The Acceptable Sacrifice by Larner
Grey Wonderer · 23 February 2006 · Chapter 34: 34: Audience with Umbar
Still very enjoyable. I wish I had more time to read. I am so far behind and this is really a wonderful story. I am going to read another chapter before heading off to bed for the night. Can't leave it here!
Author's reply
So glad you appreciate the King's justice, Grey Wonderer. Sleep well.
Grey Wonderer · 23 February 2006 · Chapter 33: 33: Embassies from Rhovanion
I do feel so sorry for poor Frodo and in this chapter for everyone who was trying to help him. I don't blame him for becoming annoyed with it all but it must be hard on his friends when they realize that there is very little they can do.
Author's reply
One of the hardest things one can ever do is to watch someone you love dearly be ill and in pain and find you can do nothing. And unfortunately those with that pain have a tendency to take it out on those who are closest to them. But in the end it bonds them that much closer together.
French Pony · 23 February 2006 · Chapter 88: 88: Time Granted
Ooh, Frodo is fading fast. It looks like he's set himself one last goal to achieve -- to see Sam and Rosie's firstborn -- and then he'll be ready to sail. It looks like he's already made his decision about life. With the gentle prodding of Elladan, of course.
Author's reply
Frodo has set a goal to see Elanor born, but still isn't certain beyond that. He still is reluctant to give up his identity as a Hobbit of the Shire, but is also relucatant to remain to allow Sam to find him dead. In the end I think that will be one of the points that will help him decide. And that Elladan would choose to come to Frodo to be by his side at the moment of current decision took me by surprise as it wrote itself into the story. (It's often a surprise when suth things happen, I find.)
utfrog98 · 23 February 2006 · Chapter 88: 88: Time Granted
I just loved this chapter - all of it - the actions of Frodo, Sam, Elrond, Elladan, Arwen and Aragorn are so true to character and so beautifully expressed. Thank you.
Author's reply
Oh, it's nice to hear from you again, Utfrog98. And am so glad you feel all are true to character. I try, but find from time to time someone starts to slip out of it when I start writing, and it may take several rewrites before they come back to true again.
Endaewen · 23 February 2006 · Chapter 88: 88: Time Granted
That was beautiful.
Author's reply
Oh, I'm so very glad you think so, Endaewen.
Queen Galadriel · 23 February 2006 · Chapter 88: 88: Time Granted
Oh, sheesh! My fingers are as dead as my brain now! I meant "hiding" not "hidning." I really should proofread all the time. Yes, I know it's hard, and I've felt the urge myself to hide such things, and I know it's not easy.
Author's reply
Tony did a couple times. It seems funny now; and as you can see another real-life experience found its way into this story.
Queen Galadriel · 23 February 2006 · Chapter 88: 88: Time Granted
What? It's come to *hidning* food now?! Oh! *sigh* I suppose I ought not to be surprised, having been nearly at that point a couple of times myself when I was younger (or I might have considered doing that, if anyone had tried to force it upon me then), but it does surprise me. And it's so sad that he should do that! And not wise either. He should have known Sam would discover it soon. On a lighter note, I love the little scene on the hilltop--so peaceful and poignant. I guess I didn't realise, though, how much Frodo was really fighting just to live--it's heartbreaking. And to put the little note from Bilbo in at the end was absolutely perfect and just what was needed. :) God bless, Galadriel
Author's reply
One gets tired of being nagged, poked, and prodded to do the best thing for ourselves, particularly when we realize but are unaware we just can't physically accept or accomplish the desired goal for the moment. Sometimes it seems easier to pretend to play along and try to get rid of the evidence. And I do think that that night as it plays out in my version of Frodo's fight for recovery was one on which he was truly uncertain if he'd make it, when he was really facing the possibility he might not live through another turning of the world. And the note from Bilbo would be something he would so appreciate, knowing his beloved guardian and friend does love him no matter what he decides. It would help strengthen him to keep hold of life while he can.
shirebound · 23 February 2006 · Chapter 88: 88: Time Granted
This chapter is such a soothing balm among such heartache. Sam has done his best to surround you with protection, with the intent of healing and strengthening, with the delight of beauty. Frodo carefully focused his own thoughts: And with love. What a gentle, peaceful scene.
