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appendix a 1415
without hope. When Thráin was lost he was ninety-five, a great
dwarf of proud bearing; but he seemed content to remain in
Eriador. There he laboured long, and trafficked, and gained such
wealth as he could; and his people were increased by many of
the wandering Folk of Durin who heard of his dwelling in the
west and came to him. Now they had fair halls in the mountains,
and store of goods, and their days did not seem so hard, though
in their songs they spoke ever of the Lonely Mountain far
away.
The years lengthened. The embers in the heart of Thorin
grew hot again, as he brooded on the wrongs of his House and
the vengeance upon the Dragon that he had inherited. He
thought of weapons and armies and alliances, as his great hammer
rang in his forge; but the armies were dispersed and the
alliances broken and the axes of his people were few; and a great
anger without hope burned him as he smote the red iron on the
anvil.
But at last there came about by chance a meeting between Gandalf
and Thorin that changed all the fortunes of the House of
Durin, and led to other and greater ends beside. On a time 1
Thorin, returning west from a journey, stayed at Bree for the
night. There Gandalf was also. He was on his way to the Shire,
which he had not visited for some twenty years. He was weary,
and thought to rest there for a while.
Among many cares he was troubled in mind by the perilous
state of the North; because he knew then already that Sauron
was plotting war, and intended, as soon as he felt strong enough,
to attack Rivendell. But to resist any attempt from the East
to regain the lands of Angmar and the northern passes in the
mountains there were now only the Dwarves of the Iron Hills.
And beyond them lay the desolation of the Dragon. The Dragon
Sauron might use with terrible effect. How then could the end
of Smaug be achieved?
It was even as Gandalf sat and pondered this that Thorin
stood before him, and said: ‘Master Gandalf, I know you only
by sight, but now I should be glad to speak with you. For you
1 March 15, 2941.