Aragorn stirred, his eyes flickering open. He was used to waking up in the open, and after his coronation it had taken some time for him to grow accustomed to sleeping in a bed. His reflexes were still finely honed and he registered that he was inside, but not in an inn and not in his room at the Citadel with Arwen beside him. He was in a room with a rounded ceiling and round windows, surrounded by clean, lavender-scented linen. Ah yes, he was at Brandy Hall and had just enjoyed one of the best nights' sleep he had ever had.

       It was light outside and the liquid song of a blackbird poured into the Spring sky. A song thrush took up the counterpoint, and then a wren joined in, her song astonishingly loud for such a small bird. Hearing voices, Aragorn slid out of bed and went to the window, to see three Elves smiling up at the blackbird, who was perched on a branch just outside.

       "All this comfort and a serenade to wake me! I may never go back to Gondor at this rate."

       "Ah, the slug-a-bed is finally awake!" Legolas chuckled.

       "The brandy last night proved better than any sleeping-draught. Although I'm not that tardy, Legolas. Dawn has only just broken."

       "That was not quite the expression Pippin used. I believe he referred to sparrows' flatulence," said Elladan with a smile.

       "The 'crack of sparrow-fart'! Yes, that sounds like Pip. Is anyone else around at this hour?"

       "The servants are all up and busy, and I saw Mistress Esmeralda just now." Elrohir peered into the low bush to see the wren's nest.

       A sound behind him caused Aragorn to turn. Pippin, in full uniform, entered the room carrying a tray of tea and biscuits.

       "Did you sleep well, Aragorn?"

       "As well as I've ever slept in my life. All that fresh air, good food and brandy."

       "And you're still up at the crack of.........dawn! Once a Ranger, always a Ranger, eh?"

       "Something like that," Aragorn agreed, helping himself to fresly-baked biscuits and sipping tea. "Remind me to institute this morning ritual in Gondor. What a civilised way to start the day. Is Faramir awake?"

       "Still snoring like Gimli last time I checked. Your cousins are up though."

       "They would be. Is anything planned for today?"

       "The day is all yours - though at some point we should ask Frodo to take you through the maze. And you did say you wished to visit his parents' grave. The children will wish to spend some time with you too - they're very excited about your visit."

       "And I'm excited to be with them. I think I should bathe and tackle breakfast, even though Tarondor is correct when he says we'll need a larger size in clothes before we leave." Aragorn finished his tea.

       "I'll show you to the bathing-room. Frodo was just going there, Sam is up and about and Bergil was almost awake when I took him his tea."

       "Lead on then, Pippin."

                                                                         ************

       The bathing-room was warm and steamy. Frodo was in a hobbit-sized tub, singing to himself as he soaped his hair. He glanced round as they entered, and greeted Aragorn cheerfully.

       "Sleep well, my friend?"

       "Like the proverbial log - or do I mean like Sam?" Aragorn climbed into one of the Man-sized tubs and settled back in the scented water.

       Frodo laughed. "Dear Sam does not sleep so deeply these days. He had to keep one eye open at all times during our journey, and since then he has had me and young children to listen for in the night. He's a lighter sleeper now."

       "Sam is truly one of the most remarkable beings I have ever met. I remember him in Rivendell, shy as he was, giving Lord Elrond orders about your care. And the strangest thing was that my adar accepted it! He had an enormous respect for Sam."

       "Sam discovered his strength and courage and his true character on that journey. It had always been there but he did not know it." Frodo rinsed his hair. "He has a talent for settling Shire disputes, and much more patience than I have." He glanced over at Aragorn. "That is some scar! How long have you had that one?"

       Aragorn looked down at the scar across his stomach and smiled ruefully. "That was my first battle-wound. We were battling orcs in Northern Eriador and one of the little brutes sliced me. I was lucky my brothers were around or I might not have made it." He chuckled. "It is one of the more impressive ones."

       Frodo smiled. "Sorry, that was rude of me. I am the last person to be commenting about another's scars, but that one looks as though it should have been fatal."

