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A Spring of Joy by daw the minstrel	33 Review(s)
sofia	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
Everybody is growing up and marrying and having babies… This chapter reminded me of Tuilinn for some reason. Especially the part with Sinnarn and Emmelin. I'm guessing it doesn't bother Legolas anymore to see his family with their wives? I miss Nithron. I had forgotten he died. :( The descriptions of how Legolas hates touching the spiders is well written but not really plesant. Or at least in my opinion. -sofia Author Reply: I think that Legolas has come to terms with his feelings for Tuilinn. He feels that he is pledged to her and hopes that one day they'll be together. So he's not likely to love anyone else. He's already found his love, although they're not together. I worked hard to make that stuff about the spiders as nasty as possible!

Elena Tiriel	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
Hi, it's me again! This is a note about JastaElf's problems with a "chapter not found" messages on the Evil Empire: if you're using a browser other than Internet Explorer, try switching to IE temporarily to read the chapter. I just discovered this trick; there is one story that I like to follow that is only on ffn, and it was so frustrating to not be able to read new chapters for weeks after they were posted. I use Firefox as a browser. (Now, there is no sane reason whatsoever why a different browser would result in the database not finding a chapter... but this is the Evil Empire...) Hope this helps! - Barbara P.S. But SoA is so many orders of magnitude more friendly than ffn -- I wouldn't even touch a story there if I can find it here or at henneth-annun.net or scribeoz.com or tolkienfanfiction.com... Author Reply: Thank you, ET. I'll pass the message along to Jasta.

moonshine44	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
wow! What a great chapter. Sinnarn`s new body gaurd is young! He must be happy. I can`t picture him having to learn to get along with another seasoned warrior all over again. And Sinnarn is quite old enough. Poor Legolas. It seemsed all his peace is coming to an end. Eilian`s too, but I wonder if Eilian might enjoy a little of the scouting mission : ) I`m just curious when ff.n said no more relpying to reviews? On their home page the last entry is dated April 30(on my computer). Has it changed since then? Just wondering, because I always reply to my reviewers. Anyway, great chapter. Can`t wait to read the next! Author Reply: I think Sinnarn is pretty much an adult, so I couldn't imagine him putting up with the bossiness of the regular bodyguards. Tynd watches Sinnarn's back, but he doesn't boss him around. On ff.net and reviews, here's what I have. The first I heard of this policy was when Thundera Tiger posted about it. Here's what she said at the start of a chapter: Author's Notes: The higher powers here on Fanfiction have informed me that reviewer responses violate the rules of this site. Apparently they make the review boards interactive. I always thought they made the story more involved and entertaining, but that's not the point. The point is that I can't respond to the reviews you guys leave here. I'm not at all happy about this, but I don't have much of a choice. So if you are leaving a review and want me to answer it, the best thing to do is to leave a comment on the story at my Livejournal or on another site where responding to reviewers is allowed, such as Stories of Arda or Lord of the Rings Fanfiction. My apologies, you guys! I really am sorry about this! Then I heard a rumor last week that Cassia and Sio had a story yanked from ff.net for the same thing. That's just a rumor and it could be wrong. Anyway, what I decided was that since I was posting a new story, I would be cautious and reply via email.

Jay of Lasgalen	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
It's lovely to see the elves so at ease in the woods and while doing their duties - sad, too, because we know what's brewing in the south :( I like the game between Legolas and Sinnarn - hmm, it reminds me of another killing contest! I'm glad - though surprised - that Sinnarn has adapted so well and so quickly to having Tynd as his bodyguard - but ten years is long enough for even an elf to move on from grief and guilt. The one I feel most sorry for here is Ithilden - he so wanted there to be peace, and the realisation that the shadow has reappeared is terrible for him. My favourite part? Eilian's third visit to Dol Guldur, returning after seeing the bunny rabbits, 'and the very next week, he had announced that Celuwen was pregnant.' How very elfy to be able to arrange matters so soon! Jay Author Reply: I had fun writing about playful!Legolas. I think the way he and Eilian are living right now is the way Elves were meant to live (apart from the spiders, of course). I feel bad for Ithilden too. But think about people like Elrond and Thranduil, who have seen evil driven away and return so many times. How hard that would be! Eilian the eager father amused me too. But then, he's a resourceful wood-elf warrior. :-)

