The Chemical Composition of White Gold

White gold is a popular alternative to yellow gold, silver, or platinum. Some people prefer the silver color of white gold to the yellow color of normal gold, yet may find silver to be too soft or too easily tarnished or the cost of platinum to be prohibitive. While white gold contains varying amounts of gold, which is always yellow, it also contains one or more white metals to lighten its color and add strength and durability. The most common white metals that form the white gold alloy are nickel, palladium, platinum, and manganese. Sometimes copper, zinc or silver are added. However, copper and silver form undesirable colored oxides in the air or on the skin, so other metals are preferable. The purity of white gold is expressed in karats, the same as with yellow gold. The gold content is typically stamped into the metal (e.g., 10K, 18K). The Color of White Gold The properties of white gold, including its color, depend on its composition. Although most people think white gold is a shiny white metal, that color is actually from the rhodium metal plating that is applied to all white gold jewelry. Without the rhodium coating, white gold might be gray, dull brown, or even pale pink. Another coating that may be applied is a platinum alloy. Typically platinum is alloyed with iridium, ruthenium, or cobalt to increase its hardness. Platinum is naturally white. However, its more expensive than gold, so it may be electroplated onto a white gold ring to improve its appearance without dramatically increasing the price. White gold that contains a high percentage of nickel tends to be closest to a true white color. It has a faint ivory tone but is much whiter than pure gold.  Nickel white gold often does not require plating with rhodium for color, although the coating may be applied to reduce the incidence of skin reactions. Palladium white gold is another strong alloy that may be used without a coating. Palladium white gold has a faint gray tinge. Other gold alloys result in additional colors of gold, including red or rose, blue, and green. Allergies to White Gold White gold jewelry typically is made from a gold-palladium-silver alloy or gold-nickel-copper-zinc alloy. However, about one in eight people experience a reaction to the nickel-containing alloy, usually in the form of a skin rash. Most European jewelry manufacturers and some American jewelry manufacturers avoid nickel white gold since alloys made without nickel are less allergenic. The nickel alloy is most often encountered in older white gold jewelry and in some rings and pins, where the nickel produces a white gold that is strong enough to stand up to the wear and tear these pieces of jewelry experience. Maintaining the Plating on White Gold White gold jewelry that has a platinum or rhodium plating typically cant be resized because doing so would damage the coating. The plating on jewelry will scratch and wear over time. A jeweler can re-plate the item by removing any stones, buffing the metal, plating it, and returning the stones to their settings. Rhodium plating typically needs to be replaced every couple of years. It only takes a couple of hours to perform the process, at a cost of around $50 to $150.

The Big Uneasy By Harry Shearer - 1097 Words

â€Å"The Big Uneasy† by Harry Shearer is a documentary about the disastrous flooding of New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina in a different viewpoint. While mass media describe the flood as well as the hurricane as a natural disaster, Shearer claims that the flooding was actually a man-made disaster, not a natural one; and the film contains comprehensive investigations with scientific data to support the claim. â€Å"The Big Uneasy† highlights on the ineffective design and maintenance of the flood-protection system, as well as the engineering structure of the Mississippi River’s waterway in the city. Severe environmental damages due to poor infrastructural planning also ruin the natural flood barrier of the region. Furthermore, these problems†¦show more content†¦Go†. Mr. Go is a 76-mile canal that was constructed in 1968. The Corps stated that this canal could reduce the time and distance needed for ships to travel from the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans. Before â€Å"Mr. Go† was built, the Corps claimed that the canal would help the city develop and make profits. However, a statistic shows that only an average of ten seagoing vessels goes through the canal every year. Moreover, the vessels carry most basic goods such as toilet papers. This waterway does not only have no economic benefits, it was also a path that allows the water from the Gulf of Mexico to directly enter New Orleans, which collided with the Industrial Canal during the hurricane. This collision created an approximately of the 800-foot breaching, which let the flood enter the region. As the result, 80 percent of New Orleans was under the water. The Corps’s poor planning left the population of New Orleans in a vulnerable situation during the Katrina. Nevertheless, New Orleans faced another problem that not only had worsen Katrina’s impacts, but also forced many New Orleans’s residents to leave the land. The Corps’s effort to â€Å"dry† New Orleans has ruined the natural flood barrier of the region. The Corps built pumping systems and canals to bring water out of the levees so that the city is protected fromShow MoreRelatedThe Studio System Essay14396 Words   |  58 Pagesseparately. Although this gave the makers of films, such as directors and producers, room to express their creativity it placed a heavy constraint