Ullathor had something for him the next day. The librarian's enthusiasm for the search had led him to remain in the archives throughout that evening after Frodo and Erlotibin had gone, and when Frodo returned the following morning, Ullathor displayed his find: a map of the citadel dated from 420 of the Third Age.
"That was the year in which King Ostoher rebuilt the citadel in Minas Anor," Ullathor explained as he spread the sheet of ancient parchment across a table in the library's well-lit scriptorium. From his reading the night before, Frodo knew that during the peaceful centuries immediately following Sauron's fall at the end of the Second Age, the Kings of Gondor and their nobles had made their homes in Osgiliath and governed the kingdom from there, while the old fortress atop Minas Anor sat unused. When a new threat in the form of Men from the East had arisen, the fortified city had been restored and the citadel rebuilt.
Frodo climbed up to stand on a chair and look over the map: the ink was muddy brown and faded with great age, but the familiar spear-head shape of the citadel courtyard was boldly outlined. Within it, he could see the great hall, feast hall, and another building to the east, now gone, arranged around the fountain, which was all that remained of the old fortress, and the white tree which Isildur had planted beside it in remembrance of his brother Anarion before he'd gone away to meet his own tragic end at Gladden Field.
"The White Tower isn't there," Frodo observed, and touched the place where it should be.
"No," said Ullathor. "The tower wasn't built until much later, 1900 or thereabouts, and rebuilt by Ecthelion around 2700. And the old armory you see there was struck by lightning, and its ruins torn down when the present guards hall was built. But what I thought you would find most interesting are the tunnels." He indicated fainter lines that ran between the shapes of the buildings, and beyond them to chambers beneath the courtyard.
From his journey through these same passageways, Frodo easily recognized the long tunnel that extended nearly to the end of the courtyard, and he leaned closer to study the narrower lines that intersected it until he found the one that curved back along the eastward edge. He traced it with a finger until he came to the wall above the street on the sixth level.
"Was that where the- ah- body was found?" Ullathor asked.
"Yes, right here. There was a stairway that went down..." From the map, he could see that the tunnel went on for several yards beyond this point, running beside the outer wall. He distinctly recalled the rubble-cluttered passage leading away into darkness from the bottom of the stair, but hadn't had the opportunity at that time to go on. He wondered where the tunnel led to; he'd have to ask if he could return and explore further once the work-men had cleared the way. "Was there a door somewhere in this wall?"
"As a matter of fact, there was. Some of the old stories tell of a door known only to the denizens of the citadel. In those days, the heads of the noble houses would take this secret way to visit the King on clandestine business, and he to call upon them. It was sealed off long ago."
Faramir had said something like this while they were in the tunnel where the Elf's body had been found; Frodo would have to ask him what he knew about it.
Both he and Ullathor agreed that finding out when the tunnel had been sealed would give them a good indication of when the body had been placed there. While the librarian searched for further references to alterations to the tunnels beneath the citadel, Frodo continued to look for records of visiting Elves.
Many Elves had come to Minas Anor in the first centuries after the Last Alliance, some repeatedly over the years. Many were unnamed in the court records of the day: "An emissary from Imladris arrived for the King"--how many times did this same sentence appear! Whenever he found an Elvish name, Frodo made note of it and tried to find out what had happened to that visitor. They all seemed to leave the city safely within a short time of their arrival.
The rest of the week passed in research; Frodo spent his mornings in the library, hunting down Elves. After four days, he reached the end of the 7th century. By that date, the number of Elves that visited the city had dwindled. A messenger from Rivendell was now a remarkable event.
Erlotibin's duties in the Hall of Record had kept him away from the library, but one afternoon, he came to Gandalf's house, bringing a small book he had discovered.
"I've been looking for this for days," he said as he gave the book to Frodo. "I remembered it when you first asked me about sightings of the ghost. When I was an apprentice scribe, my predecessor spoke often of his interest in the folklore and legends of the city. He'd made a collection of such curious events."
"I can read all about the ghost?" Frodo asked, smiling eagerly as he took the book.
"Among other things. You'll find it all fascinating to read, but I've marked the pertinent section for you."
Frodo thanked Erlotibin, and began to read the book as soon as his visitor had gone. He went on reading after dinner until bedtime. The last Master Scribe had compiled some remarkable stories: Of "Old Bones," a soldier who would not shirk his duties even after death, but continued to patrol the city battlements in skeletal form until a dauntless captain ordered him to rest in peace. Of unearthly voices heard to lament the death of the White Tree. Of a blood-stain on the floor of an Inn on the third level which could never be washed away, but refreshed itself on the same day each year.
"We ought to go see if it's still there," said Merry when Frodo read this last aloud to him. "Though I suppose that if it's in a room they use, they must keep it hidden under a bit of rug."
To the amazement of both hobbits, there was also a story about "little people" who'd been brought to the city at the end of the 20th century. From the history of the Shire, both Frodo and Merry knew that a company of hobbit archers had been sent to the aid of the King at Fornost around that same time, and were presumed to have been killed in battle, since none ever returned home. If these "little people" were survivors, how and why they had made their way to Minas Anor remained a mystery.
There were many tales of other ghostly apparitions seen in the city throughout its long history, but the ghost that appeared in the uppermost end of the high street was of primary interest, not only to Frodo, but to the late Master Scribe who had gathered noteworthy sightings of it.
According to the old scribe's book, the last sighting of the ghost had been in 2988. A figure described as "armor-clad, with eyes of flame," was seen walking at midnight by Prince Ibritalant of Dol Amroth, who was staying as a guest in the city and returning from the citadel to the House of Hurin where he was lodged. The old Master Scribe had added a note that this vision presaged the death of the Prince's sister, Denethor's wife, Lady Finduilas; the lady, who had been in a decline, died a few weeks later. It was this event that had begun the scribe's interest in the ghost and other odd legends within the city.
The ghost was said to be a harbinger of ill-tidings: it had been seen before the deaths of several Stewards, and after Earnur, the last ruling King of Gondor, had ridden away to confront the Nazgul at Minas Morgul and never returned. It had been seen several times during the Kinstrife: "The visage of the slain Elf appeared to Prince Castamir this night, to the despair of all," a court scribe had written in 1435. "The shade of the accursed Elf" had also appeared in 1048 to the Steward of that age before the body of his son, killed in battle, was brought home for burial.
These earliest citations were the most intriguing. Evidently, the ghost was well-known to them. Had they known who it was? If they had, the recorder of these events hadn't thought it worth mentioning, or else the old Master Scribe hadn't bothered to include it in his notes--the latter of which, Frodo thought unlikely. Nowhere in the book did he find any sign that the old Master had discovered the ghostly figure's identity. He had listed its appearances, but had not explored the tale behind them.
Frodo continued to read until Merry made him blow out the candle, but he lay awake long afterwards, worried. Faramir had laughed when he spoke of the ghost, but if the figure was a harbinger of death or disaster--especially for the families of the kings and stewards--surely this latest appearance meant that something terrible was about to happen?
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