#371

Vi kan jo aldrig blive fuldendt uden dig rendende på siden :0

#373

Du SKAL skrive. Og det kan ikke forhandles. Enten det, eller - Well, du kan godt regne ud jeg ikke vil være flink ved dig når jeg opsøger dig :o

Foeller (222) skrev:

BN (221) skrev:

Vis SpoilerDer er skam heller ikke nogen tvivl hos MIG om, at Sauron er Necromanceren.

Men alt hvad der nævnes i Ringenes Herre-trilogien, er at Sauron styrer Nazgül og dermed også the Witch King. Og at styre eller lede andre er jo ikke det samme som at kunne vække nogen til live fra de døde, vel? Så når sammenhængen ikke forklares nærmere, burde det ikke undre dig, at jeg kunne overse den.

Vis SpoilerDet nævnes, at Sauron er den eneste, som kan kontrollere dem, og at de er hans slaver. Om han så vækker dem til live eller bruger dem til at male vægge i hans 3-værelses lejlighed på Østerbro kan vel sådan set være underordnet. Faktum er, at det er 100% Sauron, der styrer dem.

Fuck en fed mæglerannonce man kunne skrive! Hyggelig Kbh-Ø hybel til begynderfamilien, malet af the Ulari: Hvis du er glad for sort og gusten-grøn, så er det nu du skal slå til.

Ispep (296) skrev:

så kom Gandalf sammen med 8 dværge

Altså kan vi ikke få moderator ind over nu? Nu bliver det lidt for frækt.

#227: Du er sgu nødt til at læse hele Of The Rings Of Power-appendixet i The Silmarillion. Det opsummerer sådan set hele historien over flere tusinde år, fra da Sauron kommer på banen og til ringen ødelægges, inkl hvad der foregår i Hobbitten og Ringenes Herre. Det fylder en del - bare with me, men tråden er jo smadret i forvejen :-) Nedenstående er en lettere modificeret version, jeg har fået, men som er lidt mere tilgængelig end Tolkiens originale, der vælter en del rundt i forskellige Elver-racer.

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OF THE RINGS OF POWER AND THE THIRD AGE



1 – THE ELDEST DAYS



Of old there was Sauron the Maia, and he became the greatest of the Enemy, and the most perilous, for he could assume many forms, and for long if he willed he could still appear noble and beautiful, so as to deceive all but the most wary.

Gil-galad was king of the Elves in Lindon, and with him was Elrond Half-elven, brother of Elros first king of Númenor.

Also in Eregion did the established a realm. Eregion was nigh to the great mansions of the Dwarves that were named Khazad-dum, but by the Elves Moria. A friendship arose between Dwarves and Elves, such as has never elsewhere been, to the enrich-ment of both those peoples.

In the south and in the further east Men multiplied; and most of them turned to evil, for Sauron was at work. Sauron looked with hatred on the Elves, and he feared the Men of Númenor who came in their ships to the shores of Middle-earth.

But for long he concealed the dark designs that he shaped in his heart. For he sought to persuade the Elves to his service. He knew that the Elves had great power; and he went far and wide among them, and his appearance was still that of one both fair and wise. Only Gil-galad and Elrond in Lindon doubted him, and though they knew not who in truth he was, they would not admit him to their land. But elsewhere the Elves received him gladly, and few among them listened to the messengers from Lindon bidding them beware; for Sauron took to himself the name of Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, and they had at first much profit from his friendship. And he said to them: 'A mighty king is Gil-galad, and wise in all lore is Master Elrond, and yet they will not aid me in my labours. Can it be that they do not desire to see other lands become as blissful as their own? And I per-ceive that you love this Middle-earth, as do I. Is it not then our task to labour together for its enrichment?'

In Eregion the counsels of Sauron were most gladly received, for in that land the Elves desired ever to increase the skill of their works. Moreover they were not at peace in their hearts, since they desired both to stay in Middle-earth, which indeed they loved, and yet to leave and enjoy the bliss of those Elves that had departed over the sea into the West.

They learned from Sauron many things, for his knowledge was great. In those days their smiths made Rings of Power. But Sauron guided their labours, and he was aware of all that they did; for his desire was to set a bond upon the Elves.

