Words beneath a dappled sky

Behold the ruin, the ravaged Shire,
The trees are felled and burned with fire

Two for the ravaged Shire - what a terrible loss, and what a terrible, vengeful blow they found upon their homecoming. Merry 'should have stuffed that pouch down his throat' as he said.

Scouring
( Alas for the shade and the loam )
-
The Party Tree
( Eyes that had faced down great evil unflinching now burst into tears )
-

Oh...woaaahhh...

( The Nine-Finger Blues )
-
( The Tater Blues )

Because Tolkien tells us in the intervening years, 'nothing of note' happened.

Might as well kick off this listing with the behemoth that started it all (yes, I went from mostly just writing poetry to deciding to write a 'story' to it turning into a novel that took a year and a half to finish - I've since learned to yank on the Muse's reins a little better). This led to my discovery of ff.net and other jolly places for writers.

Title: Nothing of Note
Wordcount: 171,634 (or thereabouts)
Summary: Bilbo Baggins faces his 98th year with a local adventure that leads to his eventual selection and adoption of an heir.

At Stories of Arda:
http://storiesofarda.com/chapterlistview.asp?SID=3900

Or here it is at fanfiction.net, if you prefer:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2405289/1/Nothing_of_Note

Like the later Stone of Erebor this was one of my "gapfiller" pet projects, a look at the process that led up to Bilbo deciding to make the (rather notable) step of choosing an heir, then following through with it. It is Bilbo-centric and includes an extended spring journey to the three Towers and back again, as well as an interlude in Buckland, a Dwarvish visit and other events, all within the bounds of the Shire.

I have intent to eventually go back through and provide some much-needed editing, but for now it has to wait. Fair warning, this is a whopping 70 chapters plus an Epilogue.