Hobbit's Abroad

Chapter 2 - Introductions

Legolas looked carefully at the smiling hobbit faces, taking his time and narrowing his eyes slightly every now and then as though to change the perspective of his view. Eventually he seemed to come to a decision and reached forward to lay his finely sculpted hand upon the shoulder of Meridydd. "Great grandson of Meriadoc the Magnificent or as we called him, Merry."

The hobbits applauded in delight. Not only was he correct but he had managed to ascertain the generation. The young hobbit in question bowed and introduced himself, remembering his manners and that they were in polite company. "Meridydd Brandybuck son of Théodoc at your service, Sir." Then added proudly, "and I'm called Meri too. It would please me if you would do so."

"Legolas Greenleaf of Ithilien at your service, Master Merry, and at your family's." Legolas bowed in return, remembering the correct hobbit civilities with a smile.

Next the elf took the fingers of a flustered Éowyn and stooped graciously as he touched the back of her hand lightly with his lips. "Meridydd's sister, daughter of Théodoc and great granddaughter of Meriadoc, I have no doubt, by that charming retroussé nose."

Éowyn giggled a little until her mother caught her eye and she curtsied and said, "Yes sir, you are most kind, I'm pleased to meet you." Her mother crossed her arms across her ample bosom and smiled with pride that both her children had been half correctly identified and had remembered their manners when responding. She thought with satisfaction that would be the Gardener side of the family. However she was also a little disappointed that the elf had not spotted that Éowyn and Meridydd were also descended from Samwise Gamgee, but then they did take after their father.

"What about me?" A piping voice with a brogue demanded impatiently. "Can you tell who I am?"

The elf laughed out loud, a joyful sound full of mirth. "I must fain recognise the future Thain." Legolas turned to Faramir, "You are as much like your forebear that I might think he stood before me incarnate."

"Um… oh!" Faramir was a little taken aback at the reaction and a little mystified at the meaning.

"That is to say," Legolas smiled broadly, "You are so like your great grandfather, Pippin, or should I say Peregrin I, that I might have mistaken you for him and thought I had merely slept these last 120 years and that Pippin was demanding to know something for the millionth time."

"Why, was he very curious, I mean did he ask a lot of questions?" Poppy wanted to know. "You know, like why is water wet and how long do snails live or what's the time and…"

"…and are we nearly there, what did Gandalf say, what are you going to do now, when can we stop, what's for dinner, will you teach me to shoot your bow and arrow? Yes," Legolas bowed to the young lady hobbit, "Pippin always asked a lot of questions. May I presume, fair maid, that you are his great granddaughter?"

"Oh!" For once Poppy was lost for words, but not for too long. She gathered herself up and bobbed a curtsey as Éowyn had. "Yes sir, Poppy Took, I am pleased to make your acquaintance. Oh and that's my brother Faramir." She tossed her head in a disdainful little shake. "He forgot to tell you his name!"

Faramir poked his tongue out at Poppy and then turned to bow to Legolas. "Faramir II, at your service." Then caught his father's eye and added quickly, "Well I will be one day, that's after Grandad Faramir and after my Da, Boromir."

"I am sure you will make an excellent Thain." Legolas bowed in return.  "But come now, who else can I see." He looked for a short while at the other younger hobbits and finally settled on a sturdy looking young man. "Great grandson of Samwise Gamgee I presume?" Legolas proffered his hand, which was accepted.

"Harding Gardener," the hobbit supplied. "This is my new bride, Columbine."

Columbine curtseyed as she had seen the others do, but wobbled a little on the way, turning a trifle red with embarrassment.

"We're on our honeymoon." Harding volunteered proudly, causing Columbine's mild blush to develop into a deep crimson.

"Many congratulations to you both." Legolas bowed deeply. "May your hearth be ever warm, your pot be ever filled and your crops never fail." He remembered a hobbit wedding blessing from the Shire.

Legolas realised it was time to move on to the older generation. Slightly more difficult though, as the hobbits he had identified thus far were about the same age as their great grandfathers had been when he first knew them. He studied them again for a moment. No, he changed his mind, not difficult at all.

The elf proffered his hand first to the snub-nosed older hobbit. "Master of Buckland Elect, Théodoc Brandybuck, if I am not mistaken." Théodoc took his hand with a smile. "Is your father Periadoc well?"

"Alas, he is not in the best of health and a little too frail to travel." Théodoc grasped the hand warmly. "I attend to most matters concerning Brandy Hall these days, but he enjoys life sitting by the fire and reading and writing."

"He writes?" Legolas knew that Merry had completed many learned works. "What about?"

"He has made quite a few additions to Meriadoc the Magnificient's Tale of Years." Théodoc counted on his fingers. "A work on hobbit customs and traditions and a book that has been copied many times called, Hops and Brewing – Ales of the Shire."

"What is he working on at the moment?" Legolas thought suddenly of another elderly hobbit sitting by the fire in Rivendell still scribing poetry and songs in spite of his great age.

"Currently he is updating Grandfather's Herblore of the Shire." Théodoc smiled, "Although I think it was already quite comprehensive."

"I am sure he will do it justice as his father before him." Legolas offered politely but sincerely.

