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


	About Us News Resources Login Become a member Help Search

A Long and Weary Way by Canafinwe	8 Review(s)
Lily Baggins	Reviewed Chapter: 61 on 9/13/2015
‘I lack your patience, Dúnadan,’ Gandalf muttered. ‘You endured him for fifty days. After five I am ready to fling him into the river.’ Ah, I absolutely adore your Gandalf. He's the perfect blend of cantankerousness and gentle nobility... and I laughed at loud at that statement. I loved your fastidious tailor, too... maybe they should have sent someone who is NOT responsible for robing Thranduil to make Aragorn's clothing! But I have to admit---while I understand Aragorn's reasoning, I'm sure he did look extremely good in blue. Come on, Aragorn---live a little! How about one nice set to wear around the halls and one in dull green? I also enjoyed Aragorn's thoughts about having the weavers of Imladris weave cloth to resemble cheap wool... I never thought about that, but of course he'd not want to call attention to himself. Thoroughly enjoyed! Author Reply: It means a lot to know that you like my characterization of Gandalf. Thank you! The tailor was a lot of fun! It would be nice to dress Aragorn up in lovely bright colours, wouldn't it? Happily the upcoming Thorongil story will have some scope for that. (shameless plug!) Yup: high quality cloth would be a real eyebrow-raiser in a society where clothing was the most readily apparent gauge of social position.

UTfrog	Reviewed Chapter: 61 on 8/10/2015
I love Aragorn and the tailor. I can see Aragorn's panic at the thought of red satin. I can also see a vignette of Thrainduil teaching Aragorn that at times appearance does matter and as a king, Aragorn needs to learn how to use that power. I also vote with so many others that Aragorn's journey to Mordor should be written first. However, I want to see some vignettes off this story: Faramir learning from Aragorn how much the water and supplies meant, Beorn's family learning of their contribution to Sauron's fall and a meeting between Elessar and the Marchwarden who wondered if humans bathed. Author Reply: Ooh, that WOULD be a fun one: a tutorial in regal dress from Thranduil. I'm sure he'd be an excellent tutor. Thank you for your vote! I do plan to write a little coda to LWW, but of course it's a much smaller project. I hadn't thought of including the Marchwarden, though: great idea!

obsidianj	Reviewed Chapter: 61 on 8/9/2015
That tailor is priceless. I can see it now, Aragorn decked out in courtgarb going into the wilderness. It must relieve Aragorn that Gandalf also has trouble getting anything out of Gollum, although that is not helping. They need to know what Gollum knows. Author Reply: It's nice to be able to get in the occasional lighter moment. That is an amusing image, isn't it?

ellon	Reviewed Chapter: 61 on 8/6/2015
I thought it was really interesting that you described Aragon's perspective as Sauron and the Ring of Power being the problem of the people of Middle Earth rather than the Valar's. Since Sauron was the one who deceived the Elves and he was a Maia and lieutenant of Melkor I would think that the Valar hold more responsibility. The failure of Manwe to keep Melkor imprisoned and the failure of the Valar to completely remove the greater evils is not the fault of man or elves. In a sense the firstborn and secondborn are at the mercy of the greater powers. I think overall I am unhappy with the Valar and how they refuse to support the secondborn. Were I a man in Middle Earth I would probably be pissed off at them because of their preferential treatment of elves. Anyways, I'm really excited to see the confrontation in the next chapter. I also would vote for Aragorn's trip to Mordor, although his time in Gondor as Thorongil would be excellent as well! Greatly enjoy your writing! Author Reply: I agree completely: it was the Valar who failed to clean up the mess properly in the first place. But Aragorn would not see it that way. We know he is devout, and the devout do not make a habit of raging out against their divine beings. He also does not have the broad perspective of the entire history of Ea that we as outsiders have: his is the perspective of someone born and raised and living in the latter days of a shadowed age far removed from the deeds of the Valar and the Maiar in the dawn of time. The natural human inclination is to look at more proximal causes: measurable mistakes and moments when the decisions of those he knows or admires might have stayed the course of history. As for being pissed off with the Valar... oh, there were definitely Men who were! But they all came to bad (and usually very wet) ends. ;-) Thanks for your vote! I'd love to write both, but I can't do them at the same time. ;-)

