Authors note: hello, as you've no doubt gathered if you've browsed my profile this is my first ever story that I'm publishing on this site or indeed any site, for many years I've had the idea of this story in my head, I've seen many modern girl in Middle-earth stories and to be honest found most of them to be strikingly unrealistic in there portrayal of both the canon characters and the effect someone from our time with the correct knowledge could have on middle earth. I do hope you enjoy this prologue and please feel free to leave reviews telling me what you think

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A man in Middle-Earth

I don't remember the name of my birth, I do know I was once a relatively normal man living in the land of England in the nation of Great Britain, I'd lived there my whole life until one day I woke up not just in a different time and place, but a different world entirely. It has been so long for me that I barely remember the world of my birth, nor the many technological wonders it contained, near four centuries of life will do that to a man after all.

All I truly remember comes to me in my dreams, flashes of a past life, great flying machines and massive ships the size of towns made of steel, now only a fog…

However, I'm getting ahead of myself am I not? Let us start where all things do, let us start at the beginning.

The last day.

Smiling in contentment I ran the wax-cloth along the length of dully shining steel, sword maintenance was an important part of owning such weapons, they had to constantly be polished and waxed lest they rust in the damp English air, even though my entire collection lived in my home upon my walls, they still required weekly maintenance.

The one I held in my hand presently however was my favourite, at just over four feet long it was not the largest but was certainly the most modern, being a design from the sixteenth century, it was a Germanic Bastard Longsword, the finely crafted ring-hilt being a beautiful if surprisingly simple design.

Standing I looked at the blade, smirking softly at my own warped reflection in the dull steel, I'd wanted to test my newly built Shabbard, a type of scabbard designed to allow a man to place and draw such large weapons as a Longsword from one's back, allowing for more free movement and undeniably adding to one's cool-factor, experimentally I reached back and after a bit of fumbling I felt the blade slide home with a solid thunk.

Swiftly walking outside I performed a quick cartwheel to ascertain that the blade truly did lock into place before then throwing myself into several unarmed attacks and blocks to see how the weight of the blade affected my balance whilst it was still sheathed, finally pausing after a couple of minutes I nodded softly in satisfaction before then reaching over my shoulder to grab the hilt of my sword, drawing it and launching myself into several forms, blocking and parrying imaginary attacks then finally going on the offensive against my imaginary opponent, lashing out in a flurry of thrusts and cuts, my blade whistling around me as it twirled through the air.

Finally coming to a stop after a couple of minutes and panting softly I examined my blade once more before then placing it back in the Shabbard. Heading indoors and cooking myself a meal before then cracking open a beer and settling down to game for a couple of hours, after all I had the day after off from work and so had little to worry about as far as getting up early.

I must have dozed off somewhere past midnight, my feet on my coffee table and a film playing in the background, my blade resting across my lap, little had I known that it had been the last night I would spend on my world.

The first Dawn.

I shivered in my sleep, the condensation clinging to me doing little for my temperature other than lowering it, rolling over I grumbled to myself softly before then one once brown eye snapped open. The thought. 'Condensation?' Snapping across my sleep-fogged mind like a thunderclap, desperately that single, once brown eye glanced around in abject confusion, there was far too much green surrounding me for me to be in my house anymore! Sitting up I glanced around with both once brown eyes now, though I'd not yet cottoned onto the fact that my appearance little resembled what it once was, feeling a weight I glanced down and couldn't help my small but pleased smile as I saw my prized sword was apparently still with me, though glancing up I knew that it didn't really help my situation. "Where in all the hells am I?" I queried to myself softly only to blink at the deep, baritone rumble that issued forth from between my lips, my voice was certainly not high but that sound had been absolutely ringing with power, the kind of voice you wanted to obey as surely anyone who sounded thus was a king or some other high lord in the world?

