He could tell the hobbit(s) were carried off by an Orc that was slain. Being hidden by their Lorien cloaks the horse-men did not see them. He surmised they used the Orc's weapon to free themselves and being weary ate lembas. However, there were no certain signs of whether it was one hobbit or two. Aragorn stated this answered another question of his: why the Orcs had not attacked the Fellowship after Boromir was slain. It was now apparent that they had one order only, to bring back hobbits, alive, to Isengard at any cost. He assumed this is why one Orc had slipped away before battle. He found hobbit tracks and they led into Fanghorn Forest. Gimli was quite uneasy to enter the forest for many evil tales of it had been told. Legolas, however, did not think it evil. The Elf could feel the tension in the forest though; it was clear it had suffered harm.
"'It is old, very old,' said the Elf. 'So old that almost I feel young again, as I have not felt since I journeyed with you children. It is old and full of memory. I could have been happy here, if I had come in days of peace'" (p. 94, The Two Towers). Legolas' words comforted Gimli who was now ready to enter; though he asked his companions to keep weapons handy in case they saw the old man from the night before. Not far in Aragorn found where Merry and Pippin had stopped for a drink; it was clear that both hobbits were alive but they went deeper in the forest. Aragorn figured the tracks were about two days old. They came upon Treebeard's Hill and went up the stairs as Merry and Pippin had done. Aragorn found hobbit tracks and others that he could not identify.
As they stood on the hill Gimli saw the old man clad in grey. Soon Legolas and Aragorn were aware. Tensed they watched his movements feeling a great power go with him. Gimli called for Legolas to let fly an arrow but something held the his hand. "'Legolas is right,' said Aragorn quietly. 'We may not shoot an old man so, at unawares and unchallenged, whatever fear or doubt be on us. Watch and wait!'" (p. 96, The Two Towers). Suddenly the old man turned and came, surprisingly quickly, to the foot of the hill and looked up. He was hooded with a hat that veiled his face. "At last the old man broke the silence. 'Well met indeed, my friends,' he said in a soft voice. 'I wish to speak to you. Will you come down, or shall I come up?' Without any waiting for an answer he began to climb" (p. 96, The Two Towers).
The Three Hunters were struck as stone not being able to move or hold their weapons. As the old man moved quickly up they could see a gleam of white. He began to inquire what their purpose was. Aragorn asked the man his name but he only laughed at first making them shudder. "'My name!' said the old man again. 'Have you not guessed it already? You have heard it before, I think. Yes, you have heard it before'" (p. 97, The Two Towers). Again he inquired of their purpose and when they did not answer he told them. It seemed that he knew they were pursuing two young hobbits and that the hobbits had met someone unexpected. He then invited them to sit with him. As the old man turned his back on them it seemed as if a spell was lifted. Each companion drew his weapon. "'Saruman!' cried Gimli, springing toward him with axe in hand. 'Speak! Tell us where you have hidden our friends! What have you done with them?'" (p. 97, The Two Towers).
The old man was too quick jumping high on a rock and throwing down his old cloak revealing his gleaming white garments. Gimli and Aragorn immediately dropped their weapons. Legolas let fly an arrow that burst into flame. "'Mithrandir!' he cried. 'Mithrandir!'" (p. 98, The Two Towers). The old man acknowledged Legolas by name. "At last Aragorn stirred. 'Gandalf!' he said. 'Beyond all hope you return to us at our need!...'Gandalf,' the old man repeated, as if recalling from old memory a long disused word. 'Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf'" (p. 98, The Two Towers). Indeed, it was Gandalf but no longer clad in grey, he was now in gleaming white. He greeted his friends forgiving their attack on him. "'Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide'" (p. 98, The Two Towers). Gimli was confused why the wizard wore white. "'Yes, I am white now,' said Gandalf. 'Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been'" (p. 98, The Two Towers).
The friends took counsel together. Gandalf had learned much from Gwaihir the Windlord, the Eagle that rescued him from Orthanc and the one Legolas had seen several times during their journey. Gandalf knew that Frodo was moving toward Mordor and was greatly comforted to find out that Sam had went with him. Unfortunately he could not see Frodo anymore. The wizard then asked about their journey. Aragorn told the tale. Gandalf sighed at the death of Boromir, "'You have not said all that you know or guess, Aragorn my friend'" (p. 99, The Two Towers). It seemed he knew Boromir was in peril from what Galadriel had told him. "'It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir's sake. But that is not the only part they have to play. They were brought to Fanghorn, and their coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains. Even as we talk here, I hear the first rumblings'" (p. 99, The Two Towers).
"'In one thing you have not changed, dear friend,' said Aragorn: 'you still speak in riddles.' 'What? In riddles?' said Gandalf. 'No! For I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying'" (p. 99, The Two Towers). That made me smile. Still Aragorn asked him to be clearer. So Gandalf explained how he thought things were going at the moment:
- Sauron knew the Ring was abroad but thought it will be taken to Minis Tirith. "'That we should try to destroy the Ring itself has not yet entered into his darkest dream'" (p. 100, The Two Towers). In this was all their hope.
- Thinking the Ring will be used against him Sauron has opened up war on Gondor sooner than he had planned.
- Soon his lands would be emptied to assault Minis Tirith leaving less guard for Frodo to pass through.