Legolas turned his attention to the remaining and so far unidentified hobbits. "Boromir, I remember you from when you were a small child and even though you are now grown, your bright green eyes betray you yet."

"Indeed, that trait runs strong in the Took clan." Boromir held up both his hands jokingly as if some secret had been discovered. "And I do not doubt that the Tookland accent helps identify my origin. Although it is less strong in the young ones," he indicated Faramir and Poppy, "They wander all over the Shire these days and their speech becomes much diluted."

"Of course, but I would not expect the young ones accents to be as strong as Peregrin's." Legolas explained much to the hobbits' fascination. "Not only was his father Paladin's accent very broad, but also his Aunt Esmie, when he visited his cousin Merry, had the same Tookland accent." Legolas was warming to the subject now, "Merry on the other hand favoured his father more in terms of speech patterns and he visited Hobbiton more than Pippin did and so…" Legolas trailed off as he suddenly realised the audience were hanging on his every word and that he was giving a long discourse on the subject of Hobbit culture to a group of hobbits. He felt sure he would run out of road at any moment.

"…and so?" Boromir prompted.

"er… and so, Merry and Pippin's accents were quite different, which at first I found strange as they seemed such close cousins." Legolas glanced round at the still expectant faces. "It was when I remarked on this that they explained why and that is how I know."

This was followed by much nodding and murmurs of approval from the older hobbits and even a few twitters from the younger ones. While this was happening Legolas took the time to survey the faces to see who he had missed. He had correctly identified the five younger and two of the older hobbits. Amethyst of the Far Downs had introduced herself and he knew she was related only by marriage to this group as was Columbine. That left the husband of Amethyst and the wife of Théodoc.

Obviously Amethyst's husband had to be a descendant of Samwise, although he looked not at all like his illustrious forefather as did his own son Harding. His face was thin and pale and his hands were slender and delicate, almost one might have thought him descended from the Ringbearer himself, although Legolas knew Frodo had left no issue. But then the elf's memory ran back to Rose Gamgee and he realised, this descendant favoured his grandmother more than his grandfather.

Legolas put his hand on Holfast's shoulder. "Holfast son of Frodo, grandson of Samwise? Am I correct?"

The other hobbits clapped their hands and Holfast laughed aloud, "I thought I might fool you, Mr Legolas, I do not look at all like my grandsire, although my son favours him very much."

"No you are not like Samwise to look at," Legolas agreed. "But your fair grandmother is in you for all to see and I do not doubt all the qualities that endeared Samwise to everyone are carried forward."

"Well I don't know about that," Holfast was flattered. "But we Gardeners try to do right by everyone."

Legolas realised by now all the hobbits were accounted for except the wife of Théodoc. He looked carefully at her full features and decided she too must be related by marriage alone. But then he caught something, a slight glance downwards as she saw him studying her and then a quick and proud lifting of her head that spoke volumes.

"So are you finished Mr Legolas?" Young Faramir asked impatiently, "Have you got all of our grandparents sorted out now?"

"Well," Legolas began slowly, still fixing his gaze on the wife of Théodoc. "I thought I had, but wait, there is more, is there not?"

The hobbits looked expectantly at one another and then back at Legolas.

"Mrs Brandybuck, I think you must be related to Samwise and I suggest you are the daughter of Frodo Gardner and sister to Holfast."

The hobbits broke into enthusiastic applause, but Legolas was not finished yet.

"Which means that Éowyn and Meridydd are not only the great grandchildren of Meriadoc Brandybuck but also of Samwise Gamgee!"

This last statement brought forth not only applause but cheers and slaps on the thigh as the group congratulated the elf on his amazing perception and grasp of their family tree.

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TBC

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A/N:
This chapter is the culmination of a hard day's weekend. We have managed 2 chapters of Recaptured II (the repost of the deleted original) and a new chapter of Recaptured Continued (chapter 101) as well as finally updating this little baby. Personally I blame Marigold.
Heddwch!
Llinos

Scifinut-Aniron: Wow! This is an aweseome story so far
Marigold: Thanks!

Baylor: I've often wondered what the descendants of the Four Travellers thought of them and their tales
Marigold: So did we, lol …I hope everyone out there is reading Baylor's 'Care And Feeding of Hobbits'. It's excellent!

Rayfyre: I LOVE IT!! I really can't wait for the next chapter
Marigold: Sorry it's taken us so long, but we'll try to update faster….
Llinos: So many stories to write, so little time and then the blessed DVD comes out!

Sorrowful Eagle: Gracious, I cannot wait to read more of this! It is absolutely amazing
Marigold: Wow! Thanks!
Llinos: Sorry to be such a lollard!

Kookaburra: I love the concept of this, only two of the finest minds in LotR fanfiction could have come up with it
Marigold: (Blushing…honest, we are!) We just wanted to know what happened so we wrote it to find out for ourselves!
Llinos: Flattery will get you anything – maybe even some more Moria's Revenge.

Shirebound: We will get to see the family visiting Rath Dínen -- Merry and Pippin -- won't we? I'd love to read about that, sad though it would be.
Marigold: Sniff…I know…Llinos is reading Avalanche as I type these notes btw -it's a very well written story by Shirebound, and everyone should go and read it!