Stories of Arda - Lord of the Rings Fan-Fiction Archive


	About Us News Resources Login Become a member Help Search

The Ties of Family by Larner	6 Review(s)
Grey Wonderer	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 6/5/2005
Ah, yes crooked lawyers. I hadn't really thought of that in the Shire but it makes perfect sense. Seems everyone that was left behind had their own share of trouble. I do hope that Frodo speaks directly to Narcissa at some point before he leaves the Shire. Author Reply: Frodo speaks directly to Narcissa in The Choice of Healing, so here I just relied on a letter. Yes, we can't seem to get away from crooked lawyers, even in the Shire. And Lotho's vindictiveness would have been very awful to endure.

Tigger	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 5/25/2005
“It was odd,” he concluded, “to think of the hatred Sauron had shown to all who loved beauty, and how he’d forced the mountain to spew forth such great clouds of ash to support the troops he was sending against Minas Tirith, intent on destroying its majesty and glory from the face of Arda. Only, that very ash was the source of a form of beauty such as I’d never seen before. Sauron did not realize how the product of his hatred would be used to bring such glory into the world, or I doubt he’d have caused the Mountain to spew forth so much of it.” I loved that!! So often, what someone tries to use as a way to hurt another can be turned around to light and beauty. Such a beautiful passage. Can't wait for the next chapter. Author Reply: "All things work to the good for those who love the Lord" is one truth from the Bible that has stayed with me over all my years so far. And, as Galadriel says in "The Choice of Healing," the potential for beauty lies in all the Creator has placed in the world. It just takes some experimentation, time, and patience at times to bring it out or allow it to manifest itself. Glad you find my interpretation of the glory from the ash to be inspiring.

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 5/25/2005
So that's how your Lotho ended up with Bag End! You know, knowing how Bilbo and Frodo both felt about the S.-B.s, it's always been one of the minor mysteries why Frodo sold Bag End to them. Of course, we know the story external reason--to prepare the way for the Scouring of the Shire, which is something JRRT said he had planned from the start. But a story internal reason? Well, it's up to each reader to decide, I suppose. Yours is very logical and makes a good deal of sense. You have really worked out the legalities of it all. I went for the simple--they had a standing offer, Frodo was in a hurry, and if he sold to them, he would not be tempted to stay in the Shire after all. Another fanfic I read has Lotho basically extorting it from Frodo by force (not an explanation I find credible--) while another just has Frodo feeling sorry for Lobelia. So far, yours appears to be the most logical. I'm really wanting to know more about Fosco and Forsythia, now... Author Reply: Your reason makes sense also, but agree about Lotho extorting it from Frodo--not exactly in keeping with Tolkien. How would Lotho, after seventeen years of Frodo remaining in possession of Bag End, come up with just the right scheme to extort it right then? Of course, there is no one right answer since the Master didn't write one. It is fun to imagine how it was done, isn't it? And I'm flattered you find mine the most logical. We will be getting more Fosco and Forsythia, of course, but it will go over the length of the story.

Kitty	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 5/25/2005
Uh. Lotho was truly unbearable nasty and disgusting! It is his own luck he was murdered by Gríma, otherwise I suppose he would have had some very painful encounters with the Hobbits he has deceived and ruined. I can't have any pity with him after all he has done. Author Reply: As soon as "normality" was restored in the Shire, I suspect, had Saruman not ordered his death, Lotho's cheats would have been all overturned and he would have been sent off to face the King's justice. He was spared a trip to Gondor and the King's presence; but he would probably have been granted a chance to redeem himself--which he might or might not have accepted. It's hard to feel sorry for him, but I'm certain Frodo would have done so. Frodo is an unusual case, for he recognized he was granted mercy by the Valar and perhaps by the Creator Himself, and was willing to extend that on to others. So many, having received mercy themselves, are all too willing to exact violent justice on others.

NiennaTru	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 5/25/2005
"Frodo was always polite, but looked at her with compassion, tended to greet her with a level of reserve. She recognized he saw her now as a lass and not just another Hobbit, but that at this point he wasn’t ready to try to sustain a relationship as a lover or husband with anyone, and mourned for him." I'm not exactly sure why, but when I read this it made me think of Anne Frank. I've always thought that the greatest tragedy of her life and death was the fact that she died three weeks before her camp was liberated. I realize she may not have lived had she lingered long enough to see the day, but the thought of her dying so close to freedom has always struck me as one of life's greatest cruelties. So when I read that Narcissa realized that Frodo could once again look at her like a lass, yet was unable to love her as a husband, I was saddened. The two situations seemed so similar to me. Author Reply: There is simply a moment in time when the top of the slope is reached and after there is nothing but the slide down toward death, no matter what else might happen in between, and for Anne and for Frodo, I think that peak had been reached. Found just too late, in Frodo's case, for him to return to normality, no matter how hard he might try to grasp it or Sam to restore it for him. I visited Dachau concentration camp in Germany with my hubby and children many years ago, and saw the footage filmed by the reporters who accompanied the American troops into the camp to free it. There were many lying there on the ground whose one consolation was that, at the last, they died free, surrounded by compassion for the first time in years in some cases. I can understand the parallel you see.

harrowcat	Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 5/25/2005
What can I say! Just perfect - and how sad! I think that the Guild of Minstrals and story-tellers of Gondor will be after you Larner. This is absolutly masterful! Author Reply: They have to induct the King and Pippin first, so I ought to remain safe for a while at least. :-> To find they had been cheated out of their own home must have been terrible for those who found themselves facing Lotho's machinations, and it seemed logical that this would be another ploy Lotho used after his moving the denizens of Bagshot Row out, lock, stock and barrel. He'd have gone after the richer denizens of Hobbiton and Frodo's relatives as well, I always thought.

Return to Chapter List