The Hands of the Healer

In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Return of the King, after the catastrophic Battle of the Pelennor Fields, three beloved characters lie dying in the Houses of Healing in Minas Tirith. Faramir, Éowyn, and the hobbit Merry have each been struck by the Black Breath of the Ringwraiths — a darkness that no ordinary healer can touch. The healers of the city know every herb and remedy, yet they stand helpless beside the beds of the dying.…