The Tooth Dwarf

“Merry! Merry, wake up!” Pippin whispered, shaking his cousin by the shoulder, undeterred even when Merry shrugged him off and turned away, pulling the blanket over his head. “Something’s wrong!”

Any hope of sleeping was driven away by those two words, and Merry hurriedly disentangled himself from the blankets and sat up. “What’s wrong, Pip? Did you have a bad dream? Are you sick?” he asked, already checking for a fever.

“No,” Pippin said, his eyes filling with tears. “I think I broke something.”

“What?” Merry cried, trying to keep his voice down. “Did you fall out of bed?” He grabbed Pippin’s arms and patted them, not sure what he was looking for, but the healer had done this when his cousin Berilac broke his arm last summer.

“Not there, Merry,” Pippin said with all the impatience of the very young. “Here!”

“Your tooth?” Merry asked in surprise before laughing in relief.

“It’s not funny!” Pippin exclaimed, folding his arms and glaring at his cousin. “My tooth is wiggling and I can’t stop it.”

“Pippin, your tooth is not broken, it’s just loose.” Merry explained, forcing himself to remain sober. He poked at the offending tooth with the tip of his finger. “It’ll fall out very soon. All of them will, eventually.”

“But how will I eat without any teeth?” Pippin asked, horrified. Already his eyes were filling with fresh tears.

“New ones will grow in their place, bigger ones, and you’ll even grow more teeth in the back of your mouth,” Merry said.

“And then I’ll be able to eat even more, because I’ll have more teeth! Right, Merry?” Pippin asked, needing extra assurance.

“Right,” Merry replied. Satisfied, Pippin crawled into Merry’s lap and sat there, wiggling his tooth for a moment.

“What happens when my tooth falls out, Merry? Can I keep it?”

“If you want to,” Merry answered. “But wouldn’t you rather leave it out for the Tooth Dwarf?”

“The Tooth Dwarf?” Pippin asked, turning so he could see Merry’s face. “Who’s that?”

“When your tooth falls out, put it under your pillow for the Tooth Dwarf. Every night he waits until all the children are asleep and travels around the Shire, and collects the teeth of all the little hobbit lads and lasses, and leaves a coin in return.”

“A coin!” Pippin exclaimed, already calculating how many sweets he would be able to buy. “But why does the Tooth Dwarf want our teeth?”

Merry contemplated this for a moment before smiling. “The Tooth Dwarf brings all the teeth back to the caves and gives them to the other dwarves to make, uh, jewelry. You know from Cousin Bilbo’s stories how much dwarves like jewels. Well, hobbit teeth are very valuable for them, since they don’t have any hobbits where they live.”

“Ohhh,” Pippin said. He wiggled his tooth some more. “When will my tooth fall out, Merry?”

“Are you in a hurry for a visit from the Tooth Dwarf?” Merry asked teasingly. He inspected Pippin’s tooth again and nodded. “It’s very loose. I wouldn’t want it to fall out while you’re asleep so if you want I can pull it out for you.”

“Will it hurt?” Pippin asked, trying to sound brave but failing miserably.

“It might,” Merry replied. “Or you can just wait until it falls out on its own.”

Pippin debated this for a moment before smiling. “I won’t be scared if you pull out my tooth, Merry. Besides, I want the Tooth Dwarf to visit me.”

 “All right, then,” Merry said, retrieving a clean handkerchief from his nightstand. He grasped Pippin’s tooth and lifted it away, dabbing gently at the tiny trickle of blood.

“Here it is,” he said, handing the tooth to his cousin.

“It didn’t hurt at all,” Pippin said, accepting his tooth and turning it over in his hands. He poked at the empty space in his mouth. “Feels better now, too. Thank you, Merry.”

“Any time, Pippin,” Merry said, ruffling his cousin’s curls. “Now, put the tooth under your pillow for the Tooth Dwarf and go right to sleep, or else he will not visit you.”

“Will he visit me if I stay here?” Pippin asked, already claiming one of Merry’s pillows as his own. “I’m too sleepy to go back to my room.”

“Yes, losing teeth does take a lot out of you,” Merry agreed, tucking the blanket around Pippin’s shoulders. “And don’t worry; the Tooth Dwarf will not have any trouble finding you here.”

“I’m glad,” Pippin replied, already half asleep. “Good night, Merry.”