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Shelob&039;s Lair

It may indeed have been daytime now, as Gollum said, but the hobbits could see little difference, unless, perhaps, the heavy sky above was less utterly black, reat roof of sered still in cracks and holes, a grey blurring shadow shrouded the stony world about them They passed on, Gollu ravine between the piers and colue unshapen statues on either hand There was no sound Sorey wall, a last huge upthrusting mass of mountain-stone Darker it loomed, and steadily it rose as they approached, until it towered up high above the out the view of all that lay beyond Deep shadow lay before its feet Sah! That ser and stronger&039;

Presently they were under the shadow, and there in theof a cave &039;This is the way in,&039; said Gollum softly &039;This is the entrance to the tunnel&039; He did not speak its naol, Shelob&039;s Lair Out of it came a stench, not the sickly odour of decay in the ul, but a foul reek, as if filth unnameable were piled and hoarded in the dark within

&039;Is this the only way, Sol?&039; said Frodo

&039;Yes, yes,&039; he answered &039;Yes, we o this way now&039;

&039;D&039;you h this hole?&039; said Sam &039;Phew! But perhaps you don&039;t linted &039;He doesn&039;t knoe ol can bear things Yes He&039;s been through O yes, right through It&039;s the only way&039;

&039;And what makes the smell, I wonder,&039; said Sam &039;It&039;s like �C well, I wouldn&039;t like to say Some beastly hole of the Orcs, I&039;ll warrant, with a hundred years of their filth in it&039;

&039;Well,&039; said Frodo, &039;Orcs or no, if it&039;s the only ea deep breath they passed inside In a few steps they were in utter and ies of Moria had Frodo or Sam known such darkness, and if possible here it was deeper and denser There, there were airs , and echoes, and a sense of space Here the air was still, stagnant, heavy, and sound fell dead They walked as it were in a black vapour wrought of veritable darkness itself that, as it was breathed, brought blindness not only to the eyes but to the mind, so that even the ht faded out of thought Night always had been, and alould be, and night was all

But for a while they could still feel, and indeed the senses of their feet and fingers at first seemed sharpened almost painfully The walls felt, to their surprise, sain, was straight and even, going ever up at the sah and wide, so wide that, though the hobbits walked abreast, only touching the side-walls with their outstretched hands, they were separated, cut off alone in the darkness

Golluone in first and seemed to be only a few steps ahead While they were still able to give heed to such things, they could hear his breath hissing and gasping just in front of them But after a ti see, on and on, mainly by the force of the hich they had entered, will to go through and desire to coate beyond

Before they had gone very far, perhaps, but ti, Sa the wall, are that there was an opening at the side: for a ht a faint breath of some air less heavy, and then they passed it by

&039;There&039;s e here,&039; he whispered with an effort: it seeive any sound &039;It&039;s as orc-like a place as ever there could be!&039;

After that, first he on the right, and then Frodo on the left, passed three or four such openings, some wider, some smaller; but there was as yet no doubt of the ht, and did not turn, and still went steadily up But how long was it, how much more of this would they have to endure, or could they endure? The breathlessness of the air was growing as they climbed; and now they seemed often in the blind dark to sense some resistance thicker than the foul air As they thrust forward they felt things brush against their heads, or against their hands, long tentacles, or hanging growths perhaps: they could not tell what they were And still the stench grew It grew, until almost it seemed to them that smell was the only clear sense left to them, and that was for their torment One hour, two hours, three hours: how htless hole? Hours �C days, weeks rather Sam left the tunnel-side and shrank towards Frodo, and their hands ether they still went on

At length Frodo, groping along the left-hand wall, came suddenly to a void Almost he fell sideways into the e in the rock far wider than any they had yet passed; and out of it ca malice so intense, that Frodo reeled And at that hting off both the sickness and the fear, Frodo gripped Sam&039;s hand &039;Up!&039; he said in a hoarse breath without voice &039;It all comes from here, the stench and the peril Now for it! Quick!&039;

