the VwALtUM

[Hubert Broman]

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oaken trapdoors. These opened upwards into the kings cellars. There
stood barrels, and barrels, and barrels; for the Wood-elves, and
especially their king, were very fond of wine, though no vines grew in
those parts. The wine, and other goods, were brought from far away, from
their kinsfolk in the South, or from the vineyards of Men in distant
lands.
Hiding behind one of the largest barrels Bilbo discovered the
trapdoors and their use, and lurking there, listening to the talk of the
kings servants, he learned how the wine and other goods came up the
rivers, or over land, to the Long Lake. It seemed a town of Men still
throve there, built out on bridges far into the water as a protection
against enemies of all sorts, and especially against the dragon of the
Mountain. From Lake-town the barrels were brought up the Forest River.
Often they were just tied together like big rafts and poled or rowed up