First of all, thank you to everyone who has read this story, and another thank you to the reviewers! I apologize for how long it has taken to complete.

I wanted to mention in these notes: 1) how I came to write this story and 2) the little hidden bits within the chapters. (Mostly I put these in for my own amusement, but I always enjoy knowing the “inside scoop” when others do that, so here’s where you go to find out, chapter by chapter, these little nuggets that I, at least, thought were cool.)

How I Came to Write this Story:

There were actually several elements that came together here.

1) I had read quite a few fics where Diamond was portrayed as cold, or hard, or aloof, or standoffish. Since I love me some PippinAngst, that wasn’t necessarily bad -- but I kept wondering why is she like that? Partly, I wanted to give this fairly common portrayal of her in the fandom a backstory/character development.

2) I was bored one day.

‘Twas a day which recently followed one where I had read some discussion about the meaning/origin/significance of Pippin’s name (Peregrin). I suddenly recalled that the word “paladin” meant something, too -- so I looked it up in the dictionary, and found that a “paladin” was “any of the 12 peers of Charlemagne’s court.”

A link on Wikipedia, I think, brought up lists of the Italian and French names of the 12 peers: on the Italian list was “Ferumbras.” “Hmm,” thought I. “This seems awfully coincidental with the Family Tree of Took of Great Smials...”

While I knew that “in some old families [of the Shire]...it was...the custom to give high-sounding first names...drawn from legends of the past,” [ROTK, Appendix F] without its necessarily “meaning” anything, this seemed enough of a coincidence to inspire some thoughts about playing around with it.

Since the French list of paladins was from the Song of Roland, which I happened to have read within the past couple of years, I got to the point where I decided to challenge myself by seeing how much of that work I could incorporate into my Pippin/Diamond story -- not in a crossover, per se, but just bits and pieces dropped here and there, as in names picked up, quotes adapted, etc. In some ways, this helped shape the story, as a quote would inspire some “what if’s” on a possible scene -- but then again, so did the other aspects that inspired this story. Various characters in HtLC quote Song of Roland in various ways; they are not necessarily equivalent to single characters within that piece.


3) I could not believe how many great “diamond” references were going unused as story titles in the fandom. So I got greedy and decided to use as many as I could as chapter titles.

(I also use chapter titles in long works because I, personally, can never remember upon an update of a fic I am reading which “number” chapter I am on. I have to have a somewhat descriptive title to remind me.)

Then I decided, well, maybe I would do a little bit of research on diamonds, the gemstone, before writing the story. Not only did this turn out to be fun, but it spurred more chapter titles, which in turn spurred new scenes that got scripted into the story. (in particular, “Chapter 15: Lapidarium” and “Chapter 23: Valley of Diamond’s)

4) Every fic I had read had come up with a different explanation of “Long Cleeve” for “Diamond of Long Cleeve” -- but they were all a physical place. Why, I thought, does it have to be geographical? I chose to take a more metaphorical approach to the Long Cleeve, similar to the “Great Schism” of (non-Middle) Earth history, which wasn’t a big hole carved out somewhere but more of a sociocultural tearing apart.

5) Other than Sam’s family, you don’t get much in LOTR from the perspective of the “servant class” of the Shire. I wanted to make the servants at the Smials real characters, with their own lives and issues. In part, probably because of the lingering influence of having read Upstairs, Downstairs years ago; in part because when my own family emigrated from England, they were not the masters of the manor they brought a picture of -- but the maids.

6) When I was forming the relationship that became the marriage I have today, I was also reading a lot of fic in the X-Files fandom: fic that helped me, not so much through specific advice, but more in just examples and thoughtfulness about relationships, to figure out just *how* to build a relationship.

This fic in general -- and Healer Willow’s literary collection especially -- is also a “pay it forward” sort of tribute to the authors of those Mulder/Scully relationship fics and their influence. Thank you, MacSpooky, Windsinger, Susan Proto and Vickie Moseley, especially. (Their stuff is at www.gossamer.org if you’re into that fandom.)

I may not have succeeded, but I did not set out to preach any particular line in this fic; I just wanted to explore different types/aspects of marital relationships, including those that might look similar or have started in different circumstances.

(I would also guess that years of reading “Can This Marriage Be Saved”® in copies of “Ladies’ Home Journal®” exerted a subconscious influence.)

Hidden Bits/Bibliography

First, I am obviously indebted to J.R.R. Tolkien, his estate and heirs, for the world of Middle Earth, Hobbits, the story of the War of the Ring, etc. from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. (Since this story is posted on Stories of Arda: uh, du-uh.)

