Stories of Arda Home Page
About Us News Resources Login Become a member Help Search
swiss replica watches replica watches uk Replica Rolex DateJust Watches

Ancestress  by Dreamflower


Where Mercy, Love and Pity Dwell

Gandalf-- he still thought of himself more as Gandalf than Ólorin or any of his other names; would do so as long as his small friends remained in Arda-- strode off. He retained the form in which he spent so many years walking the length and breadth of Ennor. He had eaten and drunk, slept, sweated and smoked, been injured and been healed, in that form for so long. He died and was reborn in it. It was part of him. He was not constrained to it forever; he had accomplished his task. He still felt more comfortable this way.

He was unsurprised when Mirimë approached him, asking for an introduction to the hobbits. He had known she would seek him out once she heard of his return and of those who accompanied him. His memories of his life in the West, which had faded as he journeyed East, became clearer on the voyage home; he remembered his conversation with her. He had been disapproving, though he tried not to show her his reservations, he was certain that she had been perceptive enough to know his thoughts.

That was before he came to know hobbits himself. He recalled his first encounter with them, during the Long Winter. Perhaps it should have seem odd to him that in nearly a millenium-and-a-half of wandering, he had no more than brief encounters with this shy, elusive race. When he heard about them, it had seemed important for some reason, but the time had never seemed right to seek them out.

And then he had found them, three of them, half-starved, perishing with cold, yet they offered to share what meagre rations they had with him. His own heart had been lost then and there.

And when he returned, he understood Mirimë much better.

___________________________

A/N: Title of this chapter taken from "The Divine Image", a poem by William Blake





<< Back

Next >>

Leave Review
Home     Search     Chapter List