Raksha The Demon
· 7 January 2006
· Chapter 61: 61: Brandybuck Lawyer
Poor Frodo. Looks like there's no peace for him anywhere. I don't know whether it's better or worse for him to be in a place where most people don't understand what he went to fight, and what he accomplished.
Author's reply
I like how in Dreamflower's current story "A Chance Encounter" she has brought out how different people are seeking to capitalize on the Hobbit's fame to promote their own businesses or trying to pretend to be friends so they can try to get them to promote personal agendas or to promote a love affair or marriage; it is so true to what we see when folks are announced to have won large jackpots in state lottos or become famous and so on. And even in this story I used the commonplace habit of stealing underware and cutting off locks of hair and sneaking in just to stare at the sleeping Hobbits as justification for Aragorn keeping a guard on the enclosure in which Frodo and Sam sleep in Ithilien.
Yet at home he's constantly being called upon to explain, except before he can finish others are talking over him to tell their own stories or don't have the experiential base to understand what he says or just don't WANT to believe. Or they're demanding explanations they then reject. Plus he wants to forget, and can't truly while all are questioning about the lost finger or whatever.
He's in a Catch 22.
So, no, there is no true peace for Frodo where everybody knows what he did, or where his exploits are unknown. In neither does he truly manage to come to peace with it.
I enjoyed reading Frodo's letter over his shoulder too! At least I had permission. :)
This chapter reminded me of how much I like Brendi and makes me want to go back and re-read The Ties of Family for the 3rd or 4th time! :) I am so glad that he was able to get Frodo to share what had happened to him. Frodo needs other people to know what had truly gone on, even if that is only a small group of people. And Brendi is a safe person for him to share it with, he is both compassionate and brave. Loyal, too. And his love for Frodo is obvious. I loved how he held Frodo's hand and wept over it and wouldn't let Frodo pull it away and hide it from him... he wanted to know the truth. Sometimes you have to do that with people. It was all so very good.
Very well done!
Author's reply
The more Brendilac Brandybuck appears in my stories, the better I like him, too. And, yes, he is the love that wants to know the truth, and even though he doesn't understand it all, he at least asks to know it and accepts it and so helps Frodo begin to come to terms with it for here at home in the Shire.
In time, because he's open to what Frodo tells him now, Brendi is ready to go to Gondor to see the fullness of it, to understand fully, to rejoice for Frodo as Frodo could only do in part for what Frodo accomplished.
You've read "The Choice of Healing" that many times? I'm truly honored!
And so glad you liked Frodo's letter. At least Mina saw the more personal parts, and will be better able to appreciate the nature of the King than many when he comes north.
People handle their grief in such different ways - I know people that have done as Mina and left a loved one's room untouched and others that come in and totally change a room around. We all have to deal with it in our own ways.
I loved when Frodo was describing Aragorn to Will, how well he knew him and how they knew that he was the rightful king. How proud he was of his friend and could focus on the good things of the last year for a moment... to maybe for a very brief moment think of what his deeds had allowed to bring about. Though I still don't think he sees that!
Seeing Pippin through other people's eyes was good... I liked having his outfit described in such detailed. It would have been so strange to the people of the Shire. (the same later with Merry) But I felt so for him knowing what was going on at home with his parents. :(
Nicely done!
Author's reply
I've seen a few who did that with loved ones things as well. I know when my husband died it took me a few weeks to begin going through his things, and months to find homes for much of it. Still have a couple coats in the closet, in fact, and it's been over four years now.
Aragorn is one subject all four of them can speak of freely. Trying to explain other things, however, is harder to do, and Frodo still can't easily speak of what he's been through himself.
I'm so glad people appear to appreciate how their clothing is described--it is so heartening; but it would look odd from a Hobbit's point of view, I think. And I agree with feeling sorry for him with what's going on at home.
I'm sorry I couldn't review this morning Larner but it was a case of read and run or read, review and be late! I got to work by the skin of my teeth and then found that both priests had over-slept and I was locked out! What a day.
Another chapter full of lovely details like Brendi using his pony too hard and the reaction he gets; Brendi's noticing the quality of the tack and Frodo's reaction to his automatic instinct to cosset him.
