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27.11.2024

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For the Lord of Minas Tirith will be eager to see https://freestrategygames.cloud/steam/make-steam-wishlist-public.php that bear the latest tidings of his son, be he man or-- Hobbit, said Pippin. Little service can I offer to your lord, but what I can do, I would do, remembering Boromir the brave. Fare you well. said Ingold; and the men made way for Shadowfax, and he passed through a narrow gate in the wall. May you bring good counsel to Denethor in his need, and to us all, Mithrandir. Ingold cried. But you come with tidings of grief and danger, as is your wont, they say. Because I come seldom but when my help is needed, answered Gandalf. And as for counsel, to you I would say that you are over-late in repairing the wall of the Pelennor. Courage will now be your best defence against the storm that is at hand that and such hope as I bring. For not all the tidings that I bring are evil. But leave your trowels and sharpen your swords. The work will be finished ere evening, said Ingold. This is the last portion of the wall to be put in defence: the least open to attack, for it looks towards our friends of Rohan. Do you know aught of them. Will they answer the summons, think you. Yes, they will come. But they have fought many battles at your 750 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS back. This road and no road looks towards safety any longer. Be vigilant. But for Gandalf Stormcrow you would have seen a host of foes coming out of Ano´rien and no Riders of Rohan. And you may yet. Fare you well, and sleep not. Gandalf passed now into the wide land beyond the Rammas Echor. So the men of Gondor called the out-wall that they had built with great labour, after Ithilien fell under the shadow of their Enemy. For ten leagues or more it ran from the mountains feet and so back again, enclosing in its fence the fields of the Pelennor: fair and fertile townlands on the long slopes and terraces falling to the deep levels of the Anduin. At its furthest point from the Great Gate of the City, north-eastward, the wall was four leagues distant, and there from a frowning bank it overlooked the long flats beside the river, and men had made it high and strong; for at that point, upon a walled causeway, the road came in from the fords and bridges of Osgiliath and passed through a guarded gate between embattled towers. At its nearest point the wall was little more than one league from the City, and that was south-eastward. There Anduin, going in a wide knee about the hills of Emyn Arnen in South Ithilien, bent sharply west, and the out-wall rose upon its very brink; and beneath it lay the quays and landings of the Harlond for craft that came upstream from the southern fiefs. The townlands were rich, with wide tilth and many orchards, and homesteads there were with oast and garner, fold and byre, and many rills rippling through the green from the highlands down to Anduin. Yet the herdsmen and husbandmen that dwelt there were not many, and the most part of the people of Gondor lived in the seven circles of the City, or in the high vales of the mountain-borders, in Lossarnach, or further south in fair Lebennin with its five swift streams. There dwelt a hardy folk between the mountains and the sea. They were reckoned men of Gondor, yet their blood was mingled, and there were short and swarthy folk among them whose sires came more from the forgotten men who housed in the shadow of baldurs gate 3 classes how to hills in the Dark Years ere the coming of the kings. But beyond, in the great fief of Belfalas, dwelt Prince Imrahil in his castle of Dol Amroth by the sea, and he was of high blood, and his folk also, tall men and proud with sea-grey eyes. Now after Gandalf had ridden for some time the light of day grew in the sky, and Pippin roused himself and looked up. To his left lay a sea of mist, rising to a bleak shadow in the East; but to his right great mountains call duty modern warfare 2 crack torrent their heads, ranging from the West to a steep and sudden end, as if in the making of the land the River had burst through a great barrier, carving out a mighty valley to be a land of M IN AS TIRIT H 751 battle and debate in times to come. And there where the White Mountains of Ered Nimrais came to their end he saw, as Gandalf had promised, the dark mass of Mount Mindolluin, the deep purple shadows of its high glens, and its tall face whitening in the rising day. And upon its out-thrust knee was the Guarded City, with its seven walls of stone so strong and old that it seemed to have been not builded but carven by giants out of the bones of the earth. Even as Pippin gazed in wonder the walls passed from looming grey to white, blushing faintly in the dawn; and suddenly the sun climbed over the eastern shadow and sent forth a shaft that smote the face of the City. Then Pippin cried aloud, for the Tower of Ecthelion, standing high within the topmost wall, shone out against the sky, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver, tall and fair and shapely, and its pinnacle glittered as if it were wrought of crystals; and white banners broke