The King of Gondor

I remember quite vividly that first meeting with the King and Queen of Gondor. The weather was pleasantly warm, and a delicious breeze was blowing. I had been dressed in stately apparel befitting a dinner with the royalty of Gondor yet in style like the clothing of the Rohirrim. I stepped through many halls and arches and was bewildered by the beauty and grandeur of this palace. It seemed that I had stepped into an ancient time beyond all human reckoning. Beside the great palace of Minas Tirith the pyramids would seem a part of recent history. I tread softly, barely daring to breathe as I looked upon paintings and statues of kings and men of old. At last I came to a large, but not overly huge, room all hung in green. This was the private receiving room of the King Elessar and his wife the Queen Evenstar. Along these walls were newer paintings then the ones I had seen in the passageways. My guide left me with a bow and instructions to wait, so I took the time to study the paintings. I had not looked at them for long when I realized with a thrill that they were the story of the War of the Ring that Éomer had related to me. I was standing before the last in the series, showing the crowning of the King, when I heard a voice behind me.

"Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world." *

I turned quickly to find four fair folk standing in the room. I had been so engrossed in the paintings that I had not heard them enter. After staring dumbstruck for a moment or two, I realized that two of the figures I knew at least. They were Faramir and Éowyn, but garbed as royalty. The other two were fair beyond description. The man was tall and brawny. His hair was dark, yet flecked with grey. His eyes were also grey, like a storm at sea. He wore on his head a winged crown and bore a scepter in his hand. The lady that stood beside him was breathtaking. She was only a very little bit shorter than the King, still much taller then Éowyn. Her hair was dark as night, but her eyes were blazing blue. There was something about her that made her seem not human, although no feature of her was wrong. I knew from discussion with Éowyn that the Queen was thousands of years old, yet in studying her face I could see no sign of age, unless it be the deep wisdom in her eyes. It was the first time I gazed upon one of the elven folk, the immortal beings of Middle Earth. I at last recovered my good breeding and made a deep bow, but I had not recovered myself enough to make a proper remark. I think that the Queen understood my plight, for she smiled at me kindly and welcomed me.

"We have heard much about you, Lady Helen, from the Princess of Ithilien, our friend, the Shieldmaiden. You are welcome here."

Éowyn subtly signed for me to stand, and I did, but not easily, and not without a distinctive wobbling in my knees. The King motioned to some servants who stood quietly in the doorway to prepare our dinner, and then led us through the Green Room to a terrace nearby. The servants bustled about like a hive of bees, putting down dishes and goblets. A short, broad table had been laid with fine linen and spread with delicate dishware. Around it were ornate be-cushioned couches for us. When we were seated, with the King at the head of the table and his wife at his left hand, Faramir at his right, and I beside the Queen with Éowyn across from me, and when we had begun eating, the King spoke to me for the first time.

"Lady, our beloved friend, the White Lady of Rohan has told us much about your travels. We know that you come from a distant land where there is war and trouble. We are hoping to abide in peace in these lands, but we would hear more about your country." He spoke very formally, and I did not feel very comfortable, never having learned to speak before royalty. The lessons I had learned in Rohan had helped me some, but the court of Rohan and the court of Gondor are much different. I answered as best I could, dwelling not overlong on the troubles of my country, but instead talking of all the good I had seen in it. I especially told about the founding of the country, and as Éowyn had never heard that part of my tale before, all there remained interested to the end of my tale. (Still I was much relieved to finish and allow the others to speak.)

Faramir spoke first, asking whether our King was a learned man, and what he knew of warfare, and if our terrain and army were better suited for open warfare on horses or defensive warfare from great cities. I did not wish to explain that we did not have a king, so I merely said that Lincoln was an educated man, but that his generals mostly ran the war, and that the armies were fighting from forts, fields, and sea. This led to a discussion between the two men about the political and military aspects of the Union's situation, and they soon became so embroiled in their discussion that they forgot to eat and the three women at the table sat back and watched. If the King and Faramir had been running the war, it would have been over in a few short days. Or at least they seemed to think so. For some time this went on, until the Queen gently touched her husband on the arm and he corrected himself with a start.

"I apologize, Lady Helen. I fear that the intricacies of your situation have caused me to forget my duties as a host." I murmured some silly remark about it not mattering, and the rest of the dinner was devoted to a sort of question-and-answer cession about me and how I was enjoying my time in Rohan and Gondor. In truth I would have preferred the political discussion to talking about myself.

*By J.R.R Tolkein. From Aragorn's coronation