TIME – pt.1 of 2 for December 24

[grammaboodawg]

This is quite a long post as Bilbo and Frodo have one more quiet visit. So I'm offering it in 2 parts. Here's the first as...

Tomorrow in Middle-earth.

December 24, 3018 (S.R. 1418) pt.1
1. The time has almost come to depart.
(not from the appendices)
..."On the morning of the last day Frodo was alone with Bilbo, and the old hobbit pulled out from under his bed a wooden box. He lifted the lid and fumbled inside.
...'Here is your sword.,' he said. 'But it was broken, you know. I took it to keep it safe, but I've forgotten to ask if the smiths could mend it. No time now. So I thought, perhaps, you would care to have this, don't you know?'
...He took from the box a small sword in an old shabby leather scabbard. Then he drew it, and its polished and well-tended blade glittered suddenly, cold and bright. 'This is Sting,' he said, and thrust it with little effort deep into a wooden beam. 'Take it, if you like. I shan't want it again, I expect.'
...Frodo accepted it gratefully.
...'Also there is this!' said Bilbo, bringing out a parcel which seemed to be rather heavy for its size. He unwound several folds of old cloth, and held up a small shirt of mail. It was close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit silver, and was studded with white gems. With it was a belt of pearl and crystal.
...'It's a pretty thing, isn't it?' said Bilbo, moving it in the light. 'And useful. It is my dwarf-mail that Thorin gave me. I got it back from Michel Delving before I started, and packed it with my luggage. I brought all the mementoes of my Journey away with me, except the Ring. But I did not expect to use this, and I don't need it now, except to look at sometimes. You hardly feel any weight when you put it on.'
...'I should look—well, I don't think I should look right in it,' said Frodo.
...'Just what I said myself,' said Bilbo. 'But never mind about looks. You can wear it under your outer clothes. Come on! You must share this secret with me. Don't tell anybody else! But I should feel happier if I knew you were wearing it. I have a fancy it would turn even the knives of the Black Riders,' he ended in a low voice.
...'Very well, I will take it,' said Frodo. Bilbo put it on him, and fastened Sting upon the glittering belt; and then Frodo put over the top his old weather-stained breeches, tunic, and jacket.
...'Just a plain hobbit you look, said Bilbo. 'But there is more about you now than appears on the surface. Good luck to you!' He turned away and looked out of the window, trying to hum a tune."

 

[Greenwood Hobbit]

Bilbo's trying not to show it (how very English!) or even, perhaps, trying not to face up to the enormity of what Frodo is going to try to do.

 

[dernwyn]

I do doubt that Bilbo "forgot" to have Frodo's sword re-forged: I think once the old Hobbit realized the danger Frodo was in, especially when he was sitting by Frodo's bed waiting for him to recover, that he intended to give Sting to him - and the mail-shirt.

Very clever of him to take the broken sword to "keep it safe"!

 

[dernwyn]

Humming a tune, indeed - we can only imagine the expression on Bilbo's face as he turned away from Frodo!

 

[grammaboodawg]

Today in Middle-earth.

December 24, 3018 (S.R. 1418) pt.2
1. The time has almost come to depart.
(not from the appendices)
..."'I cannot thank you as I should, Bilbo, for this, and for all your past kindnesses,' said Frodo.
... 'Don't try!' said the old hobbit, turning round and slapping him on the back. 'Ow!' he cried. 'You are too hard now to slap! but there you are: hobbits must stick together, and especially Bagginses. All I ask in return is take as much care of yourself as you can, and bring back all the news you can, and any old songs and tales you can come by. I'll do my best to finish my book before you return. I should like to write the second book, if I am spared.' He broke off and turned to the window again singing softly.'

I sit beside the fire and think​

of all that I have seen,​

of meadow-flowers and butterflies​

in summers that have been;​

​

Of yellow leaves and gossamer​

in autumns that there were,​

with morning mist and silver sun​

and wind upon my hair.​

​

I sit beside the fire and think​

of how the world will be​

when winter comes without a spring​

that I shall ever see.​

​

For still there are so many things​

that I have never seen:​

in every wood in every spring​

that I shall ever see.​

​

For still there are so many things​

that I have never seen:​

in every wood in every spring​

there is a different green.​

​

I sit beside the fire and think​

of people long ago,​

and people who will see a world​

that I shall never know.​

​

But all the while I sit and think​

of times there were before,​

I listen for returning feet​

and voices at the door'."​

 

[grammaboodawg]

I will be gone for the Holiday... so I'm posting these ahead of time so you can enjoy our TIME together Happy Holidays!!!

Today in Middle-earth.

December 25, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Gandalf and Bilbo share the season with Beorn.
(determined from text)
..."Yule-tide was warm and merry there; and men came from far and wide to feast at Beorn's bidding. The goblins of the Misty Mountains were now few and terrified, and hidden in the deepest holes they could find; and the Wargs had vanished from the woods, so that men went abroad without fear. Beorn indeed became a great chief afterwards in those regions and ruled a wide land between the mountains and the wood; and it is said that for many generations the men of his line had the power of taking bear's shape, and some were grim men and bad, but most were in heart like Beorn, if less in size and strength. In their day the last goblins were hunted from the Misty Mountains and a new peace came over the edge of the Wild."


