A/N: I think this is the second last post of this story. Please r&r, it was
a hard road getting here, and as Tolkien proclaimed, 'the road goes ever on
and on.'
Song in this part was written by Tolkien, not by me.
Thanks to all who review, especially my faithful reviewers.
Part 85.
In the year 3139 of the Third Age Aragorn lay on his death bed, one hundred and twenty years after he had taken the crown of Gondor, and the same since he and the Lady Arwen had married and borne children together.
With almost the last of his strength Aragorn, the King Elessar of Gondor and the Western Lands had summoned all near and dear to him, as well as his ministers and captains.
Once he had passed the heirlooms of his house to Eldarion, all others left him, except for Arwen.
"At last all is fading for me in this world, Lady Evenstar, fairest in Middle Earth." Aragorn said to her. "For long years we knew that this day would come, and now it is finally here. Soon I shall sleep, and never again shall wake to see you beautiful face, Lirimaer. All the light fades for me now."
"Do not despair my love." Arwen told him, tears running down her face. "Le a im tha dartho. Le a tha dartho, Mela en' coiamin." *You and I will endure. You will endure, love of my life.*
"This hour is hard Lady Undomiel. Long years has it been since I first saw you under the white birches in the Gardens of Rivendell, where none now walk. Then on the hill of Cerin Amroth you bound youself to me, heart to heart, soul to soul. In this hour, the hour of my death I release you from those bonds." He said to her, reaching out to take her hand and kiss it for the last time. Then King Elessar drew his last breath, even as Arwen called his name.
The Queen sat silently by her husband for a time, before she began to sing a lament for him, an old rhyme she had first heard from the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in fair Rivendell, long, long ago.
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be King."
Then overcome with grief Arwen sat by his side and sobbed, tasting the bitterness of mortality, something she had never been able to prepare herself for. Unable to leave Aragorn's side, even in his death, she stayed by him until her son Eldarion led her away, his actions speaking louder than words to her, his appearance painfully like his father's at the same age. "Be calm, Naneth. Ada has died at peace." He reassured her, leading the grief-stricken queen to her chambers.
Hours later came the funeral of the great King, for which Arwen was too numbed by grief and anguish to shed more than a handful of tears.
As she stood before her husband's body it seemed as though the years had fallen away from him, leaving only the beautiful man she had married, banishing the effects old age had bestowed upon him. From somewhere deep inside, she saw the day that Eldarion and Vana had been born, and heard her Father saying to her once more, 'Ten'il' elan ellar niire, Arwen.' *For every star there is a tear, Arwen.*
Song in this part was written by Tolkien, not by me.
Thanks to all who review, especially my faithful reviewers.
Part 85.
In the year 3139 of the Third Age Aragorn lay on his death bed, one hundred and twenty years after he had taken the crown of Gondor, and the same since he and the Lady Arwen had married and borne children together.
With almost the last of his strength Aragorn, the King Elessar of Gondor and the Western Lands had summoned all near and dear to him, as well as his ministers and captains.
Once he had passed the heirlooms of his house to Eldarion, all others left him, except for Arwen.
"At last all is fading for me in this world, Lady Evenstar, fairest in Middle Earth." Aragorn said to her. "For long years we knew that this day would come, and now it is finally here. Soon I shall sleep, and never again shall wake to see you beautiful face, Lirimaer. All the light fades for me now."
"Do not despair my love." Arwen told him, tears running down her face. "Le a im tha dartho. Le a tha dartho, Mela en' coiamin." *You and I will endure. You will endure, love of my life.*
"This hour is hard Lady Undomiel. Long years has it been since I first saw you under the white birches in the Gardens of Rivendell, where none now walk. Then on the hill of Cerin Amroth you bound youself to me, heart to heart, soul to soul. In this hour, the hour of my death I release you from those bonds." He said to her, reaching out to take her hand and kiss it for the last time. Then King Elessar drew his last breath, even as Arwen called his name.
The Queen sat silently by her husband for a time, before she began to sing a lament for him, an old rhyme she had first heard from the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in fair Rivendell, long, long ago.
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be King."
Then overcome with grief Arwen sat by his side and sobbed, tasting the bitterness of mortality, something she had never been able to prepare herself for. Unable to leave Aragorn's side, even in his death, she stayed by him until her son Eldarion led her away, his actions speaking louder than words to her, his appearance painfully like his father's at the same age. "Be calm, Naneth. Ada has died at peace." He reassured her, leading the grief-stricken queen to her chambers.
Hours later came the funeral of the great King, for which Arwen was too numbed by grief and anguish to shed more than a handful of tears.
As she stood before her husband's body it seemed as though the years had fallen away from him, leaving only the beautiful man she had married, banishing the effects old age had bestowed upon him. From somewhere deep inside, she saw the day that Eldarion and Vana had been born, and heard her Father saying to her once more, 'Ten'il' elan ellar niire, Arwen.' *For every star there is a tear, Arwen.*