The beginning of Hobbits lies far back in the
Elder Days that are now lost and forgotten.
The Fellowship of the Ring
“Show me,” Aragorn said eagerly.
“It’s not what you think, Estel,” Frodo warned him as they left the chamber. “I don’t know how we’re going to get behind the other one.” He led Aragorn, with Sam and Bilbo (and Scamp) following behind, back through the cellar, up the steps, and further down Bag End’s main corridor. Ducking into a small storage pantry, he held up his lantern to show Aragorn the back wall. It, too, showed a smooth stone rising up from the floor, but only for a few feet. The walls of this pantry, unlike those of the deep cellar, were completely sealed, and the stone (or what could be seen of it) was surrounded by brick.
“The ice cellar is much lower than this room,” Bilbo remarked, coming to join them. “The top of this stone is at about the same level as the other, but the top is all that can be seen of this one.”
“Can’t we just knock out some bricks?” Frodo asked eagerly. “Then you can lower me down, and--”
Bilbo tapped his lantern against the bricks, trying to hear a hollow sound. “Frodo, we don’t know that there is another chamber behind this stone; it could be resting against solid earth.”
“Besides,” Aragorn said with obvious regret, “I don’t want to be the cause of you dismantling your home, even if just a few bricks.”
“Do you think we can stop now?” Bilbo asked, staring up at the Ranger in disbelief. “You certainly have a lot to learn about Bagginses.” He gazed thoughtfully at the wall. “If we just knocked out a few bricks…”
Sam, meanwhile, was thinking hard.
“Mr. Bilbo,” he said slowly, “can’t we just go back to that stone chamber, dig through the side wall a bit, and see if we break through to a chamber where the bottom of this stone sits?”
“It’s a clever idea, Sam,” Aragorn smiled, “but there may not be any chamber below us to find.”
“It’s a great idea, Sam!” Frodo cried. “Let’s start now!”
“Not until morning,” Bilbo said. “Sam needs to get home, and you have studying to do, Frodo lad.”
“You’re actually going to do it?” Aragorn asked in amazement.
“That’s why you’re still just an honorary Baggins, Estel,” Frodo grinned. “You have no sense of adventure!”
“Appalling.” Bilbo shook his head in mock dismay. “No curiosity at all.”
“I wish I didn’t have to leave tomorrow,” Aragorn said regretfully. “I had only planned to stay a few days. But…” He held up a hand to forestall Frodo’s protest. “… I can certainly stay long enough to help you dig a bit, and see… whatever there is to see.”
“We’ll make a true Baggins of you yet,” Bilbo grinned.
“Mr. Frodo,” Sam said quietly, “maybe you could walk me out?”
Frodo nodded and hurried Sam out of the pantry, leaving Bilbo and Aragorn talking quietly behind them. Racing to the front door of Bag End, Frodo opened it, and Sam stepped outside and retrieved, from behind the bushes, a bundle that he pressed into Frodo’s arms.
“My ma was happy to help, Mr. Frodo,” Sam grinned. “She gave it a good wash, too.”
“She did?” Frodo said worriedly. “He’s bound to suspect something, then.”
“You don’t know my ma very well,” Sam declared indignantly, “if you think she’d be lettin’ this leave her house without washin’ it.”
“Thank her for me, Sam, until I can do it myself,” Frodo said gratefully. “I really appreciate her doing me this favor.”
“See you tomorrow,” Sam called, starting down the path.
~*~
“If Scamp were bigger, and we had more time, we could just sit back and wait,” Frodo observed.
“It would certainly make the job easier,” Aragorn grunted, shoveling away another load of dirt from the growing tunnel. As soon as breakfast was over, and Sam had arrived, the “excavation” had begun. The four friends had dug several feet into the wall of the stone chamber. Even though the hard-packed dirt showed no signs of collapse or stress, Aragorn had insisted on shoring up the hole with the lumber Bilbo had bought for the Gaffer and Sam to fence in the vegetable garden.
“My good fence posts,” Sam sighed, “but I suppose it’s for a good cause.”
“Don’t worry, Sam,” Frodo called from within the hole. “We’ll put everything back where… oh! Bilbo, I’ve broken through! There is another chamber!”
“Come out of there, Frodo,” Aragorn said instantly, pulling the boy back. “Let me make sure it’s safe.” He took Frodo’s shovel, then crawled into the hole and broke down the final bit of earth between the two chambers. Frodo reached in and handed him a lantern, then watched Aragorn enter the second chamber. He started to follow, but Bilbo held him back.
“Give him a moment, Frodo lad,” Bilbo said softly. “These discoveries seem to mean a great deal to him.”
Indeed, it was several minutes before Aragorn called for them to come. The three hobbits entered the second, more cramped chamber, and held their lanterns high.
The back of the second stone had fared less well than the first, and was stained and cracked from rivulets of water that had found their way down from the surface. Even so, the somewhat blurred image of a Man could still be seen. His clothes appeared to be a simple tunic and trousers.
“Fashions haven’t changed much in 6,000 years,” Bilbo chuckled.
Although the color of the Man’s hair could not be determined, it was long, and framed a face both strong and handsome. He was tall, taller than Aragorn -- and was gazing to his right, towards the first stone, his features captured in a smile.
“Beren?” Bilbo asked.
“Yes.” Aragorn’s fingers lingered on a ring on the Man’s left hand, set with tiny green jewels -- the only gems that could be seen anywhere on the carving. Everyone was silent for a few moments, as the Ranger seemed to be overcome with some emotion he struggled to mask.
