Rhyselle · 1 March 2007 · Chapter 1: Arrival in Edoras
I rather thought that Aragorn's method of "reminding" Gilhael to call him "cousin" instead of "my lord" was very amusing--but, obviously, very effective! I did pick out the meaning of about a third of the Anglo-Saxon words of the guard's challenge before reading his Westron challenge... that's pretty good for me considering that my actual knowledge of the language is very sketchy. Unfortunately, my university didn't offer courses in it! :) The blending of description from LOTR and the other sources works well, and gives us a clear picture of what Aragorn sees as he comes into Edoras for the first time. The description of Thengel's court also gave an interesting snapshot of politics and culture; the disapproval that he would ask his wife's opinion, for example. The image of young Theoden being fidgety on the bench between his sisters was wonderful! *g* I'd forgotten that Thengel spent years in Minas Tirith... I'm certain that colours his judgments and politics--whether his Witan like it or not! I very much liked his greeting the Rangers in Sindarin--and the comment about his accent being different was an excellent touch. It's easy, when reading the novels in English to forget that different lands in Middle-earth had different native languages, and even the ones that shared a language, would have different dialects due to isolation or separation from one another, even if they had been in contact before. Middle-earth is quite vast, and the language and culture differences point that out. A good beginning. I look forward to see what adventures and interactions that Aragorn has in his life as Thorongil. BTW, I though him identifying himself as the son of Beren was fun... and, when one gets down to it, it's true! :)
Author's reply
The "run for three miles until you get it right" method of retraining one's Cousin does have a certain charm to it doesn't it? LOL And something I think Aragorn would do. It's even funnier when you remember that Gilhael is fifteen or so years older than Aragorn. I'm glad that my depiction of the court at Edoras rings true with you, especially the influence of Gondor on Thengel. He is not a "pure-bred" son of Rohan; he's married to a Gondorian woman whose lineage can be traced back to Númenor and he speaks Sindarin, albeit with an accent, as readily as he speaks Westron or Rohirric. Between him and Théoden in later years the Rohirrim will begin to move slowly towards a more refined civilization that will culminate with the friendship between Aragorn and Éomer. I thought Aragorn "borrowing" his cousin Gilhael's uncle Beren a nice touch, too... and of course, he's not really lying, is he? *grin*