Sauron Defeated (62 page)

$15 But the Avaloi forbade them to sail so far westward that the coasts of Anadune could no longer be seen; and the Adunai were as yet content, though they did not fully understand the purpose of this ban. But the purpose of Aman was that the Eruhin should not be tempted to seek for the Blessed Realm, nor desire to overpass the limits set to their bliss, becoming enamoured of the immortality of the Avaloi and the land where all things endure.

$16 For as yet Eru permitted the Avaloi to maintain upon Earth, upon some isle or shore of the western lands (Men know not where), an abiding place, an earthly memorial of that which might have been, if Mulkher had not bent his ways nor Men followed him. And that land the Adunai named Avalloni, the Haven of the Gods; for at times when all the air was clear and the sun was in the east they could descry, as them seemed, a city white-shining on a distant shore, and great harbours, and a tower. But this only from the topmost peak of their island could the far-sighted see, or from some ship that lay at anchor off their western shores, as far as it was lawful for any mariner to go. For they did not dare to break the ban. And some held that it was a vision of the Blessed Realm that men saw, but others said that it was only a further isle where the Nimri dwelt and the little ones that do not die; for mayhap the Avaloi had no visible dwelling upon Earth.

And certain it is that the Nimri had some dwelling nigh unto Anadune, for thither they came ever and anon, the children of the Deathless Folk, sometimes in oarless boats, sometimes as birds flying, sometimes by paths that none could see; for they loved the Adunai.

$17 Thus it was that the voyages of the Adunai in those days went ever eastward and not west, from the darkness of the North to the heats of the South, and beyond the South to the Nether Darkness. And the Eruhin came often to the shores of the Great Lands, and they took pity on the forsaken world of Middle-earth. And the princes of the Adunai set foot again upon the western shores in the Dark Years of Men, and none now dared withstand them; for most of the peoples of that age that sat under the shadow were now grown weak and fearful. And coming among them the sons of the Adunai taught them many things. Language they taught them, for the tongues of men on Middle-earth were fallen into brutishness, and they cried like harsh birds or snarled like the savage beasts. And corn and wine the Adunai brought, and they instructed men in the sowing of seed and the grinding of grain, in the shaping of wood and the hewing of stone, and in the ordering of life, such as it might be in the lands of little bliss.

$18 Then the men of Middle-earth were comforted, and here and there upon the western shores the houseless woods drew back, and men shook off the yoke of the offspring of Mulkher, and unlearned their terror of the dark. And they revered the memory of the tall Sea-kings, and when they had departed called them gods, hoping for their return; for at that time the Adunai dwelt never long in Middle-earth nor made any habitation of their own: eastward they must sail, but ever west their hearts returned.

$19 Thus came the lightening of the shadow upon the Earth and the beginning of betterment, of which the songs of men preserve still the distant memory like an echo of the Sea. And yet in the end new good turned again to evil, and Men fell, as it is said, a second time. For there arose a second manifestation of the power of darkness upon Earth: a new shape of the Ancient Shadow, it may be, or one of its servants that drew power from it and waxed strong and fell. And this evil thing was called by many names; but its own name that it took in the arising of its power was Zigur, Zigur the Great. And Zigur made himself a mighty king in the midst of the Earth; and well-seeming he was at first, and just, and his rule was of benefit to all men in the needs of the body. For he made them rich, whoso would serve him; but those who would not he drove out into the waste places. Yet it was the purpose of Zigur, as of Mulkher before him, to make himself a king over all kings, and to be the god of Men. And slowly his power moved north and south, and ever westward; and he heard of the coming of the Eruhin, and he was wroth, and he plotted in his heart how he might destroy Anadune.

$20 And tidings of Zigur came also to Anadune, to ArPharazon the king, heir of Azrabel; for this title had all the kings of Amatthane, being descended indeed in unbroken line from Indilzar son of Azrabel, and seven kings had ruled the Adunai between Indilzar and Ar-Pharazon, and slept now in their deep tombs under the mount of Menel-Tubal, lying upon beds of gold. For high and glorious had grown the kings of Amatthane; and great and proud was Ar-Pharazon, sitting upon his carven throne in the city of Ar-Minaleth in the noontide of his realm.

And to him came the masters of ships and men returning out of the East, and they spoke of Zigur, how he named himself the Great, and purposed to become master of all Middle-earth, and indeed of the whole world, if that might be. Great was the anger of Ar-Pharazon when he heard these things, and he sat long in thought, and his mood darkened.

$21 For it must be told that evil, of which once long ago their fathers had partaken, albeit they had after repented, was not banished wholly from the hearts of the Eruhin, and now again was stirring. For the desire of everlasting life, to escape from death and the ending of delight, grew ever stronger upon them as their lot in the land of Amatthane grew more full of bliss. And the Adunai began to murmur, at first in their hearts and anon in words, against the doom of Men; and most of all against that ban which forbade them to sail into the West or to seek for the land of Aman and the Blessed Realm.

$22 And they said among themselves: Why do the Avaloi sit in peace unending there, while we must die and go we know not whither, leaving our own home and all that we have made?

For the fault was not ours in the beginning, seeing that Mulkher was stronger and wiser than our fathers; and was not he, even the Lord Arun, author of this evil, one of the Avaloi?'

$23 And the Nimri reported these words to the Avaloi, and the Avaloi were grieved, seeing the clouds gather on the noontide of Amatthane. And they sent messengers to the Adunai, who spoke earnestly to the king and to all who would listen to them, teaching them concerning the fashion and fate of the world.

