Here I relate the events at Gondamon as I experienced them instead of how they were related to me. As before, this story has likely already been told but conceivably exaggerated with tales of conspiracy. Perhaps it is thought the request for one wise in both dwarven and elven letters was but cover for a larger plan to uncover the hidden treasures of Edhelion. Or alternatively the supposed ancient agreement of the Shipwright with the dwarves never existed, all part of a plot by my rivals to force my exile. From what I know, I do not think any at the fortress capable of such a thing, and if they were too exhausted and angry at each other to carry out any outright deception.
The stone fortress rose high above the valley as I approached, stone piled upon stone to appear more like it was built on a mountain than a hill. The dwarves do not usually build so far out in the open but the strategic importance of the hill to the Low Lands was too much to be abandoned. The road leading uphill to hold itself remained elven, for all the crumbling dwarf-markers placed alongside it, and curved around the hill to the gates in the fashion of the Edhelion roads.
But any question of the keep’s occupants was answered when entering I was engulfed by the smell of leather and uncooked meat. The hunters had returned from the valley and had set up a small market in the courtyard. It was strange to see how many lived in Gondamon. We had always considered it a small outpost but dwarves did not see it that way. I made some greetings to them and asked after the others. The diplomatic talks were evidently done for the day, the elves in the fortress having retreated to the terraces above. Gailthin was there to greet me as I ventured upwards, as the official emissary to Gondamon she was more used to it than the other delegates.
‘Pardon our demanding you arrive so shortly. Would that I had convinced Dardúr to stay from his wanderings. It is for such a thing that he comes here and this may have all be resolved days ago.’ ‘It would have been a miraculous thing to keep a scholar from his search of knowledge,’ I counselled ‘and it is no great disturbance for me.’ Admittedly, I think it best Dardúr was not there, he and I having disagreements on the nature of Angerthas. While he had indeed studied under Elrond at Imladris, I am of the opinion a rune-scholar’s should surround himself with books and not ruins. Moreover, his ‘appropriate garb’ ought to be whatever the scholar chooses to wear. Certainly, he may have identified the runes but it is doubtful he would have come to the same discoveries as I.
‘In any case, you should retire with the rest of us before speaking with the dwarves’, she continued, ‘their market-assemblies is hardly the best environment for a gathering of elves’. I found the other members of the delegation in similar parts of the terraces, as secluded from the dwarves as possible. Saerond and Eregil said that Hircalad was still speaking with Mathi Stouthand, the lord of the fortress. Tawariel was looking out to the east, not used to being enclosed. They were all noticeably weary from of the exchange of talks, and not just from the lack of progress ‘It is difficult enough for us’ Tawariel said ‘to know the forests will not last when we are gone. But to be a witness, a party even to their end before I leave is altogether another thing.’
I asked which groves were promised to them. She considered it a few moments. ‘There were further concessions made in the Haudh Lin, for those lands are indeed lost. And certainly there are more lands marked than that, although even now I am not sure of the details.’ ‘It was to have been Edheliond, for the most part,’ spoke Hircalad, having returned at last. ‘But alas we no longer have much claim on that vale. Do not fear for the forests of Falathlorn, Cirdan is certain to have pledged to the dwarves other woods further beyond. Perhaps further to the northeast, if we can secure the use of other ports along the Lhûn’. Of course, I knew that the dwarves will only abide by the contract as they remember it.
Later in the day I met Mathi Stouthand and was given a brief welcome to his home. The lord of Gondamon seemed more patient with us than the other dwarves, who did not entirely understand our purpose here. He also offered to have Frárin tour me through the keep, but deciding to keep to the business at hand I thanked him and suggested I might question him afterwards. And so matters became more formal, with the keep’s inhabitants now assembled in the courtyard. One of one of the dwarves presenting what he called ‘evidence’ to the assembly. From what could be seen they were rocks from the side of the East Road, some of them likely part of the road.
