“I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind,
safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I
shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my
feet cannot stand there again.”
Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
October 26
The four hobbits sat together on the thick rug in Merry’s room, and Merry and Pippin listened in growing wonder as Sam and Frodo related to them what had transpired at the Council.
“Strider’s really who?” Pippin asked, confused.
“Estel is the heir to…” Frodo could still barely comprehend it. “He’s the king everyone’s been awaiting for one thousand years."
“Strider?”
“So I was right,” Merry mused.
Frodo stared at him. “You sound as if you knew it all along!”
Merry nodded. “I began to suspect something about him the night you were hurt. It took me awhile to put all the pieces together, though.”
“It’s so hard to believe,” Frodo murmured.
“Go on, Sam,” Merry urged. “I can tell by both your faces that something important was decided.”
“He’s right,” Pippin agreed. “That council went on for hours. What else happened?”
Frodo continued the tale, telling his cousins about the traitor Saruman, Gandalf’s imprisonment, and Gollum.
“Cousin Bilbo’s Gollum?” Pippin asked in amazement.
Merry was starting to feel uneasy. He could see the thin chain just visible about Frodo’s neck, and the tiny bulge beneath his cousin’s shirt.
“Frodo,” Merry asked, “why do you still have the Ring? Wasn’t this council held so you could pass it on to someone else?”
Frodo abruptly stood, went to the window, and gazed out at the gardens.
“Frodo?” Merry turned to Sam. “Out with it, Samwise.”
Sam dared a quick glance at Frodo, then finished the tale. Bilbo had volunteered to carry the Ring to its doom, and had been turned down. Then Frodo said…
“He what?” Merry turned incredulous eyes from Sam to Frodo. “You what?”
“I have to do it,” Frodo said quietly, turning to face them. “It has to be me.”
“But---”
“Merry,” Frodo asked unexpectedly, “do you know what they call Bilbo, back home?”
Merry shifted uncomfortably and said nothing.
Frodo nodded. “You’ve heard it, then. Everyone has.”
“What of it?”
“You should have seen it, Mer. In that Council of folk from all over Middle-earth -- Elf lords and Gandalf, and lords of Men, and Dwarves -- of all of them, the only person to volunteer to take the Ring was Bilbo. He was the only one.” Frodo looked steadily at his cousin. “The Shirefolk should have seen ‘Mad Baggins’ today. Bilbo is the most amazing hobbit who ever lived.”
“And you…”
“I am his heir,” Frodo said simply. “It’s up to me, now.”
“Frodo,” Pippin asked hesitantly, “why don’t you want to go home and be safe, or stay here and be safe? You’ll be hunted and… and you could maybe get hurt again.”
“Pip,” Frodo said firmly, “I’ll never be as brave as Bilbo, or as strong -- but he chose me as his heir, and I’m going to make him proud.”
“He is proud of you, Frodo,” Merry said, close to tears. “Don’t you know that he always has been?”
“I’m going,” Frodo said firmly. “I can’t help the Shire by going home, or even by staying here. I have to go on.” He sighed, feeling suddenly weary.
“That’s enough,” Sam declared suddenly. He rose to his feet and pulled Frodo towards the door. “You’ve not eaten since breakfast, sir, and you’re not lookin’ all that well. You need rest, and lots of it; we’re not settin’ off for that fire mountain today, and that’s a fact.” He led an unresisting Frodo out of the room, leaving Merry and Pippin to somehow comprehend what they had just heard.
“Sam’s going with him,” Merry said quietly.
“Merry, what does all this mean?” Pippin asked anxiously.
Merry shook his head in disbelief. “It means that Frodo will continue to carry the Ring. He’s volunteered to travel all the way to Mordor, pursued by everything evil imaginable, and try to find Mount Doom and toss the Ring into it. And somehow get home in one piece.”
“But… what happens now?”
“Do you mean, what happens with us? You and me?” Pippin nodded. “That’s up to us, Pip. We could go home, or stay here for awhile, or…”
“Or go on,” Pippin murmured.
“Yes,” Merry said carefully. “We could go on.”
