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


	About Us News Resources Login Become a member Help Search

The First Journey by Manderly	6 Review(s)
Karri	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 8/10/2004
A very exciting chapter! It was very valiant of Legolas to sacrifice himself like that, even though I am sure he wasn't intended to sacrifice himself. Baragallon was very brave in saving Legolas. Tavaro's fears was nicely written -- very intensse. Author Reply: I think that Legolas probably acted more out of instinct rather than heroics, but wasn't quite prepared for the cold plunge into the river. Bet that came as a shock. Good thing Thranduil insisted on having the guards accompanying them. Thanks for your review!

Rose Sared	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 8/6/2004
My goodness, heart in the mouth stuff. Thank goodness it all ended ok! Wonderful writing, well done. Rose Author Reply: I hope the excitement was not too much or too contrived but I thought the journey was too uneventful so far so I added a bit of excitement to spice it up. Hopefully it fitted in with the story. Thanks for your kind words.

lwarren	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 8/6/2004
I am glad Tavaro and Legolas are all right...because I am NOT!!! Really, Manderly, I am toooo old for such...I hesitate to call it excitement! I read a reply where you said things had been too quiet, so you thought you'd spice the action up, huh? Well, consider your effort 100% successful! tries to breathe Now that my immediate panic is over --- what a great chapter!!!!! Isn't it funny how exciting a natural disaster can be - and how guilty you can feel for being excited about it? I live near Houston, and we get the odd hurricane/flood every now and then, and have been known to ride around looking at the damage! How rude, I know! But there is something about the power of weather/rivers/waterfalls etc. that is awe-inspiring, I think. I've never seen a frozen river thaw like you described, but my dad was from Niagra Falls and I have visited there before - his parents told us how that river would freeze every now and then, and I can only imagine what it was like when it thawed! Now, for the elves! Poor Tavaro - he had me crying in a couple of places here...Struggling to get to Legolas and screaming how he had promised Adar he'd take care of the elfling...and at the last, gulp I still get weepy reading of those two crying on each other, and the poor elfling telling his brother how he couldn't breathe and he thought he'd never see him again....sob Must move on...cannot see to type :-)! Baragallon - way to go, you elf hero you!!!! That boy and his partner need promotions big time! deep calming breath Great chapter...no more excitement for awhile (maybe till the next one g), ok? linda Author Reply: I am glad the little jolt of excitement worked, thought I do apologize for the jolt that it gave you. I know what you mean about being excited about impending natural diasters and the guilt of harbouring such excitement. Where I live, we get some pretty nasty snow storms in the winter and people almost get giddy with excitement when there is a severe snow storm warning. The excitement dies pretty quickly though in the aftermath when we have to shovel our way out of the heavy snow drifts. After what has happened, I think Tavaro is ready to rejoin Feren to fight the orcs in the south. Probably less stressful than trying to keep Legolas safe.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 8/5/2004
I am enjoying reading about Legolas visiting, but what I really wanted to say is how fascinating it is that the geography of Mirkwood (and come to that everywhere else) changes so much depending on the life experience of whoever is writing. You seem to have experience of cold climes. It would never occur to me to put ice floes in a river - I have scarcely ever seen a river frozen to a depth sufficient to hold the weight of even an elf. It does make the environmental background interesting. Same with flora and fauna - and seasons. Fascinating. I'm glad Legolas is safe. Roitar's parents will be pretty shaken when they realise how close he was to disaster, and that their prince risked his own life to save his friend. Author Reply: I have experienced many frigid Canadian winters so snow and ice come quite naturally to me. Hot and tropical weather is something beyond my imagination to write about. But you are right though. The geography and landscape of Arda certainly change from story to story. Makes for very interesting reading, I must admit. I think everybody concerned must be quite shaken from the near death experience, but no major harm done, I think. Thanks for reviewing.

