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| Reunion by Larner | 11 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Kitty | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 5/30/2006 |
| Don’t know if to laugh or cry about the cake and candles and the wine for the birthday. That was so sweet of the children! Here in the Shire itself perhaps few enough properly remember what your Master and you accomplished; but your own family knows and honors him fully. That is good. Couldn’t have said it better than Celeborn, as I felt the same. It is good to know the elves were there and looked after Sam, determined to bring him to Tol Eressea alive and well. Oh, and I loved the anecdote with the lightning of the candles on the birthday cake! Good old Gandalf! Author Reply: Yes, it is such sweetness that fulfills all. And there will be a few who will know what Frodo and Sam accomplished. I'm so glad you agree with Celeborn here. All will do what they can to help Sam along his way; and I'd think that they'd have needed Gandalf to light all those candles for the Party, don't you? So glad it gave a chuckle. Wizards can come in handy at times. | |
| Queen Galadriel | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 5/27/2006 |
| Oh, that's so sweet of Lily and Dahlia to do that, and I'm so glad they got Sam laughing there. For all I hope and try to do it myself, it still amazes me when I feel just what the characters feel, when they feel it. "I know it's not funny, but..." :) Gracious goodness!! A hundred and forty-four candles! And I thought *forty* was hazardous! (No, I don't know anyone who would really try that, but when my VI teacher in elementary school was turning forty, we--the students and braillists--decided to show her how much we loved her by making a huge tactile cake with forty glittering candles, and the word "FIRE!!!" in Braille and print above it and hang it on the resource room door for laughs.) It's a wonder they didn't set the whole Shire ablaze! I do hope we get to see the cake and the celebration on Tol Eressea. Leave it to dear Sam to bring a piece of the Shire to Frodo there in that world of immortals. Now you have me very worried for Sam's health. Not the heart again. But I know he'll make it, and I love Meliangiloreth! God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: I loved the birthday cake in the movie, and when I heard in the commentary about how it caught fire I had to laugh; and so the idea of all 144 candles on the cake for the Party was born. And if Gandalf was there, I'm certain he'd have helped make certain all of them were properly lighted. Am so glad that you feel with the characters here, for this is what I try to do. Sam is not young--and he's been warned by Silman that he should take it easy and travel comfortably. And I try to be consistent with the previous stories I've written, and am leading up to that. Am glad that the two lasses have so many laughing with Sam. | |
| Antane | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 5/27/2006 |
| It's good to see Sam surrounded by his beloved Elves, on his way to someone even more beloved. I look forward to that scene with the birthday cake he'll make and share with his dear one. :) Love Gandalf's solution to lighting so many candles! Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: Yes, it is indeed time, and time to be reunited. And I'm certain that cake in the summerhouse is going to be remembered throughout the island. And of COURSE Gandalf would see the candles lit! We're talking of the one who bears the Ring of Fire, after all! | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 5/27/2006 |
| What a wonderful picture of how it might have been! Somehow, I had not previously imagined him accompanied so far upon his journey by Elves--I'd always thought he had probably traveled on his own as far as Elanor's place at Undertowers. But now that you have brought up the possiblity, it seems a far more likely scenario. I did enjoy very much the granddaughters' hampers! How sweet and funny--it was nice that the Elves showed the tribute respect rather than merely amusement. And I love the picture of Gandalf lighting the candles on The Birthday Cake for Bilbo! I can *so* see that! It seems Sam has been tempted to fade all on his own, before he reaches his destination--I'm glad to see the Elves notice and forestall that problem, and I look forward to his last visit with his oldest daughter! Author Reply: Sam, after all, is 102, and is NOT a young Hobbit any more. If Rosie was ready to leave him, the chances were that he, too, was ready to go on as well. And I'm being consistent with "Filled with Light as with Water." He needs the assistance he gets to make the journey. But for those who've carried the Ring AND who've survived only because of the lembas, I think their reaction to the mixed draught sent for Frodo and later administered to Sam would perhaps not be necessarily the best thing for them--if, as Tolkien's letters tell us the lembas wakens Elvish appetites and the Sea Longing, might it not also remove the necessity of passing the Gates (if such is true of those Elves who find themselves fading) as well? Sam's granddaughters are young enough they don't take into account that their gaffer's going on a LONG trip and that large hampers aren't easy to carry over such distances. I was remembering the cake in the movie (and it catching fire!), and felt that it must have taken a LONG time to get all the candles lit properly. And then the realization that Gandalf must have helped hit me. Of COURSE he must have done so, right? Glad so many others can see that, too. As for the visit with Elanor and her family, that will be posted tomorrow, I hope. | |
| Armariel | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 5/27/2006 |