“Before we left home, you said you wanted to help Sam defend Frodo against danger,” Pippin said quietly.
“That’s right,” Merry agreed. “Funny thing, though, Pip -- I think you’re the one who ended up defending him the most.” He put his arm around his cousin. “You said you wanted to see the world outside the Shire.”
“And now I have.” Pippin smiled. “There’s an awful lot more of it though, isn’t there?”
“Spoken like a true Took,” Merry said lightly. He fell silent, not wanting to influence his cousin’s decision in any way. He was determined to go with Frodo, if they let him, but if Pippin wanted to go home…
“How far away is Mordor?”
“It’s far,” Merry replied, “maybe a thousand miles.”
“How many?” Pippin stared at Merry in disbelief. “How do they expect Frodo to ride a thousand miles in secret? And then a thousand miles back home again?”
“A good question,” Merry sighed. “And who knows if he’ll be riding? Maybe he’ll have to walk the whole way. It’ll be winter soon, too…” His voice trailed off as he thought about what might lie ahead. Leagues upon leagues… secrecy, fear, pursuit…
“Merry,” Pippin whispered, “how long would we be gone?”
We.
Merry’s arm tightened around Pippin’s shoulders. “Maybe a year.”
“Could we send a message home?”
“No, Pip.”
Pippin took a deep breath. “I understand.”
“Pippin,” Merry turned to face his cousin. “We might not ever see home again.”
Pippin nodded, his expression determined, his mind made up.
“I understand.”
~*~
Gandalf knocked softly on Frodo’s door, and Sam let him in.
“He’s sleepin’, sir,” Sam said quietly, leading Gandalf into the room and to a chair. Hours earlier, after a late luncheon, Sam had firmly steered Frodo back to his room, where the hobbit had crawled onto the bed fully dressed, and quickly fallen into an exhausted sleep.
“You should have seen it,” Sam whispered, sitting next to Gandalf. “In the dining hall, sir, they all bowed to him. All of them, the Elves, Dwarves and all. It was amazing.”
“And well they should,” Gandalf mused.
“Gandalf?” Frodo opened his eyes.
“I am here,” the wizard said gently. He came to sit on the bed next to Frodo. “What a stir you’ve created, Frodo Baggins.”
“I’m sorry,” Frodo yawned. “I didn’t mean to.”
“No need to be sorry, my lad,” the wizard said. “This place needed a bit of shaking up. It hardly surprises me that a hobbit was the one to do so.”
“You weren’t surprised?” Frodo asked.
“No.” Gandalf smiled at Frodo. “I have known you for many years, dear boy, and Bilbo long before that. I expect the unexpected from anyone named Baggins.”
Frodo smiled. “What’s happening out there?”
“At this moment, Elrond is under siege. Those members of his household who know about your decision are demanding the honor of accompanying the two of you. He will be hard-pressed to choose your companions.”
“We’ll not have to go alone, then?” Sam asked in relief.
“Indeed not,” the wizard smiled. “I, at least, will go with you.”
“Oh,” Frodo sighed with relief, “thank you, Gandalf.” He sat up and wrapped his arms around Gandalf, whose strong arms enfolded him.
“Frodo,” the wizard said quietly, “Are you certain? No one will think less of you, should you decide to return home.”
“I’m certain,” Frodo murmured, hugging Gandalf more tightly. “If only Estel could come as well, but he’s pledged elsewhere, now.” He smiled sleepily at the wizard. “So that is why Elrond named him ‘Estel’.” He tried unsuccessfully to stifle another yawn.
“I’ll leave you to your nap,” Gandalf said. “You have been through a great deal, Frodo. Now you will finally have time to regain your strength, and let Sam and your cousins feed you as as endlessly as they’ve been hoping to.” He settled Frodo back down and got to his feet.
“When do we have to leave?” Sam asked.
“Not for a while,” Gandalf said reassuringly. “It will be many weeks before Elrond’s scouts return, and give us a sense of the Enemy’s movements -- time enough for Frodo to get a good long rest.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Frodo murmured, his eyes closing once again.
