“All about the hills the
hosts of Mordor raged. The Captains of the West were foundering in a gathering
sea. The sun gleamed red, and under the wings of the Nazgul the shadows of
death fell dark upon the earth. Aragorn stood beneath his banner, silent and
stern, as one lost in thought of things long past or far away; but his eyes
gleamed like stars that shine the brighter as the night deepens. Upon the
hill-top stood Gandalf, and he was white and cold and no shadow fell on him.
The onslaught of Mordor broke like a wave on the beleaguered hills, voices
roaring like a tide amid the wreck and crash of arms.
As if to his eyes some sudden vision had been given, Gandalf stirred; and he
turned, looking back north where the skies were pale and clear. Then he lifted
up his hands and cried in a loud voice ringing above the din: The Eagles are
coming! And many voices answered crying: The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are
coming! The hosts of Mordor looked up and wondered what this sign might mean.
There came Gwaihir the Windlord, and Landroval his brother, greatest of all the
Eagles of the North, mightiest of the descendants of old Thorondor, who built
his eyries in the inaccessible peaks of the Encircling Mountains when
Middle-earth was young. Behind them in long swift lines came all their vassals
from the northern mountains, speeding on a gathering wind. Straight down upon
the Nazgul they bore, stooping suddenly out of the high airs, and the rush of
their wide wings as they passed over was like a gale.
But the Nazgul turned and fled, and vanished into Mordor's shadows, hearing a
sudden terrible call out of the Dark Tower; and even at that moment all the
hosts of Mordor trembled, doubt clutched their hearts, their laughter failed,
their hands shook and their limbs were loosed. The Power that drove them on and
filled them with hate and fury was wavering, its will was removed from them;
and now looking in the eyes of their enemies they saw a deadly light and were
afraid.
Then all the Captains of the West cried aloud, for their hearts were filled
with a new hope in the midst of darkness. Out from the beleaguered hills
knights of Gondor, Riders of Rohan, Dunedain of the North, close-serried
companies, drove against their wavering foes, piercing the press with the
thrust of bitter spears. But Gandalf lifted up his arms and called once more in
a clear voice:
'Stand, Men of the West! Stand and wait! This is the hour of doom.'
And even as he spoke the earth rocked beneath their feet. Then rising swiftly
up, far above the Towers of the Black Gate, high above the mountains, a vast
soaring darkness sprang into the sky, flickering with fire. The earth groaned
and quaked. The Towers of the Teeth swayed, tottered, and fell down; the mighty
rampart crumbled; the Black Gate was hurled in ruin; and from far away, now
dim, now growing, now mounting to the clouds, there came a drumming rumble, a
roar, a long echoing roll of ruinous noise.
'The realm of Sauron is ended!' said Gandalf. 'The Ring-bearer has fulfilled
his Quest.' And as the Captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to
them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow,
impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above
the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but
impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all
blown away, and passed; and then a hush fell.
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Well, today is March 25, the day of the destruction of the Ring and the Downfall of Sauron. Long before 'Tolkien Reading Day' was organized by the Tolkien Society in 2003 (to encourage, promote, and celebrate the life and works of J. R. R. Tolkien) I and certain members of my family were using the Tolkien Calendar to celebrate with a reading from the books, the 'destruction' of a mock-ring, and such feasting as I could arrange. I'm giving my summation and notes a pass today; it is my rather forlorn hope to work on it the rest of the week and finish the chapter next Tuesday. It is a hope that I have.
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