Reviews (110)

Author's reply

Oh yes, Hithien is still there. And so, I expect, is Calion (whose name I just had to check.) Laerwen could well be quite intimidating - and she wouldn't fit it at all well among the elves of Tirion, but she and Elerrina get on pretty well - helped by their love of a certain blond prince. Eleniel is teetering on the edge of adolescence, I think. Rather sooner than Galenthil who is still a straightforward kid. (As is the way with girls v boys.) But they are both easier elflings than Aewlin and Nimloth, being fairly amenable and responsible. Oropher. I had no intention of even thinking about him at the beginning of this, but he just wanted his g-grandchildren to know about the old days when he was young and happy - before kinslayings and the War of Wrath and the need to defend his new home against the Shadow changed him. It really is time that he was released from the Halls of Mandos, isn't it? He must have come to terms with his feelings of guilt by now. And Thranduil's naneth ought to be around to amuse her descendants by reminding her illustrious son about his childish indiscretions. Well, maybe.

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I think that all the elflings are likely to stay around this age for a bit. There's only so much you can do with infants. They're cute, certainly, but they're now ranging from about 9 - 15, which is a reasonable range. Not too grown up, not too small. And Galenthil is both determined and one-track-minded - with a strong bond to forest and forest creatures. Eleniel would have chosen to get help anyway! These twins are getting to the stage where ellon/elleth begins to make more of a difference - not just in their education but in the way they react to the world round them. I suppose those dratted hormones are starting to flow. And being an elleth, Eleniel's are jumping the gun a bit, while Galenthil is still just happy being a kid. I can see the world of the Valinor Noldor resembling the kind of park set out by Capability Brown in the big stately homes. Beautiful and elegant and manicured, with nothing out of place. Deer permitted if they're pretty and don't munch the wrong plants. Less attractive creatures - remain outside the gates, thank you. Elerrina likes it in the forest. But then Elerrina might like it in the dank depths of Moria as long as Legolas was there with her. Oropher just insisted on making his presence known. I hope he'll settle down again for a bit - the cast of characters is massive as it is. And I'd need to decide what Mrs. Oropher's name was. (Name-finding is probably one of the most difficult things of all.) And I love picturing Thranduil unable to think straight for the distraction of having his wife there - they're as bad as newly-weds. Worse probably, because they know what can happen.

Author's reply

Galenthil is a serious, one-track-minded ellon - and he really wanted to rear this bird. (He's a bit like Elrin, only less harassed - and he doesn't take the problems of the world onto his shoulders.) He is also quite good at getting his sister to do his will - without seeming to! I'm glad you like seeing Thranduil and Laerwen together - and Legolas and Elerrina. Don't want to get too mushy. But Oropher just sort of jumped in and waved his arms - and asked what he had done to get left in Mandos's Halls indefinitely. (Big problem about bringing him in: his wife. She'd need a name. I can spend whole afternoons trying to find a good name. Hours. Longer than it takes to write a story.) And falconry seems a very elven kind of blood sport. The products are acquired as swiftly and painlessly as possible - for the table - and the birds only return to the fist if they want to. I could see Oropher hawking. It's not that I have so much time - I just write fast and obsessively when the words are flowing. And I have some sitting on my hard drive waiting their moment. Like Elflings 6, which has been done for ages, waiting for this one to grow.

Author's reply

Of course! Can't you see that it is their duty to care for it? As responsible Wood Elves? And with falconry, there is always that element of the bird's choice - if they don't want to come back, they just don't. (I remember going to a falconry display in France where the bird just didn't fancy returning when it was supposed to - it was just a tiny dot in the sky, soaring on the thermals. It came when it wanted to. And another time near Salisbury, where the commentator said that sometimes the birds choose to fly to Salisbury Cathedral so they can have a go at reducing the pigeon population and they get indignant phone calls and requests to go and fetch the birds.) I think any pre-industrial society where girls where long frocks is going to assume an automatic division of roles - life is actually quite complicated and no-one has time (not even elves) to learn to do everything well. As the offspring of royalty, Eleniel and Galenthil have both more opportunity to choose what to do and less - Eleniel is expected to know how to run households of hundreds, yet at the same time she can be unconventional, and Galenthil needs the warrior training he will never (hopefully) have to use. Oropher just jumped in there at the end. Maybe he is ready to leave the Halls of Mandos and resume life in the Blessed Realm.