upon the amount of movies that could be made, and financial profits. However, despite Hollywood’s uneasy birth, by the 1920s it had become one of the worlds leading film producers (Dirks, 2002). This was largely due to the introduction of the producer, or studio syste Cinema is a collaborative art so it is difficult to determine the Read MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagesmarginal for agricultural use were now utilized to produce bananas and coffee. As a result, the peasantry that had emerged after emancipation became increasingly landless and â€Å"agroproletariat,†1 having to sell their labor for the meager wages offered by big estates (mostly sugar and banana farms). Furthermore, the expulsion of squatters from government lands in the rural areas led to an urban explosion as many moved to the city in search of work. As usual, urbanization was accompanied by massive levels

Sophocles Antigone Creon is Donig the Right Thi Essay Example For Students

Sophocles Antigone Creon is Donig the Right Thi Essay ng Antigone essaysDefending Creon: a monarch within his rights to rule In Antigone, especially with the feminist movement now holding the title character, as prototypical downtrodden woman, the king Creon is often villified. While accepting the fact that Creon has misogynist tendencies, the gender issues can cause the pure argument of validity of actions, to fall by the wayside. So supposing for a moment, that Antigones rebellion had been undertaken by a male, would Creons choices have been different. Did he choose such harsh punishment and intractable course because Antigone was a woman ? As I read him, this is not the case. He has made a value judgement as to who is traitor and who is worthy. He has made a secondary judgement as to the rights of traitors, and the need of the people to know the consequences of traitorous acts. While one may disagree, with the value judgements he has made, as king he is well within his rights, indeed his obligation, to rule according to what he believes best at the time. Outcomes are not always the best vantage point from which to judge a man. Creon did not have the advantage the reader has of seeing final outcomes, indeed we must remember these outcomes were contrived by Sophocles, to illustrate his point of view. Is it not conceivable that in real life, these outcomes are far from assured, indeed a bit preposterous ? So then to summarize, Creon simply made his best decision, and that decision was with in his right to rule as the recognized sovereign. On the surface, Antigone is the classic tragic hero, it is she that Sophocles wants us to be drawn to. It is Creon against who he stacks the cards. A writers value judgement, nothing more. So then, once more assuming Antigone is a male instead, are her or his actions noble or foolhardy, and irresponsible. While on the surface it appears noble to risk death for a principle, is it really ? Arent relationships more important than principles ? Much is made of Creon sentencing his own sons fiance to death, did she not by her foolhardy, kneejerk reaction sentence herself. Where is her consideration for her husband to be ? And her sister, who has lost so much, and now clings to her so desparately, is rebuffed and dismissed as not worthy of the glorious Antigone. Her actions seem motivated as much by a personal desire for vainglory, than for moral principle. She will die on her sword, no matter this issue or another. She seems a pulpit thumper of the highest order. Creon, on the other hand, shows flexibility after his initial intractable course. When confronted by the gods, with the error of his thinking, he is ready to adjust and relent, for a king, this is remarkable humility. How often, do we see Clinton or other modern politicians run to admit their wrongs? Others show no faith in the kings ability to reassess, and at last come to the proper decision. It is their rashness that is to blame for their own demise. Justice has always come about slowly, Martin Luther King recognized this, Gandhi recognized this. People of tolerance and patience, while they may participate in acts of civil diobedience, are seldom rash or foolhardy. Even hunger strikes, such as Chavez, are often more for expediency than a sincere death wish. Antigone had a death wish, a noble death at all costs, to be immortalized in strident conflict. Silly, I think. Does taking a stand sometimes involve death ? Yes, of course. The times in which it does must be carefully considered, and the feelings of those to be left behind, protected and considered. .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 , .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 .postImageUrl , .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 , .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0:hover , .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0:visited , .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0:active { border:0!important; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0:active , .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0 .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u2e35142dc4dca7469e889b5258a466a0:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: United States v. Nixon, President of the United St Essay Does Antigone ever consider, really consider her sisters pain at all ? Dietrich Bonhoffer is a historical example of defiance to a state resulting in loss of his life. It was never about glory for him, and his choice was the result of the understanding that Nazi philosophy would result in untold suffering for millions. Not the pompous bleating over one unburied body, a traitorous body at that. Sometimes the

