"I should like to save the Shire, if I could - though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them. But I don't feel like that now. I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again."

carrying the world around his neck

"I see no hope of it now. But I've got to do the best I can."

many partings;

^{Ragged breathing, the cowed posture. The signs of pain, a sagging position against a wall, eyes cloudy from something that could and should not be written or spoken. Words spilled, dream-like, weak in a way they had not been since he arrived. Each word took a hitched gasp from aching lungs.}

^{“..Tell me – please, what….” His eyes flutter. “What.. happens to those who leave this place? I must know. Where..where do they go?”}

to me, it’s like falling asleep again |

^{“..I begin to wonder if this is all a dream. I cannot fathom why but deep in my heart I feel perhaps that something is truly amiss after all. I feel as if..I am somehow different. It’s more than a headache, though some of you don’t seem to think the same. Makes me feel a bit foolish, really.” Even now he lived up to the meaning of his name, ‘wise’, instead of naively assuming all was well. Or perhaps the scars were too strong in this little man – who was now someone else, once before.}

^{Someone he no longer was.}

^{Lightly, as if to ward off the ominous feel to his words, the hobbit offered a smile.}

^{“Pardons, but has anyone seen Sam? The one my size who is..quite fond of potatoes? 'Crisps’ he called them. Gardening, too.”}

^{“..’home’. As far as I can remember. I wonder if there’s much point in believing a word they say. I am not going home.“}

^{There was no such place for him, but he had to go back regardless.}

^{“I suppose I’ll need to learn what a ‘cafe’ means. Or perhaps I’m simply making it an excuse to learn the language known as 'French’.  It’s not quite so different from a tavern or pub, is it? Let alone an inn? Far more eloquent than where I come from.” A pause. This was most likely the first 'normal’ job Frodo Baggins ever had in his life.}