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rabidsamfanOld Friends
Halfred Greenhand was a good gardener, but he’d had a stiff-necked notion of the differences between the Row and Bag End and a heavy hand with his son Holman. Bilbo had been too frightened of the old hobbit to be less than formal, although Holman was near his age, so he’d treated Holman the same as his father until after he’d discovered there were worse dragons in the world. But Holman was set in his ways by then, and he did his best to pass them on to young Hamfast Gamgee, who was still so young he squeaked when Bilbo first interrupted his digging in the garden at Bag End.
It took Holman’s death and twenty years to convince Hamfast to sit while he took a sup of beer from the barrel and Bilbo quizzed him over where best to apportion the trolls’ takings; and it wasn’t until Bell Goodchild came along that ever Hamfast got tipsy enough in Bilbo’s presence to address him without the honorific beforehand. But for all the formality of his words it was different between Bilbo and Hamfast than it had been with Holman or Halfred, and it was Bilbo who first teased him gently about his good hobbit-sense and called him Gaffer long before the title was his due. It was Bilbo too, who brought him home through the bitter rain after Bell was buried, and rolled him into bed and took the children over to the Twofoot’s to wait until Hamfast had slept through the first sharp week of grief, and arranged for a wet-nurse to care for the babe who had survived what her mother had not.
He’d watched as sadness settled the years on Hamfast that never had found Bilbo, and though he’d played at grandfather to the older Gamgee children, he found himself more father to young Sam and Marigold, his hair still dark while Hamfast’s took on streaks of white, and his step still light while his old friend began to falter. His own birthdays came and went, and did not seem to matter, and it was only when he saw young Sam come up the lane the image of the lad that Hamfast had once been that Bilbo totted up the years and realized he was growing old.
Timeline (fiction only, most recent version, includes AU) first previous next last
Halfred Greenhand was a good gardener, but he’d had a stiff-necked notion of the differences between the Row and Bag End and a heavy hand with his son Holman. Bilbo had been too frightened of the old hobbit to be less than formal, although Holman was near his age, so he’d treated Holman the same as his father until after he’d discovered there were worse dragons in the world. But Holman was set in his ways by then, and he did his best to pass them on to young Hamfast Gamgee, who was still so young he squeaked when Bilbo first interrupted his digging in the garden at Bag End.
It took Holman’s death and twenty years to convince Hamfast to sit while he took a sup of beer from the barrel and Bilbo quizzed him over where best to apportion the trolls’ takings; and it wasn’t until Bell Goodchild came along that ever Hamfast got tipsy enough in Bilbo’s presence to address him without the honorific beforehand. But for all the formality of his words it was different between Bilbo and Hamfast than it had been with Holman or Halfred, and it was Bilbo who first teased him gently about his good hobbit-sense and called him Gaffer long before the title was his due. It was Bilbo too, who brought him home through the bitter rain after Bell was buried, and rolled him into bed and took the children over to the Twofoot’s to wait until Hamfast had slept through the first sharp week of grief, and arranged for a wet-nurse to care for the babe who had survived what her mother had not.
He’d watched as sadness settled the years on Hamfast that never had found Bilbo, and though he’d played at grandfather to the older Gamgee children, he found himself more father to young Sam and Marigold, his hair still dark while Hamfast’s took on streaks of white, and his step still light while his old friend began to falter. His own birthdays came and went, and did not seem to matter, and it was only when he saw young Sam come up the lane the image of the lad that Hamfast had once been that Bilbo totted up the years and realized he was growing old.
Timeline (fiction only, most recent version, includes AU) first previous next last
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 05:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 06:09 am (UTC)Goodness, is that good.
Whatever it is, a vignette, or a mini-ficlet - it's strong and beautiful. Thank you for sharing this (Again you made my morning).
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 06:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 06:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 08:18 am (UTC)*hugs*
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 09:25 am (UTC)*Will try to sleep now that I have positive thoughts*
Nimue
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 11:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 12:27 pm (UTC)*gaping in awe*
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 01:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 01:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 01:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 01:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:16 pm (UTC)Thanks!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:20 pm (UTC)Thanks!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:25 pm (UTC)Fanfiction makes a short form workable because there are so many things which don't have to be said. But I can think of a few examples outside of fanfic. Do you know the World's Shortest Ghost Story?
He awoke suddenly, and reached over for the matches. And the matches were put into his hand...
;)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-17 10:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-18 03:17 am (UTC)I worship you for this line. Wow.
What a marvelous piece. It's like a mini-history of Hobbiton class relations. Extremely well done! Thanks for sharing it.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-18 04:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-18 04:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-18 07:24 am (UTC)When I went into full out fannish mode with LotR I took a colored pencil and marked the edge of the page to show who was speaking or perceiving as an experiment, and did it for first Sam and Frodo, and then the rest of the Fellowship and Gollum and Bilbo. It was fun, but it has left me with a tendency to re-read now by picking a person or an object (The Ring or Lembas) and going through looking for references. The Gaffer was a natural subject for me!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-18 12:15 pm (UTC)We shall look forward to it!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-24 10:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-04 02:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-19 06:10 pm (UTC)So seldom that you get to see the thoughtful, caring side of Bilbo, thanks for writing this. It's lovely.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-20 01:33 am (UTC)Thank you!