b2mem | "I Who Am Water", by Himring

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"I Who Am Water", by Himring

Title: I Who Am Water
Author's Name: Himring
B2MeM Challenge: Seasons of Middle-earth, Summer (non-compilation)
Prompt: "Each year at summer’s end I go to find them for her, In a wide pool, deep and clear…" (Fellowship of the Ring, "In the House of Tom Bombadil")
Summary: Goldberry is the River-daughter
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Format / Genre: ficlet (108 words); character study (first-person)
Characters/ Pairings: Goldberry (Goldberry / Tom Bombadil)

No matter how many water lilies he brings, this circle of bowls that I can lightly leap across cannot be my wide pool, deep and clear, my ancient home in the river.
‘Goldberry’, he calls me, ‘Goldberry, merry yellow berry-o!’
And I consent. I consent to be Goldberry. I sleep in Tom’s arms at night. I welcome our visitors. I sing water, I who am water; I sing rain for hobbits at summer’s end.
If I withheld my consent, I could slip the noose and turn into a nameless brook hurrying down to the Withywindle. No house or door could hold me. Not even Tom could stop me.

A/N: Possibly influenced by a fic that I have read, but which I cannot clearly remember. If it reminds you of someone else's fic, please let me know whose it is...

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I sing rain for hobbits at summer’s end.

Oh my, I never thought of that! This is beautifully written, and rings very true.

"I sing rain for hobbits at summer’s end."

I guess that sentence is a bit compressed, actually, but I'm glad it rings true! In the book, Frodo is grateful for that day of rain and rest and he clearly loves the singing.

Thank you for your comment!

This was very poetic and an interesting look at an enigmatic character.

Thank you, Linda! I'm glad you thought this look at Goldberry was interesting!

Interesting! The water lilies seem to be Goldberry's vow to stay, and Tom's talisman against her leaving. In any case, Tom is lucky to have won this wild river's daughter!

Clodia on ff.net has a lot of Tom and Goldberry stories. :/

Thank you!
I've read at least some of Clodia's stories of Tom and Goldberry and enjoyed them. Do you actually think they are my mystery influence? The bits that I consciously remember are a bit different, but I haven't re-read them for a while. I guess I should!

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kittotter.livejournal.com - 2014-03-14 01:31 (UTC) - Expand

I've never thought of her like this before - quietly powerful and 'other', staying because she chooses to. And your words flow like water. Lovely!

Thank you very much, Kei! I'm glad this look at Goldberry works for you. In her essence, she is more "other" than the elves, I think, although Frodo doesn't see it quite that way.

Oh, I just love this! Tom and Goldberry are neglected far too often, and this revision of Goldberry's character certainly goes against Tolkien's/Bombadil's interpretation, which was something like, "whether she wanted to be my wife or not." (sorry, can't find the exact reference).

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! I was thinking that there is a bit of tension between the characters of Tom and Goldberry as they are depicted in the Bombadil poems and the way they appear in LOTR and reacting to that observation. Maybe when you were looking for a reference you couldn't find you were thinking of the ending of one of the two Bombadil poems?

(no subject)

with-rainfall.livejournal.com - 2014-03-15 20:20 (UTC) - Expand

I like this darker, deeper look at Goldberry. You've packed a lot into so few words. Really well done.

Thank you very much! I'm glad this attempt to look more deeply at Goldberry worked for you! (And you you chose the perfect icon for your comment!)

(no subject)

baranduin.livejournal.com - 2014-03-15 18:00 (UTC) - Expand

A well-matched pair it seems - neither Tom nor Goldberry being quite what they appear to be.

I like the implication here that Tom offers her something she wants or she wouldn't consent to stay.

Lyrically lovely!

Thank you!
Yes, both with Tom and Goldberry, there's a lot that doesn't appear on the surface.

Oh, this is delightful! Such a compelling, insightful take on Goldberry, and of what lies behind Tolkien lets us see. You're leading us directly to the immense world of myths, tales and ideas lying beneath the surface we know as the books, and I'm brought back to a thought I had the other day: that what we read with Tolkien's work is really only a mirror to a different world, a world we can only partly see and more often need to understand through the reflecting images of those small parts visible (or rather readable) to us. You are a master in showing this different world.

Thank you very much!
I'm happy to hear that this short piece helped you to see into that different world!