and fluttered from the battlements in the morning breeze, and high and far he heard a clear ringing as of silver trumpets. So Gandalf and Peregrin rode to the Great Gate of the Men of Gondor at the rising of the sun, and its iron doors rolled back before them. Mithrandir. Mithrandir. men cried. Now we know that the storm is indeed nigh. It is upon you, said Pubg game login hack. I have ridden on its wings. Let me pass. I must come to your Lord Denethor, while his stewardship lasts. Whatever betide, you have come to the end of the Gondor that you have known. Let me pass. Then men fell back before the command of his voice and questioned him no further, though they gazed in wonder at the hobbit that sat before him and at the horse that bore him. For the people of the City used horses very little and they were seldom seen in their streets, save only those ridden by the errand-riders of their lord. And they said: Surely that is one of the great steeds of the King of Rohan. Maybe the Rohirrim will come soon to strengthen us. But Shadowfax walked proudly up the long winding road. For the fashion of Minas Tirith was such that it was built on seven levels, each delved into the hill, and about each was set a wall, and in each wall was a gate. But the gates were not set in a line: the Great Gate in the City Wall was at the east point of the circuit, but the next faced half south, and the third half north, and so to and fro upwards; so that the paved way that climbed towards the Citadel turned first this way and then that across the face of the hill. And each time that it passed the line of the Great Gate it went through 752 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS an arched tunnel, piercing a vast pier of rock whose huge out-thrust bulk divided in two all the circles of the City save the first. For partly in the primeval shaping of the hill, partly by the mighty craft and labour of old, there stood up from the rear of the wide court behind the Gate a towering bastion of stone, its edge sharp as a ship-keel facing east. Up it rose, even to the level of the topmost circle, and there was crowned by a battlement; so that those in the Citadel might, like mariners in a mountainous ship, look from its peak sheer down upon the Gate seven hundred feet below. The entrance to the Citadel also looked eastward, but was delved in the heart of the rock; thence a long lamp-lit slope ran up to the seventh gate. Thus men reached at last the High Court, and the Place of the Fountain before the feet of the White Tower: tall and shapely, fifty fathoms from its base to the pinnacle, where the banner of the Stewards floated a thousand feet above the plain. A strong citadel it was indeed, and not to be taken by a host of enemies, if there were any within that could hold weapons; unless some foe could come behind and scale the lower skirts of Mindolluin, and so come upon the narrow shoulder that joined the Hill of Guard to the mountain mass. But that shoulder, which rose to the height of the fifth wall, was hedged with great ramparts right up to the precipice that overhung its western end; and in that space stood the houses and domed tombs of bygone kings and lords, for ever silent between the mountain and the tower. Pippin gazed in growing wonder at the great stone city, vaster and more splendid than anything that he had dreamed of; greater and stronger than Isengard, and far more beautiful. Yet it was in truth falling year by year into decay; and already it lacked half the men that could have dwelt at ease there. In every street they passed some great house or court over whose doors and arched gates were carved many fair letters of strange and ancient shapes: names Pippin guessed of great men and kindreds that had once dwelt there; and yet now they were silent, and no footsteps rang on their wide pavements, nor voice was heard in their halls, nor any face looked out from door or empty window. At last they came out of shadow to the seventh gate, and the warm sun that shone down beyond the river, as Frodo walked in the glades of Ithilien, glowed here on the smooth walls and rooted pillars, and the great arch with keystone carven in the likeness of a crowned and kingly head. Gandalf dismounted, for no horse was allowed in the Citadel, and Shadowfax suffered himself to be led away at the soft word of his master. The Guards of the gate were robed in black, and their helms were M IN AS TIRIT H 753 of strange shape, high-crowned, with long cheek-guards close-fitting to the face, and above the cheek-guards were set the white wings of sea-birds; but the helms gleamed with a flame of silver, for they were indeed wrought of mithril, heirlooms from the glory of old days. Upon the black surcoats were embroidered in white a tree blossoming like snow beneath a silver crown and many-pointed stars. This was the livery of the heirs of Elendil, and none wore it now in all Gondor, save the Guards of the Citadel before the Court of the Fountain where the White Tree once had grown. Already it seemed that word of their coming had gone before them; and at once they were admitted, silently, and without question. Quickly Gandalf strode across the white-paved court. A sweet fountain