“Samwise…” Gandalf motioned to Sam, and they left the room, nodding to Glorfindel who stood as a silent sentinel outside the door. Once in the corridor, the wizard crouched down to nearly-hobbit level. “Sam,” he said gravely, “are you certain?”
“I don’t pretend to understand it all, Gandalf,” Sam said firmly, “but I’ll not leave him, and that’s that.” He folded his arms and set his lips in a thin line.
“Then I can think of no better companion for him,” the wizard said. “Friendship can be a stronger shield than steel or mithril, and perhaps the brightest light at the end of a dark road.” He smiled gently at Sam, lighter in heart than he had been.
~*~
In Rivendell, Elrond had amassed one of the finest libraries in Middle-earth -- unrivalled even by the loremasters of Gondor -- and Aragorn had pored for many years over much of it. However, he could remember no tale, lay, or song, or any hint or rumor, of any mortal ever attacking one of the Istari -- or perhaps no one had ever lived to tell about it. But as he saw Gandalf approaching the footbridge on which he stood, he felt an urge to strike him -- before the wizard perhaps ended his life with a single Word.
Aragorn gripped the ornate railing tightly as the wizard came to his side, angrier than he had ever been. How could Gandalf have let this happen to someone they both loved so dearly?
“Aragorn---”
“How can you allow this?” Aragorn burst out. “Even after everything he’s been through… Frodo is an innocent, Gandalf --- more so, perhaps, than Pippin.”
Gandalf regarded the Man calmly. “I agree. It may be all that can save us.”
“It may not save him.” Aragorn began pacing furiously. “Gandalf, when Frodo awoke from his ordeal, all he remembered of the previous three days was something he thought to be a dream -- that I had called out to him, and told him that I was proud of him.”
“I remember,” Gandalf nodded.
“I fear that he wishes only to make us proud of him… to feel that what he can contribute has value to me… you… and even Bilbo.”
“Is that so terrible?” asked Gandalf gently. “Those are the feelings that motivate many. He is who his life has made him, Aragorn, and his choices are his own to make. Frodo is an adult, after all.”
“He is an adult,” agreed Aragorn, “but---”
“You would see him come to no further harm,” finished Gandalf. “You would have him safely back in the Shire and out of danger.”
Aragorn took a deep breath. “Yes.”
“And yet you know, as do I,” continued the wizard, “that the Shire may hold no safety for him, or anyone else. Not anymore. Not so long as the Ring lasts.” He pressed a firm hand to the Man’s shoulder. “When an offer is so valiantly made, Aragorn, and a spirit as blazing as this stands forth, we can but offer to help… as I have done.”
“And so Frodo and Sam will travel the length of Middle-earth, hunted and weary, with only you as their defense?”
“I suspect that others will also be chosen to accompany the Ringbearer -- but the Company will be small.” Gandalf looked at him. “Frodo was hoping you could accompany him as well, but he understands that---”
Aragorn met his gaze. “I have every intention of accompanying him.”
“Aragorn,” Gandalf said with a frown, “Gondor’s need is great, and it is likely that the companions of the Ringbearer will walk -- thus bringing less attention. You have pledged to travel south with Boromir, and I very much doubt that he will agree to walk home, after so many months away, when he can more swiftly ride.”
Aragorn closed his eyes, his thoughts turning unbidden to that night in Bree -- when he had made another pledge.
Meriadoc, if by my life or death I can protect Frodo, I will.
“I am coming with you,” Aragorn said firmly, anger still in his eyes, “and perhaps Boromir will agree to accompany us. His skills would serve us well, should Frodo need defense against attack. If he will not, and chooses to return home swiftly, then I will arrive in Minas Tirith whenever my destiny brings me there.”
“You are letting your heart rule your reason,” the wizard sighed. “The purpose of this Quest is to destroy the Ring, not protect a hobbit from harm -- even one as dear to us as Frodo. Sacrifices may have to be made towards that end, Aragorn -- perhaps very difficult ones.”
“If it is within my power to prevent it, Gandalf,” Aragorn said, his eyes blazing, “Frodo Baggins will not be one of them.” He turned his back and walked off, leaving the wizard to ponder his words.
top