The Red Book

The Paths of the Dead

March 8 3019 TA

Aragorn leaves in the morning, and Eowyn tries one last time to convince him to take him with her.

"Then she fell on her knees, saying: 'I beg thee!' 'Nay, lady,' he said, and taking her by the hand he raised her. Then he kissed her hand, and sprang into the saddle, and rode away, and did not look back; and only those who knew him well and were near to him saw the pain that he bore."

They arrive at the paths of the dead, and make their way to the stone of Erech.

"'The Dead are following,' said Legolas. 'I see shapes of Men and of horses, and pale banners like shreds of cloud, and spears like winter thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.' 'Yes, the Dead ride behind. They have been summoned,' said Elladan."

And then they arrive at the stone of Erech, at midnight. They agree to fight.

"But the next day there came no dawn, and the Grey Company passed on into the darkness of the Storm of Mordor and were lost to mortal sight; but the Dead followed them."

Back with Frodo and Faramir.

Gollum and the forbidden pool, early in the morning.

"'Fissh, nice fissh. White Face has vanished, my precious, at last, yes. Now we can eat fish in peace. No, not in peace, precious. For Precious is lost; yes, lost. Dity hobbits, nasty hobbits. Gone and left us, gollum; and Precious is gone. Only poor Smeagol all alone. No Precious. Nasty Men, they'll take it, steal my Previous. Thieves. We hates them. Fissh, nice fissh. Makes us strong. Makes eyes bright, fingers tight, yes. Throttle them, precious. Throttle them all, yes, if we gets chances. Nice fissh. Nice fissh!'"

Later in the day Frodo, Sam, and Gollum begin the journey to the crossroads.

(Lest there should be any confusion or matter of rights and whatnot, all quotes in this post are from The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, unless otherwise mentioned. There may be slight errors, misspellings, or alternate punctuation in the quotes, and if you notice such, please inform me so that I can speedily remedy them. But I think the fact that I made this blog proves that I would never intentionally change something of Tolkien's in the transcribing of it.)

The Window on the West

March 7 3019 TA

Frodo is taken by Faramir.

"All had swords at their sides, and were clad in green and brown of varied hues, as if the better to walk unseen in the glades of Ithilien Green gauntlets covered their hands, and their faces were hooded and masked with green, except for their eyes, which were very keen and bright. At once Frodo thought of Boromir, for these Men were like him in stature and bearing, and in their manner of speech."

He tells them of seeing Boromir's funeral boat.

"'There I saw, o it seemed that I saw, a boat floating on the water, glimmering grey, a small boat of a strange fashion with a high prow, and there was none to row or steer it. 'An awe fell on me, for a pale light was round it. But I rose and went to the bank, and began to walk out into the stream, for I was drawn towards it. Then the boat turned towards me, and stayed its pace, and floated slowly by within my hand's reach, yet I durst not handle it. It waded deep, as if it were heavily burdened, and it seemed to me as it passed under my gaze that it was almost filled with clear water, from which came the light; and lapped in the water a warrior lay asleep.'A broken sword was on his knee. I saw many wounds on him. It was Boromir, my brother, dead. I knew his gear, his sword, his beloved face. One thing only I missed: his horn. One thing only I knew not: a fair belt as if it were of linked golden leaves, about his waist.'"

They are taken to Henneth Annun.

"They stood on a wet floor of polished stone, the doorstep, as it were, of a rough-hewn gate of rock opening dark behind them. But in front a thin veil of water was hung, so near that Frodo could have put an outstretched arm into it. It faced westward. The level shafts of the setting sun behind beet upon it, and the red light was broken into many flickering beams of ever-changing colour. It was as if they stood at the window of some elven tower, curtained with threaded jewels of silver and gold, and ruby, sapphire and amethyst, all kindled with an unconsuming fire."

And Aragorn arrives at Dunharrow at nightfall, and are welcomed by Eowyn and they tell her of all that had happened at Helm's Deep. Aragorn informs her of his plan to take the Paths of the Dead.

"'What do you fear, lady?' he asked.

'A cage,' she said. 'To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all change of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.'"

The Dunedain

March 6 3019 TA

Aragorn is overtaken by the Dunedain. Which brings me into Book Five of the Lord of the Rings.

"'I bring word to you from my father: The days are short. If thou art in haste, remember the Paths of the Dead.'"

And he does. And as Eomer, Theoden, and Merry ride away.

"'There go three that I love, and the smallest not the least,' [Aragorn] said. 'He knows not to what end he rides; yet if he knew, he still would go on.'"

And away they all go. Theoden and Co. to the muster at Dunharrow. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and the Rangers, accompanied by the sons of Elrond, to the Paths of the Dead