       "You never have to worry about offending me, my dear friend. Yes, it was a bad wound - though not as dangerous as that deceptively harmless-looking one on your shoulder." The scar from the Morgul wound was small, and now was a faded pink star rather than the cold white line it had been until Frodo's illness. Aragorn still winced at the memory of that night on Weathertop, and at his first sight of the two hobbits when the Eagles brought them out of Mordor. Even Gandalf had tears in his eyes as they stripped the two starved, blackened bodies, noting burns, blisters and cuts on legs and feet, the wound on Sam's head, and the ooozing, bloody mess round Frodo's neck, where the Ring had chafed. The spot on his chest where the Ring had rested looked almost like a burn, blistered and weeping. The spider's bite left two large lumps on the back of his neck, which filled and re-filled with pus, and the third finger on his right hand was a bleeding stump.

      Frodo stood, wrapped a towel round himself and stepped onto the rug near the fire. "I am not as self-conscious about my scars as I used to be. Everyone tells me they are honourable reminders, and I think they are, in a way." He looked down at the fine mesh of tiny white marks on his legs, caused in those hours of struggle on the rocks and shale of Mount Doom. "A reminder not to go hiking in Mordor without boots too!"

       Aragorn laughed, partly out of relief that Frodo was able to joke about his ordeal. Faramir entered the room and looked surprised and pleased to see two of his dearest friends laughing, and he was even happier when Frodo explained the reason for the laughter.

       "You'll have to be quick, Faramir, or breakfast will have vanished. Pip was up early so he'll be extra hungry by now."

       "I shall be as fast as I can." He plunged into a tub.

       "And I must brush up my toes. Aunt Menegilda would have sent me out of the room if I'd turned up to breakfast with my foothair standing up in all directions." With his towel round his waist like a skirt, Frodo put one foot on the edge of the bench and brushed the dark hair which grew in curling profusion. Aragorn and Faramir watched, never having seen this before. They seemed thoroughly intrigued, which amused the hobbit greatly.

       Sam arrived with Frodo's clothes and Pip carried Aragorn's and Faramir's. Soon all three were dressed and hurrying to the breakfast-room, where Diamond, Estella, the Thain, the Master and their families were about to sit down. They all bowed to the King and the Steward but both Men indicated that there was no need.

       "You are eating for two, my dearling, not six!" Pippin teased his wife, eyeing her loaded plate. Diamond swatted her husband round the head.

      "So what is your excuse?" You're eating for ten, from the amount on your plate!" 

      Pippin smiled smugly. "I always eat for ten but I burn it all off - full of nervous energy."

      Frodo kissed Diamond on the cheek. "I've told him he'll be the fattest Thain ever. He'll have to be carried everywhere, like Bombur." He kissed Estella too.

       Merry nodded. "Fro's right. Six stout young hobbits will have to carry you all round the Smials."

       Estella gave him the sort of wifely look every husband dreads. "If you make a single comment about my loaded plate there will be trouble!"

       "Wouldn't dream of it," Merry said, giving her one of his most wheedling smiles.

       "I'm glad you can face breakfast, or don't hobbit lasses suffer nausea in the mornings?" said Aragorn.

       Diamond grimaced. "Oh yes, we do, my lord. Thankfully we are over it now though. It was most unpleasant while it lasted."

       "I do have a safe remedy for it, which will not harm the child. I shall write it out for you - for next time," he said, his grey eyes sparkling.

       "Did your lady suffer while carrying, my lord Aragorn?"

       "Yes, but the midwife said that it was a sign the babe was healthy and well settled."

       The rest of the party arrived just then, and everyone was amused at the eagerness with which the Men joined the breakfast table. While the Elves contented themselves with eggs on toast the Men and Gimli opted for some of everything.

       "Where are the children this morning?" Beregond asked.

       "They have their breakfast in the nursery. They're too fidgety at this time of day. They would be swarming up your legs faster than orcs up a siege-ladder!" Pippin chuckled. "Persimmon can be very determined."

       "So we'd noticed!"

       Pervinca sighed. "That child is the most stubborn, contrary, outrageous...............Mother, stop smirking like that. What are you trying to say."

       Eglantine laughed. "Only that she is nowhere near as bad as her mother used to be! The number of times you defied me are more than I can count. I'm amazed that you finally matured into a sensible wife and mother - although there's still some of the old fire there."

       Pervinca was actually blushing. "I am mortified to be so described in such noble company."

       Everard chuckled and squeezed her hand. "My dear, you were exactly as your mother says - quite a fearsome little thing - and then one day you grew up and I fell in love with you."

