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Dreamflower's Musings by Dreamflower	21 Review(s)
KathyG	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/11/2015
There seems to be another piece of fanon floating about--that Sam was born on April 6th! Author Reply: That's not strictly fanon. It's actually quasi-canon, in that JRRT says in Appendix D of The Lord of the Rings: "... there grew up a custom of making holiday and dancing in the Party Field, when weather permitted, on April 6. Some said that it was old Sam Gardner's birthday, some that it was the day on which the Golden Tree first flowered in 1420, and some that it was the Elves' New Year." In other words, it's almost canon, as JRRT says it might have been, but because he did not say definitively that it actually was, there's wiggle room. I, for one, chose a different date for Sam's b'day since in my story "Chance Encounter" I needed it to be for the plot. But most people pick April 6 for Sam, and many online Wikis give the date as definitely April 6. (They are wrong--it is only speculation, not definite.) BTW, I chose Feb. 14 for Merry, and April 1 for Merry. Only Bilbo and Frodo have their exact birthdates given among the hobbits, and the only other LotR character who has his exact birthdate given is Aragorn. His birthday is March 1.

rikki	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/3/2014
An interesting treatise concerning hobbits and what has been written about them. You have apparently done a lot of research (i.e., read the books numerous times) to have been able to quote some of the lesser known things about Merry and Pippin. In some ways, people have written stories about their favorite characters and added things to increase the drama or to expand the little bit that is known about the character. That is was not written doesn't mean that it didn't happen but there should be limits on what is determined about how a character has developed. Liked the memes that you used, they are definitely seen in a lot of stories. Author Reply: I lost count of how many re-reads I've done of LotR in the last 40-some-odd years! I like the depth that fanon adds to canon! Adding to the canonical story is great, but it should never take away from the original.

Raksha The Demon	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/23/2005
Ooh - good points here! "Besides Frodo, the other hobbits who went on the Quest also suffered from psychological trauma and related to this, Merry Brandybuck also suffered from an anniversary illness on the date of his helping to kill the Witch-king of Angmar, Chief of the Nazgûl. ...there is one factor that seems to me to speak to this issue: at the end of their lives all three hobbits choose to leave the Shire and end their days elsewhere--the implication is that Sam sailed to the Undying Lands, while Merry and Pippin are stated to return to the South to the Kings who held their allegiance, first staying in Rohan until the death of Éomer and then going to Gondor, where they died at some indeterminate date before the death of King Elessar. This speaks to a certain feeling of alienation from the homeland they had loved so well, and would indicate that there were some things they had never quite recovered from. Add to this the fact that though they are hobbits--a peaceful race unaccustomed to turmoil-- they had been exposed to the horrific face of war and evil, had experienced battle and pain, there is no doubt that, in modern terms, they would have suffered at least somewhat from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Not, of course, to the extent that Frodo did, but most certainly to some degree or other." I definitely agree that Merry and Pippin retired to Gondor and Rohan because they had been changed by the events of the Ring War, and no longer were as comfortable in the Shire as they had been. Sam, I think, went to the West because after Rosie passed away, he felt the need to see Frodo again while he still could, and because he still felt perhaps a tinge of the burden he had briefly carried. Merry and Pippin were changed both for the better and the worse by their experiences - they were exposed to a much wider world than the Shire, and personally affected that world, and became its heroes. In a way, the Shire had become perhaps too small to hold them after their wives' passing. And also, the theory of post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is equally valid. Merry witnessed Boromir's tragic and painful last stand, was carried off by monsters, and later saw the fall of a man he loved as a father, then suffered the supernatural sting of the demon he helped kill. I think Pippin's darkest hour, the time that would have most given him nightmares, was seeing a Man he admired and had vowed to serve, Denethor, go crazy and try to burn alive the son that Pippin also loved. And Pippin said, when awaiting his doom in an apparently hopeless battle, that he understood "poor Denethor" better; though unlike Denethor, Pippin masters his despair and resolves to try to make a good end, killing foes. All three hobbits, Sam and Merry and Pippin, were exposed to horrors that would wear down the spirits of even strong men; though, unlike Men, they had no preparation for battle, confrontation with Ringwraiths, orcs, or Sauron's Shadow itself, coming from the bucolic and sheltered enclave of the Shire. It's no wonder that they felt themselves different from their sturdy kinfolk when they returned - though the Shire had been struck by evil, it was an evil mostly of the doing of Men, and hobbits, and one magic-less Wizard, rather than the more soul-searing horrors they had faced on their journey. Sam was probably more wounded by the depradations at home than he had been by the arid waste of Mordor. Good essay! Author Reply: Yes, I really think that this is one of the more important and valid fanon memes. JRRT did not address the question of whether or not Merry and Pippin suffered, except indirectly, in the fact that they moved in together at Crickhollow, and the mention in the Appendices of their place of death. The reason was that he was concentrating on Frodo's growing malaise, and on Sam's rise in status. And this of course ties in story-internally with the idea that Frodo wrote the Red Book. His account of the latter parts of the story are terse and detached when it comes to his own suffering, and he does not seem to address that of others at all, for he blames himself for that. This would be consistent with the behavior and mindset of one suffering from PTSD. There is an excellent online article that has been a good deal of influence on my take on Frodo: It's called "Too Deeply Hurt: Understanding Frodo's Need to Depart" by Karyn Milos at http://www.geocities.com/karynmilos/toodeeplyhurt.html And I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Frodo's last days in the Shire. At any rate, the other three hobbits had indeed suffered a good deal of trauma as well. Sam had Rose to see him through, and Frodo, through his gift of Crickhollow, saw to it that Merry and Pippin had one another to see each other through. Although the three of them would have been there for him as well, he would not have allowed it. Sam, of course, lived at Bag End, but it's clear that Frodo was doing his best to hide his condition even so. Ah, well, now I'm getting into a whole 'nother essay, LOL!

