#'i hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us; fair they wrought us; but they are gone'

[fantasyquests]

Gandalf stood at Frodo's side and looked out under his hand. "We have done well," he said. "We have reached the borders of the country that Men call Hollin; many Elves lived here in happier days, when Eregion was its name." "That is true," said Legolas. "But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the Silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us, but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago." ("The Ring Goes South", The Lord of the Rings)

[carlandrea]

'That is true,' said Legolas. 'But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk,

~ Us of the Silvan Folk ~

and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago.'

Legolas and Gimli share a hobby of going on little monologues about local history but like. They've got a different tone to it? Gimli's got a commanding presence; he's got charisma. He talks in a way that people listen.

Legolas does not seem entirely aware that anyone is listening to him at all.

[syyskirjat]

'There is a wholesome air about Hollin. Much evil must befall a country before it wholly forgets the Elves, if once they dwelt there.'

'That is true,' said Legolas. 'But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago.'

God, the "they are gone" got to me for some reason

And something about the land itself, and the stones, remembering the people who used to live there...

[weberina]

This is a little late. But I previously said that I'd share bits of the Dictionary and Atlas of Tolkien that are relevant to the LOTR newsletter. So here's one about Eregion, which the Company passed on 8 Jan before reaching Caradhras.

Gandalf stood at Frodo's side and looked out under his hand. 'We have done well,' he said. 'We have reached the borders of the country that Men call Hollin; many Elves lived here in happier days, when Eregion was its name.

....

There is a wholesome air about Hollin. Much evil must befall a country before it wholly forgets the Elves, if once they dwelt there.'

'That is true,' said Legolas. 'But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago.'

I find this place to be quite significant. Not to the story per se, but more that its history is closely linked to the Rings of Power, so thought I'd share a bit of background info for interest.

Here's the entry on Eregion in A Dictionary of Tolkien for a quick overview

And here's a story from An Atlas of Tolkien as it pertains to the Rings of Power (see image description for relevant text)

And here's a cute little map of the world at the time the story unfolds (doesn't actually show the region but just thought the map was pretty 😄)

[daywillcomeagain]

a fading world

Something that I think people tend to miss about LoTR is that it’s post-apocalyptic.

In the War of Wrath at the end of the Silmarillion, large swaths of Middle-Earth (the parts that are called Beleriand) are utterly destroyed. (here’s a map of that; we have no idea of the Southern coastline, or how much area south of Beleriand was destroyed in the War of Wrath.)

In the Akallabêth, the island country of Númenor (at the time, the major population center of men and the hub for civilization and invention) is sunk. It was more than twice the size of the UK in terms of physical size, and with a population easily numbering in the millions; if you accept the early canon of The Lost Road, they had just invented steel-plated ships (equivalent to the early 1800s of our world), and directly after their sinking invent some form of airship (blimps were invented in the mid-1800s of our world, and airplanes in approximately 1900, which coincide with this estimate), putting them only one or two hundred years away from inventions such as plastic, machine guns, movies, robots, radio, nuclear bombs, and the internet. For reference, The Hobbit--with all its pre-industrial charm and its battles fought with sword, bow, and axe--takes place just over three thousand years later.

The world is changed. It has changed physically: Beleriand and Númenor are no more. Its people have changed: the Entwives are gone, the Petty-Dwarves are gone, the Elves are fading and leaving for Valinor, the Ents are falling asleep, the Dwarf population is declining, the Hobbits are fated to slowly disappear over the course of the next age. Even height and lifespan have decreased, just as the magic in the world has: Thingol, who was created rather than born, was likely around eight feet tall; Galadriel, who was born in the First Age, was 6’4; Legolas, born in the Second or Third Age, was shorter than both Aragorn (6’6”) and Boromir (6’4”). The first King of Númenor lived to be 500; Tar-Vanimeldë, third queen and sixteenth ruler, lived to be 360; their heir, Aragorn, lived to be 210, and is noted for his long life. This slow diminishing can be seen in everything from swords (ancient swords are valued in combat much more than newer weapons, even though the opposite makes more intuitive sense, as weapons can acquire damage through use, implying that older swords were made better or have other qualities that make them superior; it is noted in FotR that only swords from the Elder Days glow in the presence of orcs, implying that bladesmiths have decreased in ability, knowledge, or both) to trees (Telperion, which gave out a light brighter than the sun or moon, is the direct ancestor of the White Tree of Gondor). In all things, the trajectory is the same: once, the world was great; now, it is not, and it is shrinking all the time.

