Reviews (214)

Author's reply

Thank you - I'm so pleased you liked it. Arwen was a strong character, capable of making uncomfortable decisions for reasons that were important - and I was feeling a little impatient with wimpish/unnecessary Arwen stories when I started. She clearly accepted her role in these events - long before Aragorn was born, I suspect - and the love she and Aragorn shared was a reward. And I was unable to resist offering not only a reunion with him, but also with Elrond and the rest of her family. Although when you start thinking about a place without time, it really does begin to make your head spin!

Author's reply

The absence of time - the idea makes your head spin when you try to think about it! But it has a sort of logic - beyond the end of days, and all that sort of thing. And if there is no time, then people wouldn't arrive in a linear way... And that's when you have to stop thinking! I'm glad you liked it as an ending - although it now has me thinking about how the elves would have felt after who-knows-how-many ages of life in the Blessed Realm. Would they have been worn and drained? How long would it have taken them to recover? Or wouldn't it work like that? Head spinning!! Thank you, Perelleth. On the run? Sounds worrying - I hope you have your keeper with you!

Author's reply

You wouldn't know you had post-it notes on your forehead unless you looked in a mirror though. And then you would have to write back to front on them, like on the front of some vans. And SECNALUBMA. And on a totally random note, I am told that when I started writing aged 5, I mirror-wrote. The whole idea of no time does tend to make your head spin if you do more than touch the edges of it - but it has a sort of logic to it. And how could I resist the urge to reunite Arwen with her elven family as well as Aragorn. I wasn't at all sure about this bit - it is the section that had me wavering weeks ago. The rest of the story was sort of inevitable, but this is speculative - which is why it ended up as an epilogue. Thank you, Dot. I am glad you liked the Arwen of this story - I did want to show her as strong and wise and dedicated, like her adar. And with the courage to see through something that would have been very difficult for her, despite her love for Aragorn.

Author's reply

Thank you - I am glad you liked the end. I am too soft not to want to make clear that, in time, Elrond and his daughter - and Estel - were reunited. I shall miss writing this story!

Author's reply

The whole concept of timelessness made my head spin - I could empathise with Arwen! I could not resist the desire to reunite those who had missed each other and yet still carried on to do what they must. Thank you for reading!

Author's reply

I think there was a greater possibility that Elladan could have chosen mortality - he seems to me to be the twin who was closer to Men - but his love of his brother would not have let him take that path unless he had found a true love, and even then I think he would have been torn. Elrohir has always wanted to sail west and see his mother healed and happy. They have a long wait - goodness knows how many ages - but they will be reunited at the end of days.

Author's reply

I have a suspicion that Aragorn's view of the Gift might be slightly coloured by having been raised elvish. And, of course, by his worry about Arwen and how she would deal with it. But Faramir is a man of such clear sight and pure heart that I reckon he would understand the freedom it offered - and his reaction would open Arwen's eyes to a different understanding. Thank you. I am glad you liked it.

Author's reply

I started this because I felt that Arwen got a bit of a raw deal most of the time and I wanted to show her as strong and wise and loving. The last part was hard to do - so many of Tolkien's endings are the beginnings of other stories, which is what makes his world such a delight. I could not resist the final reunion beyond the end of days - but even that is the beginning of something else. Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed this enough to read it all through in one go!

Author's reply

Glorfindel doesn't want the twins to get above themselves! It must be hard in elven society, where there is no automatic passing on of responsibility from one generation to the next. Elrond and Arwen know what must be done - and probably have a far better idea of the cost than any of the others. Aragorn has been far too involved in getting to this point - but I imagine he will be bathed in guilt once he begins to think about it all. It can't be easy to get the prospective king looking the part - I don't imagine he had much left of the pack he took from Rivendell and I doubt that was packed with coronations in mind. And, with all the battles, and stresses dealing with the injured and burying/burning the dead and clearing up the worst of the damage, it would take a very comprehensive viewpoint to get someone stitching suitable garments for a returned king. (I think Faramir is probably up to the task! Especially with the aid of a certain pair of foster brothers.)

Author's reply

Thank you. I started writing this because I was feeling tired of wimpy nonentity Arwen - and wanted to present her as a strong, wise and experienced character who made her own decisions! Galadriel knows what is coming, I think, but Celeborn finds the idea hard to accept at the moment - he has lost his daughter and doesn't want to lose his granddaughter to an even more difficult division. And the twins are always good value! I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Author's reply

The end of all things - but the beginning of more? I'm now wondering what they would all do in their timeless paradise where all are reunited. Epilogue of the Epilogue? Not if I can help it! But you never know - this is all so addictive. It's taken me longer to finish than any other story yet - I can't believe it's been going for about eight months. That's nearly a pregnancy! I couldn't resist a happy reunion. I wanted Arwen and Estel to find each other, but I also - very much - wanted Elrond to find those he has lost over his life. Thank you, Karen. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Author's reply

It was probably predictable. I'm a sucker for happy endings - and Beyond the Bounds of Time probably presages this. But still! Elrond and Arwen are reunited and the different life spans of men and elves no longer matters - and has also brought Estel back into the heart of his elven family. Thank you. I am glad you liked it.

