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| Light on the Way by Larner | 11 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Tari | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 9/21/2015 |
| Alas, I have reached the end. Thank you for a wonderful ride. Author Reply: And thank you for your responses to my writing! | |
| galath | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 8/7/2013 |
| Oh! Larner what a story! The heartbreak and joy of life,love and death.It was great to have just about every one in this story. Thank you for a gripping and beautiful tale. A speechless Galathil Author Reply: And thank you for letting me know how this made you feel, Galathil. It was fun working in all our favorite people as well as I might, and I felt that this side of the story needed telling, not just Arwen's grief at losing her husband and her bliss, but her greater joy at learning what comes next! | |
| 6336 | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 1/23/2009 |
| Snif, this is deffinately a three hanky tale! So sad and yet so joyous! Lynda | |
| Szepilona10 | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 5/20/2008 |
| This was a very good story! It was also very sad and I was crying at the begining! God bless! ~Szepilona10~ Author Reply: Somehow I didn't respond to this one. To learn I have managed to move another so is always the greatest of accomplishments. Thank you! | |
| Halrohir | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 12/3/2007 |
| My dear Larner: I have completed reading, start to finish, your enchanted tale of the departure of the Fellowship and those heroes and heroines to their Great Reward and Promise. I stand humble and in awe of your talent. You have kept faith with The Professor's noble work, his tone, his guiding hand. It is no less than inspired. I rejoice to have read it, and will eagerly devour all of yoru work that crosses my path. I Am HALROHIR Author Reply: Thank you so much, Halrohir, although thank also Imroihil for the aid she gave in making it better. Aragorn I've loved since I first read the books; to imagine how he and his beloved Arwen left Middle Earth was a joy. Thank you so for the compliments. | |
| Queens Reader | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 10/21/2007 |
| Just re-read the entire story for at least the third time- it feels like Christopher Tolkien may have found this in some hidden cupboard of the family house and published it. Thank you Larner for a well crafted tale of 'what happens after'. With gratitude, QR Author Reply: I am so very honored, Queen's Reader, to realize you've enjoyed this so. And to be compared to the Master himself is an even greater honor. Frodo, Aragorn, and Sam are my favorite characters in all of Tolkien's works, and this story had been working on me for some time before I sat down and wrote it. And I offer many thanks to Imrahoil, whose input was vital in making this what it resolved into. Again, thank you so very much for the feedback. I'm always glad to know that people so enjoy my work they will read it again. | |
| Elflingimp | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 12/28/2005 |
| That was the most beautiful story I have had the joy to have read!! Thankyou so much for sharing it I have always had a great curiosity about what happens after they died I would also like a story about the ending of the world when all are reunited a huge task no doubt, once again it was beautiful! Author Reply: I am honored you enjoyed it so, Elflingimp. I found it a joy also to write, although I assure you it had a good deal of editing even after it was posted. As for writing the End of Days--that would indeed be an undertaking, although I may tackle it in time. I read one such story which was humorous, and all the Firstborn were trying desperately to learn from Legolas some happening he was trying desperately to keep secret with no success, and the Hobbits were keeping all at it so they could continue to raid the dessert table without worrying about having to leave any for the others gathered in the Halls of Mandos. You might also enjoy my story "Fostering" in which I expand on some of the themes here just a bit in the last chapter. | |
| phoenix23531 | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 11/4/2005 |
| Oh, by Heavens! I had thought to review this story chapter by chapter, but before I knew it I was at the end. I simply could not turn away from it! This has become one of my favorite pieces, and in a very short time at that. I have mourned that Tolkien did not give more detail as to the final ending of such characters as Aragorn and Arwen while at the same time rejoicing that he left it so open to interpretation. This, your interpretation, is simply superb! To draw out each and every little part that moved me would not do justice to the whole piece, and would likely overwhelm your email, but a few extraordinary parts left me deeply moved. In particular (remembered first only because it was more recently read), Arwen's tag-a-long in former Lothlorien. I nearly cried when I read that (a truly remarkable feat, moving me to tears), as I always wanted someone to be there, someone to ease her passing, someone to remember. Also, in the same scene, your wonderful description of the niphredil and the elanor reacting to her presence, and then to her loss, was beautiful. The wonderful construction of the Halls of Waiting, taking Tolkien's own scarce descriptions and molding them with tremendous eloquence into something truly your own and almost tangible, made me smile. Oh, and how could I forget the amused 'fear' that Lord Mandos would have to keep a close eye on a pair of miscreants in his midst. That was priceless, a laugh well-placed! The final reunion was remarkable. I love that you evoke joy rather than grief at Arwen's passing, though I was always saddened that her brothers faced tremendous grief at her loss. Gilraen's greeting to Arwen was one I had never considered, but it was a wonderful thought that the two might meet and rejoice together. And what can I