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| The Trial of Frodo Baggins by Gentle Hobbit | 22 Review(s) |
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| periannore | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/11/2022 |
| I love your pen name because that's how I envision hobbits and especially Frodo and Sam. I mean if hobbits were perfect it would be nearly impossible to craft a plot for what would there be to resolve? Still, overall hobbits are a gentle race with happy dispositions and loving hearts. I'm interested to see what Fellen's part will be in this story. Imagine if your story happened in our time. Those kids, and the adults, too, would be pointing their phones and taking snaps of the hobbits for souvenirs and bragging rights. Fellen wants a deeper connection with his hero and Frodo isn't feeling like hero material. My favorite part of this chapter is when Sam says: Day by day, you've been sitting out here, brooding on all manner of hurtful things, no doubt. We're all worried about you, all of us. You ain't doing none of us, or yourself, any good, stuck out here with your face looking all pinched and drawn. I simply won't budge. From now on, where you go, I go. Wherever you are, there I am. You're not gettin' rid of me, and that's the end of the matter. Sir." I love the way Sam tacks on the sir at the end of his, this is how it's going to be, rant. How wonderful that Sam's demonstration of concern and loyalty frees Frodo to unload some of his misery. | |
| buffyaddict13 | Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 9/18/2011 |
| i have to tell you i am amazed and in awe of your talent, especially since this was your first lotr fic. i read the books long ago and have seen the movies many times, but lately i seem to have fallen head first into lotr fandom. and frodo and aragorn are my favorites of the fellowship. any fics that explore frodo's feelings post quest AND feature frodo and aragorn talking are my favorite things. this fic was so beautiful, and you captured each character so perfectly. thank you so much for sharing your talent. i look forward to reading the rest of your fics. <3 Author Reply: Thank you very much for your review and your kind words. I'm so glad that you liked the story and that the characters rang true for you. | |
| Kats | Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 9/15/2011 |
| Thank you for writing this amazingly beautiful story! The story made me feel sad in places but was also very heartwarming. I really felt like the characters acted believably and true to themselves. I was very curious about how the trial would end, and I like the final speech Aragon gives on pride. This story reminds me of the Leonard Cohen song "Sisters of Mercy." Have you ever heard it? You can read the lyrics here: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/74401/ Anyways, thanks again for all your time and effort. This story really touched my heart! Author Reply: Dear Kats Thank you for your review. I'm touched that a story I wrote eight years ago still finds a reader who is moved by it. I may have heard the song "Sisters of Mercy" as I like Leonard Cohen, but I won't know until I listen to it. Thanks for including the link. | |
| Queen Galadriel | Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 5/15/2006 |
| Oh, GH, how I love this!! I've just read it all in one sitting-I hadn't intended to, I'd meant to savour it, but I couldn't stop! This is certainly a new approach, but a very interesting one, and you really have some great insites brought out in the course of the trial. "...soft care and blind forgiveness..." That's what we all want to give our beloved Frodo, and I'm no different than any other Frodo-lover. But I have to own the truth in this. Those very things would have been most oppressive to him in such a state. I love your Sam! So perfectly in character, and that was the way to deal with it! I tend to see through his eyes when I read the books or fanfic (have from the start, which is why I love to write him), so I feel it keenly when he is misrepresented, and I want you to know yours is one of the most faithful portrayals I've yet seen. :) Also your style of writing is quite reminiscent of Tolkien's own, I thought, particularly in the last chapter and the epilogue. Frodo's begging Aragorn to judge him and just his state then was enough to reduce me to tears. Poor Aragorn, that had to be hard! I couldn't have done it. It's hard for me, even now, to acknowledge that Frodo was guilty of pride, though I've known it for a while. He just seems so humble, and I love him so much that it's hard to find fault. But Aragorn was right, as Frodo's arguments prove. *sigh* I'm glad Frodo told Merry, and that he told the captain and thus helped to heal him. It was wonderful, also, to see Frodo and Eowyn finding a little healing in their friendship, and in helping in the care of the ill and wounded (though I think the latter was more so for Frodo than Eowyn). And I just love Fellen! He's so sweet, and the perfect young friend for Frodo, with his polite consideration, native sympathy and good will, and eager but shy earnestness. The other children were cute too-typical boys. :) "What's an Ent? Can we fight it?" LOL! Mercy! I'd think they'd have had enough! But to me, more than anything else, it's the precious little moments that make the story. Frodo and Fellen on the wall together, neither speaking; the crucial moment when Aragorn calms Frodo after agreeing to judge him; Merry and Pippin looking in as Sam tends Frodo's hand; Frodo tending the delirious captain; Merry watching Frodo sleep and waking him from his dream, and then the cousins talking; and that last moment with Frodo and Fellen companionably on the wall. This is one I'll want to read again, and it's my favourite of your fics that I've read so far. Thank you so much for this wonderful story! God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: Dear Queen Galadriel I am just delighted that you love this story so much. I must thank you for such a thoughtful review that explores what the story meant for you. You picked up on several of the same moments that were also particularly meaningful for me as I wrote the story. Saying that this is a story worth re-reading is a great compliment. Thank you! | |
