Note to Readers: No doubt you will guess at the end of this which other work this is a crossover with. My not mentioning it before is deliberate as I wanted to gradually build up the background. I also did not want to detract from Stargate SG1 or their characters as the main thrust and plot of this story is primarily set in the Stargate universe and not in Middle Earth. All the SG1 characters will play a full part in the story.

Disclaimer: I own none of the basic concepts of either Stargate SG1, or anything else. However all original characters do belong to me as does the basic plot for this story. Excerpts and character from the works of Tolkien belong solely to the Tolkien Estates. The professor belongs to himself.

"An idea, to be suggestive, must come to the individual with the force of revelation." -

William James

Chapter Six - Revelations

"Did you enjoy that?"

The being sitting calmly in front of the stasis jar sounded hugely amused.

Cronus was quite used to having these conversations now, given that they had been happening for some years as measured by normal time. "Yes, I think he is beginning to like me."

Although the smirk could not be seen with the naked eye, it was there in his tone. The being laughed softy but said nothing.

"I think he finds my intrusion into his life confusing." Cronus continued. "I always found him rather irritating the few times I met him. He speaks too quickly. It's as though his brain moves too fast for his speech to catch up."

"He suffered great pain under the actions of your kind." The being said thoughtfully.

"Yes. His wife unfortunately became the Queen of Apophis and was subsequently killed. Apophis greatly enjoyed the taking of the host. He liked to watch the subjugation." There was a note of distaste in Cronus' voice that did not escape the being.

"Yet you did not enjoy that part. Why?"

The question was a simple one, but the answer started a complex chain of thought in Cronus. Thinking about things to do with his own life and feelings in depth had not come easily to him. Like most Goa'uld he had not tended to think his actions through. They were always as a direct result of an immediate desire.

"I chose my hosts carefully." He said cautiously. "In the ten thousand years that I existed, I only ever had two hosts. The first was chosen for me by my sire. I was young and struggled greatly for dominance over the host who was also young and impetuous. I was also foolish and greatly ambitious. With concentration I managed to overcome the fury of my host at being taken, but my actions were not well thought out. My ambition brought me into direct conflict with my sire. I was not operating from a strong position, my Jaffa army was still small in numbers. There was a battle and my host was injured beyond my ability to repair him. We were found by one of the humans of the planet of the Tau'ri, a soldier in one of their ancient armies. Thinking that I was one of the Gods from Olympus brought down by magic, he set his physicians and priests to try and heal us, but the injuries were too great. One of the physicians was an erudite man, a human with great knowledge, unmarried and dedicated to his art. He was also curious. When I expelled myself on my host's demise, he would have studied me." Cronus shrugged. "Technologically he could not have preserved me, the Greeks were not advanced enough at the time, so I seized the opportunity and took him as my new host. He was not unwilling. There was no subjugation."

"You studied him while he was trying to save your host's life and decided that he would make a good host?" There was no emotion in the being's tone of voice, no judgement, no distaste.

"Yes. He was an educated, rational and mature human with no family and no ties." Cronus admitted. "I thought he would make a good host and I was right. His name was Appollonius." He felt a sudden rush of sadness.

"You communicated with him. Is it not the usual way of the Goa'uld to subjugate the host completely?"

"Yes we communicated and no, my relationship with my host was not the Goa'uld way, but none knew of it. He was, as I said an educated, rational human. He tempered my youthful arrogance and taught me much...when I allowed him to. He did not deserve the end he was given." Again the rush of sadness.

"How do you feel?"

Cronus sighed. "You always ask me that."

"Because it is always relevant. How do you feel?" The being repeated the question.

"I miss him." Cronus reached inside himself and again found the huge well of emptiness left behind when his host had died. "I did not want to leave him lying there in the mud to be reviled and spat on by those who came to rejoice at my death, but I had no choice but to expel myself. One of your people plucked me from his still warm body but I did not wish to leave him there."

"You grieve for him." Again a simple question, but this time it only required a simple answer.

"Yes. I grieve for my loss."

"In the end they treated him with dignity and interred him in the way of his kind. The mortal Dr Jackson researched the burial rites appertaining to his time on earth and they were read over him as he was sent back to the earth from whence he came. Does this bring you comfort?"

