Stories of Arda Home Page
About Us News Resources Login Become a member Help Search

A Little Nudge Out of the Door  by Jocelyn 2 Review(s)
TiTaNReviewed Chapter: 17 on 12/8/2013
now I hate legolas' mentor and mirkwood's captian even more, he has defenatly ruined a family!!!!

rgbjReviewed Chapter: 17 on 12/26/2003
I reviewed this last night and the site ate it so I will try again.
THERE BACK!!
I can't imagine going back home after three decades. The trees are rejoicing. That is so sweet. And Legolas missed his forest. I always like it when writers acknowledge the connection between wood elves and the trees.
Well this will be a bitter sweet reunion for the most part.
Back to being a prince having to ride at the head of the war party.
The king didn't even acknowledge him. The result of the disastrous meeting on the plains. Oh my this doesn't look too good.
Oh a lovely niece who looks like Legolas. I always wonder at the dynamics of the elves having so few children. There would be few elflings around at any one time so few playmates, schoolmates, small peer group and the young would interact much more with older elves.
Life just has beaten the king around hasn't it? He has lost another son, this one to the sea longing. Of all his children he has the crown prince at home, Lim in 'Lorien and Legolas traveling. Along with no wife he must be desperately lonely. No wonder he is such a mess. He must be terrified of who he will lose next.
Well Legolas is learning that you can't go home again even if you are an elf. It is a painful lesson no matter what race you are. All thing must change. A theme Tolkien utilized for the elves was how much they fought change. They wanted things to stay the same. They wanted stability. What they got was the long defeat. But here his brother is gone, Lim is gone, Merilin and Candochon have wed, some of the people he traveled with fell and didn't return. His room is the same but nothing else. Must be disorienting. Even though Langcyll tells his friends he has changed they still find him good and noble. But he has changed he just hasn't matured enough to be his own elf yet.
Back to caves. This is a theme in your story. Caves are bad, bad things happen in them and Legolas is uncomfortable with them. Now he has to pay for his mistakes of thirty years ago. At least he is mature enough to know that he has a debt to pay. I am sure the king saw his relief at not having to deal with the issue. This will just add to the strain. He cannot endlessly run away. This isn't dealing with anything. Even outsiders see the strain between the king and his son so this is getting harmful to more than just the immediate family now.
So Langcyll has had enough and will go to the Grey Havens. This is change with a vengeance for Legolas. Langcyll has been a father figure for Legolas for most of his life. He also feels that he made Legolas into the warrior elf that he is today and despises the king for his many excesses. He instilled the good principles that Legolas exhibits today. I wonder how much his love of Legolas affects his dislike of the king.
I wonder if Thranduil has ever understood Legolas or did he just see what he wanted to see. Legolas on the other hand because of the weird fear of his father cannot confide in him or use him as a resource to help him cope with all these changes. He is truly alone in this turmoil and he doesn't need to be. He has to deal with so many losses and his father could share his life experiences with his son on how to cope with loss. But nothing is ever easy in middle earth.
So now Langcyll and the king between them have made things so much worse. Too much to drink and Langcyll feeling that the king does not deserve a son as good as Legolas.
The final scene between Langcyll and Legolas was just lovely. A good parting for both of them. Leaving them at peace with each other knowing that the king still has to be dealt with but putting that aside for this last meeting. Good storytelling.
There's going to be h*ll to pay now.
Thank you for the very pivotal chapter.


Return to Chapter List