Reviews (285)

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Now I've managed to miss your review somehow! I'm sorry! Yes, let the Horn of Gondor call them each to his place. The game is about to begin! Thanks, Kitty!

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Yes, he has finally seen Hobbits, and has been warned to take them seriously. Now, when he meets Frodo he will most likely be uncertain what to expect. How much he's taken Glorfindel's warning we don't yet know. I doubt he as yet fully appreciates just what is at stake, much less just how strong Hobbits are capable of being. He will learn.

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No, I think it is the thought of what nearly happened to Frodo Baggins that has Glorfindel angry. He, after all, was the one who saw Frodo to safety upon Asfaloth. And we see some hints of the future dynamics of the journey Boromir will be part of. And thank you for the feedback! Author Reply: No, I think it is the thought of what nearly happened to Frodo Baggins that has Glorfindel angry. He, after all, was the one who saw Frodo to safety upon Asfaloth. And we see some hints of the future dynamics of the journey Boromir will be part of. And thank you for the feedback! Author Reply: No, I think it is the thought of what nearly happened to Frodo Baggins that has Glorfindel angry. He, after all, was the one who saw Frodo to safety upon Asfaloth. And we see some hints of the future dynamics of the journey Boromir will be part of. And thank you for the feedback! Author Reply: No, I think it is the thought of what nearly happened to Frodo Baggins that has Glorfindel angry. He, after all, was the one who saw Frodo to safety upon Asfaloth. And we see some hints of the future dynamics of the journey Boromir will be part of. And thank you for the feedback! Author Reply: Sorry about that--my internet connection is very iffy tonight.

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Boromir is a good deal beyond his depth, for he's suddenly met Elves, and has his first glimpses of Dwarves and Hobbits, and now knows that there do remain Dunedain in the north.

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A prophecy, or merely a statement of fact? He now knows that he, too, is vulnerable to its power. Thanks so for the feedback!

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For someone who has traveled as far as he has without the in-depth experience his brother undoubtedly had, Boromir had to have had at least a few misadventures with what he hoped were edible plants he encountered along the way. But I would expect him to be able to identify the tracks of orcs and probably of trolls as well. The most lordly person he's known is his father, and Aragorn is, after all, a contemporary of Denethor's who learned much of rule from the same source as Denethor--from Ecthelion. Boromir must have felt some level of confusion in recognizing mannerisms in this stranger and not necessarily appreciating precisely why they seem so familiar. And when Aragorn began demanding answers, of course Boromir would naturally snap to attention--don't you think? In one place it appears that Boromir arrived in the night, and in another on the morning of the Council, (FOTR, Council of Elrond as opposed to The Tale of Years), so I sort of having him arriving sometime after midnight so as to meet both expectations. He tries to get a bit of sleep, but ends up getting none. Was it only four who survived? I couldn't quite remember, but thought the number was seven. I've definitely made my share of mistakes with canon, so I'll check it out again and correct it when I can get to it. Anyway, thank you so for the feedback!

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Thank you so, Shirebound. I suspect that the Elves of Rivendell have practiced allowing Bilbo to approach the sideboard first, and find themselves doing similarly with these newcomers. And I suspect that during his long life Glorfindel has learned a good deal about the practice of patience. Again, thanks so for the feedback.

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Oh, yes, he's now glimpsed the Hobbits and has had his first warnings not to underestimate them. Am so glad you feel his reactions are realistic. Oh, yes, he has a good deal more to learn! Thanks so for the feedback.

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Thanks once again for the detailed feedback. Am getting ready for another long shift at work, so may or may not be able to read your latest poem before I go--hope I can. I wanted a chance to allow Aragorn to realize just how subtle the lure of the Ring could be and explore how close It came to meeting Its objective in corrupting him in a "safe" environment. He had to realize just how easily It could come to persuading anyone It pleased. The next chapter--along with next chapters from several other stories--is being written now, and is nearly finished.