At last, someone, (not of the Fellowship,) who isn't afraid to touch and hold Frodo, at least his hand, and demand answers. It is all too easy to skirt around the truth when people are struggling to avoid pain for them and ourselves. I am glad that at least two people from within the Shire are getting him to talk and giving him honest reactions. But What a mark of trust from Brendi!
“You’ll never believe it.”
“You’ve never lied to me, Frodo Baggins.”
Frodo is having to find words and comparisons that will allow at least some to understand something of the enormity of the events that have happened and enough to begin to make links with the outside world. The letter to Aragorn is great, especially the list of things that Frodo will miss.
Author's reply
I was a bit late to work last night--didn't want to stop reading stories here, actually. Sounds like your day began with frustration.
Glad you felt the way Brendi treated his pony was appropriately described as well as the reactions to it by old Pease. And also glad you liked how the tack was admired and its quality remarked upon.
But Brendi is the type of person Frodo needs. So many aren't going to be able to understand; yet even though his experiential base is lacking, Brendi makes the effort and accepts what he's told, and demonstrates he truly loves Frodo, which at the moment Frodo needs desperately. And am so glad you appreciate Brendi's statement of trust.
And so glad folk appreciate the letter!
Naughty Brendi, exhausting his poor horse. Although I can see why he wanted to get to Frodo.
Frodo is being very obstinate about things like special teas - he really doesn't want to give in to any level of invalidism, and of course he makes himself worse. I think it's helping him seeing others around him - like Will - who are also suffering the effects of war. And it makes him stand out less at the moment, until those who are suffering from the Troubles recover and he doesn't.
Author's reply
Yes, Brendi is being markedly irresponsible for the health of his pony; but feels the scolding and the danger are worth it to see for himself Frodo is there and still alive and, apparently at first, okay. The love he feels is demonstrated in a way Frodo can't help but realize.
And you are certainly right on about the way Frodo's response to his own condition is expressed, and how it may be helped at first by the presence of others such as Will, others who for the most part will recover while he won't.
So glad to see your comments and responses.
Nice to see Brendi again! And somehow I am glad Frodo told him at least a bit about his journey, though it is so difficult for Frodo to talk about it. Brendi deserves to know it. But it hurts to see Frodo blaming himself for absolutely everything. Well, at least Aragorn is a topic he’s happy to talk about. It is truly sad they don’t meet again for hundred and twenty years.
Author's reply
So glad others are also happy to see Brendilac appear in this story. It gives Frodo the knowledge that at least someone still loves him unconditionally who's known him fairly well for years, which he needs.
But Aragorn is someone he'll always be able to speak about, I think. However, as deeply as the two are in one another's hearts, even that a hundred twenty-some years is worth it in the end, I think.
Now you’ve me wondering if all the jewellery and other treasures Lotho’s bullies had stolen have been found and returned to their owners?
“You know him?” The idea a Hobbit of the Shire would know the King Returned seemed awful queer to Will Whitfoot.
Frodo seemed surprised anyone would ask such an obvious question. *grin* Well, for Will it’s not that obvious, isn’t it? The hobbits have always seen the old history as fairy tales, after all. To believe anyone who tells them they are all true is not so easy. But for the other hobbits it’s difficult to believe *anything* the Travellers told them.
Anyway, I think the problem is, the other hobbits need to hear about what happened, even if they wouldn’t believe it all, but the Travellers aren’t able to talk about it, at least not much. A quite difficult situation.
Author's reply
We haven't learned about the jewelry as yet; probably sometime soon, though, as more stashes are found.
For Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, what was legendary has become what they've lived with for the past year, and so it seems strange it should be questioned; for everyone else, however, it remains legendary and is hard to take in. There must have been several "obvious" facts on both sides that the other side had to try to deal with.
The other problem is that it's harder for the Shire Hobbits to appreciate what went on "out there" than it is for the Travelers to understand what happened back home while they were gone; what they see has happened, after all, is but an extension of what Sauron's folk were out to do everywhere and what they'd done to much of the outer world. So the ones who remained home, who remain mostly insular in nature and inclination, find it easier to focus on what they've experienced themselves than on what others are going through.