Firnsarnien	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 8/4/2004
Woo hoo! Another chappy! I love it! Who am I kidding, I ALWAYS love it when you update! LOL Hmmm, I think if I'd have been Vayne, I would have tied Legolas and Roitar to their beds! You know ominous words like this: "They will be fine," Tavaro answered. "Baragallon and Aradun will help to keep them safe." just mean they will NOT be fine! LOL I swear, when Tavaro said this, I almost groaned! With gleeful anticipation that is! ;) Heh, heh! Well, their clothes were saved from the mud, but I bet their poor beasts of burden were covered from hoof to flank! LOL Right, right? It is not fun to be out in the wilderness neither wet nor muddy! I can vouch for that after my weekend backpacking trip for which it rained on us the first day and the whole night! Thank goodness for rain gear and tents! LOL Wow! I could just see the river with those huge chunks of ice in my mind. I'll bet it was quite a sight to behold! And the roar, wow, that must have been so loud! That whole stretch of water must have been a mass of churning, bubbling, foaming, muddy water, no? I envision in my head, the Colorado River after a heavy rainstorm with the rapids churning and boiling. Then add in those huge chunks of ice and it makes from a pretty scary picture! :O OMG! Of course Legolas would think of nothing else other than saving his friend! But oh how he paid the price this time! Falling into that water is NOT something I'd like to do! As scary as it looks and sounds, I'll bet Leggy was absolutely horrified! And Lordy, I'll bet Baragallon and Roitar were too! Baragallon probably did not even hesitate a second before jumping in after Legolas, for several reasons. One, because he loves his little prince dearly. Two, Tavaro would kill him. And three, Thranduil would kill him after slowly torturing him first! LOL Oh my! Poor Leggy! That impact must have knocked him senseless. His back is gonna be sooooo bruised! I hope that's all it is though, just bruised and nothing worse! Good thing Baragallon wasn't too far behind him. And Tavaro, shakes head I totally understand his first instinct to jump in after Legolas. Good thing Herendil was there to grab hold of him! He was in such a panic, I don't know if he could have done much good. Hmmmmm, well, I'm glad he didn't have to find out for Baragallon saved the day, Thank The Valar!!!! Whew! And it was pretty intense to see Tavaro so out of control, so overcome with panic and fear and worry for his little brother. To see this strong Elf reduced to such shows the incredible fear he felt for Legolas. Can't say I blame him either! Yikes, and then to finally get his brother back, with blue lips and unresponsive. He must have thought Legolas had gone to Mandos' halls for sure! Poor him! I wouldn't wish that terror on anyone! Look at him! He was so panicked and terror-stricken, he couldn't even think what to do to help his little brother. Again, good think Arandun was there this time to do what was needed. You know, for a few seconds I thought perhaps Baragallon had perished. I can't tell you how frantically fast I was trying to read just to hear mention of the warrior. I sure breathed a sigh of relief when I learned he was ok!!! I have to say, also, sheesh, I've said enough already huh? ;) Well, anyway, as I was saying, I have to tell ya, I loved, and I do mean LOVED that scene at the very end! The way Leggy was cross until he saw tears in Tavaro's eyes. sigh The way he seemed to be holding his feelings at bay and then finally breaking down just seemed to fit Legolas' character perfectly. another sigh It was so touching to see each brother so affected by their near brush with death. I'm glad Legolas let Tavaro comfort him. Poor little Elfling. He doesn't have to be so brave all the time! I'm wondering, after this horrible scare they've just gone through...do you think maybe an after affect of it would be that they can't let each other out of the others sight, even for a moment? Nightmares, for both? The need for Legolas to cuddle up to his older brother in the middle of the night? A bit jumpy at loud noises? Hmmm, you know, I'm just wondering is all. ;) Curious and all that. Not trying to give any extrememly innocent voice HINTS at all, really. Nope, not me. I'd never try to coax or bribe an author into writing something I want. I'm not that kind of person, at all! ;) Heh, heh! Yeah, and if you believe that, then I'm the Queen of England and am married to Orlando Bloom! LOLOLOLOL! Uh oh, I just thought of something...How are they going to tell Thranduil about this? :O Well, on to the next chappy I say! Hurry I say! Can't wait for it I say! LOL :) Catch you soon! Author Reply: Need I tell you again how much I enjoy getting your reviews? The calm and peace of the journey so far have come to an end in this chapter, hopefully it wouldn't be too traumatic for the two princes, but like you said, I think an experience as this one is not something they would soon forget. I think once the shock is over, then the real fear sinks in. Nightmares? You must had a sneak preview of the outline for my next chapter. As for the raging rivers, I can always remember the ice-covered river where I grew up - one year the river rose so high that the ice floes were scraping the bottoms of bridges. Luckily there were no houses built in the immediate river valley or else there would have been major flooding.

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 8/4/2004
That was exciting! You write as if you know something about rivers in winter. The description of the ice blocks was scary, and Legolas in the cold water was even scarier. Author Reply: I spent many years in the Canadian Prairies where the winters are quite memorable and the one thing that always stayed in my memory is the river and the ice floes forming on it. Though I've never experienced an ice jam personally, they are not uncommon and really are very destructive. I figured the story has been moving along rather quietly so I decided to add a bit of excitement. Hope it worked.

Return to Chapter List