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 7/7/2005 |
| I was browsing and came across your story - again. I remember reading it and loving it but I was a shy reader and am ashamed to admit I didn't review. Anyway I'm back again and wanted you to know I enjoyed it all. Author Reply: Dear Harrowcat -- I am very glad that you let me know that you enjoyed it. I have done my share of reviews long after reading, so I recognize myself in you! Thank you again. | |
| Celandine Goodbody | Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 6/29/2004 |
| Thank you for a beautiful story. I enjoyed it very much. In trying to write about post-quest Frodo myself, I have struggled too about whether Frodo wanted to be punished or whether it might have helped to show him, just as you pointed out, that he was guilty of pride. I came to the same conclusion that perhaps he was guilty of pride. If he was crushed by the fact that he wasn't perfect or that he failed to win over the Ring in the way he expected to, than that is a logical conclusion (although I don't at all think that he failed in the quest). He did win over the Ring in the end, but not by his own strength of will (although that played a big part until the end) but rather by his benevolence and pity toward Gollum. Anyway, after much struggling and thinking about Frodo's post-quest dilemma and agony, I have come to the conclusion that the damage done to him (physically, mentally, and spiritually)by his close proximity to the supernatural aura of the Ring for SO long made it impossible for him to lead a normal life again in a mortal world. He was too damaged by the rarified immortal world of the Ring and Sauron. So I don't think Frodo could have been saved by any psychological counseling about guilt or pride or even by the love of his friends. I think it was inevitable he had to leave. Sniff. Sorry for the long discourse but I imagine you have thought long and hard on this issue too. Thanks again for a great read. I really loved it. Author Reply: Thank *you* for your thoughtful review. You're quite right -- I thought very long and hard about this issue, and writing the story was a deep exploration of it, as much as it was about telling a story. I agree with you that Frodo was too damaged by the Ring to be healed while still in Middle-earth. I carefully brought him back to a point where he could continue to function at the end of the story (in the Epilogue), so that the story could blend back in with the rest of The Return of the King. However, being able to function is not the same as living a satisfying, fulfilled life. There are some hints in the Epilogue that he is not fully healed, and so support (as you say) the inevitable outcome of his feeling compelled to leave. Thanks again! | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 10/3/2003 |
| The scene with Arwen was very moving. Her choice is so difficult, I just can't imagine it, but the gift to Frodo is such a puzzling thing. How could she do that? And is the jewel the means that allows it? It's one of those Tolkien puzzles, I guess. Author Reply: *chuckle* This response is rather late (one year late!) so I apologize for my (extreme) tardiness. I too am puzzled at how Arwen was able to do that. Other elves have elected to stay in Middle-earth but we haven't heard of their place on the ships being given away to mortals. I can only imagine that there must have been some kind of consultation with Elrond, Mithrandir or someone else. Or perhaps it was her right, and that simply the meaning of what Frodo had done and who he had become made him able to accept such a gift in his own right (whereas other mortals may not have deserved to accept the gift and thus not allowed on the ships anyways...) As you say, it is one of those Tolkien puzzles. He was very fond of not explaining everything -- much like in all the mythologies of old... | |
| Elentari | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 9/20/2003 |
| awww~! what a sweet chapter...i really loved the interaction between Fellen and Frodo! It was perfect! It was perfectly paced and perfectly written... nobody could've done better =) Very very good =) you had me going "aww" many times :-) Author Reply: Thank you so much. You know, Fellen was never meant to be such an important character when I first wrote him in. But then his character grew along with the story, and now I can't imagine the story without him... | |
| Elentari | Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 9/20/2003 |
| Wow... at the encouragement of Nivina1421, i decided to read your fanfic and i must say that i'm enjoying every minute of it so far... Chapter 7 is one of my favorites so far...i love how you have Frodo describe why every member of the Fellowship could not have taken the Ring and why he was the ideal choice... The reasons you provided were so fitting! The reason why Merry couldn't/shouldn't have taken the Ring was a very strong point that you made... =) I also love your depiction of Sam... so loyal, so concerned, always at Frodo's side... I also loved your scene where Merry and Pippin tried to ask Sam what had happened in Mt. Doom... your scenes of Frodo and Eowyn are commendable as well =) Great job so far! And i'll be reviewing the last chapter perhaps.. i can't wait! You're a great writer! Good job! =) Author Reply: Thank you! I'm glad that the reasons made sense to you. And as for Merry, the "representative scene" for him, I think, is the "Conspiracy Unmasked" while the hobbits are at Crickhollow. That's the scene that convinces me that Merry wouldn't be a good choice -- because of his virtues. Not because of any vices... | |
| Kit5 | Reviewed Chapter: 13 on 9/18/2003 |
| What a wonderful story this has been! I will miss it, and think it would have been a fascinating addendum to the "real" story. Author Reply: Thank you! That is a nice thought - to have this story tucked away in the Appendices somewhere. After all, Aragorn and Arwen got their little extra bit, so why not Frodo? | |