With a slow but sure sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach I crawled to the nearby river, feeling incredibly woozy for some reason, only to let out a decidedly unmanly scream as staring back at me was a face almost completely different from my own, gone were my soft, rounded features, instead a cold, hard but handsome face with high cheekbones and even colder steel grey eyes stared back at me, my once brown hair was now midnight black.

Rearing back I couldn't help a second startled shout, stumbling onto my arse as I thought of what I'd seen, before then crawling hesitantly back, letting out a soft hum this time as I took in "my" features, after a couple of moments I concluded audibly. "Right, I've officially lost my mind…where are the men with the straight-jacket and the elephant tranquilliser?" taking one last look at my new face I sat back and looked around, truly taking in the world that I found myself in for the first time, my eyes wide. I'd found myself in the crook of a large and winding river, rolling hills all around and the gentle twitter of birds in the trees above me. "Well…it certainly does not lack for beauty…" I rumbled to myself before then standing finally and blinking in shock. "That is definitely new…" I mumbled softly, I had to be taller, there was no way I was imagining it, the ground was certainly further away!

Shelving such thoughts for later and shaking my head I marched back over to my sword and grabbed it, glad that it'd been in the Shabbard as I strapped it to my back and after a moments thought turned to follow the river in the direction I was fairly sure was inland, whilst there was more than likely life towards the coast I had no idea how far that was, indeed I had no idea where I was or where civilisation might be, judging by the climate I could be anywhere from the United States to southern Canada, though I felt the second to be less likely, the terrain wasn't right for it, though strangely the countryside reminded me mostly of the midlands or the south of England, it was just that kind of beautiful rolling terrain, but it wasn't for if it was there would be roads cutting through and at least one village or farm within visible range, it had been centuries since England had been so quiet and empty.

After a few hours walking I'd come to the conclusion that there was definitely something wrong with this place I'd found myself in, I'd been walking for three hours and I hadn't seen a single plane in the sky, nor had I seen any semblance of civilisation beyond a single ancient house that'd clearly not been inhabited in centuries, I had a terrible feeling that maybe whoever had moved me in my sleep had put me in maybe a place like Mongolia? I knew that it was one of the few countries left in the world that had a low enough population density for me to have walked so far and seen so few signs of intelligent life, I'd seen plenty of wildlife at least.

Sighing I thought of one other, far more pressing need, one I wished I'd thought of when I'd seen that house, it might have had some pots or pans in it that would have allowed me to boil the water from the river, I was thirsty, but I really didn't want to drink out of the river, that was how you got some pretty nasty diseases, I really didn't want to die out here, alone with dysentery…

With no way to boil water however it was beginning to become a pretty major issue, whilst I could probably go another day without water it wouldn't be pleasant and far more dangerously would leave me delirious.

After another hour I sighed in defeat and crouched down beside the waters of the admittedly beautifully clean looking river and dunked my hands in with them cupped together and with a quick prayer to any gods that were listening I took a deep and hearty gulp of the water, before then taking three more, sighing in delight as my thirst was quenched.

Standing and with my head already beginning to clear of the unending desire to drink, I thought of my second biggest concern, if I was stuck in Mongolia or hell even the US even if I managed to capture something to eat there was no guarantee that it wouldn't contain some terrible disease, the bubonic plague for Mongolia or rabies for the US, neither of which I was vaccinated against, whilst there was a chance I was immune to the Plague, or at least resistant to it thanks to my ancestry, it wasn't exactly a risk I really wanted to take.

However, that did little to help with the food situation, there was a chance, albeit a minor one that is that I'd come across enough fruit that I'd be able to sustain myself, the issue was of course that whilst not barren the land surrounding me was clearly not the lush, life-giving kind of parts of Asia or the Caribbean.

Growling softly I continued on my way, just hopeful that I'd be able to find an apple tree or some-such.

