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Ancestress by Dreamflower	10 Review(s)
D.Finnis-Robb	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 8/31/2023
“As for your other question, it may have been destiny— I do not believe it was fate.” -Very happy to see an intelligent presentation of the difference between these two forces; it lies at the heart of Tolkien's writing and seems to be presented here with equal care.

Kaylee Arafinwiel	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 10/25/2011
And that raises as many questions as it answers!!! Hehe!!! is pondering some of them Author Reply: It does, doesn't it?

Soledad	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 8/15/2010
An interesting distincion, between destiny and fate. You have to accept destiny, to work actively towards it. You cannot escape fate. Clearly, I've been too much into the Merlin fandom lately- ;)) Author Reply: To me, "fate" has always had more negative connotations, like "doom", whereas "destiny" to me implies something positive: a destination sought. I've not watched Merlin yet. I'm afraid I would not be able to get around the idea of Merlin and Arthur as being about the same age. shakes head

Kitty	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 8/5/2010
Sounds sensible to suppose that the hobbits simply woke up when it was their time. It's fun to explore what could have been. Frodo certainly has a point about Pippin. And while the ring could have been the reason for not being married and having children in Frodo's case, you're right that has not necessarily to be true for Bilbo. He was already past the usual time to marry for a hobbit when he went on his adventure, I'd say. So, who knows? It's just sad Frodo never had children, they would have had such a wonderful father. Author Reply: It is certainly one theory that explains them, though not the only one. I like exploring other takes on it as well. It's just sad Frodo never had children, they would have had such a wonderful father. It is. And he would. But I am not so sure how he would have been as a husband; Ring aside, he clearly had the Tookish wanderlust, as shown by his various rambles over the years-- with and without Bilbo! It would have taken an exceptional wife to put up with that!

Soledad	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 7/18/2010
Hmmm... Gandalf still seems to have the bad habit of raising more questions than the answers he gives - if any! I'm curious how you're going to entangle this particular web. Author Reply: Well, of course, by now you have seen. But you are quite right-- Gandalf's always been cagey about giving answers!

Virtuella	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 7/14/2010
What a sweet comparison, of the Hobbits with the youngest children! Author Reply: It occurred to me, often the youngest children are the most cherished of the family. (I don't mean by that that they are loved more, but that they often get all the benefits of being spoiled by their parents and older sibs, who know they are the last of the little ones to come along.) And of course, Hobbits were the youngest of Iluvatar's children!

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 7/14/2010
“Is it not true among hobbits that the youngest children are the most delightful and the most cherished?” Wonderful! I like this comparison very much! I just saw that you already explained the difference between fate and destiny. That's what I would have asked, too. My dictionary simply translated both with the same German word, but said that "fate" has a negative character. I'm looking forward to reading more! Author Reply: Yes, some people think of them as the same, but they are not quite; fate definitely has a negative connotation, while destiny seems to have a more positive one.

GamgeeFest	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 7/13/2010
Glad that Frodo's fears about the origins of hobbits, and ultimately his own fate, have been relieved (though he may start to wonder next what's wrong with Bagginses in general! lol!) I'm sure Frodo still has some questions for Mirime - and an apology. Author Reply: Yes, he does still have questions for her, and an apology. And of course, she will be re-entering the story soon.

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 7/13/2010
And what difference might there be between destiny and fate? By not being married, neither Bilbo nor Frodo destroyed trust with a spouse by taking up their adventures; and Frodo was also free to seek the healing he so desperately needed afterwards. But the world is possibly a lesser place by losing their bloodline.... I am so glad he is finding comfort here. Author Reply: I hope to address that question further in time. But basically, I think, "fate" implies one is being swept along willy-nilly to some sort of doom, while "destiny" implies a destination to be reached, and choices to be made along the way that will help to reach that goal. (And I am not speaking solely of the Fiery Mountain, either!) I think that Frodo's family would have felt exactly that; "my" Merry finds it unspeakably sad that Frodo will be the last of the Bagginses, for example, Esmeralda still held out hope he'd find someone, and old Ponto actually hoped he'd make a match with Angelica. "My" Frodo did feel a certain amount of sorrow about it-- but also, I do not believe he'd ever have wed anyway, Ring or no Ring. The problem of course, is that he could never be sure of that... He will definitely find comfort and healing...

Antane	Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 7/13/2010
Another wonderful chapter! I can certainly attest to cherishing of young children being a proud aunt of 10 and loving it! What a neat thing for Gandalf to say to soothe Frodo's concerns. Interesting that Frodo wondered about why he and Bilbo never married. I know Larner has covered this also and I was wondering what you say and I like Gandalf's explanation. Another Frodoholic has written an interesting essay on this - http://www.frodolivesin.us/Catholicwork/id121.htm - that you may want to pursue. And I found Gandalf's quote in The Quest of Erebor about the matter of Bilbo's bachelorhood to be very intriguing. Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: Well, I think of hobbits as Iluvatar's youngest, and most cherished of children! I think tha Frodo's experience with the Ring led him to question a lot of things about himself that he would not otherwise have questioned. Some people are natural bachelors and don't really have the inclination to marry-- but may worry about that because of other peoples' expectations. Frodo will think more about this later. Larner's explanations work very well within the structure of her fiction-universe. They do not work for me, because my Frodo shows the effects of his Quest more gradually than her Frodo does, and also because I have the Ring less powerful than she does. That's a very interesting website, BTW. Thank you for the link-- I think it is very true; it s good story-external explanation for why JRRT did not find it a problem that his two Bagginses were unwed. I think within the story itself it would have been slightly more problematical, if only because they would have had to deal with societal pressures. Something I don't think would have bothered Bilbo much, but would have concerned Frodo somewhat. Well, this has been a long-winded response! LOL!

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