Mallor, of Gondor

(Movie verse)

It is perhaps the saddest sight I have ever seen.  The four haggard hobbitlings are standing in a row, looking like they would rather be anywhere but here.  They have a shiftiness in their posture that comes with feeling out of place.

The Dark Lord has marked them all in a way that sets them apart from others.  In their eyes, I see the same look that the old Grandfathers have when they are troubled by phantom pains from missing limbs, or by memories that have not yet faded away and never will.  Their days lengthen before them with the heavy weight of grief.  They have grown old before their time and I wonder if they will ever remember what it is to be young.  Such is the Dark Lord’s bitter gift.

They are so needy of each other that it is difficult to watch.  They guard each other like hawks, each afraid that the others may be taken from him somehow.  Yet their neediness in tempered by their loneliness.  Each has his own dark story and now they must rediscover each other.  When they should be at ease, they now reach for each other and stop just short of contact.  They need a healing touch, but they pull back, afraid of opening a wound that they are not prepared to deal with.  Where once their friendship was a smooth plate of glass, now it has bumps and cracks that cannot be easily smoothed over.

Beyond their apparent unease a ferocity and tenacity lies hidden.  It has made these hobbits hard and dangerous.  There is an effortlessness in the way they hold their bodies that I have only ever seen in battle hardened soldiers.  It says that these four have tested their limits and they know how far they can go.  Their faces tell me that they will go that far again, if needed.  Their postures indicate that they are comfortable with blades at their sides.  When they return to their Shire, they will have to relearn what it is to live without fear or danger.

This ferocity, though, lies hidden over thick layers of timidity.  They are so very afraid and I find it utterly heartbreaking.  They should be bright and brilliant, strengthened by their trials and victories, but the truth is that they are nearly broken.  I know that they were like shining beacons of light once and I nearly weep for what they have become for us.

It is the saddest sight I have ever seen, but when the city of Gondor kneels before them to pay tribute, they smile and the sun shines.

May they find peace at last.

   ~

Author's note:  Phew, the end at last!  Thanks to all who reviewed!  This was long in the making and I'm glad that you enjoyed it!