Hikamaru Ryuuzaki · 15 July 2008 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
Really nice story. Loved the explaination of 'smote his ruin'. Keep it up!
Author's reply
Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Smiting Ruin by Thundera Tiger
Reviews (20)
Adrianne · 18 June 2007 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
Hahahahahahahahahahahahah. Brilliant! And funny! Adrianne
Fimbrethil · 26 October 2006 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
Brillant piece of humorous writing. Anytime I need a lift, I read Smiting Ruin and have a good laugh. Keep up the great work.
Lilandriel · 31 March 2006 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
love it! this is so very, very funny!!! u had me chuckling at my screen in the middle of the office!! no doubt i drew some very strange looks, but i didn't dare turn round to find out! right, off to read some more of yours! xx
Fiondil · 19 January 2006 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
I've only recently discovered Stories of Arda thanks to my friends Alassiel and Eruanneth Luin (I've even posted my first story just this month) so I'm still playing catch-up with the many stories that are now available for me to read. Eruanneth kindly burned a number of her favorite stories on a cd for me and this one was one of them. Have you ever tried NOT to laugh in public while eating lunch at the same time? Let me tell you I almost fell out of my chair when I read this story. It is absolutely priceless! I felt so sorry for Gandalf and at the same time couldn't help but wonder if the Three Hunters weren't playing a bit of "payback" on the old wizard. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are almost as bad as hobbits, indulging in inanities while "sitting on the edge of ruin". It's a pity Jackson didn't include THIS scene in the movies. It would've been worth the price of the ticket. And, to borrow a phrase from a completely different movie, it's obvious from this story that even the Crack of Dawn ain't safe around those three!
Beethovens7th · 3 June 2005 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
OMG, this is SO hilarious!!! I LOVE IT!! And if all of your works are as well done as this one, you have a new faithful reader! It is rare that a story has me ACTUALLY laughing out loud, a smile perhaps yes, but i rarely laugh out loud. THIS had me laughing my fool head off! Here are a few of my fave bits. .. "Gandalf felt the beginnings of a large headache. " I can just see it! he reaches up to massage his now aching temples. . "Is futile flailing another of your strange elven customs?" WHAT A PERFECT comback for gimli!! WONDERFUL . I wish i could be that quick with combacks!! The movies are fabulous, but YES there are SO many wonky things that drive me NUTS. I had not really thought about the "smote his ruin" line though. Forever now that bit in the movie will remind me of you and this story and have me chuckling. ( as much as I do when watching pippin being superglued to a flaming bowling ball ) I will also leave a similar review at Mefa, but i thought i'd leave it here as well. Thanks for a great laugh!!! Do it Again!!!! SOON!!!
Author's reply
Many, many thanks! You're really too kind, actually, but I'll certainly take the compliments. ;) Poor Gandalf, though. He had so many murdered lines in the movies. A few good ones, to be sure, but some were so mangled... It took me a few viewings to catch on to this particular line. It always struck me as strange, but I couldn't quite figure out why. Kind of that feeling of knowing something's off but being unable to say exactly what. Anyway, thank you so much for the review! And have fun with the MEFAs. I am. I'm currently exploring the humor subcategories, which makes it VERY fun indeed.
LadyElenmiruial · 8 October 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
Oh, dear, that was wonderful! Definitely a good thing to read between classes at school; it absolutely made my day. They were so serious, and yet so hilarious at the same time. I'm never going to be able to hear that line again without laughing, you know. :) Marvelously done!!
Author's reply
Thank you very much! I'm a huge fan of wry, dead-pan humor, so I wanted to try my hand at it in a fic context and this seemed like the perfect story for that. There's a bit of tongue-in-cheek here, too, I suppose. Anyway, my apologies if I've ruined that part of the movie for you, but I haven't been able to think of it seriously for quite a while and decided that I should have company in my insanity. ;) Thank you for reviewing!
Estel_Mi_Olor · 19 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
That was great! Very witty. That line always did seem rather odd-or out of place I should say. Gandalf does not seem that vengeful-to smite the balrogs ruin upon the mountainside. :) I loved how the Three Hunters debated the quesiton so seriously. You would think it was a matter of life or death. I hope Gandalf's headache feels better. Thanks again for this fic!