Poor Frodo. I suppose it did him good to tell Brendie, but...I just don't know. And yes, I agree with what you said in the reply to my last review, and more heartily than I would have before reading this chapter. Frodo does indeed need some good plain looking after from someone he's not going to fight at every turn. He also needs some peace, without all those dratted business papers to show him in further detail the damage done to the Shire and what a mess there is to clean up. But it *is* good that he has something else to focus on besides his own grief and traumatic memories. I wish I could just jump right into the story and join Sam in making sure that he doesn't overdo. Can't wait for more now! God bless,
Galadriel
Author's reply
Yes, Frodo needs something worthwhile to do he knows is doing some actual good. And he needs those willing to listen and assure him he's worthwhile in spite of himself. It will make it easier to accept healing in the Undying Lands when that comes.
I know what you mean about wanting to be there with Sam making Frodo relax from time to time, though.
“Frodo! What happened to you?”
Frodo rose abruptly and pulled away. “What didn’t happen to me, Brendi?” he said softly.
This just breaks my heart.
*sigh*
Author's reply
There's always something there to remind him he's not as he was, and that the last year wasn't but a dream of glory and horror. And he's still ashamed of what he didn't manage to do.
And, from his perspective, it must feel at times as if everything possible had indeed happened to him.
I loved Frodo's letter to Aragorn--so full of love, and missing his friends--I really think that for the four Travellers, by the time they returned to the Shire, they had another family: what remained of the Fellowship, and the friends associated with it.
I really loved the way the stablemaster gave Brendi the "what-for" over the way he had ridden his pony! It was a telling detail, and showed how much Frodo had been missed.
I also like the way Brendilac believes Frodo--"you've never lied to me". He may feel incredulous about the details, but only because he finds them mind-boggling, not because he doesn't have confidence in what Frodo tells him! I also like how observant he is--clearly a Brandybuck trait--in noticing Frodo's gear, clothing and so forth.
Author's reply
Yes, they do have another family, one they have all come to love tremendously. And a bit, at least, they will at first share that family tentatively, then more confidently as they realize that sharing is appreciated.
And to care enough to come as soon as he's certain where Frodo is, I think Brendilac Brandybuck would have foundered several ponies to reassure himself Frodo's all right--and he is, and he isn't.
And yes, he'd notice the new goods, the workmanship, the beauty, and the caring for Frodo and the others they indicate.
Andrea
· 6 January 2006
· Chapter 60: 60: Mina's Menfolk
The conversation between Frodo and Will reminds me of the "questioning" with Faramir and his Rangers. Frodo's answers are very polite, but he is reluctant to tell too much. So what he reveals is perfectly balanced between what Will as Mayor has to know and what should be private matter! I really admire Frodo for that ability!
Will is not to blame, of course, for as the Mayor he has the right to know what happened during the absence of the four travellers. And he cares for Frodo (and Bilbo) and so wants to know how they have fared.
Mina deserves admiration, too. Fate was cruel to her and it is wonderful to see her awaken after a nightmare and find that not only her husband is there but also Frodo, in the room of her beloved Fenton, after all those years.
I loved it to see the clothing of Merry and Pippin described through her eyes and the compliment she gave to Merry. Mina is a good soul and she deserves a bit of happiness!
Author's reply
Frodo does do his best to inform without giving more information than he ought to or than the other can handle--or than he can handle. Glad you like that ability in Frodo.
Will and Mina try to understand, and in the end Mina ends up understanding more than her husband does--but that's only to be expected. Will admits he doesn't have the experience to understand in "The King's Commission," so instead he just accepts as best he can that what is is true.
And Mina is finding a purpose she thought lost when Fenton died--to help someone who is at the same time remarkably strong and remarkably vulnerable, who's a mix of needy child and fully capable adult who needs her mothering, who needs at times to whisper the nightmares to someone. It's reassuring to have that room filled again. Aster she saw to adulthood and fulfillment--she lost Fenton before the end of the process. Hopefully with Frodo she'll be able to find that closure of seeing him ready for what comes next and they will be mutually healing for one another.
And for her seeing the clothing of Merry and Pippin helps her understand that indeed these four DID go "out there" and did extraordinary things. Perhaps Frodo ought not to have insisted on going back to Shire dress so quickly. His actions made it harder for others to remember he, like Merry and Pippin, had indeed gone "out there," too.