Author's reply
Thank you, Shirebound. Yes, the moment when strength is accepted and he does his best to accept the gift of life more fully. And it was pleasant for me to find that Elladan insisted to me as much as to his father for the right to make that ride.
Bodkin · 23 February 2006 · Chapter 87: 87: Too Long and Too Deep
I loved Rosie here. She shares a lot of Sam's practical good sense and generosity of spirit. All those gentlehobbits must be looking at this Lord of the Free Peoples and his lady and registering that they are not the rustics they might have thought a few years before. Frodo, maybe, knows he's rather sicker than others choose to think. Although Budgie needs to listen to Viola and not be quite so sure of himself, he's seen something Frodo is doing his best to hide.
Author's reply
Class at birth is never an indication of what the individual is limited to, and this is particularly true of Sam and Rosie. They are individuals in their own right, and quite intelligent ones with tons of Hobbit sense to spare. Budgie is keeping his own counsel now, not certain if saying too much might push Frodo into a faster decline. After all, he's already convinced that Frodo is suggestible as he uses kingsfoil. But here I'll admit in some ways Budgie reflects the attitude of some very nice doctors I've met who nevertheless pooh-pooh comments made by their patients if they don't agree with their own suspicions, and tend to think of complaints more common to women as not worth bothering and possibly psychosomatic in nature. I've really liked a couple of these, but quit one when he stopped listening to what I said about my own condition. Yet Budgie does see truly that Frodo's condition isn't the best at the moment.
Kitty · 23 February 2006 · Chapter 87: 87: Too Long and Too Deep
“And how,” demanded the young Took, “am I supposed to forget a question like that, Frodo Baggins?” Very valid question! I doubt Pippin can truly forget this ... Well, Saradoc makes progress. He took quite well what Rosie was telling him. But it is about time Merry is able to open up and talk about his own experiences and nightmares. As for Budgie, maybe you should send him to Gondor for some months to learn first hand not only about kingsfoil, but what more the healers there know. I’m sure he would be amazed and interested to learn a bit more. Viola is so right – the fact Budgie doesn’t know something isn’t the same than to mean it doesn’t exist at all!
Author's reply
No, it's not quite the type of question any thoughtful individual could forget. That Frodo is already thinking of himself as fading would be a shock to Pippin at this point. Getting Merry to talk is taking more doing than getting Frodo to do so. Frodo is obviously in worse condition, and so people will probe more; but Merry seems to be whole, and so people back off more when he first tells them to do so, and so he's not getting it out in the open as he needs to do. As for Budgie going to Gondor--well, he does so in "The King's Commission" and "The Ties of Family," and I'm certain comes home a far more capable healer in the end.
harrowcat · 22 February 2006 · Chapter 87: 87: Too Long and Too Deep
It's midnight again Larner and I just have to go to bed as I have a 9am start! So I had better not leave you another 'bumper' review even though this chapter truly deserves it. I liked the nightmare scene the best including Rosie's matter-of-fact recounting of the Tale. Hope the migrane is subsiding and not making you feel too sick. Virtual cold cloths, Kingsfoil tea and many hobbity hugs being sent your way dear friend.
Author's reply
I am not a morning person, and when I have to do a day shift right now must be there at 7:00 am, which doesn't make for a competent worker, I fear. So glad you love Rosie's description of how Frodo and Sam ended up marching with orcs. That would be a shock to someone like Saradoc, I think, realizing this "simple" lass knows more of what happened to his kinsman than he does, and that she sees it somehow as something that needed doing. Migraine is gone, but still have multiple points of frustration right now. Am about to fall on some heads again. Hate tenants!