Also, this particular story incorporated quite a few elements from The Song of Roland. The translation I used of this medieval lay was done by Patricia Terry of Barnard College and published by Macmillan in 1965.

Much of the research on diamonds was done with the book Diamonds and Precious Stones by Patrick Voillot, Harry N. Abrams, 1998.

1) Chapter One: Healing the Long Cleeve

i. “[Paladin] would maintain the confidence in Pippin he had kept since the lad was a babe”
-- Shameless Self-Promotion for the universe of my other stories, which utilize this Pippin-besotted characterization of Paladin, in particular the Pippin-birth story “What Child Is This?”

ii. “ ‘You know, Da, last year I forgot ‘twas my birthday a’tall.’...’I even told a lad in Minas Tirith... that I was still 28 in Rethe’”
-- Reminder that I am an idiot, and the complete fudging that I had to do to deal with Pippin’s statement in JRRT’s ROTK, while coping with the fact that I made his birthday fall on 3 Afteryule as a crucial plot point in my story “Blanketed in Love” -- and thus in the rest of “my” story universe.

iii. “his gift of sweets from the Yule Dwarf.”
--inspired by “Legends and Customs” in Let’s Celebrate Christmas by Horace J. Gardner, A.S. Barnes & Company, 1940. (Also used in “Blanketed in Love.”)

2) Chapter Two: Betrothal Tradition
i. chapter title
--in some cultures, a diamond engagement ring is a “betrothal tradition”

ii. “’He’s quite the little one, ‘tisn’t he?”’”
-- Young Pippin is occasionally called “Little One” by the hobbits of the Great Smials in my stories. In part, this is because Pip’s small for his age. It’s also sort of an obscure reference to the Heir of the Romanov Tsar, particularly as referred to in the book read by my book group The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander, Penguin, 2003.

3) Chapter Three: The Hardest Matter
i. chapter title
--partly a reference to the gemstone diamond’s reputation as a physically hard material

ii. Pippin’s pony named Sorrel.
--In The Song of Roland, this is the name of Gerin’s horse.

iii. “Bod,” the servant at the door
--named in honor of a favorite childhood book, Bod’s Present by Michael and Joanne Cole, Follett, 1965.

iv. Diamond’s father: Gerin North-Took
Gérin is the name of one of the peers in The Song of Roland

v. “She’d turned 32 this Astron.”
I put Diamond’s birthday in April because the birthstone for that month is diamond.

vi. “He was quite obviously tall, and strong, and bore himself nobly, and she thought that he must possess more virtues than she would ever be able to describe.”
-- partly a description of Roland from “The Song of Roland”

vii. “If the Tooks went in for titles like the Brandybucks do, they might think first to call him ‘Peregrin the Grand’ for his height, but it should be ‘Pippin the Brief’ for his speeches!”
--Roland was one of the 12 “paladins” of Charlemagne’s court. Historically, “Pippin the Short (aka Pepin le Bref) was Charlemagne’s father. (I was playing with the words here.)

4)Marquise
i.chapter title
--”Marquise” is a form of cut of a diamond gemstone. Also a title of nobility.

ii.”Pippin drew back the coverlets that hung over the side of the bed to expose the storage drawers built into the base.”
--Another reference to my story “Blanketed in Love.”

iii. “just warn me before you move a chair to a position where it may kick me in the shins if I do not expect it!”
--A bit of a reference to a RL marriage -- my parents’ -- where my dad complains about my mom’s penchant for rearranging the furniture.

iv. “Ganelon North-Took -- Diamond’s brother”
--Ganelon is the name of one of the 12 paladins in the Italian version of the list.

5) Chapter Five: ‘Round
i. chapter title
----”Round” is also a form of cut of a diamond gemstone.

ii. “a small round button...such a contraption was to be found in many rooms of the Smials, their pipes trailing along the upper reaches of the corridors until they reached their end at a board in the servants’ quarters.”
--Based on a device I saw on a tour of a 19th century mansion. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which one. It was cool, though.

iii. “And you might say as I look a sight like m’ sister, as was a tween in the kitchens when you was but a little lad.”
--Another reference to “Blanketed in Love.”

iv. ”the roasted taters topped with dill, and the stewed mushrooms, and the wilted greens, and the strawberry-rhubarb compote,”
--I found help in coming up with appropriately seasonal dishes from The Farmer’s Market Cookbook by Richard Ruben, Lyons Press, 2000.

