The Lord of the Rings: Lothlorien

The Tale

‘Alas! I fear we cannot stay here longer,’ said Aragorn.’ He holds his sword up in salute towards the mountain. He laments that his premontion of danger to Gandalf proved true. ‘What hope do we have without you?’ He turns to the Company. ‘We must do without hope … At least we may be avenged. Let us gird ourselves and weep no more! Come. We have a long road, and much to do.’

Behind them they see the Mountains of Moria, and below them the lake of the Mirrormere. Gimli shakes his fist at Caradhras, now smiling in the sun. They make their way down towards the Mirrormere, deep Kheled-zaram, a clear dark blue oval lake, still and unruffled. Gimli remembers Gandalf wishing him joy at the sight. Now ‘It is I who must hasten away, and he that must remain.’

As they draw near the lake, Gimli takes Frodo and Sam aside quickly to see one of the wonders of the vale. A weathered ancient stone, covered with crumbling runes, marks the spot where the first Durin looked and saw a crown of stars appear. They look in, and though it is daylight, they see the stars shining in the deep water, and no other reflection. Gimli bows and they leave. ‘What did you see?’ said Pippin to Sam, but Sam was too deep in thought to answer.’

They pass an icy spring where the Silverlode river begins, and Aragorn points to a golden haze in the distance. There is where they are headed: the woods of Lothlorien. Their road lies along the river for many miles. Legolas praises the elven realm that he knows by report, and they hurry onward while the daylight lasts, fearful that Orcs will follow under the cover of night.

Aragorn leads them along quickly for about two hours, but the orc-wound on Sam’s head and Frodo’s side where the spear caught him grows more painful. Legolas notices they are lagging behind, and Aragorn in concern calls a halt to dress their wounds. They find sheltered spot by the stream. Gimli and the two younger hobbits kindle a fire and start to warm water, while Aragorn begins to examine Sam and Frodo. He still has a few leaves of the athelas he gathered on Weathertop. When the water boils, he will add them and wash their wounds.

Sam’s cut is clean and not poisoned (as orc-blades often are) and will heal in time. ‘Many have received worse than this in payment for the slaying of their first orc.’ Aragorn turns to Frodo, who is reluctant to have his clothes touched, and strips his old shirt off. To his amazement he finds the mithril coat. He takes it off and holds it up for all to see. ‘Here’s a pretty hobbit-skin to wrap an elven-princeling in!’ They all look in wonder, especially Gimli, and Merry blesses Bilbo for his gift.

As good as the armor is, the blow of the spear has forced one of the mail-rings through the leather undercoat and into Frodo’s flesh, and his left side is scored and bruised from where he hit the wall. Aragon bathes them with athelas water and binds the wound, bidding him keep the mail on (if he can bear it) for safety sake.

After a while they douse the fire and head on, much relieved. But soon dusk falls and the deep night surrounds them. They journey on, Frodo and Gimli in the rear, listening for any pursuing orcs. But ‘There are no goblins near, or my ears are made of wood.’ Sting shows no glimmer of light. But Frodo still hears the quick patter of feet behind them. He turns and again catches a quick glimpse of two gleaming eyes that are instantly gone.  Gimli hears and sees nothing, and they hasten to catch up with the rest of the Company.

They finally reach the borders of Lothlorien, the trees there grey in the moonlight with leaves quivering with a hint of gold as they rustle in the wind. Boromir is reluctant to enter the wood, as he has heard strange tales of peril in Gondor. ‘Perilous indeed,’ said Aragon, ‘fair and perilous, but only evil need fear it, or those who bring some evil with them.’ Besides, there is no way back. Their path leads forward.

They go a little over a mile into the forest when they come across a stream that Legolas names the Nimrodel. They cross the clean, cold water and feel the weariness wash away from their limbs. They sit and rest and eat, and Legolas tells them tales he has heard of Lothlorien. He sings them the song of Nimrodel, the maiden the stream is named for, of her love and loss, after the Dwarves had woken the evil in Moria.

