The Road goes ever on and on

Photograph (c) Phil Janvier

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow if I can.

Pursuing it with weary feet,

Until it joins some larger way,

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

(The Fellowship of the Ring, from "Three is Company")

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to. Do you realize that this is the very path that goes through Mirkwood, and that if you let it, it might take you to the Lonely Mountain or even to worse places?" (The Fellowship of the Ring, from "Three is Company")