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The Acceptable Sacrifice  by Larner 18 Review(s)
nancylea57Reviewed Chapter: 51 on 2/22/2012
as often as i've read this i just realized you hove elrond tell all of gondor that aragorn was thorongil

“You who were born Aragorn son of Arathorn, chieftain of Arnor, and Gilraen daughter of Halbard, you who were known in childhood as Estel, the hope for the free peoples of Middle Earth, who was known in Rohan and Gondor as Thorongil, the Eagle of the Star,

and yet years later in the king's commission it is still an open secret, how could we all have missed this clue??????

Author Reply: Oh, dear, Nancy--I see I didn't respond to this at the time you asked the question.

Yes, I have Elrond giving all of Aragorn's titles and names, but I wonder how many actually listened at the time? Pippin had been told again and again that in the Council of Elrond it had been revealed to all that Aragorn, as Isildur's Heir, was intending to resume the Kingship of both the North and the South; yet he had to be admonished by Gandalf not to walk around with his wits dulled and his attention distracted once they got to Gondor, and not to say too much about Aragorn to Denethor. Start going through so many identities and roles, and your average individual will tune out somewhere along the way!

I'm so glad you read this again and appear to have noted something new in the reread!

And I apologize for not responding at the time you posed your question. Life this year has been very traumatic, I fear.

ArmarielReviewed Chapter: 51 on 1/10/2006
*sigh* *sniff* Beautiful, just beautiful......finally getting caught up here...but my puter's been in the hospital and ever since it got out, these demonic friends of mine just WON'T leave me alone! Every time I head this way, they grab me and drag me off to the pool hall, and I just now managed to sneak out for some reading......

