(Submitted to me by User554422@aol.com  Sun Mar  3 21:12:57 1996)

RIVENDELL VALLEY by Doug Aberle (Date Unknown)

I once met a man, a right kindly old gentleman
Walking through forests and glens.
And he told of a world from which he had come,
And the lands that he'd one day return to again:

       "Oh, I'm going back to Rivendell Valley
       And visit Lothlorien just for a while;
       Oh please take me back to Rivendell Valley,
       It echoes its song for a thousand miles."

Tales of great Elf-lords and bold fighting Men
He wove as we went on our way.
And he told me that someday I'd follow them,
Then quietly, softly, he often would say:

       "Oh, I'm going back to Rivendell Valley
       And dream of the dreams that forever are gone.
       To live in a time when winter was welcome,
       And Elf-children witnessed their very first dawn."

The lands are now empty. They've all gone away
To search for their Master, it seems.
And though I'm alone here, it troubles me not.
My heart sojourns in that far land of dreams.

       "For I'm going back to Rivendell Valley,
       And visit my friends in the village of Bree.
       Then cross the Brandywine into the Shire
       Before I must journey out over the Sea."

There was one last white Elven-ship ready to leave,
Waiting with billowing sail.
Then he turned to me, and he spoke these last words,
Then sailed for the land where the Valar prevail.

       "Oh, please go back to Rivendell Valley,
       And tell them I'm waiting out over the Sea.
       For those who would follow the Road I have travelled,
       The journey is open to all who believe."

"I'm going back to Rivendell Valley...
The journey is open to those who believe."

Here offered and subscribed by Luandir, Wizard, Minstrel, and Vintner.
To the Eternal Quest...Gilthoniel A Elbereth!