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Passover and Pilgrimage  by Larner 14 Review(s)
Kara's AuntyReviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 7/24/2009
Hello Larner,

what a sweet scene. How fitting that Frodo could truly know what he and Sam had wrought.

A lovely story.

M ;)

Author Reply: Am so glad you think so, Maureen! I obviously agree! Thank you so!

GamgeeFestReviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 7/22/2009
A wonderful conclusion! I'm glad that Frodo was able to see, through the paintings, what had become of Mordor and Mt. Doom, and to know, without doubt, that he did make a difference. Thank you for sharing this!

Author Reply: Am so glad you feel this way, too, GamgeeFest! Thank you so!

Baggins BabeReviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 6/22/2009
I have always felt that Mordor did become a living land once Sauron had gone. Volcanic soil is very fertile - hence all the vinyards and olive groves near Vesuvius. It is wonderful to think of Mount Doom as a beautiful caldera with an island and fruit trees, and I am so glad that Frodo was able to see and share it.

Author Reply: I know about volcanic soil, having grown up in the Pacific Northwest where so much of our geological history is centered on our volcanoes, including Mounts Rainier and St. Helens! The years that St. Helens was sending out ash eruptions were rich ones for the orchards of Eastern Washington and much of the area between the mountain and Portland, Oregon, where there was a heavy ash fall.

As for the caldera--I'll be addressing that tomorrow in my Author's Notes.

Yes, life returned once Sauron was gone, and Frodo did have a chance to see just how!

Thank you so much!

KittyReviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 6/22/2009
Oh, Sam brought a painting of the island in the lake? How wonderful! I am glad Frodo got to see it, and had fun watching him wondering about where it is!

So Eldarion did see a vision of Frodo, not another monument? Had a feeling this could be the case when I did read the end of the last chapter. Good. And I am glad Frodo got to see two of Aragorn’s children.

Anyway, that was lovely, Larner, and it is a joy that Frodo learned just how much of a difference he made in the end!

Author Reply: Yes, he brought two pictures to share with Frodo, and I bet he enjoyed ever minute of Frodo's confusion as to where this pictured lake my lie.

No, the lights upon the little island were not quite monuments; but what greater monument can there be to Frodo than this lake, lying in the crater of Mt. Orodruin? And indeed at least Frodo did have a glimpse of Eldarion and Idril at least.

Thank you so--and I agree thoroughly about Frodo realizing just what a difference his life made at least to these lands.

And welcome home!

ArmarielReviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 6/21/2009
A lovely ending. Love the description of the new Mordor. Full of fruit trees and "Nuru Lahta"...a beautiful name! Might have to remember it when I get there myself...lol

~~~~{~@


Author Reply: Am so glad you appreciate it, Armariel. And what better revenge on Sauron than such things about that lake?

Thank Fiondil for the help in naming the lake and the region as it came to be known afterwards.

The author's notes will be posted probably Tuesday. Thank you so much!

AndreaReviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 6/21/2009
He gently ran a finger over the painting. It is a living land now, Mordor is?
Sam nodded solemnly. “That it is.”
Frodo appeared to be shining more brightly. Then we *did* make a difference!
“That we did, Frodo--that we did.”


Dear, old Frodo! Of course they made a difference! Stubborn Baggins ;-)

There's light and water now as Sam wished for. And the Valar created that beautiful lake to demonstrate that the Land of Mordor is now under their special protection.

Thank you very much, Larner. I enjoyed this story a great deal!

Author Reply: I am so very glad you did, Andrea. I wish it hadn't taken so long to get written, however, particularly considering how relatively short it is!

Yes, our beloved, stubborn Baggins! Light and water indeed!

Thank you so very much!

InzilbethReviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 6/21/2009
A very neat and satisfying way to end this story, Larner. I especially liked the idea that the Dead Marshes too were no longer 'dead' but filled now with birds and living things.

Author Reply: In "The King's Commission" I'd written about the changes to the Dead Marshes as seen by the envoy from Rhun, and how a year after the victory Aragorn and Arwen came to the battlefield to honor those who'd fallen there, and stopped to bless the waters of the Dead Marshes, leading to a change in their nature. It's not for nothing Aragorn took the name of Elessar and wore the stone on his breast, after all!

Raksha The DemonReviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 6/20/2009
Light and water in the place of Mount Doom - that's a great ending to Frodo and Sam's labors in Mordor. Nuru Lahta is a great name, too!

Author Reply: Oh, I'm so glad you feel this way, Raksha. And I so thank Fiondil for helping me with the Quenya.

Author's notes will probably be posted on Tuesday.

cookiefleckReviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 6/20/2009
Just read and enjoyed your story. Nice atmospheric touches and a fitting sense of melancholy mixed with happier thoughts. Always enjoy stories in which the great deeds are remembered and appreciated by others and by ensuing generations. It is fitting albeit amazing that a "scholar and a gardener" were at the crux of achieving peace, although not without violence... humble Sam Gamgee had to become a warrior in addition to the other hats he wore.

Author Reply: Thank you so, Cookiefleck. I always love to have chances to let Sam's personality shine, of course, although Merry was also needing some comfort this time. This is indeed a chance to set up the memorials by which Middle Earth will remember that horrible time that was yet filled with greatness.

No, not without violence. Sam became so many things as a result of this quest--gardener, conspirator, poet, even as you point out a warrior; and later husband, lover, mayor, restorer, apocathery.... I truly love the transformations he makes!

AntaneReviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 6/20/2009
How wonderful that Frodo would know of all this and that he *was* there to see it! I don't blame him at all for being disappointed not to have the sense of Sam and Aragorn's presence but then he had that dream. The chapter beings so nicely, with memories being drawn out and that they are together. I had forgotten that Sam can hear Frodo's thoughts, but being the knitted souls that they are, no surprise and a nice touch here. Hantanyel for this story!

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)

Author Reply: I think that before he passed from this life Frodo needed to learn what it all meant.

I'm not certain why Frodo as I see him loses so much of his ability to speak orally, and why he ends up turning so strongly to osanwe or telepathy; but it is something that just happened as I was writing "Filled with Light as with Water." That Sam would have no difficulty ever recognizing or understanding Frodo just fits, however!

Thanks so much!

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