Gandalf could not be found. The Fellowship wondered where he was and what was happening. Aragorn was gone as well. The Wizard had taken the King out of the City. Together they climbed Mount Mindolluin and gazed at the lands. Gandalf declared them (and further beyond sight) to be Aragorn's realm. He said to the King: "'The Third Age of the world is ended, and the new age is begun; and it is your task to order its beginning and to preserve what may be preserved. For though much has been saved, much must now pass away; for the power of the Three Rings also is ended. And all the lands that you see, and those that lie round about them, shall be dwellings of Men. For the time comes of the Dominion of Men, and the Elder Kindred shall fade or depart'" (p. 249, The Return of the King). That makes me sad; I've always loved the Elves in these stories. It's hard a sad thought to picture Middle-earth without them. Aragorn wished for Gandalf's counsel; he wanted a sign that the White Tree of the City should flourish again. "'Turn your face from the green world, and look where all seems barren and cold!' said Gandalf" (p. 249, The Return of the King).
Aragorn saw a solitary growing thing. Climbing closer he found that it flowered white petals and he knew it was a kin of the White Tree of Gondor. Gandalf confirmed: "'Verily this is a sapling of the line of Nimloth the fair; and that was a seedling of Galathilion, and that a fruit of Telperion of many names, Eldest of Trees'" (p. 250, The Return of the King). He told Aragorn that fruit from this line of trees rarely ripens but when it does it must be planted so that it does not die out of the world; this Aragorn was to remember. Aragorn took the sapling and planted it in the Citadel at Minis Tirith. The remains of the whithered White Tree of old were removed; but held in honor and not burned. "'The sign has been given,' said Aragorn, 'and the day is not far off.' And he set watchmen upon the walls" (p. 250, The Return of the King). The day before Midsummer messengers brought word that a host of Elves were coming to the City. Aragorn made preparations.
On Midsummer's Eve they arrived. "'First rode Elrohir and Elladan with a banner of silver, and then came Glorfindel and Erestor and all the household of Rivendell, and after them came the Lady Galadriel and Celeborn, Lord of Lothlorien, riding upon white steeds, and with them many fair folk of their land, grey-cloaked with white gems in their hair; and last came Master Elrond, mighty among Elves and Men, bearing the sceptre of Annuminas, and beside him upon a grey palfrey rode Arwen his daughter, Evenstar of her people" (p. 250-251, The Return of the King). At last Frodo understood the day Aragorn spoke of and why he desired his friends remain in the City. "And Aragorn the King Elessar wedded Arwen Undomiel in the City of Kings upon the day of Midsummer, and the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfillment" (p. 251, The Return of the King).
Middle-earth timeline: Third Age, 3019, Mid-May to Mid-summer's day
Today's reading comes from: The Return of the King, pages 248-251
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