Andrea
· 21 February 2006
· Chapter 86: 86: Frodo Enthroned
“What are you laughing at, Brendilac Brandybuck?” he demanded.
“At you, Frodo Baggins, at you and your absurd vanity. Oh, my beloved cousin--you are the best--and the most conceited--Hobbit the Creator ever saw born into the Shire. You don’t want to have had to have shared the glory of destroying Sauron’s Ring--you want to have done it all yourself, even though you know, and probably knew from the moment you offered to carry It further than Rivendell--you couldn’t do it alone. Oh, Frodo, I love you past bearing--you know that, don’t you?”
That's it, exactly! Brendi calls it later "Baggins pride and stubbornness" - and Frodo is the most stubborn of all, but I'm quite sure that pride is also largely concerned. Frodo has always thought that he alone would be capable of dealing with the Ring to drive away all danger from his friends and family. And he has not yet truly accepted that this was impossible, even for him.
You know what I think about Frodo and Narcissa, and Brendi is right, even a short time together would have given them the chance to experience true love and fulfillment.
I thinks it's quite telling that "the voice" calls him "Frodo Baggins" and not by his Elvish name. This matter has nothing to do with the quest, it's quite private and hobbity. And it's spoken like a mother or father would have to a stubborn child - maybe the last attempt to convince him! The outcome makes me always sad.
Thank you, Larner, this chapter was really great!
Author's reply
Yes, it was definitely as a parent the voice seeks to reason with Frodo this time. Tolkien indicated Frodo's pride was one of his greatest faults in many ways, and his pride gets in the way of emotionally accepting he couldn't have done it alone, gets in the way of accepting he had made enough of a sacrifice in doing what he did, now gets in the way of the marriage he might have known and enjoyed because he won't deliver "damaged goods" with a distinct "pull date" in the not-to-distant future to a possible bride. And so he denies himself and Narcissa what they might have known for what time was granted to them.
And thank you for your comments.
I do love Brendilac! He cares so much for Frodo--you have created a wonderful OC in him, and I'm so glad I know how his story turns out, though I find it ironic that it is he who encourages Frodo to try and find happiness with Narcissa.
And he must have been a very good lawyer--his cross-examination of Frodo was masterful, getting his reluctant "witness" to part with a story he usually does not care to tell, and to draw the correct conclusions from them. Sadly, of course, Frodo does not follow through in his heart--but at least in his head he understands.
But he is still clinging to the remains of his pride and guilt, a lasting legacy of It.
But my favorite part was the beginning, as you describe all the beautiful plants and flowers in the garden, and how it has all begun to be renewed and fruitful again! I love this whole chapter!
Author's reply
So very glad all seem to have enjoyed this chapter, as it was obviously intended to be quite moving. Imagining how the gardens of Bag End would be renewed is fascinating, and am so glad I managed to convey my image of it to so many others.
Brendi sees what Frodo could have that he's already seen done; Frodo is being all too noble and all and is missing out on one joy he wanted more than any other, and he'll regret it, but accept the choice he made as he finally knows the healing he mist know.
As for the irony--as I say elsewhere, in ways it is Frodo who brings Brendi and Narcissa together, gifting them to one another, two he cared deeply for and whom he felt he couldn't fulfill himself, so he gave them to one another to fulfill one another, if that makes sense.
Thanks so much for the detailed response.
What a fantastic chapter Larner - so much lovely detail, lots of unexpected twists and so much to comment on. A really key chapter. Where to start? Hm..Ah yes.... Concerning hobbit gardens *g*
lots of delicious detail. Fat bumblebees blundered from blossom to blossom I could see, smell and almost touch those flowers. And I liked Brendi's reaction to the Kingsfoil - including the fact that he spotted different varieties! The way we travel from flowers to herbs to fruit to wild flowers is great. I assume that the veg garden is the other side of Bag End?
Concerning hobbit thrones...
