Bíld son of Bóurr to Miss Liffey in Newharrow, Bree-land, greeting from the Vales of the Anduin!
I thank you for your letter and apologize for the tardiness of mine; a long way yours had to journey to catch up with us, and a long way mine has to go to return. Nevertheless I was overjoyed to hear from you — though not to read the news you had to deliver. I am grieved for you and Sedryn, and though I shall hope yet that somewhere he is hale and safe and waiting for opportunity to return to you, I understand as well that you must make headway in your own life, for which I wish only prosperity and happiness to come.
Maurr and Rofda, Maddoct and all the rest of our caravan are well, and though we travel more slowly than hoped to my father’s halls in the Lonely Mountain, I am very glad that heretofore our journeys have been safe and without major incident. Nothing troubled us through the Last Bridge, and no dangers presented themselves in the Trollshaws than a few that could not be easily driven off by our warriors. (My brother says that while we were encamped he and my honor-sister and my Hobbit-buddy sought out and wrestled a “Dire-frog”, but in my estimation that was neither a serious danger nor a tale told wholly truthfully.)
We made it safely to Rivendell and there stayed a few weeks, allowing me to continue my study of healing while we waited for the High Pass to further melt; in late spring we judged it had, and we made our crossing, again without incident. Though the stink of orc-kind still pollutes the Misty Mountains, they did not harry us, thanks undoubtedly to the Beornings, whose vigilance in keeping open the passes ensures that the efforts of the Free Peoples at Five Armies, and before that my ancestors in the great War in the mountains, were not in vain.
By the time you receive this we will certainly have set off for home; perhaps we will have reached it. I fear that I cannot promise when we will return from there, for much will depend on the state of our father’s health. But my honor-sister has an appointment to keep in Eriador this fall, so it is my hope that you will see Maurr, Maddoct, and I again before next Durin’s Day. If there is something you would like from our Mountains or the markets of Dale, pray but write us; it will be our pleasure to obtain it for you.
No more at this time but my affection and that of Maddoct and Maurr, who wish you all wellness, strength, and happiness.
And I am honored to remain,
Your deeply,
Bíld.
