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Aspects of Aragorn by Inzilbeth	10 Review(s)
Silivren Tinu	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 12/9/2009
What a dark moment for the Fellowship and especially for Aragorn. Being a leader must be so hard sometimes, but it must be even worse when your decisions decide the fate of many, or may cost the lives of your friends. I don't agree with Aragorn that anything that happened was his fault, but I'm quite sure he wouldn't listen to me anyway. ;-) I really liked how you described his emotions and inner turmoil here. :) Author Reply: Thank you, Almut, I'm so glad you liked this. I certainly don't think everything that had happened was Aragorn's fault either but he seemed determined to blame himself regardless and I feel sure this was the lowest point of the whole Quest for him. After Gandalf returned, his fortunes changed but he most have felt terribly alone waiting here, keeping watch over Boromir's dead body. Poor man.

Mirach	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 9/11/2009
And this… ah, you are going from one extreme to another. That were truly grim moments, and a hard decision, maybe one of the hardest in his life. The path may be dark in other places, but here the direction was unclear, and the path not visible at all. Author Reply: Yes, this was definitely one of the hardest decisions of his life and I suspect he knew that too. But who, without the benefit of hindsight, would have liked to call this one?

demeter d	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 3/27/2009
I see a thread, here. Many a fan-fiction author has written of the self-doubt that might have troubled Frodo when he thought about how he claimed the Ring at the last moment, and if Gollum had not been there, Frodo would not have destroyed the Ring. But far from having been a failure, his part seemed to be just to bring the Ring as far as he could. Another Bearer was on hand who was able to complete the Quest. Aragorn may have seen himself as having all of that responsibility on his own shoulders. But as Gandalf had once told Frodo about Bilbo's finding of The Ring, there are other Powers at work in this world besides the powers of darkness. It may be that the Powers who were really in charge of the Quest expected Frodo and Sam to share some of that weight. And in the end, by not being with the rest of the group, Merry and Pippin were able to be where they needed to be for their parts of the adventure. Beyond that, the younger brother who never expected to become a RULING Steward at all was probably in a better position to embrace the new role his office was to take in a new age, than was Boromir who was as tradition conscious as their father. In his calling on Elbereth for guidance, you show Aragorn coming to a willingness to be guided, as well as to lead. And that, I am sure the believers among us would say, is the point where you can most fully serve the cause of Light! A very good look inside that monent of change. And one more note,on names. They were both his "true names". Aragorn was for his role as born in the line of leaders of his people. Ellessar represented one of those leaders who was called for special work at a special time, and for more than just his Northern clan. Author Reply: Thank you, Demeter, for your very considered review. You bring to mind Gandalf's words in Minas Tirith after the war: 'But that has been averted - because I met Thorin Oakenshield on the edge of spring in Bree. A chance-meeting, as we say in Middle-earth.' The implication, of course, is that it was anything but a chance-meeting! How much the other powers played a part, we can only speculate, but Tolkien was also a great believer in the importance of free will so I suspect there is a balance between the two and we all have to decide for oursleves where that balance lies. You raise some very good examples that are up for debate. Yes, Aragorn is also very much his true name. Here I was influenced by Ivorwen's words in HoME VII: 'but I see on his breast a green stone, and from that his true name shall come and his true renown...' It is the line that prompted the Prologue to this story! I'm very glad to know this chapter triggered off all that thought, and thank you again for leaving a review.

thughes45	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 3/26/2009
I really enjoyed this chapter, but I was a bit surprised that you had jumped so far ahead into the story. I was expecting a chapter on Aragorn's thoughts during their trek in the Mines of Moria, and another chapter on their experience in Lothlorien. I was just wondering what made you decide to go right to the part after Boromir dies? Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing, I still think your store is very good. I would have just loved to have seen how you covered those parts from Aragorn's point of view. Thanks for another chapter! Author Reply: Hi, thank you so much for leaving a review and I'm so glad to know you're enjoying the story. Yes, I do jump forward quite a way here. In part, that's because I didn't want to merely rehash the main tale in canon which is, after all, done considerably better by the man himself! Also, this story is very much written from the heart and it's those moments that capture my imagination, and that I'm inspired to write that get included, rather than it being a strict telling of everything that happened [for one thing, I doubt I would ever have finished it!]. As to why this chapter: it was on a re read of LOTR a couple of years ago that I noticed this gap and immediately wondered what was going on in Aragorn's head at that moment. I would actually have loved to have written a conversation between Galadriel and Aragorn in Lothlorien but it's quite clear from canon that, regrettably, that just couldn't have happened. Now that you mention it, a chapter following the fall of Gandalf would have been a good idea. Perhaps I'll do a one off on that one day! Next up is a conversation with Halbarad in the Hornburg.