Lord Of The Rings Essay Research Paper free essay sample

Lord Of The Rings Essay, Research Paper J. R. R. Tolkien # 8211 ; The Lord Of The Rings. ( 3/4 ) Part 1: The Fellowship of the Ring Part 2: The Two Towers Part 3: The Return of the King THE RETURN OF THE KING Book V Chapter 1 Minas Tirith Chapter 2 The Pass of the Grey Company Chapter 3 The Muster of Rohan Chapter 4 The Siege of Gondor Chapter 5 The Ride of the Rohirrim Chapter 6 The Battle of the Pelennor William claude dukenfields Chapter 7 The Pyre of Denethor Chapter 8 The Houses of Mending Chapter 9 The Last Argument Chapter 10 The Black Gate Opens Book VI Chapter 1 The Tower of Cirith Ungol Chapter 2 The Land of Shadow Chapter 3 Mount Doom Chapter 4 The Field of Cormallen Chapter 5 The Steward and the King Chapter 6 Many Farewells Chapter 7 Homeward Bound Chapter 8 The Scouring of the Shire Chapter 9 The Grey Havens # 8212 ; # 8212 ; # 8212 ; # 8212 ; # 8212 ; # 8212 ; # 8212 ; # 8212 ; # 8212 ; # 8212 ; # 8212 ; # 8211 ; THE RETURN OF THE KING Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf # 8217 ; s cloak. We will write a custom essay sample on Lord Of The Rings Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He wondered if he was awake or still kiping, still in the swift-moving dream in which he had been wrapped so long since the great drive began. The dark universe was hotfooting by and the air current American ginseng aloud in his ears. He could see nil but the Wheeling stars, and off to his right huge shadows against the sky where the mountains of the South marched by. Sleepily he tried to think the times and phases of their journey, but his memory was drowsing and unsure. There had been the first drive at awful velocity without a arrest, and so in the morning he had seen a pale glow of gold, and they had come to the soundless town and the great empty house on the hill. And barely had they reached its shelter when the winged shadow had passed over one time once more, and work forces wilted with fright. But Gandalf had spoken soft words to him, and he had slept in a corner, tired but uneasy, dimly aware of approachs and departures and of work forces speaking and Gandalf giving orders. And so once more siting, siting in the dark. This was the 2nd, no, the 3rd dark since he had looked in the Stone. And with that horrid memory he woke to the full, and shivered, and the noise of the air current became filled with baleful voices. A visible radiation kindled in the sky, a blazing of xanthous fire behind dark barriers Pippin cowered back, afraid for a minute, inquiring into what awful state Gandalf was bearing him. He rubbed his eyes, and so he saw that it was the Moon lifting above the eastern shadows, now about at the full. So the dark was non yet old and for hours the dark journey would travel on. He stirred and spoke. # 8216 ; Where are we, Gandalf? # 8217 ; he asked. # 8216 ; In the kingdom of Gondor, # 8217 ; the ace answered. # 8216 ; The land of An? rien is still go throughing by. # 8217 ; There was a silence once more for a piece. Then, # 8216 ; What is that? # 8217 ; cried Pippin all of a sudden, seizing at Gandalf # 8217 ; s cloak. # 8216 ; Look! Fire, ruddy fire! Are there firedrakes in this land? Look, there is another! # 8217 ; For answer Gandalf cried aloud to his Equus caballus. # 8216 ; On, Shadowfax! We must rush. Time is short. See! The beacons of Gondor are ablaze, naming for assistance. War is kindled. See, there is the fire on Amon D? N, and fire on Eilenach ; and there they go rushing West: Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad, and the Halifirien on the boundary lines of Rohan. # 8217 ; But Shadowfax paused in his pace, decelerating to a walk, and so he lifted up his caput and neighed. And out of the darkness the replying nicker of other Equus caballuss came ; and soon the thudding of hoofs was heard, and three riders swept up and passed like winging shades in the Moon and vanished into the West. Then Shadowfax gathered himself together and jump off, and the dark flowed over him like a boom air current. Pippin became drowsy once more and paid small attending to Gandalf stating him of the imposts of Gondor, and how the Lord of the City had beacons built on the tops of outlying hills along both boundary lines of the great scope, and maintained stations at these points where fresh Equus caballuss were ever in preparedness to bear his errand-riders to Rohan in the North, or to Belfalas in the South. # 8216 ; It is long since the beacons of the North were lit, # 8217 ; he said ; # 8216 ; and in the ancient yearss of Gondor they were non needed, for they had the Seven Stones. # 8217 ; Pippin stirred anxiously. # 8216 ; Sleep once more, and make non be afraid! # 8217 ; said Gandalf. # 8216 ; For you are non traveling like Frodo to Mordor, but to Minas Tirith, and at that place you will be every bit safe as you can be anyplace in these yearss. If Gondor falls, or the Ring is taken, so the Shire will be no refuge. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; You do non soothe me, # 8217 ; said Pippin, but however sleep crept over him. The last thing that he remembered before he fell into deep dream was a glance of high white extremums, gleaming like drifting isles above the clouds as they caught the visible radiation of the westering Moon. He wondered where Frodo was, and if he was already in Mordor, or if he was dead ; and he did non cognize that Frodo from far off looked on that same Moon as it set beyond Gondor ere the coming of the twenty-four hours. Pippin woke to the sound of voices. Another twenty-four hours of concealment and a dark of journey had fleeted by. It was twilight: the cold morning was at manus once more, and chill gray mists were about them. Shadowfax stood steaming with perspiration, but he held his cervix proudly and showed no mark of fatigue. Many tall work forces to a great extent cloaked stood beside him, and behind them in the mist loomed a wall of rock. Partially catastrophic it seemed, but already before the dark was passed the sound of hurried labor could be heard: round of cocks, chink of trowels, and the creak of wheels. Torchs and flairs glowed dully here and at that place in the fog. Gandalf was talking to the work forces that barred his manner, and as he listened Pippin became cognizant that he himself was being discussed. # 8216 ; Yea genuinely, we know you, Mithrandir, # 8217 ; said the leader of the work forces, # 8216 ; and you know the pass-words of the Seven Gates and are free to travel frontward. But we do non cognize your comrade. What is he? A midget out of the mountains in the North? We wish for no aliens in the land at this clip, unless they be mighty work forces of weaponries in whose religion and aid we can trust. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; I will vouch for him before the place of Denethor, # 8217 ; said Gandalf. # 8216 ; And as for heroism, that can non be computed by stature. He has passed through more conflicts and hazards than you have, Ingold, though you be twice his tallness ; and he comes now from the storming of Isengard, of which we bear newss, and great fatigue is on him, or I would wake him. His name is Peregrin, a really valorous man. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Man? # 8217 ; said Ingold questionably ; and the others laughed. # 8216 ; Man! # 8217 ; cried Pippin, now exhaustively roused. # 8216 ; Man! Indeed non! I am a hobbit and no more valorous than I am a adult male, salvage possibly now and once more by necessity. Do non allow Gandalf lead on you! # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Many a actor of great workss might state no more, # 8217 ; said Ingold. # 8216 ; But what is a hobbit? # 8217 ; # 8216 ; A Halfling, # 8217 ; answered Gandalf. # 8216 ; Nay, non the 1 that was spoken of, # 8217 ; he added seeing the admiration in the work forces # 8217 ; s faces. # 8216 ; Not he, yet one of his kindred. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Yes, and one who journeyed with him, # 8217 ; said Pippin. # 8216 ; And Boromir of your City was with us, and he saved me in the snows of the North, and at the last he was slain supporting me from many foes. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Peace! # 8217 ; said Gandalf. # 8216 ; The intelligence of that heartache should hold been told foremost to the father. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; It has been guessed already, # 8217 ; said Ingold ; # 8216 ; for there have been unusual omens here of late. But pass on now rapidly! For the Lord of Minas Tirith will be eager to see any that bear the latest newss of his boy, be he adult male or- # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Hobbit, # 8217 ; said Pippin. # 8216 ; Little service can I offer to your Godhead, but what I can make, I would make, retrieving Boromir the brave. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Fare you good! # 8217 ; said Ingold ; and the work forces made manner for Shadow facsimile, and he passed through a narrow gate in the wall. # 8216 ; May you bring good advocate to Denethor in his demand, and to us all, Mithrandir! # 8217 ; Ingold cried. # 8216 ; But you come with newss of heartache and danger, as is your habit, they say. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Because I come rarely but when my aid is needed, # 8217 ; answered Gandalf. # 8216 ; And as for advocate, to you I would state that you are over-late in mending the wall of the Pelennor. Courage will now be your best defense mechanism against the storm that is at manus # 8211 ; that and such hope as I bring. For non all the newss that I bring are evil. But leave your trowels and sharpen your blades! # 8217 ; # 8216 ; The work will be finished ere flushing, # 8217 ; said Ingold. # 8216 ; This is the last part of the wall to be put in defense mechanism: the least unfastened to assail, for it looks towards our friends of Rohan. Make you cognize nothing of them? Will they answer the biddings, think you? # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Yes, they will come. But they have fought many conflicts at your dorsum. This route and no route looks towards safety any longer. Be argus-eyed! But for Gandalf Stormcrow you would hold seen a host of enemies coming out of An? rien and no Riders of Rohan. And you may yet. Menu you well, and sleep non! # 8217 ; Gandalf passed now into the broad land beyond the Rammas Echor. So the work forces of Gondor called the out wall that they had built with great labor, after Ithilien fell under the shadow of their Enemy. For 10 conferences or more it ran from the mountains # 8217 ; pess and so back once more, enveloping in its fencing the Fieldss of the Pelennor: carnival and fertile townlands on the long inclines and patios falling to the deep degrees of the Anduin. At its furthest point from the Great Gate of the City, north-eastward, the wall was four conferences distant, and at that place from a glowering bank it overlooked the long flats beside the river, and work forces had made it high and strong ; for at that point, upon a walled causeway, the route came in from the Fords and Bridgess of Osgiliath and passed