grammaboodawg
Immortal
Sep 22, 1:40pm
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TIME - September 22
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Today in Middle-earth September 22, 2890 (S.R. 1290) 1. Bilbo born in the Shire. (from APPENDIX B: THE TALE OF YEARS (CHRONOLOGY OF THE WESTLANDS): Third Age-no text) ...Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took celebrate the birth of their only child, "Bilbo Baggins of Hobbiton, the Shire." September 22, 2941 (S.R. 1341) 1. Bilbo and the barrels reach Lake-town just after sunset. (not from the appendices) ..."...a barrel was cut loose by Bilbo and pushed to the shore and opened. Groans came from inside, and out crept a most unhappy dwarf. Wet straw was in his draggled beard; he was so sore and stiff, so bruised and buffeted he could hardly stand or stumble through the shallow water to lie groaning on the shore.... ..."Well, are you alive or are you dead?" asked Bilbo quite crossly... "...Are you still in prison, or are you free? If you want food, and if you want to go on with this silly adventure---it's yours after all and not mine---you had better slap your arms and rub your legs and try and help me get the others out while there is a chance!" ..."Well! Here we are!" said Thorin. "And I suppose we ought to thank our stars and Mr. Baggins. I am sure he has a right to expect it, though I wish he could have arranged a more comfortable journey. Still---all very much at your service once more, Mr. Baggins. No doubt we shall feel properly grateful, when we are fed and recovered. In the meanwhile what next?" ..."I suggest Lake-town," said Bilbo. "What else is there...?" September 22, 2968 (S.R. 1368) 1. Birth of Frodo in the Shire. (from APPENDIX B: THE TALE OF YEARS (CHRONOLOGY OF THE WESTLANDS): Third Age-no text) ...Drogo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck celebrate the birth of their only child, "Frodo Baggins of Buckland, the Shire." September 22, 3001 (S.R. 1401) 1. A long expected party!! (not from the appendices) [Bilbo is eleventy-one and Frodo is thirty-three] ..."The sun got up, the clouds vanished, flags were unfurled and the fun began. ...Bilbo met the guests (and additions) at the new white gate in person. He gave away presents to all and sundry.... ......There were three official meals: lunch, tea, and dinner (or supper). But lunch and tea were marked chiefly by the fact that at those times all the guests were sitting down and eating together. At other times there were merely lots of people eating and drinking—continuously from elevenses until six-thirty, when the fireworks started. ...The fireworks were by Gandalf: they were not only brought by him, but designed and made by him; and the special effects, set pieces, and flights of rockets were let off by him. But there was also a generous distribution of squibs, crackers, backarappers, sparklers, torches, dwarf-candles, elf-fountains, goblin-barkers and thunder-claps. They were all superb. The art of Gandalf improved with age…. ...…And there was also one last surprise, in honour of Bilbo, and it startled the hobbits exceedingly, as Gandalf intended. The lights were out. A great smoke went up. It shaped itself like a fountain seen in the distance, and began to flow at the summit. It sprouted green and scarlet flames. Out flew a red-golden dragon—not life-size, but terribly life-like: fire came from his jaws, his eyes glared down; there was a roar, and he whizzed three times over the heads of the crowd. They all ducked, and many fell flat on their faces. The dragon passed like an express train, turned a somersault, and burst over Bywater with a deafening explosion. ...'That is the signal for supper!' said Bilbo. The pain and alarm vanished at once, and the prostrate hobbits leaped to their feet..." ......After the feast (more or less) came the Speech. Most of the company were, however, now in a tolerant mood, at that delightful stage which they called 'filling up the corners'. They were sipping their favourite drinks, and nibbling at their favourite dainties, and their fears were forgotten. They were prepared to listen to anything, and to cheer at every full stop. ... My dear People, began Bilbo, rising in his place. 'Hear! Hear! Hear!' they shouted, and kept on repeating it in chorus… …[he] left his place and went and stood on a chair under the illuminated tree. The light of the lanterns fell on his beaming face; the golden buttons shone on his embroidered silk waistcoat. They could all see him standing, waving one hand in the air, and the other was in his trouser-pocket. ... My dear Bagginses and Boffins, he began again; and my dear Tooks and Brandybucks, and Grubbs, and Chubbs, and Burrowses, and Hornblowers, and Bolgers, Bracegirdles, Goodbodies, Brockhouses and Proudfoots. ...'ProudFEET!' shouted an elderly hobbit from the back of the pavilion. His name, of course, was Proudfoot, and well merited; his feet were large, exceptionally furry, and both were on the table. ... Proudfoots, repeated Bilbo. Also my good Sackville-Bagginses that I welcome back at last to Bag End. Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy-one today! 