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Ten Thousand Years Will Not Suffice  by Agape4Gondor 5 Review(s)
PeriantariReviewed Chapter: 63 on 7/17/2023
I feel bad for denethor - we really don’t see his side even in Tolkiens version and I’m glad to read yours and see a side that makes me pity him and sympathize with him. If a person has no more hope and also saw in palantir that the Enemy has the ring what hope is left ? And Faramir couldve been dead too for all he knew . I really liked your version of Pyre of Denethor .

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 63 on 7/20/2010
Yes, Boromir would weep at that moment, seeing his father in such a madness of despair. And that he should at the last hope for rescue when he had gone too far....

Alas for the Steward of Gondor! At least there was hope that one would inherit his title and duties, now that Faramir was saved.

FantasiaReviewed Chapter: 63 on 6/28/2010
I really feel Denethoor's despair. He spent all his life in Gondor service, he gave his sons to Gondor and no one seemed to remember at the end. He kept Gondor againts the Enemy without help and all the Glory went to Aragorn...It seems unfair to me. Also, I do like Gandalf and understand that he was looking after Middle Earth as a whole, it is true that he was plotting Denethor "fall", all the time when he was helping Aragorn, I understand it had to be done, but we are all human and I can see Denethor POV, also, it is true that you can see Gandalf as a manipulator too. I'm glad that you show Denethor to us as a great leader that at the end was overcome by the Enemy and the despair. Despair for loosing his life's battle, his honor and his sons.

i don't know if I ever reviewed you story before, but I have been reading for a long time, here and in other sites. I liked it very much.

Author Reply: Dear Fantasia - I do believe this is the first review I have seen from you - but it is a great one! Well worth the wait.

Ah - I can only say that, after a suicide, people tend to look disparagingly at that person's life. That's why I wrote this. To stand up for Denethor and all those who have been claimed by suicide.

As for Gandalf - oh my! I have a real problem with him. Denethor was spot on when he said Gandalf used him as a shield all the while planning to put Aragorn on the throne. Yet - Denethor was only the Steward - I keep thinking (hoping) that if Gandalf and Thorongil had been forthright - it might not have come to this.

However, this is a huge leap of faith in the Steward of Gondor that not a few would take umbrage at.

In this chilling quote from RotK: The Pyre of Denethor, Book V, Ch. 7 - we see the madness of Denethor, but also the keen mind that saw the Wizard's plan - from Pippin to Thorongil - and that Gandalf let Denethor (just as he had Frodo) bear the brunt of sorrow and lose his sons (in his mind Faramir was already dead) and all that he had ever loved. Incredibly sad.

"Do I not know thee, Mithrandir? Thy hope is to rule in my stead, to stand behind every throne, north, south, or west. I have read thy mind and its policies. Do I not know that you commanded this halfling here to keep silence? That you brought him hither to be a spy within my very chamber? And yet in our speech together I have learned the names and purpose of all thy companions. So! With the left hand thou wouldst use me for a little while as a shield against Mordor, and with the right bring up this Ranger of the North to supplant me."

Bless you - for your kind words. AND 10,000 thanks for staying the course and reading this to its conclusion!



Author Reply: Please forgive the oversight - you did respond before! Bless you!

SarasratiReviewed Chapter: 63 on 6/27/2010
I am unfortunately not in possession of a copy of Return of the King at the moment to read the source. One line in particular struck me, though: "He heard the great door close behind the Wizard." Denethor dies alone? There's a kind of quiet horror there that I never pictured before.

I also thought the fate you gave to the servants was quite well done. I was not expecting it. But like the rest of this story, the details make the tale.

Thanks again for such a wonderful read. I look forward to the epilogue.

Author Reply: Hello faithful reader and commenter!

Yes - it seems Denethor died alone. Their are six servants who Tolkien says carried Faramir into the Houses. We don't know what happened to them - except that Gandalf speaks with them afterwards. We know two were killed by Beregond at the door, besides the porter. The account of the whereabouts of the servants is confusing. It seems there might have been two left within the chamber itself - those are the two I have Belegorn kill. While another two seem to still be at the door, they were fighting with Beregond.... As I said, slightly difficult

Bless you for all your support over these many years.

Raksha The DemonReviewed Chapter: 63 on 6/26/2010
Ave atque vale, Denethor. It's been a long road, both for him and for you, writing this intricate and intimate story of his life and now his horribly tragic death.

A vivid and powerful chapter, as it had to be.

Author Reply: Ave to all my readers!

Farewell indeed. A bittersweet time for this writer.

Bless you and thank you for your continued support. MOST appreciated!

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