Lindelea
· 19 August 2025
· Chapter 6: Fences and Dreams
What a fascinating idea! Aragorn freed the captive spirits of the Forsworn who were cursed to haunt the Paths of the Dead, making it eminently plausible that he'd do the same at Deadmen's Dike.
I love the symbolic use of the caddisfly, in part because of a scrap of knowledge I learned long ago, that caddisflies are an indicator of water quality. They cannot live in polluted waters.
I find it lovely that the hobbits are here too, and that Merry once more wears a sword from Westernesse (since his own sword burned all away). I love that the Travellers arrive in the nick of time, rather like Pippin and Merry arriving at the Grey Havens just in time to farewell Frodo. I also love that Frodo seems to have coordinated this whole endeavour. Having found his healing in the West, he has not forgotten those left behind, even the lingering spirits who are still trapped in time and space.
I have long wondered: Tom is the Firstborn, but who is Goldberry? (Yes, I know she is the Riverdaughter, but what River? And did she also walk Middle-earth before Men and Elves came into being?)
Author's reply
We know that Aragorn freed the spirits from under the mountain, and I've written that on the first anniversary of the victory at the Black Gate he and Arwen waded into the Dead Marshes to free those whose bodies had been visible in their waters.
So, it made sense of some sort that in time they might turn to those caught in the barrows of Tyrn Gorthad.
The quote from Robert Frost and the second from A Midsummer Night's Dream led me to consider how the King and Queen might attempt to free the Wights, and how they might approach Tom Bombadil to gain permission for the attempt. (Bless Dreamflower for giving me those prompts!)
I've had caddisflies in so many of my stories. I was fascinated with them from the time we left Tulsa to move to the Pacific Northwest when I was five, although my older brother terrified me with the larvae he'd broken out of their shells when I was younger. I'd not realized they must live in unpolluted water, but I'm not surprised. So many of the lay-byes we used as Dad went to get still another tire to put under his piano in our homemade moving van would have a small stream that drew me during that ten-day odyssey, and I loved watching the creatures down in the sand or gravel at the bottom of the waterway.
And, considering how I'd imagined Frodo being as fascinated by the larvae as I'd been and had experimented to get them to make new shells with beads, glass, and so on, Frodo had to be involved in some way.
So the tale grew.
Tom was Oldest, the first to walk abroad in Middle Earth. I've always suspected that he was once in the service of the Hunter, and who fell in love with the wild lands of Middle-earth and stayed to guard them; I suspect that the Riverwoman was one in Ulmo's train who was granted guardianship of one of the rivers of the Shire--perhaps the Baranduin or the Withywindle, which ran into the larger river. Sulis, perhaps? (I loved my visit to Bath, which was called by the Roman settlers Aquae Sulis, Sulis being the name given by them for the demigoddess who was believed to guard the mineral spring that those who came there seeking healing honored.) Don't think I've answered your questions, but it's worth a thought.
Author Reply: BTW--may I stop by briefly on Sunday evening? It's the Birthday of M on Monday.
Lindelea
· 16 August 2025
· Chapter 5: Shared Intelligence
Oh my. The description of Frodo is heartbreaking. He's much too young to have silver hair! How his ordeal must have aged him. Sigh.
I love the picture of the two scholars sharing the excitement of the discovery, and Elessar's small pretense aimed at prolonging their joy. Lovely!
Author's reply
I keep remembering Frodo's body as seen by first Smeagol and then Sam as they paused upon the stairs as Frodo lay sleeping in one of his rare dreams of peace.
We're told that this is one image that caused Tolkien to weep as he wrote it, with Frodo's skin thin and worn but filled with a light that made it worshipful. Great responsibility can cause an individual to age rapidly. My mother pointed that out to me, showing how our presidents all age prematurely. So it must have been with Frodo.
I'm so glad you appreciated Aragorn's decision to appear surprised and pleased when they come to share their find with him.
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 12 August 2025
· Chapter 3: The Mystery of the Brown Ghost
Larner!
That was delightful. Two friends growing up together; exploring and adventuring together. Later to be King and Prince of Ithilien in their own time. I love it!
Thanks!
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
So glad you do, MM! Thanks!
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 12 August 2025
· Chapter 2: Anticipation
Larner!
Once again a lovely and well-thought out story. I love the pictures that you paint with your words!
Thanks!
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
And thank you so, MM. I love the pictures painted by the Master so, I have to reflect them as I can.
Mirkwoodmaiden
· 11 August 2025
· Chapter 1: A Moment of Connection
Larner!
