Reviews (346)

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Again, thanks so very much! I love writing weddings, I find!

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I'm so glad you appreciated them. I'd think that this tangible proof that her husband is so honored by those who sent him to Bree would help Denra realize just how big the world is as well as the importance the King places on her new husband's errand! And I agree about Barti and Frodo! Heh!

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Thank you so, Lume! Love to see characters I've come to love getting some of my favorite things from the days my late husband and I had an antique store. Lithopane pottery and figured lace, and silver trays....

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If I am ever able to come to England again I shall bring you some Mount St. Helens glass, if that would be acceptable. When my father died and Mom had to return Stateside from Costa Rica they packed her dishes in great pasteboard barrels, with straw as the packing. The reeds and rushes from the swamps and ponds on our property had a thick, spongy pith, which would do well, I'd think, as packing. I used to wind it into helmets for when we pretended to be knights in armor, and we had alder shoots trimmed of branches as spears. Now that Sauron is cast down, I'd think that the Rangers would finally begin showing those in the Breelands and similar settlements that they, too, are family men; and of course they'd wish to share a wedding with their wives! Glad you enjoyed the ceremony. Thanks so!

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Oh, yes, Delphie definitely has taste. And both she and Alvric have learned how to deal with Barti by now. It's helped him release some of his resentment--at least for the moment. And I'm so glad you do! Now, to finish with the editing of that last chapter....

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We had some lithopane porcelains from Germany and Japan when we had our antique shop, and I've been wondering how to work such items into Middle Earth, and this proved to be the perfect place for it. I now have a votive candle holder that is lithopane porcelain, with an image of a cherub that shows when the candle is lit. I love it! And I'm certain you're right about Denra and Carnation feeling overwhelmed about the authors of such gifts as the tray and bowls. This is a bit much, to realize these far-off lords think so highly of Alvric to wish to send him wedding gifts! As I advised Dreamflower recently, Alvric did find himself a bit in the middle between Delphie and Barti, and found himself having to tread a bit lightly. No one within the Shire knows about the Circlets as yet, but that may come, and it would be wonderful for Barti to become aware of them, I think. You are delightfully evil, you know! Heh! Am so glad you loved the wedding. Thank you for such a lengthy commentary! I so appreciate it.

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I'm glad you do, Soledad. I find I love them, too. Five children would be a handful for any parent, I think. Sometimes our two and a half were more than we could handle. And even Begonia has her good points--she just doesn't yet believe she should think on them seriously, I fear. Glad you share my opinion of Petunia. I quite like her myself.

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Ah, yes, Delphie DOES know her Bartolo, and as you say, loves him as much because of his vulnerabilities as in spite of them. Thank you for the comments, BB.

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Some husbands are cheap, and the children ARE children after all! And hope to have the wedding posted soon.

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There were four of us while we were growing up, with my older brother twelve years older than our younger one. We had LOTS of scenes like this! As for the chapters--they have been eking their ways out so slowly! Heh!

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When you remember that Elrond and Elros were born toward the end of the First Age, that gives Elrond over six thousand years of memories! And the hot bricks were commonly used in carriages, and even carried in ladies' muffs--it was fun to write! Thanks so, Linda.

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Well, it is said in the Appendices that Merry DID study in the library and archives of Rivendell, so it is possible he might indeed be looking at many of the records there; and he might also have studied Bilbo and Frodo's library as well, if as I suggest Bilbo had begged Elrond to send him anything he might have of Hobbits coming over the passes. He might even find things Gerontius had gathered in the Great Smials as well. Oh, I find I quite like Barti's situation. He doesn't really want to go, but would rather go to it than to a banquet to honor Frodo; then hopes to duck out on it anyway, and has to be bullied. And by this time Delphinium has his number thoroughly! And I bet the very first girls were much the same as current ones! No, we don't appear to have changed all that much in recorded history, after all! And I, too, am looking forward to the wedding. Heh!

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I finally kicked the muse in the rump, and this chapter finished itself, and I'm better than half done with the next one, I think. As for Hobbits being carried off alive for any reason, including orc breeding stock--well, I've played with that idea in "Stirring Rings." I agree--ick, ick, ick! Thanks so much, Antane.

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Yes, Delphie knows how to deal with her Bartolo--and he wouldn't live half as happily and well if she hadn't learned to do so. I find I like her, too.

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Yes, the wedding is coming up, and I hope soon. This next chapter is writing itself, so hopefully it will be posted once you get home. I've always promised that I'll visit the Isle of Jersey once again one day. I hope it will be in the next ten years. And I hope you'll catch the last two chapters in 'Neath Anor, Ithil, and Gil.

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Thank you so, Lume. Am sorry this one is going so slowly, but for some reason the chapters for my longer stories have been anything but cooperative. This morning I finally was able to finish this chapter, and am about halfway done with the next one. Hopefully it won't again take two months to update! But with "Stirring Rings"--I wonder if I'll EVER get Bucca of the Marish onto that battlefield!

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I'm glad you think so. Frodo does love beauty wherever he sees it, and wishes ever to share it with others. Thanks so for the feedback.

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We've had it, believe me, and it keeps slipping back on folks after mutating JUST a bit. Yes, Frodo is in need of his own healing. Thanks so much, Antane.

