'
'Here then is the story, neighbours,' said the Alderman, 'and ye may
see thereby that if those slayers of Wood-grey were outcast, their
band is a great one; but it seemeth rather that they were men of a
folk whose craft it is to rob with the armed hand, and to slay the
robbed; and that they are now gathering on our borders for war. Yet,
moreover, they have foemen in the woods who should be fellows-in-arms
of us. How sayest thou, Stone-face? Thou art old, and hast seen
many wars in the Dale, and knowest the Wild-wood to its innermost.
'Alderman,' said Stone-face, 'and ye neighbours of the Dale, maybe
these foes whom ye have met are not of the race of man, but are
trolls and wood-wights. Now if they be trolls it is ill, for then is
the world growing worser, and the wood shall be right perilous for
those who needs must fare therein. Yet if they be men it is a worse
matter; for the trolls would not come out of the waste into the
sunlight of the Dale. But these foes, if they be men, are lusting
after our fair Dale to eat it up, and it is most like that they are
gathering a huge host to fall upon us at home.
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