News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
| About Us News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
|
| Shadows by Bodkin | 24 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Hawaiichick | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 4/1/2017 |
| What a beautiful story. I don't think I've read a better story showing a mother's infinite love for her child. | |
| Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/25/2013 | |
| ugh...cried like a baby! :-) | |
| iiiionly | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 5/3/2010 |
| Ohhhhhhhhhh how lovely this was to read. It will drift, like the ash Legolas is surrounded by, in and out of my mind for days to come. Six centuries of sorrow ... my heart bled for him. My mind's eye can see, vividly, the picture you've painted of Legolas wandering the burnt woods, drenched in moonlight, the breeze playing with his hair as he frees his mother's spirit. I love the tender undercurrents of renewal for both Legolas and his mother as well. A hauntingly beautiful story. | |
| mistry89 | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/8/2007 |
| Lovely, moving story. I particularly liked the way it bound the Now and the Past of Legolas together. JURRT's habit of introducing us to the extraordinary members of the races can mean that it is easy to take the characters as representative of their various races, so a reminder that Legolas is not a "typical" elf (or wood elf) is both a reminder and a special treat. Stories with a pre-LOTR Legolas are a particular favourite of mine. Thank you! Author Reply: Thank you, mistry. I know I wrote something, somewhere, about the death of Legolas's mother - but I can't remember where! Probably no-one is typical when you really start to look at them closely. I've quite a sneaking desire to learn more about Gimli, who must be a very extraordinary dwarf - but I don't feel I understand their culture well enough to play in it. I'm glad you enjoyed the story. | |
| perelleth | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/5/2007 |
| I loved the language her, and the images. It wsa a fitting tie up of loose threads for Legolas, and the comforoting thought that, having let his motehr go, with the certainty tha the will find her in valnio, he also gains the certainty that THrnaduil will as well be there one day. A fitting closure, even if burnt to ashes. Sadly, not all burnt forests regenerate. Author Reply: Not all burnt forests have the help of elves. (That's my get-out there!) Do they do better if still surrounded by forest? This is not complete deforestation, but a wound within a greater forest. ... ... And I am very glad that Legolas will meet his mother in Valinor - and that Thranduil will now join them. In time. Thank you, perelleth. | |
| ziggy | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/29/2007 |
| This is lovely and poignant, Bodkin. I think the mother-child bond is strong enough to survive death - and for elves who seem to have that extra bond ot the earth, even more so. Your description of the glade, the ash, the mist - all reinforces that idea of spirits drifting. Sad that Thranduil did not feel her though. Author Reply: The mother-child bond can be amazingly powerful - and, if ever there was a reason to refuse Namo's call, it would be to save your child. Legolas's mother was very close to the forest, too - and it would welcome her. I suspect that Legolas - whose emotional state is a bit delicate, what with the sea-longing and the state of Lasgalen - isn't entirely aware of just what he has achieved in freeing his mother's ties to Arda, but Thranduil would have known at once. He would have heard it in the song, felt it in the breeze, been aware of her absence in his heart. And, I daresay, that was exactly why he was able to tell his son that he would sail, one day when the time was right. I don't think he would ever have been able to leave had he known that his wife's fea was still bound to the forest. Thank you, ziggy. I'm glad you liked it. | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/27/2007 |
| I'm not a legolas fan, but I'm glad I read this moving story. You really made me feel Legolas' pain and loss and the deep bond between mother and son. May they meet in Valinor! Author Reply: Thank you, Linda. They do indeed meet in (my version of) Valinor. If there is one thing that would make a mother refuse Namo's call, it would be the need to protect her child! Only Legolas was young enough that he could only deal with his loss by forgetting her presence in his life. I'm not sure he realised exactly what he had achieved in releasing her - but his father most certainly knew. And approved, I think. I like Legolas ... when he's not overly romanticised and superficial. | |
| lilandriel | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/26/2007 |
| oh, Bodkin. this had me reaching for the tissues! this was so heartbreakingly sad to think that she ~Was~ there, for him, all that time... that's so sad. *sniffles* i wonder if she will remember, all those years she stayed with him? really, ~really~ excellent story. incredibly emotive, and exceptionally well written. thank you xx Author Reply: Thank you lilandriel. I hope reaching for tissues is a sign of enjoyment! Legolas's mother was fighting so desperately to save him that a mere call from Namo was not going to get in her way - and then, by the time Thranduil arrived, the moment had passed. I'm sure Legolas, when young, spent far more time than was good for him in this part of the wood - but he is mature enough now to release her. Will she remember it? I don't think so - except as a dream, maybe. I'm glad you liked it. | |
| Naledi | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/26/2007 |
| What a beautiful tale! At first I thought it was a fairly straightforward story, relating Legolas' return to the devastated woods of his home - and nothing wrong with that - but the way you gradually revealed the reason why the place was special and then the fact that his mother's spirit was still bound there was wonderful. The moment where Legolas frees his mother's spirit was truly moving. Author Reply: Thank you, Naledi. I think the trauma of dying whilst trying to save your child might make it more likely that you would ignore Namo's call - and then, perhaps, not be able to leave. But between the fire and Legolas's new understanding, he was able to release her ties - and thus ensure that they would, eventually, meet again in the Blessed Realm. I'm glad you liked the way the story unravelled - thanks again, Naledi. | |
| The Karenator | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/26/2007 |
| Oh, wow, Bodkin, this is just gorgeous. The language is like gliding on the wind through a burned forest, seeing the devastation, the broken hearts of a mother and child, and their guilt and longing drifting in puffs of ash. It's just beautiful. And sad. The idea that a person's spirit remains tied to the place where a trauma occurred is one I've read in speculations about why some spirits may be earthbound. It fits nicely with Legolas's mother staying in the place where she died and she knew he would return. Perhaps this is especially true when so much emotion is spent in protection of a child. I'm more than pleasantly surprised to see this; I'm thrilled. I always love your work, your use of language, and how you capture characters and settings so beautifully. But for this one to be for me is just wonderful. Thank you so much. Karen Author Reply: Thank you, Karen. And happy - and now even more belated - birthday. If ever there was a situation where a mother would refuse to accept the call, it would be when her child was at imminent risk of a very unpleasant death. And Legolas's mother was strong enough and powerful enough to cling to him until his father came to the rescue. Thereafter - well, she might well be held in place. Until fire and the right ... it's more than a form of words - desire? emotion? understanding? ... released her. I'm not sure that Legolas knew exactly what he had done, but Thranduil, I think, knew immediately. Heard it in the song, felt it in the wind - and - and this is a thought that has only just occurred to me - in facilitating his mother's release, he probably guaranteed that Thranduil would, in time, sail to join his son and wife in the Blessed Realm. I'm very happy that you liked the story, Karen. | |