Cronus felt a spear of pain rather than comfort at the thought. He thrashed in distress in the stasis jar. He could feel the being's compassion rolling over him in waves.

"Would it comfort you to know that his soul is here in my halls and that he bears you no ill will? Quite the contrary in fact." The being persisted.

Cronus calmed a little and his curiosity emerged. "How...how can this be?"

But even as he asked the question he knew that his current place of residence was also a staging post for the souls of the dead. Not so long ago he would have laughed at the notion that the souls of beings lived on after death, but now...now was different. He had learned much here. His guards still guarded him, but others, un-fleshed essences of a once-living person, occasionally now drifted in and out of his 'room', as he thought of it now.

Cronus wasn't exactly sure when his prison had become a room, but it had, and the outward indication of that had been the guards who, although vigilant, had relaxed slightly. The stern expressions of before were now more open and they even smiled sometimes when Cronus and the 'being' had their therapy sessions as Cronus jokingly called them.

The one thing that Cronus had grown to like about his situation was the aura of peace and calm that surrounded him here. A peace only broken by the being's gentle interrogation of him. Then things about his life and his feelings came to light that were anything but peaceful. He had come to understand that the being was not his interrogator. If anything, Cronus himself was his own interrogator. The being merely facilitated the soul-searching.

"I am pleased." Cronus said sadly. "Is he allowed to see me?"

The being's expression turned regretful and he shook his head in negation. "He is the soul of a mortal man, this part of my halls is not a place for him. Soon, when he is ready, he will move on to his rightful place beyond the bounds of the mortal universe."

"But the others I have seen. They are allowed here. Are they not mortal? They died did they not?" Cronus was confused again.

The being smiled. "Ah, yes, the souls of the Children, they are curious about you, a creature, such as they have never seen before, who is alive and yet in the Halls of the Dead. It has been explained to them that you are under judgement, but they know naught else. Have they spoken yet?"

"No, when they come into the room the guards allow them to investigate and then they are sent on their way. They do not communicate with me. They are children?"

The being laughed this time. "No not in the terms that you understand as children, they are the souls of those we refer to as 'the Children', who die and are awaiting rebirth. Their kind do not move on after death. They are bound to this place until the end time. Most were adults when they died. There are few here now, most have left my halls, which pleases me. But there are some who will never leave, they would not deal with rebirth well.." His expression then darkened with displeasure which deepened Cronus' curiosity as this being rarely showed that side of his nature. "...and there are those who cannot leave. Their actions in life were far too dangerous and too dreadful for them to be allowed to leave. Their reparation is too slow and some do not regret any of their actions and are defiant. When the end time comes they will be judged by one much greater than I."

The being's whole attitude was of profound sadness and in spite of wanting to ask about rebirth and why the Children were different to humans like Appollonius, Cronus decided that he would not pursue the line of questions if it caused this powerful entity to feel such obvious pain. Yet still the being seemed to know of his decision.

"Thank you child. Your sensitivity to my feelings is noted by my brethren and I and is much welcomed. You have indeed come far. Soon perhaps we will allow the souls of the Children in these Halls to speak to you, but not quite yet. You still have some way to travel on your journey." The being inclined his head to Cronus, de-materialised from the room and the guards resumed their positions inside near the stasis jar.

Cronus sighed deeply again. He had come to greatly enjoy these sessions and felt regret when they ended. Afterwards he felt lighter and although the shadows still encroached and the cries of his victims still rang in his head as he knew they always would, he knew that he was gradually feeling different.

He settled down into his usual position of inward searching. He required no food, the pulsating light that he hung in seemed to provide all that was necessary. Before this he had felt naked without a host body to protect him, but now all he felt was unencumbered. He had pondered many times as to whether this was how symbiotes were meant to feel, but had not yet drawn up sufficient courage to ask..

However this time, as he settled himself into one of the inevitable periods of reflection, he became aware that one of his guards was watching him. He turned his attention outwards and sent out a tentative query with his mind. To his utter amazement, the guard inclined his fair head and smiled enigmatically at him. His bright eyes twinkled with laughter.

It was the first time anyone in this place besides the being who was his guide had deliberately acknowledged his presence.

