Drabble on the departure of Rivendell. Elrond contemplates the quest; the Nine Walkers, the Ring – and if there is any chance of success. It is folly, but there is no other choice.
Necessary Folly
"Many others of Elrond's household stood in the shadows and watched them go, bidding them farewell with soft voices. There was no laughter, and no song or music. At last they turned and faded silently into the dusk."-The Fellowship of the Ring, page 368
They have vanished into the night at last. This delay has brought more danger than ever, yet danger is what they shall walk with until this doom is seen through. This quest is folly – and there is no choice. They fade into the night, all their pride and innocence and valor and wisdom hanging in the balance, all devoted singly to their burden. Folly, it is.
And yet what is the other choice? It must be so.
His innocence will keep him to the goal; his loyalty will brace the entire quest; his pride may doom them all; his wisdom will see them to the end, and beyond.
But his love...it is his love that I fear the most. No matter the outcome, our ways are at an end. The darkness will fall and the King shall come, but either way my kindred shall diminish. Yet this is the cost. This is the price I pay for trusting to this most necessary folly.
