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The Tenth Walker  by Lindelea 7 Review(s)
TariReviewed Chapter: 34 on 8/24/2010
You've done a beautiful job of expanding the "Flight To The Ford". Tolkien says very little about it, but I'm sure it had to be a very difficult trip. The poor Hobbits are beyond exhaustion, but refuse to give up. They are much stronger that they look.

The "conversation" between horse and pony is delightful.


Author Reply: Thank you! I can't tell you how many times I read this part of the book over, trying to imagine the journey.

EarosseReviewed Chapter: 34 on 4/13/2009
This is an absolutely fabulous story so far. Please update soon.

Author Reply: Your wish is mine also. Have added another chapter. Another step closer to Imladris!

Thanks!

cookiefleckReviewed Chapter: 34 on 4/8/2009
Beautifully written chapter, and you made me feel their pain and determination.

Author Reply: Thank you, for the chapters since Weathertop have been difficult to write. I'm really looking forward to arriving in Rivendell.

Jay of LasgalenReviewed Chapter: 34 on 4/5/2009
Poor Bill - not even sure if he's allowed to eat the grass! Asfaloth's very gentle and understanding to a poor down-trodden pony.

I love Bill's names for the party: the shining one, the white one, not-merry, youngest hobbit - just great!

Author Reply: Yes, Asfaloth is a prince among horses.

Thanks!

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 34 on 4/4/2009
Oh Lin! This was so heart-breaking to read! Poor hobbits,

There is no whip in this case, save the will of the shining one who drives us on.

That, and sheer hobbity determination not to let Frodo down, to get him to safety. Love is a far harder taskmaster than a whip.

I loved the part where the hobbits could not even comprehend the order to stop, then the way Man and Elf tucked all of them up together, and then Asfaloth leading poor Bill to a nice supper of sweet grass...

Poor dears! And even more of a terrifying effort ahead of them...

Author Reply: Finally feeling better. Went to a potluck last weekend and someone there was ill, evidently, for an awful lot of people fell violently ill two days after, including three of our family. Someone thought it might be norovirus, which is highly contagious, and remains contagious for two or three days after you're feeling better. Whew.

This and the Ford and its aftermath are perhaps the most difficult chapters to write in this section. Poor hobbits. JRRT doesn't say anything about them casting themselves to the ground where they stop, at this point in the story, and after nearly 20 miles in one day they must be even more exhausted than ever. It is easy to imagine them being so very exhausted they're beyond hearing and heeding the command to stop. (The scene at the entry to Moria and the chapters following might be more difficult for Bill, though.)

I will be so glad to spend a little time in Rivendell, though I don't know how long I dare dwell on that happy place, without losing the reader's interest. (Unless I invent all sort of interesting intervals as Shirebound and Budgielover have imagined... LOL!) It may be rather short, as happened in The Hobbit, for much the same reasons.

Thanks!

shireboundReviewed Chapter: 34 on 4/4/2009
Bill's perception of what's happening to Frodo is very well written.

mount three of the hobbits on the white one and one of them on my back, and trot along as fast as the Man and Elf lord can manage.

Yes, why didn't they do that? It's so logical.

Enthralling and poignant, as always.

Author Reply: All I can think is that the Witch King was a dark magician, wasn't he, if I'm remembering right? Perhaps he might have used their belongings to draw themselves to him, somehow. Otherwise it would make sense for them to pile everything in an out-of-the-way place and send a party of Elves back for it after Frodo was safe in Rivendell.

Thank you, I think that Bill's perception would be different from people's, more smell- and feel-based somehow, though of course equines do seem quite sensitive to sights and sounds as well. (Maybe oversensitive. My mare hated white, like a blowing paper, and she absolutely distrusted water on the ground in the form of a puddle or stream. I don't know what monsters she saw in them, but *she* did.)

Thanks!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 34 on 4/4/2009
I rejoice that Bill and Asfaloth can finally feed themselves somewhat fully, at least. The description of Frodo's fading from Bill's POV is exactly as I'd think he'd see it. Well done! And the poor walking Hobbits--their exhaustion and determination make my heart bleed for them!

Ah, Bill--you are such a good creature! I love him!

Author Reply: It was a relief to get to the part where JRRT says there were patches of grass. I took the liberty of locating one where they stopped for the night. Bill will certainly need the fuel for the last hard push!

Thanks, I've been thinking long and hard about Frodo's fading as Bill would perceive it. I think he might well be more aware than the hobbits, even, who would see Frodo as sick and weak while maybe not understanding how the splinter was working to overcome his spirit. It's likely Glorfindel or even Aragorn would know better than Bill how far things were progressing, don't you think? Bill has just a dumb beast's understanding, and if Frodo is on his way to becoming a lesser shade, I imagine even such a shade would be upsetting to an animal.

So are we on? Or could we make it an early dinner, perhaps?

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