This page was first created shortly after the entire series of stories were written relating to The Lady of Bree.
These stories consist of The Lady of Bree, The Long Journey Home, The Road Goes Ever On and The Final Farewell.
Many questions were sent to me reguarding certain facts and events spoken of in these tales, so it was then that I
created this FAQ to help answers those questions posed to me.
Referances related to quotes within The Lord of the Rings and The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien are noted when they
relate to an answer given for a specific question.
If you have your own question about any of the stories featured on Memoirs of the Shire feel free to send it to me
through the 'contact author' link on the main page of the site. Who knows, it may even be featured here!
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Q: So little is known about Lily. What is her history? Who were her mother and father?
A: Lily shared very little about her past while staying with Frodo at Bag End, but what she does reveal is only a brief glimpse into her life before she arrives in Hobbiton.
She was born in the year of 2995 Shire Reckoning in Bree to Farlomin Butterbur ( Barliman Butterbur's younger brother and only sibling ) and Saranna Appledore ( whose nephew was Rowlie Appledore: killed in the skirmish between the Bree dwellers and outlaws during the early part of 3019. He was the youngest son of her brother Nobel Appledore ). You can find referance to Rowlie Appledore in The Return of the King towards the end of the chapter titled Homeward Bound.
More information about Lily's life before her journey to the Shire can be read in the upcoming tale titled The Long Road From Bree.
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Q: What is the history and true powers of Lily's ring?
A: When I first wrote this story back in 1997, Lily's ring held no powers and it was given to her by Frodo as a rememberance of her stay in the Shire. After alot of research and thought into the matter I rewrote the story during the fall of 2001 to reflect on a passage that I read while skimming through the book The Fellowship of the Ring...
"In Eregion long ago, many Elven-rings were made, magic rings as you call them, and they were, of course, of various kinds; some more potent and some less. The lesser rings were only essays in the craft before it was full grown, and to the Elven-smiths they were but trifles - yet still to my mind dangerous for mortals."
It was then that I changed the significance of Lily's ring along with it's history and indeed made it one of these lesser rings, a mere trifle that was cast aside, hidden away by its creator, an Elven-smith named Amras Helyanwë of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain*. This ring was later discovered within the hallow of a tree in the Trollshaws and after time it found its way into a hoard of treasure possessed by Smaug the dragon, which was later divided among the Men and Elves after the Battle of Five Armies by Dain Ironfoot. Some of this treasure was bestowed upon a man named Baowin from Dale who fought along side Bard the Bowman and in this treasure was the ring crafted by Amras Helyanwë. Baowin eventually hid his treasure away in Fornost, knowing that no man would dare tread there in search of it, however Baowin never returned from this journey and it was then that Fornost also became known as Deadman's Dike. After time, word spread of this small, yet valuable treasure and a man named Denemar from Esgaroth grew intent on finding it. He traveled with two companions to Bree to seek a guide to lead them to Fornost and in return he would compensate this guide for their services. This is how he would eventually meet Lily's father and how he came to possess the ring and later bestow it upon Lily on her 25th birthday.
The power of this ring was then determined by a statement Tolkien himself made in one of his letters to Milton Waldman ( letter # 131 in the book The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien )
"The chief power ( of all the rings alike ) was the prevention or slowing of decay (i.e. 'change' viewed as a regrettable thing), the preservation of what is desired or loved, or its semblance - this is more or less an Elvish motive."
Since this ring had the power of slowing decay, or in other means slowing the 'change' or aging of it's owner, it is not truly known what true effect the ring had on Lily, or Frodo for that matter, until Sam told of what became of Lily after Frodo left the Shire. While the ring was in her keep she remained healthy, yet visibly scarred from her ordeal in the woods east of Hobbiton. The first instance of this rings power was Lily's collaspse while on the road back to Bree with Frodo at her side. Remember, the ring had been left behind at Bag End with Sam and she had been without it for merely a day and it's effect was already beginning to be felt. While home in Bree Lily never regained her strength and just grew weaker as the days passed by. The true nature of her injuries from the past were only revealed when she was without her ring. Just as Bilbo never began to age, until he was without the One Ring. He remained unchanged and it was not until Frodo seen him in Rivendell before setting out from Mordor, when he saw the effect the ring had on his dear cousin. The same goes for when Sam sails over the sea and finally is reunited with Frodo, only to see that he has not aged a day in all the sixty years since his leaving. Once again, the work of the lesser ring.
*more info about the Gwaith-i-Mírdain can be found in Tolkien - The Illistrated Encyclopedia by David Day and in The Silmarillion
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Q: How can Bilbo, Frodo and Sam pass away in the Undying Lands in your story The Final Farewell? This place is immortal is it not?
A: After digging through all the books that line my shelf about Tolkien and his writing, I finally came across the passage that made me choose the path I did for Bilbo, Frodo and Sam after reaching the Undying Lands. Almost every piece of my writing is true to the books in some way ( adding new stories where in places a vast span of time went untold ) and it is true to the subject matter of "death" coming to mortals in the Undying Lands. The answer came from Tolkien's own hand in a letter dated September of 1963 ( letter # 246 in the book The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien )...
"Frodo was sent or allowed to pass over the Sea to heal him - if that could be done, before he died. He would have to eventually 'pass away': no mortal could, or can, abide forever on earth, or within time."
So there is your answer, straight from Tolkien. Indeed death will come to mortals who dwell in the Undying Lands.
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Q: You always write of Frodo's right hand missing the finger... is it not his left?
A: The answer lies in very first few pages of the chapter titled The Field of Cormallen in The Return of the King when Sam wakes along Frodo's side in Ithilien, it is written as follows...
"He sat up and then he saw that Frodo was lying beside him, and slept peacefully, one hand behind his head, and the other resting upon the coverlet. It was the right hand, and the third finger was missing."
There my friend is your answer to a question that has puzzled many. Yet in my mind I still wonder if Tolkien meant the third finger to be his ring finger or his index finger...
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Q: You seem to know a great deal about the history, people and places of Middle Earth. What are some of the resources that you've looked to while writing?
A: I have taken alot of care to make sure that the people and places that I've mentioned in my stories and in the FAQ did in fact or could have been a part of Middle Earth.
There are many books I have turned to, most of which were The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Tyler, Tolkien the Illustrated Encyclopedia by David Day and The History of the Lord of the Rings - The End of the Third Age by Christopher Tolkien. Other stories were created with information found within the appendix and epilogue to The Lord of the Rings as well as the poem titled The Sea Bell or Frodo's Dreme. All of these books can easily be found at any large book store or through Amazon.com
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