played there in the morning sun, and a sward of bright green lay about it; but in the midst, drooping over the pool, stood a dead tree, and the falling drops dripped sadly from its barren and broken branches back into the clear water. Pippin glanced at it as he hurried after Gandalf. It looked mournful, he thought, and he wondered why the dead tree was left in this place where everything else was well tended. Seven stars and seven stones and one white tree. The words that Gandalf had murmured came back into his mind. And then he found himself at the doors of the great hall beneath the gleaming tower; and behind the wizard he passed the tall silent door-wardens and entered the cool echoing shadows of the house of stone. They walked down a paved passage, long and empty, and as they went Gandalf spoke softly to Pippin. Be careful of your words, Master Peregrin. This is no time for hobbit pertness. The´oden is a kindly old man. Denethor is of another sort, proud and subtle, a man of far greater lineage and power, though he is not called a king. But he will speak most to you, and question you much, since you can tell him of his son Boromir. He loved him greatly: too read article perhaps; and the more so because they were unlike. But under cover of this love he will think it easier to learn what he wishes from you rather than from me. Do not tell him more than you need, and leave quiet the matter of Frodos errand. I will deal with that in due time. And say nothing about Aragorn either, unless you must. Why not. What is wrong with Strider. Pippin whispered. He meant to come here, didnt he. And hell be arriving soon himself, anyway. Maybe, maybe, said Gandalf. Though if he comes, it is likely to be in some way that no one expects, not even Denethor. It will be better so. At least he should come unheralded by us. 754 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS Gandalf halted before a tall door of polished metal. See, Master Pippin, there is no time to instruct you now in the history of Gondor; though it might have been better, if you had learned something of it, when you were still birds-nesting and playing truant in the woods of the Shire. Do as I bid. It is scarcely wise when bringing the news of the death of his heir to a mighty lord to speak over much of the coming of one who will, if he comes, claim the kingship. Is that enough. Kingship. said Pippin amazed. Yes, said Gandalf. If you have walked all these days with closed ears and mind asleep, wake up now. He knocked on the door. The door opened, but no one could be seen to open it. Pippin looked into a great hall. It was lit by deep windows in the wide aisles at either side, beyond the rows of tall pillars that upheld the roof. Monoliths of black marble, they rose to great capitals carved in many strange figures of beasts and leaves; and far above in shadow the wide vaulting gleamed with dull gold. The floor was of polished stone, white-gleaming, inset with flowing traceries of many colours. No hangings nor storied webs, nor any things of woven stuff or of wood, were to be seen in that long solemn hall; but between the pillars there stood a silent company of tall images graven in cold stone. Suddenly Pippin was reminded of the hewn rocks of Argonath, and awe fell on him, as he looked down that avenue of kings long dead. At the far end upon a dais of many steps was set a high throne under a canopy of marble shaped like a crowned helm; behind it was carved upon the wall and set with gems an image of a tree in flower. But the throne was empty. At the foot of the dais, upon the lowest step which was broad and deep, there was a stone chair, black and unadorned, and on it sat an old man gazing at his lap. In his hand was a white rod with a golden knob. He did not look up. Solemnly they paced the long floor towards him, until they stood three paces from his footstool. Then Gandalf spoke. Hail, Lord and Steward of Minas Tirith, Denethor son of Ecthelion. I am come with counsel and tidings in this dark hour. Then the old man looked up. Pippin saw his carven face with its proud bones and skin like ivory, and the long curved nose between the dark deep eyes; and he was reminded call of duty zombies free download ocean so much of Boromir as of Aragorn. Dark indeed is the hour, said the old man, and at such times you are wont to come, Mithrandir. But though all the signs forebode that the doom of Gondor is drawing nigh, less now to me is that darkness than my own darkness. It has been told to me that you bring with you one who saw my son die. Is this he. It is, said Gandalf. One of the twain. The other is with The´oden M IN AS TIRIT H 755 of Rohan and may come hereafter. Halflings they are, as you see, yet this is not he of whom the omens spoke. Yet a Halfling still, said Denethor grimly, and little love do I bear the name, since those accursed words came to trouble our counsels and drew away my son on the wild errand to his death. My Boromir. Now we have need of you. Faramir should have gone in his stead. He would have gone, said Gandalf. Be not unjust in your grief. Boromir claimed the errand and would not suffer any other to have it. He was a masterful man, and one to take what he desired. I