v. “Mama insisted all of us lasses learn to play,”
--also refers to “Blanketed in Love”

vi. “Oh, my darling Nellie, stay...”
--Pimpernel’s song is adapted from, “Darling Nelly Gray,” words and music by Benjamin Russell Hanby, found in Best-Loved Songs of the American People by Denes Agay, Guild America, 1975.

vii. “I knew all the other hobbits called Everard ‘slow’
--also refers to “Blanketed in Love”

6) Chapter Six: Color
i. chapter title
--”Color” is one of the qualities of a diamond.

ii. “It was in Forelithe that Pimpernel’s birthday fell”
--In “my” universe, Pippin’s sisters’ birthdays’ are: Pearl-May (Thrimidge); Pimpernel-June (Forelithe); Pervinca-August (Wedmath). These were created while writing “Blanketed in Love,” shortly after my book group read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and assigned according to the names of the “Calendar Sisters” from that book, so I had something by which I could remember them.

iii. the square of moonstone, set within a silvered frame mounted all around with tiny garnets, while a small hunk of rose quartz hung suspended from the bottom.
--Garnets because the gem is supposed to “assist one in being committed to one’s self as well as to others.” (from http:www.annemeplon.com/gemguide.htm#Abalone) Moonstone “is symbolic of the moon, of tenderness, and of lovers.” (from The Illustrated Book of Signs and Symbols by Miranda Bruce-Mitford, DK, 1996) Rose quartz because the pink gem is supposed to symbolize love. (Can’t find the source on that. Grr.)

7) Chapter Seven: Brilliant
i. chapter title
--”Brilliant” is a type of cut of a diamond.

ii. “the errant cattle”
--Some thanks go to my farm-raised husband for reading a portion of this chapter (with much eye-rolling: he doesn’t read fanfic) for “cow accuracy.”

iii. “She removed two small squares of cloth and tipped her bottle of lavender oil so that a drop fell upon each...she twisted one square and inserted it into the ear that was visible.”
--This treatment for cold and sore threat prevention was found under “Cold and Flu Remedies” at http://www.consciouschoice.com/herbs/herbs101.html

iv. “a fresh cup of tea filled with rose hips and laced with honey,”
--A sore throat treatment mentioned in Medicinal Plants Coloring Book by Ilil Arbel, Dover Publications Inc., 1992.

v. a small cheesecloth sack filled with leaves of mint along with him to the bathing room. The mint mixed with the warm water to create a steam”
--A suggestion from http://www.hipusa.com/eTools/webmd/A-Z_Encyclopedia/commoncoldtreatment.htm

vi. “Diamond ran her thumb across the moonstone...The water in the washbasin atop the furniture pulled back from the side...Two months”
--Moons, tides, checking the monthly calendar...hopefully, any female over the age of 13 reading this gets the reference.

vii. Healer Willow
--Named partly for the healing power of willow-bark, the forerunner of today’s aspirin -- and partly for the wife/mother in the Treehouse Family toy I played with as a kid.

viii. “she would pass by Cap Hilldown’s smithy shop...”
--I always thought Laura Ingalls Wilder should have had more of a crush on Cap Garland in her books; he seemed more fun than stodgy Almanzo.

8) Chapter Eight: Sparkling

i. “a sack full of dough balls which had been deep-fried in a kettle of oil over the booth owner’s fire, then rolled in sugar.”
--The mini-donut stand at the Minnesota State Fair is located in front of the grandstand. Mmm.

ii. “Diamond? Would you like some milk?”
--The all-you-can-drink milk booth is located not too far away from the dairy barns at the Minnesota State Fair.

iii. “It was shaped like a pig, true, but seemed nearer in size almost to one of the cattle as it lay there with its hoofs pointed toward her, sides heaving, doing nothing but flicking an occasional fly away with its ear.”
--This is pretty much what the Big Boar at both the Minnesota and Iowa State Fairs does for the entire run of the fair.

iv. “Tookland eggs,” Pippin said, handing one stick to Diamond and taking a nibble of the bread-crumbed oval on the other himself. He swallowed, then smiled and said, “A hard-cooked egg, coated in sausage, then dipped into a beaten eggs, rolled in bread crumbs, and fried. Mmm.”
--The booth selling Scotch eggs at the Minnesota State Fair is located in the corner near the animal barns. Not as bad as they sound. (Not as good as the mini-doughnuts, though.)

v. slices of roast pork in a rich sauce and encased between slices of bread, piles of beans, and slices of melon. They then made their way to sit among the other hobbits.
--In honor of meals consumed at the Iowa State Fair at the Pork Producers booth. (My family ate there for lunch; at the Cattlemen’s Association booth for supper.)

