Oh yes! The mithril coat! I had a hunch it might come into play sometime during the story.
I am really intrigued as to the dealings of the Proudfoots, and why Kira's parents didn't want anything to do with them--I do hope we will find out why!
Aside from all that, I really love the "hobbitiness" you have captured so well--the playfulness and friendship of the children for one thing, and Kira's appetite, for another, LOL! You have made the Shire very familiar--and yet, there are just enough differences to show that this isn't the *same* Shire now in the Fourth Age as it was at the end of the Third.
Author's reply
I'm glad you liked the "proof" Kira was demanding in the previous chapter.
Next chapter will have some awkward dealings with the Proudfoots, but other than that I'm afraid you'll have to wait till near the end of the tale.
Glad you think I'm somewhat accurate regarding hobbit appetites. I often get so caught up in the plot that I forget that Kira has to eat! And it's also very helpful to know what kind of a job I'm doing in painting the Shire--similar, but different--because that's my intention. More differences should show themselves in time, as well as (eventually) explanations/justifications for those differences.
I hope you like the direction this story is taking!
Larner
· 6 October 2008
· Chapter 3
Oh, it's kept there, is it now, Bilbo and Frodo's mithril corslet and the matching belt? How wonderful she should see it!
A lovely day, and I find I love these children, for they are so like the children we were--before growing up stole the others from me. Has a feeling of the Would-be-goods to it!
Author's reply
The mail-coat is a bit of fudging, since anything Really Really Cool (tm) had a tendency to go West after the Third Age, but I thought it would be a very hobbitty thing for the Travellers (especially Frodo, in memory of his uncle) to just stick the thing back where it had lain for the last 60 years, for those with the eyes to find it.
I'm glad to have caught something of the nature of children, simply going outside and playing, because of course I'm now (aren't we all?) a bit removed from that experience. Maybe Kira (the later one through whose veil I sometimes tell this story) is remembering it that way too--a lot of the "playing" scenes tend to have a certain nostalgia to them that was not consciously intended the first time round.
Kara's Aunty
· 6 October 2008
· Chapter 0
Hello fellow newbie!!
Found your story and loved this line:
“But Tom says they’re queer on the other side of the River.”
You've got to love those suspicious Hobbits! Am looking forward to more of this, so see you later.
Maureen.
Author's reply
Glad you've liked what you've seen so far--I'm actually just getting around to reviewing your new stuff (and replying... if such a "chatty" thing is allowed, to some of the points in your reply!).
One of my favorite bits in early Fellowship was finding the Bywater hobbits and Buckland hobbits saying the exact same thing about each other, and I've assumed that such prejudices--especially among children who like teasing their friends--haven't changed too much over 120 years.
6336
· 30 September 2008
· Chapter 2
I think not being taught to read is one of the worst things that can happen to anybody! If you can read the world is open to you. Keeping an open mind about what you read is also important, just because it seems fantastic does not mean it did not happen. A paralell(sp) to our times is those who do not belive the Holocaust and all it's attendent misery happened.
Keep on writing, hopefully Kerry will get Kira to belive in the end!
More please,
Lynda
Author's reply
Literacy, especially in poor and rural areas, is a relatively recent trend in cultural history--traditional pub signs are so colorful and distinctive precisely because they were intended to be easily recognized by people who couldn't read.
The problem is when illiteracy is combined with ignorance to create the kind of stiff-necked insular pride that was supposed to be characteristic of "typical" hobbits (who for good reason were not the sort that Tolkien wrote about!). Fortunately with Kira one of these problems is getting taken care of, and we can only hope that with it the other will as well.
Back in those days, it was a shame if you were illiterate and ignorant. These days it's downright dangerous.
Raksha The Demon
· 29 September 2008
· Chapter 2
It really is sad that, apparently, so many hobbits think there was never any such things as dragons or magic rings, that they're just the equivalent of fairy tales. Of course, many hobbits called Bilbo "Mad". But Kira has learned to read, and a mind as fine as hers is not going to sit idle forever; I think she will learn more about the history of the Hobbits in the Third Age. And I certainly hope that she will meet an Elf or two, or a Dwarf, someday.
