The Lord of the Rings 3 - The Return of The King

For a while the travellers sat where once the old gates of Isengard had stood, and there were now two tall trees like sentinels at the begi

"Welcome to the Treegarth of Orthanc!" he said. "I knew that you were coming, but I was at work up the valley; there is much still to be done. But you have not been idle either away in the south and the east, I hear; and all that I hear is good, very good." Then Treebeard praised all their deeds, of which he seemed to have full knowledge; and at last he stopped and looked long at Gandalf.

"Well, come now!" he said. "You have proved mightiest, and all your labours have gone well. Where now would you be going? And why do you come here?"

"To see how your work goes, my friend," said Gandalf, "and to thank you for your aid in all that has been achieved."

'Hoom, well, that is fair enough," said Treebeard; "for to be sure Ents have played their part. And not only in dealing with that,hoom , that accursed tree-slayer that dwelt here. For there was a great inrush of those,burarum , those evileyed - blackhanded - bowlegged - flinthearted - clawfingered - foulbellied - bloodthirsty,morimaite - sincahonda ,hoom , well, since you are hasty folk and their full name is as long as years of torment, those vermin of orcs; and they came over the River and down from the North and all round the wood of Laurelindorenan, which they could not get into, thanks to the Great ones who are here." He bowed to the Lord and Lady of Lorien.

"And these same foul creatures were more than surprised to meet us out on the Wold, for they had not heard of us before; though that might be said also of better folk. And not many will remember us, for not many escaped us alive, and the River had most of those. But it was well for you, for if they had not met us, then the king of the grassland would not have ridden far, and if he had there would have been no home to return to."

"We know it well," said Aragorn, "and never shall it be forgotten in Minas Tirith or in Edoras."

"Neveris too long a word even for me," said Treebeard. "Not while your kingdoms last, you mean; but they will have to last long indeed to seem long to Ents."

"The New Age begins," said Gandalf, "and in this age it may well prove that the kingdoms of Men shall outlast you, Fangorn my friend. But now come tell me: what of the task that I set you? How is Saruman? Is he not weary of Orthanc yet? For I do not suppose that he will think you have improved the view from his windows."

Treebeard gave Gandalf a long look, a most cu

"Then why did he stay to listen? Did you go into Orthanc?" asked Gandalf.

'Hoom, no, not into Orthanc!" said Treebeard. "But he came to his window and listened, because he could not get news in any other way, and though he hated the news, he was greedy to have it; and I saw that he heard it all. But I added a great many things to the news that it was good for him to think of. He grew very weary. He always was hasty. That was his ruin."

"I observe, my good Fangorn," said Gandalf, "that with great care you saydwelt ,was ,grew . What aboutis ? Is he dead?"

"No, not dead, so far as I know," said Treebeard. "But he is gone. Yes, he is gone seven days. I let him go. There was little left of him when he crawled out, and as for that worm-creature of his, he was like a pale shadow. Now do not tell me, Gandalf, that I promised to keep him safe; for I know it. But things have changed since then. And I kept him until he was safe, safe from doing any more harm. You should know that above all I hate the caging of live things, and I will not keep even such creatures as these caged beyond great need. A snake without fangs may crawl where he will."

"You may be right," said Gandalf; "but this snake had still one tooth left, I think. He had the poison of his voice, and I guess that he persuaded you, even you Treebeard, knowing the soft spot in your heart. Well, he is gone, and there is no more to be said. But the Tower of Orthanc now goes back to the King, to whom it belongs. Though maybe he will not need it."

"That will be seen later," said Aragorn. "But I will give to Ents all this valley to do with as they will, so long as they keep a watch upon Orthanc and see that none enter it without my leave."

"It is locked," said Treebeard. "I made Saruman lock it and give me the keys. Quickbeam has them."

Quickbeam bowed like a tree bending in the wind and handed to Aragorn two great black keys of intricate shape, joined by a ring of steel. "Now I thank you once more," said Aragorn, "and I bid you farewell. May your forest grow again in peace. When this valley is filled there is room and to spare west of the mountains, where once you walked long ago."

Treebeard's face became sad. "Forests may grow," he said. "Woods may spread. But not Ents. There are no Entings."

"Yet maybe there is now more hope in your search," said Aragorn. "Lands will lie open to you eastward that have long been closed."

But Treebeard shook his head and said: "It is far to go. And there are too many Men there in these days. But I am forgetting my ma

But all save Legolas said that they must now take their leave and depart, either south or west. "Come, Gimli!" said Legolas. "Now by Fangorn's leave I will visit the deep places of the Entwood and see such trees as are nowhere else to be found in Middle-earth. You shall come with me and keep your word; and thus we will journey on together to our own lands in Mirkwood and beyond." To this Gimli agreed, though with no great delight, it seemed.

"Here then at last comes the ending of the Fellowship of the Ring," said Aragorn. "Yet I hope that ere long you will return to my land with the help that you promised."

"We will come, if our own lords allow it," said Gimli. "Well, farewell. my hobbits! You should come safe to your own homes now, and I shall not be kept awake for fear of your peril. We will send word when we may, and some of us may yet meet at times; but I fear that we shall not all be gathered together ever again."

Then Treebeard said farewell to each of them in turn, and he bowed three times slowly and with great reverence to Celeborn and Galadriel. "It is long, long since we met by stock or by stone,A vanimar ,vanimalion nostari! ' he said. "It is sad that we should meet only thus at the ending. For the world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, and I smell it in the air. I do not think we shall meet again."