through a restrained gate between embattled towers. At its nearest point the wall was little more than one conference from the City, and that was south-eastward. There Anduin, traveling in a broad articulatio genus about the hills of Emyn Arnen in South Ithilien, set aggressively west, and the out-wall rose upon its really threshold ; and beneath it lay the quays and landings of the Harlond for trade that came upriver from the southern feoff. The townlands were rich, with broad tilth and many groves, and homesteads there were with oast and granary, crease and cowbarn, and many rivulets ruffling through the green from the Highlandss down to Anduin. Yet the herders and farmers that dwelt there were non many, and the most portion of the people of Gondor lived in the seven circles of the City, or in the high valleies of the mountain-borders, in Lossarnach, or farther south in just Lebennin with its five fleet watercourse. There dwelt a stalwart common people between the mountains and the sea. They were reckoned work forces of Gondor, yet their blood was mingled, and there were short and dark-skinned common people among them whose sires came more from the forgotten work forces who housed in the shadow of the hills in the Dark Years ere the coming of the male monarchs. But beyond, in the great feoff of Belfalas, dwelt Prince Imrahil in his palace of Dol Amroth by the sea, and he was of high blood, and his common people besides, tall work forces and proud with sea-grey eyes. Now after Gandalf had ridden for some clip the visible radiation of twenty-four hours grew in the sky, and Pippin roused himself and looked up. To his left ballad a sea of mist, lifting to a black shadow in the East ; but to his right great mountains reared their caputs, runing from the West to a steep and sudden terminal, as if in the devising of the land the River had burst through a great barrier, carving out a mighty vale to be a land of conflict and argument in times to come. And there where the White Mountains of Ered Nimrais came to their terminal he saw, as Gandalf had promised, the dark mass of Mount Mindolluin, the deep purple shadows of its high glens, and its tall face whitening in the lifting twenty-four hours. And upon its out-thrust articulatio genus was the Guarded City, with its seven walls of rock so strong and old that it seemed to hold been non builded but carven by giants out of the castanetss of the Earth. Even as Pippin gazed in admiration the walls passed from looming Grey to white, crimsoning faintly in the morning ; and all of a sudden the Sun climbed over the eastern shadow and sent Forth a shaft that smote the face of the City. Then Pippin cried aloud, for the Tower of Ecthelion, standing high within the topmost walls # 8217 ; shone out against the sky, gleaming like a spike of pearl and Ag, tall and carnival and shapely, and its pinnacle glittered as if it were wrought of crystals ; and white streamers broke and fluttered from the crenelations in the forenoon zephyr # 8217 ; and high and far he heard a clear tintinnabulation as of Ag huntsmans horns. So Gandalf and Peregrin rode to the Great Gate of the Men of Gondor at the rise of the Sun, and its Fe doors rolled back before them. # 8216 ; Mithrandir! Mithrandir! # 8217 ; work forces cried. # 8216 ; Now we know that the storm is so near! # 8217 ; # 8216 ; It is upon you, # 8217 ; said Gandalf. # 8216 ; I have ridden on its wings. Let me go through! I must come to your Lord Denethor, while his stewardship lasts. Whatever betide, you have come to the terminal of the Gondor that you have known. Let me go through! # 8217 ; Then work forces fell back before the bid of his voice and questioned him no further, though they gazed in admiration at the hobbit that sat before him and at the Equus caballus that bore him. For the people of the City used Equus caballuss really small and they were rarely seen in their streets, save merely those ridden by the errand-riders of their Godhead. And they said: # 8216 ; Surely that is one of the great steeds of the King of Rohan? Possibly the Rohirrim will come shortly to beef up us. # 8217 ; But Shadowfax walked proudly up the long twist route. For the manner of Minas Tirith was such that it was built on seven degrees, each delved into the hill, and about each was set a wall, and in each wall was a gate. But the Gatess were non set in a line: the Great Gate in the City Wall was at the east point of the circuit, but the following faced half South, and the 3rd half North, and so to and fro upwards ; so that the paved manner that climbed towards the Citadel turned foremost this manner and so that across the face of the hill. And each clip that it passed the line of the Great Gate it went through an arched tunnel, piercing a huge wharf of stone whose immense out-thrust majority divided in two all the circles of the City save the first. For partially in the primeval defining of the hill, partially by the mighty trade and labor of old, there stood up from the rear of the broad tribunal behind the Gate a looming bastion of rock, its border crisp as a ship-keel facing E. Up it rose, even to the degree of the topmost circle, and at that place was crowned by a crenelation ; so that those in the Citadel might, like seamans in a cragged ship, expression from its extremum sheer down upon the Gate seven hundred pess below. The entryway to the Citadel besides looked eastward, but was delved in the bosom of the stone ; thence a long lamp-lit incline ran up to the 7th gate. Thus work forces reached at last the High Court, and the Topographic point of the Fountain before the pess of the White Tower: tall