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The Field of Cormallen

All about the hills the hosts of Mordor raged The Captains of the West were foundering in a gathering sea The sun gleaûl the shadows of death fell dark upon the earth Aragorn stood beneath his banner, silent and stern, as one lost in thought of things long past or far away; but his eyes gleaht deepens Upon the hill-top stood Gandalf, and he hite and cold and no shadow fell on hiuered hills, voices roaring like a tide amid the wreck and crash of arms

As if to his eyes soiven, Gandalf stirred; and he turned, looking back north where the skies were pale and clear Then he lifted up his hands and cried in a loud voice ringing above the din: The Eagles are co! The Eagles are con ht mean

There careatest of all the Eagles of the North, htiest of the descendants of old Thorondor, who built his eyries in the inaccessible peaks of the Encircling Mountains when Middle-earth was young Behind the swift lines ca on a gathering wind Straight down upon the Nazgûl they bore, stooping suddenly out of the high airs, and the rush of their ings as they passed over was like a gale

But the Nazgûl turned and fled, and vanished into Mordor&039;s shadows, hearing a sudden terrible call out of the Dark Tower; and even at that moment all the hosts of Mordor trehter failed, their hands shook and their limbs were loosed The Power that drove the, its as re in the eyes of their eneht and were afraid

Then all the Captains of the West cried aloud, for their hearts were filled with a new hope in the hts of Gondor, Riders of Rohan, Dunedain of the North, close-serried co the press with the thrust of bitter spears But Gandalf lifted up his arms and called once more in a clear voice:

&039;Stand, Men of the West! Stand and wait! This is the hour of doom&039;

And even as he spoke the earth rocked beneath their feet Then rising swiftly up, far above the Towers of the Black Gate, high above theinto the sky, flickering with fire The earth groaned and quaked The Towers of the Teeth swayed, tottered, and fell down; the hty rampart crumbled; the Black Gate was hurled in ruin; and fro to the clouds, there ca roll of ruinous noise

&039;The real-bearer has fulfilled his Quest&039; And as the Captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seeainst the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, i all the sky Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards the hand, terrible but ireat wind took it, and it was all bloay, and passed; and then a hush fell

The Captains bowed their heads; and when they looked up again, behold! their ene like dust in the wind As when death s hill and holds them all in sway, ants ander witless and purposeless and then feebly die, so the creatures of Sauron, orc or troll or beast spell-enslaved, ran hither and thither mindless; and some slew the back to hide in holes and dark lightless places far fro and Southron, saw the ruin of their war and the great lory of the Captains of the West And those that were deepest and longest in evil servitude, hating the West, and yet were athered themselves for a last stand of desperate battle But the most part fled eastward as they could; and some cast their weapons down and sued forall such orn and the other lords, stood upon the hill-top and called; and down to hile, Gwaihir the Windlord, and stood before him

&039;Twice you have borne me, Gwaihir my friend,&039; said Gandalf &039;Thrice shall pay for all, if you are willing You will not find il, where my old life burned away&039;

&039;I would bear you,&039; answered Gwaihir, &039;whither you will, even were you made of stone&039;

&039;Then coo with us, and some other of your folk who is reater than any wind, outûl&039;

&039;The North Wind blows, but we shall outfly it,&039; said Gwaihir And he lifted up Gandalf and sped away south, and with hi and swift And they passed over Udun and Gorgoroth and saw all the land in ruin and tu out its fire

&039;I alad that you are here with s, Sam&039;

&039;Yes, I a Frodo&039;s wounded hand gently to his breast &039;And you&039;re withall that way I don&039;t want to give up yet It&039;s not like me, somehow, if you understand&039;

&039;Maybe not, Sas are in the world Hopes fail An end comes We have only a little time to wait now We are lost in ruin and downfall, and there is no escape&039;

&039;Well, Master, we could at least go further froerous place here, from this Crack of Doom, if that&039;s its nao down the path at any rate!&039;

&039;Very well, Sao, I&039;ll come,&039; said Frodo; and they rose and went slowly down the winding road; and even as they passed towards the Mountain&039;s quaking feet, a great smoke and steam belched from the Sae fiery vomit rolled in slow thunderous cascade down the eastern o no further Their last strength ofThey had reached a low ashen hill piled at the Mountain&039;s foot; but fro to endure, aaped, and from deep rifts and pits smoke and fumes leaped up Behind them the Mountain was convulsed Great rents opened in its side Slow rivers of fire caulfed A rain of hot ash was falling

