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Forging Hope  by Ellie 6 Review(s)
SiiwReviewed Chapter: 4 on 4/1/2015
One must wonder what Arafinwë's life would have been like if he wasn't a prince and king of the Noldor. It must have been a lot like the life he experiences now as a smith. These experiences are bound to make him only more wise, having seen life from this angle.

LindeleaReviewed Chapter: 4 on 4/16/2014
Faroniel is clever, even wise.

Half an Elf, when memory is lost? An interesting concept.

You are striving to become as you should be and not as others think you should be.
This would be a worthy goal for any of us.

Fascinating. Looking forward to reading more.

Author Reply: Faroniel is clever and wise, but at Arafinwe doesn't see this. He does not fully understand the sentiment toward Elves and the war.

Arafinwe was fortunate to have a Vala to instruct him in his youth. Perhaps that is where he learned much of his wisdom.

Thank you for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much!

LindeleaReviewed Chapter: 4 on 4/16/2014
If he knew how to sail, then perhaps he knew other things as well.
That's what I was thinking!

Honestly, it's the height of irony to decide he's not a sailor, and then to have a deep-sea fishing dream...

(I am interrupted before reading about the visit to the village, so will try to get back later)

Author Reply: Arafinwe does not understand how damaged he really is and it is taking him a long time to process what he experiences and remembers. Poor guy! It is the height of irony, and it is terribly funny as well. How useless would it be to be a Vanyarin sailor?

Thank you very much for reading and reviewing. I'm glad you are enjoying this story :-)

FiondilReviewed Chapter: 4 on 3/20/2014
The first dream he has and the erroneous conclusions he draws from it are funny but sad at the same time because we know the truth even if he doesn't. The second dream, though, was more telling, though I doubt he understood it any better than the first. Faroniel was wise to imply to the villagers that he was mind-damaged. That should keep him safe for now. Working at the smithy should help as well, allowing him to become familiar with the villagers and they with him.

Author Reply: It would feel pretty useless to be a sailor in a forest... Neither dream was very helpful to him if he even fully realizes they were memories and not just dreams. Faroniel does have his best interests at heart, but he has a hard time seeing this. There really is a lot that he does not know. Working in the village will provide him with an education whether he wants it to or not.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to read and review. I appreciate it very much!

Twoflower2Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 3/19/2014
Hi Ellie. I peeked into your page to check if you've posted anything new (loved "Warriors Proud") and here it is! Very, very interesting. A silver-haired beauty saving a warrior does ring a bell, though :) Not that I have anything against this. Otherwise, a refreshingly unusual premise, at least for me. I do wonder about some things. Why is Faroniel silver-haired? I thought it was Teleri hair color, which no human should have. Why does she - a hunter in a primitive settlement - know Quenya, the Latin of that world? And reading about all those soothing embraces, I suspect that soon Arafinwe will have to break her heart explaining her about LACE. I look forward to Arafinwe regaining his memory. It will probably happen when he is ready to come to terms with who he is and what happened to his family and his people. Cheers - Two2

Author Reply: I'm glad you loved "Warriors Proud". I hope you enjoy this story :-)

"Warriors Proud" had silver-haired people because they were Galadhrim and since Tolkien never told us what the Galadhrim looked like, I went with Peter Jackson's silver-haired take on them. In "Forging Hope", Faroniel having silver hair is significant.

Faroniel is of the folk of Hador Goldenhead among other clans of the edain. There are varying shades of blonde so it stands to reason that at some point platinum or silver blondes would be produced among the clan of Hador. As for the Teleri being silver-haired, Olwe's line is described as having the rare combination of silver hair and blue eyes, but that bloodline (which includes his brothers Elwe and Elmo), is the only group of Teleri described by Tolkien as having silver hair and blue eyes. Arafinwe's wife is the daughter of Olwe.

As for Faroniel knowing Quenya and being able to read it... She explains this, I think in chapter 1, talking about how she is of the kin of Andreth who was attested to be a friend of Finrod and his brohter Aicanairo and was beloved of Aicanairo. It stands to reason that knowledge of that elf language which was the native language of Andreth's lover would have been passed down through the generations. You can read what Tolkien had to say about Andreth in "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth" in the HoME book Morgoth's Ring.

As for Faroniel being all touchy feely on Arafinwe, some people are just like that and some people are lonely mortals with cute elves trapped in their lives and since they appear to be rather fond of the story of Andreth and Aicanairo... well, you can draw your own conclusions from that.

Thank you so very much for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 4 on 3/19/2014
It certainly makes sense that he should learn to sail and to fish, as well as that he should have been apprenticed to Aule in his turn. These are good memories to have returned to him first. Now, to see how the recovery continues.

Love the interactions with the smith and the others in the forge. And I do suspect that Faroniel is exaggerating the danger he faces from the villagers a bit so as to keep him bound to her at least for now.

Author Reply: Well, the sailing memory was unhelpful to him, but knowing he was apprenticed to Aule was a good thing to recall. As for the villagers at the forge, at least he has been accepted and has a job now. We'll find out soon enough how much Faroniel is exaggerating about the danger he faces.

Thank you so very much reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much!

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