#gandalf lotr

[fili-urzudel]

Wildflower Ch. 1 - The Beginning

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1.1 k

Dear Reader:

The following events have been amalgamated from multiple sources and translated to a language you can understand to the best of our ability. We can only approximate the exact gestures, actions, and emotions of the characters involved, but hope we have done them justice. Songs have been the most heavily changed to make them more lyrical in your preferred language. However, the sentiment remains the same.

Thank you, and enjoy.

The sun rose earlier than expected, and Kíli thought it made the Shire look rather nice. The rolling green hills and wide dirt paths were no match for Ered Luin’s sharp peaks and impressive bridges, of course, but they were nice all the same. 

“Ye cannae stare at the dew all day,” Dwalin said gruffly, almost running into him as he exited the Hobbit hole, hauling yet another bag of garbage from the Baggins home.

“I know, I was just coming out to help you,” he smiled easily, and Dwalin huffed in reply. 

“Gettin’ the ponies ready is a bit more pertinent.”

“Ah, I see we’ve brought out the advanced vocabulary this morning.”

Dwalin shot him a look that could kill, and if his hands were free, he might have tried.

“Kíli,” a deep voice warned from around the bend.

“I was getting to it!” Kíli exclaimed quickly. “Where’s Fíli, anyway? He’s supposed to be helping me with this.”

“Your brother is writing a letter to his dear wife to let her know he’s safe,” Balin said, already standing by the ponies, loading maps and parchments into his saddlebags. 

“Oh,” he said simply. Normally, he would stick his tongue out or something of the sort, but he was rather concerned about his sister-in-law as well. 

Thorin nodded gratefully in Balin’s direction—he always seemed to know how to get the two of them under control, much better than he could, anyway.

The company was underway just before daybreak, and Kíli found himself squinting against the sun as they left. 

The morning was too quiet. 

“Anyone care to make a bet or two?”

* * *

“Wait! Wait!” The cry came from behind them. One by one, the dwarves reigned in their ponies, turning to see the aforementioned potential burglar running up to them rather comically, waving the contract as he did. “I signed it!”

Kíli smiled broadly—he had won his bets. He had seen a peculiar look in the Hobbit’s eye. That, and Gandalf betted that Bilbo would come to his senses. The young prince figured it would be pure foolishness to bet against a wizard.

Balin glanced at the Hobbit skeptically as he pulled out his reading glass, carefully inspecting the paper.  “Everything appears to be in order; welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield.”

The company cheered; they had a burglar! Maybe not a very good one, but at any rate, a burglar. After a small fuss concerning the use of ponies as their primary mode of transportation, they were once again on their way, now a company of fourteen.

“Stop! Stop! We have to turn around!” Bilbo’s calls did indeed cause the company to halt.

Kíli could see the look on his uncle’s face without looking at him; he had seen the man exasperated often enough, and he was beginning to feel the same way.

“What on earth is the matter?” Gandalf asked before either of them had the opportunity to.

“I forgot my handkerchief,” Bilbo complained.

“Here!” Bofur called helpfully, tearing off a portion of his rather soiled outer coat. “Use this!’

“Bilbo?” At the call, the entire procession stopped in their laughter, turning to see another Hobbit coming up to their trail.

Kíli immediately noticed something different about the Hobbit, not in her appearance—though, that may have been a factor—no, but rather in the effect she had on him. She was beautiful in a way he had difficulty explaining: her hair long and fastened back with several clips, save for the curls on her forehead; her long, pale green skirt and loose white blouse; her blue eyes that shone in the sunlight.

“Where are you going? Who are these people?” Kíli was jerked out of his reverie by the question, momentarily panicking as though it was he who was expected to answer.

“Who is this?” Thorin grunted, and the Hobbit simply glanced at him curiously before returning her gaze to Bilbo.

Kíli wished her eyes had not simply flicked over him.

“Oh, um, gentlemen, this is May Bramble, my cousin, who happens to live just west of this path we're using,” Bilbo explained, his hand awkwardly fiddling with the reins of his newly acquired pony.

At Gandalf's lightly confused expression, May chuckled. “It's very distant, but, somehow, we're both Tooks. One more than the other.”

The wizard nodded thoughtfully and went back to his pipe.

