A Chance Encounter
On a beautiful summer day, Queen Sal chose to walk about Rivendell with those of the Shieldmaidens who had arrived early in the Elven sanctuary. The wise wizard Dodo was also in attendance and the women laughed and joked as they ate up the miles in the forest around Imladris.
They were some distance away from The Homely House of Lord Elrond when to their great surprise they chanced upon an aged man in dapper robes. He was sitting comfortably on a fallen tree by the side of the path, contentedly puffing on an ebony pipe.
The company slowed when they spied him and Elfhoster remarked quietly, “Well, here’s a strange sight. Have you ever seen anyone like him, My Queen?”
“I can’t say that I have, my lady,” the Queen replied, “but he looks harmless enough. Let us approach him.”
Tisbé cautioned, “Let one of us go first, My Queen. Harmless he may look, but I sense something uncanny in this.”
She agreed silently and the women continued toward the odd figure. He looked elderly, but spry with a twinkle in his blue eyes and a ready smile for them. His hair was silvery white and barbered short with a wispy receding hairline.
His physical features, while somewhat different from the norm in Rivendell, were not so extraordinary. However, he was dressed in a manner not seen anywhere in Middle Earth. His tweedy suit could be said to be hobbit-like with its long trousers and jacket, but over that was a voluminous cloak of black silk that was left open to flap in the breeze. His feet were shod, but not in leather boots. Rather, the shoes did not even come up over the ankle and the shiny black material laced up with thin, delicate strings.
“Good morning, ladies!” he greeted them and stood to bow elegantly. “I hope you and your queen are enjoying your walk on this beautiful day.”
“We are indeed, my lord,” answered Tisbé as she came first. “We are rather surprised to find you out here, however, and that you should know us. We have not seen you in Imladris before and it is a good many miles to any other town from here.”
The man chuckled, “Oh, I have spent many years in this forest. There’s not a tree or boulder that I have not known intimately. But this looks like a merry company! Where are you bound?”
“Back to Imladris,” replied Arundel. “We’ve been out walking, which we do every day. We Shieldmaidens need to remain strong and active.”
“But why stay in Rivendell? There is all of Middle Earth to explore,” he grinned, already seeming to know the answer to his question.
“The rest of our company has yet to join us, my lord,” replied Queen Sal. “We are bound to wait until they arrive.” Then she cocked her head at him and asked, “You are full of questions for a stranger. I hope you will not mind if we ask a few of our own?”
“Not at all… not at all! Do come and sit down all of you. I think there is plenty of seating in this pretty glade.”
“Well, he’s a gentlemen if nothing else,” said Pansy to the wizard out of the corner of her mouth.
“I hope so, Miss Pansy,” he said brightly. “I hope so!”
Pansy had the grace to look somewhat abashed that he heard her, but that quickly passed and she posted herself across from the gentleman to size him up.
“You’re not from around here,” she stated flatly.
“Indeed I am not,” he replied. “At least not in the way you might think.”
That stumped them all, including Pansy, and they fell momentarily silent.
Finally Dodo spoke up asking, “You seem to have us at a disadvantage, my lord. You know us, but we don’t know you. May we know your name?”
“Name?” he mumbled absently as he saw to the queen’s comfort, then made sure all the ladies who wished to sit had a place. “Name, you say?” he looked up at the wizard and she nodded cocking an intrigued eyebrow at him. “My name’s not important. You may call me ‘Professor’ if you wish.”
“Well, that is a curious name,” remarked the Queen. “And what are you doing, Professor, sitting out here in the forest alone? One might think you were waiting for us.”
“Waiting for you…” he repeated noncommittally. “Indeed, I was doing just that, Your Majesty.” Several of the Shieldmaidens went to draw swords or daggers, but the Professor was quick to reassure them. “Now, now. There’s no need to be hasty. I am not a threat to your queen or indeed to any of you. In fact, I sought you out for your help.”
“Our help?” asked Tisbé, beginning to warm to the odd gentleman. “How can we be of service to you, sir?”
“By keeping Middle Earth alive and in your hearts as you have these past months,” he replied.
“Do you think there is a danger of it being forgotten, sir?” asked the Queen.
“I believe there is always danger in complaisance, my dear,” he replied taking another puff on his pipe. “Even now you have Shieldmaidens languishing along the road, tired, weary and losing hope.”
Pansy shifted her weight and remarked, “There is always hope, sir.”