“He was very handsome,” Bilbo said. “What a stunning couple they must have made.”
“They should be together,” Frodo declared. “Bilbo, can’t we dig out the whole chamber so Lúthien and Beren can see each other again?”
“That’s a lovely sentiment, my boy,” Bilbo smiled. “Perhaps we can do that, someday.”
“Where’s his other hand?” Sam whispered.
“He lost it, Sam,” Aragorn replied gravely, “on a quest that nearly cost him his life.” He touched the carving gently. “Whenever I think my road is too long, or my trials too burdensome,” he continued quietly, “or I grow impatient for… certain things to come to pass, I remember Beren, and what he endured to fulfill his oaths, and to at last find peace and joy with she whom he loved.”
“My uncle’s friend lost his hand in a farming accident,” Sam told him. “He nearly died.”
“Beren nearly died, more than once,” Aragorn sighed. “He overcame foes and Darkness unimaginable.” He smiled at the hobbits. “It is hard to imagine such fearsome times, in the gentleness and peace of the Shire.”
“Men were in the Shire 6,000 years ago,” Frodo mused.
“Yes,” Aragorn nodded.
“Were we here?”
“What’s that, Frodo lad?” Bilbo asked absently.
“Hobbits,” Frodo said. “Were hobbits here, too?”
“Not that I have heard,” Aragorn replied.
“Where were we, then?” persisted Frodo. “How did hobbits come to be in Middle-earth? Bilbo has taught me that Men, Elves, and even Dwarves come into the oldest tales, and can trace their stories back to the First Age. Did hobbits just spring up out of the ground one day?”
“That’s a good question, and one you might take up with Lord Elrond, should you meet him,” Aragorn replied, “or Gandalf might have an answer. I am sorry, little one, but I do not know. Bilbo?”
“Our tales go back to the founding of the Shire,” Bilbo said thoughtfully, “but there is not much remembered from before that time.”
“We’re here now, Mr. Frodo,” Sam said, coming to his friend’s side. “Isn’t that enough?”
“I suppose it’ll have to be,” Frodo sighed. “Why do I always have so many questions that need answering?”
“Because you’re a Baggins,” said Aragorn and Bilbo together, and all four burst out laughing.
~*~
It was time for Aragorn to leave. Frodo, Bilbo, and Sam, each carrying a basket or bundle, went with him to the field where Arthad waited patiently.
“Now that’s a sight!” Sam said. Arthad had bent his head to inspect the tiny dog at his feet. Scamp was very quiet as the huge animal nosed her gently, then the horse raised her head and paid no more attention to the pup. Scamp stayed where she was, sniffing a bit at the fresh earth beneath the tree that had been disturbed by the horse’s hooves. Choosing a spot, she began to dig, dirt flying everywhere.
“I don’t think that dog fears anything,” Aragorn said admiringly.
“Except running out of places to dig,” Frodo grinned. “There may not be much left of the Shire by the time you visit again, Estel.”
“Thank you, Bilbo.” Aragorn lifted the basket of food that Bilbo had packed for him and fastened it to Arthad’s saddlebags. “You’re very generous.”
“I’ll take that, Sam,” Aragorn said, reaching for his cloak.
“Here you go,” Sam said cheerfully, handing up the bundle, “good as new.”
“Good as new?” Aragorn took the cloak and, to Frodo’s relief, stuffed it into a saddle bag without really looking at it. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing,” Frodo said quickly, then gave the Ranger a number of thin, leather strips.
“What are these?”
“New laces for your pack.”
“Thank you,” Aragorn said, puzzled, “but it doesn’t need---” He bent to look closer at his pack laces, and smiled. “I see.”
“Don’t ask me when she had the time,” Frodo sighed.
“Do pups ever stop chewin’ on things?” Sam asked.
“Eventually,” Aragorn assured him. He took the rolled-up parchment that Bilbo handed him. “What’s this?”
“I’ve been making a drawing of the woman in the carving,” Bilbo explained proudly. “I think it’s quite good -- perhaps you can show it to the Elves who remember her, and see what they think of it.”
“Bilbo, this is wonderful,” Aragorn said, unrolling the parchment.
Sam, who had been saying goodbye to ‘Ollie’, came over to see the drawing.
“That’s beautiful, Mr. Bilbo,” Sam said admiringly. “It looks just like her.”
“It does indeed,” Aragorn agreed. “As a matter of fact, Bilbo, I may have an opportunity to show this to someone sooner than you think. I am on my way to the Havens, to deliver a message from Lord Elrond. Several Elves who dwell there have been in Middle-earth since the First Age, and I would very much like to show this to them.”
“You’re traveling beyond the Tower Hills?” asked Frodo eagerly. “May I come with you?”
“Not this time,” Aragorn smiled at the boy fondly. “I have tarried here, and must press on. It is a week’s ride, at least.”
“Will you come back this way when your errand is completed?”
“I will try,” Aragorn said, “but I cannot promise, Frodo. My path is not always known to me in advance.”
“I’m sorry your visits are always so dull, Estel,” Bilbo grinned.
“They are, aren’t they?” Aragorn laughed. He shook Bilbo’s hand, hugged each boy in turn, and mounted Arthad. Frodo plucked Scamp out from under the horse’s hooves, and watched as the Ranger rode away.
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