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| Sweet Woodbine by Bodkin | 15 Review(s) |
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| Lyn | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/17/2006 |
| Beautiful! Just one comment on a typographical error: where it would remained preserved until the world is remade. Should be: where it would remain preserved until the world is remade. I don't usually like any romance in stories, but this one has a certain feeling which is satisfying. Thank you! Author Reply: Thank you. I took a long time to step back to Legolas's early days in the Blessed Realm and look at what he did and his growing interest in his wife. Perhaps the romance works because its culmination has already been settled. Maybe. Thank you for the typo information. It doesn't seem to matter how carefully you reread, there is always something that gets past you! | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/17/2006 |
| The scene with Haldir was painful, I thought. Legolas must feel the slights as much as Haldir does, but he has a sense of purpose and he does what he believes his duty requires. Still Haldir's scorn has to sting. I'm glad some sort of understanding seems to have been reached there. Understanding with Elerrina is a bit further away, it would seem. Author Reply: The more you think about the situation the more complex it becomes. Looked at from one point of view, it's simple enough, but elves are definitely not simple. Legolas needs to be seen as a figure of authority in the councils of the great - but he also needs to be seen as an elf in touch with his roots. Probably easier with the elves of Lasgalen than with the Galadhrim anyway - after all, he is only one of them in a peripheral way. I'm surprised the poor ellon survived this time, actually. Every time I think about it, it gets worse. Haldir is devoted to Celeborn, I think. And, put in those terms, he will do what he must. I think he might need some training to make him an effective negotiator, though. Legolas and Elerrina are attracted. But the barriers between them are huge - and they are both far too responsible to consider the world well lost for love. | |
| Lianna | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/17/2006 |
| I like the contrast between Haldir and Legolas here. Haldir really is what Legolas claims to be -- a soldier, not a political leader. But Legolas has more experience than he realizes -- from Ithilien, where he must have been the liaison between his little colony and all the peoples of the south -- and from Mirkwood, where he could hardly have avoided being his father's representative on those occasions when Thranduil needed to be in two places at once. It's so sad, though, to see Elerrina and Legolas realize that a) they were made for each other, and b) it's impossible. I can't wait to see how they deal with that in the long years to come. Author Reply: Legolas must feel a simple warrior - lacking in political experience and statesman-like wisdom - when confronted with Finarfin and Olwe, but he is a king's son. He has absorbed lessons in leadership from his elfling days - but he's now moved in among the big boys. Haldir - well, I suppose he has had some small authority in leading patrols and groups of warriors, but he has a long way to go before he is ready for the task that confronts Legolas. But he is needed - there is a space for someone to direct that group of elves and Haldir will fit into it. And he will do it - for Celeborn, if for no other reason. The more I think about Elerrina and Legolas, the more surprised I am that they could ever hope to overcome the gap between them. And they are both dutiful people - prepared to restrain their own desires for what they see as the greater good. | |
| Fire | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/17/2006 |
| This is very interessting to read. So Legolas gets Haldir to do some of the work among the Galadhrim, well he sure should be able to control the rable... Nice to read that Ellerina is findng it harder to stay away :) I just love the fact that you finally came around to writing more of Legolas' first years in the Blessed Realm.... Although to him at this point it's not so Blessed after al. Too much politics and looking down on Woodelves, and an elleth whose father thinks he's even less favorable than a dwarf... (though we like them.. don't we?) Author Reply: Thank you. There aren't very many named Galadhrim (as far as I know), so Haldir often ends up with unexpected levels of responsibility! It is a very difficult task, settling a new group of people in a different place. In some ways, small groups cause less alarm - but it is only natural that new arrivals should want to gather where they have kin. Getting Haldir to take authority is probably going to be a help. Elerrina and Legolas are just attracted - but they do know that any relationship between them is close to impossible for reasons both personal and political. It will not be easy to move past the barriers. I did avoid this story for a long time - but anyone who reads my other stuff knows the outcome here, so there didn't seem much point any longer. Elves are complicated people - politics and disputes and ancient resentments are going to be part of their lives wherever they are. Stir them up and see what happens! We wouldn't want Legolas to get bored while he waits for his father to take ship. I'm glad you're finding it interesting. | |
| Jay of Lasgalen | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/17/2006 |
| Poor Legolas. The Blessed Realm is not proving as blessed as he must have hoped. Dealing with politics, and treading a delicate balance between impressing those who need to be impressed, without losing the regard of the wood-elves must be hard. All this, and then falling in love with the one elleth he can't have (yet). He's not just a simple warrior, though. As his father's son he has surely sat through many council meetings, taken Thranduil's place at times, and negotiated trade terms with the people of Esgaroth. He's better at this than he thinks. Author Reply: Poor Legolas, indeed. And yet, would he really want to have nothing to do? I think his biggest problem has to be that his people are so scattered. He has to be everywhere and get on with everyone in order to help them - and yet they will not appreciate seeing him as a Noldor lackey. Falling for Elerrina will - well, I can see that in some ways it might help his cause, but in far more ways it will just make things worse. All round. And then, of course, she feels much the same way about him. Attracted, but only too aware how impossible the relationship would be. Yes, I think Legolas has some experience of both ruling and negotiation - to an extent as his father's son and also in Ithilien, but he had to defer to his father's decisions in the one case and he was only in Ithilien for about a century. He is dealing, in Finarfin's case, with someone who has been king for 7000 years. Longer with Olwe and Ingwe. However much he has learned since he was at his father's knee, he has a long way to go to reach their level. Fortunately, he has their goodwill. (And the support of Galadriel. Probably helpful.) And he is working in a land where they take 144 years to be one. But it'll all work out all right in the end! | |