Author's reply

You're quite right! It must seem remarkably liberating not to have to worry about time - especially for elves, whose immortality could, I suspect, weigh very heavily over the millennia. I do find that thinking about a complete absence of time makes your head spin after a bit - it's such a very strange concept. I'm sorry this story is over. It's taken longer to finish than any other story I've written so far. (Although it won't hold the record for long. I must finish Ripe for Change.) I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!

Author's reply

I am such a sucker for a happy ending - I couldn't bring myself to abandon the final reunion beyond the circles of the world. And thinking about a place without time really makes your head spin after a while, but they would all be together. The intervening period, though, might still have seemed a long time to her elven kin. Thank you, Elliska! I shall miss this story, too. It's been going on since last April - that's the longest I've spent on a story yet.

Author's reply

Thank you, Jay. In fact, the Gift of Men becomes a true gift if you pass into a timeless existence where all are reunited - and you end up feeling sorry for elves, whose immortality has, at times, seemed such a good thing. But they have to endure until the end of Arda - which could be dozens of long ages. How would they feel when they passed beyond the circles of the world to meet all those bright, refreshed, Secondborn? How would the races perception of each other alter? Would the Secondborn seem favoured above the Firstborn? Or wouldn't it matter now? But I was so happy to reunite Arwen with her naneth and adar. Not, of course, to mention the twins!

Author's reply

Thank you. It made me much happier to picture them reuniting in a place where all divisions ceased to matter. I'm glad you liked it - and this is a bunch of people who deserved to be happy. Although then you start to think - what would they do in a tranquil, timeless eternity?

Author's reply

I tried thinking about moving from time to no-time - and it made my brain hurt! It is a very odd concept. But if there is no time, then surely people wouldn't arrive chronologically but would all just be there - and it is a very reassuring thought. Thank you, Bejai. I couldn't resist reuniting everyone after so much angst along the way - and, if ever there was a bunch of people who deserved to be rewarded... I enjoyed writing this - it started as a reaction to wimpy Arwen, but grew. As is the way of these things!

Author's reply

Thank you! I am far too soft-hearted to leave them divided for ever - I couldn't help myself when it came to reuniting them. Although I am left wonder just how many long ages the elves endured before the world was remade. It could have been a long wait!

Author's reply

Thank you for reading it! I am so glad you enjoyed the story. And I am such a sucker for a happy ending - I couldn't bring myself to leave them all grieving! I shall miss this now it's over!

Author's reply

I think, without going back to check, that Arwen tells Celeborn right back in chapter 1 that Celebrian and she knew that she would never sail... although that could just be that she knew she wouldn't. But it does come somewhere. But the parallels between mother and daughter - and the differences - are really flagging up now! (It's really irritating when thoughts occur after you've written something!) However much in despair Arwen was at Aragorn's passing - and I think it might have surprised her: after all, she knew it was coming and probably thought she was as prepared as she could be - she must have thought of how her family would respond to her pain. She had seen how her brothers reacted to their feelings of guilt and helplessness and she would have gone out of her way to try to see that they managed to deal with her passing. She is a strong and compassionate - and wise - character, and I'm sure that she would have suppressed her need for solitude long enough to console those she had to leave. I think Eldarion and his sisters might have dealt with it better once life began to move on in Gondor. They are, after all, mortal and aging. They understand the gift better than the twins ever can, simply because of their natures. The twins could have sunk into bitterness - possibly the bitterness of mortality would affect them more than those subject to it. Arwen's undeniable happiness and acceptance would have sweetened the pill and perhaps opened the door a little for them to look through, but I think that, in the aftermath, they would have been resentful and perhaps needed the remaining time they spent east of the sea in order to come to terms with her loss. With what Curaniel had to say, and Glorfindel's insight - together with (I hope) what they have learned in the west - Elrond and Celebrian might have been reassured that Arwen embraced her fate with love and faith. I am sure they were relieved that she was not clinging to her earthbound existence for fear of taking that last step. Mostly, after posting something, I try not to think too much about it - it's just too frustrating coming up with a whole lot of new ideas. But this chapter is hanging on. Not surprising, I suppose, given its subject matter. I find being haunted by thought after I've gone to bed is the worst. When either I have to get up and write them down, or know I'll have forgotten them in the morning. I had to keep repeating the 'Do not leave...' line for about 20 minutes driving home, too, so I would be sure to remember that when I got home! Thank you, Dot. It's fun going into some of the things you think along the way.