Celeritas	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 3/25/2009
Given Aragorn's reticence, I thought it was very telling when in the books he expressed his self-doubt at Parth Galen. His thoughts must have been running something like this. Poor guy. Author Reply: I'm so pleased you find this chapter realistic. I do think the stress was beginning to tell at this point so it was very fortunate that Legolas and Gimli arrived with less bad tidings than Aragorn was expecting. Many thanks for reviewing.

Raksha The Demon	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 3/24/2009
I'm glad for Aragorn's sake that this dark hour was soon mitigated by the realization that Frodo and Sam had struck out on their own. This was truly the nadir for Aragorn. I've always liked Aragorn better for it; his self-doubt, which was not undeserved shows his humanity, he is not just a Numenorean Superman, he can mess up and then has to pick himself up and continue the battle. Author Reply: I couldn't agree with you more, Rasksha. His doubts and indecision make him very human while his ability to overcome them shows his strength. And once Gandalf has returned, I do think nothing is quite as bad for him again, even the Paths of the Dead. Thanks for your review.

Estelcontar	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 3/24/2009
I've never met anyone like you to get into Aragorn's head and see how he feels; at least, Aragorn as I have always pictured him. I am really impressed by how you can illustrate so well Tolkien's briefer words about our hero. I would call this story short and sweet, though it's not really sweet is it? Maybe bittersweet would describe it better. I think you've hit the right degree of despair and hopeless hope Aragorn must have felt at that moment, which probably was one of the worst, or maybe the worst in his life. I think that was the closest he ever got to despairing completely. And I felt that in your story. You really make us feel how conflicted he was. I found the Elessar paragraph especially moving, and the tittle most fitting. Well done. Author Reply: Thank you so much for your review, Estelcontar. I'm sure this really was a very low point, if not the low point of the whole quest for Aragorn; his failure made all the worse by the weight of expectation others had placed upon him. I'm so glad you enjoyed this chapter.

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 3/24/2009
In the end he made the right decision, and his logic proved right. It must have been a great relief to realize Frodo and Sam went east rather than being taken by the orcs. Now, to retrieve Merry and Pippin! Love the internal debate! So Aragorn! Author Reply: Thank you so much, Larner. Yes, with the benefit of hindsight, it's easy for us readers to see how obvious was his course but not so for him at the time. And I'm sure you're right; how much worse would things have looked if Frodo and Sam had also been captured.

shirebound	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 3/24/2009
Aragorn groaned out loud as he recalled over and over in his mind the list of things he had done wrong that day. What an agonizing moment; the worst of them all. And yet onwards we must go, with hope or without it. Author Reply: Absolutely, and how hard that must have been. Thank you so much for your review, Shirebound.

Cairistiona	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 3/24/2009
Aragorn has had so many low points in his life, but this had to be one of the lowest. The full weight of the disaster lies heavily on his shoulders and you've captured his emotions well... he dances around despair without ever fully giving in, which is his strength, after all. I did have the thought that it's almost humorous, him thinking about Elessar as his true name, when he was also told his true name is Aragorn. I wonder if he ever wondered if someone else might come along and hand him some ancient token and tell him yet another name is his true name! Well done, as always! Author Reply: I so agree with you; it can't have got much worse than at this moment when everything had gone wrong, Boromir was dead and the hobbits and the Ring were missing. yet somehow Aragorn found the strength to pull himself together and carry on. LOL! An interesting point! Thy true name is Trotter! Thank you so much for your review.

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