Bringing Frodo back from the Grey Havens
because Tolkien is no longer around to do it for me...

(See Stephen King, On Writing, p. 136)

Introduction to The Road Ahead

This little novel, my Muse-driven unofficial sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, is a labor of love, philosophy, spirituality, and pure tenacity, rooted in many years of reading, research, and reflection. No money is being made from this work. I wrote it because it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it; and, having been written, the story now needs to be shared.

I wrote this to share a vision: a vision of how things really were, and are, and a vision of how things might have been, and can be. My vision is of the human being behind the heroic legend, of Frodo, not as Christ figure or sacrificial priest or Elvish being become too lofty for this mortal world, but as a shell-shocked veteran struggling to go on with his life in the wake of the War.

For a number of years I have striven to articulate this vision in essay form, articulating and expanding upon my points in order to help people see Tolkien's story with new eyes. Yet, in the end, the advice of countless English teachers still holds true: Show, don't tell.

And so I have written a story, with the sole intention of showing as powerfully and clearly as possible the vision that has inspired me and impelled me: a vision of hope and perseverance, of second chances and grace beyond measure, of the holiness hidden in this mundane mortal world, of a healing that finds its path not in transcending our wounds but in finding a way to go on in spite of them and, perhaps, even because of them. If I have helped people to find hope for Frodo, and, more importantly, to find hope for themselves, however deeply hurt, then this story will have served its intended purpose.

Sally Gardens
September 2003

NOTE: Frodo's poem in chapter 10 is excerpted from "The Sea-bell," a.k.a. "Frodo's Dreme," by J.R.R. Tolkien.

THANK YOU to all of you who've taken the time to read and enjoy and review The Road Ahead! I've written other short fic in the LOTR fandom, but this story really says everything I needed to say. It comes very much from the heart, and from a great deal of reflection over several years on its themes. I really appreciate how much so many people appreciate this story. - Sally Gardens, March 2009