After a few more hours however I realised that the light was waning and so looked about to gather firewood, just glad that I was paranoid enough to always carry a lighter. After about an hour I had a roaring fire going and even though I was once again sleeping under the stars and this time with an empty belly, I couldn't help my slight smile. 'Gods it's beautiful.' I thought to myself as I lay on my back gazing up at a sky that for the first time in my life had no light pollution. If I'd been more learned in the stars of my home I might have realised that not a single constellation was right, not a single one matched those of my home, however I wasn't and so I did not yet realise my true predicament.

The Second Day and meeting the natives.

I was awoken that day not by the cold, the hot bed of my fire from the day before ensuring that hadn't been an issue, instead the gentle tweeting of birds brought me to life in a manner far more pleasant than the blaring of an alarm clock, smiling softly and doing my best to ignore the growling of my by now thoroughly empty stomach I first sat up, then after another few minutes of enjoying the birdsong rose to my feet and set off, first for a slash, then to wet my parched throat, before continuing on my journey alongside the river.

A few hours later I was kneeling by the river having paused for another drink, this being my second of the day, when I became aware that the birds who'd been chirping and singing both all day yesterday and today had gone silent, straining my ears I heard what sounded like distant…shouts? And what was strangely reminiscent of the clanging of steel on steel. Rising swiftly to my feet I set off in a run, though not a sprint as I had the strange urge stat I should save my energy, I made my way towards the growing sounds of what I was slowly coming to realise was battle. 'Though what modern battle sounds like that?' I pondered to myself silently, the crash and smashing of this very different from the popping and thundering of modern war, not even panting while I climbed a steep hill I pondered my new body, whilst I'd not been in poor shape in my old body I'd swiftly come to realise that this one was in almost inhumanly perfect condition yesterday, all the aches and pains from literal days of walking were none existent.

Cresting the hill I looked down and saw that this strange battle appeared to be taking place just past a ford in the river, a caravan had been forced to stop due to a downed tree, the whole thing was strung out with small pockets of resistance fighting around each…cart? 'What the hell?' I thought soundlessly to myself, my eyes wide as they did indeed seem to be fighting around various wooden horse-drawn carts, much to my confusion, however, the thing that drew my eye the most had to be the combatants themselves, the travellers seemed to be a group of mostly blonde men and women, whilst the attackers were… "Ok…now I know I've gone mad…" I muttered to myself, for there attacking the caravaners were creatures I could call nothing other than goblins, small misshapen creatures that screamed their cries of hate and fury to the sky.

Another thing was growing obvious to me as I stood and watched, despite the fury of their attackers the men and women fighting would probably be able to drive them off, they fought with the incredible desperation and strength of people defending their very livelihoods.

That theory however was shattered when the goblins set one of the hooded carts on fire and I heard the desperate screams coming from within, human screams, children's screams, suddenly the desperation of the defenders made a whole lot more sense.

One part of me called to run down there and join the fray, the part of me that prized honour, dignity and duty, however the logical part of me, the side that told me that I was still in a dream cautioned against it, I'd always feared the unknown and the old wives tale that if you died in a dream you died in real life was impossible to shift from my mind.

Yet as the screams continued to fill the air I found myself not caring if I died or not, for the true question was, would I be able to live with myself if I did not come to the defender's aid? When phrased like that the answer became obvious and so with a bellowing cry I sprinted down the hillside, drawing my blade in anger for the first time as I jabbed the tip into the neck of a goblin as it prepared to throw a lit torch on another cart, ripping my blade free from the now gurgling opponent as I twirled it around to cut off another goblins hand at the wrist, detaching it and the torch it held from the cruelly smirking creature before slashing my blade across its throat just as it began to wail for it's now missing hand.

Grinning I twirled the blade through the air, deflecting a couple of attacks from the clearly startled goblins, I was surprised at how slow and ungainly they were, they'd barely turned to face me by the time I'd cut down four of their number, I felt little pity for the creatures as I killed yet another, instead I found myself wishing for a firearm to do it all the quicker, for creatures that would laughingly burn children alive were beneath my contempt and deserved only death.

