The End of the Third Age

[Findegil]

Okay here is the next passage from the Istari essay worth considering:

The End of the Third Age
>ETA-SL-01<ORP Now all these things were achieved for the most part by the counsel and vigilance of Mithrandir, and in the last few days he was revealed as a lord of great reverence, and clad in white he rode into battle; but not until the time came for him to depart was it known that he had long guarded the Red Ring of Fire. At the first that Ring had been entrusted to Círdan, Lord of the Havens; but he had surrendered it to Mithrandir, for he knew whence he came and whither at last he would return ETA-SL-02<Appendix B{For}, for Círdan saw further and deeper than any other in Middle-earth>.
‘Take now this Ring,’ he said; 'for thy labors and thy cares will be heavy, but in all it will support thee and defend thee from weariness. For this is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valor of old in a world that grows chill. ETA-SL-03<The Istari It was entrusted to me only to keep secret, and here upon the West-shores it is idle; but I deem that in days ere long to come it should be in nobler hands than mine.> But as for me, my heart is with the Sea, and I will dwell by the grey shores, guarding the Havens until the last ship sails. Then I shall await thee.’ ETA-SL-03.2<UT Istari And the Grey Messenger took the Ring, and kept it ever secret; yet the White Messenger (who was skilled to uncover all secrets) after a time became aware of this gift, and begrudged it, and it was the beginning of the hidden ill-will that he bore to the Grey, which afterwards became manifest.>
White was that ship and long was it a-building, and long it awaited the end of which Círdan had spoken. But when all these things were done, and the Heir of Isildur had taken up the lordship of Men, and the dominion of the West had passed to him, then it was made plain that the power of the Three Rings also was ended, and to the Firstborn the world grew old and grey. In that time the last of the Noldor set sail from the Havens and left Middle-earth forever. And latest of all the Keepers of the Three Rings rode to the Sea.>
ETA-SL-03.4<UT Istari Indeed, of all the Istari, one only remained faithful, and he was the last-comer. For Radagast, the fourth, became enamoured of the many beasts and birds that dwelt in Middle-earth, and forsook Elves and Men, and spent his days among the wild creatures. Thus he got his name (which is in the tongue of Númenor of old, and signifies, it is said, "tender of beasts").{(4)} And Curunír 'Lân, Saruman the White, fell from his high errand, and becoming proud and impatient and enamoured of power sought to have his own will by force, and to oust Sauron; but he was ensnared by that dark spirit, mightier than he.> ETA-SL-03.6<Letter 211 {I really do not know anything clearly}Nothing is clearly known about the other two – since they do not concern the history of the {N.W. I think they}North-West. They went as emissaries to distant regions, East and South, far out of Númenórean range: missionaries to 'enemy-occupied' lands, as it were. What success they had {I do not know; but I fear}is not known; but it is feared that they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtless in different ways; and {I suspect}it is suspected they were founders or beginners of secret cults and 'magic' traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron.>
ETA-SL-03.8<UT Istari Elsewhere is told how it was that when Sauron rose again, {he}Gandalf also arose and partly revealed his power, and becoming the chief mover of the resistance to Sauron was at last victorious, and brought all by vigilance and labour to that end which the Valar under the One that is above them had designed. Yet it is said that in the ending of the task for which he came he suffered greatly, and was slain, and being sent back from death for a brief while was clothed then in white, and became a radiant flame (yet veiled still save in great need). And when all was over and the Shadow of Sauron was removed, he departed for ever over the Sea. Whereas Curunír was cast down, and utterly humbled, and perished at last by the hand of an oppressed slave; and his spirit went whithersoever it was doomed to go, and to Middle-earth, whether naked or embodied, came never back.>
ETA-SL-04<Letter to Milton Waldman Frodo {cannot}could not be healed. For the preservation of the Shire he {has}had sacrificed himself, even in health, and {has}had no heart to enjoy it. Sam {has}had to choose between love of master and of wife. In the end he {goes}went with Frodo on a last journey. At night in the woods, where Sam first met Elves on the outward journey, they {meet the}met a twilit cavalcade from Rivendell. The Elves and the Three Rings, and Gandalf (Guardian of the Third Age) {are}were going to the Grey Havens, to set sail for the West, never to return. Bilbo {is}was with them. To Bilbo and Frodo the special grace {is}was granted to go with the Elves they loved ETA-SL-05{- an Arthurian ending, in which it is, of course, not made explicit whether this is an 'allegory' of death, or a mode of healing and restoration leading to a return}. They {ride}rode to the Grey Havens, and {take}took the Ship ETA-SL-06<ORP that Círdan had made ready>: Gandalf with the Red Ring, Elrond (with the Blue) and the greater part of his household, and Galadriel of Lórien with the White Ring, and with them {depart}departed Bilbo and Frodo.>

Respectfully
Findegil

[ArcusCalion]

These are great additions. I have only two comments.