vi. Odo Proudfoot
--An “o” Proudfoot name chosen in recognition of a reviewer’s appreciation of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

vii. portraits and the landscapes these hobbits could create with such materials. She leaned close to study the likenesses crafted with careful arrangements of dried beans, and sunflower seeds, and kernels of maize that had been glued into the design.
--”Seed art” is displayed at the Creative Activities buildings of both the Iowa and Minnesota State Fairs. And, really, how much more hobbity of an art form can one come up with?

viii. “two-year-old Harcourt”
--As in “Harcourt Fenton Mudd,” of original Star Trek episodes “Mudd’s Women” and “I, Mudd”

ix. “Bramimond, at four,”
--Bramimonde is the name of the enemy queen -- who is offered the old-fashioned version of redemption -- in Song of Roland.

x. “I will find some little trick to play, myself,” he vowed silently, the very tips of his lips quirking up. “Something fit to relieve my fury at these wrongs.” Among the crowd, Pippin tilted his head back and pealed out a laugh that was loud and long.”
--A paraphrase of lines from The Song of Roland.

xi. “It’s Fern, as was Furryfoot when I did my workin’ out at the Great Smials,”
--’Bert’s sister; from “Blanketed in Love.”

xii. “hobbits to try their skill at striking a very large mallet in an attempt to raise the wooden block he had placed between two poles high enough to strike the bell at the top.”
--Seen on the carnival midway at the Minnesota State Fair.

xiii. “The canning jar ring left her fingers and landed over the neck of one of the bottles arranged in the booth.
--I won a two-liter bottle of pop at the ring toss game one year at my community’s annual Fall Festival.” (Unfortunately, the idea of letting the bottles be the prizes bacfired after they had sat outside in the heat all day, and exploded before I could get it home.)


xiv. “I declare you, uh, Pork Mistress of 1427!” he stammered as he placed a floral wreath on the tweenager’s head. He repeated the action for the Beef Mistress,
--*Both* the county Pork Queen and Beef Queen were in my high school graduating class. I feel so proud.

xv. “Mama bought me a bunch of blue ribbons,”... “Aye, to tie up your bonny brown hair,”
--From the song “Johnny’s So Long at the Fair.”

9) Chapter Nine: Facets
i. Chapter title
--A facet is “the flat surface cut into a gem, or naturally occurring in a gem crystal.” (Diamonds and Precious Stones)

ii. in the process of scooping cucumbers and cream
--A favorite summer recipe of mine:
Peel and slice 2 large cucumbers into rings.
Slice an onion into rings.
Combine in a bowl.
Combine 3/4 cup sour cream, 3 tablespoons cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt and pepper to taste, and pour over cucumbers.

iii. the Bramble Bush
--A rough translation/reference to the locale of Ronceveau in Song of Roland.

iv. “and a serving of barley with caramelized mushrooms and onions,”
--Farmer’s Market Cookbook again.

v. “Remember,” Ganelon added, his eyes carefully fixed upon neither face, “a mighty family stands behind you.”
--Partly a reference to The Song of Roland.

10) Chapter Ten: Clarity
i. Chapter title
--Clarity is one of the qualities of a diamond.

ii. “‘Well, if she’s going to call me a piglet,”
--Shameless self-promotion for “What Child is This?”

iii. “Mistress Rose turned back to the counter and began to tear a large cabbage into smaller chunks, then picked up the knife and began to peel and slice the apples.”
--Rosie is making Creamy Apple Slaw in this chapter:
Stir together 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon prepared mustard and a dash of salt. Stir in 3/4 cup sour cream. Cover and chill. When ready to serve, toss 3 cups shredded cabbage, 2 cups cubed apples, 1/4 cup grated carrot and 3 tablespoons chopped celery together. Add dressing and toss.

iv. “Lavender’s green, Diddle diddle,
Lavender’s blue.
--The “long” version of this nursery rhyme is ”Diddle, Diddle, Or, The Kind Country Lovers,” British broadside, ca. 1672-1685, found quoted and sourced in The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes edited by Iona and Peter Opie, Oxford University Press, 1997.

v. “you could start by calling him ‘Pippin’ as near to everyone else does!”
--For the curious: I have been married nearly 7 years. I can count on one hand the number of times DH has called me by my name. (He usually calls me “Sweetie.”;) )

vi. “the final bit of peel gave way and the ribbon of skin fell into the pan of water with a plop. Both hobbitesses glanced down to watch it uncurl into its final shape.”
--That would be the shape of a “P,” since there is a tradition/superstition that if you manage to get one continuous peel off an apple, and then drop it into cold water, it will unfurl into the initial of your future lover/spouse. (http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/apple.htm and other sources)


vii. “Young Sir Pippin he built a fine hall...”
--Traditional nursery rhyme, adapted. From The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes.

