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| Children of Eorl by MP brennan | 4 Review(s) |
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| Agape4Gondor | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/9/2009 |
| 'Dunedain parents had few children—a major contributor to the decline of the race—but for those blessed with offspring, each one was a treasure. Each child was a piece of history, the heir of some great lord or other, a person to be preserved and protected.' I found this extremely interesting - for as I was quickly reading, I mistook Dunedain for Gondorians.... Seems to me you are describing the people/children of Gondor - and I find that an intersting thing. Author Reply: Thanks for the review! Yes, I do see a certain symmetry between the northern Dunedain and the Gondorian nobles. It just seemed logical to me that since both are decended from Numenor, they would have similar attitudes concerning their heritage and the importance of preserving bloodlines. The difference, of course, is that the Gondorian children actually stand to inherit lands and titles, while the Dunedain children are "hidden in the North," and would most likely have few expectations prior to Aragorn's coronation and the reestablishment of Arnor. Thanks for commenting on a similarity that, while not directly mentioned in this piece, was certainly in my mind as I was writing it. If you're intrigued by my take on Gondorians and northern Dunedain with regards to children, I'd recommend my first piece, "Splintered Reflections," which is sort of a compare/contrast between Aragorn and Denethor. Again, thanks for the review! | |
| eiluj | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/3/2009 |
| An interesting topic. I wonder what observations Aragorn will make, some years or decades later, about the children of Minas Tirith (and elsewhere in Gondor), children he saw in the southern and eastern lands, and perhaps even Mirkwood. Some thoughts for you: About the cornhusk doll: Maize is a New World plant; the English word "corn" originally referred to European grains like wheat, oats, and barley. In the first edition of The Hobbit, Bilbo served the dwarves tomatoes, but Tolkien later changed that to "pickles." He *didn't* edit out the equally New World potatoes or tobacco -- it's difficult to imagine Sam without his taters, or the hobbits and Northerners without their pipes. But he *did* change those references to "taters" and "pipeweed," which he evidently felt were less objectionably non-European. [There's a lovely footnote about this in The Annotated Hobbit.] Tolkien never calls Imladris a "city." It's "the Last Homely House" or "the house" or "the valley." [I'm under the impression that the usage of "city" began with some film publicity.] The Encyclopedia of Arda is very careful to use only the words "house," "valley," and "realm." Tolkien's artwork shows a single large building -- *no* sign of other buildings. [We know stables and a smithy existed; I assume also various outbuildings related to agriculture, storage, and crafts -- even some smaller residences. Tolkien isn't at all specific about the size of the valley or the number of inhabitants, but it seems the population had been much larger in the Second Age and at the time of the Last Alliance. Even more in the late Third Age, Imladris must have been self-sufficient, as there was almost no one living nearby from whom to purchase foodstuffs. So surely the elves must have raised some sort of milk animals; grown grain, vegetables, and fruit; made wine; and raised something for cloth (flax, cotton, sheep, silkworms). To me Imladris "feels" more like a particularly large, self-sufficient estate, than a city or even village.] "Rohirrim" is plural, so I don't think one boy could be addressed as "little Rohirrim." And it's a Sindarin term -- I always wonder if the Rohirrim even used that term for themselves ("rohir" is the Sindarin singular for "rider," but I can't find anything to indicate that Tolkien ever used that as a singular for the people of Rohan). The only singular term I'm aware of is "Eorling" -- the plural is "Eorlings" (people of Eorl). "Eorlingas" is another plural (my guess is that "Eorlings" is Westron and "Eorlingas" is Rohirric, but that's only a guess). I believe "Rohirric" is the adjective. I don't doubt Aragorn might have become a Marshal, despite being a foreigner. However, if Théoden was 12, it would have been no more than 4 years after Aragorn arrived in Rohan, and that seems a bit soon to be chosen as one of Rohan's three Marshals. Still, I doubt anyone else will look that up.... A couple of typos: "Dúnedain" and "Tolkien." Write on! Author Reply: Thanks for the concrit! As you may have guessed, I'm fairly new to actually writing in this fandom. I think I was vaguely aware of most of what you pointed out, but they just didn't occur to me at the time (I think I need a canon beta!) For Imaldris . . . maybe 'enclave' would work? I probably won't change this particular story, since it's cross posted on two other sites, but it's good advice for future works. I wish I had thought of 'Eorling,' though, since it ties in better thematically as well. 'Cornhusk' was sloppy on my part. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. As for 'Marshal Thorongil,' I'd thought of that, but decided to keep it and elaborate on it in future stories. I'm glad you appreciated my story enough to help me improve. peace, -Brennan | |
| Marethiel | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/3/2009 |
| Great job! I love the contrast of the treasures of Middle Earth, its children. And I love this connection of Aragorn and Theoden at a time long past. He saw how the youth would put away toys and take up a spear, and turn his wild, fierce, childish joy into the greatest weapon of the Mark. And he realized that perhaps it is not only the Dunedain who treasure their children for the warriors they will become. Beautiful.... I love this. Well done!! ~Marethiel Author Reply: Thanks! This piece was fun to write. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it as well. The lines that you quoted were rewritten and fiddled with many, many times, so it's good to know it worked in the end. cheers! -Brennan | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/3/2009 |
| What a wonderful comparison of children through Aragorn's eyes. I especially love this: "these are children of Eorl. They were born to run wild about the plains.” Author Reply: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the lovely review. -Brennan | |