One Geek to Rule Them All

Kheled-zâram and Nimrodel

"There lies the Mirrormere, deep Kheled-zâram!" said Gimli sadly. "I remember he said: 'May you have joy of the sight! But we cannot linger there.' Now long shall I journey ere I have joy again. It is I that must hasten away, and he that must remain." Kitty felt the grip of Devin's hand tighten slightly on her own as they walked.

The Company now went down the road from the Gates. It was rough and broken, fading to a winding track between heather and spiny yellow flowers that thrust amid the cracking stones. But still it could be seen that once long ago a great paved way had wound upwards from the lowlands of the Dwarf Kingdom. In places there were ruined works of stone beside the path, and mounds of green topped with slender birches, or fir-trees sighing in the wind. An eastward bend led them hard by the sward of Mirrormere, and there not far from the roadside stood a single column broken at the top.

"That is Durin's stone!" cried Gimli. "I cannot pass without turning aside for a moment to look at the wonder of the dale!"

"Be swift then!" said Aragorn, looking back towards the Gates. "The Sun sinks early. The Orcs will not, maybe, come out till after dusk, but we must be far away before nightfall. The Moon is almost spent, and it will be dark tonight."

"Come with me, Frodo, Devin!" cried the dwarf, springing from the road. "I would not have you go without seeing Kheled-zâram." He ran down the long green slope. Frodo and Devin followed slowly, drawn by the still blue water in spite of hurt and weariness; in truth gazing upon the Mirrormere had been a childhood dream of hers. Sam and Kitty came up behind.

Beside the standing stone Gimli halted and looked up. It was cracked and weather-worn, and the faint runes upon its side could not be read. "This pillar marks the spot where Durin first looked in the Mirrormere," said the dwarf. "Let us look ourselves once, ere we go!" They stooped over the dark water. At first they could see nothing. Then slowly they saw the forms of the encircling mountains mirrored in a profound blue, and the peaks were like plumes of white flame above them; beyond there was a space of sky. There like jewels sunk in the deep shone glinting stars, though the sunlight was in the sky above. Of their own stooping forms no shadow could be seen. Devin stared in wonder. It was even more beautiful than she had ever imagined, beyond words.

"O Kheled-zâram fair and wonderful!" said Gimli. "There lies the crown of Durin till he wakes. Farewell!" He bowed and turned away, and hastened back up the green-sward to the road again.

"Man, that was awesome-sauce!" Kitty said appreciatively as they followed. "They sure don't make lakes like that back home!" Devin nodded quietly in agreement. Her eyes were deep and pensive like the mere, but they seemed a little lighter and less heavy than before.

"What did you see?" said Pippin to Sam, but Sam was too deep in thought to answer.

The road now turned south and went quickly downwards, running out from between the arms of the dale. Some way below the mere they came to a deep well of water, clear as crystal, from which a freshet fell over a stone lip and ran glistening and gurgling down a steep rocky channel.

"Here is the spring from which the Silverlode rises," said Gimli. "Do not drink of it! It is icy cold."

"Soon it becomes a swift river, and it gathers water from many other mountain-streams," said Aragorn. "Our road leads beside it for many miles. For I shall take you by the road Gandalf chose, and first I hope to come to the woods where the Silverlode flows into the Great River—out yonder." They looked as he pointed, and before them they could see the stream leaping down to the trough of the valley, and then running on and away into the lower lands, until it was lost in a golden haze.

"There lie the woods of Lothlórien!" said Legolas. "That is the fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. Not till the spring comes and the new green opens do they fall, and then the boughs are laden with yellow flowers; and the floor of the wood is golden, and the roof is golden, and its pillars are of silver, for the bark of the trees is smooth and grey. So still our songs in Mirkwood say. My heart would be glad if I were beneath the eaves of that woods, and it were springtime!"