Author's reply

You know, Oropher had no desire to return until about ten minutes before I finished Eleniel's thoughts. And then, bam, out of nowhere . . . . Galenthil is, I think, even closer to the creatures than he is to the trees. And he and his sister are close enough to work together - even if she is not entirely sure of the attraction. They did well in raising the fledgling - but I think Galenthil would have asked for help had it been needed. The hawk has accepted him as a substitute parent though. Elerrina's people are in tune with the natural world to a degree - but they are gardeners rather than foresters: things grow where they want them to be - and rabbits are not welcome to nibble the roses or munch on the carrot tops. But she likes Legolas's way. Mind you, she'd probably like anything that Legolas suggested. The elflings think they're being sneaky, but they've got a lot of people around them with long experience of sneakiness - who are prepared to give them a fair amount of leeway and will only intervene if necessary. And Galenthil and Eleniel are generally a lot more reasonable than Aewlin and Nimloth - (I wish I hadn't called her Nimloth. What if I want to bring Elwing's naneth back?) - and so they can be allowed more freedom.

Author's reply

They are far too young for that sort of thing!! At the moment all they share is a kind of head-shaking bemusement at the insane beings that are Aewlin and Nimloth. Parenthood tends to be a bit of a sobering experience. Legolas is lighter-hearted when he abandons the family and goes out to play with his friends.

Author's reply

I'm not entirely sure, but I think Aewlin got the full experience, whereas what Nimloth saw was less clear and rather more general. Although I might change on that. I think they might suppress the ability for a while - and they certainly won't be playing with magic mirrors for a while, but 'what's bred in the bone, comes out in the flesh' - some of Galadriel's descendants are bound to share some of her talents. And they have other rather intimidating elves among their ancestry, too. Glad you liked it.

Author's reply

Elrin is a good kid - and very responsible. You could say he takes after his mother - but there are other responsible members of the family too. E2L see a lot of Estel in him - though it could be wishful thinking. Aewlin and Nimloth haven't yet quite outgrown the total ruthlessness of early childhood. They are on the verge of improving. And I think they need Anana's help for other reasons, too. Thank you for reading.

Author's reply

Poor Elrohir, indeed. And poor Sirithiel. His daughters will improve, like a good wine, given time. Although they might well end up rather more intimidating than the average elleth. And they didn't MEAN this to happen - which is why the parental reaction softened a little. The trouble with a guard is that 95% of the time he would be so bored that he wouldn't be awake for the necessary 5%. Oh well, it might make the parents feel safer. Until they realise that it hasn't worked.

Author's reply

Yes indeed - a very scary thought. Six parents and five children is definitely too many to keep well organised. They might have to separate for some of these little adventures! I'm glad you think their different personalities showed.

Author's reply

The intelligence of a group is in inverse proportion to the number of members. Isn't there a saying something like that? It strikes me as being VERY TRUE. You only have to look at a political rally or a crowd of pop music fans. Something magical happening was the last thing any of them expected, I think. Except perhaps Aewlin and Nimloth - and they certainly didn't expect a nasty reality to impinge on their fantasy. I think they have learned to avoid the possibility of magic for a while. There are a few more chapters of this vaguely outlined - number 6 is partly written, and I sort of know what 7 will be about, but 5 is still little more than a few words, so more will come - when inspiration strikes. Thank you for reading.