That was the point at which Cronus realised for the first time that it was not his captors who were changing their opinion of him. He was changing his opinion of himself.

ooOoo

Mission Briefing, SGC Cheyenne Mountain 0800 hours Zulu

Dr Daniel Jackson was late. SG1 comprising Colonels Sam Carter and Cam Mitchell, Teal'c and Vala were all sitting in their usual seats around the table, General Landry was standing behind his chair wearing his leather jacket and drinking coffee out of his favourite mug.

Sam kept throwing anxious looks in the direction of the General whose constantly calm demeanour worried her a lot. She was more of a politically correct Air Force officer than either Cam or Jack had been. She tried to go by the book when it came to correct behaviour towards a senior officer and Landry's seeming casual 'thoroughly nice guy' way of commanding really really worried her. Despite being a full bird Colonel she still needed to know where she stood with senior officers and even a few years of being part of a team commanded by a thoroughly unorthodox Commanding Officer like Jack O'Neil had not cured her of a desire to be the perfect military officer. A lot of that was down to being a woman in one of the last bastions of male dominance.

To be fair to General Landry he wasn't actually annoyed at Daniel. Daniel Jackson was a civilian and as such he was allowed a few eccentricities such as being slightly late for briefings and then rushing in with his laptop balanced precariously on top of three files covered in coffee stain rings, two of which Landry knew were marked Top Secret, his hair ruffled and shedding paper as he went.

Just as he was doing that morning.

Teal'c rose from his seat and started collecting the paper dropped in Daniel's haphazard wake, while Vala rolled her eyes and Cam shook his head in mock despair and continued to snap his pencil in ever smaller pieces. As the Jaffa stalked back to his seat and placed the pile of paper on the table he was followed by the General's Adjutant who handed him another pile of paper that Daniel had shed throughout the outer office. Teal'c inclined his head in thanks and the Adjutant shut the door firmly behind him.

"Thanks Teal'c." Daniel spoke without turning around. He was busy connecting his laptop up to the LCD projector.

Cam's muffled groan at the sight of the bulky folders and laptop was cut off mid-glare from the General, but they all knew they were in for one of Daniel's special briefings. Obviously he had made a breakthrough on whatever he was working on and was about to brief them on it. If Jack had been present he would already have gone into open-eyed sleep mode. For her part, now Daniel was here and the General didn't look too mad, she could go into her perky 'I'm all ears' mode.

Vala satisfied herself with doodling idly all over the pad she was meant to take notes on. Sam hid s smile at the sight. She couldn't help thinking that Vala and Jack would make quite a good pair...of what she wasn't entirely sure, but they both had a low boredom threshold and that quirky unpredictability.

Daniel finished the setting up and pushed his glasses up his nose. He opened up a series of files, but brought one up to the top. It was a photograph of an elderly man and underneath it said 'Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien'.

"Wasn't he the guy who made the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in New Zealand?" Cam asked with a wink at Sam who grinned widely. She knew what was coming next.

As predictable as ever when it came to movies,Teal'c turned to him. "That was Peter Jackson Colonel Mitchell."

"Oh." Sam dissolved into muffled giggles and even the General smiled and shook his head.

Daniel cleared his throat. "Professor J R R Tolkien, Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College, Oxford, England until his retirement in 1959 started out in his first job with the Oxford Dictionary where he worked on the history and etymology of the origin of Germanic words. However, he is better known for his creation of an entire alternative world and a language to go with it. The world was that of Arda or Middle Earth allegedly based on our earth and he wrote a history for a time which is believed to be mythical in which he set an epic tale involving Elves, mythical beasts and mortal man. The language he created was called Tengwar which in his fictional works was a language created by the Elf Feanor who was the first son born to a Noldorin King called Finwe."

Whatever they had all been expecting, this wasn't it. He now had the attention of everyone around the table.

"This is all very fascinating Dr Jackson, but how does a work of fiction relate to what we do here in Stargate Command?" General Landry interrupted him.

Daniel flushed. "I was getting to that General." He clicked the mouse and the picture changed to that of the tablets they had brought back from P3A-884 a few years earlier. He pointed at the image on the screen and brought up another image in a split screen so they sat side by side. "The language on these tablets from planet P3A-884 is the same as this." He pointed at the carefully drawn letters and symbols on the other image. "They are both Tengwar."