- Sauron's last attempt to waylay the Fellowship was thwarted by Saruman who sought to take the Ring for himself.
- Saruman was beginning to open war against Rohan which would keep them from aiding Gondor.
- Saruman's attempt to capture the Ring brought Merry and Pippin to Fanghorn which was a good stroke of fortune.
- Gandalf figured Sauron would learn of Saruman's interference and once Gondor was defeated he would turn his attention to Isengard.
- Gandalf said the Nazgul were now on winged steeds; Legolas shot one of them as the Company journeyed down the River.
- Alas, Gandalf knew that Saruman was aware that his Orcs were overtaken by the Riders of Rohan and fearing they now had possession of the Ring was readying his troops to attack Theoden.
- However, with Saruman's thought bent on finding the Ring he ceased to remember Treebeard.
- Gandalf revealed that the hobbits were with the Ents. In fact, the coming of Merry and Pippin were stirring the Ents to action.
Aragorn was astonished to know that Ents were real. Legolas and Gandalf confirmed they were real: "'Treebeard is Fanghorn, the guardian of the forest; he is the oldest of the Ents, the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth'" (p. 102, The Two Towers). Gimli feared that Fanghorn was dangerous. "'Dangerous! cried Gandalf. 'And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord. And Aragorn is dangerous, and Legolas is dangerous. You are beset by dangers, Gimli son of Gloin, for you are dangerous yourself, in your own fashion'" (p. 103, The Two Towers). I love that line. I think it's true of many of the things we do in life and of the people we meet, including ourselves. We are beset by dangers but we move forward by faith. Gandalf was sure the Ents were about to remember their strength.
Gandalf then began to explain their next action. (Gandalf assured them that the old man they had seen the night before was not him--it must have been Saruman). They were to go to Edoras to aid Theoden against Saruman's attack. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were ready to follow the White Wizard where he led. But Legolas begged to know what befell Gandalf in Moria. With great difficulty Gandalf recalled how he and the Balrog fell long together fighting and burning. Into a deep underground water, cold as ice, they fell. His enemy's flame went out an he fled; Gandalf's only hope for escape was to follow him. Up a secret stair they went to the very peak of the mountain. Once in sunlight the Balrog burst in flame again and the fight began again. Gandalf overthrew the Balrog sending it to it's death over the mountain. He then explained that darkness took him and would not speak of the road he travelled. Gandalf would only say that he had been sent back until his task was complete.
Gwaihir the Eagle found Gandalf on the mountain and took him to Lorien by Galadriel's command. In Lorien he regained his strength. He had messages from Galadriel for the Three Hunters. For Aragorn it was a call to gather the Dunedain of the North and a curious note that the Dead watched the road to the Sea. For Legolas a warning to beware of the Sea. For Gimli warm wishes that her thoughts went with the Lockbearer. Aragorn and Legolas were troubled while Gimli was overjoyed. Gandalf declared they had tarried too long and needed to make haste. Leaving Fanghorn the Wizard gave a clear whistle call. Shadowfax, the best horse in Rohan, came along with Aragorn and Legolas' horses trailing in the distance. Off they went to Edoras; many hours to the South seeing smoke on the horizon where Isengard lay.
Meanwhile Frodo and Sam were being led by Gollum through the wee hours of March 1st. They had entered the beginnings of the Dead Marshes. Frodo seemed unsure but Gollum assured them it was the only path not watched by Orcs. "'Follow Smeagol very carefully, and you may go a long way, quite a long way, before He catches you, yes perhaps'" (p. 233, The Two Towers). They had to go single file. Gollum led, followed by Sam, with Frodo often lagging behind becoming very weary. It was now daylight on March 1st and Gollum, even with his dislike of the Sun, pressed to move forward. They took only brief rests throughout the day. Into the evening hours they travelled on. It was a tiresome task, muddy ground with the need for complete concentration so as to not fall into a bog or worse.
As darkness set it Sam began to see lights all around as if small candles where being lit. He called for Gollum to explain what was going on. "'Yes, they are all around us,' he whispered. 'The tricksy lights. Candles of corpses, yes, yes. Don't you heed them! Don't look! Don't follow them! Where's the master?'" (p. 234, The Two Towers). Frodo had fallen behind again. He too had noticed the lights. Sam roused Frodo as if he had been lost in a dream. On they trudged. Sam fell with his face near a pool of water, in it he saw a most disturbing sight: dead faces. Gollum only laughed saying the place was called the Dead Marshes. Frodo revealed that he too had seen the faces. He thought he had seen Men, Elves, and Orcs dead in the water. "'Yes, yes,' said Gollum. 'All dead, all rotten. Elves and Men and Orcs. The Dead Marshes. There was a great battle long ago, yes, so they told him when Smeagol was young, when I was young before the Precious came. It was a great battle. Tall Men with long swords, and terrible Elves, and Orcses shrieking. They fought on the plain for days and months at the Black Gates. But the Marshes have grown since then, swallowed up the graves; always creeping, creeping'" (p. 235, The Two Towers). Once again Gollum urged them forward and urged them to not look at the lights.
Middle-earth timeline: Third Age, 3019, March 1st
Today's reading comes from: The Two Towers, pages 87; 91-109; 232-236
Middle-earth timeline: Third Age, 3019, March 1st
Today's reading comes from: The Two Towers, pages 87; 91-109; 232-236
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