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| Forging Hope by Ellie | 88 Review(s) |
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| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 4/8/2014 |
| Powerfully written. The War of Wrath was wasteful and senseless, and one has to feel for this desolate king in the aftermath of the battle... Not surprised that he's lost most of his memory in the trauma and injury. Interested to see who this woman is, and how long it will take his people to trace him. Author Reply: Thank you very much! The War of Wrath was horrible with so many thousands who had never fought before going to battle for so many years. I know he was not the only one to suffer for his experiences in the war. Thank you so very much for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it very much! | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 4/7/2014 |
| Alas that he does not remember his proper wife save in the color of her hair. I hope he does not break both this woman's heart and his own through his actions. I can certainly appreciate how his rapid healing would astound the Men of the village. Author Reply: At least he does remember her hair color if nothing else. It is interesting what he does and doesn't recall and how he recalls it as well as how it influences his behavior. He really is more damaged than he realizes. His body has healed well, though in spite of everything so that is something in his favor at least. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much! | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 4/7/2014 |
| Wrong brother, of course. And Belegon has apparently never learned either wisdom or restraint. He certainly did not show himself well on that occasion. Author Reply: Definitely the wrong brother, but the poor Elf has such a limited frame of reference. He really is doing the best he can with limited information. Belegon is scared and he lets that rule his behavior, at poor Laureher's expense. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much! | |
| Fiondil | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 4/5/2014 |
| I like his analysis of Finrod's motives for helping Beren with his quest and even be willing to die for him as being partly due to his guilt over his brother and Andreth and their unrequited love. I'd never thought of it in those terms before. Whether it's true or not — and if he ever is reunited with Finrod it would be interesting to hear their conversation on the subject — I think his thinking in these terms will influence how he acts toward Faroniel from now on. Author Reply: I had never before considered this take on Finrod's motives myself until Arafinwe revealed them. It is weird when characters do that. I would love to be a fly on the wall if he ever does meet Finrod again and discuss this with him. It will be interesting to see what influence Arafinwe's thoughts and beliefs will have on him. Thank you so very much for reading and reviewing! I know you are busy and I appreciate it very much! | |
| Fiondil | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 4/5/2014 |
| Belegon is such a jerk. Good thing the other Men in the village stood up to him. Had to laugh over the whole conversation at the cabin. Poor Laurehér and then when he finally understood what they were implying! LOL! Can it get any more embarrassing then that? And then the dream... poor guy, thinking that the hated brother is Olwion, whom he thought he loved. He is one really mixed-up ellon, unable to understand what he's dreaming and coming to so many wrong conclusions because he has so little information to go on. You really want to give him a big hug. Author Reply: He really is a jerk, but he is not alone in his opinions, unfortunately. The conversation in the cabin was uncomfortable for him at best once he realized what was going on. I, too, pity him for his dreams and his wrong conclusions. He really is trying, but it is going rather badly, isn't it? Faroniel is the only one in a position to give the big guy a hug though :-( Thank you so very much for reading and reviewing. I do appreciate it very much! | |
| Fantasia | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 4/3/2014 |
| For some reason, I never read this story, luckily, I decided to read it today. It is very beautiful and sad. Laurehér will have the surprise of his life when he really knows who he is. That he is learning the story of his sons from the mortals' perspective is very significant. I don't think that any Elf can really understand Findataro's importance for humans. And I can help to feel sad about those mortals, even Belegon, which it doesn't excuse him for his actions. Now, Faroniel, it such a tragic character, she is heading to another heartache. Because I don't think that she can avoid to fall in love with her golden lord. Author Reply: Welcome aboard, Fantasia! I'm very glad you decided to read this story :-) I can say that Laurehér is in for many surprises. He is in a rather unique position for learning about his sons, but he has no idea they are his sons and they are the only elves he really gets to learn about by name from the mortals. Faroniel certainly is heading for something as well. Thank you so very much for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it very much! | |
