The Halfling of the West- Pippin's Journal

Entry 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything in the Middle Earth legendarium, all rights go to the Tolkien family.

September 27, 1418

My name is Peregrin Took, but I am most widely known simply as Pippin. I am a hobbit from the Shire, our homeland. My family inhabits the Tooklands, and we are among the more adventurous and proud families of hobbits. Allow me to give you a brief description of our people, as many to the East do not even know of our existence. Hobbits are a short people, usually no more than three to four feet. We have curly hair, tan skin, and we tend to be a bit fat. Hobbits have a love for food, farming, and storytelling. We never do anything too unexpected or out of the ordinary. But, this has changed for my friends and I. We have just recently started an adventure, one that is very perilous and will take us far from home, and I fear that we know all too little of what we are getting into. All the same, I'd rather not know too much. Anyways, I shall begin with a bit of backstory.

This tale starts seventy-eight years prior to today, in a hobbit home known as Bag End. The hobbit Bilbo Baggins is whisked away on a journey with the wizard Gandalf and twelve dwarves, including Thorin Oakenshield, the lost heir to the forgotten dwarf kingdom, Erebor. Their mission: travel to the Lonely Mountain, which is where Erebor is located, and take back their treasure and kingdom from the dragon Smaug, who stole the dwarves' treasure and destroyed their homes. The company travelled from the Shire to lands such as the Elf-Realm of Rivendell, the Misty Mountains, the Elf Kingdom in the forests of Mirkwood, and the Lake-Town of Men, Esgaroth. The mission was successful, and Bilbo found his sense of adventure during it. Another thing he found, though, was a magic golden ring, underground in the depths of the Misty Mountains. He took it from a wretched creature, known as Gollum. Bilbo found that the ring gave him invisibility when he wore it, and he kept it secret.

After returning home with a large sum of treasure, Bilbo and the rest of the Baggins became known as strange disturbers of the peace. Bilbo wrote many poems and stories, including a book about his adventures, and enlightened the hearts of many young hobbits, including my own, with stories. But, this didn't last forever. On Bilbo's 111th birthday, also called eleventy one, he gave a strange speech during the party, and disappeared! There was quite the clamor, but it eventually died down into another tale of a hobbit gone mad. Bilbo actually used his ring to disappear, and then he left the Shire forever. He left his home, Bag End, to his nephew and good friend of mine, Frodo Baggins. In the eighteen years that followed, there was relative peace in the Shire.

However, that all changed when my best friend Merry Brandybuck and I learned of Frodo's plans to leave the Shire. We learned news from Frodo's gardener and friend, Samwise Gamgee, otherwise known as Sam. Frodo had been talking in secret with Gandalf, the wizard who accompanied Bilbo on his journey and a good friend of the Baggins'. Apparently, Bilbo left his ring to Frodo, and that ring is, in fact, one of the great Rings of Power. They were forged by Elven-smiths thousands of years ago, and Bilbo's ring is the One Ring. It is the most powerful, as well as the most evil, and it was forged by the Dark Lord Sauron in his land, Mordor. I dare not say more about that place. Bilbo didn't know all of this, of course, but it explains his lack of aging and his growing paranoia.

Frodo's plan was to leave the Shire and go to Rivendell, where the Ring may be safe. To lower suspicion, he sold Bag End and bought a house in Buckland, a region of the Shire where Merry's family has lived for ages. Sam and I were to be his escorts to his new home, and Frodo and Sam were to leave the Shire after arrival. Merry had ridden ahead with the furniture alongside the hobbit Fatty Bolger, and we would meet him there. However, Frodo didn't know that Merry, Fatty and I knew of his plans.

As we trotted down the Road, we were happy and hopeful, and we camped that night in relative peace. But, the next day, Frodo told us to get off the Road and hide. As we did so, a tall Man in a black cloak, hooded, rode up on a black horse. He stopped for a minute, and then pressed on, not seeing us. This was not the last we'd see of those Black Riders. Frodo wouldn't tell us what or who they were, but I suspected they had something to do with his Ring.