Oh, I love Mina! She seems like such a motherly person, the way she always has food ready, when she checks on both Will and Frodo, and the last little thought on "her menfolk." I hope we see more of her. :-) God bless,
Galadriel
Author's reply
Glad you like her, my Lady. And right now maybe Frodo needs some plain old mothering from someone he won't fight at every turn. She'll be prominent until Frodo leaves the Shire.
demeter d
· 6 January 2006
· Chapter 60: 60: Mina's Menfolk
Eru can use our weaknesses for his purposes. And Frodo carries the best traits from many different families, each strong in their own ways. He seemed to have been born for just that mission. But it was still up to him to choose to acept the calling. I quess that is the simplest way through that old theological debate that anyone could ever find! I really do believe that we each have our own gifts from above, given to us for our own and others benefit, if we will listen and learn howto use them. I can not see how anyone can separate that Presence out of Tolkien's stories. And it surely has shone like a light through all of your writings! I too have enjoyed the point of view of a lesser character here. After all, rebuilding after disasters is done day by day, by ordinary people. Sometimes, as in the case of many of our Hobbits, by seemingly ordinary people quietly doing extra-ordinary things. I think that Mina could qualify as part of the unlooked for help Gandalf once forsaw.
It was interesting to read Pippin trying to tell the tale to Will Whitfoot. The names he told him were names out of legend for the Mayor. I imagine that is how it has always been for those returning from wars. The people back home can never really understand what they have gone through.
Author's reply
That you see the Presence shining in my stories is humbling and gratifying, for certainly I try to open them to It. Certainly It's part of what has attracted many of us to Tolkien's writing to begin with, and what caught so much of my initial attention when I first began reading LOTR over forty years ago.
One monk once commented it was easier in many ways for a good husband and father to live a properly spiritual life than for someone like a monk or priest, as the good husband and father has to live Christian charity seven days a week, all day long. He has to practice love, patience, discernment, humor, assistance, and so on constantly in his interactions with wife and children and extended family and neighbors, and it can't be artificial and him still be a good father and husband. Mina is, I think, an example of this and helps Frodo accept that he, too, is intended for now to live such a life. He's not a lover or father or even a proper son himself, but he becomes a surrogate of these things while he remains assistant Mayor, and realizes he's been this all along in his life in the Shire and that this is important!
As for the experience of the veteran coming home and finding he can't properly explain to others because they don't have the experiential base to understand, and that it hurts to discuss it with those who don't understand--that's been true of life for all the history of mankind, I think.
I very much like the descriptions of how the Shirefolk view Merry and Pippin's unusual garments. (I tend to completely forget, in my stories, to talk about how anyone is dressed!) The Travelers are explaining what happened down South as simply and honestly as they can, but... how could they ever *really* explain it to anyone who wasn't there? No wonder passing on the Red Book was so important to Frodo.
Author's reply
Now and then I do go into the dress and how people react to it. I remember in writing my version of the first encounter between Pippin and Diamond when he's sent with messages to Long Cleeve purposely writing it to make a Howard Pyle knight in shining armor suddenly enter into a scene almost straight out of a Jane Austen garden party. It helps at times to highlight how different they look so those who remained behind begin to realize that these have been through so much.
And for Frodo the Red Book became the way he primarily let others know what had changed, what he'd done, how the world came to be as it was now.
I really like the way you show the reactions of Will and Mina to their guest and his kin--getting used to the changes in them, hearing the first few hesitant and reluctant attempts to explain what happened. Their mild disbelief and confusion, yet acknowledgement that however strange it sounded, they must be hearing the truth--and still incredulous and troubled by it.
Of course, as Mayor, Will needs to know what happened and why--he needs to understand, really, though I know he will not. But it is hard for the Travellers to talk about at home, and I think the way you showed it with Pippin was just the way it would have been--a willingness, however painful to answer direct questions up to a certain point, but unless pressed by circumstance, an unwillingness to initiate the explanations.
And the descriptions of Pippin and Merry and their Outlander garb from Mina's POV was very well done.
I like the beginnings of overlap here between this story and "Choice of Healing" and "Family Ties". Very well done.
Author's reply
It would have been very difficult for them to come home where the thought of future kings wandering the wilds allowing themselves to be called "Strider" and golden rings that willfully twist the nature of their bearers and so on are almost impossible to imagine.
