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A Spring of Joy by daw the minstrel	33 Review(s)
Elena Tiriel	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
He had to grasp them by the legs, and the wiry hairs on them crunched under his hands, while the stiff carapaces rattled as he dragged the bodies to the fire. I hate to say this, Daw, but there are some details that I just don't need to know... shiver - Barbara, who's not sure she can finish the chapter -- she keeps wanting to wash her hands... and get that tactile impression out of her mind. Author Reply: Then my work here is done! Sad to say, I sat and thought for a while about what would be extra creepy about touching a giant spider. :-)

Templa Otmena	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
Ack! Sorry about all of the problems with the emailing. I very much doubt that it is you... it will be FanFiction fiddling with something, I guarantee it. I see a glimpse of Fellowship-Legolas a-peeking through here, you must have had, /be/ having ;) so much fun writing about the antics of this very entertaining Home Guard. I adore the fact that Annael is Lieutenant to Legolas' very mature and capable Captain. The familial relations portrayed in this chapter were a joy to read. I remember in a past fic Legolas musing on how Tonduil, as an example, was one of the few 'outside people' in his life who he could be himself around, and that through marriage. I adore the fact that Annael's bond with Legolas is solidified further as being a part of his extended family... oh, and I am very happy for Sinnarn and Emmelin ;) a precious marriage came out of Legolas and Annael's bond there too... or is that the other way around?! They are so very sweet (this being Sinnarn and Emmelin). Whenever you write couply things I get nice little flutterings and so far this fic has been riddled with them... I only wonder how long it will last... It was a pleasant surprise seeing Tynd again and as Sinnarn's bodyguard. The reasoning behind it is excellent and it makes for an even more entertaining Home Guard posse. Legolas calling the (rather) selective shots here was a joy to read and very endearing. Him letting rip and that flight from the Home Guard headquarters was wonderful to read- 'He ran ahead across the grassy area in front of the Home Guard’s headquarters and leapt into a maple that reached to welcome him. Without looking, he knew that Beliond, Sinnarn, and Tynd had jumped too, and he led them south, exhilarating in the powerful spring of the branches beneath his legs and the feel of the wind on his face as he raced along. He barely heard Beliond spit a word that Legolas would never have dared repeat in front of his father and knew that his keeper wanted him to slow down, but he had too much faith in his own ability and was enjoying himself far too much to do it. Besides, he knew without a shadow of doubt that the trees would not let him fall.' /Very/ Elven... and /very/ Beliond. I think that it is great that you are writing this fic now. We have just read of the tragic ascension of Smaug, especially personally for Legolas, and now we see him relaxing (partially) in the woods, made partly possible by the death of said dastardly creature. It is also great to pick up after 'Tangled Web' and you are doing a wonderful job of revealing just how the past ten years have changed people. And the forest. Thranduil revealing that '(h)e had not had much faith that the time of peace in the forest would be very long,' and that he saw it 'only as a moment of sunshine piercing the clouds before the storm burst upon them,' is very tragic foreshadowing. I'm fretting terribly here about what this may mean short-term. Calling Eilian to go scouting South, webbed feet, clever spiders... things are brewing again and the elves won't be liking it. And I cannot wait to read more, another excellent chapter daw :) Take Care and UPDATE SOON! Author Reply: I did indeed love writing all that banter between the guys here. I think that this short time of peace lets them all live more like Wood-elves should be living. So we see Eilian in the settlement and Legolas joking around with his family and friends. Of course the spiders are still there, but they’re a minor problem compared to a dragon, Orcs and Sauron living at Dol Guldur. Somewhere Tolkien writes that Thranduil never did trust that Sauron was gone. I think that may be after the Last Alliance actually. Tolkien says something to the effect that Thranduil’s eyes turned ever to the east because in his heart he believed that Sauron would rise again. I think Thranduil has seen far too much to ever trust that evil is completely gone. I suppose thousands of years of experience might teach you that very sad lesson.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
Ahh. Annael / Legolas. Happily married Sinnarn. Extended family including keepers. On a fine spring day when the trees are sprouting and lickle seedlings are pushing towards the sun. Beliond is endearingly crotchety, Sinnarn and Legolas are joking and betting and leaping through the trees. Why do I know it cannot last? The dark shadow of the webs and the nasty spiders and the revolting eggs - interesting how the Thranduilion bond to the forest tells him where he needs to seek. And I thought Beliond had trained Legolas to keep his attention on what is going on above his head? I note that Tynd didn't bother to add his arrow to the three that pinned that spider. (I like FP's suggestion of gloves, by the way. Seems like the kind of idea that would be popular.) Thranduil's reasons for picking Tynd are good, I think. And he has realised that Sinnarn is grown up and experienced as a warrior. (Although I doubt he likes it. Any more than he likes his little Legolas being grown up.) Eilian's daughter being a day's ride away must be really hard for him to accept. Although, possibly, having Eilian a day's ride away might balance that out a little. I can see why he wants Eilian recalled for this mission - but he must hate having to do it. I hope the exposure to Dol Guldur doesn't send him into depression again - or provide any greater danger. Loriel needs her ada. Who would be Thranduil? So few moments of joy to balance the responsibility and stress. And, just because I haven't mentioned him, I love Ithilden. If anyone can support Thranduil through these next years it will be him. And vice versa. They need each other. Author Reply: LOL. I know. I wrote that whole happy scene with Legolas and his family and friends in the forest mostly to create a mood that I intended to crush with a great big hammer. We authors are cruel, cruel people! If I had to handle spiders, you better believe I’d be wearing gloves! I would think they wouldn’t be good for archers though. Surely they’d decrease their sensitivity to what they were doing? Maybe not. What do I know after all? I suppose they could carry gloves with them. My guess is that Thranduil is not happy at all that his granddaughter is so far away. After all, when Sinnarn was little, he lived right in the palace. And this little girl looks like Thranduil’s dead wife.

