User:Belsaia/en/Sebylla/story

	Master of Storytelling honorary title bestowed by Oakheart on May 25, 2021

~ From the life of a Hobbit ~

y name is Sebylla, Sebylla Silverthistle. But you may also call me Bylla or Seby. Thirty-four summers ago I saw the light of day in the beautiful Shire, more precisely in Little Delving. Here I grew up in my parents' smial, played with my friends in the nearby stream, and also tried most of the usual pranks of young hobbits. On market days we walked to nearby Michel Delving, and on the feasts of Yule and Lithe we sometimes wandered to Hobbinton to the feast tree.

My mom, Begonia, is actually from Stock and only moved so far west for love. My one grandmother, my mom's mother is a real Harfoot.From her probably comes the joy of gardening and cooking. My dad, Dagobrand Silverthistle, comes from a distant side line of the Tooks and has brought a good portion of Fallohides into the family. From him I probably got the joy of hunting and a slight sense of adventure. I used to hunt a lot with my father. Ehh ... no not what you think! We hunted rabbits and pheasants and sometimes, for a feast, a roebuck. My dad always gave wolves, bears or worse a wide berth when I was around. But that is history now. My dad has retired and only takes care of his vegetable garden and mom's food.

Speaking of Mom, I got the joy of music and dancing from her. I didn't need to learn to dance, I've been able to do that since I could walk - at least that's what my dad says. Mom taught me to play the lute and the flute. In the beginning I must have annoyed the neighbors, but today it is quite passable. My great aunt Seburga from Michel Delving later taught me to play the violin. She is the sister of dad's father and said that I was a 'natural'. Well, she probably meant that my scratching on the fiddle could only be expected from frogs and mosquitoes. So, to practice, I ran right out into the fields and scared away shrews. (giggles silly) So it is not surprising that I was much more often with lute or fiddle, than with the bow on the road. That's how it has remained until today and meanwhile the many hours of practice have paid off: People no longer run away immediately when I play music. But unfortunately Auntie Seburga didn't notice that anymore ... Oops! No, not what you think! ... She moved to Bree. When her husband, my grandfather, died, she sold the farm by Michel Delving to a Birkenheim family and moved to her uncle's smial. It's on the southwest slope of the Bree-hill, has a pretty herb and vegetable garden, and is bigger inside than it looks - so it's just right for an old lady! But when I call her that, she always threatens me with the wooden spoon.

On the big market days in Bree, or even on Grandma Seburga's birthday, we sometimes went to Bree and visited her. That was always an adventure! Two days there, then we were there for a week and then two days back again. We went by oxcart and stayed overnight with Mum's relatives in Stock. That was the only reason my mom went on the trip. So she could visit her family again. Otherwise, she is not at all for such long trips to have.

When we were there, Auntie Seburga always inquired about my progress on the fiddle. That's why I always had to practice diligently in the weeks before such a Bree trip. Otherwise I usually played for birthdays in Little Delving or for the Lithe and Yule festival. Sometimes I had to help in the kitchen or in the garden and on the other days I was often out with my friends. Nevertheless, the little was enough for me to get better and better on all instruments over the years. What didn't get better was the space at home. I was an only child for a long time, but when I had just become a twien, we had another offspring. I was looking forward to having a sibling, but when it was twins and I had to share my room with two brothers, I didn't find it funny anymore. In the first years there were therefore also often quarrels in the house Silberdistel, because such a Twien can be quite stubborn and loud. Today I know that I almost drove my parents to despair, but that is the prerogative of the Twiens! (grins)

hen I came of age, about a year ago, I left for the big world. My auntie - or as I call her for the sake of simplicity - Grandma Seburga, has been living with her granddaughters, Sebranda and Sebohra, for some time. But because the Smial still had an unoccupied room, at some point a letter fluttered into my parents' house inviting me to stay with her. And because my third room had also become much too small for me, I accepted. That is, after endless discussions with mom and dad, I got permission to move to auntie. Of course with the promise to come home at least four times a year. My things were quickly packed and I traveled with dad and a trader to Bree. Bree, that's quite a long way from home! My parents were pretty sad too and mom didn't want to let me go at first. But Dad said that his father's sister would take care of me and that I would be at least as safe in a fenced city as in Little Delving. In silence, he probably thought the trip to Bree would cure me of my wanderlust.