journeyed far with him and learned much of his mood. But you speak of his death. You have had news of that ere we came. I have received this, said Denethor, and laying down his rod he lifted from his lap the thing that he had been gazing at. In each hand he held up one half of a great horn cloven through the middle: a wild-ox horn bound with silver. That is the horn that Boromir always wore. cried Pippin. Verily, said Denethor. And in my turn I bore it, and so did each eldest son of our house, far back into the vanished years before the failing of the Pubg game login hack, since Vorondil father of Mardil hunted the wild kine of Araw in the far fields of Rhuˆn. I heard it blowing dim upon the northern marches thirteen days ago, and the River brought it to me, broken: it will wind no more. He paused and there was a heavy silence. Suddenly he turned his black glance upon Pippin. What say you to that, Halfling. Thirteen, thirteen days, faltered Pippin. Yes, I think that would be so. Yes, I stood beside him, as he blew the horn. But no help came. Only more orcs. So, said Denethor, looking keenly at Pippins this web page. You were there. Tell me more. Why did no help come. And how did you escape, and yet he did not, so mighty a man as he was, and only orcs to withstand him. Pippin flushed and forgot his fear. The mightiest man may be slain by one arrow, he said; and Boromir was pierced by many. When last I saw him he sank beside a tree and plucked a blackfeathered shaft from his side. Then I swooned and was made captive. I saw him no more, and know no more. But I honour his memory, for he was very valiant. He died to save us, my kinsman Meriadoc and myself, waylaid in the woods by the soldiery of the Dark Lord; and though he fell and failed, my gratitude is none the less. Then Pippin looked the old man in the eye, for pride stirred strangely within him, still stung by the scorn and suspicion in that cold voice. Little service, no doubt, will so great a lord of Men think to find in a hobbit, a halfling from the northern Shire; yet such as it 756 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS is, I will offer it, in payment of my debt. Twitching aside his grey cloak, Pippin drew forth his Pubg game login hack sword and laid it at Denethors feet. A pale smile, like a gleam of cold sun on a winters evening, passed over the old mans face; but he bent his head and held out his hand, laying the shards of the horn aside. Give me the weapon. he said. Pippin lifted it and presented the hilt to him. Whence came this. said Denethor. Many, many years lie on it. Surely this is a blade wrought by our own kindred in the North in the deep past. It came out of the mounds that lie on the borders of my country, said Pippin. But only evil wights dwell there now, and I will not willingly tell more of them. I see that strange tales are woven about you, said Denethor, and once again it is shown that looks may belie the man or the halfling. I accept your service. For you are not daunted by words; and you have courteous speech, strange though the sound of it may be to us in the South. And we shall have need of all folk of courtesy, be they great or small, in the days to come. Swear to me now. Take the hilt, said Gandalf, and speak after the Lord, if you are resolved on this. I am, said Pippin. The old man laid the sword along his lap, and Pippin put his hand to the hilt, and said slowly after Denethor: Here do I swear fealty and service to Gondor, and to the Lord and Steward of the realm, to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end. So say I, Peregrin son of Paladin of the Shire of the Halflings. And this do I hear, Denethor son of Ecthelion, Lord of Gondor, Steward of the High King, and I will not forget it, nor fail to reward that which is given: fealty with love, valour with honour, oathbreaking with vengeance. Then Pippin received back his sword and put it in its sheath. And now, said Denethor, my first command to you: speak and be not silent. Tell me your full tale, and see that you recall all that you can of Boromir, my son. Sit now and begin. As he spoke he struck a small silver gong that stood near his footstool, and at once servants came forward. Pippin saw then that they had been standing in alcoves on either side of the door, unseen as he and Gandalf entered. Bring wine and food and seats for the guests, said Denethor, and see that none trouble us for one hour. It is all that I have to spare, for there is much else to heed, he M IN AS TIRIT H 757 said to Gandalf. Much of more import, it may seem, and yet to me less pressing. But maybe we can speak again at the end of the day. And earlier, it is to be hoped, said Gandalf. Visit web page I have not ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and fifty leagues, with the speed of wind, only to bring you one small warrior, however courteous. Is it naught to you that The´oden has fought a great battle, and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the staff of Saruman. It is much to me. But I know already sufficient of these deeds for my own counsel against the menace of the East. He turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them, almost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire, drawn from eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame. Denethor looked indeed much more like a great wizard than Gandalf did, more kingly, beautiful, and powerful; and older. Yet by a sense other than sight Pippin perceived that Gandalf had the greater power and the deeper wisdom, and a majesty that was veiled. And he was older, far older. How much older. he wondered, and then he thought how odd it was that he had never thought about it before. Treebeard had said something about wizards, but even then he had not thought of Gandalf as one of them. What was Gandalf. In what far time and place did he come into the world, and when would he leave it. And then his musings broke off, and he saw that Denethor and Gandalf still looked each other in the eye, as if reading the others mind. But it was Denethor who first withdrew his gaze. Yea, he said; for though the Stones be lost, they say, still the lords of Gondor have keener sight than lesser men, and many messages come to them. But sit now. Then men came bearing a chair and a low stool, and one brought a salver with a silver flagon and cups, and white cakes. Pippin sat down, but he could not take his eyes from the old lord. Was it so, or had he only imagined it, that as he spoke of the Stones a sudden gleam of his eye had glanced upon Pippins face. Now tell me your tale, my liege, said Denethor, half kindly, half mockingly. For the words of one whom my son so befriended will be welcome indeed. Pippin never forgot that hour in the great click to see more under the piercing eye of the Lord of Gondor, stabbed ever and anon by his shrewd questions, and all the while conscious of Gandalf at his side, watching and listening, and (so Pippin felt) holding in check a rising wrath and impatience. When the hour was over and Denethor again rang the gong, Pippin felt worn out. It cannot be more than nine oclock, he thought. I could now eat three breakfasts on end. 758 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS Lead the Lord Mithrandir to the housing prepared for him, said Denethor, and his companion may lodge with him for the present, if he will.

He wondered if he would ever again have the courage to leave the safety of these stone walls. He lay motionless, still listening; but all was now silent, click the following article at last he turned and fell asleep again or wandered into some other unremembered dream. At his side Pippin lay dreaming pleasantly; but a are pubg uc buy zero join came over his dreams and he turned and groaned. Suddenly he woke, or thought he had waked, and yet still heard in the darkness the sound that had disturbed his dream: tip-tap, squeak: the noise was like branches fretting in the wind, twig-fingers scraping wall and window: creak, creak, creak. He wondered if there were willow-trees close to the house; and then suddenly he had a dreadful feeling that he was not in an ordinary house at all, but inside the willow and listening to that horrible dry creaking voice laughing at him again. He sat up, and felt the soft pillows yield to his hands, and he lay down again relieved. He seemed to hear the echo of words in his ears: Fear nothing. Have peace until the morning. Heed no nightly noises. Then he went to sleep again. It was the sound of water that Merry heard falling into his quiet sleep: water streaming down visit web page, and then spreading, spreading irresistibly all round the house into a dark shoreless pool. It gurgled under the walls, and was rising slowly but surely. I shall be drowned. he thought. It will find its way in, and then I shall drown. He felt that he was lying in a soft slimy bog, and springing up he set his foot 128 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS on the corner of a cold hard flagstone. Then he remembered where he was and lay down again. He seemed to hear or remember hearing: Nothing passes doors or windows save moonlight and starlight and the wind off the hill-top. A little breath of sweet air moved the curtain. He breathed deep and fell asleep again. As far as he could remember, Sam slept through the night in deep content, if logs are contented. They woke up, all four at once, in the morning light. Tom was moving about the room whistling like a starling. When he heard them stir he clapped his hands, and cried: Hey. Come merry dol. derry dol. My hearties. He drew back the yellow curtains, and the hobbits saw that these had covered the windows, at either end of the room, one looking east and the other looking west. They leapt up refreshed. Frodo ran to the eastern window, and found himself looking into a kitchen-garden grey with dew. He had half expected to see turf right up to the walls, turf all pocked with hoof-prints. Actually his view was screened by a tall line of beans on poles; but above and far beyond them the grey top of the hill loomed up against the sunrise. It was a pale morning: in the East, behind long clouds like lines of soiled wool stained red at the edges, lay glimmering deeps of yellow. The sky spoke of rain to come; but the light was broadening quickly, and the red flowers on the beans began to glow against the wet green leaves. Pippin looked out of the western