Reviews (840)

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Glorfindel is amazing! I only wish Tolkien had been a bit more clear about his timeline and whether there might even actually have been a question as to whether Middle-earth had one or two Elves by that name. (at least, that's what I seem to remember when I was researching his story while writing the draft of my Bucca story) I think I decided he died and was "sent back", but I haven't looked at those notes in a while.

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Since Bill is so smell-driven (and equines seem so sensitive to atmosphere), his senses are very useful as a device to reveal the progressive effects of the Morgul blade on Frodo, I find.

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I read somewhere, either in the original or in JRRT's notes somewhere (a letter? The History of Middle Earth notes?) or in some fanfic, that the Witch-king as a sorcerer might have used one or another hobbit's possessions to draw them to him by some dark magic. That's where the idea came from, reinforced by JRRT's description of Frodo's companions bearing him slowly towards Rivendell when Elrond's rescue party reached them. Otherwise, yes! Making haste would make sense! Author Reply: LOL, after answering, I read the other reviews attached to this chapter and saw that I talked about this idea in a review reply further down the list, so I suppose it may even have come out of my own head. LOL! Or maybe not so funny. sigh. This story has taken the longest time to write and post, with frequent interruptions and long intervals... At least RL is now letting me tackle the daunting task of finishing my WIPs, some or most of them, at least. Dare I hope to finish them all, and keep on writing more stories? There's a lovely thought.

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I'm glad you liked it! Asfaloth is very wise, and Bill is quite observant. Thanks for reading and stopping to share your thoughts!

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Ponies sing different kinds of songs, as do their horse cousins. There's the grunting-and-groaning melody you'll hear when they're rolling on their backs, and the rhythmic tune they sing while grazing: pull-tear-chomp-chomp-chomp. Another song is their greeting song, a high-pitched series of whinnies when an equine friend returns from a long time away. (They have a similar song, which I think is titled, "Don't go!" that they sing when in distress at a time of parting. Another of their rhythmic songs combines steadily clopping hoofs and hearty snorts. And the sound of a gallop over a grassy field is music in itself. So many songs!

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The doors are *very* near. And so it is good to see Pippin in a lighter moment, I think. Even JRRT thought so! (i.e. ‘Knock on the doors with your head, Peregrin Took,’ said Gandalf.) Thanks for staying with me. Whew.

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Hello Leithian! *waving* Glad to have you here! Pull up a chair; a fresh batch of scones is about to come out of the oven, and the tea in the pot is freshly brewed. It's fun to hear your impressions, and I hope the story will continue to please. Poor Bill – the time is rapidly approaching when he will be forced to fend for himself. I had to hold firmly to the story's ending to be able to get through writing those intermediate chapters. I can tell you that there are several surprises in store. Thanks for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts!

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I completely agree! That was one of their endearing qualities that won my heart, the first time I read the book as a young teen. (((hugs))) Thanks for reading and pausing to share your thoughts.

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Poor Bill. Ponies are such concrete creatures, living in the moment as they do. (I remember Bill's response to Sam's poem being both comical and quite sensible, from a pony's viewpoint, at least.) Thanks for reading and pausing to share your thoughts!

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Poor Bill. And poor Pippin. Yet such is his love for his older cousin that Frodo's distress broke through to him, where Frodo's attempts at comfort could not. Thank you for reading and stopping to share your thoughts. I also see you are uploading your lost stories, and I'm so glad. Author Reply: (p.s. I hope it's plausible that Pippin was overwhelmed on the hilltop for a short time. I'm pretty sure I would be, surrounded, wolves closing in, the smallest of the hobbits and feeling like more of a burden than a help.)

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LOL. In one of my stories, I have someone describe Aragorn as "clumsy and incompetent and saved only by extraordinary luck": 'O yes, quite!' The hobbit lowered his tone then. 'Confidentially speaking, the King himself was a miserable failure when it came to keeping hobbits...' The man started and pulled his arm down, to stare at the hobbit. 'O aye,' the hobbit nodded wisely, 'it's not common knowledge, but I have it from the Thain himself. Time after time...' 'I don't believe it.' 'Well of course the minstrels set it to music and smoothed the rough edges to make a nice story, but the truth of the matter is... Time after time, that particular Ranger failed in his duties, and if you were to talk to him about it, he'd be the first to admit it!' 'Time after time?' 'Sceptical, are we? "Time after time" I said, and such is the case! Why, from the very start, when Frodo put It on in front of a common room full of men and hobbits...' 'That was hardly Elessar's fault!' 'He sat there and let it happen, knowing what sorts of pressures might be asserting themselves against my cousin on the Enemy's part.' The man wished to assert that it was hardly fair to lay such blame at the Ranger's feet, but the hobbit took the bit in his teeth and was off at a gallop. 'And that disastrous shortcut--I should think that a Ranger of all people should know that short cuts make for long delays! And any other number of missteps and errors on his part--it's a wonder he ever became King at all! It's a good thing he has a great deal of luck...' The man could scarcely sputter a protest, choking as he was on his words. 'And the greatest failure of all--at Parth Galen,' the hobbit went on inexorably. 'He'll tell you so, himself...' And the man was suddenly still, and silent. Yes. The King had told him so, himself, when warning him of the difficulties of conducting hobbits in the Wilderlands. 'You have a great deal in common with the King,' Ferdi went on, as the silence stretched out. 'Do I?' the man said dryly. 'Not just that you are close kinsmen, I mean.' 'We're both clumsy and incompetent and saved only by our extraordinary luck, I suppose.'

