Reviews (49)

Author's reply

He'll certainly do his best! However, Friend has just completed a 100-mile journey in two days, making the matter not quite so simple as it may sound. While Bandobras has faith in the horse, he's also aware of the risk he's running. Nevertheless, he's desperate enough to make a wager he's not completely sure they can win. He's going to go for broke, though. His reputation for boldness (as in striking off the head of a goblin chief) is well-known (and well-deserved). Thanks for reading and pausing to share your thoughts!

Author's reply

Oh! I hope you enjoy the story. It occurs to me that I need to publish the rest of the revised chapters; I'm not sure it's at SoA in total. I will hope to take a look at it tomorrow to see if it's all there. And thank you for letting me know!

Author's reply

The problem is, they've lived in relative peace for so long... it hasn't made them soft and lazy, but it has made them complacent. I think even Bandobras had trouble believing the conclusion he reached after reviewing and piecing together all the information from his scouts' reports. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to leave reviews here and elsewhere! They're quite heartening.

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I hadn't thought about the parallel with Theoden, but I can see it clearly now! It's a matter of survival, not merely territory. Thanks so much for reading and pausing to share your thoughts.

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Definitely! I wonder what his Rider will think of him when they are eventually reunited? Who knows what tricks he might pick up from hobbits?!

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It is indeed a terrifying notion. No wonder Bandobras felt he couldn't waste any time! Thanks so much for reading and sharing your thoughts. p.s. I finally finished your starlight story, and the ending seems perfect to me.

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I've often wondered about the backstory to this. Whose boots? And who were the pranksters? And might Frodo have been involved somehow?

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I hope you enjoyed the limericks! They do rather jump out at you after you've heard a few...

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Definitely comfort food... You're right, Frodo isn't old by hobbit standards, but he might seem old to a tween. He's 22 years older than Pippin, I think? I remember my kids talking about how "old" someone was (someone I thought of as "young"), and realizing how relative age can be.

Author's reply

Thank you for letting me know! You're right, the emails aren't working right now. (They're on the list to be fixed, at least.) So I appreciate your leaving a note here to let me know to look at reviews there. (Does that make sense? The Muse is looking at me funny and grumbling, "None of your nonsense, now, Lin...")

Author's reply

Families can certainly slow you down when they don't share your sense of urgency! But thankfully Bandobras has his priorities straight. Thank you for reading and stopping to share your thoughts, both here and on the Beginnings story! I am glad for the smile today.

Author's reply

Oh, I'm so glad you're enjoying both this story and Beginnings! That one was so much fun to put together, like figuring out how Gandalf might have got his name (I researched and couldn't find anything at the time I was writing, though since then, information may have surfaced) and imagining the details surrounding the misty history of the Fallohides crossing the mountains to their new home. As to the names of these (proto-?)hobbits, it seemed natural for the forest-dwelling Fallohides as I imagined them to have nature-oriented names. I had three stories outlined, originally. The second part is about the Fallohides, Harfoots and Stoors joining forces and migrating to Bree-land. The third part follows Marcho and Blanco and their founding the Shire. But RL got too demanding, so the only part that got finished was Beginnings. Another small detail I can tell you about the name-scheme I worked out is that each of the three groups of hobbits had their own "Thorn" as their leader. The story "Thain" (which will hopefully be posted in full after I finish posting one of the current WIPs) shows how the functions of the three Thorns were merged into one Thain (making "Thain" a plural of "Thorn", or something like that). That story is written out on paper; I just need to type the chapters in. LOL, I get that about how your reading's going... I'm making up for lost time in my reading and writing these days. What fun! Thanks for pausing to share your thoughts! p.s. I'm loving your story about Estel, though I'm trying to limit myself to one chapter per day for all the stories I'm reading to stretch out the enjoyment.

Author's reply

You're very welcome. Ollie was something special. He packed a lot of love and liveliness into his much-too-short almost-three years. Thank you for cherishing a little bit of him with me. I must confess that Friend is based on my experiences over the years with different horses and ponies, plus extensive reading, along with quizzing horse-people with much more experience than I can claim, while sprinkling in a little seasoning drawn from the "Ranger's Apprentice" books. (The Rangers' horses in those stories are *definitely* fantasy-enhanced. Practically telepathic at times.) Fanfic is my refuge these days. I'm not getting a whole lot done in RL lately, but I'm retired, so that's something. So I've been hiding from the world for hours every day these past few days, both reading and writing. Eventually, balance will restore itself, but I'm really glad for the distraction right now. Thanks for asking. Blessings to you and yours. (((hugs)))

Author's reply

Bandobras and Ruby seem to be striking sparks, don't they? There might be something there. Oh my goodness! I never noticed the Ents were missing! I do seem to remember that Hobbits were missing from Treebeard's song, and he added a new line just for them. (And now I'm wondering if Treebeard appears in the character pulldown when an author adds a new story...?) Thank you so much for reading and for pausing to share your thoughts.