Lindelea	Reviewed Chapter: 61 on 8/6/2015
Oh, both stories sound fascinating to contemplate. Hopefully you mean to write one first, and then the other? If I had to choose (and a difficult choice it is), I would elect Aragorn's first journey to Mordor. I have read a few tales of Thorongil in Gondor, but none about Aragorn in Mordor. Oh, my. Even contemplating it... one wonders how he managed to survive and return to tell the tale. And I find myself contemplating the Men who lived in Mordor, under the Dark Lord. Is it at all possible that some of them showed some spark of resistance, and offered unexpected help along the way? As for this chapter... The descriptions of Aragorn's nightmares read almost like poetry. I started to quote a snippet, and ended up wanting to quote the whole first part of the chapter. But to dismiss his words so wholly, in a matter of such weight, as Isildur had… that Aragorn himself could never have done. Really? For Aragorn to believe that, well, I'm not so sure he's overestimating his own character and strength of will, so much as possibly underestimating the power of the Ring. Or is it possible he is truly capable of being unaffected by its siren call? (I know, at least, he did not fall as Boromir did, so maybe there's something there.) The tailor brings a bright, comedic note. "I must have your wingspan." Poor Gandalf. Such a thankless task. And this bit is so very Gandalf: ‘Your mastery of understatement is truly remarkable, even for one skilled in so many crafts,’ Gandalf growled, and this, Gandalf muttered his leave-taking. I like the way you draw their relationship in skilful strokes: The way Aragorn points out the significance of "hole" for example, and Gandalf's reaction. In truth? :) Author Reply: Thank you for your opinion on the next story! Yes, I do plan to write both, and I'm only trying to decide where to start. Both tales have much to commend them. The account of the journey in Mordor is seldom explored, and my planned course incorporates some gems from the History of Middle-Earth treasury that are likewise never really seen in fan fiction. But of course the Thorongil story incorporates so many familiar places, characters and events. It's also the one I've dreamed of writing the longest: I made my first sorry little attempt at it when I was thirteen -- long before I knew anyone else on earth dabbled in this hobby, or that it had a name! I'm glad you liked the "understatement" line! Indeed, the relationship as a whole. It's one of the most fascinating and inspiring friendships Tolkien created, I think. Of course, I'm biased... And now the very best part: Aragorn and the temptation of the Ring. Yes, at this point he truly is underestimating its power. HOWEVER... I put it to you that, in fact, Aragorn was not tempted by the One Ring to the degree many other characters were (Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, Boromir, Galadriel, to name a few). Even Sam's moment of temptation is greater than what Aragorn appears to have experienced. Only once does he refer to taking the Ring for himself, and the tone and context of that remark make it clear that it is less than earnest: "'I am afraid my only answer to you, Sam Gamgee, is this. If I had killed the real Strider, then I could kill you. And I should have killed you already without so much talk. If I was after the Ring, I could have it -- NOW!'" (Aragorn, Book 1, Chapter 10: "Strider") He then unmasks a little of his kingly splendour and command to the hobbits, and when doubtful Sam is suitably impressed, Aragorn goes on: "'But I am the real Strider, fortunately,' he said, looking down at them with his face softened by a sudden smile. 'I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, and if by life or death I can save you, I will.'" (as above) This progression -- from wryly reiterating what he has been saying all night about the hobbits' underestimation of their peril, to the stark truth that they could not possibly defend the Ring against him (or without him!), to a show of his might and majesty, to the sudden return to gentleness and his beautiful pledge of loyalty -- is nothing like the cycles of temptation we see with those who fall prey to the lure of the Ring even briefly. Instead it is the carefully constructed, meticulously controlled, and brilliantly executed argument of a skilled negotiator trying to win over a skeptical audience under great duress. The words read like a threat, but they are not: he is demonstrating as plainly as he can the vulnerability of the Ring and of Frodo so that Sam will see that the risks of trusting Strider are far less than the risks of rejecting him outright. It is a moment of enormous desperation: if Aragorn cannot convince the hobbits to let him guide them, they will fall prey to the Nazrul, and the Ring will be captured. He knows it all too well, and he has to help them to see it too. Now, this raises a very interesting question: why is it the Ring does not tempt Aragorn? The answer is simple. The One Ring can offer only one thing: power. It portrays that power in different ways to different people -- to Gandalf, the ability to make right in one fell swoop everything he has toiled so fruitlessly to mend; to Galadriel perilous beauty and splendour and might such as she wished for when as a maiden she spoke out as one of the prime voices of the Noldorin rebellion in Valinor; to Sam, the power to drive the invaders from his homeland and repair the terrible ravages he saw in the Mirror -- but it is ALWAYS power. The One Ring can offer nothing else. Boromir, who once asked how many centuries it takes to make a Steward into a King, is the most susceptible of our heroes because of all those tempted he is the most hungry for power. But Aragorn does not crave power. He has more power than he wants, and more still is bearing down upon him at a great speed. This is the man who was reluctant to assume control of an eight-person walking party. HedoesnotwanttotalgodlikedominationoverMiddleEarth. (<-- That should be in italics: sorry!). The Ring cannot tempt him because he does not want what the Ring has to offer, and the Ring cannot twist his desire into a lust for power, and why? Because what Aragorn wants, in the deepest secret places of his heart, is peace. He wants to lay by his labours, and dwell with his beloved, and the rest does not really matter. He could have what he longs for just as well if he took up a hidden home in the North like so many of his forefathers, provided he could lay aside his duty and his destiny. This is the fantasy he toys with in moments of great turmoil. Again and again he says this: his home is in the North, and he returns when he may; his heart wanders beneath the beeches in Rivendell; Lothlorien represents his greatest desire because it was there he once dwelt for a brief season as he most wished to. Aragorn seeks to restore the Kingship because it is his destiny, and because Elrond in his wisdom entwined Aragorn's deepest longing with Aragorn's greatest test to make it easier for his beloved child to keep to the hard road decreed for him. He does not want to be King in order to rule, but in order to do good, to bring peace, and to be with Arwen in a world free of the Shadow. He shies away from the trappings of power until the need of battle presses him; after his victory on the Pelennor and in the Houses of Healing he slips out of the city into his simple tent; at his very coronation he honours others above himself. Aragorn does not want power. He wants Arwen, and he wants peace. The Ring might twist the desire for a lady, but it cannot offer Aragorn peace: it cannot offer him any perversion of what he most desires because peace and power are by their very natures incompatible. Indeed it cannot even believably offer him Arwen, for Aragorn's possession of it would mean the subjugation of her (their) beloved father -- NOT a sound foundation for a happy marriage! This is why Aragorn's only mention of the desire for the Ring is so brief, so incidental, so incredibly insignificant when viewed against all the other such mentions. He does not want it: it only fleetingly occurs to him that he even could* want it. And as for putting the Ring before the advice of Elrond.... no. I honestly do not think that Aragorn could, even if he were tempted by the One. He does not always follow Elrond's advice or abide by his wishes, but never does he dismiss them out of hand as Isildur did. Sorry about the lengthy treatise! This subject is near and dear to my heart, and it was handled extremely unfortunately in the films. That was one of the two most grievous mistakes that Jackson made in his adaptation, and it is also one of the most frequently ignored. I've heard more complaints over Viggo Mortenson's red shirt and the number of Gollum's teeth than I have about introducing temptation where none was meant to lie (and ignoring the very real temptation that was always there, but which isn't so Hollywood-friendly). Thank you SO MUCH for your lovely comments, and for giving me the chance to finally post my thoughts on this matter. I really ought to organize it all into a proper scholarly paper, I know... but A Long and Weary Way is much more fun to write! Hugs, Canafinwe

