"'I am Gildor Inglorion of Lindon,' I said. 'I met your father once while visiting in Eregion. I honor his name and his son. Our people were friends in those happier times.'
"'Those times are gone,' he said gruffly, 'and so is my father, no thanks to Elvish meddling in arts that did not concern them. Our gates are shut to you and to all Big Folk. We have no need of you and your troubles.'
"'My lord Durin,' I said, 'it was not Celebrimbor but Sauron who brought about the destruction of Eregion and the wars that followed. And Sauron yet rules in his Dark Tower. We seek to throw him down, but we are hard pressed. The Khazad are renowned warriors. We have need of your strength, lest he have the victory at last. Would you see us all enslaved?'
"'What care I for the Big Folk?' Durin replied disdainfully. 'Let them fight amongst themselves. Our gates are strong, we have all that we need. We shall wait safely in our homes for the storm to pass, as we have for over seventeen centuries. We are safe from Sauron here.'
"'Have you forgotten the lessons of Belegost and Nogrod? Were they not mighty cities of your people, hewn deep into the living stone of the Ered Luin? Did they not have strong gates? Yet Morgoth and his servant Sauron crushed them as you would crack a bone to suck out the marrow. Many dwarves died in the Lost Cities. Would you again crouch in your holes and await the wrath of Sauron?'
"Then Durin's dark eyes flashed. 'Aye,' he said. 'Many died in the Lost Cities. They will never be forgotten. But it was the Elves who started that war by meddling in forbidden arts and setting themselves against Melkor the Vala. Our fathers sided with you in that war, and for their pains their cities were destroyed and their people slain. We learned our hard lesson, but you Elves evidently did not. Celebrimbor again sought to practice the forbidden arts and has brought evil down on our heads again. But Sauron stalks Elves and Men, he has no quarrel with us Khazad as long as we take no part in your war. If we stir him not, we shall be left in peace.'
"'And if he does not leave you in peace?' I said. 'Once he has defeated us, he will surely come against Khazad-dûm, for he cannot tolerate free people.'
"'If he comes, we shall fight him. But we shall fight for our own people and our own homes. We have no desire to fight in far-off lands, dying so that Elves may live. Begone, Gildor of Lindon, you will find no help here!' And with that he went back in and the gates were closed.
"And so I turned away and climbed the long stairs over the high pass of Caradhras. Though it was then early Lótessë, there was still much snow on the sheltered northern slopes, and the passage was difficult. I hurried down then, past the West Gate of Khazad-dûm, where once throngs of people of all races passed in and out. The door is sealed now, and even the inscription, a gift of Celebrimbor, is fading.
"I followed the ancient highway beside the swift river Sirannon to the empty moors and rank meadows that were once the fair lawns of Eregion. I pondered much as I travelled those lonely leagues through what had once been a happy and prosperous land. Eregion had been built after the fall of Morgoth and it alone of the lands of Eriador was untainted by his evil. Those Noldor returning from the war in the north came to this land and ordered a fair realm. I thought of the destruction of Eregion; of the murder of Celebrimbor and his family; of the rift with the dwarves; and always my thoughts returned to the same agent — Sauron.
"I thought of the people of Lindon and Lothlórien, of Gondor and Arnor, and even those of Khazad-dûm, with the long hand of Sauron stretched forth to destroy them. I spurred my horse ever faster, and at length reached Tharbad, where the Royal Road between Gondor and Arnor spans the River Gwathlo.
"Once it was a fair town of Men, the southernmost of Arnor, but I found it nearly deserted, with burned buildings and ruined farms giving evidence to acts of war. The few folk I found there told of a Corsair raid but a few weeks before. They were taken completely unaware, for Tharbad is over a hundred leagues from the sea. It must have taken the Corsairs a week of hard rowing to reach the town. Never before had they struck so far from the coasts, and none knew why they should suddenly sack a city never famous for its wealth.
"It occurred to me that the city's value was more likely to be its strategic location at the crossing of the largest road and the longest navigable river into the heart of Eriador. But surely, I thought, Umbar could not be contemplating an invasion of the North lands. But what if Sauron were thinking of such a stroke? Might he not first send his Corsair allies to destroy Tharbad and sever both the road and the river? Or worse yet, if he had somehow learned of our errand, he might have thought this a way to thwart our plans and perhaps even waylay me. If so, they struck too soon to take me. But they had done their master's work well. The survivors were frightened and disheartened and too busy rebuilding their town to listen to my talk of riding away to a distant war. I rode north alone.
"Now I travelled more quickly, for I was on the Royal Road which runs from Annúminas in Arnor through the Gap of Calenardhon even here to Osgiliath. I crossed the desolate Red Hills country and came at last to the broad Baranduin. Crossing safely on the small ferry there, I entered a fair green country of rolling downs and gentle air. It is a pleasant land with fertile soil, but only lightly tilled by the few men who dwell there. It is but a quiet corner of Arthedain, as the westernmost regions of Arnor are coming to be called.
Passing through this land with all speed, I saw away in the west the three towers of the Emyn Beraid looming high against the sky and knew I was nearing home at last. Gaining strength from the sight, I hurried thence and ascended the hills to stand at the foot of the towers, the tallest in all of Middle-earth. Of the three, the westernmost, called Elosterion, is the highest. I broke my journey there an hour so that I could climb the tower and view once again, through the Stone of Elendil, the vision of Elvenhome afar off across the sea. I had hoped perhaps even to see Varda Starkindler, as sometimes others have reported, standing upon the summit of Oiolossë and gazing into the east, as if waiting for us Exiles to return. But the peak was hidden in clouds and the view but hazy. I thanked the Guardian of the Stone and descended, turning again to the west.
"From Emyn Beraid the road drops down in long looping coils to the valley of the Lhûn. Rounding the last turn, I saw at last before me the high stone ramparts of the Havens of Mithlond. I was greeted warmly at the gate and admitted at once to Lord Cirdan's chambers, where he sat with a Sindarin Elf I did not know. Cirdan rose in surprise when I entered.
"'Gildor Inglorion!' he said, 'long has it been since you rode away with the king. Greetings and welcome home. This has been a week for meeting old friends returned from long journeys. This is Amroth, a Sindarin lord from lands far to the east.'
"'Honor to you, Lord Amroth,' I said. 'I have heard your name. Did you not once live in the Golden Wood, nigh to the Lady Galadriel?'
"'Indeed yes,' he replied. 'I dwelt long there, though for some yén now I have wandered alone in far lands, even to the Uttermost North. Much have I seen and learned, but when I returned again to the lands of our kindred, news of the war was on every lip. And so I came here to offer my services to my friend Cirdan.'
"'You have come at an opportune moment then,' I said, 'for I am come to seek aid for our king.' And I told them then of our mission. Cirdan immediately called his captains and lieutenants together and bade them set about readying the ships as speedily as possible. Amroth and I travelled throughout Lindon and the neighboring lands, gathering volunteers for the armada. In three weeks, warriors and supplies were pouring into Mithlond and the ships were being loaded.