songfire	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/12/2005
I was so happy when I saw this story! I love the whole detailed information about the family, please keep on writing! And don't kill Eilian!! You have a gift for inventing original characters that are very likeable - that is rare in fanfiction. And as I am quite fond of Eilian it would be quite distressing to find out he was killed... Author Reply: I’m so glad you like the stories. The thing I enjoy writing about the most is family dynamics, and I’ve gotten pretty carried away creating this complex world for Legolas. I sometimes wonder if anyone who comes on it new will ever be able to sort it out! Writing about Eilian as a father is a lot of fun. I think he’d be a loving if somewhat indulgent father, just as he was that kind of big brother with Legolas. I suspect Celuwen is the one who’d have to keep the little girl in order though! Loriel has her ada wrapped around her little finger.

Manderly	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/11/2005
Ahh, Legolas in action, even if it's against those yucky spiders. It's nice to see the competition between Sinnarn and him. I was afraid that he might have lost some of that playfulness over the years of responsibility. And Beliond is as grouchy as ever, thank goodness. I would really miss his growls if he decides to mellow out. So something is brewing in the south? The news must be so devastating to these elves, especially since they've had a tiny taste of peace. Poor Thranduil, having to send out his son again to face danger. How does he keep his sanity? Please be nice to Eilian and don't let him get hurt. Celuwen and Loriel would not like it. Author Reply: I had fun writing about playful Legolas in this chapter. I’ve often shown him to be pretty serious, but Fellowship!Legolas can mouth off about going to find the sun even in pretty dire conditions. I think he mellowed a little over the years and learned some perspective. That was part of what Tuilinn’s death was supposed to accomplish. As Thranduil said, he learned what mattered and what was just trivia. And at the moment, the spiders are almost in the trivia category. Not quite, of course, but things are much better in Mirkwood than they have ever been in Legolas’s lifetime. The end of this short time of peace is not going to be easy for any of them to accept.

