“Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Rings, (“Three Is Company”)
24 SEPTEMBER 3018
Day 2: 28 Miles. On the second day from home, September 24th, the hobbits journeyed 28 miles, traveling from 10 o’clock in the morning to after 11 o’clock at night.
THE JOURNAL OF SAMWISE GAMGEE
Here below are the notes* Sam took along the way as well as a few jotted sketches. In later years, Sam’s daughter Elanor used Sam’s rough sketches to create paintings to accompany the three Books. (Based one The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Atlas of Middle Earth by Karen Fonstad and The Eowyn Challenge website.)
(Mile 18)
Photo by 02019, Pixabay
“We ate at our campsite and got water from a stream at the foot of the hill. It’s right pretty here, with a little fall where the water falls a few feet over an outcrop of grey stone. It’s coming up to near mid-morn when we leave.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
(Miles 20-29)
Photo by Free-Photos, Pixabay
“The road and the hills roll up and down. It’s a fine day for a walk. My eyes are feasting but my belly rumbles.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
(Mile 29)
Photo by SputnikZion, Pixabay
“The road zig-zags some to top of a steep bank and goes down for the last time. We can see across Woody End to the River. We stop to rest for a few hours. We’ve eaten now. Not much, but at least it gives some strength. Everything is new everywhere we look, and my eyes are drooping from looking so long and hard. We’re leaving now. The sun is beginning to get low as we head down the hill.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
(Mile 32)
Photos by DarkworkX, Hans & Pole-Equide, Pixabay
“For the past few miles, the road looked like it was fairly straight and level, but when I look back I see the meandering way it turns. (Later). BLACK RIDER! Pippin and I hid in a hollow and Mr. Frodo behind tree by the road. My hands shake writing this. He’s gone on now but what if he comes back and finds us? I never heard anything so evil as that screech!”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
(Mile 35)
Photo by Pixel2013
“We’re keeping a stone’s throw left of the road so not to get lost but not to get spotted. It’s slower going, but safer.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
(Mile 37)
Photo “South Downs” by Tom_Cunliffe_Photos, Pixabay
“A couple of miles later, the road splits to Stock. We took the bends to the left and now we’re heading down into the lowlands.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
(Mile 37)
Photo by GeorgeB2, Pixabay
“We joined another lane which branches to the right, winding through a wood of ancient Oaks. Sundown and evening is coming on. It’s well past dinner time and nearing supper but we cannot risk stopping. (Later) We’re quite close to the road-meeting. We’ve crept inside a huge tree to eat and rest.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
(Mile 38)
Photo by JPeter2, Pixabay
“Going on twilight. Mr. Frodo says I’ll never be able to read my notes if I walk and write. I can write well enough to scratch out a few words but he’s right. Resting here I can do a better job of it. It’s twilight and we’re singing. Its lifting our spirits again. It’s close to 7 o’clock in the evening I think.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
(Mile 41)
Photo by Yuri_B, Pixabay
“Pippin made me laugh when he suddenly stopped the song and said, “And NOW to bed!” (Later) We heard that BLACK RIDER again! Full dark now. We’re keeping quiet as mice in the larder. (Later). ELVES! The RIDER saw them and left. The elves were singing! I cannot find words for the wonder of seeing the elves! We’re to continue with them now.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
This is the song the elves sang:
(Miles 42-44)
Photo by Michael Gaidia, Pixabay
“The wood is a lot denser, and the lane runs lower, running in a fold of hills, with hazel on the slopes alongside. Pippin quickly becomes sleepy but he’s sleepy most of the time. The elves seem to know where they’re going.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
(Mile 45)
Photo by Ruthies89, Pixabay
“It’s dark. We’ve turned right off the path on ‘a green ride’ through thickets. That’s what they call it but it’s too dark to see anything but shadows.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
(Mile 46)
Photo by Ben_Frieden, Pixabay
“We’re camped now in a place called Woody End. In the torch lights, I can see a green floor in the wood, roofed by boughs of trees. To the east, theres’s a steep drop and we can overlook the river valley and can even see the lights of the Village of Woodhall below. (Later) Those riders are out there, so it’s hard to get sleepy. To calm myself, I looked up at the stars and pretended I was home and safe again, back in Hobbiton. That helped a little. Time for sleep.”
From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.
BACK TO EARTH AUTHOR NOTES
Feature photo by Ben Frieden, Pixabay.
*This journal is a fanfiction creation by Niki Flow, based the beautiful works of J.R.R. Tolkien; on the meticulous milestone-marker notes in The Atlas of Middle Earth by Karen Fonstad and on the Eowyn Challenge website:
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