Merry's Tales
by Mainecoon

Author's Note: This is another fairly old poem. It's an idea I think ought to be elaborated on. Sam must have at some point had Merry and Pippin tell him what happened to them after they all split up so it could be written in the Red Book. This, like Elanor's involvement in Sam's departure from the Gray Havens, is a detail that has been sadly overlooked. I think if this were ever put into story form, it could make for some really lovely drama.

Another Note: There are a few lines in here "borrowed" from songs in the Rankin/Bass LotR cartoon. I am aware of this. Yes, I know it's uncreative. Sue me (actually, don't). I was 13 when I wrote this. The whole poem is, admittedly, a few chips short of a barrel. It's not one of my best, but I wanted to get the idea out there.

Another Note: When Merry speaks, it is in italics. When Sam speaks, it is not. Simple, no?


I am the storyteller
When the story's work is done.
I am the keeper of the thunder storm
When life is naught but sun.
I am the holder of the moonbeams
(I shall paint the sky with stars).
I am the last of the Ringbearers
Who has tasted Sauron's powers.

So, Merry, tell me of the time
When you were lost in walls of stone.
Tell me of Theodin's great armies
(Even then you were alone).
All this I'll write down in my book
And tend this garden with our tears--
For you know, Merry, that these stories
Are essence of our fears.

What makes the moments slip away,
Adding up to no passing hour?
What makes the vile creatures fly
To the pits and depths of Sammath Naur?


I traveled under Dernhelm's cloak
Upon a purebred steed,
Imagining what death grew close,
And what was the cause for speed.
Each hoof-beat pounded through my brain
For hours and hours on end.
'Twas in the final gallop
That I bid farewell to my friend.


Oh, good king! Friend and father!
I swear I'd fight but for the tears…
I hoped that I would stand beside you
In your service for many years…
Yes, it hurts to see you going,
But your pain is not so strong.
The world is flying, flying, flying
As we sing your funeral song.


What makes the fleeting time elapse
Adding up to no passing hour?
What makes our comrades slip away
Beneath the hand of the Dark One's power?

I am the storyteller
When the hero's work is done.
I am the keeper of the sunlight
When the quest is o'er and done.
I am the holder of the starlight
(I shall paint the sky with sand).
I am the last of the Ringbearers
Who has felt the Dark One's hand.

And I felt the world was crumbling
As dark sounds echoed in my head.
Lord of the Nazgul would come down
To take my lord from his deathbed.
And now Dernhelm is revealed--
It is Eowyn… "no living man,"
She shall smite the Ringwraith down
But I am not sure that she can…


Arise, brave Merry! Strike him true,
She shall not go unaided to the night.
Yet steel burns like splintered wood…
She shall not perish here without a fight…


I wandered long through mourning streets.
Who is that just ahead?
My friend, dear friend, where have you been?
I thought you, too, were dead…
Ah, hold me now, I cannot walk
Nor use this arm of mine.
No, do not worry, Pippin dear…
I think that I'll be fine…


We are the storytellers
When the time for tears has passed.
We are the singers of sweet music
From the first song to the last.
We are the last of the Ringbearers,
Bent from ages of hard pain.
Yet we shall rose to greet the morning
And return to our home again.

...end...