'Hurray! Hurray! Many Happy Returns!' they shouted, and they hammered joyously on the tables... ...This was the sort of stuff they like: short and obvious. ... I hope you are all enjoying yourselves as much as I am. Deafening cheers. Cries of YES (and NO)… ...I have called you all together for a Purpose. Something in the way that he said this made an impression. There was almost silence, and one or two of the Tooks pricked up their ears. ... Indeed, for Three Purposes! First of all, to tell you that I am immensely fond of you all, and that eleventy-one years is too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits. Tremendous outburst of approval. ... I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. This was unexpected and rather difficult. There was some scattered clapping, but most of them were trying to work it out and see if it came to a compliment. ... …Secondly, to celebrate my birthday. Cheers again. I should say: OUR birthday. For it is, of course, also the birthday of my heir and nephew, Frodo. He comes of age and into his inheritance today…. ... …It is also, if I may be allowed to refer to ancient history, the anniversary of my arrival by barrel Esgaroth on the Long Lake; though the fact that it was my birthday slipped my memory on that occasion. I was only fifty-one then, and birthdays did not seem so important. The banquet was very splendid, however, though I had a bad cold at the time, I remember, and could only say "thag you very buch". I now repeat it more correctly: Thank you very much for coming to my little party. Obstinate silence. They all feared that a song or some poetry was now imminent… …they were getting bored. Why couldn't he stop talking and let them drink his health? But Bilbo did not sing or recite…. ... …Thirdly and finally, he said, 'I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT… …I regret to announce that—though, as I said, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to spend among you—this is the END. I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-BYE!' ...He stepped down and vanished. There was a blinding flash of light, and the guests all blinked. When they opened their eyes Bilbo was nowhere to be seen." 2. Bilbo's ready to go. (not from the appendices) ..."Bilbo drew his hand over his eyes. 'I am sorry,' he said. 'But I felt so queer. And yet it would be a relief in a way not to be bothered with it any more. It has been so growing on my mind lately. Sometimes I have felt it was like an eye looking at me. And I am always wanting to put it on and disappear, don't you know; or wondering if it is safe, and pulling it out to make sure. I tried locking it up, but I found I couldn't rest without it in my pocket…. …And I don't seem able to make up my mind.' ...'Then trust mine,' said Gandalf. 'It is quite made up. Go away and leave it behind. Stop possessing it. Give it to Frodo, and I will look after him.' ...Bilbo stood for a moment tense and undecided. Presently he sighed. 'All right,' he said with an effort. 'I will.' Then he shrugged his shoulders, and smiled rather ruefully. 'After all that's what this party business was all about, really: to give away lots of birthday presents, and somehow make it easier to give it away at that same time. It hasn't made it any easier in the end, but it would be a pity to waste all my preparations. It would quite spoil the joke.' ...'Indeed it would take away the only point I ever saw in the affair,' said Gandalf." September 22, 3018 (S.R. 1418) 1. Bilbo and Frodo's birthdays. (not from the appendices) ..."Thursday, his birthday morning, dawned as fair and clear as it had long ago for Bilbo's great Party. Still Gandalf did not appear. In the evening Frodo gave his farewell feast: it was quite small, just a dinner for himself and his four helpers; but he was troubled and felt in no mood for it. The thought that he would so soon have to part with his young friends weighed on his heart... ...…The four younger hobbits were, however, in high spirits and the party soon became very cheerful in spite of Gandalf's absence… ...…When they had sung many songs, and talked of many things they had done together, they toasted Bilbo's birthday, and they drank to his health and Frodo's together according to Frodo's custom. Then they went out for a sniff of air, and glimpse of the stars, and then they went to bed. Frodo's party was over, and Gandalf had not come." 2. The Black Riders reach Sarn Ford at evening; they drive off the guard of Rangers. (from the appendices-no text) ...A presence of old crept through the forest which the Ranger felt long before he heard the sound of galloping hoofs. With a rush, five Black Riders swept over him as he stood in the defence. Yet in the end he yielded to their force, feeling it prudent to alert his brethren and prepare for the battle they long sensed would come. 3. Gandalf overtakes Shadowfax. (from the appendices) ..."I took the best horse in his land, and I have never seen the like of him.... ...Never had any man mounted him, but I took him and I tamed him..." September 22, 3019 (S.R. 1419) 1. The hundred and twenty-ninth birthday of Bilbo and Frodo's fifty-first birthday. (not from the appendices) ..."After the celebration of Bilbo's birthday the four hobbits stayed in Rivendell for some days, and they sat much with their old friend, who spent most of his time now in his room, except at meals. For these he was still very punctual as a rule, and he seldom failed to wake up in time for them. Sitting round the fire they told him in turn all that they could remember of their journeys and adventures." 