and shapely, 50 fthms from its base to the pinnacle, where the streamer of the Stewards floated a 1000 pess above the field. A strong bastion it was so, and non to be taken by a host of enemies, if there were any within that could keep arms ; unless some enemy could come behind and scale the lower skirts of Mindolluin, and so come upon the narrow shoulder that joined the Hill of Guard to the mountain mass. But that shoulder, which rose to the tallness of the fifth wall, was hedged with great bulwarks right up to the precipice that overhung its western terminal ; and in that infinite stood the houses and domed graves of water under the bridge male monarchs and Godheads, for of all time soundless between the mountain and the tower. Pippin gazed in turning admiration at the great rock metropolis, vaster and more splendid than anything that he had dreamed of ; greater and stronger than Isengard, and far more beautiful. Yet it was in truth falling twelvemonth by twelvemonth into decay ; and already it lacked half the work forces that could hold dwelt at easiness at that place. In every street they passed some great house or tribunal over whose doors and arched Gatess were carved many just letters of unusual and ancient forms: names Pippin guessed of great work forces and kin groups that had one time dwelt there ; and yet now they were soundless, and no footfalls rang on their broad pavings, nor voice was heard in their halls, nor any face looked out from door or empty window. At last they came out of shadow to the 7th gate, and the warm Sun that shone down beyond the river, as Frodo walked in the clearings of Ithilien, glowed here on the smooth walls and frozen pillars, and the great arch with anchor carven in the similitude of a crowned and kingly caput. Gandalf dismounted, for no Equus caballus was allowed in the Citadel, and Shadowfax suffered himself to be led off at the soft word of his maestro. The Guards of the gate were robed in black, and their helms were of unusual form, high-crowned, with long cheek-guards close-fitting to the face, and above the cheek-guards were set the white wings of sea-birds ; but the helms gleamed with a fire of Ag, for they were so wrought of _mithril_ , heirlooms from the glorification of old yearss. Upon the black surcoats were embroidered in white a tree flowering like snow beneath a silver Crown and many-pointed stars. This was the livery of the inheritors of Elendil, and none wore it now in all Gondor, save the Guards of the Citadel before the Court of the Fountain where the White Tree one time had grown. Already it seemed that word of their approach had gone before them: and at one time they were admitted, mutely, and without inquiry. Quickly Gandalf strode across the white-paved tribunal. A sweet fountain played there in the forenoon Sun, and a turf of bright green ballad about it ; but in the thick. drooping over the pool, stood a dead tree, and the falling beads dripped unhappily from its waste and broken subdivisions back into the clear H2O. Pippin glanced at it as he hurried after Gandalf. It looked plaintive, he thought, and he wondered why the dead tree was left in this topographic point where everything else was good tended. _Seven stars and seven rocks and one white tree._ The words that Gandalf had murmured came back into his head. And so he found himself at the doors of the great hall beneath the glittering tower ; and behind the ace he passed the tall soundless door-wardens and entered the cool echoing shadows of the house of rock. They walked down a paved transition, long and empty, and as they went Gandalf spoke quietly to Pippin. # 8216 ; Be careful of your words, Master Peregrin! This is no clip for hobbit impertinence. Th? oden is a kindly old adult male. Denethor is of another kind, proud and elusive, a adult male of far greater line of descent and power, though he is non called a male monarch. But he will talk most to you, and inquiry you much, since you can state him of his boy Boromir. He loved him greatly: excessively much possibly ; and the more so because they were unlike. But under screen of this love he will believe it easier to larn what he witches from you instead than from me. Make non state him more than you need, and leave quiet the affair of Frodo # 8217 ; s errand. I will cover with that in due clip. And state nil about Aragorn either, unless you must. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Why non? What is incorrect with Strider? # 8217 ; Pippin whispered. # 8216 ; He meant to come here, didn # 8217 ; t he? And he # 8217 ; ll be geting shortly himself anyway. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Maybe, possibly, # 8217 ; said Gandalf. # 8216 ; Though if he comes, it is likely to be in some manner that no 1 expects, non even Denethor. It will be better so. At least he should come unannounced by us. # 8217 ; Gandalf halted before a tall door of polished metal. # 8216 ; See, Master Pippin, there is no clip to teach you now in the history of Gondor ; though it might hold been better, if you had learned something of it, when you were still birds-nesting and playing hooky player in the forests of the Shire. Do as I bid! It is barely wise when conveying the intelligence of the decease of his inheritor to a mighty Godhead to talk over much of the coming of one who will, if he comes, claim the kingship. Is that plenty? # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Kingship? # 8217 ; said Pippin amazed. # 8216 ; Yes, # 8217 ; said Gandalf. # 8216 ; If you have walked all these yearss with closed ears and head asleep, wake up now! # 8217 ; He knocked on the door. The