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| In Darkness Bound by Fiondil | 941 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| OaMXpHHH8UlE | Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 4/28/2016 |
| Yup, that shluod defo do the trick! | |
| Amony | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 9/17/2014 |
| Just a question, what would Melkor wear???? I mean he is supposedly the "DARK" lord, but Namo already claimed the black colour :D :D :D but you said before that Namo and Melkor's auras were violet except that Melkor's was a litte reddish, :D :D and I have have to assume that Melkor's hair is black, :D but this time Namo's is a little blueish :D :D so does that mean that he will wear black as well,??? :D :D :D But I would like to think that Vaire will weave him "pink" and "yellow" clothes as a punishment :D :D :D after all black works great on pink :D :D :D :D ............................... though it wont work on Namo :D . As lovely a story as ever Fiondil :D Author Reply: I'm sure Melkor wore black but he wasn't as snazzy looking and as debonair as Námo *grin*. Glad you liked the story, Amony. Thanks for letting me know. | |
| Sunny | Reviewed Chapter: 47 on 9/1/2014 |
| I'm rereading this story, and I wonder if Elemmacar is the Elf known as Gilvagor in Elf Interrupted? Author Reply: Hi Sunny. I'm rereading this story as well, though I haven't gotten as far as you. I believe if you look at the Author's Note at the end of the chapter you will see that I do indeed state that Elemmacar will be later known as Gilvagor. Perhaps you just didn't bother to read that far. *grin* | |
| Amna Abou Elela | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 7/23/2014 |
| I rather don't understand what Namo should learn from them ????? :D Author Reply: Being devious, something the Valar are very good at, especially Námo. *grin* | |
| AmazingWriter123 | Reviewed Chapter: 114 on 10/20/2013 |
| I found this here and so decided to leave a review. What did poor Ingil do that he had to die!!!! (It isn't fair that he should die and Ingoldo should live) Author Reply: Hi AmazingWriter. When I wrote this story, I had already established in my "Elf, Interrupted" series that Ingalaurë had died in the aftermath of the Darkening, though I give no details in that story, so I really had no choice in the matter. Still, being an Elf, he will eventually be re-embodied and returned to his family. | |
| Imhiriel | Reviewed Chapter: 129 on 7/9/2013 |
| Metta! *leans back smiling and with a satisfied sigh* That was a worthy epilogue to yet one more of your wonderful stories! I was entertained, it made me smile and laugh, and cry and angry, and tense and bibber, and think and ponder. It was dark in places, as it should be considering the time period covered. And it was a wonderful combination of close adherence to canon where such exists, believable extrapolation from hints and snippets Tolkien gave us, and your marvellous original inventions. Thank you very much, Fiondil! Author Reply: Hi Ihimiriel. I'm glad you found this epilogue satisfying and that you found this tale, dark as it was in most places, entertaining yet thought-provoking. I tried to imagine what the possible ramifications of Fëanáro's exile would have on all of Eldamar and how events escalated to the Darkening and beyond, but more important, I really wanted to explore what effect the Darkening and the Rebellion had on those who remained behind. That was my primary focus for this story and since Tolkien gave us no details about any of it, I felt free to add my own views into the mix. Hopefully I succeeded in keeping true to the spirit of canon along the way. Thanks so much for all your reviews. I've appreciated and enjoyed each and every one of them. | |
| Imhiriel | Reviewed Chapter: 128 on 7/9/2013 |
| Various things you could have heard from my room as I was reading this chapter: Juhu! Huzzah! The Eagles are coming! (well, that one is tradition ;-)...) And once again a beautiful description of the rising of the new light, just as I had hoped (and was sure you would provide). I really like the idea of Isil and Anar as signs of the covenant between the Valar and the Children of Eru. It reminds me of the Old Testament, when God made the rainbow a sign of his covenant with Men to never again send a Flood. Oh, Aranfinwë, you're too funny! On balance, I liked the to and fro between the splendour of the ceremony and the rising of Anar, and OTOH those little touches of humour and the personal details. I also have some rather unformed ideas about the lovely poignancy of the rising of the sun in the middle of Aranfinwë's coronation linking to his son Finrod "Friend of Men" linking to the Awakening of Men as the Sun rose over Hildórien. Author Reply: Hi Imhiriel. I'm glad you liked this chapter. It's one of my favorites. And Arafinwë is irrepresible. That is an interesting parallel between he rainbow as a sign of a covenant between God and Men and the rising of Isil and Anar as signs of a covenant between the Valar and the Children of Eru. I've never thought of it in that way. Thanks for pointing it out and thanks for the review. | |
| Imhiriel | Reviewed Chapter: 126 on 7/9/2013 |
| What an awesome (in the true sense of the word) first sight of Ithil! And I loved the symbolism tied to Ingwion. I've been trying to wrap my mind around just how new this light is. And thinking ahead, how even more new Anar will be. Imagine all you knew is the dark only illumated with stars. Then come the trees, and I wonder just how bright the light was during the Minglings. But then sun - daylight - daybright. Just how bright will everything be? How different will everything look, the colours, the shadows, the shadings, the perspectives? I remember reading a story a long time ago that described the rising of moon and sun from the perspective of people in Elu Thingol's court, who wouldn't even have seen the light of the Trees to have any comparison. I wish I could remember what that story was and re-read it, because apparently it left quite the impression on me for years afterwards. "Something for the loremasters to argue over," Arafinwë said with a wicked grin. "And all the while, some elfling will call it something out of the simplicity of his or her vocabulary and everyone else will pick up on it and when the loremasters finally trot out their perfect name for the orb, it will be ignored for the child’s word." Hehehe! Seems that loremaster won't change much in all that time from here until Aragorn complains about the same thing in the Houses of Healing... That was a lovely way to end the chapter, with its echo to its opening. | |
