The Annals of the West by Dreamflower
Larner · 17 January 2011 · Chapter 99999: Author's Notes
Thanks for the links! And a joy to reread this!
Author's reply
I'm glad you enjoyed! I like to share useful links when I can! And I was so pleased to find that Dana's ToY is still available! It is so very useful.
Larner · 17 January 2011 · Chapter 999: Epilogue
And work now begins on the etymologies of particular Hobbit words shared with the Rohirrim and the folk of the Eotheod! After all, the Stoors were those most likely to have had extensive dealings with the fathers of the Rohirrim in the days they dwelt alongside the banks of the Anduin and its tributaries!
Author's reply
Of course, I had to put that in, since it's canon! And I think Merry is going to have a good time with this one.
Larner · 17 January 2011 · Chapter 4: Part IV
And they Do need to get back home sometime. Am glad that Estella helped him with his research in the end.
Author's reply
They do. After all, Merry's not anywhere near retirement yet, and Buckland would like its Master back! Of course Estella would help him, and enjoy it well.
Larner · 17 January 2011 · Chapter 3: Part III
And a marvelous journey, with a wonderful, comfortable arrival, just what Estella needs, I suspect. And, of course, TEA!
Author's reply
Yes, while Estella has enjoyed seeing new things and being with Merry, she is not exactly a "camp out in the wilds" girl! But I think she will very much appreciate all the amenities of Rivendell-- especially a proper tea!
Larner · 17 January 2011 · Chapter 2: Part II
And I rejoice she agreed to go with him. How hard it would have been for him to go wholly on his own!
Author's reply
It would have been difficult-- but I think the two of them will really remember this journey together!
Larner · 17 January 2011 · Chapter 1: Part I
A good reason to want to follow up on this project. I, too, can taste the boredom Merry knows and the frustration of Celandine, having finished the Red Book and not having another in mind to keep the flow going. Now they have a purpose to continue learning the back-story for the Red Book and to understand all that was going on that had an influence on what they were going through.
Author's reply
Yes, when you finish one thing, it's always a good thing to have something else to start on! And of course, it will be good to learn all the previous history.
Antane · 16 January 2011 · Chapter 4: Part IV
I bow in humble appreciation for all Merry's hard work! His elder cousin would be pleased. :) Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
I am sure that Frodo would be very proud of him. But then, he was always proud of his Merry.
Antane · 16 January 2011 · Chapter 999: Epilogue
Another bond with the Gamgee family, hmmm? Frodo is going to have so much to rejoice over when Sam finally comes to tell him! :) Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
Yep. I am quite certain that if the Gamgees married into the Tooks, they also did with the Brandybucks! It just seems natural.
Virtuella · 15 January 2011 · Chapter 999: Epilogue
Yay, and now here's another project - the mysterious connection between Hobbits and Rohirrim. Go, Merry!
Author's reply
Well, that's told in the Prologue as well: He also wrote a short treatise on Old Words and Names in the Shire showing a special interest in discovering the kinship with the language of the Rohirrim of such 'shire-words' as mathoms and old elements in place names. So, naturally that is his *next* project!
Andrea · 14 January 2011 · Chapter 99999: Author's Notes
Thank you for all the work you put in this story! I enjoyed it a great deal!
Author's reply
You are very welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for your faithful reading and reviewing!
Andrea · 14 January 2011 · Chapter 999: Epilogue
The Professor would like Merry's fascination with words and languages! Merry did a great job with his Annals of the West and taking into account that there will be many weddings in his family, there will also be grandchildren who will read those books themselves some day and pass them on afterwards. So, Merry's work will live on! Frodo would indeed be proud!
Author's reply
I think that the Professor gave Merry that fascination, LOL! I am sure that's exactly what he had in mind when he took the task on. He does not want that history to be forgotten!
Virtuella · 13 January 2011 · Chapter 4: Part IV
It must be said, Bilbo and Frodo had a way of making history way more interesting than those dry annals! ;-) However, had all the history of Middle-earth been written in such a leisurely style, then it would indeed take several lifetimes to read it!
Author's reply
You are absolutely right! Still, the dry Annals are at least useful, if not interesting!
Andrea · 13 January 2011 · Chapter 4: Part IV
And one day, after he began to wonder if all there was to find were boring lists of Dunedain kings *Grins* That's exactly what I thought! Well, I must say that I found the first mention of hobbits as thrilling as Merry and Estella. They bring colour into the lists, so to speak. What I enjoyed most in this chapter was the "conspiracy" by Pippin and Sam. If not for them, Merry would have had difficulties to leave those fascinating books alone!
