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| Holding Back the Flood by shirebound | 25 Review(s) |
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| AspenJules | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 11/8/2009 |
| Great chapter, Janet, and so much fun! I think my favorite thing though is the contrast between how Boromir found himself quite at home and at ease with the Elven warriors, who might have been quite disconcerting and overwhelming, and then found himself totally lost and at sea when confronted by the hobbits, who one might be tempted to underestimate. Capped off by Aragorn's advice to him at the end, a brilliantly crafted chapter! Well done!! (And too funny!) Author Reply: Thank you! Boromir probably thought he could handle any situation, but leave it to hobbits to make him sputter and founder. What fun. | |
| lbilover | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 11/8/2009 |
| Oh, I'm very glad Boromir decided to enter the story! Although I could feel his head whirling, lol, poor man. And aww, I'm just loving Gimli more and more. This totally cracked me up: “As you know, over the past few days someone took it upon himself to strip the House of every ornamental tree and pile them on top of me.” *g* I love every bit of the interaction among the Fellowship, and I hope it will continue for many more chapters! Author Reply: Oh, thank you so much! I think the hobbits are so endearing and open-hearted that Legolas and Gimli -- who might speak more formally in other company -- would be more relaxed and comfortable joking around among them. | |
| Estelcontar | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 11/7/2009 |
| A most delightful and enjoyable chapter. Trust Pippin to confuse Boromir most thoroughly. The 'foot hair in a frazzle' just made my day. LOL Author Reply: I'm glad this chapter gave you LOLs! Warriors are skilled in many things, but Pip-speak isn't necessarily one of them. | |
| Grey Wonderer | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 11/7/2009 |
| LOLOLOL Poor Boromir! Getting the story from Pippin of all folks. Loved this: (“If anything Sam does or says displeases me, cousin,” Frodo said calmly, “I will let him know.” ) I doubt Sam could ever displease Frodo. : ) Author Reply: And here Boromir was probably anticipating a calm, peaceful afternoon. :) Awwww, thanks for highlighting that line! It's one of my favorites. | |
| Ainu Laire | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 11/7/2009 |
| Oh, poor Boromir! He's so confused. I really like your characterization of him; he is very likeable. I absolutely love your Gimli- love love love him! His matter of fact-ness and gruff care of the elf is absolutely wonderful. One minor critique- the likelihood of there being a language barrier between Boromir and the elves of Rivendell is very unprobable- indeed, I'd say impossible. All Elves that appear in the text of LOTR use Sindarin for daily use (if they are not speaking Westron instead), and Minas Tirith has many cases of usage of Sindarin by common people- calling Pippin the Ernil i Pheriannath, for instance. Tolkien mentions that Sindarin was spoken by few in Gondor by LOTR, but those that did dwelt primarily in Dol Amroth and Minas Tirith. Considering Boromir's heritage (mum from Dol Amroth), not to mention that he was heir to the rule of Gondor, he would have most certainly been fluent in Sindarin, learning it at a very young age and keeping up with it through his adult years (since Minas Tirith and Dol Amroth were very much bilingual cities). While the Rivendell tongue would certainly have its own accent and its own "slang", just like I can understand British English and most of its inferences, Boromir would be able to as well. Lorien Sindarin is interesting- Frodo could not understand it (as stated by Tolkien), but he has not spoken it like a second language, only studied it. He is like me to Spanish- he can understand relatively well one accent, but when it comes to another (for me, European Spanish), it sounds like gibberish, though the sounds are familiar. I would think that Boromir, in that instance, would understand it a little bit less- think about a really, really heavy Scottish or Irish accent. If spoken too quickly he may not catch it all, but he would understand the gist of it (if you ever decide to write a Lorien fic that includes this as a plot point, hehe). Aragorn would understand it more, considering his own background, and Legolas likely the best, since Mirkwood likely had both Silvan and Sindarin as languages (and considering Lorien's language heritage). His knowledge of Quenya was likely much more sketchy- Faramir would certainly be more fluent there- but Tolkien refers to Quenya as the 'elven Latin', and so it would not be spoken often. ... yea, did I ever mention I was a language geek? XD I still enjoyed the chapter, of course, I just thought you'd like to know about the above for future reference ^^ Author Reply: Geek away! I appreciate your comments. For my assumption of a language barrier, I was remembering that the Rangers Sam and Frodo met in Ithilien had never met Elves; and that Boromir had to go to Denethor to ask what the riddle's mention of 'Imladris' meant. I felt that Boromir, spending his life as a warrior, might not have been as versed in lore and languages as his brother. Glad you enjoyed the chapter! :) | |
| Aiwen | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 11/7/2009 |
| I can't help but feel sympathy for Boromir here. It IS all very confusing, especially when explained by Pippin. Author Reply: Yes it is! Boromir will just have to learn 'hobbitspeak' in addition to Elvish. :) | |
| Antane | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 11/7/2009 |
| Glad to see another chapter up! Like mention of Faramir, a hobbity man if there was one. Poor Boromir though - so much has happened and he missed everything and is quite at a loss. Love Pippin's chatter to him. I had a lot of trouble myself telling Pippin and Merry apart from the movies for a long time so I'm glad I'm not the only one! :) Love also the hobbity idea of calling the journey to Mordor a 'walking party' - would that we could also carry ourselves so lightly. Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: I do think a young hobbit would be naturally bubbly, and eager to be the one to 'explain' things to Boromir. And luckily for Boromir, he'll have a lot of time on the journey to learn to interpret Pippin's chatter! Bless the Professor, for bringing us hobbits. They're very special. Thank you! :) | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 11/7/2009 |
| Poor Boromir! To return from his patrol just in time to get barraged with an avalanche of Pippish, LOL! Really, his confusion was a lot of fun, as *WE* of course know all that happened, and can laugh at the garbled attempts to explain it all to him! A wonderful chapter, I love the way you've portrayed Boromir here! You show he still has his pride as the son of the Steward (as he muses on riding into Minas Tirith) yet you also show his concern for the hobbits and his respect for Aragorn. I really liked this chapter a lot! Author Reply: Oh thank you, I appreciate that. I don't think Boromir ever loses sight of who he is, versus his uncertain role among all these varied folk. LOL, there really is no defense against a concerted barrage of Pippish, as Boromir is just finding out. | |
| cookiefleck | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 11/7/2009 |
| Poor Boromir, having to suffer through so many interruptions and incomplete responses. I enjoyed the part where he spots the group and then realizes something is not quite right as he notices the bandages, etc. (I'm glad that you haven't rushed Sam through his healing process.) And, of course, the final conversation between Aragorn and Boromir brought a chuckle. Author Reply: Poor Boromir no doubt thought he could handle anything... up to now. Sam might have wanted to rush the healing so he could get back to tending his master, but the healers -- and Frodo -- are having none of it. He's just had to endure more coddling and pampering than he's used to! So glad you're enjoying the story. :) | |
| Inzilbeth | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 11/7/2009 |
| Oh that was a lovely, fun chapter, Shirebound, especially the scene that greeted Boromir as he walked towards the gathering. I wonder what was going through his mind at that point! The poor man realy does have a lot of catching up to do where Hobbit's are concerned! Author Reply: Thank you! That whole scene was so implausible, it couldn't have really registered at first. Our warrior has never met a force quite like hobbits, that's for certain. :) | |