My name is Rowan Namárië Baggins. I am not really related to Sam, but he has been like a father to me since my own father, Frodo Baggins, crossed to the Grey Havens with the elves. My mother, though I have never met her, was a beautiful elf.
Sam says someday he'll take me to meet her, but since I am only seventeen, I shouldn't go yet. In hobbit years, I am still a child.
Sam was my father's best friend, and when my father went away with the elves, Sam promised him that he would take care of me as if I was his own child. He has been very kind to me, and has kept his promise well.
Every night, before I fall asleep, I lay awake in my bed, and imagine I'm talking to my father again. He left when I was just six or seven years old, but I remember him so well.
When I close my eyes, I can see him standing in front of me. He's much shorter than I, and though he is just a young man in hobbit years, he looks very old. His bright blue eyes went dim long before he left, but when he looked at me, something sparkled in his eyes.
Pippin says I was the best adventure of my father's life. I was born on his birthday, which made him very happy. They tell me that I was a good baby, and I only cried when I was hungry.
"You were a beauty, Mar," Merry said once. "I can tell you right now, you are going to grow up to be a beautiful woman."
Merry and Pippin have been like good friends to me. They might be older than I am, by a good many years, but they give good advice, and they keep me out of too much trouble.
Sam, Merry, and Pippin are the only people that will call me anything near my middle name. Rosie, who had helped raise me, only calls me Rowan. My elvish name scares some of the hobbits, so none of them ever use it.
Namárië means farewell in Elvish. Most of the hobbits think that it was Frodo's way of saying he knew he was going to have to leave soon. They treat my name as if it were a curse. I think it is beautiful, and it is a link to my elf mother.
I sat up all that night thinking about my father, my mother, all of my friends here in the Shire, and what kind of adventures I would have someday. I dreamed of my mother that night. She never showed me her face, but she was very tall, and I could tell she was beautiful.
"My beautiful Namárië…" That was the only thing she said. Her voice sounded sad and lonely.
When I woke up the next morning, I told Sam about my dream.
"She sounded so lonely and sad," I said. "All she said to me was 'My beautiful Namárië…' Then she disappeared."
Sam took this as some kind of an omen, and went to talk to Merry and Pippin about it. They all came to talk to me later on that day. Pippin had apparently been elected to tell me about it.
"We have thought about your dream an awful lot today, Mar," he said. "Sam, Merry, and I have decided that it would be good for you to go and see your mother."
Merry nodded. "We thought that, maybe, your dream was telling you something was happening to her, and that you need to see her right away."
"So, we're going to see my mother?" They all nodded. "Where does she live?"
"Somewhere around Rivendell," Sam said. "We'll go there to look for her first."
I was very nervous while I was packing my things. It was at least a week's trip to Rivendell, so I had to pack enough clothes to last me about a month if we had to look places farther than Rivendell.
Merry laughed when he saw my bags. "Where do you think you're going, Mar? You only need one set of clothes to travel in. Bring two, so you can have one clean pair while you're washing the other set."
"I want to bring something nice to wear for when I meet my mother," I said. "So, two pairs of clothes to travel in, and one nice set for when I see her?"
He nodded. "Now you're thinking. You don't want to weigh down your horse with three YEARS worth of clothes," he chuckled. "We'd never make it to Rivendell if you did."
I smiled. "Thanks, Merry."
He left the room and I unpacked all of the bags. I grabbed the smallest bag I could, and jammed two sets of traveling clothes in it, and began folding a dress to take with me. Rosie walked in the room and smiled. "You're taking the dress I made you?"
"Of course," I said, smiling. "I'll miss home while I'm gone. This will remind me of you."
She walked out of the room, and brought me a small bottle. "It's a bit of my perfume," she said. "In case you miss home, and want a little bit of it there with you on the road."
I hugged her. "Oh, thank you, Rosie." My eyes started tearing up. "That is the sweetest thing… Thank you so much."
The bag I had chosen was almost full, and I decided I would keep the bottle of Rosie's perfume in a small pouch on my belt. "So, while I'm on my horse, if I miss you too badly, I'll have it right there with me," I told her.