AUTHOR'S NOTES -
CHAPTER 29: MEMORIES AND PAIN
As well as the hanging flowers, the bees were busy on tall spires of grey-green that carried miniature trumpets of palest mauve. The paired leaves clustered along the length of the stem, each one no more than a tiny strip. He broke off a tip and inhaled deeply, transported back to the Shire and Bag End’s garden. Rosemary for remembrance.
"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance, pray, love, remember."
(Shakespeare, Hamlet)
Rosemary, the herb of love and remembrance, is steeped in thousands of years of myth and tradition, known to have been used for magic, healing, and seasoning since the beginnings of recorded history. Because of its reputation for strengthening the memory, it became the emblem of fidelity for lovers.
It is native to coastal regions of the Mediterranean and North Africa - the Latin name Rosmarinus means dew of the sea , a reference to the shimmering blue flowers that cover rosemary bushes. It was probably introduced in Britain by the Romans.
For a picture of Rosemary, see notes to chapter 28, link at bottom of page.
‘Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo,’ said a voice behind him, and he jumped round.
The Fellowship of the Rings, Three is Company: “‘I thank you indeed, Gildor Inglorion,’ said Frodo bowing. ‘Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo,’ a star shines on the hour of our meeting,’ he added in the high-elven speech.”
Frodo heard more murmuring behind him, and realised that such familiarity with one of the House of Finrod was only reinforcing his status as a lord - albeit a very small one - but he was truly glad to see a familiar face.
The Fellowship of the Ring, Three is Comapnay: “‘I am Gildor,’ answered their leader, the Elf who had first hailed him. ‘Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod...’”
‘He is everything to me. He took your advice to heart and did not leave me, but in the end I had to leave him.’
The Fellowship of the Rings, A Shortcut to Mushrooms: “‘If you don’t come back, sir, then I shan’t that’s certain,’ said Sam. ‘Don’t you leave him, they said to me. Leave him!’ I said. I never mean to. I am going with him, if he climbs to the Moon, and if any of those Black Riders try to stop him, they’ll have Sam Gamgee to reckon with, I said. They laughed.’
‘I saw how it was between you, when he curled at your feet as we spoke, feigning sleep in his care for you...’
The Fellowship of the Ring, Three is Comapany: “Sam refused to leave his master. When Pippin had gone, he came and sat curled up at Frodo’s feet, where at last he
nodded and closed his eyes.Frodo remained long awake, talking with Gildor...
‘...I thought my going was a secret known only to Gandalf and my faithful Sam.’ He looked down at Sam who was snoring gently.”
The Fellowship of the Ring, A Conspiracy Unmasked: “‘And after all, sir,’ added Sam, ‘you did ought to take the Elve’s advice. Gildor said you should take them as was willing, and you can’t deny it.’
‘I don’t deny it,’ said Frodo, looking at Sam who was now grinning. ‘I don’t deny it, but I’ll never believe you are sleeping again, whether you snore or not...’”
Gildor laughed. ‘I will say it again: thou art a jewel among hobbits...’
The Fellowship of the Ring, Three is Company: “Now and again [Frodo] spoke to those that served him and thanked them in their own language. They smiled at him and said laughing: ‘Here is a jewel among hobbits!’”
‘When the Ring was destroyed, it was as though I was wrapped in an oasis of calm,’ he said to his feet. ‘Not at all what I expected. I felt so calm and at peace, and suddenly there was such a song of joy in my heart and... and I realised it was Sam. Sam’s song, and I knew I loved him, that it was no lie or trick of the Ring. I thought to tell him then, when I believed we were about to die together, but I was so glad that he was with me, I told him that instead; he took my hand and persuaded me from that place.’
The Return of the King, Mount Doom: “‘Well, this is the end, Sam Gamgee,’ said a voice by his side. And there was Frodo, pale and worn, and yet himself again; and in his eyes there was peace now, neither strain of will, nor madness, nor any fear. His burden was taken away. There was the dear master of the sweet days in the Shire.
‘Master!’ cried Sam, and fell upon his knees. In all that ruin of the world for the moment he felt only joy, great joy. The burden had gone. His master had been saved; he was himself again, he was free.
The Return of the King, The Field of Cormallen: “‘I am glad you are hear with me,’ said Frodo. ‘Here at the end of all things, Sam.’