“Yes, there is!” the Professor slapped his knee in delight. “Thank you, Miss Pansy for your pert answer. There is always hope. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of it.”
“What do you know of our sisters languishing, sir?” asked Arylin somewhat skeptically. “How can you know so much?”
“I know that several of your number are close by: Kally, Novedhelion, Estelina and Evenstar are more than halfway here. Yet, there are others like Arwenrose, Aibrean and Amygladriel who are still roaming the Midgewater Marshes. Others of your sisters have also either left Hobbiton late or have been led astray. I think perhaps you have not heard from Gliowien since she was headed to Bree.” They all murmured excitedly, realizing what he said was true. He paced the glade slowly as he continued, “How I know this does not matter. You may check with Lord Elrond if you do not believe me; but how will you reach out to those who struggle behind you?”
“What would you have us do? We are a hundred miles or more away,” replied Elfhoster. “Unless you intend that we should leave Rivendell and go after them.”
“It is not for me to decide, my dear,” he replied. “It is up to you to decide what to do with the time that is given to you.”
Queen Sal spoke up, “Our sisters still have some three months to join us. We have each of us committed to this quest, just as the Nine Companions committed to theirs. I have faith that they will fulfill their promise as they are all honorable women. Still, that they should be disheartened…”
“Perhaps we might find the use of a palantír, My Queen,” suggested Dodo wisely. “We might post messages to the Shieldmaidens along the way to remind them we are with them even from some distance away.”
“An excellent suggestion, Dodo,” she agreed. “Will you see it done?”
The wizard nodded gravely and the women’s attention returned to the Professor.
“What else may we do to keep Middle Earth alive?” asked Arylin.
“Just continue to remember the lessons learned and sacrifices paid by Frodo, Aragorn and the others, dear ladies, and then discuss them along your journey. As long as the lessons are not forgotten neither will Middle Earth be forgotten.”
Arundel smiled, “I dare say Frodo is never far from Tisbé’s mind, Professor.”
The lady in question tried hard not to blush as the other Shieldmaidens laughed gaily.
“I am very glad to hear it, my dear. Well, I have taken up enough of your time this morning,” he said suddenly and got to his feet with surprising agility. “I see Middle Earth is in good hands then.”
“Must you go? Wouldn’t you rather come back with us to Rivendell, Professor?” asked Tisbé. “You would be most welcome.”
“That is a charming invitation, dear girl, but I must be moving on.”
Suddenly there was a heavy snap in the distance, like a dry branch falling to the ground. That coupled with the sounds of animals scurrying in fright startled the Shieldmaidens to their feet as they drew their weapons to protect their queen. When they all realized it was a false alarm, they turned back to the Professor but he was gone.
“My Queen, he is gone!” exclaimed Elfhoster. “I don’t understand… how could he have disappeared so quickly?”
“Shall we look for him?” asked another of the women.
“I wouldn’t bother,” stated Pansy, and they all turned to her. “I think Tisbé was right from the start. There’s something not quite right about the whole thing.”
“What do you think, Dodo?” asked the Queen.
“While I agree that this encounter is strange, I would not be troubled by it, My Queen,” she answered. “Whoever this Professor is, he seems wise and kindly. He has our sisters’ best interests in mind, as well as that of Middle Earth. His counsel is worthy.”
“Who do you think he is, Dodo?” asked another Shieldmaiden. “Is he one of the Istari?”
The wizard shrugged, “Perhaps. He is none of my acquaintance, however.”
“He’s not like any wizard I’ve ever seen,” commented Pansy and they all agreed.
Queen Sal mused aloud, “Could he have been Ilúvatar himself, I wonder?”
They all pondered that for a long moment, awe mingled with disbelief coursing through their ranks. Finally, Tisbé said, “My Queen, the morning grows late. We should return.”
Nodding, Queen Sal agreed, “Aye, let’s be off then. Our Wizard Dodo is right. The Professor’s guidance has proven sensible and timely. Come, we have our task ahead of us, ladies. We should not delay a moment longer.”
And so it happened that the Queen and her Shieldmaidens heeded the advice of the mysterious Professor and the rest of their company each joined them in Rivendell as fast as they were able. Who the Professor was they never discovered, but henceforth they remembered him affectionately as they spoke of the deeds of Frodo, Aragorn, Gandalf and the others of the Nine Companions of Middle Earth.
--finis—