Author's reply
You're very welcome, and many thanks for your review! It took me a few viewings to figure out what was wrong with what Gandalf said. It struck me as...wrong, but I didn't understand why for a while. Ah well. Anyway, I can see this as something that the Three Hunters (or Legolas and Gimli, at least) would pick up and debate in all earnestness, though probably not at this point in time. But later on, after the Ring War, I could see Gimli settling down with his pipe and Legolas perching himself on a tree limb with Aragorn off to the side and have a good, long debate about this. Poor Gandalf.
Nightwing · 12 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
I read this and just had to pop back in. That line "smote his ruin upon the mountainside" was one of my favorites from the movie. Very dramatic and it sounded so cool. A bit over the top, but I got a bang out of it. The ensuing discussion was hilarious. Rather Monty Pythonish. Gandalf's mounting frustration and his desire to kill the Three Hunters... I can well understand his desire to get moving and tell them no more of his experiences, or they'd be standing under the trees of Fangorn all day. Another of my favorite movie lines: "I'm starvin'. We ain't had nothin' but maggoty bread for three stinking days!" Not sure we can get much of story out of it, but it always makes me laugh when I hear it.
Author's reply
"Maggoty bread"? Hmm... I'll think about it. Actually, an idea just popped into my head, but give me some time to process and brainstorm it. I might just have to get back to you over that one... Anyway, many thanks for the review! The style I was aiming for was actually more along the lines of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams, but Monty Python works, too! I'm certainly not going to complain. I was a big Flying Circus fan for a while. Mind-numbingly stupid, but oh-so-funny. Glad you liked it, and I'll think about that "maggoty bread."
Nilmandra · 6 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
*snort* I am laughing and would laugh so much harder except I can actually imagine this debate occurring in fanfiction circles! Poor Gandalf. Well, that will teach him to hold his peace until he remembered more of what he had forgotten. :D
Author's reply
LOL! Yeah, I can see a bunch of fans sitting down to ferret out what Gandalf *really* meant with "smote his ruin." That could be fun, actually. Ah well. At least Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas had fun with it!
grumpy · 3 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
Loved this story, got a great laugh out of it, surprised that Gandalf did not throw a dictionary at the three of them, after he figured out the right words that he wanted. Really liked the part about if there was a body of a balrog left after the smiting.
Author's reply
Argh! I should have extended the argument at the end! After the Balrog was smote and ruined, was there anything left for additional smiting? Even if Balrogs leave corpses behind, would there be enough remaining of this one to smite? Grr... Oh well. It's probably better that I left it where it is. It was already getting out of hand. Oh, and you're more than welcome to lob a dictionary at the Three Hunters if you wish to do so. Gandalf would probably thank you afterwards.
elliska · 3 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
Legolas’s frown deepened. "Forgive me, Mithrandir, but did you just say that you ‘smote his ruin’?" "I did." The elf now looked distinctly uncomfortable, but he was his father’s son and his reservations did not prevent him from speaking. This line made me laugh and it just went straight downhill from there. I have read a lot of your stuff and it is all great but this was simply too clever. I about died reading. Great job!
Author's reply
That line and two other lines (all of them narrative lines) gave me the most trouble while writing this fic, so I'm very glad you liked the final version. And thank you very much for the compliments. I'm somewhat proud of this little fic, as inane as it is, but I wasn't sure if anyone else would like it. It's a little off the wall. So thank you very much for your support. It means a lot to me.
Dreamflower · 2 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
*chortle*snicker*wheeze*guffaw* This is an absolute hoot!! It reminds me of some of the arguments on rec.arts.books.tolkien and alt.fan.tolkien. And those are supposedly *serious* arguments that turn into flamewars. *chuckle*snort*wipes eys* At least you didn't bring in whether the Balrog actually had wings or not... I think even JRRT would have had more than a little smile for this one!
