Henneth Annun Reseach Center

Timeline Event

Gandalf summons Aragorn to the Houses of Healing

Event Type: General

Age: 3rd Age - Ring War

Date: March 15, 3019

Description:

An event in the aftermath of the Siege of Minas Tirith; see that entry for an overview:
Then an old wife, Ioreth..., looking on the fair face of Faramir,... said: 'Alas!.... Would that there were kings in Gondor, as there were once upon a time.... For it is said in old lore: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so the rightful king could ever be known.'....

Then Gandalf went out in haste, and already... ash-grey evening crept over the fields.

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 8, The Houses of Healing

Then the Prince Imrahil and Éomer... mounted to the Citadel..., seeking the Steward. But they found his chair empty, and before the dais lay Théoden... upon a bed of state....

When they had stood silent for a time beside the king, Imrahil said: 'Where is the Steward? And where also is Mithrandir?'

And one of the guards answered: 'The Steward of Gondor is in the Houses of Healing.'

But Éomer said: 'Where is the Lady Éowyn, my sister; for surely she should be lying beside the king, and in no less honour?'....

And Imrahil said: 'But the Lady Éowyn was yet living when they bore her hither. Did you not know?'

Then hope unlooked-for came so suddenly to Éomer's heart.... [He] turned and went swiftly from the hall.... And when they came forth evening had fallen.... And there came Gandalf on foot and with him one cloaked in grey; and they met before the doors of the Houses of Healing. And they greeted Gandalf and said: 'We seek the Steward.... Has any hurt befallen him? And the Lady Éowyn, where is she?'

And Gandalf answered: 'She lies within and... is near death. But the Lord Faramir was wounded by an evil dart..., and he is now the Steward; for Denethor has departed, and his house is in ashes.' And they were filled with grief... at the tale that he told.

But Imrahil said: 'So victory is shorn of gladness, and it is bitter bought, if both Gondor and Rohan are in one day bereft of their lords. Éomer rules the Rohirrim. Who shall rule the City meanwhile? Shall we not send now for the Lord Aragorn?'

And the cloaked man spoke and said: 'He is come.'... [It] was Aragorn, wrapped in the grey cloak of Lórien..., and bearing no other token than the green stone of Galadriel. 'I have come because Gandalf begs me to do so,' he said. 'But for the present I am but the Captain of the Dúnedain of Arnor; and the Lord of Dol Amroth shall rule the City until Faramir awakes. But it is my counsel that Gandalf should rule us all in the days that follow and in our dealings with the Enemy.' And they agreed....

Then Gandalf said: 'Let us... enter! For it is only in the coming of Aragorn that any hope remains for the sick that lie in the House. Thus spake Ioreth, wise-woman of Gondor: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 8, The Houses of Healing

Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 14Mar08

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