       "You fell in a ditch too, as I recall," said Pervinca, dissolving into helpless giggles, which set everyone else off.

                                                                          ************

       It was decided to begin with a visit to the grave of Drogo and Primula Baggins. All were keen to pay their respects to the two who had produced such a remarkable individual. Before setting out, Frodo took the party to the library to see the portrait of his mother which had been painted just before her marriage. It was a large portrait in a fine gilded frame and it filled the space above the fireplace. It had been painted at the command of her father, Gorbadoc Brandybuck, on the occasion of her betrothal to Drogo Baggins, and had been done by a master artist from Combe.

       Primula Brandybuck was standing in the garden, beside a carved wooden seat. She was wearing a white dress tied with a blue ribbon round her waist, and there were blue flowers in her chestnut curls and round the brim of the large straw hat she held by the trailing ribbons threaded in her fingers. She had the same vivid blue eyes as her son and a heart-shaped face of exquisite beauty, her high cheekbones giving her features a refinement lacking in most hobbits but not uncommon in the Tooks. Aragorn thought of the legend about Elven blood in the Took line and wondered again if it was true. A small dog frolicked with a ball at her feet and a large fluffy cat sat on the seat next to a bouquet of creamy-white roses. There was a gentle, loving quality about the young hobbit lass which seemed to confirm everything Aragorn had heard about her from Bilbo and Frodo, and which had continued in her son.

       "She is so beautiful," said Legolas softly. "No wonder your father fell in love with her."

       Tarondor nodded. "I have never seen such fine features in any other hobbit except you, Frodo. And that is where those amazing eyes of yours come from."

       Frodo smiled. "I suppose every lad thinks his mother the most beautiful creature in the world, but she was lovely, wasn't she?"

       "Aye, laddie, she was," murmured Gimli. "A rare beauty."

       "Is this the only picture of her?" Faramir asked. He only had one precious picture of his own mother and wished there were more.

      "We have one at Bag End with all of us. Bilbo had it done when I was small. And I have a small picture of my father when he came of age."

       "That portrait has been done by a master of his craft," said Elrohir. "The details are wonderful - the fur of the cat and dog, the lines of the dress and the way your mother's hair lifts slightly, as though stirred by a soft breeze. It is a superb work."

       Aragorn nodded. "He has also revealed her character and the fact that she was so obviously in love. She cannot hide that fact, nor does she wish to. She is hugging her secret to her heart but the shine in the eyes gives it away. I wish I could have met her," he added wistfully.

       Frodo tucked his arm through Aragorn's. "I wish you could too."

       He led them out through the side door and round to where the gardener and his lad stood waiting with several large bouquets of spring flowers. They bowed to the Men, Elves and Dwarf, and both hobbits beamed at Frodo.

       "I've taken some extra vases down there, Master Frodo," said Mat Brockhouse. "It all looks a picture with the primulas in full flower too."

       "Thank you so much, Mat. My mother loved her nameflower."

       "Ah, and she was just as beautiful too. I remember her sitting in the garden with you when you were little. I thought she was a princess out of a book."

       Frodo's face lit up. "Yes, she was beautiful. We've just been looking at her portrait. I remember that day though. You were helping your father and grandfather, although you weren't much older than me."

      "Aye, just as Master Samwise always helped his father, even when he was little more 'n a faunt. We gardeners seem to start young."

       They set off down the heavily wooded path. Great dollops of cream primroses trailed away between the trees and small early periwinkle flowers were peeping shyly through the undergrowth. The warmth had drawn the squirrels out and they scampered about, searching for their winter stores and hurtling up and down the large, gnarled trees. Legolas paused as a strange laughing noise rang through the wood.

      "What was that?" Gimli asked, still not entirely at ease in woodland.

       Frodo laughed. "That's a yaffle."

       "A what?" asked several curious voices.

       "A woodpecker. We call them yaffles in the Shire."

       Aragorn looked thoughtful. "I've never heard that one. How interesting." He cocked his head and listened as the woodpecker started on a tree nearby, drumming his beak into the wood.

       "Why do they do it?" asked Gimli.

       "He is looking for insects which live in the bark. They seem to know where the burrows are - perhaps they can hear them." Frodo looked intently into the wood and then pointed. "Look! There he is, on that beech tree over there."

