Stories of Arda - Lord of the Rings Fan-Fiction Archive


	About Us News Resources Login Become a member Help Search

Stirrings of Shadow by Fiondil	4 Review(s)
Linda Hoyland	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 8/31/2007
Another exciting chapter.Thank Goodness Theoden is alright. I loved the idea of the way into the secret passage based on the lines about the stars and ships and stones. I think your mean "pored over the maps".I just checked in my dictionary, as I get the two confused. I'm loving this story. Author Reply: Thanks Linda. I'm glad you liked this chapter and the story. I'll go and make the correction. I get those two words confused too. When I thought about having a secret passage and how it might be opened, the door just sort of appeared, more or less full-blown in my mind, so I knew the Rhyme of Lore would play an integral part of its secret. I though it was interesting that a Gondorian (read: Númenorëan) rhyme would be the key to opening a Rohirric door.

Aurendil	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 8/30/2007
The idea of the secret passage is nice, but if this is not wide enough to let pass a small army (with horses maybe), it won't be very useful, is it? I mean, it is always possible to sneak out two scouts anyway, over the walls, just like Erkenbard probably did. Therefore, I don't think that a besieging army would let the surroundings entirely unwatched. I think they would keep one or two pairs of scouts on the other side of the city, just to guard against such small sized sorties. Also, if the siege would become very hard, the defenders always have the option of opening additional doors on the wall (if we suppose that this is numenorian-quality masonry). Anyway, I like your stories very much. This one is full of cliffhangers and intrigues -but I still worry more about the orcs in the west. Keep up the good work! Author Reply: The whole point of Eorl's subte3rfuge was to prevent anyone from bothering to post scouts. Only the king, his heir and sister-son would ever know about the secret passage. Not even Eólind is aware of it. Also, the warriors sent out would not be taking their horses, but would end up fighting on foot, something they are quite capable of doing. And even though Eorl asked Cirion for help in constructing the secret passage, the rest of the city is entirely Rohirric in design and construction, so your scenario would not work here. At any rate, I'm glad you enjoy my stories. We will be turning our attention to the orcs eventually. They and the elves haven't been forgotten.

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 8/30/2007
That the rhymes of lore concerning Elendil's return should conceal the means of escape...wonderful! And Aragorn ought to have known better than to ask that question. A secret may easily be held by two or three if all but one of them is dead, as the old saying goes. Heh! And the Queen Dowager seeks to displace her son. Now, to deal with the harridan! Author Reply: I thought it would be fun to postulate that Eorl, wanting a secret way out of the city would seek Cirion's aid in desigining it and Cirion deciding to use the Rhyme of Lore as the key, thereby making it doubly hard, since the key wouldn't be in Rohirric. Of course, none of the kings of Rohan would necessarily know Sindarin or Quenya, so they would merely be taught to memorize the key, but perhaps Cirion had a flash of foresight and carved the words in the Elvish language knowing that sometime in the future a king of Rohan would need it because the secret had been lost otherwise. At any rate, it was fun "designing" the door. As to how the harridan is dealt with... future chapters will reveal all, so stay tuned.

Shoshana_Rose	Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 8/29/2007
Another nice chapter. I like the mystery of the door. I also like the line that Thengel gave his messengers to convey to Freawine. The importance of oaths in LoTr is something that always strikes me. Those between Gondor and Arnor, between Gondor and Rohan. And, of course, the exceptionally binding oath of the Army of the Dead. For some reason, Thengel's message made me start thinking of that all over again. Nice update! Cheers, Shoshi Author Reply: Hi Shoshi, I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter. The giving and keeping (or not keeping) of oaths is a major theme in LOTR and elsewhere in Tolkien's writings (and mine). In a society where there isn't the concept of written contract as we know them today, oaths are very binding and the consequences of breaking them dire. Even PJ picked up on that when Théoden asks why he should fulfill his oaths to Gondor when Gondor did not come to Rohan's aid and you can see the shocked looks on everyone's faces.

Return to Chapter List