Chapter 346: The Great Orator George
"You see, even the Queen's Girdle is not absolutely foolproof. Have you all forgotten the tragedy when Morgoth's great army invaded Doriath? Forgotten the loved ones slaughtered by the Orcs?"
George cast a voice amplification spell on himself so that his voice could be heard by all the elves of the Grey Elven Kingdom.
"Let me be blunt. The peace in Doriath is partly due to the Queen's Girdle, but the greater reason lies in the Angband defense line built by the Noldor Elves.
The Angband defense line kept Morgoth and his dark army confined within Angband, and only because of that was peace brought to Middle-earth.
Now that the Angband defense line has been breached, if Doriath refuses to aid the Noldor Elves and humans today, what do you think Morgoth will do once he has annihilated all the Noldor Elves and humans? Do you think he'll spare Doriath?"
George's impassioned words silenced all the Grey Elves.
Were the Grey Elves fools?
Of course not. It's hard to say whether elves or humans have higher intelligence, but elves live far longer, accumulating far more wisdom—almost every one of them is well-educated.
To give an analogy: among humans, only a few are college graduates, while most are illiterate. The profound logic you speak may not be understood by the majority.
But among elves, everyone is like a college graduate—some from top-tier universities, others from regular ones. They can all comprehend your reasoning; it's only a matter of whether they're willing to take the risk.
"Morgoth's goal is to conquer all of Middle-earth. He will not spare a single elf—either he kills you, or he turns you into an Orc slave.
As a human, I can't bear such humiliation. As noble elves, I'm sure you can endure it even less.
Elves, Dwarves, and humans—we are one. When the whole suffers, the individuals cannot be spared. We cannot let temporary comfort make us forget the looming danger."
And so George quoted altered proverbs, cited classics, analyzed the situation of the world from the Grey Elves' perspective, explaining the stakes, goading them, encouraging them, praising them. He delivered a full two-hour speech before finally stopping.
Phrases like "Out of hardship comes growth; out of comfort comes demise," or "Under a fallen nest, no egg remains whole," and "Be vigilant in peace; prepare before the storm," and "Elves are born between heaven and earth—how can they live forever beneath Morgoth?" and so on.
He felt he had truly done everything he could. If the Grey Elves still insisted on their own views, there was nothing more he could do.
If he could persuade the Grey Elves to join his academy, that would already be more than half the goal accomplished. If they were willing to send troops—great. If not, it still wouldn't be a fatal issue.
And when George finally finished his speech, all the Grey Elves were left with their mouths agape. Even Melian, the Maia, looked at George with astonishment in her eyes.
Because the amount of information George had poured out over those two hours was overwhelming—the philosophical little stories, the logically clear analyses, the predictions of future crises. It had truly overloaded the Grey Elves' mental CPUs.
It took quite a while before they could fully sort out everything George had conveyed.
"George, you truly are a very wise human!"
Thingol looked at George with admiration in his eyes:
"You are right. We are all elves. Though the line of Fëanor is unforgivable, the other elves are not at fault. Nor are the other living beings of Middle-earth.
We Grey Elves cannot just hide within the Queen's Girdle."
In fact, Thingol had already been convinced halfway through George's speech. But the more he listened, the more enlightened he felt, so he didn't interrupt.
"What do you all think?"
Thingol turned to the twenty-two noble elders of the elven court.
Sending Grey Elven troops to aid the Noldor Elves against the Balrog army was a decision that concerned the fate of the entire Grey Elven Kingdom. Even as king, he could not decide it alone.
"I agree!"
"I agree!"
"I agree!"
One by one, the noble elders cast their votes in favor.
In the end, out of the twenty-two elders, fifteen agreed to send troops, five were still hesitating, and two stubbornly disagreed.
With more than half agreeing, Thingol immediately declared:
"Very well. From this day forward, the Grey Elven Kingdom enters a full state of war. Contact the Blue Mountain Dwarves and bring them to Thousand Stone Cavern—we need to forge a vast number of weapons and armor!"
"I didn't expect it to actually work."
Hearing Thingol's final order, George couldn't help but smile. His two-hour speech had not been in vain.
Thinking about it carefully, his success wasn't too surprising.
First, he had just demonstrated overwhelming power and earned the respect of all the Grey Elves.
That was crucial. Without enough strength, no one would believe you even if you spoke the truth.
Just like—who would listen to a beggar talk about getting rich?
But if you're the richest person in the world, even your casual nonsense would be treated as timeless wisdom, even faith.
Secondly, this world, at its current stage of development, is still relatively pure—there aren't many political schemes or accumulated traditions in these matters to learn from.
When the Second and Third Princes came to see Thingol, all they did was boast about how amazing George and the humans were, how they had driven back Morgoth's army, and hoped that Thingol would send troops to fight the Balrog army charging in from the east—blah blah blah.
But to Thingol and the noble elders, most of that sounded like bragging, meaningless and without any benefit—how could they agree?
It wasn't the princes' fault. They had never done anything like this before. It was understandable they lacked experience.
George was different. His previous life's education and exposure to a flood of historical events and information had filled his mind with all sorts of odd knowledge. It didn't boost his strength, but it gave him a huge advantage in this area.
There were simply too many real-life cases to draw from.
"Our academy has already brought in Dwarves for exchange. The Noldor Elves and Dwarves are working together to develop a new type of armor resistant to fire. The Grey Elves can join as well.
It will greatly help in dealing with the Balrogs."
"It seems sending people to your academy was indeed a wise decision!"
Thingol's face was now lit with smiles.
New armor that could resist Balrogs' fire, light magic to counter Orcs, giant magic to enhance strength—alongside the alliance of all elves, humans, and dwarves.
Looking at it this way, completely eradicating Morgoth and his Orcs no longer seemed like just a dream.
Once Morgoth and the Orc threat were gone, Melian would no longer need to strain herself maintaining the Girdle, and the Grey Elves could freely roam the world and enjoy true peace.
"What a pity—you're not an elf."
(End of Chapter)