       He was a striking looking bird with his vivid plumage glossy in the sun, and the chuckling laugh made everyone smile. Despite the solemnity of their errand they were cheerful as they scuffed through the leaves.

                                                                           ************

         On their return from the burial ground, Frodo took them to the kitchens to see Aster. The party arrived back in the Master's apartments laughing uproariously and minus Aragorn.

       "Where is he?" asked Pippin.

       "Aster decided to give our King a cookery lesson She's teaching him how to make apple pancakes with cider sauce!" Frodo collapsed on a couch and wiped his eyes.

       Esme went pale. "She hasn't tried to........make him wear a pinny, has she?" Merry howled.

       "Aragorn in a pinny! That would be worth sketching for posterity! Oh, this I have to see!"

       "No, I doubt she'd find an apron large enough - but she was certainly giving him orders."

       Merry, Pip, Frodo and Sam tip-toed back to the kitchens and peered round the door. Aragorn was whisking batter with Aster adjusting his grip on the whisk until she was satisfied.

       "That's very good, my lord. Now when the fat is hot enough we'll put a measure in and start them off. How's the sauce doing?"

       The King lifted a saucepan lid and stirred the sauce. "Thickening nicely, Mistress Aster." He looked up and grinned at the hobbits. "Off with you, you scoundrels. The pancakes will be ready soon." He turned back to concentrate on what his teacher was telling him about turning pancakes, leaving four semi-hysterical hobbits to stagger along the corridor.

       Half an hour later, the door opened and Aragorn entered, triumphantly bearing a very large tray with two heaped plates of pancakes, a jug of sauce and a large dish of clotted cream. He looked very pleased with himself.

       "Enjoy your cookery lesson?" Sam enquired.

       "Very much. I haven't been called 'young man' for a long time, and I'm older than Aster. I told her so but I don't think she believed me."

       "Are we about to be poisoned?" asked Merry.

       "Certainly not! Mistress Aster tasted them and pronounced them fit for a king."

       "I should think so, as they were made by one!" Pip tried a mouthful and nodded. "My! That is very good. Warrior, healer, king - and cook! What a gifted individual you are, Strider!"

       "So this is elevenses?" enquired Tarondor round a mouthful of apple-filled pancake. "I think we should add it to our meal breaks. This is too good to miss - and your cooking is improving no end under the instruction of our friends in the Shire. If only you'd been able to produce this sort of thing during our Northern patrols!"

       "Instead of having to rely on the culinary efforts of these two?" Aragorn indicated the Imladris twins, who contrived to look offended at the insult to their skills.

       Faramir laughed. "Tarondor, if you think the twins and my lord Aragorn are bad cooks, you have never tried to eat anything produced by my beloved wife! I believe there was a stew on the way to Helm's Deep which proved almost as bad as anything the orcs provided for Merry and Pippin!"

       Gimli shuddered. "I said I wasn't hungry, and my pointy-eared friend hid for the night. Aragorn ate it and regretted it, and I believe King Theoden took a diplomatic nap so he would not have to refuse. Poor Lady Eowyn, she had a great many talents but they did not include cooking."

       Aragorn laughed. "That stew was certainly..........different."

       Esme laughed. "I'm sure your wife has learned to cook since, my lord Faramir?"

       "She has improved, but not to a great degree. Her heart is not in it, I'm afraid."

       Pippin licked sauce from his fingers. "Ah, the finest cooks anywhere are in the Shire, and one of the finest of them all is our beloved Rose. Wait till you taste some of her special dishes - you will not want to leave."

                                                                          ************

       To walk off their meals and work up an appetite for lunch, everyone decided to take a walk in the grounds, through the maze and along the river bank. The hedges inside the maze were now so tall that even the Men and Elves could not see over the top, so everyone followed Frodo. The Elves, with their excellent sense of direction, were able to follow the twists and turns, and the tracking abilities of the Rangers gave them some assistance, but Gimli found it very confusing.

       "Yet you find your way through the Caves of Aglarond with no trouble at all," said Legolas, puzzled.

       "I can follow seams and mineral traces underground. Up here it is just hedges and they all look the same."

       "No they don't. That hedge is completely different in the way the stems fan out."

        "Only an Elf would notice that!"

       "Only a Dwarf would follow seams!"