‘But the Dwarves did not make the evil,’ said Gimli.’

‘I said not so, but evil came.’

Legolas tells of how the Elves have dwellings in the tree-tops and are therefore called the Galadrim, the Tree-people. Gimli suggests that in lieu of other shelter perhaps they too should seek refuge among the boughs. They turn aside from the path and find a cluster of trees, which Legolas identifies as mellyrn, or mallorn trees, a wonderous marvel, found only in Lothlorien in all Middle-earth. Merry says even so he cannot sleep perched like a bird.  ‘Then dig a hole in the ground, if that is more after the fashion of your kind. But you must dig swift and deep, if you wish to hide from Orcs.’ He puts a hand on a trunk to climb, when he is challenged from above by a voice speaking in an unfamiliar elven-tongue.

Legolas commands everyone to be still, and he talks for a while with the unseen Elves above. It turns out that they have been aware of the Company for some time, and, hearing Legolas’ song, knew him for one of their northern kin. They seem to know of Frodo’s mission, and bid him and Legolas to come up to them first. A rope ladder is lowered and the two start to climb, with of course Sam following after unbidden. He goes where his master goes.

‘The branches of the mallorn tree grew out nearly straight from the trunk, and then swept upward; but near the top the main stem divided into a crown of many boughs, and among these they found that there had been built a wooden platform, or flet as such things were called in those days; the Elves called it a talan. It was reached by a round hole in the centre through which the ladder passed.’

There they find three Elves, dressed in grey. One uncovers a small lamp and examines the faces of the two hobbits. He introduces himself as Haldir; of the three, he speaks the Common Tongue the best, if haltingly. He welcomes Legolas as distant kin. They haven’t heard of Hobbits for many a year, but since Elrond has alerted them to Frodo’s mission, he accepts Frodo and Sam. But what of their companions and how many are there? Eight, says Legolas, himself, four hobbits, two men (one of whom, Aragorn, is an Elf-friend), and – a Dwarf.

That is problematical. Aragorn has the favor of the Lady of Lorien, but they have not had dealings with Dwarves since the Dark Days. They aren’t permitted inside, and he cannot pass. Frodo defends him as a trusty companion, sent by Elrond. The guards debate among themselves and question Legolas some more, than accept that if Gimli is blindfolded and watched by Aragorn and Legolas when they cross the river, he can pass. In the meanwhile, the hobbits must all come up to the flet; the others will go into another nearby. There are wolves howling on the borders and if Orcs are on their trail trouble cannot be far behind.

          Merry and Pippin climb up, carrying Frodo and Sam’s luggage, and they all settle down to try to sleep. They have some trouble with that; Hobbits don’t like heights and there is not even a rail. Pippin hopes he won’t roll off. ‘Once I do get to sleep,’ said Sam, ‘I shall go on sleeping, whether I roll off or no. And the less said, the sooner I’ll drop off, if you take my meaning.’

Frodo wakes late in the night to the sound of many trampling feet and harsh laughter. The hobbits are there alone. The sounds die away, and one of the elves pokes his head up into the flet, whispers the warning word ‘Yrch!’ (Orcs!) and goes down again. Frodo draws Sting and watches its glow fade, but his fear does not. He thinks he hears something moving around the tree’s foot. He peers out, hears sniffing and scrabbling on the trunk and hissing breath, and looking down he sees two pale eyes. They gaze upward, unblinking. Then they suddenly vanish.

Haldir immediately appears and climbs up.  There was something strange in the tree, not an orc. It seemed to have some skill in climbing and was about the size of a hobbit. It vanished when Haldir touched the tree. He did not shoot it fearing the sound of it would attract the goblins, whom the scouts have led away until more of their people can be gathered to deal with them. None of the orcs will return out of Lorien.

