All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes, a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king
-J.R.R. Tolkien

29 SEPTEMBER 3018

On September 29th, the hobbits are rescued from the Barrow-wights by Tom Bombadil. They make their way to Bree and meet Strider at the Prancing Pony Inn. The Nazgûl search for them there and steal their ponies.

THE JOURNAL OF SAMWISE GAMGEE

29 Sept – Day 7 – 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 115)

Photo by JosepMonter, Pixabay

“We’re rescued! Frodo sang while we were all asleep under the wight’s spell.  Tom heard him and rescued us! Oh, blessed sunshine, fresh air, and blue skies again!  I never thought we would leave that foul place. Tom found our ponies and the treasure trove of the Barrow-wights. We found some daggers so now, at least, we are armed. We left just past mid-morn with Tom leading the way, bless him.”

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

(Mile 118)

Photo “Sycamore Gap, Northumberland” 2895780, Pixabay

“We’re riding north through a gap. It’s a fair day. Things are looking up!”

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

(Mile 123)

Photo by EvgeniT, Pixabay

“We’ve reached a dike and hedge. This is the former boundary of Cardolan, part of the North Kingdom of Arnor.”

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

(Mile 131)

Photo by 12019, Pixabay

“We’ve returned to Great East Road. It’s near dark. Tom takes his leave and we’ll miss him. I swear I saw something striding through the trees at the edge of the road. Must be my eyes playin’ tricks.”

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

(Mile 135)

Photos by Parker West (Pony) 6028525 (Sign) and Couleur (Inn), Pixabay

“We’ve reached Bree. An inn, a fire, and a warm bed! We’re staying at The Prancing Pony. (Later) We’re having a fine time but I’m nervous.  We’re to call Mr. Frodo ‘Mr. Underhill’ so as not to give away who he is.  Things are starting to get interesting.

(Later) “Mr. Frodo put on that blasted ring! He didn’t mean to but it caused a ruckus!  We met a human ranger who goes by ‘Strider.’ I don’t trust him. He’s bossy and seems to know an awful lot about us. I’ll keep my eye on him.

(Later) Gandalf wrote a letter to Mr. Frodo three months ago!  Butterbur just brought it our room, and it took Butterbur a long time to get to the point.  In the letter, Gandalf talks something about gold and frost** and such but Mr. Frodo says there’s more to it than that.

“(Later, full dark) I dare not write much. We were discovered somehow by those Black Riders and they’ve stolen every pony and horse in the inn, including ours. Infernal things. We’ll never get away quick enough. Strider is keeping us hidden. Seems to know a bit about that anyways.”

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

**The verse in Frodo’s letter from Gandalf is:

All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes, a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king
-J.R.R. Tolkien

The verse appears first here in Chapter Ten, “Strider”, although when Frodo reads it he doesn’t understand that Strider is Aragorn and the subject of the verse.

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