perelleth	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
Oh! Well, I just wished for Thranduil and Thranduil came! I'm so glad! It is good to see Legolas at ease in the Home Guard, and with Annael as his lieutenant, as well as part of his family, too! That was great! Sinnarn seems to have won everybody's trust, which is god for him, altough I wonder whether Ithilden is happy seeing that his son, second in the line of succession, is still a simple home guard at four hundred and something? I hope they have reached a sort of understanding! And here they go! after a short respite, again Thranduil and Ithilden are facing such hard decisions. I smiled to read that Ithilden thinks that he should be used the shadow's return, it seems I'm not the only one who thought so! That scene was truly sad, but Thranduil is indeed fortunate to have Ithilden by his side, I truly enjoy reading about the two of them working together! And having to send Eilian South! It gave me the shivers, how hard he must have fought the evidence of it all. I was stunned when I read in one of your replies to reviewers that you had once plotted to have Eilian killed! I just hope you have overcome those instincts! Anyway, it's going to be a terrible experience... Author Reply: I nearly kept that section about Thranduil back for the next chapter, but I think it needed to be here. Readers need to see that everyone's around. Besides, I like to see Thranduil too. I think that Sinnarn is doing well enough. He's carrying out his duty well, and Elves had a long time to mature if there was peace. I think the stuff at the Battle of Five Armies really sobered Sinnarn up (not to mention the escaping Dwarves!), and then Emmelin is good for him. Poor Thranduil. Over and over again, he has to decide to send his sons and grandson into danger. How hard that must be for him!

Alison H	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
I really enjoyed seeing Legolas happy again in this chapter--you write banter between males so well! It was also satisfying to know that the lovable, loyal Anneal was now a member of Legolas' family.I've always loved his faithfulness towards Legolas. I'm okay with the giant spiders and what happens to them during a battle but even I squirmed a bit when Legolas had to grab one of their nasty legs.My brother once had a tarantula and the only time I touched the thing one of its legs fell off! I was on the other side of the room before you could blink! Imagine Mirkwood spiders falling apart like that! It's good to see that Beliond is still grouchy and Legolas wishing that he wasn't--but Beliond is an absolute treasure.It's funny that Legolas still manages to scare the wits out of him sometimes--but I really enjoyed Legolas' leap through the trees.He is almost at the stage where he's our Fellowship Legolas. All good things come to an end, I suppose, but the return of the Shadow will be a hard blow to all.I do feel for the King having to be the first one to realise what is happening (after the birds, of course!) then breaking the news to Ithilden.So sad. Your stories are so rich in character and emotion and I love this already.I can't wait for the next chapter.Update soon. Take care. Ali. Author Reply: I had a good time writing the exchanges between the guys here. They're having fun teasing one another even in the midst of a serious patrol. And I think Elves might be particularly good at that since they seem good with words. My brother once had a tarantula and the only time I touched the thing one of its legs fell off! -- Why didn't I think of that??? That would be great! I'll have to make it happen sometime. Whoever is handling the spider will freak out!! Beliond amuses me. He's taking good care of Legolas. And I think that deep down he likes seeing his charge enjoy himself. He just can't admit it.