Secretly Sauron made One Ring to rule all the other Rings, and their power was bound up with the One, to be subject to it. And much of the strength and will of Sauron passed into the One; for the power of the Elven-rings was very great, and that which should govern them must be a thing of great potency; and Sauron forged it in the Mountain of Fire in the Land of Shad-ow. And while he wore the One Ring he could perceive all the things that were done by means of the lesser Rings, and he could see and govern the very thoughts of those that wore those.

But the Elves were not so lightly to be caught. Soon after Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger, they became aware of him, and perceived that he would be master of them. Then in anger and fear the Elves took off their rings. But Sauron was filled with wrath; and he came against the Elves with open war, demanding that all the Rings should be delivered to him, since the Elven-smiths could not have attained to their making without his counsel. But the Elves fled from him; and three of their Rings they managed to save and hide.

These Three had been made last, and they possessed the greatest powers: The Rings of Fire, set with ruby; The Ring of Water, set with diamond; and The Ring of Air, set with sapphire. Of all the Elven-rings Sauron most desired to possess these, for those who had them in their keeping could ward off the decays of time and postpone the weariness of the world. But Sauron could not discover them, for they were given into the hands of the Wise, who concealed them and never used them openly while Sauron kept the One Ring. Therefore the Three remained unsullied, for they were made by the Elves alone, and the hand of Sauron had never touched them.

From that time war never ceased between Sauron and the Elves; and Eregion was laid waste, and the doors of Moria were shut. In that time the stronghold and refuge of Rivendell was founded by Elrond. But Sauron gathered into his hands all the remaining Rings of Power; and he dealt them out to the other peoples of Middle-earth, hoping thus to bring under his sway all those that desired secret power beyond the measure of their kind. Seven Rings he gave to the Dwarves; but to Men he gave nine, for Men proved in this matter as in others the readiest to his will. And all those rings that he governed he perverted, the more easily since he had a part in their making, and they were accursed, and they betrayed in the end all those that used them. The Dwarves indeed proved tough and hard to tame; they ill endure the domination of others, and the thoughts of their hearts are hard to fathom, nor can they be turned to shadows. They used their rings only for the getting of wealth; but wrath and an over-mastering greed of gold were kindled in their hearts, of which came to the profit of Sauron. It is said that the foundation of each of the Seven Hoards of the Dwarf-kings of old was a golden ring; but all those hoards long ago were plundered and the Dragons devoured them, and of the Seven Rings some were consumed in fire and some Sauron recovered.

Men proved easier to ensnare. Those who used the Nine Rings became mighty in their day, kings, sorcerers, and warriors. They obtained glory and great wealth, yet it turned to their undoing. They had unending life, yet life became unendurable to them. They could walk, if they would, unseen by all eyes in this world beneath the sun, and they could see things in worlds invisible to mortal men; but too often they saw only the delusions of Sauron. And one by one they fell under the thraldom of the Ring that they bore and under the domination of the One Ring. And they became for ever invisible save to him that wore the One, and they entered into the realm of shadows. They became the Nazgul, the Ringwraiths, his most terrible servants; darkness went with them, and they cried with the voices of death. Their leader, who became known as the Witch-king, set up his realm Angmar in the far, cold north of the Misty Mountains, and there made war upon the kingdoms of Men in the north.





2 – THE BLACK YEARS



Now Sauron's lust and pride increased, until he knew no bounds, and he determined to make himself master of all things in Middle-earth and to destroy the Elves. A mask he still could wear so that if he wished he might deceive Men, seeming to them wise and fair. But he ruled rather by force and fear, and those who perceived his shadow spreading over the world called him the Dark Lord, and he gathered again under his government all the evil things that remained on earth or beneath it, and the Orcs were at his command and multiplied like flies. The Black Years began.

In that time many of the Elves of Middle-earth fled over the seas never to return; and many were destroyed by Sauron’s serv-ants. But in Lindon Gil-galad still maintained his power. He was aided by the Númenóreans, and Sauron dared not as yet to attack. Elsewhere Sauron ruled, and those who would be free took refuge in the woods and mountains, and ever fear pursued them. In the east and south nearly all Men were under his dominion, and they grew strong in those days and built many towns and walls of stone, and they were numerous and fierce in war. To them Sauron was both king and god.

