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A Small and Passing Thing  by Lindelea 3 Review(s)
LarnerReviewed Chapter: 42 on 4/23/2023
The spell has to be strong to have taken Frodo as well. And none within Budgeford or Budge Hall appear to have realized what was happening. Now they begin to see.

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 42 on 3/8/2009
Now that's scary but thank God Merry and Pippin saw through it!

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 42 on 10/22/2003
This chapter totally blew me away. A spell? And Frodo is affected too? But..but..but..Saruman has lost his powers, hasn't he? And Frodo wasn't there, at the Lcokholes. And neither were Freddy's parents. How could a spell affect them? Is the hole spelled? Would Saruman have travelled that far to put a spell on the hole, or could he do it from a distance? And Frodo! He's too wise to be affected by a spell of Saruman! Isn't he?

Well, maybe he isn't. He's weakened too, after all. And Saruman did try to curse him, and he laughed it off, but the curse does come true, in a way. And Gandalf does say Saruman's voice is left to him. And as much as I think of Middle Earth as our own earth, just in another time, the Wizards do actually seem to have some magic powers - Gandalf creates magic fire, and holds doors closed, and Elven-rings have some unnatural powers, as does Bombadil. Maybe a spell is not as far afield as I might have thought. Creating a spell of starvation that takes effect when Freddy gets home is perfectly in character for Sharkey. And the only ones in the Shire safe from it are Merry and Pippin.

On re-reading the chapter, I'm slowly getting used to the idea. You've certainly set up quite clearly that the effects on Freddy are due to Saruman's voice. I have no problem accepting that. But having it extend to the rest, in a clearly magic way, in defiance of the evidence of their own eyes, that requires I look at things in from a new angle. Robin seems to react differently than the rest in the previous chapter. I wonder how he is doing it?

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