| A wistful leavetaking, yet oddly heartwarming. Did sound for a spell there as if he weren't going to make it, but I knew he would! Sam takes the cake! (sorry, just couldn't resist!) Heheh...Bill Berry is my dad's name...... Still impatiently anticipating...... ~~~{~@ Author Reply: So, in combining the names of Sam's first two ponies of his own, I managed to get your dad's name, eh? Wonderful coincidence! Heh! And of course Sam takes the cake--and all prizes as well! And I loved the pun, myself. I am trying to keep this story consistent with "Filled with Light as with Water," and so the attack of angina. He is 102, after all. | |
| puppypersonLOTR | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 5/27/2006 |
| I'm enjoying this story so much...it's so sweet, and everyone seems like they ought to be. Tolkien did leave you writers a bit of a pickle though in trying to keep all the different Hobbits with the same names, hey? You've done it well, but it does keep one's brain working, doesn't it? waiting, as always, for the next chapter... :) Author Reply: Actually, I've created my own pickle, for in "For Eyes to See as Can" I indicated Sam promised there would always be a Frodo in Bag End, if no Bagginses; and in "Light on the Way" I indicated that the current Frodo Gardner and Frodo Took, now Thain of the Shire, came south to Minas Tirith for the Lord King Elessar's funeral; and in "The Ties of Family" Narcissa and Brendi have named THEIR first child Frodo as well. And I had to borrow from I think Lindelea's story in which Sam tells Frodo that Freddy and his wife named their first child Frodovacar. Most folk in the Shire must feel this sudden mania among Frodo's closest friends and relatives to name their children after him to be ridiculous; but for those who do so, they seek to keep alive Frodo's memory as they can. The next chapter will hopefully be posted tomorrow. | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 5/27/2006 |
| Good thing Sam stopped off to see Elanor - otherwise he might not have made it! As it is, between the care of the elves and the sight of his firstborn, he will probably revive enough to make the jump from looking back to looking forward - and the prospect of seeing Frodo again will stir him. Interesting insights the elves are having into the nature of this particular hobbit. Author Reply: He's NOT a young Hobbit any more, our Samwise; and that he might have difficulty along the way seemed likely. I agree, being able to see his beloved Elanor again must be heartening to him, and the Elves would do their best to make certain this precious guest makes the voyage to his friend's side. And I think the Elves are learning a good deal of the effects of that dratted Ring and lembas on those mortals who had to deal most strongly with them. Thanks for the feedback. | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 5/27/2006 |
| “At Mr. Bilbo’s last birthday in the Shire there was a hundred and forty-four candles, a hundred and eleven for him and thirty-three for Frodo. Gandalf watched as they started lightin’ them one by one, shook his head mutterin’ ‘Get out of my way, or we’ll never get them all lit!’ and waved his hand, and all of them lit at once. Havin’ a wizard what’s good with fire around can be useful, we found.” Oh, that's wonderful! I can imagine Gandalf doing exactly that! All those partings must have been very hard on Sam. I can understand why Frodo didn't feel up to it. It might indeed have killed him, before he would have been able to reach the Havens. Sam is still stronger than Frodo was, but that was a heart attack, wasn't it? I think he reached Elanor and her family just in time. They will hopefully keep him grounded in the Shire until he takes ship. However, I can't help but feel concerned for Sam's health! Please update soon! Author Reply: Obviously several of us can see Gandalf lighting the candles with his own power and perhaps a bit of help from his Ring. Yes, you can truly understand why Frodo found himself doing his best to slip away, and I strongly suspect that before he was through Sam was wishing he'd done the same. However, it was far harder for him, living as he did with Frodo-lad and his own family. Not yet a heart attack, but Sam is undergoing angina, for he isn't a young Hobbit, and Silman Chubbs noted both he and Rosie were coming quite close to their ends as he told them. To spend one more night with his beloved firstborn must have been a joy for him. Next chapter should be up tomorrow, God willing and the computer doesn't crash again. | |
| Radbooks | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 5/27/2006 |
| The cake and the candles and the wine that Sam had to carry made me laugh! It was so moving that they would want to do that to bless him and yet so impractical to try and carry on a pony. I like the picture of Sam riding with the elves through the woods even though as I said before it makes me sad, I still like that image... I just wish they weren't leaving! And, that Sam felt well enough to enjoy himself! Author Reply: We are dealing with fairly young, rather inexperienced Hobbits here. Let them go with their families to Annuminas next summer, however, and they'll have a far better idea of what is and isn't easy to pack. But I think they'd be most upset at the idea of no proper celebration for Mr. Frodo's birthday, and would want to make certain Sam and those he might travel with would be properly prepared. I, too, wish the Elves hadn't been leaving Middle Earth, and as with Sam and you find it makes me sad, too. Sam isn't young any more--this trip must have cost him dearly in some ways. But he'll find easing during the voyage, as his Master did. | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 5/26/2006 |
| It sounds as if Sam might have angina.I'm glad his family are understanding.I do hope he finds Frodo again before he dies. Author Reply: You hit the nail right on the head, Linda. Angina it is, for after all Sam is 102, and even for a Hobbit is elderly. Plus he's known far more stress than most of his kind have ever known, I think. Now he's on his way. But I will be consistent with "Filled with Light as with Water" and "The Choice of Healing." | |