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Land of Light and Shadows  by Thundera Tiger 1 Review(s)
IlanaReviewed Chapter: 20 on 5/19/2004
I absolutely adore your story so far! It is well done and interesting. I have a question. Wouldn't Legolas' position as "underling" suggest a ranking in which Gondor could be assumed more powerful than Lasgalen? What would Thranduil think of *that*? I guess this just shows my ignorence in the face of politics encompassing monarchies.

Author Reply: First of all, thank you for your review. I absolutely love it when people chime in and review mid-piece, because it shows they're actually thinking about what they're reading, and that makes me very happy. So thank you for that.

As for your question, here is how I see the political structure working: Technically, Aragorn is king of the reunified kingdom of Arnor and Gondor, which includes Eriador, Erebor, Dale, Gondor, Rohan, Ithilien, Belfalas, Lebennin, etc. Within that area, certain sections have been set aside as independent states that owe some form of allegience to Gondor. Examples of this would be Erebor, Dale, Rohan, and the Shire. Other areas have set aside as vassal states, which means they have some autonomy but are not nearly as independent as the independent states. Their leaders answer directly to Aragorn, and if the king wished to, he could reassume control over the vassal. An example of this would be Belfalas and Imrahil. Dol Amroth is the seat of power for Belfalas, and Imrahil rules it, but he does so in Aragorn's name and he is answerable for any actions he takes, unlike Eomer, who can operate with more or less complete autonomy. I invision Ithilien as being similar to Belfalas. The human population is ruled by Faramir, who answers directly to Aragorn. Legolas rules the elves, and because of the differences in race and custom, he has a bit more autonomy than Faramir, but in the end, his colony is also a vassal state of Gondor. He is living on borrowed land, after all, and it being so close to Gondor's seat of power, I doubt that Aragorn would have consented to make Ithilien completely independent. So Legolas is technically beneath Aragorn in power. The only tie that Legolas has to Lasgalen is the fact that his father rules there. Legolas could probably return and take up his duties as a prince, but when he left to go to Ithilien, he did not leave to make a colony of Lasgalen but rather a colony of his own, and he did so with Aragorn's permission. Legolas's group of elves are a realm of their own as far as other elves are concerned, just like Lothlorien and Rivendell. So they're not answerable to Lasgalen but they are answerable to the power upon whose land they live, and that would be Gondor.

Hope I didn't muddle that too much for you. Anyway, that's how I see the politics.

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