I found this a little harder to visulise & imagine but what a clever idea and the comparisons were wonderful, even the linking image of Aragorn with his sword and Frodo with his pen! What a shame that it has to be cut down but then I got a funny picture in my head of the stump beginning to grow again and the 'throne' ending up in the air like one of the Flets in Lothlorien.!
A lovely opportunity for more of the Tale to come out and Brendi's 'education' to continue. And then you change the mood as swiftly as a Nazgul flying over...
Concerning pictures...
Quoting that sentence and juxtaposing the picture of Sam as a 'Lord of the Free Peoples ' was very clever.
I am glad that it is Brendi that you have discussing the studies ofNarcissa. He is such a lovely character. In many ways he seems to 'inherit' a lot from Frodo like Sam. I could see him as Mayor after Sam or deputy to him. (Has anyone written anything about this?) Lots of people seem to have Frodo and Narcissa's best interests at heart. The way Brendi accepts this picture is very healing for Frodo even though he will not be able to act on it.
Brendi was shocked not so much by Frodo’s assertions as his vehemence. He could hear the self-loathing in Frodo’s voice, and knew it wasn’t deserved. Finally he said, “That’s not true, Frodo Baggins, and you know it. If you were as bad as you say, Samwise Gamgee wouldn’t be as devoted to you as he is. There’s not an ounce of guile in the Hobbit--he’s always loved and respected you, and that’s only grown in the time you were gone. So you aren’t perfect? You find anyone who is, Hobbit, Man, Elf, Dwarf, or any other race you know of, and I’ll show you a prodigy incapable of compassion because he can’t appreciate what life is about and how we rise to overcome our mistakes. I bet even your friend the King has made mistakes and has regretted them a time or two.” Frodo’s eyes again shifted away. “Isn’t that true, Frodo?”
The way he drew the story of the destruction of the Ring out of Frodo and faced his guilt head on with the true facts was brilliant. Still a case of Frodo being able to realise the truth with his head but not accept it fully in his heart unfortunately. We are truly known by the quality of our friends and the friendship we offer. I think that Frodo dying with the ring would have killed or maimed beyond earthly healing far more than just Sam and Smeagol. Aragorn, at the very least.
I really hadn't realised the symmetry between Elrond and Sam as supporters of the Ring-bearers. I would be interested to hear a conversation between to two of them on this topic.
The idea that pride and vanity are behind Fodo's inability to accept what happened are so true but beyond my words to talk about!
The fact that Saruman was plundering the Shire in order to find the Ring was a new idea to me! Very exciting. You have snuck that one in over the last few chapters haven't you Larner? It really fits in the time line you use. Of course, Saruman must have realised quite quickly that it had left the Shire and, certainly, by the time Sharky reached the Shire personally the ring was destroyed but, heck, you don't countermand orders which are at least bringing in a little wealth and adding to the misery of the people who defended It and It's Keepers for so long. And 'thugs' wouldn't know when to stop anyway!
Oh the last bit is so beautiful!
“Even as hurt as you’ve been, there’s still more of you to offer someone who loves you than there is in the average Hobbit.” As he watched Frodo solemnly shake his head Brendi again sighed. “Oh, Frodo--don’t you remember when it was Merilinde and me? They’d told us that she had no time left, that she’d be dead in three months. She lived three times that, able to do so because at last she was happy, and when she died she died easily. Just knowing--knowing I loved her enough to marry her anyway helped her hang on long enough to know fulfillment before she went on. I don’t regret a single moment of it all, you know--not even the grief of losing her.
There you go again with another similarity between these two. (They are individuals as well I know). If only Frodo could have accepted Narcissa's love and healed in the Shire!!! I was grabbing for the hankies by this time.
I hesitate to say say that you can guage my reaction to a chapter by the length of my review as there are many other factors at work - such as time of day I read but in this case.....
Author's reply
Yes, it was a long review, and I rejoice it managed to spark so many thoughts. The idea of the stump "throne" somehow growing high in the air like a wood-Elve's flet is indeed an intriguing one, and might indeed rival Aragorn's one day in sheer audacity.
