Ominous storm clouds gathered on the western horizon as the men of Stalag 13 fell out for morning roll call on June 2. Hogan and Newkirk exchanged worried glances; Gandalf might have problems with his light show if the rain began falling before the mission was complete.

Inside, Sam was preparing breakfast, standing on a box to reach the stovetop, and Frodo was carefully easing his way out of bed. His headache had eased considerably, and the gash on his head was now bandaged more for protection than to staunch bleeding; still, he saw no reason to push himself and endanger his participation in the mission. Aragorn and Gandalf stood by to help Frodo if he needed them; everyone else was in the main room, going over the code and waiting for their meal.

"One German," said Legolas, reading from the list he had made (which was still in Tengwar).

"Thôl dôl," answered Boromir, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin.

"Several Germans."

"Yrch."

"Many Germans."

"Glamhoth," Pippin replied before the others could remember.

"Well remembered, Pippin," Boromir sighed, rubbing his forehead. He was feeling the sort of headache that had always come on with too much memorization when he was a boy, accompanied by the too-familiar desire to quit the lesson and go outside and play.

Legolas looked up from the list to see Merry frowning thoughtfully. "Is aught amiss, Merry?"

Merry sighed. "I hope you don't think I'm being silly."

"Nay, lad," Gimli replied gently. "What's worrying you?"

"Well, it's one thing to kill spiders and orcs and dragons and Wargs and trolls," Merry began, "because they're monsters and they're dangerous. But… well…."

Boromir interrupted, understanding where Merry's train of thought was leading. "You worry that we might have to kill Men?"

"Yes," Merry replied, relieved not to have to explain.

Boromir put a comforting hand on Merry's shoulder. "The Men we might be fighting are not like the Men you have known. They serve the Enemy through their allegiance to this Hitler. True, some may be coerced, like Schultz, and serve against their will; but in battle, you cannot know your enemy's heart, and you must assume that he is not like Schultz."

"And if he is wearing a Gestapo uniform, that is a very fair assumption," Legolas added.

"I'm none too happy about the idea myself, Mr. Merry," Sam interjected, bringing the first plateful of bacon to the table. "But we've known all along that there was Men as couldn't be trusted, and we've stood ready to protect Mr. Frodo from them if we 'ad to. This wouldn't be no different; it's just that instead of Mr. Frodo bein' in danger, it's all o' us and the people Hitler's hurtin' and the soldiers who might get killed if the weapons get through."

Merry sighed and nodded. "I know. And I don't mind calling them orcs because they do act like orcs. I guess that's just one of the problems about war… you know why you're fighting, and why you have to win, but you can't know if the fellow in front of your sword is a decent chap or if he's really your enemy."

"There won't be many decent chaps on the receiving end of this mission, Mer," Pippin said with a twinge of regret.

Merry nodded again and drew a deep breath. "What's next on the list?"

"Goldilocks," read Legolas just as Frodo, Aragorn, and Gandalf came out of Hogan's quarters.

"Glorfindel," answered all eight Fellowship members.

"That's one I don't understand," Frodo continued. "Glorfindel does mean 'Golden Hair,' but who is Goldilocks?"

"I suppose we'll have to ask Hogan when he comes back," Pippin shrugged and grabbed a piece of bacon.

"How do you fare this morning, Frodo?" Legolas asked.

"Better, thank you," Frodo replied. "I think, and Aragorn agrees, that I should take it easy most of the day, but I can sit up without the room threatening to turn somersaults."

"I think you should be well enough by tonight to come with us," Aragorn smiled.

"I should hope so… not only would I hate to miss all the excitement, but… well, it'd be a little too dangerous to stay here, wouldn't it?"

No one had to ask what that meant.

"Gun," Legolas read, frowning at the strange word.

"Naurgrond," came the dutiful reply.

"'Fire club'—do you think that refers to those strange metal weapons, Boromir?" Legolas asked.

Boromir nodded. "Carter explained one to me last night. If you pull on the curved piece of metal called the trigger, it causes a small explosion that forces a piece of lead to come out of the barrel at a very high speed. Being struck by such a projectile is like being shot with an arrow."

