This is stupid, I spent half of my day at work drawing this on a post it note. But also it’s very funny to me that in the book Aragon walks around with a broken sword and apparently no other weapons from Bree to Rivendell. There are at least 3 time I can think of where there was immediate danger and he just kept picking up sticks to deal with it
It’s June 12! Happy International Don’t Stab Your Best Friend Day! This deserves an off-schedule special post. I was initially thinking of drawing something with Beleg and Túrin again because that would be the most logical choice, but I thought: what if I didn’t…what if I drew a different human-befriending elf who of course would have heard the story…and wonder…
And yes this was of course inspired by that one post I can’t find right now that talks about Legolas poking Aragorn with a stick from across the campsite to wake him up, just in case.
‘Thus it was that I came to Caras Galadhon and found you but lately gone. I tarried there in the ageless time of that land where days bring healing not decay. Healing I found, and I was clothed in white. Counsel I gave and counsel took. Thence by strange roads I came, and messages I bring to some of you. To Aragorn I was bidden to say this:
‘Where now are the Dúnedain, Elessar, Elessar?
Why do thy kinsfolk wander afar?
Near is the hour when the Lost should come forth,
And the Grey Company ride from the North.
But dark is the path appointed for thee:
The Dead watch the road that leads to the Sea.’
To Legolas she sent this word:
‘Legolas Greenleaf long under tree
In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!
If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,
Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.'’
Gandalf fell silent and shut his eyes.
- Galadriel’s messages to Aragorn and Legolas through Gandalf. Two Towers, The White Rider
“The sun was sinking when at last they drew near to the end of the line of downs. For many hours they had marched without rest. They were going slowly now, and Gimli’s back was bent. Stone-hard are the Dwarves in labour or journey, but this endless chase began to tell on him, as all hope failed in his heart. Aragorn walked behind him, grim and silent, stooping now and again to scan some print or mark upon the ground. Only Legolas still stepped as lightly as ever, his feet hardly seeming to press the grass. leaving no footprints as he passed; but in the waybread of the Elves he found all the sustenance that he needed, and he could sleep, if sleep it could be called by Men, resting his mind in the strange paths of elvish dreams, even as he walked open-eyed in the light of this world.”
— The Three Hunters (and Legolas’ sleep schedule) during their chase of the Uruk-Hai. Two Towers, The Riders of Rohan.
Helm’s Deep was a narrow valley in the White Mountains. Within this there was a fortress known as the Hornburg. The Hornburg was built by the old Gondorians (Numenoreans) along with Isengard to defend the Fords of Isen. Along with the keep was the Deeping Wall to defend the valley and Helm’s Dike to defend the hills outside. Inside the mountain behind the keep was the Glittering Caves, a complex escape route of tunnels. When Rohan became independent Helm’s Deep became a garrison for the Rohirrim, and served them well during a succession war with the Dunlendings. During the War the people of Rohan under Helm Hammerhand withstood a long siege against the men of Dunland, but were ultimately victorious when Gondor came to aid them. Helm Hammerhand died after blowing the great horn in the keep and leading a sortie against the Dunlendings. During the War of the Ring it was used as a last refuge for Rohan’s people as the forces of Saruman attacked. The garrison of Edoras, The Three Hunters, Rohan’s royal family, and refugees from the countryside all went to the fort, Gandalf went to seek the disbanded Rohirrim roaming the countryside and promised to return with reinforcements. Saruman attacked with an army of Uruk-Hai, Orcs, Dunlendings, and siege weaponry including rams, ladders, and “blasting fire” (possibly or similar to gunpowder). The Battle of Helm’s Deep consisted of a skirmish at Helm’s Dike, the prolonged fighting at the Deeping Wall ending with a large breach in an open culvert (courtesy of Saruman’s “devilry”), and the final battle for the keep. With the remaining Rohirrim and the Three Hunters trapped in the keep defending the women and children in the Glittering Caves, they sallied forth once more under the horn of the Hornburg to meet the enemy. They rode out into the horde as Gandalf returned with an army of Rohirrim. Saruman’s forces were routed, and the retreating orcs and Dunlendings were destroyed by the Huorns (Ents) of Fangorn. The uruk-hai and orcs were piled into a large mound while the dead Rohirrim were buried. The fortress was rebuilt with dwarven stonework, a new gate, and the Glittering Caves became a dwarf colony under Gimli.
“’This is more to my liking,’ said the dwarf, stamping on the stones. ‘Ever my heart rises as we draw near the mountains. There is good rock here. This country has tough bones. I felt them in my feet as we came up from the dike. Give me a year and a hundred of my kin and I would make this a place that armies would break upon like water.’” - Gimli upon inspecting the fortress before the battle. The Two Towers, Helm’s Deep.
Gandalf proposed that they set out to assault Mordor, to draw forth Sauron’s armies, and his gaze. “Thus we can give the Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be.”