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L'eodiona desperately pressed her little brother back further into the cart that they'd called their home for the past few months, her father was the leader of the caravan they were a part of and had wanted to show his children the business he'd one day pass to them. L'eodiona had joined gladly, she'd longed for adventure for years, growing up near Edoras her childhood had been safe and secure and she'd long desired to see the world, now all she could do was desperately clutch the dagger her father had thrust into her hands and pray that she could protect her little brother when the monsters came, the caravans guards were fighting valiantly but they were a mere twenty against over one-hundred Goblins, however her eyes and those of her companions who were in the cart with her looked to the hill near the ford where they'd passed, hearing a bellowing yell as a man clad in strange cloth came charging down, a massive sword clutched in his hands, he slammed into the surrounding goblins with a fury, cutting and slashing his way through them, he towered over the vile creatures, his massive blade slashing through the goblins crude armour with ease.

He was fast, faster than anyone she'd ever seen, cutting through the goblins and dodging around their attacks with the kind of contemptuous ease an adult danced away from a chasing toddler, wherever he swung his blade another goblin fell, finally some of them cottoned onto the fact that engaging him in close combat was folly and drew their bows, lashing out with arrows, only for him to dodge and dance around them and then as if to fully demonstrate his superiority over them he started to cut their arrows out of the air!

The terrified shrieks of the goblins at that point were music to the defender's ears, the caravan guard began to rally to this giant warrior, and L'eodiona was delighted to see that her father was amongst them, his sword, shield and armour bloodied but alive and seemingly unharmed. With a furious yell the eight or so surviving guards and the men of the caravan alongside their massive ally charged the wavering goblins, though L'eodiona was struck by just how tall this man was, her father was not a small man, for one of the Rohirrim he was actually rather tall at five-foot-seven, however this stranger was easily over a whole head taller than those surrounding him, to her amusement he seemed surprised as well, judging by how he glanced about in clear confusion before then, after a moment his confident grin returned and he raised his blade and pointed at the leader of the goblins, letting out a cry in a language she'd never heard before.

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"Blood and honour!" I cried, before charging in, I'd never felt so strong, nor high in my life, the massive grin upon my face making that obvious, I'd fought others with a blade before in various HEMA lessons and in mock battles in reenactments, but nothing compared to the real thing, my blood was up, my heart thundering, catching one goblins blade in the crossguard of my sword I snapped the cheap and poorly made iron, before then slamming the pommel into its head with a sickening crunch, unable to help myself as the joy of battle took me I burst out in laughter. "Ahahahahaha." The goblins beginning to break and run as we came on.

Finally, their leader charged me, screaming at me in its hateful tongue, its blade high above its head, grabbing the blade of my own sword I caught the attack before shunting it to one side, rotating on one foot and with well over ten inches of the blade still protruding from my left fist slammed it into its gut, the Orc letting out a soft whimper as it tried to grab at me, I would not allow it purchase, tearing my blade from its guts I took a step back, grabbed the blade with my right hand too, lifted it above my own head before bringing the crossguard down on its head like a great war-pick.

Several of the surviving goblins seeing their leader felled in a mere couple of moments broke and ran, screaming and after a few moments all the others followed, leaving just us defenders to cheer off their retreat.

Turning to my allies I grinned at them. "Well gentleman, I think that's them done, no?" I asked with another booming laugh. Only to see them looking very confused at my words and sighing I realised something. "You guys don't understand a word I'm saying do you?" I asked, though judging by how they were looking amongst each other I had my answer.

However after a moment I had far more pressing needs as I keeled over backwards in a dead faint, two days of no food then some of the most vigorous exercise I'd ever undertaken proving too much for my half-starved body.

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Well there we go, the prologue of my first story, as I said at the beginning please feel free to leave a review and constructive criticism, I apologise for any errors but I am both without a beta and dyslexic, not a fun combination I assure you.