lwarren	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/11/2005
Gee, Legolas is so kind to relieve Annael of his patrol duty for the day...such a selfless gesture by the Captain...I am touched! ;-) I see Beliond's gentle, nurturing nature is still intact, along with his vocabulary! LOL Still, if Legolas insists on doing warp 10 through the trees, he'll have to expect some fallout from his nana. I was glad to see Sinnarn (yet more surprises - he has married Emmalin - a spring of joy indeed!) and his new keeper, Tynd. I'll have to go back and read up on him - I remember the name from other stories. Spiders - ick...double ick. The way they sound, the black blood, the wiry spiney hairs on their legs (shudders), the sneaky one above Legolas. ICK! The battle to rid the forest of said arachnids and their egg sacs was too realistic for me - ick again! Well done! I particularly enjoyed the betting going on between the captain and his nephew. Good practice for orc battles in the future! :-) Finally, the meeting between Ithilden and Thranduil was sad, but inevitable. As usual, Thranduil's connection to his forest is wonderfully portrayed and Ithilden is as responsibly serious as ever (I think I felt the worst for him - to get that glimpse of a peaceful life, only to have it yanked away will really eat at him, I think. Probably at all of them.) So Elian is being called to lead the patrol to check on Dol Guldur (bad daw, to take adar away when that slimeball is around...must start a campaign to bring Celuwen and Loriel to the palace for a looooonng visit with Daeradar Thranduil!) It's wonderful to see all these characters again...and nice to see Legolas having a carefree-for-all in the treetops! Simply great! linda (must make some signs for that campaign...start a petition...I know! a fundraiser...............) Author Reply: Legolas is mostly having a good time in this little interval of peace, and good for him! Tynd is one of those minor OCs that I have around to use when I need them. He was in his last year as a novice when Legolas was in his first, so he was the captain of the novice group that the Easterling snatched Legolas from in "One Year in Mirkwood." And he was in the Eastern Border Patrol when Legolas got assigned there for his first posting. And he was in the Southern Patrol when it went to Dol Guldur with the White Council. So he's been around. Poor Ithilden. He tends to take these things as his personal responsibility, and it must be so discouraging to watch evil go away and then come back again. If you're running a fundraiser, just send the checks to the "daw and Mr. daw go to Hawaii" fund. I'll give you the address!

esamen	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/11/2005
Hello -- Ah, Sinnarn is married to Emmilin and Tynd is assigned as keeper? Wow, things are different. Everybody's grown up . . . Thranduil's decision to send Eilian was a surprise to me. Of course, Eilian is good rational choice, but I thought that Legolas would be the one to go. You mentioned in "A Question of Duty" that Legolas had previous experience with the Nazgul, and I was hoping that this would be the story to give us the details about that encounter. Maybe he'll still go? I can hardly wait to find out. Also, I've been planning to write another review of "Creature of Fire" for a while now, and this seems as good a time as any . . . the more I think about that story, the more I like it. It sets up Legolas beautifully for taking on the mission of the Quest, for the way he has a tender, loving nature and yet is not married. It also sets him up for responding to the call of the sea as he does after the Quest is finished. I am really, really impressed. That was a stroke of genius. It was so sad, though. I did like all the TLC he got in that story. It's always my favorite part. Have a good time writing Chapter Three. I'm waiting! Author Reply: We're quite a way down the road to the Fellowship now, and these characters have seen a lot, so I think they are pretty grown up now, young by elven standards, but grown up. Sinnarn has been the character who's been hardest for me to bring to maturity but I think he's there now. The Battle of Five Armies and all that stuff with escaping Dwarves and Emmelin have all brought that about. I like the idea that there are all these loving people waiting for Legolas in Valinor, including Tuilinn, I hope. But also his mother and Turgon. Now that idea makes me happy!

Brazgirl	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/11/2005
It was good to see Legolas smile again and have some joy with his friends and family. And Beliond did not change a thing! I was surprised as Legolas with the age of Sinnarn's keeper. But Thranduil knows best. Speaking of him, how difficult was for him as a father and a grandfather now to write such a letter. His son is happy and well settled with his family and now will have to 'work' hard again. That's life. And why do I feel you will do something nasty to Eilian??? Why??? Please... he is too handsome. Too nice. Too charming... Nice chapter Daw! Author Reply: I was hoping that Legolas here would look more like Legolas of the Fellowship who goes to "find the sun." And besides, he'd been in such an angsty situation in the last story I wrote that things had to get better! Do something nasty to Eilian? Me? Well, maybe. I need a plot!