Mathi gave a speech on the importance of history of the Blue Mountains to the dwarves. Since the nature of this arrangement with the elves tasked the dwarves with preserving the memory of these lands, he said, it was vital that an understanding be made on the antiquity that was an example of that memory – here he indicated the gathered stones. Looking closer, it was apparent some of them were indeed fragments of tablets. They were damaged in many areas from their previous service as pavement but there were clear sets of runes. ‘Once again, the dwarves have managed to turn negotiations to old relics’ commented Gailthin. ‘You see what this will come to next – they will demand to view our relics in return.’ She was within hearing of the dwarves, but they did not show any reaction. Perhaps they had become used to her by now.
Eregil handed to me one of the fragments. ‘They are Cirth-runes, we can tell that much, but whether this is Elvish or Dwarvish is difficult to say’. ‘You cannot be faulted for that’ I said, ‘for the stone is too worn to make out any of words. Nevertheless, I can say this one was made by elven hand, worked though it is into stone. That one however,’ to which I pointed at the first in the arranged pile, ‘is likely the work of a Dwarf.’ I turned to the one that had produced the tablets. ‘If these are considered evidence then there must be a register of documentation. Is there a record of where and how were found?’ One of the other dwarves, whose name I think was Frorin, said they had been stored in Gondamon’s records room but most had been discovered when looking for stone to maintain the fortress. ‘The stones are of the same age’ he added, ‘being about as old as the stone of the original keep’.
After a few more hours, I had determined eight relics of the elves and five more tablets of the dwarves. When Eregil asked how I could the difference without the full spelling of the words I pointed to the first few letters on one of the tablets. ‘For example, these two runes together are not vowel-runes. For a dwarf the precise reading of the word would be unpronounceable, perhaps a garbled form of “baruk” for “axe”. The Elven use of runic script allows the sound of one rune to give context to its neighbor so it is likely the full word is a form of the Sindarin “bair” for “homes”. It is still difficult to tell in places, since these were written when the dwarven form of Cirth had not changed from its original adoption from the elvish. But the dwarven script is actually closer to Daeron’s arrangement of the runes than the Sindarin, which was soon to add embellishments and variation.’ Mathi was evidently perturbed having his people’s writing described as ‘elvish’ but still kept composed. ‘How old would you say these are from before Edhelion’s fall or after?’ I was relieved he did not want to know what they said, since I could not tell in any way. ‘These are still from Third Age, so during the time of Edhelion. The dwarven runes appear to be older than the forms of Moria and Erebor you would be used to, so this would have been before the Durin’s Folk introduced their forms of writing to the Ered Luin. ’
Unfortunately, Eregil chose the wrong time to remember that there were different clans of Dwarves. ‘But this makes meaningless the dwarves’ claim’ he said. ‘If any Naugrim lived here before our arrival they would have been the northern peoples of the Landorrim or Narfanghoth. Durin’s folk arrived in these mountains but a few centuries ago, when Thorin and his father took these lands from those who had stolen them from us. So then -’ but he was swiftly cut off by the master of Gondamon. ‘Speak ill again of Oakenshield and every elf will be evicted from this fortress far swifter than they were the last time’. Saerond made a valiant attempt at mediation. ‘The lord of Gondamon is correct to notice these are artifacts of Edhelion. That they were made of the same material as our fortress before its destruction is a matter that should not b ignored.’
Seeing the direction in which events were flowing, I decided it was best to take up Frárin’s offer after all while I still could. I gave some explanation of how it would be useful to see the age of the keep’s stone walls and of course also records concerning the relics’ discovery. The dwarves were refreshingly eager to allow my escape from diplomacy, something I am sure has aroused no end of suspicion. And so the last sight I would have of my kin up to now – or them of me as Frárin led me further into the fortress – was of a group of wise and learned elves explaining the process of carving stone to a very unimpressed group of dwarves.