I see the vegetable gardens being toward the "back" of the smial, and the orchards on the opposite side of the Hill from the windows, and at the foot of the Hill on the door end a small wood with a stream running through it, once a rich wooded place and now looking a bit ragged because Sharkey's folks cut down the larger trees toward the lane.
I have found Brendi growing more and more real, if you would, with each story he appears in. And that he would want to see Frodo know the same type of happiness Merilinde was able to experience would be important to him, particularly as it was Frodo who helped those involved make certain she had the chance to find that fulfillment with him.
I have had a lot of enjoyment and intellectual stimulation figuring out what all Saruman might particularly want to find in the Shire. Well, he wanted the Ring and knew it had been there; and his guys were on their way before he'd be certain it had left there. He'd want to preempt the Black Riders, not realizing the Ring and Its bearer were already out of there until his folk were entrenched. And, as you pointed out, orders are orders, and no one told them to stop, so EVERY ring found was saved for Sharkey to examine, even if by that time he'd know it was in vain.
Later, after his power has been stripped from him, I see him wanting information, and the more esoteric the better. Elrond has established relationships with some in the Shire sending books? Of course he'd want such things, as one can never be certain when a detail in a book from and Elf's library might JUST turn out useful in regaining power. But by then those with the types of libraries he'd be most drawn to would have hidden their books, so he lost out, poor dear! (I love seeing Sharkey stymied, you might have gathered.)
And the pictures--they were just the right ones for the situation, with the indication Frodo is recovering his sexuality at last and is thinking of what he MIGHT have had if chances had allowed.
Could he have found healing had he remained? I think he'd have known a more "normal," mortal kind of healing had he married and stayed in Middle Earth, and that he'd still need more afterwards, but not as much as if he'd been denied the right to go to Elvenhome altogether.
Anyway, it grows VERY late and I'd best get to bed. Rest well.
Lady Saruman
· 21 February 2006
· Chapter 86: 86: Frodo Enthroned
This was a great chapter. Well, now you made Frodo all perverted--imagining what Narcissa Boffin would have looked like when she prepared for her bath. The only problem with this chapter was that you always make Frodo blame himself, and so you create an unhappy background and you infect the reader(s) with it.
Okay, now I hafta catch up with my homework. See you later today! ^_^
-L.S. ^_~
*sigh* I'm all pooped out... :P
Author's reply
As Demeter D explains it, here I'm merely following both the book and Tolkien's own description of Frodo in his letters, blaming himself for not "succeeding," realizing he still wants the Ring and hating that in himself, feeling emptied, and so on. Tolkien deliberately wrote Frodo in keeping with his understanding of the condition he knew as shell shock and which we now call post-traumatic stress disorder or syndrome. It's a very nasty condition, and it is VERY, very common in Holocaust survivors, in survivors of natural disasters and mass murders, people caught in battles, rape survivors, and so on. I've purposely based many of Frodo's actions on real-life PTSD victims, like those who survived starvation diets of Nazi camps who afterward had to have water and bread available at all times--they may not have wanted to eat them, but had to know they were available just to get through the day. And in spite of consciously knowing they aren't to blame, they can't escape the emotional feelings that they are responsible for the bad things that happened. Being at places associated with the trauma can trigger the memories, as can, in many cases, anniversaries, or certain sounds or smells. There are veterans of wars who cannot bear fireworks; and others who focus on such things obsessively. You never know how the reactions will surface.
Frodo, for the first time since he got the Ring, is having a normal upsurgence of his own sexuality, and the girl he left behind is catching his eye again, but he feels he can't do anything about it. So, he does what many of us who are artistically capable have done, drawn her naked in an attempt to imagine what it would be like to be able to know that intimacy. He's not done it for purposes of exciting himself, but as Brendi notes, capturing a moment of beautiful innocence in his mind. Not all nudes are pornographic, after all, and I've had to sit on some fifth-graders to get that idea through their heads.
I hope I haven't destroyed your feelings of Frodo's relative innocence, for I don't think he ever lost that. I, personally, would have preferred Narcissa had been Tolkien's own character and that Frodo had married her after all.