At Grandma Seburga's, a room of my own awaited me that was larger than our living room at home. A window overlooking the garden provided enough light. The room was nicely furnished, but Grandma Seburga said I could rearrange it to suit me and if I didn't want something, it would be thrown out. I felt like a queen. Who was still waiting for me were my two bases, Sebranda and Sebohra. The two of them are still in the middle of the twiens, but grandma is already making sure that they don't go overboard. Grandma Seburga had invited me to stay with her, but not without ulterior motives. I should of course also look after the two a little, so that the grandmother also came to rest. Besides, the two are also very musical and grandma always wanted to play in a hobbit band. Since I live with the three of them under one roof, we regularly make house music. At some point we also played outside. First at the Bree-hill in front of our neighbors and later in front of the Prancing Pony. That's the big inn in Bree. Mr. Butterbur is the landlord there and he let us play in front of his house. When the audience became more numerous and the first people asked who we were, grandma Seburga said: 'We are the Silverthistles and my niece Sebylla is the bandleader'. And that's how I became the bandleader. I wouldn't have dared to do it on my own, but grandma just makes things happen!

A short time later, my uncle Marlutar, the father of my bases, who lives in Staddle also joined us and we now officially performed as a quintet. We still do that today. Our repertoire goes from good old Shire folklore to 'classic' Elvish music to the popular gutter tunes played in Bree and the surrounding area. Sometimes there are also excursions into music styles of other cultures. So we sometimes play these new things like these dwarven styles rock and punk or the klezmer that comes from the east or south. Sometimes we are also booked for family celebrations or parties in the settlements. We have even given a few big concerts in the Shire, on the Methel stage, and in Bree. If it goes on like this, I can live quite well from the music. On the other hand, there are of course the downsides: You get home late, you're often out on dark roads at night - and the border guards aren't always around. That's sometimes pretty scary! And of course the instruments! We still have to carry them all by ourselves! My bases always have to get the horsehair for the fiddle bows, I have too much respect for the big horses. But I don't want to complain, I'm allowed to make music and otherwise have a lot of free time. These are just little things.

y other hobbyhorse, besides music, are beautiful dresses. Firstly, because I like beautiful fabrics and bright colors, and secondly, because we always need new clothes for our performances in Bree and the Shire. That is simply expected from musicians! That's why I've been so happy to be part of the Boar market fashion show for the last few years. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a beauty queen (even among hobbits), I just want to show off the beautiful clothes my bases tailor; so everyone can see how great they do. For something like this, the wedge market is just the thing. At the Boar market, they tailored things just for me. Once even a complete winter wardrobe with robe, coat, cape and cap. I think we'll have to travel to the Blue Mountains sometime, all the way to Thorin's Gate, so that I can wear the thing without sweat running down my feet right away.

For our concerts they always have to tailor everything fourfold, sometimes everything exactly the same, sometimes the same cut, but different colors and fabrics and sometimes something different for everyone but matching a motto. That means a lot of work for Sebranda and Sebohra. And then they also have to make a matching robe for their father. There are always discussions about the headgear. We have many beautiful hats with which we also perform, but of course they are nothing for a gentleman. And the Marlutar prefers to be unhatted anyway and is stubborn, like a goat, when he has to put on a hat after all. I love the hats and dresses, but of course they are nothing for everyday life. For that I still have the things that I brought from Little Delving.

Besides all the music, I also work as an editor for the Shire Herald. That's where I met Beuno, who's a funny Bucklander who always wears a cap with two tips. He also works in the editorial office, as does Faroweis, the boss's husband, and Aubi, our girl for everything. But I don't want to tell you so much about the others, maybe they won't like it!