| Imhiriel | Reviewed Chapter: 124 on 7/9/2013 |
| I was snickering all through the opening scenes of the chapter because of the black humour with which Námo reacts to his skewering. I could so hear his exasperated, dry voice! This struck me as particularly funny: "If you move, I will do terrible things to you," the Lord of Mandos threatened and Ingoldo gulped. "And don’t even think about fainting, either." Ingoldo shook his head. Because the threat is soooo vague and yet effective. And then the warning against fainting as if it's just another way to move forbidden to Ingoldo. re: Ingoldo being sent to the mines: "Unfortunately, I don’t think my nobles would allow it." So is there a difference between justice for the common man and justice for nobles in the Elves' court? It's odd that my first thought when reading about Tol Eressëa as the place of exile was, "It's too good for him." Although you remind us of the fact that the island is completely deserted at this point in time, I guess I still think so. Mostly perhaps for symbolic reasons, for what Tol Eressëa stood for in the Elves' past history as well as for what it is going to become in the future. re: Tulcaner: We have no real evidence that he did anything other than to obey your commands and he was very careful not to exceed them or be caught doing something contrary to law I don't think that's right. He did something unlawful because he was the leader of the group who abducted the king, he imprisoned others of the royal family in Vanyamar, and he beat up Tamurilon. He also quite clearly wasn't one of the Elves who were blackmailed into complying with Ingoldo's orders like the ones swearing fealty in the previous chapter. You could say he was following the orders of his lord, but even if you posit that that's an excuse (and at least we now generally perceive that it isn't), it still doesn't negate the unlawfulness of the action itself. So Ingwë's argument here is at least curtailed, and not up to scratch. OTOH, I'm not quite comfortable with the open-endedness of Ingoldo's exile. IMO, it would be better that, if there is to be no set time of the exile, Ingwë should at least name some terms under which he decides that it is ended. Otherwise it depends too much on the king's whim, even if I don't think Ingwë would abuse his power in this way. Typo alert: "And who’s bright idea was it to let you carry a sword, Ingwion?" - "whose" Námo had a sudden urge to slap the Elder King up side his head. - "upside" Author Reply: Thanks for the typo alert, Imhiriel. I've made the corrections. The first part of the chapter and the discussion among the Valar was fun to write, especially Námo's reaction to everything. I think lots of people were startled by the suggestion of exiling Ingoldo to Tol Eressëa for reasons similar symbolic reasons, but of course, that's from our perspective looking behind, so to speak. For the Elves of this time, it's just an empty hunk of rock doing no one any real good. I think Ingwë would've liked to have punished Tulcaner more than he did but he had no real hard evidence, other than the kidnapping and I think he was simply tired of it all and wanted to finish it up quickly. Exiling the ellon along with Ingoldo just seemed the easiest thing to do (not necessarily the right or smart thing to do, you understand; even Ingwë is not immuned to making mistakes). As for the sentence lenght being ambiguous, that's only because Ingwë is not ready to make a firm commitment as to time. That is probably something he will do when the exile goes into effec, much the same way as sentencing is sometimes postponed in a modern trial after a person has been found guilty. And none of the Elves have had to deal with this sort of thing before and so their judicial system may not be what we would wish it to be. In earlier times the nobility always had a better deal than the peasants and I refuse to "rehabilitate" the Elves to satisfy modern sensibilities. They have the right to evolve along with the rest of us, IMO. At any rate, thanks for your thoughtful review. I appreciate it very much. | |
| Imhiriel | Reviewed Chapter: 119 on 7/8/2013 |
| Right up to the evil cliffhanger, this chapter left me feeling very quiet and solemn, very appropriate considering what it entails. I also asked myself how many of the Vanyar lining the streets to watch the hearse go by and later on to pay their respects to Ingalaurë were at least partially motivated by curiosity. How many of them had ever bevor seen a dead body? An empty hröa, without the fëa that enlivens it? I don't necessarily mean prurience, although I can imagine it was that for some, but just - how can you wrap your mind around such a totally alien concept, and here is the example to what they only know is possible in theory. Oh, and before I forget it again, I've long wanted to compliment you on how you convey the Elves' (and also Valar's) utter unfamiliarity with certain concepts (that to us are completely normal), how they don't even have words to describe those concepts, which is especially poignant considering they call themselves the Quendi, and the crucial role language has in Tolkien. And that's a very tense cliffhanger. At first when it was revealed that Ingwion is missing, I thought he might be hiding in his childhood hidey-hole. But this - uh oh.. Now we'll learn just why Ingoldo is so afraid of Ingwion. Author Reply: Hi Imhiriel. Your observations about the Vanyar and what they must have been feeling as they watched the procession and later paid their respects are very profound. It must have felt so surreal to them. It wasn't easy to imagine how it must have been for the Elves and the Valar/Maiar to grapple with concepts for which they had no words, for the words had never been needed before. I imagine that this is what it must've been like for our distant ancestors struggling to make sense out of their world and trying to verbalize their thoughts and feelings when confronted with "alien" concepts. I'm glad you think I succeeded in conveying these people's utter unfamiliarity with certain concept we take for granted. Thanks for telling me. I appreciate it as I appreciate this review. And yes, we do indeed find out why Ingoldo fears Ingwion in the next chapter. | |