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On Solid Ground by Lindelea	6 Review(s)
FantasyFan	Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 2/23/2004
And, I forgot to add to my review (as if it wasn't long enough already) that I'm thrilled that even though poor Farry has missed the wedding breakfast, he at least has gotten to hear the traditional toast. Not too many hobbits can say that Frodo Baggins gave the toast at their wedding! Author Reply: Everyone missed the wedding breakfast! Wonder how they'll make it up? I guess Frodo would have toasted Samwise, but don't know who else could claim such an honour. Thanks again for reviewing! Off now to try to get at least half a chapter done before seeking the pillow...

FantasyFan	Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 2/23/2004
Goldi is so brave. I'm a blubbering fool at weddings of people I don't even know (including this one, by the way) but she walks head held high. In her heart they are already bound for better or worse: whether or not Farry can respond to her vows, they are already made. The explanation in the scene between Legolas and Gimli was good, but it made me think of Nell and Ferdi, which is of course a second marriage for Nell. It raises questions about a society where arranged marriages are often made in the gentried class. Where the marriage bond is so strong, how can a system evolve which discounts the vital importance of choice to love between the two parties? I'm not meaning this as a criticism, but rather a place where deeper exploration might yield something interesting. By the way, I liked how Gimli's whispered comment to Legolas was almost like shorthand. They know each other well enough that few words communicate much. I had to read it over to understand what Legolas got in a heartbeat. I am glad to see Robin Bolger is alive and relatively undamaged, and able to do the honors as Farry's witness. Plans for the wedding would have been finalized before the disaster, and I wonder, was Robin the original choice? Farry got to know the Bolger family much better in Runaway, and then Robin has been at the Smials for a while. Have he and Farry become close friends? Do you think Robin will be Farry's steward or chancellor when the time comes for him to suceed his father, and help him judge cases? Does Robin have a sweetheart at the Smials who was waiting for him to be found? I'd like to hear more about this, sometime. You do have enough spare time to write all the stories I'd like to read, don't you? (I think that's three I've asked for in two reviews today.) The wedding is so quiet. I didn't think hobbits could be that quiet. The sun is shining, a beautiful day as you said in the previous chapter, and everything one could have wanted for a wedding. The contrast between the bright flowers and Goldi's shining beauty, and Farry's stillness and the solemn onlookers is powerful and distressing. Then, Frodo's words are repeated, tying the timelines together again, and Farry is back with us. Legolas had sensed him leaving, and knew he was not there in the body that was still breathing, and now he understands that he was sent back. Farry obviously remembers the conversation with Frodo at this moment, but in the commotion that follows, will he forget it, like a dream that fades if not captured immediately on waking? I really hope not, for I think it would bring great comfort to Frodo's friends to hear of him. I wonder now, will they do the wedding over again, or at least let Farry have a chance to say his vows, or were the words Merry has already spoken binding enough? I also wonder about Pippin. Despite the fact that the entdraught healed him of much of his former physical maladies, he's once again close to death from shock due to blood loss. And we saw him come near to breaking once before, in Merlin. Frodo says he would die of grief now, should he lose Farry. Even though Pippin loves all his children deeply, Farry has always borne the expectations for the future of Pip's line, and to lose him would be a tremendous reversal to have to bear. And Pip thought for so long that he would die young, so I am sure he never even imagined he would outlive his son. Is it just that the horror of having to bury another child would be too much on top of bodily weakness, or is there something else going on here? Author Reply: As to the question of Farry's vows... well, that is going to be addressed, as a matter of fact. Ferdi was Nell's first love, as Odovacar well knew. When Rudi died there was nothing in the way of her marrying Ferdi, though of course upright hobbit that he was he'd never have thought to ask... it took Pippin and Odo to push them together. In the research I've done on this, it appears that in earlier generations when arranged marriages were common such marriages were often strong and loving, simply because the people could not imagine an alternative. They expected to come to love their mate... and so they did, because they worked at it. In your words, they chose to love. Thus Nell could marry Rudi and come to love him so well that she nearly died when he did. She accepted her father's decision that Ferdi had been merely a childish fancy, though Ferdi never left off his love for her (and was too honourable to do anything about it, which sounds like the norm for hobbit society rather than the exception, the way JRRT wrote his hobbits). As to the paragraph where Gimli mutters to Legolas, if it is the one I'm thinking of it is badly worded and needs revision. I rewrote it three or four times and was still dissatisfied. Hope my editor can do something with it. Glad Legolas understood! Robin is in training to become Farry's steward. The two are best friends and that is why Robin is standing up with Faramir at the wedding. Perhaps their friendship will develop in a future story but if so it is not on the time line as of yet. Hmmm. Food for thought. Perhaps it'll come out in the Gondor story, or perhaps in another story. Don't know yet, the Gondor story is just a brightness on the horizon at the moment. As to the timelines, is it understandable that a few moments in the Undying Lands corresponded with several days in Middle-earth, or do I have to state it more obviously? Sometimes I make assumptions and confuse readers. Farry and Frodo and the others... let me know if you are satisfied with the solution. You'll see it in the next chapter and/or two. (Just two to go, oh, my!) The wedding was binding and as to Farry's vows... well, you'll see. Nothing else is going on with Pippin. No more lingering chronic illness is on the horizon. He was simply badly injured, lost too much blood in a civilization that doesn't have blood transfusions, and was weighed down with grief in the bargain, thinking all his sons dead, not just Faramir. He knew Farry was with the others, and if Farry had died, then... anyhow, it was a logical conclusion considering the circumstances. Hearing young Beregrin was immensely strengthening to the Thain. Thanks for reviewing! You wouldn't believe how energizing the reviews are. I thought myself too drained to do any writing for a few days, but now I'm ready to tackle it again.

