A small reunion of small people (some at least)

With a shout of 'Forth Eorlingas' the host of Rohan rode out of Edoras on what was thought the last ride of Theoden king of the Golden Hall...  the galloping of the hooves of the mighty army echoes in the minds of us four Eichers as we are coming to the middle of The Two Towers.  What drama, who nobility!

And what imagination a young boy (and his happy Dad) can have when it comes to seeing these characters come to life in Lego!

For verily, there are the newly empowered King Theoden, riding his mighty steed Snowmane - and beside him is the White Rider - Gandalf himself!


The King and the Wizard ride forth together - not knowing that the wrath of the Ents has brought the trees of Fangorn to their aid!

With them are three other members of the Company of the Ring.

They have travelled many leagues on foot - hoping against hope to be able to rescue their two small friends - only to find that they seem to have disappeared into the untracked forests.

Our three friends are of course Legolas the Elf - clad in his grey garment and carrying the bow and arrows that the fair Lady Galadriel of Lothlorien gave him.  In the absence of Gandalf, the leadership of the company was thrust upon Aragorn - son of Arathorn - who wields the newly reforged Anduril.  With him - and a bosom-friend of Legolas is the ever faithful dwarf Gimli son of Gloin.  Though there was little love between the elves and the dwarves - these two have forged a bond of deep affection that takes them through many an adventure.

And what of those two halflings that the company was searching for?

Merry and Pippin are looking none the worse for their adventures in the forest with Treebeard the Ent.  In fact, they have been renewed at many levels and are ready to rejoin their friends - whom they welcomed at the gate of Isengard.  This all took place after the Ents thoroughly destroyed Saruman's fortress after the evil wizard had sent all his forces to crush the men of Rohan in the battle of Helm's Deep.

What a happy reunion it was - and how excellent we all felt to have these friends back together again.

You just know when you read Tolkein that you are not just reading a set of idle thoughts by a bookish don who loved language for the joy of making new tongues and writing poetry in them.  What we are reading about is a deep look at the very core of who we are - and what the great patterns of truth and meaning do actually play themselves out in our world(s).

In the mean-time - its a joy to have the company of the Ring back together again - at least to have 6 back - and we are wondering what is happening for Frodo and Sam as they move towards Mordor...