Page 211 - The Hobbit

So late in returning?
The river is flowing,

The stars are all burning!
O! Whither so laden,
So sad and so dreary?
Here elf and elf-maiden
Now welcome the weary
With Tra-la-la-lally
Come back to the Valley,
Tra-la-la-lally

Fa-la-la-lally
Fa-la!

Then the elves of the valley came out and greeted them and led them across
the water to the house of Elrond. There a warm welcome was made them, and
there were many eager ears that evening to hear the tale of their adventures.

Gandalf it was who spoke, for Bilbo was fallen quiet and drowsy. Most of the tale
he knew, for he had been in it, and had himself told much of it to the wizard on
their homeward way or in the house of Beorn; but every now and again he would

open one eye, and listen, when a part of the story which he did not yet know came
in. It was in this way that he learned where Gandalf had been to; for he overheard
the words of the wizard to Elrond. It appeared that Gandalf had been to a great
council of the white wizards, masters of lore and good magic; and that they had at

last driven the Necromancer from his dark hold in the south of Mirkwood.
"Ere long now," Gandalf was saying, "The Forest will grow somewhat more
wholesome. The North will be freed from that horror for many long years, I hope.

Yet I wish he were banished from the world!"
"It would be well indeed," said Elrond; "but I fear that will not come about in
this age of the world, or for many after."
When the tale of their joumeyings was told, there were other tales, and yet

more tales, tales of long ago, and tales . of new things, and tales of no time at all,
till Bilbo's head fell forward on his chest, and he snored comfortably in a corner.
He woke to find himself in a white bed, and the moon shining through an open

window. Below it many elves were singing loud and clear on the banks of the
stream.

Sing all ye joyful, now sing all together?
The wind's in the free-top, the wind's in the heather;

The stars are in blossom, the moon is in flower,