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The Acceptable Sacrifice  by Larner 19 Review(s)
Eliazbeth WherryReviewed Chapter: 10 on 12/12/2008
Dear Larner,
Thought I'd let you know that my dad added your email address to my contacts, so I can email you and you can email me!
God bless,
Elizabeth Anne Lucy Wherry

Author Reply: Thanks, Elizabeth. Glad you're still reading, and hope you are enjoying the story.

PIppinfan1988Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 6/10/2006
Ah...yet another view of Frodo from the angle of Pippin and Merry. Nicely done! I love reading the various interpretations of how Frodo was raised, or what all happened in the time-period before Frodo actually left the Shire.

Pippinfan

Author Reply: Oh, am so glad you do appreciate it, Pippinfan. It's always interesting to examine how Frodo was raised.

LindeleaReviewed Chapter: 10 on 12/22/2005
Lord Strider! How I love Samwise.

"Day after tomorrow"
A day's journey?

Um. I don't have time to look this up, but it rings a false note with me. Didn't it take at least a week for the army to march from Minas Tirith to Cormallen, on their way to the Black Gate? I might be remembering wrong.

Bless Faralion, discussing Frodo's honour, and innocence. Again, I reiterate how much I like this minstrel. He sounds very wise and understanding. I forget, was he in the battle? Where does he come from?

Aha. Sounds as if Frodo's figured something out about Thorongil (*g*)

I forget what language Adunaic is.

My goodness, to hear Pippin in such a serious conversation, giving adult consideration to his duty... He has come such a long way.

I love Pippin's reminiscences about Frodo.

But he didn’t forget how to laugh--not then.
A telling statement.

Ah, graceful Merry. So I see him also.

“He’s always been very responsible; but now he can’t seem to appreciate that no one is responsible for everything!”
Hah! Somehow I see Merry as falling ill to the "responsibility bug" himself, later.

It is so refreshing to read Merry's assessment of *competent* Frodo!

Nice explanation of why Folco didn't go along on the Quest.

Pippin doesn't believe in Frodo's heart trouble. Does Merry?

ooo, looking forward to hearing about Faralion's plan! But it'll have to wait--the children are awake and it is time to jump into the day with all four feet.

Author Reply: The Hobbits and Aragorn will be returning by ship, so will come more quickly, particularly as they're going with the current. I suspect that Faralion came in the transport with Merry, for they would wish to have records made of the battle, and the minstrels and bards were the ones who wrote much of the initial history of such things in medieval times, when even broadsheets weren't well known. But as even the Master didn't indicate how he came, I didn't bother to write it, either.

Adunaic was the language favored in Numenor once the island began to fall away from trust of the Elves and Valar; they distanced themselves from their Elven kindred by embracing this other language. It was about that time that they began using the prefix "Ar-" instead of "Tar-" in naming their kings. I supposed that since in Arnor they resumed naming heirs to the lineage of Isildur with an Ar- prefix the Northern Dunedain probably tended to speak more Adunaic among themselves.

I'd decided in "The King's Commission" there had to be a reason why Folco hadn't been involved, so decided there this was the reason; Ruvemir and Miriel came to the Shire after his mother's death, and so he felt freer to leave the Shire to marry Miriel.

And I think both Pippin and Merry have done a great deal of growing up while away, and it would be obvious in their evaluations of themselves and one another, particularly Frodo.

As for Faralion's plan, that's in the next chapter.

Author Reply: ps--Forgot I wrote Merry returning among the Rohirrim. Ah, well, we all leave plot holes from time to time, I think! Fforde's "Well of Lost Plots" must hold a few of mine! Heh!

Grey WondererReviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/18/2005
(“I wonder if he knew the Lord Captain Thorongil, then?” ) I love all of the inside jokes and references to the Captain in this. Frodo even seems to take pleasure in it even though he can't enjoy many things. Faralion is very good for Frodo I believe. He also has a way of getting people and hobbits to confide in him. I like looking at the hobbits through his eyes as he learns more about them.

Author Reply: I'm glad you do. He's definitely accepting the Hobbits as he finds them, for which I'm grateful.

InklingReviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/8/2005
Good grief, how did I get so far behind again?? I hope you know that it’s not from lack of interest. But your stories are very thoughtful, so I can’t just rip through them…I have to wait until I have time to do them justice. The length seems to have crept back up again, too! ;)

A lot of psychological depth in this chapter…I like Faralion very much, he seems quite perceptive for such a young man. This exchange was wonderful:

“And what is there to pack? I’ve hardly anything of my own save what little Aragorn has given me here. I lost everything else along the way, including my clothing, dignity, health, innocence, and honor …

and all the way through to:

But I see that your own understanding of what you could have fallen to has increased your compassion for others. Do you not realize that such is the better quality to have in the end?

