The Fellowship of the Lord of the Rings - A Tale of the Elven King

While Gandalf was advancing in the Mirkwood, the situation in the Elven Kingdom was also not optimistic. This can be seen from King Thranduil's increasingly worried face, especially when the king's steward Ost asked him every morning. This is especially true for daily debriefing.

On the observation platform on the top floor, Thranduil and Ulster talked while walking:

"Your Majesty, I have to inform you again that the number of our wounded has increased again in recent days."

"there's a few?"

"Three more elves were attacked."

"Or those evil creatures?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. They are becoming more and more rampant, and the frequency of elves being attacked is increasing."

"Didn't I already order the King's Guard to get rid of those poisonous snakes?"

"That's true, but Your Majesty, those poisonous snakes are in ambush underground. Our elf warriors may be able to fly through the forest and shoot the cunning fox with precision, but there is no way to get into the ground to catch these poisonous snakes. We take them There is no way but to wait for them to crawl out before we can take action, so the number that can be eliminated is very limited, and we have no way of knowing how many of them there are.”

"Is there any news from the people we sent to the north to scout for news?"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, our squad hasn't sent back any news yet."

Thranduil walked back and forth anxiously, and he said to Oster: "My friend, this situation is not right. According to the speed of the elves, the people we sent should have reached the north by now, and they should have returned the news long ago. .If there is no news, they may even come back. I have a sense of foreboding, and hope that something terrible happened to them."

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

"Since the demon lord Sauron was defeated by the last alliance of humans and elves, we have lived a peaceful and peaceful life. Hundreds of years have made us relax our vigilance against evil forces. I am worried that there is something we don't know. The evil forces are ready to move."

"Perhaps you are right, Your Majesty. I suggest that we should ask the dwarves of Gray Mountain to find out the situation. After all, they are relatively close and should know more about it than us."

"The dwarves of the Gray Mountains? No, my friend, we have not dealt with dwarves since the Dark Ages, and those dwarves are greedy, selfish creatures with an insatiable love of treasure, even those who The treasure did not belong to them, and they even slew Elu Thingol, king of the great Elven kingdom of Doriath, for stealing the Silmaril of the Elves."

"Your Majesty, I can understand your anger, but if we don't ask the dwarves for information, then what shall we do?"

"Just wait and see, I have a hunch. Maybe we'll know something soon."

A few days later, Gandalf found the elf trail and followed it to the entrance of the elf kingdom.Oster, who got the news, came out to meet him.

"Ah, Misranda in the gray robe, long time no see."

"Good day, Oster, Steward of the King."

"Welcome to our forest kingdom."

"Thank you for your kindness, may the light of the stars illuminate your path, how are you doing recently?"

"Yes, not bad, what are you doing here?"

"Go and ask to meet His Majesty Thranduil, there is something I need to tell him personally."

"Well then, please follow me, His Majesty is waiting for you."

Gandalf followed Oster to the Elven King's hall, where Thranduil was sitting on his throne waiting for the arrival of the old wizard.

"Your Majesty Thranduil, the son of Orofer, the king of the elves of the Mirkwood, may Ilbilusi protect you, and the gray-robed wizard greets you."

"Welcome to my kingdom, Mithranda, I heard from my steward that you have brought some news and advice from you?"

"Yes, Your Majesty Thranduil, I am here to remind you, please be more careful and careful."

"Be careful of what?"

"Beware of the North! Elves of the Forest Kingdom, you are in danger."

Hearing this, Thranduil and Oster looked at each other, tacit understanding.

"Tell me what you know, Mithranda."

So Gandalf told Thranduil the ballad, and said:

"Your Majesty Thranduil, this is what I learned from the brown-robed wizard Redagast. Migratory birds who migrated south brought this song from the northern land, although I have no way of knowing the true meaning of this song. , but I think no matter what, you are the elf kingdom closest to the northern land, and the closest to danger, so please be careful no matter what... Or, you have already felt the danger from the northern land."

Thranduil took a deep look at him: "As a well-informed wizard, you are indeed extremely wise. Yes, Mithranda, we have indeed sensed the approaching danger."

"What is the matter?" demanded Gandalf.

"My people are endangered by vipers from the north, and more and more of them are invading my kingdom in recent times."

"Where did these snakes come from? I've never heard of them before."

Oster interrupted: "We've never heard of them either, only that they come from the north."

Thranduil also said: "I have sent the elf team to find out the news, but there is no news yet."

Gandalf pondered for a while and said, "Your Majesty Thranduil, can you show me the appearance of those poisonous snakes? I think you still have their corpses here."

Thranduil agreed to his request and ordered Oster to take him to the forest.

Due to the extremely tenacious vitality of these poisonous snakes, they can live for several days even if they are cut into several sections, and the severed snake heads can still bite people. When they bit them, they collected them together, buried them in a deep pit in the forest, and sent people to guard them to prevent the poisonous snakes from escaping.

Oster brought Gandalf to the edge of the deep pit. Gandalf used a branch he picked up to stick a snake corpse. It was just killed today. Although it had been shot dead, it was still writhing. The snake's mouth was wide open, the inside was black, and the long poisonous fangs stretched out. The snake's body was also black, with red patterns on it, like flames, which looked strange and abnormal.

Gandalf felt that these patterns seemed to have been seen somewhere before, but he couldn't remember. He turned the snake's body on the ground over and over again, but couldn't remember it, so he had to take out his handkerchief and draw the patterns first. .