Perhaps the most poignant example of this for me is the Song of Durin, sung by Gimli as the Fellowship passes through Moria. He describes a glorious kingdom, lit by lamps of crystal, with floors and ceilings of silver and gold, with magic carved into every door, occupied by craftsmen and bards alike--as they walk through its stony ruins in the dark. The world was young, the song starts, and the next stanza begins with The world was fair; the last stanza, on the other hand, starts with The world is grey. Khazad-dûm, the place the song is about, is renamed Moria, meaning literally ‘black pit’. This is the message: Once, the world was beautiful and young. Now it is old and dark. Stars that once were “as gems” are now “sunken”. Gondolin has fallen; Nargothrond has fallen; Doriath has fallen; Nogrod and Belegost have fallen; Eregion has fallen; Moria has fallen; Erebor has fallen; Minas Ithil has fallen--honestly, it would be faster to list the cities in the legendarium that don’t fall than to list the ones that do. The greatest city of the Third Age, Minas Tirith, is dwindling, but its name means simply “Watchtower”--when it was built, it was not a capital or a great city, just a place for guards to keep watch.

Looking at the world in order, the heroes that are focused on grow--both physically and narratively--smaller and smaller, with less and less power: we move from focusing on Eru Himself in the Aindulindalë to the Ainur in the Valaquenta, and then the High Elves of the Silmarillion, the Númenorean Men of the Akallabêth, the hobbits in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. We go from focusing on God and his angels to focusing on immortal kings and princesses with songs of magic to focusing on more ‘ordinary’ human kings and queens, until finally we arrive at the story of a middle-aged villager with no special abilities to speak of.

Even evil has decreased. The Sauron we see in Lord of the Rings is the bodiless shadow of the Sauron of the First Age--who is still but a servant to the greater evil, Morgoth, that drives the plot of the Silmarillion. Smaug is the last of the dragons.

In the Silmarillion, wars were won by beings near-godlike in power, sinking continents into the ocean and damaging the moon. In Lord of the Rings, war is won by a young man, armed only with a dagger, a friend, and a staggering amount of hope. The narratives of the world are changing from grand epics to personal stories of individuals, and the shining past is forgotten, or remembered only as story or song.

This isn’t necessarily good or bad inherently. (Well, except the fall of Númenor. The fall of Númenor was a terrible tragedy. But that’s material for a different post.) Lots of evil in Middle-Earth comes from people trying too hard to hold on to a past that has disappeared; lots of goodness comes from the small, dirty hands of a gardener. But it’s important, when looking at Middle-Earth in comparison with other fantasy settings, to remember: this is not a world full of wonder and magic on its rise. This is a world where grandeur is slowly but surely dying.

[undercat-overdog]

[The Three] were not made as weapons of war or conquest: that is not their power. Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained.

The love of the Elves for their land and their works is deeper than the deeps of the Sea.

The Elves of Eregion made Three supremely beautiful and powerful rings, almost solely of their own imagination, and directed to the preservation of beauty

[The Elves of Eregion] also retained the old motive of their kind, the adornment of earth, and the healing of its hurts.

[The Elves of Eregion] desired both to stay in Middle-earth, which indeed they loved, and yet to enjoy the bliss of those that had departed [...] they made Rings of Power [...] those who had [the Three] in their keeping could ward off the decayse of time and postpone the weariness of the world.

Yet after the fall of Sauron the [Three Rings’] power was ever at work, and where they abode mirth also dwelt and all things were unstained by the grief of time.

The Three were made to prevent the fading of the land the Elves loved, to make it beautiful and whole, to heal and adorn it. It was not to preserve their selves that the Rings were made; it was to preserve the well-loved lands, for beauty and joy and laughter.

(And oh, but the lands love them back: I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone.)

And it’s not stupid. It’s tragic.