They were all silent for a moment, but they could all clearly see that the symbols matched each other.

Sam cleared her throat. "How is that possible?"

"Good question." Murmured the General. " As I recall P3A-884 was originally occupied by the Goa'uld wasn't it? They either killed the indigenous population or took them as slaves. By the time we arrived there the planet had been deserted for some time."

Daniel nodded. "Yes. The interesting thing about this planet is that it was smack bang in the middle of Cronus' territories under the Lordship of one of his Goa'uld underlords called, of all things, Cernunnos."

Landry took another sip of coffee. "Wasn't Cronus the System Lord you killed with the help of android doubles? Planet called Juna if I remember correctly."

"Correct again General. However we have no evidence that Cronus himself visited P3A-884 although I imagine he probably did. Cernunnos was one of his most trusted underlords, the closest thing he had to a friend and a Goa'uld who seems to have disappeared without trace. We don't know why he abandoned the planet, but given that it was on the border of territories belonging to Nirrti, I imagine that it was constantly under dispute. It may be that Cronus decided to cut his losses and pulled Cernunnos and his Jaffa out because the planet had been stripped of everything useful to him. All this is only supposition though since nothing we found on the planet gives any kind of documentary evidence to this being the reason. All we found were some ruins and the tablets."

"Written in an imaginary language created by an elderly British professor." Landry finished for him. "So I guess you believe we need to know why."

Cam put one finger up. "Cernunnos was a fan of Lord of the Rings?"

Laughter rippled around the table from everyone except Teal'c who stared reprovingly at Cam. "I would think not Colonel Mitchell, since the planet was abandoned long before the Professor was even born."

Cam grinned at him. "I was kidding Teal'c. I knew that."

Landry stood up and peered closer at the large screen. "Certainly looks the same. And since the Professor is unlikely to have visited P3A-884 before we did I take it we are assuming that this Tengwar is not an imaginary language made up by him."

"But sir, if we assume that then we can only assume that the world the Professor was writing about was actually real, with real people and a real language as told to him by someone who knew the history. But who could have told him about it?" Sam asked.

"There is only one person, if you think about it logically." Vala put her oar in. "It had to be this Cernunnos guy. After all, the tablets came from buildings he had built. After leaving the planet he could have come back to earth where he met this professor person and told him tales which perhaps led to the idea for the story. That would explain why he disappeared. Maybe he's still here?"

Landry shook his head. "It's all a bit too pat for me. There has to be something else. Maybe the symbols are just similar but are not exactly the same. Do we have any idea as to a translation Dr Jackson?"

Daniel smiled triumphantly. "I translated part of the tablet last night using the Tengwar notes written by the Professor. This part appears to be some sort of poetry and translated into English it reads...

Snow-white! Snow-white! O lady clear!
O Queen beyond the Western Seas!
O light to us that wander here
Amid the world of woven trees!
Gilthoniel! O Elbereth!
Clear are thy eyes and bright thy breath!
Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee
In a far land beyond the sea
O stars that in the Sunless Year
With shining hand by her were sown
In windy fields now bright and clear
We see your silver blossom blown!
O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees
Thy starlight on the Western seas

The last two lines in the stanza are actually in another language also attributed to the Professor, called Sindarin. I took the translation of these directly from his work. A Elbereth Gilthoniel o menel palan-díriel le nallon sí di'nguruthos A tiro nin, fanuilos! "

Silence had fallen over the room after Daniel had spoken the words of the translation.

"That's rather beautiful." Sam said softly. "But with it mentioning queens I wonder if they were singing in praise of a Goa'uld queen perhaps?"

Daniel shook his head. "All I know of Elbereth is that she was thought of almost as a Goddess by the Elves. In the book they sang to her at the end of an evening. According to another work by the Professor, she was the Lady Varda Elentari, Lady of Starlight and one of the Valar who were more or less the equivalent of angels and did not think of themselves as gods. She was purported to have created the stars in the heavens."

Vala immediately found herself to be the focus of attention at the mention of the word 'Valar'.

"Don't look at me." She protested. "I have no idea if my parents named me Vala after these Valar people. I never heard of them. Anyway she sounds remarkably like a Goa'uld to me." Vala pursed her lips. "Creating stars, goddess, it all fits don't you think?"

