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| Isildur's Heir by Bodkin | 27 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| PSW | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/18/2015 |
| Very good. I really liked this, and I'm sure much did change when Aragorn was finally crowned. I've always wondered how difficult Arwen found it to adjust... Thanks for writing! | |
| Ainu Laire | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/20/2007 |
| I do not know why I did not review this sooner, but I have read it once or twice before, and I love how you depict Aragorn's, well, loathing for these silly protocols that Gondor has upheld. I imagine that he himself soon made sure that the arrogant Lords of Gondor were put in their place and that people more worthy of seeking a king's audience were brought forward. I imagine he had some chair for Arwen to sit in installed, as well ;) Though, you know, I can imagine him disliking the height of the throne quite a bit... and bringing a sledgehammer to put it down to size ;) Well, perhaps not, but the thought is amusing. Well done! Author Reply: Thank you, Ainu Laire! I do think Aragorn would have found it very difficult to adjust to the restraints of being king - and the silly customs would confine him a great deal as king than they ever did in his Thorongil days. Actually, I think Faramir would find them pretty chafing - and he is used to them! Arwen would do her best to make the transition from Ranger and warrior to King as painless as possible - but as an Elf Queen, she would have to be cautious - or there could have been a lot of resentment. And that high throne! It makes a great symbol when you're the Steward and sitting at the bottom of the flight of steps - but when you're obliged to sit above everybody's head, it must be like being in a goldfish bowl. And, come to that, being a target! Maybe - in a few years - Aragorn will be in a position to bring the throne down to a more reasonable level. About the same time he presents his son to the assembled populace, perhaps! | |
| elliska | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/10/2006 |
| Hehehe! Well done! I am certain that you hit every nail right on the head with this story. I bet Aragorn's first year in Gondor was enough to drive both him and the court mad. I like how you showed the court to be surprised how well he knew Gondor and I liked Arwen's comment about Mithrandir's suggestion that Aragorn should go an errantries. Those were great to include because I like seeing that Aragorn isn't the only one uncomfortable. ;-) Great story--but I'd love to know what Aragorn agreed to, too. ;-) Author Reply: For all he grew up in Imladris with an education fit for a king, it didn't include the actual process of ruling. Aragorn might just have found it impossible to deal with the sheer tedium of being top of the pyramid! And - if it hadn't been for Arwen, he might well have decided that being a Ranger was much better suited to his talents. I'm sure she would have pushed Aragorn and Faramir out into the field from time to time - just for their sanity. Eowyn, too, perhaps. Minas Tirith would have taken a long time to feel like home to all of them, but Arwen is probably best suited for this kind of game. I'm sure Arwen will let Aragorn know what he agreed to ... if he remembers to ask. Or I'm sure Faramir will have it in the minutes. Thanks, elliska. | |
| lwarren | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/9/2006 |
| I know Aragorn wishes he could take a sledgehammer to that lofty throne and replace it with something more practical. Still there are some things of Gondorrian history he thinks better of touching..lol! But the fresh west wind called Elessar (tempered and strengthened by his Arwen) will have its way, as wind will, in resculpting the political landscape of Gondor (and likely everything else in its path *vbg*!) I, for one, would love to see it unfold! As usual, Bodkin, your writing continues to amaze! linda Author Reply: He might be able to alter the throne in time - I reckon he might need Eldarion to arrive before he can even think of it - but it is an important symbol of his right to rule. But Aragorn will change some of Gondor's fundamental assumptions, I think. He's lived too close to the earth and the people to fall for the natural assumption of the rich and the powerful that they are the only ones who count. Thank you, Linda. I'm glad you liked it. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/6/2006 |
| Very nice indeed! Yes, I can see that the symbols of pride and arrogance would not sit well with one who knew only too well what the realities of those characteristics had brought. *sigh* Poor Aragorn, forced to put aside Strider and take on Elessar. But I am quite sure he finds his way through to put his plans into effect. And he has a very wise queen and a very wise Steward by his side. Still, it doesn't mean he has to *like* it. Author Reply: It's a fairy-tale. But fairy-tales, when you look more closely, aren't all that comfortable. I'm sure Aragorn is delighted to have won his bride - and proud to have restored his line to kingship. But now he has to try to live with the consequences. He will change Gondor, I reckon. But he - and Arwen and Faramir - are too wise to try to do it all at once. I'm afraid he's stuck with the throne - it's too important a symbol of his descent. But the audiences - he stands a better chance of altering those! | |
| RS | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/5/2006 |
| What a delight! But you can't just end it here! The last paragraph is a wonderful ending to this beautiful short piece but also makes an intriguing introduction to a brand new story! Oh my gosh... a bored Aragorn, his mind wandering up on his royal throne! Hilarious, "...A brief unease stirred in his belly as he wondered to what he had just agreed..", the look he gave the guards as he opened the doors himself, staring at the fluffy pastry made castle..! I truly enjoyed this. It would be interesting to see your take on Aragorn's and Arwen's transition as king and queen and transforming the stuffy Gondorion city into the vision that he has, "A west wind. Fresh with the fragrance of the sea". Author Reply: Thank you! Arwen won't have let him agree to anything too shocking! But Aragorn is used to action and taking personal responsibility for what happens. I really can't imagine him taking any pleasure in the ceremonial aspects of kingship. Or appreciating the boot-lickers and place-seekers. He is a man who is king - and he might well fear that the role will take over the person. Some of the formality would stay, I think. But the essentials would have to change. This isn't 2050 and Aragorn isn't Earnur. Times have most definitely moved on - and it is a new age. I don't know if any further inspiration will strike - but I'll keep it in mind. | |
