Henneth Annun Reseach Center

Timeline Event

Frodo, Sam, and Gollum reach the Morgul-road

Event Type: General

Age: 3rd Age - Ring War

Date: March 9, 3019

Description:

As the third stage of their day's march drew on and afternoon waned, the forest opened out, and the trees became larger and more scattered.... No living creature... was to be seen, but in these open places Gollum grew afraid, and they walked now with caution, flitting from one long shadow to another.

Light was fading fast when they came to the forest-end.... A deep dim valley lay before them.... To the right the Mountains of Gondor glowed... under a fire-flecked sky. To the left lay... the towering walls of Mordor; and out of that darkness the long valley came, falling steeply in an ever-widening trough towards the Anduin. At its bottom ran a hurrying stream...; and beside it on the hither side a road went winding down like a pale ribbon.... There it seemed to Frodo that he descried far off..., the... broken pinnacles of old towers....

He turned to Gollum. 'Do you know where we are?' he said....

'This is the road from the Tower of the Moon, Master, down to the ruined city by the shores of the River.... We shouldn't have taken Men's advice. Hobbits have come a long way out of the path. Must go east now, away up there.' He waved his skinny arm towards the darkling mountains. 'And we can't use this road. Oh no! Cruel peoples come this way, down from the Tower.'

Frodo looked down on to the road.... [Nothing] was moving on it now.... But there was an evil feeling in the air, as if things might indeed be passing up and down that eyes could not see. Frodo shuddered..., and the sound of the water seemed cold and cruel: the voice of Morgulduin, the polluted stream that flowed from the Valley of the Wraiths.

'What shall we do?' he said. 'We have walked long and far. Shall we look for some place in the woods behind where we can lie hidden?'

'No good hiding in the dark,' said Gollum. 'It's in day that hobbits must hide now, yes in day.'

'Oh come!' said Sam. 'We must rest for a bit, even if we get up again in the middle of the night. There'll still be hours of dark then, time enough for... a long march....'

Gollum... would not rest on the ground so near the evil road, and after some debate they all climbed up into the crotch of a large holm-oak, whose thick branches springing together from the trunk made a good hiding-place.... Night fell and it grew altogether dark under the canopy of the tree.... Gollum at once curled up and went to sleep. The hobbits did not shut their eyes.

The Two Towers, LoTR Book 4, Ch 7, Journey to the Cross-roads

Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 8Mar07

Related Library Entries

Events Search

All fields are optional. Dates default to the start of an event if it is multi-day.
Leave year set to "0" to see all years.



Start:    

  End:  

Full Text Search


Things

No related things

Go to Things