Day 10: Bad days, Heat, and Loyalty

Yes, I know I skipped a day… While I had planned a long workout for Day 9, I ended up with a crisis at work that had to be dealt with and left me exhausted. After I got home from work I went straight to bed and didn’t get up until it was time for work the next day. So yesterday (day 10) was the only time in the past two days that I managed to get out and walk.

Yesterday’s walk was miserable. Day 10 brought with it high temperatures and 80% humidity to deal with. My 8.13 mile (13.1 km) walk quickly had me sweating and wishing for the shade of a weeping willow over a local stream. Despite the uncomfortable weather, I managed to make it the 73 miles to Crickhollow!

By this mile marker Frodo, Sam, and Pippin have said farewell to Farmer Maggot and been picked up by Merry. Their three day journey through the Shire has turned more perilous than Frodo had anticipated and he readies to leave early the next morning. His friends, however, have known about his plans for quite a while and do not plan to let Frodo go on his own. Though his friends know Frodo is flying from one deadly peril to the next as long as he possesses the ring, they still agree to go with him. Of course, the hobbits couldn’t truly have known the full extent of peril and sorrow they would undergo on their journey. They would leave hobbits of the Shire and would return vastly changed, eventually dispersing to different lands and dying far away from the Shire they set out to save, but that’s not for another 900 pages or so. I’m getting ahead of myself…

In one of the most touching scenes in the narrative thus far, Frodo’s friends pledge their loyalty: “'You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin - to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours - closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo. Anyway: there it is. We know most of what Gandalf has told you. We know a good deal about the Ring. We are horribly afraid - but we are coming with you; or following you like hounds.'” Throughout The Lord of the Rings, the hobbits would stay true to their words. They went through great lengths to uncover Frodo’s plot and to ensure that they would be there for him when needed. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin would travel across Middle Earth and back because of their loyalty. Fredegar Bolger would remain behind and lead a resistance in the Shire because of his loyalty, eventually being imprisoned for his actions.

As a race hobbits are incredibly loyal and resilient, capable of standing true against even the direst of evils. They make good friends and are almost always true to their word. Though hobbits may not always seem like much, the reader quickly learns that even the smallest of creatures can make a great difference in the outcome of war.

The loyalty of Sam, Pippin, Merry, and even Fatty (aka Fredegar Bolger) are one of the reasons I feel in love with hobbits. As you can probably guess from the title of my blog along with my previous posts, I am a hobbit at heart. I have long identified with the views and culture of hobbits. The company of hobbits in the Lord of the Rings represents very different aspects and beliefs of the Shire. Each would have their own unique part to play in the war and their own trials to overcome. But that’s the thing about hobbits, they overcome. Hobbits truly are the most extraordinary creatures.

The road goes ever on and on,

~ Daisy Buttons