Queen Galadriel · 22 February 2006 · Chapter 87: 87: Too Long and Too Deep
*sigh* Oh, dear me! Poor hobbits--and that includes Freddy this time. If I were in their place I'd be ready by now to scream something about, "If I hear 'how am I to believe that' one more time, I declare I'll go mad!" I do know something of what it is to be doubted, as a writer and in other matters. But it usually just eggs me on--and I'm wondering when I really will do something insane. (I once could have done myself real injury trying to do some stupid, fancy move off the diving board after overhearing a couple of boys three years younger than I saying "the blind girl" couldn't do it. *smirks*Oh, I repented all right, when I came out of the water with big sore spots where the water had slapped me so hard it hurt. It was really very silly to be angry and show off like that, but I can't help laughing at it now.) Anyway... I really love how you portray Saradoc here; kind and fatherly, as I've always liked to imagine him. And that bad weather would stir up memories, even, maybe, subconsciously, seems a likely thing. And I absolutely *love* Pippin's way of showing Frodo what he still has to give-excellent and very true! One question though. When you were describing the gifts Frodo sent to the rest of his family and friends on his birthday, you said "Dora and Griffo." Didn't you mean "Daisy and Griffo?" Or am I just the one who's confused? As to something you said in your reply to one of my other reviews, yes. Looking back over the four Gospels themselves, Jesus does sometimes use Peter and sometimes Simon. And really, now that I think about it, that's very telling. It seems almost fatherly. I think i can make a pretty good guess by now that this voice belongs to Iluvatar. I'll be sad to see this story end, but I know how it goes when trying to work on fanfic and originals. For me it does *not* work. Well, off to finish a gift and try to think of just one of the myriads of things a king and a stubborn Baggins can argue about. :) Say, does it have to be just one? :) God bless, Galadriel
Author's reply
I, too, tend to get frustrated when told such things, and I'd think Freddy and the travelers would all get tired of it. But Budgie is competent as a diagnostician, and is noting Frodo is NOT in good condition. But that he's not the first or only one with this knowledge, and that his patient is far more knowledgable about his own condition than he supposes isn't something he yet realizes. Needs a bit of stretching for his mind. (And being told "You can't do that" was the best way on earth to get me to try it when I was younger.) Saradoc is a decent Hobbit and father who may overdo it as far as overprotecting folk goes, but is actually very perceptive and competent, and capable of learning from his own mistakes. He WILL work out in the end. Pippin is perceptive, also, which will add to his effectiveness when he's Thain. Thanks for the correction--have seen to it. As for Douglas--do check out some of his books, such as The Robe (read the book--the first two thirds of the movie version is tripe!), The Big Fisherman, and Forgive Us our Trespasses. He was also a minister, and from what I can tell from reading his collected sermons, an excellent preacher. Author Reply: P.S. You can have as many elements to the argument as you wish, and resolve it as you see fit as well. Have fun!
Dreamflower · 22 February 2006 · Chapter 87: 87: Too Long and Too Deep
Oh my! A chapter with so much meat to it! I love the way Frodo's loved ones are gradually coming to learn and piece together more and more of the truth. When Pippin cornered Frodo, and then Frodo let slip his true reasons for not showing interest in Narcissa, I just wanted to hug Pippin! Frodo really does need so much to get some of his fears out in the open! That all of them were having nightmares at more or less the same time is something else that makes so much sense. And I like very much that Saradoc is witness to a good deal of it--he needs to know what happened, and, again it is happening with a little bit here and a little bit there. His conversation with the "voice" was very insightful: But I don’t want to leave my identity as a Hobbit. You are more than just a Hobbit, Iorhael. You are a Lord of all the Free Peoples of Middle Earth. But I belong to the Shire! Why do you not accept a marriage with one of Hobbit-kind who loves you in return, then? But I won’t live that long. None is guaranteed the next day, or the next after that, not even those of Elf-kind. A successful marriage is not dependent on the length of time it lasts, but on the joy shared while it lasts. I don’t wish to leave her bereft when I must leave her. Usually one or the other must go first. The Lady Arwen will know grief when her chosen Lord goes before her, yet it has not stopped her from accepting the joy of the present. But she will be able to know a hundred years with him ere that time comes. If he is not slain facing the enemy, or by an assassin. Such have been common enough endings for his kind. Very true; life comes with no guarantees. Budgie's skepticism is interesting. He admits what the wounds and scars look like, yet somehow can't bring himself to accept the explanation--I like the way both Freddy and Viola set him straight. Even though he doesn't agree, at least he has sense enough not to keep arguing. And we are now at the halfway point. It is only a few more months until Frodo's decision is inevitable...