That was wonderful. It feels right that Legolas as the elf present should remember and honor those who died before. Nicely done!
(((hugs)))
MM
Author's reply
I so agree, MM. Thanks so!
Fimbrethel
· 9 August 2025
· Chapter 5: Shared Intelligence
Awwwwwwww! Well, not cute exactly, but lovely all the same! I have never read many fics in this time period, and certainly not one like this! Leave Frodo to have more time with Faramir before he goes, yes!
The only thing amiss is that this scene is rather short.
But I say it was rather time for a Faramir, Aragorn, and Frodo one!
Wonderful, Aragorn is wise as always (in the books of course:)
Author's reply
i can't remember if this was a fixed-length ficlet, which would explain its short length. In my-verse, Aragorn asked Faramir and Frodo to look for precedents to show the Council so that they would approve decent payments to disabled soldiers as well as to widows and orphans. I susoect that he was proud to encourage the friendship growing between two he respected so much.
Yes, wise indeed!
Fimbrethil
· 6 August 2025
· Chapter 4: The Reluctant Spring
Wow. Spring not happening in the Western lands puts a new perspective on "In Western Lands"
Author's reply
I agree! But between the dissolutions of Mordor, Isengard, and Lotho Sackville Baggins I imagine the Shire's own joy would be supremely oppressed. Only the destruction of Sauron's power could get through that suppression, or so I'd guess.
Thank you so, Fimbrethil!
Fimbrethil
· 6 August 2025
· Chapter 3: The Mystery of the Brown Ghost
Awwww how old are E & E? Will the boys tell their mothers now? My favorite part however, was all the Boromir.
Author's reply
I suspect that Elboron is about 15 and Eldarion is nearly 13. Tell their mothers? Perhaps, although I suspect that Eowyn would prefer to learn for herself, and that Arwen would encourage her to do so.
It was good to include Boromir in this story as a youth. Glad you enjoyed it!
Fimbrethil
· 6 August 2025
· Chapter 1: A Moment of Connection
This was the second time I have read this chapter, and I like it. One other thing I wanted to mention was that the sentence about them fighting for 10 years sounds like the Iliad. Do you know it was 10 years for sure?
Author's reply
I'd not thought of this parallel with Homer, but I suspect the Master was indeed inspired by the Iliad. Thanks for pointing this out to me.
Lindelea
· 5 August 2025
· Chapter 4: The Reluctant Spring
My first thought as I began reading was, "Clever hobbits!" I loved Robin's stealth, and the special "knock" that identified himself to his mother, and the improvised "lock" on the door. Wonderful details!
You've put some thought into the details of Lotho's (and his Men's) activities as "Chief". I hadn't thought about such restrictions as "one boiler for laundry" or "one bucket per well", but they make perfect sense, along with stealing the lamps, lamp oil, and candlesticks and even limiting bedsheets indiscriminately. We already knew about the restrictions on firewood, but you've fleshed out the depredations of the ruffians marvellously in this short descriptive passage.
The details about Otho's death and Lotho's drunkenness enrich the background quite effectively.
This story provides a wonderful gapfiller into how twelve Shirriffs swelled into "troops", as well as how Robin ended up in Frogmorton when Sam had known him in Hobbiton. Alas, poor Robin. And you have the same idea as I've had – Shirriffs couldn't quit in Lotho's day, though they could be sacked. (And if Lotho found cause to sack them, they likely faced the Lockholes... or worse.)
Interesting, that it's such a late spring. Bulbs aren't blooming yet... which raises the speculation that, had the Dark Lord won, he might have imposed Narnia-like "always Winter but never Christmas" sort of conditions on Middle-earth, only much darker, of course.
Just in case the reader's too thick (or too groggy, perhaps) to pick up on the details, Robin helpfully supplies the date. Again, the details are so well done! They draw one ever deeper into Robin's skin until the moment the reader knows exactly what is happening/has just happened in a faraway land, many leagues to the south.
Another incredible use of detail is the birds – the absence of other birds besides crows, the crows' rejoicing as if they, too had felt oppressed and were not merely the tools of the oppressor, and then the return of the missing birds on the winds of change and renewal. On a personal note, my heart always lifts to hear the geese honking overhead in springtime. (More so in the past, when I lived along the fly-way and the geese flew south in the autumn and returned in the spring. Here where we've settled, the geese stay year-round, so we may hear the honking of a flock at any time of year, really.) And then the clouds, changing from murky brown to a riot of natural colour and the "honest touch" of "a silver curtain of rain", along with the "sparkling jewels" left behind when the rain ends and the sun comes out. Nicely done.