Author's reply

I'm sorry about the missing scout. RL is so distressing that I'm considering adding some new drabbles to one of the chapters with the story of a miraculous escape for Master Hart's-tongue (whose fate otherwise was not described in the story). As to heading off troubles... well, when you have Tooks in the mix, troubles are likely to follow. But luckily, Tooks have a knack for meeting trouble head-on, as it were. I'll be able to keep posting chapters of this story since hobbits have a habit of "talking lightly of heavy matters" and JRRT himself described Bandobras's accomplishments rather comically. (Inventing the game of golf. Who'd'a thunk it?) (((hugs))) I appreciate your reading and stopping to share your thoughts even more today, which has been a difficult one. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

Author's reply

Ah, yes, your description of a Chieftain of the Dúnedain sounds spot-on. I admit to being heavily influenced by Viggo Mortensen's portrayal in the films, a certain grace in his movements at various points, sometimes seeming deliberate but often appearing to be second nature, unforced, something like that. I've often wondered about the descendants of Isildur, always carrying within them the seed of hope, but never knowing (or did they know somehow?) whether they would be able to break the curse and fulfill the prophecy. Of course, Aragorn was motivated! If he failed, he was going to be the last of his line since he had to succeed to marry Arwen, and if he succeeded, well then, the noble line would be restored. (And now, dimly, I'm making a connection with the "line of Christ" from a long-ago discussion... all those names in the genealogy who knew of the Promise and looked forward to the Incarnation. Something like that. I'm probably putting it badly. I'm much too distracted to sustain deep thought at the moment, as Youngest Cat seems to be seriously ill and the earliest vet appointment we can get might be Wednesday if I can get through on the phone first thing in the morning to snag one of a limited number of urgent appointments.)

Author's reply

*grin* You've made my day. It's always heartening to hear I'm not just talking to myself when I'm writing, LOL! I'm sure Friend will get all the feed and hay and water and grazing his heart desires, considering that he's being hosted by hobbits! He'd probably grow fat and maybe out of shape if he were to remain with Shire-folk for any length of time since horses seem to eat constantly and prefer lounging to working (at least in my experience). It's probably just as well that his rider can be anticipated to return to claim him at some point. Thanks for reading and pausing to share your thoughts!

Author's reply

Friend is very well-trained, as the horse of the Chief of the Dúnedain should be! I have worked with well-trained horses, and I have endured the company of poorly-trained horses, and it wouldn't be hard to guess which ones I enjoyed more. (Ah, but one abused mare that came into my possession certainly had a lot of personality. We established a truce of sorts; she came to tolerate me, and with the help of an amazing trainer, she actually became a fairly decent mount. Astonishingly, she was patient with children though not so much so with adults. Ultimately, when we moved overseas and had to find a new home for her, we sold her to a grandfather who bought her for his grandchildren to ride, and I think she found a good home there.) Thanks so much for reading and commenting!

Author's reply

Oh those wayward descendants of Isildur. Always looking for trouble, I hear... and finding it! As far as the Bandobras/Bilbo conundrum, well, I'm always confusing names that start with the same letter. I can't tell you how many times I've written "Paladin" when I meant "Peregrin" or "Ferdibrand" when I meant "Ferdinand". Just let me know if I accidentally write "Bilbo" instead of "Bandobras" in this story... I'm glad you're along for the ride. Thanks for stopping to share your thoughts!

Author's reply

LOL! I love where Gandalf throws his staff down on the ground in frustration. It's such a real moment. I have the feeling that Bandobras is only just passing the time. He has no hopes of actually guessing the horse's name. He was quite surprised when he succeeded! Thanks for reading and pausing to share your thoughts!

Author's reply

LOL! Many of the horses I've known responded to a whistle or "Hey, you!" just as well as or perhaps even better than to their assigned name. However, I've also known a few that seemed to recognise their name and respond to it. (It's also quite possible that they were responding to the carrots they expected to receive for coming when called.) Apparently, most horses are capable of accumulating a small vocabulary of human words, including their names. When doing the research for this story a few years back, I read that, like dogs, they could come to understand 200-250 words, but that information might have been wrong. More recently, the articles and posts I've found indicate that horses are probably capable of learning 8-15 words, though some of the more intelligent ones were said to acquire 20 or even 30 words. So we can imagine, at the least, that Friend knows his name in addition to certain commands, such as "down" and "walk" and "go!" and a few others that a Ranger might need to employ in his day-to-day business.

Author's reply

I'm not yet sure if Wanderer reveals himself to Bandobras. It's possible; after all, Bilbo knew Strider's true identity. (Presumably after long acquaintance? Did he meet young Estel in his first visit to Imladris or only become acquainted after he retired to the Last Homely House?). I seem to recall that Aragorn's identity was hidden to shield him from the Enemy's notice and malice, and it seems reasonable that all of Isildur's heirs would have taken similar precautions. I'm a little foggy on this point; it's been some years since I researched the matter, and I don't remember anymore what ideas come from JRRT and which ones are drawn from fanon.

Author's reply

Ah, yes! You can go back to the prologue and find a link that identifies the owner of the renowned sword at this point on JRRT's timeline. I was so glad to find firm dates for the Battle of Greenfields along with the dates provided in the Annals of the Kings and Rulers (and Chieftains), quite helpful in making the connection.

Author's reply

It ought to be fun! Such a whimsical story, what with Bandobras being tall enough to ride a horse and inventing the game of golf in the midst of a battle with goblins! Glad you're along for the ride, and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.