‘Yes,I am with you, Master,’ said Sam, laying Frodo’s wounded hand gently to his breast. ‘And you’re with me. And the journeys finished, but after coming all that way I don’t want to give up yet. It’s not like me, somehow, if you understand.’
‘Maybe not,Sam,’ said Frodo, ‘but it’s like things are in the world. Hope fails. An end comes. We have only a little time to wait now. We are lost in ruin and downfall, and there is no escape.’
‘Well, Master, we could at least go further from this dreadful place here, from this Cracks of Doom, if that’s it’s name. Now couldn’t we? Come, Mr. Frodo, let’s go down the path at any rate!’
‘Very well, Sam. If you wish to go, I’ll come,’ said Frodo.”
‘We were swept along on a tide of rejoicing and festivity that filled me with pain. Sam rescued me from it and took me to bed. I felt his song as a great yearning, and I realised that also was no lie of the Ring: he loved me, as I loved him, and yet he held back thinking he would cause me more pain.’
‘And so you told him,’ said Bilbo, smiling.
‘Not in words,’ said Frodo. ‘No, not in words, and at first he was so shocked. I thought the Ring was still twisting me; that I had seen what I wished to see, not what was the truth. But his shock was the shock of realising I wanted him as... as he wanted me.’
A reference to my story, The Field of Cormallen.
He gave greeting, and the elf straightened and bowed, seeming more relaxed for not intruding on Frodo’s own space. His name was Ninquelótë.
‘The white tree of Valinor,’ said Frodo, and Ninquelótë smiled in delight.
‘Yes, indeed, but also this.’ He held up a white blossom.
The Silmarillion, Of the Beginnings of Days: “Under [Yavanna’s] song the saplings grew and became fair and tall, and came to flower; and thus there awoke in the world the Two Trees of Valinor. Of all things the most renown, and about their fate all the tales of the Elder Days are woven.
... Telperion the one was called in Valinor... and Ninquelótë, and many other names.”
The index gives the meaning of Ninquelótë as ‘White Blossom.’ When writing this chapter I struggled to find a name for this character. In the end, I picked Ninquelótë so that I could at least write the chapter, and then worry some more about what he was called. However, by the time I had finished, I realised that I couldn’t imagine him being called anything else. He just smiled at me.
When we rounded the southern tip, it all changed; there were dunes and a throng of boats drawn up on shelving beaches where the surf boomed.‘
The History of Middle -earth, vol. 1, The Book of Lost Tales, The Coming of the Elves: Now are the beaches upon the western shores of Tol Eressëa, even at Falassë Númëa (Western Surf), thronged with that people of the Elves, and drawn up there is a very great host indeed of those swanships, and the cry of the gulls above them is unceasing.”
‘Green hills climbing up into the mist. Sometimes the mist cleared a little and then there were glimpses of a mountain. Did you notice how white the shore was when we arrived?’
The more I trawl through HoME, the more I realise that my interpretation of a map of Tol Eressëa that was online (but has now vanished) was faulty. I think that possibly the way the map was laid out mislead me into thinking Kotirion was a mountain, whereas it is in fact a city. According to HoME vol. 1 there is a “little hill” which is “near the centre of this great island” “in a broad and woody plain.” and surrounded by elms for “as far as the eye could see.”
Damn.
However, I like the idea of the island being volcanic, and the purple cliffs suggest that to me (although I’m no geologist).
‘And he knew what he was doing when he gave us his tent afterwards. At the time I just thought it a happy chance...’
Another reference to my story “The Field of Cormallen.”
‘Elendil, you would be most welcome to enter and look around.’
Elendil means Elf-friend
Melme cuilenyo
Love of my life
A knot of birds ran down after the receding waves, probing in the wet sand, only to scurry back towards the watchers as another wave chased them from their feeding.
These birds are in fact Knots. One theory is that the name is derived from the Anglo-saxon king, Canute I (Knut Sveinsson) 1016 -1035. He is famous for ordering the tide not to come in (to teach his sycophantic minions a lesson). To call the birds “knots”, therefore, seemed anachronistic.
‘I... He tried to take the Ring. I threatened him... cursed him. I told him if he should ever try to take the Ring again, he would be cast into the fire. I murdered him.’
The Return of the King, Mount Doom: “‘Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast into the Fire of Doom.’”