"It seems that not all of Men's advances have been good ones," Gandalf remarked dryly.

The discussion was cut short by the return of Hogan and his men. Some of the men headed straight for the plates of eggs and bacon Sam had prepared; others stopped to say good morning to the Fellowship.

"Where's Tiger?" Hogan wondered aloud.

"She's still asleep downstairs," Merry replied. "At least, she was when we came up."

"Who's Goldilocks?" Pippin asked before Hogan could say anything else.

"Well, it's a code name…" Hogan began.

"We like to take our code names from children's stories," Kinch interrupted to explain. "Goldilocks is a character from 'The Three Bears'; so are Mama Bear and Papa Bear."

"What kind of character is Goldilocks?" Merry pressed. "Glorfindel is a great Elf-lord who slew a Balrog. He's a member of Elrond's household."

Hogan and Kinch exchanged an amused look before Hogan answered, "Goldilocks is a little girl who made a mess in the bears' house."

The hut erupted in laughter.


Still snickering at the thought of Glorfindel's reaction to being equated with a foolish little girl, Aragorn and Legolas followed Hogan through the tunnel to a makeshift firing range.

"'Ere," said Newkirk, stopping the visitors as they walked through the wardrobe room. "Take some o' this cotton wool; you may need to stuff your ears."

The pair thanked the corporal and hurried on.

Hogan handed Aragorn and Legolas each a pistol when they arrived.

"Chances are that you're going to need to know how to shoot one of these," Hogan began. "So I thought I should teach you. We can practice down here without fear of being heard; we're far enough underground that the noise shouldn't reach the surface."

With that, he demonstrated how to hold the gun, how best to stand when firing, and how to aim. Then he took one shot at the paper target. Both Dúnadan and Elf jumped.

"Ai!" yelped Legolas.

"No wonder they call it a fire club!" Aragorn exclaimed.

Legolas stared at the target for a moment. "Ah, there is the hole," he said at last. "But you did not hit the gold, Hogan," he added with a twinkle.

Hogan shrugged. "I'm not the best shot in the world. Here, let's see you try—after you put that cotton in your ears."

The first shots went wild, since neither pupil was prepared for the recoil; Aragorn's hit a beam, and Legolas' buried itself in the earthen wall several feet above the target. By the time each had exhausted a clip, however, their marksmanship had improved greatly; Legolas consistently hit perfect bull's-eyes, and Aragorn was almost as precisely accurate.

As the trio left the practice range, Legolas quietly complained to Aragorn that he had a headache, despite having plugged his ears.

"I, too, prefer the bow," Aragorn agreed in Sindarin. "MUCH quieter."


The rest of the day passed uneventfully; Hogan worked out scripts with Aragorn and Legolas so that they could have a few standard responses in German, while the rest of the team studied the code and made other preparations for the mission. Once Carter finished making his bombs, Gandalf chased him out of the lab in order to work on fireworks.

"One thing about it," Saunders remarked as the prisoners returned from evening roll call. "With all this cloud cover, you won't have much trouble hiding—no fear of moonlight giving you away."

"Yeah," Hogan concurred. "I just hope it doesn't start raining until we get back."

"It's liable to come a toad-floater when it does rain," Mills noted, looking at the sky with the practiced eye of a rancher.

"Well, as long as the mission comes off, I won't mind gettin' a bit wet," Newkirk shrugged.

Down in the tunnel, Tiger and the Fellowship spent several anxious hours waiting to leave once everyone was in costume and had their gear packed. Merry and Pippin taught Frodo and Sam how to play blackjack; Boromir sparred with his shadow; Gimli and Legolas tried to play gin; and Gandalf and Aragorn discussed how to tell Glorfindel the Goldilocks joke.

Finally, the prisoners involved with the mission came down the ladder into the tunnel, and Hogan issued orders regarding who should leave when. Carter and Gandalf left while Hogan finished putting on his Gestapo uniform. Hogan, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli left next, followed a few minutes later by LeBeau and Boromir. The hobbits departed after another five minutes, and Tiger and Newkirk brought up the rear.