I've been with the paper since the beginning and am responsible for the picture puzzles. Now and then I write down Grandma Seburga's stories for the gossip section; sometimes also a report on an important event, such as birthday parties, concerts or hikes. But our editor-in-chief, Mairad Birnhaag, always lets me know in good time when it's my turn to do something like that. After all, you should be at an event when you write about it. And then I also use the Aubi - as we affectionately call our newspaper - to do a little advertising for our concerts, Mairad doesn't mind that either. Maybe later I'll also write for the feature pages. A real serial novel, I'll have to sort out my ideas and then talk to the boss...

What else is there to tell about me? Oh yes! A note in own thing - as we say with the newspaper - grandma Seburga has lately always the impulse to want to couple me with any hobby gentlemen. So here is the clarification: I am not married and currently have no ambitions to change anything. I see with my boss what such a man brings in the house. More laundry to wash, a pantry that is constantly empty and dirt on the freshly mopped floor. No thanks, I really don't need that! But now I've told enough about me, it's not that interesting ...

ome time has passed in the meantime. The Silver Thistles are a recognised ensemble in Bree and in the Shire and Grandma has given up trying to make a couple. Instead, some of the concert-goers now try to get me under the bonnet from time to time. But that won't work. When we started performing regularly in Bree, the dwarf ladies from the Bearded Muses had just retired. Grandma Seburga often visited the matriarch, Mrs. Stepfusia, to negotiate the conditions for taking over the concert evening. She often took me with her. Because I was enthusiastic about the great forging work in Stepfusia's kitchen - the pans were one-A quality and great for scrambled eggs and omelettes - the matriarch explained to me that pans are not only good for frying and steaming and then taught me how to use them. In return, I prepared omelettes, robber pans and quiches for the long afternoons with Grandma. As a thank you, the matriarch gave me two beautiful, large cast-iron pans from the dwarven forges of Moria.

Thanks to her instruction, I was not only able to prepare scrambled eggs and roast potatoes for hungry musicians on our travels, but also fend off wolves and robbers. I also used the kitchen utensils to make Timm Sandigmann understand - or rather to impress upon him - that his rubbish has no place in the Bywater. Since then, people always look weird when I have my pans with me. There was even an incident where I was arrested by the dwarf patrol in Bree because of the pans. I didn't even realise it at first and greeted the dwarves from 'Durin's Fist of the Righteous' in a friendly manner when I met them at the Boar's Well. It was a bit strange that they were all standing in a circle around me with their hands on their axes or spears. But I thought, that's just the way dwarves are; they always puff themselves up a bit so that they are taken seriously. I then prepared them a hearty farmer's omelette because they looked pretty greasy from the march. Afterwards, they all thanked me very much and I was even allowed to march with them to the town hall.

I later found out that they were supposed to take me to prison on the orders of Mayor Zartlärche for carrying weapons-like equipment without authorisation. Well, I can only say that I'm lucky I didn't realise that and that the dwarves were no longer interested in carrying out the order after the meal. That would have left a few dents in the dwarves' skulls and bent noses. But I really like Prince Kriso and his long beards. But then I got a letter from the mayor at the town hall and since then I've been allowed to take my pans everywhere in Bree.

ince this year (1422 SR), the Silver thistles have also grown. Oh no, not like that! Three musicians from the Flinkfussens have been supporting us since the beginning of the year with a powerful sound and many new songs and even singing! Mairad Birnhaag is not only the patented editor-in-chief of the Auenland Bote, but also a gifted singer with a wonderful alto voice. Her relatives, I think niece and great-cousin, Opalinchen and Hebiadoc play several instruments and are a real asset to the band. The only fly in the ointment is Hebiadoc's excessive tendency to drink. Mairad says he's a drunk, but I wouldn't go that far. So far, he's always made it to rehearsals more or less on time and only rarely gets drunk. At the concerts, on the other hand, there has been no cause for complaint. I think this could be a very successful year for the Silver thistles.