Rising to the Challenge by annmarwalk
Fimbrethel · 7 April 2026 · Chapter 3: Elfwine
haha! But perhaps he should report on the health of the queen? Éomer wasn't there, but some old wives surely remember the last time an heir was born. I hope those riders get to Ithilien quickly--or even better meet it's lady on their way.
Raksha The Demon · 19 December 2008 · Chapter 44: October Morn - New! Added 12/14/2008
Ooh; this is especially pretty. Terrific blend of the wonder of peace, nature and Love.
Author's reply
Thank you! I was very fortunate to find inspiration in nature just exactly when I needed it for a birthday drabble. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Raksha The Demon · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 45: The Braided Stream - New! Added 12/14/2008
A beautiful paean to the Eorling spirit; too big to be bound in dusty tomes.
Raksha The Demon · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 39: In Search of History - New! Added 12/14/2008
The melancholy of a disappointed historian is all too vivid here; as well as the imagination to bring to life that which he hasn't personally seen. I can certainly echo Barahir's disappointment; the thought of an Elfless M-e is hard to bear.
Author's reply
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. Bubbly Elboron and his introspective son Barahir are two of my favorite very-very-minor-canon-characters. Lucky Barahir to have had the benefit of primary sources, in his youth - to hear these tales from those who lived them - and yet, as you say, how frustrating to have missed it all by such a short period of time!
Raksha The Demon · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 46: Fifteenth - New! Added 12/14/2008
A great snapshot of Faramir's adolescence; in that he appreciates unusual music and is beginning to appreciate female sexuality. Well done in 100 words.
Author's reply
Those are, in fact, two dimensions I wanted to include: his fascination with other cultures, especially the aspects of history, music, and art, and the fact that I never imagined him as a namby-bamby but as just as red-blooded as any other young man. I'm very glad you enjoyed this!
Raksha The Demon · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 42: Antikythera - New! Added 12/14/2008
A wonderful drabble showing the birth of a nifty technology - I love the idea of Faramir and Legolas devising the mathematics for the invention - hopefully they spent many hours using it at the White Tower. And a nice nod to the Numenoreans, asking questions of the stars, too.
Author's reply
It's amazing, isn't it, how a simple prompt - "tinker" - can lead us off in such incredible directions. I didn't even know such an artifact as the antikythera even existed, so it gave me great pleasure to envision how it might have originated in Middle-earth. The story also contains a nod to Foxrafer's story, "In Good Company", with Faramir and his friends enjoying a respite from worry and care. I'm so glad you enjoyed this.
cookiefleck · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 34: Confuzzled - New! Added 12/06/2008
Love this one. Thanks.
Author's reply
Thank you! It was great fun to write.
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 46: Fifteenth - New! Added 12/14/2008
Oh, yes, it is a different rhythm perhaps that speaks to Faramir, but in the end a familiar enough emotion to be seen! Heh!
Author's reply
Hee! Yes, I have no problems whatsoever imagining him as feisty and hormonal as any young man. Thank you for reading!
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 45: The Braided Stream - New! Added 12/14/2008
Perfect! Just perfect!
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 44: October Morn - New! Added 12/14/2008
There is the prize won and cared for, and the prize to be enjoyed endlessly!
Author's reply
Thank you for your insightful comment (as always). Tolkien never tells us much at all about Aragorn and Arwen's years of happiness together, bittersweet as they might have been; he left it to us. I'm very glad to have the opportunity to contribute a bit.
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 43: The Giver and the Gifted - New! Added 12/14/2008
Aha! A love for Mormengil? So proper! And here we see the mantle beginning to be crafted, to be worn by two so well beloved by future Stewards! Lovely!
Author's reply
I'm so glad you enjoyed this. I'm surprised there isn't more Starry Mantle stories (or maybe I'm just not looking in the right places?)- it's such an iconic representation of two unforgettable men and the equally unforgettable women they loved. It was very enjoyable to imagine how the story may have started, though, and to give Mormegil a part to play in it.
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 42: Antikythera - New! Added 12/14/2008
Again, a marvelous image, of Eldarion using such a device to find specific stars! Beautiful and delightful!
Author's reply
I've never included Eldarion in any of my stories, ever, so it was quite interesting when he showed up. I found him to be a bit wistful, fascinated with the history and mythology of both aspects of his forbears, looking toward the past rather than the future. I hope I was able to convey that wistfulness here. Thank you for commenting!
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 41: Warrior Stance - New! Added 12/14/2008
I've always wondered if this assistant swordmaster might himself have been Elf-taught. Nice to read this one again, also.
Author's reply
You know, I thought in terms of an Easterling-trained swordmaster, perhaps a wandering sell-sword like Thorongil, but the idea of an Elf-taught master is very intriguing. Thank you!