Dot	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
Oh yeah, I’m loving this story so far. This is such a fascinating and hugely important time in Mirkwood’s history. In the history of M-E, I suppose. It’s great to see the gang all together and having fun in the forest. Legolas is such a generous and conscientious captain to decide to “get into the field”, don’t you think?!! I love seeing Legolas and Annael together as adults. I’m glad he’s moving up in the world and is now the lieutenant. And it seems he’s now part of Legolas’ family too! Yay for Sinnarn and Emmelin! He must have grown up fairly quickly after the Battle of the Five Armies - and I imagine that experience would have had a huge effect on him - and proved himself to his father for him to get married so soon. It seems Annael finally got used to that idea too!! Beliond is as wonderfully grouchy as ever! “Are you saying that Legolas is the one who gets cranky?” LOL. And Sinnarn is still teasing him. Tynd is a good choice as keeper for Sinnarn. I imagine there were problems when Sinnarn realised that Nithron would have to be replaced. It would also probably have taken him a long time to warm to anyone remotely like Nithron and he really needed someone who would be a friend as well as a bodyguard. By now Tynd has proven that he’s reliable and trustworthy too. I can see why the choice is good from Sinnarn’s point of view, and from Thranduil’s, but I’d be interested in knowing why Tynd would have been willing to take the job when he’s till youngish and it really means that this is his job forever, and just because Sinnarn likes the Home Guard and will stay there for a while yet, especially as he’s so recently married, as son of the king there’s no guarantee that he’ll remain in the Home Guard. I guess loyalty to the king has a lot to do with it. Anyway, it’s so good to see how happy Sinnarn is. It’s interesting that Legolas is slightly jealous. I suppose he doesn’t find Beliond as fun as the rest of us do! I guess it becomes a little dull and wearing as well, always being around the same person, especially when there’s not a whole lot of excitement to be found. You made me smile at the thought of Legolas so freely dashing through the trees and enthusiastically wagering with his nephew. This peace is a perfect chance to show him being able to let his lighter side show. He can combine fun and duty and behave as a real wood-elf more often. It’s something that we always knew was there and have seen glimpses of before but after all the time he’s been growing towards Legolas of the Fellowship, to me he’s just about there now. I like the way he can sense where the spiders would be and Beliond clearly trusts him. I had to skim over some of the parts about what they found, though. Sorry. Please take it as a compliment when I say it was a little too vivid for me! But what a scary moment when the spider appeared above Legolas. I though Beliond might have a few words to say about watching everywhere around him but it looks like Beliond was as startled at the spider’s appearance as Legolas. I know it’s not funny but can you imagine having to explain to Thranduil that Legolas was bitten by a spider despite having his own bow, three other warriors with him, and being in Home Guard territory in a time of peace?? So I take it Sinnarn and Emmelin are living in the palace? That’s good. The place needs some activity. That makes four females and five males now when they’re all together, doesn’t it? Hmmm, that’s balancing out nicely;-) It must be such a different place to live now. I loved the scene between Thranduil and Ithilden, even though I felt so bad for them. I was only thinking after the last chapter about Ithilden and his reaction to the end of the Watchful Peace. I don’t know if it’s more heartbreaking that Thranduil never fully believed that there would be lasting peace now and was waiting for it to end, or that Ithilden finally allowed himself to believe it and will now have his hopes shattered yet again. I really like the fact that you included the part about the birds carrying rumours. I always thought that made Thranduil seem even more mysterious and powerful. Very elfy too, of course. “I am afraid that the most logical person to lead the scouting mission is Eilian.” Hmmm. He is, of course. It’s just that there are so many more people affected now by sending Eilian into danger. It’ll be interesting to see his reaction. I suppose Celuwen will understand, even if she’s not happy about it. Sólith might have a thing or two to say alright… So what two lucky warriors get to go with him? Is Legolas about to encounter the Nazgul? Or will he be involved in trying to find Gollum? So much potential! I’m finding, as I did with ‘Tangled Web’, that I love not knowing what you’re going to do with established bits of canon and can look forward to seeing a new perspective on it. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned Nazgul in my last review, though. Sorry. I was trying to be discreet about Gollum because I’m still embarrassed about the Turgon/Westron incident but it never dawned on me to keep quiet about Nazgul… I’m getting very excited about this story now! Right, I’ll go and try to send this now while there's no-one on the Internet P.C. I hope I’ve made some bit of sense because I'm at work, I had to put the chapter on disk, having no Internet at my desk, and then write a review with twenty rather elderly women behind me taking part in lace-making classes and interrupting me every few minutes to ask where the bathroom is. Don’t ask. I’m looking forward to more :-) Author Reply: As I started to write this story, it struck me that just as with the time of The Hobbit, there are two canon event going on at once in Mirkwood and they're probably related. That is, the Nazgul are probably at Dol Guldur keeping watch, which is what Sauron was doing there too. Anyway, that means that both of those times are good for fanfic writers, although I can't recall seeing another story set in the time frame I using right now. I had a good time writing about the guys on patrol together, just making guy talk. I hadn't thought about why Tynd would want this job. Maybe I have to consider that a little. I suppose that really no job is forever for Elves. After a full career doing one thing, they can then do another. And he can probably choose to change jobs if he likes. Maybe. So the spider scene was vivid? Good. I was worried that it was too much like other spider battles I've written. I don't know if you saw the review from Alison that came in right after yours, but she says that her brother once had a pet tarantula and the one time she touched it, its leg fell off. I so wish I'd thought of that!!! Sinnarn and Emmelin are living in the palace. I decided my Elven society was patriarchal (seems pretty Tolkien-ish to me) so a wife would become part of her husband's house. And I like the idea of Annael and his wife and maybe even his mother coming for dinner. :-) Readers at SoA always make me smile. I was talking to my beta about some part of this story and she said that readers would think something, and I said "Not SoA readers. They are way too perceptive." And that's true. So I don't mind at all if you guess stuff. I'm just so glad to have you all reading the story.