2. Sharkey in the Shire. (not from the appendices) ..."'…since Sharkey came it's been plain ruination.' [tells Farmer Cotton] ...'Who is this Sharkey?' said Merry. 'I heard one of the ruffians speak of him.' ...'The biggest ruffian o' the lot, seemingly,' answered Cotton. 'It was about last harvest, end o' September maybe, that we first heard of him. We've never seen him, but he's up at Big End; and he's the real Chief now, I guess. All the ruffians do what he says; and what he says is mostly: hack, burn, and ruin; and now it's come to killing. There's no longer even any bad sense in it. They cut down trees and let 'em lie, they burn houses and build no more…. …They're always a-hammering and a-letting out a smoke and a stench, and there isn't no peace even at night in Hobbiton. And they pour out filth a purpose; they've fouled all the lower Water, and it's getting down into the Brandywine. If they want to make the Shire into a desert, they're going the right way about it. I don't believe that fool of a Pimple's behind all this. It's Sharkey, I say.'" September 22, 3020 (S.R. 1420) 1. Bilbo's hundred and thirtieth birthday. Frodo's fifty-second birthday. (from the appendices-no text) ...There was a quiet gathering of friends and family at Bag End. Merry, Pippin, Rosie, Sam and Frodo enjoyed food, drink and song in front of the fire. At the end of the evening, as is Frodo's custom, they drank to Bilbo and Frodo's health. Laughter followed as stories of Bilbo's adventures were shared while Frodo fell silent and gazed into the flames. September 22, 3021 (S.R. 1421) 1. They meet the Last Riding of the Keepers of the Rings in Woody End. (from the appendices) ..."They camped in the Green Hills, and on September the twenty-second they rode gently down into the beginning of the trees as afternoon was wearing away. ...'If that isn't the very tree you hid behind when the Black Rider first showed up, Mr. Frodo!' said Sam pointing to the left. 'It seems like a dream now.' ...It was evening, and the stars were glimmering in the eastern sky… …Sam was silent, deep in his memories. Presently he became aware that Frodo was singing softly to himself, singing the old walking-song, but the words were not quite the same.
Still round the corner there may wait A new road or secret gate; And though I oft have passed them by, A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun. And as if in answer, from down below, coming up the road out of the valley, voices sang:
A! Elbereth Gilthoniel! silivren penna míriel o menel aglar elenath, We still remember, we who dwell In this far land beneath the trees The starlight on the Western Seas. ...Frodo and Sam halted and sat silent in the soft shadows, until they saw a shimmer as the travellers came towards them. ...There was Gildor and many fair Elven folk; and there to Sam's wonder rode Elrond and Galadriel. Elrond wore a mantle of grey and had a star upon his forehead, and a silver harp was in his hand, and upon his finger was a ring of gold with a great blue stone, Vilya, mightiest of the Three. But Galadriel sat upon a white palfrey and … …seemed to shine with a soft light. On her finger was Nenya, the ring wrought of mithril, that bore a single white stone flickering like a frosty star. Riding slowly behind on a small grey pony, and seeming to nod in his sleep, was Bilbo himself. ......Bilbo woke up and opened his eyes. 'Hullo, Frodo!' he said. 'Well, I have passed the Old Took today! So that's settled. And now I think I am quite ready to go on another journey. Are you coming?' ...'Yes, I am coming.' said Frodo. 'The Ring-bearers should go together.'" [They reach the Grey Havens and sail into the West on September 29, 3021 (S.R. 1421)] September 22, 3082 (S.R. 1482) 1. Sam leaves for the Havens. (from the appendices) [at ninety-nine years of age] "...Master Samwise rides out from Bag End. He comes to the Tower Hills, and is last seen by Elanor, to whom he gives the Red Book afterwards kept by the Fairbairns. Among them the tradition is handed down from Elanor that Samwise passed the Towers, and went to the Grey Havens, and passed over Sea, last of the Ring-bearers." September 22, 3082 (S.R. 1482) 1. Hope on the Horizon [Frodo in Valinor] (not from the appendices - no text - a drabble) ... Gandalf found the room empty. Nodding knowingly to himself, he turned and walked back through the quiet halls. ... As he's often done in recent years, Frodo rested by the sea just off the white sand under a silver tree in deep fragrant grass. The eastern sunrise held special meaning for him now as he waited. Peace has been his comfort and Gandalf his companion; but he waited now for one dearest to his heart. ... "Hello Frodo," said Gandalf as he stood beside the tree, his gaze on the horizon. "It will be soon." ... "Yes," whispered Frodo almost to himself. "Soon."' '
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