Frodo's ... depression ... negativity ... can't get quite the right word - is probably an effect the Ring would be delighted to see. He is determined to see himself as unworthy, even as he points out just how well everybody else managed. Blinkered.
But, considering just how little time he has left, maybe it was better not to take things further with Narcissa. He might have felt unable to sail then, and wouldn't have had the time to recover his sense of proportion in the west. And Narcissa does end up happy with Brendi!
I love the description of Bag End's restored garden. And the seat in the tree stump overlooking so much of the Shire. A good place for Frodo to sit and think about what was saved.
Author's reply
Yes, I think the Ring would have been well pleased at many of the emotional and spiritual scars It left in Frodo. And I'm certain It trained him to see himself as unworthy. But the armor or cocoon or sarcophagus or whatever it is around him is starting to be chinked by all the attempts to crack it, so much so that at the last it will be able to fall away as is right and proper--but not, unfortunately, until he's gone to the Undying Lands.
Blinkered--good description of it.
What time he might have had left had Frodo accepted a love in the Shire we can't know, but probably more than he expected. Perhaps he'd not have gone to the Undying Lands to recover his sense of proportion there, but he still might have found himself on the way to such before he left his life here.
I, too, was glad when I found Narcissa could be happy with Brendi and her ready-made family of the Hobbit twins she accepted for Frodo's sake. In ways the four of them were Frodo's gifts to one another. He did wish them all joy, after all.
And am so glad all loved the description of the restored garden. It must have been such a relief to Sam and Frodo as well as the folk of the region of the Hill to see it come back as it did. And the tree stump just begged to be so utilized, I found.
Raksha The Demon
· 21 February 2006
· Chapter 86: 86: Frodo Enthroned
Beautiful description of the gardens of Bag End - I felt like I was there, smelling the flowers and (well, I would) dodging the bees.
Aragorn's building a chair for the Steward of Arnor to use in the White Tower, by the Steward of Gondor's Chair? Hmm, interesting. Well, I hope there will be a chair for Faramir when he visits Annuminas.
Author's reply
I am truly spending time I ought to be using otherwise to answer reviews here, but I can't fully begrudge it.
I'm not allergic to bee stings, thank God, but am to penecillin, so can understand your concern about the bees, although usually neither honeybees or blumblebees will bother folks unless the folks bother them first. Only bumblebees and honeybees that ever stung me I was bothering them. Now, yellowjackets and ground hornets are just plain nasty and aggressive--all you have to do is be anywhere near their nest and you'd best watch out!
So very glad you love the gardens as I've described them. I hope that by that summer they were coming back to fullness of beauty again, with Sam in charge and Frodo appreciating them.
And yes, I do in my mind have a black and grey chair for the two Stewards in Annuminas as well as in Minas Tirith. I first introduced the grey chair in "The King's Commission," I think; and I'm sure I had it there in "Lesser Ring."
Thanks so much for the response!
Oh, dear Brendi! He was wonderful in this chapter. So understanding and helpful (well, maybe save from the end) and he even managed to make Frodo laugh over his own absurd thoughts! Well done, Brendi!
Larner, I enjoyed this chapter so much! Finally Frodo was able to open up a little bit and to talk about this horrible last moments with the ring. And if he would only think a bit more about what he told Brendi, he should be able to realise that he did everything he promised to do and everything he could do. And certainly more than all the powerful others could have done. That is enough, Frodo!!
Loved Aragorn's remark about the height of the dais, and now I wonder if I will ever see the steps in Gondor reduced. Aragorn has hundred and twenty years to wear the worthies of Gondor down, after all :D
Author's reply
Yes, Brendi is good for Frodo, dear Hobbit that he is. And Frodo has to accept he can only be responsible for so much and no more; but this helps widen the crack in his armor of self-righteousness so that when he begins his discussions in the Undying Lands he finds the healing indeed, as that armor finally crumbles away and he's able to emerge for healing.
