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To Sing of War by Avon	8 Review(s)
Jay of Lasgalen	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 5/30/2004
Excellent - this is wonderful. I always love to find another story with Thranduil as he should be, but is rarely, seen. I like the part in Unfinished Tales where 'there was in Thranduil's heart a still deeper shadow. He had seen the horror of Mordor and could not forget it.' Your story explains it so well. Jay Author Reply: Hi Jay! Thanks for the feedback. I have to admit that UT is truly unfinished for me - I got about four chapters in and gave up. It just isn't me. I love the movies and the books of LOTR, am very fond of The Hobbit and made myself read the Silm so I wouldn't be just a 'movie fangirl', but I think that that is where it is going to stop for me. However, I will make sure that I now go and find that bit about Thranduil as it sounds interesting. Thanks for the tip.

nessie	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 5/10/2004
Boy, do I love Thranduil. About the sight, it's very informative. I believe Legolas is the youngest child of Thranduil, because what they said, he seems so young to be an elf, and Thranduil is kinda...old. Not that it matters to Elves, of course. So, if he was the youngest, then he would have no need for knowledge of politics or diplomats, or whatever you call 'em. It would have probably have been the crown prince, if even at all, because it would be unlikely that an elven king would die, unless he went out to battle things and got killed. But anyhoo, yep, loved this. Thranduil is such a great character, in my opinion. ~nessie~ Author Reply: Thanks. Yes, I really enjoyed that site. Personally I believe Legolas was both young and relatively inexperienced because he seems to know so little of the outside world and be so prepared to follow others.

Coriel	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/28/2003
Vivid, well-written imagery ~ I'm sure Thranduil has many unpleasant experiences to look back on. But one thing I question: what is that about "raise no warriors, honour no flags of war"? Thranduil was quite a belligerent and untamed character in his own regard, would have to be if he resisted Dol Guldur for all those years. Warfare seems something that would by necessity become his specialty. Which is not to mention that he certainly raised a mean warrior in his son. ~ Author Reply: Thank you for the feedback. But one thing I question: what is that about "raise no warriors, honour no flags of war"? Thranduil was quite a belligerent and untamed character in his own regard, would have to be if he resisted Dol Guldur for all those years. Warfare seems something that would by necessity become his specialty. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations, as we Vulcans say. My theory of Thranduil - and this may change if he appears much in ROTK because I'll be rereading it for the first time in twenty years after I watch the movie - is obviously a little different to yours. I didn't say that he wouldn't fight - more that he'd not be sucked in again by the glory and honour, the flags and trumpets. He'll fight if he has to protect his own - but not for the greater glory and good. He's paid the price and knows it is too high. From what I've seen of Thranduil in The Hobbit his approach to Dol Guldur isn't warfare (and frankly I doubt Mirkwood would have survived if it was) - it's pragmatic survival mixed with carpe diem. They cede a hell of a lot where someone less experienced might have died for a matter of noble principle. Which is not to mention that he certainly raised a mean warrior in his son. IDIC again. I found my Thranduil largely by working backwards from his son. I don't think (which is not to say that I won't choose to write stories with different POVs) that book!Legolas is raised/trained to be a warrior. Certainly he has been trained to have skill with weapons - although the majority of his shooting could well have been at deer - and probably has had to fight at times but he strikes me as more gentle, more lighthearted, more inexperienced than a battle-hardened warrior would be. IMO Thranduil retreated to Mirkwood and drew his - metaphorical - drawbridges up. Anyway back to Legolas-the-not-warrior. He wails and drops his arrow when a balrog appears, rarely seems to pass on crucial things he's noticed unless asked, looks unreservedly to Gandalf or Aragorn to make decisions, seems lighthearted to the point of foolhardiness up Mt Caradhas, still sees battles as games (Helm's Deep) and generally to me seems more wide-eyed and fascinated by the world around him than I can see a true warrior being. (Can I just add that boy is my Legolas action figure giving me the evil eye while I type this? ;-)) He's brave, talented and trained in fighting and the use of weapons - but not a warrior imo. Indeed I think this is one reason he was chosen for the quest - if it was an Elven warrior you wanted how could you go past Glorifindel and they had Boromir and Aragorn already as warriors, they needed something else. Thanks for raising some interesting points. Cheers, Avon

