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A Small and Passing Thing  by Lindelea 5 Review(s)
LarnerReviewed Chapter: 63 on 4/23/2023
Yes, Frodo knows. He was properly named, after all.

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 63 on 9/3/2011
This is very sad for Frodo to realize that he is dying, but how wonderful that he also realizes the truth of what happened at the Fire and in some dim way Who was there to save him. I am loving the return to this story and sorry it took me so long to do so!

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 63 on 11/9/2003
One thing I forgot to ask in the last review, because I got so upset about Frodo dying, is I wonder if Freddy will see the light shining from Frodo, like Gandalf did when Frodo was recovering in Rivendell, and Sam did in Mordor? It seems stronger in times of physical weakness and spiritual test, and I think that as Frodo still fights the darkness with his failing heart, it will shine all the more. Gandalf said, "he may become like a glass filled with a clear light for eyes to see that can," and Freddy, after his own experiences with the darkness and his intimate acquaintance with Frodo's story, may have developed that kind of sight. Just a thought at 3:00 in the morning when I can't sleep.

Author Reply: I have worked the "light" into Chapter 65, but am not sure I will keep that section... depends on how it reads, and if it sounds too contrived. You'll have to let me know what you think when I finish the chapter and post it.

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 63 on 11/8/2003
If Frodo's suspected since October and felt sure since March, I guess there's been plenty of time for him to get used to the idea, and to make all the arrangements. I must say, once again he's cutting things close by waiting to leave until the magic date of September 22. By the appendices, they sail on the 29th, and Sam returns to Bag End on October 6. Now I don't know how long it takes for an Elven ship to sail the straight road, but you'd think Frodo would want to give himself the greatest chance to arrive in a place of healing before the next crisis comes. Unless, of course, he doesn't expect to be healed even there, and he simply hopes to die in peace without Sam knowing and grieving. Somehow, I don't believe this is the case, or he wouldn't have reminded Sam that he could sail one day as well, leaving him with the hope that eventually they would be reunited. On the other hand, he could believe that there would be no crisis even on October 6, once he left Middle Earth. I don't believe that either, as Frodo knew well that even the Valar couldn't undo all the harm of the world marred by Melkor. Perhaps he just felt he would stay with his friends until the last possible moment, and then take his chances, having come to a place of acceptance of the Gift of Eru to Men.

When I first read the Lord of the Rings I was 13, and it wasn't until many years later that I read Tolkien's assertion that even in Valinor, Frodo and Sam are still mortal and will still die. I took the phrase "Undying Lands" at face value, and amidst the bitterness of the ending of the book, I took comfort in the thought that Frodo and Sam were still alive, somewhere, walking in the woods and enjoying a second breakfast. Even when disabused of the notion by the Professor himself, I stubbornly still believe it. It's my own private utterly unsupported theory that Eru, being fond of creating exceptions to his own rules when the situation warrants, gave Frodo and Sam another gift: a gift of healing and of the time to enjoy it, to live without pain in peace and contentment as long as they wished, and to give up that life only when they at last were tired of it. Frodo got 17 years after Bilbo left him the ring to enjoy being The Baggins of Bag End and Master of his own life, but fifty years were taken away from him, plus his health and the chance for family and children, and that never seemed fair. I want to think he got more than his health back in Valinor, that he also got a chance to live and be happy with Bilbo, whom he loved dearly, and later with Sam. Sometimes I still need to think they are there, just over the horizon. (Sorry, that whole last paragraph had nothing to do with your story, except indirectly as my take on the subject of Frodo accepting death. Sorry again - it's kind of silly to get so passionately emotional about fictional characters, isn't it, but in this case I can't help it.)

Author Reply: Interesting, reading this over. I had the same impression, that Frodo and Sam were given the grace to live as long as they needed to, in order to complete their healing, or as long as they wished to, and that they could make the choice to lay down life just as their beloved Strider did in his time. I don't know where that came from. I suppose it might have come from reading other authors' fanfic, or it might have been something that seemed logical to me, or something that popped into my head and stayed. Just like I had the impression that Bilbo was not there to greet Sam when he Sailed at last, and yet Frodo was not left lonely, and Bilbo was able to "go" on because he knew somehow that Frodo would not be lonely, waiting for Sam, perhaps because of something Galadriel or Gandalf said, or... I don't know.

I do know that in my own fanon, none of the hobbits who sailed West lived forever, but it's not a tragic thing. They lived just as long as they needed to - just as long as they wished to stay in that fair land, with "the Elves who delighted to honour them". None was cut short before he was ready, and all stayed long enough to be completely healed of the wounds the Ring had burned into each of their souls. And then, maybe, they had some extra time, as much as they desired, to enjoy living in that healed state. In some ways, then, Frodo was in the Undying Lands the longest, for he needed the greatest healing, while Sam and Bilbo did not need as much healing time. And I don't think Bilbo would have left his lad, at all, unless he was confident of Frodo's healing. In my imagination, Frodo's healing and restoration came well before Sam sailed, as is evidenced in the dreams of Merry and Faramir Took, and he was enjoying that "healed time" while waiting for Sam to join him and find his own complete healing.

And leaving (leaving life behind, I mean) held no fear or trauma for them. They would only be going from one Undying Land to another of a sort, looking forward to an unending Feast where they would reunite with their loved ones and where all they'd ever lost would be restored to them. ("It" doesn't count among those things, as they wouldn't count it as lost after their healing is complete. I can almost hear Bilbo say in satisfaction, dusting his palms, "...and good riddance to bad rubbish!" and all the other Feasting hobbits raising a glass in an answering toast.)

I don't know if I'm making sense; too much coffee today. But I am thinking deep thoughts at the moment, even with the caffeine jangles. I don't think it's silly to get passionately emotional about fictional characters, especially if in some way their words, actions, and fates echo somewhere deep down inside, where we wrestle with the very stuff of life.

Tim the EnchanterReviewed Chapter: 63 on 11/8/2003
I've always wondered what Freddy thought about Frodo going with the elves. I imagine we're about to find out.

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