viii. “what she had at first taken to be an additional outcropping on one of the rocks...the gleaming dark of the turtle’s shell glistened as it slid into the water.”
--As seen on walks around Minnesota lakes.

ix. “After they had gathered the marbles...They formed the outline of a star.”
--A Shire version of “Chinese checkers.”

x. “Adamantine packed the hamper with all sorts of delicacies, as she knew the place Rufus had proposed for their picnic along the Shirebourne was a favorite trysting spot.”
--Perhaps not so coincidentally, “adamant” is a legendary hard stone, believed by some to have been “found” with the discovery of the diamond.

11) Chapter Eleven: Cut
i. chapter title
--”Cut” is one of the qualities of a diamond.

ii. “Pippin’s “short list” of hobbits whose invitation to dine he did not wish to accept...Reginard Took.”
--Shameless self-promotion of “Blanketed in Love” for the explanation of this.

iii. the Grub ‘n Grog in Tuckborough
--Named after a real-life pub; the proprietor was a friend of my father. The actual name was “Gary’s Grub and Grog.”

iv. “’Tis apple bark steeped for a tea,”...to reduce your fever.”
--http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/apple.htm; and http://www.herbcraft.org/apple.html

v. “The both of them had striven mightily to be loyal to the Tooks...‘twas now too late for happiness to arrive.”
--Paraphrase from Song of Roland.

12) Chapter Twelve: Lozenge
i. chapter title
--”Lozenge” is a type of cut of a diamond. It is also a form of pill used to suck on to soothe a sore throat--some of which have been created with marshmallows.

ii. “My father sent me here with a staff,...”
--An adaptation of “Buff says buff to all his men”, found in The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes and sourced there from Games and Songs of American Children by William James Newell, 1893; an adaptation of a verse game found in The Popular Rhymes of Scotland by Robert Chambers, 1826.

iii. “The next game...two cubes -- one marked on three sides with a P and on the other three with a T; the other cube labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4 on four of its sides and A (standing for “all” ) on its two remaining ones.”
--The game of “Put and Take,” from The Cokesbury Game Book by A.M. Depew, Whitmore & Smith, 1939.

iv. “Doggedly approaching the marshmallow from his end of the string...”
--The marshmallow game played in this chapter came from a section of a party games web site on kissing games. I have been unable to find the web site again to source it. Marsh Mallows themselves are an actual plant with a long history; they have historically been used for medicinal purposes and as food(the Romans counted them as one of their servings a day of vegetables!). (http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mallow07.html) The sweet candy-type marshmallows we eat today don’t actually contain any of the plant, but can be “homemade”; I found a recipe in The Household Searchlight Cookbook, Household Searchlight Magazine, 1935.

13) Chapter Thirteen: River Diggings
i. chapter title
--River Diggings was the name of the camp which grew up around the first diamond field in Africa, in the age of modern gem mining. (Diamonds and Precious Stones)

ii. “When I was a wee lad...”
--Adaptation of a traditional nursery rhyme from Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes.

iii. “You know, don’t you, that among you, me and Sam, there’s no way I’d want to let either of you down?”
--Paraphrase from Song of Roland.

iv. “Pippin’s deeds in the War were just as great, and as valorous, as you seem to think my own...And for such blows, Aragorn’s love was our reward,”
----Paraphrase from Song of Roland.

v. “apply the arnica to Pippin’s swollen ankle.”
--Use suggested by Medicinal Plants Coloring Book.

vi. “a sachet she had made and filled with dried lavender, rose petals, chamomile and hops.”
--”Herbal Dream Pillow” to promote sleep, from 50 Simple Ways to Pamper Yourself by Stephanie Tourles, Storey Books, 1999.

14) Chapter Fourteen: A Girl’s Best Friend
i. chapter title
--from the song title, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Lyrics by Leo Robin, music by Jule Styne; song forom the musical and movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

ii. “That every marriage is a mystery, except to the two who are in it.”
--Tried to source this quote -- thank you to the Hennepin County “ask a librarian” reference desk who tried to track it down -- but failed. The librarian suggested attributing it to “common wisdom.”

