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Poems and Tales of Middle-Earth:
(illustration by Alan Lee) |
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Elvish song for Nimrodel and Amroth
"A Elven maid there was of old,
A shining star by day:
Her mantle white was hemmed with gold,
Her shoes of silver-grey.
A star was bound upon her brows,
A light was on her hair
As sun above the golden boughs
in Lórien the fair.
Her hair was long, her limbs were white,
And fair she was and free;
And in the wind she went as light
As leaf of linden-tree.
Beside the falls of Nimrodel,
By water clear and cool,
Her voice as falling silver fell
Into the shining pool.
Where now she wanders none can tell,
In sunlight or in shade;
For lost of yore was Nimrodel
And in the mountains strayed.
The elven-ship in haven grey
Beneath the mountain-lee
Awaited her for many a day
Beside the roaring sea.
A wind by night in Northern lands
Arose, and loud it cried,
And drove the ship from elven-strands
Across the streaming tide.
When dawn came dim the land was lost,
The mountains sinking grey
Beyond the heaving waves that tossed
Their plumes of blinding spray.
Amroth beheld the fading shore
Now low beyond the swell,
And cursed the faithless ship that bore
Him far from Nimrodel.
Of old he was an Elven-king,
A lord of tree and glen,
When golden were the boughs in spring
In fair Lothlórien.
From helm to sea they saw him leap,
As arrow from the string,
And dive into the water deep,
As mew upon the wing.
The wind was in his flowing hair,
The foam about him shone;
Afar they sam him strong and fair
Go riding like a swan.
But from the West has come no word,
And on the Hither Shore
No tidings Elven-folk have heard
Of Amroth evermore."
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The Lord of the Rings
Part I. The Fellowship of the Ring
Quotes from Tolkien's Novel
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| Lothlórien. |
'By strange paths has this Company been led, and so far to evil fortune. [...] And
now we must enter the Golden Wood, you say. But of that perilous land we have heard in Gondor, and it is said that few
come out who once got in; and of that few, none have escaped unscathed.' (Boromir)
'Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you will speak the truth,' said Aragorn.
'But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlórien. [...]
'Then lead on!' said Boromir. "But it is perilous.'
'Perilous indeed,' said Aragorn, 'fair and perilous; but only evil need fear it, or those who bring some evil with them.' |
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"Legolas told them tales of Lothlórien that the Elves of Mirkwood still kept in their
hearts, of sunlight and starlight upon the meadows by the Great River before the world was grey. [...]
The voice of Legolas faltered, and the song ceased. 'I cannot sing any more,' he said. 'That is but a part,
for I have forgotten much. It is long and sad, for it tells how
sorrow came upon Lothlórien, Lórien of the Blossom, when the Dwarves awakened evil in the mountains.'
'But the Dwarves did not make the evil,' said Gimli.
'I said not so; yet evil came,' answered Legolas sadly." |
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" 'Yes, they are Elves,' said Legolas; ' and they say that you breathe so loud
that they could shoot you in the dark.' Sam hastily put his hand over his mouth. [...] Legolas ran lightly up, and Frodo
followed slowly; behind came Sam, trying not to breathe loudly." |
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"Frodo saw the valley of the Silverlode lying like a sea of fallow gold tossing gently
in the breeze. [...] It seemed to him that he would never hear again a running water so beautiful, for ever blending
its innumerable notes in an endless changeful music." |
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" 'A dwarf!' said Haldir. 'That is not well. We have not had any dealings with
Dwarves since the Dark Days. They are not permitted in our land. I cannot allow him to pass [...]. If Aragorn and
Legolas will guard him, and answer for him, he shall pass; but he must go blindfold through Lothlórien.' [...]
This was not all to the liking of Gimli. 'The agreement was made without my consent,' he said. 'I will not walk
blinfold like a beggar or a prisoner. And I am no spy. My folk have never had dealings with any of the servants of
the Enemy. Neither have we done harm to the Elves. I am no more likely to betray you than Legolas, or any other of my
companions.' [...]
'A plague on Dwarves and their stiff necks!' said Legolas. [...]
'But I will be content, if only Legolas here shares my blindness.'
'I am an Elf, and a kinsman here,' said Legolas, becoming angry in his turn.
'Now let us cry: "a plague on the stiff neck on Elves!" ', said Aragorn." |
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'Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the
estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him. Yet so little faith do we find now in the world beyond
Lothlórien, unless maybe in Rivendell, that we dare not by our own trust endanger our land.' (Haldir) |
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'The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still
there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.
Some there are among us who sing that the Shadow will draw back, and peace shall come again. Yet I do not believe that
the world about us will ever again be as it was of old, or the light of the Sun as it was aforetime. For the Elves, I fear,
it will prove at best a truce, in which they may pass unhindered and leave the Middle-Earth for ever. Alas for Lothlórien
that I love!' (Haldir) |
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