second disappearance of Mr. Bilbo Baggins was discussed in
Hobbiton, and indeed all over the Shire, for a year and a day, and was remembered much longer than that. It became a fireside-story
for young hobbits; and eventually Mad Baggins, who used to vanish with a bang and a flash and reappear with bags of jewels
and gold, became a favourite character of legend and lived on long after all the true events were forgotten.
But in the meantime, the general opinion in the neighbourhood was that Bilbo, who had always been rather cracked, had at last
gone quite mad, and had run off into the Blue. There he had undoubtedly fallen into a pool or a river and come to a tragic,
but hardly an untimely, end. The blame was mostly laid on Gandalf.
‘If only that dratted wizard will leave young Frodo alone, perhaps he’ll settle down and grow some hobbit-sense,’ they said.
And to all appearance the wizard did leave Frodo alone, and he did settle down, but the growth of hobbit-sense was not very
noticeable. Indeed, he at once began to carry on Bilbo’s reputation for oddity. He refused to go into mourning; and the next
year he gave a party in honour of Bilbo’s hundred-and-twelfth birthday, which he called a Hundred-weight Feast. But that was
short of the mark, for twenty guests were invited and there were several meals at which it snowed food and rained drink, as
hobbits say.
Some people were rather shocked; but Frodo kept up the custom of giving Bilbo’s Birthday Party year after year until they
got used to it. He said that he did not think Bilbo was dead. When they asked: ‘Where is he then?’ he shrugged his shoulders.
He lived alone, as Bilbo had done; but he had a good many friends, especially among the younger hobbits (mostly descendants
of the Old Took) who had as children been fond of Bilbo and often in and out of Bag End. Folco Boffin and Fredegar Bolger
were two of these; but his closest friends were Peregrin Took (usually called Pippin), and Merry Brandybuck (his real name
was Meriadoc, but that was seldom remembered). Frodo went tramping over the Shire with them; but more often he wandered by
himself, and to the amazement of sensible folk he was sometimes seen far from home walking in the hills and woods under the
starlight. Merryand Pippin suspected that he visited the Elves at times, as Bilbo had done.
As time went on, people began to notice that Frodo also showed signs of good ‘preservation’: outwardly he retained the appearance
of a robust and energetic hobbit just out of his tweens. ‘Some folk have all the luck,’ they said; but it was not until Frodo
approached the usually more sober age of fifty that they began to think it queer.
Frodo himself, after the first shock, found that being his own master and
the
Mr. Baggins of Bag End was rather pleasant. For some years he was quite happy and did not worry much about the future. But
half unknown to himself the regret that he had not gone with Bilbo was steadily growing. He found himself wondering at times,
especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.
He began to say to himself: ‘Perhaps I shall cross the River myself one day.’ To which the other half of his mind always replied:
‘Not yet.’
So it went on, until his forties were running out, and his fiftieth birthday was drawing near: fifty was a number that he
felt was somehow significant (or ominous); it was at any rate at that age that adventure had suddenly befallen Bilbo. Frodo
began to feel restless, and the old paths seemed too well-trodden. He looked at maps, and wondered what lay beyond their edges:
maps made in the Shire showed mostly white spaces beyond its borders. He took to wandering further afield and more often by
himself; and Merry and his other friends watched him anxiously. Often he was seen walking and talking with the strange wayfarers
that began at
Hobbiton, and indeed all over the Shire, for a year and a day, and was remembered much longer than that. It became a fireside-story
for young hobbits; and eventually Mad Baggins, who used to vanish with a bang and a flash and reappear with bags of jewels
and gold, became a favourite character of legend and lived on long after all the true events were forgotten.
But in the meantime, the general opinion in the neighbourhood was that Bilbo, who had always been rather cracked, had at last
gone quite mad, and had run off into the Blue. There he had undoubtedly fallen into a pool or a river and come to a tragic,
but hardly an untimely, end. The blame was mostly laid on Gandalf.
‘If only that dratted wizard will leave young Frodo alone, perhaps he’ll settle down and grow some hobbit-sense,’ they said.
And to all appearance the wizard did leave Frodo alone, and he did settle down, but the growth of hobbit-sense was not very
noticeable. Indeed, he at once began to carry on Bilbo’s reputation for oddity. He refused to go into mourning; and the next
year he gave a party in honour of Bilbo’s hundred-and-twelfth birthday, which he called a Hundred-weight Feast. But that was
short of the mark, for twenty guests were invited and there were several meals at which it snowed food and rained drink, as
hobbits say.
Some people were rather shocked; but Frodo kept up the custom of giving Bilbo’s Birthday Party year after year until they
got used to it. He said that he did not think Bilbo was dead. When they asked: ‘Where is he then?’ he shrugged his shoulders.
He lived alone, as Bilbo had done; but he had a good many friends, especially among the younger hobbits (mostly descendants
of the Old Took) who had as children been fond of Bilbo and often in and out of Bag End. Folco Boffin and Fredegar Bolger
were two of these; but his closest friends were Peregrin Took (usually called Pippin), and Merry Brandybuck (his real name
was Meriadoc, but that was seldom remembered). Frodo went tramping over the Shire with them; but more often he wandered by
himself, and to the amazement of sensible folk he was sometimes seen far from home walking in the hills and woods under the
starlight. Merryand Pippin suspected that he visited the Elves at times, as Bilbo had done.
As time went on, people began to notice that Frodo also showed signs of good ‘preservation’: outwardly he retained the appearance
of a robust and energetic hobbit just out of his tweens. ‘Some folk have all the luck,’ they said; but it was not until Frodo
approached the usually more sober age of fifty that they began to think it queer.
Frodo himself, after the first shock, found that being his own master and
the
Mr. Baggins of Bag End was rather pleasant. For some years he was quite happy and did not worry much about the future. But
half unknown to himself the regret that he had not gone with Bilbo was steadily growing. He found himself wondering at times,
especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.
He began to say to himself: ‘Perhaps I shall cross the River myself one day.’ To which the other half of his mind always replied:
‘Not yet.’
So it went on, until his forties were running out, and his fiftieth birthday was drawing near: fifty was a number that he
felt was somehow significant (or ominous); it was at any rate at that age that adventure had suddenly befallen Bilbo. Frodo
began to feel restless, and the old paths seemed too well-trodden. He looked at maps, and wondered what lay beyond their edges:
maps made in the Shire showed mostly white spaces beyond its borders. He took to wandering further afield and more often by
himself; and Merry and his other friends watched him anxiously. Often he was seen walking and talking with the strange wayfarers
that began at
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