Reviews (140)

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That Frodo would choose to leave had to have been a shock, I think. Either way he'd be gone, but he had not much influence on the choice if he were to suffer a massive heart attack on the sixth during the bout of memories and pain. And now they are Sam's supporters, and he's faced with accepting that the three of them are now peers, and he's as much there for them as they'll be there for him. And Paladin has made the shift; while Sara is still willing to be there to support as he can and is allowed, although he's going to soon demand his questions be answered.

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I never thought Merry and Pippin could find heart to sing thoughtlessly, and that the songs they sang must have been somehow in the honor of Frodo and what he was choosing. We know not all the Elves sailed with Frodo; that one who'd chosen not to sail might have been deputized to keep an eye on Sam during his return if he had to go home alone made sense; and that some would come to the Havens just to bid farewell also made sense. Pippin has his da back rather than the Thain persona, and it must indeed be comforting. Between having to accept that Frodo wouldn't be lying to him when he felt as he did at that last dinner, what he'd heard from Bard and Ferdi and the children and now Lord Halladan, Paladin Took can't deny the truth any more; and is realizing it's okay to be the father of such a changed, mature, capable, brave son where for years he's been the son of the trickster, impatient, endearingly foolish, carelsss Pippin. To find this Pippin was there all along has been a revelation to him. Sam now knows he has the right to sail, although he won't do so while Rosie remains. So glad you appreciate why this has bothered me, too. So many whose only introduction to the story has been the movie seem to accept the surface features, not realizing that just facing the Nazgul and continuing on when he had to believe he was dying there in Mordor was proof Frodo Baggins was far braver than almost anyone else in the story. I, too, have been glad to see Hobbits here treated mostly with dignity.

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Shock it is. Speaking from experience, the shock comes and goes in the aftermath of the situation, also. I agree it was probably best they rode in the coach, although they're most likely to need sleep the first while that they're not riding themselves. So glad you appreciate the fact Pippin feels he's getting his father back. More about the reading of the will is written in "For Eyes to See as Can." Part of the next chapter is lifted from that, even. And am so glad you are glad your request led to this.

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So glad you like it, Harrowcat.

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Knowing how some of my own losses have come, yes, the feeling of suspension is accurate--all too accurate. Am so glad you appear to find it appropriate to the situation.

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I would think that the invocation would be among the first things to come to mind as they faced the fact Frodo needed healing beyond what he could find here. And they have become wise, after all, as they've learned to work together and to learn from one another and those they've met along the way. Glad you appreciated it, Linda.

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I imagine the invocation being sung antiphonally much as the psalms are often sung during the Communion service, especially during solemn services. Each of the three is responding fairly typically to grief, and it is a moment in which they truly won't know how to deal with their feelings. Grief when you live building up to it day after day can be exactly like Sam feels, with even a feeling of relief when the moment of loss finally comes, as it is now over and can be dealt with. But it can leave you feeling terribly wrung out. Laddie would go in again and again to check the bed where Tony slept, unable to understand why he wasn't there. Of course, as Tony's dog guide, that might be just expected. And little Ruffy kept sniffing Tony's shoes. Pippin especially would feel the loss of Gandalf, I think, particularly as he was alone with the Wizard so much on the way to Gondor and there in Minas Tirith. But Gandalf had always had a particularly wonderful relationship with the Tooks, having been specially close to the Old Took (and Anglachel did a wonderful story about Gandalf meeting old Gerontius at the Sarn Ford, and as you can tell I referenced it in this story). As this story is one of reconciliation in many of its meanings, it seemed only right I should show the moment of it beginning between Pippin and Paladin, for they are the ones who have suffered the most.

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It's not a swift release of the grief as a solemnization of it as they sang, I think. And am so glad you appreciated the revisiting of Sam's homecoming as told in ROTK as well as the view of Sara and Pal comforting their sons. And that it could move you to tears is an honor.

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The three of them have just lost what has been the shared center of their universe, and they must be devastated. And yet Tolkien tells us it wasn't long before Merry and Pippin were singing; so the question was what were they singing, and what led them to sing as they did there. And yet singing itself would be right in many ways. So here is an exploration in which they might have been inspired to sing. Sara and Pal, having figured out where the lads had gone, would have some idea as to when they might return, and would want to be there, I think, to help them deal with the homecoming; while the mothers, too, would want to help their sons recover. Am honored this moved you so.