In the darkness, the hobbits could scarcely see where they were going. Merry took the lead because he had memorized the map; Frodo walked beside him because he had better night vision. They had reached a brushy glen just halfway to their destination when the snap of a twig got their attention.

"What is it?" Pippin whispered.

"Patrol!" Frodo whispered back, clutching at his chest.

"Hide!" Merry ordered, shoving Sam and Frodo down into the underbrush. Then he ran, pulling Pippin after him as he put roughly a hundred yards between himself and the Ring-bearer. Once they were a safe distance away, the cousins threw themselves to the ground.

The patrol drew steadily closer. The hobbits hardly dared to breathe; while the soldiers were nowhere near as terrifying as the Nazgûl, it would all be over for a lot of people if they found any of the rescue team, especially Frodo.

Frodo's hand suddenly started working its way toward the Ring. Sam noticed and caught it. Frodo frowned at Sam, then looked at his hand and its position, and let out an inaudible sigh while throwing a grateful glance back at Sam. The Ring's treachery did not seem to have ended, however, for moments later one of the soldiers turned and stumbled over the pair. The man shouted, and his companion turned to see him scramble to his feet, dragging Frodo and Sam with him.

"Was ist denn? Zwergen?" frowned the second guard.

"Zwergen oder Kinder, ich weiß nicht," answered the first before looking down at his captives. "He! Wie heißt euch? Was macht euch hier? Antwortet mir!" he demanded.

"Lassen Sie ihnen los, Feldwebel!" a commanding voice suddenly shouted from the darkness. "Kämpfen wir mit Kinder?"

Startled, the guard complied and snapped to attention. "J-ja-ja-jawohl, Herr… Herr…"

"Oberleutnant Brandybock. Hier brauche ich Ihre Hilfe; ich habe einen Engländer angepackt."

"Let go o' me, you ruddy Kraut!" shouted a second voice with a thick Scottish accent.

"Ja, ja, wir kommen, Herr Oberleutnant," the second guard replied hurriedly, and the pair rushed off blindly into the darkness.

As soon as the guards were out of earshot, Merry and Pippin surfaced from the brush. "Not bad, eh?" Merry grinned.

"Not bad at all!" Frodo replied approvingly. "Thank you!"

"Aw, shucks, 'tweren't nothin'," Pippin drawled in a surprisingly American accent with an undercurrent of laughter.

"'Ow'd you do tha', Mr. Merry?" Sam frowned. "Tha'… tha' German you said, I mean. Where'd you learn it so fast?"

"Newkirk taught us," Merry answered as he and Pippin closed the distance between the two pairs of hobbits. "He said that as we were goin' on this mission, we needed to know enough German to get us out of a scrape like that one. Don't think we could say much if someone tried to strike up a real conversation, but it was enough for this."

"Remind me to thank Newkirk when we get back!" Frodo exclaimed.

Quickly and quietly, the hobbits worked their way through the dark forest to the point where Boromir and LeBeau were hiding. From there, LeBeau led them to their appointed position, where Hogan, Legolas, and Aragorn were helping Gimli situate the weapons and other supplies that he and the hobbits were to guard.

"You're ten minutes late," Hogan frowned when the Ring-bearer and his companions arrived.

"We had a run-in with a patrol," Frodo explained simply. "Merry got us out of it."

"Trust a Brandybuck," Gimli muttered, but he winked at Merry and handed him Legolas' weapons.

LeBeau and Hogan exchanged glances; then LeBeau turned, chuckling, and left to rejoin Boromir.

"Pippin, Gandalf has entrusted you with his staff and Glamdring," Legolas stated, handing the precious items to the tween, who received them wide-eyed.

"Sam, I leave Andúril with you," Aragorn added, handing the gardener the Sword-that-was-broken.

"I'll be careful with it, Strider," Sam promised quietly.

Aragorn smiled at him affectionately and patted his shoulder.

