Reviews (13)

PSW · 18 December 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

This was very nice. Sam's the best, and Elrond was the right person to talk with him about these fears. It's important for the guardians to have support too... Thanks for writing!

H.G. · 24 September 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

Cute friendship fic. ^.^

obsidianj · 31 July 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

I love this. Sam is so...Sam. He could never let Frodo go alone. I love it that Elrond could reason out Sam's hiding place while everyone else was just running around.

Linda Hoyland · 24 June 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

Lovely to find a new story from you. I love the way you portray Sam here and the way Elrond reassures him.

Larner · 24 June 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

Both Sam and Aragorn had training in gardening, of that I am certain. Realizing that, as with gardening, all you can do is all you can do and that may not prove enough but is, after all you can do has to have eased Sam's worries. Thank you so for this story!

Dreamflower · 22 June 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

One of my favorite things in a story is what I call "honest comfort", in which someone trusted assures someone who is troubled NOT that "everything will be OK" but that "oftentimes things are NOT OK, but that it matters: to love, to try, to keep on doing the right thing even though there are no guarantees". This is the comfort Tolkien offers us. Doing the right thing is right because it is right, not because it might alter an outcome. And yes, in the long run, things will be OK someday, even if it is only beyond the circles of the world, but we might not be around to see that. "Things were saved but not for me." This is the wisdom Elrond knows. It is a wisdom that Frodo also already knows. Now Sam (and the other hobbits) will learn to know it as well. Beautifully done!

curiouswombat · 22 June 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

How very right that Sam should have worries and doubts; Elrond's honesty, and his comparison of being such a guardian to being a gardener, are exactly right - thank you so much for adding this night to their story.

Bodkin · 22 June 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

Elrond is very wise - and Sam is very strong. He doesn't see it in himself at all, but it's good to see how Elrond appreciates it in him. And it was pretty much down to Sam in the end, in many ways. I loved the glimpses of Glorfindel - and Elladan and Aragorn in the background. Perhaps we all need to spend more time in Middle-earth. I've missed it.

Levade · 22 June 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

Beautiful. I can't think of which part to praise, but Elrond's words to Sam were just perfect. And he would know after Celebrian. How hard it would have been to know what those hobbits were walking into, knowing you most likely would never see them again. Such a powerful story and in such a short space. I am awed. And delighted to see a story by you! Thank you for sharing.

Nilmandra · 22 June 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

Sam is such a great character and I love the gardening analogies. It's interesting that you use them as last night I was reading an article on eugenics written around the turn of the last century and some of the very analogies that you're using were used then, obviously against them. I can't really explain them, they were complex but they were about the very simplicity and the fact that you do all of these common necessary things despite not knowing the outcome. Thank you for this wonderful story.

shirebound · 22 June 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

But it will still matter that you were there. What a perfect thing to say. This is a wonderful conversation.

daw the minstrel · 22 June 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

What really impresses me about this is how your characters talk about deep feelings in such a genuine way. Their tone and words are honest. That's hard to achieve. I really liked the link between gardening and being a guardian. I never thought much about how being a gardener would shape or maybe just reflect Sam's way of looking at the world. Great story, meckinock. I've missed reading your stuff.

Dot · 22 June 2015 · Chapter 1: The Gardener

Your writing has a such a smooth, natural rhythm to it. I'm looking at it and wondering how you do it. Anyway, I was enjoying the lovely opening - and it is a very lovely description of the Last Homely House - when I got to this: In his long life he had made many hard decisions, passed many death sentences, but nothing like the one he passed today. He wondered if there would ever be a time when he did not have blood on his hands. And then I got goosebumps. I think what I like most about this whole piece is how Elrond is aware of what this quest means. There is no doubt in his mind that there's a very real possibility that any one, or all, of them might not survive. But it is what it is. I thought the part where Glorfindel doesn't want to disturb Gandalf was particularly moving. The acknowledgment of what the hobbits mean to him and the events that have just been set in motion. You have such lovely light-hearted moments too. I laughed at the description of Merry and Pippin and them needing new clothes! Of course Sam would go to the gardens. What a touching image of the hobbit and the elf lord sitting there. And you caught not only Sam's voice but his racing thoughts perfectly as he tried to explain himself. And it was just gorgeous and heart-breaking and perfect that Elrond didn't try to tell him that everything would be ok but to make him see that it was worth it to be there and to try and to do his duty, no matter what would ultimately happen. “This is why you must be the one, Sam. Because you are a gardener.” It was such a moment of honesty, of truth, from both of them. The ending made me smile - Aragorn and Gandalf conspiring and Elrond trying to take no notice. And the perfect sentiment. Sam is a good man. This was wonderful, Meckinock. Made my day, anyway, whatever about the birthday girl :-)