That day, we encountered a group of Elves, on their way to the Grey Havens, a mystical port to the West of the Shire, where they would sail away, leaving Middle-Earth forever. It was incredible to see Elves for the first time. They were so graceful and lovely, but sad and grim at the same time. We stayed the night at one of their great halls of trees, and their leader, Gildor, conversed with Frodo for a long time. About what, I'm not entirely sure. The following morning, we decided that taking the Road would be too dangerous, and we traversed across the country plains, making our way to the Brandywine River, where we would take the Bucklebury Ferry to Buckland.

As we passed the fields of Farmer Maggot, we were cornered by his dogs, and it was only my friendship with him that stopped him from siccing his dogs on us. We ate supper at his home, and he took us to the Bucklebury Ferry on his wagon. He told us of his encounter with a Black Rider that same day, and he said that it was looking for "Baggins". That's when I knew that they were after Frodo. We met with Merry at the Ferry, and we rode it across the Brandywine. On the other side, we saw a Black Rider standing across the River, and we quickly rushed to Frodo's new house.

After a marvelous bath and (second) supper, we told our tale to Merry and Fatty. Merry barely believed us, and then Frodo told us his news of leaving the Shire with Sam. However, he was quickly stunned himself when we told him of our knowledge of this. After a while of convincing, he finally gave in and allowed us to accompany him on his horribly dangerous adventure. This was no "Slay the Dragon" quest, it was for the fate of Middle-Earth, which I, myself, wasn't entirely ready to take on.

When we arose the next morning, we ate breakfast and got onto our ponies that Merry had provided for us. Fatty decided to stay behind and impersonate Frodo in an effort to distract the Black Riders. Frodo insisted we ride through the Old Forest in an attempt to throw the riders off our trail, much to our objection. The trees of the Old Forest are rumoured to be alive, and they're not fond of strangers. Regardless, we entered the dreaded forest with our ponies. It didn't take too long for us to get lost, as the paths and layout change randomly, just to entangle travellers.

After wandering for a good while, we came upon a great willow tree. Seeing that we were understandably exhausted, we suddenly walked towards the tree and fell asleep. I think Sam resisted the urge, and as a result he saved Frodo from sleepwalking into the creek and being ensnared by tree roots. However, that didn't save me and Merry. I awoke to complete darkness, and it wasn't too long before I realized that I had been swallowed by the willow tree! Merry was inside the tree too, save for his feet, which were slowly being pushed inside. We screamed for help, and Frodo and Sam lit a fire to scare the tree into spitting us out. But, Merry and I swear we heard the tree exclaim, "Put the fire out, or you shall never see your friends again!"

By then, Frodo began calling for help, when all of a sudden, I heard the deep voice of a man singing. He sang a jolly tune, commanding the tree, which he called Old Man Willow, to set us free, and it did so, opening its mighty trunk and literally spitting us out. Our rescuer was a short man with a big brown beard and a top hat. He wore a blue coat and yellow boots, and introduced himself as Tom Bombadil. He sang and danced as he led us to his house, in a valley near the forest and the Withywindle River. His wife is a beautiful Elf, named Goldberry the River-daughter, and her voice is like silk. We ate a merry dinner with the two, and spent the night. We plan on staying a second night, and we've spent all day conversing with Tom.

I believe all of my companions and I are confused as to who Mr. Bombadil is. Goldberry simply says, "He is,". Tom says he is Eldest, and he was here before the Elves arrived in Middle-Earth, which was at the beginning of days. He is the Master of the water, wood and hill. Still, what is he? I don't suspect I'll ever know, but we must continue on anyways. We leave tomorrow for Bree, the village of Men and hobbits, and the chief village of Bree-land. Perhaps we'll meet with Gandalf there, I think Frodo fears the worst.