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Again, I am honored. I took a minor in speech, drama, and communication when I earned my B.Ed., so dialogue has always had a good deal of importance to me, and I try to render it realistically. When he was quite young my older brother saw books as deadly dull, although that changed when he got a truly gifted literature teacher in seventh grade. Boromir's use of dull literature to help him sleep I patterned in part on Big Bro when he was younger. I will pass your commendations on to RiverOtter, and I am certain she will greatly appreciate them. Thank YOU for the feedback--you know how much feedback is always appreciated.

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Perhaps not so much mythical as legendary; but I do think that Faramir would be eager to examine other lands and peoples and to prove himself in a journey alone. To be denied this chance must indeed have felt like a betrayal of sorts. No, he would not perhaps search too deeply into his brother's heart, I suspect, and so Boromir could keep his most fearful reason safely there. Again, thank you! I am again quite honored.

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I am honored! I try to keep each dialect true to the folk from which it comes. And I've been reading British novels for a LONG time. (Although one critic once felt my rustic Hobbit dialect was a bit too Appalachian in nature. I am glad you feel the geographical details ring true. Thank you so. And to be compared to the Master himself? The greatest of honors!

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Indeed--perhaps indeed the Valar's way of indicating that the latest round in the great contest between Light and Dark now begins. Thanks so!

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There would be a bond there, for all the tension of Arwen's fate between them; and in spite of the thought of losing his daughter as he lost his brother, I suspect that Elrond would vastly prefer that to the alternative--that all should fall under Sauron's darkness until the time was again right for him to perhaps be brought down. I may one day look at that healing, but haven't felt equal to it as yet, particularly as I've read some wonderful alternative as to what happened and how. But perhaps one day....

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I'll admit it was in part your story about Aragorn finding his bed too comfortable that helped spark this story. Oh, yes, it would take getting used to, just as not having to worry about enemies possibly attacking in the darkness of night. The Appendices indicate that many saw a strong likeness between Thorongil and Denethor, to the point they appeared very brothers; and so it must be that Faramir also must resemble Aragorn at least some, I'd think. Certainly I'd expect Boromir to see the likeness. Thanks again for the feedback.

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Am glad you approve, Raksha. I suspect the twins also tend to ride Aragorn some, and I also suspect that Frodo might have dared to do so on occasion, not to mention Sam in his so-practical manner. The movies did much to make Aragorn appear a contemporary to Boromir, when in reality he was but a year's difference in age from Boromir's father. That needs to be remembered, I've always felt.

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There must have been a good deal of love between the two of them--the Man born to become King and his half-Elven father and mentor. In spite of the possibly divisive nature of Aragorn's love for Arwen still there had to be deep caring and mutual insight there. I am certain Aragorn had to have thought at one point of becoming the Ringbearer, yet he said not a word of this possibility during that portion of the Quest. That being true, then when did he realize that he could not do this? So I envisioned this scene--what would Elrond have felt at the idea of his beloved fosterling perhaps carrying the Ring? And how might the Ring have begun working on Aragorn from the outset? Knowing the Ring's nature from the beginning, how would one such as Aragorn have reacted to the one who carried It, particularly once the Morgul wound began sapping Frodo's ability to keep Its promptings somewhat baffled or muffled? Then there was the fact he saw Frodo fighting the Morgul wound for the two weeks of their journey from Weathertop--how could he not appreciate the innate strength of Hobbits in general and Frodo Baggins in particular? And I do intend to examine the bond that does form between Boromir and Aragorn in this series of stories. Thanks so for the feedback!

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I hope to indeed examine that relationship more, although I will most likely examine how relationships developed--or didn't--with all the various members of the group. Am so glad you appreciate this one.