       Everyone tried not to grin at the usual good natured bickering between the friends. The two never went more than half a day with squabbling over something, and insults were often traded, though without malice. They were extremely fond of each other, although neither would admit it.

       The children scampered ahead, turning frequently to make sure they were not lost. Persimmon was holding Frodo's hand and chattering merrily to Aragorn about her dogs and cats at Great Smials.

       "Fo told torwy about his kitty. Do you know lots of torwies, Uncle Estel?"

       He laughed and lifted her, so she could see over the hedges. "Yes, little one, I know some stories. Perhaps I shall tell one or two after lunch, if your Mama agrees."

       Pervinca smiled. "I'm sure we'd all love to hear your stories, my lord."

       "I know a song," Persimmon said, and began:

                  "The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea......"                                                                  

        She was delighted when the King took up the song in his deep, musical baritone, and many of the children joined in, giggling as they sang about the pig selling the ring through his nose, and the happy pair being married with the turkey to officiate.

        Frodo guided them round corners, laughing. "I didn't know you knew that one, Aragorn. I thought it was a Shire nonsense song."

       "I remember Carrie Butterbur singing it to her little son one night at the 'Pony.' I tend to remember that sort of thing. Carrie came from Archet so they must know it in the Bree-land."

        "I've always thought that a ring through a pig's nose must have been much too big for the cat to wear on her toe - or even round her leg."

       "Dear old Fro, always so pedantic!" Pip said, ducking the inevitable swat.

       When they emerged from the maze they walked along the bank beside the river. It had been a wet winter and the levels were high and fast flowing, and the waters foamed. No wonder the hobbits called it the Brandywine. All knew that this was the river which claimed the lives of Frodo's parents and their unborn child, and Aragorn glanced frequently at his dear friend.

       "Frodo, if this distresses you we can turn back to the house."

       "I'm fine. I taught all the younger cousins to swim in this water and went boating on it. The only place I could never bear to visit was the spot where my parents were brought out, but I took Sam, Rose and the children there eighteen months ago and that seemed to help. I still have a fondness for the river - well, I am part Brandybuck and it is in the blood."

       Persimmon tucked her hand in Frodo's and gazed up at him. She sensed that there was something sad about the place although she did not understand what. Her brother, at eleven, knew the story. Uncle Frodo had been the same age when the tragedy occurred, and he wondered how such a thing could be borne.

        Merry started to chortle and pointed to a large bush on the opposite bank. "I remember the occasion when Frodo was swimming here and a lot of the girl cousins arrived. He was terribly embarrassed to be caught naked by so many girls - I'm sure Pearl had something to do with it - but he managed to swim to the far bank and had to hide in that bush for hours. Good thing it was a warm day or he'd have caught a chill!"

        "Thank you for regaling all and sundry with tales of my tween embarrassments, Merry! I shall have to dredge up a few of yours - there are so many to choose from after all!"

       "I don't think I was even there," said Pearl indignantly. "That sounds like the sort of thing Pervinca would have done, but I think she would have been too young.

        On the way back to the Hall they found some mushrooms and collected them enthusiastically. Tarondor and Halboron had never seen hobbits looking for mushrooms before.

       "Quite the experience, eh cousins? Hobbits and mushrooms! Even in Hollin and on the banks of the Anduin they found many edible varieties to augment our supplies. They have hundreds of recipes too."

       Halboron smiled broadly. "I think I'm becoming as bad as Pippin - I'm hungry again!"

                                                                              ************

       Following a light luncheon, everyone relaxed in the Great Hall. Persimmon had pouted and whimpered and begged not to be sent for a nap, and was curled up in Legolas' lap. The other small ones were all on laps and snuggled between adults, and the older ones were seated nearby, waiting for the promised stories.

       "We can always tell stories about you, Estel," Elladan offered. "There was the time you placed the stag beetle in Glorfindel's empty wine goblet........."

       "Yes, or the occasion when you brought that huge toad in and left it in Adar's study," added Elrohir helpfully.

       "We could always tell everyone about that hornets' nest in Rivendell and you ending up in the river," said Pip, equally helpfully.

       "Since that entire episode was down to you and Merry and Tookish impetuousness, I shall save that one," Aragorn replied with feigned severity.

       Faramir and the others looked very disappointed. "Oh, I was hoping to hear about that."

       "We'll tell you later," said Pip in a conspiratorial whisper.

