It is the 43rd day of Echuir
In the 3017th year of the Sun^[1]
Of the Third Age of Middle-earth

Two days have passed since the coming of the unnamed Ranger to the Halls of the Elvenking. Of his strange captive I have learned little, for no one may enter the dungeons without the leave of King Thranduil himself... leave that I have not been given! Alas, my curious mind burns hot with questions, but there are no answers to be had; for while many Green-elves are among the marchwardens who watch over our forest realm, they guard not beneath the Halls, for the confines of the caverns under the earth brings them great discomfort. Better for them the fresh forest breeze in the treetops!

I tried sneaking into the dungeons, of course, but my skill in woodcraft did not avail me, for I found that there are other wards therein besides the sharp eyes and keen ears of the guards. Indeed, when I was caught I besought Glinnoron, a door-warden, to give me entrance, but instead he offered to provide me with a cell of my very own if I wished so strongly to behold what was within... though one far away from that of "Gollum".

Gollum! So now I know the creature's name, but what manner of name it is I cannot tell. It is neither Silvan nor Sindarin, and not akin to any words I know in the Westron tongue. And both Teithoron and Legolas are nowhere to be found so that I might ply them with my questions, for it seems that they are in secret conclave with the Ranger and the King (or so it is said in the feast-halls.) Thus I have no tidings of this matter save what rumour blows through the Wood-elven folk like an ill wind through the trees of the forest; chief of which is that once upon a time an evil creature haunted Mirkwood, climbing trees to find nests and creeping into holes to find the young; and among the Woodmen who dwell nigh the Narrows of the Forest, it was said to be a ghost that drank blood, which slipped through windows to find cradles!^[2] Can it truly be that one so pitifully lean and withered is a creature of such wickedness?

But today there came new tidings and the name Mithrandir, the Grey Wanderer, is upon the lips of the Wood-elves, for it seems his wandering has brought him hither. Now this name I know, for ever it appears in the tales and songs of the Battle of Five Armies in the valley of Dale, for he it was who slew the Great Goblin of the Misty Mountains and rekindled the hatred of the Orcs for the Dwarves to fury; and who stood alone, with arms uplifted, between the hosts of the Dwarves and the alliance of Men and Elves, and heralded the coming of the army of Bolg.^[3] And it is told that it was he who drove forth the Necromancer of Dol Guldur wellnigh a thousand years ago and brought about the Watchful Peace, the long quiet which endured four hundred years ere the Shadow returned and gathered all evil things under its rule.

He came swiftly on horseback, riding in haste across the bridge all the way to the king's doors, and I watched as he hurried into the Halls. And I beheld why he is called "Grey", for he was clad in grey robes and a long cloak of elven silver-grey, tarnished by wear and dusty from his long road. White was his hair and his beard, which hung down below his belt; he was strongly built and with broad shoulders, but bent with years, and I was amazed that this great man of the tales stood but the same height as I!^[4] Yet even from where I watched, I felt the hidden power of his mighty spirit that his aged aspect belied.

Never before had he come to Thranduil's Halls, however, though I am told that in recent years both he and the Ranger have at times enlisted the aid the of Silvan folk in a search of Mirkwood, wherefore I know not, for this hunt was kept secret. A secret that was kept from me? Why this is so, I know not, but I deem their quarry was indeed this creature Gollum.

O! I need more knowledge!

[1] While the published "The Tale of Years" in Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings places the capture in the year T.A. 3017, in the Unfinished Tales: "The Hunt for the Ring" this event is said to take place in T.A. 3018. It seems that JRRT changed the date to allow Gandalf more time to arrive in Hobbiton. However, this would mean that it took the Elves of Mirkwood 17 months to report Gollum's escape at the Council of Elrond, which seems to me unlikely. I've therefore used the ToY date for his capture and the UT date for his escape.
[2] The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Shadow of the Past"
[3] The Hobbit, "The Clouds Burst"
[4] The History of The Hobbit, by John D. Rateliff (ed.)

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