Yet there came at length a stay in the onslaught of Sauron, for he was challenged by the might of the Men of Númenor. So great was the power and splendour of the Númenóreans in the noontide of their realm that the servants of Sauron would not withstand them, and planning to accomplish by cunning what he could not achieve by force, he left Middle-earth for a while and went to Númenor as a hostage. And there he stayed until at by his craft he had corrupted the hearts of most of that people, and set them at war with the Lords of the West, and so compassed their ruin, as he had long desired. But that ruin was more terrible than Sauron had foreseen, for he had forgotten the might of the Lords of the West in their anger. The world was broken, and the land was swallowed up, and the seas rose over it, and Sauron himself went down into the abyss. But his spirit arose and fled back on a dark wind to Middle-earth, seeking a home.

There he found that the power of Gil-galad had grown great in the years of his absence, and it was spread now over wide re-gions of the north and west, and had passed beyond the Misty Mountains and the Great River even to the borders of Greenwood the Great, and was drawing nigh to the strong places where once he had dwelt secure. Then Sauron withdrew to his fortress in the Black Land.

In that time those of the Númenóreans who were saved from destruction fled eastward. The chief of these were Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion, who had been unwilling to listen to Sauron.

Elendil was befriended by Gil-galad. Elendil established a realm, and his people dwelt in many places in Eriador. Isildur and Anárion were borne away southwards, and they established a realm in those lands that were after called Gondor, whereas the Northern Kingdom was named Arnor. The chief city of this southern realm was Osgiliath. Other strong places they built also upon either hand: Minas Ithil; The Tower of the Rising Moon; eastward upon a shoulder of the Mountains of Shadow as a threat to Mordor; and to the westward Minas Anor, The Tower of the Setting Sun, at the feet of Mount Mindolluin, as a shield against the wild men of the dales. In Minas Ithil was the house of Isildur, and in Minas Anor the house of Anárion, but they shared the realm between them and their thrones were set side by side in the Great Hall of Osgiliath. These three cities were the chief dwellings in Gondor, but also in the circle of Isengard they made Orthanc of unbreakable stone.

Many treasures they had brought from Númenor; and of these the most renowned were the Seven Stones and the White Tree. The White Tree, memorial of the Elves and of the light of Valinor, was planted in Minas Ithil; but the Seven Stones were divid-ed. One was set in each of in tower upon Emyn Beraid; in Amon Sul upon Weathertop; in the city Annúminas; in Minas Ithil; in Minas Anor; in Orthanc; and in Osgiliath. Those who looked in the Stones might see things far off, whether in place or in time. Mostly they revealed things near to another Stone, for the Stones each called to each. But those who possessed great strength might learn to direct their gaze whither they would. Thus the Númenóreans were aware of many things that their enemies wished to conceal, and little escaped their vigilance in the days of their might. These Stones were called the Palantíri, those that watch from afar.

But Sauron had also returned. He came in secret to his ancient kingdom of Mordor. There was built his fortress Barad-dur, the Dark Tower; and there was the fiery mountain of Orodruin. Indeed for that reason Sauron had set there his dwelling long be-fore, for he used the fire that welled there from the heart of the earth in his sorceries and in his forging; and there he had made the One Ring. Now he had wrought for himself a new shape; and it was terrible, for his fair semblance had departed for ever when he was cast into the abyss at the drowning of Númenor. He took up again the One Ring, and the malice of the Eye of Sauron few even of the great among Elves and Men could endure.

Now Sauron prepared war, and the fires of the Mountain were wakened again. Wherefore seeing the smoke of Orodruin from afar, and perceiving that Sauron had returned, the Númenóreans named that mountain anew Mount Doom. And Sauron gath-ered to him great strength of his servants out of the east and the south, who served him still. But because of the power of Gil-galad these renegades for the most part stayed in the southlands far away. Yet rose to power among the Haradrim, a great and cruel people that dwelt in the wide lands of Harad south of Mordor.

When therefore Sauron saw his time, he came with great force against the new realm of Gondor, and he took Minas Ithil, and he destroyed the White Tree. But Isildur escaped taking with him a seedling of the Tree. Meanwhile Anárion held Osgiliath against Sauron and drove him back to the mountains. But Sauron gathered his strength again, and Anárion knew that unless help should come his kingdom would not long stand.

