This story I began about two years ago, (now being 2003), when I
thought in my vanity that I was singular in my obsession for more
stories about my favourite fictional characters, in the magical
world that Prof T had constructed so skillfully in my mind.
I endured the head-shaking of my friends as I read every book I
could find by JRRT, every manuscript his son released after his
death, and anything on the subject, be it critical analysis, thesis,
parody, or thinly-disguised copy. I still wanted more.
I decided to write a story about the descendants of the
Members of the Fellowship, as I could discover who had produced
offspring. But there were too many confirmed bachelors to make
the tale that tickled my mind, so I had to backtrack a bit more.
So I guess you could say this is my "What If??" story (, or my "As
If!!" story, as those who might be offended by my audacity will
doubtless comment) What if there was quite a bit of time before
Frodo finally sought his mortal rest? And what would a Hobbit
do in Paradise, given the heart and mind of our beloved Baggins?
I asked myself these and other similar questions, and the answers
became this work of my heart, my lingering tale of Frodo and his
adventures after the end of the Third Age; that special hobbit
who shares a seat with "the elf-friends of old, Hador, and Hurin,
and Turin, and Beren," as Elrond commented (FOTR, the Council
of Elrond). I also place him with the peredhil Earendil,
and his father Tuor, "who alone of mortal Men was numbered among
the elder race, and was joined with the Noldor, whom he loved,
and his fate was sundered from the fate of Men"(Silmarillion,
of Tuor and the fall of Gondolin). Why not Frodo? I asked
myself. Has he not earned it?
The Valar are known for taking back their oaths, being Powers
above the laws of that world they together constructed.
I have gently bent back a rule or two, but I promise; I asked
Their permission first, and I will carry that doom to my own end,
and the burden is light.
Read then, if you will, this story, and know that it departs in
some ways from the presets that Prof T declared, but that I hold
in my heart the greatest respect for that man, who built with
words this humble creature who presents to you...
