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Neath Anor, Ithil, and Gil  by Larner 9 Review(s)
VilwarinReviewed Chapter: 34 on 1/6/2009
Oh, this is an interesting piece, the first that I've ever read about Elrond and Isildur. Well done.

Author Reply: I'm so glad you feel that way, Vilwarin. It was interesting trying to imagine how Elrond would perceive Elendil's son!

Thank you so!

Calenlass GreenleafReviewed Chapter: 34 on 10/21/2008
Wonderfully written. You've done Isildur justice.

~Cal

Author Reply: I am honored you think so, Calenlass. In fact, I think it was reading one of your stories that helped inspire this one, as well as a birthday request for a tale about Isildur. Thanks for the feedback.

GrumpyReviewed Chapter: 34 on 10/11/2008
Nice glimpse of Elrond's thoughts on the children of Elendil. I always thought that Isildur got a bad rap,no one remembers the good things he did.

Author Reply: I'm so glad you like this, Grumpy. I, too, feel Isildur tends to get judged primarily on the failure to destroy the Ring and the ill-advised choice of the route up the Anduin rather than on most of his more positive accomplishments.

And I find I have at least two other Isildur stories working at me, although I'll be trying to finish other stories before giving them too free a rein. Otherwise I'll likely find myself with another eight-plus months before Stirring Rings gets added to again! Heh!

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 34 on 9/25/2008
Although then I nearly fled this life due to the wound, yet the blood does not move easily through the scarring, and so it has helped keep the contagion from spreading further.

Again good is brought from evil. But this won't be the worst wound he will receive.

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)


Author Reply: Indeed--evil all too often works to its own despite! Heh!

Linda HoylandReviewed Chapter: 34 on 9/25/2008
I've always had a soft spot for Isildur and admired his saving of the fruit,so I enjoyed this glimpse of the consequences of the deed.

Author Reply: Am so glad you were happy to see this, Linda. Thank you!

RadbooksReviewed Chapter: 34 on 9/24/2008
Oh, I enjoyed this very much! To see the healer Elrond and to read about some of the early kings of men was a treat. Thanks, Larner!!

Author Reply: Am so glad you did, Radbooks! Thank YOU! Am so glad this story was so welcome!

Raksha The DemonReviewed Chapter: 34 on 9/24/2008
There aren't enough stories of Elendil and Isildur; so it's wonderful to see this vignette. Good insights into Isildur's storied life; and a nice touch in Elrond seeing Elendur's particular 'light', since it was mentioned in (I think) Unfinished Tales that Aragorn resembled him.

Author Reply: Yes, I was thinking of Unfinished Tales when I wrote this--I loved the idea that Elendur reminded folk of Elros, and that in ways Aragorn brought to mind Elendur, Elros, and Earendil as well. What a king Elendur might have been had he survived his father!

SoledadReviewed Chapter: 34 on 9/24/2008
Oh! It seems I can review again! Hurrah!
I loved your portrayal of Isildur. That poor man has been almost as much abused as Denethor and Thranduil, and for no true reason. I read your take on him with great delight.

Author Reply: Apparently earlier the site was experiencing a form of indigestion or something--Heh!

Isildur appears to have been an exceptional man--the very feat of stealing away a fruit of the White Tree of Numenor is evidence of that. I don't think he was particularly weak; but I do believe that a similar thing happened to him as did Frodo--that as close to the Sammath Naur as he was, if he did not go into it as portrayed in PJ's movies, the Ring was able to take sufficient thought for Itself to convince him to keep It, although he came to regret that decision by the time he wrote what he did and left it in the archives of Minas Anor.

Anyway, am glad you liked how I portrayed him. Thanks so much!

KittyReviewed Chapter: 34 on 9/24/2008
You’re drawing a nice picture of Isildur here, and an interesting one, too. So this old wound from back in Númenor stopped the spreading infection? That’s intriguing, really! Now I am pondering the question if and how this old injury might have influenced his reaction to the Ring.
Anyway, I am once again amazed how many thought-provoking details you are picking up in your stories, enriching the world of ME even more!


Author Reply: Thank you, Kitty. If Sauron himself intended to come forth to claim those who had invaded the Courts of the King to rescue a sapling of the White Tree, then I think that, much like Frodo's Morgul wound, whatever horrible injury it was that Isildur suffered would probably have been tainted by Sauron's ill will and malice. That this tainting by Sauron might have influenced his decision not to see the Ring destroyed before they left Mordor is therefore a possibility as you suggest.

We do know from the Sil that Isildur almost died of his injury and lay long in his grandfather's house before he finally was healed. Considering the hardy nature of the descendants of the peredhil, it would seem that this wound may have been poisoned or augmented in some way, which is why I postulate that Sauron himself came to see who it was who'd been caught entering the precincts he'd forbidden Men to enter.

Scar tissue is an intriguing phenomenon, and that it would help to stop the further spread of blood poisoning and help save Isildur's life this time is ironic, I thought.

Thanks again for your feedback.

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