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Anticipating Midsummer  by Larner 1 Review(s)
LindeleaReviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/16/2026
I forgot to highlight this phrase in my review of Chapter II: "too Baggins stubborn". Perfect summary of Frodo's determination, that took him all the way to the fiery Mountain, with Sam's help, of course.

I could use a reading aid like the one Sam used. I used to be one of those page-at-a-glance readers, but my eyes don't focus well enough to do that anymore.

I remember how indignant I felt when I reached the last few pages of LOTR for the first time as a teen. How unfair it felt to me, that Frodo was unable to enjoy the fruits of his labors! (I think that's why in one of my AUs, I wrote about him sending a letter to Pippin (and Merry) at Crickhollow announcing his upcoming wedding to Pearl...) Unfair, indeed.

How glad he was that Frodo could sleep so once more. Sigh. I love getting glimpses of Frodo healed and filled with wonder and joy.

Gandalf noting that Midsummer's Day will arrive in two days seems to bear more weight than just a casual reminder. Taken together with Frodo's contemplative haste in finishing the copy of the book, and Sam's conversation with Rosie in his sleep, it seems they are quite ready to take the next step in their journey.

The dance with the staves sounds familiar, as if I have seen such a thing IRL, though I can't quite pin it down. Are you drawing from any particular folk tradition?

(What happened to the book after they passed onward? Sam wished that Eleanor could have it – though she would not have been able to read it, I should think, but might have appreciated the illustrations?)

Author Reply: I was remembering that before the manifestations of Moon and Sun the Elves used gem-lights to illuminate areas not receiving the light of the Two Trees, thus making the Elves of Aman not needing candles and oil lamps for non-daylight hours. The Silmarils were the epitome of such Elf-wrought jewels of Light.

Yes, it is possible that the use of an Elf-gem lamp might have assisted Sam to read Rhyselle's archaic version of Sindarin. It's also likely that just living on the island for the past months and having possibly read other books available there might have prepared him to do it as well. Hard to say.

Am constantly being interrupted tonight by cats, most conspicuously Phryne (previously known as Euphrates) who is determined to knock as many small things as possible off the headboard and my bedstand. Plus the cursor loves to dance around the screen as I move the slightly damp wrist of my robe across the mousepad. Gaack!

I was not upset by Frodo having to leave Middle Earth. I'd read several books in which characters suffered from shell shock, which we know now as PTSD. Some had fought in the trenches of France in WWI, or were veterans of WWII or even Korea. I didn't know about Aman, but figured that wherever it was that the Elves were going was the one place in which Frodo, too, could know full healing. I read LOTR the first time starting when I was thirteen and a half years old.

In my-verse, Frodo let Sam make the decision as to when they will move on, and he will make the decision as to where they would lay their lives down. Sam early on chose to leave on the anniversary of Rosie's death; Frodo chose to be near the White Tree of Tol Eressea. As Frodo admitted that he'd realized long ago that he could not keep track of time within the Elven lands, something he and Sam realized in FotR as they see the moon rising as they sail down the river.

As a result, Sam asked Olorin to give him two days' warning of when Midsummer will oocur, and knowing Hobbits as he does from being Gandalf for so long, he realizes why Sam would want to have that warning. This gives him time to make his plea to Lady Varda to be given the right to call upon the Maiar in charge of the heavenly bodies to dance that night to give joy to the Cormocolindor as they left this reality.

Frodo might not know for certain when Midsummer might occur, but he can recognize that summer is here as the fruit comes ripe, so he uses the Realm of Possibilities to compress the copying and binding of Rhyselle's book into one afternoon so he doean't inadvertently leave the project unfinished.

When I was a child I saw a dance performed on TV in which some group used two large poles for a dance in which the dancer performs various moves between the poles as they are lifted, patted upon the ground a time or two, and then clashed together, which could cause painful bruising to the ankles of the dancer should s/he miss a step. I don't remember the culture that did this dance, but it lodged in my brain. Also, dancing with weapons either lying on the ground or being wielded as if in battle is common in many cultures, in which a misstep could lead to serious injuries. To this day a playing of The Sabre Dance inspires me to dance wildly.

Quarterstaffs were used by serfs as weapons for personal protection throughout British history, so it followed to me that such dances as this could well have been done with such things. Wouldn't those who lived in the far northern regions of the Shire where perhaps archery was not as well practiced possibly use such weapons against incursions of Men or bears or perhaps even wolves?

In In Empty Lands Frodo and Sam perform this for Boromir during weapons practice while they remained in Rivendell, and it was seen by Gandalf and Elrond. Why not postulate a repeat performance one last time for a dance few upon the island would have seen, a unique way to demonstrate their vitality on their way out of this life? It was proof that both these mortals were healed of the damage done by the Ring, and a means of demonstrating their joy in the life they'd lived.

AS for Sam's book--well the epilogue is not yet written. Heh!

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