Hogan handed Frodo a pair of binoculars. "This will help you see what's going on down by the train," Hogan explained. "You look through this end."

Frodo held the binoculars up to his face experimentally and made a small surprised noise when he discovered how well they worked.

"All right," Hogan said once things were finally arranged. "You five will stay here and keep an eye on things, alert us to any patrols, that kind of thing."

A long whistle interrupted Hogan, making the hobbits jump.

"What was that?" Sam demanded.

"That was the train whistle," Hogan said calmly. "And that's also our signal. Let's go."

With identical shrugs, Aragorn and Legolas put on their caps and followed Hogan.

"Brôgada to Mithrandir," Hogan called on the radio as soon as the three "Gestapo" reached their final hiding place.

"Go ahead, Brôgada," Carter replied.

"Angroch anglenn. Pan maer. Glenno."

"Roger, Brôgada. Over and out."

"Fare thee well, my friend," Gandalf smiled, patting Carter's shoulder.

Carter returned the smile and dashed away to his appointed position.

Gandalf waited until he was sure Carter was safely situated before setting off the first rocket.

Gimli couldn't suppress an appreciative gasp as the rocket exploded.

"Haven't you ever seen Gandalf's fireworks before, Gimli?" Pippin asked.

"No, that seems to be a treat he saves for hobbits," Gimli replied.

"I expect it shan't be as grand a display tonight as for Bilbo's party," Sam sighed as the goblin-barkers let off a series of sharp pops.

"I shouldn't think so," Merry agreed. "This is war, not entertainment."

As if to prove Merry's point, several thunder-claps went off in rapid succession.

Frodo paid little attention to the banter around him; he was focused on what was coming down the tracks. "Look!" he whispered urgently.

The rest of the group turned their attention to the contraption chugging, clacking, and squealing down the iron rails, and they instinctively cowered.

"What is that thing?" Sam hissed.

"It must be the iron horse," Gimli replied. "Amazing."

"It looks like something out of Mordor," Pippin breathed.

"I think it's slowing down," Merry noted. "I hope it stops in time."

The engine passed out of their immediate line of sight, as did several cars, before a final screech of metal against metal told them that the train had stopped.

Pippin looked around and spotted the telltale puffs of smoke. "It's down that way," he whispered, pointing down the track.

As the group turned to look, they saw the light from the last of Gandalf's fireworks fade and heard voices shouting in German.

"Here they go," Merry remarked in a low voice.

Four hobbits and a dwarf watched as three men came out of the engine and waited while Hogan, Aragorn, and Legolas approached from the woods; the fear with which the men reacted indicated just how evil the Gestapo were. Hogan barked out an order, and the three men scurried ahead to open each car to display the contents of the train. After each inspection, Legolas made a chalk mark on the side of the car, ostensibly as a sign that each was cleared.

"I wonder what's in all the boxes," Pippin whispered to Gimli.

"Weapons of some kind," Gimli replied. "Possibly other provisions as well; the Lady Tiger said it was a supply train."

Pippin nodded in comprehension, and silence fell over the small group once more.

Suddenly, they saw Aragorn and Legolas stiffen slightly as a car was opened. Merry took the binoculars from Frodo and looked closely at what was in that car. His mouth fell open as he took in the spectacle.

"What?" Sam and Frodo asked at the same time.

"It's a whole wain full of people… and they look awful. Almost like wraiths."

Gimli took the binoculars and studied the faces he could see as the prisoners were brought out of the car and counted. "They are not quite so thin as I should have thought from your description, Merry; perhaps they are better fed than their fellows because of being minstrels. Still, their faces are haunted, as if they were thralls of Sauron."

"Thank the Valar we can help them," Frodo murmured.

Gimli smiled at Frodo and turned his attention back to the proceedings at the train. The last of the Jews was herded back onto the train and the door was closed by the soldier guarding the car. Legolas pulled out his chalk and marked the car with the rune for M—abbreviating both "musician" and "mellyn."

And suddenly things went awry.