Author's reply
Of course, many hobbits called Bilbo "Mad".
Precisely--"and eventually Mad Baggins, who used to vanish with a bang and a flash and reappear with bags of jewels and gold, became a favourite character of legend and lived on after all the true events were forgotten." (Emphasis mine)
Such is the way of Legend and Story.
Dreamflower
· 29 September 2008
· Chapter 2
Very interesting! The excuses Kira's aunt gave to keep her from reading was a very hobbity one.
With the Proudfoot name, Kira is actually probably related to more than one of the Travellers--it would be very interesting to find out.
I wonder if Kira will be able to read the other copy of the Red Book after all. And I wonder if she will have correspondence with Kerry?
Her request for proof: proof should be there in the Shire. Where, I wonder, did Sting end up? I'm sure Sam would have left it with one of his children--Elanor, perhaps, or Frodo, or it may have ended up among the Tooks via Goldilocks and Faramir. He also still possessed his barrow-blade. The same goes for the mithril coat, Sam's golden mail, or Merry and Pippin's swords and armor--although those might have gone with their owners to Gondor...if Sam did not wear it across the Sundering Sea, there would have been the cloaks of Lorien and the brooches...
I keep thinking about your hints in regards to the passing of King Elessar, and wondering how that will affect the story.
And I do hope that Kerry will get to see an Elf. Someone will have to bring news of the new King to the Shire, which is part of Arnor, after all--and since Men can't enter, perhaps one of the Traveller's Elven friends--Legolas or Elladan or Elrohir, maybe, or even Glorfindel if he has not sailed yet...
As you can see I am very fascinated with your story! I look forward to more...
Author's reply
Of course, since all the canonical last names we have come from Appendix C, just about any name would make Kira related to one of the Travellers, at least--I haven't quite figured out where the Proudfoots fit into an extension of the tree just yet, but now that you've brought it up Kira (aged some years beyond this fic) is jumping up and down inside my brain and demanding to know. Such a hobbit... *sigh*
The current extent of Kira's "Prove it to me!" artifacts is restricted to The Hobbit, but if she learns more the proof will become increasingly difficult to shut out or rationalize away. I just had to put the Ring in there because it's so very funny and back when my own knowledge of Tolkien was restricted to The Hobbit it made perfect sense that it'd still be around 120 years later for cheap parlour tricks.
At any rate I'm not wholly sure how much of the litany of proof that you found is still in the Shire--a number of Really Really Sweet Things from the Third Age (the star-glass, for instance. I really wish the star-glass had stayed) departed, usually for the West.
By virtue of his position, if indeed his disposition weren't already predisposed to such an encounter, Kerry will probably get to see an Elf at least once in his lifetime. And though we won't actually see him for a while, with Kira's going back to the Westfarthing, we certainly haven't seen the last of him!
Larner
· 29 September 2008
· Chapter 2
So, they've forgotten and refuse to believe, have they? And Aunt Penny needed so long to become convinced to allow her to continue reading? Too bad. Alas.
Now, to find the evidence that it was all real. Frodo didn't go through what he did so others could forget and pretend it didn't happen.
Author's reply
What can I say? Hobbits are awfully stubborn, and it's a testament to the Master's powers of persuasion that Aunt Penny conceded.
Frodo didn't go through what he did so others could forget and pretend it didn't happen.
Indeed, though I imagine getting hobbits to learn what happened was a herculean task in and of itself. The rumor mill is a dreadful thing, and subtle accomplishments such as carrying the Ring to Mordor can easily get lost in tales of hacking orcs into tiny little pieces. Not until the tale of the Ring becomes a part of the very fabric of hobbit society will hobbits cease to forget or rationalize away the bits that they don't understand--and then! Then, if someone or something tries to take that away from them, they will truly become a force to be reckoned with!