Author's reply

It's a very simplified cast - people like Miriwen's and Sirithiel's parents have names, but I don't think I've ever mentioned them by name. I don't know why I didn't think of it before fael bain pointed it out - I know that I know pretty much who everyone is now (though I would have to look up M and S's parents), but I get confused with other people's worlds. It's funny - it took ages to feel comfortable with some of these names, but now, it's just natural. (Sirithiel was the one I found it hardest to remember at first. I had to write it on a bit of paper in front of me.) And when I was doing Going Forth and recalled that Nimloth was Elwing's mother, I wished I had settled on a different name for little Nimloth - but it's too late to change, because it's just what she is called now. Oh well, c'est la vie!

Author's reply

Terrifying - and they disappear so quickly! E2L are accustomed to protecting things and people - but from outside dangers. I don't think they have quite cottoned on to the fact that they need to watch the children more than the surroundings. Legolas was on watch - but thought, 'Hey, they're asleep, no-one will notice if I go off for a few minutes' - which then turned into half an hour - and by then . . . Elrin couldn't have done much to keep Eleniel from running off - except, I suppose, sitting on her - and he did try to call his adar, but Legolas was in a state of panic. I'm sure he will appreciate Elrin's efforts once he has had time to calm down a little. And learned that you don't leave a kid in charge of a little kid and expect them to do just as told. A truck running over the box playhouse! That must have been a real heart-stopping moment. One of those stories that is amusing in retrospect, but at the time . . . E2L have had quite an easy introduction to Doing Things With The Kids. One little Elrin to three of them - the odds were just about right. Now it's one to one - and you can see the fear in their eyes. Just wait until it's five to three! (Or will they have learned containment techniques by then?)

Author's reply

I'm glad it helps. It's easy to forget that keeping track of loads of OCs can be difficult. I'm happy to expand as necessary - do ask if you want to know more!

Author's reply

Thank you. If there is anything else you want to know, do ask. Lots of the build up is in Reflections. The heading west is in Far Horizons. Some of the background to the decision to sail is in Fallen Rain and Healing. It all happened quite gradually really - (I didn't start with marrying off the most eligible elves!) - but they've all become quite real to me now. (I've even got pictures!)

Author's reply

Good point. This started off as a sideshoot of Reflections from the Paradise of Elves - (as several of my stories did) - where most of these characters, if not all, crept in gradually - so, read in conjunction with that it would make sense. I'll add a prologue that lists who is attached to whom.

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A little bizarre - would the Valar really embrace Take Your Grandchildren to Work Day? But fun to think of. I feel sorry for Earendil and Elwing - they seem to have missed out on a lot of normal life while being saviours of Middle Earth. They deserve to get to know their descendants. And they deserve better than to be the victims of Aewlin's and Nimloth's mischief.

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He is an excellent cousin. He is a typical first-born, really - sensible, earnest, hard-working. He's had masses of adult attention and basked in lots of love and approval - and he is growing up to be very responsible. (Which could start to backfire on him as his cousins grow older!)

Author's reply

Poor lambs. They know their wives keep constant watch on the children, but they haven't quite fathomed why. I think they have a better idea now! The watch is not so much to keep trouble OUT as to confine it. Legolas was panic-stricken - he was a bit sharp with Elladan, who can cope with it, and then he found that Elrin had taken Eleniel away from camp, where they had been told to remain. It turns out to have been a good thing - but it could have made things worse if they had got lost as well. Legolas will make it up to him and agree that he did the best he could under the circumstances - but I think they will all have to have a serious talk about safety. And, if their wives find out the details, I think there might be some serious talk about what it means to supervise small children. Elrin is very level-headed. It helps that he is not a twin, I think. And Miriwen is very sensible.

