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| The Choices of the Peredhil by Inzilbeth | 12 Review(s) |
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| MikoNoNyte | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/21/2013 |
| First off, let me say I read your "Hobbit to Hero" and just loved it! Now, this little story, I have to admit, should never ever ever! be read while one is also reading about Tuor coming to Gondolin (Unfinished Tales). Gave me very confusing, if not amusing, dreams. LOL This story really moved me. Tear? Oh yes! I had paused for a couple of days (life interrupts) at the docks with Gil-Galad and Elrond. So while waiting I got to thinking. What would I do if that choice was mine? It's easy to say "elf" but really, is it less easy to say "edain"? There were so many things they each could have chosen no matter which answer they gave, but I think ultimately it was the right choice for them. Thank you for a delightful look at that very pivotal time in their lives. | |
| Mirach | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/20/2010 |
| You nearly brought me to tears (again) - both with the choice of the tale to write, and the beauty of your writing and deep understanding of the characters. I felt Elrond's and Elros' joy at their meeting, and their pain of taking a different choice. I like to think that Eonwe and Earendil became friends in Valinor, and I imagine the Maia talking to the Mariner about his sons - he would be very proud... Author Reply: Thank you so much, Mirach. This was a hard piece to write so I'm very glad the emotion in it came through. Elros was such an after thought, I do wonder how much attention Tolkien himself gave to the matter of the brothers' choice but it's still fun to speculate! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/6/2010 |
| Now, this is utterly plausible. For me, the Evenstar pendant was a gem of healing that in the end was passed on to Arwen, and that she gave to Frodo, one that allowed the wearer to balance Light, Song, and Breath for easing in one whose condition is fragile. I've seen it also as a receptacle for memories of an individual to help sustain those who have been wrested from those they love. It's fascinating to see it portrayed differently by different folk. A sad choice but an inevitable one for these two. And I was pleased to see the Ring of Barahir so entrusted to Elros. Lovely, Inzilbeth. Author Reply: Thank you so much, Larner, for your review. I wish we knew more about that jewel, but it is interesting to speculate. Sometime, I would love to read your take on how it came to Arwen [if you haven't alreadt written it!]. And the only think we could say for certain about the Ring of Barahir, is that Earendil couldn't have taken it with him on his voyage to Valinor! I'm so glad you enjoyed this and found it plausible. | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/4/2010 |
| A very moving and plausible account of how the brothers came to choose their different paths. I loved the mention of the heirlooms Aragorn would later wear! Author Reply: Thank you so much, Linda, for reading and reviewing. Adding those bits to the story did make it feel as if Aragorn was a part of it all! | |
| Estelcontar | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/2/2010 |
| I really liked your take on how Elros and Elrond made their choices. I think it was a good idea to have Elros battling together with the man from the House of Hador in the War of Wrath, and Elrond stay with Gil Galad, and turn into a warrior and a healer. It does help to explain their separate choices in spite of their closeness. I also loved the explanation you found for the white gem Arwen gives to Frodo. I liked the idea of it originally belonging to Amarië. I was also tickled to death to see that your version of how the Ring of Barahir turned into a heirloom of the Númenórean kings is so similar to mine. I found The Choices moving because you can see how much Elros and Elrond loved each other, and how much it hurt both to go their separate ways, but how even so they did not hesitate to follow their hearts. Author Reply: Thank you so much for your review, Estelcontar. I'm glad you found the story plausible and 'yay' that we had the same idea about the ring of Barahir! I wish we knew the history of Arwen's jewel but I felt something like that had to have come from Valinor and having both heirlooms connected with Finrod possessed a certain symmetry, I thought! | |
| Shemyaza | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/2/2010 |