Now Elendil and Gil-galad took counsel together, for they perceived that Sauron would grow too strong and would overcome all his enemies one by one, if they did not unite against him. Therefore they made that League which is called the Last Alliance, and they marched east gathering a great host of Elves and Men. It is said that the host that was there assembled was fairer and more splendid in arms than any that has since been seen in Middle-earth.

They marched from Rivendell and came at last upon the host of Sauron before the Gate of the Black Land; The Morannon. All living things were divided in that day, and some of every kind, even of beasts and birds, were found in either host; save the Elves only. Of the Dwarves few fought upon either side; but Durin of Moria fought against Sauron.

The host of Gil-galad and Elendil had the victory, for the might of the Elves was still great in those days, and the Númenóreans were strong and tall, and terrible in their wrath. Against Aeglos, the spear of Gil-galad, none could stand; and the sword of Elendil filled Orcs and Men with fear, for it shone with the light of the sun and of the moon, and it was named Narsil.

Then Gil-galad and Elendil passed into Mordor and encompassed the stronghold of Sauron; and they laid siege to it for seven years, and suffered grievous loss by fire and darts of the Enemy. Anárion son of Elendil was slain, and many others. At last Sauron himself came forth; and he wrestled with Gil-galad and Elendil, and they both were slain, and the sword of Elendil broke under him as he fell. But with the hilt-shard of Narsil Isildur cut the Ruling Ring from the hand of Sauron and took it for his own. Then Sauron was for that time vanquished, and he forsook his body, and his spirit fled far away and hid in waste plac-es; and he took no visible shape again for many long years.





3 – THE THIRD AGE



Thus began the Third Age of the World, and there was hope in that time. The servants of Sauron were routed and dispersed, yet they were not wholly destroyed; and though many Men turned now from evil and became subject to the heirs of Elendil, yet many more remembered Sauron in their hearts and hated the kingdoms of the West. The Dark Tower was levelled to the ground, yet its foundations remained. The Númenóreans indeed set a guard upon the land of Mordor, but none dared dwell there because of the terror of the memory of Sauron, and because of the Mountain of Fire that stood nigh to Barad-dur; and the valley of Gorgoroth was filled with ash. Many of the Elves and many of the Númenóreans and of Men who were their allies had perished in the Battle; and Elendil and Gil-galad were no more. Never again was such a host assembled, nor was there any such league of Elves and Men; for after Elendil's and Gil-galad‘s days the two kindreds became estranged.

The Ruling Ring passed out of the knowledge even of the Wise in that age; yet it was not unmade. For Isildur would not sur-render it to Elrond and Círdan the Shipwright who stood by. They counselled him to cast it into the fire of Orodruin, in which it had been forged, so that it should perish, and the power of Sauron be for ever diminished. But Isildur refused this counsel, saying: 'This I will have as were-gild for my father's death, and my brother’s. Was it not I that dealt the Enemy his death-blow?' And the Ring that he held seemed to him exceedingly fair to look on; and he would not suffer it to be destroyed. Taking it therefore he returned at first to Minas Anor, and there planted the White Tree in memory of his brother Anárion. But soon he departed and bore away the Ring, to be an heirloom of his house, and marched north from Gondor; and he forsook the South Kingdom, for he purposed to take up his father's realm in Eriador, far from the shadow of the Black Land.

But Isildur was overwhelmed by a host of Orcs that lay in wait in the Misty Mountains; and they descended upon him at un-awares between the Greenwood and the River Anduin, for he was heedless and set no guard, deeming that all his foes were overthrown. There well nigh all his people were slain, and among them were his three elder sons, but his wife and his youngest son, Valandil, he had left in Rivendell when he went to the war. Isildur himself escaped by means of the Ring, for when he wore it he was invisible to all eyes; but the Orcs hunted him by scent and slot, until he came to the River and plunged in. There the Ring betrayed him and avenged its maker, for it slipped from his finger as he swam, and it was lost in the water. Then the Orcs saw him as he laboured in the stream, and they shot him with many arrows, and that was his end.

Narsil came in due time to the hand of Valandil, Isildur's last son, in Rivendell; but the blade was broken and its light was ex-tinguished, and it was not forged anew. And Master Elrond foretold that this would not be done until the One Ring should be found again and Sauron should return; but the hope of Elves and Men was that these things might never come to pass.

