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The King's Commission by Larner	8 Review(s)
Queen Galadriel	Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 3/24/2006
giggling Oh dear me, I've done it now with my oddities! :) I don't live in England but in North Carolina. I just use the British spelling because I like it, and if my writing style itself looks a bit English sometimes, why, it's because I read so much English literature and it just rubs off...and I can't say I mind. Sorry about the confusion there. :) So, you meant the shells to symbolize Frodo's nature. I thought maybe you did, and I can't believe it took me that long for that to sink in. God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: North Carolina? Oh, other side of the country from me, here in the Pacific Northwest in the folds of the Olympic Mountains. I, too, read a lot of British literature, but stick to U.S. spellings and usages for the most part, as this tends to be demanded of us teachers. Glad that you appreciate the symbology of the shells. And I have to laugh that again I judged someone to live in Britain when they actually live here. You aren't the first, you see....

Queen Galadriel	Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 3/24/2006
Doing several chapters in one review here. I don't think I've ever told you that I like the way you portray Freddie; still who he was before, but marked now by dark experience. The little interlude with the Sindarin lullaby was beautiful. To think of little Elanor speaking Sindarin so fluently, having learned some of it from her Uncle Frodo, is touching and a bit extraordinary, but somehow fitting and not altogether surprising. Goodness! Ruvemir is as bad as I am, getting caught up in the tale and staying up all night! I've done that plenty of times, especially with LOTR. :) And I like the moments shared between Ruvemir and the hobbits, especially Sam and Rose. When will the wedding bells begin to toll, I wonder? :) Ah, at last the circlet is in its proper place! Excellent! I'm not sure if this will make any sense, but it struck me, reading about the beautiful shells again, that maybe they have a deeper meaning. In a way, Frodo is like the shells: beautiful to look on, and bringing joy to those who loved and cared about him, just as the shells brought joy by their beauty. But at the last the gentle, beautiful light that made the outer beauty alive was too otherworldly to be contained in mere mortality; and slowly the mortal was refined away, until the time came for the bright spirit to return to the Presence, just as, in the shell, the water worm slowly takes on a new form and at last emerges, a delicate winged creature, to fly free. And when it is gone, the shell remains, still beautiful, just as a part of Frodo remained, still beautiful, still inspiring love. I'm not good at expressing such thoughts, and maybe not the best comparison in the world, but I couldn't help but be struck by it just now. God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: You'll find I don't mind several chapters at once. Am so glad you appreciate Freddy as I write him. He was too frightened of the unknown to leave the Shire before; but he still managed to find his courage and do his best to serve the Shire as he could, and like the other four paid the price for heroism, which he also doesn't quite believe is true of himself. I've always seen Sam as far smarter than Tolkien portrayed him, but never quite accepting just how smart he was until after Frodo left the Shire. I doubt Frodo could ignore that fact, and suspect in part he hoped that once he was gone and was not there to eclipse those around him the rest of the Shire would recognize that truth and would honor Sam as he deserved, which in time they do as he is the next Mayor. I suspect that once Frodo was gone it was Sam who would seek to keep his memory alive in Elanor by murmuring to her in Sindarin, and that he'd go out of his way to learn to pronounce it properly so as to do so; and that many would be shocked to find the rustic value of his Westron wasn't true when he spoke "Elvish." Anyone with any imagination reading LOTR tends to find themselves staying up till all hours, unable to put it down--I know it was true with me when I first read it, and happens still now. I just wrote the reality of that fact into the story, putting Ruvemir into our place. I think Ruvemir would come to appreciate Sam and Rosie a very good deal, particularly as he breaks down Sam's reserve. (I tend to see Ruvemir as a healer of hearts, in case you didn't realize it.) The Circlet is now officially recognized and properly honored, as Sam is finally coming to be honored properly as well. As for the caddis fly larvae--I don't know if you have such creatures in England, but they are fairly common across the United States, so I decided one more American import into Middle Earth along with beans and potatoes and tomatos ought to be acceptable in my stories, and so I wrote them into "For Eyes to See as Can," seeking to use them as symbols of precisely what you've expressed here. I myself have given caddis fly larvae small beads in a jar, and have been fascinated in seeing how in a slow-moving stream with reeds they'll cut pieces of reed and grass stems to make their shells of, while those in sandy streams will use the grains of sand and so on. They are fascinating creatures to study. But it's the nature of any larvae eventually to enter crysalis form and then split out of the crysalis to become a flying insect; when they are ready to do that, caddis fly larvae finally must leave their shells, creep up stems of plants out of the water which has protected them to date, attach themselves to the stem and form the crysalis, then split out of them to become adult caddis flies, an insect with particularly delicate looking wings. Obviously I've obtained my object in using them as symbols of Frodo's nature for you to write this.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 1/18/2005
Sitting up all night reading the Red Book! Sam must trust Ruvemir more than a little. I love the teething ring - only Sam would use his circlet for such a practical purpose. I suppose it's better than using it in the garden, too. I'm glad Rosie wouldn't let him put it back to that use. Sam might be modest, but there's no reason why those around him should be. Author Reply: I thought he needed a very gentle slap alongside the head to accept that he, too, deserves praise.