The Wehrmacht guard asked Legolas what he was doing. Legolas gave his answer in flawless German, with a slight sneer of superiority. The conductor looked at the rune and noticed that it was different from the others. Hogan replied that it signified the contents as well as "all clear." The engineer and conductor looked at each other and frowned, clearly suspicious.

As Hogan blustered and pulled rank, Gimli inched his way toward the train, keeping low to the ground and blessing the cloud cover that kept his mail from glinting in the moonlight. Boromir crept up to the hobbits, claimed his sword and shield, and followed Gimli. LeBeau arrived shortly after Boromir left and held his gun ready.

The Germans seemed to grow more and more suspicious. Finally, the guard leveled his rifle at Legolas.

A tense silence settled over the scene—only to be shattered by a shout:

"Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!"

And the guard fell dead, neatly decapitated by a single axe-stroke.

Aragorn and Hogan rounded on the conductor and the engineer, guns drawn. Boromir caught the fireman from behind and held his sword to the man's neck. Legolas wheeled around and shot an approaching guard before Gimli was aware of the German's approach.

Carter had just finished placing the explosives on the track when the shot rang out. He looked up sharply.

"Daro!" Gandalf stage-whispered before Carter could move.

Carter froze. A few seconds later, Gandalf had moved back to join him.

"I cannot tell how many guards there might be," Gandalf told Carter. "We must fall back to the hobbits' position and then join the battle if we are needed."

"Got it," Carter nodded.

Silently, the pair scurried down the track and into the brush to find the hobbits. From there, they could see more guards running toward the group in front of the prisoners' boxcar, some falling as Aragorn, Hogan, and Legolas fired their Lugers rapidly, others meeting Gimli's axe or Boromir's sword. But Legolas ran out of ammunition shortly, and he had no spare clips.

Gandalf, who had just strapped on Glamdring, grabbed Legolas' bow and knives from Merry, snatched his staff from Pippin, and dashed into the fray. Aragorn and Gimli covered the Elf while he was weaponless. As soon as Gandalf was close enough, though, he tossed the weapons to Legolas before drawing Glamdring and turning on an approaching German.

"Hannaid," Legolas called, pulling on the quiver and drawing a knife just in time to catch another guard.

The fight continued for several minutes. Aragorn ran out of bullets just as Carter and LeBeau arrived with Andúril. The group seemed to be holding their own for a time, but the noise of battle caught the attention of three patrols that happened to be in the area—two of them consisting of Gestapo. They and the guards from the far end of the train arrived at the same time, outnumbering the allies.

Gandalf stepped forward to meet the attackers.

"Naur an edraith ammen!" he shouted. "Naur dan i Glamhoth!"

Fire burst from his staff and overwhelmed the advancing Germans. The flames vanished almost as quickly as they had appeared, leaving the Istar standing in a circle of scorched grass and surrounded by dead guards.

There was a tense pause, and then suddenly everyone relaxed and the crickets began to chirp again.

"Pedo," Aragorn ordered once he'd caught his breath.

"Pan yrch dangen," Legolas replied. "Pan Gwaith-i-Mellyn godref, ú-dad."

"Whew," Hogan sighed.

"Palan-diro," said Aragorn. He was taking no chances.

Legolas looked and listened carefully. "Ú-hoth," he reported at last. "I can sense no one but our friends."

Carter blew the air out of his cheeks. LeBeau muttered a quick prayer of thanks.

"Okay," Hogan said, pulling himself together. "Let's get these bodies into one of the ordnance cars. Carter, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, you come with me. Boromir and LeBeau, take care of our mellyn."

"Oui d'accord," LeBeau nodded.

"Was not that fifth car full of explosives?" Legolas asked.

Hogan thought back. "Yes, I think you're right, Legolas. Let's get them in there."

Men, Elf, Dwarf, and wizard worked quickly to clear away the incriminating evidence. Meanwhile, LeBeau shot the lock off the boxcar, and Boromir slid the door open. The pair were almost overwhelmed by the stench of waste and unwashed bodies that greeted them.

