Tolkien Calendar: The Great Years

If the destruction of the Ring and the coronation and wedding of Aragorn mark the apogee of the story arc in The Lord of the Rings, then Tolkien certainly lets us down gently in the rest of the story. We are now in the first part of the Journey Home, where all the places that we passed through in violence and fear are revisited in leisure and peace. The memory of the redemption and heroism of Theoden is one to be especially savored and cherished during this journey, given that it might all easily not have happened at all and Rohan would have been lost to dark forces.

Another small part of the story is wrapped up for us in this journey:

"Without haste and at peace they passed into Anorien, and they came to the Grey Wood under Amon Din; and there they heard a sound as of drums beating in the hills, though no living thing could be seen. Then Aragorn let the trumpets be blown; and heralds cried:

'Behold, the King Elessar is come! The Forest of Druadan he gives to Ghan-buri-ghan and to his folk, to be their own for ever; and hereafter let no man enter it without their leave!'

Then the drums rolled loudly, and were silent."

Leave it to Tolkien the philologist to emphasize the cultural differences in communication styles!