Legolas Thranduilion, Lord of Dol Galenehtar, Once Again Champion of Amon Din and Loyal Ally of the Red Knight, Druadan

To Bandobras Took Son of Reginard, Beloved Esquire of the Green Knight, Steadfast Friend and Devoted Comforter, Crickhollow

My Dear Bandobras,

Greetings to you from Aldamir's keep!  The Red Knight and his beloved family send to you their salutations, my dear Little One, and beg me to convey to you their earnest felicities and overwhelming desires to make your acquaintance, for they have heard much of you from Lord Aldamir and me, and look forward to meeting you.  I have been teaching Lord Aldamir's eldest child, Galen, to speak your name; he says merely "Bannie" but his father and I think you shall not mind overmuch if he mispronounces it somewhat.  But when I say unto him, as he sits upon my lap, that when Spring comes it shall bring my Bandobras to me, he claps his dimpled paws and squeals, "Bannie come!  Bannie come!"  It is so far his favorite game to play with me – save his attempts to forcibly remove my ears, which I do not enjoy nearly so well.

The new baby is as are all babies the apex of perfection and beauty (if not in everyone's eyes at least in their parents') though I was spared the indignity of attending the birth; I suppose I should rather have wished to not be spared, as Aldamir, Faramir, and I were at the time of the infant's arrival leading some two hundred able-bodied men in a counter-skirmish upon the western borders of Amon Din.  King Éomer has harried the Dunlendings from his lands, which for Rohan is a good thing; however the blight which so afflicted the southern kingdoms affected the Dunlendings as well, and some have moved eastward seeking easy prey; their errors lay in believing the simple farmers and merchants of Lord Aldamir's demesne were "easy."  He, calling upon his neighbors for aid, did lead us unto them where they had captured a small village and imprisoned its citizens; we stormed the walls (fortunately they have both time and materials to rebuild them) and drove the invaders out, forcing them back to the deeps of Nardol, where they scattered in confusion; we pursued them even unto Firien, where we met one of the King's patrols, who did inform us that King Elessar had sent up through the Stonewain another two hundreds fresh from Minas Tirith, that would see that the miscreants were sent back whence they came.  And I know you shall ask, my dear Little One, so I shall inform you forthwith that Piukka acquitted himself splendidly, bearing his lord and all armor with the indifference engendered by his strength and wind, and faced the charges bravely, so that all the Dunlendings were terrified of him, and Aldamir's people hailed "the Green Knight upon his midnight destrier" in impromptu song.  Still do I miss Hatchet and his arrogant aggression upon the field of battle, but I am forced to admit Piukka is the superior steed.

So now we have returned to Amon Din, where the celebration of the new heir was muted awaiting our arrival; last night we held such a feast as to rival the commemoration of our victory against Eradan the Treacherous last Autumn, and all were glad, save Lady Lalanath, who had hoped I should act as midwife in her chambers.  (Shall I never be rid of that reputation, O Bandobras?  Ever since the birth of Hísimë have the ladies of Gondor and its surrounds begged me to attend them in their hour of labor!)  But Aldamir is quite content; he is happily wed, and has two small boys now, and a prosperous demesne; I look upon him and am envious, yet also filled with a subtle hope and a joy – soon the infants I dandle upon my knees shall be my own; soon I shall sit me beside the hearth flanked by a beloved wife and slumbering children; soon I too shall know the delight in holding within my palm the comfort of a family, and the encircling lands which both protect me, and which I protect.  O my dear Little One, how my heart is wrung within me when I sit in my dark corner, and watch my friend Aldamir with his lady and sons, gazing upon them in rapt adoration, filled with contentment and warmth and security!  For years uncounted I did wonder to myself if I should ever find that same happiness, and now though I initially did fight against it, it lies before me as a still deep pond that begs to be dived into – I shall break the glassy surface of that water, my Bandobras, and see what secret pleasures await me at its depths!

I know that you and many of my friends have opposed this match between Laustairë and me, and in truth I opposed it as well; but having seen what domestic joys might be mine I am all the more convinced this is the right path for me to take.  Alas, I have not had time to become well-acquainted with my betrothed, for ever have my duties occluded my time; yet Nardanë has assured me that in my absence shall Laustairë begin to assume her role as Lady of Dol Galenehtar, and soon shall we side by side rule my demesne, so dividing the work between us that the severity of my labors shall be halved and I shall at last have rest.  I am certain she and I shall grow to love each other in time, and to be honest, my Bandobras, if I can learn to love a Dwarf, stubborn Elf that I am, it shall be simplicity indeed to learn to love my wife!

You expressed concern in your last letter, my dear Little One, that I stretched myself "too thin;" you are correct of course; there is so much work to be done in the building of a kingdom, which I hope (and Galás and Hirilcúllas share my wish) shall be ameliorated in time.  My Lord Father did counsel me that it took him full twenty years ere Taur e-Ndaedelos became truly established, with all policies and laws comfortably implemented, and that my load shall be somewhat lighter, as Dol Galenehtar has this advantage, that its neighbors are so judicious, and its lords friends of mine.  Also we are at peace, and the lands I struggle to coax into productivity previously cultivated, so that soon shall we find within ourselves the gently circling seasons as they pulse out the heartbeat of the earth – winter's sleep to spring, spring's blossom to summer, summer's heat to autumn, autumn's bounty to winter – and there shall be few true concerns save the niggling and petty details of land-ownership, livestock, irrigation, taxes and tithe, fluctuating prices, and (in some cases) the odd skirmish.  I have been promised that all the talans and towers shall be completed within two to three years (bless Gimli for his keenness!), and then we might devote more time to the creation and preservation of the woodlands and gardens, which have been sadly neglected while we struggle to find for ourselves fit places to rest our weary heads.   How I wish you were here to see it, my Bandobras!  How your heart would thrill as mine at the sight of the houses and spires of my people, winking coyly through the boughs of great trees and piercing the canopy like spearheads; how I long to have you here with me!  Would that your uncle had not proved obdurate, and married his Diamond in good time; then already perhaps you would be on your way to see me, and I should have this consolation at least, that you would be with me ere I commit this last witless lunacy approaching.  For yes, my dear Little One, I fear it greatly – it is a strange thing for me, to both fear and desire the same thing – greatly do I covet warmth and wife and family, yet I fear it too; it is a battlefield of unknown proportions, and I feel in myself I am grossly unprepared for it, as though I rode out to meet an enemy clad only in a night-shirt, and armed with naught but a stick.  And although I know you yourself are not of an age to wed I would rather have your advice and counsel beside me than almost any other's, for you are ever practical, my Bandobras, and soothing in your incisiveness; rather would I have one Bandobras than a thousand wives and children to succor me, and I am desolate in your absence.

Well I have been called for dinner, and Lord Aldamir awaits; Meivel sends his greetings and begs to be remembered to one so dearly loved.  I shall send this missive with Aldamir's next courier, and it ought to reach you ere the Tournament has begun.  How I wish you were here; how you would love the spectacle!  If only you and Gimli and I could return to that time, my dear Little One, when we had naught but us three in my grand green tent, and Hatchet and Arod and Thistle stamped and nickered in their enclosure, and your meals, my Bandobras – how I miss your cookery!  Well, perhaps it shall not be so long now; would that you were here to fix me mushrooms – I have not had mushrooms prepared properly since you quit me in the Shire – not that Gimli minds I think; he was ever indifferent to that dish.

Please write to me and quickly, my Bandobras!  As the Day approaches I find myself missing my Esquire more and more.

Your Loving Master,

Legolas