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| What's left behind by perelleth | 6 Review(s) |
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| elliska | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 12/19/2005 |
| Trying to get caught up again... “Dwindle and fade shall we before the Secondborn, if that’s the fate Eru appointed to us. Yet, we will not submit to any other will than His, to any other power than that of Time, to any other call than that which lies dormant within each of us. And we will not desert this forest, these trees that had offered shelter and life to us, no matter how troubled the times may seem!” Loved that line! That seems so perfectly in character! And I enjoyed (if that doesn't seem cruel to say) the way you portrayed Laerîniel in this scene. She would not be the only one feeling this way and I thought you did a great job showing her sense of loss in contrast to Thranduil's brave words about their victory. And I thoroughly enjoyed Celeborn's meeting with Legolas in Minas Tirith. That is one of those meetings that must have taken place and that would be filled with imprtant news but that I have rarely seen depicted. Loved it. The conversation with Laerîniel, Haldir and the others about Legolas and Galadriel was very interesting. I think there would have to be misunderstandings or simply very hard feelings given all the Mirkwood elves had been through over just the things you brought to light in this conversation. I am looking forward to Legolas's arrival to see how all of this ties in with his decision to go to Ithilien. This is a great story, Perelleth! Author Reply: "Trying to get caught up again" I know what you mean! JSut take it easy!:-) I, too, loved the contrast between Thranduil`s speech, a leader encouraging his people, and how his family must have felt there, staniding by his side, keeping their composure before the gathered families, who were in turn allowed to express their feelings... Being around those in charge has its disadvantages... THese poor elves must have suffered so much , alone in their forest, that it must have been difficult for them to cope with other things than their own bereavement. Thanks for following elliska! | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 12/17/2005 |
| I confess I am a little worried about Legolas and Laerîniel's future. She seems very, very close to Lasgalen. Very close. I'm not at all sure she's not going to look on a desire to move to Ithilien as a dreadful betrayal - both of the forest and her. Others - especially when drunk - are already voicing their doubts about Legolas and his presence on the quest and looking on his absence as an abandonment of them and the forest when it was in need. How are they going to react to his desire to live elsewhere? And his sea-longing? And will Laerîniel be prepared to sail with him when he cannot endure Middle-earth any longer? Or will her ties to the forest hold her more strongly than her love for Legolas will draw her? And then there's the invisible obstinate daughter. I can't see her taking too well to the idea of Adar in Ithilien, followed by Adar in the Blessed Realm. It's a shame because the family are nowhere near beginning to heal from the traumas of the fighting and Borlas's death - and Legolas's return is going to plunge them all into more! I loved this chapter. The celebrations - and Bôrgalas's spirited defence of his brother. I liked Haldir's outsider's perspective. Those of Lasgalen are rather insular. They have been isolated for so long they cannot begin to conceive of other parts of the world where the danger was just as - and, in some cases, more severe than what they have endured. I think they need to be taken on fact-finding missions to see the destruction in Lothlorien and Dale and elsewhere. And we will not desert this forest... Oh dear. Foreshadowing, I fear. Good to see Legolas standing beside Celeborn. I loved their conversation - and the fact that Legolas is advising Galadriel's husband. Although there are difficult echoes of family angst for Legolas in the words they share. Author Reply: Wait, wait, wait! This is only chapter three, :-)Yet I wondered the same. That sea-longing always made me wonder, what happened when it hit? What of the rest? This kind of wanderlust is a bit worrying...but also embedded in them, it seems, so they`re exposed to it... I also believe that Mirkwood's people are rather insula,r as you point it, :-) LOL, but true. And there are so many different views to the same facts and events, that it was amusing to explore this lingering resentment among LEgolas' fellows. OF course that they could not know what he had been facing, and they only know that they missed him... Anyway, did I say that the tale is sad but full of hope? THanks for following, bodkin! | |
| Redheredh | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 12/15/2005 |