He’d be like the goldcrests – a lovely thought, even though it will still be half a year before the Travellers return and restore the Shire to the Shire-folk.
The "cheer up" reminds me of my mom, who always said the robins in the trees surrounding our house were greeting the world with their "Cheerio! Cheerio!"
Author's reply
I just remember that the list of forbidden things and activities just kept growing longer and longer, and racked my mind to think of more items that might be on that list.
We know that Sauron stripped his own land of beauty, ot twinned it with terrible thorns and the like. Love the comparison to Narnia, though. Lewis would have appreciated the comparison, although I doubt the Master would have done so.
Across the road from the top of our driveway is a pond in which ducks, geese, and the occasional swan used to swim. We often hear the geese and ducks migrating north and south, and occasionally headed west toward the ocean. Had to get the rain curtain in there, and how it would restore the colors to the Shire that the ash had hidden. The goldcrests apparently don't migrate north or south, but apparently move about where there is more food, so had to include them.
Around my house, our North American robins were always thought to be telling us to "cheer up," so I ascribed the same advice to the goldcrests.
Thanks so!
Lindelea
· 2 August 2025
· Chapter 2: Anticipation
I thought I'd already left a review of this chapter, but I probably started to type a review and then got interrupted, and it never got posted.
This is a thoughtful gap-filler that plausibly explains how Frodo and Sam had new clothing to change into after the celebration at Cormallen.
(Children certainly grow fast! I learned as a young mum to sew a size or two bigger than the current size of the child I was sewing for so that they wouldn't grow out of it before it was finished...)
Author's reply
Don't they, though. As my little brother was preparing to enter eighth grade I was shocked that he was still only up to my nose, and as you know, mine is pretty close to the ground. In July Mom bought him a new set of clothes for the coming school year, but two weeks later had to return them for a much larger size. In a single fortnight he had shot up more than four inches, and I was now barely to HIS nose. He ended up the tallest of all of us at six feet, even an inch taller than his dad.
Well, those new clothes must have come from somewhere!
Thanks so!
Lindelea
· 2 August 2025
· Chapter 3: The Mystery of the Brown Ghost
Somehow I suspected from the first that an owl was involved, LOL! What a lovely glimpse into Boromir and Faramir's childhood! I also loved Faramir telling his King, "You're going to have to experience it for yourself," more or less.
Owls are fascinating creatures, with feathers that are designed for silent flight. The original stealth aircraft!
It makes sense that their sons would be close friends and co-conspirators.
Author's reply
My other mystery story.
it was fun imagining that generations of princes of the realm struggled to solve the same mystery.
Fimbrethil
· 29 July 2025
· Chapter 2: Anticipation
Oh oh! I think I read about those needles once before!
Legolas and Aragorn going to the Dead Marshes and mourning...well, saying it is done. Nice touch.
Is there more to this story?
Oh Faramir...
PS: I have to say, this is the first time I have typed a review on a laptop and it is very nice.
Author's reply
I believe that the origin of these special needles was posted in Neath Anor, Ithil, and Gil. One came to Arwen, one to Primula Brandybuck Baggins, and these to a tailor from Dol Amroth.
I suspect Gimli was confused at first at his friend's decision to return to the battlefield, but that he was certain Legolas did rightly once he understood the purpose. As for Aragorn, I suspect he anticipated what Legolas might do.
Am glad you too appreciate your laptop. I've been using them for years.
Lindelea
· 27 July 2025
· Chapter 1: A Moment of Connection
Once again, I am struck by the details that bring the scene to life: the swiveling of Arod's ears, the "distant shimmer of reflected light" that denotes the Dead Marshes.
I seem to remember that Oropher lost at least one-third of his forces, is that right? Or was it more?
And I wonder if the ghostly bodies that seem to lie in the fetid pools will finally sink out of sight and find rest? That would seem a fitting outcome after the defeat and banishment of the Dark Lord.
Legolas's acknowledgement (commemoration? remembrance?) of those who died in that earlier battle, including his grandfather and the High King, was touching, and I find the ending of this small glimpse into the aftermath of the recent battle somehow hopeful.
Well done! I'm glad you're restoring these stories!
Author's reply
I can't remember how many Elves from the ancient Green Wood died there, only that it was a formidable number, what with Oropher anticipating the signal to attack as he did. I have always believed that Legolas would want to assure the fallen that all was at last finished and they could now leave their graves to go on to the realm of Mandos.
Am not restoring them precisely in the order originally written. Am starting with those first written in 2010 and going on from there, in alphabetical order according to title. Hope this is enough to get on with.