[matrose]

"That is true," said Legolas. "But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago."

this scene and also gimlis reaction..how strange it mustve been to see an elf of the wood listen to the stones

[stormwarnings]

“But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us, but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the havens long ago.” - The Fellowship of the Ring, pg. 276

aka this makes me really emo bc its spoken by legolas (a very, very young elf) and it just sounds so sad, really. it makes me think about that comment that was like “lotr is what we think of when we say ‘high fantasy’ and yet lotr itself is almost post-apocalyptic”. the entire story is set in this world that’s nothing more than a pale echo of the grandeur of ages gone past - all the wars and battles might be small skirmishes compared to the massacres of the first age, the land is peppered with ruins and abandoned towers that were once full of life (not to speak of the splendor of beleriand, now mostly drowned, i believe). the valar, once ever-present, are barely spoken of, and the blood of numenor, kings among men, has been (in the case of gondor and arnor) diluted, or just plain lost. and the elves, who are fading and who know they are fading, who know their time has come to pass across the sea and leave this land they sacrificed everything for. most of them already have.

legolas is just. very young. he is very young, in a land that is very old. and this statement of his shows the weight of it well, i think.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Today in Tolkien - January 8th

On the morning of January 8th, the Fellowship of the Ring reach Hollin (Eregion). They plan to rest for the whole day, have a good cooked meal, get a good night’s sleep, and rest the next day as well, setting out the next evening. However, this plan is disrupted when Aragorn sees flocks of black crows flying over the land as if searching it out, and concludes they are spying they choose to put out the fire and keep walking that night, much to Pippin’s disgust.

This day includes one of Tolkien’s biggest Linguist Moments in the narrative, via Gimli’s speech:

Yonder stands Barazinbar, the Redhorn, cruel Caradhras; and beyond him are Silvertine and Cloudyhead: Celebdil the White and Fanuidhol the Grey, that we call Zirak-zigil and Bundushathûr.

On rereading this, I noticed for the first time why Caradhras is called the Redhorn:

At the left of the high tange rose three peaks; the tallest and narrowest stood up like a tooth tipped with snow; its great, bare, northern precipice was still largely in the shadown, but where the sunlight slanted upon it, it glowed red.

I’m also intrugued by Legolas’ statement of being able to hear the stones lament the lost Noldor: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us, but they are gone. Some parts of nature, like trees, might prefer to be left alone and obviously not wish to be cut down, as we see with Fangorn later, but the stones want to be quarried and shaped and used and altered, and even have a sense of the beauty of the creations that are made with them. Could elves talk to a building, in some fashion? To a statue? Legolas doesn’t mention the stones of Moria communicating with him, so maybe it’s specific to elf-shaped stone. Certainly Elves have a considerable effect on, and bond with, the land; Hollin is a healthier and more pleasant area than the rest of the surrounding territory merely because Elves lived there several thousand years ago.

[mythopoeticreality]

Okay, so basically I’m here working on The Road Goes Ever On and trying to figure out the Noldorin relationship to...well basically Nature in general. And on the one hand here, there is evidence from Lord of the Rings that Elves -- as a whole -- can and do hear and communicate with nature. You have Legolas who can sense the ancientness of Fangorn forest and says how young it makes him feel, as well as his remarks while the Fellowship is in Hollin: “But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago.’ 

You also have Treebeard, talking about the elves of Cuiviénen and how they not only woke the trees up and taught them to speak, but learned the trees own Language: “Elves began it, of course, waking trees up and teaching them to speak and learning their tree-talk. They always wished to talk to everything, the old Elves did”  

On top of that, going back even further to the Silmarillion it is mentioned that Celegorm has learned to speak the Languages of the Birds and Beasts of Middle Earth while Traveling in Oromë’s company. Indeed, Elves in General (as shown, again, through Legolas) seem to have this natural way with animals.

So from the beginning you have elves, these beings who posses these powers of Speach and Communication, and they want to share it with the world. They want to communicate with everything, and in so doing they build this relationship with it.

But this isn’t something I’ve really picked up on much in the Silmarillion? Again, you do have Celegorm, who can speak to animals -- but that talent is presented as being noteworthy, mentioned in relation to his being a Great hunter and a follower of  Oromë. The Silmarillion, told from the Noldorin perspective, is focused much more on the relationships between the Noldor themselves: the politics and intrigues amongst the separate branches of the Royal family; The sparkling white-walled cities they’ve built; the items and objects they’ve created-- ranging from jewels and gemstones, to the Palantíri and Fëanorian lamps, to the Silmaills themselves -- and the wars they’ve raged.