15) Chapter 15: Lapidarium
i. chapter title
--A lapidarium was a medieval gemology/medicinal book, which listed the properties of stones and the ailments they were supposed to treat. The particular one that helped inspire this chapter is quoted at: http://www.ceu.hu/medstud/manual/SRM/symbol.htm

ii. “you would have seen so many in great pain. So many dead...would meet each foe with such prodigious blows, the dead would pile up behind him as he goes.”
--The battle descriptions in this chapter draw heavily on adaptations of lines from Song of Roland.

iii. “they care nothing for hauberk or for helm. There are no soldiers more savage in the realm!”
--Song of Roland references

iv. “And -- and their cause was evil, and we were in the right,” Only a fool, with such a host, despairs!”
--Song of Roland reference

v. “I shall guard you safe from every dream.”
--One of the “virtues and properties of the stone of Diamond” attributed to the gemstone in Raymond Lull’s late medieval lapidarium, at the site above. (How can a PippinAngst lover possibly resist *that* opportunity?)

16) Chapter 16: Anniversary Band
i. chapter title
--An ”anniversary band” is a style of diamond ring.

ii. “Yes! Yes, she is old enough for everything!”
--Part of the reason it took a year for, ahem, certain activities to occur in Pippin and Diamond’s bedroom in this story is that it has always bugged me that Diamond was underage when they got married. And Pippin, of course, is a perfect gentlehobbit.

iii. “the corners of the invitation: diamonds embossed in silver.”
--According to Lull’s lapidarium, a diamond should be worn encased in silver to achieve its full benefit. Luckily, Gondor chose the colors of its black and silver uniforms well to accommodate this.;)

iv. “Fredegar Bolger...“Where’s the pie?” ..“You cannot have a party without pie!”
--Self-promotional reference to my young-Pippin and young-Freddy story “Something in Common.”


v. “now they’ve got to make the best of things...“Even if it were an uphill climb.”
--Sam insisted upon quoting the lyrics to the “Gilligan’s Island” closing theme in this chapter. (“So this is the tale of our castaways,/they're here for a long long time./They'll have to make the best of things,/it's an uphill climb.”) Words and music by Sherwood Schwartz.

vi. “Pinabel!” ...‘Twas a nickname”
--’Twas also the name of a relative of the traitor Ganelon in Song of Roland.

vii. “delicate green leaf..it had germinated among the seeds in the portrait”
--Heavy-handed and obvious literal symbolism for the “fruition” of Diamond and Pippin’s love from the seeds that have been planted.

17) Chapter 17: Mining Deep

No author’s notes for this chapter. (Except to note that, interestingly, it has been read significantly more times on SOA than the chapters surrounding it. :) )

18) Chapter Eighteen: Canteen Rush
i. chapter title
--The name for the second wave of prospectors to South Africa’s diamond mines; similar to the “Gold Rush” in American history. (Diamonds and Precious Stones)

19) Chapter 19: Occlusion
i. chapter title
--An occlusion is something that fits together -- or that blocks the passage of something else.

ii. “Their saddles taken off...“they’ll cool off as they should.”...”Men who are weary may lie on the ground and sleep. For on this night, they’ll need no watch to keep.”
--Song of Roland references; seemed fitting that Rohirric soldier Merry would get to quote the lines about the horses.

iii. “Who is it, Argine?...“I am Rachael, wife to Ogier,...“Though he is the king of my heart.”
--Playing with the names: In a deck of cards, the name of the queen of diamonds is Rachael. Argine is the name of the queen of clubs, while Ogier is the knave (jack) of spades and also --Ogier the Dane -- the name of one of the 12 paladins in the Italian list. The king of hearts in a deck of cards is named Charlmagne. (From a “Did You Know?” column by Erin Barrett and Jack Mingo, published in Minneapolis Star Tribune, Aug. 20, 2003)

iv. “I used to pretend that Gandalf was my Grandda.”
--Inspired by Billy Boyd’s commentary on the Extended Edition DVD of Fellowship of the Ring about mourning Gandalf as a grandfather.

20) Chapter Twenty: Flawed

i. “I used to use that same scent quite a bit when I was younger, and I gave it out for my birthday to Pervinca...”
--More plugging of/references to “Something in Common.”

ii. “Alas that I was born! I’ve lost my husband, Sir; I am left to shame!”
--Song of Roland reference.

