The Council of Elrond. by hennethgalad

Chapter 1

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   Imladris was silent in the autumn evening, the late sun shone long through the pines high above, but around Glorfindel in the shadows of the valley, the lanterns were lit by the river and sparkled on the rippling waters. He sipped his wine and glanced up, there was Bilbo, ambling down the path with a careless smile on his wrinkled old face.

  Glorfindel rose slowly to his feet and said softly 'You ! You... You !'

  Bilbo started guiltily, then narrowed his eyes at Glorfindel 'What of you then ? I saw Boromir turn to you and tell you to take the Ring ! I saw everyone defer to you in there, I saw you speak for 'all the elves', you are their king !'

  Glorfindel gaped at him, then sat back with a sigh 'You have not met Galadriel, have you ? But you will remember Thranduil. Do you suppose such a one would heed my counsel ? King... We do not, no, we in the West do not heed such antiquated notions. For what counts is the wisdom of the counsel, not the title used to address the counsellor. And I am not the wisest, not even in this valley.' He laughed ‘Especially in this valley, where the wise wisely gather. It is a good place to call home for one so prone to vanity as me.'

   'Vanity !' cried Bilbo 'You are not vain ! Not nearly as vain as I would be if I looked like you !'

   Glorfindel laughed 'Thankyou, dear friend ! But you are thinking as a mortal, or one of the Sindar. To those who have seen the Trees, and to Gandalf, I am not so lovely, for we see that which is within.'

   'You did not see the doubt in Gandalf’s face when Boromir looked at you and said 'Let the Ring be your weapon !' I swear it, Gandalf was thinking 'Yes, do it !' just for a moment.'

 

   Glorfindel put his hands over his face, and seemed to shrink into himself. When he looked up at Bilbo it was with anguish in his whitening face 'You bore that Ring for half your lifetime, and you put it calmly down and walked merrily away. I am tormented by the mere glimpse of it that I have been given. A glimpse...'

   Bilbo gazed at him with round eyes 'You ?'

   Glorfindel laughed softly 'Oh, it sings to us, Bilbo, it sings like the stars of Varda, or the forests of Yavanna. It whispers like the wind of Manwë and roars like the storms of Ulmo. I could not withstand it for a moment. It would incinerate me in an instant. I saw...' he paused and looked at the hobbit, who nodded encouragingly and said 

   'No, do go on ! After such a long time keeping the secret, it is marvellous to have someone to talk to. What ? What did you see ?'

 

   'Ha ! How shall I describe it to you ? You have worn the Ring, how is it with you ?'

   'It has changed me, yes. My senses are sharpened, I feel... I feel larger than a hobbit, but as though I were a mist that had spread through the valley, delicately aware of all that passed, and with a sense, the merest hint, that if I could push the world , just nudge it a little, just so, I could do, well, anything. But somehow I never did, I never touched anything, I merely floated, faint and tenuous, until I took off the Ring, and snapped back into myself. 

   I wonder... I wonder if that is how... I mean I wonder if it is like trying on the shoes of another. That is the only way I can describe it.' Bilbo frowned and emptied his goblet. Glorfindel refilled them and they were silent for a time.

 

   'You put down the Ring of power. You put it down and walked away. I am more astonished than I have ever been, and I have seen some very astonishing things. My dear Mr Baggins, no elven king has ever shown such valour.'

   Bilbo frowned 'What about Maglor ? He threw a silmaril into the sea.'

   'It burned his hand ! Besides, he did not find it abandoned in a deserted tunnel.'

   'Oh, I knew it belonged to Gollum. I have often wondered what I would have done if it had belonged to someone nice, someone like you. Would I have given it back to you ? Or did it seize my mind in an instant ? You will say "You put it down" again, but do you not think I am aware of the injury it does me ? Did me...My hand is burned, yes, and my mind, and my eyes, and most of all my heart.

    Sometimes the mist does not clear, sometimes I am lost to it; only awareness, nothing more. I did not put it down through valour, I fled it, I am still hiding in this most secret of valleys, appalled to see the cursed thing again, appalled at what I have done to Frodo, appalled that I ever picked it up !' He paused, then sighed 'Sorry, Glorfindel, I did not mean to rant at you.'