say to the final journey of Legolas and Gimli? This was something I have thought about many times, as I found Gimli's sailing both confusing and wonderful. Legolas' description of how he finds the Straight Path was very well done, indeed. There were so many instances in this tale that were noteworthy for their place in the framework of the tale as a whole, but it would detract from the overall to isolate them. Let me congratulate you on such a wonderful piece that gives a keen glimpse into what Tolkien himself saw as he wrote the Appendices. Thank you for sharing this with us. phoenix23531 Author Reply: I am humbled by your response to the story. The tale of Arwen and Aragorn and the overwhelming grief she felt at his passing has intrigued me for years, and I finally got to play with the ideas. Tolkien was a devoted Christian as well as one who loved Nordic mythologies; that he'd consider an afterlife that included the Hall of the Dunedain and the Feast Hall of the Edain just seemed so right; and yet he'd also wish for the passage beyond to Iluvatar's own presence as well; and so I tried to meld the two views of the afterlife in a way in keeping with his Arda. And so I've melded Christian and Nordic and wholly Tolkien imagery together as I could, hoping that this would be something other would enjoy. As it won second place for romance literature in the Middle Earth Fanfiction awards it indicates that I have managed to please several others. Am glad you liked the boy from the edge of the forest and his place in the keeping alive the memory of what once was; and the reaction of the niphredil and the athelas, which, of course, came directly from Tolkien himself in the appendices. As for Gimli and Legolas, their crossing together to the Undying Lands remains a wonder and a joy. Am so very glad that you appreciated that part, and the manner in which Legolas tries to explain. At least he is not leaving Gimli to grieve alone and fade slowly--and he will have the support of the others who've gone before as they reach the undying lands for when Gimli himself must die. Thank you so much for the feedback, as I truly appreciate it. | |
| Ariel | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 4/18/2005 |
*Considers sending Larner a bill for the cost of the many Kleenex she has used through this story.*  A lovely tale, satisfying and curiously in line with things I have considered but never really dwelt on. I don't write many of these loftier stories of death and loss and the life afterwards, but I sure gobble them up right enough. I think, being a creature of life and baser matter, I feel unequal to the task of addressing such important stuff, or perhaps I simply feel more at home celebrating life and the legacy of blood. But I find great comfort in stories like this, especially when they are so skillfully and lovingly told and fall in line so well with what I have always half imagined. It's actually 'happier' than what I imagined, but always see these events as if from the point of view of the person left behind, the one still living, the one who can't quite see across that threshold. A friend and I had different views of the Halls and we have just been having a very interesting discussion on the subject, but your story truly melds all that Tolkien wrote (and generic Catholic principles) into a credible and comforting reality. You've even had Frodo moving on from TE and bypassing the Halls entirely, which, I had suggested to my friend, he would probably do having already spent his 'purgatory' in TE. We had decided that both are viewpoints were valid, considering the available information, and so settled to writing our respective stories accordingly, but I am going to suggest she read this tale because it presents a lovely picture into which both of our views fit. I'll make sure she has a box of tissues handy. Author Reply: I tend to purchase kleenex by the case at Costco, so would willingly send you a box or two. (Smiling back at you.) I am Anglican Catholic, which doesn't exactly accept the RC idea of purgatory as such, although we also don't exactly discount it, either. We tend to take more of a wait-and-see attitude. But, yes, if Frodo had been RC I think he would be said to have experienced his purgatory there on Tol Eressea--he, Sam, and Bilbo. I doubt any of them would have wanted to waste time "establishing" themselves in the Halls of Waiting, but would have been pretty much heading for the Presence as directly as possible, although Frodo still remains with the children I've imagined him having found within Heaven. It can be fascinating when what you read tends, as happened with you and your friend, mirrors recent discussions--have had it happen a time or two myself. I try to look on the deaths of these characters from their own perspective at the time, which, of course, is going to be different from that of those who are left behind. And I think that the Elves would find the differences experienced by Mortals to be a fascinating mystery, and suspect that Galadriel would have begun to envy the experience somewhat. I hope your friend enjoys this as much as you have. Am so glad you found this uplifting and affirming for both viewpoints. | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 12/4/2004 |
| Does Gimli's mortality make him more sensitive at this point? And he recognises the hobbits, when apparently Legolas does not. It's very interesting to get the feeling that the elves, who are the mystic immortals, are the ones here who are earthbound and prosaic. Author Reply: Yes, I think another mortal will appreciate the spiritual aspects of seeing Aragorn and Arwen and their escort at this point than an immortal Elf. Although Legolas was sensing something at this point, as he found himself weaving Arwen's music into his song. Author Reply: Yes, I think another mortal will appreciate the spiritual aspects of seeing Aragorn and Arwen and their escort at this point than an immortal Elf. Although Legolas was sensing something at this point, as he found himself weaving Arwen's music into his song. | |