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| Stirring Rings by Larner | 12 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Tari | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 7/24/2012 |
| I love your interpretation of the White Council. The details totally captured my interest. Well done. Author Reply: I'm so glad that it did, Tari. Too bad that Saruman ended up betraying them all as he did in the end! | |
| Kara's Aunty | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/27/2008 |
| Hello Larner, Well, I've finally got some time to sink my teeth into this marvellous story - and what a treat it is. This is a fascinating journey through the Ages of Wizards, chock-a-block with histories, details, facts and the speculations of the Wise of Middle Earth and beyond. I loved your detailing of the creation of the remaining four Wizards, especially Radagast (whom I have a soft spot for - you've got to love an underdog) and the fabulousness that is Gandalf. I was very excited at your description of a particularly fertile area of lands he passed when journeying north, because I knew that was the Shire-in-waiting. Saruman is, of course, ever the smug, self-satisfied, narcissitic twat. I'm a bit surprised that the Elves, Wizards and other rulers of lands will treat with him, given their obvious unease over his true motivations. But, I suppose, he is the White Wizard (for now), sent by the Valar to aid the fight against Sauron, so they will want to give him the benefit of the doubt - at least until he reveals his true colours. You've characterised him very well, because I can barely read of him without cursing him to the Crack of Doom and back again! Stellar work!! Maureen ;) Author Reply: So glad you are enjoying this, Maureen. It's taking way to long to update this, but it's a labor of loe, believe me. I, too, have a soft spotfor Radagast; and I hint at the loss of at least one of the Blue Wizards further in the story. And Saruman is the wizard we LOVE to hate, after all! Sorry to be so late responding--this last week has been a killer! | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/26/2006 |
| It is fascination to think just how long Gandalf and Elrond have known each other, quite mind boggling in fact ! Author Reply: Elf and Wizard have known one another by the time of LOTR almost 2000 years. Is a bit mind-boggling, indeed! | |
| Kitty | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/2/2006 |
| Do you know how funny it is to have *Elrond* thinking about the laundry? *grin* Hmmm ... I see Saruman *always* underestimated hobbits. But of course, they are no warriors, not mighty, have no power, so he is not interested in them at all. Well, in the end he may have rued it. All these reports during the Council gave a very good picture about the state of affairs in Arnor. And it showed rather clearly the problems between the races, didn’t it? This time Saruman held back and didn’t attract too much attention to his questionable purposes. Too bad – maybe some evil could have prevented if he had been found out earlier. But back then he was probably simply arrogant ... Save when Aelfric asked if Saruman did try to do anything against the evil. He seems to know more of that incident in the earlier chapter. Ah yes, his questions are *so* warranted! Only a pity Saruman managed to distract from the issue; I had enjoyed Aelfric’s questions so much! Oh, and I loved the protectiveness of the twins after the remark about Saruman being interested in her! Author Reply: Well, the question of how the clothing of the Istari seemed to stay in relatively proper repair had occurred to me; wouldn't Elrond be the teeniest bit curious if Gandalf never seemed to carry more than the outfit he wore and never surrendered it to the laundresses of Imladris? (Grinning) The ONLY ones who paid attention to Hobbits were Gandalf, some from Elrond, and the northern Dunedain. EVERYBODY else appears to have underestimated them or overlooked them totally, if they realized they actually existed. Saruman wasn't the only one who appears to have ignored them. Trying to communicate regarding long-term concerns must have been very difficult between Elves and the mortal races. Just the differing views of time must have seemed insurmountable at times--an Elf may feel he's dealing with a situation quickly by setting in motion an action that takes a hundred years to complete, while a Man sees the same action as being so slow the situation will endanger his children and grandchildren, and a Dwarf doesn't see it as affecting his folk as they don't share the same environment at all. And so in the end they all end up feeling with one another because they aren't threatened to the same degree or able to act in the same timeframe. Only at the end did all races end up with representatives at the Council of Elrond, and then because the situation had finally reached THE crisis point, and they couldn't afford to look any more at long-term policies--the action had to be begun in the following few months or it would be too late for everyone. And at this one they did have Hobbits involved as well as Men. Saruman did managed to deflect Aelric's questions, and I'm so glad you caught that. The wizard had reported on his trip eastward and found it raised uncomfortable questions and found a good way to derail the conversation. And of course the twins would want their sister to not be bargained away by the likes of this Istar! | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/1/2006 |
| Men are right - there is really very little point in their attendance at councils that only meet every generation or two. It seems the White Council started as it went on. Author Reply: Mortals and immortals have such different experiences with time. Just think of Treebeard concerned with the hastiness of Hobbits; Elves would be more delicate and private in their evaluations of Men's apparent impatience; but when an Elf realizes he can meet a particular goal within a hundred years while for a Man that goal won't be reached until the negative situation is endangering his grandchildren, I can certainly see why Men and Dwarves would feel they were unable to fully communicate the feelings of urgency they had. And so in the end it's the Elves and Istari who form the White Council, perhaps with some input from the line of Isildur.... | |
