Reviews (176)

Raksha The Demon · 3 August 2019 · Chapter 3

Interesting story that I assume is AU. I wonder why, of all young unmarried Dunedain women, did Aragorn decide to ask Nienelen to be his wife?

Larner · 14 July 2019 · Chapter 3

Now, this is a surprise indeed for her. The daughter of no living Man is she, after all. But a hard thing for Aragorn to do when his heart is held by another.

Larner · 14 July 2019 · Chapter 2

To have to think of the value of her father's possessions in terms of passage across Eriador must be very painful. But at least she knows Pelara's compassion.

Larner · 14 July 2019 · Chapter 1

Again I feel her grief and uncertainty, as well as the uncertainty Halbarad also knows. May both find comfort.

Larner · 14 July 2019 · Chapter 0

You have woven the grief palpably and well. I feel with this maiden and her fostermother both.

karol89 · 30 June 2011 · Chapter 45

hi! i have been a great fan f this story fpr years and i always check in from time to time to see if there are any updates. I don't know what you situation in real life is or the reason you never updated but i hope all is well with you and that you havn't changed your email so that this review can reach you. I love the way this story is written and can't tell you how much i have been longing for questions to be answered. its like waiting for the next book in a series, only for that book to never be published. so please update this wonderful story. and if you have no intension to continue writing on it (a shame if that was the case) could you pleas write a little summary on where the story was going, how you were going to handle Arwen and the whole queen of gondor as well as what would have happened to aragorns children? so that we readers can have some sort of closure. tkank you!

Blueberry · 4 June 2009 · Chapter 45

Hi, Read your story again today. Is there any chance that you will continue it? It's such a great story. And it would be such a shame if it would not be completed. So, I hope you read this and will finish your story. You have such a talent with words and this story is among those you can read over and over again. And it is still great.

Cathy · 2 December 2008 · Chapter 45

That's the best story I ever read! Please, please finish it!! I have to know how it will end!!

jules · 2 November 2008 · Chapter 45

hello Anoriath, Over the last couple of days I've reread your wonderful story from start to finish. I read it as it was posted but never left you a reviw, partly because I'm a terrible lurker, and partly I think because I felt quite conflicted about it. I'm very much an Aragorn-Arwen girl, so when I realised where you were heading, I nearly stopped reading. I didn't though, because your tale was simply too well written, too engaging, and too believable to put aside. It's unbearably sad in parts, but very moving, and I think this is the first time I've genuinely been moved by an OC. Nienelen is such a strong character, and you make the reader feel for her plight, so in love with a man who just can't love her back. And likewise the reader is simultaneously sorry for and angry with Aragorn - he's trying so hard to do the right thing even though he must resent the situation duty has forced on him. It would be such a shame to leave this unfinished - is there any chance you will pick it up again? I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know how it ends. jules

Rainbow · 22 September 2008 · Chapter 45

Hi, Your story was one of the best I ever read. It was just amazing. Will you continue? I hope you do. It would be a pity if you would abandon it. I want to know how it ends.

Blueberry · 5 July 2008 · Chapter 45

Hi, What can I say? Your story is just fantastic, amazing. It moved me deeply, though it's sad at so many places. Will you finish it? I'd love to read the end as well, so hopefully you will. Blueberry

ella · 15 July 2007 · Chapter 45

What a lovely surprise! Must admit I had my doubts about whether there was going to be an update so haven't been checking in that often. But I decided to have a quick look today and there it was - a new and excellent chapter. It feels like her "lord" is either going to have to put in an appearance soon or else he won't ever be coming back. Not sure which I think is most likely yet but look forward to finding out.

ella · 21 April 2007 · Chapter 44

Hurrah! You're back. Great to see more of this excellent story unfold. I'm an impatient reader - I've been known to read a book that's got my attention straight through at one sitting so waiting months for an update is something of a challenge to my nature! No doubt it is good therapy for me but, even so, if the muse could stick around for a while longer and let you get the next update posted soon I'd be very gratefull!

Patricia · 8 April 2007 · Chapter 43

I do hope when real life and plot tangles permit, you'll continue this story. The premise is so singular, the story so bittersweet and all of it so very well written. Thank you for all your hard work.

ella · 13 March 2007 · Chapter 43

Whoops. Apologies for the strange review. Pressed the send button before I'd finished the sentance. What I was trying to say was I'm beginning to fear there wont be an update and I do hope I'm wrong.

ella · 13 March 2007 · Chapter 43

Hi, I've been checking in off and on in the hopes of an update but I'm begining

ella · 30 January 2007 · Chapter 43

Hi. Delighted to see you'd updated. It was worth the wait even if it has left me in two minds about whether I really want to know what happens next! I'm hoping that, in addition to giving the poor woman a life dominated by worry, strife and unrequited love, you are not now going to start killing off her kids. Or are you?! Please update soon.