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I'd always wondered what had moved Pippin and Merry to sing then, save the heart does need lifting at such times, and singing can be as healing as proper tears. That the easing is interspersed with more raw pain I know to be true from my own experience, for those of us in middle years all too often have known many losses, and more each subsequent one. Gandalf has been part of Pippin's life all through it, and is now inextricably bound with his love of and memories of Frodo. Gandalf was so much by Pippin all through the quest, taking him at the end to Gondor and advising him. To lose him this second time must have had even more impact than the first time, for now he understands even more than before who and what Gandalf is, and how this time he will NOT return. As for Merry and Sam--you've described it perfectly. I also felt that some provision would have been made, just in case Merry and Pippin didn't make it. And right now I think the three of them need someone outside the direct pain to touch on, to help keep things in perspective. And, finally, at the moment they need their parents just to be Dad and Mom, not peers, but comforters. And I'm glad they have this at last. Thank you so for the feedback.

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Yes, Mac knows his fellow Hobbits and how to distract them. And I'm certain he's done it before. It ought to have been fairly easy to find a wedding or a new babe to get everyone toasting about, don't you think? Heh! As you noted, Aragorn is one of those who will never be able to assuage his Sea Longing; but he's already practiced at dealing with intense longing, after all, and he has Arwen to anchor him to Middle Earth. And indeed he's already outlived so many and will outlive many more before he's done. The Hobbits needed to hear all this from outside sources; now they realize indeed that what the four did out there had immense impact on many. And they have lost their sons as they were, and need now to learn to accept them as they are. As you note, this isn't an easy thing to do necessarily. So glad you appreciate it.

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Yes, Merimac has done it before. And indeed this is an eye-opener. And I KNOW he'll be forgiven, for it is Pippin, after all. Am always thrilled when I read comments such as yours--it's what keeps us writing, after all.

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Mac deserves appreciation as well as the others, and that his own contributions to Frodo's abilities have been recognized needed to be stated, I think. Yes, there has been distress to Pippin, Frodo, and to a lesser amount Merry for what the Thain and his wife wouldn't believe; but that is over. It's only too bad that Frodo didn't have the chance to linger long enough to see the reconciliation between his cousin and his parents. But at least he knew before he left it was coming. Tolkien himself in his letters indicated that the lembas had this capability when lembas was eaten by mortals; I just was repeating his own decision on the nature of the bread. Aragorn himself will have to live with the results of the lembas, but he's had a long time to learn to deal with longings which he can't indulge YET, after all. As for how they will affect Merry and Pippin--I used that as the basis of my short story "Longing" which is posted in "Moments in Time."

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Am so glad you appreciated this, Kitty. I wanted for the parents to have independent verification of what the four of the Travellers had done, and to appreciate its implications. That Gollum started out as a Stoor and became what he did in the end I found fascinating when I first read LOTR; how that information would affect the parents was fun to speculate on. If the Ring did that to Gollum, what might it have done to Bilbo or Frodo eventually? Certainly the photos taken from the Frodo-gone-Gollum sequence PJ had considered including in the movies are quite eerie to look at--that gorgeous Elijah Wood-Frodo Baggins become no different than Gollum in the end! Still makes me shudder. I've read so many comments on Frodo being a wimp and weak-willed and so on, particularly in discussions for the movies on TheOneRing.Net discussion board. Yet every time Tolkien describes the coming of the Nazgul and how folk react to them they are overwhelming. Maggot and the Gaffer both speak of feeling totally spooked, and Maggot's dogs turn tail. In Bree Merry's not aware he's being snuck up on, yet the Black Breath knocked him right out. Only Faramir's great will keeps the retreat from the outer walls from turning into a rout. Men quail and cover their ears when the Nazgul cry, and shudder when they just fly over them. Yet Frodo stands up to them twice when they aren't trying to be particularly ingratiating! I think that took a tremendous amount of courage, myself. And of course Aragorn in the next life is going to want to get all his "brothers" together and knowing one another--don't you agree? :-)

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Thank you, Endaewen.