| Ah, you have posted. ;) Loved how this chapter moves between husband and wife on the same day and night. Also, that their perspectives are just as far apart. Looking forward to the next and humming that sappy song... :D Author Reply: It is a bit ironic, isn't it? that they're thinking about each other with such intensity of emotion yet in such different terms... I cannot get rid of the vision of a mouse! :-) | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 12/15/2005 |
| I suppose that when people have been through something as traumatic as this war, wounds take a long time to heal. And it's easy to blame people who should have led you and look like they were off on a lark somewhere. I admire Thranduil's strength and devotion here. Author Reply: Well, I believe that war is enough explanation for such confusion and pain and guilt around these people... but lack of infomration and isolation are to blame too, I fear... I suppose that Thranduil was the force that held them all together... | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 12/15/2005 |
| I wish I weren't so tired right now and could give this chapter the review it really deserves, but it's the bitter end of the semester, and I'm just hanging on. I like the tension that seems to be developing here between Legolas and his wife. They're each in a place that they love and want to live in forever, and they're each imagining having their beloved spouse at their side. We know whose vision will ultimately win out, yet Laeriniel is such a character that it's hard to imagine that this is going to happen smoothly. I am very much waiting to hear how Legolas convinces her to move. Especially since she's fought so long and hard for Mirkwood. Very nice to see Legolas crop up. We've been hearing from him and about him, and it is indeed time to see him. I like this look at him. He's both romantic and clear-eyed at the same time, and he deals with Celeborn as with an equal. It really looks like he has a solid understanding of how the world and the relationships between the various species are working out. Clever Elf, that one. I also enjoyed seeing the tension between Haldir and the Mirkwood guards. It brings home the fact that these are two long-sundered nations with different perspectives and priorities. It also emphasizes how isolated Mirkwood was for so long, and how their world has been turned upside down by the battle and the improbable victory. Thranduil's speech is great. It's the kind of oration you want a leader to make. Dwindle and fade shall we before the Secondborn, if that’s the fate Eru appointed to us. Although, talk like Yoda he does on occasion. Wise he is. Author Reply: Whoa! What do you mean by "give this chapter the review it really deserves" It's more than that! ANywy, I undersetand you only too well. I´m at the end of my "term" here, too, and I find it very hard to put coherent thoughts together... thankfully the sotry was written in the earlier part of this year, and redheredh is kindly and most patiently helping me with the loads of mistakes, and as you see there are many that remain. The end of the year is not a good time for doing intellectual activities I fear... I'm glad that you liked the contrast. It was it. So many different views on the same facts are always at war in every thing, and it is hard when it comes to such differences between husband and wife! A difficult thing, none of them has stopped to believe that the other may be thinking differently! There are somany good stories about LEgolas out there that I was truly afraid of having him here... i'm glad that you liked how he came out. Throughout the books he seems a very self assured, even character, not shy or unsire of hmself, and that was what i wanted to come out here... Although, talk like Yoda he does on occasion. Wise he is. LOLOLOL! great point! Wise father, clever son, though.... Thanks for your kind words, FP, and get a good rest as soon as you may! | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 12/15/2005 |
| This is very sad.. I admit, it did not occur to me that Legolas's people would blame him for being gone during this time or blame him. Yet, in the way you have laid this out, I can see where their limited perspective could make it so. How sad and how hard for them all. I can see Legolas's desire to move with his wife to this settlement will be very hard. Author Reply: I supposed that to the elves in Mirkwood this was another bitter battle, as they could not see the after effects of their victory as clearly as they did in the south. They have suffered deeply, and we all tend to be a bit sel-centered in suffering... YEt it's not a permanent thing, as BOrgalas points out. Yet I found it interesting to explore the different takes on the same events as seen with different points of view and different amounts of information... Pain is the main after effect of a war, I fear... Sad as it may seem, it will end in hope, I promise! :-) | |