return

1038 the return of the king
And suddenly there rose a great chorus of trumpets from
high above, sounding from some hollow place, as it seemed,
that gathered their notes into one voice and sent it rolling and
beating on the walls of stone.
So the King of the Mark came back victorious out of the
West to Dunharrow beneath the feet of the White Mountains.
There he found the remaining strength of his people already
assembled; for as soon as his coming was known captains
rode to meet him at the ford, bearing messages from Gandalf.
Dúnhere, chieftain of the folk of Harrowdale, was at their
head.
‘At dawn three days ago, lord,’ he said, ‘Shadowfax came
like a wind out of the West to Edoras, and Gandalf brought
tidings of your victory to gladden our hearts. But he brought
also word from you to hasten the gathering of the Riders.
And then came the winged Shadow.’
‘The winged Shadow?’ said Théoden. ‘We saw it also, but
that was in the dead of night before Gandalf left us.’
‘Maybe, lord,’ said Dúnhere. ‘Yet the same, or another like
to it, a flying darkness in the shape of a monstrous bird,
passed over Edoras that morning, and all men were shaken
with fear. For it stooped upon Meduseld, and as it came low,
almost to the gable, there came a cry that stopped our hearts.
Then it was that Gandalf counselled us not to assemble in
the fields, but to meet you here in the valley under the mountains.
And he bade us to kindle no more lights or fires than
barest need asked. So it has been done. Gandalf spoke with
great authority. We trust that it is as you would wish. Naught
has been seen in Harrowdale of these evil things.’
‘It is well,’ said Théoden. ‘I will ride now to the Hold, and
there before I go to rest I will meet the marshals and captains.
Let them come to me as soon as may be!’
The road now led eastward straight across the valley, which
was at that point little more than half a mile in width. Flats
and meads of rough grass, grey now in the falling night, lay
all about, but in front on the far side of the dale Merry saw a