“Cold be hand and heart and bone
and cold be sleep under stone
never more to wake on stony bed
never, till the Sun fails and the Moon is dead
In the black wind the stars shall die
and still be gold here let them lie
till the Dark Lord lifts his hand
over ead sea and withered land.”
-The dismal, tortured chant
of a Barrow-wight.

The Lord of the Rings, Book 1, Chapter 8, “Fog on the Barrow-Downs” by J.R.R. Tolkien

 28 September 3018

THE JOURNAL OF SAMWISE GAMGEE

28 Sept – Day 6 – 17 miles

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.

(Mile 98)

Photo by Laurencerundell, Pixabay

“We left Tom’s house early. We’re climbing up a zig-zagging path to the brow of a hill on the west side of the Barrow-downs. We have ponies now and we go up steep slopes and down long limbs of paths.”

From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.

(Mile 98-2)

Photo by PublicDomainPhotos, Pixabay

(Later same day)
“We turned too far east! We’re in the Barrow-downs, a terrible place of great dread. My hands shake to write. This place is inhabited by the evil Barrow-wights from Angmar! We must get away from here!”

From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.

(Mile 112)

Photo by Free-Photos, Pixabay

“We’re walking now in fog. The sun is sinking, and we are still in the Barrow-downs and lost. I fear we shall never see the sun again.”

From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.

(Mile 115)

Photos by Gerwitt, Pixabay, and Picmonkey

“They are cominnnng….. ” (zzz)

From: “The Journal of Samwise Gamgee, 23 Sept – 20 Oct, 3018.

BACK TO EARTH AUTHOR NOTES

*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:

Bag End to Rivendell with Frodo and Company:  458 Miles