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Yes, they needed that. So glad you appreciated it and enjoyed the chapter, Demeter. Thanks!

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I know; but they are probably not fully aware of what it is they may be feeling; but they have lives yet to face and live in the Shire, and relationships to mend. I think they'll handle it well enough. In the proposed epilogue Sam is clearly experiencing Sea Longing, but is still suppressing it.

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I've never read "The Dream of Gerontius," but obviously Tolkien had, particularly as this is the name he gave the Old Took. I'll have to look it up and read it now. The idea of the lembas, as you know, is from Tolkien's own letters, as is the idea that mortals who tried to enter Aman would find the experience dangerous to their continuing life. I'll admit it's my own interpretation and interpolation of this that would lead to the reason why even those Elves sailing to Aman would enter through Tol Eressea. But wouldn't it take time for the newcomer to adjust, don't you think? Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli may have eaten some lembas on the river coming south, but as you noted it would have sustained them during the run westward. Aragorn will have to live with whatever Sea Longing he experiences, but has already practiced at deferring his great longings during his life, and will sustain it well enough, I think; and he does have Arwen to keep him tied to Middle Earth during his lifetime. For Merry and Pippin, however, not being used to such things and having no way of following such cravings--well, that's why I wrote "Longing."

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So glad you like the way in which backstory was caught up; and the folk in the Inn must have been wondering what to expect of this group of Men, as the last encounter with their kind was certainly not the sort to build confidence. But the Rangers of Arnor are quite different from Lotho's folks, and are probably much taller.

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Am so glad you like the way I do the Hobbits, for theirs is a different style and feel from most men. Sara and Pal are, after all, Master and Thain, and have had to learn to make deductions. And Sara has at the moment more hope in his heart, and so looks for the signs that might indicate these were possibly summoned to say goodbye to Frodo at the end rather than possibly gone forever. As for the possible problems at the Brandywine Bridge and the gates Lotho had erected--I've postulated that Aragorn did try a temporary ban on Men entering the Shire without special dispensation, possibly as a response to a call for such from the officials of the Shire. Dreamflower has told me she'd done the same. You aren't mistaken at all. This has been a part of my stories for a while now, and Ruvemir had to get that special permission in "The King's Commission."

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Yes, this is adding to Paladin's own distress at his past actions toward Pippin. It must have been very difficult waiting till the lads returned so he could make it right. So glad you appreciate the recognition of Mac's influence on Frodo's growth. I don't think that Sara would have been one to teach Frodo self-defense, but that Sara's younger brother just might be in such a position. That this teaching was as effective in its way as the training Aragorn received from Glorfindel, the twins, and other Elven warriors in Imladris would be proper, I thought. After all, he's one of those intended to help bring the Shire to full potential. And you're right about the worries the parents will feel. But they'll find they were unfounded, and that M&P did make it in time. Your own computer is causing problems? I know the feeling, believe me!

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That is precisely right, Grey Wonderer. I think the four parents needed this talk to hammer home the fact that their sons honestly earned the honors granged to them. Thanks for the feedback.

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The effects of lembas and the way mortals would react in the Undying Lands are from Tolkien's letters. Still don't have a copy of them, but what snippets appear here and there elsewhere on the Web have sunk in. It's always interesting to see how I can use more of Tolkien's own thoughts and creations and plans in my own stories.

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So glad you appreciate it, my lady. They've had the truth from Frodo and now have had it confirmed by Lord Halladan. It's impossible to keep the fiction that things were different from what Frodo, Merry, and Pippin had tried to tell them. And am glad you appreciate how the chapter ends.

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Yes, it has more impact when you see these, who are plainly warriors born and bred, with their deep respect for what the Hobbits were able to accomplish, particularly when looking at Frodo raising his sword in defiance when soldiers covered their ears and cowered, and Merry and Eowyn struck out when others were carried away by their mounts. And to hear that their "little" Pippin is considered good enough to teach new recruits in Gondor must have truly been a shock. I have Frodo mention this in "For Eyes to See as Can"; yet here is this strange Man who obviously is impressed. It sings in deeper and more quickly that Pippin is seen as a competent adult by other cultures, and leads them to more fully rethink their own relationship with him. So glad you appreciated it, SlightlyTookish. I love to see Pippin get his due, you know.