Author's reply
Yes, Pippin is showing his ability to evaluate situations is being honed and is becoming more mature; and Frodo's realizing Pippin isn't just a precocious kid any more but increasingly the adult he now is at heart; and the same is true for Saradoc, who's seeing more maturity and responsibility from his nephew than he's accustomed to seeing. His growing acceptance of Pippin as a blooming adult will help the Thain to the same position, I think. Frodo has criticized others for accepting or embracing illusions, and needs to accept this is his own tendency as well. Budgie is very like some of the doctor's I've known--very nice, competent diagnosticians, and yet unwilling to see patients as being competent themselves in their knowledge of their bodies, and tending to be skeptical of that which is beyond their own experience. Actually quit going to one doctor I liked very much for precisely that reason--he stopped listening. Had he at least stopped arguing and accepted I MIGHT have known what I was talking about, I'd probably have continued going to him for years. As it was, he ordered a medication we'd already established had very serious side effects for me that would in the end have made it harder to treat me, and he insulted my intelligence. Budgie, at least, as you noted knows when to stop arguing. And things do run more quickly from here on in, unfortunately. Author Reply: An added note--changes in weather and barometric pressure I've noted have a far stronger effect on how my students or clients will behave than any other phenomenon, particularly on those with tendencies towards sinus problems. You'll note that even Saradoc is wakeful, but not having particularly nasty memories weighing on him he has no nightmare. The other four find themselves facing the memories in their dreams.
French Pony · 22 February 2006 · Chapter 87: 87: Too Long and Too Deep
It's a tough situation Frodo's in, all right. His health is obviously precarious, and it's clear that he isn't really interested in life any more. But still, he's making a lot of decisions about Narcissa without consulting her, which I think is not his best choice. She would probably be more than happy to have him even for just a little while, and her presence might even aid his healing, as Rosie seems to have done for Sam. But, alas, we all know where that relationship is heading. Poor Frodo.
Author's reply
I suspect, also, that you are right. Frodo probably wouldn't have experienced the total healing had he married Narcissa, but he could have found one path more in keeping with his own kind. And so he ends up open to an ending totally out of common for Hobbits or mortals of most sorts. The Elvish Hobbit finds in the end, by avoiding mortal and Hobbity relationships, and Elvish path to healing instead, one which isolates him somewhat, but which perhaps in the end is more thorough than what he'd have known in the Shire.
Linda Hoyland · 22 February 2006 · Chapter 87: 87: Too Long and Too Deep
The poor hobbitts,it seems they are all emotionally scarred by their experiences>At least we know that three of them eventually have long happy lives in the Shire.
Author's reply
Yes, they are all dealing with the emotional effects of what they've been through, and it's not always easy. But, as you note, Merry and Pippin and Sam do have long, happy lives in the Shire, although all three, once their wives go before them, leave the Shire to find their final peace elsewhere.
demeter d · 22 February 2006 · Chapter 86: 86: Frodo Enthroned
Another lovely chapter! Brendi trying to do as so many others have tried, to get Frodo to see that he was only one part of the Quest, and really did do all he could have. I too, am enjoying your new characters, Brendi, Narcissa, Mina Whitefoot... Just a note to Lady Saruman. Frodo's sadness and that attitude of just never being happy again comes right out of Tolkien's books. They allow us, the readers, to deal with our own griefs. And I do not see his dreamings about Narcissa as neccesarily "perverted." Had he dwelt on this, or done the kind of things the ring wanted him to, yes, I would say that. Instead, I see him as paying loving tribute to a dream that he sees he could never have. Sensuality kept within bounds, used with love and reapect, is one of life's most beautiful gifts. Best wishes to both of you.
Author's reply
It's taken a time to get to your lovely review, and I fear I can't do it justice. You've expressed precisely what I wanted to show through those three pictures, and particularly the third. Our culture has been so brainwashed to see sexual innuendo everywhere, including places it's not intended or where nudity is primarily intended to be a reflection of love of form or even spiritual awareness rather than titillating; and it's a hard image to fight. By insisting on this interpretation of nudity, we end up forcing our children to be sexualized at early ages, adding to our problems instead of relieving them. I am very pleased people enjoy my original characters; but Frodo certainly didn't live in a world in which he had a limited number of relationships and no more--I just wanted to give more scope for Frodo to relate in different ways with different people, and with those who didn't have preconceptions about what was done and how it was done and who was to blame and who was not. In this way our characters have a means to broaden their own understandings of what they did as well as allowing us know a more full a more rounded understanding of just how important or unimportant some of the actions and choices commited can be seen to be in the long run. I don't know if I'm making any sense right how--I'm up WAY too late right now!