In ETA-SL-03.4 The sentence starting 'Thus he got his name' needs to be removed, since in the late note concerning the Blue Wizards it is said that his name is 'not now clearly interpretable.' I called this change ETA-SL-03.5.

I think we should change the start of ETA-SL-03.8 to 'It has been told' since we've told that whole story right here in this text, so it cant be said to be 'elsewhere told.' Or we could say 'Elsewhere is it told in full' to distinguish it.

[Findegil]

ETA-SL-03.5: Agreed.

ETA-SL-03.8: What about ‘Elsewhere is told ETA-SL-03.9 <editorial addition at length> how it was ...’

Respectfully
Findegil

[ArcusCalion]

This is fine

[ArcusCalion]

I have another inclusion from The Sources of the Legend of Isildur's Death:

.... Whereas Curunír was cast down, and utterly humbled, and perished at last by the hand of an oppressed slave; and his spirit went whithersoever it was doomed to go, and to Middle-earth, whether naked or embodied, came never back.>
ETA-SL-03.9 <UT Sources of the Legend of Isildur’s Death {Long afterwards, as}As the Third Age of the Elvish World waned and the War of the Ring approached, it was revealed to the Council of Elrond that the Ring had been found, sunk near the edge of the Gladden Fields and close to the western bank; though no trace of Isildur's body was ever discovered. They were also then aware that Saruman had been secretly searching in the same region; but though he had not found the Ring (which had long before been carried off), they did not yet know what else he might have discovered.
But King Elessar, when he was crowned in Gondor, began the re-ordering of his realm, and one of his first tasks was the restoration of Orthanc, where he proposed to set up again the palantir recovered from Saruman. Then all the secrets of the tower were searched. Many things of worth were found, jewels and heirlooms of Eorl, filched from Edoras by the agency of Wormtongue during King Théoden's decline, and other such things, more ancient and beautiful, from mounds and tombs far and wide. Saruman in his degradation had become not a dragon but a jackdaw. At last behind a hidden door that they could not have found or opened had not Elessar had the aid of Gimli the Dwarf a steel closet was revealed. Maybe it had been intended to receive the Ring; but it was almost bare. In a casket on a high shelf two things were laid. One was a small case of gold, attached to a fine chain; it was empty, and bore no letter or token, but beyond all doubt it had once borne the Ring about Isildur's neck. Next to it lay a treasure without price, long mourned as lost for ever: the Elendilmir itself, the white star of Elvish crystal upon a fillet of mithril [Footnote: For that metal was found in Númenor.] that had descended from Silmarien to Elendil, and had been taken by him as the token of royalty in the North Kingdom. Every king and the chieftains that followed them in Arnor had borne the Elendilmir down even to Elessar himself; but though it was a jewel of great beauty, made by Elven-smiths in Imladris for Valandil Isildur's son, it had not the ancientry nor potency of the one that had been lost when Isildur fled into the dark and came back no more.
Elessar took it up with reverence, and when he returned to the North and took up again the full kingship of Arnor Arwen bound it upon his brow, and men were silent in amaze to see its splendor. But Elessar did not again imperil it, and wore it only on high days in the North Kingdom. Otherwise, when in kingly raiment he bore the Elendilmir which had descended to him. ‘And this also is thing of reverence,’ he said, ‘and above my worth; forty heads have worn it before.’
When men considered this secret hoard more closely, they were dismayed. For it seemed to them that these things, and certainly the Elendilmir, could not have been found, unless they had been upon Isildur's body when he sank; but if that had been in deep water of strong flow they would in time have been swept far away. Therefore Isildur must have fallen not into the deep stream but into shallow water, no more than shoulder-high, Why then, though an Age had passed, were there no traces of his bones? Had Saruman found them, and scorned them – burned them with dishonor in one of his furnaces? If that were so, it was a shameful deed; but not his worst.>
ETA-SL-04 <Letter to Milton Waldman Frodo {cannot}could not be healed. For the preservation of the Shire he {has}had sacrificed himself, ...

[Findegil]

ETA-SL-03.9: Agreed.

Respectfully
Findegil

[ArcusCalion]

One more addition for the very end of this chapter after the current last sentence:

ETA-SL-26 <Appendix A Here ends this tale, as it has come to us {from the South}; and with the passing of {Evenstar}the Fellowship no more is said in this book of the days of old.>

This was taken from the very end of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, but I removed it from that addition earlier, since we added bits about Eldarion and Legolas and Gimli after it, and so it wouldn't be strictly true. But I think it works really well as a closing line for the entire story of the Legendarium.