The Treason of Isengard by J.R.R. Tolkien

Author:J.R.R. Tolkien [Tolkien, J.R.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0100-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

j

the edge of the flet. He looked at the hobbits. 'What is it?' said

Frodo, sitting up.

'Yrch!' said the Elf in a hissing whisper, and cast onto the flet

the rope-ladder rolled up.

'Orcs,' said Frodo, 'what are they doing?' But the Elf was

gone.

There was no more sound', even the leaves were silent. Frodo

could not sleep. Thankful as he was that they had not been

caught upon the ground, he knew that the trees offered little

protection save concealment, if orcs discovered where they

were, and they have a scent keen as hounds. He drew out Sting

and saw it glow like a blue flame, and slowly fade.

[Before long Hathaldir came back to the flet and sat near the

edge with drawn bow and arrow in the string. Frodo rose and

crawled to the edge of the flet and peered over.](31) Nonetheless

the sense of immediate danger did not leave him. Rather it

deepened. He crawled to the edge of the flet and peered over. He

was almost sure he heard the soft sound of stealthy movement

in the leaves at the tree's foot far below. Not the elves, he feared,

for the woodland folk were altogether noiseless in their move-

ments (so quiet and deft as to excite the admiration even of

hobbits). And there seemed to be a sniffing noise. Something

was scrabbling on the bark of the tree. He lay looking down

holding his breath. Something was climbing, and breathing with

a soft hissing sound. Then coming up close to the stem he saw

two pale eyes. They stopped and gazed upwards unwinking.

Suddenly they turned away and a shadowy figure slipped round

the trunk and vanished on the further side. Shortly afterwards

Hathaldir climbed up.

'There was something in this tree that I have never seen

before,' he said. 'Not an orch [sic]. But I did [not] shoot because

I was not sure, and we dare not risk battle. It fled as soon as I

touched the tree-stem. There was a strong company of orcs.

They crossed the Nimrodel (curse them for defiling our water)

and went on - though they seemed to pick up some scent, and

halted for a while searching on both sides of the path where you

sat last evening. We dare not risk a battle, three against a

hundred, and we did not shoot, but Orfin has gone back by

secret ways to our folk, and we shall not let them return out of

Lorien if we can help it. There will be many elves hidden

[?beside] Nimrodel ere another night is gone. But now we too

must take the road as soon as it is light.'

Dawn came pale from the East. As the light grew it filtered

through the golden leaves of the mallorn, and chill though the

dawn-wind blew it seemed to be sunshine of an early summer

morning. The pale blue sky peeped between the moving leaves.

Climbing a slender branch up from the flet Frodo looked out

and saw all the valley southward, eastward of the dark shadow

of the mountains, lying like a sea of fallow gold tossing gently in

the breeze.

[When they had eaten the sweet food of the elves, sparing

their own dwindling store,] The morning was still young and

cold when / the Company set out again, guided by Hathaldir.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.