LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 05 - A Conspiracy Unmasked

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Rumil, you bring up an excellent point that I've never heard mentioned before - what did Merry and Pippin's families think of their sudden disappearance? As the situation was, the two couldn't have explained anything to them, so it must have seemed that they had fallen prey to the Black Riders or some other danger. I wonder how much - if anything - Fatty gave away after he alarmed Buckland.

[Rumil]

Hi Esty,

yes this did make me wonder, after all Merry and Pippin were the firstborn sons and heirs of the two most powerful families in the Shire. Did they prepare the ground with their parents at an earlier stage of the 'conspiracy', or did they simply disappear?

I guess Merry must have had some talk with his father in arranging the house at Crickhollow for Frodo, which was probably Rory's property, I wonder if Pippin simply legged it!

[Estelyn Telcontar]

That raises all kinds of questions - to what lengths would the parents of Merry and Pippin have gone to find out what happened to their sons? I can't imagine them being so complacent, not even as Hobbits, that they would leave a stone unturned to find their offspring - in this case, even more importantly, the heirs. I know from personal experience that any danger to one's children turns parents into lions! Do you suppose that they waited a few days, as the irresponsible tweens often went off without bothering to notify them (I know what that feels like too! You learn to accept the axiom that no news is good news.) and by the time they got really concerned, Sharkey's men had taken over and they didn't have the opportunity to leave the Shire to search for them elsewhere?

Hmmm, this gives me some interesting ideas for my fan fiction...

[Rumil]

Hi Esty,

Took-Brandybuck missing persons search mission, I like it! I guess that Buckland would have been in much turmoil after the Nazgul riding down the gates and Fatty Bolger and his 'Fear, Fire, Foes!'. I wonder if Merry and Pippin were assumed missing in the confusion for a while?

I'd like to think that Merry at least left a letter for his family even if he didn't discuss the details with his father, who seems an unusually perpicacious sort of hobbit.

As for Pippin, I could well imagine,

"Gone off adventuring, back next year with luck, all the best, Pip"

Followed by extreme ructions at the Took household!

I'd think that when all the fuss regarding the Nazgul had died down (and Fatty had been restored to normal by a feast or two) that he would have informed the families what was going on in general terms at least. After all Maggot guessed shrewdly that the black riders were coming to find Mr Bilbo's treasure. Therefore the Shire in general would probably know that Frodo was being chased by the black riders, had left the Shire and was accompanied by Sam, Merry and Pippin. Eventually news would have filtered back from Bree that Merry and Pippin had been there at least and that the Black Riders had attacked. Then they were last seen setting off east with one of those unsavory Ranger types!

I wonder what the Gaffer and Rosie Cotton would have made of all that?

Your point about the Ruffians makes me try and remember when exactly they took over the Shire, can't figure it out at the mo, any idea?

[Selmo]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

Rumil I wonder how much - if anything - Fatty gave away after he alarmed Buckland.

There would be no point in Fatty Bolger keeping any secrets once the four companions had left The Shire. Word of the Black Riders asking about Baggins and of the raid on Crickhollow would spread rapidly. It would generally be assumed that Frodo had gone into hiding to avoid the Riders.

The events in Bree were extraordinary enough for messages to be sent to the Master and the Thain so in just a few days after Frodo leaving, the whole Shire would know that he and his friends had escaped the Riders and gone eastward with a Ranger.

In Rivendell, Elrond wanted to send Pippin back home to warn the Hobbits of the threat from Mordor, in a sack if necessary. When that proved to be un-necessary, he could have sent messages to The Shire instead. Some of Cirdan's people were at The Council and would have passed through, or close to, The Shire on their way home.

The families of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin might have had news of them for the first three months of their adventures, whether Fatty kept secrets or not.
.

[Selmo]

Elrond wanted to sent Pippin, the youngest of the four Hobbits, home to The Shire but then relented and allowed him to become one of the Nine Walkers.

Was he aware that, in Hobbit society, Pippin was not of an age (under 33) when he could make major decisions for himself?
I wonder how Elrond would feel if he later learned that he had sent a child into situations that meant almost certain death.
.

[MatthewM]

Originally Posted by Selmo

Elrond wanted to sent Pippin, the youngest of the four Hobbits, home to The Shire but then relented and allowed him to become one of the Nine Walkers.

Was he aware that, in Hobbit society, Pippin was not of an age (under 33) when he could make major decisions for himself?
I wonder how Elrond would feel if he later learned that he had sent a child into situations that meant almost certain death.
.

Good question. Elrond truly was against Pippin's going though, maybe he instinctivily knew that Pippin was youngest?