A Fairy's Tale

Chapter One

Once upon a time, according to rumors and legend amongst certain hobbit families, there lived a hobbit with a fairy wife.

This was in in ages past, before the hobbits embarked on what would be known as the Wandering Days, when the Fae existed in more than fable.

They were rarely seen, but it was well known they existed, in the woods, empty valleys and lonely moors. They danced with the wind between the branches of towering trees, chattered with the birds as they flew and ran with the deer and foxes.

They were wild...and they were hunted.

The Fae, though related to the elves, were not immortal. They did, however, possess lifespans so long that, to other races, they might as well have been. This in and of itself would not have resulted in the Fae becoming prey to the darker powers of Middle Earth had it not been for one, unique, aspect. Magic. The Fae were, by nature, magical creatures and their magic filled them so utterly that it overflowed, radiating outward to affect those closest to them. Those who lived near them experienced lives far longer than any of their race ought to have had. They also tended to enjoy great health and abundant crops.

Sorcerers, Necromancers and others sought them, binding the Fae with spells and dark rituals in attempts to extend their own lives or stripping them of their magic to augment their own. This action resulted in the death of the Fae for magic was as much a part of them as the blood in their veins and they could not survive without it. The Fae, for their own safety, were forced to either hide themselves or seek refuge and safety from the elves.

It was rare, therefore, too see one even when they did exist in great number and it was rarer still for one to fall in love, marry, and choose to live with their spouse in the open. Such situations, generally, invariably, ended in tragedy.

Such was ultimately the fate of the fairy who bound herself to a hobbit...but that was the end of her story and before it came she and her husband enjoyed many years of happiness.

They had many children and grandchildren, in whom the blood of the Fae ran strong. It continued in the veins of her descendants, passed Age to Age long after her own story had passed into legend and myth.

The descendants of the fairy were different than the rest. They were a little bolder, a bit more prone to adventure, slightly more reckless. As time passed they stepped to the forefront and took up leadership positions. Eventually this bloodline adopted the surname of Took and, as the Ages passed, they grew to be one of the oldest, wealthiest and most respected of families.

And the strangest but never too strange and they were regarded so highly that most of the unusual things they did were simply written off as eccentric or as the whims of the wealthy.

For the most part anyway.

Fae blood, after all, was every bit as wild as the fairy who had once carried it and, every so often, it would flare up. When this happened a child would be born in the line who, for all intents and purposes, was more fairy than hobbit. In the earliest days of the world, when the hobbits were so young a race they had not yet dreamed of a place called the Shire much less lived there, many of these children were forced to leave their families to live amongst the Fae. They were not full fairy and did not possess the same level of power the Fae did but they were still powerful in their own right, still lived long lives and lengthened the lives of those around them. For this reason they were endangered as much as any fairy and if they failed to leave on their own it would not be unusual for them to vanish one day, never to be seen or heard from again.

Eventually the Fae, weary of the world, fled for lands safer to their kind. With their passing the blood settled in the veins of the Tooks and though the occasional child would still be born with a slightly stronger adventurous streak than was usual even for a Took there were no more fairy born in Hobbit flesh. Time passed. The Hobbits left the lands they had called home and began the Wandering Days. This time lasted untold years, so many in fact that it became all they knew, the time before it fading until it was almost entirely lost. Eventually the Hobbits settled in a new home, one that came to be called Shire, and here they found peace and comfort.