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What's left behind by perelleth	7 Review(s)
elliska	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 6/7/2006
Catching up. So glad to see you continue this! Poor Legolas. I think you did a great job in this showing just how difficult it is for Legolas and for those around him to find some sense of normalcy after such huge things have happened to them. The conflicts between Bôrgalas and Legolas, both in his office and later when discussing the real issue were so well done. How horrible for both of them. And very realistic because there had to be feelings like this. I suppose… that I can get to grant you that…eventually I was relieved to see this concession in the end. Very tense and emotional chapter, perelleth! Author Reply: Thank-you, elliska! You know how RL is... this has been stuck for quite long, but it is all there, so it will be going out drop by drop! Tolkien tells us so little about what happened in Lasgalen! Coming home is always a changing expereince. There are many things that you've missed, things they have learnt to go through without you, and I wondered how must have felt to LEgoas and his family, when so much had happened. Allowing the grudges to go out is a gift, the only way to forgiveness and undesrtanding. I find Borglas pov too easy to undesrtand. And now that he's let go off his grief, he knows he's been relieved of its hold. That first year cannot have been happy by any means, but there will be better times! :-)

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 6/6/2006
I can understand Bôrgalas's resentment. He can see the absence and the fulfilling of prophecy and the legend surrounding his brother - but at the same time he is deep into the grief of the forest and the trials of the elves who sacrificed themselves to defend it. Legolas's wounds aren't visible. Yet. He's a grieving father, too - and one who knows how horribly his son died. He can't see the events through a veil of patriotic sentiment - he knows the reality of it. The image of the burnt forest is horrible and very evocative. It will be centuries before it is healed - but elves can take the long view here (or at least they will be eventually) - this forest will regrow and possibly more easily than the twisted trees around Dol Guldur will heal. I think Bôrgalas might find it easier to accept Legolas's actions once he sees what his brother has lost. Maybe. The suffering beyond the activities of the trilogy receive so little mention - and yet were clearly catastrophic. You show that so well. Author Reply: Thank-you, Bodkin. "...and there was long battle under the trees and great ruin of fire." That's all that we get to know about how things went in Lasgalen, and that in an Appendix. Poor Wood elves, indeed, always so secluded that they are almost forgotten! Coming home and finding out that life also kept its pace there, and that there are many things that you have missed, and occasions when you were missed and needed can be quite shocking at times... But they will heal, as well as the forest, of course. But it was a widespread war, and the aftermaths and recoveries are long. Somewhere in one of the letters Tolkien says that Legolas is the one who achieved less of the Company. He also sates that the role of the ELves in this war was passive, their strenght in resistance. Author Reply: Uh! it ate the ending of the reply... I was saying that those words from Tolkien make me think that even to him, the Wood elves' preference for low-profile made them disappear from the chronicles more than what they deserved, perhaps. He also says that the elves of Lorien disappeared soon, while in Lasglaen they continued to live on happily. I find that very telling and worth exploring...

Redheredh	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 6/5/2006
I was so glad to see you posted this chapter! It came out very well, indeed. But, he will have to be telling everyone his future plans soon enough... Author Reply: Well, thanks for your insistent nudging! Glad it seemed to work a bit better. Yes, he will have to tell them, won't he?

The Karenator	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 6/4/2006
I've fallen very far behind in reading and reviewing. RL has kept me moving for months now and I feel terrible about how absent I've been. But when I read this chapter, I had to tell you how wonderful it is. It's just beautifully done...in its pain and realism. Legolas was able to peel away a layer from his brother and begin to understand the distance Bôrgalas has placed between them. It's a start toward healing and reconciliation for both of them. A very powerful and beautifully written chapter, Perelleth. I'm sort of at a loss for words. So I'll just keep repeating how wonderful it was. Karen Author Reply: I was so sure that I had answered you yesterday! Many thanks Karen, it's a pleasure to hear from you, knowing how busy this inconsiderate RL is keeping you. I hope that you get some time for yourself this summer! I'm glad you liked it. It is not pretty, but it seemed honest to me...As I told Nilmandra, it is a tale of hope, so they will all come to heal eventually. Take care, and many thanks again! ;-)

French Pony	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 6/4/2006
Yay! This story is back! Happy Pony. But definitely unhappy Elves. They've been paying so much attention to clearing out the last rumbles of the War and healing their physical wounds that they don't seem to have had time to deal with other hurts. And the men are doing what men do best. They're burying all the hurt so deeply that they can't see it. And it's going to fester there unless they get talking. Legolas is doing his best here, but he's only one guy, and he's wounded as well. It looks like Bôrgalas is going to have issues with Legolas's choices for years to come. Perhaps he's keeping that wall of anger up because he doesn't want to face the question of whether he'd rather have seen his little brother cut off and burned to death than his son. Tough questions, with no easy answers. These folk are definitely in need of a little peace and lots of private time to grieve thoroughly. Author Reply: Thank you FP! ;-) Let's hope that this time I am able to get to the end! The aftermath of something like this is a harsh, painful road. I think that Borgalas grieves not only for his son but for all the warriors that fell in that battle under his command. He really needed an equal by his side to share the burden and the responsiblity. Not his Adar, to whom he had to answer, not his children, also under his command, but his equal, someone he trusted and who could undesrtand exactly how he felt: father, son, prince and commander. But they are resilient people, and they´ll heal eventually. Letting go of what is festering inside is a good beginning to lay things to rest...

Nilmandra	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 6/4/2006
Oh my gosh, that was painful to read. I actually offer Legolas my deepest respect for being able to hear such things from someone he loves as much as he does his brother, and yet remain assured that he had done right. His family is too far removed to understand what he saw at Helm's Deep and the Pelennor and the Black Gates. His brother's perspective is limited to their forest, to home, and they do not understand that if the Quest had failed, it would not matter if a battle was won beneath the trees, for another would have come and they would eventually have lost. And he has yet to tell them about the call of the sea. Aii... Author Reply: Yes, the end of the war (or an earthquake, or a flood) does not mean the end of the suffering, I believe. I think that Borgalas just questions the inevitability of his little brother's being in the Quest, as he cannot see that he achieved anything important, anything that could not have been done by another Elf, while he needed him by his side, to share the burden of responsibility in the worst attack their home had suffered in an age... Since this is a tale of the consequences of Legolas' moving to Ithilien, we can hope that good shall come out of bad in the end, though... :-) Thank you, Nilmandra

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 6/4/2006
I found this a powerful chapter, Perelleth. You don't flinch from ugliness war left in its wake--the ruined forest, the twisted lives. The scene between the two brothers at the end had me spellbound. When Borgalas said he needed Legolas and he can't forgive him for not being there, that felt real to me. It's easy to gloss over these things, to say people are endlessly forgiving and supporting, but they're not. Pain and loss diminish them for a while, although I think someone Borgalas will heal in time. Like the forest. Author Reply: Thank you Daw! I almost cut off the whole chapter, but I must confess that I like that scene too... ;-) I think that you are right. Aftermaths are long and it takes time to reach healing, something ususally not showed. The hero comes home, but things have not been easy there, so I think that Borgalas personal grudge against his brother, based on their personal relationship is, in my eye, quite understandable. The forest will heal, too, :-) although LEgolas won't be there to help...

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