| Well the Peredhil/dhel issue is very interesting. When I wrote the first story in my Eonwe series, I said the same as you, Peredhil was plural and Peredhel was singular and I got my wrist slapped for it. I admit that at the time it seemed to make grammatical sense to make Peredhel plural, but if as you say it is in the appendices, Tolkien obviously knew his own language since he invented it. It is amazing just how many people have started to put Eonwe in an active part in their stories. He was always a fascinating character for me but I couldn't find many stories where he actually had a part other than being loosely referred to, hence my own stories. Since I started that series I have seen more and more writers using him! Still, Peredhil, Peredhel, tomato tomarto, your story is still yet another good 'gap-filler' for the story behind the actual choice! Author Reply: Whoever slapped your wrist obviously shouldn't have done so. I'm glad to know there are more stories featuring Eonwe, though, as I wrote the first draft of this story over three years ago, I can't claim to have been influenced by any of them. | |
| curiouswombat | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/2/2010 |
| I am sure that this is very much as it would have been - the two so alike in looks, so different in personality. If it had not been so, their choices would have been more likely to have been the same, and much of the mythos of ME would have collapsed... What a pivotal moment to have captured so well! Author Reply: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, Curiouswombat. Yes, it really couldn't have been any other way. Interestingly, Elros was a late arrival on the scene and initially Elrond was the first lord of Numenor. But, I believe I'm right in saying, the need for a divine ancestry for the Dunedain in general, and Aragorn, in particular necessitated there be two sons of Earendel. | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/2/2010 |
| This is a marvelous and mesmerizing gap filler. What a beautifully written and conceived story. Author Reply: Thank you so much, Shirebound, for reading and reviewing. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. | |
| Shemyaza | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/2/2010 |
| Very nice depiction of the choice of Elrond and Elros. Just a couple of things, one which I have been guilty of and was corrected for was that the plural of Peredhil is Peredhel, so any reference to the two of them would be Peredhel. Also it's the bow of a ship, not the bough! Although given that ships in their day were made of wood it's quite an understandable mistake. It's weird though, I always see Eonwe with golden brown hair, not quite gold. Some see him as dark-haired and others like you, as golden haired. I suppose it must have been difficult for Elrond to see why his twin made his choice, after all when one is young immortality seems very attractive and to watch someone near and dear to you practically choosing death must have seemed bewildering. I do often think though that Elros felt he had a duty to the Edain given his bloodline. I can quite easily see him being too restless to stay with Elrond and Gil-galad, he would have wanted into the action whereas Elrond would have been quite content to help where he could as long as he was with people he felt comfortable around and I never saw him as being absolutely comfortable with men. I do find myself wondering how comfortable the line of Isildur was in Imladris while they were being fostered, it must have been a very bittersweet experience for Elrond to watch them grow and then die. Almost as if he was having to go through his brother's ultimate demise over and over again. Tolkien brought up some very interesting emotional conundrums in his work, yet he seemed to brush past them onwards to the next part of the saga. Maybe he needed people like us to explore the questions he raises with his writings and his world! Author Reply: Thank you so much for your review. You're quite right about the bow of the ship, thank you for pointing it out. My knowledge of boats clearly isn't as good as my knowledge of Tolkien since I'm afraid you're wrong about Peredhil. I just double checked in the index of ROTK and the plural is quite definitely 'peredhil'. Peredhel is the singular. I actually don't recall seeing the colour of Eonwe's hair mentioned anywhere so I think that one's up for grabs! All my ideas on the decisions of the brothers has a basis somewhere in Tolkien's writings, be it in his letters or HOME, the Athrabeth in particular was most useful. I'm sure it must have been very hard for Elrond to witness the deaths of so many of his brother's line but I see his willingness to do so as merely another example of his selflessness and generosity of heart. Yes, Tolkien certainly left many unanswered questions! | |
| Vilwarin | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/2/2010 |
| This is very beautiful yet so sad. I have never seen that particular theme so well-written. It was so clear and natural that each of them had to choose the fate that they eventually did - a different decision would not have been possible. Author Reply: Thank you so much, Vilwarin. Yes, when you really get down to it, it seems very natural that they chose the way they did, hard though that must have been. | |