Frodo was the best one for the job, but he's no longer the Tragic Hero and needs to accept his proper place and role as a simple child of Iluvatar, which is glory enough for anyone who will accept it.
And so glad you liked Aragorn's comment, although as his throne is in a Citadel on top of the city of Minas Tirith it is indeed physically higher than Frodo's stump seat atop the Hill. But we can forgive Frodo that one, can't we? (Grinning)
French Pony
· 20 February 2006
· Chapter 83: 83: Hidden Scars
This is a nice set of going-to-bed scenes. They show very nicely the contrast between Sam and Frodo's futures. Sam's is hopeful, loving, and looking forward, while Frodo remains entangled in the past.
Author's reply
Oh, how perceptive, and beyond what I'd even thought of. Thank you for giving me even more to think of (as if I needed such!)
Now this is getting interesting - how *is* that voice? Don't tell me though. I'm glad Frodo get a lot to think about from his cousin and to hear him laugh, now that was wonderful! Confession is good for the soul and he needed to hear *again* that this wasn't his own personal failure. He says right out that the Ring took him and more than once he has said this, but he still blames himself for being taken. When are you going to believe, darling, that this isn't your fault?
"Oh Frodo, I love you past bearing..." Some many people do.
Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
Oh, I think you know who that voice is, Antane. And Frodo is indeed beginning to let that moment out, to see how absurd he is behaving, and that he is loved in spite of as well as because of his failings. And Frodo does need to laugh. There are times in the last few months when he does anything but laugh.
As for blaming oneself--it's a failing all too many of conscience fall to, while those without consciences refuse to admit they need to do that once in a while. Now, if we could only even them out somewhat....
Oh, I loved Brendi's remark about the monarch of the Shire sitting enthroned! :)
I'm glad Frodo had the chance to talk this over with one so wise and kind and genuine as Brendi, willing or not, and it's good that Brendi really tries to understand whereas some might be tempted either not to believe it (if they were really lacking in perception, that is) or to shake their head and not really make an effort.
I said before that it wouldn't be fair to Narcissa for Frodo to marry her and then have to either leave or die; but I was wrong. It might have been better for both of them, in some ways.
And I know this might be really obvious, but I can't think what the particular meaning behind the voice not addressing Frodo as Iorhael could be. I'll probably think of something, though, when my brain is a little less tired and half-dead from so much studying. Ah, how I wish I could just read and write all the time! :)
And now I've finally put my finger on what it is that draws me to your work: it doesn't look as if it was invented, but rather as if you had merely written down facts that you had witnessed or that had been told to you. That's the way Tolkien wrote LOTR, and I think you're the only fanfic author I've ever come across who can do that.
God bless,
Galadriel
Author's reply
Brendi is reflecting Frodo's own arguments and perceptions right back at him, and thus making him see how he is holding himself back from the level of healing he COULD have known in the Mortal Lands.
It is a Jewish understanding that on the Day of Judgment we will be responsible not only for answering for every ill deed we've done but also for turning away from the legitimate pleasures offered us. We were put on this earth to live and live well and responsibly and with enjoyment. Enjoyment and pleasure, when legitimately obtained, are fulfilling and are our proper reward just for being here. It is only when we try to grab the pleasures that aren't ours or twist them to what they aren't intended to be that they become the lizards on our shoulders as shown in Lewis's "The Great Divorce" instead of the mighty steeds intended to bring us that more quickly before the Father's throne.
What Frodo and Narcissa or any other lass he married could have made of the life granted them together we don't know, for he didn't accept that possible path. And so he came, still a virgin, for what we know, to the Undying Lands and probably through them back to the Creator.
As for the monarch of the Shire--here I was just letting my secret feeling Frodo and Aragorn were indeed spiritually brothers loose for the moment. Why not, right?
As for why it was significant Frodo was not addressed as Iorhael, I will advise you, when you can, to read Lloyd C. Douglas's "The Big Fisherman," for Peter told I think Demetrius there were days when Jesus called him Peter and days when he called him Simon.
