Farewell to Lórien

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Farewell to Lórien
Chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring
Number20
Synopsis
EventAfter receiving gifts from Galadriel, the Company leaves Lórien and sets out down the Anduin.
Date16 February 3019
LocationLórien
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Farewell to Lórien is the eighth chapter of the second book in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Summary[edit | edit source]

Galadriel gave the Company boats in order to float down the Anduin. She gave each of them a gift, in order to help them on their way. She gave Aragorn a sheath made to fit his sword Andúril and a silver broach that held a clear green stone, the Elfstone of the house of Elendil. To Boromir, she gave a belt of gold. To Legolas she gave a bow strung with elf-hair and a quiver of arrows. To Merry and Peregrin, she gave silver belts with golden clasps. To Sam she gave neither something to keep him on the road nor to defend himself; instead she gave him a box of earth from her gardens, so that if he returned to his home in the Shire, his garden would bloom like none other. When she asked Gimli what he wanted of her. After much modest refusal, he asked for a strand of her hair. She gave him three, as well as a blessing that his hands would ever flow with gold, though it would have no dominion over his mind. To Frodo she bequeathed a small crystal vial in which was caught the light of the Star of Eärendil, amid the waters of a fountain. It would be a light for him in dark places and make the night brighter.

The Company then left on their way down the river, and Galadriel followed them for a while, singing them a song. They had chosen a difficult, but a valiant path.

Composition[edit | edit source]

Initially Tolkien considered that Time was "frozen" for the Fellowship while staying in Lórien, and it was still January when they departed it. Much later Tolkien decided that Time still passed, and set the departure on 14 February, and some days later Frodo observes the full moon of 8 March in The Forbidden Pool. However much later Tolkien introduced the Shire Reckoning, in which both January and February have 30 days (instead of 31 and 28). He changed the date of the chapter to 15, and then 16 February, in order to still have Frodo observe the full moon on 8 March.[1]

Gifts of Galadriel
Andúril's sheath · Elfstone · Boromir's belt · Merry and Pippin's belts · Bow of the Galadhrim · Sam's garden box · Hair of Galadriel · Phial of Galadriel

References