Valandil’s folk were diminished, and of the Númenóreans and of the Men of Eriador there remained now too few to people the land or to maintain all the places that Elendil had built, in Dagorlad and in Mordor many Men had fallen. The Men of West-ernesse, the Dúnedain, became divided into petty realms and lordships, and their foes devoured them one by one. Ever they dwindled with the years, until their glory passed, leaving only green mounds in the grass. At length naught was left of them but a strange people wandering secretly in the wild, The Rangers they were called, and other men knew not their homes nor the purpose of their journeys, and everywhere but in Rivendell their ancestry was forgotten. Yet the shards of the sword were cher-ished during many lives of Men by the heirs of Isildur; and their line, from father to son, remained unbroken.

In the south the realm of Gondor endured, and for a time its splendour grew, until it recalled the wealth and majesty of Númenor. For many a year the White Tree grew before the King's house in Minas Anor.

Yet at the last, in the wearing of the swift years of Middle-earth, Gondor waned, and the line of Anárion failed. For the blood of the Númenóreans became much mingled with that of other men, and their power and wisdom was diminished, and their life-span was shortened, and the watch upon Mordor slumbered. And in the days of Telemnar, the third and twentieth of the line of Meneldil son of Anárion, a plague came upon dark winds out of the east, and it smote the King and his children, and many of the people of Gondor perished. Then the forts on the borders of Mordor were deserted, and Minas Ithil was emptied of its people; and evil entered again into the Black Land secretly, and the ashes of Gorgoroth were stirred as by a cold wind, for dark shapes gathered there. These were indeed the Nazgul, the Nine Ringwraiths that had long remained hidden, but returned now to prepare the ways of their Master.

And in the days of Eärnil they made their first stroke, and they came by night out of Mordor over the passes of the Mountains of Shadow, and took Minas Ithil for their abode; and they made it a place of such dread that none dared to look upon it. There-after it was called Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sorcery; and Minas Morgul was always at war with Minas Anor in the west. Then Osgiliath, which in the waning of the people had long been deserted, became a place of ruins and a city of ghosts. But Minas Anor endured, and it was named anew Minas Tirith, the Tower of Guard; for there the kings caused to be built in the citadel a white tower, very tall and fair, and its eye was upon many lands. Proud still and strong was that city, and in it the White Tree still flowered for a while before the house of the Kings; and there the remnant of the Númenóreans still defended the passage of the River against the terrors of Minas Morgul and against all the enemies of the West, Orcs and monsters and evil Men; and thus the lands behind them were protected from war and destruction.

Eärnur, the last King of Gondor, rode alone to the gates of Minas Morgul to meet the challenge of the Morgul-lord, The Witch-King of Angmar; but he was taken by the Nazgul alive into the Dead city of Minas Morgul, and no living man saw him ever again. Now Eärnur left no heir, but when the line of the Kings failed the Stewards ruled the city and its ever-shrinking realm; and horsemen of the north came and dwelt in the green land of Rohan, which before was a part of the kingdom of Gon-dor; and they, the Rohirrim, aided the Lords of the City in their wars.

In all the days of the Third Age, after the fall of Gil-galad, Master Elrond abode in Rivendell, and he gathered there many folk of wisdom and power, and he preserved through many lives of Men the memory of all that had been fair; and the house of Elrond was a refuge for the oppressed and a treasury of good counsel. In that house were harboured the Heirs of Isildur, in childhood and old age, because of the kinship of their blood with Elrond himself, and because he knew in his wisdom that one should come of their line to whom a great part was appointed in the last deeds of that Age. And until that time came the shards of Elendil's sword were given into the keeping of Elrond.

In Rivendell was the chief dwelling of the Elves; but at the Grey Havens there abode also a remnant of the people of Gil-galad. At times they would wander into the lands of Eriador, but for the most part they dwelt near the shores of the sea, building and tending the elven-ships wherein those who grew weary of the world set sail into the uttermost West. Círdan the Shipwright was lord of the Grey Havens and mighty among the Wise.