Tinnuial	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/20/2003
Haunting, is what this piece is. It has added another dimension to the character of Thranduil in my mind and for that I thank you. Author Reply: Thanks for the feedback, Tinnuial. It added a few dimension in mine too ;-) Avon

Fadesintothewest	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/20/2003
Oh Avon, this was a bitter but beautiful piece. You have managed to convey in a short piece the horror of the Last Alliance so wonderfully, so tragically. And there would be no other way for Thranduil to recall this painful memory for it was a tremendous tragedy. Author Reply: Thanks, Fades. I'm pleased to know that it worked for you. Like I said elsewhere I've never been able to get over the horror of Mirkwood's losses and how it must have shaped the Thranduil we meet, and therefore in some ways his son. The contrast between Mirkwood and Rivendell has always fascinated me... damnit, a whocking great big nuzgul just bit me! Must think about that. Cheers, Avon

Thundera Tiger	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/20/2003
Ooo. I like this. I like this very much. There's a wonderfully...quiet feel about this story. The choice of word and the flow of the story feels almost like a poem. The give and take you write about (Thranduil's remarks that he has tasted war's blood and it tastes his as well as the later remarks about the trees asking where the rest are, causing the response that there are no rest) is breathtaking. Point and counterpoint. Marvelous. And you wring it for all it's worth! Wonderful little vignette and wonderful glance into Thranduil's mind. Beautiful character introspection of one of my favorite personalities. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey! Author Reply: I'm sorry this is such a late reply but I was considerably off-put (although in the most pleasant of ways) to get a review from one of my favourite authors ;-) Daft I know, but that's me. Anyway to get down to business... Thank you very much for the feedback, it's much appreciated. This was done quickly for a HASA online challenge and it was one of those times where mostly words just seemed to arrive without too much conscious thought on my part. My second year of university preoccupation with Australia's role in WWI - the war to end all wars, only it didn't - provides much of the background, I think. I found my Thranduil while I was writing this too - now I'm just too scared to use him in any other story in case I stuff it up ;-) Thanks again, Avon

Brenda G.	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/20/2003
This is a fine, grim piece that bears reading again. Your writing is visually gripping, and you place your reader in the midst of the carnage raging all about. As I read, I felt that I too slipped on blood-slicked grass and tasted coppery air. I too warred upon the field and witnessed the color of life upon my own armor turn from the bright and wet to dull and crusted. It takes powerful imagery to provoke such feelings, and you have completely mastered the technique. The feeling of loss was so profound, the bitterness so...bitter. I was particularly moved when the trees of Mirkwood made their haunting inquiry and the answer that was hurled back at them. Very well done. You made me think of all warriors everywhere, and although wars must be fought to preserve what others would destroy, so much destruction accompanies that very act that one is left to wonder, particularly the warrior who has done the fighting, if anything has truly been redeemed by such a sacrifice. I prefer to believe it has. Sobering, serious -- good stuff, Avon. Author Reply: Thanks, Brenda. I seem to write from 'pictures' I see in my mind and I do try to describe everything I see - so that's why I tend to be strong on imagery and weak on plot ;-) I've been haunted by this ever since I read somewhere how few of Mirkwood's warriors survived so I'm pleased to have passed some of this haunting onto others ;-) I think this war explains the contradictions in both Thranduil and Legolas. Avon

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/20/2003
This was gripping. The images turned my stomach and the bitterness of pointless loss comes through very strongly. Author Reply: Thank you for the feedback. I've done quite a lot of reading about WWI and I think I was giving Thranduil some of that feeling of pointless loss. This was another 'war to end all wars' that didn't.

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