French Pony · 21 February 2006 · Chapter 86: 86: Frodo Enthroned
Brendi is such a good friend. He's got that logical mind of a lawyer, and an infinite supply of patience when helping Frodo put things into perspective. Frodo is definitely lucky to have such understanding people around him. And Brendi's poking at Frodo's ego was a welcome touch of comedy. I think I'm all caught up now. . .
Author's reply
Getting someone to laugh at their own foibles is sometimes the first step to accepting them emotionally as well as rationally, which is one thing Frodo needs to do. So glad you appreciate the friendship between these two, which is quite different from that seen in his relationships with Merry and Pippin, which is different again from that with Sam, or Aragorn. And you are right we need such folks around us!
French Pony · 21 February 2006 · Chapter 85: 85: Midsummer Elections
Interesting story about Fosco and Forsythia. Frodo does seem to have a stronger connection now to the broken and orphaned. I love that he still makes the time to see them, even though they are of somewhat uncertain family, a killer in Shire society. Frodo's decision not to stand for Mayor is indeed for the best, but it's just one more reminder of what's been taken from him.
Author's reply
Fosco and Forsythia appear in "The Ties of Family," where along with Narcissa and Brendi they become major characters. These are the two children he would have adopted himself as Bilbo adopted him, had fortune been better for all three. But as things turned out he didn't have the strength to do that after all. But their ties to the rest of the Shire were strengthened via Frodo's influence in the end. He was a far cannier individual than many realized.
French Pony · 21 February 2006 · Chapter 84: 84: Encounters
Frodo does indeed have some 'splaining to do. Fortunately, both Lily and Mina are wonderfully understanding ladies. It seems that, even though they think Frodo ought to start seeing lasses, what he really needs is someone to mother him.
Author's reply
It's been a time since Frodo got proper mothering, but now he is getting some, some he has indeed desperately needed. And a vital few unconnected with the quest, are beginning to understand.
Radbooks · 21 February 2006 · Chapter 84: 84: Encounters
I really like that he has Mina in his life right now. He needs that motherly figure even if he does doesn't really know that himself. I think that Esme might have been able to fill that role if she wasn't have to deal with her own stuff with Merry... and if Frodo was around her. But since Frodo is with Mina so regularly there is a nice relationship there. I was shocked that Frodo told Lily about how the Ring made him act towards lasses. Just because I didn't think he was close enough to her that he would tell her something like that. But he was tired and felt cornered and sometimes we do says things like that that we might not tell people in other circumstances. At least I trust her enough that she will not pass that on to anyone.
Author's reply
As I commented in a response to a previous chapter, my late husband would admit things to others he wouldn't tell the Kid or me; and he would just snap at us over the littlest things at times. It's just part of the pain of long-term illnesses, I must assume. That Frodo might tell such a horrible detail to someone within the Shire seemed plausible; but that he wouldn't do so a few days later in a similar situation also fits with the experiences we had with Tony. Mina has now been seeing Frodo much of his time since he returned over the past eight months, although that is coming soon to an end. She is a cousin, and his mother's first cousin, for all she was never close to him as were those of his Took and Brandybuck, Bolger and Boffin kin. And at the moment she is one who is able to step into Primula's footsteps at least a bit. And I think even Esme is glad someone is there for her beloved fosterling cousin.
Radbooks · 21 February 2006 · Chapter 83: 83: Hidden Scars
It was good for Sam to share and show Rosie all of his scars and tell her what he had been through. Best to start out a marriage with truth and honesty I think! You just knew Frodo was not going to make a walking trip across the Shire, even though his heart was in the right place to give Sam and Rosie privacy. He should have ridden with someone or stayed at the Cotton's or something like that. I loved that they told the story of Aragorn's and Arwen's wedding night! :)
Author's reply
I personally think Sam would be very sensitive to what Rosie might think of his more hidden scars, for such things are, after all, extraordinarily rare among Hobbits and aren't seen as marks of honor as would be true in a more militant culture such as the Rohirrim or the Dunedain. And to find she honors them and him must have been a gift beyond imagining. You're righ--Frodo ought to have done a more simple trip first; but I can't see him going back to the Cottons or the Whitfoot house at this time. But having made up his mind to resume "normal" life, I think he'd about have killed himself making certain he did make it to visit his beloved relatives in Brandy Hall. And to find out why that salver of wine stayed in the hallway instead of Pippin allowing Belveramir to leave it on the table in the Royal sitting room seemed just right at the moment. Plus it helps the others in Brandy Hall accept Aragorn as a real person, and his own wedding comes a bit closer to home for them, knowing his own servants were desirous to assure themselves the King did indeed consummate his marriage. The voyeur tends to come out in the oddest folks at times like that. Glad you liked that tale.
