Chapter 3 – The Elder Master of Bag End

The food was excellent, and I strode with enthusiasm back to the dining hall when the noon bell rang. Visiting the armory here had been worth al the toil of my journey of four hundred leagues. I had only seen a part of it as yet, but I had met several Elves who had spoken with me long about their weaponry and metalwork, and one of their training masters had bid me to come back after luncheon and spar with him. For the moment, I had no fear of being thrown into an Elvish dungeon. I entered the hall with a light heart and looked around.

Elrond sat at his long table at the head of the hall, with his twin sons and several other Elves around him. They were deep in close discussion. I did not want to approach them uninvited, but still, I hoped for some notice of myself from that group today. My father expected me to establish myself with the lords of Imladris. I suddenly felt the weight of my former cares return.

I looked next for Aragorn, but someone called my name. “Boromir! Here we are! We saved a place for you!” a voice was saying to my waist. I smiled as I looked down and saw Peregrin Took beckoning me towards a well-stocked table with a variety of chairs, benches and stools pulled around it. Dwarves and Halflings were again in noisy company, pulling up seats and filling plates with food. I was torn, wanting to join them, but keenly aware that this was the last table in the hall, the furthest from Elrond’s, and the closest to the kitchen. In my father’s dining hall, the tables by the kitchen were reserved for servants, and my brother and I had never once been seated there. Altogether, this group seemed boisterous rather than dignified. I hesitated, but after all this was Rivendell, not Minas Tirith, and no one here seemed to stand much on rank.  The only other choice was to sit with Elves I did not know, so I followed Peregrin, taking a chair in the midst of the group and next to my little acquaintance.

“Ah, Boromir! Welcome, welcome! Have you found your way around here all right today? Marvelous place, isn’t it? Bilbo Baggins, formerly of Bag End, at your service, in case you don’t remember my name from yesterday.” The grey-haired Halfling rose rather stiffly and bowed to me, followed by the other three. “Quite a few new faces there, to keep the names all in order, don’t you think? Now, I hear that you met Peregrin and Samwise this morning”— these two gave another bow and sat down — “and this is our dear cousin Meriadoc Brandybuck.”  I received another bow from yet another curly-haired Halfling. “And of course you have met my great friend Glóin already.” Glóin, sitting next to Bilbo, nodded and grunted at me as he continued filling his plate. “We are honored to have you join us. Lads, this is Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor, who has traveled here alone from far in the south. Peregrin, won’t you bring him something to drink?”

“What would you like to drink, Boromir?” Peregrin asked politely. “Do you take tea with your lunch? Or wine? We can get you almost anything you want, I think.” I looked to see what the rest of the company was drinking. To my surprise, every one of them was drinking ale. I felt my mouth water. Ale!

Bilbo and the Dwarf seated closest to me laughed. I must have spoken the word out loud. “Yes, we have ale,” rumbled the Dwarf. “We’ve brought our own, and we keep the barrels in the kitchen to have them handy for dining. No need to worry about running low. Elves don’t care for ale and these few hobbits can hardly keep pace with all of us! Plenty for you if you like ale! Pippin, fetch him a draw!”

“Just a half, please, with plenty of water beside,” I called after Peregrin, who was heading into the kitchen. “I am going back to the armory for a little sword play after the meal, and I would not have my feet slowed by too much ale at lunch,” I explained to the curious faces about me. “But we will see if Gondor can keep pace with you tonight, if you are in need of a challenge!” 

The Dwarves roared with laughter and the one next to me slapped my back. “Olín son of Ori, at your service,” he growled at me before turning back to his meal. I laughed too, and reached for a platter, as light at heart as I used to feel as a youth out on bivouac with the older men, years ago when Ithilien was still sweet and green, before the sorties turned deadly against us.

Peregrin and Meriadoc were looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and concern on their faces. “You really traveled here all alone? However did you make it? Were you safe?” the Halfling named Meriadoc asked.

 “Weren’t you terribly lonely?” added Peregrin.