As for the last comment--I am humbled, truly humbled, as well as delighted to be compared to the Master, you know. It's the greatest compliment that can be paid me. Thank you.
"Oh, my beloved cousin--you are the best--and the most conceited--Hobbit the Creator ever saw born into the Shire. You don’t want to have had to have shared the glory of destroying Sauron’s Ring--you want to have done it all yourself, even though you know, and probably knew from the moment you offered to carry It further than Rivendell--you couldn’t do it alone. Oh, Frodo, I love you past bearing--you know that, don’t you?”
And very slowly the stricken look on Frodo’s face began to fall away, and gently he began to join in the laughter, laughing, laughing more loudly, more fully, until he was rocking with it. The page he held fell into his lap as he sat back, and he laid his head back and closed his eyes, still laughing softly. “You are right, Brendi. I’m about as absurd a Hobbit as was ever born.”
That's a marvelous scene. Brendi's relentless getting at the truth, and logical conclusions, are just wonderful.
Author's reply
Yes, Brendi is the proper, decent, good lawyer to counter Timono and Marcos; and he uses his skills to get Frodo to see--for the moment at least--just how absurd he is. He may forget it tomorrow, but slowly the guilt is being worn away so that when he gets to the Undying Lands he is able to shed it completely--although even there they worry about his stubborn insistence that he is responsible for everything. So glad you liked this one.
Love the ending - Sam with his brother. Sad as Frodo realizes a little bit more that he's not getting better. This is hard to walk alongside him on his journey, but I shall not falter. I will follow on. What else can I do?
Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
Yes, two of the brothers are together at the moment, and will be again at the end. And other family members are beginning to become aware of one another, and more positive family bonds are eventually forged due to Frodo's influence.
And we love to follow such as Frodo, Sam, and Aragorn on their journeys.
Oh, poor Frodo! Sometimes I have to wonder, what was really best? I know it isn't pleasant to have so much going on when one is unwell, but then if Frodo *doesn't* have anything to focus on, he broods too much. Still, it would have been kinder of Will to ask him if he wanted to run for Mayor.
You know, you have such an amazing talent, you might consider trying your hand at an original work, if you haven't before. You have a knack for interesting characters and intricate plot twists, and plot and characters are the essentials of a worthwhile story.
God bless,
Galadriel
Author's reply
I have my original work in progress, although it's on the back burner while I finish with this story, which IS winding down at LAST, I hope. I swear, some of these insist on being far longer than I'd ever intended.
Yes, Will ought to have asked--he definitely ought to have asked. But, as he didn't, we're left with a Frodo who needs to let folks know he can't do the job but who don't listen to the explanation and then come to believe it wasn't offered when he did try.
demeter d
· 20 February 2006
· Chapter 84: 84: Encounters
so nice to see frodo having people he can confide in, around whom he can let down for a time. I had a thought, by officiating at weddings, and helping others to find what the Ring denied him, he may be, in a small way getting his revenge on the thing for what it took from him.
Author's reply
Yes, this is helping him, but it's still not enough to help him feel properly fulfilled. But it is giving him a lot more than he did have.
French Pony
· 20 February 2006
· Chapter 82: 82: Love Not Accepted
Yeah, so maybe this whole walking trip idea isn't such a good one. Frodo could possibly work up to it with a series of half-day and one-day hikes, but an all-out week-long walking trip is not for someone who can't even dance at a wedding.
Interesting to see the impasse between Frodo and the ladies. He'll have some 'splaining to do if he doesn't want one of them to take him firmly in hand.
Author's reply
You are right--Frodo's pushing himself too far to fast, and will probably regret it (as I describe in "The Choice of Healing, of course...).
And he WILL have some 'splainin' to do soon.
Great chapter on the getting ready for Sam's wedding. I love the image of a Samwise utterly flustered. Good thing to have him taken off to the pub. Great thought to have one of the braided cords of the Dunedain as part of the wedding.
Author's reply
Even the unflappable Samwise Gamgee must have had a hard time the day before his wedding, don't you think? The most important day of the rest of his life, and like all brides and grooms he worries about it all going wrong.
