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More Faramir drabbles  by Nesta 5 Review(s)
Rian SteelsheenReviewed Chapter: 8 on 6/17/2010
Wow, now I feel sad for Arwen...You know I've never thought of her choice as her being in exile from home, just as her leaving her family forever (which is sad enough), if you understand what I mean...

I've always thought Minas Tirith would always be first in Faramir's heart, look at how he speaks of it in TTT, like if it was a lady!
Eowyn's home being where her loved ones are makes sense.

Author Reply: Il semble que pour les Elfes, cette terre est toujours un lieu d'exil ou ils font un sejour temporaire. Pour Arwen, l'amour fait de la terre un paradis, mais un paradis qui durera peu de temps et qu'elle va payer tres cher. Neanmoins il y a un revers a la medaille; pour les hommes aussi, la terre est une habitation temporaire car la mort les prend tres vite et les envoie a un "ailleurs" inconnu. A la longue, le sort des hommes est preferable car ils seront immortels aupres de Dieu, tandis que la vie des Elfes, pour longue qu'elle soit, aboutira a l'aneantissement. C'est pourquoi Arwen pourra rejoindre Aragorn dans la mort, mais elle ne verra jamais plus son pere ni ses autres parents elfiques. A-t-elle bien choisi? Vraiment je ne sais pas.

Il est tres evident que Faramir aime sa ville d'un amour tres profond et personnel. Quelque chose me dit qu'Aragon l'envoie habiter en Emyn Arnen parce que la ville ne saurait contenir deux si grands hommes - et Faramir y est chez lui, connu et aime de tous, tandis qu'Aragon est le nouveau venu...

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/24/2009
Yes, there is grief for what she cannot come to now; but her love is here, and there is another haven for them, beyond the circles of this world.

Thought provoking.

Author Reply: Arwen may have made her choice, but I'm sure it went on troubling her. You can see it did, at Aragorn's death scene. Those two may meet again, but her elven kindred never. And the time she spent with Aragorn was only a small part of her whole life. I hope it was worth it!

Raksha The DemonReviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/22/2009
A lovely, haunting piece. I think Eowyn would have the pragmatism to make anyplace where she was respected and loved and had a family her home; she would have known from childhood on that women often left their homes to go make a new home at their husbands' hearths. And I can easily see her being happy with Faramir wherever he is.

The glimpse of Legolas' sea-longing is nicely written, it's often with him, he just hides it, and perhaps it ebbs and flows. Arwen's anguish is haunting; and perhaps this sorrow contributed to her despair after Aragorn's death.



Author Reply: Thanks, Racksha. I think this sense of exile and loss that hovers over Tolkien's world is one of the most profound and important things in it; there's even a touch of it in 'The Hobbit', at Thorin's death. From the 'Tale' it seems that Arwen, by Aragorn's death-bed, does come perilously close to regretting her choice: Aragorn's serenity contrasts very sharply with her bitterness. It seems that she never really faced the consequences of her choice until that moment, when her reason for becoming mortal was vanishing and yet she had to remain mortal herself. It's rather odd that Aragorn should suggest that she could 'repent' of her choice; surely he ought to have known that she couldn't? Perhaps he never really dared face the implications either.

As a human being, if you believe in an after-life then no partings can be for ever. Tolkien clearly did believe this, which is why the parting of Elrond and Arwen is so very painful. I don't think anyone else in the whole saga has to face anything so utterly final.

daw the minstrelReviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/22/2009
This was both powerful and true. I love the varied descriptions of what each person longs for as home. The glimpses of Legolas's longing are heart-rending. But most painful of all is Arwen. Yes, she made her own choice, but all choices give loss as well as gain.

Great job.

Author Reply: Many thanks, Minstrel!

There's an awful lot about choice in LoTR and nobody's choices are easy. Think of Aragorn deciding whether or not to follow Frodo at Rauros, or, most of all, Sam deciding whether to leave Frodo's body and go on with the quest. And I always thought Faramir's choice not to seize the Ring was worth far more praise than it ever got. He probably expected a kick in the teeth from Denethor, but Gandalf might have said a kind word...

RugiReviewed Chapter: 8 on 3/22/2009
I am so pleased to see you posting more fics! I love your stories (particularly your Steward stuff) so it's a treat to see more of them.

I thought it was intriguing to read Eowyn's view of home, as she is someone who made a choice to leave her own home and old life. I liked that, for Eowyn, it became the people in her life who were home to her, rather than any one place - it makes sense for her character. And I liked the mention of Faramir and his love for the MT - for all that Ithilien was his princedom, I can't imagine it completely displacing the city of his family. And it was also interesting to see Arwen and her grief through Eowyn's eyes. I loved it.

Author Reply: I'm sure you're right about Eowyn, Rugi. She seems to have found Edoras intolerably confining, but she clearly loved Rohan, or at least took a fierce pride in it.

Raksha the Demon has written a beautiful drabble about how Faramir might have delivered Eowyn from her 'cage' at Edoras. It's called 'The Bower' and I think it's on ff.net, but Raksha will tell you.


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