Calling up his reed Sam to his feet, and forced his own limbs to move Sam stumbled beside him One step, two steps, three steps-at last six steps Maybe they had passed the dreadful unseen opening, but whether that was so or not, suddenly it was easier to move, as if soled on, still hand in hand

But almost at once they came to a new difficulty The tunnel forked, or so it seemed, and in the dark they could not tell which was the wider way, or which kept nearer to the straight Which should they take, the left, or the right? They knew of nothing to guide them, yet a false choice would almost certainly be fatal

&039;Which way has Golluone?&039; panted Sam &039;And why didn&039;t he wait?&039;

&039;Sol!&039; But his voice croaked, and the name fell dead almost as it left his lips There was no answer, not an echo, not even a treone this tiuess this is just exactly where he ain, you&039;ll be sorry for it&039;

Presently, groping and fu on the left was blocked: either it was a blind, or else soe &039;This can&039;t be the way,&039; Frodo whispered &039;Right or wrong, we must take the other&039;

&039;And quick!&039; Sa worse than Gollu at us&039;

They had not gone more than a few yards when fro and horrible in the heavy padded silence: a gurgling, bubbling noise, and a long veno could be seen Still as stones they stood, staring, waiting for they did not knohat

&039;It&039;s a trap!&039; said Sam, and he laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword; and as he did so, he thought of the darkness of the barrohence it caht Then as he stood, darkness about hier in his heart it seeht in his ht at first, as a sun-ray to the eyes of one long hidden in a less pit Then the light becaold, silver, white Far off, as in a little picture drawn by elven-fingers he saw the Lady Galadriel standing on the grass in Lorien, and gifts were in her hands And you, Ring-bearer, he heard her say, remote but clear, for you I have prepared this

The bubbling hiss drew nearer, and there was a creaking as of so that moved with slow purpose in the dark A reek came on before it &039;Master, ency calass! A light to you in dark places, she said it was to be The star-glass!&039;

&039;The star-glass?&039;out of sleep, hardly coht when all other lights go out! And now indeed light alone can help us&039;

Slowly his hand went to his bosom, and slowly he held aloft the Phial of Galadriel For ain heavy earthward rew in Frodo&039;s an to burn, and kindled to a silver flah Earendil had hih sunset paths with the last Silmaril upon his brow The darkness receded frolobe of airy crystal, and the hand that held it sparkled hite fire

Frodo gazed in wonder at thisits full worth and potency Seldoul Vale, and never had he used it for fear of its revealing light Aiya Earendil Elenion Ancalima! he cried, and knew not what he had spoken; for it seeh his, clear, untroubled by the foul air of the pit

But other potencies there are in Middle-earth, powers of night, and they are old and strong And She that walked in the darkness had heard the Elves cry that cry far back in the deeps of time, and she had not heeded it, and it did not daunt her now Even as Frodo spoke he felt a greathi where they had reeled and stureat clusters oflass was broken and thrown back frolitter a pale deadly fire began steadily to gloithin, a flaht Monstrous and abominable eyes they were, bestial and yet filled with purpose and with hideous delight, gloating over their prey trapped beyond all hope of escape

Frodo and Saaze held by the dreadful stare of those baleful eyes; but as they backed so the eyes advanced Frodo&039;s hand wavered, and slowly the Phial drooped Then suddenly, released fro spell to run a little while in vain panic for the aether; but even as they ran Frodo looked back and saith terror that at once the eyes ca up behind The stench of death was like a cloud about him

&039;Stand! stand!&039; he cried desperately &039;Running is no use&039;

Slowly the eyes crept nearer

&039;Galadriel!&039; he called, and gathering his courage he lifted up the Phial once ard relaxed, as if some hint of doubt troubled them Then Frodo&039;s heart fla what he did, whether it was folly or despair or courage, he took the Phial in his left hand, and with his right hand drew his sword Sting flashed out, and the sharp elven-blade sparkled in the silver light, but at its edges a blue fire flicked Then holding the star aloft and the bright sword advanced, Frodo, hobbit of the Shire, walked steadily down to meet the eyes