It was hard to talk of it much in Gondor, even to those who knew. How much harder now.
And glad you liked the descriptions of the reaction of Mina to the livery.
I'm trying to overlap without repeating. Thanks for the compliments.
He is at it again Larner! Pushes himself to tell a little of the tale, sees a whole pile of work to do to get things straight, feels guilty and dives straight in with no thought to pacing himself. And surrounded by people who, at this point, don't understand much. I am glad that Mina is so empathic.
When things have been in such turmoil there is great comfort in regular routine and the mundane. BTW Is your computer still refusing to speak to mine?
Author's reply
Yes, Frodo has difficulty pacing himself indeed, and is also having difficulty with the personal questions as to why he has changed.
And, yes, PMMail keeps accepting your email address and then converting it to simple HARROWCAT, and then wondering why the server won't accept it to transfer on to England. GAACK!
I like seeing this from Mina's point of view.
Frodo will cope, I think, as long as he feels he is really needed - it's when things settle back down and he has too much time to think that it all becomes too much for him.
The special tea will help a bit, but there's a lot of pressure at the moment.
Author's reply
My mother noted that so many elderly folk she knew were fine until they were prevailed upon to retire, and that then they went down hill fast, perhaps most strongly because they no longer had a sense of purpose.
Frodo did himself a disservice by pulling himself out of Hobbit society when he returned the office of Mayor to Will. He might have done much better if he'd left himself an outside interest to give himself something to focus on.
And, yes, there's a lot of pressure in the moment.
Linda Hoyland
· 6 January 2006
· Chapter 60: 60: Mina's Menfolk
I loved how Frodo described the proofs that aragorn is the rightful King,there are plenty of them !
Author's reply
As with the names, Aragorn has a plethora of signs for his acceptance as King. And, of course, Frodo knows them all! Glad you liked it.
This was a good and different way to cover the incident of The Travelers taking back the Shire without having to go into all of those details and instead finding out about Will's wife and their family. I remember how in 'The Ties of Family' she took very good care of Frodo when he was serving as deputy mayor and so it was sad to see how her son had died at a fairly young age.
Author's reply
I wanted for there to be a tie between Frodo and Mina. This part of the story has been working in my consciousness for months, and originally was going to be an independent story; Fenton's death during the plague of 1390 while Frodo survived the same disease has been there for the whole time. That my motherly Nuzgul would insist on moving into this story I'd wanted to write first took me by surprise. But I didn't want to go back again through the retaking of the Shire in too much needless detail, and so this found its expression instead.
Radbooks
· 5 January 2006
· Chapter 58: 58: The Road North
As I said, I want to change the story and have them all live together happily ever after! Unfortunately it's not a fairy tale and actually that is one of the things that I do admire about Tolkien's work that he made it more 'real' than many books. There was a cost and sacrifices had to be made by people... but I still don't like it at times - I'm human and want it all! :)
I liked how Aragorn asked Celeborn to see that someone would still be there for Arwen when he passed. It was both a gutsy thing to ask and yet a very typical, loving thing that is totally in character for Aragorn. Of course he would want someone of her family there with her after he is gone. I say gutsy because I know how hard it would be for any of the elves to be there with Arwen to watch her fade and I know that Aragorn knows that too, but sometimes we ask our families to do hard things for us and families pull through for us - hopefully.
I really liked this conversation between Gandalf and Frodo because I know how true it is!
"You will find, Frodo, that Eru uses even our weaknesses for His purposes in promoting our greater good.”
Frodo shivered slightly as he thought on that statement, pulling his Elven cloak more closely around him. “I don’t find that thought particularly heartening, Gandalf.”
Gandalf gave an unexpected laugh. “No, I would be surprised if you did. To realize that we have become so predictable that the Creator can use our own responses for His own ends is particularly humbling.”
Well done!
Author's reply
Yes, we want Bilbo's proposed ending, although we have the fact of the whispered response, "Yes, but where will they all live?" Life isn't fair, and these four in particular had the chance to see just how true that statement is.
Glad you, too, feel Aragorn's request is in character with him, and it was a particularly difficult thing for those who must see that fading.
And that you appreciated the truth of that particular interchange is very gratifying. But how often have we seen it in our own lives?
Thanks so much for the response.