The Karenator	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/11/2005
AN: I know it can be hard to sort out the chronology of my stories because I jump around in time when I write them. A list of my stories ordered by Legolas’s age is available if you click on my author page. Gee, was that for me? She Who Has No Idea What's Going On? :>) Legolas as captain of the home guard was fun. The easy relationship between Legolas, Annael, Sinnarn, Beliond and Tynd was so nice to see. The sons (and grandson) of the king are often in an odd position. There's all that pesky protocol. You know they must enjoy simply being able to be themselves. And Legolas was willing to take 'patrol' duty from Anneal on a beautiful spring day. How thoughtful. :>) The spider fight was good. The elves were very methodical and serious, but Legolas and Sinnarn were still able to wager on the number killed. The mood is lighter than before when they knew that Dol Guldur was inhabited by evil. Beliond might act like he thinks they're nuts, but I think he secretly gets a kick out of the younger guys. He probably wonders at times what his son would have been like if he had lived. Poor Beliond. Legolas is good for the stuffy old geezer. The stuffy old geezer is good for Legolas too. So Emmelin and Sinnarn are happily married now. I suppose that aided him in growing up. If it didn't, Annael would jerk a knot in this tail. They seem very happy. My tendency is to feel sorry for Legolas, but he seems fine now. I imagine he is simply happy for his nephew. Thranduil has a bad feeling, huh? Now, why do I have one too? Sending Eilian. Of course, Eilian is the best scout, but I know it's not an easy decision for Thranduil to send his son, and his son is a new ada, off into the dangerous regions of the forest. The southern woods might have been quiet for the last ten years, but Thranduil knows something is up...thus, making them dangerous once again. I love Thranduil's connection to the forest, but like you, I find it hard to wrap my brain around. I guess that's why he's the king and I'm the pot scrubber. Great set up. The tension is steadily rising and life is just too good to last. I'm really looking forward to seeing where you take this. I'm ready for an exciting ride! Karen Author Reply: LOL. I really wasn't thinking of you when I wrote that, Karen. It turns out I confused a lot of people by jumping straight from the arrival of Smaug to the time after he was killed with no stops in between. Even I have to look at my chronology now to see where I am. In some ways, it's really nice that Annael, Sinnarn, and Legolas are all in the same patrol. Along with their bodyguards, they can let down their hair when they're together. And spiders must seem like just a predictable annoyance rather than a sign of growing evil. But really, I love Annael and his family. Anything that lets me write about them makes me happy. I thought that Eilian would still have obligations to the realm, although Thranduil would want him to be home with his family as much as possible. Still, when it came to real problems, I think the king would call on him. Thranduil would probably be hoping it was just a temporary situation. I'm working on the tension. :-)

French Pony	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 5/11/2005
I love it that Annael is Legolas's lieutenant. They're as good a team as Legolas and Eilian, and for much the same reasons. These do seem like good days for Legolas, being able to hang out with his best friend (who is now vaguely related to him) in relative peace, kidding around with friends, family and bodyguards, and honing his skill at keeping track of the enemies he brings down, which will serve him well in the future. Interesting choice of Tynd as the new bodyguard. I imagine that it was a hard job to find volunteers for. Nithron seems to have been the only bodyguard to die in the line of duty, and I'm sure that his death shattered any illusions anyone might have had that bodyguarding wasn't such a dangerous job or that the bodyguards were somehow so old and experienced as to be untouchable. Tynd was very brave to take the job, but from what I see of him here, he strikes me as a generally true-blue, stand-up kind of guy. I shall have to go back and read up on his background, but not until finals are over. The spider battle was nifty -- you could tell that, even though it was dangerous, the Elves had it all in hand. They knew what they were doing, and because of the lack of Orcs, they had the leisure to be able to concentrate and do it well. I sympathize with Legolas not liking to touch spider corpses, but you'd think that in four hundred years of life, he'd hit upon the idea of wearing gloves. I'm also intrigued by the idea that spiders are particularly repulsive, despite the fact that he is generally sympathetic to all of Arda's creatures. Perhaps it's because the spiders aren't quite natural? They're descendants of Ungoliant, I think, and I wonder if there might not have been some genetic engineering going on, like the kind that was used to create the dragons, and that's why Legolas gets the willies around spiders. It seems that Thranduil and Eilian have settled into a happier relationship now that Eilian is out of the house. And everyone who's surprised at Eilian knocking Celuwen up immediately upon seeing baby bunnies, raise your hand. No hands? Well, then. And Thranduil should remember that, just because Eilian mentioned Celuwen's pregnancy a week later doesn't mean he announced it promptly. Author Reply: I've been trying to suggest that Legolas is becoming more like Legolas of the Fellowship as time goes on, so I wanted to show this time of relaxed, joking elfiness, because Legolas has moments like that in LOTR. Not all, of course. Things are pretty grim sometimes there too, and really Tolkien doesn't show us much of Legolas at all. Tynd is one of those handy characters that I have around to use when I need them. He was in his last year as a novice when Legolas was in his first year, and he befriended Legolas when he joined the Eastern Border Patrol as a new warrior. I think you have a good point about the spiders being unnatural. I was using the idea from The Hobbit, where Tolkien says that the spiders were the only living things the elves had no mercy for. That suggested to me that they see them as particularly bitter enemies. I'm sure Eilian greatly enjoyed resourcefully persuading Celuwen to have get pregnant. :-)

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