Radbooks · 21 February 2006 · Chapter 82: 82: Love Not Accepted
Poor Narcissa is having here heart broken again here. I think I would be avoiding him at this point. It would be too difficult to see him over and over and not get any response back from him... but hope does keep you going, especially as he is not married. If I were Frodo, I think I would be telling people to leave me alone! I know they just want to help, but it would get tiring to always have people fussing over you. Though sometimes you only get really upset with those you are closest too - you are nice to those you don't know as well or who are more distant friends!
Author's reply
I do put the poor lass through it, don't I? Narcissa Boffin should be awarded her halo swiftly for all the grief she's known for thirty years--but it won't be all that long before she, too, finds healing and the proper love for her--a love which is, in its way, a gift to both her and Brendi from Frodo. "All things work to the good for those who love the Lord"--or, in this case, Iluvatar. And I certainly agree about how one tends to put up with snoopiness from those not as close to us emotionally we'd go off on from someone we're very close to. Certainly my late husband was like that. The Kid and I used to catch it SOOOO badly for little questions that we needed answers to, while others could ask terribly personal questions and were answered at length. It was maddening at times during his last year. Sometimes it was as if we were supposed to have been able to just read his mind.
Radbooks · 21 February 2006 · Chapter 81: 81: Shire Wedding
I simply loved this chapter! To finally see Sam and Rosie married was very, very special. I was glad that they incorporated some Dunedain customs into their wedding... it seemed to fit somehow. Sam is of the Shire and yet a part of the larger world beyond it as well. Poor Frodo though with his little heart attack type things going on. Trying to do too much and not wanting to spoil Sam and Rosie's special day... which is understandable. Nicely done!
Author's reply
Yes, Frodo is trying so hard not to disturb the wedding and the groom, even if it includes hiding the fact he's in a good deal of pain. That Aragorn would want a little input into Sam's wedding, even if it includes getting Frodo to include Dunedain tradition such as the marriage cord, tied contract, and so on in the Shire ceremony, seemed logical; and you are definitely right that Sam now belongs to far more of Middle Earth than just the Shire. And am so glad you loved the ceremony.
Linda Hoyland · 21 February 2006 · Chapter 86: 86: Frodo Enthroned
I enjoyed this chapter of how we come to know about Aragorn's coronation. I liked Brendi here as he voices excellent and true arguments to Frodo,though the poot Hobbit will always blame himself. I just checked the back of ROTK and it says Earnur vanished in 2050 but the WHite Tree didn't die until 2852. I loved the atmosphere you created with the flowers.
Author's reply
Yes, Frodo does blame himself, which is foolish, particularly as in doing so he ends up denying himself and Narcissa a possible wonderful time together. And thinking of how Frodo might have worked on the Red Book and how once in a while he gets out of order as just being up there brings to mind the coronation I, too, found likely and appropriate. And I'm wrong, but it won't be the first or the last time, I'm certain. Why the eight hundred years, I wonder? Tolkien's logic wasn't always easy to follow. Thanks for the correction.
Radbooks · 21 February 2006 · Chapter 80: 80: Birthday Gifts
I liked the image of the four of them all sitting together there in peace and quiet and just enjoying the sun coming up. I doubt they had very few times of that - the four of them together once they returned to the Shire. Too many things to do. Finally Sam has asked Rosie to marry him! It's about time for that poor hobbit lass! :)
Author's reply
Am behind with my responses to reviews. Fought a horrid migraine all day long, and am now wishing I could just crawl back into bed, which I intend to do shortly. The next chapter is written, but needs to be transferred to the server posting--will do so tomorrow. And have your last chapter downloaded to the laptop for reading and hope to read it tonight, if the headache allows. Yes, it is indeed about time for Sam and Rosie to marry at last. I get so frustrated each time I read the books now that he waits so long to even ask her!