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One thing I have learned in history classes is that usually when a thriving town is built, it is placed in a location where it has certain advantages; and where a major travel route crosses a river tends to be a place where folk tend to build and where they tend to return to, even if the region does flood. Look at how resistant people in the Missouri/Mississippi River flood plain regions have been to relocating their towns at higher elevations even though during the latter half of the twentieth century and early twenty-first they were being repeatedly flooded (and how New Orleans has been rebuilt, and how folk keep rebuilding where other natural disasters tend to recur, such as along common paths of tornados, on beaches where storms tend to hit and so on). Considering some of the major changes Tolkien did between one version of a story and another regarding names and events (there remains the question as to who crafted the Elessar stone, for example, as well as whether or not it went with Earendil to Aman and, if so, how it got back to Ennor to be given to Galadriel, as well as just how much and intimately Celebrimbor might have loved Galadriel...), I decided that as this is my version of the story and LOTR doesn't indicate Tharbad had necessarily remained abandoned forever I would not change my story line to make it so. Also, at the time I wrote The King's Commission I was unaware that Tolkien had ever indicated that Tharbad remained abandoned. The fact it was marked on the maps and the name of it was given I took as an indication that the place was resettled at a later date, and probably was subject to periodic flooding and temporary abandonment before being rebuilt and repopulated once more. This is a very common pattern within the real world, after all. Having had Ruvemir stop in Tharbad to have his coach wheel repaired, I had to have a village or town with at least a blacksmith present four years after the end of the war; therefore I chose to have it rebuilt. I hope you don't mind too terribly much. Intelligence is not necessarily a matter of education--there is native intelligence and curiosity as well as book learning, after all. And often within a town the ones with the most exposure to outsiders would be innkeepers, blacksmiths, healers, and merchants. So I chose to make the blacksmith the only one within Tharbad who'd actually met an Elf and a Ranger together and who'd paid attention to what those traders and travelers passing through told him as to where they got their goods, who lived where, and so on. Some folk are more open to dealing with outsiders than others, after all. And I chose to have the youth one who had romanticized his one sighting of Elves in the distance while others tend to rather superstitiously fear the Elves and distrust the Dwarves. I don't find your comments nasty or offensive at all--I accept you're merely trying to increase my knowledge of parts of HoME I obviously haven't read yet (I still don't have copies of Peoples of Middle Earth or Morgoth's Ring or a couple other later ones, for instance), and point out some flaws. I only hope you don't take offense that at times I have chosen to change some things to better suit my own story line. Thank you so much for your feedback. I do appreciate it, although in my stories I'll probably continue to have a community at Tharbad and some folks who have made a point of learning something about lands outside their own.

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Thanks so, Harrowcat! I would think that there would be a good deal of love between Aragorn and Elrond, but that at times Aragorn would feel a degree of guilt about the pain he knew his own desire achieved would bring to his foster father. And that you believe it was beautiful--thanks so much!

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Oh, I'm so glad you feel it is a likely conversation, and you have characterized it so well! Yes, grief and love tear at both of them at this time. Thanks so much, Dreamflower.

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Thorongil left Gondor while Boromir would have been a toddler; the realization that the Man he was meeting was the child he must have seen when in the White City must have been a bit of a shock!

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As the Ring was born of fire, I always felt that water would help subdue It and help keep It hidden from Sauron. And that Ulmo's own power would add to this is, after all, logical, or so I see it. And I agree about Aragorn. Now he must forget the rest of his responsibilities, for it is only by focusing on this new one he can best serve all others. Also, once he'd experienced the insidious nature of the Ring and saw just how strongly Frodo fought the influence of the Morgul shard I believe his initial lack of confidence in Frodo's apparent ignorance of the Ring's power would fall away. How could he help but come to respect this Hobbit, having seen him fighting the nature of the Ring and the shard both?

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No, I don't think that Tolkien used the capital "I" when speaking of the Ring, but I've been doing so since my first story just to help identify the Ring and Its influence, as I see the Ring as such a personality in Its own right. I hope you can get past the initial feelings of this usage as jarring. Author Reply: And I so agree with the feeling that Aragorn would indeed be one to push himself to sheer exhaustion. It is due to this that I feel Shirebound's story "Keep Him Secret, Keep Him Safe" is so possible. As for the ways in which he might have been tempted by the Ring--oh, I agree there, too! That and more!

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And here I finally am to answer you! Again, this was originally intended as a one-shot, but the third chapter made itself known first and the others demanded to be written that the third might be properly introduced; and now here comes still another! Yes, he has met many new peoples, and has more yet to encounter! And I have had to fight off the cat who is intent on constantly unplugging telephone line and power plug as he butts his head against the laptop as it lies cradled against my knee. The next chapter is now posted.