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The Tenth Walker  by Lindelea 838 Review(s)
shireboundReviewed Chapter: 38 on 7/9/2009
Oh, I just want to weep right along with them. Thank goodness we know that "the worst" will yet be avoided. What a lovely, tender 'conversation' between these two courageous steeds.

Author Reply: Thank you. I love horses and ponies, even though they vary as much in personality as people do. Bill and Asfaloth are two of the best, of course!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 38 on 7/9/2009
Even Glorfindel and Aragorn are convinced Frodo is dead? Ohhhhhhhh! (SHUDDERING!)

Author Reply: Dead, or worse. (I've thought about that turn of phrase for a long time. Surely they don't think he's already a lesser Shade, but perhaps he's well on the way.)

Thanks!

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 38 on 7/9/2009
What a wrenching scene! Oh, I just want to grab them all and tell them it will be all right!! Poor dears! And Asfaloth's explanation to Bill...just too horrid to think of! Yet we know it's just what Strider and Glorfindel did fear could happen.

Author Reply: Yes, it's amazing the nuances one can comb from the Original when contemplating every word, and not skipping over to get to the joyous awakening.

Thanks!

harrowcatReviewed Chapter: 38 on 7/9/2009
This is a 'wow' of a chapter Lindelea. Ever since i first read the book I have tried to imagine how each of the Fellowship would express their grief over Gandal. Which would be 'cast upon the ground' and which 'standing and silent'. I think that we agree!

Author Reply: Thank you! I admit to being influenced by the scene in the film after the Travellers have left Moria. Somehow the sight of Merry cradling a totally devastated Pippin stayed with me.

Baggins BabeReviewed Chapter: 37 on 7/5/2009
I thought I had reviewed this last week but apparently not. *Smacks forehead*

Heart-breaking to see the grief of the hobbits who believe Frodo dead but I think Aragorn and Glorfindel fear something even worse. I was biting my nails and I know the outcome!

I love Bill's trust in Glorfindel in these chapters - although terrified he finds the courage to believe 'the shining one'and even with everything else going on the Elf remembers Bill and cares for him.

I'm so sorry for Asfaloth who is obviously mortified that Frodo has fallen. I'm looking forward to seeing the great horse and the pony spending some quality time together once they reach Rivendell.

Author Reply: Thank you for coming back and making sure! Somehow reviews seem to grease the writing wheels, and when things get busy (as they have again) it's good to have some extra motivation to write.

You want to hear something funny? At least one Rivendell chapter (interaction between great horse and humble pony) was written many months ago, probably even before they reached Weathertop! I re-read it periodically, and it's still true to the spirit of the rest of the chapters, and happily, it's due to be posted fairly soon, in another two or three chapters' time. Whew! About time!

Thanks again.

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 37 on 6/26/2009
Tolkien occasionally liked to relate key events in conversations held afterwards. Frodo's fall at the fords is one of those times: we only hear about it thirdhand, as Gandalf relates what others have told him to Frodo himself. I know that it's because the writing is all Frodo's POV at this point in the story, but it's a treat, and so much more dramatic, to see it firsthand in this chapter. When we turn the page to "Merry Meetings" he's all better, well, as better as he's going to get. It doesn't come close to conveying the terror and grief that Aragorn and the hobbits must have felt in the mud at the top of the hill. "Dead, or worse." I shudder, just thinking about it. I imagine the hobbits think "dead." Their individual reactions are so poignant, as you have written them. Aragorn and Glorfindel must at least have in the back of their minds "worse." I wonder when they will begin to come to grips with that thought.

Author Reply: Yes, it's been a challenge to take the hints offered in "Flight to the Ford" and "Merry Meetings"--the first rather confused, due to Frodo's failing strength, and the second not so detailed as we might wish, due to Gandalf's not wanting Frodo to overdo--and turn them into a coherent account.

Luckily it's an account seen through the eyes of a pony, which by nature clarifies some elements and confuses others.

I see it the same way; the hobbits are thinking "dead" and the Man and Elf-lord are thinking "worse".

And then as to "carrying [him] slowly towards Rivendell", well, I've had to wrestle with that a bit as well. If I'd put the scene together I'd have had Glorfindel galloping along with Frodo in his arms, but then if they think him dead perhaps they're not so much in a hurry. Still, I think I've come up with a plausible explanation. We'll see how the next chapter flows.

Thanks.

cookiefleckReviewed Chapter: 37 on 6/25/2009
Gripping and heartbreaking chapter.

Author Reply: Thank you.

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 37 on 6/25/2009
To fear so that they have lost him--it must be the greatest grief all seven of those around Frodo's body must know!

Author Reply: Yes, heartbreaking for the hobbits, and for the Man who has come to know and respect Frodo over the last fortnight, and for the Elf-lord who perhaps understands better than any of them just what the shard means for Frodo.

Thanks!

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 37 on 6/25/2009
Oh dear! I'm so glad they will soon realize their grief is premature. But oh, the poor hobbits! *squishes them and pats them and tells them it will be all right*

Author Reply: Yes, poor hobbits. After all their efforts, to think Frodo "dead, or worse"--I rather think it's the hobbits who think he's dead, and Aragorn and Glorfindel who are thinking the worst.

Thanks!

shireboundReviewed Chapter: 37 on 6/25/2009
What a terrible moment for everyone. *sniff*

Author Reply: Poor hobbits. Poor everyone! Things are going to get rather more anxious before they get better, but I'm looking forward to cool sunlight and green grass for Bill, in a manner of speaking.

Thanks!

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