They stood now; and Sahed &039;What a tale we have been in, Mr Frodo, haven&039;t we?&039; he said &039;I wish I could hear it told! Do you think they&039;ll say: Now co of Doom? And then everyone will hush, like we did, when in Rivendell they told us the tale of Beren One-hand and the Great Jewel I wish I could hear it! And I wonder hoill go on after our part&039;

But even while he spoke so, to keep fear away until the very last, his eyes still strayed north, north into the eye of the wind, to where the sky far off was clear, as the cold blast, rising to a gale, drove back the darkness and the ruin of the clouds

And so it was that Gwaihir saw the eyes, as down the ind he careat peril of the skies he circled in the air: two sures, forlorn, hand in hand upon a little hill, while the world shook under theasped, and rivers of fire drew near And even as he espied the down, he saw them fall, worn out, or choked with fu their eyes from death

Side by side they lay; and doept Gwaihir, and down came Landroval and Meneldor the swift; and in a drea what fate had befallen them, the wanderers were lifted up and borne far away out of the darkness and the fire

When Sa on sohs, and through their young leaves sunlight gliled scent

He rerance of Ithilien &039;Blesshave I been asleep?&039; For the scent had borne him back to the day when he had lit his little fire under the sunny bank; and for amemory He stretched and drew a deep breath &039;Why, what a drealad to wake!&039; He sat up and then he saw that Frodo was lying beside him, and slept peacefully, one hand behind his head, and the other resting upon the coverlet It was the right hand, and the third finger was

Full memory flooded back, and Sam cried aloud: &039;It wasn&039;t a dream! Then where are we?&039;

And a voice spoke softly behind: &039;In the land of Ithilien, and in the keeping of the King; and he awaits you&039; With that Gandalf stood before hi like pure snow in the twinkling of the leafy sunlight &039;Well, Master Samwise, how do you feel?&039; he said

But Sam lay back, and stared with open reat joy, he could not answer At last he gasped: &039;Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was deadto come untrue? What&039;s happened to the world?&039;

&039;A great Shadow has departed,&039; said Gandalf, and then he laughed and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought cahter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count It fell upon his ears like the echo of all the joys he had ever known But he himself burst into tears Then, as a sweet rain will pass doind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed

&039;How do I feel?&039; he cried &039;Well, I don&039;t kno to say it I feel, I feel&039; �C he waved his ar after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trus I have ever heard!&039; He stopped and he turned towards his master &039;But how&039;s Mr Frodo?&039; he said &039;Isn&039;t it a shaht otherwise He&039;s had a cruel tiht otherwise,&039; said Frodo, sitting up and laughing in his turn I fell asleep again waiting for you, Sa, and now it must be nearly noon&039;

&039;Noon?&039; said Sa to calculate &039;Noon of what day?&039;

&039;The fourteenth of the New Year,&039; said Gandalf, &039;or if you like, the eighth day of April in the Shire reckoning2 But in Gondor the New Year will always now begin upon the twenty-fifth of March when Sauron fell, and when you were brought out of the fire to the King He has tended you, and now he awaits you You shall eat and drink with him When you are ready I will lead you to hi?&039; said Sa, and who is he?&039;

&039;The King of Gondor and Lord of the Western Lands,&039; said Gandalf &039;and he has taken back all his ancient real, but he waits for you&039;

&039;What shall ear?&039; said Sam; for all he could see was the old and tattered clothes that they had journeyed in, lying folded on the ground beside their beds

&039;The clothes that you wore on your way to Mordor,&039; said Gandalf &039;Even the orc-rags that you bore in the black land, Frodo, shall be preserved No silks and linens, nor any armour or heraldry could be more honourable But later I will find some other clothes, perhaps&039;

Then he held out his hands to theht &039;What have you got there?&039; Frodo cried &039;Can it be �C ?&039;

&039;Yes, I have brought your two treasures They were found on Saifts: your glass, Frodo, and your box, Saain&039;

When they ashed and clad, and had eaten a light meal, the Hobbits followed Gandalf They stepped out of the beech-grove in which they had lain, and passed on to a long green lawn, glowing in sunshine, bordered by stately dark-leaved trees laden with scarlet blosso water, and a strea banks, until it careenwood at the lawn&039;s foot and passed then on under an archway of trees, through which they saw the shimmer of water far away

As they cahts in bright reeted the truh the aisle of trees beside the singing streareen land, and beyond it was a broad river in a silver haze, out of which rose a long wooded isle, and many ships lay by its shores But on the field where they now stood a great host was drawn up, in ranks and co in the sun And as the Hobbits approached swords were unsheathed, and spears were shaken, and horns and truues:

&039;Long live the Halflings! Praise thelar&039;ni Pheriannath!

Praise thereat praise, Frodo and Salerio!