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 40: The Toymaster of Buckland - New! Added 12/08/2008
I still find the image of Merry as a painter of wooden toys, and keeping the Araw in memory of Boromir, to be a wondrous one. I've ever seen Frodo as innately artistic, as you know--this seems for my image of the two of them as a memorial to Frodo as well, that he would seek to give life to these wooden toys and animals!
Author's reply
You know, I started to write this as several different characters, including both Frodo and Faramir, but neither of them rang true for me - I think it was Merry's playfulness that spoke to me, as well as a really silly mental image of him concentrating over his work, his tongue just peeping out between his lips. I think, too, that he would have felt Boromir's sacrifice and loss just as deeply as Pippin did, and that they shared many hours of remembrance, full of both pain and joy. Thank you for reading, and leaving such a wealth of thoughtful comments!
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 39: In Search of History - New! Added 12/14/2008
I remember this one. Alas for Faramir's grandson, born too late to know the glory his grandsire knew, although he also has missed the terrors known in Denethor's day. Sad, poignant.
Author's reply
Poignant as Barahir's tale is, I love to imagine his fascination being ignited by the stories he heard at his grandsires' knees (and actually wrote another drabble about just that, Family History. How frustrating it must have been to have missed out on meeting all these fascinating characters by just a few years!
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 38: Bitter Truth - New! Added 12/14/2008
Oh, that would have left both Frodo and Aragorn the more deeply scarred, had it happened so! Oh, how hard--how very hard!
Author's reply
Sorry! I don't know what it is about an AU challenge that brings out the ruthlessness in me! Though it's very satisfying sometimes to write something so entirely evil.
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 37: Boromir's Prayer, While Running - New! Added 12/14/2008
And that prayer was answered and granted, to the loss of Gondor and those of his companions who'd come to love him in spite of his growing obsession with the Ring and his father and brother.
Author's reply
Oh, my poor, poor Boromir! But his wish was granted, and gloriously so. My poor, poor, dear. *sob*
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 36: The Treasure Hunter - New! Added 12/14/2008
And a perfect gift it was for the two of them! Heh!
Author's reply
And so he brought her the sun and the moon and all manner of treasure to adorn their garden. Thank you for reading and commenting!
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 35: Handiwork - New! Added 12/06/2008
Ah--wonder which heir this one was? Arassuil, perhaps, or Argonui? Heh!
Author's reply
*grin* Marta (Telperion1)'s story put me in mind, for some reason, of Ron Weasley, so I couldn't help imagining a freckle-faced, impish Estel (even without the red hair).
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 34: Confuzzled - New! Added 12/06/2008
It would take a week--or much longer--to answer that; and I'm glad she did go after him. But it's so like a Hobbit to say things lightly that the truth of the heart not be too vulnerable, perhaps! Yes, Rosie, go after him!
Author's reply
In many ways, Sam and Rosie were able to communicate without words; she must have been stunned at his return to let her tongue get all tangled so!
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 33: Night Songs - New! Added 12/06/2008
He has truly inherited his father's spirit, and the gifts of the full Dunedain, I believe. Beautiful, Ann!
Author's reply
Thank you! I'd written this some time back and then forgotten it; I was pleased to see it fit well with other things I've imagined about young Elboron.
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 32: Tea Party - New! Added 12/06/2008
There is one courage for facing the orcs and men sent by Mordor; another for facing the cats in women's bodies that see these two newcomers as rivals before they've either one uttered a word! Love this one!
Author's reply
Thank you! Both of them were outsiders, really; I can't imagine that they wouldn't have taken comfort in each others' company when faced with the haughtiness and fury of all those disappointed ladies (and their mamas.)
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 31: Marriage Minded - New! Added 12/06/2008
Ah, dear--how DOES one get that one's attention--other than by being golden-haired and hurt-hearted, and handy with a sword? Heh!
Author's reply
Think of the hordes of young ladies and their chaperones suddenly descending upon the Library, in hopes of encountering their quarry! It's just too funny to imagine.
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 30: Fall Cleaning - New! Added 12/06/2008
No, I'd not wish to be that rug, either! A fitting substitute for the side of the head of a certain gardener I'm certain she'd love to have been thumping at the time. Heh!
Author's reply
You know, that's something that just drove me crazy in the films - how Merry and Pippin just up and disappeared along with Frodo and Sam! Not a word to anyone! At least in the book there's a small mention. Maybe I'm just taking it too much to heart because I'm a mom.
Larner · 14 December 2008 · Chapter 29: Rosie's Dilemma -New! Added 12/06/2008
It must have been so trying for her at times, knowing but not certain WHY he wouldn't speak! Oh, yes--I can see Rosie wondering this!
Author's reply
Ah, Rosie! Tolkien never shows us anything less than the perfectly conventional well-bred hobbitlass, a good daughter, wife, and mother. I'm sure she'd have had plenty to say on any number of subjects if only he'd given her a chance.