Author's reply

Now, making people cry should be a bad thing! I really didn't want Aragorn's end to be quite as arbitrary as it seemed in the Appendix - I don't feel that the Aragorn who lives in my head would be that cold - his decision to pass has to be for a reason. And it must be shattering for the twins, because they know they are losing not only their foster brother, but that his death signals their sister's last months. I felt that Aragorn would do his best to support those he would be leaving through his last months. I knew when I used that goodbye earlier that it would be replayed here - and the white roses keep cropping up, too! I find it hard to imagine that her family could have allowed Arwen to fly Minas Tirith straight after Aragorn's death - and just as hard to picture a strong loving Arwen who could leave them like that to feel abandoned. (In fact, yesterday I was being hit with parallels with Celebrian after her wounding and thinking that there was no way that Arwen would have wanted to see her children as hurt as her brothers were at that time.) And her brothers, grandfather and Glorfindel were always going to be with her - they've all promised that at various stages to various people. Arwen's last months in the Wood changed. It was originally more prosaic, but then developed into something much more joyful and mystical - and, I have to admit, less painful to write and brood over. And then there was the 'why?' Why did Arwen choose to go instead of staying with her family - and I could only come up with the parallels of Melian and Luthien - that when you accept these cross-species relationships where love outweighs kind, you have to accept that its end is your end. (Doesn't always work - Mithrellas, for example. But her bond was less written in the stars.) It took the twins - particularly Elladan, who, I think, would fight the rising tide (has a lot in common with Thranduil) - a long time to accept the inevitability of sailing, but Elrohir is patient. I felt sorry for Eldarion. (And the unnamed sisters.) Another person who was left behind with no choice in the matter. And being left is terribly hard. The wonder in the world he is left to rule will be different. And, of course, he is no longer the child, but the older generation and things will seem different to him anyway. Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed it.

Author's reply

I started off with a sadder version of Arwen's passing, but revision started me off with the line about the nightingale - and the whole thing built from there into a situation that became more and more euphoric. While they were in her company, her brothers knew that she was happy and this was right for her, but later they thought more about what they missed than about Arwen's acceptance of her fate. But they will be reunited - they are all have faith in that. There is only one small part more to come of this - and then I don't know where I will end up! Thank you for reading. I am glad you liked the way this chapter turned out.

