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Poems and Tales of Middle-Earth:
(illustration by John Howe) |
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Galadriel's song for Lothlórien:
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold,
and leaves of gold there grew:
Of wind I sang, a wind there came
and in the branches blew.
Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon,
the foam was on the Sea,
And by the strand of Ilmarin
there grew a golden Tree.
Beneath the stars of Ever-eve
in Eldamar it shone,
In Eldamar besides the walls
of Elven Tirion.
There long the golden leaves have grown
upon the branching years,
While here beyond the Sundering Seas
now fall the Elven-tears.
O Lórien! The Winter comes,
the bare and leafless Day;
The leaves are falling in the stream,
the River flows away.
O Lórien! Too long I have dwelt
upon this Hither Shore
And in a fading crown
have twined the golden elanor.
But if of ships I now should sing,
what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back
across so wide a Sea?
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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: Farewell. |
" 'Good night my friends!' said Galadriel. 'Sleep in peace! Do not trouble your
hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before
your feet, though you do not see them. Good night!' " |
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"Frodo caught something new and strange in Boromir's glance, and he looked hard
at him. Plainly Boromir's thought was different from his final words. It would be folly to throw away what? The
Ring of Power?" |
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"Aragorn answered, 'Lady, you know all my desire, and long held it in keeping the only treasure that I
seek. Yet it is not yours to give me, even if you would; and only through darkness shall I come to it.'
'Yet maybe this will lighten your heart,' said Galadriel; 'for it was left in my care
to be given to you, should you pass through this land.' [...] This stone I gave to Celebrían my daughter, and she to hers;
and now it comes to you as a token of hope.' [...]
'O Lady of Lórien of whom were sprung Celebrían and Arwen Evenstar.
What praise could I say more?' |
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" 'And what gift would a Dwarf ask of the Elves?' said Galadriel, turning to Gimli.
'None, Lady,' answered Gimli. 'It is enough for me to have seen the Lady of the
Galadhrim, and to have heard her gentle words.'
'[...] Yet surely, Gimli son of Glóin, you desire something that I could give?
Name it, I bid you! You shall not be the only guest without a gift.'
'There is nothing, Lady Galadriel,' said Gimli, bowing low and stammering. 'Nothing
unless it might be - unless it is permitted to ask, nay, to name a single strand of your hair, which surpasses the
gold of the earth as the stars surpass the gems of the mine. I do not ask for such a gift. But you commanded me to name my desire.[...]
'And how shall I refuse, since I commanded him to speak? But tell me, what would you
do with such a gift?'
'Treasure it, Lady,' he answered, 'in memory of your words to me at our first meeting.
And if I ever return to the smithies of my home, it shall be set in imperishable crystal to be a heirloom of my house, and a
pledge of good will between the Mountain and the Wood until the end of days.' " |
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" 'And you, Ring-bearer,' she said, turning to Frodo. 'I come to you last who are not
last in my thoughts. For you I have prepared this.' She held up a small crystal phial: it glittered as she moved it, and rays of
white light sprang from her hand. 'In this phial,' she said, 'is caught the light of Eärendil's star, set amid
the waters of my fountain. It will shine still brighter when night is about you. May it be a light to you in dark places,
when all other lights go out. Remember Galadriel and her Mirror!' " |
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"Lórien was slipping backwards, like a bright ship masteed with enchanted
trees, sailing on to forgotten shores, while they sat helpless upon the margins of the grey and leafless world." |
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" 'For the Elves the world moves, and it moves both very swift and very slow. Swift, because
they themselves change very little, and all else fleets by: it is a grief to them. Slow, because they do not count the
running years, not for themselves. The passing seasons are but ripples ever repeated in the long long stream.' (Legolas)" |
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" 'Now I have taken my worst wound in this parting, even if I were to go straight
to the Dark Lord. Alas for Gimli son of Glóin;!'
'Nay!' said Legolas. 'Alas for for us all. And for all that walk the world in
these after-days. For such is the way of it: to find and to lose, as it seems to those whose boat is on the running stream.
But I count you as blessed, Gimli son of Glóin: for your loss you suffer of your own free will, and you might have
chosen otherwise. But you have not forsaken your companions, and the least reward that you shall have is that the memory
of Lothlórien shall remain ever clear and unsustained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor grow stale.'
'Maybe,' said Gimli; 'and I thank you for your words. True words doubtless; yet
all such comfort is cold. Memory is not what the heart desires. That is only a mirror, be it as clear as Kheled-zâram.
Or so says the heart of Gimli the Dwarf. Elves may see things otherwise. Indeed I have heard that for them memory
is more like a waking dream.' "
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