Edited 2014-03-15 18:48 (UTC)

I like the musicality of this text, Goldberry's freedom and true nature !

Merci! I'm glad you liked this piece on Goldberry. Thank you for reading and commenting!

Especially with water holding such immense power and significance in Tolkien's world, it feels like Goldberry as the River-daughter is often given short shrift of what she might be (both in canon and in fanfic), but I loved that you made clear that she is much more than that underneath such a bowdlerized, calm surface.

No house or door could hold me. Not even Tom could stop me.

What an unspeakably fantastic final line!

Edited 2014-03-09 12:27 (UTC)

Thank you! I'm very glad you loved that final line. It was important to me!
(Also, I remember your take on Goldberry in "Caterwauling" very fondly!)

Very interesting view of Goldberry! It is fun to see her thoughts and more about who is really is.

Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear that you found my look at Goldberry and her thoughts interesting!

You've brought out the depth of the character that, I have to say, I don't really care about -- my bad, but I could live without either Goldberry or Tom. Greatly done! Thank you for sharing!

I think you're not the only Tolkien fan who doesn't much care for Tom or Goldberry. I'm glad you thought this piece worked nevertheless! Thank you very much for reading and commenting!

GOLDBERRY! This is a great take on a character who, in the books, seems to have made some very counter-intuitive life choices. The unrhyming lilt of your final lines is exactly right.

Thank you very much for confirming that I got the rhythm of those lines right!
I'm glad that my take on Goldberry and her choices worked for you!

I really like the idea of Goldberry as the river itself, contained from choice.

Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear that the idea appealed to you!

This is a wonderful look at an under-appreciated character. She is so powerful and strong here. I love the last line.

Thank you very much for your comment! I'm happy you like the last line! Tolkien writes Goldberry with care, I feel, but because her story doesn't tie in with anything in the later books, she tends to be overlooked.

This is powerful; I really like your Goldberry.

I'm glad you like my Goldberry. Thank you very much for letting me know!

How very beautiful! This is what draws me to Tolkien's writing, the beautiful, enigmatic, mythic/poetic versus that hint at the magic of the world and you do such a beautiful job of capturing that sentiment!

Thank you! I'm very flattered that you thought this piece was beautiful and delighted that it captured that hint of magic for you!

I love how you've woven so much mystery into so few words here. There's such a strong sense of her power - whatever that might be - and her whimsy. Love it :)

Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear both the power and the whimsy came across!

This is gorgeous! Not a superfluous word anywhere, and I love Goldberry's voice.

Thank you! Happy to hear that the words carry their weight! If I had somehow managed to cut eight words, it would have been a true drabble, but I felt the text was exactly as long as it needed to be and refused to even try...

It's a little sad. She sounds like she's straining at her chosen bond, is of two minds. She is powerful yet wistful. A river damned by choice, yet wanting to flow free. Love binds. Very complicated little piece.

Yes, there is sadness and a restrained longing for the freedom of flowing away, unnamed.
I think I was aiming to achieve a feeling of delicate balance.
Thank you very much for reading and commenting!

Oh, wow, I love this! You pack a lot into a few words, and the Goldberry you've written here is wonderful. I like the idea of her deciding to be this, knowing that she could be something else.

Thank you! I'm happy that this idea that she has consciously decided to be Goldberry appeals to you!

This is wonderful, Himring! I read it earlier but neglected to review. "Not even Tom could stop me." Excellent stuff! I love the way your Goldberry is pretty much boundless water incarnate, to the point that even Bombadil can't put limits on her.

Thank you! Glad you like it.
Water is stronger than rock, as they say. It is not something even Bombadil could control.

Very lovely and poetic look on Goldberry! :)

Thank you! Glad you liked this look at Goldberry!

Oh, I love this, Himring! With carefully chosen words, you've written such a poetic ficlet. The motif of Goldberry as a stream that is contained only by her consent is fabulous.

Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked Goldberry-as-stream. Would she be a Fay in your 'verse, I wonder? Or a different kind of creature?

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pandemonium-213.livejournal.com - 2014-04-02 14:57 (UTC) - Expand

Oh, I like this view of Goldberry as one who holds to this shape and identity solely by choice. Excellent!

Thank you very much, Larner!
I'm glad you like this view of Goldberry!

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