the right path, as I gave him a lady... No: I tell you I
have not find the lady for me, not yet. There will be, somewhere, I
believe. Maybe at the other side of the Sea, though."

Ragnor:
"Oh, don't you feel lonely, master?"

Gildor:
"They say that after the third thousand, one will feel no loneliness
at all, my friend. Yes, I do, what can I tell you?"

Ragnor:
"O, but you're lucky, sire: you're at Imladris. We're at the Havens."

Gildor:
"Don't you sing, Ragnor?, did you never thought about singing?..."

Rauros, suddenly frightened:
"Captain!, look!"

Gildor looked in the direction he showed.

A man on a horse was coming closer.

1041gildor25and_company

> Gildor, smiling:
> "Yes, h-h-, it will b[e] a bit like both situations, by then, I
> believe!..." Then he spoke, in serious tone, "I believe we will be
able > to be there by the 20th Ringare**."
>
>

After some moments of silence, Rauros didn't keep himself:

"How many captains does master Elrond has, nowadays, captain Gildor,
o, please, tell us!... Tell us of Imladris!"

Gildor answers a bit awkward in his pride, although he was a bit used
to such situations...

(Gildor:)
"We're seven, plus the lord's advisor."

Rauros:
"It is you, and lord Glorfindel, and, and..."

Gildor takes a deep breath, and adds:
"And Elladan and Elrohir, the lord's sons. And Gwindor, my cousin.
And Tirion of the Noldor, too. And Aegnor."

Ragnor:
"And Erestor is the advisor."

Gildor:
"And Erestor is the advisor", he nods.

1040gildor25and_company

Gildor:
>
> "If you take a look at Rauros' map, Ragnor," Gildor makes a gesture
so > that Rauros shows Ragnor the map, "you will notice that there is a
> passage way south of Eregion. It is better to avoid any other ways,
but > the simplest ways, and I tell you this: we'd better hide."
> > Ragnor looked ahead, in pride. Gildor had warned Cirdan that this
would > be no easy trip, and Ragnor and Rauros had been warned of the
danger > they were going into.

Rauros added, taking a more careful look at the map:

"Captain... Taking a look at the map... We won't be able to make the
way in two weeks. In two weeks we will be as far as the south of
Periannathand*."

Gildor:

"Well noticed again, Rauros", Gildor made a gesture again, so that
Rauros showed the map to Ragnor. "And how long will we take, if we take
the straightest way?"

Rauros:
"Let see, through the Green Way, and then along this river..."

Gildor:
"Gwathlo, the Grey River."

Ragnor:
"Right!, the one that goes out to the Sea south of Minhiriath..."

Rauros, counting with his fingers, and making calculations:
"One month and a half!"

Gildor:
"Are you used to navigate, ay?"

Ragnor and Rauros, together:
"YYeess!"

Gildor:
There are no mountains through the waters... Because of the crossing,
we will take two months."

Rauros:
"O, it's like going around coral rocks..."

Ragnor:
"Or like when we have no winds from the east, and we have to oar."

Gildor, smiling:
"Yes, h-h-, it will bi a bit like both situations, by then, I
believe!..." Then he spoke, in serious tone, "I believe we will be able
to be there by the 20th Ringare**."


---
*The Shire
**December

965gildor25and_company

> "The Eldar will have no more high-kings at this side of the Sea: our
> time, some say, has come to the end. We're living the very end of our
> days here."

Rauros was a bit puzzled...

"Captain, if we're going to Lothlorien through Nan Curunir we'll
probably take a week longer or more to reach the Golden Forest, and
master Cirdan told us to hurry as much as we could..."

Gildor:

"Well done, Rauros!, I thought you both were only going to notice this
when we had arrived at Lorien!" He smiles.

"We're going straight to Lothlorien, my friend, and I hope we manage to
reach the realm in two weeks, once we don't have cars."

Rauros:

"Great."

Ragnor:

"Do you know how we're going to cross the mountains, captain?"

Gildor:

"If you take a look at Rauros' map, Ragnor," Gildor makes a gesture so
that Rauros shows Ragnor the map, "you will notice that there is a
passage way south of Eregion. It is better to avoid any other ways, but
the simplest ways, and I tell you this: we'd better hide."

Ragnor looked ahead, in pride. Gildor had warned Cirdan that this would
be no easy trip, and Ragnor and Rauros had been warned of the danger
they were going into.

958gildor25and_company

> Gildor:
> "hm-hum... I believe that to take the way to the Baranduin, and
then
> the Green Way. We can go through Nan Curunir, and visit old
Saruman,
> once we're going that way."


Walking ahead, Ragnor was looking forward to asking many things to
Gildor. It's true that Inglor's son was usually at the Havens, but he
used to stay always very little time, once his home was Imladris.
Therefore he was always to return as soon as he could. As one of
Elrond's main captains, together with the twins, Glorfindel, Gwindor
and Aegnor, Gildor always had many affairs, but Elrond trusted noone
else to escort the groups that left or passed through Imladris away
to the Havens.