21) Chapter Twenty-one: Eg’ Market
i. chapter title
--In the 1600s, when districts of Antwerp became specialized in cutting diamonds, the guild of diamond cutters met at the Eiermarkt, the egg market. (Diamonds and Precious Stones)

ii. “I asked the cook to serve braised coney for supper one night not too long ago.”
--An obscure way to say “the rabbit died”: a reference to an outdated form of pregnancy testing.

iii. that what it is other hobbitesses giggle at is pain, and burning
--If the Shire (in particular, the North Farthing) had modern medicine, Honeysuckle really should have seen a gynecologist. I suspect she may vulvar vestibulitis. (http://obgyn.uihc.uiowa.edu/patinfo/Vulvar/vestibulitis.htm)

22) Chapter 22: The Hope
i. chapter title
--Reference to the Hope Diamond.

ii. “can boil the towels on that hearth there,” she nodded to it, “and Mistress Eglantine will be along in a moment with the oil,”
--The hobbitesses are using methods of childbirth preparation described by midwife Onnie Lee Logan in Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife’s Story (1989), excerpted in The Norton Book of Women’s Lives edited by Phyllis Rose, W.W. Norton & Company, 1993

iii. “The tenth of Solmath....“Shall I forget the feeling of being nearly cleaved in twain?”...“Mayhap we should call him ‘Cullenin.’”
-- Feb. 10, 1908, was the date of the cleaving of the Cullinan diamond, the largest colorless diamond ever found. (Diamonds and Precious Stones)

iv. “‘Tis a good thing Pad had thought of ‘Peregrin’ ...for the only names we had chosen were ‘Posy’ or ‘Petal’ “
--Reference to “What Child Is This?”

23) Chapter 23: Valley of Diamond’s
i. chapter title
--When I came across the story of the legend of the Valley of Diamonds in my research, with its connection to raptors -- which include, of course, peregrine falcons -- it was too good not to use in some way in this Peregrin and Diamond Took story. According to the legend, a fortune of diamonds lay at the bottom of a gorge, guarded by raptors and snakes. The kings’ servants sent to get the diamonds killed sheep and threw the meat down to the valley among the snakes. The raptors retrieved the meat, and the diamonds that stuck to it, as they flew out of the valley. (Diamonds and Precious Stones)

ii. “Whatever you may lose here today, at least I’m sure no wife or ‘lady friend’ will hear you boasting, safe in your lands again.”...“Your triumphs here will not be on parade.”
--Song of Roland

iii. “that she had not known of Pippin’s preference for the white blossoms when she tended her garden plots...The reddish-pink variety were more showy, it was true, but also more common”
--Diamond is picking white valerian, a flower which blooms from early summer to late autumn. (Heirloom Gardens by Mimi Luebbermann, Chronicle Books, 1997). The reason she planted red valerian in her garden is for the plant’s use in treating insomnia. (Medicinal Plants Coloring Book)

iv. “This patch of love-in-a-mist”
--Chosen here for the name of the plant (since this is a love story). Heirloom Gardens also mentions that post-Victorian gardeners like William Robinson and Gertrude Jekyll, cultivating the “wild” look, would grow valerian and love-in-a-mist in clumps.

v. “The adder...her skin glistening black...her fangs ...these sharp points of venom...her belly slithering from within as a triangular head with its dark brown pattern of zigzag emerged”
--If you’re going to do a take-off on the Valley of Diamonds story, you need poisonous (or at least dangerous) snakes. The only poisonous snake native to England, according to Wikipedia, is the adder (aka the viper). Fortunately, this snake is creepy enough to make a really good story. The fangs carry the poison; it gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs; the mother will often do so from a perch in a bush. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossed_Viper)
They come in different colors, but the “black adder” reference in this story is to the British TV show.

vi. “the new young adder...fangs more venomous still than the adult’s”
--Wikipedia says that it is an outdated belief that newly born adders are more poisonous than their parents, but it makes for a much better story.

vii. “letting her Peregrin carry her aloft as, upon the back of the pony, they flew from the deep bottom of the valley.”
--Supposed to be reminiscent of the raptors carrying the diamonds out of the Valley of Diamonds.

viii. “And better that she should sacrifice her head, than that we lose our pride, and live as beggars, with all our rights denied!”
--Song of Roland

24) Chapter 24: Syndicate
i. chapter title
--The Central Selling Organization, or “The Syndicate”, as it is known to diamond cutters, currently controls 70 to 75 percent of the world’s production of uncut gems. (Diamonds and Precious Stones) (Also used here in the sense of the definition of the word as “an association of people formed to carry out an enterprise.”)

ii. “If she’s to find a new tween to train up, it’d be this next comin’ Rethe, already,”
--The tweens “working out” at the Smials renew or leave their posts regularly at the first of Rethe (March) in my universe because many of them are from families who rent their farms. According to my grandmother, who also grew up in a family who rented rather than owned the farms they worked, March 1 was moving day to go to the new place.