| Twoflower2 | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 3/26/2014 |
| I know this is petty, but I hope that Belegon will be very, very afraid when he realizes whom exactly he gave such a terrible beating. It's nice to see that other villagers are more accepting of Arafinwe. Author Reply: Belegon might well be very very afraid when he realizes to whom he gave such a terrible beating, but first our poor elf must realize for himself who he is. So far, he only has a name for himself but no real sense of identity beyond that. Arafinwe is lucky to have some of the villagers on his side. We'll see how that goes for him as well soon enough. Thank you for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it very much! | |
| Fiondil | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 3/20/2014 |
| The first dream he has and the erroneous conclusions he draws from it are funny but sad at the same time because we know the truth even if he doesn't. The second dream, though, was more telling, though I doubt he understood it any better than the first. Faroniel was wise to imply to the villagers that he was mind-damaged. That should keep him safe for now. Working at the smithy should help as well, allowing him to become familiar with the villagers and they with him. Author Reply: It would feel pretty useless to be a sailor in a forest... Neither dream was very helpful to him if he even fully realizes they were memories and not just dreams. Faroniel does have his best interests at heart, but he has a hard time seeing this. There really is a lot that he does not know. Working in the village will provide him with an education whether he wants it to or not. Thank you so very much for taking the time to read and review. I appreciate it very much! | |
| Twoflower2 | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 3/19/2014 |
| Hi Ellie. I peeked into your page to check if you've posted anything new (loved "Warriors Proud") and here it is! Very, very interesting. A silver-haired beauty saving a warrior does ring a bell, though :) Not that I have anything against this. Otherwise, a refreshingly unusual premise, at least for me. I do wonder about some things. Why is Faroniel silver-haired? I thought it was Teleri hair color, which no human should have. Why does she - a hunter in a primitive settlement - know Quenya, the Latin of that world? And reading about all those soothing embraces, I suspect that soon Arafinwe will have to break her heart explaining her about LACE. I look forward to Arafinwe regaining his memory. It will probably happen when he is ready to come to terms with who he is and what happened to his family and his people. Cheers - Two2 Author Reply: I'm glad you loved "Warriors Proud". I hope you enjoy this story :-) "Warriors Proud" had silver-haired people because they were Galadhrim and since Tolkien never told us what the Galadhrim looked like, I went with Peter Jackson's silver-haired take on them. In "Forging Hope", Faroniel having silver hair is significant. Faroniel is of the folk of Hador Goldenhead among other clans of the edain. There are varying shades of blonde so it stands to reason that at some point platinum or silver blondes would be produced among the clan of Hador. As for the Teleri being silver-haired, Olwe's line is described as having the rare combination of silver hair and blue eyes, but that bloodline (which includes his brothers Elwe and Elmo), is the only group of Teleri described by Tolkien as having silver hair and blue eyes. Arafinwe's wife is the daughter of Olwe. As for Faroniel knowing Quenya and being able to read it... She explains this, I think in chapter 1, talking about how she is of the kin of Andreth who was attested to be a friend of Finrod and his brohter Aicanairo and was beloved of Aicanairo. It stands to reason that knowledge of that elf language which was the native language of Andreth's lover would have been passed down through the generations. You can read what Tolkien had to say about Andreth in "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth" in the HoME book Morgoth's Ring. As for Faroniel being all touchy feely on Arafinwe, some people are just like that and some people are lonely mortals with cute elves trapped in their lives and since they appear to be rather fond of the story of Andreth and Aicanairo... well, you can draw your own conclusions from that. Thank you so very much for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much! | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 3/19/2014 |
| It certainly makes sense that he should learn to sail and to fish, as well as that he should have been apprenticed to Aule in his turn. These are good memories to have returned to him first. Now, to see how the recovery continues. Love the interactions with the smith and the others in the forge. And I do suspect that Faroniel is exaggerating the danger he faces from the villagers a bit so as to keep him bound to her at least for now. Author Reply: Well, the sailing memory was unhelpful to him, but knowing he was apprenticed to Aule was a good thing to recall. As for the villagers at the forge, at least he has been accepted and has a job now. We'll find out soon enough how much Faroniel is exaggerating about the danger he faces. Thank you so very much reading and reviewing. I appreciate it very much! | |