Of the Three Rings that the Elves had preserved unsullied no open word was ever spoken among the Wise, and few even of the Elves knew where they were. Yet after the fall of Sauron their power was ever at work, and where they abode there mirth also dwelt and all things were unstained by the griefs of time. The blue Ring of Air was with Elrond in Rivendell, and the white Ring of Water was in the Land of Lórien where dwelt the Lady Galadriel. A queen she was of the woodland Elves, the wife of Celeborn, and she was the mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in Middle-earth. But the red Ring of Fire re-mained hidden until the end, and none save Elrond, Galadriel and Círdan knew to whom it had been committed.





Thus it was that in two domains the bliss and beauty of the Elves remained still undiminished while that Age endured: in Rivendell; and in Lothlórien, the hidden land where the trees bore flowers of gold and no Orc or evil thing dared ever come. Yet many voices were heard among the Elves foreboding that, if Sauron should come again, then either he would find the Rul-ing Ring that was lost, or at the best his enemies would discover it and destroy it; but in either chance the powers of the Three must then fail and all things maintained by them must fade, and so the Elves should pass into the twilight and the Dominion of Men begin.

Many things of beauty and wonder remained, and many things also of evil and dread: Orcs there were and trolls and dragons and fell beasts, and strange creatures old and wise in the woods whose names are forgotten; Dwarves still laboured in the hills and wrought with patient craft works of metal and stone that none now can rival. But the dominion of Men was preparing and all things were changing, until at last the Dark Lord arose in Greenwood again.

Now of old the name of that forest was Greenwood the Great, and its wide halls and aisles were the haunt of many beasts and of birds of bright song. But after many years, a darkness crept slowly through the wood from the southward, and fear walked there in shadowy glades; fell beasts came hunting, and cruel and evil creatures laid there their snares. Then the name of the forest was changed and Mirkwood it was called, for the nightshade lay deep there, and few dared to pass through. From where it came few could tell, and it was long ere even the Wise could discover that was the Shadow of Sauron. He took up his abode in the south of the forest, and slowly he grew and took shape there again; in a dark hill he made his dwelling in Dol Guldur and wrought there his sorcery, and all folk feared the Sorcerer of Dol Guldur, and yet they knew not at first who he really was and how great was their peril.

Even as the first shadows were felt in Mirkwood there appeared in the west of Middle-earth the Wizards. None knew at that time whence they were, save Círdan of the Havens, and only to Elrond and to Galadriel did he reveal that they came over the Sea. But afterwards it was said among the Elves that they were messengers sent by the Lords of the West to contest the power of Sauron, if he should arise again, and to move Elves and Men and all living things of good will to valiant deeds. In the like-ness of Men they appeared, old but vigorous, and they changed little with the years, and aged but slowly, though great cares lay on them; great wisdom they had, and many powers of mind and hand. Long they journeyed far and wide among Elves and Men, and held converse also with beasts and with birds; and the peoples of Middle-earth gave to them many names, for their true names they did not reveal. Chief among them were those whom the Elves called Mithrandir and Curunír, but Men in the North named Gandalf and Saruman. Of these Curunír was the eldest and came first, and after him came Mithrandir and Radagast, and others. Radagast was the friend of all beasts and birds; but Curunír went most among Men, and he was subtle in speech and skilled in all the devices of smith-craft. Mithrandir was closest in counsel with Elrond and the Elves. He wandered far in the North and West and made never in any land any lasting abode; but Curunír journeyed into the East, and when he returned he took his dwelling in Isengard.

Ever most vigilant was Mithrandir, and he it was that most doubted the darkness in Mirkwood, for though many deemed that it was wrought by the Ringwraiths, he feared that it was indeed the first shadow of Sauron returning; and he went to Dol Gul-dur, and the Sorcerer fled from him, and there was a watchful peace for a long while. But at length the Shadow returned and its power increased; and in that time was first made the White Council, and therein were Elrond, Galadriel, Círdan and other lords of the Elves, and with them were Mithrandir and Curunír. And Curunír the White was chosen to be their chief, for he had most studied the devices of Sauron. Galadriel indeed had wished that Mithrandir should be the lead of the Council, but Mithrandir refused the office, since he would have no ties and no allegiance. But Curunír now began to study the lore of the Rings of Pow-er, their making and their history.