door opened, but no 1 could be seen to open it. Pippin looked into a great hall. It was lit by deep Windowss in the broad aisles at either side, beyond the rows of tall pillars that upheld the roof. Monoliths of black marble, they rose to great capitals carved in many unusual figures of animals and leaves ; and far above in shadow the broad vaulting gleamed with dull gold, inset with fluxing traceries of many colorss. No hangings nor celebrated webs, nor any things of woven material or of wood, were to be seen in that long solemn hall ; but between the pillars at that place stood a soundless company of tall images graven in cold rock. Suddenly Pippin was reminded of the hewn stones of Argonath, and awe fell on him, as he looked down that avenue of male monarchs long dead. At the far end upon a podium of many stairss was set a high throne under a canopy of marble shaped like a crowned helm ; behind it was carved upon the wall and set with treasures an image of a tree in flower. But the throne was empty. At the pes of the podium, upon the lowest measure which was wide and deep, there was a rock chair, black and undecorated, and on it sat an old adult male staring at his lap. In his manus was a white rod with a aureate boss. He did non look up. Solemnly they paced the long floor towards him, until they stood three gaits from his footrest. Then Gandalf spoke. # 8216 ; Hail, Lord and Steward of Minas Tirith, Denethor boy of Ecthelion! I am come with advocate and newss in this dark hour. # 8217 ; Then the old adult male looked up. Pippin saw his carved face with its proud castanetss and teguments like tusk, and the long curved nose between the dark deep eyes ; and he was reminded non so much of Boromir as of Aragorn. # 8216 ; Dark so is the hr, # 8217 ; said the old adult male, # 8216 ; and at such times you are wont to come, Mithrandir. But though all the marks forebode that the day of reckoning of Gondor is pulling near, less now to me is that darkness than my ain darkness. It has been told to me that you bring with you one who saw my boy dice. Is this he? # 8217 ; # 8216 ; It is, # 8217 ; said Gandalf. # 8216 ; One of the couple. The other is with Th? oden of Rohan and may come afterlife. Halflings they are, as you see, yet this is non he of whom the portents spoke. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Yet a Halfling still, # 8217 ; said Denethor grimly, # 8216 ; and small love do I bear the name, since those accurst words came to problem our advocates and drew off my boy on the wild errand to his decease. My Boromir! Now we have need of you. Faramir should hold gone in his stead. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; He would hold gone, # 8217 ; said Gandalf. # 8216 ; Be non unfair in your heartache! Boromir claimed the errand and would non endure any other to hold it. He was a consummate adult male, and one to take what he desired. I journeyed far with him and learned much of his temper. But you speak of his decease. You have had intelligence of that ere we came? # 8217 ; # 8216 ; I have received this, # 8217 ; said Denethor, and puting down his rod he lifted from his lap the thing that he had been staring at. In each manus he held up one half of a great horn cloven through the center: a wild-ox horn edge with Ag. # 8216 ; That is the horn that Boromir ever wore! # 8217 ; cried Pippin. # 8216 ; Verily, # 8217 ; said Denethor. # 8216 ; And in my bend I bore it, and so did each eldest boy of our house, far back into the vanished old ages before the weakness of the male monarchs, since Vorondil male parent of Mardil hunted the wild cattle of Araw in the far Fieldss of Rh? N. I heard it blowing subdued upon the northern Marches 13 yearss ago, and the River brought it to me, broken: it will weave no more. # 8217 ; He paused and there was a heavy silence. Suddenly he turned his black glimpse upon Pippin. # 8216 ; What say you to that, Halfling? # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Thirteen, 13 yearss, # 8217 ; faltered Pippin. # 8216 ; Yes, I think that would be so. Yes, I stood beside him, as he blew the horn. But no aid came. Merely more orcs. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; So, # 8217 ; said Denethor, looking keenly at Pippin # 8217 ; s face. # 8216 ; You were at that place? State me more! Why did no aid come? And how did you get away, and yet he did non, so mighty a adult male as he was, and merely orcs to defy him? # 8217 ; Pippin flushed and forgot his fright. # 8216 ; The mightiest adult male may be slain by one pointer, # 8217 ; he said ; # 8216 ; and Boromir was pierced by many. When last I saw him he sank beside a tree and plucked a black-feathered shaft from his side. Then I swooned and was made confined. I saw him no more, and cognize no more. But I honour his memory, for he was really valorous. He died to salvage us, my kinsman Meriadoc and myself, waylaid in the forests by the military personnel of the Dark Lord ; and though he fell and failed, my gratitude is none the less. # 8217 ; Then Pippin looked the old adult male in the oculus, for pride stirred queerly within him, still stung by the contempt and intuition in that cold voice. # 8216 ; Little service, no uncertainty, will so great a Godhead of Men think to happen in a hobbit, a halfling from the northern Shire ; yet such as it is, I will offer it, in payment of my debt. # 8217 ; Twitching aside his Grey cloak, Pippin drew forth his little blade and laid it at Denethor # 8217 ; s pess. A picket smiling, like a glow of cold Sun on a winter # 8217 ; s eventide, passed over the old adult male # 8217 ; s face ; but he bent his caput and held out his manus, puting the sherds of the horn aside. # 8216 ; Give me the arm! # 8217 ; he said. Pippin lifted it and presented the hilt to him. # 8216 ; Whence came this? # 8217 ; said Denethor. # 8216 ; Many, many old ages lie on it. Surely this is a blade wrought by our ain kindred in the North in the deep yesteryear? # 8217 ; # 8216 ; It came out of the hills that lie on the boundary lines of my state # 8216 ; said Pippin. # 8216 ; But merely evil creatures dwell at that place now, and I will non willingly state more of them. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; I see that unusual narratives are woven about you, # 8217 ; said Denethor, # 8216 ; and one time once more it is shown that looks may contradict the adult male # 8211 ; or the halfling. I accept your service. For you are non daunted by words ; and you have gracious address, unusual though the sound of it may be to us in the South. And we shall hold demand of all common people of courtesy, be they great or little, in the yearss to come. Swear to me now! # 8217 ; # 8216 ; Take the hilt, # 8217 ; said Gandalf, # 8216 ; and talk after the Lord, if you are resolved on this. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; I am, # 8217 ; said Pippin. The old adult male laid the blade along his lap, and Pippin put his manus to the hilt, and said easy after Denethor: # 8216 ; Here do I curse allegiance and service to Gondor, and to the Lord and Steward of the kingdom, to talk and to be soundless, to make and to allow be, to come and to travel, in demand or plentifulness, in peace or war, in life or deceasing, from this hr henceforth, until my Godhead release me, or decease take me, or the universe terminal. So say I, Peregrin boy of Paladin of the Shire of the Halflings. # 8217 ; And this do I hear, Denethor boy of Ecthelion, Lord of Gondor, Steward of the High King, and I will non bury it, nor fail to honor that which is given: allegiance with love, heroism with honor, oath-breaking with vengeance. # 8217 ; Then Pippin received back his blade and set it in its sheath. # 8216 ; And now, # 8217 ; said Denethor, # 8216 ; my first bid to you: speak and be non soundless! State me your full narrative, and see that you recall all that you can of Boromir, my boy. Sit now and get down! # 8217 ; As he spoke he struck a little Ag tam-tam that stood near his footrest, and at one time retainers came frontward. Pippin saw so that they had been standing in baies on either side of the door, unobserved as he and Gandalf entered. # 8216 ; Bring vino and nutrient and seats for the invitees, # 8217 ; said Denethor, # 8216 ; and see that none problem us for one hour. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; It is all that I have to save, for there is much else to mind, # 8217 ; he said to Gandalf. # 8216 ; Much of more import, it may look, and yet to me less pressing. But possibly we can talk once more at the terminal of the day. # 8217 ; # 8216 ; And earlier, it is to be hoped, # 8217 ; said Gandalf. # 8216 ; For I have non ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and 50 conferences, with the velocity of air current, merely to convey you one little warrior, nevertheless gracious. Is it naught to you that Th? oden has fought a great conflict and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the staff of Saruman? # 8217 ; # 8216 ; It is much to me. But I know already sufficient of these workss for my ain advocate against the threat of the East. # 8217 ; He turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a similitude between the two, and he felt the strain between them, about as if he saw a line of smoldering fire, drawn from oculus to oculus, that might all of a sudden split into fire. Denethor looked so much more like a great ace than Gandalf did, more kingly, beautiful, and powerful ; and older. Yet by a sense other than sight Pippin perceived that Gandalf had the greater power and the deeper wisdom, and a stateliness that was veiled. And he was older, far older. # 8216 ; How much older? # 8217 ; he wondered, and so he thought how uneven it was that he had neer thought about it before. Treebeard had said something about aces, but even so he had non thought of Gandalf as one of them. What was Gandalf? In what far clip and topographic point did he come into the universe, and when would he go forth it? And so his contemplations broke off, and he saw that Denethor and Gandalf still looked each other in the oculus, as if reading the other # 8217 ; s head. But it was Denethor who foremost withdrew his regard. # 8216 ; Yea, # 8217 ; he said ; # 8216 ; for though the Stones be lost, they say, still the Godheads of Gondor have keener sight than lesser work forces, and many messages come to them. But sit now! # 8217 ; Then work forces came bearing a chair and a low stool, and one brought a salver with a Ag flagon and cups, and white bars. Pippin sat down, but he could non take his eyes from the old Godhead. Was it so, or had he merely imagined it, that as he spoke of the Stones a sudden glow of his oculus had glanced upon Pippin # 8217 ; s face? # 8216 ; Now state me your narrative, my vassal, # 8217 ; said Denethor, half kindly ; half jeeringly. # 8216 ; For the words of one whom my boy so befriended Bibliography Albrecht-Carrie, Rene. The Meaning of the First World War. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc. , 1965 Ferrell, Robert H. Woodrow Wilson A ; World War I, 1917-1921. New York: Harper A ; Row Publishers, 1985. Kent, Zachary. World War I, # 8220 ; The War to End Wars. # 8221 ; Springfield, New Jersey: Enslow Publishers Inc. , 1994.