[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

considering the bearings of the revelation at Dol Baran upon many things that
he had observed and pondered: such as the wide knowledge of events far away
possessed by Denethor, and his appearance of premature old age, first
observable when he was not much above sixty years old, although he belonged to
a race and family that still normally had longer lives than other men.
Undoubtedly Gandalf's haste to reach Minas Tirith, in addition to the urgency
of the time and the imminence of war, was quickened by his sudden fear that
Denethor also had made use of a palantír
, the Anor-stone, and his desire to judge what effect this had had on him:
whether in the crucial test of desperate war it would not prove that he (like
Saruman) was no longer to be trusted and might surrender to
Mordor. Gandalf's dealings with Denethor on arrival in Minas Tirith, and in
the following days, and all things that they are reported to have said to one
another, must be viewed in the light of this doubt in
Gandalf's mind.
8
The importance of the palantir of Minas Tirith in his thoughts thus dated only
from Peregrin's experience on Dol Baran. But his knowledge or guesses
concerning its existence were, of course, much earlier. Little is known of
Gandalf's history until the end of the Watchful Peace (2460) and the formation
of the White Council (2463), and his special interest in Gondor seems only to
have been shown after Bilbo's finding of the Ring (2941) and Sauron's open
return to Mordor (2951). His attention was then (as was
9
Saruman's) concentrated on the Ring of Isildur; but in his reading in the
archives of Minas Tirith he may be assumed to have learned much about the
palantíri of Gondor, though with less immediate appreciation of their possible
significance than that shown by Saruman, whose mind was in contrast to
Gandalf's always more attracted by artefacts and instruments of power than by
persons. Gandalf all the same probably at that time already knew more than did
Saruman about the nature and ultimate origin of the palantíri
, since all that concerned the ancient realm of Arnor and the later history of
those regions was his special province, and he was in close alliance with
Elrond.
But the Anor-stone had become a secret: no mention of its fate after the fall
of Minas Ithil appeared in any of the annals or records of the Stewards.
Page 306
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
History would indeed make it clear that neither Orthanc nor the
White Tower in Minas Tirith had ever been captured or sacked by enemies, and
it might therefore be supposed that the Stones were most probably intact and
remained in their ancient sites; but it could not be certain that they had not
been removed by the Stewards, and perhaps "buried deep" in some secret
10
treasure-chamber, even one in some last hidden refuge in the mountains,
comparable to Dunharrow. Gandalf should have been reported as saying that he
did not think that Denethor had presumed to use it, until his wisdom failed.
He could not state it as a known fact, for when and why Denethor had dared to
use the
11
Stone was and remains a matter of conjecture. Gandalf might well think as he
did on the matter, but it is probable, considering Denethor and what is said
about him, that he began to use the Anor-stone many years before 3019, and
earlier than Saruman ventured or thought it useful to use the Stone of
Orthanc. Denethor succeeded to the Stewardship in 2984, being then fifty-four
years old: a masterful man, both wise and learned beyond the measure of those
days, and strong-willed, confident in his own powers, and dauntless.
His "grimness" was first observable to others after his wife Finduilas died in
2988, but it seems fairly plain that he had at once turned to the Stone as
soon as he came to power, having long studied the matter of the palantíri and
the traditions regarding them and their use preserved in the special archives
of the Stewards, available beside the Ruling Steward only to his heir. During
the end of the rule of his father, Ecthelion II, he must have greatly desired
to consult the Stone, as anxiety in Gondor increased, while his own position
was weakened by the fame of "Thorongil" aid the favour shown to him by his
father. At least one of his
12
motives must have been jealousy of Thorongil, and hostility to Gandalf, to
whom, during the ascendancy of
Thorongil, his father paid much attention; Denethor desired to surpass these
"usurpers" in knowledge and information, and also if possible to keep an eye
on them when they were elsewhere.
The breaking strain of Denethor's confrontation of Sauron must be
distinguished from the general strain of using the Stone. The latter
Denethor thought that he could endure (and not without reason);
13
confrontation with Sauron almost certainly did not occur for many years, and
was probably never originally contemplated by Denethor. For the uses of the
palantíri
, and the distinction between their solitary use for
"seeing" and their use for communication with another respondent Stone and its
"surveyor " see pp 429-30
considered that the Stones were only a small item in Sauron's vast designs and
operations: a means of dominating and deluding two of his opponents, but he
would not (and could not) have the Ithil-stone under perpetual observation. It
was not his way to commit such instruments to the use of subordinates; nor had
he any servant whose mental power were superior to Saruman's or even
Denethor's.
In the case of Denethor, the Steward was strengthened, even against Sauron
himself, by the fact the
Stones were far more amenable to legitimate users: most of all to true "Heirs
of Elendil" (as Aragorn), but also to one with inherited authority(as [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]