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I am going to start posting on FFN again, as well as AO3. I've been procrastinating, but I really need to start cross-posting to more than one archive. (I hate learning new interfaces, aargh.) Thank you for the recommendation! If "many people" recommend Guards! Guards! for a starter, that's good enough for me. It helps immensely to have a place to start! Less daunting, somehow. I am Lindelea1 on FFN. I'm not sure how to use the site, but I'll be exploring it soon.

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LOL! I was a little confused, but then I've been in a fog all week due to jet lag. I thought you probably meant Bill and weren't talking about a donkey of your acquaintance. No worries, Bill is quite wise and forgiving. Not to mention, a lump of sugar goes a long way. Thanks! More of Bill's story should be coming next week.

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Your horse Rasha sounds very special. I've known a few (very few) horses with that quality, as if they have a better understanding of the world than their peers, or a higher capacity for trust, or something extra, anyhow. I'm so glad you find this story a refuge of sorts despite the angst inherent in the narrative. At least we can be assured that he'll survive to reunite with his beloved Sam in Bree. That knowledge helps me keep on plugging along. But I'll be sad to finish this too. You're very welcome, and thank you so much for reading and stopping to leave some encouraging words. Author Reply: p.s. If you'd like a little more of Bill, outside this story, here's a glimpse of him in after-days, just a bit of fluff infused with joy (let's see if I can remember how to make this link work): Flower Fest

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Good Bill. He's learned so much over the miles. Thank you for the Birthday wishes! I am grinning in delight at being remembered! (I am so bad at dates, I'm likely to forget my own birthday, sigh. Indeed, your reminder came in good time to remind me to begin working on the mathom I'd planned but hadn't started yet. Here's hoping I've left myself enough time to get it done!)

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Your review made me smile. I've grown so fond of Bill. Gandalf called him a "wise beast", which makes him pretty special in my book. Thank you for reading and stopping to share your thoughts.

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I have always loved JRRT's description of hobbits speaking lightly of heavy matters. (Thanks.)

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Oh yes, you too? Definitely disheartening. As to "easy distance", I didn't really get an idea of distances in LOTR until I started writing fanfic, which made me peruse JRRT's maps (and the maps that others put together) and tables with travel time and distance. I remember when I first understood that it's about 50 miles from Tuckborough to the Brandywine, which would effectively cut down on Pippin casually dropping in on Merry when the two of them become Thain and Master. (I have seen fanfics that have them casually interacting as if the Great Smials is next door to Brandy Hall...) Let's see, Frodo and Pippin left Hobbiton on September 22nd, and they came to Rivendell October 20th (Frodo awakened October 24th), so that was nearly a month of travel, with only three nights in a bed (Crickhollow, Bombadil's house, and Bree). And yes, three weeks from Bree to Rivendell. In the process of outlining this story, I was astonished to realize that Bill travelled with the Fellowship for only three weeks from Rivendell to Moria. Butterbur doesn't say when Bill returned to Bree; only that he was "shaggy as an old dog and lean as a clothes-rail". As far as I can tell, "shaggy" implies that Bill returned while it was still winter, before he blew his winter coat, providing a rough idea of the time frame. Meanwhile, "lean as a clothes-rail" seems to reflect something more than the rigours of travelling with the Fellowship... It appears he must have had a long way to go to get to Bree from Moria. It's been interesting to contemplate. (Pardon me for thinking aloud here at such length and making such a long reply. I'm seriously jet-lagged and trying to get my head back into writing mode.)

