The Departure from the Grey Havens

The Departure from the Grey Havens closes the narrative of The Lord of the Rings by sending the Ring-bearers and the last of the Three Keepers across the Sea, an act that simultaneously fulfills the promise of healing for the wounded and marks the definitive end of the Third Age. It is the final, deliberate dissolution of the Fellowship, a parting that transforms the story's long accumulation of loss into a bittersweet, blessed release.

The Journey to the Havens

On September 21, Frodo and Samwise Gamgee set out from Hobbiton together, riding the pony Strider and the faithful Bill. They took the Stock Road over the hills toward the Woody End, camping in the Green Hills, and on September 22—Bilbo's birthday—they rode gently down into the trees as afternoon waned. As evening fell and stars glimmered in the eastern sky, Frodo began to sing softly, altering the old walking-song to speak of taking "the hidden paths that run / West of the Moon, East of the Sun." In answer, voices rose from the valley below, singing in Elvish: "A! Elbereth Gilthoniel!" Frodo and Sam halted and sat silent in the soft shadows until they saw a shimmer as the travellers came toward them. There was Gildor and many fair Elven folk; and to Sam's wonder rode Elrond and Galadriel. Elrond wore a mantle of grey and a star upon his forehead, and on his finger was Vilya, mightiest of the Three. Galadriel, robed in glimmering white, shone with a soft light; on her finger was Nenya, the ring wrought of mithril bearing a single white stone flickering like a frosty star. Riding slowly behind on a small grey pony, seeming to nod in sleep, was Bilbo himself.

The Farewells

Elrond greeted them gravely and graciously, and Galadriel smiled upon them, telling Sam that she heard and saw he had used her gift well, and that the Shire would be more than ever blessed and beloved. Bilbo woke and opened his eyes, announcing that he had passed the Old Took that day and was ready for another journey. "Are you coming?" he asked Frodo. "Yes, I am coming," Frodo answered. "The Ring-bearers should go together." Sam, at last understanding what was happening, cried out, "Where are you going, Master?" Frodo told him: "To the Havens, Sam." Sam asked if he could not come, and Frodo replied that not yet, not further than the Havens, though Sam too had been a Ring-bearer for a little while and his time might come. He told Sam not to be too sad, that he could not be always torn in two, and that he had so much to enjoy and to be and to do. Sam wept, saying he had thought Frodo would enjoy the Shire for years and years after all he had done. Frodo answered that he had been too deeply hurt; he had tried to save the Shire, and it had been saved, but not for him. He declared Sam his heir, leaving him all that he had and might have had, and told him that his hands and wits would be needed everywhere—he would be Mayor, the most famous gardener in history, and would keep alive the memory of the age that was gone. Then Elrond and Galadriel rode on, for the Third Age was over and the Days of the Rings were passed. With them went many Elves of the High Kindred who would no longer stay in Middle-earth, and among them, filled with a sadness that was yet blessed and without bitterness, rode Sam, Frodo, and Bilbo. Though they rode through the midst of the Shire all evening and all night, none saw them pass save the wild creatures or here and there a wanderer who saw a swift shimmer under the trees or a light and shadow flowing through the grass as the Moon went westward. When they had passed from the Shire, going about the south skirts of the White Downs, they came to the Far Downs and to the Towers, and looked on the distant Sea, and so rode down at last to Mithlond, the Grey Havens in the long firth of Lune.

The Ship and the Final Parting

At the gates, Círdan the Shipwright came forth to greet them, very tall, with a long beard, grey and old save that his eyes were keen as stars. He bowed and said, "All is now ready." He led them to the Havens, where a white ship lay. Upon the quay beside a great grey horse stood a figure robed all in white awaiting them. As he turned and came toward them, Frodo saw that Gandalf now wore openly on his hand the Third Ring, Narya the Great, and the stone upon it was red as fire. Then those who were to go were glad, for they knew that Gandalf also would take ship with them. But Sam was sorrowful at heart, and it seemed to him that if the parting would be bitter, more grievous still would be the long road home alone. Even as they stood there, and the Elves were going aboard, and all was being made ready to depart, up rode Merry and Pippin in great haste. Amid his tears Pippin laughed, saying that Frodo had tried to give them the slip once before and failed, and that this time Gandalf himself had given them away. Gandalf said it would be better to ride back three together than one alone, and declared: "Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil." Then Frodo kissed Merry and Pippin, and last of all Sam, and went aboard. The sails were drawn up, the wind blew, and slowly the ship slipped away down the long grey firth. The light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore glimmered and was lost. The ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. Then it seemed to him that, as in his dream in the house of Tom Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.

The Aftermath

But to Sam the evening deepened to darkness as he stood at the Haven. As he looked at the grey sea he saw only a shadow on the waters that was soon lost in the West. There he stood far into the night, hearing only the sigh and murmur of the waves on the shores of Middle-earth, and the sound of them sank deep into his heart. Beside him stood Merry and Pippin, and they were silent. At last the three companions turned away, and never again looking back they rode slowly homewards, speaking no word to one another until they came back to the Shire, but each had great comfort in his friends on the long grey road. They rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland, already singing again as they went. But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill as day was ending once more. There was yellow light and fire within; the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. Rose drew him in, set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap. He drew a deep breath and said, "Well, I'm back."