Author's reply

Never feel guilty for not reviewing! You put so much into your reviews that I always feel very flattered when you stop by. I am so pleased that you like this chapter. I started this with as much dread as anyone reading it - more, probably, because I knew it would take a while, but with certain objectives. I didn't want a perfectly healthy Aragorn to surrender his life for no apparent reason - I don't think he would have just decided it was time for Eldarion to be king and blow the effect it would have on the wife who had surrendered her immortality for him. They both had to accept his decision - and his decision had to have a cause. And then - quite apart from Arwen - this time must have been excruciating for all sorts of people. Their children - whose world changed as they lost not only parents, but Legolas and Gimli and contact with another side of the world they had inherited. The couple of paragraphs in the Appendix just don't consider anything really, except drawing a line under the tale by this point - and there is so much to say. The strength of Arwen's love for Aragorn - and her vision of him as her bold Dunadan - and their bond are key reasons why she cannot endure. Gimli - I wish I knew enough about dwarves to write more Gimli - is fantastic. He is a protector - and he has taken on the task of looking after his elf. I wouldn't be surprised that the only reason he agreed to sail was to make sure that he could deliver Legolas safely into the hands of those who could heal him. Even a courtly love of Galadriel isn't really enough to take him from his home and kin - but his love of his friend would be. Legolas is clinging to his promise to stay for Aragorn, I think, and sheer obstinacy is all that is holding him. Otherwise, I have to say, I feel he would have stayed until Arwen made her end - out of love for Aragorn if not for her own sake. Curaniel - (I have plans for her, although she might not agree to co-operate) - is a very loyal friend. I just thought today, driving back from my mother's, of a great line I should have given her in her scene with Arwen - ‘Do not leave them with the fear that they failed you.’ Which would go on to refer to Celebrian and how her family would need to feel they had done everything possible to support Arwen through this time. I might add those bits to my file. I think Curaniel is prepared to sail. Eldarion will send her - to Mithlond, probably - with all the things that Arwen has prepared over the years to send to her parents. Pictures and letters, Eldarion's first baby gown. Curls of her children's hair. Her diaries, perhaps. I don't think that Curaniel needs to stay to prove anything - she is more accepting than the twins. The twins were strong and supportive for their little foster-brother - and he was comforting towards them. (I think one of the things I like so much about writing these people is showing people who can love and support each other out of loyalty and trust and friendship.) Arwen - if she had had young children, I think she could have survived her grief, and maybe by the time they were adult she would have learned to survive in a useful way. But it would have been a half-life - and I think she had to let go while she could. Perhaps it was part of the choice. Celeborn says later that maybe Melian couldn't stay to save Doriath once Elu was killed - that part of her (I can't think of the word I'm looking for) undertaking was that her life was bound to his and that, without him, she had to return to spirit. And I see Arwen's need to depart quickly as being something like that. The new line I thought of today (!!typical) would make an even clearer support for why she waited. But I feel that her children simply wouldn't be able to accept an immediate departure. She was their mother - how could she do something that could destroy their trust in the world? Plus, the whole thought of court mourning - a hiatus between the death of one king and the formal accession to power of the next seemed a good period for her to wait. (Apparently, George VI died in February and there was an official 16 week period of deep court mourning before EII acceded officially in June 52. And then another year before the coronation.) Too long for my purposes - but a three months(ish) period suited nicely - long enough to arrange a coronation and get the neighbours to attend and long enough for her family to see she was fading and accept what must be. And long enough for the white roses to be in flower. And you are perfectly right - Arwen is very used to waiting until the time is right. I just wish I had thought to put in the link with Celebrian's departure when I was writing it - and how Arwen would not want her children to react as her brothers had. Eldarion would have been such a treasure to Arwen - and I'm sure she would have been a very good mother to him (and his sisters). He wants to cling on to her - goodness, more uncle comparisons might have gone well here too - and it must have been so hard to let her go. Especially since he was stuck with being king and there was no way he could go and spend a year watching over her, however much he wanted to. I hope he could understand how his world was changing, but I don't think it would have been easy. By the time she sent E2, C and G away, she was already beginning to change, I think. Feeling a sense of euphoria, but not quite sure where it was coming from. And she knew - she had to know - that they would not be far away. I was slightly surprised as I moved into her experience just how exalted she was. It was as if the darkness of her sorrow brightened into a brilliant spring day and she opened out to it like a daffodil or a crocus. (Should have been a white rose - but it was too early in the year.) Or, I suppose, elanor and niphredil. Glorfindel was able to understand, too, in a way that the others couldn't possibly - and he will be able to relieve Elrond's mind. And Arwen was happy! Her brothers could feel it at the time - they nearly, I suspect, followed her - but in the aftermath, they could not help but doubt and regret her absence, even as they remembered her joy. And they had to sail. In the end. Elrohir would have gone earlier, but Elladan is not one to give in to the inevitable - and when he is angry, he does like to fight enemies visible and invisible. Thank you, Dot. I'm really pleased you liked this. Author Reply: Celebrian and how her family would need to feel they had done everything possible to support Arwen through this time Although, come to think of it, that could work both ways. A determination to wait until they had become reconciled OR a determination to leave quickly so they wouldn't have to see her suffer.

Author's reply

It was going to be sadder. And more ... down-to-earth. But as I worked on it, it just became less and less grief-filled and more and more spiritual. And joyful. And I was left feeling really relieved for her guardian elves as they watched over a sorrowful Arwen seeking her way towards accepting the gift and found her blazing ever more brightly with a joy that was exhilarating. In fact, E2 came close to following on her trail. Just as well for Daeradar and Glorfindel that Elrohir drew back. I think that part of their reaction afterwards was from trying to reconcile what they expected with what they actually saw and felt. Glorfindel had a better understanding - from an elven point of view - and I feel that he could not grieve for her, for he knew that she was happy. Eldarion has a change of role to face - Gondor is now in his hands and it is a realm of men. The last heroes of the Third Age are disappearing and elves, even if they remain, will probably no longer be seen among the trees of Ithilien. Reality becomes legend, to paraphrase. Yet E2, C, G and Thranduil and a few others continue to hang on. Why? An inability to concede, I think in Thranduil and Celeborn. Glorfindel is simply waiting for E2 and C. They are sailing, in time, whether they will or not. He promised to take them home. Elrohir would have sailed sooner - but Elladan will fight as long as he can see something to fight. In that, I think, he has a lot in common with Thranduil. But he will bend for Elrohir's sake. Curaniel - yes. I'm fond of her! I think I have another story with her in it. Maybe. And Gimli I love! If only I knew more about dwarves, I would like to expand on his screen time. Thank you. I'm glad you liked it. Now the epilogue - might come off. Or it might make you feel very ill. One or the other.

Author's reply

The more ... emotional ... spiritual aspect just sort of took over - I started with much more mundane thoughts. But I was so pleased at the turn the chapter took. I was not looking forward to writing this one, but by the end I felt quite good about it! Thank you - I'm glad you liked it.