The Book of Three

That would have been my comment

If you're the Dan from the Demon Archives, thank you for leading me to the Book of Three.

That is indeed me! XD

Maybe..but that is one of my favorite lines from TBo3!!

Thanks for including it. :-)

Again, I love your Doli. I think he is actually close to what I pictured in my head as a kid, but I don't think my imagination included the chin whiskers.

...and also again, this is a great augmentation of what is in the book!

Agreed. I think he’s a fairly ordinary specimen of his breed of dwarf.

Lol right?

The FF certainly are!

I think he’s so used to Eiddileg’s bluster he just doesn’t care anymore. The two of them could give each other a run for the money.

I wonder what would happen if you put Eiddileg and Doli in the same room with Grumpy from Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", and which of the three of them would start griping and yelling at the other two first.

(Honestly, I have to believe that Lloyd Alexander had Grumpy in his mind at least a LITTLE when was writing Eiddileg and Doli's characters.)

I think (or maybe just hope) it is more like the situation with Gwystyl - Eiddileg actually holds him in high regard to get the job done.

One who doesn't scurry away at his tantrums is certainly in high regard with his king. :-D

Wait until you see the next. I laughed until I cried.

I haven’t decided if Eiddileg can spare Doli because he’s good at everything or because he’s good at nothing!

I always felt Eiddileg sent Doli for two reasons. One ,Doli is pretty straightforward get the job down kind of fellow. He'll follow orders though he'll grouse about it the whole time but in the end the job will be done competently. The other reason is people like Doli will always make things difficult when they are around because they are always pointing out shortfalls. For Eiddileg it is no brainer and a win/ win. He gets the satisfaction of "helping" by sending a trusted representative at least in Fair Folk terms and at the same time has one less malcontent to deal with for awhile.

And maybe Eiddileg is more cunning than he lets on. Why is Taran getting a babysitter he didn't ask for? Eiddileg has reason to want the quest to succeed, if Taran is truthful; if not, it wouldn't hurt to have Doli spying on him, would it?

Belay that, I see Taran did ask for a guide from out-of-frame. Still, it's a logical move for Eiddileg to send a "guide", and a reasonably competent one, not one of the flakes that scampered off at the first sign of theatrics.