December 13, 2025

 

For our 13th Hobbity Yule Calendar surprise, we have a Yule story by Miss Lina! If you have visited the Green Dragon Fridays, you might have heard one of her "Sammy the Slug" stories. Here is one about how Sammy celebrated Yule.

 

Sammy the Slug celebrates Yule

 

Sammy the Slug celebrates Yule

Once upon a time, Sammy the Slug woke up and found his garden full of snow.

"Good gracious", Sammy said. "That'll make for a challenging neep run today. It's quite the slog dragging neeps home as a slug, but even more so if you have to drag them through several slug-heights of snow as well." 

Still, Sammy was very, very hungry. He wriggled off the porch and braved the winter wonderland ahead. But he hadn't even squirmed two slug-lengths into his yard before he fell through the snow. It took several minutes and all the curse words Sammy knew before he made it back to his porch. 

"Woe is me", Sammy sniffed. "I'm out of neeps, the snow is unpassable, and tomorrow is Yule Day. This will be the sorriest Yuletide ever". Feeling very sorry for himself, he found his favourite woolly blanket, his favourite woolly socks and his favourite stuffed slug, and he curled up to sulk the Yuletide away. 

He had barely begun to thaw up, when there was a knock on his door. "Now who comes to disrupt my Yuletide sulk?", whinged Sammy, but he went to open the door anyway. Outside was Kitty the Cat. 

"I figured you were snowed in, so I brought some food for you", said Kitty. She pushed a hamper with fresh fish through the door, and she waved goodbye with a "Merry Yule, Sammy". 

His mood considerably improved, Sammy dragged the hamper to his larder. Cunningly, he avoided the top shelf. He had hardly finished storing the food before there was another knock on the door. This time, it was Diggy the Dog.

"I figured you were snowed in, so I brought some food for you", said Diggy. He pushed a hamper with steak through the door, and he waved goodbye with a "Merry Yule, Sammy". 

"Goodness", Sammy said as he dragged the new hamper towards his larder. Avoiding the top shelf as usual, he had hardly finished storing the food before there were more knocks on his door. 

Pippa the Pig brought a hamper with bacon (the proper kind). And Henry the Horse brought a hamper with honey oat biscuits. Sammy was glad to see them both, and all the food went into his larder shelves, all besides the top one. Although, he wriggled under his blanket and hid when he saw Monty the Mill snake approach with a hamper full of dead mice. And no, he did not open the door, no matter how much Monty hissed and cursed outside. Let's just say that Monty did not leave with a "Merry Yule, Sammy". It is a small Yuletide miracle that the snow in Sammy's yard did not melt under Monty's ire. 

When Sammy found it was safe to crawl out from under his blanket, there was another knock on the door. This time, it was Fred the Farmer. 

"Hey, Sammy. I figured you were snowed in, so I brought some food for you". He pushed a hamper full of neeps through the door. "And since I barely escaped Monty trying to palm lots of dead mice off on me just down the road, do you think I could hide in here for a while?"

Being a gracious slug, Sammy invited Fred inside. Fred was a good lad, and he'd brought Sammy's favourite food. And, let's not deny it, he'd be able to reach the top shelves in the larder and store more of the food Sammy had gotten. 

As darkness fell, the two friends stood by the window, sipped mulled wine and looked out on Sammy's snowy yard. All his visitors had trampled a fine path through the snow. Sammy could easily reach the road now. 

Fred took a deep gulp of mulled wine and pondered. "It looks like you're not really snowed in any more, Sammy. Do you plan to visit all your other friends and bring them presents too?"

"Ha, as if", Sammy guffawed. "It's cold out there, Monty is on the prowl, and none of them brought me what I really wanted: Neeps. None besides you, Fred. Have another mulled wine while we wait for you to cook the Yule meal. Merry Yule". 

The two friends clinked their wine mugs together and looked forward to a grand Yule feast. With absolutely no dead mice on the menu. 

About the story

Sammy the Slug popped up one time Nannie told one of her stories at Green Dragon Friday. As an intro to her story, she reminisced about popular old children’s tales in the Shire, including those of Sammy the Slug. My own hobbit would likely have grown up with those tales. 

So I wrote some. I wanted to write them as fairy tales for children, like the stories hobbit parents would tell to their little rascals before nap time. So the tales have many of the usual characteristics of fairy tales and children’s stories: They’re set in the past (“Once upon a time”), with fantasy elements (talking animals), repetition, clearly defined problems and resolution, etc. 

Of course, I had to add my own twists, and the tales ended up how a somewhat naughty uncle would have told them: Starting out pretty much as regular, wholesome children’s tales, but then taking a life of their own, with a somewhat self-obsessed slug as the main character. 

Note: This is the fourth Sammy story. The previous three are here:
https://www.linawillow.org/home/me-blog/me-stories/