'The doom of the world,' they said, 'One alone can change, who made it. And were you so to voyage that, escaping all deceits and snares, you came indeed to the Blessed Realm, little good would it do to you. For it is not the land of Aman that maketh its people deathless, but the dwellers therein do hallow the land; and there you should rather wither the sooner, as moths in a flame too bright and hot.'

But Ar-Pharazon said: And doth not Azrubel [sic] my father live? Or is he not in the land of Aman?'

To which it was answered: 'Nay, he is not there; though maybe he liveth. But of such things we cannot speak unto you.

And behold! the fashion of the Earth is such that a girdle may be set about it. Or as an apple it hangeth on the branches of Heaven, and it is round and fair, and the seas and lands are but the rind of the fruit, which shall abide upon the tree until the ripening that Eru hath appointed. And though you sought for ever, yet mayhap you would not find where Aman dwelleth, but journeying on beyond the towers of Nimroth would pass into the uttermost West. So would you but come at the last back to the places of your setting out: and then the whole world would seem shrunken, and you would deem that it was a prison.

$24 'And a prison, maybe, it hath indeed become to all those of your race, and you cannot rest anywhere content within. But the punishments of Eru are for healing, and his mercies may be stern. For the Avaloi, you say, are unpunished, and so it is that they do not die; but they cannot escape and are bound to this world, never again to leave it, till all is changed. And you, you say, are punished, and so it is that you die; but you escape, and leave the world, and are not bound thereto. Which of us therefore should envy the other?'

$25 And the Adunai answered: 'Why should we not envy the Avaloi, or even the least of the deathless? For of us is required the greater trust, knowing not what lieth before us in a little while. And yet we too love the world and would not lose it.'

And the messengers answered: 'Indeed the mind of Eru concerning you is not known to the Avaloi, and he hath not yet revealed it. But earnestly they bid you not to withhold again that trust to which you are commanded and your fathers returned in sorrow. Hope rather that in the end even the least of your desires shall have fruit. For the love of this Earth was set in your hearts by Eru, who made both it and you; and Eru doth not plant to no purpose. Yet many ages of men unborn may pass ere that purpose is made known.'

$26 But few only of the Adunai gave heed to this counsel.

For it seemed hard to them and full of doubt, and they wished to escape from Death in their own day, not waiting upon hope; and they became estranged from the Avaloi, and would no longer receive their messengers. And these came now no more to Anadune, save seldom and in secret, visiting those few that remained faithful in heart.

Of these the chief was one Arbazan, and his son Nimruzan, great captains of ships; and they were of the line of Indilzar Azrabelo, though not of the elder house, to whom belonged the crown and throne in the city of Arminaleth.

$27 But he Ar-Pharazon the king fell into doubt, and in his day the offering of the first-fruits was neglected; and men went seldom to the hallow in the high place upon Mount Menel-Tubal that was in the midst of the land; and they turned the more to works of handicraft, and to the gathering of wealth in their ships that sailed to Middle-earth, and they drank and they feasted and they clad themselves in silver and gold.

And on a time Ar-Pharazon sat with his counsellors in his high house, and he debated the words of the messengers, saying that the shape of the Earth was such that a girdle might be set about it. 'For if we shall believe this,' he said, 'that one who goeth west shall return out of the East, then shall it not also be that one who goeth ever east shall come up at last behind the West, and yet break no ban?'

But Arbazan said: 'It may be so. Yet nought was said of how long the girdle might be. And mayhap, the width of the world is such that a man would wear the whole of his life, or ever he encompassed it. And I deem it for a truth that we have been set for our health and protection most westward of all mortal men, where the land of those that do not die lies upon the very edge of sight; so that he that would go round about from Anadune must needs traverse well nigh the whole girdle of the Earth. And even so it may be that there is no road by sea.' And it has been said that at that time he guessed aright, and that ere the shape of things was changed, eastward of Anadune the land stretched in truth from the North even into the uttermost South, where are ices impassable.

But the king said: 'Nonetheless we may give thought to this road, if it may be discovered.' And he pondered in his secret thought the building of ships of great draught and burden, and the setting up of outposts of his power upon far shores.

$28 Thus it was that his anger was the greater, when he heard those tidings of Zigur the Mighty and of his enmity to the Adunai. And he determined, without counsel of the Avaloi or of any wisdom but his own, that he would demand the allegiance and homage of this lord: for in his pride he thought that no king could ever arise so mighty as to vie with the heir of Azrabel.

Therefore he began in that time to smithy great hoard of weapons of war, and he let build great ships and stored them with arms; and when all was ready he himself set sail into the East, and he landed upon Middle-earth; and he commanded Zigur to come to him and to swear him fealty. And Zigur came.

For he saw not his time yet to work his will with Anadune; and he was maybe for the time astounded by the power and majesty of the kings of men, which surpassed all rumour of them. And he was crafty, well skilled to gain what he would by subtlety when force might not avail. Therefore he humbled himself before Ar-Pharazon, and smoothed his tongue, and seemed in all things fair and wise.

$29 And it came into the heart of Ar-Pharazon the king that, for the better keeping of Zigur and his oaths of fealty, he should be brought to Anadune, and dwell there as a hostage for himself and all his servants. And to this Zigur assented willingly, for it chimed with his desire. And Zigur coming looked upon Anadune and the city of Ar-Minaleth in the days of its glory, and he was indeed astounded; but his heart within was filled the more with envy and with hate.

$30 Yet such was his cunning that ere three years were past he had become closest to the secret counsels of the king; for flattery sweet as honey was ever on his tongue, and knowledge he had of many hidden things; and all the counsellors, save Arbazan alone, began to fawn upon him. Then slowly a change came over the land, and the hearts of the Faithful grew full of fear.