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| The Steward and the Queen by Morwen Tindomerel | 2 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/4/2004 |
| I continue to be impressed by the skill with which you create the mood of Gondor during and after the war, and the details of lore, fashion and protocol in the depiction of Aragorn and Arwen. Not to mention bringing Arwen's considerable charm to the fore... But Faramir has been diminished. While you have written his romance of Eowyn beautifully, he is depicted here as a kind and honorable man, but not one of great ability or prospects. He is supposedly impoverished (spelling?), which leaves it open to question as to how he's going to pay for the building of that fair house he wants to erect over the river, much less sustain the priveliges of his new rank. Perhaps he'll become a gentleman farmer - or Eomer will come up with a whopping big dowry in horses for Eowyn...Faramir's book-canon skills as a scholar should have enabled him, not Idril, to at least figure out a good legal justification for Elessar's rule. And now the King is booting the new Steward out of Minas Tirith, which seems a very poor move, politically. A ruler coming into the charge of a large kingdom where he has not lived in forty years should not send his secretary of state, or chief administrator, away so the people will learn to trust him alone. Aragorn as King, rather than the heroic Captain Thorongil, is a totally unkown quantity to the people of Minas Tirith and Gondor; while Faramir is known and loved. It would have made far better sense for Aragorn to keep Faramir around, let the people see Faramir in a valued but lesser role as Aragorn becomes more and more used to the Kingship of Gondor. The sight of Faramir serving Aragorn with the loyalty that the new Steward has for the King would go a long way towards furthering Aragorn's acceptance by the people of Minas Tirith and Gondor. Faramir could also ease Aragorn into the practical and political minutiae of the Kingship of Gondor; but perhaps you intend Idril, who already is Arwen's informal protocol counselor, for that role. I would think that the people of Gondor, or at least Minas Tirith and the outland nobles, will view Faramir's exile with suspicion; and fear that the new Northern-born King plans to surround himself with other Men of Arnor... Aragorn's ordering Faramir to leave Minas Tirith (and it was an order, however nicely phrased and no matter how compliant Faramir is; one has the impression that Faramir will do anything Aragorn tells him) can also be seen as the new King's attempt to publicly distance himself from the Stewardship, of which Faramir is a very visible and beloved remnant. But if that is the case, why did Aragorn retain a Steward at all? How can Faramir be an effective Steward of Gondor at all if he doesn't spend at least a few months per year in Minas Tirith working with and for his King? Tolkien never said that Aragorn told Faramir to leave the City even temporarily, just that Faramir would have duties to do in Ithilien. Faramir should attend the Council that the King would presumably establish, which is hard to do when he's sowing the fields or slaughtering orcs in Ithilien. The same end, i.e. Faramir's leaving Minas Tirith and Aragorn temporarily, could have been accomplished by having both men agree that Faramir's duties in Ithilien would keep him busy for awhile and that Faramir should spend a certain number of months per year in Minas Tirith (maybe the summer, when the King and Arwen would probably want to go north anyway), so that Faramir would return in something like six months and report on the progress of Ithilien, unless he is needed earlier... Author Reply: Oh dear! The very last thing I want to do is diminish Faramir in any way! Happily for Faramir he ceased to be responsible for the national debt of Gondor once he ceased to be ruling Steward and I imagine the income from his restored lands in Ithilien will help keep his personal finances in the black. And as Idril points out Faramir is slightly distracted by other concerns - Eowyn not least among them - which perhaps explains why he doesn't see the way out of their legal bind all by himself. Come on, can't Idril do one good thing? ;) History makes Faramir, quite unwillingly, something of a rival to Aragorn. The Stewards have ruled for nearly a thousand years and it must be made very clear that there has been a change of administration for everybody's sake. Besides '- Aragorn gave to Faramir Ithilien to be his princedom, and bade him dwell in the hills of Emyn Arnen in sight of the City.' So Faramir is easily accessible when really needed but not so accessible as to tempt people to go through him rather than Aragorn. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 13 on 12/3/2004 |
| Still following the story. Good blending of book and film. | |