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| Duty Bound by Bodkin | 19 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/15/2006 |
| Quite a proper ending, I think--the brief reminder that even in death Boromir son of Denethor did not return to lie by the wife so briefly known, the son he never saw. Instead the Sea accepted him at the last, and Ulmo saw to the disposition of his body. Alas that only in sad memory and imagination could he hold the wife so unexpected and loved not as much as yet as either deserved. Beautiful story, Bodkin. Author Reply: Boromir and Emeldis were, I think, growing to love and trust each other - and both took delight in the growth of their child (although Emeldis was undoubtedly fractious and nervous!) And it would have been a great affront to Boromir that he was unable to protect his wife and child against an enemy he could not see. He didn't return to the cold stone of the Silent Street - and his end was probably more suited to the man he was. He would have made a good father, though. I think his relationship with the hobbits (and his brother) shows that. Thank you. | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/14/2006 |
| The idea that Finduilas died of cancer amid rumors that she died in childbirth is nicely done. One can see how word of a possible third pregnancy might spread, how Finduilas herself might have believed that she had a baby inside her instead of a tumor. But this current disease -- odd that it kills young adults but spares the elderly. Usually, disease attacks the children and the elderly, but spares adults. Perhaps this sickness is not entirely natural, especially given who lives next door to Gondor. But no matter how natural or unnatural the illness itself is, the way it got into the Citadel was entirely believable. A kitchen maid that no one cares about, handling food while sick, food that gets served to a pregnant lady who's somewhat delicate anyway. . . the perfect recipe for disaster. Author Reply: Thank you! I can see Denethor slamming down the shutters when Finduilas died and refusing to talk about her to anyone. The disease - I remember watching a TV programme about the 1918-19 Spanish flu epidemic that said that older people were more resistant because it resembled and epidemic that had been around in the 1880s. But it is also likely that Sauron could well have been seeding illness - isn't there some suggestion that he sent plagues through Eriador? And with so many of illneses, it doesn't matter how much you try to keep them out, as long as people need food and laundry and servants and guards and night-soil removers there are going to be ways for disease to spread. | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/14/2006 |
| What a heartbreaking AU - beautifully told, of course. No wonder poor Boromir was in no hurry to marry after losing his wife and child so sadly. And I assume that Imrahil's lady would soon follow. Wahhhhh. Nasty plague. (Raksha goes off to hug her dogs) Author Reply: I was intending to kill off Almiriel at the same time, but she insisted on surviving. But I think she is likely to be delicate from now on. Boromir had grown to love Emeldis, I think, and look forward to his child's arrival with joy. And he would have felt he had failed, too - even though he was in no better position than anyone else to protect her from illness. He would not willingly have remarried. Not for a long time, anyway. While Denethor has now, I suspect, become rather too enamoured of a spherical object to be quite as much on the case as he was. And it had to have a sad end - poor Boromir wasn't a loving husband and the proud father of a dozen kids. (Should I be sorry you want to go and hug your dogs? Or pleased to have had that effect!) | |
| mirthor | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/14/2006 |
| Beautiful. Author Reply: Thank you. | |
| Jay of Lasgalen | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/14/2006 |
| Poor Emeldis. Poor Boromir. And poor unnamed child. The fever sweeping the city added another dimension to the tension of this story - and at least it proved me wrong over the cause of Emeldis's death. I do hope that Imrahil's wife survived - I don't recall any mention of her in canon. A beautiful, very sad tale. Jay Author Reply: It had to have a sad ending. Poor Boromir - he would have made, I think, a good father. (I hope Emeldis and the child were waiting for him in whatever afterlife he found.) Minas Tirith must have been a wonderful environment for spreading disease. And closing the gates between the levels wouldn't really have been very effective - the city would have collapsed without people passing between the levels. Imrahil's wife survived this, but I think she was weakened by it. And didn't live (my version) until the Ring War. She's not mentioned in canon, I think, but then so few women are - yet they must have existed! Thank you. | |
| Lianna | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/14/2006 |
| Very realistic. Unfortunately. It's hard for us, today, to imagine what it must have been like for communities to face sudden and devastating epidemics against which they were utterly helpless. Nothing like this has happened since the 1918 flu, really. But throughout most of human history, it was commonplace. Thanks for reminding us, even though it was a very brutal reminder. Author Reply: Cities are breeding grounds for epidemics, too. All those people so close together - and, for much of history, without proper drainage. I'm thinking 1848(?) cholera epidemic in London, where Dr Snow(?) removed the pump handle in Broad Street and stopped the spread. And then I remember a TV programme that said that older people withstood the 1918 flu better, probably because of immunity built up during a similar epidemic in the 1880s. Boromir would have fought it if he could - but he didn't have the weapons. Losing a young wife and baby would, I think, account for why he remained unmarried, when it's obvious that his house needed to produce heirs if it was to continue to guide Gondor through the difficult years ahead. Fingers crossed for an eventual reunion in whatever afterlife they attain. (Not that I intend to document it!) | |
| Kitty | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/14/2006 |
| *sigh* I had known it, something was about to happen to mother and child *sniff* Poor Boromir, how hard for him to stay away, not being able to get to his wife, to see her at least one last time, to hold his son. I am glad at least Imrahil's wife was with Emeldís, so she wasn't alone, for *Denethor* would've been the last of the family to care for her. Wel, I suppose that was the end of it - even if Denethor decided to marry off his son another time, I doubt Boromir would have agreed easily. He may not have known Emeldís in the beginning, but I think he had truly begun to love her, tried his best to understand her, even if the moods of a pregnant wife are a bit beyond his experiences. And that he was not at her side in the end was probably even worse for him. Somehow I suppose he didn't want to repeat this. The end was touching. All this cold stone seems so ... cold and impersonal, and I am glad Boromir felt that, too. Author Reply: They couldn't live, really, not and have the Boromir of the Fellowship ride to Rivendell. I think Boromir is a natural protector - of Faramir, of the hobbits - and he would have found it very hard not to be able to protect his wife and child. But the guard was right - even the Steward's heir doesn't know how to protect them from disease. Imrahil's wife was very much needed as a mother-substitute here - but the illness has left her frail and I'm not sure how many more years she lived. Denethor is at the beginning, I think, of his love affair with the Palantir and is perhaps slightly less aware of dynastic concerns - otherwise he might well have realised that a dozen proud grandsons might offer an excellent shield against certain scruffy Rangers of the north. And Boromir would certainly have refused to marry again at the time - I reckon it would probably take him a decade or so before his resistance could be overcome. And Denethor might not have wanted Faramir's sons muddying the waters. And, of course, Boromir did not return to Rath Dinen. Not even in death. | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/14/2006 |
| Oh this is so sad. Everyone is so helpless. Poor mother, unable to protect her child. Poor baby, born into a world where he should have been loved and granted only a few breaths. Poor Boromir. Author Reply: It had to have a sad ending, really. Poor Boromir can't be happy. I do feel for Emeldis and the child - and, although the marriage was wished on Boromir, I can see that he would be very protective of both of them and love them, perhaps, even more once they were taken from him. And refuse to marry again. At least until after Denethor had become too obsessed with other things to insist on it. | |
| Lady Bluejay | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/14/2006 |
| Not the usual happy ending. Sad for Boromir, but it must have happened a lot in those days. LBJ Author Reply: No - it couldn't have a happy ending, really. Boromir clearly wasn't a husband and the father of a happy brood when he rode to Rivendell. You're right - it must have happened a lot. Less, probably, at Boromir's level of society, but even then... And cities are excellent places for disease to spread. | |