It is the 49th day of Echuir
In the 3017th year of the Sun
Of the Third Age of Middle-earth

Both Mithrandir and the Ranger departed the Elvenking's Halls today in haste, and at last I have spoken with Teithoron Tegilbor! Alas, he was not privy to the secret conclaves between the visitors and our king, nor to the counsels of Mithrandir, but he heard some part of their tidings which he has imparted to me. Of the Ranger he will not speak and says only that the man's secrets are his own to tell; nor can he say wherefore the creature Gollum is imprisoned, for he knows not; only that though he is small, he is great in mischief, and thus needs must be held fast. Whence he was brought hither, however, he told me much...

For sixteen long years the Ranger had searched down the length of Rhovanion, even to the Ephel Dúath and the fences of Mordor; and at last he found his quarry on the skirts of the Dead Marshes, those reeking wetlands that lie before Morannon, where Oropher our king of old and many of his Wood-elven host perished in the Battle of Dagorlad long ago. Thence he drove his captive towards Mirkwood over river and vale for nigh three hundred perilous leagues! It was his desire to be lost to all who might hunt him, and thus his hidden route followed a winding path. For fifty days he marched, and upon a map Teithoron traced the Ranger's course with wine-red ink as he recounted the tale of his passage:

But I wondered why this Gollum was brought hither to the Woodland Realm, for the map showed plainly that the Ranger had passed by the golden eaves of Lothlórien. Indeed, rather than the long and perilous path through Mirkwood, he could instead have taken Cirith Forn en Andrath through the Hithaeglir and so to Imladris. And why is this creature in our keeping? And what of Gondor and Rochand, the realms of Men nearest the Dead Marshes? And why is he called "Gollum"?

And my teacher laughed at my many eager questions, and he poured two large bowls of wine (though not the heady Dorwinion vintage!) saying that he was in need of fortifying ere my inquiry! The name, he said, is not of any of the tongues of Elves, Men or Dwarves; nor is it even a name in the Black Speech, though it seems thus suited. Nay, the truth is a simple thing: his kin gave it to him wellnigh five hundred years ago for the gurgling in his throat he makes whilst muttering to himself^[1]; Sméagol was his true name before, which means "burrowing" in the Common Speech, for his folk were akin to the Periannath and Weston was their tongue. (Five hundred years he has endured! Is this common for his kind?)

Then he told that ever had it been Mithrandir's purpose to join the Ranger in Thranduil's Halls should fortune favour their quest and Gollum taken, for it was their desire to withhold such tidings -- for a time, at least -- from the world of Men and to remove the creature far away from Mordor and its spies; though wherefore he would not say. (But it seems that the creature has some unspoken connexion to the Black Land! What could it be?)

As for the elven realms, Teithoron said that the Golden Wood holds many secrets and it would be unwise therefore for one such as Gollum to enter there, with his sharp eyes and keen ears and his guileful heart filled with malice; besides there is no prison amidst the mallorn-trees. And the long road to Imladris passes over the Towers of Mist which are perilous, for many Orcs dwell in secret strongholds in those Mountains. The enchantments on the Forest Path are sound and our vaults deep under the earth, and thus was Thranduil's hold chosen, and so it has come to pass that the creature shall dwell ever in the dungeons of our home. But I deem this bodes ill!

Thus did Teithoron sate my curiosity, and much has he given to me to ponder. Alas, he durst not give me leave to visit Gollum Sméagol in his prison and he bade me to keep secret all that I had heard, and to this I foreswore unwillingly for I had hoped to share the tale with my kin around the fire this night. (I deem Sméagol to be a far more pleasant name than Gollum, and I wonder if anything of the perian he was aforetime still dwells deep within his heart?) But there was yet one other question burning in my mind...

And so I asked my teacher if Mithrandir and his friend had indeed hunted Sméagol aforetime through Mirkwood, and he said that this was so. Why then, I asked, was this kept hidden from me? I could have lent my aid, for though I yet lingered in the spring of childhood when the search was begun, I knew the forest well and my young eyes were keen. And he smiled and gently laid his long hand upon my shoulder, and he said, 'Forests have ears, and some elves have over merry tongues!'^[2] His words smote my pride at first, but I could not gainsay them for verily he spoke true! There was naught I could do but join in his mirth!

[1] The Lord of the Rings, "The Shadow of the Past"
[2] The Hobbit, "A Short Rest"

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