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 9/29/2006 |
| A fascinating and very educational chapter Larner that deserves a lengthy review but I am sorry I am just too tired. (Took me three hours to get to my parents this a.m. instead of the one and a half it took to come back! Traffic, I hate traffic - get me Glorfindel's horse someone!) I love the clothes-cleaning routine though and, more seriously, the comparison between the rings and the wizards staves as places to store power. So did that mean that Gandalf found his ring easier to wield at first than Elrond or Galadriel? And was it Tolkien or you or someone else that wrote about Saruman trying to make his own ring? (Sorry I really am brain-dead tonight!) Did his lengthy experience with his staff make chanelling power into such a ring easier? Author Reply: When I was trying to figure out why Wizards would carry their staves the only reason that made sense to me was to accept some of the Maia nature each had; that this made the staff analagous to Sauron's Ring then only made sense. In wielding the power of his staff a Wizard is dealing with a power that has been native to him and is therefore very familiar; but one of the Rings of Power would be external holding power from some unnamed source and allowing the wielder to draw on it. Sauron could most easily use his own Ring because he put a good deal of himself into it; of the Rings of Power his would be the one most similar in kind and purpose to a Wizard's staff; but he also apparently charged it with external power as well from whatever source Celebrimbor used and that he might have used in making his own lesser Rings as I've postulated. Therefore with the Ring Sauron would be far more powerful than a Wizard, who has only his native power as the Maia he was created to draw on. And it was Tolkien who indicated Saruman was experimenting with his own rings of power, I think indicated in FOTR when Gandalf looks back on his visit to Isengard when he ended up being imprisoned on top of the tower. Am rereading LOTR at the moment, but am just in the House of Tom Bombadil at the moment. | |
| SurgicalSteel | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 9/29/2006 |
| Quite interesting version of the White Council's first meeting - unfortunately, they don't seem to have ever done much good that we know about. Even driving the Necromancer from Dol Guldur didn't accomplish much in the long run. Still, quite a good read! Author Reply: No, and this is how rule by committees usually go. So glad you feel this is a good read, Surgical Steel. Thank you. | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 9/29/2006 |
| The intricacy and imagination going into this story just awes me. Elrond closed his eyes in the pain of loss, then were finally raised to meet those of the grieving son. "And now, child, you are King of Arnor." How tragic that Elrond must have felt this grief -- and delivered this message -- so many times. Author Reply: Yes, so often he saw his brother's children die and their heirs step up to assume their place. It must have been pretty devastating for him, at least at times. | |
| Lúmë | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 9/29/2006 |
| What I like most of this chapter is your explanation of why Sauron looked like a great fiery Eye. I've always wondered, and this makes perfect sense :-) But now, thinking of Balrogs, I'm wondering which of the Maiar was the one Gandalf faced in Moria? And what was his story? Or am I wrong in assuming that Balrogs are all Maiar? Author Reply: The idea came from my brother and the lecture he gave me as we sat watching the DVD of ROTK one night. I don't know the names or stories of most of the Maiar who followed Morgoth, only that most appeared to freeze in whatever fell shapes they took once they'd actively rebelled against the rest of the Valar. But to my knowledge all the Balrogs began as rebellious Maiar, and those surviving the War of Wrath were imprisoned beneath mountains in Middle Earth. | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 9/28/2006 |
| Fascinating chapter! Elrond's speculation on magic is quite interesting. That's a good explanation for why Gandalf's road-and-battle-stained raiment gets clean after he takes a bath. And the bit about the Northern Dunedain spurning spells but still using runes of protection reminds me of the "virtue" laid upon the staffs that Faramir gave to Frodo and Sam, and, if I remember correctly, the runes of protection in the Great Gate of Minas Tirith. Saruman is so condescending about the hobbits, and most everyone else, that I have a strong desire to smack him in the face with a cold pumpkin pie. (see if his purty white robes are pie-proof too!) What an arrogant supercilious jerk. He's just too fond of his own intellect. Oh, I loved his comparison of Sauron's power with hydraulic pressures - very apt for pre-Industrial Saruman (the Man of Skill)... Author Reply: Gandalf said before the gates of Moria he once knew every opening spell used by Men, Elves, and Dwarves--so obviously at one time Men used magic; and the Black Numenorians were described as having sorcerors among them and wielders of black magic. Yet we see almost none used by either Aragorn's people or those of Gondor; somehow the use of magic fell off somewhat in preference for the use of technology. The question of why none of these folk never seemed to need to worry about the state of their clothing is an interesting one, so I decided to explore a bit of whimsy regarding Istari laundry methods, and this came out. I didn't remember the runes of protection on the Great Gate, so thank you; but I do remember the runes of ruin and words of destruction uttered by the Witch King laid on Grond that finally brought the gates down. And Saruman continues to be pretty insufferable, doesn't he? And so glad you appreciated the comparison he used to explain how the Rings would enhance power as they do. /Larner prepares a chocolate cream to aim alongside your pumpkin. | |