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The Life of a Bard by Dreamflower	9 Review(s)
PIppinfan1988	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 1/4/2006
LOL, yes, you are, Pip. Can't wheedle your way out of this one. I can see the young hobbit courting the idea of taking up with the minstrel...I hope he keeps himself focussed and both furry feet on the ground. LOL, and I hope he survives his father! Pippinfan Author Reply: Well, you will see how focussed he keeps himself--although you will find that what he focusses on is not necessarily the best idea... And he does survive, more or less. grin

Gryffinjack	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 10/22/2005
I like the way Paladin usually addresses Pippin by his real name, especially when he is angry with his son. How very like a parent. Do hobbits have middle names, too? Usually when someone's in trouble, they get addressed by their called on the carpet by their full first and middle name. Interesting comparison between the two cousins and how they treat Pippin when he runs away to them. Merry lets his mother do the admonishing while he is the friend who does the comforting. Since Merry doesn't actually say that Pippin is wrong, it's no wonder that Pippin does not come back repentant, only a bit cheered from having been with his Merry. I daresay that Pippin goes to Merry most when he wants to be bolstered and told that he is correct rather than shown where he might be wrong. But with Frodo... now Frodo not only really understands the workings of the young Took's mind, but he also has the clarity of wisdom, patience, and compassion to know how best to get through to Pippin. It also doesn't hurt that Pippin looks up to Frodo and respects his opinion so much. Pippin will go to Frodo if he has doubts inside himself about whether or not he was correct or is having trouble understanding something. Of course, Frodo knows that in order to get through to Pippin, he has to first get passed the impulsiveness and anger in order to reach Pippin's reasoning abilities. Frodo is not even in this story yet, and already I really like him in it. Paladin ... is a Took. In his anger at Pippin for deliberately disobeying himself and more importantly, his mother, Paladin is deliberately and stubbornly staying in his son's room so he can scold him. He is acting on impulse rather than thinking through what the best way to get through to Peregrin is. Paladin understands what makes Pippin repent when he speaks with Frodo. Yet, instead of trying to use the same tactic himself to get through to his son, he stews in his son's room, seething with anger and ready to pounce on him as soon as he comes back. I'd wager that Frodo and Paladin could give Pippin the same lecture in substance, yet Pippin at this age would rebel against Paladin while he would give serious thought to what Frodo said and probably repent. It's a natural set-up for the undecided Pippin to fly in the face of his own reasoning. The very thought of leaving his Merry behind, his very rock and anchor in this world, was enough to and make him "sicklied o'er by the pale cast of thought" and would have resulted in "enterprises of great pith and moment with this regard, their currents turn awry and loses the name of action." However, with the inevitable confrontation with Paladin looming ahead of him, I can see the lad rebelling against his father and fleeing to join his new friend, Menelcar for what seems a care-free life. Author Reply: As far as I know, hobbits do not use middle names. But it's handy that Pip's full version of his real name is so long and formal sounding. Paladin uses it that way when angry, but also when he's being serious with Pippin, or when talking about Pippin to others, unless they are close family. You pretty much have the dynamics nailed. Merry will give Pippin a sympathetic shoulder and some companionship, but not much in the way of correction--indeed, Merry is likely to find whatever Pippin did to draw his parents' ire as amusing. Frodo's an adult, however, and brings an adult perspective to his advice. It's not objective--he loves Pippin too deeply for that--but it is informed, and can see the parents' side of things as well. Yep. Pippin is going to decide that, and really, it's Paladin's own fault, for if he hadn't accidentally planted the idea that Merry would be better off without him, Pippin would never consider leaving him behind. (For I don't think Paladin actually thought his words about Merry through to their logical conclusion--he's being rather Tookish himself at this point in time.)

Lindelea	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 9/27/2004
The description of Pippin's reactions to staying with either of his beloved cousins was interesting and revealing, I think. always left a note saying which cousin he had decided to inflict himself on You made me laugh! Paladin, why do I have the feeling that you ought to get hold of yourself, stifle your anger, and go down to the tavern to see what's transpiring? I knew a few song-gatherers, in my college days, who travelled the Appalachians collecting Scottish and Irish ballads, among other music. Impulsive Pippin! And Merry as his anchor! O Thunder! a very hobbity oath. You have such a sure grasp of your characters. Thanks! Author Reply: Thank you; I had hoped that would come across that way. I can see him having very different reactions to being with either Merry or Frodo--as close as these cousins are, they have very different personalities, which can result in a very different dynamic. Yes, and I imagine the notes usually began with "Since nobody appreciates me around here, I'm going where someone understands me..." LOL! Very good feeling; unfortunately, not going to happen... I can see Menelcar in that sort of role; as a minstrel in a world before recording existed it would be the only way to expand one's repertoire. I would guess he first began to come across Bilbo's songs in Dale... Yes, Merry is his anchor. Notice the only thing to put the brakes on his idea was the thought of missing Merry. I'm glad you like that oath. I try to keep most of my oaths appropriate to JRRT's ideas, but somehow, I think Pip would want something a bit stronger to say than "Bless my buttons!" 8-D