iii. “a copse of trees where his sister Pervinca had accidentally pelted him with a stone when he was a child,”
--from “Blanketed in Love”

iv. “’Tis one too proud, will recklessly advise. Let’s heed no fools” -- she hardened her voice still further upon the word -- “and keep to what is wise.”
--Song of Roland

v. “I hear your foolishness and pride...“you are brave. You’re tall and strong; your” -- he blushed a slight pink tinge -- “body is well-built. that you are valiant is known to all your peers.”
--Song of Roland

vi. “Wretched, abandoned, what is my destiny?” she asked bitterly. “If you were kind, you’d make an end to me!”
--Song of Roland

vii. “the quick-slapping hands of a much younger Pervinca as she had flipped wooden wafers with him in a game”
--A version of Tiddly Winks

25) Chapter 25: Carbon
i. chapter title
--Carbon is the chemical element a diamond is composed of. This also references the “carbon copy” term of making a duplicate of something.

ii. “lacing the thread now in x’s across his middle fingers.”
--Pippin is playing Cat’s Cradle.

iii. “fiefdoms and land, as much as you desire,”...“That’s more than I require.”
--Song of Roland

iv. “to name him Gerier.”
--A name of one of the 12 paladins from the French list; mentioned with Gerin in Song of Roland.

v. “These tensions must only last as long,” he whispered, “as neither one admits that he is wrong.”
--Song of Roland

26) Chapter 26: In the Rough
i. chapter title
--From the saying “a diamond in the rough.”

ii. “He -- he was fine -- even Sam said how healthy he seemed for a hobbit of his age,” Merry sobbed, not noticing Pippin’s slight tensing,”
--Anyone remember that episode of “ThirtySomething” where you find out that, even though Nancy’s been so sick from ovarian cancer, she’s not gonna die -- but Gary gets killed in an accident on the way to the hospital? Yeah. That’s the way it goes, sometimes.

iii. “your household needs you, now. Speed to its defense. You’ve heard enough how the horn laments.”
--Song of Roland

iv. “Da birf’day!”
--Thanks to my young nieces (currently 5 and 2) for being cute and adorable -- and providing me with inspiration for young hobbit speech patterns.

v. “No day will dawn,” she whispered as the soil fell from her hands, “that I don’t mourn and weep.”
--Song of Roland

27) Chapter 27: “Are Forever...”
i. chapter title
--From the hugely successful advertising slogan, “A diamond is forever,” created by Harry Oppenheimer of the De Beers company, in conjunction with the Ayer advertising agency, in 1947. (Diamonds and Precious Stones)

ii. “the event of this Highday”
--This wedding takes place on 23 Halimath, the day after the 22nd. That’s why Merry’s not in Buckland, and why Pippin, Sam and Merry were busy the day before, remembering the birthday. (Pippin isn’t currently traveling much beyond Tuckborough, due to the events of later in the chapter.)

iii. “Mighty fine container of ale,”...“’Twas a gift come from Tooksank,”
--From Trefoil and Whit Cooper, of course, since Whit has connections to the family trade of barrelmaking (i.e., “coopering”).

iv. “if visiting cousins can be invited.”...“Now, that’s not all I am, Mr. Merry,...Sam said”
--But he is Sage Goodchild’s cousin, on his mother’s side. That’s how Rosie knew to recommend her as a kitchen lass when Diamond wrote in Chapter 12.

v. “’Heel to Heel’!”
--From “Marie’s Wedding,” traditional Irish song. The tune I’m hearing is arranged by Van Morrison and Paddy Moloney, on the “Irish Heartbeat” CD.

vi. ““Da’s little Pudding.”...“Her name,”...“is Petal.”
--From the discussion of Pippin’s childhood name choices, and Paladin’s and Eglantine’s at his birth, in Chapter 22.

vii. “Oh, once I took a wife;”
--Loosely based upon “Last Week I Took a Wife” or “The Cobbler’s Song” from “The 40 Thieves”; words and music by M. Kelly; found in Best-Loved Songs of the American People. (I knew as soon as Diamond liked Pippin’s song for Nellie in Chapter 5 that he needed to write her her own love song, but trying to come up with this is part of what took so long for this last chapter.)

viii. “For giving counsel, defending what is right,” she whispered as he took her hand, “in all the world, there is no better knight.”
--Song of Roland
ix. “Therefore shall a hobbit leave his father and his mother, and cleeve unto his wife.”
--Paraphrase of Genesis 2:24. It was actually somewhere in the middle of the story, as I was having fun with the diamond stuff, that I was flipping through Bartlett’s Quotations to see if I could work in anything else with the long “cleave/cleeve,” that I ran across the reminder of this quote. It seemed the