Aha, that's the solution of this riddle! I was sure that I had never read this quote before.
@
Pitchwife: in this thread we use quotes from LotR, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.
For the HoME, there is a separate "Palantir of Fortune"-thread
here.
As you see, nobody posted there since almost 2 years, but you are welcome to revive it!
For Tolkien's "Minor Works" there is also a separate Palantir of Fortune thread.