Courage for Our Friends

Author: Pathvain Aelien

E-mail: Pathvain_Aelien@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: In no way do I own any of the LOTR characters.  Unfortunately.  I just borrow them, and will return them (if I have to)! :P

Author's Notes: This is a little drabble inspired by both a quote from ROTK and Webster's Dictionary.

"Courage-the ability to face danger without fear."

-Webster's Dictionary

"Courage, Merry.  Courage for our friends."

-Eowyn in Return of the King

            Courage is something that Hobbits are not renowned for.  Drinking ale, smoking pipe-weed, and eating, yes.  Being fearless and going to war, no.  To four Hobbits of the Shire, courage is not about being fearless.  Sometimes there was plenty of fear.  To each one, courage during the War of the Ring meant something different, something that no other Hobbit had ever experienced.  For this couragesness, these Hobbits would be remembered long after their deeds had been done.

Merry the Magnificent

                 To Merry, courage is saying goodbye to dear friends and cousins.  It is trying to be the strong older cousin, but not being able to protect the one you love from a greater evil.  Courage is watching Pippin ride away with Gandalf to Minas Tirith, and letting go of the last thing he had been holding onto.

                 Courage is hoping against all hope to see Sam and Frodo again, but knowing that he probably will not.  Merry hopes his courage leads him into the right place: that going to war against Sauron is the right choice.

                 Courage is keeping a straight face, and putting aside fears and doubts to fight for dear friends, cousins, and his beloved Shire. Courage is hoping that he will be able to do his part in the tale.

                 Merry's courage will make it possible for him to crawl across the fields of the Pelennor, and stab the Witch-king of Angmar.  He does this for Eowyn, who gave him a chance to help with the war.  He does it without realizing that it is an act of courage, and that is why he will be remembered.  That is why he will later be called, "Merry the Magnificent."

                 Merry's courage alone keeps up hope that he and the rest of the Fellowship will be reunited, that they may have a chance.

Fool of a Took

            Courage for Pippin is saying goodbye to Merry, and realizing that his smarter, older cousin does not know the course of the future.  It is standing on his own, away from his beloved friends and family.  These people are the ones who have sheltered him, and loved him, all of his life.  These people-Hobbits, Elf, Dwarf, Men, and Wizard, are the ones that he has courage for.

               Courage is being called "Fool of a Took" times beyond reckoning and still being able to hold his head high.  Despite mistakes of the past, Pippin wishes to make his Merry proud, and this feeling will give him courage.      

               To Pip, courage is remembering things past, and hoping they will come true again.  It is being able to be cheerful, when no one else can.  Only Pippin can bring smiles and hope to even the gravest of faces.

               And now, courage is being alone in a city of Men.  It is remembering Boromir, and saving Faramir.  It is finding Merry, alone and hurt on the Pelennor Fields, and having to look after him, instead of the other way around.

                     For Pip, courage is having to grow up.

Samwise the Brave

Samwise Gamgee is not aware of his own couragesness.  To Sam, the journey is all about love: he loves Frodo, and will help him in whatever way he can, even if it includes death.  This unknown courage will be his only asset when everything fails, and all else seems dark.  It will be there for him when he believes Frodo dead outside of Shelob's tunnel.  His courage will help him let Frodo go, and then risk death to save his master when he realizes his mistake.

                  Courage is risking the Eye's gaze by walking into Mordor and into Mount Doom.  When Frodo's courage is lost, Sam will need all of his to look into Frodo's eyes.  This will be when Frodo, dearer to Sam than any other Hobbit, tries to take the Ring for his own.  Frodo believes Sam's courage to be unwavering: he calls him "Samwise the Brave." 

                  And maybe he is.

Sam's courage will let him become someone important back in the Shire, and it will let him be the mayor, a husband-but first, a friend.  He will follow Frodo anywhere: Mordor, death, even out of Middle-Earth.  For although Sam's courage is great, it will not be enough to save Frodo in the end, and Sam will not be able to say goodbye to Frodo, so he must have courage enough to say goodbye to the Shire.

                                                                   Ring-bearer

                  Frodo has doubted his own courage since Bilbo first gave him the Ring.  He wonders, 'how much courage can one Hobbit have?'  His courage takes him very far-all the way to the edge of Middle-Earth.  For a long time, it withstands the power of the One Ring.  It saves him from the Witch-King.

                  He will draw his courage from those around him: his dear cousins Merry and Pippin, his servant (and best friend) Sam.  Even the wisest of Elves know that he will need friendship and love to finish his task, and for this they appoint the Fellowship.  Courage for Frodo is seeing Gandalf fall, one whom he thought was nearly immortal. 

                  When courage starts to fail, Sam will be there.  Frodo will need him more than anything, especially late at night, when the Ring grows very heavy around his neck.  Unfortunately, Frodo's courage will be tested the most after the Ring is destroyed.  While he will be happy to reunite with family and friends, he will never forget the day courage fails for one brief moment-and he tries to take the Ring.

                  Perhaps the One Ring is stronger than any Hobbit, Man, or any other living kind.  This may be, but it is Frodo who will have to live with the weight of the world forever on his shoulders.  He does not think that he alone has the courage to live through that, and this time, Sam cannot help him.  Only the Elves can.  Because of this, he will need the courage to say goodbye to all that he hoped (and helped) to save- the Shire, family, and dear Sam.