shirebound	Reviewed Chapter: 61 on 8/6/2015
It's quite refreshing and interesting to find Gandalf seeking comfort from Aragorn, and asking for counsel. This continues to be a fascinating tale. Author Reply: Thank you! You have such a rich, broad perspective that it means so much to have you say that. This aspect of the friendship between Gandalf and Aragorn is not always explored, I think. But after all, Gandalf did sustain a long debate with Aragorn over the path through Moria, and in fact deferred to him until it was plain there was no other way after all. Clearly he values Aragorn's counsel immensely, and even the redoubtable wizard needs comfort and support at times!

ISABEL VILLENA	Reviewed Chapter: 61 on 8/6/2015
Thank you -oh thank you so much for another chapter of this outstanding tale! You just made my day, as you do with every update. I vote for a Mordor story: not enough tales about this intriguing period in Aragorn's life, I think. Author Reply: You're so very welcome! Your lovely feedback, and that of all my other readers, made MY day today! Thanks for weighing in! It is a portion of Aragorn's life that is seldom explored -- partly, I think, because it IS such a dark and dreadful concept. As you can see in LWW, even almost forty years later he tries his best not to think of it, no matter how closely the memories may crowd upon him.

Elentarri	Reviewed Chapter: 61 on 8/6/2015
Another beautifully written chapter. :) I really look forward to your updates. Re Thorongil's time in Gondor, or Aragorn's first journey to Mordor? Both, but the journey to Mordor first please. Author Reply: Thank you so much! It's exciting to be working on this again, especially as the end is coming so swiftly. I'll miss this story when it's done! Hence the need to look on to the next one. Thank you for your vote! I do intend to write both, but I can't do them in tandem: that would be a disservice to each of them.

Return to Chapter List