| grumpy | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/5/2006 |
| Wonder what Aragorn agreed too, while he was gattering dust bunnies, up on his high throne. Yes Gonder needs a little wind to ruffle them up. Making tea cakes, in the shape of castles. I loved that. Also loved it that Aragorn dared the guards not to let him open the door. Author Reply: I'm sure Arwen wouldn't have nudged him into agreeing with anything too suspect! It's a long time since there's been a king - and I suspect that the books of etiquette and protocol are getting a lot of use. And that people are using hazy memories of children's stories, as well, to work out just how you should treat your king. Once the dust settles, everyone will come to know Elessar as a practical man who prefers bread and cheese to fancy cream-filled castles and he can start doing what he feels he needs to do. The danger could be coming to believe in your own myth - and expecting people to open your doors and brush the dust from your slippers. But Arwen won't let that happen! I think it would cause interesting difficulties with Eldarion, like as not. Aragorn spent a long time earning the position that will be his son's from birth. Whereas Eldarion will grow up knowing nothing but the high throne and the watching eyes. | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/4/2006 |
| Very enjoyable indeed and just how I would expect Aragorn to feel.He is fortunate to have Arwen and Faramir beside him.I am sure he will be a breath of fresh air ! I just love your Aragorn stories,they are some of the best around.I'm afraid,apart from Arwen, I'm not much for stories about ELves, but I just love this. Author Reply: Thank you! I think Arwen will need to sneak both Aragorn and Faramir out into the open soon - I don't know that either of them is particularly well-equipped for constant confinement. Although it will be tougher on Aragorn - a Ranger with everyone constantly watching his every move! It's enough to give him a breakdown! I'm sure a lot will change - but they will have to be careful not to frighten those who have been perfectly content with the way Gondor has been run over the last millennium and try to involve them all in the process. | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/4/2006 |
| Excellent seriocomic vignette of Aragorn's facing the difficulties of adjusting to the isolation of the Kingship. I think Gondor, Aragorn, and Faramir have to adjust to the Kingship; it's so old that it's new again, and all three entities - the realm, the King, and the Steward, the Kingship is a thing out of legend and thousand-year-old tradition and customs, some of which are buried, some of which are still echoing around the White Tower. But Aragorn Elessar Telcontar is a real, flesh-and-blood man who is not going to put up with too many layers of bureaucracy or frippery. I didn't have the impression that the Stewardship, at least in Denethor's time, was an institution that exalted too many trappings of pomp - I remember a line in ROTK about Beregond thinking that Denethor had taken on Pippin as a page in the manner of the Kings of old...Also, neither Denethor nor Faramir seem to wear particularly ostentatious clothing. But poor Aragorn; his new subjects seem to expect him to run about in purple and ermine robes with a retinue of three dozen servants in his own quarters. The bit with the pastry in the shape of the castle was quite funny. And good for Arwen, gently reminding Faramir (for whom it's not only a whole new world, but one where he would have expected his brother and father to hold the power that he now has) of his value to Elessar's rule... Author Reply: It must have been really tough for Aragorn. After 25 years or so, he had probably got used to it - or turned some of it round to suit him - but that first year after all the excitement had settled down. Well. I'm glad it'll never happen to me! I reckon there would have been some who were keen to restore the kingship just exactly as if the last thousand years hadn't brought any change at all. And others who would want to wring every personal advantage out of it that they could. But Aragorn is old enough and experienced enough to be wily - and he has a 3000 year old elf at his side. Still tough on a Ranger to be stuck on top of a throne in full view of everyone in Gondor - and them all gazing to see if he scratches his nose. I don't think Denethor would have gone much for pomp - but I do reckon he would have been one for formality. And the trouble now is no-one really knows how formal to be ... shame Arwen didn't spend any time visiting the Kings of Gondor - she could put them right from personal experience. Although I daresay that would make her seem even more alien. Faramir is an important part in the successful establishment of this new venture - if he had refused to recognise Aragorn, it would have been much harder for him to take his place on that high throne. But generosity and clear-sightedness are so much part of Faramir's nature that he willingly takes up a subsidiary place. (Probably easier on one who never expected to rule. Boromir might well have found it far tougher.) | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/4/2006 |
| Oh, poor Aragorn! Spending your adult life skulking around leading Rangers is a pretty good way to learn how to claim your throne, but not very good for learning what to do with it once you've got it. Apparently Elrond didn't trust Aragorn as much as he claimed, if he couldn't bother to teach him how to rule. The raised throne does seem somewhat impractical, and all the servants fussing and fluttering. . . almost makes me want to whip out my sword then and there. And you know I would. Stuffy old traditions deserve it. Thank you so much for this! It's a real treat to log on and find all this. Author Reply: Well - Elrond would have found it quite difficult to pass on much training in ruling, I suppose. Aragorn was supposed to be hidden when he was being educated in Rivendell and then went out into the wild. I don't suppose he came back for many refresher courses in how to rule Gondor. Thorongil could have picked up knowledge from Ecthelion - but this is a different situation, really. I can see assorted people trying to re-establish the monarchy exactly as it was when the last king left - and others trying to ensure that it was different, but to their advantage, while in the middle you have a king who is more used to hiding in a dark corner of the Prancing Pony. That raised throne - must have been a great symbol of the delegation of power to the Steward, but not one to live with as king! I reckon that's a symbol that might have to endure a while, though. The birth of Eldarion might see Aragorn able to change that. I hope you had a good birthday - and that you're all sorted for What Comes Next! | |