Now the Shadow grew ever greater, and the hearts of Elrond and Mithrandir darkened. Therefore on a time Mithrandir at great peril went again to Dol Guldur and the pits of the Sorcerer, and he discovered the truth of his fears, and escaped. And returning to Elrond he said:

'True, alas, is our guess. This is not one of the Nazgul, as many have long supposed. It is Sauron himself who has taken shape again and now grows apace; and he is gathering again all the Rings to his hand; and he seeks ever for news of the One, and of the Heirs of Isildur, if they live still on earth.'

And Elrond answered: 'In the hour that Isildur took the Ring and would not surrender it, this doom was wrought, that Sauron should return.'

'Yet the One was lost,' said Mithrandir, 'and while it still lies hidden, we can master the Enemy, if we gather our strength and linger not too long.'

Then the White Council was summoned; and Mithrandir urged them to swift deeds, but Curunír spoke against him, and coun-selled them to wait yet and to watch. 'For I believe not,' said he, 'that the One will ever be found again in Middle-earth. Into Anduin it fell, and long ago, I deem, it was rolled to the Sea. There it shall lie until the end, when all this world is broken and the deeps are removed.'

Therefore naught was done at that time, though Elrond's heart misgave him, and he said to Mithrandir: 'Nonetheless I forbode that the One will yet be found, and then war will arise again, and in that war this Age will be ended. Indeed in a second dark-ness it will end, unless some strange chance deliver us that my eyes cannot see.'

'Many are the strange chances of the world,' said Mithrandir, 'and help oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter.'

Thus the Wise were troubled, but none as yet perceived that Curunír had turned to dark thoughts and was already a traitor in heart: For he desired that he and no other should find the Great Ring, so that he might wield it himself and order all the world to his will. Too long he had studied the ways of Sauron in hope to defeat him, and now he envied him as a rival rather than hated his works. And he deemed that the Ring, which was Sauron's, would seek for its master as he became manifest once more; but if he were driven out again, then it would lie hid. Therefore he was willing to play with peril and let Sauron be for a time.

Soon he discovered that the servants of Dol Guldur were searching all the ways of the River in that region. Then he perceived that Sauron also had learned of the manner of Isildur's end, and he grew afraid and withdrew to Isengard and fortified it; and ever he probed deeper into the lore of the Rings of Power and the art of their forging. But he told none of this to the Council, hoping still that he might be the first to hear news of the Ring. He gathered a great host of spies, and many of these were birds; for Radagast lent him his aid, divining naught of his treachery, and deeming that this was but part of the watch upon the Ene-my.

But ever the shadow in Mirkwood grew deeper, and to Dol Guldur evil things repaired out of all the dark places of the world; and they were united again under one will, and their malice was directed against the Elves and the survivors of Númenor. Therefore at last the Council was again summoned and the lore of the Rings was much debated; but Mithrandir spoke to the Council, saying:

'It is not needed that the Ring should be found, for while it abides on earth and is not unmade, still the power that it holds will live, and Sauron will grow and have hope. The might of the Elves and the Elf-friends is less now than of old. Soon he will be too strong for you, even without the Great Ring; for he rules the Nine Rings of the Nazgul, and also of the Seven Dwarf-Rings he has recovered three. We must strike.'

To this Curunír now assented, desiring that Sauron should be thrust from Dol Guldur, which was nigh to the River, and should have leisure to search there no longer. Therefore, for the last time, he aided the Council, and they put forth their strength; and they assailed Dol Guldur, and drove Sauron from his hold, and Mirkwood for a brief while was made wholesome again.

But their stroke was too late. For the Dark Lord had foreseen it, and he had long prepared all his movements; and the Nazgul had gone before him to Mordor to make ready for his coming. And in that year the White Council met for the last time, and Curunír withdrew to Isengard, and took counsel with none save himself.

Orcs were mustering, and far to the east and the south the wild peoples were arming. Then in the midst of gathering fear and the rumour of war the foreboding of Elrond was proved true, and the One Ring was indeed found again, by a chance more strange than even Mithrandir had foreseen; and it was hidden from Curunír and from Sauron. For it had been taken from Andu-in long ere they sought for it, being found by one of the small fisher-folk that dwelt by the River. The finder of the Ring was slain by his very best friend for the love of it's golden gleam, and he brought beyond search into dark hiding under the roots of the mountains. There it dwelt, until even in the year of the assault upon Dol Guldur it was found again, by a wayfarer, fleeing into the depths of the earth from the pursuit of the Orcs, and passed into a far distant country, even to the land of the Hobbits, who dwelt in the west of Eriador. And ere that day they had been held of small account by Elves and by Men, and neither Sauron nor any of the Wise save Mithrandir had in all their counsels given thought to them.