December 25, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. The Company of the Ring leaves Rivendell at dusk.
(from the appendices)
..."...It was a cold grey day near the end of December... ...They were to start at dusk, for Elrond counselled them to journey under the cover of night as often as they could, until they were far from Rivendell.
...'You should fear the many eyes of the servants of Sauron,' he said. 'I do not doubt that news of the discomfiture of the Riders has already reached him, and he will be filled with wrath. Soon now his spies on foot and wing will be abroad in the northern lands. Even of the sky above you must beware as you go on your way.'
...The Company took little gear of war, for their hope was in secrecy not in battle. Aragorn had Andúril but no other weapon, and he went forth clad only in rusty green and brown, as a ranger of the wilderness. Boromir had a long sword, in fashion like Andúril but of less lineage, and he bore also a shield and his war-horn.
...'Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys of the hills,' he said, 'and then let all the foes of Gondor flee!' Putting it to his lips he blew a blast, and the echoes leapt from rock to rock, and all that heard that voice in Rivendell sprang to their feet.
...'Slow should you be to wind that horn again, Boromir,' said Elrond, 'until you stand once more on the borders of your land, and dire need is on you.'
...'Maybe,' said Boromir. 'But always I have let my horn cry at setting forth, and though thereafter we may walk in the shadows, I will not go forth as a thief in the night.'
...Gimli the dwarf alone wore openly a short shirt of steel-rings, for dwarves make light of burdens; and in his belt was a broad-bladed axe. Legolas had a bow and a quiver, and at his belt a long white knife. The younger hobbits wore the swords that they had taken from the barrow; but Frodo took only Sting; and his mail-coat, as Bilbo wished, remained hidden. Gandalf bore his staff, but girt at his side was the Elven-sword Glamdring, the mate of Orcrist that lay now upon the breast of Thorin under the Lonely Mountain.
...All were well furnished by Elrond with thick warm clothes, and they had jackets and cloaks lined with fur. Spare food and clothes and blankets and other needs were laden on a pony, none other than the poor beast that they had brought from Bree.
...The stay in Rivendell had worked a great wonder of change on him: he was glossy and seemed to have the vigour of youth. It was Sam who had insisted on choosing him, declaring that Bill (as he called him) would pine, if he did not come.
...'That animal can nearly talk,' he said, 'and would talk, if he stayed here much longer. He gave me a look as plain as Mr. Pippin could speak it: "If you don't let me go with you, Sam, I'll follow on my own."' So Bill was going as the beast of burden, yet he was the only member of the Company that did not seem depressed."

December 25, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Shire at Yule-tide.
(not from the appendices)
..."Hobbits can work like bees when the mood and the need comes to them. Now there were thousands of willing hands of all ages, from the small but nimble ones of the hobbit lads and lasses to the well-worn and horny ones of the gaffers and gammers. Before Yule not a brick was left standing of the new Shirriff-houses or of anything that had been built by 'Sharkey's Men'; but the bricks were used to repair many an old hole, to make it snugger and drier. Great stores of goods and food, and beer, were found that had been hidden away by the ruffians in sheds and barns and deserted holes, and especially in the tunnels at Michel Delving and in the old quarries at Scary; so that there was a great deal better cheer that than anyone had hoped for."

 

[grammaboodawg]

Today in Middle-earth.

December 26, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. The Fellowship sets out.
(not from the appendices)
... "… turning southwards [they] went on by narrow paths among the folded lands. Their purpose was to hold this course west of the Mountains for many miles and days. The country was much rougher and more barren than in the green vale of the great River in Wilderland on the other side of the range, and their going would be slow; but they hoped in this way to escape the notice of unfriendly eyes. The spies of Sauron had hitherto seldom been seen in this empty country, and the paths were little known except to the people of Rivendell.
... Gandalf walked in front, and with him went Aragorn, who knew this land even in the dark. The others were in file behind, and Legolas whose eyes were keen was the rearguard."

 

[grammaboodawg]

Today and Tomorrow in Middle-earth.

December 27, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. The Fellowship travels the wild
(not from the appendices)
..."The first part of their journey was hard and dreary, and Frodo remembered little of it, save the wind. For many sunless days an icy blast came from the Mountains in the east, and no garment seemed able to keep out its searching fingers. Though the Company was well clad, they seldom felt warm, either moving or at rest."


December 28, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. The Fellowship travels the wild
(not from the appendices-no text)
...Nothing really until January. They walk, and walk, and walk.

December 28, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Hobbits restore the Shire.
(not from the appendices-no text)
...They work, and work, and work.

Happy New Year!

 

[dernwyn]

It just occurred to me, how appropriate the last part of Bilbo's poem is, for these holidays when we gather with friends and relatives: But all the while I sit and think / of times there were before, / I listen for returning feet / and voices at the door.

Safe travels, there and back again, to all!