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The Queen's Orc  by jodancingtree 6 Review(s)
Lady of the House (fanfiction.net)Reviewed Chapter: 38 on 11/15/2004
I absolutely loved this story. Sad, angry, warmed, loved, I was all these and more. Wow, beautiful, brilliant.
Only two questions? Is it finished, because I really want to know if they find a cure for the fever? Does Malawen sail into the West with Canohando?

LoH

Author Reply:
Oh, no, it's not quite done yet! I'm so glad you're enjoying it, and please stay tuned. I write very slowly, but I think there are about three chapters still to come...

And thanks for reviewing - you really brightened my day!

jo

LindeleaReviewed Chapter: 38 on 11/10/2004
The King had already opened the border for the Orc! Nice forethought on his part.

Ah, Farador, you're a perfectly mischievous hobbit!

O no, this fever doesn't sound good. Their legs hurt?

I love the description of Brandy Hall, exterior and interior! You've visualised things so clearly!

He was no taller than the other hobbits, yet he filled the room with his presence. His eyes were penetrating, seeming to take in every detail of his guests' appearance even as he indicated a seat to Canohando and came personally to escort Malawen to a cushioned chair.
Ooo, sounds like a Master of Buckland to me!

Hmmm, somehow Sariadoc reminds me of Bilbo!

Ah, very touching! and Sariadoc is so perceptive, and understanding, and wise. He combines the best of the Travellers, I think. (Went back and looked at your genealogy to refresh myself, though I had a pretty good idea of his ancestry)

Author Reply: The King had already opened the border for the Orc! Nice forethought on his part.

LOL! Well, you know, Elladan went back to Minas Tirith from Lothlorien, and he knew Canohando was headed for the Shire. I just figured Eldarion would have sent a warning to his garrison there, to expect the Orc and to let him in! (Arwen & Canohando were alone when she gave Canohando the letter, so Elladan probably didn't know about it...)

jo

daw the minstrelReviewed Chapter: 38 on 11/10/2004
The hobbits are showing up well here, I think. They see Canohando as Frodo's Orc. I wonder if their isolation helps them in a way. They didn't see the terrible things that other people saw.

Author Reply: That's a good point, about their isolation helping them to accept Canohando - the most detailed description they have of Orcs, comes from Frodo's Memoirs, so they're more prepared to accept a "redeemed" Orc than people would be who had had contact with the ordinary sort!

Meldewen IlceReviewed Chapter: 38 on 11/10/2004
Lovely, Jo, simply lovely!

I am concerned about this fever that has struck the hobbits but I am also glad that Radagast is there and I am glad than perhaps they'll soon have some of Elrond's healing knowledge from the books he left behind in Rivendell...

Truly, Canohando is Frodo's brother...

Am I correct in understanding that Sam was Sariadoc's grandfather - and if so that would mean that one of Sam's daughters married into the Brandybucks, just as Goldilocks married into the Tooks. Wow, I'd say that is definitely one way of tying the Gamgee/Gardener line with the two most important families in the Shire, and in a roundabout way it gives them a family relationship to Frodo Baggins as well...

LOL - I'm babbling - anyway, great job with this story and I look forward to more - and I keep wondering, will Canohando and Malawen sail West when the time comes or remain in Middle-earth forever?

Author Reply: (blushing) Actually, I goofed on that genealogy and had to go back & correct it: Sariadoc married Sam's granddaughter, Emerald, who was the daughter of Faramir Took and Goldilocks Gardner. So Farador is descended from Sam and Pippin on his mother's side, and from Merry on his father's side.

And thank you for your kind words!
jo

esamenReviewed Chapter: 38 on 11/10/2004
Wow! That update was quick! Are you enjoying being back in the Shire, after all your travels abroad? Well, I am enjoying being back in "your" Shire. You do it beautifully! I absolutely adore all your hobbits. So well done.

*******
The hobbit looked up at him gratefully, his eyes bright with unshed tears. "Did he? That's good to hear. Flora's lasses are the cunningest little things, all curls and dimples, and usually they're climbing all over me when I stop by.

Farador is lovely. So like a young Frodo. I just love being around him. And around all the rest, too . . .

***********

"Don't mind my cousin," he said. "He never reads anything at all, so of course he's bone ignorant. Rabby, shut your mouth, for pity's sake, and go tell them to get a couple of guestrooms ready.

Hee hee -- new names, same tousled hair and curious eyes. Gotta love 'em.


************


"I am Gorbidas, Farador's uncle, and you are Canohando the Orc, is that correct? The very same who is described so unforgettably in the Memoirs of Frodo Baggins: Travels with the Wizard of Rhosgobel – dear me, dear me! It is an honor to meet you, sir. Welcome to Brandy Hall."

He held out his hand to Canohando, and when the Orc took it, the hobbit pumped his arm up and down vigorously. Canohando stared down at him in mingled wonder and amusement, but a voice from across the room made him look round.

"Very well, Gorbidas, you're not running for Mayor, and he couldn’t vote for you if you were! Pour us out some of the Hall's finest and sit down, man. Come have a seat, Canohando. Is the lady your wife? Welcome, my dear."


This has got to be my very favorite moment in this chapter. The Elves were mean to Canohando and now the hobbits are friendly! Isn't this a switch! But the part about the name of Frodo's Memoirs, and then the bit about running for Mayor, are just divine. Just inspired. Mmmm, I think that you are showing the immense impact of Frodo's life. Even the smallest of us can change the world, or some such thing? Beautifully shown.


************

"You use too many words I do not know, Master of Buckland," he said finally. "Malawen is my mate, but Ninefingers never met her. Yet it was his gift that sent me searching for the Elf-Queen, and so I came to Lothlorien, where she was... that is a strange thought." He met the Master's eyes, suddenly intent. "Farador tells me that you still keep the bear tooth I gave my runt. I wonder why."

And now THIS is wonderful also. Great dialogue . . . keeps the scene very vivid . . . this is a natural response from an Orc . . . a little harsh, but doing his best to be a little polite. There's no way that he's going to start speaking fluent Shire-ese on his first day there. (I can't believe that I have internalized this story so completely that I know what kind of vocabulary an Orc would use in the Shire. Is this nuts, or what?)


************

Why, Canohando, what would you have had us do with that tooth of yours? I don't have it, by the way; it is kept at Bag End, in Frodo's old home, under a crystal dome, I believe. A strange mathom to keep in one's parlor, I always thought, in spite of its historical interest. But what would you do with it?"

Oh, are we going to visit Bag End? Please do! I want to go!


****************

The round-faced hobbit in the fore of the picture he passed over without interest, but the narrow face slightly to the rear, with its high cheekbones and humorous eyes, was no less familiar and no less dear, than it had been when he said farewell in a mountain clearing more than a century before.

Oh, I'm crying too . . .


I will stop writing this very long review now, so that you can stop reading it and get right back to your keyboard. Hurry, hurry! Thank you so much for this beautiful piece of work. It is fabulous. Hugs, bows and confetti from across the virtual miles!

Esamen

Author Reply: Oh, Esamen, thank you for that wonderful, long review - I enjoyed every word! And I am indeed enjoying being back in the Shire: I started out being in love with hobbits, especially two particular hobbits, and it's lovely to be back among them!

jo

Breon BriarwoodReviewed Chapter: 38 on 11/10/2004
Don't know what to say for this chapter. What a great moment for them!

Author Reply: Yes, it is - a great moment all around (except maybe for Malawen, who should take wine when it's offered to her, instead of brandy)!

jo

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