Linda Hoyland	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/22/2005
THis is a very interesting essay and I am enjoying it. Author Reply: Thank you very much.

Kitty	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/13/2005
Dreamflower, that was very interesting and intriguing! Although I don't write fanfic myself, I end up pondering about canon or fanon sometimes after reading something. I had only read the books when the second movie was out, then watched the first two movies and re-readed the books, and some months later started reading fanfiction, so it is not always easy to separate all details in book, movie and fanfiction, although I'm reading the books for the fifth time now to keep track of the canon. There are so many details it is not always easy to remember where I've seen it! Your essay and the ongoing discussion in the reviews and answers has helped me to answer a few questions I had about the source of some things. But even without this unexpected help it was truly interesting, and I look forward to more of this. Thank you very much for posting this! Author Reply: Thank you, Kitty, for stopping by to comment. I think we writers tend to forget that not all of those who read our stories write them as well. I was myself a reader only for a few months. That's another reason we should be careful as to how we use and blend fanon, canon and movie. Those who are not familiar with the process involved in blending them don't always realize where the boundaries are. I also tend to forget that not everyone has read the books as many times as I have. It seems odd to me when someone who writes stories admits to only having read the books once or twice, LOL! One can get in a good many re-readings in 38 years. And, then too, I write with them near at hand, as well.

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/12/2005
I'm very sorry! I tried to find that passage again - with no success! I found that Sam's eyes are brown and that the eyes of Tom Bombadil and King Theoden are blue, but nothing about Merry. Maybe, I made a mistake, but if I find something, I'll tell you! Author Reply: I'd love to know, for as far as I can tell, JRRT was very cagey with physical descriptions.

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/12/2005
I read this essay with growing interest, and I hope there will be updates! Some months ago I decided, it was high time to read the books again. And, believe me, with the movies and all those fanfiction stories in mind, it was as if a was reading it for the very first time! I'm not through, though, but I'm really enjoying it, in particular to look out for proofs of those theories I have in my mind. One of them is the color of Frodo's eyes :) I like Elijah's blue eyes and find them very fitting for my favourite hobbit, but is there a proof? Until now (the beginning of Book Three) I haven't found a clue, but I found a passage, where it's clearly stated that Merry's eyes are blue - and forgot to note it (stupid me)! But I have a scene in mind, with Frodo and Sam, where brown eyes are mentioned. Maybe, I'll find it again. Thank you again, for this wonderful essay! Author Reply: It is fun to read the books again after a long gap. When it was time for the first of the films to come out, I made a deliberate decision not to read the trilogy again until I had seen all three films ( a long three years! ) I did re-read The Hobbit and dipped my toes into the Silm again, but avoided LotR. In the January after the RotK had come out, I picked it up again, as you say, it's like reading for the first time. Is there really a passage with Merry's eye color mentioned?!? I've never come across it--would you mind steering me to it? And yes, Sam's eyes are brown, but no one else's are mentioned, save the Men of the West, whose eyes are grey, and Gandalf's which are called "black".

