One Geek to Rule Them All

Weathertop

They had not gone far on the fifth day when they left the last straggling pools and reed-beds of the marshes behind them. The land before them began steadily to rise again. Away in the distance eastward they could now see a line of hills. The highest of them was at the right of the line and a little separated from the others. It had a conical top, slightly flattened at the summit.

"That is Weathertop," Aragorn informed them. "The Old Road, which we have left far away on our right, runs to the south of it and passes not far from its foot. We might reach it by noon tomorrow, if we go straight towards it. I suppose we had better do so."

"What do you mean?" asked Frodo.

"I mean: when we do get there, it is not certain what we shall find. It is close to the Road," Aragorn said.

"But surely we were hoping to find Gandalf there?" said Frodo.

"Yes; but the hope is faint. If he comes this way at all, he may not pass through Bree, and so he may not know what we are doing. And anyway, unless we arrive almost together, we shall miss one another; it will not be safe for him or for us to wait there long. If the Riders fail to find us in the wilderness, they are likely to make for Weathertop themselves. It commands a wide view all around. Indeed, there are many birds and beasts in this country that could see us, as we stand here, from that hill-top. Not all the birds are to be trusted, and there are other spies more evil than they are," Aragorn explained.

The hobbits looked anxiously at the distant hills. Sam looked up into the pale sky, fearing to see hawks or eagles hovering over them with bright  unfriendly eyes.

"You make me feel uncomfortable and lonesome, Strider!" he said.

"Aww," Kitty said and leaned down to give him a hug, making the hobbit blush.

"Just be wary of any black birds. Not everything with wings is an enemy. After all, Gandalf is friends with the eagles, isn't he? It was with their help that he, Bilbo, and Thorin's company were able to escape from a pinch during their adventure," Devin reminded them.

The hobbits took heart at that, knowing what she said to be true after having heard the very same thing from Bilbo on more than one occasion.

"What do you advise us to do?" Frodo asked Aragorn after a moment, getting back to the topic of Weathertop.

"I think," answered Aragorn slowly, as if he was not quite sure, "I think the best thing is to go as straight eastward from here as we can, to make for the line of hills, not for Weathertop. There we can strike a path I know that runs at their feet; it will bring us to Weathertop from the north and less openly. Then we shall see what we shall see."

All day they plodded along, until the cold and early evening came down. The land became drier and more barren; but mists and vapors lay behind them on the marshes. A few melancholy birds were piping and wailing, until the round red sun sank slowly into the western shadows; then an empty silence fell. The hobbits thought of the soft light of sunset glancing through the cheerful windows of Bag End far away. And the girls thought of how they used to laze about on the Gladwin family's back porch, watching the light dance and shimmer on the surface of their small duck pond while the ducklings, named Spock, Kirk, and McCoy, swam and played together. Devin hoped the big neighborhood tomcat wasn't trying to eat them again. She had asked her neighbors to keep an eye on them, but that cat was a sneaky son of a kitten.

At the day's end they came to a stream that wandered down from the hills to lose itself in the stagnant marshland, and they went up along its banks while the light lasted. It was already night when they at last halted and made their camp under some stunted aldertrees by the shores of the stream. Ahead there loomed now against the dusky sky the bleak and treeless backs of the hills. That night they set a watch, and Aragorn, it seemed, did not sleep at all. The moon was waxing, and in the early night-hours a cold grey light lay on the land.