Ragnor and Rauros had been born after the fall of Gil-galad, the last
of the great Kings of the Eldar. After Gil-galad, noone had been able
to gather all the elves under a banner. Thranduil of the Sindar now
ruled in the distant Greenwood, and Celeborn, a Sinda, too, of Elu
Thingol's house, was lord at the Golden Forest of Galadriel of the
Noldor, the daughter of Finarfin, and perhaps the greatest elf on
Middle-earth, in these days, but, perhaps Cirdan, although Cirdan did
not put himself in the affairs of war, since his youth.

(It was said, and known, they say, by some, that Cirdan had passed
the red ring of the elves, the ring of fire, to Mithrandir, soon
after his arrival in Middle-earth, which quite made sense. Cirdan
would make whatever role he had to endure with the ring of water in
his hand, but of fire he knew nothing, and had never known.)

(And it was known that Elrond mastered the ring of air, and Galadriel
had the ring of water under her keep.)

"But why was it, what do you think, captain," asked Ragnor, "that
master Elrond did not take the stars of Gil-galad to put on his
forehead, at the proper time, but that he prefered to let Cirdan shut
them for long, and now noone knows what happened with the royal
emblem of the high-king?..."

"The stars, my quite curious friend," answered Gildor, "were kept by
Cirdan for the time necessary. They are now at Imladris, under
Elrond's keep. But Elrond has no intention at all of taking it out of
its box, o, no: I think the next elf to put such stars on his
forehead, Ragnor, will be Finarfin, by the day Elrond takes the box
through the Sea to the West, and gives it to Gil-galad's uncle.

"The Eldar will have no more high-kings at this side of the Sea: our
time, some say, has come to the end. We're living the very end of our
days here."

951gildor25and_company

Hindrun, Gildor's horse was very happy for being out on trip again.

Ragnor:
"So, captain, did you think about the way we're taking?"

Gildor:
"hm-hum... I believe that to take the way to the Baranduin, and then
the Green Way. We can go through Nan Curunir, and visit old Saruman,
once we're going that way."

950gildor25and_company

Gildor was used to trips, but this time he wasn't so happy. Cirdan
had asked him to go to Lothlorien together with the messengers he was
sending. He understood Cirdan's worries, but he lamented not to have
brought his lute. "I imagine that Gwindor must be having feasts with
my dear lute..."

Not that he was sad about going to Lothlorien, not at all. Only, the
thought of not returning home so soon as he intended

Ragnor and Rauros were good companions, and the trip was going to be
quick, it seemed. Both were strong as he was, and they were by horse,
the three of them. They estimated that they would arrive at the
Golden Forest by the middle of the winter.

The autunm was beginning.

943goblins_at_the_mountains

A bard speaks:

"We, elves, do call them the Hithaeglir, to those the men call the
Misty Mountains.

"Many stories have been told about these mountains, for great realms
there florished, and vanished. The greatest realm of the Naugrim, the
dwarves, that ever was seen under the clouds of Manwe: Hadhodrond,
Hall of the Hadhod, which is how they call themselves.

"Near Hadhodrond there came to be one great realm, the last great
realm of the Noldor, since the fall of Beleriand, under the waters of
the end of the First Age of the Sun and the Moon: Eregion, Hollin, as
the men would call, and still, maybe, in their short memory, recall.

"But a darkness appeared, and dwelt among the smiths of Celebrimbor
the King, as though the curse of Feanor were still on his shoulders,
and the evil Gorthaur, that we now call Sauron, came under subtle
disguised among our people, and deceived us.

"Many of the works of then were imprisoned by his evil genious. Only
three rings were saved.

"The two realms fell, and the great halls of Hadhodrond, into which
even the feet of many great noldorin lords have been set, came to be
Moria, the Dark Abyss, inhabited by treacherous creatures, the orcs
of the mountains.

"For many years, some great evil kings have ruled such creatures. The
last two were the Great Goblin, and Bolg.

"The Great Goblin was killed by the blade of Glamdring, by the hands
of Mithrandir, our ally, messenger from the West, that came together
with his fours cousins, of whom we know only two to have remained in
Eriador.

"Bolg, was killed in the days of the quest for Erebor, now a
flourishing realm of the Hadhod, in the east, in the days of the fall
of Smaug the Red, as our friend and guest, Bilbo Baggins, is used to
tell us. Bolg was killed by then, by the not so cordial embrace of a
lord of Rhovanion, called Beorn, by many.

"(Some of these things can be found in the book 'There and Back
Again, a Hobbit's Tale', by one of this house's guests, who would be
ashamed to be mentioned, just now, once he is present..."