Chapter VIII and IX: The Scouring of the Shire and The Grey Havens

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

But I guess it wouldn't be any fun if he had told us every single detail. Something has to be left up to the imagination!

True, too true. Too much information can spoil a thing, but hints keep you curiousity.

Haha, as long as they start paying attention to foreign news that will certainly help them. Maybe there will be a Hobbit newspaper, with an adventurous guy like Robin Smallburrow as the foreign correspondent.

Hahah! Although I reckon they would have been mostly be interested in foreign history, I can't quite imagine many hobbits taking an interest in contempory foreign events, it just doesn't quite sound like them.

Eventually they would have had to do something, if only to secure supplies of pipe-weed and ale.

Good point, their stores wouldn't have lasted forever.

True. Maybe he was looking for the Ring covertly, and just never found it. Good thing Merry and Pippin weren't his spies, since they figured it out ages ago.

Yes, but it is surprising how close Saruman got anyway. Lotho was near enough family. You'd almost think Saruman knew the significance of the name Baggins, but I doubt Sauron ever relayed Gollum's words.

The only set-back for Saruman was that both Bilbo and Frodo didn't get along with that branch of the family in the first place. Otherwise things might have happened quite differently.

I bet Gandalf also had the confidence in the four Travellers that they would sort Saruman out.

I agree. I don't think Gandalf would have let them go alone if he didn't have confidence in their ability to handle this on their own.

Had those four Hobbits not fired, they probably would have captured Grima. But those guys were probably really keyed up from the battle. I just can't imagine a Hobbit killing someone vengefully. Not even a jerk like Ted Sandyman. I wonder what became of that guy anyway?

Pester someone hard enough and he'll break at one point, and the Hobbits were pestered for quite a while. It's natural for them for wanting to hurt their oppressors, even if this was out of their normal character. If Frodo hadn't been constantly reminding them not to kill their enemies if they could avoid it, things might have gotten far uglier.

I reckon Ted probably lay low for a while afterwards. His reputation might have gotten a serious beating, but I doubt the Hobbits would have laid a finger on him.