return

1272 the return of the king
to tread. For it led up on to the mountain to a high hallow
where only the kings had been wont to go. And they went up
by steep ways, until they came to a high field below the
snows that clad the lofty peaks, and it looked down over the
precipice that stood behind the City. And standing there they
surveyed the lands, for the morning was come; and they saw
the towers of the City far below them like white pencils
touched by the sunlight, and all the Vale of Anduin was like
a garden, and the Mountains of Shadow were veiled in a
golden mist. Upon the one side their sight reached to the
grey Emyn Muil, and the glint of Rauros was like a star
twinkling far off; and upon the other side they saw the River
like a ribbon laid down to Pelargir, and beyond that was a
light on the hem of the sky that spoke of the Sea.
And Gandalf said: ‘This is your realm, and the heart of the
greater realm that shall be. The Third Age of the world is
ended, and the new age is begun; and it is your task to order
its beginning and to preserve what may be preserved. For
though much has been saved, much must now pass away;
and the power of the Three Rings also is ended. And all the
lands that you see, and those that lie round about them, shall
be dwellings of Men. For the time comes of the Dominion
of Men, and the Elder Kindred shall fade or depart.’
‘I know it well, dear friend,’ said Aragorn; ‘but I would still
have your counsel.’
‘Not for long now,’ said Gandalf. ‘The Third Age was my
age. I was the Enemy of Sauron; and my work is finished. I
shall go soon. The burden must lie now upon you and your
kindred.’
‘But I shall die,’ said Aragorn. ‘For I am a mortal man, and
though being what I am and of the race of the West
unmingled, I shall have life far longer than other men, yet
that is but a little while; and when those who are now in the
wombs of women are born and have grown old, I too shall
grow old. And who then shall govern Gondor and those who
look to this City as to their queen, if my desire be not granted?
The Tree in the Court of the Fountain is still withered and