Das Buch

Chapter 3

        Sam, you sleepyhead! No Sam, I am only teasing, as I am sure that you know. When I placed this book in this small hiding place, I wondered how long it would be before you discovered its existence. As I write this letter to you, I see you in my mind…sitting in your study, reading this letter, alone, I suspect, because I think you would not bother to clean up this shelf, full of odds and ends, including Lobelia’s old cookbooks and the like, until you are ready to leave Bag End. Sadly, I think now that you will not be reading this until your dear Rosie has gone, because only your moving from Bag End would get you to thoroughly clean up dear Bilbo’s bookcase. I also think, that even though you bore the Ring only a short time, it has had its effect on you, and you are living, as you read this, a long life. Good for you! I am right! I know that you are meant to be whole, and whole you are. I know also that when you are finally reading this letter, you will have done many great things in the Shire, and that you have raised a magnificent family, full of love and your wisdom. As I sit here writing this letter, and I think about my future, and my decision to join Bilbo on his travels to the Undying Lands, I also see you living a life full of joy and happiness…as you should.

        You may be wondering about the book that accompanies this letter. As Bilbo and I huddled together in his room in Imladris, as we passed through there on our way back to The Shire from Minas Tirith and the wedding of King Elessar, Bilbo gave me this small book, bound in green linen, and told me to treasure it above all else. He also told me to keep it a secret between ourselves, but now, as I am giving you everything I own, I am passing this book on to you, to do with as you see fit. I hope you will treasure it as much as Bilbo and I have, it is precious to us, but in this case, precious in a good way. Bilbo also told me to keep Estel’s Book in the little cubbyhole in which you have just found it. So I have.

        Let me tell you a bit about this book. Bilbo told me how, on his first visit to Imladris, when he and the Dwarves were going to Mount Erebor along with Gandalf, they stopped for several days in the Last Homely House. While strolling through the gardens one early morning, Bilbo saw what looked to him like a young Elf sitting in a tree and reading a book. After he said Hello, the young Elf leaped down from the tree, and landed silently next to Bilbo, and Bilbo discovered that the being in front of him was a child of Men, not an Elf, even though he wore Elvish garb and carried himself in the Elvish way. They introduced themselves to each other, and Bilbo discovered that the boy’s name was Estel, and that he was the adopted son of Lord Elrond himself. Bilbo also later found out that at the time of their meeting, Estel was only ten years old, even though he already was a head taller than Bilbo. He still had the high voice of a child! Bilbo asked the boy what he was reading, and the lad responded that he had been reading "The Tale of Beren One-Handed and the Great Jewel, and Lúthien the Fair.” I could go on, as Bilbo was only too happy to tell me the whole story, but suffice it to say that Estel and Bilbo became fast friends despite the huge gap in their ages. When Bilbo left for Erebor with Gandalf and the Dwarves, Estel accompanied them as far as he was allowed to go, and when Gandalf and Bilbo returned to Imladris, Estel was there waiting for them and charged up the hill to greet them when he saw them enter the Valley.

        Bilbo did not know at the time exactly who Estel was, and the boy did not know anything about his own origins, but after puzzling over it for a bit, Bilbo had some suspicions that Estel might be the son of the Chieftain of the Dúnedain, and his supposition eventually turned out to be true. But the friendship that formed between Estel and Bilbo will endure for all time, and this book is proof of it. The Lay of Beren and Lúthien was always one of Estel’s favorites, even without his realizing it at the time that Lúthien and Beren were, in fact, his distant forbears, and the forbears of Elrond, Arwen, and his twin sons Elladan and Elrohir as well. So Estel was really and truly a member of Elrond’s family, distant though the relationship might have been, and despite the fact that Estel was a man, and his “brothers,” “Father,” and his future wife were Elves. But Estel proved in his life to be more than a man, and he truly was Elf-like in all that he did, and his many accomplishments, his valiant deeds and his generosity, kindness, and love for all, already gave him a kind of elvish immortality.

        I digress. Bilbo told Estel that he loved The Lay of Beren and Lúthien, so while Bilbo was wandering in the Wilderland, Estel wrote out for Bilbo, in his own ten-year-old hand, a fair copy of The Lay in the Sindarin, and translated it into the Common Speech as well. It took him all winter to write it out, and he did so out of love for Bilbo. He presented it to Bilbo as a parting gift, when Bilbo left Imladris with Gandalf to return here to Bag End. To say the least, Bilbo was overwhelmed by Estel’s generosity, and his effort to give Bilbo a gift that he knew Bilbo would treasure. So here it is: Estel’s Book for Bilbo: The Lay of Beren and Lúthien, and now it is yours.

        One last thing: If you are reading this letter, I suspect that you are ready to move on once again. You bore the Ring once, and you are a Ring-bearer like Bilbo and me. I beckon to you across the years: come join me in Valinor. Leave Middle-earth behind, and join us here in Elvenhome. My dear Sam, I hope to see you again, and in the meantime, I remain forevermore your friend.

Frodo