The musicians stood in the dark boxcar, clutching their instruments and staring in fear at the figures outside.

"Wir sind Freunden," LeBeau said carefully. "Kommen Sie bitte mit uns; wir helfen Ihnen, nach England zu gehen."

"England?" echoed a man hugging a cello, stunned. "Ist es wahr?"

"Mais certainment!"

The musicians whispered to each other in Yiddish for a moment; then, as one, they let out a cry of joy and relief: "Hallelujah!"

"Quiet!" Boromir whispered urgently.

"Please forgive us," answered the cellist in halting English. "We are simply overjoyed to be able to taste freedom again."

"Come quickly, then," LeBeau ordered.

Silent now, the Jews grabbed the rest of their meager possessions, scrambled down from the boxcar and followed Boromir to the place where Newkirk and Tiger waited anxiously.

"Wot 'appened back there?" Newkirk demanded when Boromir arrived.

"'Tis a long story," Boromir replied, shaking his head. "But all is well, and here are our Gilhîni."

"Ah, bon," sighed Tiger, hurrying to greet the cellist, who was about to lose his grip on his instrument.

"I still cannot believe it," whispered a flautist, tears of gratitude trickling down her sunken cheeks. "Are we really going to England?"

"Sure as Moses parted the sea, luv," Newkirk replied with a warm smile. "Come on. We'll 'ide you until it's safe."

Murmuring prayers of thanks under their breath, the musicians continued to follow their rescuers, halting in fear only when Stalag 13 came into view.

"It's all right," Tiger assured them quickly. "This is a prisoner of war camp, but you will not be going inside. You will be going underneath."

"We'll hide you in our tunnel system," LeBeau added quickly, noticing the musicians' alarm.

"David hid underground from Saul," the cellist murmured, reassuring himself.

"Precisement. It is the same idea." Inwardly, LeBeau cursed the Boche pigs who had caused these innocent people to live in such fear.

"Just a mite further, mates," Newkirk stated encouragingly.

The Jews gathered what remained of their courage and followed Tiger to the tree stump. Whispers of surprise and delight ran through the group as she opened the tunnel entrance, and with renewed hope, they made their way down into the tunnel.


Hogan's group finished clearing away the evidence at about the same time the rescue party reached Newkirk and Tiger. Hogan shut the door to the ordnance car with a satisfied sigh.

"Right," he said. "Let's start this angroch rolling and get out of here. There could be another patrol any minute."

Just then, the hobbits, still hiding in the woods, heard someone moving toward them. Frodo, whose senses had been heightened by the Ring and the Morgul blade, pinpointed the noise first.

"It's a Gestapo patrol," he hissed. "They're about a hundred yards away."

Sam reached for the radio, but Frodo stopped him and shook his head.

Merry and Pippin looked at each other and thought fast. Merry handed Pippin a rifle and pointed to a position a short way behind them, past two conveniently placed trees. Pippin nodded and motioned to Frodo to follow him. Merry then gave Sam one end of the rope and pointed to the left-hand tree, took the other end of the rope, and indicated that he would go to the other tree. Sam glanced at the rope and the trees and nodded in comprehension. Together, they dashed toward the trees and fixed the rope between them as a tripwire.

"Glenno!" Merry barked.

Pippin, who had just managed to heft the rifle into an upright position without falling over, fired a burst into the air, lost his balance, and stumbled against Frodo. Then the cousins took off down the embankment, making as much noise as they could and leaving the heavy weapon behind.

As Merry had planned, the outburst caught the attentions of both the group by the train and the patrol. Hogan, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli came running at once; Carter and Gandalf stayed behind to start the engine and jumped clear of the train as it began to roll down the track again. The patrol charged after Frodo and Pippin, only to be caught by Sam and Merry's tripline. Those who fell first were brained by rocks thrown with a hobbit's deadly aim; Elf, Dwarf, and Men dispatched the rest.

"And that's that," Sam sighed, brushing his hands on his trousers when the skirmish was over.

