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.22 After that time Condor wasassailed both by Orcs out of Mordor (which had long been unguarded) and by theCorsairs of Umbar, and had neither men nor opportunity for manning the line ofAnduin north of the Emyn Muil.Cirion became Steward of Gondor in the year 2489.The menace from the North wasever in his mind, and he gave much thought to ways that might be devisedagainst the threat of invasion from that quarter, as the strength of Gondordiminished.He put a few men into the old forts to keep watch on the Undeeps,and sent scouts and spies into the lands between Mirkwood and Dagorlad.He wasthus soon aware that new and dangerous enemies coming out of the east weresteadily drifting in from beyond the Sea of Rhûn.They were slaying or drivingnorth up the River Running and into the Forest the remnant of the Northmen,friends of Gondor that still dwelt east of Mirkwood.23 But he could do nothingto aid them, and it became more and more dangerous to gather news; too many ofhis scouts never returned.It was thus not until the winter of the year 2509 was past that Cirion becameaware that a great movement against Gondor was being prepared: hosts of menwere mustering all along the southern eaves of Mirkwood.They were only rudelyarmed, and had no great number of horses for riding, using horses mainly fordraught, since they had many large wains, as had the Wainriders (to whom theywere no doubt akin) that assail Gondor in the last days of the Kings.But whatthey lacked in gear of war they made up in numbers, so far as could beguessed.In this peril Cirion's thought turned at last in desperation to the Éothéod,and he determined to send messengers to them.But they would have to go throughCalenardhon and over the Undeeps, and then through lands already watched andpatrolled by the Balchoth 24 before they could reach the Vales of Anduin.Thiswould mean a ride of some four hundred and fifty miles to the Undeeps, and morethan five hundred thence to the Éothéod, and from the Undeeps they would beforced to go warily and mostly by night until they had passed the shadow of DayGuldur.Cirion had little hope that any of them would get through.He calledfor volunteers, and choosing six riders of great courage and endurance be sentthem out in pairs with a day's interval between them.Each bore a messagelearned by heart, and also a small stone incised with the seal for theStewards, 25 that he should deliver to the Lord of the Éothéod in person, if hesucceeded in reaching that land.The message was addressed to Eorl son of Léod,for Cirion knew that he had succeeded his father some years before, when he wasbut youth of sixteen, and though now no more than five and twenty was praisedin all such tidings as reached Gondor as a man of great courage and wise beyondhis years.Yet Cirion had but faint hope that even if the message were receivedit would be answered.He had no claim on the Éothéod beyond their ancientfriendship with Gondor to bring them from so far away with any strength thatwould avail.The tidings that the Balchoth were destroying the last of theirkin in the South, if they did no know it already, might give weight to hisappeal, if the Éothéod themselves were not threatened by any attack.Cirionsaid not more, 26 and ordered what strength he bad to meet the storm.Hegathered as great a force as he could, and taking command of it himself madeready as swiftly as might be to lead it north to Calenardhon.Hallas his son heleft in command at Minas Tirith.The first pair of messengers left on the tenth day of Súlimë; and in the eventit was one of these, alone of all the six, who got through to the Éothéod.Hewas Borondir, a great rider of a family that claimed descent from a captain ofthe Northmen in the service of the Kings of old.27 Of the others no tidingswere ever heard, save of Borondir's companion.He was slain by arrows in ambushas they passed near Dol Guldur, from which Borondir escaped by fortune and thespeed of his horse.He was pursued as far north as the Gladden Fields, andoften waylaid by men that came out of the Forest and forced him to ride far outof the direct way.He came at last to the Éothéod after fifteen days, for thelast two without food; and he was so spent that he could scarce speak hismessage to Eorl.It was then the twenty-fifth day of Súlimë.Eorl took counsel with himself insilence; but not for long.Soon he rose, and he said: "I will come.If theMundburg falls, whither shall we flee from the Darkness?" Then he tookBorondir's hand in token of the promise.Eorl at once summoned his council of Elders, and began to prepare for the greatriding.But this took many days, for the lost had to be gathered and mustered,and thought taken for the ordering of the people and the defence of the land.At that time the Éothéod were at peace and had no fear of war: though it mightprove otherwise when it became known that their lord had ridden away to battlefar off in the South.Nonetheless Eorl saw well that nothing less than his fullstrength would serve, and he must risk all or draw back and break his promise.At last the whole host was assembled; and only a few hundreds were left behindto support the men unfitted for such desperate venture by youth or age.It wasthen the sixth day of the month of Víressë [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]

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