Child and Rose had been sitting at one of the tables in the entry way amid the dusty volumes. Rose had brought along material and was sewing a new dress. Child shook her head and affectionately laughed. Then Child approached the librarian and explained they were seeking tales and poems of two sorts: the drowning of Numenor, and the history of Hobbits.
The librarian shook his head, but said nothing. "What a coincidence," he thought. Two parties searching for the same information and on such obscure topics! How strange, particularly the part about the hobbits, since few show interest in a people who only recently were known to us. And most of their history still seems so uneventful and unimportant!"
"Now, this group, I might understand, since at least these are hobbits. But the other one is quite beyond me." He shook his head again, but asked no questions and led them towards the library doors.
Child was eager to get into the archives. She was very comfortable in places like this and was not at all worried about her dress or cloak, which admittedly were quite worn. She loved even the smell and feel of such rooms with their piles of old books and parchment manuscripts, some in languages she could not even understand.
The librarian brought out a large brass key and led them to the entrance of the stacks. As the door unlocked and swung inward, it groaned on its hinges. Rose's eyes grew larger and larger as she surveyed the hundreds of shelves and tables filled with what must be thousands of items, all looking very ancient.
"How will we ever find anything here?" Rose whispered, gazing about in awe.
"Don't worry," Child replied, "Everything does have an order although it doesn't look like it. And we can ask the librarian to help us begin. We'll show him the riddles and ask to see a volume or scroll that contains similar text."
Child had a clear list in her head of the questions she wanted answered. She mentally reviewed them, one by one.
1. Was it only the Stoors who had left the Anduin, or were other membrs of the community involved?
2. In what age did the hobbits depart? Did the hobbits go voluntarily to the west, or were they forcibly removed? If so, by whom?
3. Had the hobbits gone directly to Numenor, or had there been other stops on the way?
4. Why had the Elves intervened to hide the hobbits on the Pillar of Heaven? What was so unique about hobbits that the immortal Elves had sailed from the Blessed Lands to intervene in their behalf, while so many others had died?
5. Most critically, what had happened to the hobbits after their hiding? Were they still hidden on the Isle? Had they disappeared in ages past? Had some or all been transported elsewhere?
Such a long list of questions! But, then, Child abruptly realized that both she and Mith had overlooked one possibility.
Perhaps the hobbits had not left Anduin of their own free will, or been forcibly seized. Perhaps one with a slick tongue and an evil heart had tricked them into departing their homeland, in hopes that they would perish or never return. That idea would explain much about the hobbits' later mistrust of adventures and fear of boats and water.
Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice came into Child's mind. She truly did not know from where it came. Child stood as if in another world, while words poured into her heart:
Quote:
|
"Then Iluvatar spoke, and he said: 'Mighty are the Ainur, and mightiest among them is Melkor; but that he may know, and all the Ainur, that I am Iluvatar, those things that ye have sung. I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.'"
|
Rose pulled insistently on Child's cloak. "Child, Child, pay attention." But she ignored her.
Child felt as if in a dream. She knew these phrases were from the Ainulindale, but why they had come into her heart and mind with such force, she could not understand.
In some hidden recess of her mind, Child could also hear the librarian saying something, as if speaking through a long tunnel very far away: "Excuse me, another gentleman has the scroll you were requesting. The two of you will have to share."
Child looked up, still in a daze, and saw an Elf, one who looked majestic and very old. The Elf was reciting the same riddles which Child and Rose were seeking, except he was singing them with a beautiful melody she had never heard.
With one hard pull, Child fell back into reality.
But the strange Elf had evidently not been part of her dream for he was still there, quietly voicing the music and its mysterious words.
Child and Rose stared in amazement and disbelief.
[ July 06, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]