Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. I am just borrowing the characters and situations from Tolkien and New Line Cinema for my own enjoyment and for the entertainment of others.

Note:  Bold italics text directly from Tolkien's FOTR, TTT or Unfinished Tales.

              Bold text is text from the Unfinished Tales that has been taken and slightly altered.

The Took Family Secret

Rumor had it that Elves occasionally passed throughout the woods of the Shire on their journeys to the Grey Havens.  As Sam trekked across the Woody End along with his master, Frodo Baggins, and his master’ s cousin, the young heir to the Thain, Peregrin Took, this thought kept flitting through his head. Would they meet elves?! He suspected that Mr. Frodo had already had encounters with the elves, but he was fairly sure that Master Pippin, like himself, had never seen them.  Upon reaching the crest of the hill, Sam looked around and ventured a question to his companions.

 “Do Elves live in these woods?” he asked.

“Not that I ever heard,” said Pippin, all too quickly, before swiftly walking on down the hill.

Meanwhile Frodo continued to stand silently, gazing eastward along the road, as if he had not even heard the question.

Sam had expected that at least Pippin, with his insatiable curiosity, would respond in turn with shared excitement in to the topic of discussion, not end the conversation before it had ever truly begun.  He was quite disappointed to see that his companions did not seem prone to discussing elves, but this disappointment soon was replaced with his ever present worry for his master who still seemed to be a bit out of things.

What Sam did not know and Pippin did not intend for him to ever find out was that for generations past the leaders of the Took family, in which the Fallohide strain was the strongest, had held dealings with the elves.  It was no coincidence that the Fallohides were fairer of skin and also of hair and [that] they were taller and slimmer than the others. The truth was they had elvish blood; they were [always] more friendly with elves than other hobbits were.  And as time had passed, though the Thains had maintained their contact with the elves, they had striven to keep it well hidden.  The other hobbits had grown to fear the elves and had become suspicious of those who met with them. Thus, so as not to jeopardize their position as the leaders of their homeland, the Thains chose to keep their relationship with the elves quiet.  Everything was conducted in secret and each heir to the Thainship was brought into the secret upon his twentieth birthday.

So it was that naught but eight years ago, not long after his twentieth birthday, Peregrin Took was taken on a journey to the Tower Hills by his father Paladin Took, Thain of the Shire.  According to Shire legend, no hobbit had ever been known to climb the Towers. But, as Pippin found, that was not really true.  After crossing the Western marches and reaching the Tower Hills, Pippin and his father were greeted by Elves.

 “Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo, I am Nimros and this is Celeb-gil,” one of the stately elves said.

“I am pleased to meet you.  I am Paladin Took and this is my son Peregrin. I do not recall seeing you previously, have you ever attended these meetings before?

“No, we have not. We are stopping here before continuing our journey to the Grey Havens," replied Nimros.

“I am sorry to hear that, it is always a loss when your kind leaves our shores,” Paladin wistfully answered.

“Do not worry, the time of the elves has not yet ended, though it soon will. But come now, let us escort you to the summit of the White Tower.”

As they were walking, Pippin, who had been shocked into silence, whispered to his father, “What did that mean, the foreign words?”

But before Paladin could respond, Celeb-gil, who heard Pippin’s question with his sharp ears, answered with a smile, “It means a star shines upon the hour of our meeting; it is our form of greeting, young Peregrin.”

Hearing this and seeing Celeb-gil smile made Pippin realize that he quite liked elves no matter what Shire superstition said about them.  Becoming comfortable, his curiosity began to get the better of him. “What do your names mean,” asked Pippin looking up at Celeb-gil.  “And please call me Pippin, everybody else does.”

“Well, my name means Silver Star and Nimros’s name means White Spray, little one.” Truly charmed by the inquisitive young hobbit Celeb-gil asked, “What else would you like to know, Pippin?” while Paladin smiled to himself, happy that his son had taken the situation so well.

“The names of all the stars, and of all living things, and the whole history of Middle-earth and Over-heaven and of the SunderingSeas,” laughed Pippin. “Of course! What less?”

“Well, I’ll do my best,” returned a smiling Celeb-gil.

*****

Upon reaching the peak of the tower, Pippin was confronted with one of the most amazing sights he had ever seen, a congregation of elves. Not only starlight glimmered on their heads and in their eyes, but they seemed to reflect the cerulean light coming forth form the chain nets of  the white crystals of imprisoned blue flame that hung around their circle ever shinning with an inner radiance. And scattered across the floor was Uilos, more commonly known as simbel-mynë, which had taken an eerie blue glow from the Fëanorian lamps. However even more amazing was the view of a wide expanse of liquid silver in the distance that was divided by a golden path which seemed to lead to the heavens.  Pippin was gazing upon the moonlit Sea. 

“What is that path, Celeb-gil? Where does it lead?” Pippin quietly asked.

 “That is the path of the elves to Valinor; it guides us to elvenhome. That is the pathway Nimros and I will take when we depart from the Grey Havens” replied Celeb-gil reverently.

Pippin looked back out at the golden path, suddenly struck with a great sadness that no words could describe.  Finally, after a few moments he said, “I will miss you, Celeb-gil.”

*****

Too soon did dawn approach forcing Paladin and Pippin to depart.  They were escorted back down by Nimros and Celeb-gil who bid them farewell.  “Anar kaluva tielyanna!,” they said.

And then Celeb-gil, anticipating Pippin’s question, laughed, “It means the sun shall shine upon your path.” Becoming serious he kneeled to Pippin’s level and said, "Darkness may try to overcome you. The shadows will strive to overwhelm you, but always remember that in the end the light will carve you a path.”  Celeb-gil could not explain it, but he had a feeling that this little one was destined to not only encounter darkness, but also triumph over it.

Pippin hugged Celeb-gil, “Thank you for everything, I will never forget you.”

Celeb-gil hugged him back, “Nor I you, little one.  Your curiosity has made me recall the joys of my youth.”

Pippin turned and joined his father on their ponies. They waved a last farewell before riding for the Shire.

With Pippin still awestruck, the ride back was silent.  He couldn’t believe that everything that had happened was real. Before reaching the borders of the Shire, Paladin stopped them.  “Pippin this is not the first time I have met with the elves.  The Thains have had a tradition of meeting yearly with the elves for as long as any can remember. Now that you have become a tween you shall join me at these meetings and when the time comes you will reveal to your son our family secret.” Making sure he caught Pippin’s eye, Paladin continued, “It is of the utmost importance for you to keep all of this secret.  No one can ever know about our dealings with the elves for it would weaken the authority of the Thainship.”

“I promise not to tell anyone, Father.”

“Not even Merry?” Paladin asked seriously.

“Not even Merry.” Pippin promised.

“Good Peregrin.  I am glad to see you have taken this so seriously. I am very proud of you,” Paladin said watching Pippin smile.

*****

Thus, Pippin was wary when Sam asked him about the elves.  Instead of betraying his family’s secret, he coolly offered an answer in the negative quickly ending the conversation.  And when they met the elves, he of course enjoyed seeing them, but it was not some unheard of new experience. Although courteous and saddened to hear that the elves were leaving Middle Earth, he was hardly overwhelmed at their presence as Sam was.

It was not until the next morning when Sam had finally overcome his awe and could speak again that he realized that Master Pippin had not been as overwhelmed as one would think he should be.  It appeared there was more to the young Took than met the eye. Pippin’s behavior seemed almost familiar, as if he’d had contact with elves before. Shaking his head, Sam tucked this thought away but decided that he would keep his eye on Pippin in the future. Maybe there was more to be learned there.

Note: Thank you to Auntiemeesh for the wonderful beta.