Breon Briarwood	Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 1/17/2005
The scenes with their circlets.... You've gone and made me cry again! Author Reply: Accepting due praise is often hard for those most worthy of it. Thanks for the feedback.

Eruviluieth	Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 1/17/2005
Great chapter. I love that Sam is learning to accept some measure of honour for what he did. Rosie's right, Frodo would want him to accept all the honour offered. But I also think Frodo would have been just as happy if his circlet had been brought out to serve as a teething ring alongside Sam's. Circlets as teething rings is so Frodo and Sam - better use than sitting in a chest! Author Reply: Both of them practical minded. Yes, I think you're right about Frodo, although he always knew Sam wouldn't stand for that for his.

Roger Gamgee	Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 1/17/2005
This was absolutely beautiful...one of the best chapters yet. “I know it’s mithril!” He looked at it amazed, then raised his eyes to those of his host, and laughed in spite of himself. “You know, Master Paladin did tell me that Lord Frodo told him you’d probably use it to train the ivy or honeysuckle around, and instead I find your children are using your circlet of honor as a teething ring!” I almost fell out of my chair laughing over this. I can just picture Sam so unconcerned about being honored that he'd do something like this. It's so LIKE him! He sees himself as a simple gardener, nothing more. He's exactly what he wants to be. “It’s so sad, really--the high and the low must go together. Oh, we can do without the likes of orcs and trolls and goblins and all; but to lose the Elves as well....” I hadn't given this any thought, but you're absolutely right. With both the orcs and the Elves leaving Middle Earth, both high AND low will be leaving. An interesting point you've managed to bring up here. Rosie placed her free arm over her husband’s shoulders and looked at the circlet he wore. “Now,” she said, “You put that in that box, too, you hear? Master Frodo’s not the only Hobbit from this hole as deserves honoring, and you’d best remember that.” Then she said in a gentler tone, “And he’d be most proud to have his circlet sharing its place with yours, you know that.” I have to agree with Rose on this one. Sam deserves to be honored for his sacrifice, and I believe Frodo would indeed be proud to know that their tokens of honor share a place together, just like Frodo and Sam shared part of their lives together. Well done, Larner...this has been a marvelous story! Looking forward to the next chapter. Author Reply: Oh, you exactly got the points of the chapter. I can just picture Sam sitting there explaining he'd checked with Gimli to make sure the circlet was nontoxic. We bought an antique sterling teething ring for a friend's baby once, and somehow when I saw it the circlets given to Frodo and Sam came to mind; it's been percolating in there for years, and it finally found its way out.

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 1/17/2005
I like this chapter, so cozy and homey at Bag End with Sam and Rosie and Folco and the children. So many little touches, such as Ruvemir splitting the wood, Ririon's cold, Miriel getting acquainted with Sam's sisters. I love that Ruvemir stayed up all night reading the Red Book. How many times have I stayed up all night reading that same story? The sweet descriptions of the things Frodo and Sam brought back, and Ruvemir's, Ririon's and Folco's reactions to them are lovely. And it's so Sam to let the children teethe on his circlet, LOL! Well, Rosie won't allow that anymore! Would they accept Miriel in the Shire if she stayed and married Folco? Well, I'm sure there would be a few who would be like Lobelia, and gossip, but the ones who truly count--the Tooks, Brandybucks, Bolgers and Boffins--if they accept her, the others would not have much reason not to. After all, they would follow the gentry's lead. Of course, Folco could go back South with her--I don't know how he'd do in Gondor, but as one of Frodo's kindred, he'd certainly be honored. But I'm afraid he might get homesick. Author Reply: One way or another, there will be homesickness to deal with, I think. I'd always wondered what became of the circlets of honor they were given at Cormallen, so decided to figure it out for myself. And I, too, find Sam's self-effacement so very in character.

Grey Wonderer	Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 1/17/2005
So like Sam to honor Frodo's things and let his children use his own. I don't think he ever let himself realize just how important he was in all of this. So like his father and maybe because of him, trying to keep to his station in life. Author Reply: The son is more relaxed than his father, but not so much more that he considers the honors heaped on him necessarily comfortable.

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