Day 99: Fool's Hope

[tanaquiljall]

gwynnyd wanted to know what Gandalf feels when the One Ring is destroyed.

Day 99

as part of the Possessing the greatest powers series.

Fool's hope

While the battle raged, his anger flamed. What hurts had Sauron visited upon the hobbits that he might bring dwarf-mail, elf-cloak, and barrow-blade before them?

Yet naught but one cloak, one sword. And still Narya aided Olórin: to kindle courage and steadfastness in the Host of the West. Whatever tokens the Dark Lord might tender, the Ring – and one of its bearers – surely had eluded him.

Hope burned on: if they could endure but a little longer....

For a moment, the power Olórin wielded leaped, danced – and failed.

As it winked out, a new certainty was born from the ashes.

Comments

[gwynnyd.livejournal.com]

ohhh nice! The failure is a sign of success.

[tanaquiljall]

Thanks!

And yup - I can see Gandalf much more actively wielding his ring at that point than Elrond or Galadriel, so noticing the loss of power in a different way.

[(Anonymous)]

Excellent! I thought this caught Gandalf wonderfully, and I think it segues perfectly into his eagle-ride to try to save anyone who has survived the destruction of the Ring.

I know it's too late for this year's MEFAs, but are you going to bundle the three Ring drabbles into a series also?

Denise

[tanaquiljall]

Thanks! I always felt that Gandalf couldn't have been too worried during the conversation with the Mouth of Sauron, because he must have been pretty sure Sauron didn't have the One Ring yet! He just couldn't have been in the same kind of suspense as everyone else, who didn't have any kind of connection to the Ruling Ring.

I know it's too late for this year's MEFAs, but are you going to bundle the three Ring drabbles into a series also?

That's the plan. *g* There may be some other ring-related drabbles to add in (like the Saruman one) but they may detract rather than add to the series if I include them, so I'm not sure yet.