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When one of my roommates from college informed me she was to marry and asked me to be matron of honor at her wedding--she was a bridesmaid at mine--I started a tablecloth for her. It's not particularly big, and took me MONTHS to complete, but she loved it. It was done in motifs rather than in filet crochet. My one attempt at filet crochet was NOT my best work, although I plan to try again. My stepdad's mother has often been my inspiration, for she could do well at almost anything she turned her hand to; and a capelet she crocheted for me is one of my favorite possessions. As for Bartolo and his family--I rather think he's committed himself to going, having considered missing the dinner honoring Frodo to attend, should the wedding be soon enough to allow him that as an excuse. No, I doubt that Delphie will allow him to miss it now! Heh!

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Frodo's truly begun his withdrawal, although he's not yet ready to admit it, I think. And I'd think Aragorn and Arwen would indeed love this table cloth. Good to hear the pressure sore is finally healing. Yes, to have the worry that there might be a cancer, and to learn it's merely and abcess--not that an abcess is "merely" anything! What a worry! And the dogs, kitty, and birds here send greetings in return. Yogi lies on his back on my bathrobe that's lying on the foot of the bed, a smile on his little pomeranian face, and his sister Belinda lies curled up on the extra pillow, quite pleased with herself.

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In trying to "protect" folks from possibly unpleasant associations, Frodo keeps his own council perhaps too well. And I'm certain that Sam is curious indeed. Glad you like how Alvric tells his tale of what was observed from within sight of the walls of Mordor. And I suspect many felt odd that day. I've only done one piece of filet crochet, although I've considered trying my hand at it again. But I'd so love to do such a piece for my own table! But you're so right--Frodo ought to attend the wedding and see for himself how well his gift suits these good folk, and how much joy his presence would bring them. And the joy of the day be with you.

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Oh, I'm certain they will, eiluj! They will probably travel one day between the two kingdoms, and Aragorn will come north! Heh!

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I'm so glad you like the description of it. I love to crochet myself, and my stepdad's mother did some beautiful pieces of filet crochet I've itched over the years to try my own hand at. My one essay wasn't the best piece of work I ever did, I fear, although the one tablecloth I did do was warmly received. You all are right--Frodo SHOULD force himself to go--he'd enjoy it and would see how much joy just his presence brings these good folk. However, he's a stubborn Baggins, after all. And so glad you, too, like Alvric's tale.

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I'm always glad to have errors pointed out to me, for I'm the first to admit I'm eminently fallible, and often the typing gets decidedly behind the brain. No, the story is still ongoing, as I'm still working on this and on "Stirring Rings" between bouts with various vicious li'l bunnies and other nuzguls that love to attack me. And I'm honored to find you consider it within Tolkien's canon for all I have added so much to Middle Earth, and particularly to the Shire and the Breelands. Heh!

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The division of Arnor into three kingdoms--Arthedain, Rhudaur, and Cardolan, is detailed in the Appendices, as well as a vague description of the failure of Rhudaur and Cardolan. Rhudaur, to the southeast, ended up much corrupted as folk entered it from Dunland and other areas to the south and east, and eventually it reportedly became mostly a haven for evil men who opposed the rulers of the Dunedain. Cardolan, to the west, also failed. Once Rhudaur and Cardolan no longer existed as independent entities the King of Arthedain again claimed all the lands formerly under the administration of the northern kingdom, and naming his son with the "Ar-" prefix used to indicate the Kings of Numenor in its latter days, "Ar-" meaning "Lord." After the final battle between Arvedui's folk and the army led by the Witch-king of Angmar, Arvedui's son and heir refused to take the title of King, as there weren't enough of the Dunedain of the North left to constitute a proper kingdom any more, and they retreated to hidden enclaves within the Angle and apparently northwards toward the ruins of Annuminas and the royal fortress of Fornost. That's all information from the Appendices. Much of the rest of the information given here is based on what we know of the organization of laws and administration within Numenor and Gondor, augmented with what I know of how such things were handled in Europe and particularly England during the height of the medieval period. England had a very strong guild system, and the bestowal of available land for their maintenance on newly made lords or individuals who had earned the favor of the king is well documented. As Numenor was supposed to be extraordinarily enlightened and given to advanced technologies, many of them lost and forgotten by the time the events in LOTR took place, I imagine their laws would be similar to ours. The legal and administrative structure of the Shire is mostly guesswork based on what information Tolkien hints at here and there. We know there were family heads, and that the husband and wife often ruled the extended family jointly. Tolkien himself described how the Tooks were ruled in one of his letters in which he detailed the story of Lalia, the obese dowager mother of Thain Ferumbras Took who preceded his cousin Paladin Took in that office. In another letter he indicates that part of the reason Otho and Lobelia Sackville-Baggins wished to have possession of Bag End was because they were certain that with it they would inherit the family headship for the Bagginses to go along with the headship for the Sackvilles he'd inherited from the distaff side of his heritage. I have written several stories in which Aragorn's kinsmen from Eriador feature, starting with "The King's Commission" and going on through "The Ties of Family" and so on and eventually working their way into this story. I am working on a general history of the two kingdoms against the particular histories of Gandalf and Saruman in "Stirring Rings," and in it you can see more detailed guesswork on how Arnor deteriorated and the Shire and Bree grew. This story is growing slowly, and "Stirring Rings" is even slower than this one to grow. How long it will take to finish the two of them I don't know. At the moment these are the only two longer stories I've posted that I've not finished.