Author's reply
Now that you mention it, I'm reminded of a vignette that came out of one of those two groups (I think the former, though I can't be sure) in which Gimli and Legolas stop in the middle of the flight scene during the Mines of Moria to debate about Balrog wings. I wish I could remember where and when I saw that... Huh. Anyway, there was probably some unconscious inspiration out of that. The more I think about it, the more I realize just how similar the two are. Now I'm going to have to hunt it down. Ah well. There are worse things in life. ;) Thanks for reviewing!
daw the minstrel · 2 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
I'm with Gandalf. These three gave me a headache. :-) Cleverly done, TT.
Author's reply
In all fairness to the Three Hunters, Gandalf started it. Kind of. He gave them opportunity, and I think that's got to count for something. Although I'll admit that those three were giving *me* a headache halfway through the writing because they wanted to keep going. In the end, I had to tell them no. It was already too far out of my control!
Sulriel · 2 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
This is wonderful! I love the wordplay and can just see the four of them standing there arguing about it.
Author's reply
Oh yes, in other circumstances. Some of them, anyway. I could definitely see Legolas and Gimli dragging this conversation out when time wasn't as pressing. At this particular moment in time, I don't think they would be that undisciplined, hence the reason this fic is OOC and AU. But in other circumstances, definitely. Glad you liked the wordplay. I had great fun creating it. It's a little bizarre, but it made me smile.
French Pony · 2 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
I am smitten by this. It is very funny. Definitely the sort of conversation to have at 3 a.m. in a dorm room.
Author's reply
*snort* You are smitten, you say? Alas! Let us smite those who smote you and thus caused you to be smitten. In ruin involved, perchance? Oh yes, this is definitely a 3 a.m. dorm room conversation. Which provides for a strange image of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli as frat boys. Ugh! *shivers* Okay, now look what you've done to me! Must...get...image...out...of...head! Argh!
Elena Tiriel · 2 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
Oh, Thundera, this is *so* funny! I had noticed that phrase in the movie, and I'm really delighted that you created such a clever riff on the slightly-off use of the words! Tolkien would have been proud -- remember that scene in The Hobbit when Gandalf first sees Bilbo, and Bilbo keeps using "Good morning!" in different ways? That's what this story reminds me of! I got the biggest laugh out of: "This smiting…did it come about because you threw him down or did he beat the cliffs as he died?" "You think the Balrog smote the mountain in frustration as a gesture of defeat?" Gimli asked. "Is futile flailing another of your strange elven customs?" and also: "Darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell…" Gandalf was not quite above mentioning that he was deliberately leaving parts out. He may yet be a little dazed from being resurrected, but he's still a wily old codger! Great story! Next time you get a sudden urge to write something light, please do grace us with the result! - Barbara
Author's reply
Oh, I LOVE that scene in The Hobbit. Absolutely priceless. One of my favorites, especially since Gandalf sees fit to comment on it and Bilbo gets flustered. I suppose that might justify what the Three Hunters do to him here. Well, if they'd actually done it. But of course Gandalf is Gandalf, which means he'll get the last say regardless of what happens. Many thanks for the comments, and I'll be sure to post whatever light-heartedness comes my way. Thank you again!
docmon · 2 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
LOL How funny! I didn't catch the oddity of the phrase in the movie, and have just started reading the Two Towers. But this is enjoyable regardless. The argument that results between the three is just hilarious!! Priceless Thundera.
Author's reply
Thank you! I didn't catch the phrase in the movies for a while, but after the second or third viewing of the DVD, I thought about what was said and got this crazy mental image of Gandalf jumping up and down on this dead Balrog. I didn't think much of it until Fadagaski reminded me about it, and then...well, you see what happened next. Glad you liked it!
Le Rouret · 2 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
Bloody brilliant! You had me sniggering through the whole thing. May I send the link to my father? He'd get a royal kick out of it!
Author's reply
Be my guest! I'm definitely glad you liked it. My sense of humor is somewhat dry and I love word plays a little too much for my own good, so I wasn't sure if anyone else would like it.
fadagaski · 2 September 2004 · Chapter 1: Smiting Ruin
Fear me! For I am the instigator of inane fics! Mwahaha!
Author's reply
Oh, don't worry about that. I fear you!