Drabble – Soldier of Gondor

[rabidsamfan]

I shouted as I’d been taught, but when the Ringbearers came before us the words caught in my throat. We'd thought to see two more like the Squire of Rohan, small folk, but proud -- not wide-eyed starvelings clasping hands for comfort as they walked.

One was clad in leather – orc gear, scavenged in great need. The other wore the tattered remains of a much-mended suit. Through gapes in their clothes I could see the red lines of scars new-healed.

So small they were, to brave the shadow. My heart overflowed with pity and joy. “Praise them with great praise!”



Timeline (fiction only, most recent version, includes AU) first previous next last

Comments

[illyria-novia.livejournal.com]

*weeps*

This ... This is ... *tries to speak but can't*

We'd thought to see two more like the Squire of Rohan, small folk, but proud -- not wide-eyed starvelings clasping hands for comfort as they walked.

So small they were, to brave the shadow.

*shuts eyes and has vivid image of the two Ring-bearers standing hand in hand, the field of Cormallen echoing with the praises sung for them, the sky shook with the palpable admiration and amazement, and joy and thankfulness of being delivered from darkness...*

Thank you. This is lovely.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it.

[ansostuff.livejournal.com]

This was wonderful! A very good insight into how it might have been for the soldiers when they saw Frodo and Sam.

*stupid second language!* I can´t find the right words when I need them...

This was really good!

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

I can't always find words in one language, much less two! But I'm glad you liked this. Thank you.

[shirebound]

Oh, I love this perspective!

wide-eyed starvelings clasping hands for comfort as they walked.

*gulp*
*sob*

Wonderful!!

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I kept wondering why Gandalf insisted that Frodo and Sam wear their Mordor clothes when they first appeared among the armies, and this is the result.

[simbelmyne.livejournal.com]

Interesting how only a hundred words almost managed to make me teary-eyed. I'd never thought of it from the perspective of those who had never seen them. It must have been a surprise for those who had seen Merry and Pippin. This was wonderful. :)

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Yes, especially the ones who'd met Pippin first, although I think this is one of the fellows who came upriver from the coast and knows hobbits mostly from seeing Merry run around the camp during the time the other three are abed. I thought it was going to be a longer story, but it turned out to be more suited to drabbling. There's something about a restrictive form (like a sonnet) that makes you work harder.

[teasel.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is lovely. So nice to see the Ringbearers through this unusual perspective. I like the way the soldier works around his first reaction to see that their very fragility makes them more rather than less brave.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

I didn't even see that and I wrote it! Thanks for pointing it out.

[piplover.livejournal.com]

*sob* Oh, wow. I need to get a hanky, now. Sniff, Sniff. Don't mind me, I'll just go quietly wipe my eyes in the corner.
*blows nose*

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

*offers spare hanky*

Thank you!

[lame-pegasus.livejournal.com]

You're breaking my heart, do you know that?

We'd thought to see two more like the Squire of Rohan, small folk, but proud -- not wide-eyed starvelings clasping hands for comfort as they walked.

Oh my god.

So small they were, to brave the shadow. My heart overflowed with pity and joy. “Praise them with great praise!”

Yes, my heart does, too. For twentyfive years now, and it will never end.

Thank you.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

You're breaking my heart, do you know that?

Wow.

I don't know what to say to a review like that. Especially not from a writer as good as you are.

Wow.

Thank you. I'm glad you liked this.

[duckie-710.livejournal.com]

I would highlight the parts that I liked best about this, but then I'd have to copy and paste the entire drabble, and I don't think you'd want that.... :)

It's amazing what you can convey in a mere 100 words. The astonishment was totally there. Reading this, I could almost feel like that soldier, watching the two overwhelmed Hobbits walk through the ranks.

Absolutely amazing. :)

Isn't it great how my feedback is almost as long as the actual drabble? :p

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is great! I love feedback!

How did you make the writing so little?

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!

[duckie-710.livejournal.com]

The writing is made small by doing this:

< small >Whatever you want to be small< /small >

Just take out the spaces between the brackets and voila! You now have small writing. :)

[ethereal-hobbit.livejournal.com]

*weeps*

Such a wonderful drabble from a unique perspective! This is stunning, and especially this picture will stay with me now:

wide-eyed starvelings clasping hands for comfort as they walked.

*sob*

*bows to you* :)

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's the image that stuck in my head when I went to write it, too.

Drabble - Soldier of Gondor

[(Anonymous)]

Belegcuthalion sent me the link for this, as I'm not on LiveJournal. And what can I say? It's so piercing sweet, to see the Ringbearers from this perspective - thank you!

jodancingtree

Re: Drabble - Soldier of Gondor

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

That was nice of her! I'm glad you liked the drabble. If you're the same person as wrote "The Shaping of Samwise" I hope I remembered to review it somewhere because I loved it. Thank you!

I know I'm not the first to quote this, but...

[cpsings4him.livejournal.com]

[Quote]not wide-eyed starvelings clasping hands for comfort as they walked.[/Quote]

*cp would say something, but she is too overcome*

Not the hero he was expecting, but better still. Beautiful!

Blessings!
cp

Re: I know I'm not the first to quote this, but...

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

That's okay. I think it's the best line too.

I'm glad you liked it!