Is the answer in that in Lord of the Rings, our representative of the Elves is Legolas? Legolas who is not Noldorin, but rather Sindarin and raised within the culture of the Silvan elves -- Wood-elves, who are supposed to be closer to nature. A scattered folk who are said to be hardly distinguishable from the Avari. 

I can’t help but go back to that quote from Legolas in Hollin while thinking about this: “But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them.” The elves that inhabited Hollin -- Eregion -- were Noldor. And it isn’t the trees or plant life that do remember them. Only the stones of their former city, the things they made.

I can’t help but wonder if during their time on Valinor the Noldor might have...lost something? If during their tutelage under the Valar they began focusing more and more on building up Tirion and creating these wonders. If their own feuds and drama between one another became more and more consuming. If they did start focusing more on themselves and this relationship with trees and stones became nearly forgotten. Maybe, under Noldorin scholarship it became relegated to an almost half-folkloric sort of place? Maybe the first generations upon Valinor did try to teach the Trees and stones to speak as well. But maybe the Noldor soon came to see such things only as material for their own creations and only a few could still retain the ability to hear them.

I mean, just look at Fëanor himself -- the epitome of a Noldo if there ever was one. He created the Silmarills from the light of Telperion and Laurelin -- Yavanna’s ultimate creation, perhaps the ultimate expression of Nature in Arda, sun and moon and trees all in one. But  Fëanor regards the Silmarills as his and his alone, something he alone made and is entitled to.

Anyway, that was what I was able to come up with! If anyone smarter or better versed in Tolkien Lore has any thoughts or opinions on this please do comment! I gotta...get this figured out...

[palms-upturned]

i love the part in fellowship of the ring where legolas just like casually mentions that he can talk to rocks?

“But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago.”

like im pretty sure he’s speaking metaphorically but how much do u wanna bet that at least part of the fellowship thinks legolas can speak rock

[aipilosse]

Summary: "Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone." - Legolas, Fellowship of the Ring, The Ring Goes South

The story of Celebrimbor in Gondolin, snatching some joy and friendship between fallen cities.

[potatoobsessed999]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Finrod & Minas Tirith Characters: Finrod Felagund | Findaráto, Edrahil (Tolkien), Beren Erchamion Additional Tags: First Age Minas Tirith, Imprisonment, Tol-in-Gaurhoth Summary:

"'The Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone.'" - The Lord of the Rings

Held in the dungeons of a tower he himself built, Finrod Felagund draws strength from the stone.

[paradife-loft]

“But the mountains are ahead of us,” said Pippin. “We must have turned eastwards in the night.”

“No,” said Gandalf, “But you see further ahead in the clear light. Beyond those peaks the range bends round south-west. There are many maps in Elrond’s house, but I suppose you never thought to look at them?”

“Yes I did, sometimes,” said Pippin, “but I don’t remember them. Frodo has a better head for that sort of thing.”

(gandalffuckoff.jpg)

“I need no map,” said Gimli ... “There is the land where our fathers worked of old, and we have wrought the image of those mountains into many works of metal and of stone, and into many songs and tales. They stand tall in our dreams: Baraz, Zirak, Shathur.”

they have shortened nicknames for these mountains, guys ;A;

“There is a wholesome air about Hollin. Much evil must befall a country before it wholly forgets the Elves, if once they dwelt there.”

“That is true,” said Legolas. “But the Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone.“

yeahhh yeah well you’re strange to us too Leggy /shrug now tell us about all the beautiful stonework hanging around! sit around for a history lesson about the makers of the other rings! c’mon, Noldorin history walking tour when???

[thegirlwhohid]

...The Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them: Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone. They are gone. They sought the Havens long ago...

Legolas moodboard

‘The Lord of the Rings’ characters: (11/?)

Characters’ moodboards: (198/?)

The Fellowship of the Ring: (6/9)

[tolkiendecameron]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Finrod & Minas Tirith Characters: Finrod Felagund | Findaráto, Edrahil (Tolkien), Beren Erchamion Additional Tags: First Age Minas Tirith, Imprisonment, Tol-in-Gaurhoth Summary:

"'The Elves of this land were of a race strange to us of the silvan folk, and the trees and the grass do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone.'" - The Lord of the Rings

Held in the dungeons of a tower he himself built, Finrod Felagund draws strength from the stone.