       Aragorn smiled at Persimmon. "What would you like to hear, little mistress?"

       She fluttered her long eyelashes and popped a finger in her mouth as she considered. "Monsters and scawy things," she said.

       Aragorn raised his eyebrows in unspoken query at Pervinca, who rolled her eyes.

        "She likes such things and doesn't scare easily, my lord."

       "What was the most frightening thing you encountered, my lord?" Pinto asked. Aragorn considered the question carefully.

       "The Balrog was terrifying - even Legolas was disturbed when Gandalf told us what was coming - and the trolls were massive. The mumaks were so large I couldn't believe it when I saw them. I thought nothing could bring them down. The Nine were probably the most powerful and much to be feared, for they wrought damage by their very presence. Merry experienced the Black Breath twice, and Frodo was stabbed by the Witch-king at Weathertop. Personally, the most frightening of all was when I confronted Sauron through the palantir. To feel him trying to probe my mind was worse than anything I had ever known, and I knew I could not allow him to gain control. I had one chance to wrench the palantir to my own use and losing that battle was something which did not bear thinking about. It took every ounce of strength and is not something I should wish to try again."

        "Have you seen a dwagon?" Persimmon asked, scrambling into Aragorn's lap and reaching up to touch his beard.

       "I have never seen a dragon, but I have met several who did see one. Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and Gloin had all seen Smaug, and Bilbo went into the dragon's lair."

       "I want to see a dwagon."

       "Dragons are fine in storybooks, but not so good in real life. The fire-drakes breathe flame and cause lots of damage. They take every bit of wealth, as Smaug did, and they are vain and unpredictable. I think a real-life dragon would be much too scary, even for you, madam." He wagged a finger at her and she giggled.

       "Have you ever been really scared, Strider?" Frodo was genuinely curious.

       "Well, once upon a time, many years ago, when I was young and living in Imladris, I was kept awake by strange noises outside my window, hissing and low moaning. The twins had filled my head with all sorts of stories about monsters and I lay there thinking some ghastly thing was about to leap through the window. The grunting noise seemed to grow louder and eventually I decided I had to see the horror and perhaps surprise it before it saw me. I rushed to the window and looked down, and saw.................."

       Everyone was leaning forward, intent. "Saw what?"

       Aragorn started to laugh. "I saw a hedgehog with his head stuck in a flowerpot! The poor thing was grumbling and snuffling and trying to back out of the thing. He was just exhausting himself and getting nowhere. I jumped down and managed to free him and he stomped off, still hissing and grumping to himself. After that I resolved never to be that scared again without good cause."

       The assembled company laughed long and hard at the thought of the future King cowering under the bedcovers.

       "We have hedgehogs at Bag End - they make a lot of noise, especially when they are mating."

       Pippin snorted. "Which answers the question of how hedgehogs make love - the answer being very noisily as well as carefully!"

       "You are incorrigible, Pippin," said Tarondor when he ceased laughing. "I have never had so much fun as I have in the past two days. We really must spend more time with hobbits."

       "You'll change your mind when I tell you what these two did to poor Aragorn in Rivendell and on the first part of the journey. I'm surprised they're still alive after some of the tricks they pulled. I almost killed them on several occasions!" Frodo fixed the impudent pair with a look which would have made a Balrog think twice.

       "Salt in the sugar, acorns sewn into my shirt, they short-sheeted my bed, put pepper in the wine and yet did all this with such charm and jollity that I could never be angry with them. It is strange, but hobbits have that effect."

       "Is it teatime yet?" asked Peridot. "I'm hungry."

       Faramir looked down at the little hobbit lass in his lap."Funny you should mention it, little one, because I believe I'm hungry too. Hobbit hunger appears to be contagious."

        In the evening the friends gathered to tell tales and sing. Pippin played the guitar and Freddy and Reggie took up pipe and tabor. Frodo and the King sang the Lay of Luthien and Legolas and the twins sang a song of praise to the Valar. Primula and her brother and cousins danced, and the hobbits taught the Men the bawdy 'Watkin's Ale' with much laughter.

       Frodo's thoughts strayed; somewhere, beyond the edge of the family seated round the fire, drinking punch and singing, were two long gone but never forgotten. They knew, and they were proud of him, and for Frodo that was more than enough to fill his heart with joy.