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The Ties of Family by Larner	9 Review(s)
Szepilona10	Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 8/25/2008
Was that Aragorn? God Bless! ~Szepilona10~ Author Reply: No, not Aragorn. Think who is known to have worn brown. More is said of this encounter in "Second Mum." You are reading along pretty quickly, I see!

Soledad	Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 1/18/2008
Oh, very mysterious meeting! It's Radagast, isn't it? It certainly sounds very much like him. :) Author Reply: The meeting is better explained in "Second Mum," and, yes, it's Radagast. Glad you appreciate his presence.

Antane	Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 2/23/2006
Very interesting chapter at the end there, meeting with the stranger and the foreshadowing of the torment of the Ring and the beauty of Sam's love. Love the idea of him working secretly too on the farms. I'm glad to be getting to know my beloved Iorhael better. Hannon le! Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: I discussed Frodo working on the farms of the Marish and Buckland in "The King's Commission" when Ruvemir is discussing the troubled teen years Frodo endured. I've thought of the stranger as possibly Radagast, or perhaps another, lesser Maia who is sent to try to talk sense into Frodo at this point. But the love Frodo will know surrounding him at the time of need will come from many sources as well as through Sam--his aunts and uncles and cousins, the other Travelers, Aragorn and Arwen, the Elves who have come to love and honor him, small Elanor, and more than he yet realizes. So glad you liked it.

Grey Wonderer	Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 6/5/2005
(“A gap, intense pain, but it will be relieved. Much will be needed from you, perhaps all you have. I see, however, that the love you will need to have surrounding you will be there, freely given. But such cannot come to one who lives as a thief.” ) Hints of things to come from a certain wizard in brown? Author Reply: That's the way I interpreted it, also. What it might have meant to Frodo at the time, who knows? But I think he needed a hint of what was to come, and a reason to reform.

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 5/24/2005
Wow! Did Frodo really meet with Radagast? It must have been Radagast, no-one else would have calmed down Maggot's dog so easily. Frodo's life seems to have changed from that day on. "Cormacolindor"- If my research was correct, this means "Ringbearer". I wonder what Frodo's feelings were, when he for the first time held the ring in his hand and remembered the words of Radagast. Wonderful chapter! Thank you! Author Reply: I wonder if he remembered them until he realized what Ring this was--then I think the memory of that day would have come flooding back. I'd asked for aid in finding the Elvish translations for "Ringbearer" on the Henneth Annun site, and then realized that on the Field of Cormallen Tolkien had himself had the two acclaimed with the title of "Cormacolindor." As Radagast has less to do with individuals than Gandalf, I think he'd be more likely to have been trusted with the probable future for Frodo and Sam, and would know this would be one of the names and titles by which Frodo would be one day called.

NiennaTru	Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 5/24/2005
Hmmmmm...could that be Radagast??? Lovely chapter, Larner. Engrossing and emotional as always. Author Reply: Yes, I think it would have been Radagast. Glad you find the emotional tone so pleasing, and that it continues to hold interest. Thanks so much for the feedback.

harrowcat	Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 5/24/2005
Just perfect again Larner. You are making the Baggins family history a fascinating read. Will the twins ever find out that Frodo had originally left them Bag End and how will they react when Sam is named as Frodo's heir? Positively I hope. And that final encounter sent shivers down my spine! My thought turn to Radagast. I do hope my guess is right as I would love to see his character developed more. I love the way that you have explained Frodo turning from a farm-raiding tween to a responsible hobbit who tries to expiate his faults in a most practical way. Thank you too, for your response to my last review. You put into words exactly what I was thinking but wasn't brave enough to express. Author Reply: Not brave enough? Glad I was able to express, apparently what you wished to see expressed there. It was Ian McKellan who commented that Middle Earth never existed except in our hearts, and so it is with that within Middle Earth that has so moved us as well--the Ring and all it touched have touched us because they have come to exist in our hearts and imaginations due to Tolkien's writing. Yes, I think it was Radagast who found Frodo and convinced him to "go straight" from that point forward, although I suspect that, Frodo being Frodo, he tended to take the whole situation far too much to heart, overreacting to the correction. It took going to Bilbo to put the whole matter into perspective, to the point that although he no longer took part in raidings and so on, he nevertheless gave pointers to the teens he came to know in Hobbiton as to how to handle them more efficiently. Thanks so much for the feedback.

shirebound	Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 5/23/2005
What a truly fascinating chapter! Frodo's explanation of the "dangerous object" was so perfect -- simply stated, yet true in all he said. And that last encounter...!! My goodness. This is an amazing story. Author Reply: Glad you find the description perfect, Shirebound. And I had to explore my previous descriptions I've given of Frodo trying to atone for his thefts from the farms and so on, why he would feel it necessary to "borrow" a hoe and use it so intensely, why he'd go to the dairies and prepare the cows for milking, and so on. This encounter just seemed to need to be explored, although it took me a bit of personal exploration to figure out who it was with.

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 5/23/2005
Oh, I do like Brendilac. Of course you have such a knack for credible OCs! What a sad tale of his marriage. (It reminds me of CS Lewis and Joy Davidson.) The details you work out for the legalities are remarkable and well thought out. I find myself fascinated and intrigued by this bearded stranger--he's not Tom Bombadil, as you say Frodo never saw him again in M-e, and he has a beard so he can't be an Elf. I can't imagine a Maiar having a beard either, though... (Except for the Istari, and that was to further their guises as old Men.) I am thoroughly hooked and eagerly awaiting more. Author Reply: Think, my friend, of the one known to be robed in brown.... I hadn't thought of Lewis and Davidson's marriage when writing this--was thinking of other literary characters in such a relationship; but certainly this is an excellent parallel (LOVE the book and movie Shadowlands and Lewis's own description of his own grief process in A Grief Observed). Glad you enjoy my OCs and find them credible--hope it's true of both the good ones and the bad ones. Find myself not liking Bartolo Bracegirdle, who wormed his way into being mentioned in The King's Commission and walked into the Council Hole in The Choice of Healing. Thanks so much for your steady feedback on the stories I write. It means a good deal, as you know.

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