garrett	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/12/2005
great essay. insightful and it looks like you know what you're talking about. thanks for posting it. R. Garrett Author Reply: Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it.

lovethosehobbits	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/12/2005
Thanks so much for this! I find that sometimes, I can't honestly remember what was actually written about an event or a character having read so very many fanon fics (I know, it's shameful!) and have to scan over certain chapters of the books. This helps alot...sometimes when you're in the midst of writing it is very inconvenient to consult the books. For this reason, I generally rate all of my fics AU. Most of the fics I write would be listed thus anyway, since the ideas I have are so far removed from the books. Good post, and very useful! Author Reply: I'm glad you liked this. I've been thinking these ideas over for a long time. I like the depth fanon adds to unexplained areas of Middle-earth, and enjoy trying to see where it sprang from. I do read a lot of fanfic--in fact, as far as fiction goes, and barring JRRT himself, I have read almost nothing else for a couple of years now. That's how much I like fanfic. I have read and re-read the books so many times that I usually can tell, when reading someone else's work where they have departed. I like AU as long as it keeps its roots in canon, and then takes off from there in its own direction. Everyone works in a different way. I never start a gap-filler without re-reading the relevant parts, and am constantly checking the books. Yet I know others who prefer to write first and check afterwards. To each his/her own.

PIppinfan1988	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/11/2005
Very well done, Dreamflower! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your essay. Excellent research--but you've always been good with that. My experience with essays and writing a thesis is extremely limited, lol, so I'll settle for reading yours! I'd like to see your "musings" on the "Tookish lilt"! The Professor said something about anything remotely Celtic being in Bree or Buckland. Doesn't mean my view is the right one, but it's what I've interpreted. And it certainly doesn't mean that I haven't enjoyed reading about it other authors' tales, but it's something I'd like to see you explore. To me, if JRRT did not expressly state that "whatever" did, or did not happen, then that is where the imagination takes over, as long as it stays within the spirit of JRRT's fantasy. Did hobbits sleep in a pile (oh, yes--I did enjoy Baylor's story!)? I am inclined to agree that they probably didn't sleep in "piles", but perhaps they slept in close proximity for warmth. History indicates this to be true of humans, so I would reason that it is true with hobbits as well. LOL, I hated history back in my school days, and yet I find myself using my search engine to find little factoids that would help my stories with plausibility. I'm going to stop here--I could go on and on! I'd like to see your take on other memes! This could become a very popular place for interested authors--especially me! Thank you for sharing. :-) Pippinfan Author Reply: LOL! This is nothing like a scholarly paper, but it was fun. I've always enjoyed writing out my ruminations and finding out things that would back up my ideas. Of course, the "Tookish lilt" is definitely fanon, especially if one takes the films as a work of fanfic also (which I do). It does add a lot to the portrayal and perception of the Tooks. But as you say, JRRT did not indicate it would be so. I do not recollect in which letter he stated it, but you have it essentially correct. It seems to me that there is also a definite, but different, lilt to Dominic Monaghan's portrayal of Merry, as well. So there's also a bit of a Brandybuck accent as well. I don't really indicate such an accent in my stories with Pippin's or Merry's dialogue--they use the speech patterns that Merry and Pippin did in the book, upper class gentlehobbits that they are. But I will once in a while mention the Tookish lilt or Brandybuck accent--let the reader imagine the voice, rather than letting "dialect" do the work. The cold is a factor in the hobbitpile theory, but not the only one. There is security and comfort as well. My husband mentioned something else I had not thought of. He said it would make perfect sense that they huddle together like that, as hobbits are burrowing creatures! Thank you for commenting!

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