Raksha The Demon
· 29 September 2008
· Chapter 1
Just a quick note to say that this is a good story; one that raises some question about the wisdom of Elessar's decision to protect the Shire from Men by not allowing the latter race to enter it...Though the hobbits have tended towards isolation before. It is fascinating, and sad, to see what has been forgotten and/or disbelieved.
Author's reply
I've often wondered about how smart the Ban really was--while in the short term it made a lot of sense, in the long term it made what is outlined here (by no means the only logical interpretation of 4th Age!Shire) quite feasible. Hobbits--at least those in the Shire--do tend toward isolation, which makes it harder (and it was already hard!) to accept change as it comes. Hence the situation here laid out.
Agape4Gondor
· 27 September 2008
· Chapter 1
Very nice chapter... and yes, I am getting very attached to this lass. Not quite a fun life for a little Hobbittess.... And I've very glad that Kerry has taken an interest in her.
Author's reply
Good, because I rather dislike those stories in which you have no feelings of sympathy or empathy for the protagonist... unfortunately they seem to be getting ever more popular in the Actual Fiction world.
Kerry is the sort of conscientious fellow who will take an interest in anyone he feels is slighted by circumstance, which is why he's such a good companion for Kira.
Agape4Gondor
· 27 September 2008
· Chapter 0
An interesting beginning. I feel for the child... leaving loved ones for a stranger's home is not fun, even for an adult.
Author's reply
All depends on your outlook--I was a bit of an intrepid Tookish explorer when younger (and still tend toward it now), but for most hobbits it's probably the worst thing that could happen to you.
Thanks for reading!
Trix
· 27 September 2008
· Chapter 1
Poor Kira, I'm glad she is finding one friend at least. Interesting story so far!
Author's reply
Kira is a little out of her element at the moment, but she does have one friend right now and if all goes well she'll also be on her way to having books to keep her company.
Thanks for the review!
Larner
· 23 September 2008
· Chapter 1
A descendant of Merry's who doesn't know her own genealogy, or the family stories properly? Who thinks Travelers' tales are but tales? Who doesn't think Frodo Baggins did anything?
Which of Sam's children lingered for a time in Michel Delving?
And she doesn't even know how to read????
Criminal!
Author's reply
The "old Mayor's son" actually isn't one of Sam's children--he's a couple of generations down the line. About this no more can be said at the moment.
As for the rest of the review... suffice it to say that the Shire is in a bit of a reactionary period at the moment... >_>
Ah, well. You've got to start from somewhere.
Larner
· 23 September 2008
· Chapter 0
An epidemic, eh? Poor child! Hope it's not too hard on her, being so far from home.
Author's reply
"Epidemic" may actually be a bit harsh--if there's a word that means "illness just passing through the area" in English I haven't heard/remembered it. Unfortunately "plague" conjures up notions of people dying left and right, so I just shortened the more Latiny equivalent as best I could and crossed my fingers. It may be a little dangerous for Kira's friends, but not enough to get her worried about their health (see next chapter). Unfortunately Kira's weak constitution puts her in more danger, which is why she's leaving. As for what she finds in Buckland... well...
Dreamflower
· 22 September 2008
· Chapter 1
Oh, this looks like a very intriguing premise! I really like your little heroine a lot, and young Kerimac seems to very much favor his ancestor Meriadoc in his attitude. I really look forward to seeing how you've developed the Shire in the Fourth Age! I could not help but notice that you have set it a year before the passing of King Elessar, and hope that perhaps that has some significance to your story. At any rate, I will be watching for more!
Author's reply
Thanks for the read & comment! Kerry has grown up on the legends of his great-grandfather--he's one of a large generation that is the first in the Shire that did not know the Travellers in person, and that colors his (indeed, most of my "bookish" characters') outlook accordingly. a year before the passing of King Elessar Actually, we're at two years prior at the moment--this is November 1539, but since it's so late in the year I thought I'd just round it up--1540 is when most of the plot takes place. Please do keep an eye out for more, and I hope you enjoy!