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The Hidden Lady by Rhapsody	4 Review(s)
Nieriel Raina	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/11/2009
Saw this in review at HASA. I don't usually read much 2nd Age fic, but this was nicely done, Rhapsody!

Eärillë	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/4/2009
Beautiful... but hair-rising too. I saw this in Dawn's daily post for the AnA, but, admittedly, I was not quite interested in reading because the summary disclosed was the quotation from Silmarillion. LOL Well, and I have just realised what it might mean by "the Hidden Lady." I love Uinen (and Ossë, actually), and am always eager to read tales involving any (or both) of the two. :) The quotation did not suggest the content, but your own summary did, and so I read it - at last. So there were actually 10 ships? Silmarillion said there were 9... shudder The maelstrom was very terrifying... and real. How could Anárion be spared if he was in the perished ship? What did Elendil's wife do with the coins? I am interested in the procedures of the prayer. Mm. What about the slipping barrels too? What barrels and what did they have to do with the predicament? All the emphasyses were well-placed and made a greater impression in the overall tale. However, the form of it was a bit hard to understand - before the end. There were parts that should be in present tense but were instead done in past tense... You picked a very good spot here, by the way: an issue that seems to go with most sections in the Silmarillion: embelishments. The last paragraph of the piece wrapped it up - and sealed the purpose - nicely! By the way, I never knew the meaning of Stella Maris beofore... LOL - Rey Author Reply: Thank you Rey! During the project we couldn't include both the summary and quote from the Silmarillion, but given the spirit of the project, quotes from the Akallabeth were included. My prompt was to write how Elendil and his sons were spared by the Valar. The tale is basically how Elendil relates his tale to the bard/minstrel who seeks him out. As you will tell a story on how something has happened to you, you will find yourself naturally shifting back and forth in tenses. That was the sole aim. As I re-acquainted myself with canon regarding this bit of the downfall, the Valar had laid down the goverment of Arda while Illuvatar sunk the island and re-shaped the world. That made me realise that if the Valar would have stepped aside, how could they spare Elendil and his sons. Ulmö's maiar are not always that predictable, so in order not to anger Eru, Uinen treaded lightly here. Canon states that nine ships survived the downfall, four were Elendil's, three were Isildur's, and two were Anarion's. That doesn't mean that there couldn't been more since in the same book it is also stated that ships were destroyed during the tempest. The question remained how and for that I turned to science and read all I could on tsunami's and other sea disasters. When massive land is taken away, movement of water will take place. As for the coins, one of the seafarer's superstitions and in a way tradition (at least noted in the VOC (Dutch East India Company), was to toss coins into the sea to appease the sea god(s), Elendil wife's idea as a last effort to make such an offering is used here. Mariners are also known to carry a token in their purse (I have such a token as well), for protection during their journey. There are several Stella Maris invocations to be found on the internet, but this one appears to me to be the most original: http://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/BVM/AveMarisStella.html The barrels, in the books you can find that Elendil had prepared his ships for a departure, but hid for Sauron as well. One way to store away food and other products is to use barrels and crates. When ships are tossed back and forth in a fierce storm, sooner or later the cargo will give and break free. In case you are curious, I envisioned that Elendil and his sons sailed Portuguese Caraval's and Carracks. The Santa Maria of Columbus was one since they needed sturdy ships for long distances and take live stock like horses with them. Oi, such a long review reply, whoops. I spent a lot of time researching details for this story, trying to see if I could make it realistic as possible, and with science in one hand, remaining true to what Tolkien wrote. Thank you for your review and indulging my very very long answer!

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/3/2009
It must indeed have been a terrifying experience, all being totally at the mercy of the Powers like this, uncertain whether or not any should survive. Definitely a time to invoke--ANYONE--likely to show mercy. Lovely adaptation of the invocation and use of the poem. Alas that so many were lost as happened. But now the time has come once again to learn anew to live free from fear. Author Reply: Thank you Larner for the review, how terrifying and sobering it must have been to be so devoted to the Valar, but they put down their governmentship of Arda at the same time! That was a conondrum for me, because as a Vala you are either in charge of Arda or not... but how could they have spared Elendil and his son's if they stepped aside for Illuvatar who was busy sinking the island and reshaping the world? Since the Silmarillion is a composition of what scribes and loremaster's transcribed (through the professor's quill), I tried to tell how Elendil told his own sobering experience, unsure as to whom rescued them. Was it Eru himself? Was it Uinen who took mercy upon those who never forsook her? Or did she ask Ossë or Ulmo to step in? Was it sheer luck and catching a break? I leave that up to the reader. In all of this, the Faithfull were utmost tested with their lives in the balance, and were granted with that chance to start anew.

Aiwen	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/2/2009
An interesting short story. Thank you, I enjoyed it. Legends do strange things to what actually happened don't they. Author Reply: Thank you for the review Aiwen! I think we encounter it in our daily lifes as well, how a story can pass on from one person to another, words or wording are changed so that the story can be passed on. :)

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