[Raefindel]

Oh wait! I just found another. This is a quote from the chapter "Lothlorien". It is following Legolas' song of Nimrodel.

The voice of Legolas faltered and Legolas ceased. "I cannot sing anymore," he said. "That is but a part, and I have forgotten much. It is long and sad, for it tells how sorrow came upon Lothlorien, Lorien of the Blossom, when the Dwarves awakened evil in the mountains."

"But the Dwarves did not make the evil," said Gimli.

"I said not so; yet evil came," answered Legolas sadly.

And there is one more, but Haldir was involved. Legolas and Haldir made arrangements (without Gimli's knowledge) to bind Gimli's eyes as they went through Lothlorien. Haldir is the first speaker...

"And as was agreed, I shall here blindfold the eyes of Gimli the Dwarf. The others may walk free for a while, until we come nearer to our dwellings, down in Egladil, in the Angle between the waters."

This was not at all to the liking of Gimli. "The agreement was made without my consent," he said. "I will not walk blindfold, like a beggar or a prisoner. And I am no spy. My folk have never had dealings with any of the servants of the Enemy. Neither have we done harm to the Elves. I am no more likely to betray you than Legolas, or any other of my companions."

"I do not doubt you," said Haldir. "Yet this is our law. I am not the master of the law, and cannot set it aside. I have done much in letting you set foot over Celebrant."

Gimli was obstinate. He planted his feet firmly apart, and laid his hand upon the haft of his axe. "I will go free," he said, "or I will go back and seek my own land, where I am known to be true of word, though I perish alone in the wildreness."

"You cannot go back," said Haldri sternly. "Now you have come thus far, you must be brought before the Lord and the Lady. They shall judge you, to hold you or to give you leave, as they will. You cannot cross the rivers again, and behind you there are now secret sentinels that you cannot pass. You would be slain before you saw them."

Gimli drew his axe from his belt. Haldir and his companion bent their bows. "A plague on Dwarves and their stiff necks!" said Legolas.

"Come! said Aragorn. "If I am to lead this Company, you must do as I bid. It is hard upon the Dwarf to be thus singled out. We will all be blindfold, even Legolas. That will be best, though it will make the journey slow and dull."

Gimli laughed suddenly. "A merry troop of fools we shall look! Will Haldir lead us all on a string, like many blind beggars with one dog? But I will be content, if only Legolas here shares my blindness."

"I am an Elf and a kinsman here," said Legolas, becoming angry in his trun.

"Now let us cry 'A plague on the stiff necks of Elves!' " said Aragorn. "But the company shall all fare alike. Come, bind our eyes, Haldir!"

The rift between Legolas and Gimli was mended in Lothlorien.

Legolas was away much among the Galadrim, and after the first night he did not sleep with the other companions, though he returned to eat and talk with them. Often he took Gimli with him when he went abroad in the land, and the others wondered at this change.

[ January 12, 2003: Message edited by: Raefindel ]