| Here is the promised second review...
Well - you already know I also love this brilliant last chapter of the story! :-):-)
Yes, Daeron is a masterful storyteller (and so are you) - turning Luthien's story into a nice, romantic one with a happy ending - that is so clever and wonderful!
I had to laugh about Vaya (who criticized Niphredil's "romantic" mother) being touched by this tale... But I, in turn, was touched by little Niphredil asking after "the young elf" - that is so sweet of her! But that second question... Oh dear! Yes, why?! Probably because the women of that family always have to choose poor males utterly beneath their own station whom they can enchant... ;-)
And his musing whether she would love him now, out of pity... *sniff* He is still desperate! Poor, poor Daeron!
It is heartbraking to read about his thoughts then, the "grand irony" of his life, his suffering, his "curse" - everything has turned out terribly, and yet - he is able to convert his great tragedy into a charming fairy tale for children and thus to be fairly altruistic even in his search for companionship... Even if he desperately wants something (Luthien's love, some "friends" for a time, etc.), he gives so much of himself! So the title, "The Singer's Gift", is fitting in more than one way...
And then... Little Niphredil is so cute! She wants to dance "for him" - something that Luthien never really did, although she may have appreciated Daeron's music... But now, here is a little "princess" who wants to dance for Daeron, and only for him! This is so touching and so wonderful! Uh oh. I am repeating myself... "Touching" and "wonderful" seem to be the words I permanently use to describe this story... But it *is* both touching and wonderful... But I could also say awesome, great, unique or whatever... I simply love it! :-)
It is very telling that Niphredil, dancing for Daeron, wants to "make certain that he saw her" - his seeing her matters to her, she wants to please him - and that is the difference to Luthien, I believe, who, perhaps because she is half-Maia, dances for herself, like some sort of archaic natural spirit, not really aware what her dancing can do...
I liked that Daeron gives Niphredil the gift he intended for Luthien at first - she deserves it, for although she is "only" a mortal child, she is a kind little soul and very caring and grateful...
Daeron's "joy" about her being grateful is important - perhaps for the first time, he feels that what he has done for someone else is fully appreciated in the way he intended it, and that might, perhaps, be a step towards healing and away from those feelings of being misunderstood that haunted him from childhood on - "sneaking Shadow", although he did not mean any harm...
And the end is perfect! Yes, he has to leave - but I love that he does what Niphredil asked him for... He sings for them, although in quite another way than she wished it... Wonderful (I did it again... ;-)). By the way - the observation that "a part of them would feel empty once the song was done" nicely ties in with chapter 2...
This is certainly one of your very best stories - you know how much I love it and how it moved me! :-D:-D:-D:-D
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