And I do think Aragorn and Arwen would have desired some input into this marriage, after all; the braided marriage cord seemed the proper tweak they'd offer.
Lady Saruman
· 20 February 2006
· Chapter 85: 85: Midsummer Elections
*gasps and pants for breath* Whew! I've read all 3 chapter at once, from chap. 83 to this one. I've been busy, and evidently I've been wrong about reading this one chapter at a time. You have leisure time to update every day, but I don't have time to read every day. I liked that conversation with Rosie and Sam about his scars in Chapter 83, and in this one, the coming of Elladan and Elrohir. I need more time to read everybody's stories!!!!
Hershey's hugs/kisses
-The Lady of Isengard *grin* ^_~
Ah, you need a hug for all your hard and nonstop work.
Author's reply
It's hard to keep up on all of the stories. I've promised myself that when I'm done with this story I'm going to reread Primsong's "Nothing of Note" and "The Stone of Erebor." I've read the first and it's a wonderful, lovely, lighthearted epic for all its eighty chapters; and the second is her work in progress and looked wonderful the few chapters I've followed. But her work is best read, I find, in larger batches at once.
So glad you like Rosie and Sam's discussion on his scars, and that Elladan and Elrohir are here this time. Am not certain exactly how much longer this one will go, but we come closer to the end each time.
Oh poor Frodo. I found this chapter very hard to read. Prolonged stress often makes existing conditions flare up, (what seems like,) unexpectedly. And it is only when they do that you recognise the cause. (I get IBS and it is quite a barometer!)
I like your 'coincidence'(?) in timing of our favourite elven twins arriving in the Shire to fulfil Sam's request and being in time to sing at the fair.
Got to run today - It was 32 teenagers eventually and no I wasn't alone as I took 3 other adults with me. The day was run by a team from the place so we had some bonding time as catechists too. Spent a nice time shooting basketballs!) *g*
Author's reply
As a fellow sufferer from IBS and related conditions, I know precisely what you describe, which is how I ended up putting such into the stories to begin with.
I've had the twins come to the Shire to sing at the Free Fair--that they'd do so in conjunction with the bringing of the seeds and plant starts seemed logical, particularly as I'd never described how they got there before.
32 the second time, eh? More like a classroom of kids here, then. Hope they enjoyed it all, and that you adults liked your day, too. Didn't post yesterday--had a migraine hit, so stayed all day in bed.
Mina did give her fancy free scope, didn't she? Tsk, tsk. She should be ashamed to think even one minute Frodo could be the father of Fosco and Forsythia! Well, the human mind works this way, I fear, no matter if man or hobbit.
*sigh*
Why could Odo not wait until Frodo had explained *why* he doesn't feel able to be Mayor for a full term? Now nearly nobody understands and they're angry at Frodo. My poor Frodo, it must've been hard for him to decline, the more so as he got no chance to explain it properly.
Author's reply
Well, the minds of mortals will go on and imagine things, as Frodo indicates in chapter 86, after all. But Mina had her comeuppance for letting her imagination go too far. But she'd so like to see Frodo settled down with a nice Hobbitess who will love him as he deserves, you know.
And Odo is just a contrary old fool, as his own grandson lets him know shortly. It was too bad Frodo didn't get the chance to explain.
Dear me! I knew this part was coming, but it was still so sad to see it--poor Frodo, he would have done so well as Mayor--and you'd think that some of those who knew what Frodo's health was *like* would have clued some of those "hecklers" in as to his reasons.
How hard it must have been for him to realize he could not see the job through that he had started.
I've always liked that you have Elladan and Elrohir appear at that Free Fair to honor Frodo and the others. One of these days, I'd like very much to see you do that event from *their* POV--their first time to appear openly and publicly in the Shire, and what they would have thought about the seeming lack of honor for Frodo there...I wonder what they would have told of this to their foster brother and their sister. I am quite sure Elessar would not be pleased to hear of some of the Shire's attitude...
