(no subject)

[marta_bee]

Like a lot of Americans, we've gotten a blast of cold. No snow, though they had several inches in the mountains not far from here. But it's regularly in the 20s (-5-10 C) when I sit out on my balcony at night. Cold enough to warrant a nice cuddly sweater, feel the air catch in my throat, and get a bit in the Christmas spirit. Decorations are nice, but it never felt like Christmas until I could breathe out and see my breath. The perils of coming back south is we don't often get that feeling, especially so early in the winter, so I'm enjoying it.

It reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from LOTR books, which I always hated got cut from the movies (though I 100% understand why). Even though it happened in late January, it just seems to fit with the early winter chill.

The Company now went down the road from the Gates. It was rough and broken, fading to a winding track between heather and whin that thrust amid the cracking stones. But still it could be seen that once long ago a great paved way had wound upwards from the lowlands of the Dwarf-kingdom. In places there were ruined works of stone beside the path, and mounds of green topped with slender birches, or fir-trees sighing in the wind. An eastward bend led them hard by the sward of Mirrormere, and there not far from the roadside stood a single column broken at the top.

‘That is Durin’s Stone!’ cried Gimli. ‘I cannot pass without turning aside for a moment to look at the wonder of the dale!’

‘Be swift then!’ said Aragorn, looking back towards the Gates. ‘The Sun sinks early. The Orcs will not, maybe, come out till after dusk, but we must be far away before nightfall. The Moon is almost spent, and it will be dark tonight.’

‘Come with me, Frodo!’ cried the dwarf, springing from the road. ‘I would not have you go without seeing Kheled-zâram.’ He ran down the long green slope. Frodo followed slowly, drawn by the still blue water in spite of hurt and weariness; Sam came up behind.

Beside the standing stone Gimli halted and looked up. It was cracked and weather-worn, and the faint runes upon its side could not be read. ‘This pillar marks the spot where Durin first looked in the Mirrormere,’ said the dwarf. ‘Let us look ourselves once, ere we go!’

They stooped over the dark water. At first they could see nothing. Then slowly they saw the forms of the encircling mountains mirrored in a profound blue, and the peaks were like plumes of white flame above them; beyond there was a space of sky. There like jewels sunk in the deep shone glinting stars, though sunlight was in the sky above. Of their own stooping forms no shadow could be seen.

‘O Kheled-zâram fair and wonderful!’ said Gimli. ‘There lies the Crown of Durin till he wakes. Farewell!’ He bowed, and turned away, and hastened back up the green-sward to the road again.

‘What did you see?’ said Pippin to Sam, but Sam was too deep in thought to answer.

Comments

[shirebound]

I love that scene, especially Gimli wanting to share a very special and rare experience with Frodo.