Linda Hoyland
· 5 January 2006
· Chapter 59: 59: Mayor's Wife
I like the way you depict the hobbits as very resourceful and able to look after themselves,they remind me of the French Ressistance !
Author's reply
Resistance throughout history has tended to work in much the same way; and it has always seemed to me that the folk of Buckland would in the end have an easier time resisting Lotho's tyranny than even the Thain, for they are far from Hobbiton, have the natural barrier of the river to begin with, and are pictured with a strong independent streak as well as being full of initiative. So glad you appreciate it.
What an intriguing look at events from another point of view. A fascinating glimpse of a new character (I know she appears in some of your other stories) and her life. Also nice to see Will Whitfoot - a much neglected character in most fiction.
Mina seems to have had a sad life - to lose her son like that must have been hard to bear. Nice to have a glimpse of the domestic life of the Whitfoots.
Author's reply
Glad you like this deeper look at Mina and Will. Of course, we don't even know if Will was married, but if he was, I'd prefer it be to someone like her.
And before modern medicine so many tended to die of diseases like pneumonia secondary to influenzas and so on. That there would be parallels between Frodo's life and that of Will and Mina's son seemed needed to explain why Mina would develop such a strong sense of affection for Frodo. In many ways, losing him will be like losing Fenton all over again, although the two will help each other heal.
I like the way you chose to tell this part of the story through someone new. You excell at that!
It's very much as I imagined it as well. I am quite sure that the ruffians did not have it so much "their way" as they thought--even after "Sharkey" arrived.
I loved the description of Frodo's role in the Shire, and how it seemed as though he were being groomed as a future Mayor by Bilbo and Will. Wonderfully done.
And now they are home.
Author's reply
Yes, they are home, but home isn't as they'd imagined it to be, and now each has taken upon himself the mission to help the Shire heal however he can. Meanwhile they have a good deal of coming to terms with the changes they find in themselves, which they didn't quite appreciate until they got home and realized it, too, needs rebuilding.
And, yes, I think Frodo had been groomed for being Mayor for a long time, and it's now coming to fruition, even if it's just for a short time.
Thanks for the compliments!
Antane
· 5 January 2006
· Chapter 58: 58: The Road North
Another great chapter, Larner! Love comments on Iluvatar using even our weaknesses for good.
Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
God so often has done this in my life, and I'm certain in the lives of others as well. Thanks for showing the appreciation for it, Antane.
Radbooks
· 5 January 2006
· Chapter 57: 57: Farewell to the Southlands
Going back to work after the holidays is always so hard and keeps me so busy! :)
This was a hard chapter to read because I hate farewells! But you did a wonderful job of starting the process of them saying good-bye. I liked the image of Frodo drawing Aragorn and Sam outside the gates of Edoras... that's a picture that I would like to have! :) My friend is an artist and has drawn a picture of Aragorn for me that is absolutely wonderful - I'll have to see if I can send that to you. Anyway, I liked that image.
I liked the meeting with the Ents and how they approached both Aragorn and Frodo and Sam and saw them for how they truly were and the discussion they had with the elves. And the image of Aragorn holding hands with his 2 brothers stirred my heart. One thing I like about Tolkien's work is that physical acts of affection between men can be displayed without being taken the wrong way. Well, they shouldn't be anyway, though I know some people do.
I need to get back to work, but will review more chapters later! :)
Author's reply
The picture I described in "For Eyes to See as Can," as well as the conversation that went along with it that Frodo didn't here. He misinterpreted the focus of that conversation, and so was better able to appreciate the mutual grief and comfort he saw being given. I tried to draw it the other night, along with Ruvemir's painting from "Lesser Ring," and I couldn't do justice by either.
And again in the image of the three sons of Elrond, two immortal on either side of their mortal brother, we have a similar moment.
I, too, am glad that displays of affection in Tolkien's world failed to have a strictly sexual connotation, and get very tired of our "sophisticated" idea that this is always true.
And I wanted it plain that the Ents also agreed with Frodo's and Sam's ennoblement, and that not even Frodo could ignore that fact. Plus I always rather liked Quickbeam and wanted to see more of him independently, and now we get to see it.
As for work--considering my schedule the last two weeks, I'm glad to have the holidays over and have a few nights to devote to my reading at last.