   Glorfindel shook his head, still visibly astonished 'All these years I thought I knew you. I thought I knew hobbits ! I knew nothing ! The One Ring is here, in Imladris, and it was yours, and you gave it away ! Yet all you do is speak a little vigorously and instantly apologise. By the stars of Varda ! I do not know what to say...'

   'Yes you do. Tell me what you saw, tell me how the Ring appeared to you ?'

   'Did I not ?'

   'You know you did not. Come, elfling, I have spent many years sitting in silence with elves. I read your silences ! You would speak, and I, more than any other alive, would hear your words on this.'

   Their eyes met, across the table, across the abyss. The elf marvelled at the tiny, frail, scrap of life, on his high, stepped chair stuffed with the finest cushions in Rivendell. He had always considered Bilbo more as a favoured child, or mascot, than as a person of substance. He could not have been more astonished than if a squirrel had roared and attacked him.

 

   'Speak, elf ! Tell me your tale !' Bilbo grinned at him, but Glorfindel shivered, feeling a little of the mist about him, as the shadow deepened, and the presence of the Ring weighed on the valley. Bilbo sat back a little 'I say, Glorfindel, I am sorry if I'm being rude. I do not wish to embarrass you or upset you !'

  Glorfindel shook his head 'No, but the Black Speech of Mithrandir still sounds in my ears, and the One Ring is here, in this valley, in my home ! No darker shadow has ever come here.

    And I... I was... I am being tried, Bilbo Baggins, my spirit is striving against the serpents of temptation.' He laughed and sat back in his chair, stretching his long legs. A dark red leaf drifted through the air and landed on his chest. For a moment it looked to Bilbo like a terrible ragged wound against the white tunic, and he shivered, and forced himself not to ask again about the Balrog. But Glorfindel picked up the leaf and twisted the stem in his fingers for a moment.

   'I saw the world shrink into nothing, into the size of a bowl, and I grew vast, and as tenuous as you described yourself. And I looked into the bowl, as though a mirror, yet there was the world, seen from far above the reach of the mightiest eagle, spread before me like a feast, or a toy.

   But I was not merely mist, for I was born under the Light of the Trees, and that Light lingers. And in that endless instant, I knew many things. I knew that I could touch the water, and move the world. I could scatter the Light, as the sunlight glitters across the water. I could bring hope and joy to counter the Shadow. 

   I need only follow the reckless counsel of men... I need only reach out my hand and take the One Ring.' Glorfindel fell silent and looked down at the goblet in his hands, then back to Bilbo 'But it was false. For always about me was the open sky. The wisdom of Master Elrond, to meet under the open sky ! For I looked up, as the eldar do, seeking the tranquility of the stars, and I knew that the visions of the Ring were false. For all his striving, the Enemy does nothing but dabble in the water, disturbing the reflection, while above him the sky is full of the light of stars. And when he is gone, the starlight will return, and I can add nothing to that beauty. 

   And when I knew this, my eyes met those of Mithrandir. You are right, Mr Baggins, part of him, I am sure, wished to see the Last Alliance return, with Elrond and I leading the charge.' The elf laughed softly 'But where now the horse and the rider ?'  he chanted, and Bilbo looked curiously at him. 

 

   But it was always hard to tell with elves, one of them would quote a line of song, and he would not know, and then they would all start quoting, and the subject had mysteriously changed, and suddenly everyone was singing again ! Bilbo sighed.

  'Come, Mr Baggins, you have seen battle ! You have read a little, here in Imladris, you know full well that we elves are as diminished as the Dunedain, and that there is now no army to face the enemy. But even though there were, I hope that I would have heeded the wisdom of Mithrandir and spurned the tool of the enemy.'

   'Of course you would ! Besides, this way is much better. How awful to have enough elves to form an army and then kill them all ! I hope you would not dream of such a thing !'

   Glorfindel opened his mouth to speak, and sighed, and drank instead. The memories rose like a flock of crows, and he looked away.