Shy_Introvert · 25 January 2007 · Chapter 43

Yay! You've updated. This chapter makes me uneasy. Things are going to get worse before they get better, aren't they? They will get better, though, won't they? Oh, forget I asked. It would ruin the suspense. Please post more soon.

Radbooks · 23 January 2007 · Chapter 43

Oh, I was very glad to see an update! I'm very nervous that Edainion is sick, that does not bode well. It was nice seeing Gandalf and even if Nienelen is sick at heart at not seeing Aragorn again, at least hearing word that he is alive must bring some comfort to her. Halbarad is so right about the young Rangers! As hard as it is for her, she can't coddle them... her life and the lives of others in the villages depend on their alertness and their ability to defend. Such a hard life they lead. Thanks for the update, looking forward to more!

ella · 20 December 2006 · Chapter 42

hi. still reading and really enjoying this and still hoping very much that you'll update soon!!

Shy_Introvert · 27 November 2006 · Chapter 42

Hi. I just wanted to say that I love your fic. I discovered it yesterday, and I finished it in one big gulp. Im regretting that now, and hope you update regularly. You're a great writer, so much so that I find myself empathising more with Nnienelen then with Aragorn, who is my favorite LOTR character. I think he's being a bit of a jerk in this fic. I get that he loves Arwen, but I really think a man with his sef control could do a better job of not rubbing his wife's face in it. I dont like the way he blows hot and cold, seeming hurt when she withdrawd form him in chapter 37, when he hasn't exactly been welcoming when she touches him. I thought it was really sad that he was going to reject the lock of hair when he thought it was hers. I mean, would it klll him to carry her hair as a token, even if he doesn't love her? Anyway, you've made me almost dislike aragorn, and that's a huge accomplishement, though Im not sure you intended to portray him that way. On the bright side, it means that I love Nienelen.

Raksha The Demon · 25 November 2006 · Chapter 42

How old is Edainion now, and what year is it? He's certainly becoming his father's son. I love the name Elenir - does Aragorn have to change it? So are they going to execute the ploughman and the wanderer? Justice can be harsh in the Angle.

Agape4Gondor · 12 November 2006 · Chapter 1

“All men are young, whether with the bloom of youth or the foolishness of old age.” As I'm nearing a new chapter in my life and getting too close to an age I'm not ready for - I absolutely fell in love with your quote above. So I'm now deciding that I'm young at being old! THANKS... Your story is like looking at a picture - the descriptions are incredible....

Lyrelle · 7 November 2006 · Chapter 41

Yay! I was afraid maybe you'd set this aside for nanowrimo, or something. I'm very selfishly pleased you didn't. :)

insignia · 2 November 2006 · Chapter 40

I have spent a great deal of time over the last few days reading this story with real delight and deep pleasure. Thank you so much, it's terrific! I have not read another fanfic story written in the present tense. It must be a strain? I enjoyed how you show Aragorn, although still in love with "someone else", becoming aware of his wife's true strengths and the way he encourages and supports her in her new role. And how he is loyal to her. Nienelen's growing affection for her husband is carefully drawn, as is the way she recognises that he does not, and what is more, cannot, return her feelings. And yet, although she knows that he does not love her, her respect for and protection of him emerge and become more prominent as she gradually, with encouragement from Aragorn and Pelara, achieves her own potential. And at the same time there is an underlay of quiet grief that there will never be more for her. Gelir's death was a shock but yes, young men like him would inevitably die in the times that the Dunedain faced. But he had been a permeating thread (what an appropriate metaphor that is for this particular story of yours) with appearances at particular times. The way in which Halbarad broke the news to Nienelen was very affecting. The response of Pelara to the death of her son was realistic - displacement activity, caught up so much in the preparation that she can hide from her grief. Your picture of life in more primitive times seems to be all-embracing, in the way the lady runs first her house and then her village and people. You show how people of the time would have to organise or be organised for survival. How dependent they were on the weather. The way that the wanderers were first suspected and then accepted by the people was nicely done, and rang many bells for me from my historical knowledge. And I see that you have done a tremendous amount of research, and how it shows! I feel that I have learned a great deal about sheep rearing and weaving. I now know that some of my washing of woollen garments has resulted in inadvertant "fulling". I very much enjoyed the "Aragorn learns to weave" scene, especially when Halbarad spotted a mistake and Aragorn had to go back and correct it. And it was a nice way to show the changing relationship between man and wife. I am eagerly looking forward to the next chapter - and am very curious about how this story will end!