:) Good old Bilbo. And it's good for Aragorn to have some time with Arwen too. I will say though, the title had me humming Mary Poppins the whole time I was reading ("When you're with a sweep you're in glad companeeeeeee!") ;)

Home again! And in the hands of Elrond his remaining ills will be properly seen to! I secretly hope Glorfindel finds the outfit :p

He needs to get back to Elrond and get that chest/nose checked out.

A lesson well-learned by the ferryman's son! I will miss the family of Beorn and all those adorable little children! With a dozen chapters to go, I imagine there won't be too much more to trouble them on their way. Except maybe in the high pass. Hopefully they won't run afoul of the Nazgûl!

I'm glad we get to see another stay with the Beorns! Those kids are SO CUTE! I hope Freya is alright.. mayhap there is a need for the King's Hands?

A beautiful moment near the beginning of this chapter! Seeing that both Gandalf's and Aragorn's capacity for pity and empathy remain intact after everything.. it does a person good :)

Wow! The Magic of Gandalf and Narya unleashed! It would take a braver being than Gollum not to spill every secret they possessed!

I am dying for Aragorn to remember Gollum's odd behaviour when they were near the Gladden Fields! About the Birthday! And "I wants it"! *I* rather than his usual *we*! That's the missing piece! That's the tack they need to take!

Yay! Minardil survives EotR! And has great-grandkids! And good old Faramir! And Gandalf, the old crank, is a welcome sight as well! I'm glad that Aragorn has a friend with him in the Elfking's Hall!

"Sing hey! for the bath at close of day
that washes the weary mud away!
A loon is he that will not sing:
O! Water Hot is a noble thing!"

Also, Great Elephants! Let the man sleep, Gandalf!

But what about the constant nosebleeds? I'd wager that there are still wounds that we haven't yet uncovered.

Yes! He made it! Now maybe he can take some time to rest properly.

Took them bloody long enough!

Well if anyone could find their way back to the path in Mirkwood, it would be Aragorn! And trust Gollum to make a deal with a bloody spider! Friggin Wood Elves!

Noooo! Why do the elves even bother to *make* a path if no one ever stays to the path? Has there ever been a journey through Mirkwood that ended with "And they followed the Beornings' advice and stayed to the path and then made it out of the forest in time for tea"?