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.upon hisrear.Now for long years the Númenóreans had brought in their ships to the GreyHavens, and there they were welcome.As soon as Gil-galad began to fear thatSauron would come with open war into Eriador he sent messages to Númenor; andon the shores of Lindon the Númenóreans began to build up a force and suppliesfor war.In 1695, when Sauron invaded Eriador, Gil-galad called on Númenor foraid.Then Tar-Minastir the King sent out a great navy; but it was delayed, anddid not reach the coasts of Middle-earth until the year 1700.By that timeSauron had mastered all Eriador, save only besieged Imladris, and had reachedthe line of the River Lhûn.He had summoned more forces which were approachingfrom the south-east, and were indeed in Enedwaith at the Crossing of Tharbad,which was only lightly held.Gil-galad and the Númenóreans were holding theLhûn in desperate defence the Grey Havens, when in the very nick of time thegreat armament of Tar-Minastir came in; and Sauron's host was heavily defeatedand driven back.The Númenórean admiral Ciryatur sent part of his ships to makea landing further to the south.Sauron was driven away south-east after great slaughter at Sarn Ford (thecrossing of the Baranduin); and though strengthened by his force at Tharbad hesuddenly found a host of the Númenóreans again in his rear, for Ciryatur hadput a strong force ashore at the mouth of the Gwathló (Greyflood), "where therewas a small Númenórean harbour." [This was Vinyalondë of Tar-Aldarion,afterwards called Lond Daer; see Appendix D.p.274.] In the Battle of theGwathló Sauron was routed utterly and he himself only narrowly escaped.Hissmall remaining force was assailed in the east of Calenardhon, and he with nomore than a bodyguard fled to the region afterwards called Dagorlad (BattlePlain), whence broken and humiliated he returned to Mordor, and vowed vengeanceupon Númenor.The army that was besieging Imladris was caught between Elrondand Gil-galad, and utterly destroyed.Eriador was cleared of the enemy, but laylargely in ruins.At this time the first Council was held, 10 and it was there determined that anElvish stronghold in the east of Eriador should be maintained at Imladrisrather than in Eregion.At that time also Gil-galad gave Vilya, the Blue Ring,to Elrond, and appointed him to be his vice-regent in Eriador; but the Red Ringhe kept, until he gave it to Círdan when he set out from Lindon in the days ofthe Last Alliance.11 For many years the Westlands had peace, and time in whichto heal their wounds; but the Númenóreans had tasted power in Middle-earth, andfrom that time forward they began to make permanent settlements on the westerncoasts [dated "c.1800" in the Tale of Years], becoming too powerful for Sauronto attempt to move west out of Mordor for a long time.In its concluding passage the narrative returns to Galadriel, telling that thesea-longing grew so strong in her that (though she deemed it her duty to remainin Middle-earth while Sauron was still unconquered) she determined to leaveLórinand and to dwell near the sea.She committed Lórinand to Amroth, andpassing again through Moria with Celebrían she came to Imladris, seekingCeleborn.There (it seems) she found him, and there they dwelt together for along time; and it was then that Elrond first saw Celebrían, and loved her,though he said nothing of it.It was while Galadriel was in Imladris that theCouncil referred to above was held.But at some later time [there is noindication of the date] Galadriel and Celeborn together with Celebrían departedfrom Imladris and went to the little-inhabited lands between the mouth of theGwathló and Ethir Anduin.There they dwelt in Belfalas, at the place that wasafterwards called Dol Amroth; there Amroth their son at times visited them, andtheir company was swelled by Nandorin Elves from Lórinand.It was not until faron in the Third Age, when Amroth was lost and Lórinand was in peril, thatGaladriel returned there, in the year 1981.Here the text "Concerning Galadrieland Celeborn" comes to an end.It may be noted here that the absence of any indication to the contrary in TheLord of the Rings had led commentators to the natural assumption that Galadrieland Celeborn passed the latter half of the Second Age and all the Third inLothlórien; but this was not so, though their story as outlined in "ConcerningGaladriel and Celeborn" was greatly modified afterwards, as will be shownbelow.Amroth and NimrodelI have said earlier (p.245) that if Amroth were indeed thought of as son ofGaladriel and Celeborn when The Lord of the Rings was written, so important aconnection could hardly have escaped mention.But whether he was or not, thisview of his parentage was later rejected.I give next a short tale (dating from1969 or later) entitled "Part of the Legend of Amroth and Nimrodel recounted inbrief."Amroth was King of Lórien, after his father Amdír was slain in the Battle ofDagorlad [in the year 3434 of the Second Age].His land had peace for manyyears after the defeat of Sauron.Though Sindarin in descent he lived after themanner of the Silvan Elves and housed in the tall trees of a great green mound,ever after called Cerin Amroth.This he did because of his love for Nimrodel [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]