The dwarves gave each other looks of barely disguised humor—these Hobbits and their family trees!

“A bit far out of town, is it not?” Thorin asked, eyeing the maiden with a kernel of suspicion.

“My great-great-grandfather was one of the more... eccentric Hobbits of his generation,” she answered seriously. “He thought it better to rely more on the land, as our ancestors had, and it has served us well. Now, Bilbo, are you going to answer my question or not?”

Before Bilbo could answer, Gandalf took it upon himself to explain the journey, and its reasoning, despite Thorin's protests—“We do not need everyone in the Shire knowing our business!”

“Oh,” she furrowed her brow seriously. “That sounds... very noble. And exciting.”

Thorin stared at her, hoping that would be the end of it and they could be on their way.

“Would you mind the addition of another to your company?”

“We don't need any dead weight,” Thorin said bluntly. “This is hardly a jolly quest.”

“We could use an extra pair of hands, always,” Kíli argued, and Thorin raised a brow at him. “And I hardly think she's so eager to join this company for gold when no payment has been offered.”

“No, no, I would never assume that I was entitled to any of your gold,” she shook her head quickly. “I'm only joining for the adventure.” She smiled at Kíli, a bright grin that was easily returned.

“And we do have an extra pony,” Fíli pointed out, seeing the look on his brother's face. It was certainly one he had not quite seen before.

“Have both of you gone mad? We cannot—”

“Let her come!” Gandalf interrupted. “I have a wizard's intuition about this one.” He gave a not-so-subtle wink in her direction.

Thorin spared her another glance.

“Fine. But we will not be waiting; we've wasted enough daylight as it is.”

May jumped excitedly, running back to her front door and grabbing a large leather bag before jogging back to the company that had indeed already begun to move on. 

“Here’s a pony, lass,” a red-haired dwarf offered kindly. 

“I’ve always wanted to ride one,” she cheered, quickly moving to ride sidesaddle. 

“Did you just… have a bag of your things ready for a journey like this?” Bilbo asked as she rode alongside him. 

“Did you not?” Her quick response was followed by the brightest laugh Kíli had ever heard. 

He was in trouble.

[anunexpectedbaggins]

A forever yapper on every platform 🙏

Spitting straight facts though 🤔

[characterswithcolorsnamesfight]

Best character with a color name

Round 1 Poll 4

[vanglaggle]

quick gandalf study :-)

do not repost.

[lapseinrecs]

Recovery

By Wolfsbane_and_Nettles

On Archive of Our Own

Status: Complete; Oneshot; 6,246 words

Summary:of Five Armies, Thorin decides to take responsibility for what has happened to Bilbo, and leaves for the Shire to tell the Thain of what had transpired. The only problem is...is that Thorin has no clue what a "Thain" is exactly, and why he needs to tell him of what happened to Bilbo.

My thoughts: There's something very sweet about taking over another's duties until they are well enough to perform them again.

[art-crumbs-art-blog]

Portrait I made for my dad's birthday back in December. He deserves to be Gandalf.

[shinraalpha]

i love how Gandalf invested in Hobbits in year one and has been pushing them ever since. Thorin, i hear you need help with a breaking and entering. Can I recommend one of these little cunts? Silent as fuck, trust me. Elrond my dude i know you're skeptical but these four chucklefucks just transported a weapon of mass destruction all the way here. Theoden, you've gotta get yourself a hobbit man, I've got a spare one here. Denathor you big prick, take a hobbit - literally this is the bottom of the range but listen to him sing. Beautiful little bastard.

[spale-vosver]

[shamebats]

[grandstarlightmagazine]

like this is the face of a wizard who's doing EXACTLY what he loves to do in life T-T…(Read More)

[fili-urzudel]

A self-indulgent drabble

And one from quite long ago, at that. In summary, typical "reader gets dumped into Middle Earth through inexplicable phenomena, possibly in the midst of a personal crisis." She meets Gandalf.

Warnings: reader self-describes/presents as female

At once nothing changed, and yet it felt as though the world flipped upside down and time backwards. You could not place where or over what you had tripped, but it seemed it would be impossible to pinpoint anyways anymore, seeing as you found yourself in a place completely unfamiliar from where you intended to be.