Grey Wonderer	Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 2/22/2004
Now you've made me cry! This was so sweet and Goldi was so brave. ‘For life,’ the Dwarf said so low that only Legolas heard, but he understood. Way to go, Gimli! ‘You look beautiful,’ he murmured, but then a frown crossed his face. ‘Goldi,’ he said worriedly. ‘It’s bad luck for me to see you before the wedding day.’ A true Took; sweet and confused! Just beautiful all the way through! Author Reply: Yup. It is a good thing to have a stalwart Dwarf at your side. Sweet and confused: I wonder if the Tooks know that this is truth? Thanks for the encouragement!

Connie	Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 2/22/2004
Aaahh. That was perfect. Thank goodness Legolas didn't get a chance to object. I always knew Gimli was good for something. Also, please forgive all my misspellings. I noticed a huge one after I posted one of my last reviews. Thanks. Connie. Author Reply: Glad you liked it. A sad occasion turned into a happy one, I like that much better than the other way around! Misspellings? Happen to the best of us (of which, I am not. I love my spelling chequer!). There is a misspelled word (at least one) in one of the earlier chapters. Sure hope my editor catches it. Thanks for reviewing! Two chapters to go and then I can turn back and finish the "Merrys" story.

shirebound	Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 2/22/2004
What a lovely chapter! "To refuse no joy set before us." Sigh. Will Faramir be able to tell Sam, Merry, and Pippin about his 'vision' of Frodo? I think that would bring them such joy. Author Reply: Thank you! I do enjoy hobbit weddings. As to Faramir and the telling... that will come out in the next chapter, or the last one (just two to go!).

Lyta Padfoot	Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 2/21/2004
How sweet that Farry woke up at that moment, a bit of sleeping beauty in the Shire. I imagine his emotions will be rather mixed up with joy, sorrow, love confusion, and hope running together. Author Reply: Ah, yes, we authors get inspired by other authors all the time. Sleeping beauty... in the "Pearl" story Nell kisses a frog (or someone tells about her kissing a frog, which is nearly the same thing), and it was all Ferdi's doing. So she kissed a frog, and eventually ended up with a "prince". Works for me. Thanks for reviewing!

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