When the clear morning comes Frodo looks out to see the valley of the Silverlode and its mallorn trees ‘lying like a sea of fallow gold tossing gently in the breeze.’ They climb down and go back to the path. It is bruised with the passing of orc-feet. But, led by Haldir, they soon turn aside into some trees and come to the banks of the river Celebrant. Haldir gives a call, and an Elf on the other shore steps out. Haldir throws him a grey rope, which he fastens to a tree on the other side. The Galadrim, the elves of Lorien do not build bridges, for better security; this is how they cross. For the mortals’ sake they add two more to use for balance and safety.

Once on the other side, Haldir says that few outsiders are allowed to set foot in the land, lest their secrets become known. But they may walk freely for a while. Only Gimli the Dwarf must be blindfolded, as was agreed.

But Gimli says that he never agreed to that. He is no spy, and his folk have never been servants of the Enemy. Haldir does not doubt him, but this is their law, which he cannot put aside. Gimli is stubborn, and says he won’t go blindfolded as a prisoner, and would just as well go home where his integrity is not doubted. Haldir says he cannot leave; he is too far in. Unseen guards would slay him if he tried to go back. Gimli draws his axe and the Elves draw their bows, and Legolas calls a plague on the stiff necks of the Dwarves.

Diplomatically, Aragorn says they shall all be blindfolded. Gimli says he will be contented if only Legolas is blindfolded along with him. Now Legolas gets angry; he is an Elf and a kinsman, and must he walk blind under the beauty of the woodland’s leaves of gold? ‘Now let us cry: “a plague on the stiff necks of Elves!”’ said Aragorn. ‘But the Company shall all fare alike.’

The Fellowship is blindfolded and led on, with Haldir explaining their need for such caution and lack of trust. Lothlorien has become an island amid many perils as the Shadow has crept northward toward them. Many there speak of departing these shores and crossing over the Sea, but they are not even sure that the havens of the High Elves still exist. Merry assures them they are still there, west of the Shire, though he has never seen them himself. He’s never left his land before, and if he’d known how dangerous it was, he might not have ever had the heart to go.

‘Not even to see fair Lothlorien?’ said Haldir. ‘The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.’ And even if Sauron is destroyed, he fears the time of the Elves will be over. They will pass over sea, and never see Lorien again.

As he walks along with his eyes covered, Frodo’s other senses seem heightened. As soon as he steps foot on the far bank of the Silverlode, he feels like he has crossed over a bridge in time into the Elder Days. In Rivendell there was a memory of ancient things; here they are still living. They have known sorrow and danger, ‘but on the land of Lorien no shadow lay.’

They march all day and rest at night on the ground. They cannot climb with their eyes bound. The next day they march until noon and then rest. Suddenly Frodo becomes aware of a host of voices around them. It is a band of elves who have come around them silently. They report that the marauding orcs have been almost all destroyed; the remnants are being pursued westward towards the mountain. They have also seen a strange creature, ‘running with bent back and with hands near the ground, like a beast and yet not of beast-shape.’ Not knowing what it was they did not shoot it, and it vanished southward down the Silverlode.

Also, they bear news from the Lord and Lady of the Galadrim. They are all to walk free now, even Gimli. Haldir begs the dwarf’s pardon as he undoes his blindfold, and bids him to look upon the trees of Lorien, the first of his people to do so since Durin’s Day.

Frodo catches his breath. Before them is a green mound, topped by an enormous mallorn with a white flet gleaming in its branches. It is circled with an inner ring of lesser golden mallorn and an outer circle of naked trees with a snowy white bark. The spring-green grass of the mound is sprinkled with elanor, small golden flowers like stars, and nephredil, white and pale green on slender stalks. This is Cerin Amroth, the heart of the ancient realm as it was long ago.  

Frodo stands still in wonder. At the sight of Lorien he is struck dumb. It seems he has walked through a window into a vanished world. ‘A light was upon it for which his language had no name.’ All is shapely, whole and brilliant, as if just created but somehow ancient. ‘On the land of Lorien there was no stain.’ Sam scratches his head. He always figured that Elves were always about stars and moonlight, but here it is bright day and it is more elvish than anything he has ever heard of. He feels as if he were inside a song, ‘if you take my meaning.’ Even after he has long left the land, Frodo feels that some part of him is still wandering in that timeless place.

