Gratitude part 2, by Kaylee Arafinwiel

[kayleelupin]

Author: Kaylee Arafinwiel
Title: Gratitude, part II
Rating: G
Theme: Gratitude, November 2014 drabble
Elements:
Author's Notes: This is a continuation of “Gratitude” which can be found in my “Tales of the Elmoi” here: http://www.lotrgfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=2138& ( Read more... )

Comments

[blslarner]

The Fellowship consisted of heirs to leadership, even if each save Gandalf and Aragorn and Frodo was considered perhaps young by the standards of their own people. I am glad he found reason to be glad in the end of the presence of Gimli within the Fellowship.

[kgreen20]

All but one. Sam was Frodo's servant; he was a gardener and the son of a gardener, not an heir to a leadership position. Yet even he became a leader much later, when he became mayor.

As for Gimli, I don't know whether his father was a leader among the Dwarves or not. I do know that he and Oin were not related to the late Thorin.

[kayleelupin]

Sam may not have been heir to leadership, but he was certainly heir to his father's position as gardener of Bag End, so that was certainly a prestigious position, at least so far as working-class hobbits would see it. Working for such an important hobbit as the head of the Baggins family was no small thing. :) Of course, then he became The Baggins' heart-brother and dearest companion, right up there with Frodo's own cousins, and that says a whole lot more

[kgreen20]

You've made some good points, and thanks for the Dwarven genealogy lesson!

[kayleelupin]

You're welcome - I tend to obsess over the family trees in *any* story I'm reading - or writing, for that matter. I have the Hobbit Trees in the Appendices of my copy of LOTR, so you can imagine what I'm like reading them! LOL! :)

Also, I have a *gigantic* family tree (mostly populated with OCs, I grant, but also probably about 3/4 (at least) of the Elves Tolkien named or gave existence to) showing the relationships between Oropher's family (including Thranduil and Legolas), Celeborn's family and Elrond's, as well as each of their wives' families (well, not Legolas' - I haven't married him off quite yet, though I think I came close in one story. I need to find that again...LOL :)

[blslarner]

According to the Appendices Gloin and Oin were descended from Durin, also, although they were not as closely related to Thorin as were Fili and Kili, who were his sister Dis's sons. Dain was, if I recall correctly, a cousin of Thorin, which was why he was accepted as King of the Iron Hills and how he came to succeed Thorin as King of Erebor as well. As companions to Thorin Oakenshield on the quest for Erebor, I strongly suspect that Oin and Gloin were both considered lords of Erebor when the kingdom was reconstituted, and thus Gimli was also in the hierarchy of leadership as the heir to his father. Certainly no one appears to have questioned his right to found his own enclave in the Glittering Caves, and others came to live under his rule there

[kgreen20]

Looks as if I need to go over the Appendices again. Thanks for pointing that information out to me!

The Bagginses certainly did see the potential in Sam, didn't they? I don't know that Bilbo foresaw Sam becoming a leader in the future, but he did educate him, and Frodo did treat indeed him as a friend even before the Quest, not just as a servant.

[kayleelupin]

Yes, and Gandalf an unwitting heir - he did not seek to inherit the title of the White from Saruman! I am reminded of my dear Atto Fiondil's "BRIDGE: Pá Valaraucar ar Námier" (Concerning Balrogs and Judgments) which can be found http://storiesofarda.com/chapterview.asp?sid=5793&cid=24890 here at SoA in his Tapestry. He wrote it ages ago, but his line about "You've been promoted, Olorin, and I cannot think of a more suitable punishment for your folly" never fails to make me laugh.

Oh, I am glad, too! :) Gimli and Legolas did grow to be brothers of the heart, I think. :) Thank you Larner!

Kaylee Arafinwiel