Author's reply
I'll consider that plot bunny--and hope it doesn't grow into such a pair of nuzguls as the two who conspired to bring this story into being. But I still have the one playing in the jewelbox to deal with!
As for Frodo not feeling willing to keep at it as Mayor, I suspect he might have had he not had that one extra draining of his neck, you know. He's recognizing he's not well, possibly (probably) dying, and isn't willing to leave the Shire without a proper Mayor again. And he wants time for the Hobbits of the Shire to recognize just what a jewel his Sam is. They already need him, he knows.
Tedicus
What a fun chapter! I thought I knew where you were going with Sam and
Rosie what with the old stories of "war wounds" that lead to a loss of
function....
"Yeah, Gollum bit me three times in all and that last one hurt
like nuthin' I ever felt afore. I wanted to tell my master about it but
seein' as that nasty sneak bit off his finger and all, telling him where
that foul creatures' fangs had been might push his mind over the edge. Strider took a peek at it but said that they never had a book on comparative
anatomy among the races at Imladris so he weren't sure what was normal for
our kind. He consulted with Elladan and Elrohir and all agreed that in this
case the best treatment would be absolutely no exposure to light, no wrapping
of athelas leaves, no breathing on it and never a laying on of hands(something
about infection). The only care that offered the best hope of healing was to
pray to the Valar for intervention and let nature take its course.
So here's how it turned out.
Like the Gaffer always says: "When there's a tough job that needs doin' you
gotta just rise to the occasion!"
Rosie? You okay? You're a might bit pale there."
Oh well, your story was good too, very tasteful. Quite mature.
Keep up the great work.
Author's reply
You certainly got me giggling with your review, Tedicus. Thanks for a day brightener!
And thanks for the indication I was quite tasteful. I hope to see something of yours on here soon, kiddle.
Linda Hoyland
· 19 February 2006
· Chapter 85: 85: Midsummer Elections
Poor Frodo to have saved the world and be blamed for being able to deal with the petty problems of the Shire !I liked it that the Elves came.
Author's reply
I, too, am glad that when I first started writing my series of stories that Elladan and Elrohir insisted on attending the Free Fair. But Frodo had a decision that had to be made--run or not, knowing he won't probably finish a term? He made the choice, but probably would have regretted it no matter which choice he'd made.
Oh my poor lil Frodo! *wipes his tears*
I love your story soo much! xoxxo
I'm sorry this isnt a good review...i'm very tired..i am suppose to be in bed..lol
love ya lots
--Katie
Author's reply
I spent all day yesterday in bed fighting a nasty migraine, so I can't blame you for doing things when you ought to have been there, too.
And am so glad you like this story so, LOTRgirl. Thanks for letting me know you are keeping with it.
Oh Larner, I can't bear it! Frodo sad and empty and in pain... *sob*
Author's reply
Unfortunately it gets worse now before it can get better, for we're in that last summer when the decision was finally, irrevocably made to leave all he loved in hopes of healing. It must have been very difficult for him, I've always thought.
Kitty
· 19 February 2006
· Chapter 84: 84: Encounters
How awkward for the Tooks and Brandybucks that Mina knows more about their own sons, Frodo and Sam than they themselves! But as for Will, he truly should’ve asked Frodo if he *wants* to be Mayor. It would’ve spared him the disappointment when Frodo declined.
And the women! Poor Frodo – first Lily, then Mina. Why want women so often to play matchmaker? They should leave it to Frodo if he wants to marry or not. Well, what Frodo told her must have been a terrible shock to Lily. Mina at least knows Frodo is not very well and can understand all that better, I think.
Author's reply
Yes, it is an awkward situation for Merry and Pippin's parents, the Tooks because they are too unwilling to accept the truth and the Brandybucks because Merry won't break down and tell them what really happened.
You will find as the story progresses that it's not just the ladies who would like to see Frodo wed, as Brendi and Pippin add their two cents to the mix.
But you are right about the two women who did approach Frodo. It's not an easy situation for either, but at least they are willing to accept what they're told and be supportive as they can.