I’m not going to post a long summary, just a thanks to all who participated or
lurked. Great thoughts from everybody. This chapter is short but I like it
because it summarizes the many changes the Hobbits, Gandalf and even Butterbur
have been through, and suggests at changes in the wider world. This is where
the story seems to come full circle. I enjoyed and was enlightened by all the
responses, but I personally found the posts from those of you who have seen
loved go off to war and come back profoundly changed especially insightful.
Any further thoughts or ideas from anyone, feel free to post away.
Special thanks to notlost and White Gull for remembering my birthday :-).
Again, thanks to all of
you.
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"Despair or folly?" said Gandalf. "It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not."
