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Forging Hope  by Ellie 6 Review(s)
MonalexReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/30/2014
Hello Ellie,

Thanks for answering my last review! I have been looking into your comments, but I can't seem to think of someone other than Finwe who took another wife and that under special circumstances... could you please tell me who else did the same as you have Arafinwe doing?

Also your right it would be way worse if Arafinwe knew he was cheating on his wife, who is waiting for him in the Blessed Realm. It does lessen the sting a little knowing he didn't know the circumstances of their parting. So yes he acted with the knowledge he has at the moment, though he will be happy in the future with his "other" wife, I think he will feel awful for Earwen's sake and himself when he does remember that HE, was the one who left his wife to go fight a war, thus leaving her in charge of his kingdom. He's put him self between a sword and a hard wall, so to speak. On the other hand, if your going to have him having children, it does beg the question: will they be granted the same choice of Elrond and Elros at the end of the War of Wrath?

Finally it would be interesting that after you finish this story, you start a new one about his return to Valinor and his rekindling the relationship he had with his wife - adding of course all the problems they have along the way - who I'm sure is actually the love of his life. Although will you have them being together again?

From the chapters I read, I get the feeling that him and Faroniel are only looking for companionship. I'm not discounting any feelings they may have for each other, but I don't think they are the ultimate love of each other... for Faroniel at least it was her first husband.

Cheers!
Monalex

Author Reply: Tolkien said that remarriage among elves was rare, but that it did happen though it was discouraged given what happened with Finwe and Miriel. He did not cite the names of the other elves who remarried though as they were not important to the tales told in The Silmarillion or later histories.

My story should answer at least some of your questions as it goes along. Let me know if by the end of the story you feel I did not answer anything, and I will see what I can do to get you an answer :-)

Thanks for replying and discussing!

ReganReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/19/2014
Will it work? Having kids I mean? Will the Valar allow it ? Isn't it illegal to have two living wives? I wonder what Galadriel might think, if it does work(the kids thing)? So many questions. Anyways...I'd be most pleased if you updated it. Most, most pleased. Please. :D

Author Reply: This is a terrible answer, but you will have to wait and see what the Valar or anyone else has to say about it all and what eventually comes of these decisions that Arafinwe is making. He is a lonely, broken ellon who is acting according to what he remembers, but the problem is that he has incomplete information.

I try very hard to update on Wednesdays.

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

MonalexReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/18/2014
Hello Ellie,

I'm sorry to say that this is the last time I will read this story at least until you finish it, so I won't have this mixed feelings in me. While I like the story, I can't stomach the thought of Arafinwe with someone else, living with her as his wife... when he just recently remember that he is married. How convenient for him that he could not connect with her, leaving him open in his mind to marry Faroniel... how easily he gave up. And now he wants hove children with her? Is he mad? This is just too irresponsible and my heart aches for the hurt that Earwen will suffer when she learns of this... of his betrayal... how he strayed from their love and on top of that when she learns that all of her children are dead with the exception of Galadriel. I sincerely don't know if I would be able to forgive this kind of betrayal, he conveniently forgot that those elves who remarried did so because their spouse refused to leave Mandos, just so he could be with Faroniel. I sincerely don't like this Arafinwe and hope that Earwen won't take him back for a long time (centuries even) for his desertion.

Hope you finish this story in a satisfactory manner for you.

Monalex

Author Reply: I am sorry that this story has upset you so. I actually finished writing the entire story before I ever began posting it, so use that information as you will in determining when you will read it.

Arafinwe is an ellon who was damaged physically, spiritually, and emotionally by many things and not just the war, as his flashes of memory repeatedly show. Unfortunately, there is nothing convenient about what has happened to him. He is operating within the confines of limited memories and is acting accordingly. He believes he is the last of the army of Valinor and that he is alone with no way to ever return to Valinor. He also has no incentive to return to Valinor, according to what he remembers of the dark and stressful times he experienced there. Earwen, from his current perspective, is just a lovely, nameless someone he has glimpsed in a dream or two.

If you read the Silmarillion, there are many elves who operate quite freely outside of the confines of the Laws and Customs of the Eldar and an awful lot of them are blood relatives of Arafinwe.

When you are ready to continue following him in this saga of loss and self-discovery and recovery, the story will be here waiting for you.

Thank you for reading and reviewing!

FantasiaReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/17/2014
Oops! what a mess!...Faroniel will be happy for awhile, she deserves some happiness, but I'm afraid of the consequences.

Author Reply: Faroniel will not be the only one happy for a while. Arafinwe's is very lonely and bereft as well. Only time will tell if it was worth any consequences which may lie in the future...

Thanks so very much for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it very much!

FiondilReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/17/2014
That was a cute dream, if somewhat erotic at the end. Their union was inevitable. How long have they been sharing the bed like they were siblings or something? That couldn't last. Not when you have two very lonely people in the mix. And however brief the marriage will seem to Laurehér, for Farioniel it will last a lifetime and that's certainly long enough. But I fear there will be grave consequences for them all when this is over, yet, perhaps it will serve a higher doom than any of them can imagine. As they say, Eru draws straight with crooked lines.

Author Reply: After all of Arafinwe's thoughts on how presumptuous it is to think that mortal and elf marriage must serve some high purpose of doom, he certainly has no expectations for such. It would be unrealistic. He does indeed love Faroniel and she does indeed love him and their union was inevitable. Sometimes relationships can bring healing as well as fulfillment of more basic desires.

Eru does draw straight with crooked lines and He often does so without telling the writing implement that He is writing with it.

Thanks so very much for reading and reviewing. I do appreciate it very much!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/16/2014
Well, if he had no memory of a daughter, it makes sense he did not search for one. As to what this relatively brief marriage to a mortal might mean to his marriage to Earwen--well, that remains to be seen, I suppose.

Author Reply: He definitely is digging himself a very deep hole with this relationship. Earwen still knows nothing of what has befallen him nor any news of the war. Much can happen in the years to come and will happen.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much!

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