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They would be, wouldn't they! He could have got a great deal of amusement out of pretending that he would come - but then Galenthil would have been disappointed when he didn't. It's quite hard to imagine Legolas dirty and ungroomed - he's the sort of person who would wake up with every hair in place. Yes - from calm to disaster - and then, often, back to calm - over seconds. I think they will be surprised to find how little time has passed during their moment of crisis. And these adars know they need to watch - they just haven't worked out yet what they are watching FOR. It's not the outside dangers any more - it's the fact that, if they take their eyes off the elflings for a second, someone will climb a cliff, or run off, or decide to do the cooking or light a fire. Legolas was rather panic-stricken - first Galenthil disappeared and then Eleniel wasn't where he left her. He will let Elrin know that he behaved well. He is a very responsible child. (Must be his mother's influence.)

Author's reply

Elladan did break his arm - and the adventure was a lot more frightening than some of the more dangerous activities the twins indulged in later - but the tale was bowdlerised, so as not to scare Elrin. (Although probably a bit of scaring wouldn't do him any harm.) That story started here, actually, but then wanted its own telling. I thought of cutting it, but the balance seemed wrong without it. I suppose there are touches of second sight all over the place - Eleniel with Galenthil, Celebrian with the little twins, E2L foreseeing trouble, maybe. And the reader - who knows rather more about these elflings than their poor parents at this point. Eleniel didn't sense Galenthil until after their fathers had gone off in search of him, because it wasn't until he came round that she could feel him that strongly. And this is the first time they have been out with their adas, so maybe they haven't come across this talent before. Although, given their propensity for trouble, I should think they'll be bound to find it useful in the future. It could lessen, I suppose, as they grow up and away from each other. Poor besotted Elrohir. They are going to wear him down rather before they start to become civilised - but he will still adore them.

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It would be rather great to be able to get to know all your ancestors - and all the kids. And, moreover, they are all in the prime of life with none of them looking over twenty five. It would mean, though, that they would need special names for different generations - great-great-great-grandfather lacks identity. Not a problem for mortals, since the only way to have living g-g-g-grandparents is for people to start reproducing very young. And live. All my great-grandmothers died before they were fifty. Poor Earendil had little experience parenting his own sons - and since then he's been a star. And visiting Elwing in her white tower. It probably hasn't helped his social skills. I hope the family make an effort to keep visiting - he and Elwing could do with it. Thank you for reading!

Author's reply

I hope the twins (Aewlin and Nimloth) pick up the idea that they are getting tiresome soon. There is enough potential for disaster in growing up without deliberate mayhem. 'It's not clever and it's not funny, Nimloth. You are old enough now to show some consideration.' Elrin is old enough to be able to manage them at them moment - but they will soon realise that he is not that much older than them and that he can't really do much to stop them. I feel sorry for Earendil - and Elwing, come to that. They seem to have been left out on a limb rather - elves, but not part of the family in a way. With a task that seems an honour until you think about it. Earendil would have been better off just taking Elrin, but adults with little experience of little monsters really do not realise quite how difficult child-care can be. What would happen if Earendil called in sick? Can anyone put on the Silmaril and fly Vingilot? Or do they just hope it will be a cloudy night and no-one will notice its absence?

Author's reply

Thank you for reading! It must be quite tough on elves to have babies - they can't be that accustomed to the manipulations of killer squirrels! After all, even with fifty years or so of elflinghood, it's a blink in the life of an elf. This bit was written some time ago - but I've a feeling that there are a few more to come. I didn't want them all to go up separately, so will be mashing them into a series of stories under the one heading.

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Aewlin is worse in some ways, because she thinks of the trouble. But they are both rather headstrong. (I wonder what Galadriel was like as a child?) They're not stupid, so they will learn in time, although sometimes the fun is worth the trouble that will follow. I think Elrohir might be a touch soft-hearted in dealing with his daughters - he understands their difficulties too well and neither he nor Sirithiel is prepared to make a stand. It will come, though - they're sevenish in human terms now and what can be cute and mischievous in little kids becomes intolerable in older ones. I think the whole family will be ganging up to bring them into line soon.