esamen	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 9/26/2004
Oh, no! My favorite Took in trouble (again)? Poor Pip. I so had hoped that they would run off to Bag End together . . . and that hope's not quite over yet . . . I'm not sure how you are going from here and I can't wait to find out! Happy typing. Author Reply: Pip and trouble just seems like a perfect formula for a story, doesn't it? No wonder it's "poor Pip"! Well, just you wait and see...

pipspebble	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 9/26/2004
Oh, Thunder! he thought, I’m in real trouble now. What a perfect reaction to the storm poor Pippin is about to face! I can tell already I'm going to be sucked completely into this one. What a pleasure to continually feast on the banquet of your talent! Thank you for coming up with this wonderful scenario. :-) Author Reply: blushes Thank you. I was inspired by a really nice song. "Sing Ho for the Life of the Bard" which I quoted in Ch. 4. And a storm is probably a good description of Paladin's feelings about now.

GamgeeFest	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 9/26/2004
I like Paladin's description on how Pippin behaves after coming back from "visiting" his cousins. I can easily see that happening. Good for Pippin not being impulsive this time around. He was able to realize what a mistake it would be to take off before he did it. Too bad he didn't think before taking off to the inn though. Paladin's got him trapped pretty good now. Pippin's in for it. Author Reply: I thought about it, and decided that a visit to Merry and Buckland would cheer Pippin up, and help ease some of his excess energy. He'd come back in a better mood, if not actually sorry for whatever he'd done wrong in the first place. On the other hand, he admires Frodo, and would take any of his advice to heart. He'd come back full of good intentions, inspired by Frodo's wisdom. But he's too full of energy and mischief for it to last very long. Well, he's trying not to be impulsive. Let's see if he still feels the same way after his father gets through with him...

RogerGamgee	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 9/26/2004
Hmm...I sense a big storm brewing here. Pippin has openly defied Paladin this time, and there are going to be major consequences. I think Pippin is finally starting to realize just what he's getting into. He'll be leaving his family behind, and most of all leavng Merry, from whom he's been virtually inseparable. Menelcar told him it would be a hard road, and Pippin now is starting to see just how true that is. I can only imagine how Paladin must be feeling. This isn't just another 'sulking episode'...Pippin has deliberately gone against his father's express wishes. I wonder how Pippin is going to explain this one. Pippin's impulsiveness comes through in this story... I read Pearl Took's story 'Running Away' here on SoA the other day, and it brought home how stubborn Pippin can be when he wants to be. One can only hope he learns how to temper that impulsiveness when he becomes Thain - his experience with the palantir hopefully made an impression on him that he'll remember for a good long while. Great story thus far...keep it up! Author Reply: Oh yes, deliberate disobedience is a lot worse than just slipping out and doing something not quite approved of, but not actually forbidden. And it makes Paladin angrier that he defied his mother ( at least, my husband always got more ticked at our son for disobeying me than when he disobeyed his father). Pippin really is making an attempt to think it through and not be impulsive, but, let's face it, aside from the stray thought of Merry pinning him down, he probably would have rolled right along with it. I read that one as well. An excellent story, also showing an impulsive and misunderstood Pip. Poor lad, he does seem to have a rough adolescence, no matter who writes about him!

shirebound	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 9/26/2004
How lovely to think that Bilbo's songs have spread throughout Middle-earth! But Poor Pippin, what a decision he has before him. Author Reply: Yes, I think Bilbo's songs would have spread. Remember, he's been gone from the Shire for fourteen years now, and he did make a journey to Erebor and Dale before he settled in Rivendell. Pip's got a big decision to make, but is he mature enough to make it for the right reasons?

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 9/26/2004
Probably not a good moment for a Pippin / Paladin confrontation, since Pippin is decidedly unrepentant at the moment and more than half-way decided on the life of a wandering minstrel. Good story. Author Reply: You've got that right. One of the problems that Paladin seems to run into in trying to discipline the tweenaged Pippin is a very bad sense of timing. He always seems to confront him at just the time to make things worse instead of better. Thanks.

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