"Merry, that was brilliant," Pippin beamed as he and Frodo emerged from the trees.

"Yes, indeed, cousin," Frodo grinned appreciatively. "I'm glad you can think that quickly."

Hogan surveyed the scene and nodded. "Yes, well done, Merry."

Merry glowed under the praise.

Carter and Gandalf arrived at that moment. "You guys okay?" Carter panted.

"Aye; thanks to young Merry here, this patrol will spread no word of our night's work," Gimli nodded.

"Let us go, then," Gandalf said. "It should not be long before the angroch reaches the explosives."

The travelers and their hosts hurriedly packed up the remaining ordnance from the hobbits' perch. Then Carter and Gandalf led the main group back to camp while Hogan and Aragorn found a ridge from which to watch the explosion.


Down in the tunnel, Kinch and Tiger had just managed to find bedding for all of the escapees when Hogan's voice crackled over the radio, "Brôgada to Gathrod…."

Kinch hurried to the radio. "Go ahead, Brôgada."

"Angroch dangen. Adtolim."

"Maer siniath, Brôgada. Pan gwelyth nedh torech. Over and out."

Within minutes, the main part of the team returned; Gandalf reported to Kinch that they had heard thunder most of the way back. About ten minutes after that, Aragorn and Hogan ducked into the shelter of the tunnel.

And as Hogan pulled the tree stump top closed, the clouds that had been threatening them all day burst with a vengeance.


A/N: I cannot for the life of me find info on the weather in Düsseldorf on June 3, 1944. So I'm assuming that part of the same storm system that battered both England and Normandy and delayed D-Day for a day also affected that part of Germany.

The idea for how to stop the train came from "Operation Tiger," "The Gypsy," and "The Witness." Of course, it wasn't easy to correlate Gandalf's fireworks (listed in The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Long-Expected Party") to what exists today, so I've had to guess.

I will be putting the full code on my website as soon as I have time to organize it. Once again, many thanks to Mum's The Word for helping me pull it together.


Translations (of which there are a boatload):

Thôl dôl – helmet head

Was ist denn? Zwergen? – What is that? Dwarfs?

Zwergen oder Kinder, ich weiß nicht. – Dwarfs or children, I don't know.

He! Wie heißt euch? Was macht euch hier? Antwortet mir! – Hey! What are your names? What are you doing here? Answer me!

Lassen Sie ihnen los, Feldwebel! Kämpfen wir mit Kinder? – Let them go, Sergeant! Are we fighting with children?

Oberleutnant Brandybock. Hier brauche ich Ihre Hilfe; ich habe einen Engländer angepackt. – First Lieutenant Brandybock (that's the translation of Brandybuck I found on Herr-der-Ringe.de). I need your help here; I've caught a British soldier.

Ja, ja, wir kommen, Herr Oberleutnant! – Yes, yes, we're coming, Lieutenant!

Brôgada – Papa Bear

Angroch anglenn. Pan maer. Glenno. – Iron horse (train) approaches. All good. Go.

mellyn – friends

Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! – Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!

Daro – Stop

Hannaid – Thanks (Neo-Sindarin)

Naur an edraith ammen! Naur dan i Glamhoth! – Fire be for saving us! Fire against the din-host (orcs, code for Germans)!

Pedo – Speak (report)

Pan yrch dangen. Pan Gwaith-i-Mellyn godref, ú-dad. – All orcs (Germans) slain. All fellowship of friends together, not down (unhurt).

Palan-diro – Look around (into the distance)

Ú-hoth – No enemy host

Wir sind Freunden. Kommen Sie bitte mit uns; wir helfen Ihnen, nach England zu gehen. – We are friends. Please come with us; we will help you go to England.

Ist es wahr? – Is it true?

Gilhîni – Star-children (code for Jews)

Gathrod – Cave ("Home Plate")

Angroch dangen. Adtolim. – Iron horse slain (code for "train destroyed"). We return.

Maer siniath, Brôgada. Pan gwelyth nedh torech. – (That's) good news, Papa Bear. All bouquets (refugees) in tunnel.