Author's reply
Yes, it was a bit dry. But hobbits did make them more interesting! And I agree-- it would probably have been very hard for Estella to drag him away on her own! Conspiracies by friends are often useful!
Virtuella · 11 January 2011 · Chapter 3: Part III
So The Forsaken Inn has become The King’s Rest? That's nice. If they stopped as often for meals as Estella would like, they'd take twice as long to get there, lol. I wouldn't at all mind having an enormous bed! Lovely touch about the Elven song and about the Hobbit guest quarters.
Author's reply
Yes it has! I am sure it was not nearly so forsaken once the King had returned. You know, possibly Bilbo and the Dwarves *did* stop that often for meals-- that could explain why their journey took so long! The idea of the song kind of goes along with my ideas of how Bilbo, er, adjusted, his story. When he made his journey, he spoke no other languages than the Common Speech-- so how did he know what Elves or Goblins for that matter, were speaking? I think he just made up the words based on what he *thought* they meant.
Virtuella · 11 January 2011 · Chapter 2: Part II
Elves for Yule, what a delightful surprise! I liked how you had Celebrons write "now of Imladris" and "formerly of Lothlórien " - that was a touching detail. And what a wonderful prospect. I'd like to be invited to Rivendell to do a research project in their library! I'm a little disappointed, though, that Merry didn't ask Celandine to accompany him. Perhaps in the next chapter...
Author's reply
I thought it would be fun to have Elves show up for Yule! I consulted pandemonium_213 about Celeborn's letter to see what she thought of it, and the "formerly of Lothlórien " part was her idea! (I'm not much of an Elf expert, so her perspective was quite useful!)
Virtuella · 11 January 2011 · Chapter 1: Part I
"Of course, they'd learned the hard way that time and long telling had rubbed the harder edges off Bilbo's story." That is an excellent story-internal explanation for the differences between The Hobbit and LOTR. It's great to see a story on research, book-making and calligraphy. :) The difference in style of letter between Merry and Pippin was very well done. And may I suggest that what the Shire really needs is a standardised curriculum? :P
Author's reply
It's long been my own story-internal explanation for the differences between the two. I am sure that over the years, Bilbo bowdlerized the story to make it suitable for the children to whom he told it-- and perhaps, also to make it easier for himself to remember, by glossing over the harsher details of what happened. LOL! I seriously doubt a standardized curriculum could ever happen in a place where education is considered strictly a family affair! Every family would have their own ideas about the things that were most important for a child to learn.
Antane · 8 January 2011 · Chapter 3: Part III
What a loving thing to have a memorial left on Weathertop of a very grim event but also a celebration of the grace-filled fortitude that was within Frodo to withstand such a wound. I wonder how many other memorials are strewn along that terrible path to Mordor? It would be a moving pilgrimage to make. Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
I am sure you have read Larner's "Passover and Pilgrimage" which deals with that very idea? And it just seemed appropriate to me, that rebuilding the watchtower in that very place, they'd commemorate the event which happened there and made it possible.
Andrea · 7 January 2011 · Chapter 3: Part III
She smiled. “Tea! Glorious tea!” Wonderful! I like this story very much, from the copying of the Red Book, the questions Merimas asked while reading it, Merry's wish to make the "background story" available to the hobbits, to Estella's excitement about the round door in Rivendell! I'm looking forward to reading more!
Author's reply
I'm very glad you are enjoying it! I had a good deal of fun writing it! I've often wondered about that quote in the Prologue about Merry, and Celeritas' request was just perfect for exploring that.
Antane · 5 January 2011 · Chapter 2: Part II
I love the first chapter with the desire and need that Frodo and the whole tale be remembered. Dear me, Frodo ninety already! Love the surety that Sam and Merry have that he is still alive. Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
I think that Merry (and Pippin and Sam) would always feel the need to make sure Frodo was remembered and validated. This is year 37 of the Fourth Age-- 40 years after the Quest began when Frodo was 50. 90 is really not so great an age for a hobbit, but it's going to seem a dreadfully long time to his friends who said good-bye to him so long ago. Somehow, I think Sam would rarely have any doubts, but I think that Merry might have them a little more often. He's an optimist (as all the travellers were) but somehow I think he is also not quite as confident in that as Sam and Pippin are. But most of the time he'd still have faith, and on those occasions he falters, both Sam and Pippin would buck him up.