When the armies of Sauron march west in The Lord of the Rings, they do not come from Mordor alone. Men arrive from the East and South, reminders that the War of the Ring is larger than the lands shown on familiar maps. Yet those distant peoples raise an obvious question: if Sauron possessed such … Read more
The Silmaril that Beren once cut from Morgoth’s iron crown eventually came back into his hands under circumstances almost as violent as those in which he first won it. This time there was no journey into Angband. The enemy was retreating from Doriath. After the Dwarves of Nogrod sacked Menegroth, they carried its treasures eastward … Read more
At the Black Gate, the Captains of the West are already losing when something stranger than reinforcements changes the battle. Sauron has surrounded Aragorn's far smaller host. Orcs and Trolls press inward. Easterlings and Southrons fight alongside them. The Nazgûl circle above the battlefield, spreading terror. The march from Minas Tirith has achieved its real … Read more
The secret door of Erebor depends on something far stranger than a date. When Elrond reads the moon-letters on Thrór’s map, the instructions point toward Durin’s Day: the moment when the setting Sun will reveal the hidden keyhole in the Lonely Mountain. It sounds at first like a festival that ought to have a simple … Read more
Samwise Gamgee begins the Quest thinking like a hobbit packing for a long road. He worries about rope. He carries spare clothes, salt, pipe-weed, flint and tinder, and, above all, his beloved cooking gear. By the time he stands within sight of Mount Doom, almost all of that careful preparation has become dead weight. That … Read more
Among the strange materials of the First Age, galvorn is easy to misunderstand. It sounds like something that ought to have become an industry: a black, shining metal that could be made thin and supple while remaining extraordinarily resistant to weapons. In a world repeatedly devastated by war, such a material should have been coveted … Read more
When Samwise Gamgee wakes in Ithilien after the destruction of the One Ring, one of his first shocks is discovering that Gandalf is alive. But another surprise is waiting beyond the trees. Frodo and Sam are not simply going to meet their surviving friends. They are about to walk into one of the most carefully … Read more
The four hobbits enter the Old Forest expecting trees. What they find instead is something closer to a wounded memory. Branches seem to lean toward them. Paths refuse to remain trustworthy. The whole wood appears capable of pushing travellers where it wants them to go. Merry already knows that the trees can be dangerous, and … Read more
When black-sailed ships appeared on the Anduin during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the defenders of Minas Tirith initially had every reason to despair. The Corsairs of Umbar had been one of Gondor’s oldest maritime enemies, and their fleet was supposed to deliver another blow against a kingdom already fighting for survival. Instead, Aragorn … Read more
When Gandalf and Pippin entered Minas Tirith, the road did something that is easy to overlook: it refused to go straight. The White City rose in seven walled levels beneath Mindolluin, but its gates were deliberately—or at least very effectively—misaligned. The Great Gate opened eastward. The next gate lay toward the south. The third turned … Read more