"It does beg the question of why an ode to this lady was written in an imaginary language on a tablet found on a Goa'uld Planet." Mused the General. "She could have been the queen of this Cronus I suppose. It would make sense that words honouring her could have been carved somewhere as an act of homage."

Teal'c stared at the General. "The Queen of Cronus was called Rhea, General Landry. I have never heard her referred to in such complimentary terms as were written in that song. She was however, cruel beyond belief. Cronus did much to please her. I believe your Tau'ri saying would be 'he bent over backwards'. There were many Goa'uld who wondered why he endured her as his consort since she clearly had no loyalty to her Lord. However she craved much power and Cronus was undoubtedly powerful."

"Did she take over his territories after his death?" Enquired the General.

Sam shook her head. "No, we don't believe so. We couldn't go back through the gate after Cronus was killed because it was disabled by person or persons unknown. We thought perhaps there had been some retribution against the people of Juna for the death of Cronus, but when the Tok'ra sent a ship, they found that all was well. Nobody from Cronus' people had been back. The elders said they had received a visit from someone who offered them help just after we left. They thought that the help had come from here which of course it didn't. This person also apparently disabled the gate. The Tok'ra could find nothing wrong with it, but the gate simply wouldn't work any more. When the Tok'ra contacted us, they advised against further interference. By that time Nirrti had annexed a good three quarters of Cronus' territories. It's doubtful that she would have concerned herself with Juna. There was nothing there of any use. No naquadah deposits or any other mineral. So we just let it go at that and left them in peace." She shrugged.

"An unknown person came and offered them help." Cam steepled his hands on the table. "I don't suppose there is any connection between that and these Tengwar tablets, but it might tie up a few loose ends in the file trying to find out who that person actually was. Perhaps a trip by ship to visit the people of Juna since the gate doesn't work? Maybe they can fill in some blanks."

Daniel leant forward eagerly. "We could do that, but I was also thinking that another trip back to P3A-884 might provide some answers to the mystery of the symbols. There has to be more there that we can find now that we know the root of the language."

The General sighed. "The way I see it, the information you have just shown us is rather fascinating, but how does it further the Stargate program in any way? If this woman in the ode is just another Goa'uld, then it's more than likely that she is dead by now, since we witnessed the death of the last System Lord a few days ago. Then again, if she isn't a Goa'uld, then could she and these Valar be Ancients? And could the man you saw as you came through the gate from Juna, presumably the guy who also disabled the gate also be an Ancient? I suppose they're both worth investigating for that reason alone. We may find something that could aid the Atlantis people in their Ancient research."

Daniel looked up in surprise at the reference to his vision just before he stepped through the Juna gate.

"It was all in the report Dr Jackson." Landry said evenly. "It might surprise you to know that before I took this job I read every single mission report. They gave me a good all round view of the work and the people who did it. Absorbing reading I might say."

He got up from the chair and paced over to the window overlooking the Gateroom. Everyone sat waiting for his final decision. Eventually he turned around.

"Okay Dr Jackson, let's put this thing to bed if we can. You can have your trip to P3A-884. I suggest you take Teal'c and Vala with you." He looked at Sam and Cam. "You and Colonel Carter visit Juna and speak to the elders. See what information you can gather about the man who visited them and disabled the gate. Since the Juna gate is not working, I will arrange a ride on the Daedalus for you both. Dismissed."

As the team headed out for their various assignments, the General called Sam Carter back. "Stay behind for a moment would you Colonel Carter? I need to talk to you."

Sam nodded and caught Mitchell by the arm as he was about to head down to the locker room. "I'll be along as soon as I've spoken to the General Cam."

Mitchell shrugged. "Sure. We'll probably have to gate to the planet nearest to where the Daedalus is on patrol anyway I guess."

Sam nodded and followed General Landry back into his office.

Mitchell stared after them with a puzzled look on his face. Something was going on there. He shrugged to himself, no doubt Sam would enlighten them all eventually.

"Close the door please Colonel." Hank Landry smiled at Sam. "You'll no doubt be delighted to know that I have some sealed orders here for you. Looks like this mission is going to be your swan song before you take command of the General Hammond."

Sam beamed at him happily.

ooOoo