“What was your route, and what happened along your way?” Bilbo asked at almost the same moment. I launched into a description of my journey and its many troubles. I had lost my first horse even before I reached Edoras, and lost my second at the fording of the Greyflood near Tharbad. The trip across the unknown Northerland had been difficult, but some of my mishaps seemed a little funny to me now that the danger was over. My audience listened intently, and I swelled a little in the warmth of their attention. The trip had been long, and there had been no one to tell of it, until now.

“Well, you must always come and spend time with us, then, since you are here all by yourself,” Bilbo said when I finally finished my tale. “We adventurers must stick together. The company of the Elves is very fine, but it’s a little much to be so high and serious all the time, you know, and we have the most fun here where we are close to the food and ale. Boromir, you must have another pie. Surely you are going to eat more than that?”

I thanked him with complete sincerity for his solicitude, but I begged off eating more, claiming my match to come that afternoon as a reason to eat lightly now.  I must own, though, that I was truly as full as I could wish to be.

I discreetly glanced around the table. Olín wore a ruby the size of my thumbnail on a thick gold chain around his neck. I had to force myself to look away and not gawk at it. Every Dwarf wore finery worth a king’s ransom, or the price of supplying an army for a long time. Were they warlike? Did they know about our struggle in the South? I looked down at the mug in my hands for a while, and considered what it might mean to have Dwarves for allies.

I looked up to find that Bilbo had finished his meal and was pouring himself a cup of tea. Another potential ally was also on my mind. “How fares your nephew today?” I asked him. “I hope his wound is not bothering him?”

Bilbo’s eyes brightened and he smiled at the mention of Frodo. “Ah, so good of you to ask. No, no, the dear lad is quite on the mend. In bed today by Elrond’s orders, I’m afraid. Gandalf is keeping with him for the moment while we eat. But he’ll be up and about soon, tomorrow most likely. A little sleep does a great cure in the house of Elrond, as I found out myself years ago. You just can’t stay under the weather here too long, have you noticed? There’s an air about the place that makes you feel wonderful no matter what is going on out in the rest of the world. Best place possible for my Frodo to be. I am going upstairs just now, in fact, to keep him company. Samwise, let’s take up something to eat with us, in case we get hungry later. The Elves will bring tea, but they don’t know how much we like these berry tarts! And bring enough for Gandalf too!”

Samwise, who had tucked away a surprising quantity of meat pies, cheese, and ale during the meal, procured a tray and started filling it with the remaining tarts. Bilbo went to help him, so I rose also and thanked them all for their company and bid them good day. Peregrin and Meriadoc whispered between themselves for a moment, and then stood up and looked at me. Meriadoc cleared his throat.

“Ah, Boromir, would you mind if we came with you?” he asked. “We have never seen a sword fight, not between two regular people anyway, and we would very much like to see one. We should probably learn a bit about swords and all, now that we are out here away from the Shire.”

I was touched by his sincerity. “I would be honored, Master Meriadoc,” I replied. “Please do come. I will introduce you to the armory-master, and I am sure that he teach you all that you wish to learn. Do you not have swords of your own, then?” I asked with sudden concern, wondering if there would be any here to fit their small stature.

“Yes, we do! Merry, let’s run and fetch those blades we got in the barrow-mound,” Peregrin said. “One moment, Boromir, and we’ll be ready! Thank you!”  The two of them scurried off.

“Don’t hurry overmuch!” I called after them. It would not do for a novice to slip and fall while running with a blade. “I must go and fetch my own as well.”

“Very good then!” they called back to me, never slowing their pace. I chuckled and turned back to Bilbo and Samwise.

“Please give my regards to Frodo, and tell him I look forward to seeing him again soon,” I said in parting.

“That I will, that I will. Thank you for your concern. And you, Boromir, bring back those two rascals safe and sound to supper here tonight! Then we’ll all drink to the exploits in the armory! Good luck to you!” Bilbo said, and with that, the lunch was over.