Now by fortune and his vigilance Mithrandir first learned of the Ring, before Sauron had news of it; yet he was in doubt. For too great was the evil power of this thing for any of the Wise to wield, unless like Curunír he wished himself to become a tyrant and a Dark Lord in his turn; but neither could it be concealed from Sauron for ever, nor could it be unmade by the craft of the Elves. Therefore with the help of the Dúnedain of the North Mithrandir set a watch upon the land of the Hobbits and bided his time. But Sauron had many ears, and soon he heard rumour of the One Ring, which above all things he desired, and he sent forth the Nazgul to take it. Then war was kindled, and in battle with Sauron the Third Age ended even as it had begun.

In those days the Heir of Isildur arose in the North, and he took the shards of the sword of Elendil, and in Rivendell they were reforged; and he went then to war, a great captain of Men. He was Aragorn son of Arathorn, the nine and thirtieth heir in the right line from Isildur, and yet more like to Elendil than any before him. Battle there was in Rohan, and Curunír the traitor was thrown down and Isengard broken; and before the City of Gondor a great field was fought, and the Nazgul-Lord of Morgul, the of Angmar, passed into darkness; and the Aragorn led the host of the West to the Black Gates of Mordor.

In that last battle were Mithrandir, and the sons of Elrond, and the King of Rohan, and lords of Gondor, and the Heir of Isildur with the Dúnedain of the North. There at the last they looked upon death and defeat, and all their valour was in vain; for Sauron was too strong. Yet in that hour was put to the proof that which Mithrandir had spoken, and help came from the hands of the weak when the Wise faltered. For it was the Hobbits, that brought them deliverance.

For Frodo the Hobbit at the bidding of Mithrandir took on himself the burden, and alone with his servant he passed through peril and darkness and came at last in Sauron's despite even to Mount Doom; and there into the Fire where it was wrought was thrown the Great Ring of Power, and so at last it was unmade and its evil consumed.

Then Sauron failed, and he was utterly vanquished and passed away like a shadow of malice; and the towers of Barad-dur crumbled in ruin, and at the rumour of their fall many lands trembled. Thus peace came again, and a new Spring opened on earth; and the Heir of Isildur was crowned King of Gondor, and the might of the Dúnedain was lifted up and their glory re-newed. In the courts of Minas Tirith the White Tree flowered again, and while it still grew there the Elder Days were not whol-ly forgotten in the hearts of the Kings.

Now all these things were achieved for the most part by the counsel and vigilance of Mithrandir, and in the last few days he was revealed as a lord of great reverence, and clad in white he rode into battle; but not until the time came for him to depart was it known that he had long guarded the red Ring of Fire. At the first that Ring had been entrusted to Círdan, Lord of the Havens; but he had surrendered it to Mithrandir, for he knew whence he came and whither at last he would return.

'Take now this Ring,' he said; 'for thy labours and thy cares will be heavy, but in all it will support thee and defend thee from weariness. For this is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valour of old in a world that grows chill. But as for me, my heart is with the Sea, and I will dwell by the grey shores, guarding the Havens until the last ship sails. Then I shall await thee.'

White was that ship and long was it a-building, and long it awaited the end of which Círdan had spoken. But when all these things were done, and the Heir of Isildur had taken up the lordship of Men, and the dominion of the West had passed to him, then it was made plain that the power of the Three Rings also was ended, and to the Firstborn the world grew old and grey. In that time the last of the Elvess set sail from the Havens and left Middle-earth for ever. And latest of all the Keepers of the Three Rings rode to the Sea, and Master Elrond took there the ship that Círdan had made ready. In the twilight of autumn it sailed out, until the seas of the World fell away beneath it, and the winds of the round sky troubled it no more, and borne upon the high airs above the mists of the world it passed into the Ancient West, and an end was come for the Elves of story and of song.