But this chapter is just......beyond words!

~~~{~@

Author Reply: So very glad you enjoy being at the wedding. And hope they don't keep you incarcerated in that pool hall. Do you beat those demonic friends of yours? I certainly hope so. And glad the computer is better. We've missed you.

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 51 on 12/25/2005
He knew that Frodo was guarded all about with a Love beyond that which he himself felt for him...

Love this mention of Iluvatar's love for His child that had sustained him and the mention of the lembas, another of the Creator's gifts to His beloved children and the joy Frodo feels for his brother and the grief that he will never know it himself. I'm glad he had time to have joy again in the West before he died.

Merry Christmas! Christ is born! Glorify Him!

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)

Author Reply: He has been given to us and for us, and through him are we ourselves uplifted. Alleluia.


Back to this story....

Yes, Frodo is not fully consciously aware of the love that sustains him, although that will be made clear in the end.

I am so glad you appreciated it, Antane.

grumpyReviewed Chapter: 51 on 12/21/2005
Great chapter, it was like being invited to the wedding.
Hardorn saying he would throw Aragorn in the fountain, if he fainted. Plus Aragorn forseeing Sam and Rosie's wedding, and Frodo fading.
They finally did it, the man with many names, has married his love. Break out the champane, throw some rice, or birdseed!!! I must say, Lord Elrond was very brave to do the ceremony. I love the setting, before the white tree.


Author Reply: Yes, we've needed some more detail to this, I think. Glad you felt as if you were there. And thanks for the words of praise, which are sweet on the ear (or to the eye or whatever). Heh!

Baggins BabeReviewed Chapter: 51 on 12/21/2005
Oh my! What a beautiful wedding! You captured everything so perfectly, Larner. Had me laughing and crying, and from the other reviews I see I'm not the only one. I love seeing the High King of Gondor in a nervous tizzy!

I am disappointed that there was no stag night, no stripper, no bridegroom being stripped and chained to railings and no Legolas/Gimli drunken dancing - with or without lampshades! Drat! :-))

It was so sad that Aragorn had to have that vision of Frodo, but it led to such a lovely moment between the King and Gandalf - including Gandalf calling him 'child' - not many can do that with Aragorn, except Elrong and Galadriel, I suppose.

The wedding itself was so right and so detailed - wonderful. I really felt I was there. Thank you so much for this - it's a real gift.

Author Reply: I am still trying vainly to imagine Aragorn watching a stripper perform, and am rather glad I can't see it in my mind's eye. But, you may enjoy yourself as you desire! Heh!

So glad that you appreciate what was there, even the moments of sorrow as Aragorn appreciates that the time he spends now with Frodo it likely to be his last. And if anyone deserves to be able to call Aragorn "child" it must be Gandalf, right?

Thanks for the review.

Linda HoylandReviewed Chapter: 51 on 12/20/2005
A beautiful and touching chapter with mant bittersweet moments.I like the way you contrast Aragorn and Frodo's futures here.

Author Reply: Thank you. Yes, it is quite a contrast--the one will have over a hundred ten years of a very happy marriage, while the other will have a year of apparently normal life followed by a year of distinct withdrawal and then not much more than fifty years of quiet life in the Undying Lands, although no one is yet knowledgable about that.

AndreaReviewed Chapter: 51 on 12/20/2005
Wow! I'm speechless! What a perfect, wonderful wedding!
The only shadow was Aragorn's vision of Frodo performing the wedding of Sam and Rose, thinner than ever, and fading. But he saw also pride and joy in his eyes. And Gandalf explained: "He is granted a respite, a time to see all he loves heal and begin to find peace and happiness, a time to reassure himself that all will be well once more with his land and people, a time to taste what would have been his had the Ring not come to him."
I think it was very important for Frodo to see that his homeland was finally at peace and his friends were well, but it must have been very painful to see what his life could have looked like, when the Ring hadn't come to him, including his relationship to the sweet Narcissa Boffin. She would have been the perfect wife for him. In my eyes he has all rights to envy Aragorn. But sadly, that will change nothing.

Author Reply: And because he realizes envying Aragorn will change nothing, he lets go the envy before it can become destructive.

And I, too, wish he'd paid more attention to Narcissa Boffin earlier on. Now he feels it is too late and doesn't even try.

Thanks so much for the appreciation shown.

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 51 on 12/20/2005
Beautiful arrival of Arwen. Beautiful wedding. Just love the emotion between them and the whole sense of joy. Good for Elrond, too. Hard for him, but he has had enough hardship in his life that he knows when to accept the inevitable.



Author Reply: He knows his daughter will have at least a century of bliss, barring accidents and death in combat. And with this he must be content until he sees her passing Westward and sees how very happy she is. It's not called the Gift of Iluvatar for nothing, after all.

So glad you appreciated it.

KittyReviewed Chapter: 51 on 12/20/2005
*sniffs and wipes eyes* I didn't know if I should cry or rather laugh, so I did both! It was so moving! Why had Aragorn to have this vision on his wedding day of all days? No wonder he needed some time for himself after this, and I was glad Gandalf was there with him. Although I suppose that is one of the reasons why they asked for permission for Frodo to sail West, when they knew what was to come.

There were some hilarious comments as well:
>i>“Shall we go see if Aragorn has melted into a puddle of quaking jelly as yet?”
“It was a wonder you didn’t try to sheathe your sword in your boot that day.”
“If you faint, Lord Cousin,” Hardorn admonished him, “I swear I shall pick you up and dump your form in the Fountain of the Tree.”

It was nice to have Elrond as father to both of them to perform the marriage, although my heart went out to him. It's so sad he has to lose his daughter forever! He has truly lost more than one person should have to endure.

Very bittersweet chapter, but I loved it!

Author Reply: Glad both the humor and the pathos moved you so in this chapter. Elrond has already lost much, although he will regain father and mother, at least, as well as wife when he sails to Aman. He has seen so many of the heirs to his brother born, mature, and die; this time he flees before the promise of the loss, although he will be aware of it anyway. But then he has the awareness, I hope, of the joy to come for Aragorn and Arwen both.

Thank you so for your expressions of appreciation for this chapter, which is one of the scenes I wished to expand on from the book most strongly.

AmyReviewed Chapter: 51 on 12/20/2005
The wedding of the millenium! Yumm, flowers and friends and nervous bridegroom.

The listing of Aragorn's names nearly wore me out. Sounds quite Old Testament, actually; hadn't thought of that before, so thanks for the insight!

Arwen's sacrifice and Elrond's rather sombre words of joining v. interesting.

Squee for the Tree! Lovely to include it in the wedding party, and Aragorn and Frodo having a lovely sit-down with it.


Author Reply: Yes, the Tree is part of the wedding, of course.

Elrond cannot truly teach Arwen what she needs to know of living among mortals and preparation for dying, for this is not an Elven experience to be prepared for, for when Elves die it tends to be either violent or due to fading; and they are then bound to the Halls of Mandos until the end of Arda, if they are not given a new body. And so he must ask her husband to show her the way, which must have been humbling for him. But he's great enough a soul to do this.

And so glad you loved the nervous bridegroom. It's nice to imagine Aragorn at least now and then as human as any other man.

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