elliska	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
Sorry. Being a bad employee at work and re-reading this. I just had to comment how much I liked the entire fourth paragraph and especially this line: They knew enough compromising things about Legolas and Sinnarn to have a great deal of leverage if they were ever of a mind to practice some illicit “persuasion.” The guards and close friends of Legolas's family are just so great. :) Author Reply: I'm laughing here because I hesitated about that paragraph. It seemed like telling rather than showing. But it also occurred to me that I could make a great comic story sometime about the guards using blackmail on their charges.

JastaElf	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
Oh what a wonderful chapter!! I'm reviewing here because the Evil Empire says the chapter doesn't exist... silly Empire!! :-) Anyway, the fight against the spiders was very exciting, and I'm glad you included one sneaking up. :-) Once in a while it helps if the good guys get a little surprise... keeps them sharp. But I'm also glad he didn't get bitten.... And Sinnarn is married! Woo-hoo! That makes Legolas the only of-age male in the royal family who is unwed... sob but at least we know why.... poor kid.... Oh look, there goes a plot bunny! The tag on its neck says something about a one-shot concerning the wedding, or a sub-plot in another longer tale, where Legolas angsts during Sinnarn's celebration and comes to some kind of sad, sweet closure.... heh heh heh.... The character development continues to delight me. It doesn't surprise me in the least because you are a wonderful writer... but it does delight. Thranduil and Ithilden's interaction was VERY well done, and I like that Ithilden had begun to relax--only to have this all start up again. Life is like that... but it doesn't mean we have to like it. Sigh... Anyway, excellent chapter, I look forward as always to more! Thanks for the update! Author Reply: The Evil Empire has been withholding my chapters from you for quite a while now. I wonder what it has against you, me, or maybe the two of us in combination? Legolas and his buddies are having a good time here, but as you say, it’s good to be reminded that bad things can fall on your head if you don’t keep a sharp eye out. I had some trouble deciding where to start this story and wound up presenting the reader with several done deals – Sinnarn is married, Eilian has a little girl. I was sorry not to write about those events in more detail, but I comforted myself with the thought that I could always go back and do it. Oh. What if those two events coincided? LOL. That would send Thranduil into a tizzy! But you have to stop sending these plot bunnies my way, Jasta! That last one about Galelas and Legolas depending on one another evolved into that whole angsty thing about the arrival of Smaug. I don’t know if I can take that kind of grief again.

Elena Tiriel	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
Thank you for not creeping me out any more after that one sentence! That was just a little too effective... ;-D I thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie of Legolas and his team. Beliond jokes with them! Who knew? And they were dealing with the spiders in a very routine fashion -- until that one almost sneaked up on Legolas. Not a big deal, but somehow it seems that things are slipping just slightly out of control, bit by bit. And this chapter also ended with an underlying current, this time of sadness and regret that the peace is ending -- more so for Ithilden, in a way, than Thranduil, who has seen it happen more times. I can only imagine how disappointing that is, and frightening for anyone who can remember the shadow (i.e. older than Loriel). This is developing into another angsty story, Daw. I'm not sure I can take it after your last one... but I will, as always, eagerly devour each chapter as soon as I know it's posted! - Barbara Author Reply: It was a lot of fun to write about these guys joking among themselves and showing off a little for one another. I don’t get to write that kind of relaxed good time very often. As for the spider that almost dropped down on Legolas, you got exactly what I was aiming for! As in the previous chapter, I wanted to create this sense of a good time that was about to be threatened. Poor Elves. I’m afraid that some fairly tense things are going to happen. But then you knew that.

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