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Hobbits

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Drabble

HobD1: A New Season by Alexcat
Drabbles fascinate me, the way you can say so much in so few words, paint a
picture or tell an entire story. I like the metaphor of the garden as a picture
of the stages of Sam's life, even in this brief glimpse.


Drabble

HobD2: Can't Take His Medicine by Marta
The author has taken a snapshot, a very narrow slice from the story,
surgically excised and told with the necessary economy of words required by the form.
Merry seems a helpless victim here, as his treatment by the Orcs is described,
and yet, in the last line of the piece, his spirit shows through, unbowed and
unbroken.


Drabble

HobD3: Mother Gamgee by Marigold
Four drabbles! And each a slightly different facet of the same jewel.

In the first I was struck by Mrs. Gamgee's sensitivity and understanding. So
often in real life, people are afraid to mention loss of a loved one, fearing
to cause pain, and yet avoiding the topic as if that loved one never existed
causes a great deal of pain. "The youngest of Bell's flowers"--such a lovely
descriptive phrase!

I loved the second, and could just picture Frodo helping Sam with this very
special gift. I can see Bell encouraging Sam's learning, perhaps privately,
knowing her husband's feelings on the matter, and I'm sure she treasured the gift
to the end of her life. This picture also hints at how a special bond might
have grown between Frodo and Sam, and how Sam would never forget Frodo's care
in helping him achieve something so very important for a loving son.

Third: Thinly veiled sorrow on Bilbo's face: it changed the complexion of the
drabble, begun in such a mundane and everyday fashion, with those hobbity
little touches that speak of comfort and stability.

Fourth: Very sad, indeed, and the flower images return to frame the entire
piece (the four drabbles, that is) and unify all four parts with a common theme.




Drabble

HobD4: Resting Places by Marigold

(I haven't read "A Day on the River". Filing away for future reference.) I
find myself intrigued by Frodo's way of remembering his parents. The last line
of the first drabble is a shock, and yet upon reflection I find myself nodding
soberly. Second: How common (and I mean this as the highest compliment).
Somehow we tend to find comfort, relating events aloud to someone gone from our
lives. Third: You paint a poignant picture of Merry "remembering" the sisters
that he'd never known. In his mind, they never grew up (he whittles toys and
leaves them daisy chains), and yet I'd think that his mother, all through her
life, looked at lasses the same age as her daughters, and imagined how they'd have
been at that age. Fourth: somehow you end on a comforting note.


Drabble

HobD5: Small Hands by Marta

I am a little confused. The summary says "Boromir sees Bilbo volunteer to
take the Ring at the Council of Elrond." It seems, rather, to be told from Sam's
perspective. I was thinking it sounded OOC (for Boromir, that is) and I was
right! It is, however, perfectly in character for Samwise.



Drabble

HobD6: Then and Now by Marigold

First set: I laughed at the juxtaposition. My tweenager almost never seems to
stop eating... and she was a very fussy eater as a little one. Perhaps she's
related to Pippin? It sheds a new light on the hardships of the Quest, into
the bargain.

Second set: What can I say? Stunning! I like how Merry's determination not to
lose his beloved younger cousin saves Pippin... twice.

Third set: You took me by surprise. I thought that the second drabble would
be about Merry encouraging Pippin to learn to walk all over again as he
recovered from his injuries sustained at the Black Gate.

Fourth set: Children's innocent queries can be so shattering, casually spoken
as if of only passing interest. Merry's remembrance, and sorrowing
fulfillment of the promise, is very poignant.






Drabble

HobD7: What Do we Get? by Alexcat

Very sad, and chilling. You don't see much about Smeagol and Deagol in
fanfic, and yet I imagine they were very much like the hobbits we know and love,
before the Ring came along and changed everything. And yet... perhaps hobbits did
make some progress in the intervening years, for Bilbo's hand was staid by
pity, as was Frodo's, and Frodo's cousins pitied rather than envied him, and did
all they could do to help him on his way, to rid himself of the Thing.





Poetry

HobP2: Furry Little Thief by Pervinca

It's funny, I read this without even looking at the summary, and I quickly
recognised the similarities to Sam's Troll poem. Nicely done, the rhymes are not
forced, the rhythm is steady and the story is well told.


Poetry

HobP3: Mad Baggins by Marta

LOL! A drinking song indeed! They do say that Bilbo's disappearance was
talked about for years to come, and I can just imagine it being made into a song.
Nice weaving of elements of the original speech into the poem.


Poetry

HobP4: Old Will Whitfoot by Tanaqui, co-written with Marta

Very funny! The rhythm melded itself to a tune in my head; I could almost
hear the hobbits singing it down at the Green Dragon. Never drink alone! (And
here's another good reason why, that I never thought of before: The roof might
fall in!)



Poetry

HobP6: The Lay of Peregrin Took by Llinos
I remember writing to Baylor, when I was still pretty new to fanfiction,
asking if she needed someone to pre-read the chapters of "High King's Falcon" to
check for typos. Hah! That was before I'd heard of the redoubtable Marigold!
Waiting for each chapter to be posted was a terrible strain for this impatient
reader. This poem, in Tolkienesque epic fashion, sums up that lovely
story--indeed, sums up Pippin's life from his birth through the Quest--with grace and
feeling and power. It is complex enough that the reader might be tempted to skip
over the poem (much as I skimmed JRRT's poems, the first few times I read
LOTR), but don't! Take the time to read and savour. The imagery is well done, the
metaphor of the falcon paints the Quest in a whole new light.


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