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Ah, really? I feel as if I've learned something about Scotland, then! It's also a very "Pacific Northwest" rain, but then, the climate of the PNW west of the Cascade Mountains is very similar to that of North Wales, or so I'm told. (And, to be frank, I've experienced the kind of rain JRRT described in camping trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area on the border of Canada and Minnesota, as well as some of our camping trips in the PNW. Not the most fun I've ever had in my life, but the incredible beauty of wilderness is what sticks in my memory more than the memory of being wet and cold and miserable.)

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I edited a fantasy trilogy some years back where the author wasn't all that familiar with horses and had the hero galloping for hours and miles and miles in the first draft of the first novel. We had a lovely discussion about how horses function in real life, and the author's rewrite incorporated their new understanding, with the result of strengthening the presentation and making the narrative much more realistic and believable. (That's one of the qualities I appreciate in well-written fic of any kind, including fanfic.) Fiction typically ignores certain bodily needs and functions, which makes me wonder sometimes... (For example, I've mentioned chamber pots and the combination of ewer-basin-wastewater bucket in some stories. I haven't gone so far as to describe such a thing as an outhouse, though it would be a logical assumption, at least in the Shire. IRL, I remember touring a castle that had a latrine built into one outer wall, where the bodily waste went into the moat... I wonder how Tolkien's various peoples handled such matters? Perhaps I am entirely too concrete and practical in my thinking. LOL.)

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Lerner has mentioned Discworld to me numerous times. I really need to get around to reading those books... Do you recommend starting with any particular book in the series, or should I just read them chronologically by publication date? Thanks for reading and stopping to share your thoughts. Author Reply: Sorry, "Lerner" should have been "Larner". Silly autocorrect.

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Thank you! Animals have a way of connecting with our emotions, I think.

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Black Riders are awful enough when you know who and what they are. I can't imagine how terrible they must be for animals, who (I should think) would be less able to process what they are feeling and experiencing. But here, I tried to imagine as best I could for poor Bill's sake. Thanks for reading and pausing to share your thoughts!

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It really is a miracle they made it to Rivendell, what with Strider's shortcuts and such. I'm surprised Pippin didn't school him on the perils of shortcuts! (LOL) I don't think SoA was built to accommodate replying to replies, as such. Over the years, authors and readers have made do with what the site does offer. Some archives only allow one review per chapter, but SoA allows readers to add multiple reviews to one chapter. In my past experience with the site, sometimes a reader would post a second and even third review to the same chapter to respond to the author's reply/replies. If you happen to read through past reviews to stories, you may well see author-reader conversations that run on through a series of reviews to several chapters (and replies to those reviews) – if the chapters were posted in fairly quick succession and not months apart. Before life got more complicated about a decade ago, I used to post one or two chapters every day. Those were the days. Now that I've retired, I'm trying to rebuild the habit of writing something every day. Unfortunately, I won't be able to post for two or three weeks after Christmas, but if all goes well, I'll still be writing during that time and will be able to type in the stories/chapters from my notepad and post them when I'm back online. I don't remember "Es geht bergauf" from my (admittedly short – only a few years) time in Germany. I love learning new idioms! Thank you for this one. My brain has formed a clear word picture from the phrase.

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Thank you! Some of my poems in my stories are inspired by Tolkien's work (especially the ones where I took one of his more complex poems, or at least what I consider complex [like the lament for Boromir in The Two Towers], and deliberately and painstakingly adopted his rhythm). In contrast, the folksongs in my stories are mine, though some of them might be inspired by actual folksongs ("the MIller's daughter", for one). I began including original songs in my stories on fanfic (dot) net in part because the site did not allow authors to post any lyrics they had not written themselves. I have always loved folksongs. Singing around a campfire – so many good memories! One of my most satisfying musical endeavors was to sing with a Swiss community choir for about a decade. We sang songs in seven languages, I think, with different musical styles, reflecting the different regions in Switzerland. I learned a lot about ethnic folksongs that way and came to recognize so many common themes in every language: love, loss, homesickness, seasons, nature, daily life, simple pleasures, etc. When my brain gives me lyrics, there's always a tune as well. Although at one time I collected a lot of my LOTR songs in a single document that included links to midi files of the music for people to enjoy, the website that hosted the music files is now long gone, and I have no idea how to put the music online these days. I thought at first I'd got the idea of "Harvestmath" from Pipkin Sweetgrass's marvelous AU where Boromir did not die but settled in the Northlands and became a beekeeper. You can still find it online if you're interested in exploring further. But she said she got the term from one of the online archives of LOTR lore. Along those lines, Dreamflower has also posted some wonderful original songs in her stories. I'm sure other authors have, as well, but I can't name any others (yet) as I only returned to reading fanfic a month ago and have a list of stories as long as my arm to catch up on... including your latest. Beg pardon for this long review reply. Hopefully it's not TMI.