Haldir leads him up the mound to the main tree and they start to climb. Frodo had never felt so keenly the life of the tree inside. Once they reach the flet, Haldir shows him the gleam of the Golden Wood and, not too distant, the darkness of Sothern Mirkwood. There lies the tower of Dol Guldur, Sauron’s ancient fortress, once more inhabited and with a power sevenfold. A black cloud lies over it of late. ‘In this high place you may see the two powers that are opposed to one another; and ever they strive now in thought, but whereas the light perceives the very heart of the darkness, its own secret has not been discovered. Not yet.’

They climb down, and Frodo finds Aragorn at the foot of the mound, a single bloom of elanor in his hands and a light in his eyes. He looks younger, and he speaks Elvish words to one whom Frodo can’t see: ‘Arwen vanimelda, namarie!’ He looks at Frodo and smiles.

‘Here is the heart of Elvendom on earth, he said, ‘and here my heart dwells ever, unless there be a light beyond the dark roads we still must tread, you and I. Come with me!’ And taking Frodo’s hand in his, he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as living man.’

Bits and Bobs

Before I go any farther, I must correct an earlier speculation in my notes to “The Bridge of Khazad-dum.” The ‘Uruks of Mordor’ in the Mines were seen by the Elves passing into Moria a few weeks ago; they were not there at the slaying of Balin and his people so many years past. No doubt sent by Sauron to guard the route, but not to prevent Balin from setting up a kingdom there.

Tolkien is always sprinkling his description of places with botanical notes; here he mentions the hart’s tongue and whortle-berry bushes of the place where they stop to tend their wounds. Hart’s tongue is named for its resemblance to a deer’s tongue, and whortle-berry grows in damp areas.

Hart's Tongue

Whortle-Berry (Blue)

Aragorn’s little rhyme at finding the mithril coat, the unexpected ‘hobbit-skin’, is of course a play on the old nursery rhyme, ‘Bye Baby Bunting.’

We are given plenty of hints that Gollum is following the Fellowship, though his name is never spoken. That fact that it is Frodo who is the one that notices this first might speak to 1) his heightened awareness since his wound by a Morgul-blade, 2) the fact that Gollum is probably targeting him as the holder of the Precious, and 3) a suggested bond or link that is already growing between them as ‘bearers’ of the Ring.

This chapter highlights the historical tension between the Elves and Dwarves. ‘Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose them.’ The suspicions of Haldir and the impatience of Legolas are only matched by Gimli’s stubbornness and feeling of grievance. Perhaps here in Gimli’s rather ‘tit-for-tat’ suggestion that he will be satisfied if only Legolas wears a blindfold with him do we start to see the beginnings of their friendly rivalry (or is it their rivalrous friendship?).

It is Sam’s breathing that could have been shot in the dark by the Elves. When it comes to crossing on the rope he shuffles along, clutching hard and gazing into the waters below. Once safe across, he says ‘Live and learn! as my gaffer used to say. Though he was thinking of gardening, not of roosting like a bird, nor of trying to walk like a spider. Not even my uncle Andy ever did a trick like that!’ We learn elsewhere that his uncle, Andwise Roper (the Gaffer’s older brother), has a ropewalk, which is not a tightrope act like it sounds, but a long field for the twisting and making of rope. This goes far to explain Sam’s general interest in and knowledge of the stuff. The ropewalk is in Tighfield (get it?)

Aragorn’s waking memory is of his plighting his troth with Arwen there on Cerin Amroth and of their farewell. They had met before in Rivendell when he was twenty; then he was forty-nine. He was admitted into Lorien in honor and clad as an elf-prince. Arwen (who was there visiting her grandmother Galadriel) saw him again and fell in love. They made their promises, then Aragorn had to go and tell her father Elrond who says that Arwen can wed him only if he becomes King of Gondor and Arnor united; he cannot diminish the grace of her life for any less. Aragorn’s Elvish words translate to “Fair Arwen, farewell!”