Yes indeed, very perceptive of Faralion…and you!



Author Reply: Thank you, Inkling, for the compliment. We try to be perceptive, Faralion and I. I was inspired in part by Joy Chant's book "Red Moon, Black Mountain" and the realization of the chief protagonist, Oliver, of what loss of innocence can lead to--either the choice of destruction or the fullness of acceptance and greater wisdom and compassion. I think Frodo needed to learn that, but that to accept it he had to hear it from several sides.

I didn't post today--was busy printing out things I was supposed to deliver to a nearby town, then forgot to leave once I got there. Got through half my errands, I did. Have the mind of a sieve today, I fear. Anyway, that gives you perhaps a little more time to catch up, perhaps a chapter or two, if you read again today or tomorrow.

Linda HoylandReviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/28/2005
Poor Frodo,he is obviously very depressed as being consumed with guilt is a symtom.I loved hearing his first impressions of Aragorn.The minstel is obviously a wise man.

Author Reply: Definitely guilt is very common to depression, and unfortunately physical illness-guilt-depression can become a very nasty vicious circle, with the depression further lowering resistance to further illness, and the illness adding to the feelings of guilt.

Faralion's advice to Frodo is definitely sound, and I hope it stays with him until the true healing can come.

grumpyReviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/27/2005
So that explains what Strider was doing, going arround with a broken sword. I do hope that he had brought a back out one to Bree, one that was a bit longer.
Faralion is most likely going to have dreams about hobbit family trees.

Author Reply: Well, why he would have carried Narsil in its then condition to Bree has long been a question those who love the books have tried to answer; and so this is one of the reasons that appeared to have earned the most credence in one discussion I followed. Whether or not he carried a backup sword we aren't told, and I'd like to know. One author on this site indicates he wore TWO sheaths, on probably with a good blade and one with Narsil's shards in it.

Good question, though.

LilyReviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/27/2005
A wonderful chapter! I love how you have the hobbits tell their memories and fears about Frodo. Very much in character. Of course Pippin would get lost on the family trees, being a hobbit and all.

This story has so much insight and I'm awed by your knowledge of Middle-earth.

Author Reply: Thank you, Lily. Part of it is having read and discussed the stories so often over the years, then the movies, and finally reading so many wonderful fanfiction stories over the years; and part of it is, of course, my own invention or extrapolation on the stories of others. And am glad you find the stories in character.

KittyReviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/27/2005
“I may know this in my mind; yet my heart blames me.” That is exactly the problem with Frodo, isn't it? It is so sad he could never overcome that completely, at least not in Middle-earth! *sigh*

Am I wrong if I begin to suspect Frodo has an idea about the person of the famous Lord Captain Thorongil? I look forward to Faralion coming to know the truth, be it in this fic or in another! *g*

You does a great job with this fic and the way Faralion discovers more and more the nature of the hobbits and particularly Frodo (including his fair share of hobbit family trees *grin*). They are so open and honest with him! It is truly a pity he couldn't overcome his reservations and be a friend to Aragorn. Faralion seems to feel more and more the same for Frodo as do the others who know him well, even if he will never be a friend to Frodo.

I look forward to Faralion's plan for the evening! *curious is*

Author Reply: Well, in chapter eleven you will find out. Faralion may not become a close friend to Frodo, but he does the best he can in the time he is allowed for knowing him. And, as I've written before, Frodo has an uncanny knack for drawing the caring and loyalty of those he meets--a knack he does not abuse. As for Frodo realizing who Captain Thorongil is, I suspect you are right, of course. And the time may yet come for Aragorn and Faralion to develop a closer relationship--once he's been inducted into the Guild of Bards and Minstrels and Musicians to the Realm, of course. Faralion just takes time letting down his personal reserves with the nobility, I suspect.

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/27/2005
The pieces are in place. It shouldn't take much for Faralion to make the connection. Thorongil/Aragorn, Aragorn/Thorongil. The minstrel seems to be a good person for Frodo to have around. He's a good listener. And he wants to understand, which is good.



Author Reply: Yes, I agree--Faralion is a decent guy, and one who helps Frodo to begin to accept his position in the eyes of the Free Peoples of Middle Earth on at least an intellectual level. It may take time to accept that emotionally, but it will come.

Thanks so much for the feedback.

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