The trailhead had disappeared, along with your hiking shoes... and your pants... and your backpack...

You plucked in mild horror at the wool skirt now covering your legs, accompanied by fur-lined boots and a matching wool bust, overlaid with a small silk sash and heavy cloak. The pack against your back was now more of a canvas sack, containing a few pieces of paper (though nothing to write on them with), a few fresh apples (one of the few things that had not changed) and several pieces of lembas bread.

Lembas bread?

Your heart suddenly skipped, and you couldn't tell if it was dread or excitement. This was Middle Earth, you were sure of it, and you were also living in it.

Tolkien's works were always full of love and wonder and hope.

It just so happened they also contained Balrogs and evil wizards and trolls.

A stick snapped behind you, and you jumped up from where you had been inspecting your new inventory, whirling towards the sound and dumping the contents of your rucksack in the process.

"Goodness," the tall man said softly, peering at you with curiosity from underneath the wide brim of his grey hat. "I did not mean to startle you so."

"Gandalf?" You couldn't stop yourself from saying.

"Ah, you recognize me," he said, a bit of a sarcastic smile forming. "More than I can say for some. Tell me, have we... met before?"

Your heart still racing from the startle, you took a deep breath before answering. "No, no, we haven't met," you answered, smoothing your palms on your skirt. "But I've heard stories about you. Quite a few, actually."

"Interesting," he commented, resting both of his hands comfortably on the top of his staff. "What sort of stories?"

"Great ones, about trolls and Hobbits and--" You stopped yourself as you noted his grey robes. You weren't sure if the quest for Erebor had happened yet, and the Fellowship likely had yet to be formed. "And fireworks."

"That is often the most memorable of my ventures," he smiled ironically. "However, it is not often that my dealings with Hobbits would be anything noteworthy enough to reach the ears of men. Where did you hear all of this?"

You froze from where you had been retrieving the last apple that had fallen from your pack.

Was honesty the best choice here? Would he understand? Would he believe you?

"A different world, I'm afraid, Master Gandalf."

"A different world?"

"Yes, one far removed from your own. One in which you and these Hobbits and a fair many others exist only as characters in cherished books."

He stood up straight, now observing you with a rather critical eye.

"I have been in this world longer than many now living would be able to believe, and never have I seen something of this nature," he told you. "However, I believe you."

[anunexpectedbaggins]

Another draft lol apparently I was really into Frozen a few months ago 💀

I wish I had an ounce of talent because I need a LOTR animatic of The Next Right Thing (rofl ya from frozen 2) either with Frodo forcing himself to complete the quest after he thinks Gandalf has died

OR

Sam thinking Frodo was killed and preparing to carry to ring himself, then supporting Frodo towards the end when he sails away

Maybe something about him being torn hmm

Montage of Sam growing old with his kids and wife become mayor and finally him sailing to the undying lands and seeing Frodo turning young again

[characterswithcolorsnamesfight]

Best character with a color name

Round 3 Poll 1

[flockofteeth]

incredible. LOTR fandom truly NEVER stops giving

( created by stixywixy | video on tiktok )

[vanyamire]

some quick lotr studies :]

prints

[hedgehogoftime]

Rereading the Lord of the Rings series recently, and it's so fascinating to me how much the series is a denial of the typical juvenile power-fantasy that is associated with the fantasy genre.

Like, the power-fantasy is the temptation the Ring uses against people It tempts Boromir with becoming the "one true king" that could save his people with fantastic power. It tempts Sam with being the savior of Middle Earth and turning the ruin that is Mordor into a great garden. It tempts Gandalf and Galadriel with being the messianic figure of legend who brings salvation to Middle Earth and great glory to herself.

The things the Ring tempts people with are becoming the typical protagonists of fantasy stories that we expect to see. and over and over we see that accepting that role, that fantasy of being the benevolent all-powerful hero, is a bad thing. LotR is about how power, even power wielded with benevolent intent, is corrupting.

And its so fascinating how so much of modern fantasy buys into the very fantasy LotR denies. Most modern fantasy is about being that Heroic power-fantasy. About good amassing power to rival evil. But LotR dares not to. It dares to be honest that there is no world where anyone amasses that power and remains good.

I guess that's one of the reasons its so compelling.