Hari, Hari, you might ask. Whatever happened after that?
Nothing. Everything. The older I get the more I don't think of the two as being mutually exclusive. At least I assume so. The world went right back to being just the way it always was—or had been, or would be—and no one really noticed. Sure, there's the odd resistance slogan of Frodo Lives that got stuck in the 70's and just sort of hung around, echoes of the dying multiverse that wouldn't be erased, but besides that history pretty much just took care of itself.
Really, Hari. What actually happened?
Okay. Fine. Have it your way:
"…and he lived happily ever after until the end of his days." –The Red Book of Westmarch
Bilbo Baggins
That's all Tolkien tells us. That's all we'll ever truly know.
But if you're not satisfied with the uncertainty of truth, then make up your own. Choose your own adventure. It is, after all, a Tale That Grew in the Telling.
Maura Labingi
1) Frodo Baggins crossed over the Sea with his uncle and adoptive father, Bilbo. They lived their last days in fullness and splendor, content to learn the language of the Elves, write poetry, and drink the wine of the blessed realm until their hearts' content. They died within moments of one another, content to go On into the Music of the Song and become living melody.
They are buried together in Tol Eressea.
Banazîr "Ban" Galbasi
2) Samwise Gamgee was elected Mayor of the Shire seven consecutive times. He had xxx sons and daughters and xxx grandsons and daughters and xxx great-grandsons and daughters and to this day is remembered as the most famousest of Hobbits when the myths of Mad Baggins have all but faded. Upon the death of Mistress Rose, it is said he went to the Sea. He was last seen from the Tower Downs where he entrusted the Red Book of Westmarch into the safekeeping of Faramir Took.
Samwise Gamgee is buried beside Mr. Frodo in Tol Eressea, the last of the Ring-Bearers.
It was on his insistence that a tomb was erected for Smeagol as well.
"Mr. Frodo," he said, "would've wanted it that way. He did help an' save the world, and all. And he was a Hobbit once, or very near to one. And beggin' your pardon, Lady, but G stands for Gollum as much as anything."
Kalimac "Kali" Brandagamba
3) Meriadoc Brandybuck was buried in Rath Dinen among the Great of Gondor, and his bier was placed beside that of his good friend, Peregrin Took of the Tower Guard. His heart and right hand, however, were interred in Ithilien in the grave of the White Lady of Rohan, and his tobacco pouch and his books were buried in Edoras in the tomb of Theoden King.
Razanur "Razar" Tûc
4) Peregrin Took was buried in Rath Dinen as befitted his rank in the Tower Gaurd, laid to rest beside his closest companion, Meriadoc Brandybuck. His grave was watched over by the sons of Bergil, son of Beregond, for generations to come.
Boromir son of Denethor
5) Boromir died defending the Halflings Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, aged 35. It is said the boat of Lórien rode the falls of Rauros and carried the body of Boromir out among the stars, and some in Gondor still claim that xxx.
Tar-Elessar Telcontar: Aragorn Arathornion Ethelharn
"Estel"
6) Aragorn son of Arathorn got the girl. He wants you to know that whatever happened before, or whatever happens after, it was worth it.
"Gimli"
7) There is a note in the copy of the Tower Downs in the hand of xxx Took concerning the fate of Gimli the Dwarf, but even then it was nothing more than rumor. Perhaps the Dwarf walked off into the base of the mountains to die alone as some Dwarves do. Among the Rohirrim of the Westfold it is rumored that he will wake again like Durin of Old, but Dwarves as a rule are insular, and do not share their stories readily, and they find no shame in lying to those outside their kin.
What is known is this: Gimli Gloin's son has no tomb. He took no wife and fathered no sons. Few Dwarves do.
Legolas
8) It is said in the Red Book of Westmarch that each of the Company stood before the Lady of the Wood, and each in his own head heard a choice: to abandon the quest without shame for what his heart most greatly desired, or to continue and face the uncertainty and horrors that lay upon their road. What choices she offered each remained a secret unto themselves. None, said Frodo, could long return her gaze, save Legolas of the Elves.
It was after this that the others marked a change in him that they wondered to behold. What choice did she offer? And what did he choose? We will never know. That he continued the quest beyond all peril, when his own people were beleaguered by the Enemy we know. That he fought beside the King of Men, and had a strange friendship with a Dwarf of Erebor that many remarked on, we know. That he stood before the Gates of Mordor where his father's father and his mother's people were slain in the thousands in long ages past, we know. And that is has been reported that Gimli Gloin's son went with him across the sea, we have also heard.
"Strange it may seem," said Legolas, "but while Gimli lives I shall not come to Fangorn alone."
"Come, Gimli!" said Legolas. "Now by Fangorn's leave I will visit the deep places of the Entwood and see such trees as are nowhere else to be found in MIddle-earth. You shall come with me and keep your word, and thus we will journey on together to our own lands in Mirkwood and beyond."
If the rumors of Gimli's departure are to be believed, perhaps there is more to be added to their tale.
It is said an Elf loves once, and only once. But that love endures, undying.
Olórin/Mithrandir/Incánus/Tharkûn
"Gandalf"
9) Gandalf the Grey thinks white stains too easily for travel and hates to pay his dry-cleaning bill. He enjoys wine-tasting, fondue parties, and is particularly fond of knitting homespun socks.
I saw him once more, in his favorite guise as an old man in a weathered grey cloak with that familiar silver scarf and blue hat, the long wisps of his eyebrows tickling its brim.
"This is the last time, isn't it?"
He leaned on his staff, and eyed me sagely. "All things must end, Hari Seldon."
"Not everything. Not always. Not love."
"Very wise," he pondered, nodding. "Very wise indeed."
"Doctor Who," I shrugged.
"You don't say," he produced parchment and a quill from the folds of his cloak. "I don't suppose—"
"You can borrow it, if you like."
"Just tell me, Hari. One last thing before our farewell…" When a wizard makes a request, you don't dare refuse. Even if it meant going on yet another unexpected adventure. "Old Bilbo was always so very fond of writing, too…but why 'A God Among the Stars'?"
"A Swiftly Tilting Planet. It's a Madeline l'Engle book about time travel and stuff. The title's from this one poem, and I thought, you know, given the circumstances—"
His bright eyes twinkled. "But why that particular phrase, Hari Seldon?"
"Oh, come on," I teased him. "Legolas took 'a shot in the dark' that saved the world, when back in Moria he dropped his bow in terror…And right before he did it he said a prayer. Bala na i-ngiliath?"
"A God among the stars!" laughed Gandalf, nearly choking on the end of his pipe. "Good gracious me, a God among the stars indeed!"
AN:
Sindarin: Bala na i-ngiliath. "(A) god among the stars."