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Shire Yule  by Dreamflower 12 Review(s)
Kaylee ArafinwielReviewed Chapter: 4 on 10/26/2011
Scary? What an odd name for a village - but it's canon, right? I just can't remember where it's named in the books...

Eek, a warg!!! I'm so glad our Rangers got it!!!

Kaylee

Author Reply: Yes, it's in the eastern part of the Northfarthing, and it was near there that Fatty Bolger and his Rebels had a base for a while.

I'm glad they did too! But after all, that's what they were there for, to guard the Shire.

NeiliaReviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/22/2007
Hurray for the Rangers! They were always the Shire's Guardian Angels.

Author Reply: Yes, they were! Thanks!

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/29/2006
"Somehow, I know in my heart that one day our careful watch over them will be rewarded beyond all our expectations.”

Indeed it was. Three cheers for the protectors and the protected. :)

Namarie, God bless, Antane

Author Reply: Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah! 8-D

demeter dReviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/13/2006
It has been too long since I read this bit...but... somewhere, I think it is in "Fellowship of the Ring", a hobbit or hobbits, (perhaps Frodo) is talking to Gandalf about what might happen if Sauron were to succeed. He indicated that Rivendell and Lothlorien might be able to endure for a time as islands of light in a growing dark. And, Gandalf said that the Shire,also, had a power of its own, which could hold out against the dark as well. Aragorn said often that the Rangers did not grudge their care of the Shire. I rather think the power it held was the power of love for each other, and taking joy in the simple, lovely things of life. We of the complicated modern world love to visit through these stories!

Author Reply: When Aragorn says the part I quote, about "simple folk" in his speech at the Council, it seemed to me not only something he fervently believed, but perhaps something he'd said before, something that helped him through those times when the Rangers were anonymous and unappreciated.

I rather think the power it held was the power of love for each other, and taking joy in the simple, lovely things of life.

I agree. I think the love of home and family was a potent weapon which all four of the hobbits carried with them, proof against the wiles of the Ring. It's quite clear that the Ring never understood what love was, and had no way to truly counter it. Think about how relatively easily Sam threw off the Ring's blandishments right at the border of the Black Land, simply because of his love for his master, and his good solid common sense and love for his home. And it was Frodo's love for his home and his companions that enabled him to resist it right up to the brink of the Sammath Naur, where it simply overwhelmed him.

Pearl TookReviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/12/2006
How rarely we know about those watching over us. Well Done!

Author Reply: It's something we often take for granted, isn't it?

KittyReviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/10/2006
Nice to see the rangers - and particularly these two - at their work to protect the Shire. Though I feel sorry for them to be there, alone in the wild, just at Yule. But Aragorn's last words were quite prophetic, weren't they? Sadly Halbarad didn't live to witness it. It must've been a great joy for the rangers to see their long guard over the Shire rewarded so much.

Author Reply: I felt sorry for them, too. Sadly, I am certain that is how they probably spent a good many of their Yules over the years. It's the fate of those who are protectors to spend their holidays taking care of others.

Aragorn was, of course, foresighted. And I think he knew Gandalf wouldn't ask them to guard the Shire for no reason.

I think it's very sad Halbarad didn't get to see the fruit of his long labor.

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/9/2006
So wonderful to see Aragorn and Halbarad in full Ranger mode, and one family protected quietly. Lovely.

Author Reply: I think they were often in their "full Ranger mode" during those intervening years of guarding the Shire. I'm glad you liked it!

PIppinfan1988Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/9/2006
Ooooh! This was great! This is a story that I would have loved a wider glimpse of the bigger picture--but that's just me being greedy. :-P It's a wonderful story just the way it is. :-) Thanks for sharing it!

Pippinfan

Author Reply: I tried it first as a single drabble, but it was far too sparse--I think it worked better as a double. I just had this picture of them in the snowy moonlight--it seemed just right.

I was imagining the two Rangers encountering a pack of wargs east of the Shire, and managing to kill all but the one they had to pursue into the Shire.

GamgeeFestReviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/9/2006
A good theory on why wargs never entered the Shire again. Too bad they couldn't join in on the festivities though and have to take shelter in a cave.

Author Reply: I think the Rangers kept a strict eye out! I imagined that they had encountered a pack of the things on the eastern shore of the Brandywine, and killed all but one, that managed to escape across the River, so they had to chase it down.

Well, they didn't want the hobbits to know they were there--it would have defeated the purpose of a "secret" watch, to have it known by all and sundry, LOL!

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/9/2006
The Rangers are unsung heroes, really. Doing good and doing it in silence. Still - Aragorn is right! It is all worth it in the long run. I'm sure Halbarad would agree even if he knew how it would end for him.

Author Reply: Yes, they were definitely unsung heroes. But they knew what they were doing. That line of Aragorn's, that I quote, I've often thought had the sound of something he had told himself often, to remind himself of why he was doing what he did.

And Halbarad did know he was going to his death when he entered the Paths of the Dead, and it did not deter him a bit. So, yes, I think he would have agreed.

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