window, down into a pool of mist. The Forest was hidden under a fog. It was like looking down on to a sloping cloud-roof from above. There was a fold or channel where the mist was broken into many plumes and billows: the valley of the Withywindle. The stream ran down the hill on the left and vanished into matchless steam on xbox one s quite white shadows. Near at hand was a flower-garden and a clipped Baldurs gate 3 ui disappeared how to silver-netted, and beyond that grey shaven grass pale with dew-drops. There was no willow-tree to be seen. Good morning, merry friends. cried Tom, opening the eastern window wide. A cool air flowed in; it had a rainy gameloop wallpaper girl. Sun wont show her face much today, Im thinking. I have been walking wide, leaping on the hill-tops, since the grey dawn began, nosing wind and weather, wet grass underfoot, wet sky above me. I wakened Goldberry singing under window; but naught wakes hobbit-folk in the early morning. In the night little folk wake up in the darkness, and sleep after light has come. Ring a ding dillo. Wake now, my merry friends. Forget the nightly noises. Ring a ding dillo del. derry del, my hearties. If you Baldurs gate 3 ui disappeared how to soon youll find breakfast on the table. If you come late youll get grass and rain-water. Needless to say not that Toms threat sounded very serious I N T HE H OU SE O F T OM B OMBADI L 129 the hobbits came soon, and left the table late and only when it was beginning to look rather empty. Neither Tom nor Goldberry were there. Tom could be heard about the house, clattering in the kitchen, and up and down the stairs, and singing here and there outside. The room looked westward over the mist-clouded valley, and the window was open. Water dripped down from the thatched eaves above. Before they had finished breakfast the clouds had joined into an unbroken roof, and a straight grey rain came softly and steadily down. Behind its deep curtain the Forest was completely veiled. As they looked out of the window there came falling gently as if it was flowing down the rain out of the sky, the clear voice of Goldberry singing up above them. They could hear few words, but it seemed plain to them that the song was a rain-song, as sweet as showers on dry hills, that told the tale of a river from the spring in the highlands to the Sea far below. The hobbits listened with delight; and Frodo was glad in his heart, and blessed the kindly weather, because it delayed them from departing. The thought of going had been heavy upon him from the moment he awoke; but he guessed now that they would not go further that day. The upper wind settled in the West and deeper and wetter clouds rolled up to spill their laden rain on the bare heads of the Downs. Nothing could be seen all round the house but falling water. Frodo stood near the open door and watched the white chalky path turn into a little river of milk and go bubbling away down into the valley. Tom Bombadil came trotting round the corner of the house, waving his arms as if he was warding off the rain and indeed when he sprang over the threshold he seemed quite dry, except for his boots. These he took off and put in the chimney-corner. Then Baldurs gate 3 ui disappeared how to sat in the largest chair and called the hobbits to gather round him. This is Goldberrys washing day, he said, and her autumncleaning. Too wet for hobbit-folk let them rest while they are able. Its a good day for long tales, for questions and for answers, so Tom will start the talking. He then told them many remarkable stories, sometimes half as if speaking to himself, sometimes looking at them suddenly with a bright blue eye under his deep brows. Often his voice would turn to song, and he would get out of his chair and dance about. He told them tales of bees and flowers, the ways of trees, and the strange creatures of Baldurs gate 3 ui disappeared how to Forest, about the evil things and good things, things friendly and things unfriendly, cruel things and kind things, and secrets hidden under brambles. As they listened, they began to understand the lives of the Forest, apart from themselves, indeed to feel themselves as the strangers 130 T HE L ORD O F THE R INGS where all other things were at home. Moving constantly in and out of his talk was Old Man Willow, and Frodo learned now enough to content him, indeed more than enough, for it was not comfortable lore. Toms words laid bare the hearts of trees and their tracker apex master, which were often dark and strange, and filled with a hatred of things that go free upon the earth, gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning: destroyers and usurpers. It was not called the Old Forest without reason, for it was indeed ancient, a survivor of vast forgotten woods; and in it there lived yet, ageing no quicker than the hills, the fathers of the fathers of trees, remembering times when they were lords. The countless years had filled them with pride and rooted wisdom, and with malice. But none were more dangerous than the Great Willow: his heart was rotten, but his strength was green; and he was cunning, and a master of winds, and his song and thought ran through the woods on both sides of the river.