Which Concerns the Story of Fangwyr
"If only we had boats," Higgen sighed, glancing at the swift river beside them.
"We could wish for wings, and that would not do us much good," Gwindor sighed. "But have heart, we are almost beyond Rohan's boarders and into Gondor."
"When will we cross the boarder?" the hobbit asked curiously.
"The Falls of Rauros mark the gateway between Rohan and Gondor," Gwindor answered. "But we've a few days more until then."
"Oh how I miss my hobbit hole," Higgen sighed. But at that moment Anduin called for the hobbit and he urged Belladonna to the ranger's side.
"Everyday you grow more confident in the saddle," the ranger said, watching him approvingly.
"Thank you," the hobbit blushed and looked down.
"Diola lle," Anduin corrected him. "You must learn to speak Sindarin, my friend."
"I have picked up a little," Higgen answered. "Will you teach it to me?"
"Maybe later," Anduin smiled. "But now I want to tell you a story."
"What is it about?"
"It is a story told among the rangers," Anduin replied. "About an eagle and a hunter. There was an eagle named Fangwyr, much like the one who circles now above us." Anduin gestured towards the sky and Higgen followed his hand. An eagle was indeed far above them, his pinions flashing in the bright sun.
"One day as Fangwyr left his home, he caught sight of a creature he had never seen before. It was so far off that even his keen eyes could not see clearly what it was, and so the young eagle flew down closer to the earth to look.
A hunter in the woods beneath the eagle, saw a shadow cross his path. Without looking the hunter drew his bow and shot the Fangwyr through the wing. Fangwyr fell to the earth, spinning and unable to slow his plummeting descent. He fell, direly wounded, at the hunter's feet.
"What's this?" the hunter asked himself. "Have I shot an eagle from the sky? Alas, I thought I shot at grouse, but now I have grievously wounded this noblest of birds!"
And Fangwyr said, "Yes, look upon your evil doing! For you have killed me; an eagle who cannot fly cannot feed himself." At this the hunter became remorseful and let his tears fall onto Fangwyr's chest.
"I did not mean to wound you, bravest of birds," the hunter said. "But I will care and feed you until your wing is healed." Fangwyr was unsure of this, but his wing was broken and useless, and he would starve without aid.
"I accept your offer," Fangwyr said. "But only if you promise me this: that when my wing is healed, you will let me go."
The hunter readily agreed and, bearing Fangwyr upon his arm, took him to his home. There he bandaged the eagle's wound and cared for him, until at last the day came that Fangwyr could fly again.
"Now you must release me," Fangwyr said to the hunter. But the hunter would not, for he desired to own the bird and use him in hunting. When the hunter refused to release him Fangwyr was angered, "You have broken your oath, and a thousand curses upon you for it."
Everyday Fangwyr looked out of the windows and dreamed of the air beneath his wings. Gradually, he stopped eating and starved himself to his death. For although an eagle who cannot fly cannot feed himself, an eagle who cannot be free cannot live."
"That is a sad story," Higgen said. "Poor Fangwyr!"
"It is a ranger's story," Anduin said. "Those Men who value freedom above all else. It is easy for us to imagine death without our freedom. We must be free as the eagle, to fly and fight according to our will. We serve no master, save ourselves."
Higgen understood that Anduin, in his own way, was explaining why he was fleeing Rohan. Not out of fear for his life, but for fear of being held against his will. "He is like Uricon, who died when he was broken," the hobbit thought to himself.
They had nearly made it. The company was walking along the Great River over rocks slippery with the spray of the water. Anduin was not at the front, but bringing up the rear, and Eliohad led. The Great River rumbled by them, spilling out into a great lake before them.
"The Falls are just ahead," Gwindor told the hobbit. "We are almost from Rohan's grasp." But barely had he uttered the words when a shout came up from the back of the company. Higgen turned in Belladonna's saddle and saw that a great host of riders was coming up behind them.
"RUN!" Anduin's voice carried over the wind. "Asca!" (Flee!) His voice spurred the horses and ponies so that they ran at full gallop along the river bank. Higgen looked back over his shoulder; Anduin was so far behind. For the first time since he had met the ranger, the hobbit saw fear etched in his face.
They fled over the stones, which fell clattering into the river below. The horses never hesitated, driven on by the fear they had felt in Anduin's voice. Somehow the horses and ponies made it, bursting from between the hills and running along the edge of a lake.
They were too slow. Far too slow to outrun the Rohirrim. For one pony had not made the lake. Phaethon was trapped.
"Labadal!" Eliohad cried in grief, seeing his friend trapped and alone. He started forward, but Saerid and Ciryon restrained him.
"I warned you, rider," Anduin said, addressing the man who had first assailed him. "I warned you what would come if you attempted to catch me here."
"Restrain him!" the rider ordered, and at once Anduin was pulled from Phaethon by many hands.
"Erio! Erio a berio aran!" (Rise! Rise and protect your king!) Anduin cried as he was pulled under. "Conui lle min eneth Uricon!" (I command you in the name of Uricon!)
The horses' ears pricked up at the sound of his voice, and a breeze seemed to blow among them. They rebelled, running into the river, trying to trample their masters, and all the while circling around Anduin driving off the Rohirrim. Men screamed and fled from the chaotic whirlwind.
Men of Rohan are not cowardly, but they have faith in their mounts. To see horses they had trained and known since childhood suddenly abandon them for the sake of a strange man was too much for them. For the spirit of Uricon, the Merka Fea, filled their hearts and drove them wild. They deserted their masters, fleeing into the hills.
Only Phaethon was not seized by the wild madness, because he was already half Rhaw Nur. Anduin leaped onto his back and Phaethon carried him from the confusion back into the safety of the company.
"Follow him!" The leader of the Rohirrim ordered, and a few of the Men attempted to do so.
"Halt!" Anduin ordered, lifting his hand. "For know that now I am in the realm of Gondor, and you can no longer touch me! Know this, before I leave: I am Anduin, heir of Calenor. All who call themselves master of the horse owe me their allegiance."
At this the men of the Rohirrim who still remained fell to their knees in awe and wonder, but Anduin turned away from them.
(The horses lost by the Rohirrim that day were never recovered. They escaped into the hills and no one could ever catch nor tame them or their descendants. That herd became known in Rohan as the Roch Yassen Faer Uricon, which in the Elvish tongue means the Horses Possessed by the Spirit of Uricon.)